By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The Dallas Mavericks bounced back with a 127-106 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder as Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis combined 45 points.
Doncic, who returned to action after missing the last two games due to back soreness, led all scorers with 25 points, 7 assists and Porzingis, who also made his return after sitting the previous game out, had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for Dallas (24-21).
Euros swept the floor, as Aleksej Pokusevski stepped up to lead Oklahoma (19-27) with 21 points, Svi Mykhailiuk had 16 points in his first start with the team after being traded and Theo Maledon tapped 14 points, in the wake of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence.
Domantas Sabonis tapped his third consecutive double-double with 35 points and 11 rebounds, though he couldn’t help the Indiana Pacers (21-24) overcome the Washington Wizards (17-28), to which they fell 132-124.
Russell Westbrook posted a 35-point performance of his own to pace the Wizards, while Rui Hachimura had 26 points and Deni Avdija posted 12 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes as a starter.
Jonas Valanciunas posted a dominant double-double performance to lead the Memphis Grizzlies (22-22) to a 120-110 win over the Houston Rockets (13-33). Valanciunas tapped 30 points and 15 rebounds in 32 minutes to lead all scorers of the game.
Kelly Olynyk paced the Rockets with 25 points and Jaesean Tate had 24 points.
The Brooklyn Nets (32-15) added up another win against the Minnesota Timberwolves (11-36), led once again by James Harden who posted his 12th triple-double with the Nets with 38 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. Kyrie Irving had 27 points upon his return to action for the winners.
Karl-Anthony Towns tapped 31 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
A 32-point performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t enough to save the day for the Milwaukee Bucks (29-17) who fell to LA Clippers (32-16) 129-105 on the road.
Clippers had four starters scoring 20 points or more, as Marcus Morris scored 25 points, Kawhi Leonard followed with 23 points and 9 rebounds, Luke Kennard had a season-high 21 points and Reggie Jackson posted 20.
Donovan Mitchell had 19 points and Rudy Gobert added 18 points and 17 rebounds to lift the Utah Jazz (35-11) to their sixth straight win, a 114-75 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers (17-30).
Collin Sexton scored 20 points and Darius Garland had 18 for the Cavs, who lost their last three out of four games on the road.
Zion Williamson scored 28 points and the New Orleans Pelicans (21-25) beat the Boston Celtics (23-24) 115-109 on Monday night in the Celtics‘ first game in front of nearly 2,300 fans this season.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 9 rebounds for Boston, which had won two in a row prior to this game.
Jimmy Butler added 27 points as the Miami Heat bounced back from a six-game losing streak with a 98-88 win over the New York Knicks (24-23). Bam Adebayo scored 20 points, Duncan Robinson added 20, and Tyler Herro finished with 18 as Miami improved to a 23-24 record.
Julius Randle paced New York with 22 points, Derrick Rose had 16 points and Immanuel Quickley added 12.
Detroit Pistons‘ rookies Saben Lee and Saddiq Bey led their team’s effort against the Toronto Raptors (18-29) in a 118-104 victory. Lee had 19 points in his second career start and Bey also scored 19.
Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 22 points, who slipped their 12th of their last 13 games.
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points, Richaun Holmes had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings (22-25) beat the San Antonio Spurs 132-115 (23-21) for their fifth straight victory.
Dejounte Murray scored 23 points but only had two points in the second half on four attempts and Derrick White posted 19 points.
Stephen Curry returned to action after missing five games with force, as he had 32 points with six 3-pointers to lead the Golden State Warriors (23-24) to a 116-102 win over the Chicago Bulls (19-26).
Nikola Vucevic had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in his second game with Chicago since being traded from the Magic, though the team has slipped its fourth straight game.