By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net‘
The Houston Rockets were coming off a seven-game winning streak before their game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The reigning champions, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in particular, put a halt to that crazy ride.
Antetokounmpo turned the MVP switch on for one of his best games this season: 41 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Bucks to a 123-114 win. The Greek Freak also made some Bucks history by becoming the club’s new all-time leader in blocks.
It was a good run for the Rockets that at least saw rookie Alperen Sengun having his highest-scoring performance of his rookie NBA season with 15 points (6-8 shots) in 16 minutes off the bench.
The Indiana Pacers were reported to be considering trading Domantas Sabonis. The Lithuanian big man doesn’t look affected by these reports and kept doing his thing by posting 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Pacers beat the Rick Carlisle-less (COVID-19) Dallas Mavericks 106 – 93.
Luka Doncic (27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) and Kristaps Porzingis (22 points) were productive but had little help from the rest of the Mavs.
Lauri Markkanen scored 19 points on near-perfect shooting (7-8 from the field, including 4-5 triples) as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 123 – 106. Cedi Osman helped with 13 points while Ricky Rubio dished out eight assists to go with his six points.
In New Orleans, Jonas Valancinas was business as usual with his fourth straight double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) to push the Pelicans past the Detroit Pistons 109 – 93.
In 18 minutes off the bench, Willy Hernangomez had seven rebounds and six points. Tomas Satoransky scored four points and got four boards.
The rest of Friday’s NBA results and Euro Scorers:
Charlotte Hornets – Sacramento Kings 124 – 123
Atlanta Hawks – Brooklyn Nets 105 – 113 (Clint Capela 14 points, 16 rebounds – Danilo Galliari 13 points, six rebounds)
Toronto Raptors – New York Knicks 90 – 87 (Evan Fournier nine points –
Svi Mykhailiuk five points)
Oklahoma City Thunder – Los Angeles Lakers 95 – 116 (Aleksej Pokusevski seven points, five rebounds – Theo Maledon five points)
Phoenix Suns – Boston Celtics 111 – 99 (Dennis Schroder 15 points – Enes Freedom six points, five rebounds)
Standings via NBA.com:
Eastern Conference
| TEAM | W | L | WIN% | GB | CONF | DIV | HOME | ROAD | OT | LAST 10 | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 8 | .692 | — | 14-5 | 4-0 | 8-5 | 10-3 | 0-0 | 7-3 | W 1 | |
| 17 | 9 | .654 | 1 | 10-6 | 2-2 | 8-4 | 9-5 | 0-0 | 6-4 | L 1 | |
|
3  Milwaukee Bucks
|
17 | 10 | .630 | 1.5 | 12-7 | 5-0 | 9-4 | 8-6 | 0-1 | 8-2 | W 1 |
| 15 | 11 | .577 | 3 | 9-5 | 3-1 | 7-4 | 8-7 | 0-2 | 4-6 | W 1 | |
| 15 | 11 | .577 | 3 | 10-9 | 3-4 | 8-3 | 7-8 | 3-0 | 4-6 | W 1 | |
| 15 | 12 | .556 | 3.5 | 10-6 | 2-1 | 6-7 | 9-5 | 0-0 | 6-4 | W 2 | |
| 14 | 12 | .538 | 4 | 9-7 | 0-5 | 5-6 | 9-6 | 1-1 | 5-5 | L 1 | |
| 15 | 13 | .536 | 4 | 10-8 | 5-2 | 8-4 | 7-9 | 0-4 | 5-5 | W 1 | |
| 13 | 13 | .500 | 5 | 7-8 | 3-2 | 8-5 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 6-4 | L 1 | |
| 13 | 14 | .481 | 5.5 | 8-8 | 3-3 | 6-4 | 7-10 | 2-2 | 4-6 | L 3 | |
| 12 | 14 | .462 | 6 | 10-8 | 4-3 | 5-9 | 7-5 | 0-0 | 5-5 | W 1 | |
| 12 | 14 | .462 | 6 | 8-12 | 3-3 | 5-8 | 7-6 | 1-0 | 3-7 | L 2 | |
|
13  Indiana Pacers
|
12 | 16 | .429 | 7 | 7-12 | 1-3 | 9-6 | 3-10 | 1-2 | 5-5 | W 3 |
| 5 | 21 | .192 | 13 | 2-16 | 0-5 | 2-8 | 3-13 | 0-0 | 1-9 | L 3 | |
| 4 | 21 | .160 | 13.5 | 3-12 | 1-5 | 2-10 | 2-11 | 0-1 | 0-10 | L 11 |
Western Conference
| TEAM | W | L | WIN% | GB | CONF | DIV | HOME | ROAD | OT | LAST 10 | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 4 | .840 | — | 12-3 | 5-1 | 14-2 | 7-2 | 0-1 | 8-2 | W 2 | |
| 21 | 4 | .840 | — | 14-4 | 3-2 | 12-2 | 9-2 | 0-0 | 9-1 | W 2 | |
| 18 | 7 | .720 | 3 | 10-2 | 5-0 | 9-4 | 9-3 | 0-0 | 8-2 | W 6 | |
| 15 | 11 | .577 | 6.5 | 12-6 | 2-2 | 9-6 | 6-5 | 2-0 | 7-3 | W 1 | |
| 14 | 12 | .538 | 7.5 | 10-10 | 1-4 | 10-7 | 4-5 | 0-1 | 5-5 | W 2 | |
| 14 | 13 | .519 | 8 | 7-9 | 1-4 | 9-7 | 5-6 | 4-1 | 6-4 | W 1 | |
|
7  Dallas Mavericks
|
12 | 13 | .480 | 9 | 10-6 | 7-2 | 6-6 | 6-7 | 1-0 | 3-7 | L 1 |
| 12 | 13 | .480 | 9 | 7-7 | 2-2 | 7-4 | 5-9 | 1-0 | 3-7 | L 1 | |
| 11 | 15 | .423 | 10.5 | 7-9 | 0-2 | 7-9 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 4-6 | L 5 | |
| 11 | 15 | .423 | 10.5 | 8-11 | 4-3 | 5-8 | 6-7 | 1-0 | 5-5 | L 1 | |
| 11 | 15 | .423 | 10.5 | 6-11 | 1-2 | 10-4 | 1-11 | 0-0 | 3-7 | L 4 | |
| 9 | 15 | .375 | 11.5 | 4-11 | 0-3 | 5-7 | 4-8 | 0-1 | 5-5 | W 1 | |
|
13  Houston Rockets
|
8 | 17 | .320 | 13 | 4-12 | 1-2 | 7-6 | 1-11 | 1-0 | 7-3 | L 1 |
| 8 | 17 | .320 | 13 | 6-10 | 0-2 | 4-8 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 2-8 | L 1 | |
| 8 | 20 | .286 | 14.5 | 6-12 | 2-3 | 4-9 | 4-11 | 0-1 | 5-5 | W 1 |
