Morant and Towns return to the arena
Ja Morant returned from an eight-game suspension Wednesday in the Memphis Grizzlies’ win and Dominican-American Karl Anthony Towns followed up his 51-game injury layoff with the decisive play in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ win, in an NBA game that also saw the return of Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, whose display was not enough to rescue the struggling Dallas Mavericks.
MAVERICKS 125 – WARRIORS 127
After breaking their streak of eleven consecutive losses away from home against the Rockets, the Warriors got an important victory at the Mavericks’ court with a great choral performance. Jonathan Kuminga was the best with 22 points, accompanied by Steph Curry’s 20 in a group of six players above ten points.
The Mavericks are still not working, despite the return of Luka Doncic after five games off due to a muscular problem. The ex-Madrid player contributed a tremendous double-double of 30 points and 17 assists, without award.
GRIZZLIES 130 – ROCKETS 125
Ja Morant returned after his suspension for posting a video on social networks in which he carried a gun in a nightclub and the Grizzlies added their fourth consecutive victory. The homegrown star started on the bench for the first time in 240 games and contributed 17 points, four rebounds and five assists.
It was a reconciliation with the FedEx Forum that culminated in a postgame statement on the court with his daughter in his arms: “I feel good, mixed feelings. I love these guys, the fans, the institution. They’ve been very supportive and it’s a great help.”
The win also secures the Grizzlies’ second consecutive NBA Southwest Division title.
LAKERS 122 – SUNS 111
The Lakers are not throwing in the towel on the playoff race. Anthony Davis scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half and the Lakers snapped a streak of nine consecutive losses to the Suns that had lasted since 2021.
The Angelenos could also count on 26 points from D’Angelo Russell and a double-double of 25 points and 11 assists from Austin Reaves.
BULLS 91 – 76ERS 116
The 76ers avenged the loss suffered 48 hours earlier at home to the Bulls after two overtimes and dominated in Chicago, despite the absence of James Harden, with a barrage of three-pointers from De’Anthony Melton (25 points and 4 three-pointers), Tyrese Maxey (21 points and 4 three-pointers) and Tobias Harris (20 points and 3 three-pointers).
For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan scored only four points, shooting zero of seven from the field. All his points came from the free throw line.
BUCKS 130 – SPURS 94
Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points and grabbed fourteen rebounds in 23 minutes on the court in the resounding victory of the Bucks, the best team in the East, against the San Antonio Spurs, the second-worst team in the West.
For the Bucks, Bobby Portis contributed a double-double of 19 points and ten rebounds and Khris Middleton another 19 points and ten assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 125 – HAWKS 124
Towns returned to compete for the first time since November and his two free throws connected with 3.1 seconds to play gave the Timberwolves a hard-fought victory over the Hawks.
The Dominican-born player contributed 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals following the serious calf injury that caused him to miss 51 games.
WIZARDS 104 – NUGGETS 118
The Nuggets added their third win in the last four games by sweeping the free-falling Wizards in Washington, who have accumulated four consecutive losses and are eleventh, out of the playoff spots.
Serbia’s Nikola Jokic dominated with 31 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 31 minutes on the court. Michael Porter Jr. contributed 21 points on a brilliant six-of-nine three-pointers.
HEAT 127 – KNICKS 120
Miami Heat sealed a transcendental victory over the Knicks to accelerate towards the sixth place, which gives direct access to the playoffs, boosted by a dominant Jimmy Butler, with 35 points and 11 of 19 in shooting, to which he added nine assists.
The Knicks, fifth in the East, succumbed despite 26 points from RJ Barrett, 25 from Jalen Brunson and 22 from Quentin Grimes on a night when Julius Randle was held to 15 points after scoring 57 against the Timberwolves.
RAPTORS 114 – PACERS 118
A monumental performance by Andrew Nembhard, with 28 points and ten assists coming off the bench, gave the Pacers a valuable win in Toronto to stay in contention for a playoff spot.
The Raptors lost their second straight game, despite Fred VanVleet’s 28 points, and fall to tenth place (35-38), ahead of the Pacers themselves (33-40).
JAZZ 115 – TRAIL BLAZERS 127
Damian Lillard led with 30 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists in the Blazers’ home win over the Jazz, who are now tied with the New Orleans Pelicans (35-37) with a league-low 12 points.
