The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their second defeat of the season against Atlanta, and Victor Wembanyama was stopped by LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in the NBA.
On the eve of Thanksgiving celebrations, a day without a match, 28 of the 30 teams in the North American basketball league made the country’s floors creak on Wednesday evening. The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first defeat of the season at home, the second in total in 19 games, against the Atlanta Hawks (135-124).
With limited playing time (17 min), the French No.1 in the draft Zaccharie Risacher blazed during the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 17 points (2 rebounds, 1 block), before being confined to the bench for the end of the match, during which the Hawks made the difference thanks in particular to 22 assists from leader Trae Young (20 points), his record.
Wembanyama folds against the Lakers
The series ended in the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, while the Spurs, defeated 119 to 101, remained on four wins and the Los Angeles Lakers on three defeats. Top scorer for his team and co-top scorer of the game with Los Angeles rookie Dalton Knecht, Victor Wembanyama (20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks) pulled off some classy actions, but was handicapped by a certain clumsiness (9 out of 20 shooting, 2 out of 9 from distance) which prevented the Spurs from going the distance.
The 20-year-old French giant (2.24 m) stood out against the two Lakers stars: he inflicted an authoritarian counter to Anthony Davis on the first action of the game, and wrapped himself around LeBron James during a delicate “spin” to finish at the basket, in addition to some spectacular alley-oops.
43 points for Harden
The bearded James Harden blazed with 43 points to offer a sixth victory in seven matches to the Los Angeles Clippers against the Washington Wizards (121-96) who sank with a 13th loss in a row. Harden also distributed 7 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds. Another player above 40 points, Jalen Green (41 points) contributed to the success of the Houston Rockets against Philadelphia (122-115) after overtime.
Without Joel Embiid and Paul George, Philadelphia continues to sink, but Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele was able to stand out with 22 points, his NBA record, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Ahead of Houston, 3rd in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points) retained the lead in the conference thanks to their success on the floor of the Golden State Warriors (105-101), deprived of Stephen Curry.
Salaün shows himself
The young Frenchman Tidjane Salaün (19 years old), No. 6 in the draft in June, stood out with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 interceptions during the defeat of the Charlotte Hornets against the Miami Heat (98-94). ), notably allowing his team to lead 94-92 42 seconds from the siren after a long shot. Holder, Salaün played 37 minutes and 35 seconds, the highest total for his team and his record, after having been on the bench for a long time since the start of the season.
Edwards fulmine
In difficulty in recent weeks, the Minnesota Timberwolves, finalists of the Western Conference play-offs in the spring, collapsed at home in the last minutes against the Sacramento Kings (115-104 defeat), despite a 12-point lead to 7 minutes from the end.
Author of 29 points, Anthony Edwards criticized the attitude of his team: “we are too soft, we can no longer talk to each other, the coach says one thing and we do the opposite, we do not follow the game plan “, he indicated in the locker room to several media. The Wolves surprised at the end of the summer by sending their interior Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle, and have not regained their defensive intensity since.
