Frenchman Victor Wembanyama was decisive at the end of the game for the San Antonio Spurs, his teammate Chris Paul made history a little more and Nikola Jokic continued with another great performance on Sunday in the NBA.
Decisive Wembanyama, historical Paul
The match started badly, but it ended strong for Victor Wembanyama, «clutch» (decisive) with the last 7 points of San Antonio, which began to tremble against New Orleans, finally beaten 121 to 116.
After missing the last two games with a lower back injury, Wembanyama headed to the locker room in the 3rd minute of play, after a shock, before finally returning during the 2nd quarter.
Accurate (25 points on 9 of 16 shooting, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks), “Wemby” especially shone at the very end of the match, while the Spurs, who held the match, had just conceded a 13-0 and seemed lost.
The Frenchman hit a very long 3-point shot 36 seconds from time to give the Spurs a one-point lead before grabbing a rebound, hitting two free throws, then grabbing another rebound, to hit two more shots.
Earlier in the game, it was on another long-range shot from Wembanyama that veteran point guard Chris Paul (39) became the second best passer in NBA history, surpassing Jason Kidd (12,091), with now 12,099 passes, far from John Stockton's record (15,086).
More than 100 points in 24 hours for Jokic
More essential than ever to his team, triple MVP Nikola Jokic worked again to help Denver break Atlanta's series of six victories (141-111).
The Serbian pivot had scored 56 points during the Nuggets' defeat against Washington on Saturday, this time he scored 48 points (14 rebounds, 8 assists), to total 104 points in 24 hours and leave Denver in the positive (12 wins – 10 losses ).
Jokic got angry on Saturday evening: “in my country after this kind of period your pay will be lower than usual. Maybe we need that, a little motivation.”
Embiid reassures Philadelphia
Back after missing seven games, center Joel Embiid shone for only his 5th game of the season, with 31 points and 12 rebounds, for a success for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Chicago Bulls (108-100).
“He caught fire at times, and gave us a lot of confidence”appreciated his coach Nick Nurse.
In crisis since the start of the season, the 76ers were able to field their five major without injury, with Embiid but also summer rookie Paul George, their leader Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr. and French interior Guerschon Yabusele (4 points).
Maxey validated the first triple-double of his career (25 points, 14 assists, 11 rebounds) for the 7th victory of the season for the Sixers who moved up to 12th place in the East.
Cleveland falls to Miami
In good form, the Miami Heat managed to inflict their 4th defeat of the season on leader Cleveland (122-113).
Highly visible since the restart (23.8 points on average, 20.8 last season), Tyler Herro scored 34 points (6 rebounds, 7 assists).
The Cavaliers deplored the ankle injury of their interior Evan Mobley (4 points), and the bad evening of their star Donovan Mitchell (12 points on 5 of 16 shooting).
The Milwaukee Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo (34 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists) won in Brooklyn (118-113).
Orlando still standing
Despite long-term injuries to its two leaders Paolo Banchero, since the end of October, and Franz Wagner, which occurred this week, the Orlando Magic managed to resist the Phoenix Suns (115-110), to maintain its 3rd place in the 'East. Jalen Suggs (26 points) was decisive against Devin Booker (25 points). Memphis moved to second in the West by crushing the Washington Wizards (140-112).
