Giddey’s 1k milestone; Daniels shines in clash of Aussies, LA’s fall from grace laid bare – NBA Wrap

Basketball
Published 14.01.2024
Giddey’s 1k milestone; Daniels shines in clash of Aussies, LA’s fall from grace laid bare – NBA Wrap

The Oklahoma City Thunder jumped right into a share of the Western Conference lead as quantity three NBA scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander netted 37 factors to guide the host Thunder over Orlando 112-100.

The Thunder’s win streak stretched to 5 video games and with a report of 27-11 the membership matched the Minnesota Timberwolves atop the West.

Josh Giddey scored 12 factors with eight rebounds and 4 assists in 27 minutes in Sunday’s contest (all instances AEDT). It included Giddey making his a thousandth discipline objective of his profession.

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Two extra Aussies took the ground on Sunday, with New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels and Dallas’ Josh Green squaring off.

Daniels’ Pelicans acquired the win 118-108 regardless of being with out Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum or Trey Murphy on the second finish of a again to again.

It meant Daniels drew a spot begin, filling up the field rating with 10 factors, six rebounds and 7 assists in 37 minutes to play a key function within the workforce’s win – New Orleans’ seventh victory from its final 9 video games to maneuver into the West’s sixth seed.

Elsewhere for the Pels, rookie Jordan Hawkins scored a season-best 34 factors, hitting 11-of-19 pictures from the ground together with 6-of-12 from three-point vary.

Kyrie Irving’s 33 factors led the Mavericks, who have been with out Luka Doncic on account of an ankle damage. Green scored 9 factors with six rebounds and 4 assists.

ELSEWHERE …

Jaylen Brown scored 32 factors and Jayson Tatum added 27 because the Boston Celtics remained unbeaten at residence, defeating Houston 145-113 in former Celtics coach Ime Udoka’s return to Boston.

The Celtics improved to an NBA-best 30-9 general and 19-0 at residence, the league’s solely undefeated membership at residence stretching its team-record residence win streak to begin a season.

Brown, who scored 21 factors within the third quarter when the Celtics pulled away to remain, hit 11-of-15 pictures from the ground, 4-of-6 from 3-point vary, and added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked pictures.

“Being aggressive. A lot of times defence gets you going,” Brown stated of his third-period success.

“I get it on the run and when we play like that in transition we’re tough to beat.”

Udoka guided the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals, the place they misplaced to Golden State, however he was suspended simply earlier than the beginning of the 2022-23 season coaching camp over an improper relationship with a workforce staffer.

Udoka in the end was dropped and changed by former assistant Joe Mazzulla on a everlasting foundation final February.

“I’m glad to see Ime back coaching on the sidelines,” Brown stated. “I’m glad to see a lot of the staff we spent time with over there in Houston. I wish those guys the best of luck.”

Asked how he mirrored on his departure, Udoka stated, “Job not finished. The relationships you build and the people you impact, so that would be the biggest thing.”

When it got here to his regrets, Udoka was equally matter-of-fact.

“The biggest thing I’d say overall is letting some people down, for sure,” Udoka stated. “But we’ve talked it out and I’ve seen a lot of these people throughout the summer and talk regularly and so we move past it.”

Jokic hits twelfth triple-double for Denver | 00:52

Mazzulla performed down the affect of Udoka’s return with the Rockets, who employed him as head coach final April.

“The fact Ime is back is great,” he stated. “But I don’t think that really has anything to do with winning or losing.” Both have been essential to the Celtics after being thumped 135-102 at Milwaukee on Friday.

“Last game we didn’t feel like we were at our best,” Brown stated. “We wanted to come out and make sure we stayed undefeated on the home court.”

At Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 factors, Damian Lillard added 27 and Khris Middleton netted 24 with 10 assists to guide the Bucks over visiting Golden State 129-118.

Jonathan Kuminga scored 28 off the bench to guide the Warriors, who rested star guard Stephen Curry.

Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic had 24 factors and 16 rebounds whereas DeMar DeRozan added 20 factors to guide the Bulls over host San Antonio 122-116.

Tre Jones scored 30 factors to guide the Spurs, who have been with out French rookie star Victor Wembanyama, who’s enjoying restricted minutes on account of an ankle damage.

In Atlanta, Kyle Kuzma scored 29 factors and the Washington Wizards (7-31) snapped a six-game shedding streak with a 127-99 victory over the host Hawks.

Playing with out LeBron James on account of a left ankle damage, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the in-form Utah Jazz 132-125 to fall exterior the play-in.

With it, LA since its In-Season Tournament triumph has fallen from the six seed to the eleventh – a interval by which it’s ranked twenty first in defensive ranking, twenty third in offensive ranking and 25 in web ranking, per StatMuse.

Lauri Markkanen and Colin Sexton mixed for 56 factors for the Jazz within the win, whereas D’Angelo Russell top-scored with 39 factors to go along with eight assists and Anthony Davis racked up a triple-double (15 factors, 15 boards, 11 assists) with 4 blocks.

Utah claimed its fifth-straight win – together with its eight victory from its from 9 video games and 11 from 13 – to enhance to 21-20 on the season.

ALL RESULTS

ROCKETS 113 CELTICS 145

WIZARDS 127 HAWKS 99

MAGIC 100 THUNDER 112

WARRIORS 118 BUCKS 129

KNICKS 106 GRIZZLIES 94

BULLS 122 SPURS 116

PELICANS 118 MAVERICKS 108

LAKERS 125 JAZZ 132