The Dallas Mavericks managed to beat the Phoenix Suns despite having the loss of Luka Doncic, who will be absent from the courts for a month due to injury. The 89-98 victory at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, however, was marked by an embarrassing brawl that ended with three being ejected. The brawl turned into a clean fist fight between Suns center Jusuf Nurkic and Mavericks forwards Naji Marshall and PJ Washington.
With the score at 44-60, the referee signaled an offensive foul by Nurkic on visiting Daniel Gafford. Marshall reproached him for the action and confronted the Suns player, who slapped him in the face. Next, the American responded with a punch to the Bosnian’s neck, who also received a push from Washington. After reviewing what happened, the referees expelled the three from the match.
The Dallas Mavericks (20-11) are 7-2 this season in games without Luka Doncic. In the first game without the Slovenian after his most recent injury, the Mavericks never trailed. Kyrie Irving with 20 points was the top scorer for Dallas, which had 16 from Daniel Gafford and 15 from Maxi Kleber and Spencer Dinwiddie, both substitutes. For the Phoenix Suns (15-15), Kevin Durant scored 35, but besides him only Royce O’Neale (14) and Bradley Beal (11) surpassed 10 points.
Nuggets, 135 – Cavaliers, 149
The Cleveland Cavaliers (27-4) do not let up. Kenny Atkinson’s men assaulted the difficult court of the Denver Nuggets (16-13) with the highest score – 149 points – in the team’s history during regulation time.
Donovan Mitchell with 33 points, Evan Mobley with 26, Darius Garland with 25 and Jarrett Allen with 22 gave Cleveland its sixth consecutive victory. They all shot above 50% from the field. A 0-16 run during the second quarter was the key to the victory.
Nikola Jokic scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and distributed 13 assists for a new triple-double on his account. Jamal Murray also scored 27 points and dished out 11 assists, while Peyton Watson and Michael Porter Jr. had 18 each.
Celtics, 142 – Pacers, 105
Jaylen Brown scored 44 points for the Boston Celtics (23-8) in a resounding victory that helped the NBA champions make up for having lost on Christmas Day. Jayson Tatum had a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Payton Pritchard also finished with a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Like Dallas, the Celtics were never behind on the scoreboard either. For the Indiana Pacers (15-17), who paid the price for Boston’s last two losses, Tyrese Haliburton scored 19 points with 9 assists, Bennedict Mathurin had 18 points and Jarace Walker 15.
Pelicans, 124 – Grizzlies, 132
Scare for the Memphis Grizzlies (22-10). After scoring 25 points, Ja Morant had to leave the court due to discomfort in his right shoulder, the same one on which he had surgery almost a year ago. Morant did not play again, although he returned to the bench after being examined.
Memphis, second in the Western Conference, scored 132 points in New Orleans 24 hours after scoring 155 in Toronto. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 33 and Desmond Bane 18. Santi Aldama was ruled out after spraining his ankle in Toronto. For the New Orleans Pelicans (5-27), Trey Murphy III had 35 points and CJ McCollum 32.
Clippers, 102 – Warriors, 92
Without Stephen Curry or Draymond Green, it was once again Jonathan Kuminga who took the reins of the Golden State Warriors (15-15), who have lost their last 3 games and 7 of the last 10.
Kuminga scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds starting the game as a substitute, numbers that were not enough to stand up to the Los Angeles Clippers (18-13). Norman Powell scored 26 points for the Angelenos, James Harden 18 and Ivica Zubac finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. With this loss, the Warriors fall out of the playoff spots in the West.
Rockets, 112 – Timberwolves, 113
The Houston Rockets (21-10) led 16 with 4:57 left in the game. They ended up losing it with a triple by Anthony Edwards with 23 seconds left after a 6-23 partial. Edwards scored 24 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-14), who had their best player in Julius Randle with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. For the Rockets, Alperen Sengun stood out with 38 points and 12 rebounds, as well as Amen Thompson with 20 points.
Nets, 86 – Spurs, 97
The Brooklyn Nets (12-19) left Victor Wembanyama with 4 points and 1 rebound at halftime. The Frenchman finished the game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks. Beyond Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs (16-15) started off with only 11 points in the first quarter, but little by little they greased the machine and overcame the Nets who were not particularly successful either. Julian Champagnie for the Spurs had 18 points, while Keon Johnson of the Nets finished as the game’s leading scorer with 25.
Magic, 85 – Knicks, 109
Like Cleveland, the New York Knicks (21-10) won their sixth straight game. They did it with a double-double from Josh Hart with 23 points and 13 rebounds and with Jalon Brunson on the verge of a double-double with 27 points and 9 assists. The Orlando Magic (19-14), still without Paolo Banchero or brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner, collapsed in the third quarter after leading for much of the game. Jalen Suggs had 27 points, while Goga Bitadze finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
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