The reduced Sunday day of the NBA left two of the contenders for the league title such as the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs in the midst of a game crisis and results after suffering losses in their field.
While the Los Angeles Lakers once again showed the potential of their offensive game against some undervalued New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets confirmed that they improve their game by beating the Detroit Pistons with a basket in the last second.
The point guard Elfrid Payton obtained 22 points for the Magic who gave the big surprise of the day when they beat the Boston Celtics 95-103 on the road, who suffered the third consecutive defeat so far this season.
The return of the Celtics’ star point guard, Kyrie Irving, who had missed the previous game with a sore left shoulder, and his contribution of 40 points did not prevent the defeat of the Boston team and the confirmation that they are in crisis.
With their triumph, the Magic took just their third victory in the last 20 games and stopped a losing streak of 14 consecutive games that they had lost at the Celtics’ field, the TD Garden in Boston.
The Orlando team had lost 10 straight away games since early December.
French guard-forward Evan Fournier had 19 points and backup guards Shelvin Mack and DJ Augustin had 10 each for the Magic.
Along with Irving, the Celtics had as their second leading scorer Jaylen Brown, who scored 17 points and power forward Marcus Morris added 12 points.
Guard Victor Oladipo once again led the Indiana Pacers’ attack by contributing 19 points and his team won 86-94 on the road against the Spurs, who broke a winning streak of 14 consecutive games at their AT&T field Center.
The Spurs (19-3), who have the best record in the NBA of locals, they had not lost in their field since last November 10 when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks and were defeated 87-94.
The point guard Darren Collison reached 15 points with four assists and also recovered three balls of the 14 that the team added for only 11 losses.
While power forward Thaddeus Young contributed another 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three ball recoveries that left him as the most complete of the Pacers (25-22), who broke their streak of three consecutive defeats on their visits to San Antonio.
The Spanish center Pau Gasol with 14 points led the Spurs attack, who had five players with double-digit numbers, but their leading scorer, power forward LaMarcus Aldridge was left with just 10 points after missing 9 of 14 shots from field he made.
Gasol was effective in the basket shots by scoring 6 of 8 and the two failures were from outside the perimeter, in addition to hitting 2 of 3 personnel shots in the 31 minutes he played.
The Sant Boi player also played a leading role in the zone, capturing nine rebounds, including eight defenders, distributing four assists, putting up three blocks, losing two balls and committing two personal fouls.
French guard Tony Parker, who came out of reserve, reached 12 points with five assists, as did guard Bryn Forbes, who also scored 12 points, including two triples from five attempts.
Parker played for the fourteenth time as a reserve in the 1,165 games he has played as a professional in the NBA.
The Spurs (30-18), who lost the second straight game and the fourth in the last six, continued without star forward Kawhi Leonard, Argentine guard Manu Ginobili, and power forward Rudy Gay, all injured.
Reserve point guard Jordan Clarkson had a double-double of 29 points and 10 assists for the Lakers, who beat the Knicks 127-107.
Power forward Julius Randle added a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie power forward Kyle Kuzma had 15 points that helped the Lakers (17-29) to their sixth victory in the last 10 matches played.
Rookie point guard Lorenzo Ball missed his fourth straight game with sore left knee, and Lakers coach Luke Walton said his player could miss more until he fully recovers.
The Knicks’ attack featured Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis, guard Tim Hardaway and reserve forward Michael Beasley, who each scored 17 points.
Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation time and finished with 22 points against his former team in the Nets’ 100-101 win over the Pistons, who lost their fifth straight game.
Forwards Rondae Hollis Jefferson and DeMarre Carroll contributed 21 and 16 points, respectively, to the Nets, who as a team had 46 (37-80) percent shooting from the field.
The Pistons had forward Tobías Harris as leading scorer, who had 20 points, while the reserves, forward Stanley Johnson and rookie guard Luke Kennard had 18 and 13 points, respectively.
While the Los Angeles Lakers once again showed the potential of their offensive game against some undervalued New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets confirmed that they improve their game by beating the Detroit Pistons with a basket in the last second.
The point guard Elfrid Payton obtained 22 points for the Magic who gave the big surprise of the day when they beat the Boston Celtics 95-103 on the road, who suffered the third consecutive defeat so far this season.
The return of the Celtics’ star point guard, Kyrie Irving, who had missed the previous game with a sore left shoulder, and his contribution of 40 points did not prevent the defeat of the Boston team and the confirmation that they are in crisis.
With their triumph, the Magic took just their third victory in the last 20 games and stopped a losing streak of 14 consecutive games that they had lost at the Celtics’ field, the TD Garden in Boston.
The Orlando team had lost 10 straight away games since early December.
French guard-forward Evan Fournier had 19 points and backup guards Shelvin Mack and DJ Augustin had 10 each for the Magic.
Along with Irving, the Celtics had as their second leading scorer Jaylen Brown, who scored 17 points and power forward Marcus Morris added 12 points.
Guard Victor Oladipo once again led the Indiana Pacers’ attack by contributing 19 points and his team won 86-94 on the road against the Spurs, who broke a winning streak of 14 consecutive games at their AT&T field Center.
The Spurs (19-3), who have the best record in the NBA of locals, they had not lost in their field since last November 10 when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks and were defeated 87-94.
The point guard Darren Collison reached 15 points with four assists and also recovered three balls of the 14 that the team added for only 11 losses.
While power forward Thaddeus Young contributed another 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three ball recoveries that left him as the most complete of the Pacers (25-22), who broke their streak of three consecutive defeats on their visits to San Antonio.
The Spanish center Pau Gasol with 14 points led the Spurs attack, who had five players with double-digit numbers, but their leading scorer, power forward LaMarcus Aldridge was left with just 10 points after missing 9 of 14 shots from field he made.
Gasol was effective in the basket shots by scoring 6 of 8 and the two failures were from outside the perimeter, in addition to hitting 2 of 3 personnel shots in the 31 minutes he played.
The Sant Boi player also played a leading role in the zone, capturing nine rebounds, including eight defenders, distributing four assists, putting up three blocks, losing two balls and committing two personal fouls.
French guard Tony Parker, who came out of reserve, reached 12 points with five assists, as did guard Bryn Forbes, who also scored 12 points, including two triples from five attempts.
Parker played for the fourteenth time as a reserve in the 1,165 games he has played as a professional in the NBA.
The Spurs (30-18), who lost the second straight game and the fourth in the last six, continued without star forward Kawhi Leonard, Argentine guard Manu Ginobili, and power forward Rudy Gay, all injured.
Reserve point guard Jordan Clarkson had a double-double of 29 points and 10 assists for the Lakers, who beat the Knicks 127-107.
Power forward Julius Randle added a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie power forward Kyle Kuzma had 15 points that helped the Lakers (17-29) to their sixth victory in the last 10 matches played.
Rookie point guard Lorenzo Ball missed his fourth straight game with sore left knee, and Lakers coach Luke Walton said his player could miss more until he fully recovers.
The Knicks’ attack featured Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis, guard Tim Hardaway and reserve forward Michael Beasley, who each scored 17 points.
Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation time and finished with 22 points against his former team in the Nets’ 100-101 win over the Pistons, who lost their fifth straight game.
Forwards Rondae Hollis Jefferson and DeMarre Carroll contributed 21 and 16 points, respectively, to the Nets, who as a team had 46 (37-80) percent shooting from the field.
The Pistons had forward Tobías Harris as leading scorer, who had 20 points, while the reserves, forward Stanley Johnson and rookie guard Luke Kennard had 18 and 13 points, respectively.