Eastern Conference Recaps, Jan. 6: Zach LaVine's 41 Points In Chicago Bulls Win Against Philadelphia 76ers
The Chicago Bulls took advantage of the Philadelphia 76ers missing leading scorer Joel Embiid, beating them 126-112. Zach LaVine scored 41 points, giving him his third 40-point game this season. He also had 11 3-pointers, the most since Nov. 23, 2019, when he recorded 13.
“He got hot, we couldn’t find him, we started trapping him and everybody else got easy opportunities because he was making shots,” 76ers’ James Harden said. “Just one of those games.”
James Harden had 17 points and 11 assists while Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 26 points.
NEXT BULLS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 18 in Chicago NEXT 76ERS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 27 in Philadelphia
OTHER NOTES:
-The Charlotte Hornets scored a record-tying 51 points in the first quarter to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 138-109.
“We made a bunch of shots early. We played really four good quarters,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “The starters were terrific, they set a tone. The guys that came off the bench played well, too. It was the most sustained good solid play we’ve had so far this year.”
Terry Rozier scored a season-high 39 points while LaMelo Ball had 24 points and 12 assists. Giannis Antetokoumpo, the NBA’s third-leading scorer, was held to nine points on 28 percent shooting.
NEXT HORNETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 29 in Charlotte
NEXT BUCKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 12 at Miami
-Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 19 points off the bench to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-99. Myles Turner had 17 while Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and 12 assists. Anfernee Simons led the Trail Blazers with 20 points while Damian Lillard scored 19.
NEXT PACERS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 8 at Miami
-Julius Randle scored 22 points in the first half while the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors 112-108. This win gave Coach Tom Thibodeau 100 wins as Knicks head coach.
“I’m glad I’m a part of all 100,” Randle said. “Thibs has come in here and created a great culture for all of us. He’s been amazing.”
Randle finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds while Fred VanVleet scored 28 points for the Raptors. Gary Trent had 27.
NEXT KNICKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 2 in New York
NEXT RAPTORS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 28 in Toronto
-The Brooklyn Nets got back into the win column while they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 108-102. Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds but it was Kyrie Irving who hit two important shots down the stretch to secure the victory.
CJ McCollum scored 28 points for the Pelicans who are still without Zion Williamson because of a hamstring injury.
NEXT NETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 8 at Miami
NEXT PELICANS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 18 in New Orleans
–Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Washington Wizards 127-110. Josh Giddey had 20. Kyle Kuzma scored 23 for the Wizards, who lost a second straight game. Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
NEXT THUNDER GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 10 at Miami
NEXT WIZARDS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Apr. 7 in Washington
-Bojan Bogdanovic’s 21 points wasn’t enough to help the Detroit Pistons while they lost to the San Antonio Spurs 121-109. Rookie Jaden Ivey had 20.
“We didn’t dictate the ball at the start of the first half,” Ivey said. “Feel like it comes early, early in the game, you’ve got to get in a rhythm defensively. Just the first half we had some lapses that made them more comfortable late game. That’s on us to figure out how to put us in better position defensively. That hurt us the whole game.”
Tre Jones led the Spurs with 25 points while Jakob Poeltl had 11 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.
NEXT PISTONS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 19 in Detroit
-Donovan Mitchell sat out to get rest and the Denver Nuggets took advantage of it. They defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108. Nikola Jokic recorded 28 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, giving him his 10th triple-double of the season.
“Jokic looks like he's on the way to potentially a third (straight) MVP,” said Kevin Love, who scored 10 points off the bench.
Caris LeVert scored 22 to lead the Cavaliers while Darius Garland had 21.
NEXT CAVALIERS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 31 in Cleveland
NEXT NUGGETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 13 at Miami
-Three players on the Los Angeles Lakers recorded double-doubles to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 130-114. LeBron James had 25 points and 10 assists while Thomas Bryant had 19 points and 13 rebounds.
“There are going to be times where guys go down, unfortunately, and we have a group of guys that have just been preparing themselves for when it's their moment to play and play well,” Russell Westbrook said. “Seems like we've been hitting a good stride of figuring that out.”
Westbrook recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Trae Young led the Hawks with 32 points.
NEXT HAWKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 16 in Atlanta
Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog https://allball30.wordpress.com
