James shines with defeat again, Jokic saves Denver

At 38, has “LBJ” ever been this strong? The question now arises with every release of it, almost always punctuated by a “master class”. He is averaging 35 points and 51.8% shooting in ten games this January.

Enough to overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) at a very high speed, as he only needs 178 points to overtake the legend in the ranking of the best scorers in history.

During this Angelina Derby, the LBD (8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals) took the opportunity to break his personal best 3-point goals while boasting that he now scored at least 40 points. across all league teams.

So he vainly sounded the alarm clock for the Lakers, who were in a coma for three quarters and played defensively in Gruyère mode against the much more effective Clippers together, trailing Paul George (27 points, 9 rebounds) and Kawhi Leonard ( 25 points, 9). rbd).

“We must help him”

“LeBron plays at an incredible level, I’m happy for him, but we need to improve. We must continue to fight, play together and help him,” said coach Darwin Ham, recognizing the urgency of the situation.

Stuck in 13th place, the Lakers are really far from the playoffs. The Clippers continue to gain momentum, finishing in 5th place.

At the head of the conference, Denver scared themselves by squandering a 19-point lead in New Orleans before finally winning on the wire thanks to Nikola Jokic.

Not content with another triple-double (25 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), 4th in a row and 15th of the season, the two-time MVP hit the mid-range float winning basket in 16.9 seconds. from the end.

Despite this fifth straight loss, the Pelicans, penalized by an absence of Zion Williamson that will last two more weeks (hamstring), remain 4th.

Moreover, Dallas (6th) had to lose at home to Washington (127-126). Luka Doncic still struggled with 41 points (15 rebounds, 6 assists), but Kyle Kuzma (30 points) set the free throw he needed 5 seconds before the siren for the Wizards (11th in the East).

Boston is dying again

In Phoenix, the Suns (7th) scored their fourth success in a row at the expense of Charlotte (128-97).

In the East, Boston’s leader conceded a second consecutive loss to Miami (98–95), paying for a poorly organized last quarter and 30 points from Bam Adebayo.

The absence of Jaylen Brown (adductor), Al Horford (rear), Malcolm Brogdon (personal reasons) and Marcus Smart (ankle) proved to be too much for the Celtics, who nonetheless had a 10 lead (87-77) in the last match. quarter thanks to Jason Tatum (31 points, 14 rebounds).

When the Heat, devoid of Jimmy Butler (lumbar), fought back with 15 points while the Cs missed ten shots in a row. The latter nevertheless equalized the score (95-95) at a long distance with Grant Williams’s banderilla in the last minute.

But Adebayo (15 reps) put Miami back in front with a shot 20 seconds before the siren on a pass from behind Tyler Herro, clumsy (9 points at 4/19) in this game, but decisive, intercepting Tatum’s final possession pass.

Miami remains 6th behind Cleveland, who were defeated in New York (105-103), where Julius Randle (36 points, 13 rebounds) shone with eight goals per arc, including the last crucial two minutes left.

Source: AFP.