The French No.1 of the last draft Zaccharie Risacher contributed to this success, scoring 11 points (4 of 8 shooting), 3 rebounds and 1 assist.
Faced with 29 points from Darius Garland, interior De’Andre Hunter was valuable for the Hawks (23 points), offering them a qualification for the quarter-finals of the NBA Cup.
In the same group, champion Boston beat Chicago (138-129) and can still hope to win a ticket reserved for 2nd in the group.
Jayson Tatum once again had a solid game (35 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists), being assisted by Payton Pritchard, author of 19 of his 29 points at the start of the 4th quarter, while the score was still close.
The blue hornets show up
The two young Frenchmen from the Charlotte Hornets, Tidjane Salaün and Moussa Diabaté, played and shone against the New York Knicks, outsiders for the title, despite a narrow defeat (99-98).
Deprived of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges in particular, Hornets coach Charles Lee placed his trust in the young people, offering a 5th start to Tidjane Salaün (19 years old), No. 6 in the draft in June, and a 3rd to Moussa Diabaté ( 22 years old), who finally finds his place in a team for his 3rd NBA season.
After scoring 17 points against Miami on Wednesday, his record, Salaün scored 14 on Friday, thanks to his skill from distance (4 out of 10), while collecting 8 rebounds.
At the pivot position, Diabaté did his usual job by setting screens and grabbing rebounds (11). Three of his six points gave Charlotte hope in the final seconds, after he was guilty of an avoidable foul on Knicks leader Jalen Brunson (31 points) behind the three-point line.
New York has three wins in three matches in its NBA Cup group and will play a final decisive match on Tuesday against Orlando, which has the same record after its success in Brooklyn (123-100).
Yet deprived of its star Paolo Banchero for several weeks, Franz Wagner’s Magic (29 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) have won 11 of their last 12 matches.
Wolves go orange
After the rant made on Wednesday by Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves recovered with a snatched success against the Los Angeles Clippers (93-92), despite a once again messy end to the match.
“I played very poorly tonight but we defended! Everyone played harder tonight, that’s what we need,” appreciated Edwards (21 points on 7 of 21 shooting, 4 rebounds ).
French pivot Rudy Gobert scored 8 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and his compatriot Nicolas Batum was skillful from afar (12 points at 4 of 7 from three points).
2024-11-30 07:59:00