The Denver Nuggets entered Thursday night’s nationally televised game with a decided advantage over the visiting Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs were just 6-27 on the road coming in, 1-9 in their last ten games, and they didn’t land in Denver until Thursday morning—shouts to the Bomb Cyclone thing.
Since the Golden State Warriors’ 106-104 victory over conference irritant Houston Rockets was considered to be a “statement game”, the statement was more for the Warriors themselves as opposed to making a statement to the Rockets or anyone else.
The Suns headed to Oakland for the second night of a back-to-back, hoping to at least get one win on the road after losing to the Blazers on Saturday night. This is the fourth and final time the Suns faced the Warriors this season and they hoped to avoid the sweep.
The Milwaukee Bucks earned their 24th road win of the season with a 130-113 victory over the Pelicans.
The Bucks finished with six players scoring in double-figures in the balanced effort tonight. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Milwaukee shot 29.5 percent from the floor despite going only 27.8 percent from deep.
In a sleety Milwaukee night, the Bucks would earn their 50th victory of the campaign, coming from behind and dismantling the Charlotte Hornets, 131-114.
The first half featured some stagnant basketball from Milwaukee. The Bucks would just shoot 36 percent the opening 12 minutes, much of which came from 4-of-15 beyond the arc. However, after being down by as many as 14, they’d slash the Charlotte lead to just four at half.
Houston slowed down after jumping to a big lead, but they had enough in the tank to hold off a shorthanded Hornets team.
The Houston Rockets came out the gates tonight against the Charlotte Hornets and built a big first-half lead before going into cruise control in the second half of the second game of a back-to-back, and they knocked off the Hornets 118-106 for their ninth straight victory.
Celtics remain undefeated on their potentially season-defining West Coast road trip.
The Boston Celtics continued their trip around the proverbial “corner” with a win against the reeling and shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers. Kyrie Irving led the way with 30 points on 66.7% shooting and Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris both chipped in with 16 points. LeBron James posted a 30-point triple-double in limited minutes for the Lakers.
The Houston Rockets pounded out a 94-93 win over the Dallas Mavericks to extend their playoff-ready winning streak to eight games and hold third seed in the Western Conference.
Earlier in the season the Rockets would have lost this game. Hell, in December wunderkid Luka Doncic dropped 11 points in the final two minutes erasing a Houston lead and giving Harden and crew a loss.
The Golden State Warriors host the Denver Nuggets at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. And it’s a pretty exciting game.
Golden State is currently atop the Western Conference, but Denver is only one game behind. The teams split their first two games, which means whoever wins tonight will have possession of the top seed.
