Dyson Daniels filled the offensive boots left by his injured teammates, Josh Giddey hit a rare team-high mark, while Ben Simmons was ruled out moments before tip-off.
Average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
Simmons, who was initially listed as ‘available’ for the Brooklyn Nets’ clash with the Miami Heat and had recently battled a bout of illness, was a late scratch due to lower back soreness.
In Atlanta, Dyson Daniels and the undermanned Hawks fell to the lowly Toronto Raptors.
A larger-than-usual offensive burden was placed on Daniels’ shoulders on Sunday, with dependable scoring forwards Jalen Johnson, DeAndre Hunter and No.1 draft pick Zaccharie Risacher all absent due to illness and injury, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, however, the Australian guard stepped up to the plate and provided playmaking and scoring punch to aid All-Star backcourt teammate Trae Young, who struggled from the field in the first half, ending the first two periods with eight points on 3-9 shooting and a team-worst -16 plus-minus.
After two, Daniels had scored eight points on 4-6 shooting and added five rebounds, five assists and two steals. He did, however, also record four first-half turnovers as the Hawks trailed the 14th-placed Raptors — 12-32 on the season and 2-19 away from home — by seven points.
In notching at least one takeaway on Sunday, Daniels extended his one-steal-a-game streak to a career-best 17 consecutive matches: the longest active such streak in the league.
In the third quarter, Daniels took his tally to 13 points after hitting a sweet floater in the lane, as the Hawks’ television broadcast remarked: “More of that, please”.
However, Atlanta still trailed by 16 points at the end of the third, with an upset brewing.
Daniels reentered the contest with a little over seven minutes remaining, but he couldn’t help his Hawks over the line, with ninth-placed Atlanta slumping to 22-23. The 21-year-old finished with 13 points on 6-11 shooting, six rebounds, six assists and five steals.
Josh Giddey logged a double-double, and a rare team-high mark, in the Chicago Bulls’ 12-point home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Bulls trailed the Sixers by seven points at half-time, with Giddey recording four points on 2-8 shooting from the field, five assists and four rebounds. The 6’8 ball-handler has increased his attentiveness on defence, in one sequence deflecting the ball and finishing the play by alley-ooping to Zach LaVine.
Giddey capped his night having played an equal-team-high 38 minutes, matched only by LaVine, who poured in 25 points on a 50 per cent shooting clip. Giddey has managed more minutes in a game this season only once; two matches ago against the Clippers, when he posted a season-high 40 on January 21.
The Australian floor general managed 10 points on 4-13 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He was a minus-seven overall with five turnovers as Chicago dropped to 19-27 on the season and 8-16 on its home court.
Victor Wembanyama’s second NBA game in Paris ended in a loss as Tyrese Haliburton led the Indiana Pacers to a 136-98 win against the San Antonio Spurs.
In the Bercy Arena where he won the Olympic gold medal with the USA last year, Haliburton poured in 16 points in the third quarter on the way to a 28-point haul to carry the Pacers to victory.
Watched by singer and fashion icon Pharrell Williams, Frenchman Wembanyama had 20 points and Harrison Barnes top-scored for the Spurs with 25 points.
Indiana turned up the intensity after slumping to a 140-110 reverse in the first game against the Spurs in the French capital on Friday.
Pascal Siakam contributed 23 points for the Pacers who improve to 25-20 while the Spurs remain at 20-22 after their fourth defeat in five games and are left looking for consistency as the season heats up.
Six-foot-eight Australian Johnny Furphy played four minutes off the bench for the Pacers in the blowout, scoring two points; both free throws.
— with AFP
Discussion about this post