It was the final 2 home games of NBA legends, Dwayne Wade and Dirk Nowitzki and they both balled out for what could possibly be their last dance in style.
The Pistons won in thrilling fashion coming back to secure the much-needed win to ensure they make the playoffs, meanwhile the Blazers win it at the buzzer against the Lakers from a shot by Moe Harkless.
Thunder come back and win it to keep them off the 8th seed while the Rockets might have just ruined their hopes of achieving the 2 seed. The Jazz beat the Nuggets in a statement game by Donovan Mitchell and more!
SportsTips.com have got you covered on the 4 most exciting games played yesterday and our key points from each game!
Detroit Pistons vs Memphis Grizzlies
The Pistons desperately needed this win to secure their playoff berth, but boy did things looks bad for them early in the game. The pistons couldn’t make any shot they made, Blake was still struggling as he was playing with a huge knee brace the whole game.
The Grizzlies on the other hand was getting contribution from everyone, Delon Wright was shooting at will and so did young Bruno Caboclo. Drummond showed extreme will to keep the pistons in the game as he was banging down low securing as many rebounds as he can to ensure his team can go back at it.
Luckily for Drummond, his team mates finally showed up in the 4th quarter in the form of Ish Smith and Luke Kennard. Despite their shots not falling all game, in the 4th they finally fell. The Pistons showed some grit to come back and went on a final 36 – 14 run in the 4th quarter to secure them the win that knocked the Heat out of the playoffs and now they only need a win against the Knicks to secure their playoff berth.
Pistons Win 100 – 93
Top Scorer: Ish Smith – 22 Points
Top Assists: Reggie Jackson -5 Assists
Top Rebounds: Andre Drummond – 17 Rebounds
Miami Heat vs Philadelphia 76ers
The Heat needed a win to ensure they stay in the playoffs and a Piston loss, things looked good for the Heat as the Pistons were losing early and the Heat probably saw this in half time and stepped up their effort. Dwayne Wade’s final game was definitely one to remember as he poured a classic 30 bomb on the Sixers!
The Sixers weren’t really trying this game, they played most of their starts in limited minutes, with Ben Simmons out of the starts playing the most with 21. This was definitely a game for the Heat to lose with the Sixers bench not up to scratch. Dragic was diming Wade all night and with the Sixers lack of real center, Jonah Bolden couldn’t do much to contain Whiteside and Adebayo dropping 15 and 19 respectively.
Heat Win 122 – 99
Top Scorer: Dwayne Wade – 30 Points
Top Assists: Goran Dragic – 13 Assists
Top Rebounds: TIED – Bam Adebayo & Tobias Harris – 9 Rebounds
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets
Both teams wanted to win this one, there was no doubt about it. The Jazz can secure the 5th seed with their win tonight against the Nuggets meanwhile the Nuggets will secure the 2 seed with a win. It was a back and forth game all night until Jokic was ejected in the 2nd quarter with 16 minutes, making this game a lot more-harder for them to win.
The Jazz looked unstoppable when Mitchell was on fire though, he spread the floor so easily running pick and rolls with Gobert and coming off down screens for Joe Ingles to pass him the ball for the easy score. The Nuggets weren’t going out without a fight either, Murray and Beaasley was scoring all night long and Monte Morris came off the bench with some much-needed scoring. It wasn’t enough at the end as the Jazz went on a massive run with Jokic out in the second half to seal the game.
Jazz Win 118 – 108
Top Scorer: Donovan Mitchell – 46 Points
Top Assists: Joe Ingles – 13 Assists
Top Rebounds: Rudy Gobert – 10 Rebounds
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets
Our match up of the night did not disappoint! It wasn’t decided till the final buzzer sounded and was a back and forth scoring affair between Westbrook and Harden all night. The Houston rockets came in to the game hot, James Harden was getting every bucket he wanted to inside and outside. The rest of the Rockets starters? Not too flash, Eric Gordon was extremely cold, and Harden had to rely on CP3 to get on the board instead.
The OKC Thunder definitely showed some great effort though, despite both PG and Westbrook not able to get it going from three-point land, they were able to secure some much needed twos to keep them at-least within 10 points. If the Thunder wanted to win this one, they needed to turn on their defensive engines.
And they did just that, Paul George clamped Harden down hard in the 4th quarter. He secured 4 steals for the game in total ruining the Rockets offensive rhythm. Westbrook was doing everything as usual securing the triple double but it was George who secured the win for them with his game winning three.
Thunder Win 112 – 11
Top Scorer: James Harden – 39 Points
Top Assists: Russell Westbrook – 10 Assists
Top Rebounds: Steven Adams – 13 Rebounds
Other Games
Charlotte Hornets defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers
Top Scorer: Kemba Walker 23 Points, Colin Sexton 18 Points
Boston Celtics defeat the Washington Wizards
Top Scorer: Terry Rozier 21 Points, Tomas Satoransky 19 Points
New York Knicks defeat the Chicago Bulls
Top Scorer: Dennis Smith Jr 25 Points, Ryan Arcidiacono 14 Points
Toronto Raptors defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves
Top Scorer: Kawhi Leonard 20 Points, Andrew Wiggins 16 Points
Golden State Warriors defeat the New Orleans Pelicans
Top Scorer: DeMarcus Cousins 21 Points, Jahlil Okafor 30 Points
Dallas Mavericks defeat the Phoenix Suns 120 – 109
Top Scorer: Dirk Nowitzki 30 Points, Jamal Crawford 51 Points
Portland Trailblazers defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 104 -101
Top Scorer: Moe Harkless 26 Points, Kentavious Caldwell Pope 32 Points
Highlights
Player of the Night: Donovan Mitchell
Best Team Performance: Detroit Pistons
Most Disappointing Team Performance: Denver Nuggets
