Still competing with the NFL games yesterday, the NBA was packed with a lot of action with all the winning teams scoring big points and showing great performances.  With football wrapping up, though, more action will now turn to basketball.

The Pels Too Much For Kings

A battle between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings left the unstoppable Zion Williamson with 31 points and six rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 43-point slam by Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox.  The Pels beat the Kings 128-123 last night as Brandon Ingram put up 22 points, Eric Bledsoe tacked on another 21 and Adams added an additional 12 points and 15 rebounds.  The Pelicans ended a five-game losing streak with the win.

Fox was kept to 14 points in the Kings’ 38-point loss to the LA Clippers two nights earlier, but turned things around yesterday.  It wasn’t enough, though, and New Orleans led by 19 points at halftime before the Kings tried to turn things around in the second half.  Marvin Bagley connected on a 3-pointer and Fox followed with a slam that cut the deficit to 116-115, but Adams and Williamson hit two free throws each and Bledsoe nailed a three-pointer to make it 122-115 near the end of the game.

Jazz Sing A New Tune

The Utah Jazz found help from Jordan Clarkson, who scored 23 points, and Donovan Mitchell, who connected for 18, as the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 109-105 yesterday.  It was the first meeting of these two teams since last season’s playoffs, and Rudy Gobert ended the night with 15 points and 13 rebounds.  Mitchell, however, couldn’t find his footing and went 7 of 20.

The Jazz took charge in the third quarter after Mike Conley stole the ball from Nikola Jokic and delivered it to Clarkson, who nailed his shot from beyond the paints.  The Nuggets tried to stage a comeback, but ultimately fell 107-105.

Bulls Take Care Of Mavs

The Chicago Bulls are back on track after winning yesterday’s game and ending a losing streak that lasted for four games.  They didn’t have too much trouble out of the Dallas Mavericks, winning 117-101, and Lauri Markkanen ended the night with 29 points and ten rebounds, while Garrett Temple added 21 points.

Mavs’ star Luka Doncic picked up his 29th triple-double as he finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, passing Michael Jordan on the career list in the process.  His run included a no-looker to Willie Cauley-Stein, who took it in for a slam.  Slovenian sensation, who had racked up 30 points by halftime, didn’t get a lot of assistance from his team since the Mavericks were missing five players due to COVID-19 problems.  Tim Hardaway Jr. was out with a left groin strain, which also hurt the squad.

Knicks Turn Up The Heat

Kemba Walker is back on the court, but he was ineffective for the Boston Celtics since the New York Knicks were on fire.  Julius Randle scored 20 points and added 12 rebounds as he helped the Knicks end a five-game losing streak to beat the Celtics 105-75.  Walker appeared for the first time after sitting out the first 11 games due to a knee injury, but was forced to leave in the third quarter with a rib injury.  Jayson Tatum missed his second straight game for the Celtics because of COVID-19.

The Knicks were up by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, bumping that to 15 in the next.  In the third, they tacked on the first ten to create a bigger lead, and the Celtics never gained ground.  The Knicks will now travel back home, where they next host the Orlando Magic today before a four-game West Coast trip.  The Celtics will play the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday for the first of a back-to-back.