Scoreboard
Hawks 122, Wizards 100
Celtics 115, Trail Blazers 93
Cavaliers 104, Heat 100
Pelicans 113, Mavericks 106
Bulls 117, Nuggets 96
Suns 132, Thunder 101
Raptors 108, Clippers 100
What went down
Two Eastern Conference teams battling for a safe playoff spot fought hard down the wire to get a win. The Atlanta Hawks just came off back-to-back losses to the Miami Heat and were looking to get back on the win column against the Washington Wizards.
Trae Young was on-point all throughout the game, then kicked it up a notch in the tight fourth quarter, where he scored 11 of his 28 points. With Dejounte Murray (17 points) struggling with his shooting, Young picked up the scoring load down the stretch to put away the pesky Wizards.
Led by Kristaps Porzingis, Washington wanted to build on a winning streak after beating the Detroit Pistons in their previous game. Porzingis had a field day versus the Hawks’ bigs, scoring a career-high 43 points on 77 percent shooting.
A career night for Kristaps Porzingis.
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
43 PTS (career-high)
5 REB
5 AST
7 3PM
77% FG pic.twitter.com/wZM13nDb7K
Despite Porzingis’ career game–and Kyle Kuzma and Bradley Beal combining for 49 points–the Wizards fell short in the end.
Young got help from a balanced Atlanta scoring, with a bonus 10 points from Jalen Johnson.
The good news for the Wizards is that they’ll immediately get to bounce back at home in two days against the same Hawks team.
Big-time ballers
Kawhi Leonard looked extra bouncy against his former team. Leonard scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, his second straight double-double after a 34-10 game versus the Grizzlies.
He also destroyed Jakob Poeltl for no reason whatsoever:
KAWHI POSTER 🤯
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
Clippers have their largest lead of the night on ESPN pic.twitter.com/JjfYBYNigj
Devin Booker, playing without Kevin Durant, also had an extra bounce in his step against the Thunder. DBook dropped 44 points in the win, becoming the first Suns player ever to score more than 35 points in four straight games.
Devin Booker is the first player in Suns history to drop 35+ in 4 straight games 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
Tonight: 44 PTS, 4 AST, 6 3PM, 74% FG pic.twitter.com/TPED9af1aY
If you missed the Pelicans-Mavericks game, there’s no better time to tune in than that insane stretch in the fourth quarter when CJ McCollum called game. McCollum scored 16 straight points in the clutch for a total of 32 points in the much-needed win.
16 straight points in Q4 to close out the W.
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
Good luck cooling CJ McCollum down 🥶 pic.twitter.com/n21OEhEv9Y
What he said
Kevin Durant hurt his ankle at shootaround, forcing him to miss what could’ve been his Phoenix home game debut. Not to worry, Book said:
"He's fine, it's just a roll. We'll get him right and he'll have the debut another day."
Did you see that?
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the NBA’s best and brightest analysts, hosts, and assistant coaches shared how special it is for them to work in sports:
Celebrating #InternationalWomensDay in New Orleans!
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
Mavs-Pelicans | Live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/cg0e4Ixi21
