Luka Doncic put up a strong showing on his return after missing three games with sprains to his left knee and left ankle. The point guard scored 26 points, although none between the fourth quarter and overtime. He did not need it to dominate the rhythm of the match. “Yes, Luka is a great player,” Clippers point guard Reggie Jackson summed up in the first sentence of his appearance before the press.
But not all the players in the Los Angeles franchise had praise for the Slovenian point guard. Marcus Morris, who already had several frictions with him in the past, denounced what in his opinion is a favorable treatment of the referees towards the point guard. “I have the referees glued to my butt at all times,” he lamented, forgetting the precedents that make him a common suspect. “I can’t even talk to Luka let alone breathe on him,” he continued.
So far there haven’t been many voices with that speech in the NBA. In fact, Doncic’s relationship with the referees is complicated due to his continuous protests and gestures towards them. Last season he was one of the players who received the most techniques.
Results of the day
- Pistons 92-100 Heat
- Knicks 106-100 Lakers
- Blazers 119-100 Nuggets
- Clippers 104-112 Mavericks (prórroga)
He is also one of the players in the NBA with the most ball and usually takes many fouls in his penetrations to the basket. He’s more likely than others to hit the free throw line, yet he’s averaging 5.7 per game this season. He’s ahead of 11 other players in that statistic: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, Kevin Durant … League stars who have earned the respect of umpires. From there to having bull goes a bit.
Tyler Herro is heading for the Best Sixth Man award. After the first weeks of competition, the Heat player vastly outperforms his competition. He proved it one more day by scoring 31 points (12/21 from the field and 4/8 from 3-pointers) in his team’s 92-100 win over the Pistons.
The Heat’s top shooter is averaging 21.6 points per game having started just four of the Miami team’s 18 games. He’s among the top 20 scorers in the NBA, but everyone around him is a huge starter. He is the exception.
Herro is a microwave coming off the bench. He’s capable of heating up any match with a 3-point streak. It is also one of the keys to the Heat’s choral game, second in the East with a 12-6 record. Along with Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo (15 points per head against the Pistons), he’s part of a solid skeleton.
The Nuggets are an increasingly crowded hospital, and that affects the bottom line. PJ Dozier injured his left knee in the first quarter and his teammates had to help him get to the locker room, from where he did not return. He added to the casualties of Nikola Jokic, who suffers a sprained right wrist; Jamal Murray, still recovering from his serious left knee injury; Michael Porter Jr., who could be absent for a long time with back problems; and Bones Hyland, who hurt his right ankle.
All those casualties are a convincing argument to explain the streak of five consecutive losses of Denver, who against the Blazers lined up 13 players, but five of them did not get to be on track for five minutes. Campazzo had 29 and finished with eight points, two rebounds, five assists and three recoveries. A little of everything that was not enough.
