The Los Angeles Lakers remain on the winning track. Decisive player at the end of the game against the Sacramento Kings: Dennis Schröder. Meanwhile, there is also good news for the Wagner brothers at Orlando Magic: Moritz makes his comeback after a suspension, Franz scores a lot of points.
In the North American professional basketball league NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers have celebrated their fifth win in a row. A Lakers quartet around Dennis Schröder convinced in the hard-fought 136:134 win against the Sacramento Kings. The 29-year-old point guard has 27 points, four rebounds and two assists.
As against the Atlanta Hawks, the in-form Schröder became the match winner and made the decision in a dramatic final phase from the free-throw line. He hit both free throws in the basket. He scored more than 20 points for the third time in a row. His recently ill teammate LeBron James was even more successful than Schröder with 37 points.
Russell Westbrook and Thomas Bryant also scored beyond the 20 point mark. The Lakers, who are in twelfth place in the Western Conference, are putting themselves back in the playoff ranks with their winning streak.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic won for the first time in over a decade at the reigning NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors. A good-humoured Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner paved the way for Orlando's 115:101 win.
In Moritz Wagner's comeback game (four points) after the suspension, brother Franz scored 24 points, putting him directly behind Banchero (25). In the absence of superstars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Anthony Lamb rose to become the top scorer for the Warriors.
"They were the more aggressive team," said Golden State coach Steve Kerr afterwards. Despite the win, the Magic remain 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Led by their star player Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks found their way back to winning ways on Sunday night. Due to a strong start to the game, the Texans beat the New Orleans Pelicans 127-117.
34 points, ten assists and ten rebounds mean the ninth triple double for Doncic this season, who scored the last eleven points in the first quarter (34:15). Most recently, the exceptional performer had already excelled with 60 and 51 points within a few days. Christian Wood also showed a strong performance with 28 points against the Pelicans, who had to do without their three top scorers around Zion Williamson.
