Edwards outduels Doncic in Timberwolves win, Giannis carries the Bucks with 42 points

By Sports Desk December 19, 2022

Anthony Edwards continued to show what he can do as a true top option in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 116-106 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

With Karl-Anthony Towns still out, Rudy Gobert was also ruled out in the hours leading up to tip-off, leaving the home Timberwolves as the underdogs against a full-strength Mavericks outfit.

But after one of the best games of his career against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday – when Edwards had 37 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds – the former number one overall draft pick showed it was no fluke.

Playing against arguably the league's top one-man-show in Dallas' Luka Doncic, Edwards produced an all-round performance with 27 points (seven-of-21 shooting), 13 rebounds and nine assists, helping his side build a 20-point buffer heading into the last quarter.

After only exceeding six assists in two of his first 23 games this season, Edwards has now registered at least seven in five of his past eight outings.

He was supported strongly against the Mavericks by Naz Reid, with the sweet-shooting center taking full advantage of his team's absences and his expanded role. He had 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting with 13 rebounds, after a 28-point, nine-rebound performance on Friday.

Doncic was kept quiet in his 28 minutes, hitting just five-of-17 from the field for 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

The win is the Timberwolves' third in a row, pulling their record above .500 at 16-15 after starting the season 2-6.

Giannis, Lopez dominate the Pelicans' interior

Giannis Antetokoumpo put up his third-highest point total of the season as he dropped 42 in the Milwaukee Bucks' 128-119 win against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Both teams entered the contest in the top-three of their respective conferences, but it was the 2021 NBA Champions coming out on top, with Antetokounmpo shooting 12-of-17 from the field and 17-of-22 from the free throw line while adding 10 rebounds.

Brook Lopez was similarly impressive, also shooting 12-of-17 from the field for 30 points, although his league-leading figure in blocks per game (2.8) took a small dip after only blocking one shot against the Pelicans.

Young carries the Hawks' offense

Trae Young had his fifth game of the season with at least 30 points and 10 assists in a close 126-125 victory to snap a six-game Orlando Magic winning streak.

Young finished with 37 points on 11-of-22 shooting, while also dishing 13 assists. None of his teammates scored more than rookie A.J. Griffin's 19 off the bench.

It was comfortably the best game of the season for former number one draft pick Markelle Fultz, scoring 24 points with nine assists and six rebounds as the Magic's starting point guard.

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    After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.

    Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.

    Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.

    The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.

    And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.

    Data debrief

    Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.

    Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.

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    Jason Kidd reminded the media that Luka Doncic is "not a robot" after the Dallas Mavericks star turned in a peculiar display against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

    Doncic delivered his best performance of the playoffs on Wednesday, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 104-92 victory.

    The Mavericks are now just one win away from the Western Conference finals.

    But what was different about Doncic's night was the fact he rarely remonstrated with the officials, having previously expanded a lot of energy doing just that in Game 4 of the series.

    "He's human; he's not a robot," Kidd said. 

    "Sometimes we just pencil in that he's going to put in 30, 10 and 10. You know the playoffs are hard mentally and physically.

    "Before the game, understand you are not going to get any calls on the road. You got to understand you got to play through it."

    For Doncic, it was a case of just focusing on what he could control.

    "Just focus on basketball," Doncic said. "Remember the thing I love, the thing I love to do. Just play basketball.

    "I talked to them [the officials] normally, without complaining.

    "I think it was the whole game, nothing. So I just go out there and hoop. Have fun, have fun. It was the old Luka, a smile on my face."

    Doncic's teammate Derrick Jones Jr suggested the Slovenian's sharpness in the warm-up told him all he needed to know about what was to come.

    "I was just sitting back saying, 'It's going to be a long day for them,'" Jones said. 

    "Once he gets his rhythm and he's got it going, you can't stop him."

    Kyrie Irving believes Doncic can take lessons from his Game 5 performance.

    "I think he can learn from this tonight as well as all of us and just continue to affirm to himself that when he is focused on just his game and he's focused on doing the right things, then we flourish as a team," he said.

    "I'm not going to sit up here and complain about him. I'm not going to do that.

    "I've got to give my brother a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it is warranted to get on the guys that are refereeing the game, but I think he found a healthy balance tonight where he was just really focused on getting us going offensively and making the right plays and making sure that we kept our foot on the gas pedal."

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    Boston beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on Wednesday to book their place in the Conference finals for a third straight season.

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    "It just shows the character of the team, the organisation," said Tatum, who led Boston with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

    "People might think that it's a given that we're supposed to be here, but I give a lot of credit to everyone in the front office, the coaching staff, the trainers, the guys that hand out the equipment, the ball boys, the cooks, the chefs, the security team. We're all in this together. I do, I mean that.

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    Coach Joe Mazzulla lauded the mentality and attitude of his team.

    "Close-out games are tough. It's a level of stress, anxiety, desperation; it takes what it takes," he said. "You've got to play 48 [minutes] hopefully, maybe more at times.

    "And at the end of the day, you just got to keep going, continue to chip away at the things you can control."

    The Celtics will face either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers for a place in the Championship game.

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