NBA: Tension in Atlanta, overtime in Sacramento and confident victory for New York

Six games of the NBA regular season were played on the night of December 21-22.

Atlanta hosted Chicago and lost in a high-scoring game.

The teams focused on offense from the beginning of the match and this continued throughout the game. As a result, Atlanta made 23 three-pointers and Chicago made 20, and both teams had a shooting percentage close to 50. The teams also frequently missed each other at the basket, so the game resembled a constant exchange of points. The leader changed 20 times in the meeting and the fate of the match was decided at the last minute. Prior to that, the Bulls had built a 6-point advantage, but the Hawks nearly made up for it as the opponents took one of every two shots and Young and Johnson each scored three points for the home team. Still, the outcome was 152:150 in favor of Chicago.

The most productive player of the match was Johnson, who fell one assist short of a triple-double with 36 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulls also had a triple-double contender, but Giddy, who had 19 points and 11 assists, was one rebound short.

Sacramento made a great comeback against Houston and won at home.

Having performed better in the first half, the Rockets eventually gained an advantage of 11 points (68:57) and maintained a comfortable distance from the opponent in the third quarter with 9 points (91:82), and at the beginning of the fourth 12 minutes, this difference increased to +14 – 100:86. But after that the Kings made a 12:0 move and practically equalized: 98:100. Houston then had a few-point advantage, but with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Westbrook made a three-pointer and tied the score at 112:112. The match went to overtime and Schroeder’s three-point shot 4 seconds before the siren was decisive – 125:124.

At the end of this match, Schröder recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 assists. While Westbrook achieved the same success with 21 points and 13 rebounds, Reynaud also played with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

New York confidently won its home game against Miami.

Heat had a successful performance by winning the first quarter with a score of 37:30, but in the second 12 minutes, the Knicks managed to close the gap and take the lead and entered the long break with +4 – 66:62 on the scoreboard. In the second half, New York constantly kept its opponent within two or three attacks and carried the match to a confident victory with 132:125.

Brunson was the best player of the game, scoring 47 points, which significantly helped the Knicks win.

NBA. Regular season, December 22

Atlanta – Chicago – 150:152 (38:38, 35:45, 42:33, 35:36)

In Atlanta: Johnson (36 + 11 rebounds + 9 assists), Young (35 + 9 assists), Okongwu (23 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), Risache (17), Daniels (8 + 9 rebounds + 9 assists) – start; Krejci (20), Alexander-Walker (9), Gueye (2), Kennard (0), Newell (0).

Chicago: Buzelis (28), White (21), Giddy (19 + 9 rebounds + 12 assists), Okoro (14), Vucevic (13 + 6 assists) – start; Herter (16), Dosunmu (13), Jones (11), Collins (10 + 7 rebounds), Williams (4), Smith (3).

Sacramento – Houston – 125:124 Overtime (30:31, 27:37, 25:23, 30:21, 13:12)

Sacramento: DeRozan (27 + 9 assists), Murray (26), Westbrook (21 + 13 rebounds), Reynaud (12 + 14 rebounds), Achiuwa (5) – start; Schroeder (24 + 7 rebounds + 10 assists), Clifford (6), Cardwell (2), Monk (2), Ellis (0).

Houston: Shengyun (28), Durant (24 + 10 rebounds + 8 assists), Thompson (18 + 9 rebounds + 8 assists), Smith (18), Okogie (3) – start; Ison (16), Shepard (15), Capela (2).

New York – Miami – 132:125 (30:37, 36:25, 39:37, 27:26)

New York: Brunson (47 + 8 assists), Bridges (24), Anunoby (18), Hart (13 + 10 rebounds), Towns (2) – start; Clarkson (10), Robinson (9 + 7 rebounds), Kolek (6), Diawara (3).

Miami: Ware (28 + 19 rebounds), Powell (22), Adebayo (14 + 9 rebounds), Mitchell (13 + 8 assists), Wiggins (7) – start; Haykes (23), Smith (9), Fontecchio (7), Yakucionis (2).

Brooklyn – Toronto – 96:81 (24:18, 25:21, 18:26, 29:16)

Brooklyn: Porter (24 + 11 rebounds), Clowney (19 + 9 rebounds), Diomin (16), Clexton (12 + 7 rebounds), Menn (5 + 7 assists) – start; Sharp (8), Traore (8), Z. Williams (2), Martin (2), Wolf (0).

Toronto: Ingram (19), Quickley (17 + 10 assists), Agbaji (7), Barnes (6), Poeltl (2) – start; Walter (9), Murray-Boyles (8), Bettle (4), Mamukelashvili (4), Dick (3), Shead (2), Temple (0).

Washington – San Antonio – 113:124 (28:26, 21:43, 37:29, 27:26)

Washington: Carrington (21), Vukcevic (18 + 9 rebounds), McCollum (15), George (14 + 7 assists), Shempeni (5) – start; Johnson (19 + 7 rebounds), Brenham (9), Riley (8), Watkins (4), Hill (0).

San Antonio: Fox (27 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), Cornet (20 + 12 rebounds), Castle (18 + 11 assists), Barnes (14), Vassell (11) – start; Vembanyama (14 + 12 rebounds), K. Johnson (12 + 9 rebounds), Olynyk (4), Shempeni (3), Harper (1).

Minnesota – Milwaukee – 103:100 (23:29, 25:31, 27:15, 28:25)

Minnesota: Edwards (24 + 6 assists), DiVincenzo (18), Randle (12 + 7 rebounds), Gobert (11 + 18 rebounds), McDaniels (0) – start; Reed (12), Shannon (11), Hyland (9), Conley (6 + 6 assists), Clark (0).

Milwaukee: Porter (24 + 10 rebounds + 9 assists + 6 turnovers), Portis (16 + 11 rebounds), Turner (13), Kuzma (12 + 10 rebounds), Green (4) – start; Rollins (16), Sims (9), Trent (6), G. Harris (0).