No bad surprises for the teams at the top of the table on Thursday, with the exception of the Thunder. In their weekend doubleheader against the Rockets, Phoenix won the first set.
The Suns counted on a Devin Booker incandescent in the first quarter (20 of its 35 points) to quickly widen the gap and control the match, despite the Rockets' comeback at the end. Money time was tense with four technical fouls, including two for Alperen Sengun…after receiving his sixth foul! Phoenix signs a ninth victory in a row at home and eats up its deficit on the Top 4three victories from the Clippers.
The teams candidate for the Top 6 generally secured and held their rank. After three successes of more than 30 points against the Hornets this season, the Bucks this time stopped eleven points apart in Charlotte. The gap does not say everything about the rather quiet evening spent by Milwaukee, who never led and had a 19-length lead at the break. Doc Rivers signs his first series of four victories at the head of the Wisconsin franchise, almost back to the level of the Cavs and second place in the Eastern Conference.
No problem for the Magic either, despite good resistance from Jazz. The return of Paolo Banchero (29 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) did a lot of good after his two games missed due to a bad flu, and Jalen Suggs was responsible for ending a possible suspense with three 3-point shots in the last three minutes. Orlando is only one victory away from fourth place and the Knicks! Further down in the Eastern hierarchy, the Hawks failed to string together a third victory without Trae Young, slapped by one of their main competitors for the play-in, the Nets. Revenge planned for next night, still in Brooklyn, buoyed Thursday by the best performance of his season for Cam Johnson (29 points at 7/11 from afar).
