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Garland DRILLS winner “from the logo” | 00:37
Aussie gem Dyson Daniels continued a promising run of offensive play, but new San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama proved too much for the Atlanta Hawks to handle. Later, a Cavaliers star sunk a miraculous game-winner from just over half-court in Detroit.
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Daniels scored 19 points on an efficient 8-14 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and dished seven assists as Atlanta fell to San Antonio 126-125 on Thursday afternoon (AEDT).
Defensively, the Australian menace predictably matched up against newly-minted Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox — who made his franchise debut following a blockbuster trade deal — and he gave the hosts fits all throughout the evening, capping his night with 24 points on 50 per cent shooting and 13 assists.
Budding superstar Wembanyama, too, caused the Hawks strife, including a clutch-time putback dunk in the waning moments, followed by a “masterstroke” in the final seconds; finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
In the first quarter, Daniels scored five points and added two rebounds and two assists, including a three-point make, to lead the Hawks’ scorers in the early going.
Early in the second, Daniels spun in the lane, stopped, drew the contact of Chris Paul and finished from close-range for the basket and a foul, moving to 4-6 for 10 points. He remained Atlanta’s scoring leader, adding four rebounds.
ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson said: “(We’ve seen) Daniels’ improvement on the offensive end, especially since leaving New Orleans. But I just think, when you are so elite defensively, and you’re on the floor more and you have a guy like Trae Young spoon-feeding you good looks, it just raises your confidence levels so much.”
The 21-year-old Bendigo product earned his second and-one of the second period after a clever dive to the basket, finishing at the rim and drawing the Keldon Johnson foul.
Daniels capped the first half with 12 points to his name on 5-9 shooting, but it was San Antonio’s new star who continued to find space and have his way, with the Spurs taking an 18-point lead into the second half.
“It’s been pretty good but when De’Aaron gets going there’s not much you can do about it,” Jefferson said of Daniels defending Fox.
The Hawks made their move in the third, outscoring the Spurs 43-31 in the period to make it a single-digit game heading into the final quarter of play.
Daniels found DeAndre Hunter for a big-time three-ball to close the gap to two points with less than two minutes left, but on the next possession he committed a loose-ball foul against Victor Wembanyama.
A Wembanyama putback dunk put the Spurs back up two, before Young knotted things up again at 125-125 with a hanging floater with eight seconds left.
The seven-foot-three Frenchman was fouled with three seconds left, made the first three-throw and cleverly intentionally missed the second, prompting a frazzled three-quarter-court heave from Young that missed.
ESPN commentator Mark Jones called Wembanyama’s quick thinking “a masterstroke of brilliance” as San Antonio improved to 22-26.
The Eastern Conference one-seed Cleveland Cavaliers have claimed their latest victim in miraculous fashion, downing the Detroit Pistons by way of a Darius Garland logo heave at the buzzer.
With the game tied at 115 and less than four seconds remaining until a probable overtime period, Garland raced down the floor, pulled up for a three-pointer from the edge of the Pistons logo, and canned it as time expired.
The 25-year-old All-Star poured in 25 points for the game and added five assists and three rebounds in 31 minutes, just one night after narrowly falling to the reigning champion Boston Celtics.
The Cavs improved to 41-10, resigning the reborn Pistons to 25-26.
In Josh Giddey’s second game since backcourt teammate Zach LaVine was traded to Sacramento, the Bulls didn’t have the same success as they did against Miami, falling comprehensively 127-108 in Minnesota to the Anthony Edwards-led Timberwolves.
A budding superstar of the game, Edwards sliced through the Bulls’ tired defence on numerous occasions en route to 49 points on 13-28 field goals and 17-18 from the free-throw line.
For the Wolves, the victory snapped a two-game home skid, while the Bulls’ loss dropped them to 22-30 on the season.
Aussie floor general Giddey gave his best efforts in 32 minutes of action, pouring in 19 points on 50 per cent shooting, four rebounds and four assists. He did, however, commit a team-worst four turnovers and finished a -23 in the plus-minus category.
Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones and Zach Collins, who Chicago yielded in the blockbuster trade, sat on the bench for the loss to the Wolves, and it could have used the extra scoring power against Minnesota.
With the trade deadline looming on Friday morning, rumours and speculation will continue to swirl around All-Star centre Nikola Vucevic following LaVine’s departure. Vucevic had a quiet double-double on Thursday, managing 10 points to go with 11 rebounds.
One man who won’t be moved by the Bulls at the deadline is guard Lonzo Ball, who penned a two-year, US$20 million (AU$31.9 million) extension before the game.
