Jimmy fires in 76ers’ victory
Los Angeles, Nov 18: Philadelphia’s Jimmy Butler delivered the overtime dagger as the 76ers withstood 60 points from Kemba Walker in a 122119 NBA victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
Another nail- biter saw the two- time defending champion Golden State Warriors drop a 112- 109 decision to the Mavericks in Dallas.
Slovenian rookie Luka Doncic scored 24 points, including the jump shot that put Dallas ahead for good with 1: 10 remaining.
The Warriors, missing injured starters Stephen Curry and Draymond Green — and still smarting from the dust- up between Green and teammate Kevin Durant earlier this week — led by eight in the second half before Dallas rallied to beat the Warriors for just the second time in last 19 meetings.
The champions have now lost four of their last six, and have lost two in a row for the first time this season.
Durant scored 32 points, but only three in the fourth quarter. Klay Thompson added 22 for Golden State, but the Warriors had multiple shots in the final minute to tie or take the lead and came up empty.
Far from pushing the panic button, coach Steve Kerr said he was pleased to see the Warriors play well enough to win — even if they came up short.
“What we did tonight was fantastic,” he said. “The effort was great. We got incredible energy from the bench. Our guys competed the whole way through.” — their AFP