Croatian basketball player Karlo Matkovic made three of four shots for two and both three-point attempts at Madison Square Garden in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 116-121 loss to the home New York Knicks in an NBA game played on Tuesday.
The local Knicks scored seventh win in a row primarily thanks to its main players Jalen Brunson who scored 32 points and To Karl-Anthony Towns who recorded 21 interceptions and 14 rebounds. With the Pelicans, the most effective were Zion Williamson with 22 hits and “rookie” Jeremiah Fears with 21 points, while Matković spent 22:33 minutes on the floor and, along with 12 points, also had three rebounds and one assist.
With a win-loss ratio of 25-48, the Pelicans are in 11th place in the Western Conference, but without a chance even for the play-in, while the Knicks are third in the East with 48-25.
It was very uncertain in Phoenix where they are visiting Denver Nuggets beat the home Suns 125-123. Nikola Jokić excelled again with 23 points, 17 rebounds and assists, and the Serbian center also scored the winning basket 12 seconds before the end. In the remaining time, the home team tried a three-pointer by their top scorer Devin Booker to turn around and win, but he was not accurate. Along with Jokić, Jamal Murray stood out for the Nuggets with 21 interceptions, while Booker led the Suns’ scorers with 22 hits, Grayson Allen and Jalen Green added 21 each.
Denver is now fourth in the West at 45-28, while Phoenix is seventh at 40-33.
Cleveland Cavaliers took another step toward securing home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 136-131 home win against Orlando Magic. Donovan Mitchell had another great night and scored 42 for the winners, while Paolo Banchero chipped in 36 for the losers.
Cleveland is fourth in the East at 45-27, while Orlando is tied for eighth in the East at 38-34.
(Hina | Photo: New Orleans Pelicans)
