The NBA regular season continued on January 18th, Beijing time. In the completed games, Davis was absent, and facing the Nets who lost to the Clippers by 59 points in the previous game, the Lakers held on for a long time. The two sides fought until the last moment to decide the outcome. Russell missed a three-pointer to kill, and the Lakers narrowly escaped with a score of 102-101. Reeves scored a career-high 38 points, but in the final moments, Reeves was too self-righteous, missing four consecutive shots. Fortunately, Russell also missed, otherwise this game would have been both Reeves' success and failure!
The Grizzlies and Spurs met for the second time in three days, with Morant absent. However, the Spurs suffered another defeat, losing 112-140 to the Grizzlies. Wen Ban亚马 sent a total of 14 blocks in two games, but struggled offensively, shooting 5 of 19 in one game and 8 of 19 in the other, totaling only 32 points!
In addition, Alexander missed his first game of the season, with Holmgren and Hartenstein injured. The Thunder once completed an upset after trailing by 20 points, but unfortunately, Dinwiddie hit a key three-pointer in the final moments, and the Mavericks defeated the Thunder 106-98. Jokic returned, and Butler's suspension ended, but the Heat were no match for the Nuggets, losing 113-133 to the Nuggets for their third consecutive loss. Jokic clocked out after three quarters, scoring a triple-double with 24+12+10, while Butler had 18 points.
The Pelicans easily defeated the Jazz 136-123, with Zion scoring 24 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks in 23 minutes. The Timberwolves avenged the Knicks 116-99, with Towns absent. Edwards started 0 of 6 but then shot 12 of 15 to score 36 points, while Randle only scored 8 points against his former team.
After today's games, the latest rankings in the NBA Western Conference! The Thunder ended their four-game winning streak, leading the second-place Rockets by 6.5 games. The Grizzlies won two in a row, trailing the Rockets by one game and ranking third. The Nuggets are fourth. The Lakers won two in a row and are sixth, trailing the fifth-place Clippers by 0.5 games. The Mavericks are seventh, and the Timberwolves are eighth, with the four teams having a maximum difference of 1.5 games. The Spurs suffered two consecutive defeats and ranked 12th with 19 wins and 21 losses.