By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
Fueling a 130-125 victory for the New York Knicks on the New Orleans Pelicans At the Smoothie King Center, British OG Anunoby had a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow starter, Frenchman Mohamed Diawara, improved his career high at the senior level to 18 points as the latest youngster to expand the roster and deliver such a performance for head coach Mike Brown during the 2025-26 NBA regular season. French reserve Guerschon Yabusele added nine points, but Germany’s Ariel Hukporti was forced out early with a mouth laceration before getting on the board, France’s Pacome Dadiet did not play and Britain’s Tosan Evbuomwan was not in the lineup. On the bad side, Croatian Karlo Matkovic remained on the bench.
While German Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus strain) joins Frenchman Ousmane Dieng (right calf strain) and Serbian Nikola Topic (testicular cancer treatment) on the inactive list, Belgian Ajay Mitchell defeated an early exit in the top half of a back-to-back game with ten points for the Oklahoma City Thunder in a victory, 140-129, against the Atlanta Falcons in the Paycom center. Czech Vit Krejci entered Quin Snyder’s starting lineup with 18 points, and fellow starter Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher scored 12, but Latvian Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Spaniard Eli Ndiaye (left shoulder surgery) were absent along with Serbian Nikola Djurisic, who was assigned to the G League affiliate College Park Skyhawks.
Coming back from a 21-point deficit, the Toronto Raptors anticipated the Magic of Orlando107-106, at the Scotiabank Arena. Austria’s Jakob Poeltl (lower back sprain) was ruled out an extra week before Monday’s game, but Georgia’s Sandro Mamukelashvili replaced Serbia’s Darko Rajakovic and scored 13 points. With the absence of German brothers Franz (left ankle sprain) and Moritz Wagner (recovering from left knee injury), Georgian Goga Bitadze returned from a left knee strain with two points, German Tristan da Silva reached six points and Frenchman Noah Penda got a point for the visitors.
At the Barclays Center, the Warriors of the Golden State beat the Brooklyn fillets120-107, with Dutch starter Quinten Post limited to 4:52 and three points, and fellow Dutchman Malevy Leon on assignment with the Santa Cruz Warriors. For the team coached by Spaniard Jordi Fernandez, Russian starter Egor Demin scored 23 points behind seven triples, Frenchman Nolan Traoré had nine points, Israeli Danny Wolf scored no goals and Israeli Ben Saraf was with Long Island. Nets.
With Coby White and Josh Giddey injured, the Chicago Bulls lost, 136-101, to Minnesota Timberwolves at United Center, despite Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic recording a team-high 23 points. His compatriot, the Lithuanian Matas Buzelis, obtained 13 points, but the Frenchman Noa Essengue (left shoulder operation) remained on the sidelines. On the winning side, Italian Donte DiVincenzo scored 12 points and Frenchman Rudy Gobert combined for nine points with ten rebounds, but Frenchman Joan Beringer did not score.
After losing a 17-point advantage, the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to defeat the Dallas Mavericks125-122, at the Moda Center. Leading the way, Israeli Deni Avdija recorded a double-double of 27 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Also starting under head coach Tiago Splitter, Belgian Toumani Camara and Frenchman Sidy Cissoko scored nine and six points respectively, while French reserve Rayan Rupert has nine points.
Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly scored 13 points for the Wizards of Washington in a defeat, 115-101, against the Phoenix Suns in the Capital One Arena. His French compatriot Alex Sarr was limited to two points and Serbian Tristan Vukcevic did not play.
Monday results
Charlotte Frelons – Milwaukee Bucks 113-123
Wizards of Washington – Phoenix Suns 101-115
Brooklyn Nets – Golden State Warriors 107-120
Miami Heat – Denver Nuggets 147-123
Toronto Raptors – Magic of Orlando 107-106
Chicago Bulls – Minnesota Timberwolves 101-136
Houston Rockets – Indiana Pacers 126-119
New Orleans Pelicans – New York Knicks 125-130
Oklahoma City Thunder – Atlanta Falcons 140-129
San Antonio Spurs – Cleveland Cavaliers 101-113
Portland Trail Blazers – Dallas Mavericks 125-122
Ranking
Eastern Conference
1. Detroit Pistons 24/7
2. New York Knicks 23-9
3. Boston Celtics 19-12
4. Toronto Raptors 20-14
5. Miami Heat 18-15
6. The magic of Orlando 18-15
7. Philadelphia 76ers 16-15
8. Cleveland Cavaliers 18-16
9. Chicago Bulls 15-17
10. Atlanta Falcons 15-19
11. Milwaukee Bucks 14-19
12. Charlotte Frelons 11-21
13. Brooklyn Tenderloins 10-20
14. Wizards of Washington 7-24
15. Indiana Pacers 6-27
Western Conference
1. Oklahoma City Thunder 28-5
2. San Antonio Spurs 23-9
3. Denver Nuggets 22-10
4. Houston Rockets 20-10
5. Los Angeles Lakers 20-10
6. Minnesota Wolves 21-12
7. Phoenix Suns 19-13
8. Golden State Warriors 17-16
9. Memphis Grizzlies 15-17
10. Portland Trail Blazers 14-19
11. Utah Jazz 12-19
12. Dallas Mavericks 12-22
13. Los Angeles Clippers 10-21
14. Kings of Sacramento 8-24
15. New Orleans Pelicans 8-26
-The top 6 teams in each conference advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams seventh through tenth in each conference advance to the Play-Ins
