National basketball player Maximilian Kleber has suffered the next setback in the fight for the playoffs in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks. Without their two stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs went down 88-104 to the Memphis Grizzlies and slipped to eighth in the West. The gap to sixth place in the table, the last direct play-off position, is two wins.
For the Texans it was the third loss in a row and the second bankruptcy in two days against Memphis, who also achieved their third success in a row without their suspended top player Ja Morant. In just under 25 minutes Kleber only converted a free throw, collecting three rebounds and one assist. The best Mavs pitcher was Jaden Hardy with 28 points, with the Grizzlies Desmond Bane (23) in particular jumping into the breach.
The Indiana Pacers had to put up with a setback in the race for the play-in tournament without national player Daniel Theis. At the worst team in the league, the Detroit Pistons, the Pacers clearly lost 97:117 – two days earlier Indiana had celebrated a narrow victory at the same place.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks, with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo returning after three games, extended their lead over the Boston Celtics to the east. With 46 points and twelve rebounds, the “Greek Freak” led his Bucks to 133:124 against the in-form Sacramento Kings. The Celtics, on the other hand, lost surprisingly 109:111 at the west bottom light Houston Rockets, 43 points from the strong Jaylen Brown were not enough for the runner-up.