By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their third straight and 35th overall win in the NBA this season, a 122 – 101 rout over the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was the 33rd triple-double in 2019-2020 so far for Giannis. The “Greek Freak” spent 29 minutes on the court and shot 13/23 from the field including 2/4 3-pointers. He also dished out six assists.
Turkish forward Ersan Ilyasova played 12 minutes and dropped two points. For the Blazers, Mario Hezonja had two points in 11 minutes.
Luka Doncic flirted with the triple-double by notching 19 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds to make up some lackluster shooting (4/15 from the field) as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101 – 91 to return to wins after two straight losses.
It was a much necessary victory for Doncic. “We’ve had some tough losses,” Doncic said. “We had a nice win. We needed it,” the Slovenian player said per AP.
Serbian center Boban Marjanovic scored 10 points in eight minutes off the bench. German forward Maxi Kleber was a starter for the Kristaps Porzingis-less Mavericks and had 10 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
For the Sixers, that were without Joel Embiid, Turkish wing Furkan Korkmaz played 15 minutes as a substitute and scored two points.
The Boston Celtics crushed the New Orleans Pelicans 140 – 105 with Turkish center Enes Kanter registering an efficient double-double of 22 points and 19 rebounds in just 23 minutes off the bench. His frontline mate, German center Daniel Theis, added six points and for boards in 17 minutes.
Italian forward Nicolo Melli came off the bench and scored seven points and got five boards for the Pelicans.
Turkish swingman Cedi Osman posted his first double-double of the 2019-2020 season with 11 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets 111 – 103.
Jokic delivered 19 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists in 34 minutes. The Serbian center’s efforts weren’t enough for the Nuggets that had their first loss after two straight wins.
Spanish forward Juancho Hernangomez and Croatian center Ante Zizic had two points apiece for the Nuggets and Cavaliers respectively. The latter also grabbed six rebounds.
Italian forward Danilo Gallinari dropped 24 points in his highest-scoring game of 2020 so far but the Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t deny the Los Angeles Lakers that won 125 – 110.
German guard Dennis Schroder had 13 points (5/15 shots), four rebounds and four assists for the Thunder.
In Houston, German big man Isaiah Hartenstein made the Rockets overcome the absence of Swiss center Clint Capela by tallying 17 points, 10 rebounds plus a career-high five blocks in his team’s 139 – 109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The rest of Saturday’s NBA results plus Euro-scorers:
Detroit Pistons – Chicago Bulls 99 – 108 (Sekou Doumbouya 12 points – Lauri Markkanen 14 points, seven rebounds – Tomas Satoransky 10 points)