By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Oklahoma City Thunder rookies Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski were among the top contributors of their team in their first NBA appearance, a preseason 121 – 108 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Maledon actually led all Thunder scorers with 20 points on 7-14 shots off the bench. The French guard also grabbed five rebounds during the 29 minutes he spent on the court.
Pokusevski made some noise from beyond the arc, shooting 4-8 triples en route to finishing with 14 points plus eight rebounds, also off the bench.
Maledon’s and Pokusevski’s next opportunity to show a portion of what they can provide to the Thunder will come Thursday (17/12) and Saturday (19/2) against the Chicago Bulls. Oklahoma has invested a lot on the two young European players, acquiring Maledon in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers and getting Pokusevski after trading for the 17th Draft pick with the Minesotta Timberwolves.
While Maledon comes to the NBA with a bit more experience on a pro level since he played in EuroLeague and EuroCup with ASVEL, Pokusevski had few appearances with Olympiacos‘ pro team. The Serbian forward spent most of his playing time with Olympiacos B’ team and was a part of the Reds’ senior team mainly for practices. Still, in his first NBA game he showed that he may be ready to step on the court and contribute immediately.