By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Domantas Sabonis dropped a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers (2-0) grabbed the 125-109 win against the Chicago Bulls (0-2). TJ Warren led all scorers of the Pacers with 23 points and Victor Oladipo also tapped 22 points.
Zach LaVine had 17 points for the opposing side, as Lauri Markkanen posted 16 points and 9 rebounds. Tomas Satoransky left the court with 6 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Terrence Ross contributed 25 points in Orlando Magic‘s 130-120 win against Washington Wizards (0-2), as Nikola Vucevic erupted with a double-double of 22 points and 17 rebounds and Frenchman Evan Fournier tapped 13 points for the winners.
The Magic (2-0) overcame a 39-point game by Bradley Beal, while Russell Westbrook signed off with a triple-double of 15 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists.
D’Angelo Russell had 25 points in Minessota Timberwolves‘ 116-111 win against the Utah Jazz (1-1) and Malik Beasley dropped 18 points. Ricky Rubio posted 9 points and 6 assists coming from the bench.
The Timberwolves (2-0) kept Rudy Gobert at bay despite his double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell led all Jazz scorers with 21 points. Bojan Bogdanovic left the court with 9 points and 7 rebounds in 34 minutes.
CJ McCollum dropped 44 points and 8 rebounds to lift Portland Trail Blazers (1-1) to an overtime 128-126 win against the Houston Rockets. Damian Lillard dropped 32 points for the winners and Jusuf Nurkic posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Short-staffed Rockets (0-1) returned to action, led by a statement performance by James Harden who had 44 points and 17 rebounds.
The Atlanta Hawks moved to 2-0 with a 122-112 win against the Memphis Grizzlies (0-2), led by a 36-point game by Trae Young, while Kevin Huerter had 21 points.
Ja Morant dropped 28 points for the Grizzlies while Jonas Valanciunas tapped a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lifted the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-107 victory against Charlotte Hornets with his game-winning jumper, pacing his team with 24 points in total, along with 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Euro-rookie Aleksej Pokusevski went pointless in his debut, though he produced 4 rebounds, one steal and one block in 11 minutes coming from the bench.
Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 19 points and Devonte Graham posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Collin Sexton poured 32 points to lead Cleveland Cavaliers (2-0) to a 128-119 win against the Detroit Pistons (0-2), followed by Andre Drummond who added 26 points and 16 boards. Cedi Osman came hot off the bench to drop 22 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Jerami Grant paced the Pistons with 28 points, 10 boards and Blake Griffin had 26 points.
The Philadelphia 76ers moved up to a 2-0 record with the help of Joel Embiid, who added 27 points, 10 rebounds in their 109-89 victory against the New York Knicks (0-2).
Julius Randle and Alec Burks were the leading scorers for the Knicks with 25 and 22 points respectively.
DeMar DeRozan went off with 27 points, 8 assists to lead the San Antonio Spurs (2-0) to a 119-114 win over the Toronto Raptors (0-2) who are having a rough start in the season. Patty Mills had 21 points for the winners and Dejounte Murray left the game with a triple-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Fred VanVleet paced the Raptors with 27 points in total.
De’Aaron Fox led the Sacramento Kings (2-0) with 24 points to a narrow 106-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns (1-1) to close Boxing Day action. Nemanja Bjelica added 12 points coming from the bench for the Kings, while on the other end, Devin Booker recorded 26 points for the Suns.
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