By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
In what came out as a European forward clash between Utah Jazz’s Simone Fontecchio and Sacramento Kings’ Sasha Vezenkov, the former Olympiacos player boosted his new NBA team to the 116-113 home win in preseason.
Starting things off with a three-pointer almost from the logo, the 28-year-old Bulgarian forward had 13 points and 6 rebounds with 5/10 from the field. He had a way better look than in the previous two games, where he scored a total of two points.
Facing Simone Fontecchio, who he last played against in the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season against Baskonia, the Italian player had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in the loss against Sacramento. Coming off the bench for the Kings, Ukrainian center Alex Len had 7 points and 7 boards.
Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis had double-doubles
Elsewhere in the league, the Denver Nuggets had no problems in beating on the road the Los Angeles Clippers, finding the 103-90 away victory mainly thanks to the back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, who went really close to a monster triple-double with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists.
On the opposing and losing side, Ivica Zubac powered up 5 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists, but struggled shooting with 2/7 from the field. His French teammate Nicolas Batum came off the bench to spend eight minutes on the home court but went scoreless.
Another European big like Kristaps Porzingis led his team with an impressive double-double, having 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Boston Celtics for the 127-99 win in Charlotte. The Portugal 24-year-old center shone with 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk added 6 points.
An all-around game in the loss for Vasilije Micic
The European center duo of Minnesota, composed of Rudy Gobert and Luka Garza, brought the Timberwolves to the 114-105 on-the-road winning encounter against Chicago. The French had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the starting five, while the Bosnian big came off the bench for 11 points and 4 rebounds.
The clash on the glass, however, was won by Nikola Vucevic, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists in the Bulls’ defeat. The Turkish rookie and former Bursaspor slasher Onuralp Bitim scored 5 points in seven minutes on the court.
In the first showdown between LeBron James (19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) and Kevin Durant (21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists) in five years – which saw the Phoenix Suns win 123-100 against the Lakers -, Jusuf Nurkic had 8 rebounds but with a nightmare shooting night (1/11 FG).
Killian Hayes contributed 8 points to Detroit’s 118-116 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Vasilije Micic had a pretty good all-around performance of 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, coming off the bench next to Dairis Bertans, who added 9 points.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Kings