By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Facing off with Victor Wembanyama for the first time, Lauri Markkanen gave the French rookie a pretty good “Welcome to the NBA” moment, pushing the Utah Jazz to the 130-118 win over San Antonio on the road.
The Finnish dominator ended the game with a double-double of 31 points and 12 rebounds, shooting the ball decently both from the field (12/17) and from beyond the three-point line (5/9). Coming off the bench, Simone Fontecchio added 8 points and 3 rebounds in his team’s victory.
Returning to the court after missing two straight games due to a right ankle injury, Victor Wembanyama struggled from the field (6/15), but managed to end up with the usual all-around night: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 blocks. The Polish Jeremy Sochan had 19 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists.
Talking about big men’s double-doubles, Alperen Sengun keeps on shining this season for the Houston Rockets, but couldn’t contribute to the victory last night. The 21-year-old former Besiktas player had 30 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals in the losing effort against Indiana.
Domantas Sabonis had himself another great showing with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists but he wasn’t enough for Sacramento to escape from Portland on the upper hand. Ivica Zubac, instead, had 14 points and 18 rebounds in the Los Angeles Clippers‘ win at home over the Charlotte Hornets.
Coming back to score more than 20 points off the bench, Bogdan Bogdanovic had 22 for the Atlanta Hawks but shot only 3/12 from three in the away loss against Chicago. Without Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond had a double-double of 24 points and 25 rebounds to go past Clint Capela, who had 13 points and 5 rebounds.
NBA Results and other European performances
Detroit Pistons – Brooklyn Nets 112-118 (Bojan Bogdanovic 23 p)
Washington Wizards – Orlando Magic 119-127
Chicago Bulls – Atlanta Hawks 118-113
Houston Rockets – Indiana Pacers 117-123
New Orleans Pelicans – Memphis Grizzlies 115-116 OT (Valanciunas 17 p, 13 r)
Oklahoma City Thunder – Minnesota Timberwolves 129-106 (Gobert 10 p, 5 r; Micic 2 p, 4 a)
San Antonio Spurs – Utah Jazz 118-130
Portland Trail Blazers – Sacramento Kings 130-113
Los Angeles Clippers – Charlotte Hornets 113-104
Standings
Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics 23-6
2. Milwaukee Bucks 22-8
3. Philadelphia 76ers 20-9
4. Orlando Magic 18-11
5. Miami Heat 18-12
6. New York Knicks 17-12
7. Cleveland Cavaliers 17-13
8. Indiana Pacers 15-14
9. Brooklyn Nets 15-15
10. Chicago Bulls 14-18
11. Atlanta Hawks 12-18
12. Toronto Raptors 11-18
13. Charlotte Hornets 7-21
14. Washington Wizards 5-24
15. Detroit Pistons 2-28
Western Conference
1. Minnesota Timberwolves 22-7
2. Denver Nuggets 22-10
3. Oklahoma City Thunder 19-9
4. Los Angeles Clippers 18-12
5. Dallas Mavericks 18-12
6. Sacramento Kings 17-12
7. New Orleans Pelicans 17-14
8. Houston Rockets 15-13
9. Los Angeles Lakers 16-15
10. Golden State Warriors 15-15
11. Phoenix Suns 14-15
12. Utah Jazz 13-18
13. Memphis Grizzlies 10-19
14. Portland Trail Blazers 8-21
15. San Antonio Spurs 4-25
-Teams ranking first through sixth advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams ranking seventh through tenth compete in the Play-Ins
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images