By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Washington Wizards enjoyed Deni Avdija on a brilliant showing but lost, 133-126, to the New Orleans Pelicans in Smoothie King Center. The Israeli forward tallied 43 points, a new career high. He made 13/24 from the field, including 6/10 three-pointers. Fifteen rebounds, three assists, and one block were added to the stat sheet.
Placed alongside Avdija in the starting lineup for the team coached by Brian Keefe, French Bilal Coulibaly recorded six points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. On the winning end, Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas dropped ten points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block on Wednesday evening.
Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis went for 20 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals powering the Sacramento Kings to a win, 102-98, versus the Denver Nuggets in Ball Arena. Ukrainian Alex Len added two points, three rebounds, and one block. Bulgarian Sasha Vezenkov (right ankle sprain) was sidelined.
Struggling with 6/17 field goals, Serbian Nikola Jokic finished with 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and one block. Projected to sit out the entire 2023-24 campaign recovering from an injury suffered in friendly international action during the offseason, Slovenian teammate Vlatko Cancar (left knee surgery) remained out.
Elsewhere in the NBA Regular Season, the Dallas Mavericks overpowered the San Antonio Spurs, 116-93, in American Airlines Center. Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic put in 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block, before exiting early in the fourth quarter due to a neck injury.
For the Spurs, French Victor Wembanyama piled up 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and one steal. Polish Jeremy Sochan had ten points, four rebounds, three steals, and one assist. Turkish Cedi Osman registered three assists and one rebound. Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili grabbed one rebound.
Heading to the All-Star break, the Mavs ruled out German Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation) for the matchup opposite the Texas rival. On the opposite end, French Sidy Cissoko was on assignment with the G League affiliate Austin Spurs.
More games and European showings
Charlotte Hornets – Atlanta Hawks 122-99 (Bogdan Bogdanovic 12pts, 5reb, 4ast, 1stl, Vit Krejci 0pts, Clint Capela INJ – Vasilije Micic 13pts, 5ast, 2reb, Davis Bertans 3pts, 1reb, 1ast)
Orlando Magic – New York Knicks 118-100 (Franz Wagner 21pts, 6ast, 3reb, 3stl, 1blk, Moritz Wagner 10pts, 2reb, 1ast, 1stl, 1blk, Admiral Schofield 3pts, 1reb, 1ast, Goga Bitadze 1reb – Isaiah Hartenstein INJ, OG Anunoby INJ, Bojan Bogdanovic INJ)
Philadelphia 76ers – Miami Heat 104-109 (Nicolas Batum INJ – Nikola Jovic 3pts, 3reb, 3ast)
Boston Celtics – Brooklyn Nets 136-86 (Kristaps Porzingis 15pts, 5reb, 1ast, 1blk, Neemias Queta 8pts, 4reb, 1stl, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 2pts – Dennis Schroder 4pts, 3reb, 1ast)
Cleveland Cavaliers – Chicago Bulls 108-105 (Nikola Vucevic 9pts, 8reb, 1ast, Onuralp Bitim DNP)
Toronto Raptors – Indiana Pacers 125-127 (Jakob Poeltl 19pts, 11reb, 3ast, 2blk, 1stl)
Memphis Grizzlies – Houston Rockets 121-113 (Santi Aldama 7pts, 5reb, 4ast, 1stl, 1blk – Alperen Sengun 19pts, 12reb, 2ast, 2stl, 1blk, Boban Marjanovic DNP)
Phoenix Suns – Detroit Pistons 116-100 (Jusuf Nurkic 10pts, 13reb, 7ast, 2blk, Theo Maledon 5pts, 1reb – Simone Fontecchio 18pts, 2stl, 1reb, 1ast, Evan Fournier 10pts, 4reb, 1ast, 1stl, 1blk, Tosan Evbuomwan 5pts, 2reb, 1stl, Malcolm Cazalon INA)
Utah Jazz – Los Angeles Lakers 122-138 (Lauri Markkanen 16pts, 8reb, 1ast, 1blk, Luka Samanic 3pts, 1reb, Omer Yurtseven 1pt, 2reb)
Golden State Warriors – Los Angeles Clippers 125-130 (Dario Saric 1reb, 1ast, 1blk, Usman Garuba INA – Ivica Zubac 13pts, 10reb, 3ast, 2stl, 2blk, Moussa Diabate DNP, Daniel Theis DNP)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics 43-12
2. Cleveland Cavaliers 36-17
3. Milwaukee Bucks 35-20
4. New York Knicks 33-22
5. Philadelphia 76ers 32-22
6. Indiana Pacers 31-25
7. Miami Heat 30-25
8. Orlando Magic 30-25
9. Chicago Bulls 26-29
10. Atlanta Hawks 24-31
11. Brooklyn Nets 21-33
12. Toronto Raptors 19-36
13. Charlotte Hornets 13-41
14. Washington Wizards 9-45
15. Detroit Pistons 8-46
Western Conference
1. Minnesota Timberwolves 38-16
2. Oklahoma City Thunder 37-17
3. Los Angeles Clippers 36-17
4. Denver Nuggets 36-19
5. Phoenix Suns 33-22
6. New Orleans Pelicans 33-22
7. Dallas Mavericks 32-23
8. Sacramento Kings 31-23
9. Los Angeles Lakers 30-26
10. Golden State Warriors 26-26
11. Utah Jazz 26-29
12. Houston Rockets 24-30
13. Memphis Grizzlies 19-36
14. Portland Trail Blazers 15-38
15. San Antonio Spurs 11-44
-Teams ranking first through sixth advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams ranking seventh through tenth compete in the Play-Ins
Photo Credit: Getty Images