By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Staying on the court for 43 minutes, Guerschon Yabusele fell shy of a win in overtime as the Philadelphia 76ers surrendered, 122-115, to the Houston Rockets and Alperen Sengun in Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old French forward piled up 22 points with 7/12 field goals, including four triples. He added seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
“I got to be the hungriest on the court,” he referred to his second opportunity to display his talents in the NBA after 90 games with the Boston Celtics between 2017 and 2019, “Just play with a lot of energy and force. I understand that it’s rare to have a second chance in the NBA, so when I’m out here, I just try to compete the best I can. Even though I’m tired, just trying not to show it too much and be there on every action defensively, especially.”
Despite his efforts, the Rockets improved to 14-6 in the Regular Season, behind a second overtime win in a back-to-back on the road. Jalen Green put up 41 points and Sengun scored 11 of his 22 points in the five extra minutes, apart from ending up with 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block in 35 minutes “My teammates just trust me in overtime. I didn’t want to fail them,” said the Turkish center.
LeBron posts a triple-double
In Frost Bank Center, Victor Wembanyama produced a double-double but the San Antonio Spurs lost, 119-101, to the Los Angeles Lakers. The French prodigy made 9/20 field goals en route to a 20-point effort to go with ten rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and two assists over 33 minutes.
“I think maybe we didn’t focus on the right things, on getting easy baskets and doing the right play. I think this is something collectively and also myself. We can focus more on doing the right play,” he described the losing effort.
Limited to garbage time, Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili paired one triple with one rebound and French Sidy Cissoko recorded one assist. Polish Jeremy Sochan (left thumb) remained sidelined.
On the winning end, French Armel Traore had two points and one steal, besides LeBron James in triple-double mode with 16 points, 11 assists, and ten rebounds.