By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
The New Orleans Pelicans wasted a superb performance by Turkish center Omer Asik in their first time ever playing in China, by losing to the Houston Rockets 123-117 on Sunday.
Asik scored 14 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had 5 blocks in 28 minutes, yet the Pelicans were held scoreless for the final 1:36 after taking a 117-115 lead.
In the other game of the night, the Lakers beat the Nuggets 115-124. Italian forward Danilo Gallinari was a starter for the Nuggets and scored 19 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 28 minutes. Jusuf Nurkic of Bosnian origin played for 31 minutes and he had an astonishing performance with a double double of 21 points and 16 rebounds.
The Lakers’ Russian big man Timofey Mozgov had poor numbers in 14 minutes in, with 2 rebounds and 2 points.