By George Efkarpides /info@eurohoops.net
Euro-ballers came to play on a Thursday night.
Despite the loss (121-114) to the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Hawks put up a fight and it was Euro-ballers leading the charge.
Dennis Schroder was super effective until LeBron James switched on to him on defense. The German point-guard had 27 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists.
Ersan Ilyasova had a season-high 22 points to go with 3 boards, 4 steals and a block and looked very comfortable on the floor. Marco Belinelli added 18 points, 4 boards, 5 assists and a block.
For the winning side, Cedi Osman had 5 points, 2 boards an assist and a steal while Spanish veteran Jose Calderon had 2 points and 5 assists against his former team.
The Philadelphia 76ers visited the Boston Celtics with Joel Embiid resting due to a back-to-back set and it was Dario Saric who led the way with 18 points, 10 boards and 4 assists despite the loss (97-108).
French “sniper” Luwawu- Cabbarot had 11 points and 4 boards in a loss.
For the winning side, Kyrie Irving was simply unstoppable on his way to a 36 point outing with German big man Daniel Theis chipping in with 4 points and 6 boards.
Nikola Jokic was flirting with a triple-double (8 p. 4 r. 4 a.) before exiting the game with an ankle injury in the second quarter. Reports indicated that the X-rays came back negative.
Lauri Markkanen led the Bulls with 20 points and 9 boards and a block but the Nuggets came out with the close win, 11-110.
Paul Zipser had 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assist in a loss.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was a beast on the defensive end leading the Bucks to an easy road win (103-91) over the Blazers. The “Greek Freak” had 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks, some of which were highlight reel plays.
For the losing side, “Bosnian beast”, Jusuf Nurkic had a double-double, 25 points and 11 rebounds to go along with an assist, 3 steals and a block.
Last but not least, Ricky Rubio led the Jazz to a road win over the injury-plagued L.A. Clippers. The Spanish point-guard, had 15 points, 3 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals in a 125-107 win.
Swedish forward, Jonas Jerebko had 14 points, 2 boards and 3 assists while Thabo Sefolosha added 15 points, 2 boards, an assist and a block.
Here are last night’s results and the euro-scorers:
| ATLANTA HAWKS | CLEVELAND CAVALIERS | 114-121 | Schroder 27 p. 2 r. 5 a., Ilyasova 22 p. 3 r. 4 s. 1 b., Belinelli 18 p. 4 r. 5 a. 1 b. – Calderon 3 p. 2 a., Osman 5 p. 4 r. 1 a. 1 s. |
| BOSTON CELTICS | PHILADELPHIA 76ERS | 108-97 | Saric 18 p. 10 r. 4 a., Luwawu-Cabbarot 11 p. 4 a. 3 a. – Theis 4 p. 6 r. |
| DENVER NUGGETS | CHICAGO BULLS | 111-110 | Jokic 8 p. 4 r. 4 a., Hernangomez 1 p. 1 r. 2 a. – Markkanen 20 p. 9 r. 1 b., Zipser 11 p. 2 r. 2 a., |
| PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS | MILWAUKEE BUCKS | 91-103 | Nurkic 25 p. 11 r. 1 a. 3 s. 1 b. – Antetokounmpo 20 p. 9 r. 5 a. 3 a. 3 b. |
| LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS | UTAH JAZZ | 107-126 | Rubio 15 p. 3. 6 a. 2 s., Sefolosha 15 p. 2 r. 1 a. 1 s., Jerebko 14 p. 2 r. 3 a. |
|
#
|
TEAM
|
PTS
|
MP
|
W
|
L
|
POINTS
|
+/-
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
BOSTON CELTICS
|
23
|
19
|
4
|
2392 – 2227
|
165
|
||
|
2
|
20
|
14
|
6
|
2116 – 2048
|
68
|
|||
|
3
|
22
|
15
|
7
|
2447 – 2393
|
54
|
|||
|
4
|
20
|
13
|
7
|
2208 – 2062
|
146
|
|||
|
5
|
PHILADELPHIA 76ers
|
21
|
12
|
9
|
2279 – 2268
|
11
|
||
|
6
|
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
|
20
|
11
|
9
|
2058 – 2078
|
-20
|
||
|
7
|
22
|
12
|
10
|
2383 – 2371
|
12
|
|||
|
8
|
21
|
11
|
10
|
2262 – 2193
|
69
|
|||
|
9
|
21
|
11
|
10
|
2195 – 2179
|
16
|
|||
|
10
|
21
|
10
|
11
|
2100 – 2161
|
-61
|
|||
|
11
|
22
|
9
|
13
|
2375 – 2439
|
-64
|
|||
|
12
|
20
|
8
|
12
|
2115 – 2142
|
-27
|
|||
|
13
|
21
|
8
|
13
|
2313 – 2378
|
-65
|
|||
|
14
|
ATLANTA HAWKS
|
21
|
4
|
17
|
2158 – 2285
|
-127
|
||
|
15
|
CHICAGO BULLS
|
20
|
3
|
17
|
1907 – 2139
|
-232
|
||
| WESTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
21
|
17
|
4
|
2392 – 2165
|
227
|
|||
|
2
|
22
|
16
|
6
|
2581 – 2357
|
224
|
|||
|
3
|
21
|
14
|
7
|
2137 – 2066
|
71
|
|||
|
4
|
22
|
13
|
9
|
2371 – 2359
|
12
|
|||
|
5
|
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
|
22
|
13
|
9
|
2258 – 2177
|
81
|
||
|
6
|
DENVER NUGGETS
|
21
|
12
|
9
|
2237 – 2239
|
-2
|
||
|
7
|
21
|
11
|
10
|
2267 – 2287
|
-20
|
|||
|
8
|
UTAH JAZZ
|
21
|
10
|
11
|
2132 – 2085
|
47
|
||
|
9
|
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
|
19
|
8
|
11
|
2012 – 2018
|
-6
|
||
|
10
|
20
|
8
|
12
|
2046 – 1985
|
61
|
|||
|
11
|
21
|
8
|
13
|
2238 – 2282
|
-44
|
|||
|
12
|
20
|
7
|
13
|
1972 – 2021
|
-49
|
|||
|
13
|
23
|
8
|
15
|
2459 – 2664
|
-205
|
|||
|
14
|
21
|
6
|
15
|
1989 – 2215
|
-226
|
|||
|
15
|
22
|
5
|
17
|
2188 – 2304
|
-116
|
|||