By George Efkarpides / info@eurohoops.net
With Joel Embiid out of the mix, it was Ben Simmons dishing and the Euro-ballers dealing for the home team who blew Miami away, 130-103.
The veteran leadership and playoff experience of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova proved to be invaluable right away.
The Turkish big man put up 17 points and 14 boards in 32 minutes of action while Italian sharp-shooter Marco Belinelli was on fire from the start finishing with 25 points, with 2 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals.
In his first play-off game, Croatian rising star Dario Saric hit 8-of-15 shots on his way to 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Slovenian all-star, Goran Dragic who is playing through injury finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Spanish forward, Serge Ibaka ( 23 p. 12 r.) powered the Toronto Raptors through the Washington Wizards 114-106 to end Toronto’s game one playoff losing streak.
Lithuanian center, Jonas Valanciunas barely missed a double-double with 9 points and 9 boards while the “Polish hammer” had 12 points and 6 boards for the losing side.
Earlier in the day, Golden State took care of business (113-92) against the Spurs and finally, the New Orleans Pelicans surprised the Blazers in Portland (95-97) to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Spanish international, Nikola Mirotic had a tremendous performance on both ends of the floor notching a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards while also adding 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks.
Jusuf Nurkic (11 p.-11 r.) also had a double-double for the Blazers.
Here are last night’s results and the euro-scorers:
| GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS | SAN ANTONIO SPURS | 113-92 | Bertans 4 p. 2 r. 1 a.1 s., Gasol 6 p. 4 r., Lauvergne 1 r., Parker 2 p. 1 r. 1 a. |
| TORONTO RAPTORS | WASHINGTON WIZARDS | 114-96 | Ibaka 23 p. 12 r. 1 a. 2 b., Valanciunas 9 p. 9 r. 2 a. 1 b., Poeltl 2 p. 1 r. 2 b. – Gortat 12 p. 6 r., Satoransky 2 p. 1 a. 2 b. |
| PHILADELPHIA 76ERS | MIAMI HEAT | 130-103 | Saric 20 p. 6 r. 3 a., Ilyasova 17 p. 14 r. 1 s. 1 b., Belinelli 25 p. 2 r. 2 a. 3 s. |
| PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS | NEW ORLEANS PELICANS | 95-97 | Nurkic 11 p., 11 r. 2 b. – Mirotic 16 p. 11 r. 3 a. 2 s. 2 b. |