By George Efkarpides / info@eurohoops.net
Having won three out of their four regular season meetings, the Indiana Pacers were all about business from the start and jumped on the Cavs early (25-8) and never looked back completing a 98-80 statement road win.
Croatian wing, Bojan Bogdanovic drew the tough matchup of guarding LeBron James and rose to the occasion. He also finished with 15 points, 6 boards an assist and 3 steals while Lithuanian big-man, Domantas Sabonis battled foul-trouble and managed only 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
The Oklahoma City Thunder rolled over the Utah Jazz 1116-108 to take a 1-0 lead in their series.
Spanish sharpshooter, Alex Abrines scored 11 points in 21 minutes for the Thunder, while fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio struggled for the opposing side with 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, adding 7 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals.
French center Rudy Gobert had 14 points, 7 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks for Utah.
Clint Capela’s superb play lifted the Rockets over the Wolves in game one, 104-101. The Swiss center had a 20-10 double-double at the half and ended up with 24 points, 12 rebounds, a steal and 3 blocks.
Earlier in the day, Boston survived an OT thriller against Milwaukee despite a playoff career high 35 points from the “Greek Freak”.
Here are last night’s results and the euro-scorers:
| BOSTON CELTICS | MILWAUKEE BUCKS | 113-107 | Antetokounmpo 35 p. 13 r. 7 a. 3 s. |
| CLEVELAND CAVALIERS | INDIANA PACERS | 80-98 | Osman 1 r., Calderon 1 a. – Sabonis 4 p. 4 r. 2 a. 1 b., Bogdanovic 14 p. 6 r. 1 a. 3 s. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER | UTAH JAZZ | 116-108 | Abrines 11 p. 1 r. 1 b. – Rubio 13 p. 7 r. 5 a. 4 s. 1 b., Gobert 14 p. 7 r. 1 a. 2 b., Jerebko 1 a. |
| HOUSTON ROCKETS | MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES | 104-101 | Capela 24 p. 12 r. 1 a. 1 s. 3 b. – Bjelica 2 r. |