By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic dropped 25 points to go along with his 10 boards and 10 assists powering the Dallas Mavericks to the 123-116 victory versus the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on Friday evening. Kristaps Porzingis complimented his teammate’s triple-double with 24 points, Maxi Kleber added 8 points and 10 rebounds, but Boban Marjanovic did not take part in the NBA regular season action. Nicolo Melli had 4 points from the bench for the hosts.
Another European triple-double came from Nikola Jokic with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 dimes for the Denver Nuggets that beat the Phoenix Suns, 108-107, in overtime at the Pepsi Center. Juan Hernangomez did not register playing time and Vlatko Cancar was inactive. Ricky Rubio forced five extra minutes, but was among visitors that fouled out in overtime finishing with 9 points, 9 dimes and 8 rebounds to his name. Dario Saric notched 6 points and 8 boards, but Elie Okobo did not play.
With injured Enes Kanter out, Daniel Theis started for only 1 point, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 15 minutes, but the Boston Celtics managed to defeat the Toronto Raptors, 112-106, at the TD Garden. Vincent Poirier did not get on the court. Serge Ibaka finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds for the losing side, OG Anunoby scored 9 points to go along with his 8 boards and Marc Gasol coupled 5 rebounds with 5 dimes but was held to 0/8 from the field and 1 point.
The Washington Wizards enjoyed a 97-85 win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena with Davis Bertans posting 13 points, Moritz Wagner 10 and Isaac Bonga 6 while injured Ian Mahinmi remained sidelined. Danilo Gallinari had 18 points in losing effort and Dennis Schroder ended up with 9 points in 25 minutes of work.
Lauri Markkanen scored 9 points also grabbed 11 boards, Tomas Satoransky also posted 9 points for the Chicago Bulls in the 110-102 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedExForum. Adam Mokoka did not make the 12-man squad. On the other side, Jonas Valanciunas notched a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Marko Guduric had 7 points from the bench.
Mario Hezonja contributed to the 122-112 Portland Trail Blazers win against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center with 5 points in 17 minutes. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 16 points from the bench for the losing side, fellow Serbian teammate Nemanja Bjelica started and put up 9 points to go along with his 7 rebounds.
Latvian Rodions Kurucs was also on hand with 9 points for the Brooklyn Nets in the 113-109 victory over the New York Knicks at the Barclays Center, but Dzanan Musa did not play. Knicks’ Frank Ntilikina remained on the bench as well and Ignas Brazdeikis was inactive.
Kostas Antetokounmpo did not leave the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 95-86 win over the Utah Jazz at the Staples Center. Rudy Gobert notched 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Bojan Bogdanovic was held out with a left ankle sprain.
Willy Hernangomez notched 6 points and 6 rebounds for the Charlotte Hornets that were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-99, at the Spectrum Center. European teammate Nicolas Batum was out injured.