Jakob Pöltl caused a sensation in the NBA. With his performance in the 112:117 defeat of the Toronto Raptors against the Golden State Warriors, he delighted not only fans in the social media, but also one of the best basketball players in the world.
“He’s a beast on the board,”said Warriors star Kevin Durant about his opponent – and the MVP of the last NBA finals enthusiastically added:”Eleven offense rebounds! Oh, boy!”
For most of the game, Pöltl was responsible for Durant’s defence. He also managed to create a spectacular block, as the video shows from minute 00:30 onwards.
All in all, the 22-year-old Viennese could look forward to twelve points and 14 rebounds – the second double double in a row. His protégé had done an “excellent job”, coach Dwane Casey praised, adding,”The guy is really good,”Warriors Center Zaza Pachulia added.
Pöltl himself proved to be a team player as usual:”A double-double with a victory would be much nicer. Unfortunately, we lost another close match at the end of the game,”he says,” and that’s something to analyze.
One year in the NBA designated Pöltl, who spent the night at 27. I had made my debut on October 2016 as “Madness”. In the field, he said, everything was much simpler than last year. The interaction with the team members is simply always working better.
The Raptors will be visiting the Los Angeles Lakers for the third of six away games in a row on Saturday night (CEST). Pöltl will meet Kyle Kuzma, a former Utah Utes player, one year and one day after his first appearance in the NBA. He is looking forward to this, the center said, hoping for his first away win of the season after the narrow defeats in San Antonio and Oakland.
Pöltl’s statistics at the beginning of the NBA season 2017/18 are certainly impressive. The Viennese has so far received an average of almost 22 minutes of playing time. He scored 9.5 points and nine rebounds per game.