NBA: Lakers lose at LeBron debut – Pöltl shines

The first game of LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers jersey thrilled the fans – despite the defeat against the nuggets. Meanwhile Jakob Pöltl shows a good performance in the victory of the San Antonio Spurs, while Boston celebrates its first victory.

All eyes were naturally on DeMar DeRozan in this game, who conjured up a solid first appearance for the Spurs on the floor. The newcomer was a good 18 minutes on the field and scored 7 points (plus 2 rebounds, 2 assists). His first goal was – how could it be otherwise – a liquid jumper from the middle distance.

The spacing was identified before the season as one of the problem areas at the Spurs, but at the start against the Heat it went splendid from the distance. Especially Rudy Gay (13 points, 5 rebounds) attracted attention with 3 sunken threes (in 3 attempts). Overall, San Antonio sunk 40.9 percent of downtown (9/22). Jakob Pöltl also showed a strong performance with 6 points, 10 rebounds and 1 steal.

Not so good was the Heat, who did not yet find their rhythm in terms of throwing quotas. From the field, the team around Goran Dragic (12 points in 19 minutes) scored only 36.8 percent, from the three-way line it was just 29.4 percent.

After all, Hassan Whiteside was raging under the baskets in the usual manner and at the end he had a strong double-double (20 points, 13 rebounds, 8/10 FG) in only 23 minutes. From the second guard Rodney McGruder could recommend himself, who scored 15 points, but hit only 5 of his 13 throws.

Gordon Hayward seems to be well on his way to becoming the old man again. In his first game after his ankle fracture a year ago, he already delivered a solid performance and in his second encounter with Charlotte, the 28-year-old thrilled with a spectacular chase down block. Afterwards he fell hard to the ground, but immediately straightened up again. That’s a good sign.

However, Hayward still had to fight with a little rust on his throwing hand in his second game. Only 1 of his 7 attempts out of the field found their way through the cage, in the end there were 4 points and 4 rebounds behind his name.

But it was enough to win, especially thanks to Kyrie Irving. The Point Guard of the Celts put on 20 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. In the Crunchtime it was Guerschon Yabusele (8 points) who secured the first Preseason victory with one layup and two free throws. Daniel Theis had 12 minutes and scored 2 points. In addition, the German grabbed 3 rebounds.

On the Hornets’ side, Miles Bridges became the best man. The rookie convinced already in the first game with a good performance, now he added 23 points (9/12 FG, 4/6 Dreier) and 6 rebounds in impressive manner. Malik Monk also contributed 13 points (5/12 FG) from the bench, Willy Hernangomez 14 points.

On both sides there was a Starting Five on the floor, which one can expect for the Regular Season. At the Pelicans Jrue Holiday and Elfrid Payton started in the backcourt, but the latter made a disappointing debut in the Pelicans jersey.

The newcomer from the Suns only dropped 2 of his 10 throws out of the field and finally came to just 4 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Holiday, who scored 16 points and together with Franck Jackson from the bench was the best scorer of his team, did better. Julius Randle (15) and Anthony Davis (13) also scored in double figures.

In the Bulls, who only managed to make a decisive break in the final section, three players convinced with 21 points. Zach LaVine led the starters with this yield, while Bobby Portis (10/19 FG) and Antonio Blakeney (6/10 FG) contributed strong performances from the bench.

Page 1: Pöltl shines for the Spurs – Celtics wins

Page 2: Lakers lose at LeBron debut