In his preseason debut No.1-Pick Deandre Ayton conjures up a strong performance on the floor. Still, it’s not enough for the Phoenix Suns to win. Meanwhile Markelle Fultz makes a strong impression with the success of the Sixers and Trae Young shows light and shadow.
Dominant performance by Joel Embiid, plus another strong performance by Markelle Fultz – the Sixers should be quite satisfied with the preseason so far. Fultz, who missed most of his rookie season due to injury, scored 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Embiid contributed 21 points and 7 rebounds and sunk 8 of his 9 attempts within the triple line. Only from downtown it didn’t quite work out yet at the center (1/6 FG). Furkan Korkmaz also scored 18 points from the bank.
Nikola Vucevic did his best to keep up with Embiid and the Sixers, but his 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks were not enough. Philadelphia was too dominant under the boards, which is impressively proven by 13 offensive rebounds (Magic: 5). Apart from Vucevic, Isaiah Briscoe (11 points in 8 minutes) and Rookie Mo Bamba (12 points, 4/5 FG) also performed well.
Successful preseason kick-off for the Knicks, even though the overtime thriller against the Wizards wasn’t all gold yet. Just the last minute of the regular playing time was not necessarily what you call effective basketball. On both sides the teams left good chances for the victory careless – including two discarded free throws by Thomas Bryant on the Wizards’ side.
In overtime, Damyean Dotson made his mark on the game. The second round Knicks pick of 2017 scored 12 of his 14 points in extra time, leading New York to victory. Beside Dotson also Rookie Kevin Knox showed a good performance with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Kelly Oubre Jr. became the top scorer on the Wizards’ side with 15 points, Jordan McRae caused a sensation with 14 points (5/5 FG) in 13 minutes. The nominal starters received relatively little time, John Wall, for example, was only 9 minutes on the floor. Bradley Beal played 22 minutes, but still had serious problems with his throw (11 points, 3/12 FG, 1/7 threesome).
The almost 7,000 spectators in Atlanta were offered an incredibly fast game. At the end of the day, both teams had more than 100 transactions on their accounts, which you rarely see. The Hawks scored a little higher, which was the deciding factor for the first success in the first preseason game of the Hawks.
Especially in the zone, the hosts were extremely dangerous. Led by well-placed John Collins (18 points, 8/14 FG), the Hawks scored 72 points in the Painted Area, the Pelicans only 54 points. Besides Collins, DeAndre’ Bembry also had a huge share in the victory with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Top-Rookie Trae Young, on the other hand, showed light and shadow. The 20-year-old scored 11 points in 20 minutes and only sunk 5 of his 16 attempts out of the field. After all, he distributed 8 additional assists.
At the Pelicans Anthony Davis was the topscorer (16 points, 7 rebounds), although The Brow was only 17 minutes on the floor. Otherwise Jrue Holiday came on 13 points and newcomer Julius Randle scored 11 points and snatched 7 rebounds.
Deandre Ayton apparently wanted to prove directly at his debut in the Suns jersey why he was the deserved No.1 pick of this year’s draft. The 20-year-old dominated the Kings with 24 points (9/16 FG), 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. But it still wasn’t enough for Phoenix to win.
Kings newcomer and ex-Maverick Yogi Ferrell held his ground with 26 points (9/14 FG, 6/9 Dreier), while in the final minutes Frank Mason III (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) closed the lid. Harry Giles (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Willie Cauley-Stein (14 and 12) were also convincing.
In addition to Ayton, Josh Jackson (17 points, 6 assists) and T.J. Warren (16) also performed well in the Suns. However, little to nothing converged with the hosts of downtown. Of 22 attempts behind the triple line, only 3 found their way into the basket (13.6 percent), the Kings did much better (11/25 triples, 44 percent).