The Los Angeles Lakers around LeBron James set an exclamation mark in the preseason and beat the Golden State Warriors. The King makes a really strong game and also Isaac Bonga makes listen up. Trae Young, who got the game winner from the logo, also presented himself strongly.
Blake Griffin was in the pistons again, but the forward couldn’t really take much influence. 14 points (4/10 FG) and 4 assists were scored for the former highflyer. So he was clearly in the shadow of his frontcourt colleague Andre Drummond, who with 17 counters and 20 rebounds repeatedly presented the wizards under the boards with big problems.
Thus a weakness was uncovered in the guests with which the Scott Brooks team has been fighting the whole preseason – rebounding. In the absence of the injured Dwight Howard, Ian Mahinmi (3, 5 fouls) was allowed to try his luck on the pivot position, but most of the time Washington played smaller.
That the Wizards nevertheless won the game was mainly due to John Wall. The playmaker was really keen and gave the hosts a full 32 points (12/23 FG) and 9 assists. Bradley Beal contributed 17 points, Markieff Morris 15, and Ish Smith (12) and Glenn Robinson III (13), both from the bank, were further highlights at Detroit.
The duel between the rookies Mo Bamba and Jaren Jackson Jr. had to be cancelled because the Magic Center was missing with a wrist injury. The grizzlies rookie came from the bank for at least 20 minutes, but finally fouled out. Nevertheless 10 points and 5 rebounds were recorded.
Nevertheless, the visitors from Tennessee hardly had a chance and were 27 points behind in the second half. There was a simple reason for this: besides JJJ only Mike Conley (24, 9/14 FG) and Marc Gasol (10, 9 boards, 5 assists) scored double-digit points.
The same was true for the Magic, but nine players scored at least 7 points. Aaron Gordon (15, 7/13 FG) and Sophomore Jonathan Isaac (15, 4/5 FG, 8 Rebounds) shared the title of the top scorer. Another factor was the dominance of the hosts among the boards. Memphis just took an offensive rebound, while Orlando recorded 12.
A loose cause for the Raptors, who took the third quarter seriously and won the section with 35:11 and the game. The highlight of the game was Kawhi Leonard, who sent Jared Dudley onto the boards with a nasty crossover. Otherwise light and shadow alternated at The Claw. At the end there were 11 points (3/12 FG), but also 7 rebounds and assists each as well as 4 steals.
The top scorer was Danny Green, who scored six threes for 22 points. The performance of Serge Ibaka (13) was also positive, who was again given preference over Jonas Valanciunas on the centre position.
Sophomore Jarrett Allen (24, 8/12 FG), on the other hand, was a keen listener in the Nets. Besides him, D’Angelo Russell (18, 7/17 FG) was the one who got the most points for the guests from New York, who had big problems especially from a distance. Only six of the just 26 attempts from the Dreierland found their way into the basket.
Page 1: Kawhi everywhere with loose Raptors success
Page 2: Trae Young meets Game Winner from Logo
Page 3: LeBron with spectacle and victory against the Warriors