The Dallas Mavericks had a victory at the start of the preseason, Luka Doncic presented himself in outstanding early form, Boban Marjanovic showed his hot hand. The Los Angeles Lakers also lose the second preparation game, for the Wagner brothers and the Magic it was a used evening.
Phoenix Suns (1-1) – Los Angeles Lakers (0-2) 117:105 (BOXSCORE)
- Phoenix had imagined it a little differently: The game of the Suns against the Lakers was postponed to noon so that the Phoenix Mercury can play their semi-final game in the WNBA playoffs against the Las Vegas Aces in the evening. The Aces, however, made short work and equalized the series (2-2) – after all, the Suns took a win, if only in the preseason.
- Devin Booker was spared, but Chris Paul delivered 8 points and 11 assists in his preseason debut, in which the Suns showed an even performance. Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Mikal Bridges (15), Jae Crowder (13 and 9), Cam Johnson (13), newcomer JaVale McGee (12) or Cameron Payne (11 and 5 assists) all delivered good production .
- Since the Lakers could not keep up, who again did without LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. In the second quarter, LA fell behind with 21 points, and then did not make a comeback. Phoenix missed the Lakers debut of Carmelo Anthony, who got 8 points. The best starter was Anthony Davis, even if he doesn’t seem to be quite in his rhythm yet (14, 5/14 FG), the better things went for Malik Monk, who contributed 18 points (7/11 FG) from the bench.
Detroit Pistons (1-0) – San Antonio Spurs (1-1) 115:105 (BOXSCORE)
- The Pistons fans have to wait for the debut of top pick Cade Cunningham, the rookie is suffering from an ankle injury and was spared against the Spurs – the same was true for Killian Hayes. But the colleagues raised the alarm, especially Jerami Grant (19, 6/13 FG). The bench around Josh Jackson (16), Cory Joseph (14 and 6 assists) and Kelly Olynyk (14 and 6 assists) also knew how to convince.
- In the third quarter, Trey Lyles (9) made himself felt against his ex-team, Detroit used several threesomes of the big for a 14-2 run, with which the home side decisively separated. Ultimately, Bryn Forbes’ (20, 6/8 threesome) was too little for the Texans, otherwise only Keldon Johnson (18) and Lonnie Walker IV (13) scored double digits.
Atlanta Hawks (0-2) – Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1) 96:99 (BOXSCORE)
- Just like in the first preseason game, the Cavs competed with a full band, a total of only ten players were used, all of whom can hope for minutes in the regular season. The starters were also in demand in the fourth quarter, but it was only enough to win against the Hawks who were not in the best line-up.
- Ricky Rubio (8 and 6 assists) and Darius Garland (15 and 7) brought Cleveland to victory in the final section, but the best scorer was Collin Sexton with 19 points (7/17 FG and 2/8 threesome), but the Guard did well 7 turnover with only 2 assists and 6 rebounds. Isaac Okoro (12), Jarrett Allen (12, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks) and Lauri Markkanen (11) achieved a double-digit yield, number 3 pick Evan Mobley put 8 counters (4/11 FG), 12 boards and 2 Assists on.
- John Collins on the other side provided the absolute highlight of the evening. After a pass from Sharife Cooper, the 24-year-old hammered a crashing alley-oop over everyone through the trap. Collins finished the game with 14 points and 8 rebounds, the Hawks’ top scorer was Cam Reddish with 20 points (plus 5 steals) from the bench. In the absence of Trae Young, Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter (15) and Gorgui Dieng (13, 11 rebounds and 6 assists) also drew positive attention.
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