The NBA preseason started this morning, and it did so with a duel between Nets and Lakers that fell on the side of New Yorkers. Steve Nash’s team took the game 97-123, played at Staples and marked, as usual in this type of match, by the large presence of unusual men and the rest of the great stars.
Without going any further, the Brooklyn team left Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden without playing, as well as other important members of the squad such as Blake Griffin, Joe Harris or Patty Mills. The Angelenos, for their part, reserved LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Trevor Ariza, while, although Anthony Davis had a few minutes, his presence on the track was quite small.
This allowed Cameron Thomas to finish as the leading scorer with 21 points. The guard, who comes from being MVP of the last Summer League, made it clear that he wants to carve a niche in Nash’s rotation, and took it upon himself to lead his team to a placid triumph. David Duke Jr. and Day’Ron Sharpe followed with 13 points, while Brucen Brown finished with 12.
For the Lakers, the most prominent man was Malik Monk, who will also seek to gain weight in the team this year and be important from the bench. The former Hornets finished with 15 points, and was seconded by the 11 signed by both Dwight Howard and Wayne Ellington.
The Californians will return to action on October 6, when they will play against the Suns, while the Nets will do so on October 8 with a game against Milwaukee. We will see if this time the most renowned players already have minutes and the matches begin to gain something important to serve as an appetizer to the ever-closer start of the regular season.
(Cover photo: Kevork Djasezian / Getty Images)
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