It was a busy Veteran’s Day for the NBA’s European contingent. Tony Parker and Marco Belinelli had big days for San Antonio, Nikola Pekovic had a bigger one for Minnesota but came out on the losing end at the Clippers.
The Spurs put in another insanely balanced performance, spreading minutes and stats across their roster, as they cruised to a 109-85 win over the Sixers. Tony Parker scored 14 points and dished 9 assists in a comfortable victory for San Antonio. Marco Belinelli made his presence felt off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Boris Diaw had starters minutes for the Spurs, finishing with 8 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists. In limited action, Nando de Colo scored 3 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and had 1 dish.
The Timberwolves fell in Los Angeles to the Clippers despite a double-double from Nikola Pekovic. The Montenegrin big man had 25 points and 10 boards in the loss. Ricky Rubio had 10 assists to go along with his 5 points. Alexey Shved got 11 minutes on the court but struggled to make an impact, picking up just one rebound for his trouble.
Another double-double for a European big man, another defeat in spite of it. Jonas Valanciunas scored 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Raptors lost to the Rockets 110-104. Omer Asik had 4 points and 2 rebounds for Houston while Omri Casspi had 5 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists off the bench for the Rockets.
A third double-double for a European big and a third defeat. Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds but finished on the losing end Monday, as the Magic fell 120-105 in Boston.
Timofey Mozgov made good work of his time on the floor for the Nuggets as the Russian scored 10 points and grabbed 5 boards in a 100-81 win over the Jazz. Evan Fournier’s impact was largely muted, with just 2 points for his efforts. Enes Kanter had 12 points and 4 boards for Utah in the defeat while Rudy Gobert had 3 points and 2 boards off the bench.
The Bulls moved to 3-3 on the season as Luol ‘I’m totally hitting the free-agent market whether I like it or not’ Deng scored 12 points and grabbed 5 boards in a 96-81 win over the Cavs.
Nicolas Batum had 12 points and 8 assists for the Trail Blazers on Monday and the Frenchman’s efforts helped lift Portland past the Pistons 109-103.
Ian Mahinmi was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line for Indiana on Monday. The Frenchman scored 10 as the Pacers remained unbeaten with a 95-79 win over the Grizzlies. Marc Gasol had 15 points and 9 boards for Memphis while Kosta Koufos had 8 points and 3 boards.
Sweden’s Jeffrey Taylor scored 10 points and picked up 6 boards for the Bobcats but they fell 103-94 to the Hawks. Dennis Schroeder got just 10 minutes of action for Atlanta, scoring 4 points, while Pero Antic didn’t play. Normally this column doesn’t mention DNPs but it’s Pero so of course we’re making an exception.
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