Euro steps, nangibabaw muli sa Americans sa NBA Rising Challenge

World Team's Bogdan Bogdanovic, of the Sacramento Kings, dunks during the NBA All-Star Rising Stars basketball game against the U.S. Team, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nananatili ang banda ng Euro steps sa NBA.

Sa pangunguna nina Buddy Hield at Bogdan Bogdanovic, pinataob ng World Team and US All-Stars, 155-124, nitong Biyernes (Sabado sa Manila) sa All-Star weekend.

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Ratsada si Hield sa naiskor na 29 puntos, tampok ang limang 3-pointers, habang kumana ang kasangga niya sa Sacramento Kings ng 26 puntos, kabilang ang pitong three-pointer para sandigan ang Worlds sa Rising Star Challenge.

Tampok sa taunang showcase ang mga premyadong rookies at second-year players sa pagsisimula nang tatlong araw na All-Star festivities sa The Forum sa Hollywood.

Nagtumpok ng pinagsamang 12 sa 23 three-pointer ng World sina Hield at Bogdanovic para ibigay sa World ang ikaapat na sunod na All-Star championship.

“You know, it was (an) All-Star Game, so it wasn’t like a really competitive game,” pahayag ni Hield. “But the World has been getting better. I’m proud to see a lot of guys around the world from France, Australia, you have (Joel) Embiid from Cameroon. Everybody is showing progress, and the world is showing progress catching up to American basketball. This shows how hard we’ve been working and how dedicated we are to this game.”

Nahirapan ng todo ang 10-man American team laban sa karibal na nagmula sa Canada, Croatia hanggang Cameroon. Walong player ng World’s ang umiskor ng double digits, kabilang sina Denver’s Jamal Murray, ang Canadian MVP sa nakalipas na season na may 36 puntos.

Kumana naman sina Boston’s Jaylen Brown para sa U.S. ng 35 puntos at 10 rebounds, habang tumipa si Kyle Kuzma, ang promising rookie ng La Lakers sa 20 puntos.

“I approach every single game the same way,” pahayag ni Bogdanovic.

“Try to compete to be the best version of myself that day, and it just happened tonight. You never know when it’s going to happen. I told him I would score on him. I should (have) bet as well, but we didn’t bet, so I didn’t get some extra money,” aniya.