SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Malupit ang depensa ni Rudy Gobert.Ngunit, laban sa Sacramento Kings, naasahan ng Utah Jazz ang 7-foot-0 center sa opensa.
“Rudy was like a monster, so great on offense and, as usual, defensively protecting all us,” pahayag ng kasanggang si Bojan Bogdanovic.
Hataw si Gobert sa naiskor na season-high 28 puntos, karamihan mula sa dunks at 15 rebounds para sandigan ang Utah Jazz sa dominanteng 123-101 panalo sa Sacramento Kings nitong Sabado (Linggo sa Manila).
Nag-ambag si Bogdanovic ng 30 puntos, tampok ang anim na three-pointer, habang tumiap si Donovan Mitchell ng 22 puntos.
“Rudy is such a threat and finishing in the paint, it opens it up and makes it easier for us,” pahayag ni Mitchell.
Nanguna si De’Aaron Fox sa Kings (15-27) na may 21 puntos bago nasibak sa laro sa fouls at kumubra si Marvin Bagley ng 17 puntos.
“They took us out of everything we wanted to do,” sambit ni Sacramento coach Luke Walton. “We talk about wanting to get up a certain amount of 3s. We couldn’t get 3s because we couldn’t penetrate and make two players guard us.”
PACERS 115, NUGGETS 107
Sa Denver, pinabagsak ng Pacers, sa pangunguna ni Domantas Sabonis na may 22 puntos, 15 rebounds t 10 assist, ang Denver Nuggets.
Nag-ambag si Doug McDermott ng 24 puntos, habang kumana sina Malcom Brogdon at T.J. Warren ng tig-22 puntos para tuldukan ng Pacers, ang 10-game skid sa Pepsi Center.
Nanguna sa Nuggets si Nikola Jokic na may 30 puntos. Humirit din sina Jerami Grant at Will Barton ng 16 puntos.
SPURS 107, HEAT 102
Sa San Antonio, ipinagdiwang ni Patty Mills ang celebrity heritage sa impresibong laro na patunay sa kanyang abilidad na makipagsabayan sa pinakamalilupit na karibal.
Pinanigas ni Mills ang opensa ng Spurs sa krusyal na sandali sa naiskor na 21 puntoa, habang kumain si LaMarcus Aldridge na may 21 puntos.
“It’s an important night .For the indigenous people here in Texas it’s important to all of us, but it’s sort of double for him because of his history and his background.”He didn’t play like he did because of that; he does that every night. His energy has been there his whole career. It’s who he is.”
Nagsalansan si Mills ng 18 puntos, habang kumayod si DeMar DeRozan ang 20 puntos para sat w-hame skod ng San Antonio.
“Besides basketball, it was a win for us to be able to use basketball as a platform to be able to share culture and traditions and you saw it tonight,” Mills said.
Sumablay ang posibleng pagtabla sa iskor sa 105-all nang magmintis si Duncan Robinson sa three-pointer may 10.2 segundo ang nalalabi sa laro.
“It’s a big moment,” pahayag ni Robinson. “I want to make that shot for this team. I didn’t do it. I’m disappointed in myself, but it’s nice to know these guys have my back no matter what.”
Kumana si Bam Adebayo ng 21 points, 16 rebounds at six assists sa Miami.