A thigh muscle injury prevented Nikola Peković from playing the first seconds of the new NBA season. The captain of the Montenegrin national team missed the sixth consecutive match, this time Minnesota's loss to Memphis (90:86).
The "Wolves" could have registered a third consecutive victory after 18 consecutive failures, but the guests, even without their best player Zek Randolph, managed to turn things around in the last quarter. The most effective in the winning team was Tony Allen with 20 points, while Rudy Gay added 19. Kevin Love led the home team with 27 points and 14 rebounds, and Ricky Rubio scored 12 goals and 10 assists.
And Nikola Vucevic is out of the field due to an injury. The young center strained his back muscle, so he watched Philadelphia's victory in New Orleans (101:93) from the bench.
However, the administration and coaching staff of the Sixers showed how much they trust Vucevic - they traded his direct competitor for a place in the team, Mariz Spajts, to Memphis, and they got the right to two picks from the Grizzlies and New Orleans. Speights, interestingly, was the 16th pick in the 2008 draft, just like the 21-year-old Baranin last summer.
Unlike some previous nights, on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, all the favorites registered sure victories. Miami overcame Indiana (118:83, 33 points and 13 assists by LeBron James), Dallas triumphed over Phoenix (98:89), Chicago won Detroit (99:83), Boston was better than New Jersey (89:70) ...
Results: Orlando - Washington 103:85 (Howard 28 points, 20 points - Young 17 points), Toronto - Cleveland 92:77 (Barnjani 31 points - Jamieson 19 points), Boston - New Jersey 89:70 (Pierce 24 points - Brooks 17 p), Miami - Indiana 118:83 (James 33 p, 13 as, 8 sc - Hibbert 16 p, 12 sc), Detroit - Chicago 83:99 (Monroe 19 p, 13 sc - Boozer 19 p, Rose 17 p , 10 as, Noah 13 p, 11 sc), New York - Charlotte 110:118 (Anthony 32 p, Stoudemeyer 25 p, 12 sc - Dio 27 p, Henderson 24 p, Augustine 14 p, 10 as), Minnesota - Memphis 86 :90 (Lion 27 p, 14 sc - Rubio 12 p, 10 as - Allen 20 p), New Orleans - Philadelphia 93:101 (Gordon 22 p, Jack 19 p, 11 as - Holiday 23 p, Brand 12 p, 12 sk), Dallas - Phoenix 98:89 (Novicki 20 p, Terry 18 p - Gortat 22 p, 10 sk, Nash 15 p, 12 as), San Antonio - Golden State 101:95 (Parker 21 p, Duncan 15 p, 11 sk - Ellis 38 p), Denver - Sacramento 110:83 (Herrington 15 p, Koufos 10 p, 11 sk - Cousins 26 p), LA Clippers - Houston 117:89 (Griffin 22 p, 9 sk, Paul 20 p, 10 a.m. - Laura 17 p.).
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