The Los Angeles Lakers started their preseason on Monday with a loss at home and a 30-point difference against the Sacramento Kings (75-105). The Angelenos were ahead at halftime (46-41) but sank in the second half by conceding a resounding 29-64 run in the last two quarters. The good news for the Lakers was that its three stars (LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook) only played in that first half in which his team dominated the scoring.
With a quarter of an hour on the track per head, Lebrón finished with 4 points (0 of 7 shooting)one rebound and 2 assists; Davis finished with 11 points (4-for-9 shooting), 11 rebounds. and 2 assists; Y Westbrook closed his participation with 5 points (2 of 3 shooting), 2 rebounds and 3 assists. The Mexican Juan Toscano-Anderson played 22 minutes with the Lakers in which he added 2 points (1 of 5 shooting), 3 rebounds and an assist. The Lakers only made 31.2% of their field goals and 23.3% of their 3-pointers. In the Kings the best was Keegan Murray with 16 points, 6 rebounds and an assist.
Ben Simmons debuts with the Nets
Ben Simmons debuted Monday with the Brooklyn Nets in loss in their first preseason game precisely against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers (108-127). After a huge and strange soap opera that kept him off the court all last season and took him from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, Simmons he played again this Monday fifteen months later and had 6 points (3 of 6 shooting), 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal against 2 losses in 19 minutes on the track.
Simmons was part this Monday of the starting lineup of the Nets with Kevin Durant (13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 19 minutes) and Kyrie Irving (9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals also in 19 minutes). His two great references did not play in the Sixers: Joel Embiid and James Harden. Thus, the top scorer for Philadelphia was Tyrese Maxey with 20 points, one rebound and 3 assists.
Kawhi and Murray return
Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets returned to play This Monday in the NBA preseason after more than a year off the slopes for his serious injuries. Leonard underwent surgery in July 2021 to solve his problems in the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and did not play a game last season. Already recovered for some Clippers who are running as a great threat in the Western Conference, Leonard got this Monday 11 points (3 of 8 in shots), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 16 minutes in the victory in the Clippers’ first preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers (102-97). in angelenos point guard John Wall also debuted, who had 5 points (1 of 4 shooting), one rebound and 3 assists in 14 minutes coming off the bench. Damian Lillard, who sat out the second half of last season to recover from an abdominal injury, was the Blazers’ leading scorer with 16 points (5-for-13 shooting), 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in 23 minutes on the track.
For its part, Jamal Murray, who also went blank last year due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, returned to the court this Monday and contributed 10 points (4 of 7 shooting), 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 15 minutes with the Nuggets. Denver fell 101-112 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a match in which the Serbian Nikola Jokic, MVP of the last two seasons, got 2 points (0 of 1 in shots), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 15 minutes. The most outstanding of the Thunder was Josh Giddey, who bordered on the triple-double (14 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists).