By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
One year after his last appearance in an official game, Kevin Porter Jr. surfaced in Greece’s Stoiximan Basket League on Saturday.
Porter, 23, scored his first point with a free throw. Missing his first attempt, he netted the second shot, 75 seconds into the first quarter of the Play-Outs Round 2 affair. His first field goal followed early in the second half. Beyond an impressive dunking effort in the third quarter, two late three-pointers confirmed his range. Still, they were insufficient for PAOK mateco in a late comeback bid versus Lavrio Megabolt.
Besides a rough shooting game with 5/14 from the field, miscommunication on both ends of the court, highlighted by five turnovers, did not help in a losing effort, 89-85, on the road. He piled up four assists, four rebounds, and two steals over 25 minutes.
“For sure, lack of games was apparent early. He has the quality to help us over the next games,” noted PAOK’s play-caller, Stathis Nerantzakis, in a postgame interview with Greek public television, ERT.
Signing with the team based in Thessaloniki made noise. Sidelined through the 2023-24 season, he last played with the Houston Rockets. A veteran of 196 appearances in the NBA stretching from the Rockets to his rookie campaign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He entered the league as the 30th overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft, coming out of the University of Southern California.
PAOK resumes action against Karditsa Iaponiki in the PAOK Sports Arena. Next weekend’s fixture marks the former NBA player’s home debut in his first overseas challenge.
In total, Porter has three more games until the end of the regular season and then he might get to play two more in the playoffs if his team sneaks into the 8th spot of the 12-team league and facing off heavily favoured Panathinaikos.