Nicolo Melli scored 20 points in Pelicans’ win

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

The Pelicans beat the Detroit Pistons 117-110 with Italian forward Nicolo Melli being one of the standouts, as he scored a career-high 20 points for the winning side.

The Pistons are still missing starters Blake Griffin (knee), Luke Kennard (knee) and Reggie Jackson (back), while the Pelicans played without their top three scorers — Brandon Ingram (knee), Jrue Holiday (elbow) and JJ Redick (hamstring) — along with Derrick Favors (hamstring) and Zion Williamson (knee).

Ukrainian Svi Mykhailiuk and French Sekou Doumbouya were starters for the Pistons and scored 13 and 16 points respectively.

The Magic beat the Sacramento Kings 114-112, despite Serb Nemanja Bjelica setting career highs with 34 points and eight 3-pointers.

Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic had 26 points and 15 rebounds, and French guard Evan Fournier scored 25 points for the Magic.

The Portland Trail Blazers escaped with a 115-112 victory from Charlotte who got 14 points from Spaniard Willy Hernangomez.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and 10 assists in his first triple-double, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Italian forward Danillo Gallinari added 30 points.

The Boston Celtics coasted to a 113-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls with Turkish big man Enes Kanter flirting with the double-double (15 p. 9 r.), the Pacers got the 101-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers with Domantas Sabonis registering the double-double (16 p. 10 r.) and the Los Angeles Lakers had their ninth consecutive triumph with 128-99 over the Cavs.