By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Enes Kanter stole the spotlight in last night’s NBA action with 24 points and 30 rebounds, pushing the Portland Trail Blazers past the Detroit Pistons.
Kanter set a new franchise record in rebounds, passing the previous one which was set in 1975 by Sidney Wicks who logged 27 boards. He is also just the fourth player in the past two decades to reach the 30-rebounds margin after Dwight Howard, Kevin Love and Andrew Bynum.
“I was so happy when I looked at the bench and everybody was up, everybody was cheering, everybody was smiling, everybody was supporting their teammates. That’s what we’re all about. That’s what Blazers basketball is all about, just supporting each other,” Kanter said.
Joel Embiid continued where he left off, pacing the Sixers past Oklahoma together with Furkan Korkmaz who banked in 20 points. On the other side, Aleksej Pokusevski had to exit the game early due to an arm injury while Theo Maledon and Jaylen Hoard scored eight each with Svi Mykhailiuk adding six points.
Dennis Schroder led the way for the short-handed Lakers with 19 points as they upset the James Harden-less Brooklyn Nets. It should be noted that the German guard as well as Kyrie Irving both got ejected early on in the third quarter after an exchange of words that the refs didn’t appreciate at all.
Meanwhile, OG Anunoby scored 24 in Toronto’s rout over the Cavaliers whose Isaiah Hartenstein logged 12-8-6. Dario Saric and Den Avdija faced off last night as well with both players putting up nine points.
Donovan Mitchell was on fire against the Kings with 42 points while Bojan Bogdanovic scored eight and Rudy Gobert six points. The French big man also grabbed 11 boards. Steph Curry also had a big night against Houston with 38 points.