Photo: AP
Andrew Bogut is inching his way closer into the Golden State Warriors starting lineup after putting on an impressive performance in limited time off the bench this week. The Croatian-Australian center held Marc Gasol to 6-15 shooting and picked up seven rebounds in 15 minutes of action against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The next night in Minneapolis, Bogut was 2-3 from the field and finished with three blocks, a steal, and six rebounds in 21 minutes of work.
Andrew Bogut: 10 pts, 18 rb, 4 ast, 2 stl against the Nets
The Warriors got a scare on Saturday night as the 1-9 Brooklyn Nets pushed them to overtime but ran out of gas in the end as the Warriors prevailed 107-99. Andrew put up his best numbers of the season after finishing with 18 rebounds, four assists, ten points, three blocks and two steals in 31 minutes of work. It was Bogut’s first double double of the season in the win.
Andrew returned to the starting lineup for the Warriors in a highly entertaining 115-110 win over the up and coming Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night in Oakland. In only 17 minutes of work, Bogut finished with 13 points, six rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. More importantly, Andrew held Raptor center Jonas Valanciunas to only nine points on three of nine shooting. The Warriors look like they will proceed with caution with Bogut until he returns to 100%.
Warriors win, now 12-0 pic.twitter.com/dWaZz9o9My
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) November 18, 2015
Bogut found time to pick some oranges off the Warriors bench on Tuesday night against the Raptors.
Photo: AP
Minesota Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell doesn’t seem to be very fond of Damjan Rudež thus far this season. The Croatian international has slipped deep into the Wolves bench and has played a total of 22 minutes of basketball in the first ten games of the season. Damjan played one minute against the Warriors on Thursday night with zeros across his stat sheet. The next night in Indiana, Rudež failed to attempt a shot and finished with one rebound in six minutes of action. Damjan warmed the bench against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
Photo: Fox Sports
Sacramento Kings undrafted rookie, Duje Dukan, made the Kings’ opening night roster but hasn’t been on the team’s active roster sheet during the first three weeks of the 2015-16 NBA season. The Kings announced on Friday the 13th that they have assigned Dukan to the NBA D-League to further develop his game. The Split born forward moved to the United States when he was 10 months old and played college basketball for the University of Wisconsin.
Photo: USA Today Sports
Brooklyn has finally earned their first win of the season, despite having another shaky week. It started off on a high note by upsetting Houston on the road. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points in a 106-98 victory. After being outscored by ten in the third quarter, the Nets rallied behind Bogdanovic’s hot shooting. The new six man has adjusted well to his new role and continues to make excellent decisions with the ball. Bojan used a variety of pump fakes to score easy baskets. Not settling for three-pointers to create high percentage mid-range jump shots has become a part of his arsenal.
Bogdanovic goes off against Houston to secure Nets’ first win
They couldn’t continue their winning streak in Sacramento, as DeMarcus Cousins was too much to handle. Bogdanovic was efficient once again by scoring 15 points on seven of thirteen shooting. It was the second consecutive game that Bojan played over 30 minutes as well. Brooklyn ended up losing in heart breaking fashion by a score of 111-109 with Rajon Rondo making a key defensive play to secure the win.
Brooklyn lost another heartbreaker, as they nearly upset the NBA champions in Golden State. Bogdanovic struggled from the field by shooting only one of six from the field. Lionel Hollins continues to show his support by playing him for 35 minutes. The Nets usually play a ten-man rotation, yet Bojan has averaged over 28 minutes a game. It has been quite the contrast from last season, when the shooting guard was constantly finding himself in Hollins’ doghouse. The Nets finally managed to win a close game, as they beat Atlanta last night in a playoff rematch. Bogdanovic failed to get on the stat sheet in 22 minutes of action. Brooklyn managed to pull off the 90-88 upset, despite their six man missing all four shots from the field.
At 2-9, the season couldn’t look more bleak for the Nets. They head to Charlotte tonight in what appears to be a winnable game. A back-to-back stretch against Boston starts on Friday. They play in Brooklyn on Sunday to finish the week. Two key divisional games could change the glim atmosphere surrounding Brooklyn.
Photo: NBA.com
Mario Hezonja’s inconsistent rookie season continues to unravel in Orlando. With Evan Fournier playing the best basketball of his career, Hezonja has been limited for most of the season. The rookie only played 19 minutes in Orlando’s 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Scott Skiles has to be pleased by his defensive effort, as Mario constantly dives for loose balls and doesn’t shy away from contact. Orlando fans have been surprised by his overall tenacity.
Orlando continued their winning ways in a 102-93 victory over Utah. Hezonja played only nine minutes, but showed good chemistry with star center Nikola Vucevic. They connected on two plays that helped the Magic get off to a roaring 33-15 start. Mario did receive more minutes in a 108-99 defeat against Washington. The highly-touted rookie showed his outside stroke by scoring eight points on three of six shooting in 17 minutes of action. With Victor Oladipo injured, the Magic didn’t have enough scoring to defeat the Wizards.
Hezonja and Vuceivc connect on two excellent plays.
A two-game home stand starts tonight against Minnesota followed by Sacramento on Saturday. A trip to Cleveland on Monday should be an excellent test for this young Magic team. It will be the first interaction between Hezonja and LeBron Jones. Hopefully, his sneakers will be tied unlike the last encounter with a superstar scorer.
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
Lets go Kings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please win a road game.