Latvian basketball player Rodions Kurucs scored six points on Monday in the first game of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) elimination tournament, with the Brooklyn “Nets” team he lost.
“Nets” conceded to last season’s Toronto Raptors in the 110: 134 tournament in Orlando.
In the quarterfinals series of the Eastern Conference, up to four victories, “Nets” drove 0-1.
Kurucs spent 16 minutes and 15 seconds on the court, sending three of the four two-point shots in the basket and not hitting two long shots.
At the expense of Cēsis there are also six rebounds, two assists, two errors and six remarks. “Nets” let him score 16 points more than he threw.
New York’s 26-point scorer was Timothy Luvavu-Cabaro, 19 points for Joe Harris, 15 points and 12 rebounds for Jeret Elen, and 15 points and 15 assists for Kerry Levert.
In the Toronto team, Fred Vanvlit stood out with 30 points and 11 assists, Sergei Ibaka added 22 points, and Pascal Sjakam had 18 points and 11 balls under the baskets.
Kurucs started the match in the starting five as a power striker and it was he who scored the first “Nets” points, hitting the ball in the basket from above in the second minute (2: 3). A few minutes later he reached 6:10, but then the Raptors quickly withdrew and were already in the lead with a 26-point handicap at the beginning of the second quarter.
Next time, the Latvian conquered the basket at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when after playing “Nets” he reached 90:99. However, in the third minute of the quarter, he came to the sixth note and left the field.
The Raptors responded to Kurucs’ accurate shot with two long shots and returned to safe lead, further increasing their lead to the final whistle.
The second game in the series will take place on Wednesday.
Last year, Kurucs went to the field in four playoff games, in which he scored 6.3 points in an average of 17 minutes and won 5.0 balls under the baskets.
NBA teams played eight matches before the playoffs to determine the final place distribution before the playoffs began. The Nets ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, while the Raptors were in second place.
–
