MADRID, 22 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The power forward Juancho Hernangómez repeated as a starter in the victory (106-113) of the Toronto Raptors over the New York Knicks to get out of their bad dynamics, while the also Spanish Usman Garuba could not score with Houston, although he did contribute a rebound, despite to the defeat (110-116) against Orlando Magic.
Hernangómez seems to establish himself in the starting five, with his fourth appearance on the court since the beginning since he returned from his injury. Against the Knicks, he scored 4 points (2/2 on 2 and 0/2 3-point shots) and grabbed 5 rebounds in almost 28 minutes on the field. The Spaniard was the fifth top scorer for his team, in which the Cameroonian Paskal Siakam stood out above all with an extraordinary performance, thanks to his 52 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Raptors took off on the scoreboard with a good second quarter (26-35), although they had to sweat the victory until the end. With this win, Toronto snaps its six-game losing streak to move to tenth in the East. While the Knicks left behind their positive record of eight winning games, leaving the 30 points of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle ‘useless’.
Finally, Garuba enjoyed 13 minutes on the track, in which he missed his two field goals that he attempted. Thus, he could only add 4 rebounds and 1 recovery. Porter’s 31 points were not enough, with the Magic with up to three players above 15 points, to delve into a Houston wound that already extends to four losses as bottom men in the West.
–SPANISH PLAYERS STATISTICS.
JUANCHO HERNANGÓMEZ: 4 points and 5 rebounds.
USMAN GARUBA: 4 rebounds and 1 steal.