October 9, 2019 – Dario Saric and Mario Hezonja made their Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers debut in the NBA preseason on Tuesday evening. Bojan Bogdanovic made his Utah Jazz break on October 5.
Gol.hr reports that Dario Saric hit the court in a new NBA jersey on Tuesday – the jersey of the Phoenix Suns. In his debut, Saric received 17 and a half minutes on the court against his former team Minnesota Timberwolves. The game ended 111:106 for the Suns, and Saric contributed four points, seven rebounds, and one assist.
Ahead of the meeting, Phoenix coach Monty Williams said he would give his major players between 17 and 20 minutes on the court. As we know, Saric received 17 and a half, while DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker each booked 21 minutes and Ricky Rubio 20.
The Croatia national team representative had a poor shooting night in which he hit just one of five attempts in the game. He scored one of two from the free-throw line, though he did catch seven rebounds, six of which were in the defense.
Mario Hezonja debuted for the Portland Trail Blazers in a 105:94 defeat to the Denver Nuggets and was the team’s top scorer with 12 points in 20 minutes (3/5 for two-pointers, 0/2 for three-pointers), adding six rebounds and two assists. Hezonja also entered the game from the bench.
ITSA HE-A MARIO pic.twitter.com/JKewzjJuPK
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 9, 2019
Luka Samanic did not get a chance to play in the San Antonio Spurs defeat to Miami Heat 108:89.
Recall, a few days before on Saturday, Bojan Bogdanovic debuted for the Utah Jazz. Namely, the Jazz was convincing against the Australian Adelaide 36ers (133:81), and the Croatia captain scored 10 points with four rebounds and assists in 20 minutes on the court.
The Utah Jazz was led by Tony Bradley with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jeff Green added 16. Bogdanovic was one of seven players to hit double-digits on the winning team.
Bojan 3
Jeff 3
Nigel 3 pic.twitter.com/jPYPjPagQ6— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 6, 2019
The regular NBA season will begin on October 22, 2019.
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