The Spanish center Willy Hernangomez took advantage of his opportunity in the victory (105-101) of the New Orleans Pelicans over the Oklahoma City Thunder bordering on the ‘double-double’, while his brother Juancho repeated as a starter for the Toronto Raptors and Usman Garuba contributed from the bench of Houston Rockets.
Willy Hernangomez vindicated himself this morning in the absence of Pelicans substitute center Larry Nance, with the best numbers of the season -10 points (3/4 on 2-pointers and 4/4 on free throws), 9 rebounds and 1 block , in 16 minutes-. These figures allow him to settle in the rotation of Willie Green’s men, in what was the fourth consecutive game in which he has contributed with his team, with a total of eight games played this season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 7.4 minutes.
The Pelicans, third in the West with only three losses in the last ten games, entrusted themselves to a stellar Zion Willliamson, who finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the ‘in’ players, led the Thunder with 31 points, in a loss that leaves Oklahoma twelfth in the West, with only one win in the last six games.
Juancho Hernangomez’s Raptors also defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (100-88) in the return of Paskal Siakam, who played 30 minutes to add 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. The Spaniard continued in the starting five and enjoyed 20 minutes on the court, in which he was able to contribute 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block.
Finally, Nikola Jokic once again led the Denver Nuggets to a new victory (129-113) -the third in a row- bordering on the ‘triple-double’, with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. The pivot had Jamal Murray as a faithful squire who also reached 31 points. In Usman Garuba’s Rockets, the best were Alperen Sengun (18) and Jalen Green (17), who could not avoid the sixth loss in 10 games. The Spaniard contributed from the bench with 4 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes.
WILLY HERNANGOMEZ: 10 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block.
JUANCHO HERNANGOMEZ: 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block.
USMAN GARUBA: 4 points and 3 rebounds.
