The historic debut of Pablo Prigioni, a record in triples and several duels of candidates: the highlight of the day of the NBA

[Inkriql]

A historic day was spent last night for national basketball, as there was the official debut in the regular season of Pablo Prigioni as an assistant coach (since no Argentine had arrived so far) of the Minnesota Timberwolves. His team beat Brooklyn Nets in overtime by 127 to 126.

The 42-year-old from Cordoba and a native of Córdoba (Río Tercero), came to this franchise to be one of the main collaborators of coach Ryan Saunders, the youngest in the NBA. Before he had a brief step as coach of the Baskonia of Spain, where he shone as a player, and as assistant of the Nets.

The main figure of the winning team was Dominican inmate Karl Anthony Towns, who contributed 36 points (4-11 in doubles, 7-11 in triples, 7-8 in free), 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Andrew Wiggins, meanwhile, added 21 units and 8 rebounds.

Despite breaking several brands, Kyrie Irving's brilliant performance failed to achieve victory. The base, which is one of the big bets of the franchise, after the departure of D'Angelo Russell to Golden State Warriors (the other is Kevin Durant, who by injury probably does not have minutes throughout the season).

The former Boston Celtics base shined at the Barclays Center, being the first player to score 50 points in his debut for a team and the fifth basketball player to score at least 50 points in his first game of the season (Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan - twice - and Anthony Davis, the previous ones).

The young Charlotte Hornets had his dream debut in the NBA. The forward became the first rookie to score 7 triples - in 11 attempts - in its official premiere, thus displacing Donyel Marshall in 1994 and Jake Layman in 2016, who had started their career with 5 three-point shots turned into his first game.PJ Washington, which closed a payroll of 27 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal and 1 cover, contributed to North Carolina's start their way with a 126-125 victory over the Chicago Bulls. In addition, they broke their brand of baskets tripled: now it amounts to 23. The figure of the visit was the Finn Lauri Markkanen, with a double-double: 35 points and 17 rebounds.

Two of the main candidates for the first place in the Eastern Conference saw their faces at the Wells Fargo Center. Despite lacking outside play (7 triples in 29 attempts), the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics by 107 to 93 at the hands of Australian Ben Simmons, who contributed 24 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.

In the visit, on the other hand, Gordon Hayward converted 25 units and Jayson Tatum signed a double-double: 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The other interesting confrontation between candidates, but in the Western Conference, was the one that took place at the Moda Center. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 108 to 100 thanks to Nikola Jokic's performance (20 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists). The top scorer of the match was the base of the local Damian Lillard, with 32 points.