SINGAPORE (Singapore) - The NBA G League United and Unicaja picked up opening day wins at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2024, both by double digits, to improve their chances of winning their respective groups and advancing to the Final.
Unicaja race past Petro de Luanda
Unicaja had no issues against Petro De Luanda. The Basketball Africa League winners struggled to score against the Spaniards in the first quarter, which is double trouble because it also opens up the floor for Unicaja to play in fifth gear the entire time.
The BCL Europe champions followed the same pattern as in that competition last season, knocking down consecutive big shots to go 10-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half alone, and just slightly slowing down after the break.
The lead ballooned to +31, as Unicaja rolled to a 94-78 win.
Tyler Kalinoski was on fire off the bench, finishing with 16 points in 15 minutes of playing time.
"We're feeling pretty good, we're shooting the ball really well, I think we're playing really good defense. We can't let the foot off the gas," Kalinoski explained the Unicaja mindset at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Nihad Dedovic scored 10 of his 14 points in seven minutes of the second quarter, Jonathan Barreiro did his catch-and-shoot specialty to count to 13 points on the day, Kameron Taylor finished with 11, while Dylan Osetkowski showed why a lot of people consider him Unicaja's best player with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Clesio Castro scored 13 with 8 rebounds, Yanick Moreira and Patrick Gardner combined for 24 points for Petro de Luanda, who have a day off on Friday. That's when Unicaja face Al Riyadi Beirut, and could clinch a spot in the Final with another win.
NBA G League United hit the ground running
In Group B, NBA G League United played only their third game together, and even though they were down to just nine players due to late lineup changes and illness, they were still too strong for Quimsa.
The BCL Americas champs were hanging on to a single digit deficit for most of the game, but the North America representative stormed away to a 16-point lead midway through the fourth, claiming a 78-65 win.
Five men were in double figures for coach Paul Hewitt, Deonte Burton leading the way with 17 points, but it was Juan Toscano who was the leader on and off the court for the United.
First he had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, then he delivered a strong statement after the game:
"We wanted to be aggressive, we wanted to make a statement. I believe the G League is the second best league in the world, and we wanna come here and show that," the former Golden State Warrior said.
Of course, this sparked debate online, and the United team is enjoying the attention as they prepare to take on the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday.
Before that, the NBL champions have to take on Quimsa on Friday. The BCL Americas champs struggled with their shooting against the G League players, and Nicolas Romano with 12 points was their best scorer on the day.
The Argentinians will need to do better than 24-of-66 from the field if they want to have a chance of winning the group and advancing to the Final.
FIBA