It was another excellent evening in the NBA for Croatia’s young basketball stars Ivica Zubac and Ante Žižić.

The 21-year-old Mostar native Ivica Zubac was the most effective player for the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. In their defeat to the Golden State Warriors, Zubac scored 18 points. 

A touch of Croatia at the world’s most famous arena as Klapa Astoria serenade the audience at Madison Square Garden in New York. 

Croatia’s basketball representatives in the NBA were brilliant again on Friday night, and 22-year-old Split native Ante Žižić had the score of his career. Namely, in the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Houston Rockets, Žižić scored 18 points, which is his career high, reports HRT on January 12, 2019. 

In the clash of the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks, Bojan Bogdanović’s scored 15 points in the Pacers’ win, while Mario Hezonja scored 10 points in the Knicks’ loss. Ivica Zubac also scored 10 points in the defeat of his Los Angeles Lakers, though Dario Šarić had the worst evening of them all, and went without a point in the loss of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ante Žižic for the Cavs

Cleveland, the last team in the Eastern Conference, did not have a chance against the Houston Rockets who beat them 141:113. Ante Žižić played 24 minutes and was the best scorer of his defeated team, scoring 18 points (shots in play 6/8) with eight rebounds and two steals.

Houston was led by their most efficient player James Harden, who scored 43 points, making it his 13th game where he scored over 40 points. In addition to last night's 'triple-double,' Harden recorded ten rebounds and 12 assists.

Bogdanović v. Hezonja

The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks played at Madison Square Garden, though it was Bojan Bogdanvić's team to celebrate 121:106. Bogdanović was better than fellow countryman Mario Hezonja, scoring 15 points in 26 minutes (shots in play 5/12, three-pointers 3/5) with two rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Hezonja, the 23-year-old Dubrovnik native, played 30 minutes and achieved 10 points (shots in play 4/12, three-pointers 1/4), adding six rebounds, two assists, five steals, and one block.

Domantas Sabonis was the best shooter for the Pacers, with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Victor Oladipo added 19 points. Emmanuel Mudiay was the best for New York, scoring all of his points (21) in the second half.

Dario Šarić goes without a single point

The Minnesota Timberwolves were defeated at home, and the Dallas Mavericks were better 119:115. Dario Šarić had one of his worst nights, and in his 19 minutes on the court, he went without a single point (shots in play 0/5, three-pointers 0/3), though he did achieve four rebounds and one assist.

The Dallas victory was marked by rookie player Luka Dončić who scored a three-pointer for the win 22.9 seconds before the end. He also scored 29 points and achieved 12 assists and eight rebounds. The Wolves were led by Karl-Anthony Towns who scored 30 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Ivica Zubac continues to get playing time at the Lakers

The Utah Jazz won at home against the Los Angeles Lakers 113:95. Ivica Zubac played 14 minutes, scoring 10 points with five rebounds, one assist, and one block. Donovan Mitchell was the best for Utah with 33 points and nine assists, while Michael Beasley was the best for the Lakers with 17 points.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Croatian representatives Bojan Bogdanović, Mario Hezonja, and Dario Šarić were remarkable for their NBA teams on Tuesday night. 

Bojan Bogdanović and Dario Šarić were again great for their teams last night, though both the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves were unable to pull a victory. The Houston Rockets, on the other hand, have set a new NBA record for the number of three-pointers scored, reports HRT on December 20, 2018. 

The Indiana Pacers played away in Toronto where they lost 99-96 to the Raptors. Fred VanVleet scored 25.9 seconds before the end for the Raptors’ win.

Toronto came back from 17 points behind. The team was led by Kawhi Leonard who scored 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Pascal Siakam added 17 points with seven rebounds, and Greg Monroe scored 13 points and eight rebounds.

The best for Indiana, who tallied their second defeat in a row, was Victor Oladipo with 20 points, while Bogdanović was the second best with 18 points in 33 minutes on the court (shots in play 7/13, three-pointers 3/6). Bogdanović added five rebounds, an assist and two steals.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were defeated at home 129-123 after the Detroit Pistons won in extra time. The best on the Pistons was Blake Griffin who finished with 34 points, and Reggie Bullock who had 33.

Andre Drummond, who scored 16 points and had the same number of rebounds, took the game to extra time after scoring in the final second of regular time. 

The best for Minnesota was Derrick Rose who scored 33 points and seven assists, while Robert Covington added 22. Dario Šarić, however, was excellent for the Timberwolves, scoring 15 points in 32 minutes on the court (shots in play 6/10, three-pointers 2/5), with six rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Mario Hezonja and Ante Žižić both had time on the court last night, while Dragan Bender did not play for the Phoenix Suns.

The New York Knicks suffered a defeat in Philadelphia, losing 131-110 to the 76ers. Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, which is his 28th double-double this season. Ben Simmons achieved his fourth triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was the most effective for New York with 27 points, while Hezonja scored only two from free throws in four minutes on the court.

The Charlotte Hornets were better than Cleveland Cavaliers, winning 110-99 at home. The Hornets were led by Kemba Walker who scored 30 points.

The Cavaliers were led by Jordan Clarkson who scored 20 points, while Ante Žižić scored seven (shots in play 3/4) with four rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes on the court. 

The Phoenix Suns played away in Boston to win 111-103. Not even Kyrie Irving could help the Celtics, who scored 29 points and ten assists.

The Houston Rockets set a new NBA record last night, according to the number of three-pointers achieved in a single game. In the 136-118 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards, the Rockets achieved 26 three-pointers out of 55 attempts.

James Harden finished the game with 35 points, of which six were three-pointers. Chris Paul scored 21 points with eight assists, and Clint Capel scored 20 points with 12 rebounds. The best for Washington was Bradley Beal with 28 points.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

The Phoenix Suns, the worst team in the NBA league, have achieved only six wins in 30 games this season. One of them, unfortunately, was against Dario Šarić's new club the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday (107:99), reports Index.hr on December 16, 2018 

Croatia national team representative Dario Šarić finally got a chance in the starting lineup - the first time for his new club - and used the opportunity to play the best match since his abrupt move to Minnesota last month. The young Šibenik native was able to achieve a double-double, scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds, and was 50% for shots in play. Despite Šarić’s superstar effort, however, the Wolves entered their fourth consecutive defeat in their fourth straight away game. 

The Suns celebrated thanks to the return of their best player, Devin Booker, who missed six games due to lower back problems. Booker did not have any restrictions on his performance and scored 28 points during his 35 minutes on the court. He also added seven rebounds with just as many assists.

Šarić was given a chance in the starting lineup because Taj Gibson, the favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau, had to miss the game for personal reasons.

However, considering that he entered the game from the bench two games before this, Šarić is receiving more than 30 minutes on the court on average, and if we count this match, Šarić has, in the last three games, averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, meaning he should continue to get good playing time at his new club. 

In other NBA news, Bojan Bogdanović scored 18 points, with five rebounds and two assists, and started the turnaround of the Indiana Pacers, who celebrated 113:101 away in Philadelphia - even though the 76ers had a 10-point advantage in the second half. 

It was the 20th consecutive match in which Bogdanović achieved a double-digit number of points and his seventh game in December alone. In December, the Pacers completed six wins, and Croatia’s best basketball player averaged 20.5 points.

To read more about Croats in the NBA, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Bojan Bogdanović is on a roll for the Indiana Pacers this season. 

Dario Šarić became part of the Minnesota Timberwolves squad earlier this month. 

Bojan Bogdanović once again led the Indiana Pacers in the absence of the star Victor Oladipo.