Ousmane Dieng is approaching the triple-double, Lauri Markkanen drops 26 points

By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]

Two assists short of a triple-double, Ousmane Dieng stood out for the Oklahoma City Thunder. His team defeated the New Zealand Breakers 117-89 on Thursday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

After being named Finals MVP last season to help complete the Oklahoma City Blue's G League championship run, the 21-year-old French forward is working on a larger role with the Thunder in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. In his third appearance of the 2024 NBA preseason, he recorded a double-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Dutch star Malevy Leons scored 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. The German Isaiah Hartenstein was rested. Serbian Nikola Topic (knee) and Belgian Ajay Mitchell (ankle) were also on the injured list.

After scoring 30 points in two preseason games, Finland's Lauri Markkanen scored 26 points on 9/19 field goals, including four triples, to give the Utah Jazz a 107-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. He also grabbed seven rebounds and provided one assist over 28 minutes.

At FedExForum, the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 119-94. When Serbian Vasilije Micic entered the starting lineup, he contributed four points, four assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes. French teammates Tidjane Salaun and Moussa Diabate had 13 and ten points respectively. Spaniard Santi Aldama had ten points for the hosts.

In other preseason action, Bennedict Mathurin scored 25 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a victory, 129-117, over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

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