USA/TUR – Erden impresses in Celtics debut

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (NBA) – Turkey centre Semih Erden (picture) got his NBA career off to a perfect start by helping the Boston Celtics see off the Philadelphia 76ers 93-65 in their first pre-season game.
 
Erden, who played an intrical part in Turkey's silver medal finish on home soil at last month’s FIBA World Championship, had 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks on Wednesday night. He made all three of his field goal attempts and hit seven of eight free-throws while logging the most minutes (23:44) of any Boston player on the night.
 
“Semih was terrific. He played great and that’s why I kept him out there,” Celtics head coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the game. “He knows how to play, he’s very physical and I really think it’s great for him that he’s playing against Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) every day in practice.”
 
Like Erden, O’Neal was playing his first game for the Celtics. He finished with eight points and two rebounds and was impressed by what he saw from the 24-year-old Turk.
 
“He plays aggressive. He goes against three big men in Jermaine (O’Neal), myself and Kevin (Garnett). So he’s going to learn a lot and he’s going to be a force for us,” the 18-year veteran offered.
 
Meanwhile, it didn’t take long for Linas Kleiza to get re-acclimated to the NBA style of play as he led the Toronto Raptors past the Phoenix Suns 129-78.
 
The Lithuanian forward, who joined the Raptors after one season with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos, hit all four of his three-point attempts on his way to a game-high 20 points as the Raptors ruined Suns guard Steve Nash’s homecoming in Vancouver.
 
Italian big man Andrea Bargnani had a sub-par performance with three points on one of nine shooting, but Toronto didn’t need him to be at his very best as all 15 players who went out onto the court got into the scoring column.
 
Nash had nine points and seven assists for Phoenix who dropped to 0-2 after losing away to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. Playing against his former team, Turkey’s Hedo Turkoglu had six points and eight rebounds but his shooting woes continued as he missed seven of 10 attempts including all three tries from beyond the arc.
 
Across the Atlantic, the Minnesota Timberwolves improved to 2-0 in their pre-season by beating the New York Knicks 106-100 at the Palais Omnisports Bercy in Paris.
 
After beating the reigning NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers 111-92 in London on Monday, the Timberwolves used a big third quarter to take an 83-74 lead heading into the final frame and they did enough in that period to secure the win.
 
Kevin Love, who helped the USA end a 16-year wait for a FIBA World Championship crown in Turkey last month, had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the winning cause.
 
Nikola Pekovic of Montenegro provided a great boost off the bench with 11 points and six boards.
 
Knicks Italian forward Danillo Gallinari was held to just seven points on three of 13 shooting. Russia’s big man Timofey Mozgov had eight points and two blocks but fouled out having played just under 15 minutes.
 
FIBA