Vic, E.J. go head-to-head, Zeller brothers battle
Two former Indiana stars were on the court together, and Zeller brothers Cody and Tyler had their first regular-season meeting tonight in the NBA.
Victor Oladipo had 10 points off the bench for Orlando in a 110-90 victory over Eric Gordon and New Orleans while Cody Zeller's Charlotte Hornets played their home opener and beat older brother Tyler Zeller and the Cavaliers 90-84.
Advertisement
Oladipo had another solid performance in his third NBA game with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks against four turnovers. It came in front of his high school coach, DeMatha's Mike Jones.
He played a supporting role as Arron Afflalo scored 30 and Maurice Harkless 20 for the Magic, who had six players in double figures.
Gordon had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists for the Pelicans, who opened the season with the youngest team in the league, averaging 3.6 years of experience per player, and really struggled against Orlando's solid defensive effort in the first half.
Cody Zeller had nine points on 4-for-9 shooting, including a nice jumper from about a step inside the 3-point line. He also had five rebounds in his 19 minutes of playing time.
The game also feature two top-four 2013 NBA draft picks in Zeller and Anthony Bennett. The former UNLV standout had zero points and one rebound in 13 minutes. He shot 0-for-3 from the floor and didn't get to the foul line.
From the AP story: "Zeller, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, outplayed No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett in his first game in front of the home crowd."
As far as the battle of the brothers, Cody Zeller did guard Tyler Zeller for a few possessions and tipped one of his older brothers' shots.
Tyler Zeller, who had an emergency appendectomy in mid-October and played only four minutes in the Cavaliers season-opener against Brooklyn, went scoreless with two rebounds in nine minutes.
All three Zeller brothers - Luke, Tyler and Cody - were Indiana Mr. Basketball out of Washington, Ind.
Tyler Zeller's Cavaliers play at the Pacers Saturday night.