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A look at how NBL's Next Stars have performed across Round 6 of the NBL25 season.

28 Oct
NBL.com.au

NBL25's class of Next Stars is looming as one of the top groups of emerging hoops talent anywhere in the world. Stay informed as to how each of the competition's brightest stars played on the weekend with NBL Media's Next Stars Wrap.

There’s no better way to describe Karim Lopez’ performance on Sunday in Sydney than this: it was historic. The Mexican 17-year-old Next Star became the youngest player (aged 17 years and 198 days) in NBL history to get a double-double, as he finished the game against the Kings with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Only three other Next Stars were able to put together a game with 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocks in the NBL: Ariel Hukporti, Bobi Klintman and Alex Sarr. His activity on both sides of the court was electric, and he was praised by NZ Breakers coach Petteri Kopponen after the game.

The Sydney Kings, without their lead guard Jaylen Adams, suffered two losses in Round 6 and lacked their usual offensive flow. After a close loss at home to the Breakers, head coach Brian Goorjian blamed poor guard play and fatigue for his team’s performance: “Tonight, I just thought Alex Toohey was exhausted and he’s a key, key piece for us.”

Izan Almansa had his hands all over the Wildcats’ home win on Thursday against the Sydney Kings: the Spanish forward had 14 points (6-7 FG, 1-1 3PT) and 6 rebounds, 5 of which where offensive boards. His high-energy and èlite touch gave a significant boost to the short-handed home side that was able to secure a crucial win. 

Rocco Zikarsky and the Brisbane Bullets lost at home to the defending champions, the JackJumpers, in a nail-biter. The 18-year-old big man played limited minutes for the home side. 

Malique Lewis is enjoying a fantastic stretch with the SEM Phoenix: his role as a starter is now a lock, and he had two great games in Round 6. After contributing to a major win in Auckland on Thursday, he played 29 minutes on Sunday against the top team, the Illawarra Hawks. Lewis had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, as he impacted the game in different ways — from picking up opponents full court to blocking them at the rim, from cutting to the basket for dunks to knocking down three-pointers. 

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