Malcolm Brogdon is a game-time decision for nine seed Indiana as the Pacers get set to face 10 seed Charlotte tonight in the opening round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Brogdon has missed the past 10 games with a sore right hamstring.
A win extends the Pacers’ season at least one more game. The winner of the 9-10 matchup faces the loser of the matchup between seven seed Boston and eight seed Washington for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Anthony Gill has been logging rotation minutes for the Wizards the past couple of outings, including an important stretch in Washington’s 120-105 win over Cleveland on May 14.
In that one, Gill had 12 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench, with a plus/minus of +16.
His effort in the win, which clinched a play-in spot for the Wiz, earned him the praise of head coach Scott Brooks.
“There were times that he struggled, but I tell you what, he just kept playing. Then it starts growing on you and you see it every day. It’s not fake. That guy is cheering his teammates on, he’s in every huddle, he locks into every play and every timeout, just in case I might make a sub after the huddle breaks, and then he started playing better in practice and then we threw him in the game, that gave me more confidence and the team more confidence,” Brooks said.
“You know what he is? He’s a winning basketball player that does a lot of winning things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, that you need in your locker room, you need on your bench, you need on your bench, and you need on the court like tonight. I thought his minutes were a big part of our win,” Brooks said.
De’Andre Hunter seems to be ready for the Atlanta Hawks playoff run. The Hawks, the five seed in the East, will face the fourth-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the main draw, and Hunter, coming back from a knee injury that had limited him to two games since Jan. 29 coming into the final week of the regular season, got action in three games last week.
Hunter got the start in the Sunday finale with Houston, and logged 24 minutes, scoring 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting, with a plus.minus of +8.
More from the injury front: Joe Harris missed the final two games of the Brooklyn Nets regular season with a left gluteal strain, but he is expected to be full speed when the second-seeded Nets face whoever ends up being the seven seed.
Don’t forget that the ‘Hoos alumni base includes a role player for the top East seed, Philadelphia, in the form of Mike Scott, who averages 16.7 minutes per game as a stretch four for the Sixers. There’s also Mamadi Diakite on the three seed, Milwaukee, which gave Diakite the start in the season finale Sunday night at Chicago once the Nets had sewn up the two seed in the East. Diakite put up a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes in the 118-112 loss.
‘Hoos in the NBA Final Numbers
Malcolm Brogdon, Indiana Pacers
- 2020-2021: 21.2 points/g, 5.9 assists/g, 5.3 rebounds/g, 45.3% FG, 38.8% 3FG
- At UVA (2011-2016): 13.3 points/g, 4.1 rebounds/g, 2.5 assists/g, 43.0% FG, 36.5% 3FG)
De’Andre Hunter, Atlanta Hawks
- 2020-2021: 15.0 points/g, 4.8 rebounds/g, 48.4% FG, 32.6% 3FG
- At UVA (2017-2019): 12.4 points/g, 4.4 rebounds/g, 2.1 assists/g 50.9% FG, 41.9% 3FG
Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets
- 2020-2021: 14.1 points/g, 3.6 rebounds/g, 1.9 assists/g, 50.5% FG, 47.5% 3FG
- At UVA (2010-2014): 12.6 points/g, 44.5% FG, 40.7% 3FG
Ty Jerome, Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2020-2021: 10.7 points/g, 2.8 rebounds/g, 3.6 assists/g, 44.6% FG, 42.3% 3FG
- At UVA (2016-2019): 9.6 points/g, 3.7 assists/g, 43.5% FG, 39.2% 3FG
Mike Scott, Philadelphia 76’ers
- 2020-2021: 4.1 points/g, 2.4 rebounds/g, 36.3% FG, 34.0% 3FG
- At UVA (2007-2012): 11.8 points/g, 7.3 rebounds/g, 52.1% FG, 36.4% 3FG
Kyle Guy, Sacramento Kings
- 2020-2021: 2.8 points/g, 1.1 rebounds/g, 33.0% FG, 28.3% 3FG
- At UVA (2016-2019): 12.5 points/g, 43.3% FG, 42.5% 3FG
Mamadi Diakite, Milwaukee Bucks
- 2021 NBA: 3.1 points/g, 2.4 rebounds/g, 40.0% FG, 12.5% 3FG
- 2021 G League: 18.5 points/g, 10.3 rebounds/g, 58.3% FG, 50.0% 3FG
- At UVA (2016-2019): 7.4 points/g, 4.1 rebounds/g, 52.4% FG, 33.7% 3FG
Anthony Gill, Washington Wizards
- 2020-2021: 3.1 points/g, 2.0 rebounds/g, 50.0% FG, 29.2% 3FG
- At UVA (2013-2016): 11.3 points/g, 5.5 rebounds/g, 58.2% FG
‘Hoos in the Pros Final Numbers
London Perrantes, Austin Spurs (G League)
- 2021: 6.7 points/g, 5.6 assists/g, 34.3% FG, 29.2% 3FG
- At UVA (2013-2017): 8.9 points/g, 4.1 assists/g, 40.5% FG, 40.9 3FG
Braxton Key, Delaware Blue Coats (G League)
- 2021: 4.3points/g, 39.2% FG, 28.6% 3FG
- At UVA (2018-2020): 7.4 points/g, 6.1 rebounds/g, 43.4% FG
Nigel Johnson, Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo)
- 2020-2021: 24.3 points/g, 7.1 assists/g, 45.2% FG, 45.9% 3FG
- At UVA (2017-2018): 4.9 points/g, 38.6% FG, 32.7% 3FG
Marial Shayok, Frutti Extra Bursaspor (Turkey)
- 2020-2021: 19.5 points/g, 6.9 rebounds/g, 4.2 assists/g, 58.7% FG, 32.3% 3FG
- At UVA (2014-2017): 5.7 points/g, 44.7% FG, 37.4% 3FG
Akil Mitchell, Maccabi Rishon Le-Zion (Israel)
- 2020-2021: 18.0 points/g, 11.5 rebounds/g, 57.1% FG
- At UVA (2010-2014): 6.9 points/g, 6.0 rebounds/g, 51.9% FG
Darius Thompson, Happy Casa Brindisi (Italy)
- 2020-2021: 12.9 points/g, 5.4 assists/g, 59.2% FG, 30.1% 3FG
- At UVA (2015-2017): 5.2 points/g, 48.2% FG, 36.5% 3FG
Darion Atkins, Lokman Hekim Fethiye Belediyespor (Turkey)
- 2020-2021: 13.3 points/g, 7.4 rebounds/g, 59.2% FG, 31.5% 3FG
- At UVA (2011-2015): 4.4 points/g, 3.4 rebounds/g, 51.1% FG
Billy Baron, FK Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia)
- 2020-2021: 9.6 points/g, 2.5 assists/g, 42.3% FG, 43.9% 3FG
- At UVA (2010-2011): 3.0 points/g, 11.1 minutes/g
Mike Tobey, Valencia Basket (Spain)
- 2020-2021: 9.9 ppg, 4.5 rebounds/g, 71.2% FG, 40.3% 3FG
- At UVA (2012-2016): 6.8 points/g, 4.0 rebounds/g, 53.1% FG
Devon Hall, Brose Bamberg (Germany)
- 2020-2021: 12.4 points/g, 3.1 rebounds/g, 2.2 assists/g, 51.4% FG, 31.0% 3FG
- At UVA (2014-2018): 6.9 points/g, 41.9% FG, 38.9% 3FG
Isaiah Wilkins, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
- 2020-2021: 6.0 points/g, 2.4 rebounds/g, 46.4% FG
- At UVA (2014-2018): 4.9 points/g, 4.8 rebounds/g, 50.8% FG
Story by Chris Graham
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