Trey Murphy III is settling as a starter for Western Conference contender New Orleans. Malcolm Brogdon and Sam Hauser are key rotation guys for Eastern Conference favorite Boston.
And somehow, some way, Ty Jerome has gone from getting cut free by two of the NBA’s worst teams in the preseason to getting rotation minutes for defending NBA champ Golden State.
Sunday was a big day for Tony Bennett’s guys in the Association.
TM3 goes for 15 in Pelicans’ win
Murphy, a 2021 UVA Basketball alum, had 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting and a +21 plus/minus in a 112-91 New Orleans win over the L.A. Clippers on Sunday.
Murphy is averaging 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 31.7 minutes per game for the Pelicans, shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 54.3 percent from three-point range, which ranks 11th in the NBA.
TM3 has started the past three games for the Pels, a stretch in which he’s averaged 16.7 points in 35.3 minutes.
UVA Hoops reunion in Celtics-Wizards game
There were several stretches in Sunday night’s Boston-Washington game in which there were three Bennett UVA alums on the floor.
Malcolm Brogdon (UVA MBB ’16) had a team-high 23 points in 23 minutes off the bench to help key the 112-94 Celtics win.
Sam Hauser (UVA MBB ’21) had nine points, on 3-of-5 shooting from three, and five rebounds in 23 bench minutes for the Cs.
For the Wizards, Anthony Gill (UVA MBB ’16) had 10 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
Looking at their season numbers, we’ll go in reverse order, starting with Gill, who is averaging 3.5 points in 10.8 minutes per game and is shooting 53.3 percent from the floor for Washington, which is off to a 3-3 start.
For Boston, Brogdon, who came over from Indiana in a blockbuster trade aimed at solidifying the Celtics’ bench, is averaging 13.3 points per game in 22.8 minutes per game as Boston’s sixth man.
Brogdon is shooting 45.0 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from three-point range.
Brogs is the Cs’ third-leading scorer.
Hauser, in his first year in Boston’s rotation, is averaging 5.5 points in 11.5 minutes per game off the bench.
The number for Hauser that stands out: he’s shooting 55.6 percent from three, which ranks eighth in the NBA.
Jerome has perfect shooting night for GSW in Warriors’ loss
I was worried about the future of Ty Jerome (UVA MBB ’19) after he was traded by Oklahoma City to Houston, then waived.
Turns out getting dumped by two of the worst teams in the NBA worked out well for Jerome, who earned a two-way deal with defending NBA champion Golden State, and has unexpectedly worked his way into the Warriors’ rotation of late.
Jerome, in Sunday’s 128-114 loss at Detroit, had eight points – on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting at the free-throw line – in 14 minutes off the bench.
Jerome has averaged 12.5 minutes off the bench for Golden State over the team’s last four games, and is averaging 4.5 points and 1.3 assists per outing, connecting on 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the floor and 2-of-4 (50 percent) from three.
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Chris Graham
