Former Duke Basketball Sensation Starting to Sizzle Again

Grayson Allen's points are down a smidge from his career-high 13.5 per game last season, his first with the Phoenix Suns. But the former four-year Duke basketball guard's 16.8 points per 36 minutes on the floor this season mark an increase from his 2023-24 campaign.

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Plus, the defending NBA 3-point percentage champ, No. 4 on the active career list at 41.3 percent, is heating up of late. He's climbed to No. 17 in the league this go-round at 42.8 percent from downtown.

On Thursday night, Allen tallied 21 points — just his second 20-plus effort this season but also his second in the past five games — to help power the Suns (20-20) to a 130-123 road victory over the Washington Wizards (6-33). The 29-year-old shot 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 beyond the arc, adding five rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes off the bench.

He didn't dish out any assists in the win.

However, fellow 2015 Duke basketball national champion Tyus Jones sure did, as the former one-and-done point guard finished with 10 dimes and three steals, coming up only one point shy of a double-double across his 31 minutes as a starter.

And Phoenix's third Duke basketball talent, 2010 national champ Mason Plumlee, excelled on the glass as the team's starting center against the Wizards. He totaled six points, nine boards, and four assists in only 17 minutes.

As for Washington's lone NBA Blue Devil, 2017-18 one-and-done Marvin Bagley III has been out of commission with a knee injury for almost a month.

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