NBA Friday Night Slate: Scoot Henderson, Victor Wembanyama to Cap Off Blazers-Spurs Season Series
As we inch past the halfway point to the end of the season around the league, a lot of the first-year newcomers are beginning to truly find their footing – building off what the curated throughout the first half of the season.
Currently, the San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama and the Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren hold the top two spots in the Kia Rookie Ladder – with Wembanyama still claiming No. 1 despite the Spurs falling to Holmgren and the Thunder on Wednesday.
Here, we'll take a look at some rookie matchups around the association on Friday night.
Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports
Rockets at Hornets
In one of the first contests on the night, Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets will see Brandon Miller and the Charlotte Hornets.
For Thompson, he's seen a jump in minutes this month coincided with a leap of production. 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 18.1 minutes throughout 13 games in January – including dropping his season-high of 15 points versus the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
His Rockets enter this game coming off two losses to Boston and the Portland Trail Blazers, as they look to get back on track against Charlotte.
For Miller, he's had a stellar rookie season in a large role for the Hornets – generating 15.1 points on 43.6% shooting in 30.7 minutes per game and holding the No. 3 spot in the Rookie of the Year race.
Thunder at Pelicans
Thunder-Pelicans is a matchup we've only seen once this season – with New Orleans claiming the first meeting back in one of the first games on the season in early November.
Now in late January, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace will face Jordan Hawkins inside Smoothie King Center.
Both at the top of their divisions, this game should be competitive. Hawkins is currently putting up 10.9 points a night on 21.8 minutes, and recently posted an impressive 34 points on 57.9% shooting against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month.
Holmgren and Wallace have been rolling on the No. 1 team in the West – each having an immense role for the Thunder. As the third option, Holmgren averages 17.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as a starter – while Wallace has maintained efficiency in his rookie campaign, shooting 51.4% from the field and 42.2% from three as the sixth man for Oklahoma City.
Trail Blazers at Spurs
Scoot Henderson and the Trail Blazers will head to San Antonio to take on Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, a matchup between the No. 1 and No. 3 picks from this 2023 draft.
This is the third and last time these rookies will meet on the season, as each team split the first two matchups – leaving this game to decide who takes the season series.
Henderson has begun to find some consistency within the last two months compared to months prior, having his ups-and-downs as a 12.4-point per game scorer, but on a lowly 36.4% from the field this season.
He could have a breakout game Friday night though, as he's faired will against the Spurs in their first two meetings – 23.5 points and 7.5 assists between those two.
Wembanyama, though, has been consistent all month long, even through his minutes restriction. But 27.6 minutes per night in his last five outings specifically has seen him score 20-plus points in each of them, also producing 33 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
And as he fully recovers from his ankle injury, his minutes will continue to increase throughout the remainder of the season.
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