Rookies, Future NBA Draftees Show Out in Rising Stars Games
On Friday, the NBA’s up-and-coming stars faced off in the Panini’s Rising Stars games, a four-team bracket made up of rookies, sophomores and even G League prospects, some of which are on 2024 draft radars.
The first game featured Team Jalen versus Team Tamika, which saw the former reach the target score of 40 first.
Indiana’s Benedict Mathurin led the way for the winners with 18 points, with rookies Jordan Hawkins, Dereck Lively and Chet Holmgren add seven, six and five points respectively.
Team Tamika was led by No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson, who poured on 10 points, several via dunks. Other rookie bucket-getters included Vince Williams Jr. and Keyonte George.
In the shocking second game, the G League squad took down the Victor Wembanyama-led Team Pau by a score of 41-36.
Future draftee Matas Buzelis was one of the stars of the show, adding seven solid points, but more importantly hitting the game-winning 3-pointer. Tyler Smith and Izan Almansa were among other G League Ignite players to take the court.
While the exhibition likely didn't do a ton to raise Buzelis' stock, it was likely nice for organizations to at least see the forward on-court with other current NBA players.
Wembanyama did his best to stall the teams efforts, dishing out 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Other Team Pau rookie performances featured eight points from Cason Wallace and six points from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
In the Rising Stars final, Team Jalen cruised to a 26-13 win behind the eventual MVP in Mathurin. Lively added six points and Hawkins added five.
The NBA All-Star weekend continues tomorrow with the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and dunk contest.
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