For those who haven’t been following along, the NBA officially tipped off inside the Disney bubble last Thursday. With the restart underway, former Syracuse Orange men’s basketball players will have at least another week and a half of games before playoffs begin.
It was a solid first weekend for the Syracuse alumni as all four players scored in double-figures at least once. Here’s how each player performed.
Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers are 1-1 since the NBA restart. Anthony had 21 points on 7-10 shooting in the first game back against the Memphis Grizzlies. He also had seven rebounds but turned the ball over five times and committed five fouls.
Still, Melo has a proclivity for coming through in crunch time. He knocked down back to back 3s late to help boost Portland to overtime and earn the win.
MELO BACK-TO-BACK CLUTCH 3s pic.twitter.com/Bgkt7pdrEd
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) July 31, 2020
Melo struggled in his next game against the Boston Celtics, shooting 5-14 from the field. He finished with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 34 minutes. He did connect on another clutch triple down the stretch of that game, but ultimately the Celtics won 128-124.
Jerami Grant, Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets have dropped both games since the restart, falling to the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. Grant had 9 points in the first matchup on an efficient four shots. He was 2-3 from deep.
In his team’s second game, Grant scored a team-high 19 points in 26 minutes. He had only two rebounds in each game, however.
Dion Waiters, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are 1-1 since the restart, taking down the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night but falling to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Waiters provided strong minutes off the bench in both contests, scoring 11 points and 12 points respectively. He grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out two assists in both games. For the believers in advanced metrics, Waiters was a combined +25 in two games for the Lake show.
He also had this sweet spin move in traffic to finish over Ivica Zubac.
Once you get on that island... pic.twitter.com/ck3vQ0hquI
— James Szuba (@JamesSzuba) July 31, 2020
Waiters Island is a thing of beauty.
Michael Carter-Williams, Orlando Magic
The Magic are 2-0 since the restart. Michael Carter-Williams continues to provide solid bench minutes for Orlando. He scored only 6 points on 2-9 shooting in the first game back against the Brooklyn Nets, but stuffed the stat sheet against the Sacramento Kings. He put up 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in his second game back. He earned 30 minutes, a season-high.
Oshae Brissett, Toronto Raptors
Brissett was listed out in the Raptor’s opener against the Lakers due to right knee soreness. He’s been inside the bubble but only made one appearance in three Raptor’s scrimmages. Brissett is on a two-way contract this year.
Brissett started his own YouTube channel inside the bubble though, dubbed ‘BrissyTV’. Check that for some entertainment value.
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