Pacers two-way rookie Duane Washington Jr. received high praise from coach Rick Carlisle after scoring 19 points on Saturday, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star writes. Washington helped Indiana defeat San Antonio 119-108, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor in 21 minutes of action off the bench.
“I had somebody at the table to sub for him,” Carlisle said of Washington. “He hit a 3, and the play kept going, and he hit another 3, and I sent Chris (Duarte) back (to the bench), and then he hit a third 3.
“Wash is an aggressive player that’s fearless and unselfish. He gives himself a chance to get going every night, and generally he does it in a way that’s within the team concept and is in the rhythm of the game.”
Washington signed with the Pacers after going undrafted last August. He’s averaging 9.1 points per game this season, shooting 39% from the floor and 37% from three-point range.
Here are some other notes from the Central Division:
- The Bulls were sparked by Alex Caruso‘s return from a fractured right wrist on Saturday, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Caruso finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals off the bench, helping his team defeat Cleveland 101-91 at home. “He had a major impact, just having another competitor out there,’’ teammate Ayo Dosunmu said of Caruso. “He makes [defense] easier for a lot of us. He’s a veteran; he’s won; he’s played in those high-level games. You have that, and it boosts the entire team morale.’’
- Pistons legendary play-by-play commentator George Blaha will miss the rest of the season due to a heart bypass procedure that’ll take place on Tuesday, the team announced in a press release. Blaha is expected to make a full recovery. He has called more than 3,400 Pistons games since 1976.
- Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press examines why winning should matter more than the lottery for the Pistons. Detroit, tied with Orlando for the second-worst record in the league at 18-50, is 5-5 in its last 10 games.
Early free-agent rumble to pass along involving those same Knicks: Detroit is said to have a strong interest in unrestricted free agent-to-be Mitchell Robinson. – via Marc Stein @ marcstein.substack.com
It seems that the Knicks can’t offer Robinson more than a four-year, $55 million extension, Bondy revealed two teams that have shown interest in the big man.3 days ago
So would teams actually offer more for Mitch. Be nice to work out a deal with Mavs (Dinwiddie) or Pistons (Grant). Two teams supposedly interested in Mitch. Cause if we draft outside of top 10. Duren should be there.
Grant Hill? Little late for that lol unless you were joking
Dude, are you joking?
Idk that is why i asked him
You’ve got to be kidding me. He was talking about Jerami Grant. This is why I say you don’t watch basketball. You don’t know who Jerami Grant is.
Actually I have heard of Jeremy grant he is an overhyped forward for the piston and puts up big stats on a bad team.
He reminds me of Grant Williams on the Celtics except I feel like Grant is a better shooter but Jeremy gets to the rim more.
Duren won’t make it out of top 10 I promise you.