Southwest Notes: Pippen, Huff, Wembanyama, Vassell

Grizzlies reserve guard Scotty Pippen Jr. enjoyed one of the best nights of his career in his father’s former arena, per The Associated Press.

In the United Center, against his Hall of Fame dad Scottie Pippen‘s old team, the Bulls, the younger Pippen scored a career-most 30 points on 13-of-16 shooting from the field, while chipping in 10 assists, for a 142-131 win.

“It’s a dream come true,” Pippen said. “It’s crazy to say I put up 30 and 10 in the gym where my dad had played… It means everything to me and my family. I talked to my dad tonight about coming in here and playing. He just told me to go out there and kill it, so that’s what I tried to do.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

• Grizzlies reserve center Jay Huff almost ditched his NBA dream for Italian EuroLeague squad Olimpia Milano, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “We talked to them,” Huff said of Olimpia Milano. “Really liked them. Still do. Their head coach is awesome. Ettore Messina, he’s the man. So we were close. Living in Milan would have been fun. And I know plenty of guys that have gone overseas that should be in the NBA right now. It’s all about fit and opportunity.” Grizzlies assistant coach Johnny Carpenter, a video coordinator at UVA when Jay Huff was there, recommended Huff link up with Memphis. Huff signed a two-way deal, only to see that quickly get promoted to a standard agreement.
• After missing three contests with an injury, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama helped San Antonio mount a 17-point comeback and eventually best the top-seeded Warriors, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. The 7’4″ big man scored 25 points, dished out nine dimes, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. “I did find my rhythm physically,” Wembanyama said. “It was a little hard to come back in terms of conditioning in the first half. There’s a switch I’m trying to flip on demand. Strong catches, quick moves, not holding the ball, but also taking my time, taking shots with confidence, good feet and good preparation for the shot.”
• Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson has defended his team’s cautious approach to guard Devin Vassell‘s recovery from a left knee bone bruise, per Tom Osborne of The San Antonio Express News. “We said at the start of this thing we were going to be conservative with him, so he’s probably frustrated as much as anybody with us a little bit,” Johnson said. “But we have a big picture in mind here and he’s trending really, really well.”