On Friday night, the San Antonio Spurs dispatched LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a 129-115 win. While all the attention was rightfully on Devin Vassell’s career-high 36 points and the fact that the Spurs snapped an 18-game losing streak, there was a lights-out performance in Memphis that also bodes well for the Spurs’ future.
The Austin Spurs traveled to play the Memphis Hustle in an NBA G League matchup. Austin lost in overtime, 117-116, but the game showed promise for the young Spurs, both in San Antonio and Austin.
In his first game since being signed by the Spurs, David Duke Jr. scored a team-high 27 points in 30 minutes off the bench. He was 4-of-10 from deep and 7-for-12 inside the arc. The guard added four assists and three steals.
Other two-way players Charles Bediako and Sidy Cissoko also had solid games. Bediako added 12 points, while Cissoko continued to excel all around, posting 14 points, 12 rebounds, and two assists. He was 0-for-4 from deep, which isn’t promising, but on the season he has posted averages of 10.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and shoots 32 percent from deep.
While the San Antonio Spurs are trending up after their recent win, the young guns in Austin are showing that the young core for the Spurs runs deep enough to create compelling storylines in the G League. Duke Jr. is only 24 years old and has averaged 4.2 points and 0.8 assists in 45 career NBA games. In his seven starts, he averaged 7.7 points in the NBA.
The Spurs are unlikely to name Duke Jr. their starting point guard, especially with Devin Vassell showing out last night, but on a team with minimal point guard depth, keeping Duke Jr. around makes sense in case Vassell or Tre Jones go down with an injury.
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