Reece Beekman Makes First Career NBA Start, Scores 14 Points

Beekman played 36 minutes in the game, more than any other player on either team, and scored in double figures for the first time this season. His 14 points surpassed his previous career-high of nine points scored on January 6th against the Indiana Pacers. Beekman also matched a career-high with three steals.

Unsurprisingly, this has been a rough season for the Brooklyn Nets, who fell to 25-53 overall with the loss. The Nets are12th in the Eastern Conference standings and they were eliminated from playoff contention over a week ago. Beekman hasn't seen an abundance of playing time, averaging just 11.2 minutes per game in 32 appearances, but he is certainly in a better position with Brooklyn than he was with Golden State, where he began the season and played just two games before the Warriors traded Beekman to the Nets in mid-December.

Beekman played in five games for the Long Island Nets this season and played impressively in those brief appearances at the G League level, averaging 15.0 points, 6.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game and shooting 48.1% from the floor and 43.5% from three-point range. Now, Beekman will look to continue to stack quality individual performances in the last four games of the season to make his case for a standard contract with the Brooklyn Nets heading into next year.

Three other former UVA basketball players scored in double figures during Sunday's NBA action. Ty Jerome scored 20 points and De'Andre Hunter added 11 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers' loss to the Sacramento Kings and Sam Hauser scored 18 points and collected eight rebounds to help the Boston Celtics defeat the Washington Wizards 124-90.

With Reece Beekman making his first NBA start, eight different former Virginia basketball players have started an NBA game this season:
- Trey Murphy III: 51 starts
- De'Andre Hunter: 8 starts
- Ty Jerome: 2 starts
- Malcolm Brogdon: 13 starts
- Ryan Dunn: 40 starts
- Sam Hauser: 17 starts
- Jay Huff: 2 starts
- Reece Beekman: 1 start

As it stands, four Cavaliers are on NBA teams currently in position to make the NBA postseason. De'Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome are leading the bench mob for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, despite losing four of their last 10 games, are still in great position to earn the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Sam Hauser is still lighting it up off the bench for the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics, who are four games behind the Cavs and in line for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Finally, Jay Huff is getting very limited minutes off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies, who are currently in a four-team tie for fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

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