Although the NBA regular season tipped off on Tuesday with a pair of exciting matchups, most of the league began their season on Wednesday, including the local teams in the Nets, Knicks, and 76ers. Rutgers fans were likely more interested in the NBA regular-season debuts of former Scarlet Knight stars Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, as their Western Conference teams took the floor a little bit later in the evening.
Dylan Harper and his San Antonio Spurs took on Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks in
a contest that was nationally televised on ESPN, and Harper did not disappoint. Although Dylan missed his first couple of attempts and recorded a couple of early turnovers, he quickly settled down after his first stretch of regular-season action.
He scored his first NBA bucket on this dunk attempt that dropped through the net, and also flashed his playmaking skills on a touch pass to Victor Wembanyama, who ended up with 40 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks in his first regular-season game after being sidelined with deep vein thrombosis in Februrary last season.
Harper ended up recording 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the Spurs’ surprising dismantling of the Mavericks by the score of 125-92. He came into the game looking to push the offense and made four straight shots inside the paint using his excellent finishing ability, continuing to showcase his footwork in the second half.
In the third quarter, Harper used his creativity to pivot around a defender for a layup, before eurostepping around Flagg early in the fourth quarter for another bucket in the paint. Later in the quarter, he had another assist to Wemby on a roll to the rim for the big man, before hitting a three pointer at the top of the key to cement his 15-point performance.
Although the biggest headlines rightfully went to Wembanyama’s sensational season debut, Spurs writers were sure to note that Harper “won” his duel against first overall pick Cooper Flagg, who ended up with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the loss after interestingly starting at point guard. Nathan Rogers of FanSided’s Air Alamo graded Harper’s performance as a B+, praising Dylan’s playmaking and paint scoring but also noting his turnovers, mistakes, and the five fouls Harper racked up, which is one shy of the limit.
One of the biggest surprises from last night’s action was the Utah Jazz dismantling the Los Angeles Clippers 129-108, as the Clippers are expected to be contenders while the Jazz are in a rebuild. Unfortunately, Ace Bailey was on a minutes restriction as he dealt with the flu, which greatly limited his effectiveness.
Bailey is expected to be the Jazz’s starting shooting guard when healthy, but in this game, he came off the bench, finishing with two points, four rebounds, and two assists, including one to a wide-open Walker Kessler who finished off the play wih an easy dunk.
His first career basket came on a high-flying dunk of his own, in which Bailey caught the ball behind the half court line and took one driblble before slamming the ball through the basket with authority.
As Harper and Bailey settle into the 82-game season, they will undeniably get better. But for what it was worth, the Rutgers rookies made their presence felt in their NBA debuts last night, albeit in different ways.
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