Kyle Filipowski fell to the early second round at the 2024 NBA Draft despite leading the Duke basketball program in scoring and rebounding in each of his seasons with the Blue Devils. Now, it appears the Utah Jazz’s 6-foot-11, 250-pound New York native is beginning to make teams regret letting him slip past the first round.
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On Thursday night, the Jazz (3-8) defeated the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks at home, 115-113, improving to 2-1 when Filipowski logs 24 minutes or more.
Earning his fourth start of the season, the 21-year-old finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one block while shooting 6-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 beyond the arc across his career-high 30 minutes on the floor.
BIG-TO-BIG TRANSITION LOB 🔥
Filipowski and Markkanen connect for the slam!
📺 Mavs-Jazz on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/GaeGv8zwFI
— NBA (@NBA) November 15, 2024
That encouraging performance followed Filipowski’s career-high 18 points in a 120-112 home loss to the Phoenix Suns two nights earlier.
The Mavericks were without the services of one of their two Duke basketball products against the Jazz, as Kyrie Irving sat out to rest his strained shoulder. As for the other Blue Devil on the Dallas roster, second-year NBA center Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski’s freshman teammate in Durham, tallied five points, two rebounds, one steal, and four blocks in his 17 minutes as a starter.
Filipowski, a two-time All-ACC performer under Jon Scheyer, is now averaging 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from downtown.
He and the Utah Jazz next face a road game against the Sacramento Kings (7-5) at 10 p.m. ET Saturday.
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