Three Former UVA Basketball Players Score 25+ on Thursday Night in the NBA

Thursday night’s action in the National Basketball Association saw three former Virginia basketball players score at least 25 points. Two of those players led their team in scoring, but lost the game, while the other was his team’s second-leading scorer off the bench in a big win.

Let’s start with the latter and the most recent UVA basketball legend to have his number retired, Malcolm Brogdon. After missing the previous four games for the Washington Wizards with a left hamstring strain, Brogdon returned to the floor on Thursday night and gave the Wizards a huge boost off the bench, scoring 25 points and dishing out six assists to lead Washington to a 123-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in the nation’s capital.

Brogdon took no time at all shaking off the rust, making six of his first seven shots and scoring 17 points in the first half.

In a little under 27 minutes played, Brogdon recorded 25 points, six assists, one rebound, and one steal. He shot 8/13 from the floor, 3/5 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 6/6 from the charity stripe. Brogdon was second on the Wizards in scoring behind Jordan Poole (27 points) and led the team in +/- by a wide margin; he was +14 in his time on the floor, while the next-best Wizard in that category was +9. The victory was just the fourth of the season Washington, who owns the worst record in the NBA at 4-21.

The second-worst team in the NBA by record is the New Orleans Pelicans, who lost their fifth game in a row and fell to 5-23 on the season and 1-14 on the road in a 133-113 loss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday. With their best stars like Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram continuously missing time with injuries, the Pelicans are considering blowing it all up and starting over. One of the lone bright spots for the Pels right now is former Wahoo Trey Murphy III, who scored a season-high 28 points against the Rockets in the loss.

The 2021 first round pick showed off his typical elite sharpshooting, knocking down four of his six three-point attempts, but he also displayed his much-improved ability to attack the basket off the dribble, as shown in this acrobatic finish plus a foul.

Murphy played more minutes than any Pelican, scored eight more points than the next-highest scorer on the team, and made four more shots. In 36 minutes, Murphy notched 28 points, three assists, one rebound, and one steal and shot 10/17 from the floor, 4/6 from the three-point line, and 4/5 from the free throw line.

Trey Murphy III is having the best season of his career, starting in 13 of the 15 games he has played in since missing the first 10 games of the season with an injury and posting career-highs in points (18.7), assists (2.3), and minutes played (34.1).

Recent reports have indicated that the Pelicans are open to trading nearly their entire roster, including Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum, but they are reportedly not going to consider including their best young players – Herb Jones, Yves Missi, and Trey Murphy III – in those trade talks. As New Orleans starts its rebuild, the organization clearly sees Murphy as a key part of its future.

Finally, De’Andre Hunter scored a season-high 27 points for the Atlanta Hawks in their 133-126 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. Hunter came in off the bench and led the Hawks in scoring, finishing with 27 points on 9/15 shooting from the floor, 4/8 shooting from beyond the arc, and 5/5 shooting from the free throw line to go along with six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Watch his highlights from the game in the video below, including a massive dunk over Spurs’ phenom Victor Wembanyama to tie the game with just 11 seconds remaining.

This season has been a role adjustment for Hunter, but he seems to be handling it well. After being a regular starter for the Hawks in his first five seasons in the league, Hunter now serves as the sixth man coming off the bench and both he and the Hawks seem to be benefiting from that move. Hunter has thus far improved on his previous career-best in scoring by more than four points per game, going from 15.6 points to 19.8 points per game so far this season. He is also shooting a career-high 45.3% from three on more than six attempts per game and a career-high 86.8% from the free throw line.

Hunter’s production off the bench has helped the Hawks to a 14-14 overall record and firmly in the playoff picture as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

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