Rajon Rondo had two triple-doubles, Gorgui Dieng tied his season-high in scoring, Francisco Garcia had his week cut short by injury and Russ Smith had a brief stint in the NBDL.
Here’s a closer look at how Rondo and the trio of University of Louisville products on NBA rosters did in the sixth week of the season:
Rondo (Boston Celtics): The Louisville native, former University of Kentucky standout point guard and ninth-year pro averaged 9.3 points, 10.3 assists and 8.3 rebounds in four games for the Celtics.
In this past Friday night’s 113-96 win over the visiting Lakers, Rondo recorded 12 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds. He was 6 for 17 from the field, including 0 of 2 from 3-point range, and also had one steal and one turnover in 31 minutes.
Then in Sunday’s 101-93 win over visiting Washington he had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He was 5 for 17 from the field, including 1 of 3 from 3-point range, and 2 of 4 from the free throw line while committing four turnovers and recording three steals in 34 minutes.
The next night Rondo went scoreless with four assists and two rebounds in only 21 minutes of action in the Celtics’ 133-132 overtime loss at Washington. He was 0-for-3 from the field and also had one steal and three turnovers.
He bounced back in Wednesday night’s 96-87 loss at Charlotte, tallying 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists - the 22nd triple-double of his career. He was 6 for 11 from the field, including 0 of 2 from 3-point range, and also had four turnovers and one steal in 32 minutes.
For the season Rondo is averaging 8.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and a league-leading 10.8 assists for the Celtics (7-13).
Dieng (Minnesota Timberwolves): The second-year center from UofL is coming off another productive week (averaging 8.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in four games) for Minnesota.
In Friday night’s 114-112 overtime loss to visiting Houston, Dieng had a season-high tying 15 points and six rebounds. He was 6 for 9 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line while recording two assists, two steals and two turnovers in 31 minutes.
The next night he had eight points and seven rebounds in the T-Wolves’ 123-101 loss at San Antonio. He was 1 for 4 from the field, but 6 for 6 from the free throw line while also recording one steal, one block, one assist and one turnover in 26 minutes.
Then Monday night Dieng had six points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the T-Wolves’ 102-86 loss to Golden State. He was 2 for 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. He also had two blocks and one turnover in 27 minutes.
Wednesday night Dieng tallied six points and nine rebounds in Minnesota’s 90-82 win over visiting Portland. He was 2 for 3 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line while also recording one blocked shot and one turnover in 22 minutes.
Dieng is averaging 8.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for Minnesota (5-16).
Garcia (Houston Rockets): The 10th year swingman from UofL averaged 2.5 points in 15.5 minutes in two games.
Friday night he had five points in Houston’s 114-112 overtime win at Minnesota. He was 2 for 6 from the field, including 1 of 4 from 3-point range, to go along with three assists and three turnovers in 22 minutes against Dieng’s team.
The next night Garcia went scoreless in Houston’s 100-95 win over visiting Phoenix. He was 0-for-1 from 3-point range and also had three rebounds, one steal and one turnover in nine minutes.
Garcia didn’t play in Wednesday night’s 105-93 loss at Golden State due to a right calf injury.
Garcia is averaging 3.2 points per game for the Rockets (16-5).
Smith (New Orleans Pelicans): The rookie guard from UofL didn’t see the court this week for the Pelicans (10-11), although he did for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Smith got a “DNP Coach’s Decision” in this past Thursday night’s 112-85 loss at Golden State, then was assigned to the Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League the next day. He responded by averaging 14.5 points in a pair of Mad Ants wins over the weekend, missing the Pelicans’ 120-100 loss at the L.A. Clippers on Saturday and 104-87 win over the L.A. Lakers on Sunday.
Smith was recalled by the Pelicans on Monday, but wasn’t active in the team’s 104-93 win over the Knicks on Tuesday night or its 112-107 loss at Dallas on Wednesday night.
