Eight Great Performances From The First Two Days Of The NBA G League Winter Showcase

Jordan McLaughlin - Long Island Nets: 32 points, 8 assists and 6 steals on 11-20 from field, 3-9 from 3 and 7-7 from free throw line on Wednesday against the RGV Vipers

With Theo Pinson spending time at the NBA level, Long Island needed a guard to step up when they made their way to the G League Winter Showcase. Although the team only played one game, it already looked like Jordan McLaughlin was ready to take on that challenge as he was amazing in the team’s win over the RGV Vipers. In 39 minutes, he put up 32 points, 8 assists and 6 steals on 11-20 from field, 3-9 from 3 and 7-7 from the free throw line.

From an offensive perspective, he was able to shine as an on-ball driver as he was able to use his quick first step to work past his man and get to the paint. Following that, he was able to regularly finish at the rim as the RGV Vipers’ front-court was depleted due to Isaiah Hartenstein and Bruno Caboclo sitting on the bench for most of the game due to foul trouble. On the other end of the court, McLaughlin dominated as he locked down the Vipers guards while being an absolute menace as he had a season-high 6 steals.

John Jenkins - 30 points, 7 assists and 2 steals on 10-15 from field, 5-7 from 3 and 5-6 from FT line on Wednesday against Iowa Wolves

As we mentioned in the preview piece, Jenkins stood as one of the best candidates to receive a 10-day deal due to his past NBA experience and amazing play with the Westchester Knicks. His G League Winter Showcase debut game against the Iowa Wolves definitely helped that case as he was fantastic on offense as Jenkins was able to shine as a scorer and distributor. As an offensive threat, he stood as a knockdown perimeter shooter that can also work off the dribble and hit mid-range shots.

In addition to that, he impressed as a distributor as he was regularly able to connect with Westchester big Stephen Zimmerman. Whether it was working in the pick-and-roll or throwing passes to the UNLV alum in drive-and-dish, Jenkins showed an ability to create an instant connection to a player as a facilitator.

Isaac Humphries - 34 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks on 15-21 from field, 3-6 from 3 and 1-2 from FT line on Wednesday against Texas Legends

Out of all the performances on this list, Isaac Hamilton’s play against the Texas Legends is definitely the most surprising of them all. That’s simply because how the otherwise solid but unspectacular rotation big was able to have a stellar game against a Legends team that features great bigs like Ray Spalding, Jameel Warney and CJ Leslie. Just the act of witnessing the 20-year-old Aussie just dominate from the opening tip to the final buzzer was definitely an entertaining sight to see.

A lot of that enjoyment came from just how well-rounded he was during that game against the Legends as he was able to go off the dribble and blow by opposing bigs, hit perimeter jumpers, post up and collect offensive boards. On the other end of the court, he stood as a dominating rim protector that can slide his feet when Legends players were driving to the paint so he can stop them at the rim.

Christian Wood - 35 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks on 11-18 from field, 13-16 from FT line on Thursday against the Memphis Hustle

As he’s been doing for most of the G League season, Bucks assignee Christian Wood dominated on Thursday afternoon during the Wisconsin Herd’s loss to the Memphis Hustle, Thanks to his ability to work off the dribble, Wood was a threat throughout the game as Memphis really couldn’t stop him from getting to the paint which ultimately led to him being efficient on the offensive end. Memphis’ inability to stop him from getting to the rim ultimately led to Wood making several trips to the free throw line as he attempted a season-best 16 free throws.

Although it’s been fun to watch Wood dominate whenever he’s with the Wisconsin Herd, it’s been a bit frustrating since that really hasn’t led to him getting playing time with the Milwaukee Bucks. Hopefully, his dominating performance against Memphis will help force the Bucks to give the UNLV some more playing time as the 6’100 forward has mastered the art of dominating in the G League.

Chris Chiozza - 19 points and 10 assists on 8-12 from field, 3-5 from 3 on Wednesday against the. Austin Spurs

After a solid career at the University of Florida, Chiozza entered the G League with reasonably high expectations due to his great defense, solid facilitating and developing perimeter shot. While those first two traits have been able to somewhat transition to this level, he’s been an extremely inefficient scoring option. Heading into the Winter Showcase, he was averaging 8.9 points on 34% from the field and 24% from beyond the arc on 3.8 perimeter attempts per game.

At least for one game, it looks like Chiozza might be turning things around as he had an efficient double-double performance in the Go-Go’s win over the Austin Spurs. A big reason behind that solid play was how he was able to combine on-ball driving with actually being able to consistently hit perimeter shots as he hit a season-best three shots from beyond the arc. That solid offensive play in addition to his already stellar facilitating skills pushed Chiozza to have his best game of the season.

Chinanu Onuaku - 17 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists on 6-8 from field on Thursday against South Bay Lakers

As we brought up in a piece from last week, Onuaku has been a consistent double-double threat for the Greensboro Swarm. That trend continued on Thursday as he got his double-double of the season in the Swarm’s 106-90 victory over the South Bay Lakers. Onuaku was able to accomplish that by being aggressive on the defensive glass and being solid in the low-post and receiving passes from his teammates. For NBA scouts, his passing was probably the highlight of that game as he made a few great passes that were precise and caught his teammate in stride.

Jordan Loyd - 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on 8-18 from field, 2-6 from 3 and 12-12 from FT line on Wednesday against . Memphis Hustle

With Chris Boucher spending time at the NBA level, the Raptors 905 needed a player that was able to step up and shine during the G League Winter Showcase. At least in the team’s first game against the Memphis Hustle, Raptors two-way player Jordan Loyd passed that test with flying colors. While he was unable to push the team over a high powered Hustle offense, he stood as a commanding force throughout the game dueto being able to attack the paint and consistently scoring at the rim.

Tyler Harvey - 28 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals on 10-16 from field, 2-5 from 3 and 6-7 from FT line on Wednesday against Raptors 905

Back in the Winter Showcase preview piece, it was mentioned that Dusty Hannahs has done a great job of stepping up as one of the Hustle’s offensive leaders since Brandon Goodwin was signed by the Denver Nuggets. While Hannahs has been great, former Eastern Washington guard Tyler Harvey is another player that has shined over the last few weeks with Memphis. That great play continued for the G League Winter Showcase as Harvey had an amazing all-around game in the Hustle’s win over the Raptors 905.

A lot of that production came with Harvey working off-the-dribble as he was able to hit his fair share of floaters and layups. His ability to work with the ball also allowed Harvey to be a good drive-and-dish facilitator where he was able to find his fellow Hustle teammates.