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Colorado Basketball: Jabari Walker and the Portland Trail Blazers topple the Pelicans

ByShay McBryde|
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 09: Jabari Walker #34 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against Dereon Seabron #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2022 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 09, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 09: Jabari Walker #34 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against Dereon Seabron #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2022 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 09, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Colorado Buffaloes former phenom is already making a huge impact in the NBA. Leaving any doubters behind as he is doing his part to make sure his name is remembered. The NBA Summer League isn’t as much about wins as it is about growth and Walker is doing that.

Jabari came off the bench in 15 minutes of play in his first outing a few days ago scoring a 11 points and having a whopping 7 rebounds. He was looking to carry that momentum over to the next one. Saturday night Walker shot 4-for-9 from the field and scored 12 points in the contest. He brought down 5 rebounds and added 2 assists in a little over 18 minutes of play.

Trendon Waterford scored a team high 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. Keon Johnson and Brandon Williams each had 14 points, along with Jabari’s 12 which carried the Trail Blazers to an 85-68 victory. While winning isn’t everything for the Summer League this was a matchup that Portland owned and handled well from the start. They worked tremendously well as a team and left no room for error for the Pelicans to climb back in it. Trey Murphy of the Pelicans did have a stellar game with 23 points and 8 rebounds that we can’t leave out. Jared Harper also had 18 points, but that was as far as the good offensive output went for New Orleans.

Jabari seems to be having the time of his life in the NBA right now for Rip City and people are loving it. Many already calling him the steal of the draft. All rookies have some fine-tuning to do but Walker is making his mark early on and the NBA has taken notice.

Their three-point shots were not falling but head coach Hetzel is pleased with his teams performance to bounce back from that game one loss. Mistakes will be made but having a significant win is going to put the wind back in their sails, and give them more confidence for that third game out.

They will now look to Monday evening where they play the New York Knicks at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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