It didn’t take long for Mamadi Diakite to bounce back from his up and down G League debut.
The Milwaukee Bucks two-way player played a central role in the Lakeland Magic’s win over the Long Island Nets down in the G League bubble Friday afternoon. Over his 29-and-a-half minutes of action, Diakite finished with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting (1-for-1 from deep, 3-for-4 from the free throw line), six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal off the bench.
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Diakite came out of the gate strong upon his first run off the bench by hauling in a Nets miss and deftly cruised down the floor to put down a coast-to-coast layup, which he then followed up with a confident pick-and-pop triple a few minutes later.
All throughout the day, Diakite’s scoring and shooting touch shined as he put down multiple fadeaway jumpers at both the elbow and near the free throw line, a nice turnaround one-hand touch shot and a tough contested banking finish.
There was no doubt to what stood out the most from Diakite’s performance Friday afternoon, though. After slipping a screen, Diakite did a nice pump fake and leapt off of two feet to throw down an absolute poster over Nets two-way player Reggie Perry as Perry sought to draw a charge on Diakite. If that isn’t the highlight of the G League season so far, I don’t know what is.
For the impressive and efficient scoring lift Diakite provided, the fact that he has been as strong of a passer continues to be a high point for the 24-year-old. Diakite was dishing out precise passes to cutting teammates from the elbow spots and even setting up a couple of drive-and-kick scoring opportunities for the Magic in the flow of their offense.
As Diakite put everything together offensively, the Virginia alum was as impactful on the defensive end.
Diakite obviously blocked off the basket for multiple Nets players by altering shots, along with sending away layup attempts as well. The fact that Diakite is so long and can cover so much ground makes it so easy to see why he ended up with All-ACC defensive honors in his senior season.
With no foul trouble derailing his performance like it had done so in his G League debut, we got to see Diakite fully unleashed. Whether this portends how his run down in the bubble will go over the next month remains to be seen, but the well-rounded performance Diakite put in for the Magic was a welcome sight to see for any Bucks fan.
Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward Jordan Nwora was recalled from G League bubble.
Unfortunately, another Bucks rookie’s time in the G League bubble may have come to an sudden close.
The Bucks announced Friday morning that they have recalled first-year forward Jordan Nwora from the Salt Lake City Stars. This comes after Nwora put in an excellent showing Wednesday afternoon in the Stars’ loss to the Erie Bayhawks where he finished with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting (3-for-5 from three, 3-for-4 from the foul line) and four rebounds in 23-and-a-half minutes.
Of course, Nwora left the game late in the fourth quarter after appearing to twist his ankle and that is the reason for his now-abbreviated run down in the bubble. What the severity is on his injury has not been announced by the team, but it has to be serious enough that the Bucks have recalled him in order for him to rehab under the watchful eye of their medical staff as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer spoke on Friday night.
Mike Budenholzer just informed us that the Bucks recalled Jordan Nwora from the G-League bubble, so he can rehab his left ankle sprain in Milwaukee.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 13, 2021
"He's got a pretty significant twisted ankle, so he's going to come back and rehab in Milwaukee." - Bud
Considering the G League season is as condensed as it is and with minutes hard to come by in Milwaukee, it’d be a shame if Nwora misses any considerable time that could sidetrack his rookie campaign.
We’ll stay tuned to any further updates on Nwora and how Diakite as well as Bucks rookie Sam Merrill fare down on assignment with their respective clubs.