Clingan Ejected for First Time in Career, Martin Makes the Most of His Opportunity
Donovan Clingan
Clingan’s night ended early Wednesday after he was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for elbowing former Marquette star Olivier-Maxence Prosper in the face. It was the first career ejection for Clingan, who went straight to the locker room once the ruling was announced without protest.
It’s too bad it cut his night short in a matchup against Cam Spencer and the Grizzlies. Clingan finished with seven points, nine rebounds, four blocks in 12 first half minutes in the Trail Blazers 122-114 win over the Grizzlies.
Before we move on, I do think its worth showing this Clingan block before he was thrown out of the game:
Cam Spencer
After scoring 10 points with four assists on Tuesday in 117-110 loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves, Spencer scored nine of his 12 points in the first quarter in that loss to the Blazers on Wednesday night. The 2024 National Champion also chipped in seven rebounds and seven assists with zero turnovers and a career-high two blocks. It’s the sixth game this season in which Cam has recorded at least five assists with zero turnovers in a game.
Stephon Castle
Castle tallied his 10th double-double of the season on Tuesday in the San Antonio Spurs’ 131–91 thrashing of the Philadelphia 76ers. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 3-of-4 from the free throw line along with 10 assists in just 21 minutes. The Spurs (44-17) have won 12 out of their last 13 games.
Tyrese Martin
Castle might have helped out his Husky brother with the blowout win, as the large deficit for the 76ers gave Martin a chance to see the floor for extended minutes. Martin was recalled to the 76ers after notching his first career triple-double for the G League Delaware Blue Coats this past Sunday. Against the Spurs, Martin only scored 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting, including 0-of-2 from three. However, he hand out four assists in 19 minutes of work.
On Wednesday, in a much closer game against the Utah Jazz, Martin checked in during the first quarter and scored eight points, all in the second half, on 3-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, in total 19 minutes. The former Husky added two rebounds, two assists, and four turnovers as the 76ers bounced back with a 106–102 win.
Martin, along with Dalen Terry and MarJon Beauchamp, is one of three players on two-way deals with the 76ers. Terry scored 4 points on 1-of-7 shooting against the Spurs but did not play against the Jazz, while Beauchamp sat out each of the last two games. At the moment, Martin might have a slight edge over his fellow two-way teammates.
Martin is available for 11 of the final 20 76ers regular-season games. If the 76ers want him to be available beyond those 11 games or for any postseason action, they’ll need to convert his current two-way contract into a standard NBA deal.
The 76ers (34-28) currently have a 1 game lead over the Orlando Magic for the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Tage Thompson
On Tuesday, Thompson was honored pregame before the Buffalo Sabres first home game since Team USA brought home gold just over two weeks ago. In the second period, Thompson, you guessed it, found the back of the net for his 33rd goal of the season to help lead the Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Thompson extended his point streak to eight eight games, while the Sabres have won four games in a row.
Samson Johnson/James Bouknight (G League)
Johnson and Bouknight went head-to-head on Tuesday night in Mexico City. Bouknight finished with 20 points, shooting 7-of-18 from the field, 4-of-11 from three and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line in the Mexico City Capitanes (No G League affiliate) 122-110 victory over the Noblesville Boom (Indiana Pacers G League affiliate). Bouknight is averaging 20.0 points per game and is shooting a career-best 44.3% from three this season.
As for Johnson, he put together arguably his best performance of his young professional career. Despite the loss, the former Husky scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 2-of-3 from the line. But it’s not the scoring output that excites me most about this outing. Johnson also grabbed six rebounds, dished out a career-high four assists and blocked a career-high four shots. He was a force on both ends of the floor in a career-high 33 minutes.
Tristen Newton (G League)
Newton got off to a slow start in Wednesday morning’s game against the Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors G League affiliate). After three quarters, he had scored just nine points, well below his 25.4 points-per-game average. But he woke up in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points in the final frame, including the go-ahead bucket that proved to be the game-winner in the Rio Grande Valley Vipers’ (the Houston Rockets’ G League affiliate) 123–121 win over the Raptors 905. Newton finished the game just shy of a triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Liam McNeeley (G League)
McNeeley, like Newton, also scored 21 points on Wednesday on 4-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the Greensboro Swarm’s (Charlotte Hornets G League affiliate) 116-111 loss to the Long Island Nets (Brooklyn Nets G League affiliate). McNeeley has now scored in double figures in 13 of 14 G League games, including nine performances of at least 20 points.
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