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TAYLORSVILLE — Tonight may have been one of the most important games in the D-League's history.
With Alec Burks and Raul Neto being sent down to play with the Salt Lake City Stars, the team's star power was higher than ever at Salt Lake Community College Wednesday night, and in the end, the Stars came away with a wire-to-wire victory over the Grand Rapids Drive, 129-94.
Raul Neto was the best player on the floor all night, coming up one rebound short of a triple-double in a 14 point (6-11 shooting), 12 assist and nine rebound performance. He was a +38 in his minutes, and played masterfully to find his cutting teammates for easy looks. He really benefited from the extra space that the D-League's lack of defense provides. That no starter on Grand Rapids was taller than 6-foot-8 also helped the ground-bound Neto.
.@RaulTogni had a near triple double in his appearance for the @slcstars tonight - finishing with 14 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/prsI84WrFD — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 12, 2017
That being said, his passing is truly elite. He got a lot of cheers from his teammates and Jazz staffers who had come to watch him and Burks play. That he's able to pick up 12 assists in a game where he hadn't really ever played with most of the players on the floor is a sign of his talent at the point guard position.
"Igor (Kokoskov, Jazz assistant coach) came and talked to me this morning," Neto said. "At the first moment, it's tough. For a guy who played almost all of last season as a starting point guard in the NBA to come play for the D-League."
"But I'm happy that I came here, I'm happy that I played a lot of minutes, and I'm happy it went well."
On the other hand, Burks struggled, especially through the first three quarters of the game before putting a few points on the board in the fourth. He missed his first eight shots, and couldn't get either jump shots or layups to fall. In the end, he finished with 13 points (on 5-17 shooting), five rebounds, three assists, a steal, and three turnovers in 20 minutes.
.@AlecBurks10 finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 20 minutes of action for the @slcstars tonight. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/3p46qZsc1Y — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 12, 2017
Burks wasn't worried about his shooting, though. "That's 12 months of sitting around in a blazer, that's all that was," he said. "I'm not worried about that. It'll happen."
The good news is this: Burks looked healthy. He accelerated up and down the court all night, surprising teammates and opponents alike with his speed. But his jump shot was simply off, and that he went to the line for only three free-throw attempts isn't a great sign. Once he gets the jump shot back, he'll be ready for bigger NBA minutes, but I don't think he will be until then.
"I think it was great for my rehab. I haven't really played for 12 months. I feel like it was great, run up and down, get contact," Burks said. "The team's not really practicing right now, so I just needed this run to get my conditioning and my rhythm back." From a physical standpoint, Burks says he feels like he's back to where he was before the injury.
Among those in the big-league organization who attended the contest were Jazz president Steve Starks, former head coach Jerry Sloan, current head coach Quin Snyder, and players Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, George Hill, Joe Ingles, Trey Lyles, and Joel Bolomboy.
Marcus Paige led all scorers with 22 points, including 5-8 3-point shooting. Tyrone Wallace also really impressed with his ability to get inside, he finished with 16. Former Jazzman Kevin Murphy plays for the Drive, and finished with 19 points on 6-15 shooting.
Burks thinks that his first D-League game will also be his last. On the other hand, Neto wasn't so sure.
"If I'm not playing, I'll probably ask to play. I think it's good to have some minutes and play a real game," Neto said. "We'll see how it goes. Of course, I want to get minutes with the Jazz."
