Duke in the NBA: Trevon Duval Responds with a Bounce Back Game

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: Trevon Duval #1 of the Duke Blue Devils goes up for a shot between Roland Griffin #11 and TK Edogi #13 of the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: Trevon Duval #1 of the Duke Blue Devils goes up for a shot between Roland Griffin #11 and TK Edogi #13 of the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

In the last game of the day at the Las Vegas Summer League two Western Conference rivals got together for a feisty game on the hardwood.

Trevon Duval needed a bounce-back game and that’s exactly what he got on Monday night as the Houston Rockets Summer League team faced the Los Angeles Clippers Summer League team.

The former Duke point guard had a career game of 20 points last Friday afternoon, but after being held scoreless on Sunday night, Duval was much more aggressive getting to the basket on Monday.

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Duval scored 12 points in 14 minutes off the bench against the Clippers on Monday as the Rockets defeated Los Angeles 104 – 90.

Trevon only made three of his nine shot attempts, but he did make six of his seven free throw attempts. Monday was a step in the right direction for the undrafted point guard.

Duval was also able to dish out three assists and recorded a steal.

Consistency on defense was a major concern from Duval coming out of Duke as the Blue Devils developed into a full-time zone defense team, but Duval has shown the lateral quickness to keep up with the guards in the Las Vegas Summer League.

The Houston Rockets Summer League team finished the ‘regular season’ portion of the Las Vegas Summer League at 3-0, which virtually guarantees them a spot in the knockout stage of the two-week long league, which gives Duval an opportunity to continue to prove he belongs on an NBA roster.

Duval’s path to the NBA could be very similar to former Duke Blue Devil point guard Quinn Cook who also went undrafted before dominating the NBA G-League and taking advantage of every opportunity at the NBA level before sticking with the Golden State Warriors and becoming an NBA Champion.

Trevon Duval has shown that he has most of the skills necessary to have a long career in the NBA, he just needs to work on his outside shooting and coming up with that consistency that NBA teams need to see in order to give a player a chance on its roster.