Duke basketball high riser gets valuable experience to close rookie season

A former Duke basketball high-riser got some valuable experience to close his rookie season. 

Cassius Stanley certainly didn’t have major expectations on his shoulders after leaving the Duke basketball program after one season, but the rookie got some valuable experience as his rookie season came to a close on Thursday night.

The highlight of Stanley’s first year as a professional was making a dunk contest appearance during All-Star Weekend, but he ended up getting wronged by the judges and eliminated in the first round.

However, in actual games, he was a seldom-used part of the Indiana Pacers, a franchise in limbo.

Indiana qualified for the first-ever Play-In Tournament, and in its first victory over the Charlotte Hornets, Stanley saw mop-up duty in five minutes off the bench, ending the 144-117 victory with four points.

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As good as Tuesday was for the Pacers, Thursday was just as bad.

The Washington Wizards stomped on the No. 10 seed in the battle for the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, 142-115.

Despite the blowout, the former Blue Devil saw even more time on the court with 11 points in eight minutes on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor, 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Stanley also added three rebounds and one assist in the loss while having the best +/- rating on the team at +8.

Former Duke basketball guard looking to build on his rookie season

The 21-yea- old saw action in 24 games this season but just averaged 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds per game in 3.9 minutes per contest.

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Stanley shot 30.2-percent from the field and 23.1-percent from the 3-point line.

After being involved in plenty of midseason trades, the Indiana Pacers seemingly don’t have a direction the franchise wants to move to this offseason, which could provide the opportunity for Cassius Stanley to crack the rotation in his second year with the team.