Several former Florida Gators took the hardwood this past week as the NBA began its 2019-2020 regular season on Tuesday.
A couple of those players — Chandler Parsons (knees) and Udonis Haslem (wrist) — have been dealing with injuries that have kept them off the court thus far, but a few of them did play meaningful minutes and were key contributors for their team's success.
Check out how the former UF players fared in their first week of NBA action.
Not a premium subscriber? Use "GT30" and receive FREE premium access for 30 days!
Al Horford: In Horford's debut with Philadelphia, the two-time NCAA champion shot 5-of-13 from the field for 16 points and knocked down a triple in six attempts from beyond the arc. Horford also collected a pair of rebounds and dished out three assists as the 76ers took down their division rival, the Boston Celtics, by a score of 107-93 on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Horford picked up his efficiency with nine made shots on 18 field goal attempts and was 2-of-7 on three-pointers as he recorded 23 points at Detroit. The 6-foot-9, 246-pounder nearly had a double-double with his nine rebounds, and added five assists to his stat sheet to help Philly defeat the Pistons 117-111.
Totals (2 games): 39 points (8-of-11 on free throws), 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover in 65 minutes of play.
Bradley Beal: On Wednesday at Dallas, Beal struggled from the field as he was 7-of-25 and had 19 points in 32 minutes of game time. Beal only went 1-of-11 from three-point territory, but did finish the night with six rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Washington ended up losing their season opener to the Mavericks by a score of 108-100.
It got a little bit better from Beal shooting-wise a couple of days later on the road versus Oklahoma City. The former third overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft knocked down 7 of his 22 shot attempts, converted on 3-of-11 three-point attempts and ended up with 17 points. Beal also had six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block as the Wizards stormed past the Thunder with a 97-85 victory.
Washington's brutal schedule to start off the season continued as the team traveled to San Antonio on Saturday for their third straight road game. Beal once again struggled as he went 8-of-25, but did have a season-high 25 points and was 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Beal had a double-double with 11 assists and also secured 5 rebounds and recorded a block, but it wasn't enough as the Wizards lost 124-122 to the Spurs.
Totals (3 games): 61 points (10-of-14 from the charity stripe), 17 rebounds, 23 assists, a couple of blocks and four steals in 35 minutes per matchup.
Chris Chiozza: Chiozza, who is signed to a two-way contract with the Wizards, saw some significant playing time for the team last week. The former Gator point guard had six points on 2-of-3 shooting from distance against the Mavericks on Wednesday. Chiozza also served up 3 assists, collected 3 boards, recorded a steal and even had a block in 19 minutes.
His production dipped versus the Thunder as he had no points on four shot attempts. Chiozza did have a rebound, four assists, a block and a steal in Washington's victory on Friday.
With Isaiah Thomas returning to Washington on Saturday, Chiozza did not play in the team's road matchup with San Antonio. Chiozza will likely spend a lot of the season with Capital City Go-Go, the G League of the Wizards. Capital City Go-Go recently selected former UF guard Jalen Hudson with the seventh overall pick in the 2019 G League Draft.
Totals (2 games): 6 points (2-of-4 from behind the arc), 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 34 minutes.
Dorian Finney-Smith: In 32 minutes against the Wizards on Wednesday, Finney-Smith put up 10 points, with seven of them coming from the free throw line and the other three on a shot he made from distance. Finney-Smith also crashed the boards hard with eight total rebounds, and had an assist and a block as well.
On Friday against New Orleans, Finney-Smith had 7 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field, though he missed on all four of his three-point attempts. The 6-foot-7, 220-pounder also had six rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal in Dallas' 123-116 victory over the Pelicans.
A couple of days later, Finney-Smith recorded six points, including a three-pointer, and had nine rebounds to go along with a steal. The Mavericks ended up losing their game to the Portland Trailblazers by a score of 121-119 on Sunday.
Totals (3 games): 23 points (9-of-14 on free throws), 23 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block in 27.7 minutes per game.
Stay tuned to GatorsTerritory.
