The Dominican finished the day with 27 points topping Chuck Persons ’17 in 1986, in the Pacers’ 122-123 loss to Charlotte Hornets.
Chris Duarte scored 27 points with six long-range shots and in a closer match the Indiana Pacers could not overcome Charlotte Hornets who were left with the 123-122 victory thanks to 31 points from LaMelo Ball and a fierce defense in the final stretch of the meeting.
The Dominican had the best scoring debut for a Pacers rookie in franchise history surpassing the 17 points scored by Chuck Person in 1986.
The native of Puerto Plata was as a starter in the quintet put on the court by manager Rick Carlisle and did not miss the opportunity. Duarte was the third best scoring team on the team shooting 9-15 from the field, including 6 3-pointers on 9 attempts.
The first two points 🙌 in Chris Duarte’s career 🇩🇴 in the NBA 🏀pic.twitter.com/LyVghHeFW2
– ESPN.com.do🇩🇴 (@ESPN_DO) October 20, 2021
He also added 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 33 minutes of play in his debut. Duarte also surpassed the 24 points scored by Roger Brown in 1967 when the Pacers were still part of the ABA, prior to entering the NBA after 1976.
Chris Duarte also had the best debut for a Dominican Republic player, surpassing Karl-Anthony Towns who scored 14 in his first NBA game in the 2015 season in which he was selected first in the Draft. Also from Puerto Plata, Al Horford scored 9 points in his first league game against the Dallas Mavericks on November 2, 2007.
The Pacers could not overcome a great performance by LaMelo Ball that led the Hornets with 31 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and a 24-0 run in the third period where the locals took the lead.
.@ C_Duarte5 has set a franchise record for most points in a rookie debut with 19 🔥🔥#GoldBlooded pic.twitter.com/y6ltZBGGMj
– Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 21, 2021
The best on offense for Indiana were Domantas Sabonis with 33 points, adding 15 rebounds, and Malcolm Brogdon, who was in doubt until before the game started, with 28 points and 11 assists.
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