“Fight on, Dribble on” is a weekly column by Joseph Domingot about how Trojans are performing in the NBA.
In the last two weeks of NBA hoops, a handful of Trojans have put on stellar performances with less than four weeks remaining in the regular season:
- DeMar DeRozan dropped a season-high 46 points against the Indiana Pacers on March 13. DeRozan has also accumulated the most total minutes of any NBA player this season.
- Chimezie Metu signed a deal with the Detroit Pistons after being waived by the Phoenix Suns. Metu scored eight points and collected three rebounds on Wednesday against the Pacers in his debut.
- Onyeka Okongwu returned to action this week after missing time with a toe injury since February 12 — scoring double digits in consecutive games against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.
However, this week we’ll focus on two other former Trojans currently experiencing some of the best spells of their professional careers.
Jordan McLaughlin
In 2023-2024, Jordan McLaughlin is shooting 45.3% from 3-point range, well above the league average figure of around 36% for point guards. It is also the most efficient 3-point shooting season in his five-year NBA career.
The Pasadena native has mainly sat behind Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards in the Timberwolves’ depth chart this season, but he still plays an important rotational role for the Western Conference contender. He is averaging 18 minutes a game in a five-game stretch dating back to March 10.
On March 16 against the Jazz, McLaughlin logged 16 minutes and a plus-minus of nine — a stat measuring how well a team performs with a specific player on the court. The five-year guard shot 50% from three on two attempts and dished out four assists in a 19-point win.
Two nights later — again in Utah — McLaughlin was hyper-efficient with his shooting. The former first-team All-Pac-12 member went 100% from the field, from beyond the arc and from the charity stripe. He scored 11 points in 21 minutes of play to help the Timberwolves sweep the Jazz in the season series. The former Trojan scored all of his 11 points in either the second or fourth quarter, showing how well he closed out the two halves.
It would be a different story for McLaughlin in a back-to-back against the Denver Nuggets. Despite Minnesota missing multiple frontcourt players due to injury, the 27-year-old only recorded two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes of basketball against the defending champions. Yet it would not be enough as Denver beat out Minnesota despite a close effort in the second half.
The Timberwolves will meet the Nuggets two more times this season as McLaughlin and Minnesota hope to jump their division rival in the Western Conference standings.
Nikola Vucevic
Nikola Vucevic has been loading up the stat sheets this season. In 64 games — and 62 starts — the Chicago Bull has scored double-digit points 59 times, including in all of his last 15 games. In this span, Vucevic has averaged a double-double of 20.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
The two-time All-Star began the 20th week of the season on fire against the measly Washington Wizards. The Bulls held a 13-point advantage heading into the second quarter, mostly thanks to the team’s starting center. Vucevic scored 16 points and gathered five early rebounds, going 3-for-3 from downtown and 6-for-6 overall from the field. The Wizards were not able to keep up, as the Bulls blew out Washington by 29 points.
Against the Portland Trail Blazers two nights later, Vucevic started the game in fine form. In the first quarter of play, the 33-year-old went 4-for-5 from the field and 100% from behind the arc for nine points. Despite Portland’s late comeback effort, Vucevic helped the Bulls stay on course, notching 22 points and nine rebounds in a 110-107 victory.
In his and the Bulls’ final game of the past week, Chicago traveled down to Houston to take on the Rockets, who were coming off a six-game winning streak, despite their otherwise indifferent form this season. Vucevic started this game more slowly than his previous two games, going 1-for-5 from the field. Vucevic would eventually amass 16 points and 14 rebounds, but Houston’s streak extended to seven straight wins after another former Trojan in DeRozan was ejected in the third quarter.
The big man from Montenegro currently has 40 double-doubles in 2023-2024 with 12 regular season games remaining. He will hope to surpass last season’s total of 51 if he keeps his form until game 82 as the Bulls push for a playoff berth.
“Fight on, Dribble on” runs every Friday.