It appears that Chris Duarte of Montreal, Quebec has comfortably settled in as a rookie with the Indiana Pacers. After his first nine games in the National Basketball Association in his career, Duarte has been in the double digits in scoring in each game, including 10 points on Wednesday in a 111-98 Pacers win over the New York Knicks.
Duarte, who was the Pacers’ first round pick, 13th overall, out of the University of Oregon, delivered with a strong performance in his first NBA game. Even though the Pacers lost 123-122 to the Charlotte Hornets on October 20, Duarte had a career-high 27 points. In the two other Pacers wins this year, Duarte had 19 points in a 102-91 win over the Miami Heat on October 23, and had 18 points in a 131-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs on November 1.
Duarte is one of seven Canadians who are starting for their respective teams to begin the 2021-22 NBA regular season. The other six are New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Toronto, Ontario, Knicks shooting guard RJ Barrett of Toronto, Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Luguentz Dort of Montreal, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dwight Powell of Toronto, and Golden State Warriors power forward Andrew Wiggins of Toronto.
