Chris Duarte breaks out of slump in Brooklyn, drops career-high 30 points for Indiana Pacers

Duarte finally found his groove on Monday after a slow start to the season.

Chris Duarte was struggling for the Indiana Pacers to start the ongoing season. The two-year pro was averaging 7.1 points per game on 33.3% shooting over the Pacers first seven games, and he was in need of a way to emerge from his slump.

Now it's been eight games, and Duarte is averaging double-digit points per game on 40.6% shooting from the field. The wing's stats skyrocketed in his eighth game of the season, a close Pacers defeat in Brooklyn. Duarte exploded that night and stabilized his early-season statistics.

The 2021 lottery pick finished the game with 30 points, a career high. He led the team in scoring, three-pointers made (five) and free throw attempts (six). Duarte was being aggressive, and his range stood out — he attempted four three pointers from 27-feet out or farther.

The 2022 All-Rookie team member was third on the blue and gold in plus-minus that night at +4. His offensive performance was impressive, and it was a much-needed bounceback game for the 25-year old.

"Big credit to my teammates who were looking for me, realizing I was hot, and fed me. I took advantage of that, and I started hitting shots," Duarte said after the game, per the Pacers. "Big thank you to my teammates for trusting me.”

During Duarte's rookie season, he played in 55 games and only finished with five or fewer points four times. This season, that happened three times in his first seven outings. Even with dynamic roles, Duarte's start was unexpectedly poor — especially when considering that he dropped in 11.5 points per game as a starter during the preseason.

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Some of his struggles have come down to simply missing open shots, but at times he has felt disconnected from the rest of whatever lineup he is a part of. Duarte's rough start to the campaign has been shocking.

But in one night, he turned it around, at least temporarily. And he did it by slightly tweaking his shot diet.

Over the course of the entire season, 24.6% of Duarte's shot attempts have come from less than 10 feet. In this game, that number was higher, and the young wing didn't miss a two-point shot. He made an effort to get all the way to the rim on his drives — 80% of his looks from inside the arc came from right at the basket against the Nets.

Duarte took ten three-point shots, and five of them were catch-and-shoot attempts. On the season, only 33.3% of his shots have been of the catch-and-shoot variety, but those looks are typically in rhythm. Duarte taking those shots is the right move, and making them was only a matter of time.

Nearly 75% of the University of Oregon product's attempts this season have been classified as "open" or "wide open" by the NBA. He's taking good shots. But prior to Monday night, they weren't going in.

That night, though, they finally went down. And now Duarte's stats look completely reasonable for the campaign even despite the slow start.

"He did a lot of really good work this summer and in training camp. He'll be fine," head coach Rick Carlisle said early this season. It sure looks like Carlisle will be right if Monday is any indication.

On the Pacers recently-concluded four-game road trip, Duarte finished with averages of 12.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in just 22.9 minutes per night. His field goal percentage was 47.8% on the trip, and he even knocked down over 40% of his threes.

Of course, those numbers are heavily influenced by a career game in Brooklyn, but Duarte finished plays well in a loss to Philadelphia and dropped in 12 points in the first half alone in Chicago. He will need more than one quality performance before anyone considers him to be out of his slump, but there are indicators that the wing is turning a corner.

Duarte averaged 13.1 points per game as a rookie and was extremely promising in the early portions of the 2021-22 campaign. His growth from last season to this season hasn't shown up yet, but it might soon if Monday's game is any signal.

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