Syracuse, N.Y. — Former Nottingham High School star Nathan Knight earned his first career start and scored a career-high 20 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night during a 108-103 win over the Boston Celtics.
Knight, who has rarely had perfect opportunities but has found his way to the NBA by taking advantage of what he’s been given, did it once again against Boston.
With both teams’ rosters ravaged by COVID absences, Knight was one of the game’s stars. He finished with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and also contributed 11 rebounds and 4 assists. It was his second career double-double.
The Timberwolves were without at least eight players including fellow big men Karl-Anthony Towns, Jarred Vanderbilt and Taurean Prince. The Celtics’ roster was similarly impacted.
Knight has had limited NBA chances early this season but the performance against Boston was a second consecutive strong outing.
In Minnesota’s previous game, Knight had delivered his previous best of this season, pouring in eight points in 15 minutes during a loss to Utah. His previous career-high came last year, when he scored 16 points for Atlanta in a win over Cleveland.
His playing time has been limited with an average of 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 6.9 minutes in his 15 appearances.
Knight is playing with Minnesota on a two-way contract this season after playing last year with the Atlanta Hawks on a similar deal.
Knight’s journey from Nottingham to the NBA has been a fascinating one. He wasn’t heavily recruited out of Nottingham, opting for a year of prep school to improve his college options before landing at William & Mary.
At the small Virginia college, Knight developed into one of the country’s top mid-major players and one of the country’s best centers, helping the Tribe to some of the best performances in the program’s history and developing himself into an NBA prospect.
While Knight was not selected in the NBA Draft in 2020, his professionalism, reputation for being a good teammate and consistent energy whenever he’s called on has led to two-way contracts in each of his first two seasons as a professional.
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