‘Off Night’ for Bouknight: Rookie Davion Mitchell clamps down in Kings’ win over Hornets
In a head-to-head battle between NBA lottery picks, Kings rookie Davion Mitchell showed James Bouknight why he came into the league with the nickname “Off Night.”
Mitchell locked in on defense and locked down Bouknight, leading the Kings to an 80-70 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in their Las Vegas Summer League opener Monday at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. Mitchell, the No. 9 pick in last months’ NBA draft, applied pressure from the opening tip, leading the way for a defense that forced 26 turnovers while holding the Hornets to 39.7% shooting.
“I thought the guys did an amazing job tonight setting the tone and competing,” Kings coach Bobby Jackson said. “It started with Davion and the way he defended Bouknight.”
Bouknight scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting in his summer league debut against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. He didn’t have the same success against Mitchell, who earned his nickname because of his reputation for defense.
Bouknight, the No. 11 pick in the draft, was held to 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. He also committed five turnovers.
“James Bouknight’s a really good player,” said Mitchell, who had 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting with nine assists, zero turnovers, one steal and one block. “He’s really good in space, so I just tried to take away his space. My teammates did a really good job of helping me out and talking and being there for me, so credit to my teammates. They helped me out a lot.”
Mitchell hadn’t faced Bouknight before, but he was ready for their first encounter.
“I never played him,” Mitchell said. “But I knew I had to guard him, so I watched a lot of film on him last night.”
Jahmi’us Ramsey had a game-high 22 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Chimezie Metu had 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Metu, who missed the California Classic after representing Nigeria in the Olympics, said he was impressed with Mitchell’s toughness and intensity.
“He is amazing on defense,” Metu said. “I had heard about him and stuff last year, but seeing him up close is pretty insane.”
A large Kings contingent enjoyed the show with owner Vivek Ranadive, Chief Operating Officer Matina Kolokotronis, general manager Monte McNair, coach Luke Walton and guard Tyrese Haliburton all sitting courtside. They saw Mitchell call out defensive switches and dive to the floor for loose balls, shouting “That’s us! That’s us!” after forcing a turnover.
“That’s his bread and butter, just toughness and the way he approaches the game and how he defends,” Jackson said. “He’s a really great on-ball defender. He has to get better off the ball, which we’ve talked about, but he definitely sets the tone at the top of the key.”
