Jamel Artis sets career-high point total — again

Former Pitt guard Jamel Artis has been on a tear with the Orlando Magic this week, as he scored a career-high 16 points in his team’s 97-73 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday. He followed that up with an 18-point performance on Wednesday night, setting a new personal best and helping the Magic to a 105-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Once again, Artis ranked second on the team in scoring — this time finishing behind starting forward Aaron Gordon, who accounted for 20 points. He also made over 60 percent of his shots but was unable to grab any rebounds after setting his career high at six in his last outing.

Artis, Khem Birch and Rodney Purvis, all of whom spent most of the season with Orlando’s G League affiliate in Lakeland, combined for 16 of the Magic’s 28 fourth-quarter points. After the game, the former Pitt standout talked about the G League’s influence on his development.

“I love the G League. The guys that were there, we built a family, built a bond,” Artis said, according to ESPN. “It’s the experience that we went through. It’s a path. Maybe I took the long way, but I still have a lot of work to do and I’m going to continue to build every day.”

During his time in the G League, Artis averaged 19.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, which ranked third and sixth on the team, respectively. However, if he’s able to sustain this current level of offensive production and perhaps become a more consistent rebounder, Artis could find himself spending more time in Orlando than Lakeland next season.

With the home win on Wednesday night, the Magic improved to 24-54 on the season with four games left on the schedule. Next, they’ll face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.