Rookie tracker after two games: Darius Acuff Jr.’s 33, Cameron Boozer’s 25-13-6 and the coldest three-point start in four seasons

The 2026 rookie class had a rough first week. The top-10 picks who played went 29-for-99 from the field in their NBA debuts. On Friday, in their second games, the class had its first big scoring nights. Darius Acuff Jr. scored 33 for Sacramento, the first 30-point game by a rookie this season. Cameron Boozer had 25 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, and his late baskets helped Memphis finish a 17-0 run to beat Golden State.

Most teams have now played twice, so here is where the rookies stand, plus the league-wide numbers after the first 28 games of 2026-27.

The numbers that stand out

The eight top-10 picks who played Friday went 37-for-86 (43.0%) and 13-for-36 from three, for 123 points. In their debuts it was 29-for-99, 7-for-34 and 83 points
Acuff has taken 50 shots in two games. Only Anthony Edwards, with 52, has taken more
Boozer has 24 rebounds in two games. His 12.0 a game is tied for fourth among players who have played twice
No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa still has not played. Washington lists him day-to-day with a left ankle sprain
Through 28 games the league is shooting 32.9% from three. In the same stretch of the last three seasons it shot between 35.1% and 36.1%

Acuff’s 33: volume first

Acuff went 10-for-26 from the field, 2-for-11 from three and 11-for-12 at the line in 37 minutes of a 128-120 loss to Portland. Twenty-two of his points came after halftime, 11 in each quarter, as the Kings stayed close after Portland’s 44-point third quarter.

Two nights earlier, against the Clippers, he went 5-for-24 and 0-for-7 from three. Over two games that makes him 15-for-50 (30.0%) and 2-for-18 from deep, with a true shooting mark of 39.1%. He is scoring 22.5 a game, the most of any rookie, and 13 of his 45 points have come at the free-throw line. The volume tells you how much Sacramento trusts him with the ball. The efficiency still needs work.

Domantas Sabonis made it easier. He had 27 points on 10-for-13 shooting, 19 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double, and he now has 37 rebounds in two games, the most in the league.

Boozer, Lendeborg and a 17-0 finish

The Memphis-Golden State game was the latest meeting between Boozer, the No. 3 pick, and Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 11 pick. Boozer’s Duke beat Lendeborg’s Michigan in February, and Lendeborg won the Summer League final 94-90 in July. On Friday both finished with 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Lendeborg scored 18, with seven offensive rebounds and 9-for-12 free throws, and his three with six minutes left put Golden State up 101-92. The Warriors still led 106-94 with 3:47 to play.

Memphis did not trail for long. It scored the last 17 points before Lendeborg’s two free throws with half a second left. Boozer had six points in the run: two trips to the line, 4-for-4, and a 9-foot turnaround jumper with 20.1 seconds left that put Memphis up 108-106. Ty Jerome, who scored 28, added a three, a technical free throw and a layup to finish it 111-108.

CAM BOOZER'S CLUTCH BUCKET PUNCTUATES A 17-0 RUN TO WIN IT FOR MEMPHIS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/G63FbOsFvH
— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2026

Video: NBA / X.

Boozer’s opener was 2-for-15 from the field. Friday he went 6-for-13, 4-for-7 from three and 9-for-9 at the line. In two games he has 32 points, 24 rebounds and 11 assists.

The top picks after two games

Pick	Player	Team	Points	FG	3PT	Reb	Ast
1	AJ Dybantsa	WSH	Has not played	—	—	—	—
2	Darryn Peterson	UTA	24 (9, 15)	9-19	1-3	7	4
3	Cameron Boozer	MEM	32 (7, 25)	8-28	4-13	24	11
4	Caleb Wilson	CHI	37 (16, 21)	14-35	3-14	10	1
5	Keaton Wagler	LAC	28 (15, 13)	6-16	5-11	8	8
6	Mikel Brown Jr.	BKN	6 (one game)	2-8	1-3	3	3
7	Darius Acuff Jr.	SAC	45 (12, 33)	15-50	2-18	5	7
8	Kingston Flemings	ATL	5 (0, 5)	2-10	1-2	10	11
9	Morez Johnson Jr.	DAL	14 (6, 8)	6-10	0-1	9	1
10	Brayden Burries	MIL	15 (12, 3)	4-9	3-5	6	3
11	Yaxel Lendeborg	GS	30 (12, 18)	9-22	2-7	16	8

Caleb Wilson has made the biggest jump after Acuff. He went from 7-for-21 with nine turnovers in a 43-point loss to Toronto to 21 points on 7-for-14 in Chicago’s 132-125 win in Milwaukee. His 12 turnovers in two games are tied for second in the league, behind Luka Dončić’s 17.

Darryn Peterson scored 15 on 6-for-12 in Utah’s 120-119 win over New Orleans and has the best field-goal percentage of the top three picks who have played, 9-for-19. Kingston Flemings still has two baskets in two games, but he had eight assists and six rebounds in Atlanta’s 47-point win in Charlotte, and the Hawks were plus-15 in his 25 minutes.

The league after 28 games

Friday was a better shooting night than the first week: 33.7% from three across 12 games, up from 32.2% in the first 16. After 28 games, the league is still having its coldest three-point start of the last four seasons.

First 28 games, per team	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
Points	111.9	113.1	119.3	113.1
Three-point percentage	35.1%	35.7%	36.1%	32.9%
Threes made	12.3	13.1	13.2	12.1
Field-goal percentage	45.7%	45.5%	47.4%	45.6%
Turnovers	15.4	15.3	16.3	17.1
Personal fouls	20.6	21.9	24.0	24.0
Free-throw attempts	22.7	26.5	27.7	27.0
Flagrant fouls (total)	2	2	8	9

Teams are attempting threes at the usual rate, 36.6 a game, the same as two seasons ago. They are just making fewer of them, about one less three per team per night than in the same stretch of last season. Turnovers are the other outlier, at 17.1 a game, nearly a full turnover above last season’s start.

The whistle looks like it did a year ago. Fouls are at 24.0 a game, exactly where last season’s first 28 games were, and free-throw attempts are slightly lower. What has gone up is the rough stuff: nine flagrant fouls, already more than in the same stretch of any of the last three seasons, and 20 technicals in Friday’s 12 games alone.

What comes next

Dybantsa could make his debut on Saturday, when Washington plays in Chicago at 8 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Sunday in Cairo), which would set him up against Wilson. Boozer and Acuff meet on Sunday when Memphis visits Sacramento at 9 p.m. ET (4 a.m. Monday in Cairo).