Dec 23, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) controls the ball defended by Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) defends during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Although Russell Westbrook churned out a scintillating performance, it wasn’t a total blowout for the top spot.
This is what the future looks like. Not a single player on the Washington Wizards could stop the Greek Freak en route to his career-high scoring night. Antetokounmpo lived in the paint, hammering home many dunks and displaying his finesse with some sweet reverse layups.
He ran the point forward at times, but it was evident from the get-go that he was looking to get his first. Giannis shot 19 times from the field but was also a staggering 15-of-17 from the free throw line. Even Marcin Gortat — 6-11, 240 — got bullied a couple of times down low by the Greek freak.
More impressive than anything else, he did all of this in just 33 minutes, and he wasn’t much of a factor on defense regarding steals and blocked shots.
Unlike Giannis’ career-high, a majority of LaVine’s points came on jumpers — actually, one two of his makes came inside the paint. And only one in the restricted area. It’s odd for someone as athletic as him to settle for outside, but they were falling, so why not?
LaVine was feeling it, evidently, and it seemed like all of his shots fell without even grazing the rim. He was working off screens, went one-on-one a couple of times and shot over any defender the Sacramento Kings threw at him. Furthermore, he stretched the defense and nailed seven threes. Even though most of his attempts came from the outside, LaVine still attacked the paint and went to the line seven times.
Unfortunately, the young Wolves weren’t enough for the Kings, who kept everyone alongside LaVine quiet and left Minny with the 109-105 victory.
