There are a lot of NBA players who I call as “box-score allstars”. They put up lots of pretty looking stats, but their impact on the game is minimal or even negative. Someone like Drew Gooden or Carlos Boozer. Steve Novak is like the opposite of that. He doesn’t put up anything in the box-score. Barely any rebounds, no assists or blocks, maybe a steal, no turnovers. Nothing. Except threes attempted. But he has a fair impact on the game, simply because while he’s out there, you can’t leave him open at all. Not even a bit.
This does have the effect that he sometimes plays 10 or so minutes without doing anything that shows up on the stats. But today he stuffed the box-score to it’s breaking point. 7 threes attempted, 5 made, and 1 foul. Kevin Love is totally jealous. And not only because of Novak’s working hand.