Career highs for rookies are something I always approve of. Even better if it happens in a game where everybody involved is actually trying to compete, such as a game between two playoff teams fighting for position. That’s like the best possible scenario for a rookie to score a career high other than dropping fifty in the Finals like MJ or something.
It’s safe to say that the Mavericks probably won’t be in the Finals, and if they are, it’s even safer to say that Justin Anderson won’t flip the “MJ” switch and score fifty. But he flipped a switch in there somewhere, and it resulted in a career-high nineteen points. I don’t know what that switch is labeled but it might say “Post-Injury Wes Matthews”. That’s not a bad switch to have for a rookie.
The one thing I don’t approve of: Anderson only made four shots. It significantly impacts the quality of my videos when such a paltry amount of shots are made. When I saw nineteen I immediately thought to myself “damn he probably made seven or eight shots.” My kitty Japurri Purrker can vouch for me because I actually yelled it. And then it turns out he made eight free throws to account for almost half his points. Yawn. Second-worst career high ever after Jimmy Butler.