When I saw that Rodions Kurucs has 12 points, I was excited, but not too excited. That’s a lot of points for him, but not an insane amount. Don’t fall into the same trap I did: this is an exciting video! I’m hyped as heck and, just saying, Kristaps Porzingis never made me feel this way.
The first clue that we’re in for something special is that he scores his first points late in the third quarter (coincidentally, just a little bit after the point where Julius Randle stopped scoring while sitting at 37 points, hmmmmmmm). The second clue that this is a sweet performance for Kurucs is that he starts TAKING OVER THE GOD DAMN GAME late in the fourth quarter. I am not exaggerating. He was dragging the Nets to the finish line, the various Brooklyn players clinging to his skinny but deceptfully strong frame as he tried to will them to victory.
Ultimately, the combined weight of all of D’Angelo Russell’s bricks was too much, and the Nets fell short. But still, a valiant and inspiring effort by the latest Latvian Laser. Is it fair to say that the league is “on notice”? I don’t know, because I don’t know what that phrase means, but it sounds like something people would say right now.