Jahlil Okafor subbed out of this game with 5:45 left in the third quarter and the Pelicans leading the Bucks 80-74.
He never got back in, and the Pelicans lost 115-123.
The Bucks, more specificially Brook Lopez, didn’t know what to do about him. It’s almost like people have gone for so long without seeing a center with actual post moves that they forgot how to defend them. Lopez is wondering why Okafor isn’t camping out at the three-point line waiting to chuck some deep bombs while Okafor is wondering why no one can stop him from scoring.
The Bucks had an answer for Anthony Davis tonight, and his name was D.J. Wilson. They had no such answer for Okafor, but that problem solved itself fairly quickly as he tired himself out (does anyone remember when Sean [not Shawne] Williams puked on the bench from playing too much because I thought that might happen with Okafor) and Gentry took him out for the rest of the game.
What we learned tonight is that Okafor can still get things done. At least on offense, which is all I really care about. He can still get put into the game and put the ball into the hole. We probably all already knew that, but it’s fun to see it confirmed once every couple months.