The Lakers received a bunch of criticism from all corners of the Internet (even the weird parts where they don’t speak English) for choosing Ivica Zubac over Thomas Bryant when the decision had to be made this offseason. This was, of course, because Bryant scored 31 on a perfect 14/14, seemingly showing him to be the perfect dunking center for the Lakers. Fair criticism? I guess, but it’s not like Bryant had been doing all that great before that huge night.
Here, in the absence of JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler (and Bryant, who was busy scoring 6 for the ‘Zards), Zubac showed why the Lakers kept him around. And that reason is this: if LeBron is passing him the ball, he can score as well as any of those dudes. He dropped 19 tonight, mostly in the first half before he tired himself out by dominating too hard, and also blocked four shots AUTHORITATIVELY. I’m constantly complaining about weak blocks, well, I have no reason to complain tonight.
He even hit a jumper. What more do you want? My rough tally on jumpers for McGee and Chandler combined this season is one, and that was a three by McGee where Luke Walton immediately called a timeout and then suspended him for three games for violating team rules.