Unlike Elfrid Payton’s triple-double last game, which was an ILLEGITIMATELY-GOTTEN triple-double, the triple-double he got in this game was totally legit.
Before you get all indignant on me, please extend me the courtesy of allowing me to explain myself. Payton’s last triple-double only happened because he passed to Darius Miller with five seconds left and Miller shot the ball. It was a lost game at that point. There was no reason to shoot it other than to give Payton one last chance at his triple-double. Basically, the triple-double was the result of blatant statpadding and therefore it should be stricken from the record books. And if the NBA doesn’t want to correct their record books, I’ve got my own personal record book right here that I can amend as much as I want. It’s the same record book that makes no mention of Donyell Marshall ever holding or coholding the three-pointers-in-a-game record. Because I hate Donyell Marshall. But that’s neither here nor there.
This triple-double is just fine because Payton got his tenth assist early in the fourth quarter. The game was still theoretically winnable for the Pelicans at that time. However, since the previous triple-double was nullified, that nullifies another one of Payton’s so-called “achievements”: getting two triple-doubles in a row. The only other Pelican to do it was Chris Paul (twice, and he was a Hornet back then), but now Chris Paul is the ONLY Pelican/Hornet to do it because Payton doesn’t count.