Marc Zumoff kindly informed us that this game ties a career high in points for T.J. McConnell, but he not-so-kindly neglected to remind us that McConnell’s true career high came in the playoffs, where he scored nineteen against the Celtics. This is a vital piece of information to be omitted, given that the “career high” status of this game changes the title of the video significantly.
Unlike most stats, where keeping playoff stats and regular season stats separate is a reasonable thing to do, career highs should apply across all games that a player has played. Not counting preseason and summer league, of course. If Wilt’s 100 had come in a playoff game, nobody would say that his career high wasn’t 100. That would be foolish. I fail to see how T.J. McConnell scoring nineteen is any different, other than it’s fewer points.
No matter how you feel about the playoff/regular season distinction, it’s inarguable that McConnell had a very good game last night. He had been marginalized for the entire season, but he escaped the marginalization for exactly one game and showed the coaching staff what happens when you stop marginalizing T.J. McConnell. He proudces. So just bring Ben Simmons off the bench in a James Johnson role and make McConnell the starting PG for a guaranteed appearance in the ECF conference finals.