The final score of this game 103-125, was “only” a 22-point loss for the ‘Zards, but halfway through the third quarter, they were down by almost forty. So this game was even less close than the final tally would have you believe.
I bring this up because the fourth quarter was complete garbage time (I’m going to start calling it “trash time” honestly because that’s more fun to say) yet Rui Hachimura did not play a single second of it. Apparently, he’s good enough where there are at least five other players on the ‘Zards who are more deserving of trash time minutes than Hachimura is. And now that I look at the roster, I can see it. Ish Smith can run the show with Troy Brown, Isaac Bonga, Jordan McRae, and Mo Wagner. Throw in some Chris Chiozza too (I don’t know who that is). Those dudes all need some development minutes at the end of lost games. Hachimura gets his development minutes by being the starter and going up against the NBA’s best.
Speaking of the NBA’s best, did or did not Hachimura completely make bitchmeat out of LeBron James? Sure, LeBron came away with an effortless 23/11 line, but he also lived up to his crude yet accurate nickname of “NoDefense SuckBalls” by letting Hachimura take a dump on him at least three different times. It wasn’t really the passing of a torch, but Hachimura was definitely within arm’s length of the torch and could have taken it away from LeBron if he had wanted to.