Before this game, Matt Thomas had not made a layup in his NBA career. That sounds so outrageous that you almost can’t believe it, but, unless basketball-reference is lying to me about the nature of his shots this season, you’d better start believing soon, because I’m telling the god-damn truth.
That fact becomes slightly less outrageous when you consider that a.) this is Thomas’ rookie season, b.) he’s only appeared in 22 total games, c.) he’s only made 39 field goals in his career, and d.) he looks like the kind of player who made it into the league on the back of his jumpshooting abilities (just saying).
Actually, that fact about the layups is still really nuts no matter how much I try to lessen its impact. He made, by my count, 36 jumpshots before he made a layup at the rim. I know that shooting specialists are supposed to specialize in shooting (otherwise they’d either be called “layup specialists” or just not be known as any kind of specialist at all), but that doesn’t usually mean that you literally do nothing but hit jumpers.
Matt Herro (is that his name? who cares) was formerly the favorite Wisconsin-born unpigmented player of this Wisconsin-born unpigmented highlight maker, but Matt Thomas has made a surprise entry into the race. I prefer unheralded guys anyway, and Matt Thomas, being a 25-year-old rookie, could possibly be the most unheralded of them all.