https://youtu.be/TaaDwfpFvKY
The NBA’s insistence to continue play in the face of increasing COVID cases is is quickly proving to be a double-edged sword.
OFFICIAL SWORD EDGE #1: Players are getting COVID, which isn’t good, and more of them are also having to quarantine themselves due to COVID exposure, which is no fun unless you’re a homebody like me who literally spends every waking moment on the computer and doesn’t regret it at all.
OFFICIAL SWORD EDGE #2: COVID-decimated rosters result in games where teams have to dust off the end-of-bench scrubbums (that’s scrubs and bums combined) and give them forty minutes of playing time simply because there’s no other way to ensure that there are five dudes on the court at all times.
Obviously, COVID is bad and I don’t want anybody to get it, ever. But I’m trying to look for the silver lining here. If players are going to be sacrificed in this way, at least it results in more scrubs having highlight-worthy games. As the internetubes’ preeminent provider of scrub-based NBA highlight videos, this is great for me. Even in my semi-retirement, where not every scrub gets his deserved video, the idea of no-name bumnuggets going off for double-digit point totals is invigorating bordering on arousing.
That’s what Gabe Vincent did in this contest. The Heat were forced to trot out a reduced lineup which didn’t have any other point-guard-type players, so the end result was Vincent scoring 24 points in 36 minutes while making just his second in-game appearance this season. My recommendation to the Heat is to wrap this guy up in bubble wrap to keep him COVID-free, and then, whenever the COVID protocols have blasted a hole in your roster, you can unwrap him and throw him on the court for a guaranteed twenty points.