https://youtu.be/YcwzVqrb9DM
I just edited and uploaded this highlight video, so I should be better-equipped to answer this question than anybody, but how did Jaylen Nowell score 28 in this game? Nowell’s scoring has improved significantly from his rather unremarkable rookie season, where he appeared in just 15 games and shot a sizzling 11% from the three-point line, but I still can’t quite wrap my noggin around the fact that he literally scored 28 points in a real NBA game against a real NBA team.
The Pelicans play poor defense. We all know that. But that fact only partially accounts for Nowell’s unprecedented scoringsplosion. But the main factor, I think, was the fact that he was allowed to advance the ball himself on many of these possessions, which meant he got the final say in where the ball went on a given possession, and a lot of the time he just called his own number and threw up a three-pointer.
Ring ring ring. “Hello, this is Jaylen Nowell, can I ask who is calling?”
“Hey Jaylen, it’s you. You are calling yourself.”
“Oh, interesting. What should I do about that?”
“You should shoot a three-pointer.”
“OK.”
And then the call hangs up, Nowell exits his internal headspace to return to the real world, finds himself standing at the three-point line, and jacks up a shot while his teammates yell at him to pass the ball.
The other factor in play here was Malik Beasley being suspended, thus leaving a major gap in the Wolves’ guard rotation. I generally don’t condone NBA players committing crimes, but if NBA players committing crimes results in players like Jaylen Nowell dropping 28 points, they can threaten families by waving around guns as often as they want.