We hear all the time about revenge games that are happening around the league. Mario Hezonja just had a major one against the Magic, but all across the NBA there are countless players playing against teams they once donned the jersey of. In the past, this was not quite as common, but in this age of aggressive roster turnover, a guy like Ish Smith is having revenge games every other night.
But we don’t hear as much about the revenge games that AREN’T. Like what Terrence Ross did in the game prior to this, against the Raptors. You know he wanted to walk into his old arena and show the crowd what they were missing out on, to show his former teammates (how many current Raptors were even teammates with him?) how much of a baller he’s become. And he failed. 2 of 10 shooting, 6 points. No form of revenge was exacted on that night. Tears of frustration after the game? Multiple sources tell me: yes. Unequivocally.
But if you just pretend that the 23 points he had in this game were actually scored against the Raptors, this becomes a revenge game! It just takes a lot of pretending, a very active imagination. Right now I’m imagining Mario Hezonja as Masai Ujiri, and Mitchell Robinsons as Serge Ibaka, and Henry Ellenson as Kyle Lowry. And suddenly these mildly exciting 23 points become an incredible shooting display!