Let’s just get it out there right up front. Domantas Sabonis gave his SABONER to Rudy Gobert this game. The full length of it. And Gobert rode that big fat Saboner all the way to a big fat L. There was just no stopping Sabonis’ crafty post moves, his unstoppable pick-and-roll chemistry with Malcolm Brogdon (sob), and his ability to smoothly pop for the midrange if needed. All of those factors combined to make Sabonis’ Saboner just way too large and firm for Gobert (or anybody else on the Jazz) to comfortably receive.
With every game, it seems like Sabonis edges closer to the fabled 20/10 mark of twenty points and ten rebounds per game. The cost of the higher volume necessary to average those stats is a loss of scoring efficiency, but you see that all the time with young players who are abruptly given a bigger role in the offense. And how else was Sabonis going to live up to the legacy of his father than by having the Pacers place a weightier scoring load on his shoulders. That load is something that the Saboner is ready and willing to provide.
The only sad thing about all of this is that Sabonis’ success seems to be coming at the expense of Myles Turner, whose rate of shot attempts is the lowest in his career. Maybe Myles Turner is receiving collateral damage from Sabonis swinging his Saboner all over the place.