Bazley explodes:
Since returning from the hiatus there were signs this day was coming. Bazley clearly spent the time away adding strength and growing his game. The typical growth rookies experience during the offseason appears to be the effect we’re witnessing from the youngster.
In 53 appearances prior to his injury, the rookie reached double-figure scoring on five occasions and grabbed five or more rebounds 15 times.
Some wondered why we’ve pinpointed Thunder rookie Darius Bazley as an untouchable and today provided perhaps the best evidence why.
Despite a lengthy Blazers’ frontcourt, the rook looked comfortable and most impressively let the game come to him while maintaining his aggressiveness. Like his BFF on the team, SGA, Bazley makes the difficult look easy. For his size, his ball-handling is above par and his shooting stroke is silky smooth.
As previously noted, I was keen to see him spend more time on the floor with Andre Roberson who should help expedite his defensive chops.
On this day he also recorded a career-high in scoring with 20 points on an efficient 7 of 15 from the field, 3 of 5 from deep with his only blip being a sub-par free throw effort (3 of 6).
He typically grabs more rebounds but since he was picking up the scoring effort we can excuse the fact he only grabbed two boards. Especially since he did other things like dish dimes (two) as well as grab a steal and block a shot. That he did all this in just 27:12 points to reasons for the fan base to be excited about what the youngster will grow into.