MINNEAPOLIS — A starting center finished Tuesday with four points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, and complete control of a game despite barely appearing in the scoring column.
“I kept waiting for him to start scoring,” said one viewer. “Then I realized everybody else was scoring because of him.”
The center set screens, redirected drives, triggered fast breaks, recovered missed shots, and repeatedly made passes that produced easier passes two seconds later.
Traditional box-score watchers remained suspicious, noting that four points is not a lot of points, while coaches described his impact using increasingly complicated sentences involving positioning and possession value.
At one stage, he went eight straight minutes without attempting a shot while his team outscored the opponent by 17.
Analysts debated whether the performance was brilliant or simply inconvenient for graphics departments that prefer one large number.
The center said he was happy with the win before collecting another rebound from a ball that had already been placed on the scorer’s table.
