9. Dion Waiters’s 33 points vs. the Milwaukee Bucks (Jan. 21)
Final stat line:
- Minutes: 33
- Field goals: 12-19
- Free-throws: 4-8
- Three-point shooting: 5-8
- Points: 33
- Rebounds: 3
- Assists: 3
- Steals: 1
- Blocks: 0
- Turnovers: 3
This was the first of Waiters’ back-to-back 33-point scoring outbursts. (I’m positive you remember the one that followed. If you don’t, I assure you we’ll be getting to it.)
Waiters finished the night with a season-high in scoring, along with five threes and three assists.
Jan. 21 against the Milwaukee Bucks is the game that set off the shooting guard’s best stretch of the season. Starting on that night, and for the 20 contests that followed, Waiters averaged 19.6 points, 5.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game on 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent from beyond the arc — surprisingly efficient numbers for a guy considered a reckless gunner throughout the majority of his career.
Will that period of excellent play be enough to garner Waiters a big-time contract offer this offseason? We’ll only have to wait a couple of months to find out.