NBA’s best out-of-nowhere performances this season
10. Aron Baynes scorches Portland with nine 3’s
The most prolific 3-point shooting nights on the 2019-20 NBA season came from the likes of the following: Zach LaVine, Buddy Hield, Damian Lillard, James Harden. All names you’d expect to see atop a list like this. Rounding out the top 10 are Devonté Graham, Duncan Robinson, Aron Baynes… – wait a minute – Aron Baynes??
Your eyes do not deceive you. Phoenix Suns’ big man Aron Baynes put together one of the most stellar scoring outbursts of his career in an early March tilt against the Portland Trail Blazers, sinking nine 3-pointers en route to a 37-point career-high. And for a little icing on the cake, the seasoned Aussie added 16 rebounds for the 18th double-double of his career.
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Not bad for a guy who possesses a career average of 6.0 points per game. It wasn’t even until the 2018-19 campaign that the man attempted over a three per contest, before his seeing his 1.2 mark that season skyrocket to 4.0 in 2019-20. And by the looks of it, even his teammates were enthralled to see him erupt like this.
Baynes stepped into Phoenix’s starting center role and thrived after former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton was suspended for 25 games at the season’s inception, and was a key cog in their fiery 7-4 start, putting up 15.4 points per game on a 55.9 percent shooting clip from the field through the team’s first 11.
He cooled off immensely as the season wore on and Ayton returned, before re-emerging once again with a blistering 37-ball against Portland. The resurgence would be short-lived though, and Baynes’ hot shooting hand soon turned to stagnant ice as the season came to an abrupt halt just days later.