Dyson Daniels may be the NBA’s steals king, but fellow Australian and good friend Josh Giddey did his best impression of the ‘Great Barrier Thief’ with an absurd eight steals in the Chicago Bulls’ 146-115 romp of the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
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Giddey had been on an absolute tear before an ankle injury halted his momentum, although the Bulls guard returned in style off the bench against the Suns earlier in the week.
And if there was any doubt whether Giddey was over the ankle injury, he put that to bed with his best performance of the season against Los Angeles.
Sometimes simply reading the box score doesn’t give you an accurate reading of a player’s performance, but on this occasion, the numbers spoke for themselves.
Giddey had 15 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds, eight steals and — perhaps most impressive — just two turnovers. The eight steals doubled his career-high mark while the 17 assists tied his NBA record.
With it, Giddey fell just two steals short of the first quadruple double since David Robinson in 1997.
Bulls play-by-play commentator Adam Amin described it as a “special performance” from the Australian, who was averaging 22.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists in March entering Sunday’s game.
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Speaking after the win Giddey, who was criticised earlier in the season for his shortcomings on defence, said he was told earlier in the morning that he was guarding Luka Doncic.
While that may have previously been a daunting prospect for the Australian, this more confident version of Giddey embraced the challenge.
“I was like, ‘Gee, I’ve never really had an assignment like that before in the NBA’ and it’s something I’ve always wanted,” Giddey told NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson.
“To guard the best players in the league. He had 40 or something but that’s the best way to learn as a defender and obviously that’s something I want to get better at. I’m trying to improve on that side of the ball.”
Doncic was a one-man show on Sunday, carrying the Lakers with 29 points — including seven 3-pointers — in the first half alone amid a lethargic defensvie showing.
The Bulls’ superior ball movement and overall energy was proving far too much for the Lakers to handle, although Chicago only had a 65-62 lead at halftime.
But the Bulls opened the third quarter with a quick run to jump ahead 80-69 as Coby White made a transition 3-pointer to bring up 20 points.
It was the Chicago guard’s 12th-straight game of 20-plus points, the longest such streak of his career, and White wasn’t finished there, scoring 36 points in the win.
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Elsewhere, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said Dyson Daniels has a “great chance” of being crowned Defensive Player of the Year after the Australian racked up another three steals in Atlanta’s 124-115 win over the Warriors.
Daniels put in a strong all-round performance for the Hawks, adding 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, with his playmaking running the point while Trae Young sat on the bench particularly impressive.
Two of Daniels’ steals came in the fourth quarter directly after Atlanta turnovers, helping keep the Hawks on top late in the game even as the grew increasingly careless with the ball.
“He’s got a great chance,” Kerr said post-game of Daniels’ DPOY chances.
“Just watching tape to prepare for this game, the first two games I turned on — three steals immediately in each game. It was remarkable. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.
“Literally the first three possessions of the game, three steals. He’s a wrecking crew. He causes a lot of havoc. Great hands, great anticipation. He’s for sure first team All-Defence and right in the mix (for DPOY).”
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Trae Young scored 25 points and handed out 10 assists and Onyeka Okongwu added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who have won six of their last eight as they jockey for play-in tournament position.
The Warriors, clinging to sixth place in the West and trying to avoid the play-in, were without superstar guard Stephen Curry, who suffered a bruised pelvis in a hard fall on Friday.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and Moses Moody added 20, but the Warriors trailed virtually all the way.
The Hawks out-scored the Warriors 60-44 in the paint and held a 46-38 advantage in rebounds. They led by 12 at halftime and repelled every Warriors charge in the second half, leading by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.
“We just fought like we were supposed to the whole game and never gave up no matter what the score was,” Young said.
PACERS CONTINUE PUSH WITH THRILLING WIN OVER NETS
The Indiana Pacers held off a furious fourth-quarter surge by Brooklyn, hanging on for a 108-103 victory that pushed their winning streak to four games.
Tyrese Haliburton, who missed the Pacers’ last three games with a sore back, did not miss a beat in his return, posting his 10th straight points and assists double-double with 16 points and 12 assists.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points and Myles Turner chipped in 22 for Indiana — despite concern over his sister, Mya, who had a medical issue and had to leave the arena.
Trendon Watford scored 26 points off the bench to lead the Nets, who trailed by 20 through three quarters but cut the deficit to one with 4:30 left to play.
The Pacers pushed the lead back to nine points only for the Nets to close within two before the Pacers closed it out at the free-throw line to maintain their grip on fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
They started the day a game in front of the Milwaukee Bucks, who defeated the Kings in Sacramento later on Sunday.
“There’s no gimmicks or shortcuts, to close out an NBA Game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
“We saw some things at the end that were a bit zany, and we’ve got to learn from those things and be very thankful that we got out of here with a win.”
— AFP
