Thunder rookie Darius Bazley hasn’t gotten many mentions this season, but lately, since the NBA restart, he’s showing some nice signs. Here’s the Oklahoman with some examples:
On an afternoon the Thunder was overmatched from the start — five rotational players, including three starters, were scratched for various reasons — there wasn’t much fun versus the Suns.
Phoenix 128, OKC 101.
But if you’re looking for bright spots, none was more brilliant than Bazley. He recorded his first career double double, scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and becoming the first Thunder rookie with a double double since Domantas Sabonis in January 2017.
What’s more, it was Bazley’s second 20-point game in as many days. When Sunday dawned, Bazley had never scored 20 points in an NBA game. By the time the sun set Monday, he had done it twice…
Through six seeding games, he is averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Before the coronavirus put the season on hold, he was averaging only 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds.
The Thunder have been an under-the-radar good team all season, and must be pleased to see an additional player step up as the playoffs rapidly approach.
