Monday night was a fun night for LSU Tigers.
Former Tiger Naz Reid’s stat line only listed three fouls in the first two minutes, 49 seconds of playing time he received against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. But instead of regressing into timid play after getting into foul trouble, Reid took charge.
After halftime, the Wolves found themselves falling behind the Thunder in the third quarter in which OKC would outscore the Wolves 29-19. But before things could get too out of hand, Reid found answers and scored 15 straight points for the Wolves to narrow OKC’s lead to single digits in the fourth quarter.
Though the Wolves ultimately couldn’t match OKC’s offense in their 117-104 loss, Reid gave Minnesota a true shot by recording a team-high 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line in less than 19 minutes of playing time. He was only one of three Wolves players to record a positive plus-minus rating (plus-3).
Reid’s 15-point streak began at the 4:05 mark of the third quarter and lasted until Josh Okogie made a shot assisted by Jarrett Culver at the 9:42 mark of the final frame. Reid got things going with a 26-foot 3-pointer then popped another trey over Steven Adams, who’s unanimously considered one of the most intimidating players in the NBA.
But Reid’s hot hand didn’t stop at back-to-back 3s.
The undrafted big man added an all-ball block against Hamidou Diallo in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter then opened the fourth quarter by perfectly executing a pick-and-roll-turned dunk (props to Culver on the beautiful pass, too). And that wasn’t even his best move in the paint of the night. Less than a minute later, the 20-year-old big man used a physical spin move to get past Dennis Schroder just below the free-throw line then shot above the hands of a contesting Adams. He capped his streak after popping above the break off of a screen set for Teague and drilling his third 3 of the night. Everyone in Target Center knew it was money as soon as it left the rookie’s hands.
He went on to add a corner 3 assisted by Okogie at the 8:11 mark of the fourth quarter, narrowing OKC’s lead to seven points, then capped his first career 20-point game with an uncontested dunk in the final seconds of the Wolves’ loss.
The 6-foot-9 center only added one rebound in a game in which the Wolves were outrebounded 51-37, but his resilience after his forgettable first half was the largest reason the Wolves were still in the game in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter.
Reid’s rebounding skills are still in rookie form, but his polished offense and maturity continue to prove he’s a special player who belongs in the NBA.