Yes I think everyone noticed that BMac was fantastically efficient in the second half, and 25/7/7 is pretty useful, the rebounds especially notable as he's had to adjust to crash back without Scottie there.
And Vic's individual and team defense was outrageously good. After starting poorly on offense he did a nice job of staying calm and bouncing back. It also seemed to me his shot selection improved over the course of the game.
I just wanted to also add a few more other under the radar things:
1) hard to call this under the radar at this point, but Sanjay was once again just everywhere on defense. he's so active with his hands, and his quickness in getting back and forth on the double teams to Happ (Skelly too for a few mins when he was in) was what made the difference. Hayes got a couple on him in the 2H, but those were the outlier compared to his shutdown D the rest of the game. also that corner 3 he hit (after an airball!) was an absolute dagger.
2) Dererk was an animal on the boards, especially on the offensive end. and he was no small part of the success of the double teams too. he didn't rack up the gaudy stats he has a few times this year, but he had a very very good game. he's getting better at not fouling too (though apparently there is a prohibition on calling fouls on defenders that hack him while goes up for dunks?).
3) Tap had a couple big 3s. I also like mixing him and others in as part of those bigger lineups with Vic at 2, they help keep the rotations better.
4) I've criticized Isaiah in the past, so just want to be the first to say it here -- he didn't play a ton but he had an excellent game. went 2-2 from the floor, took 0 bad shots, never forced it into transition w/o numbers (actually Vic was guilty of that once instead of finding a trailer.. there was 1 time Isaiah almost went 1 on 2 but then he caught himself / pulled up), and also 0 turnovers. yet he still was very helpful in preventing any pressure from them in their comeback attempt, having that secondary ball handler is big. so even without doing anything fancy in the box score, Isaiah playing smart and efficient on offense was a big help -- efficient and smart is worth more to us than however many pts he puts up.
BMac and Vic were the headliners, but still a very nice team win.
And Vic's individual and team defense was outrageously good. After starting poorly on offense he did a nice job of staying calm and bouncing back. It also seemed to me his shot selection improved over the course of the game.
I just wanted to also add a few more other under the radar things:
1) hard to call this under the radar at this point, but Sanjay was once again just everywhere on defense. he's so active with his hands, and his quickness in getting back and forth on the double teams to Happ (Skelly too for a few mins when he was in) was what made the difference. Hayes got a couple on him in the 2H, but those were the outlier compared to his shutdown D the rest of the game. also that corner 3 he hit (after an airball!) was an absolute dagger.
2) Dererk was an animal on the boards, especially on the offensive end. and he was no small part of the success of the double teams too. he didn't rack up the gaudy stats he has a few times this year, but he had a very very good game. he's getting better at not fouling too (though apparently there is a prohibition on calling fouls on defenders that hack him while goes up for dunks?).
3) Tap had a couple big 3s. I also like mixing him and others in as part of those bigger lineups with Vic at 2, they help keep the rotations better.
4) I've criticized Isaiah in the past, so just want to be the first to say it here -- he didn't play a ton but he had an excellent game. went 2-2 from the floor, took 0 bad shots, never forced it into transition w/o numbers (actually Vic was guilty of that once instead of finding a trailer.. there was 1 time Isaiah almost went 1 on 2 but then he caught himself / pulled up), and also 0 turnovers. yet he still was very helpful in preventing any pressure from them in their comeback attempt, having that secondary ball handler is big. so even without doing anything fancy in the box score, Isaiah playing smart and efficient on offense was a big help -- efficient and smart is worth more to us than however many pts he puts up.
BMac and Vic were the headliners, but still a very nice team win.
