Darius Bazley’s answers in press conferences are often short, but his response when asked how he feels about his early-season performances before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers was noticeably quick.
“I got a lot of work to do,” he said, then stopped talking. When no PR team member or reporter jumped into the next question, he added two more words: “That’s it.”
Entering Wednesday, Bazley was averaging just 8.8 points per game. He had made one of the 16 3-pointers he attempted through the first four games, and was averaging fewer rebounds (6.3) than he had as a second-year player (7.2).
He probably didn’t have time for work between that pregame press conference and tipoff, but he looked like a different player against the Lakers on Wednesday.
Bazley recorded 20 points, six rebounds and four steals in the 123-115 win over the Lakers, the Thunder’s first victory of the season.
He made four of the eight 3-pointers he attempted and closed the game with a steal, looking joyous as he dunked the ball and broke an unwritten rule with 1.5 seconds remaining in the game, doing so in such a way that irked Russell Westbrook enough to pick up a second technical foul and be ejected from the contest.
Russell Westbrook assessed his second technical foul and ejected for grilling Darius Bazley with a thousand “DONT DO THAT”s in the final seconds pic.twitter.com/XYrGUJqHFw
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 28, 2021
Bazley scored the Thunder’s first eight points of the game, two buckets coming on 3-point attempts and one on a dunk. He was perhaps the lone bright spot for OKC in the first quarter, a 12-minute period of exactly 19 points.
After Oklahoma City fell behind by 26 in the second quarter, Bazley and Josh Giddey hit one 3 apiece to stabilize the Thunder and start them on a comeback that would end up tying the team record for largest comeback win.
Bazley’s fourth quarter was big, but not in the scoring column. He had two assists, blocked an Anthony Davis shot and grabbed a rebound after a clanked Westbrook 3-point attempt with about 24 seconds remaining.
The Thunder can only win when there’s a second player acting as the complement to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and on Wednesday, it was Bazley. The third-year forward’s impact on both sides of the ball helped the Thunder break into the win column and take down a team that has championship aspirations.
[lawrence-related id=447474,447468]