Malachi Flynn became one of the unsung stars of the NBA regular season. The Tacoma point guard scored 50 points against the Atlanta Hawks in one of the most surprising performances of all time.
That’s because he didn’t even average five points on the season and because it was all from the bench for one of the worst teams, the Detroit Pistons. He exploded and claimed that nothing was a fluke.
“It isn’t. I show that I can go out there and do whatever I put my mind to,” he acknowledged. It doesn’t take long for time to prove him wrong, though.
Flynn struggled against the Grizzlies
Flynn went from 50 points to a poor performance in his next game. Against the Hawks he had incredible percentages, shooting 5/9 from three and 18/25 from the field, in addition to six assists, six rebounds and three steals. Up next was a visit to Memphis, and Flynn came back down to Earth.
He finished with 3 points, all from the the free throw line (3/4). No further success on 12 shots at the basket (0/7 from three and 0/12 from the field). He grabbed one rebound and dished out six assists and finished at -13 while on the court.
Flynn’s 50-point game surpassed the career single-game record of several big names like Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, Scottie Pippen and Kevin Garnett. And of current stars such as Kawhi Leonard and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Pistons point guard will go down, either way, in the season’s history books. For example, he joins Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Jalen Brunson as players with 50 points on less than 25 shots this season.
