Truth About It» 43 Points Courtesy of Nick Young’s Hula Hoop

I challenge you to watch the range of emotions expressed by Nick Young after scoring a career-high 43 points andnotlike the guy… he’s made for Hollywood… he’sNick the Thriller.

No“typical Wizards’ losing ways” from the media…
No ranting writers calling for heads…
No outrage of radio call-in shows…
No bloggy posts about how Nick Young is likethe worst passer, ever…

Winning is the big differentiator. The Wizards did so, 136-133 versus the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night…barely.

{BTW, did you know, including Tuesday night's whopping three assists, Young has accrued 17 total assists in the last seven games -- since the Dec. 29 home win versus the Indiana Pacers. Those 17 assists represent 7-percent of Young's previous career assist total ...SEVEN PERCENT!...Over 261 games!}

It’s almost like Nick is making even more progress… in other departments. What kind of bizarro world are we living in?

So…

No ragging on Young for trying to move with the ball, away from the corner and from defensive pressure with 18 seconds on the clock and a 125-119 lead, and then stepping out of bounds…

No wondering about the angst Young was going through, thinking about getting over the 40-point benchmark while trying to be the man securing the ball on the in-bounds pass with Sacramento trying to trap and turn the ball over or foul…

And don’t even talk about that free-throw Young missed with 7.6 seconds left that allowed little Pooh Jeter to abuse John Wall’s footwork and JaVale McGee’s nonexistent help defense awareness to tie the game and send a once improbable scenario into overtime (a scenario that had the Wizards up six on the Kings, with the ball, and 18 seconds left).

Nothing can take away Nick Young’s career-high 43 points.They came early and often, 13 points in the game’s first seven minutes, courtesy of Flip Saunders calling Nick’s number in an offense the team trusted to run. The Wizards got Young immediate looks at the basket, no extra dribbles or time to think. It was very Rip Hamilton-esque, but from someone with much more athletic ability and nicer lift on a fading jumper. Every one of Young’s first quarter field-goals came courtesy of an assist from a teammate— two from Andray Blatche, two from John Wall and one from Rashard Lewis.

Nothing will remove Nick’s memory of shooting in a hula hoop during the final four minutes of the third quarter, where he scored 16 straight points for his team via four three-pointers. Kinda weird that Washington had a nine point lead (80-71) after Young’s stretch began at the 3:49 mark of the third and only an 11 point lead (94-83) when all was said and done at the end of the quarter…

… But we won’t mention that… because the Wizards won… thanks to Nick Young… because that three-pointer he came back and hit early in the overtime session was huge.

How 43 Was Posted:

• Efficiency- 43 points on 22 shot attempts; 7-10 from three, 8-9 from the free-throw line.
• Thanks -12 of Young’s 14 field-goals were assisted by a teammate.
• Technical Help- The Kings were assessed three technicals, via Francisco Garcia, DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson… Young shot and made all three tech foul shots… And what do you know? The Wizards won by three points.
• In The Numbers- The date: 1.11.2011 -- Add those integers together and you get the same sum as 4+3.
• Hula Hoop- Nick said the basket looked like one.

Nick Young Is: The Thriller

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