It took more than two and a half games, but Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Aleksej Pokusevski has his first points in the NBA.
With 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Tuesday game against the Orlando Magic, Pokusevski drove to the lane and missed his first attempt but got the tip-in to make his second try. It ends a stretch in which Pokusevski was 0-14 to start his career, including the first missed layup before the tip.
He missed six shots in his debut, two in his second game and the first six on Tuesday. The forward channeled his inner Dion Waiters, though, and kept pushing.
POKU follow-thru.
His first NBA bucket. @aleksejpokusevs | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/hkjlajN1sU— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 30, 2020
Though Pokusevski was not scoring, he found other ways to contribute to Oklahoma City while on the court. Over the first 13 minutes on Tuesday, he had six rebounds, one of which was on the offensive glass, and three assists with one turnover. He was a plus-seven on the night.
Daigneault has repeatedly said that for the 19-year-old, it’s less about the result and more about the process — how he practices, how he grows, how he actually looks on the court.
All that is certainly important. But it’s nice to have one go his way and get onto the points column of the box score.
