GIF: Manimal Coast-To-Coast Euro-Step During Franchise-First 26 Points & 25 Boards

Never before has a Denver Nuggets player scored 26 points and ripped 25 boards in the same game. Kenneth Faried, saying after the game, “My back wasn’t tight. I felt loose and limber, like I was playing back at USA Basketball,” didn’t get a single call played for him on the night, but his incessant grit on the glass led to those numbers as he helped a sometimes withdrawn Nuggets team to a 106-102 win against the visiting ‘Wolves. No play summed up Faried’s purposefulness and unique athleticism more than a coast-to-coast jaunt that ended with a deft euro-step for the lay-in.

Watch as Faried nudges Shabazz Muhammad out of the way to corral the carom then take off the other way. After going coast-to-coast, Faried pulls out a euro-step to avoid the presence of Robbie Hummel.

The guy is 6-8, 220, and he’s snatching 25 rebounds while also going coast-to-coast for a euro-step finish late in a tight game — a remarkable combination of quickness and coordination.

“Teammates were missing shots, but I was just there at the right time,” Faried continued, by way of the Denver Post. “They played hard, Minnesota did, but I just wanted to keep going and keep us in it, some way, somehow.”

The Nuggets forward finished 11-for-15 from the field for those 26 points, and 12 offensive rebounds. Coach Brian Shaw was using the performance as a motivational tool since he no plays were designed for him:

“After 26 points,” Shaw said, “I want him to understand that we didn’t call plays for him. He got those 26 points going after offensive rebounds every single time. And probably four times, I would say tonight, the ball got volleyballed around and it fell right in his hands and he was able to put it right back up and in. But that was just because he put himself in the right place by being in there in the first place. That’s what I want him to take away from that.”

Regardless of what Faried takes away from his performance, we know what we took away: He’s a special talent who needs to show more consistency which will only come if he can stay healthy and motivated. When he does, though, he’s the definition of a spark plug, and the Nuggets engine can’t start without one.

Will Faried ever become an All-Star?

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