The Dallas Mavericks are fighting for their playoff lives on the road in Houston, down 3-1 in their first round series against the Rockets. But even if they can’t pull off the historic comeback, they have a silver lining in this series amid the Rondo drama: the emergence of Al-Farouq Aminu.
The Mavericks small forward only averaged 5.6 points in 18 minutes a game during the regular season, providing very good defense at the cost of being an abysmal shooter. Then Chandler Parsons got hurt, and Rick Carlisle quickly realized that Richard Jefferson hasn’t been a serviceable NBA player in maybe three years, and Aminu became a starter. He’s shot 60 percent(!) from behind the arc in the first four games of the series; has bothered James Harden more than anybody but Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James have this season; had 16 points and 12 rebounds in Dallas’ Game 4 win; and holy mother of god what did he just do?
He took a Charlie Villanueva steal coast to coast, blowing by James Harden in the process, to absolutely ruin Clint Capela, a talented-but-extremely-green rookie shot blocker. Forget Playoff Rondo; he’s gone. Playoff Aminu is here.
(H/t Kirk Henderson & BBallBreakdown)
