Beijing time on December 24, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers ushered in the challenge of the Spurs at home, the Lakers had no ability to fight back in the absence of many main players, and began to be in a backward situation in the middle of the first quarter, many times chasing points without results and finally losing, the score was finally fixed at 110-138, after this game, the Lakers suffered four consecutive losses, and the record was about to fall out of the top eight in the West.
In this game, the Lakers' James and Westbrook both got 30+, of which James got 36 points + 9 rebounds + 6 assists + 2 blocks; Westbrook got 30 points + 7 rebounds + 4 assists, but unfortunately the Spurs all scored as many as 6 people to score in double figures, and the highest scoring player was not White and Murray, but Diop who stood on the bench.
Diop played 27 minutes off the bench, hitting all 11 shots, including three three-pointers, 5-of-7 from the free throw line, and had 30 points, seven rebounds, and one steal, with a plus-minus of +20 team-high. The 30-pointer in a single game is not only a career high, but also the first player in Spurs history to score 30+ points in a single game with a 100% shooting percentage.
Since the 21st century, only four players in the NBA have scored 30+ points in a single game with 100% shooting, namely Howard, Jokic, Sabonis Jr. and Thomas Bryant. Howard scored 30 points on 11-of-11 shooting against the Rockets in 2010; Jokic scored 35 points on 11-of-11 shooting against the Suns in 2018; Sabonis Jr. scored 30 points on 12-of-12 shooting against the Knicks in 2018; and Bryant scored 31 points on 14-of-14 shooting against the Suns in 2018.
The 25-year-old Diop was selected by the Timberwolves with the 48th pick in the second round in 2018, then traded to the Nuggets, and came to the Spurs last summer, averaging only 5 points + 3.5 rebounds + 0.5 from assists this season (3.8 points per game before this game), a career-high of 10 points (against the Pacers on November 2, 2021), and the Lakers did not expect that they would eventually lose to Diop.