The NBA regular season continued, with the Pacers losing 121-129 to the Nets, but Pacers role player Sykes had 18 points, three rebounds and five assists, once again.
In the previous game against the Nets, the Sykes had just achieved an explosion against the Knicks. On 8-of-16 shooting, he had 22 points, four rebounds and six assists. And against the Big Three with Durant, Harden and Irving, Sykes remains fearless, a rare performance for a nameless player who is playing in the NBA for the first time this season.
In addition to the excellent offensive and tandem performances, Sykes' performance on the defensive end is even more impressive. According to high-level data for this game, Sykes managed to limit Irving and Harden during the alignment.
Sykes' specific defensive performance is: 5 minutes and 19 seconds against Irving, Irving only scored 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting; 1 point 30 with Harden, Harden scored 3 points on 1-of-3 shooting.
That is to say, when Sykes defended, Irving and Harden were 3 of 10 shots together, and the shooting rate was very low. Irving shot 9-of-17 from the field, shooting 53 percent; Harden shot 5-of-12 from the field with a 42 percent shooting percentage. But against Sykes, both men's shooting percentages were well below their overall shooting percentages.
Facing the NBA's superstars, both offensively and defensively, Sykes is a bit of a surprise. You know, the 28-year-old point guard is only 1.80 meters tall, and in 2015, he participated in the NBA draft without anyone asking, and eventually he could only work in the development league and overseas leagues, and his career was very bumpy and he was constantly wandering.
In the 2019-20 season, he came to join the Guangzhou team of the CBA. Throughout the season, he was cut by Guangzhou in 15 games, and although he averaged 28.2 points and 6.1 assists per game, and also bombed 50 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists against Shanghai, he still did not get recognition.
Because of the epidemic, Sykes finally entered the NBA for the first time this season, and at present, he has started 3 times in 5 games, averaging 10.4 points and 3.6 assists in 26.8 minutes per game, which is remarkable. Continuing to play like this, Sykes also has a chance to gain a foothold in the NBA.