Last night, Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets went on an absolute scoring frenzy against the hapless Charlotte Bobcats, scoring 57 points, the most by an NBA player this season. Williams, a dynamic point guard who has already helped the United States win a gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, is perhaps the lone bright spot on a dismal 12-26 Nets team, and last night, it showed.
57 times.
Williams hit the NBA’s season high in scoring on a variety of jump shots and three-pointers. He also feasted on the free throw line, going 21-21. The rest of his shooting stat line is not quite as perfect–16-29, 4-11 from behind the 3-point line–but it’s the bottom line that counts, and in this case, not only did Williams set the season high for points in a single game, he also set the New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored by a Nets player in a game.
One enterprising YouTube user–who also appears to be someone who can sit through no defensive effort NBA games–has put together a video of all Williams’ baskets, save his many trips to the free throw line. I mean, while 21-21 from the free throw line is impressive, it doesn’t make for the most enthralling highlight video:
As with all things NBA, Twitter’s reaction to Williams’ scoring outburst quickly became a trend, one that’s still going as of the time of this article. The reactions are about what you’d expect when someone goes off like that, starting with some typical hatred from Skip Bayless:
Tomorrow 10E, ESPN2, Stephen A will try to convince me Deron Williams now NBA’s best PG. Just b/c scored 57 for 12-26 team vs. 4-31 team?
Naturally, Skip tries to ignore anything that doesn’t come from a front-running team, but I hope someone asks Skip the following: Yes, the Bobcats have the worst record in the league, but how many other point guards dropped 57 against them this season? Just because the teams in question aren’t apart of the NBA’s elite doesn’t in anyway diminish Williams’ outburst.
At least not to me. Apparently, however, I may be in the minority:
Deron Williams scores 57 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, which is the equivalent of scoring 20 points against an actual NBA team.
How many times have deron williams and CP3 been to the finals don’t worry I’ll wait. Rondo been twice and they been in the league longer smh
So the fact that Rondo played on better teams doesn’t enter the equation? Or is basketball now an individual sport? There was, thankfully, some praise as well:
It’s about time Deron Williams got the respect he deserved. He’s been a top 2 point guard for a while now.
Ummmm Deron Williams had 57 pts ummmm wow!!!
Deron Williams drops 57. Wow.
Notice Palmer didn’t try to take anything away from Williams’ performance? Too bad Bayless can’t take any lessons from his contemporaries.