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Prigioni gets 8 steals in 15 minutes, is some kind of master thief
NBA role players rarely get to make a big statement in the box score. A big statistical performance for an eighth or ninth man might involve 10 points, 3-of-4 shooting from the field, or a mix of three assists and four rebounds. These players' contributions are not always covered by these stats and may come in key moments more than they do over the course of a full game.
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Occasionally, though, the role player's typical contributions get so bizarrely blown out of proportion that they stick out in the box score even more than the gaudy stats of stars. That's exactly what happened for Pablo Prigioni of the Los Angeles Clippers in Wednesday night's 104-90 win against the Miami Heat at Staples Center. The 38-year-old point guard played only 15 minutes but picked up a stunning eight steals. Here's a look at all of them:
No other player in Basketball Reference's game archives (back to 1985-86) has ever finished a game with that many steals in so few minutes. In fact, only one player has eight steals in at least 20 minutes. Oddly enough, it's Prigioni's head coach Doc Rivers, who did it for the Clippers in November 1991 against the Phoenix Suns. At least they had something to talk about after the game.
Not surprisingly, Prigioni's defense played a big part in the Clippers win. Those eight steals represented one-third of the Heat's 24 total turnovers, a high number for any game but especially relative to the Clippers' seven. Despite shooting worse than Miami from the field (42.6 percent to 44.3 percent), the hosts managed nine more made field goals. They simply had more chances to score.
The Clippers have now won 10 in a row to improve to 26-13, or 1 1/2 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for third place in the West. All but one of those victories has come without the injured Blake Griffin, and Wednesday saw DeAndre Jordan sit due to an illness. Another role player helped fill the gap — fill-in starter Cole Aldrich put up a team-high 19 points in 24 minutes.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
