Timberwolves wing Corey Brewer isn’t exactly a dominant scorer. He’s averaging 12.2 points in 32.2 minutes a night this season (he was at 11.7 PPG before his outburst) and he’s never averaged more than 13 PPG in his career. That’s what made his 51-point performance against the Rockets on Friday night so surprising and impressive. Like Terrence Ross before him, Brewer’s 51-point game snuck up on everyone. But unlike Ross, the former Gator was dropping buckets at the rim, not just long-range bombs, going 19-for-30 from the floor with most of his field goals in the restricted area.
In between all his shots near the rim, Brewer did find time to toss in a shot from beyond half-court in the closing seconds of the second quarter. The banked in fling give the ‘Wolves some momentum heading into half-time despite being down at home to the Rockets, and without their best player, Kevin Love, who did not dress with a hyperextended right elbow.
After a 7-for-8 first quarter for 16 points, Brewer cooled down in the second, scoring only 10 on 4-of-7 from the field. The third was 4-for-8 for another 10, and the fourth saw him drop 15 more on another 4-of-7 period. Brewer was just 2-for-6 from deep, but he got to the line where he was 11-for-15. Just look at this bizarre shot chart for a 50-point game:
Some say Ross’ 51-point game was more shocking, but the way Brewer reached the 50-point plateau deserves some DAP. He wasn’t settling for three-pointers and some unconscience shooting, but attackint the bucket time and again, scoring better than 10 points in every 12-minute interval.
‘Bron was as shocked as we were:
"LeBron, hear about Corey Brewer?" "Nah." "He scored 51 tonight." "Wait, who?!"
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) April 12, 2014
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