Thursday evening, five former Illinois prep athletes saw minutes in a NBA game. Below I look into and share each of their NBA performances from February 11.
Best of the Day: Max Strus
Yes, I’m usually a bit biased when it comes to Max Strus because I have known since Day 1 but his game speaks for itself. Last night, he continued to impress Heat Nation and basketball viewers from around the world after dropping a career-high 21 points off the bench.
Strus was so good, Heat superstar Jimmy Butler said, “I would say he had just as much to do with us winning as I did.”
That says a ton considering Butler’s NBA success and the fact that Butler had a triple-double in the same game.
Strus even brings up the confidence Jimmy Butler and his teammates instill in him.
Relive last night’s performance throw @MiamiHEAT tweets.
- Max Strus (Stagg/Heat)- 25 minutes, 21 points, 6/9 FG, 5/8 3PT, 4/4 FT, and -8 in a 101-94 win over the Rockets.
The rest of the performances of the day:
- Kendrick Nunn (Simeon/Heat)- 41 minutes, 16 points, 7/18 FG, 2/10 3PT, an offensive rebound, 5 total rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers, and +3 in a 101-94 win over the Rockets.
- Andre Iguodala (Lanphier/Heat)- 25 minutes, 2 points, 1/2 FG, 0/1 3PT, 2 offensive rebounds, 5 total rebounds, a block, 2 turnovers, and +9 in a 101-94 win over the Rockets.
- Robert Covington (Proviso West/Trail Blazers)- 25 minutes, 5 points, 2/5 FG, 1/4 3PT, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, a block, and -2 in a 118-114 win over the 76ers. Covington doesn’t after you score a ton to make a huge impact and it shows in his stat line. His tip off an inbound was his biggest moment as it sealed the win for the Trail Blazers.
- Fred VanVleet (Auburn/Raptors)- 37 minutes, 5 points, 2/9 FG, 1/4 3PT, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, and -17 in a 120-106 loss to the Celtics. His eleven assists are a season-high.
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