Cleveland Cavaliers rookie forward Anthony Bennett showed some promise on Tuesday when he cracked the 10-point barrier for the first time by finishing with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, adding eight rebounds and one blocked shot in the Cavs' 100-89 home loss to New Orleans.
Anthony Bennett reaches double figures in scoring for 1st time
The headline tells you all you need to know about how this season’s gone for the top pick in NBA draft.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The line looks like something one would expect from a top-tier rookie, but so far Bennett has been nothing of the sort.
Anthony Bennett's historically bad rookie season
Drew Garrison breaks down the numbers on the No. 1 pick's rookie season Prior to the game on Tuesday, Bennett's previous career-high was nine points in 12 minutes of action on Nov. 23 against the San Antonio Spurs. He scored 16 points on 6-of-11 from the field in a preseason game against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 11.
The 2013 No. 1 overall pick has struggled immensely thanks to his pedestrian efficiency output (0.85 PER going into Tuesday) and questionable work ethic. Even more unbelievable than that metric is his abysmal 25.9 field goal percentage this season.
To make matters worse, the Cavs reached to take him first overall among a relatively mediocre pool of talent. To this point, he’s made their gamble look foolish.
But at least for one night, the Canadian was able to put together a respectable performance. The jury’s still out on whether he can parlay that into any sort of respectable season. He’ll need to have plenty more good games in order for that to happen.
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