The perfect shooting was an oddity. The dimes were more than what you would expect from a backup point guard. But the steals, the steals were what made T.J. McConnell’s triple-double Wednesday night shocking.
McConnell had nine steals in the first half and 10 for the game, to go with 16 points (8 for 8 from the floor) and 13 assists in the Pacers’ 114-111 win over the Cavaliers.
To show just how eye-popping this feat was, here are some historical notes:
The first-half steals set an NBA record. McConnell missed tying the record for steals in a game (11) by one.
The points-assists-steals combo was the 11th since the NBA made steals an official stat in 1973, and the first for a player off the bench.
The last player with such a triple-double was the Hawks’ Mookie Blaylock in April 1998.
“I was just playing with our defensive principles and trying to help run the team, I wasn’t going out of my way to make steals,” McConnell said, per The Associated Press.
Source: Sporting News