The NBA is full of talent, but it is not always full of opportunity. Malachi Flynn is a player who would likely be completely out of the rotation on a fully healthy Detroit Pistons roster despite the Pistons being the league’s worst team.
Instead, with Cade Cunningham an 11th-hour scratch, Flynn got a huge opportunity against the Atlanta Hawks, and he turned that into only the third 50-point game from a reserve since the NBA started tracking the stat.
Flynn scored 50 points on an efficient 18-of-25 shooting and added six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Flynn’s previous high was only 27 points, and of any player to ever drop a 50-piece in the NBA, he had the lowest points per game average at just 5.2 for his career.
Sadly, and fittingly, the amazing game came in a Pistons loss, as Detroit fell 121-113 to the Atlanta Hawks.
It was the ninth game in Pistons history a Detroit player scored at least 50 points. Flynn joins, from most recent, Saddiq Bey (51), Blake Griffin (50), Richard Hamilton (51), Jerry Stackhouse (57), Kelly Tripuka (56), Dave Bing (54), and George Yardley (52 and 51). Somehow, Detroit as a franchise is now only 5-4 in games where one of their players scores at least 50 points.
The only other players in NBA history to score at least 50 off the bench are Jamal Crawford in 2019 and Nick Anderson in 1993.
It’s amazing that a player like Flynn, who isn’t even guaranteed to be on an NBA roster next season, can effortlessly drop 50 points against an NBA team. It just goes to show you how talented EVERYONE in the NBA is.
He was sinking off-the-dribble threes, finishing in the lane, getting himself to the line, and using both quick burst and hesitation to keep the Hawks defenders completely off balance.
The odds that Flynn scores fewer than 10 points on low efficiency the next Pistons game is extremely high, but tonight, he was peerless. It was amazing to see and a rare fun performance from a Pistons player not named Cade.
Also, it was a loss. Another in a season that will likely see the Pistons set the franchise record for losses in the season. That’s the NBA for you.