MBK Blu3

The doubt is gone. The three-ball that used to be the question owns a share of the single-game made-threes record: 9-of-9 in Game 018 — still the only PERFECT nine ever shot — inside a 35-point night on 13-of-15 with zero turnovers. Then 26 on 11-of-13 two games later, in case anyone called it a fluke. And now the hardware finally matches the shooting: 22 points on 6-of-9 from deep in Game 069 earned Player of the Game number two, his first since Game 016, followed by an 18-point, 9-assist encore in Game 070. Game 071 was the cold shower — 4-of-9 in a six-point loss took his second career Hot Seat, though the 4 steals that came with it say the compete level never dipped. The season line reads 16.2 a game at 63.8% overall with just 1.1 turnovers per game and 1.8 steals a night, and the 29-24 record is among the best in the league. The odd footnote: the season-long 56.6% from deep sits below the league's respectability line — the man who owns the only perfect 9-of-9 night is, on the aggregate, a shooter defenses can duck under. Fix that split and the profile has no holes; even without it, what started the season as a careful role player is finishing it as one of the steadiest winners the Association has.