The Detroit Pistons were defeated Wednesday night by the Atlanta Hawks 121-113 despite 50 points from reserve point guard Malachi Flynn.
Flynn, whose previous career high was 27 points, made 18 of 25 from the field and 9 of 12 shooting from long distance. The 50 points was a Pistons record for a reserve. He also had a season high of 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in 34 minutes of play.
Flynn’s scoring explosion made history, according to StatMuse:
“Players coming off the bench with 50 points in the 21st century: Jamal Crawford and now Malachi Flynn”.
Bench players with a 50-point game in the 21st century :
Jamal Crawford
Malachi FlynnInsane. pic.twitter.com/BLZTCUlwaY
– StatMuse (@statmuse) April 4, 2024
It was seven points shy of the Pistons’ franchise record. The Hawks went 1 for 11 from three-point range early in the game, but still managed to build a 59-48 lead at halftime. Whenever the Hawks began to pull away, Flynn helped the Pistons respond with baskets from all over the court.
The closest Pistons player to 50 points this season had been Cade Cunningham with 43. Flynn also surpassed his previous career high of 27 points.
Malachi Flynn is not the kind of player you would expect to see score 50 points in a game. He was the 29th overall pick of the Toronto Raptors in the 2020 NBA Draft and never carved out a consistent starting role. His most productive season was his rookie season, in which he averaged 7.5 points and 19.7 minutes per game.
Read also: But who is this Malachi Flynn who put up 50 tonight?
