This one should come as no surprise. In fact, the surprising part about this 24-point NBA debut by Kendrick Nunn is that he didn't score MORE points. If you were in a state of willful obliviosity during the preseason (I don't blame you; there's a reason I don't do preseason highlights), let me give you the rundown: this dude, this "Kendrick Nunn", scored 40 points in Miami's final preseason game while Dion Waiters sulked on the bench.

Now, preseason performances are usually nothing to pay attention to, but sometimes they can predictive of future events. And I was predicting that Nunn would go off for 50 in tonight's season opener. It was a bold prediction to be sure, something the kids would call a "hot take", but I didn't see any reason why it couldn't happen. Not to antagonize Heat fans too much, but look at their roster right now. Who's scoring the ball? It's role-player city over there, the perfect situation for a no-nonsense shoot-shooter to take control of the ball and say "Just grab the rebound" like he's Kobe or something.

Theoretically, Waiters would be the candidate for such a role, but apparently he sulked SO HARD that the Heat had to suspend him for this game. He did some other stuff besides sulk to earn his one-game vacation, sure, but the sulking was a big part of it. Remember, while every other teammate was celebrating wildly while Nunn performed his preseason magic, Waiters literally flopped down on his stomach and beat his fists on the court while wailing incomprehensibly about how unfair everything was.

So, Nunn didn't get his 50. But 24 is pretty good, for a guy who had never done real-life NBA things before. Even Wilt took a few games before scoring 50.

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