Gabriel Deck, getting better in the NBA: had a night with record production

Mauricio Codocea

05/14/2021 11:42 PM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 05/14/2021 11:58 PM

The NBA season is coming to an end and Gabriel Deck knew that he would have few games to show himself, but boy is he taking advantage of it: he had

another great performance

in what was the fall of his team, Oklahoma City Thunder, against the Utah Jazz, 109 to 93.

The Argentine power forward scored no less than

18 points

and was one of the team's scorers and of the night (he barely scored a little less than his teammate Svi Mykhailiuk.

Tortuga

completed a roster with 6-9 shooting from the court, 1-1 on triples and a perfect 5-5 from the free line.

In addition, he captured 6 rebounds (2 offensive) and gave 1 assist in 26 minutes,

the second most time

he played since making his debut for the team on April 29.

The man from Santiago entered with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter and his team lost by five (13-18) against

the best team of the entire

NBA

regular season

.

Reaching the last seconds of the first period, Deck scored his first points: a good triple, despite being tightened by the shot clock, after taking advantage of his marker taking advantage of the transfer in hand and subsequent curtain of his teammate

Tony Bradley

.

At the start of the second period, Gabriel showed off his

good long distance shot

.

Faking to penetrate, he saw the gap left by Georges Niang and took the double length.

As if he were displaying products on the counter, he later brought up what is probably his weapon of choice:

back-to-back posting on the low post.

Deck

masters his footwork and knows how to use his body

to make his way to the basket and turn either way and either take a jump shot away or a layup down the court.

This is how he showed himself in the first half: versatile for the attack.

Gabriel Deck vs Utah Jazz

The santiagueño beat his record of points

And the repertoire would continue to increase in a final quarter in which coach

Mark Daigneault

gave him enough minutes considering that the lawsuit was already defined in favor of one of the candidates for the title (the Jazz for the beginning of the final period were winning by approximately 30 points).

There Deck began taking fouls with

penetrations, brakes, jump shots, twists to and fro, 

and intelligence for shooting selection, something that distinguishes him among rookies.

Of course, unlike most of his teammates, he has been professional for no less than a decade and played the last three years at the highest non-NBA world level.

And you can see it.

At this rate, Deck

is on his way to earning the remainder of his contract

, which is currently unsecured (meaning Oklahoma can exercise the option to default and release him without paying him the three-year potential bond).

In a team full of youngsters looking for their chance and in which, with the exception of point guard

 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

, there is no one who stands out as a potential star at the moment, the door is wide open for Deck.

Although of course, everything will depend not only on what he does but also on what the team wants.

Another Argentine like Nicolás Brussino had had

good performances in Dallas

and was surprised that he ended up landing in Atlanta and, ultimately, leaving the best league in the world.

With a little more luck, Deck will be able to stay in the league. Merits, meanwhile,

is doing enough.