T.J. McConnell's triple-double: Just how crazy was it?

Tom Gatto

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T.J. McConnell's triple-double: Just how crazy was it? image

The perfect shooting was an oddity. The dimes were more than what you would expect from a backup point guard. But the steals, the steals were what made T.J. McConnell's triple-double Wednesday night shocking.

McConnell had nine steals in the first half and 10 for the game, to go with 16 points (8 for 8 from the floor) and 13 assists in the Pacers' 114-111 win over the Cavaliers.

To show just how eye-popping this feat was, here are some historical notes:

  • The first-half steals set an NBA record. McConnell missed tying the record for steals in a game (11) by one.
  • The points-assists-steals combo was the 11th since the NBA made steals an official stat in 1973, and the first for a player off the bench.
  • The last player with such a triple-double was the Hawks' Mookie Blaylock in April 1998.

"I was just playing with our defensive principles and trying to help run the team, I wasn’t going out of my way to make steals," McConnell said, per The Associated Press.

MORE: Five things you didn't know about Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game

McConnell came into Wednesday averaging 1.7 steals per game in 24.8 minutes.

"You’re always going to get the effort from him at both ends. He’s got that look in his eye every night," Pacers coach Nick Bjorkgren said, per the AP.

 

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.