Peyton Watson shatters career record with 32-point game in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS Mom s photos will have to suffice as keepsakes from a career night Instead of the battle ball Peyton Watson was rewarded for his points with family time and New Orleans cuisine The ball was snatched by a referee before Watson had a chance to take it with him No souvenirs then He wasn t too worried about it I ll inevitably have the memories he commented in the visiting locker room The pictures my mom took tonight My family being here in attendance that means the world to me and that s all I need The Watsons were in New Orleans all the way from Los Angeles as Peyton started his third consecutive battle Wednesday He s filling in for the injured Christian Braun in Denver s starting lineup likely through Christmas or longer It s a substantial opportunity in a contract year But Watson knows his defense was the reason his shoulder was tapped He didn t arrive in New Orleans expecting a night like this A night so instantly sentimental so rewarding He didn t expect points or rebounds or -for- shooting All career-highs I knew there was gonna be a need for me to kind of increase my offensive load a little bit he explained I didn t have any idea that I was gonna have With Braun and Aaron Gordon both out of the lineup Watson offered up a thrilling reminder of the offensive talent that has materialized in fleeting glimpses since when the Nuggets drafted him th overall In his first three NBA seasons he recorded two -point games He didn t make it to either time His highlights usually involve a shot attempt by an opponent destined for rejection Offense hasn t come as naturally to him He s still young Still streaky Still figuring out his ideal spots on the floor In New Orleans the slow progress was palpable He devoured his corner -point opportunities when the Pelicans helped off of him in a -for- showing He slashed with the ball and cut without it He reached by identifying a cozy bit of space in the lane to halt one of his cuts calmly sinking a -foot jumper He punctuated his scoring output by slipping to the basket and hammering a dunk out of Denver s split meeting courtesy of a behind-the-back pass from Nikola Jokic It was chameleonic enough to pass as Braun or Gordon Especially in the splits Jokic stated he revealed himself open Tonight was Peyton s night coach David Adelman noted He did a great job He scored behind the defense with dunks and in transition He was very efficient from three finding the open spots by being spaced properly which you perpetually get rewarded if you do that The Pelicans invited Watson to shoot He doesn t have enough of a reputation yet to demand respect even in the corners where he shot on attempts last season Once he settled in there he heated up in New Orleans His early above-the-break attempts fed into the defense s hands I went to him Bruce Brown stated I was like Look they re gonna give you attempts I know you re gonna hit four or five of them So keep shooting That s what he did Watson also received words of encouragement from assistant coach Mike Moser and from Gordon who was watching the meeting in street clothes from the end of Denver s bench After missing four consecutive field goal attempts to finish the first quarter the young wing shot of in the last three One of the majority of jarring and exciting sensations Brown has experienced this season after two years away from Denver has been the whiplash of seeing his young teammates in a new light Braun and Watson were unproven rookies the first time Brown was a Nugget Watson was splitting his time between Denver and the G League in Grand Rapids Now Braun is an everyday starter and Watson is his injury replacement Very different Brown declared More aggressive a lot smarter You can tell he s been in the league for multiple years This should be a big year for him Related Articles Without Aaron Gordon Nuggets escape New Orleans with win in Zion Williamson s return Time Grind men s basketball league showcases high-level ballers while giving back to the next generation Keeler How did Nuggets Cam Johnson find his groove Thank this move Bulls snap Denver s -game win streak hand Nuggets first home loss of season Peyton Watson to start while Christian Braun is out with ankle injury for Nuggets It s already been a solid start defensively With restricted free agency on the horizon next summer these six weeks could be a critical proving ground for Watson on the other side of the ball But when urged about his approach to the starting job on Wednesday he tried to keep the situation in perspective I think just doing anything necessary to get a win Sometimes it s scoring Several nights it s on the defensive end I feel like my defense should have been better tonight Watson commented I feel like there were specific things I definitely could have done better and brought more intensity So I m looking to get better at those things for the next championship But I feel like authentically every night has to be a defensive night for me just because of what I bring to this company and the resource needed on that end Then he was off to dinner with his parents with dad who drove him across Los Angeles once so that he could play in a pickup match that Kevin Durant had invited him to attend and with mom who traveled across the country to capture the glee on his face that a box amount or battle ball could not