Jock Landale continues to make the most of his opportunities with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Aussie big man continued an impressive week, finishing with a career-high 18 points in the Spurs 144-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.
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As has been the case in recent games, it wasn't just the scoring that filled the statsheet for Landale, with the rookie adding five rebounds, three assists and a block for good measure.
no dribbles needed👏 this offense is CLICKING ♨️@Dwhite921 ➡️ @JockLandale pic.twitter.com/NJXGNjTRD7
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 27, 2021
Landale has now seen his minutes increase in four straight games, producing 11.5 points in 5.0 rebounds per game in the stretch.
"He defininitely adds a lot of attributes to the game," teammate Keldon Johnson said postgame.
"He's rough and tough and can step out and hit a three so it really opens up lanes to get to the basket."
Perhaps the most impressive part of Landale's emergence has been his efficiency as a scorer, with his opportunites coming as a floor spacer beyond-the-arc, rolling to the basket and getting out in transition. He is 16-for-23 (69.5 percent) from the floor and 5-for-5 from beyond the arc during the run.
Like many teams across the league, San Antonio had multiple players out for the win over Detroit in health and safety protocols, though the players missing weren't from the big man rotation, with the recent opportunities looking likely to continue for the 26-year-old.
Along with praise from Johnson, Spurs point guard Tre Jones recalled watching Landale during the Tokyo Olympics, where he played a critical role on the Bronze medal winning squad.
"Jock's been playing amazing. I watched him in Summer at the Olympics and saw we signed him so I knew what type of player we were getting," Jones said.
"We've been in the gym a lot, we'd be in there playing three-on-three so we kind of got a bit of chemistry, we shoot around before games together. I'm just really happy for him, I'm really happy how he's playing. He's a competitor, he can do a lot of different things, he's versatile, he's always competiting, he's bringing a huge thing for us."
Landale and the Spurs are back at it on Tuesday as they face Joe Ingles and the Utah Jazz. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. (AEDT).
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