The Rockets Hilariously Conspired to Get Kevin Porter Jr. His First Triple Double

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: the long tradition of NBA stat padding, Brian Kelly’s text to Notre Dame players and more.

Does this really even count?

Monday night was an important milestone for Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. For the first time in his three-year NBA career, Porter notched a triple double in Houston’s win over the Thunder. But the box score doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Rockets built a sizable lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and both teams emptied their benches. But Porter, a starter, stayed on the court because he was one rebound shy of his first triple double. When OKC’s Théo Maledon squared up for a three-point attempt, Porter positioned himself right below the rim, ready to haul in that precious 10th rebound. But the ball clanged hard off the back of the rim and ricocheted well over Porter’s head.

Luckily for Porter, his teammates were determined to get him that rebound. Alperen Şengün tipped the ball back toward him and Josh Christopher pleaded frantically with Porter to come retrieve it. Porter snagged the ball and, although the official scorer initially didn’t credit him with the rebound, the crowd gave him a hearty round of applause when the triple double was confirmed.

Games like Porter’s are exactly why the triple double has lost prestige in recent years. In addition to his 11 assists and nine legitimate rebounds, he finished with 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting (1-of-8 from three). That’s 23.5%, not exactly a career performance. But he reached that magic double-digit threshold in the big three counting stats, even though he might look back on that box score years from now and be embarrassed by how he got that last rebound.

Fans and analysts might not be that impressed by the triple double anymore, but the appeal of the achievement to players is undeniable. There’s a long tradition of NBA players going all out to try to get their 10th point, rebound or assist. Who can forget Ricky Davis's attempting a layup on his own basket in 2003? Or Andray Blatche's throwing a mini tantrum when a teammate grabbed a rebound from him in '10? There was also a 1996 game where Anthony Bowie called a timeout with 2.7 seconds left and his team up 20 just to try to get another assist, which led Doug Collins to pull his Pistons off the floor in disgust. A manufactured triple double is lame, but you have to appreciate how creative players can get when they’re chasing stats like that. 

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The best of SI

The Mets made a splash with the Max Scherzer signing, but the big question is what they do next. ... MLB free agency is booming as the impending lockout looms. ... With Michael Porter Jr. out for the season, it might make sense for the Nuggets to aim more for the lottery than the playoffs. 

Around the sports world

Tiger Woods gave his first extensive interview since his February car crash. (He’ll also hold a press conference at his golf tournament in the Bahamas on Tuesday.) ... The struggling Knicks are not only moving starting point guard Kemba Walker to the bench, they’re taking him out of the rotation completely. ... No. 3 Gonzaga barely beat 1–6 Tarleton State, which is in its second year in Division I. 

We were denied a potential MNF miracle finish because the guy to the right of the kicker lined up on the wrong side of the hash marks

Seattle recuperó el onside kick pero fue anulado por un castigo de formación ilegal.🤦🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️#Seahawks | #SEAvsWAS
https://t.co/m1BIR2cfQ4

— Holy Roller NFL (@HolyRollerNFL) November 30, 2021

A 7 a.m. meeting to hear what you already learned on Twitter? No thanks. 

Just now Brian Kelly messaged Notre Dame’s roster in Team Works that “I will be leaving Notre Dame.”

The plan is for Kelly to meet with the team tomorrow at 7 a.m.

Here is the full message pic.twitter.com/sqAl2txZIy

— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 30, 2021

Who knew Jonas Valančiūnas was capable of going off for 39 points?

Washington really needs to hire a plumber

Don’t know how this happens once, let alone twice. pic.twitter.com/vv9MxYmUPq

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) November 30, 2021

You can fire a coach or ditch a conference at the drop of a hat, but when the coach wants to skip town ...

Scherzer will really be raking it in

Max Scherzer also has deferred money on his Nationals contract from 2022 through 2028

If the deal goes through as @JeffPassan says, he will be making $58.3 million annually during his Mets tenure from 2022 through 2024

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) November 29, 2021

He’s never seemed like he’d be interested in returning

In an interesting twist, the Rockies would like to try to bring back Trevor Story

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 29, 2021

Not sports

A group of people were stranded at Great Britain's highest-altitude pub with an Oasis cover band by a big snowstorm. ... A 100,000-year-old mammoth tusk was discovered 10,000 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. 

A guy in England went out for a walk and discovered a Roman mosaic

A good song

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