Tar Heels in NBA: Nassir Little explodes for 30 points against Bucks

Nassir Little was among a handful of former Tar Heels in NBA games on Monday night, and he made the most of his opportunity against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It goes without being said that Nassir Little has gone through his fair share of growing pains since joining the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer of 2019.

Unable to secure a starting position or many minutes off the bench in his rookie season — he got just five starts and logged less than 12 minutes per game — Little averaged 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds over 48 appearances. And in eight games this season, Little had scored just 15 total points in 72 minutes on the court.

That all changed on Monday night when the second-year wing out of North Carolina scored a game-high 30 points on an outstanding 11-for-18 shooting performance. For comparison’s sake, he doubled his season output in scoring in just one game, and hit nearly three times as many shots as he did over the past month. He also connected on 5-of-7 shots from three-point range, knocked down all three of his free throw attempts and pulled down a season-high six rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

Sure, his team lost to the second-place Milwaukee Bucks by a final score of 134-106, but Little shined brightly, and displayed some untapped potential that neither the Blazers nor anyone else had seen to this point. It was just his second start of the season, but after a performance like that, the Blazers may think twice about leaving him on the bench moving forward.

We obviously don’t expect this kind of showing from Little every time he steps onto the court, but it’s difficult to not be optimistic after seeing him light up one of the league’s best teams for a 30-spot.

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