TULSA, OK – Christian Wood likes to go around telling whoever he can that Dallas Mavericks rookie guard Jaden Hardy was one of the steals of the 2022 NBA Draft.
In his first game Wednesday night at the BOK Center – albeit it was a preseason game – against bonafide NBA talent, Hardy proved Wood’s words to be prophetic.
Scoring virtually at will and taking over the game in the clutch, Hardy scored 16 of the Mavs’ final 22 points and led them to a 98-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hardy finished with a game-high 21 points, and was 8-of-16 from the field, 4-of-9 from three-point range in just 24 minutes and was clearly arguably the best player on the court.