While waiting for a victory, Paolo Banchero inscribes his name alongside the greatest!

Averaged 24 points and 7.6 rebounds. These are not the statistics of an All-Star but those of Paolo Banchero for a week and the start of the regular season. The number 1 in the Draft is taking remarkable first steps since after five matches, the former Duke winger has still reached the 20-point mark.

He only needs one thing to validate his good performances: a victory. The season has started for almost ten days and Orlando remains the only team in the Eastern Conference not to have unlocked its counter.

“I just play hard, I play to win”explains Banchero on the official franchise website. “I’m not surprised, that’s what I expect of me playing at this level. There are many things I can improve. I am not satisfied. I’m playing well, but it’s not translating into wins, so I can’t dwell on individual performances just yet. »

Facing the Cavaliers, the rookie flirted with 30 points, scoring 29 units at 10/19 in the shoot. A new record in his short career. “He was good at going to the circle, trying to attack the basket while the Cavs were good at getting physical with him”commented Jamahl Mosley.

“Big O”, Wilkins, Hill…

With this fifth straight game at 20 or more points to start his first season, the first pick of the 2022 Draft is already making league history. In effect, only five players before him got their careers off to a good start. And not least: Oscar Robertson, Dominique Wilkins and Grant Hill have played 6 games in a row at 20 points or more. Elvin Hayes did better, reaching the 10-match mark.

But all are far from the immense and untouchable Wilt Chamberlain, who had made a sensational debut in the NBA. On February 2, 1960, “The Stilt” was stuck at 5 points against the Knicks. We were then in the 57th game of the season, and the pivot had therefore chained 56 to 20 points or more! And this missed match was his only one with less than 20 units in the entire 1959/1960 financial year…