The Wolves thrashed the Thunder in the third game of the Western Conference Finals (143-101), in a game where there was a historic circumstance that went unnoticed at first by everyone, surely even by its unknown protagonist, but shortly after the game the prestigious American website StatMuse, which specializes in statistics, revealed it.
The player in question is Luka Garza, a 6-foot-8, 26-year-old Timberwolves power forward, who came out with the game already decided and contributed to his team’s thrashing of the Thunder with seven points (2/2 t2 and 1/1 t3) in the five minutes he was on the court. That is nothing abnormal if it were not for the fact that this American with a Bosnian passport, with that record, became the player with the best average points per minute in the history of the NBA playoffs, surpassing two stars such as Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic.
One point per minute in 11 playoff games
Garza, who played his first NBA season with the Pistons (2021-22) before being traded to the Wolves, played seven playoff games last season scoring 29 points in 26 minutes. This season he has played in four games, scoring nine points in 12 minutes, for a total of 38 points in 36 minutes, one point per minute.
He surpasses the legendary Michael Jordan, albeit with a tiny number of games, in terms of points per minute. Jordan played 179 playoff games, scoring 5,987 points in 7,474 minutes, an average of 0.8 points per minute. Of course, ‘Air’s averages in those title series games were outrageous: 33.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in 41.8 minutes.
He also surpasses Doncic’s record
Luka Doncic also has a better average of points per minute in the playoffs than the second so far, Luka Doncic, still active. The Slovenian, in his 55 championship series games he has played between Mavericks and Lakers, averages 0.79 points per minute (1,697 points in 2,156 minutes). With also sidereal averages: 30.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks in 39.2 minutes.
Garza played four seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes, averaging 18.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. He was named Sporting NewsCollege Player of the Year, the first player to repeat the award two years in a row since Michael Jordan in 1983 and 1984.
He averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in his senior season, becoming the first player in Hawkeyes history to repeat as Conference Player of the Year and All-American. He was then selected with the 52nd pick in the 2021 draft by the Pistons, who waived him in June 2022. After trying out with the Blazers in the Summer League, he was signed by the Wolves, where he is in his third season averaging 3.5 points (49.5% tc), 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 39 games playing 5.6 minutes per game.
Basketball in the genes
Although he was born in Washington and is therefore American, his mother is Bosnian and he obtained the nationality of that country in 2021, making his debut with the national team in 2023 in the Olympic pre-qualifier. Basketball runs in the veins of this player, as his father Frank played at the University of Idaho, and his mother, Šejla (nee Muftic), played professionally in Europe. In addition, his paternal grandfather, James Halm, played college basketball with Hawaii. And his maternal uncle, Teoman Alibegovic, was the all-time leading scorer for the Slovenian national basketball team.
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