Just a Month Ago Dan Le Batard Declared TJ Warren Couldn't Score 45 On Any Night

TJ Warren scored a career-high 53 points on Saturday in the Indiana Pacers first game since March 10th. Warren was ridiculous, making 9 of 12 three pointers and 20 of 29 field goals overall. It was such an incredible performance that it caught a lot of people by surprise. Including Dan Le Batard who - a month ago today - very loudly proclaimed on his radio show that "TJ Warren can't give you 45 on any given night."

People are rightfully giving Le Batard guff for this very fresh freezing cold take, but he's probably not the only one surprised to see Warren go off in the bubble. That's not to say Warren wasn't capable of this, but he was stuck in Phoenix for the first five seasons of his career and despite the fact that he averaged 19.6 points and 18 points a game in his last two years there, he was traded for nothing so Phoenix could have cap space.

Through 62 games this season, he's scoring just under 20 a game and shooting 39.8 from three. That's the profile of somebody who can get you 45 on any given night. It's understandable if you think he was putting up hollow stats in Phoenix and then ignored it while he kept doing it for a playoff team in a flyover state.