Former LSU Guard Skylar Mays Has Career Night for Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks were down 40 points when the benches were emptied and the reserves were inserted with a little time left in the third quarter. Former LSU guard Skylar Mays was among the late insertions and boy did he make the most of his opportunity.
Mays played the final 17 minutes of the contest and scored a career high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting in a 125-114 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Perhaps even more impressive than the stats, Mays was part of a unit that closed the gap from 40+ points to 11 by game's end.
The former LSU guard capped off the evening with this impressive throw down late in the fourth quarter and also tacked on three assists and a steal.
"As a competitor you always want to be out there doing what you can to help the team," Mays said after the game. "We're playing well but I think my approach is to come in and do my part every day and do what I can when I do get time.
"I'm proud of myself for this one because I've been trying to go to work and stay positive and stay true to my role on this team. I'm happy that I took advantage of it and I hope my parents were watching."
Mays has been plastered to the bench for much of the season and was chomping at the bit for some consistent minutes. With veteran guards on the roster like Rajon Rondo and Trae Young to learn from, Mays is in a good spot.
He talked about a recent conversation he had with forward Solomon Hill about the transition to the NBA level and how he's not the best player on the floor anymore. Mays is happy to watch an All-Star every day in practice and be able to guard a player of Young's caliber, which only helps his growth as a player.
"I think I'm in the same boat as a lot of rookies," Mays said. "Just try to learn from the vets and transition. At LSU I got as many shots as I wanted and now I'm just trying to find my way. Having guys like that bring so much energy and it makes it easy to go out there and play hard when I do get an opportunity."
