There are always big surprises in sports. That’s one of the things that makes watching live sports so fun. Wednesday night (April 3), I kept up my nightly tradition of watching the Detroit Pistons whenever I’m free during their games, hoping they could pull off a win against the Atlanta Hawks. I knew it would be tough, with lots of Pistons players banged up, including star player Cade Cunningham. But, what I didn’t expect was to witness history in the form of Pistons’ Malachi Flynn making some incredible moves.

Detroit Pistons’ Malachi Flynn Stuns, Scoring 50 Points Off the Bench

The Detroit Pistons are having a difficult season, to put it lightly. Their record is currently 13-63. They’re even trying to avoid hitting a franchise record for the fewest wins in a season, although it’s looking more and more likely that they will reach that benchmark.

That said, I truly believe in this team. I believe in people like head coach Monty Williams, point guard Cade Cunningham and center Jalen Duren.

Now, I can add one more name to that list: Pistons guard Malachi Flynn.

Flynn stunned fans on Wednesday by scoring a whopping 50 points off the bench during the Pistons’ 121–113 loss to the Hawks. In the process, he made NBA history. Only two other NBA players have scored 50 points off the bench, those being Nick Anderson with the Magic in 1993 and Jamal Crawford with the Suns in 2019. What’s more, for the 2023-24 season, Flynn is the only player who wasn’t in the starting lineup to have a 50-piece.

Flynn, 25, made 18 of his 25 field-goal attempts, five of his nine 3-point attempts and nine of 12 free-throw attempts. It was inspiring and a bit magical to watch. He also played 34 minutes off the bench, which is the most he’s played during this season. His previous career-high was 27 points, which he notched during his time with the Toronto Raptors on May 16, 2021. So, this was quite a leap.

“I almost did it in high school,” Flynn said after the game regarding the 50-point milestone. “I had 49 and my coach took me out. I still have a grudge.”

Flynn is new to the Pistons. Detroit brought him on the team Feb. 8 in a trade deal with the New York Knicks. It was actually his second time being traded this season, as the Raptors traded him to New York on Dec. 30. The Raptors initially picked Flynn as the 29th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Now, Detroit is looking golden for having worked out this deal to pick Malachi Flynn up. He’s getting accolades from across the NBA world, including posts on X (formerly Twitter) from the NBA giving Flynn props for his gigantic night.

Flynn is the only Pistons player this season to score 50 points. Next to him is star player Cunningham with 43 points earlier this season.

The Pistons have something special going on. Each game they lose, they tend to come close, and in most cases, they could have squeaked out a win with a few different moves. I’m excited to see where Williams takes this team in the 2024-25 season. For goodness sake, keep Malachi Flynn on the squad for good.