Victor Oladipo entered Saturday's game against the Miami Heat as the NBA's third most-frequently blocked player, as opponents had rejected 1.7 of his shot attempts per game. The Orlando Magic guard has not let the frequency with which foes have swatted him deter his drives to the basket, and in Saturday's loss to the Heat, he had three impressive finishes in traffic off the dribble.
The video embedded in this post shows Oladipo's three layups on the night, and on each he uses impressive touch and body control to score despite defensive pressure. Chris Andersen, the Heat center defending the rim on each of these successful forays to it, ranks among the league's top shot-blockers: among players who've logged at least 1000 minutes over the last two-plus seasons, only five have blocked a higher percentage of opponents' shots than the so-called Birdman. Oladipo gets the best of him here. The Magic have to hope his ability to finish inside will continue to improve as the season wears on.
Oladipo, making just the second start of his career, shot 4-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the foul line for 17 points against the defending champions in arguably his finest game as a pro. He also added seven rebounds, four assists, and just one turnover after committing 17 miscues in his last two games combined.