Dyson Daniels lived up to his billing as the "Great Barrier Thief'' as he and masked warrior Jock Landale helped the Atlanta Hawks extend their winning start to the NBA season.
Daniels had seven steals - one short of his career-high eight - in his first 18 minutes on court before sitting out most of the final period in the Hawks' record-breaking 128-81 thrashing of their host Charlotte Hornets on Friday (Saturday AEDT).
The Bendigo product now has the most steals by any player this century over the first two games of a season (12).
"In this game they were just giving it to me, I'm not going to lie. They were throwing it in my hands," Daniels said post-game.
Jalen Johnson and Aaron Wiggins (19 points each) top-scored as Atlanta, who were beaten by eventual champions New York in last year’s playoffs, improved their record to 2-0 ahead of their home opener against the Houston Rockets.
The 47-point victory topped the Hawks' previous franchise record margin of 46, set in a 126-80 win over Sacramento in November 2017.
Daniels was just shy of a double-double with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one block, while Boomers teammate Landale appeared untroubled by a nasal fracture caused by a knock under his eye in the Hawks' season-opening win at Orlando.
Wearing a protective mask in Charlotte, Landale, who is playing for his career on a one-year deal this season, had eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Naz Reid top-scored with 17 points for Charlotte, who came crashing back to earth after their season-opening win at Brooklyn and were booed off the court at half-time.
Also on Friday, Josh Giddey was the chief facilitator with nine assists to go with six points and four rebounds as the Chicago Bulls won a 132-125 thriller over Milwaukee.
Norman Powell had 25 points and rookie Caleb Wilson added 21 for the Bulls, who rebounded from their season-opening loss at Toronto.
Tyler Herro, a Milwaukee-area native who was one of four players shipped to the Bucks in a blockbuster off-season trade that sent franchise cornerstone Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, had 34 points.
The game was played four hours earlier than originally scheduled because of the Milwaukee Brewers hosting game one of baseball's World Series on Friday night.
Australia's Matisse Thybulle had 13 points, two assists and two steals in the Lakers' 125-117 win over the Clippers in Los Angeles, while Josh Green did not feature in Utah's tense 120-119 win over New Orleans.
Elsewhere, reigning champions New York suffered a second successive defeat in a 107-103 loss to a Boston side led by Jayson Tatum's 36 points.
Dallas overcame the loss of Cooper Flagg to a shoulder injury, beating Indiana 121-105 behind 24 points from Kyrie Irving.
