The Phoenix Suns outscored the Indiana Pacers by 52 points when center Oso Ighodaro was on the court at Mortgage Matchup Center on Thursday night.
Ighodaro, who played 26 minutes off the bench, became the first Suns player to cross the 50-point threshold for a single-game plus/minus since the stat has been tracked, which goes back to 1996-97.
Amar’e Stoudemire held the previous record at a plus-49 in February 2009 against the Sacramento Kings, a game the Suns won 129-81.
In terms of league history, Ighodaro tied for third on the leaderboard with Memphis’ Santi Aldama (2021-22) and Minnesota’s Joe Smith (2001-02).
The only two players ahead are Gary Trent Jr. with a plus-54 for the 2020-21 Raptors and Luc Mbah a Moute with a plus-57 for the Rockets on November 22, 2017. Mbah a Moute played 26 minutes off the bench like Ighodaro and scored 13 points with four rebounds and four steals in a 125-95 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Ighodaro scored 17 points with seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals in a 133-98 win over the depleted Pacers.
According to EPSN analytics, he recorded a plus-11 defensive net rating, which was the best of the year, as the Suns allowed 35 points on 53 defensive possessions with him in the game.
He made the most of his opportunity as he competes for minutes after struggling earlier this season. Center Mark Williams was out (injury management) on Thursday, while the Suns have three backup centers in Nick Richards, Khaman Maluach and Ighodaro to split playing time.
“Just felt like I was going after winning. Feel like that’s been my focus the last 4-5 games,” he told reporters postgame. “Not worrying about stats, not worrying about anything like that. Just trying to impact the game in a positive way.”
What about the worst plus/minus?
For those curious about the dubious flip side, two players are tied atop (or on the bottom) of the board with minus-58 marks: Portland’s Scoot Henderson in March 2024 and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (who was on the court for Indiana on Thursday) for the Pelicans this past April.
For the Suns, the distinction belongs to T.J. Warren with a minus-48, predicably during the 2017-18 season.