Dylan Harper’s mean streak is giving Wembanyama a running mate opponents can’t ignore

Victor Wembanyama is going to get plenty of praise after what he just did to the Suns, and deservedly so. He continues to put up ridiculous stat lines in an absurdly short amount of floor time. But Dylan Harper also hit a rare and special benchmark shared by two of the greatest guards to ever touch a basketball. He did it with another efficient night of hoops laced with his signature confident attitude.

The young Slash Bros crack me up. Harper and Stephon Castle have a habit of lashing out or staring down opponents after posters and tough finishes in the paint as if the defender wronged them. Steph will mean mug you into oblivion, and Harp will let loose an array of expletives too intense to put in writing.

That competitive fire was on display for Dylan in Phoenix, mostly in the third quarter. I'm not sure the Suns necessarily did anything to deserve it, but that doesn't matter to the sophomore firecracker. And Spurs Nation is okay with that.

Defenses are in trouble once Harper gets fired up

Dylan just put himself in Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson's company. It's incredible. He's the shortest of the three in height, yet he's on the list because of his ability as a finisher above all else. The former Rutgers star had the highest percentage in the restricted area in the league before the game in Phoenix.

He continues to hammer away at the interior of his opponents' defense with crazy success because he's a dog. Harper has a pitbull buried deep in his soul that breaks out with or without provocation.

Maybe you crashed into him like Jonathan Kuminga did in the Timberwolves game, maybe you talked trash, or maybe he just didn't like how he was playing up to that point. Any way you slice it, the other team pays the price.

Harper finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, five rebounds, and four assists, He went 7-8 from inside the arc, and a perfect 5-5 in the paint. Fourteen of his 17 came in the third quarter, propelling the Spurs to a 25-point lead before the fourth quarter began.

Harper's edge gives the Spurs something opponents can't match

Attitude without the package to back it up is just Dillon Brooks. Some guys like to get physical and/or talk trash to get in your head and throw you off your game because they can't just give you buckets. Other players will talk trash, and give you all the work you can handle. But when you have the microwave scoring ability to go with that, it makes you unbelievably dangerous.

There's nothing worse than a man giving you bucket after bucket and letting you hear about it as you struggle to do anything to stop it. That's the kind of display that really gets in your head, sometimes prompting feelings of hopelessness.

The Suns had to feel pretty hopeless on Monday night. Devin Booker gave them 32 points and it was barely a drop in the bucket. Wemby was too great. Harper was too great. The Spurs were too great. San Antonio has an entire crew of canines and they just ate Phoenix's face off. Someone call a plastic surgeon.

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