Swaggy P on 4-rebound, 3-assist outing: 'That's a triple-double for me'

It turns out the basketball gods and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott were both correct.

Amid a lengthy shooting slump, Nick Young said he spoke with the holy hoopheads and they collectively determined he needed to keep playing his game, shooting his way through the struggles. Scott, meanwhile, wanted Young to listen to his coach and try to help the team in other ways.

On Monday, Young did a little of both, breaking out of his cold shooting streak and also chipping in elsewhere, more than he's accustomed to. The Lakers lost, but Young scored 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting, the first time he's shot better than .500 in a game since Dec. 12.

For the second game in a row - he scored 23 points Friday thanks to 13 free-throw attempts - Young got to the line to supplement his chucking, this time adding four rebounds and three assists for good measure. Young is strictly a scorer and is among the league's least frequent rebounders and passers (see the storyline below for more), so a night with four rebounds and three assists is a marquee one for Swaggy P.

"That's a triple-double for me," Young said after the game.

Young jokes, but he entered play Monday averaging 14.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and a single assist. Monday marked the first time since Feb. 5 that Young reached four rebounds and three assists in the same game, and it's only the 17th time in his entire career he's done so.

As a frame of reference, 36 players have already accomplished that feat of minor versatility 17 times this season and 38 players are averaging four rebounds and three assists. None of them, however, have done so with this much Swag.