Matur Maker leads adidas Nations 2017 scoring, closing in on championship

Thon Maker's been the centre of attention for a while, but his brother, Matur Maker isn't doing too badly either, when it comes to basketball. The younger Maker is leading the adidas Nations 2017 in scoring, with the team being one win away from the championship title.

“Playing with (Thon) has been tough, because I was always the guy doing the dirty work,” Matur said last year to USA Today.

“Now, I’m just Matur. I’m working on being a better leader. As you can see on the court, I’m the best leader at this camp. I want to be a great teammate. I want to become a better ball-handler and my shooting is developing.”

The younger Maker is definitely making strides, and it showed in the adidas Nations 2017 tournament. Playing as a member of Team Asia Pacific along with cousin Makur Maker, Matur Maker had his highest scoring game against Team Africa, recording 32 points on 8 of 14 field goals (0/2 3P), and 16 of 20 free throws in Team Asia Pacific's 85-75 victory (stats).

The 19 year old power forward followed that performance up with a 28-point, 11 rebound outing against Team Latin America (stats).

According to the adidas Nations 2017 website, the 6'10 Maker currently leads the pack at 25.0 points per game, despite his cold shooting from the three-point line (4 of 17 3P across five games played).

He also matched up excellently against top prospect Zion Williamson, as SLAM Online observed.

https://twitter.com/SLAMonline_HS/status/894004230717145088

Williamson, who had 20 points and 8 rebounds on 5 of 11 shooting, led Team USA Red 2018 to a 91-81 against Maker's Team Asia Pacific.

Maker's Team Asia Pacific will have a shot at clinching the adidas Nations title tomorrow, when they play Zion Williamson's USA Red 2018 again tomorrow morning - 8 August 2017, 7am in Australian Eastern time.

Watch out for Matur Maker, as he looks to avenge himself against the earlier loss, and prove himself on a road that might eventually lead to the NBA.