Now look, I'm no stranger to carefully crafting an ambitious parlay with the hopes of hitting it big. And because that's the case, you won't find me critiquing anyone else's choices on that front. However, that won't stop me from looking at a winning FanDuel ticket and wondering, “how on earth did they come up with that?”

That's exactly what happened last night, when a bettor shared their improbable 155-to-1 win on social media after the late night west coast games had come to an end. All courtesy of D'Angelo Russell and Dalano Banton.

 

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Taking a flier on D'Angelo Russell makes sense. The Los Angeles Lakers were without LeBron James on Friday night, and the Bucks defense is certainly susceptible to score-first point guards. Over the last 25 games, Russell has averaged 22.8 points per game. And last night, he was the leading scorer (44 points) in a game that featured Giannis Antetokounmpo (34 points), Damian Lillard (28 points), and Anthony Davis (22 points). It's this extended stretch of play that likely kept Russell in Los Angeles through the NBA Trade Deadline back in February. It took a while, but Russell is finally resembling the kind of player most expected him to be when he came out of Ohio State in 2015.

The Dalano Banton choice was far bolder. Sure, Banton had scored in double-figures in seven of the previous ten games, averaging 11.3 points per game in that stretch. And yes, the Blazers active roster is stripped down to the bare bones and in desperate need of a scoring punch. But Banton's previous career high was 27 points, and until last night, that was the only game in his pro or college career in which he scored 20 or more points. But against the Rockets, Banton had a green light, and he took it. Banton was 10-for-27 from the field, 4-for-10 from three-point range, and 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the Blazers 123-107 loss to the Houston Rockets.