BBNBA: AD Back in Pelicans Lineup, Randle Scores 21

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(Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Good morning, folks. We took a day off on Saturday to focus on the current Cats, but Anthony Davis is back in the Pelicans lineup and things are as normal as ever. Let’s talk NBA.

RECAP

[25-32] Pelicans – 90 @ [23-34] Grizzlies – 99

Anthony Davis played his second consecutive game for the New Orleans Pelicans following his trade request and things are definitely not weird at all. After dropping 32 points on Friday night in a win at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Davis was greeted with boos and left to a chorus of cheers (still weird), he scored only 14 points against the Grizzlies. The plan is for Davis to play limited minutes, but after not playing at all in the fourth quarter of the game against Minny, Davis clocked nearly 34 minutes and played over half of the final period in Memphis. This whole thing is just bizarre, honestly.
Julius Randle led the BBNBA in scoring with 21 points on 7-13 shooting to go along with his six rebounds. It was Randle’s third game back after missing six in a row with an ankle injury. Darius Miller shot 2-8 from three for a total of eight points. Miller has now started the previous seven games for the Pellies.

[24-32] Magic – 103 @ [41-14] Bucks – 83

The lopsided victory for the Orlando Magic can best be described with three words: no Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks’ All-Star sat out with knee soreness, leaving Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe to pick up the slack. Bledsoe posted (another) impressive line of 19 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Since the new year began, Bledsoe is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting over 48 percent from the field. He’s playing the best basketball of his career right now and it isn’t close.
For Orlando, Isaiah Briscoe shined once again, registering nine points on 4-5 shooting in addition to three rebounds and seven assists in 24 minutes. Briscoe is good. Like, has a chance to be a longtime NBA veteran good. I’m worried that the Magic recently trading for the 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz might steal some well-earned minutes away from Briscoe, however, Fultz is still recovering from his nagging shoulder issue. But whenever Fultz does come back you better believe that Orlando is going to dump a ton of minutes in his direction and odds are it’ll come at the expense of Briscoe. Which means every passing game is vitally more important than it should be for Zay and so far he’s been up to the task. The quicker he can establish himself and create an identity in the NBA, the quicker he can command minutes out of necessity rather than luxury.

Other notes

Brandon Knight made his Cleveland Cavaliers debut on Saturday, and it went smoother than any game he ever played in a Houston Rockets uniform. Knight went 3-3 from three for nine points and two assists in 11 minutes. It was Knight’s first in-game minutes since Jan. 11 when he dropped 12 points against, ironically, the Cavaliers.
The Los Angeles Clippers were trailing the Boston Celtics by 28 points in the second quarter and were behind 74-53 at halftime. The Clippers won this game by 11 points and the Celtics were booed off their own home court. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists for the Clips. The Celtics continue to claim the title of the most enigmatic team in the NBA. No one knows how good or bad they are. Not even the team does. They blew an 18-point lead against the Lakers on Thursday, as well.
And finally, in New York, where the Knicks lost to the new-look Toronto Raptors, who rolled out the recently acquired Marc Gasol off the bench. Gasol played only 18 minutes in his Raptors debut, scoring seven points and pulling in six rebounds in a win. Kevin Knox dropped 20 points for the Knicks, including four rebounds on 7-21 shooting from the field.