BBNBA: Booker, Herro & Maxey go off in important victories

Saturday may have been dominated by college football, but the NBA slate was quietly packed yesterday. Big performances from some former Kentucky shooting guards headline today’s recap.

Herro has 22 off the bench in blowout win over Grizzlies

Tyler Herro’s resurgence. Let’s talk about it. The third-year wing scored an easy 22 to aid in a Heat blowout of Ja Morant’s Grizzlies. But that’s an average night for The Bucket these days.

In six games this season, all off the bench, Herro is second on the team, averaging 22 points a game, along with 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 39.5% three-point shooting. Plus, he’s leading the team in shots per game at 17.8. Will these stats sustain? Who knows, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a fluke.

And if he maintains his offensive production and continues to come off the bench, the Sixth Man of the Year award may as well be his. Check out just one of his magnificent plays from Saturday evening.

Seriously this entire possession should be on loop in a museum. #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/rnXEiT1QsL
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 31, 2021

Groundhog Day for Tyrese Maxey

On Friday’s NBA recap, I applauded Tyrese Maxey for his 16 points on stellar 6-8 shooting. Unbelievably, he did it again, scoring 16 points on 6-8 shooting in last night’s rout of the Atlanta Hawks. As my grandfather would say: well I’ll be hogwashed.

In seriousness, that’s a terrific pair of games from Mr. Maxey. I said it the other day, but if you can score twice as many points as shots taken, that’ll get the job done.

And Maxey’s second-year numbers are looking pretty solid in lieu of Ben Simmons. He’s up to 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Exciting stuff for the second-year guard.

Suns get back on track against Cavs as Booker drops 27

The Suns that slew LeBron’s Lakers and stampeded to the NBA Finals have been nowhere to be found as Phoenix started 1-3 this season with losses to the Nuggets, Blazers and Kings.

Yesterday they got back on track by defeating a Cavaliers team that’s off to a hotter start than most expected. Behind 27 points and nine assists from Devin Booker, Phoenix protected their home court to earn their second win of the season.

A win over Cleveland is a start, but Booker and the Suns are still off to a slow start through five games.

Other BBNBA Notes

The Timberwolves defense has my attention. Minnesota is currently fourth in the NBA in defensive rating and sixth in points allowed per game. dismantling Giannis down the stretch of their win over the Bucks earlier in the week. And their defensive effort is led by their two stars. Karl-Anthony Towns is anchoring things in the paint while Anthony Edwards brings the physicality on the wing.

The New York Knicks have the best record in the NBA. Technically, they’re tied for first in the standings with Golden State, Washington and Chicago. Nonetheless, it’s looking like last year was not a one-year wonder for Julius Randle and those scrappy Knickerbockers. And with the additions of Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, NYK could be in to contend late into the year.

Mychal Mulder makes his first shot in Orlando. For Drew Franklin and the other remaining Mychal Mulder enthusiasts, he announced his arrival in Orlando last night with a single made three in a loss to Detroit in Cade Cunningham’s debut.