BBNBA: Davis Wants Out of NOLA, Three Cats Top 20 Points

ZGeogheganKSR

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(Photo via Jonathan Bachman/NBAE/Getty Images)[/caption] Good morning, folks. Well, it finally happened. Anthony Davis has requested a trade out of New Orleans. Let's talk NBA.

RECAP

To briefly recap the massive news that broke earlier Monday morning, Anthony Davis has requested to be traded away from the New Orleans Pelicans organization. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone, especially if you've been listening to Davis reiterate over and over again throughout the previous year that he values winning over money more than anything. And if you've been following the Pelicans this season, you'd know that they are doing the exact opposite of competing for a title. I'll dive more into possible trade destinations later, but as Drew noted, Boston and Los Angeles are the obvious favorites. Now to the games from Sunday night.

[25-25] Kings - 108 @ [28-22] Clippers - 122

The Los Angeles Clippers never once trailed in this game and are now 3-0 this season against the Kings. Sacramento was down by double-digits for the majority of the game, although they were able to cut the lead down to five on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter. But both times the Clippers bumped the score back to a comfortable lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 17 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals for the Clips.
For the Kings, De'Aaron Fox went for 21 points on 8-16 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists while Willie Cauley-Stein brought in nine points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. With the loss, Sacramento falls back to .500 and three games out of the final playoff spot, trailing - of course - the Clippers, who sit comfortably in the eighth slot.

[35-13] Bucks - 112 @ [31-18] Thunder - 118

Eric Bledsoe hit a big three with just over a minute left to bring his Milwaukee Bucks squad within three points, but their defense couldn't hold up on the other end, as they fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bledsoe - who I believe deserves to make an All-Star team this season - went for 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 31 minutes.
The Thunder were led by a 36-point performance courtesy of Paul George and Russell Westbrook's 16th triple-double of the season. Nerlens Noel played some unexpected minutes with the starters after starting center Steven Adams went down with a turned ankle in the first quarter (he would return in the second). Noel played 17 minutes and played them perfectly, scoring six points while pulling down six rebounds and blocking two shots. Patrick Patterson went scoreless in 14 minutes while Hamidou Diallo was a DNP-Coaches Decision for the third straight game.

Other notes

Karl-Anthony Towns led the BBNBA in scoring on Sunday night with 22 points on 6-10 shooting in addition to six rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks, but was held to only two made field goals in the second half as the Utah Jazz were able to pull away late and beat the Timberwolves by a score of 111-125.

In Los Angeles, the LeBron James-less Lakers demolished Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns. Booker scored 21 points, dished out six assists, and even got into a bit of a scuffle with Lakers center Ivica Zubac (over what? Not sure. I can never tell with Booker sometimes). The Lakers led for the majority of the game despite several late comeback efforts by the Suns. Rajon Rondo played in a season-high 42 minutes for L.A. - which is wayyyy too many coming off an injury, in my opinion, but I'm also the furthest thing from a doctor - and posted eight points, four rebounds, and 11 assists.

Check out the rest of the stats below.

STATISTICS

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TONIGHT IN THE NBA

7:00: Knicks (Kanter, Knox) @ Hornets (Kidd-Gilchrist, Monk) 7:00 (NBATV): Warriors (Cousins) @ Pacers 7:30: Nets @ Celtics 8:00: Nuggets (Lyles, Murray-out, Vanderbilt) @ Grizzlies 10:30 (NBATV): Hawks (Poythress-out) @ Clippers (Gilgeous-Alexander)

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