BBNBA: Fox leads everyone in Kings, Lakers 3OT thriller
It was a packed night for the NBA last night, with more than a few big time moments coming from former Kentucky stars like De’Aaron Fox. Let’s dive in.
De’Aaron Fox outlasts the Lakers
As everyone expected on Friday night in Los Angeles, the Kings and Lakers went out of their way to bother the fans with a 141-137 exhibition that ended in the third overtime. Fox lead all scorers in the game with 34 points in the win. His shooting woes continued, finishing with a 15-32 mark from the floor (2-7 from three), while playing over 50 minutes. People tend to forget when you play bad if you ultimately come out on top, which De’Aaron did on multiple occasions last night when the Kings looked dead in the water.
Anthony Davis was not his usual self Friday night. He still scored 23 and grabbed eight boards, but shot a disappointing 9-22 from the field with a 0-5 mark from deep. So instead, Fox had to trade buckets with Lebron James and Russell Westbrook down the stretch of the contest. An easy enough task against two men who use MVP trophies as paperweights back home.
Don’t forget the contributions of Malik Monk, who dropped 20 points in 44 minutes off the bench, which in itself sounds hilarious. Monk shot 8-11 from the floor and came with with some clutch baskets down the stretch of regulation to help send this one to overtime.
With all the former ‘Cats going for glory last night in the City of Angels, De’Aaron Fox went into Staples Center (yes it’s still Staples Center right now), and stole the show when the lights were brightest to get Sacramento its eighth win and send the Lakers back down to sub .500 on the year.
Booker and the Suns simply refuse to lose
Another day, another easy win for Phoenix as they took down the Knicks for their 15th straight victory on Friday night. At least the 118-97 win over the now 10-9 Knicks came as somewhat of a surprise. Aside for Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks just looked awful last night at Madison Square Garden. No starter shot over 50% from the field other than Mitchell Robinson who only had four attempts. Julius Randle had another abysmal game, going 3-8 from the field and only managing nine points and six rebounds in the game. Quickley at least had the Garden crowd electrified once again with his 20 minutes of action off the bench. In his limited time, Quickley dropped 16 on 6-9 shooting with a 3-6 mark from deep acting as the lone bright spot for the Knicks tonight.
On the opposite bench, there was a lot to enjoy as the Suns continue their absurd hot streak that has them sitting at 16-3 on the season now. Devin Booker dropped in 32 points on 14-27 from the field and 4-9 from deep. I don’t really know what is going to stop the Suns at this point. Ever since they got to the bubble and went undefeated, they genuinely have not stopped looking like arguably the best team in the NBA. They’re up to their usual shenanigans again this year. Let’s see how far they can take it this time.
Keldon creates art in San Antonio
We’ll let the people over at “@Spurs” handle this one.
Hang it in the Louvre. Grant Williams may have to retire forever after that one. You can get dunked on, sure, but getting rode to the middle of the baseline after said dunk is where it gets out of hand. That slam complemented a successful night for Keldon Johnson and the Spurs, who sit at 5-13 now after defeating the Celtics 96-88 on Friday night. Johnson went on to add 17 points on an efficient 7-12 from the field while grabbing 14 boards in the process. It’s going to be the long game for the Spurs, but it seems like they, for the most part, have the pieces in place to wait.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG (3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TOs | Mins | +/- |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 141-137 3OT W @ LAL | 34 | 15-32 (2-7) | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 53 | 15 |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 118-97 W @ NYK | 32 | 14-27 (4-9) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 15 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 133-115 L @ CHA | 25 | 9-18 (1-3) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 31 | -12 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 141-137 3OT L vs. SAC | 23 | 9-22 (0-5) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | -16 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 141-137 3OT L vs. SAC | 20 | 8-11 (4-7) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 2 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 96-88 W vs. BOS | 17 | 7-12 (1-2) | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 12 |
| P.J. Washington (CHA) | 133-115 W vs. MIN | 17 | 6-12 (5-7) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 9 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 118-97 L vs. PHX | 16 | 6-9 (3-6) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | -4 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 101-99 L vs. WAS | 15 | 7-16 (0-4) | 8 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 34 | -6 |
| Eric Bledsoe (LAC) | 107-96 W vs. DET | 15 | 6-9 (3-4) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 19 |
| Trey Lyles (DET) | 107-96 L @ LAC | 13 | 5-8 (2-3) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | -3 |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 118-97 L vs. PHX | 9 | 3-8 (0-2) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 32 | -7 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 118-97 L vs. PHX | 6 | 2-5 (0-1) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | -11 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 133-115 L @ CHA | 5 | 2-5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 5 |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 107-96 L @ LAC | 4 | 2-9 (0-2) | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 2 |
| Enes Kanter (BOS) | 96-88 L @ SAS | 3 | 1-5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 28 |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 133-115 W vs. MIN | 2 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Kevin Knox (NYK) | 118-97 L vs. PHX | 2 | 1-4 (0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -1 |
| Mychal Mulder (ORL) | 123-88 L vs. CHI | 0 | 0-3 (0-2) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | -14 |
| Rajon Rondo (LAL) | 141-137 3OT L vs. SAC | DNP – Coach’s Decision | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 114-97 W vs. TOR | DNP – Knee | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
6:00: Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt) @ 76ers (Maxey)
7:30 (NBA TV): Suns (Booker) @ Nets
7:30: Knicks (Randle, Quickley, Noel, Knox) @ Hawks
8:00: Heat (Adebayo, Herro) @ Bulls
8:00: Hornets (Washington, Richards) @ Rockets (Wall*)
8:00: Magic (Mulder) @ Cavaliers
8:30: Wizards @ Mavericks (Cauley-Stein)
9:00: Pelicans @ Jazz
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