BBNBA: LeBron starts a fight in Detroit
Look, The Malice at the Palace worked because of the wordplay and how it rhymed. Forget the fact that it’s probably the last time we’ll really see a full-on player vs. fan fight in American sports. Malice at Little Caesars? It just doesn’t hit the same.
Let’s take a look at how LeBron James stole the attention away from Anthony Davis and the rest of the news involving our former ‘Cats in the association last night.
There’s gotta be something about Detroit
Is the water in Detroit filled with some testosterone spiking solution that causes people to just start acting out? LeBron has always been known to have questionable decisions while on the court, often getting cited as someone who flops or complains to the refs when he doesn’t get his way. It’s just frustrating to watch when the greatest player that a lot of us will ever get to watch detracts from said greatness with small, petty acts on the court. We’ve seen a lot from LeBron over the years. Intentional or not, I don’t know if we’ve ever seen LeBron rip out off a cheap shot like this.
Watching it again, I don’t know whether it’s more LeBron’s elbow, or Isaiah Stewart’s reaction to immediately chase LeBron like they’re playing manhunt around the court, that caused more of a reaction. As if Adam Silver would ever let a second-year player touch the face of his league.
The big takeaway of the whole brawl is that Isaiah Stewart is a day-one who is down for anything. It took nearly the entire working staff of Little Caesars Arena (and Cade Cunningham) to slow this one-man army down while half of his face looked like a Deadpool mask; that’s pretty sweet.
Oh yeah, there was a basketball game too. It’s a good thing that Anthony Davis didn’t get into any ruckus because he ended up winning this game for the Lakers. AD had 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes of action during the 121-116 win. Davis is really hitting a stride right now, scoring 30+ three times in the last five games. Malik Monk added in six points and Rajon Rondo only got five minutes in the win. The Lakers are still meddling as a .500 team right now, but it’s clear that Anthony Davis is back to his All-NBA form.
Booker stays efficient in Phoenix’s 12th straight win
A big question coming into this season for the Suns was whether their magical run to the Finals last season was a fluke or not. A little more than a month into the new year, I think we can all confidently say that the Suns are just a really well-built team. They demonstrated that once again on Sunday with a 126-97 blowout of Denver where they were led by Cam Johnson’s 22 off the bench.
Devin Booker still made his impact clear in the game, scoring 17 and dishing out seven assists on 7-12 shooting overall, including a 2-5 mark from deep. Each and every day Booker is learning how to lead and guide a championship-contending team through a grueling season that will take tolls on their body. Book and the Suns sit comfortably as a top-2 team in the West, and it doesn’t look like they’re showing any signs of slowing down.
Julius Randle bounces back but Knicks fall to Chicago
The Knicks fell again last night, this time to the Bulls by a score of 109-103 to drop New York back down to 9-8 on the season. Including Julius Randle, the Knicks starters have really struggled as a unit to get the season started and it’s beginning to worry people. They still sit above .500 on the year but anyone who’s watched the Knicks this year knows they are getting carried by their bench squad. Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin are essentially winning these games in spite of the starters, not complementing them.
That being said, Julius Randle bounced back after really struggling for a few weeks now. Randle had 34 points on 13-19 from the floor while grabbing 10 boards in Sunday night’s loss. The Knicks will be fine eventually and Tom Thibodeau will have this team playing good defense once the calendar hits 2022, but nights like this for Julius will be so important as he still tries to work back into peak form.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG (3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | TOs | Mins | +/- |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 109-103 L @ CHI | 34 | 13-19 (1-2) | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 39 | 6 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 121-116 W @ DET | 30 | 11-19 (0-1) | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 5 |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 126-97 W vs. DEN | 17 | 7-12 (2-5) | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 13 |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 121-116 L vs. LAL | 17 | 7-9 (1-1) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21 | -6 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 109-103 L @ CHI | 12 | 4-11 (1-8) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | -6 |
| Trey Lyles (DET) | 121-116 L vs. LAL | 7 | 2-6 (1-4) | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 3 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 109-103 L @ CHI | 6 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 26 | -10 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 121-116 W @ DET | 6 | 2-3 (0-1) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Willie Cauley-Stein (DAL) | 97-91 L @ LAC | 4 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | -2 |
| Eric Bledsoe (LAC) | 97-91 W vs. DAL | 2 | 1-4 (0-1) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 6 |
| Rajon Rondo (LAL) | 121-116 W @ DET | 0 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -3 |
| B.J. Boston (LAC) | 97-91 W vs. DAL | DNP – Coach’s Decision | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kevin Knox (NYK) | 109-103 L @ CHI | DNP – Coach’s Decision | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
7:00: Hornets (Washington, Richards) @ Wizards
7:00 (NBA TV): Nets @ Cavaliers
7:30: Rockets (Wall*) @ Celtics (Kanter)
7:30: Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander) @ Hawks
8:00: Magic (Mulder) @ Bucks
8:00: Pacers (Jackson) @ Bulls
8:00: Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt) @ Pelicans
8:30: Suns (Booker) @ Spurs (Johnson)
9:00: Grizzlies @ Jazz
10:00 (NBA TV): 76ers (Maxey) @ Kings (Fox)
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