BBNBA: Miller Ties Career-High, Rondo Returns From Injury

ZGeogheganKSR

(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Good morning, folks. To start things off, the 2019 NBA All-Star starters were announced yesterday and somehow Anthony Davis didn’t make the cut. Let’s talk NBA.

RECAP

To be fair, Davis didn’t lose out to a bunch of scrubs. As Jack wrote on Thursday night, Davis was among a group that included LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Paul George. Those are four of the 10 or 11 best players in the entire league. I think Durant deserves his spot hands down and George is having the best season of his career by a considerable margin. But the same could be said for Davis, who probably should have won the spot over LeBron. And I say this solely because LeBron has already missed 14 games this season to Davis’ eight. But LeBron is LeBron so there is no way that would ever happen. Davis just got grouped into the wrong bunch at the wrong time. He’s still going to be named an All-Star.

[22-27] Pelicans – 116 @ [30-18] Thunder – 122

Speaking of Davis. he sat out his third game in a row due to a sprained finger. Surprise, surprise, the Pelicans lost. To make matters worse, New Orleans also played the game without their entire frontline as Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic both were sidelined with injuries. Randle’s injury is just a sprained ankle, though, and he shouldn’t miss considerable time.
In the absence of the two BBNBA stars, Darius Miller tied his career-high with 21 points on 8-17 shooting (5-11 from deep) to go along with seven rebounds in 38 minutes, which was his season-high.
For the Thunder, Hamidou Diallo received his second straight DNP-Coaches Decision. Patrick Patterson contributed nine points and three rebounds in 13 minutes while Nerlens Noel brought in six points and three boards in 12 minutes.

[24-24] Timberwolves – 120 @ [25-24] Lakers – 105

In Los Angeles, the Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in Rajon Rondo’s first game back since injuring his hand. He played the game with a splint on his bum finger and had one of his most impressive outings of the season. Rondo went off for a typical Rondo stat line of 15 points (6-11 shooting), six rebounds, 13 assists, a steal, and two blocks with only two turnovers in 38 minutes.

Karl-Anthony Towns was tied for the most points by a member of the BBNBA, scoring 27 points while leading his Wolves squad to a necessary victory over a still LeBron-less Lakers squad. Towns shot 10-18 from the field, including 3-5 from deep, while corralling 12 rebounds and dishing out five dimes in 31 minutes.

Other notes

In this third game back since tearing his Achilles, DeMarcus Cousins helped exploit the Washington Wizards defensive gameplan against the Warriors. The plan was somewhat simple, run Golden State off the three-point line. Two weeks ago that might have been a solid tactic, but with Boogie in the fold, it proved counterproductive. Cousins went for 17 points on 8-12 shooting including six rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes to hold off Bradley Beal and the Wiz.

After being ejected in his previous game following an on-court beef with a former Lousiville star – for which he was fined $25,000 – Devin Booker, who tied Towns for the BBNBA lead with 27 points himself, shot 9-20 from the field. But that was about as far as Booker’s rather unimpressive night goes. He coughed the ball up eight times and was a team worst minus-31 in 30 minutes. His Suns team fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 105-120.