BBNBA: Nick Richards, other UK stars impress in NBA's second night

A plethora of NBA ‘Cats were in action Wednesday night (day two of the 2022-23 season) and there weren’t too many disappointments. Nick Richards added a career-high 19 points in 21 minutes as the Hornets comfortably beat the Spurs 129-102. The big nights kept on rolling for multiple former Kentucky Wildcats with De’Aaron Fox adding a crisp 33-point night and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropping 32, although both in losing efforts.

No Starter, no problem

Richards’ 19-point, 10-rebound performance is even more impressive considering he came off the bench and delivered those numbers.

Coming into the season, Richards had averaged 2.4 PPG in 68 games played with the Charlotte Hornets. His performance Wednesday evening utterly smashed the outings that he’s previously had. In a highly competitive Eastern Conference, Richards could be a pivotal piece to Charlotte’s success considering their depleted lineup due to offseason issues. PJ Washington added 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for the Hornets in their victory. Not a bad night for the Kentucky guys representing the Queen City.

However you may feel about him, put it all aside for a moment. Shaedon Sharpe‘s debut looked quite promising, with the rookie contributing 12 points in 16 minutes of action. Sharpe and the Trail Blazers defeated the Kings 115-108 in both squads’ first game of the year. As bittersweet as it may sound, Sharpe could prove to be a nice spark off the bench for a Portland team that is trying to get back into the postseason.

For the Kings, Fox led the team in scoring with 33 but it wasn’t enough, a trend that is all too familiar in Sacramento. His old backcourt partner at Kentucky, Malik Monk, had six points on the night in his first game as a King. It’s now or never for Sacramento seeing they acquired 2x NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis last season and sharpshooter Kevin Huerter in the summer.

Already in midseason form

Julius Randle, Devin Booker, Tyler Herro, and SGA all looked very much like their normal selves in last night’s action.

Randle led the New York Knicks in scoring with 24 but they ultimately fell short losing 115-112 to the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime. Immanuel Quickley saw 17 minutes of action for the Knicks but failed to score in the season opener. It’ll be interesting to see what Quickley’s role is this season with the addition of Jalen Brunson during the offseason.

SGA (Thunder) and Herro (Heat) were both phenomenal in losing efforts on Wednesday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder seem to have nobody else that can score with ease other than SGA. He led the team with 32 points as OKC lost 115-108 to the Timberwolves. Herro made a statement for the Miami Heat, dropping 23 in the opener. Herro started the game for Miami, and while it’s super early, was his performance an early glimpse of what he’ll put in this season after the money he got this summer? Bam Adebayo also had 12 points in 34 minutes for the Heat.

Booker got the year off on the right foot as he led the Suns with 28 points, nine assists, and four rebounds in their victory over Dallas. While the win doesn’t truly avenge what happened to Phoenix last year in the playoffs after getting dismantled by Dallas in Game 7, it does provide hope for a return to the NBA Finals. Booker is one of the best talents in the league and performances like Wednesday night will possibly provide MVP shouts come later in the season.

Other BBNBA notes

Karl-Anthony Towns had 12 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a win over SGA and the Thunder.
Keldon Johnson recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the San Antonio Spurs in a loss against the Hornets.
Jarred Vanderbilt had seven points and 12 rebounds in a debut win with the Utah Jazz.
Jamal Murray made his long-anticipated return for the Denver Nuggets. Murray hasn’t played in about 18 months until last night. He added 12 points in a losing effort at Utah.

Jamal’s first bucket ❤️

Can take the dog out the fight… BUT YOU AINT EVER GON TAKE THE FIGHT OUT OF THE DOG pic.twitter.com/qHfpvZgJUC
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 20, 2022

Statistics

Player	Result	Points	FG (3PA)	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Minutes	Plus/Minus
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	115-108 L vs POR	33	12-21 (5-9)	7	7	2	0	8	35	1
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	115-108 L @ MIN	32	12-23 (2-6)	6	5	3	2	2	36	-1
Devin Booker (PHO)	107-105 W vs DAL	28	10-20 (1-1)	4	9	0	1	3	40	20
Julius Randle (NYK)	115-112 (OT) L @ MEM	24	9-16 (2-6)	11	6	2	0	3	34	7
Tyler Herro (MIA)	116-108 L vs CHI	23	8-15 (4-8)	6	1	2	0	1	34	-18
Keldon Johnson (SA)	129-102 L vs CHA	20	8-17 (3-7)	11	4	2	0	2	29	-11
Nick Richards (CHA)	129-102 W @ SA	19	7/13	10	0	0	0	0	21	28
PJ Washington (CHA)	129-102 W @ SA	17	7-12 (3-4)	7	4	0	3	1	29	29
Shaedon Sharpe (POR)	115-108 W @ SAC	12	4-6 (3-3)	2	1	0	0	0	16	8
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	115-108 W vs OKC	12	2-10 (2-7)	6	7	0	0	3	35	-4
Jamal Murray (DEN)	123-102 L @ UTA	12	5-13 (1-4)	2	1	2	0	3	25	-19
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	116-108 L vs CHI	12	5-15 (0-0)	9	2	0	1	5	34	-15
Jarred Vanderbilt (UTA)	123-102 W vs DEN	7	3-4	12	1	1	0	2	18	10
Trey Lyles (SAC)	115-108 L vs POR	6	2-8 (2-7)	4	0	1	0	0	14	-4
Malik Monk (SAC)	115-108 L vs POR	6	2-7 (2-5)	2	3	0	1	2	15	-18
Kevin Knox II (DET)	113-109 W vs ORL	3	1-8 (1-6)	3	0	0	0	2	13	-2
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	114-107 L vs WAS	3	1-3 (0-0)	3	0	0	1	1	15	-13
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	113-109 W vs ORL	2	1-3 (0-1)	2	1	0	0	0	14	0
Immanuel Quickley (NYK)	115-112 (OT) L @ MEM	0	0-6 (0-3)	3	0	0	0	0	16	-6