BBNBA: Suns, Wolves win as trade buzz builds
Hide your kids, hide your wife, and most importantly, hide your promising rookie-contract assets — because it’s dealin’ season in the NBA. With Thursday’s trade deadline looming, Adrian Wojnarowski’s phone has been lighting up like Christmas. Which former ‘Cats could be on the move this week? Read on to find out as we run through Tuesday’s tasty 10-course meal of hoops.
Suns rally past Sixers for 44th win
The Phoenix Suns are wrecking ball right now, and Devin Booker may as well be Miley Cyrus. The newly-minted All-Star dropped 35 points for the second straight game on Tuesday, leading Phoenix to a tough 114-109 road win in Philadelphia. It was victory No. 44 for the first-place Suns, who have taken care of business in 14 of their last 15 games.
To get there, they had to rally back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter. Philly PG1 Tyrese Maxey scored eight of his 14 points in that period, including this wicked finish:
The Suns responded with a 28-13 run to take the lead ahead of the fourth quarter, then held on for the win with clutch shooting late. Booker finished with 35 points on 11-23 shooting, and Mikal Bridges dropped 23 on the team that drafted him. This fast break finish over Maxey helped seal it:
For the Sixers, fans’ attention is now fully turned to the Ben Simmons-James Harden rumor mill. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Philadelphia and Brooklyn are locked into a high-stakes game of chicken that could drag on to the final hours of Thursday. A potential deal would hinge on the two stars being swapped, but the Nets are pushing for a few other pieces in return. As of now, the Sixers appear steadfast in their refusal to throw in Maxey.
Whatever happens, it’s clear that the team has a lot of faith in Maxey, who has blossomed this year with Simmons on the sidelines. Adding Harden to the mix could complicate things, but there’s no doubt it would elevate the Sixers’ chances as a title contender.
Towns, Wolves blow out Kings amid roster turmoil
For much of the past decade, the Kings and Timberwolves were birds of a feather — small-market teams blessed with plenty of lottery talent, yet cursed to continually squander it. Minnesota has one playoff appearance in Karl-Anthony Towns‘ seven seasons, and I’ll never forgive Sacramento for letting prime DeMarcus Cousins wither away to nothing. Now the Wolves are trending upward, but the Kings… are not.
Minnesota won handily on Tuesday, dispatching their old lottery chums 134-114 in Sactown. Towns filled up in 28 minutes, scoring 25 points to go with nine rebounds in the win. On the other side, De’Aaron Fox chipped in a tidy 29, seven and six for a team that’s shown once again it has no idea what it’s doing.
Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced that Sacramento was trading Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson and fan-favorite Tyrese Haliburton — one of the league’s best passers at just 21 — for a package centered on Pacers big Domantas Sabonis. Their fans were not happy.
What does this mean for Fox’s future? For now, it means he’s not going anywhere. The Kings had briefly entertained dangling his name to get in on the Simmons sweepstakes, but with Haliburton gone, it appears they’ve made their choice. The Kings are still god-awful, but at least Fox will have a two-time All-Star to dish to in Sabonis, plus another capable shooter in Jeremy Lamb.
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As for the Wolves, Tuesday’s win made five straight as they hit a season-high four games over .500. Malik Beasley hit seven threes off the bench, Jarred Vanderbilt had nine points and 11 boards, and KAT polished up his All-Star stroke:
Due to a scheduling quirk, the two teams are actually set to face each other again tonight on the very same court. I do not expect this to be a well-attended game.
Giannis’ 44 topples Lakers in L.A.
Speaking of teams with a lot to figure out: I give you the Los Angeles Lakers. With last night’s 131-116 blowout loss to Milwaukee, the Lakers dropped to 26-29 on the year and 3-5 since Anthony Davis‘ return. Russell Westbrook has been relegated to the bench in crunch time, and he’s not pleased with Frank Vogel. Even with Davis looking great, LeBron being LeBron and Malik Monk playing the best basketball of his life, they just haven’t been able to make it work.
Tuesday’s game was another painful bump in the road, as the Lakers were completely incapable of stopping Giannis Antetokounmpo on their home court. Giannis made his first 11 shots en route to a historic performance:
For L.A., Davis had another solid game with 22 points, nine boards and three blocks, while James scored 27 and Monk had 20. Their next-leading scorer was Stanley Johnson, and I think that tells you all you need to know.
The Lakers will probably be active ahead of the deadline, but outside of their Big Three, they don’t have much to offer. They take the court in Portland at 10 p.m. tonight.
News & Notes
- Julius Randle scored 28 points in the Knicks’ blowout loss to the Nuggets. He’s reportedly “drawing interest” from several teams ahead of the deadline.
- Eric Bledsoe has yet to take the court since being traded to the Blazers last week. For all he knows, he could be on the move again.
- For a longer rundown of former ‘Cats who could be on the trading block tomorrow, check out Sam Gillenwater’s post from this morning.
Tuesday Statsheet
| Player | Result | Points | FG(3P) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 114-109 W @ PHI | 35 | 11-23 (3-8) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | +13 |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 134-114 L vs. MIN | 29 | 11-22 (4-6) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 35 | -17 |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 132-115 L @ DEN | 28 | 11-22 (3-8) | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 34 | -8 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 134-114 W @ SAC | 25 | 10-14 (2-3) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | +13 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 131-116 L vs. MIL | 22 | 8-10 (0-0) | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 37 | -8 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 131-116 L vs. MIL | 20 | 7-16 (3-10) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 32 | -6 |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 116-86 L @ DAL | 18 | 6-14 (1-4) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | -3 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 114-109 L vs. PHX | 14 | 5-16 (0-4) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 | -1 |
| Trey Lyles (DET) | 116-86 L @ DAL | 12 | 5-8 (0-2) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | -19 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 134-114 W @ SAC | 9 | 4-7 (0-0) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | -1 |
| Enes Freedom (BOS) | 126-91 W @ BKN | 7 | 3-6 (1-1) | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | +9 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 132-115 L @ DEN | 5 | 2-9 (0-5) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | -11 |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 135-109 L @ MEM | 4 | 2-6 (0-2) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | +4 |
| Kevin Knox (ATL) | 133-112 W vs. IND | 2 | 1-3 (0-1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -5 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 132-115 L @ DEN | DNP – Knee | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jamal Murray (DEN) | 132-115 W vs. NYK | DNP – ACL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 133-112 L @ ATL | DNP – Ankle | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eric Bledsoe (POR) | 113-95 L vs. ORL | DNP – Achilles | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| John Wall (HOU) | 110-97 L @ NOP | DNP – Personal | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Today in the NBA:
7:00 – Spurs (Johnson) @ Cavaliers (Rondo)
7:30 (ESPN) – Bulls @ Hornets (Washington, Richards)
8:00 – Raptors @ Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander*)
10:00 (ESPN) – Warriors @ Jazz
10:00 – Lakers (Davis, Monk) @ Trail Blazers (Bledsoe*)
10:00 – Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt) @ Kings (Fox)
* – inactive
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