BBNBA: Knicks surging behind Randle, Heat get Butler back
Saturday was a good day on the basketball court for former and current ‘Cats alike. Let’s talk about a fun day of NBA action.
Randle powers third straight Knicks win
The New York Knicks are on the fence of the playoff race, sitting just a half-game ahead of Boston for the 10th seed and final play-in spot in a strong Eastern Conference. With last night’s win over the Hawks, New York maintained their slim lead over the Celtics in the standings and are now within a game of several teams ahead of them.
Julius Randle was the man of the hour in the Hawks win. He scored 24 and dished out nine assists while playing 38 minutes as the Knicks starters were responsible for 99 of New York’s 117 total points.
The East Playoff race is a warzone and even though the Knicks have won three in a row, they’ll need to keep it up in order to stay in the picture.
Sixers stop surging Heat
The Miami Heat were down Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo for most of the last month, but still had the best offense in the NBA over the last 15 games. Guys such as Omer Yurtseven, Max Strus and Caleb Martin excelled as starters while Tyler Herro continued to perform well off the bench.
Jimmy Butler returned last night but shot just 1-11 from the field as Miami fell to Philly after winning nine of the last 11 games. Tyler Herro was solid again, though, scoring 16 points and recording three assists and two steals. Adebayo expects to return from his injury on Monday, as well.
Miami has gone under the radar with their stars out but kept winning regardless. Once they get Bam and Butler back into form, Miami has the formula to contend with anyone in the East.
SGA plays well, Thunder lose
We’ve seen this show before. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carries the Thunder offense while the rest of the team sputters against stringer competition. Last night, OKC fell to Cleveland, but only by five!
SGA didn’t have his best outing, making just 7-19 shots. But he did finish with 21 points and seven assists in a close loss to a good Eastern Conference team.
On the season, Shai is scoring a hair over 22 a game but isn’t shooting the ball quite as well as he has in previous seasons. His effective field goal percentage is down over 10 points from last season and he’s shooting just 27.8% from the three-point line in 2021-22.
I mean, it’s hard to blame SGA for any inefficiencies when he’s the only option on one of the worst rosters in the NBA. But he could play a little better.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG(3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 117-108 W @ ATL | 24 | 10-21 (2-6) | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 | +12 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 107-102 L vs. CLE | 21 | 7-19 (0-2) | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 34 | -2 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 109-98 L vs. PHI | 16 | 4-11 (2-4) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 32 | -12 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 109-98 W @ MIA | 13 | 4-11 (1-4) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 40 | +15 |
| Eric Bledsoe (LAC) | 101-94 L @ SAS | 7 | 3-11 (1-5) | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 26 | -4 |
| Enes Freedom (BOS) | 114-112 W vs. CHI | 5 | 2-2 (0-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -2 |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 101-94 L @ SAS | 4 | 2-9 (0-2) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | -2 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 117-108 W @ ATL | 3 | 1-6 (1-3) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | -1 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 117-108 W @ ATL | DNP – CD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kevin Knox (NYK) | 117-108 L vs. NYK | DNP – CD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wenyen Gabriel (LAC) | 101-94 L @ SAS | DNP – CD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
1:00 p.m. Suns (Booker) @ Pistons (Diallo, Lyles)
6:00 p.m. Rockets (Wall*) @ Kings (Fox)
8:00 p.m. Warriors @ Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt)
8:00 p.m. Jazz @ Nuggets (Murray*)
* — Inactive
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