BBNBA: SGA, KAT fill it up on the losing side
For those who stuck around the TV machine after Kentucky dispatched Vandy last night, it was a heck of a night in college basketball. Baylor-Texas Tech, Kansas-Iowa State and Alabama-Auburn all delivered terrific finishes. But while all that was going down, the NBA put on a few good shows of its own. This is the story of that.
SGA, Thunder fall to Beal-less Wiz
A time or two here, we’ve addressed the fact that the Oklahoma City Thunder is Not Great. To be precise, they’re the fourth-worst team in the NBA by record. But between those adjoining three bottom feeders — Detroit, Houston and Orlando — none have a dynamic, established scorer quite like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The plus side of that is, on any given night, Shai can give the Thunder a shot. The downside is when it doesn’t work out (i.e., most of the time), it’s all the more painful.
Last night’s 122-118 loss to the mediocre Wizards falls into the latter category. Washington was without All-Star sniper Bradley Beal, who entered health protocols for the second time in as many weeks before the game; and SGA, who scored a season-low eight points on Sunday, had his best offensive night in weeks. He finished with 32, including this sweet fakeout on Daniel Gafford:
He flashed his passing skills too, dishing this one to Josh Giddey for one of his eight dimes on the night:
SGA hit back-to-back layups to tie the game at 118 with just under a minute to play, but it just wasn’t meant to be. A banked-in three by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope put the Wiz back in front, and a pair of Kyle Kuzma free throws sealed it.
The loss made five straight for OKC, which will no doubt be competing for a top-three pick come June. It was Gilgeous-Alexander’s seventh 30-point performance this year, five of which came in losses. The least we can do is make him an All-Star, right?
Towns, Wolves lose heartbreaker on Ingram heave
While the Thunder are floundering, Karl-Anthony Towns‘ Timberwolves have actually been on an uptick: four straight wins, capped off by KAT’s 40-burger on Sunday. They entered Tuesday’s battle with the Pelicans hoping to make it five, having already won in NOLA once this year.
They were put in position to do so thanks to Anthony Edwards, who scored 20 points in the fourth quarter. Minnesota’s frantic comeback was capped by this game-tying lay-in from D’Angelo Russell off a Towns assist:
However, the joy from Minnesota’s bench was short-lived. The Pelicans called timeout, setting up an inbounds play for Brandon Ingram that went… well, like this:
Oof, tough way to go out. Still, it was another nice performance from Towns, who finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Jarred Vanderbilt chipped in as well with eight points, five boards and three steals.
Minnesota dropped to half a game behind the Clippers for the eighth spot in the West with the loss. They’ll get a crack at the red-hot Grizzlies on Thursday.
Booker vs. Raptor
The hottest new rivalry in the league isn’t Warriors vs. Suns, Julius Randle vs. Knicks fans, or Kyrie Irving vs. science; it’s Devin Booker vs. the Raptors mascot, and the controversy is taking the internet by storm.
Late in last night’s 99-95 win in Toronto, Booker was shooting a pair of critical free throws. With the arena empty due to Canada’s Covid policies, one brave fan sought to distract him:
With the Raptor dispatched to the corner, Booker was able to sink both shots and guide the Suns to victory. But NBA Twitter did not let the interaction slide.
Thankfully, according to Booker, the two were able to squash their differences after the game.:
Booker finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and one dinosaur defeated. We’ll keep you updated on this stat as the season progresses.
News & Notes:
- Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Boston Jr. were part of a 25-point second-half Clippers comeback to beat the Nuggets. Bledsoe had a season-high +28 in the box.
- Hami Diallo, Trey Lyles and the Pistons somehow lost by 46 points to the Bulls. For the mathematicians out there, that’s two Michael Jordans.
- After a Heat tweet showed him working out, it looks like Bam Adebayo’s return may be imminent!
Full stats from Tuesday:
| 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 – Celtics (Kanter) @ Pacers (Jackson)
7:00 – Hornets (Washington, Richards) @ Sixers (Maxey)
7:00 – Magic (Mulder) @ Wizards
7:30 – Heat (Herro, Adebayo*) @ Hawks
7:30 (ESPN) – Mavericks (WCS*) @ Knicks (Randle, Quickley, Noel, Knox)
8:30 – Rockets (Wall*) @ Spurs (Johnson)
9:00 – Cavaliers (Rondo) @ Jazz
10:00 (ESPN) – Nets @ Bulls
10:00 – Lakers (Monk, Davis*) @ Kings (Fox)
* – inactive
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