BBNBA: Anthony Davis grabs 21 rebounds; Lakers grab win

NBA regular-season games at this point in the year are either extremely important or completely meaningless. Sometimes, for an individual game, both are true. That was certainly the case in Los Angeles on Friday night when the Lakers needed a win to give them a chance to sneak into the sixth seed and make the playoffs without the burden of competing in the Play-In tournament. The Phoenix Suns rested all of their stars (including Devin Booker), as they have the four seed all locked up.

Enter Anthony Davis.

It wasn’t his best scoring night (14 points), but Anthony Davis looked like Oscar Tsiebwe on the glass and grabbed 21 rebounds. He also looked like, well, Anthony Davis on defense, coming up with three blocks as the Lakers defeated the Suns’ reserves 121-107.

Davis has had a great season, despite it getting slightly derailed midway through with another injury. He is the only player in the last 20 years to average at least 25 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks per game since he last did it four years ago.

Players with 25+ PPG, 12+ RPG, 2+ BPG in a season over the last 20 years:

— Anthony Davis (2022/23)
— Anthony Davis (2018/19)

The first Laker to do it since Shaq. pic.twitter.com/LrMCQvUcbS

— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 8, 2023

Jarred Vanderbilt got the start once again for the Lake Show but remained on his cooler, as he only played 15 minutes, had three rebounds, and did not score. Similarly, Wenyen Gabriel played eight minutes and also put up a goose egg in the point column.

The Lakers have one game left and will need some help from their LA rivals, the Clippers, in the form of a couple of losses to get to that sixth seed, but LeBron James is happy with his team’s turnaround. After starting 2-10, the Lakers will now finish above .500. He said:

“I was just telling AD [Anthony Davis], I was like, ‘Man, can you believe that we’re going to finish this season above .500? After everything that’s gone on this season?’ We’ve turned this thing around. And it’s the regular season, obviously, there’s a lot more basketball to be played. But to know that we’re going to finish a few games above .500? It’s pretty cool.”

LeBron James | ESPN

Immanuel Quickley scores 24 in Knicks win

Unlike the Western Conference where there is some wriggle room for playoff seeding, the East is fairly set. However, Immanuel Quickley still has something meaningful to play for: the 6th Man of the Year award. He made a strong case for that on Friday.

IQ started (he is still eligible for the award based on the number of times he came off the bench this season) and scored 15 of his 24 points in the first quarter and knocked down six 3s. He also had five rebounds, two assists, and a steal on the night.

NBACentral tweeted out a graphic, asking the Twitterverse who should win the award that Tyler Herro took home last season. It included Quickley, former Vegas front-runner Malcolm Brogdon, Bobby Portis, and Kentucky’s own, Malik Monk.

Damian Lillard chimed in his two cents on the matter with a one-word vote: Quickley.

Quickley https://t.co/YbJOCV6x3J

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 7, 2023

IQ has garnered the respect of the league and will only continue to improve. Look for him to make a big splash in the playoffs, as the Knicks will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.

The Knickerbockers hope to get Julius Randle back by then, as well, as he recovers from an ankle injury that has sidelined him since the end of March.

Other BBNBA Notes

• More former Kentucky players sat out than played on Friday, as stars are either getting healthy for the playoffs or not risking injury due to being out of contention, and young players are getting some experience. One of the latter was Isaiah Jackson, who had a stat line of 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in a Pacers’ loss.
• Trey Lyles scored 15 points for the Sacramento Kings, which sat De’Aaron Fox and its other stars on Friday. They are the most intriguing team in the playoffs and will have home-court advantage over either the Warriors or Clippers in the first round.
• Freshly paid, third-year Nick Richards had six points and seven boards in the Hornets’ loss to Houston, which was without TyTy Washington after the rookie has been balling in the G League Finals. Though his Vipers lost the three-game series 2-0, Washington averaged 36 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. Let’s hope we see that for the Rockets next season.

4/7/2023 Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	MIN	+/-
Immanuel Quickley (NYK)	105-113 L vs. NOP	24	8-17 (6-12)	5	2	1	0	3	31	0
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	115-122 L vs. DET	15	7-10 (0-0)	7	0	1	3	2	29	+8
Trey Lyles (SAC)	97-119 L vs. GSW	15	6-12 (3-7)	8	1	0	1	0	22	-2
Anthony Davis (LAL)	121-107 W vs. PHX	14	4-12 (0-1)	21	4	0	3	1	34	+17
Nick Richards (CHA)	109-112 L vs. HOU	6	1-2 (0-0)	7	1	0	2	0	22	+3
Wenyen Gabriel (LAL)	121-107 W vs. PHX	0	0-0 (0-0)	3	0	1	1	1	8	-3
Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL)	121-107 W vs. PHX	0	0-2 (0-0)	4	0	0	0	0	17	-7
Devin Booker (PHX)	107-121 Lvs. LAL	DNP-Rest
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	108-114 L vs. WAS	DNP-Quad
Tyler Herro (MIA)	108-114 L vs. WAS	DNP-Quad
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	136-131 W vs. ATL	DNP-Neck
Malik Monk (SAC)	97-119 L vs. GSW	DNP-Leg
TyTy Washington (HOU)	112-109 W vs. CHA	DNP-G League
PJ Washington (CHA)	109-112 L vs. HOU	DNP-Foot
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	122-115 W vs. IND	DNP-Ankle
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	97-119 L vs. GSW	DNP-Ankle
Julius Randle (NYK)	105-113 L vs. NOP	DNP-Ankle

Today in the NBA

3:30: Nuggets (Murray: questionable) @ Jazz
4:00: Timberwolves (Towns: questionable) @ Spurs (Johnson: questionable)
4:00: Trail Blazers (Knox, Sharpe – both probable) @ Clippers (Boston)