BBNBA: Bam Adebayo breaks loose for 38, Anthony Davis won't stop scoring

Good morning, NBA fans! There’s a pretty significant football game happening in Lexington in just a few hours, which means you need something to distract yourself from playing out all 500 different scenarios that could happen between Louisville and Kentucky this afternoon. Lucky for you, the NBA was loaded with action on Friday night, with 28 of the league’s 30 teams in action.

The BBNBA star of the night was Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, who has played well this season, but not exactly up to preseason expectations. Friday night was hopefully his “I’m here” moment of the year, as he dropped a season-high 38 points to go along with 12 rebounds, three assists, and zero turnovers while shooting 15-22 from the floor in 35 minutes. Miami beat the Washington Wizards 110-107. Adebayo is actually posting career numbers so far in 2022-23 with highs in points per game (19.9) and free-throw percentage (85.4).

His teammate, Jimmy Butler, is still the likelier Miami All-Star candidate at the moment, but if Adebayo can stay on the court (Butler has missed several games already) and get the Heat back above .500, a second All-Star appearance could very well be in his future. Also for Miami, shooting guard Tyler Herro played his second game after missing nine in a row due to injury. He finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and 10 assists for his third double-double of the year, however, he shot just 4-18 overall (2-10 from distance).

Anthony Davis can’t stop scoring at a high-level

The Los Angeles Lakers currently sit on a 6-11 overall record, slotting the league’s most popular franchise at 13th in the Western Conference. The roster is broken and doesn’t have much room to improve between now and the trade deadline, but hot damn, Anthony Davis is on another level.

Los Angeles is actually 4-1 over its last five outings with Davis doing anything and everything for his squad. Friday night’s 25-point outing was actually his lowest of the Lakers’ recent winning stretch, but he got there on just 10-13 shooting while adding 15 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in a 105-94 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Over his last five outings, AD is averaging 33.4 points, 17.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals, and 2.6 blocks while shooting over 66 percent from the field and not hitting a single 3-pointer. Literal video game numbers.

Now granted, the Lakers’ recent success has come against some of the league’s bottomfeeders, but any momentum for this franchise is necessary at this point, especially with LeBron James back in the lineup. Time to stack some wins, AD.

Meanwhile, on the losing end of Friday night for the Spurs, Keldon Johnson continues to slump. He went for a respectable 15 points and nine rebounds, but his shooting numbers are cratering. Johnson went 6-23 against the Lakers, including a 1-8 mark from deep. Since sitting out one game on Nov. 17 due to a minor injury, he’s shooting just 25.4 percent overall in the four games since.

Good luck slowing down SGA

A couple of weeks ago it was fun and quirky to say that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an early MVP candidate. Well, we’re now 25 percent of the way through the season and his MVP campaign keeps looking better. In a 123-119 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls, Gilgeous-Alexander led his Oklahoma City Thunder with 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 40 minutes. He shot 8-21 from the floor and went 14-15 from the free-throw line. SGA has now dropped at least 30 points in three straight games. He’s been shooting roughly 40 percent from the field in those outings but is a combined 40-42 from the stripe.

Unfortunately, the 8-11 Thunder might not win enough games this year to keep SGA in the conversation for MVP, but an All-Star bid at the very least feels likely. If anything, he’s an early lock for Most Improved Player. Bottom line: this kid is really, really good.

Jamal Murray’s 21 tops John Wall’s 23

John Wall had the more efficient night, but it was Jamal Murray‘s stuffed stat sheet and check in the win column that put him on top. Wall went for 23 points on 8-10 shooting (2-2 from deep) for the LA Clippers, which fell 114-104 to Murray’s Denver Nuggets.

On the other end, Murray closed his night with 21 points, six rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 9-21 overall and 3-9 from distance. The former Kentucky point guard has been in and out of the lineup the last week as he continues to work on his conditioning after sitting out 18 months due to an ACL injury. Murray has played only two of the Nuggets’ last five games, although he’s hit the 33-minute mark in both.

Other BBNBA notes

• It was a rough shooting night for Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who recorded 19 points, four rebounds, and five assists but on a 6-22 overall clip. His night came in a losing effort to PJ Washington, Nick Richards, and the rest of the Charlotte Hornets, 110-108. Washington added 16 points and three rebounds while Richards contributed just two points and three rebounds off the bench.
• As his name continues to pop up in potential trade talks, Utah Jazz starting power forward Jarred Vanderbilt dropped a double-double in a 129-118 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Vando registered 13 points and 10 rebounds on 5-8 shooting.
• Devin Booker went for 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in a 108-102 win over the Detroit Pistons. After back-to-back impressive scoring games for Detroit’s Kevin Knox, he returned to earth against the Suns, finishing with seven points and four rebounds. Hamidou Diallo, Knox’s Pistons teammate, went for 10 points, six rebounds, and five turnovers while Nerlens Noel only saw the court for two minutes.
• Julius Randle, Immanuel Quickley, and the New York Knicks came up short in overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-129. Randle registered 23 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals on 8-19 shooting while Quickley went for 18 points, four rebounds, and five assists. For the Blazers, rookie Shaedon Sharpe posted five points and one rebound in 12 minutes off the pine.

11/25/22 statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	P/M	MIN
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	110-107 W vs. WAS	38	15-22 (0-1)	12	3	0	0	0	1	35
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	123-119 (OT) W vs. CHI	30	8-21 (0-3)	8	7	0	1	1	9	40
Anthony Davis (LAL)	105-94 W @ SAS	25	10-13	15	4	1	3	3	16	35
Julius Randle (NYK)	129-132 (OT) L vs. POR	23	8-19 (3-8)	6	3	3	0	2	-17	38
John Wall (LAC)	104-114 L vs. DEN	23	8-10 (2-2)	0	2	1	0	1	-14	24
Jamal Murray (DEN)	114-104 W @ LAC	21	9-21 (3-9)	6	9	1	0	1	22	33
Devin Booker (PHX)	108-102 W vs. DET	21	8-17 (2-7)	7	5	1	1	2	10	35
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	104-122 L @ BOS	20	6-17 (3-9)	4	2	0	0	2	-26	30
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	108-110 L @ CHA	19	6-22 (1-11)	4	5	0	2	2	-4	37
Immanuel Quickley (NYK)	129-132 (OT) L vs. POR	18	6-17 (4-10)	4	5	1	0	1	7	32
PJ Washington (CHA)	110-108 W vs. MIN	16	6-13 (1-5)	3	0	0	1	2	3	20
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	94-105 L vs. LAL	15	6-23 (1-8)	9	2	1	0	2	-11	35
Jarred Vanderbilt (UTA)	118-129 L @ GSW	13	5-8 (0-1)	10	2	1	0	2	-13	27
Tyler Herro (MIA)	110-107 W vs. WAS	11	4-18 (2-10)	5	10	0	1	5	8	38
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	102-108 L @ PHX	10	4-6	6	1	0	0	5	9	21
Malik Monk (SAC)	104-122 L @ BOS	9	4-12 (1-6)	2	3	1	0	1	-9	22
Kevin Knox (DET)	102-108 L @ PHX	7	3-7 (1-3)	4	1	1	2	0	5	29
Trey Lyles (SAC)	104-122 L @ BOS	6	1-1 (1-1)	2	0	0	0	2	4	8
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	128-117 W vs. BKN	6	2-6	4	0	0	0	1	-15	14
Shaedon Sharpe (POR)	132-129 (OT) W @ NYK	5	2-3 (1-2)	1	0	0	0	0	-12	12
Nick Richards (CHA)	110-108 W vs. MIN	2	1-2	3	1	0	2	2	2	19
Wenyen Gabriel (LAL)	105-94 W @ SAS	2	1-1	6	2	0	0	1	-5	13
Nerlens Noel (DET)	102-108 L @ PHX	0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0	-3	2
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	107-99 W @ ORL	DNP-Foot	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Tonight in the NBA

5:00: Mavericks @ Raptors
8:00 (NBA TV): Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander) @ Rockets
8:00: Lakers (Davis, Gabriel) @ Spurs (Johnson)
9:00: Jazz (Vanderbilt) @ Suns (Booker)