BBNBA: De'Aron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander impressive despite losing efforts

Day five of the 2022-23 NBA season is in the books as we quickly transition into basketball-filled action every night of the week. Saturday featured nine games of action with 10 former Kentucky Wildcats seeing on-court action, including some massive individual performances from a handful of them. Let’s dive right in.

Fox, SGA put on great shows, but come away with L’s

The two BBNBA stars of Saturday were a pair of the NBA’s top-tier point guards.

De’Aaron Fox led all one-time ‘Cats in scoring with 36 points for the Sacramento Kings to go along with five rebounds and four assists in only 32 minutes played. The sixth-year veteran shot the ball at an impressive clip, finishing 15-23 from the field and 3-5 from distance. It’s admittedly very early, but after shooting under 30 percent from beyond the arc a season ago, Fox is 8-14 through two games this season.

Baby steps…

Unfortunately, Fox’s performance came in a losing effort as the Kings fall to 0-2 on the season with a 111-109 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at home. Paul George dropped a 40-burger for the Clips, which was without point guard John Wall, who was sitting due to rest. Fellow Clippers guard Brandon Boston Jr. did not find the court in the win. Malik Monk failed to score a point in his 13 minutes off the bench for Sacramento.

The second-best outing of the night came from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which fell to Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets 122-117. OKC falls to 0-2 on the season while Denver moves to 2-0.

SGA was spectacular on Saturday, shaking off any rust he might have built up due to a minor preseason injury. The 6-foot-6 lead guard posted 28 points, seven assists, and three rebounds in 34 minutes played, shooting 11-24 from the floor and 1-5 from distance. Meanwhile, Murray, who is playing just his second game since missing 18 months with an ACL injury, went for 16 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals in his 27 minutes of play. It was his first home game since the injury, too, and he was treated to a warm welcome from the Nuggets faithful.

"He's Baaack"

Jamal Murray is introduced for his first game back in Denver! #KiaTipOff22 pic.twitter.com/JUd56ZytgM

— NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2022

Through only two games, Murray is averaging 14.0 points on 44.0 percent shooting and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. Not up to his pre-injury standards, but he’s shown plenty of progress and even had a stretch against the Thunder where he looked like Bubble Murray from two summers ago.

Again, baby steps…

Keldon Johnson gets the better of Maxey, struggling 76ers

Something is up in Philadelphia. The 76ers came into the season as one of the favorites to reach the Eastern Confernce Finals, yet fell to 0-3 on Saturday after losing to the San Antonio Spurs, a popular pick to take home the honors of worst team in the league this season. In spite of Joel Embiid’s 40-point, 13-rebound performance, the Sixers lost 114-105.

It certainly wasn’t Tyrese Maxey‘s fault, though. The third-year point guard is off to a hot start this season and dropped 25 points against the Spurs to go along with three boards and six dimes. Maxey shot 8-18 from the field and 3-8 from deep in 39 minutes.

Someone Philly can blame for the loss, however, is Keldon Johnson, who added 21 points and eight rebounds to the Spurs’ stat line. Now in year four, Johnson is primed for a breakout season. Through three games he’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on a shooting split of 46.9/41.7/72.7. Johnson is 100 percent a darkhorse Most Improved Player candidate right now, but with more performances like the one on Saturday, he’ll be a frontrunner in no time.

Other BBNBA notes

• Isaiah Jackson stuffed the stat sheet for the Indiana Pacers, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, and a career-high tying five blocks in 21 minutes. After coming off the bench in the Pacers’ first two games of the season, Jackson started in a 124-115 win over the Detroit Pistons.
• Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo helped lead the Miami Heat to its first win of the season in a 112-109 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Herro recorded an impressive 14 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in just 22 minutes of action while Adebayo was not his usual effective self. The Defensive Player of the Year hopeful finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and three turnovers in 35 minutes. Adebayo’s numbers have been down across the board through three games this season.

10/22/22 Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	MIN	+/-
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	109-111 L vs. LAC	36	15-23 (3-5)	5	4	1	1	3	32	5
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	117-122 L @ DEN	28	11-24 (1-5)	3	7	1	0	5	34	-6
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	105-114 L vs. SAS	25	8-18 (3-8)	3	6	1	0	3	39	-11
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	114-105 W @ PHI	21	7-17 (3-8)	8	0	1	0	3	31	13
Jamal Murray (DEN)	122-117 W vs. OKC	16	6-12 (1-4)	4	5	2	0	5	27	10
Tyler Herro (MIA)	112-109 W vs. TOR	14	4-8 (1-4)	8	6	0	0	2	22	0
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	112-109 W vs. TOR	10	4-6 (0-1)	7	1	0	0	3	35	5
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	124-115 W vs. DET	8	2-6 (0-0)	5	1	0	5	0	21	3
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	115-124 L @ IND	0	0-2 (0-0)	2	2	0	0	0	6	-8
Malik Monk (SAC)	109-111 L vs. LAC	0	0-4 (0-2)	2	1	1	0	2	13	-13
John Wall (LAC)	111-109 W @ SAC	DNP-Rest	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TyTy Washington Jr. (HOU)	105-125 L vs. MIL	DNP-Knee	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Nerlens Noel (DET)	115-124 L @ IND	DNP-CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Kevin Knox (DET)	115-124 L @ IND	DNP-CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC)	111-109 W @ SAC	DNP-CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Trey Lyles (SAC)	109-111 L vs. LAC	DNP-CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Tonight in the NBA

3:30: Trail Blazers (Sarr, Sharpe) @ Lakers (Davis, Gabriel)
5:00: Hornets (Richards, Washington) @ Hawks
7:00 (NBA TV): Wizards @ Cavaliers
7:00: Jazz (Juzang, Vanderbilt) @ Pelicans
8:00: Timberwolves (Towns) @ Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander)
8:30: Kings (Fox, Lyles, Monk) @ Warriors
10:00 (NBA TV): Suns (Booker) @ Clippers (Boston, Wall)