BBNBA: Diallo with 34 & 14, Bledsoe records season-high

It is the day of Diallo for BBNBA. He and Eric Bledsoe had their best performances of the season to headline the NBA action on Saturday.

Depleted Pistons saved by Diallo

Help is on the way in Detroit. Trey Lyles, Cade Cunningham and five other Pistons exited health and safety protocols yesterday and will be back in the lineup going forward. Luckily they had Hamidou Diallo to hold down the fort.

And boy was his performance a doozy. Diallo played 50 minutes in a one-point overtime win against the San Antonio Spurs. In those 50 minutes, Diallo threw up 32 shots. He only made 13 of them, but he totaled 34 points and made it a double-double with 14 rebounds.

Hami stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere as well, recording four assists, five steals and a pair of blocks. He also threw down the hammer late in OT to complete back-to-back 30-point performances.

Hami is on a heater 🤩@hamidoudiallo – 34 pts, 14 reb, 4 ast

He is the 11th Piston in team history to record back-to-back games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.

(via @bball_ref/@DetroitPistons)pic.twitter.com/qlwABvDI94

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 2, 2022

Cheers to Hami, who likely will never be allowed to shoot 32 times in an NBA game ever again. Check out his full-game clips below.

On the Spurs sideline, three-point sharpshooter Keldon Johnson made two of his six threes but only managed to convert on two of his 12 two-point attempts. Yikes. Ever the swiss-army knife, KJ still muscled his way to 12 points and seven boards as a starter who played 38 minutes.

Bledsoe gets season-high, Wenyen Gabriel is Benedict Arnold

James Harden and Kevin Durant were no match for the 6-foot-1 tornado that wears No. 12 for LAC. Eric Bledsoe made 8-12 shots and four of his six threes to tally 27 points, leading the injured Clippers in scoring as they overcame the Nets in a fourth-quarter comeback on the road, 120-116.

He also stole three balls, blocked three shots and recorded four assists and three rebounds to round out his best outing of the 2022 season.

Wenyen Gabriel has only appeared in two games this season. He donned a Clippers uniform for the first time yesterday and shined with seven points and four rebounds. His other appearance in an NBA game came last week, two days after Christmas for the opposing Brooklyn Nets, where he played one minute and failed to appear on the stat sheet.

After the one-game stint with Brooklyn, Wenyen got his revenge last night. Hopefully, it’s the beginning of a beautiful second half of the season for him in Los Angeles.

Statistics

Player	Result	Points	FG (3PA)	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Minutes	+/-
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	117-116 W vs. SAS	34	13-32 (0-4)	14	4	5	2	3	50	+4
Eric Bledsoe (LAC)	120-116 W @ BKN	27	8-12 (4-6)	3	4	3	2	4	30	+16
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	117-116 L @ DET	12	4-18 (2-6)	7	1	1	0	3	38	0
Wenyen Gabriel (LAC)	120-116 W @ BKN	7	2-3 (1-2)	4	1	0	0	1	14	-3
DeMarcus Cousins (MIL)	136-113 W vs. NOP	5	2-6 (1-3)	6	0	1	0	1	18	-10
Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC)	120-116 W @ BKN	DNP – Health Protocol	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Trey Lyles (DET)	117-116 W vs. SAS	DNP – Health Protocol	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Today in the NBA

3:30 p.m. Knicks (Noel, Randle, Knox, Quickley) @ Raptors

6:00 p.m. Magic (Mulder) @ Celtics (Freedom)

6:00 p.m. (NBATV) Pacers (Jackson) @ Cavaliers

6:00 p.m. Heat (Herro, Adebayo) @ Kings (Fox)

7:00 p.m. Suns (Booker) @ Hornets (Washington, Richards)

7:00 p.m. Mavericks (Cauley-Stein) @ Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander)

9:30 p.m. Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt) @ Lakers (Monk, Rondo, Davis)