BBNBA: John Wall honored by Wizards in return to Washington
It was an emotional start to the night in Washington D.C. as John Wall made his return to the franchise that drafted him over a decade ago.
Wall, who was taken by the Wizards with the No. 1 pick in 2010, played his first nine NBA seasons with the team before getting traded to the Houston Rockets and then winding up with the LA Clippers, which is where he plays now. Wall and the Clips traveled across the country Saturday night to take on the Wizards in what was his first game back at Capital One Arena since being traded in Dec. 2020.
Prior to tipoff, Wall received a standing ovation from the Wizards faithful as he was honored with a tribute video during player introductions.
Once the action began, Wall reminded his former team what they skipped out on years ago. The former Kentucky Wildcat scored 13 points to go along with three assists and two steals in 29 minutes for the Clippers. LA went on to win 114-107 as Clippers forward Nicolas Batum drained three 3-pointers in the final five minutes.
At one point in the second quarter, Wall dribbled down the floor, hit his defender with a mean crossover, and drained a mid-range jumper — as if he was the franchise player from the mid-2010s once again — before pounding his chest and declaring “THIS IS STILL MY CITY!”
”This is something I’ve been waiting for for four years,” Wall said after the game. ”The first time I got traded, I came back with Houston, it was COVID so you couldn’t be here. Then last year I wasn’t playing. … I’m glad I got the opportunity to appreciate it and be here, and get the love that I think I deserved. I feel like I got my flowers.”
Near the end of his tenure with the Wizards, injuries began to derail Wall’s career. He played a combined 73 games over his final two seasons in Washington, sat out the entire 2019-20 season due to multiple lower leg injuries, played just 40 games with the Rockets in 2020-21, then sat out all of last season once again.
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But Wall is finding his groove in year 11. While he’s not looking like the five-time All-Star we saw in the nation’s capital, the 32-year-old point guard is fitting into his new role nicely with the Clippers. He’s averaging 12.6 points and 5.6 assists in 22.4 minutes per game across 22 appearances (one start) this season.
Jamal Murray’s 30 points aid Nuggets to victory
Nikola Jokic dropped a 31-point triple-double while Jamal Murray popped off for 30 points as the Denver Nuggets were able to outlast an undermanned Utah Jazz squad 115-110. Murray contributed the final five points of the game for the Nuggets, including a pair of free throws that iced the win. He added four rebounds and five assists to his stat line on a 13-19 shooting clip. Denver moves to 16-10 on the season, good enough for the third-best record in the Western Conference.
With the Jazz down four of its top six scorers, versatile forward Jarred Vanderbilt was reinserted back into the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous two outings. He finished with six points (2-7 shooting), five rebounds, four assists, and three steals with two turnovers in 26 minutes played. Utah has now lost seven of its last 11 outings after bursting out of the gate to a 12-6 start.
Other BBNBA notes
- Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro combined for 35 points as the Miami Heat (12-15) lost another stunner, this time to the lowly San Antonio Spurs (8-18) at home 115-111. Herro missed a go-ahead triple near the end of regulation, but still finished with 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 8-16 shooting. Adebayo added 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson led his team in scoring with 21 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists.
- After a streak of scoring 30-plus in seven consecutive outings, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has gone under that mark in the previous two games for the Oklahoma City Thunder (both losses). He still finished with 23 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 31 minutes, but OKC fell on the road to the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102.
12/10/22 statistics
| Player | Score | PTS | FG (3PT) | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | P/M | MIN |
| Jamal Murray (DEN) | 115-110 W vs. UTA | 30 | 13-19 (1-3) | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 36 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 111-115 L vs. SAS | 23 | 8-16 (5-8) | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 36 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 102-110 L @ CLE | 23 | 7-13 (0-2) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -17 | 31 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 115-111 W @ MIA | 21 | 7-15 (0-2) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -7 | 35 |
| John Wall (LAC) | 114-107 W @ WAS | 13 | 5-13 (0-4) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 29 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 111-115 L vs. SAS | 12 | 5-11 (0-1) | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (UTA) | 110-115 L @ DEN | 6 | 2-7 (0-1) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -9 | 26 |
| Shaedon Sharpe (POR) | 124-118 W vs. MIN | 5 | 2-6 (0-3) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 20 |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 114-107 W @ WAS | 3 | 1-3 (1-2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 14 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 133-136 L vs. BKN | 2 | 1-4 (0-1) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 12 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 118-124 L @ POR | DNP-Calf | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Today in the NBA
3:30: Suns (Booker) @ Pelicans
6:00: Lakers (Davis, Gabriel: out) @ Pistons (Diallo, Knox, Noel)
6:00: Kings (Fox, Lyles, Monk) @ Knicks (Quickley, Randle)
6:00: Raptors @ Magic
6:00: Hornets (Richards, PJ Washington) @ 76ers (Maxey: out)
6:30: Bulls @ Hawks
7:00: Bucks @ Rockets
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