BBNBA: Julius Randle posts second consecutive 20/8/8 game in win over Rockets

After facing much scrutiny earlier this week over his recent play, Timberwolves forward Julius Randle has responded with back-to-back 20/8/8 performances in wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets.

Friday night, Randle poured in 27 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a nail biting 113-112 win over the Houston Rockets. His teammate Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 23 seconds left to complete a 16-point comeback in the last half of the fourth quarter.

Randle, who shot just 39% from the field (22-56) over Minnesota’s four game stretch from Dec. 15-Dec. 22, had found himself a victim on NBA Twitter from Timberwolves fans who are still upset about the Karl-Anthony Towns trade in the offseason.

Due to the 3x NBA All-Star’s play over their last two games however, the Timberwolves are 2-0 and improved to 16-14 overall. Minnesota currently sits at the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

On the other side of the ball however, Reed Sheppard continues to struggle in his rookie season. Sheppard, who was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, failed to score a point in four minutes of action. In 29 games this season, Sheppard is averaging just 3.4 PTS (29th among rookies), 1.2 AST (T-18th among rookies), and 1.3 REB (34th among rookies).

Jamal Murray scores 27 points in loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

The Denver Nuggets were good Friday night, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were even better.

Jamal Murray (27 points and 11 assists) and Nikola Jokic (27 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists) were not enough to take down the Cavs, who held off the Nuggets 149-135. Denver, who entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Western Conference, is now 16-13 overall and sit at No. 7 in the Western Conference.

Over his last five games, Murray is averaging 23.8 PTS and 7.4 AST. Over that span however, the Nuggets are just 2-3 with wins over the lowly New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers.

Other BBNBA Notes:

• The Karl-Anthony Towns experiment in New York continues to be a resounding success, as KAT scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a dominant 108-85 win over the Orlando Magic Friday night. KAT is currently fifth on BasketballReference.com’s NBA MVP Award Tracker.
• Keldon Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs took down the Brooklyn Nets 96-87 to improve to 16-15 and get just above the .500 mark. Johnson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in the win.
• Surprise, surprise, the New Orleans Pelicans lost. Again. Brandon Boston Jr. contributed seven points on 3-4 shooting off the bench, but New Orleans fell to Memphis 132-124. the Pelicans have now lost 18 of their last 19 games.
• Friday night turned into fight night for PJ Washington, who was ejected with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter following a scuffle including Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas’ Naji Marshall. Washington scored just seven points in 20 minutes of action.

12/27/2024 BBNBA Statistics:

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Jamal Murray (DEN)	135-149 L vs CLE	27	10-20 (3-6)	3	11	2	0	4	-9	40
Julius Randle (MIN)	113-112 W @ HOU	27	10-16 (5-6)	8	8	0	1	5	+2	36
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)	108-85 W @ ORL	16	6-10 (2-4)	8	0	1	0	4	+17	33
Keldon Johnson (SA)	96-87 W @ BKN	15	5-11 (1-2)	6	1	2	0	2	+2	27
Brandon Boston Jr. (NO)	124-132 L vs MEM	7	3-4 (1-1)	0	0	1	0	0	+13	11
PJ Washington (DAL)	98-89 W @ PHX	7	2-5 (2-4)	3	2	0	0	4	+10	20
Reed Sheppard (HOU)	112-113 L vs MIN	0	0-0 (0-0)	0	0	0	0	1	-6	4
Devin Booker (PHX)	89-98 L vs DAL	DNP (Groin)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Robert Dillingham (MIN)	113-112 W @ HOU	DNP (CD)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	105-142 L @ BOS	DNP (Achilles)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Antonio Reeves (NO)	124-132 L vs MEM	DNP (CD)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Jacob Toppin (NYK)	108-85 W @ ORL	DNP (CD)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Tonight in the NBA:

• 3:00 PM (NBA TV): Heat (Adebayo, Herro) @ Hawks
• 6:00 PM (NBA TV): Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace: OUT) @ Hornets (Richards)
• 7:00 PM: Knicks (Toppin, Towns) @ Wizards
• 8:00 PM: Bucks (Livingston) @ Bulls
• 8:30 PM (NBA TV): Suns (Booker: OUT, Washington Jr.) @ Warriors
• 9:00 PM: Pistons @ Nuggets (Murray)
• 9:30 PM: 76ers (Edwards, Maxey) @ Jazz (Tshiebwe: GTD)
• 10:00 PM: Mavericks (Washington) @ Trail Blazers (Sharpe)
• 10:30 PM: Kings (Fox, Lyles, Monk) @ Lakers (Davis: GTD, Vanderbilt: OUT)