BBNBA: Malik Monk boosts Lakers, Julius Randle goes for 36
College basketball rightfully has the attention of the hoops world, so allow me to update you on the happenings of the NBA from Friday night. We saw spectacular performances from LeBron James and Julius Randle while Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo led a Heat win over Cleveland. Let’s dive in.
Monk and LeBron lead Lakers past Wizards
The Los Angeles Lakers finally found a winning recipe: have LeBron James score 50 points a night. For the second time in the last week, LeBron recorded a 50-point game in a win for LA. He dropped 56 against the Warriors last Saturday and finished with 50 points vs. the Wizards Friday night. Of course, in LA’s two games in between, LeBron sat in one of them and scored just 23 in the other, resulting in two losses.
The King is getting very little contributions from his court, though — aside from Malik Monk. He was the only other Laker to reach 20 points on Friday night, with 21 points on 8-12 shooting and five made 3-pointers. The boy from Bentonville is stroking it from deep lately. So far in March, Monk is averaging 16.5 points a game and shooting 45.2% from deep.
Randle GREAT, Knicks BAD
What do the Kings and Knicks have in common? Wasting remarkable performances from Kentucky alums with terrible losses!
Friday in Memphis, Randle accumulated 36 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks. He’s the only Knick to record numbers of that prestige in a single game since Patrick Ewing 32 years ago. Yet New York managed to lose to the Grizzlies by four, 118-114.
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I wrote extensively about the Knicks 2021-22 issues and why they took such a big step back from last season. Randle’s decrease in production was part of it, but the bigger problem was the personnel turnover on the periphery of the rotation. Over the past few weeks, Randle has returned to 2020-21 form and the Knicks have little momentum to show for it. Clearly, he wasn’t the only problem in Madison Square Garden.
Herro, Adebayo combine for 52 in win over Cavs
Another day, another Heat victory, and two more spectacular performances from Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Bam was the big star in South Beach on Friday night. He converted 11 of 16 shots for 30 points and also hauled in 17 rebounds — against one of the longest, most-athletic frontcourts in the NBA. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley were no match for Bam.
Herro came off the bench for 22 points in 33 minutes of action. Since missing a pair of games in late February, Herro has returned to score 20+ in eight of nine games. For as up-and-down as his sophomore season was with Miami, The Bucket is the East one-seed’s most consistent scorer throughout the season.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG(3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 118-114 L @ MEM | 36 | 11-27 (3-6) | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 40 | +5 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 117-105 W vs. CLE | 30 | 11-16 (0-0) | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 32 | +12 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 117-105 W vs. CLE | 22 | 8-15 (2-4) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | +2 |
| Devin Booker (PHO) | 117-112 L vs. TOR | 22 | 9-18 (3-9) | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 36 | -21 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 122-109 W vs. WAS | 21 | 8-12 (5-7) | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | +17 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 118-110 L @ ORL | 21 | 6-14 (1-5) | 13 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 33 | +2 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 104-102 W vs. UTA | 13 | 5-15 (1-7) | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | +8 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 118-114 L @ MEM | 11 | 3-8 (1-1) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 30 | -14 |
| PJ Washington (CHA) | 142-120 W @ NOP | 6 | 2-5 (2-4) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | +14 |
| Rajón Rondo (CLE) | 117-105 L @ MIA | 3 | 1-2 (1-1) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | -8 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 118-110 L @ ORL | 2 | 1-3 (0-0) | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | -6 |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 112-106 L @ ATL | 2 | 1-3 (0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | +0 |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 142-120 W @ NOP | 0 | 0-0 (0-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -5 |
| Kevin Knox (ATL) | 112-106 W vs. LAC | DNP – Knee | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 114-103 L @ BOS | DNP – Finger | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 118-114 L @ MEM | DNP – Plantar Fasciitis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
8:00 p.m. Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt) @ Heat (Adebayo, Herro)
8:00 p.m. Cavaliers (Rondo) @ Bulls
8:00 p.m. Pacers (Jackson) @ Spurs (Johnson)
8:30 p.m. (ABC) Bucks @ Warriors
9:00 p.m. Raptors @ Nuggets (Cousins, Murray*)
9:00 p.m. Kings (Fox) @ Jazz
10:00 p.m. Wizards @ Trail Blazers
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