BBNBA: Maxey scores 16, Knicks end Bulls undefeated start

nba-maxey-scores-16-and-knicks-end-bulls-undefeated-start — (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

A light night of NBA hoops to accompany a Thursday Night NFL game that was finally entertaining. Let’s get right into it.

Maxey can’t miss

Tyrese Maxey only took eight shots in Philadelphia’s win over the Pistons, but he scored twice as many points, netting 16 on 6-8 FG shooting, including 2-2 from three and at the free-throw line.

Through five NBA games as a starter in Ben Simmons’ absence, Maxey is averaging 14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 46% from the field. His three-point stroke is only converting at 29.4% and he’ll have to get that up if he wants his role extended, but in the other aspects of the game, Maxey is showing progress in his sophomore season.

Knicks squeak by Bulls to tie for first in the East

The Chicago Bulls were the last remaining undefeated Eastern Conference team heading into last night’s slate of games. Then they ran into the New York Knicks.

Julius Randle was far from his best, making just three of 11 field goals and scoring only 13 points, but his off night on the scoreboard didn’t stop him from hitting the glass and finding open teammates. Randle pulled down 16 rebounds and tallied nine assists to help push New York over the top as Kemba Walker had another terrific shooting performance from deep.

Immanuel Quickley, however, did not. IQ hasn’t gotten off on the right foot in his second NBA season, averaging 5.6 points and shooting 5-20 on three-point attempts so far. Last night was no different as Quickley missed all four of his threes and went just 1-7 overall to score just two points. Hopefully he snaps out of his slump soon.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Spurs go up 25-5 and still lose

In what was quite the bizarre game, San Antonio ran up a 25-5 lead near the end of the first quarter to blitz a befuddled Jason Kidd and his Dallas Mavericks. Then, Kidd deployed his bench unit to clean up the mess, led by the defensive wizardry of Willie Cauley-Stein.

Cauley-Stein and the gang made quick work of the 20-point deficit and a WCS layup cut it to 10 as the first quarter came to a close. The Mavs maintained their defensive dominance throughout the first portion of the second quarter as they were able to catch all the way up the Spurs and take the lead halfway through the second.

From then, it was a fairly normal back-and-forth NBA game between two Texas titans. Dallas eventually pulled away late, 104-99, to move to 3-1, but not without some struggles early on.

They can thank Willie and the rest of their bench for the victory. No Maverick starter had a higher plus-minus than any of the bench players, who all posted +11 or higher, while the starting group only had one dude in the positive.