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BBNBA: Murray's career-high, KAT's huge scoring week, and AD's injury

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan•about 9 hours•

ZGeogheganKSR

Jamal Murray - Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Jamal Murray - Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

NBA All-Star Weekend is almost here. Today (Thursday, Feb. 13) is actually the final day of regular season games before the league takes its traditional midseason, six-day break. The actual All-Star Game in San Francisco is set for this Sunday with other festivities like the 3-Point/Dunk Contest and Rising Stars event happening in the days prior.

Plenty has happened with the NBA’s many former Kentucky players since the week began. We could — once again — ramble on and on about how great Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be (he has three straight games with at least 30 points, by the way) but we’ll turn our attention elsewhere for today’s BBNBA update.

Let’s dive right in.

Murray explodes for 55, KAT drops back-to-back 40 burgers

A pair of Wildcats have produced huge scoring games this week. Karl-Anthony Towns got the ball rolling with a 40-point game on Tuesday, which he followed up with 44 points Wednesday night. Both came in wins for the New York Knicks. He added 12 rebounds, five assists, and three steals on 14-23 shooting on Tuesday against the Pacers before adding 10 rebounds, three rebounds, and two steals in an overtime win the next night out against the Hawks.

Towns is the fifth Knick ever to score 40 or more in consecutive games. It was also the first time doing so in his career. The 2025 All-Star starter was throwing no-look passes on the fastbreak against the Pacers like he was Magic freaking Johnson.

But Jamal Murray‘s performance on Wednesday was arguably better than both of KAT’s huge games. Murray exploded for a career-high 55 points in the Denver Nuggets’ 132-121 win over the Trail Blazers, Denver’s eighth straight win. The former Wildcat shot 20-36 from the field (7-15 3PT) while adding five assists, four rebounds, and two steals in his 42 minutes of action. His 55 points are the third-most in franchise history.

Anthony Davis will be out for a while

Anthony Davis played just one game for the Dallas Mavericks after being swapped with Luka Doncic for the Los Angeles Lakers. Actually, he didn’t even get to play a full game with his new team before a non-contact injury knocked him out of the contest. That happened on Sunday in a game he in which had 26 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists before going down.

Later that night, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Davis will miss “multiple weeks” due to a left adductor strain, which could stretch into a full month.

Dallas fans are understandably not happy with this development. This injury came shortly after Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont called out Doncic’s work ethic. Availability was a reported problem with Doncic. Now Dallas will not have a core piece for a long stretch just one game into his tenure. Front office and ownership folks have been getting booed relentlessly at home games. Things are not good in Dallas.

Davis’ teammate, Kyrie Irving, will replace him in the 2025 All-Star Game this Sunday.

More minutes for Rob Dillingham

After a slow start to his rookie season, Rob Dillingham continues to make his presence known as of late for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He dropped 13 points, three assists, and two rebounds in 22 minutes on 5-14 shooting on Monday in a loss to the Cavaliers. He only had two points on Wednesday night but still saw 12 minutes of action.

Over his last 15 games (including his lone start of the season), Dillingham is averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 assists in 16.4 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 45.9/35/50. Let Rob Cook.

De’Aaron Fox thriving in San Antonio

The trade from Sacramento to San Antonio has been working out quite well for De’Aaron Fox, who is now playing alongside the future face of the NBA in Victor Wembanyama. Fox has been excellent in two games this week for the Spurs. He went for 30 points, six assists, and four rebounds in a win on Monday, which he followed up with 23 points, five assists, and three rebounds in a loss on Wednesday. Fox has now played five games (2-3 record) with the Spurs since the trade.

Making the postseason will still be a challenge for San Antonio. The franchise is 23-29 and three full games behind the 10th seed — the final Play-In spot. But the move to add Fox is looking like the right one so far.

Other BBNBA notes

  • Miami Heat All-Star guard Tyler Herro will participate in the NBA’s 3-Point Contest for the second time in his career. He joins a group that includes Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Cade Cummingham (Pistons), Darius Garland (Cavaliers), Buddy Hield (Warriors), Cameron Johnson (Nets), and Norman Powell (Clippers). Herro is making a career-best 3.8 3-pointers per game this season at a 38.8 percent clip. All-Star Weekend runs from Feb. 14-16. The 3-Point Contest is on Saturday.
  • Justin Edwards, who was undrafted out of UK, has signed a full-time deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Edwards will play on a standard NBA contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. According to Keith Pompey, the Sixers will have a team option for next season, and they are exploring a long-term deal with the small forward. He’s averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game this season on shooting splits of 46.4/36.4/63.2.
  • New Orleans Pelicans rookie Keion Brooks scored his first-ever NBA points on Monday, finishing with four points, three rebounds, and one assist in seven minutes. A 36-point loss to the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder allowed Brooks some garbage minutes down the stretch. It was just the second NBA game for Brooks, who was undrafted and has spent all season in the G League.

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2025-02-13