BBNBA: PJ Washington scores season-high 28, but Mavs fall to Kings

Dallas Mavericks fans love them some PJ Washington as of late. The former Wildcat is coming off a one-game suspension due to escalating an altercation with Jusuf Nurkic of the Suns on Friday. Washington carried over that same intensity into his first game back, dropping 19 points in the first quarter against the Kings. Sacramento, as a team, only scored 20 points in the first, and trailed by 18 points.

But alas, the Kings have De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Trey Lyles.

In a methodical comeback, the trio of former ‘Cats chipped away at the PJ Washington-induced early lead and eventually came out with a 110-100 win. Fox (33), Monk (14), and Lyles (14) combined for 61 points in the win.

Four out of five starters were out for Dallas, so it was PJ Washington who bore the brunt of his team’s scoring responsibility. He finished with a season-high 28 points. Even though that wasn’t enough to get by the Sacramento Kings, it was enough for Mavericks Twitter to express their unbridled adulation for the mean-mugging power forward out of Kentucky.

Other BBNBA Notes

• Two former Kentucky guards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Maxey, won the NBA Player of the Week award for their respective conferences last week. Maxey kept up the momentum, scoring 23 points in the Sixers’ win over Portland.

• Despite not hitting a 3 all night, Karl Anthony Towns put up monster numbers in the Knicks’ route of the lowly Washington Wizards. He had 32 points, 13 rebounds, and an impressive +21 in the plus/minus column. Jacob Toppin had a career-high two assists in mop-up time for the Knickerbockers.

• Jamal Murray joined KAT with a double-double on Monday, scoring 20 points and dishing out 10 assists, as the Nuggets took down the Utah Jazz.

BBNBA Statistics for 12/30/2024

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	P/M	MIN
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	110-100 W vs. DAL	33	13-23 (3-7)	6	6	1	0	1	+17	35
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)	126-106 W vs. WAS	32	13-19 (0-3)	13	1	1	0	1	+21	32
PJ Washington (DAL)	100-110 L vs. SAC	28	8-20 (4-9)	4	1	1	2	2	0	38
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	125-103 W vs. POR	23	7-13 (3-7)	1	3	1	0	4	+14	36
Jamal Murray (DEN)	132-121 W vs. UTA	20	7-17 (2-6)	4	10	2	1	3	-9	37
Johnny Juzang (UTA)	121-132 L vs. DEN	14	5-9 (2-5)	4	1	0	0	0	+13	23
Malik Monk (SAC)	110-100 W vs. DAL	14	4-14 (1-6)	7	6	1	0	6	+7	36
Trey Lyles (SAC)	110-100 W vs. DAL	14	5-9 (3-6)	4	1	1	0	0	+31	22
Shaedon Sharpe (POR)	103-125 L vs. PHI	12	5-14 (1-8)	1	1	0	0	3	-25	34
Brandon Boston Jr. (NOP) [Two-way]	113-116 L vs. LAC	3	1-3 (1-3)	1	0	0	0	0	-5	13
Nick Richards (CHA)	108-115 L vs. CHI	2	1-2 (0-0)	2	0	0	2	2	-13	13
Jacob Toppin (NYK) [Two-way]	126-106 W vs. WAS	0	0-0 (0-0)	1	2	0	0	0	+4	2
Justin Edwards (PHI) [Two-way]	125-103 W vs. POR	DNP-G League
Oscar Tshiebwe (UTA) [Two-way]	121-132 L vs. DEN	DNP-G League
Antonio Reeves (NOP)	113-116 L vs. LAC	DNP-CD

Tonight in the NBA

3:00 | Bucks (Livingston) @ Pacers (Jackson: out)
3:00 | Raptors (Quickley) @ Celtics
7:00 | Clippers @ Spurs (Johnson)
8:00 | Timberwolves (Randle, Dillingham) @ Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace)
9:00 | Grizzlies @ Suns (Booker)
9:00 | Cavaliers @ Lakers (Davis, Vanderbilt: out)