BBNBA: Playoff push continues for Keldon Johnson, Spurs
The door is closing fast on Los Angeles’ playoff hopes. Let’s take a look at how those involved fared on Sunday plus a few notes from our former ‘Cats around the association.
Keldon Johnson leads the Spurs to widen gap in standings
The Spurs may be the unsung story of the whole league this season. Yeah yeah, they probably shouldn’t throw too much of a parade for getting to the 10th seed in the Western Conference. Honestly though, it’s pretty remarkable what Gregg Popovich and San Antonio have been able to do in a year where everyone thought they were strictly rebuilding.
San Antonio picked up another game in the standings on the Lakers with a 113-92 victory over the Trail Blazers. Keldon Johnson led all scorers with 28 points with a 6-12 mark from deep on Sunday. Now in his third season, Johnson has scored at least 20 in six straight games and his 3-point percentage sits above 40% on the season.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Spurs are capable of once the play-in round begins. But ultimately, even if they squander in the first round, having someone like Johnson leading your team into the future ain’t too bad of a spot to be in.
Lakers continue to slide
It’s bleak over at Crypto.com Arena, there’s no other way to spin-zone the situation. The Lakers lost another game on Sunday, moving to 31-47 on the year, killing nearly any hope they have left of qualifying for the play-in game. The Anthony Davis-led Lakers watched Nikola Jokic drop 38 points and 18 rebounds as the Nuggets steamrolled them to a 129-118 final.
Davis did the most that he could, taking 25 shots in the loss. He finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes of action.
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Malik Monk got the start, partly because of LeBron being out. The shooting guard didn’t light up the box score but had a rather efficient night. Monk finished with 11 points and six assists on 5-9 shooting in 33 minutes.
Immanuel Quickley triple-double alert
In a less somber note, we got to see Immanuel Quickley pick up his first career triple-double in the 30 point blowout win over the Magic. The neophyte had a line of 20-10-10 on 8/19 shooting while adding a couple of steals in the process.
Quickley has become a whole new player ever since being given control of the offense whenever he’s in the game. His ability as a playmaker has been crucial and exciting as he learns how to become a viable point guard in the NBA. That’s all allowed him to make a little bit of history for New York.
It’s been a lost season for New York, but at least the Knicks kids have been making noise since being handed the reigns. It hasn’t always led to wins, but at least New Yorkers can convince themselves that they have a young core to build around, and Quickley is staunchly a part of that.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG (3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 113-92 W vs. POR | 28 | 9-20 (6-12) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 19 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 129-118 L vs. DEN | 28 | 11-25 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 35 | -10 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 139-132 W @ HOU | 28 | 12-16 (1-3) | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 2 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 118-88 W @ ORL | 20 | 8-19 (3-10) | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 18 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 121-117 L vs. DET | 19 | 8-10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 21 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 114-109 W @ TOR | 18 | 8-16 (1-5) | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 36 | 7 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 114-109 W @ TOR | 16 | 6-12 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 10 |
| DeMarcus Cousins (DEN) | 129-118 W @ LAL | 14 | 6-9 (0-2) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 129-118 L vs. DEN | 11 | 5-9 (1-3) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 33 | -12 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 112-108 W @ CLE | 11 | 4-11 (2-4) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 5 |
| Trey Lyles (SAC) | 109-90 L vs. GSW | 7 | 2-6 (1-4) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | -19 |
| Rajon Rondo (CLE) | 112-108 L vs. PHI | 6 | 2-3 (2-3) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | -4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel (LAL) | 129-118 L vs. DEN | 4 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | -3 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 139-132 W @ HOU | 2 | 1-1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 30 | 7 |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 118-88 W @ ORL | DNP – Quad | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 121-117 W @ IND | DNP – Finger | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 117-96 L @ OKC | DNP – Rest | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 117-96 W vs. PHX | DNP – Ankle | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Eric Bledsoe (POR) | 113-92 L @ SAS | DNP – Achilles | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 118-88 W @ ORL | DNP – Foot | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 109-90 L vs. GSW | DNP – Hand | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Tonight in the NBA
No games due to the 2022 NCAA Tournament championship.
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