BBNBA: Point Booker, Diallo leads Pistons win, T-Wolves roll

First day back from the midseason recess brings a packed day of NBA recap from our Kentucky guys. Suns and Pistons won behind former ‘Cat guards as Minnesota picked up right where they left off before the break.

Booker assumes point guard role without Chris Paul

The 2022 Phoenix Suns are on pace to win more games than any team other than the Warriors or Bulls since 1973. Maintaining that pace just got a lot tougher. The other day Phoenix announced star point guard Chris Paul will be out for six to eight weeks with a thumb injury.

Just means more weight on Devin Booker’s shoulders. The all-star guard will take a page out of Kellan Grady’s book and move from an off-ball, score-first wing over to the point guard spot with the starter out. The role isn’t brand new to Booker. Before Paul’s arrival, Booker served as the Suns primary point guard in 2019 and has averaged more than four assists a game every year since 2018. He’s more than comfortable leading an offense.

Last night was a great start for D-Book the PG. He scored his regular 25 points and shot 56% from the field but also racked up 12 assists and, most impressive, stole the ball six times on defense. Who needs CP3? Booker passed and played defense like the 6-foot “point God” and still scored like he normally does.

Tonight, Book became the first Sun in franchise history with with 25+ PTS, 12+ ASTS, 6+ STLS and 5+ REBS in a game. (h/t @Stathead) pic.twitter.com/gyqUnmCwLb

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 25, 2022

Of course, playing the Thunder always makes performing well much easier. I think there’s a saying, a rising tide lifts all boats? A poor opponent boosts all stats, we’ll say.

However, for the lowly Thunder, Shai Gilegous-Alexander played in his first game since January and hardly missed a beat. SGA accounted for 32 points and five assists while the other four starters combined for just 29. Classic OKC.

Diallo leads Pistons over Cavs

Detroit held serve at home against the playoff-bound Cavaliers in a narrow 106-103 win. Their leading scorer? Hamidou Diallo, who came off the bench, made three threes and shot 7-11 overall from the field and led all Pistons in the scoring column with 21. He also hit a loooong buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter.

🚨 Diallo beats the buzzer 🚨 pic.twitter.com/l7krKHhjkm

— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 25, 2022

A rousing night for Hami and the 14-45 Pistons. In the few weeks before the All-Star break and obviously yesterday, Diallo has picked up his production. In eight games since February 14th, Diallo is averaging 15 points and 7.3 rebounds a night while leading the team in minutes off the bench.

Frankly, Diallo is playing major minutes and scoring like a core rotation guy for the last three months. He missed a half-dozen games over the first month+ of the 2022 season but since December 8th he hasn’t missed a game and is fourth on Detroit in scoring per game at 13.5 points. And he’s shooting a tick under 50% from the field, the best mark of any Pistons wing or guard.

If you followed our coverage of last season, you probably remember Diallo was traded mid-year from the Thunder after serving as their second-leading scorer behind SGA in a move that angered me royally. But, Diallo is once again settling in nicely and finding ways to earn minutes. Hopefully he has some stability in Detroit.

Big win in M-I-N!

Minnesota entered the All-Star break as hot as any team in the NBA aside from Phoenix. The week off didn’t mess with the mojo. Memphis came to town and went down against the T-Wolves as D’Angelo Russell took his turn in the spotlight by scoring 37 point while Anthony Edwards played horribly and scored just five points on 1-11 shooting.

Of course, there’s Karl-Anthony Towns. He finished with a typical KAT night: 22 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and a few makes from beyond the arc. See, Edwards and Russell are liable to score 37 or shoot 1-11. Their performances can vary greatly from game to game, whereas Towns is robotic in his nightly production of 20-point double-doubles. He’s the anchor down low.

KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS THROWS IT DOWN 😳 pic.twitter.com/SOY7zGgUlH

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 25, 2022

But so is Jarred Vanderbilt. He’s top-20 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage and hauled in 12 boards last night. While the three-headed Russell-Towns-Edwards trio cuts teams apart on offense, Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley fill in to play defense and hustle. Gives the lineup great balance across the board.

Kings new duo stars, but team loses

I lamented when the Sabonis trade occurred that any hopes to salvage this season would need to happen quickly. Well, after winning the first two games following Sabonis’ arrival, Sacramento dropped three straight, including last night’s 128-110 loss at home against the Nuggets.

You can’t point to Domantas Sabonis or De’Aaron Fox as the problem. Fox shot 50% from the field and scored 20 while Sabonis added 33 to give them a combined 53 points. Nearly half of Sacramento’s entire offensive output. Elsewhere, the Kings just couldn’t match Will Barton and Nikola Jokic, who themselves combined for 56.

At 22-39, the Kings are now SEVENTEEN games back of .500 with about 20 games to go. Play-in hopes are still very much alive given the competition for the final spot, but SAC needs to start winning games before it’s too late.

Statistics

Player	Result	Points	FG(3PA)	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Minutes	+/-
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	124-104 L vs. PHO	32	13-22 (1-5)	2	5	0	0	6	35	-16
Devin Booker (PHO)	124-104 W @ OKC	25	9-16 (1-4)	5	12	6	0	4	38	+26
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	119-114 W vs. MEM	22	9-19 (2-4)	11	3	0	3	0	28	-4
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	128-110 L vs. DEN	20	9-18 (1-3)	1	4	0	2	4	36	-18
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	106-103 W vs. CLE	21	7-11 (3-3)	6	1	2	0	2	21	+9
Rajón Rondo (CLE)	106-103 L @ DET	12	5-8 (2-5)	2	9	0	0	6	26	-15
Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN)	119-114 W vs. MEM	7	3-5 (0-0)	12	0	2	0	0	28	-2
Kevin Knox II (ATL)	112-108 L @ CHI	2	1-1 (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	6	-4

Today in the NBA

7:00 p.m. Raptors @ Hornets (Washington, Richards)

7:00 p.m. Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander) @ Pacers (Jackson)

7:00 p.m. Rockets @ Magic

7:00 p.m. Spurs (Johnson) @ Wizards

7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Heat (Herro, Adebayo) @ Knicks (Randle, Noel, Quickley)

8:00 p.m. 76ers (Maxey, Cauley-Stein) @ Timberwolves (Towns, Vanderbilt)

9:00 p.m. Pelicans @ Suns (Booker)

10:00 p.m. (ESPN) Clippers (Boston) @ Lakers (Davis, Monk)