BBNBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops 30+ for 45th time this season
Good luck trying to stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from pouring in buckets of points.
During Tuesday night’s NBA action, SGA scored 32 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 45th time this season he’s hit at least 30 points in a single game. Unfortunately, it came in a losing effort, 136-125, to the defending champion Golden State Warriors, which overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to lock up the win. Steph Curry led the way with 34 points for the Warriors while Jordan Poole wasn’t far behind with 30 of his own for the Warriors.
Along with his BBNBA-high 32 points, Gilgeous-Alexander also chipped in five rebounds and seven assists in 33 minutes played. He scored 21 of his points in the first half for OKC. Since the All-Star break in mid-February, SGA has yet to score under 27 points in any of his 14 appearances.
The Thunder (38-42), which is barely hanging onto the final Play-In spot over the Dallas Mavericks by a half-game, has now dropped three of its last five outings. OKC has two more games left in the regular season to keep its playoff spot: at Utah on Thursday before closing things out at home against Memphis on Sunday. Win both, and Gilgeous-Alexander is headed to the postseason.
Fox, Kings clinch Pacific Divison
The Sacramento Kings continue to rid itself of the franchise’s last 20 years of losing basketball. Led by 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals by De’Aaron Fox, the Kings beat out the New Orleans Pelicans 121-103, clinching the Pacific Division title for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Sacramento, now 48-31 on the season and third in the Western Conference, has already clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
Fox wasn’t alone in the historic night, as his former Kentucky teammate, Malik Monk, contributed 17 points, two rebounds, and three assists on 6-9 shooting (2-5 from deep) in 23 minutes played. Trey Lyles saw 12 minutes for the Kings but missed all four of his shot attempts to close with zero points and three rebounds. Domantas Sabonis posted a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists for Sacramento.
Davis, Lakers survive Jazz comeback
The Los Angeles Lakers did everything it could to lose on the road to the Utah Jazz, but LeBron James came in late to save the day and push the Lakers into contention for a top-six seed. Despite trailing by 10 points with 1:43 left in regulation, the Jazz fought back to force overtime. However, James reached 37 points on the night by hitting the go-ahead shot at the rim with 27 seconds to go in the extra period.
Anthony Davis didn’t have his best shooting night for LA, going 7-16 overall from the floor and 7-12 from the free-throw line, but he still managed to post 21 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks in a team-high 42 minutes of action. The former Wildcat hasn’t played in a back-to-back since November, and his status for Wednesday’s critical showdown on ESPN with the LA Clippers is still up in the air.
Davis was aided by six points and two rebounds in 18 minutes from Jarred Vanderbilt while Wenyen Gabriel chipped in two points and five rebounds in a short 10-minute stint. Los Angeles is now 41-38 on the season, which is good for the seven-seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers have three more games left in the regular season to lift itself out of the Play-In and into a guaranteed playoff spot.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Shedeur Sanders
Not selected in NFL Draft 1st round
- 2New
Picks by conference
SEC, Big Ten dominate NFL Draft
- 3
Joel Klatt calls out
'Trash' Shedeur Sanders narrative
- 4
10 Best Available Players
After NFL Draft 1st Round
- 5Hot
ESPN roasted
For Shedeur Sanders empty couch
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.
Heat, Wolves pick up important wins
With the regular season quickly winding down, playoff positioning is the name of the game. For the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat — two teams in the middle of the Play-In race — this final week is important to playoff seeding.
Starting with Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns helped power the Wolves to a 107-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. KAT went for 22 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists on 8-15 shooting, including a 1-5 mark from three-point range. In what was just his sixth outing back after missing 51 games in a row due to a strained calf, Towns played nearly 31 minutes as he continues to ramp up back to pre-injury form. The win also ended the Wolves’ three-game losing skid.
Minnesota is back to .500 at 40-40 with just two games to go on the schedule. The likelihood of falling out of the playoff picture entirely isn’t high, but it’s still possible. Winning one of the last two games would ensure a spot in the Play-In. The Wolves are just 1.5 games back of the sixth seed, so there is still a possibility of sneaking into the top six.
As for the Heat, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro both added 18 points in a 118-105 win over the Detroit Pistons, which was without Hamidou Diallo due to an ankle injury. Adebayo shot 6-10 from the floor to reach his point total, adding four rebounds, two assists, and two steals to his stat line in 31 minutes. Meanwhile, Herro shot 7-16 overall (2-7 from downtown) to go along with five rebounds and two assists. Herro also made both of his free throw attempts, extending his consecutive makes streak at the line to 32, one shy of his career-best from 2020.
Jimmy Butler led the way for Miami, scoring 18 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. Detroit has now lost 10 games in a row and 21 of its last 22 outings.
Other BBNBA notes
- Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns had zero problems dismantling the Keldon Johnson-less San Antonio Spurs, earning a 115-94 victory. Booker went for 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals on 9-21 shooting (2-10 from distance). Johnson was sidelined with a foot injury for the Spurs, which hold the NBA’s third-worst record.
- Shield your eyes, BBN. Shaedon Sharpe is still doing good things for the tanking Portland Trail Blazers. He registered 20 points (8-18 FG; 2-8 3PT), eight rebounds, and six assists in 29 minutes during the Blazers’ 119-109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
- Nick Richards recorded his 14th double-double of the season in the Charlotte Hornets’ 120-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors, totaling 18 points and 11 rebounds on 7-9 shooting in 27 minutes as a starter. Richards has now started nine of the last 10 games he’s appeared in. Meanwhile, PJ Washington did not play for the Hornets as he recovers from a foot injury.
- Jamal Murray left in the second quarter of the Denver Nuggets’ demoralizing 124-103 loss to the Houston Rockets. Murray suffered a right thumb sprain, putting up two points and four assists before exiting.
- Tyrese Maxey struggled in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 103-101 win over the Boston Celtics, finishing with just five points and four rebounds in 39 minutes played. His teammate, Joel Embiid, the current MVP frontrunner, more than made up for it though by dropping 52 points — his third 50-plus scoring game of the season.
4/4/23 statistics
| Player | Score | PTS | FG (3PT) | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | +/- | MIN |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 125-136 L @ GSW | 32 | 11-17 (2-4) | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -9 | 33 |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 115-94 W vs. SAS | 27 | 9-21 (2-10) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 33 |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 121-103 W @ NOP | 23 | 10-23 (2-6) | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 29 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 107-102 W @ BKN | 22 | 8-15 (1-3) | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 31 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 135-133 (OT) W @ UTA | 21 | 7-16 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 42 |
| Shaedon Sharpe (POR) | 109-119 L @ MEM | 20 | 8-18 (2-8) | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -12 | 29 |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 100-120 L vs. TOR | 18 | 7-9 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 27 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 118-105 W @ DET | 18 | 6-10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 31 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 118-105 W @ DET | 18 | 7-16 (2-7) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 37 |
| Malik Monk (SAC) | 121-103 W @ NOP | 17 | 6-9 (2-5) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| Kevin Knox (POR) | 109-119 L @ MEM | 6 | 2-10 (1-4) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -11 | 25 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL) | 135-133 (OT) W @ UTA | 6 | 2-4 (2-4) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 103-101 W vs. BOS | 5 | 2-8 (1-4) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 39 |
| Jamal Murray (DEN) | 103-124 L @ HOU | 2 | 1-2 (0-1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| Wenyen Gabriel (LAL) | 135-133 (OT) W @ UTA | 2 | 1-1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -4 | 10 |
| Trey Lyles (SAC) | 121-103 W @ NOP | 0 | 0-4 (0-4) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 12 |
| Olivier Sarr (OKC) | 125-136 L @ GSW | 0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TyTy Washington (HOU) | 124-103 W vs. DEN | DNP-G League | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| PJ Washington (CHA) | 100-120 L vs. TOR | DNP-Foot | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 94-115 L @ PHX | DNP-Foot | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 105-118 L vs. MIA | DNP-Ankle | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tonight in the NBA
7:00: Nets @ Pistons (Diallo)
7:00: Knicks (Quickley, Randle: out) @ Pacers (Jackson)
7:30: Wizards @ Hawks
7:30: Raptors @ Celtics
7:30 (ESPN): Bulls @ Bucks
8:00: Grizzlies @ Pelicans
8:30: Kings (Fox, Lyles, Monk) @ Mavericks
10:00 (ESPN): Lakers (Davis, Gabriel, Vanderbilt) @ Clippers (Boston)
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard