BBNBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlines busy night in the Association
Monday night sure was a busy one in the National Basketball Association, which means it was an equally busy night for former Kentucky Wildcats.
While the current ‘Cats were cruising past Howard 95-63 in Rupp Arena, a total of 19 one-time Kentucky players saw on-court playing time as all 30 NBA franchises were in action. The league packed the schedule on Monday to promote voting in the elections on Tuesday (even though most NBA games don’t typically start until 7:00 p.m. EST, but I digress). Of the 19 former Wildcats who played on Monday night, nine of them finished with at least 20 points, including three outings of 30 or more.
Leading the way once again was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who dropped a BBNBA-high 33 points on 13-23 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in 38 minutes. Unfortunately, the Thunder fell 112-10 to the Detroit Pistons, but SGA managed to notch his sixth 30-plus point performance of the season in just nine games played.
On the Pistons’ sideline, Hamidou Diallo was the only one of Detroit’s three UK players who earned playing time. Diallo registered 11 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes while Nerlens Noel and Kevin Knox both received DNP-CDs.
Randle tops KAT in battle of the bigs
Over in Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns and his Timberwolves hosted Julius Randle and the New York Knicks, but it was the road team that left town with a win.
Randle came up just shy of SGA’s 33 points, adding 31 of his own for the Knicks on 9-16 shooting, including an 8-13 mark from distance. Five of Randle’s 3-pointers came in the first quarter as he also added eight rebounds and three assists to his final stat line. His teammate, Immanuel Quickley, went for nine points, four rebounds, and two steals in just 16 minutes of action, finishing with a plus/minus of +15.
Meanwhile, Towns was ultra-efficient in spite of the loss. The 7-footer shot 9-12 from the field for a total of 25 points. He also added 13 rebounds, seven assists, and a pair of steals for the Wolves, which dropped to 5-6 on the season with the loss and has its star players venting frustrations through postgame interviews — KAT chief among them.
The vibes in Minny aren’t great right now, but it’s still very early in the season.
Keldon Johson shines, but Jamal Murray picks up the W
Keldon Johnson continues to make an emphatic early-season case as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. The San Antonio Spurs, currently 5-6 on the year, were widely expected to tank as quickly as possible for better draft odds. However, thanks to Johnson, the Spurs are playing competent basketball, even if the surrounding pieces will likely fall off sooner rather than later. Let’s just hope Johnson isn’t one of them.
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On Monday in a 115-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Johnson exploded for his second 30-burger of the season, finishing with an even 30 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and six turnovers. He shot 12-20 from the floor and 5-11 from distance, bringing his seasonal percentages to 47.7 and 39.1 in those categories, respectively.
Playing on the other side of the court from Johnson was Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, who recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists in 31 minutes of play. It was just the ninth game back for Murray this season after he sat out the previous 18 months recovering from an ACL injury.
Hornets, Kings both lose despite big games from former ‘Cats
Both the Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings — two of the league’s most laughable franchises over the last two decades — lost very winnable games on Monday night. The Hornets fell at home to the Washinton Wizards by eight while the Kings lost by three on the road to the Golden State Warriors. That being said, the losing teams wouldn’t have even been in the game if not for some former ‘Cats.
De’Aaron Fox popped off for 27 points against the Warriors, shooting 8-17 from the field while chipping in six dimes. His Sacramento (and former Kentucky) teammate, Malik Monk, chucked up an additional 24 points on 7-16 shooting, including a 3-8 mark from long range. Monk also added six rebounds and four assists in his 30 minutes. The Kings’ social media account was even hyping up the former UK backcourt after Fox and Monk connected on four straight 3-pointers. Trey Lyles also added two points in four minutes off the Sacramento bench.
On the side of the country, the Hornets saw PJ Washington have himself another big scoring night as the fourth-year forward (who is playing for a contract extension in the summer) went for 25 points, four rebounds, and three steals in 30 minutes. Nick Richards continues to find the floor for Charlotte too as a backup big man. He added eight points and six rebounds in 23 minutes against the Wizards.
Other BBNBA notes
- Behind a game-winning triple from Josh Hart in the corner, the Portland Trail Blazers downed the Miami Heat 110-107 at the buzzer. Shaedon Sharpe only played 12 minutes for the Blazers, registering five points (2-2 shooting) and one rebound. On the losing end of the game, Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 8-14 shooting for Miami. His Heat teammate, Tyler Herro, sat out with an ankle injury.
- Tyrese Maxey had the worst outing of his season thus far for the Philadelphia 76ers, shooting just 4-18 from the field (0-4 from deep) for 11 points, although it did come in a 12-point win over the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker was steady once again for Phoenix, contributing 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
- Anthony Davis was excellent for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Utah Jazz, dropping 29 points and four rebounds on 11-18 shooting, however, it came in a demoralizing 139-116 loss. Wenyen Gabriel received his first start of the season for LA, semi-stuffing the stat sheet with four points, four rebounds, two assists, and one block. The Lakers dropped to 2-8 on the season. Jazz forward Jarred Vanderbilt was sidelined with an adductor injury.
- Isaiah Jackson posted four points, five rebounds, and two assists in 17 minutes off the bench for the Indiana Pacers, which beat the New Orleans Pelicans 129-127.
11/7/2022 Statistics
| Player | Score | PTS | FG (3PT) | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | +/- | MIN |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 112-103 L @ DET | 33 | 13-23 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | -8 | 38 |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 120-107 W @ MIN | 31 | 9-16 (8-13) | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 32 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 115-109 L vs. DEN | 30 | 12-20 (5-11) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -17 | 35 |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 139-116 L @ UTA | 29 | 11-18 (1-1) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 29 |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 116-113 L @ GSW | 28 | 8-17 (2-5) | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 |
| Devin Booker (PHX) | 100-88 L @ PHI | 28 | 8-16 (1-1) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 43 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 120-107 L vs. NYK | 25 | 9-12 (1-3) | 13 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -9 | 38 |
| PJ Washington (CHA) | 108-100 L vs. WAS | 25 | 11-18 (2-6) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -27 | 30 |
| Malik Monk (SAC) | 116-113 L @ GSW | 24 | 7-16 (3-8) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 |
| Jamal Murray (DEN) | 115-109 W @ SAS | 19 | 9-17 (0-3) | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 31 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 110-107 L vs. POR | 16 | 8-14 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 33 |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 112-103 W vs. OKC | 11 | 4-6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -10 | 18 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 100-88 W vs. PHX | 11 | 4-18 (0-4) | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 40 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 120-107 W @ MIN | 9 | 3-6 (1-2) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 16 |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 108-100 L vs. WAS | 8 | 4-6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -3 | 23 |
| Shaedon Sharpe (POR) | 110-107 W @ MIA | 5 | 2-2 (1-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 12 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 129-122 W vs. NOP | 4 | 1-2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 17 |
| Wenyen Gabriel (LAL) | 139-116 L @ UTA | 4 | 2-3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -9 | 23 |
| Trey Lyles (SAC) | 116-113 L @ GSW | 2 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Olivier Sarr (POR) | 110-107 W @ MIA | DNP-Wrist | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| John Wall (LAC) | 119-117 W vs. CLE | DNP-Rest | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| TyTy Washington (HOU) | 134-127 W @ ORL | DNP-CD | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kevin Knox (DET) | 112-103 W vs. OKC | DNP-CD | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nerlens Noel (DET) | 112-103 W vs. OKC | DNP-CD | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 119-117 W vs. CLE | DNP-CD | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 110-107 L vs. POR | DNP-Ankle | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (UTA) | 139-116 W vs. LAL | DNP-Adductor | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tonight in the NBA
No games! Hopefully you went out and voted today!
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