BBNBA: Sheppard makes career-high 3s, Davis gets a triple-double, Brooks scores 20

It is the final day of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, and from the looks of most teams’ starting lineups, everyone is ready for it to be over. Playoff teams are ready for the real competition to start, while those on the outside looking in are tanking for a better lottery position. Then there are the Phoenix Suns, who are the only team that will miss both the playoffs and the lottery, as they traded their 2025 pick away in a previous transaction. Despite the standings, KSR still has you covered on last week’s happenings in the league within the league: the BBNBA.

Most playoff teams are resting their stars, while others keep playing them to improve their seeding. Friday’s game between the Lakers and the Rockets is a good example of why sitting the stars might not be a bad idea.

LeBron James, you’ve probably heard of him, suffered a groin injury on a play involving Reed Sheppard, who got only this third career start for Houston. Sheppard tipped a pass intended for James, and LeBron came gimpy after lunging awkwardly for it.

Two years ago, Reed Sheppard was having lunch every day in the cafeteria of North Laurel High School, and now he’s starting in the NBA and tipping balls away from LeBron games. Life comes at you fast.

LeBron James was injured on a play where Reed Sheppard tipped the ball away.pic.twitter.com/WnsBcrWjtI

— Adam Stratton (@AdamStrattonKSR) April 12, 2025

Reed Sheppard knocks down career-high six 3-pointers

Sheppard had 14 points in the aforementioned game against the Lakers, but earlier in the week, Kentucky’s favorite rookie (at least, before the whole Arkansas shirt thing) put up even bigger numbers. Against the Clippers, Sheppard knocked down six 3-pointers, the most of his young career.

My personal favorite of the six came from the corner, as he shot and drained one in the eye of defensive legend Kawai Leonard. Sheppard also had four assists and two steals on the night. It was an impressive showing, considering he was coming off missing several games with a fractured thumb.

Even though Sheppard hasn’t played as much as Kentucky fans had hoped, performances like this remind us of two things. First, if Sheppard had gone to a crappy team which had no choice but to play him maximum minutes, he would probably have put up stats that would put him in contention for Rookie of the Year. The second is how good he would have been if he had stayed in college and played in Mark Pope’s system.

Ah, what might have been.

Anthony Davis nearly messed around and had a quadruple-double

Anthony Davis is trying to make up for lost time in his new Dallas home. The Brow hit a game-winner last week for the Mavs, and on Friday, he nearly pulled off the statistical marvel of a quadruple-double. Davis finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, and seven blocks in the Dallas’s blowout win over the Pelicans. Oh, and he did it all in just 30 minutes on the court.

The last time a player achieved a quadruple-double in the NBA was in 1994, when David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs recorded 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons. Davis came up just three blocks shy of resetting the timeline of that milestone.

Keion Brooks notched a new career high with 20 points

It was less than two weeks ago when Keion Brooks set his career-high with 17 points. But this week, just 10 days after that 17-point night, he set a new personal best with 20. The former Wildcat-turned-Husky is making the most of his minutes for the New Orleans Pelicans, as one of the worst teams in the league gives run to their younger players.

Brooks has now scored in double figures in four straight games.

It is unclear what Brooks’ future in the NBA looks like, whether the Pels will keep him around, or if he will bounce around some more in the G-League. But he’s doing what he can to make that decision tough for the organization.

Other BBNBA Notes

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to close the season out as the front-runner for the MVP race. The NBA usually announces the award in the first round or two of the playoffs, so we will find out soon if SGA will become the first former Kentucky player to win this elite award. His final campaign message was a 42-point outing this week.
• Julius Randle had a monster game on Thursday, scoring 31 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out five assists for Minnesota. It was his first 30-10-5 game as a Wolf.
• He may not have the fanfare of fellow rookie Reed Sheppard or the newly-minted career-highs of teammate Keion Brooks, but Antonio Reeves is quietly doing his thing for New Orleans. The former ‘Cat is averaging 13.5 points per game over his last 11 outings and has made at least one 3-pointer in seven straight games. He is another guy who is making his mark in the NBA, albeit on a wretched team late in the season.