BBNBA: Tyrese Maxey drops 32 on his birthday but gifted a loss from Devin Booker

Devin Booker gave Mark Pope a custom 1996 Kentucky National Championship edition of his signature Book 1 shoes, but the only thing he gifted Tyrese Maxey for his birthday was an L. The two former Kentucky guards battled it out in the desert on the day Maxey turned 24 years old, and although Book did not have his best shooting night, he drove home in a vintage car with bragging rights.

Despite the loss, Maxey put up big numbers once again. The 76ers have handed the keys to the franchise over to their scoring savant and he’s driving it like a 24-year-old in a Ferrari. His 32 points against Phoenix raised his season average to 30.2, which is good for third-best in the League through the first handful of games.

Unfortunately for Philly fans, Maxey’s scoring outbursts have not translated to wins. The Sixers are just 1-5 on the year and vibes are weird with their MVP Joel Embiid embroiled in an investigation around an altercation with a reporter and oft-injured Paul George just now getting around to making his season debut.

As cloudy as their future might be, with Tyrese Maxey playing this well, it’s always sunny in Philadelphia. (Sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll show myself out)

Anthony Davis is a pretty good scorer too

Tyrese Maxey earned today’s BBNBA headline because it was his birthday, but Anthony Davis is not so bad at putting a basketball through a hoop himself. Davis scored 37 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 103-115 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Maxey might be third in the league in scoring, but Davis leads the league at 32.6 points per game. He is also 10th in the NBA in rebounds, averaging 11.6 per contest.

All the talk in Tinseltown this year has surrounded LeBron James and his totally NBA-talent-worthy son, Bronny, but Davis has been quietly putting on the real show on the court. Let’s hope he can stay healthy as the 31-year-old is playing some of the best basketball of his career early in the season.

What is going on with Brandon Boston?

So, is Brandon Boston…good? Like really good? Did he just need a few years to mature his game and escape from under the thumb of a rotten franchise? It sure is starting to look that way.

On Monday, Boston filled up the stat sheet with 20 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals, and a block, in the New Orleans Pelicans’ loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Boston, who averaged around six points per game during his three-year stent with the Clippers is now averaging 16 points per game over his last three games as a Pelican.

Boston’s talent has always been there, but it has typically been weighed down by poor decision-making and a lack of team-oriented play. His improvement will be something to keep an eye on as the year goes on.

Brandon Boston Jr’s role with the Pelicans continues to expand game by game

After two straight 14-point games, he dropped 20 points on 9-15 FG today

And while his offense has been rolling, his growth as a defender is a big reason he’s earned this chance pic.twitter.com/oN5Ni2Igtc

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 5, 2024

Other BBNBA Notes:

I drew the short end of KSR’s BBNBA post stick as every single team played on Monday. There are probably a handful of other former Wildcats I could highlight in long form but you’ll have to settle for the CVS receipt-length box score below. However, here are a few quick hitters:

• Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 rebounds in a loss against the Houston Rockets. I looked up what kind of superlative this was, but it turns out KAT has recorded 19 or more rebounds in a game 20 times in his career, so I guess it was just another night for the All-Star center.

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the Oklahoma City Thunder off to an undefeated 7-0 mark to start the season. On Monday, he had 21 points, nine assists, and six boards in OKC’s blowout win over the Magic.

• Reed Sheppard scored a career-high seven points in the aforementioned game against the Timberwolves. The rookie got up eight shots in 14 minutes on the court and knocked down one of his four 3-point attempts. Here’s to many more career highs to come.

BBNBA Statistics for 11/4/2024

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	P/M	MIN
Anthony Davis (LAL)	103-115 L vs. DET	37	13-23 (0-4)	9	4	0	0	3	-1	39
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	116-118 L vs. PHX	32	12-23 (6-15)	3	2	1	1	0	-9	41
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	111-110 W vs. MIA	28	11-21 (3-6)	6	5	0	0	4	-9	37
Tyler Herro (MIA)	110-111 L vs. SAC	27	9-18 (5-11)	6	3	0	1	4	-6	34
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	102-86 W vs. ORL	21	8-16 (1-3)	6	9	1	0	4	+18	35
Brandon Boston Jr. (NOP) [Two-way]	100-118 L vs. POR	20	9-15 (2-6)	3	4	2	1	2	-5	37
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)	97-109 L vs. HOU	17	7-17 (0-2)	19	0	0	1	3	-26	32
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	110-111 L vs. SAC	16	7-15 (0-1)	9	5	3	4	0	-3	36
Devin Booker (PHX)	118-116 W vs. PHI	13	3-18 (0-6)	3	6	1	1	2	+1	38
Julius Randle (MIN)	114-93 W vs. CHA	13	4-10 (1-4)	4	4	2	0	1	+8	25
Malik Monk (SAC)	111-110 W vs. MIA	12	6-11 (0-3)	1	0	0	0	1	-4	24
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	113-104 L vs. LAC	10	5-8 (0-0)	5	1	0	0	0	-17	28
Johnny Juzang (UTA)	135-126 W vs. CHI	8	3-6 (2-5)	1	2	0	0	0	+1	18
PJ Washington (DAL)	127-134 L vs. IND	8	3-11 (0-5)	11	0	0	3	2	-6	35
Reed Sheppard (HOU)	109-97 W vs. NYK	7	3-8 (1-4)	2	0	0	0	0	-2	14
Trey Lyles (SAC)	111-110 W vs. MIA	5	2-4 (1-3)	1	0	0	0	1	-1	16
Cason Wallace (OKC)	102-86 W vs. ORL	4	2-6 (0-1)	4	1	0	1	1	+7	27
Rob Dillingham (MIN)	114-93 W vs. CHA	4	2-3 (0-0)	0	2	0	0	1	-7	8
Antonio Reeves (NOP)	100-118 L vs. POR	2	0-0 (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Richards (CHA)	97-114 L vs. MIN	DNP-Shoulder
Shaedon Sharpe (POR)	118-100 W vs. NOP	DNP-Shoulder
Immanuel Quickley (TOR)	119-121 L vs. DEN	DNP-Pelvis
Justin Edwards (PHI) [Two-way]	116-118 L vs. PHX	DNP-G League
Chris Livingston (MIL)	114-116 L vs. CLE	DNP-G League
TyTy Washington (PHX) [Two-way]	118-116 W vs. PHI	DNP-G League
Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL)	103-115 L vs. DET	DNP-Foot
Jamal Murray (DEN)	121-119 W vs. TOR	DNP-Concussion
Oscar Tshiebwe (UTA) [Two-way]	135-126 W vs. CHI	DNP-CD
Jacob Toppin (NYK) [Two-way]	97-109 L vs. HOU	DNP-CD
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	134-127 W vs. DAL	DNP-Achilles

Tonight in the NBA

There are no games in the NBA tonight in observance of election day. Instead of watching Devin Booker shoot 3s, you get to watch political talking heads discuss the latest dumps coming out of Maricopa County. The good news? This election is almost over and hopefully, strangers will stop calling me, texting me, and knocking at my door nonstop.