BBNBA: Tyrese Maxey meets Harden, SGA drops 36
Absolutely loaded night of NBA action on Friday. SIX former ‘Cats scored 25 points or more as Tyrese Maxey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Miami Heat all picked up big wins. Let’s talk about it.
Maxey plays great in Harden’s debut
There was worry that James Harden’s arrival in Philadelphia would lead to a sharp decrease in Tyrese Maxey’s role after a terrific start to his sophomore season. If one game is any indication, Maxey is only going to look better sharing the backcourt with a former MVP.
In his first game in a Sixers jersey, Harden helped lead Philly to a 31-point thumping of the Timberwolves. He, Maxey and Joel Embiid combined for 89 points in their inaugural game together. Maxey himself scored 28 points on uber-efficient 12-16 shooting. Take a look at the clips below. Kevin O’Connor can explain better than I how impressive Maxey played next to a superstar like Harden.
Maxey’s much-improved shooting from deep in 2022 and his ability to attack the rim with speed make him a dangerous threat off the ball — especially with a talent like Harden handling the ball. The Beard made a career out of forcing teams to double him and kicking out to shooters. With an option like Maxey on the wing, teams can’t swarm Harden and forget about everyone else.
Obviously it’s a one-game sample thus far, but Philly looks the part of a certain title contender.
SGA with 36 and the win
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned to the court with a vengeance following his brief injury absence. He scored 32 two nights ago and one-upped that performance with 36 in an overtime victory in Indiana yesterday. Necessary production for the Thunder, who lack much of a scoring punch aside from SGA. In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander’s 32 and 36 points exceed any other single-game outing from the rest of the Thunder roster in the month of February. Also, a month where SGA missed all but the last two games.
But, with their star player back, Oklahoma City finally won a game, but needed overtime against a tanking Pacers club to do so. Even Olivier Sarr got in on the action and threw down a dunk with more aggression than he ever showed in a UK uniform. Do y’all recognize this man?
For Indiana, Isaiah Jackson got the start and scored 17 points while blocking five shots. After a very low-key first half of his rookie campaign, expect to see more stat lines like this for Jackson as Indiana clears the way to play its youngsters down the stretch of a lost season.
Johnson leads Spurs over Wizards in double-OT
Keldon Johnson was the star in the Game of the Night across the NBA last night. He scored a career-high 32 points and made five triples, including a four-point play (below). He also played a career-high 46 minutes as San Antonio managed to outlast Washington in double-overtime by a whacky score of 157-153.
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The win moved the Spurs within one game of the final play-in spot. Doesn’t feel like a playoff team, but in the shadows, this Spurs team just keeps winning enough games to remain relevant in the postseason race. Something Sacramento ought to try and emulate.
Heat hand Knicks another national TV loss
What’s that? The Knicks losing on national television once again? Yep. NBA executives are kicking themselves after pledging to provide national TV coverage of so many games from quite a disappointing Knicks season. Last night, Tyler Herro — the “Baby Goat” apparently — and Miami came to Madison Square Garden and pulled a John Calipari. They came to New York and beat their team. And also earned “Let’s go Heat!” chants by the end of the evening.
That’s liable to happen when Tyler Herro scores 25 points off the bench and Bam Adebayo records a 16 & 16 double-double with four steals and four blocks. Herro, for what feels like the millionth time, led all Miami players in scoring despite coming off the bench. Quite the consistent scoring threat the Heat have down there.
Let’s not spend too much time on the Knicks’ side of things. Julius Randle shot 2-15 from the field and Miami controlled the game virtually the entire time. Bad vibes in the Big Apple.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG(3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) | 129-125 W (OT) @ IND | 36 | 13-24 (1-5) | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 38 | -5 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 157-153 W (2OT) @ WAS | 32 | 10-20 (5-9) | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 46 | +16 |
| Devin Booker (PHO) | 117-102 L vs. NOP | 30 | 10-24 (2-8) | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 37 | -21 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 133-102 W @ MIN | 28 | 12-16 (2-3) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 32 | +25 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 115-100 W @ NYK | 25 | 9-18 (4-9) | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 31 | +26 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 133-102 L vs. PHI | 25 | 8-19 (2-6) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | -32 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 129-125 L (OT) vs. OKC | 17 | 5-7 (0-1) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 23 | +12 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 115-100 W @ NYK | 16 | 5-10 (0-1) | 16 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 35 | +5 |
| PJ Washington (CHA) | 125-93 W vs. TOR | 13 | 5-11 (3-9) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 27 | +34 |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 115-100 L vs. MIA | 11 | 2-15 (0-4) | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 36 | +5 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 115-100 L vs. MIA | 7 | 3-7 (1-5) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | -10 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 105-102 L vs. LAC | 7 | 3-9 (0-4) | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | +7 |
| Olivier Sarr (OKC) | 129-125 W (OT) @ IND | 4 | 2-4 (0-0) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | -1 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 133-102 L vs. PHI | 2 | 1-5 (0-1) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | -19 |
| Willie Cauley-Stein (PHI) | 133-102 W @ MIN | 0 | 0-0 (0-0) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +4 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 115-100 L vs. MIA | DNP – CD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 125-93 W vs. TOR | DNP – Foot | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC) | 105-102 W @ LAL | DNP – CD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
12:00 p.m. Celtics @ Pistons (Diallo)
7:30 p.m. Raptors @ Hawks (Knox)
8:00 p.m. Wizards @ Cavaliers (Rondo*)
8:00 p.m. Spurs (Johnson) @ Heat (Adebayo, Herro)
8:00 p.m. Grizzlies @ Bulls
8:30 p.m. (ABC) Nets @ Bucks
9:00 p.m. Kings (Fox) @ Nuggets (Cousins, Murray*)
* – Inactive
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