BBNBA: Unexpected hero propels Detroit to easy win at home

Everything was clicking in the Motor City as the Pistons dismantled Minnesota 135-118 on Wednesday night. Hamidou Diallo dropped a season-high 18 points, accompanied by five rebounds and one assist. As of late, Diallo has been efficient in his selective minutes on the floor. In his last seven games, five of them have seen performances of double-digit scoring.

Diallo, who has been a bench player all year, has seen an increase in minutes recently. In his last three contests, Diallo has seen more than 25 minutes on the floor. While his play has improved, cracking the starting five may be a tall task. If Diallo wanted a place amongst the starters it seems he would have to overtake Saddiq Bey, who has been impressive as of late.

18 points would seem high for a Pistons player in a game, considering they just got to 12-33 on the season after beating Minnesota. However, Bey and Bojan Bogdanovic both outscored Diallo on Wednesday. Diallo finished tied for third in scoring for Detroit, with Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes also dropping 18 points.

Sticking with the BBNBA in the Motor City, Nerlens Noel and Kevin Knox II both had quiet nights. While Noel only had two points and five rebounds versus Minnesota, something promising has shown itself. Noel has started the last two games for Detroit, his only two this season. Knox II added five points and three rebounds in nine minutes from the bench.

Even though it seems every sentence with the Detroit Pistons is linked with tanking, they got win number 12 last night. Now the long (or maybe short) road to number 13 begins.

Off the glass, into Randle’s hands

Concrete jungles and Julius Randle grabbing rebounds, that’s what New York’s about. It certainly was all about that again as the Knicks beat the Pacers 119-113 inside Madison Square Garden. Randle out-rebounded any player on the floor, leading the way with 16 boards. In fact, New York’s No. 30 snatched more rebounds than the entire Knicks bench, but that shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. Randle is a walking double-double, averaging 24.4 PPG and 10.1 RPG this season.

On top of his rebounding prowess on Wednesday night, Randle added a cool 14 points in New York’s dub. The Jack of All Trades on Broadway continues to be pivotal as the Knicks get hotter and hotter by the day. Wednesday night was the first time in over 20 days that Randle failed to drop 20 points or more. However, when one is rebounding at the magnitude that Randle is, who really cares?

New York has now won five of its last six and improve its ever-important record to 23-19. Quite the turnaround after this same squad was on a five-game skid as December was ending. Let’s call them the January Knicks.

Immanuel Quickley went back to the bench against Indiana. After Quickely’s 23-point night on Monday, he was relegated to a lesser role. IQ still managed to add 11 points in the victory, however, it was in 25 minutes as opposed to his 40+ minutes on Monday. If the Knicks are healthy and continue to win, it may be a tall task for Quickley to crack back into the starting lineup.

In other BBNBA news, Isaiah Jackson recorded five points and two rebounds in 19 minutes in Indiana’s loss. Jackson will need to improve his numbers after a recent lack of production saw him assigned to the G League.

Western Conference Window

Wednesday night was perhaps the night when unexpected BBNBA heroes make their way out of the lurking shadows. That certainly was the case for Sacramento’s big man, Trey Lyles.

Lyles went off for a season-high 20-point thrashing of the Houston Rockets as the Kings won 135-115. Lyles’ impressive outing fell three rebounds short of a double-double. While he’s been a role player all season long, the ooohs and aaahs have only begun. Lyles now has double figures in his last three outings and his point total in those contests has increased from 11 to 14 to now his most recent 20-piece. Could we be in store for a Trey Lyles legacy game on Friday night? We shall see.

Only two Kings outscored Lyles last night and one of them of course was De’Aaron Fox. Swipa dropped 24 points and nine assists on 50% shooting while also praising Lyles’ performance post-game. Fox continues to fight for his first-ever All-Star selection while averaging 23.8 PPG. Fellow Kentucky teammate, Malik Monk, wasn’t too much in the spotlight last night. Monk added 11 points in Sacramento’s victory. Nice of Monk to let Lyles have his moment — that’ll be my excuse for that one.

Some good, some bad

There isn’t much to cheer about in San Antonio except for the play of Keldon Johnson. Johnson led the Spurs in scoring (again) in a 135-129 loss at Memphis. His 24-point night continues to prove a recurring theme — San Antonio needs more help. Losers of six out of their last seven, the Spurs have now dropped to 13-29 and is second to last in the West. Welcome to the tank.

Before the season you would’ve wanted to circle this one, but after last night you may have wanted to forget it. Denver dismantled Phoenix 126-97 behind 16 Jamal Murray points. The Nuggets outscored the Suns in every quarter of this rout. Talk about two teams and two superstars on completely different trajectories. Devin Booker remains injured and Phoenix has lost seven of its last eight. Denver, on the other hand, is 28-13 and first in the West behind a newly-inspired Jamal Murray.

1/12/2023 BBNBA Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	MIN	+/-
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	135-129 L @ MEM	24	6-17 (1-7)	4	3	0	1	2	35	-3
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	135-115 W vs. HOU	24	9-18 (2-4)	2	9	1	0	1	32	+11
Trey Lyles (SAC)	135-115 W vs. HOU	20	6-8 (3-5)	7	0	0	2	0	20	+15
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	135-118 W vs. MIN	18	7-8 (0-0)	5	1	1	0	3	25	+9
Jamal Murray (DEN)	126-96 W vs. PHX	16	6-13 (2-5)	2	6	0	0	2	25	+20
Julius Randle (NYK)	119-113 W vs. IND	14	5-12 (2-7)	16	4	0	1	6	38	+9
Malik Monk (SAC)	135-115 W vs. HOU	11	3-13 (2-7)	3	3	0	0	1	20	+1
Immanuel Quickley (NYK)	119-113 W vs. IND	11	3-9 (1-7)	5	4	0	0	1	25	-3
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	119-113 L @ NYK	5	2-4 (0-1)	2	1	0	2	1	19	0
Kevin Knox II (DET)	135-118 W vs. MIN	5	2-5 (1-4)	3	0	0	0	0	9	+20
Nerlens Noel (DET)	135-118 W vs. MIN	2	1-2 (0-0)	5	2	3	4	1	21	0
Devin Booker (PHX)	126-97 L @ DEN	DNP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	135-118 L @ DET	DNP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TyTy Washington Jr. (HOU)	135-115 L @ SAC	DNP	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Tonight in the NBA

7:00: Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander) @ 76ers (Maxey)
7:30: Bucks @ Heat (Adebayo, Herro)
7:30 (TNT): Celtics @ Nets
7:30: Hornets (Richards, Washington) @ Raptors
10:00 (TNT): Mavericks @ Lakers (Davis: out, Gabriel)
10:00: Cavaliers @ Trail Blazers (Sharpe)