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December 19, 2022

NBA Weekend Recap: AD is Out, Devin Booker and Jordan Poole Put Up Season and Career Best Performances

In case you missed it, this weekend was filled with some tough injury news and season or career-high efforts across the League. Anthony Davis is out for a month, Nikola Jokic put up a dominant 40-27-10 triple-double, Jordan Poole dropped a career-high 43-ball, and Devin Booker rode the hot hand and scored a season-best 58 points and has now scored 12k plus career points after the Suns beat the Pelicans on Sunday.

Let’s get it!

Anthony Davis (right foot) is Out At Least One Month After Suffering A Foot Injury On Friday:

According to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic, Antony Davis will reportedly miss at least one month after suffering an undisclosed right foot injury.

AD has been dominant this season while helping the Lakers surge to a 6-4 stretch over their last 10 contests. The Brow is averaging 27.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game on 59.3 percent shooting from the field and has dropped 19 30+ games with one 44-point game against the Bucks and a dominant 55-point effort against the Wizards.

Before he got hurt, AD had a three-game streak of scoring at least 30 points that were broken when he suffered his foot injury against the Nuggets.

Devin Booker Puts Up a Historic 58-Point Effort to Beat New Orleans:

Devin Booker lifted the Suns over the Pelicans 118-114 after dropping a season-best 58 points. It was the second time this season that Book scored 50 points after he posted 51 against Chicago on Nov. 30.

He’s now the sixth-youngest player to score 12k points in his career, trailing only LeBron, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady.

“Once I get it going a little bit, shooting over a hand is the right play,” Booker said per ESPN.

Nikola Jokic Posts His 81st Career Triple-Double After Dropping 40-27-10 Against the Hornets:

Nikola Jokic (40 points, 27 rebounds, and 10 dimes) f***ed around and got his fifth triple-double of the season to lead Denver to a 119-115 win over Charlotte on Sunday night.

The two-time MVP sealed the W with two game-winning free throws with 13 seconds left on the clock. Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said he didn’t know Jokic was putting up massive numbers but knew that Jokic was having “another Nikola Jokic stellar performance, efficient,” and praised Jokic for his “ability to make every one of his teammates better,” and called Joker a “generational talent.”

“To be honest, I think it’s because of our defense, and I was just in the right spot to rebound the ball,” Jokic said per ESPN. “It’s not that I was grabbing for them or whatever, chasing for them. It just happened, you know? I wish it could be every night, to be honest.”

Jordan Poole has a Career-High Night For the Ages:

Jordan Poole hung a career-high 43 points on 14-23 shooting from the field and 5-11 from beyond the arc. He also handed out six assists and scored career-best 25 points in the first half to lead the Warriors past the Raptors. The 126-110 win was the Dubs’ first win in five attempts without Stephen Curry in the lineup. ˝Golden State also snapped their three-game losing streak and are now 3-14 on the road.

“He was incredible on both sides of the ball,” Draymond Green (17 points and nine rebounds) said per Yahoo Sports. “And when you connect the game like that, things will go your way. We all know what a special talent he is. He’s been going through some growing pains. To see him come out tonight and have the game that he had – especially with Steph being down and us needing to get a win – was really huge.

“His effort on the defensive end carried over to the offensive end.”

WNBA Won’t Expand in 2024:

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Athletic that the League’s plan for franchise expansion will be delayed until at least 2025. The commission is in touch with 10 investor groups discussing potential arenas, practice facilities, season ticket markets, and potential corporate partners.

Engelbert said that a new team would need around 18-24 months to hire coaches and executives and bring on players through an expansion draft, among the many preparations it takes to build a professional basketball franchise. Although expansion is delayed, Englerbet said it’s still a part of the W’s long-term plans and reiterated that the WNBA is on a growth trajectory.

Toronto, Nashville, and the Bay Area (Oakland and San Francisco) are on the short list of expansion cities.

“I’m a big, big believer in: let’s transform the economics, and then we’ll expand, not expand and then hope that economics transform,” she said per Front Office Sports. “We want to bring new owners in that are going to be successful in standing up a franchise that can compete for a championship.”

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