Scoreboard
Bucks 133, Kings 127
Cavaliers 94, Thunder 87
Suns 113, Pacers 103
What went down
If you’re checking box scores of a game featuring the Phoenix Suns and you saw that superstar Devin Booker was held to 11 points on 0-6 shooting from the field, what would you think? Would you chalk up the W to the opponents, considering that the star couldn’t buy a basket and was ice cold the entire game?
I can’t blame you, to be honest. But time and time again, the Suns continue to show everyone that they are more than just a superstar carrying them. Despite a cold-shooting night for Booker, Phoenix managed to nab their sixth straight win, 113-103, at the expense of the Indiana Pacers.
With Booker struggling, it was versatile forward Mikal Bridges who led the way, scoring a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. And in one of the biggest surprises of the season, backup center Bismack Biyombo had himself a whopping game with 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. It was arguably the best regular season game of Biyombo’s career, and it came at just the right time.
''That's what makes us a pretty good team,'' Bridges said. ''Everybody can play, everybody can hoop. We just feed off of each other and we're all unselfish. We play for each other and find each other.''
The win helped the Suns equal their best win total through 45 games.
The injury-plagued Pacers battled valiantly, similar to how they nabbed back-to-back wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, but ultimately fell short against a red-hot team. Chris Duarte tallied 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while veteran Lance Stephenson had 17 points of his own.
The victory cements the Suns’ record atop the NBA standings at 36-9, while the Pacers continue to find themselves outside the NBA Playoffs picture with a 17-30 record.
Big-time baller
To continue today’s trend of players stepping up when their superstar teammates are either struggling or out, we present Milwaukee Bucks’ All-Star Khris Middleton. With Giannis Antetokounmpo resting, Milddleton took over and scored a game-high 34 points to help the Bucks get a win over the Sacramento Kings. Middleton’s resume is bullet-proof, and he showed that he can still deliver at a high level when called upon.
What he said
The Cleveland Cavaliers, man.
With the Chicago Bulls falling off, the Cavs are the only remaining surprise team still playing at a high level in the Eastern Conference. They continued their winning ways via a hard-fought 94-87 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A big reason for the win? None other than rookie Evan Mobley, who had a season-high 17 rebounds along with 15 points in the win.
''We just came out there and we fought like dogs,'' Mobley said. ''That's what we have to do. Me being attack-minded, it just comes natural. We try to dominate the paint and play our brand of basketball, and we did.''
Did you see that?
We hate to pile on Devin Booker, but since it feels like he only struggles once in a blue moon, let’s take advantage of the rare opportunity via this silly moment when the game was already theirs:
Devin Booker misses the windmill dunk attempt pic.twitter.com/QprNbEckRt
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) January 23, 2022
Everything but the shot for D-Book. It really was one of those days!
