With the recent announcement of the Eastern and Western Conference starters for the 2021 All-Star Game, the antennas are up across the league as guys look to make their push for a coveted spot on the All-Star roster. What better way to make an All-Star level impression than to show up big under the spotlight of the Friday Night Lights. With 16 reserve/bench spots left amongst the two conferences, everyone is fighting for a chance to get their name called in the big game. Even guys who have already been named starters are stepping as they realize that with that kind of honor, there is also a big X on your back that everyone is gunning for. These Friday Night’s games had all kinds of big-time stat lines, career-high numbers, and all the 50-piece buckets you can get. So, with that, here are the standout performers who shined All-Star bright under the bright lights.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 29 | 7 | 11 | 11/29 | 6/16 | 1/1 | 0 | 0 |
The Top-5 MVP candidate in Stephen Curry continues to put up video game numbers for an undermanned Golden State team that most consider to be overachieving at the moment. Struggled a bit from three on the night, but even great shooters have some sloppy nights. Yet even while struggling from behind the arc, he had a chance to tie the game up 123-123 late in the ball game but was denied by some top-notch closeouts by the Orlando Magic defense. Curry showing you why he has one of those Western Conference All-Star starter spots all locked up.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 26 | 7 | 1 | 10/18 | 3/6 | 3/7 | 4 | 0 |
Kelly O! Oubre aka the Tsunami Papi flooding the Orlando Magic defense with bucket after bucket. No, but really Oubre had yet another really high upside game that should give Warriors fans a bit more belief in him as a legit secondary scoring option next to Curry in Klay’s absence. This is not his first big game of the season and since having that horrific start to the season shooting-wise, he has definitely played his way back into being at least an average shooter from beyond the arc.
Evan Fournier
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 28 | 4 | 6 | 11/18 | 5/9 | 1/2 | 2 | 0 |
The Magic had to fight hard to overcome a 13-point 4th quarter deficit to secure the 124-120 victory. The combination of Evan Fournier’s big-time shooting from three and Vucevic’s dominance down low were the primary catalysts as Fournier provided us with yet another big game sighting. We also cannot forget the bench production from the flamethrower that is Terrence Ross who had 24 points off the bench with four threes of his own.
|
PTS |
REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 30 | 16 | 10 | 13/23 | 2/8 | 2/2 | 1 |
1 |
Vucey-Man went ballistic, putting up his third career triple-double as the Orlando Magic got their first winning streak in a long while with two wins in a row. He may not have been selected as an All-Star starter in the frontcourt, but he sure is trying to play his way into the big game in pursuit of his 2nd All-Star selection in ten seasons.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 50 | 6 | 2 | 21/25 | 8/10 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 |
Monster night for Jamal Murray, as he put up a career-high 50 points with everything he seemed to put up going in. Breakaway fast-break dunks and deep threes from all over the court. These are the kind of games we were hoping to occasionally get from Murray after his breakout performance in the Bubble last season. Although we know this is not going to be a nightly occurrence for Murray, it is yet another step in the right direction as he is beginning to really catch his stride heading into the second half of the regular season.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 16 | 12 | 10 | 5/8 | 1/2 | 5/5 | 4 | 1 |
Despite having an unforeseen schedule change, that did not stop the 2021 Western Conference starter Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets from handing the Cleveland Cavaliers their 9th straight loss. Obviously, Jokic’s triple-double is quiet in comparison to Murray’s dominating performance, but what may get pushed even deeper down is the 22-point performance from Michael Porter Jr. who the Nuggets should be excited to see slowly putting things together. If Porter Jr. can keep this up along with the MVP-caliber play of Jokic, Denver could head into the Western Conference playoffs with one of the most skilled frontcourts in the entire NBA.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 23 | 0 | 4 | 8/17 | 3/7 | 4/6 | 0 | 0 |
Love to see Collin Sexton taking a bit more threes after oddly slowing down on his attempts from behind the arc over the last two weeks or so. Rough night when you have to guard a red-hot Jamal Murray and still shoulder most of the offensive responsibility at the guard position.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 20 | 10 | 4 | 8/9 | 0/0 | 4/8 | 1 | 1 |
Allen continues to get better and better with every game in spite of the team losing. As the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to sit Andre Drummond in pursuit of a potential trade or buyout situation, Allen has really embraced his role as the lead center. Cavs fans may not appreciate what Allen is doing right now because they are so caught up in the downward spiral of the team, but he really is shaping out to be a legit building block for Cleveland and is making an argument that he is a top-10 center in the conference.
Zach Lavine
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 30 | 5 | 5 | 9/28 | 2/10 | 10/10 | 2 | 1 |
Every single game? Is Zach Lavine really going to keep putting up these ridiculous numbers every single game? IN the midst of his fellow backcourt mates Coby White and Garrett Temple combining for 19 points on the night, Lavine casually goes for a 30-piece. Now he did not shoot well from the floor and he definitely was not good from three, but he made up a lot of ground from the free-throw line and even showed some good flashes defensively. Put this man Zach Lavine on the All-Star team.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 50 | 17 | 5 | 17/26 | 1/2 | 15/17 | 2 | 4 |
Speaking of All-Stars, did you guys see this man Joel Embiid put up a 50 burger in the most disrespectful way possible? 17 free throw attempts?! Chicago Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. may have had 15 points of his own, but he was being mentally and physically abused by Embiid in ways that should be deemed illegal by the Basketball Police. Absolute and utter dominance in every way possible. Buckets, boards, posterizations, shots blocking, cookie stealing. The man did it all as he lifts Philly to 20-10 on the season.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 22 | 12 | 7 | 9/16 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 0 | 0 |
Hard to make frontline news with a near-triple double when your teammate goes for a 50-point double, but Harris still had a great game. No Ben Simmons in this game and he lowkey was not missed as the duo of Embiid and Harris was just too much for the Bulls defense to handle.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 31 | 4 | 11 | 10/16 | 3/7 | 8/9 | 3 | 0 |
Trae Young is chasing an All-Star spot the same way he chases assists! Big time 30-point double-double for Young. In a loss like this, it is hard to point at the Hawk’s offense, but when the Celtics have six players with double-digit points, it sure does say a lot about the Atlanta defense. Trae kept this game interesting, but in all seriousness, this game was really never close as the Boston offense was just firing at full throttle.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 24 | 15 | 1 | 11/14 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 2 | 4 |
The new King of the Buckets and Boards! With Andre Drummond sitting in Cleveland, Clint Capela is now easily the ringleader of the Buckets and Boards fan club as he just controls the glass in ways that are unreal. He had the third-best rebounding night out of all centers not named Joel Embiid and Jonas Valanciunas. He continues to play out of his mind in ways that continue to generate questions about the future of John Collins.
Kemba Walker
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 28 | 5 | 6 | 10/16 | 5/8 | 3/3 | 3 | 1 |
Season-high 28 points on the night for Cardiac Kemba as the Celtics completely dominated the Hawks. Exciting duel to watch between Walker and Young, but it has to be nice to have two guys in Jaylen Brown and Tristan Thompson to each give you 17 points apiece along with Jayson Tatum as the perfect right-hand man.
|
PTS |
REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 25 | 8 | 6 | 10/21 | 3/8 | 2/2 | 1 |
3 |
TWO-WAY WING! 25 big ones, a handful of dimes, and three huge swats into the 4th row. Jay Tay was in his bag pulling out all the tricks as a nice Robin to Kemba Walker’s Batman.
|
PTS |
REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 29 | 3 | 4 | 10/23 | 0/5 | 9/10 | 1 |
0 |
Ja Morant was a beast in the second half of this game as he scored 21 of his 29 points in the latter portion of this game. He put Mason Plumlee on skates and had way more one vs. none meetings with the basket as he was just gliding past defenders. Struggled from three, but it did not matter as the Grizzlies took the 109-95 victory over the lowly Detroit Pistons.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 17 | 15 | 1 | 7/14 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 0 | 0 |
Another well-established member of the Buckets and Boards fan club as he and Mason Plumlee both battled below the rim, each grabbing 15 rebounds in this game. It was really the Morant show all night for Memphis but Valanciunas surely had a big night of his own as he held things down in the paint for the Grizzlies defense. The Pistons could not even crack 100 points in this game.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 16 | 3 | 4 | 6/7 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 |
No Blake Griffin. The roughest 16 points ever from Jerami Grant who shot 5-of-20 from the field. The Pistons’ only good player on the night was Delon Wright who shot the lights out from beyond the arc. He and rookie forward Saddiq Bey combined for 8-of-14 from three which was positive, but this team just does not have a definitive closer and that is what really hurt them in this game considering Memphis had to rally late to take this game.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 29 | 19 | 8 | 10/20 | 1/5 | 8/10 | 1 | 3 |
As a guy who typically puts up video game performances, it is very hard to impress anyone nowadays with what he does in the regular season. But it is even more difficult not to praise a guy who puts up a near 30-point double-double with a season-high 19 rebounds which is the most of any of the standout performers from Friday nights’ games. Big night for the Greek Freak in what turned out to be a relatively low-scoring game. Also got a quiet 20 points and eight boards from Khris Middleton as the Bucks dominated OKC on the boards 61 to 46 in the 98-85 win to snap their five-game skid.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 14 | 4 | 5 | 3/12 | 2/5 | 6/9 | 1 | 0 |
Solid yet underwhelming performance for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in comparison to most of his other games this season. His struggles shooting from the field were the biggest red flag in this game, but Lugentz Dort did step up in a promising way with 17 points and three three-pointers. Tough night offensively for the Thunder as Darius Bazley and Theo Maledon combined for only 11 points as OKC was practically locked up all night long.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 23 | 4 | 5 | 8/11 | 0/0 | 7/10 | 0 | 0 |
Point-Forward Zion Williamson is an extremely dangerous offensive player. Over the last couple of games, Williamson has had the ball in his hands more, been an extremely effective driver from the top of the key, and has shown off some skill as a decision-maker. We should start getting used to these really efficient low shot attempt 20+ point games from Zion Williamson. He is slowly developing his game before our very eyes and is getting more lethal with every dribble.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 25 | 2 | 3 | 10/20 | 1/6 | 4/4 | 2 | 0 |
Pretty tough shooting night from three, but Lonzo Ball did hit one to make up for every attempt Brandon Ingram had in this game (Ball went 6-of-10 from three with 21 points and 12 assists on the night.) You can tell that Ingram is trying to make his last-second push for a chance at making his second-straight All-Star game. Not sure if he will make it but shooting woes like this definitely will not help him in that department.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 23 | 4 | 2 | 9/18 | 2/5 | 3/3 | 1 | 0 |
A straight-up offensive clinic by the Phoenix Suns as the backcourt of Devin Booker and Chris Paul combined for 39 points on the night with five threes. Booker of course harbored a large portion of the offensive load, but Paul returned to his old stomping ground in OG fashion with a season-high 19 assists (so vintage Chris Paul) as the Suns came back from an 11-point 4th quarter deficit to defeat the Pelicans 132-114.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 16 | 16 | 2 | 7/12 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 0 | 1 |
The Phoenix frontcourt was on another level under the Friday Night Lights. The combination of Deandre Ayton and Frank Kaminsky combined for 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field including five threes from Frank the Tank. Pure dominance as the Suns had six players with double-digit points including Jae Crowder and Cam Johnson with a combined 33 points and nine threes off the bench. Absolute shooting clinic for Phoenix with 22-of-39 threes falling in a big-time comeback for the Suns’ 7th win in their last eight games.
Karl Anthony-Towns
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 19 | 13 | 4 | 8/13 | 1/3 | 2/2 | 0 | 2 |
Can you say low-scoring game? This game may have easily been the quietest game of the night as the Minnesota Timberwolves fell to the Toronto Raptors 86-81. Karl Anthony-Towns continues to put up double-doubles in silence as the most relevant player hands down for a Timberwolves team that just is not good. Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards combined for 20 points in D’Angelo Russell’s absence, but they shot 16 threes on the night and only made three (Edwards was 0-of-7). Terrible offensive output for Minnesota.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 31 | 6 | 2 | 10/19 | 6/10 | 5/5 | 2 | 0 |
Despite how underwhelming this game was from an offensive standpoint, a bright spot was Norman Powell who put up a season-high 31 points with six bombs from downtown. The Raptors closed this game on an 11-0 run shutting out Minnesota in the final moments of the game to propel them to victory in a game with not many spotlight-worthy plays. Toronto is now .500 with a record of 15-15 as they push their win streak to three games.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 29 | 5 | 4 | 10/24 | 0/4 | 9/10 | 0 | 1 |
After he and Paul George both missed a few games due to injury (Leonard with a leg injury and George with a foot injury) they both returned in style as they combined for 44 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists in this game. The Clippers had owner Steve Ballmer hype in the stands as they knocked off the top-seeded Uta Jazz 116-11. Big night for LA on the back of their two superstars along with Lou Williams who gave them 19 and Marcus Morris with 17 as they both came off the bench.
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 35 | 4 | 5 | 12/27 | 4/11 | 7/9 | 3 | 0 |
Stellar performance from Donovan “The Spida” Mitchell as he went off for 35 points while going toe-to-toe with two of the league’s top two-way wings in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The backcourt of he and Mike Conley went for 51 combined points, but the rough shooting from three is what really hurt the team overall (6-of-16 from three between those two). It definitely helps when the Jazz get big-time contributions from Bogdan Bogdanovic with 23 points and Jordan Clarkson with 19 points off the bench. Unfortunately, this loss snaps yet another winning streak for the Jazz as they were on track to hit ten-straight wins. Nonetheless, Utah hung in and kept the game close which should show signs that they can hang with some of the best teams in the league. Especially when you consider their winning streak included wins against the Celtics, Bucks, and 76ers prior to this loss. Do not sleep on the Utah Jazz.
