Sports

UK in the NBA: Wall, Miller score career-highs

March 27, 2013

As week 20 of the NBA season comes to a close, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis all left their mark on the NBA action.

Cousins started the week out with a bang on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Cousins scored 17 points and 11 rebounds in a 116-101 victory.

Patrick Patterson also had a forceful impact by adding 13 points as well as five rebounds.

The next day Wall put the Washington Wizards on his back with 19 points along with eight assists and led them to an 88-79 win over the Suns in Phoenix.

NBA.com’s Jonathan Dalton asked Wall about the Wizards’ defensive performance.

“Defensively, that’s what we take our pride in. When we play defense, we feel we can beat anybody,” Wall said.

By Thursday night, Cousins had come up with yet another impactful game in a 101-98 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Cousins provided 15 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and leading all rebounders with 14.

Patterson also let his presence be felt in the game with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots for a solid all-around performance.

On Friday three former cats were featured in a Western Conference matchup where Davis shined in a 90-83 win over Memphis.

Davis racked up 18 points and 15 rebounds as he got the better of Tayshaun Prince and the Grizz.

Prince contributed seven points and three assists in the losing effort.

Darius Miller added two points and two rebounds for the victorious Hornets.

Later that night, Wall had another good game, this time at the Staples Center against Jodie Meeks and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wall scored 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting with 16 dimes to help lift the Wizards to a nail-biting, 103-100, win over the Lakers.

Wall’s performance was just too much as he put the Wizards on his back in the second-half where they once trailed by 17 points.

Meeks came up big for the Lakers with 16 points, nine of which came from downtown.

Dan Arritt for NBA.com asked Wizards head coach Randy Wittman about Wall’s performances as of late.

“He’s just controlling the game,” Wittman said. “He’s getting the ball up the floor, he’s getting it inside quickly before defenses can get set, he’s attacking gaps before teams can get set, and he’s playing with high confidence.”

On Saturday Brandon Knight and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went head-to-head as the Pistons met the Bobcats.

Detroit overcame Charlotte, 92-91, in a game that came down to the last minute.

Both of the former Cats played a significant role in the game as Knight racked up 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Kidd-Gilchrist added 11 points and three rebounds toward the losing efforts of the Bobcats.

Also Saturday, Cousins and the Kings tried to end Denver’s 14-game winning streak.

Cousins dominated with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 15 rebounds.

Patterson also added seven points and four rebounds in his efforts.

Those performances weren’t enough as the Nuggets prevailed, 101-95, with six Denver players scoring double-digits.

Monday night was a memorable one for Wall.

The Wizards were set to face off against the Grizzlies, which pitted an up-and-coming former Cat in his prime against the veteran Cat, Prince.

Wall exploded for a new career-high of 47 points on 13-of-22 shooting with 19 of those points coming from the free-throw stripe.

Wall also added seven rebounds and eight assists as the Wizards cruised to a 107-94 win.

Prince scored eight points and six rebounds. Benjamin Standig of NBA.com asked Wall about the crowd chanting MVP in the fourth quarter.

“Nah, I’m no MVP man, I’m just grateful to be good, be healthy and help change things around,” Wall said. “If this team is healthy from the start, we’d easily be a playoff team. That’s how we feel, that’s how we’re playing.”

To conclude the week Davis made sure to leave his mark in a game against the Nuggets as his squad tried to end what was now a 15-game winning streak for the Nuggets.

Davis racked up 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and went a perfect 4-of-4 from the line, along with six rebounds.

Miller also came up big with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, which included four 3-pointers.

New Orleans clinched a 110-86 win to snap the Nuggets’ win streak.

Week 20 stats

Player (team)	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Eric Bledsoe (Clippers)	64	21.0	.450	.419	.797	3.1	3.2	9.0
Keith Bogans (Nets)	65	18.7	.408	.373	.714	1.7	0.9	4.4
DeMarcus Cousins (Kings)	64	31.1	.459	.176	.736	10.1	2.8	16.9
Anthony Davis (Hornets)	56	28.8	.516	.000	.741	8.0	1.0	13.2
Chuck Hayes (Kings)	67	16.3	.435	.000	.609	4.0	1.4	2.6
Terrence Jones (Rockets)	11	8.3	.382	.250	1.000	1.6	0.5	3.1
Enes Kanter (Jazz)	69	15.6	.545	1.000	.795	4.4	0.4	7.3
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Bobcats)	67	25.7	.455	.222	.744	5.5	1.6	8.9
Brandon Knight (Pistons)	64	31.2	.413	.368	.738	3.4	4.1	13.8
Doron Lamb (Magic)	36	10.3	.345	.250	.625	0.8	0.6	3.8
DeAndre Liggins (Thunder)	37	7.3	.444	.389	.500	1.4	0.4	1.5
Jodie Meeks (Lakers)	67	19.7	.399	.370	.917	2.0	0.7	8.1
Darius Miller (Hornets)	41	13.7	.417	.405	1.000	1.6	0.9	2.3
Nazr Mohammed (Bulls)	51	8.2	.349	.000	.688	2.3	0.3	1.9
Daniel Orton (Thunder)	8	4.9	.417	.000	.500	1.8	0.4	2.0
Patrick Patterson (Kings)	62	25.0	.524	.408	.763	4.7	1.1	11.0
Tayshaun Prince (Grizzlies)	70	32.5	.439	.395	.737	4.6	2.5	10.9
Rajon Rondo (Celtics)	38	37.4	.484	.240	.645	5.6	11.1	13.7
Marquis Teague (Bulls)	43	9.0	.381	.174	.563	1.0	1.4	2.3
John Wall (Wizards)	37	31.5	.455	.310	.824	3.6	7.6	16.8