UK in the NBA: Davis returns from shoulder injury
Anthony Davis dunks the ball in the first half of the south region final between the University of Kentucky and Baylor University in the NCAA Tournament, in the Georgia Dome, on Sunday, March 25, 2012, in Atlanta. Photo by Latara Appleby
March 5, 2013
By Cody Daniel | @KyKernelSports
Week 17 in the NBA for former Cats was headlined by some notable performances accompanied also by some notable absences.
Anthony Davis had arguably one of the most memorable seasons in UK history after winning NCAA player of the year, freshmen of the year and, most notably, leading the Cats to their eighth National Championship
The former All-American has had much less luck in the NBA and has been plagued with one injury after another, totaling up to Davis missing 15 games for the New Orleans Hornets after he suffered a shoulder sprain on Feb. 26 in the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets and Keith Bogans.
Davis missed the next two games, which would have pitted him against former Cats DeAndre Liggins and Daniel Orton of the Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons.
Davis was cleared to play in Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic and former teammate Doron Lamb, finishing with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks in a 105-102 loss.
Another former Cat that hasn’t been seeing as much action as of late is Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe. Since the return of veteran Chauncey Billups, Bledsoe’s minutes as well as statistics have declined.
A few miles up the road from Bledsoe, the Sacramento Kings and former Cats DeMarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson hit the road to face the defending champion Miami Heat.
That Tuesday night turned out to be a monster night for Cousins, who racked up 24 points along with 15 rebounds.
The performance left the Kings short, as the Heat finally overpowered Sacramento, 141-129 in a thrilling double-overtime game.
Wednesday night, the Pistons and Washington Wizards faced off in a matchup featuring two former UK point guards going head-to-head.
Knight scored a career-high 32 points on 11-18 shooting and four assists in a nail-biting 96-95 victory over the Wizards and John Wall, who had only six points on 3-9 shooting with four assists to match Knight’s passing performance.
When Benjamin Standig of CSNWashington.com asked Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank about Knight’s performance, he jokingly replied, “Brandon, I think we’re going to have to rest him. I think he’s only going to be able to play one game a week.”
Enes Kanter of the Utah Jazz also put on a career night last week. On March 1 against the Charlotte Bobcats and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kanter put up 23 point along with 22 rebounds in a dominating 98-68 win over the Bobcats.
“I wasn’t expecting a 20-20 game,” Kanter told Andrew Aragon of NBA.com after the game. “It was my second time in the starting five.”
Kidd-Gilchrist finished with eight points and four rebounds for the Bobcats.
Schedule
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
L.A. Lakers (Jodie Meeks) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton) 9:30 p.m. on TNT
Wednesday, March 6th, 2013
Chicago Bulls (Nazr Mohammed, Marquis Teague) @ San Antonio Spurs 9:00 p.m. on ESPN
Thursday, March 7th, 2013
Oklahoma City Thunder (DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton) @ New York Knicks 8:00 p.m. on TNT
L.A. Clippers (Eric Bledsoe) @ Denver Nuggets 10:30 p.m. on TNT
Sunday, March 10th, 2013
Boston Celtics @ Oklahoma City Thunder (DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton) 1:00 p.m. on ABC
Chicago Bulls (Nazr Mohammed, Marquis Teague) @ L.A. Lakers (Jodie Meeks) 3:30 p.m. on ABC
Stats
| Player (team) | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| Eric Bledsoe (Clippers) | 60 | 21.5 | .450 | .431 | .793 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 9.3 |
| Keith Bogans (Nets) | 56 | 18.2 | .411 | .370 | .714 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 4.4 |
| DeMarcus Cousins (Kings) | 55 | 31.5 | .455 | .231 | .748 | 9.9 | 2.9 | 17.2 |
| Anthony Davis (Hornets) | 45 | 27.7 | .508 | .000 | .738 | 7.4 | 0.9 | 12.5 |
| Chuck Hayes (Kings) | 59 | 16.4 | .420 | .000 | .632 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Terrence Jones (Rockets) | 11 | 8.3 | .382 | .250 | 1.000 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Enes Kanter (Jazz) | 57 | 14.9 | .543 | .000 | .759 | 4.3 | 0.4 | 6.7 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Bobcats) | 55 | 25.7 | .448 | .222 | .755 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 8.9 |
| Brandon Knight (Pistons) | 58 | 31.6 | .418 | .367 | .746 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 14.1 |
| Doron Lamb (Magic) | 27 | 11.7 | .327 | .235 | .579 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 3.1 |
| DeAndre Liggins (Thunder) | 33 | 8.0 | .442 | .412 | .500 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| Jodie Meeks (Lakers) | 55 | 18.2 | .407 | .379 | .928 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 8.0 |
| Darius Miller (Hornets) | 33 | 12.6 | .361 | .333 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Nazr Mohammed (Bulls) | 41 | 6.2 | .269 | .000 | .556 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| Daniel Orton (Thunder) | 8 | 4.9 | .417 | .000 | .500 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 2.0 |
| Patrick Patterson (Kings) | 51 | 25.2 | .516 | .357 | .755 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 11.1 |
| Tayshaun Prince (Grizzlies) | 57 | 32.0 | .445 | .415 | .750 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 11.0 |
| Rajon Rondo (Celtics) | 38 | 37.4 | .484 | .240 | .645 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 13.7 |
| Marquis Teague (Bulls) | 34 | 8.3 | .393 | .000 | .583 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| John Wall (Wizards) | 24 | 29.5 | .404 | .071 | .826 | 3.1 | 7.3 | 13.8 |
