Tag: Sooners in NBA

Austin Reaves drops career-high 35 points in pivotal Lakers win

Former Sooner Austin Reaves had the NBA world buzzing after his career-high 35 points helped propel the Lakers to a big win.

Despite his small-town Arkansas roots, Austin Reaves is shining bright in one of the world’s most visible cities playing for the most iconic basketball franchise in the world.

The former Oklahoma Sooner is a natural hooper and has become a big-time player for the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a frustrating season that has had its ups and downs, the Lakers are still pushing for the playoffs. The Lakers’ playoff hopes will come down to the final few games of the regular season.

One of basketball’s greatest players, LeBron James, suffered an injury that has had him sidelined for a few weeks. With James out, other Lakers have been pushed into the spotlight. When the Lakers entered the waning moments of yet another must-win game Sunday evening, the undrafted second-year guard dubbed “Hillbilly Kobe” had the ball in his hands instead of a top 25 player like Anthony Davis.

And he delivered.

Reaves went deep into his bag, scoring the Lakers’ last 10 points over the final 1:33 of a 111-105 win over the Orlando Magic. The win kept LA’s head above water in their pursuit of a playoff spot.

Reaves finished with a career-high 35 points, and chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” could be heard through Crypto.Com Arena. To go along with his 35 points, Reaves tossed in six rebounds and six assists. He was nails from the charity stripe going 16-for-18.

His craftiness was on full display as drives to the basket, floaters, spot-up threes, and fadeaway jumpers were all ways he got buckets against Magic defenders.

Anthony Davis, one of the Lakers’ superstar players and the man responsible for carrying the load nightly in the absence of LeBron James, was in awe after the game. “He carried us tonight with his play,” Davis said. “He got whatever he wanted, pick-and-rolls, 3s, got to the line 18 times. We know what we have in Austin. We’re very confident in him,”

As things currently stand, LeBron James won’t be back until the end of the regular season at best. That means more opportunities for Reaves to to be the Robin to Anthony Davis’ Batman. But on this night, Reaves played the role of the caped crusader.

He’ll be a restricted free agent after the season. The Lakers can match any contract offer given to Reaves. With the blessing from the team’s superstars, LeBron and Anthony Davis, Reaves is more than welcome to rejoin the team next year.

Shams Charania, the big-time NBA insider from The Athletic and Stadium, believes that his marketplace is the Lakers’ maximum possible offer of four years and $50 million.

He could be offered more on the market, but the Lakers will have the right to match. Reaves would be a valuable and appreciated player on a roster with only four players on the books for next season: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Max Christie.

Reaves is the only guard with meaningful NBA experience in that particular scenario. This season he’s averaging 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 54 games. He’s shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from deep. He’ll not only be a priority free agent re-signing for the Lakers, but NBA teams needing guard help will look to lure the rising star away from Hollywood.

Check out how social media reacted after [autotag]Austin Reaves[/autotag] big-time performance.

Trae Young comes lands in the top 20 of ESPN’s NBA Top 100

Former Sooners great Trae Young gets chosen as a top 20 player in ESPN’s ranking of the Top 100 NBA Players entering the 2021 season.

We’re smack dab in the middle of football season, but it’s never a bad time to highlight one of the great Sooners of the past in other sports. As ESPN attempts to rank the Top 100 basketball players entering the 2021 season, Trae Young finds himself at number 17 on ESPN’s rankings.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Young, who rose 12 spots from the 2020 version of the list.

One big question: What’s next? Young is one of the most ascendant young stars in the league, but the big questions here are does he have another gear and can he click into it this season? The keys are shooting efficiency and turnovers. Last season, Young made just 34.3% of his 3s (and just 31.3% in the postseason) and was among the league’s leaders in giveaways. If he can improve in those areas, he immediately becomes an MVP candidate for Atlanta. – Kirk Goldsberry, ESPN

Why he rose 12 spots:ย You might be old enough to remember when people (guilty!) wondered whether Young’s size would limit his playoff value. Instead, Young delivered one of the best postseason debuts in recent memory, leading the Hawks to the conference finals with 28.8 PPG and 9.5 APG and firmly establishing himself as a star. – Kevin Pelton

Trae Young had a tremendous postseason for the Atlanta Hawks, helping them reach the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the eventual NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks.

In his first postseason, the former Oklahoma Sooners star averaged 28.8 points per game, 9.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Trae Young is one of the best young players in the NBA and his game has only gotten better since entering the league. Heading into his fourth season with the Hawks, he should be one of the favorites for league MVP in the 2021-2022 season.

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When, where, how to watch former Oklahoma star Trae Young in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers

Everything you need to know before former Oklahoma star Trae Young and his Atlanta Hawks battle the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 on Sunday.

Former Oklahoma star Trae Young and his Atlanta Hawks are preparing to battle the Philadelphia 76ers in a massive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday night. Continue reading “When, where, how to watch former Oklahoma star Trae Young in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers”

Twitter reaction to former Oklahoma guard Trae Young’s game-winner against the New York Knicks

Twitter reaction to Trae Young’s game-winner last night against the New York Knicks to give the Atlanta Hawks a 1-0 series lead.

Former Oklahoma guard Trae Young and his Atlanta Hawks were at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night facing the New York Knicks in the first game of their first-pround playoff series.

The game began with the New York faithful welcoming Young with a colorful chant of “F*** Trae Young” in a way only the Big Apple could provide. But, it was the Hawks’ star who had the last laugh.

Tied at 105 in the final seconds, Young drove the lane to hit a dagger floater to give Atlanta the lead with less than a second remaining. They hung on to take the 1-0 series lead.

As one would expect, Twitter had a field day reacting to this epic shot and moment. Here are some of the highlights:

Former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin signs with Brooklyn Nets

Former Oklahoma Sooner Blake Griffin is going to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

One of the greatest basketball players in Oklahoma history is on the move in the NBA as six-time all-star Blake Griffin has cleared waivers and will sign with the Brooklyn Nets, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Originally selected No. 1 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Griffin spent his first eight professional seasons in Los Angles before being dealt to the Detroit Pistons in January of 2018. Earlier this month, his contract was bought out by the Pistons leaving him free to sign with anyone in the league, with most expecting him to join a contender.

That is precisely what he has done here, as he joins a Nets team that is absolutely loaded with stars and is among the favorites to win the title this summer. At 24-13, they currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference and are just 1/2 game behind the Philadelphia 76ers for the top spot.

Griffin has had a prolific career but has battled lots of injuries over his NBA tenure. If he can remain healthy, he will surely be a key piece to what Brooklyn wants to do the rest of the season as they try to win a championship. This will certainly be the first time in his career that he will be this low on the star totem pole, as the Nets already provide an incredible trio of talent with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

Perhaps a team with the ability to take some pressure and necessary workload off of him is just what Griffin needs to break through for that elusive deep postseason run. One thing for certain is that it will be fascinating to watch play out.

Currently on the all-star break, Brooklyn will take the floor next on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. CT at home against the Boston Celtics.

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Former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield makes NBA history with 1,000th three point shot

Former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield became the fastest in NBA history to 1,000 made three-pointers on Sunday night.

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Former Oklahoma star Buddy Hield has been a very solid NBA player over his first five professional seasons, but has largely flown under the radar of just how good he has really been.

On Sunday night, Hield hit a milestone that puts that on full display as he made his 1,000th career three-pointer, becoming the fastest player in league history to do so in terms of number of games played. He got there in just his 350th career game, which shattered the previous record held by Stephen Curry who did it in 369 games.

The record-breaking shot came off of a pass from teammate De’Aaron Fox in the middle of the third quarter of the Sacramento Kings’ game with the Charlotte Hornets.

Hield is the all-time leader in three-pointers made in Sooners basketball history by a wide margin making 349 of them over his four seasons in Norman, including an astonishing 147 knocked down in his senior year to help get Oklahoma to the Final Four in 2016. Of course, the team Twitter account was sure to congratulate the former Wooden Award winner.

Hield and his Kings will next be in action on Wednesday night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers at 9:00 p.m. CT.

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Former Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield hits game-winning tip-in in opener

Former Oklahoma basketball star Buddy Hield tipped in the game-winner in Sacramento’s season-opening win over Denver.

The new NBA season is upon us as Wednesday night marked the first full slate of the season.

Former Oklahoma basketball star Buddy Hield is beginning his fifth year in the league and his fourth full season with the Sacramento Kings. He got it started with a bang, as he tipped in the game-winning basket at the buzzer in overtime for the Kings to pull off the season-opening upset over the Denver Nuggets.

Hield has progressed in his professional career as more and more of an impact player as he has averaged over 30 minutes a night the past two seasons in Sacramento. This season is off to a pretty good start.

In addition to the game-winner, Hield had 22 points on 7/15 shooting with four rebounds and three assists. He started the game and played a whopping 41 minutes with the overtime period.

Now 1-0, Hield and the Kings will next take on the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

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