A superstar goes down, a reserve goes up, and a scoring drought continues in the latest edition of The Morning Dunk, recapping all of the big NBA news, highlights, and betting odds from Tuesday.
Leonard Injured, Timberwolves Rally On Road
The game looked well in hand for the Los Angeles Clippers, but then things took a turn for the worse.
Kawhi Leonard exited early after playing the entirety of the first quarter due to what the team referred to as thoracic spasms. He changed out of his uniform and left Crypto.com Arena for apparent treatment.
Kawhi Leonard has exited the arena after missing the second quarter.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 13, 2024
(via @BleacherReport)
pic.twitter.com/ZG4A2FAoxz
The Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of the Leonard-less Clippers after getting outscored 34-21 in the opening 12 minutes, beating Los Angeles 97-66 the rest of the way to prevail 118-110.
Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 37 points, connecting on 15-of-29 from the field while also adding eight rebounds and four assists.
Stephanie Ready: “You exploded in that 3rd quarter. What were you seeing out there?”
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 13, 2024
Anthony Edwards: “Just a bunch of mismatches… Their best defender is Kawhi [Leonard]. He went down, and they were just putting two on me and trying stuff.” 🗣️pic.twitter.com/jGkYtLhzdx
The Timberwolves move into half a game of both the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference, while the Clippers fall 3.5 games behind the aforementioned teams.
Jackson Jr. Has Potential Dunk of the Year In Garbage Time
The Sacramento Kings blew out the visiting Milwaukee Bucks at the Golden 1 Center, 129-94.
Alright, now let's get to the good stuff.
If you haven't heard much about Andre Jackson Jr., that's fair. He's averaging 2.4 points this year for Milwaukee in 10.4 minutes per game.
After watching this insane dunk with 1:28 remaining in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's action, though, you'll never forget his name again. Jackson Jr's head was well above the rim as he threw down a wicked dunk which even brought players from the opposing team to their feet.
ANDRE JACKSON'S HEAD WAS ABOVE THE RIM ON THIS DUNK 😱 pic.twitter.com/xQ8lyBSd3H
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 13, 2024
Sacramento covered in convincing fashion as the 1.5-point underdogs, improving to 3-5 ATS over its last eight outings.
Anunoby Returns, Sixers Can't Score ... Again
At least the Philadelphia 76ers had an excuse for their offense running dry for the second game in a row at Madison Square Garden.
Defensive Player of the Year candidate O.G. Anunoby returned to the New York Knicks' lineup following an 18-game absence to help lead his side to a commanding 106-79 win. Josh Hart registered his fourth triple-double of the campaign with 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists as well.
The Knicks are now 13-2 this season when Anunoby plays.
OG Anunoby is the first player in NBA History to record a +/- of +200 or better in their first 15 games with a new franchise.
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) March 13, 2024
OG is +280 (!!) through 15 games in New York. pic.twitter.com/mmuIGGOZEc
The 76ers also scored 79 points on Saturday, albeit in a win, while New York had an NBA season-low 73 points that day.
