Clippers forward Nicolas Batum made just his fourth start this year on Friday and helped his club notch a 105-95 win over New York, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Typical starter Derrick Jones Jr. is still dealing with a groin injury, opening up an opportunity for the 36-year-old reserve.
Batum, whose season-high 17 points against the Knicks included 5-for-7 shooting from deep, noted that his gig as a backup under head coach Tyronn Lue has meant staying ready and adjusting to an irregular role.
“I mean that was the talk I had with Ty during the offseason after the Olympics and during training camp,” Batum said. “I mean some games I play 25 (minutes), some games five minutes, some games I won’t play… But I knew, like maybe like down the road, like the last 20 games, I might mean more like (in) a game tonight (with) some injury, so I need to be ready to step up.”
The 6’8″ vet is averaging just 17.4 minutes per game this year, his lowest in 17 NBA seasons. All told, Batum is logging 3.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.7 SPG during his time on the hardwood for the 34-29 Clippers.
There’s more out of California:
- Kings starters Malik Monk (sprained toe) and Domantas Sabonis (hamstring strain) have both been given the green light to resume on-court activity this weekend, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Both will miss Sunday’s clash against the Clippers, and Sabonis has been ruled out for Monday’s matchup with the Knicks as well. Jonas Valanciunas has served as Sabonis’ replacement, while Keon Ellis has been starting in place of Monk.
- Kings assistant coach Luke Loucks is set to start his reported new gig as the head coach at Florida State immediately. According to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL Sacramento (Twitter link), the 34-year-old Loucks logged his last game on interim coach Doug Christie‘s staff on Friday in a 127-109 win over San Antonio. Loucks played under 23-year now-former FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton in college.
- Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored his 25,000th career point against Detroit during a 115-110 win Saturday, Golden State announced in a press statement (via Twitter). Curry, 36, is now just the 10th player in the history of the league to have reached that tally for a single team. Across 55 healthy bouts so far this season, the two-time MVP and 11-time All-Star is averaging 24.5 points, 6.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per night. He’s the best player on an ascendant Golden State squad, which has won nine of its past 10 contests and is currently the West’s No. 6 seed at 36-28 overall.