Keegan Murray
Keegan Murray and the ninth-seeded Sacramento Kings dropped three of their last four games of the regular season — the last three games being at home — and will now face the 10th-seeded Golden State Warriors in the Play-In Tournament.
The winner of that game will go on to face the loser of the seventh-seeded New Orleans Pelicans and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers game for a chance to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The loser will watch its season come to an end.
Forward Keegan Murray played 38 minutes and logged a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds along with two assists on 5-of-16 shooting from the field, 3-of-10 from three, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in the 112-105 loss to the Thunder on Tuesday.
The second year turned around and played 36 minutes in Thursday’s 135-123 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. In those minutes, he furnished 19 points, five rebounds, two steals, and one assist while shooting 6-of-14 shooting from the floor, 5-of-10 from deep, and 2-of-2 from the stripe.
KEEGAN MURRAY 23 PTS 7 REB 0 AST 0 BLK 3 STL | vs PHX 12 Apr 23-24 SAC Player Highlights
The next day, Sacramento suffered a brutal 108-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns at home. Considering the Kings and the Suns were both running for the sixth seed in the Western Conference — the last guaranteed playoff spot — this was a pivotal game not only for the two teams but the Pelicans and Lakers as well.
Murray put together a solid all-around performance of 23 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on 9-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-12 from three in 43 minutes of play, though his efforts weren’t enough in the one-point loss.
Keegan Murray discusses matching up against his twin brother, Kris Murray
The Kings ended their season with a 121-82 blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Keegan Murray matched up with his twin brother, Kris, for most of the game and finished with 12 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block while shooting 4-of-12 from the floor, 2-of-7 from three, and 2-of-2 from the line in 27 minutes played.
Keegan Murray finished the regular season with averages of 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, one steal, and 0.8 blocks per game on 45.4/35.8/83.1 shooting splits in 77 games played.
Kris Murray
First-year forward Kris Murray’s season with the Portland Trail Blazers has come to an end with the conclusion of the regular season. The Trail Blazers lost their last five games and finished the season at the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 21-61 record.
Kris Murray led the team in minutes throughout the last four games for an average of 42.2 minutes per game.
Tuesday’s 110-100 home loss to the Pelicans saw him drop 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal on 4-of-6 shooting from three and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in 37 minutes of play.
Murray played 45 minutes against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday and logged a very similar statline to the game prior 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 from three, and 5-of-6 from the line in the 100-92 home loss.
Portland suffered a 116-107 home loss to the Houston Rockets the following day. The rookie put up 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists while shooting 4-of-11 from the floor, 1-of-7 from three, and 1-of-1 from the stripe in 43 minutes of play.
The final game of Murray’s rookie year was fitting as he matched up against his twin brother, Keegan, and logged a career-high 18 rebounds in this game along with nine points, one steal, and one block. But he struggled to put the ball in the basket as he shot 3-of-15 from the floor, 1-of-7 from three, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in 44 minutes of play.
In 62 games played this season, Kris Murray averaged 6.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game on 39.6/26.8/66.1 shooting splits.
Luka Garza
The Minnesota Timberwolves split their last four games and finished as the third seed in the Western Conference standings. They will take on the Suns in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
After suffering a left knee injury that sidelined him since March 4, Timberwolves All-Star forward-center Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the lineup on Friday, impacting third-year center Luka Garza’s opportunity of seeing meaningful minutes through the team’s final two regular season games as well as the playoffs.
Garza didn’t play in Tuesday’s 130-121 win over the Washington Wizards or Friday’s 109-106 win over the Atlanta Hawks but got some minutes toward the end of Wednesday’s 116-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets and Sunday’s 125-106 loss to the Suns.
He logged just one steal in three minutes against Denver but earned nine points and three rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line in five minutes of play against Phoenix.
Garza appeared in 25 games for the Timberwolves and averaged four points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.2 assists, and 0.2 steals on 48/28.1/72 shooting splits.
Joe Wieskamp
The Maine Celtics split the first two games of the G League Finals against the Oklahoma City Blue and will now play in a winner-takes-all game on Monday.
The Celtics kicked off the G League Finals with a dominant 106-86 victory over the Blue in game one. Wieskamp put up eight points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal while shooting 4-of-10 from the floor in 26 minutes of play.
Wieskamp finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 from three, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in 35 minutes of play. But the Blue topped the Celtics, 99-89, to keep their championship hopes alive.
Game three of the Celtics-Blue G League Finals matchups will take place at 8 p.m. on Monday on ESPNU.
The NBA’s Boston Celtics will await the winner of the Philadelphia 76ers-Miami Heat Play-In Tournament game to see who they will match up against in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
