BBNBA Playoffs: Gilgeous-Alexander scores playoff career-high 42 points; KAT notches triple-double

Five out of the six former Wildcats who saw action in playoff games on Saturday scored at least 15 points. This is your periodic reminder that no college will ever funnel more NBA talent through its door than what Kentucky did during the John Calipari era. The NBA, for the time being, is truly the BBNBA.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops postseason career-high in points

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the most prolific scorers of the basketball on planet Earth. He added to that resume on Saturday in his team’s win over the Suns by scoring a career high in the playoffs, 42 points. More critical to the critics, however, he did so on an MVP-like 15-18 field goal attempts. The Thunder have been getting a lot of flak for baiting fouls, with Gilgeous-Alexander chief among the sources of complaints. But it is performances like this that silence the naysayers.

This gives him the third-highest scoring playoff game for a player shooting at least 80 percent from the field in NBA history. Interestingly enough, the man who sits at No. 2 on this list was also on the court. Devin Booker accomplished this feat in 2023, but did not shoot the ball nearly as well on this day in 2026. He finished with 16 points, but would have needed a lot more than that for 8-seed Phoenix to upend the defending champs.

Cason Wallace chipped in six points for OKC while coming up with this patented two steals. The Thunder now hold a commanding 3-0 series lead and look to advance to sweep the Suns on their home court on Monday.

Karl-Anthony Towns’ triple-double propels the Knicks to Game 4 win

The New York Knicks entered Game 4 with a surprising 2-1 series deficit to the Atlanta Hawks, but were able to right the ship in the Peach City. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in just 29 minutes of action to launch the Knicks into the win column and even the series 2-2 as it heads back to New York. This marks Towns’ first-ever postseason triple-double, and he becomes only the second Knicks player to score 20 points in a playoff triple-double.

The other story of this game was an ankle injury to Jalen Brunson. He was diagnosed with a grade 1 ankle sprain, and his status moving forward is uncertain. If he misses time, the Knicks will need to rely even more heavily on Towns to score.

Randle and the Timberwolves shock Murray and the Nuggets

The 6-seed Minnesota Timberwolves are now just one win away from upsetting the 3-seed Denver Nuggets in the first round after Minnesota pulled out a Game 4 win at home. Julius Randle scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the victory, but, similar to the Knicks-Hawks game, it is injuries to star guards that have the winning team worried.

Anthony Edwards went down with a knee injury, and unfortunately, it looks like it could cause him to miss extended time. The official severity has not yet been revealed, but Edwards will most likely miss the remainder of the series, according to early indications. The diagnosis is much clearer for Donte DiVincenzo. He suffered the dreaded Achilles tear that will force him out for the rest of this season and a good chunk of the next.

Meanwhile, Jamal Murray posted a 30-piece for the Nuggets, but it was some late-game antics that made the headlines. Jaden McDaniels for Minnesota scored a meaningless layup with less than two seconds on the clock, and former MVP Nikola Jokic took offense. He bodied up McDaniels, and a massive shove fest ensued. Jokic got kicked out, and the league will now review the footage with a fine-tooth comb to see if further discipline will come.

The series now returns to Denver with the Nuggets down 3-1.

Statistics for 4/25/2026

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	P/M	MIN
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	121-109 W vs. PHX	42	15-18 (1-3)	4	8	1	0	3	+10	38
Jamal Murray (DEN)	96-112 L vs. MIN	30	10-25 (3-7)	5	5	0	1	2	-13	42
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)	114-98 W vs. ATL	20	6-10 (1-2)	10	10	2	0	2	+16	29
Devin Booker (PHX)	109-121 L vs OKC	16	6-16 (2-6)	4	7	0	0	2	-14	39
Julius Randle (MIN)	112-96 W vs. DEN	15	6-16 (0-1)	9	2	0	0	4	+13	32
Cason Wallace (OKC)	121-109 W vs. PHX	6	2-8 (2-6)	1	2	2	1	0	+11	26

Today in the BBNBA Playoffs

TIME/TV	MATCHUP	SERIES
1:00 p.m. ET | ESPN	(4) Cavaliers @ (5) Raptors (Quickley)	East Round 1: CLE leads 2-1
3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN	(7) Trail Blazers (Sharpe) @ (5) Spurs (Fox, Johnson)	West Round 1: SAS leads 2-1
7:00 p.m. ET | NBC/Peacock	(2) Celtics (Williams) @ (7) 76ers (Maxey)	East Round 1: BOS leads 2-1
9:30 p.m. ET | NBC/Peacock	(5) Lakers (Vanderbilt) @ (4) Rockets (Sheppard)	West Round 1: LAL leads 3-0