NBA scores 2017: Kemba Walker’s incredible night turned sour and 4 more things from Friday night

Walker had 47 points and missed the game-winning layup. UNFORTUNATE.

Nov 18, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Kemba Walker scored 52 points while nearly recording a triple double (nine rebounds, eight assists) last season. It’s the only game that could really compete with Friday, where Walker had another performance of his life. He scored 47 points on extreme efficiency — 17-of-27 shooting with five triples — while notching six rebounds and five assists. Walker, for nearly 48 minutes, was damn near unstoppable.

Unfortunately, Walker will never be able to look back on this showing with a clear conscious. Down by one point and with seconds left, Walker shook his man, drove into the lane, and attempted a layup he has hit a hundred times — not an easy one, but a make-able one. It hit backboard, rolled around on the rim, and fell off. The Hornets lost 103-100 because of that miss.

Players sometimes miss layups. Without Walker’s 47 points preceding this moment, would the Hornets even have had a chance against Chicago? The Bulls aren’t an intimidating opponent, necessarily, but they had two unexpected 20-plus scorers (27 from Justin Holiday and 22 from Kris Dunn). Sometimes, you get unlucky.

Still, it’s Kemba, and misses like this are haunting. He’ll just have to drop 49 next game.

Oh no, the Clippers

Los Angeles lost their seventh straight game on Friday, which almost perfectly coincides with Danilo Gallinari’s absence from the lineup. (He has missed five straight games.) In another situation, an overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers would be ripe picking grounds for a moral victory. But there are no moral victories during a seven-game losing streak, nor this Cavaliers team, which has limped through the regular season despite LeBron James still being amazing. (He had 39 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists on Friday.)

Gallinari is crucial to this team. The shooting and scoring he provides for about 30 minutes per night are essential and not really replaceable by the rest of the roster. Unfortunately, he is injury prone, and this simply isn’t a surprise.

Oh no, Austin Rivers

NOT IN FRONT OF DAD.

Oh no, Anthony Davis

The big man left the game with concussion-like symptoms. You know how he has an injury-prone label? Davis actually played 75 games last season, but he hasn’t quite shed that reputation just yet. Hopefully this is a minor concussion and a swift recovery.

Oh wow, another Brooklyn find in the rough

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points while shooting 6-of-10 on three-pointers and added eight assists, too. The Nets have been good at finding these overlooked players who they can develop into decent players, and the 24-year-old Dinwiddie had bounced out of Detroit and floated around the league before the Nets targeted him. He hasn’t been perfect this season, but performances like this make you think he’ll figure it out and spent a decade playing basketball at this level.