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It was a big night in Texas for a pair of Tar Heels as Harrison Barnes scored 27 points in Sacramento’s victory at San Antonio and Reggie Bullock had a good all-around game in Dallas’ home victory over Golden State. Barnes collected four 3-pointers, five rebounds and two assists while making 11 of his career-high-tying 14 free-throw attempts in the Kings’ 115–112 win. The victory capped a crazy 24 hours for Sacramento full of plenty of frustrations.
Without Phoenix’s All-Star backcourt, some would have figured that the Suns might have a tough time winning on Wednesday night. But they didn’t figure Cameron Johnson into the equation. After the Suns has lost two consecutive games with Johnson in the starting lineup, he came off the bench to score 20 points, four 3-pointers and dish out four assists as they blew out Portland 120–90 at home for their 50th win of the season.
Harrison Barnes and Cole Anthony each have had plenty of nice games this season but, with their teams struggling, the wins haven’t come that often. Both played well in Monday night victories. Barnes collected 23 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals while going 10 of 11 from the free-throw line in Sacramento’s 131–110 win at Oklahoma City that snapped a four-game losing streak. He was +23 for the game, which was his 21st with at least 20 points this season but only the ninth win in those games.
Without point guard Chris Paul, league-leading Phoenix is finding it tougher to win. Cameron Johnson is trying to do his part as a starter in Paul’s absence but it hasn’t been easy for the Suns. Johnson collected 23 points, four rebounds and five assists in Phoenix’s 118–114 Sunday home loss to Utah after the Suns lost at home to New Orleans on Friday. It’s the first back-to-back losses for the Suns since December.
Harrison Barnes had a big game on the road against one of the best teams in the NBA but he wasn’t doing any celebrating afterward.
Barnes collected 24 points, five rebounds and three assists for Sacramento against the Denver Nuggets, but in a 115–110 Saturday loss, the Kings’ fourth in a row.
“There are no moral victories,” Barnes said
While All-Star Chris Paul recovers from a fractured right thumb, the league-leading Phoenix Suns will need big contributions from other players.
In the first game after the All-Star break, Cameron Johnson — in his 11th start of the season and the first time since Jan. 30 — and was there to do his part. He collected 21 points, four 3-pointers, four rebounds, five assists and a block as the Suns easily won at Oklahoma City 124–104 for their eighth consecutive victory.
As North Carolina continues its breakthrough season in Coach Courtney Banghart’s third year, the comparisons to a Tar Heels team that made the Sweet 16 team seven years ago keep piling up. Another one got added Monday. The Tar Heels (21–5, 11–5 ACC) jumped six spots to No. 18 Monday in the AP Top 25 poll after winning at home against Louisville (23–3, 14–2) 66–65 (which fell one spot to No. 4) and at Florida State 64–49. It’s the highest UNC rank since that 2014–15 team finished the season 26–9 and ranked No. 15.
George Karl, a star guard at Carolina in the early-1970s who coached in the NBA for 27 seasons, is one of 11 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. The inductees will be announced in New Orleans on April 2 at the Final Four.
Karl was the Tar Heels’ starting point guard all three of his seasons in Chapel Hill, leading them to an NIT title in 1971, the Final Four in 1972 and the NIT semifinals in 1973 when he was All-ACC. He played five seasons for the San Antonio Spurs, the last three as an ABA franchise and the first two as an NBA franchise.
Cole Anthony’s big All-Star weekend in Cleveland gets started at 9 p.m. Friday when he plays in the Rising Stars challenge for James Worthy’s team, and he’ll also compete in the Slam Dunk contest on Saturday night, both at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Team Worthy gets the competition started at 9 p.m. on TNT against former Indiana star Isiah Thomas’ team. In the other first-round game at 9:30, Gary Payton’s team will meet Rick Barry’s team. All four coaches are members of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team.
Coby White had it all going for him on his 22nd birthday Wednesday night. White scored a season-high 31 points with five rebounds, six assists and a steal as the Chicago Bulls earned a 125–118 home win over the Sacramento Kings for their fifth consecutive victory. Chicago (38–21) took over the Eastern Conference lead by a half-game over the Miami Heat.
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