Keita Bates-Diop’s Career Night Leads Spurs Past Lakers

On Dec 24, 2021

Former Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 138-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

It was notably the Lakers’ final game Staples Center before it is renamed Crypto.com Arena this weekend.

The 6-foot-8 and 229-pounder becomes the first player in franchise history and just the fourth player in the NBA since 2000 to score 30 points on 100 percent shooting, joining Dwight Howard, Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis and Thomas Bryant.

Bates-Diop is averaging 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds this season, his second with the Spurs. His previous career high was 22 points, which came in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to the Phoenix Suns in November 2019.

A former four-star prospect from Normal (Ill.) University High, Bates-Diop was the Big Ten Player of the Year during his redshirt junior season with the Buckeyes in 2017-18. He averaged 19.8 points and 8.7 rebounds to lead Ohio State to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before opting to forgo his final season of eligibility.

Bates-Diop was then selected by the Timberwolves in the second round (48th overall pick) of the 2018 NBA Draft. He is averaging 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds across 128 career games, which also includes a stint with the Denver Nuggets.

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