SAN FRANCISCO — The first time Draymond Green and longtime nemesis Dillon Brooks shared the floor this season, only one of them was still left by the end.

In that battle, consider Brooks the winner.

In the one that actually matters in terms of wins and losses, point to Green and the Warriors.

Green’s ejection 2 minutes into the second half Monday night awakened the sleep-walking Warriors, who erased a 17-point deficit in his absence to pull out a 116-113 win.

“He lit a fire in all of us,” said Stephen Curry, “and we had to respond. So I’m glad we did.”

While the double technical ended Green’s night and put him two closer to the 16-tech threshold that automatically merits a one-game suspension, the Warriors had no problem with it.

In fact, just the opposite.

“I loved it,” said fourth-year guard Brandin Podziemski, who had six points in the first half but finished with 20. “It fueled our team. We didn’t have that edge to start the game. …

“Maybe he sensed it. Maybe he didn’t. But it helped.”

Green wrapped both arms around Khaman Maluach as Phoenix’s 7-foot center tried to finish at the rim shortly into the third quarter and threw him to the ground. Almost as soon as Maluach hit the floor, Brooks was in Green’s face, a familiar juxtaposition for two of the NBA’s most fiery players. Green responded by grabbing Brooks’ jersey with both hands, close to his neck.

Upon review, the incident resulted in technical fouls for Green and Brooks, and a second on Green for his “throwdown” of Maluach. That earned Green an early trip to the showers.

And almost instantaneously, the game flipped in the Warriors’ favor.

They were trailing 68-57 when Green was tossed at the 10-minute mark. Not even four minutes later, the Warriors had rallied to tie the score at 73 and never trailed by more than six again.

The Suns responded to Green’s absence by going small, subbing out Oso Ighodaro with 6-foot-7 forward Ryan Dunn at center. Coach Steve Kerr didn’t care to weigh in on Green’s testy back-and-forth with Brooks but said the Suns’ adjustment “opened up the game.”

“I think they played maybe 12 minutes of super small with [6-foot-7 forward Ryan] Dunn at the five,” Kerr said. “It kind of opened up the game a little bit. Our crowd got into it and our guys just did a great job of finding energy on a back-to-back.”

While the Warriors were on the back end of their second back-to-back of the season, the Suns were well-rested having played Friday. When they squared off Monday night, it was the Warriors’ eighth game of the season to only the Suns’ fifth.

So even though Green and Curry sat out against the Clippers the night before, it was understandable for the Warriors to come out sluggish.

The fact that they were able to rally and finish stronger, well, maybe some credit belongs to the guy who spent most of the second half in the locker room.

“We’ve got to have our brother’s back when he defends us,” Curry said. “But it’s also one of those games, most of the guys on the back to back, Phoenix had been off for a couple days, they started 1-3 and [we] knew they were gonna come out playing desperate. …

“We just tried to weather the storm, execute, give ourselves a chance, and that third quarter was the run that we needed to get back into it.”

It hasn’t always been pretty, but nearly two weeks into the season, the Sixers have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 7-1. They’ve already toppled three other East title hopefuls in the New York Knicks (twice!), Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, although the Pacers were without both Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) and Ivica Zubac (ankle), which takes some of the shine off that win.

There’s still plenty of meat left on the bone for the Sixers, who are nowhere close to a finished product yet. But they easily could have been below .500 right now, which would have inevitably led to questions about Nick Nurse’s job security and whether they would be the next would-be superteam that went up in smoke.

Given the scope of the Sixers’ roster changes this past offseason, plenty of people had plenty of questions about them coming into the year. Some of them have proven valid. Others looked hilariously off base in real time and have proven to be exactly that. (The local media has a far better batting percentage than the national media in that regard.)

Let’s go through which offseason Sixers takes are aging like spoiled milk and which are proving to be hauntingly prescient.

Which narratives were wrong

‘There’s only one ball’

What do you get when you combine two former MVPs, four former All-NBA selections and a high-upside, second-year high-lottery pick in your starting lineup? Would they form a cohesive unit, or would they devolve into the “your-turn, my-turn” style of play that’s common when stars link up?

The offense is still very much a work in progress, especially in the half court, but sharing the ball has not been a problem thus far. The Sixers are just outside of the top 10 leaguewide in total passes made per game, and all four of LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown are averaging at least four assists per game.

As it turns out, putting together a team of extremely talented, high-IQ basketball players is actually a good idea. Who knew?

They won’t play defense

Given their collection of high-end talent, the Sixers figured to be elite offensively. One of the main questions about them coming into the season was what they’d look like on the other end of the floor.

Hilariously, they’ve been far better on defense than on offense thus far.

With the usual small-sample-size caveat at this time of year, the Sixers currently have the NBA’s third-best defensive rating. When they aren’t turning the ball over and allowing easy runouts, they’ve shown far more cohesion in half-court settings than expected this early in the year.

After the season-opening win over the Knicks, Embiid told reporters that he’s hoping to earn an All-Defense nod this season, because playing defense at that level “changes everything” for our team. Brown said “defense is what we’re going to have to continue to hang our hat on,” and it’s “non-negotiable.”

The Sixers figured to have a high defensive ceiling in the playoffs once they were exerting maximum effort and had individually tailored, opponent-specific game plans. The regular season was the bigger question. So far, they’re acing that test.

Who’s the alpha?

Joe Vardon of The Athletic asked that question to Brown on media day—and promptly got shut down—but he was hardly the only one who was curious about that. After all, the Sixers were importing two strong personalities into their core, both of whom have been the best player on their respective teams before.

After the first two weeks, there’s little question who the Sixers’ alpha is, though. It’s Tyrese Maxey.

Because the Sixers’ starting five is so stacked, the have the luxury of mismatch-hunting whenever one of their starters has a clear matchup advantage. But against the Pacers last Wednesday, the Sixers’ entire late-game offense effectively boiled down to “Tyrese, make something happen.” The same goes for their shorthanded win over the Charlotte Hornets on Halloween, when Maxey erupted for a season-high 38 points.

Back in training camp, Brown talked about how Maxey took it upon himself to welcome the newcomers and help them acclimate. He’s clearly taken the leadership mantle upon himself both on and off the floor, and the rest of the Sixers appear content to let him roll with it.   

With that said, should we start a nightly Alpha Tracker just in case?

VJ’s development will be stunted

Shout-out to Draymond Green for this galaxy-brained take.

“If I’m VJ Edgecombe’s agent, I’m not sure I’m happy with the summer that the 76ers have had,” Green said on his podcast this offseason. “If I’m just VJ Edgecombe’s agent, because this could affect a lot for VJ Edgecombe. Like you go from being sometimes the second option when Embiid was out to sometimes being the fifth option. It’s a big, big, big difference. I don’t know if y’all understand how big of a difference that is.”

Edgecombe’s production has dipped relative to his rookie year—he’s averaging only 12.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game thus far—but that hardly means his development is being stunted by his new superstar teammates. Look no further than his 17-point, 13-rebound game against the Milwaukee Bucks or his 11-point, seven-rebound, six-assist outing against the Cavaliers.

Edgecombe might not put up monster stats this year, but his willingness to play whatever role the Sixers ask of him and play it well should only further endear him to his teammates and coaching staff. That’s the type of player who you want—and should pay to have—in your locker room.

Which narratives were right

Backup center

Even before Ariel Hukporti went down with a torn Achilles in the Sixers’ preseason opener, backup center looked like a potential weak spot. Now, it’s arguably their biggest issue, particularly given Embiid’s injury history and ongoing load management.

Adem Bona has largely been invisible to start the year other than the one game that Embiid missed against Detroit. Tacko Fall (hip) and Dominick Barlow (back) have yet to play, while Jabari Walker (knee) missed two games. That’s left them relying on LeBron and Dean Wade as small-ball 5s at times, which is not a sustainable solution.

As Maxey astutely noted after the Pistons loss, “It would be great to get some of our tall guys to come back.” External reinforcements do not appear to be on the way, at least for another month, which means they’ll have to look inside for ways to solve this problem for now.

Rebounding

The Sixers have largely been a dismal rebounding team under Nick Nurse. That didn’t figure to change this year given their personnel, and through five games, those concerns have played out as expected.

While the small-sample-size caveat very much applies at this time of year, the Sixers are currently 24th in rebounding percentage. They were 22nd in 2023-24 and 21st last season, so their early-season output is right in line with how they’ve fared in recent seasons (at least ones when their entire roster doesn’t get injured).  

With Andre Drummond now in New York and Hukporti out for the year, the backup center situation plays into these struggles to some extent. However, this is a teamwide issue that they need to improve upon.

“We’ve got to be better at rebounding the basketball, and we have to do it by committee,” head coach Nick Nurse recently told reporters. “I mean, I think if you’re missing some of your size and all that kind of stuff, obviously it becomes a problem. And, all five guys have to rebound. I just look at the numbers there, and the defensive rebounding from just across the board, no matter the position, just hasn’t been good enough.

“So, everybody’s got to chip in with a few more. That has to be the answer.”

Long-range shooting

Maxey is the only plus three-point shooter in the Sixers’ starting lineup. They have Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as snipers off their bench, but long-range shooting always figured to be an issue for this group. Lo and behold, the Sixers are 24th in three-point makes, 26th in three-point attempts and 18th in three-point percentage.

They’re due for some positive regression to the mean in the coming weeks. Maxey is shooting only 33.9 percent from deep, which would be the third-worst mark of his career. He figures to bounce back up into the high 30s (if not the 40s) in due time. After all, Simons started 5-of-21 from distance over his first four games and then went on a three-games heater, going 16-of-27 from deep. He’s now over 40% on the season on high volume.

With that said, Brown is shooting 41.9 percent from deep, which would be his career high if he keeps shooting that well across this entire season. In other words, he’s due for negative regression moving forward.

The bigger-picture bottom line: Unless Embiid and/or Edgecombe become more reliable from three, this issue might plague their starting five all year.

The half-court offense… for now

Given their compilation of talent, the Sixers figure to have one of the league’s most lethal offenses this year. However, the players have spent the past month warning that it’ll be a work in progress early in the season given how many new pieces they’re incorporating.

As it turns out, they weren’t kidding. The Sixers are 19th in overall offensive rating and 20th in half-court offense.

That’s bound to normalize as the starters develop more chemistry with one another. It’s hard to imagine this group finishing in the bottom 10 of the NBA in half-court offensive efficiency. Until then, they at least need to cut down on their turnovers to avoid generating run-out opportunities for opponents.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Charles Bassey calls out ‘fake toughness' after Warriors' fiery win over Suns originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors center Charles Bassey would rather let his play do the talking.

After Golden State’s 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at Chase Center, during which Draymond Green was ejected following a fiery third-quarter sequence, Bassey had a chance to log more minutes and fill up the stat sheet in his veteran teammate’s absence.

But as things became heated on the court, Bassey stayed within his game while Dillon Brooks and Co. unraveled, allowing the Warriors’ to overcome a 17-point deficit in the comeback victory.

“To be honest, man, I play hard,” Bassey told Bonta Hill, Festus Ezeli and Juan Toscano-Anderson on “Warriors Postgame Live” after the win. “You know, I’m always going to be there for my teammate. And of course, when stuff is going like that, you just still got to stay composed, man. Stay in the game, you know. Don’t let all this stuff get you out of the game sometimes. It’s fake toughness, and I just got to make sure I’m in the game. …

“It’s all fake toughness, man. You’re not doing that outside.”

Green and Brooks got into it with the Warriors trailing by 10 in the third quarter, after the Warriors’ longtime nemesis took exception to Green tossing his young teammate Khaman Maluach to the ground beneath the rim.

Brooks ran over to Green and the two grabbed each other by the jerseys, resulting in double technical fouls — Green’s second of the game after receiving one for the shove moments before, resulting in his ejection.

Green getting tossed lit a fire under the Warriors, and Bassey stepped up in his teammate’s absence. The backup center scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds after Green left the game, and finished with a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds over 23 minutes.

“It’s the next-man-up mentality,” Bassey told Hill, Ezeli and Toscano-Anderson. “As soon as Dray got the technical foul, got ejected, it’s next-man-up mentality. I just had to step up on my team.”

It remains to be seen if Green will face any further discipline following his ejection, but the Warriors know they’ll see Brooks and plenty of “fake toughness” again as the 2026-27 NBA season progresses.

And if one thing’s for sure, it’s that Bassey will be ready.

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The NBA regular season is filled with numerous peaks and valley’s. 4 game winning streaks can become 6-game losing skids, dominant wins can be followed by embarrassing losses.

You will find no better example of this phenomenon than the Dallas Mavericks in their two-game stretch against the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings. The Rockets game was an announcement to the rest of the NBA.

Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Iriving have brought the Mavericks back, and they will no longer be a punchline in NBA culture.

Losing to the Kings by 15 points is a reminder that this team won 26 games in the 2026-2027 season, and that their superstar is still only 19-years-old.

The feeling among the fanbase was already negative hours before tip-off when the Mavericks ruled Irving out with left-knee injury management. This left many (myself included) very confused, seeing as the Mavericks had not played since Friday.

But Irving’s absence is not the reason for their performance, nor should it excuse the frankly embarrassing effort the Mavericks showcased Monday night. Flagg had, in my estimation, the worst game of his NBA career, shooting 3-19 from the field with 6 turnovers. But the stats don’t illuminate just how poor Flagg was. He was lazy in transition, didn’t show any interest in boxing out, and struggled to generate any advantages for his teammates.

Flagg was not alone in his lack of intensity, as the rest of the Mavericks roster (save for Walter Clayton Jr. and Morez Johnson Jr.) played like they had forgotten what a three-pointer was. The Mavericks shot 7-33 from three, and were 3-28 outside of Clayton Jr.’s shooting. They struggled to execute any sort of offensive set, nor could they effectively space the floor at any point. The Kings, of all teams, exposed many of the flaws this team possesses, all of which were amplified by the lack of Irving.

But the players weren’t the only ones at fault.

For the first time this season, Dusty May showed that he is a first-time NBA coach. The starting lineup was a baffling decision. Starting Flagg alongside no other ball-handlers or shooters is a proven terrible strategy, and yet, May fell into the same trap that Jason Kidd fell into last season. Flagg is simply much better when he can play off of another ball handler, and not when he is next to Caleb Martin and P.J. Washington.

Losing games like this is reminiscent of last year’s team, which triggers dark memories for all Mavericks fans.

Now, this game could simply be a mirage. An off-night where your best player simply played terrible. But the Mavericks have to break their bad habits of years previous. These losses are unacceptable for a team that should have playoff aspirations. And this isn’t simply a one-year focus point. Good habits are the things that lead to championships in the future, and those good habits need to be built as early as possible.

Hopefully the Mavericks use this game as a learning experience, because if they don’t, the season could turn ugly before the blink of an eye.

The Jazz have been disappointing to start the year, and you know what that means; it is time to completely alter the foundation of the team, purely for the sake of it. Will Trade A or Trade B actually make the team better? No one can say, but nevertheless, they must be completed – SOMETHING must be done, anything!

There are the obvious, small-potatoes that Jazz fans are proposing. Kris Dunn would be nice; he would immediately be our only positive defender who can also dribble and pass. Tre Jones, maybe? He can run a clean offense off of the bench. Maybe we give Nikola Topic a shot! I wonder if there’s a reason our minds are all immediately going to back-up point guard options.

However, one report (potentially not based in reality) out of Sacramento really got people thinking:

Now we’re talking.

(EDITORS NOTE: Since writing, this report has gained a bit more credibility, via Tim McMahon)

Before I elucidate the 5 reasons I think a trade for Domantas Sabonis makes basketball-sense, let me give the lay of the land:

• The trade that I am defending is a one-for-one Lauri Markkanen and Domantas Sabonis swap, which works financially.
• I do not know who has more value. Markkanen’s contract is longer, but seemingly more desired across the league. Thus, due to my confusion, I am assuming no picks are exchanged.
• Maybe this is a three-team trade, with Markkanen sent elsewhere. That doesn’t impact my thinking in this article. I do not care where Markkanen lands, and am operating under the assumption that this deal nets us Sabonis and costs us Markkanen.

With that in mind, please indulge me as I arrogantly, ignorantly, and prematurely attempt to fix the Utah Jazz.

Reason #1: Domantas Sabonis allows Will Hardy to run his preferred offense

Will Hardy loves his top-of-the-key, dribble-handoff offenses. He gave Kelly Olynyk his last strong full season showing, he got lots of run out of Kyle Anderson, and he built an entire offense around Jusuf Nurkic after premature claims that Father Time had conquered the Bosnian Beast. A big man at the top of the key and 4 swarming, cutting teammates is Hardy’s idea of a good time. I mean, look at how every set from Nurkic’s 3rd triple double of last year was organized:

Jusuf has still yet to play a game in the 2026-2027 season as he deals with injury, and his absence is obvious. Hardy has attempted to run some of the sets with Jaxson Hayes, but Hayes simply doesn’t have the feathery touch or sense of timing that makes Nurkic so deadly from these spots. Because of this, the offense has stalled. The Jazz are last in the league in rim attempts per game, and in the bottom 10 in three point attempts. These are the shots that get prioritized in offenses built off of ball movement and motion, but with Nurkic out, many possessions end with Keyonte George or Isaiah Collier dribbling for 18 seconds before taking a contested mid-range jump shot.

Domantas Sabonis was born for the Will Hardy offense. In 2023, the Kings had the best offense in the association, and it was built almost entirely on the back of Domantas Sabonis and his top-of-the-key decision making. He is, indisputably, the 2nd best big-man passer in the league, and around the top when it comes to screen-setting as well. Hardy has turned players that the league had given up on into the centerpieces of offenses, and Sabonis, being a player still in the thick of his prime, would actualize Hardy’s offensive dreams to an extent not yet before seen. Sabonis would potentially average a triple double on this team, and the offense would have a structure in a way that has been heretofore, absent.

Reason #2: Sabonis and Jaren Jackson Jr. are near-perfect complements to each other

When Sabonis is being derided, it is fairly easy to anticipate the reasoning of the deriders. He isn’t a vertical, shot-blocking presence around the rim. He isn’t the quickest when switched out onto the perimeter. And he isn’t necessarily the most intimidating shooting threat. Domantas Sabonis, for all his skills, is a known commodity – what he can’t do now, he likely won’t be able to do later.

Similarly, people seem to generally understand what Jaren Jackson Jr. struggles with. He struggles as a rebounder and with physicality in general, and thus isn’t really cut out to play consistent center minutes. He often falls victim to tunnel vision, and seems to have made the decision to pass or shoot before he begins his offensive process. On paper, Jaren seems like the versatile big man option that every contender craves, but once you peel back some of the layers, you can see that he quite dependent on a context that caters to his flaws.

I struggle to think of a more synergistic front court pairing than these two.

JJJ can struggle on the boards as much as he wants, and the Jazz would still be carried to a respectable mark by 3 time rebounding champion Domantas Sabonis. There’s a limit to the level of defense Jaren can anchor on his own due to his poor rebounding, but Sabonis, who is not a good individual defender, would boost Jaren by, at the very least, consistently being able to end plays with rebounds. Domantas can continue to struggle blocking shots (his highest per-game mark is 0.6), but as long as he can be large down low, he allows Jaren Jackson Jr. to play to his strengths as a help-side roamer. Jaren provides spacing for Domantas to both hit cutters up top and bang down low, and Sabonis can set the bruising screens that Jaren never really could. Together, these two former all-stars can amplify strengths and mitigate weaknesses. We would not just be trading for Domantas Sabonis; in this deal would be included a superior version of JJJ.

Reason #3: It opens up more minutes for Ace Bailey

I hope to make one thing clear; I am not a Lauri Markkanen “hater”. In fact, I have strongly advocated for keeping him throughout the rebuild, and my opinion of him has not really changed after his slow start to the year (although I do have a theory that his transformation into a body builder has hurt his flexibility and, in turn, his impact). Today, Markkanen is still an all-world level off-ball shooter and scorer who, in most contexts, can add to a team’s attack without taking anything away. However, I am beginning to wonder that Utah is not one of those contexts. This team is facing a severe drought of dribblers and passers – everyone is attempting to do their work off-ball. Without players with gravity to work off of, Lauri Markkanen is taken out of his ideal role.

Normally, I wouldn’t mind this too much. Even playing out-of-role, Markkanen is still clearly a positive offensive player. However, with the rapid development of Ace Bailey, one must now consider the opportunity cost of every Lauri Markkanen minute played and action ran. This season, Ace has made huge strides defensively (making him an even better fit next to a guy like Sabonis), and has continued to improve his efficiency in all the same sets that Hardy runs for Markkanen. Both are big forwards who move and shoot like smaller, quicker players, but who aren’t necessarily the most capable creating their own shot. Considering that (a) Markkanen is significantly more expensive and (b) he is significantly older, it has been clear to me that, eventually, he would be the odd-man out and the first of the core to be traded. With Ace taking a leap and Jaren filling the other forward possession, now is as good a time as any to start looking into Markkanen trades (although I would feel a twinge of guilt if he did spend the heart of his prime in Utah, waiting for a playoff run, and then we trade him to Sacramento). If that trade can net a former all-star who is a perfect fit in Hardy’s offense, that should cause some real consideration on the part of the Jazz brass.

Reason #4: Sabonis can score with efficiency and volume in the restricted area

As discussed in Reason #1, the Jazz are currently outlierishly bad at interior scoring, making 5 less shots in the paint per game compared to the #29 team in that stat. Sabonis will help in one aforementioned regard; his top-of-the-key passing will open up rim attempts for cutters. However, that isn’t the only mechanism Sabonis will utilize to put consistent pressure on the paint; he himself would be the most intimidating rim presence on the roster. Sabonis consistently shoots near half of his shots within 3 feet of the basket, and shoots those shots at a career 72% clip. Many of these shots are assisted, but not all of them – Sabonis has shown the ability to post-up on his own and collapse the defense. Even the assisted shots from Domantas have more value than any of the same plays from the current interior players the Jazz employ. Sabonis has a combination of fluidity, strength, and touch that no one of the team can match, which makes him a more intimidating presence rolling to the rim than any of Hayes, Markkanen, Bamba, or whoever. Currently, the Jazz attack is centered entirely from the outside – rim attempts feel more lucky than strategic. An inside-out attack would strain opposing defenses in a way the current roster simply cannot.

Reason #5: We gotta do SOMETHING

I hope my sarcasm was evident in that subheading. In reality, I have 4 reasons and an anti-reason. I think each of the prior 4 are strong enough on their own, but they also operate under a base assumption that might not be true: that something must be done. In doing so, they disregard the most likely scenario. To me, that scenario still is that the Jazz are not a bad team. Maybe they’re not the level of a 6 seed, as I saw some hoping, but likely they are closer to the average projection of quality than how they are currently performing. Would it be nice for the Jazz to have performed better than they have? Sure, but in that same vein, it would be nice if Jaren Jackson Jr. did not immediately get injured. I would be nice if we could see Jusuf Nurkic hitting cutters like he did last season. It would be nice if we weren’t missing a disproportionate amount of our three pointers. Yes, it would be nice if we were winning, but this losing is not something that we can yet draw meaningful data from.

So, a proposition; let us continue to watch the games with caution, and a critical eye, but with a mind not yet predisposed to make changes at the first sign of trouble. Make careful notes of where the team is struggling, and pay close attention to how those areas develop throughout the remainder of the season, and even keep potential trade targets in your mind, but to this point? There is limited need for any of these changes to be made reality. This team has disappointed me too, Lauri Markkanen included, but I think it is important to maintain a sense of confidence in the player evaluations we have crafted for years, instead of tossing them out the window and calling the Kings at the first sign of trouble. Sabonis would be a good fit on this roster, but he’d be a good fit at the February trade deadline too; at this point, there should be no rush for transactions.

What are your thoughts on Sabonis’s fit on the team? Markkanen’s? When is the right time to start discussing trades? Sound off below!

As everyone already knew before the game, the Knicks beat the Nets.

New York 15, Brooklyn 0. Sheesh…

Here’s the latest from the only people that play meaningful basketball in New York’s five boroughs.

Mike Brown

On the Knicks’ bench performance against Brooklyn:

“Our bench was fantastic. I thought Landry came off and gave us a big lift on both ends of the floor. Jordan as well. And then Tyler — I thought Tyler’s minutes were tremendous. He did a fantastic job running the team, getting us some easy looks, and then he was solid defensively.”

On searching for a lineup combination to stop Brooklyn’s momentum:

“When we went into a little funk was at the beginning of the second. Us not scoring gave [Brooklyn] a little hope because they were able to shrink that lead and tie it up, even take the lead. When you give a young team confidence, now it’s hard to turn the water off … So I just started searching at that point and went to Tyler, went to Landry, tried JC, and then we found a group that caught a little groove and helped us take the lead back and create separation.”

On Jordan Clarkson accepting a reduced role and being an exceptional teammate:

“You have a veteran that’s been there, done that. and he’s willing to accept the role that most guys wouldn’t accept – even guys younger that haven’t proved as much as he’s proven in this league. And he’s willing to accept it. So, in my opinion, if he’s willing to accept it, which is what he did last year, and still try to uplift everybody, connect everybody while he’s going through what he’s going through, then everybody else should. That’s that’s the ultimate team player, I will say this about JC. I’ve been around some good teammates. He’s got to be the best. He is the definition of ultimate pro.”

On Clarkson’s place in the rotation:

“A lot of (his minutes) are based on the feel.”

On Mikal Bridges’ early-season struggles and what he needs to do to regain his form:

“Yeah, he’s just got to keep playing. Everybody goes through those ups and downs throughout the course of the season, and obviously, it’s the beginning of the season right now, so he’s got to find his way. Not just with him but with everybody, when you’re in a funk you gotta find one or two things to hold your hat on. Mikal is one of the best runners in the NBA.

“In both directions – offensively and defensively. So he’s just got to try to hang his hat on that as well as his cutting and trying to do the other little things – rebounding and driving and touching the paint and spraying it. Then this shot will come eventually.”

On his confidence that Bridges will eventually rediscover his shooting touch:

“It’s a matter of time in my opinion, before Mikal gets going.”

On not penalizing players, including Alavarado, for missing games because of injuries:

“I try not to take a guy out [of his rotation spot] due to injury and the reality is Jose got hurt.”

On his conversation with Jose Alvarado and Tyler Kolek about the backup point guard rotation:

“Jose got hurt, and Tyler gave us some good minutes. But at the end of the day, I sat them both down and I told them, ‘Hey, Jose, you’re our backup because you ended the season as our backup.’

“Both you guys helped us win last year. Jose in the finals, and Tyler in the Cup final. Both you guys got to be ready because a change can happen anytime.”

On Karl-Anthony Towns’ increased playmaking responsibilities and turnovers:

“KAT’s touches are going up, but his turnovers have gone up. KAT is a load making plays with the basketball. He’s just gotta finish the play. And not get it deflected or turn it over.”

On the Knicks attempting too many risky passes and Towns’ offensive fouls:

“Obviously, they have to do better [with the turnovers] and we talked about it. We will continue to talk about it. We’ve tried to make the home run pass. That’s happened a few times. And obviously some turnovers from KAT are offensive fouls. He’s got to be better in that area. But for the most part, we have to keep trying to hit singles as opposed to triples and home runs.”

On preferring dead-ball turnovers to mistakes that lead to fast breaks:

“Obviously, you don’t want your opponent to have the opportunity to get out on the break, so if it’s a situation where we have a chance to get back or the ball is dead, I’d prefer that. We’ve had some turnovers, like [with] Philly in the first half, it felt like we paid the price for it. So to try to just control that a little better at times will help us. But we’d rather have our defense set up than not.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On making better use of his increased touches and playmaking responsibilities:

“I just care about wins. So I gotta do better, making sure with that time [holding onto the ball] and translating it to more wins.”

Mikal Bridges

On the need for keeping the Knicks’ offense moving:

“I think we just all gotta be together, figure it out. Things just can’t get stagnant, and just gotta keep moving.”

Josh Hart

On Jordan Clarkson accepting a smaller role to help the Knicks win:

“I think it shows his character more than anything else. He’s someone that if he was on a different team, he could play 20, 25 minutes every night. He could score double digits. He could be that spark, that microwave off the bench. And he’s here. He was willing to sacrifice and take a smaller role, be a part of something bigger than himself. So it shows its character.

“It shows his professionalism. To be able to go out and do those things. And when he’s not doing it, he’s out there coaching, not on the court, he’s coaching guys up, talking to them, letting them know what he sees. So he’s the ultimate professional. He’s someone that you want on your team. And whenever he’s given an opportunity, he’ll go out and play well.”

On the Knicks finally increasing their pace in the fourth quarter against Brooklyn:

“We finally played fast, got stops. We’ve been playing very slow, very stagnant. We finally got out, we ran and we got good looks.”

On why the Knicks’ strong fourth quarter against Brooklyn did not erase their earlier problems:

“No. No, the issues are still there. That [fourth quarter] doesn’t erase the problem or erase the issue. So you gotta figure that out and get better.”

On the Knicks’ offensive struggles persisting despite their victory over the Nets:

“The issues are still there. I think defensively, we were solid. I think this year, for the most part, our defense has been pretty good. Obviously there have been some lapses. … But our offense has to get in a better flow, and that’s kind of what’s holding us back right now. So a win doesn’t erase the problem or erase the issues. We got to figure those out and get better.”

On the contributions of the Knicks’ reserves against Brooklyn:

“We talked about [Clarkson] earlier, Landry (Shamet), I mean, he had big threes. That third quarter kept us in it. Jose (Alvarado) played well. Ty (Kolek) played well. [Andre Drummond], I think he had to win like nine rebounds, ten rebounds in, like, 11 or 12 minutes. It shows you the depth that we have, that it could be anybody’s night on any given night.”

Tyler Kolek

On Mike Brown’s confidence in him and his willingness to use different players:

“I think it shows his (Brown’s) confidence in me. I think he has confidence in every game on the roster. As he’s shown, he’ll throw any guy in at any time, to do the spark.”

Landry Shamet

On Mike Brown’s willingness to confront the Knicks’ problems directly:

“We have to be real with ourselves, and Mike’s great with that, assessing things in film, calls it as it is. Our group’s great with that. We all understand that by no means — we’re not taking this as any potential fool’s gold. Like I said, the whole goal right now is to continue to get better, and we want to do that. So that’s the thought process.”

On his early experiences playing against Jordan Clarkson:

“When I was younger, my only thought of him was that he was really hard to guard and it felt like he always went at me. I used to hate it. He’d score and talk a little s—.”

On Clarkson’s team-first attitude and willingness to accept substitutions:

“Knowing him now, knowing who he is, it’s not crazy. The guy just wants to win. He wants to do whatever he can for this group, his teammates. He’ll play a stint out there for two minutes and get subbed out. A lot of guys in the NBA, the reality is, if they get subbed, they’re pissed. The whole thing. He never has any of those moments.”

OG Anunoby

On the physical toll of the Knicks’ championship run:

“We definitely played until June last season and I think everyone still feels it.”

Jordan Clarkson

On choosing No. 00:

“When I got to Utah, I was trying to think of a number. The only player I remembered as a kid who played for the Jazz (whose number wasn’t retired) was Greg Ostertag. So, when I got to New York, I kept it.”

LOS ANGELES — Luka Dončić earned a standing ovation from the Los Angeles Lakers fans before going on to beat the Miami Heat 138-117 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday, Nov. 2.

Dončić has beocme the early favorite for regular season MVP as the NBA’s leader in scoring average (38.3) and 3-pointers made per game (5.9).

The Slovenian point guard is known for his offensive prowess and his ability to score. It’s also what makes the Lakers a threat in the Western Conference.

He finished with 42 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds against the Heat on Nov. 2.

More: Heat defense under scrutiny after Lakers rout

Lakers coch JJ Redick praised Dončić’s offensive dominance on several occasions in recent weeks, referring to him as a "showman" and a "supernova" while also comparing his rhythm on the court to a theatrical stage.

"He's just making tough shots; averaging 38 points is not easy in this league," Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo said. "He's making tough shots and you just tip your hat off to him."

The two-time scoring champion is averaging 29.3 points per game for his career, which places him third all-time behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Both players averaged 30.1 ppg for their respective careers.

Are Lakers too dependent on Luka Dončić’s offense?

Dončić has propelled the Lakers to a fast start this season, and his play on Monday was no different. He scored 16 points as Los Angeles led Miami 37-30 in the first quarter.

Dončić is averaging 15 points in the opening quarter, and has scored at least 13 in all but one game this season.

When the six-time All-NBA player is hot, so are the Lakers.

The Lakers have outscored opponents by 113 points when Dončić is on the court during the seven games he's played this season, according to StatMuse.

When Dončić isn't on the floor, things can get tricky for Redick.

Los Angeles’ bench nearly blew a 16-point lead with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors cut the Lakers’ lead to make it a five-point game. Toronto scored 11 points in 40 seconds and forced Redick to put Dončić and Austin Reaves back into the game and help secure the victory.

On Monday, Dončić and the Lakers produced 111 points, the team’s highest-scoring point total through three quarters this season. This time, the Lakers left very little room for mistakes and refused to give up the lead in the final frame.

Dončić’s ability to score isn’t the only benefit of having him on the court.

Even if Dončić had a low-scoring night, he will always remain a threat that will keep defenses focused on him. It does free up his teammates for opportunities, who can also benefit from his playmaking and his ability to draw a double team.

That was the case Monday, as the Heat applied double-team looks on Dončić.

"I think at the beginning of the season we didn’t execute well with the double team, but today I think we improved a lot," Dončić said. "Everybody was in the right spots, so it's not just me. 

"It’s everybody, just to be in the right spot and being aggressive and shooting with confidence."

Lakers forward Ziaire Williams has been able to benefit from some of the open looks that come with sharing the floor with Dončić.

"Very easy looks," Williams said. "Way easier than they've been in the past. They're sending two (players) to Luka and two at (Reaves) every time."

Williams finished with nine points.

Can Austin Reaves carry offense with Dončić?

Reaves has proven he can be a high-efficiency volume scorer, but he is less likely to thrive without Dončić on the court.

If Dončić were unavailable, opposing game plans would focus on Reaves and he would be challenged by teams' toughest defenders.

Beyond Reaves (23.1 ppg), the Lakers would have to rely on center Walker Kessler (14.3) as a third-scoring option.

Williams (11.3) and Collin Sexton (10.3) could also be options, but neither would be able to guarantee similar production to Dončić on a nightly basis.

Dončić remains the Lakers' best option.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luka Dončić's offense is carrying Lakers. Is LA too dependent on its 'showman'?

The Atlanta Hawks continued their mini road-trip on Monday night, picking up a 108-104 victory against the Indiana Pacers. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 34 points, tying a career-best nine three-pointers in the process. Lu Dort added 14 points for Atlanta. For the Pacers, Jay Huff led with 22 points with Quenton Jackson adding 20 points.

The big story of this game could only be the injuries/absences. The following players were either injured or rested last night for the Pacers (who were on the second night of a back-to-back): Tyrese Haliburton, Paskal Siakam, Ivica Zubac, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, Kelly Oubre, and TJ McConnell, to name but a few, leaving the Pacers with just six available bodies.

NBA dot com’s summary of this game paints quite a picture when it comes to the Pacers absences and who was available:

“The players who sat out have a combined salary of about $193 million, while those on the court make about $15 million.”

For the Hawks, Jalen Johnson was sidelined in this game after the ankle tweak in New Orleans, while Jock Landale also missed out. In Johnson’s place, Lu Dort would start. Kingston Flemings was also absent due to a one game league suspension following an elbow in New Orleans.

If one is to be realistic about the situation that presented itself for Atlanta last night, it’s hard to conceive any situation where the Hawks should have work excessively hard or be in any position where this game is realistic doubt. But that’s exactly where the Hawks found themselves when it came to clutch time.

At several points in this game the Hawks established secure double-digit leads — 14 points, 15 points — in the second and third quarters. And in both instances, the Pacers pegged them back. A lack of size inside meant that when the Pacers found Huff, they also found a recipe that worked inside and led to consecutive baskets which wiped the lead in the second quarter for a spell.

In the third quarter, the Hawks shot 28% from the field, and then went on a nearly four minute field goal drought in the fourth quarter down the stretch, with Onyeka Okongwu’s hook fortunate to drop to give the Hawks a secure four-point lead with 10 seconds remaining.

With a second left and a good contest, it was pretty desperate stuff for the Hawks but they finally got their much needed field goal, and the Pacers’ juice finally ran out.

This Okongwu basket was also a rare example of the Hawks getting a basket in the paint, scoring just 26 points in the paint, only 10 of which came in the second half.

The Hawks found success early shooting the three, and fell flat shooting inside the arc, and decided the strategy was to just hoist threes where possible as players such as Alexander-Walker (nine threes), Corey Kispert (four threes in the first half) and Lu Dort (4-of-6 from three) found fortune outside. In the end, the Hawks shot 23-of-51 from three, and it’s the only reason they won this game. Atlanta shot 45% from three and 38% from the field.

Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised the quality of the win despite acknowledging the Hawks were not at their best at the rim while missing players themselves

“It’s a really good win,” said Snyder postgame. “We knew we were going to be in a dogfight kind of game. Huff gives him size and rim protection. We weren’t very good at the rim, and they made plays. We got a 10/12-point lead at one point, that’s when you hopefully have a chance to break the game open and we were never able to do that. At this point in the year, the way every team is kind of growing, hopefully, the Pacers can get healthy. That’s really hard. We had a little bit of that tonight with not having Jalen, Jock, and Kingston. We missed a lot of layups, and some of that was because we were playing against a team who had size. Good to get out of here with a win, all wins are good. These are the type of games, close games, that help you get better.”

I couldn’t disagree more with the general sentiment here that this was a ‘good win’. While all wins ultimately add to the Hawks’ record, so from that point of view they’re ‘equal’ in that they all add a ‘+1,’ not all victories are equal in how they’re made, and not all victories are ‘good.’

For example, how would you compare the recent victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers with this victory? Or the absolute drumming of Charlotte earlier in the season? Yes, they all added one win to the Hawks’ record, but the perception around them and how the Hawks performed are completely different.

Adding to that, while the loss of Johnson, Flemings, and Landale in this game are note worthy, Snyder has no leg to stand on by mentioning that the Hawks missed these players while Indiana was missing all who they were missing.

With respect to the ‘Super 6’ as they were dubbed by the Indiana broadcast (and there’s lots of good things to say about those six players), the Hawks — even without those three players — have so much more quality on paper of those who were available that this should never have been a close game. Not to mention depth; the Hawks ran out — almost on purpose, it felt — a deeper rotation than normal. Some of that accounts for injuries/absences, so there were minutes for Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor in the front-court, but the likes of Kispert and RayJ Dennis also got real rotation minutes.

Just to add further insult to the embarrassment of riches that were in Atlanta’s favor, five of those six Pacers players played real rotation minutes against Brooklyn on Sunday, and were tasked with playing — in most cases — 40-plus minutes with little time to rest.

The Pacers deserve a lot of credit for how close they brought this game, because they had absolutely no right to be anywhere close to winning this game. Everything that was stacked against them should have resulted in a double-digit loss at the bare minimum.

But plays from Huff on both ends of the floor, energy from Kobe Brown coming off the bench, the tenacity of Braden Smith (who I thought was excellent) kept the Pacers close enough at times to make a run and keep the Hawks within striking distance of a run, which they made multiple runs to get back into the game.

From the Hawks’ perspective, it was clearly not working at the rim so they dialled in from the perimeter. Against New Orleans, the three-point shooting was deplorable, but was excellent last night and was Atlanta’s saving grace. So, in that regard, that’s a positive the Hawks can build on that they can bounce back from an extremely cold performance to an extremely high volume performance, led by Alexander-Walker’s nine threes leading to 34 points on 12-of-25 shooting and 9-of-15 from three:

Postgame, Snyder praised Alexander-Walker’s ability to defend while also continuing to hit shots, also crediting the role of CJ McCollum in Alexander-Walker’s performance.

“The thing about Nickeil is he’s still playing on the defensive end too,” said Snyder postgame. “He seems to make plays on both ends of the floor. He’s playing with so much confidence. I thought CJ did a really good job of finding him late. I liked the shots that CJ was getting too, you just have certain nights that the ball won’t cooperate. Nickeil hit big shots for us, it seemed like, the whole game.”

With Johnson and Flemings out — in addition to Alexander-Walker’s hot hand — McCollum took more of a playmaking role in this game, dishing out 12 assists in total and the first time McCollum has registered 10 or more assists in a game in over three years.

While McCollum finished 4-of-17 from the field, his contributions in the playmaking department do help make up for the volume of misses.

Elsewhere across the roster, Lu Dort put in a fine performance in the starting lineup, shooting 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. Dort hit what I thought was a huge three in the third quarter to stop the bleeding and prevent Indiana from getting too close:

This was, arguably, one of the most important swings in the game. Had Huff hit that three, the Pacers would have cut the lead down to two points. Dort’s three really punished that miss, taking the lead up to eight points and buying the Hawks some immediate relief. If there was a spot when the Hawks sorely needed a good night shooting the three from Dort, this was the one and he delivered.

While everyone will forget the nature of this victory soon enough, the overarching takeaway, again, is that the Hawks were easily beaten inside the paint (conceding 54 points). This is Snyder’s biggest concern from this game, spotting the trend that has occurred in several games now (but not before doubling down on his belief that this was a good win).

“Every win is a good one, and people say that because it’s true,” said Snyder. “Tonight was one of those nights. I thought when they did make the late run, we didn’t get rattled. We didn’t do everything right. The Pacers made some plays. We had a stretch where we put them on the foul line and that makes it hard because we can’t get any force offensively, or thrust. didn’t get any offensive thrust. The paint is something that we’ve got to shore up one way or the other. That’s probably the biggest thing for us right now defensively is just not doing a better job protecting the paint because it’s going to be real difficult to win when teams score on the paint like these guys did, and some other teams have too.”

The Hawks (4-4) are back in action on Wednesday for the first of two meetings against the Washington Wizards (4-3), the first of which wraps up their three game road-trip.

Until next time!

The high school class of 2020 produced one of the most hyped collections of top-ranked prospects in recent memory. Jalen Green, Terrence Clarke, and Josh Christopher were household names from early in their teenage years for mixtape compilations that drew comparisons to Kobe Bryant and other star scorers. Jalen Suggs was a two-sport stud who bypassed an Ohio State football scholarship because he was better at basketball. Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley were portable, long-limbed defensive prodigies, and Cade Cunningham shot up to the top of the class after a stirring EYBL run that had him looking like American Luka Doncic.

Yaxel Lendeborg was also in the class of 2020, but while his peers were gracing the cover of SLAM and winning international gold medals, he had yet to play organized basketball. Lendeborg’s grades weren’t good enough to get on the court back in his hometown of Pennsauken, New Jersey, and he was more interested in playing video games than applying himself to anything that would better his future. It’s possible his enormous talent would have slipped through the cracks entirely if not for a junior college on the other side of the country taking a chance on him with its last scholarship in a Covid-shortened season following an impressive weekend at an exposure camp for Dominican players.

Nearly six years later, Lendeborg already looks like something close to an NBA star as a 24-year-old rookie with the Golden State Warriors. His winding journey from Arizona Western College to UAB to Michigan to now playing alongside Stephen Curry has no real analog, but it still offers some valuable insight into how prospect evaluation is changing in a rapidly evolving landscape for young players. Lendeborg is an exception to just about every rule in the sport, but his ascent is no accident, and it could inform similar success stories in the coming years for teams looking hard enough.

What Lendeborg is doing to open this season is nothing short of amazing. He’s averaging 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on pristine 64.5% true shooting through his first seven games. His 37-point explosion against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday showed the full extent of his skill set. When he was guarded by the skinnier Derrick Jones Jr., Lendeborg wielded body blows in the paint for easy scoring chances. When Brook Lopez tried to corral him in drop coverage off a pick-and-roll, Lendeborg calmly drained a pull-up three-pointer. He showed impressive body control when attacking downhill, and relentless aggression in punishing a small guard in Darius Garland on switches. With a like-sized defender in Kobe Sanders on him, he ripped mid-range shots like a seasoned pro.

No rookie should be capable of this type of immediate excellence. Then again, Lendeborg is anything but a typical rookie.

The Warriors drafted Lendeborg at No. 11 overall this year, but even they weren’t fully convinced he was the player they needed. Golden State reportedly coveted Brayden Burries, who went one pick ahead of them to the Milwaukee Bucks, and they were prepared to select him over Lendeborg. Yaxel’s own college coach passed on him for one of his Michigan teammates when the Dallas Mavericks chose Morez Johnson at No. 9 overall days after hiring Dusty May.

It was easy to see the track record of older first round draft picks and immediately write off Lendeborg as a low-ceiling prospect. I never bought that argument. When I ranked Yaxel at No. 5 overall on my final draft board, I wrote “I typically balk at the idea that older prospects are more ‘NBA ready’ than younger ones who reach the league sooner, but it feels true in Yaxel’s case.” In reality, he was never that difficult of an evaluation if you could get past his age.

What sold me on Lendeborg was that he was improving in the exact ways you want someone his age to improve, albeit at a lower level than the NBA. When he entered UAB from junior college, he was mostly a rebounding big who provided value by generating extra possessions and protecting the paint. In his second season at UAB, he started to show off his playmaking chops, showing that he could run offense with the ball in his hands by using his own scoring gravity to set up his teammates. He also doubled his three-point makes from the previous season. As his offense was starting to develop, Lendeborg was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year while mostly playing center.

Lendeborg was good enough to get drafted in the first round in 2025 out of UAB. After testing the process at the combine, though, he decided to take a massive NIL bag from Michigan as the top-rated player in the transfer portal. As I was covering the Wolverines during March Madness, I asked Yaxel what he heard from NBA scouts that convinced him to go back to college. His answer showed the self-awareness required to go from good to great on your own timeline.

“(The NBA) wanted to see a lot more three-pointers and a lot more versatility in my defense,” Lendeborg told SB Nation. “I tried to be more of three, because in the NBA, I’m not gonna be the superstar. I’m gonna be playing next to somebody like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and he doesn’t need me to score for him. He needs me to get stops. I just tried to figure out my role and do whatever I can do to get there.”

Michigan’s unique team-building strategy forced Lendeborg into the exact role NBA evaluators wanted to see him in. May started three nominal college centers next to each other who were each good enough to have a team built around them on their own. Lendeborg’s malleability was the biggest reason it all worked. Forced out to the perimeter full-time for the first time in his brief career, Yaxel showed he could shoot threes with volume, defend away from the paint, and grease the offense with connective passing all without losing his physicality at both ends.

Lendeborg proved he was willing to sacrifice for team success, and he never needed to put up the biggest numbers to answer the NBA’s questions. Here was a player with the size to play NBA center after measuring at 6’8.5 without shoes, 235 pounds with a 7’4 wingspan who already showed he could play alongside other bigs while contributing to winning at a high level. He could do the role player stuff of rebounding, setting screens, spacing the floor, and moving the ball as a passer, and he still had an extra gear as an isolation scorer who could leverage his size into more efficient chances. All the while, he kept getting more confident and more accurate as an outside shooter.

The scary thing about Lendeborg is his most impressive flashes haven’t translated to sustainable success … yet. Through seven games, he’s only making 25% of his pull-up threes on 3.4 attempts per game. If those start falling even at a clip in the low 30s, there’s no real cap on his ceiling.

So many young forwards get drafted high in the NBA just because they have the frame, athleticism, and pedigree the league looks for. In the best case scenarios, these players will develop as passers and shooters without losing their physicality in their age-21, age-22, and age-23 seasons. This is exactly what Lendeborg did first at UAB and then at Michigan, and his development curve is made even more impressive by his late start in the sport.

His progression as a player is even more satisfying when juxtaposed against another former Warriors lottery pick who graduated high school in 2020: Jonathan Kuminga. Kuminga was never asked to play a winning role with physicality early in his career when evaluators saw a potential star scorer. He never developed the ball skills or shooting that Lendeborg is showing now. Yaxel’s progression shouldn’t have been discounted just because it happened in college, not the NBA. In every other way, he was giving scouts everything they wanted.

The two best players in college basketball last year were Yaxel and Cameron Boozer, and no one else was close to him. This is what made Boozer the obvious No. 1 overall pick in my eyes: he was the only player in the country close to Lendeborg’s level, and he did it while being five years younger than him. While there’s plenty of season left to go, it’s no surprise that Lendeborg and Boozer have been the two best rookies to start this season.

Lendeborg checked every box for a role player, and in the NBA, the best role players are truly more valuable than many who get blessed as stars. Yaxel is a premium example of that. The NIL is going to keep good players in school longer before, and don’t be surprised if some of the top prospects in the next draft are also multi-year college veterans, if not 24-year-old rookies. It’s easy to say progress isn’t linear when watching young basketball players, but it’s harder to act like it when the chips are on the table. Lendeborg was always running his own race. Right now, he’s showing he can still finish first even with a late start.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors' biggest concern has been the center position. Charles Bassey showed on Monday, Nov. 2 that he could be a solution for the Warriors with his 'next man up' mentality.

After losing Kristaps Porzingis, the Warriors have had to pivot with different lineups. Amid their five-game winning streak, they've thrown a few small ball lineups out with Draymond Green as the center.

But when Green was ejected from the Warriors' 116-113 win against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, Bassey stepped up and impacted the game with his high-energy and efficiency around the rim, just days after his 26th birthday.

Bassey finished the game with a career-high 19 points and shot 7-of-10 on field goals. He had 8 rebounds and finished with a plus-minus of +10.

"Next man mentality, to be honest. We knew we could get a win," Bassey said. "We started to the game slow. 
We got to get better at doing that, you know, last couple games we started slow. We just gotta get rid of doing that. There was a mentality, we felt we could win. Like I said, next man, up, just go in and do your job. That's why I think every player on this team has confidence doing that and as long as you're on this team, you know, like I said, coach Steve (Kerr) gives you all that confidence."

The Warriors got off to a 31-19 deficit after the first quarter. Golden State came out shooting 33% on field goals and went 2-of-15 on 3-point attempts in the first quarter. However, Bassey's hustle stood out to everyone, especially his teammates.

"Bass like... I'm sure he didn't think he was going to play 23 minutes and he was ready for it," Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who scored a game-high 34 points, said about Bassey. "So those are the patterns of what a good team does when night after night, no matter what the combination is you're finding production up and down the bench, and you love it."

"Everybody feeds off the energy when a guy comes in like that with what Bass did tonight, changed the game," Curry added. "Everybody notices. It lifts everybody's spirits and keeps momentum on our side, so it was great."

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Brandin Podziemski scored 20 points in the win and had high praise for Bassey.

"I thought Charles was great," Podziemski said. "Super efficient, gave us a lob threat, gave us a defensive presence when Dray was out."

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr raved about Bassey after the Warriors' win. One of the things that stood out was the chemistry between Bassey and rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg.

"Bass was great. What a big night for him," Kerr said. "The rebounding, the scoring. He and Yaxel have a really good connection. The pick and roll game. He gives him a lob threat and Yaxel sees the floor so well and he's so big that he finds him when he's behind the defense."

Bassey feeds off of playmakers like that. His efficiency around the rim makes teammates trust that he'll complete the play. Lendeborg finished the game with 16 points and five assists, four of them went to Bassey for a layup or dunk.

"Since training camp, I'm telling you, man, every time," Bassey said on his continuity with Lendeborg. "We talk about our game, every time. After we played on Sunday, he tells me, you are wide open. When he sees the pass he makes the right play. I love playing with him and I think the coaches, they figured that out too. I mean, everybody knew that."

They have a connection they've established as they've learned each other's game. When Bassey gives Lendeborg a look, he knows whether to set a ghost screen or clear the lane so he can get downhill.

Bassey can be reliable energy guy for the Warriors. A workhorse who provides an offensive spark through his efficiency and an anchor on defense. If comparing to Warriors teams of old, think Festus Ezeli, Kevon Looney, Andrew Bogut or Zaza Pachulia. He's going to scrap, claw and fight for possessions.

Bassey plays physical and the Suns didn't appreciate it. Further pushing and shoving ensued with Bassey after Green's ejection. Suns guard Jalen Green drove to the basket and got tied up with Bassey before Suns players came to Green's aide, including forward Miles Bridges, who was assessed a technical.

"Being physical doesn't mean you have to scuffle with guys, that doesn't mean you're tough" Bassey told USA TODAY Sports.

"Being physical is playing hard every possession, going out there, fighting for rebounds, and doing what I'm doing," he added. "Just being physical, you know, challenging every shot, and going out there you know, two or three guys trying to box me out, me on the offensive end. And that's being physical, still getting the rebound. 
But I mean, what they're doing is so fake… That's a fake toughness."

Bassey, Nigerian-born, is no newcomer in the league. He was drafted with the 53rd overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers out of Western Kentucky. He then bounced around the league, spending time in the G-League, including the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Bassey signed a one-year contract with the Warriors in July. He's looking to make the most of it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warriors' Charles Bassey plays big role in win over Phoenix

LOS ANGELES – Off to the side, beyond the end of the bench, Heat players Bam Adebayo and Davion Mitchell were standing on the baseline, talking with their hands on their hips.

The sober looks on their faces, however, gave the impression that it was something else. It looked like more of a debrief. As in: how did it get like this?

Just to their right, one seat from the end of the bench, sat Giannis Antetokounmpo, who draped a towel over his shoulders. He was staring blankly ahead, his head resting on his hand.

Once again, an opposing team had bombarded the Miami Heat. This time, it was Luka Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, Nov. 2 in a 138-117 torching. Miami jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes. It was the last time the Heat would be ahead.

And as these remade Heat seek to build a contender around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, it’s not the offense or perimeter shooting that has become the problem. It is – surprisingly – the team’s defense. All of which raises a question, and a significant one, even this early in the season.

Is this a fatal flaw that will prevent Miami from making the playoffs?

Realistically, it’s far too early for such sweeping pronouncements. The lack of cohesion, however, is significant enough to be a serious concern.

“We’re not playing hard enough,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game. “We’ve got to play hard, have some pride. Individual pride, first of all, and then we’ve got to keep one another accountable and trust one another defensively. Right now we don’t trust one another. We’re not giving that extra effort.

“Effort, individual pride and trust. We’ve got to have those three things.”

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The Heat have a collection of stellar individual defenders. Adebayo is an elite stopper, a six-time All-Defensive selection and a player who can guard any position. Antetokounmpo is six years removed from his Defensive Player of the Year award but remains a force in the paint. Mitchell, the starting point guard, has the nickname “Off Night” because convention goes that when he’s guarding a prominent offensive player, said player will have an off night. Andrew Wiggins is a defensive-minded wing with plenty of length.

Yet, the sum has not been greater than the parts, and it shows.

“A lot of times I feel like when fatigue sets in, we stop communicating, and that’s when mistakes happen,” Adebayo said. “That’s when bad habits set in. The lack of effort is there. We’ve got to figure it out.”

The Lakers made eight of their first nine shots. They dropped 79 points in the first half. Entering the night, NBA teams had been averaging 113.7 points per game; Los Angeles had already reached 111 by the end of the third quarter.

Dončić flamed the Heat to the tune of 42 points and fellow guard Austin Reaves dropped 27.

And after the Lakers converted on 19-of-43 (44.2%) attempts from beyond the arc, no team in the NBA is allowing more made 3-pointers per game (17.3) than the Heat. Making matters worse, Miami also ranks second-to-last in opposing 3-point percentage at 41%; by comparison, the last-place team, the Suns, are giving up 3s at a 41.1% clip.

It’s not just perimeter defense, either. Time after time Monday night, Lakers players blew past Heat defenders on closeouts, as L.A. outscored Miami in the paint by a margin of 60-40.

To a certain extent, this lack of trust does make some sense. The Heat traded four players to land Antetokounmpo and the group is still figuring out how to play together. So, in practical terms, what does this lack of trust actually look like on the floor?

“Like, when a guy beats you off the dribble, sometimes you don’t close out all the way to Luka, and that is because you don’t feel like somebody has your back,” Antetokounmpo said. “So then you give him air space to hit a stepback 3 or pull up for a 3. Same thing with Austin Reaves: you have to close out all the way, knowing that somebody has your back in the paint.

“Sometimes, when you don’t feel that trust, you kind of hesitate and you go half way. You don’t put yourself out there. That’s the trust I’m talking about; you’ve got to do your job. I got to do my job. When they shot goes up, I’ve got to box out and get the rebound. They’ve got to trust that I’m going to get them the possession. That’s the kind of trust that I’m talking about.”

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The Heat still have Erik Spoelstra roaming the sidelines. He’s a basketball lifer who is widely considered to be the best active coach in the NBA, a coach who does not shy away from in-season adjustments. After the game, he expressed optimism that his group would figure it out, though he acknowledged it would take time.

Losses like these, in their own way, help by showing Miami what it cannot afford to do. Lessons can come from victories, too. The paradox about trust is that, in a sense, you have to let go of individual insecurities for a greater good. You have to yield. That is, of course, easier said than done.

“If you don’t want to play defense as a team, you can’t do it by yourself,” Mitchell said after the game. “It’s not surprising. We’ve got to have a better sense of urgency. We’ve got to be intentional about our situation and our game plan, and we’ve got to stick to it.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat defense under scrutiny after Lakers rout

Steph Curry pinpoints Warriors players key to team's five-game winning streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors did not win five consecutive games at any point last season. Eight games into the 2026-27 NBA season, Golden State has done just that, rattling off five straight after an 0-3 start.

As always, Steph Curry has been the Warriors’ lifeline. The two-time MVP is averaging 30 points per game, second in the NBA to Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Dončić, on an absurd 68.2-percent true shooting.

Golden State’s struggles in recent memory have largely come from Curry’s supporting cast failing to make an impact, especially after Jimmy Butler tore his right ACL in January, but the Warriors’ youth has been instrumental to the team’s success through the first few weeks of the season.

After Golden State’s comeback 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, Curry recognized the players he believes have changed the Warriors’ dynamic.

“I mean, [Yaxel Lendeborg], [Brandin Podziemski] taking another step forward, [Brandon William]’s been great for us off the bench, giving us something different that we haven’t had in a while,” Curry said. “I think we had some individual production that’s been pretty cool, and some standout guys have made their presence felt night after night.”

Despite a rough shooting night, Lendeborg continued his phenomenal rookie campaign, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Podziemski added 20 points of his own.

Williams was sidelined with a quadriceps injury, but has put up double-digit points in four of his seven outings, operating as Golden State’s first real spark plug off the bench since Jordan Poole.

Veteran Draymond Green was ejected with two technical fouls, and opened the door for center Charles Bassey to make an impact with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Curry also harped on the team’s readiness before the games as reasons for the improvement.

“I think collectively, I’m sure Steve [Kerr] would say for him and his staff, we’re probably a little bit more prepared on the details of what we’re trying to do, and not just take it for granted that you can play like the Warriors of old, and just expect good things to happen,” Curry said. “So the idea of what we talked about going into the year, keep the bones of what we do, how we play, what me and Draymond can do out there, but then the next level of detail to help the younger guys find their way. But we do have some talent that’s been fun to watch.”

Curry and the Warriors hope to extend their win streak when they go up against formidable opponents in the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs later this week.

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January 28, 2023, was a day when Yuta Watanabe scored 9 points, Joe Harris was playing basketball and Nic Claxton still felt like a somewhat promising prospect. It was a day when Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were still donning the orange and blue Knicks jersey, Jericho Sims practiced for the dunk contest before the game and Evan Fournier, for some incomprehensible reason, got a DNP.

The day also marked the last time the Brooklyn Nets beat the New York Knickerbockers.

Obviously, a lot of things have happened between the game almost four years ago and today. Kyrie Irving’s career path has considerably flattened since falsely inspiring the 27 fans of his former team, and the Knicks have changed almost their entire roster (luckily not the guy wearing number 11) and now have a shiny little ring to show for it. It’s hard to put the distance between the two franchises into words, but if you needed a reminder of it, last night’s game was a good illustration.

Sloppy Knicks still too much for naughty Nets

For long stretches, New York did not really deserve to win this game. They settled for three after three, sleepwalked through one pick and roll after another and were constantly late to the orange leather ball. They didn’t think it was necessary to feature Karl-Anthony Towns against a team that had no answer for him in the past; they didn’t think the opponent was dangerous enough to punish the experiments with their own lineup. And you know what? It all didn’t matter because the New York Knicks are a good basketball team and the Nets are not.

What they are, though, is a scrappy young bunch (actually the youngest there is in the league) with some decent players and an inspiring coach, a team that is hellbent on trying to get the most out of their limited resources—be it on the court or later at the trade deadline. For three quarters, that was plenty enough to give the Knicks some headaches, as Brooklyn actually led the contest going into the fourth quarter. But then the New York bench happened.

Just like a few nights ago in Chicago, Mike Brown found the right mix of guys from the pine, and Tyler Kolek, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson completely turned around a game that never felt like it was in danger yet still needed to be taken care of late. The bench boys did that and then some. Even Andre Drummond got into the mix and played some smart, efficient basketball while in there. For all the might New York’s starting lineup supposedly has, you could argue that they would have to answer a bunch of uncomfortable questions if it weren’t for their reserves early in the year.

No matter who you take, they all have shown the ability to completely change the dynamic of a game in an instant, which truly is one of the most important qualities a reserve has to possess. The Knicks’ offense is flowing visibly faster with Tyler Kolek at the point right now, Landry Shamet’s motor seems to be running longer and more reliably than Haile Gebrselassie ever did, and Clarkson is playing every game like an Olympic berth for the Philippines is on the line.

Bockers bench is brave and brilliant again

Now, make no mistake about it: they all need serious talent next to them to actually thrive, but that, in the end, is the epitome of a team—a group of individuals that all bring different strengths to the table. For the early part of the season, most of the Knicks’ reserves, more often than not, have held up their part of the equation and reminded us all that depth was a key component in New York’s championship run last year. The same can be said for the uncanny ability to have someone else step up on any given night.

The bench was also a big reason why TomRogerAstro’s seemingly simple headline from the Postgame Thread rang true. The Knicks have been a bit up and mostly down with their three-point shooting so far this season, and it was a welcome sight to see them find their range, especially late in the game. Brooklyn had no answer once the shots fell, the crowd got ignited and the already pretty solid defense completely locked in to secure the victory.

One Knick who is still waiting for things to turn around, though, is Mikal Bridges. Once again, he only “played” 16 minutes, in which he actually drove all the way to the rim once. If anything can tell you that he feels a little desperate right now, it should be that he actually did not settle for a midrange shot but tried to finish inside. That’s what 30 strong minutes from Landry Shamet time and again can do to you. It’s not a controversy yet; we’ve been there before. But as more and more people stream about it, this can get pretty dicey soon.

If games against the Nets will ever get dicey again, you ask? Well, they might, but not without a lot of things happening. And don’t worry, we haven’t heard about the Knicks giving Evan Fournier a call recently.

Late in last night’s Spurs game, frustrations began to get the better of the Utah Jazz. Lauri Markkanen was the team’s only player in double figures. Everyone else seemed to be struggling through the drubbing the Spurs handed them on the way to a 119-97 victory.

With just over nine minutes left in regulation, Utah’s Brice Sensabaugh and Harrison Barnes got tangled. When they broke free, Barnes found himself sliding across the floor. In what quickly went viral, Barnes stared down Sensabaugh. The moment was played back in slow motion while the play was reviewed for a Flagrant 1.

There were already over as hundred and forty thousand views in the little over an hour since the incident took place.

Sensabaugh was eventually assessed the Flagrant 1.

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I want to believe.

The Wizards entered last night’s game at the Orlando Magic ranked 10th in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). They then put the Magic into a figurative chokehold — limiting Orlando to 28.2% three-point shooting, 94 points in the game, and just nine points in a stifling third quarter.

It’s the second consecutive game that the Wizards opponent scored less than 100 points. Washington managed that feat just three times all of last season. And the Wizards did it without Alex Sarr (out with a sore knee) and Justin Champagnie (broken foot).

The Wizards’ record is now 4-3. The last time they had a winning record this deep in the season was 2021-22.

Comparisons with last season are for illustrative purpose only, by the way. Washington was trying to lose last year. This is a different squad with a different purpose, and it shows. And it’s fun to watch.

Against the Magic, Kyshawn George was excellent on both end all night. He took good shots except when the only shots were tough ones — and he shot well. He defended, rebounded, set up teammates while avoiding turnovers and fouls. He finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, a block and a turnover. That’s a helluva good game.

Anthony Davis dominated inside, scoring 27 points and grabbing 9 rebounds and 3 steals. He did get a bit sloppy at times, which showed in his five turnovers. Still, another strong game from the team’s best player.

In what might well be a sign, I thought AJ Dybantsa had a relatively rough outing. A few times in the second half, he had some trouble finishing through contact and managing against Orlando’s physicality. He shot just 7-17 from the floor. And yet, he finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. His PPA was 148, and the team was +10 in his minutes. Reminder: this is a 19-year-old rookie.

Bilal Coulibaly was disruptive on defense. Bub Carrington gave the team 19 productive minutes. Trae Young was kinda meh for him, and he still generated 9 assists and grifted free throws.

So why am I still at “want to believe” status? One big reason is the likelihood that they’re benefitting from opponent shooting luck. One of the lessons of statistical analysis is that defenses don’t have much effect on opponent three-point shooting. The fact that Washington’s opponents are shooting below 30% on threes is great. But over a small sample, it’s probably just luck. When opponent shooting regresses to the mean, so will Washington’s defense.

Probably.

I say “probably” because they’re doing a lot right on that end. Their effort is NBA level, which is something the franchise hasn’t had in a few years. They swarm, they pressure, they scrap, they chase and deflect and challenge shots. I see that and appreciate it while the analyst part of my brain keeps saying, “Tap the brakes. It’s not that hard to look good when opponents are shooting 28% from three-point range.”

From the Notebook

• The Magic targeted Young and had success, even on a bad offensive night. Young’s defensive effort is as good as it’s ever been across his entire career. My sense from watching him this season is that his (relative) defensive strength is as a help defender or jumping passing lanes. His point-of-attack defense is weak and will be a target as the Wizards play more meaningful games.
• I’m not sold on Dybantsa’s three-point shooting stroke. There’s something about his arms and the location of the ball as he’s shooting that’s not sitting right with me. It’s something like the ball spending too much time at eye level and a flat trajectory.
• The Wizards are huge and have a couple of elite athletes — Dybantsa and Coulibaly.
• Despite being tall, mobile, and athletic, Deandre Ayton has very little presence as a rim protector. In the second quarter, I jotted a note that Orlando guard Jase Richardson had found his ideal victims — Young at the point of attack and Ayton in the paint.
• Once again, Washington’s first offensive play was for Dybantsa. They set screens for him, and got him the ball on the move, which helped him drive to the room. He missed through contact that probably should have been called a foul.
• Once again, Young’s ability to threaten defenses with his passing set himself up for an open layup.
• Head coach Brian Keefe used essentially a nine-man rotation. Sarr and Champagnie were out with injuries, but Khris Middleton got a DNP-CD, and Will Riley played just four minutes.

Four Factors

Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).

The four factors are measured by:

• eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)
• OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)
• TOV% (turnover percentage — turnovers divided by possessions)
• FTM/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)

Stats & Metrics

PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).

PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.

POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.

ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is listed in the Four Factors table above. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.

USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%. Median last season was 17.7%.

ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.

+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 115, the league — on average — would produced 23.0 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -3.0.

Players are sorted by total production in the game.