Category: Basketball

The Los Angeles Clippers will start the season with several notable players absent to start the season.

The team’s initial injury report for the season opener against the Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 21 featured five players ruled out.

Brandon Ingram will be the biggest absence for the team, considering he would’ve been a potential starter and was one of the primary trade assets in the package sent over by the Toronto Raptors for Kawhi Leonard during the offseason.

Ingram was named an All-Star last season before finishing with 77 starts for the Raptors last season. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He is recovering from right heel surgery he had in May. He is also dealing with a partially torn Achilles tendon.

A timetable has not been set for Ingram’s return.

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced their starting lineup for Wednesday night's season opener against the Golden State Warriors.

Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams will round out the starting five for the Lakers alongside the three obvious starters in Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. They may be in for extended minutes with JJ Redick's decision to go with a short rotation due to the injuries that leave them without Collin Sexton, Adou Thiero or Cam Carr to begin the season.

Thybulle and Williams are both strong defenders who can knock down threes, making them ideal fits next to Dončić and Reaves on both ends of the floor. Williams' wiry 6-foot-9 frame makes him versatile on defense, a plus for Reddick's new scheme that centers on one-on-one matchups with Kessler anchored near the paint.

Here is the full starting lineup for the Lakers against the Warriors, and who might get minutes in the rotation:

Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams are the final pieces to the Lakers’ much-anticipated starting lineup.

The free-agent acquisitions will join guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and center Walker Kessler in the Lakers’ first starting lineup of the new season Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. Lakers coach JJ Redick previously said he already knew three of the starting spots, marking down the team’s star backcourt and the center they traded four first-round picks to get, but left the other spots open for competition during training camp.

Williams emerged as a winner of the competitive preseason. He started both of the preseason games he played in, giving the Lakers the type of versatile defender they coveted to cover up for Doncic’s and Reaves’ defensive deficiencies. The 6-foot-9 forward who signed a veteran minimum contract showed willingness to pick up opposing ball-handlers full court. He also made all five of his preseason three-point attempts.

Thybulle, a 6-foot-5 wing, is a maestro guarding off the ball. The rangy defensive specialist had 1.3 steals per game during the preseason. He flummoxed his teammates during training camp practices by jumping into passing lanes.

Quentin Grimes was considered a strong option to start after he signed a four-year, $60-million contract this offseason. Grimes started the first four games of the preseason, averaging 12 points and 2.6 assists while 51.3% shooting in 25.1 minutes per game.

The Lakers are without guard Collin Sexton, who is out because of a right soleus strain. Sexton, who missed all five preseason games, was a full participant in practice Monday and did not suffer a setback, Redick said.

Read more:Lakers center Walker Kessler believes his competitive side will overcome pressure

“Collaborative decision with performance, everyone involved,” Redick said of the decision for Sexton to sit out Wednesday after previously participating in a full practice. “I always say this with soft-tissue injuries, the athlete has to have confidence and full confidence.”

Rookie Cameron Carr is out and day-to-day because of a right oblique strain. Forward Adou Thiero is sidelined with a left knee effusion. After struggling with chronic knee injuries during his rookie season, Thiero will be “shut down for a couple of days,” Redick said, then be considered day-to-day while he ramps up.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Point guard Darius Garland and the Los Angeles Clippers will begin the 2026-27 season against the Sacramento Kings at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Garland will serve as the featured player for the Clippers this season after the departure of Kawhi Leonard.

Leonard was traded during the offseason to the Toronto Raptors for a package that included forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick and various draft picks.

Ingram would've played a big role for the Clippers to start the season but is expected to miss time as he recovers from right heel surgery. He also has a partially torn right Achilles tendon.

Garland will be in the starting lineup alongside Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura and Isaiah Jackson.

Well that didn’t take long.

Two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, making his Miami Heat regular-season debut Wednesday, Oct. 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, immediately imposed his will and erupted in the first half. The problem, however, for Antetokounmpo and the Heat is that the rest of the team fell woefully flat.

The Timberwolves, thanks to a 45-point outburst from All-Star guard Anthony Edwards and a 21-point showing from new guard LaMelo Ball, smoked the Heat, 131-106, in their regular season opener.

Antetokounmpo finished the game with 35 points on an efficient 13-of-19 shooting. He added 6 rebounds, but recorded only 1 assist, as many of his teammates missed their catch-and-shoot looks when Antetokounmpo found them. That was where Miami imploded: from deep.

The Heat shot just 8-of-33 (24.2%) from 3-point range, compared to Minnesota’s onslaught from beyond the arc, where the Timberwolves drained 21-of-50 (42%), creating a 39-point advantage on 3-pointers.

Antetokounmpo scored his first bucket just 13 seconds into the game, on a 16-foot pullup jumper he laced with ease after the Timberwolves dared him to shoot. That would be the last time Minnesota would do that. Antetokounmpo actually scored Miami’s first eight points of the game and dropped a 14-point quarter to introduce himself to his new fan base.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra empowered Antetokounmpo to handle the ball and attack the paint at will, especially in transition. Antetokounmpo, who played just 36 games last season in Milwaukee because of various calf injuries, used his size, handles and length to charge to the rim. Another byproduct: Antetokounmpo got to the line in the first half, hitting 5-of-8 attempts.

The Heat acquired Antetokounmpo in a June blockbuster deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

It’s finally time! After a long and arduous offseason, the 2026-27 NBA season has arrived, and with it the first game of the season for the Golden State Warriors, who visit the Los Angeles Lakers to kick off the year.

The Dubs, unfortunately, are far from at full strength for the first game of the year, while the Lakers are fairly healthy. Here’s the complete injury report for both teams.

Warriors

Out — Brandin Podziemski (bilateral low back soreness)

Podziemski figures to have a huge role in his fourth NBA season. He shined in the preseason, and recently inked a five-year, $110 million deal. So it’s a bummer that he’ll miss the opener, but after suffering from some back soreness late in camp, he won’t be able to suit up. Thankfully he isn’t expected to be out long.

Out — Charles Bassey (right patellar tendinopathy)

Bassey might have been in line to start tonight, as he did in the preseason finale, if he were healthy. Unfortunately, he suffered a mild injury in that finale, and that will cost him the opener. As with Podziemski, it’s not considered a serious injury, and he should be back on the court soon.

Out — Kristaps Porziņģis(not with team)

The latest news about Porziņģis isn’t good. He’s not with the team, the Warriors are already looking at trading his contract, and the Latvian All-Star is reportedly considering calling it a career. It’s fair to wonder if he’ll ever play for the Warriors again, and with both he and Bassey out, you can expect two-way center Graham Ike to get a lot of playing time.

Out — Jimmy Butler III (right ACL repair surgery)

No surprises here. Butler remains sidelined indefinitely, and is likely targeting a second-half return.

Out — Moses Moody (right patellar tendon repair surgery)

And no surprises here, either. Moody is likely a few months from returning from the knee injury that ended his 2025-26 season. There’s no set timetable yet.

Probable — Steph Curry (right ankle soreness)

When Curry limped off the court at open practice on Sunday, it seemed like he might be out for a while. Instead, he thankfully is expected to play in the opener.

Lakers

Out — Collin Sexton (right soleus strain)

Sexton figures to play a huge role in his first year with the purple and gold, but his debut will have to wait. He shouldn’t be sidelined long, but won’t play in the opener.

Out — Cameron Carr (right oblique strain)

Carr was a late first-round pick, following a breakout campaign at Baylor a year ago. He likely won’t have to wait long to make his NBA debut, but it won’t be tonight.

Out — Adou Thiero (left knee effusion swelling)

Thiero had a modest role last year with the Lakers, appearing in 25 games and averaging 6.0 minutes per game in his rookie season. He’ll look to build on that this year, but will have to wait as it won’t happen tonight.

Available — Walker Kessler (left finger splint)

LA’s big offseason acquisition was a question mark in the days leading up to the opener, but has now been cleared to play. The Warriors have a serious disadvantage in the paint between Kessler’s availability and their own lack of centers.

Enjoy the game, everyone! It tips off at 7:00 p.m. PT on ESPN.

The Dallas Mavericks start the 2026-27 season by visiting the Houston Rockets. After playing twice in the preseason in Macau, these two face off twice in the first 10 days of the season. Divisional rivals playing four times in a month? Familiarity breeds contempt, even when two of the games were just tune ups. Here’s the main things you need to know tonight.

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets
• WHAT: Game 1, Lock in folks!
• WHERE: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
• WHEN: 7:30 pm CST
• HOW: KFAA

On the injury front, Dereck Lively and Santi Aldama start the year on the injury report with long known about issues, though Coach Dusty May insists that Aladama is close to taking the court. New addition Tarik Biberovic will miss the contest with heel bursitis, which doesn’t sound comfortable. Caleb Martin will also miss the game with a thumb sprain.

As of this writing, Steven Adams is questionable for the Rockets with calf tightness. That’s one of those areas teams don’t mess around with, so unless he feels great, I actually would bet he misses the game.

Newly signed two-way guard Walter Clayton Jr. will be with Dallas and available tonight.

These two teams are in very different places in the team cycle. Dallas is trying to claw their way out of the bottom five in the Western Conference. The Rockets had an embarassing post-season exit, but were injury laden last season and hope to finish among the league’s elite with a talented, but mercurial squad. Keep an eye on the Dallas rotations and the Maverick defense tonight. The latter will take weeks to sort itself out but I’m curious what combinations May tried. The latter was very bad for most of the preseason and I expect them to pick up the pace.

If you’re checking out this post, it’s for one of two reasons:

• Injury report news
• Discussion and comment thread

If you’re part of the former, please consider signing up for an account. You get way fewer ads, and you can comment! If you’re part of the latter group: GO GET THE APP. I’m serious. The app has some real-time features specifically for game threads like this one and you can comment and get notified really, really easily. It’s part of what’s keeping this whole series of sites going. So go do it for us and in doing so, you’ll see why the experience is simply better.

Consider joining me on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube; I will be going live tonight after the game and it’s the show where I need y’all to join and participate!

Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks

October 21, 2026

Location: Toyota Center, Houston, TX

Time: 7:30 PM CST

TV:Space City Home Network

Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)

Probable Starters

Rockets: Fred Vanvleet, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun

Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, Zaccharie Risacher, Cooper Flag, P.J. Washington Jr., Daniel Gafford

The Rockets are kicking off the new season tonight! Join us at TDS or on the SB Nation app to talk game all night.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers are doing their part and trying to welcome fans back to the Intuit Dome to start the 2026-27 season with select promotions on Wednesday, October 21.

The Clippers will host the Sacramento Kings in a Pacific Division battle.

The Clippers will have new faces on the court this season, having essentially hit the restart button with their roster. The team moved on from notable players such as Kawhi Leonard and James Harden over the past season and got younger in the process.

The Clippers drafted Keaton Wagler out of Illinois with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft. The team also acquired Rui Hachimura as a free agent during the offseason.

Here's everything you need to know about the promotions on opening night:

New jerseys, new court, new Nets. Right?

It’s a new era in Brooklyn, an uncertain one, but one in which the Nets aren’t trying to lose games to improve their draft position. That was the reality over the past two seasons.

Now, the Nets are building around Egor Dëmin and Mikel Brown Jr. — their two lottery picks from the 2025 and 2026 Drafts, respectively. Three-time All-Star Julius Randle is a new face to watch. Other new faces such as Keon Ellis and Mo Wagner offer intrigue.

The Nets will need to be solid defensively in order to create in the open floor, which will be an advantage for a team with an average age of 24.3 years.

On the other side, the Charlotte Hornets are coming off a dramatic offseason. LaMelo Ball and Josh Green were traded in exchange for Naz Reid, a 2033 first-round pick, three second-round picks and three future first-round pick swaps. Subsequently, the Timberwolves sent Randle and the draft rights to Joshua Jefferson to the Nets in exchange for the draft rights to guard Isaiah Evans, as part of a four-team trade involving Brooklyn and Chicago.

The Hornets won’t have Kon Knueppel, Coby White, or Grant Williams in this one.

Game Info & Broadcast Details

• Who: Charlotte Hornets (0-0) at Brooklyn Nets (0-0)
• What: Opening Night
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• TV/Streaming: YES & DAZN
• Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Injury Report: Who’s Out?

Brooklyn Nets:

• Tayler Bilodeau: OUT (Right Shoulder Sprain)

Charlotte Hornets:

• Kon Knueppel: OUT (left hamstring)
• Coby White: OUT (left calf)
• Grant Williams: OUT (right hamstring)

Game Preview | Jordan Greene

“Mikel Brown Jr. will not be in the starting lineup… the Nets performance team is being cautious. MBJ will play with a minutes restriction and off the bench. His first official minutes as an NBA player will begin when he’s introduced not as a starter but from the bench. Think 24 minutes. That should still be enough to get his feet wet against NBA level competition…”

💬 Discussion

Share your thoughts and react, but please be respectful. NetsDaily prides itself on being a safe space for Nets and basketball fans alike to have healthy conversation. Reach out to Anthony Puccio or Net Income with any issues.

LOS ANGELES — The word of the year for the Warriors: Availability.

Before they could even take the court Wednesday night to open their season against the Lakers, who wasn’t in uniform was already as much of a talking point as anybody who was.

A quick recap of the week that was leading up to tipoff:

• Steph Curry gave fans in attendance for a light-hearted open practice a heart attack when he pulled up gimpy and limped off the court. Conditioned to fear for the worst, they let out a collective sigh of relief when it was revealed only to be a mild ankle tweak.
• Brandin Podziemski, one of 18 players not to miss a game last season, was ruled out for opening night because of back soreness, and Charles Bassey, their one center who isn’t over the age of 40 or dealing with a mysterious illness, was also unable to go with knee tendinitis.
• Then, an ESPN report surfaced that the issue preventing Kristaps Porzingis from playing also has him “seriously contemplating his future in basketball.”

How’s that for a tone-setter for the season ahead on opening night?

If there was one game that we could reasonably expect to see the Warriors at full strength, it would have been the first one of the season. If Golden State can’t even enter the season healthy, how is this all going to play out over the 81 games that follow?

While Curry walked away from his practice scare, the Warriors still need to manage his playing time — along with Draymond Green and Al Horford, at a minimum — to keep him healthy and fresh at age 38 with a knee issue that gets worse with overuse.

For as underwhelming as last season may have been, the Warriors wouldn’t have even qualified for the play-in without Podziemski picking up the slack during Curry’s absence.

He was the Warriors’ one ironman in a sea of DNPs.

Podziemski was going to be asked to play an even bigger role this season, as indicated by the $110 million extension he signed a week before opening night. But in his first chance to prove he’s worth the money, Podziemski was forced to watch from the bench in street clothes.

Bassey is almost as essential in the Warriors’ ability to get through the season. He may not make or break the outcome on opening night, but Golden State will need his size when Horford and Porzingis aren’t able to go, which is expected to be on a regular basis — if not nightly, in Porzingis’ case.

The situation with the Latvian big man got even murkier hours before tipoff when the Warriors responded to the ESPN report with their second statement in as many weeks. According to ESPN, they have begun to explore trading Porzingis after he caught them off guard when his illness cropped up before training camp.

While the Warriors declined to comment “on trade speculation or reports regarding his health-related matter or future,” they added that they were “not anticipating Kristaps being around the team in the immediate future.” That’s a notable shift from last week, after Porzingis met with team doctors, when they said that although he would remain out indefinitely, he would “be around the team.”

Porzingis didn’t accompany the team to Los Angeles, where the Warriors and Lakers were shielded inside Crypto.com Area from the stormy conditions outside.

But Golden State couldn’t escape the dark cloud casting a shadow over its season on opening night.

The Dallas Mavericks signed Walter Clayton Jr. to a two-way contract on Wednesday, adding the No. 18 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft to the team’s final roster.

Clayton joins the Mavericks after a rookie season where he averaged 7.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists across 69 games for the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies. He was a part of the package Memphis received in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade and averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 assists a game in 24 games, including six starts, for the Grizzlies.

Memphis waived him on Monday after failing to find a trade partner for the 2025 first-round pick. Dallas picked him up after he cleared league waivers on Wednesday.

Clayton struggled to find a groove for most of his rookie season, but seemed to find his footing towards the end of the season. He scored in double figures in 11 of his last 18 games and shot 47% from the field and 50% from 3-point range in April to bring his percentages up to 37% and 30% for his rookie year.

Per the NBA’s two-way contract rules, Clayton is eligible to appear in up to 50 games for the Mavericks this season but would be ineligible for any postseason/play-in games unless Dallas were to convert him to a full-time contract. He will earn half of the NBA’s rookie-scale salary this season.

Clayton adds depth a depleted Mavericks backcourt and could see playing time quickly as Dallas looks to solidify the team’s bench rotation when Kyrie Irving is not on the floor. Clayton was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament after helping lead the University of Florida to a national championship.

Clayton averaged 18.3 points a game for the Gators en route to the school’s third national title.

Late add: It appears that Clayton will not only be with the team in Houston for the season opener at the Rockets on Wednesday, just hours after signing the two-way deal, but he will be active, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

Welcome back Dub Nation! It’s a brand new year as the Golden State Warriors open their 2026-27 regular season Wednesday night with a nationally-televised matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM PT in Los Angeles and can be watched on ESPN.

Previously with the Warriors:

The Warriors wrapped up their six-game preseason slate on a high note with last Friday’s 128-118 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. The game served as Golden State’s final dress rehearsal before the start of the regular season, with the team’s starters seeing their most extensive playing time of the preseason. Steph Curry led the way once again, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers, as he shows no signs of slowing down entering his 18th NBA season.

What to watch for tonight:

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they enter the regular season already dealing with injuries to their roster. While Curry appears to be fine after reportedly tweaking his ankle during open practice on Sunday — sending the entire fanbase into a panic in the process — his backcourt mate Brandin Podziemski hasn’t been as fortunate. On Tuesday, it was reported that Podziemski would miss Wednesday’s season opener against the Lakers due to a back injury, a disappointing development considering his strong showing throughout the preseason.

Without Podziemski, Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg will be the player to watch going into this one. The 11th overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft put together one of the more impressive preseasons by a Golden State rookie in recent memory, with his versatility and physicality immediately standing out on both ends of the floor. In five preseason games, Lendeborg averaged 15.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 56.9% from the field and 43.8% from the three-point line.

While Lendeborg is no stranger to playing in big games, Wednesday presents an entirely different challenge as he makes his NBA debut under the bright lights of Los Angeles. That being said, it should be interesting to see whether he can live up to these lofty preseason expectations once the games officially begin to count.

Enjoy the game Dub Nation. GO WARRIORS!!! 

Projected Starters

Warriors: Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Yaxel Lendeborg, Gui Santos, Draymond Green

Lakers: Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Jake LaRavia, Walker Kessler

How to watch Regular Season Game 1

Who: Golden State Warriors (0 – 0) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (0 – 0)

When: Wednesday, October 21st, at 7:00 p.m. PT

Where: Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles, California

TV and Streaming: ESPN

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A new king takes the throne in La La Land tonight.

At 7 p.m. PST, Luka Dončić’s Los Angeles Lakers take on Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors in a huge home opener at Crypto.com Arena.

The game will be LA’s first without LeBron James on the roster since 2018 when they signed the perennial All-Star. This evening, JJ Redick’s starting five will be made up of Dončić, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Jake LaRavia and Walker Kessler.

“I think this is going to be a team that is really committed to each other,” Redick told reporters on Tuesday. “And that can take you a long way.”

Golden State comes into the contest with most of their core intact. Franchise icons Curry and Draymond Green return as do De’Anthony Melton and Gui Santos. They’ll be joined by rookie Yaxel Lendeborg who Steve Kerr confirmed would take the court at tip-off.

Last year, the Western Conference rivals met four times; Los Angeles took three of those showdowns.

We can’t wait to see how this LeBron-less one shakes out.

If you want to tune in to today’s primetime Warriors vs. Lakers opening night battle, here’s what you need to know.

Warriors vs. Lakers game time

Today’s (Oct. 21) Warriors vs. Lakers game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. PST.

How to watch Warriors vs. Lakers for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Warriors vs. Lakers game for free.

DIRECTV is our favorite service for trying live TV for free. Right now, you can take advantage of a five-day free trial before payment kicks in. We recommend the MySports Genre Pack ($49.99/month) or the MyNews Genre Pack ($39.99/month). Both include NBC among their 20+ sports-focused channels.

Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

The Washington Wizards play the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at Capital One Arena. Tip off is at 7 p.m. ET on Monumental Sports Network. Preview the game here.

Let’s go 1-0 to start off the 2026-27 season, even if AJ Dybantsa will miss the game.