Last week was some of the best sleep I had gotten in a long time. Climbing into bed with the biggest, dumbest grin on my face, giddily scrolling through my phone on Canis, Reddit, and YouTube, seeing what everyone had to say about just how awesome the Minnesota Timberwolves are. Seriously, it was great.

I would whisper myself to sleep, repeating the mantra “82 and 0, 82 and 0…,” then dream of show-stopping sequences like Ant juggling the ball through traffic and rocking the rim, Melo doing the jump rope shuffle into a one-footed rainbow three, Beringer blocks, Kuminga lobs, TJ step-back threes, and secret handshakes that will be studied by kinesics experts and nonverbal communication researchers for decades. 

There were also dreams of glory, of hoisted hardware, of an “anything is possible” redux with the legend himself, KG, sitting courtside, tears of joy glistening in his eyes. One can dream, but most of these dreams actually did happen, so why not that one as well? 

Why not us?  

Yes, I know the Wolves will officially not be going 82-0 this year, and that’s too bad. I had high hopes we could get it done this year. I’ve reached out to the NBA about reviewing the tape and possibly getting that loss to Cleveland reversed. They haven’t responded, but that’s on them.

Barring a reversal, just because we’re not going 82-0 doesn’t mean we can’t go 81-1, and putting the Cavs debacle aside there is still so much to be giddy about when it comes to this new look Wolves team. So let’s overreact, shall we? No single loss is going to stop us from listening to our hearts on repeat.

The heart is always right.

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Best in the West

Is this year’s Wolves squad reminding anyone else of the 95-96 Chicago Bulls? You don’t even have to squint to see that Anthony Edwards is obviously MJ, while Scottie Pippen has undergone some sort of bifurcation process and split off into both LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels. Then you’ve got defensive stalwart and human highlight reel Jonathan Kuminga, the Stifle Tower Rudy Gobert, Ayo Dosunmu, TJ Shannon, the French Prince Joan Beringer – hold up…

Are the Wolves actually better than the 95-96 Bulls? How is that even possible? 

With a small enough sample size, anything is possible.

Also worth noting, in that historic Bulls season, they played their third game at home against the Toronto Raptors, and their next game on the road against…you guessed it…the Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course, unlike us, they beat Cleveland, but they weren’t on the second night of a back-to-back. Just something to consider when we’re comparing our respective places in NBA history.

That Bulls team also still holds the best net rating in NBA history at +13.4. While I do think that’s beatable, I firmly believe the Wolves have a real shot at breaking the NBA record for point differential, previously held by the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder at +12.9 PPG. 

Right now, even with the loss to the Cavs, the Wolves are second in the league in point differential at a still absurd +17 PPG, behind only Micah Nori’s Portland Trail Blazers. We love Micah, but there’s no way his team keeps this up. The Wolves, on the other hand, will, because of the power of friendship and Rudy’s goatee that Chris Finch strokes for good luck when no one is looking.  

If the Wolves continue to not just beat the teams they should beat, but consistently crush them, a double-digit differential is sustainable.

And it wouldn’t hurt to embarrass some of our fellow West contenders while we’re at it. 

By the way, last year’s Melo-led Hornets team had a double-digit point differential from January 3rd onward, and this team is leaps and bounds better than that fun but flawed Hornets squad. To add to that, as those mid-season buzzsaw buzzers were just starting to take flight, one game that especially turned heads was a 27-point drubbing of the Thunder in OKC.

Can we get in on that, please?

Ant is winning MVP

I’ve hitched my wagon to the Ant MVP train, and so far so good. With LaMelo allowing him to slide into his more natural shooting guard position, this fully realized version of Ant has never had this much space to work with. So far, after four games, he’s putting up 33.3 points per game on 72.1% true shooting. Ant has increased both his scoring and true shooting averages every year, which means…cue Disco Stu…

If the Wolves go 81-1, it will be hard not to give him the nod. But if, for whatever reason, something goes horribly wrong and the team finds itself struggling to claw its way to 60 wins, I think those numbers will still suffice, and Ant will have himself his first real piece of NBA hardware.

Ayo 6MOY campaign loading

It’s as simple as this: Ayo is a stud, and the Wolves are going to be the best team to come out of the West. Historically, the studliest bench player on the best team wins Sixth Man of the Year. This isn’t even an overreaction; it’s just the most logical take.

Jaden makes his first all-star game

Your favorite player’s favorite player gets to play on everybody’s favorite night. /s 

Jaden will get a considerable number of player votes. What remains to be seen is how he fares in the fan voting, but with this team’s popularity having skyrocketed, I expect to see some favoritism swing the Wolves’ way. He’s more than earned the recognition.

What’s more, Jaden will win all-star MVP because Ant will continuously feed him the ball, and then at some point Jaden will do this…

Terrence Shannon Jr. will finish top-10 in the league in three-point percentage

Hey, he’s shooting 50% from long-range. Did I see this coming? No. Is it sustainable? Yes. How so? I don’t know. Through Crunch, all things are possible.

We’ve all heard the stories of TJ as a known gym rat. First player to arrive at the gym, last player to leave. It should come as no surprise that a player with his work ethic has managed to add this wrinkle to his game. I, for one, welcome our new three-point overlord.

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Elsewhere Around the League

Miami Heat will miss the playoffs, again

The Heat are bad. Like, really, really bad. It’s basically Giannis and an assortment of chips, and I guess Bam but sometimes he is so invisible that calling him out at all, I feel, is one acknowledgement too many. And by the way, aren’t you supposed to trade the bag of chips? That’s how we got Ayo. 

From what I’ve seen, this is a play-in team, at best. To all the talking heads out there who think the Heat will be fine: stop it. They will not be fine. They are atrocious, and after the Kalshi shareholder’s stunt in Milwaukee, I choose to bask in the schadenfreude of it all. 

If I go to the gym and the Heat are playing, I will watch the game while on the treadmill and declare myself an honorary member of the 2026-27 Miami Heat.

Ty Jerome for Most Improved Player is a lock 

Who had Ty Jerome averaging nearly 30 points per game on the 4-0 Memphis Grizzlies on their bingo card? And if you did, have you ever actually played bingo before?

With Ja finally gone, the Grizzlies are no longer just “fine in the West”. They’re on a roll, with Ty as the engine. He’s always been a bucket getter, but for the first time in his career he’s getting a chance to really let it fly, putting up nearly 20 shots a game (his previous high was 8.8 two seasons ago on the Cavs).

From logo threes to his signature floater, there’s no reason to believe he won’t keep his scoring output at least in the low-to-mid-20 point-per-game range. And if the Grizzlies keep winning, this race is all but over.    

Denver is on life support 

I will admit to this very much being confirmation bias. 

It doesn’t help that the Nuggets got absolutely dismantled the other night at home by a Golden State Warriors team we all project to be pretty bad this season. But the Nuggets peaked in 2023, and they haven’t done much to disabuse that notion.

While they still might win enough games purely on the back of professional horse whisperer Nikola Jokić, they are nowhere near the top-4 and should probably be looking over their shoulder at those pesky Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers nipping at their heels. However the regular season pans out, I’m just not buying it.

The top two West teams are not who we thought they were

With OKC’s devastating key injuries (Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace are expected to miss several months, if not the entire season), the sky isn’t falling for them, but it is lowering considerably and moving quickly while doing so. 

Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs’ rather clunky start is showing us that progress is indeed not linear. Even if they are choosing to cruise to the playoffs, that could make things awfully contentious in the upper bracket of the Western Conference as the rest of the season shakes out. 

The Houston Rockets have been the most impressive team in the West so far, besides the Wolves, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if those four teams are the ones wrestling for top seeding. 

Obviously, the Wolves will be sitting comfortably in first, 20 or so games ahead of the next tier of teams when it’s all said and done. 81-1 is undefeated. That made more sense in my head.

Yaxel Lendeborg could be the first player to retire during his rookie season due to having lost all respect for the league

When asked what contributed to his surprise decision to leave the NBA so abruptly, Lendeborg simply said, “I ain’t no h**.”

Editor’s note: Technically, Gene Melchiorre retired from the NBA after his point-shaving scandal in college was discovered. Despite being the first overall pick, he had no way of fighting the story and walked away before Maurice Podoloff banned him

Now, you have faces of the league convincing people to gamble their savings away on prediction markets with no repercussions.

That’s sad.

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What are your overreactions to the first week of NBA play? Do you agree that the Wolves will finish 81-1? Have you also reached out to the league about the Cavs game? Sound off in the comments below.

The reigning champion Knicks fell to 0-3 on the new season, pointing to either violent regression or a debilitating hangover, depending on who you ask. While fans and media have their theories, head coach Mike Brown points to three on-court causes. 

Brown blames missing quality shot attempts, lacking physicality/pace, and the combination of careless turnovers and poor defense in transition, per SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley. Everybody has their piece of the picture, but zoom out and the problem may be a short-term sacrifice that bears fruit in the long run, like one the Knicks dealt with last year. 

Brown was brought in partly to, and partly won a championship off, the willingness to use the regular season to experiment over trying to maximize wins. He installed a brand new offensive system, shortened starters’ minutes to save them for the rigors of the postseason, and constantly tried new players and lineups.

This strategy paid off in spades. Karl-Anthony Towns as a passing hub saved their season in the first round, third-stringers stepped up all year round and Jalen Brunson-Jose Alvarado lineups closed the greatest comeback in playoff history.

Coming into 2026-27, Brown has much cooler expectations, being the coach that accomplished the impossible versus the one that’d better or leave town. He’s also watched eight consecutive new NBA teams win and fail to make it back to the NBA Finals, and knows the Knicks can’t afford to be stagnant if they want to repeat. 

Given he has more leash and political capital than any New York coach in recent history, and both the incentives and blueprint for innovating, it’s only natural he’d go even further in using the regular season, conceptually, to prioritize spring wins over winter ones. We’ve seen it in numerous ways these first three games, perhaps contributing to the early malaise by throwing new questions at a team trying to cheat off a test from last year. 

Despite losing three games by single digits, all of which went down to the wire, the Knicks starters are playing about the same average minutes as they did last year. Brown has held firm with losing and bench-heavy units to see more of those combinations. 

Speaking of bench-heavy units, the Knicks have poured 19 minutes into lineups without Brunson or Towns in three games this season. For comparison, outside of garbage time, they played these combinations for 47 minutes, total, in last year’s playoffs.

During training camp, Brown pointed to bigger offensive roles for his wings, so this trend aligns. We’ve seen OG Anunoby self-create much more of his offense.

The offense in general isn’t simply what the Knicks trotted out last season. They’ve heavily leaned into their freelance motion approach over set plays to start the season, a challenge that could help explain their 29th overall offensive start. 

Brunson isn’t getting his usual amount of on-ball reps either, with his possession rate dropping from 45.7 percent last season to 29.6 percent this season, per film analyst DJ Zullo. This could be a factor in his poor shooting start.

Brown’s even shifted the rotation in these opening contests, closing with James Wiseman as the primary backup center over Andre Drummond in their latest contest. This, along with adjusting between defensive schemes, has given the Knicks a steady flow of new looks instead of allowing them to ride the championship’s coattails. 

While these may make things somewhat tougher in the short term, if Brown is correct like he was last season, they’ll pay off down the line. A Knicks team that’s better prepared to make offensive plays when Brunson’s having a bad night, or rely on a deep bench cut in a pivotal Game 6, is one that’s better prepared to repeat.

There is a downside, as the Knicks are looking to rebuild their mettle and regain their rhythm amid a landscape that’s changing despite familiar faces. The ring bought them at least three games of rope, but if the losing continues, the noise won’t stay quiet. 

Brown faced similar circumstances last year and successfully pivoted, so if that situation arose again, there’s no doubt he’d be able to do the same. But if the price for another championship is a 2-6 start in November, Brown, his team, and their fans should be happy to pay it. 

The Washington Wizards’ 2026-27 regular season is young. And though AJ Dybantsa has still yet to make his season (and NBA) debut, the Wizards’ two established All-Stars, guard Trae Young and forward Anthony Davis, are producing the numbers fans expect.

Both Young and Davis are averaging 22 points a game each, both in the top 30 for the NBA. It should also be no surprise that Young and Davis are also taking the most shots per game. That said, Davis is making only y 44 percent of his shots so far this season, well below his career rate of 52.2 percent. That said, Davis has only played four games so this percentage should move up over time.

Young has started off on a hot streak with assists where he leads the NBA with 11.0 per game. Though he averaged just 8.0 assists per game last season though it was in just 15 total appearances with the Wizards and Atlanta Hawks. From the 2022-23 through 2024-25 seasons, Young averaged at least 10 assists per game though it also came with him averaging over 4 turnovers per game. This season, Young is only averaging 2.3 turnovers though four games is a small sample size.

If Young and Davis stay consistent, the Wizards should be a significantly improved team this season, even if they can’t carry Washington to a Top-4 finish in the Eastern Conference. Now, we’re just waiting on when Dybantsa to get cleared for his professional debut.

Kawhi Leonard will undergo a treatment and rehabilitation program due to left knee swelling, according to the Toronto Raptors. Leonard will be reevaluated in one week.

Toronto also revealed that medical imaging revealed no acute injury.

The longest stretch of games Leonard missed during his lone campaign with the Raptors in 2019 was four games over nearly a week. At the time, he wasn’t listed with an official acute injury and his absence was described as load management. The Raptors went 3-1 during this stretch.

If he’s cleared in one week (Nov. 4), he’ll miss a total of four games, including matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

Leonard missed the first 34 games of the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Clippers due to chronic inflammation and right knee swelling. While Raptors fans can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s not the same knee, it’s impossible to ignore the dread this news brings.

In Leonard’s defence, the superstar made up for his absence by playing 37 of the final 48 games of the season. In the following year, Leonard appeared in 65 contests, the second most games he’s played in since 2016-17. During that year with the San Antonio Spurs, he played a career-high 74 games and was an All-Star.

The start of the 2026-2027 season has been polar opposites for the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. For the Pistons, they are 3-0 with three impressive wins over expected playoff teams in the East. For the Knicks, they have also faced three likely playoff teams in the East, but have lost all three games.

Championship hangovers are a thing and the New York Knicks could be suffering from one. But, they also have a Championship core of players that are locked in, so their only goal is to get into the playoffs healthy and regular season results don’t matter as much. But, starting off 0-3 and only averaging 102 points per game could be viewed as a bit concerning.

Luckily for the Knicks, they will be facing a short-handed Pistons team that will for sure be without Jalen Duren but could also be without Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Joe. That didn’t matter on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers, but the 76ers were also short-handed. Everything points to the Knicks being fully healthy for this game, so it will be a challenge as the Knicks try to avoid an 0-4 start and put a stop to the only remaining unbeaten team in the East.

Game Vitals

Where: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
When: Tuesday, October 27 at 8 pm EST
Watch: NBC/Peacock
Odds: Knicks (-3.5)

Analysis

The Pistons put together an impressive game defensively with their rag tag group of bench players against the 76ers on Sunday. They held the Sixers to 93 points and shut down pretty much everybody except for Tyrese Maxey in the 4th quarter.

However, it was a bit of a struggle on offense with Cade Cunningham being the only offensive threat. The Pistons made a season-low 14 three pointers and also scored a season-low 106 points. Three-point shooting has been a huge part of the Pistons’ success this season and they could be without one of the players who helps a lot in that department, Isaiah Joe, who suffered a hip injury after a scary fall on a dunk.

Joe is listed as questionable today, but if I had to guess, he probably does not play since I am sure his hip hurts after the adrenaline wore off. Ausar Thompson is another Pistons player with the questionable tag, but there is probably a better chance of him playing since his injury was suffered against the Miami Heat on Friday and he is kind of a bit freaky when it comes to injury recovery.

The craziest thing for the Pistons 3-0 start is that they have done it withouot Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson for basically half of it. Duren suffered his injury in the 2nd quarter of Friday’s game against the Heat and Ausar Thompson suffered his in the 3rd quarter of the same game.

It just shows how impressive the Pistons depth is and how well put together their defensive infrastructure is. It doesn’t matter who is or is not playing, they are going to play lockdown defense. There is a noticeable drop-off on the offensive end, but you can win a lot of regular season games with a good defense.

There isn’t much to say about the Knicks as their formula is one that led them to a Championship last season. They have their wing defenders in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart and then their offensive hubs of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Brunson is one of the most clutch players in the league who comes through in the biggest moments.

So far, they haven’t gotten the clutch baskets they need from Brunson, which explains the 0-3 start, but a slow start after a Championship is a pretty common occurrence. You play into late-June the previous season and then have an abbreviated offseason once the celebration concludes. For the Knicks, they have had to start this season playing the 76ers and Celtics, two teams that are expected to be near the top of the East, and then a Magic team that was also a playoff team last season.

The Knicks haven’t looked great in any of their games so far this season, but I still wouldn’t be waving the panic flag yet given the level of opponents they have played.

A short-handed Pistons team could be exactly what they need to get their first win of the season, but as the Pistons proved on Sunday, it won’t be a gimme.

Whether or not Ausar Thompson plays, the Pistons are going to have to grit out another win through the sheer force of their defense. It worked against the 76ers and the Knicks could suffer the same face given their offensive struggles this season. But, the Knicks are equipped with the wing defenders they need to slow down Cade Cunningham, who has to shoulder a huge offensive load without Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.

If Thompson does play, he can at least take away some of the ball handling pressure that Cade Cunnigham has to take on and allow him to attack off-ball more. It also would help quite a bit on defense as well, as it would give them another player to throw at Jalen Brunson.

This could end up being a very ugly game on National TV.

Lineups

Detroit Pistons (3-0): Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, Paul Reed

New York Knicks (0-3): Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Question of the Day

What has impressed you most about the Pistons so far this season?

Dusty May said it best in his postgame comments following the Dallas Mavericks’ (2-2) 113-109 win at the Miami Heat on Monday. Cooper Flagg is “a bad dude.”

Flagg filled the stat sheet like few players can, finishing with a game-high 29 points to match Giannis Antetokounmpo’s point total for Miami, 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots. He scored 12 of his 29 in the decisive fourth quarter.

But it wasn’t just Flagg. It was PJ Washington. It was Kyrie Irving hitting some big early shots. It was two-way find Walter Clayton Jr., who finished with 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Here are the notable quotes from Monday’s postgame press conference.

Head Coach Dusty May

Opening statement

I want to congratulate our guys on a very hard-fought road [win]. 31 assists on 43 made baskets. I thought the hustle plays by Risacher, the last possession by P.J. coming up with that, Gaff, I thought we played extremely hard, we were quick to the ball and when Miami would go on a run, we’d find a way to hang around and hang around, and then our guys simply made big, big plays and big shots at the end. It’s a lot of fun when your two superstars are as unselfish as they are, and they show as much grace as they bring along these younger players. It’s been fun to be a part of and see it so far. Obviously a long way to go, but this is a very, very good win for our team.

On the Mavs’ defensive tenacity and physicality:

Yeah, Zacc is finding himself now. He’s still so young. We really,really value and appreciate those plays. However many missed shots he had, he had twice as many loose balls and blocks and steals and rebounds, and the ones that don’t show up where he just gets a hand on it, where it’s maybe coming to Bam or Giannis, he just gets a fingertip and then our guards dig it out. There’s no stat for that, but those are valued in our program and within our team. Just to see how connected our group is, to see how they’re all so much for each other is fun, and the guys, they earned this.

What did you do in the fourth quarter that made it hard on Giannis [Antetokounmpo]?

We brought bodies to him, I think probably the wear and tear of him having to do so much, and I thought he made a couple nice kickouts and the shots didn’t drop. I thought early on we were playing better than the score indicated in the second quarter because a couple shots weren’t dropping, and late in the game, to be honest, I thought they played better than the scoreboard would indicate. I thought they generated some great looks late, and they just didn’t drop, and so that’s part of the game as well.

How did you see Flagg taking over in the fourth quarter?

Well, we were struggling to find different ways to just get him in some space, and I thought our guys had good off-ball movement and spacing, and he just needed a crease. I mean, that’s a bad dude to get in a paint like that and finish. I think there were three guys trying to block it late. That’s one thing when you do get an angle and get to the rim on their, I mean, they had their perimeter defenders in, and you have Bam and Giannis coming over to block it, just to have the creativity to get it up off the rim. He had a couple that, they brought the third defender and drew the charge on him, but he was making the right pass as he was fanning out. He was starting closeouts. That’s one thing about Cooper, the ball comes out of his hands at the right time. If we get to where we’re really finding a rhythm offensively, he’s going to have even, he’ll have some 15-20 assist games. There’s no question.

How did you see Walter Clayton take advantage of his opportunity?

Yeah, Walt played in the stay-ready game called the Hunt Club earlier today, so he basically did a double-header. Obviously, it was an abbreviated one this morning, but that’s Walt. I mean, he’s a gamer. If anyone, obviously, this state, they’ve seen him a lot. He’s got ice water in his veins. He’s unfazed. Even when he doesn’t play up to his best, he’s the same way. I thought he dug deep, tried to defend. They were trying to go at him. I thought he held his own on the defensive end, and offensively, he just gives us so much because he can get wherever he needs to with the ball. He can create advantages. He can finish in the paint. I thought his shot fakes, obviously, have been such a great 3-point shooter. I thought he used his shot fakes well and just played really, really good ball.

Any concern for Sergio there?

Yeah, I don’t know what it is. He’ll have some imaging tomorrow, but obviously concerned because he’s such a tough kid. Whatever it is, we’ll be here to support him and get through it. Very unfortunate, like all these injuries, you look around the NBA, the first thing you think of is when there’s an injury, just how much time these guys spend to get their bodies right and how much time they’re going to have to spend just to get back to playing the game that they love to play. Hopefully, it’s minor, but we’ll know sooner than later.

What stands out to you about when PJ Washington is playing small-ball five?

I think PJ’s been great in stretches every game. For him to play 41 minutes tonight, and I haven’t reviewed the film, but I would say 39 of them were really intentional, focused, determined to do whatever it takes to win. Sometimes from my seat, it looks like he can just be in the game and not completely engaged. I thought he was engaged for almost the full 41 minutes. The last loose ball he came up with, there was five or 10 of those throughout the game that he just found a way to go get and then obviously made a huge three. He’s a weapon because he can stretch the defense, he gets in the paint, he’s physical with his bump-offs and little short shots, and then he’s got a nose for the ball too. He’s quick to loose basketballs.

On coaching in Florida and against Heat coach Erik Spoelstra:

Yeah, I feel better with the Mavericks going head-to-head against the Heat than the matchup of the head coaches. I had a lot of help tonight from the staff and also from our players, but obviously a lot of respect. They’re going to figure it out like I said earlier today. It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when. You think there’s 78 more regular season games, and you bring these new teams that all come from different defensive philosophies and offensive philosophies. It’s tough to get your guys on the same page and connected on both sides of the ball but we’re going to look up at whatever the amount of time is and they’re going to be playing great basketball and this will be a real quality road win.

On the closeout blocked shot by Flagg against Andrew Wiggins in the game’s final minute:

The thing with Coop, he’s trying to win. He’s never not — last year’s the first year of his life that he hasn’t won big, and he’s determined to get us back to where we’re playing extremely meaningful games at the right time of year, and each game matters a lot because the guy’s a winner. I mean, you see the plays he makes. He has a different gear. He has a different level of focus and attention; when he needs it, it’s there. But to see the plays he made, in the last biggest possession of the game, we just put it in his hands and knew he would make a great decision because of how unselfish he can play above the defense but also just his ability to get by people and finishing in the paint is incredible.

Do you appreciate your team’s next shot mentality, and is it important for a young squad like that to be able to keep shooting and not lose that confidence?

Yeah, absolutely and that’s something that over the course of my and our career that I’ve probably been a little bit loose with shot selection where some coaches how well you shoot it you earn the shots and with us if you’re playing the right way and the ball finds you then we trust you based on your work and practice and also the developmental plan of taking the right shots. Like I said, I wanted Zacc to keep shooting when he’s open, and most importantly, his teammates did too. I heard a couple of them say actually, I heard Kyrie say he’s playing so hard; I want him to keep shooting it and it wasn’t he’s doing this; he’s making 500 and not this he’s playing so hard. We appreciate that so much that we’re never going to tell him to stop shooting it and he made a big floater he made a huge three, and he’s a good shooter that’s the crazy part. Like, he’s a very good shooter that’s just not making them now but he’s finding so many other ways to impact the game and it looks like he’s having fun even though it’s not his best.

Collectively, what can a team learn from getting a road win against a talented Heat team early in the season to build on?

Each game is so different I think more than anything else just the belief that we can. You know, we won a game in Indiana where we had a little bit of margin and they came storming back and we held on. This one was back and forth, and we got a little bit of separation midway through the fourth, but it was a one-possession game and so it I think it gives our guys confidence that we don’t know what it’s going to look like. Maybe it’s a big time basket by someone, or maybe it’s a couple stops, but we have enough, and we got different ways to figure out a way to close the games, and so I think it just gives you confidence for later on when you’re in so many of these.

Cooper Flagg

What were you seeing in the fourth quarter that allowed you to get to the rim consistently?

Cooper Flagg DELIVERED in the clutch for Dallas 💪

He blocked the 3-pointer with 31.1 secs left, then raced to the rim for the layup to extend the lead to 4 with 10 secs left to help the Mavs seal the road W! pic.twitter.com/LNX27E3inq

— NBA (@NBA) October 27, 2026

I think just we did a better job at that late in the game just spreading the floor, getting into different actions and shifting the defense. You know, allowing for better driving lanes, angles and opening up the court a little bit.

You finished with 11 assists. What were some of the things you were seeing to be able to hit your teammates?

I mean they were mucking the game up. You know, being in the gaps heavy and trying to slow us down — make us just play through the pass and hit the easy one. So to start out early, just making the right play, and guys were knocking down shots.

Evaluating Walter Clayton Jr.’s night:

It was great. Walt was great. You know, obviously he hasn’t been with us for very long, but you know for him to just step up tonight and 6-for-7 from the field, but you know, I thought this is intensity and the way I mean — plus-22 — like for him to go out there and just play really really hard and unselfish basketball and just really give to the team in every single way, I thought it was a really big step for our team. Huge shout-out to Walt for just staying ready. I think honestly after shoot-around today he was playing — like he was in there playing with the guys in the stay-ready game, so a little double header for him. To be able to stay ready and come out tonight and just play and contribute like he did — it was it was really cool to see.

Did it mean anything additional playing in front of Spoelstra, who will be coaching the 2028 Team USA Olympic Team?

I mean I hadn’t really thought about that. Obviously for me, I’ve played for the country before, you know when I was younger um playing for Under-17 teams, stuff like that. For me you know it’s obviously a pleasure to be able to play for my country, any chance I get. I have no idea what it’s going to look like. It’s a good ways down the road so um obviously, you know, if I was ever asked to to be able to play for my country, that’s something I would love to do, and that’d be amazing.

How did you expect Wiggins to play you on that last drive for your last bucket of the game?

Like I said, just getting set. Once I had everybody set and everybody was in good positions, just taking advantage of the space that we had, being able to get downhill and challenge them at the rim. I was confident in my ability to get by him, create an advantage for our team and make the right play.

Does seeing Risacher and Washington playing hard on defense make the game more fun and also motivate you to play harder?

For sure, yeah, I mean I think just setting the tone early, being physical. Guys like PJ and Zacc you know those are things that they’re going to bring to our team every single night, so for them to just you know continue to step up these last couple nights and really just [show] how much they can provide us without even having to put the ball in the basket — that’s what I’m telling Zacc. I think obviously, nobody’s happy missing shots and stuff like that, but you know he makes us 15-20 points better when he’s being active and getting steals and playing his defense, so I have no doubt that his shots are going to start to fall, and there’s nothing to worry about there. So, with him contributing like he has been, it makes us so much better.

How valuable is it for Washington to be able to take on tough defensive assignments like guarding Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Like I said same with Zach I mean super valuable. PJ has been doing a lot for us on the defensive end. He’s been asked to take on some pretty tall tasks. I think he’s done an incredible job you know just you know doing whatever he can to help our team win and I mean PJ’s been knocking his shots doing what he does on the offensive end, but I mean defensively, he’s he’s been our anchor. With him and [Gafford] — they’ve been holding down the fort, so it’s been really big for him stepping up, Zacc stepping up, Gaff has been stepping up um on the defensive side of the ball. I think that’s that’s what’s making us better.

On affecting the outcome of the game on both sides of the ball, in multiple stat categories:

It’s just kind of always how I played — just making the right plays and whether it was scoring, passing, rebounding, getting in the lane, steals, blocks — just trying to impact the game and impact winning and competing at a high level.

On his veteran teammates, namely Washington, Gafford and Irving:

It’s been great. Those are two guys Gaff, PJ, and then obviously Ky — just great vets who set the set the tone, set the example and I think it’s been great for for me and for all the other young guys just to learn from. They set a really good example. They’re great leaders, with their communication, and they really show up and do it every single day, so it’s been great just to learn from those guys.

Walter Clayton Jr.

On the stay-ready mentality:

Walter Clayton Jr. scores the And-1 in the second half last night, he looked different pic.twitter.com/vCL66ToJ15

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) October 27, 2026

As simple as that — stay ready. Just trying to stay engaged during the timeouts so I know what the game plan is before and then just — a big factor — just the guys trusting me to go out there and shoot the ball and play my game.

Do you feel there is an expectation for a guy like you to play at a certain level to have synergy with guys like Irving and Flagg?

For sure, I mean, just being here for about a week now — Ky, the way he prepares, man — it kind of forces everybody to be on their P’s and their Q’s and prepare the same way. So just being locked in, just watching them, and, you know, these guys got a good system going on here, so I feel like I’m just kind of blending in seamlessly.

What allowed you to make that impact right when you came in to the game?

Just space. I feel like we got a good amount of paint touches tonight. We [were] relocating off the ball well. We felt like they were a team that collapses a lot, so just finding that space to get those shots off.

What stood out to you about the way the team played in the fourth quarter to pull out the win?

We just locked in during the timeouts, so talking to each other, I feel like we rebounded the ball great, and we were just physical. I think we came out and played our brand of basketball, and it worked for us.

How much did they start to change on you defensively after you made a couple of 3-pointers?

They were definitely probably a little quicker to get out on the closeouts, but, you know, that’s a great team. I don’t think they were changing too much for me. Tt was probably more so for Coop and Ky.

Has the chip on your shoulder grown as a result of this being your third team in two NBA seasons?

Definitely. My last year in college I was a big fish in uh in a little pond, and then you come to a new level. I’m a little fish in a big pond, so just got to work my way back up, and I feel like this is gonna be a great spot to be able to do that.

What did you make of Flagg’s fourth-quarter performance?

How many minutes did he play tonight? 40? Yeah, I mean, that’s a lot of minutes to be able to do that in the fourth. Just having him persevere for us. Coop is great. He’s a great player, and he’s gonna continue to be that for us.

What did the team try to do defensively against Antetokounmpo?

Just tried to meet him early — force them tough ones at the rim. Giannis is Giannis. He’s gonna get there, but we just tried to make it as tough as possible, and I think we did a pretty good job tonight.

What are some of the ways Washington affects winning?

Main thing is he be hitting people. I think people don’t understand how big those little hits [are] as the game goes on — how important they are, and PJ’s done that every game. He’s just been constantly doing that, so PJ’s great for us, obviously shooting the ball well and a great rebounder, so he’s been great for us.

How would you describe May as a coach and as a tactician?

Dusty is great. He’s won everywhere he’s been. I think he’s planning on doing the same here, and just as a tactician, he sees the game well, and he’s willing to listen to our point of view as players on the court. If [Irving] sees something, Dusty’s willing to take it into account. Dusty’s been great, and I think he’s gonna be a great coach at this level.

It’s been rough for the Brooklyn Nets. Following a loss at Cleveland on Saturday night, they came home for a Sunday evening matchup against the Indiana Pacers and lost 136-109. Mikel Brown Jr. sat out (injury management) as things only got uglier.

The Boston Celtics look different this season after a busy offseason, but their early results have been encouraging. They enter Tuesday’s matchup coming off a 134-99 blowout against the Chicago Bulls.

Game Info & Broadcast Details

• Matchup: Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics
• Time: 7:30 PM EDT (6:30 PM CDT)
• Venue: TD Garden (Boston, MA)
• TV/Streaming: YES Network/DAZN

Nets vs. Celtics: Who’s Out?

Brooklyn Nets

• Joshua Jefferson: OUT – G League Assignment
• Drake Powell: OUT – G League Assignment
• Ben Saraf: OUT – G League Assignment
• Tyler Bilodeau: OUT – G League (Two-Way)
• Grant Nelson: OUT – G League (Two-Way)

Boston Celtics: TBD

This is the second night of a back-to-back for Boston so we’ll find out a few hours before tip-off.

The Game

Jordi Fernandez’s message after Sunday was simple: “The performance that we put on after the first quarter was just unacceptable. 112 points in three quarters — you’re not winning basketball games.”

Indeed.

As we noted in our season preview roundtable, bad defense is a killer and things have gotten pretty ugly already. Erik Slater of ClutchPoints discussed the amount of open threes the Nets have been allowing through the first week of the season, and teams have punished those mistakes early and often. The Celtics have been top-four in three-pointers attempted per game dating back to 2022.

If Brooklyn’s defense continues to spring leaks, this game could get ugly quick.

One of Boston’s newest faces has been around a lot longer than you’d think. This is Year 17 for Paul George and he’s been a solid hand for Joe Mazzulla’s squad. George is a versatile vet with lower usage compared to what we remember — he doesn’t need to do the heavy lifting on most nights.

The downside to being in the game this long is you’re gonna get got every so often.

Mikel Brown Jr is back against Boston and that should be a welcome sight for Nets fans.

The 20-year-old will be one of several guards chasing Payton Pritchard around tonight. Pritchard hit for 28 points and seven three-pointers last night as he had the Bulls in a blender. PP has been one of the best reserve guards in recent years and is someone Mazzulla and the team can count on to deliver no matter what the role is on a given night. His ascension allows for more flexibility and makes things easier across the board for his teammates.

For Brown Jr, Pritchard offers a great test against on the defensive side of the ball, while playing against elite competition overall. It should be fun to see how he shapes out against one of the most prepared teams in the NBA.

Player to Watch: Jayson Tatum

“He should stay ready at all times,” said former teammate Jaylen Brown.

As the face of the franchise, Jayson Tatum has a lot to think about it. He’s the lead option on a championship contender and faces all pressure to keep the team afloat in a treacherous Eastern Conference. And these days, he’s awfully busy discussing his former All-Star teammate.

Either way, it’s a lot to handle for one superstar to handle.

On the court, Tatum continues to be one of the best around. After shooting 0-for-7 night from three on opening night, he’s starting to regain his rhythm. Tatum can hurt teams in more ways than scoring. Even when his outside shot isn’t falling, he contributes as a playmaker and rebounder while still applying pressure on the defense. Brooklyn needs to make him work for his looks and avoid giving him easy opportunities to get going.

As for the Nets: When a team is going through an early rut like this, it takes a lot to turn things around. Losses pile up if you aren’t careful and three losses can turn into five, five turn into eight — you get the rest. The schedule doesn’t help either. Neither does playing against someone like Jayson Tatum.

From the Vault

My dear friend and colleague Lucas Kaplan is leaving NetsDaily to work for the Los Angeles Sparks. Lucas is the best of us and while I’m sad he’s no longer working with us, I can speak for everyone when I say I’m beyond thrilled he gets to begin such an exciting new adventure!

With that in mind, I wanna revisit the best, most fun night of basketball we ever got to cover together.

More reading: CelticsBlog, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation NBA, New York Post, New York Daily News, Clutch Points, Nets Wire, Nets Insider, SNY, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Steve’s Newsletter

• Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
• Boston Celtics Game Notes – Boston Celtics
• Jordi Fernandez doesn’t hold back after ‘unacceptable’ performance drops Nets to 0-3 – Erik Slater – Clutch Points

The ongoing war of words between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum took an unexpected turn Monday courtesy of Celtics television analyst and SiriusXM radio host Brian Scalabrine.

To briefly recap: Last Thursday, Brown posted a cap emoji on an Instagram video where Tatum talked about his reaction to the Celtics trading Brown to the Sixers. The next night, Tatum told reporters, “This ain’t no f–king Shaq and Kobe, there’s no beef.” Brown concurred Saturday, telling reporters, “There’s no beef, but there might be a little lamb chops and some gravy.” (He also added that Tatum had “hell of a PR team,” which is a phenomenal dig. 10/10, no notes.)

That brings us to Monday. On his SiriusXM radio show, Scalabrine said Brown “demanded to be traded” from the Celtics, “not through the media, but to the organization.”

Pretty explosive stuff here from Brian Scalabrine:

"My understanding of this thing is that (Jaylen Brown) demanded to be traded. Not through the media, but to the organization." …

"My understanding is that Jaylen Brown went to the organization and had a list of demands, and… https://t.co/GC7fpjc7qh

— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) October 26, 2026

“If you’re actually doing that, and you’re going to say Tatum is the one that’s lying, your whole basis of this thing is a lie,” he concluded.

As it turns out, Scalabrine might need to look in a mirror before calling someone else a liar. On the NBC Sports Boston broadcast prior to Monday’s game against the Celtics and Chicago Bulls, Scalabrine cleared up his report by essentially rebutting everything he said earlier in the day.

Drew Carter and Brian Scalabrine taking about Scal’s comments on the radio today https://t.co/VyfjTPuiiHpic.twitter.com/Ldad81lQHO

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) October 26, 2026

“He technically didn’t demand to be traded,” Scalabrine said. “I just summed it all up, I just summed up the entire word salad and kept it simple, but I think that’s what got me in trouble there.”

When asked what Brown’s demand was, Scalabrine replied, “I have no idea. I don’t know what the ultimatum was or the demand or whatever it was, but he technically did not demand to be traded. It was ‘Do these things right here or else.'”

A representative from Brown’s team told ESPN’s Kris Rhim that Scalabrine’s report was “10000% a lie.” The representative added that once the Celtics informed Brown that they planned to trade him, his “only request was to have input on his destination,” which Chris Hine of the Philadelphia Inquireralso reported.

Journalism is currently in a state of disrepair for countless reasons. The rise of AI will only make things exponentially worse. (It already has.) But one of the fundamental tenets of journalism—at least back in its heyday—was that you double-check what you’re reporting before you actually report it. Once upon a time, they had these things called “editors” and “fact-checkers” who were an extra layer of review to ensure that journalists weren’t reporting inaccurate information. (Most of them have now been laid off because they didn’t make their company’s Line Go Up quickly enough.)

Of course, the live, off-the-cuff nature of radio and TV make it far more difficult to vet information in real time. That’s why you do that work beforehand before spouting it to a national audience. We’ve all been on the internet long enough at this point to know that aggregators will pounce on any juicy material and disseminate it widely. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened to Scalabrine on Monday.

Jaylen Brown was reportedly the one who demanded a trade from Boston and was pushing for a move to Milwaukee, per @Scalabrine

“I think Jaylen Brown lives in his own reality. But because it wasn’t being documented that he demanded to be traded, then I don’t think that anybody,… pic.twitter.com/mnZGpK6LfQ

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 26, 2026

As the father of two young boys, teaching accountability has been one of the biggest parenting challenges to date. It’s hard to own up to your mistakes and admit that you screwed up; it’s far easier to blame someone else or deflect responsibility. But is that the world we want to live in?

Scalabrine shouldn’t necessarily lose his job over a mistake like this, but he should feel compelled to apologize and own it. No hedging, no wishy-washy, “Well, there’s nuance, but…” The only words out of his mouth should be, “I screwed up, I deeply regret the error, and I will not report anything unless I am 100 percent sure it is accurate moving forward.”

But given the state of everything these days, this faux pas will probably put him in line to be the next White House press secretary by next week.

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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An eventful offseason for the Detroit Pistons made the last few months feel short. After the dust settled, suddenly, we had games! And with them came plenty of early impressions.

The overarching impression? Detroit looks really good again.

The Pistons have not only won their first three games, but they’ve looked like the big boys against the teams everyone expected to be among the conference’s big boys. All the talk about Detroit regressing this season may have played right into the hands of a team that needed an edge after a 60-win campaign last year.

Both Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson missed the most recent game against Philadelphia with injuries, yet the team arguably played its most complete game of the young season. The last time we saw Detroit, its weaknesses were exposed. But it’s easy to forget just how dominant the Pistons can look when opponents aren’t ready to match their level of intensity.

Let’s get into three thoughts from Detroit’s opening stretch of wins.

1. Spacing!

Outside of contract situations that dominated the offseason, plenty of noise came from doubters (like myself) who felt the front office hadn’t done enough to add scoring to a team that desperately needed it in the postseason. While I still believe there will eventually be a need, for now, that noise has quieted.

It was evident in the season opener against Boston that there has been a shift toward prioritizing spacing around Cade Cunningham. Duncan Robinson has been excellent through the first three games and clearly has the green light to let it fly, averaging 19.7 points and 5.0 made threes per game. The team as a whole ranks third in the NBA in three-point percentage and fourth in made threes per game.

We may look back at the end of the season and realize that prioritizing depth and shooting this offseason made a lot more sense than going all in on a superstar. On the flip side, teams will start to game-plan differently and try to limit what Detroit has done so well early on. There will likely be some regression to the mean, but for the Pistons to shoot this well against three teams with legitimate championship aspirations is a huge boost.

2. No Stew, no problem?

Isaiah Stewart’s impact on the identity of this new iteration of the “Bad Boy” Pistons has been well documented over the years. A fantastic defensive player, Stewart became a fan favorite during his six seasons in Detroit, making it easy to understand why many took issue with his offseason departure in a trade to Memphis.

His exit also raised questions about whether the team’s defensive identity would take a step back without him. So far, it hasn’t.

Through the first week, Detroit hasn’t skipped a beat defensively compared to what we saw last season. The Pistons rank fifth in points allowed per game, fourth in blocks and second in loose balls recovered. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but these are the kinds of numbers many might have expected to regress immediately without Stewart in the rotation.

That was evident in some games last year when Detroit was without its top players, but it’s increasingly clear that this team’s identity is rooted in collective defensive pride, not just a few standout defenders.

Daniss Jenkins said after the win over Philadelphia, “We feel like we’re the baddest dudes in the world.” That’s exactly what you feel watching this team compete for every possession, especially on the defensive end.

3. Ebuka Okorie’s role

When a top-20 draft pick has a hard time finding minutes on his new team, it’s usually a sign of one of two things: the team is loaded with talent, or the rookie is struggling to earn a role. Detroit likely falls into the former category, as its depth of experienced guards has made it difficult for Stanford rookie Ebuka Okorie to see much playing time through the first few games. Still, I don’t expect that to be a season-long theme.

Okorie got on the floor for a brief stint against Philadelphia and scored his first NBA points at the free-throw line after drawing a foul on a back cut. That short appearance could be a soft launch toward a larger role for a rookie who likely deserves the opportunity after a strong preseason.

Okorie was an immediate spark plug during the preseason, playing well down the stretch of games and, at times, willed the team to victory. Whether it’s because of injuries or his own development, I expect the rookie to find his way onto the floor more consistently at some point.