The Sixers made several midday injury status changes Tuesday before their meeting with the Magic.
The team downgraded Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) and Paul George (right ankle sprain) to out. Tyrese Maxey was upgraded from probable with a right shoulder sprain to available.
“I think we’ve just got to continue to grow his time on the floor,” Nurse said Monday. “The minutes restriction thing has to grow. Hopefully, it keeps heading in the right direction. … I think he’s moving good and the opportunity to get him going and get him some shots is going to be important. … I think conditioning and more minutes and all that stuff just takes a bit of time.”
On top of Embiid and George, the Sixers won’t have VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Adem Bona (right ankle sprain) vs. the Magic.
"I heard everything. I heard the dude in the crowd, first off, say 'Who's number 12?' I saw Anthony Edwards do his little throw both arms up, like, 'I don't know,'" the Lakers' Jake LaRavia said of his viral moment. "And then, if you saw the video, I put my arms up at the free throw line, so just kind of like playing along with it.
"But I just find that kind of stuff funny. It's amusing to me. It is what it is. I just continue to do what I do."
What LaRavia does is just hoop.
The rest of the nation is about to see what No. 12 can do up close when the Lakers take on the Clippers Tuesday night on NBA Coast 2 Coast on NBC and Peacock — in what will be a critical NBA Cup game.
It’s all about that fit
What matters for role players in the NBA, as much as talent or skill, is fit.
LaRavia brings a well-rounded and a bit of an old-school game that is a hand-in-glove fit in Los Angeles, where he has quickly become a critical cog in the Lakers' attack. While
"The way that we play, and me being able to play off-ball and read when cut, and just when to space the floor and be able to get catch and shoot 3s, and reading closeouts and stuff like that, I definitely feel very comfortable," LaRavia said.
Jake LaRavia shot LIGHTS OUT in the @Lakers' win tonight
While he's averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds a game, what makes him invaluable is his willingness to do the little things. He's been a physical and opportunistic defender. He also has consistently played with pace, getting downcourt and finishing plays in transition — occasionally on highlight reel look-ahead touchdown passes from Doncic or Reaves.
Most impressively, he has shown some secondary playmaking skills we haven't seen much from him before.
LaRavia said he played his same game in Memphis and Sacramento (his first stops around the NBA), but the fit is just more natural in Los Angeles. LaRavia's jack-of-all-trades game can get glossed over by scouts and front offices — "But what is he elite at?" — and when the Lakers signed him this summer to fill the shoes of Dorian Finney-Smith, most pundits saw it as a downgrade.
It hasn't been. Not that all those comments ever fazed LaRavia — it's the only way he knows how to play.
"It's kind of just the way I grew up playing," LaRavia said. "I'm from Indiana, kind of Midwest ball, fundamental basketball, cutting, like playing off two feet, all that kind of stuff. It's kind of just, it came, it comes kind of natural." Coming to the big stage of the Lakers — and playing with Luka Doncic and LeBron James — didn't change his game.
"To be honest, like, my, my whole career has kind of been that," LaRavia said. "Just like, even in college, I wasn't the number one scoring option, but I, but I was the guy that kind of was able to complement that number one scoring option [Note: G-League star Alondes Williams led Wake Forest in scoring LaRavia's final year].
"And it's kind of the same thing here. I play, I play so well off of AR, Luka, and Bron to where, if they're not open, I can still be that kind of secondary shot creator. I'm still able to create my own shot, still able to catch and shoot three, still able to drive and attack the paint and get to the rim."
Playing with Doncic, LeBron
LaRavia said the biggest adjustment coming to the Lakers was playing with Doncic, and now LeBron.
"Just playing off-ball so much, the amount of attention that they draw offensively — with their passing ability — just makes the game so much easier," LaRavia said. "My defender is pulled in or guarding him and I can get cuts to the basket, and they can find me. It's like, even when I don't think I'm open, they see it before I'm even there." Like on this play from LeBron's first game back
"It was right out of a timeout, and he literally came up to me," LaRavia said of LeBron. "He told me, he said, 'Just cut behind him.' He said, 'Cut behind him and I'll find you.' So when he got the ball on the post, my guy was just not even looking at me, so I just cut behind him." LaRavia was not even two years old when LeBron made his NBA debut, and getting to play with someone he idolized growing up was special.
"It was dope to finally get on the court with him," LaRavia said. "He brings something to this team that I don't think we really had, just another level of passing ability that he's able to do, and just the force he is on offense, in transition, and when he has the ball in his hands."
What's evident being around these Lakers — something that wasn't always there the past few years — is a genuine connection between the players off the court. These guys like each other.
"The vibes are really high," LaRavia said. “We all get along with each other really well off the court. You see it on the court when we're playing, just what our chemistry is. Yeah, it's a really good group of guys."
NBA Cup
Tuesday night, when the Lakers take the court against the Clippers, it will be a critical NBA Cup game that could decide West Group B — win and the Lakers advance to the quarterfinals, one win away from a trip to Las Vegas for the semifinals and finals. The game is the second of the Coast 2 Coast Tuesday NBA doubleheader on NBC and Peacock.
Don't question the players' motivation for these games.
"I think $500,000 will motivate just about anyone," LaRavia said. "I think half a million dollars is still a good, amount of money to be able to motivate you to want to win games." These NBA Cup games are regular-season games, as well, so there is motivation there already, LaRavia noted, but added that having a target like a mid-season tournament adds a little something.
"It is cool to just be able to play for something in the middle of the season and be able to get a nice little bonus," LaRavia said.
If the Lakers get that bonus, it will be in no small part due to LaRavia finding his role, his comfort zone on a team that needed him.
How to Watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
SAN FRANCISCO – Jimmy Butler ran down the right lane of the court and caught a pass from Gary Payton II to finish a 2-on-1 fastbreak. He jumped off two feet, and was vertical with a 7-foot Lauri Markkanen, absorbing the Utah Jazz star before moving the ball to his right and kissing it off the glass for two points.
The Warriors beat the Jazz 134-117 Monday night at Chase Center to snap a three-game losing streak. Butler was their prize at last season’s trade deadline. Markkanen is the player they highly coveted during the 2024 summer.
There isn’t a thing the Warriors would change about acquiring Butler as Steph Curry’s co-star alongside Draymond Green.
“Lauri Markkanen is having an incredible run. He’s been playing at a high level for a couple years now,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday after practice.
Markkanen going into his game against Golden State was averaging a career-high 29.3 points per game, slightly ahead of Curry, for the seventh-best mark in the NBA. He already had a 51-point game this season, three games of 40 or more points and eight of at least 30 points. The 2023 All-Star and former winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player looked to be taking a leap as one of the league’s premier scorers, especially at his size.
Everything Markkanen does as an off-ball 3-point threat who can score in multiple ways for Jazz coach Will Hardy can be imagined in Kerr’s offensive system. The two coaches have history together with Team USA basketball, and Kerr highly respects the younger Hardy’s vision.
“We see the game in a similar fashion, but to really be proficient in that, you need somebody like Markkanen or Steph or Klay [Thompson],” Kerr said during his pregame press conference. “You need somebody who has to draw that type of attention to create reactions from the defense. What I see is a team that spaces the floor well, that is pushing it, that is playing aggressively, playing confidently.
“Yeah, they’re hard to guard.”
So, Kerr stuck someone 10 inches shorter on Markkanen in the Warriors’ first game against the Jazz this season. With Draymond Green and Al Horford out to injuries, Gary Payton II had the job of guarding Markkanen to open the game and a handful of Warriors were part of the Jazz star having his second-worst scoring night of the season. Markkanen scored 17 points, nearly 13 off his previous season average, on 31.6-percent shooting (6 of 19) and only was 1 of 5 from 3-point range.
He was a minus-20 in 33 minutes.
Meanwhile, Butler was a plus-19 in 28 minutes, dominating doing what he does best. Always under control, Butler scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, had six rebounds (tied for a team high) and seven assists (one behind Payton’s eight). The furthest shot he took was a 13-foot jumper after recognizing a mismatch being guarded by rookie Walter Clayton Jr.
Butler rebounded his own first miss, a contested layup through traffic, and tipped it back in for two points. His second miss was a driving layup where Butler expected more contact, and his third actually came from Clayton swiping down and blocking the start of a shot around his waist.
The summer of 2024 for the Warriors was about Paul George and Markkanen. They dodged a bullet in George, who only played 41 games last year and has played just three this season. Markkanen had a down year last season while playing a lowly 47 games, and Butler, who didn’t get to play against George as a Warrior last season, highly outplayed him in his first game against Utah with Golden State.
The Warriors’ focus at the trade deadline turned to a Kevin Durant reunion, which didn’t transpire due to KD not wanting to reopen that chapter of his career. Durant didn’t play last April when Butler and the Warriors blew out the Phoenix Suns. He will his Houston Rockets’ game against the Warriors on Wednesday because of a personal family matter.
Any kind of Warriors what-ifs of Markkanen, George or Durant have been put to rest because of Butler’s presence. The trio of Butler, Curry and Green have played 14 games together this season and are a plus-61 with a 15.0 net rating. Green missed Monday’s win, but the Curry-Butler duo improved to a plus-50 in 15 games this season and they’ve produced a 120.6 offensive rating.
After beating the Jazz, the Warriors at 10-9 are one game over .500, powered by three players 35 or older that still are elite. The Warriors again were reminded that although Butler wasn’t the franchise’s first pick before knowing he was available, he was the right choice in a move where they were able to keep all their best assets to keep building around him, Curry and Green in their first full season together.
Steph Curry needed fewer than 30 minutes to make NBA scoring history Monday night.
The Warriors star poured in 31 points in 29 minutes, knocking down six 3-pointers in Golden State’s 134–117 win over the Utah Jazz at Chase Center. The performance officially tied Curry with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo for the most 30-point games played in under 30 minutes in NBA history, with 30 such games each.
Curry now has totaled 1,043 points in 865 minutes across those 30 games, averaging 34.8 points in 28.8 minutes. Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, has recorded 989 points in 831 minutes across 30 games, averaging 33.0 points per 27.7 minutes.
The timing of the tie is notable. Antetokounmpo currently is sidelined with a low-grade left groin strain, leaving his total frozen as the Bucks slide in the standings. Milwaukee dropped its fifth straight game on Monday — a 115–103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers — continuing a skid that began when Giannis exited the lineup.
Milwaukee will have to wait for Antetokounmpo to return before he can push that mark any further. Golden State, meanwhile, is moving in the opposite direction. The win lifted the Warriors to 10–9, a modest but meaningful step as they try to climb back into the upper half of the Western Conference.
And if Curry keeps delivering this kind of production in under 30 minutes, Golden State’s ascent might just come faster than expected.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama arrives well dressed for a game earlier this season. Photograph: Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
Lonzo Ball’s froze in confusion. The question – “What do you think about the NBA dress code?” – hung in the air for a second before he cracked a sheepish grin.
“There’s a dress code?” he said, smiling.
Twenty years after the introduction of a rule that once roiled the league and ignited a culture war over image and identity, one of the NBA’s current players didn’t even know it existed.
“Now do-rags are flying, along with jerseys and baggy stuff,” said Ball, a point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I didn’t know we had a dress code. I just knew we had to put something on.”
Former NBA commissioner David Stern instituted the dress code, which went into effect at the start of the 2005–06 season. The policy has been relaxed since Adam Silver succeeded Stern in 2014, but the initial rollout – as with most change – came with controversy and pushback.
The code required all players to dress in business or conservative attire when arriving and departing games, on the bench when injured, and when conducting official NBA business.
Players bristled at the announcement because the policy effectively banned oversized T-shirts, do-rags, jerseys, and other “hip-hop-inspired” attire.
The league’s move was widely seen as a critique of Black culture – a policing of expression and a response to the NBA’s discomfort with hip-hop aesthetics that had become inseparable from basketball itself. The backlash was immediate, loud, and deeply personal.
For many, it was also a direct attack on Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson, who became the poster child for what not to wear. Iverson, then one of the biggest stars in the league, was known for his tattoos, braids, and baggy gear.
In a recent interview on The Breakfast Club radio show and podcast, Iverson said his influence on other players helped trigger the NBA’s response. “David Stern and the rest of the NBA were like, ‘No,’ because it was all right when I was doing it,” Iverson recalled. “But then everybody else said, ‘OK, if he can do that, we can do this.’ You see Kobe coming in with diamond chains and baggy clothes, and everyone started doing it. Then the league was like, ‘Hold on, we’ve got to do something about that.’”
Twenty years later, that moment – once seen as a culture war between the league office and players – has come to represent something far more complicated. Instead of erasing individuality, the rule inadvertently helped create a fashion renaissance that reshaped both the NBA and global style.
What began as a mandate for “professionalism” evolved into tunnels lined with photographers, endorsement deals with high-fashion brands, and players driving global trends in ways the league never imagined. Former NBA forward Ira Newble, who remains racially conscious, vividly remembers the tension.
“Everyone seemed upset and up in arms about the dress code,” Newble, who was playing for the Cavaliers when the ban came in, says. “No one wanted to have a dress code. It was a big deal.”
Players were used to traveling in sweats, hoodies, or whatever felt comfortable during long road swings. The style of the time – oversized clothing, long white tees, and baggy jeans – was heavily linked to hip-hop culture.
“My style at that time reflected hip-hop culture,” Newble says. “I had the braids and wore baggy clothes. The sentiment among players was that the NBA was trying to take away from the cultural end. Iverson was an influence of that culture. That’s what the controversy was about. It felt as though they were trying to change and get rid of hip-hop culture.”
But Newble also recognizes how the moment evolved. “Everything kind of grew in a different direction where hip-hop culture can still be embraced within the dress code,” he says. “So it’s cool to see how it evolved.”
Inside the league offices, the intent was different, according to Kathy Behrens, the NBA’s president of social responsibility and player programs.
“We felt at the time that it was important for our players to present themselves in a more professional fashion when on league business,” Behrens says. “We were not demanding a suit culture, but we did want to raise the level of how players showed up.”
She says the league anticipated pushback, but emphasized it was never meant to sanitize hip-hop expression.
“We knew what the goal was, and it had nothing to do with changing our players’ fashion or culture,” she says. “We talked with many players about this change before implementing it.”
What the NBA didn’t expect, Behrens admits, was what happened next.
“The reality is our players embraced the change very quickly and truly raised the level much higher than we anticipated,” she says. “Pre-game ‘fits’ became a thing. It soon became a competition over who could dress the best. How you dress became a cultural touchpoint.”
Two decades later, the league still maintains a dress policy, though it has evolved with changing definitions of “professional attire” and is not as strict as it once was, allowing the players to be more creative with their fashion choices. But the legacy remains.
“When the people most impacted by it embrace it the way our players have, you have to feel that it worked as intended,” Behrens says.
When the rule came in, Jameer Nelson was in his second NBA season with the Orlando Magic. Nelson, now the 76ers’ assistant general manager, can appreciate how the policy unified the league.
“So it didn’t affect me either way,” Nelson says. “But it was cool to see the brotherhood, the fraternity of basketball players, move in the same direction, whether we liked it or not.”
Nelson laughs at how players have flipped the narrative completely.
“You can see now how the personalities are being shown through fashion,” he says. “I have my own style, more old school, more casual. Somebody told me yesterday I dress hip-hop slash front office.”
He says players today simply have more tools to showcase their creativity.
“These brands, because of social media, take advantage of it,” Nelson says. “If social media was as big back in 2005, we probably would’ve done the same thing. Getting dressed is art. It’s how you express yourself without even speaking.”
Few players symbolize that shift more than those in the current era, where tunnel entrances resemble fashion runways and some players are followed by photographers and videographers from the parking garage to the locker room.
Take Cavaliers star Darius Garland, considered one of the team’s most fashionable players. He marvels at how far things have come.
“The league implemented a dress code 20 years ago – that’s crazy,” Garland says. “Now we can put on our own stuff. We can express ourselves.”
To Garland, fashion and business are intertwined.
“A lot of guys have different avenues of revenue with clothing pieces,” he says. “Guys have Lululemon deals, Armani deals. It’s crazy now. With the dress code not being a dress code anymore, it’s giving us money we can put in our pockets, and it lets us express ourselves.”
If only the league had embraced a more relaxed dress policy earlier, says Garland.
“Hip-hop culture influences basketball, and basketball influences hip-hop culture,” he says. “Everyone wants to see what athletes are wearing so they can wear it. We are the influencers.”
What began as a controversial, racially charged flashpoint has become a cultural engine, embraced by the league, celebrated by players, and followed by millions worldwide.
The NBA tried to define professionalism. The players redefined it instead. The dress code did not suppress the culture. It amplified it.
Years later, the runway to the locker room, once a battleground, is now one of the most influential stages in global fashion.
“You can trace the swag back to [Iverson],” Ball says. “The tattoos, the braids, the baggy stuff. We came a long way from [the NBA] punishing him for expressing himself. Now [hip-hop fashion] is at an all-time high again. We need to give Allen Iverson a lot of respect.”
It took a decent chunk of time -- perhaps 15 games, in an attempt to quantify the stretch -- for Karl-Anthony Towns to discover his purpose and play with confidence in a reworked Knicks offense under new head coach Mike Brown.
But the veteran superstar finally found what he was looking for.
While the Knicks didn't need Towns to assert much dominance in order to clinch a 12th straight win over the city-rival Nets on Monday night, he immediately commanded the spotlight and delivered welcomed efficiency. Not only did he score a game-high 37 points with 12 rebounds in their 113-100 win at Barclays Center, he shot 14-of-20 from the floor.
Towns didn't rely on three-point attempts this time. Yes, he still took a few jumpers from beyond the arc, making three on four tries, but the big man's attack plan sparked a breakout effort. He attacked the rim instead, asserting his dominance in the paint as the Knicks' go-to weapon. He was an aggressor, not a settler.
"I've had slumps before, experience teaches me a lot. Keep shooting, keep trusting the work," Towns said after the win. "I know it's disappointing, especially for me who puts so much time in the gym and you're not seeing the results every day you'd like at the standard you anticipate. But never change the grind."
The Knicks fell just short of attempting 40 threes in Brooklyn -- they were five off from the number Brown hopes the team averages this season -- but high-octane offense can be displayed in different ways. And what the team received was Towns contributing in all spaces.
Of course, Towns exploited weaker competition. It shouldn't matter to the Knicks, though. They're allowed to be pleased this version of him showed up. They're allowed to believe this performance returns and lifts the offense to an even higher level.
"He was really good. Again, trying to move him around quite a bit," Brown said of Towns. "Tried to have him at the elbow, in the post, in the pick-and-roll game. You can see his comfort level is starting to get there... Great game by KAT, picking his sports to drive it, shoot it, spray it."
Towns is averaging 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.4 rebounds with nearly one-fifth of the regular-season in the books. He's still searching for that valuable groove from three, though -- his shot percentage of 31.4 is currently a career-low.
The Knicks picked up their 12th consecutive win over the Nets, 113-110, on Monday night at Barclays Center.
Here are some takeaways...
- Mike Brown turned to a smaller lineup with Mitchell Robinson (illness) and OG Anunoby (hamstring) sidelined, as Josh Hart received his first start of the season alongside Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
- That group got off to an extremely sloppy start on both ends of the floor. The Knicks shot 4-of-14 from the field over the opening few minutes and continued giving up open looks from downtown, allowing Brooklyn to hold a slim two-point advantage when the first quarter came to a close (26-24).
Noah Clowney got off to a strong start for the Nets, leading the team with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting.
- New York's second unit of Hart, Towns, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, and Ariel Hukporti got them going early in the second. Even with Brunson resting on the bench, they were able to put together a commanding 11-0 run to open their largest lead of the first half, at the time (eight).
The Knicks looked like they were ready to put this one away as they pushed the advantage out to as many as a dozen, but Brooklyn answered back with a late first-half surge, and they were able to cut it all the way back down to a one-possession game heading into the break (51-48).
Both teams shot a combined 25 percent from behind the arc over the first two quarters (NY 3/14, BKN 7/26).
- Things were back-and-forth coming out of the break before the Knicks took over and opened a comfortable double-digit advantage that they never looked back from. New York scored a game-high 38 points in the third quarter while shooting 64 percent from the field, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
- Towns led the way in perhaps his best offensive showing of the season, finishing with 37 points on 14-of-20 shooting (just 3-of-4 from three) while reeling in 12 rebounds and dishing three assists. The big man did have a bit of a scare after falling hard on his hip on a drive to the basket early in the fourth, but he returned to the court after a timeout.
Brunson had 27 points, Bridges chipped in 16 points, and Hart did it all (seven points, 12 rebounds, seven assists).
- Jordi Fernandez's young and hungry squad showed much more fight this time compared to the last meeting. Clowney finished with a career-high 31 points on the night including seven threes, Drake Powell pitched in 15 on 5-of-10 shooting, and big man Nic Claxton had eight points.
New York picked up their second road win of the season in seven tries.
Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns
The big man dominated the paint all night, finishing with a game-high 37 points.
Highlights
KAT with the spin move and bucket to get the scoring started tonight 🌪️
Tre Johnson, the rookie guard who is one of the lone bright spots in Washington's ugly start to the season, will miss multiple weeks dealing with a hip flexor issue, Varun Shankar of the Washington Post reports.
Johnson was out for the Washington on Saturday, then on Monday the team confirmed the injury but did not provide an official return timeline.
Wizards guard Tre Johnson strained his left hip flexor against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 21. His status will be updated as appropriate.
This is the same injury that caused Johnson to miss time last season at Texas, and he had been playing through some pain there, according to Shankar at the Post.
Johnson is averaging 11.5 points a game and shooting 39.5% from 3-point range. Because of the injury, Johnson had seen his minutes drop, playing fewer than 20 in his last three before being ruled out. Look for Cam Whitmore and Corey Kispert to get more run with Johnson sidelined.
Hustle? Check. Grit? Check. Ball movement? Check. Rebounding? Check. Shooting. Check. Spirited defense, without Draymond? Double check. And two – two – turnovers, neither of which was costly.
Those 12 scorching minutes during which the Warriors outscored Utah by 21 launched them to a 134-117 victory that buried a three-game losing streak.
It all came together and a very visible tongue-lashing by Steve Kerr late in the first quarter.
“We just wanted some good vibes around here,” said Curry, who scored a game-high 31 points. “We had good practice yesterday. Utah was coming off a back-to-back (set). We wanted to get off to a better start than we did.
“But we responded after that quick timeout. Coach lit a fire underneath us, and I’m just glad the way we responded as a whole. We know we can play better, but it’s nice to have a little bit of offensive rhythm tonight and see the ball go in after a rough start.
Kerr, hopping off the bench to call a timeout, was livid about a defensive breakdown by Brandin Podziemski with 1:53 left in the first quarter that allowed Keyonte George to drain a wide-open 3-pointer, his fourth in the quarter without a miss.
“Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen were the two guys that we wanted to contain tonight and pay special attention to,” Kerr said. “And 10 minutes into the game, George is 4-for-4 from 3. Wide open shots. We just lost our focus, and I just wanted to gently remind them that we needed to focus more.”
The Warriors were being torched, as the Jazz shot 61.9 percent from the field, including 70 percent from beyond the arc, in the first quarter. Utah led by as much as 11 and took a 35-26 lead into the second quarter.
“Talents like that, they’re going to score,” Curry said. “But we gave him four wide-open 3s. And anybody knows that shouldn’t happen in this league if you’re keying on two of their best players, two of their best scorers.”
Kerr’s reminder prompted the Warriors to grow fangs and use them in the second quarter. They opened with a 21-0 run and outscored Utah 41-20. They limited the Jazz to 8-of-27 shooting from the field, including 2-of-11 from distance.
Meanwhile, Golden State was shooting 58.6 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent from deep, with Moses Moody (10 points) and Buddy Hield (nine) accounting for almost half the 41 points, while Pat Spencer and rookie Will Richard came off the bench, bringing energy.
The game had flipped. The Warriors, despite a few lapses, looked like a different team over the final three quarters, posting a 108-82 advantage.
“We took care of the ball, and that’s priority No. 1 for us,” Kerr said, referring to eight turnovers after the first quarter. “When we take care of it, we generally win. We’re 9-1 now, when we win a turnover battle, and like 1-8 when we don’t. It’s obvious what our measuring stick is, and that helps our defense. I like that. I like the way the ball moved. And once we got a Pat and Will out there, I really liked the ball movement, the flow, the energy, it just it felt right.”
One clue of the team’s energy is that of the 11 Warriors who played, all but one grabbed at least two rebounds. The persistence on the glass allowed them to post a 50-47 rebounding edge over a much bigger Utah squad. Hield, slumping most of the season, delivered his most productively efficient game thus far, finishing with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from distance. He added five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
From big things to the little things – the kind of things neglected all too often – it was 36 minutes of high-quality hoops that allowed the Warriors to roll to a rare feel-good win.
Now, it’s about staying on point, finding consistency and gathering momentum.
“That’s the biggest thing, understanding how they’re trying to score who’s going to have the ball,” Curry said. “But you have to just go step-by-step in terms of us putting together 48 minutes of solid sound defense, where we’re truly proud of the way we play, start to finish.
“We know we haven’t done that yet.”
With 63 games remaining, there will be plenty of opportunities to change that.
The difference a two-way wing like Keegan Murray can make.
Behind Murray’s 26 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, the Kings, 18 games later, picked up consecutive wins for the first time in the 2025-26 NBA season, edging past the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-112 in overtime on Monday night at Golden 1 Center.
In October, Murray tore the UCL in his left thumb during a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers and underwent surgery, forcing him to miss the first 15 games of the season.
In that span, the Kings racked up a poor 3-12 record, including an eight–game losing skid. It appeared as if there were no possible remedies to Sacramento’s ailment.
Insert, Murray, who early on in his third season, is proving why the Kings shelled out a five-year, $140 million extension for his services.
“It makes a big difference having Keegan Murray back,” veteran DeMar DeRozan told NBC Sports California’s Kyle Draper, Morgan Ragan and Deuce Mason on “Kings Postgame Live.”
“One of our best players. A guy that could go out and do everything. He changed the dynamic of the floor, so having him out there definitely helps.”
"It makes a big difference having Keegan Murray back."
Sacramento now has won two of the three games that have featured Murray. The 25-year-old is back. The Kings are back.
But perhaps more importantly, Murray’s long-awaited two-way aggressiveness and fierce mentality are here.
“I think I just had a really good offseason,” Murray told reporters. “I got away from Sacramento a little bit. I feel like I just unlocked a different mindset going into this year.
“Obviously, I couldn’t start this season. Obviously, I missed a month to start. For me, it’s just finding my rhythm back and each game I’m feeling more comfortable on the court. So, aggression is not really an issue for me this year.”
"I feel like I just unlocked a different mindset going into this year."
Murray drilled a wide-open 3-pointer to give the Kings a 110-107 lead with two minutes left in overtime, helping Sacramento overcome a once 10-point deficit with 3:04 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
DeRozan, who surpassed Alex English in the league’s all-time scoring list, posted a team-high 33 points.
The difference a two-way wing like Keegan Murray can make.
Behind Murray’s 26 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, the Kings, 18 games later, picked up consecutive wins for the first time in the 2025-26 NBA season, edging past the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-112 in overtime on Monday night at Golden 1 Center.
In October, Murray tore the UCL in his left thumb during a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers and underwent surgery, forcing him to miss the first 15 games of the season.
In that span, the Kings racked up a poor 3-12 record, including an eight–game losing skid. It appeared as if there were no possible remedies to Sacramento’s ailment.
“It makes a big difference having Keegan Murray back,” veteran DeMar DeRozan told NBC Sports California’s Kyle Draper, Morgan Ragan and Deuce Mason on “Kings Postgame Live.”
“One of our best players. A guy that could go out and do everything. He changed the dynamic of the floor, so having him out there definitely helps.”
"It makes a big difference having Keegan Murray back."
Sacramento now has won two of the three games that have featured Murray. The 25-year-old is back. The Kings are back.
But perhaps more importantly, Murray’s long-awaited two-way aggressiveness and fierce mentality are here.
“I think I just had a really good offseason,” Murray told reporters. “I got away from Sacramento a little bit. I feel like I just unlocked a different mindset going into this year.
“Obviously, I couldn’t start this season. Obviously, I missed a month to start. For me, it’s just finding my rhythm back and each game I’m feeling more comfortable on the court. So, aggression is not really an issue for me this year.”
"I feel like I just unlocked a different mindset going into this year."
Murray drilled a wide-open 3-pointer to give the Kings a 110-107 lead with two minutes left in overtime, helping Sacramento overcome a once 10-point deficit with 3:04 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
DeRozan, who surpassed Alex English in the league’s all-time scoring list, posted a team-high 33 points.
There is intent behind everything Warriors star Steph Curry does.
Which is why it should come as no surprise to anyone that it wasn’t a coincidence that the sneaker free agent wore Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes as he arrived at Chase Center for Monday’s contest against the Utah Jazz.
After all, Jordan’s iconic 1997 NBA Finals Game 5 performance came against the Jazz in Salt Lake City.
“It’s kind of cool understanding the history of the game and the themes around certain teams we’re playing,” Curry told reporters after the game. “So I brought out the ‘Flu Games’ and the ‘Final Shots.’ And then played in the Sabrina 3.
“So just kinda … Everybody should be on alert. I’m calling everybody. Trying to get some good product but it’s just fun to, again, honor certain eras, moments in the game, current athletes who are doing great things and just having fun with it.”
"It's just fun to honor certain eras, moments in the game, current athletes who are doing great things."
Steph Curry details the thinking behind his shoe choices in sneaker free agency 👟 pic.twitter.com/CsOhvCdcyz
Curry switched from the Jordan XIIs to the Jordan 14s for his pregame warmups.
But instead of returning to his customary Curry Brand kicks for the actual game, the Warriors superstar wore New York Liberty star and Bay Area native Sabrina Ionescu’s Nike “IONESCREW” Sabrina 3s against the Jazz.
Stephen Curry is playing in the “IONESCREW” Sabrina 3s tonight — with @Sabrina_i20 in the house.
“We have a long history — she’s from the Bay, and just obviously following her career,” Curry told reporters. “There was a time when she was coming out of school, and I was trying to get her to Curry Brand. It’s hard to get an Oregon Duck to leave Nike. But it was cool.
“It was kind of a coincidence — I didn’t know she was going to be here until yesterday — and I just had a pair of shoes, and it was a great moment. She’s doing amazing things, she’s a champ and to honor another Bay Area athlete that’s doing amazing stuff.”
While it’s clear Curry is putting thought into the shoes he is wearing, it’s not known when he will decide on a new sneaker home for his Curry Brand kicks.
NEW YORK (AP) — Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other ex-NBA player.
Billups, a five-time All Star who won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal court in Brooklyn on money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors say he was involved in a scheme to rig mob-backed illegal poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons. Others face charges of running an illegal gambling business, robbery conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. Prosecutors said Monday that plea negotiations have begun with some defendants but did not identify them.
U.S. District Court Judge Ramon Reyes said he hopes to bring the sprawling case to trial by next September, telling lawyers to "do what you have to do.”
Billups, dressed in a dark grey suit, spoke only to answer yes-or-no questions from the judge. His lawyer, Marc Mukasey, entered his plea. They declined to comment after the hearing. Last month, another Billups lawyer called him a “man of integrity” who denies the allegations.
“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom,” attorney Chris Heywood said after Billups first appeared in court on Oct. 23, when prosecutors first announced the indictment.
Billups, 49, was released on a $5 million bond secured by his family’s Colorado home. He must refrain from gambling, avoid contact with other defendants or alleged victims, surrender his passport and limit travel to seven states, including Oregon and New York, and Washington, D.C.
Inducted last year into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, Billups was arguably the most prominent among more than 30 people charged in last month’s sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports.
Ex-NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also charged in the poker scheme, as well as another separate scheme to let gamblers exploit insider information about players to win NBA bets that implicated Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
In addition to Monday's arraignment, Billups and his co-defendants attended a status conference and are due back in court March 4.
Prosecutors say the poker-rigging scheme used altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in chip trays, special sunglasses and X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards. They allege the operation defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million starting in at least 2019.
Billups allegedly served as a celebrity “face card” that could draw wealthy, unsuspecting players to the games. Prosecutors said organizers texted during one game that a victim “acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money” because he was “star struck.”
Prosecutors say Billups received a portion of the ill-gotten gains. including a $50,000 wire transfer after a rigged game in October 2020.
Organizers also had to share their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mob families for operating within the illegal poker games run by the New York criminal enterprises, prosecutors said. In return, Mafia members allegedly carried out assault, extortion and robbery to collect debts and protect the operation.
During his NBA career, Billups earned about $106 million. After retiring in 2014, he embarked on a career as a TV analyst before pivoting to coaching.
Billups was selected as the third overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics after starring in college for the Colorado Buffaloes. He played 17 years in the NBA, with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.
But he is perhaps most beloved in the Motor City, where he earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his knack of making clutch shots.
Billups was named the NBA Finals MVP during the Pistons' title run in 2004 and had his No. 1 jersey retired by the team.
He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a multiyear extension with the Trail Blazers earlier this year after the team missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024. Billups previously served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers.
After his arrest, he was placed on unpaid leave and the Trail Blazers named assistant coach and former NBA player Tiago Splitter as interim coach.
SAN FRANCISCO – Between the Warriors and Utah Jazz, one team was bound to snap a three-game losing streak Monday night at Chase Center.
Luckily for the home fans, the team that found its way back into the win column was the Warriors, beating the Jazz 134-117.
Scoring was spread up and down the Warriors. Steph Curry scored a game-high 31 points on 12-of-24 shooting and now has scored at least 30 points in five of his last six games. The sneaker free agent played in Nikes, the first game he had done so since 2013, rocking a pair of IONESCREW Sabrina 3s with Bay Area native and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu in the building.
Jimmy Butler scored an efficient 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and Buddy Hield dropped a season-high 20 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting and 4 of 8 from deep, also adding five rebounds and four assists.
The Jazz began the game ahead 11-0 as the Warriors missed their first six shots, including five 3-pointers. Each team then used its own extended runs in the first half, as the Warriors strung together a spectacular second quarter and very strong third to give them a 22-point lead entering the fourth.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ blowout win.
GP2 Gets The Starting Nod
How did Steve Kerr combat an already-small Warriors team against the much-bigger Jazz on a night where Golden State was without Draymond Green and Al Horford? Putting a 6-foot-2 Gary Payton II on a 7-foot Lauri Markkanen to begin the game, of course.
Payton from the get-go did all the small things (no pun intended) that make him so valuable in certain matchups. He was cutting behind Utah’s defense, grabbing rebounds and keeping the ball moving right away. The Warriors’ first three made shots were all assisted by Payton.
Standing 10 inches shorter than Markkanen and still frustrating him was only one part of Payton’s game. Payton, in 21 minutes, scored nine points, came down with six rebounds and dished a career-high eight assists.
Oh, and Markkanen went just 6 of 15 from the field, making one of his five 3-point attempts.
18-0 Run … Without Steph
The goal when Curry sits is to stay afloat. To keep the game in reach, stay even if possible and win on the margins the best you can. Another way to win the non-Steph minutes is to go on an 18-0 run without him.
And that’s exactly what the Warriors did in the second quarter.
The Warriors entered the second quarter down by nine points, 35-26. They then led 44-35 when Curry came back in at the 7:13 mark, going from trailing by nine points to having a nine-point lead themselves. Points came from four different players: Moody (eight), Butler (four), Quinten Post (three) and Will Richard (three).
Those four players, plus Pat Spencer, were the ones on the floor for the run. A Curry three then made it a 21-0 run, before a Kyle Filipowski three finally ended the Jazz’s scoring drought.
Curry still scored eight points over seven minutes in the second quarter, but it was all about what the Warriors were able to do without him. His teammates scored 33 points in the second quarter, which would have outscored the Jazz by 13.
An irate Kerr called a timeout with a little under two minutes left in the first quarter after yet another open 3-pointer made by Jazz guard Keyonte George. Kerr was clapping his hands and letting his team have it. In particular, the message seemed to be aimed at Brandin Podziemski, who tried blaming a teammate for George’s corner three while he guarded nothing but open space.
Defense, on a night where the Warriors didn’t have Green as their savior, was missing in action early on. The Jazz shot 61.9 percent from the field in the first quarter (13 of 21), and went 7 of 10 on threes. George scored 15 points by himself, two fewer than the Warriors’ starters combined.
Kerr kept Podziemski in for the rest of the quarter, but then replaced him to start the second quarter, where he remained throughout the rest of the first half. In fact, Podziemski didn’t come back in until there were a little under seven minutes left in the third quarter. He was a minus-10 at the time with two points.
After the Jazz’s started scoring from downtown, they were held to 4 of 25 (16 percent) the rest of the game, and Podziemski ended as a minus-2 in 18 minutes with six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The legal battle between Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia and two of the franchise’s minority owners took another turn Monday, with the stakeholders accusing Ishbia of using the basketball organizations as his own “personal piggy bank” while hiding details of his spending from them.
Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin say Ishbia has mismanaged the pro basketball organizations, accusing him of financial malfeasance and of trying to use a capital call to try to bully them out of some of their shares in the franchises. Instead, they allege, it blew up in Ishbia’s face and afforded them an opportunity to take a majority share of the teams.
The accusations come in a legal filing made last week in Delaware court in response to a countersuit filed by Ishbia last month against the two minority owners, who had originally sued in August to begin what has become a messy legal drama.
“Ishbia does not own the Suns to make money for the company but he does operate it as a personal fiefdom for his own personal gain and for the benefit of his other businesses, including his mortgage company United Wholesale Mortgage,” the legal filing states. “The reality is that Ishbia is using the Suns as his personal piggy bank, including through a lengthy list of conflicted transactions — only some of which the Minority Owners are aware of.”
Ishbia, the two minority owners allege, made a loan to the Suns at an interest rate that is significantly above market rate. They say he leased the Mercury’s new practice facility to himself. They also claim that he has turned the Suns and Mercury into money-losing franchises while he intends to make money through UWM.
“This isn’t a lawsuit; it’s a shameless shakedown dressed up as legal process,” a spokesperson for Ishbia said. “From day one, Mat Ishbia was transparent that he was going to do things differently. Contrary to how the team was previously managed, Mat made it very clear he would invest significantly into the Suns and Mercury. He told all the investors that they could step up with him or sell their stake and step aside. Kohlberg and Seldin stayed in and now they’re trying to freeload off the value Mat created.
“Kohlberg and Seldin want to drag the organization backward, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans ‘makes no business sense.’ They are advocating neglect. They are free to sell their shares in the open market and if they don’t, they should be prepared to lose this lawsuit and participate in Mat’s continued investments in the teams and community.”
Ishbia, in an appearance on “The Draymond Green Show,” said the two minority partners “can sell if they want” and should be thanking him.
“Those people, they think about money. All the people think about money,” Ishbia said. “The way I look at it is, let’s do the right thing. Money follows success. It’s not the other way around.”
“And by the way, since I bought the team at $4 billion, it’s worth, what, $6 billion now? It’s gone up,” he said later. “I told them, ‘Instead of suing me, why don’t you just write me a letter and say, thank you? Your investment is worth more.”
"Instead of suing me, why don't you just write me a letter and say, thank you?" – @Mishbia15 responds to the minority owners' lawsuits on The Draymond Green Show… pic.twitter.com/YvqIus8Xfr
The disagreement stems from a capital call this past summer. Kohlberg said he originally went to Ishbia last September looking for the majority owner to buy out his share because of his own liquidity issues. Ishbia bought more than half of the teams in early 2023 at a $4 billion valuation and has since then bought out other minority shareholders. Kohlberg, through the legal filing, said Ishbia did not respond initially. When he went to him again and asked that he answer his offer by June 1, 2025, Ishbia, the filing said, set a capital call for the next day.
That capital call, the two minority owners claim, was used as a way to dilute their shares in the teams, which could occur if they did not pay, and to create a new lower per-unit share price. They ended up contributing their share, but when another member did not, Ishbia set another capital call for the next month, according to the filing, and they paid again.
They later learned that more of the capital had not been funded and that Ishbia had used a debt-to-equity conversion to fill the financial gap. This maneuver, Kohlberg and Seldin say, was not the legitimate way to do that. The two minority owners also say that a July 8, 2025, capital call was also not fully funded on time. They argue that under the team’s operating agreement, they would be afforded to buy the shares Ishbia had not funded himself. If they did, they would then have a majority stake in the franchises.
“Ishbia blundered into the very trap he set for the Minority Owners and faced a devastating dilution of his ownership interest if his failure was discovered,” the filing said. ”A failure that would wipe off his net worth and put his continued status as an NBA team owner and governor in jeopardy.”
Since assuming controlling interest of the Phoenix organizations in February 2023, Ishbia has promised championships. He started by spending. With the Suns, he made a big, early splash, trading for superstar Kevin Durant. Ishbia and the front office later doubled down and traded for Bradley Beal despite the star guard’s injury history and burdensome contract that included a no-trade clause. The moves backfired.
Last season, the Suns were perhaps the NBA’s biggest disappointment. Built around Durant, Beal and Devin Booker, they had the league’s most expensive roster, yet they finished 36-46 and failed to make the Play-In Tournament. Ishbia promised change.
Over the offseason, he overhauled the roster and front office. Phoenix traded Durant to the Houston Rockets and negotiated a buyout of Beal, a move that got the Suns out of the second apron, a payroll threshold that limits an organization’s ability to make roster moves, as well as the luxury tax.
Built around Booker, this season’s team lacks star power but has played well over the season’s first month. Entering Monday, the Suns (11-6) were one of the NBA’s early surprises under first-year coach Jordan Ott and had won eight of their past nine.
The Mercury have been more successful. In July of 2024, the WNBA franchise opened a $100 million, 58,000-square-foot practice facility in downtown Phoenix. Last season, the Mercury advanced to the WNBA Finals, where the Las Vegas Aces swept them in four games.
But the off-court issues continue.
Kohlberg and Seldin, who have invested in the Suns for more than two decades, first began their legal battle against Ishbia this summer, when they sued him for a lack of transparency and the team’s unwillingness to provide them with internal financial records. They alleged that Ishbia’s capital call in June appeared to be “part of a leverage strategy to exert pressure on and dilute” their ownership shares.
Ishbia countersued last month, claiming the minority owners were trying to force him to buy out their ownership stakes at an “extortionate” cost. He dismissed their claims as part of a public-relations ploy.
Kohlberg and Seldin are the only remaining minority owners who still invested in the Suns and Mercury, and originally bought in while Robert Sarver led the franchises. Ishbia bought the two teams in early 2023 and has since rolled up minority stakes; he now owns roughly 85 percent of the franchises.
Ishbia professed this fall that he will not settle any of the seven lawsuits he and the teams face. In addition to the mismanagement complaint, former and current employees have accused the organization of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other issues. The Suns have denied these allegations.
“The truth is, you actually got to win a lawsuit,” Ishbia said in September. “And where I’m different than most successful people … is like, we don’t settle. If we don’t do anything wrong, I’m not paying someone. I hope you guys all report on how many lawsuits we actually lose.”
