After the Knicks' victory, the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama upset the Oklahoma City Thunder and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 111-109, to advance to the finals. The former No. 1 overall pick had 22 points and nine rebounds in just 21 minutes off the bench in his first game back from injury.
The Spurs snapped OKC's 16-game winning streak and handed them just their second loss of the season. San Antonio has now won three straight to improve to 18-7, while New York has won five straight games this month, owning an 18-7 record as well.
It'll be the first matchup between the two teams this season. Both franchises are looking to win their first in-season tournament title.
While the championship game result will not impact either team's regular season record, the players on the winning team will earn $530,933 in prize money, per Front Office Sports. The players on the runner-up team will earn $212,373.
Jalen Brunson's first 40-point game of the year couldn't have come at a better time.
The All-Star point guard dropped a season-high on Saturday night to lead the Knicks over the Orlando Magic and advance to the NBA Cup Championship on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Brunson's scoring outburst came on 16-of-27 shooting (59.3 percent), despite going 2-of-5 from three-point land and only making six free throws. He also added in eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal over 39 minutes in the 132-120 win.
After the victory, Brunson spoke with the NBA on Prime crew about his performance and how his game continues to improve, especially on the big stages.
"I think the way we've been playing, I've been able to get a couple more catch and shoots. I have a lot of confidence in my shot," Brunson said. "I work way too hard not to be confident. Sometimes it's going to go in, and when it's going in I'm just going to keep firing them."
The 29-year-old was then asked by former two-time MVP Steve Nash about his "touch around the rim" and how that keeps getting better over the course of his career.
"It's something I had to learn," Brunson said. "Obviously I'm not the tallest and I'm not jumping over people... My game's unique. I play off balance. I'm on balance, but most people wouldn't be. That's the stuff I work on, just be deceiving. I've done it for a long time and it keeps getting better and better like you said."
Brunson's previous season-high in scoring was 37 points, which he's had twice this year (against the Heat on Oct. 26 and vs. the Bucks on Nov. 28). He's now averaging 28.3 points per game over 22 contests and has scored 30-plus points in four consecutive games.
New York, winners of five straight games, will need Brunson to continue playing with that confidence to keep their streak going on Tuesday night in the NBA Cup Championship against the winner of the Thunder-Spurs semifinal game.
"I work way too hard not to be confident ... my game is unique."
Jalen Brunson tells the crew about the parts of his game that keep getting better. pic.twitter.com/D83qzUnMmF
The Knicks beat the Orlando Magic, 132-120, on Saturday night in Las Vegas to move on to the NBA Cup Finals for the first time.
Here are the takeaways...
-- Things got off to a fast start in this one as both teams shot over 60 percent from the field in the first quarter which featured nine lead changes. Both squads did most of their damage in the paint early on with guys running up and down the court for easy transition buckets or creating their own shot in the mid-range.
-- In fact, New York only made two threes (on eight attempts) in the opening 12 minutes -- both by OG Anunoby and one with 4.8 seconds left in the quarter -- but still scored 33 points. However, the Magic, led by Jalen Suggs, did even better and put up 36 points.
-- Suggs continued to lead Orlando in the second quarter and scored a career-high 25 points in the first half, although he seemed to injure himself slightly just before the break. The Magic needed every bit of it, too, because the rest of the team's hot shooting from the first quarter largely disappeared as they shot under 40 percent in the second, although they still scored 28 points.
-- The Knicks, particularly Jalen Brunson, took advantage of Orlando's poor shooting and continued to lean on points in the paint to get it done, taking the lead by doing whatever they wanted near the basket. From Brunson to Mikal Bridges to even Tyler Kolek, everybody got involved. Still, it was Brunson who was matching Suggs' offensive output with 24 of his own in the first half.
-- After another quarter shooting over 60 percent from the field and scoring 38 points, New York went into halftime with a 71-64 lead.
-- Needing help from players not named Suggs and no Franz Wagner in the lineup, Paolo Banchero got more involved out of the gates after a quiet first half and helped the Magic get closer. After tying it, Orlando even took the lead on Desmond Bane two-pointer with 5:24 left in the quarter that made it 87-85 and forced head coach Mike Brown to call a timeout.
-- The Knicks regrouped after the pause and closed out the quarter on a 14-3 run to be up eight going into the fourth quarter.
-- With a trip to the NBA Cup Finals on the line, New York put Orlando away in the final frame, never allowing the Magic to get back into the game. Karl-Anthony Towns had 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and put the exclamation point of a convincing win with a dunk in the final seconds.
-- Brunson went for a game-high 40 points on 16-for-27 from the field and added eight assists, four rebounds and a steal. Every other Knicks starter finished with double-digit points as the team shot 61 percent from the floor.
-- With Josh Hart once again in the starting lineup, New York improved to 9-1 this season with him as a starter compared to 9-6 with Hart coming off the bench.
-- After his phenomenal first half, Suggs disappeared in the second half and scored just one point as the injury sustained likely played a role.
Game MVP: Jalen Brunson
Brunson was doing whatever he wanted all game, getting to his spots and knocking down shot after shot from start to finish.
The Knicks will play the winner of the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup Finals on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 8:30 p.m. in Las Vegas.
While injuries have hit the Cavaliers hard to start the season — Darius Garland, Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen have missed significant time, while Max Strus has yet to play — Evan Mobley has been a rock this season.
Until now, Mobley strained his calf against the Wizards on Friday night and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks, the team announced.
Mobley is averaging 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds a game this season, shooting 35.2% from 3-point range. While those counting stats are close to what Mobley did a season ago, he has been less efficient getting there, with a 57.6 true shooting percentage (close to the league average), well off the 63.3 he had last season (and a concern because the Cavaliers needed him to take a step forward. More concerning is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year not being there to protect the rim for a few weeks — the Cavaliers' defense is 2.9 points per 100 possessions worse when Mobley is off the court. The good news is the Cavaliers should get center Jarrett Allen back.
Mobley has missed just one game so far this season, but if he is out for a month, he will be in danger of not playing 65 games, making him ineligible to defend his title or, once again, make the All-NBA team.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, sitting between teammates LeBron James, left, and Jake LaRavia, rarely has played in the last 10 games, but with Austin Reaves injured, the defensive specialist might be an option to join the rotation. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Perhaps Vanderbilt can return to the rotation to help the Lakers’ defensive woes while guard Austin Reaves is out for approximately a week because of a mild left calf strain.
And perhaps Vanderbilt and the Lakers can get some immediate results for shoring up their defensive shortcomings when they face the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.
The 6-foot-8 Vanderbilt is hopeful that his opportunity will come against the Suns and he turns that into a positive for the Lakers.
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty eager,” he said after practice Saturday. “I mean, obviously, I think a lot of the stuff we lack, I think I can help provide on that end."
In the last 10 games, Vanderbilt had only a three-minute stint against the Philadelphia 76ers because Jake LaRavia took a shot to the face that loosened a tooth.
The return of LeBron James and Vanderbilt’s offensive deficiencies left him out of the rotation. During much of that time the Lakers were winning, which meant Vanderbilt spent time on the bench.
In 15 games, Vanderbilt is three for 10 (26.6%) from three-point range. He was asked how he has been handling things.
"Good,” Vanderbilt said. “Controlling what I can control. Keep showing up to work, doing my part, supporting the team."
Vanderbilt was asked if coach JJ Redick or any assistants have spoken to him about his role.
"Kind of here and there, I guess,” Vanderbilt said.
Vanderbilt was seen after practice Saturday working with an assistant coach on his shooting, just like he did after practice Friday and like he has done while not playing.
Redick said Reaves, who played against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, wasn’t sure when the calf became an issue, and “we’re obviously gonna be cautious with it.”
“It's a mild strain, Grade 1, and he'll be out for a week,” Redick said, adding, “I would venture to say every player is a little bit different, but players now are becoming more cautious — to use that word again — more cautious when they get those diagnosis with the calf. Everything looks clean. It's not in the deep part.”
The Lakers have looked at the last 10 games during the film sessions as a barometer for their defensive problems. But in reality, the Lakers have not been very good on defense all season while producing a 17-7 record because of their stellar offense.
"It's been a trending thing even when we was winning, so I think like you said, the defense still wasn't there, but we was just outscoring everybody,” Vanderbilt said. “So, I think obviously during the loss, it's an appropriate time to address certain things just so it won't keep lingering and get worse."
The Lakers are 18th in the NBA in points given up (116.8), 22nd in opponents' field-goal percentage (48.1%) and 27th in opponents' three-point shooting (38.2%).
They will face a Suns team that defeated them Dec. 1 at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers were unable to stop Collin Gillesipie, who had 28 points and was eight for 14 from three-point range, and Dillon Brooks, who had 33 points.
It hasn't gotten better in the ensuing days. The Spurs loss was the Lakers' third in the last five games.
"Nobody likes to go watch film after you get your ass kicked,” guard Marcus Smart said. “It's tough because the film never lies. And it exposed us a lot, which we already knew. We were just winning a lot of games. So it was mitigated that way, but it was straight to it: We have to be able to guard.
“The scouting report against us is we're not guarding people. And if we want to be great in this league and do what we're trying to do, you have to be able to guard, especially in the West. These guys are no joke, and they're coming. And especially [if] you got the Lakers across your jersey. They're definitely coming with everything they have. So you can't be expecting any surprises. And that's what it was. It wasn't no sugarcoating anything. It was, 'This is what we got to do.' We've been asked. Let's fix it.”
VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers runs out of the tunnel before his team’s game against the New York Knicks in Abu Dhabi in October.Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
As paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state.
The tournament is the most visible example of the NBA’s expanding partnership with the UAE – a partnership that includes annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and plans for a new NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.
Larger deals are expected to follow. The NBA is reportedly seeking Abu Dhabi’s investment in a new NBA-branded European league, which could launch as early as 2027.
This blossoming partnership has already paid dividends for both sides: the NBA has gained a deep-pocketed investor, while the UAE has found a willing partner to help further normalize its autocratic regime, especially now that it is facing accusations of inflaming genocide in Sudan.
For its part, the NBA says it is following advice from the US government on its relationship with the UAE.
“Basketball has a century-long history in the Middle East, and our activities in the UAE – which include bringing live NBA games to fans in the region and teaching the fundamentals and values of the game to thousands of boys and girls annually – are consistent with our efforts to engage fans and aspiring players in more than 200 countries and territories around the world,” a league spokesperson told the Guardian. “We will continue to rely on US state department guidance everywhere we operate.”
Beneath its image of opulence and modernity, the UAE enforces silence with an iron fist. Dissidents and human rights advocates languish in prisons on arbitrary charges, punished for daring to oppose the state. The nation’s economic prosperity rests on the backs of migrant laborers, who make up 88% of the workforce and who toil with few rights and little recourse against abuse.
The UAE’s influence extends into bloodier terrain beyond its borders. A growing body of evidence links the Emirati government to Sudan’s RSF, the paramilitary faction behind many of the atrocities and crimes against humanity being committed in Sudan.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, when tensions between the Sudanese military (SAF), under army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF paramilitary group, led by his former deputy chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, plunged the country into a state of all out war. Urban centers such as the capital Khartoum were transformed into battlefields, destroying critical infrastructure and creating the world’s largest displacement crisis.
As the civil war approaches its third year, death toll estimates vary widely. The United Nations and other aid agencies have recorded 20,000 confirmed deaths. A more recent report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group claimed that more than 61,000 people have died in Khartoum state,26,000 as a direct result of the violence. Meanwhile, former US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello claimed last year that up to 150,000 people had been killed.
The civil war has also been marked by horrific atrocities such as sexual violence, torture, mutilation and ethnic cleansing. This was further underscored when the Sudanese military’s last remaining stronghold in Darfur fell to the RSF recently. The militia embarked on a mass killing spree so severe that images of the blood saturating the ground could be seen from space.
Since the start of the conflict, the Emirates have helped fund and arm the paramilitary group, effectively sponsoring the group’s war crimes and atrocities. Sudan’s military government even brought a case to the International Court of Justice accusing the UAE of genocidal complicity in West Darfur. Despite substantial evidence to the contrary, the UAE continues to deny any role in the conflict, carrying on as though business were proceeding as usual.
In the past few months, the UAE has staged the Asia Cup in cricket, NBA preseason matchups, a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, and Formula 1’s year-end race, which featured a performance by Katy Perry. Next come the Abu Dhabi HSBC golf championship and a major padel tournament. Outside of Grammy-award winning rapper Macklemore, who canceled his Dubai concert in protest last year, no other entity attempted to distance itself from the controversial Gulf state.
The UAE has reaped enormous benefits from the sports world’s apathy. Abu Dhabi’s investment in Manchester City FC was a masterstroke, recasting the Al Nahyan ruling family as savvy investors rather than ruthless autocrats. Its stake in cricket carries a diplomatic edge, given the sport’s popularity across South and Southeast Asia, the same regions that supply much of the UAE’s migrant labor force. Meanwhile, investments in artificial wave pools, tennis and motorsports have broadened its growing sports tourism strategy.
And yet, the ongoing massacre in Darfur seems to have garnered some rare bad publicity for the UAE. Some Manchester City fans have even condemned their owner for “his country’s role in the Sudan conflict, where civilians continue to suffer.”
The silence around the NBA’s new partnership with the UAE is concerning. One of the few to call out the NBA for normalizing the UAE’s role in Sudan is Refugees International, an NGO that advocates for the rights of displaced people. “The Emirates NBA Cup COULD bring out the best in everyone. Instead, it’s being used to sportswash atrocities fueled + funded by the UAE in Sudan,” read the tweet. “The NBA shouldn’t let itself be a pawn in the UAE’s normalization of famine + genocide.”
Nevertheless, sports teams and organizations rarely sever lucrative partnerships without resistance. At FC Bayern Munich’s annual general assembly last week, lawyer and activist Michael Ott, who previously led a successful campaign to end Bayern’s sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways, was heckled by attendees after raising concerns about the club’s new agreement with the UAE’s Emirates Airlines.
Ott accused Bayern of “buttressing the image of sketchy political regimes that contradict our values” and warned that the deal with Emirates risked causing “lasting damage to the reputation of our club”. For his remarks, he was openly mocked by board chairman and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen.
Despite ending previous sponsorship agreements with Qatar and Rwanda, the fact that Bayern Munich’s leadership refused to budge on its ties to the UAE further emphasizes how effective the Gulf state’s brand management and public relations strategies have been.
Don’t expect the NBA, which also maintains partnership with other autocrats like Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, is unlikely to speak out about the UAE’s human rights record … but imagine if they did. Imagine if genocide, war crimes and entrenched authoritarianism were red lines for global sports.
Karim Zidan writes a regular newsletter on the intersection of sports and authoritarian politics. He is also the Sports & Dictators fellow at the Human Rights Foundation.
DALLAS (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to go with 14 rebounds and three blocks, and Cooper Flagg had 22 points and eight assists as the Dallas Mavericks rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 119-111 on Friday night.
The Mavericks (10-16) have won five of their last six games and two straight at home for the first time this season. Naji Marshall scored 17 points.
Michael Porter Jr. had 34 to lead the Nets (6-18), who had won three of four following a 3-16 start. Porter has scored at least 30 points in four consecutive games for the first time in his seven-year NBA career.
Brooklyn rookie Danny Wolf added 17 points, 12 in the second half. Nic Claxton had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mavericks outscored the Nets 66-44 in the paint despite Davis playing center instead of power forward with Dallas missing pivotmen Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford because of injuries.
The Nets shot a season-best 43.6% from behind the arc, hitting 17 of 39. Porter was 6 of 10 on 3-pointers.
The Mavericks outscored the Nets 29-19 in the fourth quarter, with Brooklyn shooting 28.6% in the period — including 2 of 9 from 3-point distance. With the score tied at 110 with three minutes left, Dallas’ Brandon Williams hit a second-chance 3 following Flagg’s rebound, and Davis followed with a floater following a turnover by Porter.
It was the Mavericks’ first game since Wednesday’s announcement that the oft-injured Lively will miss the remainder of the season following foot surgery. Gafford missed his third consecutive game because of a right ankle injury.
Curry had a famous from-the-tunnel pregame tradition at Oracle Arena — which was essentially a very long baseline extended shot — but with the move to the Chase Center, Curry had to adapt the shot, which is now longer than the length of the court. Which is not out of his range, apparently.
Curry returned to the court Friday night against Minnesota after missing five games with a quad contusion. He is averaging 27.9 points and shooting 39.1% from 3-point range this season, and the 13-12 Warriors will need more of that in the coming weeks as the team tries to find a groove and climb up from eighth in the West.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, scoring against Mavericks guard Brandon Williams during a recent game, is out at least a week because of a strained left calf. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Lakers star Austin Reaves has been diagnosed with a mild left calf strain and will be re-evaluated in approximately one week, the team said after practice Friday.
The guard is averaging 27.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists and has led the Lakers in total minutes played this season as the team weathered stretches without stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
Reaves responded with a career start. He is ninth in the NBA in scoring and could be on track to earn his first All-Star nod as he enters a critical contract decision this offseason.
Reaves will at least miss Sunday's game against the Phoenix Suns, a road game at Utah on Dec. 18 and a game at the Clippers on Dec. 20.
After another road game against the Suns on Dec. 23, the Lakers begin a stretch of five consecutive home games, starting with a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets.
Everything you need to know about how Austin Reaves' season is going happened on the last play of the game in Toronto just over a week ago when the Lakers faced the Raptors. With Luka Doncic out and the game tied with under 10 seconds to go, coach J.J. Redick put the ball in the hands of Austin Reaves and asked him to create a shot. The Raptors chose to double Reaves — and double off LeBron James, one of the greatest playmakers the game has ever seen. Reaves got the ball to LeBron, who drove to the nail, then kicked it out to the corner to a wide-open Rui Hachimura, and the Lakers got the win.
That is the trust the Lakers have in Reaves and the respect other teams have for him, and why he will be missed for the next few games as he is out with a mild calf strain, the team announced Friday. Reaves will be re-evaluated in one week and will miss at least two games (on the road at Phoenix and Utah).
Reaves has made a huge leap this season and established himself as the true No. 2 option for the Lakers next to Doncic, and a guy who can run the offense on nights Doncic is not on the court. Reaves is playing at an All-Star level and averaging 27.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds a game, while shooting 36.9% from 3-point range.
"There's a there's a cadence right now to his game," Redick said recently of Reaves. "He's got a great understanding of when he has a good matchup. He's got a great understanding of how to play with Luka [Doncic]. And so the flow state that every athlete kind of searches for. He's just in that right now."
Reaves is also a free agent next summer and is widely expected to re-sign with the Lakers, but it's going to cost the team — Reaves is on a steal of a deal at $14.9 million this season and that salary is going to more than double next season.
Expect Gabe Vincent to get the start in Reaves' absence and Marcus Smart will get more run, while more playmaking duties will fall to LeBron.
Curry played his first game in 16 days after missing the Warriors’ previous five because of a left quad contusion. He played 32 minutes and scored a game-high 39 points, including 23 in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter. The result still was a Warriors loss, falling 127-120 against a Timberwolves team that was without its own superstar in Anthony Edwards.
The loss dropped the Warriors back to .500 again with a 13-13 record this season. Curry has now scored 30-plus points in eight games this season, and the Warriors also are a .500 team when he does so, going 4-4 thus far.
“I mean, he was Steph,” Quinten Post said after the loss. “He really got going in that second half, and then as a team it sucks that we couldn’t help him to a win.”
A healed Curry was back on the court after watching the final two games of the Warriors’ previous homestand from the bench and then staying back during their three-game road trip to rehab at the team facilities. But he apparently lost his starting spot at point guard.
Of course, that’s only semi-true and semi-sarcastic.
Curry started in his first game since Nov. 26, though he had a new backcourt mate. Curry previously had started alongside Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody as the Warriors’ two guards in a season that has seen little semblance and consistency in the first five on the floor. Steve Kerr, on Friday night, opted to go with the hot hand next to Curry.
What’s the perfect complement to a Splash Brother? Perhaps a legendary Lax Bro who has become a Warriors fan-favorite. Pat Spencer started his third straight game to follow his head-turning road trip. Improvements as a shooter and the willingness to shoot behind the 3-point line made Kerr comfortable starting two smaller guards together.
“Yeah, it’s a big deal. It’s the biggest thing,” Kerr said in his pregame press conference. “If he’s willing to take the shot, then it sets up the rest of his game and sets up our game. We want to get good shots, we want to get open threes so we can crash. We want the ball to move. For five-out spacing you’ve got to have a number of guys who can knock down that shot. Pat has proven that this year. It has changed him.”
The Warriors led 19-18 when Kerr first subbed Spencer out in the first quarter and broke up his new backcourt. Curry (10 points) and Spencer (five points) had combined for 15 of the Warriors’ first 19 points. The two of them were 3 of 6 from 3-point range in the first quarter while the rest of the Warriors missed all six of their threes. By halftime with the Warriors having a two-point lead, Curry was up to 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Spencer was at nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
“It’s reminiscent for me, like Jarrett Jack back in the day,” Curry said. “A guy that can just handle the ball. I was off the ball a lot in the first quarter, and on purpose with full confidence he can initiate the offense. I can get some off-ball actions and he knows how to move the ball. Yeah, it was different.
“Obviously we hadn’t played much this year, but anybody with high IQ I can play next to.”
Spencer struggled in the second half. He was a minus-19 in a little under 13 minutes, scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting. De’Anthony Melton was the closing guard next to Curry, a pairing Kerr envisions using often at the end of games.
“I think Melt will be in our closing lineup quite a bit this year,” Kerr said.
The Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a three-point lead and then found themselves in a 12-point hole with under six minutes remaining from a 17-0 Timberwolves run. A furious comeback put the Warriors back up by three, 117-114 at the 1:58 mark, only for the Timberwolves to reel off an 11-1 run to put the game away.
In a game where the Timberwolves didn’t have Edwards, they still had three players score at least 20 points. Curry was the only Warrior to reach the mark. Another two Timberwolves scored at least 17 points. The Warriors’ second-leading scorer, Quinten Post, wound up with 16.
Jonathan Kuminga was a healthy DNP for the second straight game after averaging 24 points against the Timberwolves without Curry in the final four games of the second round of the playoffs last season.
The scoring discrepancy was so bad that Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert scored 12 points in the fourth quarter while Warriors not named Curry scored 15.
“Just a tough way to end,” Curry said of the fourth quarter.
On a night where Curry continued to defy age and had his 94th career game of 35-plus points since turning 30 years old to pass Michael Jordan for the most all time, the Warriors still couldn’t earn a win to maintain the momentum they created on the road. The Warriors now have lost five games where the opposition has been without their star player, and Curry played in each one.
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent says the team's defensive woes are a matter of "urgency" and doing "all the little things" necessary to be successful. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The film tells the truth. The Lakers are not a good defensive team, evidenced by the sight of the NBA’s top guards blowing past Lakers defenders into the paint during a 10-game defensive swoon that ranks among the league’s worst.
Yet when coach JJ Redick shows his team the tape and then backs it up with the numbers, there’s still cautious optimism that the Lakers can improve.
“I don't think there's anybody in that meeting room that thinks we're a good defensive team right now,” Redick said, “but I also don't think there's anybody in that meeting room who thinks we can't be a good defensive team. We've got to get better.”
In the 10 games since LeBron James returned to the lineup, the Lakers have scored 121.8 points per 100 possessions, a significant increase in their offensive rating of 115.4 during the first 14 games of the season. While their offensive rating ranks fifth in the league during the last 10 games, their 120.9 defensive rating ranks 27th. It’s a dramatic increase from their previous 113.7-point defensive rating.
The most glaring issues are the team’s defense in transition and early in the opponent's offense, Redick said. The Lakers give up 1.19 points per possession in transition, fifth-worst in the league.
Sunday’s game in Phoenix against the Suns, who scored 28 fast-break points against the Lakers on Dec. 1, will be a significant test as the Lakers (17-7) try to avoid their first losing streak this season.
Led by Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves — who is out for at least a week because of a left calf strain, the team announced Friday — and the 40-year-old James, the Lakers are not destined to be a fast team on either side of the court. They were outmatched against San Antonio’s dynamic backcourt led by the speedy De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, who combined for 50 points Wednesday as the Spurs scored 27 fast-break points and knocked the Lakers out of NBA Cup contention.
Losses like that exposed the Lakers’ lack of speed on the perimeter, but the team also has shown flashes of excellence against the best guards. The Lakers held 76ers star Tyrese Maxey to five points on two-for-six shooting in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ four-point win at Philadelphia on Dec. 7.
“It’s less of scheme stuff. A little more of urgency,” guard Gabe Vincent said. “A little more of doing all the little things. If you don’t do them, like I said, there are some great players in this league that will expose you.”
One of the team’s top defensive options is on the bench. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt has played only three minutes in the last 10 games. He entered the game against Philadelphia only after Jake LaRavia took a shot to the face that loosened a tooth.
Vanderbilt, an athletic forward, has been a consistent force on defense during his career but struggles to contribute on offense. While he impressed coaches with how hard he worked in the offseason to improve his shooting and ballhandling, Vanderbilt made only four of 14 three-point shots in the first 14 games. He averaged 5.6 rebounds per game before James returned to the lineup Nov. 18, pushing Vanderbilt to the bench.
Before the Lakers’ last game against the Suns, Redick said part of it was a numbers game with James’ return and felt the team would settle on a nine-man rotation. Vanderbilt had tasks he “needed to be able to do consistently to play” even before James returned, Redick said.
Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox, scoring against Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and teammates continually drove past their defenders during an NBA Cup game Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
But making changes at that time was difficult, the coach acknowledged. The Lakers were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. But they're 2-3 in the last five games, which have laid their defensive struggles bare, and coaches are “looking at everything.”
“If this continues,” Redick said Friday, “he'll definitely get his opportunities."
After practice Friday, Vanderbilt stayed on the court shooting extra three-pointers with staff members.
Meanwhile, Reaves will be reevaluated in approximately one week, the Lakers said after practice.
The guard averaging 27.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds has led the Lakers in total minutes played as the team weathered stretches without James and Doncic. Reaves responded with a career-best start. He is ninth in the NBA in scoring and could be on track to earn his first All-Star nod as he enters a critical contract decision this offseason.
Reaves will miss at least Sunday's game at Phoenix, Thursday's game at Utah and a Dec. 20 game at the Clippers. After another game at Phoenix on Dec. 23, the Lakers begin a stretch of five consecutive home games, starting with a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets.
Etc.
The Lakers assigned guard Bronny James to the G League on Friday.
SAN FRANCISCO – Missing their best defender and their 258-pound center, the results were fairly predictable for the Warriors as they squared off against the team that knocked them out of the NBA playoffs last season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who also were shorthanded and without their best overall player in Anthony Edwards, stormed into Chase Center and dealt Golden State a 127-120 loss to ruin Stephen Curry’s return to the lineup after a five-game absence.
While Edwards was nursing a sore foot, the rest of the Wolves were busy feasting on the Warriors, using their blend of size and strength to completely dominate Golden State in the paint while maintaining a steady and effective presence in the paint.
That wasn’t a complete surprise considering Golden State was without Draymond Green and Al Horford. Green is a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, while Horford is a five-time All-Star who was selected to the 2017-18 All-Defensive Second Team.
The two have been very effective at clogging the middle for Golden State this season but neither suited up Friday, leaving the interior of the Warriors’ defense exposed.
Minnesota wisely took full advantage.
Wolves center Rudy Gobert went off for 24 points and 14 rebounds. Naz Reid came off the bench to back up Gobert and dropped a cool 18 points with seven assists.
“I thought our defense let us down tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We had several plays in transition in both halves where we lost sight of Naz Reid and a couple other shooters. I just thought our transition defense was poor.”
The Warriors somehow managed to make it close at the end but the breakdowns on defense eventually caught up to them.
Golden State had a 96-91 lead with 10 and a half minutes left before Reid got open for a 3-pointer. Gobert later scored three consecutive buckets on an alley-oop, a dunk and a tip-in while DiVincenzo sank a pair of wide-open 3s in the final 108 seconds.
“(Gobert) made his presence felt, obviously driving lanes,” Stephen Curry said. “He was getting offensive rebounds. He was getting those little drop-down passes and everything at the rim. Draymond and Al understand how to make the impact, make their presence felt against him, but we didn’t have them. We had to figure out a way to get it done, but we just didn’t.”
Quentin Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis did a serviceable job for much of the game but neither was a match for Gobert, who had 12 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Overall, Minnesota held a 66-44 scoring advantage in the paint.
“They played with a lot of size on the floor, and they made it hard on us rebounding and playing without fouling,” said Post, who had 16 points and six rebounds. “I thought we put them on the line way too much. It was a tough challenge for sure.”
SAN FRANCISCO – For a full three quarters Friday night, the Warriors gave themselves a chance to exploit a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that took the floor at Chase Center without star guard Anthony Edwards.
That quest expired in the fourth quarter, though, and the Warriors walked out of Chase Center with a 127-120 loss that vanquished their good vibes and returned them to a zone they would prefer to avoid. They’re back at .500, with a 13-13 record.
The loss spoiled a spectacular return by Stephen Curry, who poured in a game-high 39 points – 14 of which came in the fourth quarter. Quinten Post finished with 16 points, Jimmy Butler III had 15, Pat Spencer 12 and Moses Moody 11.
The teams stayed within six points of each other until Minnesota rallied late, taking a double-digit lead and holding on.
Here are three observations from a second consecutive game in which Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, though healthy, never left the bench:
The Return of Steph
After missing five games over two weeks with what he described as a left quad contusion and muscle strain, Curry’s return was the subject of considerable curiosity. It was natural to wonder how good he would be.
Quite good, in fact.
Curry put Golden State on the scoreboard with a floater 44 seconds after tipoff, and followed up with back-to-back triples to score eight of the Warriors’ first 12 points.
He tested his agility several times, most notably with a dribbling exhibition during a shuttle drill that led to a circus layup that somehow found its way through the elongated arms of 6-foot-9 Jaden McDaniels.
Curry’s 39 points come on 14-of-28 shooting from the field, including 6-of-15 from deep. He added five assists and five rebounds over 32 minutes.
The franchise player seems to be OK, much to the delight of the Warriors.
Fourth quarter non-Steph minutes were painful and costly
The Warriors opened the fourth quarter with a 91-88 lead and Curry in his usual spot, seated on the bench for the first few minutes.
After a Moses Moody bucket gave the Warriors a 96-91 lead with 10:34 left, the Timberwolves seized the moment, going on a 17-0 run, taking a 12-point lead (108-96) with 5:50 remaining.
With Curry observing, Minnesota outscored Golden State 14-5 to take a lead and generate enough momentum that never quite went away. The Warriors rallied behind Curry – who scored 14 points in the quarter – and even took a 115-114 lead on a Curry triple with 2:09 remaining. A Moody layup off a turnover pushed the margin to three with 1:58 to go.
The Warriors scored only three points down the stretch, while the Timberwolves piled up 13 over the final 1:48, with Donte DiVincenzo dropping in a pair of devastating 3-pointers.
The Warriors were outscored by 10 in the quarter but by one (25-24) after Curry reentered.
Size matters . . . kind of
The Warriors’ lack of size – they are the shortest team in the league – sometimes is a defensive liability, and such was the case on this night.
With Edwards sidelined with right foot soreness, the Timberwolves turned their offense over to the big boys up front: Starters Rudy Gobert (7-foot-1), Julius Randle (6-foot-9) and McDaniels, along with 6-foot-9 Sixth Man Naz Reid. For context, 6-foot-5 Moody spent most of his 23 minutes at power forward.
That foursome represented Minnesota’s top four scorers, as they combined for 86 points and were responsible for the Timberwolves’ whopping 66-44 advantage in points in the paint. Randle finished with 27 points, Gobert with 24, Reid with 18 and McDaniels with 17.
It wasn’t that the Warriors lacked effort. Oh, they tried, as indicated by the tenacity on display to come away finished only minus-2 (44-42) in rebounding.
It wasn’t at all easy, but the Sixers moved to 1-0 this season without Tyrese Maxey on Friday night.
They earned a 115-105 win over the Pacers at Xfinity Mobile Arena with Maxey out because of an illness and now sit at 14-10 overall. Indiana fell to 6-19.
Joel Embiid starred with a season-best 39 points, nine rebounds and three assists. He played a season-high 32 minutes.
VJ Edgecombe posted his fourth 20-point game in the NBA, tallying 22 points, five assists and four rebounds. Paul George had 23 points, six boards and five assists.
Pascal Siakam (20 points) and Andrew Nembhard (18 points) were the Pacers’ top scorers.
In addition to Maxey, the Sixers were down Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain), Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) and Hunter Sallis (right shoulder sprain).
The Sixers will visit the Hawks on Sunday night. Here are observations on their win over the Pacers:
Edgecombe steps up at the start
The Sixers used a starting lineup of Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, George, Dominick Barlow and Embiid. Grimes’ start was his fifth of the season.
George hit a mid-range jumper on the Sixers’ first possession and chipped in eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, three rebounds and two assists in his opening stint. Edgecombe and George began the night as the Sixers’ primary ball handlers.
Edgecombe had a very strong, attack-minded start.
He canned an early pull-up jumper, slammed in a fast-break dunk, and buried a corner three-pointer to give the Sixers a 19-10 lead. The rookie continued playing sharp, decisive basketball and doing damage as a downhill driver. He stayed on the floor the whole first quarter and racked up 14 points in the period on only six field goal attempts.
Embiid breaks out of shooting slump
The Sixers played Edgecombe and four bench players for the final few minutes of the first quarter.
On the Indiana side, T.J. McConnell ran the second-unit show and caused tons of problems for his former team. He reached 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting with a three early in the second quarter. McConnell then took a charge on Jabari Walker and Jay Huff followed with at triple that pulled the Pacers ahead.
Momentum shifted back toward the Sixers after Embiid checked back in. Embiid, who was coming off of a 4-for-21 shooting game in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, amped up his aggression in the second quarter and found a scoring rhythm against Pacers big man Jay Huff. He worked for post position, sank mid-range jumpers and drew regular free throws.
Embiid also snapped a prolonged long-range dry spell. He’d gone 0 for 14 for three-point territory over his last three games and missed his first three attempts Friday. Finally, with 1.6 seconds left in the second quarter, Embiid brought the ball forward and swished a three to send the Sixers into halftime with a 63-58 edge.
Sixers shake off more 3rd-quarter trouble
Embiid didn’t stop shooting open jumpers. Threes from Embiid and Grimes pushed the Sixers’ lead to double digits early in the third quarter.
When the Pacers moved to a zone defense, the Sixers fed Embiid often in the high post. His decision-making wasn’t flawless, but he kept producing and making frequent trips to the foul line. Embiid shot a season-high 18 free throws and made 13.
Yet again, the Sixers couldn’t manage a smooth third quarter and the Pacers put together a run.
Isaiah Jackson stripped the ball from Embiid on the perimeter and then drew a loose-ball foul on him. Embiid subbed out and Jackson made his second foul shot to tie the game at 82-all. A few possessions later, Nembhard leaked out for a layup that pushed Indiana in front.
The Sixers didn’t have much offensive support for Embiid, Edgecombe and George.
Jared McCain had five points on 2-for-6 shooting in 14 minutes. Justin Edwards went 0 for 5 from the floor and played 19 scoreless minutes. The Sixers remained behind when Embiid came back for his final stint with a little over seven minutes to go.
The Sixers played good team defense down the stretch, limiting the Pacers’ clean looks and avoiding cheap fouls. Their stars came through, too.
Embiid scored a big put-back bucket, scrapping to grab a Grimes miss and converting an and-one layup that gave the Sixers a 108-102 lead. George made a driving lay-in with just under two minutes to play.
Embiid added one more mid-range hoop in the final minute and wound up exceeding his prior season best in scoring by 10 points.
