Category: NBA

The Jazz lose a sloppy game 135-119 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Svi kept it close in the 4th quarter for a while, but Portland proved to be too good, and cruised to a comfortable win.

Ace Bailey – B

Bailey had a ridiculous dunk tonight, where he faked a shot, lobbed it off the backboard to himself, and slammed it down. His athleticism just jumps off the screen every game, and he has the makings of a really really good player. His rebounding continues to impress, as he had 8 tonight. Unfortunately he did struggle from deep tonight, going 1/5, but he still finished with 15 points.

Cody Williams –C-

Yes Cody went 0/3 from deep tonight, and yes one of those misses was a horrible air ball, but he still found ways to contribute. He had two steals, and had a nice block as well. He continues to be a menace in passing lanes for opposing teams. His passing has also improved this year, as he had 3 assists tonight. Cody finished with 9 points going 4/9 from the field.

Isaiah Collier –B

Collier fouled out late into the fourth quarter, but we’ll give him a pass as he probably just wanted some rest since he has been playing so much while Keyonte is out. Collier plays at 100 miles per hour every night. He hit some tough mid-range jumpers, to finish with 15 points while dishing out 9 assists, and notching 3 steals. He also shot a team high 12 free throws. Defenders just can’t keep up with him in transition, and have to foul him to stop him from scoring.

Brice Sensabaugh –A–

Brice lead the team in scoring tonight with 28. Simply put he’s a walking bucket and should serve this team really well coming off the bench next season.

Kyle Filipowski –B+

Whatever Clingan said or did to Flip tonight unlocked something in him, as I don’t think I’ve seen Kyle this aggressive since Summer League. He rebounded well tonight, grabbing 9, and had a team high 6 steals. Hopefully we can see more of this version of Filipowski going forward.

John Konchar –C

Konchar continues to struggle from deep, as he has not hit a three for the Jazz yet. He didn’t shoot particularly well from the field either tonight. But he made up for it with his hustle on defense, and his rebounding. He had 3 steals and 7 rebounds tonight. He is definitely a depth piece worth keeping going into next season.

Oscar Tshiebwe –Incomplete

We were robbed of watching an Oscar Tshiebwe masterclass tonight, as he was ruled out at halftime with a possible concussion. He may have only played 5 minutes, but he did have some impressive passes, logging 3 assists, and grabbing one board.

Vince Williams Jr. –A

Vince got ejected in the second quarter of this game after arguing a call, and tossing the ref the ball too aggressively. He reminds me a lot of Jae Crowder, high intensity, high effort player. He only logged 7 minutes in this game, but they were certainly memorable. He would finish with 6 points and 3 rebounds.

Blake Hinson –B

Welcome to the NBA Blake Hinson! In his first action in an NBA game he logged a rebound an assist and 11 points. He looked like he belonged out there, and he might prove to be a piece the Jazz, (or another team) may want to keep around.

SviMykhailiuk –A+

Long time no Svi! This marked his first action since February 5th against the Hawks. He had a clutch steal and bucket to cut the lead to 6 in the fourth quarter. His monster 4th quarter would continue as he went 4/5 from deep and gave the Jazz life for a second there. He would score all his 14 points in the 4th while adding 3 assists.

Adam Silver – F-

Good commissioner Silver fined the Jazz $500,000 dollars for the “management of their roster” in recent games. I must have missed the news that he was apart of the Jazz’s coaching staff. Maybe if the Jazz had announced that they would rest their two best players for the rest of the season, (like a certain other team) we could’ve avoided the fine! Oh well, maybe the extra half million will help Commissioner Silver make the All-Star game watchable this year.

Adam Silver fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 today for decisions prioritizing draft position over winning.

The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/0JFQpOnOmF

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 13, 2026

Adam Silver’s full statement states, “Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition, and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games.”

It’s interesting that Silver decides to punish the Jazz for $500k, considering he didn’t fine the Toronto Raptors last season for doing the same things.

Here's my tanking/quiet-quitting story from last March: https://t.co/A0JOvo1iwcpic.twitter.com/kFwuhG8fT4

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 13, 2026

But Adam Silver hasn’t made a good decision for the on-court product in a long time. Everything makes the game worse, and there’s no consistency with anything he does. Utah has entered the rebuild, dealing with Silver’s latest idiotic change, flattening the lottery odds. All it did was increase the number of tanking teams and keep the bad teams from having any shot at improving.

Now it looks like the worst commissioner in sports has another way of removing hope from the bottom of the league. He wants to have some sort of tournament to play for draft position.

DEVELOPING: The NBA is discussing creating a tournament among lottery teams to determine draft order in order to stop tanking.

(via @ShamsCharania, h/t @flasportsbuzz)

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 13, 2026

Oh great, just another way that the worst teams in the league will have no shot of beating the teams at or near the playoffs. And you can just count on one of these borderline play-in teams taking advantage of the opportunity.

The reality is that going to the former odds mostly fixes the problem. Would it be perfect? No. But it would improve on the current situation and go back to having fewer teams tanking at the end of the season again. The reality is, getting a top player in the draft is one of the only ways to build a team. If you don’t have that possibility, there’s little to no chance of ever improving.

After the news broke, Ryan Smith, owner of the Jazz, had some strong comments on Twitter.

🙄 agree to disagree … Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense … https://t.co/sHQrggB2Xa

— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) February 13, 2026

That’s the funniest part of this, that Utah won one of the two games this was all stemming from. Ryan Smith is completely right. He’s also right to call out Bobby Marks and his faux outrage at the integrity of the game being “compromised.”

Hey Bobby… maybe sit this one out. You have no clue what paying this is like and your amnesia this week is comical. https://t.co/NTFHgaPr7F

— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) February 13, 2026

First thing to point out is the same use of the word “integrity.” Pretty clear that Adam Silver was pushing this line to all his media friends and outlets.

It’s a stupid decision from a bad commissioner who consistently handles things with incompetence. All Utah can do now is work within the rules Silver has set, which is apparently just making up injuries or flat-out shutting down players for the season.

The NBA announced that Ace Bailey will be added to the Rising Stars game over All-Star Weekend.

Jazz forward Ace Bailey will replace fellow rookie Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks on Team Melo in the 2026 Castrol Rising Stars (2/13, 9 PM ET, Peacock).

Flagg is out with a foot sprain.

Rising Stars: Friday, Feb. 13 | 9 PM ET | Peacock pic.twitter.com/785ptn5UMb

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 12, 2026

Bailey has been selected to replace Cooper Flagg who is out with a foot sprain. It’s a big honor for Bailey, who deserved a right to be on the team before the injury to Flagg.

For the season, Bailey is averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 44.9% frrom the field and 34.3% from three.

With Bailey’s addition to the team, he will be the sole representative from this Utah Jazz team. Things were going to be pretty quiet for Jazz fans this All-Star week (before Adam Silver decided to obsess over the Jazz tanking). Now, the young wing gets a chance to represent the team and show what he can do. Night after night, Bailey makes an exciting play that hints at a bright future. Now, the entire NBA gets to see it.

Welcome to February Daily Topics at Golden State of Mind. A question (almost) every day this month to give the community a prompt to talk about!

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The All-Star break is mercifully here. The Golden State Warriors limped to the break — both literally and figuratively — with a team in dire need of a rest and a reset. They’re in eighth place in the Western Conference and very comfortably in a play-in spot, but they’re just 4-7 since Jimmy Butler III suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Steph Curry hasn’t played in a while, and Kristaps Porziņģis has yet to play for the team following a deadline-deal trade.

So the All-Star break — and the week off from playing basketball — is certainly well timed for a Warriors squad that hopes to get Curry and Porziņģis back for Thursday’s return to action against the Boston Celtics.

In the meantime, we get non-Warriors basketball, in the form of the All-Star Game, and all the All-Star festivities.

The Warriors, however, won’t be partaking in the fun.

Golden State has no participants in Friday’s Castrol Rising Stars game, as neither Quinten Post nor Will Richard were selected for the annual rookie-sophomore showdown. Despite being the team that everyone associates with shooting (and for good reason), the Warriors won’t have a representative at Saturday’s State Farm 3-Point Contest, which features the surprising inclusion of Oakland’s own Damian Lillard. They also won’t have a player at the return of the Kia Shooting Stars competition, though former Warrior Corey Maggette will be coming out of retirement for the event. They won’t be included in Saturday’s concluding event, the AT&T Slam Dunk contest, though the mostly no-name field is highlighted, in my eyes at least, by Jace Richardson, the son of a Warriors legend.

And they won’t even have a player on Sunday, as Curry was selected to his 12th All-Star Game (as a starter, no less), but will miss the exhibition while he rehabs his runner’s knee and gears up for a stretch run.

So when it comes to Warriors this weekend, we’re stuck with memories and old highlights. Which got me thinking … what is your favorite Warriors All-Star weekend?

Mine is easy: watching the aforementioned father of Jace, Jason Richardson, who is, in my eyes, the most underrated dunker in basketball history. And what the hell, let’s relive those sensational contests.

Oh yeah. That’s the good stuff.

What are your favorite Warriors All-Star memories?

The NBA slammed the Jazz ($500,000) and Pacers ($100,000) with substantive fines, saying both teams sat healthy players in recent games in violation of the league’s player participation policy. 

Both teams are near the bottom of the league, and the decision comes after the Jazz were fined for a similar reason last season. 

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”

The NBA hit the Jazz with a fine due to instances on Feb. 7 and 9, against the Magic and Heat, respectively, when the league said Utah took out Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. before the start of the fourth quarter and did not have them play the rest of the night. 

The games, respectively, and the league said that “these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.”

Jazz owner Ryan Smith did not seem to agree with the NBA’s decision and took to social media to voice his opinion. 

“Agree to disagree … Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense,” Smith wrote. 

The Pacers’ fine stemmed from a Feb. 3 game, ironically, against the Jazz, when Pascal Siakam and two other Indiana starters “could have played under the medical standard in the Policy, including by playing reduced minutes. Alternatively, the team could have held the players out of other games in a way that would have better promoted compliance with the Policy.”

The fines were handed out just before the start of the All-Star break. 

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Cotie McMahon racked up 21 points and dished five assists as No. 14 Mississippi cruised by Arkansas 80-57 on Thursday night to reach 20 wins for the fifth straight season.

McMahon scored 20 or more points for the fourth straight game and has scored double figures in all but one outing this season.

The Rebels (20-5, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a 64-63 loss at then-No. 21 Alabama last Thursday to comfortably get back into the win column in their first home game in over a month.

Latasha Lattimore added 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, and Denim DeShields tacked on 12 points for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss took the lead for good just 2:25 into the first quarter on a Lattimore layup and built a double-digit lead before the end of the first frame. They kept the lead the rest of the way, with a 40-27 lead at the half stretching to 20 points after a 7-0 run to open the second half.

For the Razorbacks (11-15, 0-11), Taleyah Jones led in scoring with 16 points, and Bonnie Deas had 14 with eight rebounds. Arkansas struggled at 34% and 19% shooting from the field and beyond the arc, respectively.

Up next

Arkansas hosts Mississippi State on Monday.

Ole Miss plays at No. 18 Kentucky on Sunday.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Elroy Face, an All-Star reliever for the Pittsburgh Pirates who saved three games in the 1960 World Series to help them upset the New York Yankees, has died. He was 97.

In a news release Thursday, the Pirates announced they confirmed Face's death. Team historian Jim Trdinich said the club was contacted by Face's son, Elroy Jr., and informed the former pitcher died earlier in the day at an independent senior living facility outside Pittsburgh in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.

No cause of death was provided. Face was eight days shy of his 98th birthday.

“It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Pirates Hall of Famer Elroy Face, a beloved member of the Pirates family,” team chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement.

“Elroy was a pioneer of the modern relief pitcher — the ‘Baron of the Bullpen’ — and he played a critical role in our 1960 World Series championship."

Selected to six All-Star teams, Face went 104-95 with a 3.48 ERA in 16 major league seasons with Pittsburgh (1953-68), Detroit (1968) and Montreal (1969). He pitched in 848 games, starting only 27, and compiled 191 career saves — although saves didn't become an official statistic until 1969.

The 5-foot-8 right-hander holds the National League record for wins in relief with 96 and the major league mark for relief wins in one season after going 18-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 1959.

He topped the National League with 68 appearances and 61 games finished in 1960, when the underdog Pirates stunned Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and the mighty Yankees on Bill Mazeroski's famous home run that won Game 7 of the World Series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

Face made four relief appearances in the Series, posting a 5.23 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. He closed out Pirates wins in Games 1, 4 and 5.

Inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2023, he is the club's career leader in appearances with 802. And the team noted that if saves had been an official stat before 1969, he also would hold that franchise record with 188.

Face was born in Stephentown, New York, on Feb. 20, 1928. He is survived by his three children, Michelle, Valerie and Elroy Jr., and his sister Jacqueline, the Pirates said.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

The Milwaukee Bucks just keep on surprising, beating the (admittedly bruised) Oklahoma City Thunder 110-93. Ousmane Dieng led the Bucks with 19 points, six assists, 11 rebounds, and four blocks! That said, Milwaukee had seven guys reach double digits, which is amazing. Isaiah Joe was probably the Thunder’s best player, dropping 17 points. Also, a big shoutout to Nikola Topic, who played his first NBA game tonight after undergoing treatment for testicular cancer. Salute.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

The Bucks were able to keep the Thunder at arm’s distance throughout the opening quarter, with AJ Green and Kevin Porter Jr. scoring 12 of Milwaukee’s first 16 points. With both SGA and Jalen Williams out, the Thunder stayed in it through the three-ball, with their first nine points coming from deep; Isaiah Joe was spectacular early for OKC, scoring 11 of their first 20. The Bucks built a small edge to close the quarter, highlighted by an Andre Jackson Jr. put-back slam from the clouds, leading 30-25 after one.

Milwaukee extended its lead to open the second, clearly identifying that the newly acquired Jared McCain could not guard AJ Green, who knocked some threes down in quick succession. However, two big triples from Alex Caruso kept the Thunder close initially, with him later hitting another to cap an 8-0 run and tie the game at 40, four minutes in. The Bucks, however, would respond in a major way, going on an extended 20-4 run! How? Well, the visitors ran a great offence and took advantage of the smaller Thunder lineup, which allowed them to set their defence and force OKC to play in the half-court. The Thunder got some stops to close the half, reducing the deficit to 12, Bucks up 67-55.

Scoring slowed significantly for both teams for most of the third. It was a brick-fest until the final few minutes of the period. The Thunder were getting by on Lue Dort self-created buckets, which never seemed very sustainable, while it was a lot of KPJ and Cam Thomas for the Bucks. Milwaukee’s lead remained at around 10 for most of the quarter, but it was later in the third when some exciting stuff started to happen. Ousmane Dieng nailed a step-back triple, followed by a mid-range jumper off the empty-side pick-and-roll, followed by a Connaughton-esque no-dip three. The Ous’ is loose! This was the run that allowed the Bucks to grab a major edge heading into the fourth, up 89-73.

Believe it or not, the Bucks delivered the knockout blow in the opening 1:29 of the final frame, with AJ Green cashing his fifth triple of the night, followed by Pete Nance knocking his third to put the visitors up 22! OKC would make a few shots to get it down to the 16-point mark, but the Bucks had an answer at every turn (and it truly was a bunch of different contributors). What really stood out is the way Milwaukee was moving the ball; I haven’t seen them cause rotation after rotation like that in a long time. What a game; what a win.

Stat That Stood Out

I mean, Dieng’s four blocks stand out to me. If he can become a true plus on defence… man, that trade could be a steal. Not counting my chickens before they hatch, but it’s exciting.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topić made his NBA debut against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, four months after he was diagnosed with cancer.

The 6-foot-6 Serbian had been unavailable after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in October and undergoing chemotherapy.

He received a standing ovation from the home crowd at Paycom Center after checking into the game with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

Topić was the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Thunder. He played in just one preseason game before having surgery and undergoing chemotherapy.

The amazing story of Nikola Topić.

He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October last year.

Now, four months later, he receives a standing ovation as he makes his NBA debut. pic.twitter.com/qmM1KRv9GK

— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) February 13, 2026

Topić went 1-for-3 from the field, scoring his first official NBA points, in 12 minutes. He also had a rebound and an assist.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikola Topic makes NBA debut months after cancer diagnosis

There are moments in Los Angeles when basketball feels less like a game and more like a living, breathing fraternity. Wednesday night was one of them.

Luka Dončić hosted his “77x.world” event in L.A., a sleek celebration of his growing global brand, stitched together with fashion, hoops culture and that unmistakable No. 77 swagger. 

Fans were given a meet and greet, the room was full of influencers and executives and then a couple familiar faces walked in. 

First it was Dončić’s old teammate with the Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki. 

The first 7-footer to win the NBA Three-point contest crown came to show his support for the Slovenian star. When Dončić spotted him, his smile said everything. The mentor showing up, unprompted, because that’s what legends do.

SHUTT UP SHUTUP dirk went to luka's heartbreak factory event to support him !!!pic.twitter.com/hoLNihW2ZX

— lex (@lukalexicon) February 12, 2026

Nowitzki has always played the long game with Luka — part big brother, part wisecracking uncle. After the Lakers beat the Mavericks back in November. Dirk famously teased that Luka wasn’t “good enough” for the postgame interview because Austin Reaves had just dropped 38. The joke landed because the bond is real. It’s layered in trust, in banners, in shared history.

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And speaking of Reaves, he was there too!  Dončić’s current co-star was spotted earlier in the evening at a South Bay Lakers game, but he also came to Luka’s factory to support his teammate. Reaves and  Dončić like to needle each other, hijack interviews, and toss around the word “friend” like it’s a secret handshake.

Austin Reaves showed up to support Luka Doncic at his https://t.co/NpL1S5WXPZ event pic.twitter.com/m7fpT6Dh5K

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) February 12, 2026

One thing is for a certain. On Wednesday night in Los Angeles, the NBA brotherhood was on full display.

The Dallas Mavericks (19-34) head further West, this time to play the Los Angeles Lakers (32-21). The Mavericks have lost eight in a row, a streak that started by a loss to these Los Angeles Lakers a few weeks back. Dallas fell most recently to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. Los Angeles is looking to avoid a three-game skid of their own, as they’ve lost games most recently to the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

Here’s the main things you need to know before tipoff.

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers
• WHAT: Road trippin’, still
• WHERE: crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
• WHEN: 9:00 pm CST
• HOW: Amazon Prime

The injury report is bad again for the Dallas Mavericks. Cooper Flagg is the headliner, missing this game with a foot sprain. Tim MacMahon reported that while Flagg will be out for the All Star break, Dallas expects him to return to play when games resume on February 20th. The Dallas two-way guys are all unlikely to play as well; they’re all listed as doubtful. Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin are each listed as questionable with nagging injuries. On the Laker side of things, Luka Doncic and Deandre Ayton will miss this contest. Otherwise it’s a clean injury report.

With both Cooper Flagg and Luka Doncic out, this game probably becomes unwatchable for most Mavericks fans given the late start time. I do not blame them, but as I run a Mavs website, I try to watch all games.

Keeping a lid on Austin Reaves is the challenge for the Mavericks tonight and it will not be remotely easy. He and LeBron James have good chemistry, so Dallas is going to have to be connected on defense for any of this to really matter. I think they have a chance though, so we’ll see. Naji Marshall missing the game would flip that prediction though.

Be sure to chime in with your predictions in the comments!

Consider joining Josh and me on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start LATE. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!

Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA sent a forceful message on Thursday about tanking, hitting the Utah Jazz with a $500,000 fine and handing the Indiana Pacers a $100,000 fine for recent game management and roster decisions, the league announced.

Utah's fine was related to a Feb. 7 game against the Orlando Magic and Feb. 9 game against the Miami Heat.

"During those games, the Jazz removed two of the team's top players, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., before the beginning of the fourth quarter and did not return them to the game, even though these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt," the NBA said.

Utah entered the fourth quarter of its Feb. 7 game with a 94-87 lead but scored just 23 points in the final frame and lost 120-117. It won the game against Miami, 115-111, and won Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings to move to 18-37 on the season, third-worst in the West.

The Pacers, the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference at 15-40, were found to be in violation of the Player Participation Policy for a Feb. 3 game against the Jazz, per the league statement.

"Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that Pascal Siakam, a star player under the Policy, and two other Pacers starters, neither of whom participated in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the Policy, including by playing reduced minutes. Alternatively, the team could have held the players out of other games in a way that would have better promoted compliance with the Policy," the NBA said.

The Pacers lost that game to the Jazz, 131-122.

The league's statement on the fines was capped by a strong message directly from Silver.

"Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games," Silver said. "Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA tanking statement made with fines for Jazz, Pacers