WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 28: Jamal Shead #23 of the Toronto Raptors plays defense during the game against the Washington Wizards on February 28, 2026 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Washington Wizards returned home on Saturday for a contest against the Toronto Raptors. Washington led by three at halftime but succumbed to Toronto’s second-half surge in its 134-125 loss.
Washington made five of its first eight 3-pointers to begin the game and shot 7-13 from deep in the opening quarter. Jamir Watkins, who didn’t play in the Wizards’ 126-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, made his first two triples, as did Jaden Hardy, who bounced back after a 5-for-19 shooting display in his last showing.
Bilal Coulibaly starred in the first half, tallying 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, all of which were team highs at the time. The Raptors trimmed Washington’s 13-point advantage to just three at halftime, with the score 64-61 entering the second half.
Kyshawn George continued his perfect shooting by knocking down a 34-foot three before dunking through contact on the ensuing offensive possession to give him 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting. But George missed his next two shots, and as he cooled off, so did the Wizards.
Will Riley made some nifty passes in the third quarter to pull Washington back, but Toronto’s improved effort gave it a 98-92 lead entering the final frame.
The Wizards rested four of their five starters — George, Coulibaly, Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson — for the entire fourth quarter as the Raptors pulled away. Johnson (ankle sprain) and George (knee contusion) were on minutes restrictions, coach Brian Keefe said pregame.
Washington competed for four quarters for the first time in four games, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Raptors, 134-125. Riley scored a team-high 19 points on 6-10 FG.
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts against the Houston Rockets during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Signs of life against another Florida team might have been premature. The Rockets were largely outsmarted today by the Heat. You might say Miami nightlife is undefeated, and that playing at 3:30 in the afternoon was never going to work out well for the young Rockets, but there might have been a little more on display today than that. Or a lot less.
What I mean by that is, over the Rockets past 20 games, roughly 1/4 of an NBA season, and 1/3 of the games they’ve played so far, the team has an NBA average number of points or above, about 114 points, exactly five times. One was an overtime game they lost to the 76ers. But let’s count it. That means the Rockets did not reach NBA average scoring in 75% of those games. The other teams against whom they exceeded average, just average, scoring: Indiana, New Orleans, Utah and Sacramento. Those are all terrible teams, two are tanking deliberately and those teams have managed 65 combined wins this season, with none of them above 18.
Looked at another way, the Rockets have managed to break NBA average scoring exactly one time, or in 5% of their games, in the past 20, against a decent NBA opponent. Once.
That’s, frankly, inadequate offense.
You might want to blame this on the players, and to an extent it’s true, I think. You might want to blame it on the style of play, and the utter lack of offensive structure or purpose. I’d apportion that blame 25% Players 75% Coaching and Approach. Your view may differ and you are most welcome to it. There’s no guarantee I’m right.
The most positive thing for the Rockets long term, though, is that I am right. If the players are the heart of the problem, the future of the Rockets as a legitimate contender is in deep trouble. Unless more development occurs. It’s hard to see offensive development at the moment, as many of the young Rockets have flatlined, or declined as offensive players under Ime Udoka. You can blame them for their own decline, that’s certainly one approach. One I disagree with.
Why was 20 year old Alperen Sengun a more efficient player under Stephen Silas of all people? In Silas’ last season Sengun had a 60 True Shooting Percentage. It declined slightly in Udoka’s first season to 59% (rounding up both times). Now it seems stuck at 55% over the past two seasons, and currently falling. Why isn’t a maturing player getting better? Character flaw? Laziness? What changed? It’s a general rule of thumb that players tend to get better until around age 26-28. That isn’t happening. It’s not happening with most of them. Why?
It’s easy enough to blame the players, until you realize that even with one of the all time scoring greats, playing very well, the Rockets, as a team, have not broken average scoring against any but essentially the absolute weakest of NBA teams for 95% of the past 20 games, amounting to 1/3 of their season. Is the whole team at fault, individually, as bad players? Or is it something else? Because that’s simply woeful offensive output. One player playing more hasn’t fixed it. Why? In my view, because the problem is systemic.
On to today’s version of “Lather, Rinse, Repeat”.
The Rockets play two games against Miami every season. You can almost set your clock to them being outsmarted by the Heat in one of those games. Lately, despite a recent Finals appearance, Miami has been good, not great, or even below average. That’s something you might very well blame on their players, or rather the talent level, as they are never poorly coached. But they are awake. Miami’s front office, and their head coach Eric Spoelstra,seem capable of seeing the team’s flaws, and taking steps to fix them.
Miami hired former Memphis lead assistant, and Ja Morant casualty, Noah LaRoche to teach them his motion, largely pick and roll free, offense. This, to me, was Spoelstra’s recognition that his approach simply wasn’t producing enough points. Has it worked? In a word, yes. Miami is averaging above the NBA average of 114 points per game, at 119. Last season, with essentially the same crew, minus norm Powell, they scored 110 on average. It might be just due to Powell, but seeing how many times that offense mismatched the Rockets without a pick, I’m dubious. In my view, due to positive coaching action, their offense is far better. A talent problem still remains if a team’s best player is Bam Adebayo.
I would argue that Miami boasts a lot less talent than the Rockets. Yet, once again, the Rockets got outsmarted and outplayed by the Heat. Sure, the Rockets have injuries, and it’s fair to mention it. But in the 4th quarter the Rockets simply got stonewalled by a zone defense. Again. They had no answer except to charge into 2-4 defenders and put up a terrible shot, over and over and over. This lead to predictably bad results, minus HoF player Kevin Durant, who took, but made, similarly awful shots.
There are ways to beat a zone. Good high school teams have zone buster sets, and attacks. The Rockets appear to lack any such thing. Still if the zone defense is good, and Miami’s is very good, and mobile, then there are certain things that must happen to break it.
One is, get behind it with baseline cuts, and player movement without the ball into the back of the zone, and either shoot, or pass it out when the zone reacts by converging at the rim.
Nope, the Rockets didn’t do that. Nobody moves.
Another is to overload the zone, and either find a screen for a shot in the overload, or whip the ball back to the non overloaded side that could be open.
No. Again, no player movement from the Rockets, they just stand, “spaced out” watching a one on four attack. Why the team stands around like that, as there isn’t a player really capable of a drive and kick attack most of the time (I include Reed, Amen AND Fred VanVleet in this assessment) baffles me.
Another is to set up a distributor in the middle of the paint, and have players cut into or out of the zone. The idea is to force coverage of the player in the paint, and then catch the zone out of position with passes out, or attacks by that player.
Nah. That speaks to purpose. Of recognizing a likely problem, and having a solution ready. Miami’s “go to” change up is always a zone defense of some sort. The waited around in a close game, until the 4th quarter, then went to it and choked the Rockets out. The Rockets managed a losing 22 points in the 4th.
Another is to attack the rim, and then kick the ball to shooters, or cutters, having, again, pulled the zone out of shape and forced help.
Well, the Rockets certainly attacked into the teeth of the zone. They didn’t pass out, and no one moved, cut, or followed those attacks. They stood around waiting for offensive rebounds, as if those, rather than baskets, were the goal. (There are other zone breaking methods, of course, but rest assured, we saw none of those, either.)
The good news is that the Rockets lost their lead in the 3rd quarter, late. So they did not add a 12th blown 4th quarter lead to their already commanding 11 blown 4th quarter leads. Nice to be far out ahead of the pack of literally any good NBA team in something, right? (Pelicans are next with 9 such blown leads. The average is about 4.)
This looked like most other Rockets losses. The defense holds yet another opponent below NBA average points, but loses because the Rockets themselves can barely break 100 points against all but the worst of the NBA.
I wish I had more sunshine for you, but that’s what I’m seeing. With no change in sight, and no recognition, at least publicly, that change is needed. The Rockets have enough raw talent to hang around third in the Western Conference. But they could be so much more.
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid, who has already missed 28 games this season, will miss at least three more after an MRI revealed an oblique strain, the team announced Saturday.
Embiid was bothered by his oblique during Thursday night's win over Miami, even going back to the locker room for a short stint after being hit by Kel'el Ware. Embiid returned to the game and hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute, but did not speak to reporters after the game (and coach Nick Nurse had no update on his condition.
Embiid had played in the 76ers' last two games after missing the previous five with knee and shin issues. When he has played, he has been brilliant this season, averaging 26.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Philadelphia, currently the No. 6 seed in the East (1.5 games ahead of Orlando and the play-in), and it needs a healthy Embiid to have a shot to pull off an upset in the playoffs.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Myles Colvin scored 32 points on a near-perfect shooting effort and Wake Forest rallied in the second half to defeat Syracuse 88-83 on Saturday night.
Colvin made seven of eight 3-pointers and his only 3-point miss came with 1:22 remaining in the game. He shot 9 of 12 overall and was 7 for 7 at the free-throw line.
Tre’Von Spillers scored 16 for Wake Forest (15-14, 6-10 ACC) and Juke Harris added 13. Off the bench, Cooper Schwieger scored 11 points and Sebastian Akins added 10 points.
Donnie Freeman scored 28 points and Nate Kingz 20 for Syracuse (also 15-14, 6-10). Naithan George had 13 points and 10 assists, and Sadiq White Jr. scored 12 off the bench.
The Orange trailed 14-13 before they buried seven 3-pointers in the final 12-plus minutes of the first half. They made 10 of 18 from beyond the arc in the first half and led 46-42 at halftime. They made only 3 of 8 from deep in the second half.
Syracuse's largest lead of the second half was 56-49 five minutes after halftime before Wake Forest began to rally. Near the 11-minute mark Colvin drained a 3 that began a near nine-minute stretch in which the Deacs made 10 of 11 shots, including eight in a row.
Still, a driving layup by Freeman had Syracuse within 84-80 in the final minute, but an offensive rebound and putback by Schwieger gave Wake Forest a six-point margin with 30 seconds left.
Up next
Syracuse: The Orange visit No. 24 Louisville on Tuesday and finish the regular season with a home game against Pitt on Saturday.
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons visit No. 11 Virginia on Tuesday and host Cal on Saturday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to snap their two-game losing streak as they finish off their three-game road trip against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.
Cleveland has lost their last two games without the services of either Donovan Mitchell (groin) or James Harden (thumb). They will still be without Mitchell, but Harden could be making his return to the lineup.
The Nets are a good team to break a losing streak against. They’ve lost seven in a row and have made it clear that they aren’t trying to win games at this point in the season. We’ll see if the Cavs can take advantage of that.
TV: FanDuel Sports Network – Ohio, FanDuel Sports Network App, NBA League Pass
Point spread: Cavs -11
Cavs injury report: Donovan Mitchell – OUT (groin), James Harden – QUESTIONABLE (thumb), Dean Wade – OUT (ankle), Keon Ellis QUESTIONABLE (left index finger fracture), Max Strus – OUT (foot), Riley Minix – OUT (G League)
Nets injury report: Nick Claxton – QUESTIONABLE (thumb), Egor Demin – (foot), Tyson Etienne – OUT (G League), Chaney Johson – OUT (G League), E.J. Lindell – OUT (G League), Drake Powell – OUT (G League)
Cavs expectedstarting lineup: Dennis Schroder, Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Nets expected starting lineup: Nolan Traore, Egor Demin, Noah Clowney, Michael Porter Jr. Nic Claxton
Jan 24, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (9) controls the ball in front of Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
After going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks gave point guard Ryan Nembhard a well-deserved chance after leading the NCAA in assists per game with 9.8 during his senior season with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He finished with a school record 325 total assists in 2024-25.
After proving his worth in the NBA on a two-way contract and splitting his time with the G League’s Texas Legends, Nembhard has signed a two-year contract (per Todd Ramasar and Jaafar Choufani of Life Sports Agency). It will be a standard NBA contract that includes a team option for the 2026-27 season. Veteran guard Tyus Jones was waived to create the roster spot.
Nembhard brought a spark to coach Jason Kidd’s team when he was with the big club, averaging 9.9 points on a 44.4 three-point shooting percentage and 6.1 assists per game in 17 starts for the Mavericks. That included three double-double performances.
He will be a key piece of the rotation in Dallas and a favorite to play alongside the face of the franchise, forward Cooper Flagg.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
NEW YORK (AP) — Iron Horse won the $300,000 Gotham by a length Saturday to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
Ridden by Manny Franco, Iron Horse ran a mile in 1:37.94 and paid $3.88 to win as the 4-5 favorite in the field of eight.
Iron Horse earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on May 2.
“He fought hard,” Franco said. “The other horse, I’ve got to give a little credit to, but I knew that my horse had enough to get it done.”
Crown the Buckeye was second and earned 25 qualifying points. Right to Party was another 6 1/2 lengths back in third and earned 15 points. Exhibition Only was fourth and earned 10 points, while Balboa got five points for finishing fifth.
Trainer Chad Brown said Iron Horse would remain in New York and be pointed toward the $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 4. The colt improved to 2-0 in his career. He is a son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.
“Race by race, he’s still learning,” Franco said. "This was just his second start and I’m just happy to be on him.”
The 74th edition of the Gotham marked its final running at Aqueduct before it moves to the newly redesigned Belmont Park next year.
Feb 24, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson talks to referee Suyash Mehta (82) during the second half against the New York Knicks at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
At the same time, they were on the wrong end of several critical calls that ended up costing them the game, according to the league’s Last Two Minute Report.
The league admitted that there were four incorrect calls in the last two minutes of regulation and the last two minutes of overtime. Three of the missed calls benefited Detroit and played a large role in them coming away with the win. Let’s review each of these missed calls.
First, Jaylon Tyson’s turnover with just under two minutes left that helped spur Detroit’s comeback shouldn’t have happened. A review of the play indicates that Jalen Duran fouled Jarrett Allen when he attempted to make the pass.
Here is the league’s comment for the missed call: “Duren’s (DET) hand slides off the ball and initiates contact with Allen’s (CLE) wrist, affecting his ability to make his intended pass. The illegal contact causes the errant pass.”
The Cavs were firmly in control of the game at this time, and Cade Cunningham had just fouled out. If this is called on Duran, as it should’ve been, then the game probably ends in a much more anticlimactic way.
The second incorrect call forced Allen to miss the rest of the fourth quarter and overtime. Allen was whistled for a shooting foul against Duran, which led to free throws with 48 seconds remaining.
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Jarrett Allen Fro shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE.
The report states: “Allen (CLE) makes contact with the ball and legally blocks Duren’s (DET) shot attempt at the basket.”
This missed call cost the Cavs the most. It meant that they had to play the rest of the game without their best player that evening, and the Pistons received two points in what should’ve been an empty possession. This call was the one that the Cavs’ locker room most vocally disagreed with afterward, even though Allen took the high road.
“You know, everybody’s biased, I don’t think so,” Allen said when asked afterward if he felt the block on Duren was a foul. “But obviously the refs have different angles, so I’m not going to complain about it.”
The Cavs weren’t able to challenge this missed call since they had already won two challenges earlier in the game. However, if this play had been reviewed, the officials would’ve likely overturned the call on the floor. It was pretty clear that Allen didn’t foul Duren.
The third missed call was the only one that benefited the Cavs.
Cleveland shouldn’t have been awarded the ball when Marcus Sasser knocked the ball out of Tyson’s hand shortly after he came down with an offensive rebound off of Craig Porter Jr.’s missed free throw with under 10 seconds left in regulation.
The report states: “Sasser (DET) cleanly dislodges the ball from Tyson (CLE) and Tyson is the last player to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds. Possession should be awarded to the Pistons.”
This missed call gave Evan Mobley a chance to win the game at the line. If he made both, it would’ve been a two-possession game, but he split them, giving Detroit a chance to tie the game on their final possession.
The last errant call happened at the end of overtime. Sam Merrill should’ve been awarded three free throws after Sasser closed out too hard while trying to contest a potential game-tying three with 18 seconds in overtime.
The report states: Sasser (DET) contests Merrill’s (CLE) jump shot attempt and initiates illegal lower-body contact following the release of the shot attempt.
This was the most egregious missed call of the four. I’m not sure how this wasn’t called a shooting foul at the time. Sasser wrongly went under the screen and closed out way too hard. This is a foul at every level of basketball.
It’s worth noting that the league agreed with the call on the floor that Daniss Jenkins was attempting a half-court shot when Tyson intentionally fouled him at the end of regulation. The report says that Jenkins was in the upward shooting motion when Tyson contacted him.
The Cavs had chances to win this road game, and still should’ve even though these calls went against them. However, if any of the three missed calls that went against the Cavs were called correctly on the floor, the outcome of this game would’ve been different.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Tramon Mark had 23 points and Dailyn Swain added a double-double in Texas' 76-70 win over Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.
Swain finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in posting his seventh double-double this season for the Longhorns (18-11, 9-7 Southeastern Conference). Jordan Pope scored 16 and Matas Vokietaitis added 14.
The Aggies (19-10, 9-7) were led by Rashun Agee with 22 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Hill totaled 17 points and eight rebounds, while Pop Isaacs scored 14.
Texas shot 44% (27 of 62) from the field and 94% (15 of 16) from the free-throw line. Texas A&M shot 38% (23 of 60) from the field.
The Longhorns led early in the first half, but the Aggies responded with an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 24-20 with 5:43 to play in the half, and went into the break up 30-29. Texas regained the lead off its first bucket in the second half and continued to push ahead.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kelvin Yeboah's rebound goal and Drake Callender's four saves gave Minnesota United FC a 1-0 win over Cincinnati FC on Saturday.
Callender made a host of key saves for Minnesota (1-1-0, 4 points), including a leaping save on a shot from Obinna Nwobodo in the 71st minute.
Roman Celentano also saved four shots for Cincinnati (1-0-1, 3 points), including two in the span of three minutes early in the second half.
Cincinnati had five corners in the first 25 minutes.
There were 11 added minutes after a lengthy head injury evaluation of Cincinnati captain Michael Boxall, who exited in the 77th minute for Devin Padelford.
The 2025 MLS MVP Evander, who exited the opener against Atlanta with a hamstring injury, did not play after entering Saturday as questionable.
Minnesota's star acquisition, Columbia international James Rodríguez, is yet to debut.
The 20-degree temperature at kickoff was the coldest in FC Cincinnati's MLS history.
Up next
Cincinnati: Will host Toronto FC next Sunday.
Minnesota: Travels to face Nashville SC on Saturday.
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Hamzat Ojediran and Lucas Herrington each scored their first career MLS goal on Saturday to help the Colorado Rapids beat the Portland Timbers 2-0.
Zach Steffen stopped three shots and had his first shutout of the season for Colorado (1-1-0).
Ojediran opened the scoring in the seventh minute, when the 22-year-old midfielder ripped a straight-away shot from 35 yards that deflected off defender Finn Surman and rolled into the net.
The 18-year-old Herrington, at the back post, headed home a corner kick played in by Dante Sealy to make it 2-0 in the 53rd.
Jimer Fory was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute and Portland (1-1-0) played a man down the rest of the way.
The Rapids are 12-15-7 against Portland, 10-3-5 in Colorado.
SEATTLE (AP) — Braeden Carrington had career highs of nine 3-pointers and 32 points, Nick Boyd added 22 points, and Wisconsin defeated Washington 90-73 on Saturday.
Carrington, who averages 7.4 points per game, played 27 minutes off the bench, making 9 of 15 3s. He was 6 for 9 from deep in the second half when he scored 23 points.
Boyd scored eight points in the first six-plus minutes of the game and the Badgers led 14-3. Washington's Hannes Steinbach opened the scoring with a dunk but the Huskies didn't get another field goal until Quimari Peterson's layup with 12 minutes remaining made it 17-7.
Wisconsin (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten) led by double digits over the final six minutes of the half and it was 36-21 at the break. A 10-0 run in the middle of the second half put the game out of reach at 66-42.
Steinbach scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Zoom Dialo had 21 points for Washington. Wesley Yates III scored three points on 1-for-17 shooting.
It was Steinbach's 18th double-double of his freshman season, nine of them coming when he scored 20 or more points.
Nolan Winter had 13 points and nine rebounds for Wisconsin. The Badgers average more than 30 3-point attempts per game and were 17 for 38 (45%) in this one.
Washington retired Detlef Schrempf's No. 22 jersey during a halftime ceremony.
Up next
Wisconsin: The Badgers have a home game against Maryland on Wednesday then wrap up the regular season at No. 8 Purdue on Saturday.
Washington: The Huskies stay on the West Coast to wrap up the regular season. USC visits on Wednesday before the Huskies finish at Oregon on Saturday.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Nojus Indrusaitis and Cameron Corhen each scored 16 points to lead Pittsburgh to a 72-56 victory over California on Saturday.
Pitt never trailed and built an early 10-point lead in the second half before Cal pulled within 47-44 with 13:05 remaining. Indrusaitis answered with 10 points that included two 3-pointers and a dunk during an 18-7 surge to help the Panthers pull away.
Barry Dunning Jr. added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Pitt (11-18, 4-12 Atlantic Coast Conference). Damarco Minor scored 13 points.
The Panthers have won two of their last three since ending a five-game losing streak.
Dai Dai Ames scored 11 points and Lee Dort added 10 for Cal (20-9, 8-8), which saw a three-game win streak snapped.
Dunning scored 11 points and Corhen added eight to help Pitt take a 34-26 advantage into the break. The Panthers forced 12 Cal turnovers in the first half. DeJuan Campbell scored all eight of his points in the first half for the Golden Bears. Campbell shot 0 of 2 in the second half.
Up next
Pitt: The Panthers host Florida State on Wednesday.
Cal: The Golden Bears are on the road against Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
Kentucky Basketball forward Jayden Quaintance has become one of the most talked-about mysteries of the Wildcats’ season, and now, with new draft projections and comments from his father, the conversation has intensified even more.
Quaintance’s recruitment was dramatic from the beginning. After reclassifying to 2024, he committed to Kentucky under John Calipari, only to reopen his recruitment when Calipari left for Arkansas. He eventually chose Arizona State, where the plan was clear: play two years of college basketball because he wasn’t old enough for the 2025 NBA Draft.
After transferring, he ended up recommitting to Kentucky. Quaintance entered the year recovering from a torn ACL. He has appeared in just four games, averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds in 16.8 minutes, with his last action coming on January 7 vs. Missouri.
Since then, speculation has grown about whether he will return this season, especially after online complaints from his father about how Kentucky used him.
Mark Pope’s comments have only deepened that uncertainty.
“He continues to make progress. He’s not ready right now… We’re not going to roll him out there till he’s 100 percent — and he’s a ways from that,” Pope said last week. “We haven’t incorporated him back into practice… I don’t know how optimistic I am about that.”
Then came a major development: CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone released a new first-round NBA mock draft and placed Quaintance at No. 29 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Boone believes a return to college is very possible:
“It’s turned into a lost season at Kentucky for Quaintance, who has appeared in only four games,” Boone wrote. “I’d be a bit surprised if he didn’t come back to school. But if he stays in the draft, he’d be a tremendous late-first value for a team like Minnesota, giving them a young defensive monster in the frontcourt to build around.”
That suggestion, that the sophomore could return for 2026–2, sparked an immediate response from Quaintance’s father, Haminn, who commented:
A bold statement that strongly implies Quaintance will enter the NBA Draft, regardless of this season’s setback.
Haminn released a longer statement in which he criticized anyone suggesting his son is sitting out and isn’t injured.
Yall just push any narrative and run with. We fought against staff to come back the st Johns game early with only 1 full practice under his belt in a year fought for full minutes not being restricted to 7 against Bellarmine and being able to play his game without the handcuffs… https://t.co/3bxok1V5hK
Meanwhile, draft analysts remain split. ESPN ranks Quaintance 18th overall, while Bleacher Report currently has him going 10th to the Milwaukee Bucks. Boone’s projection marks the first time a national writer has publicly floated the idea of another year of college, and the first time his father appears to shut that door this bluntly.
As for the Cats, they’re starting to really hit their stride following a blowout win over Vanderbilt. It’s easy to wonder how dangerous this team could be in March with a healthy Quaintance, but for now, it doesn’t appear a return is imminent.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Maurice Odum scored 15 points, Santiago Trouet recorded a double-double and Arizona State beat Utah 73-60 on Saturday to end its two-game losing streak.
Trouet scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Massamaba Diop scored 14 points and reserve Anthony Johnson 13 for Arizona State (15-14, 6-10 Big 12) which shot 49% (27 for 55).
Keanu Dawes scored 16 points and Don McHenry 14 for the Utes (10-19, 2-14) who shot 39% (23 of 59).
Utah got off to a 14-5 start within the first five minutes before Arizona State took the momentum and gradually began chipping away.
Over the next nine minutes, the Sun Devils outscored Utah 18-7 — with Johnson scoring six — and took the lead for good at 23-21 on a 3-pointer from Bryce Ford with 6:13 before halftime. Odum sandwiched a pair of 3s around one from Utah's McHenry and Arizona State led 34-24 at the break.
Trouet made a 3 with 16:19 left to push the ASU lead to 43-30 before a 9-0 Utah run in the next three minutes reduced the deficit to four.
Arizona State countered with a 14-5 outburst for a 57-44 lead with 9:34 remaining. Utah got with 57-51 and and 59-53 but never closer.
Up next
Utah: The Utes will try to end a three-game losing streak when they host Colorado on Tuesday.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils host 14th-ranked Kansas on Tuesday.
