Category: NBA

On their podcast, Cousins, 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Champion Vince Carter and and 2001 NBA Most Improved Player Tracy McGrady discuss a variety of NBA topics. The cousins (it’s not just a clever name for a podcast though it is not a show hosted by Boogie Cousins, as I mistakenly originally believed) discovered their familial bond at a reunion. They played together with the Toronto Raptors a year later. Both had significant NBA careers. Tracy McGrady finished his career with the San Antonio Spurs as part of the 2013 title run.

He recently posited that though Tim Ducan is considered the greatest power forward of all time, he thinks it is a benefit of how Duncan was able to design the Spurs around him. The idea is put forth that Kevin Garnett did more than Duncan, but the titles make Duncan look the better player.

My initial reaction was to defend Duncan and dismiss McGrady as having an axe to grind or something. But after listening, I have to give him some respect. McGrady clearly states that he “look(s) at the game totally different.” I cannot begin to imagine the wealth of basketball knowledge, a conversation most assuredly to float above my head and waft ad the words left his mouth.

The repost from David West puts it into perspective.

It was Tim’s system. One thing I realized my year with them was that Tim built the damn thing. It was his brainchild. It was his basketball genius that made that shit the monster it was. IYKYK 🤷🏽‍♂️

It opens up the conversation. Could Tim Duncan have become the Tim Duncan of the Spurs if he had been drafted by the Boston Celtics? What about if he had left San Antonio to play in Orlando? If the environment changes, doesn’t the payer change in some form or fashion?

If Kevin Garnett had been given the keys to the kingdom of Minnesota? Or been drafted first overall by Golden State (hindsight being 20/20 and all), could he have cultivated an organization than won five championships?

As a Spurs fan, I am fortunate those are just questions. Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs, decided to stay after considering Orlando (if Doc Rivers could go back he’d give Duncan his own private jet…hindsight being 20/20 and all), and completed a nineteen year career in San Antonio bringing more than five championships to the city. He brought a culture, and a style, and a temperament that embodies the franchise’s personality.

And now we Victor Wembanyama. The most talented player of his generation, a genuine gentleman, a scholar, and a player who carries some of the great qualities that have already been associated with the Silver & Black.

Honestly, McGrady’s take doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll take what we’ve got.

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When you’re going through it, it feels like absolutely nothing can go right. For every good thing that happens, two bad things seem to follow. In the context of basketball, where five players are supposed to operate as one cohesive unit, that kind of dysfunction becomes maddening to witness.

Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Suns weren’t taking baby steps forward. They were performing the old one step forward, two steps back routine, stumbling over their own feet while desperately trying to find some semblance of rhythm. And perhaps that’s what this season is ultimately going to be. One long, uncoordinated dance performed by a team that can’t seem to get its choreography straight.

A season ago, the Suns established an identity built around toughness, grit, and hustle. This version of the team is developing an entirely different identity, one defined by a perpetual inability to find its rhythm. When the bass finally starts hitting the right notes, the drummer loses the beat. When the lead guitarist finds a groove, the singer comes in wildly off-key. Everybody seems to know the song they’re supposed to be playing, yet somehow they’re all performing a different version of it. And good luck trying to dance to that mess.

One of the few bright spots early in the season has been the Suns’ bench. That second unit has provided energy, production, and occasional stability when the starters have struggled to find their footing. Against Portland, however, that bench completely disappeared.

Phoenix entered the game with legitimate concerns about its size, although the first half offered some encouraging signs. The Suns outrebounded the Trail Blazers 23-19 and were narrowly outscored in the paint, 28-24. There was enough there to suggest they might be able to survive their physical disadvantages. As the game progressed, however, that rebounding advantage dissipated into the dance floor fog, and the rout was underway.

The starting unit actually did a respectable job putting points on the board, combining for 94 points despite shooting 29.6% from beyond the arc. There were offensive contributions to build upon, even if the execution wasn’t always pretty.

The bench? If you see them, ask them to report to the scorer’s table. Through the first three quarters, Portland’s bench outscored Phoenix’s reserves 28-11. Seventeen points. That’s the difference between having a second unit that can sustain momentum and one that sends the entire operation careening into a ditch.

Therein lies the fundamental problem with these Suns. They cannot seem to fire on all cylinders at the same time. When the starters produce, the bench disappears. When the offense begins to find its footing, the defense forgets how to function. When one part of the team finally discovers the rhythm, another loses the beat entirely.

For one night, you’d love to see everybody playing the same song. Instead, we’re watching a band that desperately needs a rehearsal, a conductor, and perhaps a few lessons in basic rhythm. And the dance floor is getting awfully uncomfortable.

Bright Side Baller Standings

Miles Bridges takes down his first Bright Side Baller as a Sun after posting a 21-point, 6-rebound, 3-assist, 4-steal, 1-block stat line against the Warriors on Monday. He took down 72% of the vote, one of the most dominant wins early on this year.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 6 against the Trail Blazers. Here are your nominees:

Devin Booker
33 points (9-of-19, 2-of-8 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, -7 +/-

Miles Bridges
18 points (6-of-13, 4-of-7 3PT), 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, -6 +/-

Jalen Green
22 points (6-of-17, 2-of-8 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, -15 +/-

Dillon Brooks
15 points (7-of-15, 0-of-3 3PT), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, -16 +/-

Oso Ighodaro
9 points (4-of-6), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover, -10 +/-

Khaman Maluach
6 points (3-of-7, 0-of-1 3PT), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 0 turnovers, -6 +/-

Who deserves it?

Draymond Green clowns Dillon Brooks, explains his first ejection of the season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green is back at it again.

Green earned his first ejection of the 2026-27 NBA season in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night after getting tangled up with Suns big man Khaman Maluach and forward Dillon Brooks. The situation started after Maluach went up for a layup and Green tried to defend him, but wrapped him up and threw him down.

Green explained the play on his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” and justified his actions as simply protecting the rim while alluding to the fact that Maluach had it coming for how he finished the play.

“The one with Maluach, I’ll take that one. That’s got to happen,” Green said. “I can’t fall down in the middle of the paint, you just finished and I’m still landing. That don’t work, respect gone. It just don’t work. So with that being said, little tech for throwing him. Yeah, no problem. I’ll take that because the next time you try something like that, you’ve got to note that that comes with something else. Like it don’t just end with, like ‘Oh, you do that.’

“So the next time you’re going to try something, you’ve got to think about it. That’s all a part of protecting a rim, being an anchor of a defense, that’s all a part of it. So I want to help y’all understand that and let you know that yeah, that will happen again. I saw people like, oh man, he got mad that he fell and crashed out. No, that ain’t no fall and crash out. Crash out would be throw him down, run over him, want to fight him and run over him. No, I threw him down and I stood there.”

Green, known as an enforcer for Golden State, has a reputation for being physical and, at times, a dirty player. But his elite defensive skill set is what makes him the player he is, and in situations like that, he is trying to do his job as a defensive anchor while making sure he is not disrespected by the opposition.

“He was talking. I stood there and looked at him. I talked back, but I didn’t throw him down and run and stand over him and try to fight him,” Green said. “No, I threw him down because you’ve got to sit down, and it’s just that simple. I can’t fall and you score, and you just take off running back down the court, the story can’t end like that. You can’t anchor a defense if you’re going to let the story end like that. You can anchor a defense if you’re going to let the story end like that [but] it won’t be a well-anchored defense. You just can’t let the story end like that, and you won’t be a well-respected anchor. That’s just what it is. That’s what comes with the territory of anchoring a defense.”

When Maluach went down, Brooks immediately came over to de-escalate the situation. Green grabbed Brooks by the collar, and it was that moment that ultimately led to the ejection. Green called him out, saying there was nothing to de-escalate, with Brooks’ antics in the situation making things worse.

“Plot twist,” Green said. “Dillon Brooks ran in to de-escalate the situation. “However, there’s nothing to really de-escalate because I’m actually just standing there, like he’s [Maluach] down on the floor because I threw him down, and now I’m just standing there because yeah, he’s got to sit down, and that’s that. He ran up to my shoulder, spewing some things that when you run up to de-escalate a situation, a you don’t run shoulders, you don’t run and put your chest on somebody’s shoulder, and b you also don’t run up spewing the things out that he was spewing out and de-escalate.

“You would actually be a little more respected if you just stood on the type of time that you stood on, which is you’re running up because you’re supposed to be the tough guy, and you’re coming to set the situation straight in a sense, and with that, that’s just not how the story is going to end. The story just ain’t going to end that way. But there would be a lot more respect though if you just stood on the type of time you’re standing on, which is I ran over there because that’s the situation I’m going to go into, and I’m going to be on the type of time that I was at least started speaking about and then afterward, when I talk about it in the media, I’m not going to go and say that he was tweaking all game when nothing had happened all game.”

Green reportedly will not be suspended by the NBA and will play for the Warriors when they host the Miami Heat on Thursday night. In six games, he is averaging 3.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Golden State is in the midst of a five-game winning streak and will need Green to play at a high level if it wants to keep winning.

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BOSTON — For the first time this season, the Boston Celtics were without star Jayson Tatum. The team announced his absence Wednesday afternoon, meaning it would have to adjust its approach when hosting the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla further outlined those adjustments before opening tip.

“The sub pattern is going to be different,” Mazzulla said pregame. “The starting lineup’s gonna be different. The end-of-quarter lineups are gonna be different because he plays the whole quarter. So we’ll play a bunch of different lineups. What doesn’t change is the process of how we have to execute on both ends of the floor, but some of the tactical stuff will change.”

With Tatum resting, Mazzulla inserted Paul George, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta and Hugo González into Boston’s starting lineup. In the first quarter, George played all 12 minutes, Queta, Mitchell Robinson and Luka Garza rotated through a double-big combination, and Baylor Scheierman played more than half the frame as the Celtics dug deep into their depth.

Boston shuffled through 10 different players in the first quarter alone.

Mazzulla stuck by his word.

For the rest of the team, the objective was simple.

“Get a win,” White said. “It’s kind of the thing we always talk about; people in, people not in. We play how we play and just gotta go out there and get a win. Obviously it changes a little bit because JT does a lot for us, but at the end of the day, we believe in our depth, we believe in every person in the locker room, and we just gotta go out there and get a win.”

Garza, the team’s leader in 3-point makes in Houston (four), picked up right where he left off. Coming off the bench, he knocked down each of his first three 3-pointers to enter halftime as Boston’s leading scorer with 11 points. He also grabbed five rebounds, including three on the offensive glass, continuing his early-season emergence as Mr. Reliable in the Celtics’ reserve unit.

In the second half, as George and White began to carry the offensive load, Scheierman worked in tandem with Queta to clean up the glass.

The two combined for 15 rebounds in the second half, with Scheierman coming through with the biggest board of the night. He secured an offensive rebound with fewer than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before finding a cutting White, who finished the right-handed layup through contact and converted the three-point play at the free-throw line.

That put the Celtics ahead 102-97 with 2:22 left, providing some breathing room after the Bucks erased a 22-point deficit to take their first lead with 6:50 left.

It also helped navigate Pritchard’s early departure in the fourth quarter. The Celtics guard suffered an eye injury in the third quarter and was unable to return.

To George, who led Boston with 25 points, it was a good experience to overcome those late-game dramatics without a full-strength crew to help ease the stress.

“Just collectively coming together,” George said. “Learning, down the stretch, how to play together in that moment.”

In many ways, the Celtics treated the one-win Bucks as a must-win matchup. They approached the night with immediate urgency, and once they slipped, they got back up and responded.

George and the rest of the team shut down Milwaukee’s comeback bid quickly, as the Bucks never led by more than a single point. He knocked down a clutch step-back three over Jaime Jaquez Jr. to extend Boston’s advantage to 107-99 with 1:22 left. But despite hearing TD Garden’s “MVP” chants directed his way, George was quick to credit the victory as a result of a group effort more than anything else.

Everyone pitched in, and the Celtics managed without their superstar forward.

“It was a five-man thing out there where everybody was helping each other, pulling for one another,” George explained. “We had to rebound. We had to scratch, claw. It was a physical battle that I thought we collectively [overcame]. We have to do that. We have to come together and play together, and it’s just value for us to get those wins. Obviously, we want JT to get his rest in those situations, so we gotta come together and collectively be big in those moments.”

Heat's Klay Thompson hopes to ‘beat up on old friends' Thursday vs. Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Every player loves to show out when they return to their old home.

Miami Heat guard Klay Thompson is no exception, and after dropping a season-high 30 points Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, he looks to keep it rolling on back-to-back nights against his former team at Chase Center.

“Hopefully I can continue to stay in flow because I made a lot of buckets in that building,” Thompson said Wednesday in a postgame interview with WPLG 10’s Kacy Hintz. “It’s fun to beat up on old friends so that would be awesome to come away with a back-to-back win.” 

Thompson was the hero in the Heat’s overtime win over the Clippers, draining a 3-pointer from the corner with one second remaining while Miami trailed by two points.  

It was his eighth 3-pointer of the night, marking his 25th career game with eight or more 3-pointers made, the third-most in NBA history. It was the first time he’s reached the mark in a game since leaving Golden State. 

Thompson is on a heater, scoring at least 19 points in each of his last three games. 

In seven career games against the Warriors, Thompson has averaged 15.3 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the field. He looks to improve that average Thursday night at Chase Center. 

“I know the Warriors are playing real well, so it’s going to be a really good challenge tomorrow night,” Thompson told reporters Wednesday night in the Heat locker room. “Always going to be awesome seeing all the guys I grew up with, and it’s just going to be a special night. I only get to go there once this season, so I’m going to soak it all up.”

Thompson isn’t the only former Warrior who will play Thursday for the Heat at Chase Center. Andrew Wiggins will play his fourth game against Golden State since the team traded him away in the 2024-25 season.  

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is looking forward to greeting both back to the Bay. 

It will be great to see both guys, Klay and Wiggs…” Kerr told reporters during a media availability Wednesday after practice. “Two just incredible contributors to the Warriors’ championships, to the culture, to just the vibe of the team. Both Klay and Wiggs are wonderful human beings and great teammates.” 

Unlike Thompson, Wiggins is struggling to score early in the season for the Heat. His 9.4 points per game is a career low through the first eight games of a season.

The Warriors hope that the once-friendly confines for Thompson and Wiggins will not give the two a spark as Golden State looks for its sixth consecutive victory. 

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Former Kings coach Mike Brown leads Knicks to 2026 NBA Finals win over Spurs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

A former Kings coach officially is an NBA champion.

Mike Brown, who coached Sacramento for two-plus seasons from 2022-2024 before he was fired midway through the 2024-25 season, led New York to a 2026 NBA Finals victory on Saturday after the Knicks’ 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 at Frost Bank Center.

Brown’s Knicks took down Victor Wembanyama and former Kings guard De’Aaron Fox’s Spurs to secure New York’s third championship and first since 1973. Jalen Brunson put up a historic performance in the victory, dropping 45 points to become the first Knicks player to score 40 or more points in a Finals game.

This is Brown’s fifth NBA championship as a coach, after securing his first as an assistant coach with the Spurs in 2003 before winning three as a Golden State Warriors assistant in 2017, 2018 and 2022.

Brown and the Knicks capped off their impressive 53-29 regular season with a dominant 16-3 playoff record, which included a historic 13-game playoff win streak on their way to securing the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

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The ghosts of last season popped up in last night’s 117-107 Houston Rockets loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Up until last night, Houston seemed to have largely fixed many of the problems they had last season. Had they been right all along about what Fred VanVleet would mean to this team?

Well, last night, even with VanVleet, the Rockets suffered through some poor fourth quarter offensive execution, which was a hallmark of last year’s team (blowing leads), and gave up a 10-2 run midway through the fourth after leading by a couple and finished in a 10-point defeat.

The Wolves were without Anthony Edwards and Terrence Shannon Jr., so they were shorthanded, while the Rockets mostly were not (missing only Steven Adams), but it was still Houston’s fourth quarter that cost them the game, when they turned the ball over four times and shot just 7-for-16 in the final frame, while simultaneously letting the Wolves finish strong, shooting 13-for-21 in the fourth.

The Rockets were led by Alperen Sengun, who racked up a triple double, going for 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, but he shot just 5-for-15 from the field. They also got 21 points from Kevin Durant and 18 from Fred VanVleet, but overall, the Rockets shot just 43 percent from the field while allowing Minny to go off for 53 percent. Houston was also outrebounded and outplayed in just about every category.

The Wolves were led by Ayo Dosunmu, who put in 21 points, while Lamelo Ball scored 20, including 12 in the decisive fourth quarter, while Jonathan Kuminga had 16, including a three-pointer and a tip-in down the stretch that helped win the game for the Wolves.

That was a home game for the Rockets, so you hate to see old habits pop back up again, but you’re going to have nights like these over an 82-game season. Keeping them at once in a while and not 20 blown fourth-quarter leads like last year is the key. Things had been better to start year, and it’s certainly not anywhere close to panic time, but it was a little disheartening to see the Rockets of old pop back up last night. I guess number one in the power rankings comes with expectations?

The Rockets will be back in action Saturday night against the Phoenix Suns. That game is in Phoenix and has an 8pm start.

One Possession: Robinson turns on the jets in key moment vs. Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

A lot of ink has been spilled over Mitchell Robinson’s slow start in green, but there was one sequence on Wednesday night — before the Celtics fumbled away their big lead and clawed their way to the finish line of a win over a spunky Milwaukee team — that suggested Robinson is going to be just fine.

Robinson’s defense deterring a Kyle Kuzma drive led to a Derrick White steal and play broke out the other way. Robinson was 88 feet from the basket at that moment but absolutely turned on the jets while beating most of the Bucks down the floor.

Robinson wasn’t immediately rewarded, but the hustle left him in prime position to attack. Robinson absolutely bulldozed Milwaukee’s Kasparas Jakučionis, using his backside to relocate the 6-foot-5 guard from the charge circle all the way to the free throw line before White delivered the entry pass for an easy layup.

It was Robinson’s only bucket on a night when he simply couldn’t get a second-chance attempt to fall. But the box score lies. Robinson might have finished 1-of-8 shooting with only three points, but his 10 rebounds (six on the offensive glass) and that one sprinting sequence emphasized how he can generate easy points for Boston when he stays in overdrive.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla spent much of his pregame press conference pushing back on some of the rumbles that Robinson had been a disappointment to start his Boston tenure. Mazzulla reasoned that Robinson could still impact winning while settling into a different role, one that might be requiring him to expend even more energy than he did coming off the bench last season for the world champion Knicks.

The on/off splits certainly haven’t made a strong case for Robinson’s impact. The Celtics have been outscored by 12.7 points per 100 possessions during his 135 minutes of floor time but dominated opponents by 16.9 points per 100 possessions in his 254 minutes on the bench. That’s a minus-29.6 differential, far and away the worst differential on the team.

And while Mazzulla did his best to pump up Robinson, the coach has also hinted at a need for Robinson to improve his stamina on the court, including playing harder and faster at times.

Then Robinson turned on the jets for that one second-quarter bucket against the Bucks.

Milwaukee called timeout in the immediate aftermath and, much like last week with Payton Pritchard, it felt like Mazzulla might dole out another unexpected hug. Instead, Mazzulla just smiled as he walked to meet Robinson as he came off the court.

The insinuation was clear: More of that.

Boston players certainly need more time to figure out how to maximize lobs to Robinson on his rolls to the basket — they’re airmailed more than a few — but there’s a lot more room for error when Robinson is using his massive frame to take advantage of mismatches in the post.

That one sequence offered a road map to the sort of play that can settle a scuttling offense down in a hurry.

Robinson played only eight minutes in the second half against Milwaukee, and it was center Neemias Queta whose energy at the center position helped the Celtics get to the finish line of the win. But everyone in the Boston locker room knows that Robinson is still getting comfortable in a new situation.

“Here, we actually need him to do a little bit more and want him to do a little bit more [than in New York] and kind of explore that,” Paul George told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “I think he’s just going through that — a different playstyle for him. He’ll get there … I have no doubt. He’s got a high IQ. He plays hard. I think it’s just an adjustment.”

Robinson is actually generating more offensive rebound chances per game (5.7) in Boston compared to last season with New York (5.4). The difference? Robinson is grabbing 37.5 percent of his own misses this year, an elite number that ranks in the 98th percentile among all centers. But he’s 1) Struggled to convert those chances into points early in the season while missing a variety of close looks, and 2) He’s grabbing just 10.5 percent of his teammates misses, way down from the 21.1 percent mark that led the entire league last season.

The Celtics have to hope that, as he settles in, some of those natural talents take over. And much of the angst about Robinson’s slow start might dissipate.

One high-energy sprint on Wednesday night offered a road map to success.

Victor Wembanyama sank the winning free throw to finish with a career-high 52 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-111 on Wednesday.

The French star, whose previous best was 50 points in 2024, dominated at both ends of the court to also claim 24 rebounds and eight blocks.

The 22-year-old is the first player in 52 years with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game.

He also became the fifth player since 1982 to register at least 50 points and 20 rebounds as San Antonio improved their record to 6-2.

Wembanyama reached half-time with 29 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and two steals, before the Spurs held off a second-half rally by Dallas, who were led by 29 points from Kyrie Irving.

"I haven't been feeling great lately," said Wembanyama. "I've been sick for a while.

"Today I felt like I got my legs back, so it should be more like this more often."

James plays down Finals talk

Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference clash.

Brown (30 points) and Embiid (26) led a balanced offensive performance as Philadelphia saw all five starters reach double figures, with LeBron James claiming a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The 76ers now have the NBA's best record at 8-1 after bringing in Brown and James in the off-season.

"It's too early to be talking about the Finals and things of that nature," said James. "We'll just continue to buy into what we want to do. We got a good team."

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 116-103 with Luka Doncic scoring a game-high 40 points to reach 308 for the season.

The Slovenian star became the first player to pass 300 in his first eight games of a season since Michael Jordan (303) in 1988-89.

Doncic was also involved in an incident which led to a fan being removed after throwing the ball at an official, which struck her as she was signalling a Lakers possession.

Meanwhile, London-born OG Anunoby scored 18 points for the New York Knicks as the reigning champions enjoyed their biggest win of the season, beating the Chicago Bulls 135-105 to improve to 4-4.

• NBA scores & fixtures
• Boos to cheers - James records biggest career comeback win

For as good as Luka Dončić has been to start this season, it hasn’t really felt like he’s been carrying the Lakers along. He’s been great on top of other players being good as well, leading more often than not to wins.

However, on Wednes…

[whistle]

Damn. I was just called for a foul. Fitting for that game.

Anyway, Wednesday was the exception. The Lakers were mostly lethargic and flat to open the game, Luka included. Then, he exploded in the second quarter and really pulled the Lakers along. Austin Reaves was great alongside him as well, but the teams had little else.

At least they were solid enough defensively to make up for that. And they were playing Kings.

So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Matisse Thybulle

23 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1-5 FG, 1-5 3PT, -4

A quiet game offensively from Thybulle. He was overdue for one, so nothing to really worry about.

Grade: C

Jake LaRavia

20 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 fouls, 1 turnover, 3-3 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, +3

When he wasn’t fouling, LaRavia was one of the best Lakers on the floor. Unfortunately, he was fouling a lot in the first half, which forced him to the bench. But he was foul free in the second half and his impact was felt.

Grade: B+

Walker Kessler

28 minutes, 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 6 fouls, 6-8 FG, 3-4 FT, -1

By his own admission, Kessler wasn’t very good for the first three quarters. Domantas Sabonis had 10 points and 14 rebounds to Kessler’s five points and three rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, that completely flipped. Kessler had 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks and Sabonis only had six points and three rebounds.

Grade: B+

Austin Reaves

37 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 7-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT, +14

This is a quiet great game from Reaves, who is willing and able to take that Robin role to Luka’s Batman. The most impressive part of his game though isn’t listed in that box score…because he had zero turnovers!

Grade: A

Luka Dončić

35 minutes, 40 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 6 turnovers, 11-23 FG, 6-13 3PT, 12-13 FT, +11

The level of shotmaking from Luka right now is up there with the best the league has ever seen. Some of these shots are just unfathomable and, yet, when they go up, you always believe they’ll go in.

Grade: A+

Quentin Grimes

24 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 2-5 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, +19

A bit of a step back for Grimes after an encouraging game against the Heat. Considering how much the Lakers paid him, it’d be nice if he found his groove soon.

Grade: C

Sandro Mamukelashvili

18 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 0-4 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, +17

This was a pretty poor Mamu game. Missing back-to-back threes from the top of the key early in the game turned out to be an omen.

Grade: D

Ziaire Williams

22 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 fouls, 3-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, 3-3 FT, +12

The good news for the Lakers is that when a wing has a poor game as Thybulle did or LaRavia is in foul trouble, they have another one to step in and play well, which Ziaire did.

Grade: B+

Collin Sexton

16 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 4 fouls, 2 turnovers, 2-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, 5-6 FT, +2

Another sort of deceptive game as it looks like Sexton was good but it didn’t feel that way while watching. Perhaps I’m in the minority because that’s a good stat line.

Grade: B-

Jarred Vanderbilt, Cameron Carr, Jaden Hardy, Bronny James, Lawson Lovering, Kevon Looney

Everyone but Vando played only in garbage time. Again, Vando was in for only one shift in the first half and the team was outrebounded 8-5, gave up three offensive boards and Vando committed two fouls, albeit on a bizarre possession with like four fouls called.

JJ Redick

As he always does, Redick is rounding this team into form defensively. It’s still a work in progress and this was just the Kings, but you can see this team improving on that end of the floor and, minus the rebounding, this was a good showing.

Grade: B+

Wednesday’s inactives:Chris Mañon, Adou Thiero, Arthur Kaluma

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The San Antonio Spurs concluded their homestand in thrilling fashion on Wednesday night, holding off a furious second half rally by the Dallas Mavericks to earn the 112-111 victory at the Frost Bank Center behind a historic and career night from Victor Wembanyama.

The victory is the sixth straight for San Antonio, who defeated Dallas for the second time this season.

Wembanyama was fired up from pre-game introductions, pumping his team up as he went through the high-five line. From the opening tip, he was aggressive inside the paint and getting to the free throw line. He scored eight of the Spurs’ first 10 points and would finish the first quarter with 15 points.

The second quarter saw both teams go on a pair of runs. With the Spurs leading 48-39, Mavericks coach Dusty May called timeout and following that, Dallas went on a 7-0 run to cut San Antonio’s nine point lead down to two points. Meanwhile, later in the period, the Spurs would close the second quarter on 19-3 run to take the 68-51 advantage into the second half.

Wembanyama finished the first half with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks. The one area where Wemby struggled? His three-point shooting, just going 1-for-8 on the night.

“I can still do more,” Wembanyama said after the game. “I mean, my shots weren’t falling tonight and that forces me into a style of play that is exhausting. I can do it. The proof is here. I can do it, but I can be much better if my shots fell.”

Both teams had a slow start to the second half, but it was Dallas that looked like a team that got a grilling at the break. The Mavericks were much more aggressive to begin the third quarter, led by Kyrie Irving and Naji Marshall. At one point, Julian Champagnie left Marshall open for a corner three. That left Spurs coach Mitch Johnson furious as he called timeout and let his team know just how frustrated he was with their effort.

The Spurs responded out of the timeout by building the lead back to 13 points, but Dallas would win the third quarter 27-22 and that set up a thrilling finish in the final 12 minutes. The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter by outscoring San Antonio 12-4, all but erasing their 19-point deficit. The final 8:45 saw both teams go back and forth exchanging the lead, but this Wembanyama would not allow the Spurs to lose on this night.

San Antonio got their star the ball at every chance down the court over the final three minutes. He had two putbacks in the final 2:39, but went just 1-for-4 from the free throw line, causing anxiety for many inside the arena. With the Spurs clinging to the 112-111 lead, Dallas had one final chance. Irving missed a contested 15-foot, turnaround jumper with three seconds remaining thanks to some great defense from De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs held on.

Wemby finished with career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds along with eight blocks.

“I think he’s settled into the season like we all have,” Coach Johnson said of his star player after the game. “We’re almost 10 games in. It takes a minute to get in that flow, we had to just got to a good spot in terms of team [needing] to get where their feet were. Team has potential. We’re starting to play the brand of basketball we should.”

Dallas was led by Irving’s 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Marshall added 22, while PJ Washington chipped in 21 and Cooper Flagg added 19 points for the Mavericks, who fell to 4-4 on the season.

Dylan Harper, who finished with 21 points, said postgame that he looked up to Irving growing up and to play against him is incredible, but beating him meant more.

“It was good to get the win over him today for sure,” he said after the game.

Game Notes

• In addition to Wemby’s career highs, the victory for the Spurs was also the 100th in Coach Mitch Johnson’s career. According to Spurs socials, Wemby presented Johnson with the game ball in the locker room after the game.
• Devin Vassell and Champagnie went a combined 0-for-14 on the night. Coach Johnson said after the game he doesn’t believe we’ll see a game where that happens again this season.
• San Antonio’s bench struggled on the night, scoring just 10 points compared to 38 points from Dallas’ second unit.
• The Spurs were ice cold (no pun intended on throwback night) from beyond the arc, shooting just 13 percent and going 5-for-36. That will and should change as the season goes on.

Luka Dončić had his fifth 40-point performance in his last six games, finishing with 40 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and one steal in the Lakers’ 116-103 win over the Kings on Wednesday in Sacramento.

Color Austin Reaves not impressed.

“He could’ve had 60 if he weren’t asleep in the first quarter,” Reaves joked of Dončić, who had a game-high 10 points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first 12 minutes. “That’s all I got to say about him.”

Dončić and Reaves are good friends and the highest-scoring duo in the NBA, as the California Post recently detailed in an exclusive story.

Dončić is leading the league in scoring with 38.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and eight assists per game.

Reaves, who had 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting on Wednesday, indirectly gushed about his superstar teammate, who has been earning a lot of early MVP buzz as he has lifted the Lakers to a 7-2 record.

“He’s scored 70 in a game,” Reaves said, referring to when Doncic exploded for 73 points when he was with the Mavericks in January 2024. “He’s a good basketball player. I don’t know. He’s been doing this since he was 20 years old, 19, I don’t know. He’s a good player.”

Klay Thompson made the winning three-pointer with a second left in overtime and the Miami Heat rallied past the reeling Clippers 117-116 on Wednesday night.

Bam Adebayo set season highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who have won three of four after losing their first four games. Thompson scored 30, going eight of 17 from three-point range, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 14 boards and six assists.

Miami trailed by 20 in the second quarter and was still down 10 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the fourth before a 9-0 spurt set up the tight finish.

Darius Garland had 26 points and seven assists to pace the Clippers, who have lost seven games in a row since winning their season opener Oct. 21 against Sacramento.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.