Category: NBA

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Bucks fans and fans across the country.

With the first week of NBA action in the books, we can start digging into what’s happening on-court for the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite putting themselves in position to win their opening two games against the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, the Bucks came up short. Since then, they’ve admirably challenged the Philadelphia 76ers and beaten the Indiana Pacers. But to focus solely on outcomes is reactive (and reductive). How, then, do you feel about the Bucks’ processes? More specifically, how do you feel about Taylor Jenkins’ rotations?

Starting lineup

Jenkins has leaned on veteran experience in his starting lineup, running with Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyler Herro, and Ryan Rollins to begin each game so far. Combined, this lineup has 34 years of NBA experience to help it battle other teams’ best units. But it’s not just experience that matters here. Relative to the rest of the roster, these guys are all at, approaching, or just past their playing primes.

Regular reserves

So far, Jenkins has gone with a ten-man rotation. Somewhat surprisingly, Kasparas Jakučionis has become the team’s sixth man—and he’s revelling in it, playing the best basketball of his young career and looking like the Bucks’ best floor general (or at least its most natural). After him, Jenkins has turned to a forward—Ousmane Dieng in the first two games, Nate Ament in the next two—before rounding out the rotation with Kel’el Ware, Brayden Burries, and AJ Green. Combined, these players have just 11 years of NBA experience. And, honestly, that these guys have played over Gary Trent Jr. and Caris LeVert is at least somewhat surprising, especially after what we saw during the preseason.

Collecting DNPs

That leaves the DNPs, one of the few stats players don’t want to lead their team in. Up to this point, as far as players on the 15-man roster go, Gary Trent Jr., Caris LeVert, Bogoljub Marković, and Jericho Sims (for all intents and purposes) are “leading” the charge. Notably, there are distinct divisions here: players past their prime (LeVert), players theoretically in their prime but who aren’t really needle-movers (Trent, Sims), and youthful projects (Marković). Outside of these guys, the three two-way players—Pete Nance, Cormac Ryan, and Kam Jones—have, understandably, also yet to see any action.

Having recapped the rotation, are you happy with Jenkins’ decisions? Let us know your thoughts by voting below—and don’t forget to explain your reasons in the comments.

DENVER — It’s been easy to forget at times in his first four NBA games that it wasn’t too long ago Yaxel Lendeborg was just another guy on a basketball team at a junior college in the middle of the desert, five hours from anywhere. Like, not even four years ago.

One person it hasn’t been lost on, despite his outspokenness, is Lendeborg.

The Warriors rookie’s willingness to say whatever is on his mind, on the court or in press conferences, has already earned him a certain reputation. But it has also resulted in an endless stream of soundbites, some of which offer some actual insight.

For example, Lendeborg didn’t hold back on Peacock after the Warriors’ 134-114 win over the Nuggets on Monday night. He led the way with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, the best performance in a historic start to his career — but not even he saw this coming.

“I definitely thought I was gonna wet the bed,” Lendeborg said. “Definitely didn’t have the best hopes for what I was gonna do.”

While that’s the open book we’ve come to know, it doesn’t exactly express the kind of confidence that would lead a 24-year-old rookie to chirp back-and-forth with Luka Doncic.

It sounds like the rookie who took six tepid shots in his first preseason game — a little more than three weeks ago, that’s where Lendeborg was. Inside a 10,000-capacity gym in Honolulu, he made one shot and finished with four points in an exhibition loss to the Clippers.

What happened afterward might have changed the course of Warriors history.

“After the game in Hawaii, where I think I had like three points and only took like three shots,” Lendeborg said, undercounting on both, he approached Steph Curry and Draymond Green. 

“I asked them, you know, just for some guidance and advice. They told me, just try to be confident, be aggressive and play through the mistakes. I’m gonna be in a position to do that. Just hearing that from those two guys, I was coming into the game timid, like I don’t want to mess up what they’ve got going on. And they pretty much just gave me free roam.

“So they helped me out, and from then on, I just vowed to be a little more aggressive.”

Curry, Green and coach Steve Kerr all backed up the message publicly after Lendeborg’s underwhelming preseason debut: They didn’t just want him to be aggressive — they needed him to be. If nothing else, Lendeborg has proven to be a quick learner.

Message No. 1: Received.

Lendeborg has scored in double digits in every game since — eight including the remaining four in the preseason — averaging 20.1 per contest on 13.1 shots. He’s the first Warriors rookie to reach double figures in the first four games of his career since Chris Webber in 1993.

“He’s definitely getting better each and every day,” Green said. “It’s extremely exciting because there’s so much he don’t know. He don’t know a lot.”

Lendeborg said the game is already slowing down for him, at least offensively. He acknowledged he still has lots to learn on the other end of the court.

“I still have to figure out my weakside help,” Lendeborg said. “I gave up a lot of buckets down low. Just thinking my teammates gonna get back, and they’re thinking I’m gonna stay there. So it’s just a little confusing.”

Green has been more than eager to teach Lendeborg all of the tips, tricks and hints he’s learned over his 12 years in the NBA. Advice has been coming at him like a firehose.

And Lendeborg just keeps gulping it all down.

“I find myself talking to him the entire game,” Green said, “just telling him something different. And I think what’s most of it is he can apply it right away. Like you tell him something, and he comes down next play, and it happens. He applies it right away. So that’s special in itself.”

When it’s not coming from Green, it’s coming from Kerr.

“It’s definitely gonna be trial and error for me, but I really appreciate him for continuing to talk to me, have patience with me,” Lendeborg said. “He’s not screaming at me; he’s talking to me like a human. … There’s nothing for me, to be like, acting arrogant, or in a negative way toward it.”

Lendeborg, it seems, doesn’t miss a moment to learn something new. Even in his postgame interviews. Back on the Peacock set with Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony, Lendeborg turned the questions around on the trio of NBA legends.

“Do you guys have any advice, just to keep going, things I gotta work on?” Lendeborg asked the hosts. “Things that you guys see that I don’t see?”

It’s a Master’s level course on the league for a player who just four seasons ago was averaging single digits for Arizona Western College, an NJCAA school on the western border in Yuma.

Since then, of course, Lendeborg has gone on to win a national title at Michigan and earned his No. 11 overall selection in this past June’s draft. That’s a steep climb, and it would appear that Lendeborg’s arrow is still pointing sharply up and to the right. 

“I think that’s the exciting part – where this can go,” Kerr said after Lendeborg’s 31-point night. “Because there’s still probably 10 plays that I can pull up on tape, either mistakes defensively or offensively not recognizing something that he needs to recognize. Despite all that, he just dominated the game and took over. At 24, in his fourth game. So, pretty impressive.”

Well, here we are again, talking about backup center as a problem for the Philadelphia 76ers. You know how the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It was predictable, yet at the same time, who saw it coming this quickly? In case you haven’t seen the splits by now, so far on the season the Sixers have a 112.3 offensive rating when Joel Embiid is on the floor and prior to Sunday’s loss to Detroit, the team was averaging only 92.8 points per 100 possessions with Embiid off the floor.

So, now what? Philly is again in need of a backup center and Ariel Hukporti isn’t magically going to be available. Players who signed free agent contracts this past summer are eligible to be traded on Dec. 15. By then, there are probably some more willing parties to negotiate with Mike Gansey on a trade. December is also when they could theoretically sign a veteran big still on the market on a prorated deal.

But the big question that we all have to ponder is if the Sixers can afford to wait just shy of two months before making a trade for another big man. There’s two paths that the Sixers can choose between now and the middle of December. They could opt to be more aggressive with Embiid’s minutes and overall availability than they would have if Hukporti was healthy. That seems unlikely. Perhaps the more plausible scenario would be Philly sitting on its hands and waiting it out, not altering Embiid’s minutes at all, losing some more games than anticipated early in the season, and making a trade when the NBA calendar is more trade-friendly.  Are you willing to sacrifice your playoff seeding for this, Sixers fans?

Maybe the better question is, do the Sixers even have a choice here? This is where whiffing on Johni Broome, and Adem Bona not developing into anything more than he already is become particularly costly. Yes, those two players were recent second-round picks by the Sixers, and on some level all second-rounders are lottery tickets, but it’s also not impractical to want your second-rounders to become serviceable bench players.

If you’re unhappy with the status quo behind Embiid at the moment, maybe your only hope is that whenever Dominick Barlow gets healthy, he can be a functional small-ball 5. But again, is that a tenable option behind Embiid for what would be about 15-20 games at the bare minimum before more frontcourt help was brought in?

Philadelphia has not shot the ball very well from the three-point line to start the season. That could always be a remedy here as well. If the Sixers can have some lights-out shooting games, they won’t need a paint presence for the minutes Embiid isn’t available. Sure, maybe they’ll allow opposing centers to have big nights inside, but any team would trade 2s on defense for 3s on offense.

On some level, it feels like we’re just spit balling a bunch of scenarios and coping mechanisms here because it’s all we can do as we go through another season in which we’re routinely wondering what’s going to happen when Embiid isn’t on the floor. 

It is interesting how much the narrative has ballooned up and down surrounding Embiid in the last 2-3 years. A little over one week before he suffered a brutal knee injury in January 2024, Embiid had a 70-point game against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. He came back from the knee injury and had a 50-point playoff game against the Knicks that spring. Then he won a gold medal in the Olympics only to have the knee injury plague him for all of the 2024-25 season. Just when it looked like he was becoming one of the worst contracts in the NBA, he went off against the Celtics in the 2026 postseason. We’re now again talking about how much he is missed when he’s not on the court again.

Sadly, it hasn’t seemed to matter who is running basketball operations for the Sixers or who the head coach is. The same problems come up regarding frontcourt depth behind Embiid. Right now, it doesn’t seem like there are any buttons for Gansey to push. Anything you get from Tacko Fall or other players you could bring in on two-way deals is a hope and a prayer.

But at this point, it looks like that’s all they can do until the middle of December.

A hangover can be a sobering experience. A lot of people know that. One moment you are on top of the world, the life of the party, drinking and dancing in the middle of a crowd to a song that seemed like it was written just for you. And then all of a sudden you wake up and feel like a reborn “Night Train” Lane is using your head as a tackling dummy. That upcoming brunch with the not-so-close relatives doesn’t seem that enticing anymore, does it?

You might have heard that your beloved New York Knicks are dealing with something similar these days. They sure have been told once or twice. Actually, if they could get a dollar for every time someone brought up the famous movie title in relation to their recent basketball exploits, they might soon be able to play for good ol’ Jimmy for free. That’s what you get for starting your title defense with no wins in three games: you will hear about it. With that said, some Knickerbockers definitely have it a little worse than others.

While the main crew is stumbling through the club and trying to dissect the poor-tasting regular beverage of a long, grinding season, one of last year’s heroes hasn’t even been invited back to the party yet. What it is exactly that’s keeping Mohamed Diawara on the pine is anybody’s guess, but there surely is something that doesn’t sit well with head coach Mike Brown. It’s not the sneakers or the baggy shorts, so much we can say.

No minutes so far for Mohamed Diawara

It seems as if Diawara really hasn’t fully recovered from hitting the rookie wall late last season—both physically and mentally. After surprising everybody by clearly outperforming his late draft status, he got lost in the shuffle later in the year. As his earlier unwavering confidence wavered, he more often than not looked like a shaken gallic rooster in the headlights. With every subpar outing, it seemed to creep deeper into Mo’s head, as he looked visibly frustrated at times. But even if he wasn’t part of the playoff rotation, many in Knickland were still confident that the guy who locked up Jaylen Brown in Boston and drilled triples in Wemby’s face at the Garden would have a significantly bigger role going forward. The Knicks apparently agreed, giving him a new four-year contract in June.

So far these expectations haven’t been met. Like at all. An injury-shortened, bad summer league and an average-at-best preseason didn’t exactly get the hype TGV rolling again. Physically, Diawara certainly looks bigger, but transforming your body can be quite a challenge for a young player, especially when the added pounds take away from the nimble movement skills you once possessed. Judging by the few glimpses we got of Mo in the summer, it seemed that he wasn’t exactly confident in his new skin yet as a player. Understandable but unfortunate nonetheless.

What makes his stagnating development especially frustrating for New York is that the young Frenchman, in theory, is exactly the type of talent their roster could use right now and going forward. Outside of their starters OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, the Bockers really do not have any long wings at their disposal, and it becomes an even more glaring circumstance when you consider that their lineup features a lot of smaller guards to begin with.

Diawara could improve Knicks’ balance

The Knicks worked around it admirably during last year’s playoff run, even if it didn’t make sense at times. Three-guard lineups with Jalen Brunson and Jose Alvarado somehow worked against a vaunted Spurs defense in the Finals, Landry Shamet turned into some super sub on his minimum deal, Jordan Clarkson impersonated Dennis Rodman off the bench, and no Knick ever really got exposed physically that much. It was awesome to see, but somehow it also felt like the stars aligned just right for a play here, a game there, then even a series and a run. Matchups favored the Knicks and they managed to hide their shortcomings perfectly at just the right time.

But can all of that happen again? Can we trust the rather smallish roster to hold up for another year without opponents finding the obvious problems with it? It might, but having a better balance on the depth chart would also be a welcome sight. Championship teams often struggle when they just do the things they did a year ago and expect things to also just go exactly the same. In terms of a roster and a team, you need a certain level of disruption, some new impulses to keep the group humming, interested. C’est peut-être Monsieur Diawara pour les Knicks de New York.

Diawara can push the vets in front of him a little bit, and he could challenge their inner mentor. Some veterans tend to be more engaged when they have younger guys looking up to them, guys that force them to be role models in practice and on the court. I’m sure our beloved and extremely professional Knicks aren’t slacking in that regard, but if a youngster is out there in the real games with them, there is certainly another dimension that could make them focus a bit more themselves.

Make no mistake about it: Mo Diawara has to earn his minutes. He has to be a gain, not a distraction. Limited history suggests, though, that if the Knicks are serious about his development, they might want to try him rather sooner than later with their regular rotation. Diawara has always looked like a guy who thrives with better teammates, carving out and excelling in a limited role as a defensive, three-point-shooting specialist. The gained confidence from another opportunity could unlock him again and send him back in the right direction. Which in turn would be a win for the entire team. For all the hope that Mo might expand his game immediately after his rookie year, he and his trainers might have jumped a step or two, who knows. That doesn’t change the fact that he is a player who might add something the team lacks right now.

You don’t have to let him run the bar immediately. But a little time on the dancefloor, maybe a song or two, could be a good idea. At least we could see if he still has some moves.

Philadelphia 76ers star Jaylen Brown’s representatives have forcefully denied recent reports claiming that Brown demanded a trade from his former team, the Boston Celtics, telling ESPN that such rumors are "10000% a lie."

The clarification from Brown’s camp to ESPN came in response to comments made by former NBA player and current NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine, who claimed that Brown had not only requested a trade from Boston, but also presented the team with a list of demands and expressed interest in being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brown’s representatives emphasized that he never asked to be traded to the Bucks, nor did he submit any list of demands.

LeBron Log No. 2: Sixers firsts, Philly kicks and a night at center originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LeBron James has played more NBA seasons than some of his teammates have been alive. Philadelphia still managed to give him a week full of firsts.

Over six days, James made his first regular-season start as a Sixer, scored his first points, played his first regular-season home game, recorded his first double-double with the team, sat out for the first time, started at center and experienced his first loss.

Not every first deserves a plaque. Together, they made for a busy opening chapter.

Welcome to the second edition of the LeBron Log.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

James’ first assist as a Sixer also produced Jaylen Brown’s first points with the team.

With 8:58 remaining in the first quarter against the Knicks, James found Brown cutting to the basket for a layup. Joel Embiid returned the favor later in the quarter, finding James inside for his first Philadelphia points.

Brown assisted James’ first Sixers dunk early in the third quarter. James finished the alley-oop to tie the game at 58 and helped Philadelphia turn a four-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead entering the fourth.

James finished his debut with 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. More importantly, the Sixers left Madison Square Garden with a 106-100 win after watching the Knicks raise their championship banner.

Two nights later, James’ first shot in his first regular-season home game became his first three-pointer as a Sixer. VJ Edgecombe found him on the left wing for a 27-footer that gave Philadelphia an early lead over Cleveland.

The evening became far more memorable from there.

James recorded his first Sixers double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Philadelphia erased a 29-point deficit for the largest comeback win of James’ career and the franchise’s largest in the play-by-play era, which dates to 1996-97.

He also received his first complete introduction to the Philadelphia crowd. The Sixers were booed into halftime and cheered off the floor after their 114-106 win.

“We got the boos,” James said. “That was amazing, and we deserved it.”

His daughter Zhuri celebrated her 12th birthday courtside, while his mother was also in attendance.

It was quite a first night at home.

ONE RED, ONE BLUE

James began his Sixers career at Madison Square Garden wearing a purple-blue Nike LeBron 24 player-exclusive with iridescent branding.

The inspiration behind the colorway has not been revealed. House of Heat reported that the shoe could be tied to one of the five themes behind the LeBron 24 line: wonder, family, fear, luck or discovery.

For his home debut, James went with something unmistakably Philadelphia.

He wore a red Nike LeBron 24 on his left foot and a blue one on his right. The mismatched “Philly” edition featured a textured knit upper, metallic lace hardware and James’ crown logo on the tongue.

Only 76 pairs were released, a nod to his new team. They were made available through James’ Welcome to Philly pop-up, which ran from Oct. 20 through Oct. 22 at 901 Market East.

James did not have to choose between the Sixers’ two primary colors. He wore one of each.

CENTER, FOR NOW

James sat out Saturday’s win over Milwaukee as the Sixers managed the lower-back pain and sciatica that has followed him since last season.

He returned Sunday to find a very different assignment waiting for him.

Embiid was unavailable for the second half of the back-to-back. Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and Tacko Fall were also sidelined, leaving the Sixers short on frontcourt options against Detroit.

For only the 15th time in his career, James started at center. It was his first start at the position since the 2021-22 season.

James won the opening tip against former Sixer Paul Reed and scored 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting. He added five assists and two rebounds in Philadelphia’s 106-93 loss.

Do not expect the experiment to become permanent.

“Well, s—, we got an MVP over there,” James said. “I’m not here to have a sustainable role at the five.”

The Sixers were outrebounded 54-37 and surrendered 24 second-chance points. When James was asked how the team could improve on the glass, he borrowed an answer from former Lakers teammate Taurean Prince.

Prince happened to be sitting on Detroit’s bench Sunday. His blunt explanation of rebounding after Baylor’s 2016 NCAA Tournament loss to Yale remains one of college basketball’s great press-conference clips.

“In the great words of Taurean Prince, who I saw tonight on the bench, a good friend of mine, the ball goes up into the air, and then you go grab the ball,” James said.

Adem Bona did much of the traditional work at the position. He grabbed 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, in a season-high 25 minutes.

“I thought he was amazing tonight,” James said. “His energy, his effort.”

James can play center when the Sixers need him there. He also made it clear that he did not come to Philadelphia to take Embiid’s job.

“HE CAN BUY ME A NEW NOSE”

James and Edgecombe connected for the former’s first home basket. Their next notable connection did not work out as well.

During the third quarter against Cleveland, the two went after a missed Jarrett Allen free throw. James inadvertently caught Edgecombe across the face with his elbow, leaving the 21-year-old guard with a bloody nose.

Edgecombe remained in the game with cotton in his nostril and helped the Sixers finish their comeback.

After the game, he was able to joke about the friendly fire.

“It’s nothing bad,” Edgecombe said. “But if it was, he can buy me a new nose.”

Three games into James’ Sixers career, the partnership has already produced points, a comeback win and a potential medical bill.

With the Mavericks floating around .500 and Cooper Flagg establishing his place as one of the league’s young superstars, I find myself quoting the first John Wick movie as the Mavericks head home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

It’s been a tumultuous 20 months to be a Dallas Mavericks fan. We’ve gone through the worst trade in league history, seen a GM get fired, switched out head coaches, traded away most of the roster that led the team to the 2024 NBA Finals, and control just one first round pick in the next five NBA Drafts.

Yet, after Monday’s 113-109 win in Miami, I’m feeling like Keanu Reaves.

“People keep asking if I’m back and I haven’t really had an answer, but now yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.”

Dallas now sits at 2-2, having beaten Indiana and Miami on the road, while suffering losses to San Antonio and Houston. Heading into the year, I would’ve prayed for a 1-3 start and if you had told me Flagg would’ve been out for a game and a half and Kyrie Irving would be sitting the second night of a back-to-back, I’d have braced for 0-4.

But there’s just something about this Mavericks team.

“Our guys simply made big, big plays and big shots at the end,” first-year head coach Dusty May said in his postgame comments on Monday. “It’s a lot of fun when your two superstars are as unselfish as [Flagg and Irving] are, and they show as much grace as they bring along these younger players. It’s been fun to be a part of and see it so far. Obviously a long way to go, but this is a very, very good win for our team.”

After a disappointing season-opening loss, Dallas has shown bright spots in three straight games and kept a game against the defending Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs close for three and a half quarters without its two best players — Flagg and Irving. They’ve earned two road wins over key Eastern Conference opponents that hope to make deep runs after disappointing 2025 campaigns.

Flagg has been exceptional. His per game stats won’t tell the entire story since he missed half of one of his three games following a controversial foul by Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith that forced him to miss a game and a half, but even with that caveat, the 19-year-old is averaging 25 points per game on 57% shooting. He has 11 steals and five blocks in three games and his playmaking has taken another leap, averaging over six and a half assists a night.

While Flagg’s ascension will get most of the attention — and he’s owed that respect — it’s the rest of the team that gives me hope that Dallas could defy expectations this year and maybe even make it to the playoffs.

Walter Clayton Jr., who was signed the day of the Mavericks’ first game in Houston, has been a perfect fit for this team. He scored 15 points in 17 minutes in Dallas’ win over Miami and was a team-best +22 in those minutes. He’s giving Flagg and the Mavericks an outlet when drives to the basket stall or when someone loses their dribble and has to reset.

Zaccharie Risacher has also made an impact. While his shot may not be falling, his defensive impact cannot be ignored. He led the league in stocks (steals + blocks per game) going into Monday’s game, only to be passed by Flagg and a couple others during the night’s action, and Risacher’s block of Davion Mitchell’s layup sealed the win Monday. He’s not the No. 1 overall pick Atlanta wanted two years ago, but Dallas doesn’t need him to be that and he’s filling into his role beautifully and helping Dallas stay competitive.

P.J. Washington is as steady as ever, averaging over 15 points and seven boards a night while bringing the defensive toughness that helped this team reach the Finals two years ago. Daniel Gafford is ready to go to war every night and his physical play in Monday’s game energized Dallas in moments where they may have folded last season.

It’s not a perfect team, and there are still moments that make me want to tear my hair out — like a 30-17 fourth quarter against the Spurs or a 38-12 second quarter against the Rockets or having to come back from a double-digit deficit twice in one game because Dallas’ concentration lulled after the first comeback — but this is a young team and they’re going to make some dumb mistakes. They’re going to have lapses, and some games are going to get ugly because of them.

But the signs of life this team has shown in the first week of the season have me hopeful. Hopeful that we might just have something cooking in Big D for the first time in three seasons, and that the pain of the last two seasons can be forgotten with a young team that never gives up.

I can’t tell you how many games Dallas will win this year, but I can promise you this: it’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch.

Monday, October 26th was a disastrous day for Utah Jazz big men. Before gametime, Jaxson Hayes was ruled out due to right shoulder soreness. In the first quarter, Lauri Markkanen suffered a nasty wrist injury on his shooting hand, and he staggered back towards the locker room. Not too long after that, Jaren Jackson Jr. sustained a right knee injury after Ty Jerome stumbled into his leg – if the tweet found below correctly reads coach Hardy’s lips, this could keep Trip out for a long time.

So, with 4 separate 7 footers now riding the bench with injury (Nurkic was looking classy as usual), where does the coaching staff turn for big man production? Surely, surely this would be the time for Kyle Filipowski, 3 year Jazzman with thousands of prime developmental minutes under his belt, to step up and show that all of the priority placed on his improvement since the 2024 draft was wisely spent. This would be that magical moment where Flip proves to all that his stats were not empty and his skills not gimmicky. In the face of necessity, Filipowski stands ready.

Instead, this quickly became the Mo Bamba game. And it was fun! He blocked shots, ran the court hard, and climbed Mount Edey in a way I’ve never before seen. Our defense was struggling, so I get it – Hardy wanted an anchor down low, and Bamba fits that archetype better than Filipowski does. However, Bamba was not the only bench big to get the call-up in the second half; Tony Bradley also reacquainted himself with Jazz fans, to the tune of one of the worst 5 minute stretches of basketball I can remember.

Ultimately, in a game where the Jazz were lacking some serious size in the frontcourt, Kyle Filipowski only played 8 minutes. Last season, he started half of the season’s games, and played nearly half of the 48 minutes of each game. And he showed us something! He was a really solid defensive rebounder, and his passing from the top-of-the-key was the perfect fit for Hardy’s offense. Of the bench youngsters at the end of last season (Collier, Flip, Cody, and Brice), Filipowski was the one that I was most confident would be a winning NBA player in our first non-tanking season (even if I preferred Brice in the long run). He needed to be able to eat minutes for our bench lineups to make sense.

Throughout the first 4 games, however, we have not been so lucky. Filipowski has flashed nothing so far. The rim protection has not taken the leap that many were (perhaps irrationally) hoping, and it seems that some added weight over the offseason has prevented Flip from playing any meaningful minutes at the power forward spot. On offense, he has been completely invisible. He is shooting 1 for 6 from the field across 3 games (DNP against the Lakers), with zero assists and zero offensive rebounds. On both ends of the court, he has been floating, and it seems that Hardy has noticed and cut his playing time accordingly.

Now, I want to give Filipowski the benefit of the doubt and offer an alternative theory. While training during the Summer, Flip suffered a herniated disk in his back which kept him out of most of the Jazz’s preseason contests. Could this disappointment be attributed to rust or justifiably poor conditioning? Has his flexibility been hampered by the remaining effects of his injury? Will Flip be playing more minutes, more effectively in a few weeks when he is completely recovered? I do not know the answer to any of these questions, but the uncertain nature of his injury leaves room for Filipowski to be an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

The insult to this injury is just how well an actualized Filipowski would fit with this team. The Jazz are currently lacking playmaking, especially in the frontcourt with Jusuf Nurkic out. If we could go back to a dribble hand off, top of the key offense, we’d take some of the pressure off of Isaiah Collier which has led to him being one of the worst watches in the league so far. Flip has been able to function this way his entire basketball career up until this season, and he chose the wrong time to lose this superpower. Additionally, one of the lineups I was most looking forward to were the JJJ+Flip combos – their strengths and weaknesses complement each other in a way that I thought would unlock the funkiness of Kyle’s game. However, if Flip has meaningfully lost aggression/flexibility/touch, then even that synergy with Jaren isn’t enough to get him consistently onto the court. In an ideal world, that doesn’t seem to me to be too unrealistic, this very well could’ve been the best year of Filipowski’s career.

So, what should we be looking for as we track Flip’s journey back up to his old production? First, he needs to understand his role in Hardy’s offense. Currently, it seems that no one really understands their role in Hardy’s offense, so this may come in time. But, even if confusion persists and Flip doesn’t become a top-of-the-key playmaking hub, he still must find ways to make his presence felt on offense. Crashing the glass, setting hard screens, quick decision making: every scheme requires these things, and even if Hardy’s isn’t quite getting implemented right now, Flip would certainly be a much more beneficial offensive player if he solidified the little things. Additionally, picking up his defensive rebounding would be a huge sign of life for the young big man. He’s snagged 2 rebounds in 3 games, and for a team lacking consistent boardmen, this is unacceptable. Flip is not only a good rebounder, but he’s a good passer too – some of our offensive struggles in the first few games could be mitigated with more semi-transition attempts, which may be borne with some solid outlet passing. These are not big changes that Flip needs to make, but they provide a base level of value, even if the shot isn’t falling.

Jaren may be out for a long time, and who knows how long Lauri will be sitting on the bench next to him. Hayes will come back soon, and Nurkic won’t be too far behind, but as long as 7 footers are healing up, there is a hole that Filipowski can fill. More than ever, this team needs Kyle to prove that the last two years weren’t flukes, or the product of tanking teams, because if he doesn’t, Tony Bradley might just end up bear-hugging opposing defenders again, for no discernible reason. The Utah Jazz need Kyle Filipowski to play well, and as Kyle nears second contract negotiation time, he may very well need that too, if his goal is to stick around the league for more than a cup of coffee.

How have you felt watching Filipowski thus far? Sound off below!

A team needs to have standards.

That was the idea running through my mind when I heard that Kevin Porter Jr. was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this week. In the last, disastrous season for Cream City, Porter averaged more than 17 points and seven assists, with more than two steals per night. While his efficiency wasn’t fantastic, his production was undeniable, and under usual circumstances, he would have been an ideal acquisition for a number of teams, including the Toronto Raptors.

But with KPJ, circumstances are far from normal.

Serious legal problems

The guard’s documented history of violence has already sent him out of the league in a previous stint. As early as 2022, there were already “ongoing concerns about volatility,” said Nate, over at our sister site, Brew Hoop. He continued to describe Porter Jr.’s legal troubles that resulted in felony charges as a result of accused domestic abuse.

The circumstances of the case are murky, as his partner at the time, Kysre Gondrezick, is alleged by police to have told the authorities that she had been struck in the face multiple times to the point of bleeding, as well as been a victim of strangulation by Porter Jr. An ABC report pointed to a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney alleging a pattern of abuse in the relationship.

However, Gondrezick had come out and denied that any such attack had taken place in an interview with the New York Post. Porter Jr. ended up accepting a plea deal where he accepted responsibility for misdemeanour assault and harassment.

The circumstances resulted in Porter Jr. being traded and waived, before eventually making his way back into the league, ending up on the Los Angeles Clippers and eventually the Milwaukee Bucks. The PG was waived by a team that had a number of other standout guards, namely, recent acquisition Tyler Herro, and Ryan Rollins.

Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins called the waiver a “very difficult decision” made to support other guards on the team, but spoke positively about Porter Jr, in a clip shared by journalist Cameron Ezeir.

However, there was been very little discussion about where exactly a player of his calibre might end up since his departure from the team, which, as aforementioned, would be unusual without being coupled to the point guard’s apparent history of disgraceful personal conduct.

Why the Toronto fit wouldn’t work

Some Toronto Raptors fans have been clamouring for a change at point guard, displeased with Immanuel Quickley in the role. However, it should be undoubtedly clear based on two waivers thus far, that regardless of what he does on the hardwood, Kevin Porter Jr. should not be on any Toronto fan’s wishlist for the roster.

The Raptors’ strength is in large part based on locker room cohesion, and an absence of tension. The Raps are not in the business of managing problem players, and someone like Kevin Porter Jr. has demonstrated himself to be exactly that, even in his earliest days on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Porter Jr. could be a massive disruptor of chemistry, and after his very public legal battle, has demonstrated himself unfit to play for any team, let alone the Toronto Raptors.

Fans and front office alike will be testing the waters this year for new additions to the Raptors as they make a playoff push, but regardless of how dire the circumstances get, Kevin Porter Jr. is not the answer to anyone’s problems.

As you watch the Phoenix Suns play basketball against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that is severely undermanned, a situation that became even worse when Alex Caruso went down with an ankle injury in the first half, your natural inclination is to ask who’s to blame. Which player isn’t playing up to expectations? Is it the Miles Bridges trade and the impact it’s had on both ends of the floor? Is it Devin Booker failing to elevate his game to the level Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was playing at on the opposing side before he got into foul trouble? Is it the bench? Is it the injuries?

Surely, somebody has to be to blame. Somebody has to be the reason this team is struggling against a Thunder squad that’s quite literally limping through the game. But why does it always have to be someone? Why do we feel the need to point a finger at an individual and declare, “Yeah, that’s the reason why!” Because it gives us the justification to follow it up with, “Yeah, that’s the guy who needs to go!”?

In the case of the Phoenix Suns, it’s a collective issue. I don’t think there’s one sole culprit responsible for the poor basketball we’ve witnessed through the first three games of the season. While continuity exists in theory, connectivity is clearly missing at this extremely early stage of the season, and we witnessed it again Monday night in Oklahoma City.

The offensive sets aren’t crisp, and their execution leaves plenty to be desired. But defensively, the Suns collectively have a real problem. They allowed players like Ajay Mitchell to attack the lane at will, converting layup after layup. And don’t get me wrong, Mitchell is a skilled player. With the injuries Oklahoma City is dealing with, he could very well be someone who takes a significant leap this season. But Phoenix’s inability to contain his drives was troublesome.

Combine that with another night of ineffective rebounding (they lost that battle 48-38), and you have a team that seemingly can’t get out of its own way. Whenever the offense sputters, the defense can’t prevent the opposition from going on runs. Teams can knife into the lane for easy points while taking chances from beyond the arc, knowing that even if those shots don’t fall, there’s a good chance they’ll get another opportunity courtesy of an offensive rebound.

That’s why you can’t point the finger at one person. The problems we’re seeing aren’t isolated. They’re interconnected. Poor communication leads to defensive breakdowns. Defensive breakdowns expose rebounding deficiencies. Those extra possessions put additional pressure on an offense that’s still trying to figure itself out. And suddenly, everybody looks worse than they actually are. Three games into the season, the Suns don’t need a scapegoat. They need accountability across the roster, better execution, and a collective understanding of what winning basketball requires. Because pointing fingers won’t fix what five guys have to solve together.

Bright Side Baller Standings

There are some nights when you know early on that Devin Booker is going to take over a basketball game. Against the Warriors, that was evident from the jump. Booker poured in 43 points, the most ever scored by a Phoenix Suns player in a home opener. Another record for a guy who seems determined to rewrite the franchise record books one page at a time.

Naturally, he dominated the Bright Side Baller voting, earning 85% of the total vote. A landslide victory, and deservedly so. Shoutout to the three people who still thought Mariah Carey was better.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 3 against the Thunder. Here are your nominees:

Jalen Green
20 points (8-of-13, 1-of-3 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, -10 +/-

Dillon Brooks
19 points (4-of-14, 3-of-10 3PT), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 0 turnovers, -12 +/-

Miles Bridges
17 points (7-of-17, 2-of-10 3PT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -17 +/-

Jordan Goodwin
12 points (4-of-9, 4-of-8 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, -10 +/-

Khaman Maluach
12 points (5-of-10, 0-of-1 3PT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, -2 +/-

Luke Kennard
9 points (3-of-5, 3-of-5 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, -6 +/-

Hear ye, hear ye! Cast ye votes here, ye!

Sometimes life immitates art — so they say.

I recently finished NBC/Peacock’s Crystal Lake series. Great watch. The premiere season follows Pamela Voorhees as she grieves the supposed loss of her son whose body was never found after he drowned at summer camp. Without spoiling too much, Pam, progressively pushes boundaries of what she’ll do to bring the boy home, or to at least avenge the loss.

It reminds me a lot of what we’re seeing with Jaylen Brown.

It’s a sad spiral to watch. A largely sympathetic character repeatedly does what they can to fumble away the benefit of the doubt.

All over someone named Ja(y)son, nonetheless.

You’d have to be living under the rock to have missed this past weekend’s exchange of words between the two former Celtics teammates and NBA champions.

In short, Jayson Tatum posted a summer docuseries episode where he claimed to have known nothing of the eventual blockbuster that sent Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers. Brown called “cap” (or BS) publicly in an Instagram comment.

Tatum addressed the not-so-subtle jab after Boston’s win over the New York Knicks on Friday. He insisted there was no beef. A day later, Brown agreed, but said there might be some “lamb chops and gravy” and that Tatum should “stay ready at all times.”

Then, NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine went on his Starting Lineup show on Sirius XM and shared details from the final months of No. 7’s time with the Cs, saying that Brown had a list of demands he wanted the organization to meet and if they didn’t, he wanted to be traded.

Brown’s camp refuted the report and Scal walked back some of what he said during Monday’s pregame show.

Nonetheless, the damage was already done and you’ll never guess how the fanbase reacted.

Those who were already only tolerating Brown while he was still wearing the green and white pounced on the opportunity to smear him and took their repsective victory laps online. I’m not going to link a bunch of tweets here, but trust me, it’s not hard to find it.

The speed in which a large majority of the fanbase has turned its back on JB is dissappointing. He’s undeniably one of the great players in the franchise’s storied history and will likely be the last to ever wear No. 7 (unless this gets brutally ugly).

It’s been less than four months since the trade and his status in the Celtics community has already plummetted. But regardless of how you feel about it, Brown won an NBA Finals MVP here. He played an undeniable role in one of the winningest eras in franchise history (in terms of winning percentage). Plus, JB embedded himself in the Boston community with his 7uice Foundation.

He also, at least partly, did this to himself.

I’m not trying to pick sides here, and frankly probably still land pro-Jaylen, but I also dont’ think Scal is just making things up. He might’ve misspoke and inadvertently suggested that there was a trade request, but there has to be some truth mixed in there.

Is that truth justified?

Maybe. It depends what the alleged demands were. If Brown wanted the organization to favor him over Tatum, really in any way but specifically in some sort of “me or him” scenario, then he was out of bounds.

We’ll probably never know what they were, but it’s safe to assume it wasn’t something small.

Then, of course, the Twitch stream following Boston’s playoff elimination didn’t sit well with anyone. Brown reitterated that he was proud of his teammates (as he should’ve been with the low expectations publicly put on the group ahead of the season), and that the 2025-26 season was his favorite of his 10-year career.

Mind you, the Celtics won a title two years ago in which he was Finals MVP.

So now, we’re looking at a formerly beloved player now playing for a rival team and a fanbase that is willing to go to war for Tatum, who still wears the uniform and is the undisputed face of the franchise. The unstoppable force will meet the immovable object on Jan. 21, when Brown makes his regular-season return to TD Garden.

When the NBA released its schedule back in August, fans circled that date imagining a celebration of a tremendous 10 years. Now it’s tough to know what to expect. For all we know, Brown’s name might be met with 18,000+ boos when it’s called along with the rest of Phildelphia’s starters.

The worst part is that it’s tough to even say what’s appropriate at this point. Brown hasn’t been shy about the bitterness he feels towards both the Celtics and Tatum. That bitterness, though, comes from one of two places: ego or betrayal (it’s probably a mix of both).

Regardless, a nasty reunion is going to be a bad look for everyone involved. Of course, JB will look foolish or egotistical for burning bridges in Boston. The fans would come across as ungrateful — not the best message for any future potential Celtics.

Who knows what the story will be by then, though. We’re still three-ish months away. There’s plenty of time for more drama and back-and-forth. For now it just feels icky.

After a few false starts, the Bucks finally got their first regular-season win last night, beating the Indiana Pacers 110-102. The team had been building toward a win, but minor mistakes were costing them dearly. However, in this game, they put those lessons to good use and stayed in it long enough to outlast the weary Pacers, who were down two starters (Ivica Zubac and Andrew Nembhard) and on the second night of a back-to-back. Read our full summary of the game here.

Player Grades

Ryan Rollins

31 minutes, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 4 PF, 7/14 FG, 3/7 3P, +10

Rollins keeps building. I loved that he never took a backwards step to the trash-talking Haliburton. Rollins had a great first half, going 4/7 and 3/4 from deep. He tailed off a bit in the second half but made key plays late to seal the Bucks’ win.

Grade: C+

Tyler Herro

32 minutes, 23 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 turnovers, 7/14 FG, 3/6 3P, +1

Back to regular programming for Herro, who started slow but built as the game went on, culminating in an 11-point third quarter (when the team desperately needed it). He seemed to make a point of rebounding and kickstarting the transition offence himself. Obviously, as long as Herro is aggressive, he’ll draw attention and open up shooters, but racking up those stats while only committing two turnovers was maybe the most impressive part. That said, Herro did space out a few times off the ball on some really basic actions; a simple flare screen for Aaron Nesmith had him lost.

Grade: A-

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

24 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4/13 FG, 0/4 3P , -1

This was Jaquez’s first bad game of the year, a real come-down-to-earth performance. Nothing seemed to be working for him, and I’m not sure there’s much more to it. Jaquez wasn’t detrimental to the team or anything; it just wasn’t his night.

Grade: D

Kyle Kuzma

29 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 6/10 FG, 4/6 3P, 0

Man, this was a funny game for Kuzma because, I’d say, 90% of his output was positive; he obviously made key threes to keep the team in it (plus hit the dagger at the end), and his shooting overall was very efficient. Plus, Kuz impacted in other areas of the game while keeping his turnovers to a minimum. However, there were still those 2-4 plays we seem to see every game from Kuzma that make you want to pull your hair out. Namely, him apparently being unable to throw a simple kick-ahead pass to a teammate streaking in for the layup. Or, better yet, when he ran into Jaime Jaquez as Jaquez tried to finish off Turner’s lob late in the game.

Grade: B+

Myles Turner

28 minutes, 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers, 2/7 FG, 0/3 3P, +14

Without troubling the scoreboard much—which does need to change—Turner was impactful. Obviously, everyone will point to those back-to-back blocks in the fourth quarter, but he also had two key blocks in the first half. Turner was also huge on the boards, with three of his nine rebounds being offensive. I thought he played a good game that the stat sheet won’t fully reflect. Don’t get me wrong, Turner still had a few iffy plays, and I’d like him to let it fly more than he has been, but it was still a really solid outing for the big man.

Grade: B

Kel’el Ware

19 minutes, 16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 7/13 FG, 0/4 3P, -5

First off, what a funny stat line for Ware: shot 13 times in just 19 minutes, LOL. Jokes aside, another great game for the big man, who, like Turner, made a major impact as a rebounder (five of his 14 rebounds of the offensive variety). Overall, he’s just looked much more engaged in the last two games, which has been great to see. I also want to mention that Ware is giving the Bucks a legit vertical spacer like they haven’t had in a few years (maybe Giannis, but even he wasn’t really a consistent lob threat, per se). Like, you can legit throw it up anywhere near the rim, and Ware will cram that sucker in. Oh, and he shoots threes. Just. Needs. To. Put. It. All. Together.

Grade: B

Kasparas Jakucionis

21 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2/4 FG, 1/3 3P, -1

I sound like a broken record, but Jakucionis just comes in and plays solid on both ends. KJ has got great chemistry with Kel’el Ware in particular, and his ability to pass with both hands opens up so many angles. I mean, that left-handed wraparound pass to Ware was sick (see Bonus Bucks Bits).

Grade: B

Brayden Burries

16 minutes, 4 points, 2/5 FG, 0/2 3P, +6

Burries couldn’t find much offensive rhythm, but I thought he had some great defensive possessions guarding Haliburton in the pick-and-roll. More specifically, Haliburton likes to put his man “in jail” on pick-and-rolls, meaning he comes off the screen and then slows down to keep his man on his back (“in jail”). What Burries did well was pushing back, changing angles, etc., so Haliburton couldn’t get comfortable.

Grade: C

AJ Green

20 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1/6 FG, 1/6 3P, +5

This wasn’t Green’s night from a shooting perspective, but he made some nice playmaking reads, most notably his dime to Ament in open court for the dunk. Green let the numbers advantage tell him who was open, then zipped it inside to the rookie.

Grade: C-

Nate Ament

13 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 PF, 3/8 FG, 1/2 3P, +12

It was a rough first stint for Ament—who looked frazzled and rushed—and when Jenkins went to Ousmane Dieng for what would have been Ament’s second-quarter minutes, I wasn’t sure he’d get back on. However, Jenkins did go back to Ament in the second half and he looked considerably more comfortable, making better reads and running the floor hard; you could almost see the weight come off his shoulders as that first field goal went down. Crucially, Ament got only one foul and had some really solid possessions guarding Pascal Siakam. As I’ve said previously, Ament has all the tools to be a solid wing defender; he just needs to figure out how to use them.

Grade: C+

Taylor Jenkins

Jenkins finally got the team to play closer to a four-quarter effort last night, and it resulted in a great win. I thought the decision to close with Turner was smart, even though his offensive contributions were limited, because they needed a sturdier presence inside. Additionally, I liked Jenkins’ choice to close with a three-guard front of Herro, Rollins, and Jakucionis, which gave them more ball-handling to attack the pressing Pacers defence. Finally, he has clearly been working behind the scenes to get his guys to limit turnovers, and it paid off against Indiana, with the team throwing it away only 11 times—we’ll see if that continues. Great game.

Grade: B+

Limited minutes: Ousmane Dieng

DNP-CD: Caris LeVert, Bogoljub Markovic, Jericho Sims, Gary Trent Jr.

Inactive: Kam Jones, Cormac Ryan, Pete Nance

What We Learnt

Jenkins has talked a lot about defensive intensity—which has become a bit of a buzz term, frankly—but the fourth quarter showed exactly what he wanted. The way the Bucks guarded the ball, talked, and helped the helper was great to see. Now that they know what it looks like, hopefully they can recreate that moving forward.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• “We’ve been close,” Jenkins said. “Great execution down the stretch—timely shots, timely blocks, timely rebounds… We talked about owning the pace and owning the paint. I thought we did that in spurts in the first half, and did it way more in the second half. Still more to clean up, but really proud of the group.”
• Check out the postgame celebration:

• Once again, the Bucks won the paint battle (50-48); they also won bench points (37-32).
• Milwaukee had seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
• It was great to see Nate and Brayden get a long stretch on the court from late in the third to the middle of the fourth. Both stayed in the game and contributed to the decisive 17-4 run during that span.
• Minor note on Nate Ament: less is more at this stage of his career. Not sure whether it was because he wanted to get his first basket out of the way, but he was very focused on getting his own in the first half. In the second half, everything flowed more easily because, by and large, Ament let the game come to him.
• As Terrapin Revisited noted in the Rapid Recap comments, Fiserv did look pretty empty. I hope that was mostly because the Brewers were playing.
• The aforementioned wraparound pass from Jakucionis:

Up Next

The Bucks are back at home on Wednesday to host the Houston Rockets. Watch at 7:00 p.m. CDT on MY24.

INDIANAPOLIS — The needle drop hit in the Indiana Pacers’ starting lineup announcement, and the chorus of the “Welcome Back, Kotter” theme song played just long enough for the fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to fill their lungs with air for what was coming next. The audio flipped again to 50 Cent’s “Many Men,” and Tyrese Haliburton ran out for the home fans for the first time since he tore his Achilles in June 2025, though you couldn’t hear his name over the deafening sound of 17,000 people screaming in unison.

Unfortunately for the home crowd, that was the last time they really got to roar. By the second quarter, the only noise coming from the fans was boos condemning the Pacers for a totally flat performance in a game that was so eagerly anticipated for so long.

The Dallas Mavericks routed Indiana from the start, dropping 44 first quarter points on their way to a 37-point first half lead. The Pacers would rally back a bit in the second half after 19-year-old Dallas star Cooper Flagg exited the game with a shoulder injury, but this was a premium example of a game not being as close as the 16-point final margin would indicate.

“It was one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen here,” head coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss to Dallas. “But a great crowd doesn’t guarantee you anything if you don’t compete the way you need to compete.”

The Pacers needed a big fourth quarter comeback to win their opener against an uninspiring New Orleans Pelicans game a few days earlier. A few days later, the Pacers fully looked like the blitzkrieg offense we expected as they trounced the Nets in Brooklyn. On Monday night, Indiana gave the Milwaukee Bucks their first win of the season in the most jarring result of the new year so far.

“That’s what the NBA is,” Haliburton said after the game. “It’s not all fairytales, sunshine, and rainbows.”

Indiana’s roster remains similar to the one that went to the 2025 NBA Finals, but every year is different, and it leaves this team with new questions to answer from the last time it was whole. That’s especially the case in an Eastern Conference is significantly improved. The idea that the Pacers were going to hit the ground running this season was probably always unrealistic. It’s important to remember that they started 10-15 back in 2024-25 before eventually finding some special chemistry on the way to the Finals.

The challenge for the Pacers right now is using the regular season as a lab to figure out their most existential questions without losing too much ground in an ultra-competitive East. Like every team this early in the season, they have a few things that need deeper exploration.

How Ivica Zubac changes the dynamic

The biggest change from the team Haliburton left to the one he rejoined is the substitution at center. The Pacers let Myles Turner walk because they didn’t want to pay him. That looks like a wise move, but it also forced the team to put its best assets on the table to fill its void at center. Indiana shocked the league by trading for Ivica Zubac at last season’s trade deadline during a lost year, sending out two first-round picks to get him. One of those was top-4 protected for 2026 when Indiana entered the lottery tied for the best odds. When the pick fell to No. 5 and conveyed to the Clippers, it felt like a double loss for a team that just endured a 19-win season without Haliburton.

Ultimately, centers don’t come cheap, and the Pacers had to pay to play in the big man market. Zubac’s skill set is so much different than Turner’s in ways that are both obvious and less intuitive, and Indiana will spend this season tinkering with the best ways to leverage his talent within their system.

Everyone will notice the spacing component. Turner took 8.7 three-point attempts per 100 possessions during his last season in Indiana. Zubac is a total non-shooter who hasn’t attempted a three-pointer the last three seasons. While Turner would pop after setting his screens, Zubac is going to roll, and it takes away some of what made the 2025 Pacers special while giving him a new element with some real benefits.

Zubac is going to play with a lot more power than Turner ever did. His ability to add a component of smashmouth basketball will be welcomed for a team that felt built on finesse even at their best. While the offensive adjustment with Zubac is readily apparent, the defensive end will require some tinkering, too.

Zubac often played in a deeper drop with the Clippers. He was so good at walling off the paint in these coverages that he earned my (fake) vote for 2025 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Pacers want their bigs playing more at the level of the screen, which requires Zubac to get up to the touch on ball handlers to see if he can make plays with his hands before retreating back. The Pacers just don’t have the point of attack defenders to viably run a deep drop right now, and it’s going to require an adjustment period from everyone involved.

The reality is that Zubac didn’t look quite as nimble last season with the Clippers before the trade. Now he’s already suffered an ankle sprain against Brooklyn that should keep him out of the lineup in the short-term and could linger beyond that. How the Pacers integrate Zubac is the biggest question they need to answer in their 82-game season, and it’s likely to remain a work in progress for now.

Rick Carlisle is still searching for the right lineup combinations

Carlisle played 11 guys in the first half against Dallas. He played 12 players in the first half against Brooklyn, including a starting lineup switch that subbed out Jarace Walker for Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith was nursing a hamstring injury during the preseason, and his return to the lineup will go a long way toward answering some of Indiana’s biggest questions.

“It’s hard to run when you’re taking the ball under the net the whole game,” Haliburton said after the Dallas loss.

The Pacers can probably bank on a top-5 offense with Haliburton back. How they fix the defense is a much more pressing issue. Through three games, Indiana ranks No. 19 in defensive efficiency, which feels about right despite the small sample. Indiana needs Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard to get after it defensively the same way they were during the 2025 Finals run. They also need to figure out what the bench rotation looks like beyond Obi Toppin as their sixth man, and likely Kelly Oubre — the team’s only real free agent addition this summer — as their seventh man.

T.J. McConnell hasn’t played yet as he recovers from a hamstring strain, and Ben Sheppard is also out with a meniscus tear. Jalen Slawson was firmly on my too good for Summer League list, but his opportunities to add some downhill force and defensive playmaking will still be limited by his two-way contract. Quenton Jackson adds some similar elements as perhaps the most athletic player on the team on a standard contract, and Indiana would benefit from adding his quickness and defensive havoc if it can get around his shooting concerns. Jay Huff was impressive last season filling the center void on a bad team, but Carlisle doesn’t appear to really trust him yet. Every time it feels like Walker could take another step forward as a former lottery pick, he stagnates at both ends of the floor.

The Pacers should be able to count on their top-7, which is more than some teams can say. McConnell’s return will be big, but he took a noticeable step back last season and may be experiencing some age-related decline at 34 years old. Can anyone else on this roster help force more takeaways to get the offense out running? I’m not sure. If Jackson, Walker, Huff, or even Slawson can make it a viable 8- or 9-man rotation come playoff time, Carlisle should be pleased.

It’s still too early to say where the Pacers fit in in the East

Some will tell you the Pacers were a legitimate Finals threat coming into the season with Haliburton back. Others saw the defensive questions and wondered how this team would matchup against the Knicks, Celtics, and Raptors. I suppose I fall more on the latter end, putting the Pacers at No. 8 for Eastern Conference regular season predictions, and ranking them No. 13 in my league-wide championship picture entering the season.

The great thing about the East this season is that it really feels like every game matters with 10 teams realistically dreaming of making a Finals run. It’s just important to remember that 82 games is a long, long, long season. Don’t forget that a year ago, the Chicago Bulls started 5-0 before sputtering so much that they blew the team up at the deadline. The Pacers are 2-2 with the easiest schedule in the NBA so far.

The path for Indiana to get back to greatness starts with Haliburton leading this group to a top-5 offense while managing to get the defense into the top half of the league. This was a good-not-great team in 2024-25 before finding an unforeseen level of excellence in the playoffs, which is the exact same thing the Knicks did one year later on their way to a championship. Haliburton is back, but questions remain.

Watch starstruck Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg ask NBA legends for advice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Through four games, Yaxel Lendeborg has been everything the Warriors could have asked for and more.

The 24-year-old rookie leads the team in minutes and rebounds per game, while ranking second in points and assists per game.

On Monday, Lendeborg led Golden State to its first win of the season in a 134-114 blowout against the Denver Nuggets.

His team-high 31 points set a new personal bar in his short NBA career, and he added 12 rebounds and six assists on the night.

After the game, Lendeborg was interviewed by a trio of NBA legends enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony.

While talking to the former NBA stars, Lendeborg was keen to ask for advice on how to improve his game.

“Lean on your vets, bro,” McGrady said. “You got two great Hall of Fame vets that (are) very intellectual in the game of basketball. So I would say lean on them as much as possible, man. Every day, just ask questions. You can never ask a dumb question, bro. Just lean on them two guys, and you’ll get a lot of information.”

Carter, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, told Lendeborg to use his age to his advantage.

“Utilize your youth,” Carter said. “You have a motor. Continue to play with joy, and ask those questions. Like you said, you don’t get comfortable in the game without asking questions. When you get the answers to the questions, you go out there; it’s easier to take the test, meaning play the game.”

Anthony emphasized leaning on the Warriors’ experienced vets to make an immediate impact.

“Get ahead of the film game,” Anthony said. “Stay in the film. Watch that film. Be a student of film and you have two guys on your team, in Draymond (Green) and Steph (Curry), who’ve been through this for so long, and they’ve been winning … so now you have an opportunity to just learn the in-between game and little nuances of the game that’s going to help you and help the Warriors.”

Lendeborg is one of only six players in the NBA to average at least 20 points (21.8), nine rebounds (9.3) and four assists per game (4.5), in company with three former MVPs and two All-Stars.

The Michigan alumnus also leads the Warriors with 7.8 free-throw attempts per game, an area where Golden State struggled last season, ranking 27th in the NBA as a team.

Before letting Lendeborg go, McGrady invoked a message from legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

“He always said he wants to see some nasty,” McGrady said. “You’re coming in the league with that nasty. I love it. Do not lose that edge, bro.”

If the Warriors are to stay afloat until Jimmy Butler returns, they sure hope Lendeborg’s “nasty” will carry through the entirety of his rookie season.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

BOSTON — Payton Pritchard was glad the Celtics beat the New York Knicks for their first win of the season on Friday night. But he couldn’t stop thinking about his own lackluster performance — 4 points on 1-for-5 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench.

He wasn’t as aggressive as usual, and he didn’t attack the paint as decisively. It didn’t matter; thanks in large part to a masterful 36-point performance from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics came out on top.

Still, it didn’t feel great to know he didn’t play his best.

“But it’s a long season,” he said. “I try to give myself forgiveness of it, even though it ate away at me.”

On Monday night, in a 134-99 win against the Chicago Bulls, Pritchard bounced back, exploding for 28 points on 10-16 shooting. He did most of the damage in a 39-point Celtics third quarter, shooting 7-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three.

“It just feels good to catch the rhythm again, and just bounce back from the other night,” he said.

In Year 7, however, Pritchard doesn’t get rattled after a lackluster start to the year. Pritchard signed a 2-year, $44.2 million extension right before the season started, and he now knows he routinely recovers from slow starts.

Still, Payton Pritchard early-season struggles are an interesting phenomenon

In 22 career October games, Payton Pritchard has shot 38.7% from the field and 31% from three. It’s his least efficient month of the season, by far, and he’s not exactly sure why.

“I really couldn’t put my finger on it, but I think you could look at the last couple of years— like, I just have games where it’s very non-aggressive, just out of rhythm,” he said.

The difference between Pritchard’s efficiency in October and the rest of the year is stark; the 28-year-old shoots at least 44% from the field and 38% from three every other month. November typically brings a dramatic bounceback; after struggling to start the year, Pritchard has shot 45.3% from the field and 40.3% from three over 66 career November games.

At the start of the year, it looked like he could get off to a strong start; he poured in 17 points on 4-for-9 shooting in the opener against the Detroit Pistons.

But Pritchard’s individual performance against the Knicks nonetheless left a sour taste.

“We got the W, but I want to perform better and be better for our team,” he said. “So, tonight was me coming out with just an aggressive mindset — just kind of play free and just attack the paint.”

So why does it happen? Why does it seem like sometimes, the 6’1 guard just fades into the background?

Pritchard attributes nights when he creates fewer offensive advantages to his own approach — not to anything his teammates or opposing defenses are doing.

“It’s 100% my aggression,” Pritchard said. “And it’s not about just taking shots to me. Like, I’m fine with any amount of shots. It’s about, like: how do I attack, and am I touching the paint? Am I pushing the pace? Stuff like that — controllables.”

Sometimes, like on Friday, when Pritchard reviews the tape, he feels underwhelmed by his own approach. He’s eager to fix it immediately.

“When I don’t do it, I feel very disappointed in myself, and I feel like I’m hurting the team in that area,” he said. “So, I feel like it’s the main thing I can bring to the team — a sense of pace and attacking the paint and kicking out and just making plays.”

After a career season, opposing teams are no doubt paying extra attention to Pritchard’s offense. He acknowledged he might face extra defensive pressure on the heels of a career-best 17-points-per-game season, but wouldn’t concede that’s a justifiable reason for his early-season struggles.

“Honestly, that shouldn’t affect me,” Pritchard said. “You have reads for any way they defend you, and if it’s gonna be ball pressure, I don’t mind dribbling on any type of pressure. So, if they’re gonna pick me up, I should be able to attack the paint, make a play.”

On Monday, however, his October struggles appeared to be in the rearview.

“He’s another guy that impacts winning in different ways,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Tonight, you saw the scoreboard, which is obviously something that’s really important for us. But he’s been making plays defensively, his assists, his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor. So even if he’s not scoring, he still impacts winning at a high level. When he does what he does tonight, it makes us a better team.”