Category: NBA

Observations after Sixers get blown out by defending champs, OKC pulls away in 2nd half originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers could not put together two competitive halves Sunday afternoon against the defending champions.

The Thunder pulled away at Paycom Center to earn a 129-104 win and improve to 27-5 on the season. The Sixers fell to 16-14.

Tyrese Maxey had 28 points and five assists. 

OKC’s leading scorers were Chet Holmgren with 29 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 27. 

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (right ankle sprain and right knee injury management), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain). 

The third stop on the Sixers’ five-game road trip is Memphis, where they’ll play the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. Here are observations on their loss to the Thunder:

Thunder scorching from the start 

Oklahoma City made its first nine field goals.

The Sixers’ defense was not at its finest and the Thunder’s offensive execution was razor-sharp after two straight losses to the Spurs. Jalen Williams beat Paul George on a backdoor cut and laid the ball in. Holmgren scored twice over Dominick Barlow in the post and jammed in an unguarded fast-break dunk. 

In his first career game against the Thunder, VJ Edgecombe defended the reigning MVP. He had a solid start against Gilgeous-Alexander, ceding no cheap fouls, but OKC’s superstar guard is essentially impossible to shut down. Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored over 20 points in 103 consecutive games. The longest streak in NBA history is Wilt Chamberlain’s 126 straight games.

OKC did commit seven turnovers in the first quarter and the Sixers avoided any immediate blowout concerns. A Quentin Grimes three-pointer late in the first gave the Sixers their first lead at 25-24. 

Maxey back on his A-game in first half

Maxey scored nine points in the first few minutes, including a soft scoop shot and a deep jumper. 

He never cooled off in the first half and continued to drive effectively into the heart of the Thunder’s defense. Maxey began 6 for for 6 from the floor and posted 15 of the Sixers’ 29 points in the opening period. He only missed two field goals in the first half on his way to 23 points. 

While there was nothing lucky about Maxey’s shotmaking in Oklahoma City, he was also due for some kind bounces. He’d had subpar shooting nights in the Sixers’ losses to the Nets and Bulls, going 31.6 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point range over those two games. 

The Sixers’ offense relied on Maxey, although the team’s bench did provide much better production than in Friday’s defeat to Chicago. 

Adem Bona had eight points, two blocks and two rebounds in an extended first stint. Justin Edwards knocked down a three as soon as he touched the ball. Jared McCain leaked out ahead of the pack for a layup and Edwards then sunk his third triple of the second quarter to put the Sixers up 58-57. They trailed by two points at intermission.

Best vs. worst in third quarter

OKC’s defense focused more on bothering Maxey after halftime and he didn’t score in the second half until a technical free throw with 7:05 left in the fourth quarter.

Unsurprisingly, Maxey’s lack of scoring coincided with the Thunder’s lead growing. Gilgeous-Alexander’s driving layup capped an 11-0 run and built OKC’s advantage to 86-73.

Neither Edgecombe (10 points on 3-for-16 shooting) nor George (12 points on 4-for-11 shooting) had the sort of efficient performances necessary to pick up Maxey’s slack after halftime.

The Sixers moved to a zone defense late in the third quarter. They weren’t able to stick with it for long, since the Thunder dissected the zone very well. OKC passed 100 points before the end of the third and the NBA’s worst third-quarter team thus far (minus-21.4 net rating entering Sunday) lost the frame by 14 points.

It just so happens that Oklahoma City is the league’s best third-quarter team. For the Sixers, Sunday’s fourth quarter was soon a hopeless cause.

Steve Kerr drops humorous one-liner about Steph Curry for advice to younger self originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steve Kerr knows what advice he’d give his younger self when starting his Warriors coaching career in 2014.

The 60-year-old shared his hilarious answer with reporters on Sunday before Golden State’s 141-127 overtime loss against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

“Just coach Steph Curry if you get a chance,” Kerr said. “Stay with that guy. I followed my own advice on that one.”

There isn’t any better guidance than that.

Kerr has spent his entire 12-year coaching career with Curry and the Warriors, and has enjoyed working with the sharpshooter to form the team’s iconic dynasty, which won four NBA championships and reached six finals between 2014-15 and 2021-22. 

The coach-guard duo also has dominated internationally, winning gold together at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics for an iconic Team USA men’s basketball squad.

Kerr is grateful to have won a lot alongside Curry. He, too, has enjoyed shaping Golden State’s offensive identity around the 11-time NBA All-Star’s 3-point shooting prowess.

“It’s a good question,” Kerr said. “It’s funny because I came in that year (2014-15), and we played a little differently than a lot of teams and everybody said we were really innovative. 

“It didn’t feel innovative to me because it was things I already learned with Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich. If anything, some of the stuff we were doing, I went back 30, 20 years to bring back. Today, we are sort of doing the opposite. We’re following other trends around the league.”

As he implied, Kerr carries several lessons he learned as a player who won five NBA titles over 15 seasons alongside other basketball legends into his coaching efforts with the Warriors.

While Kerr wisely would tell his younger self to stay attached to Curry — as he already has — the coach also would suggest being as adaptable as possible.

“I think what I’ve learned is that the league is constantly changing,” Kerr said. “And as a coach, you have to constantly be aware of what’s happening. Best example of that is two years ago, you wouldn’t have ever been able to convince me that we should crash on offensive rebounds. Now I know differently. It took our younger coaches to bring that suggestion to me. It took watching film. It took experimenting.

“So even having that conversation, 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have entertained it. So what I’ve learned 10 years into my coaching career, having been a part of championship teams, great teams, I’m learning something I never knew before. I think that’s just the case forever. Life’s always changing. Things are always changing. The game is always changing. You have to be a lifelong learner and you have to embrace everything that’s happening.”

Kerr’s journey with Curry isn’t over yet.

But even before knowing how the story ends, Kerr would tell his younger self to stay with the game’s greatest shooter of all time for the long haul.

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What we learned as turnovers doom Warriors in collapse to Raptors in overtime originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

With a chance at having their first four-game win streak of the season, the Warriors on Sunday gifted the Toronto Raptors a 141-127 overtime win three days after Christmas.

Steph Curry’s latest breathtaking show again couldn’t end in a Warriors win. Curry scored 39 points, giving himself 10 games of 30-plus points this season. The Warriors now are 4-6 when he scores at least 30 points this season.

The rest of the Warriors’ Big Three also did their part. Jimmy Butler tallied 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Draymond Green gave them 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists. 

But the Raptors had three players who finished with more than 20 points, and seven in double figures, including their entire starting five.

A handful of issues undid the Warriors in a frustrating loss. The Warriors were outrebounded 55 to 42, and forward Scottie Barnes came down with 25 rebounds by himself. The Raptors scored 29 points off 18 offensive rebounds. 

More than anything, though, the Warriors were bitten by their constant penchant for turnovers. In the end, the Warriors lost the turnover battle 21-15, turning into 35 points for the Raptors. The Warriors now are 4-13 when they have more turnovers than their opponent, while being 12-3 when having fewer or equal turnovers.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ three-game losing streak coming to an end.

Year 17 In The 6

There were two road games Curry circled before last season: Charlotte and Toronto. Curry matched how many seasons in the NBA his father, Dell, played last year and the two cities hold sentimental value for different family reasons. Charlotte is home to Curry, where Dell spent 10 of his 16 seasons in the league. But his final three, which Steph remembers best, were north of the border with the Raptors. 

Now that Curry officially has passed his father’s time spent in the NBA, he gets to play two of his final three games of 2025 in those two special road arenas, starting with Sunday’s (loss or win) in Toronto. And Curry right away added to a never-ending highlight reel in the first quarter. 

Curry’s shot-making ability and gravitational pull brought him to 15 points at halftime while going a perfect 5 of 5 at the free-throw line. The Warriors’ first points of the second half then came from a four-point play by Curry, putting them from down one to ahead by three.

The second half was more reason for all of North America to always watch Curry. After 15 first-half points, Curry exploded for 24 points in the second half – 14 in the third and 10 in the second. He made all 11 of his free throws on the night for his second game of 10 or more free throw attempts this season.

Draymond Brings The Boom Back

Through the first month of the season, Green gave Golden State another threat behind the 3-point line. He was shooting 35.7 percent on threes over 16 games, a number the Warriors will gladly take. Green even made multiple threes in half the games he played (eight) over that month’s long stretch. 

But then his accuracy from deep began abandoning him. Green in his last month of nine games played came into Sunday having shot just 26.3 percent (10 of 38) beyond the arc, with teams begging him to let it fly. The Raptors used the same strategy, constantly sagging off him, and Green finally made them pay. He made two threes in the first half to bring him to 10 points, which gave Green just his third double-digit scoring game this month.

Another two threes in the third quarter brought Green up to four threes, his most in a game since making five on Nov. 7.

Green’s aggressiveness offensively was a major plus for the Warriors. He reached 20 points for the first time this season. But Green also was one of seven Warriors with multiple turnovers.

Troubled By Turnovers

Same story, different day. Another clutch game for the Warriors full of inexcusable turnovers. 

The Warriors had a 12-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter when the Raptors then reeled off an 8-0 run behind two free throws and scoring off three straight Warriors turnovers. Right when the Warriors could have put the game away, they let the Raptors off the hook and paid severely for it. 

In their final home game of the calendar year, the Warriors had a lowly 11 turnovers for six points against the Dallas Mavericks. Those same fortunes didn’t happen against the Raptors. The Warriors were completely undone by being careless with the ball. 

Going into halftime, they were winning the turnover battle by one, six to seven, in which the Raptors had scored 10 points off turnovers. The second half was another story. The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times, six more than Toronto’s seven, and the Raptors took advantage by scoring 23 points off them. 

For the 17th time this season, the Warriors found themselves in a clutch game. They’re now 6-11 in such games. The Warriors turned the ball over five times in the clutch of the fourth quarter, and another two more in overtime. The Raptors in that time period didn’t have any turnovers while scoring 11 points off the Warriors’ seven turnovers.

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Steph Curry rocks sentimental pair of Nike Kobe 11 shoes for Warriors-Raptors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry’s sneaker free-agency tour continued Sunday in Toronto.

And the Warriors superstar’s choice of footwear for Sunday’s game against the Raptors was extra intentional and sentimental.

During pregame warmups, Curry rocked the “Northern Lights” Nike Kobe 11, the shoes that late NBA legend Kobe Bryant wore during his final All-Star Game in 2016 in Toronto.

He kept the sneakers on throughout the game, too.

It isn’t the first time Curry paid homage to Bryant.

In fact, during his first day of sneaker free agency after parting ways with Under Armour, Curry wore Mambacita Kobe 6 Nike shoes while warming up before the Warriors’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 14.

After that game, Curry explained his decision.

“I know it’s weird seeing me in anything else other than my own shoes, but just the idea of what he meant — I’ve talked about Kobe a lot. That specific pair, I think it speaks for itself, what it means,” Curry told reporters after the win. “Other than that, just something I wanted to take advantage of that moment and pay tribute. I think it gave me some good energy tonight.”

Earlier Sunday, Curry arrived to Scotiabank Arena wearing rapper Drake’s Nike NOCTA Glide.

It’s clear Curry is having fun with his free agency.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 29 points on his return from injury as the Milwaukee Bucks earned a 112-103 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Antetokounmpo had missed eight games with a right calf strain, with the Bucks losing six of those matches.

The defeat for Chicago ended their five-game winning streak, but they still sit ninth and two places above Bucks in the Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere, Victor Wembanyama also made his return from injury, but his San Antonio Spurs fell to a 127-114 defeat by the Utah Jazz.

Wembanyama scored 32 points in his first start since 14 November, but 29 points from Lauri Markkanen and 28 from Keyonte George were enough for the Jazz to end Spurs' eight-game winning streak.

Anthony Black scored a career-high 38 points as the Orlando Magic beat the Denver Nuggets 127-126 despite another triple-double by Nikola Jokic.

With 21 rebounds and 12 assists, Jokic earned the 180th triple-double of his career, putting him just one behind Oscar Robertson for the second most in history.

The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 128-125, while the Sacramento Kings secured just their second win in eight games with a 113-107 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Warriors' Seth Curry out at least 2 weeks with sciatic nerve-related injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors will be without the newest Curry addition for a little while.

Seth Curry, who signed with Golden State this season, underwent MRIs on his lower back and pelvis that confirmed his injury is sciatic nerve-related, the team announced Sunday morning.

Curry will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

The younger brother of Steph, Seth has missed the past three games with the sciatic nerve issue.

Curry rejoined the Warriors in early December, leading to anticipation and excitement about a Curry Bros NBA union.

But the brothers have hardly played together on the floor.

Seth has played just two games for Golden State, dropping 14 points in one game and going scoreless in the second.

It now will be a little while longer until Dub Nation sees Seth and Steph play alongside one another as the former fully recovers.

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The Knicks were playing shorthanded again on Saturday. 

Landry Shamet and Miles McBride are progressing well but remain out, and now Josh Hart has joined them after suffering an ankle injury during the Christmas win over the Cavs.  

Hart is still being evaluated, but he's expected to be out for New York’s entire road trip. 

So with the dynamic forward missing, Mike Brown had an opportunity to dip even further into the Knicks’ depth. 

We’ve seen unexpected contributors step up this season, and now it was Kevin McCullar Jr’s time to shine. 

McCullar came into the night with just seven appearances in his pro career, but he was more than ready to go when Brown called on him as his first reserve off the bench.

“You just have to stay ready at all times,” he said. “Coach Brown trusts in one through 17 on the bench, and you just have to try to be ready when your number is called.”

McCullar picking up four rebounds (three offensive) and dished an assist in an active first five minutes. 

The 24-year-old carried that into the second quarter, contributing one of the plays of the season, in which he dove after a loose ball he poked free then found some space and knocked down a corner three on the return pass. 

It was those type of hustle plays that gave New York the energy they needed to end the first half strong.

McCullar kept the momentum going coming out of the locker room, knocking down his third triple of the night as part of a seven-point quarter, helping the Knicks barely weather Atlanta’s early second-half surge. 

Then with the Hawks refusing to go away, Brown trusted him enough to give him minutes down the stretch. 

The youngster ended up being named New York's Defensive Player of the Game, and he finished his most impressive NBA showing with 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a career-high 23 minutes. 

“I just wanted to give him a chance,” Brown said. “Threw him out there for a few minutes and he was fantastic, he earned even more minutes -- I didn’t have him down for that many minutes, but he definitely earned them.”

With Hart sidelined, perhaps McCullar will be able to earn even more minutes over the next few games. 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cam Thomas scored 30 points in his return after missing 20 games with a left hamstring strain, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-107 on Saturday night.

Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who had six players score in double figures. Brooklyn (10-19) has won four of five and five of seven.

The Nets, who improved to 7-3 in December, are allowing an NBA-low 103.1 points per game this month.

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota (20-12) with 28 points, but the Timberwolves dropped back-to-back games for the third time this season. Minnesota lost 142-138 in overtime Thursday at Denver.

Five players scored in double digits for Minnesota. Jaden McDaniels had 16 points, while Naz Reid and Julius Randle each added 13.

Thomas, who played just under 20 minutes, scored 12 straight Brooklyn points in the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, for an 89-82 lead. The Brooklyn guard is averaging 22.3 points on 42.2% shooting in nine games this season.

Day’Ron Sharpe scored six of the Nets’ final eight points of the quarter for a 98-86 advantage. A pull-up jumper by Thomas, followed by four points from Danny Wolf, made it 104-86 early in the fourth.

Porter’s 3 gave the Nets a 120-102 lead with 1:57 to play. In eight games this month, he is averaging 28.4 points on 51.1% shooting, including 46.7% from outside the arc. He’s also grabbing 7.5 rebounds and dishing out 3.1 assists per game.

An MRI on Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who exited Thursday’s loss to Denver, showed a left foot strain. Shannon will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Up next

Nets: Host the Golden State Warriors on Monday.

Timberwolves: Start a four-game trip Monday in Chicago.

The Knicks hung on to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 128-125 on Saturday night at State Farm Arena. 

Here are the takeaways...

- The Knicks were without Josh Hart in this one, and he's expected miss the three-game road trip with the ankle sprain he suffered in the Christmas Day win, so rookie Mohamed Diawara received the second start of his NBA career. 

- Mike Brown dipped even further into his bench early on, turning to Kevin McCullar Jr. as his first reserve, and the youngster made an immediate impact with four rebounds (three offensive) and an assist over his first five minutes of action. 

- New York dominated the boards as a team in the opening quarter, bringing in 20 rebounds to Atlanta's nine. The Knicks' offense found their footing after a bit of a slow start and they were able to open a five-point advantage on Jalen Brunson's three with two seconds left in a back-and-forth first. 

- The Hawks evened things up early in the second, but a 12-4 Knicks run helped them push the lead back up to eight. The orange and blue faithful in attendance went crazy as Tyler Kolek completed a pretty and-one, then Karl-Anthony Towns connected with Mikal Bridges on a behind-the-head pass. 

Towns picked up where he left off in the last meeting with Atlanta, with 16 points and seven boards in his first 13 minutes.

- McCullar took advantage of extended minutes off the bench with the lead pushed to double-digits. The 24-year-old knocked down a pair of threes and provided a spark with his hustle plays on both ends of the court, finishing a terrific first half with six points and six rebounds. 

- Jalen Brunson started out 1-of-4 from three but knocked down his first two coming out of the third. The captain connected with a driving Mikal Bridges for a fastbreak slam to help extend the lead out to 16 minutes into the second half. New York was mad at the rims on Saturday, throwing down some monstrous jams. 

Atlanta refused to go away, and they were able to close the gap all the way back down to nine in the dying minutes of the third. Brunson contributed 10 points in the frame and McCullar chipped in seven more, helping New York weather the storm.

- Towns appeared to settle the Knicks back into a groove with eight consecutive points (and a Kolek three celebration) early in the fourth, but the Hawks continued battling. Nickeil Alexander-Walker's fifth three of the night made it a one possession ballgame with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.  

Atlanta jumped back in front on Onyeka Okongwu's three minutes later, but Brunson responded as he always does with a pair of clutch buckets. The captain committed a costly turnover just one possession later, though, allowing the Hawks to break the other way and regain the lead. 

After a Brunson miss on the other end, OG Anunoby grabbed a huge board and knocked down a pair of free throws. Anunoby then made the defensive play of the game, coming up with a huge steal and drilling two more free throw to help the Knicks hang on for the thrilling victory. 

- Anunoby finished with 15 points, including 7-for-7 from the line, 10 rebounds, and five assists.

- Towns led the way with 36 points and 16 boards, Brunson had 34 points, Bridges 14 and eight assists, and McCullar chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds in arguably the most impressive performance of his young NBA career. 

Game MVP: Kevin McCullar Jr. 

The youngster provided the spark off the bench in arguably his most impressive NBA action. 

Highlights

Great defense 🤝 great offense pic.twitter.com/zoY4vS6G0m

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 28, 2025

Mikal Bridges finds Jalen Brunson for the bucket! pic.twitter.com/7gp6P935y0

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 28, 2025

Nails from three pic.twitter.com/QStHXQAQ1i

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 28, 2025

What a sequence 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/fHmuuWn7Pj

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 28, 2025

This pass from KAT 😤
Then the slam from Mikal 💥 pic.twitter.com/oXTmGZTcpS

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 28, 2025

What's next

The Knicks continue their road trip with a meeting with the Pelicans on Monday at 8:00 p.m.

After the Lakers’ third straight loss Thursday, JJ Redick promised things would get “uncomfortable.” The second-year coach, frustrated after the team delivered a lump of coal in a Christmas Day blowout by the Houston Rockets, said he couldn’t stand to rewatch the same tired story. Leaning his elbow on the table at his postgame news conference, Redick called out players who don’t give enough effort on defense or play hard.

Two days later he stood in front of reporters with a different tone.

“Recalibration,” Redick said calmly of the message he delivered during Saturday’s team meeting. “Reconnection.”

Redick has cooled, but the Lakers still are under fire. Not only are they trying to snap a season-high three-game losing streak at home Sunday against the Sacramento Kings (6:30 p.m.), but also the Lakers (19-10) still are looking for their first home win in December and must navigate this defining moment without guard Austin Reaves.

Reaves was diagnosed with a grade 2 strain in his left calf Friday and will be reevaluated in four weeks. The latest setback comes less than two weeks after he was sidelined because of a “mild” strain in the same calf that kept him out for three games.

Reaves is averaging career highs in points (26.6), assists (6.3) and rebounds (5.2) and his ascent from undrafted rookie to potential first-time All-Star was one of the team’s feel-good stories of the season. Reaves scored a career-high 51 points against Sacramento in October, rescuing the Lakers in a game without LeBron James or Luka Doncic and showing Reaves’ potential in a starring role.

Read more:Lakers guard Austin Reaves out for at least a month because of calf injury

Now without their second-leading scorer, the Lakers are looking for their supporting cast to step up.

“We just need our guys to be stars in their roles,” Redick said. “Certainly from a top-end talent standpoint, it diminishes that. But it doesn't change the non-negotiables or how we're trying to play.”

After losing the last three games by an average of 20.7 points per game, the Lakers needed to get reacquainted with their non-negotiables during Saturday’s meeting. The session was uncomfortable in the way confronting truth can be uncomfortable, Redick said. It wasn’t just coaches lecturing, but also players speaking up.

The top priority was creating more clarity, Redick said. The team needed to get back to building its defensive fundamentals after so many lineup changes because of injuries. The Lakers have used 16 different starting lineups in 29 games and have to readjust their rotation again in Reaves’ absence.

“Togetherness is going to have to be emphasized to where it looks like an exaggeration,” center Deandre Ayton said, “where it becomes a habit. And that's what winners do. And it's pretty easy for this team. It's just that there's always a different group out there and we're going to get it for sure.”

Forward Rui Hachimura said coaches reminded players of the team’s three pillars that again were displayed on a screen in the practice gym Saturday — championship habits, championship communication, championship shape.

Read more:'We don’t have it right now.' Takeaways from the Lakers' third straight loss

“We just talk about everybody, players, coaches, we just gotta kind of tighten up,” Hachimura said. “We had a good stretch in the beginning and now we kind of, I don't know, we relaxed or we kind of got tired of winning, you know, but we just stopped doing what we're supposed to do.”

The Lakers are 29th in the NBA in defensive rating in the last 15 games, giving up 122.2 points per 100 possessions. It’s a significant drop from their rating of 113.7 in the first 14 games in which they went 10-4.

Since James returned from, the Lakers’ preferred starting lineup — Doncic, Reaves, James, Ayton and Hachimura — has a net rating of minus-19.9 in seven games.

Offensively the Lakers have lacked organization since James came back, Redick acknowledged. James declined to speak to reporters after practice.

“Too many random possessions,” Redick said. “That's on me.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.