Category: NBA

Why Jonathan Kuminga leans on Jimmy Butler as shaky Warriors career continues originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jimmy Butler’s arrival to the Warriors in February brought questions about Jonathan Kuminga’s fit on the team. 

Those questions were put to rest momentarily at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, as Kuminga played in the starting lineup alongside Butler, and the Warriors started hot out of the gate with a 4-1 record. 

A recent decline in production and a demotion back to the bench reignited those speculations for Kuminga. Through it all, the 23-year-old forward continues to lean on Butler’s mentorship, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. 

“I feel like, in this league, he’s one of the people that actually [has] been in my shoes throughout their career,” Kuminga said. “And knows what I’ve been going through.” 

Amid Kuminga’s recent struggles on the court, Butler hosted his mentee at his home for dinner after Golden State’s win over the Indiana Pacers last week. 

“I realize that he listens to me,” Butler told ESPN. “He respects me. And I don’t ever take that for granted. But I’m always going to tell him the truth, too. And when JK doing some bulls–t, I’m going to tell him we can’t have that, man.” 
 
“I think everybody comes to that stepping-stone moment in their career where you know that you can get over that hump,” Butler said. “Some people are like, ‘Nah, you’re not ready for that yet.’ But you know better. I think that’s where he is. I was at that point.” 

During contentious offseason contract negotiations between Kuminga and the Warriors, Butler told ESPN that Kuminga reached out to the veteran. Kuminga told Butler that he would not be attending a minicamp at Butler’s home in San Diego. 

“Bro, that’s fine,” Butler told Kuminga. “You got to do what’s best for you. I understand the situation you’re in. I don’t think anybody on the squad got bad blood. I rock with you. I see a lot of myself in you.” 

Once Kuminga’s contract was resolved, his relationship with Butler continued throughout training camp. Butler worked with Kuminga on the side to help their on-court fit, as well as spending time with him off the court, according to Slater. 

“[Kuminga] was determined to do it and Jimmy was determined to help him with it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “For me as a coach, winning solves everything.” 

With some newfound turbulence, Butler’s mentorship can help steer the narrative back to the positivity that was present at the beginning. 

“I realize that he listens to me,” Butler said. “He respects me. And I don’t ever take that for granted. But I’m always going to tell him the truth, too. And when JK doing some bulls—, I’m going to tell him we can’t have that, man.” 

Even in the absence of the cure-all that is winning, Kuminga has someone to lean on to stay afloat as questions and rumors about him make the rounds. 

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Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga reportedly told Steve Kerr to coach him harder originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It is no secret that Jonathan Kuminga and Steve Kerr’s relationship has been rocky over the years.

But after Kuminga signed a two-year contract with the Warriors this offseason, the two appeared to be on the same page moving forward. It even reached a point where Kuminga actually encouraged Kerr to coach him harder, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater.

“Kuminga, team sources said, had voiced to Kerr a desire to be coached harder,” Slater wrote. “There was even a meeting about it in their Sacramento hotel prior to the ninth game of the season and Kerr appeared to make it a point during the Kings game to call Kuminga over and get on him constructively several times.”

Kuminga, at that point, was playing the best basketball of the season. He was doing the things Kerr and the Warriors had been asking of him for years.

The young wing was averaging 17.2 points on 51.4-percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent from 3-point range through the first nine games, with 7.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists in 30.9 minutes.

But then Golden State suffered ugly consecutive road losses to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks and short-handed Indiana Pacers.

Then the Warriors’ skid reached three straight losses with a deflating defeat to the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. After that loss, Kerr changed things up and pulled Kuminga from the starting unit.

“We’ve got to put Steph, Jimmy and Draymond in a position to succeed,” Kerr said. “That’s what wins in this league. Everyone has their best two or three players. How well can you support them and enhance them?”

Kuminga has missed the last four games with bilateral knee tendonitis.

But the Warriors still are focused on getting him back into the mix once he returns.

And whenever that might be, he can expect the hard coaching that he once encouraged to continue.

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How Draymond changed Steve Kerr's mind about Jonathan Kuminga lineup decision originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steve Kerr turned heads with his starting lineup against the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Jonathan Kuminga, after four up-and-down seasons with the team and a frustrating restricted agency that lasted the entire summer, was in the starting lineup for Game 1.

The Warriors ended up beating the Lakers 119-109, as Kuminga scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 32 minutes. He looked like the player Golden State has challenged him to be ever since he was selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and through one game, it appeared as if his offseason work had paid off.

Then came another huge test two nights later against the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center, which presented Kerr a difficult lineup decision.

ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported in a story published Thursday that Kerr, when deciding in between games who to start against Denver, called veteran forward Draymond Green, who started as the small-ball center against Los Angeles on opening night, and told him his gut feeling was to start second-year big Quinten Post against the Nuggets.

“Dray, this is the big center thing that we’ve talked about,” Kerr recalled to Slater about his conversation with Green.

“Well, who does that take out?” Green asked, according to Kerr.

“Probably Kuminga,” Kerr said.

“Let me start at center,” Green said. “I want JK to keep the momentum.”

Kuminga indeed kept the momentum, scoring 14 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists while posting a plus-8 plus/minus in 36 minutes in a thrilling overtime win vs. Denver.

There was nothing eye-popping about his performance on the stat sheet that night, but Kuminga’s hustle, aggression and improved decision-making were on display for a second consecutive game, which earned him the opportunity to close out the game with Green, Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Al Horford.

“He’d done everything that we asked him to do,” Green told Slater about Kuminga’s performance up to that point. “And when someone’s doing everything you ask them to do, the reward can’t be [pulling them from the starting lineup].”

Kuminga then started 10 more games before he was removed from the starting lineup on Nov. 12 against the San Antonio Spurs, where he only played 12 minutes before being pulled mid-game with bilateral knee tendonitis, which has sidelined him for Golden State’s last four matchups.

In 13 games (12 starts) this season, Kuminga is averaging 13.8 points, a career-high 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game on 47.8-percent shooting from the field and 32.4 percent from 3-point range.

Kerr and the Warriors had hoped the 23-year-old would return for Wednesday’s 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat before he, and four of Golden State’s veterans, were inactive, but it appears that he and the rest of his star teammates now all have a chance to play in Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center.

However, whenever Kuminga does return to the floor, what role will he have moving forward?

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Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again' with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even after agreeing to a contract with the Warriors that ended a months-long stalemate, Jonathan Kuminga‘s fit with the team continues to be sorted.

Issues about his fit alongside Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were put to rest to begin the 2025-26 NBA season. So much so that Warriors coach Steve Kerr, one of the toughest critics of the four on the court together, was confident enough to plug Kuminga into the starting lineup for the first 12 games of the season.

Golden State began the season 4-1. The vibes were vibing.

Until they weren’t.

The Warriors then went 2-5 over their next seven games. The last one of the seven, a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, prompted Kerr to make a change to his starting unit. Among those changes was pulling Kuminga out and having him come off the bench.

One team source told ESPN’s Anthony Slater that Kuminga “feels like the scapegoat again.”

With the lineup change, the Warriors won a close one against the San Antonio Spurs. Kuminga was ruled out for the following game and has been sidelined ever since as he continues to deal with bilateral knee tendonitis.

This sparked speculation and conspiracies about Kuminga’s fit and future with the team. Again.

But Warriors players feel differently about the situation.

“Him not being in the lineup ain’t the reason that we’re winning,” Butler told Slater. “We’re just playing better basketball. Roles are clearer. We’re making shots. We’re guarding. That ain’t got nothing to do with him. If he was in the lineup, I still believe that we win these games.”

Slater also stated that if the Warriors want to reach their goal this season, there’s an “internal belief” that Kuminga must “shake off some of his built-up resentment” and focus on making an impact, even if, as Slater writes, the “long-term benefit for both sides is more about a bump in trade value than a partnership.”

Kuminga, who signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension that includes a team option for the second year, doesn’t become trade eligible until Jan. 15.

There still is time to figure things out internally, but in the meantime, speculation likely will continue externally.

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Why Warriors splitting six-game road trip was about more than wins, losses originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

There was a feeling to the Warriors’ six-game road trip that was about more than wins and losses. 

Better than a 3-3 record. Not by a ton, but better. Certainly not worse.

“There’s plenty of data, there’s plenty of film. I was just most pleased with after that OKC game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Just felt like our level of fight and competition was where it needed to be. We were able to obviously split the six-game trip coming off that beatdown in OKC. 

“I like where we are now better as a team, but we have a lot of work to do.”

The Warriors started their longest road trip of the season with a 24-point loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder and ended it with a 14-point loss to the Miami Heat. But those two were as different as can be. 

Embarrassed, humiliated and humbled. That was the feeling of a subdued locker room when the defending champions waxed the floor with the Warriors in Oklahoma City. The Thunder were ahead by 25 points when Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green went to the bench for good halfway through the third quarter, and the lead was as big as 36 points. A fully healthy Warriors team was beaten before the game even began. 

You can say the game was over before it started in Miami, too; however, that’s because none of Curry, Butler or Green played. The Warriors also were without Al Horford and Jonathan Kuminga. Though team-wide issues turning the ball over continued, the Warriors’ role players and backups competed until the very end, looking like they might even pull off a stunner in South Beach. 

The story of the trip, as Kerr mentioned, was how the Warriors responded to that thrashing by OKC. How the veterans of Curry, Butler and Green in particular responded after using words like “sacrifice” and “commitment to win” in a message to the team. 

Curry with his 46 points on the second night of a back-to-back, and then 49 two nights later. Butler, giving body blows to Curry’s haymakers as his running mate, scoring 28 and 21 points while attacking the glass and keeping the offense going. Green climbing Mount Wembanyama and showing us once again how he’ll never back down. 

Outside of them, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II had big contributions in those two wins – either the first or the second. The fact of the matter is, the Warriors also needed all 95 of Curry’s combined points to beat the Spurs. They didn’t need anything from him to beat the Pelicans. 

The sorriest team in the league was taken to school by Moody for 32 points and eight 3-pointers. Moody then only scored 15 points over the next two games, both being losses. Which also is part of the story from this six-game road trip. 

When the Warriors get 67 points between Curry and Butler on 56.4 percent shooting, as well as 12 points from Draymond and all the other things those three provided, they should win the game. Yet they couldn’t against the Magic on a night where Moody and Richard, their two other starters, scored six points each. Podziemski (five points) and Buddy Hield (two points) scored just seven points off the bench in the loss. 

With the six-game trip and the start of the season in general for the Warriors, there’s context to judging them. The Warriors played 17 games before any other team played more than 15. The road trip featured two back-to-backs, and the Warriors played five of them when no other team had more than three. The Rockets haven’t even had one back-to-back, and the Warriors played their 12th road game on the same day Houston had its 13th game in total. 

“We’ve been bickering about it a little internally. We’re a little bit older. I think we’ll be grateful at the end of the year that this isn’t the stretch that we have at the end of the season,” Pat Spencer said. “We like where we’re at. I think, obviously, we have liked to grab these last couple on the road. But to be where we’re at with the number of games that we played, to knock on wood, have a really healthy team at this point in the season, I think we’ll be grateful we’re not doing this on the back end of the year.”

A 5-1 or 4-2 trip was in hand. It also wasn’t the main point. 

Golden State’s three-man show of Curry, Butler and Green proved they still can bring it when challenged. The Thunder are far and away better than everyone. Consistency continued to be a problem for others, as well as some trends that need cleaning up. 

The feeling of the Warriors’ 3-3 road trip is that of unsatisfied success. Next up is taking advantage of being home for five consecutive games at a place the Warriors haven’t lost once this season.

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It was hardly an artistic masterpiece of a game for the Knicks, but when the buzzer sounded, it was recorded as a 113-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, their first road victory of the season. 

“Finally. Finally,” Jalen Brunson, who scored a team-high 28 points, said about snapping the four-game losing skid. “We’re happy, but we got a lot of work to do.”

In the beginning, it was anything but beautiful: 9-for-25 from the floor, including 3-for-11 from behind the arc in the opening quarter. Down the stretch, it looked like New York was going to squander the hard work put in on the defensive end – holding Dallas to 16-for-42 (38.1 percent) from the floor in the first half to stay in the game – and a three-point edge Landry Shamet provided when he knocked down back-to-back threes with 31 seconds remaining. Why? Because of free-throw line ineptitude: 19-for-35 (54.3 percent) for the game and 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter.

After Brunson made 1-of-2 at the line with 3.8 seconds remaining to put the Knicks up a pair, Dallas' inbound to mid-court quickly found the speedy Brandon Williams driving on Shamet. After a little contact, his off-hand hooked the Knicks defender as he went up for the lay-up. The ball went in, but the referee whistled for an offensive foul with 0.7 seconds left.

“Tough call,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. “He had a good look, but they called a foul.”

Mike Brown said Shamet was the team’s defensive player of the game for doing a “fantastic job on the ball” all night.

“I give [referee JT Orr] credit, it was a hook,” the Knicks coach said of the call. “And a lot of people would not have called it down the stretch, but it was the right call. And Landry busted his behind to get down there to create that.”

“I mean, chaos,” Brunson said of the game's final moments.

Shamet acknowledged it was a tough way for a game to end. 

“That was a good call by the officials,” he said. “Tough way to see the game end on a call like that, but I think they made the right call. I want that one, as a defender, I want that one.”

But even in victory, Shamet focused on how he escaped culpability for mistakes down the stretch.

“We don’t want it to come down to that, though,” he continued. “We gotta do a better job of playing 48 minutes and find a way to create some more separation earlier in the game.”

BRANDON WILLIAMS' CLUTCH BUCKET IS RULED AN OFFENSIVE FOUL.

KNICKS WIN IN DALLAS 😳 pic.twitter.com/JDw9nGSxe8

— ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2025

And it wasn’t all bad for the visitors. New York shot 21-for-43 (48.8 percent) from the field in the second half, including 9-for-20 from behind the arc after going 3-for-22 from deep in the first half. And Shamet, who was 1-for-4 in the game’s first 46:58, knocked down the big shots when late, when his team was down two and then 30 seconds later with the score tied.

“The ball found me, I didn’t find any open looks early," he said. "Stayed composed, and knew, had a feeling some would come in the fourth and they did. Just step in, ready to shoot, good plays by my teammates, and I’ll take them.”

Even though Shamet made the clutch shot to put the Knicks ahead for good before what can only be described as a game-winning defensive stop, the two he missed at the line up by three with 22 seconds left remained a thorn in his side.

“I gotta make two free throws,” he said. “A wild finish down the stretch. It’s a road win, they’re not always gonna be pretty. That was not 48 minutes of basketball that we would like to play.

“But you’ll take the road win, and we can build on it.”

Brunson echoed the sentiment.

“Found a way to win,” he said. “It was ugly, but when you win ugly, it’s the signs of a team learning, getting better.

“So no matter what the situation is, we gotta find a way to win.”

In the end, the Knicks made just enough plays to get the job done. Proving, once again, it is better to be ugly in victory than pretty in defeat.

The Knicks held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 113-111, on Wednesday night for the first road victory of the season after dropping their previous four.

Jalen Brunsonscored 28 points after missing the past two games with a right ankle sprain and earned his first victory in Dallas against his former team.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- The Knicks took a quick 5-0 lead, but soon found themselves down 11-6 after Brunson turned it over and Klay Thompson hit a pull-up three-pointer, forcing Mike Brown to call timeout. Brunson made a floater out of the timeout for his first make in three attempts, as that jump-started a 7-0 run. 

Dallas soon got hot from beyond the arc to take a five-point lead with about two minutes remaining in the quarter. Brunson then found a rhythm and hit two straight three-pointers after the team had started 1-for-9 from deep. Naji Marshall countered with his third three, and Dallas' seventh, with the clock winding down to take a 25-24 lead after the first quarter.

-- The poor shooting continued into the second quarter for the Knicks, especially for Miles McBride (0-for-6 from three in the first half), while the Mavs stayed hot and made their eighth three-pointer to stay in the lead. Mikal Bridges sank back-to-back mid-range shots to keep it close, but Daniel Gafford continued to find ways to score inside and gave the Mavs a 44-37 lead with about four minutes left in the first half.

Brunson connected with Karl-Anthony Towns for a one-handed slam to tie the game, giving the Knicks a spark. Dallas turned it over for a tenth time as Bridges took it in for an easy dunk and the lead. Marshall's big first half continued for the Mavs with an and-one floater, but then Brunson came right back with his own version to put the Knicks up 52-50 at halftime.

-- Despite leading, the Knicks shot a rough 3-for-21 (14 percent) from three in the first half and missed six free throws. However, the Mavs made just two three-pointers in the second quarter, going 9-for-23 (39 percent) overall in the half. Brunson led the way with 15 points and Bridges had 11 on 5-for-7 shooting. Marshall scored 19 points for Dallas in 17 minutes off the bench.

-- Josh Hart provided energy for the Knicks in the third quarter, blocking Brandon Williams' layup, leading to a Brunson bucket. He then grabbed a defensive rebound and found Towns for his first three of the night to go up two. Brunson went on to make his next three jumpers, giving the Knicks their biggest lead of the night at the time, 69-64, with 5:13 left in the third quarter.

After a D'Angelo Russell floater cut the Knicks' lead to six, Towns was called for an offensive foul against Gafford, leading to a Russell three-pointer to keep it a close game. Russell's hot quarter continued as he and McBride traded makes before Max Christie scored on a wild layup just before the buzzer. The two teams both scored 35 points in the third quarter with the Knicks still leading, 87-85.

-- The back-and-forth affair continued in the fourth with both teams making three-pointers after early struggles. Christie gave the Mavs a lead with two straight threes and Thompson hit a jumper before McBride countered with his third three-pointer, as the Knicks still trailed, 98-96. Robinson scored on a tip-in to make it a one-point game, but then Bridges threw a poor pass that led to a fastbreak dunk for Marshall, extending the Dallas lead.

Bridges made up for the mistake with a corner three-pointer two possessions later to tie the game at 106-106. After Dallas made two free throws, Hart stole the ball from Marshall and Brunson found Landry Shamet in the corner for three, giving the Knicks a 109-108 lead with about a minute remaining. Shamet came through with another three with 31.4 seconds left, putting NY up three points. An offensive foul call againstWilliams with the clock winding down caused some drama, but was upheld as he hooked around Shamet, ending the game.

-- Brunson scored 28 points, including 12 in the third quarter, to go along with five assists, three rebounds, a steal, and a block. Towns flirted with a triple-double, putting up 18/14/6 with two steals. Bridges scored 16 points with three steals and two blocks. Marshall and Russell both scored 23 points off the bench for the Mavs.

The Knicks were able to hold on for the win despite shooting 19-for-35 (53 percent) from the foul line and 12-for-42 (29 percent) from three-point land.

Game MVP: Josh Hart

Hart's energy off the bench was the difference and was especially noticeable in the second half. He finished with 16 points, going 3-for-4 from three, with 10 rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block in 30 minutes.

Highlights

KAT SLAM pic.twitter.com/hUW8NiRDCu

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

KAT slam again! pic.twitter.com/Bn2FEn0gXR

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

Jalen Brunson with 15 in the first half pic.twitter.com/n1DXUtjKR3

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

Jalen Brunson up to 27 in his return! pic.twitter.com/B48rRtHs7T

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

LANDRY. LEAD. pic.twitter.com/wP57NmXXDp

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

Landry Shamet another clutch Q4 triple! pic.twitter.com/EnWuR6TuOU

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 20, 2025

What's next

The Knicks continue on their road trip, heading to Orlando to face the Magic on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Observations after turnover struggles doom Sixers in loss to Raptors  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers couldn’t climb all the way back for another unlikely comeback Wednesday night.

Though the Sixers made the Raptors sweat down the stretch, they ultimately fell to a 121-112 loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

The Sixers dropped to 8-6 and Toronto improved to 10-5. 

Tyrese Maxey scored 24 points. VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes had 21 apiece.

Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each posted 22 for the Raptors.

On the first night of a back-to-back, the Sixers were down:

• Joel Embiid (right knee injury)
• Paul George (left knee injury recovery)
• Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain)
• Adem Bona (right ankle sprain) 

The Sixers will fly to Milwaukee and play the Bucks on Thursday night. Here are observations on their loss to Toronto:

McCain on the scoreboard 

Justin Edwards got the start and guarded Ingram. The 21-year-old shared the floor with Maxey, Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow and Andre Drummond.

Maxey pressed his foot to the gas pedal from the opening tip. He scored eight of the Sixers’ first 10 points, including a slick step-back three on Immanuel Quickley. Maxey fired five long-range jumpers in the first quarter and made three. 

The Sixers used Grimes, Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker and Jared McCain off the bench. Instead of playing the full first quarter, Maxey checked out with 2:12 remaining and McCain subbed in. He soon had his first points of the season.

McCain drilled a mid-range jumper on his first shot. He’d gone 0 for 9 over his prior four outings and dealt with serious rust in his return from injury. Wednesday’s outing — five points in 14 minutes — was his best yet. 

McCain kicked off an 8-0 Sixers run early in the second quarter by canning a top-of-the-key three. Walker capped the spurt by draining a triple that gave the Sixers a 36-35 edge. 

Season-worst turnovers night 

Walker did solid work on the glass and the Sixers had a great rebounding start overall. In under 14 minutes, they recorded 10 offensive rebounds.

Despite that superiority on the boards, the Sixers didn’t have a massive advantage in the possession game because of their turnover struggles. 

Off-target passes and strange decisions were both prevalent problems. Every Sixers starter had at least two turnovers and the team finished with a season-high 21 giveaways.

Edgecombe had four of those turnovers and also missed his first six field goals. The rookie flipped a switch to finish the first half, though. Edgecombe threw down a big dunk, grabbed a steal and assisted a Maxey three. He scored a driving bucket with 6.8 seconds left in the second quarter to lift the Sixers to a 56-53 lead. 

No comeback miracles

For the third straight game, the Sixers changed their starting lineup in the second half. Grimes and Watford replaced Edwards and Barlow. 

The Sixers had a rough first few minutes of the third quarter, which included Watford fouling Ingram on a three-point attempt. Toronto pulled ahead with a 10-2 run and kept growing its lead. The Sixers fell behind by 16 points on a Ja’Kobe Walker three late in the third. 

The Sixers sure didn’t open the fourth quarter like they’d chalked the game up as a loss and were thinking about the second night of their back-to-back. They continued their comeback habit and made a high-paced, highlight-filled charge back into the contest.

Edgecombe hammered home a coast-to-coast jam. Drummond had a steal and a slam. Grimes caught fire. He sunk two consecutive threes to slice the Sixers’ deficit to 109-106.

Of course, the Sixers had a tiny margin for error. Maxey threw a pass that wound up out of bounds when he wasn’t on the same page as Grimes. Quickley cashed in on an Ingram kick-out feed, nailing a three. He hit a key pull-up jumper, too.

While the Sixers have earned their early-season comebacks, the reality is that teams lose the vast majority of games in which they face late double-digit deficits. Wednesday was one of those nights for the Sixers.

Doug Christie admits Kings players ‘frustrated' amid longest skid since 2021-22 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Despite showing signs of improvement, the Kings matched their longest losing streak since the 2021-2022 NBA season after falling 113-99 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Paycom Center. 

Sacramento, without star big man Domantas Sabonis, extended its losing skid to seven games after a characteristic third-quarter collapse against the defending NBA champions.

With a 3-12 record, the Kings are off to their worst start through 15 games since going 2-13 to start the 1990-91 season. 

Coach Doug Christie pointed out marked corrections in terms of his team’s competitiveness but recognizes that the morale in his locker room remains relatively distressed.  

“What I would say is frustrated. That’s probably the term I would use,” Christie told reporters after the loss.

Yet again, the Kings managed to stay competitive throughout the first half before succumbing to a second-half swoon, giving up nine turnovers in the third quarter alone. 

Even though Christie is stressing high-level execution and focus during practice sessions, the Kings’ late-game product isn’t there. It’s headed in the right direction, but it’s not there just yet.

“The level of competition the guys brought I thought was really, really high level,” Christie added.

“That’s what we need to get ourselves out of where we’re at, and if we do that on a night-to-night basis, most nights in the NBA you give yourselves a chance to win. This was the world champs and there were eight, nine minutes left, and they found themselves right there.”

Sacramento’s leading scorer, Zach LaVine, was limited to eight points for a second consecutive game after shooting 4 of 10 from the floor and a paltry 0 of 4 from beyond the arc.  

Precious Achiuwa, starting amid Sabonis’ absence, tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, while Dennis Schröder added a team-high 21 points off the bench. 

HOW, PRECIOUS ACHIUWA? 😱 pic.twitter.com/G5qmDLk9D7

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 20, 2025

The Kings’ fourth stop of a five-game road trip takes them to Memphis on Thursday, where they’ll look to put a historic start in the rearview against the Grizzlies.

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Stephen A. Smith is a very busy man.

He is the star of ESPN's "First Take."

He hosts two radio shows on SiriusXM.

He has his own production company.

Since 2021, Smith also has been an analyst on ESPN's "NBA Countdown" pregame and halftime studio show.

But he isn't anymore, at least not on a full-time basis.

This week, ESPN announced a new "NBA Countdown" broadcast team that features host Malika Andrews and analysts Brian Windhorst, Michael Malone and Kendrick Perkins, with frequent contributions from Shams Charania.

Read more:Stephen A. Smith would’ve ‘swung on’ LeBron James had he touched him. Lakers star trolls him

Smith said Tuesday on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" that he hadn't been demoted from his status as a show regular, as some outlets suggested. Instead, he said, the change was something he had asked for while negotiating his reported five-year, $100-million contract to remain with the network earlier this year.

Why? Smith said he simply no longer has the time.

"I didn't want to be on the show," Smith said. "I negotiated coming off of it. Now I love doing 'NBA Countdown,' but once the countdown show is over, I got other things to do than to be in studio, watching the doubleheader and coming on at halftimes. I got other stuff that I want to do, to prepare for 'First Take' the next day, the next morning, and to do an abundance of other things that I aspire to do."

Smith said his departure from "NBA Countdown" had been reported "months ago," and he is correct. In breaking the news of Smith's new deal with ESPN in March, The Athletic's Andrew Marchand wrote that Smith "will not be a regular on ESPN’s premiere NBA pregame show anymore."

Read more:Shae Cornette is named as Molly Qerim's replacement as host of ESPN's 'First Take'

ESPN did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for a comment.

Smith added that he will continue to make frequent guest appearances on several ESPN shows, and that includes "NBA Countdown."

"If they need me in L.A. for 'NBA Countdown,' I'll be there," Smith said. "Matter of fact, I have days in my contract to be there. I just don't have to be there full time."

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

After months of rumors swirling around a possible relationship between All-Star Chicago Sky center Angel Reese and Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr., the eight-year NBA veteran finally addressed it with the FanDuel TV “Run It Back” NBA crew of Lou Williams, Chandler Parsons and Michelle Beadle.

“That’s the homie for sure,” Carter said. “We locked in. Y’all gonna find out when y’all need to find out. We’ll just leave it at that. That’s my girl, though. We locked in for sure.”

Carter’s statement was committal, but also vague.

According to Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post, the two were first linked earlier in 2025, when Carter attended Reese’s 23rd birthday party in May. He was also at the WNBA All-Star Game in July, wearing a shirt with Reese’s picture on it.

Reese has yet to address the relationship rumors, but she’s dropped various hints on social media — whether through a recent photo of her in Orlando gear or by attending multiple of Carter’s games this season.

Reese is currently in the offseason after her second WNBA campaign. She made the All-Star Game for the second straight season, averaging 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds. Over her short career, she’s totaled 46 double-doubles — the most by any player in their first two seasons.

Carter, drafted by the Chicago Bulls at No. 7 in 2018, spent two and a half seasons in Chicago before being traded to the Magic in March 2021, where he’s played ever since. This season, he’s averaged 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, while shooting 44 percent on nearly three three-point attempts per game.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Orlando Magic, Chicago Sky, NBA, WNBA

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Key threat to Warriors' season hopes on display again late in loss to Heat originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s rare that an NBA team missing three starters can compete on the road with a team nearly invincible at home when it spends much of the game shooting as if blindfolded, ponderously dribbling into traffic and throwing up air balls.

Yet the undermanned and profoundly defective Warriors were giving the Miami Heat all the smoke they could handle Wednesday, taking a 74-72 lead into the fourth quarter.

Then came a disastrous turnover spree that beckoned a richly deserved 110-96 loss.

Perhaps the most instructive element for the Warriors was that Jimmy Butler III, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford – veterans too often prone to distressing turnovers – all watched the fourth-quarter meltdown from the bench. They got an up-close look at a potential upset win spiral into a double-digit loss.

The Warriors gave the Heat 34 points off 23 turnovers, with 16 of those points coming off nine giveaways in the fourth quarter.

“I’m very, very confident that we will get that turned around,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters at Kaseya Center. “We got it turned around last year after we got Jimmy, cut our turnovers way back. That’s going to be the focus when we get home.”

The Warriors (9-8), who return to Chase Center on Friday and open a five-game homestand against the Portland Trail Blazers, closed their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record that under the circumstances leaves them somewhat satisfied but less than content.

No matter who is on the floor for the Warriors, though, turnovers continue to undo much of their best work. The math blatantly tells them that is the biggest of their problems. They’re undefeated (8-0) when they win or tie the turnover war, 1-8 when the lose it.

“We have to do a better job of this as coaches of giving the guys better spacing and cutting and teaching it better so that the decisions become easier,” Kerr said. “And then they’ve got to do a better job of just making simple decisions.”

Golden State had to be much smarter to overcome an offense in which only two players – Quinten Post (8 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 7 from deep) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (2 of 2) – shot better than 35 percent from the field. Buddy Hield was 7 of 20, 4 of 15 from distance. Brandin Podziemski was 6 of 19, 2 of 7 beyond the arc. Moses Moody was 3 of 12 from deep, while Gui Santos was 1 of 7, 1 of 6 from deep.

And, somehow, the Warriors still were in position to steal a victory. They played ferocious defense. They rebounded. They displayed enough grit and perseverance to offset their atrocious shooting, 36.2 percent from the field, including 26.5 percent beyond the arc. 

But that formula trends sharply toward losing when giving your opponent 34 points off 23 turnovers. The Warriors were outscored by, hmm, 16 (38-22) in the fourth quarter.

Key threat to Warriors’ season hopes on display again late in loss to Heat“Turnovers got [the Heat] going,” conceded Pat Spencer, who came off the bench to contribute 11 points, a career-high 13 assists and only two turnovers.

After all these years, and what seems like relentless dialogue about Golden State’s tendency to play fast and loose with the basketball, fast and loose continues to drag them down more than anything else.

The Warriors dropped to 29th in the NBA in turnovers committed, averaging 17.1 per game. They bless their opponents with more gifts than the Washington Wizards or the Utah Jazz or the Charlotte Hornets. 

At what point will the Warriors – from Curry, Butler and Green to the men on the far end of the bench – address this problem with the sincerity required to curb what plagues them?

The Warriors’ early season travel schedule has been the toughest in the NBA, 17 games over 29 days, with a league-high five back-to-back sets. It’s about to get easier, with eight of their next 12 games at Chase Center.

Maybe they’ll find a rhythm once they return home. But with the issue being as vexing as it typically is, seeing improvement is the only real fix.

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Oubre to miss at least 2 weeks for Sixers with left knee injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss at least two weeks with a left knee injury, the Sixers announced Wednesday night.

Oubre exited the Sixers’ loss last Friday to the Pistons after hyperextending his knee. According to a Sixers official, an MRI on the 29-year-old revealed a left knee LCL sprain and he’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Early in the season, Oubre had been the Sixers’ primary wing player (34.8 minutes per game) and started all of the team’s first 12 games. He averaged 16.8 points and 5.1 rebounds and often handled star assignments defensively.

“He’s done that consistently where he’s got one of better scorers in the league or on the other team, and he just keeps working and working,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said after his team’s Nov. 8 win over the Raptors. “He’s been really good.

“He’s done a good job of playing physically and he’s been much better at just being solid — keeping himself in front of his man, challenging shots. They’re going to make some, but he just keeps at it over the course of the game and ends up with a good defensive game.”

Along with Oubre, the Sixers did not have Joel Embiid (right knee injury), Paul George (left knee injury recovery) and Adem Bona (right ankle sprain) on Wednesday night vs. Toronto for the first leg of a back-to-back.

George is expected to be available Thursday against the Bucks. Embiid has been a full participant in the Sixers’ last two practices and was initially listed as doubtful against the Raptors.

What we learned as short-handed Warriors fade late in trip-ending loss to Heat originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

The Warriors’ failure to win Tuesday’s game when their Big Three of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green all played, as well as veteran Al Horford, reared its ugly head Wednesday night in a 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat at the Kaseya Center. 

The short-handed Warriors, without Curry, Butler, Green and Horford, gave it their all. A wide talent gap was too much to close as the Heat outscored them 38-22 in the fourth quarter.

A makeshift starting five of Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Will Richard, Gui Santos and Trayce Jackson-Davis had zero chemistry and cohesion to start the game. And how could they? The group had only played four minutes together in one game before Wednesday. 

The starters weren’t discombobulated, because they couldn’t even be combobulated with that little amount of time on the court as a unit. It took until the Warriors’ 13th field goal for them to finally make a shot, and it was a Buddy Hield layup. The Warriors also missed their first five 3-point attempts.

It didn’t deter the Warriors one bit, though. Scoring wasn’t going to be easy to come by, so the Warriors instead fought their tails off to keep the game within striking distance for all four quarters. The Warriors tallied a season-high 61 rebounds, including 19 on the offensive glass.

Podziemski was the Warriors’ leading scorer with 20 points. Quinten Post (19 points) and Buddy Hield (18 points) led a bench that outscored the Heat 55-33.

Over $171 million worth of salaries were sidelined for the Warriors. Championship teams aren’t about silver linings or feel-good losses. This also was a flight home from a defeat that the Warriors can hold their heads high from.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ second straight loss to end a six-game road trip.

Can’t Question Effort

When the Warriors went down 20-4 in the first six and a half minutes of the game, it was time to start typing about a blowout loss. But the makeshift Warriors never gave up, going on a 16-9 run the rest of the quarter to trail by just nine points going into the second, despite shooting 21 percent from the field. 

That level of competitiveness carried over to the second quarter, too. Once down 41-30, the Warriors went on a 10-0 run to make it a one-point game before a Bam Adebayo dunk. But a Quinten Post three tied it up at 43 points apiece, and the Warriors trailed by just four points at halftime, 49-45.

QP ties it, and Jimmy approves 👏 pic.twitter.com/E9ymhObV08

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 20, 2025

A few minutes into the second half, the Warriors went back down by eight points. They could have folded. However, their response was a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead for the first time all night. Each team kept clawing back, and each team had an answer whenever momentum shifted one way or the other. 

Heads weren’t hung and players still sprinted down the floor. The Warriors in the fourth quarter simply ran out of gas.

Building Good Habits

How does a team shooting 27.8 percent from the field and 22.2 percent on 3-pointers stay within striking distance at halftime? Energy, crashing the glass and taking care of the ball.

Led by eight boards from Jackson-Davis, the Warriors outrebounded the Heat 36-30 in the first half. They also had three fewer turnovers, nine to six, and swiped five steals compared to one for the Heat. Those five steals turned into seven points for the Warriors.

Buddy intercepts the pass and takes it to the house 😤 pic.twitter.com/Gk2kFPAOJv

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 20, 2025

The Heat were held to their lowest scoring first half of the season after the Warriors outscored them 25-20 in the second quarter.

Turnovers hurt the Warriors in the third quarter with six compared to the Heat’s two. Yet defensive intensity and making rebounding a top priority had them win the third and hold a two-point lead going into the fourth. 

In the end, turnovers were the Warriors’ detriment – as they always are. The Warriors went from six turnovers for nine Heat points in the first half, to 15 turnovers in the second half which became 23 points for the Heat. They’re now 1-8 when losing the turnover battle, and 8-0 when winning it.

Spencer Brings The Noise

Something shifted for the Warriors once the Heat quickly began the game with a 16-point lead. That something was Pat Spencer. 

Immediately, things began turning positive for the Warriors. Spencer conducted the offense and moved the ball. He then grabbed six rebounds in the second quarter alone – three on offense and three on defense. Spencer was a plus-4 in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter as well. 

Plus, the fiery point guard got into it with Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the second quarter, which turned into a technical foul for the Heat forward.

The game continued to hum in the second half with Spencer as the Warriors’ conductor. Spencer’s logo three kickstarted a key run for the Warriors in the third quarter, and he was on triple-double watch going into the fourth with seven points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

That's why they call him Logo Pat 😅 pic.twitter.com/9chBxE4zmf

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 20, 2025

Spencer’s triple-double bid barely came up short. The point guard on a two-way contract ended with 11 points, a career-high 13 assists and eight rebounds as a team-high plus-10 in 32 minutes off the bench.

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