Category: NBA

The Philadelphia 76ers are surging in the second half of their matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With 3:59 on the clock in the third quarter, LeBron James leaped up for a rebound after Jarrett Allen missed a free throw and smacked his teammate, VJ Edgecombe, in the nose with his elbow. Edgecombe immediately grabbed his face and blood dripped onto his hand.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope helped direct Edgecombe to the sideline, where a trainer took a white towel and held it up to Edgecombe's nose. Edgecombe stood patiently with his hands on his hips as the trainer continued to treat him. He walked back onto the court with a swab of cotton shoved up his right nostril and clapped as the crowd welcomed him back.

VJ Edgecombe Just Took An Elbow From LeBron James To The Nose.

Damn 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/53k5o0K375

— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) October 23, 2026

LeBron gave VJ a bloody nose 🤕

VJ was okay 😮 pic.twitter.com/hiXFU0Tei8

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2026

James was fouled on the play by Donovan Mitchell and made both free throws to cut down the 76ers' deficit to 80-77. Philadelphia was down by as many as 29 points in the first half.

The game was another chapter in James' career against his hometown team, which he was drafted by and won the 2016 NBA Finals with.

At tipoff, James Harden was booed in his return to the City of Brotherly Love.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James gives 76ers teammate VJ Edgecombe bloody nose via accidental elbow

Josh Hart spent five years going at it with Mitchell Robinson in practice. Now, they’re about to do it in a real game, on opposing teams.

Friday night against the Celtics in Boston will be the first time the Knicks face Robinson since he left in free agency.

He signed a three-year, $47.4 million deal — a number the Knicks couldn’t come close to matching under the edict from owner James Dolan to stay under the second apron — to be a new addition to Boston’s starting lineup.

“It’s gonna be the same thing,” Hart said after Knicks practice Thursday. “We’re still gonna be battling for rebounds.”

Hart, who knows the Celtics like to have their center guard the opposing team’s worst shooter — a treatment he’s become accustomed to — is particularly excited for one facet of the matchup.

“They crossmatch a lot, so I’m sure he’ll be guarding me,” Hart said. “When I make a couple, I’m gonna let him know.”

Jokes aside, it will be a special moment for the Knicks to see Robinson, who had been the longest-tenured Knick on their championship roster, having spent the first eight years of his career with the organization.

“It’s bittersweet,” Karl-Anthony Towns said Thursday, “because you love Mitch. We’ve done so much historical things together here. To not see him in a Knicks jersey anymore, obviously, for all of us, we’re a family unit. You guys are around us every day; you know how much we care about each other, each other’s families, and to not be able to have him with us on this journey after that amazing journey we went through is obviously bittersweet. But it’s gonna be amazing to be able to see our brother, to hug him, be able to show him some love and to obviously compete playing basketball, like we love to do.”

Robinson’s impact extended off the court for the Knicks. He was one of the biggest personalities in the locker room.

“It’s definitely different [without him],” Hart said. “Obviously, that’s someone who’s had a big presence here, big presence in the locker room. It’s different. No one else listens to country [music] but me, so that’s tough in the weight room. The lack of his presence is obviously felt a little bit. That’s why it’s a new team.”

For his own part, Robinson did not exactly wax poetic about facing the Knicks.

“It doesn’t matter that I’m playing my former team,” Robinson said. “It’s more so trying to bounce back from what happened two nights ago. At the end of the day, it’s basketball; it’s a business. You gotta play the team just like you play any other team.”

Robinson struggled in the Celtics’ season-opening loss to the Pistons on Tuesday, recording four points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.

“I played like ass,” Robinson said. “It’s kind of just straightforward.”

He was too fed up with his performance to watch the Knicks’ championship ceremony.

“I was still stuck in my head from last game,” Robinson said. “I’m proud of those guys, obviously; I was a part of it. I just didn’t really want to watch it.”

Robinson is expected to receive his ring, accompanied by a tribute video, when he returns to MSG for the Knicks-Celtics game on March 14.

The Knicks certainly know better than anyone else what to expect from Robinson, with his offensive rebounding prowess and ability to guard all positions on the court. The same goes, of course, for his brutal free-throw shooting, which became a recurring storyline in recent years. Opposing teams, particularly in the playoffs, often utilized Hack-a-Mitch to exploit his weakness.

Will the Knicks now flip the script and use it on him?

“Maybe,” head coach Mike Brown said. “I think that’s more, just me personally, I’ve always leaned more to do that come playoff time or later in the [regular] season where you’re really trying to game plan and get certain games. Right now, I want to see if we can defend these guys with what we do staple-wise, with what our foundation is.”

It will be weird for Knicks fans to root against Robinson after all the ups and, for most of the beginning of his career, downs he went through with the team.

“At the end of the day,” Brown said, “we want to kick his ass like he probably wants to kick ours.”

LeBron James was as still as a statue during the national anthem before Thursday’s game between the 76ers and Cavaliers.

Video from the Philadelphia Inquirer showed James straight-faced with his arms behind his back while the anthem played at Wells Fargo Arena, a stark contrast to his movements before Philadelphia’s season-opener against the Knicks.

President Donald Trump posted a video on his Truth Social platform on Thursday criticizing Sixers forward LeBron James for pregame stretching during the national anthem before Tuesday’s Sixers-Knicks season opener.

This was LeBron before tonight's game in Philly. pic.twitter.com/QY99bbWhej

— Philadelphia Inquirer Sports (@phillysport) October 22, 2026

During the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Tuesday, video spread on social media of James swinging his arms and mimicking shooting motions.

President Donald Trump caught wind of the viral video and slammed the 22-time All-Star’s antics, saying that he should apologize for disrespecting the United States.

“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country!” Trump said in a scathing post on Truth Social Thursday afternoon. “I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE.

“LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!”

James, 41, has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s comments or why he was performing different movements during the national anthem.

The situation also comes while the WNBA is facing heat for players on the Dream and Valkyries jogging off the court before the anthem during the Finals, with Vice President JD Vance calling the action “disgraceful.”

“I think that you should not express some criticism of a public policy of a given politician by disrespecting the country writ large,” Vance said during an interview on the “Arroyo Grande” podcast Wednesday. “I mean, those women who play for the WNBA, think of the public safety, think of the incredible wealth and privilege, the amazing jobs that they have.”

Both teams, however, say that it’s a part of their routine before the game, claiming that they have left the court for the anthem all season.

“We’ve been doing that,” Valkyries guard Veronica Burton told reporters before Game 2. “That’s just our pregame routine.

“We’ve been doing that since last year.”

The Lakers’ backcourt is about to get healthier.

Backup guard Collin Sexton was taken off of the team’s injury report and is expected to be available for Friday’s home game against the Clippers after dealing with a strained right soleus (calf). 

Sexton sat out of Wednesday’s season-opening win over the Warriors and the entire preseason with the injury.

He was a full participant in practice for the first time on Monday, but sat out against the Warriors.

“No setback, no setback,” coach JJ Redick said Wednesday. “Collaborative decision with performance, everyone involved. I always say this, with soft tissue injuries, the athlete has to have confidence and full confidence.”

Sexton’s debut will give the Lakers another reliable ball-handler behind superstar guard Luka Doncic and star guard Austin Reaves.

With the rotation being shortened, Quentin Grimes was used as a reserve on Wednesday and last Friday’s preseason finale loss to the Nuggets to give the Lakers another backcourt ball-handler off the bench.

The 6-foot-3 guard, who the Lakers signed to a two-year, $19.2 million contract in July, has career averages of 18.3 points and 3.6 assists.

“I definitely feel like when I’m watching the games, I’m more eager to get out there,” Sexton said earlier in the week. “I’m super excited to get out there, and I can see where I can fit in pretty easily. Even just on the defensive side, bringing that energy, bringing that juice and trying to disrupt. Not always turning the ball over and get someone to turn it over for just disrupt and bring the clock down.

“And then offensively, getting to the paint. That’s something that I’ve done really well in my career. And then spacing, making sure I’m spacing for the guys like Luka, AR, even just when Walker [Kessler] gets in the pocket, being ready to shoot on the back side. So, just finding ways that I can help the team, when I’m watching the game, and even just watching, I watched a few of the games after that just to see as well.”

More encouraging news came on the injury report with Jake LaRavia being listed as questionable because of a sprained right ankle he suffered during the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win.

Karl-Anthony Towns provided a reminder of one of comedy’s greatest lessons. 

During Jalen Brunson’s “Saturday Night Live” monologue, Towns asked him, “Can you foul out of ‘SNL?’” It poked fun at last season’s constant issue of getting into foul trouble. 

“I feel like all jokes,” Towns said after Knicks practice Thursday, “have some truth to [them], right?” 

This joke once again has become a Knicks reality. 

Towns got into early foul trouble during the season-opening 106-100 loss to the 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. It limited him to just 23 minutes — and only six in the first half. 

It was a recurring flaw last season. Towns, due to foul trouble, only played 23 minutes and had just two points in the Knicks’ championship-clinching win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. 

Most maddening is that often Towns’ fouls aren’t preventing layups or making an opponent earn it at the line. He is picking up cheap, avoidable ones on the offensive end. 

Head coach Mike Brown believes he’s too good to be doing that. 

“This is known because we talk about it, and he got better [last season], to his credit,” Brown said Thursday. “He got better as the year went along. This is a new year, new team, new challenges, but I don’t want him to take 10 steps backwards. But if he takes a couple steps backward, and we gotta figure it out, I’m OK with it. 

“And where I’m going with it is, the 3-pointer that he shot with [Tyrese] Maxey closing out to him, he did [commit a foul]. He stuck his leg out, trying to [draw a foul]. He’s a good enough player to where he doesn’t need to look for and/or try to draw the foul; just make the basket. Some guys say, you’re like, ‘Hey man, try to get fouled here when you’re doing it.’ No, no, no, KAT, you’re a freaking perennial All-Star. So just make the bucket, and if he happens to foul you, then great.” 

Andre Drummond filled in admirably in the first half Tuesday with Towns forced to the bench.

But that expanded workload is not ideal for the 33-year-old Drummond, who Brown said looked fatigued in the second half. 

Towns’ foul woes are a big reason the depth behind him at center was such a talking point this past offseason. 

“Obviously, I never want to put my team in that kind of position,” Towns said. “So I have to do a better job, not only in the regular season but in the postseason, to make sure I’m available for my team.”

James Harden got a very Philly welcome in his first game of the 2026-27 NBA season.

Philadelphia 76ers fans booed loudly at tipoff on Thursday, Oct. 22 when the 11-time All-Star started the game with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His teammate, Jarrett Allen, tipped the ball back to Harden and Harden dribbled the ball forward for the first possession of the game as the jeers rained down from the rafters at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

pic.twitter.com/c0saxwnSV4

— ART OF THE LEAGU3 (@highlightsofart) October 22, 2026

He was booed again when he took his place at the free throw line at the 9:19 mark after he was fouled by VJ Edgecombe. Harden missed the first free throw, but made the second to make the score 7-5 for the Cavaliers.

At the end of the first quarter, Cleveland was up 35-18.

Harden played for the 76ers for two seasons from 2021 to 2023. He had a public feud with former president of basketball operations Daryl Morey after the front office shut down his request to be traded.

Harden joined the Cavaliers last year after a stint with the Los Angeles Clippers. This offseason, he signed a three-year, $97 million extension to stay in Cleveland.

This is the 76ers' second game of the season. They beat the defending champion New York Knicks 106-100 in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 20. It was LeBron James' debut with Philadelphia.

Thursday's game was another chapter in James' career against his hometown team, which he was drafted by and won the 2016 NBA Finals with.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Harden booed in return to Philadelphia with Cavaliers

The Houston Rockets opened their 2026-27 campaign against a familiar foe on Wednesday. The Rockets welcomed the Dallas Mavericks to Toyota Center to open the season after facing the same team twice in China to open the preseason. The Rockets split those two games, with both teams resting starters, so little can be taken from them.

Ime Udoka spoke to the media before the game and gave an update on Steven Adams, stating he was a game-time decision as he was dealing with a sore calf that first appeared after Tuesday’s practice. Udoka also stated to SB Nation that the double big lineup the Rockets have implemented the past two seasons will be more matchup-based this season, but that he still feels confident in that lineup and will use it throughout the season.

Adams was eventually ruled out right before game time, with the hope that he would return for either Friday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs or Sunday’s game vs. the Atlanta Hawks. The Rockets went with their preseason starting lineup as Fred VanVleet made his first start in over a year. The Rockets were hoping to get off to a fast start in Wednesday’s game as they kicked off a very important season.

Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks

The Rockets didn’t get off to the best start, falling behind 0-4 before making three straight baskets, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet. Both teams eventually found their footing as the lead went back and forth early. There were also early fireworks as Tari Eason shoved PJ Washington, which led to a flagrant-two foul and an ejection for Eason only three minutes into his 2026-27 season.

A couple of areas stuck out early in the game. Kevin Durant seemed to be able to get a lot of easier shots now that he doesn’t have to initiate so much of the offense. Also, the Rockets seem to get whatever shot they want in the first quarter.

The Rockets were able to pull away slightly at the end of the quarter as Durant took over late in the quarter, scoring 13 points in the first quarter. The Rockets shot 52 percent, scoring 32 points and leading 32-26 after one quarter.

Rockets started to break the game open in the second quarter as they continued to push the pace, led by Jabari Smith and Kevin Durant. The Rockets went up 17 points after a Smith dunk, which gave him a game-high 16 points. Rockets continue to apply pressure as the Mavericks start to cool off, but the Rockets continue their hot shooting. Rockets led by 32 points, 70-38, after one half of play

The second half was more of the same as the Rockets continued to dominate on both sides of the court. The Mavericks had a brief moment of hope as they cut the Rockets’ lead down to 17, but that is the closest they would get as the Rockets cruised in the fourth quarter winning 128-110 The Rockets were led by a couple of 30-point games from Jabari Smith and Kevin Durant. Alperen Sengun also finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Postgame

After the game as expected the Rockets were in a good mood as Ime Udoka, Fred VanVleet, Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith all spoke to the media. Udoka talked about the Rockets playing at a faster pace finishing with 29 fast break points something he has spoken on ofted leading up to the season.

The biggest story was the return of VanVleet after missing all of last season and everyone said how happy they were to have him back in the lineup. Durant especially spoke on how much of a calming force VanVleet is for the entire team.

Here KD talks about how it was being on the court with Fred for the first time.

“It was amazing just his calming force.”

Went on to say it makes his life easier. pic.twitter.com/1R78SUBBK7

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) October 22, 2026

VanVleet finished with a game high 11 assist with zero turnovers which is the type of point guard play the Rockets missed all last season. However VanVleet also did well as he has his entire career as a screener especially with Alperen Sengun in the inverted pick and roll. SB Nation asked VanVleet about his chemistry with Sengun.

The Rockets ran a inverted pick and roll a few times tonight with Fred and AlP that led to points.

I asked Fred about the chemistry between him and Sengun.

“It really was natural from the first time we did it. Its some chemistry that yo have with players where it doesn't take… pic.twitter.com/733SegmCyd

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) October 22, 2026

The Rockets had 32 assist in their win over the Mavericks and SB Nation asked Durant how much easier does it make it when the ball is moving around the court and everyone is touching the basketball.

The Rockets had 32 assists tonight and I asked KD how much easier does it make it on everyone when the ball is moving like that.

KD said that increasing their volume from 3 compared to last season helps. pic.twitter.com/cly1eYNwKY

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) October 22, 2026

Wednesday’s season open win was the Rockets’ first since their 2017-18 win over the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors, which was led, of course, by Stephen Curry and current Rocket Kevin Durant. The Rockets are back in action Friday as they travel to Austin to take on the San Antonio Spurs as they look to start the season 2-0.

The Knicks are signing free agent forward Dalton Knecht to a two-way deal.

To make room on the roster for Knecht, New York is waiving Kevin McCullar Jr., reports SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley. 

Knecht, 25, was waived by the Los Angeles Lakers before the season.

The 17th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Knecht appeared in 54 games with the Lakers last season, averaging 4.2 points on 45.5 percent shooting (34.2 percent from three) with 1.4 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game.

Knecht saw much more time in his rookie campaign, with 78 appearances (16 starts) as he averaged 9.1 points on 46.1 percent from the floor (37.6 percent from three on 4.4 attempts) with 2.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game. 

New York's other two-way players are Tyler Nickel and Jaden Akins.  

Before I get started, I know I gotta drop the health disclaimers

The Golden State Warriors walked into Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday without their starting small forward, their starting center, their starting shooting guard, and the backup behind him. Jimmy Butler is still rehabbing the ACL, Kristaps Porzingis is out with an injury that none of my buddies can explain, Brandin Podziemski’s back flared up, and Moses Moody is months away after patellar tendon repair. Steph Curry even played on a sprained right ankle.

But there was still plenty to glean from that opening game, and that 127-105 final provides some clues about what the Lakers are capable of. For most of the last decade, they were the franchise standing outside GSW’s party, pressing their face against the glass. Wednesday night felt like the first time they looked back through it at the Dubs, with a vengeance.

The big man Walker Kessler kicked in the door in his first game with the Lake Show, going 12-for-12 from the field for 26 points and nine rebounds in his Lakers debut. The only Laker with a cleaner night was Wilt Chamberlain going 14-for-14 in 1969. The highlight to take away from him last night was Luka lobbing it up and Kessler slamming it home with the Warriors spending the rest of the night watching the sequel and the director’s cut.

“Milk Chamberlain of the Snowtime Lakers” – Shaq

26 POINTS
100% SHOOTING
10 DUNKS
9 REBOUNDS pic.twitter.com/gVmFhe38yShttps://t.co/4XY7XPrsD9

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 22, 2026

Every time a Lakers guard turned the corner, the Warriors had to choose between stopping the ball and staying home on the big man. With Porzingis in street clothes there was no seven-footer back there to make that choice easier. Too often they got caught in between, and Kessler spent the night catching lobs like Randy Moss.

Then there’s Luka Doncic giving Yaxel Lendeborg a taste of professional basketball, combining shotmaking and foulbaiting to a degree that drove the rookie mad. Luka finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, was a plus-31 in 29 minutes. When a star player gets to eat popcorn for the final minutes of opening night, you got whooped.

It’d be a shame not to mention the impact from Luka’s backcourt mate Austin Reaves, who put up 23 points and six assists and went 10-for-10 from the line on just 11 field goal attempts. That’s what happens when a defense gets stretched two ways at once. The Warriors were sending help at Luka, Kessler’s rolls dragged the back line into the paint, and Reaves kept attacking with somebody’s hip half a step late. Reaves is the reason you can’t load up on Luka, and Kessler is the reason you can’t load up on Reaves.

NEW-LOOK LAKERS BIG 3 TONIGHT:

Luka Doncic:
28 POINTS – 8 REBOUNDS – 7 ASSISTS

Walker Kessler:
26 POINTS – 9 REBOUNDS – 100% FG (!!)

Austin Reaves:
23 POINTS – 4 REBOUNDS – 6 ASSISTS

WHAT’S STOPPING THEM FROM WINNING THE WEST? 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/PWL4VzJBg3

— Polymarket Hoops (@PolymarketHoops) October 22, 2026

The Lakers shot 57% percent and held Golden State to 8-of-36 from three. Steph scored 23 on a bad ankle, but the Lakers’s double-digit margin ballooned after three quarters, and the rest was waste management time. This was a statement game from a reimagined Lakers squad built around that aforementioned Big 3. For most of the GSW dynasty, the Lakers were the team the Warriors used as target practice. And although L.A. won the 2020 bubble title, GSW’s 2022 ring made it feel like a footnote. Yes, LeBron and AD bounced Golden State in the 2023 second round, but Denver swept them right after, and that era never climbed back to the top.

Now LeBron is in Philadelphia, and what L.A. built in his place looks younger and meaner. Luka is 27, Reaves is in his prime, and Kessler is the anchor they never had around Luka. And they’re rising right as Steph and Draymond stare at the back nine of their careers. Round two comes October 30 in an NBA Cup game, and I already know Lendeborg has that date circled. I just hope Steve Kerr has somebody circling Walker Kessler.

Two diehard Knicks fans have gone viral for reportedly naming their newborn after the team’s unforgettable championship run.

Yvonne Gonzalez-Bradford and Vance Bradford welcomed their first son, “Knickson Fyve Bradford,” on Aug. 8 after New York’s historic NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs this summer, the couple told Today this week.

The idea for the name came after the Bradfords opened the windows of their Long Island City high-rise apartment and heard elated revelers chanting “Knicks in five!”– after the team clinched their first title in 53 years, the outlet reported.

The next day, Bradford recalled his wife looking at him and asking, “What if we give our son a name for a champion? What about Knickson?”

Gonzalez-Bradford, who was 7 months pregnant at the time, later suggested Fyve as Knickson’s middle name.

“Five is also an indivisible number. So he’s our indivisible champion,” the mom said. “You can hear him cooing in the background right now.”

Bradford’s late mother, Sydell Johnson, was the scorekeeper for the team during their last championship in 1973. She passed away unexpectedly last year, making Knickson’s arrival all the more significant for the family.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, Ma, you went up there and you sent us one,’” he said. “She sent down a Knicks championship!”

The little champion has since gone viral on Instagram, racking up hundreds of thousands of views and a repost from Spike Lee of pictures of him swaddled in Knicks gear with a plush basketball by his side.

“If he turns out to be a Celtics fan or a Sixers fan, again he’s still Knickson Bradford, who is in the boardroom,” the dad said.

“We wanted to have a very strong and firm name that would lead to a cool life. Knickson Fyve is definitely our motto. Knickson Fyve forever!”

The Phoenix Suns don’t look like a team on the rise. Mat Ishbia has repeatedly told us this team is ascending, but the Suns’ recent disaster against Portland suggests otherwise. 

For starters, we are going to have some very uncomfortable conversations about Devin Booker this season if we see more performances like we saw on Wednesday. A -43 in the box score with no 3-point attempts from the best player on your team, who consistently struggled to create separation and did not look confident shooting the ball at all, is a losing formula for the Suns this season. The Booker decline over the last few seasons is hard to ignore, even though we have all done our best (myself included) to convince ourselves that it was mostly external factors. 

Next up, we turn our attention to Dillon Brooks, Collin Gillespie, and Miles Bridges, three talented players who are obviously flawed and will likely not substantially improve for the rest of their careers. Brooks had a career year last season and may score a ton of points this year, but at what cost? He is not going to transform himself into a high-level playmaker or rebounding machine overnight. As for Bridges, the defensive lapses and fine rebounding stats were enough in Charlotte, but to expect any improvement from him as a shooter or defensive pest seven years into his NBA career seems to be wishful thinking at best. Gillespie is what he is at this point too: a lethal 3-point shooter and great backup point guard or capable starter. But it is unlikely he will become an elite player maker or an efficient three-level scorer for the rest of his career. 

Are all of these good players who need more than a handful of preseason games to build continuity? Yes. Absolutely. I expect them to look much better playing together in December, but none are guys that any self-respecting NBA hoops fan would categorize as “ascending players.”

Now, let us look at the young guys… are Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming ever going to be more than impactful defensive players off the bench? Dunn refuses to shoot 3s, and Rasheer Fleming shot a wide-open corner 3 off the top of the backboard against the Trailblazers. Meanwhile, Toumani Camara was lethal from the 3-point line and an unbelievably effective defender to twist the knife even deeper. If you expect either Dunn or Fleming to become starting-level 3-and-D prototypes, you assume that they’ll magically be blessed by the basketball gods and turn into Royce O’Neale-level snipers in a season or two. Which is more unlikely to happen since they have not shown much growth so far in their first few seasons in the NBA offensively.

Then there is Oso Ighodaro, a perfect backup big man in the NBA, with a high IQ and motor. He is perfectly functional as a defender and connector, but that is what he is. Ighodaro is likely a mostly finished product unless he becomes a capable 3-point shooter or elite finisher at the rim.

Koa Peat is definitely the wild card in this group because we have not seen enough from him yet to have any clue who he can be in the NBA. However, that shot gets more broken with every shot, and it’s hard to survive in the NBA if you look at how broken that shot is when shooting the ball. 

Now to the guys who could be characterized as “ascending.” 

The Suns’ two most likely players to ascend into something more than average NBA players are Jalen Green and Khaman Maluach. While there have been flashes of brilliance from both players, they also have gaping holes in their games that may prove to be their undoing. 

As explosive and talented as Green is, his processing and vision are what hold him back. Against Portland, after coming off a screen and getting downhill against a Portland big, Green throws the ball back through his legs right into the trailing Portland defender for the easiest steal of the night. It was a play so out of the ordinary for an NBA player that it stuck with me for the rest of the night and is just one example of how far away he is from being a great player.

For Maluach, he has the size and the effort to be a great big in the NBA, but his inability to cleanly grab rebounds, run dribble handoffs, and locate his man on defense right now are giant red flags. The best argument I can come up with for his ascension is that he has not played enough basketball yet in his life, leaving him the most room to grow. But the Suns cannot afford to wait many more years for him to be ready; by the time he is ready, Booker, Brooks, and Bridges (who will likely sign an extension with the Suns, yay!) are going to be well past their primes. 

Now this is clearly an overreaction one game into the regular season. But it is important to point out that while this team can be a really good basketball team this season, it is not an ascending team. The best players on this team are in their primes or past them. There are young players ascending into fine players, but who on the team outside of Booker has a chance to make an All-Star team in the future, given the trajectory they are on right now? 

It is probably between Green and Maluach, but that is if everything goes right for them in their development over the next few seasons. 

The Suns are an incrementally improving team; they are not an ascending team. And while the Suns are capable of being a mediocre to good team the next couple of seasons, the ceiling is not the roof for this team.

The wait is finally over! The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing basketball that counts again as they open their season against LeBron James and the newly configured Philadelphia 76ers.

Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard!

It was hard to know what the Nets plan was when general manager Sean Marks used four of the team’s five first-round picks on guards in the 2025 draft. 

One game into the second season of that group hasn’t provided any clarity. 

Among the disappointments in Wednesday night’s ugly loss to the mediocre Hornets was the fact that none of those five players stood out in a positive way. 

In fact, only two of them — Egor Dëmin (selected eighth overall by the Nets) and Nolan Traore (19th) — even got on the court while Drake Powell (22nd), Ben Saraf (26th) and Danny Wolf (27th) didn’t play. 

So though there were positive signs against Charlotte from this past year’s first-round pick, Mikel Brown Jr., on Wednesday, the reward for tanking in 2024-25 has hardly paid off under head coach Jordi Fernández. 

And this year, unlike the previous two seasons, the Nets are not at all trying to tank. 

The roster is still a work in progress at best, with veterans such as Julius Randle — in his first year in Brooklyn — and Michael Porter Jr. mixed with unproven young players. 

For the Nets to find any sustained success this season, they’ll need marked improvement from at least some of the five players picked over a year ago. 

But on Wednesday at Barclays Center, only Randle and Porter managed to score in double digits while Dëmin went just 2-for-10 from the floor and Traore missed all four of his field-goal attempts. 

One of the concerns surrounding Dëmin when he left BYU after one season at just 19 was his struggles from 3-point range. 

He put some of those issues to rest as a rookie when he hit 38.5 percent of his 3-pointers, but he was 0-for-5 from long range Wednesday. 

He also had just two assists and three turnovers, and Traore finished with no assists and turned the ball over twice. 

“I’m confident that, especially these two kids, we’re going to have no problem with their playmaking, their scoring and their willingness to get better every day,” Fernández said. 

Dëmin said after the game he was aware of his subpar play. 

“I’m not very happy with how I ended up playing the game,’’ Dëmin said. “I started with two [made] buckets but then kind of just got slower from a standpoint of my intensity, and I’ve definitely got to bring the energy, higher energy.’’ 

And more production would help as well. 

He finished with just four points and four rebounds in 27 minutes as a starter, and Traore had three points in 16 minutes off the bench, as the Nets hope his added muscle this season will lead to him finishing more at the basket. 

“I think their intentions were great and can clean up a lot of different things, turnovers, setup, calling plays, all those things,’’ Fernández said. “But we’ll watch film with them, and we’ll make them better… One day you don’t make them, another day they go in, and you’ve just got to stay ready for the next game.” 

A string of six straight games against teams expected to be Eastern Conference contenders begins Saturday in Cleveland, so the learning curve will be steep, and if the Nets’ young players don’t respond, it could be another long season in Brooklyn. 

— Additional reporting by Brian Lewis 

Luka Doncic didn’t want to get too carried away.

To imply, or even acknowledge, that any aspect of an NBA game against an opponent is effortless could be viewed as disrespectful.

Or just not a genuine reflection of reality.

But watching how the Lakers carved up the Warriors’ helpless defense en route to a 127-105 season-opening victory on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena, it was hard not to think about how easy the offense came.

It wasn’t just reflected in the team’s scoring total. 

Or the ultra-efficient shooting percentage (56.8%).

Or the fact the team’s “Big 3” of Doncic (28 points), Walker Kessler (26) and Austin Reaves (23) all scored at least 20 points.

It was reflected in the ease in which the Lakers created high-quality scoring opportunities.

“Even if it looks easy, it’s not easy, for sure,” Doncic said. “But that’s just the first game. Our ceiling is even higher.”

The final sentence from Doncic should be a scary thought for the rest of the league. 

One of the guiding lights when the Lakers reconstrutred their roster around Doncic, Reaves and Kessler during the offseason was providing coach JJ Redick with a plethora of players who could dribble, pass and shoot. 

Players who would not only capitalize on the advantages created by Doncic and Reaves, but also maintain or create new ones within the same possession.

That was on full display against the Warriors, who allowed the Lakers to score over half (66) of their points inside of the paint. 

Factor in the Lakers’ free throw shooting (24 of 27), and it was evident that the Warriors couldn’t slow down the blender that was the Lakers’ offense.

It’s how the Lakers shot 61.7% from the field in the first three quarters before garbage time.

The Lakers, who went 11 of 28 on 3-pointers, want to be a higher-volume 3-point shooting team compared to the previous two seasons under Redick. 

But they didn’t need to be on Wednesday night because of the quality of looks they created inside of the arc. 

“Oh man, it’s beautiful,” Ziaire Williams said. “Sometimes just sitting in the corner, just watching ‘like damn, they just make it look so easy.’ It’s pretty impressive, man. Luka and AR, they’re great playmakers. Walk has a good feel around the rim. It’s a perfect setup, honestly. [There’ll] be a lot more of that to come.”

The list of caveats that can be applied to the season-opening win is almost as long as the number of shots the Lakers made against their in-state rival.

Yes, it was just the first game of the season, and previous years showed you can’t take too much away from a season-opener. 

Yes, Kessler won’t have dominant offensive performances that have him listed alongside former Lakers great big men Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal on a nightly basis. 

Yes, the Warriors were not only already a smaller team to begin with, but they were also short-handed.

Not every Lakers game will look like Wednesday night. 

They can’t.

But the fact the Lakers found that groove as early and quickly as they did is an encouraging sign for what this version of the group can be.

And a reminder of why they shouldn’t be dismissed when it comes to the discussions about the best teams in the West.

Superstar guard Luka Dončić was busy during the Los Angeles Lakers’ opening night win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

But the most viral moment of Dončić’s night came after the game ended, when he was interviewed by ESPN’s Malika Andrews.

These two were all smiles and joking together throughout the interview, and an edited clip of the interview has amassed over six million views on X since it was posted on Wednesday night.

Andrews appears to be proud of how the interview played out. On Thursday morning, she posted a clip of her conversation with Dončić to her Instagram story, where she asked him whether him saying, “This is the start of something new” was a reference to the iconic “High School Musical” song.

“A little bit, for sure,” Dončić, who is a known “High School Musical” fan, responded.

Andrews, who is married to fellow ESPN writer Dave McMenamin, is one of the league’s most respected journalists, and has already cultivated a solid relationship with the Lakers superstar.

Lakers fans are definitely feeling like this is a new era for their team with LeBron James no longer around.

And it got off to a great start for Dončić and his teammates on Wednesday.

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