Category: Basketball

The Nets will be without starting shooting guard Cam Thomas for at least the next three to four weeks due to a left hamstring strain, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Brooklyn had ruled Thomas out earlier in the day for Friday night's NBA Cup opener against the Detroit Pistons, but now it appears he'll miss more time.

Thomas suffered the hamstring injury during Wednesday's win over the Indiana Pacers. He played just six minutes before leaving the court and not returning.

Hamstring injuries have become a recurring problem for the 24-year-old, who missed 57 games last season after injuring it three times, limiting him to just 25 games played.

After agreeing to a one-year qualifying offer before the start of the season, Thomas is averaging 21.4 points on 40.2 percent shooting (35.6 percent from three) over eight games and 28.3 minutes of action per night.

With Thomas sidelined, Brooklyn will need Michael Porter Jr. to continue leading the team in scoring (22.4 points per game). Porter dropped a season-high 32-points (his second 32-point game) to help the Nets earn their first win of the season on Wednesday after a rough 0-7 start.

Additionally, the Nets upgraded rookie wing Drake Powell (right ankle sprain) to available for Friday's contest. The UNC product has played in just two games (11 minutes combined) so far this year. Three other of the Nets five first-round picks -- Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf, and Nolan Traore -- remain on G-League assignment with the Long Island Nets.

Meanwhile, wing Terance Mann, who was previously listed as probable due to left shoulder soreness, is available on Friday. Mann has started and played in all eight games, averaging 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.

Sixers waiting on George and Barlow's green lights, tweaking back-to-backs mindset originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Sixers continue to wait for Paul George and Dominick Barlow’s green lights.

Neither George (left knee surgery recovery) nor Barlow (right elbow laceration) have been cleared yet for a return. Both were at the Sixers’ practice facility Friday. George ran through a post-practice shooting session with Jared McCain. Barlow sat on the sidelines with a multi-part brace on his right arm.

According to a team official, George will meet with doctors over the weekend to assess his recovery and determine next steps. Barlow will miss the Sixers’ weekend back-to-back vs. the Raptors and Pistons. He’s set for a follow-up visit with his surgeon on Monday. 

George has been a regular practice participant for weeks. 

“I think the last hurdle is he’s seeing the doctors this weekend,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “I think that’s the hurdle of them clearing him to play … the main thing. That’s it.”

The 5-3 Sixers rank 22nd in the NBA in defensive rating. They expect George to make them a better team on that end of the floor. 

“He’s looked good,” Nurse said. “I think he’s moving very well, he’s shooting very well. … I’m like everybody out there in Sixers nation: I’m hoping the doc gives him the clearance so we can get him out there, even if it’s just to get him back in the flow of things. He’s going to help us. To me, he looks really good on defense. He’s just got such an instinctual feel for that end of the floor. And he’s got the size at 6-9, and there’s deflections and all that stuff. 

“He’s really kind of a captain-type guy there. He knows what he’s doing and he helps other guys. … That would be useful as well.”

After starting the Sixers’ first two games, Barlow has been out since their Oct. 25 win vs. the Hornets.

His recovery has evidently not been simple. 

“He still has that splint or partial cast, whatever it is, that’s making him keep his arm straight-ish,” Nurse said. “Again, the (laceration) was right on where it bends and that’s what’s causing the problems. He does have a follow-up on I believe Monday. Hopefully, he gets out of that thing and it’s healed. I’m going to be optimistic: I don’t see that being a super-long rehab. I think it just needs to get healed up and he should be good to go.”

Safe to say it’s not a typical injury. 

“I’ve never seen that one,” Nurse said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, he cut himself.’ I’m like, ‘All right, patch him up and let’s get him back in there.’ That was like three weeks ago when I said that during the game. … So it falls under bizarre, yes.”

McCain returned to action Tuesday in the Sixers’ loss to the Bulls, although he’s still limited in several ways. He played 15 scoreless minutes in Chicago and then sat the next night against the Cavs with a “left knee injury recovery” designation. 

The 21-year-old guard suffered a left knee lateral meniscus tear on Dec. 13 and a right thumb UCL tear on Sept. 25. On top of restricted minutes and new teammates, he’s adjusting to wearing a bulky brace on his knee. 

“It feels unbalanced and it just feels like it’s super heavy, like you’re just lugging a whole leg. … And it’s just hard to move,” McCain said. “I said to family it’s like my mind wants to do something but my body’s not letting me. So it just takes getting used to. That’s what (Joel Embiid) said: It’ll take some time.”

McCain said he believes he’ll be re-evaluated in about a month and hopes to have the brace off “as soon as possible.” 

For now, Nurse has to make do with restrictions for McCain and Embiid and the absences of George and Barlow. His key players are accumulating tons of early-season minutes; Tyrese Maxey’s 41.3 per game easily lead the NBA.

Will the Sixers change anything about how they approach back-to-backs moving forward? 

“There’s a couple of things I think we’ve learned that we need to tweak,” Nurse said. “I wish I could tell you what they are, but I can’t, really. But there are some things. Mostly, I just want to try not to make such a big deal out of it being a back-to-back.

“I think that’s a good place to start mentally, a mindset of, ‘Let’s just play the game.’ It is talked about and there’s a million things going on because it’s a back-to-back, but I want to get us a little bit more into, ‘Let’s just play it like another game.’”

Where Celtics stand in 2025 NBA Cup as Group B play heats up originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics currently sit 10th in the NBA’s Eastern Conference at 4-5 after an up-and-down start to the 2025-26 season. But if they defeat the Orlando Magic on Friday night, they can lay claim to first place in Group B of the 2025 NBA Cup.

The league’s third annual in-season tournament continues Friday with more group play action, as Celtics-Magic is one of 11 games around the league that will count toward the NBA Cup standings. The C’s — who are in Group B of the NBA Cup along with the Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets — are 1-0 in the group stage after edging the Sixers 109-108 last Friday in their NBA Cup opener.

That Celtics-Sixers game has been the only Group B game to date, as the Magic, Pistons and Nets have yet to begin their NBA Cup slates. All three teams are in action Friday, however — Detroit and Brooklyn play at 7:30 p.m. ET — so we’ll see more movement in the standings by the end of the night.

As a reminder, point differential is a key tiebreaker in the NBA Cup, so expect both the Celtics and Magic to play hard until the final whistle, even if the game is already in hand for either side.

How will it all play out? Below is a brief refresher on the NBA Cup format, followed by the Celtics’ schedule and the Group B standings, which we’ll update at the conclusion Friday’s games.

How does the NBA Cup work?

The tournament begins with the group stage. All 30 teams will compete in group play, having been placed into six groups of five teams within their conference. Teams face each of their group opponents once for a total of four group play games (two at home and two on the road).

Eight teams advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds: the top team in each of the six groups and a wild card team in each conference that’s awarded to the second-place finisher with the best overall record.

If two or more teams are tied within a group, the following tiebreakers are used:

• Head-to-head record in group play
• Point differential in group play
• Total points scored in group play
• Record from the 2024-25 NBA regular season
• Random drawing

The knockout rounds begin with quarterfinal games on Dec. 9 and 10 hosted by the higher seed, and then the semifinals and finals, which will be held in Las Vegas.

All Group Stage games count toward teams’ regular-season records. Teams enter the season with only 80 scheduled games, and the 22 teams that don’t advance to the knockout round will play two regular-season games during tournament off nights on Dec. 11/12 and Dec. 14/15.

Celtics’ Group B schedule

The Celtics’ four Group Stage games will be played across a 27-day span from Halloween until the day before Thanksgiving.

• Friday, Oct. 31: Celtics 109, Sixers 108
• Friday, Nov. 7: Celtics vs. Magic, 7 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)
• Friday, Nov. 21: Nets vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)
• Wednesday, Nov. 26: Pistons vs. Celtics, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Group B Standings

Each team in Group B will play each other once during Group Stage play. If two teams have the same record in group play, the first two tiebreakers are head-to-head record and point differential. 

Here are the Group B standings, which we’ll update throughout group play:

Steve Kerr reveals Warriors' lofty playoff seed goal for 2025-26 NBA season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Nearing the end of Steph Curry’s career, the Warriors have nothing but winning an NBA championship on their minds.

Getting there, of course, is the challenge. And while Golden State, which once dominated the West for several consecutive seasons, might not be seeking the No. 1 playoff seed the way it used to, Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed the team’s target seed it is chasing.

“I mean, unless you’re OKC, everybody in the West is thinking, ‘Let’s make sure we’re in the top six.’ I told our team before the season, let’s finish in the top four,” Kerr said Thursday on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs.” “Let’s have our homecourt advantage in the first round. And so, top six is obviously where everybody wants to end up. Nobody wants to be in the Play-In. I think we’re good enough where we should be thinking top four. Home court. But we haven’t gotten there yet.

“The schedule’s been tough. We haven’t settled our rotation yet. We haven’t allowed for guys to get comfortable yet in their roles because lineups have changed. We’re a little scattered right now. But nothing we can’t fix and get on track. Like I said, I can’t be more excited about our team and talent level and ability to be good. But we have some work to do.”

Golden State currently holds a 5-4 record and is sitting seventh in the West in the early part of the 2025-26 NBA season.

The Warriors have the sixth-most difficult schedule remaining, per Tankathon, with four matchups against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, three against the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, respectively, and two against the red-hot Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons.

But experience is on Golden State’s side, even if the schedule isn’t.

And the confidence level is high for the Warriors, especially after acquiring six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, who is in the midst of his first full season with the team.

Now, as Kerr attested to, it’ll be on the players to execute if they want to reach their lofty goals of homecourt advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Steve Kerr has ‘zero concern' about Al Horford's early struggles with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Al Horford appeared to be the perfect fit for the Warriors, but his recent shooting struggles have raised some eyebrows.

Horford went scoreless in Golden State’s loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, shooting 0-for-8 from the field and missing all of his seven 3-point attempts.

Still, Warriors coach Steve Kerr isn’t worried about the veteran center’s early slump.

“Zero concern,” Kerr said Thursday on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs.” “Because what I’m watching is the way he’s moving. I said this after the game and I’m sure people laughed, but it was real. It was honest. I thought he played a really good game [Wednesday] night, the ball just didn’t go in. All of his shots looked good, I thought every single one of them was going, and none of them went. So he’s at one of those stages right now, and it happens in every sport. A baseball player who, the ball, it’s coming off his bat hard, but it’s going right to people.

“Nothing is going Al’s way right now. It doesn’t shock me because it is really hard to go to a new team. But I’m watching the way he’s moving, his decision-making, how smart this guy is. He’s going to be just fine. I wouldn’t worry about Al.”

Horford is 1 of 16 from beyond the arc over his last four games, and 5 of 24 (20.8 percent) on the season.

Over the course of his nearly two-decade career, Horford has shot 50.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from distance as he’s established himself as one of the best shooting bigs in the game.

That is why Kerr won’t hit the panic button just yet, as he is certain Horford will find a rhythm with time.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast