Category: Basketball

Draymond named West's Defensive Player of Month, boosts DPOY case originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green strengthened his case for 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year after adding another accolade to his résumé.

The Warriors star forward has been named the Western Conference Kia Defensive Player of the Month for games played in March, the league announced Tuesday.

A defensive mastermind.#DubNation, Draymond Green is the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month 💪 pic.twitter.com/VBt05IXCpB

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 1, 2025

In 15 games through March, Green averaged 10.2 points on 42.9 percent shooting, with 6.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks in 30.5 minutes. The Warriors went 11-4 in such contests.

Golden State also led the league in steals per game during March, and the team also boasted the second-best team defensive rating in the West.

Since then, Green’s odds of winning the league’s top defensive award have skyrocketed. The DPOY award once appeared to be a given for San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama before he sustained a season-ending injury, but now, it might be Green’s award to lose.

Green won the award in 2017, but he recently told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on “Dubs Talk” that winning it a second time would be even “crazier.”

“It would mean the world to me; you know I pride myself on the defensive end,” Green told Poole and Burke. “I think to be acknowledged as the best defender in this league is no small feat. It’s something that, I never pride myself on winning awards, but they never hurt the ego and they don’t hurt the pockets.

“But most importantly, even more so than that, I think all the hard work you put in to try and stay at an elite level, and to be recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year at 35, eight years after first doing it, it takes a lot of work and a lot of effort to have that type of longevity.”

The Warriors’ defense ranks fourth-best in the league when Green is on the court this season.

Green, who has been named to the All-Defensive Team eight times, is the first Warriors player to earn the monthly accolade, which the league began awarding this season. Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, another frontrunner for DPOY, was named the Eastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month.

While there are still just under two weeks of the regular season remaining for Green to solidify his case, his most recent nod certainly has boosted his chances of winning the seasonal award.

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2025 NBA mock draft roundup: Celtics predictions for first round originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Celtics still own their 2025 first-round pick, and it’s an important selection.

The Boston Celtics have seven more games left in the regular season before they begin the defense of their championship in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

Even though there’s still a lot left to accomplish for the Celtics, it’s never too early to look toward the offseason. The Celtics still own their 2025 first-round pick, which will come at or near the end of the first round if they make a deep playoff run.

This is an important draft pick for the Celtics. They are a high-spending team in the second apron, which makes it difficult to make meaningful roster additions. The best way to add young, talented, low-cost players is through the draft.

The Celtics have done a good job finding value in the late first round over the years:

• 2024, pick No. 30: Baylor Scheierman
• 2020, pick No. 26: Payton Pritchard
• 2019, pick No. 22: Grant Williams
• 2018, pick No. 27: Robert Williams III

The Celtics need to find a good, reliable, two-way player with this first-round pick — someone who can play right away and give the team a spark off the bench.

Which players could the Celtics target at the end of the first round? Here’s a roundup of expert predictions from recent 2025 NBA mock drafts.

Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, ESPN: Adou Thiero, PF, Arkansas

“Thiero has sat out five games and counting because of a knee injury and might be done for the season, with his status still unclear at the SEC tournament. He remains one of the draft’s biggest gambles on pure physical ability. A productive season still didn’t quite address the concerns about his limited feel and shooting. He’s one of this draft’s best athletes, allowing him to make plays defensively and finish around the rim at a high level, and to some extent covering for other holes in his game.

“There’s interesting role-player upside here if Thiero lands with a team that can maximize his strengths, helped by the fact he plays with a strong motor. That upside continues to make him a valid bet at the end of the first round, presuming his health checks out.”

Sam Vecenie, The Athletic: Yaxel Lendeborg, SF, UAB

“Lendeborg helped himself as much as anyone in the conference tournament cycle, putting up multiple dominant performances in the AAC. His game against East Carolina in the quarterfinals, when he had 30 points, 23 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and four blocks with zero turnovers, was about as good as I’ve seen anyone play in a game this season.

“Lendeborg has a very well-rounded game that has potential to translate well to the league. He averages nearly two blocks and two steals per game, and while those numbers won’t be that high in the NBA, they do show that he’s very active with his hands on defense (even if his foot speed gives some scouts pause on the perimeter).

“He rebounds the ball incredibly well, averaging 11 per game. He has terrific touch and hits 34 percent of his two 3-point attempts per game, and has real ball skill as a driver. His passing vision is also terrific, as he averages 4.2 assists per game.”

Jonathan Wasserman, Bleacher Report: JT Toppin, PF, Texas Tech

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

“Scouts admire JT Toppin’s ability to consistently produce and work hard to earn paint buckets. He scored 20-plus points in each of Texas Tech’s three NCAA tournament games, using his signature one-two punch of physicality and one-handed touch.

“Florida’s bigs did make life tough for Toppin inside, and it did raise some questions about the translatability of his style of scoring at 6’9″. Some of the push shots he typically hits just didn’t fall, however, and a pair of pick-and-pop threes highlighted some capable shooting range.”

Adam Finkelstein, CBS Sports: Johni Broome, PF, Auburn

“Al Horford may not be able to play forever, so eventually the Celtics are going to need some depth up front. Broome has been one of college basketball’s best players all season long and has enough versatility where he could transition into a serviceable role player at the next level.”

John Fanta, FOX Sports: Ian Jackson, Guard, North Carolina

Tankathon: Labaron Philon, PG, Alabama

Steph vs. Morant headlines pivotal Warriors-Grizzlies matchup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Upon entering FedEx Forum on Tuesday, the Warriors will confront one of the NBA’s biggest curiosities in the Grizzlies. Yet even with the massive shakeup in Memphis, the axis remains unchanged.

Most of what the Grizzlies do still revolves around the dynamic talents of point guard Ja Morant.

Which leaves the Warriors with two paths to victory. They can try to contain Morant despite being without their best on-ball defender, or they can get enough production from their point guard, Stephen Curry, to offset what Morant gives Memphis.

Fifth place in the Western Conference will be at stake when Golden State (43-31) tips off against Memphis (44-31). Coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at 4 p.m., with tipoff scheduled for shortly after 5.

The Warriors are favored largely because they’ve been a more stable operation, certainly of late. Their 18-5 record since adding Jimmy Butler III at the Feb. 6 trade deadline is second in the West and fourth in the NBA, and their 108.5 defensive rating tops the league.

The Grizzlies are 9-15 over that span, 20th in defense and 15th on offense. That slide led to the stunning dismissal of head coach Taylor Jenkins. Tuomas Iisalo – an assistant in his first season on an NBA bench – is the interim head coach.

Morant scored 44 points in his last game under Jenkins and averaged 31.3 over his last six games under his only NBA coach. In two games under Iisalo, Morant averaged 24 points, with a notable decline in free-throw attempts. The offense has changed, reducing his usage rate while still leaning into his gravity.

That change, however, still is a work in progress. Which leaves Memphis more vulnerable than it was the first half of the season.

And it’s something the Warriors will try to exploit. The less Morant has the ball, the more likely Golden State’s on-ball defense, led by Brandin Podziemski, has a ghost of a chance at keeping Ja from dominating. Regardless, Gary Payton II will be missed.

What will be interesting is how Memphis defends the 6-foot-3 Curry. He can expect the usual physicality, with impressive 6-foot-8 rookie Jaylen Wells getting the assignment. Curry scored only two points in 24 minutes in their previous matchup on Dec. 19.

That was Curry’s first look at Wells, so expect adjustments. That was before the Warriors added Butler, whose presence and playmaking bring a dimension that has benefited Curry.

Then, too, this is a chance for the Warriors to check one more box toward their goal of a top-six finish in the West that guarantees a berth in the playoffs.

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NBA suspends 5 players for roles in Pistons-Timberwolves altercation originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart was suspended for two games and four other players from the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves drew one-game suspensions for their roles in an on-court altercation between the teams earlier this week, the NBA said Tuesday.

Stewart got two games “based in part on his repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the league said.

The NBA handed the one-game bans to Detroit’s Ron Holland II and Marcus Sasser along with Minnesota’s Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo. All five of those players were ejected from Sunday’s game, as were Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota assistant Pablo Prigioni.

“Obviously things went too far,” Bickerstaff said after that game. “But what you see is guys looking out for one another, guys trying to protect one another, guys trying to have each other’s backs. … Those are nonnegotiables in our locker room.”

The incident began when Holland fouled Reid with 8:36 left in the second quarter of the Timberwolves’ 123-104 victory over the Pistons in Minneapolis. Reid confronted Holland, who then pushed DiVincenzo, who then shoved Holland — and they wound up falling into spectators seated along the baseline.

Stewart and Sasser then entered the altercation, “which resulted in a continued escalation of the situation,” the league said.

Reid and DiVincenzo will serve their one-game suspensions Tuesday when the Timberwolves visit Denver. Stewart will begin serving his suspension Wednesday when the Pistons visit Oklahoma City, and Holland and Sasser also will serve their suspensions in that game.

How one of Celtics' rivals made White a better 3-point shooter originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Isaiah Thomas set the Boston Celtics record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 245 during the 2016-17 campaign. Three Celtics players are expected to break that record, and Derrick White became the first Monday night.

The veteran point guard needed two 3-pointers to pass Thomas, and he ended up going 3-for-11 in Boston’s 117-103 road win against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jayson Tatum needs six more 3-pointers to surpass Thomas, while Payton Pritchard needs nine.

“We talked about it on the plane and it’s pretty cool that there’s three of us so close to doing something special,“ White told reporters after Monday’s win, as seen in the video player above.

”Honestly, looking back at my career, never thought I’d be in this position. Just thankful for the coaching staff, thankful for the guys on this team. I know I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. I’ll hold it for now until one of them breaks my record, so that’s cool.”

White breaking this record would have seemed pretty unrealistic when the C’s acquired him from the San Antonio Spurs shortly before the 2022 NBA trade deadline. White was a decent 3-point shooter with the Spurs but not prolific by any means. He never shot better than 36.6 percent from beyond the arc in San Antonio. He hasn’t shot below 38.1 percent in any of his full seasons with the Celtics.

What led to White’s huge improvement as a 3-point shooter? Well, it started after the 2022 NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors, which he admits was a real low point in his career.

“After the Finals, I feel like that was the biggest summer of my life,” White told reporters in Memphis. “What happened in the Finals and how I was being guarded on that stage, it was one of my lowest points. I told Draymond (Green) after the (2024) Olympics, he kind of changed my life because they weren’t guarding me. So I had to go in that summer and me and my trainer, Marcus Mason, just focused on being consistent. And I think from that point, I just got better and better.”

White attempted 25 3-pointers in the 2022 Finals, and he made 10 of them. But five of those 3-point makes came in Game 1, and White shot 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in Games 3, 5 and 6 combined. He scored a total of three points on 1-for-10 shooting (0-for-5 from 3-point range) over the final two games (both losses).

White shot 30.6 percent on 3-pointers in 26 regular season games with the Celtics after the 2022 trade deadline. He improved to 38.1 percent in 2022-23, which was his first full season in Boston, and then he shot a career-high 39.6 percent last season to help lead the C’s to their 18th championship.

In fact, White’s 3-point shooting was a huge reason why the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. In two years, White went from a player the Warriors dared to shoot to a player the Mavericks didn’t want to shoot.

White’s improvement as an outside shooter has been quite impressive. His scoring, defense and reliability have made him one of the most valuable players on this Celtics team.

White credits Draymond, Warriors for changing his life after Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Derrick White made Boston Celtics history Monday night, and he had the Warriors in part to thank for that.

White passed Isaiah Thomas’ record for most 3-pointers made in a season after reaching his 247th trey in Boston’s 117-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. But his confidence from behind the arc wasn’t always there.

Until … Boston’s 2022 NBA Finals loss against Golden State.

White admitted that was a pivotal point of his career that fueled his massive 3-point shooting improvement.

“After the Finals, I feel like that was the biggest summer of my life,” White told reporters in Memphis. “Obviously what happened in the Finals and how I was being guarded on that stage. It was like one of the lowest points. I told Draymond [Green] after the [2024] Olympics that he kind of changed my life because they weren’t guarding me.

“So I had to go in that summer and me and my trainer, Marcus Mason, just focused on being consistent. I think from that point, I just got better and better.”

To put it lightly.

Before being dealt to the Celtics at the 2022 NBA trade deadline, White never shot better than 36.6 percent from 3-point land in nearly five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. He shot 30.6 percent from deep on 4.3 attempts in his first 26 regular-season games with Boston.

In the Finals, he shot 18 of 55 from the field (32.7 percent) and 10 of 25 from downtown (40 percent), but five of those 3s came during a breakout Game 1 performance. He shot 29.4 percent from 3-point range the rest of the six-game series.

He took the loss hard that summer, but took his frustrations out in the gym. Adjustments were made, and the results are clear.

White shot 38.1 percent on 4.8 attempts and 39.6 percent on 6.8 attempts over the following two seasons, respectively, including shooting nearly 40 percent in Boston’s NBA Finals win over the Dallas Mavericks last year.

This season, he’s shooting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc on a career-high 9.1 attempts.

Derrick White told Draymond Green he changed his life after how he guarded him in NBA Finals:

"How I was being guarded on that stage. I mean it was like one of the lowest points. I told Draymond after the Olympics that he kind of changed my life because they weren't guarding… pic.twitter.com/ifRJU1Q13q

— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 1, 2025

Despite the budding rivalry between the Celtics and Warriors that grew heated during that Finals matchup, there’s a level of respect between the two teams, and especially between White and Green.

“There’s a lot of mutual respect,” White said of Green. “He just sees the work that I put in to change how I play and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him.”

Sometimes, a little disrespect is all the fuel you need to turn things around.

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Warriors begin most important week of season with four-game gauntlet originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Drama until the very last day. 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is getting his wish. As a handful of teams are packing their bags with four-leaf clovers in hopes of losing enough to win the NBA draft lottery, a number of spots remain up for grabs in the standings. The Warriors’ regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Clippers at Chase Center could decide which of the two teams are in the playoffs as opposed to the play-in tournament. 

April 13 also can’t be top of mind for the Warriors. At least not yet. 

The week ahead can see the Warriors, currently the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, rise or fall with four games against teams ahead of them in the standings. It already began Monday for teams like the Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. For the Warriors, the first stop on this litmus test is FedExForum in Memphis on Tuesday night. 

“Big game coming against Memphis. We’ll be well-rested and in rhythm for that,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night to reporters in San Antonio after their 42-point win against the Spurs. “Big stretch coming.” 

The Grizzlies now have lost three straight games. They’re 0-2 under interim coach Tuomas Iiasalo after Taylor Jenkins’ shocking exit, losing Monday night to the Boston Celtics 117-103. If the Warriors (43-31) beat the Grizzlies (44-31), playing on the second night of a back-to-back, they’ll be a half-game ahead of them as the No. 5 seed in the West. 

A win also would make the Warriors 3-1 against the Grizzlies this season, giving them the tiebreaker between the two teams. 

“If we can beat Memphis, we get the tiebreaker over them, that’s huge” Kerr acknowledged. “We’re right there with the Clippers. The Lakers are only a couple ahead. We got them after, so it’s quite a race going down the stretch. 

“We have a difficult schedule. Our last eight games are pretty tough. We’re going to have to continue to play well.”

The No. 5 through No. 8 seed in the West, with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, are separated by one game. 

• 5) Grizzlies 44-31 
• 6) Warriors 43-31 
• 7) Timberwolves 43-32 
• 8) Clippers 43-32

Ahead of the Grizzlies by two games are the Lakers at 46-29. But their final seven games aren’t going to be the easiest. 

The Lakers have the second-hardest strength of schedule left in the West, playing the Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans at home, Oklahoma City Thunder two consecutive games on the road, the ninth-seeded Dallas Mavericks on the road, and then the Rockets back at home before ending the regular season on the road in Portland against the Trail Blazers. 

Following their game in Memphis, the Warriors will end their six-game road trip in LA against the Lakers, just to come home the next day to play the third-seeded Denver Nuggets (47-28) after being on the road for 14 straight days. They’ll get one day off and then host Houston – the No. 2 seed at 49-27 – to round out this challenge of a four-game stretch that can determine their playoff fate. 

Playing the Suns in Phoenix should have made it a five-game gauntlet but no team has been more underwhelming, and a sprained left ankle might keep Kevin Durant sidelined. 

“Every game we’ve been playing has been important probably for the last 20 games,” Kevon Looney said. “These last seven, eight are going to be just as important. We know the opportunity that we have in front of us. We have to make sure that we can capitalize. 

“Each game is going to be difficult, definitely playing on the road. Those teams know it’s going to be a big game as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a chance for us to grow, it’s a chance for us to gain some ground.” 

These are the meaningful games Steph Curry and Draymond Green have begged for. Jimmy Butler will have to get into a phone booth and turn into Playoff Jimmy before the postseason even begins. Kerr and the Warriors know they can count on Looney under the bright lights of the playoffs. 

He has been there and done that in the biggest games. Young players like Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody in a starting lineup that now is 11-0 have not, yet. Their performances in a get-right blowout win over the Spurs might have created the kind of momentum they’ll need for the most important week of the Warriors’ season.

Podziemski and Moody, two 22-year-olds, were the Warriors’ leading scorers. While Podziemski scored 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting and made a career-high seven 3-pointers, Moody was 3 of 6 from 3-point range and finished 7 of 11 overall for 20 points. 

“The good thing about our schedule is that we play everybody that’s above us, except OKC,” Podziemski said. 

“It’s a sprint to the finish,” Moody said. “That’s what it is right now. It’s hard for me to pay attention to what the other teams are doing. If somebody wins, if somebody loses – whatever – I just know that if we win then stuff is going to go how we want it to. 

“Focusing on that. Winning the next game. Winning the game after that. Just sprinting to the finish.” 

Will it be a clear path for the Warriors, or an obstacle course too hard to handle? The playoffs still are to come. The intensity has arrived.

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