Category: Basketball

The Dallas Mavericks (2-2) hope to spoil the Oklahoma City Thunder’s (4-0) perfect record to date on a nationally televised game on ESPN. Dallas returns home after a one-game trip in which they dispatched the Miami Heat in the final moments. The Thunder are trying to hold on for dear life as their rotation players get injured, seemingly left and right. Here’s what you need to know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder
• WHAT: Primetime national TV game at home
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
• WHEN: 8:30 pm CST
• HOW: ESPN

The injury report is a long one for both teams, something that’s really annoying for the fifth game of the season. Kyrie Irving is questionable with injury management, but I expect he plays. Caleb Martin is also questionable with a thumb sprain. Dallas will be missing Sergio De Larrea with a sprained knee and Naji Marshall with an illness. Tarik Biberovic and Santi Aldama are missing as well, but the latter might be back Friday.

The Thunder are missing a host of players. Ajay Mitchell is questionable with an ankle sprain. Jalen Williams is out for the year following that terrible ankle injury. Cason Wallace will end up missing a huge chunk of the season with a shoulder tear. Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Thomas Sorber, and Nikola Topic are out as well.

Dallas has a chance to notch a win over one of the best and deepest teams in the NBA. They are missing a ton of bodies and SGA is still a MVP-type player. There’s a deeper preview here as well as the gambling post as well.

Since you’re here checking out this post, it’s for one of two reasons.

• Injury report news
• Discussion and comment thread

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Consider joining me on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube; I will be going live tonight, and I need y’all to join and participate!

Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.

It’s the second night of a back-to-back for the Spurs, but they should be pretty well rested after last night’s easy blowout of the Kings, who didn’t seem too interested in playing a basketball game in San Antonio. I’ve seen a lot more enthusiasm at a Halloween apple bobbing contest than the Kings were putting out last night, who really didn’t have their heads or any other parts of their bodies in the game, except maybe Damontas Sabonis, who made some nice plays around the basket.

Tonight, they’re in Utah to face Will Hardy’s Jazz, who are a much better coached squad than the Doug Christie’s Kings. The Jazz have a rest advantage, but are missing the services of Jaren Jackson Jr., and Lauri Markkannen and Jaxson Hayes are questionable. Mo Bamba has been taking the place of Hayes, and playing well. Tobias Harris is still out for the Spurs, but they have a pretty clean injury sheet otherwise, with everyone who played last night available for tonight’s contest. The Jazz are 1-3 on the season, and this looks like a very winnable game for the Silver and Black tonight if they can play with the kind of poise and effort of last night’s blowout win. The talent gap is enormous, and should carry the Silver and Black to a win tonight.

For local viewers, this game is on DAZN only, which means that you needed to pay another bill just to watch these games. I salute your dedication to the cause. Let’s GOO Spurs!!

Game Prediction:

The Spurs bring Ja’Kobi Gillespie and David Jones Garcia on the trip so that Mitch can play a 5 guard lineup in crunch time.

San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz
October 28, 2026 | 8:00 PM CT
Streaming: DAZN, League Pass
TV: DAZN
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

The Nets saw their entire starting backcourt forced out of Tuesday’s game in Boston with physical ailments, but neither appears to be overly serious. 

Egor Dëmin left in the second quarter with a right leg contusion, while Nolan Traore asked out of his first start of the season with cramping. 

“I’ll be good,” Dëmin said. “It’s nothing serious, so I’ll be ready to go.” 

The Nets practice Thursday and don’t have to file an injury designation for either player until later that afternoon. They’ll host the Pistons on Friday. 

Dëmin was unsure if he’d require any further examination or suit up vs. Detroit. 

“I have no idea,” Dëmin said. “Right now I have no idea. Whatever is going to be needed to be checked or whatever it is, I have no idea. I’m just working here.” 

The young Russian was forced off the floor with two minutes left in the first half. He knocked legs while defending Paul George and came up gimpy on the Nets’ ensuing possession. Dëmin limped off the court and into the locker room. 

“Yeah, when he was driving by me, end up hitting each other’s legs,” Dëmin said. 

“I just got hit and I got kneed in a muscle bone area, a little funny, like an elbow, like a tiny spot. Yeah, I thought, I don’t know how many times I got hit in there before. So I was fine. But then obviously had to get out. Now it feels better than right [then], so I think I’ll be ready in a couple of days.” 

After losing Dëmin in the second quarter, the Nets lost the other half of their backcourt in the fourth. 

Traore had come off the bench for the first three games of the season. After a 17-point, five-assist performance against the Pacers, he got rewarded with the start in Boston. 

The French point guard burst out of the gate and spotted the Nets an early lead. He scored nine first-quarter points on 4-of-4 shooting, getting downhill and beating Jayson Tatum and Paul George on drives. 

But Traore eventually called for a sub die to cramping. It’s an issue he suffered from last season as a rookie. 

Traore left for good 1:23 into the fourth, finishing with 15 points and three assists on 6-of-9 shooting, 1-of-2 from deep. 

“Yeah, he was cramping; and then I felt like he was not moving well,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “And as you guys know, Nolan is a guy that has great energy, can touch the paint anytime. And just for that reason, I felt like I didn’t want to change anything. And I know he wanted to because he wanted to battle through it, but I almost just felt like I had to save him for myself.”

MINNEAPOLIS — Steve Kerr was happy to see the NBA’s crackdown this season on flopping, one of his many hobby horses. But its inconsistent implementation left him scratching his head. 

“It’s interesting,” the Warriors coach said Wednesday before they took on the Timberwolves. “I think everybody’s trying to figure out what’s a flop and what’s not.”

The new rules emphasis this season was the hot topic around the NBA after officials called three flops in the span of 90 seconds the previous night between the Lakers and Blazers.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have yet to have a flop called for or against them in their first four games of the season, despite Kerr’s consistent pleading with referees.

Golden State has been called for a handful of illegal screens that Kerr believed were a result of acting jobs. While the Warriors have been in communication with the league office, Kerr said he would keep those conversations private. 

But he wasn’t afraid to send a public message to the NBA.

“We should be the No Bulls–t Association,” Kerr said. “Like, every bit of bulls–t the players try to pull, we should just say no, no, we’re not doing that. It’s a better game when guys aren’t flopping into each other, hooking each other, running into screens looking like they got hit by a car.

“It’s just a better game when officials have the ability to say, ‘No, we’re not buying into that.’ I feel like we are constantly as a league behind the players. The players are grifting and we’re chasing them, and we’re never getting ahead of them. That’s my biggest issue with it.”

Kerr clarified that he wasn’t complaining about the referees.

“I’m always calculated in the things that I say because I want the best thing for the league,” Kerr said. “I think sometimes it’s good to make these things a talking point. Obviously the flopping stuff last night became a talking point, so I’m adding my two cents.

“But I have been really consistent in my time here that anything that is BS should just be banished.”

There is at least one tried and true method for eliminating flopping, according to Kerr. He said he was talking with another coach who had the players call their own fouls in training camp.

“When you have the players call their own fouls, they don’t flop,” Kerr said. “I’m not saying that’s the answer. I think our officials do a great job. … What I’m saying is we need to stay ahead of all the players grifting. Easier said than done.”

With Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Dëmin leading a pack of seven first-round draft picks the past two years, the Nets were always going to suffer growing pains. 

There was plenty of pain and suffering in Tuesday night’s heartbreaker in Boston. 

And the Nets hope for plenty of growth down the line. 

Brown, the No. 6 overall pick, had what should have been a breakout moment in a thrilling victory in Boston. He poured in 13 points in a fourth-quarter Nets comeback, including a clutch 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second left to force overtime. 

But it was in that dramatic extra stanza that Brown made a pair of typical rookie mistakes, mental gaffes on each end of the floor that will be galling today but growth opportunities for tomorrow. 

“[Jordi Fernández] obviously acknowledged, ‘This wasn’t just on you. It’s a team effort.’ But I set standards for myself when it comes to that stuff,” the 20-year-old Brown said. “As a guard, time management, blowing coverages on the defensive end, that I just can’t have. I’m gonna go watch that film with the coaches, go watch film with Jordi, break it down, learn from it and be better.” 

Much of the film won’t be fun. But it may end up being fruitful. 

It will show Brown’s 17 points, five assists and five boards in his best game yet. 

But it will show the time-management mistake, when Brown missed a pair of late layup attempts in overtime, the second of which was ill-advised. 

He should’ve pulled the ball out and bled the clock. But he drove and missed with 2.3 seconds left in overtime to give Boston one last chance. 

“It was discussed to just try to get it in, and try to kill time. That definitely was discussed,” Brown acknowledged. “But like I said, man, it’s just mistakes down the stretch that I just can’t make. I just can’t do that, so …” 

It proved a costly mistake. 

Though Dëmin pointed out it was not purely a rookie one, citing De’Aaron Fox’s similar NBA Finals Game 4 call to go for a layup rather than run the clock that cost the Spurs. 

“Listen, I don’t think it’s a good idea to refer to him being a rookie. That happens to anybody. We saw in the Finals something similar happened,” said Dëmin. “I don’t think anybody should be taking blame for that. It’s a team effort and team results. So, there’s so many things we can learn from not just this game, but any game. It’s a great, great experience to have games like this. As many games as we can play where it’s a close ending, that’s gonna be beneficial for us in the future.” 

Brown will be a huge part of that future. And he’ll take lessons from games like Tuesday, taking responsibility on X. 

After missing the layup, his gaffe on the other end set up the winner. 

The Nets weren’t supposed to switch, intent on using Noah Clowney’s length to defend Jayson Tatum. But when Brown got screened, the rookie switched and let the Celtics star end up on a smaller defender. 

The Nets paid, as Tatum hit a midrange winner that beat the buzzer. 

“We were supposed to stay home, especially on Tatum, keep Noah on Tatum. I got caught up because I didn’t know which way Payton [Pritchard] was gonna go, and we ended up switching,” said Brown. “So, completely put the blame on myself. I can’t just break the coverage like that. I just take full accountability of it. It’s gonna be hard watching the film, and I’m just gonna learn from it.” 

After Brown had just one point through three quarters — on 0-for-5 shooting — he erupted for 13 in the fourth on 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from deep. 

Maybe fatigued from logging a career-high 27 minutes, Brown was 1-for-4 from behind the arc in overtime. Instinct says get to the rim. In this instance, tactics and discipline had to override instinct. 

It’s a lesson Brown will learn. And be better for. 

Ernie Johnson, the bow-tie-wearing, peace-keeping host of “Inside the NBA,” is leaving the show after 37 years.

“It’s just time,” the 70-year-old broadcaster said in a video posted Wednesday on social media.

“So why now? Total honesty here. I’ve always prided myself on my preparation, the hours I put in every day getting ready for the next show. I’ve always loved that part of my job, but I’ve always vowed that if that ever became more of a challenge than it is a joy, then I’ll know it’s time to step away. And now, after 37 seasons, it’s time.”

Read more:No more 'Inside the NBA'? Here are some of Chuck, Shaq, Kenny and Ernie's top moments

“Inside the NBA” started on TNT in 1989, and Johnson became host the following season. Over the years, he was joined by analysts Kenny Smith (1998), Charles Barkley (2000) and Shaquille O’Neal (2011) in a lineup that has become beloved to generations of basketball fans — so much so that the show switched over to ESPN when TNT lost its NBA rights.

“Few people have shaped the way fans experience the NBA as profoundly as Ernie Johnson,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “His brilliance as a broadcaster is matched by his character, compassion and generosity, which have been evident throughout his 37 years as host of ‘Inside the NBA.’ We are grateful for Ernie’s extraordinary impact on our league and look forward to celebrating him during his final season.”

Johnson repeated his announcement to open the crew’s appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Tip-Off” on Wednesday, then asked a clearly emotional Barkley how he was doing.

Take a listen to Ernie Johnson speaking on stepping away from Inside the NBA after 37 years ❤️ pic.twitter.com/JTKIBHNRkm

— ESPN (@espn) October 28, 2026

“That was tough,” Barkley said. “We knew the day was coming — still tough. Been here for 26, 27 years, and it’s been an honor and a privilege to work with you all this time, and Kenny and Shaq and the amazing people behind the scenes. ...

“It’s been an amazing journey. You’ve been our leader. Our unquestionable leader. The question I’m asked the most … is, is Ernie Johnson as good a person as he seems? And I say, man, he’s better than that. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being our leader for all these years. … All I can say, Ernie, is thank you.”

Smith gave Johnson a standing ovation, and O’Neal said Johnson was the reason he joined the crew.

The Inside The NBA crew reacts to Ernie Johnson announcing this will be his last season on the show ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kLF2foSLgl

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 28, 2026

“You are the controller of this thing people call the circus — the best circus in town, but without you, it’s going to be very, very difficult,” O’Neal said. “Chuck made a great point. All we can say is thank you, and we appreciate you. We’re gonna miss you, and we will see you around, but thanks for the great run.”

In a video posted on X, Golden State Warriors forward and frequent “Inside the NBA” guest Draymond Green perfectly summed up Johnson’s role on the show.

“He is the best point guard I’ve ever played with — that’s no disrespect to the great Steph Curry,” Green said in a video posted Wednesday on X. “Ernie Johnson on a set is as incredible as they come. He sees everything. He’s like, ‘Man, this guy hasn’t spoke for a while. Let me toss it to him. Man, this conversation is going off the rails a little bit’ — as it can on that show — ‘let me rein it back in.’ ... This guy is amazing.”

Read more:Did Deion Sanders really offer reporters $50,000 not to mention him? Yes, but 'that was a joke'

Johnson also shared that he’s been dealing with “heart issues” for almost two years, including undergoing bypass surgery two months ago, and that it was a “contributing factor” in his decision.

“Still trying to get this thing to beat exactly the way it should, and we’re getting it,” Johnson said. “I mean, I feel great. So this isn’t a case where my doctor said you need to stop working. It’s nothing like that. But here’s the deal: Going through that has made me treasure even more every second with my amazing wife of 44 years, Cheryl Ann, and being Poppy to our five grandchildren. So I just want to slow down a bit, spend more time enjoying that.

“Just to be clear, I’m not retiring; just cutting back. I’ll still do March Madness and other projects for TNT and CBS, and I’ve just started a new production company called 32 Bowties, geared toward telling feel-good stories in sports. So this is by no means the end. It’s just a turning of the page.”

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.

Ernie Johnson’s time as the host of the beloved “Inside the NBA” is coming to an end. But now all eyes are on the rest of the panel — and what Johnson’s departure means for the future of the show.

Johnson, 70, announced Wednesday that he’ll be leaving the show following this season, 37 years after joining the program in 1990. His exit will create a void on the panel of the long-running show that has aired on both TNT and ESPN. Whether the show lives on in the same shape or form remains to be seen, but, unless something changes, at least one talking head — Charles Barkley — will be leaving with Johnson after this season.

Barkley previously announced that the 2024-25 season would be his last on the NBA show, but has continued on as it shifted to the Worldwide Leader last year.

But during an appearance on The Ringer’s “The Bill Simmons Podcast” at the end of the summer, Barkley indicated that he’d not only be done as a panelist but that he and Johnson were a “package deal.”

“Me and Ernie are a package deal,” Barkley told Simmons. “So right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100 percent.”

Barkley then recalled in his conversation with Simmons that the folks at TNT asked him to stay two more years — before the network would lose the rights to the NBA. ESPN has broadcast it now for the last two years, keeping Johnson, Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith together.

Charles Barkley gets emotional addressing Ernie Johnson:

“It’s been an honor and privilege to work with you all this time.”

Johnson announced today that he will be leaving Inside the NBA after this season. pic.twitter.com/jpaBbNpVMy

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) October 28, 2026

“The only reason I stayed is so everybody could keep their job behind the scenes,” Barkley explained.

Barkley got emotional addressing Johnson during the show on Wednesday night, thanking him for being their “unquestionable leader” and noting how tough the day was, even when they knew it was coming.

Barkley also joined “Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston” for a podcast episode that went up Wednesday, shortly before Johnson announced his imminent exit from the show.

“It’s been an honor to work with Ernie, Kenny and Shaq,” Barkley said. “We’ve got the best crew in the business. We’re all waiting on Ernie to make a decision — he’s the godfather. I’ll have nothing but love and admiration and respect for that guy.”

What the show will look like in the future beyond this season remains unclear. What is clear is that “Inside the NBA” is slated to air for Wednesday’s slate of games and will continue through the playoffs.

The Lakers are addressing their need for improved big man depth.

The team is signing Lawson Lovering to a two-way contract, and will waive AK Okereke to create a roster spot for the 7-footer.

The Lakers have been in desperate need of another big man behind starter Walker Kessler, and the start of the season only reiterated this.

Kevon Looney, the team’s lone true backup big man behind Kessler, had seen his playing time diminish throughout the season’s first week.

He played 15 minutes in the season-opening blowout win over the Warriors on Oct. 21, before playing five minutes in each of the next three games leading into Wednesday’s road game against the Clippers at Intuit Dome.

The veteran big man entered Wednesday with the worst individual plus/minus among players who’ve appeared in at least three games.

The Lakers entered Wednesday having lost Loney’s 30 minutes played by 29 points.

They’ve used small-ball lineups when Kessler and Looney haven’t been on the floor, mostly including Sandro Mamukelashvili at the center spot. 

The signing of Lovering wasn’t official as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Lovering spent 2025-26 with the Grizzlies, playing for the organization’s G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, and NBA team.

He averaged 7.7 points (59.2% shooting), 7.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots in the G League last season. 

Lovering played in two NBA games for the Grizzlies last season.

He went undrafted in 2025 after spending his collegiate career at Colorado (2021–2023) and Utah (2023–2025).

A front office member of another NBA team described Lovering to the California Post as a center with good size, a really good screener, an underrated passer and a player who knows their role.

“To me,” the front office member said, “he’s one of the better G League bigs that’s two-way eligible.”

While Golden State Warriors rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg was listed as questionable on the injury report for Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with left foot inflammation/soreness, Lendeborg will suit up for the Dubs. The team announced about an hour prior to scheduled tip-off in Minnesota that Lendeborg will play.

Lendeborg has been a revelation for Golden State through his first four games, including a signature 31-point performance in the team’s win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. Following that game, however, Lendeborg was visibly limping and said he had landed awkwardly on his foot during the contest. Nevertheless, despite any potential discomfort, Yaxel will be giving it a go.

Through four games, Lendeborg is averaging 21.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 45.0%/34.6%/77.4% shooting in 33.3 minutes per game. While he is an older rookie (24), Lendeborg has already joined some impressive lists of quickest players to reach several early statistical thresholds. He’ll look to continue building on that trajectory tonight when the Dubs aim to get their second win of the season.

The Knicks (1-3) travel to Chicago to face the Bulls (1-3) and maybe cast early votes in the local elections. New York will play the second of a back-to-back, after beating the Pistons at home last night. The Bulls are coming off a blowout loss to the Celtics on Monday. Rookie Caleb Wilson is their offensive leader, averaging 21 points, 7.3 boards, and 1.5 blocks per game. Josh Giddey dishes the ball; veteran Norm Powell provides secondary scoring and defense (2.5 steals per game); and Jalen Smith holds down the paint with 7.5 boards per night. Three-balls are not their speciality, so New York would do well to wall them out of the lane and middle distance.

One team will leave 2-3. Tip-off is 8 pm EST on MSG and NBA League Pass. This is your game thread. This is Blog a Bull. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Mind yo’ manners. Go Knicks!

It was an ugly loss for the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday against the New York Knicks. After a great first quarter, everything seemed to collapse around them, and they got blown out 111-97. The culprits were many. Nobody could hit a 3-pointer, nobody could rebound, ball-handlers were struggling against an in-sync Knicks defense, and nobody could rebound to save their lives. The Pistons were also plagued by foul trouble, and the players in said foul trouble were the guys you’d hope could help deliver the kind of energy and impact to get them out of their funk — Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Paul Reed. With them often off of the floor, Detroit didn’t have any answers or anywhere to turn. While the quest for a perfect 82-0 season is over, it also creates a new opportunity — a bounce-back game. The 3-1 Charlotte Hornets, highly skilled and well-coached by Charles Lee, are a great test for the Pistons. What are we in for tonight?

Game Vitals

When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: TV: TV 20 | Streaming: DAZN-Detroit
Odds: Pistons -7.5

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (3-1)

Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, Paul Reed

Charlotte Hornets (3-1)

Dennis Schroder, Sion James, Brandon Miller, Naz Reid, Moussa Diabate

The NBA publishes injury reports every 15 minutes.

It may seem excessive, but that provides the very latest updates to be processed, as teams file them to the league office.

As of the one that went live Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. ET — about two hours before the day’s games tipped off — a staggering 108 players appeared on the list with either injury or illness designations.

Considering that each team is allowed 15 players to be carried on an active roster, that injury report means that 7.2 full teams could be constructed from the banged up players.

The 2026-27 NBA regular season is but a week old, and yet it seems almost like each squad is already contending with some serious injury issue. Some, however, like Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams breaking and dislocating his ankle, are far more serious than others. So, naturally, some teams will be in a better position to deal with them.

Here’s a look at which teams can weather these new injury issues, from most to least capable.

Detroit Pistons

It helps that it’s just one key injury, a right hamstring strain All-Star center Jalen Duren is dealing with, and it also helps that his backup, Paul Reed, is plenty serviceable. In the three games Reed has been forced into extended action (two of which were starts), he has been excellent on both ends. Reed is averaging 16.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game over his last three. Reed isn’t quite the rim protector Duren is, but he’s more than adequate there. Detroit should be just fine.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Had they not acquired LaMelo Ball this offseason, they would be further down the list. But Ball and backup guard Ayo Dosunmu should at least help the Timberwolves maintain a competitive and productive offense while star Anthony Edwards recovers from his arthroscopic procedure. But there’s no replacing Edwards, who is the best two-guard in the world.

Orlando Magic

The good news for the Magic is that Paolo Banchero’s high ankle sprain is considered a low grade one, and he shouldn’t miss much time. But Orlando will also be without Jalen Suggs (right knee contusion/bone bruise) for some time. The Magic have had awful injury luck the past two-and-a-half seasons, particularly to their stars. And as rookie coach Sean Sweeney looks to revamp this offense, at some point, he needs continuity and his stars to be available.

Toronto Raptors

The thing about Kawhi Leonard’s knee swelling is that it’s unclear how much time he’ll miss. That does leave the door open that it can clear with some moderate rest. But the other thing about his knee swelling is that knee issues have been a recurring problem for Leonard throughout his career. Now 35, Leonard is expected to be out at least one week, though possibly more. Without him, the Raptors lose a bit of their identity, as Leonard is a dominant two-way player; in just two games, he already totaled 7 steals. In their first game without him, a 23-point loss to Minnesota, the Raptors scored just 94 points.

Indiana Pacers

This is a little tricky to project because it’s unclear exactly how serious Tyrese Haliburton’s left hamstring issue is. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the team would visit with a specialist, but hamstring injuries can linger. The concern here, though, is that Haliburton is the catalyst that maintains the Pacers offense. Without him last season, as he recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon, the offense collapsed. Indiana has the talent and pieces to stay competitive in the East, but it will struggle to do that if Haliburton is forced to miss extended time.

Utah Jazz

This was a team already looking to incorporate new players, so time on the floor was paramount. Yet, Jaren Jackson Jr.'s right medial collateral ligament tear should force him out for six-to-eight weeks. Lauri Markkanen also suffered a wrist injury, though he appeared to avoid a long-term sprain. Utah already started the season 1-3 and does have Jaxson Hayes as a viable backup to Jackson, but Hayes is dealing with right shoulder soreness and Jusuf Nurkić should be out for an extended period. This Jazz team was going to need some time to come together. Now that project is delayed.

Oklahoma City Thunder

They’re the deepest team in the NBA and still have the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, so the Thunder should still be competitive. But the issue for Oklahoma City is twofold: it’s already dealing with a rash of injuries and many of them are severe. The biggest blow is to star forward Jalen Williams, whose broken and dislocated ankle may end his season. Guard Cason Wallace is dealing with a torn labrum and will require surgery. Center Chet Holmgren has right knee patellar tendinitis. Those are three starters. Alex Caruso, a key backup guard, is also out with a right ankle sprain.

Thankfully for Oklahoma City, Ajay Mitchell’s sprained ankle doesn’t appear to be serious. But Williams is a key offensive engine when Gilgeous-Alexander is on the bench; Williams can handle the ball, create for himself and for others and has a dependable shot. Without him, much more pressure falls on Gilgeous-Alexander to carry the burden of playmaking. Holmgren also helps stretch the floor and is an elite defender. His issue should heal, though knee injuries do need to be treated with some caution, especially with so much season left. The Thunder are still one of the best teams in the league, but that’s quite a lot to manage.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Injuries are wrecking the NBA season already: Which teams can survive star absences?

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking for their third straight win as they take on the Washington Wizards.

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Now that it’s clear the Golden State Warriors will likely get zero on-court contributions from center Kristaps Porzingis this season, the front office appears to be scouring the trade market looking for potential deals. According to a report by Shamit Dua of In the N.O., the Warriors are among teams that have reached out to the New Orleans Pelicans with interest in acquiring center Yves Missi. However, Dua reports that the team has rebuffed inquiries, with new head coach Jamahl Mosley championing the young big man.

“Teams have also continued to call on Pelicans center Yves Missi, and sources say the Golden State Warriors have recently made inquiry,” Dua wrote. “The Pelicans, like with Jones, continue to rebuff offers, which have mostly been based around second round picks. Mosley is a big advocate of Missi and wants the young center to be the focal point of the Pelicans defense. Missi is currently out with a left knee bone bruise that he sustained in Utah.”

While Dua does not mention the Warriors as a specific suitor for Herb Jones, the Dubs have been previously linked to him. Moreover, Jones would help solidify Golden State’s wing depth with Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler sidelined. A lockdown defender, Jones would also be an obvious potential target to try and help the Warriors improve from a horrendous start to the season defensively.

Missi have averaged 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in his young career and the 22-year old has averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game across two games so far this season (Missi has been sidelined for multiple games with a toe injury). A 2024 first-round pick, Missi is only making about $3.5 million this season and has a guaranteed $5.6 million salary next season. While Missi’s salary would be far from enough to match Porzingis’ $20 million, it could be paired with Jones to make a trade work. The Dubs could also pair Porzingis with Moody to send out enough salary to receive Missi and wing Trey Murphy III.

Presumably the Warriors would have to add significant draft compensation to get any of those deals done though, something the front office has seemed hesitant to do in the past. Perhaps with Porzingis sidelined, rookie Yaxel Lendeboorg looking ahead of schedule, and head coach Steve Kerr desperately needing a trustworthy big man, the Dubs will have more urgency to get a deal done.

Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks

October 28th, 2026

Location: Fiserv Forum — Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Time: 7:00 PM CST

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)

Probable starting lineups

Rockets: Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Kevin Durant, Tari Eason

Bucks: Ryan Rollins, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner

Can the Rockets stay undefeated? Tune in tonight and come chat with us at TDS on on the SB Nation App!