Category: Basketball

Just four games into the Zaccharie Risacher Experience, the Dallas Mavericks seem to be having a good time.

A good enough time that the team announced on Wednesday, before the team’s 120-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, that they would pick up the fourth-year team option on Risacher’s rookie deal. After the announcement, Dallas is on the hook for just over $17.4 million for Risacher next year, or just over nine percent of the salary cap. His $13.8 million this season accounts for just over 8.3 percent of the cap.

The deadline to extend Risacher at that number was Friday.

It’s just your standard rookie scale fourth-year extension, but it shows that the Mavericks have confidence that Risacher is worth developing. He’s in his third year in the NBA, so he may feel like more of a finished product than he really is, but it’s important to remember that he’s still just 21 years old. It’s certainly possible that a huge leap in production is in the cards for the Frenchman picked No. 1 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

The offensive production entering Wednesday’s game was hit-or-miss through the first four games of Risacher’s tenure with the Mavs, but his defensive presence has been undeniable. He averaged eight points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots per game in the small sample to begin the year. His career averages entering this season were 11.1 points and 3.8 boards per game.

“It’s his motor and his conditioning,” Mavericks head coach Dusty May said in his pregame comments before the matchup against the Thunder, when asked what makes Risacher a good fit alongside Cooper Flagg. “The guy never gets tired. He’s a cyborg. … As his intensity and motor [have] improved, his defensive rebounding — the extra possessions he gives us just by getting a fingertip on the ball. Obviously, the weak-side blocks — there’s a residual effect of those. So he’s kind of reinventing himself where, even though he’s not shooting nearly as well as he always has, he’s found a lot of value in other parts of the game.”

It’s true. His shooting splits have been abysmal to start the season. Risacher shot just over 30% from the field and just 17.6% from 3-point range in the team’s first four games, but he’s still found ways to affect winning. He’s been a cumulative plus-26 through the first five games of the season. On Wednesday, he had his best offensive outing in his brief tenure with Dallas, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-point land) and six rebounds in 29 minutes in the win over OKC.

Risacher was acquired by the Mavericks alongside a top-55 protected 2027 second-round draft pick from the Hawks in a three-team trade that sent Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta and a Mavericks-owned 2027 second-round pick to the Thunder. He was an All-Rookie First-Teamer for the 2024-25 season.

Here’s what Risacher had to say about the rookie-scale extension following the Mavericks’ win over Oklahoma City:

“I was super happy, super — great news. Just, I’m feeling grateful to be in this organization, this environment, with those people — I’m talking about front office, teammates — everybody’s been great, and everybody wants to win, and everybody does the right thing to make sure we get into this position — win games and compete. And I feel like, as a young player, that’s the best position I can get in, and I’m grateful to be able to be in that environment for two years, at least. I’m just super grateful.”

On Tuesday, Julian Champagnie came into the Spurs game against the Sacramento Kings and dropped eight three-pointers in thirteen minutes, tying his own franchise record. He dropped eight in the first half against the New York Knicks on New Year’s Eve last year, then came back in the second half and hit three more.

Through my Spurs-colored glasses, Champagnie looks to be one of the best in the league. But this Venn Diagram I found through StatMuse lays it out clearly.

Of current NBA players, Champagnie is one of seven players who tally 3+ made three-pointers per game while shooting at 45% or better. Here’s the kicker — Julian isn’t succeeding solely on offense, he is also one of twenty-two players who are recording three or more “stocks” per game. “Stocks” is a portmanteau for steals and blocks. In other words, Champagnie is killing it on both ends of the court.

His shooting benefits from the attention given to Victor Wembanyama. At any time, Wemby is being doubled, leaving an open man. Champagnie is often that lone man, and he has found that he can hit from anywhere beyond the arc. When he gets hot…watch out.

Defensively speaking, Julian is sneaky, quick, and agile. His athleticism allows him to get to pull boards, often times against larger opponents. He is the 3-and-D guy that the Spurs needed to expose weaknesses in opposition.

When you put the three-point shooting prowess in the diagram with the stocks, Champagnie is in a category all his own. A one-man wolf pack, if you will.

Spurs are off Thursday and Friday after two sets of back-to-backs involving travel. They play on Halloween against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, the T-wolves are without Anthony Edwards for the next couple of months as he tends to his right knee. It is an unfortunate turn for Minnesota who just brought in LaMelo Ball to partner with Edwards. There have been a rash of early season injuries plaguing the league.

Light your Spurs candles to ward off the mischief acquainted with the holiday.

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For the first time this season, the Washington Wizards are below .500. At halftime, it looked like the Wizards were ready to cruise home with their third win in five games. They scored 42 points in a first quarter scoring binge, and 69 at the midway point — including posting a 50-12 advantage in the paint, and a 10-point lead.

They managed just 42 points the rest of the way, and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-111.

Back from a preseason ankle injury, Wizards rookie AJ Dybantsa made his career debut, scoring 19 points on 12 shots in 27 minutes.

Washington ran a play for Dybantsa on the game’s opening possession. He started in the corner, and popped to the top off screens by Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Young then came up from the corner to set a ghost screen on James Harden. Harden and Watson appeared to miscommunicate — Harden expected a switch while Watson stayed with Young — and Dybantsa attacked the opening with an elite burst. And then tried to dunk on Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Allen got whistled for the foul, and Dybantsa’s first points as a pro came from the free throw line.

Dybanta’s first NBA assist came a few minutes later. He drove and got all the way to the rim, which occupied three defenders — his own man, and two help bigs. He made the kickout to Alex Sarr, who knocked down the corner three.

Okay, one more fanboy rave. At 8:56 of the first quarter, Dybantsa outran the entire Cleveland roster to the offensive end, and Young threw him a lob from the half court line for a highlight reel slam. You’ll see that one in Wizards highlights the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, the good feels of the first half dissolved as the more talented, experienced, and battle-tested Cavaliers asserted their will. It didn’t help that Washington’s veteran leaders were struggling as much as anyone. Ideally, Young and Davis will make plays when the youngsters are rattled or overwhelmed. In this one, they seemed mostly overwhelmed, as well.

From the Notebook

• In the early going at least, Washington’s length was bothering the Cavaliers. Cleveland bigs kept trying to make internal passes rather than going up for shots, only for long-limbed Washington defenders to deflect the ball and force turnovers. This was not something that held up for the full 48 minutes.
• In the first quarter, I liked one defensive sequence. Cleveland ran a pick-and-roll for Harden, who seemed primed to attack the Wizards big. Dybantsa freed himself from the screen and sprinted back onto Harden, which allowed Davis to drop back to his man. Harden ended up missing a turnaround fadeaway over a Dybantsa contest.
• I mentioned the Wizards outscored Cleveland 50-12 in the paint during the first half. In the second half, the Cavaliers turned the tables, outscoring Washington 34-16 inside.
• At one point in the first half, I noted that Washington’s offensive looked better. Over multiple possessions, they flowed from action to action — pick-and-roll on one side, moving the ball to the weakside where there’d been a down screen simultaneous to the primary action, which then led to another pick and roll with a down screen on the first side and a baseline cut. The better process didn’t hold up, but better — even for a stretch — is better.
• Harden is an atrocious defender. Prime example: the Wizards got a Dybantsa lob dunk on a sideline out of bounds play. I thought maybe it had been a clever play design (Brian Keefe and the coaching staff has a number of them), so I rewound the action. And…Dybantsa got free on a half-assed back pick because Harden just wasn’t paying attention.
• Brad Daugherty in the Cleveland broadcast booth is a treat. He pairs good analysis and insight with a voice that sounds like a cross between WWE and NASCAR. With John Michael on play-by-play, the Cleveland production sounds like a 1980s broadcast of an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
• If Young has the ball and a teammate comes open, he will make the pass.
• Defensive highlight of the game came around 1:17 of the third quarter when Bilal Coulibaly levitated for a sensational block at the rim in transition. Wow athleticism.
• Among the defensive lowlights was Deandre Ayton’s pick-and-roll defense early in the fourth quarter. He backpedaled, got his feet tangled, and gave up a lob dunk he should have been able to contest.
• I’m not quite sure

Four Factors

Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).

The four factors are measured by:

• eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)
• OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)
• TOV% (turnover percentage — turnovers divided by possessions)
• FTM/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)

Stats & Metrics

PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).

PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.

POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.

ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is listed in the Four Factors table above. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.

USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%. Median last season was 17.7%.

ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.

+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 115, the league — on average — would produced 23.0 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -3.0.

Players are sorted by total production in the game.

Losing the first two games of the NBA season might cause a scare.

But the San Antonio Spurs weren't fazed when they did so this month and rebounded with two straight wins.

Veteran forward Harrison Barnes explained the mindset that the defending Western Conference champions are carrying in the 2026-27 campaign.

"Every day, we kind of pursue a standard, and I think to start the season, we were able to look around the locker room and say that we weren't at the standard that we wanted to play at," he told USA TODAY Sports in an interview on behalf of UNICEF. "So I think for us, it's just a matter of can we go out every single night and be happy with the product that we put on the floor?"

Brushing off the fright of the early season, Barnes, 34, wants people to embrace a not-so-spooky Halloween tradition: Trick-or-Treat with UNICEF. He is a spokesman for the organization's 76-year program, which he participated in as a kid. The little orange cardboard box that kids take with them to not only ask for candy, but for cash to help underprivileged children, creates a sense of nostalgia for the veteran forward.

"UNICEF is an organization that I know very well," he said. "This Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is something that I did as a kid, and I truly believe that it's important to give back and to bring awareness to children that are in need."

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Barnes has fond memories of trick-or-treating with his younger sister, Jourdan-Ashle Barnes, and comparing whose candy haul was better. He now shares the joy of Halloween with his daughter, who Barnes says enjoys dressing up as characters from "Frozen," "Moana" and "Encanto."

"It was always something that was fun for us," he said. "And you know, as a father, you want to pass on some of those same values to your children."

When he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks back in 2018, Barnes credited his mother, Shirley, for teaching him the importance of helping others. She experienced homelessness when Barnes was a baby and, when her children were older, they assisted in organizing clothes for her charity, Suited For Work Clothing Closet.

"When you look at how all of us got here, it was a healthy foundation. It took a village, right?" he said. "It took a lot of people investing in our futures. And I think that having an equitable start at the beginning of a child's life obviously gives them the most potential to achieve anything that they want to achieve."

Families can order their Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes online and then donate the proceeds from Halloween via CoinStar, credit card or check. The organization was also responsible for the photo shoot where Lionel Messi gave a baby Lamine Yamal a bath. The image served as a wink of destiny as Yamal's Spain beat Messi's Argentina in this summer's World Cup final.

The Houston Rockets continued to cruise on Wednesday night, downing the Milwaukee Bucks in a 132-100 blowout victory that lifted the Rockets to a 5-0 record.

Both Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams were out, so with Jabari Smith starting at small ball center, the Rockets turned to their backcourt to make the difference, as Fred VanVleet and Amen Thompson led the way, with VanVleet scoring 24 points on 7-for-14 shooting for his best performance of the year so far. He also added 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals while hitting 4-for-9 from deep. Thompson added 23 points on 10-for-16 from the floor, with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Houston showed its depth with Marcus Smart also still out.

The Rockets got 18 from Kevin Durant and 14 from Jabari Smith Jr., with Durant finally taking some of the back seat he was going to need to take for this Rockets season to be successful. He took just 9 shots (5-for-9), as the “stand around and watch KD” offense is certainly less prevalent this season. Welcome back, Fred? Ime finally getting out of his own way? Tell us in the comments your thoughts.

Smith’s 14 came on just 4-for-12 shooting, as he’s come down to earth offensively a bit after his hot start — though he was 3-for-6 from three — but the defense continues to impress, and Smith was a game-leading +23 when on the court last night.

The Rockets also got a nice game from double Bogdan, as poured in 16 points and 4 assists in just 15 minutes of action. He hit 4-for-5 from deep and has already contributed more to the Rockets than Dorian Finney-Smith did all of last season. Clint Capela added 10 points, 8 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks in a bit of a throwback performance for Clint coming off of the bench.

The Bucks were led by Tyler Herro with 23 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 19, but the big story was the Houston held the Bucks to just 40 percent shooting on the night whille hitting 55 percent of their own shots, and they won the rebound battle, shot 17-for-38 from deep, had more points in the paint and more fast break points in what was a total domination.

Granted, the Bucks are a bad team this year, but the Rockets were down three rotation members and still pulled off a complete blowout. They’ve now beaten the Mavs, Hawks twice, Spurs and Bucks, but have games against Dallas, OKC, Boston and Minnesota coming up, so the schedule is about to get harder, but at the moment, your Houston Rockets have the best record in basketball.

MINNEAPOLIS — In five games, the Warriors have held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter three times. Their winning percentage in such contests? Well, let’s just say it’s not 1.000.

Golden State went up by 24 midway early in the second half Wednesday night against the Timberwolves, still led by 11 with 2:16 to play and still barely hung on to win, 119-114.

And yet, in Steve Kerr’s eyes? It’s all positive.

“We didn’t do a good job closing, but … I kind of liked what happened,” Kerr said. “Because we need to learn from it.”

Golden State also led 106-94 with 3:41 left this past Friday against the Grizzlies. In that one, the Warriors’ offense went comatose and they allowed Memphis to mount a 17-0 run to steal a win.

So, you could say they’re making progress, at least.

The Grizzlies loss dropped them to 0-3, their worst start since 2007-08. They risked returning home 2-4, off a 1-2 road trip, as they watched Minnesota cut their 24-point lead down to four.

“There’s a slight bit of relief,” Steph Curry said of improving to 2-3 on the season after their poor start, “but there’s still an understanding that the Memphis game in the second half, tonight mostly in the fourth quarter, we know we can play better.”

The Timberwolves, missing Anthony Edwards, weren’t able to pull off the same stunner that Memphis did. But they put up enough of a fight to set off alarm bells in the Warriors locker room.

The closest they got came after a sloppy offensive possession that ended in a missed 3 from Curry, allowing Jonathan Kuminga to set up Ayo Dosunmu for a 3 on the other end.

Dosunmu’s triple cut the Warriors’ lead to 116-112 with 45 seconds left.

But the game began to turn long before that.

Curry got to the line for two of his eventual 16 free throws to put Golden State up 73-50 a little less than 3 minutes into the third quarter. Then Draymond Green threw the ball away, Yaxel Lendeborg got his pocket picked twice in three possessions and Curry stepped out of bounds.

Four turnovers in a span of barely more than 2 minutes of gametime. Kerr had seen enough after TJ Shannon turned the last one into 3 points on the other end, making it 73-53.

“We smelled blood in the water,” Kerr said. “We thought we needed to make great plays, spectacular plays, in order to extend it to 30, instead of just making solid plays.”

The margin never reached 30. Minnesota scored 64 of the final 110 points.

“We let them off the hook when we were up 73-50 with all those turnovers. The whole game changed right then at that point,” Kerr said. “That’s when it got wild and crazy.”

The Warriors have traditionally thrived in chaos. That’s not their plan anymore. The game turned into a track meet. Advantage: the younger and more athletic Timberwolves.

It was a different formula than the Memphis game, when Zach Edey and Grizzlies gobbled up offensive rebounds that negated good defensive possessions, and the Warriors couldn’t buy a bucket, despite getting the shots they wanted.

In this case, the Warriors allowed Minnesota to impose its preferred style of play. It didn’t help that the Timberwolves drained 10 second-half 3s to just one by the Warriors.

“I think a lot of it is just getting organized offensively where you’re using the other team’s desperation and pressure against them,” Curry said. “It seems like we kind of get playing on our heels a little bit. Then you’re just kind of hoping and wishing shots go in.”

There are two ways to look at it: On the one hand, the Warriors are the single-most veteran team in the NBA, and that makeup should have no problem closing out games.

On the other, Golden State is also implementing a new way of doing things offensively and integrating a few players into new roles. Game 82 should look different from Game 5.

“We know we gave that game away to Memphis,” Curry said. “This one was a little more nerve-wracking than it should’ve been. We still have a lot of things to do. You like learning lessons while you’re winning. A 2-1 road trip — that’s a step in the right direction.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With a minute remaining in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-87 win over the crosstown Clippers, Lakers guard Collin Sexton charged through the lane and was fouled while making a layup over veteran center Brook Lopez.

As he lay on the ground, flexing his muscles towards the Clippers bench, Lopez accidentally bumped into him, prompting Sexton to shoot up from the ground and get in the big man’s face. Lopez, who projects the demeanor of a 7-foot-tall teddy bear, put his hands up in defense and pleaded for mercy like Sexton was a mob boss ready to chop off a finger.

Sexton, still-faced and without blinking, gave Lopez the mercy he pleaded for and walked to the free throw line to sink his 21st point of the night.

“I know Brook … He’s one of those guys, he’s chill,” Sexton said of the interaction postgame. “I just didn’t know. We push, fight, foul. That’s how the game is supposed to go. Whenever I’m out there, you’ve got to expect it.

“When I step between these lines, it’s us against them. I’m going to do whatever my team needs from me. I feel like I turn into a different person when it’s time to go … When I step into these lines, it’s wartime.”

Sexton had a game-high plus-minus of +23 in 21 minutes off the bench Wednesday night, but the point total and the 4-of-7 shooting from three wasn’t what stood out.

It was his intensity. The wide eyes, screaming and maniacal smiling when guarding Clippers guard Cam Christie, in a clip that went viral during the game.

Anyone who engages with Sexton off the court knows him to be a quiet and reserved guy who moves with a calm smile. On the court, he plays with what head coach JJ Redick described as “insanity” after his debut in Utah.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get his attention because he gets locked in, he’s in the zone,” Reddick said of Sexton. “I love it. I love his competitive fire. … I like when he’s just in go mode. It puts pressure on the defense.”

On the second night of a back-to-back where the Lakers were without two major sources of their identity early in this season — Luka Dončić, their leading scorer, and Ziaire Williams, their primary point-of-attack defender — they needed it from someone, and Sexton answered the call.

It’s the reason Sexton was brought in in the first place, to provide Los Angeles the intensity it’s been missing from his spot in the lineup. Someone who can inspire competitiveness in even the shortest of stints off the bench.

“I think our team responds to insanity,” Redick said after Sexton’s debut. “It’s a good thing. He comes in the game and you know he’s in the game. I think, defensively, he’s trying to apply ball pressure. He’s trying to make hard closeouts. He’s trying to push the basketball. He’s trying to touch the paint and there’s an intensity to all that stuff and our guys responded.”

Every basketball player has a flow state. Dončić gets into a zone where he can hit any shot or make any pass. The basket becomes ten feet wide when some of the best shooters in the league get going. But for Sexton, he’s constantly in that zone. It’s just different from everyone else’s.

On what he’s thinking of when he gets in that zone, Sexton said, “Just continuing to do what’s needed. Continuing to stay locked in. … If I do something, it’s like, lock back in. Because I say it all the time. If you don’t do it twice, then the first time it didn’t really happen.”

You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.

INGLEWOOD, CA — Collin Sexton and the Los Angeles Lakers managed to get back on track with a 103-87 victory against the L.A. Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

The Lakers improved to 4-1 on the season despite the absence of Luka Doncic.

Coach JJ Redick had said that with Doncic out, the veteran guard's usage and minutes would be distributed across the rest of the roster.

Sexton benefited from the available minutes. He had 21 points in 17 minutes of play through the first three quarters and finished the night with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The former Alabama player has remained confident in his ability to contribute on offense but said he looks to “be a pest and change the game on the defensive side.”

The Mavericks (3-2) hosted the undefeated, but depleted, Oklahoma City Thunder (4-1) Wednesday night. OKC lost both Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to injury and will be without them for months, and the Mavs took full advantage of the situation, almost like a good team would. Scary thought there, but pinch yourselves, Mavs fans, because Dallas handed OKC its first loss of the season behind a 120-96 final score.

Let’s get to the grades!

Kyrie Irving: B

15 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 2 STL / 2 BLK / 27 MIN

Irving came out of the gate red hot, hitting three three-pointers and all four of his shots in the first quarter. Relative to a minutes restriction, he was effective overall, despite his shooting cooling down (6-of-14). He uncharacteristically committed four fouls, but otherwise did a nice job running the show in his somewhat limited minutes. His team-high plus/minus of +25 shows his impact beyond the basic stat line.

Max Christie: C+

11 PTS / 5 REB / 2 AST / 22 MIN

Christie still hasn’t quite found his shot, but his game looked better than it did in the first four games of the season. He drained 3-of-7 from downtown (42.9%) but once again shot too few withing the arc for my liking, missing his only two-point attempt.

Cooper Flagg: A-

26 PTS / 5 REB / 8 AST / 33 MIN

Flagg continues to amaze. Suddenly an assist machine, Flagg was finding teammates all night and they made the most of it. He led all players with eight assists and had zero turnovers to boot. He was short on a few close-range shots, finishing 10-of-23 and only 2-of-8 from deep, but he is simply a star in the making. You don’t have to squint too hard to see how he has improved over a stellar rookie season

P.J. Washington: A-

18 PTS / 9 REB / 1 BLK / 25 MIN

Washington looked as though he pulled the 2024 version of himself out of the timestream Wednesday night. He played somewhat spotty minutes with long stretches on the bench, but nonetheless made a positive impact. Dusty May spoke about needing Washington locked in each and every play and it’s looking like he is receiving that message and delivering accordingly. His 2-of-7 from beyond the arc left a bit to be desired, but one of those longballs was timely and he maximized his minutes beyond what appears in the box score.

Daniel Gafford: A-

7 PTS / 11 REB / 2 AST / 2 BLK / 27 MIN

Gafford nailed 3-of-4 shots including his only three-point attempt on a night where he joined Washington in turning back the clock to what we remember from 2024. He had a thunderous alley-oop dunk and made a nice move in the paint to finish strong and cap the play with the primal scream fans love to see. Best of all, he was a monster on the boards despite the Thunder being able to roll out a big at will. He was locked in on offense as well, with two blocks.

Zaccharie Risacher: A

13 PTS / 6 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK / 29 MIN

Risacher had his best offensive game of the season, shooting 5-of-6 overall and 2-of-3 from deep. Better still, it didn’t come at the expense of his defensive effort. I’ve indicated that a few players contributed more than the box score demonstrates, but it is truer for Risacher than probably anyone else Wednesday night. Hounding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into an airball in the first quarter was a nice display of defense, as was his tag-team effort with Caleb Martin to end the half with a steal. The guy is locked into the highest gear at all times, yet plays under control. Gilgeous-Alexander was 7-of-19 on the night and Risacher deserves a lot of credit for that sub-40% shooting.

Final Thoughts

This team is fun again. Even without a few key rotation players, the Thunder have the back-to-back league MVP but the Mavs had a gameplan and executed it well on both ends of the floor. The Mavs ended up connecting on 35.6% of their 3-point attempts, but were hot to start the game, allowing them to get a lead. They also held the Thunder to only 15.6% on three-point attempts, showing an effort on defense.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Without Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic, I sat down to watch this game out of necessity rather than anticipation. Victor Wembanyama has mastered the art of beating up on teams that cannot match up physically, and I don’t think a center rotation of Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba was striking much fear into his heart. Let’s get this one over it, and be one day closer to the return of our all-stars.

I am happy to report that my pessimism was, more or less, unfounded. Until the very end of overtime, the score fluctuated between a solid Jazz lead and a tie. What really made this an enjoying watch, however, was not the competitiveness itself but rather the means that led us to that outcome. The Jazz were carried by their three young pillars, and each was very consistently showing flashes throughout the game. Ace Bailey demonstrated strong mid-range scoring ability, with many sets run for him similar to what you’d expect to see run for a healthy Lauri Markkanen. Keyonte George was effective as the clear leader and offensive #1, scoring from all three levels. And Darryn Peterson, in my opinion, flashed the most ball-handling, shot-making juice that we have seen out of him thus far. Below you can find the clear highlight of the game:

However, this underdog victory was not meant to be, for two primary reasons. The first, and most obvious, was the immense talent differential between the two squads. The Spurs essentially rolled out the team that nearly won them an NBA championship the year prior, and the Jazz put out a team that is arguably worse on paper than its 22 win 2025-2026 squad. Victor Wembanyama was the clear best player on the game, and he played like it. He seemed to sleepwalk his way to 36 points and 14 rebounds; this was not close to the intensity that he was displaying during the playoffs last season. They were missing their threes and Dylan Harper was struggling with efficiency, but San Antonio won the firepower game tonight, and it became clear once we hit overtime; the Jazz were struggling to find good shots (Brice made two threes, but they were tough ones), and the Spurs seemed to collectively “lock in” and take control.

However, even with this talent difference, this loss was far from guaranteed, up until the bitter end. Instead, it felt like odd coaching decisions that put the final nail in the coffin. Will Hardy is taking his lumps adjusting to winning basketball just as much as any of the players, and it showed tonight. Injuries are surely a factor, but one consistent mistake he’s been making is playing entirely bench lineups for extended periods of time. Tonight, around the third quarter, the Jazz gave up a mini-run because Isaiah Collier was left as the lone ball handler with Ace, Keyonte, and Darryn riding the bench, Even less defensible was his overtime lineup choices. He began overtime with Isaiah Collier and Brice Sensabaugh as the backcourt with Keyonte and Darryn on the bench (we’ve been fined for less!), and even though Keyonte eventually came back in after a couple minutes of rest, Darryn Peterson did not find his way onto to the court for the remainder of the game. He explained (or at least attempted to explain) his rationale below:

This is rather incomprehensible to me. What better developmental reps can Darryn Peterson be given than those in overtime against the defending Western Conference champions? It’s not as if he was struggling tonight – he dropped an efficient-enough 18 points, and continued to provide impact on the margins. I understand the desire to get Sensabaugh in the game; he is, at this point, the superior isolation scorer to Darryn Peterson, and he had a bit of a hot hand. However, if Darryn is ever going to learn how to consistently score in isolation against strong defenses, he has to be given the opportunity to try his hand. Perhaps, on the bench, he was beginning to display some of the symptoms of a concussion that he may have sustained on a hard fit to the face from Victor Wembanyama. However, this is the only understandable excuse that I can conceive to explain why, on an injury riddled team in a game that went to overtime, our prestigious prospect played only 26 minutes.

A few quick notes:

• I was a big fan of Josh Okogie’s activity tonight (but not a big enough fan to agree with him playing more minutes than Darryn Peterson). 9 rebounds in 28 minutes as a 6’4 guard is game altering.
• Mo Bamba was less eye-catchingly good, but he still provided perfectly respectable backup center minutes. He may be one of the better third string centers in the league when Nurkic returns.
• Ace’s touch is nice, but sometimes he does seem to rely on it rather than getting all the way to the rim. 0 free throws is quite unfortunate.

What stood out to you from the Jazz’s game against the Spurs? Sound off below!

Following an easy win over the lowly Kings, the Spurs faced a tougher foe in Utah Wednesday night, narrowly escaping with a 117-111 victory to extend their winning streak to three.

With both Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. out with injuries, the Jazz’ frontcourt was severely undermanned. The offensive burden was thus placed on Keytone George, who came out swinging. The shifty guard scored 10 quick points, helping the home team build a double-digit lead early in the game. San Antonio’s defense left much to be desired, often slow on closeouts and switches, giving Utah good looks at the basket.

On the other end, the Jazz prevented Wemby from getting easy buckets by packing the paint. Still, it was only a matter of time before the big fella got loose, as the Spurs generated easy dunks for Wemby on the fast break and through pick-and-roll actions. San Antonio also ran successful inverted sets that used Wemby as the ball handler, taking advantage of his vision and the slashing ability of their guards.

Even so, the Jazz answered every time the Spurs went on a run. San Antonio was only able to either tie the game or build a small two-possession lead, and the perimeter defense was not good enough to contain Utah’s explosive backcourt. Even after scoring on three consecutive possessions in crunch time, the Spurs allowed the Jazz to tie the game. With four seconds remaining in regulation, San Antonio had a chance at a buzzer-beater, but some slight confusion resulted in a desperate heave that gave me PTSD from the ending of game 2 of the finals.

Overtime wasn’t much prettier from either side. Both teams had several disjointed possessions that somehow still ended up in the basket, and the Spurs pulled away by slowing down and getting Wemby some easy finishes at the rim. San Antonio built a multi-possession lead but still gave Utah life by conceding a wide-open three with less than a minute left, and it was a relief to finally hear the buzzer go off at the end.

Game notes

• This was the Spurs’ third straight win, but the game still left me wanting more. San Antonio was disorganized for most of the night on both ends of the court, with the one silver lining being some of the offensive actions that they used involving Wemby as the hub. Other than that, there were a lot of rushed shots and possessions, and the point-of-attack defense also gave Utah too many great looks. Jeje reminded me that this was the second night of a back-to-back, so the team deserves some leeway, but there’s no denying that the team’s miles from their best at the moment.
• A big reason why the game was such a slog was due to Harper’s struggles. The young guard played his worst game of the season, shooting just 4-17 and finishing with 13 points. He did have 8 assists, but it seemed like he was forcing things on offense, and lost his assignment multiple times on defense too. Perhaps he was a bit too jazzed to go up against college teammate Ace Bailey, as Harper tried to iso and make a tough contested fadeaway against him once in the fourth.
• On the bright side, Wemby seems to be rounding into form. The Alien finished with 36 points on 14-25 shooting and 4-10 from deep, while also grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. He was undoubtedly the difference Wednesday night.
• In a game that went to OT, Mitch Johnson elected to only play nine guys, including a short 5-minute stint from Carter Bryant. It was the first time this season that the Spurs played fewer than 10 guys, and it’s surprising considering that the match went long.

Play of the game

I loved how the Spurs used Wemby as a playmaking hub. It opens up so many different looks that can be exploited, and this is just one example of that.

Next game: vs Timberwolves on Saturday

The Spurs will look to make it four in a row on Halloween against a Wolves team without Ant.

When the Lakers built out their team with more depth this offseason, a game like this was likely what they had in mind.

At the start of five games in seven nights and on the second night of the back-to-back, the Lakers rested Luka Dončić along with Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr all being out. But they still had plenty of quality players — and a really, really bad opponent — to rely on.

It wasn’t a pretty game by any means, but the Lakers’ defense and talent won out. Guys like Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton showed out exactly how you’d hope with Luka sidelined. These are the types of games you hope to sprinkle in through an 82-game season where you give your stars some rest and turn to your depth.

In the first test, the Lakers passed with flying colors.

So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Matisse Thybulle

28 minutes, 15 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 fouls, 2 turnovers, 5-6 FG, 4-5 3PT, 1-2 FT, +0

Prior to Sexton’s third-quarter explosion, it looked like Thybulle was going to be the role player of the night. He was perfect in the first half and this felt like safely his best game of the season so far.

Grade: A

Jake LaRavia

34 minutes, 2 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers, 1-2 FG, +3

After a pretty lackluster game on Tuesday, LaRavia had a great bounce back game. Five offensive rebounds and five stocks showed how hard he was playing. You can more easily forgive misteps if someone is playing hard.

Grade: B+

Walker Kessler

26 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 fouls, 4-7 FG, 3-5 FT, -7

Kessler had a much quieter game against the Clippers this time around. Still, it was impactful when it needed to be with some big blocks or steals. He’s still finding his rhythm and timing on offense and it was apparent at times on Wednesday. But still a solid game.

Grade: B

Quentin Grimes

38 minutes, 23 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 fouls, 3 turnovers, 7-15 FG, 0-3 3PT, 9-11 FT, +10

Another player who responded after poor showings against the Blazers with big games on Wednesday. Grimes looked much more like himself by attacking the basket and getting to the line. Hopefully he can translate this to games with Luka as well.

Grade: A

Austin Reaves

30 minutes, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 8 turnovers, 6-16 FG, 1-6 3PT, 3-4 FT, +7

Chip Engelland is basically considered the shot doctor in the modern NBA. Whatever the equivalent of that is for dribbling, Austin needs to work with him.

The Clippers were sending multiple guys at him basically any time he had the ball with under 10 seconds in the shot clock and he did not handle it well.

Grade: C

Sandro Mamukelashvili

30 minutes, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 fouls, 2 turnovers, 6-15 FG, 0-5 3PT, 1-1 FT, +21

Mamu’s game wasn’t efficient, but it was very active. And given how the game played out, that might have been the better of the two options.

Grade: B+

Collin Sexton

21 minutes, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 fouls, 1 turnover, 6-11 FG, 4-7 3PT, 5-8 FT, +23

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect showcase of what the Lakers wanted when they signed Sexton. He got to the rim relentlessly, mixed in some catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and took over in the third quarter to really put this game to bed.

Grade: A+

Jarred Vanderbilt

21 minutes, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 fouls, 1 turnover, 0-1 FG, +22

Welcome back, Vando. He may not be the long-term answer at backup center but he’s the answer for right now and that’s more than adequate. Playing him alongside Mamu in the frontcourt gives the backup unit a lot of pace and speed and intensity.

Grade: B+

Jaden Hardy

In nine minutes, Hardy took six shots, five of them threes, and missed them all. There’s guys like Vando who make the most of their opportunities and play their way into the rotation and then there’s this.

JJ Redick

Redick finally pulled the chute on Kevon Looney at backup center and turned to Vando with great aplomb. I also liked how long he kept Sexton and Grimes out there with Reaves on the bench. Austin ends up only playing 30, a lot of those low-intensity minutes in the fourth.

Grade: A-

Friday’s DNPs: Bronny James, Kevon Looney, Chris Mañon

Friday’s inactives: Lawson Lovering, Cameron Carr, Adou Thiero, Luka Doncic, Ziaire Williams, Arthur Kaluma

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

MINNEAPOLIS — At 38 years old, Steph Curry is still doing things on the basketball court nobody else can. The umpteenth example: A 17-point flurry in the span of six minutes, the highlight being a heat-check 31-footer that, of course, found the bottom of the net.

Curry finished with 44, and the Warriors needed every last one of them to hold off the Timberwolves, despite Golden State pulling ahead by 24 after halftime and Minnesota playing its first game since Anthony Edwards learned he would require knee surgery.

With his first 40-piece of the season, Curry joined LeBron James in exclusive company. It was his 15th 40-point game since turning 35, tying James for the most in NBA history.

“I just see him doing what Steph Curry does,” coach Steve Kerr said after the 119-114 win. “I’ve been watching him for so long that it never surprises me when he gets hot. What makes him special is it can happen at any time.”

After starting 2-of-8 from the field Wednesday, Curry pulled up and connected on his first 3-pointer about three minutes into the second quarter. He drained another on Golden State’s next possession and shouted at the Warriors’ bench, who loved it.

Curry went on to connect on six of his next eight shots, pouring in 19 as the Warriors built a 64-48 halftime lead.

Despite building a lead that widened as far as 78-54 midway through the third quarter, the Warriors needed even more from Curry to close out a Minnesota team without its best player.

He delivered — in a different fashion.

Sixteen of Curry’s points came from the foul line, including an even dozen as he helped keep Minnesota at bay in the second half. It was Curry’s second-highest total ever on foul shots.

He had gotten to the line 16 times three other times in his career, but the win over Minnesota — in career game No. 1,073 — was the first time he converted every single one of them.

“They were pressuring pretty much all the way out to half court, so you’re gonna have those driving lanes,” Curry said. “Thankfully it helped us in a couple lulls that we had, getting to the line, getting easy buckets, which we needed all of them.”

Notably, Curry is also still doing things on the basketball court that would never be expected of a star of his caliber playing only the fifth game of his 18th season, especially not one coming off a season where injuries limited him to the third-fewest games of his career.

But that’s exactly what Curry did, diving after a loose ball early in the second half. LaMello Ball went diving across the floor as Curry came away with possession — and narrowly avoided Ball barrelling into his lower half. Curry said he wasn’t even thinking about his gimpy knee.

“I think that’s just more indicative of how good I feel, considering the age and miles and how last year went that I even tried it, I had a confidence that I could get down there,” Curry said. “There’s situations where you find yourself in where you’re just playing basketball and reacting, and that’s one of those.”

Curry had already secured his 40-point night when he checked out with the Warriors leading 100-87 with a little more than 9 minutes left to play. He was still at 26 minutes, and Kerr surely would have loved to allow him to rest for the remainder of the game.

Curry has been strictly capped at 32 minutes as the Warriors attempt to manage his ramp-up and keep the knee that cost him 27 games last season as healthy as possible.

He ended up coming 25 seconds shy of the limit imposed by the Warriors training staff but reached another milestone in the process — his first 30-minute night of the season.

“I honestly didn’t know until after the game, which was nice that we were just kind of in the moment, playing,” Curry said. “A little different flow to it when I got hot in the second, had to play a little bit of a longer stretch. So it’s nice to keep building and feel good coming out of it.”

Knicks star Jalen Brunson didn’t shoot well in the first four games of the season. He also didn’t shoot well in the first four minutes of Wednesday’s game in Chicago.

He missed three of his first four shots against the Bulls. At that moment, he was shooting 36 percent (31-for-86) on the season and 19 percent (4-for-21) from beyond the arc.

If you were getting a little antsy in the opening minutes on Wednesday, Brunson probably put you at ease over the course of the night.

The 2026 NBA Finals MVP hit six of his next nine three-pointers (12-for-21 overall) to help New York rebound from a 19-point third quarter deficit and take the second game of a back-to-back.

He finished with a season-high 38 points, seven assists, and two steals in New York’s first road win of the year.

The Knicks shot a season-high 46 percent from three and 45 percent overall in the comeback win.

They looked like the potent offense that emerged late last regular season and then again in Game 4 of their first-round series win over the Hawks.

For what it’s worth, Mike Brown was not panicked at all about his team’s shooting.

"The biggest thing is: are we getting good shots from the right people? Watching the film and watching the game, I think we are," Brown said before the Knicks’ win over Detroit on Tuesday. "We’ve had some pretty good looks from the right people at the right time that normally go in so I want them to keep shooting."

After a slow start, Brunson and his teammates certainly kept shooting - and shooting well - on Wednesday night.

The difference for New York in the past two games has been taking care of the minor details on both ends of the floor.

"(We’ve got to) focus on the little things until we get our rhythm. Once we get a rhythm, continue to do the little things. It' a big point of emphasis right no,  our attention to detail."

They executed enough of the little things and big things to leave Chicago with a win. Next up? Friday night in Philadelphia.

BROWN EXPERIMENTING

If you see a lineup this season that you haven’t seen the last two years, don’t get alarmed. That’s Mike Brown’s way of stress-testing some ideas.

"There’s some things that I’m looking at or messing with that may or may not stay the same," Brown said. "That’s part of what you’re trying to do to figure out what’s best for your team long term."

One example? Brown played lineups with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench in the first two games. Brown abandoned that idea. But don’t be surprised if you see a few non-traditional lineups over the next couple of weeks as Brown gets a feel for this year’s version of the team.

TYLER TIME

Tyler Kolekhas move the ball well during Jose Alvarado’s absence.

Alvarado missed his third straight game due to an ankle injury. Kolek played well, finishing with nine assists and zero turnovers. He has 21 assists and zero turnovers over the last three games. If you’re wondering what Brown expects of Kolek, the coach laid it all out on Tuesday:

"He’s gotta run the team. What I mean by that is, when you watch our games, when he goes on the floor, people get up into his chest when he’s trying to run our offense. He can’t get off the ball too early, if it’s just one guy," Brown explained. "He’s gotta be able to go by that guy and get the guy off-balance and bring it back out and set our offense up and/or get by and make a play in the paint. He can’t let pressure bother him or disrupt our offense at all. 

"And then defensively, he’s gotta be a pest. He’s gotta be nasty, not anything illegal or anything like that, just a guy that people wanna say ‘get off me, get off me,’ because he’s more than capable of doing that. He’s gotta play with some sort of force, particularly for his size."

Whether or not Kolek checked those boxes is open to interpretation. But, objectively speaking, Kolek has made some great reads with the ball - and protected it. 

Kolek wasn't the only Knick to thrive off the bench Wednesday. Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson combined for 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting. New York outscored Chicago by 13 with either Shamet or Clarkson on the floor Wednesday.

JJ Redick has foreshadowed a night like Wednesday evening.

When the Lakers would need to play or rely on players they normally don’t, for whatever the circumstances it may be for that given game. 

And against the Clippers, which was the second night of the back-to-back set after Tuesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers, the circumstances were being without superstar guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness).

Despite being without their best player and one of their starting wings, the Lakers got back on track after their first loss of the season, beating the Clippers 103-87.

With Doncic sidelined, a significant amount of attention turned to Austin Reaves, the Laker’s second-best player who has gotten off to a career-best start to the season. 

The sixth-year guard has shown several times what he’s capable of doing when he’s the lone star in the lineup, recording box score numbers that rival All-NBA guards.

Clippers coach Ty Lue acknowledged the threat Reaves poses. 

“He can beat you by himself. … He’s elite,” Lue said. 

And the Clippers treated Reaves as such, using aggressive defensive coverages to disrupt a rhythm that’s been challenging for opponents to slow down since the start of the season. 

Reaves finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting to go with eight turnovers, ending his streak of 23-plus-point games while shooting at least 54% from the field in four games. 

But the Lakers didn’t need a nuclear performance from Reaves.

They got Collin Sexton showing off why he’s nicknamed the “Young Bull”, with the veteran guard providing the “insanity”, as Redick put it, on both ends of the floor that the team has come to celebrate.

They got Quentin Grimes, who stepped into the starting lineup for the first time, having his best two-way performance. 

And they got a near perfect shooting night from Matisse Thybulle.

Sexton finished with 21 points, scoring nine straight points late in the third quarter that pushed the Lakers’ lead from 13 to 20 points.

Grimes had a season-high 23 points to go along with five assists and four steals. 

Thybulle scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting (4 of 6 on 3-pointers). 

Veteran forward Jarred Vanderbilt made his season debut in light of the team’s injuries, finishing with an individual plus/minus of plus-22 in 21 minutes.

The Clippers were short-handed, as they have been for most of the season, without Rui Hachimura, Brandon Ingram and Bradley Beal.