Category: Basketball

Luka Dončić continued his excellent play against the Atlanta Hawks Monday night, when he logged 32 points (11-of-22 shooting), 10 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and two blocks in a 124-114 victory. For much of the game, his primary defender was Dyson Daniels, who led the league in steals in 2024-25 and has earned All-Defensive Team nods the past two seasons.

Daniels and Atlanta implemented a variety of schemes to try and slow the Dončić-led Lakers offense but nothing really worked. Los Angeles scored 124 points and posted a 120.4 offensive rating, despite Dončić‘s co-star at guard, Austin Reaves, sitting out the second leg of the back-to-back. After the game, Daniels bestowed quite the complimentary label upon Dončić to succinctly summarize the Slovenian’s offensive dominance.

“He’s probably the hardest guy to guard in the NBA right now,” Daniels told reporters. “And then, he’s also a willing passer, so.”

Asked Dyson how other guys hitting shots for the Lakers affected how they tried to defend Luka + what happened late in the fourth after cutting their deficit to four: pic.twitter.com/IapXfbTCIf

— Malik Brown (@_MalikATL) November 10, 2026

While Dončić flourished individually, his gravity and wondrous playmaking helped role players like Sandro Mamukelashvili (23 points, 7-of-13 shooting), Walker Kessler (21 points, 8-of-12 shooting), Collin Sexton (18 points, 6-of-11 shooting) and Ziaire Williams (12 points, 5-of-10 shooting) produce efficient scoring nights alongside him in Atlanta, which Daniels acknowledged, too.

Dončić and the 11-2, West-leading Lakers have been a buzzsaw offensively this season. Generating 122.5 points per 100 possessions, they own the NBA’s top-ranked offense, per Cleaning the Glass. Dončić himself is averaging a preposterous 38.6 points and 7.6 assists per game while shooting 58.7% inside the arc and a career-high 40.8% from deep. He’s taking a league-high 13.4 triples each night and making a league-high 5.5 of them. The Lakers are scoring 131.0 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court.

Dončić may be the engine but his backcourt buddy, Reaves, is crucial to Los Angeles’ success and also off to a ripping start. He’s averaging 24.7 points and 4.7 assists on a .513/.409/.915 shooting split. If those marks hold, he’d join the prestigious 50-40-90 club, which currently features nine NBA players, five of whom are MVPs and eight of whom are All-NBA honorees.

Dončić and the Lakers return to the court Sunday against the Phoenix Suns, when they’ll look to push their winning streak to eight games. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

How much data do you need before you’re compelled to make a decision?

In the NBA, the answer to that question is as unique as the front offices tasked with making those decisions. There are countless philosophies surrounding what constitutes meaningful data, how much weight to place on sample sizes, and when statistical trends are reliable enough to warrant action. But here we are, 11 games into the new season, and I know I’m not the only person with two functioning eyes beginning to question whether the Jalen Green experiment is going to work in Phoenix.

I’ll admit that I initially viewed Green’s acquisition as more of a necessity than an intentional pursuit. The Suns knew they needed to move Kevin Durant for a multitude of reasons, eventually found a trade partner that was acceptable to him (which is an entirely separate situation worth exploring), and needed to make the salaries work. In my mind, Green was simply part of the financial equation required to facilitate the deal.

After all, the Houston Rockets had four seasons of data to evaluate Green. Four years of watching his development, assessing his strengths and weaknesses, and determining whether he was someone they wanted to build around moving forward. Their willingness to include him in the trade suggested that perhaps they’d already reached a conclusion about his long-term value.

But apparently, I was wrong.

As Sam Amick revealed in his latest piece for The Athletic, Green wasn’t merely a contractual necessity or a convenient piece of salary matching. He was someone the Phoenix Suns actively coveted.

“(It) was never gonna get done without Jalen and Dillon (Brooks) in the deal,” Ishbia told me earlier this year. “Those are the two players we wanted. It wasn’t, ‘Hey, how do we fill a salary with these numbers?’ It was, ‘In order to have Kevin Durant on your team, I want Dillon Brooks to help me with my culture and my identity. I want Jalen Green as a 23-year-old up-and-coming leading scorer.’”

Ugh. So we actively signed up for this?

Last season was supposed to be the year of evaluation for Green, a player who arrived in Phoenix with an unbelievably clean bill of health, only to appear in 32 games due to lower extremity injuries. So there’s data point number one: 32 games. Of course, there’s only so much you can reasonably take away from that sample, considering Green was essentially joining a race that was already three-quarters of the way finished by the time he got involved.

Which brings us to this season, the one in which the Suns would finally have an opportunity to evaluate what they actually have in Jalen Green. And the early returns? Less than optimal would probably be the polite way of putting it. Getting benched for the entire fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets, a team Green should theoretically thrive against, might be a more accurate description of where things currently stand.

And quite honestly, it was the right decision.

The Suns had been cooking, putting together an impressive 38-16 run in the first half and establishing the kind of offensive rhythm that has been painfully difficult to sustain this season. Much of this occurred with Green on the bench. But when Green checked into the game with 6:06 remaining in the second quarter, that momentum came to a screeching halt.

Charlotte proceeded to unleash a 31-11 run that extended into the third quarter, completely erasing the progress Phoenix had made. During Green’s stint on the floor, from 6:06 remaining in the second quarter until he was substituted out with 5:26 left in the third, the Suns were outscored by 18 points. And that was the last we saw of Jalen Green.

Once again, Phoenix struggled to generate productive minutes with Green on the floor, and I believe that gets to the heart of the problem. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify how his presence complements the players around him, particularly when the team appears to function more effectively without him. And for a player the organization actively coveted as a centerpiece of the Kevin Durant trade, that’s a pretty troubling development.

No one is questioning Jalen Green’s athleticism. No one is questioning his desire, his attitude, his likability, or his character. By all accounts, he’s a stand-up guy who has reached the highest level of professional basketball largely because of his extraordinary physical gifts. His explosiveness, speed, and ability to create separation are undeniable.

But when you reach the NBA, physical gifts can only take you so far. At some point, the difference between being a good player and becoming a great one comes down to your ability to understand the game, recognize situations, make the right decisions, and contribute within the structure of a functioning offense. 

When you’re the second highest paid player on the roster, earning $36.3 million this season, the Phoenix Suns need you to be great. They need you on the floor in the fourth quarter, positively influencing the outcome of basketball games. They need you making intelligent decisions, creating opportunities for your teammates, and understanding when to attack and when to allow the offense to develop.

What they don’t need is someone disrupting the offensive rhythm, launching ill-timed three-point attempts that have little connection to what the team is trying to accomplish, or throwing the basketball directly into the hands of the opposition. Unfortunately, we’ve seen far too much of the latter. Green, who ranks 53rd in salary this season, is ranked 113th in scoring (11.8 points per game), 92nd in assists (3.1 assists), 189th in three-point percentage (27.0%), and 246th in NET +/- (-28.0).

The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney recently said on the Bill Simmons podcast that Green has gone “from counterproductive to actively bad this season.” I can’t say I disagree.

Perhaps some of these struggles can be attributed to the Suns asking Green to operate in a role he’s never truly occupied before, that of a primary facilitator. It’s a reasonable explanation, considering his development in Houston was largely centered around his ability to score rather than orchestrate an offense. But as the games have progressed, I’m beginning to wonder whether that’s even what Phoenix is asking him to do anymore.

His assist percentage currently sits at 17.1%, placing him in the 44th percentile this season. That doesn’t exactly suggest a player being tasked with consistently running the offense. It feels more like the Suns want him to occasionally facilitate, score when opportunities arise, and somehow make everything fit together. Therein lies the problem. Green’s presence continues to look awkward within this offense’s structure. His movements feel disconnected from those around him, his decisions frequently interrupt the flow of possessions, and his inability to consistently operate within the team’s offensive framework has become increasingly detrimental.

That’s what makes this entire situation such a quagmire. Green is struggling to operate within the confines of everything happening around him, and much of what we’re witnessing mirrors the problems we saw last season. At the time, we could point to his injuries, the late start, and the lack of continuity as reasonable explanations for his struggles. Those were legitimate factors, and they made it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions.

But now? We’re beginning to see some familiar patterns emerge. And the Suns, as they seem to be in almost every avenue concerning their ability to build for the future, find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Green’s trade value isn’t particularly encouraging at the moment. If Phoenix were to explore moving him, the return would likely be underwhelming. Any opposing team willing to absorb his $36.3 million salary would have to believe there’s something worth salvaging, and even with his contract becoming an expiring deal next season, there’s a reasonable chance that team would want draft compensation to make the transaction worthwhile.

What exactly are the Suns supposed to offer? They don’t have an abundance of desirable draft assets sitting around, waiting to be attached to another expensive contract in hopes of making a problem disappear. They used those up to get off of the Nurkic deal or to acquire Mark Williams and Miles Bridges. We’ve already watched this organization sacrifice enough of its future trying to correct mistakes from its past.

So what do you do? One possibility is moving Green to the bench, and quite honestly, that might be the most sensible solution available. We’ve seen a version of this experiment before. In January 2025, Mike Budenholzer finally came to the realization that pairing Devin Booker with another ball dominant shooting guard in Bradley Beal was creating more problems than it was solving. The overlapping skill sets were limiting the team’s offensive ceiling, and something needed to change.

We all remember how that went. Beal wasn’t particularly receptive to the adjustment, and the situation became another chapter in the ongoing dysfunction surrounding that roster.

Green, to his credit, appears to have a different attitude toward making adjustments. He’s expressed a willingness to evolve his game, embrace more facilitating responsibilities, and has spent time working with Steve Nash to improve that aspect of his skill set. Everything suggests he wants to fit in, wants to improve, and wants to become the player Phoenix envisioned when it acquired him. I don’t question any of that. But wanting something to work doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work.

When you’re playing alongside Devin Booker, the fit becomes especially problematic. Booker possesses an extraordinary ability to control an offense, manipulate defenses, and create scoring opportunities for himself and others. Those are his superpowers. The players surrounding him should be enhancing those abilities, creating space for him to operate, and making his job easier. They shouldn’t be obstacles he has to navigate.

Perhaps the answer is allowing Green to find his footing with the second unit, where he can operate with greater freedom, develop some confidence, and establish a rhythm without constantly having to figure out how his game intersects with Booker’s. If he begins finding success in that role, maybe the comfort and confidence he develops can eventually carry over into shared minutes with the starters.

Of course, that raises another question. Who starts in his place? Collin Gillespie would seem to be the most obvious candidate, given his familiarity with the offense, his ability to play alongside Booker, and the success Phoenix has experienced with him on the floor. But at this point, you could certainly sell me on Jordan Goodwin as well. Goodwin might not be the traditional facilitator you’re looking for, but he brings something this team desperately needs: a player who can positively influence the game on both ends of the floor without requiring the offense to revolve around him. That’s a conversation worth exploring another day.

Ultimately, as I sat there watching the fourth quarter against Charlotte, knowing how ineffective Green had been throughout his minutes, I found myself relieved that he wasn’t on the floor. And I don’t particularly enjoy admitting that. Here was a player the Suns actively pursued as part of the Kevin Durant trade, someone they envisioned becoming a significant part of their future, and I was genuinely pleased that he was sitting on the bench during the most important stretch of the game.

Instead, Phoenix leaned on a group that looked much more familiar. Much of the lineup resembled the units that helped the Suns win so many games last season, with Luke Kennard occupying the role previously filled by Grayson Allen for much of the stretch. And what happened? The Suns played well. The offense flowed. Players understood their responsibilities, the ball moved with purpose, and Phoenix outscored Charlotte 29-20 in a fourth quarter that was void of his presence. 

There was a familiarity to it, a sense that the players on the floor understood how to complement one another rather than compete for the same opportunities. And that’s what makes this entire situation so frustrating. The Suns have invested significant money, opportunity, and organizational belief in Jalen Green. They want him to succeed. They need him to succeed. But right now, some of their most effective basketball is being played when he’s watching from the sideline.

Eleven games into the season might not be enough data to make a definitive judgment about his future. But it’s certainly enough to start asking some uncomfortable questions.

The Lakers are riding a seven-game win streak and not only sit atop the league with an 11-2 record, they were the first team in the league to play 13 games in this early season. What looked like an easy schedule based on strength of opponent was countered by a rigorous slate that included three back-to-backs and multiple stretches of three games in four nights and five games in seven nights.

Los Angeles’ schedule wasn’t nearly as easy as people make it out to be, as referenced by the physical toll it’s already taken on many of its most prominent players, including Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, who each made it out of the first extended road trip of the season battered up.

Between the back-to-backs and surplus of games in a short span, the Lakers came out of this early slate with a lot more answers than questions. There were wins against quality teams like Detroit, Atlanta, Portland and Toronto and survival in potential trap games without one of Dončić or Reaves.

“The biggest takeaway is that this is a great group of guys who really enjoy playing together and really enjoy playing for each other,” Redick said of their first road trip. “But we got a lot of work to do and we got to keep getting better.”

The Lakers withstood everything the schedule makers threw their way. And for that, they’ll be rewarded with a less demanding runway of games that can serve as another ramp-up before some of their biggest tests of the season.

Before taking on Phoenix on Sunday, the Lakers are enjoying their first three-day break of the season, which gave the team time to travel back from Milwaukee and actually practice in El Segundo on Friday. The Suns are 5-6 and coming off a much-needed win against Charlotte. Their early season outlook hasn’t been the best, but they’re among the more talented under-.500 teams the Lakers have played so far.

Once the Lakers return from Arizona, they have four games at home over seven days against the Hornets (4-8), Utah twice (1-11) and Sacramento (1-10). When you include the Suns, Los Angeles’s opponents up until Thanksgiving have a combined record of 11-35.

This is a crucial stretch for the Lakers to string together some more easy early-season wins while ramping up for a gauntlet to end November, a three-game slate against San Antonio, Memphis and Houston. The Spurs are just half a game behind L.A. in the standings, while the Rockets sit 1.5 games behind and the Grizzlies just three games behind.

According to ESPN’s Relative Percent Index (RPI), a tool used to calculate a team’s strength of schedule and, in turn, a power ranking based on said schedule, the Lakers rank fifth in RPI. Houston is first, San Antonio is sixth and Memphis is 17th. The RPI also states that the Lakers have had the 15th-toughest schedule thus far.

Not only is that three-game stretch to end the month against three of the best teams the Lakers will have played so far, it’s also three games in four nights, on the road, starting the day after Thanksgiving, including a back-to-back in Memphis and Houston.

If they take care of business over these next five games as they have so far this season, the Lakers could enter that slate with a staggering 16-2 record for the first time since the 2019-20 championship season and for fifth time in franchise history, according to Stathead.

We’re about to see just how serious a team they are.

You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.

Both members of the Golden State Warriors’ superstar backcourt duo are injured.

Steph Curry is expected to miss at least several weeks after suffering an oblique abdominal tear during Wednesday’s game.

Jimmy Butler continues to work his way back to the court after tearing his ACL last season, and should be able to play in January or February.

When Butler is able to return, Golden State will have to choose whether they want him to play rehab games with their G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, or return straight to Golden State.

Although Butler seems to have already made his decision.

“I’m going down to Santa Cruz to hoop. It may not be for long, but I’m going to play in Santa Cruz. I’m playing in a f****** game,” Butler told The Athletic.

“I’m definitely coming down there to play. So good luck to everybody. Y’all ain’t gonna get too many minutes out of me, but I’m definitely going down there. I want to hoop,” he added.

Butler was then asked whether he got his desire to play in Santa Cruz cleared with Mike Dunleavy Jr., the Warriors’ GM.

“I don’t got to clear s*** with nobody. I’m going. Me and Mike will fistfight. He’s gonna be like, ‘Jimmy, no.’ I’m gonna be like, ‘Mike, yes. I’m going to G League, baby!’ Y’all know where to find me. Santa Cruz, baby,” Butler responded.

Butler was clearly just kidding. Plus, he and Dunleavy Jr. were teammates on the Chicago Bulls for three seasons, so they don’t have a typical player-front office executive relationship.

Threat of violence aside, Dunleavy Jr. will probably appreciate how eager Butler is to return.

Simply looking at the Lakers 11-2 record tells you they’ve been playing really well to start the season. Irrespective of the competition, you simply don’t win at this rate — including seven games in a row after Wednesday’s victory in Milwaukee — without doing way more things right than wrong.

That said, one of the benefits of watching a team on a day-to-day basis is that you gain perspective on what you’re watching, are better able to contextualize the results and can speak to the differences between, say, an 11-point win against the Bucks vs. a 10-point win against the Hawks against a six-point win over the Raptors.

The details from any one of those games matter and help provide the arc and narrative of where the team has been and, maybe more importantly, where they could be going. You can also find the themes that help you, even this early in the year, establish what the team actually is.

For example, the numbers tell you the Lakers are the best offense in the league and that Luka Dončić is on the sort of start to the season that forgest MVP campaigns. These things are related and are easily the top data point for why the Lakers have the record that they do.

Again, though, watching this team every day gives you access to more than what a visit to the NBA Stats page or Cleaning the Glass would tell you about the team. Those tools help contextualize what you watch, but they cannot replace what you observe with your own eyes. They also cannot prove the nuance of and aforementioned details that go into the progression — or in some cases, regression — that comprises the march through what is a marathon of an 82-game campaign.

Which leads me back to why I’m here in the first place.

While the Lakers are 11-2, I’d argue they are just now starting to find their way of what they are and who they can as a team. Because their record is what it is, I think it would be easy to conflate their success with them hitting the ground running, but that would be a mistake. It’s not that the team isn’t playing well — of course they are, look at their record! — but it’s more that the version of well they’re playing is just now beginning to become more well-rounded.

For example, when the Lakers’ winning streak started seven games ago, Luka was in full destroyer of worlds mode, scoring 45, 42, 40, and 53 points in consecutive games. If we’re being honest, the Lakers wouldn’t have needed much beyond Luka playing to that level for them to win, but they were still getting complementary performances from Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler — both of whom scored in double digits in all those games too — as well as other role players stepping up on any given night.

LUKA JUST DROPPED 53 POINTS 🚨

🪄 53 PTS
🪄 5 REB
🪄 5 AST
🪄 5 3PM
🪄 @emirates NBA Cup Group Play W

FIRST LAKER SINCE KOBE BRYANT (JAN 10-14, 2012) TO SCORE 40+ PTS IN 4 STRAIGHT GAMES 🤯 pic.twitter.com/auJqrGlwrk

— NBA (@NBA) November 7, 2026

Over the last three games, however, things have started to diversify more, with Luka and Austin taking turns sitting out in the Sunday and Monday back-to-back games in Detroit and Atlanta. Add in Quentin Grimes missing the contests against the Hawks and Bucks, and the rotation has been stress-tested with different players needing to absorb usage while stepping into larger roles.

And, with those opportunities for others to step up, we have seen the Lakers begin to better establish the team they can actually become rather than simply rely on Luka going nuclear while fueling the NBA’s best offense.

Sandro Mamukelashvili’s uptick in production the past two games is a perfect example of this. Mamu was not necessarily playing poorly before these past two games against the Hawks and Bucks, but he was most helping the team by being a connective passer whose ability to drive and attack closeouts was helping grease the wheels of the team’s offense.

Against the Hawks and the Bucks, however, Mamu showed an uptick in offensive aggression, looking for his own shot more often and paying off those attempts with made baskets. After scoring a total of 16 points in wins over the Kings, Blazers, and Pistons, Mamu erupted for 23 points in both Atlanta and Milwaukee, bested by only Luka on both nights.

Following the win in Milwaukee, Mamu spoke about playing with more confidence and how it’s taken time to grow into believing in himself to the same degree the coaches and organization have believed in him by signing and putting him into the role he’s occupied.

Mamu was getting buckets 🎯 pic.twitter.com/H0LIMdNRIW

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 10, 2026

Beyond Mamu, we’ve also seen a better play from Collin Sexton, both individually and in reestablishing his connection and chemistry with Walker Kessler. After missing all of training camp, Sexton has been up and down to begin the year, but the recent uptick in touches and playing as the lone lead guard on the court with Luka and Austin both missing games has not only given him more chances to lead the team’s offensive attack, but his placement into more units where he’s gotten to play with his former Jazz teammate, Kessler, has given him a familiar partner who he clearly has a feel for playing with.

In the last three games, the 42 minutes Sexton has played with Kessler is the most he’s been paired with any teammate. While their plus-minus together is only plus-six in those minutes, when you consider Sexton’s season-long plus-minus is a -22, this recent trend upwards is a huge shift from how his year began.

Much of this is fueled by them flashing an understanding of how to play off of each other, with Sexton seeking out and feeding Kessler for easy baskets on one end of the court and Kessler helping to insulate Sexton defensively by patrolling the paint and protecting the back line on the other.

That Sexton Kessler connection pic.twitter.com/gEOHdWiaqC

— Laker Performances (@LALPerformance) November 10, 2026

When you add in that on any given night the team is also getting strong performances from Ziaire Williams offensively, well-rounded floor games from Jake LaRavia, defensive playmaking and shot making from Matisse Thybulle, hard-nosed defense and rebounding from Jarred Vanderbilt and mostly mistake-free minutes boosted by elite athleticism from Adou Thiero, the Lakers are looking more and more like a full team that is complementing each other instead of a one- or two-man show of Luka and Reaves that just so happens to be supported by a mostly anonymous group of role players.

To what degree the Lakers’ record can keep up with their great start remains to be seen. I absolutely do not think nor believe they’ll maintain an .800+ winning percentage all season. But that’s sort of the point here.

The Lakers may not ultimately be as good as their record through 13 games, but they’ve also been winning without playing nearly their best basketball. They’ve only very recently started to resemble a group that understands how to play together and what to do in the various scenarios different opponents offer with their specific game plans tailored to their own personnel.

And that, in and of itself, is exciting.

You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegoldand find more of his Lakers coverage on the Laker Film Room Podcast.

The Houston Rockets have the third-best offense in the NBA.

Ostensibly speaking. We know that numbers can speak in half-truths. It’s undeniable that the Rockets have been the third-most efficient offense at this stage of the season. Whether they’re actually the third-best team in the NBA is something we won’t know until later in the year.

Pedanticism aside, this team looks good. It looks different.

Why?

The Rockets are playing a different game

Let’s start here: Alperen Sengun is having a career season.

Side note: I’ve grown tired of the discussion around “conserving energy” for one side of the floor or another. I know the modern game is different. It’s faster-paced. Injuries have become more common, etc.

You need to play both sides. That’s basketball. First it was Sengun, and now it’s Amen Thompson. It’s a flimsy excuse for poor play on either side. Unless you’re Nikola Jokic or maybe Luka Doncic, you don’t get to make up for one end on the other.

In 2026-27, Sengun is playing both sides of the ball. He’s defending well, but more relevantly here, he’s having a career-best playmaking season. Sengun is averaging 7.9 assists per game.

And I think that’s directly causally linked to the team’s improved approach.

Running actions through Sengun in the high post, out of dribble handoffs, and as a short roll passer just lends itself to motion offense. It’s partly a numbers game: When you’re getting assists from the five, you’re getting more assists. More broadly, it leads to extra passes, unpredictability, and overall good NBA offense.

It’s showing in the team-wide numbers. The Rockets are making 296.8 passes per game – 10th in the NBA. Last season, their 279.5 a night landed 23rd. That’s a stylistic overhaul.

They’re also reducing their isolation slightly, from 9.5% frequency last year to 8.1% this year. That’s likely part of why Kevin Durant, as the team’s best isolation scorer, has seen his load reduced.

It’s not that Alperen Sengun has become a better offensive player than Kevin Durant. More so, this is a more appropriate alignment in terms of playing to each other’s strengths. Sengun is a playmaker. Durant, at this stage in his career, should be a play finisher whose gravity is as important as his actual output.

A more cynical view may hold that the Rockets are just shooting better. So often, basketball reduces itself to a game of make or miss. So far, the Rockets have increased their three-point volume (34.3 from 31.5) and accuracy (37.4% from 36.4%). Plenty of Rockets – Alperen Sengun (47.6% on 2.1 attempts per game), Jabari Smith Jr. (42.1% on 6.3), and Marcus Smart (40.0%, 4.4) are having career seasons from beyond the arc.

For those of you getting deja vu, you’re not alone. The Rockets came out of the gates last year with hot shooting, and then cooled off. That could happen again, but as long as they maintain their revamped approach to offense, they maximize the odds that their offense stays strong.

Even if they slip a bit from third.

Jimmy Butler defiantly intends to play game in G League before Warriors return originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jimmy Butler intends to return to the basketball court soon. Just not an NBA one.

While Butler’s return date has not been confirmed yet, the star forward is steadfast in playing at least one game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate.

“It may not be for long, but I’m going to play in Santa Cruz,” Butler told The Athletic’s Nick Friedell. “I’m playing in a f–king game.”

Numerous NBA All-Stars have spent time practicing with G League teams while recovering from injuries, including Butler’s current teammate Steph Curry in 2020.

But no player of Butler’s caliber has played a game in the G League on a rehab assignment, despite his insistence that he will as he works his way back from an ACL tear sustained in January.

One person in the Warriors organization who supports Butler is coach Steve Kerr, comparing it to an MLB player getting a stint in the minor leagues.

“I think it makes such perfect sense,” Kerr told Friedell. “But most guys in the league in Jimmy’s position are, like, too vain to do it — and Jimmy’s the opposite. I think he would love giving the fans down there a great surprise. That’s amazing. I love that.”

Kerr said that he would attend the game in person if the Warriors’ schedule allowed him to do so.

Butler added that part of the reason for this move was an Instagram post referencing players who participated in both the NBA and G League.

“Honestly, I saw this thing on Instagram the other day about (how) there was like 275 guys in the NBA that had G League experience,” Butler told Friedell. “It’s finna be 276 because, baby.”

Despite the likelihood that Golden State’s general manager and Butler’s former Chicago Bulls teammate, Mike Dunleavy Jr., will object to Butler’s plan, the Warriors veteran appears unperturbed.

“I don’t got to clear s–t with nobody,” Butler told Friedell. “I’m going. Me and Mike will fistfight. He’s gonna be like, ‘Jimmy, no.’ I’m gonna be like, ‘Mike, yes. I’m going to G League, baby!’ Y’all know where to find me. Santa Cruz, baby.”

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Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg shifts to ‘alpha dog' role without Steph Curry originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN ANTONIO – Everything is about to change for Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. 

The No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft already has risen the ranks of not just a stacked rookie class but is mentioned among the league’s best players. Lendeborg’s play has changed the outlook on the Warriors’ present and future. He has climbed to the top of opposing scouting reports right behind superstar teammate Steph Curry. 

Now, he’ll sit at the very top after Curry sustained a right oblique abdominal tear in the first few minutes of the Warriors’ 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at the Toyota Center. 

With that comes a shift in mindset for Lendeborg as the Warriors’ main scoring option.

“In general, I do got to start thinking more like an alpha dog rather than beta, or whatever’s after beta,” Lendeborg said Friday during Warriors shootaround at Frost Bank Center before the Warriors’ game against the San Antonio Spurs. “I’m definitely gonna try to shift the mindset. 

“That’s why I do need to talk to Draymond [Green] a lot more, because he kind of helps shift as quickly as possible. So we’ll see if it shifts or not. You know, it’ll be great if it does.” 

Curry left Wednesday’s game after just five-plus minutes and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Losing the sun in Golden State’s solar system puts a dark cloud on their world. The Rockets took advantage and led by 15 points after the first quarter. Then, things began to change for them and Lendeborg together. 

The biggest star of the show was getting looked at in the visiting locker room. When Kevin Durant wasn’t on the floor and Lendeborg was, Green saw a rookie in his 12th career game that needs to realize he’s the best player on the court, especially offensively. 

Admittedly, Lendeborg didn’t see it that way. He’s still navigating all aspects of what it means to be an NBA player. Late in the first quarter, with Curry out of the game, teammates explained what they need out of him to lock in and begin a bid for a comeback win. 

Message received. Lendeborg’s first order of business was meditating on the bench and using positive self-talk to get in the right headspace. 

“I just close my eyes, meditate, and talk to myself,” Lendeborg explained. “Like, ‘Yeah, I gotta do this. I’m able to do this. I’m good enough.’ Stuff like that. Just positive self-talk. That usually kind of helps me out. 

“And if it doesn’t, then I’m kind of gonna be f–ked the rest of the game. I try my best to calm my nerves and all that stuff.” 

Lendebog took four shots in the first quarter and scored five points. Calming himself through meditation, Lendeborg found another level and gave the Rockets fits in the second quarter, scoring 13 of the Warriors’ 31 points while going 5-of-10 from the field to make it a five-point game at halftime. He took 14 shots in the first half and only four in the second half of an eventual seven-point loss where the Warriors trailed by as much as 18 points. 

Without Curry, Rockets defensive ace Amen Thompson pressured Lendeborg everywhere. Lendeborg tried to find ways to make the Rockets’ defense switch someone else on him, but once he beat his man, he felt like three more were flying in his way. 

A whole new challenge awaits Friday night against Victor Wembanyama and the 10-2 Spurs.

“This game is going to be a lot different because Wemby’s in there, so we’ll see what I can do,” Lendeborg said. “I’m not gonna try to get to the paint that much, so we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.” 

Asked what the Warriors have told him about Wembanyama, who is listed at 7-foot-4 but many believe is even taller, Lendeborg marveled at his stats and again said he’s “going to shoot as many threes as I can tonight.” 

Though it feels like Wembanyama’s wingspan can stretch all the way across the paint, the Warriors can’t get too 3-point happy. They took 88 shots against the Rockets and 58 percent of them were threes in a game they were outscored 50-34 in the paint. The Warriors went 17-of-51 for a lowly 33.3 percent. Lendeborg was 2-of-7, including an airball he’s still scoffing at. 

The Warriors already have asked so much of Lendeborg so early in his NBA career. Lendeborg ranks second on the Warriors in points per game (21.7), field goal attempts per game (14.2) and minutes per game (32.2) as he’s shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from deep on 5.7 3-point attempts per game. 

Lendeborg in three games without Curry now has scored 26 points in a loss against the Phoenix Suns, 37 points in a win over the LA Clippers and 25 points in the Warriors’ most recent loss to the Rockets.

Veteran Al Horford says it’s up to the rest of the Warriors to give Lendeborg the right support to ease the load that will be placed upon his shoulders in the coming weeks without Curry. 

“He doesn’t need any added pressure,” Horford said. “I just think we need to go out there and help him the best that we can, and we all just have to step up and do a little more.” 

As Lendeborg keeps collecting 20-point performances, passing still remains his favorite part of the game. But Lendeborg recognizes he needs to be even more aggressive now and have a score-first mentality to give the Warriors their best chance at winning to stay afloat until Curry comes back. 

How comfortable is he stepping into that role? 

“Probably like a six out of 10, honestly,” Lendeborg said. “It’ll be fun just trying to figure out what ways I can score best or what I got to do to be able to be an efficient scorer. And then the other four is like, man, am I gonna be able to live up to it? Am I gonna be able to help out the team the way I want to? Time will tell.”

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Donovan Mitchell did not mince words when responding to Charles Barkley’s criticism of the Cavaliers on “Inside the NBA.”

Before the Cavs defeated the defending champion Knicks 115-107 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Barkley was blunt in his analysis of Cleveland.

“Man, the Cavs suck,” he said, later explaining that he didn’t think the Cavs made enough changes to their roster and haven’t used Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley well enough.

“They were No. 1 a couple years ago, had the home court, got knocked out early,” Barkley explained. “Last year they were up 22 (in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Knicks) and then didn’t win another game. Now you cannot bring this same team back; that’s insanity, thinking they’re going to have a different outcome.”

Mitchell didn’t hold back when responding.

“Who gives a f—k?” Mitchell said, per Cleveland.com. “Chuck ain’t here. If Chuck said we were the defending champs and made positive comments, what’s that going to do for us? Chuck ain’t doing nothing for us in this locker room. I have nothing but respect for those guys. So, no disrespect to them or you or anyone else, but who gives a f—k? At the end of the day, it’s all about us in here.”

Mitchell showed his commitment to Cleveland’s success when he inked a four-year, $273 million max contract extension in July, keeping him with the Cavs through the 2030-31 season.

After a lackluster start to the season, the win over the Knicks brought the Cavs to 6-6.

Cleveland continues its road trip with a visit to Miami Friday night as part of the NBA Cup’s group stage before a four-game homestand begins next week against the Mavericks.

Every season comes with its own unique twists and turns. If it wasn’t that way, all of our offseason prediction pieces would be perfect and there would be no point in playing any games.

Fortunately, this year has been no different. Chief among all the unexpected outcomes are the Memphis Grizzlies, who, in what was supposed to be the first year of a rebuild, sit at 7-4 with the 10th-best net-rating in the entire association. 

With teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves enduring significant injuries, and others like the Denver Nuggets looking too old for their own good, it is plausible that the West is more wide-open than we initially believed. But is it possible for the Grizzlies to be this ahead of schedule? Or is this just a flash of what they will eventually become?

How the Grizzlies keep winning

It feels cliche to say this given how much this team has permeated the NBA zeitgeist since they won it all, but this Grizzlies group really does resemble the 2013-14 Beautiful Game San Antonio Spurs. 

The Spurs were an incredibly deep team that reached the Platonic ideals for decision-making speed, spacing, and ball movement. Head coach Tuomas Iisalo has the Grizzlies on this current trajectory. 

Iisalo basically load manages his team to ensure that they are as fresh as possible. This year, 13 Grizzlies have played at least 70 total minutes. The only other teams that can say that are the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Utah Jazz  – all of whom have had to deal with their fair share of injuries. So, their digging deep into their bench is more out of necessity than it is a tactical decision.

Under this new regime, the Grizzlies are deploying a multi-layered, ball-screen continuity attack predicated around the pick-and-roll and side-to-side ball movement. Iisalo quite literally refers to the concept as “flow,” which is poetic considering the way the offense softly cascades from action to action. The intricacies of their futuristic style are outside of the scope of the current discussion, but if you want to learn more, be sure to check out this deep dive from Coach Gibson Pyper:

As any coach will tell you, strategy will only take you so far. You need the players who can execute your vision or else it doesn’t matter how smart you are. This offense requires skilled operates (Ty Jerome and Cam Spencer), strong screeners (Zach Edey, Cam Boozer, and Isaiah Stewart), shooters/closeout attackers (Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells, Jerami Grant, and Quentin Post), and speedy court mappers (Boozer may be better than any rookie at this in all of NBA history).

The bottom line is that this team has a litany of legit players. This also shows on the defensive side of the ball, where the Grizzlies currently rank fifth (just like on offense). It starts in the middle. Prior to the start of the season, I called Stewart one of the best defensive bigs in the league, and the only thing stopping me from doing the same with Edey were his lingering injury concerns. Edey, in particular, is looking like a fringe Defensive Player of the Year candidate. When he’s out there, the Grizzlies are in the 99th percentile in defensive rating (per Cleaning the Glass). That’s in a league that features Victor Wembanyama. Between him and Stewart, that’s an excellent defensive foundation. 

Wells and Coward are a pair of rangy wings, with powers that perfectly compliment each other (Wells is better at defending the ball, Coward has more of a presence off-ball). Grant and GG Jackson have size and length. Boozer moves better than anyone with his muscle mass should reasonably be expected to. Kris Murray would get more buzz for his defensive prowess if his offense wasn’t so damaging. 

Iisalo’s theory about keeping bodies fresh has come to fruition. While many teams are operating at half-speed, conserving themselves for the 82-game grind, the Grizzlies are moving like it’s the first round of the postseason. An abundance of youthful vigor (the Grizzlies are the third-youngest team in the league) certainly helps, too. Look at the way Wells and Boozer are sliding their feet in this first clip, or the diligence from Spencer to x-out and kill the advantage created by Braden Smith:

Why the Grizzlies aren’t THAT good (yet) 

If you’re a fan of the team or in any way affiliated with the organization, you should feel very excited about what you are building. Boozer, Coward, Edey, Wells, Jackson, and Stewart are all 25 years old and younger. The future is bright in Memphis, but for right now, there are some indicators that tell us negative regression is coming.

The Grizzlies are second in 3-point percentage and eighth opponent 3-point percentage. Opponent 3-point percentage is almost exclusively contingent on variables outside of a defense’s control, and, on the flip side, I doubt this group will remain the second-best shooting team in the association for the entirety of the marathon. 

Dunks & Threes has a metric which ranks a team’s strength of schedule from the games they’ve already played (SOS). According to that, the Grizzlies have had the second-easiest schedule this year, with their best win coming against a Warriors team that had yet to hit its stride. 

In their recent loss against the Indiana Pacers, we got front row seats at their biggest shortfall: guard play/ball handling. Outside of Ty Jerome, Cam Spencer, and Scottie Pippen Jr. (who is hurt right now), the Grizzlies don’t have much in terms of pressure breakers, and none of those three gentlemen is a black belt in this art form. The Pacers’ token fullcourt pressure hounded the Grizzlies all night, to the tune of 20 turnovers and their lowest offensive rating output of the season.

This could be remedied if Iisalo started playing two of these three together more frequently, but in that case, it would weaken their formidability on the other side of the ball. Patching up one whole leads to another. A telltale sign of a flawed unit.

If I was a prospective general manager, who could pick a ten-year gig with any team in the league, it would take one hand to count off the places I’d pick over the Grizzlies. What they have here is real, and it seems more bulletproof than the last generation (no pun intended, I swear). But right now, in 2026-27, I find it difficult to see the Grizzlies as anything more than a fringe playoff team. 

The Sixers losing two out of three games wasn’t necessarily cause for much concern, but the way they lost those games raised some alarm bells. Particularly with Joel Embiid, who has yet to find his shot this season. His defense also began to deteriorate over the past couple of games as he dealt with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Through his first 10 games of the season, Embiid shot just 37% from the field and a career-low 55% from the rim. That included a game where he went 0-for-9 from the field in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, one of the worst performances of his career.

After being blown out by the Boston Celtics, Embiid admitted that he might be in his own head.

“[I’m] probably overthinking it too much,“ he said, ”and then I think the rhythm of the game is different. I’m so used to having to create for myself, so it’s a little bit different.“

The Toronto Raptors coming to town provided a good opportunity for a get-right game. Not only were they down multiple key starters and on the second night of a back-to-back, but their starting center, Jakob Poeltl, has struggled mightily all season.

Embiid didn’t completely snap out of his funk. His 20 points came on 7-of-17 shooting. Toronto was able to get into the lane with relative ease all night, but anyone watching the game could tell that Embiid was moving around the floor much better than he had in recent outings as the Sixers got back in the win column. That fact was capped off by Embiid dunking not once but twice.

“I think it’s a really, really big positive,” said head coach Nick Nurse. “I think that he’s just moving better, and I’m not sure that was the case for a couple games here recently.”

Embiid was able to do all of this after scaring every Sixers fan at the beginning of the game. Early in the first quarter he bumped knees with Ja’Kobe Walter as he was setting a screen and went down in a heap of pain. He went back to the locker room but was able to return three minutes later of game time.

Nurse said that Embiid was “very, very motivated” to play once he had returned to the locker room — so much so that Nurse had trouble subbing him out for his scheduled rests. Nurse did say that’s a good problem, sometimes.

Embiid didn’t talk after the game, but he told reporters at shootaround before the game that he needed to be more aggressive. While he still didn’t hit as many midrange jumpers as he’s used to, that aggression was visible in his shot selection — 10 of his 17 attempts came from the paint and it looked like he really started to hunt dunks. He nearly had another self-lob off the backboard, but Collin Murray-Boyles got in the way, forcing Embiid to kick the ball out to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a three.

“It’s nice to see the kind of movement spark come back,” Nurse said. “You’ve heard me say this a lot too. When he’s driving the ball, he’s feeling pretty good.”

https://t.co/XvDsWg70xUpic.twitter.com/CpWofANa31

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 13, 2026

There’s still a ways to go for Embiid getting back on track. That lethal jumper he’s so famous for still has to come around. At the same time, the aggression he showed in attacking the basket was a welcome sight for every Sixer.

“I always tell him, ‘Bro, like you’re the MVP of this league,‘” VJ Edgecombe said, “you’re that good, you’re that good.‘ I always tell him, ‘No one can stop you. There’s not one person in the NBA than can guard you.‘”

If this is the start of Embiid putting it together, the Sixers’ offense can finally start to look as dangerous as it was advertised over the summer. The fact that they’ve started the season 10-3 in the mean time is one hell of a cushion.

The winds of change. The transformation of the Dallas Mavericks from last year to this is astounding. Everyone watching can feel it – something major has changed. It’s not just the leadership, a lot of staff and some of the roster. There’s more to it. 

It is, however, all those new people, and what they brought along with them, that started the winds of change. 

The palpable energy shift. The intangible vibe change and the excitement around the team, on the team, for the team. Even through the screen. In the AAC, I bet it’s even more evident. 

Everything has changed in Dallas. How the basketball looks on the court, how the players move (most of the time when they don’t revert back to bad habits), how they communicate, how the bench acts, even how the admin works and how the fans respond to it. But most importantly, how the coaches act, react and interact. 

Dusty May has, along with his staff and new GM’s Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz, brought a culture change to Dallas that everyone is talking about. 

From what I see, it’s a culture change founded on one of the most important aspects of leadership and sports: trust. 

The power of trust and all it entails and doesn’t entail. Building trust on a sports team means a higher rate of passing, which creates a more dynamic offense and easier scoring, which we see in the increased number of assists this season, among other things. It means trusting that the ball will come back to you if you move well off-ball, and it means trusting your teammates to score, as well. That is healthy for a team as a whole, and wouldn’t ya know – it helps create a winning mindset and a winning team.  

Trust also means that you don’t fear making mistakes as much, because you trust your coach and teammates won’t punish you for it, and they trust you will make up for it (perhaps on defense). Being fearful of making mistakes is the number one killer of creativity and joy. And what happens when you don’t have that? Last season happens. 

And trust means that you know that your coach will make the right decisions for the team and yourself, you trust that they’re not out to get you and you trust that you are liked on our team. On Dusty May’s team, the players know he has their best interests at heart. 

Dusty May is a relationship-led or based coach. He coaches his players so well, because he knows them and they trust him. I wrote more about my early impression of his coaching recently in this piece. 

Dusty May has talked about trust a lot. Recently, he showed us how to talk a team up, and how he puts an emphasis on trust:

“What a problem, where you’re in a pickle, where two guys like that (Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving) just got it going and you just gotta rotate between putting the ball in each other’s hands and knowing that they’re going to make the plays. So obviously, what a luxury for us.”

“And once again, they both trust their teammates. When Houston put two on the ball and they were determined to take it out of their hands. They continue to trust and trust and trust, and then those reps and that experience, those guys handled it better… and that’s a sign of the trust factor that Coop and Kyrie have with their teammates.”

The trust factor 🙌#MFFLpic.twitter.com/OWN4JedVS4

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) October 31, 2026

It’s not a stretch to say that the Mavs have had more exciting and promising wins already than the entirety of last season, while the vibes have been all the way up to 2024 Finals run levels at times. 

Oh, the 2024 playoffs energy, do you remember? The power of trust and the power of a winning culture is back in Dallas. Back then, a lot of it was based on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading and establishing a culture, where everyone trusted them and each other. Now, Kyrie Irving being back has helped tremendously – and Dusty May, his coaching staff and the new leadership has done the rest, while the players came in with all the right intentions and energy. 

To put in perspective how well the Dallas Mavericks actually are looking when it comes to creating this culture needed for winning, let’s take a look at what is happening on another NBA team right now. NBA teams are all full of good players. The best in the world. So why do some collapse on themselves or crash and burn, despite often having stars, superstars and so-called good coaching?

In Cleveland, we have an example of what happens when trust is lacking. Here, things are looking quite differently compared to Dallas. And it’s not just about who has the best players. The opposite, actually. 

In this first example from a couple weeks ago, Mario Hezonja, an actual superstar from the EuroLeague, who’s also a leader and very high-IQ player, was open for a corner three, which would have been the best look in this possession. A great look actually, considering the fact that he’s an elite threepoint shooter. 

Donovan Mitchell, however, the guy who’s supposed to be the leader of this team, looks like he decides that it’s his shot now, and cuts it off to take – or steal – the shot. Which he misses. 

Do you see any trust here? I don’t think so. But this is worse than that. It’s obstruction. It’s about your own ego over the team. 

Donovan Mitchell steals the pass to Mario Hezonja and bricks it 😭 pic.twitter.com/zazHuPjjLf

— ¹⁰ (@HoodiGarland) October 30, 2026

This is not just a show of bad vision and basketball IQ, it’s also poor leadership and probably a way to try and dominate Hezonja in the hierarchy. 

Because what happened just a few days earlier exposed Mitchell in a way he is clearly not used to. To explain the background a little, Hezonja is accustomed to being the leader and superstar, it is something he has earned through the years. On top of that, he understands basketball at a high level, which becomes clear after this game. So back to the play: he waves Mitchell away to punish a mismatch a few days before. Whether this “steal” was retaliation for that, we will never know. But it was not a good look for anyone. 

Hezonja showed his intelligence and basketball knowledge with this and explained matter-of-factly afterward that Mitchell should not bring the ball up, a humble stance to take from a European superstar – who is also more direct (as we are wont to be). 

“I told him you’re not supposed to bring the ball up under pressure. I waived JT out to go 1-on-1 against my mismatch. I spoke to James and Donovan, there’s five of us on the court and you need to read those mismatch situations.”

Mario Hezonja on waiving off Donovan Mitchell:

“I told him you’re not supposed to bring the ball up under pressure. I waived JT out to go 1-on-1 against my mismatch. I spoke to James and Donovan, there’s 5 of us on the court and you need to read those mismatch situations.” https://t.co/vqB2seJ5b1pic.twitter.com/HIM2DNe5rg

— ¹⁰ (@HoodiGarland) October 24, 2026

This completely exposed the lack of awareness on this team, however. And it may explain some animosity. But by media and especially fans in the comments, though, it was widely heralded as something that needed to be done to address the issues on that team. A winning mindset on a team with no trust can be disruptive. But sometimes that’s what’s needed. 

Back to Dallas, where we see a stark contrast in play style. Good energy and vibes bring trust (and the other way around), and that translates to better looks and eventually – winning basketball. 

“There’s a lot of trust there knowing, if I give it up to you, you’re going to give it back,” Devin Harris of the Mavs broadcast crew said in this clip, hitting the nail on the head. 

COOP ➡️ KAI ➡️ COOP 💥 pic.twitter.com/Y9w9XDHe3e

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) October 31, 2026

And it was this possession in particular that had me excited about what the Mavs can do this season. Ya, there are superstars and they can all iso and score at turn. But can they play together? Can they trust each other to make the right read? 

When a team trusts each other, special things start happening. That’s where the magic shows up. We know what it looks like, and we know what it feels like, because we saw it in the 2024 Finals run. The Dallas Mavericks had something special brewing then, something that made them better as a whole than their individual parts. 

That feeling seems to slowly return to Dallas these days. Sometimes we need a reminder of what not to do, before we realize what to do instead. And maybe that’s what happened in Dallas last season. The struggles of Mario Hezonja and the Cleveland Cavaliers as a contrast is a great reminder of how well things are going. 

The winds of change. Trust in Dallas is back.  

Find more Beyond Basketball pieces here.

Here we are again. We here at SLC Dunk can whisper to you sweet dreams that each game is an encouraging sign that the team is trending in the right direction, but the harsh reality is the Jazz are 1-11. Games are more about keeping your dignity and pride as an organisation, steering clear of the team’s worst start in franchise history (1-17), when you’re trying to win games. The musty odor the Jazz emit with each fourth-quarter meltdown escalates.

Hopes of a late-blooming win streak were swatted yet again on Wednesday, when the middling Orlando Magic forced a 21-5 run at the Delta Center without a single Jazz timeout. Will Hardy had the young fella’s play through their mistakes, which blew up right in their faces. This was a common culprit in how the Jazz lost games during their tanking years, but it simply cannot carry over in a supposed ‘winning’ season.

The lucky opponent that gets to face the Jazz is the 9-3 Houston Rockets; both teams will play their second game of the inaugural NBA Cup, where Utah has already fallen 0-1 in their first match against the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets, on the other hand, are also 0-1. To claim one of the NBA Cup’s ‘wildcard’ spots, both teams will essentially need to be undefeated the rest of their games while also tallying up a high point differential to beat out the others.

Houston has followed the NBA’s trend of moving past dying minimalism, rebranding with a new uniform set featuring ketchup and mustard to honor the Hakeem Olajuwon era. Their on-court play has transformed them into a formidable Western Conference contender by focusing on a two-way balance. They post a top-five offensive rating (119.3) and allow 106.5 points a game (4th in the NBA). The Jazz will need to play better than perfect to avoid being locked in the doghouse. It can’t be too hard, right? After all, they won’t have to be hand-checked by former DPOY Marcus Smart; he’s suspended for throwing a mean right hook at the face of Charles Bassey.

The NBA is suspending Marcus Smart for three games for throwing a punch at Charles Bassey on Wednesday night, per @ShamsCharaniapic.twitter.com/AemYVrsIWF

— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) November 12, 2026

Injury Report

Jazz Injury Report (as of 11/12)

OUT – Trey Alexander (G League – Two-Way)

OUT – Kobe Bufkin (G League – Two-Way)

OUT – Harrison Ingram (G League – Two-Way)

OUT – Jaren Jackson Jr. (Right Knee; MCL Tear)

OUT – Lauri Markkanen (Right Hand; Fracture)

OUT – Jusuf Nurkic (Right…

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 12, 2026

It’s up to Utah to defend inside the arc

Wednesday night saw Franz Wagner be the man of the hour by scoring 12 of his career-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, blowing a kiss to the Utah crowd in his finishing act. The Jazz were vulnerable defending the pick-and-roll, leaving driving lanes open that allowed Wagner to viciously attack the paint.

The Rockets’ brand of basketball generares a massive share on physical size and high-volume two-point scoring. Houston averages 12.9 offensive rebounds per game, led by 6’7” Amen Thompson grabbing 3.1 offensive boards a game.

All-Star Alperen Şengün dictates the team’s gravity out of the post and elbows, pacing the squad with 21.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists. He experienced some inefficiency early on in the season, but his footwork and passing vision are something to be cautious about; Utah can’t be caught slipping on backdoor cuts.

The clearest path to exploiting Houston is to attack their secondary. Early-season injuries have left Steven Adams and Clint Capela sidelined, forcing them to play deep on their bench, where we’ll likely see our old pal Oscar Tshiebwe weather the storm. Utah’s second unit is as unpredictable as ever. They can blow a double-digit lead in minutes, or they can also hold down the fort and score 41 bench points against the Orlando Magic. The key is to wear down the non-Şengun minutes by punishing smaller lineups, putting Utah in a strong position to stealan NBA Cup Group Stage matchup.

Win or lose, we’re watching Darryn Peterson

Truly, the last week has seen some ridiculous stuff from 19-year-old Darryn Peterson.

Darryn Peterson is the first teenager in Jazz history to record 4 straight 20-point games. pic.twitter.com/dWZGggHoff

— Real App (@realapp) November 12, 2026

The Jazz rookie broke out in his latest scoring surge, averaging 23.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 47/38/92 shooting splits over his last three games. I mean, a near 50-40-90 from a 19-year-old rookie is pretty good, right?

Peterson also set a new NBA career high with 26 points against the Timberwolves on November 9, scoring in all four quarters without attempting a single free throw. Alongside his efficient shooting (39.4% from three over the four games), he chipped in on defense with five steals and four blocks total, highlighted by a three-block effort in Dallas.

Utah leaned more on Peterson as its No. 1 option this week after Keyonte’s injury, unlocking higher scoring volume while maintaining his playmaking ability. His season scoring average jumped to 16.3 points per game, moving him to No. 4 on the latest NBA.com Kia Rookie Ladder, up from 6th.

Win or lose, Darryn Peterson playing a good brand of basketball is what brings in tickets. If all else fails, the one thing the Utah Jazz do have is their faith in their #2 pick. As long as he’s on the court, there’s at least one Jazz fan smiling at their TV, because the future has never been this bright for a kid from Canton.

The next man up

All we’ve heard about Peterson. Before that, Keyonte George had to carry scoring duties on his back in the midst of Utah’s injuries to their frontcourt. It was only recently that Ace Bailey finally began to regain his stride. But the issue is that Utah needs one more guy to step up — someone who makes just enough of a contribution so it doesn’t feel like Utah has to fight tooth and nail with .500 teams every single night.

Is it Isaiah Collier? Was it really all it took- a banged-up shoulder for him to have his Thunderstruck moment? I should remind you he hadn’t hit a single triple all season before his perfect 4-for-4 night over Miami. That was then followed by another made three-ball against the Magic. In all honesty, all that’s needed is for Collier to shoot an amount that at least has his opponent respect his three-point range. The dream is for him to learn how to play more off-ball, while simultaneously addressing his weaknesses in navigating ball screens and managing overall defensive rating metrics

Brice Sensabaugh’s role has continually fluctuated through this twelve-game opening stretch. His 23 minutes against the Magic were the most he’s played all season. Sure, Brice can shoot the rock. But the harsh truth is he’s been unproductive in every other facet of the game. He can’t swing the ball; his defense negatively impacts the team, and has shown some really discouraging off-ball lapses. If his shot isn’t falling, then that really hurts the Jazz. Having Brice be the ‘next man up’ means he should be hunting quick-trigger catch-and-shoot threes that could hopefully have a butterfly effect in swinging the game’s momentum.

Svi Mykhailiuk has been through an otherworldly shooting funk. I consider myself a Svi truther more than others, but he’s had a longer leash compared to other years, despite his 28/21/50 scoring splits—no, that’s not a typo. Averaging an honest 16.1 minutes per game, really, shooting above 50% from the field should be the realistic goal.

When is Will Hardy finally going to acknowledge his two-way guys? The expectation was that Kobe Bufkin and Harrison Ingram were going to get their shine after Lauri Markkanen was sidelined, but that moment has yet to come. Instead, Will Hardy opts to reduce his already short-handed rotation, staggering Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey with the second unit. But when you’re 1-11, you really just have to try anything in your arsenal. You don’t have time to see if the guys on a cold streak can ‘work through their struggles’. Now, it’s about who can contribute right this second.

Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets—How to Watch:

Who: Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets

Where: Toyota Center, Houston, TX

When: 6:30 pm Mountain Daylight Time

How to Watch: KJZZ, Jazz+ (in market) or NBA League Pass (out of market)

The Milwaukee Bucks play the Orlando Magic tonight in a game they at least have a puncher’s chance in, and that is a wonderful thing. As we all know, the Bucks have lost eight in a row and, if you remove the garbage-time comeback against the Lakers, have been blown out in four straight games. As a result, they rank in the bottom three in both offensive and defensive efficiency for the season, making tonight’s game against the Magic even more crucial.

The Task Ahead

After a horrid start to the season in which they went 2-7, the Magic are playing better of late, winning their last two. Granted, those wins came against the Kings and Jazz, but with the way Orlando was playing, they’d have taken a win wherever they could get one. It should be noted that a major reason for the Magic not being at their best is that, yet again, they are struggling with injuires. Namely, Paolo Banchero has been out for virtually the whole year with a severe ankle sprain, while Jalen Suggs is only just working his way back from a scary knee injury. Franz Wagner, on the other hand, has been playing, and he’s been producing; Wagner has dropped a combined 71 points in their last two games, so the Bucks better be ready for him.

Injury Report

Bucks:

• Clean injury report.

Magic:

• Paolo Banchero: Out (ankle)
• Jonathan Isaac: Out (knee)
• Noah Penda: Out (hamstring)
• Izaiyah Nelson: Out (ankle)
• Jalen Suggs: Questionable (knee)
• Tristan da Silva: Questionable (calf)
• Jamal Cain: Questionable (shoulder)

Player to Watch

Wendell Carter Jr. has been a rebounding menace this year, pulling down 2.7 O-boards per contest. The Bucks, who rank dead last in rebound percentage over the last three games, need to be hyper-vigilant about Carter in that regard. Of course, noted elite rebounder Myles Turner is back, so he should help!

Projected Starters

Bucks	Position	Magic
Brayden Burries	PG	Anthony Black
Ryan Rollins	SG	Desmond Bane
Nate Ament	SF	Franz Wagner
Kyle Kuzma	PF	Alex Morales
Myles Turner	C	Wendell Carter Jr.

Game Details

Who: Milwaukee Bucks (1-11) vs. Orlando Magic (4-7).

When: 6:00 p.m. CST.

Where: Kia Center—Orlando, FL.

Watch: MY24.

Listen: Check local listings.

Prescient Prediction

The Bucks get off their shooting snide and hit at above 40% from three. Just a vibe about it.