Category: Basketball

What good is an advantage if you don’t use it?

Being fluid in Sanskrit is only so employable. Spending nine grand on an Alienware Area-51 Ultra 9 RTX gaming computer to play solitaire would be foolish. Having a playmaking center in the NBA is redundant if you’re not going to run a motion offense.

Come again?

That’s a slightly reductive way to frame the Udoka-era Houston Rockets. Alperen Sengun has had an impressive NBA career thus far, but he hasn’t accomplished enough to justify designing the entire offense in his image.

Yet, that’s not what’s being advocated for here, either.

Rockets need to find themselves

Much of this also boils down to who Amen Thompson is going to be.

If he’s the point guard, some of this is moot. If he’s a wing (which he should be), the Rockets are getting plus positional passing at the five as well as the two or three (or four at times). If Reed Sheppard is the long-term point guard, the Rockets are cooking with motion-offense gas. No matter who eventually replaces Kevin Durant, the Rockets have the passers to do something interesting on offense.

This year’s offense has been interesting, but in an entirely different way. It’s been interesting in the sense that it’s strikingly rudimentary and buoyed far too much by offensive rebounding. Chucking up any old shot because you’ve got a relatively high probability of getting another one does not make for sustainable offense.

Luckily, the Rockets seem to be figuring that out.

The Rockets are moving the ball

For the 2025-26 NBA season, the Rockets have a 59.4 Assist Percentage (AST%). That ranks 26th in the NBA.

Over their last ten games, they have a 67.9 AST%. That ranks 8th in the league. The results have been tangible. During that stretch, the Rockets’ 119.2 Offensive Rating is a meaningful upgrade over their season-long 116.8 mark.

Beyond the numbers, you can see the difference, right? (PS: I’m watching games again. I needed a sabbatical). The ball is just moving. The Rockets have been significantly more fun to watch.

It makes one wonder what the Rockets have been doing. Why would they struggle to hunt mismatches and score in isolation when, outside of the 37-year-old, they’re not a strong isolation team? Yes, Sengun is a great isolation scorer on the standards of a five, but the Rockets need to have a strong offense on the standards of an NBA team. Why hasn’t Udoka leaned into their strengths?

Unless…

The Rockets are finding their stride

Could this be a case of Organic Learning?

(Shout out, Drew. If you know, you know).

Could this have been Udoka’s master plan? Instill toughness and defensive effort in the team. Let them figure out the offense on their own. It’s a high feel roster, and they’ll come up with something eventually.

Alternatively, it could be an unintentional benefit. Udoka’s laissez-faire approach to offensive coaching may have been a gamble on Sengun and Thompson’s development in isolation. By letting the boys figure it out, they independently decided to play the way they play best.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The Rockets will be lucky to win a playoff series this year. They’d shock the world by winning two. Beneficial long-term developments are what matter for now, and the Rockets’ sudden improvement in offensive approach has to carry over into 2026-27, barring a blockbuster trade.

Otherwise, they aren’t making the most of their advantages.

I’m not going to lie, I came into this game a bit disgruntled. First, I found out that Victor wouldn’t be playing in the team’s first contest against a competent opponent in some time. Second, the OKC-Lakers game had started, and it was already abundantly clear that the Spurs weren’t going to be gaining any ground in the standings via this game. Put simply, I found myself reflecting on the real possibility that San Antonio could lose against the Clippers, which – together with OKC’s win over the Lakers – would have just about slammed the door on any chance of the Spurs securing the #1 seed.

Thankfully, this iteration of the Silver and Black is exceptionally deep came to play last night despite their best player being out. As a result, San Antonio mostly cruised to yet another blowout victory. On top of that, they managed to produce a box score with a number of interesting gems:

• The Spurs failed to win several potentially critical battles in this game, as evidenced by their +6 turnover differential, +3 foul differential, and +0 offensive board margin. Since the start of 2012-2013, this is just the 46th time in 16,817 regular season games that a team has won by 19+ points while recording margins as bad or worse in all of these three areas.
• Largely due to the extra fouls and turnovers, San Antonio also faced deficits in FGA (-5) and FTA (-4). While these are not severe disadvantages, they certainly don’t tend to produce easy wins either.
• However, all of these deficiencies were swept away by the Spurs’ dominance in shooting efficiency, including FG%, 3P%, and FT% differentials of +10.4, +20.19, and +7.94 percentage points, respectively. 208 other regular season winners have met or surpassed all three of these differentials since the start of 2012-2013, and the average margin of victory in those games was nearly 29 points.
• The three-point battle in this game deserves some more attention. First, the total volume of threes attempted (58 across both teams) was quite low by modern standards. In fact, only 69 other regular season games have had a 3PA total at least that low in 2025-2026 (that’s about 6% of games played in the season to date). As you might expect, you don’t have to go too far back for this story to change dramatically. As recently as the 2017-2018 season, an absolute majority of regular season games had a 3PA total of no more than 58, and just a few years prior to that 58+ 3PA totals in individual games were relatively rare.
• The second interesting thing about the three-point battle is how comically bad Los Angeles was. In going 5-of-27 from distance, the Clippers allowed the Spurs to earn a +7 3PM margin on just 31 three-point attempts. Winning teams have achieved this combination in 695 other regular season games since the start of 2012-2013, but the vast majority of those cases came in the earlier part of the period. So far this season, it has only happened four other times.

What are Team Graded Box Scores?

Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).

Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.

Kon Knueppel has had a remarkable rookie season, but he was initially viewed as something of a consolation prize. His Duke teammate (and roommate) Cooper Flagg was the great prize of last year’s draft. Called a generational talent, he was taken by Dallas with the first pick, and Knueppel fell to the #4 pick, where he was taken by the Charlotte Hornets.

Now, both former Blue Devils, locked in a taut battle for Rookie of the Year, look like generational talents.

Knueppel has emerged as one of the great pure shooters in the league. After smashing the rookie three-point record recently, on Thursday night, he broke the Charlotte season record for three-pointers as well.

Kemba Walker hit 260 three-pointers in the 2018-19 season. He was 28 when he broke the record.

Knueppel is 20. He won’t even be of legal drinking age until August.

• Kon Knueppel sets Hornets’ season 3-point record in a 127-107 win over the Suns
• Kon Knueppel Strengthens ROY Case With Record-Breaking Night
• Dirk Nowitzki breaks down NBA’s ‘neck and neck’ ROY race
• Kon Knueppel Breaks Former Star’s 3-Point Record: Hornets Coach Charles Lee Says Players Chided Him For Kemba Walker Comment
• Hornets’ Kon Knueppel joins sharpshooting company matched only by MVP Stephen Curry
• Kon Knueppel breaks Hornets record, boosts NBA Rookie of the Year case
• Kon Knueppel breaks record previously set by ex-Celtics star
• Hornets’ Kon Knueppel breaks tie with Kemba Walker for new 3s record

Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions | Drop us a line

With just six games left in the season for the Sixers, the middle of the Eastern Conference is as tightly packed as ever. There are still only four games between the rolling five-seed Hawks (44-33) and 10-seed Heat (40-37) and the Sixers’ position in sixth is up for plenty of change over the next 10 days.

Now, after Wednesday’s comfortable 153-131 win against the tanking Wizards, things won’t be quite so easy for the Sixers in their next matchup against Minnesota.

An immediate advantage the Sixers have heading into Friday’s game is that the Timberwolves are on the second night of a back-to-back, after they lost in Detroit on Thursday, 113-108. Having extra rest at this late stage of the year should bode well for the healthier Sixers.

The big factor to monitor for this game is the status of Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves’ star has been working his way back from a knee injury and was out on Thursday due to his knee and an illness. Jaden McDaniels is also a big missing piece for Minnesota, who remains out with left knee patella tendinopathy and a bone bruise. We’ll need to wait until nearer game time for the Timberwolves’ new report, and see whether Edwards remains out or needed the night off against Detroit so he could play this back-to-back’s second leg.

The Timberwolves are one of the tougher opponents the Sixers have remaining as they close out the season. And that’s the case even with them somewhat slowing down recently. Minnesota has only gone 6-7 over their last 13 games, including a three-game losing streak. However, despite their offensive rating ranking a measly 26th in this stretch, they at least managed to go 4-2 in the six games in this spell that Edwards was sidelined for and their defense has held strong, ranking seventh in this time and fifth for the season overall.

To potentially make matters tougher for Philly, Embiid still isn’t guaranteed to return either. He’s currently listed as doubtful due to illness, and joins Johni Broome as the only other player on the injury report.

If he returns, Edwards vs. Tyrese Maxey is the show in this one. Edwards is having a monster season, displaying his best scoring yet with career-highs in points (29.3 per game) and overall efficiency (62.1 true shooting percentage). If he doesn’t play, the Sixers will obviously need to shift their focus to the other guards who will pick up most of the ball-handling load. Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley and Ayo Dosonmu all see more usage in Edwards’ absence, and the Sixers will be able to load up the paint more against Julius Randle’s drives.

Outside of Edwards, Dosonmu will be the main guard to watch right now. He was a great addition for Minnesota before the trade deadline and he’s averaged 17.1 points on 56.7/50.0/84.6 shooting splits over his last eight games. He’ll be a key assignment for Philly’s guards to keep in check with his blend of shifty driving and finishing, and three-point stroke.

It’ll be fun to see how VJ Edgecombe (make that Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, VJ Edgecombe) fairs if he gets to match up against Ant, too. The rookie is at a size disadvantage and Edwards is a difficult physical matchup with the power and speed he has, but Edgecombe will be relentless with his own energy and quickness to shift around on the ball and fight past screens.

This isn’t an easy matchup for the Sixers’ frontcourt either. Embiid has always historically got the best of Rudy Gobert, so if Jo’s available and can win that matchup again today that’ll be important. Even if Gobert’s rim protection inevitably makes life a bit more difficult for ball-handlers getting to the rim. However, the Timberwolves have plenty more size at their disposal with Randle and Naz Reid, who’s been one of the NBA’s best backup bigs for years.

Paul George is fresh off his red-hot 39-point outing, and he (plus Dominick Barlow) will need to be ready to bring strong defense against Randle’s drive game and physical interior play. Randle is going to be one of the main players upping their usage if Edwards is out, too. Getting more solid performances from Andre Drummond and Adem Bona would be a big help to secure the boards against Minnesota’s size (they rank 10th in rebound percentage), keep Gobert in check as a lob threat, and handle Reid’s blend of strength, skill and mobility.

If the Sixers are at full force, this is a challenging yet winnable game. Even if Embiid is out, Philly could have the firepower to pull ahead of a Timberwolves’ offense that’s been struggling lately. Maxey and Edgecombe are entering the game in fine form and George is coming off his highest scoring game as a Sixer yet (albeit against a tanking Wizards squad).

There’s a lot riding on the availability of Embiid and Edwards in determining the outcome of this one, though. It’s time to keep an eye on injury reports…

Game Details

When: Friday, April 3, 7:00 PM ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

The struggle bus will be parked outside American Airlines Center on Friday as the Dallas Mavericks (24-52) host the Orlando Magic (40-36) and both teams limp toward the end of the 2025-26 NBA season. We get through this one, and there are only five more of these things to go. You can do this, Mavs fans.

Hopefully you’ve found something better to do with your Friday night than watch this team play something like basketball, but if you’re still interested, we’ll be there for you with all manner of half-assed game insights and postgame commentary, because we’re completionists if nothing else.

Here are three nuggets to chew on as we prepare for the fresh hell that surely awaits on Friday.

Last time out

Friday’s game is the second and final meeting between the Mavs and the Magic this year. Dallas dropped a baffling 115-114 loss to Orlando on March 5 on a last-second dunk by Wendell Carter Jr. Jalen Suggs hit four 3-pointers for the Magic in that game, including one on the possession before Carter’s decisive jam, in response to Cooper Flagg’s three-point play on the other end that gave the Mavs a 114-110 lead with 38 seconds left.

That game was Flagg’s first after missing nine games with a sprained foot. Flagg scored 18 points and dished six assists on a bad 7-for-22 shooting night, which has become the norm for the rookie lately. Flagg has hit a challenging stretch where he’s had good production, but with a tendency toward inefficiency, caused to some extent by a combination of his rookie-year whistle and the dearth of talent around him on the offensive end.

No one on the Magic roster did much of anything to will the team to the win over the Mavericks. Dallas just crumbled in the third and fourth quarters, as they have many times this year. Tiago da Silva was Orlando’s leading scorer in that game, with all of 19 points.

Freefallin’

The Mavericks’ situation is well documented. Ethical tankers. In the hunt for a pick near the top of the 2026 NBA Draft. Not all that worried about winning, to put it mildly.

The last time these two teams met, on March 5, the Magic were in the middle of a 13-4 stretch, which would run their win-loss record all the way up to 38-28 by March 14. Since then, Orlando has lost eight of 10 games. It’s no coincidence that the Magic started losing soon after guard Anthony Black went down with an abdominal strain. He’s missed the team’s last 14 games, and the duo of Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane has had a tough time keeping the thing together without him. Orlando sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference as of the start of Friday’s game, still clinging to their play-in positioning. Black has been ruled out of Friday’s game as of Thursday afternoon.

So, don’t count your losses before they hatch, Mavericks fans. Sprinkled in with some losses to good teams throughout the Magic’s last 10 games was a loss to the putrid Indiana Pacers on March 23.

Winnable games remaining

With six games left in the 2025-26 season, Friday’s matchup with the Magic appears to be one of just two winnable games left on the Mavericks’ slate. If your eyes are already on the hefty haul of guards in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, you’d love for the Mavericks to find a way to gracefully bow out at some point against Orlando.

The Magic have the firepower to do away with the Mavs, sure. But you never know what version of Orlando you’re going to see on any given night. The Magic, much like the Mavs, have a proven ability to lose any kind of game: high-scoring up-and-down affairs as well as the dreaded and plodding race to 100 points.

They should lose the next four, at the Los Angeles teams, at Phoenix and at San Antonio, before having a puncher’s chance again in the season finale against the Chicago Bulls.

The die is cast. The stage is set. The drama will be wanting, but the right results coming home could bear sweet fruit in the future.

Braylon Mullins hadn't hit a 3-pointer in the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of Connecticut’s Elite Eight game against Duke before Alex Karaban passed the ball to him for the eventual 40-foot game-winning shot with under a second left.

It’s a shot that represented more than a punched ticket to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

"It's like a dream come true, dream scenario, made-for-TV movie or — I guess it goes right to streaming now," UConn coach Dan Hurley said.

Indiana’s Mr. Basketball from last season sent his team back to his home state to compete for a third national championship ring in the past four years.

REQUIRED READING: Braylon Mullins watched his shot 'countless' times, but Final Four is UConn freshman's focus

"You play for those moments," Mullins said after the game. "You dream about that. … That's a one-of-a-kind experience."

It was also a moment that depicted one of the roles the Greenfield, Indiana native has grown into for Hurley’s program this year: reliable and exuberantly confident shooter in key moments.

"This is kind of what I’ve dreamed of, and this is the position that I wanted to put myself in coming out of high school," Mullins told USA TODAY Sports in Philadelphia ahead of the Men’s NCAA Tournament. 

On a team of veterans like Karaban, Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr., Mullins plays with an edge when he’s making shots, something that was missing from UConn’s roster last year. It’s what has led to gaining the trust and respect from his teammates to not back down from challenging shot attempts. 

"It’s just kind of what the game gives you," Mullins said. "I know that I’m going to be put in spots that coach Hurley wants me to be put in and I’m going to shoot what is given to me. I know all my teammates want me to shoot those shots."

Braylon Mullins drains a long ball and Coach Hurley is HYPED for him 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6pAD8jLR5j

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 23, 2026

He backs up this edge and swagger with his stats: 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. He became the first Big East freshman since Marquette’s Markus Howard to knock down 50 made 3-pointers in the regular season.

"Once he’s hitting (shots), it just opens up everything else for us," Karaban told USA TODAY Sports. "He’s been doing it since the summer, so (I’m) never really going to tell him to turn down a shot."

The Huskies freshman is an impactful piece of the puzzle for much more than his shooting.

REQUIRED READING: UConn vs Illinois prediction, analysis, Final Four expert picks for men's March Madness

He’s able to impact the game defensively with steals and blocks, and then offensively with mid-range shots and playmaking. Pair that with his 3-point shooting, and its recipe for winning basketball. A recent example is UConn’s first round win vs. Furman when he overcame a bad shooting night with six assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Mullins' ability to impact the game in multiple ways has gained Hurley’s respect. 

"You don't get far in this tournament unless your freshmen can do that," Hurley said of Mullins' growth in the tournament ahead of the Elite Eight. "He's a three-way player. He's out on the glass. He's a critical threat on offense, but he's also like an underrated defensive player with a maturity about him where, if he goes through stretches of the game where he's not getting shots, not making shots, he keeps playing winning basketball."

"The courage. The young man -- he's a rare human being. A toughness about him... He was due."@UConnMBB's Dan Hurley spoke with @TracyWolfson after Braylon Mullins' dramatic game-winner pic.twitter.com/oS6Pf9wCcV

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2026

The season hasn’t come without its ups and down for the freshman, though. But his maturity and composure help him provide the missing puzzle piece, too.

"(He’s) special. Super special," Karaban said of Mullins. "His maturity as a freshman, his composure, the way he carries himself, you don’t really typically see it as a freshman. Especially someone who was a McDonald’s All American. 

"He’s not asking people for shots. He’s not asking for the ball. He just wants to do whatever the team wants, whatever the team needs to win."

So if it is a key shot (or multiple) down the stretch or impacting the game defensively, Mullins will now look to finish putting the puzzle of a third national title celebration in the past four years together with his teammates in front of the hometown crowd over the next few days. 

The first step to that comes Saturday against No. 3 Illinois in the Final Four. 

"It's unbelievable to be in the position I am," Mullins said.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Braylon Mullins serving as UConn's missing piece in Final Four run

There are rough evenings. 

And then there are nightmares. 

For the Lakers, the latter might even fall short of describing what happened Thursday.  

They imploded against the reigning champion Thunder in a measuring stick game, 139-96. Luka Doncic suffered a left hamstring injury in the third quarter and will undergo an MRI exam on Friday. And Austin Reaves got banged up and was grabbing at his side and back throughout the contest. 

It was a disaster for a team that had spent the last month clawing their way up the Western Conference standings with a 16-2 run. They had inserted themselves into the championship contender conversation. Doncic had risen to the forefront of the MVP race. 

The Thunder took a pin to those narratives, popping them as though they were nothing but overinflated balloons filled with hot air. 

The Lakers knew what was on the line against the top-seeded Thunder and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

This was their test to show they were the real deal. But long before Doncic got injured, they arrived for their final exam hungover and without a pencil. 

It might seem hyperbolic to claim one game carries so much weight. 

But then again, did you watch Thursday’s contest? 

In the first quarter, the Lakers were outshot from the field, 63% to 33%, and they had more turnovers (eight) than field goals (five). 

In the second quarter, they trailed by as much as 35 points. 

Their deficit grew as large as 46 points, their biggest hole of the season.

“They beat the s—t out of us tonight,” said Reaves, who had a team-high 15 points along with four turnovers. 

The Thunder emphatically stomped out the Lakers’ roaring flame, reducing all of the hope and excitement of the last month to embers struggling for oxygen. 

The Lakers aren’t contenders. And Doncic is not the MVP. 

But it gets way, way worse than that. 

If Doncic’s injury is serious, LA may not even get past the first round of the playoffs. 

And if Doncic misses the team’s final five games, he’ll be disqualified from all NBA awards because of the league’s 65-game threshold. [Doncic has played in 64 games this season.]

That’s right, the guy who’s leading the league in points (33.5), is third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6) could’ve gone from trying to surpass Gilgeous-Alexander for the league’s most prestigious individual honor to being wiped off the board entirely in one dreadful evening. 

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“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” said LeBron James, who had 13 points, six rebounds and two assists in the second-worst loss of his career. “Especially, anybody on our team. But when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury.”

Thursday was one of those nights that will haunt the Lakers, especially coach JJ Redick. 

Doncic was grabbing at his left hamstring in the second quarter. Why the heck did Redick allow him to re-enter a game in which the Lakers were down by 31 points at halftime? Doncic wasn’t going to rescue the team on a night in which he had more turnovers (six) than field goals (three). 

“We checked him out,” Redick said. “He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”

Doncic should’ve never played in the third quarter. That was a massive mistake that could have major consequences for a team that was soaring. 

It was just one of those nights. 

LA had beaten multiple contenders over the last month, including the Rockets (twice), Timberwolves, Knicks and Nuggets. 

If they had beaten the Thunder, they would’ve been considered real threats for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. And Doncic’s MVP case would’ve become far more bulletproof. 

Instead, they walked away from Thursday’s game mortified and hobbled, like a boxer who fought way above his weight class. 

This wasn’t just a bump in the road. It was an unraveling. 

It was a nightmare. 

But the Lakers don’t get to wake up from this and pretend it never happened. 

Welcome to Part III of a four-part series taking a look at the proposed changes to the NBA Draft Lottery that are being put before the Board of Governors to prevent tanking. If you’d like to catch up, check out Part I and Part II. Before we take a look at the second proposal, it’s important to reiterate the current draft rules.

As it stands, the 14 teams that do not make the Playoffs are eligible for the lottery. Don’t confuse making the Play In Tournament with making the Playoffs – they are not the same. 16 teams make the Playoffs when all is said and done, with 14 heading to the lottery. Lottery odds are flat (14%) for the three worst teams, with the odds decreasing from there down to the 14^th worst team (0.5%). The team with the worst record can receive no worse than the 5^th pick, as the lottery only determines picks 1-4 with the rest of the draft order following inversely of a team’s record.

Option 2 – increase the number of lottery teams significantly, draft position based on record across two seasons

Key aspects of the proposal include:

• 22 teams in the draft lottery (10 that miss the Playoffs outright plus 8 that make the Play In Tournament plus 4 that lose in the 1^st Round of the Playoffs).
• Draft positioning is determined by a team’s record across the current season and the season prior (e.g. a team that goes 20-62 and 24-58 will have a record of 22-60 for purposes of draft order).
• A minimum win total floor TBD will be implemented (e.g. if we assume a floor of 25 wins, any team with fewer than 25 wins in either of the two seasons will have their win total bumped to 25 in that season for purposes of draft order).
• Top 4 draft positions determined by lottery drawing.

Thoughts on the proposal

If we thought the first proposal was a no-nonsense bid by the NBA, this proposal is truly next level. This scenario leaves only eight teams in the league outside the lottery. With the four first round losers entering the mix, there is plenty of room for insanity to ensue.

Since 1984 when the Playoffs expanded to 16 teams, there have been six 1 seeds to lose to the 8 seed in the first round of the Playoffs. The Seattle Sonics (1994), Miami Heat (1999), Mavericks (2007), San Antonio Spurs (2011), Chicago Bulls (2012) and Milwaukee Bucks (2023) all hold the dubious distinction. It is rare, but happens. This proposal means the best team in the league could possibly secure the 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Imagine the Thunder adding a Darryn Peterson or Cam Boozer because of one flukey Playoff loss. Highly unlikely, but when it happens, all but a single fanbase is going to be grabbing their pitchforks and torches.

The two-season lookback also adds potential chaos. Let’s use the Indiana Pacers as an example. In 2024-25, they won 50 games and took a trip to the NBA Finals. In 2025-26, they are on pace to win 18 games, largely due to the season-long absence of Tyrese Haliburton. That would put them at an average of 34 wins under this proposal, greatly increasing their chances of a higher pick despite being an otherwise elite team. On the other hand, the Mavericks were a 50-win Finals team in 2023-24 before imploding their franchise with one of the most notorious trades in sports history. Both teams would have their draft odds skewed in the wrong direction based largely on anomalous occurrences.

What it could mean for the Mavericks

Chaos is difficult to predict, and this scenario at least invites chaos, however unlikely it may be. The two-season lookback doesn’t strike me as doing the Mavericks or any other team any real favors. I actually think the overall proposal could encourage tanking. Case in point: the Pacers are doing it right now and they don’t even have the incentive this proposal affords teams. If a good team gets some bad injury luck, they are highly incentivized to completely tank the following season to better their draft odds. Add in a win floor and teams will simply use that number of wins as their tank-target.

My best guess is that Dallas ought to hope this proposal isn’t the winner. The Mavs likely won’t have control of their own pick (after this offseason) until 2031. Following up a few years of no pick control with a much wider field of lottery teams could really send Dallas on a long walk of poor draft outcomes.

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

Some nights you have it, some nights you don’t. And for the Phoenix Suns, the nights where it is not there have started to show up a little too often. As the season winds down, that early joy, the feeling of watching a group outperform expectations, it has faded, and it has faded as quickly as their point of attack defense.

Thursday night in Charlotte felt familiar. The issues on the perimeter showed up again, and everything flows from that. When you cannot keep the ball in front, the defense bends, and then it breaks. The paint opens up, rotations get late, and without consistent rim protection, teams feast inside. That is how you end up asking why the Suns give up so many points in the paint. It starts on the outside.

Give credit where it is due: the Charlotte Hornets play hard, they are feisty, and they will make you earn it. But Phoenix did not help themselves. And that is the part that sticks.

Because the game opened with a different feel. The Suns dropped 41 in the first quarter, and with Mark Williams back and Dillon Brooks settling in during his second game back, it felt like maybe things were starting to line up. Like the timing was coming back, like the pieces were finding each other again.

And then it unraveled.

Phoenix scores 41 in the first quarter, then just 19 in the second. Offensive consistency remains the challenge

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2026

They lost every margin that matters. Second-chance points, points in the paint, bench production, points off turnovers, three-point efficiency; you run down the list, and Charlotte had the edge everywhere. The Phoenix Suns looked a step slow — sometimes two — reacting instead of dictating, chasing instead of controlling.

And yeah, nights like that happen. You can live with a bad night. The Charlotte Hornets are not a pushover. They play with energy, they play with pace, and when they get rolling it is tough to deal with. But the concern is not just one night. It is the pattern.

Over the last two months, the Suns are 12–15. That is the 11th-worst record in the league in that stretch, sitting right alongside teams that are not trying to win games. Injuries have played a role, no doubt. And now that guys are returning, there is an adjustment period, rotations shift, roles change, and timing gets thrown off.

Since February 2, the Phoenix Suns are 12–15. The only teams with the worse record? Bucks, Warriors, Kings, Grizzlies, Jazz, Bulls, Mavs, Pacers, Nets, Wizards.

So all of the tanking teams. pic.twitter.com/3O9YnCFWni

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2026

But earlier in the season, they were navigating those same challenges and still finding ways to win. It did not always look clean, but it worked. Right now, it is not working the same way.

This team needs to be one that can beat you in multiple ways. That is how they are built, that is how they found success. Lately, they are losing in multiple ways instead. And that is the part that sticks as the season starts to slip toward its end.

Bright Side Baller Season Standings

Chalk up another Bright Side Baller for Devin Booker following the loss against the Magic. You can pin your blame in plenty of directions for the overall team performance that night. Booker was leaast at fault.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 77 against the Hornets. Here are your nominees:

Jalen Green
25 points (10-of-19, 3-of-6 3PT), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 block, -11 +/-

Devin Booker
22 points (9-of-22, 3-of-8 3PT), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, -13 +/-

Dillon Brooks
13 points (5-of-12, 3-of-5 3PT), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -14 +/-

Grayson Allen
13 points (4-of-10, 2-of-6 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-of-5 FT, 0 turnovers, -16 +/-

Mark Williams
12 points (6-of-7), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 blocks, -12 +/-

Oso Ighodaro
6 points (3-of-6), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers, -7 +/-

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Where do you end up?

Today's money is not tomorrow's direct deposit — not for the respective teams and conferences represented in the Men's NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA's system of financial payment for the teams who earn entrance into March Madness and then advance is a convoluted, six-year process.

When is one game a unit and one unit six slices of the pie?

March Madness, of course.

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The NCAA's system designates every game as a unit. The units then are divided into six shares teams earn for every game in which they appear in the tournament.

This year, according to a sitting NCAA Division I athletic director and a power conference representative who spoke to USA TODAY Sports, as well as several projections, slot the per-game value for teams in the men's tournament at approximately $2.1 million per game.

Simple, right? Not really.

The funds are distributed directly to the member conferences of the various teams, and payouts for this year's tournament will not begin until next year.

The payments then are broken down into the six-slice pie. Distributions right now on the men's side for the six-year window actually are comprised of just five total NCAA tournaments because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the men's and women's 2020 championships. Women's basketball units are distributed over a three-year timeframe.

In this year's men's tournament, Texas, for example, earned four games or units worth 24 shares for the league.

That's approximately $8.4 million the Longhorns have positioned themselves to earn for the SEC. A year ago, when Todd Golden's Florida Gators won the national championship, the SEC paced all leagues with a record 35 NCAA Tournament games/units that resulted in $70 million in earnings for the league.

However, that number would grow this year because of a change the NCAA voted to adopt on Jan. 14 in its Division I Business Session.

The NCAA and its affiliate members voted to increase unit allocations into the Final Four, adding a total of three units to this year's 68-team field. Florida would have netted the SEC an additional $4 million for its championship.

"(This) vote emphasizes the importance of rewarding schools who invest in the development of their basketball programs and reach not just the Final Four," Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, said at the time in a release, "but ultimately achieve the pinnacle of success in this sport by competing for and winning the national championship.

"The expansion of these funds also continues to increase financial support to members during this pivotal time in college sports in which student-athletes are receiving unprecedented benefits from their schools."

Many leagues choose to use the funds earned in March Madness — such as the SEC's $70 million haul a year ago — as part of its equal revenue-distribution amongst its members.

The ACC, however, shifted its longstanding revenue-sharing policy in June 2025 to reward its March Madness and College Football Playoff participants with a greater revenue share.

For its participating team, whether it be for one game or multiple contests, the Sun Belt Conference provides a "50% threshold" off additional revenue for the year that team advanced into the NCAA Tournament.

Furman earned an extra share for the Southern Conference three years ago when it ousted Virginia from the tournament; that additional revenue will continue being distributed by the conference for the next four years after it received corresponding shares in 2024-25.

The NCAA also covers participating teams' travel costs — with exceptions. The athletic director told USA TODAY Sports the NCAA sets fixed amounts for the average cost a commercial airfare ticket, daily hotel rate, daily travel rate and per diem.

Schools can, however, choose to charter a jet rather than fly commercially and incur the expected cost-differential.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness is big business. Each game is worth more than $2 million

With only a handful of games left in the regular season, it seems a good time to update where Wemby is in blocks. Keep in mind that this list is “all-time” and the accumulation here took players their entire career. He’s already a 2x Block Champ and a shoo-in for his third straight. Additionally, Wemby was just named the Defensive Player of the Month for the third month in a row. He also seems to be a lock for Defensive player of the Year, and by Kendrick Perkins estimation the first to receive the honor unanimously.

Let’s start with this. After Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, Wemby had a total of 617 career blocks, ranking him 225th all time.

Here’s a sample set:

The next active player on the list is Daniel Gafford who currently has 649 career blocks (and still going). Everyone else from the 224th to 210th has retired.

In the near future Wemby will pass James Worthy (624), Tom Chambers (627), Spencer Haywood (629), DeSagana Diop (630), Mickey Johnson (632), Andre Iguodala (633), Danny Green (634), Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Clifford Ray (638), Nazr Mohammed (639), Kobe Bryant (640), John Henson and Dominique Wilkins (642), Jim Chones (643), and Carmelo Anthony (644).

For reference (and comparison):

Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons.

Andre Iguodala and Carmelo Anthony played 19 each.

Nazr Mohammed had 18 seasons

Tom Chambers played 16 seasons.

Danny Green and Dominique Wilkins played 15 seasons apiece.

Spencer Haywood played 13 seasons, his first with the ABA.

James Worthy, DeSagana Diop, Mickey Johnson, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim each played 12 seasons.

Jim Chones and Clifford Ray each had 10 years in the league.

John Henson managed to get his blocks all within 8 seasons.

By comparison, Wemby is just wrapping up his third season, and has missed over a half-season worth of games thus far.

He’s more advanced than anyone could have anticipated. And he shows no signs of slowing down.

To be honest, his numbers should be greater, but so many players refuse to shoot when he is in the vicinity. His presence detours so many shot opportunities.

Spurs kept Wemby in street clothes last night against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he’s expected to be back in action on Saturday as the Silver & Black face the Denver Nuggets.

Go Spurs Go!

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The Atlanta Hawks absolutely cannot be stopped.

They finished the month of March with a record of 13-2, and going back to the All-Star break, the Hawks have rocketed up the standings with a mark of 18-3 since February 11th.

When the team has this level of success, individual accolades tend to follow.

On Thursday, the announcements came down, and two Hawks were honored with monthly awards. First, Jalen Johnson was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month:

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić and Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson have been named the Kia NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in March. pic.twitter.com/Cq5NUmN2V6

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 2, 2026

He averaged a bonkers 22 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists per game while playing in 13 of the 15 games last month. It’s his first career Player of the Month award, something he can pair with a Player of the Week award he won earlier this season.

The orchestrater of the players also earned recognition from his peers. Head coach Quin Snyder was tapped as the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month:

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in March. pic.twitter.com/rEnfuIhJxD

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 2, 2026

The award is Snyder’s fifth of his career — the other four happening in the Western Conference during his eight-year stint with the Utah Jazz. The award comes after Snyder picked up his 500th career win around a week ago.

Jaylen opens up about left hand narrative, improved court vision and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown is in his 10th NBA season — and he keeps getting better.

The Boston Celtics star is averaging career highs across the board in points (28.8), rebounds (7.0), and assists (5.3) per game while improving his shooting percentage (47.6 percent) despite a higher volume of shots. With Jayson Tatum sidelined until early March, Brown has thrived in a lead role for Boston, emerging as a legitimate MVP candidate while helping the C’s maintain a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference.

Brown has dispelled plenty of narratives this season; he’s been consistently strong driving to the basket with his left hand despite that part of his game previously being viewed as a weakness, and he ranks second on the Celtics in assists after being viewed as a more ball-dominant player earlier in his career.

Brown recently sat down with NBC Sports Boston analyst and ex-Celtics champion Brian Scalabrine to watch film from his dominant 2025-26 season to date. Brown discussed the criticism around his left hand, his growth as a playmaker and much more. Here are two notable soundbites:

Brown opens about left hand issues

“I think there was some truth to it,” Brown told Scalabrine about the narrative that he struggled on drives with his left hand. “… I had a major surgery on my left wrist, and then I actually reinjured it again in 2023. So in 2021, I had a major surgery where I tore all the ligaments on my left hand.

“Basketball, the game is ruthless. If the team knows that you had an injury, they’re gonna try to force you to that. And then I had a loose body again in 2023 where I had a chip in my wrist that had to get fixed. So, I think that was a real criticism or critique of my game is that I struggled going left, but a lot of it was due to injury.

“As I’ve gotten more healthy, I’ve done stem cells and stuff like that in my wrist that’s helped improve the flexibility and the motion. I’ve been able to get back to being more progressive with my left hand. But at one point, I barely could dribble the ball with my left hand at times, you know what I mean? So, I was out there playing with one hand behind my back.”

Brown describes how the game has slowed down for him

“I think I’ve definitely been more patient,” Brown told Scalabrine. “I’ve slowed down in certain areas where you still see me use my athleticism and explosion in certain areas, but then you’ll notice I’ll get real slow, almost like I’m going at a casual pace. Because the slower you go, the easier it is to read everything. The faster you go, the harder those reads are.

“If you slow down where you’re going two miles per hour, you can see the stop signs, you can see the dog, you can see the mailman putting stuff in the mail. You see everything when you slow down. When you’re going too fast, you’re driving full speed, you’re not seeing nothing. Everything is a blur.

“… I know certain spots on the floor where, no matter who’s guarding me, I have a good chance of getting a good shot up. So, I’m just identifying those spaces, and then as the flow of our offense goes, I’ve always got my eye on where those spaces are. … When I get there is when I try to slow down and focus on my footwork.”

Watch the full interview in the video player above, or on YouTube below.

An Achilles injury is one ofAn Achilles injury is one of the most devastating injuries an athlete can suffer. Knee injuries used to be nearly as bad, but arthroscopic surgery has really changed that. ACL injuries still require major rehab, but it’s become fairly manageable. Achilles injuries are still a very difficult thing to overcome, one of the most devastating injuries an athlete can suffer. Knee injuries used to be nearly as bad, but arthroscopic surgery has really changed that. ACL injuries still require major rehab, but it’s become fairly manageable. Achilles injuries are still a very difficult thing to overcome.

So when former Blue Devil Jayson Tatum collapsed in a heap last year during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, his future was at best cloudy. He was expected to miss all of this season and come back next year, if things go well.

For that matter, the Boston Celtics were also expected to suffer this season. However, both have exceeded expectations.

The Celtics are currently 51-25, good for second place in the East, behind only Trajan Langdon’s Detroit Pistons (the Pistons are 4.5 games ahead at 56-21). Most of that was without Tatum, who returned to action on March 6th, less than 10 months after his injury. That’s almost miraculous.

And remarkably, on April 1st, Tatum got his first triple-double after coming back, racking up 25 points, 18 rebounds, and 11 assists against Miami on April 1st.

It’s a bit under the radar somehow, but what Tatum is doing may be the most amazing story in the NBA this spring.

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This race, unexpectedly, has become a lot closer.

Although it feels like a two-man battle at this point, with no team having more than six games left in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, these players are quickly running out of chances to elevate their arguments for Most Valuable Player.

Thursday, April 2 was an interesting night, too, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers facing off, while phenom big Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs played the Los Angeles Clippers.

Here’s this week’s USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings:

USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings

5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

He has simply not let up. He dropped 43 in a rout Wednesday, April 1 against the Heat and has scored at least 29 points in his last seven games, and is averaging 33.6 over that stretch. More importantly, he has been the biggest reason for the Celtics to be a real threat in the East, despite missing Jayson Tatum (Achilles rehab) for most of the season. Brown has led Boston to a decently comfortable hold on the No. 2 seed in the East, and, even though Tatum is returning to form, Brown is looking poised to have a massive postseason.

4. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

He has notched triple-doubles in five of his last six games, as the Nuggets are peaking at the right time. Denver has won seven consecutive games and 10 of its last 12, and Jokić has been as consistent and dependable as always. He leads the NBA in rebounding (13.0) and is the only player averaging a triple-double (adding 27.7 points and 10.8 assists). He’s having a monster season, so it’s kind of absurd to rank him fourth. It’s just a testament to the players above him on this list, and the seasons they are having.

3. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers

In 17 games in March, Dončić scored 600 points, becoming just the 10th player in NBA history to put down that output in any single month. The Lakers, crucially, went 15-2 over that stretch and have been impressive, with recent victories over the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Rockets (twice) and Cavaliers. Thursday’s blowout loss against the Thunder was a letdown, as Dončić struggled from deep, going just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. But the bigger problem was a left hamstring injury that sidelined him and may jeopardize his eligibility for individual awards. Thursday night was his 64th game, leaving him one shy of the minimum.

2. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

This has actually gotten really close. Wembanyama missed Thursday night’s game against the Clippers with a right ankle injury management designation, but his play as of late has closed the lead the top player on this list has held for much of the back half of the regular season. No player impacts the game on both sides more than Wembanyama, who has dropped 41 points in each of his last two games. As if that wasn’t enough, he swatted away 3 shots in each and collected 10 rebounds Monday, March 30 in a win over the Bulls and hauled in 18 Wednesday against the Warriors. San Antonio has won the last 15 games that Wembanyama has played in.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

He remains the most consistent force in the NBA and Thursday’s beatdown of the Lakers was proof of how dangerous he can be. Gilgeous-Alexander had scored a smooth 21 points by halftime, as Oklahoma City had opened a massive, 31-point lead on the Lakers. Before that, SGA dopped 47 points in an overtime victory against the Pistons, and he has extended his consecutive 20-point streak to a ridiculous 137 games. Still, he’ll need to close strong because Wembanyama is making a late charge.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA MVP rankings after Luka Doncic injury