Category: Basketball

Basketball News

Posted on

Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Pelle Larsson heating up as starter

Two weeks. That’s all that remains in the 2024-25 regular season. If you’re still playing, that means you’re either in your championship week or one of the brave souls that will play through the end of the regular season. Perhaps you’re in a roto league and looking for a few extra games to close out the season. Regardless of your situation, streaming continues to get more important every week due to the lineup shenanigans that continue to happen. These seven players are worth considering for the rest of this week.

SG Pelle Larsson (1%), Miami Heat

Head coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t able to provide a timeline for Andrew Wiggins’ return as he missed his second-straight game with a hamstring injury on Monday. Larsson started in his place once again and should remain in that role moving forward. Through two starts, Larsson has averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.0 block and 1.0 triple while playing 30 minutes per game. Miami has three more games this week.

PF/C Kyle Filipowski (36%), Utah Jazz

Filipowski is probably rostered in the leagues that are still active, but if he remains available, he should be picked up everywhere. He has started Utah’s last five games and scored in double figures in each of them. He recorded his second-straight double-double during Monday’s loss, and there are likely more on the way.

SF/PF Brice Sensabaugh (7%), Utah Jazz

Sensabaugh has been a consistent scoring option off the bench for Utah recently, but he slid into the starting unit in place of Cody Williams (illness) on Monday. He ended up contributing 19 points, five assists, three steals and five triples in 26 minutes. Especially if Sensabaugh continues to start on Wednesday, he is worth streaming, mostly for points and triples.

PG/SG/SF KeonEllis (25%), Sacramento Kings

Ellis has been quiet over Sacramento’s last two games, but the fact that he is starting makes him worth rostering. He is more than capable of racking up the defensive stats in a hurry, and the Kings have three more games this week for him to do just that. Malik Monk has also struggled, so there shouldn’t be any fear of Ellis losing his job at this point.

PG/SG Gabe Vincent (1%), Los Angeles Lakers

Vincent had one of his best games of the season on Monday with 20 points and six triples in 24 minutes, which comes two days after he had 15 points and four triples in 23 minutes. Finding players with a consistent workload is sometimes hard to find on the waiver wire, and Vincent is on a hot streak. They have three more games this week, including a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday, which could mean a rest night for some of the stars.

SF/PF/C Dorian Finney-Smith (7%), Los Angeles Lakers

Much like Vincent, DFS had one of his best games of the season with 20 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, three blocks and six triples in 32 minutes. He has played at least 30 minutes in five straight games, and while managers shouldn’t expect production to this level often, the upside is clearly there.

PG/SG Keon Johnson (20%), Brooklyn Nets

Johnson has played a large role consistently for the Nets, and he had one of his best games of the season on Monday with 24 points. The only knock of Johnson as a streaming option is that Brooklyn only plays two more games this week. However, he is guaranteed to play a significant role in each game.

Posted on

Lakers hold off Rockets to score important home win amid playoff seeding race

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 31: Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) attempts to grab the lose ball during the first half of the NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Monday, March 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Ric Tapia / For The Times)
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) attempts to grab the loose ball during the first half of a 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night. (Ric Tapia / For The Times)

The Lakers have “recognized the magnitude” of every game they have to play as the season winds down, their coach JJ Redick saying they have to play each of them with an urgency to determine their own playoff seeding fate in the super-competitive Western Conference.

It really is simple for the Lakers: Keep winning and that will improve their seeding in the unforgiving West.

And win the Lakers did on Monday night, pulling out a gritty 104-98 win over the Rockets at Crypto.com Arena. It was an especially significant win because the fourth place Lakers are chasing second-place Houston in the Western Conference standings.

LeBron James sealed the game with two free throws with 11.1 seconds left and an emphatic block of Alperen Sengun with eight seconds remaining, keeping the Lakers ahead by four.

Lakers star LeBron James controls the ball in front of Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet.
Lakers star LeBron James controls the ball in front of Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet during the first half Monday. (Ric Tapia / For The Times)

James finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

But two role players helped swing critical momentum in the Lakers' favor.

Dorian Finney-Smith came off the bench to score a season high 20 points, making a season-best six of 11 three-pointers. He rebounded the ball well (six), passed to open teammates (three assists), played his usual stellar defense (three blocks) and didn’t back down while while guarding Houston 6-foot-11 center Steve Adams. They pushed and shoved each other, getting technical fouls midway through the third quarter.

Finney-Smith completed his night making two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal the final score.

Gabe Vincent came off the bench to contribute 20 points, hitting six of 13 three-pointers to go along with four rebounds.

The Lakers and Rockets have split the first two games of the season and play once more at Crypto.com Arena on April 11. It will be another important game that will determine the seeding tiebreaker if the two teams end the season with identical records.

Read more:Rebuilding from ruins: Lakers coach JJ Redick aims to fix Palisades rec center

After the win, the Lakers are 2 ½-games behind the second-seeded Rockets and one game behind the third-seeded Denver Nuggets.

With seven regular-season games remaining, the Lakers still are in the mix for a good seed and home-court advantage.

“I think it’s intensified with the entire group — coaches and players,” Redick said of the seeding battle. “That’s not to say that we need to talk about it every day. I know the players have talked about it with each other. We’ve talked about it as a group, we talked about it as a staff and I still think one of the hardest things in life is navigating control versus non-control. And in some ways, we can control what seed we get. We can control if we make the playoffs. We have to go out and play well. Even at this stage of the season where we’ve had a couple of bad stretches, we still can kind of control where we’re seeded and if we make the playoffs.”

By the half, the Lakers and Rockets were tied at 48-48, with Luka Doncic (20 points) making one of two free throws with 1.3 seconds left in the second quarter.

Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 20 points, while Dillon Brooks chipped in 16.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Posted on

5 things to know about Houston

Before Jon Scheyer coached his first game as Duke’s head coach, he coached a game against Houston as Duke’s head coach. Duke and Houston, for teams that haven’t played very often, are creating a bit of history. The Blue Devils and Cougars have only played once — last year’s Sweet 16, a win by Duke.

Posted on

College coaches see a game shifting beneath piles of NIL cash as March Madness arrives

More than the deep runs in March Madness, the 660 victories over 37 years or even the 20 or so players he coached who ended up making millions in the NBA, Leonard Hamilton is proud of a number he can count on one hand. It is, he says, the number of players he coached at Miami, and then for the past 23 seasons at Florida State, who failed to graduate. Hamilton, now 76 and stepping away from a business he barely recognizes anymore, says he is at peace with leaving coaching behind.

Posted on

Keon Johnson's 24 points powers Nets' comeback win over Mavericks, 113-109

DALLAS (AP) — Keon Johnson scored 24 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Dallas Mavericks 113-109 on Monday night to win consecutive games for the first time since the All-Star break.

D’Angelo Russell added 18 points and 11 assists for the Nets (25-51), who last won two in a row during a three-game winning streak from Feb. 7-12. Playing without leading scorer Cam Johnson, who has a back injury, Brooklyn rallied from a 10-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run.

Daniel Gafford scored 17 points in his first game since Feb. 10 for the Mavericks (37-39), who were trying to reach .500 for the first time since March 10.

Anthony Davis had 12 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes in his first home game since being injured Feb. 8 in his initial Mavericks appearance following the trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Davis returned last week and played three road games.

The Mavericks are ninth in the West, a half-game ahead of 10th-place Sacramento.

Takeaways

Nets: They finished 8-7 in road games against the West and overall are better on the road (14-26) than at home (11-25). Jalen Wilson and Drew Timme played before hometown fans. Wilson, from Denton, Texas, scored 12 points. Timme, from Richardson, had nine points in his third game after signing with Brooklyn last Friday.

Mavericks: Dereck Lively II, out since Jan. 14 with an ankle stress fracture, could return this week.

Key moment

Nic Claxton scored on a reverse layup with 47 seconds left and was fouled, the 51.7% free-throw shooter completing the three-point play for a 111-107 lead.

Key stat

The Nets hit 20 of 51 3-pointers to the Mavericks’ 10 of 30.

Up next

The Mavericks will host Atlanta on Wednesday. The Nets will begin a four-game homestand Thursday against Minnesota.

Posted on

Miles Bridges scores 26 as Hornets beat Jazz 110-106 to snap 5-game losing streak

Miles Bridges had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Utah Jazz 110-106 on Monday night to snap a five-game losing streak. Mark Williams added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who held the Jazz to 41% shooting. Keyonte George had 20 points and Brice Sensabaugh added 19 points on five 3-pointers for the Jazz.

Posted on

Pelicans officially shut down Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum for the season

Zion Williamson missed the last five Pelicans games with a low back bone contusion, while CJ McCollum missed the previous three with a right foot bone contusion. With the Pelicans out of any playoff chase, nobody expected them to return this season.

Monday night, the Pelicans made that official, announcing that the duo "will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to their respective injuries." The 21-54 Pelicans have seven games remaining.

Zion only played in 30 games this season due to a hamstring strain and an assortment of other injuries, including the current lower back contusion. When he did play Zion looked like an All-NBA force, averaging 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists a game (and that came with a minutes restriction a lot of nights.

The big question is whether the Pelicans will make Zion available via trade this offseason. If they do, a number of teams will have interest in making the bet a new environment (and trainers) can unlock Zion's health and potential.

McCollum played in 56 games this season, averaging 21.1 points per game and shooting 37.3% from 3. New Orleans is expected to see if there is a trade market for McCollum and his expiring $30.7 million contract for next season, but how much of a market there is for the 33-year-old guard at that price remains to be seen.

Posted on

Tatum: C's ‘fed off' Horford's energy in win over Grizzlies

Tatum: C's ‘fed off' Horford's energy in win over Grizzlies originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Al Horford turned back the clock Monday night in the Boston Celtics’ 117-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The veteran big man, who turns 39 in June, delivered a team-high and season-high 26 points with nine rebounds off the bench. That’s the most points he has ever scored as a reserve in his 18-year NBA career.

Horford achieved the feat by knocking down six 3-pointers. He hadn’t scored 26 points in a regular-season game since Feb. 2021.

C’s star Jayson Tatum credited the ageless wonder for setting the tone in Boston’s victory.

“Al played amazing today. He kept us in it and he hit some big shots in that second half. We just fed off his energy,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin.

“Oldest guy on the team and he had the most energy in the last game of the road trip. We needed him big tonight. That was a special performance.”

Horford’s dedication off the court has allowed him to maintain a championship-level impact despite being one of the league’s oldest players.

“A lot goes into what you guys see out here,” Horford said after the game. “There’s preparation and getting myself ready as best I can to perform and taking care of my body. And for me, it’s always just staying ready and trying to play the right way.

“I feel like I put in a lot of work, so even though I’m older, I feel like I can do things when I’m called to contribute or impact winning. It all goes for me with my preparation and my work.”

Horford and the C’s are at the top of their game with the playoffs looming. Boston completed its six-game road trip with a perfect 6-0 record for the first time in franchise history and has now won nine consecutive games.

The Celtics will look to extend their win streak to double digits when they return home to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Posted on

Knicks signing P.J. Tucker to two-year contract

The Knicks are rewarding veteran P.J. Tucker with a two-year contract, SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley confirms.

The deal will keep Tucker -- who completed his second 10-day contract with the club -- around for the remainder of the regular season and leaves the organization with enough room under the second apron to add another veteran free agent before the playoffs, if they wait until the last day or two of the regular season to make the transaction, Begley noted.

Of course, if New York wants to add, they would need to waive a player to create room on the roster.

Tucker logged just 107 seconds of game action during his time with the Knicks at the end of a 120-105 loss at Sacramento earlier this month, but he's been a big help elsewhere.

"Knicks people have appreciated Tucker’s off-court impact, vocal approach during his two-week stint with the club," Begley said on Monday.

The second year of Tucker's deal is a team option that will allow New York to include additional salary in any offseason trade.

The 39-year-old last played during the 2023-24 season, splitting time between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 31 games (10 starts), Tucker averaged 1.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. He was also a part of Milwaukee's run to the NBA title in 2020-21, after coming over from Houston.

During his 14 years in the league, Tucker has played for seven different teams, with the Knicks being his eighth.