Category: Basketball

Kuminga questionable for Warriors-Grizzlies with pelvic injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jonathan Kuminga’s status for the Warriors’ high-stakes game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday has been updated after a notable change in his injury.

Kuminga, who had a hard fall in Sunday’s 148-106 blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs, is questionable for Golden State’s matchup in Memphis with a right pelvic contusion. His injury originally was listed as right ankle soreness.

The injury occurred when Kuminga drove to the rim in the second quarter and was knocked down by two Spurs defenders. He initially said he was OK before slowly walking to the Warriors’ locker room.

Jonathan Kuminga went to the locker room after taking a hard fall in today's game pic.twitter.com/2wiVMSuqLY

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 30, 2025

After the game, Kuminga told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sam Gordon he’s “straight” and is hopeful he won’t miss any more time due to injury.

Kuminga returned from a 31-day injury absence in Golden State’s 130-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on March 13. In nine games since his return, he’s averaging 13.1 points on 43.8 percent shooting, with 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.6 minutes.

The injury came just one game after Kuminga showcased his importance to the Warriors, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line, adding eight rebounds, three assists and one steal in 23 minutes in a 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday.

Memphis (44-30) currently has a one-game advantage over Golden State (43-31) for the Western Conference’s No. 5 playoff seed. The Minnesota Timberwolves sit a half-game back of the Warriors for the sixth seed.

Long story short: Tuesday is a massive game for both the Warriors and Grizzlies as the playoff race continues to tighten in the wild, wild West — and Kuminga’s availability will play a major role in Golden State’s chances to pull out a victory.

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Draymond admits he didn't always love playing defense for Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

As difficult as it is to believe, Warriors forward Draymond Green didn’t always love defense. 

But as the four-time NBA champion eventually realized, honing in on his defensive skills was his most viable pathway into a starting role with Golden State. 

Green joined NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on the latest “Dubs Talk,” where he was asked about what led to him becoming one of the most established defenders in the league.

“When I came in [to the NBA], defense wasn’t my thing,” Green told Poole and Burke. “I passed the ball. I shot the ball. I created on offense. That’s what I did, but that wasn’t the path to the court. My path to the court had to be defensively.” 

With the emergence of the Splash Brothers – guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson – and David Lee as the Warriors’ undisputed starting forward, Green acknowledges he had no other alternative. 

“Steph Curry, Klay Thompson – two young guys emerging – an offensive-minded power forward, All-Star, who in the post can scroll with the best of them,” Green added. “Remember, these are the days you actually had to throw the ball into the post, actually going to scroll [with] two bigs. 

“These are those days. I’m behind that guy, David Lee. I don’t score better than him, so my path onto the court ain’t going to be that. How can I get on this floor? 

“And the only way I can get on the floor was to get stops defensively. So, I’m immediately like, ‘I got to get stops. I got to lock in so much defensively that that’s going to be my path onto the court.’ 

Fast forward more than a decade, and Green’s bet on focusing on the defensive side of the game paid off. 

In 2017, the veteran forward won the Defensive Player of the Year award. And although it’s the only DPOY trophy in his decorated case, Green is considered by many as one of the greatest defensive players of all time. 

This season, on the other hand, Green has made a case for a second DPOY award, which would further solidify his status as one of the greats in the category.

And, ironically enough, Green’s perspective on playing defense has completely shifted from his earliest days as a professional.

“Honestly, I absolutely love playing defense,” Green concluded. “I genuinely enjoy getting back on defense, watching the offense come down the court and looking at this like: How am I going to stop this play right now? Like, I genuinely enjoy it. 

“Everyone wants to play offense, let’s face it. We all want to get the ball. We want to score. We want to get the assist. Offense is fun. Defense isn’t so fun for certain people. I absolutely love it.” 

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Report: KD to miss at least one week with left ankle sprain originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Phoenix Suns’ 2024-25 NBA season has gone from bad to worse.

Star forward Kevin Durant reportedly will miss at least one week after spraining his left ankle on Sunday.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the news Monday.

The Suns are 35-40 on the season, sitting 11th in the Western Conference — a game and a half behind the Sacramento Kings (36-38) for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.

The 36-year-old Durant has been a steadying force for the Suns this season despite the team’s struggles. He’s played in 62 games while averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

With just seven games remaining in the final two weeks of the regular season, there’s now serious question about Durant’s availability the rest of the way. Charania said Durant will miss the Suns’ three-game road trip (against the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks), which means the earliest he could return is April 8 against the Golden State Warriors.

Durant, Team USA’s all-time leading scorer, has one year and $54.7 million remaining on his contract with Phoenix after this season.

Crunching the numbers on Luke Kornet's career season with Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Luke Kornet credits his high school geometry studies for his uptick in rebounding numbers this season.

But you don’t need to have taken any fancy statistics courses to know just how impactful the big man has been this season.

The 7-foot-2 Kornet, who re-signed with Boston this past summer on a minimum-salary contract, has emerged as one of the most impactful centers in the NBA this season. Given his impact, you could make the case that he has one of the highest-value contracts in the entire league.

Just check out some of the numbers:

Nothing but net… rating

Kornet ranks fourth in the NBA in net rating, with Boston outscoring opponents by 14.4 points per 100 possessions during his floor time. Oklahoma City Thunder players account for five of the top six spots in the league, with Kornet the only outlier atop a list of 208 players who have played 18+ minutes per game in 50+ appearances this season.

A year ago, Sam Hauser (+14.2) and Payton Pritchard (+13.6) topped both the Celtics and the NBA in net rating, with Boston slotting four players in the top six spots en route to an NBA title. This season, it’s Kornet who seems to be keying Boston’s reserve lineups with his positive impact on the court.

Kornet also tops the team in net rating differential. The team is 7.7 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the court versus off. The next best differential on the team: Al Horford at +3.9 (+11.3 on, +7.4 off).

Often a plus, rarely a minus

The Celtics were a team-best +21 in Kornet’s 31 minutes on the floor during Saturday’s win in San Antonio. It’s the seventh time this season that the Celtics have been +20 or better in Kornet’s minutes. In fact, Kornet has been +10 or better in 27 games this season.

Kornet has finished in the positive for plus/minus in 40 of his 66 appearances this season. Kornet ranks 22nd overall in the NBA with a raw plus/minus of +345 this year.

More “net” gains

ESPN debuted a new “Net Points” metric this season that aims to spotlight the players most directly contributing to their team’s point differential.

Kornet ranks 17th overall in their rankings, one spot behind LeBron James. He’s one spot ahead of Anthony Davis (which essentially means the Mavericks probably would have been better off trading Luka Doncic for Kornet, based on impact this season). 

Kornet sits 12th in defensive net points and 41st in offensive net points. The only Boston player ahead of him on the overall net points leaderboard is Tatum, who is sixth overall. 

Luke in the two-man game

All three of Boston’s top two-man lineups (at least 500 minutes played together) feature Kornet.

The Kornet-Hauser combo tops the team at +15.7 in 552 minutes together. Kornet-Derrick White is +15.4 in 655 minutes, while the Kornet-Tatum combo is +15.0 in 815 minutes.

Among the 293 two-man combos with at least 800 minutes played together this season, that Kornet-Tatum combo is sixth overall in the NBA, sitting behind five OKC combos. (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Aaron Wiggins tops the NBA at +18.8). 

Kornet, Tatum and the bench

One of Boston’s most successful five-man lineups this season has featured Tatum running alongside Kornet, Hauser, and Pritchard. That trio has a +18.9 net rating in 291 minutes together and owns an offensive rating of 130.2 in that span.

Boston’s preferred starters have struggled to be as impactful as they were a season ago, but the Tatum-and-the-bench lineups have cleaned up a lot of those struggles. 

Double bigs thrive with Kornet

The Celtics have leaned heavily on double-big lineups this season, and Kornet has been vital to the success the team has enjoyed with pairing two of their four bigs together: 

The bottom line

The Celtics are now 31-6 when Kornet plays 16+ minutes this season. That’s a .838 winning percentage, or a 69-win pace over 82 games.

Boston is just 24-13 (.649) when Kornet plays fewer than 16 minutes or is a DNP.

Kerr shares heartfelt reflection on Popovich's health status originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Spurs legend Gregg Popovich didn’t coach Sunday’s game against the Warriors, but that didn’t stop his good friend Steve Kerr from visiting him during a quick trip to San Antonio.

Popovich is recovering from a stroke he sustained back in early November and has been away from the team since. Kerr, during a six-game road trip, made sure to check on his old friend and shared an emotional update on Popovich’s health status.

“We’ve stayed in touch,” Kerr told reporters after Golden State’s win over San Antonio. “I went and saw him today and he looks great. He’s doing great. He’s one of the most important people in my life, so hoping that everything continues to progress. But it was wonderful to see him.”

"He's one of the most important people in my life…it was wonderful to see him." — Steve Kerr on Gregg Popovich pic.twitter.com/EuGbxrr2eO

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 31, 2025

Popovich, the Spurs’ coach since 1994 and the NBA’s all-time coaching wins leader, had a stroke on Nov. 2 at the team’s arena in San Antonio. Three months later, Popovich decided not to return this season.

Assistant Mitch Johnson stepped in just six games into the 2024-25 season and has served as acting head coach since.

Just before finding out Popovich wouldn’t return to the hardwood for the remainder of the season, the Spurs announced that All-Star center Victor Wembanyama — the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year favorite at the time — would not play again this season after deep vein thrombosis, or a blood clot, was found in his right shoulder.

Kerr detailed the emotional rollercoaster the Spurs have been through this season and applauded their resilience to continue to compete through the adversity.

“Pop has been basically the leader of the franchise for 26, 27 years. And that’s a huge loss,” Kerr said. “I think their coaching staff and Mitch, they’re doing a great job, they have stayed competitive. Tonight was a one-off, this was not indicative of how they’ve been playing. They’re hanging tough.

“But with the injury to Wemby and Pop’s absence, there’s a lot of adversity they’ve faced this year.”

While the future of Popovich’s legendary NBA coaching career is unknown, his basketball legacy — and his importance to Kerr and many others — is crystal clear.

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Draymond confident Steph won't retire if Warriors win fifth title originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

What’s better than four NBA championships? Five. And what’s better than five? Six.

You get the idea. And so does Steph Curry.

The Warriors superstar, now 37 years old and in his 16th NBA season, already has one of the most decorated careers in league history and is a lock for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame whenever he decides to retire.

Might that day come if Golden State wins a fifth championship this summer? Longtime teammate Draymond Green joined NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on the latest “Dubs Talk” episode and shared why he doesn’t believe Curry will ride off into the sunset if the Warriors’ dynastic duo were to secure its fifth ring this season.

“He is definitely that type of person where he’s just not going to hold on and do the whole thing a lot of guys do,” Green told Poole and Burke. “If he’s not at an elite level, he’s not going to do it. The problem he has is, if we’re winning number five this year, he’s got a strong chance to get six next year. And he’s not going to screw me out of six so he has no chance of retiring, because if we have a chance to get six, I’ll be at his house every day making sure he ain’t retiring. Because we need to go after that.”

That’s not to say Curry at least won’t consider the possibility of retiring on top, but Green believes his teammate ultimately will recognize that if the Warriors are able to win another championship this year, then they will have a strong chance to do so again next season. 

“Honestly, I think the decision will come across his mind for like a week or two where he’s like, ‘Man, I did it.’ And then I think he’ll chill for a week or two and then be like, ‘Alright, I’m doing this again. I feel too great, I’m too at the peak of my powers,'” Green said. “He still has too much left to give to this game to let go now.

“He just turned 37 and he can 1,000 percent play this game at the level he’s playing at for another three years until 40. I wholeheartedly believe that. As much as he’s said that, and I believe him, and I think that would make the question run across his mind, I don’t see it happening this year. Whether we win or not, I don’t think it happens.”

Green’s assessment seems to line up with what Curry himself has said about how much longer he will play, recently telling 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” that he would like to outplay his current contract, which expires after the 2026-27 NBA season

All three of Curry, Green (player option) and star forward Jimmy Butler are under contract through the 2026-27 NBA season, and many believe the contracts aligning could allow the trio, along with coach Steve Kerr, whose contract is up one year prior, to retire around the same time.

Will Curry and Green secure their fifth rings by then? Only time will tell.

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