Category: Basketball

Luka Doncic heard the story and barely could believe it.

Tim Marovt also was once a prodigy, identified early as one of the best athletes in Slovenia. Marovt had a goal to become a world-class skier along with the skills and passion to become one of the best to come out of his country. Doncic had lived that life too, moving from basketball prodigy to European teen sensation to NBA megastar.

It wasn’t so straightforward for Marovt. Doncic had locked in as the skinny kid shared what he’d gone through.

Marovt traveled to Hawaii for a family vacation in 2014, the 12-year-old already on his way to achieving his sporting dreams. But a single day surfing in the Pacific Ocean changed all of those plans, a freak injury called surfer’s myelopathy shattering those dreams and putting seemingly impossible obstacles in his way.

“After 30 minutes of surfing, I felt a little tired and went to hotel room. Everything was OK, but I felt something unusual in my back. It was not painful but just like a weird feeling,” Marovt remembered. “So I went back to hotel room. I took a shower and laid down for a couple of minutes in my bed. And after 15 minutes I went to use the restroom but I fell on the bed. I was immediately paralyzed from my waist down.”

He was rushed to a hospital where doctors told him that if his condition didn’t improve in the next 72 hours, he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

“I was very young but I didn't doubt myself for a single moment," he said. "Since that young age, I was so focused. When I see something, I'll do anything to achieve it.”

Doncic first heard the story in the 2A Sports Lab in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the gym where they both trained with Anze Macek.

Doncic was there to get ready for a season with the Dallas Mavericks. Marovt, who had been through hell trying to take a single stride, was there training for a marathon.

“It was so inspiring,” Doncic told The Times. “… It was kind of amazing just to hear. I mean, what happened to him was horrible. So just to get his mind to do everything he's doing now, it's unbelievable.”

That day in Hawaii, Marovt accepted the challenge and not his fate, soon taking the first step toward conquering adversity. And if Marovt could work to take his next steps, the least Doncic could do when facing his biggest NBA challenge would be to do the same.

Wednesday, Doncic takes another step in his new life as a member of the Lakers when his team plays in Dallas for the first time since the Mavericks traded him — a decision that led to protests and open wounds in a fan base that hasn’t recovered.

Doncic has fared better, the Lakers star regaining his form as his new team pushes toward the postseason in the best position it's been in since it won a title in 2020 as the West’s top seed.

Yet the process to get Doncic back to being the behind-the-head passing, on-court-screaming maestro has been incremental.

A mixture of shock, sadness and anger lived all over Doncic’s face, it dripped on every word and highlighted every expression on his first day as a Laker. The Mavericks had just very publicly bet against him, had pushed him off the path he thought he was staying on forever and into the unknown.

The first days in Los Angeles were more about the past than the future. But in the chaos there was a principal that Doncic and the people closest to him tried to reinforce. Things would get better, the new would become natural, the discomfort would become ease.

They knew he’d work his way through the challenge.

Doncic and his support staff were stunned by the trade and especially stung by Dallas’ rationale, reasons he believed were personal and questioned his character and work ethic. The notion that he doesn’t work hard, in particular, upset him.

“They have no idea,” Doncic told The Times of those doubters. “… I didn't end up here by mistake. You know? I worked my ass to be here. So it's kinda, I would say disrespectful, just sad that people say that.”

Read more:Luka Doncic and Lakers make a statement in blowout win over NBA-leading Thunder

Since joining the Lakers, people close to the team have praised Doncic for his work to get healthy after missing 22 games because of a calf strain. He’s been a constant presence at the optional workouts while continuing his work with Macek and Javier Barrio, his fitness and medical coaches who are now on staff with the Lakers.

Doncic and the Lakers acknowledge there are ways to get the most out of him, a player who spent his teenage years as a young pro in Spain going through highly regimented, drill-based training with soccer club Real Madrid. It’s far from his preferred process of work.

“I always say, you know, I’ve always got better at the game when I was playing five-on-five, one-on-one, two-and-two in practice,” Doncic told the Times. “That's what I always see that I'm most improved when I play that way in practice.”

It’s why Doncic has found ways to add competition to the noncompetitive parts of his routine, his pregame on-court workout featuring a lengthy menu of trick shots, including a half-court contest that ends with either Doncic or Lakers coaches Greg St. Jean and Ty Abbott doing pushups.

“When you’re not challenging him in practice, it’s really hard to get the best out of him,” Macek told The Times with a laugh.

Doncic acknowledged the same Sunday after the Lakers beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City, saying that the pressure from Lugentz Dort, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, helped push him to another level.

“It brings the competitive spirit out of me,” he said. “It brings the best out of me.”

Macek’s been in the gym with Marovt and Doncic and has seen the ways their approaches are very different. And he’s seen the ways they’re the same.

For Marovt, there was intense work with visualization and mind power. Doncic isn’t so into that.

“I would say I’m more reactionary,” Doncic said.,

But Macek has seen the way both have responded to doubt and used it as fuel.

“When he was 15 years old, he barely walk,” Macek remembered of Marovt. “He came with the crutches … totally out of shape. He couldn't lift his legs. He couldn't move well. But what I saw in his eyes was this passion to improve … to do something big. He was so motivated. And I said, ‘OK, I need to help this kid.’”

Macek surveyed the damage done to Marovt by the spinal and nerve injuries, the tightness in his muscles, the disconnected pathways between his brain and legs that made every step a challenge.

But like Doncic, Marovt needed to be challenged. He needed goals to conquer.

“Some challenges were not-so-big goals. We didn't say in the beginning that he will run marathons,” Macek said. “But we said, ‘OK, you'll walk without walking sticks or without crutches one kilometer.' … When we will reach this, we will go, we will set another goal like, ‘OK, now you need to bend your knee. You need to, to lift your leg.' And every time when we pass those goals, we just advance, advance, advance.

“When he reached the goals and we set other goals, this motivated him. And with this kind of motivation, he was alive.”

Marovt sees the same thing in Doncic, the thrill of accomplishing something big accompanied by the rush from proving others wrong.

“I like that when people say that I'm not able to do that. Now when I run marathons, everybody say, ‘Tim, but you will injure your hips. You are damaging your body.’ And I'm just, ‘Yep, just keep going. Just keep going because I like to take big challenges.' … And I think this is also with Luka, he likes big challenges. He loves when people doubt him. Especially like that trade.”

The biggest challenges for the Lakers are still to come, the playoffs set to start at the end of next week with the goal of Doncic winning his first NBA championship coming into focus. Wednesday in Dallas will be full of emotion, reminding Doncic of what he lost when the Mavericks traded him — a fan base that adored him, a city that he thought would be home his entire career.

Yet luckily for the Lakers, it’ll remind Doncic that the Mavericks ultimately didn’t believe in him for their future. And Marovt knows how people like him and Doncic handle hearing things like that.

“We have the same habits here because we get more excited and more motivated when people think it's not possible. And we just like to work hard and just show up and show everybody that they were wrong,” Marovt said. “Don't get me wrong, this is not personally to just to prove something to somebody else. Of course, in the first stage, everything we do is for our own [self]. But yeah, I think this is just to get more motivated to keep going and to show the world that everything is possible if we really put our mind into it and work hard.

“And since Luka got traded, I know that in a few weeks, he would be unstoppable.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Luka Dončić returns to Dallas: Mavs plan tribute video, place shirts on seats for traded star originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Luka Dončić is set to return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night — but this time, in a Lakers jersey.

The five-time All-NBA guard will face the Dallas Mavericks for only the second time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis. The deal was one of the most shocking in recent NBA history, pairing Dončić with LeBron James and leaving Dallas to build around a new core.

The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.

Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.

Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.

Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center,  with fans flooding the comment section.

ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.

How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game

The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.

How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game

Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.

Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.

Luka Dončić returns to Dallas: Mavs plan tribute video, place shirts on seats for traded star originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Luka Dončić is set to return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night — but this time, in a Lakers jersey.

The five-time All-NBA guard will face the Dallas Mavericks for only the second time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis. The deal was one of the most shocking in recent NBA history, pairing Dončić with LeBron James and leaving Dallas to build around a new core.

The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.

NBC 5 News

Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.

Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.

Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center,  with fans flooding the comment section.

ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.

How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game

The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.

How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game

Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.

Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.

Luka Dončić returns to Dallas: Mavs plan tribute video, place shirts on seats for traded star originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Luka Dončić is set to return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night — but this time, in a Lakers jersey.

The five-time All-NBA guard will face the Dallas Mavericks for only the second time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis. The deal was one of the most shocking in recent NBA history, pairing Dončić with LeBron James and leaving Dallas to build around a new core.

The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.

NBC 5 News

Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.

Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.

Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center,  with fans flooding the comment section.

ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.

How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game

The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 4:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.

How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game

Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.

Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.

The Cleveland Cavaliers secured top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Victory means Kenny Atkinson's side will have home advantage in next week's play-offs following the completion of the regular season on Sunday.

Darius Garland top-scored with 38 points as the Cavaliers improved to 63-16 with three regular-season games remaining.

"You celebrate these moments," said Atkinson. "I think the guys are super happy in that locker room. We've had some ups and downs this past month, but I'm really proud of the guys.

"It's hard to win 63 games in this league, and it's hard to be the first seed. So, great accomplishment. We're hungry for more."

• Basketball scores and fixtures

Elsewhere, Luka Doncic was ejected in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers lost 136-120 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Doncic was dismissed for a second technical foul after an official said he was verbally abused by the Slovenian.

The 26-year-old insisted that he was responding to a courtside fan, but the decision stood.

"It was nothing to do with the ref, so I didn't really understand it," said Doncic. "It was tough, but you know that's on me too. I can't let my team down like that."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander top-scored with 42 points for the Thunder, who have already secured top spot in the Western Conference.

The Lakers need two wins from their remaining three regular-season games to guarantee third place.

Just behind the Lakers in fourth are the LA Clippers, who earned a fifth successive win by beating the San Antonio Spurs 122-117.

The Clippers have the same 47-32 record as the Denver Nuggets, the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies, but are ahead courtesy of NBA tiebreaker rules.

The Warriors occupy the final play-off position in sixth after beating the Phoenix Suns 133-95. The Grizzlies are seventh after winning 124-100 at the Charlotte Hornets.

The Clippers' playoff fortunes rest in their hands and all they have to do is keep winning, increasing their chances of being a top-six team in the crowded Western Conference.

If the team can clinch a top-six seed, the Clippers would avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament.

They took another step toward achieving their goal by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 122-117 on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome behind the dominance of center Ivica Zubac.

Zubac had 24 points and 20 rebounds, his fourth game of the season with at least 20 points and rebounds, tied for the second most in the NBA. He also had five assists, making Zubac the first Clipper since Elton Brand in 2005 to have at least 20 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in a game. It also was Zubac’s 12th straight double-double, the longest streak by a Clipper since Chris Paul had 14 in 2013.

Read more:Kawhi Leonard plays first back-to-back of season as Clippers keep pace in West race

“I just want to play my best, want to get better and help the team win,” Zubac said. “If that means I’m one of the best bigs, so be it. But I just want to win and help my teammates make their life easier on the court.”

The Clippers started this game slow, holding just a two-point lead at the half. But they opened the third quarter on an 18-3 run to take control, making sure not to blow this opportunity.

“We’re playing for something,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Like, we have a chance to do some special things and we can’t mess around with this game. I know a few of the guys were tired, James [Harden] being one of them. He said he felt like he was stuck in mud, but other guys stepped up.”

The Clippers have won five straight games and 12 of 14.

By getting this win despite Kawhi Leonard sitting out, the Clippers (47-32) moved to fourth in the West, one game behind the third-seeded Lakers. The Clippers, who have three regular-season games left, would have home-court advantage in the first round if they remain in the fourth spot.

Lue said that getting “whole,” having Harden take his game to another level and having new players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons ease their way into the system led to improved play.

Read more:Desperate to avoid play-in, Clippers blow out Mavericks for 10th win in 12 games

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Lue said. “But from where we come from and now where we’re at, just… We want to get in without having to play in the play-in game and so we’re taking it one step at a time, one game at a time. But if we are able to get home court, that would be very special, especially with how well we’ve been playing at home. Our guys have done a good job of getting to this point and so we control our own destiny.”

The Clippers decided not to have Leonard play in a second straight set of back-to-back games, citing right knee injury management as the reason for letting him rest against the Spurs.

Leonard is supposed to play Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, the team with the second-best record in the Western Conference. The Clippers then finish the regular season Friday at Sacramento and Sunday at Golden State.

Leonard played in his first back-to-back game of the season last weekend against the Dallas Mavericks. But Lue said Leonard was held out of the Spurs game “because we knew he would have three days off” before playing again.

“Instead, if he played a back-to-back now, he would have one day in between,” Lue said. “So, we just tried it out. It worked out. He feels good. But just being smart about it.”

Leonard’s absence didn’t stop the Clippers from rolling, with five of them scoring in double figures.

Norman Powell had 25 points. Harden came up one rebound short of a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Bogdanovic scored 19 off the bench and Derrick Jones Jr. added 18.

Harrison Barnes led the Spurs with 24 points.

“Home-court advantage is huge, especially in the playoffs,” Powell said. “It’s a tight race. It’s going to come down to the last game of the season. For us, we’re focusing on one game at a time. We’re not looking ahead and relaxing. We got to be able to pick up all these wins to finish out the season.

“We’re focusing on making sure we’re playing the brand of basketball that we want going into the playoffs. We definitely don’t want to be in that play-in. The fact that we’re in fourth is good, but we got to handle the Rockets tomorrow and then move on from there.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Knicks were a Jayson Tatum three away from getting their first win against Boston on Tuesday.

But the Celtics star hit a three with 2.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 107. In overtime, Boston out-executed the Knicks to walk out of Madison Square Garden with a two-point win.

Hindsight says that the Knicks should have fouled Tatum. OG Anunoby, who was defending Tatum on the play, acknowledged as much after the game.

“I should have fouled. I should have known to foul,” Anunoby said.

Tom Thibodeau said he didn’t want to foul Tatum because of the “time and situation” of the game.

“They inbounded the ball quickly [after Josh Hart’s made shot], [Tatum's] coming at us and then if he’s in the shooting motion, you’re giving him the three shots,” Thibodeau said. “It wasn’t off a dead-ball situation.”

Thibodeau said he’d want his team to foul in that situation if a player’s back is to the basket. The Knicks had a foul to give before they reached the bonus. But Thibodeau was concerned about Tatum putting up a shot while the Knicks committed the intentional foul.

“If he’s facing the basket and goes into his shooting motion, it’s three shots [from the free-throw line],” Thibodeau said.

A Knick fan looking for someone to blame would probably point the finger at either Thibodeau or Anunoby. Hart, though, thinks the blame lies with everyone on the floor – both players and coaches.

“I think we didn’t do a good enough job as a team, as players and coaching staff, of understanding the situation and making sure we came out of the timeout knowing exactly what we’re going to run, exactly the scenario if we make the shot, exactly the scenario if we miss the shot,” Hart said after the game. “Credit to them. Tatum hit a heck of a shot. I think we were caught off guard with them not calling a timeout, them just playing.

"But we’ve got to communicate better, all of us from the top down to make sure we understand the situation.”

Denver dysfunction

The Nuggets shocked the NBA on Tuesday by firing both head coach Michael Malone and lead executive Calvin Booth.

There was a significant rift between Malone and Booth. So it stood to reason that ownership would choose to keep either one or the other at the end of the season. That they ended up firing both just days before the playoffs was a surprise.

The friction between Malone and Booth dated back to the 2024 offseason, at the least.

The Denver coaches had been frustrated by recent front-office-led additions to the coaching staff, among other things. The Nuggets’ top decision-makers were unnerved by the short tenure of one of Booth’s significant front office hires. Ownership spent significant money to bring in an executive that Booth wanted only to see the executive depart after a brief stint with the team. Malone’s coaching – as others have reported – wasn’t being received well in the Nuggets locker room. That’s probably why ownership decided to let both Booth and Malone go.

Thibodeau has a relationship with both men.

“It’s an unfortunate part of the business,” the Knicks head coach said before Tuesday’s game. “I’ve known Michael for decades. Unbelievable family, great coach, so you hate to see it, particularly when he’d been there for so long. I also worked with Calvin Booth, who is a terrific guy as well. Michael just did a phenomenal job there, and it’s really unfortunate.

“[Malone] had a long run there, and he did a great job and he won a championship. The record speaks for itself.”

Malone and Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins were both fired late in the regular season by playoff-bound teams. Thibodeau was asked before the game about that strange trend.

“Yeah, it’s unusual, but I think it’s maybe a byproduct of where we are today with all that goes on,” he said. “And that’s where, hopefully, you have people that can remain calm. You win together, you lose together. You work through things together. And I think that’s an important part of this business.”

The Knicks were a defensive stop away from getting over the hump Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, but Jayson Tatum's triple with 3.1 seconds left in regulation tied the game and forced overtime. Five minutes later, the Celtics (59-20) swept New York (50-29) for the regular season in a 119-117 final.

"They're the defending champion," said Tom Thibodeau, whose Knicks fall to 0-4 against Boston in 2024-25. "Until someone proves that they can beat 'em, they're defending their championship. We know that there's a lot of work for us to do. We're still working through things. I thought Jalen (Brunson) gave us really good minutes. That's a big plus. Each game, he'll get better and better. But the playoffs will be here shortly, so there's urgency to this."

Boston previously beat New York 132-109 on Oct. 22, 131-104 on Feb. 8 and 118-105 on Feb. 23.

"I think it's something we can build off," said Brunson, who scored 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and dished nine assists in 38 minutes of his second game back from an ankle injury that kept him out for a month. "There's a lot of things, positive, that we can take from this game. There's some negative things we can take.

"I think that's every game, not just this game in particular. But it's a little disappointing, just knowing that we fought back and had the chance."

Behind the Celtics as the Eastern Conference's third seed, the Knicks could get a second-round matchup with Boston soon enough.

"I think we did a good job of meeting their aggression, rebounding the ball better this game than other games, and just all-around better game, the execution," said Karl-Anthony Towns, who led New York with 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting while adding 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. "It gave us a better chance to win today, but they're a pretty good team.

"Give them credit where credit's due. Defending champions. They did exactly what defending champions do, keep staying disciplined, and they found themselves winning that game at the end."

The Lakers had equity, earning it in a dominant win Sunday afternoon against the best team in the West.

They had reasons to punt on Tuesday's rematch with the Oklahoma City Thunder, namely a game on Wednesday in Dallas and a schedule that demanded they win just two more times to secure the third seed in their conference, putting them in strong position for a deep playoff run.

And Monday, when they issued an injury report with the bulk of their rotation listed as “questionable,” it sure seemed like the Lakers were going to let big-picture thinking get in the way of the game in front of them.

But the message from JJ Redick was clear.

“We can control whether or not we get the [No. 3] seed and we've got four chances to get two wins,” the Lakers coach said before Tuesday's game. “I'd like to win them all. So yeah, that's the thought."

The Lakers played hard, they played with passion. They made mistakes and turned the ball over but they fought. They and the Thunder delivered on the kind of big-game intensity you’d want when two of the NBA’s top teams meet in April.

And then Luka Doncic got ejected.

“It was a great game. It was a great game that unfortunately didn't get to finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision making on some individuals' parts," Redick said.

Luka Doncic was ejected after picking up a second technical foul. pic.twitter.com/NGL3O3rgfy

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 9, 2025

Official J.T. Orr ejected Doncic, who already had been called for a technical foul in the second half, after Doncic scored to put the Lakers up in the fourth and yelled in Orr’s direction. The Lakers and Doncic argued he was yelling at a courtside fan but it didn’t matter. Orr thought he was the target, according to a postgame statement from crew chief Tony Brothers, and Doncic’s night was done.

And essentially so were the Lakers, headed to a 136-120 loss and forced to settle for a split.

The Thunder outscored them by 17 in the 7 minutes 40 seconds after Doncic got ejected.

“You can see it that it happened. But I never got a fan ejected. Never. But if he's gonna talk, I'm gonna talk back like always,” Doncic said. “So that had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn't really understand.”

Doncic received his first technical arguing for Jarred Vanderbilt when the Lakers’ reserve forward felt he was fouled. One possession after Doncic was thrown out after his second technical, Orr called Vanderbilt for a taunting technical foul after blocking Alex Caruso’s shot at the rim.

“The game was just weird as hell after that moment,” LeBron James said.

The Thunder blitzed the Lakers in the final six minutes, pulling away for what ended up looking like an easy win, the atmosphere clearly deflated from Los Angeles’ perspective.

“I mean it's a playoff game,” guard Austin Reaves said of the on-court energy. “I said the atmosphere was amazing. And everybody was competing. ... And for the game to kind of get unraveled in that situation, it was unfortunate, like I said, but we have to be better as a group to control that from happening."

James finished with 28 points, Reaves had 24 and Doncic had 23. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 42 points, the Thunder turning the Lakers’ 19 turnovers into 29 points.

Despite the turnovers, the Lakers managed the energy from the Thunder — a team the Lakers beat badly Sunday — in the first half of the rematch. They largely matched the Thunder shot for shot, with Doncic and Reaves leading the way, and in the third quarter, the Lakers’ defense took over, holding the Thunder to 17 points.

But following Doncic’s ejection in the fourth, the Thunder made a push. Redick said after the game he was too slow to call time out to try to snuff out Oklahoma City’s momentum, and the game quickly slipped away.

There’s no time for emotional hangovers. The Lakers play Doncic’s former team, the Mavericks, on Wednesday in Dallas, still needing to stack wins in order to guarantee themselves a top-three seed.

“Of course, there's gonna be a lot of emotion for me,” Doncic said. “I don't really know what to expect. I don't know how I'm gonna feel, honestly. I'm looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates — ex-teammates. It's gonna be very emotional for me, for sure.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Knicks' 2024-25 regular season against the Boston Celtics ended in an 0-4 record with Tuesday's 119-117 overtime loss.

Takeaways

1. Ex-Knick Kristaps Porzingis turned the clock back with a 34-point effort, going 11-of-19 shooting and hitting on an 8-for-13 clip from deep in 39 minutes. Fourteen of his points came in a pivotal third quarter where the Celtics (59-20) outscored New York (50-29) 31-20, turning a 58-52 Knicks halftime lead into an 83-78 Boston edge entering the fourth. Porzingis drilled a 30-foot trey with 40.1 seconds left in overtime that served as the dagger, putting New York down 115-112. He was the difference in a game where each side needed a third option to step up.
2. While Karl-Anthony Towns tied Porzingis for a game-high 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds in 43 minutes for the double-double, his quiet third quarter with only a bucket came at a time when Porzingis caught fire. Compounding the Knicks' inability to keep pace with the Celtics, Mikal Bridges (14 points on 6-of-15 shooting and a costly turnover late in the overtime period) did not pick up the slack on either end of the floor while OG Anunoby (13 points on 5-of-13 shooting) came back down to earth after Sunday's breakout game against the Phoenix Suns.
3. Fortunately for New York, Jalen Brunson continues to trend in an upward trajectory as he gets his conditioning back. Brunson's second game back from a month-long injury absence saw him complement Towns with 27 points and nine assists in 38 minutes. Jayson Tatum, to his credit, was simply better.
4. In a game where the Knicks had a chance to prove that they could hang with the Celtics or at least mount their momentum into the playoffs before a potential postseason rematch, Boston gave New York a possible reality check. Not only does the Knicks' regular season end with four losses to the Celtics, who are the Eastern Conference's second seed, but Tom Thibodeau's team remains winless against contenders like the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers at 0-3.

Who's the MVP?

Tatum, who rose above co-star Jaylen Brown's six points in 22 minutes with 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting over 47 minutes. Notably, Tatum's game-tying triple with 3.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter forced overtime and gave Boston the life that it needed to survive.

Highlights

Jalen Brunson is in the top ten for three pointers made in Knicks history 👏

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/TpOTnvmoBv

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 9, 2025

OG's defense leads to a Brunson bucket 💪

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/l8Wf96XFW7

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 9, 2025

BLOCKED BY ROBINSON!

(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/gBzwASkSUr

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 9, 2025

What's next

The Knicks are at the Detroit Pistons for Thursday's 7 p.m. game. Friday's 7:30 p.m. home finale against the Cavs follows before Sunday's 1 p.m. tipoff at the Nets closes the regular season.

NEW YORK (AP) — Trendon Watford scored 22 points, Drew Timme had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench and the Brooklyn Nets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-114 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game home losing streak.

Timme completed a three-point play with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to give the Nets the first double-digit lead of the game at 83-71.

The Pelicans rallied. Antonio Reeves made a reverse layup while being fouled with 1:29 left and added the free throw to pull New Orleans within 116-109. After a Timme miss, Reeves added a 3-pointer at 53.1 to get within four.

But, Tosan Evbuomwan sealed it with a 3-pointer at the other end with 35 seconds left.

Dariq Whitehead scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half for Brooklyn (26-53). Evbuomwan and Nic Claxton each scored 13, Maxwell Lewis had 12 and Tyson Etienne 11. Reece Beekman had a career-high 10 assists with just one turnover.

Reeves and Karlo Matkovic each scored 17 for New Orleans (21-58). Jose Alvarado added 16 points, Jamal Cain had 15 and Keion Brooks Jr. 14. Elfrid Payton finished with 10 assists.

New Orleans lost its fourth straight road game and is 7-33 away from home.

Takeaways

Pelicans: The lottery-bound Pelicans, who have their worst record in 20 years, have shelved seven of their top eight scorers with long-term injuries, including Zion Williamson.

Nets: Brooklyn completed a season sweep of New Orleans for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.

Key moment

The Nets scored 43 points in the third quarter to pull away. It was their most points in any quarter this season.

Key stat

Brooklyn finished 17 of 40 from 3-point range, with Whitehead making 4 of 6 first-half attempts.

Up next

Both teams play Thursday. New Orleans continues its road trip at Milwaukee, while the Nets host the Atlanta Hawks.

To no one's surprise, Steph bounces back in Warriors' rout of Suns originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Unpredictability is one of the beauties of sports. There’s no telling what’s going to happen next, despite what the data suggests. Isn’t that what makes Warriors star Steph Curry so special, too? 

Even though his father, Dell, played 16 years in the NBA, there wasn’t a script written for Steph’s Hollywood story. His father’s alma mater Virginia Tech didn’t want him. Neither did any big college. Or five other teams in the 2009 NBA Draft, including the Minnesota Timberwolves in both their chances. 

An undersized guard who joined the Warriors looking closer to a freshman in high school than an NBA rookie beat what the data said long ago. But his play in the Warriors’ blowout 133-95 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at PHX Arena was oh so predictable. 

History said so, as did knowing how Curry the creature operates. 

Curry has been held to single digits twice during the 2024-25 NBA season. Rookie Jaylen Wells and the Memphis Grizzlies smothered him on Dec. 19 when Curry only scored two points in a 41-point loss, where he missed all six of his 3-point attempts and seven shots overall. Curry’s response was scorching the Minnesota Timberwolves for 31 points, going 10 of 21 from the field and 7 of 16 on threes. 

In the fourth quarter of that 10-point win, Curry tapped into pure savage mode. Stopping him wasn’t an option on the menu. Curry scored 13 points for the quarter, but 11 in a flurry that lasted one minute and 29 seconds of game time. 

The second time was Sunday when a combination of Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Fred VanVleet and the Houston Rockets’ bully-ball defensive game plan held Curry to three points, making one of his eight 3-point attempts and missing both 2-pointers he tried. 

Within the first five minutes Tuesday, Curry had surpassed the total points he scored the previous game. The bounce-back is real. Curry didn’t take a shot in the first six-plus minutes of the game and then scored 13 points in the next four minutes and 40 seconds. At halftime he was up to 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. At the 3:30 mark of the third quarter, his night was done with the Warriors up by 32 points. 

Curry in 26 minutes scored 25 points. He was a plus-31 with nine rebounds and six assists, and shot 9 of 17 overall, as well as 3 of 9 on threes.

“I loved how Draymond [Green], Steph [Curry] and Jimmy [Butler] and our vets really established the tone,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Even before the game started at shootaround, they were locked in and it showed right from the onset.”

There wasn’t a Thompson twin or Dillon The Villain or a VanVleet on the floor. Not a Tari Eason, too. 

The Warriors picked on any defender they wanted from Phoenix’s 27th-ranked defensive rating, 23 slots below Houston. All Bradley Beal could do was laugh when Curry hit him with his famed look-away 3-pointer in the first quarter. 

Beal's reaction to this Steph look-away 3 😅 pic.twitter.com/o1Z5rEkeRO

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 9, 2025

But this is what Curry does. 

When the Warriors got crushed by the Cleveland Cavaliers one game after a big win over the Celtics in Boston, Curry responded with 36 points in a statement win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After scoring just 10 points on 2-of-13 shooting in a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 23, he dropped 38 points and made eight threes against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas. He closed 2024 with a clunker of 11 points in another loss to the Cavs, and then opened 2025 with 30 points and eight threes to smack the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The game prior to him making 56 points appear in front of the Orlando Magic, Curry only scored 15. One week ago he gave the Grizzlies 52 points, a game after scoring 13 while the Warriors had zero problems playing the San Antonio Spurs. 

Every all-time great has something special the eye can’t see. It lives inside, not only in heart and head but as the central nervous system to the soul. A game that doesn’t live up to Curry’s standards fuels that invisible super power. 

Enjoying the party from the bench, Curry was filled with laughs, cheers and maybe even a yawn or two as he earned the extra rest a 38-point victory rewards him with. The way he moved – slicing, dicing, draining shots and dishing alley-oops – told the real story of Steph before the barrage was on.

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