Category: Basketball

Davis issues stark warning to Rockets' Green after Draymond comments originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s not wise to give Draymond Green and the Warriors bulletin board material in the playoffs.

Rockets guard Jalen Green might have done just that after his heated interaction with Warriors veteran forward Draymond Green at the end of Golden State’s win over Houston in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series on Saturday night and his comments afterward.

Draymond and Jalen Green got into it after the final buzzer 😲 pic.twitter.com/499g2jLAEP

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 27, 2025

“Just talking,” Jalen said of his fiery interaction with Draymond. “Steph [Curry] had a good game. The reason they won. Just talking. [Draymond] can’t really do much of anything else, so talking is his only way.”

The elder Green responded to the Rockets star’s postgame comments on the latest episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show With Baron Davis,” where he sarcastically brushed off the 23-year-old’s dig at him.

“That’s cool, I don’t do much. That’s fine. I don’t do much,” Draymond said. “I just do what I have to do, but I don’t do much. No problem, I’m happy he sees it that way. That’s incredible. Shout out to him.”

Green’s co-host and former Warriors guard, Davis, chimed in and issued a stark warning to the young Rockets guard.

“A lot of times those are like blanket statements, because you can start believing that and then … that’s how you get your ass kicked,” Davis said. “There’s a fine line between respect and disrespect. You’ve got to be careful because it could translate on the court as ‘Oh, I don’t feel like closing out’ or ‘I ain’t going to try and box out’ or ‘Oh, I’m just going to let him drive to the hole.’

“So be careful, that’s what I would say to the young fella. Especially in the playoffs, since it’s a different level. It’s a different level of talk and it’s a different level of talking and backing it up when it comes to the playoffs, and we’ve seen that countless amount of times with really young players going to the media and almost giving that energy out to themselves.”

With the win on Saturday, Green and the Warriors lead Green and the Rockets 2-1 in the series before the two teams square off again on Monday at Chase Center.

The elder Green was relatively quiet earlier in the series until the second half of Game 3, where his energy and defense helped fuel Golden State’s win without star forward Jimmy Butler.

And now, it’s safe to assume Jalen’s comments only have further ignited Draymond and the Warriors’ fire heading into a pivotal Game 4.

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Ageless Al Horford adds to his legend with Game 4 block party vs. Magic originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Full admission: We’ve written this story before. You can go back in the archives and probably find 14 different versions of us gushing about ageless Al Horford’s impact. At this point, it feels like we’re just filling in an NBA Mad Lib.

At (CURRENT AGE, REFERENCE UPCOMING BIRTHDAY) years old, ageless Al Horford continues to be a defensive menace for the Celtics, holding the (ENTER PLAYOFF OPPONENT)’s superstar tandem of (SUPERSTAR X) and (SUPERSTAR Y) to just (X) points on (X) of (X) shooting with (X) blocks as Boston took a commanding (SERIES WIN-LOSS RECORD) lead.

In Sunday’s get-right Game 4 win over the Magic, the soon-to-be 39 year-old Horford held the age 23-and-under tandem of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting with three blocks, per NBA tracking.

The Magic mustered just 11 points on 5-of-19 shooting overall as Horford swatted five shots in Boston’s 107-98 triumph at the Kia Center.

The Celtics own a 3-1 series lead with a chance to close out the Magic on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Horford, per usual, has been fantastic throughout this series. Over four games, the Magic are shooting a meager 32.8 percent overall against Horford (21 of 64 overall), which is 12 percent below expected output. Among the 101 players with more than 25 shots defended this postseason, Horford ranks second in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage, trailing only Kawhi Leonard (9-of-38 FG, 23.7 DFG%).

What more can we say about Horford? Every time we write this article, it gets slightly more preposterous what he’s doing at an advanced age, but also somehow less absurd because you wouldn’t expect anything less.

The same guy who spent his early 30s locking up Joel Embiid and his mid 30s handcuffing Giannis Antetokounmpo is now tormenting a whole new generation of offensive-minded NBA big men. They get older, Horford seemingly stays the same age.

It’s a good thing the Hall of Fame shortened its waiting period to two years after retirement, because at this rate, Horford is going to play until he’s 45 and we’d be waiting until 2036 to watch him get his spot in Springfield.

Horford is still tidying up that resume having admitted before the postseason that he’s even hungrier for a second NBA title than he was for last year’s crown. The Celtics have done everything to limit the wear and tear on Horford during his time in Boston, but here we are in the playoffs, and due to injuries at other spots, Horford has started three of the four games against Orlando while averaging 31.8 minutes per contest (up from 27.7 in the regular season).

In Sunday’s win, Horford became only the second player in NBA history to record five blocks in a game at age 38 or older, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He occasionally picked up the Orlando ball-handlers at near full court to force the Magic to eat up clock before getting into their half court sets.

It doesn’t quite make sense that Boston’s defensive rating is its worst when Horford is on the floor in this series (111.9 in Horford’s 127 minutes, 91.3 with him off the court). But his individual impact has been undeniable.

Horford felt vital to Boston’s chances to repeat entering the postseason. The way the bracket is shaking out, the Celtics should see plenty of size on their journey, and Horford will get all sorts of defensive challenges.

But whether he’s jousting with Banchero and forcing a tough fadeaway, or hustling over to swat Cory Joseph straight to Kissimmee, Horford has been exceptional yet again.

When Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take their turns at the podium, they relentlessly gush about Horford’s impact, with Tatum pointing out Horford’s “heart of a champion” after Game 4.

Let’s be honest: We’re probably going to write this story again in a couple weeks. We’ll plug in some new numbers about how Horford is faring against Karl Anthony Towns or Evan Mobley. Just keep clicking and acting like it’s a fresh take.

Because, like Horford, this story never gets old.

Steph awarded selfless NBA honor for Warriors' 2024-25 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry added another accolade to his already impressive trophy case.

The Warriors superstar is the recipient of the 2024-25 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, the NBA announced on Monday.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2024-25 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year.

The award recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment to his team. pic.twitter.com/57iiqHNcEi

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 28, 2025

As mentioned, the award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment to his team.”

Your 2024-25 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year,
Stephen Curry 🤝 pic.twitter.com/VWyhDloZRw

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 28, 2025

The 37-year-old Curry, who has dealt with nagging injuries all season, did just about everything he could to lead Golden State back to the playoffs. Whether it was young teammates, like Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post, or veterans like Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, Curry was by their side every step of the way and elevated each one of their games both on and off the court.

Surprisingly, this is Curry’s first time ever winning the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, which was first presented in the 2012-13 NBA season.

However, as we have learned time and time again with Curry, there’s a first time for everything. Even in Year 16.

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Magic coach's complaint about officiating validates Celtics' approach originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

We’ve reached the gamesmanship portion of the Boston Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic.

After Boston’s 95-93 loss to Orlando in Game 3, Jaylen Brown shared some pointed comments about the Magic’s physical play, which included three flagrant fouls in three games and a Cole Anthony takedown of Brown that dislocated the Celtics star’s finger.

“There might be a fight break out or something,” Brown said Friday night. “Because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball, and the refs are not controlling the environment. So, it is what it is.

“If you want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”

While the Magic ended their flagrant foul streak in Sunday’s Game 4, they continued their physical style of play — but this time it cost them. Orlando committed 24 personal fouls, resulting in the Celtics making a season-high 30 free throws on 32 attempts en route to a 107-98 win.

After the game, Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley decided to play his own officiating card.

“We were attacking the basket the exact same way,” Mosley told reporters. “Now, we didn’t knock them down when we got there. We had to understand that the calls, the whistle was going to head in that direction after what’s been said. So we have to continue to just be smart there, hold our ground, get positioning earlier and make sure we show our hands.”

Mosley apparently feels that Brown’s comments influenced the officiating in Game 4 and led to Sunday’s discrepancy in free throws (Orlando made just 14 of 20 free throw attempts). So, this appeared to be Mosley’s attempt to lobby the refs ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 and swing the foul margin closer to the Magic’s favor.

“I always look at our ability to attack the rim. … Them shooting, let’s just say, 26 free throws before the back stretch; you look at those margins and they’re very similar attacks, but it’s not the same foul count,” Mosley said. “Whether that’s the physicality part of it or not, it’s just something we look at.”

Campaigning for calls is par for the course in the NBA playoffs, so Mosley’s comments aren’t too surprising. But they are a validation of Boston’s response to Orlando’s physicality.

After multiple hard fouls by the Magic in the first three games, the Celtics easily could have responded with some message-sending fouls of their own. Instead, they maintained their composure and struck the balance of matching Orlando’s physicality without racking up fouls — especially down the stretch.

The Celtics committed just two personal fouls in the fourth quarter, playing aggressive defense without fouling with the game in the balance. The Magic, meanwhile, racked up eight fouls, leading to 14 free throw attempts for Boston, which made all 14 to ice Game 4.

Jayson Tatum was the primary beneficiary, repeatedly getting to the basket late in the game to make 9 of 9 free throw attempts in the fourth. He finished the night 14-for-14 from the charity stripe with 37 points and a spot in the NBA history books.

“Just poise. Poise. Having an understanding of your environment,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum after the game. “Obviously, some shot-making there, but at the same time, physical drives and getting to the free-throw line.”

The Magic are a very physical team, but Boston’s ability to maintain its poise is a big reason why it owns a 3-1 series lead, and could be moving on to Round 2 as soon as Tuesday. Tip-off for Game 5 at TD Garden is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

Why Draymond waking up spells trouble for Rockets vs. Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

While praising longtime teammate Stephen Curry’s marvelous finish in the Warriors’ Game 3 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, Draymond Green also sprinkled a bit of criticism upon himself.

Curry, Green explained, excelled as the team’s emotional accelerant, a role customarily filled by him.

“You know, oftentimes I try to bring that energy, and I didn’t have it,” Green said. “And he found it, and then I followed him, and we all followed him.”

Green “didn’t have it,” and didn’t hide from his self-awareness. Truth is, he hasn’t been his usual hyperkinetic self in the first three games of his first-round Western Conference playoff series. It’s always erroneous to measure his impact by individual statistics, and those have been relatively ordinary. What’s more noticeable, though, is that of his inconsistent energy. It waxes and wanes, moments of his famous “fire” interspersed with moments of relative lethargy.

Draymond is, particularly on offense, blending into the scenery much more often than generating action with blowtorch intensity.

It was enough to wonder if, at age 35, he still could summon the vitality that made him such a game-changer.

“They’re trying to take away Draymond’s playmaking and take him out of our offensive scheme as best they can,” coach Steve Kerr conceded on Sunday. “So, this is not an easy series for Dray.”

Green typically lives for the postseason. His pulse quickens, his focus narrows, his voice adds a few decibels, and his raging spirit can spread throughout the locker room. It’s seen. Felt. Off and on the court.

“This is a very difficult series in a lot of ways,” Kerr said, citing the junkyard-dog defense of Houston’s Fred VanVleet. “And they’re doing a good job of trying to get him out of places where he can usually impact the game on the offensive end. The big challenge for Dray is to embrace that, accept the fact that we’re going to generate offense elsewhere, and he can still control the game defensively, regardless of what happens at the offensive end. And I think that’s that was the case (Saturday) night.”

A more familiar Draymond was seen in the second half of Game 3. After a low-impact first half – three points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal, three turnovers, minus-3 over 17 minutes – Draymond blasted off after intermission. He contributed four points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, one steal, two turnovers, plus-15 over 17 minutes. They tell part of the story.

His spirit was visible. He scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter. He committed three fouls in an 81-second span. Hyped up, he took his four fouls to the bench to cool off for a couple minutes. Upon returning, he played the last five minutes as if on a rescue mission. A block on Dillon Brooks. An assist to Brandin Podziemski. A block on Alperen Şengün. A swipe of a VanVleet pass.

“His fourth quarter defense was incredible,” Kerr said. “But he has to maintain that, that poise and that edge even through the physicality and the offensive stuff that they’re taking away from him.”

Maybe Green, who shared a contentious postgame exchange with Houston guard Jalen Green, was inspired by the fire started by Curry.

“I thought it was beautiful,” Green said of Curry supplying what he usually does. “He realized that it wasn’t there (for me), and he took it upon himself to bring that type of force to the game, and we all fell in line and followed.”

Maybe, too, Draymond sniffed the savory scent of victory. Winning would give the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They would be in position to silence the nettlesome young Rockets and advance to the conference semifinals.

If that Draymond shows up for Game 4 on Monday night, there might not be a Game 6.

If that Draymond doesn’t show up for Game 4, the Rockets might find an avenue to even the series at 2-2 and regain homecourt advantage upon returning to Houston for Game 5.

Yes, Green still is that important. Has been since 2014. Still is in 2025.

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Defending champions the Boston Celtics held off the Orlando Magic 107-98 to win game four of the first round of the NBA play-offs.

Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and claimed 14 rebounds, making all 14 of his free-throw attempts, including four in the final minute.

The Magic levelled the game at 91-91 in the fourth quarter but the Celtics took control by scoring 10 of the next 11 points at Kia Center in Orlando.

Boston, who are seeded second, are 3-1 ahead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.

The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers also took 3-1 leads in the East.

The Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-103, with the Bucks losing point guard Damian Lillard to a non-contact injury.

The 34-year-old, who has recently returned from a blood clot in his right calf, hurt his left leg in the first quarter and will have an MRI scan on Monday.

The Knicks edged out the Detroit Pistons 94-93, but there was controversy at the end when the Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr missed what would have been a winning shot at the buzzer with no foul called as he was knocked by Josh Hart.

In the Western Conference first-round series the Los Angeles Lakers fell to a 113-116 defeat by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Luka Doncic scored 38 points and LeBron James 27 for the Lakers, but they will have to rally from 3-1 down when they host game five on Wednesday.

If it wasn’t clear before Game 4, Jalen Brunson’s play on Sunday removed any doubt that he’s the best player in this Knicks-Pistons series. 

Brunson had 15 points and two assists in the fourth quarter to lead the Knicks back from a 10-point deficit in the Game 4 win. He finished with 32 points on 50 percent shooting, 11 assists, two turnovers and two free-throw attempts. 

This is no slight to Cade Cunningham, who is an incredible young player. If he remains healthy, Cunningham is going to be one of the top guards in the NBA for a long time. But to say Cunningham is the best player in this series is to ignore what’s happening on the court. 

Another Knick outplaying his competition? Tom Thibodeau. The oft-criticized head coach pushed the right button often in Detroit this week. 

After taking just three shots in the second half of Game 2, Karl-Anthony Towns has gotten the ball – and delivered – over the past two games. 

In Game 3, the Knicks got Towns open looks from the perimeter early on. 

On Sunday, they got him touches deep in the paint.

The Knicks built double-digit leads early in both games.  

If you’re going to criticize Thibodeau for Towns’ play in Game 2, doesn’t he also deserve some credit for what Towns did over four days in Detroit?

“(There’s) a lot of people who don’t give him that credit, but I’m happy to say he puts us in position where we’re prepared, we’re ready, and he lets us play,” Brunson said on Sunday.  “… He lets us talk things out. He talks things out, too. But for the most part, he’s gonna let us play, he’s gonna let us figure it out, and we’re gonna have to figure it out together. He puts us in position to be successful, and that’s how he’s been since I’ve known him.”

The Knicks have succeeded often under Thibodeau. They have reached the playoffs in four of his five seasons as head coach. They’ve won 50 games in back-to-back seasons. Still, the stakes were high for Thibodeau coming into this series. If the Knicks failed to get out of the first round, there would have been a lot of tough conversations in the offseason. Those conversations would include an assessment of the head coach. 

But Thibodeau’s Knicks took care of business in Detroit this week. They come home with a 3-1 series edge. 

The last time the Knicks took two straight road games in a playoff series, Thibodeau was a 41-year-old assistant coach. 

Rick Brunson was a 26-year-old guard. It’s been a while. 

That Knicks team reached the NBA Finals. This Knicks team has the same championship aspirations. 

First, they have to finish off Detroit on Tuesday. No matter how it plays out that night at the Garden, you can be sure Thibodeau will have the Knicks well prepared. 

“We’re always, I feel like, one of the best prepared teams in the league,” Josh Hart said Sunday. “That’s a credit to him and his philosophy. Now we’ve gotta roll that into Game 5.” 

As the Lakers departed from the court at Target Center with their heads down, white towels were being whirled everywhere around them.

The crowd was doing more than celebrating the home team’s 116-113 victory on Sunday afternoon. The 19,289 fans here could see what was happening. They could feel what was happening.

Four games into this first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers haven’t figured out what to do.

Read more:LeBron and Lakers falter late in loss to Minnesota, moving to brink of elimination

They haven’t figured out how to stop Anthony Edwards. They haven’t figured out how to stop the Timberwolves from overwhelming them in the paint. They haven’t figured out how to stop their opponents from grabbing offensive rebound after offensive rebound.

Now, they’re down three games to one, and another defeat will finish their season.

Two days after stomach problems reduced him to practically being an on-court spectator, Luka Doncic returned to score 38 points.

That didn’t matter.

LeBron James contributed in every dimension of the game, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks.

That didn’t matter either.

At this stage of the season, against this particular opponent, their shortcomings are outweighing the strengths, and coach JJ Redick doesn’t sound as if he has any answers.

“Certainly played well enough to win,” Redick said. “Gave the effort to win.”

Redick complained about a couple of late-game calls,and he was justified in doing so, but a referee’s whistle won’t be what saves the season.

The Timberwolves present matchup problems for the Lakers, and the Lakers might not have the necessary personnel to reverse their deficit.

As well as Doncic and James played, Edwards outshined them both, scoring a game-high 43 points while also contributing nine rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers’ desperation was perhaps best represented by Redick’s second-half substitutions: There weren’t any.

“We just made a decision at halftime,” Redick said.

The team’s third-quarter starters — Doncic, James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith — played the entire second half.

“Those guys,” Redick said, “gave a lot.”

The Lakers scored a series-high 36 points in the third quarter to take a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but predictably ran out of gas against a Timberwolves team with a deeper roster.

“This is the playoffs,” Doncic said. “Fatigue shouldn’t play a role.”

That doesn’t mean it won’t.

“It was tough,” Finney-Smith acknowledged.

The team’s lack of a center came into even sharper focus, as Jaxson Hayes never reentered the game after picking up his second foul just four minutes into the game.

If the Lakers are to come back from this three-games-to-one deficit, it will start with Doncic, who was said by Redick to be throwing up “all afternoon” leading up to their Game 3 defeat.

Doncic said he spent the day between Games 3 and 4, “mostly laying down.”

“Today,” Doncic said, “I felt better.”

And the Lakers started better.

They did in the opening quarter what Redick implored them to do, which was to take better care of the basketball.

They committed only one turnover in the first 12 minutes of the game, after which they were ahead, 32-28.

They weren’t as careful in the second quarter, however.

The Lakers turned over the ball four times in the opening five minutes of the quarter. Their lead quickly vanished, and they went into halftime with a 61-58 deficit.

The Lakers deserved to be down by more, but James and Doncic kept them in the game by themselves, the two stars carrying nearly the entire offensive load as Reaves’ minutes were limited by early foul trouble.

James and Doncic scored 22 and 21 points in the first half, respectively. The last time the Lakers had multiple players score 20 or more points in a single half of a postseason game was on May 31, 2002 against the Sacramento Kings.

The two players who did it then: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Only three Lakers other than James and Doncic scored in the first half: Hachimura, Finney-Smith and Hayes.

The Lakers opened the second half with a 14-0 run, with a three-pointer by Reaves extending their lead to 72-61. They were ahead by as many as 12 points, only for the Timberwolves to do against them what they have done the entire series.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

At the end of the day, it's what happens on the floor that matters. Everything else is just noise.

And on the floor in Detroit just before the buzzer sounded in Game 4, the referees did not blow their whistle for a foul in the Knicks' 94-93 win over the Pistons to take a 3-1 series lead in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs on Sunday.

But after the game, referee David Guthrie, the game's crew chief, acknowledged that on the final play – Tim Hardaway Jr. shooting a three-pointer from the corner – the non-call for the contact made by Josh Hart after Hardaway's pump-fakeshould have been called a foul.

"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play," Guthrie told the pool reporter. "After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called."

The contact wasn't hard to see, and through the Knicks' bench erupting onto the floor in celebration, the lone figure in blue, Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff, entered the fray to confront the referees, gesticulating wildly. It was all in vain.

"There's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot," Bickerstaff said matter-of-factly in his postgame news conference. "I don't know any other way around it. There's contact on his jump shot. The guy [Hart] leaves his feet. He's at Timmy’s mercy. I repeat: There's contact on his jump shot."

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was heated after this no-call to end the game 👀 pic.twitter.com/gtSvQPkVTU

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 27, 2025

Hart, in his typical fashion, admitted to everything but confessed to nothing.

"Did I make contact with him? Yeah. I made contact with him," Hart said, speaking from the locker room a few minutes before Guthrie's comments were made public. "Was it legal? I don’t know. We'll let the two-minute report [judge] that.

"He shot faked, I feel like I kind of got there. I feel like I was kind of straight up. He kind of jumped into me, trying to get the foul. At the end of the game, it's tough."

Hardaway needed fewer words to say more or less the same thing: "You guys saw it. Blatant."

Hart, who finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals in 42 minutes, didn't have much sympathy for Hardaway.

"We don't pay attention to it," he said of the referee's calls. "We go with whatever they call. Sometimes it benefits us, sometimes it doesn't."

But would he have called a foul there? "It went by so fast there, none of that went through my mind there," Hart said.

In a game that was noted for its physicality, there were just 17 fouls called on New York and 17 on Detroit, with the home team shooting 17 free throws to the visitors' 18.

"You wanna match their physicality," Karl-Anthony Towns, who committed five fouls, said. "It gives old-school vibes. I think this is great for kids watching who haven't been able to see old-school basketball, to see this kind of reminiscent game of old-school physicality. I'm just honored to be part of it."

Had the foul been called, Hardaway, an 85.5 percent free-throw shooter on the season, would have had three attempts to make two to win the game. Instead, he finished 0-for-1 from the line in a one-point loss.