Category: Basketball

Basketball News

Posted on

Tom Thibodeau, Mikal Bridges had 'productive' meeting to clear the air ahead of Knicks' win

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau asked to meet with Mikal Bridges before Wednesday's overtime win against the Trail Blazers, looking to clear the air over the small forward's comments regarding starters' minutes, sources familiar with the situation told SNY's Ian Begley.

Sources described the meeting as "productive."

Bridges is averaging a career-high 37.8 minutes per night in his first season since being acquired from the Nets.

He is one of three Knicks who currently sit in the top-10 in the league in total minutes on the year with Jalen Brunson (2,162; 10th) and Josh Hart (2,307; 2nd) joining him.

The 28-year-old argued that giving the bench unit more playing time could help keep them fresh.

“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there."

The head coach countered that a conversation with Bridges did not take place and defended his minutes distribution.

“We never had a conversation about it,” Thibodeau said. “The facts are the facts. When you look at our team, and the way it works, Jalen plays 35 minutes, and I think he’s 20th or 21st in average minutes played. [Karl-Anthony Towns], who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He’s like 25th in the league in average minutes."

MSG Network's Mike Breen first noted on Wednesday night's broadcast that the two had talked before the game, and cameras caught the two chatting during the matchup.

Posted on

No. 17 BYU rides barrage of 18 3-pointers to ninth straight win, Big 12 Tournament semifinal game

BYU coach Kevin Young still remembers the day then-Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie pulled the up-and-coming assistant into a conference room and showed him what amounted to a heat map of 3-pointers. After moving onto the Phoenix Suns, then landing the head job at BYU last April, the 43-year-old Young found himself on the sideline at his first Big 12 Tournament on Thursday. It was the best spot in the building to watch his No. 17 Cougars go 18 of 36 from beyond the arc, setting a tourney record for made 3s, and rally for a 96-92 victory over No. 12 Iowa State.

Posted on

Union, Chick-Fil-A pair up for promotion: ‘Corner Kicken for Chicken'

Union, Chick-Fil-A pair up for promotion: ‘Corner Kicken for Chicken' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Piggybacking on the popularity of the Sixers’ wildly popular “Bricken for Chicken,” the Philadelphia Union has partnered with restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A for a promotion of their own.

The current top team in the Eastern Conference (3-0-0) today announced “Corner Kicken for Chicken,” which will continue through the 2027 MLS season.

https://twitter.com/PhilaUnion/status/1900216396497227841

For those unfamiliar with “Bricken for Chicken,” Sixers fans were rewarded with chicken nuggets when a Sixers’ opponent misses two free throws during the second half of every home game. If it happens multiple times in the same game, the amount of nuggets increases: Five for one instance, then eight, then an even dozen.

Similarly, for the Union’s “Corner Kicken for Chicken,” (as you could probably guess by now) fans score nugs if the Union score from a corner kick. And just like the Sixers, the more they score, the more nuggets for fans.

Fans can claim the offer on the Chick-Fil-A app until 10:30 a.m. the day after the Union’s game, and one claimed, they have three days to redeem.

Posted on

Social media reacts to Arkansas’ loss to Ole Miss

Arkansas basketball HC John Calipari. © Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC) lost Game 2 of the SEC Tournament, 83-80, to the Ole Miss Rebels on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Posted on

No. 17 BYU sets Big 12 tourney record with 18 3s, rallies past No. 12 Iowa St 96-92 in quarterfinals

Richie Saunders scored 23 points, hitting a crucial 3-pointer with less than a minute to go, and No. 17 BYU overcame a big game from Curtis Jones in a 96-92 victory over No. 12 Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday. Fousseyni Traore added 15 points and Trevin Knell had 14 for the fourth-seeded Cougars (24-8), who went 18 of 36 from beyond the arc to set a tournament record for made 3-pointers, and advanced to play No. 2 Houston or Colorado in the semifinals. Jones hit seven 3s of his own and scored 31 points, and Milan Momcilovic had 18 for the short-handed Cyclones (24-9), who had won their last four games at the Big 12 tourney, including their run to the championship a year ago.

Posted on

Watch Steph make his 4,000th 3-pointer in Warriors-Kings game

Watch Steph make his 4,000th 3-pointer in Warriors-Kings game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry once again etched his name in the NBA record books.

Curry became the first player in NBA history to record 4,000 made 3-pointers Thursday after draining a triple in the third quarter of the Warriors’ matchup with the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center. After the bucket, the home crowd rained down “MVP” chants upon the 3-point king.

Curry’s first NBA 3-pointer came on Oct. 30, 2009, against the Phoenix Suns in his second professional game, and nearly 16 years later the Warriors superstar stands alone in the record books.

Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden is the only other player in NBA history to eclipse 3,000 made 3-pointers, but still sits nearly 1,000 behind Curry despite the two entering the league in the same 2009 draft class.

Curry also eclipsed the 25,000-career point mark this past Saturday against the Detroit Pistons, further adding to his already cemented status as one of the greatest players ever to step on an NBA court.

Curry always will be synonymous with the 3-point shot, and while his current mark of 4,000 and counting might already be insurmountable, it appears the two-time NBA MVP is showing no signs of slowing down and could add even more triples to his gaudy count.

Could 5,000 ultimately be in play before Curry decides to retire? He’s under contract with the Warriors through the 2026-27 NBA season, with his basketball future beyond that undetermined

Time will tell, but one thing is certain — no basketball fan would be surprised to see Curry finish on a number never to be matched by another NBA player.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Mikal Bridges reportedly asked Thibodeau to lighten up starters' minutes, Thibs denies talk happened

Mikal Bridges played 41 minutes Wednesday night in Portland, and he wouldn't want to give one of those seconds back because he did this during the final play of the game.

Still, 41 minutes is a lot, and it's not just this game. No player has played more total minutes this season than Bridges' 2,460 (and counting). Second on that list? Josh Hart. The Knicks preferred starting five — Jalen Brunson, Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns — has played more minutes than any five-man unit in the league by 334 minutes, the equivalent of almost seven more games.

That led Bridges to approach Thibodeau about lightening the load on the starters a little, reported Stephan Bondy at the New York Post.

"Sometimes it's not fun on the body," Bridges said. "You'll want that as a coach but also talked to him a little bit knowing that we've got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don't need to play 48 (minutes), 47.

"We've got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there."

Except, Thibodeau said Wednesday that conversation never happened and then went on to defend his minutes distribution. Again from Bondy:

"We never had a conversation about it...

"The facts are the facts: Your wings play more. So they're matched up with primary scorers," Thibodeau said. "So the way it works is if Jayson Tatum is in the game and Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game. Try to keep the matchups. When you look at the league, all those guys are playing 35, 36 minutes — whether it's [Kevin] Durant, Tatum or a Brown. A wing is going to play more. They're primary wing defenders. That's the way the league works."

As it has been with Thibodeau teams in the past, the concern is that he wears players and teams down before the postseason. The Knicks are pretty locked into the No. 3 seed in the East, but right now that sets up a first-round matchup with a Detroit team that will not be a pushover and could be trouble for a worn-down Knicks team (and that doesn't even touch on seeing Boston in the second round). The hope would be that Thibodeau will lighten minutes near the end of the season to have legs fresh for the postseason. It's something to monitor in the coming weeks.

Posted on

Lonnie Walker IV enters concussion protocol after hard fall in Toronto

Lonnie Walker IV enters concussion protocol after hard fall in Toronto   originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Lonnie Walker IV is the latest sidelined Sixer in the team’s injury-packed season.

A Sixers official said Walker was diagnosed with a concussion Thursday morning, has entered the NBA’s concussion protocol and will be evaluated daily. 

Walker rose for a defensive rebound Wednesday night, got fouled by the Raptors’ Colin Castleton and hit the back of his head on the floor. He exited the game with 6:24 left in the first quarter and did not return for the rest of the Sixers’ loss in Toronto.

Under the NBA’s concussion protocol, a player must have no concussion-related symptoms at rest and then complete a multi-step return process monitored by a member of a team’s medical staff. 

Before his 20-second stint Wednesday, Walker had played nine times since signing with the Sixers and averaged 9.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists. 

On top of Walker, the 22-43 Sixers listed the following players as out for their Friday night meeting with the 36-28 Pacers:

  • Tyrese Maxey (lower back sprain and right finger sprain)
  • Paul George (left groin soreness) 
  • Kyle Lowry (right hip injury management) 
  • Joel Embiid (season-ending left knee injury)
  • Eric Gordon (season-ending right wrist surgery)
  • Jared McCain (season-ending left lateral meniscus surgery)

Andre Drummond (left toe sprain), Justin Edwards (left ankle sprain) and Alex Reese (left shoulder contusion) were questionable.