Category: Basketball

Basketball News

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Jalen Brunson opens up about return from injury as Knicks' regular season winds down

Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson has been out since early March with an ankle injury, but the two-time All-Star and team captain is working his way back.

"I'm doing rehab stuff," he said before Sunday's 110-93 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. "More days, as of recently, have been just cranking it up -- two-a-days, if I have to. But whatever I can do to improve myself, it's what I'm doing."

Brunson said that he is "feeling better" and "progressing every day" while cleared for basketball activities.

"Realistically, I'm hoping to play before the playoffs," Brunson said. "I think that's as good for me to get some game reps before we got into that type of stretch run. But most importantly, I want to make sure I'm 100 percent healthy."

Starting with Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. tipoff against the Philadelphia 76ers, New York has eight regular-season games left.

"That's probably a conversation to where we can have with the medical team," Brunson said of if his plan is to wait until he feels fully healthy. "Obviously, I want to feel 100 percent. But a lot of this is also mental, just making sure I can trust everything I do. It's just a conversation for us to have."

Since Brunson's injury March 6 in the Knicks' 113-109 overtime loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, New York has gone 7-5.

"They've responded," Brunson said. "And there were nights where, obviously, we don't play well as a team but then the next day they respond. But that's all we can focus on.

"And there will be times and games and days where things won't go our way, but it's how do we respond from those moments and how do we get better, and I feel like they've progressed that way and I can't wait to join 'em."

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How Kerr influenced Looney's first 3-pointer in four years vs. Spurs

How Kerr influenced Looney's first 3-pointer in four years vs. Spurs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Kevon Looney hadn’t hit a 3-pointer in over four years, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr saw an opportunity to end that drought during Golden State’s blowout 148-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Frost Bank Center.

Following the game, Looney revealed Kerr specifically drew up a play with the intention of getting him open on the perimeter, an opportunity the Warriors big man couldn’t pass up.

“About time I got one up,” Looney jokingly told reporters after Sunday’s game. “Steve finally drew up a play for me, so I had to shoot it. He drew it up for me, he asked me, did I want one. I said, ‘Yeah.’

The Warriors’ bench’s reaction to Looney’s 3-pointer was as much of a spectacle as the play itself, with the Golden State big man’s teammates erupting after the triple splashed through the net.

However, Looney didn’t see his teammate’s jubilant reaction.

“I didn’t get to see it yet. I didn’t want to look, I wanted to act like I’ve been there before,” Looney said with a grin. “But it was fun, I worked hard enough on it all summer. I was planning on shooting more this year, but you know how the game goes. But I was able to get one up today and I made it, that’s all that matters.”

Looney wasn’t the only Warriors player finding success behind the arc, as Brandin Podziemski drilled a career-high seven triples on 7-of-9 shooting from deep.

Podziemski detailed why his Warriors teammates were so thrilled to see Looney’s triple go down.

“Amazing,” Podziemski said regarding Looney’s 3-pointer. We’ve been joking with him to shoot the three. To see him work on it when he plays 3-on-3 with the stay-ready group and for him to knock that down was pretty cool.”

The Warriors collectively shot 47.7 percent from deep in San Antonio, exactly the kind of lights-out shooting Golden State desperately needed heading into the final stretch of the 2024-25 NBA season.

With opposing defenses already having their hands full with Steph Curry, things could get spooky for the rest of the NBA if Looney continues raining 3-pointers at a 100-percent clip.

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5 players, 2 coaches ejected after Pistons-Timberwolves skirmish

5 players, 2 coaches ejected after Pistons-Timberwolves skirmish originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Five players and two coaches were ejected after a fight broke out in the second quarter in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ game against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

Detroit lost head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, center Isaiah Stewart, forward Ron Holland II and guard Marcus Sasser. Minnesota forward Naz Reid and guard Dante DiVincenzo also were tossed, along with assistant coach Pablo Prigioni.

The skirmish began with 8:36 left in the half with the Pistons up 39-30. Stewart had received a technical foul just moments earlier when he bumped DiVincenzo hard after the whistle. Then Holland was called for a foul as he slapped the ball out of Reid’s hands near the baseline.

The two exchanged words, DiVincenzo stepped between them and grabbed Holland’s jersey, and soon all 10 players on the court and multiple coaches and trainers were part of the scrum.

As the players were being separated, Bickerstaff and Prigioni were screaming at each other and had to be separated by team personnel.

The whole scene played out just 20 feet from new Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, who walked over from his courtside seat in the aftermath and appeared to call for assistance for a fan who got caught in the middle of the melee.