Category: Basketball

Even with Jimmy Butler, Warriors find themselves in similar spot as last year originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – There’s a strong argument that the most introspective player on the Warriors, a team centered on three NBA stars 35 years and older, is 23-year-old Moses Moody. 

He’s a reader and a poet. He spits meaningful bars at the podium that your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper wishes they could think of. He’s wise beyond his age and always worth listening to. He also took a long pause Tuesday when asked about the mood of a 13-14 Warriors team that already has gone through countless ups and downs in the 2025-26 NBA season. 

“Good question,” Moody began.

“I would say good, through and through,” he continued. “A lot of highs and lows. A lot of professionals on the team, so it’s not dealing with childish emotions or anything like that. It’s more so grown men trying to figure something out. And that’s from the coaching staff to the last player on the bench. 

“It’s not a bunch of emotions of, ‘Oh, you said this, you said that,’ rather than a group of men trying to figure something out, and that’s cool to see.” 

Moody chose his words carefully. Frustrations for the Warriors have been seen in numerous ways. This is a team that went 23-8 down the stretch last season after trading for Jimmy Butler, beat the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs and felt like they were destined for the Western Conference finals until Steph Curry’s hamstring strain. 

There even was a contingent within the franchise that believed a healthy Warriors team could beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. This season’s team can’t keep leaning on that run. It’s done, it’s over. 

The Warriors, as the calendar year gets close to ending, feel much more like the pre-Butler team they were around the same time a year ago than the post-Butler one right now.

Even coach Steve Kerr sees the similarities. 

“Yeah, it feels a lot like last year, ironically,” Kerr said Tuesday. “At the trade deadline I think we were .500. We were very inconsistent. We traded for Dennis [Schröder] first, and then Jimmy obviously as we were searching for answers and we found it. And I’m very, very confident that this group will find it, because we already have Jimmy and when we’re healthy I think the lineup is very formidable. 

“I think we have depth, I think we have everything we need. So it’s on me to put it together and to help these guys find the rhythm and the confidence that I know they have inside.” 

Though Moody didn’t perfectly agree with the similarities of last year to this year, he does share the feelings of his coach in why belief is warranted. 

“It feels different,” Moody said. “I’m not exactly sure the situation last year at this time. But these last couple games – there have been so many games this year that we should have won coming down to the end like that. We’re not far off. One shot goes differently and it’s a whole different conversation. I think we’re able to realize that. Coach is able to realize that. So nobody is panicking, more so as we’re trying to figure it out. Just figure it out a little bit. 

“I think it happens a lot of times that you’ll be so close to what you want and you just need to change something, so you change something, and then you’re actually a lot further away than you’re actually trying to get to. I think it’s a delicate situation, as well as we just got to figure it out and that’s what we’re working towards.”

Needing a change became obvious enough to the Warriors last season that they traded for Schröder the first day they were able to make such a move on Dec. 15. The Warriors were 14-10 at the time. They were a game under .500 on Dec. 15 this season, and a move doesn’t seem imminent at the moment since Jonathan Kuminga can’t be traded until Jan. 15. 

From the offseason to the first third of the regular season, the Kuminga cloud has hovered over everything involving the Warriors. Kuminga has received three straight healthy DNPs, in which the Warriors won the first game against a reeling Chicago Bulls team and then dropped two straight against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers. The Timberwolves and Blazers are both teams Kuminga is meant for with his combination of size and athleticism, especially after averaging over 24 points in the final four games of the playoffs against the Timberwolves seven months ago. 

Then this week, a fan email to Joe Lacob received a response from the Warriors owner and went viral. In the response, Lacob alluded to “style of play,” “coaches desires regarding players,” and “league trends” for why the Warriors have been struggling. Kerr on Tuesday brushed off the email, calling it “no big deal,” but it undoubtedly pulled back the curtain to the public in areas the two disagree on.

After getting DNP’d in Chicago, Kuminga said that he and Kerr have a good relationship and the coach echoed those sentiments when the Warriors returned home. Sources also acknowledge there have been some moments of high intensity between the two of them this season.

Butler has gone two straight games without speaking to the media after two bad losses, getting out as fast as he could. He and Draymond Green, who recorded eight turnovers in his return Sunday, didn’t appear to be on the same page offensively and defensively more than once during that game in Portland. 

Though Kuminga can’t be traded for another five weeks, the upcoming G League Winter Showcase in Orlando from Dec. 19 through the 22nd will be four days of agents and front offices meeting, and words can turn to action from those conversations.

After using nine different starting lineups in as many games, Kerr on Tuesday said he’s going to give an extended look to the group that began the game against the Blazers. The next day, he said Kuminga has strung together multiple great practices while doing everything the team has asked, indicating he’ll be back in the rotation perhaps as soon as Thursday against the Suns in Phoenix. With health and availability being large factors, Kerr already has used 15 starting lineups in 27 games. 

Doing so also is an indication of the roster Kerr is working with. They’re a small team in a big man’s world, and an old team in a young man’s game. The Warriors needed all 95 of Curry’s points to beat the San Antonio Spurs in two consecutive games a little more than a month ago, yet 87 points and 18 threes over two games wasn’t enough to beat a Timberwolves team that didn’t have Anthony Edwards and a 10-win Blazers team that would have just seven wins if they never played the Warriors this season. 

Is this déjà vu from a year ago, something worse or a team that leads the NBA in blown fourth-quarter leads but still feels like they’re on the precipice of something special? 

“I know that we have the answer here,” Kerr said Wednesday. “Last year I felt like we had to make a move. This year I don’t think that’s the case. I think we have what we need here, but we need to develop more consistency in our play and that starts with me giving these guys more consistent roles, making sure we get Jimmy the ball, making sure we get to that style of play from last year when we had control of games. … We’re not in control of games right now. 

“We have that ability, and that’s our focus.”

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Luka Doncic was back at it again, this time surprising the Lakers and staff members with more than 100 e-bikes for Christmas gifts.

Doncic, who took his teammates to a Porsche Driving Experience in October as a way to bond, gave the gifts away Tuesday after practice.

"I just wanted to give everybody something," he said. "Everybody works hard, even the people you don't see in the back, so I want to do something for them too."

Said teammate Jake LaRavia: “Shout-out to Luka, man. What a guy.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

They saw how “contagious” it was when playing defense at a high level against the Suns and how Jarred Vanderbilt lit the fuse to ignite things for the Lakers in their last victory over Phoenix.

And for the Lakers to maintain that defensive mindset, stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James also have to be committed to that end of the court.

That was the message from Lakers coach JJ Redick to Doncic and James.

"Yeah, it was good," Doncic said. "We talked about a lot, not just that, but he was right. You got to get a little big more, especially from the star players. So that's on us. That's on me. And we just got to give more, especially at the start of the game. We got to start the game better. But I think in Phoenix, we did a pretty good job. The plan was focused on ourselves and [our] defensive mentality, so I think we did a pretty good job."

The Lakers will be tested again on defense by the Utah Jazz Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz have a developing star in Lauri Markkanen, a difficult matchup at 7-foot-1 who is ninth in the NBA in scoring at 27.8 points per game, and a young talent in guard Keyonte George, who is averaging 23.5 points and 6.8 assists.

Read more:Luka Doncic gifts more than 100 e-bikes to Lakers players, staff

Utah is fourth in the league in pace (102.98), ninth in scoring (119.0), second in assists (29.8). The Jazz are fifth in rebounds (45.7), eighth in offensive rebounds (12.6), and 12th in field-goal percentage.

"The way we play, we got to approach every game the same," Doncic said. "In the NBA, every team is dangerous, so at some point somebody can go for 40. They have Markkanen, and then George. They can go for 40 on any night. So we just got to work on ourselves and approach the game, make everything the same."

The all-out energy and effort by Vanderbilt off the bench was the catalyst for the Lakers against the Suns.

In his 15 minutes of action, he had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.

Vanderbilt had played only three minutes and eight seconds over a 10-game stretch prior to that point.

“Vando's minutes were huge,” Gabe Vincent said. “He came in and does what we all know he's very capable of doing and being disruptive on the defensive end, crashing the glass, getting extra possessions for us, all of which we desperately needed. You know what I mean? So his spark off the bench was huge for us."

Read more:Lakers blow 20-point lead but survive when Dillon Brooks and Suns go supernova

Now it’s about sustaining that defensive intensity, the Lakers say. And about playing with that physicality, the Lakers say.

“Yeah, when you guys asked me this the last time, it’s effort,” Jake LaRavia said. “If we just go out there and we give that kind of effort every night…We got a lot of guys on the team. Some guys might not be having it and, like you said about that contagious word, that really helps out. [Marcus] Smart does it sometimes. Vando does it sometimes. I would say I do it just being a contagious type of person to help lead the team and just being extra physical.”

The Lakers are ranked near the bottom of the league in some defensive categories, which means there remains room for improvement.

They are ranked 17th in the league in points allowed (116.7), 24th in field-goal percentage (48.1%) allowed and 28th in three-point shooting (38.1%) allowed.

“You just got to go out there and do it,” LaRavia said. “It’s not anything a coach can say. It’s not anything a player can tell another player. Yeah, it’s like the individual player’s job to go out there and give effort on defense and that’s contagious. It just goes around.”

Deandre Ayton wins award

Lakers center Deandre Ayton on Wednesday was named by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Assn. as the winner of the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for November. Ayton was recognized for his philanthropic work across the Bahamas, which is his home country, Jamaica and Los Angeles through the Ayton Family Foundation. Ayton will miss the game at Utah on Thursday because of left elbow soreness.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

In a moment that encapsulated how far Jalen Brunson’s development has taken him since joining the Knicks four summers ago, he was named NBA Cup MVP on Tuesday night following the team's thrilling 124-113 title win over the Spurs in Las Vegas. 

Brunson scored 25 points and dished eight assists -- an uncharacteristically pedestrian night in what’s been a career year for the star point guard.

Under new head coach Mike Brown, Brunson is having not only the best scoring year of his life, but maybe in the league. He’s averaging a career-high 28.8 points on 54.6 percent shooting from two and 37.6 percent from three -- notching career-best marks in efficiency despite the most volume he’s seen since the injury-riddled 2023-24 season.

This is due in part to Brunson’s growth, but also a diversification in his attack, courtesy of Brown’s offense. His emphasis on motion and pace principles has helped evolve Brunson’s scoring to a new level, and there are signs it’s only getting started.

One thing Brown identified early is that Brunson is one of the NBA's best shooters -- arguably the best on the roster -- yet wasn’t treated as such. Despite consistently converting in the high 30s and low 40s from deep, he hasn’t taken many as a Knick for various reasons over the years, but primarily due to having so much ball-handling responsibility and favor for the mid-range. 

In fact, this is the first year Brunson's led the Knicks in three-point attempts per game, and the first he’s cracked seven attempts per night in his career, a number Jaylen Brown eclipsed in 2021. The solution: getting Brunson off the ball and firing more.

Brunson’s taking 10.3 threes per 100 possessions this year, 1.7 more than last season with plenty of room to match the real high-volume guards. He’s generally had a greener light on stepbacks and triple-threat pull-ups, but is thriving off more catch-and-shoot looks in transition and the halfcourt.

Due to his embrace of Brown’s new schemes, Brunson is getting rid of the ball earlier and more often, opening him up as a scoring and screening threat, a la what he did in the back half of 2023-24. 

As a result, 40 percent of his three-point tries have come on catch-and-shoots, compared to one-third last season, and he’s knocking down an 46.4 percent of them.

His pull-up shooting started off slow but has picked up in recent games, so expect his numbers to look even better in due time. If he doubles down on shooting more threes, watch out.

Maximizing Brunson as an off-ball threat has been one way of diversifying his looks beyond traditional isolations, pick-and-rolls, and set plays. Brown’s motion schemes have Brunson attacking in the random flow of the offense, whether via high dribble hand-offs, backdoor cuts, or as an off-ball spacer.

As gifted an isolation scorer as Brunson is, endlessly pounding the rock has diminishing returns, individually and to team success. This year, 13.8 percent of his plays are ending in isolations, according got NBA.com play type data, down from 17.3 percent last season, and the lowest portion of his offense since his first campaign as a Knick.

This dynamic approach has lifted his efficiency despite some of the highest volume in his career. This is also due to Brunson getting to his spots and shooting quicker and easier than ever before.

The new offense has the Knicks looking for semi-transition and early shot clock opportunities after every defensive possession, and they’re getting into their halfcourt actions much quicker as well. This has led to more opportunities where the defense isn’t set or gets tripped up in an action, leading to an easy score.

Even when Brunson is breaking down a defender, like he’s done a thousand times before, New York’s new spacing and cutting give him more room to attack than he's ever had. He’s otherwise working far less to get his offense as a result of these changes, with his average seconds and dribbles per touch and shot materially down year over year.

This has led to one of Brunson’s highest usage rates, yet a career-low in turnover rate and a true-shooting clip that would be a new high if he took some more free throws. In some ways, Brown evalted Brunson from James Harden to Stephen Curry, and it has paid early dividends.

As Brunson’s shooting numbers rise, the Knicks will get some healthy pieces back and continue to build on their new system.

There’s no ceiling on the damage he can inflict on the league with his scoring -- we’ve seen it in the playoffs, and now the NBA Cup. If Brunson keeps this up, we’ll see it in the NBA Finals soon enough.