Category: Basketball

Game. Blouses.

Not that it matters much, but the Dallas Mavericks (19-36) lost their 10th straight game and their first out of the NBA All-Star Break on Friday, 122-111, to the Minnesota Timberwolves (35-22) at Target Center. The Timberwolves donned their Prince-inspired City Edition jerseys and served pancakes (probably) in the visitors’ locker room after beating the Mavericks for the third straight time this year.

Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 40 points and grabbed six rebounds in the win. Naz Reid added 21 and seven off the bench, while Rudy Gobert abused Dallas’ small frontcourt for 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 17 rebounds. Khris Middleton led seven Mavericks in double figures with 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Marvin Bagley III added 15 points and 13 boards.

Reid, Donte DiVencenzo and Jaden McDaniels combined to make it rain purple, knocking down all five of their first-quarter 3-point attempts and helping the Wolves gradually extend their lead as the frame wore on. The Mavericks countered with… well, no one. Cooper Flagg (foot) and Max Christie (ankle) were both held out of the matchup to gear up for the all-important stretch run. We laugh to keep ourselves from crying, don’t we, Mavs fans? Minnesota led 40-25 after one in a first quarter that saw 10 combined turnovers.

The Timberwolves continued to turn the ball over in the second quarter, but it didn’t matter. The Mavs couldn’t take advantage of the extra possessions to carve into Minnesota’s lead before the break, and Dallas trailed 69-57 at halftime, despite nine Timberwolves giveaways. Edwards led all scorers with 20 points and had four rebounds in the first half. He went off for 17 on 6-of-10 shooting in the second quarter.

Dallas tried to mount a comeback in the third quarter, continuing an extended 24-8 run from late in the second through the first four minutes of the third. Washington helped the Mavs creep back in it with his second 3-pointer of the game from the right corner to bring Dallas to within 77-75 with 7:23 left in the frame. The Wolves took a 96-88 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson got hot down the stretch to make things interesting. He scored his first basket of the game, a 3-pointer from the left wing, with 1:52 left in the third quarter, then poured in eight more in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. His third 3-point make of the game came with 7:23 left in the game and brought the Mavericks to within two, down just 103-101. Tyus Jones scored the next time down to tie the game and force a Timberwolves timeout after tracking down Thompson’s missed 3-point attempt for an offensive board.

But Edwards nailed a step-back 3-pointer late in the shot clock out of the timeout to give Minnesota the lead for good, with 6:37 left. Naz Reid hit his fourth of the game a minute later to put the Wolves up 109-105 with 5:25 left. The Timberwolves did just enough to keep the pesky Mavericks at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Hot hand, then good hands

The Timberwolves canned eight of their 13 first-quarter 3-point attempts and shot north of 58% from the field in the opener to put the game effectively out of reach early for the undermanned Mavericks. When the early hot hand deserted them, the Wolves made up for it on the offensive glass. The Minnesota front line gobbled up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, resulting in five easy put-backs for center Rudy Gobert. Dallas came into the game allowing the third-most offensive rebounds in the NBA, at 12.4 per contest.

Minnesota ended up shooting 16-of-42 (38.1%) from beyond the arc in the win and out-rebounded the Mavs, 66-58. The Mavs gave up 17 offensive boards in the loss.

Tryouts?

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said before the game that one of the things the team wanted to do was to get a good hard look at AJ Johnson, who was brought in from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Anthony Davis at the NBA Trade Deadline, and two-way rookie Miles Kelly. Johnson’s first bucket as a Maverick came on a high-flying second-quarter fast-break lob from Naji Marshall after a P.J. Washington steal, to bring Dallas back to within 45-37. He turned the ball over on the Mavs’ next possession. Johnson is a 21-year-old second-year player who decommitted from the University of Texas a couple years ago in favor of starting his professional career in Australia after high school.

Johnson played just five minutes in the loss, all in the first half, and Kelly didn’t get in until the fourth quarter. Even if it didn’t materialize on Friday, expect Dallas to get extended looks at these guys over the last 27 games of the season.

Where’s Washington

Someone had to score baskets for the short-handed Mavericks in this one. Despite all the missing pieces coming into the game for Dallas, they were still scheduled to play 48 full minutes on Friday. Washington would get every opportunity to turn a corner, but he turned in another stinker through the first half against Minnesota.

Washington shot 2-of-8 from the field in the first half for five points, as newcomer Khris Middleton led Dallas with 12 points at the half. He hit a 3-pointer in the game’s opening moments, then scored just two points over the next 22-plus minutes. For much of the 2025-26 season, he’s been in full-on regression mode after cementing himself as one of the most important Mavericks on the roster a year ago.

Washington got going a little early in the third quarter, scoring in transition less than two minutes into the second half before knocking down a mid-range jumper two possessions later to bring the Mavs to within 75-68, as part of an extended 24-8 run from the end of the second through start of the third. His second 3-ball of the game put him at 12 points with 7:23 remaining in the third and brought Dallas back to within two, down just 77-75.

Washington was not eligible to be traded at the deadline this season, but will be this offseason. It will be interesting to see what kind of market, if any, there is for him. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting and 12 rebounds in Friday’s loss at Minnesota.

The Jazz snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and lost 114-123. Depending on who you ask this was either a masterclass in tanking, or an embarrassing implosion. This game also featured many familiar faces for both teams, (Hello Kyle Anderson, and Taylor Hendricks) as well as an emotional homecoming for Jaren Jackson Jr.

Ace Bailey– B

Ace had arguably the most memorable play of the game from a Jazzman when he caught a beautiful lob from Collier and threw it down. He dropped 20 points, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block on the night. His shot from deep wasn’t falling tonight, going 2-9, but he had some good looks from deep. He’s still only 19 (which I just recently learned) and will continue to develop and grow as a player. I think I speak for all Jazz fans when I say that I’m very excited to see the player that Ace will become.

Cody Williams–C-

Really tough shooting night for Cody. He only had 5 points in 37 minutes, and had four turnovers. He did rebound the ball well tonight though, posting a team high 9. He also had a really impressive defensive moment when he shut down a three on one.

Isaiah Collier –A-

Collier was awesome yet again. Lead the team in scoring and assists with 24, and 5 respectively. His speed will never cease to amaze me. His defense tonight was also impressive as he had four steals, and two blocks.

Kyle Filipowski –B-

Two of Flip’s five turnovers came inbounding the ball tonight. He did have some impressive defensive moments and 20 points so it certainly wasn’t a bad game for him. He’s proven to be a capable backup big man and should be a really nice piece for this Jazz team when they are competing for a playoff spot next season.

John Konchar–B

Making his first start as a Jazzman, the former undrafted free agent looked solid in front of his former team. While he is still yet to knock down a three as a member of the Jazz, he did have a productive game, especially on defense. He had 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He plays hard, and knows his role.

Brice Sensabaugh–C-

Brice Sensabaugh is an enigma. One game he will look like a high end starter, the next he will look like a low tier bench player. In a game where you would figure he would be one of the go to guys on offense he was largely invisible. He shot poorly from deep (1-4) and had 3 turnovers. He still managed to score 9 points in limited playing time, but I feel that its a bad sign that he’s not getting on the floor as much as he seemingly should. Maybe I have it wrong and the reason that he’s not playing as much is because we want to lose, but guys like Collier and Flip have been playing well and don’t seem to have any limits on their playing time. Sensabaugh also received a tech after he didn’t get a foul call on a play where he absolutely got fouled.

Vince Williams Jr. –B-

Solid night for the former Grizzly. He plays with a lot of hustle, and had a ridiculous pass to his former teammate. He dove for a loose ball, secured it, and passed it while seated, to Konchar for an easy layup. He didn’t have the best night shooting the ball, going 2-7, but who really cares? He plays hard and is so much fun to watch, and at this point in the season thats all that really matters.

Oscar Tshiebwe –B

In 14 minutes he grabbed 6 rebounds, 2 points. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of him, but he got in foul trouble which limited his minutes tonight.

Blake Hinson – A

Hinson was awesome tonight. In his second ever NBA game he managed to impress. He was perfect from deep, and had 4 boards. He also set his career high in points with 13. Hinson plays with a lot of hustle and like I said in my last player grades article that I think he could definitely serve as a depth piece here, or for another team.

Elijah Harkless –B+

You know exactly what you’re going to get from Harkless every time he steps onto the court: hustle, and defense. Tonight was no exception as he played hard for his 7 minutes of action.

Kevin Love –A

The veteran only played 5 minutes in this one, but he was great, making both his three pointers, (one of which was an and-one) and also dishing out 3 assists.

The Cleveland Cavaliers extend their win streak to seven after a narrow win over the Charlotte Hornets.

All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Donovan Mitchell

32 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

Mitchell started this game 4-15. But, as we’ve seen all season, Mitchell turned it on when the Cavs needed him most. He shot 5-8 the rest of the way and finished with his 100th 30-point game as a Cavalier.

Grade: A–

James Harden

18 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

Harden is dishing the rock with efficiency since joining the Cavs. He had another 8 assists tonight as the Cavalier offense feels more potent than it’s been all season with him at the helm. We only wish he could have grabbed a few more rebounds or been sharper off the ball defensively.

Grade: B+

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Jarrett Allen

26 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

Allen hasn’t let up on any opponent for weeks now. He put his head down and attacked the paint over and over again tonight as the Hornets didn’t have enough bodies to stop him. If he hadn’t hauled in 14 rebounds, the Cavs would have lost this one. Bravo, Allen. This aggression has been a joy to watch.

Grade: A+

Jaylon Tyson

5 points, 1 rebound

Tyson’s role has changed significantly now that Harden is here. That means we’ll likely have to adjust how we grade him. He simply isn’t getting as many opportunities. That said, Cleveland could have used a better effort on the glass.

Grade: B-

Keon Ellis

4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

I’m convinced that Ellis can clone himself and appear multiple places at once. That’s the only way to explain some of the defensive plays he comes up with.

Grade: A–

Thomas Bryant

2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Bryant had some highs and lows. His block in the third quarter was electric, but he might have been a step too slow for a fast-paced matchup like this.

Grade: B-

Dennis Schroder

8 points, 3 assists, 3 steals

Schroder continues to be a pest. He came up with two big steals in the second half and has given the Cavs bench an edge that they’ve been missing.

Grade: A-

Sam Merrill

10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

Merrill had more success tonight. He hit 2-of-4 three-point attempts and had a nice backdoor cut early in the first half.

Grade: B+

Dean Wade

8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal

Wade hit consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter to close this out. He hasn’t missed a shot since returning from the All-Star break.

Grade: A+

The Washington Wizards defeated the Indiana Pacers, 131-118 on Friday night at Capital One Arena.

This game began as one where the Wizards were losing for much of the first half, even into the second. The Wizards were losing by as many as 15 points at one point in the second quarter. But in the fourth quarter, Washington shot over 70 percent from the field, forced 7 turnovers and scored 11 points off of them and ultimately came up with the win.

Alondes Williams scored 11 of his 25 points off the bench to lead the Wizards to victory. He was also the leading scorer overall. Sharife Cooper also added 18 points, also off the bench for Washington.

For the Pacers, Jay Huff led with 22 points.

The Wizards’ next game is on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets. Tip off is at 6 p.m. ET. At least for now since there is a chance of a snowstorm. See you then.

The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled out an impressive 118-113 victory over a surging Charlotte Hornets team on the second night of a back-to-back. It wasnt pretty for the entire 48 minutes. Cleveland struggled to defend the three-point line and clear defensive possessions, but they executed well enough offensively to get the win. That’s all that matters in a game like this.

The Cavaliers controlled most of the first half. They won the first quarter by 10, pushed their lead to 14, and then settled for a six-point advantage going into the break.

Charlotte roared back in the second half. They retook the lead in the third quarter due to shooting 8-15 from beyond the arc in that frame. They pushed their advantage to four before the Cavs reasserted control.

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Cleveland wasn’t able to create much separation in the fourth, but they also never let Charlotte off the mat. The offense continued to generate clean looks in the half-court thanks to their dynamic backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. Combine that with an energized Jarrett Allen, and you have the makings of an elite offense.

Meanwhile, the Hornets weren’t able to get their outside shots to carry them in the fourth as they did in the third quarter. They went 2-15 from three, and their offense simply ran out of gas. This led to the Cavs winning the final frame 28-24.

Allen continued his string of impressive play. He set the tone early by scoring 11 of his 26 points in the opening quarter. Even though he wasn’t scoring as much over the final three quarters, his activity never wavered, which led to him finishing with 14 rebounds and a block.

Mitchell and Harden once again worked well together in crunch time. Harden had the reins as the play initiator, while Mitchell was able to find opportunities to score when the ball came his way. This led to Mitchell scoring 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter. Harden finished the evening with 18 points on 6-14 shooting to go along with eight assists.

This wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch. The Cavs once again struggled to clear defensive possessions. This led to the Hornets compiling 37 second-chance points and gathering 44.6% of their missed shots (97th percentile). Many of these were due to the Cavs not being able to corral long rebounds off missed triples. This is an area where Evan Mobley’s absence (injury management) was sorely missed.

Kon Knueppel’s three-point shooting kept the Hornets in the game. He went 7-15 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 33 points. Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller both contributed 18 points apiece.

Even though there were areas to improve, this was a solid win. The Hornets are better than their record indicates. They came into this one winning eight of their last 10.

The Cavs have won their seventh in a row and 12 of their last 13. They were playing well before the trades, but have taken that to a new level since.

Cleveland will look to keep their strong play going. They head to Oklahoma City to take on a shorthanded Thunder team on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is at 1 PM.

The All-Star break is in the rearview, and as the schedule tightens and teams around the league start fine-tuning rosters and jockeying for postseason position, every night carries a little more weight. That reality applies to the Phoenix Suns as well, who currently sit seventh in the Western Conference. If the season ended today, they would be hosting a Play-In game, living in that uncomfortable middle where urgency never really lets up. Like so many teams right now, Phoenix is still chasing something close to full strength while trying to stay competitive in the standings.

That task did not get any easier on Thursday night. Devin Booker exited the first game back from the break in the second quarter and never returned. Hip soreness was the initial explanation, one that felt manageable in the moment. But the injury report for Saturday’s matchup against Orlando tells a clearer story. Booker has been ruled out with a hip strain, officially removing him from the lineup as the Suns try to navigate the early stretch of a tightening schedule.

You could see something was bothering Booker while he was on the floor, even if there was no single play that clearly set it off. Nothing obvious, nothing dramatic, simply a player who did not look right. Regardless, Booker finds himself back on the injury report once again. He has already missed time this season with a sprained ankle and a strained groin, and now a hip strain joins the list. Notably, each of those injuries has involved his right leg.

Recovery timelines for something like this can vary depending on severity, which makes projecting an exact return tricky. The hope is that it does not stretch beyond a couple of weeks, though that remains to be seen as the team monitors how he responds.

With this latest absence, Booker has now missed eight of the Suns’ last 11 games. Over that stretch, Phoenix is 4-4 without him, and 5-7 in the 12 games he has missed overall this season.

Grayson Allen, who has already missed the previous four games, is listed as questionable. He popped up on the injury report unexpectedly before tip-off against San Antonio, another reminder of how unpredictable this season has been from a health standpoint. Allen has appeared in 35 games during what has been an injury-riddled year for him.

Dillon Brooks will return from suspension, which helps stabilize things on the wing, but the Suns are still searching for footing as the calendar keeps moving and the postseason edges closer into view. Availability remains fluid, lineups remain unsettled, and the margin for error continues to narrow with every passing game.

As far as rebuilds go, the Spurs have managed a relatively quick turnaround. From tearing things down to the studs in 2023, to reaching legitimate contender status, it’s been a quick three years. Currently, San Antonio sits poised and firmly cemented in the two seed of the Western Conference, on a 58-win pace, which would be quite the jump from 34 only one season ago.

But this is the NBA. There’s the regular season, which is all fine and good, but what matters is the playoffs. And there’s a commonly held belief that in order to truly contend for a championship, a team needs to taste defeat in the playoffs first. They need those “playoff scars.”

So how true is that? For those teams that managed to invert their regular-season status, what does history say about doing the same in the postseason?

Taking a look at the modern era, since the turn of the century, history tends to favor teams knocking on the door of the Finals to just barging in. Very few teams have gone from not making the playoffs to even making the Conference Finals the very next year, but it does happen.

The prime example is the 2008 Celtics. Boston hadn’t entered the postseason in two years, but general manager Danny Ainge managed to put together what many call the first super-team of the era—adding the talents of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett alongside Paul Pierce. It not only ended the Celtics playoff drought, but it brought them their first championship since 1986.

Then there are the 2021 Phoenix Suns. Phoenix hadn’t sniffed the playoffs since 2010, but then managed to make the finals in 2021. This was following an undefeated run in the Orlando bubble, which still did not grant them a playoff birth. In the offseason, they traded for Chris Paul, Monty Williams coached his ass off (finishing 2nd in Coach of the Year voting), and they went on a run.

Next are the 2020 Lakers. They flipped a six-year playoff drought into a championship in the bubble. This was their second year with LeBron James, and their first year with Anthony Davis.

James adds to the list with the 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers. After adding him in free agency and trading for Kevin Love, the Cavs kicked off a four-year run of meeting Golden State in the Finals. This, after they hadn’t even won more than 33 games since 2010.

Finally, the 2024 Indiana Pacers round out the list. The Pacers had been absent from a postseason appearance for three years until making a leap to the Conference Finals. This new success was attributable to the development of star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, as well as the addition of star forward Pascal Siakam.

And that’s the list. Overall, there is a small trend. All of these teams have added major talent and are usually built around a generational great.

While history shows us that most deep playoff runs follow at least a first or second round exit the year prior, the precedent is there for a deep run, provided the team has the right pieces.

This Spurs team has the right pieces. They have a generational great in Victor Wemanyama and have the new addition of De’Aaron Fox. This is on top of the talented role players built around them. It won’t be easy, but it’s quite possible that San Antonio breaks the trend and adds itself to the above list.

Are the Lakers a mediocre shooting team? Or are they a team with good shooters who are underperforming beyond the 3-point arc? 

The answer to those questions will be a defining factor in the Lakers’ post-All-Star break success, which starts with Friday’s home game against the Clippers.

The Lakers entered Friday ranked No. 21 in 3-point percentage at 35%, worse than last season’s 36.6% 3-point shooting (No. 14) and the previous season’s 37.7% (No. 8). 

While their perimeter shooting has been a factor in the offense not performing as expected, there are reasons for optimism that their outside shooting will be a strength in the final “sprint” of the regular season.

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The Lakers shot 37% from beyond the arc in their 19 games leading into the break, which ranked No. 7 across the league, despite their player availability being in flux for most of that stretch after previously being one of the league’s worst shooting teams (33.9% in the first 35 games).

As one of the more prolific pull-up 3-point shooting teams (12.2 attempts, fifth most in the league), which are naturally tougher and lower-percentage shots than catch-and-shoot 3s, the Lakers will fight an uphill battle with their raw 3-point percentage.

But if they can maintain the 37% shooting on catch-and-shoot 3s they shot over the last month (an average mark) instead of the 34.8% they were previously shooting (an abysmal number), then they should sustain the recent 3-point success.

And there are plenty of reasons why they should be able to.

Most of the Lakers’ higher-volume shooters are underperforming on catch-and-shoot 3s this season vs. their previous few seasons, including Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia.

Even Luke Kennard, the league’s most accurate 3-point shooter, significantly underperformed on his catch-and-shoot looks in the four games he played with the Lakers entering Friday. 

The underperformance on catch-and-shoot 3s started to turn in the Lakers’ favor before the break.

And with the team overall becoming healthier, there’s confidence they’ll be able to sustain being a solid-to-good shooting squad, even if players who’ve shot better than expected (like Rui Hachimura) begin to regress to their mean. 

The Lakers have shown they don’t need high-level 3-point shooting to perform well offensively. 

They remain elite inside the arc and getting to the free-throw line.

But sustained 3-point shooting can be the difference between them being a good-to-very good offense like they have been so far and elite like they’ve been projected to be. 

And they’re on the precipice of getting to that level.

Just over half the ball/strike challenges were successful on the first day of spring training games Friday as Major League Baseball prepared for the first regular-season use of the automated ball-strike system — the so-called robot umpires.

Thirteen of 23 calls were overturned during the five games, MLB said, which came to 56.5%.

There were an average of 4.6 challenges per game and 2.6 overturned calls per game.

Seven challenges were made of plate umpire Alex MacKay's calls during Arizona's 3-2 win over Colorado, and six were successful. The Diamondbacks had four of five decisions reversed and the Rockies were 2 for 2 in challenges.

MLB experimented with the ABS system during spring training last year and teams won 52.2% of their ball/strike challenges (617 of 1,182) challenges.

Each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game. Teams that waste their challenges get one additional challenge in each extra inning. A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for big league teams with video reviews, which were first used for home run calls in August 2008 and widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

The Golden State Warriors returned form the All-Star break on Thursday night, and lost 121-110 to Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. But before that game happened, I put out a call for mailbag questions … and Dub Nation didn’t disappoint! You all came through with some great questions. Hopefully my answers can do the questions justice.

There are certainly some key differences in their games, but yes, I think that’s fair to say. I think it’s asking too much to expect Will Richard to be able to match De’Anthony Melton’s value as early as next year, but reasonable facsimile? Yeah, I think that’s very doable.

Melton has skill with the ball in his hands that is far above what Richard is currently capable of. It would be a major win if Richard is ever able to penetrate the defense, get to the rim, playmake, and score in isolation the way Melton does; and if he does get there, it probably won’t be for a few years. But he can make up some of that with his transition offense and his cutting, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope he is as good of a shooter and defender as Melton is, as early as next year.

The biggest issue is that Richard is, in my eyes, fundamentally an off-guard, whereas Melton is a combo guard who is quite comfortable running the point. Unless the Warriors are comfortable letting Pat Spencer be a 20-minutes-per-game backup point guard, they’re going to need to make sure they have someone on the roster other than Steph Curry who is comfortable (and talented) with the ball in his hands, and I don’t think that’s Richard.

This isn’t a fun answer, but I think it’s an honest answer: the key to the Warriors rising into one of the top six spots in the Western Conference is for someone on another team to get injured. The Warriors are five games out of the sixth seed, with only 26 games remaining. With Jimmy Butler III out for the year and Steph Curry out for, at minimum, a handful more games, I don’t think it’s realistic for Golden State to play their way out of that deficit.

But the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the teams six games ahead, and they’ve dramatically outperformed their net rating (which is significantly worse than Golden State’s); if LeBron James or Luka Dončić misses some time, they could tumble down. The Minnesota Timberwolves are also six games up on the Dubs, and they would fall apart entirely if Anthony Edwards suffered an injury.

Hopefully those things don’t happen. But I don’t see the Warriors getting further than the No. 7 seed without a whole lot of help.

I don’t mean this to sound patronizing, but I think sometimes fans aren’t aware of how much coaches and players talk about things. Steph Curry and Draymond Green making careless passes that result in turnovers is something that Steve Kerr has probably talked with them about thousands of times. It probably gets mentioned in almost every film session. Sometimes there’s a sentiment among fans that because something hasn’t been fixed, that no one is addressing it, and that’s not the case. Kerr has called out those two in the media a notable number of times for careless passes … and it’s safe to assume that any criticism Kerr is levying through a presser is something that has been said to the player at least 10 times.

The reality is, this is who Curry and Green are. It’s a weakness in their respective games — one of the few weaknesses, in Curry’s case. But it’s also a situation where you can’t always have the good without the bad. They are exceptional playmakers, and it’s probably not realistic to ask them to cut back on the careless passes while maintaining all the good ones.

Bob Myers’ legacy is simple: he is the architect of the greatest stretch of basketball in Golden State Warriors history, and one of the greatest dynasties of all time. When all is said and done, that’s how he’ll be remembered; and it’s how he should be remembered.

First off, let’s clarify some facts. Myers was hired a month before Jerry West was. West had no involvement with the Warriors when they drafted Steph Curry; he wasn’t hired for another two years. He had a role in drafting Klay Thompson in 2011, but so did Myers, who was the assistant general manager at the time, and a very respected voice in the organization as he was viewed as the heir apparent (a voice that was part of the team hiring West, it should be noted). Myers was promoted to GM in 2012, before the draft … meaning he was the man in charge when they selected Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes later that year. So if you want to call those the Jerry West Years for narrative’s sake, that’s fine, but just remember that Myers had as big — and I’d argue, a much bigger — role in acquiring the dynastic trio as West did.

More importantly, Myers played an absolutely critical role in building the dynasty. He was the primary person involved in the — at the time, unpopular — decision to fire Mark Jackson after a successful season, and against the wishes of his own players. And he was the primary person involved in hiring Steve Kerr. That sequence of events is, after drafting Steph Curry, the most important move of the century for the Warriors. The dynasty doesn’t exist without that, nor does it exist without the slick maneuvering to add Andre Iguodala and the signing of key veterans like David West and Shaun Livingston, or his role in acquiring Kevin Durant. The shocking 2022 championship doesn’t happen if Myers didn’t use Durant’s departure as a chance to overpay D’Angelo Russell for the sake of maintaining a salary slot that he then used to add Andrew Wiggins … to make no mention of drafting Jordan Poole, a move that drew criticism at the time, and for a full year, before paying massive dividends en route to a trophy.

There were some bad moves, but those are going to happen when you run a team for well over a decade. I don’t criticize him as much as others do for the Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody picks, and I think if you glance at the history of the No. 7 and No. 14 slots, you’ll offer him some grace there, as well.

It wasn’t a perfect tenure, but it was a great one. And it should be remembered as such.

I think most people would prefer that the Warriors get a lottery pick rather than lose in the play-in tournament, that’s for sure. It would massively help them in their retooling efforts, either as an opportunity for talent or as a trade chip.

That said, there would be a downside, apart from the lost revenue of a potential series. If the Warriors fall out of the play-in — which would require a lot of losses — then that means they’re playing awful basketball, and that’s a bad sign for a team trying to compete next year. It means Kristaps Porziņģis is either injured or not playing well, and that hurts their plans. Ultimately, the best outcome is that they play good basketball that offers confidence for their 2026-27 plans. But a lottery pick is a very nice consolation prize if they fail.

I love both of those players for the Warriors. That said, I’m not sure that veterans who are known entities should be their target in the buyout market this year, since they’re not contending. I like the idea of them using the market as an audition for less proven players who could play a role on next year’s team, like Lonzo Ball.

I think Gui Santos is already better than Eric Paschall and Anthony Lamb, to be honest. Paschall was really a one-trick pony: a north-south scorer who couldn’t defend or shoot threes. And Lamb was a guy who never really played well, he just provided energy and effort when Steve Kerr was desperate for some. Santos, with his solid defense, smooth three-point shot, and ability to score in transition or with cuts, is already a better player, I’d say.

My guess is he’s a few years away from being an honest-to-goodness starter. He just needs a little more seasoning so that the game can slow down for him. Let’s not forget that he’s only 23 years old, and has barely played 1,600 career minutes. In minutes terms, he’s played one full season at fewer than 20 minutes per game. There’s a lot of growth left for him to do.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a very knowledgable draft guy, and it’s early, so I don’t have a good sense yet. But in the latest SB Nation mock draft, Ricky O’Donnell has the Dubs taking Baylor guard Cameron Carr, who has a long wingspan and a slick three-point shot. Seems about right.

It’s very difficult to envision, less because the Warriors are incapable of beating the Lakers, and more because the logistics of it just don’t line up. The Warriors are play-in bound, meaning if they make the playoffs, it will be as the No. 7 or 8 seed. The Lakers don’t have a realistic shot of reaching one of the top-two seeds. That means that, for the Warriors and Lakers to even face each other in the playoffs, the Dubs would have to escape the play-in tournament, beat either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in a seven-game series, and hope that the Lakers both land in the right spot in the bracket, and pull off a first-round upset of their own. None of that seems likely.

There’s better hope for the teams meeting in the play-in tournament, though I doubt that happens, either.

If you ask the internet, I’d say Draymond Green is more hated than Brandin Podziemski. Pat Spencer is surely great at pickleball, but I’m picking Steph Curry over anyone in any hand-eye coordination dominated sport. Gui Santos is definitely the guy who enjoys SF the most, though I imagine Al Horford is up there as well. They’re hitting up different spots, but I imagine they both are relishing what the city has to offer.

As to your actual question … I don’t think Moses Moody has fully hit his ceiling, but it’s close. I think we can give up on him ever being a guy who can take his defender off the dribble to create a shot. But I do think he could add something of a low post game to his arsenal. Maybe Jimmy Butler III can teach him a thing or three.

I touched on this earlier, but I would like them to use the spot on someone who they might be considering signing this summer, and want to give a test run in the system to. Lonzo Ball is a great fit in my eyes, as he constantly keeps the ball moving and plays great defense. He could thrive in the Warriors system, but we’ve said that about a lot of players who struggled, instead. If they can find out now, instead of after giving him a guaranteed contract for next year, then that’s a win.

I definitely think Kristaps Porziņģis can return to All-Star form, and it’s worth noting he never fully lost that form, he just lost the ability to stay healthy. In his All-Star season, Porziņģis had per 100 possessions averages of 34.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks, while shooting 39.5% from three-point range; last year, his averages were 33.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks, while shooting 41.2% from deep.

There are really just two questions for Porziņģis: can he stay on the court, and can he fit a system that has stymied plenty of good players in the past.

I will say, I don’t think him signing a long-term contract is particularly feasible. I’d be very surprised if he signs — with the Warriors, or with anyone else — for more than two years. He’s just in that awkward spot where he’s too talented to take a long-term deal at a discount, but too injured to be offered a long-term deal that’s not at a discount. I do think he’ll stay on the Warriors, and it could become a long-term thing if he stays healthy. His minutes will likely always be monitored, so I think the ceiling is an All-Star level talent who is only playing 25 minutes a night.

The boring answer is that they work. The Warriors have had a lot of success with four-wing lineups. The NBA, as a whole, has had a lot of success with four-wing lineups, and it’s why you see players like Moses Moody and Scottie Barnes sometimes being classified as power forwards when you’d be inclined to call them shooting guards. Where the Warriors struggle from a lineup construction standpoint is that their guards and wings aren’t as athletic as the rest of the league’s, and they don’t shoot as well, either. But, for the most part, that still offers better results than throwing out two-big lineups and getting run off the court.

9ergold:
What’s your over/under on # games played out of remaining games to end of regular season for …

Steph

Kristaps

Al

Dray

Melt

Seth

Great question. There are 26 games left. Here are my over/unders for games played:

Steph Curry: 13.5
Kristaps Porziņģis: 14.5
Al Horford: 18.5
Draymond Green: 20.5
De’Anthony Melton: 21.5
Seth Curry: 0.5

Thanks for the questions, everyone!

The coaching carousel for the 2025-2026 men's college basketball season is starting to heat up.

Numerous programs around the country are virtually eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention, barring a surprise conference championship win. Some athletic directors are already starting to get ahead of the curve and filing away candidates.

REQUIRED READING: Kansas State said it fired Jerome Tang 'for cause.' Will that hold up in court?

Kansas State's Jerome Tang was one of the first major dominos to fall, although there's still discourse between Tang and the school regarding his $18.7 million buyout. Kansas State claims it has bounds to fire Tang for cause, which would invalidate the total.

There are multiple mid-major coaches that are also on the rise and could be next up for Power Four gigs. Names like Saint Louis' Josh Schertz, New Mexico's Eric Olen and Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun have all been wildly successful in 2025-26.

Here's a running list of every head coaching change during the 2025-26 men's college basketball season:

College basketball coaches out in 2026: Full list

This story will be updated live.

Feb. 20: Joe Scott, Air Force

Scott was suspended indefinitely in January while being investigated for treatment of Air Force's cadet-athletes. It was announced Feb. 20, however, that he and the school mutually agreed to part ways.

"Coach Scott's passion for the game of basketball has long been evident in his competitive and direct coaching style. It was this coaching style that guided Air Force Basketball to some of the program's most memorable achievements during his initial tenure at the Air Force Academy," Air Force athletic director Nathan Pine said in the announcement. "This is a different day, and now is the right time for a new voice and a new approach to drive the culture and success of the men's basketball program, aligned with the Air Force Academy's mission of forging leaders of character developed to lead in our Air Force and Space Force.

"We thank Coach Scott for his 10 years of service to the Academy and wish him and his family well."

Air Force went 97-183 in Scott's second tenure as head coach from 2020 onward. He also led the program from 2000-04, taking the team to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2004. - Austin Curtright

Feb. 18: Steve Lavin, San Diego

Lavin won't return to San Diego for the 2026-27 season but will remain as head coach for the remainder of the current campaign. The former UCLA and St. John's coach has a 46-79 record at San Diego in four seasons, and currently holds an 11-17 mark this season.

"As my coaching tenure at USD begins to wind down, I would like to pause and express my heartfelt appreciation to President Jim Harris for presenting this life-changing opportunity in 2022," Lavin said in the announcement. "Teaching and coaching at the University of San Diego has been an experience of unparalleled pride and joy. Specifically, I will carry forward the gift of participating in our players' journeys, and will treasure the relationships forged along the way." - Austin Curtright

Feb. 17: Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Tang led Kansas State to the Elite Eight in his first season at the helm in 2022-23, but it was a downward spiral from there. The Wildcats failed to reach the NCAA Tournament the next two seasons and had a 10-15 record with a 1-11 mark in conference play this season before Tang was fired.

“This was a decision that was made in the best interest of our university and men’s basketball program," K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said. “Recent public comments and conduct, in addition to the program’s overall direction, have not aligned with K-State’s standards for supporting student-athletes and representing the university. We wish Coach Tang and his family all the best moving forward.”

Kansas State is attempting to fire Tang for cause after he called out his players in a press conference after a blowout loss against Cincinnati. - Austin Curtright

Jan. 12: Marvin Menzies, Kansas City

Kansas City announced in January that Menzies would finish out the season at Kansas City but wouldn't be returning for the 2026-27 season. The Roos hired former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon shortly after. - Austin Curtright

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Men's college basketball coach firings, changes in 2025-26 season

It wasn’t a pretty return from the break, and it won’t get any easier on Friday. The injury report is stacked on both sidelines. Second night of a back to back only means the tank engines get a little louder! The Flatbush Five remains the Flatbush Four with Saraf on Long Island.

🏀 KEY INFO

WHO: Brooklyn Nets (15‑39) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (42‑14)
WHEN: 8:00 PM ET
WATCH: YES Network

🩹 INJURY REPORT

Nets

• Nic Claxton
• Ziaire Williams
• Ben Saraf
• Josh Minott
• Tyson Etienne
• Chaney Johnson
• E.J. Liddell

OKC

• Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander
• Jalen Williams
• Ajay Mitchell
• Thomas Sorber

📰 GAME PREVIEW

“For the Nets, they’ve had to consistently find ways to pick themselves up from blowout losses. Four out of their last five losses have been by at least 16 points. You learn a lot during the course of a long season, and for this young Nets team, they hope the lessons (and losses) from this year will carry them into 2027 and beyond.” – Brian Fleurantin

💬 DISCUSSION

Share your thoughts and react, but please be respectful. NetsDaily prides itself on being a safe space for Nets and basketball fans alike to have healthy conversation. Reach out to Anthony Puccio or Net Income with any issues.

The Brooklyn Nets will not be tanking tonight in OKC. After resting one or both of Michael Porter Jr. and Egor Demin on back-to-backs for two months, both players will play vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder in OKC, start time 9:00 p.m. ET.

The organization certainly would be within its rights to sit them without facing outrage over violating the game’s core ethos: winning. It was the second time a little more than a week that the Nets could point to as an example of them being ethical. The night the Washington Wizards caught the basketball world’s ire by sitting nine players, Brooklyn presented the league with a clean bill of health.

Are the Nets getting nervous that they’re too often being lumped alongside the NBA’s most notorious tankers? Are they trying to be the good boy compared to the Wizards, the Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers, the latter two both being fined six figures earlier this month? Afraid of deeper sanctions? Or is it simply that MPJ and Demin are good to go or that Sean Marks, Jordi Fernandez, et al want to see how Demin does against the defending champs.

On the other side, of course, Joe Tsai is the only NBA owner to sorta admit his team is trying to get as high a pick in the 2026 Draft Lottery

“Well, I have to say that we’re in a rebuilding year,” Joe Tsai said at the start of the season . “We spent all of our (2025) picks — we had five first-round draft picks this past summer.

“We have one pick in 2026, and we hope to get a good pick. So you can predict what kind of strategy we will use for this season.”

On Thursday, things got more interesting when ESPN reported that Adam Silver was considering further rule changes, beyond those democratizing the lottery between winners and losers back in 2019. Shams Charania wrote this Friday afternoon, discussing Silver talks with owners in December and GMs Thursday:

Sources with knowledge of Thursday’s meeting as well as a late January competition committee meeting told ESPN that these concepts have been discussed to curb tanking:

• First-round draft picks can be protected only for top-four or top-14-plus selections
• Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date
• No longer allowing a team to pick in the top four in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-three finishes
• Teams can’t pick in the top four the year after making the conference finals
• Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records
• Lottery extended to include all play-in teams
• Flatten odds for all lottery teams.

During Thursday’s GM meeting, Silver, the NBA office and the league’s 30 top team executives shared a desire to have ongoing discussions to safeguard the integrity of the sport.

None of these changes would effect what looks like a generational draft in June of this year. Any changes wouldn’t take place till 2027 or later. That said, the team with the most at stake in all this would be the team with the most draft picks: your Brooklyn Nets who have 13 first rounders (10 tradeable) and 20 seconds. They even have six picks in the 2032 Draft, two firsts and four seconds. If the Nets rebuild is going to succeed to the point that Tsai, Marks, Fernandez etc., hope, those picks will have to retain full value. So you’d think Brooklyn would oppose some of the more stringent measures being discussed.

Of course, the reason is that the 2026 Draft is seen as one of the best ever, challenging the 1996 and 2003 draft in both star power and depth. Somewhere between three and seven are seen as “franchise changing.” As Silver noted in his State of the League talks over All-Star Weekend, that’s led to an imbalance in fandom.

“I think there was a more classical view of that in the old days, where it was just sort of an understanding among partners in terms of behavior,” Silver said. “I think what we’re seeing is modern analytics, where it’s so clear that the incentives are misaligned. …The worst place to be, for example, is to be a middle-of-the-road team. Either be great or be bad, because then that will help you with the draft.

“In many cases, you have fans of those teams — remember, it’s not what they want to pay for to see poor performance on the floor, but they’re actually rooting for their teams in some cases to be bad to improve their draft chances.”

Been there, as Nets fans have long been divided on social media between tanking and anti-tanking contingents.

There are some, like Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation, who’ve opined that the depth of the tanking is unlikely to become an entrenched phenomenon. The 2027 Draft, he (and others) note, is seen as mediocre. No need to distort the game if the reward is simply not worth the effort.

[T]he 2027 NBA Draft doesn’t look like it’s worth tanking for. While we knew prospects like Victor Wembanyama, Cooper Flagg, and Cameron Boozer were studs by the time they were sophomores in high school, there’s no one that looks the part of a future NBA superstar yet in the current senior class. I’d say the top prospects in 2027 right now are Tyran Stokes, Caleb Holt, and Anthony Thompson, but none of them are even close to a sure thing. The 2028 NBA Draft also doesn’t have an obvious top prospect at this point.

Things, he believes, will resolve itself.

Also, and this isn’t talked about. With the board of governors about to approve expansion, presumably to Seattle and Las Vegas, the league will have to schedule an expansion draft. Does the NBA basketball operations personnel want to plan for both a newly configured NBA draft and an expansion draft?

Meanwhile, at HSS Training Center, the scouting staff is inputting reports from the field whether the NCAA, or the NBL in Australia or the Chinese Basketball Association. This year’s picks – an almost certain high lottery pick and picks at the top and middle of the second round – will be unaffected.

Is all the tanking worth it. Just Thursday, Brian Windhorst of ESPN said in talking to NBA executives that the overall No. 1 pick in the draft could be worth $100 million … if the NBA rules didn’t limit cash considerations.

And Brian Lewis did some math and just how different the top of this year’s class is from previous ones.

Box plus-minus (which estimates a player’s total contribution to team performance) is considered a great indicator of future NBA success, with the elite starting between 8.0 and 10.0 (per Basketball Reference) and the truly transcendent reaching over 13.0. Since 2010-11, only 11 freshmen — so, less than one per year — have recorded a 12.0 or better, with all but two becoming top-3 picks.

This season alone, a staggering half-dozen freshmen stars are currently above 12.0: Boozer (19.4), uber-athletic North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson (13.9), Peterson (13.5), two-way Houston point guard Kingston Flemings (12.9), sharpshooting Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (12.8) and Dybantsa (12.3).

For perspective, Boozer’s historic freshman campaign trails only Zion Williamson and is ahead of the aforementioned Davis and Cooper Flagg, all top overall picks. Meanwhile, even the last of that sextet grades out ahead of Brandon Miller, the No. 2 pick in 2023 and currently thr No. 32-rated player on The Ringer’s latest NBA Trade Value Rankings.

No Net cracked the top 81 in that list, not even leading scorer Michael Porter Jr.

So better to focus on the 2025 rookies or the 2026 draft.

The Atlanta Hawks (27-30) kick of a (frankly very winnable) five-game homestand against the Miami Heat (29-27).

Starting lineup:

• PG Dyson Daniels
• SG Nickeil Alexander-Walker
• SF Zaccharie Risacher
• PF Jalen Johnson
• C Onyeka Okongwu

Please join in the comments below as you follow along.

Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen

Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA

Start Time: 7:30 PM EDT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)

Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)

The Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies will have a tank-off their first game post all-star break and it will be mostly a competition of young guys in this one.

The flattened odds that Adam Silver set up are to blame for this game and situation. The Grizzlies would likely not care about losing games if it didn’t have real value to them to fall. Now the Jazz, who have a much worse record, have to tank hard to just lose this game for lottery positioning. And if you don’t think the positioning matters, it definitely does. The Mavericks are one game back of the Jazz in the lottery standings so every win or loss matters.

The injury reports reflect the importance of the tank-off game tonight.

The Memphis Grizzlies are missing … everyone.

Taylor Hendricks will definitely be playing so that makes this one fun. Can he have a revenge game and do Jazz fans one more solid?

The Jazz are also making changes based on the actions of Adam Silver and his unrivaled foresight.

This means that the Jazz will be having a likely big game from Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski. We’ll see how tonight goes and who can come away with tanking glory. Utah NEEDS to lose these types of games because that pick protection is looming large. Utah also has a chance to jump closer to the top of the lottery the better they do with these games.

How to watch Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies

Channel: Jazz+, KJZZ

Where: FedExForum, Memphis, TN

When: 5:00 PM MT