Category: Basketball

Basketball News

Posted on

Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again' with Warriors

Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again' with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even after agreeing to a contract with the Warriors that ended a months-long stalemate, Jonathan Kuminga‘s fit with the team continues to be sorted.

Issues about his fit alongside Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were put to rest to begin the 2025-26 NBA season. So much so that Warriors coach Steve Kerr, one of the toughest critics of the four on the court together, was confident enough to plug Kuminga into the starting lineup for the first 12 games of the season.

Golden State began the season 4-1. The vibes were vibing.

Until they weren’t.

The Warriors then went 2-5 over their next seven games. The last one of the seven, a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, prompted Kerr to make a change to his starting unit. Among those changes was pulling Kuminga out and having him come off the bench.

One team source told ESPN’s Anthony Slater that Kuminga “feels like the scapegoat again.”

With the lineup change, the Warriors won a close one against the San Antonio Spurs. Kuminga was ruled out for the following game and has been sidelined ever since as he continues to deal with bilateral knee tendonitis.

This sparked speculation and conspiracies about Kuminga’s fit and future with the team. Again.

But Warriors players feel differently about the situation.

“Him not being in the lineup ain’t the reason that we’re winning,” Butler told Slater. “We’re just playing better basketball. Roles are clearer. We’re making shots. We’re guarding. That ain’t got nothing to do with him. If he was in the lineup, I still believe that we win these games.”

Slater also stated that if the Warriors want to reach their goal this season, there’s an “internal belief” that Kuminga must “shake off some of his built-up resentment” and focus on making an impact, even if, as Slater writes, the “long-term benefit for both sides is more about a bump in trade value than a partnership.”

Kuminga, who signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension that includes a team option for the second year, doesn’t become trade eligible until Jan. 15.

There still is time to figure things out internally, but in the meantime, speculation likely will continue externally.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Why Warriors splitting six-game road trip was about more than wins, losses

Why Warriors splitting six-game road trip was about more than wins, losses originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

There was a feeling to the Warriors’ six-game road trip that was about more than wins and losses. 

Better than a 3-3 record. Not by a ton, but better. Certainly not worse.

“There’s plenty of data, there’s plenty of film. I was just most pleased with after that OKC game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Just felt like our level of fight and competition was where it needed to be. We were able to obviously split the six-game trip coming off that beatdown in OKC. 

“I like where we are now better as a team, but we have a lot of work to do.”

The Warriors started their longest road trip of the season with a 24-point loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder and ended it with a 14-point loss to the Miami Heat. But those two were as different as can be. 

Embarrassed, humiliated and humbled. That was the feeling of a subdued locker room when the defending champions waxed the floor with the Warriors in Oklahoma City. The Thunder were ahead by 25 points when Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green went to the bench for good halfway through the third quarter, and the lead was as big as 36 points. A fully healthy Warriors team was beaten before the game even began. 

You can say the game was over before it started in Miami, too; however, that’s because none of Curry, Butler or Green played. The Warriors also were without Al Horford and Jonathan Kuminga. Though team-wide issues turning the ball over continued, the Warriors’ role players and backups competed until the very end, looking like they might even pull off a stunner in South Beach. 

The story of the trip, as Kerr mentioned, was how the Warriors responded to that thrashing by OKC. How the veterans of Curry, Butler and Green in particular responded after using words like “sacrifice” and “commitment to win” in a message to the team. 

Curry with his 46 points on the second night of a back-to-back, and then 49 two nights later. Butler, giving body blows to Curry’s haymakers as his running mate, scoring 28 and 21 points while attacking the glass and keeping the offense going. Green climbing Mount Wembanyama and showing us once again how he’ll never back down. 

Outside of them, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II had big contributions in those two wins – either the first or the second. The fact of the matter is, the Warriors also needed all 95 of Curry’s combined points to beat the Spurs. They didn’t need anything from him to beat the Pelicans. 

The sorriest team in the league was taken to school by Moody for 32 points and eight 3-pointers. Moody then only scored 15 points over the next two games, both being losses. Which also is part of the story from this six-game road trip. 

When the Warriors get 67 points between Curry and Butler on 56.4 percent shooting, as well as 12 points from Draymond and all the other things those three provided, they should win the game. Yet they couldn’t against the Magic on a night where Moody and Richard, their two other starters, scored six points each. Podziemski (five points) and Buddy Hield (two points) scored just seven points off the bench in the loss. 

With the six-game trip and the start of the season in general for the Warriors, there’s context to judging them. The Warriors played 17 games before any other team played more than 15. The road trip featured two back-to-backs, and the Warriors played five of them when no other team had more than three. The Rockets haven’t even had one back-to-back, and the Warriors played their 12th road game on the same day Houston had its 13th game in total. 

“We’ve been bickering about it a little internally. We’re a little bit older. I think we’ll be grateful at the end of the year that this isn’t the stretch that we have at the end of the season,” Pat Spencer said. “We like where we’re at. I think, obviously, we have liked to grab these last couple on the road. But to be where we’re at with the number of games that we played, to knock on wood, have a really healthy team at this point in the season, I think we’ll be grateful we’re not doing this on the back end of the year.”

A 5-1 or 4-2 trip was in hand. It also wasn’t the main point. 

Golden State’s three-man show of Curry, Butler and Green proved they still can bring it when challenged. The Thunder are far and away better than everyone. Consistency continued to be a problem for others, as well as some trends that need cleaning up. 

The feeling of the Warriors’ 3-3 road trip is that of unsatisfied success. Next up is taking advantage of being home for five consecutive games at a place the Warriors haven’t lost once this season.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Knicks will take ‘ugly win’ to end road losing streak: ‘We can build on it’

It was hardly an artistic masterpiece of a game for the Knicks, but when the buzzer sounded, it was recorded as a 113-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, their first road victory of the season. 

“Finally. Finally,” Jalen Brunson, who scored a team-high 28 points, said about snapping the four-game losing skid. “We’re happy, but we got a lot of work to do.”

In the beginning, it was anything but beautiful: 9-for-25 from the floor, including 3-for-11 from behind the arc in the opening quarter. Down the stretch, it looked like New York was going to squander the hard work put in on the defensive end – holding Dallas to 16-for-42 (38.1 percent) from the floor in the first half to stay in the game – and a three-point edge Landry Shamet provided when he knocked down back-to-back threes with 31 seconds remaining. Why? Because of free-throw line ineptitude: 19-for-35 (54.3 percent) for the game and 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter.

After Brunson made 1-of-2 at the line with 3.8 seconds remaining to put the Knicks up a pair, Dallas' inbound to mid-court quickly found the speedy Brandon Williams driving on Shamet. After a little contact, his off-hand hooked the Knicks defender as he went up for the lay-up. The ball went in, but the referee whistled for an offensive foul with 0.7 seconds left.

“Tough call,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. “He had a good look, but they called a foul.”

Mike Brown said Shamet was the team’s defensive player of the game for doing a “fantastic job on the ball” all night.

“I give [referee JT Orr] credit, it was a hook,” the Knicks coach said of the call. “And a lot of people would not have called it down the stretch, but it was the right call. And Landry busted his behind to get down there to create that.”

“I mean, chaos,” Brunson said of the game's final moments.

Shamet acknowledged it was a tough way for a game to end. 

“That was a good call by the officials,” he said. “Tough way to see the game end on a call like that, but I think they made the right call. I want that one, as a defender, I want that one.”

But even in victory, Shamet focused on how he escaped culpability for mistakes down the stretch.

“We don’t want it to come down to that, though,” he continued. “We gotta do a better job of playing 48 minutes and find a way to create some more separation earlier in the game.”

And it wasn’t all bad for the visitors. New York shot 21-for-43 (48.8 percent) from the field in the second half, including 9-for-20 from behind the arc after going 3-for-22 from deep in the first half. And Shamet, who was 1-for-4 in the game’s first 46:58, knocked down the big shots when late, when his team was down two and then 30 seconds later with the score tied.

“The ball found me, I didn’t find any open looks early," he said. "Stayed composed, and knew, had a feeling some would come in the fourth and they did. Just step in, ready to shoot, good plays by my teammates, and I’ll take them.”

Even though Shamet made the clutch shot to put the Knicks ahead for good before what can only be described as a game-winning defensive stop, the two he missed at the line up by three with 22 seconds left remained a thorn in his side.

“I gotta make two free throws,” he said. “A wild finish down the stretch. It’s a road win, they’re not always gonna be pretty. That was not 48 minutes of basketball that we would like to play.

“But you’ll take the road win, and we can build on it.”

Brunson echoed the sentiment.

“Found a way to win,” he said. “It was ugly, but when you win ugly, it’s the signs of a team learning, getting better.

“So no matter what the situation is, we gotta find a way to win.”

In the end, the Knicks made just enough plays to get the job done. Proving, once again, it is better to be ugly in victory than pretty in defeat.

Posted on

Knicks earn first road win of season, sneak by Mavericks, 113-111

The Knicks held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 113-111, on Wednesday night for the first road victory of the season after dropping their previous four.

Jalen Brunsonscored 28 points after missing the past two games with a right ankle sprain and earned his first victory in Dallas against his former team.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- The Knicks took a quick 5-0 lead, but soon found themselves down 11-6 after Brunson turned it over and Klay Thompson hit a pull-up three-pointer, forcing Mike Brown to call timeout. Brunson made a floater out of the timeout for his first make in three attempts, as that jump-started a 7-0 run. 

Dallas soon got hot from beyond the arc to take a five-point lead with about two minutes remaining in the quarter. Brunson then found a rhythm and hit two straight three-pointers after the team had started 1-for-9 from deep. Naji Marshall countered with his third three, and Dallas' seventh, with the clock winding down to take a 25-24 lead after the first quarter.

-- The poor shooting continued into the second quarter for the Knicks, especially for Miles McBride (0-for-6 from three in the first half), while the Mavs stayed hot and made their eighth three-pointer to stay in the lead. Mikal Bridges sank back-to-back mid-range shots to keep it close, but Daniel Gafford continued to find ways to score inside and gave the Mavs a 44-37 lead with about four minutes left in the first half.

Brunson connected with Karl-Anthony Towns for a one-handed slam to tie the game, giving the Knicks a spark. Dallas turned it over for a tenth time as Bridges took it in for an easy dunk and the lead. Marshall's big first half continued for the Mavs with an and-one floater, but then Brunson came right back with his own version to put the Knicks up 52-50 at halftime.

-- Despite leading, the Knicks shot a rough 3-for-21 (14 percent) from three in the first half and missed six free throws. However, the Mavs made just two three-pointers in the second quarter, going 9-for-23 (39 percent) overall in the half. Brunson led the way with 15 points and Bridges had 11 on 5-for-7 shooting. Marshall scored 19 points for Dallas in 17 minutes off the bench.

-- Josh Hart provided energy for the Knicks in the third quarter, blocking Brandon Williams' layup, leading to a Brunson bucket. He then grabbed a defensive rebound and found Towns for his first three of the night to go up two. Brunson went on to make his next three jumpers, giving the Knicks their biggest lead of the night at the time, 69-64, with 5:13 left in the third quarter.

After a D'Angelo Russell floater cut the Knicks' lead to six, Towns was called for an offensive foul against Gafford, leading to a Russell three-pointer to keep it a close game. Russell's hot quarter continued as he and McBride traded makes before Max Christie scored on a wild layup just before the buzzer. The two teams both scored 35 points in the third quarter with the Knicks still leading, 87-85.

-- The back-and-forth affair continued in the fourth with both teams making three-pointers after early struggles. Christie gave the Mavs a lead with two straight threes and Thompson hit a jumper before McBride countered with his third three-pointer, as the Knicks still trailed, 98-96. Robinson scored on a tip-in to make it a one-point game, but then Bridges threw a poor pass that led to a fastbreak dunk for Marshall, extending the Dallas lead.

Bridges made up for the mistake with a corner three-pointer two possessions later to tie the game at 106-106. After Dallas made two free throws, Hart stole the ball from Marshall and Brunson found Landry Shamet in the corner for three, giving the Knicks a 109-108 lead with about a minute remaining. Shamet came through with another three with 31.4 seconds left, putting NY up three points. An offensive foul call againstWilliams with the clock winding down caused some drama, but was upheld as he hooked around Shamet, ending the game.

-- Brunson scored 28 points, including 12 in the third quarter, to go along with five assists, three rebounds, a steal, and a block. Towns flirted with a triple-double, putting up 18/14/6 with two steals. Bridges scored 16 points with three steals and two blocks. Marshall and Russell both scored 23 points off the bench for the Mavs.

The Knicks were able to hold on for the win despite shooting 19-for-35 (53 percent) from the foul line and 12-for-42 (29 percent) from three-point land.

Game MVP: Josh Hart

Hart's energy off the bench was the difference and was especially noticeable in the second half. He finished with 16 points, going 3-for-4 from three, with 10 rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block in 30 minutes.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks continue on their road trip, heading to Orlando to face the Magic on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Posted on

No. 22 Auburn bounces back in a big way and beats Jackson State 112-66

KeShawn Murphy had 19 points and seven rebounds, Filip Jovic added a career-high 18 points off the bench and No. 22 Auburn dominated Jackson State 112-66 Wednesday night. Elyjah Freeman chipped in 14 points, six rebounds and five assists for Auburn (4-1), which bounced back from its first loss of the season and improved to 41-0 against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Coming off a one-point loss to then-No. 1 Houston in Birmingham, Auburn was the better team inside and out.

Posted on

Lendeborg scores 25, No. 7 Michigan tunes up for Las Vegas tourney by beating Middle Tennessee

Yaxel Lendeborg had season highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 7 Michigan to an 86-61 win over Middle Tennessee on Wednesday night. The Wolverines (4-0) tuned up for next week's three-game tournament in Las Vegas, where they might face No. 2 Houston in a field with many AP Top 25 teams. The Blue Raiders (3-1) went on a 13-2 run in the first half to pull within one and trailed by just six points at halftime before getting routed.

Posted on

Mark Cuban on Mavericks trading Anthony Davis: 'We won't. We want to try to win.'

In the wake of Nico Harrison's firing, the expectation in league circles has been that the Dallas Mavericks would at least listen to trade offers for Anthony Davis, provided the All-NBA big man can get and stay healthy. Put simply, it's time for the Mavericks to pivot and start rebuilding around Cooper Flagg.

Or not.

Despite all the speculation about Davis' future, Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban told Joe Varden of The Athletic there is no plan to trade Davis.

"We won't. We want to try to win," Cuban said Wednesday in an email when asked if he and Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont would seek a deal for Davis.

This runs counter to what NBC Sports has heard from other teams, who expect Dallas to test the trade waters. It also runs counter to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon’s reporting that Dallas will explore trade possibilities. I have three quick thoughts about Cuban's comment.

1) This is exactly what a GM/owner/front office person should say if they intend to trade a player, all in an effort to gain or maintain leverage. Take Cuban's comment with a grain of salt.

2) How much influence does Cuban have in the Mavericks' front office right now? Officially, he is an advisor to team governor Patrick Dumont, who is still making the ultimate calls (Dallas has two interim GMs running basketball operations — Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi — while the search for Harrison's full-time replacement continues). Much of ESPN’s story on Wednesday focuses on Cuban's efforts to get back in the door and regain some power in basketball operations.

3) Dallas holding onto Davis and seeing how good this team is with him, a healthy Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg was always on the table. Dallas went into this season thinking it had a playoff roster, but that roster has just not been healthy. Irving is recovering from a torn ACL and is considered likely to return at some point this season, however, there is no timeline. Flagg has played well as a rookie, but his season has been up-and-down, in part because he was asked to play out of position at the start of the season as a point forward. Still, his potential shines through.

The problem is this: Dallas controls its 2026 first-round pick in the NBA draft, but doesn't control its picks from 2027-30. The Mavericks have started 4-11 in a deep Western Conference and it's going to be tough sledding for a while Davis (strained calf) is out for another week or so. Also, this team clearly needs a point guard and it's unclear when Irving might return, he is rightfully making sure he is all the way back and not rushing things. The Mavericks are already 5.5 games out of the top six in the West and sitting in 13th place. Maybe the Mavericks can climb back into the play-in, but how dangerous are they? Is it worth it to wait to see what this team might be?

Which leads to the logic that Dallas should trade Davis (and maybe Irving, although that may be an offseason move), rebuild around Flagg and other young players such as Dereck Lively II, end up in the lottery and get a running mate for Flagg.

However, that may not be the direction Dallas' ownership chooses to go. Just ask Mark Cuban.

Posted on

Observations after turnover struggles doom Sixers in loss to Raptors

Observations after turnover struggles doom Sixers in loss to Raptors  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers couldn’t climb all the way back for another unlikely comeback Wednesday night.

Though the Sixers made the Raptors sweat down the stretch, they ultimately fell to a 121-112 loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

The Sixers dropped to 8-6 and Toronto improved to 10-5. 

Tyrese Maxey scored 24 points. VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes had 21 apiece.

Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each posted 22 for the Raptors.

On the first night of a back-to-back, the Sixers were down:

The Sixers will fly to Milwaukee and play the Bucks on Thursday night. Here are observations on their loss to Toronto:

McCain on the scoreboard 

Justin Edwards got the start and guarded Ingram. The 21-year-old shared the floor with Maxey, Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow and Andre Drummond.

Maxey pressed his foot to the gas pedal from the opening tip. He scored eight of the Sixers’ first 10 points, including a slick step-back three on Immanuel Quickley. Maxey fired five long-range jumpers in the first quarter and made three. 

The Sixers used Grimes, Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker and Jared McCain off the bench. Instead of playing the full first quarter, Maxey checked out with 2:12 remaining and McCain subbed in. He soon had his first points of the season.

McCain drilled a mid-range jumper on his first shot. He’d gone 0 for 9 over his prior four outings and dealt with serious rust in his return from injury. Wednesday’s outing — five points in 14 minutes — was his best yet. 

McCain kicked off an 8-0 Sixers run early in the second quarter by canning a top-of-the-key three. Walker capped the spurt by draining a triple that gave the Sixers a 36-35 edge. 

Season-worst turnovers night 

Walker did solid work on the glass and the Sixers had a great rebounding start overall. In under 14 minutes, they recorded 10 offensive rebounds.

Despite that superiority on the boards, the Sixers didn’t have a massive advantage in the possession game because of their turnover struggles. 

Off-target passes and strange decisions were both prevalent problems. Every Sixers starter had at least two turnovers and the team finished with a season-high 21 giveaways.

Edgecombe had four of those turnovers and also missed his first six field goals. The rookie flipped a switch to finish the first half, though. Edgecombe threw down a big dunk, grabbed a steal and assisted a Maxey three. He scored a driving bucket with 6.8 seconds left in the second quarter to lift the Sixers to a 56-53 lead. 

No comeback miracles

For the third straight game, the Sixers changed their starting lineup in the second half. Grimes and Watford replaced Edwards and Barlow. 

The Sixers had a rough first few minutes of the third quarter, which included Watford fouling Ingram on a three-point attempt. Toronto pulled ahead with a 10-2 run and kept growing its lead. The Sixers fell behind by 16 points on a Ja’Kobe Walker three late in the third. 

The Sixers sure didn’t open the fourth quarter like they’d chalked the game up as a loss and were thinking about the second night of their back-to-back. They continued their comeback habit and made a high-paced, highlight-filled charge back into the contest.

Edgecombe hammered home a coast-to-coast jam. Drummond had a steal and a slam. Grimes caught fire. He sunk two consecutive threes to slice the Sixers’ deficit to 109-106.

Of course, the Sixers had a tiny margin for error. Maxey threw a pass that wound up out of bounds when he wasn’t on the same page as Grimes. Quickley cashed in on an Ingram kick-out feed, nailing a three. He hit a key pull-up jumper, too.

While the Sixers have earned their early-season comebacks, the reality is that teams lose the vast majority of games in which they face late double-digit deficits. Wednesday was one of those nights for the Sixers.

Posted on

Doug Christie admits Kings players ‘frustrated' amid longest skid since 2021-22

Doug Christie admits Kings players ‘frustrated' amid longest skid since 2021-22 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Despite showing signs of improvement, the Kings matched their longest losing streak since the 2021-2022 NBA season after falling 113-99 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Paycom Center. 

Sacramento, without star big man Domantas Sabonis, extended its losing skid to seven games after a characteristic third-quarter collapse against the defending NBA champions.

With a 3-12 record, the Kings are off to their worst start through 15 games since going 2-13 to start the 1990-91 season. 

Coach Doug Christie pointed out marked corrections in terms of his team’s competitiveness but recognizes that the morale in his locker room remains relatively distressed.  

“What I would say is frustrated. That’s probably the term I would use,” Christie told reporters after the loss.

Yet again, the Kings managed to stay competitive throughout the first half before succumbing to a second-half swoon, giving up nine turnovers in the third quarter alone. 

Even though Christie is stressing high-level execution and focus during practice sessions, the Kings’ late-game product isn’t there. It’s headed in the right direction, but it’s not there just yet.

“The level of competition the guys brought I thought was really, really high level,” Christie added.

“That’s what we need to get ourselves out of where we’re at, and if we do that on a night-to-night basis, most nights in the NBA you give yourselves a chance to win. This was the world champs and there were eight, nine minutes left, and they found themselves right there.”

Sacramento’s leading scorer, Zach LaVine, was limited to eight points for a second consecutive game after shooting 4 of 10 from the floor and a paltry 0 of 4 from beyond the arc.  

Precious Achiuwa, starting amid Sabonis’ absence, tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, while Dennis Schröder added a team-high 21 points off the bench. 

The Kings’ fourth stop of a five-game road trip takes them to Memphis on Thursday, where they’ll look to put a historic start in the rearview against the Grizzlies.

Download and follow The Deuce & Mo Podcast