Category: Basketball

What we learned as Steph Curry, Will Richard shine in Warriors' preseason win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

Just two days after suffering their first preseason loss in two years, the Warriors bounced back for a 118-111 win Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.

The Warriors made twice as many threes as the Blazers, 18 to nine, but gave up 20 more points in the paint than they scored and had the same number of turnovers (26) as assists.

Steph Curry, to no surprise, was the best player on the floor, scoring a game-high 28 points in three quarters of work. He was a plus-13 with four 3-pointers, six rebounds and five assists. He brought plenty of showmanship to the Pacific Northwest one week before the real games begins.

The biggest surprise of the night was rookie Will Richard joining Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford in the starting lineup. Richard continued to impress, too, scoring 13 points with six rebounds as a plus-12 in 29 minutes. He went 4 of 7 from the field and 3 of 5 on threes.

Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Seth Curry and Gui Santos all were ruled out for the Warriors, as well as De’Anthony Melton and Alex Toohey.

Here are three takeaways from a Warriors win that moves them to 3-1 in the preseason.

Welcome To The Starting Five, Rook

Rest, injuries, and the desire to experiment have led coach Steve Kerr to use a different starting lineup in each of the Warriors’ first four preseason games. The biggest change Tuesday night in Portland was the addition of the Warriors’ rookie second-round draft pick. 

“I feel like it’s a good night to have Will out there for ball handling, decision making and it’s a good night for him to have to guard different guys and play against a really athletic team,” Kerr told reporters in his pregame press conference. “It’ll give us a good look at him, and it gives him a chance to play with Steph and BP and Al and JK. It’ll be a good challenge for him, but a good opportunity too.”

The Warriors’ first two points of the game that weren’t from three Curry free throws came from a cutting Richard. Kuminga was backing down his defender when Richard darted into the paint and caught a pass for two points.

Richard’s first made outside jumper was with a little more than three minutes remaining in the second quarter. Standing wide-open on the left wing as Curry got into the paint, Richard didn’t hesitate when hit in the chest with a pass from the defense collapsing. Swish. Defense is Richard’s first trait, but that kind of confidence offensively will help him find minutes as a rookie.

He was easily the Warriors’ second-best player in the first half behind Curry, going into halftime with eight points, made both of his threes and was a plus-10, which tied him with Curry as the team leader. Richard then, in the second half, scored another five points and had four more rebounds.

Kuminga Ejected

In the final seconds of the first half, Kuminga was on the wrong end of the rare one-tech ejection. Kuminga went through contact for a layup down the middle of the paint and missed hard off the glass. As he crashed into the stanchion, Kuminga threw his hands up in frustration, looking for a foul call.

Though it wasn’t shown on the broadcast, Blazers commentators claimed Kuminga made contact with a referee’s face as he argued the no-call. Kuminga then immediately was ejected in a bizarre scene. He might have been playing his best half of the preseason, too. 

Kuminga played 18 minutes and stuffed the stat sheet. He scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and made his only free throw, and also had six rebounds and four assists, both of which were team highs at the time. His impact was even better than his stats. 

Throughout the preseason, Kuminga consistently has been setting up his teammates for easy looks. That trend continued Tuesday night, even when they didn’t convert. Kuminga now has four or more assists in three of the Warriors’ four preseason games.

Last season, Kuminga only registered four or more assists in eight games.

Steph’s Ready 

After Deni Avdija made a three at the 8:19 mark of the third quarter to give the Blazers a 10-point lead, neither team scored until Curry went to the free-throw line with 6:56 left in the quarter. He split his free throws, but that was the start to a 13-0 run by the Warriors. Curry scored five points in that span, putting the Warriors up by three points. 

The Blazers and Warriors then traded four straight threes, with the fourth being a 27-footer from Curry that again gave his team a three-point lead. About a minute and a half later, his night was over but Curry had already made a statement. 

Curry’s 28 points in 26 minutes led both teams. The demon from long distance made three 3-pointers all within inches of each other on the right wing, and another from the left corner. His six rebounds were a team high when he took a seat, as were Curry’s five assists. 

How Curry continuously went to the free-throw line stood out most. Curry only once attempted 13 or more free throws last season. He was 12 of 13 in three quarters Tuesday night.

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Tyrese Haliburton was once a Milwaukee Brewers fan.

Now he's possibly their biggest troll.

On Saturday, the injured Indiana Pacers star sat on his team's bench during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey. It just so happened that the Cubs were playing the Brewers that day in Game 5 of their National League Division Series.

Two days later, Haliburton arrived at the Pacers' preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs rocking a Dodgers jersey (reportedly that of L.A. superstar Shohei Ohtani). Again, certainly by pure coincidence, the two-time NBA All-Star was representing a team that was facing the Brewers in a high-stakes postseason game, this time Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.

The Brewers are playing for only the second World Series berth in team history, and a high-profile athlete who grew up less than two hours from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wis., is actively rooting against them.

Read more:Dodgers vs. Brewers Game 2: Live updates, how to watch, start time and odds

The reason, it seems, is because of an alleged snub that took place in the summer of 2024. During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" in April, Haliburton said he had been scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers game last summer ... until he and the Pacers eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.

"I was a Brewers fan," he said, "and then I was supposed to throw the first pitch last summer, and they X'ed that after the playoff series. So I said, 'You know what? I'm no longer a Brewers fan.'"

After that, Haliburton said, he became a "free agent" as a baseball fan.

Haliburton must have been thrilled with the result of Game 1 of the NLCS, a 2-1 Dodgers win, but he might want to track down jerseys for the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays just in case — the Brewers are still just four wins away from facing one of those teams in the World Series.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Marcus Smart estimated he’ll be limited to about 20 to 25 minutes in his Lakers preseason debut Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns as he returns from Achilles tendinopathy.

Speaking after the team’s shootaround Tuesday, the 31-year-old guard said the rash of Achilles injuries suffered by NBA stars recently — including three during the playoffs last season — made his initial diagnosis frightening, but he took a cautious approach with the Lakers staff to ensure he was ready for the season.

“It wasn't scary in the fact of understanding that tendinopathy, we all kind of have it playing over the time,” said Smart, who is entering his 12th NBA season. “Just making sure you do everything you need to do, to make sure that you can get back out here, or to be able to say, ‘No, I can't.’ So you got to test it, unfortunately, and you got to see where you’re at. So we've done all the tests on the court, off the court and we're feeling fast, feeling good so we want to give it a shot.”

Guard Luka Doncic is also expected to make his preseason debut after he was on a modified training schedule following a busy summer spent with the Slovenian national team. Coach JJ Redick said Monday after practice that Doncic and the team’s training staff had yet to determine a minutes restriction on Doncic, but expects that the five-time All-Star will see an increased workload by the time he suits up again for his second preseason game.

The Lakers will follow Tuesday’s game in Phoenix with a game against Doncic’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Because of the back-to-back schedule, it’s likely Doncic will play again Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings.

Since they are playing four games in six days, the Lakers ruled out guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt and center Jaxson Hayes for Tuesday’s preseason game.

Rookie guard Adou Thiero [knee] has progressed to on-court activities, the team announced Tuesday, after the second-round draft pick was battling swelling in a knee. He will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Warriors star Steph Curry set to join exclusive club in NBA history this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Another year, another career milestone for Stephen Curry.

When the Warriors tip off the 2025-26 NBA season next Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, Curry will become the 10th player in league history to play at least 17 seasons with one team, joining an esteemed list of fellow franchise icons.

For Curry, it has been a long but ultimately glorious road. Golden State selected the Davidson guard with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft in hopes that he could help turn a struggling organization around.

Curry, of course, has accomplished much more than that. He turned the Warriors into must-see television while winning two Most Valuable Player awards and delivering four NBA championships to a team that had not won one since 1975. As his 17th season begins, Curry is arguably the most popular figure in Bay Area sports history and is integral to Golden State’s status as the most valuable NBA franchise.

Even in an era when team mainstays are largely a thing of the past, perhaps it shouldn’t shock us that Curry and the Warriors have chosen to stick by each other’s side.

It doesn’t appear as though that will change anytime soon, either. Curry is signed through an 18th season in 2026-27 and has publicly acknowledged in the past his desire to remain with Golden State for the entirety of his career.

If things transpire the way Curry, the organization and its fans hope they do, the Warriors’ leader will join an even more exclusive club. Of the nine other players to tally 17 years with one franchise, only six did it while spending their entire career in one jersey.

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Mike Brown on Monday said the Knicks are facing an ‘extremely tough’ decision at the end of their roster. They have three veteran contributors vying for one open roster spot.

Here are few things to know about the extremely tough decision facing the Knicks:

VETS BATTLE

Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon, and Garrison Mathews are currently battling for one available roster spot. The Knicks have *14 players on standard deals. They can carry a maximum of 15 players on standard contracts. So they have enough room on the roster to keep one of the three veterans.  

Also, due to CBA rules, the Knicks’ team salary cannot exceed $207.8 million. The Knicks only have enough money to keep one of Shamet, Brogdon or Matthews.

In order to keep two of the three veterans, the Knicks would need to trade one of their players currently signed to a traditional contract.

WHAT ABOUT THE TRADE

If the Knicks want to keep two of those three, trades involving Miles McBride, Pacome Dadiet, or Tyler Kolek are the most direct paths to do so.

If the Knicks traded one of those three players to a team with cap space (Utah, Brooklyn), the club would have enough room under the second apron to keep two of Shamet, Brogdon, and Mathews.

Before these players agreed to join the Knicks, the club told agents that there would be a true competition for the one open roster spot.

“That’s what they said,” Mathews said on Monday night. “It’s a tough roster; let’s see what happens.”

The Knicks also want to compete for an NBA championship this season. So every roster spot – and the decisions made around those spots – is crucial. Does New York value veterans over one of their young players like Dadiet (drafted with the 25^th pick in 2024 NBA Draft) or Kolek (selected with the 34^th overall pick in 2024)?  If so, they will probably trade one of them to make room for two of Shamet, Brogdon or Mathews.

As noted Monday, the Knicks have had dialogue with opposing teams as this decision approaches.

New York would obviously need an incredibly high return to even consider moving McBride. McBride is one of their most important rotation players. He is also eligible for an extension at the end of the calendar year (Between Mitchell Robinson’s pending free agency and McBride’s pending extension, the Knicks will have to commit significant money to keep both players in the coming seasons).

Trading Kolek to a team with cap space would give the Knicks enough space to keep two veterans. But the Knicks would not have enough space to add a veteran during the season. Last season, they added PJ Tucker midseason, fitting the veteran just under the second apron. They would like the flexibility to do the same thing (adding a veteran during the season) in 2025-26.

WHEN WILL WE FIND OUT?

You will know what the Knicks decide by 5pm on Saturday. That is the deadline to waive a player on a nonguaranteed deal without taking on any salary. So the Knicks will need to make a decision on Shamet, Brogdon, and Mathews by Saturday evening.

Regular season rosters then need to be set by Oct. 20.

The Knicks can choose to waive all three veterans and enter the season with 14 players on the roster. Teams can dip under the 14-player minimum for two consecutive weeks and 28 days in total.

But that seems unlikely. The Knicks, again, communicated that these veterans were competing for a spot. So the Knicks will probably keep at least one of the veteran players.

BROWN GIVING ASSISTANTS OPPORUNITY TO GROW

During timeouts, Brown has allowed multiple assistants to address the Knicks huddle. You’d expect Brendan O’Connor and Chris Jent to address the group. They are the defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively, for New York this season. But other coaches have had the chance to address the team in a huddle during the preseason. Brown sees it as an opportunity for his coaches to grow.

“I’ve done it quite a bit. Did it with Sacramento. Actually, I got it from Steve (Kerr). When I was with Steve in Golden State, I led the huddle multiple times in multiple games. Throughout the course of a game probably almost 90 percent of the time — I didn’t even tell him what I was about to tell the guys defensively. He had that much trust in me. And it helped me grow,” Brown said Monday. “It helped save (Kerr’s) voice and gave the players another voice to hear. So I did it in Sacramento. I liked it. I’m going to try it here. Our offensive coordinator is Chris Jent. Our defensive coordinator is Brendan O’Connor, BOC. All those guys as well as everybody else, they’ve done a fantastic job coaching, so to give them an opportunity during games is something that I’ll do.”

Where ESPN ranks Warriors' Curry, Green and Butler among NBA's best trio tiers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors have reason to be confident entering the 2025-26 NBA season, preparing for a full year with Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green on the court.

Some pundits, though, wonder whether the good vibes from one season ago will last 82 games.

In an article published Monday, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps ranked every NBA team’s “big three,” placing Curry, Butler and Green in “Tier 6: Old stars with big questions.” While Bontemps acknowledged Golden State’s 22-5 record with both Curry and Butler available last season, he cited age as a factor in his uncertainty over their potential success in 2025-26.

“There’s little doubt this team has a very high ceiling — if healthy,” Bontemps wrote. “But given their core is all 35 or older, the ‘if healthy’ question is going to follow this group around all season long.”

Bontemps clarifies in the article’s opening that his rankings also take the future value of each team’s core into account, which could explain why a trio of future Hall of Famers placed below other groups of unproven but rising stars.

It is no secret that the Warriors enter this upcoming NBA season reliant on veteran star power to win, in a league with seemingly endless young talent. Curry (37), Butler (36) and Green (35) are each a year older, and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder—whose core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams ranked first in Bontemps’ piece—proved how far a youthful, athletic core can take a team.

If indeed Golden State’s big three can remain on the court, however, there’s no reason to doubt their championship potential. Curry remains as electric as ever, Green is coming off a third-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Butler showed he still can propel a team to a higher level after the Warriors acquired him in February.

It will be up to that trio to prove that, in the NBA, age isn’t anything but a number.

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Embiid joins 1-on-1 fun, Nurse says ‘some chance' he'll play preseason finale   originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid was in a shotmaking mood after the Sixers’ practice Tuesday. 

The star big man was in the mix for a post-practice 1-on-1 session and had little trouble scoring on his teammates. With a smile, Embiid also disputed a call or two. 

“It’s just about us competing, which builds camaraderie,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “Sharpening each other’s tools and figuring out different ways to score against different body types. 

“And obviously the cheat code was out there today, so it was good to guard him and give him some different bodies as well. It’s all fun and for the love of the game.”

Embiid played Sunday at the Sixers’ Blue-White scrimmage and was a partial participant in Tuesday’s practice. Many Sixers have said he’s looked very good over the past few weeks and no one’s mentioned left knee problems. So … might Embiid play Friday in the team’s preseason finale vs. the Timberwolves? 

“I think there’s some chance, yeah,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “I don’t think we’re there yet; it’s a little early in the week to decide. It still could go either way. I think we’ve got some thresholds to get over yet before we get to that point.” 

Embiid’s last preseason appearance came on Oct. 20, 2023. Oubre and Tyrese Maxey are the only other holdovers from that Sixers team.

Nurse said both Trendon Watford (right hamstring) and Paul George (left knee) participated in the “introductory” parts of practice. Neither sounds close to a return.

Watford’s had minimal on-court time with his new teammates, which has contributed to the Sixers testing a variety of power forward options. 

“For sure it’s been a missed opportunity. … I would imagine there’s a little ways to go before we even get him out there in some live action,” Nurse said. “Hopefully, it’ll be soon. I think it makes evaluating really hard. He hasn’t really done anything in the fall or the training camp to date. But when we get him back, we’ll throw him in there and see what he’s got. That’s all we can do.”

Quentin Grimes also watched the Sixers’ preseason loss last Friday to the Magic. 

He’s continued getting up to speed since accepting the Sixers’ qualifying offer and expects to suit up against Minnesota. 

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Grimes said, “playing on Friday. For sure.”

Warriors make NBA Finals in one of ESPN's random 2025-26 season simulations originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

If the computers have their way, Warriors fans could have much to celebrate this upcoming NBA season.

Per an ESPN simulation of the 2025-26 campaign, Golden State will advance to its seventh NBA Finals under coach Steve Kerr but come up short of a fifth title, falling to the Orlando Magic.

While it’s important to note that the simulation is just one of thousands ESPN completed before the start of the season, the results speak to a retooled Warriors roster expected to make noise in the Western Conference this year. The Finals loss to Orlando is a sour ending to an otherwise impressive, simulated run that puts Golden State back among the NBA’s elite teams.

In the simulation, curated by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, the Warriors begin the 2025-26 season with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers and never look back, compiling the league’s top record by the NBA All-Star Break.

“As the NBA gathered from Feb. 13 to 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, the Warriors were the talk of the league,” Pelton wrote. “[Draymond] Green and Jimmy Butler III joined Steph Curry on the West roster thanks to Golden State’s league-best 42-13 record at the break.”

From there, the Warriors secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by season’s end, finishing with a 63-19 record, before dispatching the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs to reach the Finals.

Per the simulation, that is where Golden State’s luck runs out. Led by Finals MVP Paolo Banchero, the Magic claim their first NBA title in franchise history by outlasting the Warriors in seven games.

Kerr and company undoubtedly would accept a vast majority of these results in a heartbeat, but none of it matters when the real season tips off a week from Tuesday against the Lakers.

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Horford's reasoning for leaving Celtics is a perfect motivator for Boston originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

In fairness to Al Horford, the writing was probably on the wall for his time in Boston.

But it was nonetheless painful to see the veteran big man spell out why he decided to move on from the Celtics and sign with the Golden State Warriors in free agency.

“I think that where Boston was as a team, even though I called them my home and everything was there for me, they just weren’t in a position to offer me the opportunity that I wanted,” Horford told The Athletic’s Nick Friedell.

Horford cited two specific areas where the Celtics fell short: financially and competitively. And in his view, Jayson Tatum’s devastating Achilles injury in May changed everything, transforming the C’s from a legitimate contender that may need minor offseason tinkering to a team more focused on getting under the second apron of the luxury tax ahead of the 2026-27 season.

“I think the financial part was a component, but more than that, it was the winning part of it, trying to contend for a championship,” Horford told Friedell. “And I think there was a lot of things up in the air — and it just felt like they weren’t in the same, that same vision, obviously, because JT getting hurt, that takes a big toll.

“So I think at that point I really had to — up until then I was staying in Boston the whole time.”

That’s a fair take from Horford, who admitted the Celtics’ early-offseason trades of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis made it “clear” to him that Boston “had different priorities.” Even if Tatum supercharges his rehab, a C’s team without Holiday, Porzingis and Luke Kornet probably isn’t in the NBA championship conversation.

But here’s where the motivation factor comes in: In his quest to earn one more ring, Horford chose … the Warriors. While any team with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler shouldn’t be written off, Golden State has the NBA’s second-oldest roster (average age: 29) and currently has the 10th-best championship odds (+2200) on ESPN Bet.

The Celtics? They’re 12th, with +3000 odds.

So, if a Boston team that’s already being written off without Tatum needs another reason to overachieve, why not aim for being better than the Warriors?

Golden State is the better team on paper, but any injuries on a veteran-laden roster could send its season south in a hurry. The Celtics, meanwhile, can still roll out a starting five of players who were on the 2024 title team — Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta — and brought in energetic role players with chips on their shoulders such as Josh Minott, Luka Garza and Chris Boucher.

Horford is entitled to his decision, and he’ll always hold a special place in Celtics history for what he contributed over seven total seasons in Boston. But now that he’s in Golden State, the Celtics should do everything in their power to prove the beloved big man wrong.