Category: Basketball

Being a coach means understanding how to get the most out of your players. For Kenny Atkinson and the Cleveland Cavaliers, no player’s development has been more important than Evan Mobley’s.

Drafted in 2021, Mobley was a lottery ticket for the future. Five seasons later, his development has largely come secondary to prioritizing Donovan Mitchell’s prime. The Cavs have tried to blend both timelines, bringing Mobley along while staying all-in on Mitchell’s timeline.

This has further complicated an already challenging question: How do you get the most out of a player?

What’s the balance between pushing someone outside of their comfort zone without losing the big picture of who they are at their core? And how does that fit into the broader team system?

Cleveland has been trying to figure that out for years — and Atkinson thinks he might have solved it.

“Threading the needle,” Kenny Atkinson said. “We’ve been on different planes of that scale with Mobley, you know, we’ve pushed it, we’ve pulled it back… I feel like he’s in a good place now; I have a much better grip on how he can be successful on both ends of the floor for us.”

Most players in Mobley’s position spend the first few years of their career racking up usage on uncompetitive teams. You can learn a lot by throwing someone into the fire. But Mobley and his coaching staff haven’t had that opportunity while trying to compete in the playoffs.

Everyone is learning on the fly.

Sometimes Mobley is bringing the ball up the floor and running inverted pick-and-rolls. Other times, he’s isolated in the corner as a proto-floor spacer. In his most refined role, he sits in the dunker spot and waits for someone to throw him a lob.

Mobley has tried on all of these hats to varying success. He’s a great play-finisher, but a sketchy three-point shooter. He can create advantages when using screens, but Mobley isn’t a skilled one-on-one creator. All of this has been slowly uncovered by Atkinson’s experiments.

“We’ve dialed back to [Mobley] getting it in the flow [of the offense],” said Atkinson. “Lean into the creativity a little bit more, especially the inverted pick-and-rolls; he’s going to get iso moments… but that’s not the main menu right now.

A bit of usage here. An adjustment there. Atkinson feels he has the temperature just right entering the season, with a vision for how Mobley can continue to develop.

“One of our assistants talked about how Kevin Garnett got his offense,” said Atkinson. “He could get to a spot and just run, raise up and shoot over guys. I like that prototype…, but as I said, [Mobley’s] 24 years old, I’m continuing to find a full package.”

This past Thursday and Saturday, the Spurs played in their first preseason games of the 2026-2027 season. In addition to their fourteen rostered players and three two-contracts, the Spurs hosted five invitees to training camp. The eldest to join in is Jon Elmore. This week, Elmore got the first NBA minutes of his career. Normally, this sort of event does not warrant a mention. But in Elmore’s case, the opportunity to hit the NBA hardwood has been a long time coming. Jon Elmore is thirty-years-old, making him the fourth oldest player on the roster behind Harrison Barnes, Tobias Harris, and Luke Kornet.

The addition of Elmore to the Spurs roster is considerable progress on a career that has seen the 6’3” guard spend time in Europe as well as the G-League. In 2025, he won a G-League Championship with the Stockton Kings.

The Charleston, West Virginia native made waves as a high school player clinching 2014’s West Virginia Mr. Basketball. He attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia where he led the Thundering Herd to their first Conference USA tournament championship where he was named MVP of the tournament. The following year, he scored his 2,000th point. Later that season, he became the first player in NCAA Division I history to have over 2,500 points and over 750 assists.

After going undrafted in 2019, Elmore joined the Boston Celtics in Summer League before signing on to play in Italy. He then spent three years moving around overseas before returning to the states. He started his G-League career with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the affiliate of the Miami Heat. After four seasons on three different teams and a brief stint in Canada, Elmore landed in San Antonio for a taste of big league preseason.

Elmore, along with the other camp invites, have had little opportunity to showcase their talent, mostly relegated to the final moments of the fourth quarters thus far. That said, any exposure could enhance his visibility throughout the league and help him find a home before the regular season tips off.

---

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

When the Atlanta Hawks made the trade to move on from the Trae Young-Dejounte Murray partnership — sending Murray to New Orleans — the acquisition of Dyson Daniels appeared to be more of an afterthought: a player to take a flier on but not the main reason you make the trade.

Then came Daniels’ stunning debut season with the Hawks, putting together an incredible defensive campaign in which he averaged three steals per game and won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. When he spoke in receipt of that award, Daniels believed there was another level he could rise to, that he could potentially even win the award the following season, such was his belief that his game could continue to grow.

However, it didn’t quite pan out that way for Daniels last season. While his incredible three steals per game was always going to be difficult to repeat in back-to-back campaigns, Daniels didn’t quite kick on offensively in his second season with the Hawks. In the case of his three-pointer, Daniels regressed significantly, shooting 18.8% from three. What started as a slow-start shooting the ball became something that you could see in Daniels’ head every time he was open from three; he would show reluctance to shoot the ball. This seemed to snowball as the season went on. Defensively, on the ball, Daniels was as dependable as ever, but in the NBA playoffs there is little place to hide. The Knicks had little interest in guarding Daniels at the perimeter, or assigning Karl-Anthony Town — a center — to guard Daniels and sit-off. While Daniels shot an improved 28% from three in the series, by the end of it all, there was a bit of head-scratching as to where Daniels goes offensively from here heading into his third season with the Hawks.

Over the offseason, shooting has been one of the top priorities for Daniels to focus on.

“Obviously shooting was very bad last year for me and it’s been a focal point for me in this offseason,” said Daniels. “For me, it’s been about all sequencing in my shot getting more rhythm through my shot, getting more energy through my legs so I can get my arc up. My big thing with me was it was a very flat shot, so trying to get more off so that’s been a big focus for me the offseason.”

Three-point shooting isn’t the focal point of Daniels’ offense. Daniels thrives best on the drive, getting into the paint and getting to his spin moves or his floater, or moving off the ball. However, Daniels will have to be able to make an improvement on his shooting this season, and it’s hard to envision a scenario where he has a poorer shooting season than last season. Specifically, he can he improve his corner shooting this would go a long way to improving his percentage, especially as they will likely be open threes.

If Daniel is able to improve his shooting percentages, it will open up better opportunities for him inside the paint. When the Knicks backed off Daniels, not only was it a sign they wanted him to shoot the three, but in the event he drove it also gave the Knicks a head-start on drives. Daniels has also prioritised working on his offense in the paint over the summer.

“Just a lot of a lot of playing off two feet in the paint using my size,” said Daniels of his offseason work. “Being more physical trying to get to the foul line a lot more so, different pivot different footwork, just being more patient in the paint has also been another focus for me this offseason.”

“That’s been a big focus for me is getting the paint, so it’s about how can I get there using different fakes using my eyes and stuff like that trying to throw a defender off,” added Daniels. “Change of paces and stuff like they all go into ball handling, so that’s been a big thing for me as well. I’m honestly really happy with how my ball handling has been this offseason and I feel very comfortable with the ball in my hands.”

Daniels will have the ball in his hands not just to score, but in terms of his playmaking the Hawks will rely on Daniels as one of their primary creators along with CJ McCollum, Jalen Johnson, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Defensively, Dyson has seen increasing perimeter reinforcements over the span of his Hawks career. Last season, Alexander-Walker arrived to bolster the defense; now, Lu Dort will provide another defensive, physical body on the perimeter to aid Daniels and the Hawks defensively.

“I was super excited,” said Daniels of learning of the trade for Dort. “Elite defender, championship player coming in with experience that can really help us. I would love to call ourselves the best trio in the backcourt defensive trio in the NBA but we got to show up first. Looking forward to getting out there on the court and competing with the guys. I think we made some really good moves this offseason. We got a lot of guys that can defend so it’s we want to go out there and make that a focal point.”

The defensive versatility the Hawks now boast, with Daniels being the founding member, of sorts, should be extremely fun to watch night in and night out. Offensively, there’ll be some question marks with Daniels’ and Dort’s three-point shooting, and I wonder how crunch-time lineups will look like. Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker will be musts as will, in all likelihood, Onyeka Okongwu. CJ McCollum will likely be another to close out a game, which leaves potentially just one spot left for one of Daniels/Dort — Hawks head coach Quin Snyder will likely have to get creative with his timeouts and his offense/defense subs because there’s only five spots on the floor at closing time and Daniels’ lack of three-point shooting will influence this decision late in the game.

It’s not a stretch to say that the success of Daniels’ season and how far it may go will depend on a resurgence of a three-point shot. Time will soon tell if this is who Daniels is shooting from the perimeter, or if the comeback is truly on. In the meantime, the Hawks can still enjoy one of the best perimeter defenders in the league every night and a growing and improving offensive game inside the arc, and 2026-27 should prove no exception.

In his day, Pete Maravich was called a hot dog and a show-off, because no one in his era did the sorts of things that he could do. He had total control of the ball, and was essentially unstoppable, and people in his era didn’t know how to take him.

At LSU, he averaged 44.2 ppg, and that was without the three-point shot. Some estimate that if he had played with the three in college, Maravich might have averaged 57 points per game.

It’s freakish territory. You can understand a Wilt Chamberlain doing that, but Maravich? A spindly, 6-5 white guard?

Incredible.

He was misunderstood in the pros too, but he certainly had his moments, and one of his greatest games came at the expense of the visiting New York Knicks, whom he lit up for an astonishing 68 points on February 25, 1977.

And keep in mind, again, that he did this before the NBA adopted the three-point shot.

One wonders what he could have done in today’s game.

Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line

Greetings, internet users. Welcome to The Scratching Post, your home for open conversation with your fellow Carolina Panthers fans.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-football sports, you name it. As long as it’s allowed by the site’s ToS, it’s fair game here.

This is now an open thread

It feels like it was eons ago that the Dallas Mavericks traded for PJ Washington from the Charlotte Hornets, with the intention way back in 2024 of building a championship roster around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Washington exceeded expectations, starting for the Mavericks in their NBA Finals run, averaging 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while guarding the opposing team’s best forward. Most notably, he shot 23-of-49 (47%!) in the Mavericks’ second-round series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder that year.

Things have changed drastically since Washington’s arrival. Doncic was infamously shipped away to the Los Angeles Lakers in the dead of night on that fateful night in February 2025. Doncic’s ability to get his teammates open shots allowed Washington to see the most unguarded shot opportunities of his career, and he knocked them down at a more efficient rate than he has since Doncic’s departure. Eventually, the architects of Washington’s rise to prominence on the roster followed Doncic out the door in Big D. Nico Harrison’s early-season firing last year was followed by Jason Kidd’s departure after the resulting implosion of the 2025-26 season.

Under new coaching and management, the Mavericks are trying to build a competitive team around rising star and Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg. Despite all of the changes in Dallas, Washington has remained one of the few constants. He averaged 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and roughly two stocks (steals + blocks) in 56 games last season. The Mavericks will have to evaluate Washington’s role with the organization this season as they look to build for the future.

Big question

In Washington’s two and a half years as a Maverick, he has come off the bench in just five of his 147 appearances in the regular season for Dallas. He plays physically, and his ability to defend and bring the ball up the court aligns with Masai Ujiri’s favorite player archetype: defensive forwards who aren’t good shooters but can play multiple roles. His strength and toughness can also give Dallas a different look, sliding him over to a small-ball center in certain lineups. Though Washington checks a lot of boxes for new head coach Dusty May, May admits that he is still evaluating who will join Flagg and Irving in the starting lineup. He has also added that Washington is “in the mix” to hear his name called as a part of the Mavericks’ first-five and has praised him in recent training camp practices.

Where does Washington fall in the pecking order for Dallas? The Mavericks are a frontcourt-heavy team on paper that has only added to their forward depth in the offseason, with the addition of Morez Johnson Jr., Santi Aldama and Tobi Lawal, who will join Washington, Flagg, Naji Marshall, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively in the frontcourt. That’s a lot of guys fighting for playing time.

To compound things, does Washington fit the Mavericks’ timeline around 19-year-old Flagg? Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks are open to offers for Washington since their roster is stacked with forwards. The Mavericks will be faced with the question of where Washington fits into the team’s long-term plans as they look to build towards contention.

Best case scenario

The good news is that with Irving’s return, Flagg’s hopeful sophomore leap, and an influx of forwards, Washington’s role should be the simplest it’s been since he played alongside Doncic. With Irving and Flagg handling most of the offensive creation, Dallas doesn’t have to rely on him as a scorer, but more as a connector who does the little things that keep the team running. Though his shooting numbers from last year aren’t ideal, his most efficient spot from behind the arc last season was from the corner. He will certainly have an opportunity to improve these numbers through drives and kicks.

Ideally, Washington will be able to stay healthy and on the floor, and his jumper will improve. With injuries to Johnson, Aldama, and Lively, May might find comfort in leaning on Washington’s leadership and physicality early in the season, allowing him to carve out a position for himself.

Worst case scenario

Washington shot just 32.5% from 3-point range a year ago. The Mavericks can’t afford to lose games as a direct result of poor outside shooting like they did last season. If Washington continues to miss games for nagging injuries, he will risk losing his role to Johnson, Aldama or Marshall. The real risk is a shrinking role that can turn what was once a coveted asset for the Mavericks into an unfavorable contract that fits neither the present nor the future. Dallas has limited assets to get things right around Flagg. If things aren’t working in the first half of the season, one or two forwards may find themselves on a one-way rocket trip to the moon come Trade Deadline time.

Season goal

We’d love to see Washington play 60-plus games and get back to at least 35% from behind the arc. Everything else in his game follows from those two metrics, from his rebounding to his defense. If he can stay healthy and hit his shots at a respectable rate, then it will be hard for May to deny him a decent chunk of playing time. Maintaining his tough play and leadership through the first half of the season would be the ideal benchmark to give the Mavericks the chance to evaluate his trade market and his success alongside Flagg.

Overall

Washington provides physicality, versatility, and, most importantly, leadership. These are qualities that are hard for rebuilding teams to part with and even harder for contending teams to acquire. Washington has the opportunity to hear his name called early when the Mavericks kick off their preseason in Macao, and the version of Washington who shows up this season will be a determining factor in whether he is here for the long haul.

First, let’s quiet the injury talk. No doubt precautions will be taken with Jayson Tatum (28), Paul George (36), and Mitchell Robinson (28). Derrick White (32) might even take a few more days off after playing 73+ games over each of the last three seasons. Their age and usage are all legitimate concerns, but this team is deep. Really deep. Leave the handwringing over PG’s max contract and load management for sports talk radio and the clicks. Instead, appreciate what Brad Stevens and the front office has built despite dodging the second apron in two consecutive years.

Consider that on a night when Boston put up a preseason-record 144 points, six of the eleven rotation players scored in double figures and Mike Conley Jr. and Ron Harper Jr. didn’t play. The Celtics are going to play fast. Really fast. Their active defense had 16 steals and generated 22 turnovers to the tune of a 96.5 defensive rating. To run the gauntlet of the 82-game regular season, they’ll need bodies. If any of the marquee players need to take the night off or even some extended time to nurse a nagging injury (knock on wood), every position doesn’t just have a backup, but a backup to the backup with rookies and two-way studs in the wings (pun intended).

Oh, and about these antiquated ideas of fit and role, throw those out the window, too. CelticsBlog’s Nate Moskowitz once remarked that Joe Mazzulla was building an army of Derrick Whites. On a night-to-night, matchup-to-matchup basis, there are going to be times when someone might make a little more sense. On Saturday night against the Sixers, Jordan Walsh got the nod to join the starters, presumably to pester the backcourt of VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey. But in the long run, don’t be surprised if those fourth or fifth starters are literally anybody off that deep bench. The Celtics depth is only matched by the well-roundedness of everybody that’s in it.

One more thing: as much as The Globe’s Gary Washburn is fond of mentioning the three-point shooting in a loss, let’s bury any criticism of Boston’s shot selection. Over the past three seasons, the Celtics have submitted three of the six most efficient offenses in league history. Maybe it’s fair to argue their reliability in the playoffs — even though that top-rated offense hung Banner 18 in the rafters.

However, what’s not up for debate is Mazzulla’s mindset to maximize possessions at not just the micro level of getting the best shot, but also in the macro of generating more shots. Against Cleveland on Thursday, the Celtics took nine more shots and won the free throw battle 35 to 16. Philly had thirteen fewer field goal attempts in a 38-point rout. What’s scary is that they’ve carried over their focus on offensive rebounding and supersized the margin by adding Robinson and made deflections and steals another point of emphasis on defense.

Washburn will be the first hand up in the postgame presser when the Celtics make just 7-of-37 from behind the arc and lose to visiting Kings. But Gary, my man, this is a process-oriented team and the process is working.

Maybe I’m drunk on preseason vibes. That’s totally possible. CelticsBlog’s Sam LaFrance makes a mean margarita and I’m on a two-game binger.

The Houston Rockets had a tale of two games in China. After looking good in game 1, the Rockets sat Kevin Durant, Steven Adams, Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun in game 2, losing a ton of firepower, while the Dallas Mavericks were boosted by the return of Kyrie Irving and downed the Rockets 132-115.

The Rockets started Marcus Smart and Clint Capela, and Smart actually looked pretty good, going for 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, while shooting 4-for-9 from deep. But Capela only had 5 points and 9 boards in 24 minutes of action.

The Rockets were mostly battling from behind in this one, but Jabari Smith Jr. continued to look sharp and more aggressive, going for 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Reed Sheppard had 17 points on 4-for-10 from deep, but he also had 5 turnovers, while Amen Thompson had 14 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists.

Even youngsters Oscar Tshiebwe and Bruce Thornton got some time, with Big Oscar going for 12 points and 4 boards, with Thornton adding 9 in 18 minutes.

The Mavs were led by Irving’s 17 points, and he carved up the Rockets in 22 minutes of action, much to Ime Udoka’s dismay. They also got 16 from Zaccharie Risacher and 14 from Cooper Flagg to round out their scoring leaders.

The Rockets will now return from China, and as one of the NBA’s preseason international teams, will only have three preseason games to play. They’ll be back in action on Thursday night at home versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s a 730 start time, with the game airing on NBA TV.

The Raptors have been stuck in purgatory since Kawhi Leonard left in 2019. They have been okay at times but bad for the majority, and have not made it out of the first round in the last six seasons. Something needed to change, which obviously meant bringing back Kawhi Leonard. Leonard’s age-35 season will be north of the border once again, but with a younger group than his first go-around. 

Toronto clearly believes that Leonard’s career-high 27.9 points in 65 games last year is going to be the norm going forward rather than the outlier. They not only traded first-round picks for him, but extended him for almost $60 million a year. There has been a trend of older guys maintaining a higher level of play recently, so maybe there is some magic left in the tank. But it is a huge risk, and one that could easily backfire if Leonard’s injury history catches up to him again.

Toronto Raptors: Over/Under 46.5 wins (-115/-110)

To win the NBA Finals: +2200

Last Season: 46-36, lost E. Conference first round

Key Additions: Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Anderson

Key Losses: Brandon Ingram

The Raptors, if nothing else, will be fascinating to watch. They have 12 players between six-foot-six and seven feet tall, including four of the five projected starters. They’re big, they like to defend, and they will create matchup problems all over the board. The Mavericks got a first-hand look at this last season when Toronto came out and blitzed the Mavericks almost a year ago. Now insert Kawhi Leonard into an already inspiring young group, and it is easy to see why this team could cause problems in the East.

The biggest question mark with respect to their win total resides in how many games Leonard will play. The Clippers got 65 from him last season, but he hasn’t played 60 games in back-to-back years since 2017. Even without him, the team can hold their own. Collin Murray-Boyles will build on an impressive rookie year, RJ Barrett can score in bunches, and Scottie Barnes will continue to be someone teams hate dealing with. But Kawhi Leonard makes this team go, and betting on him to stay healthy at age 35 is foolish. With the tides rising in the Eastern Conference, it will be hard for the Raptors to eclipse last year’s mark.

Prediction: Under 46.5 wins (-110)

The World Champion New York Knicks have lost their first two preseason games and we are resoundingly unconcerned. Winning all the marbles has quite a calming effect on the nervous system.

Tonight, they host the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1) at Madison Square Garden. The furry bunch has shed Julius Randle and Naz Reid, but added LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga. If nothing else, it’s a team to watch for curiosity’s sake. In this tilt, the Knicks will be challenged to play at a faster pace, with Ball and Anthony Edwards playing full-tilt and Kuminga adding vertical spacing. Then again, all of Minny’s starters are listed as day-to-day for rest, so this could look more like a scrimmage with a G League squad.

They last met December 23, 2025, when the Timberwolves won 115-104 in Minneapolis. Edwards scored 38 and Randle added 25; Karl-Anthony Towns poured in 40 for the Knicks with Jalen Brunson sidelined with an ankle issue.

Minnesota finished last season with a 116.8 offensive rating (12th) and 113.5 defensive rating (8th), scoring 118 points per game. Edwards remains the engine, scoring 28-plus points a night; Rudy Gobert still anchors the paint and owns the glass; and Jaden McDaniels supplies wing defense and secondary scoring.

New York is still searching for continuity after two losses. The starters have played limited minutes while they ramp up to full-game shape following their summer of love. Meanwhile, coach Mike Brown’s been mixing and matching the supporting cast as he seeks to lock down his roster. On the injury report, McCullar Jr., Agbaji, Eubanks and Bradley are listed as coach’s decisions, so James Wiseman and Bruce Brown should see more gametime off the bench.

Prediction

The Knicks should win if they control the glass, limit Minnesota’s transition, and get make their shots. If coach Chris Finch rests everybody, the Knicks should have an even easier time securing their first dub of the preseason. Knicks by nine.

Game Details

Who: New York Knicks (0-2) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1)
Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Place: Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY
TV: MSG
Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky

It’s been proven time and time again that Detroit knows how to turn an opening day into an unofficial holiday. This article can be considered my unofficial campaign to give the Detroit Pistons the same treatment. 

Pistons fans (and NBA league office), walk with me for a minute.

In case you haven’t heard, it’ll be a matinee start on Oct. 20 for the Pistons, with Detroit and the Boston Celtics officially tipping off the NBA season at 3 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock. So check your schedules, because the Pistons and Celtics will likely have settled things by the time most of the workforce starts their evening commute. 

I, for one, am completely here for this new format for a number of reasons. Being the first game of the year during an isolated time slot gives the Pistons a chance to highlight their young and ascending roster. It also gives the city of Detroit a chance to showcase itself on a national stage as the only game taking place in the afternoon. 

A weekday afternoon tipoff could be a tough ask for some working fans. But I also see an opportunity for a revitalized fanbase to build something worth planning around. Let’s also remember it is not uncommon for other sports to have a daytime game during their opening week. Professional baseball and college basketball have successfully used the daytime opening-day format for many years, so this is not entirely uncharted territory.

Though it likely won’t draw the crowds and hooplah of their baseball opening day counterparts, here is hoping (or maybe wishful thinking) that Detroit fans will come out in earnest, and that the Pistons and the NBA can partner together and embark on a new, longstanding tradition for opening day. Let’s make the afternoon opening game an annual tradition for the league and make Detroit its permanent home. Who says no?

Imagine Detroiters playing hookie for a half day, and local gathering spots such as Campus Martius, Tin Roof, or Harry’s packed with fans, with the party spilling out all over Woodward and beyond. It’d be an atmosphere all the same as Tigers opening day, but with a better bet for good weather. And if you’re a Detroit sports fan, what’s not to like? Fans would get to essentially start and end the summer with an electric opening day for two of your four professional sports teams, not to mention a built-in half-day off of work. 

Anyways, enough of me dreaming. 

The city has a chance to replicate some of the magic that the Tigers’ opening day has supplied over the years, a pseudo-holiday in these parts.

Leave the primetime games for the New Yorks and the Golden States of the world. We’re good over here. 

Adam Silver, if you’re reading this, please make this a yearly reservation. 

Pistons fans, let’s show up and make this new opening day the start of something special. 

During Saturday’s preseason game between the Celtics and the 76ers, NBA stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown completely ignored each other throughout warmups, making it pretty clear they’re still at odds.

The Jays warm up on opposite sides of the court for the first time pic.twitter.com/0PO8MMNDF8

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 10, 2026

In their first meeting since the offseason blockbuster trade, the two former top Celtics picks pretended that the other didn’t exist, despite being in mere steps away from one another.

Jaylen Brown was pivotal for the Celtics last season, as his 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game kept Boston at the top of the Eastern Conference while Tatum was recovering from an Achilles injury. 

Boston faced low expectations at the start of last season due to the departures of Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis, as well as Tatum’s injury. Brown’s contributions ensured the Celtics remained a top-two seed in the East, but their season ultimately ended with a collapse to Philadelphia after a 3-1 series lead in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.

The relationship between the Celtics and Brown grew sour during the season, and in his unofficial return, the five-time All-Star didn’t even sit courtside. According to NBC Sports Boston sideline reporter Abby Chin, Brown spent most of the 144-106 76ers loss in the locker room.

“Jaylen Brown, a former Celtic, is in the building,” Chin reported in the second quarter. “He’s not on the bench. So, we believe he’s back in the locker room here in Boston for the first time since he was traded away this summer.”

Tatum posted 23 points, five rebounds and four assists against the shorthanded 76ers, as Philadelphia also rested Joel Embiid and LeBron James.

Brown doesn’t make his official return to the TD Garden until Jan. 21. Boston will begin the first of four meetings between the two teams on November 10th in Philadelphia.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers took care of business in their second preseason game as they dispatched the Orlando Magic 119-105 in what was overall a much cleaner performance than their first outing on Thursday.

Mario Hezonja needed a game like this.

His debut on Thursday was rough. He looked out of place and a step or two slow against a versatile, athletic Boston Celtics team. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, as he poured in 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Maybe Hezonja just needed to get his feet under him. Maybe it was playing against a much bigger and more physical team. Either way, this was a much better outing for Hezonja.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson called Hezonja a “diesel train” pregame, saying that he wants to see him get downhill in transition and attack the offensive boards. We saw him do both as he scored a few baskets in transition and had a nice and-one after grabbing an offensive rebound in the first quarter.

Hezonja has the skills to be an offensive connector, functional dribbler, floor spacer, and impactful rebounder. Every team would like to have a backup four that could provide all of those things. Hezonja was that player this game.

The NBA game is much different than what Hezonja was used to in Europe. Atkinson said that he’s tried to incorporate things from the international game into what the Cavs do. Hezonja laughed it off when he asked if there were similarities between Cleveland’s offense and what he thrived on over in Europe.

“I wish in Europe that we play like this,” Hezonja said. “I wish. I wish, because this is smart. This is what it is. But also you don’t have this type of personnel in Europe. … The entire (NBA) game is based on reads nowadays.”

This isn’t the only adjustment Hezonja is making. He’s also getting used to fitting into a different role than what he’s been used to over the past six years with entirely new teammates.

“So you’re just adjusting to the system, coming off the bench, trying to see who are my teammates on the court, what they need, what type of game is it until I get in there,” Hezonja said. “So, just reading over there, it gets a little bit maybe for a couple seconds [it’s weird], but then the experience kicks in.”

Getting used to the Cavs won’t happen overnight. But based on the skills that he showed on Sunday, being patient for him to get up to speed seems like it’ll be worth it.

“It’s an adjustment,” Atkinson said. “We’ve got to have empathy for that. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

James Harden looks ready for the regular season after his preseason opener on Sunday. Harden was able to get wherever he wanted on the court, scored with ease, and created contact to generate free-throw attempts. This resulted in 24 points on 7-for-10 shooting with two assists in 26 minutes.

Atkinson wants to see how Evan Mobley fits alongside Harden. The Cavs have experimented with different lineup combinations throughout these two exhibition games. One that may stick is the Harden and Mobley grouping.

“James’s ball handling can help Evan, especially in the pocket,” Atkinson said. “Can we see that more? We’ll see if we can stick with it, but so far I’ve liked it.”

Overall, Atkinson said that we shouldn’t look too deeply into the rotation, especially in terms of the backup point guards. That said, it’s worth pointing out that Tyrese Proctor hasn’t gotten much of a chance to prove anything in the preseason.

Meleek Thomas is more of an unknown commodity. Getting him as much run as possible with rotation players in a setting like this is important and worthwhile. However, those minutes have come completely at the expense of Proctor, which isn’t a good sign for him.

We’ll see if this changes for the final tune-up game on Tuesday, where Atkinson expects the starters to play more than they did here. As of now, it’s difficult to envision Proctor getting rotation minutes at the start of the season.

Cleveland did a much better job rebounding after a poor showing against Boston. The Celtics gathered 46.9% of their missed shots (100th percentile for an offense). On Sunday, the Magic only retrieved 28.6% of their offensive misses (38th percentile for an offense).

The Magic aren’t as good of an offensive rebounding team as the Celtics. That’s worth pointing out. Yet, it is encouraging that the Cavs were able to do a much better job in this area.

Rebounding is one of the points Atkinson has continually pointed out as wanting to improve this year. This performance was a step in the right direction.

Peyton Watson struggled to establish an offensive rhythm. He aired a three and overall just didn’t seem as comfortable offensively here as he did against Boston, as he went 3-for-10 from the floor for just six points.

“He got a little clunky there offensively, just him not knowing our principles and how we play,” Atkinson said. “We’ll clean that up. I’m not worried about that.”

Like Hezonja, this is an adjustment period for Watson as well.

“Just a little bit more unpredictability,” Watson said when asked what the difference was between this offense and the ones he was a part of with the Denver Nuggets.

The Cavs are giving Watson more responsibilities. They’re allowing him to create with the ball and entrusting him to be more than just a floor spacer or cutter. This added freedom should allow him to grow into a better all-around player. But there could be bumps along the way. This is in addition to figuring out what lineups he fits with best.

“It’s all about instincts and knowing how to play the game around two elite offensive players, just knowing where to be. Whereas with Joker (Nikola Jokic), I kind of knew every time down he was going to have the ball on the floor, on this spot or this spot, and the play or the cut was going to be for me to do this or do that.

“Here, there’s a lot more possibilities of things that I can do/bring to the table. I think that it’s an adjustment. I’m still getting acclimated, but I couldn’t be happier to be in this situation. I think it’ll really benefit my game, and I think it’ll benefit the team as well.”

This was a day for “mindfulness.” 

A day that Knicks coach Mike Brown used to remind his players that others can be going through their own personal issues they might not be aware of. 

Prior to practice Sunday, rather than watching film, Brown chose to discuss something beyond basketball.

One example he used was the contract issues multiple players are dealing with.

He also brought up the loss of his ex-wife in 2025 and the impact it had on his sons and him. 

“As a coach, it’s not all about X’s and O’s every single day. Any time you can try to enlighten guys in different areas of life, not just about the basketball court, you try to do that,” he said. “This is something I thought about doing because I discussed it with a few of my coaches maybe a week and a half, two weeks ago. It was just speaking on being mindful or having mindfulness when it comes to your teammates.” 

Karl-Anthony Towns appreciated it. He is one of three Knicks who are extension-eligible. Towns has been vocal about his disappointment that a new deal hasn’t gotten done, and Friday the Knicks released a statement that they were cutting off talks until later in the year. 

“It was really cool to have Coach talk to us about being human, about the struggles in life,” Towns said. “Us being together and us understanding where everyone is in life and the situations they deal with will allow us to be even more connected and allow us to be an even better team. 

“I want to make sure I say that. I have to give flowers to Mike. That was an amazing job by him as our leader to approach the elephant in the room and to allow us, the players and the coaches, the ones who were on that court in Game 4, Game 5, who really found a way to get this title back to New York, to be human. I think that’s an amazing thing.” 

Brown made it clear this wasn’t just about the contractual issues. It was about the Knicks growing closer as a family and being there for one another. 

“We have to hold each other accountable, but we also have to be mindful that you may have some s–t going on in your life that may not be good,” he said. “So we can’t keep trying to beat you up to be better at your job. Sometimes, it’s trying to figure out how to do that while uplifting you because I don’t know what you’re going through at home in your private life.”