Category: Sports News

Draymond clarifies offense vs. defense championship debate with Kevin Durant originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green vs. Kevin Durant: Pt. 5,431.

As the two former Warriors teammates continue their back-and-forth debate regarding whether offense or defense wins NBA championships, Green shared another in-depth response to clarify his initial stance.

“KD was responding to me saying teams that play defense win championships. I wasn’t saying that teams that play defense don’t play offense. No, the fact of the matter is you have to be top 10 offensively and top 10 defensively to win an NBA championship,” Green said on his “The Draymond Green Show” podcast, which was published Thursday morning. “That’s just the facts of the matter. When KD says the offense was [question mark], well, the offense was incredible. Just like their offense was incredible in Brooklyn, and just like their offense was incredible in Phoenix. It was incredible! Great offense. Very tough to stop.

“But, offense with no defense, we’ve seen that in the NBA in years past, we’ll see that in the NBA for years to come. Teams with offense and no defense. My point was you show me a team that don’t play defense, I’m going to show you a team that don’t win championships.”

The ongoing debate began when Durant, on Netflix’s “Starting 5” series, argued offense wins championships.

“You have to score baskets if you want to win a championship,” Durant said. “Playing defense, we can get any one of y’all in here to bend your legs, not touch the basketball, slide left and right, and contest the shot. That’s easy. But when we’re talking about winning at a high level against the best of the best, you cannot just do that and win a basketball game.”

Green, a defensive mastermind, of course had to respond.

But the Warriors forward re-emphasized that his comments never were targeted directly at Durant, later clarifying that on his podcast.

“My statement was that I mentioned people who believe you don’t need defense to win championships simply don’t win. Kevin Durant has two championships. So I don’t even know why he took my statement as a hit on him when I said people that don’t win championships. You won two championships, so that shouldn’t include you unless you feel that that statement includes you.”

Green also made one more thing clear: despite the back-and-forth, “there ain’t no beef” between him and Durant, rather just a playful debate between two competitors passionate about the game of basketball.

Finally, Green ended his argument on one final note.

“I think the proof speaks for itself. You look at teams that have great defenses and great offenses, and they win championships. Teams that have great defenses and no great offense, they usually get to the playoffs and lose. Teams that have great offense and no defense, they usually get to the playoffs and lose, or don’t even make the playoffs at all.

“So fact of the matter is you need to be top 10 in both.”

There you have it.

At least, until Durant responds.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Jaylen Brown leaves his mark vs. Wizards with historic performance originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown came out with his hair on fire Wednesday night at TD Garden.

After a frustrating finish for Brown in Boston’s loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday night, the Celtics star was a man on a mission Wednesday against the Washington Wizards. He poured in 24 first-half points — including 16 in the first quarter — and added 11 more in the third quarter to help the C’s pull away from the Wizards in a 136-107 rout.

Despite not sitting the entire fourth quarter, Brown racked up 35 points on 8 for 12 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five assists in just 25 minutes and 53 seconds of playing time. In doing so, he became the first Celtics player ever and just the fifth player in NBA history to post a 35/5/5 line in fewer than 26 minutes.

The only two players who reached 35/5/5 in fewer minutes? Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic.

“We just needed to come out a little bit more focused,” Brown told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the game. “We got off to a slow start, but we’ve just got to come out and play basketball. We’ve got to come out like we’re ready to fight. And if we do that, we’ll be all right.”

Brown’s stat line wasn’t the only part of his game that turned heads, however. In the third quarter, Brown was call for an offensive foul when he barreled head-first into Wizards forward Kyshawn George — and left a bit of “residue” on George’s white sleeve.

That wasn’t the first time Brown’s hair product ended up on an opponent’s jersey, as the All-Star wing was roasted on social media after leaving a dark spot on OG Anunoby’s jersey during a Nov. 24 loss to the New York Knicks.

Brown took that incident in stride, even jokingly calling up LeBron James for hair care advice on a recent Twitch stream. And after leaving his latest mark Wednesday night, Brown kept the same energy, joking on X that “AI is getting out of hand.”

Regardless of how Brown chooses to deal with his hair situation going forward, he shouldn’t change what he’s doing on the court: He’s shooting a career-best 53.5 percent from the floor while averaging 27.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

The Celtics are back in action Friday night in Orlando, where they’ll face the Magic in an NBA Cup game at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

How Buddy Hield had ‘out-of-body experience' playing for Steve Kerr, Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

In Buddy Hield’s first season with the Warriors, his best performance came when his team needed it most.

The veteran sharpshooter erupted for 33 points on 9-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, leading Golden State to a Game 7 win in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

That key showing was a product of the way coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors have accepted Hield and allowed him to play freely and authentically, as he explained to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Monte Poole on a new episode of “Dubs Talk.”

“Being connected with the Lord and just being locked in,” Hield said when asked what contributed to his massive Game 7 outbreak. “Steve called it my out-of-body experience. I just think the Lord was just with me. Just something I was capable of doing, too, and that’s the reason why Steve put me in the starting lineup to create that spacing for Steph [Curry] and Draymond [Green] and Jimmy [Butler]. And he knows that when I get my chance to do that, he knows what I’m capable of doing.

“I appreciate him a lot. He gave me the opportunity to, like, be myself. I feel like every team has not allowed me to be Buddy, and [the Warriors] have embraced me for who I am. As a basketball player, you just want to be yourself and be embraced the right way. … I just love being here. It’s been a blessing.”

Hield was up and down throughout his first Golden State campaign, but the team’s success often correlated with how he performed on a given night. During the 2024-25 regular season and playoffs, the Warriors were 15-0 when Hield scored at least 19 points.

Now in the second season of his four-year, $38 million contract signed last summer, the Warriors hope Hield can continue to succeed within the freedom they have given him.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

The Portland Trail Blazers fought back to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and halt the NBA's last remaining unbeaten record.

The defending champions won their opening eight games of the new NBA season but their streak ended as Portland came back from 22 points down to win 121-119.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 35 points for Oklahoma City and last season's Most Valuable Player has now scored 20 or more in 81 consecutive games, extending the third-longest streak in NBA history.

Luka Doncic got the better of Victor Wembanyama as the Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 118-116 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets became the last team to claim their first win of the season, beating the injury-hit Indiana Pacers 112-103.

Nikola Jokic registered a triple-double to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 122-112 win over the Miami Heat, while the New York Knicks scored 83 points in the second half to claim a 137-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

• Antetokounmpo beats buzzer as Bucks edge out Pacers
• Latest NBA Scores & Fixtures

Buddy Hield reveals Klay Thompson got him tickets to iconic 2016 Warriors game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Buddy Hield and Klay Thompson, two sharpshooters who have worn Warriors uniforms, never shared an NBA court as teammates. 

But they share a common pride: Bahamian roots. 

Amid the Warriors’ 2015-16 NBA season, Hield was in the middle of an electric senior season with the Oklahoma Sooners. That caught Thompson’s attention, leading him to invite the emerging college star to what turned into an epic game between the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder, Hield revealed to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Monte Poole on “Dubs Talk.”

“I think he hit me up one day and he said, ‘Man, yeah I got two tickets for you come to the game,’ Hield recounted. “I was like, hell yeah, I’m coming to the game.” 

Hield started watching the Warriors, particularly in the midst of their 2014-15 championship run, after he discovered Thompson also was Bahamian. 

“You don’t know anyone is Bahamian until they get big time, you know. And somebody back home said, ‘You know, Klay Thompson’s dad is Bahamian.’ And I say ‘Who’s his dad?’ Mychal Thompson. I say ‘No way, it’s not his son,” Hield said. “And then I started looking it up, and I say, ‘Oh s–t it is…'”

“…And then after that I started watching him and …. that 2015 year Steph [Curry] goes on the rise. I was in my junior year in college and I was like, ‘Man, this all makes sense.’ And that’s watching where they shoot, watching their movement.” 

After studying Golden State’s revolutionary offense, Hield got to see it in person the next year. He said he got the full treatment, getting to meet Thompson, Curry, Steve Kerr and other Warriors in the locker room. 

“I’m thinking, ‘You know, I’m about to be with these guys soon,” Hield said. “So I’m just like studying and watching how they do stuff. And I was just eager to get there, you know? It was a fun experience.” 

Aside from the eye-opening experience, Hield got to see an all-time Warriors classic. 

“I thought they were about to lose,” Hield recounted. “That’s when I knew how crazy the NBA is…” 

“… and that’s when [Kevin Durant] and [Russell Westbrook] and everybody, they were on their game, they were just hard to guard you know.  But [Curry’s game-winning] three, in the game Steph was just doing some crazy stuff and it all made sense.” 

Nearly a decade removed from Curry’s all-time highlight, Hield shares the backcourt with the future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer in place of his Bahamian brother. 

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Mike Brown was shocked when he looked at the final box score on Wednesday night. 

He looked at the blocks category and thought someone must have made a mistake. 

“I was shocked (Mitchell Robinson) only had three,” Brown said with a laugh. “Mitch was all over the place, guarding everybody, blocking shots, contesting shots.”

There aren’t many players in the world who can do what Robinson did on Wednesday. He had nine offensive rebounds and three blocks in just 16 minutes. The Knicks in the second half outscored Minnesota by 17 in Robinson’s nine minutes. 

He wrecked the game for Minnesota. And the box score doesn’t entirely encapsulate it. The Knicks had 21 offensive rebounds as a team. Many of those were thanks to the attention the Timberwolves had to pay to Robinson. 

“Whenever he’s out there doing that, it makes us really comfortable shooting shots because we might get a second chance,” Jalen Brunson said. 

The issue, of course, is how often Robinson is "out there" for New York. 

He has been hidden for most of this early season. He’s missed three preseason games and three regular season games as part of the Knicks’ workload management plan. 

His appearances have been sporadic. But nights like Wednesday remind you why the Knicks have held on to Robinson for so long. 

Nights like Wednesday remind you why VP of Sports Medicine Casey Smith and his group are managing Robinson’s workload. 

Given his significant injury history, the Knicks are willing to sit Robinson during the regular season with the bigger picture in mind. 
Because if the Knicks have a healthy Robinson in the postseason, they are a different team. It’s probably easy to forget how good Robinson can be because he’s been out of the lineup so often. But nights like Wednesday serve as a reminder: Robinson can dominate a game when healthy.