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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.

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Report: Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov "Would Like to be Moved if He's Not Going to Play"

The Anaheim Ducks saw the return of their captain, Radko Gudas, in their 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth. With his return to the lineup, they had seven healthy NHL-caliber defensemen on their roster.

Pavel Mintyukov has served the last two games as the Ducks’ healthy scratch, all too familiar a situation to that which he faced a season ago, when the Ducks had a logjam on their blueline. In that instance, the logjam was caused by bringing on board a plethora of veteran defensemen, which caused Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger to alternate healthy scratch duties until it was finally relieved at the 2025 trade deadline.

Takeaways from the Ducks' 4-3 Win over the Bruins

Takeaways from the Ducks 3-2 OT Win over the Mammoth

This year, the logjam has been caused by the emergence of Ian Moore, another young defenseman, who is perhaps a bit less volatile, more responsible on the defensive side of the puck, and cleaner during breakouts.

Premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest “32 Thoughts” blog that Mintyukov would prefer to be traded rather than be forced to sit in the press box. “After back-to-back healthy scratches, word filtered that Ducks defenceman Pavel Mintyukov would like to be moved if he’s not going to play,” Friedman reported in his piece. “He has fallen behind Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger on the left side of Anaheim’s defence. Ian Moore, who had a strong camp, was elevated in Mintyukov’s place. This is the 10th overall pick in the 2022 draft, so Ducks GM Pat Verbeek will not be rushed into anything. Something to keep an eye on.”

Mintyukov is 149 games into his NHL career and has scored 50 points (9-41=50), including three points (0-3=3) in 18 games this season. He put together a quality rookie season in 2023-24, scoring 28 points (4-24=28) in 63 games and showing flashes of what he could be at the highest level of the sport.

His 2024-25 was a struggle, as he seemed to be negatively affected by the scratches or the possibility of scratches, limiting his willingness to take chances and involve himself offensively, where he thrives most.

Mintyukov is at his best when he can diagnose a rush, disrupt it, spark a counterattack, and remain involved on the offensive cycle with constant activations. He’s an instinctual player who has the potential to become a true two-way force and fill scoresheets nightly.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t seized the opportunity afforded by Gudas’ absence, and he seemed to be leapfrogged by Moore in the process. It’s simply a numbers game, and he’s been the Ducks’ seventh-best defenseman this season (opinion).

As Friedman mentioned, Verbeek won’t be rushed into a decision, but Mintyukov’s value will only go down from here. His value should still be relatively high, as he’s just four years removed from his draft (when he was Verbeek’s first-ever draft pick), had a decent rookie season, and is still only 21 years old (22 on Nov. 25).

If traded, Mintyukov would be the fourth top-ten pick of the 2022 draft traded after selection and the sixth top-15 pick. This could all be undone with another injury (it is still hockey after all) or if he finds his way into the lineup tomorrow (Thursday), as the Ducks will be on their second game of a back-to-back.

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Wheeler's outlook as he returns from TOS — and what to expect in 2026

Wheeler's outlook as he returns from TOS — and what to expect in 2026 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

When people look back on the 2025 Phillies, the loss of Zack Wheeler will always stand out.

On Aug. 15, the club revealed that the 35-year-old had a right upper-extremity blood clot. He was placed on the injured list two days later and underwent a successful thrombolysis removal procedure a day later. On Aug. 23, his season was declared over.

It was a gut punch. Wheeler was in the midst of one of his best years in Philadelphia — 10–5 with a 2.71 ERA, an elite 195/33 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 0.94 WHIP across 24 starts.

The injury buildup

The first hint of trouble came on Aug. 2, when right shoulder soreness after a start versus Detroit pushed his next outing back two days.

Wheeler beat Texas on Aug. 10, but the radar gun told the story. MLB.com’s Paul Casella noted that every pitch type dipped more than one mile per hour, including a 2.5 mph drop on his sinker and a 2 mph dip on his four-seamer.

So when the IL move became official, it wasn’t shocking — but it was certainly damaging. The Phillies were 17 games over .500. They were past the trade deadline. Their plan to deploy a true six-man rotation to ease Aaron Nola was in the rearview mirror.

More updates would come too. On Sept. 23, Wheeler underwent vascular thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

The Phillies adjusted — Cristopher Sánchez led MLB in WAR (8.0) and carried the staff down the stretch — however, Wheeler’s absence was felt throughout the club’s unsuccessful trip to the postseason.

Now, with Spring Training roughly three months away, the Phillies have several rotation questions. Can Sánchez handle ace responsibilities across a full season? Can Jesús Luzardo match the production of Ranger Suárez, who is expected to leave in free agency? Who becomes the fifth starter?

But one question sits above the rest: what version of Zack Wheeler will the Phillies get?

Recent history of ‘TOS’

TOS has become a buzzword for pitchers — and a scary one. Notable starters Matt Harvey, Josh Beckett and Stephen Strasburg all had the surgery. None returned to pre-injury form, and Strasburg never pitched again.

But not all TOS is the same. Vascular TOS — the type Wheeler had — has produced stronger outcomes than the neuronic version that derailed Strasburg’s career.

The clearest example is Merrill Kelly.

Credit: Jerome Miron – Imagn Images

As detailed in Charlotte Varnes’ reporting for The Athletic, Kelly underwent vascular TOS after the 2020 season and returned without delays, making 27 starts in 2021 and posting a 3.66 ERA across 135 starts over the next five seasons.

Expectations and timeline

That story matters as the Phillies try to evaluate Wheeler’s outlook.

Since joining Philadelphia in 2020, Wheeler owns a 2.91 ERA. If he returns with an ERA in the 3.30–3.50 range, history says that would already qualify as a successful comeback. There’s optimism internally because the Phillies don’t need Wheeler to single-handedly carry the rotation anymore — Sánchez’s emergence has changed that dynamic.

“It helps, but I would rather have Zack Wheeler back and Cristopher Sánchez,” Dombrowski said in his end-of-season presser. “I’ve dealt with thoracic outlet [syndrome] in the past — there are differences in TOS — and I feel much more optimistic.”

As for the timeline, there have been no updates since mid-October. Per Dombrowski, “The timeline remains six to eight months to be back pitching in a major-league game — so that takes you to end of May. I don’t think it’ll affect us a great deal because we’re looking for him to come back on that timeline.”

That makes an Opening Day return unlikely. But Wheeler will be deep into his throwing progression throughout Spring Training.

It’s difficult to attach firm expectations to a pitcher turning 36 on May 30, especially coming off major surgery. But if there has been one constant during his tenure in Philadelphia, it’s that Zack Wheeler has earned the benefit of the doubt.

The Phillies don’t need Wheeler to recreate his 2021 or 2024 Cy Young runner-up seasons to get back to October. And with recent reporting indicating they won’t pursue a starter this winter, the plan is clear.

If he returns healthy — and somewhere close to his pre-injury form — they’ll have the stabilizer they were missing in their 2025 postseason run.

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Takeaways from the Ducks' 4-3 Win over the Bruins

Following a game on Monday where the Anaheim Ducks rescued two points from the jaws of defeat to end their three-game losing streak, they hosted the Boston Bruins in their second home game in a string of six.

Once the highest scoring team in the NHL and currently the second, the Ducks’ offense has dried a bit of late, having only mustered six regulation goals in their previous four games, with hopes of turning that around in this game.

Game #20: Ducks vs. Bruins Gameday Preview (11/19/25)

Takeaways from the Ducks 3-2 OT Win over the Mammoth

The Bruins were playing their first game of a four-game road trip, having lost two of their last three, but having won eight of their last ten. They were without the services of regular roster players Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, Viktor Arvidsson, and Charlie McAvoy.

The Ducks went with the same lineup that earned them their win on Monday, still without Mikael Granlund and Ryan Poehling, and with Pavel Mintyukov serving as the team’s healthy scratch.

Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks in net and stopped 36 of 39 shots. Dostal was opposed by Joonas Korpisalo in Boston’s crease, who saved 29 of 33.

Game Notes

After a few early dominant shifts and two early goals in the first period, Boston controlled possession for the majority of the game at 5v5. Anaheim let the Bruins back into the game, heading into the locker room after the second period with a 3-2 lead and allowing a tying goal on the power play nearing the midway point of the third.

Anaheim recovered well in the third, massively outpossessing and outchancing Boston to the point where they were able to take the lead late in the game on a clever breakout and cycle sequence that resulted in the game-winning goal from Ian Moore. Dostal put the team on his back early, and the Ducks capitalized when they had to with some pertinent in-game adjustments.

Defensive Zone Coverage: There seems to be a mandate for net front defensemen, when engaging attackers screening in the low slot, to do their best to eliminate sticks, but prioritize fronting their opponents to block those point shots. When successful, it allows the Ducks better odds to get to loose pucks and build breakout efforts with possession. When unsuccessful and pucks get through, the weak side defender can become outnumbered low and it typically results in a quality scoring chance against. It’s a double-edged sword, but with more reps, they seem to be becoming more effective in those scenarios.

Early in this game, when Boston was cycling for extended periods at a time, they often found an F3 or an activated defenseman in soft ice in the high slot with a pass from the perimeter. With the way the Ducks’ coverage system is built, more responsibility falls on wingers to anticipate, cover, and disrupt that area of the ice.

LaCombe-Helleson: the Ducks' top pair played 18:43 together at 5v5, the majority of which was against Boston’s top line and elite winger David Pastrnak. With LaCombe and Helleson on the ice at 5v5, the Ducks held a 9-7 shots on goal advantage, a 24-17 shot attempts advantage, and 61.9% of the expected goals share.

Speaking of double-edged swords, LaCombe has utilized his stick-checking ability far more this season, often subverting typical defensive fundamentals. At times, he misreads and becomes too puck-focused and reaches, which leaves him susceptible to dangles. When he’s able to strip puck carriers cleanly, he can turn pucks up ice and lead rushes the other way.

Helleson, on the other side, does everything by the book when it comes to defensive fundamentals. His gaps, angling, and sealing have been his most positively impactful traits and have become an asset to the team as a whole.

Mason McTavish/Chris Kreider/Alex Killorn: After a tough stretch, McTavish had the bounce-back game he needed, contributing two primary assists and putting a puck in the back of the net that was overturned due to goaltender interference. A key component of the Ducks turning around their possession numbers in the third period was the unheralded efforts from this trio in the small areas of the ice.

They not only extended offensive zone time, but were able to manipulate defenders, drawing them in with their puck skills, fending them off, and finding teammates to elongate cycles. They made clever plays to move pucks up ice and build plays with their speedier linemates.

The Ducks will have a quick turnaround, as they’ll host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

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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.

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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.