Category: Sports News

What’s the saying go? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us. Well, what’s four? Because we’re at that with Jalen Green.

He’s stringed together four straight 24+ point performances, all coming in Phoenix Suns wins. Last night’s victory against the Pacers was not just his best game of the win streak, but of his Suns’ tenure. The guard scored 36 points on 14-of-23 from the field and was tied for the team lead in plus/minus.

Is the guard hitting his stride?

When Suns GM Brian Gregory said recently that Green and Devin Booker can be the NBA’s best backcourt, a game like last night can only further his belief in the idea. The two combined for 79 points, both going for season highs and accounting for more than 64% of the team’s points.

The key for Green is that he’s deferring to Booker. During Phoenix’s four-game win streak, the fifth-year guard is taking three fewer shots per game than Booker is, and his efficiency has been the best it’s been all season. He’s shooting 50.6% from the field, doing so by taking nearly five more shots per game than his season average.

One of the knocks on Green to start his career has been about his efficiency. No season as a Rocket did he shoot better than 42.3% from the field or 35.4% from three, low marks for an undersized guard that can be a liability on offense, takes a lot of shots, and has a thin frame.

In two of his last three seasons on the Rockets, Green led Houston in points per game, and all four years he was a member of the team, he led them in shots per game. That is not his role on the Suns. It’s a fundamentally different one than the one he played with his former team, especially when Devin Booker is playing.

When he’s sharing the court with Booker, Green is not the offensive team’s main perimeter focus. He has more room to operate, as well as put less consistent tax on his body as he recovers from his multiple hamstring injuries that could impact his energy. When Booker plays, Green shoots 44% from the field and is a +75. When he doesn’t, he shoots 29.8% from the field and is a -34. When Green is playing without Booker, he reverts back to the role he played during his time in Houston, where he was often a first option.

Amid all the injuries both have had, Booker and Green have played just 13 games together. Since Booker returned from his hip injury, the six-straight games the two have played is the longest streak they’ve gone this year playing with each other, and they’re finally hitting their stride. Both playing similar positions and sharing similar skillsets, the two have needed time to find their rhythm. Booker’s was always going to come first. He’s the team’s best player and leader. Green is starting to find his.

Coming off a tough win against the Boston Celtics, the Spurs battled the Denver Nuggets. It was announced before the game that Victor Wembanyama would not play due to ankle soreness. Nonetheless, the Spurs dominated the first half. They outscored the Nuggets 37-25 in the first quarter, led by as much as 20 points, and took a 14-point lead into halftime. However, the Nuggets’ offense began to wake up in the third. They outscored the Spurs 41-37 in the third and embarked on a 14-0 run in the fourth. The Spurs were ice cold shooting from three, outscored 42-25, and could not stop the onslaught brought on by Jamal Murray. The Spurs ultimately lost 136-131.

Stephon Castle led the way with a triple-double: 30 points (4-8 3PT, 12-13 FT), 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. This is Steph’s 3rd triple-double of the season. His four threes tied a season high from December 23rd against the OKC Thunder. Without Wemby, Steph was aggressive on offense. He drained 12 of his 13 free throws and dished out double-digit dimes for the 11th time this season. He had the tough assignment of guarding Murray, and he defended well in the first half. However, Murray caught fire in the fourth and was able to score on multiple defenders. Nonetheless, a performance like the one Steph put on shows his skyward potential for the 21-year-old.

AND-ONE! Steph drives on Christian Braun, and he uses his patience for the tough and-one finish off the backboard!

Here’s the reverse angle!

Lob City Dimer! After Devin Vassell forces the Denver turnover, Steph finds a cutting Julian Champagnie for the alley-oop connection!

ST3PH CASTL3! Steph drains the catch-and-shoot three from the corner!

De’Aaron Fox dropped 27 points (10-19 FG), nine assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Just like Steph, Fox was aggressive on offense. Besides dropping a near double-double, Fox drained four threes and got into the paint off of P&R’s and iso plays. He also picked pockets on defense. After playing well all game, Fox missed a crucial three-point attempt late and attempted to lock down Murray late in the game down by three. Unfortunately, he was called for a foul when Murray was clearly about to go out of bounds. Nonetheless, the two-time all-star will continue to play fast as the season dwindles.

SPLASHTOWN! Fox drains the three from the corner early in the first!

Quick trigger! Fox catches the inbounds pass and drains another corner three!

Harrison Barnes returned from injury and dropped 20 points (6-10 FG, 6-7 FT), seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal. After missing the last five games due to an ankle injury, HB returned with a bang. This is his first 20+ game since December 23rd against OKC. He played 27 minutes, which is his most since February 1st. Clearly, Mitch Johnson wanted HB to get extra burn after a week off. The 33-year-old will look to continue contributing to this young, contending squad as the playoffs are a month away.

Old man hustle! HB tracks down the loose ball and drives into the paint with a fake and a slam!

Another angle? Yes please!

Devin Vassell dropped 18 points, three assists, two steals, and a rebound. It was not a 35-point explosion with seven threes like the last time Dev played the Nuggets, but he did have a near 20-point game thanks to four threes. He started hot, but cooled down in the fourth. As one of the x-factors on the team, Dev also played excellent off-ball defense, especially forcing steals on passes to Nikola Jokic. The two-way wing will continue to be a willing defender and knockdown shooter.

Dylan Harper dropped 13 points (6-12 FG), five rebounds, five assists, and a block. The rookie guard made the most of his 24 minutes, finishing with the highest plus/minus on the team with +9. With Castle and Fox combining for 57 points and 19 assists, Dyl did not play after the four-minute mark in the fourth. It remains to be seen if Mitch Johnson will play all three guards together in the fourth quarter, but for now, Dyl will continue to be a spark plug combo guard off the bench.

Block to assist! After swatting Braun’s shot attempt on one end, Dyl finds Steph for a side corner three-ball!

Get out and run! On the fastbreak, Fox finds a running Dyl, and he zooms past everyone for the easy layup off the glass!

Carter Bryant dropped 10 points (4-6 FG), three rebounds, and an assist in just nine minutes. The rookie wing came to play and capitalized on his playing time, or lack thereof. He played fearlessly in the paint and hustled on both ends, including playing great defense on Jokic. Despite having the second-highest plus/minus with +7, Carter only played nine minutes. A clear explanation would be the return of Barnes. It will be curious to see how Mitch Johnson manages HB and CB’s minutes during the last month of the regular season.

VET MOVES! CB tracks down the offensive rebound and takes it back into Jokic in the paint for the tough finish!

Sniper! CB knocks down the three from near the top of the key off the pick and fade!

In what would have been an outstanding statement win without their best player, this young team relinquished the lead they held for most of the game to a seasoned, contending team. The one-two punch of Jokic and Murray did most of their damage in the fourth, as it was clear a certain alien-like figure was missing in the paint that could have disrupted the Nuggets’ offensive game plan. Nonetheless, this team has defeated the Nuggets without Wemby before, so a loss like this only prepares them for their rematch in April.

Finally, here are the full game highlights.

The Spurs continue their homestand this Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets at 2:30 P.M. (CST) on Prime Video/FDSN-SW.

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There’s no better way to tip off the weekend than with some winning NBA player prop bets, and my NBA predictions have found a trio that are a slam dunk, including Karl-Anthony Towns being purr-fect on the boards against the Pacers.

Those and more NBA picks for Friday, March 13, right meow.

Best NBA player props today

Player	Pick
Karl-Anthony Towns	Over 12.5 Rebounds	+100
Kyle Filipowski	Double-Double	+150
Dante DiVincenzo	Over 3.5 Rebounds	-112

Prop #1: Karl-Anthony Towns Over 12.5 Rebounds

+100 at bet365

Karl-Anthony Towns is the New York Knicks best rebounder, averaging 11.9 boards per game, and he’s taken that to the next level recently.

KAT has hauled down 13.0 rebounds per contest over his last eight games, grabbing 13 or more boards five times during that stretch, and there’s no reason to think he’ll slow down when he faces the Indiana Pacers.

It’s a year to forget for the Pacers and enter this game losers of 11 in a row. Indiana has a lot of issues and rebounding is one of them. The Pacers rank next-to-last in both rebounding rate and opponent rebounds per game.

• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MSG, FanDuel Sports Network Indiana

Prop #2: Kyle Filipowski Double-Double

+150 at bet365

The Utah Jazz are another team that is not-so-subtly tanking at this point in the season. But they’ve been surprisingly scrappy recently, going 4-2 ATS in their last six games.

That’s because the guys who are actually playing for the Jazz are playing for their futures. Including Kyle Filipowski. 

The Jazz big man is averaging 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds since becoming a regular starter 11 games ago. He’s also hauled down double-digit boards in four of his last five games, which has me looking at him to record another double-double.

The Portland Trail Blazers rank 21st in rebounding rate since the All-Star break.

• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: KJZZ, KUNP

Prop #3: Donte DiVincenzo Over 3.5 Rebounds

-112 at bet365

You might not think that Steph Curry being out would affect the Golden State Warriors' rebounding, but that’s exactly what’s happened.

Steph has been out since the start of February, and the Warriors are still taking the fourth-most shots per game, but not surprisingly, they rank 25th in field goal percentage. As a result, the Dubs have surrendered the third-most opponent rebounds per game. 

So, I’m looking at a Minnesota Timberwolves rebounding prop, and my favorite is Donte DiVincenzo.

The T-Wolves shooting guard is averaging 4.4 rebounds per game, but his total sits at 3.5. A number he’s topped in four of his last five games and nine of his last 13.

• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Prime Video

These props are available now at bet365, one of our best betting sites.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Jaylen Brown isn’t a fan of what’s going on in the NBA.

The Celtics star, who scored 34 points in a 104-102 loss to the league-leading Thunder on Thursday night, spoke to reporters for the first time since his ejection for arguing a non-foul call earlier in the week.

“I don’t know, maybe it all works in the end, but I just don’t foul bait,” Brown said. “I’m not looking to flop or anything like that, but it’s almost like you got to. It’s almost like, because there’s a couple of plays in the fourth quarter where I felt like I drove strong, went up strong, and I didn’t get the benefit of the doubt. But maybe if I would have flopped, maybe I would have been able to sell that call. And those decide games.”

In a road loss to the Spurs on Tuesday, Brown argued with officials after San Antonio’s Stephon Castle bumped him out of bounds while he was dribbling, but failed to get a call.

Instead, the 29-year-old earned a pair of technicals and an ejection for his troubles.

In Thursday’s matchup with the reigning NBA champions, Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record with his 127th straight game with at least 20 points.

His 35-point effort was aided by hitting seven of his eight free-throws.

The 2024-25 MVP has drawn the second-most fouls this season and is often derided by fans as a “free-throw merchant” for his penchant for getting calls.

Thursday’s loss came on a pair of free throws by OKC center Chet Holmgren, who drew a foul on Boston’s Sam Houser with 0.8 seconds remaining.

Brown did not address the the call on Houser or Gilgeous-Alexander’s game specifically, but pointed to the larger problem he’s seeing.

“It’s like, we commend players for playing the game the right way, but we give the benefit to those who necessarily are trying to manipulate the game into their advantage,” Brown, who has drawn the sixth-most fouls this season, said. “I just don’t think it’s basketball. Let’s just play basketball. All the foul baiting, I think it’s whatever for me.”

Brown hit 13 of his 14 free throws on the night.

After Thursday, the Celtics sit in second in the Eastern Conference with a 43-23 record, 4.5 games behind the top-seeded Pistons and 1.5 games ahead of the Knicks.

They’ll face the Thunder, winners of seven straight, again in 12 days with a shot at revenge.

Deandre Ayton knew what he was doing wasn’t working. 

With the Lakers in the midst of a push for playoff seeding, and the collective sense of urgency of the team rising, the 7-foot big man knew he needed to pick it up. 

Being left behind wasn’t an option.

And not only has Ayton “caught up with the team,” as he put it after the Lakers’ win over the Bulls on Thursday, but he’s delivering in the ways the Lakers are needing.

Hustling on the glass.

Setting physical screens.  

Rolling to the rim hard after pick and rolls. 

Taking advantage of favorable offensive matchups inside of the paint.

Being a presence as the last line of defense. 

“[I] felt like I picked up my energy and my focus,” Ayton said on Thursday night. “And I finally caught up with the team. That’s about it.”

The difference in Ayton’s play and the impact on his counting stats were easier to see when the Lakers hosted the Bulls.

He finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his 12th 20-10 game of the season. 

Over half (six) of Ayton’s rebounds came on the offensive glass, which tied a season-high, 

But the difference in the way Ayton played over the last three games and the way he was playing the week before sitting out of the March 6 home win over the Pacers is different. 

He’s chasing rebounds and rolling to the rim harder. There’s a greater intensity and sense of urgency to his game.

“If something’s not working, you’re gonna fix it,” Ayton said. “Just gotta get up and fix it. That’s all. There was nothing that led to it.”

Regardless of the reason, Ayton is putting together a level of consistency in how he plays that hasn’t been seen since the early couple of months of the season. 

“As a team, we have been trying to find and build towards consistency – that’s the individual, that’s the group,” coach JJ Redick said. “We know what DA is capable of. I think Austin [Reaves] said this recently: he is an X factor for us, if not the X factor. Because him playing at a high level raises our ceiling. It changes the makeup of our team.”

Ayton’s status as the Lakers’ X factor was already known – evident by the fact they’re 27-8 when he grabs at least eight rebounds. They’re 24-9 when he takes at least eight shot attempts. 

And when Ayton has at least eight rebounds and eight shot attempts in the same game, the Lakers are 22-6. 

But why is he the team’s X factor?

Because for as athletic and an ideal fit that backup Jaxson Hayes may be alongside Luka Doncic, who likes playing with rim-running centers, Ayton has the talent, size and strength to neautralize team’s other big men, like Ayton’s done to Rudy Gobert when the Lakers played the Timberwolves this season, sweeping the regular season series, 3-0.

Because when the Lakers’ best players aren’t in a rhythm as scorers, he can create offense for himself in ways most of them don’t: rolls to the basket, quick seals on smaller plays or crashing the offensive glass.

“He saw a small guy and he was just playing bully ball down there,” Doncic said of Ayton against the Bulls. “Kind of fed him a couple times. He’s been doing an amazing job.”

Ayton adds layers to the Lakers, diversifying the way they can win sequences of a game. 

Like he did during the first quarter with his interior play against the Knicks on Sunday. Or the second quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Timberwolves, when he had 12 points and five rebounds in the quarter. Like he did throughout the win over the Bulls.

Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James may be the driving forces for the Lakers’ success. But Ayton and the determining factor of much success the team will ultimately achieve in a Western Conference filled with talented big men.

It’s one of the biggest reasons the last several days have been so encouraging for the Lakers.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t mean to define an all-time great NBA career with a throwaway line after a regular season win two years ago. It just worked out that way.

“My whole life is consistent,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in front of ESPN’s cameras following a March 2024 win over the Miami Heat. “Everything I do. From what I eat, to when I sleep, to my recovery, to my loved ones, everything is consistent. It’s a routine for me at this point.”

Gilgeous-Alexander’s comment became a meme as his teammates began hooting and hollering in the background. At the time, he was just starting to enter the MVP race, and the Thunder were in their first year as an elite team. While that season would end in disappointment in the second round of the playoffs, SGA and OKC would both get the salvation they were looking for the next year: his first MVP award and the franchise’s first NBA championship.

It’s easy to think back to Gilgeous-Alexander’s suddenly infamous quote after he broke an impossible NBA record on Thursday night. As the Thunder beat the Boston Celtics in a possible 2026 NBA Finals preview, SGA scored 20 or more points in his 127th consecutive regular-season game to break the NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain. While basically no one was aware of Chamberlain’s record before SGA threatened to break it, it’s a remarkable feat from a remarkable talent who feels suddenly feels like he’s surpassed Nikola Jokic for the mythical title of Best Player in the World.

How wild is Shai’s record? Consider this:

• Michael Jordan’s longest streak of scoring 20+ is 72 games.
• LeBron James’ longest streak of scoring 20+ is 49 games.
• Kobe Bryant’s longest streak of scoring 20+ is 63 games.

In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t even needed all four quarters to get to 20 points in the vast majority of his games. About 89 percent of the time, SGA has reached 20 points before the fourth quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander is peaking at an all-time high level at 27 years old, and he’s about to force some uncomfortable conversations. He’s lapped Jokic in my preferred all-in-on advanced metric EPM (which estimates a player’s total impact on team performance per 100 possessions): SGA leads the league at +9.6 right now, Jokic is second at +8.9, and Victor Wembanyama is third at +7.6.

That’s just the start of it. SGA is the best player in the world right now, but he’s also quickly becoming one of the best guards of all-time. Here’s how SGA rates against some of the greats by DPM, which again measures a player’s impact on team performance per 100 possessions. He’s the blue line in this graph, and only trails Steph Curry:

Gilgeous-Alexander’s peak has clearly surpassed Kobe and James Harden, and just about lines up with Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, who I didn’t include for the sake of clarity. Play with the tool yourself here.

Shai is better than ever this year, too. Long known as a mid-range assassin with a special ability to get to the foul line, he’s now added a newly improved step-back three that makes him even harder to guard. He’s had multiple three-point daggers to win games this year, including one earlier this week to beat the rival Denver Nuggets.

Some fans like to reduce SGA’s success to flopping, but that’s crazy talk. Yes, he gets a lot of free throws, but so does every all-time great. Luka Doncic averages one more free throw per game than Shai, but he doesn’t get called a flopper nearly as often. If you go by free throw attempts per 36 minutes, SGA is tied with Deni Avdija. Yes, he does regularly exaggerate contact to get to the line, but that’s not why he’s so great.

This is a guard in complete mastery of his game: his handle is extremely tight, his mid-range game is money every time, and he’s a solid defender. At 6’6 with a 7-foot wingspan, Shai has the same measurements as Michael Jordan, and it gives him a shot that’s extremely hard to contest when he rises and fires. Like MJ, SGA is also sneaky strong and can discard defenders when he needs to. Like MJ, he’s quickly becoming known for a push-off.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s Joe DiMaggio with this streak, but he’s even more than that. He’s becoming one of the best we’ve ever seen, and that will be more apparent if OKC can break the NBA’s parity era to become the first team to win back-to-back championships since Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors in 2017-2018.

There’s no reason to diminish what SGA is doing right now. It should be celebrated at the highest level. If Wilt Chamberlain was playing against plumbers and milkmen when he set the streak in 1961-1963 — which isn’t true, either — what SGA is doing at an average NBA height is just absurd, historical stuff. Appreciate his greatness while you can.