Latest news with #BounceNewsletter
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Five NBA playoff storylines to watch this weekend. Plus, awards season is here!
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. Hey, it's the 500th edition of The Bounce newsletter! One player scored exactly 500 points in their career. It's Timberwolves legend Reggie Jordan. Matt Maloney and Guerschon Yabusele have exactly 500 rebounds. Paul Mokeski and Donald Royal have exactly 500 assists. Scott Skiles has exactly 500 steals, Wayman Tisdale has exactly 500 blocks, and Michael Olowokandi has exactly 500 games played. Are those interesting facts? Probably not, but I looked them up. Knicks, Clippers take control of their series On Wednesday night, Jalen Brunson won Clutch Player of the Year. However, through the first two games of this series against the Pistons, the Knicks star was having a tough one. They were physical with him. They were knocking him around. And his play wasn't nearly as good or effective as his numbers. Maybe getting the actual Clutch award got him back on track. Advertisement Game 3 was a whole lot of chaos between the Pistons and Knicks. They were pushing and trash talking and arguing with the refs all night. Big swings happened throughout the game. But through it all, Brunson was calm. He played the way we've seen from him in the past and expect of him in the present. He scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, with all 12 coming in the final 4:10 of the game. Ten of those came in the final 1:24 to close out a messy finish. And we almost had an incredibly controversial moment: The Knicks took a 2-1 series lead with a 118-116 victory. Karl-Anthony Towns redeemed himself with 31 points, and the Knicks overcame a 24-point, 11-assist night from Cade Cunningham. Playoff Panic Meter: 🚨🚨🚨 for Detroit. Clippers christen Intuit Dome's first playoff game with win The series between the Clippers and Nuggets has been the best series in the first week of the playoffs. This game didn't quite follow the greatness of the first two games. After the first quarter of Game 3, the Clippers obliterated the Nuggets. They lit Denver up for 18 3-pointers on their way to a 117-83 victory to go up 2-1 in the series. Kawhi Leonard had 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. James Harden had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds. And Nicolas Batum seemed to demolish every action the Nuggets wanted to do. How did the Clippers Wall try to psych out Nikola Jokić? Thunder were mean to the Grizzlies as Morant got hurt I don't know if the Grizzlies were set to give the Thunder a series when they were blowing them out in the first half of Game 3, but they were at least going to avoid being completely embarrassed. Scotty Pippen Jr. was having a career game, everything was clicking for Memphis and the Grizzlies were leading by as many as 29 points in the first half. Toward the end of the second quarter, a freak play happened on a fast break with Ja Morant that led to him exiting the game. Lu Dort tried to recover to defend Morant, slipped on the turn and accidentally upended Morant as he was going for a dunk. He landed hard on his hip and was down for several minutes. He would eventually make his way to shoot free throws before exiting the game for good. Memphis took a 26-point lead into halftime. Advertisement By the end of the third, it was down to an eight-point lead. Chet Holmgren had 16 of his 24 points in the third to help lead them back. Then, the Grizzlies spent much of the fourth quarter trying to get Shai Gilgeous-Alexander his sixth foul, instead of just scoring in their offense. Alex Caruso terrorized them on defense, and the Thunder closed it out to complete the NBA's second-biggest comeback since 1997. The biggest was the Clippers coming back from down 31 to the Warriors in 2019. SGA was also involved in that game. OKC is up 3-0, and we don't know Morant's status for Game 4. Playoff Panic Meter: 🧹🧹🧹🧹 for Memphis. Update on Warriors star's big fall 🏀 Good news. Jimmy Butler had an MRI, and there isn't any structural damage from his fall. Questionable for Game 3 with pelvic contusion. 🐜 Role model. David Aldridge has some great perspective on the words and image Anthony Edwards portrays. They matter, even if you don't want them to. 🗣️ Unforgettable. These five quotes from Nico Harrison will stick with Mavericks fans. Kyrie Irving's contract situation is interesting. 🏀 Adjustments! John Hollinger has adjustments for every series! How do the Wolves slow down Luka Dončić? 🤝 Bucks extension. The Bucks are keeping general manager Jon Horst around. He's getting a multiyear extension. ⚽ No Kidd'ing. Mavs coach Jason Kidd has joined the ownership group for Premier League club Everton. He even put a u in 'honored' in his statement. 🙏 Prayers for Alijah. Very scary reports about Alijah Arenas, a five-star USC recruit and son of Gilbert Arenas, getting in a car crash. Stable condition when hospitalized. 🎧 Tuning in. Today's NBA Daily discusses how the Pistons can get back into their series against the Knicks. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. Cavs' Mobley named NBA's best defender Last night, the NBA gave out the Defensive Player of the Year award. It went to Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley. The other finalists were Warriors and one-time winner Draymond Green, and third-year guard for the Hawks, Dyson Daniels. This was the closest DPOY race since Marcus Smart beat out Mikal Bridges by 55 voting points (15 first-place votes) in 2022. The closest DPOY race in recent memory was in 2015, when Kawhi Leonard beat out Green by 16 voting points despite having eight fewer first-place votes. This was how the voting broke down for the top three in this year's race: I had Mobley first and Green second on my official ballot. However, Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies was third on my ballot, which was really difficult to pick. For me, big men just have that greater responsibility, but Daniels was awesome this year. So were Amen Thompson and Dort. Mobley had the best season from start to finish, as he anchored Cleveland's defense. Daniels led the NBA in steals with three per game, the first person to do that since Alvin Robertson in 1991. The lack of team success for Daniels hurt his chances of winning. Green had another great season, helping the Warriors finish seventh in defensive rating. However, he didn't really start making noise for the award until after the team took off due to the Butler trade. Advertisement Mobley won it in just his fourth season in the NBA. He's the quickest to win it since Leonard won it in his fourth season in that 2014-15 race. Many thought 21-year-old Victor Wembanyama was the runaway favorite, before his deep vein thrombosis ended his campaign. The NBA will announce the Hustle Award winner tonight. Yes, that's a thing. The media doesn't vote on it. The league just gives it out. Five playoff storylines to watch We've got three games tonight on the schedule to warm us up for some weekend playoff basketball. The Celtics are at the Magic (7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and on Fubo for free. Try here!), the Pacers are at the Bucks (8 p.m. ET on ESPN/NBA TV) and the Lakers are at the Wolves (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN). Then, we've got four games on Saturday and four games on Sunday. Here are the five biggest storylines to track throughout the action. 1. Are the Lakers big enough? The Wolves took Game 1 in Los Angeles and then seemed just fine with their split as the Lakers were all over them in Game 2. Now that we're back in Minneapolis, we'll start to see which game was more telling about the series unfolding. Can the Lakers actually hang with the Wolves' size? Or are Edwards and the Wolves' frontline simply too large to keep this going? 2. Did Doc Rivers jinx the Bucks last month? Remember in late March when Rivers said he deserves credit for getting to three wins before his teams blew 3-1 leads in playoff series, and then bragged that the best coaches in history have been swept but his teams never have? Well, the Pacers seem to have the Bucks' number, and Indiana has the chance to do the funniest thing possible this weekend. By the end of Sunday, the brooms could be out against Milwaukee and Doc might have to revise that. 3. Is Leonard the best player in his series? OK, obviously Jokić is still the best. Duh. But Leonard has been unreal. It's reminding everybody of the dominance he had in 2019, except he's not dragging his leg. For years now, I've said his season should start Jan. 1 because his body simply can't handle a whole season anymore. His first game this season was Jan. 4. Look at how Aaron Gordon and the Nuggets have nothing for him. 4. The Knicks and Pistons really don't like each other. The first three games have been tight and contentious in this series. And the trash talk has been escalating. Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Dennis Schröder are jawing at the Knicks. The Knicks are giving it right back. And thankfully for New York, Isaiah Stewart isn't in uniform to make them physically pay. Game 4 on Sunday will have fireworks. Advertisement 5. Is Butler's tuchis OK? All eyes are on Butler's pelvic contusion (yes, I absolutely could've used better phrasing there) going into Saturday's Game 3 showdown between the Warriors and Rockets. This is the difference between the Warriors looking like contenders and playoff bottom-feeders. Houston can easily crack the code without him on the floor and leave the Chase Center faithful bummed out on the ride home. 📬 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
17-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Nikola Jokić's no-look mastery highlights the NBA's annual Bouncies awards
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. Duke freshman wing Kon Knueppel has declared for the 2025 NBA Draft. He's been in the top 10 on Sam Vecenie's draft board forever. Let me help you out with the pronunciation now. It's Kon, like Con from the Nic Cage movie 'Con Air.' Then, 'Knueppel' is CUH (like Paul Walker says 'cuz' in 2 Fast 2 Furious) and then nipple, like the body part protrusion. None of this is a joke. That's how you do it. You're welcome. The 2025 NBA Playoff Matchup Pressure Meter We know six of the eight first-round series in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, as the two No. 1 seeds await their matchups being decided Friday night in the conclusion of the Play-In Tournament. Who has the most pressure? Let's bust out the matchup pressure meter and provide bulletin board material, shall we? If you're a regular Bouncer, you know these meters are a scale of 1-5 (5 being the most pressure). Advertisement (2) Rockets v. (7) Warriors The Rockets' expectations have changed during the season, but the acquisition of Jimmy Butler has raised everything for the Warriors. They now have title expectations again. Houston's youth still gives an out. Golden State has way more pressure. Rockets Pressure: 🚀🚀 | Warriors Pressure: 🧑🍳🧑🍳🧑🍳🧑🍳 (3) Lakers v. (6) Timberwolves You always have a certain amount of pressure on you when LeBron James is on the team. Now with Luka Dončić and time ticking with the 40-year-old LeBron, they need to get things done now. For the Wolves, there is a certain amount of pressure to prove last postseason wasn't a fluke, even with new components. Lakers Pressure: 🎬🎬🎬🎬 | Wolves Pressure: 🐺🐺🐺 (4) Nuggets v. (5) Clippers Denver threw itself into big-time chaos by firing coach Michael Malone three games before the end of the season. That puts a certain spotlight on the Nuggets. And as good as the Clippers have been, there is no longer any pressure on them to perform, regardless of seeding. Nuggets Pressure: ⛰️⛰️⛰️ | Clippers Pressure: 🚢 (2) Celtics v. (7) Magic The Celtics don't have a real threat here, even though Orlando will be a physically tough opponent. And the Magic have zero pressure because nobody expects them to win. Celtics Pressure: 🏆🏆 | Magic Pressure: 🎩 (3) Knicks v. (6) Pistons The Pistons are playing with house money, so it doesn't even matter if they get swept. The Knicks cannot afford to even let this become a tough series, let alone think about losing it. Knicks Pressure: 🗽🗽🗽🗽 | Pistons Pressure: 🚘 (4) Pacers V. (5) Bucks This probably drops down to one for the Bucks if we get confirmation that Damian Lillard will miss the entire series. For the Pacers, there are still people who probably believe last year's run to the conference finals was a fluke. Advertisement Pacers Pressure: 🏁🏁🏁 | Bucks Pressure: 🦌🦌🦌 Gambling scandal reaching college ranks 💰 Betting scandal. Remember the Jontay Porter betting scandal? It runs deep into college hoops too. 🏀 Helping hand. Playing with Nikola Jokić just makes things easier. Here's how Big Honey helps. ⚜️ Joe D in New Orleans. Former Pistons executive Joe Dumars has left the NBA's league office. He's now running the Pelicans' basketball ops. 🏀 Come out to play? The Warriors finally solved their Play-In problem. Marcus Thompson wrote that this time it feels different. 🎧 Tuning in. Today's NBA Daily discusses this week's NBA Play-In action and Tyler Herro's push for Most Improved Player. 🐻 Not again. The Grizzlies are enduring another injury with Ja Morant's sprained ankle. What does it mean for Friday? Most disappointing, best dunk and more The 2024-25 regular season is done-zo! And you know what that means! The most prestigious awards in the basketball world – outside of the ones that the NBA and the NBPA and the Coaches Association and like a bunch of other organizations – are here to be given out. It's The Bouncies! Unfortunately, there was a manufacturing problem, so the hardware is a little behind, but we'll have it soon for the winners. Let's give out the awards because we have the envelopes! Best Rookie: Stephon Castle, Spurs The kid in Philadelphia was technically the best rookie we saw, but he played in only 23 games. Castle had a great finish to the season and will probably win Rookie of the Year and end up the best player of the class. | Runner-up: Jared McCain, 76ers Most Disappointing Rookie: Reed Sheppard, Rockets He didn't get a ton of chances on this Rockets team because they were good, but the can't-miss shooter third overall pick shot 35 percent from the field and 33 percent from three when he did play. | Runner-up: Cody Williams, Jazz Advertisement Most Frustrating Team: Mavericks How in the f— do you trade Dončić when he's 25 years old? How do you make this loyal fan base turn on you completely in one Saturday night? How do you ruin years of goodwill you built up by ruining an NBA Finals team you improved? | Runner-up: New Orleans Pelicans Best Surprise Team: Pistons The Pistons added Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley on the roster. Then, they added J.B. Bickerstaff as the coach. Then, this team more than tripled its wins from last year. They were better by plus-30 wins! All from having an actual gameplan. Now they're the No. 6 seed. | Runner-up: Cleveland Cavaliers Best Dish: Nikola Jokić to Aaron Gordon The framing of this angle of the pass is just perfect because Brook Lopez disappears from a play where he has no clue what's happening behind him. This is just so damn fun. | Runner-up: My man stabbing at this spaghetti behind the Grizzlies bench. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. Best Acquisition: Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks Especially during the month Jalen Brunson missed, Towns was a big time stabilizer for the Knicks. He wasn't as bad defensively as people said, but he also still needs a lot of work. His scoring has been a real savior. | Runner-up: Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder Worst Acquisition: Paul George, 76ers Even when the injuries weren't cutting his time on the court short, he just wasn't very good. It's bizarre because he was incredible last season for the Clippers. That's not the player Philly ended up signing. | Runner-up: Mike Budenholzer, Suns Dunk of the Year: Shaedon Sharpe on Justin Champagnie I am begging the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA and his agent and family to force Sharpe to participate in the 2026 dunk contest. We need it. This man is ridiculous. | Runner-up: Jalen Green on Cade Cunningham (let's GIF it anyway) Bucket-getter of the Year: Norman Powell, Clippers How did we measure this? We looked at players averaging at least 15 points per game while having an assist rate under 15 percent. Then, we got rid of the big men in this category. Powell keeps this moniker from the middle of the season with a 21.8 scoring average and 10.2 percent assist rate. Get those shots up! | Runner-up: Malik Beasley, Pistons Advertisement Tallest Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs Despite allegedly losing an inch in listed height from his rookie season, I still fully believe Wemby is 7-foot-5, contrary to reports of his height before he was in the NBA. Players can be weird about how their height is listed. For example, Kevin Durant doesn't like being listed at 7-feet tall. Congrats to Wemby on being the tallest. | Runner-up: Zach Edey, Grizzlies (7-foot-4) The funniest moments to me: Paul George shutting down his podcast. PG did this in late February to focus on getting healthier, bringing his team together and competing for a championship, as the 76ers were having a nightmare season. He played four more games after the latest episode came out before the team shut him down for injuries and to tank. | Runner-up: Bradley Beal sitting out the final game of the season due to rest (the Suns finished 36-46 and missed the Play-in). Bulls, Kings lose seasons in Play-In Tournament Last night, the Heat and Mavericks took care of business to remain alive in the hunt for the No. 8 seed in their respective conferences. For the third straight season, the Heat ended the Bulls' season in the Play-In Tournament. In the previous two seasons, it happened in the final game for the No. 8 seed. This time, a 109-90 victory fueled by Tyler Herro's 38 points and Bam Adebayo's defense took care of it a round earlier. Then, in the second game of the night, the Mavericks shut down the Kings 120-106 on the road, which has to be easy when your own homecourt feels like a much more hostile environment because of your lead executive. Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis led the way, and the Mavs used a 44-19 second quarter to take control of the game and never really look back. We'll preview their chances at the No. 8 seed tomorrow. For now, let's say goodbye to the Bulls and Kings, and take a look at what awaits them in the offseason. Chicago Bulls (39-43, ninth in the East) Sacramento Kings (40-42, ninth in the West) 📬 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
07-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Walter Clayton Jr.'s NBA Draft stock keeps rising as Florida-Houston title game looms
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. No spoilers on the season finale of 'The White Lotus,' but whether or not you liked this season, we can all agree that Duke coming out and essentially speaking out against the memes being posted after they choked Saturday night is objectively hilarious. Florida takes on Houston for the men's title Tonight, we're going to have the Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars playing for the men's national championship (8:50 p.m. on CBS). After one of those historic, all No. 1 seed Final Fours, I'm not sure how many people expected this matchup. The Gators play an extremely fun brand of basketball, as they showed off in battling Auburn on Saturday. Houston ran off an improbable and historic comeback to take out the favorite, Duke. Let's get you ready for tonight's title game. Advertisement How did Houston get here? The biggest comeback in Final Four history. (Read more about it here. It's worth your time!) The Cougars were down 14 points in the second half to the best team in the country. The Blue Devils, sporting the player of the year in Cooper Flagg, were rolling against a very good Cougars team who just couldn't match the firepower of Duke. Flagg was on his way to a 27-point effort, and Duke led 59-45 with 8:17 left in the game. Then, Houston started chipping away. Duke was up six with the ball with 74 seconds left. Kon Knueppel got blocked on a layup by JoJo Tugler with 47 seconds left. Emmanuel Sharp cut the deficit to three with 33 seconds left. Duke turnover. Tugler scored on an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left to cut it to one. Tyrese Proctor missed the front-end of a one-and-one, and a weak foul was called on Flagg on the rebound. J'Wan Roberts, a career 59 percent free-throw shooter, knocked down both of the biggest free throws of his life to give Houston a one point lead with 19 seconds left. Then, Flagg (remember just barely 18 years old) came up short on a mid-range jumper, LJ Cryer made two free throws and Duke was stunned in defeat. They had a 92.5 percent chance of winning with 47 seconds left and will not play tonight. When informed the 14-point comeback was the biggest in Final Four history, Kelvin Sampson said, 'Good thing it wasn't 17.' How did Florida get here? Going into halftime, I remember thinking that Florida seemed a little lucky to be down just eight points to Auburn It felt like the Tigers were controlling the game, but the outside shooting wasn't there to bury the Gators. Then, in the blink of an eye early in the second half, the Gators went on an 11-0 run to take the lead. Now it was a party, and it was going to come down to which star for each team was going to step up and make plays. Advertisement Luckily for Florida, they have Walter Clayton Jr. to do that. He's been a star of the tournament, and I have to imagine his draft stock is shooting way up the charts. He scored 34 points in the game on 11-of-18 shooting. The 22-year-old looked like an NBA player. He composed himself like an NBA player, and he was just better than everybody else. That wasn't some young team he beat either. The average age of the Tigers' starting five is around the same as the Oklahoma City Thunder's. By the end of the night, everybody was raving about Clayton and wondering how Houston is going to stop him if they hope to win the national championship. Let's break it down. Outside of Clayton, who needs to step up for the Gators? Alex Condon is going to have to be big on the boards and control the paint. Alijah Martin had some exciting dunks, and he has to galvanize this team with his energy and play. Is it on Cryer to keep up with Clayton? He had 26 points against Duke, and he's more than capable of knocking down 3-pointers all night long. Terrance Arceneaux was scoreless against Duke, and Milos Uzan shot poorly. This may come down to which guard gets hotter. Key to winning? Houston had 18 offensive boards against Duke. Florida is the third-best rebounding team in the country. The boards could decide this. Florida last won it? Back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 with Billy Donovan at the helm. Houston last won it? Never. Lost back-to-back national title games in 1983 and 1984. Who is the favorite? Florida is favored by 1.5 points. Who is the pick? Chomp chomp. 🐊 (I know it's a crocodile emoji, but just work with me here) We have a star-studded 2025 Hall of Fame class 🏀 Newly elected. The 2025 Basketball Hall of Famers have been announced. Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird and the Redeem Team are in. 🏆 LeCo-Sign? Everybody is trying to figure out if the Warriors are title contenders. LeBron James seems to think so. Advertisement 🤝 Who is he? Everybody wants to know this new mystery Grizzlies coach. Meet Tuomas Iisalo. 🌍 Globalization. The new proposed league in Europe is big for the NBA's future. Here's why Adam Silver believes in it. 🎧 Tuning in. Today's NBA Daily examines Giannis Antetokounmpo's future with the Bucks if the team has a short playoff run. 📺 NBA TV game. Kings (38-40) at Pistons (43-35), 7 p.m. ET on NBA TV or Fubo (try it free!). This is a good warmup before the national title game. 📺 League Pass game. 76ers (23-55) at Heat (35-43), 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass (get it here). You really must love Quentin Grimes or Kel'el Ware to watch this. Paige Bueckers gets her ring as UConn returns We thought we were going to get an epic showdown between the UConn women Huskies and the South Carolina women Gamecocks. UConn's women haven't won the championship since 2016, when they finished off a 4-peat. South Carolina had won two of the last three titles and were looking to establish themselves as the new dynasty in women's college hoops. Instead, UConn obliterated South Carolina and made it a frustrating blowout for the Gamecocks by the end of the third quarter. It was a passing of the torch, too – but not from South Carolina to UConn. But as Paige Bueckers finally delivered the championship so many people assumed she would bring the Huskies program when she first started playing for UConn back in 2020, a new star was born for the program. Bueckers had 17 points, and her backcourt mate Azzi Fudd was tremendous with 24 points. However, it was Sarah Strong, the freshman forward, who finished her historic season. She had 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in a dominant performance. Bueckers is going to be the top pick in the WNBA Draft on April 16. Maybe a couple years from now, Strong will follow in her footsteps as another top pick. She's going to be a terror for college basketball for at least two more seasons. Staying out of West Play-In has these teams hot! Hey, not all stock reports are terrible! Some are hopeful! This week's NBA Stock Report should provide plenty of hope for some teams trending in the right direction in the final week of the season. 📈 Race for the 5 and 6 seeds in the West: I couldn't choose between singling out either the Warriors (46-32), Timberwolves (46-32) or Clippers (46-32). The Warriors have won five of their last six games. The Wolves have won six of their last seven games. And the Clippers have really been streaking, winning 14 of their last 17 games. Two of these teams could avoid the Play-In. Advertisement 📉 Suns (35-43): Since Kevin Durant turned his ankle, the Suns have been free-falling. They've lost six straight games, and face Golden State and OKC in their next two. They're 2.5 games behind Dallas for the No. 10 spot in the West with four games left to play. The Suns are 2-14 when Durant doesn't play, 33-29 when he does. That is the difference right there in why they're about to miss the Play-In. 📈 Rockets (51-27): Since losing three straight at the beginning of March, the Rockets have been blasting off. They've won 15 of their last 17 games, and are just about to secure the No. 2 seed in the West. Alperen Şengün continues to play All-NBA level ball. Jabari Smith Jr. has been excellent since he shifted to coming off the bench. This Rockets team is tough, plays defense and is a little hot shooting away from a deep playoff run. 📉 The Hawks (37-41) are still struggling lately. They've won just two of their last seven games, and it's why they've currently relinquished home court in a potential 7-8 matchup with Orlando in the Play-In Tournament. They play Orlando twice in their final four games here. But their defense has been the fifth-worst in the NBA over the last two weeks. 📈 Knicks (50-28): New York has won seven of its last nine games, putting to rest any idea that it might lose the No. 3 seed in the East. The majority of this nine-game stretch happened without Jalen Brunson, who missed 15 straight games with an ankle injury. The Knicks got some good news, though. He returned Sunday in the win over Phoenix. 📉 The Nuggets (47-32) have now lost four straight games, which isn't a total disaster until you realize they had a chance at the No. 2 seed like a week and a half ago. Now they're trying to stay out of the Play-In Tournament. They're not sure if they'll get Jamal Murray (hamstring) back on the court before postseason action begins. Just to update you on the absurdity of the West playoff race, let's take a look at Playoff Picture (via the NBA): Graphic design is my passion. The Clippers, Warriors, Wolves and Grizzlies all have the exact same record. When it was just the Wolves, Grizzlies, and Grizzlies, the tie-breakers pushed the Wolves ahead of the other two. With a four-way tie including the Warriors, the Clippers now get pushed up to fifth. Denver is a half game ahead of them, and the Lakers are two games ahead of this madness. Advertisement Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Steph Curry adds to list of legendary games. Plus, revisiting bad preseason predictions
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. I'm very excited to hear Zach Lowe is back to podcasting as he's joining his old friends with The Ringer. The podcast world is better when he's talking into a microphone. And it's just in time for the playoffs. We almost had Zach Randolph as the only Zach with a podcast this season. Who wants poorly aged preseason takes?! If you're doing this job correctly, you're not rooting for teams or players. You put your biases aside or eliminate them altogether. You jettison whatever childhood allegiances you have in order to approach this profession with proper objectivity. That way, you can properly root for the one true thing that matters. No, it's not the love of the game or the health of the league. It's your own predictions! Oh man, there's nothing better than getting a prediction correct and rubbing it in everyone's smug faces! Advertisement Of course, it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes, you have some real brutal predictions that make you question your own existence by the end of the season. Let's dive into the worst predictions I made in the preseason, point a finger and laugh hysterically at me. These aren't that bad because injuries derailed them Embiid, PG and Maxey will combine for 85 points per game: They ended up at 66.3 points per game combined. They combined for only 112 games played, which is not ideal and why they find themselves amid a tank-a-palooza. Immanuel Quickley will average 20 points and eight assists: He ended up at 17.5 points and 5.9 assists, as of this publishing. He played just 30 games. I think a healthy Quickley makes this one a lot closer. Twenty and eight was aggressive, though. Franz Wagner shoots over 38 percent from 3: In the first 18 games, this didn't look that bad. He made 35.7 percent of his 3-pointers. Over the next seven games, he shot 23.4 percent before hurting his oblique and missing the next 20 games. Since his return, he's at 26.1 percent from deep. He can't shoot. Zion plays 75 games and makes All-NBA: Trust me, I know. Let's move on. These are real bad and will get progressively worse Suns finish with top-two offense: I believed they would buy into Mike Budenholzer. They very much did not. They're ninth in offense. Clippers miss out on the Play-In Tournament: I underestimated Ty Lue and how he'd coach up this team. I thought James Harden would be cooked and Kawhi Leonard wouldn't play much. Rockets end up in Play-In but compete for top six until April: I knew the Rockets would be good, but not this good. This ends up being wrong by about five or six games. Houston has been so fun. Cody Williams wins Rookie of the Year: Ay dios mío, this was bad. I really thought Williams would have an opportunity to put up numbers because the Jazz would be so bad. And he did. He was just horrendous. Shooting 32 percent from the field, averaging 4.6 points and has a 3.7 PER. This is an all-time bad rookie season. Advertisement The Cavs win the No. 7 seed from the Play-In Tournament: This was by far the worst prediction — and it's almost historically bad. I thought the Cavs were going to have to make trades early and we'd see similar injury problems to last season. Instead, they set a record for number of 12-game win streaks and have the East's best record by a lot. Want to vote on my worst prediction? You can do it here! Five players suspended for Wolves-Pistons spat 🚨 Punishments! The penalties for the Wolves-Pistons kerfuffle are out. Beef Stew gets the worst of it. ⛽ Past losses. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a different drive this season because of recent failures. Failing fuels him. 📈 Power Rankings. Law Murray gives all 30 teams an App Store description. The Lakers are rising. 🇫🇷 Stifle Tower. The Wolves (44-32) have been hoping for this version of Rudy Gobert to return. He's back. 🎧 Tuning in. Today's NBA Daily discusses whether Ja Morant is going to be De'Aaron Fox 2.0. 📺 Don't miss this game tonight. Knicks (48-27) at Cavaliers (60-15), 7 p.m. ET on ESPN or Fubo (try it free!). New York hasn't beaten Cleveland or Boston this season. The Joker, Chef Curry both made history We don't need any preamble. Nikola Jokić had 61 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 140-139 double overtime loss to the Timberwolves last night. It's the third time in league history we've had a player break 60 points while recording a triple-double (Luka Dončić and James Harden are the others who've done it). It's the highest-scoring game with a triple-double the league has ever seen. Once again, the numbers just don't make sense. It was a hyper-efficient 61-point game too. He was 18 of 29 from the field, made 6 of 11 from 3-point range and went 19 of 24 from the free-throw line. After scoring 33 in the first three quarters, Big Honey went to work. He had 16 points in the fourth quarter, seven in the first OT and five in the second. He was battling Anthony Edwards left and right, as the latter turned a mediocre game into something incendiary with 24 of his 34 coming after the third quarter. Advertisement And he still lost his sixth straight game to Minnesota, dating back to the playoffs, because Russell Westbrook missed a fastbreak layup with the Nuggets up one instead of dribbling out the clock. And then, he fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a 3-point shot with 0.1 seconds left. NAW knocked down (NAWcked down?) the winning free throws as Minnesota escaped with the win in Denver. Law Murray dropped the stat that Jokić has lost all four games in which he's scored at least 50, which is wild. Steph Curry went off on the Grizzlies Jokić didn't have the only big scoring night. In fact, I thought this would be the big game I wrote about for today because watching Steph Curry light up the Grizzlies in Memphis was headed toward a real experience. We were just a few minutes into the third quarter when Curry knocked down his 10th 3-pointer of the night. And we were officially on watch to see if he'd reclaim the record for most 3-pointers in a game, which Klay Thompson (14) took from him. Curry was 11 of 15 from deep at one point and then started missing some attempts. He didn't have the benefit of just playing around and continuing to jack up shots. The Grizzlies were right there with the Warriors in this game, and Golden State was trying to move past Memphis for fifth in the West. Curry kept playing team ball and kept going at the Grizzlies' defense in different ways. He'd eventually knock down his 12th 3-pointer, something he's done four times (a record). He finished with 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals. He was 16 of 31 from the field and 12 of 20 from deep. It's his 10th 50-point game since turning 30, which is an NBA record. Yes, even more than Wilt Chamberlain (seven) had! The Warriors won 134-125 and moved into fifth in the West. Today's episode of 'No Dunks' covers these legendary performances. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. Why is the NBA so concerned with criticism? Fifteen years ago, the league did a brilliant job of embracing social media in a way other North American professional leagues lacked. They allowed highlights to be shared and celebrated. They empowered people to create brands off of their IP. Today, the NBA has almost 10 million more followers than the NFL on Twitter (I'm never calling it that), nearly triple the following of the NFL on Instagram and 8.5 million more subscribers on YouTube. The NBA owns social media, and they try to mention streams and impressions when discussions about ratings turn negative – especially in comparison to the NFL's monster ratings. Hall of Famer David Aldridge had a brilliant article on the criticism the league receives in today's media climate, even as the NBA has the most skill and athleticism we've ever seen. At times, the game of basketball seems maximized with its capabilities and the stars in front of us. And we're still not fully aware of what someone like Victor Wembanyama will be able to do. Advertisement It isn't just outside forces taking it down. League pundits like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal have regularly criticized the current product. One thing I've often been confused by is why the NBA puts so much stock into what is said online or even on the airwaves. That's the most impressive thing about the NFL to me. It never wavers under criticism; the league just trudges forward. The NFL knows its product will endure, and I think the NBA could take a similar approach. The NBA can be too online and seemingly concerned with what a very small bubble of diehard fans are saying within those online communities. It's good to care about what the fans want, but at a certain point, the criticism shouldn't matter. Not from them. Not from Chuck and Shaq. Not from any pundits doing it for clicks or views. You know what that point is? When you sign a $76 billion rights deal as everybody is talking about your product or bad ratings. That's what I would wave in the face of those people. Adam Silver should fake cry and dry his eyes with $100 bills when people ask him about ratings instead of questions about the actual game. It's not that you're above criticism or critique, but I just don't think the NBA needs to be still so preoccupied with these conversations. The basketball product is good. The league got paid. I'd focus on celebrating the game. 📬 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Has LeBron James' absence helped Luka Dončić adjust to the Lakers?
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. Now that we know Tracy Morgan is OK, we can joke about what recently happened: On St. Patrick's Day, the Knicks-Heat game got delayed over 10 minutes because he threw up courtside. It would've been a perfect way to relaunch '30 Rock.' Q&A on his adjustment with Lakers Something to remind yourself when thinking about Luka Dončić on the Lakers (42-25) is … yes, it really happened. It's real. This is something the Mavericks decided to do. The next thing to remind yourself is Dončić hadn't played in over a month when he finally made his debut with Los Angeles, due to a calf strain suffered on Christmas Day. So, even as he's dazzling the world in a new uniform we never thought he'd don, he's still not the Dončić we're used to seeing dominate the court. Advertisement In 15 games with the Lakers, the 26-year-old Dončić is averaging 26.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 4.2 turnovers in 34.5 minutes. He's making just 40 percent of his shots, 33.6 percent of his 3-pointers and 77.6 percent of his free throws. To put that into perspective, here's what he did last season, when he finished third in MVP voting: His numbers are good, but not what we're accustomed to seeing. However, we're seeing Dončić getting more and more comfortable lately in his time back from injury. You can see a change in Dončić's numbers from his first seven games with the Lakers to the last eight: He's not quite back yet, but he's starting to look really good. A good chunk of that has come with LeBron James sitting out due to a groin injury. I decided to ask Lakers writer Jovan Buha what he's seeing and how much of this could be due to LeBron's absence. I know you've only been covering Dončić a short time, but does it seem like he's getting back to his normal level? Buha: Yes, it does. Dončić has scored 30-plus points in five of seven games, an indication that he is trending toward being the 30-point, triple-double threat he's been since coming into his own early in his career. He's looked increasingly comfortable running high pick-and-rolls with Jaxson Hayes, who has benefited the most of any Lakers player since Dončić's arrival. The only blemish has been his turnovers, which have been a bit of an issue, especially with defenses keying in on him with James out of the lineup. Then again, is there a possibility LeBron missing time actually helped Dončić get back to this quicker? Or is that nonsense? Buha: I think it has little to do with James being out. If anything, James being out has caused teams to blitz and double Dončić more, making matters more difficult for him offensively. But there are two things going in Dončić's favor over this stretch: time and opposing defenses. Dončić has now been back over a month and progressively looked more like himself. That was inevitable the further removed he was from his calf strain and once he had more reps in the Lakers' offense. The Lakers have also played some weaker defenses, like Brooklyn (23rd in defensive rating), Denver (22nd) and Phoenix (27th), which Dončić has shredded. Even the best defense they've faced (Milwaukee) is bereft of defensive talent on the perimeter. Advertisement Once LeBron is back, what's the priority on the court for the Lakers the rest of the season? Buha: The priority should be getting the offense on track. Since Dončić's team debut on Feb. 10, the Lakers rank just 16th in offensive rating. It's not much better with Dončić and James on the floor together: they rank in the 63rd percentile of offensive lineups, per Cleaning The Glass. Between Dončić, James, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers have the foundation to be a top-10, if not top-five offense. If they can reach that ceiling and maintain their top-10 defense (they're sixth since Dončić's arrival), they have a legitimate chance to beat anyone in a seven-game series. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. It's always the right time for a mock draft 📈 Rising stock! Sam Vecenie charts which March Madness stars could boost their draft profiles soon. The No Dunks crew even shared its top 10 prospects. ⌚ Dame Time. Damian Lillard's stint in Milwaukee (38-30) hasn't brought him to his goal. He's still chasing a ring. 🤔 Cleveland's weakness? NBA Daily wonders if a key problem with the Cavaliers' defense may cost them in the playoffs. Joe Vardon wonders if their recent losses are just a bump in the road. 🐂 Huge upside. Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis is starting to turn some heads. Lauri Markkanen is a fan. 🏀 New life. Deni Avdija to the Blazers (30-39) has been one of the best offseason acquisitions. He's home now. 📺 Don't miss this game tonight. Nuggets (44-25) at Lakers, 10 p.m. ET on ESPN or Fubo (try it free!). No LeBron, but Dončić against Nikola Jokić is always fun. Chantel Jennings talks JuJu Watkins and more It's tournament time! Over the next few weeks, we're going to get a deluge of college basketball awesomeness from the stars of tomorrow in the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments. Over the next two days, we'll dive into some NBA draft prospects in the men's tournament action. Today, I asked Chantel Jennings about the favorites in the women's tournament, the stardom of JuJu Watkins and who's next. Advertisement South Carolina and Dawn Staley seemed very offended they weren't the No. 1 overall seed. Are they the team to fear the most? Jennings: It's not just Staley and South Carolina that feel they might've been under-seeded … USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she never thought she'd feel 'disrespected' with a No. 1 seed (the Trojans picked up the fourth top-line seed on Sunday). Notre Dame, which spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, dropped to a No. 3 seed after a tough end to the season, and Big 12 regular season and tournament champ TCU saw two Big Ten teams placed ahead of it on the one-line. So, I'd say there are quite a few teams that — if they were looking for some material for their locker room — got a little extra oomph from the committee. Is Watkins the biggest star in the game, and can USC get to the championship game? Jennings: Watkins is the biggest individual star, and she has led the Trojans from the moment she set foot on campus. A season ago, USC was one game short of the Final Four. Getting there this season is going to be just as tough. USC's region alone includes the only non-UCLA team that beat the Trojans this season (Iowa), the program that beat the Trojans in the Elite Eight a season ago (UConn), two of the country's best centers in Kansas State's 6-foot-6 Ayoka Lee (when healthy) and Oklahoma's Raegan Beers, as well as Kentucky, which feels dangerous in Year 1 under Kenny Brooks. It's a tough path, but Watkins has risen to the occasion in almost every chance she has had this season. Can she do it for six games straight over the next few weeks? We'll see. Who is a school or name you think can catch fire and become a star in this tournament? Jennings: Paige Bueckers is UConn's biggest star, but freshman Sarah Strong might just be the Huskies' X-factor this postseason. She averages 16 points and nine rebounds a game, which is impressive for any first-year player, but her basketball IQ, defensive feel and playmaking instincts separate her from even more veteran players. She's going to be the future around which UConn builds in the coming years, so you should get to know her now. You can catch all of our coverage of the women's tournament here with the First Four beginning tonight. Thirty years ago today, Michael Jordan returned We all remember Michael Jordan's infamous fax stating, 'I'm back,' in 1995, when he returned from his sojourn in baseball. Thirty years ago today, he played his first game since Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals, when he and the Bulls became the first team to win three consecutive championships since the Boston Celtics won eight straight from 1959 to 1966. Advertisement He tried to play professional baseball with the Chicago White Sox, and was way too good for an AA player, considering he hadn't played the sport since he was in high school. It's almost unfathomable that he was that good. On this date, in 1995, Jordan was finally back in a Bulls uniform, but this time wearing No. 45. It was jarring in so many ways, but all of us sat down in front of NBC that Sunday, watched the introduction and welcomed back the greatest to ever do it (sorry, LeBron). According to an estimated 35 million people tuned in to NBC for that game. It's the highest-rated regular-season game in NBA history. Jordan wasn't the Jordan we expected. He was rusty, and we all blamed the number change. The Bulls lost to Indiana 103-96 in overtime. MJ had 19 points on 7-of-28 shooting from the field with six rebounds, six assists and three steals in 43 minutes. But we didn't care. He was back. Nine days later, he dropped 55 at Madison Square Garden. We'll revisit that next week. 📫 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
