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Celtics Notes: Hot Streak, Pritchard, Walsh, Tillman

December 6th, 2025 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics‘ recent hot streak has changed expectations for the team, which now looks capable of competing for a top-four finish in the East rather than merely a spot in the play-in tournament, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). They’ve won nine of their last 11 games after blitzing the rival Lakers Friday night, and Washburn sees them as legitimate challengers amid an ordinary-looking group of Eastern contenders.

This was expected to be a “gap year” in Boston after two starters were traded over the summer and two other rotation players left in free agency as the team focused on moving below the second apron. However, the roster newcomers have meshed quickly with the remaining talent, and the Celtics have notched several impressive wins over the past two weeks.

“We have a bunch of guys figuring it out for the first time,” Jaylen Brown said. “Of course you all expected it to sink right away, but we had five or six new players and we were all figuring it out. I know you guys don’t care about that. We’ve been getting better every single day and it’s coming together a little bit now, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

There was speculation coming into the season that the front office would try to move below the tax threshold, likely by trading Anfernee Simons or Sam Hauser. However, Washburn claims it would now be “negligent” if president of basketball operations Brad Stevens doesn’t try to upgrade the roster by the trade deadline.

There’s more from Boston:

The Celtics’ offense has been surprisingly successful, posting the second-best rating in the league, notes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Payton Pritchard believes there’s still room for improvement and said it’s “exciting” to be a part of. “If everybody’s just focused on, ‘How can I just get a little bit better each day, each game, no matter win or loss?’” Pritchard said, “then eventually we’ll become the team we want to become.”
Jordan Walsh has provided a strong defensive presence since moving into the starting lineup, and he made an impression on Lakers star Austin Reaves Friday night, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Walsh has also been scoring lately, posting 17 points in 26 minutes against L.A. after a career-high 22-point night Thursday at Washington. “He just plays hard as crap every single possession,” Reaves said. “You don’t take a possession off. His ability, his length, his athleticism. He’s physically gifted. Moves really well. I could see him being one of the best defenders in the league for many years to come. He made shots tonight. Good player.”
Xavier Tillman has barely played over the past month because coach Joe Mazzulla has been using Josh Minott as his backup center instead of a traditional big man, Brian Robb of MassLive states in a mailbag column. Robb endorses the move because it creates more playing time for young wings Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman.

Warriors Notes: Horford, Green, Curry, Richard, A. Davis

December 6th, 2025 at 5:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

Al Horford was excited about the opportunity to join the Warriors, but his first few weeks with the team haven’t worked out as planned. The veteran center has only been available for 13 of Golden State’s first 23 games and is averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per night. He admits to Nick Friedell of The Athletic that he’s disappointed with his performance so far.

“I’m not where I want to be,” Horford said. “I would say I haven’t been very good. I understand that there’s a lot of work ahead of me, there’s more that I need to do, and I need to be better, and I feel like I will. But right now, I’m not where I want to be.”

Injuries have played a part in Horford’s early-season frustrations, as he just returned Thursday after missing about two weeks with sciatica. Golden State isn’t using him in both ends of back-to-backs, just like Boston’s policy over the past two years, to avoid putting too much strain on his body during the long season. After playing 18 minutes on Thursday at Philadelphia, Horford said he believes he’s making progress physically.

“I felt pretty good tonight,” he said. “Obviously, not playing or anything, that’s always challenging, so trying to get my legs back under me, but it’s just nice to get back on the floor. Things didn’t go our way tonight, the game didn’t go our way, I’m still trying to find myself as well, but I was encouraged with some of the things tonight.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Horford will miss Saturday’s game at Cleveland as part of a lengthy injured list that also includes Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Seth Curry and De’Anthony Melton, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). He adds that there’s optimism about Green, who injured his right foot during Thursday’s game and left the arena in a walking boot. Slater states that Green was able to do some shooting on his own after this morning’s shootaround (Twitter link).
Coach Steve Kerr said Stephen Curry is making progress in his recovery from a thigh contusion and “it’s realistic” that he could return Friday against Minnesota (Twitter link).
At 22, Will Richard was viewed as old for a prospect heading into this year’s draft, but he believes he benefited from playing four seasons in college, writes Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints. Richard has been a surprise contributor for Golden State after being selected with the 56th pick. “I feel like those four years at Florida helped me out with my experience,” he said. “I feel like it helped me adjust much quicker than if I were an 18-year-old freshman or something like that. So no knock to the guys that get drafted who are younger than me. … I know my journey is different from everyone else, so I’m happy how it went.”
Rumors that the Warriors are among the teams pursuing Mavericks big man Anthony Davis are untrue, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who tweets that Golden State hasn’t contacted Dallas about a potential deal and doesn’t plan to during the season.

Clippers Notes: Paul, Bogdanovic, Leonard, More

December 6th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul is away from the Clippers after the team announced on Wednesday that it would be “parting ways” with the 40-year-old point guard. The surprising news came less than two weeks after the 11-time All-NBA selection confirmed that 2025/26 would be his final season as an NBA player.

Appearing on Amazon Prime Video on Friday (Twitter video link), NBA insider Chris Haynes discussed Paul’s acrimonious exit from Los Angeles.

“The Clippers maintain that there were a series of events and conversations between the front office and Chris Paul over the last few months that ultimately led to his departure,” Haynes said. “The front office believed they had intel that Chris Paul was criticizing the coaching staff, front office and players. And this was something that they felt they’d been hearing for the past couple of months.

“And there was a meeting about a month ago between (president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank and Chris Paul where Frank addressed this issue again. Chris Paul vehemently denied those accusations. But ultimately Chris Paul elected to apologize to his teammates a few days later if his words or actions were misconstrued.

“(Paul) asked Frank, I was told, to set up a meeting between (Paul) and (head coach) Tyronn Lue — those two haven’t spoken in weeks,” Haynes continued. “Frank said he would get to that — it never happened. Sources said Lue refused to meet with Chris Paul.”

Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported on Thursday that Paul wanted to keep playing this season, and Paul essentially confirmed as much in a text to Haynes (Twitter link).

“I’m just staying ready,” Paul wrote. “I’m hooping right now. I don’t (know) what’s next. I’m still scarred by it all. Still processing everything. But I’m staying ready.”

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Veteran wing Bogdan Bogdanovic could return to action on Saturday in Minnesota after missing the past eight games with a left hip contusion. He’s probable to suit up against the Wolves, the team announced today. The slumping Clips badly need Bogdanovic’s shot-creation skills, particularly with Bradley Beal out for the year with a fractured hip.
Kawhi Leonard is not on L.A.’s injury report today and Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears the star forward is expected to play both ends of back-to-backs going forward, assuming he’s healthy. In 13 appearances this season, Leonard has averaged 25.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, with a shooting line of .494/.385/.971.
The Clippers are now 2-9 over their past 11 games after dropping Friday’s contest in Memphis. As The Orange County Register relays, the team only managed to score two points over the final six-plus of the fourth quarter and gave up a 9-0 run to conclude the game, which the Clips lost by nine points.

Pelicans Rumors: Zion, Jones, Murphy, Fears, Queen

December 6th, 2025 at 3:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Chris Dodson of ClutchPoints reported on Thursday that Zion Williamson is increasingly unlikely to be in the Pelicans‘ long-term plans, but the team has yet to have any meaningful trade talks regarding the oft-injured star forward, who is currently out with an adductor strain.

Williamson, who is on an unusual maximum-salary contract that features weigh-in checkpoints and guarantees based on games played, likely has minimal trade value due to his extensive injury history.

During Thursday’s live stream for Bleacher Report (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said there’s an expectation that New Orleans will entertain offers for the former No. 1 overall pick — and he’s not the only Pelicans player that will apply to.

“You can rest assured that the Pelicans are going to be listening to trade offers for (Williamson),” Fischer said (hat tip to RealGM). “And there are definitely teams that believe, that have told me as recently as today, that New Orleans is now starting to listen and at least show some type of willingness to listen on guys like Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III as well.

“(Jones and Murphy) are going to have a lot of interest around the league. They’re both on very strong, long-term contracts that are considered relatively team-friendly. Under $30 million in average annual value, which is a big threshold in this current market.

“… But the Pelicans are going to hold a high asking price. And they are going to need multiple first-round picks to move on from either of those guys. That’s my understanding as of now. But right now, it is pretty clear that the Pelicans, with interim head coach James Borrego, are moving in a direction of a team built around Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, their two lottery picks from this draft.”

Dodson’s ClutchPoints colleague Brett Siegel wrote on Friday that the odds of a deal involving Jones have grown “exponentially” in recent months amid the Pelicans’ disastrous 3-20 start to the season. After signing a contract extension in July, Jones isn’t currently eligible to be traded, but that will restriction will lift on January 14, a few weeks before this season’s deadline.

Fischer is the first reporter we’ve seen state that New Orleans may be open to the possibility of moving Murphy — Dodson suggested the team views the 25-year-old wing as part of the team’s core rather than a trade chip. Murphy is in the first season of a four-year, $112MM rookie scale extension.

In the wake of multiple rumors surrounding the struggling Pelicans, Will Guillory of The Athletic hears from several sources that the team has not had any trade talks involving Murphy, Jones or Williamson (Twitter link). Obviously that stance could change down the line, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.

Nets’ Cam Thomas Begins On-Court Work, But Remains Out

December 6th, 2025 at 2:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Nets guard Cam Thomas underwent an MRI earlier this week. The scan showed that his left hamstring strain is healing and he has begun on-court work, but he remains out. His status will be updated in about two weeks, the team announced today (via Twitter).

Thomas sustained the hamstring strain on November 5 against Indiana. He has missed the past 14 games with the injury and is expected to miss at least four more, with Dec. 21 vs. Toronto likely being his earliest possible return date.

The 24-year-old shooting guard has strained his left hamstring four different times in the past two seasons. Thomas only appeared in 25 games during the 2024/25 campaign due to the same issue.

The 27th overall pick of the 2021 draft, Thomas has been a polarizing player during four years with the Nets. While he’s a talented scorer, he doesn’t contribute in many other areas. In seven healthy games this season, Thomas averaged 24.4 points, 2.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 31.6 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .408/.356/.875.

Brooklyn went 1-7 in games Thomas played this season and has gone 4-10 in his absence. The 5-17 Nets are currently tied for the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

Thomas will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026 after signing his one-year, $6MM qualifying offer last offseason. He has the right to veto trades in ’25/26.

Southeast Notes: Porzingis, J. Johnson, Wizards, McNeeley

December 6th, 2025 at 1:35pm CST by Rory Maher

After returning to action on Friday against Denver, Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis will be held out of the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday at Washington, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks.

Porzingis, a one-time All-Star, had missed the four games leading up to Friday with an unspecified illness. According to Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com (Twitter link), Porzingis said his most recent ailment wasn’t related to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), the condition he was diagnosed with after missing extended time last season.

“No, I wouldn’t say it’s the same thing,” Porzingis said after Friday’s game. “I just wasn’t feeling too good, honestly. Just not being healthy healthy, you know? But I wouldn’t say it’s the same stuff from last season, so that’s good.

“I think I kind of put that behind me even this summer playing for the (Latvian) national team, but anyway, just catching whatever, it’s frustrating, you know? I want to be healthy. And I will be healthy.”

Porzingis, who was on a minutes restriction, performed well in Friday’s one-point loss to the Nuggets, finishing with 25 points (on 9-of-13 shooting), two rebounds, and two blocks. He was plus-18 in 20 minutes. The Latvian center admitted that coming off the bench wouldn’t be his first choice, but said he’s willing to do whatever he can to help the team.

“Obviously, it’s not what I love, you know? But I think it makes sense in limited minutes, and I will do whatever is best for the team. When I say those words, I really mean it. I’m here just to help this team win,” Porzingis said (Twitter link via Chouinard).

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Jalen Johnson continues to shine for the Hawks. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, the fifth-year forward recorded the second-fastest triple-double in NBA history on Friday and became just the sixth player to notch a triple-double in the first half. “We feed off him,” head coach Quin Snyder said of Johnson, who finished with 21 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, including 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the first half. “He has the ability to impact the game at multiple levels, and his stat line represents that.”
Josh Robbins of The Athletic recently examined the Wizards‘ season after 20 games, a stretch in which the team went just 3-17. While the on-court results have obviously been lackluster, the Wizards are incentivized to tank again this season in order to retain their top-eight protected first-round pick, Robbins notes, and Kyshawn George and Alex Sarr have taken significant steps forward in their second seasons. “I think we’ve made a lot of progress as a team and as individuals comparing the first game (this season) to where we are now,” Sarr told The Athletic. “Obviously, (there were) a lot of games that we could have won that we didn’t. So it’s a little frustrating when you look at our record knowing that we could have won some more games definitely because we were up at the end of the games. But that’s something you can’t control. It’s in the past. All we can do is learn from it and take it as lessons.”
Late first-rounder Liam McNeeley has received inconsistent playing time for the Hornets in his rookie season, but he’s thrilled he was able to fulfill his longtime goal of reaching the NBA and has remained a positive presence on the team throughout 2025/26. “I’m having the time of my life right now,” McNeeley said with a huge grin on his face, per Sam Perley of Hornets.com. “I can’t complain. It’s so cool getting to live out the dream. It’s even better than I thought it was going to be growing up. It’s everything I could have imagined and more. It’s something that I dreamt about as a kid and now I get to live it out. I really can’t say enough good things about it.”

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Ware, Herro, NBA Cup

December 6th, 2025 at 11:47am CST by Dana Gauruder

Bam Adebayo passed Glen Rice for third place on the Heat‘s all-time scoring list during his 24-point performance on Friday. He trails only Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning and should catch Mourning sometime this season.

“That’s really incredible. What an achievement,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I had no idea. Wow, that’s awesome. I would have mentioned something to him, even though it was kind of a buzzkill there at the end [of the loss].

“But that’s just a testament to his consistency, his work ethic. He came in basically as a defensive player and he’s really honed his skills offensively to become so much more versatile. On a tough night and a tough loss, that’s one heck of an accomplishment. He’s going to keep going.”

Adebayo’s performance wasn’t enough, as the Heat lost to the Magic, 106-105.

“I can’t really put that into words, man,” Adebayo said. “I would have liked to have done it in a win, but having the opportunity to pass some of these greats. Obviously, being able to pass them and bring them back into the present day. I’m pretty sure at some point when I see Glen, he’s going to give me a big hug. That’s my guy.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

Spoelstra went back to a big starting lineup of Adebayo and Kel’el Ware but he didn’t stick with it the whole game, Chiang notes. Ware was subbed out with 2:06 left in the third quarter and he never returned. “That starting group was a little bit uneven tonight,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve got to continue to work on that. I just want to see that group, when we play bigger, just for it to be a plus. So we have some work to do there. It should be a very good defensive group, but that’s a group that hasn’t been able to defend so far, and we’ve got to continue to work at that.”
Five games after returning from ankle surgery, Tyler Herro was sidelined on Friday due to toe irritation. As Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel notes, the game was the 18th that Herro has missed this season, which means he’s no longer eligible for postseason awards, including All-NBA, since he won’t appear in at least 65 contests. While it’s highly unlikely that the Heat front office would have offered Herro a super-max extension anyway, that’s now officially off the table for the 2026 offseason. Herro underwent an MRI on Saturday which confirmed a toe contusion and he’s now considered day-to-day, Winderman tweets.
The Heat will face the Magic again on Tuesday, this time in the NBA Cup knockout round. Winderman explains from a scheduling standpoint why they might be better off getting bounced in the quarterfinals, noting that a win could lead to a potential 11-day journey across all four time zones.

Raptors Notes: Recent Slide, Barnes, Ingram, Battle

December 6th, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors have lost four of their last five games and were pummeled by Charlotte on Friday, 111-86. Head coach Darko Rajakovic suggested after the blowout defeat that he felt the schedule caught up to his team — it was Toronto’s fifth game in seven nights.

“Physically, we were worn down,” Rajakovic said, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN (Twitter link). “I’m really proud of our guys tonight. We tried. But when you’re trying and you’re missing layups and wide open shots, it’s hard to keep it up. We didn’t quit. We continued fighting but we didn’t have enough in the tank.”

We have more on the Raptors:

Rajakovic believes Scottie Barnes should be a contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award, per Lewenberg (Twitter link). “He’s guarding point guards, wings, fives. He’s doing it all,” the coach said. “There’s a reason why he was voted Defensive Player of the Month and he needs to be in consideration for Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously it’s early in the season but he’s trending that way.”
Brandon Ingram has suffered a number of long-term injuries over the course of his career, but he’s not a fan of load management. He expects to play every night that he’s healthy this season, Lewenberg tweets. Ingram has appeared in all 24 of the Raptors’ games so far this season, averaging 20.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 33.8 minutes per contest. “It’s intentional to not miss games because I have no reason to,” Ingram said. “If I hear from the training staff and they tell me my body doesn’t look good, I’ll listen. But so far, my body’s been feeling good. I’m doing everything in my control to be ready for games.”
Jamison Battle suffered a left ankle sprain in Friday’s game. X-rays were negative and he’s considered day-to-day, Lewenberg tweets.

Noa Essengue Out For Season With Shoulder Injury

December 6th, 2025 at 10:29am CST by Eli Cohen

Dec. 6: The Bulls have officially announced that Essengue will undergo season-ending surgery, Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic tweets.

Dec. 3: Bulls rookie Noa Essengue will require surgery to address a left shoulder injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).

The update comes from head coach Billy Donovan, who had previously noted that Essengue suffered the injury, which was initially diagnosed as a shoulder contusion, in a G League contest.

“Usually those things are six to seven months,” Donovan said of Essengue’s recovery timeline, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Bulls’ coach added that the team preferred to address the injury now rather than let it linger into the offseason.

After being selected 12th in the 2025 draft, Essengue played just six minutes for the Bulls in his rookie season, recording one steal and one foul in that time.

He appeared in four games for the Windy City Bulls G League team, where he averaged 23.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game.

According to Johnson (via Twitter), Donovan said he had spoken with Essengue after shootaround, and that he was handling the news well.

Knicks Notes: Giannis, Anunoby, Hart, Kolek

December 6th, 2025 at 9:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks are a long shot to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo if the Bucks superstar requests a trade, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

The Knicks’ acquisition of Mikal Bridges prior to last season, in which they gave up five first-round picks to the Nets, left them without the necessary draft capital that other suitors could offer. The only way Giannis would wind up with the Knicks, Bondy writes, is if he specifically demanded a trade to New York and warned that he wouldn’t re-sign with any other team that wanted to acquire him.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

They rolled to a 34-point win over the Jazz on Friday. OG Anunoby returned to the lineup and scored 11 points in 23 minutes. He was on a minutes restriction after missing nine games due to a left hamstring strain. “You always worry when you get a big lead, you don’t want anybody to get hurt, but we needed to get OG Anunoby some game minutes just to work on his conditioning,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said, per Vince Goodwill of ESPN. “And I thought he looked good for the timings out there. I would have loved to get him to 25, 26 minutes. But, you know, 22, 23 worked good enough, especially with the way we had the lead.”
Josh Hart made his seventh start of the season on Friday and Brown claims it was a staff-driven decision to put him back in the lineup, according to Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “You wanna know the truth? I rely on my staff, and I had reasons why I was starting it that way, but my staff, all of them were like, ‘Hey, these are the reasons why it would be better,’” Brown said. “And the reality of it is I just listened to my staff. I said, ‘OK, If I’m the only one thinking that the other way may be better at that time, then maybe I’m wrong.’ And I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again in the future.”
Teammates call Tyler Kolek goofy but the second-round pick from 2024 is in a serious fight for minutes and a rotation spot. He has received steady playing time the last eight games due to injuries. “Especially a guy like me, I’m fighting for my life,” Kolek told Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “I’m trying to get as many minutes as I can, get the coach’s trust, get these guys’ trust as much as I can, so I gotta bring not just the basketball stuff every day, but my personality, my energy, give those guys whatever I can to help the team.”

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