Rockets Notes: Sengun, Eason, Smith Jr., Sheppard
The Rockets‘ 115-96 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Lakers on Sunday gave them a glimmer of hope they can erase a 3-0 deficit. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday and Houston center Alperen Sengun is optimistic his team can bring the series back to Houston for a Game 6.
“The mood is good. We got one, but we’re not happy with it,” Sengun said, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays. “We’re going back to L.A. to fight again, no matter what. … I think we have been confident, just missing the shots. In the last game, we played with pace. We made them turn over a lot. Everybody did their job great. I think everybody is still hungry, and we are going over there to get another one, and come back home, and make them a little nervous.”
Sengun has averaged 22.8 points, 1o.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in the series.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Tari Eason played a huge role in the Game 4 win. He scored 20 points while hounding LeBron James on defense. The Lakers star had just 10 points with eight turnovers. “He’s just always flying around,” fellow forward Jabari Smith Jr. said, per Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle. “He always ends up coming up with a loose ball that just randomly seems like it just sticks to his hand. I’m used to it by now.” Eason will be a restricted free agent after the season.
- Speaking of Smith, he’s brimming with confidence that Game 4 was a turnaround rather than an aberration. “We’re obviously the better team, I feel,” he told Shankar at the team’s Tuesday practice. Smith went on to say that Houston is better than the Lakers “from top to bottom.”
- Reed Sheppard had a rough rookie season after being selected with the No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft, He told Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic it took a toll on him. “It was tough. It was different. I wasn’t used to anything like that,” Sheppard said. The second-year guard has appeared in every game this season, including 21 regular season starts. He has scored exactly 17 points in three of the four games against the Lakers. “I think a lot of it is just trust in yourself. I’ve played basketball my whole life, and I’ve been in moments that you dream of as a little kid,” Sheppard said. “So, now that I’m here, it’s like just have fun, trust in yourself and trust the work that you put in.”
- Kevin Durant has been ruled out of Game 5. Get the details here.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Stewart, Weaknesses
The Pistons are on the verge of becoming the seventh No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose a first-round series to a No. 8 seed. They’re down 3-1 after Monday’s 94-88 road loss to the Magic.
Turnovers, three-point shooting and Jalen Duren‘s lack of production have all been factors in their poor showing. Cade Cunningham is averaging 29.5 points but also 6.8 turnovers per game. He committed eight turnovers, compared to six assists, in Game 4.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Cunningham’s turnovers are due in part to his teammates not executing their roles, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
“They’re sending a lot of bodies to him,” he said. “We’ve gotta help him by giving him more space, so that he has room to operate. Set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Duren struck a defiant tone after Game 4, declaring “I still think we’re the better team” in a video posted by Sankofa. With Game 5 back on Detroit’s home floor, Duren believes a three-game winning streak is well within reach, according to Patterson. “It ain’t over, bro,” said Duren, a restricted free agent after the season. “Teams have come back from down 3-1 so many times. It wouldn’t be the first time in history. We’ve got to keep it one at a time, go protect the crib and keep moving from there.”
- Isaiah Stewart was a defensive force in Game 4, swatting eight shots in just 17 minutes. Should Stewart get more playing time in place of Duren? Stewart told Patterson he’s ready for more action. “I know what I mean to this team, I know what I was drafted here to do and I know I’m built for playoff basketball,” Stewart said. “So I’m just ready whenever my name is called. And whenever my name is called, I’m ready to lay it on the line like I display every single night. At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust the game plan Coach has, and you’ve got to be there for your teammates. It sucks because I want to be out there more because I know what I bring, and I know the impact I have on the game. I know (the Magic) don’t want me out there for a reason. So, yeah, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, (I’m going to) be the best teammate that I can be.”
- The Pistons’ weaknesses have been exposed due to the decision made by top executive Trajan Langdon to not make a big splash at the trade deadline, John Niyo of the Detroit News opines. The lack of a true No. 2 scoring option, or even a proven secondary play-maker, has put too much on Cunningham’s shoulders, Niyo writes, while their floor-spacing shooter in the starting lineup, Duncan Robinson, has been hunted on the defensive end. Those issues have put them on the brink of early elimination.
Rockets’ Kevin Durant Ruled Out For Game 5
Kevin Durant has been ruled out for Game 5 of the Rockets’ first-round series against the Lakers on Wednesday, Law Murray of The Athletic tweets.
Durant has only appeared in one game during the series. The star forward missed the last two games due to a left ankle sprain and bone bruise and didn’t participate in practice with the Rockets on Tuesday before they left for California, according to Kristie Rieken of The Associated Press. He was seen running on an anti-gravity treadmill.
Coach Ime Udoka provided an update on Durant, who missed Game 1 with a right knee injury, before the team headed out.
“We’ll see,” Udoka said. “It is day to day, game to game. But we’ll have to get on the court and do some things, and he didn’t participate in practice today. But he’s doing the conditioning and other aspects to try to get back.”
Durant scored 23 points in 41 minutes during the team’s Game 2 loss. In Game 4, Tari Eason supplied 20 points, eight rebounds and five steals in place of Durant as Houston staved off elimination.
On the Lakers’ side, Austin Reaves is listed as questionable. He hasn’t played in the series due to a left oblique muscle strain but is reportedly optimistic about returning for Game 5.
Spurs Notes: Barnes, Fox, Vassell, Johnson
The Spurs hold a 3-1 advantage in their first-round series against the Trail Blazers and can close it out on Tuesday night. Veteran forward Harrison Barnes experienced a championship with Golden State, so he knows what it takes to make a deep playoff run.
Relying on the identity the Spurs have built during the season is a key to postseason success, Barnes told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“The biggest thing is continuing to do what we’ve been doing, which is relying on our habits,” Barnes said. “We’ve had 82-plus games to build an identity and the coaching staff led by Mitch [Johnson] has us well-prepared every night. It’s just a matter of sticking to our standard. We’ve had great contributions from all of the guys in different moments, which is something I am very proud of.”
Barnes says the Spurs have all the tools to win a title.
“We have depth and variability on both ends of the floor. We’re able to score in a multitude of ways. We’re able to defend in multiple ways,” Barnes said. “And because we’ve had so many different lineups throughout the season, we’ve been able to win in different ways.”
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- De’Aaron Fox delivered his best outing of the series with 28 points and seven assists in Game 4, when the Spurs pulled away to a 114-93 win. He scored 11 of those points in the fourth quarter. “It might have been his best game as a Spur,” Johnson said, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
- Devin Vassell, who has three seasons remaining on his five-year, $135MM contract, came up big in the third quarter of Game 4. Vassell scored nine of his 11 points during that span, sparking the Spurs’ 73-point second-half explosion. “Just being patient, not forcing anything,” Vassell told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). “We have a lot of great players and sometimes the ball just doesn’t come your way. So just being ready whenever the ball is swung my way and just being ultra aggressive after I get it.”
- Keldon Johnson earned the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award this season. Johnson believes that commitment to the team supersedes any individual goals, he told ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “I was averaging 22 points [as a starter], had some individual success,” Johnson said. “I’ve been [an Olympic] gold medalist. But I realized that if you want to be here, sometimes you’ve got to remove your ego. San Antonio is a place I wanted to be. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I get an opportunity to be a part of something special. They saw the bigger picture before I did. But I’m blessed and fortunate to be able to go through it, thrive in it and have fun with it.”
NBA’s Lottery Reform Plan Includes 16 Teams, Flattened Odds
Major reforms to the draft lottery system could be on the horizon beginning next year.
The NBA has shared with its 30 GMs a new anti-tanking, draft reform proposal termed the “3-2-1 lottery” that includes expanding the lottery to 16 teams, flattened odds, and a “relegation zone” where the bottom three teams will be penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
If passed during the league’s Board of Governors meeting on May 28, the new system would be in place in 2027.
Here’s some of the key elements to the “3-2-1” proposal, named to represent the number of lottery balls per team, according to Charania and The Athletic’s Sam Amick:
- Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament but stay out of the relegation zone (ie. the teams that finish with the fourth-worst record through the 10th-worst record) would receive three lottery balls each.
- Teams with a bottom-three record — the relegation area — would have just two lottery balls but would have a floor of the 12th pick, while the rest of the 13 lottery teams could fall as far as the 16th pick.
- The 9th and 10th play-in seeds in each conference receive two lottery balls each, while the losers of the 7-8 play-in games receive one lottery ball each.
- No team would be able to win the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive years or be able to have three consecutive top-five picks.
- Trade rules would also be impacted. Teams would not be able to include protection in the 12-to-15 range on traded picks going forward.
- The proposal includes a sunset provision, with the new system expiring following the 2029 draft and requiring an affirmative vote of the Board of Governors to either continue with the system or transition to a new one.
- The league would have expanded disciplinary authority to regulate tanking by having the option to reduce teams’ lottery odds and/or modify teams’ draft positions.
Commissioner Adam Silver, who has been pushing hard for a revised lottery system, initially offered a variety of proposals to address tanking. The league office has held multiple critical meetings with its Board of Governors, competition committee and 30 GMs over the last few weeks to narrow toward this new singular proposal ahead of the owners’ vote.
There could be minor modifications to the proposal, but the key points of the framework have a majority of the support from teams, sources told Charania.
Warriors Notes: Kerr, Green, Offseason, Giannis
At the end of an extensive, in-depth interview with Charles Bethea of The New Yorker (subscription required), Steve Kerr spoke as if he isn’t ready to step down as the Warriors‘ head coach. Kerr said he doesn’t want to “abandon” Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and the rest of the team, and said he still enjoys the work that coaching entails.
“I wake up excited to come to the gym and coach basketball and collaborate with the staff and see the players and try to help them achieve something,” Kerr told Bethea. “That’s an amazing life. And that’s all that really matters is: Do you enjoy what you do every day and are you fulfilled? I still am.”
Appearing on Yahoo Sports Daily on Tuesday (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested even if Kerr is interested in remaining in his current position, it’s not necessarily as simple as Golden State’s longtime head coach simply deciding whether or not to return.
“What I think people have misunderstood about this (is that) this is not a straight emotional decision, like, ‘Do I have it within me to coach the Warriors or not?'” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM).“There is not a contract sitting on the table. It’s not like the Warriors said, ‘Hey man, sign this anytime, whenever you feel like it.’ They did not have contract extension discussions. They called those off. Steve called those off. He is making the highest salary amongst all NBA coaches at $17 million, that’s a championship-competition-level salary. This team is not a championship contender right now.
“The other thing… (is) there is some desire within the organization for Steve Kerr to potentially change his coaching staff. There’s some desire for Steve Kerr to change some strategy, particularly offensively. That is not a controversial statement. When a team that is this expensive and this veteran underachieves and misses the playoffs, to say that you want potential changes is not a shocking thing. But the question is, is Kerr willing to make those changes? Is Kerr willing to coach for a different salary next year? These are the real questions. This is where the rubber meets the road.
“… This might come down to a negotiating thing. It might not be sentimental at all. This might be good old-fashioned negotiating. Steve Kerr can leave the sideline and walk right into a broadcasting job, in a selection of places, for big money and an easier life. So his leverage is there that he has that out there.”
As Kerr weighs his future, we have more on the Warriors:
- Within that same New Yorker interview, Kerr also explained why he’s skeptical that Green will want to become a basketball coach after he retires as a player. “I don’t know that he’ll coach,” Kerr said. “He definitely has the brain for it. I don’t know if he has the patience. He’s an incredibly passionate, emotional guy, and that passion and energy has frequently gotten him in trouble. And I love him. I think he’s a really good-hearted person with an incredible brain, but if he wants to coach he’s going to have to learn how to control some of that emotion, that desire, and that fire that burns within him, and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
- Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area evaluates the 2025/26 Warriors based on several areas, including offense, defense, new additions, and health, among others. Golden State’s stars – Curry and Jimmy Butler – earned the highest mark (a B-plus) from Johnson, since they remained highly productive when they were healthy.
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) explores several of the decisions facing the Warriors this summer and wonders whether the team might try to maintain salary cap flexibility for 2027 if it doesn’t trade for a star in the coming months.
- What would it take for the Warriors to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo in a summer trade? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers that question and lays out a hypothetical scenario in which Golden State gives up four first-round picks along with Butler and Brandin Podziemski for the two-time MVP.
And-Ones: NBA Europe, D. Jones, Expansion, NCAA
Officials representing the NBA, FIBA, and Euroleague Basketball met in Switzerland on Tuesday and released a statement after that sit-down announcing that they had “constructive” discussions about the future of European basketball and “potential opportunities for collaboration.” The three parties agreed to continue those conversations in the coming weeks.
The NBA continues to target the fall of 2027 as a potential start date for its European league, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), who suggests that over 20 existing basketball and soccer clubs in Europe have presented bids for potential NBA Europe teams.
The NBA hasn’t offered many specific details in recent weeks, but deputy commissioner Mark Tatum stated on Monday that the NBA and FIBA are “very, very happy” with the interest shown so far in the league, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
“Right now, we’re just going through that process of narrowing down those bids into a little bit of a short list and trying to go out and continue to build partnerships with the right people in those markets,” Tatum said. “… We’re really thinking this is a global opportunity and we want to take advantage of the European culture and the European affinity for the game of basketball. This is not going to be the NBA opposing anything in Europe. This is going to be a European league, built by Europeans, with Europeans, with our partners in FIBA as well.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- As expected, former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones formally entered guilty pleas on Tuesday to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one connected to NBA gambling and one to an illegal poker ring, per Michael R. Sisak of The Associated Press. Jones stated in court that he took part in a scheme to defraud sportsbooks by disseminating “insider information that I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player” and that he acted as a “face card” to recruit players for poker games that he knew were rigged. Jones, who is scheduled for back-to-back sentencing hearings on January 6, faces 21 to 27 months in prison in the NBA gambling case and 48 to 63 months in the illegal poker case, based on sentencing guidelines.
- Although no formal bids for expansion teams have been put on the table this early in the process, there has been “substantial outreach” from potential investors for franchises based in Las Vegas and Seattle, sources tell Randall Williams of Bloomberg Sports (subscription required). Williams adds that early indications suggest Vegas is generating more interest than Seattle.
- The NCAA took another step on Monday toward eliminating redshirt seasons and allowing college athletes to compete for five full season instead of four, according to Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. If the rule change is implemented, it wouldn’t give athletes who competed in the 2025/26 academic year an extra year of eligibility.
Northwest Notes: Jones, McDaniels, Blazers, Jazz
After he made just 15-of-48 shots (31.3%) during the Nuggets‘ two losses in Minnesota, Nikola Jokic submitted a more characteristic performance in Game 5 on Monday, racking up a triple-double (27 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds) while knocking down 9-of-15 field goal attempts.
Perhaps even more importantly, Denver’s supporting cast stepped up in a major way. Jamal Murray scored 24 points, Cameron Johnson had 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and – in his second career playoff start – Spencer Jones added 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with three blocks and three steals.
As Jason Quick of The Athletic and Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required) detail, Jones began the season on a two-way contract but showed as early as the preseason that he deserved a longer look after playing sparingly as a rookie in 2024/25. Jones ended up starting 37 games and averaging 22.1 minutes per night, and he has emerged as a crucial part of Denver’s lineup in these playoffs with Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson sidelined.
As good as Jones was offensively on Monday, head coach David Adelman wanted to talk after the game about the forward’s defense. Adelman first considered a rotation role for Jones last fall based on the way he guarded Brandon Ingram in a preseason game, and his defensive effort was on display again in Game 5 as he took on the Julius Randle assignment.
“He just competes, man,” Adelman said of Jones, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason. “Randle’s an All-Star. Randle’s a load. And nobody in this room would want to be near Randle in their lives. And (Jones) just stands there and takes the hits.
“I thought he was really good outside of one time (at) not fouling him, either, where he made him take tough contested shots. A couple times, (Randle) got to his right shoulder and he laid the ball in with his left hand. But that’s why he gets paid a ton of money, because he’s a really special player. But the stuff early, he pushed him out. That’s the thing with Randle. If you concede space, just go home. I think Spence did a good job of competing for the spot.”
Here are a few more items of interest from around the Northwest:
- Since calling out Denver’s defense after the Timberwolves‘ Game 2 win, Jaden McDaniels has embraced the villain role and was willing to add more fuel to the fire following Minnesota’s loss on Monday, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I love this environment, everyone hating me, all the hate’s coming toward me,” McDaniels said of being booed by the Denver faithful. “I love it. I don’t care. I feed into it. It just brings the best out of me. We just ended up losing today, but we’re going to win the next one.”
- As Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report notes (via Twitter), the Trail Blazers‘ two-way players have made the trip to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday. Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible to play in the postseason, but Portland was the only team not to bring its two-way players on the road during the first two games of a first-round series, with new owner Tom Dundon looking to reduce spending.
- After finishing either 29th or 30th in defensive rating in each of the past three seasons, the Jazz expect former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. to help on that end of the court in 2025/26. Still, they know they’ll need to do more this offseason to fix one of the league’s worst defenses, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “Defense is going to be a team-wide goal for us this summer,” president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. “Every guy’s been told that we’re making a big leap next year defensively. No discussion. It’s going to happen.” Head coach Will Hardy singled out Ace Bailey and Keyonte George as two players he wants to see more from on defense.
Franz Wagner Has Calf Strain, Game 5 Status Uncertain
Magic forward Franz Wagner, who underwent an MRI on Tuesday after exiting Monday’s game due to calf tightness, has been diagnosed with a right calf strain, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, Wagner’s status for Game 5 of the series is up in the air and will depend on his response to treatment. The Magic have confirmed Charania’s reporting and indicated the 24-year-old will be listed as questionable for Wednesday’s contest (Twitter link).
The fact that Wagner hasn’t already been ruled out for Wednesday’s game is a positive sign for Orlando and suggests that the strain must be a mild one. Still, even a Grade 1 strain typically causes players to miss at least a week or so, so it would be a bit of a surprise if Wagner is active for Game 5. The Magic certainly won’t want to take their 3-1 series lead for granted against a 60-win Pistons team, but calf issues are tricky to manage and can lead to more serious injuries if they’re mishandled.
Despite sitting out the fourth quarter of Game 4, Wagner scored 19 points, matching his series high. Through four playoff games, he has averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals in 30.5 minutes per night, with a .439/.333/.933 shooting line.
Reserve wing Jamal Cain was on the court for the entire fourth quarter in Wagner’s place on Monday and played a key role in the victory, acting as the primary defender on Pistons star Cade Cunningham and throwing down an emphatic highlight-reel dunk, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic details.
Based on his Game 5 usage, Cain may be the leading candidate to move into the starting lineup if Wagner sits, though Anthony Black and Tristan Da Silva also started several games during the regular season when the German forward was inactive due to an ankle injury.
Celtics’ Brad Stevens Named Executive Of The Year
For the second time in three years, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year, the league announced today (Twitter link).
Stevens, who also earned the honor in 2024, is the 12th individual to win multiple Executive of the Year awards, according to the NBA.
The 2025/26 season was widely expected to be a “gap year” for the Celtics, who were determined to shed salary after operating above the second tax apron and lost star forward Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear during the 2025 playoffs. Stevens made a series of cost-cutting moves last offseason, trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis and allowing Luke Kornet and Al Horford to walk in free agency.
However, with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard leading the way and modestly paid contributors such as Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, and Jordan Walsh playing key rotation roles, the Celtics remained competitive both before and after Tatum’s eventual return in March. The team won 56 regular season games despite the fact that Stevens completed another series of financially motivated transactions at the trade deadline to get Boston’s team salary below the luxury tax line.
Unlike most of the NBA’s major end-of-season awards, Executive of the Year is voted on by the league’s general managers rather than by media members.
Stevens received 11 of 28 possible first-place votes from his fellow executives and finished with 69 total points. That was enough to beat out runner-up Onsi Saleh — the Hawks general manager actually showed up on the same number of ballots as Stevens (17), but earned primarily second-place (10) and third-place (6) votes and finished with 41 points.
Trajan Langdon of the Pistons (six first-place votes, 40 points), Jeff Peterson of the Hornets (five first-place votes, 37 points), and Sam Presti of the Thunder (three first-place votes, 25 points) rounded out the top five finishers, while Brian Wright of the Spurs earned the remaining two first-place votes.
Six other executives showed up on at least one ballot. The full voting results can be viewed right here (via Twitter).