Wizards forward Deni Avdija credits former teammate Russell Westbrook for mentoring him during his rookie season, as he told Josh Robbins and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
The current Lakers guard continues to have an impact on Avdija, who is averaging 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Wizards this season. “He really took care of me,” Avdija said. “He really cared about my success, and he wanted me to be mentally tough. When he sees me now, every time he sees me, he gives me advice after the game or something that I need to do better, and I love it. He always has a lot of effect (on me) because he was my first veteran that I met when I came to the league.”
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Rookie Christian Koloko leads the Raptors in games played this season due to rash of injuries throughout the roster but he’s not yet the answer at center, Josh Lewenberg of TSN writes. Koloko’s growing pains are showing during the team’s current slide and he may need more seasoning in the G League. “He’s got to play through those mistakes,” Fred VanVleet said. “It’s not necessarily his fault that we need him at his mature self right this second.”
- Pacers forward Terry Taylor will play with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in their two games this week at the G League Showcase, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Taylor will get some much-needed playing time. The second-year player hasn’t appeared at all in the past five games for Indiana and has only seen seven total minutes of action in December.
- The Knicks open a four-game homestand this week but they’ve been better on the road, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. They’ve won seven consecutive games overall and six straight outside of Madison Square Garden. “How do I say this? I don’t know what the word I’m supposed to use is, but on the road we’re locked in. At home we’re comfortable,” Jalen Brunson said. “It’s something we’ve got to get better at and continue to do that. I just like the way we’re playing.”
“They’ve won seven straight, six outside of Madison Square Garden. ”
This is not true. The wins against the Cavs, Hawks, and Kings were at MSG. They beat the Hornets, the Bulls twice, and the Pacers on the road. Also, the three teams they beat at home are .500 or better while the teams they beat on the road aren’t. So the home/road thing might be a little overblown this early in the season.
They’ve won their last six road games, but not all of them were part of the current seven-game overall streak. Tweaked the wording to make that clearer.
Luke Adams, you’re one of my favorite article writers because you fix your mistakes.
We Knicks fans never make any excuses when we lose and have players injured, but the media always makes a fuss when we beat a team that had players injured.
The Knicks current winning streak is a great example of a broken clock being right twice a day.
It’s weird how so many folks don’t bother to take into account strength of schedule—including injuries—when discussing standings. You really want to know how good a team is? Comb through each game and figure out the quality of opponent.
Do that and a few of the more currently hyped teams would look significantly less favorable, not that they cannot continue to play well of course. I just find it dumb, but no one ever said the media cared about informing anyone.
And teams like the Magic, who are 11-20, would look a hell of a lot better for beating the Celtics twice.
Yup. They aren’t a cakewalk for any team right now.
What Brunson is saying about the team bonding on the road is, I’m sure, true – by all accounts, the NYK have a good locker room. But that’s also true of a lot of other teams. NYK home-road W/L splits have been an outlier for years. MSG is a different environment than most NBA arenas. But, generally, I think its impact on the Knicks is far less than its impact on their opponents. So, a better team could flip that around.
Pressure of MSG weighs on them. You really gotta be mentally tough playing there. It’s a very high IQ basketball crowd.
Knicks are playing D. More to the point. Mitch is playing like he should be. And he’s healthy, finally. When he controls the rim. It lets others play up. Not worried about getting beat. We need a whole yr of that.
Mitch is 2nd in offensive reb. He’s 5th in blocks. And he’s just started playing consistent. Only played 22 gms so far. And is avg 25 mins. Needs to be at 30-32 mins. Then we are playing.
Knicks are 7-7 at home.
Knicks are 10-6 on the road. Second in the NBA.
We have a 4 gm home stand coming up. Warriors, Raptors, Bulls, Sixers ….. time to win @ home.
With Mitch and Randle playing well. I’d use them both to get Zach. Trade is coming for Knicks. Stay awake.