Lakers Notes: Reaves, Defense, Ayton, Hayes
Austin Reaves is starting to look like the player he was early in the season, which could make the Lakers far more dangerous as the playoffs near, writes Melissa Rohlin of The California Post. Reaves’s scoring has been down since he returned from a strained left calf in early February, but he was aggressively looking for his shot in Sunday’s win over New York. He wound up with 25 points, marking just the third time he has reached the 20-point mark in the past 15 games.
“I think the messaging to him has just been to be himself,” coach JJ Redick said. “And I think sometimes when you miss time and there’s circumstances going on with the team that you can kind of be a little passive. … We want him to be aggressive. Every time he gets the ball, we want him to be aggressive and have a mentality to touch the paint.”
Reaves played like an All-Star as the season began, looking worthy of the five-year, $241MM extension that he’ll be eligible to collect this summer. If he can return to that level, the Lakers will be in position to challenge anyone in the West.
“Have fun,” he explained to reporters about his approach to the Sunday afternoon contest. “Woke up, early game, I was tired when I got here. I just told myself to have fun. I don’t feel like I’ve played bad, I just haven’t made a lot of shots. I feel like I’ve done a lot of other things well. Just continuing to play the game the right way, and I feel like good will come to good.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- With LeBron James sidelined by elbow and foot issues, the Lakers turned up their defense in Sunday’s blowout win, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Defense has frequently been an issue for L.A. throughout the season, but the team was in top form against New York, holding the league’s third most efficient offense to 42.7% from the field and forcing 19 turnovers. Redick singled out Reaves, Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart for their willingness to take charges. “That’s a sacrificial play,” Redick said. “You got to put your body on the line. Our guys have been motivated to do that all year.”
- Deandre Ayton‘s up-and-down play has been an issue, but the Lakers haven’t lost confidence in him, McMenamin tweets. He played 20 minutes on Sunday after sitting out most of the past two games with knee soreness. “We’re hopeful and optimistic that we’re going to get a consistent version of him down the stretch of the season,” Redick said.
- In a subscriber-only story, Benjamin Royer of The Orange County Register examines the connection that Doncic has formed with Jaxson Hayes and looks at how getting him easy baskets can unlock the rest of the Lakers’ offense.
Northwest Notes: Gobert, Sensabaugh, McCain, Wallace
Rudy Gobert has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believes he should capture the trophy again, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter links).
“I think he’s far and away the leader for Defensive Player of the Year,” Finch said.
The oddsmakers disagree. Victor Wembanyama is currently the heavy favorite to win the award, with Chet Holmgren second in the betting. Finch laid out his case for Gobert.
“His iso defense has been the top or near the top all year long,” Finch said. “He drives our defense. The on/off numbers for us speak volumes to his importance. … He takes our defense to a whole ‘nother level. There’s nothing he can’t do defensively.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Jazz wing Brice Sensabaugh knows his future is still up in the air, despite his recent performances. The 2023 first-round pick averaged 15.6 points per game last month and had a 17-point game against Milwaukee on Saturday. However, defense and turnovers have been issues for him. “I have to keep searching for those catch-and-shoot opportunities,” he told Kevin Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune. “I want to improve everything except my shooting, to be honest. But like I said, shooting has to be the driving force.” Sensabaugh has one more year on his contract at a $4.86MM salary before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency in 2027.
- Jared McCain admits he was blindsided by the trade that sent him from the Sixers to the Thunder. He thought he could be a long-term fit with Philadelphia, James Herbert of CBS Sports writes. “I definitely thought it could work,” McCain said. “Long-term, I definitely think it could work. I loved playing with them. It was really fun. And I’m going to miss it, too. So I think there was definitely potential there, but they made the best decision for what they thought it was and we’ve just gotta live with it and kind of move on.” McCain has thrived since the trade, averaging 11.7 points in 19.0 minutes per game through 13 appearances with Oklahoma City.
- Thunder guard Cason Wallace has made a strong case for being selected to the All-Defensive Team, according to Sports Illustrated’s Rylan Stiles, who uses advanced analytics to display Wallace’s prowess this season.
Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell Set To Return After 20-Game Absence
The defending champion Thunder will get one of their key reserves back on Monday.
Ajay Mitchell will suit up for Oklahoma City’s game against Denver, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets. Mitchell has missed the last 20 games due to an abdominal strain and sprained ankle. The 6’4″ shooting guard, who hasn’t played since Jan. 21, is no longer listed on the team’s injury report.
The 2024 second-round pick established a rotation role prior to the injuries. In 43 appearances, including nine starts, Mitchell averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game. He was also a defensive factor, averaging 1.4 steals per night, and was shooting a solid 48.7 percent from the field (35 percent on three-point tries).
With Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Alex Caruso and the trade-deadline addition of Jared McCain, the Thunder already had impressive depth at the guard and wing spots. Mitchell will probably play fewer minutes than he did earlier in the season, though he proved to be a reliable backup for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after appearing in just 36 games as a rookie.
The Thunder still have a lengthy injury report for their matchup with the Nuggets, beat writer Rylan Stiles tweets. Isaiah Hartenstein will miss his second straight game due to a calf injury and starting forward Jalen Williams remains out due to a hamstring strain. Caruso (hip) and Chet Holmgren (flu) are listed as questionable.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Powell, Brunson, Johnson
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers shuffled his lineup and it worked on Saturday, as the team ended a four-game losing streak with a 113-99 win over Utah. Giannis Antetokounmpo was joined in the starting five by Ryan Rollins, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Ousmane Dieng, Eric Nehm of The Athletic notes (Twitter links).
“I love the starters because of our size,” Rivers said. “I loved how we played the first seven minutes of the game. The ball just flew up the floor.”
Cam Thomas only saw six minutes of action off the bench, his lowest single-game total since joining the Bucks.
“Tonight wasn’t the night,” Rivers said. “And we’ve got a lot of guys that can play.”
Antetokounmpo sat out Sunday’s game against Orlando.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- While the Nets were pulling off a stunning comeback at Detroit on Saturday, Drake Powell was in the G League with the Long Island Nets. C.J. Holmes of the New York Daily News notes that over his last 17 NBA appearances, Powell has averaged just 5.2 points in 19.1 minutes per game, and his efficiency dropped to 35.4 percent from the field and 20.9 percent from deep. Powell was recalled by Brooklyn on Sunday, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets.
- Jalen Brunson‘s shooting numbers have dipped as of late, but the Knicks floor leader has become a high-volume and highly composed facilitator during that stretch, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes. Entering Sunday, Brunson had racked up three consecutive double-digit assist games. He had seven assists on Sunday against the Lakers but also committed seven turnovers. He has shot 36.2 percent from the field in five March games. “He’s taking what the defense is giving him,” coach Mike Brown said. “They’re switching, they’re blitzing, they’re trying to throw the kitchen sink at him. And he’s doing a great job of getting off [the ball and passing].”
- The Hawks won their sixth straight on Saturday, thanks to Jalen Johnson. He scored nine of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of a 125-116 win over Philadelphia. He added 10 rebounds and seven assists. “I think I’m always locked in,” he told Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Yeah, I’m always locked in. I mean, obviously, you get in when the momentum’s high, you’re on a run and stuff like that, emotions are running much higher than they are at the beginning of the game. So maybe the emotions piece of it looks locked in more.”
Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey To Miss At Least Two Games
Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey will miss at least the team’s next two games, The Athletic’s Tony Jones tweets.
Maxey was diagnosed with a sprain of the right fifth finger. He’ll be reevaluated after the Sixers play at Cleveland on Monday and host Memphis on Tuesday.
It’s relatively good news regarding Maxey, who suffered the injury during a collision with teammate Adem Bona late in Saturday’s game against Atlanta. There were concerns that he might have done more damage to the finger, which would have sidelined him for a much longer period.
The Sixers are in a spirited battle for the sixth playoff spot in the East, which would advance them to the first round and allow them to avoid battling for the seventh or eighth seed in the play-in tournament.
Maxey, who’s coming off his second All-Star appearance, is in the midst of his best season. He’s posting career highs with 28.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 46% from the field and 37.2% from three-point range. He’s also leading the league in minutes at 38.3 per night and has been a steady presence for a team that’s been plagued by injuries and other issues throughout the season.
Patty Mills Signs With La Laguna Tenerife
Patty Mills has signed a rest-of-season contract with La Laguna Tenerife, the team announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando).
Mills is a 16-year NBA veteran who holds career averages of 8.7 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 921 games (19.9 minutes per contest). The 6’2″ guard is known for his energy, off-ball movement and three-point shooting, having converted 38.5% of his outside looks during his career.
Outside of his extensive experience with the Australian national team, this will be the first international stint for Mills. The 37-year-old was unable to find a suitable NBA contract last summer and has been out of the league this season, last suiting up for the Clippers in 2024/25.
It’s been a while since Mills was a rotation regular, as he hasn’t appeared in more than 40 games or averaged more than 14.2 MPG since the 2021/22 campaign with Brooklyn. He made 29 combined appearances with Utah and Los Angeles last season, averaging 3.8 PPG in 11.1 MPG.
Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews reported a month ago that Mills was exploring his options in Europe. La Laguna Tenerife, also known as CB Canarias, competes domestically in the Liga ACB, the top league in Spain, and in Europe in the FIBA Champions League.
Mills was hired by the University of Hawai’i as the general manager of the men’s basketball program last June. He has lived in Hawai’i during the offseason for the past decade.
Injury Notes: Murray, Gordon, LeBron, Cunningham, Giannis
Nuggets fans can breath a sigh of relief: Jamal Murray‘s left ankle sprain isn’t serious. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), the star point guard is expected to be listed as questionable for Monday’s matchup in Oklahoma City and is considered day-to-day.
Murray sustained the injury in the second quarter of Friday’s blowout home loss to New York and was unable to return. Head coach David Adelman said after the game Murray was “really sore” but typically bounces back quickly from ankle injuries, which proved prescient in this case.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- While Aaron Gordon wasn’t happy with his performance in his return to action on Friday, he’s “grateful” to be playing again and says he’s in a good spot physically after missing 17 straight games with a right hamstring strain, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Gordon has actually missed 36 total games as a result of right hamstring issues — he originally strained it on November 21, returned for 10 games, then aggravated the injury on Jan. 23. “I’ve gotta stay on top of it. But I play without worry,” Gordon said when asked about the risk of re-injury. “When you’re worried about an injury out there, that’s usually when it happens. So I feel great. My body feels good. It’s just the timing and the pace of the game that needs to come back to me now, but I feel good.”
- Lakers forward LeBron James missed his second consecutive game on Sunday vs. New York due to a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. ESPN’s Malika Andrews reported (Twitter video link) during the game that James’ absence was more due to the foot injury than his bruised elbow. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is considered day-to-day, per Andrews. Deandre Ayton and Maxi Kleber are both active Sunday after previously being sidelined with knee and back injuries, respectively.
- After missing Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn with a left quad contusion, Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been upgraded to probable ahead of Sunday’s contest at Miami, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Cunningham, a fifth-year guard, has played in 55 of Detroit’s 62 games so far this season. Caris LeVert (left wrist sprain) has been ruled out for the second of a back-to-back, Patterson adds.
- The Bucks will be without their best player on Sunday, as Giannis Antetokounmpo (right calf injury management) won’t play against Orlando on the second of a back-to-back, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Forward Kyle Kuzma is questionable to suit up due to a thoracic spine contusion.
Jazz Sign Mo Bamba To Second 10-Day Contract
The Jazz have re-signed Mo Bamba to another 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release.
Bamba’s first 10-day agreement with Utah expired on Saturday night.
The sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bamba was technically active six times for Utah during his first 10-day pact, but only made two appearances with the Jazz. He averaged 5.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.0 block in 19.0 minutes per contest during road games in Philadelphia and Washington.
Bamba was unable to secure a guaranteed NBA contract ahead of the 2025/26 season and spent training camp with the Jazz before being waived and reporting to the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.
The 27-year-old big man has had a big year with the Stars, averaging 17.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game across 22 appearances, with an excellent shooting line of .553/.380/.807.
Bamba, an eight-year veteran who spent about a week with Toronto in late December/early January, will earn $177,064 over the course of his 10-day contract, with Utah taking on a cap hit of $131,970.
Bamba will be eligible to appear in four more games for the Jazz during the course of his second 10-day deal, which will expire on March 17. At that point, Utah will have to either sign him for the remainder of the season or let him become a free agent.
Rob Dillingham On Wolves Tenure, Opportunity With Bulls
The Timberwolves traded their unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to San Antonio to acquire Rob Dillingham with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft. However, the former Kentucky guard didn’t play much in his season-and-a-half with Minnesota, and the Wolves traded him to the Bulls ahead of last month’s deadline.
Dillingham tells Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic he was constantly looking over his shoulder playing for a Minnesota team with championship aspirations.
“When you do (play), you gotta play perfect in your opportunity, or you won’t get more opportunities,” Dillingham told The Athletic when asked to describe the pressure he felt in Minnesota. “The pressure really comes from whenever you come out of college or come from wherever; you play freely because you know you get minutes.
“But in the NBA, it’s not like that. It’s you switching your whole mindset to ‘I gotta perform well in these minutes.’ Your whole life, you just played basketball. You messed up, but you learned from mistakes. With me, I’m a smaller guard, so it was way less room for mistakes. And, s–t, you gotta own up to that at that point. So, I feel like the pressure really comes from not knowing when you’re gonna get the opportunity.”
As Lorenzi writes, Dillingham only played 20 minutes in a game once for the Wolves this season. He admits his lack of playing time affected his confidence.
“I feel like if you’re human, you definitely gonna second-guess (yourself) if you working hard at something every day, and then you don’t really get an opportunity,” he said. “You start to question, like, dang, am I really good at basketball?”
The Bulls are in a much different position than the Wolves, having traded away several veterans ahead of the deadline as they pivoted to a rebuild. Dillingham’s game is still a work in progress, but he has already logged 20-plus minutes eight times in his first 11 appearances with Chicago, Lorenzi notes.
“They’re building me up,” Dillingham said of the Bulls’ coaching staff. “It’s more like I can mess up, and they teach me after I mess up, what not to do, why not to do this. … I get to actually perform and learn and watch film here and watch where I play.”
Dillingham suggested to Lorenzi that he received mixed messaging from Chris Finch and his staff in Minnesota. He said he’s looking for “communication” and “transparency,” which he has found so far with Billy Donovan, who wants the second-year guard to improve his decision-making.
“When I know what you want from me or what I need to do, then it’s easier for me to help the team,” Dillingham told The Athletic. “If I’m guessing, then it’s hard. And I feel like since I’ve been here, (Donovan) has done a great job just communicating to me, telling me what he feels like I can do to stay in the league and be a force in the league.”
Dillingham’s interview with Lorenzi is worth reading in full for those who subscribe to The Athletic.
Alex Sarr Set To Return Sunday For Wizards
Big man Alex Sarr isn’t on the Wizards‘ injury report for Sunday’s game at New Orleans, which means he’ll be back in action tonight.
Sarr, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, has been out since February 8 due to a strained hamstring. The French center has missed the team’s last 10 games.
As Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets, Sunday will be Sarr’s first game playing with Trae Young, who made his Wizards debut on Thursday. The two players could be fixtures in Washington’s lineup going forward, so it will be interesting to see how they fit together on the court, Robbins notes.
Sarr has made impressive strides in his second NBA season. Through 41 appearances, the 20-year-old has averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 blocks in 28.2 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .496/.336/.691.
While it’s obviously good news that Sarr has recovered from his injury, the Wizards will likely be cautious with one of their core players. There’s a good chance he’ll be on a minutes restriction for at least his first few games back.