Southeast Notes: Snyder, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards, Hardy
Quin Snyder became the 41st head coach in NBA history to record 500 victories as the Hawks won Saturday for the 15th time in 17 games, writes Maura Carey of The Associated Press. Atlanta is currently 42-33, the No. 6 seed in an extremely tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
“It was special,” Snyder said after the game. “When you’ve been in this league for a while, you realize that coaches, they keep your record, but it’s really the players and the other people that allow for that to happen. I’ve been really lucky to be able to coach some not just really good players, but just really quality people.”
As Carey notes, multiple Hawks players are having career years in 2025/26 under Synder, who holds a career record of 500-396 (.558 winning percentage) across 12 seasons with Utah and Atlanta.
Trade deadline acquisition Jock Landale, who recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks as a fill-in starter in Saturday’s win over Sacramento, praised his new coach after the game.
“Quin’s incredible, honestly, and I don’t say that lightly. He’s been instrumental in just kind of getting me up to speed with exactly what’s going on,” Landale said. “He’s a great coach to play for, and I think that all 17 of us would say the exact same thing about him.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Hornets entered Saturday having won five straight games and 23 of their last 29. They led the 76ers by five points entering the fourth quarter in Saturday’s critical matchup for postseason positioning, but went 0-4 on twos and 5-of-18 on threes in the fourth quarter and their cold offensive spell trickled over to the other end, according to head coach Charles Lee. “In that fourth quarter especially, just our defensive focus started to wane a little bit as we were missing shots,” Lee said (story via Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer). “The guys did a good job the last few games of just not letting that be the case ever. Our shot-making can’t affect our defense and I thought I did a little bit. Too many guys just driving without that physicality piece. Too many back doors, too many offensive rebounds and clutch moments. Offensively, I thought that our pace started to slow down a little bit. And we were able to really put them in some compromising situations, created a lot of advantages when we played fast and played with great ball movement.”
- Hornets wing Kon Knueppel has been incredibly productive and efficient as a rookie this season. He has only missed one game in 2025/26, averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists on .485/.434/.864 shooting splits in 73 appearances (31.6 minutes per game). The Sixers had the third pick in last year’s draft and used it to take VJ Edgecombe, who has also been excellent as a rookie, one pick ahead of Knuppel. Head coach Nick Nurse praised the former Duke standout on Saturday, Boone writes in the same story. “Lots of people really liked him in the draft for sure, and he’s proved those people right and the people that didn’t, he’s proved those people wrong,” Nurse said. “For me, I just think he was a hooper, man. You just knew he was a competitor, and knew how to play and had lots of pieces to the game as well. He’s again one of those guys that he’ll rebound, he’ll block out, he’ll set screens — he knows how to play all parts of the game. And then, of course, he throws on that elite shooting skill … His elite skill is the shooting, and I think that’s what makes him so good, so valuable.” Knueppel pulled down 11 rebounds on Saturday but had his third-worst shooting game of the season (3-for-14 from the field).
- Forward Bilal Coulibaly had 21 points and six rebounds in the Wizards‘ close loss to Golden State on Friday but only played 19 minutes and zero in the fourth quarter. Guard Bub Carrington (16 points and five assists in 26 minutes) also didn’t play in the fourth quarter, while second year-big man Alex Sarr was allowed to foul out of the game in the third quarter. Head coach Brian Keefe was asked about those decisions after the game, according to Nate Duncan (Twitter link), and said all three players had hit their minutes limits. As for not playing in the fourth quarter, Keefe said the team was prioritizing its players’ health and that the Wizards didn’t want to disrupt their rotations.
- Jaden Hardy has been on fire from three-point range since the Wizards acquired him from Dallas in last month’s Anthony Davis trade, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network. The 23-year-old guard is averaging 13.3 PPG while shooting 43.9% from long distance in 18 games with Washington (20.4 MPG). “There’s a bunch of players out there who haven’t gotten their opportunity, but they have game. If you get the opportunity, you have to just try to take full advantage of it and that’s what I’m trying to do… I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me over here. It’s a young team, so I feel like I fit in,” Hardy said.
Pacific Notes: Green, Curry, Porzingis, Suns, Jackson
Draymond Green says longtime Warriors teammate Stephen Curry shouldn’t try to return this season if he has “an inkling of doubt” about the condition of his right knee, “but if he’s healthy and he can play” then Curry has Green’s full support as he works toward a comeback, Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle writes in a subscriber-only story.
A report on Friday stated that Curry will be reevaluated in another week to see if his knee has progressed enough to make a return realistic. Green added that every player wants to excel in the postseason — the 38-year-old Curry may not have many more opportunities at this stage of his career.
“You just know he wants to play,” Green said. “He wants to be out there. … But I think where you get a little worried and you know he wants to come back and he hasn’t. That’s when you start looking at the clock tick … not from a standpoint of like, ‘Yo, when’s he coming back?’ But just like — I know he’s working to get back, and if not now, then what’s going on? I think you more so get a little worried but not from a standpoint of, ‘He’s going to save the day.’ (But) from a standpoint of like, ‘Oh, man. Your brother down. What the hell is going on?’”
Curry’s absence, combined with season-ending injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, have left the Warriors a shell of what they were earlier in the season. They’re currently 10th in the West at 36-38 and may have to win two games to advance out of the play-in tournament, but there’s still a glimmer of hope if Curry returns. In the meantime, Green has accepted the mantle of on-court leader.
“You just can’t be the guy that quits when it gets tough,” he said. “I’ve had some incredible years here. Been a part of some incredible teams. … When that stuff is happening, you want to be at the forefront of it. You want to embrace it, enjoy it, all those things. It’s great. But when it goes a little left, you can’t jump off the train. You can’t walk around and pout. You can’t throw in the towel — or what was everything you did before?”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Kristaps Porzingis led the way with 28 points on Friday as the Warriors defeated Washington for their first three-game winning streak in more than two months. Porzingis was 5-of-11 from three-point range, even though he’s dealing with pain in his shooting wrist, Gordon adds in a separate story. “Honestly, it’s not feeling good,” Porzingis said after practice Thursday. “I kept shooting, except it goes in anyway. Once I get it right, right, you’re going to see — there’s a difference for sure.”
- Suns big man Oso Ighodaro credits “mental will” for helping him play every game so far this season, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Ighodaro worked to build up his body during the offseason in hopes of becoming the first Phoenix player to be active for all 82 games since Mikal Bridges. “The preparation I put into my body this summer and my preparation in the weight room,” Ighodaro said. “God willing I can continue it and continue to play every game this season.”
- Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams were both able to play five-on-five Saturday for the first time since being injured, Rankin tweets. Brooks has been sidelined since February 21 with a fracture in his left hand, and Williams has been out of action since March 3 with a third metatarsal stress reaction in his left foot. “Good start. Everything is headed in the right direction,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said.
- Clippers backup center Isaiah Jackson is questionable for Sunday’s game at Milwaukee due to a sprained right ankle, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Spurs Notes: Castle, K. Johnson, Fox, Kornet, Wembanyama
Coach Mitch Johnson made sure Stephon Castle got the chance to pick up his fourth triple-double of the season in Saturday’s win at Milwaukee, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
With the Spurs leading by 32 points midway through the fourth quarter, Johnson observed that Castle was one rebound short of reaching the mark. After being reinserted into the game, it only took Castle 24 seconds to grab the extra board, and he was quickly pulled out after also posting 22 points and 10 assists in 29 minutes.
“I knew I needed one more before I got subbed out, so coach put me back in there,” Castle said.
Orsborn notes that the coaching staff has been urging Castle to improve his rebounding to add another dimension to his skills. He’s averaging 5.1 per game, up from his 3.7 mark as a rookie.
“If I can help our bigs rebound and start our break and keep our pace up, then I feel like it’s a plus,” he said.
There’s more on the Spurs:
- Keldon Johnson scored 16 points, recording his 50th double-digit game off the bench this season, Orsborn states in the same piece. Johnson, who’s a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year honors, is the only player in franchise history to accomplish that feat, having done it last season as well. He also tied a season high with five assists on Saturday.
- De’Aaron Fox and Luke Kornet returned to action after missing Wednesday’s game at Memphis with minor injuries, Orsborn adds. Both players logged 21 minutes against Milwaukee, with Fox posting 12 points and six assists and Kornet finishing with two points, one rebound and a steal.
- Victor Wembanyama is making good on the warning he issued to the rest of the basketball world after his French team had to settle for the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, writes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News. “I’m learning,” Wembanyama said at the time, “and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years.” He added that he was referring to players “everywhere,” not just in future Olympics. Wembanyama is living up to that statement in 2025/26, putting together an MVP-caliber season and stating his case for the award earlier this week.
Heat Notes: Defense, Starting Lineup, Powell, Ware, Draft Pick
After watching the Heat surrender 149 points in Friday’s loss at Cleveland, coach Erik Spoelstra is having doubts about his defense as the postseason draws near, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a subscriber-only piece. Two nights after posting a 17-point win in the same arena, Miami was helpless to slow down a Cavaliers team that shot 53.6% from the field and 46.3% from beyond the arc.
“What we needed to have was a great disposition to start the game versus a team that was very motivated and on top of their game,” Spoelstra said. “So maybe they get off to a good start, but your defense can weather the storm and it ends up being a six to eight-point lead instead of a 20-plus point lead.”
The exact opposite happened as Cleveland registered 40 points in the first quarter and 41 in the second, building a 35-point lead by halftime. Chiang notes that the Heat had one of the league’s elite defenses for most of the season, but have collapsed recently, ranking among the bottom four during their 1-6 stretch.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Spoelstra added. “We’ve put in the time. The guys have put in blood, sweat and tears to develop a top-four defense two weeks ago. And when we need it the most is when we’ve let it disappear.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- Spoelstra used his preferred starting five of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo for the second straight game, but the unit didn’t function nearly as well as it did on Wednesday, Chiang adds in the same story. They trailed 21-10 when Spoelstra made his first substitution and were outscored by six points in their 14 minutes together. “We need to just keep figuring it out,” Adebayo said. “Everybody keep buying in and we’ll see where it gets us.”
- Powell is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Indiana due to back spasms, Chiang tweets.
- The Heat are virtually certain to pursue a significant move this summer, Chiang states in a mailbag column. Giannis Antetokounmpo looms as an obvious target after Miami tried to land him at the trade deadline, and Chiang notes that the team needs its potential trade chips to finish the season strong to preserve their value. He points to backup center Kel’el Ware, who is viewed as the team’s top asset but has been inconsistent during his second NBA season with Spoelstra repeatedly singling him out in public comments.
- The decision to grant the Heat a 2026 second-round pick from Charlotte as compensation in the Terry Rozier dispute no longer seems as equitable in light of the NBA’s new anti-tanking proposals, contends Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel (subscription required). Winderman points out that the 2027 or 2028 first-rounder that was sent to the Hornets in exchange for Rozier has a chance to become much more valuable if the new rules are adopted.
Celtics Notes: Pritchard, Brown, Scheierman, Tatum
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard remained in a reserve role Friday night, even though Jaylen Brown was out of the lineup with Achilles tendinitis, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes in a subscriber-only story. Pritchard, who has gotten comfortable coming off the bench since coach Joe Mazzulla restructured his starting lineup in early February, helped erase a 16-point deficit and finished with 36 points in Boston’s 109-102 victory over Atlanta.
“I don’t think my role changed from any other night,” he said. “Just come out being aggressive, looking to make plays for my teammates or for myself, and just make the right reads.”
Pritchard’s willingness to move to the bench after being a regular starter for the first time in his career is emblematic of what has enabled the Celtics to vastly exceed expectations this season. While his scoring outburst was critical on Friday, Mazzulla pointed to effort plays that helped secure the win, including an important offensive rebound with just over three minutes left in the game after the Hawks cut the lead to four points.
“It’s just those big-time plays for us,” Mazzulla said. “And he’s not defined by scoring, so that helps us a lot when he does other things.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Mazzulla told reporters that Brown should be considered day-to-day, relays Brian Robb of MassLive. Brown received medical treatment earlier in the day before the decision was made to hold him out. “He was just a little banged up after Wednesday’s game,” Mazzulla said. Brown is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest at Charlotte.
- In a season where several players have overachieved, Baylor Scheierman has been the team’s most surprising contributor, Robb states in a mailbag column. The second-year guard struggled with his shot in limited playing time as a rookie, but he’s been much more reliable this season, connecting at 45.3% from the floor and 38.5% from three-point range.
- Jayson Tatum has been putting up good numbers, but he remains frustrated that he’s not as far along in his comeback as he hoped to be, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). Tatum discussed the process after posting 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on Friday. “I feel rusty,” he said. “Obviously, you probably can see the moments when it doesn’t look the same or I look rusty, but I think just the mindset of, on to the next play. I’m thankful that I’ve got teammates and a coaching staff that are patient with me in this moment as I’m trying to just figure it out.”
Eastern Conference Postseason Field Set As Bucks Eliminated
Saturday’s loss to San Antonio mathematically eliminated the Bucks from playoff contention, capping an extremely disappointing season and setting up a resumption of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade sweepstakes, which could be the biggest story of the summer.
Milwaukee is the fifth Eastern team to be eliminated, joining Indiana, Brooklyn, Washington and Chicago, which means the 10 conference teams that will participate in the postseason are now set.
The Bucks’ decision to hold onto Antetokounmpo past the February 5 trade deadline signaled that the organization hoped to make a late-season push to at least reach the play-in tournament and then try to make a playoff run. That never materialized as the team has gone 9-14 since then and Antetokounmpo has played just six times due to the combination of a calf strain and a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise.
The Bucks’ strategy of keeping Antetokounmpo wasn’t accompanied by any other big moves to make the team more competitive. Milwaukee’s only deadline transaction was to get involved in a three-team trade to acquire Oklahoma City’s Ousmane Dieng, who has been a productive addition, and Phoenix’s Nigel Hayes-Davis, who was waived the next day.
Cam Thomas was a surprise addition in early February, signing for the rest of the season after being waived by Brooklyn. Although he got off to a strong start as a scoring threat off the bench, Thomas was released on Monday after 18 games with Milwaukee.
The seeds for this season’s failure were planted in last year’s playoffs when Damian Lillard suffered a torn Achilles. Instead of waiting a year for the veteran guard to heal, Bucks management made the controversial decision to waive him and use the stretch provision to spread his remaining $112.6MM salary over the next five years.
The newly created cap space was used to sign Myles Turner away from Indiana. Turner has provided a steady presence in the middle, even though his scoring average (11.9 PPG) and shooting numbers (44% from the field and 38.4% from three-point range) have declined from his usual production with the Pacers.
This marks the Bucks’ first non-playoff season since 2016, and it’s just the second time since Antetokounmpo’s rookie year that they’ve failed to qualify. After today’s game, coach Doc Rivers talked about the frustrations that led up to this point, relays Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“It’s been disappointing obviously,” Rivers said. “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t had a healthy stretch and it’s been your key guys. It’s been Giannis. It’s been Dame. And you hope you can play through that, but we just haven’t had the ability. This year, having only one quote-unquote star, every other team has two and three. We needed health. We were thin. We knew that before the season started and it just didn’t go our way. All the talk and all that stuff probably didn’t help either.
“But I always try to look at silver linings and Ryan (Rollins) is one of them. Pete Nance is another one. Ous (Dieng) is one of them. And we gotta rehabilitate or get A.J. Green going again. He’s a good player. He’s played too many minutes. We’ve had no choice and I think that’s put him in a tough spot and I feel bad for him at times. Bobby (Portis) is Bobby. He’s been a pro throughout this year. We had a great talk today about it before the game. I’m so proud of him as a leader. He tries to do the right stuff. He tries to say the right things in the locker room.”
Rivers, 64, is entering the final year of his contract, and his future in Milwaukee could be tied to Antetokounmpo’s. With only six current players currently under contract for next season, plenty of change could lie ahead, whether Antetokounmpo returns or not.
Luka Doncic Suspended For One Game After Collecting 16th Technical
5:38 pm: Doncic has officially been suspended for Monday’s game against Washington, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
7:57 am: Lakers guard Luka Doncic is once again facing a one-game suspension for reaching the season technical foul limit and this time he’s unlikely to get a reprieve, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The Most Valuable Player candidate was whistled for his 16th technical foul in Friday’s 116-99 win over the Nets. It occurred in the third quarter when Doncic and Nets forward Ziaire Williams were assessed double techs following an offensive foul called on Doncic. A video review showed Doncic pushing Williams and Williams retaliating by swiping back at Doncic’s face.
Doncic continued to strengthen his MVP case as the game progressed, as he finished with 41 points.
“[Williams] was yelling in my face — three times,” Doncic said of the altercation. “I just wanted to get out of there. It’s a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn’t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there. And they said I pushed, my push was ‘exaggerated,’ which [it] was obviously not. And I don’t know what else to tell you.”
The technicals have piled up due to Doncic’s penchant for complaining about calls and getting into scraps with opponents. Coach JJ Redick said the Lakers would appeal the latest one.
If the league denies the appeal, Doncic would miss Monday’s game against the rebuilding Wizards. That shouldn’t prevent the Lakers from collecting another victory. The Lakers beat the Wizards by 31 points when they played them on Jan. 30, McMenamin notes.
A one-game ban would cost Doncic $317K. He’s making $46MM.
The Lakers won an appeal of Doncic’s previous technical, which he picked up against Orlando last Saturday. That allowed Doncic to play against the Pistons the next game, though Detroit came away with a 113-110 win. That was one of just two losses by the Lakers over their last 16 contests.
Doncic is averaging 33.7 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game through 62 outings in his first full season as a Laker.
Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey Returns Saturday
The Sixers announced (via Twitter) that Tyrese Maxey will return to action for Saturday’s game at Charlotte, which carries huge stakes in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The All-Star guard will be back on the court after missing the past 10 games with a tendon injury in his right pinkie finger. The team stated on March 10 that Maxey would be reevaluated in three weeks, so he was able to return slightly ahead of schedule.
Having Maxey back on the court will be a huge addition for the seventh-place Sixers, who are fighting to escape the play-in tournament at 40-33. Philadelphia is only one game away from moving up to fifth, but is just a game-and-a-half ahead of 10th-place Miami.
Before the injury, Maxey was in the midst of his best NBA season, topping the Sixers in scoring at 29 points per game and leading the league in both minutes played (38.3) and steals (2.0) per contest. He’s also averaging 6.7 assists per game while posting .461/.373/.893 shooting numbers and has formed one of the league’s best young backcourts alongside rookie VJ Edgecombe.
Tonight will be Maxey’s 62nd game of the season, so he’ll only need to appear in three of the final eight to reach the 65-game requirement to qualify for postseason awards. He’s a strong candidate for All-NBA honors after being named Most Improved Player in 2023/24 and finishing tied for 10th in the Clutch Player balloting last season.
Maxey’s return will force Quentin Grimes back to a reserve role after he started the past 12 games he has played. Cameron Payne and Justin Edwards could also see their playing time reduced.
Knicks Notes: McBride, Robinson, Towns, Hornets, Anunoby
The Knicks could get a key reserve back from injury on Sunday, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who reports (via Twitter) that Miles McBride hasn’t been ruled out of tomorrow’s game at Oklahoma City. If the fifth-year guard doesn’t play Sunday, he’s on track to return to action either on Tuesday at Houston or Wednesday at Memphis, Begley adds.
McBride has been sidelined since late January following surgery to repair a core muscle injury, also known as a sports hernia. He went through Saturday’s practice, tweets Jared Schwartz of The New York Post, and will be listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Thunder, per Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).
We have more on the Knicks:
- Head coach Mike Brown benched Karl-Anthony Towns in favor of Mitchell Robinson for the final eight minutes of Thursday’s loss to Charlotte, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The Knicks were hammered on the glass, having lost the rebounding battle 43-24, which was “part” of the reason Brown turned to Robinson, who was plus-eight in 26 minutes (Towns was minus-18 in 22 minutes). “I just thought when we had Mitch in there with certain guys, we were able to match their physicality,” Brown said. “And we made a run. But we were down 20 at that time. And versus a good team on the road, that’s tough to do.” Towns was also on the bench down the stretch of Tuesday’s win over New Orleans as New York went with a small-ball lineup, Bondy notes.
- The Hornets could be the most difficult first-round opponent for the Knicks if they finish as the No. 6 seed and New York stays at No. 3, Bondy writes in a subscriber-only story. According to Bondy, the Knicks were “overwhelmed by Charlotte’s speed and athleticism” on Thursday. “That’s their style,” Brown said. “They play fast. They want to let that thing fly. They got shooters that’ll let it fly. Josh (Hart) did a great job. Josh was up into the ball. He was physical with his man without fouling. He showed his hands when he needed to, and everybody that he guarded, they felt him. I can’t say it was like that all the way across the board and we have to do a better job of that if we expect to beat a good team like this on the road.”
- OG Anunoby is the best defender on Knicks team that has the fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA, according to Bondy (subscription required), who believes the 28-year-old forward should be named to the All-Defensive first team for his performance on that end of the court in 2025/26. “He guarded a lot of different players,” Brown said after Tuesday’s win. “And to close the way he did against Zion (Williamson) — Zion is a monster, he’s a handful for anybody, so for OG to do what he did down the stretch with him was huge.”
Central Notes: Buzelis, Donovan, Giddey, Allen, Stewart
Amid rumors about Billy Donovan‘s future with the Bulls, second-year forward Matas Buzelis made it clear he hopes Donovan remains in his role as head coach next season, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
“He’s been everything, man,” Buzelis said. “He’s been a role model to me; he’s someone I look up to as a person, as a human being. He’s a guy that’s been a cornerstone for me. He’s pushed me to my limits, and he’s going to keep pushing me until I can’t be pushed anymore.
“I can’t thank somebody like that enough. He tells you the truth every time. It’s hard to do that, especially in this league, to have someone in your corner that is going to tell you everything you need to hear.”
Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- Bulls guard Josh Giddey hopes the team is able to “keep playing the right way” to close out the season, Cowley writes in another story. Giddey acknowledged Chicago’s roster situation is a little unusual with so many impending free agents. “I’m not going to speak for other guys because I know how it is to be in a contract year, and individually you are always worried about yourself,” said Giddey, who signed a four-year, $100MM contract as a restricted free agent last year. “Everybody wants to play well, that’s no secret, contract-wise or not, especially coming into free agency. You want to perform, you want your visibility to be as high as possible, so I get it from that point of view. But it’s important to make everything about the team. It’s easy for guys to waver and think about themselves. I was guilty of it, as well. I just think it’s important to let that stuff get handled in the offseason. Don’t drag it into the team. In stints I thought we played selfish ball [Wednesday] and started to get in one-on-one stuff, iso stuff, and it’s just not the way we play. It’s not sustainable and not how we have to win games.”
- Veteran center Jarrett Allen provided a major boost to the Cavaliers in Friday’s lopsided victory over Miami, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Allen, who had missed the previous 10 games due to right knee tendonitis, had eight points in the first four minutes, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. Head coach Kenny Atkinson said the former All-Star big man would be on a restriction of about 20 minutes prior to the game, Withers notes. “It was great,” Allen said of his quick start. “Shout-out to Kenny, he drew up the first play for me. I usually don’t get the first play sometimes, but he wanted to get me going, wanted to get me back in the groove of things and from there, things just started rolling for me.” Max Strus, who was making his sixth appearance of 2025/26 following offseason foot surgery, led the Cavs with a season-high 29 points (on 10-of-14 shooting) in 23 minutes, Withers adds.
- Reserve big man Isaiah Stewart has been cleared to resume on-court activities, the Pistons announced in a press release. The 25-year-old center/forward is recovering from a left calf strain, having last suited up on March 13.