Rockets Clinch Playoff Spot, Southwest Division
In blowing out the Jazz, 143-105, on Wednesday, the Rockets earned their 50th win of the 2024/25 season and locked in a top-six playoff seed in the Western Conference. Houston also secured the Southwest Division crown with the victory.
With no starter playing more than 29 minutes in a dominant win over the rebuilding Jazz, Houston was paced by Jalen Green‘s 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting. All-Star Rockets center Alperen Sengun and reserve forward Jabari Smith Jr. each notched 15-point, 14-rebound double-doubles. Sengun was also one assist shy of a triple-double.
Houston didn’t emerge from the contest totally unscathed, however. Starting wing Dillon Brooks incurred his 16th technical foul of the season for kicking Utah guard Collin Sexton in an inconvenient place, and will net a one-game suspension unless the tech is rescinded.
In their second season under head coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets have returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years. This iteration of the club is quite different from the club’s last playoff team.
Young talents like Sengun, Green, Smith, Tari Eason and Amen Thompson will get their first postseason run, and will be supported in that effort by playoff-seasoned pros like Brooks and Fred VanVleet. It will be fascinating to see how this relatively inexperienced squad might stack up in a battle with one of the West’s more veteran-heavy playoff teams.
At present, Houston is the No. 2 seed in the West. Only six games separate the Rockets from the West’s No. 8 seed, the 43-32 Clippers. Houston is also just 2.5 games better by record than the 47-29 Nuggets, and three games better than the 45-29 Lakers, so the Rockets’ seed and first-round opponent remain very much up in the air.
Houston hardly has an easy road for its final six games of the 2024/25 regular season. The Rockets will face off against only postseason-bound West rivals, with two games against the Warriors, two games against the Clippers, and matchups with the Lakers and the top-seeded Thunder left on the docket.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Spoelstra, LaMelo, Magic
It’s possible the Heat will control two first-round picks in what’s expected to be a stacked 2025 draft.
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, Miami will earn Golden State’s 2025 first-rounder should it fall outside the top 10. Given that the Warriors have now climbed into the West’s fifth seed, that’s looking highly likely. The Heat would also retain their own first-rounder if they miss out on the playoffs.
Currently the No. 9 seed in the East with a 34-41 record, Miami is locked into at least a play-in tournament berth. The Heat would land in this year’s draft lottery if they’re eliminated in the play-in tournament. With the 11th-worst record in the NBA as of this writing, Miami would have only an outside chance to land the top overall pick or a top-four overall selection, but could end up with two picks in the top 20.
There’s more from around the Southeast:
- Things have hardly gone to plan for the Heat this season on the whole. Just two years removed from their second NBA Finals appearance with Jimmy Butler, the All-Star swingman demanded a trade out of town. When he left, his team sank in the East standings. Now, head coach Erik Spoelstra is grappling with Miami’s new fate: a likely play-in tournament appearance, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes. “Are we where we had planned to be as an organization?” Spoelstra asked. “No, but there is great competition now league-wide. And when you have something to play for as an organization, it’s fun and it matters still.”
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has undergone successful arthroscopic surgeries on his right wrist and right ankle, the team announced today (Twitter link). According to the Hornets, the 6’7″ pro is expected to resume full basketball activities within five or six weeks. Charlotte has long since been eliminated from the postseason. In his 47 healthy bouts this season, Ball logged averages of 25.2 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game.
- The Magic enjoyed a spectacular night shooting from distance during a win over San Antonio on Tuesday, nailing 18 triples. But that’s more the exception than the rule for a club that has been struggling to convert from long range overall in 2024/25, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “It changes our game completely when we have shooting like that and guys just can’t sit in the paint,” star forward Franz Wagner said. Orlando’s 31.4% three-point rate this season ranks dead last among all 30 NBA clubs. The Magic’s 35.3 outside attempts per game put them 23rd in terms of frequency.
Mavericks’ Dereck Lively To Play For First Time In 36 Games
Mavericks center Dereck Lively II is set to return to action for a Wednesday night tilt against Atlanta, per a team press release (via Twitter).
Lively has missed 36 consecutive contests for the Mavericks. The second-year pro has been on the shelf since January 14 with a right ankle stress fracture.
Dallas head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that the 7’1″ big man will be operating on a 15-minute restriction, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Ahead of the postseason, several previously ailing Mavericks are healing. Beyond Lively, fellow big men Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford recently returned to the lineup.
Among the Mavs’ core rotation, only nine-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving — arguably the team’s most important player — is out long-term, as he recuperates from surgery to address an ACL tear. Forward P.J. Washington is also out, for now, due to an undisclosed illness.
Before his injury, the Duke alum had taken over starting duties at the five from Gafford early in the season. It remains to be seen how Kidd will ultimately deploy his big man rotation with Davis, Lively and Gafford all having started at center for the team this year.
In his 32 healthy games for the team, including 25 starts, Lively has averaged 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks per night.
At present, the Mavericks occupy the No. 9 seed in the competitive Western Conference. They’re just a half-game ahead of the No. 10 Kings and two games up on the No. 11 Suns.
Suns’ Bradley Beal Plans To Return This Weekend
Veteran guard Bradley Beal is planning to be back in the fold for the Suns at some point during the club’s ongoing road trip, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
The Suns will face the Celtics in Boston on Friday and the Knicks in New York on Sunday before returning to Phoenix.
Beal has been on the shelf with a left hamstring strain for eight games, having last played on March 16 against the Lakers.
The 6’4″ wing has been dogged by health issues for years. He hasn’t appeared in more than 53 games since the 2020/21 season, and hasn’t been available in more than 60 since 2018/19.
This year, Beal has suited up for 48 contests so far, starting 33 of them. At most, he’ll be able to make 54 apperances for the 35-41 Suns.
In his available contests, the 31-year-old is averaging 17.3 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.4 RPG and 1.0 SPG. He’s also posting an efficient shooting line of .505/.395/.813, but his defensive issues have resulted in him being occasionally benched by first-year head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Chemistry issues between Beal and All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have made winning a tough prospect this year in Phoenix. As of this writing, the club occupies the Western Conference’s No. 11 seed and is 1.5 games behind the No. 10-seeded Sacramento for the conference’s final play-in tournament slot.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Cleared For Basketball Activities
All-NBA Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, who will miss a 12th consecutive game on Sunday due to a right ankle sprain, has been given the green light to resume basketball activities as he continues his rehab, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (via Twitter), Brunson told gathered reporters that his ankle is improving, though he doesn’t have a specific target date for his return. He didn’t go into any detail on what he’s been able to do on the court so far or whether he’s been cleared for contact.
Brunson said he “realistically” hopes to return prior to the start of this spring’s playoffs in order to regain his rhythm ahead of the postseason, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
The 28-year-old had looked like a lock to earn a second consecutive All-NBA berth prior to his ankle injury. He has played 61 games this season and needs to reach the 65-game mark to qualify for an All-NBA nod.
When healthy, Brunson has been spectacular. The Villanova alum is averaging 26.3 points, 7.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game this season, with a shooting line of .490/.384/.825.
Brunson’s primary backups at the point, Miles McBride and Cameron Payne, have also been on the shelf as of late due to a left groin contusion and a right ankle sprain, respectively.
Most recently, Delon Wright earned the starting point guard nod in an eventual road victory against Milwaukee on Friday.
At 46-27, the Knicks are currently the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, with a 3.5-game lead on No. 4 Indiana.
Florida Notes: Harris, Fultz, Larsson, Ware
Veteran guard Gary Harris has emerged as a reliable late-game defensive threat for the Magic with several of the team’s regular rotation players ailing, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link).
The 30-year-old has played sparingly with Orlando this season, averaging 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game across 41 appearances with the club.
After missing five games as a healthy scratch since the end of February, Harris has been a major defensive leader on the perimeter. He’s averaging a steal per game across his last five contests.
“His defense is something that you probably wouldn’t know unless you looked into it, but he’s one of our best guard defenders,” guard Anthony Black said. “His activity, he picks up the ball full court, gets clutch rebounds and he’s a knockdown shooter… All those things are huge to us, and then he’s just a really good veteran leader. It’s just good for us on the court.”
There’s more out of the Sunshine State:
- Former Magic guard Markelle Fultz, who spent five seasons in Orlando, played an emotional first game back against his old team as a member of the Kings in a blowout loss Saturday, Beede writes in another story (subscriber link). “It’s good to talk a little trash, play, go out there and compete, but at the end of the day, it’s love,” Fultz told reporters. “It’s a lifetime relationship that I have with these guys.” He was sidelined for 39 contests last season with left knee injuries and opted to rehab the knee before signing with a new team. “That’s something that was big on my mind going into the summer, just getting healthy and taking my time to do it… That’s the choice I decided to [make] in the beginning of the year and that’s why I took that time off.” Across 17 games since signing with Sacramento last month, Fultz is averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.2 APG in 8.7 MPG.
- Rookies Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson have been shining for the Heat as of late, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). The frontcourt standouts each enjoyed impressive nights in Miami’s Saturday victory over Philadelphia. Larsson scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out four dimes, swiped four steals and blocked two shots. Ware logged a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double without missing a shot. Jackson notes that Larsson seems to have replaced second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. as head coach Erik Spoelstra‘s preferred swingman behind Andrew Wiggins. “Pelle is just an ignitable player. He makes things happen – the steals, the deflections, the hard plays,” Spoelstra said. “Those are momentum shifting plays that he has a knack for. He spends so much time in the gym that the rest of his game is getting better — the play-making, shooting, the facilitating.” Jackson opines that Ware needs to get stronger, since he has looked pretty movable in the post against opposing veteran bigs. Still, Spoelstra seems to like where the big man is right now.“I love what he’s doing,” Spoelstra said. “Number one, he’s glass eating. He has such a knack for rebounding over a crowd. He does rebound in traffic, too. There’s a lot of contact down there.”
- In case you missed it, former six-time All-Star Heat wing Jimmy Butler, now with Golden State, downplayed his first game against his old team since forcing a trade this year.
Knicks Notes: Guards, Anunoby, Robinson, Tucker
The shorthanded Knicks will be without all three of their top point guards ahead of a Sunday meeting with the Trail Blazers.
Stefan Bondy of The New York Post tweets that All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson (ankle sprain) and his backups Miles McBride (groin contusion/strain) and Cameron Payne (ankle sprain) will all sit out. Rookie center Ariel Hukporti is also sidelined as he continues to recovery from knee surgery.
Brunson has been on the shelf for New York’s last 11 contests due to a right ankle sprain. The Knicks have gone just 6-5 in that span, but still control the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed by 3.5 games over the No. 4 Pacers as of this writing.
Veteran Delon Wright started at the point during the Knicks’ most recent game, a win over the Bucks on Friday. In his first extended action for the team, Wright scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field in 30 minutes.
There’s more out of New York:
- Knicks swingman OG Anunoby has stepped into the scoring and leadership void left by Brunson during the point guard’s absence, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). “I always try to be aggressive,” Anunoby said. “Just depending on situations, sometimes it comes or something doesn’t. Just today I was really aggressive. I try to play the right way and read the game, and also just trying to get fouled, get teams in the bonus, create fouls, being aggressive at all times.” Across the 11 bouts Brunson has missed, Anunoby has been averaging 22.4 PPG.
- Knicks reserve center Mitchell Robinson is rediscovering his rebounding acumen as he settles into life with the 2024/25 iteration of the club following a lengthy injury layoff, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. In the first half of New York’s 116-107 road victory against Milwaukee on Friday, Robinson pulled down 10 boards. “Yeah, I feel like [I’m getting my rhythm back],” Robinson said. “I definitely think that is true on my end. Once you get going and you get the first one, you see how shots are going, long, short, whatever, once you kind of get a pattern of it there you go.”
- Veteran forward P.J. Tucker saw his latest 10-day deal with the Knicks expire on Saturday night. According to Bondy (Twitter link), while Tucker could rejoin the club at some point this season, he is not on the team’s roster for Sunday’s matchup with Portland. The 39-year-old veteran logged just two minutes in a single appearance for New York during his two 10-day contracts.
Grizzlies Notes: Spencer, Assistant Coaches, Jenkins, Kleiman
Two-way Grizzlies rookie guard Cam Spencer has seen an uptick in minutes of late. The UConn alum has thrived in his expanded rotation role with the club. The 6’3″ pro spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about how he’s relishing the extra run.
“As a competitor, you want to get as many minutes as you can to help contribute to winning for the team,” Spencer said. “It’s the NBA, so guys are in and out of the rotation. It’s cliché, but you do have to control what you can control a lot of times. With injuries and moving pieces, sometimes you get 20 minutes a game, and sometimes you get none or five minutes where the team needs a spark, so you really have to control what you can. You continue to work hard, control your attitude, and be ready when your number is called.”
Spencer reflected on the realities of life on a two-way contract, where young players are toggled between teams’ NBA and G League affiliate rosters.
“As a two-way player, your schedule is changing by the hour at times,” Spencer said. “You will literally be on a road trip, maybe going to practice or planning to go to practice, and then you get a call, and you have to leave the city within an hour to get back to the Grizzlies from being with the Hustle (Memphis’ G League affiliate). You play in the Hustle game for 30 minutes, then come back up top, and maybe you only get a few minutes. It’s a lot of just staying ready for your opportunities when they come, and that’s a lot of the NBA, especially on the two-way contract.”
Across 20 NBA games with the Grizzlies, Spencer has averaged 3.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 1.3 APG in 10.0 MPG. He has a solid .421/.371/1.000 shooting line.
There’s more out of Memphis:
- In addition to firing head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday, the Grizzlies have let go a pair of his assistants. Sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Shams Charania (Twitter link) that assistant coaches Noah LaRoche and Patrick St. Andrews were also axed. MacMahon notes that LaRoche had been a key contributor to the Grizzlies’ new offensive approach in 2024/25. Another one of Jenkins’ assistants, Tuomas Iisalo, was promoted to serve as his replacement in an interim capacity.
- Although the decision to move on from Jenkins may have seemed sudden, fissures had apparently been forming for a while, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Grizzlies let Jenkins go after having lost four of their last five contests. A source tells Cole that several Memphis players were “shocked” to hear the news. Tensions had also developed between rookie center Zach Edey and Jenkins, according to Cole, who notes that the rookie had been removed from the starting lineup for the Grizzlies’ last three games. “[General manager Zach Kleiman] blamed Taylor,” a source told Cole. “Taylor blamed Zach. No one takes accountability for absolutely anything.”
- In case you missed it, injured two-time All-Star Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is considered “day-to-day” to return from a left hamstring strain that has cost him Memphis’ last six games. He’s listed as questionable to play vs. the Lakers on Saturday.
Mavericks’ Anthony Davis Talks Injury, Trade, More
Mavericks big man Anthony Davis is loving life with his new team.
The 6’10” pro has only appeared in three games since being traded as the centerpiece in the Lakers’ blockbuster pre-deadline deal for All-NBA guard Luka Doncic. But he’s already enjoying his experience in Dallas, as he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I don’t feel it, but a lot of people have been coming to me and telling me they haven’t seen me smile like this in a long time,” Davis told Spears. “Family is happy. Everybody is happy.”
Davis acknowledged being caught off guard when he heard news of the deal, especially given how Los Angeles had been playing at the time.
“It’s the nature of the business,” Davis said. “Obviously, the first maybe 48 hours, it was just a shock because I wasn’t expecting it. Nobody was expecting it, so they say. But I know from my side, my team and my family and everybody who works with me, I wasn’t expecting it. Even when I was getting some of the calls [about the trade], I thought guys were playing. But it ended up being true and that first initial [emotion] was more a shock just seeing the position [we were in]; we’re in fifth in the West [Conference], we were rolling…”
Dallas fans were similarly bewildered by the deal, which also saw the Mavericks acquire three-and-D wing Max Christie and L.A.’s first-round pick in 2029 in exchange for the 2024 Western Conference Finals MVP.
“I know what Luka meant to the [Mavericks] organization, to the team,” Davis said. “So, it’s like, what do I say to these guys coming in as a new leader and trying to lead these guys to do something special? And for them it’s like, ‘S–t, he just went through probably the biggest trade in [expletive] sports history. What do we say to him?’ And I wasn’t playing. So, I just tried to feel everybody out and just kind of let it happen organically. And now we got a super-tight bond, man, with all the guys.”
The Kentucky alum had been recuperating from an abdominal injury at the time of the trade. He aggravated the ailment during his Dallas debut, on February 8, and missed the subsequent six weeks of action.
Despite season-ending injuries to nine-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Davis nevertheless decided to return to the floor for Dallas. The 36-38 club is currently the No. 10 seed in the West, and angling for a play-in tournament berth.
“We were playing with six, seven, eight guys who were coming in after playing a game 40, 42 minutes drained, tired, having to play back-to-backs, having to come in and still [weight] lift and get their shots [up],” Davis said. “That was a motivator for me. I knew I was going [to come back] just because of the amount of games we had left. And not even that, just the position we were in, too. We are half a game behind Phoenix. But we got a chance. [Eight] games left. We are trying to try to make a push to get into these playoffs and just take it from there.”
In his most recent game, a 101-92 victory over Orlando on Thursday, Davis played one minute more than his current 28-minute limit, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to be great and everybody was telling me, ‘Bro, you missed six weeks,'” Davis said. “‘It’s your second game back [after February 8].’ Just trying to find a rhythm but most importantly, we got the win… But I feel good. Body’s feeling good.”
In his three healthy contests for the Mavericks, the 32-year-old is averaging 17.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.3 BPG and 0.7 BPG.
New York Notes: Simmons, Whitehead, Knicks
Speaking to Jared Schwartz of The New York Post (subscriber link), former Nets guard Ben Simmons reflected on his unhappy tenure in Brooklyn, discussing the differences between his Brooklyn and L.A. stints and explaining why he feels more comfortable with his new team, the Clippers, than he ever did during his injury-plagued years with the Nets.
“(Los Angeles) feels like home, honestly,” Simmons told Schwartz. “I never really felt like New York was home for me. Being in L.A., I feel like me as a person, it’s my kind of scenery or environment to be in. I think I thrive in situations like that. It was a blessing and a great experience to be in New York and experience being in New York City, there’s no city in the world like it. But I’m happy where I’m at, I love being in L.A.”
In his 11 games with L.A., Simmons is averaging 4.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.5 APG, 0.9 SPG and 0.5 BPG. It’s a far cry from his All-Star peak, but the 28-year-old remains a solid, versatile defender who can pull down a rebound at will.
There’s more out of New York:
- Second-year Nets wing Dariq Whitehead‘s call-up to Brooklyn represents just the latest step in his comeback from three recent leg surgeries. Head coach Jordi Fernandez weighed in on Whitehead’s progress this season, per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints (Twitter link). “It’s a process for him,” Fernandez said. “He’s gotta buy into all these things. He shows up and works. And now, when he has these minutes, he has to take advantage of them. So learning all that is extremely important.”
- The 45-27 Knicks, currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference, have 10 games on their slate before this year’s playoffs. Stefan Bondy of The New York Post unpacks the seven most important questions that face the team down the stretch of the 2024/25 season.
- In a reader mailbag, Ian Begley of SNY.tv fields questions about Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson‘s ankle health, how rookie guard Tyler Kolek can carve out a rotational role, reserve center Mitchell Robinson‘s minutes restriction, and more.