Mavericks’ Maxi Kleber Tears Right Hamstring, Out Indefinitely
Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber tore his right hamstring at a team practice Tuesday, Dallas has announced (via Twitter).
The extent of the damage to the ligament had previously not been known, and the ailment had first been diagnosed as a sprain, but clearly further analysis has indicated that the outcome is more severe.
Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) initially reported that Kleber was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, but Tim MacMahon of ESPN (via Twitter) suggests that treatment options, including surgery, are still being weighed, so it sounds like there’s no set timeline yet. The Mavericks have ruled the forward out indefinitely.
As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, the Mavericks have gone just 1-5 in the six games Kleber has missed thus far this season. Reserve center Christian Wood seems to be in line for more minutes now, Townsend adds.
Across 25.6 MPG, the 6’10” Kleber had been averaging 6.2 PPG on .490/.369/.786 shooting splits in 22 games for Dallas. The 30-year-old also has chipped in 3.5 RPG, 1.0 APG and 1.0 BPG.
Losing Kleber for an extended period will be a major loss for the Mavs’ frontline. His relative mobility for his size and his ability to shoot triples at a solid clip (36.9% on 3.0 tries a night) made him a reliable bench option for the 14-14 club.
Southeast Notes: Martin, McGowens, Butler
Injured Hornets small forward Cody Martin has recently joined his teammates during Charlotte’s pregame warmups, and has been working on his lateral cutting, Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer notes (Twitter video link). Boone writes that this could be an indication that Martin is nearing his return.
Martin left the Hornets’ first game of the season after just one minute of play due to a quadriceps injury and has been sidelined ever since. Martin inked a four-year, $32MM deal over the summer after a career-best season in 2021/22 as a key backup. Across 71 contests that year, he averaged 7.7 PPG on .482/.384/.701 shooting splits, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.2 SPG.
There’s more out of the Southeast:
- The play of Hornets rookie Bryce McGowens has been one of the few positive storylines of an otherwise miserable season in Charlotte, Boone writes in another piece. “There’s a lot of positives going forward and he’s right at the top of that list to me,” head coach Steve Clifford said. “He’s got size, he has instincts, he has a feel for the game. But the biggest thing is he steps out there like he belongs. He’s poised, he’s smart.” Boone notes that McGowens has played big minutes in the team’s last six contests. In those games, the 20-year-old out of Nebraska is averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 1.7 SPG in 21.5 MPG. Though he is making just 38.7% of his total field goal tries, he is nailing an excellent 45.5% of his triples and 85.7% of his free throws.
- Heat All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler did not mince words following perhaps the team’s worst loss of a loss-heavy season, a 115-111 defeat to the tanking Spurs. Butler sought accountability up and town Miami’s roster, noting that “everybody has to be better,” per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We show flashes of what we can be and who we are. It’s just, damn, whenever we get away from that, it looks bad.” The Heat are currently 12-15 on the season. Butler has already missed 10 games, but when he has played he has been as good as ever, averaging 21.8 PPG with a .525/.378/.858 slash line, playing at an elite defensive level, and chipping in 6.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, and 1.7 SPG for good measure. The team has gone 8-9 when the six-time All-Star has been available.
- In case you missed it, the Heat recently made a new addition, waiving two-way guard Dru Smith to make way for returning center Orlando Robinson on a two-way contract.
Rockets Notes: Porter, Stone, Christopher, Silas
Rockets starting point guard Kevin Porter Jr. continues to develop for a rebuilding Houston club, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Iko notes that Porter has developed right along with his head coach Stephen Silas, both of whom are in the midst of their third season with the team.
“We’ve really been on the same page this season when it comes to [Porter executing Silas’ offensive schemes],” Silas said. “A lot of it is his comfort with me, my comfort with him, comfort with his teammates. And it continues to grow as we go along.”
“From an emotional standpoint, he’s grown a lot from last year to this year,” starting Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green added. “He’s become more of a leader and a point guard — getting us involved and making sure everyone gets their shots. Being that person to take control of a game towards the end, too. He’s had a lot of growth.”
“Just me being out there finding my balance,” Porter told Iko, explaining how his instincts have improved. “[Knowing] when to take shots, when to facilitate, where guys are supposed to be at. Me just learning how to read the defense, I feel like I’ve been getting better at that. And it’s been much easier to get my guys the ball that way. Just reading the help defense and not so focused on who’s guarding me. But seeing on the second hand, help side defense, the low man, that’s what I’ve been paying attention to. And it’s been a lot easier making reads.”
There’s more out of H-Town:
- Rockets general manager Rafael Stone is happy with Houston’s growth thus far this season, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Though the team’s development has yet to yield much of an uptick in wins, the club’s leading front office executive is positive about how his players have improved year-over-year. “It feels like we’re pretty on track,” Stone said. “We’ve seen a lot of good things. We’ve seen a lot of growth from a lot of different players. We’ve seen some team growth, too. Sitting here right now, at a really early stage, we feel comfortable that we’re talented and our guys are really hardworking, which is, from a macro perspective, our two largest goals. (Last season’s draft picks) are materially better basketball players this year than they were last year. I think that’s evident when you watch them. Their weaknesses are not as weak, and their strengths are stronger. They’re far from finished products. We’re really happy with all our young guys.”
- Rockets rookie Josh Christopher was recently sent to the team’s G League club for in-game reps, having not been able to quite crack Houston’s rotation for the first quarter of the 2022/23 season. Head coach Stephen Silas applauded his play for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, writes Feigen in a separate piece. “He needed some minutes he needed to get out there and play when he needed to get this confidence back and just let it flow a little bit,” Silas said. “He had a great game (Friday) night. But we talked a bunch of conversations about it, and we value him so much that for him to get out of rhythm and for him to get spot minutes here and there, it made sense for him to be able to go on back-to-back and play a couple games or so for the Vipers… So, yeah, it’s not a demotion at all and he doesn’t see it as a demotion. But sometimes they can see it as a demotion. So, his perspective, his personality, everything about him is really good.”
- Rockets assistant John Lucas is set to step in tonight as acting head coach against the Bucks for Silas, reports Mark Berman of Fox Sports 26 Houston (Twitter link). As we wrote earlier, Silas’ father, former player and coach Paul Silas, has just passed away at age 79.
Bulls Notes: Williams, Future, Big Three, Caruso
Bulls power forward Patrick Williams has been re-enlisted as a starter with Javonte Green now hurt, though he’ll likely be demoted again when Green returns, writes Annie Costabile of The Chicago Sun-Times.
“We’ll probably put [Green] back in the starting lineup [when he’s healthy] to see what that looks like,” Chicago head coach Billy Donovan said. Even though Williams will be returning to the bench soon, teammates have noticed that he appears to be growing more assertive and confident of late.
“I made a joke one day, if he gets a tech in a game, I’ll pay for his tech… because he doesn’t make any expressions,” All-Star Chicago small forward DeMar DeRozan said, hoping to inspire some more on-court aggression from the 2020 No. 4 draft pick out of FSU.
There’s more out of Chicago:
- At 10-14 on the season, the Bulls seem to be in a bit of a no man’s land when it comes to their short- and long-term futures, opines Bobby Marks of ESPN. After a successful roster overhaul in 2021 led to a fast start, major injuries to Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and Zach LaVine sank the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings. The team lost 15 of their final 22 games during the 2021/22 season. Marks notes that, with the Bulls now low on assets after offloading several picks in that eventful 2021 summer, they’re closer to the bottom of the East than the top, and may have more luck trading their best players to get worse than they would trading their limited future draft picks to get better.
- The Bulls’ Big Three of LaVine, DeRozan, and center Nikola Vucevic all scored 25 or more points to help Chicago close out the Wizards yesterday. This collective success represents exactly what head coach Donovan hoped for when he issued a challenge to the team’s three top scorers last month to mount a simultaneous combined effort, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “We’re definitely capable,” DeRozan said. “There will be games where other guys come up big for us and take the weight off us having to score. It will vary. As long as we stay aggressive and compete our butt off, I think we’ll be fine.”
- Caruso, recently elevated to the Bulls’ starting lineup ahead of second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu, has earned rave reviews from his coaches and colleagues, Johnson writes in another piece. “He changes the whole game,” DeRozan said. “AC could have four points. But take him out of the game and the game is completely different… He’s a helluva competitor and a helluva person. It’s hard to find teammates like that. The appreciation he has for the game is such a contagious thing. When you’re around him, you feel that joy.”
Timberwolves Notes: Reid, Garza, Gobert
Timberwolves center Naz Reid is adjusting to life backing up Minnesota’s All-NBA frontcourt of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. That has meant playing power forward in addition to center.
“Guarding different players and position,” Reid said of the change. “It’s very different actually.”
With Towns sidelined indefinitely due to a right calf injury, the 6’9″ Reid will get additional rotation minutes as a reserve. He should see more time at the five rather than the four until Towns is back.
“I wouldn’t say I can’t play the four… it’s a big role I’m going to be in within the next couple weeks,” Reid said. “I’m excited to be in that role and excited to help our team.”
The fourth-year big man out of LSU is averaging 7.8 PPG on 52.8% shooting from the floor, along with 3.7 RPG and 0.9 BPG, across just 14.3 MPG.
There’s more out of Minnesota:
- Two-way Timberwolves big man Luka Garza has recently shown out in his play for the team’s NBAGL affiliate, the Iowa Wolves. Hines wonders in another piece if the 6’11” center/forward can become a part of Minnesota’s future. Garza’s 29.8 PPG, on 62.8% shooting, leads the entire NBA G League, and he has also put up 9.2 RPG and 3.2 APG. “I love this system that we play with here,” Garza said of the coordinated approach of both the Iowa and Minnesota franchises. “We play a lot through the bigs, Karl and Rudy. It’s very evident and it’s kind of the same thing with me down there. We’re not only put in positions to score but make decisions and get guys involved.” Hine notes that Garza could get additional time at the NBA level with Towns unavailable.
- Rudy Gobert‘s new teammates continue to learn about how best to fit in with his game, Hines writes in another Star Tribune story. That extends to how Gobert feels about help coverage around the basket — he is not a fan. “When someone drives on me, unless I fall down, which doesn’t happen, just let me make a play,” Gobert said. “Then if they score, I’ll take the blame.”
- Following a largely successful nine-season run with the Jazz, Gobert was flipped to Minnesota in the offseason. Now, he’s gearing up for his first game in Utah as an opposing player on Friday, Hine writes. “I just want to enjoy the moment,” Gobert said. “There’s a lot of people that I have a lot of love for over there. There’s a lot of great memories. … I just want to enjoy the moment and, of course, get a win.” Gobert won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and made three All-Star teams during his time with the Jazz, though his teams failed to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Pacific Notes: Okogie, JTA, Lakers, Fox
The Suns‘ last three games have represented reserve swingman Josh Okogie‘s three highest minutes totals of the season, and his doing his darnedest to capitalize on the extended run time, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.
Okogie has gotten a bigger minutes load as a result to a variety of injuries up and down Phoenix’s roster. With Cameron Johnson and Torrey Craig both absent, Okogie has averaged 16.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, and a +14.7 plus-minus rating, in 25.7 MPG.
Bourguet notes that Okogie has especially shined defensively, a reality he himself has noticed and acknowledged.
“For me, it was just more so, like, ‘I’m not gonna get on the court scoring,’ you know what I’m saying?” Okogie said. “’Cause we had so many people who could do that on the team. So he needed me to be on the court to play some defense and lock somebody up.”
There’s more out of California:
- Lakers backup small forward Juan Toscano-Anderson exited the team’s 126-113 loss to the Raptors last night with a sprained right ankle. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link), the team announced that Toscano-Anderson is expected to miss at least the next two weeks due to the injury, and will be reevaluated at that two-week mark.
- Following an exciting 8-2 run that seemed to salvage the Lakers‘ 2022/23 season, the team more recently has dropped two straight contests thanks to the injury absences of Anthony Davis (who played just eight minutes in the first loss), LeBron James (who only missed last night’s loss) and Wenyen Gabriel (who missed both games). Buha writes in a story for The Athletic that it has become evident the team needs additional help up front.
- Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox has been hampered by pain in his right foot for over a month, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Fox’s shooting has taken a hit of late: across his past seven contests, the vet has made just 38.2% of his field goals and just 28.6% of his triples. According to Fox, there’s no risk of making the injury worse by playing, so he’s hoping to get used to tolerating it. “I’ve played well while it was hurting, so I’ll be fine,” he said.
Jazz’s Collin Sexton Strains Hamstring, Out At Least One Week
Imaging has revealed that Jazz combo guard Collin Sexton suffered a mild right hamstring strain, the team has announced in a press release. Sexton will miss at least a week before the ailment is reassessed, according to the Jazz.
During his first season with Utah, Sexton has been averaging 14.3 PPG on .493/.362/.831 shooting splits across 27 games, mostly coming off the bench. The 24-year-old out of Alabama has also been chipping in 3.0 APG and 2.4 RPG.
Utah acquired Sexton in a sign-and-trade deal with the Cavaliers during the offseason, and has appeared reinvigorated with his new squad.
After a red-hot start to the season, Utah has cooled off lately due in part to the absence of another key backcourt player, starting point guard Mike Conley.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) reported earlier today that Conley, battling a left knee strain, is set to take the floor for the first time in nine games on Friday, barring any setbacks. With the 6’1″ vet sidelined, the Jazz have gone 3-6. For the season, the club still boasts a surprisingly solid 15-12 record.
Atlantic Notes: Milton, Raptors, Williams, Smart
The recent performance of Sixers reserve guard Shake Milton has convinced head coach Doc Rivers that Milton deserves regular rotation minutes even when the team’s starting backcourt of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey returns to the floor, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“We’re deep,” Rivers said of his backcourt. “There’s always a competition going on, a competition for minutes… and Shake has proven that he should play. Hopefully that continues, you know? Can he play this role with shorter minutes? That’s what happens. “Guys get a lot of minutes and they can play. They get shorter minutes and sometimes they can’t. But he will be able to. Shake is just another guard. We know we can use him, so that’s really good.”
In his recent eight-game stint as a fill-in starter, the 26-year-old guard out of SMU has averaged 21.3 PPG on a .547/.455/.964 slash line. He is also notching 6.0 APG and 5.3 RPG.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors rebounded from a lackluster Friday loss to the Nets with a 121-108 Saturday victory over the Magic thanks in large part to a postgame team meeting in Brooklyn, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Brooklyn game was the second consecutive time the Raptors allowed an opponent to score 40 or more points on at least 70% shooing in the first quarter. “Nobody really likes to be harping, yelling, cussing or fussing around here so I think some things just go unsaid [sometimes],” Toronto starting point guard Fred VanVleet told Lewenberg. “And there are times when you need to say it out loud, let people know what our standards are around here and just tighten the ship a little bit. We’re not going to win all the games, we know that, but there’s certain ways that you want to [play] every night and those two games were just unacceptable.”
- Celtics starting center Robert Williams III is inching toward a return from his offseason knee surgery. Jared Weiss of The Athletic recently took an in-depth look at the All-Defensive Teamer’s rehabilitation. “He’s getting his legs back under him,” reserve big man Noah Vonleh said. “He’s running the floor hard. He’s a presence at the rim… I’m pretty sure you’ve seen in previous years what he’s capable of, and he’s just getting back accustomed to that. So he should be ready whenever the medical staff clears him.”
- Celtics starting point guard Marcus Smart will be sidelined this evening against the Nets due to a left hip contusion, incurred in Friday night’s 120-116 overtime loss to the Heat, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).
Southeast Notes: Young, Bogdanovic, Porzingis, Oladipo
All-Star point guard Trae Young, who missed the Hawks‘ 117-109 victory over the Nuggets on Friday with a sore shoulder, is back with the team after not being present even on the Atlanta bench or home arena, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link).
“It was just miscommunication in that situation with Trae,” Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said, without offering further details. “Just as simple as that.”
Young and fellow All-Star guard Dejounte Murray have been a huge reason for the Hawks’ solid 13-10 start to the season. Through 21 healthy contests, the 6’1″ Young is averaging 27.8 PPG on .411/.303/.899 shooting splits, along with 9.6 APG, 2.9 RPG and 0.8 SPG.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Hawks reserve guard Bogdan Bogdanovic appreciated the enthusiastic fan reception he received for his first game back from a knee surgery Friday, Williams writes in a separate piece (subscriber link). “I honestly think it was perfect because I didn’t expect (the reaction), honestly,” Bogdanovic noted. “When I was checking in, I was really calm, like I know what I’m going to do and what is my job, and I was ready. But then, I don’t know, I didn’t expect the ovations and the crowd going crazy… It made me nervous, honestly, like a little kid. That’s how I felt like the first two minutes and everyone’s trying to talk to me, I can’t hear nothing.” Though he scored a modest five points on Friday, the swingman certainly seems positive about his outlook going forward.
- Wizards starting center Kristaps Porzingis has hired a new agent, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). Excel Sports agent Jeff Schwartz is the 7’3″ big man’s new rep, per Bondy. Porzingis, who has been enjoying a bounce-back season in his first full year with Washington, has a $36MM player option for 2023/24. Through 22 appearances, the 27-year-old is averaging 21.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.5 BPG while shooting .470/.364/.800 from the floor for the 11-12 Wizards.
- Heat guard Victor Oladipo is nearing a return from his injured knee, though the timeline is still somewhat up in the air. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that Oladipo seems optimistic that he could return as soon as this week. “I feel good, been moving a lot more,” Oladipo said. “Just going to make sure it’s the right thing, the right decision collectively. I’m not going to make a decision by myself. Just going to make sure everything feels good and I can perform at the highest level.”
Southwest Notes: Branham, Adams, Brunson
Spurs rookie small forward Malaki Branham, the No. 20 pick in the 2022 draft out of Ohio State, is finding other ways to contribute to San Antonio while mired in a scoring slump, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.
“He’s going to be really good,” San Antonio guard Devin Vassell said. “I played with him a lot during the summer. I’ve seen the way he can play… As long as we instill confidence in him, he’s going to be fine.”
The 6’5″ swingman, 19, is averaging 5.0 PPG on .327/.250/.750 shooting splits, 1.8 APG, and 1.5 RPG across 16.3 MPG for the Spurs.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- The 13-9 Grizzlies are reaping the benefits of defensive enforcer Steven Adams, recently inked to an extension with the club, as he does battle against top opposing centers, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I feel like that’s what makes (Adams) so great for us all around,” All-Star Memphis point guard Ja Morant said of the 6’11” vet. “Him taking on that challenge to guard the best bigs—being able to limit them and make their shots tough as possible… He’s a big piece to our team, and we’re definitely thankful for him.”
- Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd suggests that Dallas players have felt the absence of now-Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson off the court as much as on it, per Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “You can ask Josh [Green] and [Dwight Powell] and Maxi [Kleber], those guys in that locker room, when things weren’t going well, he was always someone that’s a calming voice to be positive and try to help you out of a slump,” Kidd said.
- In case you missed it, Mavericks president Nico Harrison recently discussed the addition of Kemba Walker, the departure of Brunson, and more.