LaMelo Ball’s Status Uncertain After Ankle Injury
Hornets star LaMelo Ball had to be helped off the court after injuring his right ankle in Sunday’s loss at Orlando. The team announced (via Twitter) that Ball strained the ankle and wouldn’t return, but didn’t provide any further update after the game.
As Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer describes, Ball attempted a left-handed layup shortly before halftime and got tangled up with Paolo Banchero. Ball landed awkwardly and fell to the court in pain before hopping toward the locker room with assistance, unable to put much weight on his right foot.
Boone points out that it’s the same ankle that Ball had surgery on in March, which led to a long recovery that prevented him from being cleared for full basketball activities until a few weeks before training camp. Ball has been wearing ankle braces since then for extra support, Boone adds.
Injuries have plagued the talented point guard since Charlotte drafted him in 2020. Boone notes that he hasn’t made it through a full season in any of his four years in the league, and he was limited to 36 games last season because of four ankle injuries.
The injury comes at an especially bad time because Ball has been putting up some of the best numbers of his career, averaging 33.8 PPG over his last five games. According to Boone, he’s posted at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in seven straight contests and he’s one of seven players throughout the NBA who are averaging at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal per night.
Already off to a disappointing start at 5-10, the Hornets are in danger of sliding further out of the Eastern Conference play-in race if the injury causes Ball to miss significant time. Ball was hurt on the same night that Terry Rozier returned after missing nine games with a groin strain, and coach Steve Clifford talked about the impact of injuries on the team.
“You can’t worry about who is not there, because at the end of the day, it’s a long season,” he said. “We are just starting. The other part is you better know, though, why you are winning and why you are losing. For us, we’ve done some good things. Our lack of depth has been a major, major problem. People talk about bad starts — it’s actually not our starters. Because of so many injuries, we break the lineup quicker than most teams do and it hasn’t been good for us. … I think our record is not where we hoped it would be, but again you have to know why that happens. If you overreact, you are never going to make the best of situations going forward.”
Warriors Notes: Saric, Green, Kuminga, Moody, Jackson-Davis
The Warriors kept their chances alive to advance in the in-season tournament with a win over San Antonio on Friday night, but it might not have happened without another strong performance from Dario Saric, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Saric came off the bench to hit four three-pointers and score 20 points in 26 minutes, along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. He has reached the 20-point mark in all three of Golden State’s tournament games.
Saric has been a tremendous find in free agency for a team that needed size but didn’t have many resources available to spend. He signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract, so he’ll be back on the open market in 2024.
“We gave him a hard (free agency) pitch,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He asked me, ‘How much am I going to play? Am I going to play?’ He knew this was a year he slipped through the cracks, free agency-wise, and needed to be in a good spot to show what he could do. This is definitely the spot. He’s playing so well. He’s clearly a player who is going to command a big salary next summer.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Draymond Green‘s return from his five-game suspension will create some difficult decisions for Kerr, Slater observes in the same piece. Saric is playing too well to cut his minutes and Kevon Looney is a fixture in the frontcourt, so that may lead to less playing time for Jonathan Kuminga. Although Kuminga wasn’t outstanding during Green’s absence, Slater notes that he played an important role in Friday’s win, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter.
- Kerr made a change to his starting lineup Friday, Slater adds, replacing Chris Paul with Moses Moody. Even though he came off the bench, Paul logged 29 minutes compared to Moody’s 17. “Just wanted to change some of the combinations,” Kerr explained. “We were looking to get some different guys together and some apart.”
- Trayce Jackson-Davis is a huge fan of the NIL system, which enabled him to amass more than $1MM in sponsorships in college and remain at Indiana long enough to polish his skills for the NBA, per Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. Kerr is happy to have a rare rookie with four years of NCAA experience. “He has (126) college games under his belt, so you don’t have to teach him a lot of the things you’d normally expect to have to teach a rookie,” Kerr said. “He’s another guy I’d like to play more because he’s a very good player. I just haven’t been able to find the minutes.”
Southwest Notes: Valanciunas, Zion, Popovich, Grizzlies
In an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas says he’s seen a change in Zion Williamson this season. Williamson’s NBA career so far has been marked by tantalizing talent and an inability to stay on the court. He played just 114 combined games in four years, including 29 last season.
Williamson has pledged to take better care of himself and condition his body to handle the rigors of an NBA season. Valanciunas is convinced that Williamson is fully committed to keeping that promise, and he’s been proving it to his teammates.
“He’s been great. He’s been available all of the time,” Valanciunas said. “He’s taking care of his body. He gives a [expletive]. That is a big thing. He’s been a pro this year. He’s growing. He’s getting more experience. Every time that he steps on the court, he does stuff. It’s not going to be overnight. You have to see it all to get the experience, and he does that. He’s willing to learn and willing to give everything. What else can you ask?”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Williamson is sitting out tonight’s contest in Utah as the Pelicans continue to avoid using him in back-to-backs, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA. Williamson logged 34 minutes Friday night as New Orleans defeated the Clippers in a tournament game.
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t regret grabbing a microphone Wednesday and imploring fans to stop booing Kawhi Leonard, per Janie McCauley of The Associated Press. “It’s pretty easy to understand,” Popovich told reporters Friday. “I listened to it for a while and it just got louder and louder and uglier and uglier, and I felt sorry for him, and I was embarrassed for our city, for our organization.” The crowd’s defiance of Popovich’s request shows there are limits to his influence, contends Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News, who suggests the response stems from the Spurs’ poor record and Popovich’s outspoken political statements.
- The Grizzlies believe their struggles go beyond Ja Morant‘s suspension and injuries to several key players, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. After Friday’s loss at Phoenix, Derrick Rose called for the team to increase its focus on defense, while Desmond Bane sought a return to basketball fundamentals. “It’s just a commitment that we’re going to have to make 1 through 15,” Bane said. “Everybody on the floor has an obligation to get out and run, share the ball and whenever opportunities are there, be aggressive. If they’re not there, swing it to the open teammate. It’s a pretty simple game.”
Kevin Durant: “No Consistency, No Continuity” In Brooklyn
Kevin Durant asked the Nets for a trade in the summer of 2022 because he believed there was too much chaos to ever compete for a title, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Durant was looking for an opportunity to win more rings when he left the Warriors as a free agent in 2019, and he thought he found it when he teamed up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. However, the following three-and-a-half years were marked more by injuries, coaching changes and off-court news rather than significant wins.
“In Brooklyn? Yeah, it just wasn’t no consistency, no continuity on who we were as a team,” Durant said. “And when you want to win a championship, you’ve got to build an identity from Day 1, and it was just a lot of circumstances that were out of the players’ control that got in the way of us building our continuity. That’s just the business of basketball. That’s just the NBA in general. But we all got better as individual players, and we learned a lot from that experience — everybody from executives to players — and we can go about our NBA experience with more knowledge now.”
Durant sat out his first season with the Nets as a result of a ruptured Achilles he suffered in the 2019 playoffs, and the rest of his time there was marked by organizational instability. Players grew unhappy with head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was replaced by Steve Nash. Durant eventually called for Nash to be fired, and another coaching change came last November when the front office parted with Nash and gave the job to Jacque Vaughn.
Roster moves were frequent as well, with the highlight being the acquisition of James Harden from Houston in a 2021 blockbuster trade. However, Durant, Irving and Harden only played 16 games together before the trio was broken up when Harden was shipped to Philadelphia in February of 2022. His replacement, Ben Simmons, only saw 441 minutes in 24 games with Durant and Irving before they were both traded nine months ago.
“It’s always about next-man-up mentality in this league,” Durant said, recalling the adversity in Brooklyn. “Guys get hurt, guys not in the lineup. You get paid to be a pro for a reason. Guys have got to step up and just play the games. … You see the character of a team when you’re mixing lineups and got to fight through adversity like that.”
Durant’s first trade request wasn’t heeded right away, and he played most of last season with the Nets. Management didn’t relent until the Suns agreed to include Miles Bridges in their offer shortly before the deadline.
Although he had to wait, Durant is happy to be in Phoenix where he’s part of a new Big Three with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — although much like in Brooklyn, injuries have prevented them all from playing together. He said he never gave any thought to holding out at the start of last season to try to force Brooklyn into making a deal.
“I did try [to move earlier], they just refused to get rid of me,” Durant said. “I tried, but time ran out. I wasn’t going to miss no games because of this whole thing. So once the season rolled around, I was just like, whatever happens, it happens, and I just get ready for the season. So it worked out perfect timing, the way it’s supposed to.”
Central Notes: Giannis, Lillard, Cavs, Bickerstaff, Phillips
The new partnership between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard didn’t look the way that many imagined when the season began, but the Bucks‘ duo has been improving over time, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Milwaukee is near the top of the East standings after winning five of its last six games, and its stars are figuring out how to help each other maximize their scoring opportunities.
“We’re still learning each other,” Lillard said. “If it would’ve been flipped and him coming to Portland to play with me, I would’ve already been comfortable because I’ve been here. He would have been trying to adapt and get comfortable and figure out how he fits in and maybe would have been a bit more passive in trying to learn the way. That’s me right now.”
Antetokounmpo and Lillard were expected to form an unstoppable pick-and-roll combination, but Collier notes that they haven’t used those actions very often in their first few weeks together. Antetokounmpo is setting about 9.0 on-ball screens per game for Lillard, according to Collier, which is outside the top 40 among the league’s most frequent combinations.
“There’s many ways to get them involved with each other, it’s not always pick-and-roll,” coach Adrian Griffin explained. “We run actions where it’s a two-man game — it doesn’t necessarily have to be pick-and-roll. You’ve got to keep in mind most teams put their best two defenders on Dame and Giannis, so a lot of them have been switching and whatnot. We’ve been able to counter that with different actions to get them involved with each other.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro were cleared to return tonight for the Cavaliers, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Mitchell has missed the past four games with a strained hamstring, while Okoro has been sidelined since November 3 with soreness in his left knee. Both players were able to practice Friday afternoon without issue. They are on a minutes restriction in Saturday’s contest, a source tells Fedor (Twitter link).
- Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff responded to accusations from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra that the court at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse was responsible for Dru Smith‘s season-ending ACL injury, Fedor tweets. “Our guys are comfortable playing here,” Bickerstaff said. “We haven’t had any incidents because of how our floor is built. I could see how opponents who aren’t used to it could see it as a distraction, but we haven’t had any problems with it.”
- Bulls coach Billy Donovan turned to rookie forward Julian Phillips to try to spark the team in Friday’s loss at Toronto, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The second-round pick has appeared in seven games so far, mostly in short bursts, giving him a chance to show off his 43-inch vertical leap along with his other skills. “It was fun for me to get out there with the guys. Those are big games for me early in my career,” Phillips said. “It’s definitely still a moment for me when I go in. But I wouldn’t so much say I’m nervous. It’s more of an excitement. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team.”
Southeast Notes: Magic, Fultz, Rollins, M. Williams
Magic players were calculating their chances of advancing out of the East’s Group C after beating the Celtics on Friday to improve to 3-1 in the in-season tournament, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Paolo Banchero admitted the team wasn’t fully focused on the tourney when it lost its opening game against Brooklyn, but the attitude has been different in three straight victories against Chicago, Toronto and Boston.
Orlando has a strong shot at winning its group and reaching the knockout round, but things could still change on Tuesday, Beede adds. The Magic will advance if the Nets lose to the Raptors or if the Celtics beat the Bulls by fewer than 23 points while Brooklyn wins by fewer than 14.
“You want to go to Vegas (for the semifinals and finals), right? You want to compete,” Moritz Wagner said. “You can tell people care. It’s really cool and it kind of tests us early, how poised are we in those last three minutes (and) how focused are you in the beginning of the year. I’ve really enjoyed it, honestly.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Magic guard Markelle Fultz will miss his ninth straight game on Sunday against Charlotte, Beede tweets. Fultz hasn’t played since November 9 because of tendinitis in his left knee, although he recently resumed individual workouts. Fultz began the season as Orlando’s starting point guard, but he has only been healthy for five games.
- Ryan Rollins will be evaluated weekly for a right knee strain, the Wizards announced via Twitter. The second-year guard has missed the past two games, and the team explained that it is opting to handle the injury conservatively. Rollins has appeared in eight games, averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 6.1 minutes per night.
- Hornets center Mark Williams has been one of the early surprises of the 2023/24 season, per Frank Urbina of HoopsHype. Heading into Wednesday night, Charlotte was 22.6 points per 100 possessions better when Williams was on the court. He’s averaging 13.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and has formed a connection with LaMelo Ball that is helping him shoot better than 70% within five feet of the basket. Coach Steve Clifford believes Williams can expand his offense to eventually become a three-point threat. “Then the big key for him offensively is running the floor, screening, rolling, and eventually, he’ll be a three-point shooter,” Clifford said. “I don’t have any questions about that. I don’t know if it’ll be here early in the year. This is where the thumb injury set him back a little bit. But he’s a lot more instinctive offensively than I realized when we first got him.”
Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Tatum, Brown, Tournament
Kristaps Porzingis indicated on his Instagram account that he got encouraging results from an MRI today on his left calf, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Porzingis suffered a calf strain that forced him out of Friday’s game in Orlando, but he posted, “Good news this morning. Be back very soon.”
Injuries have been a frequent concern for Porzingis over the past six years, but he has been healthy so far in his first season with the Celtics. He has appeared in 15 of the team’s first 16 games, with his lone absence caused by a bruised knee. Porzingis walked “gingerly” to the team bus after Friday’s contest, but he didn’t seem worried that it might be a long-term injury, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
“I felt a bit of something in my calf and just kept playing,” Porzingis said. “I felt like, OK, it’s some kind of strain or tightness, something happened there and you saw me limping a little bit. The medical staff pulled me out after that.”
Porzingis has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against Atlanta.
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Jayson Tatum is upset with the NBA’s new emphasis on preventing players from hanging on the rim, Washburn adds. Tatum received a technical foul Friday for holding the rim too long after a dunk, but Washburn points out that it won’t count toward a possible suspension because it doesn’t deal with sportsmanship. “That’s a rule that they implemented that quite frankly I don’t think makes any sense,” Tatum said. “Because anybody who has ever played or dunked the ball, your momentum, you just try to make sure that you are stable when you land. You don’t want anyone underneath you. Maybe they just want me to let go and just land on my back.”
- Jaylen Brown is responding to coach Joe Mazzulla‘s desire for his players to be more versatile and find ways to contribute when they aren’t scoring, Washburn states in a separate story. Brown’s shot attempts have declined with the addition of Porzingis, but he has averaged nearly four assists per game in November and handed out eight in Wednesday’s win over Milwaukee. “It’s a new year, a new season, and I feel like I’m playing some of my best basketball in how I’m seeing the floor and I get into a flow and rhythm of things and I feel like I’ll be able to continue to do that,” Brown said. “I think when I get more guys playing off me, trusting that I’m going to make the right read, we should go to that a lot more.”
- Friday’s loss means Boston no longer controls its destiny in Group C of the in-season tournament, notes Souchi Terada of MassLive. The Celtics need to hope for a three-way tie with Orlando and Brooklyn, giving them an opportunity to advance on point differential.
Wolves Notes: Edwards, Finch, Reid, Ownership
Anthony Edwards is already one of the NBA’s top players, but he suggested this week that he might want to see how he could fare in the NFL, according to an ESPN report. Appearing with comedian Marco Summers on his “Open Thoughts” talk show, Edwards said “I might be the first one” to succeed in both leagues.
It’s unlikely the Timberwolves would agree to let Edwards risk his future by playing football after signing him to an extension that could be worth more than $205MM over five years. However, it would be intriguing in theory to watch Edwards give the NFL a try after being one of the nation’s best Pop Warner running backs as a youth. While speculating about a football career, Edwards emphasized to Summers that his priority is to “handle his business in the NBA.”
“As a team, [the] Minnesota [Timberwolves] organization, we want to win a championship,” he said. “After that, we’ll figure that out.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
- The Wolves will eventually face salary decisions and second-apron concerns, but fans should enjoy a team that has become one of the NBA’s best rather than worrying about what might happen in 2024 or 2025, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Holding the top spot in the West at 11-3, Minnesota is off to its best start ever and may be a legitimate contender for the first time in the franchise’s 35-year history. There’s a stronger focus, Krawczynski notes, as players who may have overlooked some opponents last season are now locked in every night. “I think it’s very much a serious tone,” coach Chris Finch said. “There’s a conversation about what needs to be done, what they hadn’t done.”
- Part of the increased focus comes from resolving financial situations during the offseason, Krawczynski adds. Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson are the only rotation members with expiring contracts, and Krawczyski believes they’re mature enough that it won’t affect their performance. “Everybody’s here to win. Everybody has one goal. Everybody’s got their money situation out of the way,” said Naz Reid, who signed a three-year, $42MM contract extension this summer. “Now we’re here to play basketball and win the game. We’re not really too much worried about anything other than that.”
- New owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are negotiating with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, to invest in the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, sources tell Dan Primack of Axios. Primack believes the move will help to quell rumors that Rodriguez and Lore might not have the funding to complete the remainder of the sale from Glen Taylor.
And-Ones: Ibaka, Foster, Dragic, Olympic Qualifiers
Serge Ibaka is focused more on contributing to his new EuroLeague team than returning to the NBA, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (subscription required). Ibaka signed with FC Bayern Munich this summer and is adjusting to being back in Europe again after spending the past 14 seasons in the NBA. He’s coming off a season-best 20-point game and is averaging 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per night while shooting 56.7% from the floor for the German squad.
The 34-year-old big man is grateful to be playing again after ending last season in limbo. He appeared in just 16 games with Milwaukee before being traded at the February deadline to Indiana, which waived him two days later.
“My focus is playing in Bayern. I want to keep improving here,” Ibaka said. “Playing basketball is one of the most beautiful things one can do. I didn’t play for 10 months and now I’m playing basketball, something I like to do. I’m grateful for this moment.”
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports believes the NBA needs to address its Scott Foster situation after the official’s latest incident with Warriors guard Chris Paul Wednesday night. Calling Foster “a prima donna ref” with an “outrageous and unchecked ego,” Bourguet points out that he ruined Paul’s return to Phoenix by giving him two quick technicals and ejecting him late in the first half. Suns fans turned out to welcome back one of the most significant players in franchise history, but Foster upstaged that by extending the long-running feud he has with Paul. Suns star Devin Booker told reporters that he could feel the tension between Foster and Paul before the ejection. “Yeah, ’cause I’ve seen it closely too,” Booker said. “This was long before Chris was in Phoenix, so that’s some history that they might have to settle between themselves one day, when they’re both retired.”
- Partizan Belgrade and Olimpia Milano are among the teams that have expressed interest in Goran Dragic, relays Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. The report, which originated in the Serbian media outlet SportKlub, said Dragic is still hoping for an NBA offer and is reluctant to commit to a European team. The 37-year-old point guard wasn’t picked up this summer after spending last season with Chicago and Milwaukee.
- Spain, Latvia, Greece, and Puerto Rico have emerged as the favorites to host Olympic qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Games in Paris, Urbonas adds in a separate story. A draw ceremony is set for November 27 in Switzerland, and the official announcement of the host nations is expected before then. Twenty-four nations will be vying for four Olympic spots in the six-team qualifying tournaments.
Heat Notes: Jaquez, Smith, Two-Way Players, Tournament
The Heat look like one of the East’s best teams despite a string of early-season injuries, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami has won nine of its last 10 games, including a 33-point victory Wednesday in Cleveland without three rotation players. Tyler Herro continues to recover from his sprained right ankle, while Bam Adebayo sat out the contest with a left hip contusion and Kevin Love didn’t make the trip for personal reasons.
The Heat responded with eight players reaching double figures in points, led by veteran guard Kyle Lowry with 28 and rookie forward Jaime Jaquez with 22. It’s the latest in a series of impressive performances by Jaquez, who has quickly embraced the “Heat Culture” philosophy.
“It’s like a next-man-up mentality,” Jaquez said. “We have a soldier go down, we got one to fill their place and do what we can to win. I thought we shared the ball really well tonight, had a lot of great shots and it showed. Our defense was incredible. Really pressured the ball, got a lot of steals and got out in transition.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- Coach Erik Spoelstra believes an unusual feature of Cleveland’s court caused backup point guard Dru Smith to suffer a right knee injury that forced him out of Wednesday’s game, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Smith had an awkward fall along the sidelines in an area that has a dropoff for fans at courtside. “It is a dangerous floor,” Spoelstra said. “It’s an accident waiting to happen. You close out and all of a sudden you’re going off a cliff. If the court was normal, there wouldn’t have been any kind of incident.” Smith will have a scan conducted on the knee while the team is in New York.
- A prolonged absence for Smith could lead to a roster move, Jackson adds. The Heat are low on guards, and Jackson believes they may consider either temporarily filling the open 15th roster spot or adding someone on a two-way deal. He sees two-way players Jamal Cain and Cole Swider as safe, but suggests the team might consider replacing R.J. Hampton.
- Point differential could come into play as Miami tries to advance in the in-season tournament, and Spoelstra said the Heat will “treat that appropriately” if it becomes necessary, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Miami is off to a 2-0 start in Group B, and a win Friday over the Knicks could set up a showdown with Milwaukee next week with both teams undefeated. Spoelstra is a fan of the tournament and says the financial incentive, with each player getting $50K for reaching the quarterfinals, has been a strong motivator. “I think it’s good for the league,” he said. “I think it’s good for the teams, the players. It keeps things interesting. Anything that sparks competition, I think is a great thing. And it sure would be a lot of fun to be able to get two more wins and get to the quarterfinals. Ultimately, every competitor in this league, whatever they think or say, you would want to be in Vegas to play for this.”