Celtics’ Tatum Says Wrist Is ‘All Right’ After Hard Fall
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum underwent an X-ray on his right wrist following the team’s Game 1 win over Orlando on Sunday, but he said it came back “clean,” as Baxter Holmes of ESPN relays.
Tatum drove to the basket during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game and was met by Magic defenders Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr., who collided with the Celtics star and sent him to the floor and into the basket stanchion (Twitter video link via ESPN).
Tatum grabbed his right wrist and remained on the floor for some time before eventually getting up and remaining in the game. However, as Holmes notes, he immediately missed a pair of free throws and seemed to be favoring that wrist for the rest of the night.
“It’s all right,” Tatum told reporters after the game. “Just fell on it, landed on it. … It was throbbing for a second. Kind of went away.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t seem concerned about Tatum’s availability going forward, Holmes notes, telling the media that the 27-year-old was “doing good.”
Tatum isn’t the only Celtics star whose health is worth monitoring during the first round. Jaylen Brown returned to action on Sunday after missing nine of the the team’s final 20 regular season games (including the last three) due to a right knee issue. Brown, who played 30 minutes, looked to be moving well and didn’t experience any setbacks in Game 1.
“I felt good today,” Brown said after the game, per Holmes. “To start the game, it took me a little bit to get into the game. I feel like I was watching a little bit to start. Second half, I was able to get more involved, make some plays, have some better activities.”
Former NBA Guard Kendrick Nunn Named EuroLeague MVP
Veteran guard Kendrick Nunn, who played in the NBA from 2019-23, has been named the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today in a press release.
Nunn, a member of Panathinaikos in Greece, beat out former EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov for the honor after averaging a league-leading 21.1 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game with a shooting line of .503/.426/.856 across 33 outings.
Nunn led Panathinaikos to a 22-12 record and a No. 3 finish in the 18-team league.
The EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player award is voted on by head coaches (35%), team captains (35%), media members (20%), and fans (10%). Vezenkov was the runner-up in the voting after returning to Europe last year to join Olympiacos following an NBA stint, while TJ Shorts of Paris Basketball finished third.
Nunn is the third American player to earn MVP honors in the history of the EuroLeague, joining Anthony Parker (2005 and 2006) and Mike James (2024).
Nunn, who appeared in 193 regular season games for the Heat, Lakers, and Wizards, recently signed a three-year contract extension with Panathinaikos that will make him the EuroLeague’s highest-paid player. That deal reportedly doesn’t include NBA out clauses, so the 29-year-old will remain overseas for the foreseeable future.
Panathinaikos will square off against Anadolu Efes in the first round of the EuroLeague playoffs, beginning on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.
Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Brunson, Hukporti, Rotation
Asked ahead of the Knicks‘ first-round series about speculation that head coach Tom Thibodeau will be on the hot seat if New York doesn’t make a deep playoff run, star point guard Jalen Brunson referred to himself as a “big Thibs supporter” and strongly backed his coach, as Jared Schwartz of The New York Post writes.
“He means a lot,” Brunson said on Friday (Twitter video link). “Individually, he’s meant a lot to my career. I’d say he’s meant a decent amount to (Karl-Anthony Towns), coaching KAT in Minnesota and here. There’s a lot of players who can say they’ve definitely benefited from Tom Thibodeau in his career.
“But I think as a team, we’re always in a position where we can compete in the postseason since I’ve been here. He’s very prepared. He’s a very prepared individual. He’s done a lot for my career, so I’m always going to be a supporter. Always. Even when he annoys me. Always.”
Thibodeau has faced criticism over the years due a perception that he overworks his top players, and three Knicks ranked among the top six players in the NBA in minutes per game this season. But New York will enter the 2025 postseason with nearly all of its players – including everyone who’s part of the rotation – fully healthy, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post notes.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Rookie center Ariel Hukporti, who has been out since February 26 while recovering from surgery on his left meniscus, was upgraded to questionable for Game 1 of the Knicks’ first-round series vs. Detroit and practiced on Friday, tweets Bondy. According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), Thibodeau referred to Hukporti as a game-time decision, though it seems unlikely that he’d be part of the team’s rotation even if he’s healthy enough to play.
- In a separate story for The New York Post, Bondy weighs the case for and against expanding the Knicks’ playoff rotation beyond seven players. As Bondy outlines, Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson are locks to see regular minutes off the bench, but it’s unclear whether Landry Shamet, Precious Achiuwa, or Cameron Payne will get off the bench. If Thibodeau does use an eighth man, Bondy believes Shamet is the best bet for that role.
- Even after the Knicks added Towns and Mikal Bridges as offensive weapons last offseason, Brunson still led the team and ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference with 26.0 points per game. The Knicks will need him more than ever in order to make a playoff run this spring, says James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
No Minutes Restriction Expected For Celtics’ Jaylen Brown
After missing the final three games of the regular season due to a bone bruise in his right knee, reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown doesn’t anticipate being on a minutes restriction when the Celtics‘ first-round series vs. Orlando gets underway on Sunday, he told reporters today (story via Souichi Terada of MassLive.com).
Brown was hampered during the season’s final weeks by that knee issue, which was listed on the injury report as a “posterior impingement.” The four-time All-Star first sat out on March 6 and ultimately missed nine of Boston’s final 20 games with that injury designation. Reporting during the final weekend of the season indicated he had received pain management injections, which head coach Joe Mazzulla later confirmed.
Beyond telling reporters on Saturday that he won’t be on a minutes limit, Brown wasn’t interested in speaking in any detail about his injury, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
“I’m not here to talk about my knee, guys,” he said. “It is what it is. I’m focused on Orlando.”
Mazzulla offered the media a little more information than Brown did, indicating that the veteran wing has been able to practice in full ahead of Game 1.
“He looks good,” the Celtics’ coach said. “He was able to do everything, no limitations. He’s been great, physically, mentally, really preparing himself, ready to go. So, (I) love the week that he had.”
The Celtics will enter their first-round series against Orlando as massive favorites, so there may be opportunities to get Brown some rest if the East’s No. 2 seed can build big leads and/or finish the series quickly. Still, as they attempt to become the NBA’s first back-to-back champions since the Warriors in 2017-18, the Celtics aren’t looking past the Magic or taking them for granted.
“Of course we know what we’re trying to accomplish, but I think our mindset is just what’s in front of us, not looking down the line, not overlooking nobody,” Brown said. “Our goal is (Game 1). That’s the focus. Nothing else. Not next week, not six weeks, not 10 years from now. Just Sunday.”
Nuggets Notes: Pickett, Murray, Gordon, Jokic
In the wake of the Nuggets‘ decision to fire both general manager Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone with less than a week left in the regular season, second-year guard Jalen Pickett began seeing his name pop up in reports about the rift between Booth and Malone prior to their dismissals.
Booth’s desire for Malone to play Pickett more often – including over free agent addition Russell Westbrook – was cited as one of the sources of disagreement between the two franchise leaders. Those differences of opinion reportedly created tension in the organization and factored into the decision to let them both go.
“To be mentioned in these things, it’s kinda crazy,” Pickett acknowledged to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required) on Friday. “But growing up, you always want to be on this stage. So you gotta just accept everything that comes with it, at this point.”
After logging just 122 total minutes for the Nuggets as a rookie, Pickett has seen his role expand this season, especially in recent weeks. He averaged 24.5 minutes per night and earned four starts in Denver’s final eight games of the regular season. While it remains to be seen how much run he’ll get in the playoffs, Pickett is trying to focus on how he can help his team get past the Clippers rather than dwelling on how a managerial disagreement over his usage might’ve led to organizational changes.
“Can’t really focus on that type of stuff,” Pickett said. “Can’t control anything that happens in this business, as you can see from this year. But, just when my number’s called, I’m going to be ready each and every time I step on the floor. And that’s whatever the team needs me to do at this stage.”
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- While Denver can count on superstar center Nikola Jokic to contribute at a high level in the postseason, Jokic and the Nuggets will need the 2020 bubble version of Jamal Murray if they hope to have a shot at another title, opines Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. Murray averaged 26.5 points per game on .505/.453/.897 shooting during that postseason. “This is going to be a tough series for (Jamal),” interim head coach David Adelman said. “(The Clippers) have a lot of people to throw at him. And I think the biggest thing for us is, these guys — me, the staff — have to help Jamal. Because if we can get him free, we know what he’s capable of.”
- Veteran forward Aaron Gordon has a long-term contract that keeps him under team control through at least 2028, but if the Nuggets can’t get past the first round in this year’s playoffs, could his days in Denver come to an end this offseason? Troy Renck of The Denver Post weighs that question, pointing out that Gordon might be more valuable as a trade chip in the event of a reboot than Murray or Michael Porter Jr.
- In a pair of additional stories for The Denver Post, Durando explains why his Most Valuable Player vote went to Jokic and takes an in-depth look at how Adelman and the Nuggets have designed their offense around the three-time MVP in a way that maximizes his abilities while continuing to expand his boundaries. “Basically, for the last eight years, we have been watching the best players in our league that are not centers, and we’re saying that our guy can do everything they can do,” Adelman told The Denver Post. “Plus what a big guy does.”
Mavs Notes: Thompson, Davis, Lively, Offseason
After the Mavericks‘ season came to an end as a result of Friday night’s play-in loss in Memphis, Klay Thompson described his first year in Dallas as “tumultuous.” Head coach Jason Kidd took a rosier view, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays, referring to 2024/25 as an “incredible season” for his team, which missed out on the playoffs after making the NBA Finals last spring.
“When you look at the injuries that we’ve had (and) the change, for us to even be here playing in (Friday’s play-in) game, it’s incredible,” Kidd said. “It just shows the character of that group in that locker room, the fight, being prepared, moving on, learning from our losses and also our wins. So an incredible season with the change and injuries. Some would say we shouldn’t even be here, so give those guys in that locker room a lot of credit.”
While Kidd was eager to praise his players for the way they fought through the season, the fact that so much fight was required at all is a reflection of why Thompson viewed it as “tumultuous.” The second half was defined by a series of injuries to key players and the fallout of the controversial Luka Doncic trade.
When Thompson signed with the Mavericks as a free agent last summer, he was hoping to be the missing piece for a club that was three wins away from a championship in 2024. Instead, he’ll be watching his former team (Golden State) from home during the first round of the playoffs after averaging just 14.0 points per game in his first season as a Maverick, his lowest scoring mark since his rookie year.
“Don’t do this to me. Don’t do that to me. Don’t do that,” Thompson said with a laugh when asked if he’d still join the Mavs if he could do his 2024 free agency over. “That’s kind of a ridiculous question. I don’t own a time machine, and I don’t believe in going back, looking back. If I did that my whole career, I would not be where I’m at and I wouldn’t have been able to persevere through two really hard injuries.
“So I’m here in Dallas, and I enjoyed my time and I’m looking forward to the future.”
Here’s more on the Mavs as their offseason gets underway:
- Anthony Davis, who scored 40 points in Friday’s loss, said after the game that he appreciated the way that Mavericks fans treated him after his midseason arrival, even though he knows many of those fans disliked the trade the team made to acquire him. “Obviously, it’s a lot of emotions. I know it’s not directed towards me,” Davis said, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. “The city loved the guy (Doncic). Get rid of a guy. A new guy comes in, yet they want to embrace you and they’re thankful for you, it still stings. I’m just thankful and appreciative of the city of Dallas and the fans for welcoming me and Max (Christie) to the new situation.”
- Mavericks center Dereck Lively was on a minutes restriction for both of the team’s play-in games this week, tweets NBA insider Marc Stein. Lively, who was out from mid-January to early April with a foot injury, played 18 minutes on Wednesday vs. Sacramento and 20 minutes on Friday vs. Memphis.
- According to Stein (Twitter link), Lively’s foot injury was “at the center of some significant tensions” among some of the new members of the Mavs’ medical and performance team at the practice facility in February. President of basketball operations Nico Harrison defended the medical team during this week’s media session when asked how Lively was on the verge of returning to action in January before being diagnosed with a stress fracture. “It actually goes to show the strength of our medical team, because he was cleared to play, but his signs and symptoms—our medical team knew it was something more,” Harrison said. “And so that’s why they went and tested him again and saw the CT scan. They actually avoided a potential catastrophic injury.”
- Bobby Marks of ESPN has shared his preview of the Mavericks’ offseason in a YouTube video and in an ESPN.com Insider-only article. Marks explores what a new contract for injured guard Kyrie Irving might look like and identifies forward P.J. Washington as another key extension candidate to watch.
Kenny Atkinson Wins Coaches Association Award
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has won the Michael H. Goldberg award for the 2024/25 season, earning Coach of the Year from the National Basketball Coaches Association, according to a press release.
This award, introduced in 2017 and named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself.
It isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award will be announced later this spring.
J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Ime Udoka (Rockets), and – interestingly – Michael Malone (Nuggets) also received votes from their fellow coaches for this year’s NBCA award. Malone was let go by Denver earlier this month.
Atkinson was hired by the Cavaliers last June and was tasked with turning the team into a legitimate title contender following a 48-win season and a second-round playoff exit. Despite the fact that Cleveland’s roster didn’t undergo any major changes last summer, the team had one of the best years in franchise history, racking up 64 wins and holding the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for nearly the entire season.
After the Cavs placed 16th in the NBA with a 114.7 offensive rating in 2023/24, Atkinson helped turn the unit into the league’s top-ranked offense in ’24/25 — Cleveland’s 121.0 offensive rating led the league by a comfortable margin. The club also ranked eighth in defensive rating (111.8) and third in overall net rating (+9.2).
The NBCA Coach of the Year award has frequently been a bellwether for the NBA’s Coach of the Year honor, which bodes well for Atkinson. In six of the eight years since the award’s inception, the winner has gone on to be named the NBA’s Coach of the Year, including in 2024 when Daigneault won both awards.
Damian Lillard Discusses ‘Scary’ Blood Clot Diagnosis
Speaking to reporters on Friday for the first time since being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf last month, Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that learning he had a blood clot was “a little bit scary,” as Eric Nehm and Zach Powell of The Athletic write.
“I think I’ve had a couple of surgeries in my career. I’ve had things I’ve had to deal with, you know, with an ankle or a knee, Achilles, calf, whatever it might be,” Lillard said. “But those are all things that you go to rehab, you deal with it like that, like an athlete would. I’m thinking that’s what I was going into, and then you see a blood clot. Obviously, that’s a thing that can affect your life.”
According to Lillard, he experienced pain in his calf that he initially believed was a strain, but the leg was “swollen” and “super tight” in a way that wasn’t consistent with the typical symptoms of a strain, prompting him to tell the team about it.
Because the Bucks and the star point guard acted quickly, doctors caught and diagnosed the blood clot early, reducing the odds of it developing into a significant issue. But Lillard – who had a cousin deal with a similar health issue in 2021 – recognizes that it could have turned into something more serious.
“Honestly, when I say I was scared, I was really nervous about it, based off of a past experience,” Lillard said. “So I wasn’t really thinking about, ‘Oh, I need to get back out there for the playoffs.’ I was just like each time I went back to the hospital, I wanted to hear that it’s gone or it’s smaller or it’s in the same spot, so that was more of my focus.”
Repeated blood clots forced former NBA star Chris Bosh to end his career early, and even a single instance of a blood clot often sidelines a player for the rest of the season. Most recently, the Spurs ruled out Victor Wembanyama for the remainder of 2024/25 just days after the All-Star game due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, diagnosed with a blood clot last March, missed the end of the ’23/24 season and didn’t make his ’24/25 debut until November.
However, reporting at the time of Lillard’s diagnosis indicated there was optimism about his chances to make it back this season. He won’t play on Saturday in Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series vs. Indiana, but Shams Charania of ESPN stated this week that Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer taking blood-thinning medication.
Lillard has returned to practice and is ramping up toward a potential return. He’s not sure yet when exactly that might happen, though Charania reported on ESPN’s NBA Countdown on Saturday that the 34-year-old is expected to be back in Game 2 on Tuesday or Game 3 next Friday (Twitter video link).
“The moment that I feel good about it. I’m not going to be waiting and all of that,” Lillard said, per Nehm and Powell. “The moment that I feel I can go, I’m gonna go. So I mean, that’s what I can tell you.”
Community Shootaround: First-Round Playoff Series
After a pair of off-days and three days of play-in games, the 2025 NBA postseason is set to begin in earnest on Saturday, with four series getting underway today and the other four to tip off on Sunday.
The first-round matchups are as follows, along with the date/time of each Game 1:
Eastern Conference
- Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Miami Heat (8): Sunday at 7:00 pm ET
- Boston Celtics (2) vs. Orlando Magic (7): Sunday at 3:30 pm ET
- New York Knicks (3) vs. Detroit Pistons (6): Saturday at 6:00 pm ET
- Indiana Pacers (4) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5): Saturday at 1:00 pm ET
Western Conference
- Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8): Sunday at 1:00 pm ET
- Houston Rockets (2) vs. Golden State Warriors (7): Sunday at 9:30 pm ET
- Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (6): Saturday at 8:30 pm ET
- Denver Nuggets (4) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (5): Saturday at 3:30 pm ET
In the view of oddsmakers, three of the eight first-round series are expected to be fairly one-sided. BetOnline.ag lists the Cavaliers (-4000), Celtics (-5000), and Thunder (-4000) as massive favorites to advance. The Knicks are also considered a good bet to get out of round one, having been listed as a -375 favorite over the Pistons.
The other four series are more interesting, with the higher seed not always viewed as the frontrunner. It’s the No. 7 Warriors (-170), for instance, who are favored over the No. 2 Rockets. The No. 3 Lakers (-190) and No. 4 Pacers (-160) have the edge in their respective series, but the No. 4 vs. 5 matchup in the West is considered virtually a toss-up, with the Clippers listed as narrow favorites (-120) over Denver (+100).
Ahead of a full slate of weekend playoff action, we want to know what you think.
Do you expect the Cavaliers, Celtics, or Thunder to stumble at all on their way to the second round?
Can the Rockets defend home court and their higher seed and knock off the veteran Warriors?
Who do you like between the Nuggets and Clippers in what’s considered the most evenly-matched first round series?
Are you anticipating any upsets in the other series and picking the Pistons, Bucks, and/or Timberwolves to advance to the conference semifinals?
Head to the comment section below to make your predictions and share your thoughts on the first round!
Spanish Prospect Hugo Gonzalez Entering NBA Draft
Real Madrid wing Hugo Gonzalez has decided to enter the 2025 NBA draft, agents Carlos Sanchez and Saul Lopez tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Gonzalez, a 6’7″ forward from Spain, has played limited minutes in domestic (ACB) and EuroLeague competition, averaging 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game across 50 outings. However, he has compiled an impressive résumé in international tournaments, Givony writes, having competed in the U17 World Cup in 2022 and the U18 EuroBasket in 2023 and 2024.
Although Gonzalez doesn’t play much for a veteran-heavy Real Madrid team, the Spanish club has championship aspirations in both the ACB and EuroLeague and could still be playing deep into June, which would complicate the 19-year-old’s ability to work out for NBA teams prior to the draft, as Givony notes.
Despite his modest role in Madrid, Gonzalez has made an impression on NBA evaluators with his athleticism, defensive versatility, and intensity, according to Givony, who has him ranked at No. 22 on ESPN’s big board of 2025 draft prospects.
That makes Gonzalez a potential first-round pick, assuming he keeps his name in the draft pool. He has until June 15 to decide whether or not to withdraw.