- The Blazers are planning to improve from within rather than making aggressive moves for high-priced veterans that could cost them major resources, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian reports. “We’re heavily invested in a lot of our young guys, so development will continue to be a focus,” GM Joe Cronin said. “We’re not going to win at an extremely high level until some of those guys are ready. But at the same time, it’s our job to give them the best environment to thrive in. And often that’s with additional help. I think this year there were some flaws in the roster, especially in some missing skill sets and just in general imbalance, where it made it complicated for those guys to reach their highest potential.”
- Jontay Porter‘s ban from the NBA for gambling-related violations has taken a toll on his brother, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., Bennett Durando of the Denver Post tweets. “It has not been easy for him,” coach Michael Malone said. “That’s why I give him credit, because he’s carrying so much in his heart and in his mind.”
- Thunder big man and two-way player Olivier Sarr suffered a left Achilles tendon rupture during the G League Finals on Monday night, according to a team press release. In 15 games this season with the Thunder, Sarr averaged 2.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 6.5 minutes. Sarr also saw action in 18 games with the Blue and averaged 14.0 points, 13.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 28.2 minutes.
- Bismack Biyombo fainted during a game in early March. The Thunder center revealed to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman that he was dehydrated due to fasting. Biyombo has fasted at various times throughout his career for religious reasons.
The Nuggets failed to complete a sweep of the Lakers on Saturday night, losing Game 4 119-108. Coach Michael Malone fumed over the way his team played in the lane, The Athletic’s Tony Jones writes.
“The paint was a joke,” Malone said. “In every huddle, we were like a broken record (Saturday). Everything was paint, paint, paint. We have to be better at defending the paint. We gave up 72 points in the paint overall. We gave up 42 points by halftime, which is an unbelievable number. They shot 64 percent in the paint. It starts with our defense in transition. There were too many blow by’s off the dribble. I didn’t think we played with the physicality we needed. I didn’t think we played with enough urgency. This did not seem like a closeout game.”
We have more on the Nuggets:
- It wasn’t the shoes that caused the Nuggets to lose but some of them didn’t have their usual footwear during the pregame warmups on Saturday. There was a mix-up in getting several players’ insoles onto the early bus to the arena, so some took some pregame shots without them, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “Is it ideal? No,” Malone said. “But hopefully we can figure that out and make sure it never happens again. If you want to dig into stuff and say, well, we lost because for some strange reason our players didn’t have their shoes when they got here for their normal warmups, that we had guys out there shooting around with flip-flops, is it ideal? No. But I’m not an excuse guy.”
- Is a leg injury bothering Jamal Murray? The Denver Post’s Matt Schubert poses that question, noting that Murray was seen clutching the back of his leg on Saturday. Murray is averaging 21.5 points for the series but he’s struggled with his shooting, making 38% of his overall field goal attempts and 20.8% of his 3-point tries. Indeed, Murray is dealing with a left calf strain and he’s listed as questionable to play on Monday, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets.
- Aaron Gordon had a quiet night, posting seven points and three rebounds in 42 minutes. However, Gordon’s 29-point, 15-rebound eruption in Game 3 is another example of what a steal the Nuggets made when they acquired the power forward from Orlando in 2021, Jones opines. His value on and off the court is undeniable because of his ability to play off of Nikola Jokic and Murray. The Nuggets gave up Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and a 2025 protected first-round pick in that deal three years ago.