Northwest Notes: Grant, R. Williams, Murray, George, J. Williams
It was a rough Friday night for the Trail Blazers, who lost to Dallas while two frontcourt players departed early due to injuries. Forward Jerami Grant felt a “pop” in his right calf while running down court in the third quarter and did not play in the final quarter. He’s expected to undergo further medical testing on Saturday, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Center Robert Williams tweaked his lower back in the first half and didn’t play after the break.
“They’re very important for us,” Blazers All-Star forward Deni Avdija said of Grant and Williams. “They’re a really, really big part of our team. They’re great players. And I hope they’re OK. I haven’t checked with them yet, but I hope they’re going to come back fast because we need those guys on the court for sure.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Jamal Murray set a new Nuggets franchise record for three-pointers in a season on Friday. Murray hit his 221st three-pointer in a win over Utah, surpassing Michael Porter Jr.‘s previous mark. He finished with 31 points. “I remember every single time I yell into the crowd,” Murray said, per Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette. “It’s just a good feeling when they cheer you on and know what’s coming. They know I’m going to shoot some tough shots and probably make it. … I gain more confidence as they yell more and appreciate it more. It’s just fun to have those interactions and lift up the crowd.”
- Keyonte George is now ineligible for postseason awards due to a hamstring injury that has kept him out since March 11. However, he has tried to remain a positive influence off the court. “Nobody wants to get hurt and Keyonte has put in a lot of work,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said, per Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. “But he’s a good teammate, and he cares about the other guys. He also recognizes his position in our locker room and on our team. When you want to be somebody that’s in a leadership role…he understands that he has to give himself to the group, and he has to be there for the guys that are playing.” In his third season, George is averaging 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game in 54 games — he would’ve been a Most Improved Player candidate if he had reached the 65-game benchmark. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
- Jalen Williams has been sidelined for two stretches this season due to hamstring injuries. The Thunder forward admitted to ESPN’s Vince Goodwill that it affected him mentally. “It’s an eerie feeling,” Williams said. “When you pull it, it’s such a new feeling, the movements you do when you’re ramping back up is scary. But now I have confidence, working out, I don’t think about it when I’m playing.” Williams appears to be rounding to form. He had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 27 minutes against Chicago on Friday.
Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic Watson, Johnson, Bench
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic put up historic numbers in Wednesday’s win over Dallas, writes Michael Kelly of The Associated Press. On the second night of a road-home back-to-back, Murray had a season-high 53 points (on 19-of-28 shooting) and Jokic had 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists.
According to Kelly, the Nuggets are the first team in NBA history to have one player score 50-plus points and another record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in the same game.
“Fifty-three from your point guard and 23, 21, 19 from your center. Just outrageous numbers from the best tandem in the NBA,” head coach David Adelman said. “They really are the history book of this franchise when it comes to the longevity together, and also the playoffs and all these wars they’ve been through in a basketball sense, it’s just super special.”
Jokic, who has a league-high 30 triple-doubles, had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists in Tuesdays win at Phoenix. He’s currently leading the NBA in both rebounds (12.8) and assists (10.8) per game.
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- Peyton Watson has improved his play-making in his fourth season ahead of restricted free agency this summer, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. In his first two games back after missing several weeks because of a hamstring strain, Watson has averaged 17.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.0 APG (zero turnovers) on .565/.370/.750 shooting in 21.5 MPG. “It starts with establishing your aggression offensively, though. I think that every team in the NBA has to know that I’m a big threat, that if they don’t send multiple guys at me, I’m going to get going, and I’m going to be effective. When they start to do that and make those adjustments, it’s all about me seeing the next defender and making that play ahead of me,” Watson said. “For me, right now, (it’s) just establishing myself as a scorer and as an offensive presence. I think that’s doing a lot for our team.”
- Forward Cameron Johnson and the rest of Denver’s starters seem to be clicking at the right time, Benedetto writes in another story. Johnson is averaging 12.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.6 on .524/.466/.800 shooting splits in 12 games this month. “When we get going offensively, we’re really, really tough to stop. Now, we’ve got to match that with defensive intensity, transition defense, hitting the boards, boxing teams out,” Johnson said. “(There’s) a lot of room for us to grow defensively and little ins and outs of the game. If we continue to improve on those areas, I think the ceiling for this team is extremely high, so it’s encouraging.”
- Adelman recently made a significant change to the Nuggets’ rotation, per Benedetto. Veteran center Jonas Valanciunas has been a DNP-CD each of the past four games, with Adelman instead going with a small-ball bench unit featuring Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones and Watson alongside Murray. “It just gives us another dimension for this team to deploy whenever we want,” Jones said. “It definitely allows us to switch on ball, which makes a lot of our defenders a lot more aggressive. Obviously, we have a lot of good defenders out there, so we’re able to pick pockets, get steals, get some easy runouts and apply more pressure.”
Injury Notes: Murray, Gordon, LeBron, Cunningham, Giannis
Nuggets fans can breath a sigh of relief: Jamal Murray‘s left ankle sprain isn’t serious. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), the star point guard is expected to be listed as questionable for Monday’s matchup in Oklahoma City and is considered day-to-day.
Murray sustained the injury in the second quarter of Friday’s blowout home loss to New York and was unable to return. Head coach David Adelman said after the game Murray was “really sore” but typically bounces back quickly from ankle injuries, which proved prescient in this case.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- While Aaron Gordon wasn’t happy with his performance in his return to action on Friday, he’s “grateful” to be playing again and says he’s in a good spot physically after missing 17 straight games with a right hamstring strain, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Gordon has actually missed 36 total games as a result of right hamstring issues — he originally strained it on November 21, returned for 10 games, then aggravated the injury on Jan. 23. “I’ve gotta stay on top of it. But I play without worry,” Gordon said when asked about the risk of re-injury. “When you’re worried about an injury out there, that’s usually when it happens. So I feel great. My body feels good. It’s just the timing and the pace of the game that needs to come back to me now, but I feel good.”
- Lakers forward LeBron James missed his second consecutive game on Sunday vs. New York due to a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. ESPN’s Malika Andrews reported (Twitter video link) during the game that James’ absence was more due to the foot injury than his bruised elbow. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is considered day-to-day, per Andrews. Deandre Ayton and Maxi Kleber are both active Sunday after previously being sidelined with knee and back injuries, respectively.
- After missing Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn with a left quad contusion, Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been upgraded to probable ahead of Sunday’s contest at Miami, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Cunningham, a fifth-year guard, has played in 55 of Detroit’s 62 games so far this season. Caris LeVert (left wrist sprain) has been ruled out for the second of a back-to-back, Patterson adds.
- The Bucks will be without their best player on Sunday, as Giannis Antetokounmpo (right calf injury management) won’t play against Orlando on the second of a back-to-back, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Forward Kyle Kuzma is questionable to suit up due to a thoracic spine contusion.
Injury Notes: Murray, Nuggets, Pistons, Kuminga, Black
The Nuggets had three rotation forwards back in action on Friday, with Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain), Cameron Johnson (right ankle inflammation) and Spencer Jones (right shoulder strain) all suiting up against New York. As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes, the Nuggets were thrilled to have Gordon, who was on a minutes restriction, in the lineup after he missed 17 consecutive games.
“I think (we missed him) more on the defensive side,” Nikola Jokic said, alluding also to the injured Peyton Watson. “They’re really good on offense, and they give us different variation and different weapons on offense. But I think their length and their ability to guard, we kind of miss more. Definitely, it’s gonna help us.”
Friday marked the first time since November 12 that Denver had its opening night starting lineup (Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Johnson, Gordon and Jokic) available, Durando notes. However, that five-man group didn’t come away from game unscathed, as star guard Murray sprained his left ankle late in the second quarter and was unable to return (YouTube link).
Head coach David Adelman said Murray would be reevaluated on Saturday, adding that the 29-year-old was “really sore” but typically bounces back quickly from ankle sprains, per Arnie Melendrez Stapleton of The Associated Press.
“This has just been insane,” Adelman said. “Every time we get somebody back I feel like somebody else goes out. … So, whatever group we have that is healthy for OKC (Sunday), whatever minute restrictions there are and all the excuses, we just have to play a hell of a lot better.”
Here are some more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- The Pistons expect Ausar Thompson to miss multiple games due to a right ankle sprain, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters on Saturday, including Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News (Twitter video link). “I think it’s going to be a minute,” Bickerstaff said of Thompson’s return timeline. Cade Cunningham, who was originally questionable for Saturday’s matchup vs. Brooklyn because of a left quadriceps contusion, has been downgraded to out. Bickerstaff said the star guard is considered day-to-day, per Davis.
- Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga will miss his second straight game Saturday when Atlanta faces Philadelphia, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks. Kuminga is battling left knee inflammation.
- Third-year guard Anthony Black suffered a low back strain in the first quarter of Saturday’s contest at Minnesota and has been ruled out for the rest of the game, the Magic announced (via Twitter). The former lottery pick recently missed a pair of games — his first absences of the season — due to a right quad contusion.
Nuggets Notes: Johnson, Gordon, Watson, Adelman
Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson was forced out of Sunday’s loss to Minnesota with a lingering right ankle injury and doesn’t expect to be available for Monday’s game at Utah, writes Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. Johnson struggled through a frustrating afternoon against the Wolves, going scoreless in 23 minutes and missing all six of his shots. Benedetto notes that he’s shooting just 31.4% from the field and 26.7% from three-point range in six games since the All-Star break.
“One (part) is understanding that you’ve been through it before,” Johnson said. “(It’s) understanding that every time that you’ve felt down that you don’t really feel like you’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel — you just feel like you keep letting yourself down, letting your teammates down — every time that’s happened, I’ve been able to turn it around and get back on track some way somehow.”
Johnson was expected to be a seamless replacement for Michael Porter Jr. when he was acquired in a trade with Brooklyn last summer. After a slow start to the season, he found his outside shot in November and December before suffering a bone bruise shortly before Christmas that sidelined him for six weeks.
The first priority is fixing the ankle issue that Johnson said has bothered him throughout the season. He plans to try different shoes or orthotics to help ease the pain.
“It hasn’t knocked me out of the game completely yet. It hasn’t forced me to hang it up. It hasn’t forced me to miss every shot for the rest of my career,” Johnson said. “I just got to continue on with that trust, continue to work and forget about it.”
There’s more on the Nuggets:
- Coach David Adelman adjusted his substitution pattern after watching a nine-point lead slip away while Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were both resting early in the second quarter, Benedetto states in a separate story. Murray remained on the court the next time Jokic went to the bench early in the fourth quarter. “It’s not what I want to do,” Adelman admitted. “I like them to play together. I don’t like when I’m taking minutes away from them not being on the court together. If we have to do it, we’ll do it, because this can’t happen. It’s happened two games in a row. It’s cost us big time.”
- The Nuggets haven’t been able to able to add any wing help in the buyout market, so that heightens the need for Johnson to get healthy, observes Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. They missed out on two potential targets when Khris Middleton opted to stay in Dallas rather than seeking a buyout and Kyle Anderson decided to return to Minnesota after being let go by Memphis.
- Reinforcements could be coming soon as Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson are close to returning from hamstring injuries, per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link). Sources tell Siegel that both players are ramping up their activities and will be reexamined this week.
- Meeting with reporters before Sunday’s game, Adelman had some harsh words about Friday’s incident that saw the Thunder‘s Luguentz Dort get ejected for tripping Jokic, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “There’s a point where we play these games and what he deals with nightly, anybody would react that way,” Adelman said of Jokic. “And then for Dort to take that shot — and then I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal from their standpoint, how they looked at it — is ridiculous. That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort’s a great player, and that’s not what I’ve seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself.”
Nuggets Notes: Simpson, Jokic, Murray, Gordon
KJ Simpson attended the championship parade in 2023 as the Nuggets celebrated their first NBA title, and now he’s on the roster with a chance to help them win another one, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Simpson was playing at the University of Colorado at the time and had a high school rivalry with Denver swingman Peyton Watson. As he watched Watson go by in the parade, Simpson was hoping to be able to have the same experience.
“That was the closest I had been to seeing or being there to experience a championship team, I guess,” Simpson said. “Seeing them just go by. The job is finished. That was mad inspiring to me. Like, man, I want to feel that one day.”
Simpson’s NBA career began last season when he was selected by Charlotte with the 42nd pick in the draft. He was waived on February 6 and signed a two-way deal with the Nuggets on Thursday. His debut came Friday at Portland, as he contributed three points and four assists in seven minutes.
“I’m just excited to play in front of that fan base,” Simpson said. “It’s bigger than just CU Boulder. Colorado in general. … I was there for three years. First place I lived other than home. So to me, that was considered like home. I loved my time there. I loved everything about it. The people. And we would go to Denver a lot just to go see games. … So I’ve always felt that connection to Colorado. It’s just crazy how full-circle it is.”
There’s more on the Nuggets:
- Nikola Jokic didn’t wear tape on his right wrist Friday night, but the pain is still affecting him, Durando states in a separate story. Jokic estimates he has been dealing with wrist discomfort for six years, and it started flaring up again before the All-Star break. He still provided 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, scoring 19 points in the first quarter as Denver pulled away early. “When I tape it, I don’t feel it, and I don’t feel the ball. So that didn’t work really well for me,” Jokic said. “It’s pretty much the same.”
- Jamal Murray was listed as questionable for Friday with right hamstring tightness, Durando adds, and after playing 25 minutes he may be held out of Sunday afternoon’s game at Golden State. “If he feels anything, he’s not gonna play,” coach David Adelman said on Friday. “We played a 7:30 (Pacific time) game last night. We play 7:00 tonight. We play 12:30 on Sunday. It makes absolutely no sense for me to put him in a torture chamber and then be surprised if he gets hurt.”
- Aaron Gordon is making progress toward returning from a strained right hamstring, Tim MacMahon said on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Jordanna Clark of NuggLove). MacMahon reports that the Nuggets sent a trainer to Orlando with Gordon during the All-Star break, and he was able to participate in portions of practices this week. Gordon has been dunking and playing one-on-one games, and the team hopes to slowly expand those to five-on-five. MacMahon adds that the Nuggets are being careful with the injury and projects it will be a couple more weeks before Gordon resumes playing.
Northwest Notes: Holmgren, SGA, CP3, Murray, Lillard
Rockets star Kevin Durant has grown close to Thunder big man Chet Holmgren over the years because they share a similar mindset, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
“He wants to be great,” Durant told The Oklahoman. “It’s that simple. A lot of people don’t want to be great. They don’t want to leave their mark and have their name etched in stone with some of the greats in this league. He wants that. Every time he approaches his work, it’s that mentality. … His mindset is really what stood out to me.”
Holmgren, who will make his first All-Star appearance on Sunday, has always been ambitious but has learned to put individual statistics to the side in support of the team.
“I’ve played long enough and I have an understanding that when you try to force your way to things that aren’t a win, one, it usually hurts your team,” Holmgren said. “And two, a lot of times you don’t end up winning. … I still think I have to be aggressive, but it has to be within making the right play.”
We have have more from around the Northwest:
- At his media session on Saturday, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the impact Chris Paul had on his career (Twitter links courtesy of Martinez). The legendary point guard, who played one year with Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, announced his retirement on Friday after he was waived by Toronto. “Chris was special for my career,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Off the court, he was the first person that I was around to really take care of their body and show me the importance of the weight room. … He was the first point guard that I studied. … He was the standard for a point guard. And obviously, fast forward a couple of years, he’s one of my closest friends. … Honestly, it’s sad the way it’s happened. I thought he would get his flowers a little bit differently, but that’ll never change what he’s done for this game. I’m proud of him. He’s been special. Hopefully I can get to that level of mastering the game of basketball.”
- Nuggets legends Alex English and Dan Issel think Jamal Murray‘s first All-Star appearance was long overdue, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “He should have been an All-Star before now, but I think part of the explanation is that he’s playing with the greatest player on the planet,” Issel said. “And I think that usurps, sometimes, what a great player he is. But when he needs to, he also steps up. … I don’t know that they’d be a championship-caliber team — it would depend who else was with Jamal — but I think he would be very successful if he was on a team where he was the No. 1 scoring option.”
- For his part, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic hopes to play with Murray for the rest of his career, Durando adds. “I would love it,” Jokic said, “just because it’s so good when you know who you’re playing with. He cannot really surprise me. I know what he can do. So the experience of playing probably 10 years definitely helps. But I don’t want to change him, if they ask me.”
- Damian Lillard‘s victory at the three-point contest — his third title in four years — doesn’t mean he’ll attempt to come back from his torn Achilles this season, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “I think if this was five years ago, I probably would have won this competition and been like, ‘I think I can get out there and go,’” the Trail Blazers guard said. “But I think I’m also at an age and time of my life where I recognize those emotions are not in my best interest. That’s kind of where it’s at.”
Damian Lillard Wins Three-Point Contest
Damian Lillard isn’t playing this season while recovering from a torn Achilles, but his jumper was still sharp enough to win Saturday’s three-point contest at All-Star Weekend, writes Dan Woike of The Athletic. Appearing on an NBA court for the first time since he suffered the injury last April 27, the Trail Blazers guard sank 10 straight shots at one point during the final round to defeat Devin Booker and rookie Kon Knueppel.
It’s Lillard’s third victory in the past four years and it ties him with Larry Bird and Craig Hodges, the only other three-time champs in the history of the contest, which began in 1986.
“Every day I’m up early in the morning warming up and shooting the ball, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot, every style of shot you can shoot. I’m shooting them every day, hundreds of ’em,” Lillard said. “So I knew that this would not be an issue for me. I can’t say I knew that I would win ’cause you just never know. But I knew I would be able to be strong out there and have a chance. I came in confident.”
Lillard was a surprise inclusion in the field of eight contestants because of the injury and his long layoff. He jokingly told a league official that he was ready to go, and he later got the opportunity when another competitor dropped out.
“It felt like a game for me,” Lillard said. “Coming into it, I was like, I don’t know if you can compete harder at a three-point shootout, but I definitely cared more. I didn’t come in, ‘Oh, it is what it is.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m trying to win.’”
Woike notes that the favorite of the L.A. crowd was Heat guard Norman Powell, who spent three years with the Clippers before being traded last summer. Powell scored 23 points in the first round before being eliminated along with Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey and Bobby Portis.
“I just ran a little bit of time,” Powell said, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (subscription required). “I slowed myself down a little too much, because last year I was sped up and going through the course too fast, so kind of said I’m gonna calm down, relax. and take my time with my shots. But, in the end, I ran a little bit of time.”
Second-year Heat forward Keshad Johnson won the Slam Dunk Contest, defeating Carter Bryant in the finals. Jaxson Hayes and Jase Richardson were eliminated in the first round.
The Shooting Stars competition went to the Knicks‘ contingent of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Allan Houston, along with their celebrity passer, assistant coach Rick Brunson.
NBA Announces Eight Participants For Three-Point Contest
The NBA has announced the eight-player field for the 2026 three-point contest, which will take place on February 14 at 4:00 pm CT (Twitter link).
Here’s the full list of participants:
Devin Booker, Suns- Kon Knueppel, Hornets
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets
- Bobby Portis, Bucks
- Norman Powell, Heat
Lillard’s inclusion in the competition is a surprise, as the nine-time All-Star will miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon last April. The 35-year-old guard is a two-time winner of the three-point contest.
Booker is another former three-point contest champion, though he’s only shooting 30.7% from long distance this season, which represents a career low.
No. 4 overall pick Knueppel has a chance to become the first rookie to win the event, per the league. The former Duke standout has connected on 42.8% of his outside looks on high volume (7.8 attempts per game).
Portis is the only big man among the eight competitors. He has also been the most accurate three-point shooter in the field this season, converting 45.1% of his 4.3 attempts per game.
First-time All-Stars Murray (43.2% on 7.5 attempts per game) and Powell (39.3% on 7.2 attempts) are having strong seasons for their respective clubs. Mitchell (37.9% on 9.7 attempts) and Maxey (38.2% on 8.8 attempts) are the highest-volume three-point shooters in the field and are also the top two scorers.
Last year’s winner, Tyler Herro, is currently sidelined because of a rib injury. He declined an invitation to focus on his health over the All-Star break.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Henderson, Sharpe, Jazz
Injuries have been an issue all season long for the Nuggets, who are currently missing forward Aaron Gordon and swingman Peyton Watson, but the health-related news on Saturday was mostly positive. As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post details (subscription required), wing Cameron Johnson – who had been out since December 23 due to a bone bruise in his knee – returned and was effective vs. Chicago, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Star center Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, was listed as questionable to play on Saturday due to a mildly sprained ankle, but he suited up and dominated, racking up 22 points, 17 assists, and 14 rebounds — Denver outscored the Bulls by 36 points during Jokic’s 33 minutes on the floor en route to a 136-120 victory.
First-time All-Star Jamal Murray, who has been the Nuggets’ healthiest starter this season, exited to the locker room with about four minutes left in the game due to a hip issue, but he returned to the bench before the final whistle and didn’t seem concerned after the game about the apparent injury.
“He seemed confident that he was OK,” head coach David Adelman said, per Durando (Twitter link).
Finally, while two-way player Spencer Jones isn’t injured, he was inactive on Saturday for a second time in the past three games after having reached his 50-game limit. As Durando writes within an interesting profile of Jones for The Denver Post (subscription required), the team is preparing to move the second-year forward into one the two open spots on its 15-man roster, though it’s unclear when exactly that will happen.
Denver plays twice before the All-Star break – Monday vs. Cleveland and Wednesday vs. Memphis – and will need to promote Jones to a standard contract if it wants him available for those games.
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Making his season debut on Friday after recovering from a torn hamstring, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson had 11 points and nine assists in 21 minutes as the team snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory over Memphis. Teammate Jerami Grant said Henderson played “amazing” following his lengthy layoff, per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Interim head coach Tiago Splitter wasn’t quite as effusive with his praise, but suggested he was very encouraged by the third-year guard’s performance. “He was impressive on defense,” Splitter said, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “He brought energy, he pushed the pace, made some shots. Still was room for improvement, but just good to see him competing.”
- As the Trail Blazers got one guard back, they lost another to an injury. Shaedon Sharpe exited Friday’s win due to calf soreness and didn’t play on Saturday. Still, as Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report points out (via Twitter), there are a couple encouraging signs on Sharpe — he’s listed as having “soreness” rather than a strain, and the injury is to his left calf, not the right one, which he strained earlier in the season. That right calf injury cost him four games in November.
- Walker Kessler is out for the rest of the season and will enter restricted free agency this summer, so there’s no guarantee that he, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr. will ever share the court together for the Jazz. But that’s certainly the plan in Utah — head coach Will Hardy tells Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune that he’s excited about the size, rebounding, and rim-protecting ability of his new frontcourt trio and that he’s confident they’ll fit together offensively too. “We’ve played with Lauri as the quote-unquote ‘three’ before during my time here, and Jaren is a really talented player,” Hardy said. “I think it’s going to be good to get him in the building and around the team so that we can become and I can become more familiar with what his capabilities really are. You have all these preconceived notions of players when you coach against them, but they’re being asked to play within some type of a system wherever they are, and so it’ll be fun to explore those things with him and make him a part of the conversation in terms of what he thinks he can offer.”