Pacific Notes: Crowder, Beal, Podziemski, Knecht, Reddish
Jae Crowder went from being out of the league at the beginning of the week to starting for the Kings on Wednesday. After signing with the team earlier in the day, Crowder was immediately inserted into the lineup. The veteran forward played 27 minutes and contributed eight points, four rebounds and a steal as Sacramento defeated Minnesota to snap a four-game losing streak.
“He knows what it takes to win,” coach Mike Brown told Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee. “Not only that, he’s a grown a– man, and he can guard fours, he can guard fives. If somebody gets going that’s in that realm, he ain’t going to back down. He’s going to fight that much harder. You saw it tonight. You’re not going to stop Julius Randle, but you got to fight him.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Bradley Beal had another injury setback on Wednesday. The Suns wing left their game midway through the fourth quarter with left calf and ankle soreness. Beal was playing just his second game since a five-game absence due to a calf strain. “He had a couple different times where he stepped on somebody’s foot,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said, per David Brandt of The Associated Press. “We’ll hope for the best, but I have no update right now.”
- Warriors second-year guard Brandin Podziemski has been seeking guidance from mental coach Dr. Graig Chow, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Podziemski has been battling a shooting slump, resulting in reduced playing time. He has shown signs of coming out of his funk, including a 12-point, five-assist performance against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. “I think I’ve let the mental piece of it get to me a little bit,” Podziemski said. “Early on, when I was struggling, the first five, 10 games, I thought it was more physical. Like maybe I wasn’t putting enough into it. But everybody around here knows I’m one of, if not, the hardest workers and I put a lot into it. So I just thought outside the box. ‘Mentally, how can I get to where I want to get to?’ … And Dr. (Chow) has helped, obviously, a lot of people around here. And it doesn’t hurt to try and ask him. So he helped me give me a lot of different things that help me be my authentic self.”
- Lakers coach JJ Redick tweaked his lineup on Wednesday, reinserting rookie Dalton Knecht and moving Cam Reddish to the bench. Knecht scored a game-high 20 points as Los Angeles cruised past San Antonio to end a two-game slide. “I’m very proud of our group,” Redick said, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “The response was great. And it’s funny because it’s literally what I talked about with them before the game. It’s just you got to let go of the past. You got to let go of the recent past and you got to get on to the next thing. And like they’ve done already on several occasions, they’ve responded.”
Pacific Notes: LeBron, Davis, Suns, Warriors, Curry
An unexpected development for the slumping Lakers has been losing the minutes when their two stars are on the court together, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Going into Tuesday night, L.A. was being outscored by 5.5 points per 100 possessions in the 365 minutes that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both in the game.
There are several glaring issues with the James-Davis lineups, Price adds. No matter who else is paired with them, the groups haven’t rebounded well or forced enough turnovers, and they’re letting opponents shoot high percentages from the field.
The inability to gain an advantage when their best players are sharing the court has contributed to the Lakers’ recent slowdown after a 10-4 start, but coach J.J. Redick doesn’t consider it to be a cause for alarm.
“Not concerned, not concerned at all,” Redick said. “It’s more diving deeper into the why and trying to self-correct that.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Tuesday’s return of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal has the Suns looking like an elite team again, observes Doug Haller of The Athletic. Durant and Beal sparked a 27-point rout of the Lakers in an NBA Cup game and provided a reminder of how good the team looked during its 8-1 start to the season. “I just wanted to be out there with the guys,” said Durant, who missed seven games with a strained left calf. “Wanted to travel. When you’re injured, you’re still a part of the team, you’re still on the roster, but there’s a level of separation you have (with guys who are playing). I just wanted to be part of the group again.”
- Defense has become an issue for the Warriors in their last two games, notes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. They let a 17-point second half lead slip away in Saturday’s loss to San Antonio, then squandered an 18-point lead Monday against Brooklyn. The Warriors ranked 25th in team defense in those two games and allowed an atrocious 154.2 points per 100 possessions in the combined fourth quarters. Defensive issues were the focus of Tuesday’s practice. “Our communication wasn’t good and we didn’t rotate and trap the box how we normally would,” Kevon Looney said of Monday’s game. “(Assistant coach and defensive coordinator Jerry Stackhouse) talks about us being early, being aggressive and I think we were a half-second late on everything.”
- After being listed as questionable on Tuesday, Warriors guard Stephen Curry will sit out tonight’s game against Oklahoma City with bilateral knee pain, Gordon adds in a separate story. This will be Curry’s fourth missed game of the season, and Golden State has won the first three.
Injury Notes: Nets, Giannis, Morant, Poole, Hayes
There’s good news and bad news for the Nets on their latest injury report, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays. Leading scorer Cam Thomas has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game in Phoenix due to left hamstring soreness. Thomas, who has also dealt with an illness and a sore back as of late, was removed in the third quarter on Monday vs. Golden State to “protect him from himself,” in the words of head coach Jordi Fernandez.
Big man Noah Clowney will join Thomas on the sidelines, having been ruled out for a second straight game due to a left ankle sprain. Brooklyn has yet to provide an update on the results of an MRI Clowney underwent on his injured ankle, Lewis notes.
A banged-up Nets team could get some reinforcements soon, however. According to Lewis, Nic Claxton (lower back soreness), Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain), and Cameron Johnson (right ankle sprain) are all considered questionable to play on Wednesday. Claxton and Finney-Smith each missed Monday’s game, while Johnson exited in the first half.
Ben Simmons is also off the injury report after sitting out on Monday due to lower back injury management.
We have a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Originally listed as probable due to a left calf strain, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was a late scratch vs. Miami on Tuesday due to swelling in his left knee, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As Owczarski notes, Antetokounmpo had surgery on that knee during the summer of 2023.
- Grizzlies guard Ja Morant played on Monday for the first time since November 6, but he has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game vs. Detroit due to a new injury, a left knee contusion, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Morant downplayed the ailment after the game on Monday: “A little knee to knee. Everybody know I get back up every time. … Quick little stinger, get out the way and just take care of it now.”
- Wizards guard Jordan Poole missed a second straight game on Tuesday due to left hip flexor soreness, per the team (Twitter link). Poole had initially been listed as questionable, so it sounds as if the issue is a day-to-day one rather than one that will keep him sidelined for an extended period.
- In his first game back following a two-week absence due to a right ankle sprain, Lakers center Jaxson Hayes re-aggravated that same ankle injury during the final minute of Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix. He had to be helped to the locker room, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter links), who says the team plans to provide an update on Hayes on Wednesday afternoon.
And-Ones: D-Lo, Lithuania, 2025 Draft, Awards, Fall
Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell recently confirmed rumors that he’d have interest in playing for the Lithuanian national team. Addressing those reports on Tuesday, however, the Lithuanian Basketball Federation announced that it doesn’t intend to initiate the naturalization process for Russell, citing both legal and basketball reasons.
Russell’s wife is of Lithuanian descent, but today’s statement from the Lithuanian Basketball Federation indicated that there are no grounds for Russell himself, as a foreigner, to be granted citizenship by exception, which can only be approved by the President of Lithuania.
As BasketNews.com notes, Lithuanian Basketball Federation president Mindaugas Balciunas added that national team head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis and general manager Linas Kleiza, “aim to achieve success using our own talent pool.” The naturalized slot on the club’s roster is currently held by Ignas Brazdeikis, who was born in Lithuania but moved to North America as a child, represented Canada in youth international competitions, and had his Lithuanian citizenship restored in 2021.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Looking ahead to the 2025 NBA draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN identifies 10 international prospects worth knowing, starting with French point guard Nolan Traore, a projected top-10 pick, and Spanish wing Hugo Gonzalez, a lottery candidate. Israeli guard Ben Saraf, French forward Noa Essengue, and Croatian forward Michael Ruzic are among the other candidates to be first-round picks, according to Givony.
- Also at ESPN.com, Tim Bontemps shares his top takeaways from the first month of the 2024/25 NBA season, noting how important depth has been for many of this fall’s top teams, and ESPN’s NBA insiders make their early award picks, selecting Nikola Jokic (MVP), Jared McCain (Rookie of the Year), and Payton Pritchard (Sixth Man of the Year) as a few of their first-month winners.
- Former NBA big man Tacko Fall has officially finalized a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers that will run through the 2025/26 season, per the team. A previous report indicated that Fall would join the Breakers to replace Freddie Gillespie, who left Australia’s National Basketball League to play in the EuroLeague.
Western Notes: Lakers, Vassell, Thompson, Malone
The Lakers are near the bottom of the league in defensive field goal percentage, with opponents shooting 48.5% against them. They know they need to improve their defense and rebounding to be a true contender. The Lakers face Phoenix in an NBA Cup matchup on Tuesday.
“Our personnel isn’t, you know, I think if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, isn’t the best defensively,” Austin Reaves told Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “Obviously we’ve got AD (Anthony Davis). That covers up a lot. But we have to be physical out on the perimeter and especially when boxing out. We got to be a better defensive rebounding team and transition as well.”
We have more Western Conference news:
- The Spurs have officially listed Devin Vassell (left knee bone bruise) as out for Tuesday at Utah, according to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). It’s not a cause for concern, as he’s expected to return Wednesday against the Lakers. Vassell hasn’t played since Nov. 15.
- Mavericks guard Klay Thompson missed his first game this season on Monday due to left foot plantar fascia, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets. Thompson is averaging 13.2 points per game in 17 starts for Dallas this season. Without Thompson and Luka Doncic, the Mavs still defeated Atlanta, 129-119.
- Michael Malone passed Doug Moe as the winningest coach in Nuggets history with his 433rd regular-season victory on Saturday as his team defeated the Lakers. Malone reached that win total in 56 fewer games than Moe, according to the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando.
Injury Notes: Monk, Sixers, Hayes, Dick, Hornets, Ball
Kings guard Malik Monk has been unavailable since November 10 due to a right ankle sprain, but it sounds like he could be back in action on Monday. Sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link) that Monk will go through pre-game warm-ups with the intention of playing vs. Oklahoma City.
Monk has officially been listed as questionable to suit up, notes Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 in Sacramento (Twitter link).
It would provide the Kings’ offense with a much-needed jolt if Monk is able to return. The team, which had a 115.2 offensive rating (ninth in the NBA) and a 6-4 record through its first 10 games, has posted a 111.9 mark (18th) and gone 2-5 with Monk inactive.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Paul George (knee bone bruise) did some on-court work over the weekend and the swelling has gone down in Joel Embiid‘s left knee, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Sunday (Twitter link via Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports). While Nurse said both stars are making progress, it remains to be seen whether either will be available on Wednesday vs. Houston.
- Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, who has been on the shelf since November 10 due to a left ankle sprain, has been listed as probable to play on Tuesday vs. Phoenix and said he “definitely” expects to suit up, according to Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter links).
- Second-year wing Gradey Dick had appeared in the Raptors‘ first 17 games this season, emerging as one of their go-to scoring options, but he’ll be sidelined on Monday vs. Detroit due to a left calf strain, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. It’s unclear how much time Dick might miss beyond Monday as a result of the injury.
- The Hornets assigned injured centers Mark Williams (left foot tendon strain) and Nick Richards (rib fracture) to the G League to practice with the Greensboro Swarm on Monday, according to the team (Twitter link). That’s a sign that both big men are getting close to returning. Williams has yet to make his season debut, while Richards has been out since November 1.
- Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has been upgraded to doubtful for Tuesday’s contest vs. the Wizards, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). That’s the first time Ball has been listed as anything besides “out” since spraining his right wrist on October 28, so it appears his return isn’t far off.
California Notes: Coffey, Moody, Curry, Wiggins, Lakers
After spending nearly three full seasons on two-way deals, Clippers guard Amir Coffey graduated to a regular roster role with the team late in the 2021/22 season, then inked a three-year, $11MM deal that summer. This year, Coffey has emerged as a critical role player on an injury-laden L.A. club, including starting multiple recent games.
As Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes, Coffey has been enjoying his bigger role this season. He’s averaging a career-best 10.1 points per game on .496/.450/.853 shooting, while also contributing 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.5 steals per contest.
“It felt good,” Coffey said of a Wednesday start in which he scored 18 points while shooting 6-of-10 from the field. “I try not to get into minutes-wise or coming off the bench or starting. I just try to do my job when my name is called, so I got it going early tonight.”
Coffey reflected on his journey from being a borderline NBA player on a tenuous two-way contract to a real contributor on a 10-7 club.
“The G League is a grind, it’s a lot,” Coffey said. “So, just getting over that hump and getting to this point I’m in now, it means a lot. Like you said, the unseen hours – it’s thousands of ’em – just working on your game every day, trying to get better every summer and to end up in a position. This is a blessing.”
There’s more out of California:
- Warriors guard Moses Moody has learned how to best extract wisdom out of All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry, he tells Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “Steph is Steph,” Moody said. “He’s teaching and coaching with all the gems that he gives on the plane and in the locker room in conversations. He’s not going to offer it up for no reason if you don’t want it. He’s not going to force anything on you. But if you go ask him, he’ll open up and tell you whatever you want to hear. He’s smart. He knows what he’s doing in all aspects of life.” Moody inked a three-year, $39MM rookie scale contract extension with the Warriors last month that will kick in next season.
- Early signs seem to point to a bounce-back season for Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. An extended illness to his father, former NBA wing Mitchell Wiggins, forced Andrew to miss time in each of the last two seasons, and appeared to somewhat impact his rhythm on the court. Mitchell passed in September at 64. “The last couple of years have been very tough on him on a personal level,” head coach Steve Kerr said of Andrew. “I think he has some peace of mind. He came into camp in great shape.” Wiggins seems to have regained his perimeter defensive acumen, plus his scoring upside. Across 14 games this season for the West’s top-seeded Warriors, Wiggins is averaging 17.4 points per game on .477/.408/.770 shooting.
- Lakers forward Rui Hachimura returned to the starting lineup after a four-game injury absence due to a left ankle sprain, but it did nothing to save L.A. from the opponent that has been its Achilles heel the last several years, the Nuggets, on Saturday, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles led at halftime, but collapsed in the third frame. “We were in a good rhythm and then we kind of relaxed for some reason,” Hachimura said. “And the third quarter, they just played harder. And we didn’t fight back. That was the game.” Denver decimated Los Angeles at home, 127-102. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Nuggets have won 12 of their past 13 encounters with the Lakers, which includes two playoff meetings in successive seasons.
International Notes: Lee, Songaila, D-Lo, Walker
Former NBA guard Saben Lee continues to bounce back and forth between European teams, with Manisa Basket officially confirming today that Lee has rejoined the Turkish club (Twitter link).
Lee, who appeared in 134 regular season games for the Pistons, Sixers, and Suns from 2020-24, signed with Manisa Basket this past offseason, but left last month to join Maccabi Tel Aviv. As Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com explains, Lee signed with the Israeli club under the condition that he would live and practice in Belgrade, Serbia, where Maccabi has been playing its EuroLeague games.
According to Urbonas, Lee felt pressured to move to Israel, where the team continues to play its domestic league contests, but wasn’t comfortable doing so due to the war in the region. Maccabi, meanwhile, was concerned that the guard’s absence from practices was negatively impacting the team’s rhythm. It led to the two sides parting ways and Lee returning to a Manisa club he was already familiar with.
We have a few more notes from around the international basketball world:
- Lee isn’t the only Manisa Basket newcomer. According to Urbonas at BasketNews.com, former NBA forward/center Darius Songaila is expected to join Manisa’s coaching staff. Songaila, who played in the NBA and Europe from 2002-15, was a Spurs staffer from 2018-24, spending four of those seasons as an assistant coach on Gregg Popovich‘s staff.
- Could D’Angelo Russell represent Lithuania in international basketball competition? After a report from Rokas Pakenas of 15min.lt suggested that Russell had informed the Lithuanian Basketball Federation of his interest, the Lakers guard posted an Instagram comment that said “Let’s make it happen.” As Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops notes, Russell’s wife is of Lithuanian descent, so there’s a possible path for the 28-year-old to become a naturalized citizen.
- Veteran guard Lonnie Walker is beginning to hit his stride overseas, racking up 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting for Zalgiris Kaunas on Friday in a win over reigning EuroLeague champions Panathinaikos. After the game, Walker – whose contract includes an NBA out until February – praised one of his opponents, according to Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.com. “Kendrick Nunn has been an extreme inspiration and motivation for me,” Walker said of the Panathinaikos star and his former Lakers teammate. “I love that guy to death. I’ve been with him since the Lakers, I’ve known him way before the Lakers. Somehow, the world continues to give us a full circle moment for a reason. He’s my guy, my brother, and I continue to watch what he does and imitate how he’s doing it in the EuroLeague. I want to follow that route as well.”
Warriors Become First Team To Clinch NBA Cup Quarterfinal Berth
The Warriors are now 3-0 in NBA Cup games, making them the first team to clinch a spot in the knockout round of the in-season tournament. As the NBA announced late on Friday night after Golden State beat New Orleans and Dallas beat Denver (Twitter link), the Warriors have won West Group C, officially securing a quarterfinal berth for December.
The 3-0 Warriors are one game ahead of the 2-1 Mavericks in the NBA Cup standings, while no other team in their group has more than one victory so far. That means the Mavs are the only West Group C club with a chance to match Golden State’s win total, and the Dubs would hold the tiebreaker in that scenario as a result of beating Dallas last Tuesday in their NBA Cup opener.
The winners of the six groups advance to the eight-team knockout round, along with one “wild card” from each conference. The Mavs have a good chance to be that wild card team in the West if they defeat Memphis on December 3, since their +41 point differential in NBA Cup contests is the second-best mark in the league. Point differential is the second tiebreaker after head-to-head results.
The Rockets (Group A) and Lakers (Group B) are the only two other Western Conference teams who are undefeated in NBA Cup play, putting them in the driver’s seat to join the Warriors in the quarterfinals if they can keep winning.
Over in the East, the Hawks (2-1) could clinch Group C with a win over Cleveland next Friday, assuming the Bulls lose at least one of their two remaining NBA Cup games. If Atlanta loses, a Celtics victory over Chicago on Friday would secure the group for Boston. There are still two undefeated teams apiece in East Group A (Magic, Knicks) and East Group B (Bucks, Pistons).
Fischer’s Latest: Melton, Warriors, P. Williams, Lakers, Blazers, More
With De’Anthony Melton out for the season, his $12.8MM expiring contract should become a useful trade chip for the Warriors, Jake Fischer said on Friday in his latest Bleacher Report live stream (video link). As Fischer acknowledges, Melton’s expiring money and Non-Bird rights will have little value on their own, but attaching draft picks or players to him could create an attractive outgoing trade package for Golden State.
Discussing what kind of player Golden State may target with that sort of package, Fischer suggests a frontcourt addition is a possibility. The Warriors had interest in Kelly Olynyk at last season’s deadline and believe he’d be a good fit for their system, according to Fischer, who adds that the club may also consider more of a rim-running big man.
However, Fischer wouldn’t be surprised if the Warriors seek out a more direct replacement for Melton. As he explains, Golden State was high on the veteran guard not only for his fit next to Stephen Curry but because he gave the team a second lockdown point-of-attack defender to complement Andrew Wiggins. Finding another player who could fill that role could be a priority for the front office.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- The Bulls are “more willing than ever” to discuss forward Patrick Williams in a trade, says Fischer (video link). Williams is in the first season of a five-year, $90MM deal and continues to experience foot pain following a February surgery, so his value would likely be limited at the moment, but that could change if he shows he’s healthy and begins to produce more consistently.
- Fischer continues to hear that the Lakers are scouring the market for a center, with Jonas Valanciunas‘ name still coming up frequently. The Wizards‘ big man is “definitely available for trade,” Fischer says (video link).
- While Fischer also brought up Robert Williams as a possible option for the Lakers, he says he has talked to people around the league recently, including scouts, who believe the Trail Blazers may be more inclined to trade Deandre Ayton than Williams at this season’s trade deadline. Given that Ayton’s cap hit is nearly three times higher than Williams’, the Blazers may have a hard time extracting much of value for the former No. 1 overall pick.
- Fischer suggests there are NBA veterans currently playing overseas or for national teams who will soon be looking to sign G League contracts (video link). Robert Covington, currently representing Team USA in AmeriCup qualifiers, is one player to watch, Fischer reports. There also may be some players returning stateside from the Chinese Basketball Association, since several who signed in China have received month-to-month contracts.
- Writing for Marc Stein’s Substack, Fischer shared some ideas for in-season tournaments that the NBA considered before settling on the current format. One idea on the league’s “long list of half-baked ideas,” according to Fischer, was a 32-team single elimination event that would’ve included two marquee teams from Europe.