Joel Embiid May Not Be Ready For Start Of Second Round
The Sixers aren’t sure if Joel Embiid will be available when their second-round playoff series begins, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
After Philadelphia wrapped up a sweep of the Nets on Saturday afternoon, coach Doc Rivers told reporters that Embiid is “probably 50 percent, at best” to be ready for the team’s next game, which will likely be played next weekend.
Embiid sat out Saturday’s contest with a right knee sprain that he suffered in Thursday’s Game 3 when he landed awkwardly while trying to block a shot. He was experiencing pain and swelling in the knee and underwent an MRI after the game.
“From my understanding, they checked his knee out right after the game because he was complaining about some soreness behind the knee,” Rivers said, “which is always a scary thing to hear about with players. There was swelling already, which is way too early, so we did the MRI. … It just feels like whenever they tell a coach we’re going to get an MRI, it doesn’t turn out well most of the time and this one did not.”
The Sixers won today without Embiid, but he’s obviously indispensable to their title hopes. He captured the league’s scoring title this season, averaging 33.1 PPG in 66 games, and is a finalist for MVP honors.
The knee sprain continues a troubling run of playoff injuries for Embiid. A year ago, he suffered a right orbital fracture and concussion that sidelined him for the first two games of the conference semifinals. He had a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee during the 2021 postseason and played with an ankle injury in the 2020 playoffs, although he didn’t miss any games. He also dealt with knee soreness in the 2019 playoffs and another orbital fracture in 2018.
“Obviously, clearly that’s on your mind,” Rivers responded when asked about his message for Embiid. “But as I said, this is another obstacle in the story that we’re going to write this year, and you’re going to be OK. It may take a minute, but this is just part of it. To me, I’m sure … he’s human, and goodness, this happens again. Let’s win, let’s get him back on the floor and let’s keep on our own journey.”
If Reed isn’t available for the start of round two, he will likely be replaced again in the starting lineup by Paul Reed, who delivered 10 points and 15 rebounds in today’s close-out game.
Joel Embiid Sustains Knee Sprain, Out For Game 4 Vs. Nets
Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent an MRI on Friday that revealed a right knee sprain, and he will be sidelined for Saturday’s Game 4 in Brooklyn, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
While it’s obviously unfortunate news that Embiid was injured, it doesn’t sound like he will be sidelined for very long. According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, the team is optimistic that Embiid might be able to return early next week, though his status for a possible Game 5 on Monday is unclear.
Embiid suffered the injury while contesting a layup by Cameron Johnson in the third quarter of Game 3, which the Sixers wound up winning to hold a 3-0 lead in their first-round series with the Nets. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer provides a Twitter video link of the play in question.
Game 3 was controversial, as James Harden was ejected for the first time in his career following a flagrant foul 2 on what seemed like a fairly normal basketball play, while Embiid only received a flagrant 1 earlier in the game for intentionally kicking up at Nic Claxton‘s groin when Claxton tried to step over him following a dunk. Harden called his ejection “unacceptable.”
The fact that the Sixers are up 3-0 gives them breathing room for Embiid’s absence. If they’re able to complete the sweep on Saturday, the earliest they would have to play again would be either April 29 or 30, and that’s assuming their possible second-round series gets moved up — otherwise, they’d play again on either May 1 or 2, per NBA.com.
Embiid is considered the leading candidate for his first MVP award after finishing as the runner-up each of the past two seasons. He led the league in points per game for the second consecutive season, but the injury bug has bitten him once again in the postseason.
Kawhi Leonard Ruled Out For Game 4 With Knee Sprain
Kawhi Leonard will miss his second consecutive game on Saturday due to a right knee sprain, as the Clippers have officially ruled him out of Game 4 of their first-round series against Phoenix, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Leonard reportedly sustained the injury in Game 1, but was able to play through it for the first two games of the series. However, he was ruled out of Thursday’s Game 3, which the Clippers wound up losing to fall behind in the series two games to one, and he will now miss Game 4 as well.
According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), there was optimism that Leonard might be able to return on Saturday, but obviously the team decided to be cautious with its best player. As Hollinger notes, the star forward will have multiple days of extra rest — Game 5 is set for Tuesday in Phoenix.
Leonard had been dominant through two games, averaging 34.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals on .545/.600/.882 shooting in 40.2 minutes.
Norman Powell (42 points on 15-of-23 shooting, five rebounds, three assists) and Russell Westbrook (30 points on 11-of-23 shooting, 12 assists, eight rebounds, three steals) had huge performances in his absence yesterday, but the shorthanded Clippers — who were already playing without Paul George due to his own right knee sprain — lost by a final score of 129-124.
Head coach Tyronn Lue went with an unorthodox lineup of five guards in the fourth quarter of Game 3 (Powell, Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Terance Mann and Bones Hyland), and while the group had a lot of success on offense, it was unable to slow down Devin Booker and defensive rebounding was a struggle. It will be interesting to see Lue if utilizes another extreme small-ball group or tinkers the lineup further for Game 4 with Leonard once again sidelined.
Amen, Ausar Thompson Declare For 2023 NBA Draft
Projected lottery picks Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson — identical twin brothers who played for the City Reapers of the Overtime Elite league — have declared for the 2023 NBA draft, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).
Amen is currently ranked No. 4 on ESPN’s big board ahead of June’s draft, while Ausar, who was born one minute after Amen, is ranked just behind him at No. 5.
Although they share many traits, including top-notch athleticism, terrific frames, and excellent defense, they also have some differences. According to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Amen is considered a lead guard due to his superior passing and ball-handling, while Ausar is more of a wing — he’s stronger, faster and a better shooter.
The Thompson twins are the latest draft early entrants to declare ahead of Sunday’s deadline. Projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama formally entered the draft on Friday as well.
Victor Wembanyama Officially Enters 2023 NBA Draft
Projected No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama has entered the 2023 NBA draft, he announced today during an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today (link via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony).
“Declaring for the draft…it’s something crazy I’m not realizing yet,” Wembanyama told ESPN. “I realized pretty young I wanted to play in the NBA but it becomes a reality more every day. I’m so lucky to have this dream within the reach of my hand.”
The announcement is a formality, since Wembanyama has long been considered the top prospect in the 2023 draft class. In fact, the 7’5″ French phenom has widely been viewed as the NBA’s best prospect since LeBron James entered the league 20 years ago.
Playing this season for the Metropolitans 92 in France as a 19-year-old, Wembanyama has averaged 21.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, and 2.3 assists in 32.2 minutes per game across 29 LNB Pro A appearances. He has led the club to a 19-10 record, good for second place in France’s top basketball league, and is the favorite to earn MVP honors.
Wembanyama’s combination of size and length, as well as his shooting and rim protecting ability, makes him a unique prospect whom every lottery team would love to build around.
The draft lottery, which will be known this year as the Wembanyama sweepstakes, will take place on May 16.
Raptors Part Ways With Nick Nurse
Nick Nurse won’t be returning to the Raptors next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is parting ways with its head coach.
A Raptors assistant under Dwane Casey beginning in 2013, Nurse was promoted to be Casey’s replacement in 2018 and has spent the last five seasons in that role. His NBA head coaching career got off to a fast start, as he led Toronto to its first-ever championship in 2019, then earned Coach of the Year honors in 2020.
Since 2020, however, Nurse’s Raptors have been up and down, winning just 27 games while playing their home games in Tampa in 2020/21 and then finishing with a disappointing .500 regular season record in ’22/23 before being eliminated in their first play-in game. Toronto won 48 games in ’21/22, but was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.
In total, Nurse had a 227-163 (.582) regular season record and a 25-16 (.610) playoff mark as the Raptors’ head coach.
While Nurse was a strong tactician and was willing to experiment with unique ideas and strategies, some key relationships with players, coaches, and management became strained during the 2022/23 season, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. After rumors about his future began to swirl in March, Nurse directly addressed those reports and provided no assurances about his long-term commitment to Toronto, telling reporters that he’d evaluate his future after the season.
Nurse’s contract had one more year left on it, but there was a belief that even if the Raptors wanted to bring him back, he wouldn’t be comfortable returning without an extension. He and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri met multiple times after the team’s season ended last week to discuss possible paths forward, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Those conversations presumably made it clear to the team that a breakup was in its best interest.
According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), the lack of development for bench players, overly taxing workloads for starters, and a desire for more structure and accountability were factors the Raptors considered in dismissing Nurse.
Ujiri will hold a media session later on Friday, where he’ll certainly be asked to discuss management’s thinking in more detail. For now, he has issued a statement in a press release confirming the decision to seek a new head coach — the Raptors framed the move as Nurse having been “relieved of his duties.”
“The decision to make a change like this is never arrived at easily or taken lightly, especially when it comes to a person who has been an integral part of this franchise’s most historic accomplishments, and who has been a steady leader through some of our team’s most challenging times,” Ujiri said. “As we reflect on Nick’s many successes, we thank him and his family, and wish them the best in future. This is an opportunity for us to reset, to refocus, to put into place the personnel and the players who will help us reach our goal of winning our next championship.”
As previously reported, former Celtics coach Ime Udoka is expected to receive serious consideration from the Raptors as Nurse’s replacement, tweets Wojnarowski. Udoka led Boston to the NBA Finals in his first year as head coach in 2021/22, but was suspended and then let go after reportedly having an extramarital affair with a member of the organization.
Hiring a new head coach will be just one important part of a busy offseason for Ujiri and the Raptors, who will likely have Jakob Poeltl, Fred VanVleet, and Gary Trent Jr. heading to unrestricted free agency.
Meanwhile, despite no longer coaching Canada’s only NBA club, Nurse will continue to lead the country’s national team through at least the 2024 Olympics, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.
As for Nurse’s next NBA job, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that he’s expected to become a “prominent” candidate in the Rockets‘ head coaching search, which has also been previously reported.
Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon Named Sixth Man Of The Year
Celtics reserve combo guard Malcolm Brogdon has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for 2022/23, the league announced on Thursday (Twitter link).
In his first season with the Celtics following a 2022 trade from Indiana, Brogdon averaged 14.9 PPG on .484/.444/.870 shooting splits. Across 67 games, the 6’5″ guard also chipped in 4.2 RPG, 3.7 APG and 0.7 SPG, and was a critical component on both sides of the ball during Boston’s 57-25 season.
Brogdon is the first Celtic to win the honor since eventual Hall of Fame center Bill Walton did so for the 1986 title team, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Brogdon’s Celtics are currently leading the Hawks 2-0 in their ongoing first-round playoff series.
As the NBA announced last week, the three finalists for the honor were Brogdon, Bucks backup big man Bobby Portis, and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley. Each would have been a first-time winner.
According to the NBA, Quickley was the runner-up in Sixth Man voting over Portis, Clippers guard Norman Powell and Kings guard Malik Monk. Brogdon received 60 first-place votes and 408 overall points, while Quickley got 34 first-place votes and 326 points. Portis earned the remaining six first-place votes and 97 points.
A total of 10 players earned at least one vote.
Earlier this week, All-Star Grizzlies power forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was honored as the NBA’s first-ever Clutch Player of the Year, and his Sacramento head coach Mike Brown won his second Coach of the Year award.
A global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters voted on all of this season’s awards recipients. The Rookie of the Year, MVP and Executive of the Year have yet to be named.
Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Out For Game 3 With Knee Sprain
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out for Thursday’s Game 3 against the Suns due to a right knee sprain, a source tells ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link). The team has confirmed the news (via Twitter).
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Leonard initially sustained the sprain during Game 1 on Sunday and played through it during Tuesday’s Game 2. He is considered day-to-day for Saturday’s Game 4, and the injury is not related to Leonard’s ACL tear from 2021, Wojnarowski adds.
The Clippers have already been playing without Paul George due to his own right knee sprain, though that injury is far more severe than Leonard’s seems to be. George will likely miss the entire first-round matchup with Phoenix.
The series has been quite competitive thus far, with the Clippers taking Game 1 in Phoenix before the Suns evened it at one game apiece in Game 2. Obviously, losing Leonard for at least Game 3 will have a huge impact, as he has been the best player in the series through two games, averaging 34.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals on .545/.600/.882 shooting in 40.2 minutes.
It’s not realistic to replace that type of production with a single player, so the Clippers will need several contributors to step up on both ends of the court to win tonight. Terance Mann, Nicolas Batum, and Norman Powell are a few of the candidates for increased playing time.
James Harden Continues To Be Linked To Rockets
Sixers guard James Harden has a $35.64MM player option for 2023/24, which means he could be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t exercise it. How far Philadelphia advances in the playoffs could end up determining whether or not he stays with the team or returns to the Rockets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his podcast (hat tip to RealGM).
“James Harden’s future is very unclear in Philadelphia,” Wojnarowski said. “Houston is very much in play for him. And I think a lot may depend on [whether the Sixers] make a run and win and it’s easy to pay him long-term big money, or he just wants to be back in Houston. Win or lose he goes, or it’s dependent on the team’s success.”
Wojnarowski first reported in late December that Harden and his camp were seriously mulling a free agency return to Houston, where he won an MVP in 2017/18 and earned eight of his 10 All-Star appearances. Another report from March 1 indicated that the Rockets planned to aggressively pursue the 33-year-old, who led the league in assists per game this season (10.7).
Harden’s departure is far from a foregone conclusion. He has spoken multiple times about his desire to win a championship, and the Sixers certainly give him a better opportunity for that than the rebuilding Rockets.
Still, if the Sixers lose a possible second-round matchup with the Celtics, there’s a widespread belief that significant changes could be coming to Philadelphia in the offseason, according to Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Mike Brown Named Coach Of The Year
After leading the Kings to the third seed in the West and snapping a 16-year playoff drought in his first season in Sacramento, Mike Brown has been honored as the NBA’s Coach of The Year, the team announced (via Twitter).
Brown, who was also named Coach of the Year in 2009, will be awarded the first-ever Red Auerbach Trophy. He received all 100 first-place votes, marking the first time in league history that the award has been unanimous.
The Thunder‘s Mark Daigneault finished second with 48 second-place votes and 20 third-place votes, while first-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was third with 18 second-place votes and 23 third-place votes.
The Cavaliers‘ J.B. Bickerstaff and the Nuggets‘ Michael Malone rounded out the top five, while nine other head coaches received at least one vote.
When the Kings hired him last year, Brown said he wanted to do more than just get the team into the postseason. His goal was to build a team that could win in the playoffs and possibly challenge for an NBA title.
Brown was able to do that quickly, unlocking the potential of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis on one of the league’s most exciting teams. Sacramento led the league with 120.7 points per game while posting a 48-34 record.
Brown is the first Sacramento coach to win the honor and the third in the history of the franchise, according to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 (Twitter link). The others were Phil Johnson in 1975 and Cotton Fitzsimmons in 1979.