Blazers, Grizzlies To Meet For Play-In Tournament
The Trail Blazers, the West’s eighth seed, will now face off against the ninth-seeded Grizzlies in the first of two potential play-in tournament games on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
After an injury-plagued year, the Trail Blazers rode an impressive showing during their eight Orlando seeding games to a play-in tournament appearance as the West’s No. 8 seed. Portland defeated the Nets in a 134-133 nail-biter on Thursday, bringing the club’s Disney World record to 6-2.
The Blazers’ lone All-Star, Damian Lillard, poured in 42 points on Thursday and averaged a blistering 37.6 PPG during the eight seeding games, as the team wrapped up its cumulative regular season with a 35-39 finish
Despite a lackluster 2-6 showing in the seeding games, the Grizzlies had enough of a head start going into the restart to secure a play-in tournament berth, finishing the season with a 34-39 record.
Probable Rookie of the Year Ja Morant and starting center Jonas Valanciunas each posted triple doubles in a 119-106 vanquishing of the Bucks today. A one-game suspension prevented Milwaukee All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo from suiting up against Memphis.
Per new rules developed for the NBA’s Orlando restart, Portland will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 8 seed and will need to win just one game against Memphis to advance to a first-round playoff matchup against the top-seeded Lakers next week.
If the No. 9 Grizzlies win on Saturday, there would be a second play-in game on Sunday between the two clubs. The winner of that second contest would face off against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and company in a best-of-seven first round series.
Lillard has been the standout for the Trail Blazers, but center Jusuf Nurkic and power forward Zach Collins have proven to be crucial contributors upon returning from season-long injuries. Additionally, despite their limitations on defense, shooting guard CJ McCollum and small forward Carmelo Anthony will be tough covers for the Grizzlies’ young wings.
Morant will need to bear the brunt of Memphis’ offensive burden after Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a season-ending meniscus tear last week. The Grizzlies will also be without Justise Winslow (hip) for the rest of the season and didn’t have backup point guard Tyus Jones (knee) available during the seeding games.
Despite being the only team to win all eight of its Disney World seeding games, the Suns narrowly missed out on an opportunity to make the play-in tournament. Phoenix finished its season with a 34-39 record thanks to a 128-102 drubbing of the Mavericks on Thursday. All-Star Suns guard Devin Booker and promising second-year center Deandre Ayton both impressed, complemented by a stellar young roster.
The Grizzlies, having won three of four games against the Suns during the regular season, had the tiebreaker edge over Phoenix, earning the right to compete in this weekend’s play-in.
The Spurs, meanwhile, missed the postseason for the first time since 1997, ending a 22-year playoff run that was easily the NBA’s longest active streak. San Antonio entered the restart planning to focus more on player development than on making the postseason, but played well, posting a 5-3 summer record. Head coach Gregg Popovich said after Thursday’s finale that he was very pleased with his club’s performance during the restart, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
“I’m more excited about this than anything you guys are talking about right now, successes or non-successes, because the success for streaks or whatever the hell you’re talking about ended,” Popovich said. “I could care less about that. I’m thrilled at the way they played here.”
Once either the Trail Blazers or Grizzlies win the play-in tournament, all eight first-round playoff matchups will be finalized. Details on the other seven series can be found right here.
The Suns, Spurs, and the loser of the play-in tournament will be part of the NBA’s draft lottery next Thursday, sorted by their records as of March 11. That means Phoenix will be 10th in the lottery standings, San Antonio will be 11th, and the Portland/Memphis loser will be 14th.
Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ty Lue Expected To Be Popular Head Coaching Candidate
Tyronn Lue hasn’t been an NBA head coach since early in the 2018/19 season, when he was let go by the Cavaliers, but it sounds as if it may just be a matter of time before he returns to that role with a new team. Multiple league executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that they expect Lue to be a leading candidate for head coaching jobs that may open this offseason.
Lue, who is currently the lead assistant on Doc Rivers‘ Clippers staff, has been identified as a probable candidate for the Nets, who expect to formally open a coaching search when their season ends. He’s also viewed as a potential target for the Pelicans if they decide to move on from Alvin Gentry, in part due to his connection to David Griffin.
In addition to mentioning Brooklyn and New Orleans, Mannix identifies the Rockets and Sixers as other teams that could make coaching changes, though he doesn’t explicitly say that either club would have Lue on its wish list.
Of course, given the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s possible fewer NBA teams than usual will make offseason coaching changes, as they look to avoid paying two coaches at once. In that scenario, Lue’s options figure to be more limited.
Having coached the Cavaliers for two full seasons and parts of two others, Lue compiled a 128-83 (.607) regular season record and a 41-20 (.672) mark in the playoffs, including an NBA title in 2016. Cleveland is already on its third head coach (Larry Drew, John Beilein, J.B. Bickerstaff) since firing Lue following his 0-6 start in ’18/19.
Rockets Expect Westbrook To Miss Start Of Postseason
The Rockets expect Russell Westbrook – who was diagnosed on Wednesday with a strained right quad – to miss at least “the first few games” of their first-round playoff series, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
So far, the team has offered few concrete updates on Westbrook, only indicating that it will reevaluate his quad injury before the postseason begins next week. However, a source with knowledge of the Rockets’ thinking told Feigen on Thursday that the All-Star guard will at least miss the start of the playoffs and could be out longer than that.
It’s bad news for the Rockets, who are locked into a first-round matchup against Westbrook’s old team, the Thunder. The series promised a fascinating backcourt duel, with Westbrook, James Harden, and Eric Gordon going up against the Oklahoma City trio of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schröder.
However, it sounds like Houston will have to make do without Westbrook for at least the first couple games of that series, forcing Harden, Gordon, and backup guards Austin Rivers and Ben McLemore to take on increased responsibilities.
Westbrook’s return timeline will depend on how he responds to treatment, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Hopefully, by the time the Rockets/Thunder series gets underway next Monday or Tuesday, we’ll have a better sense of when the former MVP might be able to return to the lineup.
Seven Of Eight First-Round Playoff Matchups Set
AUGUST 13: Following wins by the Thunder and Clippers on Wednesday night, three Western Conference first-round matchups have now been set, with only the Lakers still awaiting their opponent. Those first-round series are as follows:
- Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Play-in winner (8)
- Los Angeles Clippers (2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7)
- Denver Nuggets (3) vs. Utah Jazz (6)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (4/5) vs. Houston Rockets (4/5)
We’ll know by the end of Thursday which two teams out of the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, Suns, and Spurs will be participating in the play-in tournament in the West, but it may be Sunday before the Lakers know their first-round opponent.
AUGUST 12: As a result of the Pacers’ 108-104 win over Houston this afternoon, the four Eastern Conference matchups for the first round of the postseason have been set. They are as follows:
- Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Orlando Magic (8)
- Toronto Raptors (2) vs. Brooklyn Nets (7)
- Boston Celtics (3) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (6)
- Miami Heat (4/5) vs. Indiana Pacers (4/5)
Typically, the Heat and Pacers would be continuing to fight for home court advantage in their series, but the unusual nature of this season means claiming the No. 4 seed instead of No. 5 won’t make much of a difference.
Despite the fact that several teams were within two or three games of one another in the standings when the restart began – or were even tied, like the Pacers and Sixers – the first-round matchups in the East look exactly the same as they did when the season was suspended on March 11.
Over in the West, a small number of teams – including the No. 1 Lakers – are locked into their playoff spots, but most matchups remain up in the air. For now, the most likely pairings are Lakers/play-in winner, Clippers/Mavericks, Nuggets/Jazz, and Rockets/Thunder, but one or more of those could change by Friday.
NBA Suspends Giannis For Final Seeding Game
After head-butting Wizards big man Moritz Wagner yesterday, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended by the NBA for the team’s regular season finale tomorrow against the Grizzlies, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Antetokounmpo, the likely 2019/20 NBA MVP, head-butted Wagner with 8:50 left to play in the game’s second quarter. He was immediately ejected, with a suspension for his conduct seemingly inevitable. The Bucks would go on to tally a win anyway. Milwaukee’s 126-113 victory marked the Wizards’ seventh consecutive loss in Orlando. Washington is currently winless during the NBA restart.
The 56-16 Bucks have the best record in the NBA, and have clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But the result of Thursday’s game could have significant implications for other teams.
The 33-39 Grizzlies will almost certainly need to win their bout against the Bucks to qualify for this weekend’s play-in tournament between the West’s eighth and ninth seeds, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN notes (Twitter link). Memphis could also clinch a play-in tournament appearance if both the 33-39 Suns and 32-38 Spurs lose their final seeding games, as Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Given how hot those teams have been though, the Grizzlies can’t afford to count on that.
If the 34-39 Trail Blazers lose their final seeding game tomorrow against the Nets, the Grizzlies would secure the eighth seed with a win, and would need to win just one of the two play-in games to qualify for a first-round playoff matchup against the top-seeded Lakers. The Grizzlies would be the ninth seed if they and the Blazers win, but as the ninth seed they would need to win both play-in games to advance.
A Grizzlies loss tomorrow to an Antetokounmpo-free Bucks squad would likely eliminate Memphis from the playoffs. This could have interesting draft implications for the Celtics, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe reminds us (Twitter link). Boston owns the Grizzlies’ first-round draft pick if it falls outside the top six picks this season, before becoming completely unprotected in 2021.
Were Memphis to fall into the draft lottery for 2020, the team would have a slim chance at a pick within the top six. If the Grizzlies get lucky in the lottery, the Celtics would instead receive the team’s unprotected 2021 first-round pick. A play-in series loss would also theoretically keep the Grizzlies’ chances at retaining their own 2020 pick alive.
Celtics Extend Brad Stevens
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, currently in the midst of his seventh season with the club, isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The team has announced today that it has extended Stevens’s contract. The specifics of the new deal have not been divulged.
After leading Butler to two NCAA Finals games, Stevens was brought on board by Celtics president Danny Ainge to replace Doc Rivers in 2013, initially signing a six-year, $22MM deal. The team extended its head coach’s initial contract in 2016.
Stevens sports a 318-245 (.565) regular season record for Boston. He has led the club to six playoff appearances during his seven seasons, including two runs to the Eastern Conference Finals. This season’s team is locked into the third seed in the East with a 48-23 record. The club has one Orlando seeding game left ahead of the 2019/20 playoffs.
“Brad is one of the most intelligent and hard-working coaches in the game today,” Ainge raved. “We are honored to have him with us as we continue to pursue our next championship.”
Stevens is the second Eastern Conference head coach to receive a contract extension today, as the Pacers also reached a new deal with Nate McMillan.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA Again Finds No Positive COVID-19 Cases
According to a press release issued today, the NBA has yielded zero positive results for the novel coronavirus among its 342 players since August 5, the date test results were last released.
The league has thus had a month without any positive COVID-19 tests since the Disney World restart campus was implemented, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today indicates (Twitter link).
This marks the fourth consecutive instance, as reported by the NBA and the NBPA, that there have been no new coronavirus cases among players in Orlando. The last two positive coronavirus tests were announced about a month ago after first players arrived at the Disney, but before those players cleared quarantine.
Of course, there are months of playoffs set to commence next week, so the NBA is not out of the woods just yet with regards to coronavirus testing. But the lack of COVID-19 cases at the Disney campus continues to suggest that the league’s restart plan has been effective.
Pacers Sign Nate McMillan To Contract Extension
12:01pm: It’s official, according to a team press release. McMillan has been extended for one additional year, through the 2021/22 NBA season, per J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star.
7:17am: The Pacers have reached an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Nate McMillan, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Monetary terms of the new deal aren’t yet known, but McMillan previously had one year left on his contract. According to Wojnarowski, the two sides finalized the new agreement in recent days.
It was just last week that rumors surfaced about McMillan’s job security, with ESPN analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe noting on a podcast that they had heard whispers about the veteran head coach being on the hot seat. At the time, Lowe stressed that the Pacers had been consistent in denying those rumors — based on today’s news, it seems the team was serious about sticking with McMillan.
The former head coach of the SuperSonics and Trail Blazers, McMillan took over the top job in Indiana in 2016, receiving a promotion to replace Frank Vogel after spending three years as an assistant on Vogel’s staff.
McMillan has guided the Pacers to a 181-136 (.571) record over the last four seasons, earning four consecutive playoff berths. Indiana’s 43-28 (.606) mark this season represents the club’s highest winning percentage since 2013/14.
The Pacers haven’t yet won a playoff series under McMillan, and there had been some chatter about a need to modernize the team’s offense, which ranks last this season in three-point attempts per game (27.8).
However, as Wojnarowski notes in his report, the 56-year-old is well-respected around the NBA and has been lauded in recent years for maximizing the Pacers’ roster despite losing star forward Paul George – who requested a trade in 2017 – and dealing with a handful of major injuries, including the torn quad tendon that sidelined Victor Oladipo for a full year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
CJ McCollum Has Fracture In Back, Continues To Play
The Trail Blazers have made an impressive run during the restart, moving into the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings with one seeding game remaining. It turns out that one of their top players has been fighting through an injury.
CJ McCollum has been playing with a fracture in his lower back, Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest reports. The exact diagnosis is an L3 vertebral transverse process (non-displaced) fracture.
McCollum continues to play heavy minutes despite the injury. He has been on the court for 39 minutes in each of the last three games, including a victory over Dallas on Tuesday.
However, it may be affecting his offense. He’s only scored a combined 24 points in the last two games on 9-for-33 shooting. Damian Lillard‘s offensive explosion, including a 61-point outburst against the Mavericks, has offset that.
Lillard said McCollum plans to tough it out going forward, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“He’s a little bit banged up,” Lillard said of McCollum. “He’s making no excuses or looking for no way out.”
McCollum has plenty of financial security. He signed a three-year, $100MM extension last summer.
Portland can clinch the eighth spot and advance to the play-in round against the ninth-place team with a win against Brooklyn on Thursday.
Dennis Schröder Returns To NBA’s Campus
Thunder guard Dennis Schröder has returned to the NBA’s campus at Walt Disney World, a team spokesperson confirmed to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman on Tuesday. Schröder left Orlando over a week ago in order to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
Assuming Schröder tested negative for the coronavirus for each of the last seven days while away from the campus, the expectation is that he’ll have to quarantine for just four days now that he’s back at Disney World. We don’t know exactly when Schröder returned and began quarantining, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll be available to play in Oklahoma City’s final seeding game on Friday vs. the Clippers.
At the very least, Schröder figures to miss Wednesday’s game against Miami. If the veteran guard doesn’t clear quarantine in time for Friday’s game, the Thunder will plan to work him back into the rotation during the first game of the postseason next week, barring any quarantine- or testing-related complications.
While he was away from the NBA’s campus, Schröder was named a finalist for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for 2019/20. He has enjoyed the best year of his career in OKC this season, averaging 18.9 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG with career-best shooting percentages of 46.9% from the floor and 37.9% from beyond the arc.