Anthony Davis To Be Evaluated Daily With Groin Strain
Anthony Davis has been diagnosed with a minor groin strain and is expected to miss multiple games, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Davis left the Mavericks‘ Christmas Day matchup against the Warriors early as a result of the injury. Charania reports that Davis will be evaluated daily and that he expects the Mavs to continue their practice of being cautious in managing the star big man’s health issues.
According to Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), Davis will be working out every day as he looks to return to play as soon as possible.
After missing 14 earlier in the season due to a left calf strain, Davis had come back strong, averaging 26.3 points and 12.8 rebounds over his last six games, during which time the Mavericks went 4-2 with wins over the Rockets, Pistons, and Nuggets.
Charania notes that Davis is considered a major potential factor in this year’s trade deadline, given the Mavericks’ struggles to amass wins and the dismissal earlier in the season of former general manager Nico Harrison.
Heat Notes: Ware, Larsson, Jovic, Adebayo, Jaquez
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra seems to deliver far more criticism than praise in his public comments about Kel’el Ware, but the second-year center is used to that, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). Ware got the same feedback in college, first from Dana Altman at Oregon and then from Mike Woodson at Indiana, so he has learned how to handle it.
“I’ve been getting coached like that,” Ware said. “So it’s not much of a big thing to me, I would say. I just take it as they want to see me be better and be a better version of myself.”
Spoelstra challenged Ware over the summer to “improve his professionalism” and has stated that he needs to find ways to impact games rather than just collecting stats. Ware’s numbers have improved this season, but Spoelstra still wants more, especially on defense.
”He’s handling it appropriately when he’s being held accountable to winning things,” Spoelstra said. “It doesn’t have to be like a negative thing. We all want the same thing. We want a better result. We want growth faster. I want him to be like he’s 28, and that’s not realistic. And a little bit of impatience is good, as long as everybody handles it appropriately. But his play, obviously, is improving, and I want to feel that.”
There’s more from Miami:
- The Heat are getting closer to having a healthy roster, as Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic are both listed as probable for Friday’s game at Atlanta, Chiang adds. Larsson has missed the past five games with a sprained left ankle, and Jovic has sat out the last four with a right elbow contusion/laceration.
- Bam Adebayo has been downgraded to doubtful for the contest due to lower back soreness, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link). That could help explain Adebayo’s recent slump, as he’s averaging just 11.8 points over his last four games while shooting 37.5% from the field.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. is scoring consistently again after his production stagnated for a while in late November and early December, Winderman notes in a full story (subscription required). Jaquez delivered 23 and 21 points off the bench in his last two outings. “I think it’s just playing confident, understanding now it’s my third year, there’s going to be ups and downs and just got to continue to play confident, play with the same tenacity of whether you’re playing well, playing not so well,” he said. “So that’s just really my mentality.”
Pacers Sign Micah Potter, Waive Garrison Mathews
11:57 am: The Pacers have officially signed Potter and waived Mathews, the team confirmed in a press release. As we relayed in another story, Wiseman was also released from his 10-day contract.
10:06 am: Free agent big man Micah Potter will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Pacers, according to Tony East of Forbes (Twitter link). Garrison Mathews will be waived to create a roster opening, sources tell East.
Indiana needs Potter, a 6’9″ power forward/center because Isaiah Jackson is sidelined with a concussion and Tony Bradley is limited due to a thumb fracture, East adds. James Wiseman is nearing the end of the 10-day hardship contract he signed last Saturday.
Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star confirms the moves (via Twitter) and states that the Pacers won’t be granted another hardship exception at this time. A league source tells Dopirak that Potter’s contract will cover the rest of the season and will include a team option for next year (Twitter link).
Potter, 27, began his career with Detroit during the 2021/22 season and spent the past three years in Utah on a two-way contract. He has appeared in 64 total games with career averages of 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per night.
Potter signed a training camp deal with San Antonio in August, but was waived before the start of the season. He’s currently with the team’s Austin affiliate in the G League, averaging 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds in 13 games.
Mathews came to Indiana in November on a pair of 10-day hardship deals and was given a standard contract after they expired. That deal was non-guaranteed, so the Pacers won’t be on the hook for any more money once Mathews is officially released.
The 29-year-old shooting specialist appeared in 15 games during his time with Indiana, scoring 5.2 points in 13.1 minutes per night while shooting 40.4% from the field and 37% from three-point range.
Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Fox, OKC Rivalry, K. Johnson
The Spurs are looking like title contenders after posting their third win of the season over Oklahoma City, but the exuberance won’t change their plans with Victor Wembanyama‘s recovery from a left calf strain, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes in a subscriber-only story. Wembanyama has been on a minutes restriction since returning from the injury, which sidelined him for 12 games. He has come off the bench in all seven games during that stretch and put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes in Thursday’s victory over the defending champs.
“I don’t know when it becomes unrestricted, but his minutes will be mindful for dot, dot, dot,” coach Mitch Johnson told reporters before the game. “There’s nothing that’s going to make us flinch or change on that. If this game goes into triple overtime, he will not be in the game. There’s no circumstances that will allow us to get outside of ourselves with that regard.”
Johnson added that Wembanyama agrees that the gradual ramp-up is in his best interest. He wasn’t able to play after the All-Star break last season due to deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, and he wants to be available this year as San Antonio looks capable of making a long playoff run.
“Again, the emotions, the excitement, the circumstances of being in a Cup game, playing on Christmas, playing a big-time team, having a couple wins in a row, none of that is going to allow us or dictate to us in terms of the big picture of what we want for that young man and for this team,” Johnson said. “And so when you look at the injury and what history tells us in terms of being mindful of bringing a guy, a player back from that, and you look at his unique anatomy and all the things we want to accomplish, not today, not this year, but years to come, there’s nothing worth sacrificing or risking his long-term health and his long-term growth.”
There’s more on the Spurs:
- De’Aaron Fox was able to get the shots he wanted against the league’s best defense and helped the Spurs get off to a strong start by scoring 21 of his 29 points in the first half, Orsborn adds. Fox was determined to make an impression in his first appearance in the NBA’s holiday showcase. “This being my first Christmas game, I just wanted to have a good game and come out with a win,” he said. “We did that, and we did it from the jump outside of the first couple of possessions. I think we were really good throughout the course of the game.”
- The Spurs and Thunder both cited a playoff atmosphere as they met for the third time in less than two weeks, per Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press. OKC fell to 26-5, and according to ESPN, it’s the first time since the 1966/67 season that three of a team’s first five losses have come against the same opponent. With so many games left to play, Wembanyama was reluctant to say that Thursday’s outcome made a statement. “Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t,” he said. “But we’re focused on the rest of the season. It’s very long. We’re not even halfway through, so I’m not really sure it’s, I don’t know the word — I’m not really sure it’s smart to think so far into the future.”
- Thursday marked Keldon Johnson‘s 400th game with the Spurs, Orsborn notes in a separate story. Johnson also rec0rded his 25th career game with 20 or more points off the bench. “That’s my job,” he said. “I take pride in doing what my team needs me to do. And for me, it’s being an energy guy, being a leader, being whatever, being adaptable to whatever role I need to be in for my team to be successful. And I put my teammates first. I put my team first.”
Sixers Sign MarJon Beauchamp To Two-Way Contract
DECEMBER 26: Beauchamp’s signing is official, the Sixers announced (via Twitter). Sallis, meanwhile, was waived on Wednesday, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
DECEMBER 24: The Sixers are signing former first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp to a two-way contract, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is waiving rookie guard Hunter Sallis to open up a two-way slot.
Beauchamp, 25, was the 24th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He played for the Bucks, Clippers, and Knicks from 2022-25, appearing in 135 total regular season games and averaging 4.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per night.
Following brief stints with the Trail Blazers and Sixers during the preseason, Beauchamp joined Philadelphia’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. He has averaged 20.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game with a .500/.452/.933 shooting line in seven appearances for Delaware during the Tip-Off Tournament and Winter Showcase.
Beauchamp also represented the U.S. national team in a pair of qualifying games for the 2027 FIBA World Cup a few weeks ago. The 6’7″ forward made a strong case for NBA consideration with his play vs. Nicaragua, setting a Team USA record by scoring 50 total points in those two qualifiers — he made 18-of-26 shots from the floor (69.2%), including 9-of-14 three-pointers (64.3%).
“Yeah, he’s gonna be in the NBA at some point, whether it’s tomorrow or later this year,” Stephen Silas, the head coach of the U.S. qualifying team, said at the time.
The 76ers will take advantage of Beauchamp’s final season of two-way eligibility by bringing him aboard alongside Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker, two forwards who have been effective rotation players for Philadelphia so far this season.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the Sixers’ usage of their two-way players in the coming weeks. While a player on a full-season two-way contract like Barlow or Walker is permitted to be active for up to 50 total games, a team carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts is only allowed to use 90 total active games for its two-way players. Philadelphia, which has had a 14-man standard roster all season, has already used 58 two-way games so far: 28 for Walker, 18 for Barlow, and 12 for Sallis.
In other words, if the Sixers continue having two or three of their two-way players on their active roster for each game, they’ll need to add a 15th man at some point next month in order to ensure they’re no longer subject to that 90-game limit.
Beauchamp’s personal active-game limit for the Sixers will be a prorated portion of the usual 50. Assuming he officially signs on Wednesday, he’ll be able to suit up for the NBA team for up to 32 contests.
Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Johnson, Gordon, Braun
The Nuggets got a historic performance Thursday from Nikola Jokic to pull out their latest memorable game against the rival Timberwolves, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Jokic posted the first 55-15-15 stat line in NBA history, finishing with 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists in the overtime victory. Jokic called it a “good game,” but some of his teammates were more effusive.
“We’re watching history. … This is something that doesn’t happen again,” Peyton Watson said. “We will never see anything like this again. And I think everybody needs to be really paying attention. … We can’t continue to just dismiss what this guy does on a night-to-night basis. Bro, it’s unbelievable.”
Jokic shot 15-of-21 from the field and 22-of-23 from the foul line and made several huge plays to salvage a game that featured numerous momentum swings in the closing minutes. Denver squandered a 15-point lead with five minutes left to go in regulation and couldn’t hold onto a six-point advantage in the final 35 seconds as Anthony Edwards forced the extra session with a late three-pointer from the corner. The Wolves scored the first nine points of overtime, but the Nuggets closed the game on a 27-14 run over the final three minutes.
“It sounds crazy, but I didn’t think we were completely out of it, just because the way that game was and the shot-making and the star players doing what they did,” Denver coach David Adelman said. “You just felt like there were more moments to the game, if we could just ourselves back into it.”
There’s more from Denver:
- The Nuggets are relieved that Cameron Johnson‘s knee injury is only a bone bruise with no structural damage, but it still leaves them down three starters, Durando states in a separate story. Johnson is projected to miss at least four-to-six weeks, forcing Adelman to make adjustments to his lineups. “You have an intelligent ‘guesstimation’ of a new rotation to play. I think you have to give it a couple of games. Let’s just say it doesn’t go well today; you can’t just say, ‘OK, well let’s scrap it,’” Adelman said. “So yeah, we’ll just reinvent ourselves as we go here. I’m looking at this as just another chapter in the season, you know what I mean? It’s what it is. I feel for Cam, man. I just felt like his trajectory was just going up. Not the stats; just how he was playing. He was a high-minute guy for us, helping bridge the gap between the starters and the second unit.”
- Aaron Gordon, who has made just one brief appearance since November 17 due to a strained right hamstring, and Christian Braun, who has been sidelined since November 12 with a sprained left ankle, are both making progress toward returning, Durando adds. Adelman watched Thursday as both players went through on-court workouts, but he stated the team will use caution in bringing them back. “It’s one of those things that just because other guys got hurt, you can’t hurry their process,” he said. “So we just have to do what we have to do right now. And I like the group we have. All year long, there’s been no crazy ups and downs emotionally. We’ve just gotta continue to do what we’re doing.”
- Bobby Marks of ESPN examines the Nuggets’ options to deal with their depleted roster. They have been carrying an open roster spot, and Marks notes that they could wait until January 5 to add a player when 10-day contracts begin. Denver also has trade exceptions worth $6.9MM and $5.4MM that could be used in a potential deal. However, the team is short on draft capital, with no first-round picks to trade after sending one to Brooklyn to acquire Johnson and only two second-rounders to deal. The Nuggets are also hovering right around the tax line and may be reluctant to add much salary to their books.
JJ Redick: ‘I’m Not Doing Another 53 Games Like This’
Lakers coach JJ Redick questioned his team’s professionalism and commitment to winning after Thursday’s 23-point loss to Houston, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The Rockets took control of the game early, building a 14-point lead in the first quarter and sustaining a double-digit advantage throughout the second half.
“We don’t care enough right now,” Redick said. “And that’s the part that bothers you a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be a professional.”
Redick made similar comments after watching his team lose by 24 points to Phoenix on Tuesday. The Lakers have lost dropped three straight games and six of their last 10 and are now just three games away from falling into play-in tournament territory. Redick cited “effort and execution” as the difference on Thursday as Houston dominated the boards by a 48-25 margin and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.
“Saturday’s practice — I told the guys — it’s going to be uncomfortable,” Redick said. “The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
Luka Doncic was able to return after leaving Saturday’s game with a lower left leg contusion, but he didn’t provide much of a spark. McMenamin notes that he turned the ball over three times in the first 2:11 and finished with six giveaways for the night. Rui Hachimura also returned after missing two games with a groin strain, but Austin Reaves experienced calf soreness and didn’t play after halftime. He’s set to undergo an MRI today.
“I don’t know what has to change, but definitely something needs to change,” Doncic said. “Think we (were) blown out the last three games. It definitely looks, like, terrible. We got to figure out, that’s the thing we have (to do). … We just got to talk about it. Everybody got to talk about it. I know JJ said it’s going to be uncomfortable (for everybody). As they should be. … Everybody has got to give better effort, starting with me.”
LeBron James also had a rough night as L.A. was outscored by 33 points in the 32:26 he was on the court. According to McMenamin, it was James’ worst plus-minus rating since joining the Lakers and the third-worst of his career.
Jarred Vanderbilt, who came off the bench to contribute 11 points and five rebounds, also recognizes that changes need to happen before Sunday’s game against Sacramento.
“Ultimately, certain stuff just needs to be said and certain stuff needs to be done and we got to be able to communicate with each other and be receptive of it, whether it’s criticism or, we got to have them hard conversations,” Vanderbilt said. “JJ [was] alluding to that, that you got to have these conversations. We don’t want this to keep lingering. And right now it’s three in a row, but we don’t want it to keep going the wrong direction.”
Bulls Notes: White, Giddey, Healthy Roster
The Bulls closed out the final 20 games of the 2024/25 regular season by going 15-5, in no small part due to the play of Coby White and Josh Giddey. But the backcourt tandem hasn’t had much time on the court together this season, largely because of White’s calf issues.
White expressed confidence about the duo rediscovering their prior form together ahead of Tuesday’s game in Atlanta, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Head coach Billy Donovan says that would only be beneficial.
“I think it would definitely help us,” Donovan said. “I think the hard part has been Coby just trying to get back and find a rhythm with him being out. So with him being out, he and Josh also finding a rhythm. But I think last year, they coexisted very well.
“They have a very good relationship, they talk and they communicate. Certainly for us, those two guys playing at a high level is going to help, but we’re going to have to rely on the other guys, too.”
White (team-high 24 points, four assists, three steals) and Giddey (19 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds) both played key roles in Tuesday’s comeback victory, notes Bill Trocchi of The Associated Press.
Here’s more on the Bulls, who have won four straight:
- Giddey says he’s more focused on winning than individual accolades, but he admits he’s hoping to make his first All-Star appearance in 2025/26, Cowley writes in another story. “Every player wants to be an All-Star — all those things when they first get drafted, get into the league — and I’m no different,” Giddey said. “Everyone has individual aspirations. They’re lying if they say they don’t, but it’s about not letting it get in the way of the team. I want to be an All-Star; everybody inside [the locker room] wants to be an All-Star. But you’ve got to be able to do that inside the team and win games while trying to do individual things, as well. Winning solves everything, and all the individual stuff comes after that.” Giddey, who is averaging career highs of 20.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists while shooting a career-best 40.2% from long distance through 27 games, has seven triple-doubles this season, trailing only Nikola Jokic, who has 14.
- Aside from rookie Noa Essengue, who is out for the season following shoulder surgery, the Bulls are healthy for the first time this season and Ayo Dosunmu said they have a “resilient” group after Tuesday’s win. “This has been about continuing to stay together, continuing to get better,” Dosunmu said, per Cowley. “We understood that (the losing streak) was not the best basketball that we were playing, but we all knew what we were capable of. We put it together and have been playing a great stretch of basketball. Now we’ve got to just keep doing it.” Chicago lost seven straight before its four-game winning streak.
- In case you missed it, the Bulls have reportedly been involved in multiple trade conversations recently.
Austin Reaves Has Calf Soreness, Will Undergo MRI Friday
9:35 pm: Reaves will undergo an MRI on Friday, a source tells Woike (Twitter link).
8:51 pm: Austin Reaves has been ruled out for the second half of the Christmas Day matchup against Houston due to left calf soreness, according to the Lakers (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic).
The 27-year-old guard recorded 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in just under 15 minutes prior to the announcement. Marcus Smart started the second half with Reaves out, tweets Jovan Buha.
It’s a worrisome development for the Lakers, as Reaves just returned to action on Tuesday after missing nearly two weeks with a left calf strain. The team referred to that initial strain as “mild.”
Reaves was off to a terrific start to his fifth season prior to sustaining the calf strain. In his first 21 games (all starts), he averaged 27.8 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.6 rebounds in 36.9 minutes per night, with a .503/.369/.875 shooting line.
Reaves came off the bench in Tuesday’s blowout loss in Phoenix, finishing with 17 points (on 6-of-11 shooting), two rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes. He also had three turnovers and the Lakers were outscored by 17 points when he was on the court (they lost by 24).
Los Angeles opened the season with an impressive 15-4 record but has looked shaky lately, especially defensively. The team will likely drop its third straight game on Thursday to fall to 19-10 — the Lakers currently trail the Rockets by 17 points with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Heat Notes: Slump, Adebayo, Herro, Larsson, Jovic, Ware
While head coach Erik Spoelstra thought the Heat showed some positive signs in consecutive road losses in Boston and New York, he was left searching for answers following the team’s third straight defeat on Tuesday, a lopsided home loss to Toronto, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“This is not what I would have predicted,” Spoelstra said following Tuesday’s 21-point loss. “I thought we were ready. I thought we had a good session this morning. I thought coming off of our last two games, on the road, even though there were losses, there were way more good things than negative things. In the New York game, we competed with a great spirit. That kind of game, you win a lot of games. But I don’t even know right now.”
As Chiang details, Miami entered December with a 13-7 record and the NBA’s 13th-ranked offense and third-ranked defense. But the team has gone just 2-8 so far this month, the worst mark in the league, with an offensive rating that ranks 27th and a defensive rating that ranks 18th over that stretch to fall back to .500 (15-15).
Third-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. said each player on the team needs to take accountability for his performance, starting with himself.
“I think it all starts individually,” Jaquez said. “We all got to look ourselves in the mirror. I know I can do a lot more. There’s a lot more that I know I can bring to this team. And just got to go dig deep and find it, bring it out. That goes for every one of us. It’s a tough stretch right now, and we’re really going to discover who we are in this time. And I’m confident in this team, I’m confident in this locker room. It’s something that we’re just going to have to battle through.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- Bam Adebayo has been in an offensive rut that coincides with the Heat’s slide down the standings, Chiang writes in another story. While the team’s new free-flowing offense earned praise early in the season, it has limited some of the go-to actions the Heat used to run for the three-time All-Star big man. Adebayo is taking fewer shots at the rim and more from long distance, but he has only converted 31.4% of his three-point looks, one of the worst marks in the league among players with four-plus attempts per game, Chiang notes. “It sucks,” Adebayo said of his ongoing shooting slump. “But it’s part of the NBA, it’s a long season. So fighting through whatever I’ve got to fight through, figure out how I can impact winning and do that instead of focusing on shots not falling. Just play basketball and shots will eventually start falling.”
- Adebayo is dealing with lower back soreness and is questionable for Friday’s matchup at Atlanta, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays. Guard Tyler Herro will miss his sixth straight game due to a right big toe contusion, but Pelle Larsson (left ankle sprain) and Nikola Jovic (right elbow contusion/laceration) are probable to suit up against the Hawks, Winderman adds. Larsson has been out for the past five games, while Jovic has been sidelined for the past four.
- Knicks head coach Mike Brown was effusive in his praise of Kel’el Ware after Sunday’s loss in New York, according to Chiang. The second-year Heat center had one of the best games of his career, finishing with 28 points (on 11-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from long distance) and 19 rebounds in 35 minutes. “I’ll tell you, Kel’el Ware, he was a beast tonight on the glass,” Brown said at the start of his post-game press conference on Sunday. “This is one of the very few times we got our behinds kicked on the glass, and a lot of it is attributed to him and the way he rebounded on both ends of the floor, and then he shot the mess out of the basketball. We told our guys he’s been shooting it really well. We just didn’t get to his body. It’s a little tough because he’s seven feet. So, with a guy like that, you almost got to close all the way to his chest just to try to hopefully make him put it on the floor.”