Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson Named Players Of Week
Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the NBA (Twitter links).
Doncic led the Lakers to three wins during the week of November 24-30 while averaging 37.3 points, 10.3 assists and 8.7 rebounds per contest. Those performances, which included a 43-point outburst against the Clippers, increased his league-leading scoring average to 35.1 points per game.
Brunson lifted the Knicks to four wins by averaging 28.8 points and 4.5 assists per game while knocking down 40.7 percent of his three-point attempts. He matched his season high on Friday by racking up 37 points against Milwaukee.
Doncic and Brunson, of course, were backcourt partners in Dallas. Brunson has earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors seven times since joining the Knicks, while this is the first time Doncic has achieved the feat since becoming a Laker.
The other nominees in the West were Zach Edey (Grizzlies), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jamal Murray (Nuggets) and Austin Reaves (Lakers).
Desmond Bane (Magic), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Tyler Herro (Heat), Jalen Johnson (Hawks) and Pascal Siakam (Pacers) were also nominated in the East.
Northwest Notes: Edwards, Blazers, Watson, Strawther
Although Donte DiVincenzo replaced Mike Conley in the starting lineup entering the 2025/26 season, head coach Chris Finch says it’s more accurate to describe Anthony Edwards as the Timberwolves‘ point guard, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“Anthony’s probably more of our point guard than Donte is our point guard,” Finch said. “He has the ball. He is our lead guard in that regard.”
Edwards, a former No. 1 overall pick who has been an All-Star each of the past three seasons, says he’s still adjusting to the role.
“I just got to get used to being a point guard, going to get the rock at the end of the game, bringing it up, even though they pressure,” Edwards said.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- The Trail Blazers were disappointed to be eliminated from the NBA Cup on Wednesday, but their young roster valued competing in a game with relatively higher stakes — they would have clinched the top seed in their group if they had beaten San Antonio. “We wanted it,” said Deni Avdija, who finished with 37 points, eight assists and six rebounds (story via Kevin Pelton of ESPN). “We wanted that game. It was a good opportunity for us to advance in the Cup. We fought. We tried to be in the game. It was a tough game; it was a close game. I feel like it was a first taste of kind of like a playoff game. I know I’m not experienced, other guys are not experienced yet, and it was a tough test for us, but I think from this game we can learn a lot.”
- Nuggets forward Peyton Watson switched agencies a couple weeks ago, going from Excel Sports to Klutch Sports Group. Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette asked Watson about the decision on Wednesday (Twitter link). The 2022 first-round pick explained that he had a good relationship with Excel, but viewed Klutch’s “attention to detail” as beneficial ahead of restricted free agency next summer. “There’s a big opportunity at hand just this year for me in general on the court, and that’s something I’ve been taking the most seriously, because at the end of the day that’s just going to make my agent’s job, whoever my agent is, easier if I’m doing my job out there on the court,” Watson said as part of a larger quote.
- Third-year wing Julian Strawther will miss his sixth straight game on Friday vs. San Antonio due to lower back injury management, the Nuggets announced (via Twitter). When healthy, Strawther has largely been out of the rotation this season following the free agent additions of Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Scotto’s Latest: Ellis, Pacers, Sabonis, Morant, Wolves, More
With Keegan Murray very unlikely to be traded this season due in part to the poison pill provision, the most coveted player on the Kings‘ roster might be guard Keon Ellis, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who says executives across the NBA have been surprised by Ellis’ limited role so far this fall.
Ellis started 28 of his 80 games last season and averaged 24.4 minutes per night. The 25-year-old contributed 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game, with a .489/.433/.849 shooting line, and the sub-.500 Kings had a +3.0 net rating during his time on the court. However, so far this fall, he’s averaging just 17.4 MPG.
According to Scotto, the Pacers have been one of several teams to convey interest in Ellis, having also targeted him in the past. Ellis is in the final year of his current contract and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026 if he’s not signed to a new deal after he becomes extension-eligible in February.
As Scotto writes, the trade market for Kings veterans like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan has been “relatively quiet” so far, despite a report suggesting the Clippers have some interest in DeRozan.
[RELATED: Bucks Keeping Eye On Zach LaVine]
Kings center Domantas Sabonis could make for an interesting trade chip, but he’s currently sidelined due to a knee injury and his production had slipped a little before he went down. According to Scotto, Sabonis has been disappointed by Sacramento’s declining win totals since their playoff season in 2022/23 and hasn’t always loved his usage under head coach Doug Christie.
Here’s more NBA chatter from Scotto:
- The Grizzlies have consistently rebuffed trade inquiries on Ja Morant in recent weeks following a confrontation between the point guard and head coach Tuomas Iisalo, league sources tell HoopsHype. While a number of rival teams have been curious about a buy-low opportunity on Morant and will continue to monitor the situation, Memphis isn’t eager to kick-start a rebuild and recognizes that Morant wouldn’t command a significant return on the trade market at this point, Scotto explains.
- The Timberwolves, who were among the teams to inquire on Morant, are keeping an eye out for opportunities to upgrade at point guard, per Scotto. Minnesota obviously has zero interest in moving Anthony Edwards in any deal and also considers rising forward Jaden McDaniels “close to untouchable,” sources tell HoopsHype.
- The Celtics had hoped to pursue Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe in free agency, but he received a more lucrative offer from Brooklyn ($6.25MM for this season) than the minimum-salary offer he would’ve gotten from Boston, Scotto writes. Sharpe could be a player to watch if the Celtics and Nets get together for another trade this season — the C’s had been prepared to offer him a chance to compete for their starting center job, Scotto adds.
Wolves Notes: Randle, Reid, McDaniels, Beringer
The Timberwolves were missing starting forward Jaden McDaniels on Wednesday, and Anthony Edwards‘ shooting slump continued — he made just 6-of-20 shots from the floor, including 1-of-8 three-pointers, and has now shot just 10% (3-of-30) from beyond the arc over his past four games.
Still, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes, the Wolves built a 27-point lead against the lowly Wizards behind big-time production from forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid, who signed lucrative new multiyear contracts with the team in free agency over the offseason. The duo combined for 60 points and 15 rebounds, though Minnesota’s lead dropped all the way to five points in the fourth quarter before the club put the game away.
“We got lucky, to be honest,” Randle said after the victory. “Really our edge and our activity and our aggressiveness — all that stuff, we kind of just left it in here at halftime. We’ve got to be better and more mature than that.”
Reid agreed with that assessment, responding, “Yes and no” when he was asked if he was happy with the win.
“Not like that,” Reid said. “It’s still an NBA team. Obviously, I don’t want to just roll over them. But we still got to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We know better than to put ourselves in that situation.”
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- Reid, whose five-year, $125MM deal was the most lucrative contract signed by any free agent this year, got off to a slow start, with averages of 10.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG on .421/.321/.647 shooting through his first 11 games. But he’s rounding into form (20.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG, .552/.483/.750 shooting in his past four games) and is showing why the Timberwolves value him so highly, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “He’s a starter coming off the bench for us. He’s one of the best bigs in the league,” teammate Donte DiVincenzo said. “The way he can space the floor, the way he can handle the ball, it gives us such a unique wrinkle to what we can do. We can play him with so many different guys.”
- McDaniels, who has a sprained left wrist, missed his first game in nearly two years on Wednesday, snapping a streak of 157 consecutive regular season appearances. There’s no “firm read” yet on the severity of that injury, tweets Krawczynski. Head coach Chris Finch told reporters that imaging on the injury came back relatively clean and that the team will be monitoring McDaniels to see how his wrist responds to treatment in the next few days.
- Timberwolves rookie big man Joan Beringer, who just turned 19 last Tuesday, has only seen garbage-time action in the NBA so far, logging 37 total minutes across nine appearances. According to Finch, the plan is to assign Beringer to the G League at some point in the near future so that he can get some run with the Iowa Wolves (Twitter link via Hine).
Nikola Jokic, Jalen Johnson Named Players Of The Week
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week, while Hawks forward Jalen Johnson has won the award in the East, the NBA announced on Monday (via Twitter).
Jokic, who won the weekly honor in the West for the second straight time (19th overall), had another phenomenal week, even by his lofty standards. He led Denver to three road victories, averaging 39.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.7 steals on .737/.643/.889 shooting splits.
Jokic’s week was highlighted by a 55-point outburst against the Clippers in which he recorded 52 points, 11 rebounds and six assists through only three quarters, the first player to have such a stat line through three periods since the NBA began play-by-play tracking in 1997/98, per the Nuggets. He notched another three points and one rebound in two-plus minutes in the fourth, shooting 18-of-23 from the field, 5-of-6 from three, and 14-of-16 from the line in 34 minutes.
The Nuggets have won seven straight games and are currently 10-2, only trailing the 13-1 Thunder in the West. Jokic, a three-time MVP who finished as the runner-up in the two seasons he didn’t win the award over the past five years, is averaging career highs in several statistical categories in 2025/26.
Johnson had a spectacular stretch of games himself in winning his first Player of the Week award. The 23-year-old guided Atlanta to a perfect 4-0 record on the team’s Western Conference road trip, the first time the Hawks have gone undefeated on a West trip spanning at least four games since 1970/71. He averaged 24.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 2.5 steals on .603/.571/.783 shooting.
Johnson had a historic stat line on Thursday in Utah, recording career highs in points (31), rebounds (18), assists (14) and steals (seven), the first player to meet all of those statistical benchmarks in a game since steals became an official stat in ’73/74. The Hawks are now 9-5, tied for the No. 3 seed in the East.
According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, Lauri Markkanen and Alperen Sengun. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Scottie Barnes, Jaylen Brown, Pistons two-way guard Daniss Jenkins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Franz Wagner were nominated in the East.
Northwest Notes: Hartenstein, Edwards, Hardy, Markkanen
Isaiah Hartenstein erupted for a 33-point night in the Thunder‘s win over Sacramento on Friday. Along with his career high in points, Hartenstein grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked three shots.
“He was on one today,” Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell told Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. “Hart is a great player. We were able to find him, and he had a great game. He made it very easy for us.”
Hartenstein is averaging a double-double for the banged-up Thunder, with 12.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per game in the early going this season.
“He’s played great as time has gone on here,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “He’s getting better and better with his teammates here inside the system. He was obviously highly impactful at the beginning, but he’s only gotten better, especially on the offensive side of the floor.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- In his second game back from missing four due to a right hamstring strain, Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards poured in 37 points in a 40-point romp over Utah. “He’s our leading light, and he’s got to be aggressive, and he’s got to be himself,” head coach Chris Finch told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “That’s what we need. And I thought he played quick and clean. Thought we all did to start the game, and it was just really good, really fun to watch.”
- Jazz coach Will Hardy has been very vocal this season and that’s by design, according to Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s all intentional,” Hardy said. “There is a real process right now of trying to have all of our players, especially our young players, understand that every time you take the court, you’re trying to win.” Hardy’s team is currently holds a 3-6 record. “I feel like I need to give the team the urgency every single night to not let moments pass them by, to not take their minutes for granted, to not take this moment in their career for granted — because nothing’s guaranteed,” he said.
- Lauri Markkanen was held to 12 points in 21 minutes on Friday but the Jazz forward is still averaging 28.3 points per game, which would easily be a career best. “He can truly play any style,” Hardy told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “He can play with anybody there. You could name any All-Star player, and I would say Lauri could play with them. Because he doesn’t dribble too much, because he’s not really an iso player, because he’s not a pick-and-roll ball handler who needs X number of screens a night. It’s nice having somebody who’s that caliber player who doesn’t necessarily dictate your style. There are certain players that dictate the style you kind of have to play. Lauri gives us a lot of flexibility. It’s a real luxury as a coach and it would appear that that would be a luxury from a team-building standpoint.”
Anthony Edwards To Return To Action On Wednesday
Anthony Edwards is available to play for the Timberwolves‘ game against the Knicks on Wednesday after missing his previous four games, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Stefan Bondy of the New York Post adds (via Twitter) that Edwards will not be on a minutes restriction.
Edwards was diagnosed with a right hamstring strain on October 27 after exiting the previous night’s game against the Pacers after just three minutes of play.
In his first two games of the season, Edwards was averaging 36.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per night while carrying over his prolific three-point shooting from the previous season by going 8-for-16 from beyond the arc.
The Wolves managed to beat the Pacers by a score of 114-110 and split their next four games, with wins against the Hornets and Nets and losses to the Nuggets and Lakers. They face a Knicks team coming off back-to-back wins against the Bulls and Wizards.
“He’s itching to play,” head coach Chris Finch said of Edwards, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Missing these four games marked the second-longest absence of the guard’s career, Krawczynski writes, behind only a six-game stretch he missed due to COVID-19 in his sophomore season.
Anthony Edwards Listed As Questionable To Play On Wednesday
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, the team’s PR department tweets.
Edwards has missed the past four games due to a right hamstring strain. Last Monday, when the injury was revealed via an MRI, the team announced Edwards would be reevaluated in one week. At the time, there was reporting suggesting that Edwards would be out for at least two weeks.
Edwards was cleared to resume contact basketball activities on Monday, according to a press release. The fact that Edwards could suit up on Wednesday is a huge boost for the Timberwolves, who have gone 2-2 without him. They have recorded road wins at Charlotte and Brooklyn heading into their trip to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks.
Edwards notched a 41-point outing against Portland and a 31-point performance against the Lakers before departing after three minutes against Indiana on Oct. 26. The three-time All-Star averaged a career-best 27.6 points and 4.5 assists per game last season while appearing in 79 regular season contests.
Western Notes: Draymond, Edwards, N. Smith, Kyrie
Draymond Green learned earlier this year that he has a legitimate chance to add his name to a short list of NBA legends with 10 All-Defensive seasons, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who notes that the opportunity has become a major source of motivation for the Warriors forward. Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only players who have accomplished the feat in the league history. Green, who has earned nine All-Defensive nods, needs one more to join them.
“You see a list like that, and that immediately becomes your ‘why,'” Green told Amick. “It’s like, ‘Man, I need to give all that I f—ing can to be on that thing.’ When you look at a list like that and you say, ‘Man, I can be on that list.’ It’s captivating. If I’m honest, it consumes you.
“You’re always looking to add these stamps (of approval). And I think for me personally, that’s one stamp that I would love to add, for no other reason than the little kid from Saginaw being able to one day look at that list and say, ‘Damn, my name is on the list with those guys.’ …So that’s a huge, huge, huge goal of mine.”
Amick’s wide-ranging interview with Green also touched on several other topics, including how much longer the 35-year-old plans to continue playing. According to Green, he thought at one point that he might only have another year or two in him, but he has since reconsidered that position.
“My body feels better and better every year,” he said. “I’ve learned more about my body and what I need to do. I still enjoy competing at the highest level. I still enjoy setting this goal and then going through the process and trying to reach it. So I wouldn’t necessarily say (just one more) year or two, like I would have said a year ago. I don’t really put a number on it, either. Like I’ve always said, the game will tell me when it’s time to go.”
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who has missed the past four games due to a right hamstring strain, has been cleared to resume contact basketball activities, the team announced on Monday in a press release. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets, it’s a sign that Edwards’ return to action should happen sooner rather than later, barring a setback.
- With LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves all inactive on Monday, the Lakers picked up a 123-115 win over Portland on the second end of a back-to-back. While Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton had big games, Nick Smith Jr.‘s 25-point performance was the biggest surprise of the night, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN writes. Smith, a former first-round pick who joined the Lakers on a two-way deal last month after being waived by Charlotte, was reportedly battling an illness and threw up at halftime, per Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link), but said the game was “probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
- After raising eyebrows by hinting in Mexico City that Kyrie Irving has a chance to return from his ACL tear before the calendar turns to 2026, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd walked back those comments to some extent on Monday, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic. “When I made the statement (in Mexico), it was more or less, ‘We would love to have him back,'” Kidd said. “But he’s doing great mentally and physically. We still don’t have an official schedule for Kai. Once that comes out, then we can start to speculate if he’s going to be back by ’25. We do miss him. But hopefully it is sooner rather than later.”
Anthony Edwards Out At Least One Week With Hamstring Strain
1:43 pm: Edwards underwent an MRI, revealing the right hamstring strain, and he’ll be reevaluated in one week, according to a Timberwolves press release. While that one-week timeline might be a cause for optimism, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic has also heard the 24-year-old will miss two weeks (Twitter link).
12:45 pm: Timberwolves superstar guard Anthony Edwards will be sidelined for two weeks with a right hamstring strain, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter).
Edwards departed Sunday’s game against Indiana after just three minutes due to right hamstring tightness. Edwards had gotten off to a roaring start in the first week of the season, pouring in 41 points in a win over Portland and 31 points in a loss to the Lakers.
Minnesota will play against Denver tonight in the second game of a back-to-back. The Timberwolves also play seven more games over the next two weeks, meaning Edwards will miss a minimum of eight contests.
When Edwards departed on Sunday, Julius Randle stepped into the role of top scoring option. A quartet of guards and wings — Mike Conley, Jaylen Clark, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland — all played double-digit minutes off the bench. Making up for Edwards’ minutes will likely be a time-share proposition.
Edwards has been noted for his durability. Entering this season, he had appeared in 381 of 390 possible regular season games since entering the league. The Timberwolves will now have to figure out ways to survive a prolonged stretch without their top player.