Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Brunson, Robinson, Stoudamire
Even after emerging as the new betting favorite to win this season’s MVP award, Sixers center Joel Embiid believes he can still take his game to another level this spring, as he tells Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com.
“I don’t think I’m at my best yet. I think I’m trending towards that. I think I’ve got a lot more to give,” Embiid said. “Defensively, I’m getting there. I’m getting back to myself. Usually, I take another step in the playoffs.”
Embiid’s eye-popping numbers this season include a league-leading 33.5 points per game on .546/.355/.855 shooting. The Sixers have a plus-8.8 net rating when he’s on the court, compared to a minus-0.1 mark when he’s off it.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, who missed five of the team’s last six games due to what he described as a bone bruise in his left foot, didn’t miss a beat in his return to action on Saturday, scoring 24 points to lead the team to a comeback win over Denver, writes Ethan Sears of The New York Post.
- Following Saturday’s win, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson wasn’t interested in talking about the Snapchat posts he made on Tuesday griping about his role, telling reporters that he’s “moving forward.” As Sears relays for The Post, Robinson explained on Instagram on Friday that his outburst was related to off-court family issues, and his teammates seemed unbothered by his Snapchat content. “We’re all brothers, so we kinda even joked about it on the plane a little bit,” Immanuel Quickley said. “Mitch, he’s a great guy off the floor. Obviously I think everybody knows that. He’s like, a character. He can be funny and outgoing a little bit. “So we understand who Mitch is and we told him, any time we can help you get the ball a little bit more, we’re gonna try to do that.”
- Speaking to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Damon Stoudamire said it wasn’t easy to leave his position as a Celtics assistant as the season enters the home stretch and that he has “nothing but great memories” of his time in Boston. However, he felt he couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to become Georgia Tech’s new head coach. “I think this is an opportunity for me to just see where I stand,” Stoudamire said. “I always want an opportunity on this stage to test who I am, not only as a coach, but test my character, perseverance, and toughness.”
New York Notes: Robinson, Brunson, Nets’ Small Ball, Simmons
After Mitchell Robinson vented about his role on social media, coach Tom Thibodeau and guard Jalen Brunson spoke to the Knicks center privately, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Another of the Knicks’ big men — Isaiah Hartenstein — said Robinson hasn’t allowed his frustration to seep into the locker room and onto the court. “It’s not like he’s coming into practice b—-ing,” Hartenstein said. “He’s always there. He’s always interactive. He’s always been a good teammate.”
We have more on the New York teams:
- Speaking of Brunson, he hasn’t played since March 9 due to what the team describes as a sore left foot. However, Brunson himself calls it a bone bruise, Katz tweets. Brunson went through a full practice on Friday and is listed as questionable against Denver on Saturday.
- The Nets have gotten stellar results from their small lineup, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. Lacking a backup big, Dorian Finney-Smith has been playing center with Royce O’Neale at power forward when Nic Claxton rests. That small-ball unit has produced a plus-13.5 net rating. “It allows us to fly around,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “If you don’t cover for each other, we’ll get punished: We’ll get punished on the glass, we’ll get punished just by overall strength and the size of dudes that you have to guard. So (you’ve seen) us fly around, cover for each other, really have a tight shell and be in the right spots.”
- Klutch Sports negotiated Ben Simmons‘ five-year, $177MM extension in 2019 before he was traded to the Nets. Now, the agency and Simmons are parting ways, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets. The enigmatic Simmons is expected to hire veteran agent Bernie Lee, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. Simmons hasn’t played since Feb. 15 due to a knee injury.
New York Notes: Brunson, Hartenstein, Nets’ Defense, O’Neale
Jalen Brunson seems likely to miss the Knicks’ game on Tuesday in Portland. He was spotting wearing a walking boot on Sunday night, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post.
“Just continue to do his treatments and we’ll see where he is. When he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of the Knicks’ star guard. “It’s not Jalen by himself. It’s Jalen with the medical. So he’s got a say in it, but the medical has to clear him. So there’s a number of people involved in a decision. We’re not going to put him in harm’s way.”
Brunson said the boot isn’t as ominous as it might appear. He wore it during the Lakers game as a protective measure in case it got kicked or stepped on and isn’t wearing it away from the court, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.
We have more from the New York teams:
- Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein earned a $350K bonus by hitting his minutes requirement for the season, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. He needed to play at least 1,350 minutes to earn the bonus and surpassed that in the win over the Lakers. Hartenstein reached another $350K bonus threshold with the Knicks winning their 40th game on Sunday, New York Basketball tweets. He can collect one more $350K bonus in his contract if the Knicks make the playoffs.
- The Nets have won five of their last six games, thanks to an improved defense, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “We had to challenge that group to shift the mentality of not thinking you have to score but to first of all let’s be a defensive-oriented team,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “I think we’ve responded, started to form an identity with this group and hopefully they realize that.”
- In another Lewis story, The Post’s beat writer notes that Royce O’Neale has exceeded the franchise’s expectations after acquiring him from Utah. He’s averaging career highs in points (9.0) and assists (3.7) per game while playing superior defense. “Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, no matter how many minutes I’m playing, I’m going to play as hard as I can, do things that I got to do for us to win the game, and just be myself,” O’Neale said. His $9.5MM contract for next season is partially guaranteed for $2.5MM.
Injury Notes: Brunson, Wagner, Zeller, Mathurin, Kuminga, Duren
X-rays on Jalen Brunson‘s sore left foot were negative, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters before Saturday’s game that Brunson is feeling “a little better” and is considered day-to-day. He added that the injury has officially been diagnosed as a bruise.
“When he’s healthy enough, he goes,” Thibodeau said. “So just do the rehab, talk to the medical people and when he gets cleared, he’s cleared and then he’ll play.”
Brunson has missed three of the team’s last four games, playing just 19 minutes Thursday in Sacramento. The Knicks have now dropped three in a row, and it’s uncertain if Brunson will be available as their road trip continues Sunday against the Lakers and Tuesday vs. the Trail Blazers.
There’s more injury news to pass along:
- X-rays on Magic forward Franz Wagner were negative after he left Saturday’s game with a right ankle injury, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Wagner has been diagnosed with an ankle sprain.
- Heat center Cody Zeller left the same game with a broken nose after a collision with Orlando’s Jalen Suggs in the first quarter, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami was already missing Caleb Martin, who sat out the game with knee soreness, and Duncan Robinson, who was placed in health and safety protocols.
- Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin sat out Saturday after spraining his ankle this week and has already been ruled out of Monday’s game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Coach Rick Carlisle said Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell will also be held out Monday.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Jonathan Kuminga is considered day-to-day after spraining his ankle during warmups on Thursday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga didn’t play Saturday, but he was on the team’s bench without a walking boot, Slater adds (Twitter link).
- Pistons rookie center Jalen Duren feels fully recovered from the bilateral ankle soreness that caused him to miss six games, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “Just being out a couple weeks, I was itching to get back and trying to play and finish out the season strong,” Duren said. “I’ve been working, I don’t know if y’all can tell but I got a little bigger. I feel good.”
New York Notes: Reddish, Brunson, Bridges, Nets
Now a member of the Trail Blazers, forward Cam Reddish spoke to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News about his disappointing stint with the Knicks, explaining that he felt as if the decision to bench him for his final 33 games with the team wasn’t about his on-court performance.
“It was tough but at the same time, it ain’t even about basketball,” Reddish said. “It had nothing to do with basketball. It was all the politics, all the favoritism. S–t like that. That’s why I wasn’t too worried about it.”
Reddish didn’t expand in any detail on that response, repeatedly telling Bondy that he’s simply happy to be in a better situation following the deadline deal that sent him to Portland. Reddish has started 10 of his 12 games for the Blazers, averaging a career-high 13.8 points per game on .464/.382/.857 shooting in 30.8 minutes per night. The 23-year-old added that he felt as if he had very little margin for error when he was a Knick.
“I can shoot a shot — and in New York, I feel like I HAD to make it,” Reddish said. “I know I’m not the only person that felt like that. I was putting too much pressure on myself. Now I can relax and play my game. You’re going to see it. The more I’m on the court, the more I’m going to grow and play. I’m happy.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:
- Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (left foot soreness) has been ruled out for Saturday’s game vs. the Clippers and it’s unclear whether he’ll be available for either of the last two contests of the team’s road trip (on Sunday and Tuesday), writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Brunson’s status going forward is a real cause for concern, Botte notes, given that the Knicks are far from locking up a top-six spot in the East and Brunson has been the team’s most indispensable player this season.
- The Nets knew they were adding a talented player when they acquired Mikal Bridges as the centerpiece of their return for Kevin Durant, but they weren’t expecting the kind of offensive production they’ve gotten so far from the fifth-year forward, says Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Bridges has put up 25.8 PPG on .514/.492/.900 shooting in 12 games (34.0 MPG) since arriving in Brooklyn. “I don’t think anybody knew that Mikal was this amazing offensively. Just being completely real,” new teammate Spencer Dinwiddie said. “It’s our job that he can get to his spots and get his shots and continue to stack up these (30-point nights) as much as he possibly can.”
- In last month’s trades of Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets were focused on getting back as many current and future assets as possible. Soon, they’ll need to make some major decisions about their direction, including which of their current players are keepers and whether they plan to shop or hang onto their newly acquired first-round draft picks. In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Lewis takes a closer look at the decisions on tap in Brooklyn.
And-Ones: Team USA, Referees, Most Improved Player, Oden
Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Team USA will play a pair of exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in August, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The U.S. national team will face Germany on August 18 and Greece on August 20 in the World Cup tune-ups.
As Windhorst outlines, the exhibition games seem to be part of a concerted effort by the NBA to further establish itself in the Middle East. The Bucks and Hawks played a pair of preseason games in Abu Dhabi this past fall, and the league opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Abu Dhabi in 2022.
Additionally, foreign sovereign wealth funds are now permitted to become minority shareholders in NBA franchises by purchasing stakes of up to 20%. According to Windhorst, Mubadala (Abu Dhabi’s fund) has reportedly displayed interest in making that sort of investment in an NBA team.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- After blasting the league’s officiating – and singling out referee Ben Taylor – Raptors guard Fred VanVleet received a relatively light fine, which will give players the “green light” to continue criticizing the game’s officials, Windhorst stated during a Get Up segment on Friday (YouTube video link). VanVleet could have been fined up to $50K, but was only docked $30K, which Windhorst notes is less than Ja Morant and Marcus Smart were penalized earlier in the season for “heat-of-the-moment” curses at referees during games.
- Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko, and Eric Nehm of The Athletic debated the frontrunners for Most Improved Player and weren’t in total agreement on which player deserves the award at this point. Robbins and Iko like Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, while Nehm favors Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. All three writers have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder as their current runner-up.
- Mirin Fader of The Ringer takes an in-depth look at former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s efforts to continue finding joy working in basketball following his brief, injury-marred NBA career.
- Bill Duffy‘s BDA Sports is being acquired by WME Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who explores what the purchase means for the two agencies, Duffy, and BDA’s clients (a group that includes Luka Doncic).
Injury Notes: Mathurin, Brunson, Kuminga, Giannis
Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin appeared in each of his team’s first 67 games this season, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to suit up for all 82. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, Mathurin had to be carried to the locker room after spraining his right ankle in the first quarter of Thursday’s win over Houston, and head coach Rick Carlisle said later in the night that he expects the guard to miss some time.
“It’s gonna look different out there without Benn,” Carlisle said. “… I certainly don’t believe he’ll play either of the Detroit games (on Saturday and Monday.) Other guys will have to be ready.”
Mathurin will likely to be evaluated further on Friday to determine whether he’ll have to be ruled out for a set amount of time or whether the injury will be considered day-to-day. Assuming he does miss multiple games, the Pacers figure to lean more heavily on wings like Aaron Nesmith, Chris Duarte, Jordan Nwora, as Dopirak notes.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who missed two games due to left foot soreness, returned on Thursday in Sacramento but wasn’t able to finish the game and didn’t come out for the second half, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. “He just re-aggravated it, but I haven’t talked to the medical people yet,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Just soreness.”
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga rolled his ankle during pregame warmups on Thursday and was unavailable vs. Memphis, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. X-rays on the injury were negative, but Kuminga was wearing a boot after the game, according to Madeline Kenney of The Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
- After initially being listed as probable with a non-COVID illness, Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out for the Bucks‘ game on Thursday due to right hand soreness. Antetokounmpo, who is also dealing with right knee soreness, sprained his right wrist just before the All-Star break, but head coach Mike Budenholzer doesn’t believe the new injury is related to that, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think just generally playing and getting hit and stuff like that,” Budenholzer said. “… I don’t think it’s a specific moment or incident or anything like that. We’ll be monitoring and watching it closely.”
Eastern Notes: Pistons Draft, Love, Raptors, Brunson
The Pistons shouldn’t hesitate to take guard Scoot Henderson if they get the No. 2 pick in the draft, The Athletic’s NBA draft analyst Sam Vecenie told Pistons beat reporter James Edwards III. In Vecenie’s view, Henderson is too talented to pass on, even though the franchise has drafted guards in the last three lotteries.
While Vecenie believes Alabama’s Brandon Miller is solidly the third-best player in the draft class, he says the Pistons shouldn’t reach beyond Henderson or trade the pick since Henderson is the type of competitor who can lift his team’s level of play on a nightly basis.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Heat play Kevin Love‘s former team on Wednesday but it’s uncertain whether the veteran power forward will suit up. He’s listed as questionable against Cleveland due to a rib contusion, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. Love missed the Heat’s two-point win over Atlanta on Monday.
- The Raptors lost to the Western Conference-leading Nuggets on Monday but coach Nick Nurse was encouraged by what he saw, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “We play like that and we can beat anybody, doesn’t matter if it’s home or away or where they are in the standings, etc,” Nurse said. “Probably outplayed ’em, to be honest and think we executed very, very well.” Toronto lost 118-113 in a game marred by a controversial late ejection of Scottie Barnes.
- Jalen Brunson was sidelined for the second straight game on Tuesday with a sore left foot, Tim Bomtemps of ESPN tweets. However, it appears the Knicks point guard could be back soon. Coach Tom Thibodeau said Brunson is feeling better, and will be going on the four-game road trip that begins Thursday in Sacramento.
Knicks Notes: Quickley, Randle, Hart, Brunson
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley is quickly developing into a top-notch sixth man in the mold of Lou Williams, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
Quickley, who is extension-eligible this offseason, is averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his third season.
“Any time you get mentioned with any great players like Lou Williams, anybody that’s won Sixth Man of the Year, it’s definitely something that’s pretty cool,” Quickley said.
We have more on the Knicks:
- Julius Randle says he’s not comfortable with load management, Stefan Bondy of the New York Dailly News tweets. “I just put way too much into my body to cheat myself out of being available for my team,” Randle said. He’s the only Knicks player to appear in every game this season.
- The Knicks are in a better position to acquire a star player than last offseason when they failed to land Donovan Mitchell, Braziller writes in a separate subscriber-only story. They have some extra draft picks and solid young players to dangle in a blockbuster deal. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis could be possibilities, depending upon how this season plays out, Braziller speculates.
- Among the attributes Josh Hart has brought since being acquired from Portland is his ability to score in transition and his superior rebounding for a wing, Ethan Fuller of Basketball News notes.
- Jalen Brunson missed Sunday’s game at Boston due to a sore foot, the team’s PR department tweets. Coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t sure if Brunson received an MRI but added “I don’t think it’s serious,” Braziller tweets.
Nikola Jokic, Jalen Brunson Named Players Of The Month
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the NBA’s players of the month, the league announced (via Twitter).
Jokic, the Western Conference’s winner for the second straight month, averaged 22.6 points, 14.2 rebounds and 10.2 assists on .642/.500/.806 shooting in 11 February games (33.3 MPG). Denver went 9-2 in games he played and got blown out in the one game he missed (four starters were out). The Nuggets are 44-19, the No. 1 seed in the West.
The reigning back-to-back MVP recorded eight triple-doubles last month and now has 24 on the season — the team is undefeated on those occasions. According to the Nuggets, Jokic has shot 50-plus percent from the field in 49 straight games, which is the third-longest streak in NBA history.
Brunson, meanwhile, averaged 27.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists on .529/.426/.776 shooting in 10 games (37.8 MPG) last month. The Knicks went 9-2 in February, including 8-2 with Brunson in the lineup, and are currently on a seven-game winning streak, which has moved them up to the No. 5 seed in the East.
According to New York (Twitter link), Brunson is the first Knick to be named the East’s player of the month since Julius Randle won in April 2021. The 26-year-old guard is having a stellar season for the Knicks, averaging career highs in points (23.8), assists (6.2) and three-point percentage (41.0%).
The other nominees in the West were Anthony Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Damian Lillard, Lauri Markkanen and Klay Thompson, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell, Randle, Pascal Siakam and Trae Young were nominated in the East, per the NBA (Twitter link).