Spurs’ Keldon Johnson Named Sixth Man Of The Year
For the second time in three days, a Spurs player has won a major award. After Victor Wembanyama was named the 2025/26 Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, Keldon Johnson has earned Sixth Man of the Year honors, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
Coming off the bench in all 82 games for the 62-20 Spurs, Johnson averaged 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 23.3 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .519/.363/.794. According to the league (Twitter link), he set a single-season franchise record by scoring 1,081 bench points, surpassing the mark previously set by Manu Ginobili, the only other Sixth Man of the Year winner in Spurs history.
Johnson epitomized the sixth man role by becoming the only NBA player in 2025/26 who appeared in all 82 games without making a single start, per the team.
Johnson earned 63 first-place votes and showed up on 96 out of 100 total ballots, accumulating 404 total points to beat out Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nuggets wing Tim Hardaway Jr., his fellow finalists. They finished second and third in the voting, respectively, with Jaquez receiving 34 first-place votes and 331 points, while Hardaway was a distant third (no first-place votes, 45 points).
In 75 games for the Heat, including 74 as a reserve, Jaquez averaged 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 28.3 minutes per game, making 50.7% of his shots from the floor.
It’s fair to wonder how big an impact the delay in award voting had on the Sixth Man of the Year race. Because a handful of stars appealed to be ruled award-eligible despite not meeting the 65-game criteria, the NBA needed a little extra time to make decisions on those cases. Ballots weren’t sent out until last Thursday and and had to be submitted by Friday evening.
By that time, the Heat had been eliminated in a play-in game that Jaquez didn’t play especially well in (he made 5-of-14 field goal attempts). That prompted at least one voter – Bill Simmons of The Ringer – to admit that he changed his vote from Jaquez to Johnson, despite the fact that Sixth Man is a regular season award.
Outside of the three finalists, nine more players received at least one vote. Timberwolves big man Naz Reid (42 points) and Thunder wing Ajay Mitchell (29) rounded out the top five, while Rockets guard Reed Sheppard (28) was the only other player to show up on more than three ballots.
Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu, Raptors forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili, Spurs guard Dylan Harper, and Raptors guard Jamal Shead also earned votes. The full results can be viewed here (Twitter link).
Wolves/Nuggets Notes: McDaniels, Gobert, Edwards, THJ
The Nuggets and Timberwolves are meeting in the playoffs for the third time in the past four years and the two Northwest clubs have developed one of the NBA’s best rivalries during that time. After Minnesota evened up their first-round series on Monday by stealing Game 2 in Denver, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels added more fuel to that fire when he was asked about his team’s offensive game plan.
“Go at (Nikola) Jokic, Jamal (Murray), all the bad defenders,” McDaniels said (Twitter video link via Chris Hine of The Star Tribune). “Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, their whole team.”
Asked to clarify whether he was referring to all of those players as bad defenders, McDaniels doubled down.
“Yeah, they’re all bad defenders,” he responded.
The Nuggets had the league’s best offensive rating during the regular season but ranked just 21st in defensive rating, behind sub-.500 teams like Dallas and Golden State. After holding the Wolves to 105 points in Game 1, Denver surrendered 119 in Monday’s loss. We’ll see if McDaniels’ bulletin-board material provides the Nuggets with a spark for Game 3 back in Minnesota.
Here’s more on the two division rivals and their best-of-seven series:
- Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, wasn’t thrilled about not being a finalist for the award this year. Gobert, who finished fourth in DPOY voting, used the perceived snub as motivation in Game 2, holding Jokic to 1-of-8 shooting while he was guarding him, per Anthony Slater of ESPN. After the game, Gobert suggested with his tongue in cheek that he got “lucky” since only a “top-three defender” could’ve slowed down the Nuggets star like that. “Not the first time I’ve gotten disrespected,” Gobert added. “Probably not the last. If you want to disrespect greatness, take it for granted, whatever, soon they’ll realize the impact.”
- The 40 minutes that Anthony Edwards played in Game 2 represented his highest single-game total in over three months, but he grimaced and grabbed at his sore right knee a few times in the second half of the game, Slater notes. Still, Edwards downplayed the issue after the win and suggested he didn’t score his 30 points very efficiently. “I missed 15 shots tonight, two free throws,” he said after going 10-of-25 from the floor. “I’ll be better.”
- Jason Quick of The Athletic profiles Hardaway, who signed with the Nuggets on a one-year, minimum-salary contract and has been an invaluable jack-of-all-trades as the team dealt with a series of injuries to starters and other rotation players throughout the season. Nuggets executive VP of player personnel Jon Wallace referred to the veteran swingman as having “immense value for us,” and head coach David Adelman agreed. “Beyond what I expected,” Adelman said of Hardaway. “He is one of the main, main reasons why we survived this season. The guy won us games. Flat out. Just really, really impactful.”
NBA Announces Finalists For 2025/26 Awards
The NBA has announced the finalists for this season’s major awards, including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Clutch Player of the Year.
The MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year finalists were announced at halftime of the NBC broadcast of Game 1 between the Pistons and Magic, while the league’s official account tweeted the rest.
Most Valuable Player
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
The leaders of the three top teams in the Western Conference all have strong arguments for MVP. Jokic became the first player to lead the league in rebounds and assists per game while also averaging 27.7 points. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31.1 PPG and led the Thunder to the league’s best record despite the fact that multiple starters missed substantial time this season. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and a league-best 3.1 blocks per game while emerging as a lock for Defensive Player of the Year.
Rookie of the Year
- Cooper Flagg (Mavericks)
- Kon Knueppel (Hornets)
- VJ Edgecombe (Sixers)
This race is expected to come down to the former Duke teammates. Knueppel played a key role for a resurgent Hornets squad, becoming the first rookie to lead the league in made three-pointers while averaging 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in 81 appearances. Flagg’s Mavs finished well out of the postseason picture, but he showed massive star upside, averaging 21.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG while scoring at least 42 points in four separate games. Edgecombe averaged 35.0 minutes per game over 75 contests, posting a well-rounded 16.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 4.2 APG.
Coach of the Year
- Joe Mazzulla (Celtics)
- J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons)
- Mitch Johnson (Spurs)
Mazzulla and Bickerstaff each led massively overperforming teams that managed to dominate the Eastern Conference despite having players in and out of the lineup all year. Johnson helped navigate a tricky guard rotation and spacing issues as the Spurs posted the second-best record in the league.
Defensive Player of the Year
- Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
- Ausar Thompson (Pistons)
- Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
Wembanyama is the overwhelming favorite to win this award, ranking first in total blocks, blocks per game, defensive rating, and defensive rebounding percentage this season. Holmgren was second in blocks per game for the league’s top defense, while Thompson proved himself to be arguably the best perimeter defender in the league with his combination of off-ball defensive play-making and point-of-attack dominance.
Most Improved Player
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Hawks)
- Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers)
- Jalen Duren (Pistons)
Both Avdija and Duren were first-time All-Stars this season, while Alexander-Walker earned a starting spot on his new team and raised his scoring from 9.4 points per game last season to 20.8 PPG this season on .459/.399/.902 shooting splits, all career high percentages.
Sixth Man of the Year
- Tim Hardaway Jr. (Nuggets)
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Heat)
- Keldon Johnson (Spurs)
Hardaway cracked 40% from three this season for the first time in his career while shooting 6.9 attempts in his 26.6 minutes per game. Most importantly for the injury-plagued Nuggets, he played 80 games, including six starts, and was the team’s fifth-highest scorer. Jaquez had an impressively well-rounded contribution off the bench, posting career-highs of 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. Johnson was a crucial scoring hub for the Spurs bench units while adding offensive pop when the starters struggled to score.
Clutch Player of the Year
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
Gilgeous-Alexander and Edwards ranked first and second, respectively, in clutch scoring per game, while Murray was second in total clutch points behind the Thunder star and shot the most efficiently from three of the guards.
Brett Siegel of Clutch Points notes (via Twitter) that the awards will be announced in the coming days and weeks, starting with Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, April 20.
Nuggets Control Playoff Seeding Heading Into Sunday
At this point in the season, tanking isn’t reserved just for the NBA’s worst teams, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The Nuggets hosted the Thunder on Friday in a matchup of Western Conference powers, but most of the stars were in street clothes. Oklahoma City, which has already clinched the league’s best record, rested nine rotation players in an effort to boost Denver’s chances at holding onto the No. 3 spot and avoiding a playoff matchup until the conference finals.
Nuggets coach David Adelman responded by giving the night off to his entire starting lineup: Nikola Jokic (right wrist injury management). Jamal Murray (right shoulder impingement), Aaron Gordon (right hamstring injury management), Cameron Johnson (right ankle injury management) and Christian Braun (left ankle injury management and a right hip flexor strain). Adelman defended the move in a pregame session with the media.
“What’s on the injury report is what they’re out with,” he said. “They’re dealing with a lot more than that physically, not to mention some of the soft tissue stuff. Scary kinds of injuries. … ‘Hey, we’re the three seed, but we don’t have three starters — it doesn’t sound like a great solution.”
The shorthanded Nuggets wound up with a 20-point victory that clinched home court advantage in the first round and will face a similar situation on Sunday at San Antonio. Denver is a game ahead of the Lakers for the No. 3 seed, but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker and is playing a Utah team that could use another loss to maximize its lottery odds.
The Nuggets can clinch third place and a first-round matchup with the No. 6 Timberwolves by beating the Spurs. If they’d rather face the No. 5 Rockets, they’ll need to lose tomorrow and hope for a Lakers win.
Murray, Gordon, Johnson and Braun have been declared out, along with Tim Hardaway Jr.. Spencer Jones and Peyton Watson. Jokic, who needs to play at least 15 minutes to qualify for postseason awards, is listed as questionable.
Durando adds that the Nuggets have engaged in internal discussions about the best playoff path, looking beyond the first round to a potential second-round meeting with the Thunder or Spurs. With no obvious answer, Adelman decided to prioritize making sure his players are as healthy as possible when the playoffs start next weekend.
“Us and Minnesota, it’s been a crazy back-and-forth over the years,” he said on Friday. “They swept us last year, but then we beat them three out of four this year. We always know it’s competitive with them. They’ve given us issues. We’ve given them issues. And then obviously Houston, I mean, they’re playing so well right now. … So there’s no good opponent in my opinion. I think you just have to play it out with decisions that are best for your team, and we feel like tonight, this is the best decision.”
Northwest Notes: Thunder, Nuggets, THJ, Sharpe, Krejci, Edwards
After clinching the No. 1 seed and the NBA’s best record on Wednesday, the Thunder won’t exactly be going all out to win Friday’s matchup with Denver. They’ve ruled out 10 players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right oblique injury management), Chet Holmgren (low back spasms), Jalen Williams (right hamstring injury management), and Cason Wallace (left great toe soreness), tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman.
However, there’s a chance the Nuggets will find themselves shorthanded as well. Already missing Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones due to hamstring strains, Denver has also listed Nikola Jokic (right wrist injury management), Jamal Murray (right shoulder impingement), and Aaron Gordon (right hamstring injury management) as questionable (Twitter link).
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Veteran wing Tim Hardaway Jr. hasn’t received a ton of buzz as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, but the Nuggets are pushing his case for the award, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. The 34-year-old has averaged 13.5 points per game on .449/.409/.813 shooting in 79 games for Denver, including 74 as a reserve. “He’s Sixth Man of the Year,” Murray said on Wednesday. “He’s really a starter for us. He’s playing the same minutes as a starter, guarding some of the best players. Just a real professional, honestly, same energy, same mentality every single night. (He’s) real consistent in that regard, so it’s always good to have somebody that you can rely on to not just put the ball in the hoop but for their energy and leadership every single night.”
- The Trail Blazers have upgraded guards Shaedon Sharpe (left fibula stress reaction) and Vit Krejci (left calf contusion) to questionable for Friday’s showdown with the Clippers, the team announced (via Twitter). Sharpe has been out since February 6, while Krejci last played on March 15. A win on Friday would put Portland in the driver’s seat for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference standings heading into Sunday’s regular season finale.
- Anthony Edwards has played in just two of the Timberwolves‘ past 12 games due to a knee injury and an illness, but the team remains hopeful he’ll suit up for at least one of its games this weekend. Edwards is listed as questionable for Friday’s contest in Houston, per the Wolves (Twitter link), and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) thinks he’ll probably play as long as things go well at shootaround. Starting center Rudy Gobert, meanwhile, will sit out a second straight game for rest purposes after playing in 76 of Minnesota’s first 79 games this season.
And-Ones: NBA Awards Picks, G League Awards
Reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander claims two awards on the unofficial ballot of Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports: MVP and Clutch Player of the Year.
To be clear, Devine does have an official vote for year-end awards, but those ballots aren’t sent out until the regular season concludes on April 12. Devine also notes that he may be forced to change some of his picks, depending on which players are eligible.
Victor Wembanyama, for example, needs to play at least 20 minutes in one of San Antonio’s remaining two games to be eligible for awards consideration. The French big man is Devine’s choice for Defensive Player of the Year and is his runner-up for MVP, ahead of Nikola Jokic.
Kon Knueppel (Rookie of the Year) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Most Improved Player) are a couple of Devine’s other awards picks.
Here are a few more awards-related stories and announcements:
- There’s quite a bit of overlap between Devine’s awards picks and the tentative selections of Zach Harper of The Athletic. Both writers have Joe Mazzulla, J.B. Bickerstaff and Mitch Johnson as the three finalists, in order of how they finish, for Coach of the Year, and Keldon Johnson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr. as their top three picks for Sixth Man of the Year.
- Michael Pina of The Ringer lists his three All-NBA, two All-Defensive, and two All-Rookie teams. Pina’s first-team All-NBA picks are Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown, Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama and Jokic; his All-Defensive First Team selections are Wembanyama, Derrick White, Scottie Barnes, Ausar Thompson and Chet Holmgren; and his top-five rookies are Knueppel, Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Dylan Harper and Derik Queen.
- The NBA G League has announced its All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams, which are each comprised of five players (Twitter links via the NBA). The All-Defensive selections are Jamarion Sharp (Texas Legends), Chris Manon (South Bay Lakers), Alijah Martin (Raptors 905), Andersson Garcia (Mexico City Capitanes) and Jalen Slawson (Noblesville Boom), while the All-Rookie team consists of Raptors 905 standout Martin, Norchad Omier and Sean Pedulla of the San Diego Clippers, Keshon Gilbert (College Park Skyhawks) and RJ Davis (South Bay Lakers). Martin, Manon, Slawson (Pacers), Omier and Pedulla are on two-way contracts with their respective NBA teams.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Northwest Division
For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents - or could become free agents - during the 2026 offseason. We'll consider whether each player's stock is rising or falling due to his performance and several other factors.
Today, we’re focusing on a handful of players in the Northwest Division, starting with the defending champions.
Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic Watson, Johnson, Bench
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic put up historic numbers in Wednesday’s win over Dallas, writes Michael Kelly of The Associated Press. On the second night of a road-home back-to-back, Murray had a season-high 53 points (on 19-of-28 shooting) and Jokic had 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists.
According to Kelly, the Nuggets are the first team in NBA history to have one player score 50-plus points and another record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in the same game.
“Fifty-three from your point guard and 23, 21, 19 from your center. Just outrageous numbers from the best tandem in the NBA,” head coach David Adelman said. “They really are the history book of this franchise when it comes to the longevity together, and also the playoffs and all these wars they’ve been through in a basketball sense, it’s just super special.”
Jokic, who has a league-high 30 triple-doubles, had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists in Tuesdays win at Phoenix. He’s currently leading the NBA in both rebounds (12.8) and assists (10.8) per game.
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- Peyton Watson has improved his play-making in his fourth season ahead of restricted free agency this summer, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. In his first two games back after missing several weeks because of a hamstring strain, Watson has averaged 17.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.0 APG (zero turnovers) on .565/.370/.750 shooting in 21.5 MPG. “It starts with establishing your aggression offensively, though. I think that every team in the NBA has to know that I’m a big threat, that if they don’t send multiple guys at me, I’m going to get going, and I’m going to be effective. When they start to do that and make those adjustments, it’s all about me seeing the next defender and making that play ahead of me,” Watson said. “For me, right now, (it’s) just establishing myself as a scorer and as an offensive presence. I think that’s doing a lot for our team.”
- Forward Cameron Johnson and the rest of Denver’s starters seem to be clicking at the right time, Benedetto writes in another story. Johnson is averaging 12.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.6 on .524/.466/.800 shooting splits in 12 games this month. “When we get going offensively, we’re really, really tough to stop. Now, we’ve got to match that with defensive intensity, transition defense, hitting the boards, boxing teams out,” Johnson said. “(There’s) a lot of room for us to grow defensively and little ins and outs of the game. If we continue to improve on those areas, I think the ceiling for this team is extremely high, so it’s encouraging.”
- Adelman recently made a significant change to the Nuggets’ rotation, per Benedetto. Veteran center Jonas Valanciunas has been a DNP-CD each of the past four games, with Adelman instead going with a small-ball bench unit featuring Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones and Watson alongside Murray. “It just gives us another dimension for this team to deploy whenever we want,” Jones said. “It definitely allows us to switch on ball, which makes a lot of our defenders a lot more aggressive. Obviously, we have a lot of good defenders out there, so we’re able to pick pockets, get steals, get some easy runouts and apply more pressure.”
Nuggets Notes: Braun, Murray, Hardaway, Gordon, Jokic
Nuggets wing Christian Braun missed seven weeks due to a left ankle injury, didn’t look like his normal self in his three games back earlier this month, and has now missed the past four contests. Head coach David Adelman says Braun didn’t re-injure his ankle or suffer a setback, but instead realized he wasn’t 100% when he returned to action.
“I watch him work out, and he’s going full speed. It’s just, he can’t do everything his body should be able to do right now,” Adelman said, per Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link). “And so I feel like it’s fair to us and to the player for him to come back when he’s really ready to play basketball, not just run up and down the court.
“CB is tough. So him coming back as quick as he did off an injury like that is not surprising. And I think we have to do what’s best for him. I do think it’s a group conversation. Whatever CB communicates, I 100% understand where he’s coming from. That guy likes to play, loves to hoop. And he loves to win.”
Braun said earlier this month that he tore ligaments in his ankle when he initially suffered the injury on November 12. The 24-year-old added that he was unable to walk for several weeks.
Here’s more from Denver:
- The Nuggets trailed the Wizards by seven points early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game, but Jamal Murray and Tim Hardaway Jr. sparked a comeback victory by combining for 31 points in the final period, Benedetto writes for The Denver Gazette. Murray, who should be a lock to make his first All-Star appearance, had another outstanding outing, finishing with 42 points (on 15-of-24 shooting), six assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 39 minutes. Hardaway, meanwhile, scored a season-high 30 points (on 10-of-18 shooting) in 36 minutes off the bench. The veteran guard/forward, who is playing on a one-year, minimum-salary contract, is shooting a career-best 41.5% from long distance this season.
- According to Benedetto (Twitter link), Adelman said multiple times after the game that he played Murray and Aaron Gordon (eight points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists in 32 minutes as the starting center) more than he wanted to on Saturday. Benedetto says he wouldn’t be surprised if both players are unavailable for Sunday’s back-to-back against Charlotte.
- Superstar center Nikola Jokic has essentially been acting as an assistant coach since he suffered a knee injury at the end of last month, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “I think for the young guys, the guys that haven’t played as much, to have a three-time MVP pull you aside and give you confidence, talk to you about what you can do better in this situation (is valuable). … Especially Nikola, who has memorized this league’s playbook,” Adelman said. “It’s absolutely insane. So leadership comes from a million places. Your veteran players are so important. … All these guys that have been through it, and I always say this, not just the successes they’ve had but the failures, too. They’ve been through it, and they can have a commentary that sometimes a coach can’t have with a player.” The Nuggets have gone 7-3 so far without their best player.
Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Watson, Hardaway, Injuries
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has been out since late December after hyperextending his left knee, has resumed on-court workouts, ESPN’s Shams Charania said on Wednesday during an appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link).
Jokic was ruled out for four weeks on December 30 and he may not miss much – if any – time beyond that initial projection, Charania said, referring to the big man as “right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule.” According to Charania, the Nuggets are optimistic that Jokic will be able to return to action before the end of January.
As Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports notes (via Twitter), if Jokic misses exactly four weeks as a result of the knee injury, he’d make his return on January 27, resulting in a 15-game absence. That would allow the three-time MVP to retain his award eligibility for the 2025/26 season, since he could miss up to 17 contests and still reach the 65-game minimum.
Of course, Jokic’s long-term health will be a more important consideration for the Nuggets than his ability to qualify for end-of-season awards — especially since the team has more than held its own in his absence and shouldn’t be desperate to get him back as soon as possible.
Denver has gone 5-3 without Jokic, picking up road victories in Toronto, Philadelphia, and Boston during that stretch. The club is tied for the second-best record in the Western Conference at 27-13.
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- One key reason for Denver’s strong play without Jokic is fourth-year wing Peyton Watson, who has put up excellent numbers (24.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.1 BPG, .511/.442/.731) in the club’s past eight games. While Watson has battled some turnover issues as his usage increases, he’s showing legitimate star potential, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required), and earned the first Player of the Week award of his career this week. “I can’t tell you the last time I’ve won any personal accolade. So it really means a lot to me to be recognized by the league,” Watson said. “It’s just more fuel to my fire. It makes me want to be better and better. I don’t want that to be my first and only. I want it to be the first of many.”
- He was somewhat overlooked during an offseason that also saw the Nuggets add Cameron Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas, and Bruce Brown, but veteran swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. has made the team look savvy for signing him to a one-year, minimum-salary contract last summer, Durando writes in another Denver Post story (subscription required). Hardaway’s .463 FG% and .414 3PT% are career highs, and he has gotten more comfortable in a leadership role over the course of the season. “Tim’s been great,” teammate Jalen Pickett said. “He’s been telling me, ‘Be aggressive, get in there, attack.’ He sees the work that I put in. So, just having a veteran like that, who can read the game and see the game, is great.”
- Christian Braun (left ankle sprain) will miss a third straight game on Wednesday in Dallas, while Jamal Murray (left ankle sprain; illness) and Brown (right knee inflammation) are listed as questionable on the second night of a back-to-back (Twitter link via Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette).