Detroit Pistons

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese continue to set standards and achieve historic records as rookies in the WNBA.&nbsp;
Clark, the 2023 no.1 overall selection, got the first-ever rookie triple-double in the WNBA by scoring 19 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 13 assists. The Indiana Fever rookie led her team to the win over last year&rsquo;s finalists New York Liberty. This was also the franchise&rsquo;s first-ever triple-double, and Clark did this against triple-double queen herself Sabrina Ionescu.&nbsp;
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CAITLIN CLARK MADE HISTORY TODAY 🗓️ 📊 19 PTS | 13 AST | 12 REB ✅ 1st rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double ✅ 1st player in Indiana Fever history to record a triple-double<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WelcometotheW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WelcometotheW</a> <a href="https://t.co/9VVtlU4dLy">pic.twitter.com/9VVtlU4dLy</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1809743574071931331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2024</a>
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Reese on the other hand, the 7th overall pick, surpassed WNBA legend Candace Parker&rsquo;s record of 12 straight double-doubles when she had yet another double-double, putting her at 13 straight. What&rsquo;s more impressive is doing this as a rookie and with the WNBA as big as ever, with all the influx of talent internationally and from this star-studded rookie class.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In a league of her own 👏 With her 13th consecutive double-double, Angel Reese breaks Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles over multiple seasons!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WelcometotheW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WelcometotheW</a> <a href="https://t.co/gdUGaDM9e5">pic.twitter.com/gdUGaDM9e5</a>
&mdash; WNBA (@WNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1810089834066616682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2024</a>
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Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese continue to set standards and achieve historic records as rookies in the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese make all-time WNBA records as rookies

All eyes will be on Iowa&rsquo;s Caitlin Clark and UConn&rsquo;s Paige Bueckers on Friday night with both players ready to step up and lead their teams in their Final Four clash at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
After two grueling weeks of basketball action in March Madness, it all comes down to the last four teams vying for a spot in the national championship game.
What more than the two biggest names in women&rsquo;s college basketball today duke it out on the biggest stage set on the nightcap at 9:30 p.m.
Unbeaten South Carolina will open the slate of games at 7:00 p.m. against the Cinderellas of the tournament in NC State.
Clark and Bueckers go a long way back. They were teammates in Team USA&rsquo;s junior teams, winning a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championships. Bueckers was the no.1 overall recruit by ESPN rankings out of high school while Clark ranked 4th.&nbsp;&nbsp;
This will be the final time these two generational prospects will face each other as Clark &ndash; the projected no.1 overall pick in 2024 &ndash; has announced she will join this year&rsquo;s draft while Bueckers &ndash; 2025&rsquo;s projected no.1 overall pick &ndash; has said she will return for a fifth and final season at UConn.
Clark and Bueckers can only hope the best for their and their team&rsquo;s respective campaigns but only one could come out from this pivotal matchup &ndash; so we should expect to see both teams give it their absolute best as they look to achieve their goal: have a chance to compete for a national championship.

All eyes will be on Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and UConn’s Paige Bueckers when they face off in the Final Four on Friday night.

Women's NCAA Final Four: Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers take center stage

Las Vegas Aces forward Alysha Clark has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, the WNBA announced today. She has earned the honor as the league&rsquo;s top reserve for the first time. To be eligible for the award, a player had to play more games as a reserve than as a starter.
Clark received 35 of 60 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Guard-forward DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun finished second with 13 votes, and guard Dana Evans of the Chicago Sky was third&nbsp;with nine votes. Center Kalani Brown of the Dallas Wings, guard Marine Johann&egrave;s of the New York Liberty and guard Sami Whitcomb of the Seattle Storm each received one&nbsp;vote.&nbsp;
In her 11th&nbsp;WNBA season and first with the Aces, Clark played in all 39 of Las Vegas&rsquo; regular-season games, coming off the bench 38 times and starting once.
Overall, she averaged 6.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22.5 minutes per game. Clark also made 38.6 percent of her three-point shots, ranking 17th&nbsp;in the WNBA in that category. She scored in double figures in 10 games, including a season-high 16 points in a 103-77 win over Seattle on Sept. 2, and recorded five or more rebounds 11 times.
Clark helped Las Vegas post a 34-6 record and earn the No. 1 seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Aces have since advanced to the WNBA Semifinals and will host the winner of the series between Dallas and the Atlanta Dream beginning on Sunday, Sept. 24 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
The Aces finished with the most victories and the fifth-best winning percentage (.850) in a regular season in league history. Las Vegas also posted the highest offensive rating (113.0) and the most 100-point games (11) ever by a WNBA team.
Clark, a two-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection, is the third player to win the Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Award as a member of the Aces, joining Kelsey Plum (2021) and Dearica Hamby (2020 and 2019). In honor of her accomplishment, Clark will receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to commemorate the achievement.
Below are the voting results for the 2023 Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Award and the list of recipients since the award&rsquo;s inception in 2007.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/njnj.png" alt="" width="713" height="259" />

Las Vegas Aces forward Alysha Clark has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year.

Aces' Alysha Clark named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year

First lady Jill Biden&rsquo;s walk-back of her suggestion that runner-up Iowa should join NCAA women&rsquo;s basketball champion LSU for a visit to the White House didn&rsquo;t sit well with Tigers star Angel Reese.
Prompted by a discussion of Biden&rsquo;s comments during her Wednesday appearance on &ldquo;The Paper Route Podcast,&rdquo; Reese said the Tigers should celebrate their title with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama rather than President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
Jill Biden, at an appearance in Denver on Monday, had praised Iowa&rsquo;s sportsmanship and congratulated both teams. She also said that as part of the longstanding tradition of having champions visit the White House, Iowa should come as well &ldquo;because they played such a good game.&rdquo;
The Tigers defeated Iowa 102-85 for the title in Dallas on Sunday.
Reese on Monday called Jill Biden&rsquo;s suggestion &ldquo;a joke.&rdquo;
Joe Biden invited LSU and men&rsquo;s champion Connecticut to the White House on Tuesday with no mention of Iowa. Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for Jill Biden, said the first lady had meant no disrespect to LSU and that her comments were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not gonna lie to you, I don&rsquo;t accept the apology because of, you said what you said. I said what I said. And like, you can&rsquo;t go back on certain things that you say,&rdquo; Reese told podcast hosts Brandon Marshall and Ashley Nicole Moss.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I mean, you felt like they should&rsquo;ve came because of sportsmanship, right?&rdquo; Reese added. &ldquo;They can have that spotlight. We&rsquo;ll go to the Obamas. We&rsquo;ll see Michelle. We&rsquo;ll see Barack.&rdquo;
Some social media commenters noted the racial dynamics involved, saying that only winners should be rewarded with a White House visit and that hosting both teams would detract from the achievement by LSU&rsquo;s team, which is predominantly Black. The Iowa team is largely white. Others noted the important role of Black women in Democratic Party politics.
Following LSU&rsquo;s victory, coach Kim Mulkey said she would go to the White House if invited. Reese said Wednesday she was uncertain if she would go.
Reese faced criticism on social media for waving her hand in front of Iowa star Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s face while staring down Clark during the game. Clark, The Associated Press Player of the Year, made a similar gesture to no one in particular during Iowa&rsquo;s victory over Louisville in the Elite Eight.
Reese said she didn&rsquo;t think LSU, had it lost to Iowa, would have gotten the same praise from Jill Biden as the Hawkeyes did.
&ldquo;If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I remember she made a comment about both teams should be invited because of sportsmanship. And I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Are you saying that because of what I did?&rsquo; Stuff like that, it bothers me because you are a woman at the end of the day. White, Black, it doesn&rsquo;t matter, you&rsquo;re a woman, you&rsquo;re supposed to be standing behind us before anything.&rdquo;

Reese on Monday called Jill Biden’s suggestion to invite Iowa to the White House “a joke.”

LSU’s Angel Reese on White House flap: ‘We’ll go to the Obamas’

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Michigan State women&rsquo;s basketball players wiped away tears as they stood shoulder to shoulder during a moment of silence before losing to No. 8 Maryland 66-61 on Saturday, less than a week after three students were killed in a shooting on campus.
Diamond Miller scored 29 points and helped the Terrapins (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) hold on for the win after leading by 16 points in the second half.
The Spartans (13-13, 5-10) rallied to have a chance at pulling off an upset, coming up short after DeeDee Hagerman missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left.
Michigan State players wore white shirts with &ldquo;Spartan Strong&rdquo; and the school&rsquo;s logo in green during warmups while coaches, support staff, administrators, cheerleaders and mascot sported the tops all afternoon.
The victims, and survivors, were honored with pregame remarks as athletic events resumed on a campus and community reeling from the tragedy. On Saturday, four of the wounded students remained in critical condition at a Lansing hospital and one was still hospitalized in stable condition.
No. 6 UCONN 60, No. 14 VILLANOVA 51
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Lou Lopez S&eacute;n&eacute;chal scored 22 points, including a crucial rainbow jumper late in the fourth quarter, to lead No. 6 UConn to a victory over Maddy Siegrist and Villanova.
Dorka Juh&aacute;sz added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Aaliyah Edwards had 13 points and 14 boards for the Huskies (24-4, 16-1 Big East).
Siegrist, the nation&rsquo;s leading scorer, had 21 points for the Wildcats (23-5, 14-3). Villanova lost just its second contest in the last 16 &mdash; both to the Huskies.
The game was close throughout the first three quarters; the Huskies entered the final quarter leading 44-39 and were up 12 before the Wildcats came roaring back, scoring the next 10 points over 3:49 to make it 52-50 with 3:55 to play.
Edwards ended UConn&rsquo;s 4:39 scoring drought with a layup to make it 54-50. Then S&eacute;n&eacute;chal nailed her high-arching shot from close range to give the Huskies a five-point advantage that proved enough cushion.
No. 7 IOWA 80, NEBRASKA 60
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark scored 30 points, Monika Czinano added 20 and Iowa pulled away in the second half for a win over Nebraska.
The Hawkeyes (22-5, 14-2) moved a game behind Big Ten-leading Indiana with two regular-season games left.
Jaz Shelley had 19 points and nine rebounds and Alexis Markowski had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Cornhuskers (14-13, 6-10), who lost their fourth straight.
Clark and Czinano combined for 15 of the Hawkeyes&rsquo; 21 points in the third quarter, when they stretched their 40-33 halftime lead to 61-47.
Iowa, which beat the Huskers 80-76 in Iowa City last month, has won eight in a row in the series.
No. 20 GONZAGA 65, SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 51
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Yvonne Ejim scored 25 points and Kaylynne Truong hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points to help Gonzaga beat Saint Mary&rsquo;s nd extend its win streak against the Gaels to six.
Ejim hit a jumper and Truong followed with a 3-pointer to make it 5-0 and the Bulldogs never trailed. Brynna Maxwell was fouled as she hit a 3-pointer and made the and-1 free throw to cap a 10-2 run and give Gonzaga a 19-10 lead with 6:13 left in the second quarter. Maxwell, who finished with nine points on 2-of-9 shooting, has made at least one 3-pointer in each game this season.
Gonzaga (25-3, 15-1 West Coast Conference) has won four in a row and 19 of 20 since an 84-63 loss at then-No. 2 Stanford.
Ali Bamberger led Saint Mary&rsquo;s (12-16, 6-11) with 13 points and Taycee Wedin scored 10.
No. 22 IOWA STATE 81, BAYLOR 77, 2OT
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Ashley Joens scored 27 points and Iowa State got double-digit scoring from all five starters, defeating Baylor.
Lexi Donarski hit a jumper and Joens added a 3-pointer to put Iowa State up 76-71 in the second OT. In the final minute, first Jaden Owens and then Ja&rsquo;Mee Asberry scored to get Baylor within 78-77 with 10 seconds left. Joens was fouled and made both free throws with nine seconds left. Her steal with seven seconds left, followed by her made free throw, sealed the win for the Cyclones (17-7, 9-5 Big 12).
There were four lead changes and two ties in overtime, the last tie coming at 71-all on a 3-pointer by Iowa State&rsquo;s Lexi Donarski with 27 seconds to go. Baylor called timeout, worked the clock down, and Asberry missed a 3-pointer as time ran out.
Three players had double-doubles for Baylor (16-10, 7-7). Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, a part-time starter who did not start in this one, had 19 points and 12 rebounds; Bella Fontleroy had 19 points and 11 rebounds; and Caitlin Bickle had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Owens added nine points and 10 assists.

A recap of Saturday's games in top-25 women's college hoops.

Michigan State plays in first game since shooting tragedy

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 49 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night that snapped a five-game skid.
Markkanen got out to a quick start with 18 points in the first quarter to help the Jazz to an early lead. Houston took the lead late in the third quarter, but Utah ended that quarter on a 10-0 run to go on top for good.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said it over and over again this year, it&rsquo;s just my teammates, the coaching staff, they put me in the right spots to succeed,&rdquo; Markkanen said. &ldquo;My teammates did a great job delivering me the ball and it was just finishing my shots.&rdquo;
An 8-2 run cut Utah&rsquo;s lead to five with about 5 minutes left. Jordan Clarkson hit a 3-pointer soon after that before a tip shot by Markkanen extended the lead to 117-107.
Jalen Green added a basket for Houston before Markkanen scored the next four points to start a 14-0 run by the Jazz that made it 131-109 and sent fans streaming for the exits.
Markkanen added consecutive 3-pointers at the end of the run. Players on the Utah bench stood and cheered as he hit both of them and they were disappointed when a last 3-point attempt that would have given him 50 points was off the mark.
&ldquo;Jordan said: &lsquo;Just go for 50,&rsquo;&rdquo; Markkanen said. &ldquo;And I know they were double-teaming me at the end, but I had to go for it. I&rsquo;m not really too worried I didn't get it, but it&rsquo;s great to see my teammates excited, like I&rsquo;m excited for them.&rdquo;
Green had 30 points and Kevin Porter Jr. added 23 for the Rockets, who dropped their sixth in a row.
Markkanen&rsquo;s highest-scoring game entering Thursday was 38, which he had achieved twice, most recently on Dec. 20 against Detroit. He made six 3-pointers and all 13 of his free throws Thursday night to eclipse his previous best games.
&ldquo;He's done such a good job of continuing to work on different ways he can impact the game offensively,&rdquo; Jazz coach Will Hardy said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just shown an understanding of how to play when teams try to take certain things away from him.&rdquo;
Coach Stephen Silas was disappointed in how many times the Rockets sent Markkanen to the line.
&ldquo;The free throws were the biggest part,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always the biggest part. When a guy gets a bunch of points, it&rsquo;s your ability to be disciplined and not foul him and put him on the line 13 times. That&rsquo;s usually how it works.&rdquo;
The Jazz were up by seven after a jump shot by Clarkson before a 11-3 spurt by the Rockets made it 86-85, giving them their first lead of the second half. Porter and Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate made consecutive 3s to cap that run and put Houston on top.
The Rockets weren&rsquo;t on top for long. Utah scored the last 10 points of the third quarter, with 3-pointers from Malik Beasley and Mike Conley, to take a 95-86 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Clarkson had 19 points&hellip; Conley had nine points and 11 assists. &hellip; Beasley scored 19 points off the bench.
Rockets: Tate had 11 points in his return after missing 31 games with right ankle soreness. &hellip; Alperen Sengun had 20 points and 14 rebounds. &hellip; Eric Gordon had 12 points.
ROOKIE BREAKOUT
Hardy raved about the performance of Ochai Agbaji, who was the 14th overall pick in last year's draft. He scored a career-high 11 points, with all of them coming in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;I have a lot of respect for Ochai, the way he's approached his work every day so far this season,&rdquo; Hardy said. &ldquo;It's really hard to do what Ochai just did and he delivered, stepped up big time for us, so we're very happy for him.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 49 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Markkanen has career-best 49 as Jazz down Rockets 131-114

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Olivia Miles had 21 points and eight rebounds for No. 7 Notre Dame, and UConn star Azzi Fudd was injured in a collision with a teammate as the Fighting Irish handed the third-ranked Huskies their first loss of the season, 74-60 on Sunday.
Fudd, who came in averaging 24.0 points per game, exited in the final minute of the first quarter following a collision with teammate Aaliyah Edwards. She returned midway through the second period to play four minutes, but sat the rest of the day, going scoreless on two shots over 13 minutes.
Maddy Westbeld added a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (7-1), which bounced back from a 74-72 loss to No. 20 Maryland three days earlier.
Lou Lopez Senechal led UConn (6-1) with 21 points. Edwards added 14.
No. 2 STANFORD 84, No. 23 GONZAGA 63
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Cameron Brink had 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and Brooke Demetre made five 3s and scored 17 points, leading Stanford past Gonzaga.
The Cardinal (10-1) have now won five straight games after falling to top-ranked South Carolina in overtime on Nov. 20.
Hannah Jump hit four 3s and scored 14 points and Haley Jones had 12 points for Stanford.
Short-handed Gonzaga (7-2), limited to seven players because of illness and injuries, had won three in a row.
No. 4 OHIO STATE 82, RUTGERS 70
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored a career-high 31 points and Taylor Mikesell added 30 to help Ohio State beat Rutgers, a day that the Scarlet Knights honored former coach C. Vivian Stringer.
The school dedicated the court to Stringer, who retired after last season.
Buoyed by the return of their Hall of Fame coach, Rutgers played its best game of the season against a ranked opponent. Ohio State (8-0) jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter, but the Scarlet Knights (4-6) wouldn&rsquo;t go away.
They were down 18 near the end of the half before Kaylene Smikle hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to get within 43-28. Rutgers continued that momentum in the second half and made it 53-45 with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
Mikulasikova and Mikesell then scored the next six points for Ohio State to restore the double-digit advantage, and Rutgers couldn&rsquo;t recover.
Smikle led Rutgers with 21 points.
No. 5 INDIANA 65, ILLINOIS 61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 37 seconds left, and Indiana got past Illinois in their Big Ten opener.
Indiana (9-0) had not trailed in the second half of any game this season before going back and forth in the closing minutes with Illinois (3-7).
Makira Cook scored 33 points to lead the Illini.
The Hoosiers were coming off an 87-63 win over No. 6 North Carolina.
No. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 59, TENNESSEE 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Kayana Traylor scored 18 points and Virginia Tech held off Tennessee in a Jimmy V Women&rsquo;s Classic matchup.
Jordan Horston led Tennesssee (4-5) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, but missed a pair of late shots that would&rsquo;ve tied it.
Trailing 58-56 with 3 seconds left, Horston was off on a jumper. Down three with 1.1 seconds remaining, her 3-point try from the top of the key bounced off.
Cayla King scored 11 points and Georgia Amoore and D&rsquo;asia Gregg each had 10 for the Hokies (8-0).
Tennessee played without leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson, who was absent because of a coach&rsquo;s decision.
No. 10 IOWA 102, WISCONSIN 71
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her seventh career triple-double to break the Big Ten record in Iowa&rsquo;s win over Wisconsin.
Clark surpassed the record of six career triple-doubles set by former Iowa player Samantha Logic, who achieved the feat from 2012-2015.
Iowa (6-3) stopped a two-game skid and beat the Badgers (3-7) for the 26th straight time.
No. 11 LSU 85, TULANE 72
NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds and Jasmine Carson scored 21 and LSU beat Tulane.
The Tigers (9-0) are off to their best since winning their first nine in the 2009-10 season.
LSU led 27-20 in a first quarter in which it made 11 of 16 shots and Tulane 9 for 17. The Tigers extended their lead to 40-27 at halftime before the Green Wave unloaded with a 30-point third in which it shot 12 for 16 including 6 for 7 from 3-point range. Dynah Jones scored 16 of her team-high 25 points for Tulane in the quarter and the Green Wave closed to 61-58.
Reese made 1 of 2 foul shots for the Tigers and Kahia Warmsley responded with a layup for Tulane to get it within two, but LaDazhia Williams made a layup and Carson a 3 and LSU kept Tulane at bay from there. Reese made two foul shots with 5:01 left to extend the lead to 73-62.
Marta Galic scored 21 points for Tulane.
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 66, No. 13 CREIGHTON 62
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored 20 points and St. John&rsquo;s remained unbeaten by handing Creighton its first loss.
The Red Storm had a 47-32 lead in the middle of the third quarter before the Bluejays got it down to a one-possession deficit in the final 90 seconds.
After Emma Ronsiek&rsquo;s basket pulled Creighton within 61-59 with 1:27 to play, the Bluejays had a possession to tie or take the lead but couldn&rsquo;t score.
Kadaj Bailey and Unique Drake had 13 points apiece for St. John&rsquo;s (8-0, 2-0 Big East Conference).
Lauren Jensen scored 21 points for the Bluejays (7-1, 2-1) but couldn&rsquo;t get the tying jumper to fall with 13 seconds to go.
No. 14 ARIZONA 77, NEW MEXICO 60
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Jade Loville made 10 of 13 shots, including a career-best six 3-pointers, and scored 27 points to lead Arizona to a win over New Mexico.
Shaina Pellington added 19 points for the Wildcats (7-0), who had their lowest output of the year and won by less than 20 for only the second time this season.
Paula Reus scored 14 points for the Lobos (4-4).
No. 17 MICHIGAN 77, NORTHWESTERN 66
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser and Laila Phelia scored 18 points each and Michigan shut down Northwestern with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Leigha Brown added 10 points and 11 assists for Michigan (9-0), which won its Big Ten opener.
Jillian Brown had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Northwestern (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten). Caileigh Walsh had 12 points and four blocks, and Sydney Wood scored 10 points.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 67, No. 18 LOUISVILLE 49
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Savannah Wheeler had 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, Courtney Whitson added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Middle Tennessee beat cold-shooting Louisville.
Middle Tennessee (5-2) won its first home game against a ranked opponent since the Lady Raiders beat No. 6 Kentucky 70-58 on December 28, 2011.
Kseniya Malashka added 15 points for Middle Tennessee (5-2).
Olivia Cochran scored a season-high 14 points for Louisville (5-4).
NEBRASKA 90, No. 20 MARYLAND 67
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 29 points, Nebraska dominated the second half and the Cornhuskers surprised Maryland in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
Allison Weidner had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Nebraska (6-3). Isabelle Bourne had 18 points and Alexis Markowski added 14. Shelley had six 3-pointers, five assists and three steals.
Two free throws from Diamond Miller drew Maryland (7-3) to within 77-67 points with 4:03 remaining, but the Terrapins would not score again while Nebraska scored 13.
No. 21 BAYLOR 79, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 35
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Freshman guard Bella Fontleroy came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds and Baylor romped to a victory over Houston Christian.
Fontleroy sank 6 of 10 shots with three 3-pointers for the Lady Bears (6-2) and notched her first double-double. Jaden Owens added 14 points and six assists. Kendra Gillispie scored 10 on 5-of-6 shooting.
Marilyn Nzoiwu was the lone bright spot for the Huskies (3-4). She finished with 13 points and five rebounds, sinking 6 of 9 shots from the floor. Her teammates made 8 of 40 shots, including 2 of 15 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Bears played a fifth straight game without injured leading scorer Aijha Blackwell.
No. 22 TEXAS 92, SOUTHERN 43
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Shaylee Gonzales scored 22 points, Sonya Morris added 20 points, and Texas routed Southern.
Aaliyah Moore scored 11 points and DeYona Gaston had 10 for the Longhorns (4-4). Rori Harmon had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Sirviva Legions led the Jaguars (2-5) with 13 points off the bench.
The Longhorns rolled to a 29-10 lead through the first quarter after making 10 of 14 shots. They scored 11 points off seven Southern turnovers. Texas went on to lead 46-16 at halftime.
SETON HALL 82, No. 24 MARQUETTE 78
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Park-Lane scored 17 of her 31 points in the fourth quarter, Sidney Cooks added 23 and Seton Hall knocked off Marquette.
Kae Satterfield added 12 points for Seton Hall (6-4, 2-0 Big East Conference), which has won four straight. The Pirates last beat a ranked team, No. 24 DePaul, in January 2019.
Chloe Marotta scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (7-2, 1-1). Jordan King added 14 points and Liz Karlen had 12 points and nine rebounds.
No. 25 VILLANOVA 79, PROVIDENCE 54
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Seigrist scored 20 of her 29 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Villanova past Providence.
Seigrist was 12-of-18 shooting, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. The Wildcats (7-2, 1-1 Big East Conference) made 12 of 28 behind the arc and shot 52% overall (33 of 63). Lucy Olsen added 14 points and Bella Runyan 10.
Janai Crooms led the Friars (6-4, 0-2) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

A recap of Sunday's women's college basketball slate features a top-10 battle.

Notre Dame tops UConn as Azzi Fudd gets hurt

What stands out to you about this possession?
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If your eyes immediately go to Nikola Jovic &mdash; a skilled seven-footer that the Miami Heat are pretty excited about &mdash; initiating the offense, I wouldn't blame you.
If you're a stickler for process, it's fair to point out that the first action of the possession &mdash; a pitch to Marcus Garrett before flowing into a ball-screen &mdash; taking nearly 15 seconds to occur is less than ideal. It leads to Garrett trying and failing to beat Xavier Tillman off the bounce after forcing a switch, which then calls for Jovic to save the possession with a(nother) deep three.
But look at Haywood Highsmith.
While the Heat take their precious time getting into the possession, he's calling for Garrett to move closer to the right wing so his help defender can't park at the free-throw line. Spacing is the name of the game, and Highsmith has a strong understanding of it.
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Highsmith lifts to the right wing while the ball-screen happens, then retreats back to the corner once Jovic receives the ball. And while his defender, David Roddy, stares down the late-clock iso from Jovic, Highsmith loops into the paint in anticipation for the shot.
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Sure enough, the shot clanks off the right side of the rim. By doing his homework early, by remaining active off the ball, Highsmith goes from spacer to glass-cleaner before anyone can put a body on him. Two-possession game.
Highsmith continues to fly under the radar. You can track it back to his family; he's technically a junior, with his father &mdash; Haywood Highsmith Sr. &mdash; carving out a prolific college career <a href="https://fightingfalcons.com/honors/hall-of-fame/haywood-highsmith/74" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in his own right</a>.
"First and foremost, my parents were very supportive of me over the years," Highsmith told Basketball News during a phone interview. "My father grew up playing basketball; he was a Hall-of-Famer in college, so I basically learned the game from him."&nbsp;
The younger Haywood would have <a href="https://wucardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/haywood-highsmith/3842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">productive college career</a> of his own. He shined at Wheeling University, a Division II school, starting three of his four years there. As a senior, Highsmith averaged 22 points (60.9% from two, 40.5% from three), 12.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks.
It's been work since then. A two-way deal with the Philadelphia Sixers here; a two-year stretch in Germany there; G League reps in the interim. Highsmith has had to cycle through teams, schemes, roles and countries. But that amalgamtion of experiences has prepared him for this Heat run.
&ldquo;I don't view him as a young player," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Friday night's win over the Memphis Grizzlies. "I understand he doesn't have an extensive NBA experience &mdash; but he's played some very good basketball in the G League. He has had to grind and earn everything and every opportunity that he&rsquo;s been given. He just continues to get better each year.
"He has also contributed on some very good winning teams in the G League, and he has been one of those glue guys for those teams. [That] was one of the things that appealed to us about him &mdash; and it was the fact that he makes winning plays and contributes to winning &mdash; and it does not necessarily always show up in the conventional box score. But he defends, has a knack for the ball [and] he is very good in the system."
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The biggest question surrounding the Heat entering this season has been some variation of, "Who starts alongside Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt?" We've seen Caleb Martin, another diamond-in-the-rough find, get reps at the 4. Adebayo himself has played the 4 alongside Omer Yurtseven. It probably won't be Jimmy Butler, who jokingly-yet-seriously shut down the prospect of it in training camp.
Keep an eye on Highsmith, once again flying under the radar. He's coming off of a productive showing at NBA Summer League where he was tasked with defending all over the floor, canning triples and occasionally keeping the offense flowing as a driver.
During preseason play, he's been sliding across the positional scale defensively. He saw time against Bryn Forbes (movement shooter), Austin Rivers (wing scorer), Taurean Prince (spacer, close-out attacker) and Eric Paschall (versatile 4). Against the Brooklyn Nets, he spent time against Kevin Durant and&nbsp;Ben Simmons. On Friday night against the Grizzlies, he saw time against Dillon Brooks, Ziaire Williams and even Xavier Tillman.&nbsp;
He didn't always fare well against those matchups, but he offers the archetype &mdash; rangy, active, physical, willing &mdash; that the Heat want if they decide to go smaller again.&nbsp;
Highsmith recently spoke to Basketball News about his qualifications at the 4, his influences as a player, what he's worked on this summer and more.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)
How would you describe your game to someone who isn't familiar with you?
Haywood Highsmith: "I'm just a versatile basketball player. I don't really have a set position; I'll go out there and play whatever the team needs me to play. It starts with defense, being able to guard multiple players. Offensively, I'd say I'm a good shooter, an underrated passer. I'm just a guy that does a little bit of everything on the floor &mdash; and plays hard."
I was going through some of your college and overseas film, and it looks like you have somewhat of a post game too. Do you feel like that's something you can utilize if opponents stash smaller players on you?
Highsmith: "When I was in college, I was a Division II player so I faced some smaller players from time to time. I was pretty dominant in the post with a right hook, spins and stuff like that. I was kind of a big man in college; now that I'm in the pros, I'm more of a hybrid. When I get mismatches, I could definitely use some of the moves I used to do back in my earlier days &mdash; take advantage of my size and length and get good shots against smaller opponents."
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Since you've been in the NBA, who are some players you've drawn from or learned from?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"When I was in Philly (2018-19 season), I did talk to Jimmy [Butler] from time to time. Obviously I'm with him now, so I've been able to learn more from him. With the Heat last year, P.J. [Tucker] taught me a lot about playing hard, doing the little things while on the court; you can affect winning in different ways.
"In the G-League, I'd say Shaq Harrison. He's been around the NBA for a minute, played for the Bulls &mdash; he's a really good player. Guys like that, you can a learn a lot from. They've been playing longer than me, and they have more knowledge than me as well."
You've discussed your dad playing on the college level. How has that shaped your game?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"My dad has been supporting me since I was a kid. I knew I'd grow up to play basketball; he played, we're both very tall. He pushed me to develop skills beyond what he had. He tries to tell me things I could do better; sometimes I listen, and sometimes I don't (laughs). I feel like I'm learning more on this side, but sometimes he does bring up good points."
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Whenever you do pour over game tape, what are the kind of things you look for?
Highsmith: "I try to pinpoint areas in which I can be better, then I look at the things I did well and see what I can be consistent with. It's not always about looking at the things you did wrong; it's important to see the things you did well and stay positive. I just try to soak it all in, honestly."
What's a specific area of your game that you looked to improve this past summer?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Obviously, it starts with being in the best conditioning as possible. I feel like the Heat have really helped me with that. I've been with them all summer.
"Beyond that, I've worked on my ball-handling and being more consistent with my shot. I worked with Rob Fodor, the Heat's shooting coach. He's a really good guy, and has had me working on different things with my jumpshot. So, it's been a blend of skill work and getting in great shape."
On the jumper, have you made any tweaks to it, or has it been more about getting reps up?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"It's about having a one-motion jumper for me. I have to make sure I don't hold the ball up top. I want to have one fluid motion with my jumpshot."
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Last question for you. You've played D-II, played overseas, played in the G-League, and you have some NBA experience. What are some of the stylistic differences that you've seen across those leagues?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Overseas, it's obviously a more physical game. I think the defense is harder because there's more ball movement.
"In the NBA, the players are more talented so the stars have the ball in their hands more. Overseas, they move the ball around. There are a lot of good passers. Some of the big men can really shoot, and can also pass the ball really well.&nbsp;
"But with the NBA, G-League, overseas, D-II &mdash; it's all just basketball at the end of the day. There are different levels and different skill sets; obviously, I had to make an adjustment coming from playing D-II. I was probably the best player on the court every practice, every game. When I came to the pros, I had to change spots. I had to learn how to adjust and find my niche. I feel like I've done a good job of that, being able to play alongside different types of players. It's different everywhere, but you just have to be able to adjust and adapt to different styles."
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Actually, one quick follow-up before I let you go. You mentioned the physicality overseas and, at least when I watch, there seems to be more of an emphasis on big-man play. Do you feel like there's less switching overseas? What are the differences in defensive schemes?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Yeah. When I was overseas, a lot of teams would hedge on ball-screens. You'd have to be able to hit the short-roll with a pass, or swing a pass to the opposite wing so that guy could hit the player rolling.
"When I got over there, they asked me to hard hedge, which I'd never done before. It was hard for me to learn at first. But as I grew, they recognized that I was better at switching because I could guard multiple positions. It didn't make much sense for me to hedge and try to recover back to my man. I feel like switching is very easy to do, especially compared to something like hedging."

Nekias Duncan talks to Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith about his background, role, skill set and more.

Heat's Haywood Highsmith Q&A: Playing the 4, skill development, more

NBA champions Patrick McCaw, Norris Cole and Jodie Meeks are among the 15 players who have been invited by USA Basketball to training camp for the FIBA AmeriCup tournament.
The camp starts Tuesday in Las Vegas. The AmeriCup, the FIBA Americas region championship tournament that was last held in 2017, takes place Sept. 2-11 in Brazil.
Cole won two rings as a member of the Miami Heat. McCaw has been part of three championships &mdash; two with Golden State and another with Toronto &mdash; while Meeks was with the Raptors team that won a title in 2019.
Also invited to the camp: Zylan Cheatham, Gary Clark Jr., Derek Culver, Will Davis II, Orlando Johnson, Anthony Lamb, Frank Mason III, Jeremy Pargo, Elijah Pemberton, Kendall Smith, Craig Sword and Stephen Zimmerman.
Of the 15 invitees, 11 have appeared in the NBA. Meeks (539 games), Cole (360), McCaw (199), Clark (170) and Johnson and Mason III (103 apiece) have the most NBA experience among those on the training camp roster.
&ldquo;Our goal is to always put together a roster of athletes who are ready to play the international style of basketball at the highest level,&rdquo; USA Basketball men&rsquo;s national team director Sean Ford said. &ldquo;These players have a mix of USA Basketball and professional experience that will help us achieve that goal.&rdquo;
Alex Jensen will coach the team in the AmeriCup, assisted by Mike Williams, Steve Wojciechowski and Nathan Peavy.
The U.S. is the defending AmeriCup champion and has won the event seven times overall, more than any other nation. It will face Mexico on Sept. 2, Venezuela on Sept. 4 and Panama on Sept. 5 in group play.
There are 12 nations that have qualified for AmeriCup, and they were split into three different four-team groups. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-place teams, will advance to quarterfinal play on Sept. 8. The semifinals are Sept. 10 and the championship game is Sept. 11.

The camp for AmeriCup preparation starts Tuesday in Las Vegas.

McCaw, Cole, Meeks among USA Basketball AmeriCup invitees

Even as the Boston Celtics led in the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, it only felt like a matter of time before the scoreboard would catch up to the Miami Heat offense.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Miami basically has a 105 offensive rating in the half court and the halftime show was almost entirely about offensive concerns.
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1526743543942873088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Then, the Heat exploded in the second half, opening on a 22-2 run and never looking back. They steamrolled the Celtics on both ends and Jimmy Butler took over en route to 41 points. Miami finished with an impressive Offensive Rating of 112.2 on half-court possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. That ranks in the 88th percentile of playoff games this season; according to our Nekias Duncan, the league average is 95.6 points per 100 possessions.&nbsp;
The Heat's success transcends their normal half-court production. Even with the Game 1 win, Miami is still averaging just 95.0 half-court points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, and the team's regular season rating was similarly low (97.6). And even taking the scope back to a base level &mdash; how many people expected the Heat to drop 118 points in the first game against one of the league's best defenses?
Sure, the Celtics were missing two key cogs in Marcus Smart and Al Horford, but it was still an impressive effort. It also exposed the dilemma Boston has with Payton Pritchard.
The second-year guard is the Celtics' best shooter in a rotation that sometimes needs a perimeter lifeline, and simultaneously, their worst defender in a scheme that can't afford porous perimeter defense.&nbsp;
Nekias was all over this in his pre-series scouting report and had a noteworthy stat after Game 1:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Pritchard was targeted 16 times in PnR tonight, and the Heat scored well over 1.2 points per possession on those trips 😵&zwj;💫<a href="https://t.co/Sh3NLiMvTK">https://t.co/Sh3NLiMvTK</a> <a href="https://t.co/eTxYIQKXDI">pic.twitter.com/eTxYIQKXDI</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1526772020217798656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Heat went after Pritchard, who logged his postseason high with 30 minutes in the loss. They put him through the blender on screens and forced him to play chaser. At 6-foot-1 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan, Pritchard just doesn't have enough length to overcome falling into recovery mode.
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Prtichard also just struggles fighting through screens despite being fairly built for his size (listed around 200 pounds). That fourth clip is telling; he's pretty powerless against Butler, and it leads to an easy Max Strus three-pointer. Pritchard and Jaylen Brown could have communicated better on that play and had Brown chase after Strus, but it seems the job was supposed to be Pritchard's.&nbsp;
Miami then attacked Pritchard on the ball during its second-half surge.&nbsp;
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When Butler found 1-on-1 chances against Pritchard, the Heat superstar was able to get into his bag with relative ease. In the second clip, Pritchard stays up tight against Butler, and it looks like solid defense. But even that effort appears meaningless. Butler made one basic spin move, didn't need to counter and rose high above the contest for a confident make.&nbsp;
This isn't to say Pritchard is the primary reason for Boston's loss by any means. But he is going to be a matchup Miami hunts throughout this series. The Heat have players who are unbothered by his defense (Butler, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo) and players who can wreak havoc against him away from the ball (Strus, Gabe Vincent).&nbsp;
The Celtics are going to be challenged when Pritchard is defending. Their trade-off is that he is, in many cases, their spark and offensive savior from long range. Through the postseason, opponents have dared complementary players like Grant Williams, Derrick White, Horford and Smart to shoot as defenses load up on Jayson Tatum and Brown. The one supporting cast member they cannot forget about is Pritchard.
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The 24-year-old has blossomed into one of the most efficient perimeter shooters in the entire NBA. Among all postseason players with at least 20 pull-up shot attempts, Pritchard ranks fourth with a 58.3% Effective Field Goal percentage. He ranked eighth among 171 players with at least 100 pull-up attempts in the regular season at 53.6%. Then, he turned around and made 42.8% of his catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season and finished 13th in overall three-point percentage (41.2%).
Pritchard has limitless range and enduring confidence. His threes came from 26 feet from the basket on average, according to The BBall Index, putting him in the 82nd percentile at his position. Aside from maybe Tatum, Pritchard is the only Celtic who could hoist up deep triples without inciting grimaces from fans.
His overall offensive game, though, is a bit more complicated.&nbsp;
Pritchard is a rock-solid passer. He's dished out 23 assists against just 3 turnovers in the playoffs so far; that 7.67 assist-to-turnover-ratio is the best among anyone who has been in at least eight playoff games. When he drives to the basket, he's able to make the right kick-out plays. The problem is his drives aren't threatening to opposing defenses.&nbsp;
Second Spectrum says that 221 players drove to the basket at least 150 times in the regular season. Pritchard passed out of his drives a whopping 60.7% of the time &mdash; the fourth-most of any such player. When he did attempt a shot, it didn't go so well; his 37.7% field goal percentage tied for 16th-worst. In his 173 regular-season drives, he scored 45 points. That 26.0% rate is, again, the fourth-lowest of the 221 qualifying players.
Pritchard has scarcely needed to drive the ball for most of the postseason, and had actually gone 4-for-4 on driving shots in the first two rounds. Then, we got to the conference finals, where he went 1-for-4 in Game 1.
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The burst just isn't there for Pritchard, who pounds the ball hard and tries to lower his shoulder without much success. Caleb Martin is a solid defender who walled Pritchard up in the first clip. Herro wasn't fazed in the second clip, and on an empty-corner drive, Bam Adebayo has plenty of time to help. Without a strong first step, Pritchard can't use his shooting threat to successfully attack closeouts. He doesn't get the head start that others, even Williams and White, receive.&nbsp;
Speaking of White &mdash; he'll be out for Game 2. Smart's availability is still up in the air as of this writing. That's possibly two dynamic attacking guards that the Celtics won't have in a critical second game, which means even more responsibility falls on Pritchard's shoulders.
Boston needs Payton Pritchard in its rotation. The perimeter prowess and reliable passing help keep a volatile offense from falling off the rails. But Ime Udoka and the Celtics' coaching staff have to figure out how to keep Miami away from matchup-hunting Pritchard and keep him in advantageous offensive positions. He'll be an X-factor in Game 2 and a swing player for the remainder of this series.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>As I mentioned, Pritchard is fourth among postseason players in pull-up effective field goal percentage. Jordan Clarkson (60.9%) is first and Chris Paul (60.4%) is second, though both have been eliminated. But third place, at 59.3%, might surprise you: Marcus Smart.</li>
<li>We're in draft season!!! It's one of my favorite times of the year. Let's get excited. Here's an interesting graph of the careers of various draft picks throughout much of NBA history. There's more in the thread:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
1/ Since 1978, 2063 players were drafted (*Early draft selected more than 200 players) But, 401 draftee couldn't play a single game in NBA <a href="https://t.co/rXttO2xYRH">pic.twitter.com/rXttO2xYRH</a>
&mdash; TheNext23 (@TNext23) <a href="https://twitter.com/TNext23/status/1526959550624301056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>SIS Hoops just keeps on keepin' on with its sweet graphics. This one's interesting because it crosses over several different player archetypes:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
What can we learn from identifying who takes open shots most often in this year&rsquo;s playoffs? A combination of secondary creators, play finishers, and star initiators lead the way: <a href="https://t.co/U3LEd0LvKq">pic.twitter.com/U3LEd0LvKq</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1526986648499912704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Payton Pritchard was a defensive target for the Heat in Game 1, but if the Celtics hope to advance, they need his long-range shooting.

NBA Stats Notebook: The Celtics and the Payton Pritchard conundrum

We're in the midst of a ridiculous scoring explosion.
Since the All-Star break, there have been 26 instances of a player scoring at least 40 points. Twenty different players have achieved the feat, ranging from superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, stars like Darius Garland, quality starters like Gary Trent Jr., gap-fillers like Josh Hart and bench assassins like Jordan Clarkson.&nbsp;
If the single-game excursions don't do it for you, consider that 11 players are averaging north of 30 points since the break. Only three pulled it off during the 2019-20 season &mdash; the infamous Orlando Bubble year &mdash; and that's the high mark of the past decade. We'll see what happens as the post-break sample grows, but we're in rare air right now.
The list of 11 is filled with single-name guys: LeBron, Jokic, Embiid, Giannis and Trae to point out a few. But then you get towards the bottom, and you see a pair of Kentucky Wildcats.
There's De'Aaron Fox, who is 11th in scoring (30.4 points per game) while dishing out nearly 8 assists per contest. His turbo-charged attacks &mdash; both on the ball or flowing into handoffs and cuts alongside his shiny new All-Star Domantas Sabonis &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/deaaron-fox-is-blossoming-alongside-domantas-sabonis-but-whats-next-for-the-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have been fruitful</a>. It helps that the jumper (38.6% from three on 5.7 attempts) is falling right now.
And then, right above him on the list is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is quietly averaging 30.6 points over his last 10 games.
He isn't just getting buckets, but he's doing it efficiently. His 62.9% True Shooting percentage is one of the best marks in the league among high-usage players. The impressive part is that the bulk of his success has come in the interior.
Frankly, there's no driver in the league like SGA. There are numbers to quantify that; he's averaging the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;SeasonSegment=Post%20All-Star&amp;sort=DRIVE_PTS&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fourth-most drives</a> since the break (22.9), ranks second in drive scoring (13.9) and is the only player converting more than half of his drive-based shots (51.5%) while attempting at least 10 of them per game.
While we're at it, here are how some notable names are faring on <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shots-general/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;SeasonSegment=Post%20All-Star&amp;sort=FG2A&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-point shots</a> since the All-Star break:
<ul>
<li>Brandon Ingram: 63.6% on 15.4 attempts</li>
<li>Giannis Antetokounmpo: 61.3% on 15.2 attempts</li>
<li>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 57.6% on 15.8 attempts</li>
<li>Ja Morant: 51.2% on 18.4 attempts</li>
<li>Joel Embiid: 45.9% on 15.0 attempts</li>
</ul>
Truly, you have to watch him. Despite having sub-elite burst, a sub-elite handle and a middling vertical pop, SGA consistently gets to his spots. Factor in his supporting cast (read: general lack of spacing), and his numbers become nonsensical. He simply shouldn't be this efficient within his context, but he's good enough to make it work.
He is a beacon of flexibility and deceleration. His ability to vary his stride length &mdash; some steps are quick and choppy, others are longer &mdash; is top-tier stuff. Gaining leverage is the name of the game, and SGA stops-and-slithers his way into it on a majority of his drives.
Defenders are rarely at risk of being blown by in a traditional sense, but they can never catch up to him. More accurately, they can never match his timing.
Take this play, for example.
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</div>
Cody Martin doesn't do anything wrong here. He's squarly in front of SGA when the drive starts. Even with SGA attacking his front foot, Martin is never out of position ... until the second step on the gather.
That second step is longer and more powerful than the first, allowing SGA to gain a little bit of an advantage when gliding through the air. That turns this:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_03_15_17_59_20_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Into this:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_03_15_17_59_33_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Watching SGA duck under defenders is a hidden joy. You don't have to be Allen Iverson-fast if you can get your shoulder into a guy's chest.&nbsp;
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Martin reaches in space, but SGA counters with a behind-the-back dribble. With Martin upright, SGA crosses back to his left&nbsp;and sinks low&nbsp;to create the early advantage.
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He now <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1503721522053238785?s=20&amp;t=0mgvyxKROeC9qeB3tz4COw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has Montrezl Harrell (Micro Shaq???) on a patch of land</a>. He's able to get lower than him, too, then catch Harrell off guard with a Steve Nash-ian scoop. Harrell's barely off the ground by the time the shot's up.
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The gather timing is wild enough; SGA altering his level of explosion on the gather is some nasty stuff.
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Look at how silly he makes Mason Plumlee look. Plumlee goes with a full-blown vertical contest &mdash; typically the right thing to do! &mdash; but because SGA leads at 10% capacity, he's able to slide under Plumlee for an unbothered layup.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has seemingly found a hack early on in his career: the actual moves don't have to change much if you alter the timing enough to throw defenders off. The stop-and-start nature of his game keeps his enemies off-balance; his finishing moves deliver the final blow.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the unique driving ability of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Stop and start: Taking a drive with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Potential is a strange thing. It&rsquo;s not something tangible that you can hold in your hand, like a lightsaber or a McRib. Yet we tend to obsess over it. Sometimes, we even lend it more weight than observable talent.
The NBA and all those associated are not immune from this tendency. We circumnavigate the <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nba-rosters-feature-109-international-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">globe</a> in search of the game&rsquo;s most fascinating prospects in the hopes that their unique skillsets will help deliver our favorite franchise to the promised land. However, all too often, we fail to stop and ask ourselves, "What are the limits of our imagination?"
Arguably no player exemplifies this pattern in human nature better than Anthony Edwards. On one hand, once you see the flashy, second-year guard showcase his frenetic athleticism and effortless charm, it&rsquo;s easy to come away convinced that he could be the one to pry the Minnesota Timberwolves out of the depths of playoff irrelevancy. On the other hand, it&rsquo;s hard to chalk up his funky shooting mechanics, questionable shot selection and tendency to lose focus on defense to mere growing pains.&nbsp;
This polarity leaves us in a state of basketball limbo. Anthony Edwards: Savior or bust? Which label (if either) is more appropriate? To frame it more pointedly: Just how high can Anthony Edwards fly?
In an attempt to examine Edwards' ceiling, I scoured NBA history to find players with a similar skillset and explored whether Edwards could follow a similar trajectory. I decided to look at five possible developmental outcomes for the young guard. For each player comparison, I've included that player&rsquo;s peak season in terms of Box Plus/Minus (using the <a href="https://backpicks.com/page/2/#RS%20BPM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BackPicks</a> version of the stat) and an explanation of what Edwards would need to add to his game to reach that level (except for the &ldquo;Pessimist Floor&rdquo; tier). Lastly, I offer my thoughts on which tier I think Edwards is most likely to reach.
Tier 1: Pessimist Floor - Andrew Wiggins (Starter)
Peak BPM (2020-21): 1.0 (T-150th that season)
Yep, I didn&rsquo;t wait long to start pissing people off. To avoid Timberwolves fans going into a state of existential dread, I won&rsquo;t spend too much time on this comparison. But you have to admit, these numbers (and the situations surrounding these two players) look pretty gosh darn similar.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 54px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 10px;">
<td style="width: 5.40354%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">Name</td>
<td style="width: 6.41956%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">Season</td>
<td style="width: 6.37182%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">Age</td>
<td style="width: 6.37155%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">USG%*</td>
<td style="width: 6.76034%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">PTS/75*</td>
<td style="width: 9.09119%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">rTS%**</td>
<td style="width: 11.4932%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">Passer Rating**</td>
<td style="width: 8.37598%; height: 10px; text-align: center;">BPM**</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 5.40354%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Edwards</td>
<td style="width: 6.41956%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">'21-22</td>
<td style="width: 6.37182%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">20</td>
<td style="width: 6.37155%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">27.5%</td>
<td style="width: 6.76034%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">22.1</td>
<td style="width: 9.09119%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">-1.6%</td>
<td style="width: 11.4932%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">3.5</td>
<td style="width: 8.37598%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">1.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 5.40354%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Wiggins</td>
<td style="width: 6.41956%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">'16-17</td>
<td style="width: 6.37182%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">21</td>
<td style="width: 6.37155%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">29.0%</td>
<td style="width: 6.76034%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">24.1</td>
<td style="width: 9.09119%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">-1.9%</td>
<td style="width: 11.4932%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">3.4</td>
<td style="width: 8.37598%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">0.3</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Data provided by <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball Reference</a>
**Data provided by <a href="https://backpicks.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks</a>
In all seriousness, though, you would need to have a major case of the Rust Cohle <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8x73UW8Hjk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;I&rsquo;m bad at parties&rdquo;</a> to believe that Anthony Edwards, barely a full calendar year into his career, won&rsquo;t get any better than he is right now at age-20.
Tier 2: Optimist Floor -&nbsp;Jerry Stackhouse (Fringe All-Star)
Peak BPM (2001-02): 2.1 (T-52nd that season)
The more optimistic among us will point to Edwards&rsquo; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZnOGXzUyi4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violent athleticism</a> and penchant for invading the interior (79th percentile rim frequency, per Cleaning the Glass) to say that at the very least, he will match the production of the post-Jordan wave of athletic two-guards from the early 2000s &mdash; particularly Jerry Stackhouse.
In Stackhouse&rsquo;s two All-Star campaigns, he averaged <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stackje01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">23.2 and 28.1 points per 75 possessions</a>, respectively, and he did so on <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stackje01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">above-average efficiency</a> in part because of his ability to get easy points at the free-throw line (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stackje01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">averaging 9.5 attempts per 75 possessions during that span</a>).
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With all his shots at the rim, you would think Edwards would produce more than the <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/edwaran01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3.3 free-throw attempts per 75 possessions</a> that he&rsquo;s currently averaging. Yet watching him reveals that he struggles identifying when to slow down and deploy his strength on his drives. For instance, on this play, he should have utilized his size advantage on De'Aaron Fox by taking a power dribble and forcing Fox to foul him, rather than trying to zoom past Fox, pick up his dribble and give Fox an opportunity to rip the ball out of his hands.
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Edwards is already handling high-volume usage at near league-average efficiency. But to increase both those outputs further, he&rsquo;s going to need to use his physical tools to earn some more freebies at the line.
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Tier 3: Median Outcome -&nbsp;Donovan Mitchell (Solid All-Star/Weak All-NBA)
Peak BPM (2020-21): 3.9 (T-19th that season)
One player whom Edwards garnered comparison to during the pre-draft process was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46pqSeeA34" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donovan Mitchell</a>. Though I&rsquo;m not sure how similar their physical parameters are these days, the Spida trajectory is still instructive as it features an aspect critical in transforming an inefficient volume scorer to an offensive focal point: the pull-up jumper.
In 16 playoff games, from 2017 to 2019, Mitchell shot 29% on 75 pull-up jumpers. In the last two postseasons, he shot 47% on 117 pull-up jumpers over the course of 17 games (per NBA.com). This improvement helped catapult his True Shooting Percentage from an abysmal sub-50%, in the 2018 and 2019 playoffs, to a stellar 64% over the past two postseasons.&nbsp;
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Conversely, in his young career, Edwards has shot 32.6% on his 248 pull-up jumper attempts, per NBA.com. While we&rsquo;ve yet to witness him in a playoff setting, his learning curve in that environment would likely be significantly less steep (and his ascension to All-Star status would likely come far more quickly) if he could start knocking down those types of shots at a mid-40% clip.&nbsp;
Tier 4: Reasonable Ceiling - Vince Carter (Solid All-NBA)
Peak BPM (2000-01): 4.7 (T-7th that season)
While Mitchell is one of the better shooters in today&rsquo;s game, peak Vince Carter had a case as the best in the league during his heyday. As <a href="https://premiumhoops.org/2020/12/17/how-good-was-vince-carter-in-his-prime-the-definitive-analysis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cody Houdek</a> pointed out in an article for Premium Hoops, Carter shot 34% of his team's threes in 2000-01 (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cartevi01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">converting nearly 41% of his attempts</a>), which matches Steph Curry&rsquo;s share in his famous 2015-16 unanimous-MVP season.
In the string of clips below, you'll get a glimpse of Carter&rsquo;s expansive shooting vocabulary. Like Mitchell, he had the pull-up jumper down pat, but he could also knock down shots off the catch-and-shoot, from the triple-threat position, while falling away and following a nasty stepback.
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For Edwards to reach All-NBA status without being a high-end contributor on defense (more on this in a bit), he will need to sport a similar cache of weapons to reach peak Carter-levels of volume and efficiency (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cartevi01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly 27.5 points per 75 possessions on +3.3% Relative True Shooting Percentage</a>). Luckily for him, he&rsquo;s got the bag in his hands; he just needs to deploy it more efficiently.
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Another thing that Edwards needs to take from Carter is his self-awareness. Even before his mature years in Memphis and Atlanta, Carter was wise enough to recognize his limitations as a primary ball-handler, so he made it a point to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. That wisdom led to some nice feeds, like this one right here:
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Too often, Edwards falls prey to the &ldquo;let&rsquo;s-see-how-quickly-I-can-deflate-the-basketball-by-dribbling-it-excessively&rdquo; school of thought, and it leads to pointless sequences like this one here:
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Fortunately, he has moments of passing clarity where he analyzes the floor and quickly identifies the right play too:
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If Edwards can learn to get the ball out of his hands quicker, it will make it easier for the Wolves to insert a stronger ball-handler next to him (*cough* Ben Simmons *cough*), which increases the team&rsquo;s potential for building a high-level offense around him. Couple that with the outside shot-making mentioned earlier, and you have a recipe for how Edwards can develop into an All-NBA player.
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Tier 5: Best-Case Scenario Ceiling - Dwyane Wade (MVP Candidate)
Peak BPM (2008-09): 6.5 (3rd that season)
You knew this was coming. Wade, for my money &mdash; the third greatest two-guard ever &mdash; is the apex of the Edwards&rsquo; archetype (because Michael Jordan isn&rsquo;t <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S9W9xZikkA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">actually human</a>, and the level of technical soundness required to match Kobe Bryant isn't a reasonable expectation for someone who didn't commit to basketball full-time until high school).
With that said, Edwards even reaching Wade-level is a shot in the dark, in part because of Wade&rsquo;s status as one of the premier perimeter defenders of all-time. What distinguished him from others in this regard was his affinity for racking up &ldquo;stocks.&rdquo; He finished in the 86th percentile or higher in both block and steal percentage for his position every year from 2005-2013, per Cleaning the Glass. The Ant-man currently sits in the 80th and 79th percentile in those stats, which does bode well for his defensive impact moving forward.
Wade was also a strong man defender who used his strength, speed and savvy to keep other guards in front of him. Look here as Wade defangs the Mamba himself:
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Edwards has shown flashes of similar shutdown artistry (as in the first two clips below), but he&rsquo;s also had his fair share of &ldquo;ol&eacute;&rdquo; moments mixed in there as well (as in the last two clips below):
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On offense, Wade surpasses Stackhouse&rsquo;s free-throw drawing rates, Mitchell&rsquo;s playoff-scoring potency and Carter&rsquo;s best volume and efficiency outputs while somehow managing to blend that with strong playmaking.
Wade shares Carter&rsquo;s knack for making quick-time decisions as a secondary/tertiary playmaker, but when necessary, he&rsquo;s also able to flip the switch and operate as a high-level offense's lead initiator. For example, the 2005-06 Miami Heat finished seventh in the league in offensive rating with Wade as the team&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/2006.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading assist man</a>.
Here are some clips that demonstrate Wade&rsquo;s playmaking abilities:
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His status as a passer is further solidified by Ben Taylor&rsquo;s <a href="https://backpicks.com/2018/07/15/nba-passer-ratings-since-1978/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Passer Rating</a> stat, where he scores over a 6 (which is a good score for guards) in 13 of his 16 seasons, including peaking at a rating of 8 in the 2008-09 season, per Backpicks.&nbsp;
To become an MVP-level impact player (which Flash was at his peak), Edwards will need to significantly improve his playmaking (his Passer Rating is 3.5 this season), become an All-Defensive-caliber contributor and increase his volume and efficiency to the numbers we discussed previously. A tall task indeed.
So can he ever reach that MVP level?
The Verdict: Tier 4
As of right now, I would have to say no.&nbsp;
I have a difficult time seeing him developing into the lead initiator that Wade was, which historically is a requirement for any on-ball/off-ball hybrid perimeter player to reach MVP-caliber production.
Watching Edwards play, you witness too many lost shot-creation opportunities because he&rsquo;s either missing open guys (as in the first clip) or delivering his passes inaccurately (as in the second clip):
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He&rsquo;s young and still has plenty of time to improvehis playmaking, but as I hinted at earlier, he started his full-time basketball journey a little later than most, and that means it will be difficult for him to develop the <a href="https://ezhoops.co/2021/01/04/feel-and-feel-accessories/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">feel</a> necessary to make the higher-level reads that someone like Wade was capable of executing.
Still, I think Edwards eventually masters the art of changing speeds to help increase his free-throw rates, becomes an efficient and versatile outside shooter, and creates enough havoc on defense to someday develop into an All-NBA-caliber player. And this means that the Timberwolves might have finally found the centerpiece they need to build a winner in Minnesota.

What is Anthony Edwards' ceiling? Mat Issa examines the 20-year-old's potential and explores his possible developmental outcomes.

How high can Anthony Edwards fly? Examining the 20-year-old's ceiling

Speaking with reporters after practice on Tuesday, Julius Randle, the New York Knicks' All-NBA forward, was asked what he and teammates were expecting in their season-opener at Madison Square Garden.
"Chaos," Randle replied. "We're expecting chaos. The city's excited to get basketball back."
Randle was referring to the much-anticipated chaotic atmosphere inside MSG, which welcomed back its full allotment of 19,000-plus fans for the first time since before the COVID pandemic shut down sports arenas across the globe.
What Randle, who has only been in New York for a relatively short spell, didn't realize is that Knicks fans had, unfortunately, grown far too accustomed to chaos &mdash; and not the kind that results from fans enthusiastically and passionately cheering on their hometown team. No, New Yorkers have been deluged with turmoil and chaos off the court for the better part of the past two decades. There was beef between former franchise greats and the team's owner, embarrassing trades, countless off-court controversies, tension between the owner and numerous fans, free-agency disappointment year after year, wasted draft picks and anything else you can think of.
Not to mention the losses. Many, many losses. Over the first 20 years of the 21st century, the Knicks lost 962 basketball games, more than any other team in the NBA. More often than not, New York was a league-wide laughing stock, trapped in the basement of the Atlantic Division.&nbsp;
However, a funny thing has happened over the past year-and-a-half since the Knicks hired former player-agent Leon Rose as team president, and Rose hired Tom Thibodeau as his head coach: the Knicks stopped making headlines for the wrong reason. They started winning basketball games.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the drama and controversy that tormented the Knicks for so long seemed to wander across the bridge to Brooklyn and drive down the Jersey turnpike to Philly.
The Nets, while uber-talented and the odds-on favorites to capture the Larry O'Brien trophy this season, are playing without their superstar point guard. Players on the Knicks and Nets, who play their home games in New York City, are prohibited from entering their team's home arena unless they are vaccinated against COVID-19. All Knicks have been immunized, but Irving has refused to follow the advice of medical experts, and says he is unwilling to get his shot. While Irving is eligible to participate in the Nets' away games, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has declared that Irving will not be allowed to play or practice with the team at all until he is vaccinated.
"He has a choice to make, and he made his choice," Marks told reporters earlier this month.&nbsp;
Down in Philadelphia, the situation with the Sixers and Ben Simmons has devolved into a circus. The latest incident involves Simmons being booted from the team's training facility a day after he was filmed practicing in sweatpants. (Despite speculation about him practicing with a cell phone in his pocket, The Athletic's Shams Charania clarified that it was a crumpled up practice jersey.)
As far as the other teams in the Atlantic are concerned, the Raptors &mdash; who won a title in 2019 &mdash; had been remarkably successful and consistent, winning more than 50 games in five straight seasons... until they surprisingly finished 18 games below .500 last year. After losing franchise cornerstone Kyle Lowry via free agency over the summer, Toronto was blown out by the lowly Wizards in its season-opener Wednesday night. The Raps scored just 83 points, the least among all teams that have played over the first two days of the season.
Up in Boston, the Celtics failed to finish above .500 last season for just the second time in the past 15 years, and as a result parted ways with team architect Danny Ainge over the summer. Head coach Brad Stevens left the bench and went upstairs to the executive suite.&nbsp;
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The Knicks, however, flew under the radar all offseason. After finishing 10 games above .500 in 2020-21, they had a solid draft and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/for-a-change-a-successful-free-agency-period-propels-knicks-forward-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were praised by pundits</a> for revamping and upgrading their backcourt in free agency, while also locking up Randle to a long-term contract extension on a team-friendly deak. The team didn't generate any headlines on Media Day, which used to be one of the few days a year the Knicks would land on the back page of the NYC tabloids.&nbsp;
It was the Celtics who were matched up with the Knickerbockers in their home-opener. As it turned out, Mr. Randle was proven prophetic. Chaos consumed Wednesday's contest.
New York fell behind early. but fought back to take what appeared to be an insurmountable lead in the closing seconds, only to inexplicably allow the Celtics to tie the game on a Marcus Smart three-pointer at the buzzer in regulation.&nbsp;
Yet, somehow, after two exhausting overtime sessions, the Knicks found a way to win. This was a game the "LOL same-old Knicks" surely would have fumbled away after that backbreaking dagger by Smart. Yet, these new Knicks, nearly all of them in great shape following a month in camp with Drill Sergeant Thibs, kept fighting. Eventually, they won.
"We didn't close out the game the way we should have," Thibodeau said afterward. "We'll learn from that. The good thing is we got the win. We know we have a lot of work to do."
And that's what the topic of conversation will be around the ball club this week. No needless drama, no controversy. Just discussions about how the team won a basketball game and what they can do to improve and win some more. Imagine that...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
💥 35 points for <a href="https://twitter.com/J30_RANDLE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@J30_RANDLE</a> 💥 8 boards, 9 dimes, 3 blocks Julius Randle GOES OFF in the <a href="https://twitter.com/nyknicks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nyknicks</a> 2OT win to open the 2021-22 season! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KiaTipOff21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KiaTipOff21</a> <a href="https://t.co/TILicyIhZB">pic.twitter.com/TILicyIhZB</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1451163884262469646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Knicks notes:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">What an effort from Randle, who is determined to prove his All-Star campaign last season wasn't a fluke. He finished with 35 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2022.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to</a> Basketball-Reference, the only other player in NBA history to tally at least 35 points, 9 dimes and 8 boards in his team's season opener is Oscar Roberston.</li>
<li aria-level="1">In the first half, RJ Barrett was invisible on the offensive end (it was the first time in his career he attempted at least three FG's and two FT's in the first half, yet failed to score a single point). However, Barrett certainly made his impression felt in the third quarter, pouring in a team-high 14 points to push the Knicks back in front. And while Jayson Tatum missed a handful of wide-open jumpers, Barrett certainly deserves credit for his defensive effort on Taum, who finished the game shooting an abysmal 7-of-30 from the floor.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Randle also deserves credit for helping reintegrate Barrett into the offense and sparking his teammate's third-quarter resurgence. Over one 2-minute stretch, Randle twice drew double teams and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Barrett, who knocked down a triple. Randle carried the Knicks offensively, but also passed up some good shots for great shots to get Barrett going.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Obi Toppin's contributions on Wednesday were critical. The second-year pro sparked the Knicks, scoring a career-high 14 points. Toppin's electric game energizes the Garden in a way few players can. "I thought he changed the pace of the game," Kemba Walker said of Obi. "He's a very special talent, and he can run. He can really run and get out in the open floor."</li>
<li aria-level="1">Some fans and pundits out there argued over the summer that Evan Fournier wasn't much of an upgrade over former shooting guard Reggie Bullock. Well, it's probably worth noting that Bullock has played 366 games in his career and never tallied more than 20 points and more than 5 rebounds in the same game. On Wednesday, Fournier had 32 points, 6 boards, 6 made treys, 4 steals and 3 assists in his first game as a Knick.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Some 10 minutes after the buzzer sounded in the second overtime, Knicks rookies Quentin Grimes and Miles "Deuce" McBride were on the Garden floor getting shots up, as MSG janitorial staff were cleaning the rest of the arena. This was something last season's neophytes, Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, would often do after games in which they didn't get much run. Yet another example of Thibs, his staff, and the players efforting to build a culture that can sustain success throughout the organization.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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Knicks rookies McBride and Grimes getting up shots less than 10 mins after the marathon game is over <a href="https://t.co/Ip1Ll8b0lA">pic.twitter.com/Ip1Ll8b0lA</a>
&mdash; Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/1451019123924799493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The Knicks and their fans have experienced a different kind of chaos than they've been used to over the last year-and-a-half.

Knicks continue to make headlines for the right reasons — wins

76ers fan Marc Lamont Hill discusses the Ben Simmons situation, potential trade scenarios and whether a reconciliation is possible.

Marc Lamont Hill: The 76ers coddled Ben Simmons, then turned on him

PJ Dozier loves a good nap.
Who could blame him? Dozier has played for six teams in the NBA and G League across his first three seasons, all while on two-way contracts. During those years, he bounced between the two leagues at a moment's notice. For Dozier, rest is not only a way to take care of his body, but also an important part of his developing routine with the Denver Nuggets.
"Routines are great," Dozier told BasketballNews.com in May. "I feel like the best players have really good routines, whether that's on off days [or] game days. Being a two-way player, it's hard to have a routine because you don't know where you're going to be the next day, or the day before or the day after. It's hard to stick to that same routine night in and night out."
Dozier is the only player in NBA history to have entered three different seasons on a two-way contract with three different franchises. But now the 24-year-old guard is signed to a multi-year deal with the Nuggets, and before an untimely adductor strain ended his season in May, Dozier had emerged as one of the team's most versatile defenders. He wouldn't change a thing about his journey.&nbsp;
"God put me there for a reason," he said. "It was much-needed -- to take those steps, to be ready for the opportunity I have now."
"Every time he's given an opportunity to play and extend his role, he's taken it and run with it," Nuggets coach Mike Malone said before Denver faced the Los Angeles Lakers on May 3. "Nothing's been handed to him. He's earned everything he's done."
Dozier inked his first two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 after going undrafted as a rookie from South Carolina. A season later, he signed another with the Boston Celtics. Then came a third two-way opportunity with the Nuggets for 2019-20. Each game, Dozier battled for his squad, no matter the league or opponent.&nbsp;
"That was the biggest thing for me: to try to stay ready, so I won't have to get ready," Dozier said. "And also, just to be where my feet are. If I was in the G League, that's where my focus was at. I wasn't worried about anything else other than taking care of business there. And then when I get the call, now my focus shifts to whatever they need me to do on the other ball club."
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Getting the call meant wildly different commutes depending on the team. In OKC, Chesapeake Energy Arena is right down the street from the G League arena where the Blue play. Boston's TD Garden is nearly a two-hour drive from the Red Claws (now Maine Celtics) in Portland, ME. The Nuggets didn't have a G League affiliate last season, so Dozier moved between Denver and the Windy City Bulls in Illinois.&nbsp;
Dozier says the coaches and management did their best to give him notice of a call-up or assignment a day in advance. But sometimes, a game-time decision meant getting the call last-minute and immediately driving (or flying) to the arena to suit up for the team that night.
"My bag was never really unpacked," Dozier said. "I was living out of my suitcase."
G League squads often try to have a similar on-court style as their parent program. But every team is nuanced, and Dozier said it was still an adjustment learning six different systems in three seasons.
The uncertainty didn't faze him. Dozier averaged 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game across those three seasons while earning All-G-League-Third-Team honors with the Red Claws. However, it did test his confidence.&nbsp;
"The first year was kind of tough, just not really being with the team but kind of being with the team -- it's like, am I really on the team?" Dozier said, since he played just two games with the Thunder that season. "[But] just staying the course, staying focused. Following the first year, [I signed] the next two-way and seeing the progress that I made... that was big. I was able to see my growth as a player and understand that."
0n June 30, 2020, before the Nuggets left for the NBA Bubble, they converted his two-way deal into a full multi-year NBA contract.
"For me it was like, 'About time I get a full contract!' But it's a blessing, especially to land in a great organization like the Denver Nuggets," Dozier said. "Landing here in this organization, and having the coaching staff, teammates [and] front office have confidence in me that I was going to be ready when my number was called, that was big."
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This is, frankly, incredible positional defense by PJ Dozier. <a href="https://t.co/ADRkfV8Arz">pic.twitter.com/ADRkfV8Arz</a>
&mdash; Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBABlackburn/status/1380996080985202691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Dozier is part of a trend in Denver of talented players with unheralded draft status who have developed into impactful players on a contending team. That's led by former second-round-selection-turned-MVP-winner Nikola Jokic, but it includes most of the roster. Aside from Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and rookie Zeke Nnaji are the only first-round picks who have been drafted by the team.&nbsp;
"I don't look at guys based on your status [or] what round you're drafted in," Malone said. "[Dozier] was playing for us while he was a two-way player and helping us win games... You love the fact that he's as big and strong as he is, [and] the versatility he has offensively."
"We have a lot of guys that went under the radar that this organization took a chance on, ultimately, and had confidence that these players were good enough to compete against other players that were lottery picks and were drafted very high," Dozier said. "It speaks highly on the organization [and] the way that they sculpt their talent, and go after guys that may not be the prettiest on the board or have all the accolades and things like that, but they know that they're getting guys that want to win."
The 6-foot-6 guard made a serious impression on Malone back in the Bubble, when he defended the likes of Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson in Denver's series win against the Utah Jazz. Dozier has seen increased minutes per game in every calendar month through April (aside from a one-game February due to injuries), and was on pace for a career-high 27.8 minutes per game in May before his season was cut short.
Part of the uptick was by necessity -- Murray, Monte Morris and Will Barton had been battling injuries. But Dozier also earned the trust of the coaching staff. Malone even gave him <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_8LMv4CuQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an unprompted shout out</a> after a Dozier-led defensive effort held Paul George to 5-of-21 shooting in Denver's 110-104 win over the L.A. Clippers.
"Paul George is an All-League-type player," Malone said after the game. "Not one player guards a guy like that by himself. But to hold Paul George tonight to 5-of-21 from the field -- I thought PJ's defense, being locked in, being disciplined, was a big part of that."
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A week earlier, Dozier made his first career start in front of his mom, Theresa, and the home crowd. It was the culmination of a lifetime of work and three years of patience on the fringes of NBA rosters. Dozier scored 23 points in his debut as a starter, and averaged 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists across the six games in the starting lineup before going down with the injury.
"Definitely a dream come true," he said. "I always want to stay focused on the little milestones and achievements, and continue to grow and make higher goals to reach. But that was definitely one that I've always dreamed about: being able to start at this level."
It's easy to look at Denver's second-round exit and see where Dozier could have helped against the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker and Chris Paul each averaged over 25 points per game for the Suns in their four-game sweep.
In 10 total playoff games, the Nuggets gave up the fifth-most points per game (120.3) while allowing opponents to shoot 49.1% from the field (third-highest) and 41.7% from long range (second-highest). The young guard may not have dramatically turned the tables, but he could have made a difference on defense.
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During the 10 games between Jamal Murray's season-ending ACL injury and PJ Dozier's groin injury on Monday, the Nuggets were +16.9 points per 100 possessions with Dozier on the floor and -6.4 with him off.
&mdash; Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewDBailey/status/1389606756834103297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2021</a></blockquote>

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In Denver, and in Dozier, there's a current of respect for the quiet hustlers in the Association. Dozier still has active group chats with players from every NBA and G League team he was on. He considers it a gift to have met so many unique people in his young career.
"Everyone has their own journey; everyone kind of had their own story, and no one's was really the same," he said. "You had guys that were in the NBA that were trying to get back there. You had guys that had never touched the NBA ever, and so that was still always their goal."
Dozier's story of game-day flights, hastily-packed suitcases and power naps is among them. But he plans on writing quite a few more chapters.&nbsp;
"I got a long way to go and I'm still trucking at it," Dozier said. "I love this -- count my blessings -- but I know that I have a lot in store [and] a long way to go."

Dozier is the only NBA player who has entered three different seasons on a two-way contract with three different franchises.

Two-way threat: PJ Dozier reflects on whirlwind path to Nuggets

With the NBA six days into May and games winding down, the postseason is right around the corner. Teams are jockeying for position, and the competition is tightening up as we hit the home stretch in the Association.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Who is your dark-horse team to watch entering the playoffs?
Nekias Duncan: I think it&rsquo;s Miami, almost by default. As uneven as their season has been &mdash; due to injuries, COVID or otherwise &mdash; it&rsquo;s still hard to discount the type of playoff pedigree they have. Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo is a big three nobody in the East wants to deal with.
Spencer Davies: The team that nobody believes can do it, and that&rsquo;s the current top seed in the Western Conference: the Utah Jazz. Although I like the Los Angeles Clippers to come out of the West, it&rsquo;s going to take a lot to slow these Jazz down from deep. Their playing style, similar to the Phoenix Suns, is half-court-based, something fit for the postseason environment when execution matters the most. You&rsquo;ve got a number of All-Star talents such as Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert; however, Utah features a plethora of players that star in their roles -- Bojan Bogdanovic with his three-point barrages, Royce O&rsquo;Neale defending with a purpose, Jordan Clarkson being a microwave off the bench, Joe Ingles looking to consistently make the right play and even Georges Niang and Derrick Favors producing when their names are called.
Chris Sheridan: The dark-horse team to watch going into the playoffs is the Atlanta Hawks, because they have needed an entire season to achieve some chemistry. They are a nifty mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has them peaking at the right time. Their size will be a problem for every single team in the East.
Alex Kennedy: All season, the Miami Heat have dealt with injuries and COVID absences, so this team is much better than their record indicates. We just saw this same group shock everyone last year when they became the first No. 5 seed to advance to the NBA Finals. They have a terrific coach (Erik Spoelstra), multiple stars (Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler), solid depth and a terrific culture. James Posey <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-news-james-posey-as-long-as-pat-riley-is-in-the-picture-the-miami-heat-have-a-shot-nba-championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently wrote about why you can never count out the Heat</a>, and I agree with the three-time NBA champion.
Kelsea O'Brien: Remember that guy at the beginning of the season who bet $10,000 on the Wizards winning the Finals (which would result in a $5 MILLION payout)? He&rsquo;s not looking so silly anymore.
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Imman Adan: Oddly enough, I&rsquo;m picking a team that might not even make the playoffs, but what they&rsquo;re doing right now is hard to ignore. The Washington Wizards have won 13 of their last 17 games. At the time of this writing, over their last 10 games, they have the second-best offensive rating in the league (120.1), while also boasting the league&rsquo;s fourth-best net rating (8.3). The Wizards have been fantastic on both sides of the ball, playing their best basketball of the year heading into the play-in tournament. With Bradley Beal&rsquo;s scoring tear and point-GOAT Russell Westbrook activated, they are not a team anyone should want to see come playoff time.
Ethan Fuller: A lot of people crossed Denver off their contender lists when Jamal Murray tore his ACL. That is a brutal loss, but I sort of think people are sleeping on the rest of this roster. Nikola Jokic is the MVP frontrunner right now, and Michael Porter Jr. has quietly become a menacing three-level scorer. They'll need him and the rest of an extremely deep supporting cast to replace what Murray did last postseason. The Nuggets are a year removed from a Western Conference Finals appearance, and I fully expect them to make serious noise again.
Jonathan Concool: The Denver Nuggets. Since losing Jamal Murray, the Nuggets have won six of their last seven (and 10 of 12), and Michael Porter Jr. has been playing the best basketball of his young career over the past few games. We all know what we are going to get from MVP candidate Nikola Jokic, but Denver has a real supporting cast behind the Joker, so don&rsquo;t overlook the Nuggets just because Murray is lost for the season. They can still make some noise this postseason.
Yasmin Duale: My dark-horse team come playoff time is the Golden State Warriors. It feels weird to say, but if we end up seeing Steph Curry face off against the LeBron-led Lakers in the play-in tournament, I can&rsquo;t really say with certainty who&rsquo;d come out on the other side. All it&rsquo;d take is one possessed performance from the greatest shooter of all-time to usher in some chaos.&nbsp;
Jannelle Moore: My dark-horse playoff team to watch is Boston. Yeah, they have underachieved this season, but you can&rsquo;t underrate their experience and don&rsquo;t count out the possibility that they'll gain momentum as the season closes.

Who is the dark-horse team to watch entering the NBA Playoffs? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Who is the dark-horse team to watch entering the playoffs?

Two days ago, my former teammate with the Washington Wizards, Hubert Davis, was introduced as the new head men&rsquo;s basketball coach at the University of North Carolina.
Hubert will succeed the legendary Roy Williams to become the Tarheels' first-ever Black head coach for the men&rsquo;s basketball team -- an amazing accomplishment in and of itself.
Anyone who knows Hubert knows he&rsquo;s one of the nicest guys on earth. His goofy laugh, huge smile and kind heart are some of the most memorable traits I remember from our playing days. However, he raised quite a few eyebrows with a statement he made to a group of reporters Tuesday at his introductory press conference.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud to have a white wife," Hubert said.
I know what you&rsquo;re thinking: that had to be taken out of context. Well, here is the full quote and context of the statement that has since then gone viral.&nbsp;
"It's significant that I'm African-American and I'm the head coach here. It's significant, Hubert said. "I know that in terms of Division I head coaches all around the country, only 26% of the head coaches for Division I men's basketball are composed of minorities, specifically African-Americans. I know that it is significant that I'm the fourth African-American head coach in any sport in the history of the University of North Carolina. I'm very proud to be African-American. But I'm also very proud that my wife is white, and I'm very proud that my three beautiful, unbelievable kids are a combination of both of us.&rdquo;
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On my radio show in Washington D.C. with Dave Zirin, "<a href="https://archive.wpfwfm.org/mp3/wpfw_210408_100000collision.mp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Collision: Sports And Politics</a>," our guest this morning was Kevin Powell, a writer, civil and human rights activist, poet, journalist, public speaker, filmmaker and television personality from the MTV hit reality show &ldquo;The Real World." We discussed my former teammate&rsquo;s comments in-depth. Here is a transcript of our conversation:
Dave Zirin: It's great to have you on the show, [Kevin]. So much we want to talk to you about. We might as well just jump right in since we just heard [the audio of the comment]. I mean, what was that? It was a very antiseptic, boring kind of press conference introducing Hubert Davis. No one was paying too much attention to it. And then he said, "I'm proud my wife is white," which is not something you normally hear at a basketball press conference. It just raised some eyebrows. What was your reaction when you heard that, Kevin?
Kevin Powell: I said to myself, "This is how racism works in this country, where a Black man..." Let me double back for a second. I don't have an issue with people being in interracial marriages, interracial relationships. I have people in my family who are. I have people who I love who are. I have friends who are biracial, multicultural. The issue is when we feel as Black people, as people of color, that we somehow have to make white people comfortable by letting them know that we're not too Black. "And therefore, let me mention the fact that I have a white wife and I have biracial children." That's what I heard from it. It was almost like he was apologizing for being Black, apologizing for the horrible racism that feeds that statistic that only 26% of NCAA coaches are Black males.
It didn't even fit. It didn't make any sense, which is why you see the uproar all over social media. Why are you being an apologist for racism? Just because you're married to a white sister does not mean that racism doesn't exist. And it's North Carolina, it's the United States of America. George Floyd trials [are] going on. We just celebrated, sadly, one year of Breonna Taylor being killed. This is the climate of the country. And sadly, we have a lot of people who still don't want to have [that conversation]...Just tell the truth, just speak the truth. I mean, Harry Belafonte is married to a white sister. We can go through a list of brothers who have been progressive, revolutionary, radical, and they didn't apologize for their Blackness. They just happen to be married to a white sister. You don't have to do that. It's shameful to me. I just thought of slavery when I heard that, and the seriousness about it.
Etan Thomas: It's interesting because I played with Hubert Davis. I played with him for two years. One year with the Washington Wizards, and [the other] when I was drafted to the Mavericks. He was on the team with Dallas; I played with him there. I know him, and my wife knows his wife. We know each other. You start to know each other as family. I don't think he meant it, the way that it sounded. I could be giving him too much credit, but I don't think he meant it that way. But what it seemed like he was doing was playing into that old narrative that when a Black man reaches a certain level of success, that what comes along with that is that he has a white woman on his arm. And just the fact that he said he was proud that his wife is white -- that was his actual phrasing, those were his words -- I just have to believe that he didn't mean it that way. That's what I'm going with. I don't think he meant it that way. But the way it came across -- without me knowing him personally, without me having played with him -- I mean, it definitely raised quite a few eyebrows.
Powell: The thing that I think about is when you get to that level, it's not like you haven't had opportunities to speak in public or speak privately. You've had plenty of opportunities to practice. I always say to people when we're talking about race and racism in this country, you have to read the temperature of the room. Again, I don't care who people are married to. I don't care who people date. Love is love is love is love, like [creator of Hamilton] Lin-Manuel Miranda said. But what I do care about is when something comes across as if you're apologizing for racism, and that's what it felt like to me. It sounds like you felt the need to let people know that you're a "safe" Black person. You're not one of those dangerous Black people, "because look, I got a white wife and I got biracial kids." That's the way it came across. And that's actually really dangerous to me,&nbsp; when people do that.
Thomas: Yeah...even the way that he first changed the phrasing of the question. If you hear the actual reporter that asked him, he said that, "You being North Carolina's first Black head coach." And he said, "Well, I'm proud to be African-American." I mean, it might be something subtle, but changing the phrasing in itself, when you're listening to it, you're like, uh-oh, where's this going? That's what I thought once I started hearing it. Because like you said, Dave, all before that it was just a regular, boring press conference.
Zirin: I want to ask Kevin if he agrees with something my wife said about it. Always a little dangerous, but Kevin, you do not have to agree with what my wife, Michelle, said about this. Little pressure, but Michelle, she teaches in DCPS. She associate-teaches majority students of color or Black students. And she said to me that when you do this, you have to be conscious of impact. It can't just be your intent. "Oh, Hubert Davis didn't intend to do that." You need to take accountability and ownership of the impact that your words have. That's more important than what your intent was, especially in 2021. What do you think about that, KP?
Powell: Oh, I agree with your wife 1,000%. Look at the fact that we just did six new episodes of "The Real World" that I was on from back in the '90s. I thought about the impact of my words back then with the original 13 episodes, and I thought about the impact of my words right now. When you get to a certain place, especially once you pass 30, 35, 40, 50 years of age, you've got to understand if you're a public figure in any way...
...You two know this. You gentlemen are brilliant and articulate, and you have this great platform. You know what you put out there, [and] you can't take it back because it becomes a permanent record. I'm not saying we should censor ourselves, but I think we should give a lot of thought to: "How is this going to fall with people?" Particularly, if I'm trying to get certain messages across. If the message is that we're all in this together, part of the human family, the human race, I support that. I support that in so many different ways. I support that as an activist, I support that as a Christian. But if the message is "Racism is not as bad as it was, because look at me. I've got a white wife, and I'm a Black coach at UNC," which is what people are looking at...that's the meme that's going out there.
What is wrong with him? It's almost just what Jay Z is saying in that song from [his] "4:44" album: "I'm not black, I'm OJ." That's what it comes across as with Hubert Davis' words, at least to me and the millions of people that are responding to it. I just think you put an unintentional spotlight on yourself when you don't think about your words, and you feel like you have to say these things. I felt like it wasn't just something that was on the cover. I think he really feels this based on his experiences, and I think that's even problematic. How has this man navigated race and racism all these years? What kind of conversations do he and his wife even have? Because the thing that I admire about folks that I know who are Black and white and married in this country, is that they have talked about having very difficult, uncomfortable, necessary conversations about race and racism. Just because you're married doesn't mean our individual choice has eliminated systemic racism. It has not.
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Last night on Black News Tonight, I discussed Hubert Davis&rsquo; press conference. <a href="https://t.co/nXVTM4vXF4">pic.twitter.com/nXVTM4vXF4</a>
&mdash; Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) <a href="https://twitter.com/marclamonthill/status/1380128537848512512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote>

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I understand Kevin Powell&rsquo;s point, just as I understood the perspective of Temple University professor and host of BET News, Marc Lamont Hill, who also addressed the subject on his show "Black News Tonight."
&ldquo;You could&rsquo;ve just said I&rsquo;m proud to be a Black man coaching this team," Hill said. "You could&rsquo;ve said I&rsquo;m proud to be following in the tradition of the great Dean Smith. But you at a press conference of racial achievement saying, 'I&rsquo;m proud that my wife is white?'&rdquo;&nbsp;
Maybe I&rsquo;m just trying to take up for my former teammate, but I do really believe that he didn&rsquo;t mean it the way it came across. It may be a good idea for Hubert to do a follow-up interview to further explain himself. We're seeing all of the people across social media rip him to shreds these past two days, at a time when everyone should be celebrating him getting the new head coaching job at his alma mater and making history as the first Black head basketball coach in North Carolina.
Words are important. Timing is important. Clarity is important. And if Hubert Davis didn&rsquo;t mean it the way it sounded to so many people, it may be a good idea to address it, so he can start off this new adventure on a good note.

Etan Thomas, Dave Zirin and Kevin Powell discuss Hubert Davis' controversial comments from his introductory presser at North Carolina.

An open discussion on Hubert Davis’ eyebrow-raising 'white wife' comment

In <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-eastern-conference-strengths-weaknesses-philadelphia-76ers-brooklyn-nets-milwaukee-bucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last week&rsquo;s piece analyzing the top-three teams in the Eastern Conference</a>, we warned that it may be too early to make such assessments. Schedules progress and teams deal with adversity; but let&rsquo;s be honest, deep down, the cream of the crop in each conference is clear.&nbsp;
As we wind down to the midpoint of the season, things are beginning to shake out and we&rsquo;re seeing a clearer picture of the league emerge. As expected, the L.A. teams have picked up from where they left off with their flow from last season as behemoths of the conference, but the Utah Jazz&rsquo;s dominance is certainly a welcomed surprise worth monitoring.&nbsp;
Utah Jazz
There&rsquo;s something unintentionally political about the Utah Jazz playing high-quality basketball in the age of player movement and team stacking, especially in contrast to both L.A. teams beneath them in the standings. Utah isn&rsquo;t a major market or a free-agency destination, yet the Jazz are sitting at 25-6, humming along and ranking near the top in virtually every advanced stat category. The team&rsquo;s current success is the result of savvy trades, good coaching and an underrated development system that has produced two franchise cornerstones in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.&nbsp;
STRENGTHS
With a 9.4 net rating and a top-five ranking in both offensive and defensive rating, the Jazz are a well-oiled machine possessing all the characteristics of a championship-caliber squad. In addition to the favorable advanced stat numbers, Utah also passes the eye test. Watch a game and it is perfectly clear that this is a team with tremendous chemistry and a crystal-clear identity. Jordan Clarkson has been the perfect sixth-man offensive spark plug. However, the greatest development of the season within this franchise may be the resurgence of point guard Mike Conley. Notable increases in assists per game, points per game, field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage have been a godsend for the squad, and they now suddenly have the perfect, versatile point guard -- a coveted get for any team with championship aspirations. It wouldn&rsquo;t be a stretch to say that Conley&rsquo;s improved play has acted as much-needed connective tissue for the Jazz, maximizing their scorer (Mitchell) and lob threat (Gobert). To opponents, the offensive pressure demonstrated by the Jazz has suddenly become overwhelming.&nbsp;
WEAKNESSES
There is one particular weakness concerning the Jazz that I feel almost guilty pointing out because it could be undercutting the progress and success they've already demonstrated. This specific weakness is the defensive capabilities of their roster&rsquo;s small forwards in a league dominated by big-bodied scorers. As the team travels deeper into the postseason, will Royce O'Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Ingles be able to withstand the potential onslaught of offense from the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Ben Simmons or Giannis Antetokounmpo? They are sure to face some of those players if they want to hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy. In this current era of versatile forwards, teams must be able to combat such player archetypes, and I&rsquo;m not convinced that the Jazz will be able to as currently constructed. Looking at the few games they&rsquo;ve lost, they&rsquo;ve been to the likes of the Nets and Clippers, so this seemingly minor deficiency may eventually emerge as their Achilles heel.&nbsp;
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Los Angeles Clippers
Despite the comical and unexpected bubble collapse, it&rsquo;s hard to give up hope on the Clippers. They have a roster constructed with modernity in mind, with ample perimeter scoring, two-way star forwards and now, in Serge Ibaka, a championship veteran center that excels as a pick-and-pop partner and roll man. At their best, they&rsquo;ve shown the astral-realm synergy for minutes-long stretches that has become a bit of a marker of basketball perfection -- and, honestly, sometimes a team needs to fall flat on their face as a unit before they experience major success. There&rsquo;s something oddly unifying and polishing about collective failure. &nbsp;
STRENGTHS
Starting with the acquisition of Ibaka, the Clippers reinforced the offensive capabilities of their center position -- opting to build an offensively potent starting lineup. Having Ibaka further stresses opposing defenses; in addition to having to focus defensive attention on both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, this further destabilizes opponents, allowing the team&rsquo;s scorers to do what they do best: get open and cook. With Leonard&rsquo;s improved playmaking finding Ibaka loose, (coupled with Luke Kennard&rsquo;s playmaking and ball-handling skills) the Clippers have definitely made the fringe changes required to give this team another shot at a deep playoff run.&nbsp;
WEAKNESSES
Thirty-two games into the 2020-21 season and the Clippers&rsquo; weaknesses have now become more clear to assess. With a defensive rating good for 15th in NBA, the Clippers are winning regular-season games despite the issue of managing the bleeding. That&rsquo;s where the issue of Ibaka&rsquo;s defense comes into play. Although Ibaka provides an undeniable upgrade on the offensive end, perhaps there was a reason he came off the bench for his last two years on the Toronto Raptors. When up against teams utilizing a pick-and-roll that incorporates a big man who can pop to the perimeter (*ahem* Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis), Ibaka has a documented tendency to struggle to contain quick ball-handlers and big men with perimeter-based capabilities. The fact that he&rsquo;ll likely be involved in defending such plays alongside players like Kennard, Reggie Jackson and Lou Williams doesn&rsquo;t help. Ibaka&rsquo;s advanced numbers are excellent, standing at a 119.0 offensive rating and 109.8 defensive rating, but as we all know, when the playoffs arrive, one should analyze how two good teams matchup against one another. The only other weakness I can see rearing its way to the forefront in the postseason is the Clippers&rsquo; lack of a floor general. Can they add a point guard who can complete an entry pass to Kawhi, maybe?
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Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are in a tough spot. Both Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder are out with injuries, and 36-year-old Finals MVP and current MVP candidate LeBron James just recently logged his fourth game with over 40+ minutes in the month of February. With that said, there&rsquo;s no doubt that some early-season adversity does a high-achieving team some good. The reigning NBA champions entered the current season as favorites -- and it&rsquo;s no surprise they have played well. Even after winning a championship, the Lakers seized the opportunity to further perfect the team by filling in gaps at the point guard and center positions. Considering the Harden move to the Nets, in hindsight, the additions of Schroder, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell couldn&rsquo;t be better timed.
STRENGTHS
The Lakers&rsquo; strengths are easy enough to illustrate. The tandem that leads this team is a perfect basketball union. LeBron James&rsquo; remarkable abilities as a playmaker are beautifully complemented by Anthony Davis&rsquo; plentiful skills as both an on-ball and off-ball scorer. The Lakers have two capable post-scoring threats and a tremendously prolific distributor surrounded by shooters. Davis&rsquo; slow start to the season is up against a world-destroying playoff run -- one in which he played at the peak of his current abilities -- and there&rsquo;s no reason to doubt that he can produce at that level again. With the presence of Marc Gasol, Davis once again avoids the brunt of the physical blows that come with regular-season play at the center position, which leaves small-ball options lively and fresh for the playoffs.&nbsp;
WEAKNESSES
It&rsquo;s hard to find fault with a championship team that has remained intact through the offseason. If there is anything that can be interpreted as a vulnerability, it would be the team&rsquo;s health and durability. But this is understandable considering the incredibly short offseason the team was able to enjoy. If anything, it just makes their dominant play to open the season even more impressive. The team <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30927234/los-angeles-lakers-anthony-davis-re-evaluated-now-four-weeks">claims</a> that they&rsquo;ll be approaching Davis&rsquo; calf strain &ldquo;conservatively&rdquo; and the hope is that his absence won't wear out James. The last time the 18-year veteran was asked to carry the Lakers for a prolonged period, the subsequent groin injury he suffered caused him to miss the most time in a single season in the entirety of his career. The Lakers&rsquo; biggest weakness at the moment is an unavoidable inability to preserve their best player.

Yasmin Duale breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Strengths and weaknesses of the Western Conference’s top-three teams 

A highly intelligent person with a history of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/27/kyrie-irving-donates-1point5-million-to-wnba-players-sitting-out-this-season.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doing charitable things</a> and <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/coronavirus-kyrie-irving-donates-323000-launches-campaign-to-send-food-to-new-york-communities-in-need/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being involved in the community</a>, Kyrie Irving can be moody and mysterious. His expended absence from the Brooklyn Nets has left fans searching for him on social media, where they have found him at his sister&rsquo;s birthday party and at a campaign fundraising event.
But nobody (including his coach and teammates) has seen him play basketball for quite some time now. The longer Irving goes without explaining himself in detail, the longer he will allow someone else&rsquo;s narrative to explain his circumstances, and that will not end until the 28-year-old sits tight, answers questions and explains where he is coming from.
Irving&rsquo;s public relations person, Ashley Blackwood, said Saturday that the All-Star guard will speak to the media after he returns and for as long as he chooses, and then hung up the phone.&nbsp;
So we all have to wait and wonder, which is unfortunate because the Brooklyn Nets are the team that everyone wants to watch, and the entire Irving situation would be different if he simply complied with NBA media access rules, spoke to the fans through the media (which is an obligation, not a choice), and stated the reasons for his extended personal leave from the one NBA team that everyone wants to watch.
Controlling the narrative is a part of Sports Public Relations 101. NBA players have been doing that for a very long time, and it is mystifying why Irving cannot calm down the situation by using the media. The media is a vehicle for getting a message across -- and now there are other options such as Instagram and Twitter -- in which a statement can be issued and some measure of clarity can be achieved.
His new teammate, James Harden, did it yesterday in <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-brooklyn-nets-houston-rockets-james-harden-team-wasnt-good-enough-compete-for-title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his introductory news conference with the Brooklyn Nets</a> in which he let his personality come out -- and anyone who watched it could tell that Harden has taken his media-relations training to heart over the years.&nbsp;
Asked what type of condition he was in, Harden had a a wry smile and responded, &ldquo;Great!" The bearded one was also asked if he had engaged in a discussion with Irving and Kevin Durant yet about how the three of them will coexist.&nbsp;
Harden replied in the negative, but said that discussion will eventually happen.
&ldquo;I think that we&rsquo;re really good at creating good shots for ourselves and creating shots for our teammates," Harden said. "It&rsquo;s all the flow. You can&rsquo;t predict how it&rsquo;s going to go. Kyrie might score 10 possessions in a row. KD might score 10 possessions in a row. They&rsquo;re more than capable of that, and I&rsquo;m fine with that because we&rsquo;re going to be winning and it&rsquo;s going to be good. Tomorrow we&rsquo;ll see, and it&rsquo;s going to be fun and I&rsquo;m excited about it.&rdquo;
Irving, in the meantime, has chosen no path to clarification. While all this is going on, Harden will make his Nets debut tonight against Orlando.
Harden has been deep into the playoffs before, but is still without a championship. However, he may have his best chance yet playing with Irving, Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Joe Harris and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-sean-marks-brooklyn-nets-not-done-making-moves-trade-steve-nash-james-harden-kyrie-irving-kevin-durant-deandre-jordan-joe-harris-jarrett-allen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whoever else Sean Marks can bring aboard</a> between now and the deadline, something Harden spoke to in his first meeting with the media Friday.
&ldquo;Obviously, you&rsquo;ve got Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the team, and then surrounded by those guys you have really good pieces in DeAndre and Jeff [Green], shooters in Joe and Landry [Shamet]," Harden said. "You just look at this entire roster and it&rsquo;s built for any type of basketball you want, and then the coaching staff who know the game of basketball at a high level. You just add that all together and that&rsquo;s a legit chance right there. It was a no-brainer for me."
It is mid-January, and what the Nets are trying to do is get the entire roster together for a number of games, see how they look and then take it from there. How they look when the playoffs begin is what is most important.
Tonight will be fun because Harden will be on the floor, sporting his brand new black-and-white threads. Monday will be even better because Irving should be playing, too.
But until Irving explains himself, people are going to draw their own conclusions about why he has been taking so much &ldquo;personal time." When Irving chooses not to speak, other people's speculation dominates the conversation instead.
Let&rsquo;s hope he figures that out soon.

Kyrie Irving can use the media to get his message across, but will he? Chris Sheridan dives in.

Kyrie Irving's silence has allowed others to control the narrative

Nekias Duncan details his predictions for the entire 2020-21 NBA campaign.

Archie