Beach

Two of the best and most popular rookies in recent WNBA memory provided basketball fans the most expensive game in WNBA&rsquo;s history &ndash; and it did not disappoint.&nbsp;
Rookie sensation Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever bested rookie rebounding machine Angel Reese and her Chicago Sky 100-71 Friday night in Chicago.
Clark, this year&rsquo;s top overall pick, stuffed the stat sheet yet again as she poured in a career-high 31 points on 8-14 FG, 5-9 3PT, 12 assists, and 4 rebounds. This is Clark&rsquo;s 5th game this year with 20+ points and 10+ assists, which would be the most of such games in a single season in WNBA history. Clark also passed Ticha Penicheiro for the most 10+ assist games by a Rookie in WNBA history. But more importantly, the win pulled the Fever to a .500 record at 16-16 and currently the 6th seed in the tight race to the playoffs.
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Caitlin Clark tonight: 🟥 31 PTS (career-high) 🟥 8-14 FG 🟥 5-9 3PT 🟥 12 AST 🟥 4 REB ROTY debate over 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/x49rJaZT4P">pic.twitter.com/x49rJaZT4P</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1829701500941271345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2024</a>
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Reese on the other hand continued making history on her own by setting a new rookie record with 23 double-doubles, surpassing Tina Charles' previous record of 22 set in 2010. The 7th overall pick of this year&rsquo;s draft had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.&nbsp;
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A historic performance by Angel Reese, even in defeat: ⬛ 10 PTS ⬛ 11 REB Angel Reese sets a new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> rookie record with 23 double-doubles, surpassing Tina Charles' previous record of 22 set in 2010 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/leKcULTDBB">pic.twitter.com/leKcULTDBB</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1829704082006925614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2024</a>
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The game featured in what has been the highest get-in ticket game in the WNBA&rsquo;s history &ndash; a whopping $863 average price.&nbsp;
The game also may have effectively ended the Rookie of the Year race with how it has been pushed by the media considering each rookie&rsquo;s stellar performances. Clark has been the all-around superstar Indiana has asked for as they have turned to a playoff team this year following a cellar-dwelling finish just a season ago. Reese on the other hand, has been putting up rebounding numbers never before seen from a rookie and even leads the league in rebounds overall, even grabbing more than reigning MVP and 6-foot-4 A&rsquo;Ja Wilson herself.
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> regular season head-to-head matchup between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has officially wrapped up 👀 Caitlin Clark's performance tonight: 📈 31 PTS | 8-14 FG | 5-9 3PT | 12 AST | 4 REB Angel Reese's performance tonight: 📉 10 PTS | 4-9 FG | 0-1 3PT | 2 AST | 11 REB&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/8AvUlVnNXD">pic.twitter.com/8AvUlVnNXD</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1829758181599572164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2024</a>
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Indiana&rsquo;s win also assured the Fever won the season series against the Sky, 3-1, after four such blockbuster matchups this season.
However, it wasn&rsquo;t just the rookies who made history in today&rsquo;s slate of games &ndash; the best of the best did too. New York Liberty&rsquo;s Breanna Stewart surpassed Lauren Jackson (27) for 3rd most 30+ point games in WNBA history with her 28th 30-point game. Stewart had 32 points on an efficient 10-16 shooting with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the Liberty&rsquo;s 98-85 win against the Seattle Storm.&nbsp;
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Breanna Stewart tonight: ⬜ 32 PTS ⬜ 10-16 FG ⬜ 6 AST ⬜ 5 REB Passed Lauren Jackson (27) for 3rd most 30+ point games in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> history 👏🏼 <a href="https://t.co/8A7xSCMpza">pic.twitter.com/8A7xSCMpza</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1829752813456650751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2024</a>
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Best player in the world A&rsquo;Ja Wilson also had herself a night with a dominant 26-point, 16-rebound, 5-assist, and 5-block showing in the Las Vegas Aces&rsquo; win over the Atlanta Dream as they clinched their playoff spot.&nbsp;
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A'ja Wilson with another dominant night: ⬛ 26 PTS ⬛ 16 REB ⬛ 5 AST ⬛ 5 BLK ⬛ W vs. Dream Aces have clinched their spot in the 2024 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> Playoffs 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/PwvVp88KPk">pic.twitter.com/PwvVp88KPk</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1829752705314930808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2024</a>
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New York sits comfortably at the top of the standings at 27-6, while defending champions Las Vegas is currently at 4th with a 19-12 record.

Two of the best and most popular rookies in recent WNBA memory provided basketball fans the most expensive game in the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark, Fever best Angel Reese, Sky in most expensive WNBA game ever

With just one spot left in the quarterfinals, Serbia and South Sudan played a game down to the wire. In the end, however, it was Serbia who came out on top to beat South Sudan in Group C of the Paris 2024 Olympics, 96-85, at the Pierre de Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France.&nbsp;
After Brazil clinched their quarterfinal spot by beating Japan, South Sudan needed a win to book their slot and deny Greece in the process. However, Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Serbia had other plans in mind.&nbsp;
The NBA duo of Jokic and Bogdanovic shined when it mattered the most for Serbia. Bogdanovic top-scored for the Serbians with 30 big points, on an efficient 10/14 shooting game, knocking in 6 threes. Jokic had yet another double-double performance with 22 points and 13 rebounds as Serbia shot an absurd 60% from the field.
Despite the loss, South Sudan fought and had plenty to be proud of. They won their first Olympic game in their history and put up strong performances against basketball juggernauts USA and Serbia. The SSD basketball federation has come a long way with its journey led by former NBA player Luol Deng, and this program figures to be ascending to the basketball hierarchy sooner rather than later.&nbsp;
South Sudan point guard Carlik Jones gave it his all after playing all 40 minutes, scoring 17 points, dishing out 10 assists, and grabbing 5 rebounds in an all-around effort. Former NBAer Marial Shayok also provided the necessary support for Jones with 17 points, while former Baylor standout Nuni Omot added 14 points.&nbsp;
South Sudan made 14-34 threes overall, but Serbia had a huge advantage in free throws, making 21/31 to South Sudan&rsquo;s just 6 attempts with 5 makes.&nbsp;
Up next for Serbia is a quarterfinal bout with Australia.

With just one spot left in the quarterfinals, Serbia and South Sudan played a game down to the wire which Serbia eventually won.

Serbia overcomes South Sudan to finish 2nd in Group C, book last QF spot

Team USA players came inside the Kerry Sports basketball facility one by one, each sporting their preferred and comfortable gear from the blazing heat of the Philippine weather they were not so accustomed to. They were about to hold their first practices in Manila for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the sport&rsquo;s world championship meet.
Anthony Edwards was one of the last ones to enter the gym along with fellow NBA no.1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. He had his Adidas Adilette comfort slides put on with black Team USA jogger pants and an Adidas triple-colored hoodie. Edwards was fixated on his phone, walking past whispering reporters onto the team&rsquo;s huddle at center court, clearly being the center of attraction for the young Team USA squad.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s who they call the Ant-Man.&rdquo;
Once upon a time, Edwards&rsquo; name was held in a much lower regard. The 22-year-old is considered to be one of the best and brightest young players in the league but has yet to establish himself as one of the staples and premier superstars with an iconic and deep playoff performance that cements him in that tier.
Until these playoffs.
Edwards has separated himself from the pack of young superstars leading their teams and entered the upper echelon of basketball royalty in the NBA. With the league anticipating the &lsquo;changing of the guard&rsquo; as current faces LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually diminish their shining glories as the league&rsquo;s best of the best, Edwards comes in as one of the hopefuls to take the mantle when that inevitable day comes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying that he (Edwards) is the face of the league but he hates it when I say it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s true. The future&rsquo;s so bright you gotta put the sunglasses on when you&rsquo;re walking around him,&rdquo; Karl-Anthony Towns said, in their post-game interview after their first-round series with the&nbsp;Phoenix Suns.
Edwards glanced briefly at Towns, who was beside him at the podium. He had that little smile on his face while bowing down his head as his teammate praised him in front of the listening reporters. He looked at Towns again, this time shaking his head in disbelief, but it had the element of confidence. There was obviously a focus on what Towns was talking about but with Edwards&rsquo; elite level-headedness through it all.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a young superstar in the league and you have to face it,&rdquo; the statement emphasized on Edwards as he&rsquo;s trying to soak it all in.
Ever since Edwards has been adamant about not calling himself anything until he wins in the playoffs. Now that his Wolves beat the Suns to win the franchise&rsquo;s first playoff series since 2004, Edwards certainly has all the right in the world to give himself even the tiniest bit of praise.
He thought for a good three seconds, glancing at the reporter and the horizon for a moment. He was just asked if he was now able to give himself some grace in that regard when people call him that &lsquo;young superstar&rsquo; label. A small grin emerged onto his face, clearly oozing with confidence albeit a controlled one. He looked back with that smile on his face while nodding, he said:
&ldquo;Nah, not yet a man. Not yet.&rdquo;
Behind this usual brash, confident, and charismatic Edwards is a hungry side that never gets contented and satisfied until he achieves his ultimate goal: winning a championship. Maybe he&rsquo;ll have the guts to call himself one when they reach the Finals and end up going all the way. But that remains to be seen.
He&rsquo;s got the swagger, the personality, and the charisma to be marketable by the league. Edwards mentioned wanting to go kill everybody that&rsquo;s in front of him, and boy, he did.&nbsp;
Edwards swept the Suns featuring his childhood idol and favorite player of all time Kevin Durant, who he has been jawing back and forth at several times in the series. This was him going at his childhood hero, taking on the challenge and never backing down. However, the play of the series happened in Game 4 when Minnesota was trying to put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.&nbsp;
With 2:18 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, Edwards blew by Beal and rose through the air as high as he could. Durant made the right business decision by not going up together with a rampaging bull as he should For a brief moment, he looked like the second coming of a certain Michael Jordan &ndash; yet again &ndash; after he&rsquo;s been labeled as such throughout the course of the season after each jaw-dropping spectacular play. Edwards threw down a ferocious poster slam dunk that might have literally blown the roof over the Footprint Center as the play signaled the beginning of the end for the Suns.
Durant and Edwards will play together in Team USA in August for the Paris Olympics, and these two for sure would go head to head making their practice sessions much more interesting. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a good feeling because he&rsquo;s my favorite player of all time, and I can tell him that I was the one who sent him home. It&rsquo;s gonna be a fun summer for sure,&rdquo; Edwards said.
First game of the Western Conference Finals and up against the Nuggets, Edwards scored a playoff career-high 43 points. He dissected their entire defense, scoring in all types of ways imaginable for a superstar. Edwards hit threes, blown by some of the toughest defenders in the NBA Aaron Gordon, and hit fadeaway mid-range jumpers reminiscent of Jordan. More importantly, Edwards displayed the level of maturity a superstar has to make in the playoffs &ndash; playing off of your teammates and playmaking for the entire team. He has done it so far with relative ease and that&rsquo;s why the Timberwolves have found their early success in this postseason.
He&rsquo;s doing it against supposedly their biggest challenge &ndash; the defending champions &ndash; who sent them home a year ago. &ldquo;Last year we didn&rsquo;t have Jaden (McDaniels) and Naz (Reid) against them so it was quite frustrating. Now that we have both I think we can definitely do better,&rdquo; Edwards said about their biggest thing in this rematch series vs Denver is being healthy.
Before the season started, Edwards was this up-and-coming 22-year-old star leading his nation at the World Championships for a chance at glory. Although the Americans ended up not medalling after losing to eventual world champions Germany in the semifinals and to neighboring Canada in the third-place game, Edwards was clearly the best player on the team filled with young American talent. He led Team USA in scoring, and at 22 years old, this was only the start of a big year ahead.
Edwards then was the clear-cut best player for the third-best team in the West, with Minnesota having a 56-26 record. Those 56 wins were the most since 2004 when they had 58 and went to the Western Conference Finals. They were led back then by legend Kevin Garnett but that was also their last time seeing the playoffs.&nbsp;
20 years later, Edwards is now shouldering all the burden by taking this Wolves team back to relevance, basking in all the glory he&rsquo;s worked so hard to attain. He&rsquo;s one of the bonafide young rising superstars in the league, and he intends to take them all the way.
Edwards&rsquo; huge season and ascension to superstardom could be attributed back to something you see coming even from a mile away. And it all started in that summer lengthy yet productive summer in 2023.
While most players use their summers to recuperate, have a vacation somewhere, and spend time with families and loved ones, Edwards took a privileged yet opportunistic route: play with the National Team at the FIBA World Cup. Usually, NBA superstars all express their willingness to play with the National Team at the Olympics. For no definite reason, somehow the FIBA World Cup does not seem appealing to play for the older/senior superstar guys, so it&rsquo;s usually the juniors/young guys who represent Team USA. Anthony Edwards took up that challenge and became the best player for the team and in turn, he&rsquo;s reaping the benefits of it in the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in work this summer. Big shoutout to the USA team, man. They got me ready for the season.&rdquo;
That killer mentality that Edwards has is something that&rsquo;s never seen often and has been with only a select few in the history of the game, particularly Jordan and Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Behind all that bold and tough personality, however, is a side of himself that genuinely enjoys playing with his teammates.
When asked about the prospect of having his Wolves&rsquo; teammates, the first thing out of his mouth was how he was excited to meet them while playing for their respective countries (Rudy Gobert for France, Karl-Anthony Towns for Dominican Republic, Kyle Anderson for China, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada). He looked forward to playing against them, citing how much fun he would have once it happened.
Despite his clear burgeoning superstardom, however,&nbsp; Edwards still deflected every credit thrown towards him. When asked what he feels as one of the guys being billed as one of the next faces of the league, Edwards dismissed the idea faster than a Math teacher dispersing students after giving out a tough assignment due &ndash;&nbsp; immediately answering without hesitation that he does not make anything of it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just gonna keep working, man. I make nothing of it, yeah. I just hope that I keep getting better.&rdquo;
It was clear all along among all the people in the gym that fateful day: Edwards had the most aura out of them all. It was just oozing, something you can feel when you&rsquo;re around certain people. It&rsquo;s kind of intimidating, but only to a certain extent. You can just feel the energy brewing and that certain look when you come across one of the ones. The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season long. With most of their games out of the eyes of the majority, Edwards assured one thing going into the season sternly and convincingly.
&ldquo;We just gonna try to keep playing, man. We&rsquo;re not really worried about the national TV games. As long as we win, we&rsquo;ll be on TV when we make it into the playoffs. The world will know about us.&rdquo;
As their playoff mantra suggests, the Timberwolves have been waiting for this moment since 2004. From the annals of the great Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s era to ushering this new one paved by superstar-in-the-making, young Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived.

The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season despite having Anthony Edwards.

‘WOLVES BACK’: Anthony Edwards introduces the Timberwolves back to the world

On May 7, 1995, Indiana Pacers&rsquo; Reggie Miller put on one of the NBA's most legendary performances, scoring 8 points in 9 seconds against the New York Knicks to steal a could-have-been win, putting them on the wrong side of history.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Knicks, who lost Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals at home in Madison Square Garden 107-105. New York already eliminated the Pacers in 1993 and 1994 and coming into their matchup, Indiana was raring to get back at them.
Miller first hit a three with 16.4 seconds to go, and then the Knicks&rsquo; Anthony Mason made a costly mistake by inbounding the ball right into Miller&rsquo;s hands. Greg Anthony, who was supposed to receive the inbounds pass, had slipped and it led to Miller hitting yet another three to tie the game at 105.&nbsp;
The Knicks got the ball back and had John Starks on the line to take back the lead, but he missed his two free throws allowing the Pacers to get the ball back. Miller sank two free throws and the Knicks could not get a shot off in time as the buzzer sounded, therefore creating Miller&rsquo;s &lsquo;8 points in 9 seconds&rsquo; legend at the Garden.
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After 29 years since that heartbreak, luckily New York was on the other side of history this time around.
On Monday night, New York faced the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference round 1 clash. With 28 seconds to go and the Sixers up 5, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson drove into the thick of the defense only to stumble and get stifled by Kyle Lowry and the Sixers&rsquo; defense. Teammate Donte DiVincenzo got the ball in the middle of all the action, choosing to back it out.&nbsp;
Brunson, who has been bothered by Philadelphia&rsquo;s defense and shooting just 8-29 all game long, got up, relocated to the corner, and the ball eventually went his way. He rose and did a step-back three move on Tyrese Maxey, and the ball barely went down through the rim while bouncing high before eventually dropping down as the Knicks cut the Sixers&rsquo; lead to just two, 101-99.
Philadelphia tried to inbound the ball cleanly to Maxey with 27 seconds left on the clock. However, amidst the chaos and the tough defense by Brunson and Josh Hart (with some arguable pushing and shoving and grabbing of jerseys), Maxey slipped on the floor and could not get to the ball. Hart got the steal and sent it right back to DiVincenzo trailing for the three, only to miss.
In an intense series of events, Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein was the first to the ball, grabbing a huge offensive rebound to give another chance for the Knicks. He kicked it out to OG Anunoby who kicked it right back to DiVincenzo for another three. Splash. Nothing but net. The Knicks now suddenly lead 102-101 with 13.1 seconds remaining, leaving the Sixers befuddled on what just happened. Their 5-point lead suddenly turned to a 1-point deficit in a blink of an eye.
In the next possession, Philadelphia tried to get Maxey going downhill with a backscreen from Embiid. He sprinted down the floor and blew by everybody for the layup until Hartenstein made another big play by trailing down and blocking Maxey&rsquo;s shot, which sent the Garden into a frenzy. Anunoby made two free throws following the play to extend the Knicks&rsquo; lead 104-101.
The Sixers had one last shot at it to tie the game but Embiid missed a three at the buzzer, giving the Knicks one of its best wins in franchise history. A seemingly hopeless situation turned into a blessing with a series of events that will go down as one of the best moments in New York&rsquo;s lore &ndash; putting the team up 2-0 in their best-of-7 series going into Philadelphia.
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I didn't take a single breath this entire amazing sequence the Knicks took the lead to win the game <a href="https://t.co/p62a9U2y1r">pic.twitter.com/p62a9U2y1r</a>
&mdash; Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1782593229281788138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a>
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29 years ago, the Knicks suffered heartbreak. But now 29 years later, they find vindication in an eerily similar play to heal the hearts of the past.

In 1995, Reggie Miller scored the legendary '8 points in 9 seconds' against the Knicks to put them on the wrong side of history.

Knicks find vindication in clutch time at the Garden after 29 years

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed rookie Craig Porter Jr. to a four-year contract, <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1757562084483637309?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as reported by ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski.&nbsp;</a>
Porter, an undrafted guard out of Wichita State, has been instrumental for the Cavs this season by filling in for then-injured point guard Darius Garland. He averaged 11.4 points, 7.4 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in five games as a starter.
Porter recently opened up to our Alex Kennedy about his fantastic rookie campaign.
&ldquo;I am very surprised, because coming in on a two-way [contract] and spending training camp with everybody healthy, you don't necessarily think that four or five people are gonna get hurt and that's gonna be your first opportunity within the first two or three weeks of your first season,&rdquo; Porter told Basketball News. &ldquo;Even to not play in the G League was kind of crazy to me &ndash; it was just so fast-paced and it just caught me off guard. I didn't think it was gonna be an opportunity that fast, but I figured it would be at some point.
&ldquo;Once the first one [opportunity] came, I started playing well and I felt like I was ready. And then a couple of games later, I started some games and then I started earning more and more trust from everybody. Then, it was just like, 'Okay, I know I'm with the Cavs full-time now.'"
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Running Up The Score starts NOW! Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Craig Porter joins me to discuss: 🏀 Terrific rookie season 🏀 Toughest player he&rsquo;s guarded 🏀 Studying Rajon Rondo 🏀 Support from Cavs fans 🏀 What he learned in JUCO WATCH: <a href="https://t.co/XjqLmh6hBI">https://t.co/XjqLmh6hBI</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1750292459941171445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Porter will now be part of the Cavaliers for the foreseeable future after getting his two-way contract converted to a four-year standard deal due to his solid play. The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds on 50/33/70 shooting splits in 32 games this season.
&ldquo;I did five years in college, so I feel like I just have been put in every situation that can prepare me to be a pro," Porter said. "I&rsquo;ve played the role of being just a role player, being just a defender, somebody who just sits in the corner&hellip; I'm just prepared for any role that I'm put in. I feel like nothing&rsquo;s too big for me to handle. Any situation I've been put in so far, I&rsquo;ve proven that I can just handle it and my maturity&rsquo;s probably the biggest thing that stuck out during all that."

The Cleveland Cavaliers have converted rookie Craig Porter Jr.'s two-way deal into a four-year contract.

Cleveland Cavaliers sign Craig Porter Jr. to four-year contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of an impressive season, boasting the fourth-best record (26-16) in the Eastern Conference after winning eight of their last nine games. 
Rookie Craig Porter Jr. has been a key contributor and one of the pleasant surprises of the 2023-24 season. Despite going undrafted, Porter has surprisingly emerged as a standout player. After starting point guard Darius Garland went down with an injury, Porter stepped up. In five games as a starter, he averaged 11.4 points, 7.4 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals. 
In an interview with Alex Kennedy on the show &ldquo;Running Up The Score,&rdquo; Porter talked about his early success in the NBA and how he&rsquo;s surprised even himself with the way he&rsquo;s started his career.
&ldquo;I mean it's been very fast-paced," Porter said. "With all the injuries we&rsquo;ve had so far this season, I&rsquo;ve been pushed to play pretty early. So, the learning process has just been the same as the playing process, as soon as I got put in, I was learning everything and it was all new, but it has been an amazing journey so far.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The 6-foot-2 point guard is the only rookie averaging at least 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists as a starter this season.
&ldquo;I am very surprised, because coming in on a two-way [contract] and spending training camp with everybody healthy, you don't necessarily think that four or five people are gonna get hurt and that's gonna be your first opportunity within the first two or three weeks of your first season,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;Even to not play in the G League was kind of crazy to me &ndash; it was just so fast-paced and it just caught me off guard. I didn't think it was gonna be an opportunity that fast, but I figured it would be at some point.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Running Up The Score starts NOW! Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Craig Porter joins me to discuss: 🏀 Terrific rookie season 🏀 Toughest player he&rsquo;s guarded 🏀 Studying Rajon Rondo 🏀 Support from Cavs fans 🏀 What he learned in JUCO WATCH: <a href="https://t.co/XjqLmh6hBI">https://t.co/XjqLmh6hBI</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1750292459941171445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Success in the NBA often comes down to opportunities and a player's situation. When Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff texted Porter that he would be moving into the starting lineup, Porter initially thought he was joking. However, he quickly realized his coach was serious and began to prepare. He knew he had to make the most of the opportunity, and that's what exactly what he's done.
&ldquo;Once the first one [opportunity] came, I started playing well and I felt like I was ready. And then a couple of games later, I started some games and then I started earning more and more trust from everybody," Porter explained. "Then, it was just like, 'Okay, I know I'm with the Cavs full-time now.'"
When it comes to Porter's transition to the NBA, the 82-game schedule has been the toughest part.
&ldquo;[The schedule] is different, for sure. We&rsquo;re probably halfway through the year now and, I mean, it's just ridiculous. I didn't realize how many games you really play each week," Porter said. "It's taking some adjusting, but I just feel like once I figured out my routine, it kind of made everything a lot easier. And the [travel] is fun, you get to go see all these cities. It's crazy to think what basketball can do for you."
The 23-year-old out of Wichita State credited his age and maturity for helping him adjust to the NBA. Unlike a one-and-done rookie who came into the league at a young age, Porter believes his college experience has done wonders for him in terms of knowing his role on the team.
&ldquo;I did five years in college, so I feel like I just have been put in every situation that can prepare me to be a pro," Porter said. "I&rsquo;ve played the role of being just a role player, being just a defender, somebody who just sits in the corner&hellip; I'm just prepared for any role that I'm put in. I feel like nothing&rsquo;s too big for me to handle. Any situation I've been put in so far, I&rsquo;ve proven that I can just handle it and my maturity&rsquo;s probably the biggest thing that stuck out during all that."
Due to his solid play, Porter has been mentioned as a potential selection for the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend in February &mdash; a distinction given to the top rookies in the league. He shared what it would mean to him if he was selected.
&ldquo;It would mean the world (getting selected) not because I'm undrafted, but because of the journey that I've gone through. Even just the things I've done this season, I mean, if anybody deserves it, I feel like I do, for sure. But I'm not gonna be mad at it because I just wanna win at the end of the day. I would take winning over anything, obviously. But those personal goals of mine are getting into these things. I'm just gonna keep being me and playing the way I do.
"But obviously, yes, I would love to be in that stuff,&rdquo; Porter said with a big smile.

Craig Porter Jr. has been a key contributor for the Cleveland Cavaliers and one of the pleasant surprises of the 2023-24 season.

Cavs’ Craig Porter Jr. exceeding expectations, earning Rising-Stars buzz

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around due to the team's recent success, winning 15 of their last 21 games.&nbsp;
After starting just 7-16, the Jazz have since gone 11-4 and are now in contention for one of the Western Conference's play-in spots. They&rsquo;ve had an incredible week thus far, with wins over the contending Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
The win over the defending-champion Nuggets proved that the Jazz can hang with any team on any given night. Denver was 18-0 against sub-.500 teams entering the game, but Utah stained their erstwhile unblemished slate.
How did the Jazz do it? Let's take a look at some of the things they did to upend the Nuggets.
The Jazz stretched the floor&nbsp;
With John Collins starting at center instead of Walker Kessler, Utah's game plan was to pull Nikola Jokic from the paint. Jokic, who&rsquo;s usually a drop-big on defense, almost always stays near the shaded area in pick-and-roll actions. Utah tried to take advantage of this early by hunting out threes and exploiting the point-of-attack defenses of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Four of their first five attempts were three-pointers and they connected on two to jump out to an early lead.
Denver tried to counter by running zone, leaving Collins open a couple of times in the first quarter. However, Collins made them pay by hitting two threes, as Jokic was more than content to leave him open for threes. This allowed the Jazz to get rolling even more and gave them the freedom to attack the basket and get downhill.
Another possession in the zone found Reggie Jackson and Jokic in a miscommunication, leading to Jordan Clarkson drilling an easy 10-foot jumper. When the Nuggets tried to switch up their defense back to a man-to-man, the Jazz found the answer with some off-ball movement and timely cuts to the rim. Overall, it was an offensive clinic that caught the defending champs off guard.
The Jazz mixed their coverages on Jokic and gave him different looks on defense
You can't entirely stop an all-world talent like Nikola Jokic, you could only hope to contain him, which is still really tough considering how talented he is and his ability to get his teammates involved.
Although he still put up a monstrous stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on an absurd 8-of-9 shooting from the field, what the Jazz and Will Hardy did was mix-up coverages on him. They showed multiple defensive looks each time down, which partly confused Jokic as he committed 6 turnovers in the game.
Sometimes, it was single coverage; other times, they sent doubles at him. Three different players &mdash; Lauri Markannen, Collins and Kessler &mdash; each took turns guarding him and all three provided different looks on the Joker. Markannen used his strength, Collins had his quickness and quick hands, while Kessler provided verticality with his 7-foot-1 frame.
The Jazz also sent different doubles at Jokic, sometimes crowding him in the paint with early double-teams, breaking up his low-post attacks with guards doubling him, and sending late doubles with another big or using a help weakside defender to try to affect him as he attempted a shot.
All of these defensive coverages were designed to make Jokic feel uncomfortable with different styles thrown at him, and the Jazz were successful at that with this blowout win.&nbsp;
Will Hardy figured out the rotations and had the Jazz playing with confidence
Although their defense is still suspect, the Jazz&rsquo;s offense has been nothing but spectacular. This can be attributed to head coach Will Hardy figuring out his rotation and which players synergize well together. This impressive run over their last 20 games started when Hardy made Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, Lauri Markannen and John Collins the starting five. Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk provide stability as veterans while second-year guys Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji help out on defense with their length and tenacity.
Utah&rsquo;s offense was on full display against Denver, picking them apart with set plays and off of read-and-react actions. Although the Nuggets were coming off two days of rest and just an hour flight, the Jazz capitalized on their momentum and pounced right from the start.
Markannen has picked up right where he left off in last season&rsquo;s All-Star campaign, maintaining his shooting and scoring while improving his ball-handling this season. He&rsquo;s much better off the dribble now, which makes him one of the most coveted (if not most coveted) trade targets as the Feb. 8 deadline approaches.
Clarkson has also learned to move the ball more since being back to his regular sixth man role while continuing to score the ball effectively, and it has produced good results.
Dunn and Sexton allow the Jazz to play with pace and energy on both sides of the floor and their efforts are infectious.
Despite all of the trade rumors swirling around this team and rival teams trying to pry their players away, GM Danny Ainge and coach Will Hardy deserve credit for helping the Jazz build good habits and play the right way, which has resulted in beautiful basketball all around.&nbsp;

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around, as they have won 15 of their last 21 games.

How the Utah Jazz earned their statement win over the Denver Nuggets

This article was originally published on Jan. 16, 2021.
We&rsquo;ve all been here before.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a random Wednesday. Full slate of games, hard to keep track of everything. Maybe you&rsquo;re peeping an ESPN matchup. Perhaps you&rsquo;re watching your favorite team on the local channel if you&rsquo;re in the market, or you&rsquo;re streaming it LEGALLY ON NBA LEAGUE PASS BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO IT. WINK.&nbsp;
But anyway, you&rsquo;re watching a game. You&rsquo;re roaming Twitter. And then a tweet catches your eye: PLAYER X HAS DUNKED ON LEBRON JAMES.
Your brow raises. You see a few tweets from your online pals big-upping the play. You&rsquo;re really interested now. You click on the video from a Big Social Media Account. And this is the dunk:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brr.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The excitement drops a little bit. That&rsquo;s a nice dunk from Wendell Carter Jr. LeBron James is underneath the basket, and there&rsquo;s a challenge. But something doesn&rsquo;t feel right about it.&nbsp;
Then you see a different angle of the Dunk Heard &lsquo;Round The World.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/wendell-w-lebron-in-the-area.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
You feel betrayed. LeBron didn&rsquo;t get dunked on; LeBron&rsquo;s arm got dunked on as he jumps out of the darn play! This isn&rsquo;t <a href="https://youtu.be/xtOUpybXmzo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/6kBWO82HUa4?t=28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vince Carter on Alonzo Mourning</a>! I can yell at these clouds if I want to!
If you&rsquo;re anything like me, you&rsquo;re tired of being misled. If I hear or read that a player got baptized, I want to see some Holy Water coming out of the rim after the aerial duel. And if you are like me, this is the piece for you. This is the guide of all guides, breaking down the different types of dunks. A universal standard of slams, if you will, so we can finally get on the same page about poster dunks.
A brief note before digging in. I am using a tier system so it&rsquo;s easier to separate the types of dunks. Like many things in life, the scale can slide on a case-by-case basis. For example, breakaway dunks are generally uncontested, which makes them the lowest tier of dunk for me. However, a breakaway dunk from 360-enthusiast Zach LaVine is different -- and much cooler -- than the two-handed flushes we see from Jimmy Butler. Each dunk is still its own thing.&nbsp;
Disclaimer: Alley-oops can fall under virtually all of these categories, with the obvious exception of put-backs.
TIER 10: BREAKAWAYS
Break-away dunks are pretty self-explanatory. There&rsquo;s a long rebound after a miss. A player leaks out early, and gets a dunk with no resistance. They&rsquo;re pretty basic with a few exceptions. LaVine, Paul George or Glenn Robinson III may bust out a 360 or windmill on occasion. LeBron has made the one-handed tomahawk a staple of his repertoire.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lebron-tomahawk.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
It&rsquo;s basic, but it&rsquo;s so darn cool. Power, a little bit of flair, the hang time. All that good stuff.
TIER 9: TIP SLAMS
I like the timing, positioning and coordination it takes to pull off a putback slam. The lower-level ones are uncontested, but can be rated higher depending on the work a player puts in before the ball comes off the rim. Take this multiple-effort possession from Larry Nance Jr. as an example:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/larry-nance-jr-putback.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 8: BUSINESS DECISIONS
The OG: Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal
Also popularized by: LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Zion Williamson
This is for the power dunkers. Whether it&rsquo;s in transition, flowing off of a broken play or rumbling down the lane after a high-ball screen, it&rsquo;s hilarious to watch players actively decide, &ldquo;Nope, I don&rsquo;t get paid enough for this.&rdquo; Take this play from the 2016-17 season, featuring Blake Griffin:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/willy-hernangomez-business-decision.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The key actor here is Willy Hernangomez (No. 14). He is watching this snug pick-and-roll all the way through. His man, noted three-point marksman DeAndre Jordan, is chilling above the break. Not only can Hernangomez make the rotation to cut off Griffin at the rim, he should make that rotation because Jordan is not a threat at all. Instead, he begins to load up, quickly realizes that Griffin will put him in the gulag, and decides against challenging the shot.
Hilarious sequence.
TIER 7: FLY-BYS
This is where having a discerning eye is important. When you think about it, this kind of dunk -- and the praise that these types of dunk typically generate -- is about deception.
A defender jumps across a player to make it look like he&rsquo;s legitimately challenging the dunk. There&rsquo;s no real threat of a block or swipe. The dunk happens because, again, there&rsquo;s no real threat to it otherwise. And somehow both players end up looking good. The dunker gets &ldquo;poster&rdquo; equity they don&rsquo;t deserve; the defender gets a slight pat on the back for giving effort instead of making a business decision.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/hhh.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
It&rsquo;s all a darn farce. A cool-looking farce at times, but a farce nonetheless.&nbsp;
TIER 6: SELF-LOBS
We&rsquo;ve reached the coolest of the non-contact dunks. It doesn&rsquo;t get much better than throwing the ball to yourself for a slam, man. Look at Jamal Murray getting himself out of trouble.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/jamal-murray-self-lob.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 5: &ldquo;IN THE VICINITY&rdquo; SLAMS (Also known as ITVs)
Folks, the rubber is starting to reach the road. The ITVs involve actual attempts at a contest and/or a little contact, a step up from the Fly-bys. This is where I&rsquo;d say the Wendell-on-LeBron dunk falls, though I wouldn&rsquo;t be mad at anyone that would classify it as a Fly-by. A better example would be this slam from Matisse Thybulle last season.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/mfff.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
There&rsquo;s an attempt at a challenge, but Thybulle still gets the better of Mason Plumlee. But Plumlee doesn&rsquo;t get dunked on. There isn&rsquo;t enough contact to call it a poster of the highest order.&nbsp;
This is also where failed chasedown blocks come in. With guys flying in from behind, the dunk-on element just isn&rsquo;t there most of the time. Take the famous Kobe-on-LeBron dunk from the 2011 All-Star game.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/kobe-on-lebron.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 4: PUTBACK POSTERS
I&rsquo;ve always gone back and forth with myself about where to place these types of dunks. On one hand, the blindsided nature of it makes it a bit unfair to defenders. You can&rsquo;t defend against what you can&rsquo;t see. However, there&rsquo;s enough contact at play, and a player Mossin&rsquo; a dude and flushing it down is generally some high level stuff.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/gerald-green-putback-poster.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Yes, that is the #BASED and #RARE Gerald Green in a Celtics uni. And yeah that&rsquo;s Mason Plumlee again. Sorry, man.
TIER 3: DUNK-ONS/CHARGE CRUSHERS
We&rsquo;ve reached the portion of the program where dudes are getting legitimately yammed on, but there are a couple of factors that keep it from ranking higher.
First, the level of contest still matters. A lot of these dunks feature dudes sliding over in an attempt to take a charge (hence the alternative name). The higher level posters feature someone trying to actually block the dunk. Sure, a charge and blocked dunk are functionally the same in terms of the result the defense wants -- taking away two points -- but we&rsquo;re talking about highlights here.&nbsp;
Secondly, and I admit we&rsquo;re splitting hairs a bit, size also matters. The first dunk I thought of was Nuggets-era J.R Smith yamming it over Gary Neal:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/jrs.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Objectively a good dunk, but Gary Neal is ground bound and short. You have to dock some points there. I&rsquo;m sorry. The famous DeAndre Jordan-on-Brandon Knight flush, while iconic, also falls in this category.
The higher end of this would be another classic involving the Spurs: LeBron dunking on Tim Duncan.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lebron-on-tim-duncan.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
That&rsquo;s more like it.
TIER 2: THE THROW-IN
THE OG: Blake Griffin
ALSO POPULARIZED BY: Derrick Jones Jr.
DUNK TRUTHERS DON&rsquo;T READ THIS!
***
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Dunk Truthers are stupid poopyheads.&nbsp;
Yes, we&rsquo;re well aware that dunks that involve the rim being grabbed -- or at least touched -- are more pure, whatever the heck that means. But you look at Blake Griffin embarrassing the life out of Timofey Mozgov and tell me it isn&rsquo;t one of greatest athletic feats you&rsquo;ve ever seen.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/blake-over-mozgov.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Derrick Jones Jr. has some gnarly ones in his bag as well, highlighted by this lob he converted against the Raptors that still doesn&rsquo;t make much sense to me.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/hyyy.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 1: THE PURE POSTER
Pippen on Ewing. Carter on &lsquo;Zo. <a href="https://youtu.be/tYpwjB0IzoU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baron Davis on Andrei Kirilenko</a>. Michael Jordan on, well, name almost any big man you can think of that played in the '90s.&nbsp;
We can go more modern, like Larry Nance Jr. doing this to pre-DPOY-candidate Brook Lopez:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lrrr.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Another hidden gem: young DeMar DeRozan throwing the hammer down over Rudy Gobert:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/derozan-on-gobert.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The constant for these dunks: full-on, body-to-body contact with a legitimate attempt for a contest. You&rsquo;ll know it when you see it.
BONUS TIER: THE VINCE CARTER
Yeah, this is still the best dunk I&rsquo;ve ever seen.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/vince-carter-dunk-of-death.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
You clear a seven footer, you get your own dunk tier. Those are the rules.

Nekias Duncan has put together the guide of all guides, breaking down the different types of dunks and rating them on a tier system.

The Dunk-tionary: The official guide to ranking dunks

The NBA announced an array of new programming and enhancements on the NBA App ahead of the 2023-24 season.&nbsp; The NBA App &ndash; which generated more than one billion video views this past season, more than triple the prior year&rsquo;s total &ndash; will deliver unique experiences through advanced personalization features, enhanced live game viewing options and expanded content offerings that will bring fans closer to the game.
As part of a deepened personalized experience on the NBA App powered by Microsoft Azure AI Services, fans will have the ability to add multiple team and player tabs to their app main screen, allowing fans to seamlessly access real-time content.&nbsp; The new tabs will include the latest news, trending topics, vertical video highlights and updates related to their favorite teams and players.&nbsp; A new &ldquo;Moments&rdquo; experience will allow fans to scroll through unlimited NBA content using a vertical social media-style interface.&nbsp; NBA ID members will also have expanded benefits this season, with the opportunity to collect badges that offer access to rewards for their continued engagement throughout the season.&nbsp; Fans can collect badges through NBA In-Season Tournament and NBA All-Star voting, daily trivia and more.
To keep fans informed on the latest key storylines from around the league, the NBA will distribute a new daily newsletter &ndash; &ldquo;Starting 5&rdquo; &ndash; with current and former NBA players, coaches and analytics experts serving as guest contributors, including the Boston Celtics&rsquo; Jayson Tatum, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, Basketball Hall of Famer Pau Gasol and more.&nbsp; &nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oC0l57KodxM?si=6IKSjoK1iQQ_43ia" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
NBA Entertainment will present a wide range of new original content on the NBA App, including &ldquo;Bring it Home,&rdquo; narrated by Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.&nbsp; &ldquo;Bring it Home&rdquo; offers a behind-the-scenes look into the Nuggets&rsquo; 2022-23 season, which culminated in the franchise&rsquo;s first-ever NBA championship.&nbsp; &ldquo;Pass the Rock&rdquo; will return for season two to provide an in-depth look at the league&rsquo;s up-and-coming stars, featuring Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, among others.&nbsp;
The NBA App will feature more than 10,000 additional hours of programming to entertain fans throughout the 2023-24 season, including:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>NBA CrunchTime: &ldquo;NBA CrunchTime&rdquo; &ndash; the league&rsquo;s weekly whiparound show taking fans live to crucial moments of each game and providing real-time updates and analysis &ndash; returns with more than 50 episodes, twice as many as last season.&nbsp; Hosted by Jared Greenberg and produced by NBA TV, which is jointly managed by TNT Sports, &ldquo;NBA CrunchTime&rdquo; will debut on Monday, Oct. 30 this season.</li>
<li>Race for the NBA Cup:&nbsp;&ldquo;Race for the Cup&rdquo; will document the inaugural&nbsp;NBA&nbsp;In-Season Tournament, giving fans exclusive access to teams competing for the first NBA Cup from tip-off on Nov. 3 through the championship game in Las Vegas on Dec. 9.</li>
<li>Coaches Corner:&nbsp;&ldquo;Coaches Corner&rdquo; will feature NBA coaches breaking down the X&rsquo;s and O&rsquo;s in interviews and game-film analysis, including sessions with Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones, hosts of the popular &ldquo;The Dunker Spot&rdquo; podcast.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
This season, NBA League Pass &ndash; the league&rsquo;s live game subscription service &ndash; will feature an enhanced live game streaming experience making it easier for fans to switch between multiple broadcast and language options while interacting with dynamic overlays featuring live player stats, scores and betting odds and other content.&nbsp; Returning this season, NBA League Pass subscribers will also have the ability to stream multiple games simultaneously with multi-view.&nbsp;&nbsp;Packages&nbsp;are available on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/watch/league-pass-stream" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/watch/league-pass-stream&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1698011649436000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2jyfqyyOx5tXE_yFOCtUP4">NBA.com</a>&nbsp;and the NBA App with a premium commercial-free option available at $149.99 a year (or $22.99 a month), providing access to more than 800 live out-of-market games, the ability to download games for offline viewing and a variety of alternate telecast options, including NBA Strategy Stream, NBABet Stream and NBA HooperVision.&nbsp; Students attending accredited universities and colleges in the U.S. can purchase NBA League Pass at an all-new discounted price.
Later this season,&nbsp;cross-platform Watch Parties will be available to NBA App mobile users.&nbsp; The feature will allow NBA League Pass subscribers to video chat with up to four participants while watching a synchronized video broadcast.&nbsp; The cross-platform approach enables fans globally to watch games together on Apple and Android devices.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The new NBA League Pass, NBA App and NBA ID features were celebrated in the league&rsquo;s tip-off campaign spots, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8--pQYx9ylc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D8--pQYx9ylc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1698011649436000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0HfpjLH9fRGpXuIFORBu-8">So Much Game</a>&rdquo; and &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC0l57KodxM" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DoC0l57KodxM&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1698011649436000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Rsplt7zjnmKhmFvv9SBBM">Everyone&rsquo;s NBA App</a>,&rdquo; spotlighting the true fan excitement when engaging in the live game experience on the NBA&rsquo;s digital consumer products.
The NBA App &ndash; a product of NBA Digital, the league&rsquo;s joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports &ndash; is powered by Microsoft Azure and free to download&nbsp;<a href="https://global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id=811567537499273278&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9U3NQ4uCfX2rUgtTQIABsQiVCQAAAA%3D" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id%3D811567537499273278%26_branch_referrer%3DH4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9U3NQ4uCfX2rUgtTQIABsQiVCQAAAA%253D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1698011649436000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ujyqMpv6BGQpt5_mC7LPN">here</a>.

The NBA announced an array of new programming and enhancements on the NBA App ahead of the 2023-24 season.

NBA App launches personalization features, new original programming

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

After a long four-month offseason, the 2023-24 NBA season officially kicks off on October 24. Preseason action is currently underway, with teams evaluating their roster and getting ready for the start of the regular season.
There were a few roster rule changes of note this offseason that were introduced as part of the new CBA. Now, each team can sign up to three two-way players (up from two) who are able to play up to 50 games with their NBA team and spend the rest of their season in the G League. Also, offseason rosters were originally limited to 20 players but have since increased to 21.&nbsp;
Each team needs to be at 15 standard contracts prior to the start of the season, which means a few players on guaranteed deals will have to be cut prior to the season. While some teams have a pretty set roster, others (like the Oklahoma City Thunder) will be forced to part ways with talented players to reach their roster limit.&nbsp;
Looking at the Atlantic Division, let's see how each team&rsquo;s lineup is shaping up and what questions they may need to answer before the start of the season.
(This is part one of a six-part series, with more divisional previews coming soon).
<h1>BOSTON CELTICS</h1>
Outside of the top-six players, who will be the most reliable depth option?
After acquiring Jrue Holiday, the Boston Celtics may have the best top-six of any team in the league. While we can add the Holiday trade to their list of aggressive offseason transactions, their depth has taken somewhat of a step back.&nbsp;
They will have to replace four rotation players from last year&rsquo;s Conference Finals team with a few players who don&rsquo;t have much experience in playoff situations. Three players who should definitely see more minutes are Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet. Pritchard has played well on both ends of the floor when given an opportunity, notably shooting 40% from three-point range over his first three seasons. The Celtics rewarded him with a team-friendly extension that should see him take up about 5% of the salary cap over the next four years. Hauser has also been a stellar three-point shooter, knocking down 42% since coming into the league.&nbsp;
The frontcourt is probably the most notable weakness on the team&rsquo;s depth chart. Joe Mazzulla has expressed confidence that <a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/10/7/23907608/boston-celtics-depth-sam-hauser-luke-kornet-payton-pritchard-joe-mazzulla-blake-griffin-bus-one-boys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kornet should be successful on both ends of the floor and will be their go-to backup center to start the season.</a> The preseason will be important in determining who else (i.e. Oshae Brissett, Jordan Walsh, Svi Mykhailiuk, etc.) may stand out for Mazzulla and get an opportunity for playing time behind Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Celtics have the least amount of players on guaranteed contracts in the league (10). However, their roster for opening night is likely set unless they want to open up flexibility to sign other veteran players or buyout candidates later this season. If they choose to cut someone, it would very likely be a player on a non-guaranteed deal. Mykhailiuk and Dalano Banton each have a partial $200,000 guarantee that increases to over $1,000,000 if they make the roster. Kornet, Wenyen Gabriel and Lamar Stevens all have non-guaranteed contracts.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 19 players (10 guaranteed, 2 partially guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 1 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jrue Holiday, G/F Jaylen Brown, F Jayson Tatum, F/C Al Horford, F/C Kristaps Porzingis
Projected Rotation Players: G Derrick White, G Payton Pritchard, C Luke Kornet (non-guaranteed), F Sam Hauser, F Oshae Brissett
Projected Reserves: F Jordan Walsh, G/F Svi Mykhailiuk ($200K guaranteed), F Wenyen Gabriel (non-guaranteed), G Dalano Banton ($200K guaranteed), F Lamar Stevens (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-Way Players: C Neemias Queta, G JD Davison, G Jay Scrubb (Injured)
Projected Roster Cuts: G DJ Steward (Exhibit-10)
<h1>BROOKLYN NETS</h1>
What is Ben Simmons' role?
Ben Simmons has only played 42 games since being acquired by the Nets in February 2022, dealing with physical and psychological hurdles that have made him somewhat of an afterthought. Head coach Jacque Vaughn has expressed confidence that Simmons is now 100% healthy and ready to contribute again at a high level.&nbsp;
He seems to be penciled in as the team&rsquo;s starting point guard, starting in the Nets&rsquo; first preseason game. Though it was just a small 14-minute sample size, Simmons looked a lot like his former All-Star self. Having not played since February 15, he looked athletic, aggressive and confident before sitting out the second half.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He attacked the rim, I think he played with pace, looked pretty natural out there getting up and down the floor, communicating with guys into the flow of the game,&rdquo; Vaughn said, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/ben-simmons-passes-eye-test-in-nets-preseason-opener/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praising his $38-million man</a>. &ldquo;Really good to see.&rdquo;
Vaughn has some options when it comes to starting lineups where he could go smaller, with a backcourt of Simmons and Spencer Dinwiddie, or decide to start Dorian Finney-Smith and use Mikal Bridges as a big two-guard.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
Darius Bazley, Harry Giles and Trendon Watford are all on non-guaranteed deals and are vying for the final two roster spots. The Nets also have an open two-way spot, which I believe they could potentially use on a player like <a href="https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/mens-basketball/kennedy-chandler-starring-in-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Summer League standout</a> and former Memphis Grizzlies second-rounder Kennedy Chandler.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 18 players (13 guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 2 two-way)
Projected Starters: G/F Ben Simmons, G Spencer Dinwiddie, F Mikal Bridges, F Cameron Johnson, C Nicolas Claxton
Projected Rotation Players: F Dorian Finney-Smith, F Royce O&rsquo;Neale, G Cameron Thomas, G Dennis Smith Jr., C Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe
Projected Reserves: G/F Lonnie Walker IV, C Noah Clowney, F Dariq Whitehead, F Darius Bazley (Non-Guaranteed), C Harry Giles (Non-Guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: G Armoni Brooks, F Jalen Wilson, G Kennedy Chandler* (Projected Signing)
Projected Roster Cuts: F Trendon Watford (Non-Guaranteed)
<h1>NEW YORK KNICKS</h1>
Who will be the first option off the bench?
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has his fair share of options to headline his second unit. In his third year, Immanuel Quickley had his best season to date, finishing as the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award behind Malcolm Brogdon. Quickley was the primary scorer for the second unit, but he shouldn&rsquo;t have to carry the entire load on offense with the addition of Donte DiVincenzo.&nbsp;
DiVincenzo impressed last season with the Golden State Warriors as a reliable bench shooter and should spot minutes for Quentin Grimes and R.J. Barrett when offensive pushes are needed. Josh Hart could also be the team&rsquo;s sixth man, just like he was during the Knicks&rsquo; playoff run. After being traded from Portland, Hart averaged 30 minutes per game despite coming off the bench most of the time. It is worth noting the Knicks-Villanova connection between Hart, DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson, who should fit seamlessly together on the floor thanks to their pre-existing chemistry. While unlikely to be the first off the bench, Isaiah Hartenstein also deserves mention since he has been one of the league&rsquo;s better backup centers and could see more time if Mitchell Robinson gets in foul trouble. In terms of rotation issues, Thibodeau should see this as a good problem to have regardless of who he brings off the bench first.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Knicks have three spots up for grabs between Ryan Arcidiacono, DaQuan Jeffries, Isaiah Roby and Duane Washington Jr. All are on non-guaranteed deals that won&rsquo;t be fully guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date on January 10.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (12 guaranteed, 4 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jalen Brunson, G Quentin Grimes, G/F R.J. Barrett, F Julius Randle, C Mitchell Robinson
Projected Rotation Players: G Josh Hart, G Immanuel Quickley, G Donte DiVincenzo, C Isaiah Hartenstein, G Miles McBride
Projected Reserves: G Evan Fournier, C Jericho Sims, F Isaiah Roby (non-guaranteed), G Ryan Arcidiacono (non-guaranteed), G/F DaQuan Jeffries (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: F/C Nathan Knight, G/F Dylan Windler, F Jaylen Martin
Projected Roster Cuts: G Duane Washington Jr. (non-guaranteed), G Charlie Brown Jr. (Exhibit-10), F Jacob Toppin (Exhibit-10)
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/embiid332.jpg" alt="" width="672" height="440" />
<h1>PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h1>
Will Tyrese Maxey become more of a creator and how can that adjust the rotation?
The Sixers&rsquo; ceiling is contingent on how much Tyrese Maxey can improve this season. Maxey hasn&rsquo;t needed to be the team&rsquo;s primary distributor since James Harden joined the team, allowing him to blossom into a reliable 20-PPG scorer. Regardless of whether Harden&rsquo;s trade situation is resolved, Maxey will need to become a better creator and distributor if he wants to take his game to the next level. Prior to Harden&rsquo;s arrival, Maxey had an impressive 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio despite his small frame and risk-averse tendencies.&nbsp;
Interestingly, team president Daryl Morey has held off on giving Maxey an extension this offseason, electing to wait until next summer to pay his budding young guard. Maxey will likely demand near max-level money that could harm Philly&rsquo;s flexibility to go after star players next offseason. If he can improve his ball-handling and distribution tendencies, the Sixers&rsquo; offense should benefit tremendously, helping the offensive output of players like P.J. Tucker and Paul Reed and easing the reliance on De&rsquo;Anthony Melton and Patrick Beverley.
Roster Decisions
Two players will likely be fighting for the Sixers&rsquo; final roster spot. The team re-signed veteran Danny Green, who played for the team from 2020 to 2022, to a non-guaranteed deal. They also brought over young big Filip Petrusev, who was drafted by Philadelphia in 2021. Petrusev signed a multi-year deal that was partially guaranteed for $559,782 this season and non-guaranteed next year. Although unlikely, the 76ers could also elect to waive Montrezl Harrell despite his deal being fully guaranteed, as he should miss this season with a torn ACL.
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (14 guaranteed, 1 partially Guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Tyrese Maxey, G James Harden, F P.J. Tucker, F Tobias Harris, C Joel Embiid
Projected Rotation Players: G De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, G Patrick Beverley, F/C Paul Reed, F/G Kelly Oubre Jr., F Danuel House
Projected Reserves: C Mo Bamba, F Furkan Korkmaz, G Jaden Springer, G/F Danny Green (non-guaranteed), C Montrezl Harrell (injured)
Projected Two-way Players: G Terquavion Smith, G Ricky Council IV, F Azuolas Tubelis
Projected Roster Cuts: F/C Filip Petrusev ($559,782 guaranteed), G David Duke Jr. (Exhibit-10), G Javonte Smart (Exhibit-10)
<h1>TORONTO RAPTORS</h1>
What style does Darko Rajakovic bring to Toronto and who will benefit the most?
New coach Darko Rajakovic inherits an interesting Raptors team with plenty of talent, but they may be facing a crossroads in terms of how successful they can be as a group. Rajakovic is in his first NBA head coaching gig after three seasons as an assistant with the Grizzlies and is known around the league as a pick-and-roll guru.&nbsp;
The idea of the Raptors being a primary pick-and-roll team became less appealing when they were unable to retain Fred VanVleet in free agency, replacing him with a less reliable shooter in Dennis Schr&ouml;der. Instead, Rajakovic will likely rely on Schr&ouml;der and his newly paid center Jakob Poeltl for more ball movement and playmaking. Rajakovic compared Poeltl to Domantas Sabonis before the Raptors&rsquo; preseason win over the Sacramento Kings on October 9 and could use him in a similar role. If Poeltl can be 70% of what Sabonis was last season, it can be a huge boost to an inconsistent offense.
Roster Decisions
The Raptors have 15 players on guaranteed deals going into the season, but also carry Jeff Dowtin Jr. on a non-guaranteed deal. Dowtin played on a two-way contract with Toronto last season, appearing in 25 games. With the roster full, Dowtin is unlikely to make the regular-season roster but he has still <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/news/toronto-raptors-praise-jeff-dowtin-jr-as-roster-decisions-await" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impressed the coaching staff this preseason</a>. If any player is in danger of losing their roster spot to Dowtin, it would likely be former first-round pick Malachi Flynn. Dowtin&rsquo;s deal becomes guaranteed for $900,000 on October 21, four days before the team&rsquo;s season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. I would expect the Raptors to make a decision on Dowtin before then.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (15 guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Dennis Schr&ouml;der, F/G Scottie Barnes, F OG Anunoby, F Pascal Siakam, C Jakob Poeltl
Projected Rotation Players: G Gary Trent Jr., F Precious Achiuwa, F/C Chris Boucher, F Jalen McDaniels, G/F Gradey Dick
Projected Reserves: F Thaddeus Young, G Malachi Flynn, F Otto Porter Jr., C Christian Koloko, G/F Garrett Temple
Projected Two-way Players: G/F Ron Harper Jr., G Markquis Nowell, G Javon Freeman-Liberty
Projected Roster Cuts: G Jeff Dowtin (non-guaranteed), F Mouhamadou Gueye (Exhibit-10), C Makur Maker (Exhibit-10)
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Blake Stern previews the Atlantic Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and a burning question entering the season.

NBA Atlantic Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

Today, the NBA and Zignia announced that the NBA Mexico City Game 2023 will feature the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic playing a regular-season game at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on Thursday, Nov. 9.&nbsp; The matchup will mark the league&rsquo;s 32nd&nbsp;game in Mexico since 1992, more than any country outside the U.S. and Canada.&nbsp;
The Magic will be playing its fourth game in Mexico since 2012 and currently features 2022 No. 1 overall pick and 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, 2021-22 NBA All-Rookie First Team member Franz Wagner, and 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz.&nbsp; 
The Hawks, who will be playing their first game in Mexico, are coming off their third consecutive playoff appearance behind two-time NBA All-Star Trae Young and 2022 NBA All-Star Dejounte Murray.
&ldquo;With the Magic having been to London twice, Japan, China, Brazil and Mexico City previously, we love representing the NBA and the City of Orlando when we have the opportunity to play in these Global Games," said Magic CEO Alex Martins. "We&rsquo;ve had the opportunity to be in Mexico City before, and we know the passion of the fans and are really looking forward to bringing our team back to Mexico City to play.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It is always a privilege to showcase our team, the city of Atlanta and the NBA in the Global Games," said Hawks CEO Steve Koonin. "We had an incredible time last year starting the season in the first NBA Abu Dhabi Games and we are excited to connect with the fans in Mexico City and experience the wonderful culture there.&rdquo;
The NBA Mexico City Game 2023 will air live in Mexico on ESPN, Star+, TUDN and NBA League Pass, the league&rsquo;s premium live game subscription service available on the NBA App, reaching fans in more than 200 countries and territories&nbsp;on television, digital media and social media. In addition to the NBA Mexico City Game 2023,&nbsp;the league and its partners will conduct NBA Cares community outreach initiatives, Jr. NBA youth basketball development programming and interactive activities that will bring the NBA experience to fans in Mexico City.&nbsp;
To conclude the week-long celebration of basketball in the country, the Mexico City Capitanes will host the Osceola Magic on Friday, Nov. 10 as part of the NBA G League&rsquo;s Showcase Cup schedule.&nbsp; Additional details about the 2023-24 NBA G League season will be available at a later date.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited to welcome the Hawks and Magic to Mexico City next season and give our passionate fans the opportunity to see some of the brightest young stars in the game," said NBA Mexico Vice President and Managing Director Raul Zarraga. "There is so much momentum around basketball in Mexico, and this game and the surrounding events will serve as the ultimate celebration of the NBA for fans across the country and throughout Latin America.&rdquo;
The game and surrounding events will be supported by a roster of NBA marketing partners, including AT&amp;T, Gatorade, Hisense, Michelob ULTRA, Nike, Tissot and Wonder as well as Zignia&rsquo;s associate partners Banco Azteca and TotalPlay. Additional partners will be announced in the coming months.
Beginning today, NBA ID members interested in attending the NBA Mexico City Game 2023 can register their interest in tickets and receive access to an exclusive ticket pre-sale that will take place Aug. 14-15 by visiting <a href="http://www.nbaenmexico.nbaid.mx/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nbaenmexico.nbaid.mx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3iFCuhxfH0EJnuN_HZ5qrp">this site</a>. Tickets for the game will go on sale to Banco Azteca card holders from Aug. 16-18 and to the public on Aug. 19. Special ticket packages offering premium access, VIP experiences, hospitality and local hotel accommodations are available for purchase at <a href="https://nbaexperiences.com/nba-mexico-city-game-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nbaexperiences.com/nba-mexico-city-game-2023&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0FHra0Wvi4LYlOnDrJWkB_">here</a>.
Fans in Mexico can find more information&nbsp;about the NBA at&nbsp;<a href="http://nba.com/Mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://NBA.com/Mexico&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3RDeoUuYjsl81AvmiLZ2rK">NBA.com/Mexico</a>,&nbsp;by downloading the&nbsp;<a href="https://global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id=811567537499273278&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9UH0kAxAF91y5sfAAAA" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id%3D811567537499273278%26_branch_referrer%3DH4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9UH0kAxAF91y5sfAAAA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Lkj6NKq6NfRyPJNCju-QY">NBA App</a>, and on Facebook (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NBAMexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/NBAMexico/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3eDMVn5p5OHnPAfbI3uxxf">@nbamexico</a>), Tiktok (<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@nbamex" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tiktok.com/@nbamex&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2VI8mtyeHRh5nJmRe6D-9T">@nbamex</a>), Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/NBAMEX" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/NBAMEX&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Hjjd6eX8OFrcgbwCgk-Cv">@nbamex</a>), YouTube (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/NBAMexico/featured" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/user/NBAMexico/featured&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0aqa1qSUkw385nECaz2B2B">NBA M&eacute;xico</a>) and Instagram&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/nbamex/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.instagram.com/nbamex/?hl%3Den&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15R7OZhTHc26bKeQ6olM9s">(@nbamex</a>). Fans can also purchase official NBA merchandise online at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbatienda.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nbatienda.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690465572681000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3DwZWTfnYo9g9umEsTAacU">NBATienda.com</a>&nbsp;and at the Arena CDMX on game night.

The NBA Mexico City Game 2023 will feature the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic playing a regular-season game at the Arena CDMX.

Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic to play regular-season game in Mexico City

Entering the 2022-23 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors were determined to defend their title.
However, after a season full of ups and downs, the Warriors ultimately earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference and were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.
This has been a busy offseason for the Warriors, and the franchise will look different (on and off the court) next year. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. took over the front office after the departure of Bob Myers, and he didn't wait long to start putting his fingerprints all over the roster.
While the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will be back, the Warriors added veterans Chris Paul, Cory Joseph and Dario Saric as well as rookies Brandin Podziemski (No. 19 overall) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (No. 57 overall). Jordan Poole was dealt to the Washington Wizards (along with Ryan Rollins and Patrick Baldwin Jr.), and Donte DiVincenzo signed with the New York Knicks.
The Warriors made it clear that their top priority this summer was retaining Green, and they gave him a four-year, $100 million contract. While the Warriors could have gone younger, they instead decided to add veterans and chase their fifth championship in 10 years.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr recently opened up about what went wrong last season, taking some of the blame for the team's struggles.
&ldquo;I will say that I feel like I failed last year in connecting the group,&rdquo; Kerr told <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/07/20/steve-kerr-shares-thoughts-on-mike-dunleavy-jr-s-offseason-chris-paul-and-personal-goals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury-News</a>. &ldquo;I have taken a lot of time this summer to think about last year, things I could have and should have done differently. I really believe that sometimes losing sort of forces you to reassess and reevaluate and I&rsquo;m excited about coming back next year with a renewed focus and energy and spirit from the entire group. And that starts with me, and I can&rsquo;t wait.&rdquo;
Green punching Poole during training camp likely had a significant impact behind the scenes. Kerr's comment also lines up with a recent report from Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area that Green and Jonathan Kuminga don't have a relationship, but the Warriors hope that can be resolved.
"[Green and Kuminga not having a relationship] is a problem and it can only be fixed by Draymond," Monte Poole <a href="https://twitter.com/957thegame/status/1682129190450253825?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on 95.7 The Game</a>. "The new contract implies the Warriors believe he can fix it, but around the league there are a lot of people saying, 'I don't know.'"
Kerr also opened up about Golden State's recent additions. When asked if Paul will start (as he's done throughout his whole career), Kerr said that the decision will come later.
&ldquo;All of that will happen in training camp,&rdquo; Kerr <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/07/20/steve-kerr-shares-thoughts-on-mike-dunleavy-jr-s-offseason-chris-paul-and-personal-goals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Rubin</a>. &ldquo;Until we get everyone on the floor, we won&rsquo;t be able to assess what&rsquo;s best for our team and how everything is going to look. But I&rsquo;m very confident that it&rsquo;s going to work out. We got great guys and we got champions, great competitors. There&rsquo;s one goal next year, and that&rsquo;s to win at the highest possible level. Everything else will unfold as the season does.&rdquo;
Kerr seems excited about the additions of Joseph and Saric as well.
&ldquo;We needed guys like Saric and Cory Joseph who have been through the NBA rigors and understand what it means to be a leader from the middle of the roster and how important that is,&rdquo; Kerr <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/07/20/steve-kerr-shares-thoughts-on-mike-dunleavy-jr-s-offseason-chris-paul-and-personal-goals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Rubin</a>, later adding, &ldquo;Mike really recognized that was an area we needed help, so he went out without many resources and fortified our roster and put us in position moving forward...
&ldquo;He understands that we have a window that&rsquo;s still open. I think he&rsquo;s fortified our roster with some really good veteran players and veteran leaders and balanced out the roster to where we have a better ratio of vets to young guys.&rdquo;
The Warriors can never be counted out as contenders, and it's certainly possible that their dynastic run will continue.

Steve Kerr recently took some of the blame for the Warriors' recent struggles, saying that he failed "in connecting the group."

Steve Kerr opens up about new-look Warriors, what went wrong last year

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Bradley Beal was drafted on his 19th birthday and spent his entire 20s with the Washington Wizards, where he scored a lot of points, enjoyed a little team success, but also suffered through plenty of painful losses.
On Wednesday, he turned 30. Not a bad time for a new chapter in the three-time All-Star&rsquo;s life and basketball career.
Beal was introduced as a member of the Phoenix Suns on Thursday at the Footprint Center, more than a week&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/wizards-suns-trade-bradley-beal-55adab5fa31d5dfbc35b83223743d9c6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after he waived a no-trade clause that allowed him to be sent to the desert</a>&nbsp;in exchange for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and a package of future draft picks.
&ldquo;I feel refreshed, I feel rejuvenated,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;This is an exciting moment for me. This is an awesome team.&rdquo;
Beal is now part of one of the NBA&rsquo;s most star-packed starting lineups, including 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant, three-time All-Star Devin Booker and former No. 1 draft pick Deandre Ayton. They&rsquo;ve also got a new coach in Frank Vogel, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to a title in 2020.
&ldquo;Bradley Beal is one of the best players in the NBA,&rdquo; Vogel said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re thrilled to have him be a Phoenix Sun with KD and Book. That forms a trio of three of the most prolific scorers in the game. A great two-way center, one of the best two-way centers in the game.
&ldquo;These pieces are a great foundation for what we hope will be a championship run for this franchise.&rdquo;
Beal&rsquo;s arrival marks the latest big move for new owner Mat Ishbia, who has had an extremely eventful tenure since purchasing the franchise from the embattled Robert Sarver in February. Almost immediately after he was introduced,&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-phoenix-suns-nba-sports-basketball-3932b34f477549895cce131490bec86d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he approved the team&rsquo;s big deal to land Durant</a>&nbsp;at the trade deadline.
A few months later, he&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/nuggets-suns-jokic-ishbia-technical-a2c83b6bc613666925579917ddbaecf9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got into a brief sideline spat with Nuggets star Nikola Jokic</a>&nbsp;during a playoff game. (The&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/nikola-jokic-suns-owner-ishbia-nuggets-68825fb1632f87930fe30ec72ae5c94f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two have since made up</a>.)
Now Ishbia and general manager James Jones have swung a deal that brings Beal and his big scoring numbers across the country. The three-time All-Star has averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the past seven seasons, including a career-high 31.3 points per game during the 2020-21 season.
Beal never got past the second round of the playoffs with the Wizards, but still has plenty of fond memories of his tenure in the nation&rsquo;s capital.
&ldquo;I have a lot of emotional ties to that city, my family was established there,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;So I just want to take a moment to thank the city of D.C., thank the organization for allowing this partnership to happen.&rdquo;
But Beal also admits he&rsquo;s excited about his new challenge. The sharpshooting guard was often the Wizards&rsquo; main scoring option, but in Phoenix, he&rsquo;ll be sharing the load with several other stars.
The Suns are trying to win their first championship since coming to the NBA in 1968. They&rsquo;ve lost in the Finals three times &mdash; in 1976, 1993 and 2021.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to play with two Hall of Famers, I&rsquo;ve never done that,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited what that brings. They&rsquo;ll push me in ways I&rsquo;ve never been pushed and hopefully I&rsquo;ll do the same.&rdquo;
Beal&rsquo;s arrival also means the Suns will have to engage in some salary cap gymnastics to fill out their roster. The foursome of Durant, Beal, Booker and Ayton will make more than $160 million next season.
A summer of bargain hunting on the free agent market awaits, but that&rsquo;s a problem to worry about another day.
For now, Beal and the Suns are relishing a roster that looks like it will be among the very best in the league during the upcoming season.
&ldquo;Hopefully, we can chase this ring,&rdquo; Beal said.

On Wednesday, Bradley Beal turned 30 years old and he's ready to start the next chapter of his NBA career with the Suns.

Bradley Beal says he’s ready to ‘chase this ring’ with Phoenix Suns

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; James Harden picked up his $35.6 million contract option for next season with the Philadelphia 76ers, with the franchise exploring trades to move the veteran scorer, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.
Harden informed the 76ers of his choice Thursday ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline to pick up the option, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision was not made public.
The 33-year-old Harden could have declined the option and decided to try for free agency. The Sixers had the right to offer him a $210 million, four-year deal, $8 million more overall than any other team.
But the person who talked to the AP on anonymity Thursday said it while it wasn&rsquo;t definite Harden would be traded, the player nicknamed The Beard expressed a desire to win a championship &mdash; which he has yet to do in his career that dates to his 2009 rookie season &mdash; in Philadelphia or with another contender.
The 76ers, per league rules, could not talk contract with Harden&rsquo;s representatives before Friday and they were set to abide by the terms after they were found guilty of tampering last offseason and ultimately stripped of second-round draft picks.
The stage, though, seems set for yet another blockbuster Harden trade after he forced his way out of Houston and Brooklyn.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: 76ers G James Harden is picking up his $35.6 million option and sides are beginning to work together in exploring trade scenarios, sources tell ESPN. It&rsquo;s expected that Harden has played his last game for Philadelphia. <a href="https://t.co/GguWgysfNZ">pic.twitter.com/GguWgysfNZ</a>
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1674519780106153985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Nick Nurse, hired last month as Philadelphia&rsquo;s coach, has stumped for Harden&rsquo;s return.
&ldquo;James has a decision to make, and I&rsquo;d be very happy if he came back,&rdquo; Nurse said this month.
Sixers forward Tobias Harris, himself in a bit of a contract quandary this summer and a perfect package fit in a Harden trade, said this week he wanted Harden back on the team.
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&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not many guys that can go out and drop 40 in a playoff game. I think that goes under the radar a little bit too much,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;I think James is a phenomenal player, somebody who works his tail off, and somebody&rsquo;s who&rsquo;s an overall great leader. Of course I want him back.&rdquo;
But it appears playing as the second option behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid and chasing a championship in Philly is no longer seriously on the table.
Harden led the NBA in assists last season with 10.7 per game but it was his wildly fluctuating offense that frustrated Sixers fans and helped doom them in the Eastern Conference second-round loss to Boston.
Harden, acquired at the 2022 trade deadline from Brooklyn for Ben Simmons, scored 45 points in Game 1 and 42 in Game 4 victories against the Celtics. Harden, who turns 34 in August, and was 0 for 6 on 3s in Game 2 and Game 6 losses. He scored only nine points in Game 7, and he went scoreless in the second half.
Harden blossomed into an insolation superstar in Houston but has largely deferred to Embiid with the Sixers.
Team president Daryl Morey, who traded to bring Harden to Houston a decade ago, needs to get a big return in any deal with the Sixers in win-now mode. The Sixers have limited salary cap space, making it all but impossible to sign a quality free agent, especially one with Harden&rsquo;s pedigree.
So now they&rsquo;ll look to get assets in a deal &mdash; a common factor in Harden&rsquo;s career. If Harden is traded, per NBA rules, he would have to play under his 2023-24 contract and would not be eligible for free agency until next season.
Harden is a 10-time All-Star but essentially forced his way with trades out of Houston and Brooklyn.
The Rockets traded Harden to the Nets in January 2021 where he was expected to form a championship trio with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. When the Big 3 fizzled, Harden was sent a year later to the Sixers for the disgruntled Simmons.
Harden declined his $47.4 million player option with the 76ers for last season and instead agreed to a two-year deal that will paid him $32 million in 2022-23. It included a player option for this coming season. He opted out of an old deal ahead of last season to stay with the 76ers and made about $14.5 million less last season than he could have earned under his previous contract.
The seven-time All-NBA player is a member of the league&rsquo;s 75th anniversary team.
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James Harden picked up his $35.6 million contract option for next season, but he's working with the Sixers to find a trade.

Sixers working with James Harden to find a trade after opt-in

Victor Wembanyama has grown a little. Or not, depending on perspective.
The official height for the&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-b3449d1a5f7a7de5906bb1979ffb2a26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 1 pick in this year&rsquo;s draft</a>, the San Antonio Spurs said Wednesday, is 7 feet, 3-1/2 inches &mdash; and that was measured without shoes, per NBA guidelines.
That&rsquo;s a half-inch taller than Wembanyama said he was back in October, when he was in Las Vegas for a&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-france-7d5a981ea6cad83c13be48534adf80ba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pair of exhibition games</a>. (His official height then was 2.21 meters, he said, and he&rsquo;s now nearly 2.23 meters.) Which makes sense, given that he was 18 then, has turned 19 since and it&rsquo;s reasonable to think he might still have a bit of growing left.
He has been listed by various sites as anywhere between 7-foot-2 and 7-foot-5, in part because of how he towers over other 7-footers when photographed standing with them. The NBA listed him at 7-foot-4 in the league&rsquo;s guide for last week&rsquo;s draft, but that was not based off any official measurement.
The 7-3.5 figure puts Wembanyama on pace to be the NBA&rsquo;s second-tallest player this coming season. Officially, the NBA listed Boban Marjanovic at 7-foot-4 this past season, making him the league&rsquo;s tallest player. Kristaps Porzingis, who played for Washington and has since been traded to Boston, was listed at 7-foot-3.
Almost every player in the draft had their height measured by the NBA in recent weeks, most of them at the draft combine that was held in Chicago back in May. Wembanyama was not at the combine; his team in France still had its season going on at that time, so he couldn&rsquo;t get to Chicago to be measured.
But when&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/spurs-wembanyama-draft-nba-11b2b43bc27076ab5036769bf5d4160b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he arrived in San Antonio</a>&nbsp;this past weekend, the Spurs got the official number.
Wembanyama would have been the tallest player at the combine as well, albeit barely. Purdue&rsquo;s Zach Edey, the AP college basketball player of the year who decided to return to school, measured in at 7 feet, 3-1/4 inches, the NBA said.
The NBA changed its policy before the 2019-20 season, requiring players to be measured without shoes for their official height. That led to a number of players &ldquo;shrinking&rdquo; an inch, though a handful of players &mdash; Kevin Durant, for example, who went from being listed at 6-foot-9 to officially measuring 6-foot-10 &mdash; actually got an inch taller on paper when their measurement was updated.
WEMBY'S SUMMER SCHEDULE
Wembanyama&rsquo;s NBA summer debut is now expected to come in Las Vegas.
The Spurs announced Wednesday that Wembanyama will be with the team at the NBA Summer League that starts July 7.
Wembanyama will not accompany the Spurs when they travel later this week to Sacramento for the California Classic &mdash; the first of two summer league appearances for the club next month. The Spurs&rsquo; summer club will play games in Sacramento on July 3 and July 5 before moving on to Las Vegas for the league&rsquo;s primary summer league.
Wembanyama will meet the team in Las Vegas, the Spurs said. He&rsquo;s expected to begin practicing with the Spurs summer squad later this week in San Antonio.
The Spurs will open their Las Vegas slate of summer games on July 7 &mdash; with a matchup that night against Charlotte in a game that could see Wembanyama facing off with No. 2 draft pick Brandon Miller of the Hornets.
Wembanyama is also scheduled to make an appearance in Las Vegas on July 8 at the&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-summer-league-wembanyama-45294e70109ff5783208d5d457165f1b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural NBA Con event.</a>

Victor Wembanyama's height is no longer a mystery thanks to the San Antonio Spurs' official measurement.

Spurs reveal Victor Wembanyama’s official height: 7 feet, 3.5 inches

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic rode atop a firetruck with people who mean&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/lionelbienvenu/status/1669395480961495040" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the world to him</a>&nbsp;&mdash; his teammate Jamal Murray, his family &mdash; and the NBA trophy.
Jokic and the Denver Nuggets soaked in the moment and were soaked, too, by champagne spray on Thursday during a parade through downtown Denver to celebrate their first NBA title.
His young daughter, Ognjena, stole the show as she sat in front of him on the firetruck, at times wearing Jokic&rsquo;s championship hat. Jokic turned in some big assists, too, shielding her from champagne showers.
This celebration has been a long time in the making and swarms of fans showed up. It took 47 seasons&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-aba-nuggets-9294860355b4db51adfb86ec3bce674e">in the NBA</a>&nbsp;for the franchise&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/DenverChannel/status/1669401885998997506" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to finally make</a>&nbsp;Denver the home of the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy.
And to think, Jokic was more concerned about when he could return home to Sombor, Serbia, than attending the parade. The player known as &ldquo;Joker&rdquo; changed his tune following the festivities.
&ldquo;This is amazing,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all going to remember this our whole lives.&rdquo;
Near the end of the parade route, an officer was struck by a firetruck and suffered a serious leg injury,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/DenverPolice/status/1669443565330595845" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said</a>&nbsp;at a news conference. The officer was in serious and stable condition. Later in the day and after the parade, a shooting took place in the downtown area that injured two people. Thomas said the police didn&rsquo;t believe the incident was associated with the celebration. It follows&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-shooting-nuggets-suspect-ee4869abf1afee855565f1c517bfae1f">a mass shooting in downtown</a>&nbsp;Denver after the Nuggets clinched the title Monday night. The shooting was likely sparked by a drug deal gone wrong, according to police.
The Nuggets capped off an impressive postseason by beating the Miami Heat in the Finals in Game 5. The Nuggets finished 16-4 in the playoffs, which was tied for the second-best mark by an NBA champion since the first round was expanded to best-of-seven in 2003. San Antonio also was 16-4 in 2007, and Golden State went 16-1 in 2017.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hitting me right now,&rdquo; said coach Michael Malone, who was choking up as he was interviewed shortly after climbing off his firetruck for the parade. &ldquo;This is an amazing experience.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a crazy idea,&rdquo; added Malone, who was wearing a shirt that read &ldquo;Put this in your pipe and smoke it&rdquo; with a picture of the NBA trophy under it. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s do this again. I want to be on another float. I want to be at another parade and do this thing again.&rdquo;
This title and this parade is a tip of the cap to the team&rsquo;s ABA roots. It&rsquo;s also a tribute to all the players who ever wore the Nuggets&rsquo; iconic rainbow uniforms or any other version of the jersey.
There were so many scenes to absorb. There was rookie Christian Braun tossing his shirt into the crowd. Veteran DeAndre Jordan mingling with the fans, giving them high-fives. Murray signing a painting of himself. And Kentavious Caldwell-Pope playing the role of TV broadcaster when he interviewed teammate Aaron Gordon.
&ldquo;KCP, reporting live,&rdquo; he said, turning to Gordon on the Denver 7 broadcast. &ldquo;How does it feel to be a champion?&rdquo;
&ldquo;You would know, champ,&rdquo; Gordon responded to Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope was the lone Nuggets player to have earned a championship, courtesy of his title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
That is, until now.
&ldquo;We really did this,&rdquo; said Murray, who returned to elite form this season after missing all of 2021-22 as he recovered from a torn ACL. &ldquo;We champs for life &mdash; champions for life.&rdquo;
Twenty miles away from the party downtown, the Broncos wrapped up their offseason program Thursday in relative isolation. Veteran safety Kareem Jackson said the Nuggets&rsquo; championship inspires them.
&ldquo;Yeah, definitely seeing another team in the same city win it all, and those guys had a great year. It&rsquo;s definitely encouraging for us. We definitely want to do the same thing,&rdquo; Jackson said.
Jokic is coming off an historic playoff performance, where he became the first player to lead the league in total points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) in a single postseason. The two-time NBA MVP added more hardware to his resume, too, capturing the Finals MVP.
He had that trophy next to him, too. Jokic momentarily&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1669171648136724482" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">misplaced it Monday night in the chaos of winning</a>&nbsp;a title.
Jokic was called up to the microphone to speak and serenaded with thunderous chants of &ldquo;MVP,&rdquo; &ldquo;MVP&rdquo; from the crowd.
&ldquo;Ok, ok, ok, ok,&rdquo; he said to quiet them down. &ldquo;Thank you. Thank you, though.&rdquo;
With the season now officially closed, Jokic will soon head home to spend time with his family and return to his other passion &mdash; horse racing. He&rsquo;s hoping to make it back in time to attend a harness race on Sunday.
This is the second straight June the city has held a parade. The Colorado Avalanche were the guests of honor last year after hoisting the Stanley Cup.

The Nuggets celebrated their first NBA championship on Thursday with a parade through downtown Denver.

Nuggets celebrate NBA title with parade through downtown Denver

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Everything from the history books to the way they&rsquo;ve played through most of the postseason suggests the Denver Nuggets are on the verge of capturing their first NBA title in 47 years in the league.
The goal now for Denver is to not let up against the Miami Heat on Monday in what will be the first title-clinching opportunity in franchise history.
&ldquo;My biggest concern going into any close-out game is human nature and fighting against that,&rdquo; coach Michael Malone said Sunday after practice. &ldquo;Most teams, when you&rsquo;re up 3-1, they come up for air.&rdquo;
Malone&rsquo;s mission to keep the Nuggets thinking about hoops, not that trophy, could be helped by the fact that Miami&rsquo;s only win in this series came a week ago in Denver. Also, the Heat have won seven road games during the postseason and are 2-0 when they&rsquo;ve faced elimination &mdash; against Chicago in the play-in tournament and at Boston in Game 7 of the conference finals.
When the teams left Denver a week ago, the series was tied at 1 and Malone was grilling the Nuggets over effort after a 111-108 loss. Now that it&rsquo;s 3-1, after two double-digit wins in Miami, it&rsquo;s clear Nikola Jokic and Co., received the message.
On Sunday, the coach tapped into his own team&rsquo;s recent history &mdash; the Nuggets overcame 3-1 deficits twice to win two series in the bubble in 2020 &mdash; to emphasize that this series isn&rsquo;t over yet.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been down 3-1. We&rsquo;ve come back and won. We know anything is possible,&rdquo; Malone said.
Nobody needed to convince the Heat of that.
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Coach Erik Spoelstra called his team &ldquo;a very stubborn and defiant group.&rdquo; And when asked about the confidence the Heat players had in each other, even after putting themselves in what has historically been a near-impossible situation, Jimmy Butler said: &ldquo;At an all-time high.&rdquo;
Only one of 36 teams that have fallen behind 3-1 in the history of the finals has come back to hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy. That was the 2016 Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, who trailed Golden State 3-1 before running off three straight, including the finale in Oakland in a game that goes down as one of the best in finals history.
The 1993 Suns and 1998 Jazz were down 3-1 and both managed to win Game 5 in Chicago. In both instances, Michael Jordan and the Bulls wrapped up the series in Game 6s on the road.
Among the few hints revealed about Xs and Os during these day-before news conferences was the effectiveness of Denver&rsquo;s improving D around the 3-point line. Malone tore into his team after Miami made 17 3-pointers in Game 2, many of them unguarded after the Heat exploited confusion in the Nuggets&rsquo; switching defense.
Miami made 11 3s in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-f15a5273ea2e05117142ee65953284c2">Game 3</a>&nbsp;(when the Nuggets got triple-doubles from both Jokic and Jamal Murray) then only eight in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-b0f83f7baccd425dbf8aba440e3e210c">Game 4</a>&nbsp;(when Aaron Gordon showed off the team&rsquo;s depth by leading the team with 27 points).
&ldquo;You have to have an aggressive mindset to be an effective defensive team,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;But if you don&rsquo;t have communication and discipline to go along with that, I think you&rsquo;re going to be missing some really key components.&rdquo;
Spoelstra said Denver&rsquo;s shift in defense &mdash; having players fight through picks instead of switching on the perimeter &mdash; did, in fact, make a difference. Still, he insisted, it&rsquo;s nothing Miami hasn&rsquo;t seen a hundred times by now.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what the deal is,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;They are trying to take away certain things. We are trying to get to certain things. (It&rsquo;s about) how can you get to it and how can you get to it on your terms.&rdquo;
Spoelstra offered no clues regarding the recurring mystery in this series &mdash; whether 20-point-a-game scorer Tyler Herro might be returning from a broken hand.
&ldquo;No new update,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing another contact workout today. I probably won&rsquo;t have anything for you tomorrow morning.&rdquo;
Even with all their focus on unfinished business on the court, the Nuggets front office spent the weekend looking toward the future. ESPN reported&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37826075/sources-nuggets-get-package-picks-deal-thunder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an under-the-radar trade</a>&nbsp;involving draft picks, in which Denver gave up a protected 2029 first-rounder in exchange for one of Oklahoma City&rsquo;s first-rounders in 2024.
It was a subtle acknowledgment that the Nuggets, with Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., all signed to big contracts, are looking at adding affordable talent sooner rather than later in an effort to keep their current championship window open.
Never in their history &mdash; which dates back to the founding of the ABA in 1967, then their move to the NBA nine years after that &mdash; has anyone on the Nuggets been caught thinking about multiple titles, let alone one.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just nice to see us be a big family and understand what it takes to win,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;But yeah, it&rsquo;s been a journey, a lot of fun. We have got more work to do.&rdquo;
</div>

The Denver Nuggets are on the verge of capturing their first NBA title in 47 years in the league. They just need to win one more game.

One win away from first title, Nuggets try to avoid letdown

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Erik Spoelstra has preached about the value of adversity for months, not shying away from saying that it helped the Miami Heat get to these NBA Finals.
And now Denver is dealing with a little taste of it as well.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is Wednesday night in Miami, the series between the eighth-seeded Heat and top-seeded Nuggets is knotted at a game apiece. It got that way after Miami <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-jokic-382683d300ee31327a39bbb477b5981a">rallied to win Game 2 in Denver 111-108</a>&nbsp;on Sunday night, an outcome that prompted Nuggets coach Michael Malone to openly share frustrations &mdash; primarily over a lack of discipline on a lot of possessions.
&ldquo;We had a really good film session this morning,&rdquo; Malone said Tuesday. &ldquo;I gave an opportunity for everybody on our team to speak and talk about what they saw on the film. It was a very honest conversation. Guys owned what they needed to own. We have to learn from Game 2 to use it to our advantage.&rdquo;
In other words, Denver needs to do what Miami did coming out of Game 1.
The Heat faced significant deficits in both games in Denver &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-jokic-278674ca5c096db5880b812c7cc348dc">24 points in Game 1</a>&nbsp;and 15 points in Game 2. And while there was a comeback try in the opener, getting within nine late, the Heat managed to erase the whole deficit and then some in Game 2.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re in the finals,&rdquo; said Spoelstra, seeking his third championship as coach of the Heat. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to be dealing with great players, great teams. You have to find a way to overcome it and make it difficult and do a lot of things that are tough.&rdquo;
Wednesday&rsquo;s winner obviously gets the upper hand with a 2-1 series lead, and history will tip in that team&rsquo;s favor as well. When a finals is tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to eventually claim the title 80% of the time (32 times in 40 past instances). And 2-1 series leaders, regardless of whether they won Game 3 or not, have taken the title 79% of the time (49 times in 62 past instances).
The Heat are in the finals for the second time in four seasons, but are playing their first finals game actually at home since 2014 &mdash; the 2020 appearance was in the bubble, with no fans in the buildings for most of that experience and only a few family members for the finals.
&ldquo;No matter what, they are going to be behind you,&rdquo; Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. &ldquo;They are going to give you energy. You know, if the other team is on the run, they are going to give you a little boost. If you&rsquo;re on a run, there&rsquo;s going to be a crazy boost. The overall energy for your team and your group, it will give you a little bit of a lift &mdash; but it won&rsquo;t win you the game, because you&rsquo;ve still got to go out there and hoop.&rdquo;
Hooping at the end of games hasn&rsquo;t been an issue for Miami in this series. The Heat are outscoring Denver 66-45 in fourth quarters in this series, shooting 64% to the Nuggets&rsquo; 44% in the final period and holding a 33-9 edge in points off 3-pointers.
But the first three quarters, they&rsquo;ve trended big-time toward Denver. The Nuggets have outscored Miami 167-138 in those periods, outshooting the Heat 53% to 39%. Miami has outscored Denver 57-48 on 3s in those quarters, but that&rsquo;s nothing like the unmanageable margin the Nuggets have dealt with in final quarters.
&ldquo;Just don&rsquo;t get them wide-open looks,&rdquo; said Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic, who is averaging 34 points, 10.5 rebounds and nine assists in his first two finals games. &ldquo;Yes, we know they&rsquo;re going to score. Yes, we know they have talented players. But we cannot give them open looks, and that was the main key.&rdquo;
There wasn&rsquo;t a lot of worry coming from either side Tuesday, when the teams had to go through the obligatory public workouts as part of the NBA media off-day slate. The Nuggets were loose, smiling a lot. The Heat were doing much of the same.
Moods will change by the end of Wednesday night. One of the teams &mdash; either the big pre-finals favorite Nuggets, or the eighth-seeded, nothing-to-lose Heat &mdash; is going to be two wins away from a title.
&ldquo;When we&rsquo;re working we still like to have fun and keep it loose,&rdquo; Heat forward Kevin Love said. &ldquo;It keeps us loose out there on the court starting the game and throughout 48 minutes. But it&rsquo;s not without intention and the willingness to do whatever it takes.&rdquo;

Game 3 of the NBA Finals is Wednesday in Miami, and the series between the eighth-seeded Heat and top-seeded Nuggets is tied 1-1.

Entering Game 3 of NBA Finals, Heat are loose and Nuggets facing adversity

DENVER (AP) &mdash; All those smooth-looking, long-range jumpers Michael Porter Jr. hits have definitely been a reward for Denver.
Easy to forget just how much of a risk he was early on for the Nuggets.
They rolled the dice at No. 14 in the 2018 draft on a 6-foot-10 forward with a balky back to go with a tremendous set of skills. He&rsquo;s gone through three back procedures since college and missed basically two of his five NBA seasons, but still showed enough flashes of talent to earn a max extension.
Without taking that gamble on Porter, the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-nuggets-jokic-murray-malone-18329e13dfecae50834ebc06d409027c">Nuggets might not be</a>&nbsp;here, starting their first NBA Finals on Thursday night with a 104-93 win over Miami. He&rsquo;s become their X factor &mdash; the third part of a hard-to-contain trio that also includes Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Porter had 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Heat.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just cool looking back on the journey,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/pgraham34/status/1663249469264240640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said Porter, who</a>&nbsp;turns 25 on June 29. &ldquo;You try not to spend too much time looking back right now, just stay focused on getting this ring. But you&rsquo;ve got to take moments to just look back.&rdquo;
Rewind a few years: Porter was a senior at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle and learning from a coach who wasn&rsquo;t just a coach. This was former NBA All-Star guard Brandon Roy &mdash; someone who had been in the league and done the things Porter was hoping to do.
&ldquo;He really helped me take my game to the next level,&rdquo; Porter said.
A top recruit, he chose Missouri. It was home, with Porter growing up in Columbia. His brother, Jontay, joined him at Missouri. His dad&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://mutigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/michael-porter-sr-/927" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was added to the staff</a>&nbsp;after coaching at the University of Washington.
But his time with the Tigers was cut short by his ailing back. Two minutes into his inaugural college game, he went out. He later underwent microdiscectomy&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://mutigers.com/news/2017/11/21/mens-basketball-statements-michael-porter-jr.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">surgery to fix herniated discs</a>&nbsp;but made it back for the SEC Tournament &mdash; a loss to Georgia &mdash; and then the NCAA Tournament, where the Tigers fell to Florida State.
Despite his back issues, the Nuggets selected him in a draft that included Deandre Ayton (No. 1), Luka Doncic (No. 3) and Trae Young (No. 5).
Porter missed his first season in Denver after undergoing another back procedure. The following year, he showed what he could do in the 2020 NBA bubble when the Nuggets made it to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2020-21, he averaged 19 points in the regular season over 61 games.
Last season, though, brought another road block for Porter and his back. After nine games, he was shut down for a third surgery.
On the sideline with him was Murray, who was coming back from a torn ACL. Watching Porter work in rehab made Murray appreciate the accomplishments of Porter in these playoffs all the more.
Porter is averaging 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds through the playoffs, while also holding his own on the defensive end of the floor. He had two blocked shots against Miami.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done amazing,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Just playing a more complete game throughout the game.&rdquo;
Porter also has been dealing with serious family matters.
Earlier this year, younger brother Coban, a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://denverpioneers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coban-porter/3562" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">basketball player at the University of Denver,</a>&nbsp;was charged with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-sports-crime-coban-porter-michael-jr-ebfaffc1725e926851ff20c794b928fa">felony counts of vehicular homicide and vehicular</a>&nbsp;assault stemming from a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed a 42-year-old woman. Coban Porter has a status conference and a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Denver. Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami.
Anytime Porter needs advice or feedback on his game, he rings up his mentor Roy.
&ldquo;He definitely means the world to me,&rdquo; said Porter, who signed a five-year deal in 2021 worth up to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-denver-denver-nuggets-609d666320914d3c84632879628e8e2c">$207 million</a>. &ldquo;He was my coach in high school, so he sees kind of how my game has evolved since my injuries and things.&rdquo;
Nuggets coach Michael Malone has seen Porter&rsquo;s unabashed confidence steadily returning.
&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re not healthy and you can&rsquo;t move and do the things that you&rsquo;re accustomed to doing, that really makes it hard to go out there and be confident in your game and what you&rsquo;re able to do,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in a very good place right now.&rdquo;
And now, Porter loathes being taken out of games. He&rsquo;s known to shoot assistant coach Ryan Saunders a mean stare when a sub replaces him.
&ldquo;Like, &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t believe you&rsquo;re taking me out,&rsquo;&rdquo; Malone recounted. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s closed a lot of games for us lately because he&rsquo;s 6-10, he&rsquo;s defending well and he&rsquo;s rebounding at a high level. He&rsquo;s confident, he&rsquo;s aggressive and he&rsquo;s had a huge impact on this team.&rdquo;
Porter keeps a gratefulness journal. Just little reminders he&rsquo;s taken to heart: Stay hungry. Keep working. Never let up. Reflect.
&ldquo;To get back here and be competitive in a playoff series, man, it&rsquo;s a great feeling,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;Especially considering everything I&rsquo;ve been through.&rdquo;

Michael Porter Jr. has been incredible for Denver. It's easy to forget just how much of a risk he was early on for the Nuggets.

Colin