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Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock shares his experience of moving to Bologna, Italy, where he became an assistant coach for a professional basketball team before becoming a sports agent. Check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/my-past-life-as-a-sports-agent-going-to-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part 1</a> about how he got his start and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/my-past-life-as-a-sports-agent-the-2006-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part 2</a> about helping players prepare for the 2006 NBA Draft.
It was 2006, I was 22-years old and I was set to begin my first full-time job out of college as an assistant coach for Virtus Bologna, a professional basketball team in Bologna, Italy. Before leaving for Europe, I stayed at my parents' house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had received my travel itinerary via email, so I packed up all of my stuff, purchased a couple of Italian phrasebooks and hugged my mom. Then, my dad drove me to Chicago for my flight, and before I knew it, I was off to Italy.
After a long travel day, I made it to Bologna. I had not been given many details about my arrangements before landing. I knew that I would be an assistant coach and that the team would cover all of my expenses, but I didn't know where I would be living. I didn't even know if anyone would pick me up at the airport. I didn't have anyone's contact info from the team. To say an unknown world awaited me would be a significant understatement. I was a bit anxious.
I exited the plane and made my way to the baggage claim. I had hoped to see a driver holding a big sign with my name, but I did not see anyone like that. I collected my two massive bags that contained pretty much everything I owned at that point, took a seat and waited, hoping someone from the team was coming to pick me up. I was exhausted and grew increasingly anxious the longer I waited. I began to think, "Did I make a mistake coming here?"
Finally, a man approached me and said with a thick Italian accent, "Matt?"
I felt like I had been rescued from a deserted island.
The man pointed to a logo on his shirt that read, "Virtus Bologna." It was evident that he did not speak English. I didn't speak any Italian, so I'm sure you can imagine how everything carried on. We shook hands, and he directed me to follow him to his car, which was seemingly a team-issued van. After about a twenty-minute drive and no words exchanged, we arrived at a small hotel. A receptionist translated for us when we walked into the hotel, which was a huge relief. She explained that the team was on the road, but someone would reach out to me on the hotel phone the next day. (I didn't use my cell phone, as international roaming charges were costly at the time.)
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I was exhausted but also starving, so I asked the receptionist if any restaurants would be serving food at that hour. She directed me to a place nearby. I walked into the restaurant, and no one spoke English very well. I sat down at a table with my Italian phrasebook in hand. I ordered a pizza and a glass of red wine&mdash;I was in Italy, after all. After a long day and night, I was tired and stressed. Having been a young guy on my own in a foreign country was difficult. The language barrier was challenging, and all of the unknowns were nerve-wracking. I again questioned if I had made the right decision accepting that job. However, the waitress brought out my pizza and glass of red wine, and let me tell you, they were perhaps the best things I had ever tasted in my entire life! Subsequently, my stress subsided a bit, and although I still didn't know what to expect next, I could relax and appreciate the opportunity.
The following day, I woke up at about 3:00 AM because of jet lag. After hours of killing time, a man named Daniele Cavicchi called me on the hotel phone. He introduced himself in a thick Italian accent, saying he was the team's assistant coach (there was only one before I came). He told me they were happy to have me and that he would pick me up in a few hours. He explained that the team had the day off, but I would meet with the head coach and general manager.
When Daniele picked me up, I instantly liked him and thought he was a nice guy. Although he was older than I was, maybe in his late 20s, he was a relatively young coach. So he naturally became my "go-to guy" while I was there. Anyway, we got into his car, and we were off to the practice facility. He told me that he was from Bologna and would show me around the town. He gave me the lay of the land as we drove around, similar to a tour guide. Daniele explained that it was essentially a college town, with the university being the oldest in the world, established in 1088. He continued to explain that within Italy, a country known for its food and wine, that specific region was the best and even the home of bolognese sauce. It had been dark the night before when I arrived, so that car ride with Daniele was when I realized that Bologna was an extraordinary place, rich in culture and history. The more he described the city, and the more I saw it, the more excited I became to be there. I couldn't believe that was where I would be living. It felt like a dream come true.
When we arrived at the team's offices, my first meeting was with the team's head coach, Zare Markowski. A classy gentleman from Macedonia, he was a veteran coach that seemed to have coached nearly everywhere at some point in his career. Our initial meeting was brief as he pretty much just welcomed me. However, despite only meeting with him briefly, I found him to be a charming guy.
My second meeting was with the general manager, Piergiorgio Bottai, a businessman from "Roma." After meeting him, it was apparent from his enthusiasm that he was the main reason I was there. He outlined his vision for me and laid out the details of my arrangements during my stay. He told me I would be an assistant coach, and my primary responsibility was to develop their players individually. They also wanted me to occasionally direct the youth team's practices with a translator. He continued to tell me that they had an apartment for me in the "city centre," which also happened to be in the same building as the team's owner. I would have access to a nice restaurant, and I could eat there whenever I'd like, order whatever I'd like and always put it on the team's tab. He then explained that Mercedes-Benz sponsored the team, so players and staff members were given courtesy cars, myself included. It was apparent that the team had intended to take great care of me while I was there.
Following my meetings, Daniele brought me downstairs to give me all of the team-issued gear: a team jacket, polos, t-shirts, etc. I felt part of the team, and everyone was very welcoming.
After leaving the practice facility, Daniele and I had a great dinner at the team restaurant, and then I settled into my apartment afterward. It was "perfetto." The following day was my first day of practice, where I was set to be introduced to the team as their new assistant coach. Although it had been a hectic couple of days, and I was nearly 5,000 miles from home, I went to sleep that night with my mind at ease. Everything was "molto bene!"
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Matt Babcock discusses his stint as an assistant coach in Italy, which helped lay the groundwork for his later job as an NBA agent.

My past life as a sports agent: Bologna, Italy

Changes are coming in Minnesota.
Fresh off a 46-36 campaign and competitive first-round exit, the Timberwolves have already gone swinging. There's a new sheriff in town, with former <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nuggets-tim-connelly-to-become-wolves-president-of-basketball-ops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly joining the team</a> in a similar role. The price was huge: a five-year deal worth north of $40 million and&nbsp; &mdash; and! &mdash; equity in the organization, per The Athletic. It's a monstrous deal with the potential for more &mdash; a deal, as my Dunker Spot co-host <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a> described on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest episode</a>, that the Nuggets weren't likely to match.
There's obvious intrigue in Connelly's move to Minnesota, namely him leaving a successful division rival that currently rosters a back-to-back MVP in Nikola Jokic to do so. But the interest for me has come with the reporting around the move. Take this passage from The Athletic's <a href="https://theathletic.com/3320881/2022/05/18/timberwolves-tim-connelly-president-basketball-ops/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania</a> as negotiations were heating up between the two sides.
<blockquote>
Leaving the two-time MVP for upstart Minnesota would be a bold move. But the Timberwolves do have a pair of building blocks in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, promising young talent in Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt, a coach who is revered throughout the organization and an ownership group that appears to be motivated to invest in the organization.
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Hmm... notice anyone missing? Also, the "ownership group that appears to be motivated to invest" portion could be seen as subtle shade toward the organization that was on track to lose Masai Ujiri (killing it in Toronto since 2014) and Connelly due to being outbid.&nbsp;
And how about this one, from Krawczynski and Charania again, after the <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal was done</a>?&nbsp;
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There are reasons beyond financial for him to be optimistic about the situation in Minnesota. Connelly will be taking over a team with two stars in Towns and Edwards, promising young players in Jaden McDaniels and Vanderbilt and a top-notch coach in Chris Finch, who spent one season working with Connelly in Denver as an assistant on Malone&rsquo;s staff. D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had a strong season before struggling in the playoffs and Patrick Beverley asserted himself as a tough, veteran leader for a young group.
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Ah,&nbsp;there's&nbsp;the name. But you see why my brow is raised, right? Towns and Edwards represent the core. McDaniels and Vanderbilt are the young pieces dubbed to grow alongside them. The 26 year-old Russell &mdash; one of Towns' best friends making north of $30 million this season &mdash; went from not being mentioned at all in the lead-up piece, to essentially getting a throw-in line with Beverley in the update five days later.
Oh, it doesn't help that Jordan McLaughlin was closing out playoff games while a healthy Russell watched in Round 1. Add in the fact that Russell's future has <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/05/03/report-timberwolves-will-attempt-to-trade-dangelo-russell-this-offseason/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already been questioned</a>, and I think it's fair to assume what the big&nbsp;roster&nbsp;swing for the Wolves will be.&nbsp;
Any team acquiring him will be on the hook for over $31 million next season, though that's the only&nbsp;year left on Russell's deal.&nbsp;
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WHAT RUSSELL BRINGS
Russell remains a smooth operator. He's a proactive passer, one who's able to see and&nbsp;fire into a gap before most players know what's happening. You'll see it with his transition hit-aheads, as well as some of the reads he'll make in pick-and-roll.
And about pick-and-roll: Not many players blend pull-up shooting and high-level passing like Russell does. You can't afford to duck under against him, or drop your big back too far. He will absolutely waltz into jumpers. Once he gets hot, you're forced to press up &mdash; and that opens up even more passing windows for him.
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Russell was one of 31 players to receive at least 1,500 on-ball picks this season, per Second Spectrum. Russell-led ball screens were good for nearly 1.03 points per possession (PPP), a top-10ish mark in NBA among high volume ball-handlers.
You can thank the jumper for that &mdash; Russell converted 37% of the pull-up threes he attempted out of pick-and-roll, per InStat tracking. For comparison, that put him in line with high volume pull-up artists like Stephen Curry (38.9%) and Trae Young (37.0%).
(Also: Shout out to Darius Garland for bombing away at a 42.5% clip. That guy's getting paid.)&nbsp;
LIMITATIONS
Russell is what I'd describe as a two-level scorer. He's comfortable firing from deep, and he's able to snake and hunt shots around the elbow area with the best of them. Rim pressure is... simply not his thing. Only 16% of Russell's shots came at the rim last season, a mark that ranks in the 16th percentile per Cleaning The Glass. (Not great!)
And as someone who rarely got to the rim, Russell didn't draw many shooting fouls either. The lack of "easy points" lends to a boom-or-bust nature in Russell's game. His pull-up jumper is a legit weapon, but things kinda crater for him if it isn't falling in a way that isn't helpful for your&nbsp;lead&nbsp;ball-handler.&nbsp;
I think a truth has become (more) clear &mdash; Russell needs to be paired with a ball-dominant rim threat to get the best out of him.
That was the intrigue around Edwards taking more of a lead role in the second half of the season. In theory, Edwards ability to touch the paint on any given possession would lead to easier catch-and-shoot &mdash; or catch-and-drive &mdash; opportunities for Russell. A team trading for Russell should have a similar infrastructure in place.
Defensively, Russell found his home as a middle linebacker. Most teams rely on their primary rim-protector to call out coverages and actions. For Minnesota, that responsibility was Russell's. It was an odd dynamic, but one that worked. He was often seen and&nbsp;heard barking out instructions while he zoned up behind the action.
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I remained worried about him in more conservative defensive schemes. Russell isn't the quickest laterally. And while he's improved a bit from his rookie season (I'd hope so!), screen navigation remains an issue for him overall.
With the Wolves, Russell was blessed with the opportunity to roam off-ball (his ideal role) while having the screen navigation issues limited due to his big hedging ball-screens with him. If Russell's dumped into a drop scheme, the onus flips back on him to stay attached to ball-handlers. That could be a tricky bet.
LANDING SPOTS
Due to Russell's contract and the context needed to unlock him on both ends, it's hard to imagine 20+ teams blowing up the phones in Minnesota. There are a few teams that:
1) Make theoretical sense for Russell's game
2) Have the contracts to at least get conversations started
The New York Knicks have been searching for a calming presence at point guard for ages; at the very least, a guy that can grease the wheels of an offense with pick-and-roll play. While an in-house option is staring them in the face &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-young-knicks-playing-chess" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I'm with you, Knick fans</a> &mdash; it wouldn't shock me to see the Knicks take a flier on a talent like Russell, especially if it doesn't cost a core piece.&nbsp;
The contracts of Alec Burks, Derrick Rose, and Nerlens Noel get you in the ballpark of Russell's number. The Knicks have the Mavericks' first rounder in 2023 &mdash; a likely low 20s pick &mdash; to toss in if the Wolves don't think that's enough.
In theory, you'd have Russell playing off the rim-battering of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Maybe you get a more unlocked Randle with someone that can thread the needle on tight-window passes more consistently.&nbsp;
The Wolves would be able to bolster their depth, adding some rim pressure (Rose), movement shooting (Burks) and a big that can do work in an aggressive scheme (Noel). The Knicks losing the latter would be buffered by the retention of Mitchell Robinson and the likely growth from Jericho Sims.
Quick question: Who's the best passer for the Los Angeles Clippers? Follow-up question: How many names did you list before naming an actual guard? The combined deals of Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard get you in the door. I can hear arguments about that already being too much for L.A. I'd argue that Russell gives you more on the playmaking front, gives you more size in the backcourt and helps your defense without tapping into your wing depth. Again, there's at least a conversation to be had.
If you're looking to pair Russell with a ball-dominant rim threat, how about Luka Doncic and Dallas? At worst, Russell could serve as a buffer to Jalen Brunson signing elsewhere. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dwight Powell would give the Wolves the movement shooting, plus big-man depth combination to bolster their supporting cast. I'd argue the Mavericks may have to throw in a pick, though they're a little light on that front.
Lastly, would you rather have Russell or Cole Anthony? Actually, don't answer that.
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Nekias Duncan looks at potential landing spots for Wolves guard D'Angelo Russell this offseason.

Examining potential trade destinations for D'Angelo Russell

It is common for the players who score the most points to get the most praise. They get the credit on SportsCenter and are viewed as the stars of the night. But there is another kind of player who typically doesn't get the credit they deserve, whose importance to the team is not often illuminated.
Enter Victor Oladipo.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, Oladipo's 5 points didn't make the ESPN highlight reel or pop out in the box score. His stat line wasn&rsquo;t highlighted on the NBA TV recap.
After being bumped out of the rotation in the first half in favor of Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson, Oladipo could have pouted and had an attitude. This is something that happens at every level: a player doesn&rsquo;t play in the first half and mentally checks out. Sometimes, they are visibily disgruntled. You may be able to see it during halftime warm-ups or in his demeanor on the bench.&nbsp;
Oladipo didn&rsquo;t do any of that. He stayed locked in and was ready and prepared if his number happened to be called. Then, it happened. Jimmy Butler went down and could not return to the game in the second half. Butler has been carrying the team throughout the series; he is who the offense runs through, who the team relies on every trip down the court in some capacity. When he couldn't return due to a knee injury, Oladipo&rsquo;s number was called and he was ready.
In just 20 minutes, Oladipo had 4 steals (twice as many as the Celtics had as team for the entire game) and 8 pass deflections (one more than the Celtics). After the game, PJ Tucker raved about Oladipo's play.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s usually his offense everybody talks about,&rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;He comes in with a spark. But his lateral slides and quickness were unbelievable. I told him tonight, 'That was some of the best lateral foot speed I&rsquo;ve seen anybody have.' Jaylen Brown, when he gets going &mdash; especially right &mdash; he's tough to get back in front of. For Vic to square him up was unreal. He gave us a spark.
&ldquo;We talked about it at the half, knowing he was about to start the half and play. To not play at all and then step in and do what he did in the second half, that level of professionalism is few and far between.&rdquo;
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford tweeted: &ldquo;Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.&rdquo;
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Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.
&mdash; 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/1528214518660157440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Everything about it, it speaks to his competitive character,&rdquo; Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Oladipo. &ldquo;That was not easy. We went with a slightly different rotation because Kyle [Lowry] came back. That is going to force some changes throughout the rotation, so he didn&rsquo;t play in the first half. We&rsquo;ve had so many guys that have had to take on different roles and sacrifice. We say it&rsquo;s always easy to sacrifice when you&rsquo;re not the one doing it, and he&rsquo;s had to sacrifice many times. That wasn&rsquo;t easy. That wasn&rsquo;t necessarily the way we were going to go the first half. Just things were going really well. We just kept going with that. Then, all of a sudden, boom: Jimmy is not going to go in the second half.
"For him to be stable enough and not be frustrated and not be rolling his eyes and like, 'Oh, okay, now I get an opportunity.... he&rsquo;s just steady. Stays the course. He&rsquo;s made himself available, made himself vulnerable through this whole process. He&rsquo;s prepared behind the scenes. His minutes in the second half were so important defensively against their two studs (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown), and then offensively, he just gave us a facsimile of a lot of the stuff we do with Jimmy. And I mean that as the ultimate compliment.&rdquo;
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This isn&rsquo;t the first time during these playoffs that Oladipo has had to be ready to jump right in and be a determining factor when his number was called. Oladipo was actually outside of Miami's rotation in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. However, he ended up being one of the key reasons for the Heat's 97-94 win in Game 5, which could have easily gone in the Hawks favor. Oladipo poured in 23 points, 3 assists and 3 steals, while shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from three. After that game, his play was featured in ESPN's highlight reel and his stat line jumped out when looking at the box score.
But again, if he hadn't been ready when his number was called, none of that would have been possible. Time and time again, Oladipo has shown that when given the opportunity, he can produce at a high level and be a game-changing player. Any questions about his past injuries (including a ruptured right quadricep tendon) should be laid to rest as he's proven that he's back in terms of his lateral movement, athleticism, ability to create his own shot, outside shooting and transition defense.
&ldquo;Signing Victor Oladipo [to a veteran-minimum deal] was one of the biggest steals in NBA history for the Miami Heat," said Daniel Abraham, Oladipo&rsquo;s former AAU coach. "To get a former All-Star and All-Defensive Team player still near his prime like that for very little and be able to wait patiently for him to get healthy is the type of move that will likely land them in the NBA Finals! And if you know Vic like I do, you know the level of the dedication and work ethic he has always had, so none of this would surprise you.&ldquo;
Many in the NBA world were ready to write him off into irrelevance after he re-injured his leg in 2020 and got traded twice. In January 2021, Oladipo was traded to the Houston Rockets in the four-team blockbuster deal that also sent James Harden to Brooklyn and Caris LeVert to Indiana. Two months later, the Rockets sent Oladipo to Miami for a first-round pick swap, Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk.
But with all that behind him, Oladipo is proving all of his doubters wrong. He is far from finished and he has proven that he's still capable of being an impact player and a X-Factor for his team &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s by solely playing defense on one of the best scorers in the league or stepping in and being one of the game's high scorers himself. Regardless of his role, Oladipo will have the right attitude and energy, even if those opportunities don&rsquo;t present themselves each and every game.
This is the type of player whom any organization would want on their team, and Oladipo should receive plenty of interest from teams when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer.
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Regardless of what the box score showed, Victor Oladipo played a crucial role in the Heat's Game 3 win over the Celtics.

Victor Oladipo staying ready and making the most of every opportunity

With March Madness behind us and the NBA Draft lottery odds set, we're now into the next phase of the scouting season.
BasketballNews.com Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock transitioned our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board into <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our first NBA Mock Draft of the year</a>. As teams, scouts and analysts gather intel, this mock serves as an early peek into what draft night could look like in June.
Babcock discussed his latest projections, some early storylines to monitor in the spring, prospects who shined in the NCAA Tournament, and more in the following Q&amp;A.
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What makes Jabari Smith the pick for the Rockets at No. 1?
The Houston Rockets only won 20 games this season, but it's not all doom and gloom. They're in rebuild mode, and they've already gotten a good group of young players together. In last year's NBA Draft, they selected Jalen Green with the second pick, and it looks as if he could emerge into a primetime scorer who they can build around. 
They also drafted Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher,&nbsp; selected KJ Martin with a late second-round pick the year before, and added Kevin Porter Jr. via trade. All of the players mentioned above are younger than 21 years old. They've struggled to win games up to this point, but they have a young nucleus to work with as they look to build for the future.
Regarding this year's draft, it's pretty close among the top prospects, and it seems as if everyone has their unique argument as to who are the top prospects and why &mdash; which I appreciate, as I think there usually tends to be too much groupthink in the draft space. Anyway, Jabari Smith Jr. is my No. 1 guy, and he has been for a while now. At 6-foot-10, Smith is an absolute sniper from the perimeter as a stretch four, and with time I think he will also prove that he has much more in his bag as a scorer. 
On the defensive end, Smith has a chance to be special. He's about as switchable as it gets, and he's tough. His versatility on both ends of the ball will provide a lot of lineup flexibility to whatever team selects him. In addition to possessing perhaps the most upside of any player projected to be in the 2022 NBA Draft, he can essentially co-exist with just about any group of players. Therefore, I believe that Jabari Smith Jr. would be the right pick for the Rockets if they indeed win the NBA Draft Lottery.&nbsp;
Which teams could shake up the draft selections if lottery luck lands them in the top-3?
My first tier includes Jabari Smith Jr., Jaden Ivey, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero this year. Of that group, Jaden Ivey is the only guard. Due to his style of play, I'm not sure he's a great fit with several teams potentially selecting towards the top, including Houston, Orlando, Indiana and San Antonio -- they're all pretty guard-heavy at the moment. If any combination of these teams lands in the top-3, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ivey sliding back a touch. 
Another thing worth noting is that I'm also not sure Paolo Banchero would fit well with teams like New York or New Orleans. On the flip side, Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren fit in pretty seamlessly with most teams. I think these are a few elements that could potentially dictate how the first few picks unfold.
What inspired Mark Williams' rapid rise to the No. 12 overall pick?
I'll admit the 12th pick is on the high side for Mark Williams, but I like the fit, and I don't think it's too much of a stretch. Williams had a terrific season at Duke this year, and he's continued to grow on me. His performance versus Gonzaga in Las Vegas in November was one of the best showings I saw in-person all season. I think he has a chance to develop into becoming a solid starting center as a rim running and rim-protecting 5-man. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a long and productive NBA career. 
In our most recent simulated mock draft, Oklahoma City selected Paolo Banchero with the fourth pick and Mark Williams with the 12th pick, coincidentally Duke's frontcourt this past season. The Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander locked up on a long-term deal and Sam Presti's lottery selection last year, Josh Giddey, looks like a star in the making. So it seems their backcourt of the future is solid. Adding Bancero and Williams would bolster their frontcourt, giving OKC's roster shape moving forward.
Which other prospects benefited most from their March Madness performances?
He was already rated super high, but I think Paolo Banchero finished strong. Ochai Agbaji was terrific versus Villanova in Kansas' Final Four game. Benedict Mathurin had a couple of outstanding games in the tournament, and Kennedy Chandler was good for Tennessee. I think all of those players helped themselves in March.
What is one of your favorite later-round team-player fits?
A few picks in the second round that stand out are David Roddy from Colorado State to the Pacers, Jake LaRavia from Wake Forest to the Hawks, and Colin Gillespie from Villanova to the Pelicans. None of those players necessarily blow me away with their talent or tools, but I think all three could become excellent complementary players.
What makes G League Ignite prospects Dyson Daniels, MarJon Beauchamp and Jaden Hardy worthy of first-round status?
They're all very different players from one another, but they're all talented in their own right. Daniels and Beauchamp showed well this season and have moved up the ranks. Hardy came into the season projected to be a high pick and the highest of this group, but he didn't do quite as well as most people had hoped, myself included.&nbsp;
Daniels has terrific size and versatility on both ends of the ball, Beauchamp is very athletic, plays with a great pace, and makes a lot happen. Hardy might have struggled a bit this season, however, he still has a lot of raw talent as a scorer and shot-maker with deep range. I expect all three to be selected in the first round.
While many of us were focused on March Madness, have any draft-eligible international players made waves recently?
Ousmane Dieng, a player from France currently playing for the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian League, is the player that comes to mind in regards to someone who has been making waves recently on the international scene. Dieng has terrific size for an on-ball playmaker, and I think he possesses a lot of upside as a versatile point forward. He has a good chance of becoming a first-round pick.
After the success of last year's first Tampa Bay Pro Combine, what should we expect from the event this spring?
It's been great to see some of our guys who participated in the Tampa Bay Pro Combine last year find success quickly in their careers. I mean, Terry Taylor and Brandon Williams signed NBA contracts, but they also played significant minutes for their teams. Jordan Goodwin and Micah Potter had opportunities with NBA teams too. It was incredible to see!&nbsp;
We've changed the format this year. First, we cut the number of invited players from nearly 50 to 24 this year. Instead of just playing five-on-five games all week, we decided to host simulated NBA pre-draft workouts the first two days, where we'll have six players on the court at a time and 12 per day. The main reason for this change was to comply with NBA guidelines so that NBA scouts could attend. Anyway, we have another great group of guys set to fly out and compete. It should be a great week!
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Ethan Fuller checks in with Matt Babcock after the unveiling of his first 2022 NBA Mock Draft.

2022 NBA Draft: Q&A with Matt Babcock on first mock, notable risers

Alex Caruso was <a href="https://youtu.be/H7E8OXQI4Ak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">so good as a defender at Texas A&amp;M</a> that he made it to the NBA despite never averaging 10 points per game... as a college guard!
In this day and age, where it&rsquo;s commonplace for Caruso&rsquo;s positional peers to be 20-point-per-game threats on a nightly basis, the 6-foot-5 Aggies alum found the NBA pipeline the long and unsexy way.
We &mdash; the societal we &mdash; haven&rsquo;t figured out how to measure defense through analytics in a way that unquestionably captures one&rsquo;s effectiveness, especially regarding guards. We&rsquo;re in a better place today than when Caruso was in college, but we still struggle to do so. This is why watching basketball is essential. (And sure, the eyes can sometimes lie depending on the beholder too.)
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But when he balled at A&amp;M between 2012 and 2016 as a four-year starter, he was never a go-to offensive option. Caruso was a two-time All-SEC defender and an astute floor general with a suspect hairline (it's coming for us all, man), coach-like leadership and the classic &ldquo;sneaky athleticism&rdquo; tag we bestow on our tall, white homies
Caruso averaged 8.0 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.0 steals during his time at College Station, sporting .455/.340/.685 shooting splits and a Defensive Rating of 93.4 with 8.6 Defensive Win Shares and a 6.1 Defensive Box Plus-Minus.
Offensively, as a senior, Caruso was the fourth option on a Sweet-16-bound Aggies team (once ranked No. 5 in the country), behind future NBA talents like Danuel House Jr., Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis.
(And yet, he helped engineer one of the nuttiest March Madness comebacks you&rsquo;ll ever see.)
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Caruso went undrafted and was one of the 64 college seniors to participate in the 2016 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which also hosted Bryn Forbes, Dorian Finney-Smith and Abdel Nader among others. An entire season passed before Caruso could make his NBA debut in the 2017-18 campaign, and it wasn&rsquo;t until 2019-20 that he established himself as an NBA rotation guy for a full run.
Caruso played 106 G League games between 2016 and 2019, which included All-G-League Second Team and All-G-League Defensive honors.
So, in the Chicago Bulls' 114-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2, it served as no surprise that Caruso was instrumental in a much-needed victory. The win evened the series at one game apiece, taking advantage of a night where Khris Middleton sprained his MCL and Bobby Portis left with an eye abrasion (hold your jokes). Even still, the Bucks fought back despite being down double-figures for the bulk of the second half, and, without Caruso, this would be a 2-0 series in favor of Milwaukee.
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The Bulls led 87-80 heading into the fourth, and if you pull up a box score, you&rsquo;ll see that Caruso finished shooting 1 of 3 (all threes) with 2 assists and 2 rebounds in over 10 minutes of play in the final period.
If you look at his 38-minute stat line for the night, Caruso had 9 points, 10 assists, 2 steals, 2 boards and 2 blocks, while shooting 3 of 7 from deep (3 of 8 overall). His plus-minus? A game-high plus-16. Like all other metrics, it's an imperfect measurement, but in this instance, it made total sense if you watched.
The dude isn&rsquo;t an All-Star, isn&rsquo;t flashy and doesn&rsquo;t produce gaudy numbers &mdash; which causes people to easily overlook certain players in this age of highlights, fantasy, gambling and "hoooooperzzz!" &mdash; but Caruso is a straight dawg who makes winning plays.
Let&rsquo;s focus on some.
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0:24 &mdash; It's a two-man defense with Patrick Williams against Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo orchestrating a screen-and-roll. Caruso pests Middleton until sending him over for the switch and cuts off the errant pass despite being knocked off balance due to the screen. It&rsquo;s a break and easy two the other way. This is like when, in football, you &mdash; a defensive back &mdash; lose sight of the ball on a go-route and just throw your hands up, so the receiver needs to work extra hard to secure the catch. It doesn&rsquo;t always work, but for Caruso, this time, it did. Activity, activity, activity.
1:17 &mdash; Caruso is matched up with Jrue Holiday at around 16 feet out, near the right wing. Holiday tries to face up, and as he does, he&rsquo;s attempting to read the floor and eye the rim while contemplating his move. Caruso&rsquo;s in the dude&rsquo;s grill the whole time and shoves his right palm as close to Holiday&rsquo;s face as possible without drawing contact, but keeps his left hand active and swipes once Holiday allows an opening for the ball to be stolen. Caruso never stopped being attentive, and wasn&rsquo;t even trying to steal the ball the entire time; he just capitalized on an opening as a smart perimeter defender would.
1:59 &mdash; You just love this. Caruso takes the challenge of a taller, bigger Middleton, who tries to impose his will on an attack. Caruso gets backed down, but &mdash; and this is the key &mdash; is not watching the ball. (I could totally rant right now about how too many players are watching the ball or their opponents eyes on defense, and how it's is an easy way to constantly lose someone due to being easily susceptable to fakes. But I won&rsquo;t get into why keeping your eyes on someone&rsquo;s chest/waste is better. Not today!) Anyway, Caruso perfectly times Middleton&rsquo;s spin and cleanly strips the ball loose. Some coaches might say you&rsquo;re better off swiping up than down to lessen your chances of fouling, but it worked here. He even finished the play once Middleton recovered and forced the pass.
2:31 &mdash; Look at this help block on Brook Lopez. Need I say more?
3:04 &mdash; And finally, we have the game-sealing play. The Bulls are up 114-109 with 10 seconds left, and the Bucks are desperate. Caruso tries to better position himself to outrebound Giannis, but doesn&rsquo;t &mdash; understandably. Still, as Giannis grabs the offensive board, Caruso holds the matchup and immediately tries smothering him. Giannis makes the mistake of pushing his arms/elbows forward, and Caruso drops down to smartly draw the charge, knowing he wouldn&rsquo;t get the block and would risk fouling if he went for the steal. Game over.
Here&rsquo;s a Caruso double-team, for good measure, courtesy of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot's Steve Jones Jr.</a>
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Caruso causing havoc, great timing on the double here. The shift to throwing bodies at not just Giannis but Jrue/Middleton is key. Bucks can&rsquo;t find a rhythm in 1/2 court. <a href="https://t.co/585MRAXZe6">pic.twitter.com/585MRAXZe6</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1517158473368276992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s a reason why Los Angeles Laker fans probably miss Caruso horribly right now. Watching him help lead the Bulls in a road win over the defending champs, while their team presumably is doing the same, can't be easy.
You need winning plays in winning time, and Alex Caruso gives you those.
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Bryan Fonseca examines Alex Caruso's huge contribution to the Bulls' Game 2 win in Milwaukee and why it shouldn't surprise us.

Winning plays in winning time: This is who Alex Caruso has always been

The Utah Jazz didn't have a good time on Monday night.&nbsp;
Things turned late in Game 2, with the Dallas Mavericks notching a win behind a 33-23 fourth quarter. The Mavericks posted a 157.1 Offensive Rating in the quarter &mdash; yes, you read that right &mdash; and a slightly-worse-but-still-absurd 144.4 ORTG during clutch time
That's a 12-minute and 5-minute sample size respectively, but the number matched the eye. It was a bit perplexing to watch the Luka-less Mavs carve up the Jazz to this degree. The breakdowns were constant, and the Mavs shot well enough to slam the door shut.&nbsp;
And it's not like this was a back-and-forth affair down the stretch; Utah's offense pretty much died (85.7 ORTG during clutch time) behind a bunch of one-pass, one-shot possessions. It was pretty bad, y'all.
In light of #discourse starting about Utah's problems on both ends, I'm here to state the obvious.
It's everyone's fault right now.
There is not a single player responsible for Utah's woes on either end. It's not just one side of the ball. There's plenty to be cleaned up; the last four-ish minutes of Game 2 is all the proof you need.&nbsp;
Let's take a look at the film in the fourth quarter.
4:30 REMAINING: THE PAIN OF REJECTION
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You have to give Jalen Brunson credit for doing his homework early. Brunson spinning away from Danuel House Jr. as he attempts to face-guard him sets everything in motion. After receiving the pass from Maxi Kleber, Brunson rejects the screen and drives left.
Rudy Gobert drops down to pick up the drive, though House is still trying to get reattached to Brunson. A late switch would've been a better in-the-moment read from House, but the scheme is the scheme. If they're in ICE coverage, Gobert is tasked with containing until House can get back.
(It is worth noting, though, that Gobert lets House&nbsp;have it after the basket. I'd assume he was upset with him getting burned on the reject and not executing a switch after getting burned.)
Beyond those two, the rotation from Bojan Bogdanovic stands out. Brunson has drawn two defenders &mdash; why the heck is he so late rotating over to Kleber?
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Bogdanovic stares the sucker down, but doesn't start moving towards Brunson until the pass is halfway there. It would be one thing if he was hugged up with Reggie Bullock; he had the Dorian Finney-Smith matchup.&nbsp;
4:10 REMAINING: FORCING THE ISSUE&nbsp;
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One screen, one shot. Donovan Mitchell receives a screen from Royce O'Neale to draw the Spencer Dinwiddie matchup. He gains a little leverage on the spin, but Dinwiddie recovers and challenges the shot well. There was a little bit of contact, but it's telling that Mitchell got right up and retreated on defense instead of arguing about a missed call.
4:00 REMAINING: POOR CONTAINMENT
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Whew, Donovan.
Mitchell sought Dinwiddie on one end, and Dinwiddie returned the favor (with no screen) on the other. Mitchell gets dusted, prompting Gobert to help down from the weak-side corner. That's objectively a fine decision &mdash; one that wouldn't be needed if Mitchell held up, but a fine decision nonetheless.
The issue, again, is Bogdanovic losing the plot as a helper.
He has Bullock this time, but is tasked with splitting the difference (zoning up between two players) after Gobert drops down. I won't call it gospel, but I'd say it's pretty common for the zoning defender to take away the corner pass first.
Dinwiddie deserves credit for both knowing that and using that knowledge to his advantage. He freezes Bogdanovic with his eyes, staring down Bullock before making the kick to Kleber.&nbsp;
3:18 REMAINING: MITCHELL BEAT AGAIN
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Following a tough turnaround jumper from Bogdanovic to pull things within two (a one-pass possession), Dinwiddie calls for a screen to draw the Mitchell matchup again. Dinwiddie wins the battle with a spin and finish, fading to his right.&nbsp;
2:35 REMAINING: STRONG-SIDE HELP
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After Bogdanovic gets another&nbsp;tough turnaround jumper to go, the Jazz find themselves pressing. House picks up Brunson full-court, but he's quickly erased by a screen from Bullock.
Mitchell has to pick up Brunson and... well, he gets beat off the bounce again. Gobert then helps down from the strong-side corner &mdash; generally a no-no on defense &mdash; and leaves Finney-Smith open in the process.
If help was going to come, it would've needed to come from O'Neale (what kind of dig was that???) or Bogdanovic. Neither did anything of substance in the possession.
2:15 REMAINING: HUNTING DINWIDDIE
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Mitchell once again calls for a screen to bring Dinwiddie into the action. The Mavs give up the switch, but then spring a double on Mitchell to force the ball out of his hands&nbsp;and&nbsp;scram Dinwiddie out of the matchup.&nbsp;
Mitchell promptly swings it to Bogdanovic, who calls for a screen in an attempt to attack Dinwiddie. The attack fails, so Bogdanovic flips it back to Mitchell. He tries attacking Finney-Smith off the bounce, and it goes about how you would expect.
Towards the end of the drive, you'll notice Gobert exchanging sides. He ends up sealing off Brunson, but there's no real angle for a pass with Kleber sitting in the paint. There was also a potential outlet pass to a drifting Bogdanovic if Mitchell didn't like what he saw &mdash; though that would've put Bogdanovic in a tough spot to create late in the clock.
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You'd think Gobert would either try to gain inside positioning on Kleber, or set a pin-in screen on Brunson to potentially set up a kick to the corner. But that effectively seals the game, because we got another one-pass possession&nbsp;after the dead ball.&nbsp;
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It's a pretty decent action to spring Bogdanovic free, but Finney-Smith helps off of Mitchell on the catch. There was 6 seconds on the shot clock when the jumper was fired, so there was technically room to kick the ball out for Mitchell for a better shot. That's probably too much Monday morning quarterbacking to tap into though.&nbsp;
The larger point is that the Jazz shouldn't have been that late in the clock to begin with.&nbsp;
Zooming out, the Jazz did a poor job of forcing the Mavericks into tough positions. On the other end, the Jazz once again failed to contain the ball, which not only forced help, but also exposed how shoddy their rotations behind the help can be.
We got Bad Mitchell, Bad Gobert, Bad Bogdanovic. Bad House. Mike Conley is probably the only guy who didn't make a mistake, but his presence wasn't felt near the end of the game either.
The series is shifting to Utah now, but the return of Luka Doncic looms pretty large. The Jazz better get it together, or the blame game is quickly going to shift into (even more) trade talk.
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There is not a single player responsible for Utah's woes on either end. Instead, everyone is to blame, writes Nekias Duncan

It's everybody's fault: Dissecting the Jazz's woeful end to Game 2

Jimmy Butler was never a shooter in the way Hassan Whiteside referred to him when the Miami Heat struck a deal to land the All-Star swingman in a sign-and-trade back in July 2019.
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Hassan Whiteside extremely happy with trade news. &ldquo;We got shooters... We got shooters. We got shooters. Let&rsquo;s go!&rdquo; (via <a href="https://twitter.com/youngwhiteside?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@youngwhiteside</a> Instagram) <a href="https://t.co/eeV8Cq0JZm">pic.twitter.com/eeV8Cq0JZm</a>
&mdash; Andy Slater (@AndySlater) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndySlater/status/1145736818475843585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2019</a></blockquote>

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That summer saw Butler touch down in Miami via Philadelphia in a wide-ranging, four-team deal. (Whiteside didn't stick around for the party and was sent away to Portland). Since then, while Butler has risen to elite player consideration, his three-point shot has worsened.
(Some cite it as a knock, but I would say his productivity in Miami in spite of that is a testament to how good he actually is as a two-way player, so let's proceed.)
On exactly 2.0 threes per game, Butler&rsquo;s shot 24.2% through 166 regular-season games with the Heat since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. With the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, his three-point percentage hovered between 33.7% and 35.5% wth each franchise.
And since becoming an everyday starter in the 2013-14 season &mdash; when he first attempted at least 2.0 threes per contest &mdash; the only other time he&rsquo;s shot worse than 31% from deep was that same year, where he hit just 28.3% of his triples. The jump to 37.8% from distance in 2014-15 was a significant reason why he won Most Improved Player thereafter. (We&rsquo;ll get to the playoffs momentarily.)
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This season, Butler had been reaching career-lows until recently. Before his sixth All-Star game appearance, he had been shooting 19.2% from three on 2.0 attempts per game. One especially bad stretch saw Butler go 1-of-17 (5.9%) between Feb. 1 and the All-Star Break.
(It should also be known that the Heat swingman was still putting up 20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while hitting 95.1% of his 7.6 free throws per game and playing All-NBA-level defense, as Miami went 6-2 in mostly road games.)
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But since the All-Star Break, we&rsquo;ve seen Butler add a relatively reliable three-pointer, the best we&rsquo;ve seen from him beyond the arc since the Heat&rsquo;s run to the 2020 NBA Finals. Since the break, Butler&rsquo;s hitting 33.3% of his shots from deep. It's slightly below league average and his own career average, but respectable enough given that he&rsquo;s never needed to be a knockdown shooter to replicate elite two-way production.
Narrowing it down to March 5 and on &mdash; a 12-game sample size &mdash; Butler's made 11-of-30 threes, or 36.7%. In his last seven games? He&rsquo;s hit 10-of-21 (45.5%), including four games of hitting at least two made threes while never attempting more than five such shots, so he&rsquo;s being responsible.
Amid all this, Butler has still been hovering around his whole-season averages of 21.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 48.0% from the field and a career-best 87.1% on 7.9 free throws per contest. You also need to account for his consistent All-Defensive-Team-worthy display on the other end.
He&rsquo;s even wearing a shooting sleeve!
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Jimmy Butler is 8 of 12 on catch and shoot threes over the last two weeks Power of the shooting sleeve <a href="https://t.co/upcq3Dcqxe">pic.twitter.com/upcq3Dcqxe</a>
&mdash; Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1511734982531817473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The last stretch of success like this for Butler came at the Bubble. The entire 2020 playoffs saw Butler hit 34.9% of his threes, nailing 15-of-43 long-range attempts. In Miami's four-game sweep over the Indiana Pacers, a five-game gentleman's sweep over the Milwaukee Bucks and the Eastern Conference opener against the Boston Celtics &mdash; a 10-game sample size &mdash; Butler enjoyed a 10-of-19 stretch from three (52.4%) before he missed his next nine triples in the series. (By the way, Butler went 4-of-13 in the NBA Finals for a 30.8% clip, in case you&rsquo;re wondering).
Next, let&rsquo;s go to the 2018-19 season, the year Butler was famously dealt from Minnesota to Philadelphia. In the 13 games before the trade, Butler hit 37.8% of his threes, including downtown displays of 6-of-7 and 5-of-8 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and 4-of-7 against the Toronto Raptors.
He also had a strong three-point shooting start in Philly; from his Sixers debut on Nov. 14 and Jan. 17 &mdash; a 27-game sample size &mdash; Butler hit 40.3% of his 2.9 perimeter attempts per contest. He then went 1-of-6 in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 19, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/sources-jimmy-butlers-wrist-injury-confirmed-sprain-hell-miss-saturday-nights-game-190124252.html">and subsequently missed three games with a sprained wrist</a>. After returning from the wrist injury on Jan. 29, Butler hit only 27.7% of his triple tries on 2.4 attempts per contest. It&rsquo;s worth noting that in the first three games upon that January return, he went 1-of-2, 0-of-6 and 4-of-8, respectively.
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In the 2019 postseason &mdash; despite Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2019-nba-eastern-conference-semifinals-76ers-vs-raptors.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all flopping in the famous Raptors series that came down to a bounce</a> &mdash; Butler dragged the Sixers to a Game 7 in the East semifinals. In the playoffs, he averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists, and produced a 22.0/7.0/5.6 line against the Raptors in particular; and still, Butler shot just 26.7% from distance across both series &mdash; closer to his Miami numbers.
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Butler is actually a career 34.6% three-point shooter from deep across 80 playoff games. He was at 37.3% in his first 43 postseason contests, all of which preceded his time with both the Sixers and Heat.
Generally, since becoming an All-Star in 2013-14, he&rsquo;s been a quality playoff performer outside of a first-round series with the Wolves vs. the Houston Rockets in 2017-18 (though he had just returned from meniscus surgery, and at the time he injured his knee, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/we-should-give-dangelo-russell-more-credit">the Wolves were fourth in the Western Conference</a>).
And then, last season, all final four teams left from the Bubble &mdash; the Heat, Lakers, Celtics and Denver Nuggets &mdash; all flamed out in the playoffs. (Maybe having only seven weeks between the NBA Finals and training camp, or nine in the case of the Celtics and Nuggets, had something to do with it.)
So should Butler need to be Allan Houston, Jason Kapono, Anthony Morrow or, hell, Duncan Robinson or Tyler Herro from three? Nah. But if he&rsquo;s making, say, 30-to-33%, it&rsquo;s a potential game-changer for the Heat amid this championship chase.
Lately, what the Heat have been doing since... <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-miami-heats-blow-up-was-necessary-but-now-the-rest-is-up-to-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that whole thing</a>... is not simply starting Max Strus over Robinson, but subbing off Butler for Herro first, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fJQ59g3xrk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">then bringing in Butler for PJ Tucker at the 4 around other shooters in the lineup</a>. Butler will, by default, be given the chance to shoot since he&rsquo;s sharing court time with guys like Herro, Robinson, Kyle Lowry, Strus or Gabe Vincent in this instance &mdash; often three of them at a time.
Teams will live with Butler&rsquo;s threes, but if he makes them pay enough to where they have to think about guarding him a half-step closer, that slight of a threat will provide lanes to find teammates open for corner threes via drive-and-kicks. It could also open things up for Butler himself as a driver who provides rim pressure, and can do so with more space. In addition, it helps Bam Adebayo, who theoretically would have more room to operate around the rim &mdash; as a screen-and-roller, in the mid-range area, as an off-ball screener, or as whatever you want (except a three-point shooter; one day, maybe).
Butler's ability to drill threes is a good tool to have. It's not one you should need to rely on, but a sneaky weapon that could spark other productive offensive actions to defensive reactions as a result, so long as the threat of him actually hitting one or two is legitimately there.
And lately, it has been.
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Bryan Fonseca reviews Jimmy Butler's recent improvement from beyond the arc and looks at his history as a three-point shooter.

Jimmy Butler’s deep shooting has always been a luxury, not a necessity

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each scored 29 points and the Milwaukee Bucks edged the short-handed Boston Celtics 127-121 on Thursday night to take over second place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Bucks (50-30) scored the game&rsquo;s final nine points to move a half-game ahead of the Celtics (50-31) and a full game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (49-31), who lost 119-114 at Toronto on Thursday.
Milwaukee withstood a triple-double from Jaylen Brown, who had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the Celtics. Brown&rsquo;s 11 assists matched his career high.
Marcus Smart shot 7 of 12 from 3-point range and was the Celtics&rsquo; leading scorer with a season-high 29 points. Daniel Theis had 22 points and Derrick White added 19 for the Celtics.
Khris Middleton had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo had 11 rebounds and five assists. Holiday had eight rebounds and eight assists.
One night after a 117-94 victory at Chicago, the Celtics held Jayson Tatum and Al Horford out of Thursday&rsquo;s game. They also continued to play without Robert Williams III, who hasn&rsquo;t played since March 27 due to a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The Celtics still almost won on the road.
Smart put Boston ahead 119-118 on a 3-pointer with 4:25 left and added a driving layup nearly two minutes later to make it 121-118.
Milwaukee&rsquo;s Bobby Portis tied it by sinking a 3-pointer with 2:11 remaining.
The Bucks took the lead for good when Antetokounmpo made the second of two free throws with 1:31 left. After White missed a 3-pointer, Holiday converted a putback of his own miss to make it 124-121 with a minute remaining.
After Theis couldn&rsquo;t score from right under the basket, Antetokounmpo made one of two free throws to extend Milwaukee&rsquo;s lead to 125-121 with 39 seconds left.
HILL'S NECK PROBLEM
Bucks guard George Hill offered more clarity Thursday on the neck injury that caused him to miss 17 games before he returned to action March 14.
Hill said he had a partial tear between the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebra in his spine. Hill didn&rsquo;t undergo surgery and plans to revisit the issue after the season.
&ldquo;Surgery can be season-ending, so you don&rsquo;t want to do that,&rdquo; Hill said after the Bucks&rsquo; Thursday morning shootaround. &ldquo;You want to figure out how I can manage to get back out with the guys. It feels a lot better now. I&rsquo;m just trying to give it everything I have.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: Rookie Sam Hauser, a Wisconsin native who began his college career at Marquette, had a career-high 11 points and went 3 of 4 on 3-point attempts. Marquette and the Bucks both play their home games at Fiserv Forum. ... Celtics assistant coach Ben Sullivan, an assistant on Milwaukee's staff last season, received his 2020-21 championship ring in a pregame ceremony.
Bucks: The Bucks requested waivers on DeAndre&rsquo; Bembry, who played eight games for them before suffering a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-utah-jazz-nba-sports-brook-lopez-7703bb40fb72236c5e9655a26a7a6389">season-ending knee injury</a> in a loss at Golden State on March 12. &hellip; Grayson Allen didn&rsquo;t play due to left hip soreness. &ldquo;He got hit a little bit the other night in Chicago,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game, referring to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-boston-celtics-nba-sports-89c777fcb55642d97f5523ac2d5f6024"> 127-106 victory</a> over the Bulls on Tuesday. &ldquo;Hopefully it&rsquo;s short-term.&rdquo; ... The Bucks outscored the Celtics 58-34 in the paint.
UP NEXT
Celtics: At Memphis on Sunday. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-boston-celtics-brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-3d2600b0730722e97fedf317fcb1237b">The Celtics beat the Grizzlies 120-107</a> in Boston on March 3.
Bucks: At Detroit on Friday. The Bucks are 2-1 against the Pistons this season but <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-khris-middleton-jrue-holiday-milwaukee-c2a817547bf4b377674b1909beacc87a">lost the last matchup 115-106</a> at Milwaukee on Jan. 3.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each scored 29 points and the Bucks edged the shorthanded Celtics to take second in the East.

Giannis, Holiday help Bucks rally past Celtics 127-121

ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; When Trae Young hit a hot scoring stretch in the third period, the Washington Wizards knew they were in trouble.
Young scored 16 of his 30 points in the third period to help Atlanta stretch its lead and the Hawks beat the Wizards 118-103 on Wednesday night.
&ldquo;Trae Young got it going and so they pulled away,&rdquo; Washington's Corey Kispert said.
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 26 points and 18 rebounds.
The Hawks are ninth in the Eastern Conference, thanks to Brooklyn's tiebreaker edge for eighth. Atlanta is bound for the play-in tournament with two games remaining in the regular season &mdash; both on the road.
The Hawks finished 27-14 at home, including a 19-3 mark since Jan. 17. Their goal is to have another home game in the postseason.
&ldquo;I think we all kind of know what the deal is,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;We know what we need to do to take care of business.&rdquo;
Danilo Gallinari had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta.
Atlanta led 76-70 with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter before Young unleashed a scoring spree that extended the lead. He scored 16 of Atlanta's final 18 points in the period, stretching the advantage to 95-83.
&ldquo;He kind of spearheaded that run in the third,&rdquo; Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said &ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of where the game got away from us a bit.&rdquo;
Young hit two 3-pointers and made all six of his free throws during the hot stretch.
&ldquo;I just wanted to be more aggressive,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I saw that Kristaps was more in drop coverage. I told our big men to set the screen. ... I knew I was going to be able to hit that 3. I hit a couple of them.&rdquo;
Gallinari made his first start since March 25. He missed a 118-108 loss at Toronto on Tuesday night with left knee inflammation and came off the bench in his most recent games.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18 points for Atlanta on a season-high six 3s.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Despite shooting 57.1% (28 of 49) from the field in the first half, Washington trailed 67-65 at halftime. A key was turnovers. Atlanta committed only six turnovers; Washington had 14 that led to 16 points for the Hawks. ... F Kyle Kuzma (right knee) missed his 10th straight game.
Hawks: Coach Nate McMillan used restrained terms to describe progress by F John Collins (right foot strain, finger sprain). Collins is &ldquo;doing a little running, a little jogging, some shooting&rdquo; this week, according to McMillan. He said &ldquo;there hasn't been any setback&rdquo; following Collins' first time running since tests last month revealed a plantar fascia tear in the foot. ... Two-way G Sharife Cooper was transferred from the G League College Park Skyhawks.
PLAYING BIG
Washington backup center Daniel Gafford was the hot topic before the game after setting season highs with 24 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in a 132-114 win at Minnesota on Tuesday night. Most notably, Gafford played with Porzingis, the starting center, in a big lineup.
Unseld said before Wednesday night&rsquo;s game &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll definitely go to it again at some point&rdquo; in the team&rsquo;s final three games. He didn&rsquo;t wait long, bringing Gafford off the bench midway through the opening period while Porzingis remained on the floor.
Gafford scored the Wizards&rsquo; next basket and had six points in the period and 12 in the game.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR YOUNG
Young added 11 assists. He posted his 20th game this season with at least 30 points and 10 assists, the most in the NBA.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Return home to play the New York Knicks on Friday.
Hawks: Close the regular season with games at Miami on Friday and Houston on Sunday. Atlanta is 15-24 on the road.
&nbsp;

Trae Young scored 16 of his 30 points in the third period to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards 118-103.

Young's 30 points help Hawks pull away from Wizards, 118-103

Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 21 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz clinched a playoff berth with a 121-115 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Jordan Clarkson also finished with 22 points for Utah. Donovan Mitchell added 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Hassan Whiteside tallied 14 points and 10 boards off the bench.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points for the Grizzlies. Tyus Jones added 24 points and Desmond Bane had 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Memphis played without its top two scorers. Ja Morant (right knee soreness) and Dillon Brooks (right hip soreness) were both inactive. The same injury has sidelined Morant since mid-March. Their absence didn&rsquo;t stop the Grizzlies from producing big baskets as the fourth quarter wound down.
Jackson made a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute of regulation and Kyle Anderson put back Bane&rsquo;s airball on a 3-pointer before the buzzer to force overtime. Mitchell went 1 for 2 from the free throw line with 5.6 seconds on the clock and the Jazz leading 109-108.
Utah went ahead for good when Mitchell and Gobert scored on back-to-back possessions to help the Jazz carve out a 119-113 lead. Memphis was held without a basket for four minutes in overtime.
Utah built a 30-19 lead a minute into the second quarter after Clarkson and Mike Conley capped a 10-1 run with back-to-back 3s.
Memphis erased the double-digit deficit right before halftime. The Grizzlies tied it on a corner 3 from Bane and took a 50-48 lead on a pair of free throws from Jackson with 7.2 seconds left in the half.
Bane scored four baskets in 3 &frac12; minutes after halftime to help propel Memphis to a 68-57 lead. The second-year guard had 12 points in the third quarter alone. With Bane leading the way, the Grizzlies made six of their first nine shots in the second half.
Utah surged back ahead 91-83 early in the fourth quarter behind a 21-7 run fueled by three baskets and three assists from Clarkson. Danuel House, Jr. capped the surge with a four-point play and an alley-oop dunk.
TIP INS
Grizzlies: Jackson finished with three blocks, passing Pau Gasol for the franchise single-season record. Jackson has totaled an NBA-best 172 blocks this season. &hellip; Steven Adams led Memphis in rebounds (13) and assists (8). Adams&rsquo; assist total matched his season high.
Jazz: Clarkson beat the first-quarter buzzer with a reverse backdoor layup and Gobert beat the halftime buzzer with an alley-oop dunk. &hellip; Rudy Gay returned to Utah&rsquo;s rotation after recording a DNP-CD in back-to-back games. Gay played 13 minutes and finished with two points on 1-of-4 shooting. &hellip; Conley had a team-high eight assists.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Visit the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
Jazz: Host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 21 rebounds, and the Jazz clinched a playoff berth with a 121-115 overtime victory over the Grizzlies.

Jazz clinch playoff spot with 121-115 OT win over Grizzlies

Right before officially clinching their seventh Final Four berth this past weekend, the Villanova Wildcats lost junior guard Justin Moore, who had to be helped off the floor after a freak injury while dribbling to kill the clock with less than 45 seconds to go.
'Nova beat Houston 50-44 in the Elite Eight to become one of the last four standing teams in the Big Dance for the first time since 2018. However, it was announced days later that Moore &mdash; Villanova&rsquo;s second-leading scorer at 14.8 points per game on .397/.356/.750 shooting splits &mdash; ruptured his right Achilles tendon, prematurely ending his season.
Much of the basketball world united in comforting Moore during an excruciatingly awful time to receive such news, including Kevin Durant, who ruptured his own Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals.
&ldquo;I texted Kevin; he called me,&rdquo; Wright recalled <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/villanova/justin-moore-achilles-kevin-durant-villanova-20220331.html">to the Philadelphia Inquirer</a>. &ldquo;And Kevin said, &lsquo;I was watching that, and it looked just like &mdash; I knew it when he went down; it looked just like mine.&rsquo; So we talked for a while about it.
&ldquo;What was so impressive to me was, Durant said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;d like to talk to [Justin], talk to the parents about the process. I want to tell him that.&rsquo; He listed himself, Klay Thompson, a couple other guys I can&rsquo;t remember &mdash; he goes, 'Look, these guys had it in the NBA.' And people in the NBA know now that you can come back from that.&rdquo;
Moore wasn&rsquo;t just 'Nova&rsquo;s second-best scorer throughout the 2021-22 season, but the 6-foot-4 guard earned Second Team All-Big East honors and All-Big East Tournament honors earlier this month. Moore&rsquo;s been a starter in all three of his seasons at Villanova, and has seen his scoring averages jump from 11.3 to 12.9 to 14.8 points per game. This season, he netted a career-best 17.1 points per 40 minutes while also being the Wildcats&rsquo; best rebounding guard, pulling down 4.8 boards per contest.
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According to FiveThirtyEight, there have been six major injuries to Final Four bound teams in the Men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament since 2010. Using the qualifier of players logging at least 20 minutes in an NCAA Tournament, these players include Kalin Lucas of Michigan State in 2010, Darryl Bryant of West Virginia that same year, Louisville&rsquo;s Kevin Ware (do not Google it if you&rsquo;re reading this during lunch) in 2013, Willie Cauley-Stein of Kentucky in 2014, Auburn&rsquo;s Chuma Okeke in 2019, and now Moore.
Lucas <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5017721" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruptured his Achilles against Maryland</a> in Round 2, and the Spartans subsequently lost in the Final Four. Oddly enough, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5022928" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bryant broke his foot in the same round</a>, and his Mountaineers were also eliminated in the Final Four. Ware had a gruesome injury against Duke in the Elite Eight, and his Cardinals are the only team of this specific group that became national champions so far. Cauley-Stein <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2014/3/28/5559920/willie-cauley-stein-injury-kentucky-vs-louisville" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered a left ankle injury in Round 1</a>, and his Wildcats lost in the title game. And Okeke <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2019/3/29/18287843/chuma-okeke-injury-bruce-pearl-crying-auburn-sweet-16-ncaa-tournament-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tore his ACL in the Sweet 16</a>; Auburn reached the Final Four round before having its season end.
So, how does 'Nova piece together the production and minutes to replace Moore? He&rsquo;s logged 35.9 minutes per game since the beginning of the Big East Tournament, and has led the Wildcats with 34.6 minutes per contest this season.
Collin Gillespie &mdash; the 2022 Big East Player of the Year, Big East Tournament MVP and Third-Team All-American &mdash; will likely be keyed in on that much harder against Kansas this weekend. (I mean, that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;d all do if you were in charge of the Jayhawks' defense, right?)
Gillespie&rsquo;s dropping a team-best 15.6 points and 3.3 assists per game on .431/.409/.905 shooting splits. Team sixth-man Caleb Daniels, a 6-foot-4 guard like Moore, has averaged 10.2 points on .427/.377/.851 in 27.3 minutes per contest this season.
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Though the Villanova-Houston offense resembled the (lack of) effectiveness of the Brock Lesnar-Goldberg match at WrestleMania 20, Daniels came up big with 12 points in 35 minutes, even as it came on 4 of 16 shooting. Every point matters against Houston, who had become a tournament favorite with sportsbooks due to its defensive run to the Elite Eight.
Jermaine Samuels, who led the game with 16 points, is 'Nova&rsquo;s leading non-guard scorer at 11.1 points per contest. The 6-foot-7 big also pulls down a team-high 6.5 boards per contest while shooting 47.4% from the field and 77.3% on free throws. Eric Dixon and Brandon Slater are the other two starting forwards, and there, you have 'Nova&rsquo;s main minute-eaters.
Moore, Gillespie, Slater, Samuels, Daniels and Dixon are the only Wildcats averaging at least 10 minutes per game this season, ranging from 34.6 to 25.1 in the order they&rsquo;re listed.
At least one of the following two guys will have to step up going forward to really alleviate the non-Moore minutes. The first would be Bryan Antoine, a junior who has come off the bench for three seasons with the Wildcats and wasn&rsquo;t one of the seven players to log minutes against Houston. Antoine hasn&rsquo;t played more than 11 minutes in a game since Jan. 25 and has scored 2 points since Feb. 12 (seven games, 35 minutes), but has battled injuries of his own, which is why he didn&rsquo;t appear until December.
He <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/29/march-madness-justin-moore-injury-gives-bryan-antoine-big-chance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently told the New York Post</a> that &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;m pretty confident. I&rsquo;ve had the same mindset from Day 1. It hasn&rsquo;t really changed for me. Obviously with the injuries, I have been set back, but I&rsquo;m still the same player from high school.&rdquo;
Three years ago, Antoine was a five-star, top-20 recruit and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American who <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/24575439/bryan-antoine-commits-villanova-wildcats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chose Villanova over Duke, Florida, Kentucky, and Kansas</a>. The 6-foot-5 guard should have a chance to prove he can still resemble that as the Wildcat rotation now has to expand beyond six.
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The other guard in waiting is fellow 6-foot-5 junior Chris Arcidiacono, the brother of the Ryan. The younger Arcidiacono did log two minutes against Houston but hasn&rsquo;t cracked 10 since March 5, which is the only other time he&rsquo;s scored in a game since Feb. 22. <a href="https://villanovan.com/20381/sports/with-moore-out-its-time-for-arch-madness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per the Villanovan</a>, Arcidiacono downplayed his potentially increased role with a boring quote.
&ldquo;Really, nothing changes,&rdquo; Arcidiacono said. &ldquo;My role is I come off the bench, bring energy, and just make sure we&rsquo;re playing Villanova basketball for 40 minutes. So whenever I&rsquo;m in, I&rsquo;m going to help our team play Villanova basketball.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s downplaying it here, but no doubt that it&rsquo;s possible both Antoine and Arcidiacono receive increased roles against Kansas this Saturday.
Villanova will need to squeeze everything they can out of their non-regulars in hopes of finding something unexpected to help their championship quest.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Villanova played one game this season without Justin Moore --- an 85-74 win over UConn on February 5th in South Philadelphia. Chris Arcidiacono had nine points in 26 minutes off the bench. The Wildcats don't have what they had, but they still have enough. <a href="https://t.co/DckgK3BJyi">https://t.co/DckgK3BJyi</a>
&mdash; Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1508236981083553793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Bryan Fonseca looks at who 'Nova can turn to with Justin Moore sidelined for the rest of the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova will have to survive without Justin Moore in the Final Four

Two down, two to go. Half of the spots in the Final Four have been claimed, here is how today&rsquo;s games unfolded:
Villanova def. Houston 50-44 The Wildcats took this one wire-to-wire, and were able to fend off the relentless Cougars. Caleb Daniels, who scored 12 points for Villanova, mentioned the physicality of this one saying, "It was a literal street fight, every possession trying to get a rebound." Jermaine Samuels led all players with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Something of note: Justin Moore suffered a leg injury in the final minute of regualation and was seen on crutches during postgame. The Wildcats enter their third Final Four in the last six NCAA Tournaments, where they will meet either Miami (FL) or Kansas.
Duke def. Arkansas 78-69 The Blue Devils took a 10-9 lead six minutes into the game and never looked back. Jaylin Williams played well for the Hogs, but the balanced Duke offense was simply too much to handle, as Paolo Banchero scored 16 points and AJ Griffin scored 18. Duke had a tremendous night shooting, hitting 54.7% from the floor, 40% from three and 88.9% from the free-throw line. Coach K and co. continue this run in the coach's Farewell Tour, where they will meet either North Carolina or Saint Peter&rsquo;s in the Final Four. Stat of the night: Coach K passes John Wooden for the most Final Four appearances with 13.
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Two down, two to go. Half of the spots in the Final Four have been claimed, Derek Murray takes us through today’s games.

March Madness: Elite Eight Saturday recap, halfway to the Final Four

Jayson Tatum scored 11 of his 26 points during Boston&rsquo;s nearly perfect first quarter to help the Celtics roll to a 125-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
Jaylen Brown also added 26 points and Marcus Smart finished with a career-high 13 assists as Boston recorded its fifth straight victory to improve its chances for one of the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s top four seeds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points but Utah has lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of January, a span of 21 games.
Boston hit its first 10 shots of the game, including six 3-pointers, on the way to jumping out to a 28-12 lead. Its first miss didn&rsquo;t come until the 4:05 mark of the opening quarter when a layup by Brown rolled off the rim.
It was one of the few miscues for the Celtics, who ended the period with a 39-24 lead. They went 15 of 19 from the field, 7 of 9 from beyond the arc and held a 12-2 rebounding edge.
The lead grew as high as 30 in the second quarter and Boston took a 68-45 advantage into halftime. Smart ended the half with 10 assists in just 15 minutes of action.
The Jazz tried their best to keep pace, but simply couldn&rsquo;t get enough shots to fall. They particularly struggled from the outside, going 8 of 36 from the 3-point line. Utah also had only 13 assists on 35 made baskets.
Utah never got closer than 18 in the second half.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Had only seven assists on 17 field goals in the first half. &hellip; Udoka Azubuike (right ankle sprain), Bojan Bogdanovic (left calf sprain), Danuel House (left knee bruise) all sat out.
Celtics: It was the 18th consecutive game Tatum has scored at least 20 points. &hellip; Had 13 assists in the first quarter. &hellip;
UP NEXT
Jazz: Continue six-game road trip at Charlotte on Friday.
Celtics: Host Minnesota on Sunday.

Jayson Tatum scored 11 of his 26 points during Boston’s nearly perfect first quarter to help the Celtics roll to a 125-97 victory.

Tatum, Brown sizzle, Celtics roll to 125-97 win over Jazz

The Sweet 16 field is official!
The final eight tickets to the Sweet 16 were punched yesterday, wrapping up the round of 32. Here's a recap of Sunday's action.
Iowa State defeats Wisconsin 54-49, will face Miami The 11th-seeded Cyclones pulled off another upset, defeating Johnny Davis and Wisconsin. Iowa State took the lead with 16:16 to play and were in control the rest of the way. Gabe Kalscheur had an incredible game, scoring 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting. After a couple years of real struggles, head coach TJ Otzelberger, Tyrese Hunter and Co. continue their phenomenal season and advance to the Sweet 16.
Duke defeats Michigan State 85-76, will face Texas Tech The final score here does not reflect the course of the game. Potential No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero led all players with 19 points in a strong outing, as Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 18. Sparty led by two with 2:50 to play, but Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach hit some massive shots down the stretch. Coach K and the Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16, where they have a date with the Red Raiders.&nbsp;
Miami defeats Auburn 79-61, will face Iowa State Miami led wire to wire in a game that, quite frankly, wasn&rsquo;t close. The starters carried the load in this one as they scored 75 of the team's 79 points. Isaiah Wong scored 21 points and Kam McGusty had 20 for the Canes as they outscored Auburn 46-29 in the second half. This was an incredible statement win for the Canes; they will meet Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for a shot at the Elite Eight.&nbsp;
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Purdue defeats Texas 81-71, will face Saint Peter&rsquo;s Purdue held a 14-point lead in the first half, but the Longhorns battled back and took a 44-42 lead of their own in the second. The Boilermakers would slam the door shut late in the contest, led by Trevion Williams' 22 points. Jaden Ivey also posted 18 points in the win. They move on to the Sweet 16 where they'll take on the red-hot Peacocks.&nbsp;
Houston defeats Illinois 68-53, will face Arizona This one was tied at 40-40 with 11:26 to play, but Houston would put on a clinic for the remainder of the game. Taze Moore scored 21 points to lead the charge as the Cougars played tremendous team basketball, especially in the second half. Head coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned &ldquo;Culture Play&rdquo; while alluding to the nature of the win, a method they&rsquo;ll no doubt need to win again in the Sweet 16.
Villanova defeats Ohio State 71-61, will face Michigan Villanova appeared in total control early in the second half, but the Buckeyes stormed back. After Ohio State had cut the lead to two points, the Wildcats hit some big threes and clutch free-throws, and they were able to hold on. Collin Gillespie led the way with 20 points, while Caleb Daniels provided 11 big points off the bench. Villanova now has a big matchup with the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16.
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Texas Tech defeats Notre Dame 59-53, will face Duke This one went down to the wire as the teams traded leads for much of the second half. Kevin McCullar knocked down a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to play, extending his team's lead to 57-52, and they would hold on from there. The Red Raiders added a transition dunk just moments later and the celebration began. Kevin Obanor led all with scorers 15 points to go with 15 rebounds. Duke awaits, in a highly anticipated matchup.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
WOWOWOWOWOW This end to regulation was WILD 🤯<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/4gihUvpVCq">pic.twitter.com/4gihUvpVCq</a>
&mdash; NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1505760901063852032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Arizona defeats TCU 85-80 in OT, will face Houston This one was wild. After a huge Bennedict Mathurin three, they headed to overtime where Mike Miles Jr. and Mathurin traded buckets. The Cats would hang on to win 85-80, thanks to 30 points from Mathurin and 28 from Christian Koloko. They will look to continue their potential championship journey in a huge matchup with Houston. This will be must-see action.
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Derek Murray takes us through the final games of the round of 32, and looks ahead to the matchups that await in the Sweet 16.

March Madness Recap: Sweet 16 is set

Hey yo. You know exactly what time of year this is. Now, for the purposes of this adventure, let&rsquo;s clarify a few things.
<ol>
<li>This is not a top-10. The headline does not read Top-10 &ndash; just 10.</li>
<li>Additionally, this is not necessarily a ranking of said 10. Just 10 awesome moments that&rsquo;ll make you nostalgic for previous NCAA Tournaments that may project what we we&rsquo;re about to endure with this month&rsquo;s March Madness. Not everything needs to turn into a Twitter-replies-section debate for us to have a good time.</li>
<li>If your favorite moment isn&rsquo;t here, it&rsquo;s gonna be OK. Life will go on.</li>
</ol>
Good? Good! Now, let&rsquo;s play with some emotions.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
March 20, 2010: Ali Farokhmanesh💦 It&rsquo;s been 11 years since Northern Iowa (+11) took down Kansas to reach the Sweet 16! &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be serious with that shot!&rdquo;<a href="https://t.co/Qf3MWNY4xH">pic.twitter.com/Qf3MWNY4xH</a>
&mdash; PointsBet Iowa (@PointsBetIA) <a href="https://twitter.com/PointsBetIA/status/1373262014554894339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be serious with that shot!&rdquo;
Kansas has made literally every NCAA Tournament since 1990, and every single time, they&rsquo;ve been the higher seed in round one. As a result, they&rsquo;ve had some embarrassing losses, and because they&rsquo;re a blue blood, some of us laugh at them every time. Arguably the best and ballsiest example of this came in 2010.
Kansas was a No. 1 seed in their region &ndash; as they normally are &ndash; facing ninth-seeded Northern Iowa in round two. Northern Iowa led 63-62 while breaking Kansas&rsquo; press with 42 seconds to go. Northern Iowa quickly broke said press, landing the ball in the hands of a senior guard named Ali Farokhmanesh.
As 37 seconds remained &ndash; with 30 on the shot clock &ndash; you&rsquo;d figure he&rsquo;d hold and either get fouled or just milk the clock. But his eyes made love to the net about 24-feet-away, and once Kansas realized he was actually going to take the shot, it was too late. Northern Iowa won 69-67, reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the only time in program history.&nbsp;
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Five years ago today, RJ Hunter knocked his dad (and coach) off his stool with a game-winning three 🔥 (via @MarchMadness)<a href="https://t.co/XpbMLrFxVM">pic.twitter.com/XpbMLrFxVM</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1240712661957931008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2020</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;What are they doing?&rdquo;
Baylor led Georgia State 56-54 with 14.1 seconds to go in 2015. Ron Hunter, Georgia State&rsquo;s head coach, tore his Achilles while celebrating the team's Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship days before the NCAA Tournament, so he had been coaching from a stool. His son, RJ Hunter, was the best player on the team and, naturally, had the ball in his hands for the team&rsquo;s last possession. It was an objectively terrible possession, which caused the commentator to ask aloud, &ldquo;What are they doing?&rdquo;
Hunter basically pulled a near 30-foot three-point-attempt with around four seconds left, and made it, giving the 14th-seeded Panthers an upset win over the third-seeded Baylor Bears in round one. More importantly, the stool-sitting Ron Hunter fell on his face in celebration on the sideline.&nbsp;
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On this day 24 years ago, No. 16 Harvard upset No. 1 Stanford. This was the first major upset in tournament history!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/ij0qnl4oiz">pic.twitter.com/ij0qnl4oiz</a>
&mdash; NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessWBB/status/1503434534854926336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Real First Time
Before UMBC stunned Virginia in 2018, becoming the first No. 16 to defeat a No. 1 in the men&rsquo;s tournament, the Harvard women&rsquo;s squad made history 20 years earlier. The Crimson went 22-4 during the regular season, and ran into a Pac-10 heavyweight in Stanford, who had been in the previous three Final Fours and won two national championships earlier in the decade.
The win was not only impressive because Harvard matched Stanford blow for blow all night long, but they won in Stanford.
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Craziest comeback in March Madness history? In 2016, Texas A&amp;M rallied back from down 12 with 36 seconds left to force OT vs Northern Iowa Final: Texas A&amp;M 92 UNI 88<a href="https://t.co/awYiihgB9K">pic.twitter.com/awYiihgB9K</a>
&mdash; Barstool Bench Mob (@stoolbenchmob) <a href="https://twitter.com/stoolbenchmob/status/1443291894302318593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
Alright, let&rsquo;s play for real
As great as Northern Iowa&rsquo;s win over Kansas was in 2010, their 2016 loss against Texas A&amp;M was equally as impressive. Northern Iowa, as the No. 11 seed, led third-seeded A&amp;M 69-57 with 44 seconds to go en route to another Sweet Sixteen. And then, an A&amp;M squad, led by a couple seniors you may recognize named Alex Caruso and Danuel House, made the most ridiculous comeback you may have ever seen in such a short span, forcing overtime, and eventually winning 92-88 after multiple OTs.
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DUNK CITY! 8 years ago today No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast made its <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> debut &amp; beat No. 2 Georgetown! <a href="https://t.co/HL83ubO7qm">pic.twitter.com/HL83ubO7qm</a>
&mdash; Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1374026020756537344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
Dunk City
The first time some of us heard of Florida Gulf Coast was during their 2013 NCAA Tournament run, which earned them the nickname Dunk City. Why? Because these dudes were catching bodies on a seemingly improbable run to the Sweet Sixteen. FGC wasn&rsquo;t even a Division I school until 2007, but as a 15-seed in 2013, they tomahawked their way to a 78-68 victory over No. 2 Georgetown &ndash; Otto Porter&rsquo;s last college game &ndash; and continued raising hell against No. 7 San Diego State, alley-ooping their way to an 81-71 win.
They lost to No. 3 and inner-state foe Florida 62-50, but made a memorable enough run that people still call them Dunk City to this day. They even pissed off Joakim Noah, who was in attendance, before bowing out gracefully. Thankfully, Kevin Harlan was the perfect broadcaster to take us on this experience. If there&rsquo;s anything to bring in the casual observer, it&rsquo;s a bunch of dudes you&rsquo;ve never heard of just unexpectedly yamming on people.
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Three years ago today, Mississippi State stunned unbeaten UConn in overtime at the Final Four. The Huskies had won 111 straight games 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/D39SdrhdnW">pic.twitter.com/D39SdrhdnW</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1244991741431857153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
No room for 112
UConn had 111 straight wins heading into the 2017 Final Four, including the previous four-straight NCAA titles. A team including future WNBA&rsquo;ers Kia Nurse, Gabby Williams, Katie Lou Samuelson, Napheesa Collier, Crystal Dangerfield and Saniya Chong led UConn to wins of 116-55, 94-64, 86-71 and 90-52 heading into their match-up with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had just gotten by Baylor in overtime in their Elite Eight game.
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Mississippi State &ndash; highlighted by future WNBA first rounders Teaira McCowan and Victoria Vivans &ndash; not only kept it close, but dragged UConn into overtime for the first time all season. Tied at 64 with 12 seconds left, Dominique Dillingham brought the ball up the floor, and when met with a double team, found guard Moran William around 30-feet from the basket at the top of the key with less than five seconds left. William faked a pass left, quickly knifed toward the right elbow, pulled up from outside the paint and splashed the game-winner, ending UConn&rsquo;s streak and sending Miss. St. to the national championship, where they lost to South Carolina.&nbsp;
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A GAME FOR THE AGES! Jalen Suggs drains a heave for No. 1 Gonzaga to take down No. 11 UCLA and advance to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NationalChampionship?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NationalChampionship</a>! (via <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSSports</a>) <a href="https://t.co/j5IYwYHZsL">pic.twitter.com/j5IYwYHZsL</a>
&mdash; Sports Illustrated (@SInow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1378546005839282183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Insert your bad bank pun here
Last year&rsquo;s tournament had a different vibe due to the lack of crowds, but one of the most memorable moments came in the Final Four. No. 1 seed Gonzaga and No. 11 seed UCLA were in overtime during their national semifinal matchup. Johnny Juzang, who is back with UCLA this season, made a game-tying layup with 3.3 seconds left, putting this at 90 each.
Current Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs quickly got the inbound, sprinted the ball up the floor, pulled from a couple steps beyond half-court and banked in the game-winner to send them to the National Championship game with a 31-0 record. Like Mississippi State, they lost in the title game, but hell, at least they got there.
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Kris Jenkins called game 🤯 Four years ago today, Jenkins gave Nova its first national championship since '85 <a href="https://t.co/B1uopP2I84">pic.twitter.com/B1uopP2I84</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1246463363539963905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2020</a></blockquote>

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Okay, maybe this is &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo;
If anything deserves to be dubbed &ldquo;The Shot,&rdquo; it might be this one. It was so good and timely that we&rsquo;ve forgotten how sick Marcus Paige&rsquo;s was seconds before.
Villanova and North Carolina faced off in the 2016 National Title game, which had one of the illest finishes ever. Paige, with nine seconds left, barely received a pass while on the right wing. With seven seconds, he rose up, while double teamed, and double clutched, making a game-tying three, forcing a 74-74 score.
Villanova, with 4.7 seconds left, inbounded the ball to Ryan Arcidiacono, who found Kris Jenkins open at NBA-range above the key, and drilled home a game-winning three as time expired to win the title. Additionally, we got the best-timed confetti shot in sports history (PTSD warning).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
March 30th, 2018 🗓 Two years ago today, Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale hit this CLUTCH game-winner with 1 second left in OT to end UConn's undefeated season 🔥 (via <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a>) | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTD</a><a href="https://t.co/X3IoK4dvw0">pic.twitter.com/X3IoK4dvw0</a>
&mdash; FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) <a href="https://twitter.com/FDSportsbook/status/1244655717929357313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
Mamba Mentality&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s really hard to have a better Final Four than Arike Ogunbowale did in 2018.
Many of the same UConn women mentioned earlier were back for their 2018 run, which included a match-up with Notre Dame in the Final Four. Ogunbowale missed a free throw in overtime to make it a 90-86 game, allowing for Crystal Dangerfield to hit a game-tying three. Notre Dame struggled to find Ogunbowale due to UConn&rsquo;s pressure, but eventually did with eight seconds left. She dribbled right, got the mismatch with the bigger Naphessa Collier, crossed over, had enough space and sunk the game-winner with one second to spare. Notre Dame won 91-89.
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ARIKE OGUNBOWALE CALLED GAME. FOR THE TITLE. (via @ncaawbb) <a href="https://t.co/EtY7HHq41z">pic.twitter.com/EtY7HHq41z</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/980600569373982720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Then, in the National Championship, Notre Dame drew Mississippi State. Tied 58-58 with eight seconds left, Ogunbowale forced a turnover and began pushing up the floor before Notre Dame regained possession with five seconds left, and called a timeout with three seconds to go. Off the inbound, the Fighting Irish found Ogunbowale, who hit the game-winner as time expired from a very similar spot to the one from two days prior. It&rsquo;s one of the coldest weekends a ballplayer could ever have.
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Lorenzo Charles' game-winning dunk gave <a href="https://twitter.com/PackMensBball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PackMensBball</a> a National Championship and left Jim Valvano looking for a hug. <a href="https://t.co/lXyyNyyiUS">pic.twitter.com/lXyyNyyiUS</a>
&mdash; CBS Sports (@CBSSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1503404336524668929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
The Dunk
Younger generations might be more familiar with Jimmy V the week as opposed to Jimmy V the coach, but Jim Valvano and the North Carolina State Wolfpack shocked the world around this time nearly 40 years ago. NC State was a sixth-seed and opposite of a top-seeded Houston team that was engineered by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
Tied at 52, NC State was dribbling out the clock to hold for the final possession. As Houston inched closer to forcing a turnover, guard Dereck Whittenburg had to heave one with three seconds left well beyond 30-feet. Noticing it was going to be an airball, Lorenzo Charles got into position, rose up, caught and dunked the ball as time expired, giving NC State their first and only title.&nbsp;
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As basketball fans get pumped for March Madness, Bryan Fonseca looks back at some epic moments from past NCAA Tournaments.

March Madness: 10 historic moments you'll want to watch again

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Donovan Mitchell tries to keep his cool with the officials.
In a tie game against Chicago, Mitchell protested a non-call with an especially vocal and demonstrative outburst in the third quarter. He got a technical foul and the switch was flipped.
&ldquo;I was hot," Mitchell said about his anger.
Mitchell went on to score a Utah-record 25 of his 37 points in the third quarter, Jordan Clarkson added 26 and the Utah Jazz beat the Bulls 125-110 on Wednesday night.
Feeling nostalgic before the game, Mitchell was watching Game 6 of his first playoff series against Oklahoma City his rookie season. He remembered that level of confidence and how big the hoop seemed when he led the Jazz to the win. Then he replicated it against Chicago.
&ldquo;Once I saw the 3 on the wide pin go down, it was on,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;From there, I just started getting to my spots and do what I do. Sometimes you just gotta go to that place inside you.&rdquo;
Mitchell made a franchise-record seven 3-pointers in the third period on nine attempts. He broke Karl Malone&rsquo;s team mark of 22 points in a third quarter. Mitchell finished with nine 3-pointers, besting his previous career best of seven.
&ldquo;He just got really hot. That&rsquo;s the type of player he is. We know that. We could have tried to do a better job of trying to take him out of that (rhythm) and get the ball out of his hands,&rdquo; Zach LaVine said.
In the fourth quarter, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said &ldquo;we did trap him some to try to slow him down&rdquo; but that just opened the door for other players like the seldom-used Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Alexander-Walker, who came to Utah in a Feb. 9 trade from New Orleans, had only nine total points in his first seven games with the Jazz. So what happened?
&ldquo;Don happened! The gravity he pulled to himself because of the shots he was making &hellip; they were so hyper-focused on him,&rdquo; Alexander-Walker said.
LaVine, who has been affected by a sore left knee, made five 3s and had 33 points in tying his highest scoring output in four months. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points. The Bulls have dropped seven of nine.
&ldquo;We had a really hard time controlling the ball. Our guards could not get the ball under control at all from Clarkson and Mitchell and Conley. They kind of really had their way with (us) and they&rsquo;re great off the dribble,&rdquo; Donovan said on the Bulls&rsquo; second-half defensive struggles.
Ayo Dosunmu&rsquo;s layup trimmed Utah&rsquo;s lead to 103-99 before the Jazz responded with a clinching run.
Alexander-Walker had two 3-pointers from the corner in a 14-0 run that featured suffocating defense and floor-spacing offense. Rudy Gobert&rsquo;s free throws capped the run and lifted the Jazz to a 117-99 lead with 4:38 to play.
&ldquo;We raised our level and did a great job defensively, especially with the scorers they have,&rdquo; Gobert said.
Mitchell&rsquo;s huge third quarter pushed the Jazz ahead 89-81 entering the fourth quarter.
Gobert had 14 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks while Mike Conley had in 14 points and seven assists.
The Jazz played without second-leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic (left calf strain), along with key reserves Trent Forrest (right wrist sprain), Danuel House (left knee bone bruise) and Udoka Azubuike (right ankle sprain).
BREAKFAST CLUB
Alexander-Walker, Juancho Hernangomez (who got his first start with Utah) and other Jazz players who rarely get meaningful time in the games are the first ones to practice on game days.
&ldquo;I was really happy for Nickeil because people don&rsquo;t see that every morning before shootaround those guys are in there at 8 o&rsquo;clock working out and going hard too,&rdquo; Mitchell said.
Sometimes they get on the court again after the starters leave and then come early before the game starts. That makes three sessions whether they get game time or not.
&ldquo;Since being here, I can&rsquo;t even count the number of corner 3s and other stuff we have been working on in practice,&rdquo; Alexander-Walker said. &ldquo;That work with the Breakfast Club is paying off. Gotta trust it.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bulls: Chicago had 22 fast-break points to seven for the Jazz. &hellip; DeRozan had seven of the Bulls&rsquo; 28 assists. &hellip; Dosunmu had 15 points and six assists.
Jazz: Mitchell picked up a technical in the third quarter. He was especially animated at a non-call and followed the official while shouting. &hellip; The Jazz reserves outscored their Chicago counterparts, 49-22.
UP NEXT
Bulls: At Phoenix on Friday night.
Jazz: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

Donovan Mitchell scored a Utah-record 25 of his 37 points in the third quarter as the Utah Jazz beat the Bulls 125-110.

Mitchell scores 25 of 37 points in 3rd, Jazz beat Bulls

In 2012, Tom Ziller wrote an article for SB Nation on the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/2/2/2766177/lebron-james-volatility-scorers-hook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scoring volatility</a> of the NBA&rsquo;s top scorers. Since then, the subject has remained largely untouched (although Ben Taylor does discuss it briefly in his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1532968175" target="_blank" rel="noopener">book</a>, "Thinking Basketball").
So, since the NBA is on a hiatus until Thursday, I figured now was as good of a time to delve a little deeper into the topic.
To help me do so, I called upon the aid of software engineer/data scientist <a href="https://twitter.com/daniel_bratulic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Bratulić</a>.
First and foremost, for those unaware, scoring volatility is basically the degree of variance present in a player&rsquo;s game-to-game scoring outputs (e.g. low variance = low volatility). Understanding which players are more consistent and which ones are more of a wildcard is important in a game that is often defined as a &ldquo;make or miss league.&rdquo;&nbsp;
As Taylor notes in his aforementioned book: &ldquo;Teams are significantly more likely to win games when (at least) one player has an explosive night.&rdquo;
This sentiment is especially true this season, where the championship landscape is as deep as it has been in quite some time, and a single heater could reroute the entire course of history (I&rsquo;m looking at you, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SPjJ197oKE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Klay Thompson</a>).
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To identify the most volatile players among volume scorers, we charted the variance levels of the top-30 scorers based on their game-to-game True Shooting percentages. Here's what we found.
Shooting Consistency: 2021-22
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-02-22-at-11-31-52-am_lg.png" alt="" width="474" height="448" />
(Chart created by Daniel Bratulić)
For the sake of this exercise, we can shelve Damian Lillard&rsquo;s variance right now since it&rsquo;s doubtful he returns to the court this season. Steph Curry&rsquo;s standing on this list is likely due to the unprecedented (by his standards) shooting slump he endured for a large chunk of December and January.
What is the most interesting here is the six-man cluster on the top-left corner, consisting of Donovan Mitchell, Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards. These six are noteworthy because their overall True Shooting averages are right around the league average. So this means that their good games are well-above league average, while their off-nights are probably well-below.
To assess the nature of these players&rsquo; volatility, I charted their True Shooting numbers on a month-by-month basis:
True Shooting Percentage By Month
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-02-20-at-9-12-19-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="585" height="355" />
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 378px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Player
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
Oct.
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
Nov.
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
Dec.
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
Jan.
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
Feb.
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Mitchell
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
52.9%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
54.4%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
63.4%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
52.4%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
66.2%
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Siakam
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
N/A
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
54.9%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
53.9%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
55.2%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
62.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Ingram
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
53.6%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
50.6%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
58.1%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
51.7%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
54.1%
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
McCollum
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
57.4%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
50.9%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
46.6%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
60.2%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
54.4%
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Tatum
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
48.8%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
50.8%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
58.5%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
59.1%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
57.8%
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 18.8919%; height: 54px;">
Edwards
</td>
<td style="width: 15.7321%;">
49.6%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
54.4%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
59.0%
</td>
<td style="width: 17.134%;">
60.2%
</td>
<td style="width: 13.8206%; height: 54px;">
49.0%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
(Mobile users scroll right for full table)
Apologies for the slight cluster in the graph, but from analyzing that and the table, you will probably notice two different styles of shooting trends. For Siakam, Ingram and Tatum, you see one or two outlier months that are more indicative of an extended stretch of hot/cold shooting than erratic changes in game-to-game shooting efficiency. For instance, Tatum experienced a well-documented slow start to the season before returning to True Shooting percentages more in-line with his <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tatumja01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">career averages</a> during December, January and February.&nbsp;&nbsp;
On the other hand, Mitchell, McCollum and Edwards have two months of True Shooting well-above the league average, one month right around league average and two months well below it.&nbsp;
To use Edwards as an example, his October and February shooting percentages were abysmal (sub-50%), his November finish isn&rsquo;t too far from the <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/league-average-true-shooting-percentage-2022">league average</a> of 56%, and his December and January efficiency hovered right at that golden 60% threshold.
Mitchell, specifically, is no stranger to volatile scoring seasons. From 2018-21, Mitchell has consistently been an inconsistent scorer (I know, the irony), finishing with a standard deviation right around &ldquo;14&rdquo; in the three seasons prior to this campaign (charts from 2018-21 included after the conclusion of this article for anyone interested).
We&rsquo;ve also already gotten a glimpse of the postseason highs and lows that come with his streaky shooting. In 2018-19, Mitchell posted a dreadful 42.3% True Shooting, and the Utah Jazz were handedly discarded by the Houston Rockets in five games. On the flip side, in 2020-21, Mitchell eviscerated defenses with a 60.2% True Shooting clip. And if not for injuries to him and Mike Conley (and an aberration of a shooting performance by Terance Mann), the Jazz very well could have competed for a Western Conference championship.
In McCollum&rsquo;s case, the Portland Trail Blazers&rsquo; best season in the Lillard era coincided with one of his most volatile. In 2018-19, McCollum led all volume scorers in volatility with a standard deviation of &ldquo;17&rdquo; (again, reference charts below). During the playoffs, McCollum shot five True Shooting percentage points higher in their eight wins than he did in their eight losses, which signals the highest positive differential of any Blazer that played at least 300 minutes that postseason (per NBA.com).
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Overall, Mitchell, Edwards and McCollum appear to be the most volatile volume scorers of the 2021-22 season thus far. This matters because all three of these players are rostered by teams currently in the thick of the playoff picture. An electric shooting night from one of these guys could swing a Play-in game, a Game 7 or maybe even an entire postseason series. Such seismic capacity demands our attention, and further time should be allocated towards identifying these players and ascertaining the extent of their impact on winning.
For now, one would be wise to keep tabs on these players because &mdash; for better or worse &mdash; they may just go nuclear and tip the scales, and rewrite the story of the NBA in the process.
Shooting Consistency: 2018-19
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-02-22-at-11-34-19-am_lg.png" alt="" width="474" height="462" />
(Chart created by Daniel Bratulić)
Shooting Consistency: 2019-20
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-02-22-at-11-35-29-am_lg.png" alt="" width="475" height="456" />
(Chart created by Daniel Bratulić)
Shooting Consistency: 2020-21
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-02-22-at-11-36-31-am_lg.png" alt="" width="475" height="468" />
(Chart created by Daniel Bratulić)
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Mat Issa breaks down the variance of the NBA's most notable scorers and how it affects their respective teams.

Charting the most volatile scorers in the NBA right now

It takes but a moment to feel Davion Mitchell's presence pop on screen anytime the Sacramento Kings play.
One of my top-five running bits this season has been opposing ball-handlers experiencing his ball pressure and intensity on defense for the first time. When Mitchell stifles a first step, it's akin to someone catching a jab to the chin for the first time. They've sparred, they've been around some heat in the ring, but Davion has that kind of defensive charisma that makes opposition stiffen, flash the Gary Payton eyebrow raise and recognize he's for real.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<a href="https://t.co/fDlYZ1vXGs">https://t.co/fDlYZ1vXGs</a> <a href="https://t.co/3TW9RprX7H">pic.twitter.com/3TW9RprX7H</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1455722732516253703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The defense has been etched in stone since his first minutes at NBA Summer League. However, Mitchell's offense has run counter much of the year. Through his first 43 games of the season, he played roughly 25 minutes per game, averaging 9.1 points and 3.2 assists on 45.5% True Shooting (10.5% below league average). His three-ball was way off, particularly off the catch, shooting better off the dribble per Second Spectrum.
Fast forward to Jan. 26 in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. With De'Aaron Fox out due to injury, Mitchell received his second career start, and the first in a string of seven straight starts with the Kings. While he's returned to the bench post-trade deadline and Fox's return, he's continued his stellar play.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 66px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 12.3133%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Stretch of Play</td>
<td style="width: 13.5566%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">True Shooting </td>
<td style="width: 10.1783%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Pull-Up 2s</td>
<td style="width: 8.5783%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Pull-Up 3s</td>
<td style="width: 13.1566%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Catch-and-Shoot 3s</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 12.3133%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Last 10 Games</td>
<td style="width: 13.5566%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">54.5%</td>
<td style="width: 10.1783%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">41% (3.9 per)</td>
<td style="width: 8.5783%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">40% (2.5 per)</td>
<td style="width: 13.1566%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">38.6% (4.4 per)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
In his last 10 games, Mitchell is averaging 16.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists, and doing so with better efficiency than he has all season (All four categories in the table above are upticks from his first 43 games).
So what's changed?
Mitchell's increasing minutes have been the largest reason for his success. Normally, that's a thinly veiled way of saying that nothing's changed &mdash; but in Mitchell's case, it's quite the contrary!
With the ball in his hands more, and more opportunities on the court, he's been more able to adapt and search out his balance in the offense between controlling the rock and moving off of it. Throughout the year, I've consistently wished Mitchell would move more without the ball. Lo and behold, it's happening!
A large reason for his improvement as a catch-and-shoot player (significant concern pre-draft) has been his willingness to move off the ball and relocate into open space.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/vxwt9d" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
He's lifting from the corners more often.
He's dishing out of paint touches and quickly twirling out to the slot.&nbsp;
Making yourself available is a really important part of becoming a better shooter (and offensive player in general), and it's helped Mitchell to flow within an offense more.
Davion greatly struggled for much of the season to adapt to NBA length and speed &mdash; something that happens to most rookies &mdash; but for small guards who need the ball, it can be an adventure. Better off-ball movement is one of the first cogs for his further development.
He has to thrive on the margins, as the easier modes of efficient offense aren't as readily available to him. Can he find an extra step or sliver of space through good screening or quick handoffs?
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/986uwq" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
He's started to. Sacramento's offense is heavily trending in that direction after trading for Domantas Sabonis, one of the best and most dynamic screeners in basketball.
What's so intriguing about Mitchell is his ability to exploit those margins. While yes, he is small, he is also perhaps the most explosive player on the Kings' roster. His first step is bonkers, he has a shifty handle, and he's a decent enough leaper to where he's not a solely below-the-rim athlete.
Earlier this season, he was belting line-drives to the rim, packed with power undoubtedly, but a line-drive is still a straight-on, squared-up attempt. It's so tough to consistently win by overpowering your defender in the NBA unless you have overwhelming size and physicality. Mitchell can win with power, but he has to pick his spots.
He's shown very encouraging finishes at the rim through contact.
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When he lines up a drive to set up an unprepared or unequipped defender, Mitchell unleashes one of my favorite moves in the league right now.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/y1jyek" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
I struggle to call it a "hesi" because it's so insanely quick, but he throws out this stutter step often with an in-and-out or hesitation dribble that just DUSTS defenders like no other. The suddenness is devastating.
He's converting a blistering 74.0% at the rim over his last 10 contests per Cleaning the Glass; that at-the-rim field-goal percentage was at 59.0% before this stretch.
However, his shot profile over this time has been incredibly telling, as 25.0% of Mitchell's total attempts came at the rim prior to Jan. 26; that number has since shrunk to 17.0%, with 36.0% of his shots coming from the mid-range and the remaining 47.0% attempts from three.&nbsp;
Mitchell's pacing has adapted. As mentioned earlier, less line-drives and more change-ups exist in his diet; he's more actively looking to go east and west, keeping his dribble alive without going straight to the rim as often.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/dhwhsl" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Mitchell really excels at utilizing "Horford screens" from his bigs in the dunker spot (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listen and subscribe!</a>) or on the roll. It's essentially an illegal-ish screen that doesn't always get called, made famous by Al Horford and his sealing protege, Daniel Theis.&nbsp;
While it may seem counterintuitive to get to the rim less, thus is the life of a combo guard. As explosive and powerful as Davion is, intuitive rim-protectors can sniff out his headlong hesitations.
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With time, he'll likely develop more counters, which he needs; he really only has one or two go-to moves. While they're fantastic, we are approaching the point to where it is going to be on the scouting report.&nbsp;
His prolific pull-up shooting from deep has opened up more possibilities to probe. Teams still routinely go under on his ball-screens, but he's punished them for doing so.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/72mplx" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Mitchell's pull-up two is a useful tool, and one he has to use as a jab. The quickness and explosiveness with which he can rise into it is arguably more of a threat right now than its effectiveness. Defenses are more apt to give him the shot, but he's so quick that they can't afford to fully sag off into the paint.&nbsp;
It's like his jab. If he doesn't utilize it, the defense may forget what he can do if they're not antagonized into being on-guard. They may find comfort in not paying attention. It's his basis upon which his interior game is built.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/n5rc61" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The space he can create in isolation is astounding.&nbsp;
Again, the effectiveness is not fully there yet, but what he has done &mdash; and the improvements he's made along with the creation flashes he's shown &mdash; is head-turning.
The play Mitchell has put together over the past three weeks is incredibly enticing, but there's still room for growth, as he looks to take further steps on a team headed in a new direction after trading Tyrese Haliburton.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
One area I really want to see from him grow is his floater game and some of his decceleration. He's adept at sudden stops into a pull-up, but getting into his floater has felt mixed in my viewings. He can look to shy away from contact and try to force up shots with his off-hand away from the rim &mdash; which makes sense, as he's trying to shield the ball &mdash; but he often seems to be fighting his own explosiveness on those touch shots.
It's not a massive detriment, but something to monitor as he continues to create on the margins.
Opposing defenses have started to put longer, rangier wings on Mitchell rather than a guard he can take off the dribble. He's shown an aptitude to find meaningful ways to attack those defenders, but it's worth keeping an eye on as he continues to draw more attention moving forward.
Without a great screen, Davion's game can be greatly hindered.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ulxjmx" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
He certainly can create without screens, as seen already, but when he needs to operate through screens, they need to make real contact. Rear contests and length can throw off his rhythm as a pull-up shooter.&nbsp;
Mitchell is by no means a finished product, though he might garner some dark horse All-Defense votes! I wouldn't likely include him on my teams, but he'd make the short list for guards (Sacramento, quietly league average defensively over the last two weeks!). The offensive strides he's made have been incredibly impressive throughout the season. His growing gravity is opening passing windows that weren't consistently there earlier in the year. I'm really excited to see how he handles his development!
He has a difficult path forward to hit higher offensive outcomes, but Davion Mitchell is thriving on the margins already.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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Davion Mitchell has found his footing offensively after a rough start to his rookie year. What's changed? Mark Schindler analyzes.

Digging into the offensive strides of Davion Mitchell with the Kings

We had a whopping <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grading-every-move-from-the-2022-nba-trade-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15 NBA trades</a> go down in an eight-day span.
The league buckled down for one of the biggest fireworks shows in recent deadline memory. Front offices dealt All-NBA superstars and hammered out four-team mazes. By the time the clock struck 3 p.m. on Thursday, we saw some teams go all-in on a playoff push, others cash out and move towards rebuilding, and many surprisingly pass on the spectacle entirely. It's a perfect time to set the table ahead of the stretch run with a fresh Sour Rankings.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst outlooks. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going.
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;By most accounts, the Indiana Pacers crushed it with their trade deadline moves. Tyrese Haliburton instantly becomes the bedrock of the franchise's next era, and he's looked pretty good in limited time so far. Indiana also snuck in a solid flier by acquiring Jalen Smith and didn't trade away any of its veteran players just for the sake of making a move. The Detroit Pistons were also briefly in the Sour Rankings, but escape after acquiring former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III without giving up long-term pieces.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
10. Oklahoma City Thunder (17-39)
Of all the teams to hold their chips at this year's deadline, OKC might be the most surprising. The Thunder had several players worth trading for &mdash; including Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala &mdash; and had oodles of salary cap room to take on guys with undesirable contracts. Instead, they only clocked-in one deal, trading a second-round pick to the Miami Heat for KZ Okpala, who was subsequently waived. Though it's not a colossal general-managing blunder, the Thunder may have missed some good opportunities to add to the stockpile.
(Last week: Unranked)
9. Charlotte Hornets (29-29)
The Hornets added Montrezl Harrell to fill the backup center spot on paper, and he should help as a play-finisher. However, Harrell does little to address the returning defensive woes for a Charlotte team that is 3-7 in its last 10 games. The squad has also hit an offensive shooting slump while also ranking 22nd in turnover rate since the start of February. A seven-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday overshadowed a horrendous two-way performance in the first half that had me concerned.
(Last week: 10)
8. Utah Jazz (35-21)
The Jazz got involved in one minor three-team deal at the trade deadline, and it didn't do much to squelch the raised voices about their title pretender status. Mark Schindler <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-who-are-your-biggest-2022-nba-trade-deadline-losers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labeled them a loser of the week</a> despite acquiring a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/can-nickeil-alexanderwalker-fill-the-gaps-for-the-utah-jazz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prospect he liked in Nickeil Alexander-Walker</a>:
"There's an intriguing foundation with him that Utah could unearth more of and help him build upon, but the issue is where the Jazz are right now. They needed immediate help defensively at the point of attack and the wing, yet NAW is not really that guy right now."
Utah is on a five-game winning streak, however, which deserves some credit. The team stays where it is in these rankings for now.
(Last week: 8)
7. Houston Rockets (15-40)
Here's another rebuilding franchise that balked at the chance to capitalize on the rush of apparent buyers. Houston didn't need to trade Eric Gordon in my opinion, but he certainly could have returned value. I was more surprised that Christian Wood not only remains on the team, but also was barely brought up in public trade rumors. He has not been nearly the player he can or should be with the Rockets, and I don't know if anything he does in the next two months changes that outlook. Of course, John Wall is still on the roster too.
(Last week: Unranked)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (23-34)
The Blazers are a confusing team to nail down for me. They traded CJ McCollum to New Orleans in a move many expected, but didn't get a whole lot back (aside from a very solid rotation player in Josh Hart and a protected first-rounder). A couple days go by, and then, the aforementioned Alexander-Walker &mdash; the best young player in the first trade &mdash; heads to Utah for a second-round pick, an expiring and injured Joe Ingles and a more obscure flier in Elijah Hughes.
Nekias Duncan gave those two moves a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grading-every-move-from-the-2022-nba-trade-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">C-minus and D in his trade deadline grades</a>. I think I'd agree, because at the end of it all, I still don't know what Portland is doing other than clearing some cap room.
(Last week: 6)
5. Sacramento Kings (22-36)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Sabonis and Fox will be a natural fit 👉🏽 That P&amp;R with a guard who can slash, pass and play in between with pace paired with a highly skilled big man who is great around the rim and can shoot comfortably from 15 feet. This is the co-star both guys needed. 🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/kings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kings</a> <a href="https://t.co/ngj5TdjPp0">pic.twitter.com/ngj5TdjPp0</a>
&mdash; Ball Don't Stop (@balldontstop) <a href="https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1491657233897119746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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I'll give the Kings a little credit for the auspicious stretch they've had with Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox together since that big blockbuster move. A lot of people, myself included, probably overreacted to the deal and didn't give enough thought to what Sabonis can unlock for the players around him in Sacramento. They also did a sneaky-great job turning Marvin Bagley III into three players who can help the team win now at various levels.
I still have a hard time getting over the Kings trading Tyrese Haliburton, their most promising young player and a public advocate for turning a losing culture around.&nbsp;
(Last week: 4)
4. Washington Wizards (25-30)
Kristaps Porzingis was perhaps the most shocking name to be dealt this season; his name hadn't really popped up at all until Thursday morning. While it's fair that the Wizards needed to end the Spencer Dinwiddie-Bradley Beal experiment and Porzingis makes them better purely on paper, I don't love the fit. Will he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/so-how-does-this-kristaps-porzingis-spencer-dinwiddie-davis-bertans-thing-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">make a meaningful difference for a Washington team</a> that is one of two NBA squads with bottom-five Offensive and Defensive Ratings over the past two weeks? I'm doubtful.
The Montrezl Harrell trade was also super weird because it brought back two players who probably should not be in the rotation. Washington's big mix is still backed up now with Porzingis, Daniel Gafford, Thomas Bryant and Vernon Carey Jr., plus larger forwards in Kyle Kuzma and Rui Hachimura.&nbsp;
(Last week: 2)
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
3. New York Knicks (26-31)
Whew, Saturday's blown lead to the Trail Blazers was a stinger. The Knicks led by 23 at one point before coughing up the game to a Portland team that just went through a widespread, trade-deadline fire sale. New York, meanwhile, didn't make any moves despite the glaring underperformance in recent weeks. The Knicks have two extremely winnable games against the Thunder and Brooklyn Nets before the All-Star break. If they can't find something, I'll have serious doubts about them even being close to a Play-In team.
(Last week: 5)
2. Brooklyn Nets (29-27)
In a vacuum, the Nets moved on from a disgruntled star in James Harden and returned three players who can instantly (once healthy) slot into a thin rotation. Ben Simmons makes a ton of sense as a defensive boost, Seth Curry can replace the shooting lost by Joe Harris' injury, and Andre Drummond at least gives Brooklyn a presence on the glass and center depth.
But they still gave up James Harden. Brooklyn's Big Three played 16 games together in total, and the Nets are still neck-deep in an 11-game losing streak. Things are most definitely bad.
(Last week: 1)
1. Los Angeles Lakers (26-31)
If a franchise arrives at a point in the season where <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33250361/los-angeles-lakers-feel-urgency-make-changes-trade-deadline-nears" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the locker room itself wants trades to happen</a>, then the front office should listen. But Rob Pelinka had to go all Bumi from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and embrace neutral jing &mdash; a.k.a. doing nothing. The Lakers made zero trades this season. They are the most underwhelming team in the NBA and they made zero trades.&nbsp;
(Last week: 3)
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Ethan Fuller lines up the league's biggest underperformers, including teams who failed to maximize the NBA trade deadline.

NBA Sour Rankings: Reshuffling the deck post-trade deadline

The following is a press release from the NBA:
CLEVELAND&nbsp;&ndash; Fifteen international players from 12 countries, including six international All-Stars and a record-tying four international All-Star Game starters, will participate in NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland from Friday, Feb. 18 &ndash; Sunday, Feb. 20.&nbsp; NBA All-Star 2022 will reach fans in 215 countries and territories in a record 60 languages on their televisions, computers, mobile phones and tablets.
Below are international highlights of this year&rsquo;s global celebration of basketball:
INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
<ul>
<li>The 71st NBA All-Star Game, which tips off on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, will feature six international All-Stars and a record-tying four international starters.&nbsp; Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria) and Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia) will start for Team LeBron, while Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon) and Andrew Wiggins (Golden State Warriors; Canada) will start for Team Durant.&nbsp; They are joined by Team LeBron reserve Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia) and Team Durant reserve Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz; France).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Clorox Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 18 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT, will feature a new format of four seven-player teams competing in a three-game mini-tournament, with each game played to a Final Target Score.&nbsp; The pool of 28 players includes six international players: Precious Achiuwa (Toronto Raptors; Nigeria), Chris Duarte (Indiana Pacers; Dominican Republic), Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder; Australia), Alperen Şeng&uuml;n (Houston Rockets; Turkey), Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic; Germany) and Dyson Daniels (NBA G League Ignite; Australia).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>With their participation in Clorox Rising Stars, Giddey and Daniels, who were teammates at NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, from 2019-2020, become the first NBA Academy alumni to participate in NBA All-Star.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The Taco Bell&reg; Skills Challenge, which is part of State Farm All-Star Saturday night on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, will also feature a new format in which three teams of three players will participate in a four-round competition that tests shooting, passing and dribbling ability.&nbsp; One of the teams is composed of three Antetokounmpo brothers: Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria) and Alex Antetokounmpo (NBA G League&rsquo;s Raptors 905; Greece; ties to Nigeria).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Eight players competing at NBA All-Star 2022 are from or have ties to Africa: Achiuwa, the three Antetokounmpo brothers, Desmond Bane (Memphis Grizzlies; ties to Nigeria), Ayo Dosunmu (Chicago Bulls; ties to Nigeria), Embiid and Isaac Okoro (Cleveland Cavaliers; ties to Nigeria).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>New this year, the NBA G League&rsquo;s top young players, including G League Ignite&rsquo;s Daniels and Fanbo Zeng (China), will be on display in the inaugural NBA G League Next Gem Game, which will feature G League Ignite taking on the Cleveland Charge on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. ET on NBA TV, NBA TV International, and in China on Tencent and MIGU.</li>
</ul>
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION
<ul>
<li>A total of 72 international broadcast partners will televise NBA All-Star 2022.&nbsp; Six international television and radio networks &ndash; from France, Greece, Latin America, Mongolia, Poland and Spain &ndash; will conduct live onsite commentary from Cleveland, and three television networks &ndash; from India, Netherlands and Norway &ndash; will broadcast NBA All-Star remotely for the first time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Fans outside North America will also be able to watch Clorox Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and the NBA All-Star Game live and on-demand through NBA League Pass via <a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=zoU9Gcb3YESIAP7onvjQYw&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch.NBA.com</a> and <a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=BGLjtJbUSEKZ3TxszIgasA&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the NBA App</a>.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Fans around the world will be able to vote for the MVPs of the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, Clorox Rising Stars and the NBA All-Star Game via NBA.com, the NBA App and Twitter.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>On Sunday, Feb. 20 from 11 a.m. &ndash; 2 p.m. ET, fans around the world can watch a livestream of All-Star Game players and coaches conducting media availabilities at <a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=3HYWzdXImUWzU3gUE-9O-g&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mediaavail.nba.com</a>.</li>
</ul>
CELEBRITIES &amp; INFLUENCERS
<ul>
<li>The Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which tips off on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, will feature Puerto Rican rapper and singer Anuel AA; Indian American singer/songwriter Anjali Ranadiv&eacute;; Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh; 2020 Olympic high jump gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy; and Cleveland Cavaliers Legend and Brazil native Anderson Varej&atilde;o.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Singh, who in September was named the NBA Brand Ambassador for India, will be one of more than two dozen influencers attending NBA All-Star 2022, where he will post behind-the-scenes social media content and have the opportunity to meet NBA players and legends.&nbsp; Singh will also become the second Bollywood star to play in the Celebrity Game.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Singh headlines a group of international influencers from Argentina, France, India, Japan, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, South Africa, Spain and the UK who will experience NBA All-Star 2022 in person, receiving exclusive access to the weekend&rsquo;s events and creating All-Star-themed content for fans in their home markets.</li>
</ul>
ALL-STAR CELEBRATIONS ABROAD
In addition to the events in Cleveland, fans around the world will be able to share in the excitement of NBA All-Star 2022 through a variety of international activations and programming:
<ul>
<li>In Canada, the &ldquo;NBA 75th Shop,&rdquo; a digital retail experience that pays tribute to the players and moments that have shaped the growth of basketball across the country, features a <a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=2icFrxLx0UmWFb58V9B7Vw&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">figurine depicting eight-time All-Star and Raptors Legend Vince Carter</a> at the 2000 Slam Dunk contest and an &ldquo;<a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=Ss8TfIZrIUqK4tlSdhYWOQ&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A">ice block</a>&rdquo; commemorating the 2016 Slam Dunk contest in Toronto, the first NBA All-Star held outside the U.S.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>On Feb. 18, Mexican artist Alee Baes is launching exclusive All-Star-themed merchandise and giving away 16 special-edition Wilson basketballs in collaboration with the NBA at the league&rsquo;s official retail location in Mexico, NBA Tienda in Polanco.&nbsp; The collection will also be available at <a href="https://insights.nba.com/PoliteMail/default.aspx?page=ibGQ_qNzG0KhKkx1nZQUsA&amp;ref_id=r2DLozbAkESbJ37egIWA4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nbatienda.com</a>, the league&rsquo;s official online destination in the country.&nbsp; In addition, Cavaliers Legend Anderson Varej&atilde;o is filming a number of content pieces while on site in Cleveland that will be shared on the NBA&rsquo;s social media platforms in his native Brazil.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>From Feb. 7-21, Cosmote Sport, the league&rsquo;s broadcast partner in Greece, is running a 24/7 NBA pop-up channel featuring live NBA All-Star events, original programming, classic games, highlights and more.&nbsp; Eleven Sport and beIN SPORTS, the league&rsquo;s broadcast partners in Belgium and France, respectively, are hosting competitions in which winners will attend All-Star 2022.&nbsp; In addition, the NBA Fan Clubs in Greece and Spain are organizing NBA All-Star sweepstakes and quizzes featuring merchandise giveaways and special prizes.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The league&rsquo;s social media platforms in Australia, Japan and the Philippines will produce All-Star-themed programming to promote the weekend&rsquo;s events.&nbsp; The Dime, a recap show on the NBA&rsquo;s Facebook page in Australia, will feature Australian Rising Stars participants Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels.&nbsp; NBA Zoom-In, a show on the NBA&rsquo;s TikTok channel in Japan hosted by Japanese influencer Rikuto, will preview and recap highlights from the weekend.&nbsp; Republika Huddle, the league&rsquo;s social media talk show in the Philippines, will revisit previous editions of NBA All-Star and provide predictions for this year&rsquo;s marquee events.</li>
</ul>

Fifteen international players, including six All-Stars and a record-tying four All-Star Game starters, will represent in Cleveland.