Ospreys

As the 2025 NBA Playoffs begin, the Western Conference presents no shortage of compelling narratives and unanswered questions. Each team comes in with a storyline that could define their entire postseason. From young squads making their playoff debut to experienced rosters led by superstars, here's the biggest question facing each Western Conference playoff team.
Oklahoma City Thunder &mdash; Can their historic defense carry over to the playoffs?
The Oklahoma City Thunder have fielded the league&rsquo;s best defense this season, boasting a 106.6 defensive rating &mdash; the lowest mark in the NBA and one of the best over the past decade. Anchored by a core of versatile perimeter defenders like Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, along with interior enforcer Isaiah Hartenstein and shot blocker Chet Holmgren, the Thunder built a defensive identity predicated on length, switchability, and relentless pressure.
But as history has shown, regular-season defense doesn&rsquo;t always translate to playoff dominance. Matchups become more intentional, rotations tighten, and elite scorers are given room to manipulate even the best schemes. For a team like OKC that leans heavily on team defense rather than individual stoppers, their system will be tested in a postseason series where adjustments are key. Moreover, the Thunder&rsquo;s youth &ndash; despite being a strength in the regular season &ndash; may also be a vulnerability when the game slows down and every possession is magnified.
This Thunder squad has the makings of a historically great defense, but now comes the true test: whether that same system can hold up when a superstar like Luka Doncic or Steph Curry start hunting matchups in isolation. If OKC can sustain their defensive intensity in a seven-game series, their path to a deep run remains wide open.
Houston Rockets &mdash; Will their inexperience hinder them from going too far?
After years of rebuilding, the Houston Rockets are finally back in the playoffs &mdash; and this time, with a young core brimming with talent. Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., and Amen Thompson are all making their playoff debuts, and they&rsquo;ve formed a competitive group that finished with the fifth-best defense in the league (110.3 DRtg) and earned the second seed. Their turnaround under head coach Ime Udoka has been remarkable, fueled by a defense-first identity and the emergence of Sengun as one of the best passing bigs in the league.
However, playoff basketball is a different beast. It&rsquo;s about adjustments, discipline, and poise under pressure &ndash; things young teams usually need time to learn. In their first-round matchup, the Rockets face the battle-tested Golden State Warriors, a team that features championship experience across the board. Houston&rsquo;s youth could be exposed if the moment becomes too big, especially with Golden State&rsquo;s ability to dissect inexperience through smart off-ball actions and defensive schemes.
Players like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, the Rockets&rsquo; veterans, will be counted on to provide leadership and stabilize the team when things go sideways. But this postseason will ultimately serve as a litmus test for how ready the Rockets&rsquo; young stars are to take the leap. Even if they fall short, the experience could be invaluable moving forward.
Los Angeles Lakers &mdash; How viable is their roster construction?
The Lakers shocked the league by acquiring Luka Doncic midseason, pairing him with LeBron James and Austin Reaves to form a high-powered offensive trio. Since then, they&rsquo;ve leaned heavily into small-ball, often starting lineups with Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith alongside the core trio, while Jaxson Hayes remains their only true center. First-year head coach JJ Redick has installed a modern, five-out system that prioritizes spacing and switchable defense &mdash; a style tailor-made for the postseason.
But viability is still a concern. While the offense has thrived, their defense has some slippages, particularly when LeBron and Luka are on the floor together. Their lack of rim protection and size could be exploited by teams that boast elite drivers to the rim. Additionally, the wear-and-tear of postseason play could take a toll on their aging core, especially LeBron, who is playing his 22nd season and logging heavy minutes in the postseason
Ultimately, the Lakers&rsquo; playoff ceiling hinges on whether their current roster configuration &ndash; heavy on wings, light on bigs &ndash; can hold up when the game slows down and physicality ramps up. If it works, Redick could be hailed as a tactical genius. If it doesn&rsquo;t, questions about roster balance and long-term direction will resurface.
Denver Nuggets &mdash; Do they have enough help around Nikola Jokic?
Nikola Jokic is once again doing everything for the Denver Nuggets &mdash; and doing it at an MVP level. He finished the regular season averaging a triple-double and top 3 in every major statistical category. His ability to control the game as both scorer and facilitator remains unmatched, and he remains the engine of everything Denver does offensively. But after a sluggish finish to the season, the biggest concern for the Nuggets is whether Jokic has enough help to mount another deep playoff run.
Jamal Murray has battled through injuries and hasn&rsquo;t quite looked like the same dynamic scorer from their 2023 championship run. Michael Porter Jr. has been inconsistent, while Aaron Gordon&rsquo;s offensive impact has waned due to multiple injuries. Denver&rsquo;s bench has also taken a step back this year, with limited contributions outside of Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson.
If Murray can elevate his game and Porter Jr. can knock down shots consistently, Denver remains a title threat. But the margin for error is much slimmer than last year. Jokic can only carry so much weight &ndash; the Nuggets need their supporting cast to deliver, or another early exit could be looming.
Los Angeles Clippers &mdash; Can we see James Harden and Kawhi Leonard lead this team to playoff glory?
After losing Paul George to free agency last summer, many assumed the Clippers&rsquo; title window had slammed shut. But the resurgence of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard has breathed life back into their playoff hopes. Harden has embraced the role of primary playmaker, averaging 22.8 points and 8.7 assists per game, while Leonard has quietly had one of the most efficient scoring seasons of his career in recent years, shooting 49.8% from the field and 41.1% from deep.
The Clippers finished the season strong with their offense clicking and defense holding steady. Yet the question remains &ndash; can their two stars carry them through the gauntlet of the Western Conference? Leonard&rsquo;s health has always been a question mark, and Harden&rsquo;s playoff track record has been a mixed bag at best.&nbsp;
This postseason may be one of the last chances for this iteration of the Clippers to make a real push. If Harden and Kawhi can replicate their regular-season success and stay healthy, they could make noise. Along with steady role players like Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac, the Clippers are darkhorse contenders and will be dangerous out in the West.
Minnesota Timberwolves &mdash; How will Julius Randle perform in the playoffs?
Minnesota shocked many by acquiring Julius Randle at the trade deadline, moving on from Karl-Anthony Towns in the process. The Wolves hoped that Randle, a more physical and downhill-oriented forward, would provide a better playoff fit alongside Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert. However, Randle&rsquo;s postseason history raises concerns &mdash; in 15 career playoff games, he&rsquo;s averaged just 15.6 points on 34.4% shooting from the field.
Minnesota will need more than that if they hope to build on last year&rsquo;s conference finals run. Randle must adapt his game to playoff basketball, where defenses are better prepared and isolation-heavy play often becomes less efficient. His ability to stretch the floor, make quick decisions, and play through contact will be tested, especially against elite defenses like OKC.
If Randle rises to the occasion, Minnesota could have one of the most balanced starting fives in the conference. But if he reverts to his inefficient playoff habits, the Wolves could find themselves stalling in critical moments &ndash; a risk that looms large in what could be a defining postseason for the franchise.
Golden State Warriors &mdash; How far can Jimmy Butler take them?
The Warriors made arguably the boldest trade of the deadline by acquiring Jimmy Butler from Miami, forming a star duo with Stephen Curry. Since the move, Golden State has looked rejuvenated, going on a tear to close the regular season and boasting the third-best net rating in the league during that span (+7.2). Butler&rsquo;s leadership, defense, and shot creation have given the Warriors a legitimate second option and re-energized their playoff outlook.
Butler has a proven playoff track record &ndash; he led the Heat to two Finals appearances in four years &ndash; and is widely regarded as one of the most clutch postseason performers. His fit with Golden State has been seamless, and the team&rsquo;s defense has improved significantly, ranking 6th in opponent points per game since the trade. The question is how far Butler can carry this version of the Warriors, who still lean heavily on their aging core.
If Butler can replicate his past postseason heroics and stay healthy, the Warriors have a real shot to upset higher-seeded teams and return to the Finals.
Memphis Grizzlies &mdash; Can they survive this tough season?
No team has faced more adversity this year than the Memphis Grizzlies. Between Ja Morant&rsquo;s on-court antics, injuries to key players, and coaching instability and firing, Memphis stumbled to a slump at the end of the regular season but managed to squeak into the playoffs as the 8-seed. Despite the chaos, the team has shown remarkable resilience, with Jaren Jackson Jr. and rookie Zach Edey emerging as bright spots with their improved play.
Now they face the top-seeded Thunder in a first-round matchup that few give them a chance to win. But if there&rsquo;s one thing the Grizzlies have shown, it&rsquo;s that they won&rsquo;t go down without a fight. Their defense could keep them competitive, and their physical style of play may pose problems for the Thunder.
Ultimately, the playoffs may serve more as a building block than a real title push. But if Memphis can steal a game or two &mdash; or even push OKC to the brink &mdash; it would be a testament to the team&rsquo;s grit and foundation heading into next season.

Breaking down the biggest question each Western Conference team faces heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

2025 NBA Western Conference Playoffs: Each team’s biggest question in the playoffs

For some NBA players, things don&rsquo;t click right away. But a rookie struggling is no reason to fret; most rookies in the NBA are, to put it bluntly, kind of bad. Adjusting to the size, speed and strength of NBA veterans is a tall task, but franchises understand that and will usually show patience regarding rookies.&nbsp;
Sometimes things don&rsquo;t click in year two either. Of course, teams want to see improvement in a player&rsquo;s counting statistics and feel for the game, but growing pains are expected for sophomores too. If things haven&rsquo;t clicked by year three though, alarms start to go off. When a player still looks lost on the floor &ndash; or is already on his second or third team &ndash; his future prospects start to look a little bleak.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s why the stories of Dennis Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn are massively impressive. Both are former top-10 picks who lasted less than two years with the teams that drafted them (the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively). They have each been waived, overlooked and altogether neglected. But now, Smith and Dunn have found homes with teams that expect legitimate production from them this season &ndash; and maybe beyond.&nbsp;
Smith signed a one-year, $2.5-million deal with the Brooklyn Nets this summer and he will serve as the team&rsquo;s backup point guard, leading a second unit that will also include Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O&rsquo;Neale &ndash; and has some serious potential for excitement on the defensive end. Dunn, meanwhile, just had his 2023-24 contract guaranteed by the Jazz and will almost certainly get regular minutes in Utah&rsquo;s backcourt.&nbsp;
For DSJ, this is all happening about 18 months after he was cut from an actively tanking Portland Trail Blazers team when an elbow injury sidelined him for a few weeks. A midseason waiving by one of the league&rsquo;s worst teams certainly feels like the metaphorical closing of a curtain that could signal the end of a player&rsquo;s career.
Less than a month before the 2022-23 season, though, the Charlotte Hornets signed Smith to a one-year deal. The signing was mostly out of necessity, as the Hornets didn&rsquo;t have a point guard to back up LaMelo Ball &ndash; but it was a deal nonetheless. If there was ever an example of &ldquo;last, last chance,&rdquo; this was it.&nbsp;
Back in his home state, Smith showed from day one that he wasn&rsquo;t going to let this be the end of the line, becoming one of the best guard defenders in the entire league last season. He was in the 95th percentile for deflections per 36 minutes (via CraftedNBA), fifth in the entire league in steal rate (2.6%) and opposing teams averaged 10.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when&nbsp;
Smith was on the floor. That can&rsquo;t all be attributed to him, of course, but that number in conjunction with other defensive stats show just how important Smith was to Charlotte&rsquo;s (surprisingly) stout defense.&nbsp;
Smith showed flashes of defensive brilliance long before last season; here he is in 2018 locking up Paul George on a crucial crunch time possession.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
HOLY DEFENSE DENNIS SMITH JR. <a href="https://t.co/KEwMsLiQmT">pic.twitter.com/KEwMsLiQmT</a>
&mdash; Nick Angstadt (@NickVanExit) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickVanExit/status/1079563179171201024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
But his complete buy-in on that side of the ball in 2022-23 is what solidified Smith as someone who will more than likely stick around for years to come. Stops like this one against Stephen Curry became the norm for DSJ.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
HORNETS beat the WARRIORS! Dennis Smith Jr had 13/9/8 &amp; forced OT with this bucket &amp; defense on Steph Curry <a href="https://t.co/2pCMn4eltC">pic.twitter.com/2pCMn4eltC</a>
&mdash; Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1586532732380753920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
Stifling defense wasn&rsquo;t the only reason Smith earned another contract though; he posted the lowest turnover rate of his career and the best assist-to-turnover ratio of his career too. His own shooting splits weren&rsquo;t pretty (47.5% true shooting), but Smith protected the ball and made enough things happen for his teammates that calling him a defensive specialist feels like a disservice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The man with a vision🤞 <a href="https://twitter.com/Dennis1SmithJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dennis1SmithJr</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/PJWashington?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PJWashington</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/HornetsOnBally?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HornetsOnBally</a> <a href="https://t.co/XPbrrP6J8Y">pic.twitter.com/XPbrrP6J8Y</a>
&mdash; Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) <a href="https://twitter.com/hornets/status/1594493295799173120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
Dunn&rsquo;s career has been just as big of a roller coaster as Smith&rsquo;s. After just one season in Minnesota, he was essentially a throw-in piece of the Zach LaVine-to-Chicago-Bulls trade on draft night in 2017.&nbsp;
He spent three years with Chicago, showing some promise in his first season there. But his production declined over the next two seasons, and the Bulls let him walk after the 2020 season. Short stints in Memphis, Atlanta and Portland were discouraging too, and Dunn was teamless throughout most of the 2022-23 season. It looked like the end.&nbsp;
Shortly after an opportunity presented itself for Smith, Dunn was also given a chance to redeem himself. Dunn was playing in the G League when he got the call from the Jazz, who were basically just looking for a healthy body to provide backcourt depth after Collin Sexton went down with an injury. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Former No. 5 overall pick Kris Dunn is signing a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, sources tell me and <a href="https://twitter.com/Tjonesonthenba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tjonesonthenba</a>. Dunn, a six-year NBA veteran, has played for Capital City Go-Go in G League this season.
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1628105973561974784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
However, Dunn was much more than just a healthy body. He scored in double figures in his first seven games with Utah, while also averaging almost two steals per game. Overall, he posted counting stats of 13.2 points, 5.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 53.7% from the floor. His turnover rate &ndash; a big problem in all of his stops &ndash; was at a career low 11.0% too.
These weren&rsquo;t just empty stats or &ldquo;gimme&rdquo; buckets either. Dunn was creating for both himself and others at a pretty high level in his 22 games with Utah. (A small sample size, but still impressive). Only 25% of his buckets were assisted, putting him in the 87th percentile among point guards &ndash; AKA Ja Morant, De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and James Harden territory.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
kris dunn is shooting 97.13% on really difficult-looking layups since joining the jazz. don't bother fact-checking this. it's incredibly accurate. you can tell because i went out two decimal places and everything. <a href="https://t.co/TtUptfzc01">pic.twitter.com/TtUptfzc01</a>
&mdash; Dan Favale (@danfavale) <a href="https://twitter.com/danfavale/status/1644803650236153863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
That flare for creation carried over to the preseason as well:&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Well this is tough stuff from Kris Dunn <a href="https://t.co/ZsflOF2Jq6">pic.twitter.com/ZsflOF2Jq6</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1713579298282475566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
Smith and Dunn&rsquo;s late-blooming nature brings a few things to mind.&nbsp;
Firstly, it exemplifies just how talented the NBA is right now. Smith was solid enough in his short tenure with Portland, and it was an injury that got him cut &ndash; a move that was pretty darn close to ending his NBA career.&nbsp;
The margins are so thin around the edges of the league that a ton of NBA-caliber players are left without teams &ndash; forced to battle for an incredibly small number of roster spots. Is this a good thing? Well, an excess of talent is a better problem to have than a dearth of talent, and the NBA does deserve some credit for investing in the G League and giving it the resources necessary to become a legitimate minor league system. So&hellip; kind of.&nbsp;
Secondly, it raises a question about how patient teams should be when trying to develop players. How patient should teams be? Because at first glance, paying players who haven&rsquo;t proven much of anything on the court seems a little reductive. But the NBA may have reached a point where there are enough examples of guys developing into good, productive players three-plus years into their career that extending guys based on upside might become as common as drafting them for upside.&nbsp;
If teams fully embrace the development of players rather than giving up when the development is actually an intensive process, it could pay dividends. But it&rsquo;s certainly a risk &ndash; doubling down on a player because of their perceived ceiling could look pretty bad if he never turns into that guy.
Regardless, we could be watching that shift happen already. In recent days, players like Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets) and Deni Avdija (Washington Wizards) signed contract extensions with the teams that drafted them. Both are highly talented to be sure, but neither has blossomed into the player they were drafted to be &ndash; hence, they mostly got extended based on their untapped potential, not what they&rsquo;ve shown on the court thus far.&nbsp;
But no matter what Dennis Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn&rsquo;s success stories say about the NBA &ndash; if anything at all &ndash; these guards are two of the best stories in the NBA this season. Brooklyn and Utah are reaping the rewards of two journeymen who have finally started to become the players that teams wanted them to be from the start.

After being waived and nearly seeing their NBA careers come to an end, Dennis Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn bounced back in a major way.

Dennis Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn are NBA's paragons of persistence

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

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

NBA Atlantic Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving wants to run it back with Luka Doncic.
The enigmatic guard and the Dallas Mavericks agreed Friday on a $126 million, three-year contract in the opening hour of NBA free agency, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because contracts can&rsquo;t be signed until Thursday.
The person said the Mavericks also had an agreement on a two-year deal with guard Seth Curry, who is set for his third stint with the club.
Irving, who wouldn&rsquo;t talk about his future during his partial season with Dallas and declined to meet with reporters after the season, appeared to reference&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving/status/1674933191386202113?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his decision to return in a one-word tweet</a>&nbsp;with &ldquo;peace&rdquo; and &ldquo;love&rdquo; emojis.
The Mavericks paired All-Star starters for the first time in franchise history by adding Irving in a blockbuster deal with Brooklyn last February, but stumbled down the stretch to miss the playoffs for the first time since Doncic was a rookie in 2018-19.
Dallas was in the middle of the postseason chase when Irving joined the club, but the eight-time All-Star and Doncic, a four-time choice, were just 5-11 together with both missing multiple games because of injuries.
The Mavericks won their first two games with Irving but went 7-18 the rest of the way and couldn&rsquo;t even make the play-in tournament a year after reaching the Western Conference finals.
Irving originally had been offered an extension by the Nets last summer, before their relationship fell apart and Irving asked to be dealt.
General manager Nico Harrison&rsquo;s second blockbuster deal for Dallas didn&rsquo;t provide the spark of his first &mdash; a 2022 trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington and gave the Mavs a key playoff contributor in Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie was one of two players Dallas sent the Nets, as was defensive stalwart Dorian Finney-Smith. Defense was high on the list of reasons the two-month trial of Doncic and Irving didn&rsquo;t work.
Doncic has three years remaining before the player option on the $215 million rookie max extension he signed two summers ago. He said after the season he wants to see where the superstar pairing can go.
&ldquo;I wish we could continue that chemistry, relationship,&rdquo; said Doncic, who finished second in the scoring race at a career-best 32.4 points per game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to happen in a day, in a week. It&rsquo;s a building process.&rdquo;
Dallas&rsquo; tumultuous season ended under the&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/mavericks-playoffs-nba-investigation-tanking-7ac5f76590adafd9df1c7c590a78d346" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cloud of an NBA investigation</a>&nbsp;after Irving didn&rsquo;t play and Doncic was limited to the first quarter when the Mavs still had play-in hopes with two games remaining.
The 31-year-old Irving and Doncic both sat for a meaningless season finale after a&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/mavericks-bulls-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-3389c5065a65f8e73d13ce67bcd38720" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss to Chicago in the game in question</a>&nbsp;eliminated the Mavs a season after they went to the Western Conference finals.
The 0-2 finish helped Dallas retain the 10th pick in the draft, which the Mavs parlayed into a pair of first-round picks in Duke center Dereck Lively II at No. 12 overall and Marquette&rsquo;s Olivier-Maxence Prosper at 24. Had Dallas dropped to 11th or lower, the pick would have gone to the New York Knicks.
Before the trade, Irving spent three-plus seasons in Brooklyn dealing mostly with self-induced drama.
Irving missed almost all of the home games in 2021-22 because he wouldn&rsquo;t get vaccinated against COVID-19, and missed eight games early last season after the team suspended him after he tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material. Nike ended its relationship with Irving over the tweet.
Days after sending Irving to the Mavericks, the Nets traded Kevin Durant to Phoenix in another blockbuster as the celebrated Brooklyn pairing ended with a whimper &mdash; and just one playoff series victory.
Curry, the younger brother of Golden State superstar Stephen Curry, kick-started his career the first time he was with the Mavs in 2016-17, three years after entering the NBA as an undrafted free agent.
He averaged 12.8 points in 70 games after playing just 50 games in his career before that, then spent one season in Portland before having another solid year in Dallas.
Curry left again in free agency in 2020, signing with Philadelphia. He then joined Irving in Brooklyn when he was dealt as part of the trade that sent James Harden to the 76ers and Ben Simmons to the Nets in 2022.

Kyrie Irving is running it back with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.

Kyrie Irving agrees to stay with Mavs, Doncic on a $126 million, 3-year deal

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Tobias Harris had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame the absence of Joel Embiid to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs.
James Harden added 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the third-seeded 76ers, who will wait for the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics have a 2-1 lead.
The 76ers hope Embiid will be recover from his sprained right knee in time for the start of the next series; the MVP finalist and two-time NBA scoring champion was ruled out Friday night and the 76ers struggled to score without him.
So they turned to their defense, and ended up outscoring the Nets 21-4 during a stretch of more than eight minutes in the third quarter.
Tyrese Maxey finished a strong series with 16 points and Paul Reed added 10 points and 15 rebounds after replacing Embiid in the starting lineup.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 20 points and Nic Claxton had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who were swept for the second straight year and have lost 10 straight postseason games. They went 0-8 this season against the 76ers.
Embiid went to the locker room early in Game 3 and was limping a couple times later in the game, but had a blocked shot to preserve a two-point lead with 8.8 seconds left and said afterward he was OK. But coach Doc Rivers said Embiid was complaining of soreness behind his knee and already had swelling shortly after the game. An MRI exam revealed the sprain.
Dorian Finney-Smith&rsquo;s 3-pointer two minutes into the third quarter made it 53-42, matching the Nets&rsquo; largest lead of the game. But Harden and P.J. Tucker hit consecutive 3s to get the Sixers started on what became a 14-0 run that made it 56-53 on Reed&rsquo;s basket.
Maxey&rsquo;s 3-pointer extended it to 63-57 with 1:49 remaining in the period, capping the Nets&rsquo; lengthy drought that would have seemed unimaginable when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn.
They were both dealt at midseason, and this team went down just as quickly as the one they led last season, when Brooklyn was also the first team eliminated after getting swept by Boston.
Embiid averaged only 20 points in the series, 13 below his NBA-leading average of 33.1, as the Nets heavily double-teamed him.
But those double-teams were leaving open looks for their guards that weren&rsquo;t available Saturday, and the Sixers were just 2 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half as the Nets led 48-40.
But the 76ers limited them to 40 points in the second half and eventually pulled away to a 14-point lead as the cheers of the Sixers fans in the building grew louder.
TIP-INS
76ers: Philadelphia&rsquo;s eight-game winning streak against Brooklyn in the playoffs is its second-longest ever against an opponent. The 76ers beat the New York Knicks 10 straight times in the early 1980s.
Nets: The Nets fell to 0-7 all-time at home against the 76ers in the postseason. ... Patty Mills played for the first time in the series, going scoreless in five minutes. ... Brooklyn&rsquo;s last playoff win remains Game 5 against Milwaukee in the 2021 East semifinals.
DREADED LETTERS
Rivers said he doesn&rsquo;t worry when he sees Embiid appear to be hurting, as he was at times during Game 3. His concerns begin when he is told the medical staff wants to do an MRI exam.
&ldquo;As a coach I hate that word, I hate those three letters. I mean, because it never comes out well,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;It just feels like that whenever they tell a coach, &lsquo;Hey, we&rsquo;re going to get an MRI,&rsquo; it doesn&rsquo;t turn out well most of the time and this one did not.&rdquo;

The 76ers beat the Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs.

76ers finish sweep of Nets without Embiid in 96-88 win

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said he didn&rsquo;t expect the trade for Kyrie Irving to spark a playoff run the way his first blockbuster move did a year earlier.
Missing the postseason completely started the clock early for the Mavs in their attempt to re-sign Irving in free agency and see how the pairing with fellow All-Star Luka Doncic looks long-term.
The exit interview with Irving was Monday, the day after the season ended under the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-opens-tanking-investigation-after-mavericks-rested-starters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cloud of an NBA investigation</a>. The league announced the probe after Irving didn&rsquo;t play and Doncic was limited to the first quarter when Dallas still had a chance to make the play-in tournament with two games remaining.
Irving and Doncic both sat for a meaningless season finale after a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mavericks-fall-to-bulls-eliminated-from-playin-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss to Chicago in the game in question</a>&nbsp;eliminated the Mavs a season after they went to the Western Conference finals.
Harrison said Tuesday he didn&rsquo;t know much about the NBA&rsquo;s investigation and wouldn&rsquo;t comment further. The 0-2 finish by Dallas put the club in the best position possible to keep a first-round pick that otherwise will go to the New York Knicks from Dallas&rsquo; 2019 trade for Kristaps Porzingis.
The second-year GM wasn&rsquo;t much more enlightening on the topics of Irving&rsquo;s future and the mindset of Doncic, who openly expressed his frustration with a losing season and said off-court issues were taking away his joy for the game.
&ldquo;Had a great conversation,&rdquo; Harrison said of his postseason meeting with Irving, an enigmatic eight-time All-Star acquired in February after telling Brooklyn he wanted to be traded. The move ended a drama-filled stint with the Nets.
&ldquo;I think the things that he said along the way about how he feels here, how he feels appreciated, how he feels accepted and allowed to be himself,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;I think those are the things that he&rsquo;s said kind of consistently, and that&rsquo;s what gives me the optimism that he wants to be here.&rdquo;
Doncic said he didn&rsquo;t agree with, but understood, the decision to sit Irving and four other regulars on the night he played before coming out a few seconds into the second quarter of a 115-112 loss to the Bulls, when a rag-tag bunch of reserves couldn&rsquo;t hold an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The 24-year-old said in his season-ending interview he was happy in Dallas, and Harrison said he didn&rsquo;t go to sleep at night worried about Doncic&rsquo;s future because the four-time All-Star has three years left before a player option kicks in on the $215 million rookie supermax contract he signed two years ago.
Still, there&rsquo;s the question of keeping Doncic happy in Dallas with plenty of recent scenarios around the league of unhappy superstars forcing their way out.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what keeping Luka happy here means,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;If you win, then I&rsquo;m assuming he&rsquo;s going to be happy. If we win and he&rsquo;s not happy, then I wouldn&rsquo;t know how to keep him happy. So I think the goal is to win. I&rsquo;m assuming that works. It will work for me.&rdquo;
Before the 2022 trade deadline, Harrison sent Porzingis to Washington in a deal that brought Spencer Dinwiddie to Dallas. Dinwiddie was an important piece of the run to the West finals, but he went to the Nets along with defensive ace Dorian Finney-Smith in the deal for Irving.
Harrison said the difference between the outcomes in the two trades was the Mavs were already on a roll when they made the move last year. This year, a team that couldn&rsquo;t find the same defensive formula got even worse on that end without Finney-Smith, and never found traction.
Doncic and Irving were 5-11 together, with each missing multiple games because of injuries. After winning their first two games with Irving, the Mavs went 7-18 the rest of the way.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know if this would be like a magic pill. I don&rsquo;t think I had any visions of that,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;But I figured it couldn&rsquo;t be worse than what it was. I also looked at it as a long-term play, not a short-term play.&rdquo;
That part is next for Harrison and owner Mark Cuban.

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said he didn’t expect the trade for Kyrie Irving to spark a playoff run.

Mavs GM Harrison stays guarded on NBA probe, Irving, Doncic

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; The Brooklyn Nets made sure a season that started turbulently will end in the playoffs.
Not only that, they did it with a better record and seeding than last season, even after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
&ldquo;This group just endured,&rdquo; coach Jacque Vaughn said. &ldquo;I mean, we chose to be courageous over comfort many times and that&rsquo;s hard to do in this league.&rdquo;
Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and the Nets, shortly after clinching the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat the Orlando Magic 101-84 on Friday night.
The Nets no longer needed the victory by the time the game was over, having wrapped up a playoff spot when Miami lost at Washington while their game was in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn earned the final guaranteed spot in the East and will face the No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
First, those teams meet on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn for what is now a meaningless regular-season finale.
The Nets lost their star power when they dealt Durant and Irving in February. But the players they brought back have recent postseason success, with Bridges and Cam Johnson playing for Phoenix in the 2021 NBA Finals, and Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith helping Dallas reach the West finals last year.
&ldquo;Now again, we have to come together, new system, new city, all of the other stuff, so it&rsquo;s not going to be an easy task by any stretch and they have the probable MVP (Joel Embiid),&rdquo; Dinwiddie said of the 76ers. &rdquo;So again, like I said, there&rsquo;s an appropriate respect, give Philly their credit, but at the same time we do feel like we belong in that arena.&rdquo;
Bridges was 1 for 12 from 3-point range and fellow starting guard Dinwiddie was 0 for 6 on a night both teams were miserable behind the arc. But Johnson scored 18 points, Nic Claxton finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Dinwiddie had 14 assists and seven rebounds.
The Nets replaced coach Steve Nash with Vaughn after starting 1-5, traded Durant and Irving within days of each other and got a disappointing, injury-shortened season out of Ben Simmons.
Despite all that, Brooklyn fared better than last season. The Nets improved to 45-36 after going 44-38 in 2021-22, when they had to win a play-in game to get the No. 7 seed before being swept by Boston in the first round.
Cole Anthony had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Magic. Goga Bitadze added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
After being eliminated from contention for a play-in spot Tuesday with a loss to Cleveland in the opener of a two-game series, the Magic sat all of their starters while losing the second game Thursday. They kept No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero out again Friday but started regulars Franz Wagner and Markelle Fultz.
The Nets blew it open in the second quarter, with an 11-0 spurt to open the period pushing a four-point lead to 38-23. It grew to 46-28 when Seth Curry made his second four-point play of the period &mdash; giving him eight points on just two field goals &mdash; and would reach 24 before the Nets took a 58-39 lead to the break.
&ldquo;When they broke that lead open, it was a lot of turnovers and a lot of fouls,&rdquo; coach Jamahl Mosley said. &ldquo;So I think the more we can focus on being able to take care of the basketball and defend without fouling, those will continue to be our keys.&rdquo;
It was 78-62 entering the fourth, matching the fewest points the Nets allowed through three quarters this season.
Brooklyn was 9 for 42 (21.4%) on 3s and Orlando finished 7 for 38 (18.4%).
TIP-INS
Magic: Wagner scored 12 points. ... Orlando has lost 15 of its last 19 games in Brooklyn.
Nets: Curry scored 13 points. ... The Nets converted the deal for guard David Duke Jr. into a standard NBA contract. Terms were not released. He has appeared in 22 games off the bench for Brooklyn this season . ... The Nets finished 16-2 against the Southeast Division.
GOOD FRIDAY
The Nets finished 12-2 on Friday, the best record in the NBA on that day.
UP NEXT
Magic: At Miami on Sunday.
Nets: Host Philadelphia on Sunday.

Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and the Nets, shortly after clinching the No. 6 seed, beat the Orlando Magic 101-84 on Friday night.

Nets beat Magic 101-84, will be No. 6 seed in East playoffs

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; While Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says re-signing Kyrie Irving is the team&rsquo;s top offseason priority, he doesn&rsquo;t view it as a &ldquo;Kyrie or bust&rdquo; scenario.
The billionaire businessman who has stayed mostly silent on Mavericks matters this season also is showing support for coach Jason Kidd with the team currently outside the playoff picture a year after going to the Western Conference finals in Kidd&rsquo;s Dallas debut.
Cuban held a rare session with reporters before Wednesday&rsquo;s 123-119 victory over Sacramento that kept alive the Mavs&rsquo; hopes of getting the final play-in spot as the 10th seed in the West.
Dallas gambled with the blockbuster deal for Irving before the trade deadline in February despite his expiring contract, giving the franchise its first pair of All-Star starters with Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks have slipped in the standings since then, in part because of injuries to both stars, but Cuban maintains the move was made for the long term. Still, Cuban stopped short of declaring Irving&rsquo;s return a must.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not Kyrie or bust, but we want to keep him,&rdquo; said Cuban, who used to speak to reporters routinely before games before locker room access changed several years ago. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m done giving ultimatums on players like I did last year.&rdquo;
He referred to the Mavs losing Doncic sidekick Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks in free agency last summer, when Cuban confidently declared they would be able to keep him because they could pay him more. Brunson and the Knicks are safely in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
While Cuban took the blame for misfiring with roster construction, he fought back against suggestions from Brunson&rsquo;s camp that the Mavs passed on a chance to give Brunson an extension before the 2022 trade deadline. Cuban said there were no negotiations with Brunson&rsquo;s representatives last summer.
Cuban said on top of the loss of Brunson, he underestimated the effect of the new &ldquo;take&rdquo; rule that significantly reduced the number of fouls to prevent fast breaks. He said the Mavs haven&rsquo;t kept up with the faster game defensively.
As a result, Cuban said, the blame shouldn&rsquo;t be on Kidd and his staff for the team being in danger of missing the postseason entirely a year after the club&rsquo;s first deep playoff run since winning the 2011 championship.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s J-Kidd&rsquo;s problem that we didn&rsquo;t have an identity,&rdquo; Cuban said. &ldquo;The game changed in ways we didn&rsquo;t expect it to change. So I blew it. It was on me personally because the game changed in terms of the &lsquo;take&rsquo; fouls and the speed of the game and where you need to be defensively.&rdquo;
Cuban said the Mavericks never intended for Doncic and Irving to be the heartbeat of the defense, so the challenge will be finding those complementary pieces in the offseason.
That&rsquo;s with the owner presuming he can convince Irving to stick around. Cuban was noncommittal on contract terms because of uncertainty over rules in the new labor deal.
&ldquo;I want him to stay for sure, and I think we have a good shot,&rdquo; Cuban said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s happy here. He told me he&rsquo;s happy here.&rdquo;
Irving&rsquo;s three-plus seasons in Brooklyn were filled with controversy, including him not being able to play many home games because he wouldn&rsquo;t get vaccinated against COVID-19 and criticism when he tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material. Nike ended its relationship with Irving over the tweet.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a good guy,&rdquo; Cuban said. &ldquo;All I can tell you is everything I knew about Kyrie because of everything I read is 100% wrong. I get emails from people all the time. I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Do you know the guy?&rsquo; Once you get to know the guy, I like him. He&rsquo;s not like every guy. He&rsquo;s not like every athlete. And to me, that&rsquo;s a positive.&rdquo;
To get Irving, the Mavericks gave up their best defensive player, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Spencer Dinwiddie, an important scorer who joined Dallas in the trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington. Dallas also surrendered an unprotected 2029 first-round pick.
Entering Friday&rsquo;s home game against Chicago, Doncic and Irving are 5-11 when playing together. Each has missed time with injuries. Cuban is comfortable they&rsquo;ve shown enough together to be a formidable pairing.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the best offensive rating I think with those two guys when they play together,&rdquo; Cuban said. &ldquo;We could not find a way to get stops in close games. I don&rsquo;t think you can point to any one thing, but we&rsquo;ll have to make changes, obviously, to be able to get better defensively.&rdquo;
Lurking behind the more immediate question of Irving&rsquo;s contract is the future of Doncic. The 24-year-old from Slovenia has three more years on his $215 million rookie supermax contract before a player option for the 2026-27 season.
Cuban won&rsquo;t concern himself over whether Doncic will be another Dirk Nowitzki, who set an NBA record by spending all 21 of his seasons in Dallas.
&ldquo;Players don&rsquo;t talk like that, &lsquo;Hey, I&rsquo;ll be here for the next 17 years,&rsquo;&rdquo; Cuban said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d like to be here the whole time, but we&rsquo;ve got to earn that.&rdquo;

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says re-signing Kyrie Irving is the team’s top goal, but he doesn’t view it as a “Kyrie or bust” scenario.

Mavs’ Cuban says keeping Irving is priority, supports Kidd

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Anthony Edwards scored 23 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the Brooklyn Nets 107-102 on Tuesday night.
Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Mike Conley scored 18 points, nine in the fourth quarter.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 30 points and six assists, Mikal Bridges scored 24 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who had their three-game win streak snapped. Their lead over Miami for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference was cut to one game after the Heat&rsquo;s 118-105 victory in Detroit.
Similar to their first meeting, a 124-123 Nets win, the teams traded momentum in the game, which featured 24 lead changes and eight ties. But Minnesota shot 53% in the fourth quarter, and Towns gave the Timberwolves the lead for good when he made a pair of free throws with a minute remaining.
Dinwiddie had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but it hit the back rim.
Minnesota&rsquo;s length wreaked havoc on Brooklyn&rsquo;s offense early, and the Nets shot just 29% in the first quarter. Towns had six points, eight rebounds and four assists in the period, and the Wolves led 31-24 after one.
The Nets found their shooting touch in the second quarter, especially from the outside, where they made 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Finney-Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers in Brooklyn&rsquo;s 11-0 run, and the Nets outscored Minnesota 30-20 in the second, taking a three-point halftime lead.
Brooklyn outscored Minnesota 26-10 over a span of 9:46 between the second and third quarters. The Nets scored the first eight points of the third, building their largest lead, 62-51.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Gobert&rsquo;s double-double was his 34th of the season. &hellip;. Towns (right calf strain) was listed as questionable but played. Guards Jaylen Nowell (left knee tendinopathy) and Austin Rivers (illness) and forward Naz Reid (left scaphoid fracture) were inactive.
Nets: Bridges was named Eastern Conference player of the week Monday after averaging 33 points and 5.7 rebounds over three Nets wins. He entered play averaging 27.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.2 minutes per game in 23 games since the Nets acquired him from Phoenix on Feb. 9. &hellip; Brooklyn entered play with the NBA&rsquo;s lowest opposing free-throw percentage in home games (74.4%). Minnesota went 17 for 22 from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: At San Antonio on Saturday.
Nets: At Detroit on Wednesday.&nbsp;

Anthony Edwards scored 23 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists to help Minnesota snap a skid.

Edwards, Towns help Wolves edge Nets 107-102, end skid at three

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges remembers when he couldn&rsquo;t even score 30 points in a game.
These days he surpasses 40, giving the Nets the scoring that seemed lost when they traded Kevin Durant in the deal that brought Bridges to Brooklyn.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just, I&rsquo;m really trying to win,&rdquo; Bridges said, &ldquo;so every shot I take I&rsquo;m being aggressive and trying to make every shot I shoot.&rdquo;
Bridges scored 42 points and the Nets increased their lead for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Atlanta Hawks 124-107 on Friday night.
Dorrian Finney-Smith added 19 points in his best game with the Nets, who led by only four at halftime before outscoring the Hawks 42-24 in the third quarter to open a 101-79 lead. Brooklyn moved two games ahead of idle Miami for the No. 6 spot with five games to play.
Bridges surpassed 40 points for the second time in three games and the third time since coming to the Nets in February. He finished March with 461 points, the second-highest total by a Nets player in their NBA franchise history in a month behind the 471 scored by Durant last November.
Cam Johnson, also part of the Durant trade, had 16 points. The Nets won for the third time in four games following a five-game skid that had dropped them behind the Heat into seventh place. The teams who finish between 7-10 have to go through the play-in tournament to reach the postseason.
&ldquo;Even though we were losing, we felt like we were coming together as a team,&rdquo; Finney-Smith said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been in that many battles together, but we&rsquo;re still learning each and other and we&rsquo;re figuring it out.&rdquo;
The Hawks remained tied for the No. 8 spot with Toronto. Atlanta could have pulled within a game of Miami.
But the Hawks never gave themselves a chance after going just 8 for 37 from 3-point range and getting outscored 76-46 in the middle two quarters after leading by eight after one.
Dejounte Murray scored 21 points for the Hawks, who had a tough time with New York traffic and perhaps left their legs on the bus. Trae Young had 10 points and six assists, going 3 for 12 and missing all five 3-pointers.
Bridges&rsquo; three-point play with 8:45 left in the third quarter gave Brooklyn a 69-58 lead, the first double-digit advantage by either team. The Nets had doubled that lead about 4 1/2 minutes later when another basket by Bridges made it 91-71.
Bridges finished off the quarter by scoring the final seven points as the lead ballooned by 22. He finished 16 for 24 from the field, 5 for 8 on 3-pointers.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been efficient forever. He&rsquo;s made those 3s, he&rsquo;s just more aggressive right now because he has to be and it&rsquo;s a credit to him,&rdquo; said Hawks coach Quin Snyder, who went against Bridges often when he coached Utah.
The Hawks led 33-25 after one, then missed all nine 3-point attempts and shot 29% overall in the second quarter. The Nets outscored them 34-22 to take a 59-55 edge to the break.
TIP-INS
Hawks: De&rsquo;Andre Hunter missed the game with soreness in his left knee. ... Jalen Johnson had six points after missing the previous five games with a strained left hamstring.
Nets: Brooklyn improved to 11-2 on Fridays, the NBA&rsquo;s best record this season on that day. ... Nic Claxton had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
BIG DAY FOR THE MINOR LEAGUERS
Shortly after Ronnie Burrell was announced as the NBA G League Coach of the Year early Friday, his Long Island Nets beat the Cleveland Charge 111-107 to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said he called Burrell, who was on the Brooklyn staff in 2018-19, after the game to congratulate him.
&ldquo;I was here when Ronnie was with us previously and to see his growth, him lead that team, to see how well our guys are playing and how they&rsquo;ve developed, you give him a lot of credit for that,&rdquo; Vaughn said. &ldquo;And good thing they won today, too.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Dallas on Sunday night.
Nets: Host Utah on Sunday.

Mikal Bridges scored 42 points and the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Atlanta Hawks 124-107 on Friday night.

Mikal Bridges has 42, Nets rout Hawks to boost lead for No. 6 seed

Drake&rsquo;s Tucker DeVries was an interested spectator when the father-son team of Greg McDermott and Doug McDermott helped Creighton make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014.
DeVries&rsquo; father, Darian, was an assistant on Greg McDermott&rsquo;s Creighton staff back then as Doug McDermott led the nation in scoring and earned national player of the year honors. Now it&rsquo;s Darian DeVries who will be coaching his son on the March Madness stage.
Tucker DeVries is the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year after turning down some high-major offers to enroll at Drake. DeVries said watching the McDermotts helped give him an idea of what it might be like to play for his dad.
&ldquo;I think there was a lot to be learned from, being able to experience and see how that relationship worked,&rdquo; the sophomore guard/forward said. &ldquo;Part of what went into me wanting to come and play for my dad here is being able to have a little taste of that myself.&rdquo;
So far, it&rsquo;s been just about everything DeVries could have imagined.
DeVries averages 19 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and he has shot 38.7% (87 of 225) from 3-point range. He was named the most outstanding player in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
&ldquo;I grew up at Creighton my whole life,&rdquo; DeVries said. &ldquo;When they decided to recruit me, it was tough to turn that down &ndash; playing in the Big East where I grew up. Iowa State, 45 minutes away. Oregon. Just some of those schools are obviously schools you grow up watching on TV, dreaming about playing for. But I don&rsquo;t think any of them had what was home for me here.&rdquo;
Now he has the chance to find out what it&rsquo;s like to play for his father in the NCAA Tournament. Drake (27-7) is the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region and will face Miami (25-7) on Friday.
&ldquo;To be able to experience it with my dad as a coach is definitely pretty cool and special &ndash; to be able to experience it together,&rdquo; DeVries said.
DeVries is one of several players from one-bid conferences who bear watching this week. Here&rsquo;s a look at some others.
MAX ABMAS, ORAL ROBERTS
Abmas already has shown he can make an impact in March. Abmas averaged 26.8 points in the 2021 NCAA Tournament while leading Oral Roberts to the Sweet 16. This season, the 6-foot senior ranks seventh among all Division I players in points per game (22.2) and sixth in 3-pointers per game (3.5). The two-time Summit League player of the year has scored over 22 points per game each of the last three seasons. First-round game: Thursday vs. Duke.
JORDAN BROWN, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
Brown isn&rsquo;t the typical under-the-radar recruit who ends up at a mid-major program. The 6-foot-11 forward was a 2018 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American. He began his college career at Nevada and was a Pac-12 sixth man of the year at Arizona last season before transferring to his third school. Brown earned first-team all-Sun Belt honors while averaging 19.4 points and 8.7 rebounds, including 20 points in a loss to Texas. First-round game: Thursday vs. Tennessee.
SINCERE CARRY, KENT STATE
Carry has earned first-team all-Mid American Conference honors and has made the league&rsquo;s all-defensive team each of the last two seasons. He was named MAC player of the year last season. He has averaged over 17 &frac12; points each of the last two seasons at Kent State after transferring from Duquesne. The 6-1 guard has scored at least 21 points in four of his last five games. First-round game: Friday vs. Indiana.
RAY HARRISON, GRAND CANYON
Harrison helped Grand Canyon get here by collecting 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against Southern Utah in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game. The 6-4 guard has scored at least 25 points in four of his last six games. Harrison, a Presbyterian transfer, has averaged at least 17 points each of the last three seasons. He has 17.7 points, 4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season. First-round game: Friday vs. Gonzaga.
DREW PEMBER, UNC ASHEVILLE
This Tennessee transfer has emerged as a star in two seasons at UNC Asheville. This year, he became the first player to lead the Big South in scoring (20.4), rebounding (9.2) and blocks (2.3) in one season. Pember leads all Division I players in free throws made (262) and attempted (314). The 6-11 forward averaged 29.7 points and 11.3 rebounds in three Big South Tournament games. First-round game: Thursday vs. UCLA.
TUCKER RICHARDSON, COLGATE
Richardson had a triple-double in the Patriot League Tournament championship game with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Colgate defeated Lafayette, 79-61. The 6-5 guard was named the Patriot League&rsquo;s overall player of the year and defensive player of the year. He&rsquo;s the first player in league history to combine 1,600 career points, 700 rebounds and 600 assists. Richardson had 15 points and seven rebounds last year in an NCAA Tournament loss to Wisconsin. First-round game: Thursday vs. Texas.

Here’s a look a seven of the best players from mid-major schools participating in the 2023 Men's NCAA Tournament.

Drake’s DeVries among 7 under-the-radar March Madness stars

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets withstood a late rally and another triple-double by Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120 on Sunday.
Nic Claxton had 20 points and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each for Brooklyn, which has won five of its last six games.
Jokic had 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season but missed a contested 14-foot jumper with 5 seconds left that would have given the Nuggets the lead.
Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for Denver, which matched a season high with its third consecutive loss.

Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Nets withstood a late rally to beat the Nuggets 122-120 on Sunday.

Mikal Bridges, Nets hold off late rally to beat Nuggets 122-120

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Brook Lopez had 24 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high nine blocks and the Milwaukee Bucks outlasted the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 118-113 on Thursday night.
The&nbsp;nine blocks&nbsp;are most by an NBA player this season.
&ldquo;It was a close game, and he made the plays that made the difference down the stretch,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Bobby Portis added a season-high 28 points to go along with 13 rebounds to
help the NBA-leading Bucks win for the 19th time in 20 games.
The Bucks were missing two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for a second straight game. Antetokounmpo didn&rsquo;t play due to a sore right hand after sitting out a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/bucks-magic-72ccee8edeee63e7f642260a674a91b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">134-123 victory at Orlando</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday night because of a non-COVID illness.
Brooklyn&rsquo;s injury situation was worse.
The Nets didn&rsquo;t have Nic Claxton (right thumb sprain/left Achilles tendinopathy), Spencer Dinwiddie (rest), Cam Johnson (right knee soreness), Royce O&rsquo;Neale (left knee soreness) and Ben Simmons (left back/knee soreness).
Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith were the only Nets available who started in their&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/mikal-bridges-spencer-dinwiddie-nets-rockets-c8bb43a13b7f594ce3042c6ccfc0e38e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">118-96 victory at Houston</a> two nights earlier. Neither of them played more than 12 minutes as Nets coach Jacque Vaughn opted to limit their workloads.
The Nets still made this one competitive, clawing back after the Bucks went 12 of 21 from 3-point range in the first 15 minutes to take a 46-24 lead.
&ldquo;We picked up the energy,&rdquo; said Cam Thomas, who scored 21 for Brooklyn. &ldquo;We started getting on the glass and getting stops. That was the main key - getting stops, getting down and running and playing faster.&rdquo;
Patty Mills led Brooklyn with 23 points. The Nets also got big contributions from Dru Smith and David Duke Jr., who are both on two-way contracts that shuttle them between Brooklyn and the NBA G League.
Smith had 17 points in his 10th career NBA game. His previous scoring high was five. Duke had a career-high 13 points.
Brooklyn trailed 99-97 and appeared to have a chance to tie it after officials ruled Lopez fouled Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe on a dunk attempt with 4:31 left.
But the Bucks challenged the call, and replays determined it was a clean block. Portis scored 15 seconds later to start an 8-2 run that extended the Bucks&rsquo; advantage to 107-99 with 2 1/2 minutes left.
&ldquo;Great job by the arena, the guys in house putting it up on the board, because our bench didn&rsquo;t have a great angle,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;It looked &mdash; obviously, it was successful so I feel fortunate &mdash; but it looked like it was clean up top. It looked like Brook went up and got all ball.&rdquo;
Brooklyn cut it to 112-110 on Thomas&rsquo; driving layup with 46.7 seconds left, but Lopez delivered a putback of Jrue Holiday&rsquo;s missed 3-point attempt with 30.6 seconds remaining.
Lopez then blocked Duke&rsquo;s driving layup attempt to set up Jevon Carter&rsquo;s basket with 16.1 seconds remaining.
&ldquo;Brooklyn was out there shooting the ball,&rdquo; Lopez said. &ldquo;They were doing a great job shooting the ball, and so just in that last possession or those last couple possessions, they were doing a great job of sending those guys downhill. When they kind of give them that one option, I&rsquo;m able to make the read and time it. If he&rsquo;s going downhill with a full head of steam, I can time that pretty simply to get there at the right time.&rdquo;
Mills made a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left before the Bucks sealed the victory with a pair of free throws from Grayson Allen, who had 19 points.
TIP-INS
Nets: Nerlens Noel was in the starting lineup in just his second game with the Nets. He signed a 10-day contract Monday. The Nets also started Bridges, Finney-Smith, Joe Harris and Seth Curry. ... They opened the second half with Duke, Mills, Sharpe, Smith and Thomas on the floor.
Bucks: Lopez spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Nets. ... Carter shot 2 of 12 and had just five points. He had scored at least 20 points in each of his last two games. ... Wesley Matthews missed an eighth straight game with a strained right calf.
UP NEXT
Nets: At Minnesota on Friday night.
Bucks: At Golden State on Saturday night.

Brook Lopez had 24 points, 10 boards and a career-high 9 blocks as the Bucks outlasted the short-handed Nets 118-113 on Thursday.

Brook Lopez comes up big, Bucks edge short-handed Nets 118-113

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges was considered a defensive star and complementary offensive player in Phoenix before abruptly having his five-year run there ended when he was shipped to Brooklyn as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns.
Bridges gave his new team another glimpse of the go-to potential he could grow into.
Bridges scored 38 points and the Nets overcame a 28-point deficit to stun the Boston Celtics 115-105 on Friday night.
He has reached 30 or more points in three of Brooklyn&rsquo;s last six games. Bridges also had 10 rebounds, playing nearly 43 minutes.
&ldquo;I think we kind or realized over a couple of games that offense wasn&rsquo;t really our problem,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;I feel like our offense is pretty good. But our defense, we got stops and stayed together possession-by-possession. ... We just kept and stayed together.&rdquo;
It was Brooklyn&rsquo;s first victory over Boston in four meetings this season.
Bridges played through pain in the second half after knocking knees with Derrick White, hitting on the same spot he did in a similar collision with Jalen Brunson in Wednesday loss to the Knicks.
&ldquo;I think when I got traded it was kind of at the right time because when everybody was out in Phoenix I had to take up another role offensively and be more aggressive,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;By the time I got traded I was in a great rhythm and was confident.&rdquo;
Fellow former Sun Cam Johnson added 20 points. Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 17.
It is the largest comeback by a Boston opponent since the Los Angeles Clippers also rallied from 28 down to beat Boston 123-112 at TD Garden on Feb. 9, 2019.
The Celtics have lost two out of three and lost more ground on East-leading Milwaukee, which was idle Friday. Boston, which made 26 3-pointers in a 139-96 win over the Nets on Feb. 1, went just 9 of 30 from beyond the arc on Friday.
&ldquo;They beat us in every analytical category possible,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t commit to the margins, no matter how hard we play, we&rsquo;re not going to win.&rdquo;
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 35 points. Jayson Tatum, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, added 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Boston led by 28 in the first half before being outscored 69-43 over the second and third quarters.
The Nets scored just 23 points in the first 16 minutes of the game, allowing Boston to go up 51-23 with 7:23 left in the first half.
It evaporated in a rash of pull up jumpers and one-and-done possesses for the Celtics as Brooklyn mounted a 57-23 run to nudge in front 80-74 with 3:56 in the third quarter. The lead was 106-90 early in the fourth.
During one wild sequence, the Nets secured four offensive rebounds and had five shots on a single possession before the Celtics were finally able to corral the ball, triggering a fast break and layup by Derrick White. It was one of the few highlights for Boston the rest of the way.
The Nets&rsquo; frantic rally also saw the Celtics lose big man Robert Williams for the night after he left early in the third with left hamstring tightness.
A 3-pointer by Marcus Smart got Boston as close as 110-102 with just over four minutes to play. But Finney-Smith answered with a triple of his own on the Nets&rsquo; next possession.
The lead grew as high as 51-23 early in the second, but the Nets chipped it down 64-55 at halftime.
NEW INJURY FOR SIMMONS
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said Ben Simmons began experiencing some back soreness this week while starting to increase his activity to strengthen the sore left knee that has kept him sidelined since the All-Star break restart. There isn&rsquo;t a timeline for him to return, and there hasn&rsquo;t been discussion of sitting him down for the remainder of the season.
TIP-INS
Nets: Outscored the Celtics 40-27 in the second quarter, shooting 65% (15 of 23) from the field. Bridges had 15 points in the period. &hellip; Johnson, who celebrated his 27th birthday, was whistled for three fouls in less than three minutes of action. It contributed to the Nets putting Boston in the bonus at the 8:48 mark of the opening quarter.
Celtics: Finished with 19 turnovers, leading to 21 Brooklyn points. ...Went 0 for 6 from 3-point line in third quarter. &hellip; Al Horford played his 1,000th career regular-season game. He&rsquo;s only the 11th active player to reach that plateau. After his milestone was announced to the TD Garden crowd, he capped the ensuing possession with a 3-pointer to put Boston in front 16-5.
UP NEXT
Nets: Host Charlottes on Sunday night.
Celtics: Host New York on Sunday night.

Mikal Bridges scored 38 points and the Brooklyn Nets overcame a 28-point deficit to stun the Boston Celtics 115-105 on Friday night.

Mikal Bridges scores 38 points, Nets rally to stun Celtics 115-105

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83 on Saturday.
Rice&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime.
Oklahoma, however, had a chance to tie or win when Texas&rsquo; Tyrese Hunter missed one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. But Sam Godwin missed a shot from near the rim, and Texas extended its winning streak against Oklahoma to five games.
Marcus Carr added 17 points for Texas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), and Timmy Allen had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. Milos Uzan scored 15 for the Sooners.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 108, GEORGIA 59
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five 3-pointers in the first half to lead Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 halftime lead and a season scoring high. Alabama was coming off a 68-59 loss at No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night after rising to No. 1 for only the second time in program history and first in 20 years.&nbsp;
ustin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8) with 17 points. Terry Roberts scored 11 and Braelen Bridges 10.
NO. 4 UCLA 78, CALIFORNIA 43
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and UCLA routed last-place California to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation&rsquo;s longest home winning streak to 23 games.
Amari Bailey added 16 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Bruins (23-4, 14-2 Pac-12), who clinched a first-round bye in next month&rsquo;s Pac-12 Tournament with their 11th win in a row over last-place Cal.
Kuany Kuany scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (3-24, 2-14), who dropped their 11th in a row. They fell to 0-3 against top-5 teams this season, having also lost a pair against No. 8 Arizona.
NO. 5 KANSAS 87, NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half. Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference.
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points).
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia&rsquo;s career assist leader in the narrow win over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a one-and-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim.
Armaan Franklin added 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 for Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and Goodwin had 12.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 78, COLORADO 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado.
The Wildcats (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) opened with a rash of turnovers, falling into an early 12-point hole. Arizona righted itself quickly with a big run and slogged through a slowed-down second half by shutting down the Buffaloes.
Tristan da Silva had 18 points the Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10), who shot 38%.
KENTUCKY 66, NO. 10 TENNESSEE 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat Tennessee.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama.
The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Kentucky defeated the Volunteers 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville.
Wallace had totaled nine points in the Wildcats&rsquo; previous two games. Chris Livingston added 12 points and Jacob Toppin had 11.
NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 61, NO. 19 IOWA STATE 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help Kansas State over Iowa State.
Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12).
Aljaž Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. Without their 3-point leader Caleb Grill in the lineup, the Cyclones worked inside the paint. They had 24 points inside and relied on a balanced scoring line led by Kunc.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 97, PEPPERDINE 88
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help Gonzaga extend its winning streak over the Waves to 45 games.
The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2 West Coast Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 straight on the road against the Waves.
Timme moved past Bill Cartwright, who scored 2,116 points for San Francisco (1975-79), into eighth on the West Coast Conference&rsquo;s career scoring list with 2,117.
Houston Mallette led the Waves with 22 points. Jevon Porter and Maxwell Lewis added 20 points apiece.
NO. 14 INDIANA 71, ILLINOIS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and Indiana rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Illinois.
Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of 11 overall and 15 straight on their homecourt.
Matthew Mayer scored 24 to lead the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7), who were without injured leading scorer Terrence Shannon.
NO. 15 MIAMI 96, WAKE FOREST 87
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in Miami&rsquo;s win over Wake Forest.
Norchard Omier had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Jordan Miller added 14 points for the Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight and improved to 15-0 at home.
Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Damari Monsanto and Cameron Hildreth had 14 each for the Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7). Andrew Carr and Mathew Marsh finished with 12 points each.
NO. 16 XAVIER 82, DEPAUL 68
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul.
The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history, 32 of which have come since the 1982-83 season. It was the 17th career double-double for Nunge, eighth this season. Adam Kunkel scored 16 points and tied a career-high with eight assists for Xavier.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De&rsquo;Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul (9-18, 3-13), which lost its eighth in a row.
NO. 17 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 71, BYU 65
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead Saint Mary&rsquo;s to its 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
NO. 18 CREIGHTON 77, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 67
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch and Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John&rsquo;s.
Creighton (18-9, 12-4) remained in a three-way tie for second place in the Big East after Providence and Xavier won earlier in the day. Marquette holds a one-game lead in the conference standings.
Ryan Nembhard scored 16 points for the Bluejays. Kaluma finished with 13 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 as Creighton won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Joel Soriano led St. John&rsquo;s with 15 points and eight rebounds. David Jones added 14 points off the bench but the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) were unable to get their third straight win.
NO. 20 UCONN 64, SETON HALL 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play before a late run that fell short.
NO. 22 TCU 100, OKLAHOMA STATE 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks, five other TCU players also scored in double figures, and the Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State.
Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7 Big 12), which shot a staggering season-high 68.4% (39 of 57) from the field. Damion Baugh had 16 points with 11 assists. Shahada Wells had 15 points, Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon 12 and Micah Peavy 10.
Bryce Thompson had 18 points and John-Michael White 15 for the Cowboys (16-11, 7-7).
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 85, VILLANOVA 72
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Providence earned its 20th victory of the season.
Bryce Hopkins added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Noah Locked finished with 16 points. Croswell connected on two late free throws to notch the 1,000th point of his career.
The Friars (20-7, 12-4 Big East) have recorded 20 or more wins in seven of coach Ed Cooley&rsquo;s 12 seasons. They improved to 15-0 at home, including 8-0 in conference play.
Eric Dixon had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Moore added 17 points for the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9)&nbsp;

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college basketball includes a full slate of top-25 teams in heavy competition.

No. 6 Texas needs OT at home to hold off Oklahoma 85-83

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

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

Michigan State plays in first game since shooting tragedy

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving isn&rsquo;t interested in talking about what his long-term future could be with the Dallas Mavericks, and he doesn&rsquo;t understand why people don&rsquo;t think he can play well off the ball.
&ldquo;All I know, this is really playing basketball with a lot of high-level, high-IQ players and making it work,&rdquo; Irving said before his first home game Monday with the Mavericks and All-Star teammate Luka Doncic. &ldquo;Every single time I step foot out there, I get a chance to prove it to myself that I can play with anybody and everybody and still be efficient and be myself.&rdquo;
Irving&rsquo;s home debut in Dallas came a week after the blockbuster deal became official to bring the potential free agent from the Brooklyn Nets.&nbsp;The Mavericks lost 124-121&nbsp;to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who held on even as Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter.
The first three games for Irving with the Mavs were on the road, and he played with Doncic for the first time Saturday night &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-sacramento-kings-nba-sports-deaaron-fox-13409941fa60c60c1528d0ea68ef3a41" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Irving had 28 points and Doncic 27 in an overtime loss at Sacramento</a>. Doncic had 33 points against Minnesota.
As for what happens after this season, the talented and enigmatic eight-time All-Star said that question constantly getting asked just puts unwanted distractions on him and the team.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve dealt with it before and it&rsquo;s very emotionally draining to ask questions about what&rsquo;s the long term,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;What the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now, and how I prepare for those next steps, and that&rsquo;s being the best teammate that I can in that locker room and a great leader out here, I think within the Dallas community. ... So we&rsquo;re just putting that to bed and just focus on what we have ahead as a team.&rdquo;
The Mavericks, with 23 games remaining, are part of a crowded mix for a playoff spot. They are tied for fifth in the Western Conference, only 2 1/2 games ahead of 11th place &mdash; the first spot left out of the postseason.
When Dallas general manager Nico Harrison was asked his response to people who viewed the acquisition of Irving and his expiring contract as a risk, the former Nike executive, who already had a relationship with the player, said that wasn&rsquo;t the case.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see any risk involved at all. I&rsquo;ve known Kyrie for a long time, I know his core, I know what what type of person is. I think anybody who&rsquo;s ever watched him play basketball knows the type of basketball player he is,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;So I don&rsquo;t see risk. I actually see a risk in not doing it.&rdquo;
Irving smiled and responded, &ldquo;touch&eacute;,&rdquo; then adding that he appreciated their relationship and that it was now up to him to prove it &ldquo;and control what I can control.&rdquo;
Dallas also got Markieff Morris in the trade&nbsp;that sent Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round choices to the Nets.
Irving had a relationship with Nike for the entirety of his NBA career until earlier this season, when the sneaker giant dropped him &mdash; and canceled the planned release of his next signature shoe just before it came out &mdash; after Irving tweeted a link to an antisemitic film.
&ldquo;I would love to be well-liked by everybody. ... Oh, that&rsquo;s just not it. That&rsquo;s just not for I think anyone in this room,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;But the genuine love that you have in your heart is the only thing that you can really control. I have open dialogue with everybody that spends time with me, wants to have conversation, wants to ask me questions.&rdquo;
For those who don&rsquo;t like him, he said he wishes them well.
&ldquo;But I have a life to live and I have kids to raise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So I don&rsquo;t really have the energy to sit and focus on things I can&rsquo;t control.&rdquo;

Kyrie Irving isn’t interested in talking about what his long-term future could be with the Dallas Mavericks.

After trade to Mavs, Kyrie Irving doesn't want to talk about future

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds, James Harden scored 29 points in his first game in Brooklyn since being traded a year ago to begin a Big Three breakup, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Nets 101-98 on Saturday night.
The 76ers got a victory instead of overtime when Spencer Dinwiddie&rsquo;s 3-pointer was ruled too late after a video review.
Harden added six rebounds and six assists after being booed in introductions and then early in the game. He arrived in January 2021 to play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, then asked out and was gone just 13 months later, swapped in a deal for Ben Simmons at last year&rsquo;s trade deadline.
Now Durant and Irving are also gone, traded this week.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get caught up in homecomings or the outside distractions,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;I think our focus was just to come here and win a game and we did a good job of that tonight.&rdquo;
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points in his first game with the Nets, but missed a layup that would have given the Nets the lead with about 2 seconds left. Harden then made two free throws with 0.9 seconds to go, and Dinwiddie&rsquo;s shot after a timeout was too late.
The Nets started Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, the four players they acquired this week from Phoenix for Durant and Dallas for Irving. The Nets had the look of a tough defensive team that will miss the scoring of their All-Stars, managing only one basket in the last 6 1/2 minutes.
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&ldquo;We were getting good looks, just sometimes you can&rsquo;t control,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;They look good and don&rsquo;t go in.&rdquo;
The Nets were ahead by nine midway through the fourth quarter before Embiid capped an 8-0 run with a basket that cut it to 96-95 with 3:55 remaining. The Sixers missed numerous chances to take the lead from there until Embiid grabbed the rebound of Harden&rsquo;s missed layup and was fouled going back up. His free throws gave Philadelphia the lead for good with 5.2 to play.
TIP-INS
76ers: Jalen McDaniels, acquired from Charlotte at the deadline, had five points in 16 minutes. ... Harden will face a former team in the next game, too. The 76ers host Houston on Monday.
Nets: Seth Curry, who was also acquired in the Harden-Simmons swap, is sidelined with a left adductor strain. ... Simmons had four points and three rebounds. ... It was coach Jacque Vaughn&rsquo;s 48th birthday.
TWINS TRADED
&ldquo;The Twins,&rdquo; as Bridges and Johnson were nicknamed in Phoenix by former teammate Deandre Ayton because they did so much together, had plenty of time to think about moving to New York. Durant&rsquo;s initial trade request came last summer.
&ldquo;There was a lot of jokes, especially in the summer when KD wanted to come here and we knew the pieces and who might be the ones that were going to go, and us two was the main two,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;And we joked around, we always said, &lsquo;At least we got us, at least we got us,&rsquo; and it happened and that&rsquo;s still to this day. It&rsquo;s just like, at least I got my twin with me.&rdquo;
BRIDGES ON THE BENCH
Bridges had played in all 365 possible games while with Phoenix, along with all 116 games at Villanova, before not being available Thursday night after the trade.
&ldquo;He was shaking. He was like, &rsquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get out there, I&rsquo;ve got to get out there,&rdquo; said Johnson, who said he told Bridges to calm down.
But, Johnson then showed Bridges that he&rsquo;d already played 56 games with the Suns and the Nets still had 37 remaining beginning Saturday, meaning he can actually play 83 games instead of 82.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to keep his spirits up,&rdquo; Johnson said.
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Joel Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Nets 101-98.

Embiid leads 76ers over Nets in Harden’s return to Brooklyn

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; D&rsquo;Andre Gholston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a stunning 86-85 victory over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night.
With 4.2 seconds left in the game and the Volunteers (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) leading 85-83, Santiago Vescovi missed a free throw. His second attempt was waived off when Tobe Awaka committed a lane violation, setting up a final chance for the Tigers (19-6, 7-5).
Gholston took the inbounds and dribbled up the court before taking an off-balance contested 3-pointer from about 30 feet that swished through the net at the buzzer for the win. He was mobbed by his teammates after hitting the shot.
Tennessee came back from a 17-point deficit early in the second half and led the last 7:11 of the game.
NO. 3 ALABAMA 77, AUBURN 69
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival Auburn.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) remained the only Power 5 team without a league loss. Sears and Griffen helped Alabama overcome an off shooting performance from star Brandon Miller, who had 13 points but missed all seven 3-point attempts.
Wendell Green Jr. had 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Auburn (17-8, 7-5).
STANFORD 88, NO. 4 ARIZONA 79
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Spencer Jones scored all 18 of his points in the second half for Stanford and played a key role in neutralizing Pac-12 leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis, as the Cardinal stunned Arizona.
Stanford (11-14, 5-9 Pac-12) beat a ranked team for the first time this year and a top-five team for the second time in two seasons. Arizona (22-4, 11-4), hoping to stay a half-game behind UCLA for the conference lead, had a seven-game win snapped.
Courtney Ramey scored a season- and game-high 26 points for Arizona. Tubelis was held to four points and did not have any rebounds.
Stanford&rsquo;s Michael O&rsquo;Connell scored a team-high 22 points, helping the Cardinal outshoot the Wildcats 61% to 46% from the field.
NO. 5 TEXAS 94, WEST VIRGINIA 60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabri Rice scored 24 points in just 17 minutes in Texas&rsquo; win over West Virginia.
Texas (20-5) remained in first place in the Big 12 at 9-3, while West Virginia (15-10, 4-8) lost for the sixth time in its last seven games against the Longhorns.
Rice, a guard who transferred this season from New Mexico State, was nearly perfect. He converted 5 of 6 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 5 3-pointers and all 10 free throws.
Emmitt Matthews led West Virginia with 13 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA 69, DUKE 62, OT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift Virginia over Duke in overtime.
Kihie Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas 13 for the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won despite a 9 for 22 performance from the free-throw line.
Duke (17-8, 8-6) seemed poised to win when Kyle Filipowski drove on the final play of regulation and two defenders contested his shot. The officials initially whistled a foul, but waved it off after a lengthy review. Jeremy Roach led the Blue Devils with 16 points.
NO. 9 KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA 55
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and Kansas rolled past Oklahoma.
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 with nearly 21 points per game, bounced back from a two-point outing against Texas on Monday.
Dajuan Harris scored 16 points and Kevin McCullar added 13 for the Jayhawks (20-5, 8-4 Big 12).
Jalen Hill scored 14 points and Otega Oweh added 11 for the Oklahoma (12-13, 2-10). Grant Sherfield, who leads the Sooners with nearly 17 points per game, was held to 10 on 4-for-14 shooting.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 89, GEORGETOWN 75
WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Marquette in its win over Georgetown.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 11 points and Chase Ross added 10 for Marquette (20-6, 12-3 Big East), which moved into first place in the conference.
Jay Heath scored 18 points to lead last-place Georgetown (6-20, 1-14), which has lost five straight after ending their league record 29-game conference losing streak on Jan. 24.
OKLAHOMA ST 64, NO. 11 IOWA ST 56
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; John-Michael Wright scored 19 points and Oklahoma State rallied past Iowa State.
The loss was the Cyclones&rsquo; fourth in five games.
Bryce Thompson added 12 points for the Cowboys (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) in their fifth straight win.
Aljaz Kunc scored 13 for Iowa State (16-8, 7-5).
TEXAS TECH 71, NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 63
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash;De&rsquo;Vion Harmon scored 20 points, including a crucial driving basket in the final minute, as Texas Tech upended Kansas State.
The Red Raiders (13-12, 2-10 Big 12) held the Wildcats to two field goals in the game&rsquo;s final four minutes.
Kansas State (19-6, 7-5) edged as close as one point throughout the second half, but Tech answered with key baskets to maintain the lead. The Wildcats were led by Markquis Nowell&rsquo;s 18 points. Desi Sills added 12 points.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 72, NO. 17 TCU 68
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for Baylor during the stretch when the Bears overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and then held on to beat TCU.
LJ Cryer had 23 points for the Bears (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), who on Jan. 4 at home against TCU blew a 17-point lead in an 88-87 loss. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
Damion Baugh had 16 points and 10 assist for TCU (17-8, 6-6).
NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 81, PORTLAND 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 34 points, six rebounds and six assists as Saint Mary&rsquo;s handled Portland on the road.
Alex Ducas added 18 points and six rebounds for the Gaels (22-5, 11-1 West Coast Conference) and Aidan Mahaney contributed 10 points and five assists.
Kristian Sjolund led the Pilots (13-15, 5-8) with 12 points, and Juan Gorosito and Tyler Robinson each added 10 points.
NO. 18 INDIANA 62, MICHIGAN 61
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 21 points and Indiana held on for a win over Michigan.
Freshman Jett Howard was short on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, leaving the Wolverines without a point for the final 5:12.
The Hoosiers (18-7, 9-5 Big Ten) trailed by 11 in the first half and for much of the second, but went ahead for good with 2:58 left when Hood-Schifino made two free throws for their last points.
Michigan (14-11, 8-6) fell to 0-4 against teams in the AP Top 25, losing each game by five or fewer points.
Hunter Dickinson scored 16 points, Kobe Bufkin had 14 points and Howard added 12 for the Wolverines.
NO. 19 MIAMI 93, LOUISVILLE 85
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Nijel Pack scored 22 points in Miami&rsquo;s win over Louisville.
Five days following its dominant 22-point home win over Duke, Miami (20-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) could not shake off the conference&rsquo;s last-place team until Pack&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining made it 82-72. Pack shot 8 of 14, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier finished with 21 points each and Jordan Miller added 10 for the Hurricanes, who are 14-0 at home.
El Ellis scored a career-high 33 points and had five assists while Jae&rsquo;Lyn Withers finished with 18 for the Cardinals (3-22, 1-13).
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 73, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 68
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; David Jones scored 16 points and AJ Storr added 15 for St. John&rsquo;s, which beat Providence.
Joel Soriano had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East).
Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4).
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 92, BOSTON COLLEGE 62
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina State over Boston College.
Terquavion Smith scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), giving him 1,000 points for his career.
Quinten Post scored 20 points for Boston College (12-14, 6-9).
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 56, NO. 21 UCONN 53
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Trey Alexander scored 17 points to lead Creighton past UConn after the Huskies had what would have been a tying 3-pointer erased on video review in the final seconds.
Creighton (17-8, 11-3) is a half-game behind Big East-leading Marquette with its eighth straight win. The Huskies (19-7, 8-7) lost for the first time in four games.
Adama Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds for UConn.
ILLINOIS 69, NO. 24 RUTGERS 60
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and Illinois held Rutgers scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to rally for the win.
Illinois (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) trailed 47-41 with 14 1/2 minutes left before Hawkins&rsquo; 3-pointer started a 19-0 run. Hawkins hit four consecutive shots &mdash; including a 3 &mdash; and gave the Illini the lead for good at 48-47.
Rutgers (16-9, 8-6) missed 15 straight shots during its drought.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 82, UNLV 71
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Adam Seiko scored all 18 points on 3-pointers and Matt Bradley added 17 points for San Diego, the Mountain West Conference front-runner that beat UNLV for its third straight win and seventh in eight games.
The Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC) buried the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels in a blizzard of 3-pointers and slam dunks, including during a 14-0 run midway through the first half, to sweep the season series and top UNLV the fifth straight time. Keshad Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the game&rsquo;s first 6 1/2 minutes and Nathan Mensah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Elijah Harkless scored 24 for UNLV (16-9, 5-8) before fouling out with 2:05 to go. Keshon Gilbert added 19 for the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels, who didn&rsquo;t get their first assist until two minutes into the second half.

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college hoops includes numerous upsets in the top-15.

Three-pointer at buzzer lifts Missouri over No. 6 Tennessee

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; James Harden arrived in Brooklyn and predicted his partnership with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would be &ldquo;&nbsp;scary hours.&rdquo;
It was over in a New York minute.
Not just that trio, but an entire era in Brooklyn.
It ended so quickly, in fact, that when Harden returns to Brooklyn on Saturday for the first time in the regular season, barely a year after he was traded to Philadelphia, he won&rsquo;t find either&nbsp;Durant&nbsp;or&nbsp;Irving&nbsp;waiting.
Now they&rsquo;re gone. Three superstars came, and one by one asked to be traded.
&ldquo;So it didn&rsquo;t work,&rdquo; general manager Sean Marks said. &ldquo;Some of that is through things we can control and that we can&rsquo;t control.&rdquo;
Durant was the last to leave, traded to Phoenix on Thursday. Irving was dealt to Dallas just days earlier.
Those two friends had decided to come to Brooklyn together in 2019. Harden joined them early in the 2020-21 season after a trade.
Durant and Harden had combined for seven scoring titles. All three were perennial All-Stars. The Nets were favored to finally win the championship they&rsquo;ve been chasing since joining the NBA.
&ldquo;We had James and we were supposed to be this super team,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;We played very limited time together and there were a lot of injuries and things that took place. I would have liked to see that work for the long term, but there are no mistakes, no coincidences.&rdquo;
Nor was there anything close to a championship.
There were illness and injuries, so sometimes they just couldn&rsquo;t play.
In Irving&rsquo;s case, sometimes he just wouldn&rsquo;t.
The bottom line is Durant, Irving and Harden played just 16 games together, winning one playoff series.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a lot of frustration here with not being able to get that group on the court consistently and seeing what it really looks like,&rdquo; Marks said. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s one of the biggest frustrations, where we really didn&rsquo;t see them and what they could look like.&rdquo;
It looked awesome at its peak. The Nets rolled past Boston in five games in the first round of the 2021 playoffs and overpowered Milwaukee in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
But Harden strained his hamstring early in that series and Irving sprained his ankle in Game 4. The Bucks would rally and win the series with an overtime victory in Game 7 in Brooklyn and go on to win the championship.
The Nets figured to be favorites again in 2021-22, but the season was derailed right from the preseason when Irving refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. That meant he was ineligible to play in home games and the Nets at first said he wouldn&rsquo;t play at all until he could play in all their games.
Eventually, they brought him back in January to play on the road, but by then Harden had become disillusioned. He asked out and the Nets sent him to the 76ers in a deal that brought back Ben Simmons on Feb. 10, 2022.
After they were swept in the first round by Boston, Durant asked to be traded, frustrated in part by the Nets&rsquo; 5-16 record while he was sidelined by a sprained knee ligament. Around the same time, the Nets were refusing to give Irving a contract extension, having grown to question his reliability and forcing him to opt into the final year of his deal.
Durant eventually withdrew that, but they couldn&rsquo;t convince him to stay once Irving asked to be traded last week and the Nets quickly accommodated the point guard. Marks didn&rsquo;t want to say if Durant&rsquo;s desire to leave was due to Irving&rsquo;s departure.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to speak for the guys that are no longer here and why they left,&rdquo; Marks said.
The Nets still have a chance to be a playoff team. They are 33-22, fifth in the East, having gotten as high as second after ripping off an 18-2 stretch earlier this season when Durant and Irving enjoyed perhaps their best run together.
Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson from Phoenix, and Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith from Dallas all should fit well with the Nets&rsquo; style of play under Jacque Vaughn and strengthen the team defensively. The draft picks they acquired along with them will provide options to shape the roster.
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But it almost always takes having superstars on the roster to win an NBA title. The Nets had three.
&ldquo;For the last couple of years, we have been a team that you could have said if things go right &mdash; health, whatever, consistency, continuity on the court &mdash; they have a chance to win a championship, you know, purely from talent,&rdquo; Marks said.
Those days, and now Durant and Irving, are gone.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re taking their talents elsewhere,&rdquo; Marks said, &ldquo;and like all other basketball fans, we&rsquo;ll be watching from afar. But our focus now is the guys in the locker room.&rdquo;
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James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving looked to be scary together with the Brooklyn Nets but that ended in a New York minute.