Trailblazers

The NBA is back.&nbsp;
With the league&rsquo;s annual &lsquo;Day&rsquo; 1 getting underway, all 30 teams have resumed their daily basketball activities. Starting from the Media Day to each of their training camps, players are slowly ramping up as they work to get back in game shape.
For some of these familiar faces, however, a new season awaits them as they&rsquo;re looking for a fresh start in new environments and places. Let&rsquo;s take a look at these players and their potential fits next to their new teams and teammates.&nbsp;
Russell Westbrook rocks new threads with Denver&nbsp;
Russell Westbrook starts a new season with the 2023 champions after his stint with the Clippers. Westbrook aims to bring the energy to a Nuggets squad losing another championship piece in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He slots in immediately as Denver&rsquo;s backup PG with the loss of Reggie Jackson, and the team could also use him to play with the starters and let Jamal Murray slide into the 2 spot. Westbrook will also be teaming up with fellow triple-double savant Nikola Jokic and it will be interesting to see two high-IQ players together on the court.
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New beginnings for <a href="https://twitter.com/russwest44?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@russwest44</a> 😈<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nuggets</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wew6JRNNXm">pic.twitter.com/Wew6JRNNXm</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1839352986826387752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2024</a></blockquote>

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PG13 creates a big three with Embiid and Maxey
Perhaps the biggest signing in the offseason, George immediately slides in with the Sixers to form a big three with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. At 34 years old, PG probably has a good 3 years left in his prime, but he could be in a perfect situation with Embiid and Maxey at their absolute peaks. George is in a position where he&rsquo;s not asked to shoulder much of the offensive load like he did most of the time in his career, and he can play to his strengths &mdash; a two-play wing player with some playmaking chops and be a secondary creator and scorer to Maxey and Embiid. George is also a very good three-point shooter on spot-up and catch-and-shoot attempts and should bode well for both Sixers superstars by spacing the floor for them. Overall an A+ signing by Sixers GM Daryl Morey, and now it all hinges on health as Philly tries to pull it up all together to finally make a Conference Finals in the Embiid era.
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PG in Philly! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/jmSInGKf5L">pic.twitter.com/jmSInGKf5L</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840916610644582775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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A new Philadelphia trio... 🔥 Maxey. Embiid. George.<a href="https://twitter.com/sixers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sixers</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/wjlclZdnhx">pic.twitter.com/wjlclZdnhx</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840803293473230955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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CP3 in San Antonio as Wemby&rsquo;s PG; Harrison Barnes being a veteran piece in a young Spurs team
Victor Wembanyama finally gets his premier PG in Chris Paul. After playing most of last year not having a legitimate table setter, Wemby, and the Spurs add one of the greatest to ever do it at the position. Even approaching 40 years old, Paul should have a lot left in his tank to try and develop as much as possible the young yet hungry Spurs. On the other hand, Barnes adds another veteran piece as San Antonio looks to improve and at least make the play-in this season.
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WEMBY x CP3 🔥 BIG smiles in San Antonio at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> 😇 <a href="https://t.co/PbV71PCH0c">pic.twitter.com/PbV71PCH0c</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840815076485259469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Wemby &amp; CP3 enjoying <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> 🤩 <a href="https://t.co/rSdwmMIx1m">pic.twitter.com/rSdwmMIx1m</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840801831577895224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Caruso, Hartenstein add more defensive toughness to an already elite OKC squad
Imagine having to add two role players that star in their role to a team that just finished atop the conference a season ago, all without losing someone significant from that core. That&rsquo;s exactly what the Oklahoma City Thunder did by adding Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein into their fold. The move stamped their status even further atop the West with rising stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren getting better over the year and still having MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just starting his prime. Caruso adds yet another defensive bull on the perimeter that already features fellow All-Defensive player Lu Dort, while Hartenstein brings versatility in the frontcourt to possibly play together with Holmgren. The Thunder are poised yet again to make a deep playoff run and it all starts with their offseason acquisitions and their fit into the team.&nbsp;
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Alex Caruso very complimentary of his new backcourt mate, SGA! 🤞<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/Rdxt7r5dQu">pic.twitter.com/Rdxt7r5dQu</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840867849797022103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Klay splashing and spacing the floor for Luka, Mavs
The other Splash brother brings his act to Dallas after spending his first 13 years with the franchise. Thompson immediately fills a need in Dallas to help space the floor and be a decoy for Luka Doncic as he makes plays on the court. At his age, Thompson won&rsquo;t be asked too much like he did in Golden State and this could be a rejuvenation for his career as he finds a new environment with the Mavericks.&nbsp;
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No. 31 from the Dallas Mavericks... Klay Thompson 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/e4M8lNtvQL">pic.twitter.com/e4M8lNtvQL</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840858008794120481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Klay Thompson... NEW BEGINNINGS 🫵<a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/YX9CX1preR">pic.twitter.com/YX9CX1preR</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840806814956265762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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DeMar DeRozan as the final piece to Sacramento&rsquo;s playoff success
DeRozan comes into the Kings&rsquo; lair as one of the most clutch players in the league, and he will play alongside a player of the same caliber in DeAaron Fox. It will be interesting to see how DeRozan&rsquo;s playstyle fits into the Kings&rsquo; offense with their motion offense built on three-point shooting with Domantas Sabonis as the hub, and it will be a good problem how coach Mike Brown integrates him to play a certain kind of way. The Kings are one of the up-and-coming teams in the West and adding a player like DeRozan gives them a different dimension to their offense.&nbsp;
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DeMar DeRozan looking good in his new threads 😎<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/uPYTeKvUBE">pic.twitter.com/uPYTeKvUBE</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1841107569399480506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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New trio in Sacramento 👑<a href="https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SacramentoKings</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/HfnZMmz317">pic.twitter.com/HfnZMmz317</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1841108008769630523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Dejounte Murray, Tyus Jones to solve PG issues in NOLA, PHX
Two teams that have had PG issues last season have finally addressed it by signing two of the quality PGs in the league today: Murray to the Pelicans and Jones to the Suns. Murray slots in as the Pelicans&rsquo; main shot creator, playmaker, and closer. This has been a significant hole for the Pelicans last season, especially in the playoffs when no one other than CJ McCollum (who&rsquo;s getting old) and Brandon Ingram create shots and make plays. Murray immediately comes in and fills this gap and with a returning Zion Williamson, the Pelicans are coming into the season very optimistic about their playoff chances.
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Fresh start heading into Year 8 🤲<a href="https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DejounteMurray</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/j3W5D0GFoM">pic.twitter.com/j3W5D0GFoM</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840852492168675766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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New threads for <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> new PG 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DejounteMurray</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/kgIxpGqxkG">pic.twitter.com/kgIxpGqxkG</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840807569150837091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Jones on the other hand also fills the immediate need of a PG, someone who can make plays for others without turning the ball over. Jones has been one of the best if not the best assist-to-turnover ratio guys in the league, and with how Phoenix&rsquo;s roster is constructed, this allows their super scoring big three Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant to do their thing and focus on what they do best. Jones comes in to settle these guys down and put them in the best positions to succeed.&nbsp;
Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson bring veteran savvy and immediate positional needs to Golden State
Some key veteran additions to the Warriors are Hield and Anderson as they continue to beef up their roster around superstar Stephen Curry. Hield will try to replace the production of Klay Thompson after his departure with his deadeye shooting and spacing the floor for Curry. Hield has also been a good off-ball mover and that should bode well for Golden State&rsquo;s offense. Anderson meanwhile, brings his big forward, almost a center playing style to the Warriors and should fit instantly like a Draymond Green clone. Anderson has the playmaking chops and the basketball IQ to seamlessly play in Kerr&rsquo;s system and is a player who seems to understand how to play with and off of the skillset of a player like Curry.&nbsp;
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Welcome to The Bay, Buddy! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/ruEDkg7ayU">pic.twitter.com/ruEDkg7ayU</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840924339090100682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Prince-Trent-Wright trio come to Milwaukee to win
Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr., and Delon Wright have all signed up for a little under than what they were supposed to make and signed with the Bucks for a chance to contribute to a championship contender. All three are exactly what the Bucks need in their scheme of things as they&rsquo;re expected to bring shooting, spacing, and tough perimeter defenders. It&rsquo;s expected that Milwaukee&rsquo;s offense will revolve around superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard so there will be little expectations on these guys to do more and they can just focus on what they do best as role players in the league.

A new season awaits familiar faces in new places. Let’s take a look at them and their potential fits next to their new teams and teammates.

Familiar faces in new places: NBA players’ new home to start the season

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

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

Nuggets celebrate NBA title with parade through downtown Denver

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and the Miami Heat evened up the NBA Finals by overcoming a monster effort from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Max Strus scored 14 and Duncan Robinson had 10 for the Heat, who had a big early lead, then got down by as many as 15 before reclaiming the lead in the fourth. Miami outscored Denver 36-25 in the final period, erasing an eight-point deficit going into the final frame.
And even then, they had to dig deep to finish it off.
Jokic scored 41 points and was 16 of 28 from the floor, the last of those shots a 4-footer with 36 seconds left to get the Nuggets within three.
Denver elected not to foul on the ensuing Miami possession. Butler missed a 3, and with a chance to tie, Jamal Murray missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver, while Aaron Gordon had 12 points and Bruce Brown scored 11.
Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami. Denver had been 11-0 with a double-digit lead in the playoffs.
TIP-INS
Heat: Miami changed its starting lineup, with Kevin Love back in the opening five and Caleb Martin &ndash; who missed practice Saturday with an illness &ndash; coming off the bench. &hellip; The Heat got their 13th win of these playoffs, breaking a tie with the 1999 New York Knicks for the most ever by a No. 8 seed.
Nuggets: Denver hadn&rsquo;t lost a game since May 7 &ndash; four weeks ago. &hellip; Nuggets legends Alex English, LaPhonso Ellis (who actually ended his NBA career with Miami) and David Thompson were among those in attendance.
HERRO UPDATE
Injured Heat guard Tyler Herro played 2-on-2 on Saturday as he continues his efforts to try to return from a broken hand at some point in these finals &mdash; but remained out. Herro got hurt in the first half of Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee. His status for Game 3 is unclear.
EXPANSION TALK
Commissioner Adam Silver told NBA TV before the game that negotiations for the next media rights deal are now a priority since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been ratified &mdash; and how expansion talk will come after that.
Silver said he thinks the media deal negotiations will begin &ldquo;in earnest probably this next spring.&rdquo; And after that, plans to add franchises will be the next item on the to-do list.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have anything specific in mind right now,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;But I think it makes sense over time if you&rsquo;re a successful organization to continue to grow. There&rsquo;s no doubt there&rsquo;s a lot of great cities we&rsquo;re interested in having in the NBA.&rdquo;

The Heat evened up the NBA Finals by overcoming a monster effort from Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday.

Heat roar back late, beat Nuggets 111-108 to even NBA Finals at 1-1

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 11 assists, Jamal Murray finished with 26 points and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-106 on Saturday night in a late-season showdown of the NBA&rsquo;s conference leaders.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points for West-leading Denver (50-24), which outscored East-leading Milwaukee 68-40 in the second half.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points -- just seven in the second half -- and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bucks (53-20).
The battle of the top teams in each conference -- and two strong MVP candidates -- was more competitive than the teams&rsquo; first meeting, won by the Bucks 107-99.
SUNS 125, 76ERS 105
PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 29 points, Bismack Biyombo added 17 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, and the Phoenix Suns snapped a three-game losing streak.
Phoenix got good minutes from most of their bench players, particularly Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren. Warren finished with 16 points, while Ross had 15. Booker shot 9 of 18 from the field and hit all nine of his free throws.
The Suns won despite a huge game from Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Joel Embiid added 28 points and 10 rebounds.
KINGS 121, JAZZ 113
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Kevin Huerter scored 27 points, had seven rebounds and four assists and Sacramento beat Utah.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for his NBA-leading 60th double-double of the season. Harrison Barnes added 18 points. Keegan Murray scored 14 of his 22 total points in the first quarter and knocked down six three-pointers for the Kings.
Jazz rookie Walker Kessler scored a career-high 31 points for the Jazz. Kessler added 11 rebounds and finished 14 of 16 from the floor. Kelly Olynyk finished with 17 points and 10 assists, Ochai Agbaji scored 20 and Jarrell Brantley added 13 off the bench for Utah.
NETS 129, HEAT 100
MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and the Brooklyn Nets opened the third quarter on a 31-6 run on the way to rolling past Miami and leapfrogging the Heat back into the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Cam Johnson added 23 points and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 for the Nets (40-34), who snapped a five-game slide. They&rsquo;re only a half-game up on Miami (40-35) in the race for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth, but swept the Heat 3-0 this season and would also own a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Max Strus scored 23 for the Heat, all of them in the first half. Tyler Herro scored 23, Jimmy Butler had 18 and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 for the Heat. Miami was outscored 64-31 after halftime.
HAWKS 143, PACERS 130
ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; John Collins led eight Atlanta scorers in double figures with 21 points and the Hawks overcame Jordan Nwora&rsquo;s season-high 33 points and protected their shaky hold on the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings
Trae Young was ejected in the third quarter after firing an unusually hard pass to referee Scott Wall during a timeout. Wall caught the ball. Young was immediately called for a technical foul and ejected. Young had 14 points and five assists. Dejounte Murray had 20 points in his return after missing two games with a non-COVID illness. Saddiq Bey led Atlanta&rsquo;s bench with 18 points.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 19 points and Buddy Hield had 16 for Indiana.
PELICANS 131, CLIPPERS 110
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Trey Murphy III scored 32 points, Brandon Ingram had 32 points and 13 assists, and the New Orleans Pelicans never trailed against the Los Angeles Clippers.
C.J. McCollum had 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pelicans, who have won four in a row.
Bones Hyland scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard added 12 points and six rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost three of four.
At risk of falling out of the play-in tournament with a loss, the energized Pelicans started out hot, scoring the first eight points, and never let up.

A recap of Saturday's slate of NBA hoops includes the East and West's best going head-to-head.

Conference leaders clash as Nuggets top Bucks 129-106

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; The clubs that Nikola Jokic might be on the cusp of entering are highly exclusive.
There&rsquo;s the three-consecutive-MVP club, with only Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird as its current members. Then there&rsquo;s the averaged-a-triple-double club, which includes only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.
Jokic doesn&rsquo;t care about being added to either of those lists. It might happen anyway.
The best team in the Western Conference so far has been the Denver Nuggets, and the biggest reason why they&rsquo;re atop the standings coming out of the All-Star break is the 28-year-old Serbian big man who was the league&rsquo;s best player two years ago, was the league&rsquo;s best player last year and very well might be the best again this year.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t lie,&rdquo; Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you all have been watching what Jokic has been doing. It&rsquo;s ... outrageous, to be honest. I don&rsquo;t know how many people have won it three times in a row. I definitely feel like I&rsquo;m in that conversation as well, but he&rsquo;s otherworldly right now.&rdquo;
Jokic&rsquo;s numbers: 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game, on 63% shooting from the field, 39% from 3-point range. Such a collection of stats is unprecedented; others have scored more, assisted more, rebounded more and shot better, but nobody has ever had all those averages and percentages in one season &mdash; especially not a big man.
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Westbrook is a guard. Robertson was a guard. In their average-a-triple-double years &mdash; four for Westbrook, one for Robertson &mdash; they didn&rsquo;t shoot better than 48%. Jokic is making almost two of every three shots he takes, and that&rsquo;s with him as the top priority for every defense Denver faces.
&ldquo;I just think that he just plays at his own pace,&rdquo; Toronto&rsquo;s Pascal Siakam said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t really disrupt what he does. He just plays at his own pace. He does what he wants. His passing ability, the scoring, how smart he is on the basketball court. Yeah, it&rsquo;s dope to watch.&rdquo;
The Nuggets are five games ahead of Memphis &mdash; Denver has 23 games left, the Grizzlies have 25 &mdash; for the top spot in the Western Conference. They&rsquo;re well on their way to securing the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout at least the first three rounds of the playoffs.
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And that would be huge, given that Denver&rsquo;s 27-4 home record is the best in the NBA. Evidently, teams don&rsquo;t like playing at 5,280 feet above sea level. And they can&rsquo;t match the way Jokic thinks, with his brain in home games at 5,287 feet above sea level. He&rsquo;s played in 51 games; the Nuggets are 38-13 in those contests, 3-5 when he doesn&rsquo;t play.
Denver coach Michael Malone was asked how he would create a pie chart to show the components that make Jokic great.
&ldquo;Athleticism, 1%. I&rsquo;ll start there,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Then I would say the big pieces of that Serbian pie would be IQ and unselfishness, the ability to make every one of his teammates better. What I marvel at, having coached Nikola for eight years now, the thing that I&rsquo;m just blown away by is the consistency to being great. I mean, there are a lot of great players in this league. But for Nikola to win the MVP, to win it again, and now he&rsquo;s putting together an even better season ... it just speaks to the fact that he is so damn consistent.&rdquo;
Conventional wisdom would have been that Jokic&rsquo;s numbers, good enough to win him the last two MVP awards, would take a dip this season simply because the Nuggets were getting two of their best players &mdash; Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. &mdash; back from injury.
It hasn&rsquo;t happened, or at least, not much. His scoring is down slightly. Rebounds, down slightly. Assists, up slightly. Murray and Porter are getting their numbers &mdash; largely because Jokic looks for them every chance he gets &mdash; and he&rsquo;s still finding the way to fill all the columns next to his name on the stat sheet as well.
&ldquo;That, and the ability to make everyone around him better, is what allows Nikola to be a historically great player in this league,&rdquo; Malone said.
And it should be noted that the player who is least impressed by Jokic is, well, Jokic.
If he had his way, he&rsquo;d show up, play games, hop on YouTube to watch horse racing &mdash; he owns harness horses, and was even driving one when the Nuggets&rsquo; brain trust showed up in Serbia to surprise him with last year&rsquo;s MVP award &mdash; and live very quietly.
The West should be an absurd race down the stretch. Phoenix just got Kevin Durant. The Los Angeles Lakers have LeBron James trying to make a playoff push. The defending champion Golden State Warriors could have Stephen Curry back from his injury before too long. Dallas got Kyrie Irving to play with Luka Doncic. The Los Angeles Clippers will be adding Westbrook. Sacramento is poised to end its long playoff drought.
If nobody is talking about the Nuggets, Jokic won&rsquo;t complain.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need it,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We know what we&rsquo;re doing. We know what we&rsquo;re trying to do. We believe in the basketball system that we have built over the years, so it works. It&rsquo;s still working. Nothing can affect us from outside. We are thinking about ourselves and just how to get better.&rdquo;
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Denver Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic is on the cusp of joining some exclusive clubs.

Nuggets’ Jokic has a chance to join some exclusive clubs

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; Jakob Poeltl scored 30 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 123-113 on Tuesday night for their fifth win in six games.
Scottie Barnes scored 17 points, Fred VanVleet had 10 points and a season-high 15 assists, and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who shot a season-best 60.2%.
Wendell Carter Jr. scored 26 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 off the bench and Markelle Fultz scored 19 points for the Magic.
Orlando came in having won three straight road games but couldn&rsquo;t follow Monday&rsquo;s win at Chicago with another victory. The Magic are 1-10 in the second game of back-to-backs.
A former Raptor who was reacquired from San Antonio last week, Poeltl shot 15 for 17 and added nine rebounds and six blocks.
&ldquo;You see what he did tonight,&rdquo; Magic coach Jamahl Mosely said. &ldquo;He was a game changer.&rdquo;
The 30 points were the most Poeltl has scored as a Raptors player. His career high is 31, set with San Antonio last Nov. 15 at Portland.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just about reacting to the defense,&rdquo; Poeltl said. &ldquo;They decided to trap Freddie a bunch of times. I&rsquo;m comfortable catching the ball there at the top of the key and trying to make plays.&rdquo;
Suggs said Poeltl hurt Orlando with his bruising, physical style.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a force in the paint,&rdquo; Suggs said. &ldquo;Trying to box him out, you can&rsquo;t out-jump him. He&rsquo;s really strong and physical in there. He fits what they want to do. He&rsquo;s a physical big who&rsquo;s going to hit you in your mouth and have no remorse about it.&rdquo;
One game after setting a season best by allowing just five points off turnovers, the Raptors made a season-worst 20 miscues against the Magic, leading to 26 points. The Magic weren&rsquo;t much better, making 19 turnovers that led to 29 points for Toronto.
&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t turn the basketball over and give up offensive rebounds and give yourself a chance,&rdquo; Mosley said.
The Raptors outrebounded the Magic 40-29 and had a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass.
As the All Star break arrives, Orlando has gone 19-15 since a 5-20 start.
&ldquo;I feel like we did a solid job from the beginning of the year to now of kind of changing the script of who the Orlando Magic are,&rdquo; Carter said.
Orlando led 70-65 at halftime but Poeltl scored eight points in the third as Toronto took a 94-89 edge to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Magic: Paolo Banchero scored 13 points. &hellip; F Jonathan Isaac (left knee) sat as Orlando played the second game of a back-to-back. &hellip; G Cole Anthony (sore right wrist) missed his second straight game.
Raptors: Toronto is 13-0 all-time when shooting 60 percent or better. &hellip; Coach Nick Nurse returned after missing Sunday&rsquo;s win over Detroit for personal reasons. &hellip; F Thad Young injured his left knee early in the second quarter and did not return. .. G Gary Trent Jr. (sore left calf) missed his second game while F O.G. Anunoby (sprained left wrist) missed his ninth straight. &hellip; Toronto had 13 assists on 16 made baskets in the first quarter, including seven assists from VanVleet.
MILESTONE MAN
Barnes reached 2,000 career points. At 21 years and 197 days, he&rsquo;s the third-youngest player in Raptors history to reach the milestone, behind Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh.
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ROAD WORK AHEAD
After hosting the Pelicans in their first game following the All-Star break, Toronto plays seven of eight on the road, a testing stretch that includes games at Cleveland, Denver, and both Los Angeles teams.
OUT ON VALENTINE&rsquo;S DAY
Toronto Mayor John Tory attended the game. Tory said last Friday that he would step down as mayor of Canada&rsquo;s largest city after acknowledging an affair with a former staffer.
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Jakob Poeltl scored 30 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 123-113.

Poeltl scores 30, Siakam has 26, Raptors beat Magic 123-113

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Harrison Barnes scored a season-high 30 points and the Sacramento Kings hit a franchise record 23 3-pointers to beat the Orlando Magic 136-111 Monday night.
&ldquo;I thought offensively tonight, but really this whole season, we feel confident about what we can do,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;The biggest thing tonight was walking out of here with a win.&rdquo;
Sacramento (21-18) started the new year with a 1-3 record, with losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers.
"We got to defend if we expect to get where we want to go and it starts with protecting the paint and spraying out to shooters," Kings coach Mike Brown said. "I&rsquo;m just excited about what our guys did protecting that paint tonight.&rdquo;
Domantas Sabonis extended his double-double streak to 17 games and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Sabonis leads the NBA in double-doubles this season with 30.
Rookie Keegan Murray finished with 15 points, knocking down five 3-pointers.
Paolo Banchero scored 17 points for Orlando (15-26). The Magic have lost five of their last seven games.
"You have to give them credit, they came out and kicked our tails,&rdquo; Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.
Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and Wendell Carter Jr. added 15 points and seven rebounds.
&ldquo;We made a little run to come back,&rdquo; Magic guard Markelle Fultz said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to come back from that deficit.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Magic: F Bol Bol missed his fourth consecutive game. He cleared the league&rsquo;s health and safety protocols and is expected to rejoin the Magic on Tuesday.
Kings: G Malik Monk returned after a one game absence due to a calf injury and scored 14 points with seven rebounds and six assists. Monk received a technical foul with 7.8 seconds left in the third quarter. &hellip; The Kings bench outscored Orlando 54-39.
&nbsp;

Harrison Barnes scored 30 points and the Sacramento Kings hit a franchise record 23 3-pointers to beat the Orlando Magic 136-111.

Harrison Barnes scores 30, Kings blowout Magic 136-111

Basketball News highlights the reporting, analysis and podcasts that defined a year of basketball in 2022.

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

After calmly knocking down a buzzer-beating three to send his team to victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, Indiana Pacers rookie Andrew Nembhard received a wave of praise and compliments all around. But the strongest words came from his head coach.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll go down as a top-12 or 15 pick when it&rsquo;s all said and done,&rdquo; Rick Carlisle stated on Nov. 28 about the No. 31 overall selection this past summer. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s where he should have been taken.&rdquo;
Eight days later at Golden State, following Nembhard&rsquo;s career-high 31-point, 13-assist effort against Stephen Curry and the Warriors, Carlisle doubled down: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m elevating that to top-10. He really is a special player.&rdquo;
On Friday morning in Cleveland, Nemhbard shared what he thought of Carlisle&rsquo;s commendable comments.
&ldquo;It just shows you the confidence they have in me on the court, and it allows me to have confidence in myself,&rdquo; Nembhard told Basketball News. &ldquo;I don't want to get too wrapped into the words, but obviously, it fuels the confidence in me for sure.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
steal 👉 slam Andrew Nembhard finds Aaron Nesmith in transition! <a href="https://t.co/tcugZFDTVL">pic.twitter.com/tcugZFDTVL</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1601757878267715586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Nembhard has plenty of reasons to believe in himself, In December, he is averaging 11.0 points, 5.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds to go with 1.2 steals over 10 games with .489/.366/.778 shooting splits &mdash; nothing to gloss over for a first-year player. However, it&rsquo;s not about flashy statistics with him.
The very reason he got on the court in the first place is because of what he showed Indiana on the defensive end during training camp and preseason. Then, when Chris Duarte got injured in early November, the team looked his way to step up &mdash; and he&rsquo;s continued to reward that decision from that point on.
&ldquo;As we got into the year, he got tossed into a couple of games early,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;He had tough matchups; the first time we played Miami, he guarded [Tyler] Herro some and was able to stay in front of him and contest some of his shots well.&rdquo;
That game was a sign of things to come. Since then, Nembhard has been tasked with going head-to-head with the NBA&rsquo;s best. Have a look at a sample of who the 22-year-old has matched up with the most and how they&rsquo;ve fared, per <a href="https://go.nba.com/4apvl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com&rsquo;s matchup data</a>:
<ul>
<li>Stephen Curry: 2-for-7 with 3 turnovers in 11:36 (two games)</li>
<li>Kyle Kuzma: 4-for-9 with 2 turnovers in 7:48 (two games)</li>
<li>Jimmy Butler: 1-for-6 for 4 points with 1 block in 7:17</li>
<li>CJ McCollum: 2-for-4 for 6 points in 6:38</li>
<li>Damian Lillard: 2-for-5 for 5 points in 6:13</li>
<li>Jamal Murray: 2-for-8 with 1 turnover in 5:53</li>
<li>Scottie Barnes: 1-for-4 for 2 points in 5:39</li>
<li>Jalen Brunson: 5-for-9 for 11 points in 5:12 (Nembhard's worst output)</li>
<li>Darius Garland: 0 field goal attempts with 2 turnovers in 5:09</li>
<li>LeBron James: 0-for-4 with 1 block in 4:32</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;It's exciting man,&rdquo; Nembhard told Basketball News of the Pacers&rsquo; trust in him on that end. &ldquo;Personally, I've got so much confidence in my game that it's just like, I felt like I could do that. I like to compete, so that's something I just like to bring to the game every day, and I'm super happy that they've just allowed me to kinda do that and help the team in that way.&rdquo;
&ldquo;He's a guy that if you watch him within the defensive system, he always seems to be in the right place,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;He's very aware and does a good job of blocking out. He does a good job of chipping blockouts, which means going and helping a big guy. Like [Friday], when Myles [Turner] is blocking out [Jarrett] Allen, his job is to go be the second guy, to try to take away his athletic step and stuff like that. And Drew just naturally does that stuff.&rdquo;
Backing Carlisle's words, film savant Caitlin Cooper of SB Nation's Indy Cornrows provided another example of the little things that Nembhard does on that end.
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Here's another very tiny defensive detail from Andrew Nembhard: push switching. When the screener gets close enough to ghost screen, he makes them actually set the screen. That physicality makes the action more static and easier for Mathurin to navigate with the switch. <a href="https://t.co/Q9B8JYkPro">pic.twitter.com/Q9B8JYkPro</a>
&mdash; Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1601623476733104128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;I'm just like beyond impressed with the poise and maturity that he showed,&rdquo; Pacers veteran point guard T.J. McConnell told Basketball News. &ldquo;Asking him to come off the bench and then start, play a certain amount of minutes and guard the best players while you're out there, usually you don't have enough energy to do it on both ends, but he's done it... unreal. He's been unreal on both ends this year, and it's been a joy to watch."
According to McConnell, what Nembhard is putting on display now is what he saw over the offseason in the first few games of pickup. Admittedly, the 30-year-old didn&rsquo;t know it would translate for him this way, this seamlessly.
&ldquo;You kinda get so used to playing against someone, then you saw him do it against other NBA guys and do it consistently. When he just continued to do it, continued to do it, I'm like, 'This dude is the real deal,'&rdquo; McConnell said. &ldquo;You saw it from the beginning, but you didn't know how it was gonna adjust from an NBA season [standpoint], and he has hit the ground running and hasn't looked back. Just very proud. I see the work he puts in and the type of guy he is. Extremely happy for him.&rdquo;
Though tending to use the trusted pull-up game he excelled at as a high schooler and an underclassman at Florida, Nembhard has started to become a ready catch-shooter over the last few years at Gonzaga and, now, with the Pacers, converting on a healthy 36.4% on the season overall despite some inconsistencies in December. At the very least, he&rsquo;s a threat, which allows him to drive off the catch and go from there.
Nembhard&rsquo;s also moved the ball with ease, constantly making touch passes and heady reads. It helps that he&rsquo;s had reps as a handler and away from the ball already this early into his career.
&ldquo;I think it's similar honestly in terms of where I get the ball,&rdquo; Nembhard said. &ldquo;I'm still just playmaking off of our pace, stuff that we still do. So similar touches, just not bringing the ball up as much. Just not directing as much.
&ldquo;I think the way it's been so far has been good for me to just ease into getting comfortable on the court. I don't think I need it to be the primary guy right off the bat just 'cause that's tough as a rookie. I think they've allowed me to kinda grow and develop and slowly get to the point where I feel comfortable being in that primary role at times.&rdquo;
And to that point, Nembhard has been right at home with these fast-and-furious Pacers, who boast the league&rsquo;s fifth-highest pace at 102.26 possessions per game.
&ldquo;I think I've been a guy who's been able to play well in transition because of my assist-to-turnover ratio,&rdquo; Nembhard said. &ldquo;I feel like playing fast has just always been something about my game that I've succeeded at, so it's natural for me. I think for us, a young team, I think with our energy and our effort, it plays into our strengths.&rdquo;
(Per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/5120#tab-offensive_overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleaning the Glass</a>, his 1:29 assist-to-usage rate is in the 95th percentile among his peers in the league, additionally, and his 117.3 points per 100 shot attempts illustrates his efficiency.)
Nembhard&rsquo;s fellow rookie Bennedict Mathurin is garnering rave reviews as a real-deal Sixth Man of the Year candidate, and Tyrese Haliburton has upped his game to another level where he&rsquo;s leading the entire NBA in assists. Together as a trio this month, they&rsquo;ve combined for a net rating of plus-23.7 in 76 minutes.
&ldquo;I think me and Hali are good at playmaking and just like reading the game, and I think Benn's an aggressive scorer who's just confident in himself,&rdquo; Nembhard said. &ldquo;So we look for him. I think it's easy for him to play with both of us. I think we just flow well together just 'cause of our mix of skill and talent.&rdquo;
For these two rookies to be developing and producing at the same time is one thing, but to do it and rack up W&rsquo;s on a competitive, 15-win Indiana ball club that few on the outside saw coming is remarkable.
&ldquo;Man, it's exciting honestly. Personally, I love winning,&rdquo; Nembhard said. &ldquo;Ain't nothing like winning in basketball to be around that team environment. So that's a big plus, and I'm excited we're doing what we're doing so far. It's always early... But, I'm super excited I've been able to get on the floor and just help impact that winning."
"Got a lot of respect for Mathurin and Nembhard, two rookies who really like, talk. Like, they&rsquo;re there. Like, they make their presence felt," Donovan Mitchell said postgame Friday. "...Nembhard&rsquo;s had pretty big games against some good teams."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
&ldquo;This is obviously probably the youngest locker room I've been a part of, and one of the best, if not the best. Just the positive energy each day and the youthful energy that everyone brings,&rdquo; McConnell added. &ldquo;I'm only 30, so when I say youthful energy, it's just 'cause everyone else isn't as old (laughs). But it's been great. [Through the] ups and downs of a season, we've stuck together. And I think that not a lot of people expected us to have the record we do now, and I think that's because of the tightness of the locker room.&rdquo;
As Carlisle made his aforementioned top-10 comment, he described Nembhard as &ldquo;old school, but new-school.&rdquo; Basketball News followed up on what he meant by that.
&ldquo;Well, he's tough, physical. He plays an efficient game,&rdquo; Carlisle explained. &ldquo;He has a natural aptitude for moving the ball and finding people and just getting to the pass that leads to the hockey assist. And he just has a real, pure intellect for the game; that's the old-school side. The new-school side is he's probably on social media like everybody else (laughs).
&ldquo;But he understands the style of today's NBA. At Gonzaga, they did some things as a team where, a lot of times, they played an NBA style. They played up-tempo, a lot of ball movement, not a lot of play-calling &mdash; play the game, play with each other, play random, find the best shot &mdash; all that kind of stuff.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
first bucket of the night is an and one by <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewNembhard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AndrewNembhard</a>. 💪 watch the game live on <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsIN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BallySportsIN</a> or stream here: <a href="https://t.co/KN9XtXzQSD">https://t.co/KN9XtXzQSD</a> <a href="https://t.co/osXrE10Ftn">pic.twitter.com/osXrE10Ftn</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1603915535992999940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Month-by-month, Nembhard has gotten better. You can see the jump happening in both the box scores and on the floor in general.&nbsp;
And maybe of the utmost importance, he is learning what life in the NBA is like.
&ldquo;It's just so much talent in this league,&rdquo; Nembhard said. &ldquo;You've gotta bring it every night. You could be playing against their best five, (but) the next six are still NBA players who can hoop. So it's like, there's not a night off in this league. Any team can beat anybody with a certain attitude, a certain demeanor every night.
&ldquo;I really don't know how to nitpick his game. He's been unbelievable on both ends,&rdquo; McConnell said. &ldquo;Maybe one thing is just try to stay out of foul trouble. But when you're guarding the best players, it's impossible not to pick up a foul here and there. But like, on the offensive and defensive end, he's been damn near close to perfect, and that's asking a lot of a rookie. He definitely doesn't play like one.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies interviews Andrew Nembhard and speaks to Rick Carlisle and T.J. McConnell to discuss the promising Pacers rookie.

Real-deal rookie: How Andrew Nembhard has already wowed the Pacers

The NBA has announced a new original series through NBA Entertainment called "Pass the Rock," which will stream exclusively on the NBA App beginning Thursday, Dec. 15.&nbsp;
The series will provide fans with behind-the-scenes access to the next generation of NBA stars throughout the course of the season, as they "prepare their minds and bodies for competition, establish themselves as leaders and spend time with their friends and family," reads the press release.
The first episode will feature New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, who reflects on the difficult journey he faced after suffering a foot injury prior to the 2021-22 NBA season that sidelined him for more than a year. The 22-year-old forward opens up about his triumphant return, shares his excitement about the chemistry of the 2022-23 Pelicans and discusses what it&rsquo;s like competing against fellow NBA stars.
Future episodes will spotlight Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić and Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, with more players to be added to the lineup throughout the season.
Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow is the executive producer of the series.
The second episode with Jaylen Brown will premiere on Dec. 23, ahead of the Celtics&rsquo; Christmas Day matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks at 5 p.m. on ESPN and ABC.
Details regarding future episodes and additional players will be announced throughout the remainder of the season.

The NBA announced a new original series called "Pass the Rock" that will stream exclusively on the NBA App beginning Dec. 15.

NBA announces new series 'Pass the Rock' that follows star players

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; O.G. Anunoby matched his season high with 32 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat short-handed Orlando 121-108 Saturday, handing the slumping Magic their eighth consecutive loss.
Scottie Barnes scored 17 points and had a season-high 14 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet had 13 points as the Raptors won their third straight home game, improving to 9-2 north of the border.
Toronto shot a season-best .560, making 47 of 84 attempts.
Bol Bol scored 18 points for Orlando, which has the worst record in the NBA at 5-19. The Magic are 1-11 on the road.
Bol was the only Magic starter to reach double figures. Paolo Banchero, who came in as the NBA&rsquo;s leading rookie scorer, shot 2 for 8 and finished with nine points.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long season, a lot of games,&rdquo; Banchero said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to have nights like this. You&rsquo;ve just got to move on to the next one.&rdquo;
Former Raptor Terrence Ross scored 18 points, Admiral Schofield had 13 and Cole Anthony 12.
The banged-up Magic were again without top rebounder Wendell Carter Jr., who missed his ninth straight game because of an injured right foot, and point guard Jalen Suggs, who missed his fifth straight with a sore right ankle.
After being blown out at New Orleans on Wednesday and again at Brooklyn on Friday, the Raptors started better in this one.
&ldquo;We just wanted to regroup, be better,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;It was a bad feeling in the locker room (Friday).&rdquo;
Toronto had five dunks in the first quarter and scored 26 points in the paint to lead 36-22 after one.
&ldquo;They came out like a team that was determined,&rdquo; Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. &ldquo;Anunoby set the tone early.&rdquo;
Anunoby shot 12 for 17. Four of his 10 baskets from 2-point range were dunks.
&ldquo;I like it when he goes down there and he&rsquo;s making a move and all of a sudden, he&rsquo;s dunking it,&rdquo; Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s some power to get to that spot and then there&rsquo;s a lot of burst left at the end."
After scoring 13 points and making six of seven shots in the opening quarter, Anunoby connected on all three of his field goal attempts and went 3 for 3 at the line in the second. With 23 points by the intermission, he matched his career high for points in a half.
Toronto led 64-48 at the break and took a 94-73 advantage to the fourth.
POWER MOVE
Bol grabbed the rebound on Siakam&rsquo;s blocked shot late in the second and drove the length of the court for a huge one-handed slam that drew gasps from the crowd.
SAME STARTERS
After using 10 different starting lineups in the past 10 games, Toronto went with the same five starters from Friday&rsquo;s loss to the Nets; Anunoby, Siakam, VanVleet, Barnes, and rookie center Christian Koloko.
TIP-INS
Magic: G Gary Harris (strained right hamstring) sat for the second straight game. Orlando was also without C Mo Bamba (back spasms), C Jonathan Isaac (left knee) and F Chuma Okeke (left knee). &hellip; Missed their first six 3-point attempts.
Raptors: F Juancho Hernangomez left in the first half because of a sprained right ankle and did not return. X-rays did not reveal a fracture. &hellip; F Precious Achiuwa (right ankle) missed his 11th straight game and F Otto Porter Jr. (dislocated toe, left foot) missed his eighth straight. &hellip; With his fourth point of the game, Siakam passed Andrea Bargnani (6,581) for fifth on Toronto&rsquo;s all-time points list&hellip;. Siakam had eight rebounds.
UP NEXT
Magic: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.
Raptors: Host the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

O.G. Anunoby matched his season high with 32 points, and the Raptors beat the Magic 121-108 on Saturday.

O.G. Anunoby matches season-high 32, Raptors rout Magic 121-108

The Los Angeles Clippers are trying to give their fans a new way to view games. A lot of new views, actually.
And one of them will even feature in-game commentary at times from Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer.
The Clippers announced Monday that they are launching a direct-to-consumer product featuring six different stream options, with more in the planning stages, and without any pay-television subscription required. The NBA&rsquo;s new digital platform, which powers the league&rsquo;s updated app, is the vehicle the Clippers have leveraged to make their idea happen.
The product &mdash; ClipperVision, it&rsquo;s called &mdash; is a first for the NBA, and the team says it is planning on streaming more than 70 games live in-market this coming season.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s inevitable. This is where things are going. It&rsquo;s obvious,&rdquo; Clippers President Gillian Zucker said. &ldquo;The speed at which the pickup takes place, that&rsquo;s the only question mark.&rdquo;
In addition to live streams of traditional Clippers broadcasts, the product also has options where fans can choose an alternate stream; another that offers augmented graphics showing real-time shot probability and other stats during live play; options in both Spanish and Korean; and one called BallerVision &mdash; which will have a rotating lineup of analysts including Jamal Crawford, Baron Davis, Paul Pierce, Quentin Richardson, and Matt Barnes.
And, sometimes, the highly enthusiastic Ballmer will be on there as well.
&ldquo;I have wanted to create a product like ClipperVision since the day I came to the Clippers,&rdquo; Ballmer said. &ldquo;Years of effort, hard work and development have led up to its launch.&rdquo;
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-32369e1c88d94746528c89eedafd321c">The NBA last month unveiled its reimagined app,</a> one that is powered by artificial intelligence to give fans the sort of content they would want in the latest part of the league&rsquo;s own direct-to-consumer plan.
The Clippers are expecting to contend for an NBA title this season with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and it&rsquo;s a simple formula &mdash; knowing they have a team that fans will want to watch, it just made good sense for the team to find a way to get more eyeballs onto games.
&ldquo;It is a strategic imperative,&rdquo; Zucker said. &ldquo;Steve has said repeatedly, &lsquo;I want to compete for championships every year,&rsquo; and he&rsquo;s willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.&rdquo;

The product — ClipperVision, it’s called — is a first for the NBA and the team says it is planning on streaming more than 70 games live.

Clippers unveiling new direct-to-consumer viewing option

Is the NBA ready to add an expansion team? Evan Sidery explores what kind of team you could build in a present-day expansion draft.

NBA Expansion Mock Draft: What would a new expansion team look like?

The Oklahoma City Thunder came out of last Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the night&rsquo;s runner-up, taking home the No. 2 overall pick.&nbsp;
The Thunder have never received the first-overall pick in their franchise history, which technically goes back to 1967 when they were still the Seattle Supersonics. They have selected second on two occasions though, and both worked out really well (Kevin Durant in 2007 and Gary Payton in 1990).
The Thunder have a war-chest of draft picks in the coming years, but those picks are meaningless if they don&rsquo;t select a franchise-altering talent. Fortunately, the No. 2 pick should provide an opportunity to do so. The 2022 draft class features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects, including Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero. All three have their pros and cons, but adding any of them to the existing core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey should work out beautifully.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Thunder made six selections, but they traded three of those players. They added Giddey (who was named to the 2021-22 All-Rookie Second Team), Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins &ndash; none of whom are bigs. The Thunder did trade for a seven-footer in the 2020 draft (Aleksej Pokusevski), but he&rsquo;s still extremely raw and is not the same caliber of player as the top-three prospects.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done through the scouting process to effectively evaluate all three of this draft's most-coveted prospects, but a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals a murkier history than one might assume. After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-the-success-of-teams-selecting-first-in-the-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft</a> last week, let's look at how recent No. 2 overall picks have fared.&nbsp;
2012 NBA Draft: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
The Hornets bombed with the second pick in 2012. Kidd-Gilchrist had a fine career, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game across eight seasons in the NBA. The thing is, Bradley Beal was selected third and Damian Lillard was selected fifth, and both of those guys are All-NBA-caliber players annually. Comparatively, that&rsquo;s a huge miss for Charlotte.
Verdict: Failure.
2013 NBA Draft: Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
The Cavaliers certainly surprised many of us by picking Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick, but the Magic stuck to the script. Oladipo was universally seen as a top-three player in this draft, and he became the second-best player in the class before knee and quad injuries derailed his career.
As much as injuries have robbed much of what Oladipo was, he is still an intriguing player, and he&rsquo;ll probably command some decent free-agent offers this offseason. Obiously, CJ McCollumn (selected 10th) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (selected 15th) are better players, but neither was being considered by the Magic. Considering that Oladipo is a two-time All-Star, an All-Defensive selection and a one-time All-NBA selection, I&rsquo;d say the Magic did a fine job in picking Oladipo.
Verdict: Success
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2014 NBA Draft: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
The 2014 draft was a weird one. Neither the first nor the second pick ended up being the best player from this draft class. Andrew Wiggins found a good role, even if he is far less successful than most thought he&rsquo;d be, but Jabari Parker really underwhelmed. Granted, Parker stuck around in the league for eight seasons, including some of the current one, but his career simply never materialized even if it&rsquo;s not his (nor Milwaukee&rsquo;s) fault.
Parker tore his ACL twice. He looked like he was becoming a pretty darn good player (even if he was a defensive liability) before the second ACL injury, averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17. However good Parker could have been, the fact of the matter is that Joel Embiid was intriguing enough as of draft night to be taken one pick later, and that stings.
Verdict: Failure
2015 NBA Draft: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
Here&rsquo;s an instance where a player actually was worth a top-three pick. The problem is that the Lakers had the second pick, and there&rsquo;s a big difference between Karl-Anthony Towns or Devin Booker and Russell. Making matters worse, the Lakers sent Russell to Brooklyn before he matured. His immaturity was part of the reason he was traded, but that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that the Lakers picked him and moved on very quickly. Russell may or may not end up being a franchise-altering talent, but he hasn&rsquo;t realized his full potential yet, and he clearly won&rsquo;t do so for the Lakers.
Verdict: Failure
2016 NBA Draft: Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Ingram is one of the best No. 2 picks in the last 10 drafts. He&rsquo;s a true number one option on a playoff team, a career 18.5 points-per-game scorer and a one-time All-Star. It&rsquo;s debatable that Jaylen Brown (selected third) and/or Jamal Murray (selected seventh) are as good or better players, but both have played alongside more talented teammates throughout their careers.
Ingram has been the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans for a few years now, and we shouldn&rsquo;t take for granted the fact that Ingram led a playoff team this season. Sure, the Lakers didn&rsquo;t cash in on him specifically, but he was part of the package that led to Anthony Davis landing in Los Angeles. So, it worked out for them too.
Verdict: Success
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2017 NBA Draft: Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers picked second overall again in 2017. They weren&rsquo;t as successful this time around. First, there&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum to consider. Tatum was selected third and is the best player in the 2017 draft class. Being selected by the Lakers wouldn&rsquo;t have changed that, and that should be enough. But there&rsquo;s also Ball&rsquo;s rough shooting mechanics to consider. Sure, he&rsquo;s grown into a good shooter, but the Lakers didn&rsquo;t benefit from that. It&rsquo;s hard to categorize Ball&rsquo;s selection as an outright failure because like Ingram, he helped facilitate Davis to the Lakers. Still, it's tough to classify his selection a success.
Verdict: Push
2018 NBA Draft: Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings
Bagley might be the worst second pick in the last 10 years. The 2018 NBA Draft will forever be remembered as the Luka Doncic class. The Kings could have drafted Doncic, as he was still on the board, but they chose to go with Bagley instead. Bagley isn&rsquo;t even on the Kings any longer, and his time in Sacramento was not memorable.
Bagley is a sub-par defender and three-point shooter. He&rsquo;s scored the ball at a decent pace, averaging 19.5 points per-36 minutes, but he&rsquo;s never earned a big enough role to demonstrate what he can really do, and he&rsquo;s exclusively been on losing teams. Comparatively, Doncic and Trae Young (selected No. 5 in 2018) have turned their franchises around.
Verdict: Failure
2019 NBA Draft: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Ingram was the best second pick in the last 10 years, until 2019. Morant stole that made-up accolade almost immediately in his rookie season. The thing is, the 2019 NBA Draft was supposed to be all about Zion Williamson. However, unlike Williamson, Morant has backed up all the hype and then some. So, while Williamson has dealt with injuries for much of his young career, Morant has brazenly become the face of his draft class.
Morant is drawing comparisons to numerous superstars, and he was named to the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team. No one selected after him comes close to making the Grizzlies think twice about their decision.
Verdict: HUGE success
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2020 NBA Draft: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors
Unlike his brother Lonzo, LaMelo Ball was deserving of the second pick in 2020. Instead, the Golden State Warriors went with James Wiseman, though the logic behind the pick is clear, even in retrospect. The Warriors already had two All-NBA guards. The thing is, Jordan Poole looks pretty good alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, doesn&rsquo;t he? So, it&rsquo;s feasible to assume that Ball would have fit too.
After two seasons, Ball is a significantly better player, but he&rsquo;s also had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate that fact. Wiseman has had terrible health-related luck. He played in 39 of the Warriors' first 53 games in 2020-21, but he tore his meniscus in Golden State&rsquo;s 53rd&nbsp;game of the season and hasn&rsquo;t been seen since. Wiseman could still be a serious contributor, as his per-36 numbers were impressive for a rookie (19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 assists on .542/.316/.628 shooting). This is one we&rsquo;ll have to continue monitoring.
Verdict: Unclear
2021 NBA Draft: Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Basing the success of a pick on only a rookie season is tough. Green posted an impressive rookie campaign, but his defensive deficiencies were clear. That&rsquo;s an understandable flaw for a rookie. Green was the assumed second-best player in the class. Having the luxury of hindsight, we now know that Scottie Barnes (selected fourth) and Evan Mobley (selected third) translated to the NBA incredibly well. But wing scorers have a tougher time making the jump, as they must shoot deeper three-pointers and compete against far more athletic competition. Green&rsquo;s floor may be lower than that of Barnes and Mobley, but I'd argue that his ceiling is still higher. Let&rsquo;s give him a little more time.
Verdict: Unclear&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the second overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just three times (2013, 2016 and 2019).&nbsp;
A deeper examination of No. 2 overall picks reveals a limited number of franchise-altering talents. For every Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Earl Monroe and Bill Russell, there are a number of players who didn't live up to expectations. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 2 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction. Either way, No. 2 hasn&rsquo;t produced as many all-time greats as you might expect, but there have been quite a few significant contributors.
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Oklahoma City will pick No. 2 in the 2022 draft. A look back at the last 10 drafts reveals that there are no guarantees for No. 2 picks.

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 2 in the NBA Draft

Darius Garland had 25 points and 12 assists, leading Cleveland to a 107-101 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday night in a game in which the Cavaliers lost rookie big man Evan Mobley to a sprained left ankle.
Mobley, the No. 3 overall pick, landed on the foot of Franz Wagner while defending under the basket in the second quarter. He limped to the locker room after briefly laying on the court and did not return to the game.
Lauri Markkanen scored 20 points, Kevin Love had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 11 points for the Cavaliers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and remained seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 42-33 record.
Magic power forward Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, Ignas Brazdeikis scored 13 points and Wagner had 10 points and six assists. Orlando has the worst record in the East at 20-56.
The Cavaliers clinched their first winning season in four years. It is the first time they will finish above .500 without LeBron James on their roster since 1997-1998.
Mobley is averaging 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds, placing him squarely in the Rookie of the Year race with Toronto&rsquo;s Scottie Barnes and Detroit&rsquo;s Cade Cunningham.
Brazdeikis&rsquo; layup gave Orlando a 92-90 lead midway through the fourth, but Markkanen and Garland combined to score the next 12 points, putting Cleveland in front for good. It was capped by an alley-oop from All-Star point guard Garland to Markkanen.
All-Star center Jarrett Allen (left middle finger fracture) missed his 11th straight game for the Cavaliers. Point guard Rajon Rondo (right ankle sprain) has not played since March 12, and shooting guard Collin Sexton (left knee surgery) is out for the season.
Love had eight points in an 18-3 run to start the second that extended Cleveland&rsquo;s lead to 45-25. The Magic answered with a 20-4 spurt, fueled by six points from Carter to pull within two. Cavaliers carried a 60-53 lead into the break.
COMING UP EMPTY
The Cavaliers lost their two most important games of the season to date, 117-104 at Toronto and 98-94 to Chicago in a three-day span. As a result, Cleveland slipped to seventh in the East and now trails both teams. &ldquo;It was the magnitude of the moment and the (limited) experience level of our guys,&rdquo; coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;It hurts. It&rsquo;s painful. But you have to go through it and you have to take some lumps.&rdquo;
Four of the Cavaliers&rsquo; final seven games are on the road.
TIP-INS
Magic: Coach Jamahl Mosley watched the Oscars with Bickerstaff at his house. &hellip; Wagner, Detroit&rsquo;s Saddiq Bey and Phoenix&rsquo;s Mikal Bridges are the only NBA players to start every game this season. &hellip; Rookie G Jalen Suggs (right ankle bruise), the No. 5 overall pick, last played on March 13 against Philadelphia. &hellip; C Bol Bol (right foot surgery) and C Jonathan Isaac (left knee rehabilitation) are out for the season.
Cavaliers: Mobley needs one point to become the eighth rookie in franchise history with 1,000. &hellip; F Dean Wade (right meniscus tear) will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Wade, who made 28 starts, averaged 5.3 points in 51 games. &hellip; C Moses Brown&rsquo;s second 10-day contract runs through March 30. &hellip; Cleveland took a 59-58 lead in its series with Orlando, which entered the NBA in 1989.
UP NEXT
Magic: Visit the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Cavaliers: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

The Cavs clinched their first winning season in four years, and Evan Mobley, the No. 3 overall pick, didn't return to the game.

Cavaliers beat Magic 107-101, lose Mobley to sprained ankle

Nekias Duncan dives deep into the rise of guard-screening in the NBA through the lens of NBA players, coaches and more.

Changing of the guard: The future of screening is here

When the Phoenix Suns began the 2021-22 season with a slow 1-3 start, some national pundits were quick to question whether their miraculous NBA Finals run was a mirage. But ever since that point, you can't find a more dominant team in the Association than the one residing in the Valley.
Phoenix has won 34 of their last 40 games. That&rsquo;s absurd. And to put it in more jaw-dropping terms, the second-best record over that span belongs to Golden State, with 13 losses. So, the Suns not only have been playing outstanding basketball over the last two-plus months, but they&rsquo;re beginning to lap the competition while doing so.
Since Oct. 28, the day after the Suns lost to the Sacramento Kings on a miraculous buzzer-beater from Harrison Barnes, here&rsquo;s how they rank in advanced metrics league-wide: 112.8 Offensive Rating (4th), 103.2 Defensive Rating (2nd), +9.6 Net Rating (1st). During this span &mdash; stretching nearly the entire regular season, sans the opening week of play &mdash; Phoenix is the only team carrying a top-five offensive and defensive efficiency.
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The Suns are also historically elite in clutch situations this season. Phoenix carries a 15-3 record in the clutch, including shooting almost 60% (59.2%) overall in these crutical moments. Incredibly enough, after we last checked in on this, the Suns are still miles ahead in terms of outscoring opponents per 100 possesions in the clutch at +42.7 NetRtg.
As long as the Suns have two of the most clutch scorers in the NBA right now in Chris Paul and Devin Booker, plus a rotisserie of depth around them, it's hard to not feel confident with the game on the line.
It&rsquo;s still incredible to think about how the Suns used to be viewed in league circles only just a few short years ago. Phoenix was trotting out lineups headlined by lottery busts Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss around Booker. Now, Booker is flanked by a concise unit of players that best suits his superstar abilities.
Kudos to Suns GM James Jones, because the job he has done since taking over full-time in 2018 has been nothing short of spectacular.
Phoenix not only has the star power with their dynamic backcourt duo of Booker and Paul, but their young core continues to blossom as well. Mikal Bridges is well on his way to a All-Defense nod, while also adding endless sharpshooting equity. Deandre Ayton has once again proved he&rsquo;s worthy of a rookie-scale max contract extension whenever he&rsquo;s been on the floor. Cameron Johnson is becoming a key cog in the Suns&rsquo; machine, who is likely earning his own lucrative payday.
On top of these five players, look at all of the win-now veterans littered throughout Phoenix&rsquo;s rotation: Jae Crowder, JaVale McGee, Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet, Bismack Biyombo. And look out for the Suns to be active leading up to February&rsquo;s trade deadline, as well as the buyout market for veterans wanting to chase a championship. There&rsquo;s not a more attractive destination right now to pursue an NBA Finals berth than Phoenix.
The Suns have built a perfectly balanced rotation that brings a multitude of strengths to the table, which is by design, from the minds of Jones and head coach Monty Williams.
As the Suns continue racking up impressive wins night after night, they are well past the laughingstock stage they experienced for almost a decade post-Seven Seconds or Less era, headlined by two-time MVP Steve Nash. Instead, these new Suns are potentially leapfrogging the most successful chapters of team history.
When surveying the landscape in the Western Conference, Phoenix has the best case of any team to make a repeat Finals trip.
Golden State is their most realistic threat, but we&rsquo;ve seen in multiple matchups between the two this season where Phoenix can attack them at will, with no issue. Memphis is an up-and-coming team who is actually right on the Warriors&rsquo; heels since Halloween for overall record, but it&rsquo;s wait-and-see mode to find out if this continues toward a deep postseason push.
Utah is another team who could throw the Suns some potential roadblocks, but they&rsquo;ve been maddeningly inconsistent as of late. Could Denver be an underrated team to monitor, especially with Nikola Jokic&rsquo;s dominance and Jamal Murray&rsquo;s looming return around postseason time?
Putting each team up against the Suns, it&rsquo;s hard to find a way an opponent can beat them in a seven-game series. They have the stars, the depth, the head coach. Everything is firing on all cylinders in Phoenix right now &mdash; which makes it even scarier if they were to find another win-now piece to add to their already strong bench in the lead-up to the postseason.
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Welcome to a new golden era of Suns basketball. It took a while to get here, and maybe the franchise had some embarrassing rock bottoms along the way, but this team may be headed to another peak for the title-starved city of Phoenix.
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After a 1-3 start this season, the Phoenix Suns have won 34 of their last 40 games. Again, Phoenix is showing they're going nowhere anytime soon.

Suns' dominance shows that a repeat Finals trip is possible

Kevin Durant is a basketball junkie. When he isn&rsquo;t lighting up opposing teams on the court, he&rsquo;s often studying film or watching games on NBA League Pass.
Because he watches so much basketball, Durant can offer up informed takes and detailed analysis of players and teams around the NBA. That&rsquo;s why Durant was the perfect first guest for the new #NBAHooperVision stream, which is hosted by Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson.
During the broadcast, Crawford asked Durant which young NBA players he likes the most, and the two-time champion used this opportunity to praise the 2021 rookie class.
&ldquo;I like a lot of the rookies this year,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;I like Scottie Barnes. I like [Chris] Duarte. We played them a couple of weeks ago. He reminds me of an old-school shooting guard. [He&rsquo;s] quick off the catch and can shoot the mid-range off a couple of dribbles too. He&rsquo;s got good size. I like him. I like him a lot. I like this rookie class a lot.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/KDTrey5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KDTrey5</a> discusses this year's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBARooks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBARooks</a> class with <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JCrossover</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/QRich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QRich</a>! Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAHooperVision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAHooperVision</a> on NBA League Pass: <a href="https://t.co/xoeIs9fLvQ">https://t.co/xoeIs9fLvQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Hg15w0v3OB">pic.twitter.com/Hg15w0v3OB</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1461515840000561152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Barnes has been one of the biggest surprises among this year&rsquo;s rookies, as he was initially viewed as a raw prospect who would take some time to develop. After all, during his lone collegiate season, he only started seven contests and averaged just 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 24.8 minutes per game. However, Barnes has been excellent for the Toronto Raptors, starting every game and averaging 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks in 34.9 minutes per game.
Duarte was playing 35.9 minutes per game over the first month of the season, as the Indiana Pacers were without Caris LeVert, Malcolm Brogdon and Jeremy Lamb for multiple games. The 24-year-old made the most of this opportunity and showed why he was considered one of the most NBA-ready players in this class. However, he&rsquo;s come back down to Earth a bit recently, and he&rsquo;s averaging just 23.1 minutes over the last six games. Still, on the season, Duarte is averaging 13.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.9 threes and 0.9 steals, and he&rsquo;s been one of the most efficient rookies with 43.4/39.2/76.5 shooting splits.&nbsp;
Several weeks ago, after the Brooklyn Nets' 96-90 win over the Detroit Pistons, Durant also praised No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.
&ldquo;I love Cade&rsquo;s game,&rdquo; Durant <a href="https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/2021/11/05/pistons-cade-cunningham-kevin-durant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be a tough, tough cover for a long, long time. I got to know him while he was in high school, so we built a little relationship. To play against him in the NBA is what we had a lot of conversations about &mdash; being on this level and what it took. He battled some injuries to start, but to come out here and play aggressive tonight [was big]. He hit some big shots for them. I&rsquo;m happy for him and looking forward to seeing his career... This is really one of my guys.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Cunningham got off to a slow start, but he&rsquo;s currently averaging 14.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.9 threes and 1.4 steals for the 4-12 Pistons. With that said, the 20-year-old has struggled with his efficiency, shooting 35.0% from the field and 25.3% from three-point range.
In addition to Barnes, Duarte and Cunningham, this rookie class has also featured impressive play from Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley (who's widely considered the Rookie of the Year favorite), Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner, Oklahoma City Thunder Josh Giddey, Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, etc.
It remains to be seen how the 2021 NBA Draft will stack up alongside other classes in the long run, but the early results have been promising.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rookie-rankings-2021-evan-mobley-scottie-barnes-bursting-onto-scene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Be sure to check out BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s top-10 rookie rankings.</a>

Kevin Durant is a big fan of the 2021 rookie class, praising Scottie Barnes, Chris Duarte and Cade Cunningham in particular.

Durant praises 2021 NBA Draft class: 'I like this rookie class a lot'

We are nearly one month into the 2021-22 NBA season, and the standings are beginning to take shape. There have been a number of standout performances from well-known stars, a stacked rookie class and a handful of breakout players making a leap.
There have been more than a handful of players who have put their stamp on the league already.
So in our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Over the first month, which player has surprised you most and why? 
Alex Kennedy: When the Toronto Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes at No. 4 overall, I was a big fan of the pick because of his long-term outlook. I loved that he landed in Toronto since they do a fantastic job of developing prospects and helping them realize their full potential. I was on the Barnes bandwagon, but I expected it to be a slow ride that picked up steam after a year or two. Instead, Barnes is already barreling down the tracks. In his second game, the kid had 25 points and 13 rebounds (on 64.7/50.0/100.0 shooting splits) in a win over the Boston Celtics! He&rsquo;s not &ldquo;raw&rdquo; or a &ldquo;project&rdquo; like I expected; he&rsquo;s an absolute beast who can already impact a game in so many ways, averaging 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and a steal. Now, after watching the first month of Barnes&rsquo; NBA career, I&rsquo;m even more excited about what the future holds.
Nekias Duncan: I recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/tyrese-maxey-is-taking-the-reins-philadelphia-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote about his second-year bump</a>, but I had no idea Tyrese Maxey was ready for this type of usage. He's grown tremendously as a shooter and processor, and has looked like the long-term answer at guard during his most recent stretch of play.
Spencer Davies: Can we show Cole Anthony a little love? This is a guy whose team drafted a point guard in Jalen Suggs, traded for another backcourt player in R.J. Hampton midseason and is a part of a Magic squad with many at his position &mdash; and yet, he's been the star of the show. The former No. 15 overall pick from 2020 is balling out, and nobody's batting in eye because of where the team sits in the standings. He's been a supremely confident scorer this year from the mid-range and outside, and has involved his teammates to boot. He's averaging just under 20 points a night and knocking down 37.3% of his 7.9 (!) triple tries per contest. His usage rate has also increased by almost 5%, as head coach Jamahl Mosley continues to roll with him as Option A. Among players taking at least five pull-up attempts per contest, Anthony's 56.9% Effective Field Goal Percentage ranks second in the NBA.
Ethan Fuller: It's honestly Evan Mobley. I knew he had a high ceiling coming out of USC, but the No. 3 overall pick is already an impact defender and finisher who doesn't appear to be as bothered by NBA strength as I expected. He has demonstrated some excellent craft around the basket and serious promise with his touch in the mid-range and from beyond the arc. I thought Mobley was much more of a long-term play for Cleveland; he's easily in the lead for Rookie of the Year. Hopefully, he gets healthy and recovers from his elbow injury soon.
Moke Hamilton: I&rsquo;d probably have to go with Cole Anthony, who I know well. I watched him in person in high school, did a few stories on him and interviewed his father Greg. I got a lot of love for my fellow New Yorkers. Sure, the Magic are dead last out East, but I didn&rsquo;t think Cole Anthony would be averaging 20 points per game in the NBA in just his second season. I didn&rsquo;t see it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
shoutout <a href="https://twitter.com/The_ColeAnthony?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@The_ColeAnthony</a> 29 PTS | 11 AST | 58% FG | 4 3PM <a href="https://t.co/LBKgaUxoiJ">pic.twitter.com/LBKgaUxoiJ</a>
&mdash; Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1460595415858954244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Evan Sidery: Miles Bridges is my answer. The way he&rsquo;s reinvented himself into the Hornets&rsquo; primary scorer has been so impressive to watch. Now, Bridges is positioning himself to secure a massive payday from Charlotte or elsewhere as a top restricted free agent. Bridges becoming a more consistent perimeter threat changes his offensive ceiling entirely.
Blake Hairston: Miles Bridges becoming a real offensive threat has been surprising. I do think he's been building up towards production like this, but the jump he's made to start this season has been impressive &mdash; and it's great timing for him financially.
Alexander Cohen: It's surprising to see how much Damian Lillard has struggled, especially after coming out and saying that he will not be asking out (again?), showing some signs of a player motivated to carry his team as usual. Instead, he's still having the worst season of his career 14 games in. And while All-Stars go through slumps, this is certainly prolonged. While he's been battling an injury that is now holding him back, it is still shocking to see a bona fide superstar and one of the greatest shooters and scorers of all time struggle so mightily in his prime.
Drew Maresca: There are a few major surprises, including a 48-point outburst by Anthony Edwards; but for me, it has to be Ricky Rubio. Rubio is averaging a career high 15.3 points per game, connecting on a career best 38% of his three-point attempts. His previous best was 36%, and he&rsquo;s shot over 35% in just 2 of his 10 seasons. While his marksmanship is impressive, the fact that he&rsquo;s getting up as many shots as he is, is equally impressive. Rubio is hoisting 5.8 three-point attempts per game; last season, he attempted just 3.1. Who said you can&rsquo;t teach old dogs new tricks?
Jesse Blancarte: Ja Morant. We all knew Morant was special and would work his way to the top of the league. I don&rsquo;t think many expected Morant would do it this early in his career. Morant has been shredding defenses and imposing his will on opponents on a nightly basis.

Over the first month, which player has surprised you most and why? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Which player has surprised you in the first month?

It&rsquo;s time for our latest picks against the spread with &ldquo;Nothing But Bets,&rdquo; our daily NBA betting show on the <a href="http://BasketballNews.com">BasketballNews.com</a> podcast network. Each morning, we provide you the edge for the Association&rsquo;s slate of action. After a massive 13-game slate yesterday, Thursday has dipped down to only three total on tap.
As always, our odds are provided by TwinSpires Sportsbook and over/under prop bets are provided by PrizePicks. So far this season, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; is carrying an 88-67-2 record&nbsp; (56.7%).
Did you know we&rsquo;ve also made $7,000 on PrizePicks power plays over the last week? Without further ado, it&rsquo;s hammering time!
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Philadelphia 76ers (-3) vs. Toronto Raptors
Even though the Sixers are very shorthanded, I&rsquo;m leaning towards them to cover the spread in this matchup against Toronto. Philadelphia will be without all of the following players tonight in COVID-19 health and safety protocols (Tobias Harris has been upgraded to questionable): Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe. In Philadelphia&rsquo;s last outing, Tyrese Maxey exploded for a career-high 31 points while running the show at point guard as well. Forecasting another big night from Maxey &mdash; plus Andre Drummond to continue his consistency manning the middle in place of Embiid &mdash; we&rsquo;re rolling with Sixers -3 and the following over/under power play prop on PrizePicks: Maxey over 16.5 points, Drummond over 15.5 rebounds, Scottie Barnes over 14.5 points, Maxey over 4.5 assists, Fred VanVleet over 2.5 threes.
Utah Jazz (-10) vs. Indiana Pacers
Indiana is coming off an embarrassing loss Wednesday night in Denver against the Nuggets, who were without Nikola Jokic (suspension), Michael Porter Jr. (back) and Jamal Murray (ACL rehab). There are no excuses for the Pacers losing that game, but it continues to follow a disappointing trend where this team goes up and down like a rollercoaster with no end in sight. Drawing Utah on the second night of a back-to-back is a nightmare scenario for the Pacers, who could be without Caris LeVert again after he missed yesterday&rsquo;s game due to back soreness. The Jazz are always a tough out at home, and more often than not they dominate in the cozy confines of Salt Lake City. I expect no different in this game against the maddeningly-inconsistent Pacers, so hammer with emphasis the Jazz to cover the big 10-point spread. On PrizePicks, we&rsquo;re loading in the following over/under power play: Donovan Mitchell over 25.5 points, Bojan Bogdanovic over 15.5 points, Rudy Gobert over 13.5 rebounds, Mitchell over 4.5 assists, Bogdanovic over 2 threes.
Los Angeles Clippers (-4.5) vs. Miami Heat
With Jimmy Butler expected to be sidelined for tonight&rsquo;s game after suffering an ankle injury against the Lakers on Wednesday, this feels like a golden opportunity for the red-hot Clippers to continue their winning ways. Los Angeles has won five games in a row, thanks in large part to Paul George reminding everyone around the league he&rsquo;s still a superstar-level player. Miami&rsquo;s loss on Wednesday against the Lakers also went to overtime, so fatigue could be a huge factor here too. For that reason, especially with Butler unlikely to suit up, we&rsquo;re hammering the home team here to cover the 4.5-point spread. Expect a big night from George, plus the role players to step in a fun matchup against Miami. On PrizePicks, we&rsquo;re submitting this Clippers-heavy power play: George over 25.5 points, Nicolas Batum over 10.5 points, George over 7.5 rebounds, George over 5.5 assists.
Recapping our picks here on &ldquo;Nothing But Bets,&rdquo; here&rsquo;s who I&rsquo;m rolling with for Wednesday&rsquo;s slate: 76ers -3, Jazz -10, Clippers -4.5.
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Alongside our "Nothing But Bets" podcast on BasketballNews.com, our daily picks will be posted each day.

Jamaal