Paladins

After falling short in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder responded in the best way possible by delivering a dominant performance in Game 2. Their emphatic 123-107 win over the Indiana Pacers was a display of strategic adjustments, improved production from key contributors, and continued mental toughness that has defined their season.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Game 2:
Aaron Wiggins makes the most of his moment
Every NBA Finals features a surprise contributor who seizes the spotlight, and in Game 2, that player was Aaron Wiggins. The 26-year-old wing delivered 18 points in just 20 minutes off the bench after only just playing 9 minutes in Game 1, giving the Thunder a massive lift. Whether it was spotting up for threes, slashing to the rim, or capitalizing on defensive lapses, Wiggins was relentless and efficient.
His energy, activity, and versatility on both ends allowed OKC to maintain momentum when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rested. Wiggins not only outscored every Pacers starter &ndash; he made it clear that he&rsquo;s more than a role player that can light it up whenever given the chance on this stage.
OKC&rsquo;s double big lineups make their mark
One of the most important adjustments from Game 1 was Mark Daigneault&rsquo;s decision to lean more heavily on the double-big look with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. That pairing proved dominant in Game 2.
Together, they posted a +16 in their minutes on the floor &ndash; a strong indicator of their effectiveness. The duo controlled the paint, altered countless shots, and even connected on a highlight-reel alley-oop that underscored their improving chemistry.
This look not only gave OKC a size advantage but also neutralized Indiana&rsquo;s interior scoring, a key difference from Game 1.
OKC defense stifles Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton struggled in Game 2 as he failed to make a significant impact against OKC&rsquo;s disciplined defense. The Thunder's perimeter defenders &ndash; especially Lu Dort and Alex Caruso &ndash; cut off driving lanes, forced tough shots, and made him work for every inch of space.
Although Haliburton finished with 17 points, he dished out only 5 assists and had 5 turnovers, which well below his usual standard. If Indiana wants to regain control of the series, they&rsquo;ll need their All-Star floor general to find ways to adapt and reassert himself.
The others step up big for the Thunder
What Indiana did so well in Game 1 &ndash; getting contributions from across the roster &ndash; was flipped completely in Game 2 by Oklahoma City. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued to lead the way, the Thunder had four other players score at least 15 points.
Jalen Williams (18 points) and Chet Holmgren (17) played much more assertively as the No. 2 and 3 options, but it was the bench production that stole the show. Alex Caruso poured in 20 points and Aaron Wiggins added 18. Combined, they outscored every individual Pacers player, including Indiana's starters.
This kind of collective performance is what makes the Thunder so dangerous. On any given night, they have multiple players capable of swinging a game.
Resilient Thunder bounce back yet again
One thing has held true all season for OKC &ndash; they don&rsquo;t let losses linger.
With this Game 2 win, the Thunder improved to 18-2 following a loss this season (including the in-season NBA Cup, which doesn&rsquo;t count in official standings). Even more impressively, 12 of those 18 bounce-back wins have come by double digits.
OKC has yet to lose back-to-back games in these playoffs. In fact, they&rsquo;ve only lost two consecutive games twice all season. That kind of short memory and mental toughness has been one of their greatest strengths &ndash; and it showed up again on the league&rsquo;s biggest stage.
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;
With the series now tied 1-1, the Finals shift to Indiana, where the Pacers have thrived all postseason. But if Game 2 taught us anything, it&rsquo;s that this Thunder team has the personnel, the coaching, and the resilience to keep adjusting and keep fighting.
Game 3 promises to be a battle &ndash; but after this dominant response, Oklahoma City has firmly reasserted itself in the series.

Thunder dominate Game 2 of the NBA Finals: Aaron Wiggins steps up, OKC's double bigs shine, and Haliburton struggles.

Thunder-Pacers Game 2 Takeaways: What we learned from Game 2

As the 2024-2025 NBA regular season draws to a close, several compelling narratives have emerged, captivating fans and analysts alike. From intense playoff races to individual accolades and future prospects, the league is buzzing with anticipation. Here's an in-depth look at the most significant storylines to follow:
<h2>Can Anyone Beat the Top 4 Teams in the East in the First Round?</h2>
The Eastern Conference has been dominated by four powerhouse teams this season: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks. Each team would likely secure a top-four seed, thus establishing themselves as formidable opponents. The Cavaliers, under the leadership of their dynamic young core, have clinched the Central Division title for the first time since the 2017-2018 season. The defending champion Celtics continue their quest for a record 19th title, showcasing depth and resilience. The Knicks, who have secured at least a play-in spot and eventually the third seed, have been reflecting their consistent performance. The Bucks, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and their experienced roster, remain a perennial threat.&nbsp;
Despite the dominance of these teams, the question remains: can lower-seeded teams pull off an upset in the first round? While the top four have displayed consistency, the unpredictability of the playoffs means that matchups, injuries, and momentum can significantly influence outcomes. Teams like the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, and Orlando Magic have the potential to challenge higher seeds, especially if they capitalize on favorable matchups or exploit any vulnerabilities. However, given the current form and depth of the top four, any first-round upset would require exceptional performances from the challengers.​
<h2>How Far Can the Luka-LeBron Pairing Go in the Playoffs?</h2>
In a blockbuster mid-season trade, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired young superstar Luka Doncic and paired him up with LeBron James. This dynamic duo has generated significant buzz, with fans eager to see how the combination of James' veteran leadership and Doncic&rsquo;s youthful brilliance translates on the court. Early returns have been promising, but James has been down with an injury, and the Lakers are awaiting his return in time for the playoffs.
Despite their offensive firepower, questions linger about the team's depth and defensive capabilities. The Western Conference is stacked with formidable opponents, and the Lakers will need consistent contributions from their supporting cast to advance deep into the playoffs. Additionally, managing LeBron's minutes to preserve his health for the postseason will be a delicate balancing act for head coach JJ Redick. The potential for this pairing is immense, but actualizing it will require strategic adjustments and unwavering focus.​
<h2>The Emergence of the Jimmy Butler Warriors as a Threat in the West</h2>
The Golden State Warriors made a significant splash by acquiring Jimmy Butler, aiming to bolster their roster and return to championship contention. Butler's tenacity on both ends of the floor has seamlessly integrated with the Warriors' established core, creating a formidable lineup. His defensive prowess and clutch scoring have added a new dimension to the team's dynamics, complementing the sharpshooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.​
This revamped Warriors squad has seen a resurgence, climbing the Western Conference standings and positioning themselves as legitimate contenders. The synergy between Butler and the existing roster has revitalized the team's defensive intensity and offensive versatility. As the playoffs approach, the Warriors' blend of experience, star power, and newfound grit makes them a daunting matchup for any opponent. Their trajectory suggests that they are peaking at the right time, poised to make a deep postseason run.​
<h2>What's Next for the Phoenix Suns if They Don't Make the Playoffs?</h2>
The Phoenix Suns, who were Western Conference champions just a few seasons ago, now face the grim reality of potentially missing the playoffs. Currently trailing in the standings with an abysmal record, the team's inconsistent performances have raised concerns among fans and management alike.&nbsp;
Should they fail to secure a postseason berth, the Suns will need to reassess their roster and strategic direction. Key players may find themselves on the trading block as the front office evaluates the team's long-term goals. Additionally, head coach Mike Budenholzer&rsquo;s system and approach may come under scrutiny, prompting another potential change in coaching strategies or personnel. The offseason could usher in a period of significant transformation for the franchise as they strive to return to their winning ways.​
<h2>The Cavs as a Legitimate Threat in the East</h2>
The Cleveland Cavaliers have orchestrated a remarkable improvement this season, evolving from a mid-tier team to a formidable force in the Eastern Conference. Their impressive 15-0 start set the tone for a campaign filled with promise and resilience.&nbsp;
Central to their success is the development of their young core, with players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley stepping into pivotal roles. The team's defensive tenacity, combined with a balanced offensive attack, has made them a challenging opponent for any contender. As the playoffs loom, the Cavaliers' blend of youthful exuberance and strategic discipline positions them as a dark horse capable of upsetting established powerhouses in the East.​
<h2>Who Finishes 2nd in the West?</h2>
The battle for the second seed in the Western Conference is intensifying as the regular season draws to a close. 6 teams are all in the hunt and are all vying for this coveted spot, each bringing a unique set of strengths to the table. Securing the second seed not only guarantees home-court advantage in the first round but also sets a favorable path through the playoffs.​
The Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić, have showcased consistent performance throughout the season. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have navigated injuries to key players, to bounce back this season and rely on their depth and coaching adjustments to stay competitive. The Warriors, rejuvenated by the addition of Jimmy Butler, are surging at the right time. The final stretch of games will be decisive, with head-to-head matchups likely determining the final standings. Fans can expect a thrilling race to the finish as these teams vie for playoff positioning.​

As the 2024-2025 NBA regular season draws to a close, several compelling narratives have emerged.

The biggest storylines to monitor as NBA regular season reaches its end

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Denver Nuggets guard&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1661814879521771520" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bruce Brown</a>&nbsp;has been using the long layoff before the start of the NBA Finals to work on his game &mdash; his golf game.
&ldquo;First day of golf I played pretty well,&rdquo; Brown recounted. &ldquo;The second day was terrible.&rdquo;
On Friday, it was back to the business of Brown hitting the shots he hits the best &mdash; jumpers &mdash; as the Nuggets returned to the court for a light practice. Game 1 of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1661892845526188032" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">franchise&rsquo;s first appearance in an NBA Finals</a>&nbsp;is still nearly a week away and their opponent has yet to be determined, with Boston and Miami heading into Game 6 of its Eastern Conference finals series.
The rest has certainly been welcome. The rust, though, does become a concern.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible to keep your rhythm if you&rsquo;re not playing games,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;You can do whatever you want in practice, but there&rsquo;s no way you can replicate playing in an NBA playoff game.&rdquo;
The Nuggets celebrated sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on the plane ride home. It bought them a day off Tuesday and an optional day Wednesday (although, quite a few players showed up). On Thursday, there were conditioning drills and individual drills before reassembling on the practice floor Friday. The intensity will pick up closer to the start of the series Thursday &mdash; and once they know who they&rsquo;re facing (the Heat lead 3-2 with the series shifting to Miami on Saturday).
&ldquo;Right now, as I told our players, this is about us,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up.&rdquo;
Before the break, Nikola Jokic, guard Jamal Murray and the Nuggets were cruising along, too, turning in a 12-3 mark in the postseason. Murray&rsquo;s biggest piece of advice &mdash; keep practicing like they expect to play.
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t pick up bad habits throughout this week,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Just being able to stay locked in. You don&rsquo;t want to get relaxed. I think that&rsquo;s the biggest &mdash; we don&rsquo;t want to relax and just wait. We want to stay sharp.&rdquo;
Murray took the opportunity Thursday night to tune into the Stanley Cup playoffs. He watched the green team (his description of the Dallas Stars) knock off the white team (his description of the Vegas Golden Knights) in overtime during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. He said the contest drove home an important lesson &mdash; to play with an intensity all game especially on defense.
&ldquo;Our defense is being played with intent,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all been on a string. When we need a stop, we all lock in, even if we don&rsquo;t get it, we lock in and try and get it possession-by-possession. I think that&rsquo;s crucial at this stage.&rdquo;
Same with maintaining a balance between hoops and home life. Malone said his family has helped keep him grounded.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t go home and be in like Game 7 mindset, because my wife and kids would leave me,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I have to force myself to take a deep breath and remind myself that I am a husband, I am a father and to be a part of my family.&rdquo;
This weekend, Malone may even play some pickleball &mdash; just to take his mind off a grinding series that lies ahead. It could be Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. Or Jimmy Butler and the Heat, the eight seed that made it into the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
For Brown, no matter who it is, the game will be a reunion of sorts. He&rsquo;s from Boston and went to college at the University of Miami.
&ldquo;But if we did go to Boston, it would be a lot of tickets,&rdquo; Brown joked. &ldquo;So it would be really expensive.&rdquo;

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is still nearly a week away, but the Nuggets returned to the court for a light practice.

Idle Nuggets hold light practice as they wait for NBA Finals foe

It was the missed call heard around the world.
The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were tied at 105-105 with four seconds left. LeBron James had the ball, drove to the basket and got all the way to the rim for a game-winning layup attempt and... Jayson Taytum committed what was a clear foul to seemingly everyone in America except the ones that matter &mdash; the referees.&nbsp;
No call was made, and LeBron had a wave of reactions &mdash; disbelief, despair, pain, anguish. And while some have criticized it as being an Oscar-worthy performance, many others believed that, in the words of Public Enemy, he had a right to be hostile.
This marked the fourth time in the past few weeks that Lakers players and fans believe a late-game call or non-call by the referees has gone against them and ultimately cost them the game.
Afterward, Eric Lewis, the lead official in the Lakers&rsquo; controversial loss to the Celtics, and the NBA admitted that <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegoon/status/1619565136770990080?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tatum fouled LeBron</a>.
In addition, the National Basketball Referees Association posted on Twitter early Sunday evening.
"Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night's game and that is gut-wrenching for us," the NBRA said. "This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night&rsquo;s game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.<a href="https://t.co/WyN8QVuTOl">https://t.co/WyN8QVuTOl</a>
&mdash; NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialNBARefs/status/1619815874583752704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

But does this admission really help anything? Should something be put in place so this doesn&rsquo;t continue to happen? Does this negatively affect the integrity of the NBA as a whole?&nbsp;
I caught up with former Los Angeles Laker and NBA champion Samaki Walker to dissect this issue.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot-2023-01-30-at-13-04-19-ew8whyzxiaejzvf-jpeg-image-2104-2104-pixels-scaled-39_-1.png" alt="" width="475" height="475" />
Etan Thomas: What were your first thoughts on watching the missed call on LeBron there at the end of regulation against the Celtics?
Samaki Walker: "Initially when I saw it in live play, to be honest, I didn&rsquo;t really know if it was a foul or not. But once I watched the replay, it completely confirmed that it was definitely a foul and the non-call was pretty much egregious. You've got three refs on the court, and that one ref on the baseline was literally looking directly at the play. He had the perfect angle to see exactly what happened, and he swallowed his whistle. Listen, we played. We know refs miss calls. It happens. But the way technology has evolved, the refs could call up to headquarters and make sure they get the call right quickly so it doesn&rsquo;t even slow down the game. This problem could be easily fixed.&nbsp;
"That last play was an opportunity for LeBron to add another piece to his already incredible career. We should be talking about that last play in terms of LeBron being aggressive in driving to the basket, how he didn&rsquo;t settle for the jumper, to lead his team to victory. Instead, we&rsquo;re talking about the refs, and that&rsquo;s just not what the conversation should be about."
Etan: Yeah, and there&rsquo;s a lot to discuss with this. The NBA came out with the report afterward saying that the refs did in fact miss the call and LeBron should&rsquo;ve been awarded two free throws. And I don&rsquo;t know what good that really does after the fact. They&rsquo;re just admitting what everyone already knew. To your point, they need to change something so they can have the call quickly reviewed and get the call right there.
Walker: "I agree 100 percent, and the fact that we do have this technology, if the refs feel as if they didn&rsquo;t see it &mdash; they&rsquo;re humans; they could&rsquo;ve simply missed it or are not sure, and that&rsquo;s fine, we understand human error &mdash;&nbsp; but don&rsquo;t come together and guess. There is an easy solution to this because it impacts the integrity of the league. They could have another set of eyes watching in real time, and they tell them no problem we slowed it down, this is the correct call. This could all happen and the game not even be slowed paused or slowed down."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
LeBron is furious he didn't get this foul call at the end of the game 😳 <a href="https://t.co/hANldRDGCo">pic.twitter.com/hANldRDGCo</a>
&mdash; Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1619547824122908673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Etan: You said it impacts the integrity of the league. Could you go into more detail about what you meant by that? 
Walker: "This is what I meant by that: So now that gambling has legally entered the NBA, it&rsquo;s even more difficult for certain narratives to not start floating around. It just is, and this is an issue that the league has to deal with at face value.&nbsp;
"Everyone has seen the Tim Donaghy documentary, and that&rsquo;s immediately what runs through people&rsquo;s minds when a bad call of this magnitude happens. It&rsquo;s bad PR. The NBA doesn&rsquo;t want those notions even going through anyone&rsquo;s mind. That&rsquo;s why they need to fix this immediately. The NBA has to either hold these refs more accountable publicly &mdash; not in private, but publicly &mdash; or they have to utilize technology to not allow this to happen because public perception is everything. The public needs to be reassured and confident that the NBA is doing everything in its power to rectify this issue."
Etan: So either you&rsquo;re a part of the solution, or you&rsquo;re a part of the problem.
Walker: "Exactly, and this is a problem we can rectify. Let&rsquo;s have a checks-and-balances system. And to your earlier point, what good does it do to say we missed the call after the fact? That doesn&rsquo;t help anything."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: Another part that was kind of interesting is we saw LeBron&rsquo;s reaction. And I think the refs knew they blew the call, so they didn&rsquo;t give him a technical foul. Because, especially now, if you show that much of a reaction, they are immediately blowing their whistle.
Walker: "Just earlier in this very game Dennis Schroder laid on the floor after they called a foul on him on the fast break, and they tech'd him immediately. And then I felt they called a bogus offensive foul call on Jaylen Brown. I thought that was made to patch up their previous mistake."
Etan: Like a make up call?
Walker: "Yes a make-up call. And as a professional league, we shouldn&rsquo;t have to resort to those tactics instead of just getting the call right the first time. Any questionable call, they could have someone in their ear &mdash; sitting at headquarters or wherever &mdash; telling them they slowed it down and looked at it from different angles, and inform them what the correct call is. But the NBA has to implement something. Because, again, the integrity of the league is in jeopardy."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Anthony Davis on the final possession: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bullshit. It&rsquo;s unacceptable. &hellip; We got cheated tonight.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/etu283iMAu">pic.twitter.com/etu283iMAu</a>
&mdash; Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) <a href="https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1619558445459570688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Etan: I definitely agree. You know, another aspect of this that&rsquo;s interesting... Immediately after the game, I saw Anthony Davis talking to reporters, and he said that they were cheated. And I expect him to be fined; I&rsquo;m sure it will be announced soon. And my question has always been, why are the refs handled with such delicate gloves to where players and coaches are fined if they criticize them? Because you can vent and criticize anything else, but the refs are just untouchable. And it&rsquo;s been like that for a while. What are your thoughts on that?&nbsp;
Walker: "Which is interesting and goes back to our previous point. They don&rsquo;t want anyone criticizing the refs because they feel that is bad PR for all of the reasons we just listed, so implement a system to get the calls right. Then, you wouldn&rsquo;t have players and coaches criticizing the refs. If your real focus is to protect the integrity of the league, implement a system where this isn&rsquo;t an issue, and the integrity won&rsquo;t be questioned. Because if you don&rsquo;t, this is going to keep happening, and that&rsquo;s just not good for the league as a whole."

Etan Thomas has a conversation with Samaki Walker discussing the controversial non-call on LeBron James last Saturday in Boston.

Samaki Walker: Missed foul call on LeBron affects NBA's integrity

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant is at least two weeks away from returning to the Brooklyn Nets, though his right knee is improving enough for him to resume some basketball activities this week.
The Nets gave an update Tuesday on Durant&rsquo;s recovery from a sprained ligament in his right knee, saying he was evaluated Monday and was progressing well.
The All-Star forward was examined by Dr. Riley Williams III at the Hospital for Special Surgery, and Williams said Durant is progressing as expected and can begin running and on-court basketball this week.
Durant was injured during a victory in Miami on Jan. 8, when the Heat&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler fell backward into Durant&rsquo;s knee. An MRI exam revealed an isolated sprain in his medial collateral ligament.
The Nets have won two straight after losing their first two games without Durant. They said he will be reassessed again in two weeks, leaving open the possibility he could return before the Feb. 19 All-Star Game.

The Nets gave an update Tuesday on Durant’s recovery from a sprained ligament in his right knee.

Durant’s knee improving, to be evaluated again in 2 weeks

In the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins had to turn elsewhere. Surprisingly, the Western Conference&rsquo;s second seed was outplayed by the upset-minded Minnesota Timberwolves in its own building in a Game 1 loss, and needed to pack a more powerful punch to ensure the series would be tied going back to Minneapolis.
Enter Xavier Tillman Sr., a then-second-year big man who had seen his playing time diminish from his rookie campaign. The Michigan State product rewarded the team&rsquo;s decision with a critical 13-point, 7-rebound effort, all the while holding Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns in check over 20 minutes in a Game 2 victory.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And then, it was kinda downhill from there. I didn't have a performance like that again in the playoffs,&rdquo; Tillman told Basketball News in a phone interview.&nbsp;
As for why that was the case, according to him, it ultimately came down to his approach. Tillman spent most of his second season in play groups in practice, participating in scrimmages and weight-lifting. Admittedly, he would save his legs on certain days because he figured he&rsquo;d need extra energy to perform on game days.&nbsp;
Tillman waited for his number to be called as the year progressed. He was certain it would happen, but it didn&rsquo;t&hellip; until the postseason. He was shocked, and, to him, it showed.
&ldquo;I didn't take advantage of it as much as I should have, and I knew it by the end of the season,&rdquo; Tillman said. &ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Man, I could've been at least like five times better than what I finished the season out with in the playoffs,&rsquo; simply because I wasn't playing and it was a great opportunity for me to work on me. But I didn't see it as that.
&ldquo;I would just keep like stacking and wasting those days, day-by-day. Then, you have the same mentality. And eventually... maybe you could say it caught up with me?&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Entering Year 3, Tillman vowed to be proactive. Whether he forced his way into the Grizzlies&rsquo; rotation or not, he was determined to &ldquo;work my butt off&rdquo; this past summer and during the season.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm gonna get up early before we have team meetings and team shootarounds. I'mma get on the bike for 30 minutes and I'mma go 11-to-12 miles on the bike. I'm gonna lift every two days instead of every three days to take advantage of that. And (in) these play groups, I'm trying to win, I'm trying to make winning plays,&rdquo; Tillman explained of his mindset.
To this point, aside from a handful of games where he&rsquo;s played 20 or more minutes with the Grizzlies when they&rsquo;ve been shorthanded, it&rsquo;s been much of the same as far as his playing time is concerned. (In fact, he&rsquo;s averaging just over 11 minutes a night, a career-low). With that being said, it hasn&rsquo;t deterred him from trying different things.
At the beginning of the season, Tillman personally requested that the coaching staff allow him to play with the Memphis Hustle, the organization&rsquo;s G League affiliate, to stay fresh &mdash; especially with home games being only a 40-minute drive from the team&rsquo;s home arena.
&ldquo;If we don't have a game that day, I can definitely go down there and play and get some good minutes. And that's been a blessing for me to just, honestly, keep my flow of playing,&rdquo; Tillman shared. &ldquo;Because even in those play groups and those workouts, you can't get in the flow of boxing somebody out, grabbing a rebound, pushing it, being in help defense. 'Cause it's a workout, all you work on is offensive scoring.
&ldquo;So being in a Hustle game allowed me to just play and play in a real game. So when I got my opportunity called &mdash; like now due to injury &mdash; I was ready to go and ready to help the team in all ways.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
X is so inspirational man. <a href="https://t.co/uAnVhnf9dl">pic.twitter.com/uAnVhnf9dl</a>
&mdash; Memphis Hustle (@MemphisHustle) <a href="https://twitter.com/MemphisHustle/status/1603087828589711371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
Team-first is Tillman&rsquo;s M.O. Whatever his squad needs and asks of him, he does it. It&rsquo;s been that way from an early age, particularly when he was playing with current Phoenix Suns guard Duane Washington Jr. at Grand Rapids Christian High School in West Michigan.
&ldquo;We played high school ball together my junior and my senior year, and having him on my team, I knew that I didn't have to be a 20-point scorer for us to win these games. Especially 'cause he was a bucket-getter himself. I'm like, 'Okay, if I can get him shots and then fill the gaps on our team, we'll be great,&rsquo;&rdquo; Tillman said. "Start to try to fill the gaps instead of like, 'Hey, this is what I bring and then let everybody else fill it around me.' I've learned as I've gotten older. See the identity of your teammates and then work around that to help us win games.&rdquo;
If you&rsquo;re a teammate of his, it helps that Tillman can &ldquo;think the game&rdquo; the way he does. He&rsquo;s constantly one step ahead of his defender on offense and the opposing player when he&rsquo;s on the defensive end. If he gets an offensive rebound, it&rsquo;s either going up or going to a teammate. If he sees one of his guys getting doubled, he&rsquo;s freeing them up or cutting to the bucket.
Screens are precise, handoffs are well-timed, backdoor passes to cutters are on point and short-roll spray-outs to the corner are on target. There&rsquo;s a knack for the intangibles of the game and the little things that, when added up, become big.
&ldquo;I've always played on teams, for the most part coming up, where I've had shooters and scorers on my teams, but I didn't always have guys who cared about defense, who wanted to get blocks and steals and rebounds and stuff like that. So that was kinda the role I filled on my teams early on in life,&rdquo; Tillman said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The main skill part that I would bring to the table was me being able to bring the ball up after a rebound and then, make a play after that to pass it to somebody else. But early on in my career playing basketball, I had people on my team who could score the ball, so my job then at that time wasn't even that. So I guess I kinda always had that... I don't know if anything is truly, truly natural, but my experience has made it natural, I guess you would say.&rdquo;
Tillman&rsquo;s distribution prowess is impressive, whether he&rsquo;s pushing the ball up the floor on the fast break or searching for guys in space in the half-court. Being a Michigan State Spartan, the recently-turned 24-year-old looked up to Draymond Green as somebody with a comparable height, build and playstyle.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Being able to facilitate, being to able to lock up on defense, being able to rebound with the big 7-footers and stuff like that. So I just drew similarities from him for sure,&rdquo; Tillman said. &ldquo;I loved watching guys coming up like LeBron [James], and not necessarily like the athleticism and scoring aspects, but the same thing I was talking about (with Draymond) &mdash; the way he can find people, the way on defense he'll be on the back line communicating crazy to everybody and letting everybody know what's up. And then, in transition, being able to make the plays that he does.&nbsp;
&ldquo;So those two guys are two that I kinda looked up to as far as my game and how I could find similarities between them.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
When on a G League assignment, there is a noticeable difference in Tillman&rsquo;s focus areas. Unlike the role he plays for the Grizzlies, he is granted freedom to expand his game with the Hustle. In five games, Tillman is averaging 17.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals per contest, taking 13.0 shots a game and converting on 52.3% of his total attempts.
Hustle head coach Jason March sends him out there for a predetermined allotment of minutes and draws up plays for the big man to take shots and score that don&rsquo;t usually come with the Grizzlies.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Him telling me stuff like that, it's like, 'Man, okay, I gotta shoot it.' So now when I catch the ball down there, I'm thinking, 'Okay, what's the best move I can make here to get a shot off?'&rdquo; Tillman explained.
&ldquo;When I'm on the Grizzlies, I got Des [Bane] on the court with me or I got Ja [Morant] on the court with me or I got DB (Dillon Brooks) on the court with me or I got JJ (Jaren Jackson Jr.) on the court with me or I got Tyus [Jones] on the court with me, and I'm like, 'These are our scorers. I need to find ways to get them open, and then if two people go to them, cool. I can finish the easy layup, I can finish my floater, whatever.'&rdquo;
For somebody like Tillman who has capabilities outside of the role he plays with the big club, those opportunities in the G League are helpful and reassuring.
&ldquo;It's always a balance. It's not easy, I will say that. The only part that's not easy is... I guess the ego side, the pride side of it,&rdquo; Tillman acknowledged. &ldquo;Because at the end of the game, everybody's looking at stats and you see like, 'Ah man, I only took 4 or 5 shots today and I played this many minutes? What's that about?' And then, you watch the film and you can watch the film and say, 'Damn, you're passing up all these shots.'
&ldquo;But in my head when I'm in the game, my mind is already set on, 'I need to get so-and-so open, I need to get so-and-so a shot here.' And so like, that's kinda the hard part is the aftermath when I watch film and I watch myself because I'm like, 'Man, I had way more shot opportunities than I took.' But then when I'm in the game, I'm like, 'Man, you played good out there. You got some assists, you got some rebounds. We went up 10 points while you were out there.' So it's just those things, trying to balance that for sure.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
X Gon' Give It To Ya<a href="https://twitter.com/Rookiedunker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Rookiedunker</a> <a href="https://t.co/0SpoKi2FfU">pic.twitter.com/0SpoKi2FfU</a>
&mdash; Memphis Hustle (@MemphisHustle) <a href="https://twitter.com/MemphisHustle/status/1602843540048023552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
With Brandon Clarke back from a sore hip that sidelined him for six games, Tillman&rsquo;s playing time has started to diminish again.
But at 31-13, the Grizzlies are the hottest team in the NBA with 11 straight wins, a rung barely below the Denver Nuggets at top of the Western Conference ladder. Tillman&rsquo;s been a part of that and will continue to do whatever he can to help his team along throughout the rest of this campaign.&nbsp;
A young, hungry and deep group that continues to blossom with each passing season, Memphis poses a legitimate threat to the rest of the NBA &mdash; both right now and down the road.
&ldquo;It's definitely been awesome to see, especially this early in our careers,&rdquo; Tillman said. &ldquo;Being my third year, Des's third year, Ja's fourth year, JJ's fifth year. It's pretty cool to see the success happen so early in our career. But at the same time, we have to have that knowledge in the back of our heads that it is early in our careers. So when things don't pan out the way we feel like it should, we shouldn't freak out and blow up the bus. We should say, 'Hey, alright, we made mistakes.' But we're a super, super young team. Mistakes are bound to happen.
&ldquo;So, it's just awesome that we have the success that we have now and the camaraderie that we have because we'll ride for one another every night, making sure that everybody's good, is getting cared for. We'll play hard for one another. The success that we've had, I can't lie, it's been awesome. Especially because our fan base has been pretty amazing, on the road or at home, where people are just still rooting for us, and the energy's amazing.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies goes 1-on-1 with Grizzlies big man Xavier Tillman to discuss his mentality in Year 3, his games with the Hustle and more.

No wasted days: Xavier Tillman waiting in the wings for Grizzlies' call

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Ben Simmons will miss at least the next three games with what the Brooklyn Nets said is a strained left upper calf.
Coach Jacque Vaughn said before the Nets played Washington on Wednesday night that Simmons was feeling pain in the back of his knee when he asked to come out of their victory over Orlando on Monday night.
The injured turned out to be the calf, not the knee.
Simmons also will miss home games against Toronto on Friday and Boston on Sunday before he is reassessed.
Vaughn said Simmons didn't recall a specific moment when he was hurt and that it could have just been caused by playing in a number of games after missing last season. Simmons missed five games earlier in the season with left knee soreness.
The Nets also said Yuta Watanabe would remain out and be reassessed next week because of his strained right hamstring. The forward was leading the NBA in 3-point percentage when he was hurt after a victory over Memphis on Nov. 20.

Simmons will miss home games against Toronto on Friday and Boston on Sunday before he is reassessed.

Nets' Ben Simmons out at least 3 games with left calf strain

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant scored 39 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 113-107 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory.
Durant was 13 for 20 from the field and hit all 11 of his free throws in 37 minutes after scoring a season-high 45 points Monday night in a victory over Orlando.
Kyrie Irving added 27 points and Joe Harris had 14. Brooklyn has won five in a row at home.
Kristaps Porzingis had 27 points and 19 rebounds for Washingon. Bradley Beal and Kyle Zuzma each had 25 points for the Wizards, who have lost four of their last five games.
The Nets led by just three points at the start of the fourth quarter before pulling away with an 11-5 run while Durant rested on the bench.
Irving&rsquo;s 3-point play extended the Nets' lead 88-81 with 8:54 left. He then hit a 3-pointer to make it 93-84 and force the Wizards to call a timeout with 7:17 remaining.
The Wizards managed to make it a five-point game on a pair of free throws from Jordan Goodwin. Brooklyn then went on a 10-4 spurt capped by Irving&rsquo;s second 3 of the quarter that put the Nets up 105-94 with 2:15 left.
Kuzma made a 3-pointer cut the deficit to 111-107 with eight seconds, but Durant was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit a pair of free throws.
TIP INS:
Wizards: Washington outrebounded the Nets 51-34. &hellip; The Wizards have lost four consecutive road games.
Nets: Ben Simmons will miss at least the next three games with what the Nets said is a strained left upper calf. Coach Jacque Vaughn said before the game that Simmons was feeling pain in the back of his knee when he asked to come out of their victory over Orlando on Monday night. The injury turned out to be the calf, not the knee. Simmons also will miss home games against Toronto on Friday and Boston on Sunday before he is reassessed.

Kevin Durant scored 39 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 113-107.

Kevin Durant scores 39 points, Nets beat Wizards 113-107

Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals will be played on Thursday, June 2. Remarkably, that date is the exact one-year anniversary of the Boston Celtics' announcing Brad Stevens had stepped away from head coaching duties to assume the role of president of basketball operations in place of the departing Danny Ainge.
Let's have a look back at what has been an extraordinary and almost unimaginable 12 months&hellip;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
During his eight seasons on the sidelines in Boston, Stevens was viewed as one of the league's better head coaches. He was regarded as an elite tactician and considered an important part of the Celtics' sustained success. Under his stewardship, Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in four years.
So when the club announced that its long-time top executive in Ainge was retiring and that Stevens would be promoted to team president last June, it came as a shock to most. Would Stevens be able to replicate the regular-season success he enjoyed as head coach? Could Boston get over the hump and advance all the way to the NBA Finals?
Although Ainge left a roster stocked with a budding superstar in Jayson Tatum, his All-Star caliber sidekick in Jaylen Brown, veteran stalwart Marcus Smart and a few promising youngsters, Stevens took control at a precarious juncture. Boston entered last summer capped out (with a directive from ownership not to incur a costly luxury tax bill) and lacking excess draft capital.&nbsp;
Stevens' first order of business was parting ways with Kemba Walker and his cumbersome contract. With two years and $73 million remaining on his deal, Walker was the team's highest-paid player. When healthy, the four-time All-Star Walker was highly productive on the offensive end for the C's, but his balky left knee had robbed him of his quickness. Some suggested the Celtics sit tight, hoping that an entire offseason of rest would allow Kemba to re-establish himself as a quality starter. If Boston wanted to trade Walker, Stevens would have to get creative.
The week before the 2021 NBA Draft, Stevens dealt Boston's first-round pick (16th overall) and a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford and a 2023 second-rounder.&nbsp;
At the time, Stevens' first significant move as team president was considered highly questionable.&nbsp;
Following the 2019-20 season, when Horford posted career-worst numbers for the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a monstrous four-year, $109 million pact, the veteran big man's contract was viewed as one of the worst in the league. In December 2020, the Sixers were forced to attach a future first-round pick and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic (who just won his second EuroLeague Final Four MVP) in a trade with OKC just to get out from under Horford's contract.
During his lone season in Oklahoma City, Horford appeared in just 28 games for the Thunder. After the trade deadline passed in February 2021, the Thunder shut him down for the rest of the season. At the time, it felt like Stevens was trading for a potentially washed-up 35-year-old center with two years and $53.5 million left on his contract ($41 million of it guaranteed).
But after struggling at times to find his groove in the regular season, Horford has been a crucial cog in the Celtics' run to the Finals. During these playoffs, he is averaging 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.9 three-pointers,1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, all while shooting 50.0% from the floor, a scorching 43.2% from downtown, and 83.3% from the free-throw line.
Per Basketball-Reference, Horford is just the third player in NBA history (joining Draymond Green and Rasheed Wallace) to average more than 1.5 blocks and more than 1.5 made treys in a postseason (minimum 15 games played). Horford is also the first player ever over the age of 35 to tally more than 25 blocks and more than 25 three-pointers in a single postseason.
To say the Walker/Horford trade has worked out well for Boston would be a dramatic understatement.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3S4rPBgUeQg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
After acquiring Horford, Stevens' next critical decision would be choosing a new head coach. After interviewing several candidates, Stevens zeroed in on Ime Udoka and officially hired him in late June. Udoka was a bit of a gamble, as he had never been a head coach, having spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant with San Antonio (2012-13 to 2018-19), Philadelphia (2019-20) and Brooklyn (2020-21).&nbsp;
Udoka's job was made that much more difficult when the C's stumbled out of the gates this season. By the turn of the new year, there was some finger-pointing in the locker room with the Celtics losing too many winnable games. Three weeks into January, Boston was still below .500 with a 23-24 record.
However, Udoka remained stoically stern, providing a calm and reassuring presence in the locker room and on the sideline. His ability to outcoach opponents and his command of the X's and O's gained him the trust of his team. Over the second half of the season, Boston ranked in the top three in Defensive Efficiency, and led the league in Offensive Efficiency (122.6) and Net Rating (plus-12.7) by a wide margin.
Udoka earned Coach of the Month honors on multiple occasions, and would go on to finish fourth in the NBA Coach of the Year voting. The league-wide respect he's garnered has only increased as he's helped guide his team to the championship series.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
When the free agency frenzy commenced in July 2021, Stevens had to decide what to do with shooting guard Evan Fournier. Ultimately, Boston opted to let Fournier leave for New York.
The Celtics' only free-agent addition of note last summer was inking Dennis Schroder to a team-friendly, one-year deal for $5.9 million. However, Stevens signed Marcus Smart (four years, $76.5 million) and Robert Williams III (four years, $48 million) to lengthy extensions.
The Smart signing, in particular, looks genius in retrospect.&nbsp;
It had been rumored that Ainge was seriously considering trading away Smart in different deals in years past. However, Stevens made it clear that he was committing to Smart for the long term. Just as importantly, Stevens let it be known he would entrust Smart with the team's primary point guard duties. This may seem like an easy decision with the benefit of hindsight, but it's important to point out that entering this season, Smart had started in just 228 of the 449 games he had appeared in. And a large percentage of those starts were alongside point guards such as Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas.&nbsp;
The C's flourished with Smart installed as the floor general, especially on the defensive end. Smart, as we know, would be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1996.
Starting in each of the 71 regular-season games he played, Smart finished the season ranked seventh in the NBA in steals per game (1.68), ranked fifth among all guards with a Defensive Rating of 105.2, and led the NBA with 1.1 loose balls recovered per contest. He was also near the top of the league in deflections, charges drawn and defensive rebounds. On the offensive end, he averaged a career-high 5.9 assists per game and posted an Effective Field Goal percentage above 50% for the first time.
Had Stevens not locked up Smart last summer, he would undoubtedly have been one of the most highly sought-after players on the free-agent market next month.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rj0RcxvFqAY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Before being sidelined by a knee injury late in the season, Williams had also been enjoying a breakout 2021-22 campaign, averaging career-highs in points (10.0), rebounds (9.6), blocks (2.2), steals (0.9), field-goal percentage (73.6%) and free-throw percentage (72.2%). Like Smart, Williams' value now exceeds his salary.&nbsp;
In February, Stevens recognized Boston's backcourt needed an upgrade. Hence, he sent Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford and a top-four-protected 2022 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Derrick White at the trade deadline. Udoka, who was familiar with White having spent time as an assistant in San Antonio, asked him to sacrifice some of his offense. White would serve as a reserve, which meant fewer field goal attempts and fewer minutes. White embraced the role, supplied solid defense on the perimeter and knocked down a handful of big buckets during Boston's run to the Finals.
Ironically, of all the trades and signing Stevens has made over the past 12 months, arguably the most important and impactful are the ones he did NOT agree to. It sounds outlandish now because the C's are four wins away from the franchise's 18th championship, but plenty of pundits and fans in New England had been calling for the Celtics to break up the duo of Brown and Tatum.
While there was no denying their collective talent, many argued the roster was unbalanced, and that the skill sets Tatum and Brown brought to the table were a bit duplicitous. Thus, some folks contended that the best path forward was trading Brown (possibly in a package with Smart) for a pure point guard (such as Damian Lillard).
Pressure and the corresponding rumors reached a fever pitch in the dark days of December and January.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Damnit I&rsquo;m holding everybody in Boston accountable, from the front office, to the coaching staff and down to Jaylen and Tatum. It&rsquo;s time to break them up! Carry on&hellip; <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a> <a href="https://t.co/2fNHMFavfd">pic.twitter.com/2fNHMFavfd</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1479494503765524483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

As noted above, Boston was below .500 for much of the season. On Jan. 15, the Celtics had a worse record than both the Knicks and Washington Wizards. Boston was 11th in the East, on the outside of the Play-in Tournament looking in.&nbsp;&nbsp;
But Stevens never budged, trusting in the roster he helped construct. And the results speak for themselves. Twelve months after he was hired, Stevens's squad is preparing for the NBA Finals.&nbsp;
Earlier this month, the NBA announced Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Zach Kleiman as the winner of the 2021-22 Basketball Executive of the Year Award. Stevens came in sixth, receiving only one first-place vote. However, that award is based on regular-season accomplishments.
Given how well Boston has performed in the playoffs, there is little doubt about which executive's moves have looked best in the postseason.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Tommy Beer reviews Brad Stevens' first season as Celtics president with his one-year anniversary coinciding with NBA Finals Game 1.

Brad Stevens deserves massive credit for the Celtics' success

On Monday, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown experienced arguably the craziest 24 hours of his 25-year coaching career.
The whirlwind of a day started that morning, when the Sacramento Kings announced that they were hiring Brown as their new head coach. Brown would continue coaching the Warriors throughout their postseason run, and then his four-year deal with the Kings would begin.
"Mike has consistently demonstrated his ability to lead winning teams throughout his long and successful coaching career," Kings general manager Monte McNair said in a press release. "He has worked with some of the best players in the NBA and is one of the league's premier defensive minds. I am excited to bring his extensive experience to Sacramento."
Previously, Brown coached the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers &mdash; even winning the NBA&rsquo;s Coach of the Year award in 2009. However, after working as an assistant coach under Steve Kerr in recent years, this would be his first head-coaching gig since 2014.
While Brown was understandably excited about this new opportunity, he tried to focus on the task at hand: beating the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Warriors were up 2-1 in the series and Monday's game was pivotal.
Little did Brown know, he would be thrust back into a head-coaching role sooner than expected.
&ldquo;Steve called me on his way in at about 4:45, and said he just wasn't feeling well and there's a chance that he may not be able to coach tonight,&rdquo; Brown recalled. &ldquo;We've done this drill before, and so I said, &lsquo;Okay.&rsquo; He came in, got tested; I get a call back at 5:15 saying that he's out. So that's how I found out [I&rsquo;d be the head coach]."
That&rsquo;s not an easy transition to make moments before a game, and Brown admits that he felt nervous after receiving that call.
&ldquo;Obviously, there's butterflies because you're going into the game with a certain mindset and it's a big game,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Every game that we play at this point in the year, it's huge. So to have that kind of thrown at you, you've got to switch gears because I know what my responsibilities are going in as 'Mike Brown the assistant coach,' and it changes. Now, you have to manage everything and not necessarily manage the specific things that you were asked to do before gametime. So, I had to change hats quickly.&rdquo;
The atmosphere surrounding this playoff game was unique too, as Draymond Green was playing with a heavy heart. Earlier that afternoon, Green learned that his college teammate Adreian Payne had been shot and killed the night before in Orlando. Green and Payne played together for two seasons at Michigan State, and Green was devastated. (Green announced a $100,000 fund in Payne's name and called on other Spartan alumni to contribute as well).
&ldquo;I love Draymond and when he hurts, we all hurt,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;It was an up-and-down, emotional day.&rdquo;
Despite everything the Warriors were dealing with, they managed to beat the Grizzlies 101-98 to take a 3-1 lead in the series.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm so proud of them," Brown said. "Our leader in Steve being out with COVID right before the game. Draymond, emotionally, he's our emotional heart and soul, and for him to get hit with something that impactful, not only was it tough for him, but we felt it. We felt it as a group. It was a tough night for us. But at this point in the year, you win ball games. It doesn't matter how you get there, but you win ball games. We found a way to win tonight and that's why I'm excited.
&ldquo;When we went in the back, [Warriors assistant] Chris DeMarco says, &lsquo;Punch 42. Dive 52.&rsquo; I'm like, &lsquo;What are you talking about?&rsquo; He said, &lsquo;We just kept handing the ball off to the fullback left and right, and at the end of the game, we kicked a field goal to win it. Hell of a football game.&rsquo; And that's what it was. But that's playoff basketball. Sometimes it's grimy. Sometimes it's gritty. They turned it into that in Game 2 in Memphis and we lost. They turned it into that again tonight, especially with Ja [Morant] out, but our guys found a way."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
While Stephen Curry led the way with 32 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, Brown credited the leadership of Green and Andre Iguodala, while also shouting out the rest of Golden State&rsquo;s coaching staff.
&ldquo;Andre, I know he's not playing but just his voice, his presence, he's always saying the right thing. It uplifts all of us; it uplifted me,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I told him and Draymond, &lsquo;I need you guys tonight. I need you guys. I'm going to lean on you guys.&rsquo; And those guys stayed steady the whole game; Andre on the bench, obviously, and Draymond out on the floor.
&ldquo;To have veterans like Andre and Draymond who have been through the highs and lows of many playoffs series, when they are reassuring the guys of that, it gives everybody else confidence because we are playing guys right now who haven't been as far. Again, their presence, their voice, their calmness, their reassurance, all that stuff means a lot for our group, especially with Steve out&hellip; All of our guys &ndash; Kenny Atkinson, Bruce Fraser, Chris DeMarco, Jama [Mahlalela], [Dejan Milojevic], all of our coaches &ndash; were fantastic.&rdquo;
After the game, Curry and Klay Thompson raved about Brown and how well he did on such short notice. They both pointed out that Brown had thrived in this position before back in 2017, when Kerr missed a stretch due to back pain and Brown led the team to an 11-0 record.
&ldquo;It's been a wild day all the way around,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;You just had to kind of figure it out on the fly. And I understand we've been through this before &mdash; guys that were here in 2016-17, with Coach [Kerr] and his back problems back in the day when he was out of the lineup and still had an influence. Mike B. stepped up, so we really didn't have a lot of time to react&hellip; He's coached in Finals before, coached some high-powered teams, some big-market teams &ndash; he's been through it all. He&rsquo;s been with us for these last six years, and he's been interim coach for a little bit and made his presence felt, especially defensively leading us this year. He has a good presence about him, a great way about him.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Really happy for Mike B.,&rdquo; Thompson added. &ldquo;He's going to do great things for Sacramento. His head-coaching record for Warriors playoff games, I think, is undefeated. We did miss Steve a lot, just his voice, his presence. But we've been here before in 2017 when Mike took over and we rolled off a lot of wins. I reflected on that a lot. Just an up-and-down day as far as emotions&hellip; It was an emotional day. Prayers up to Adreian and his family and Draymond; I know they played together. Just a terrible loss of life and his legacy will live on. It was just a sad day.&rdquo;
Brown will once again coach the Warriors in Game 5 tonight &mdash; this time with significantly more heads up. And, in typical Kerr fashion, Brown praised his players and downplayed his role in the Game 4 win.
&ldquo;Any time you have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole and a guy who if he wasn't hurt would have been Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green on the floor, you know good things can happen,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;If it's a one- or two-possession game down the stretch, whether you're down or up, you feel pretty confident. A lot of it has to do with the playoff experience that these guys have, but their talent and IQ, in my opinion, are second-to-none.&rdquo;
Brown will never forget the day that the Kings hired him, and he'll likely go down as an interesting trivia answer too.
"I don't know in history if [anyone else has been] named the head coach of two teams in 24 hours," Curry said with a laugh. &ldquo;He's continuing to set many trends!&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1habvwh r-eqz5dr r-11rk87y r-1dye5f7 r-m611by r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown experienced arguably the craziest 24 hours of his 25-year coaching career on Monday.

A crazy day: Mike Brown gets Kings' job, then fills in for Steve Kerr

San Antonio Spurs owner Peter J. Holt on Tuesday told fans not to worry: The team isn't going anywhere.
A plan to have the Spurs play a few games in Austin, 80 miles away, had raised some local anxiety that the owners may be considering moving the team.
&ldquo;I want to reassure you that the Spurs are in San Antonio to stay,&rdquo; Holt said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs/status/1524050412973830144?s=20&amp;t=bLdYSzonWyYxp7q5jUikvw">message posted on Twitter</a>.
&ldquo;My family became involved in the Spurs in the 90s because there was a real threat the team would be moved. We would not let that happen then and we will not let that happen now,&rdquo; Holt said. &ldquo;There are no Spurs without the city and the people of San Antonio."
Bexar County owns AT&amp;T Stadium where the Spurs play home games. County commissioners last week raised concerns about the team's request to play two homes games in Austin's new Moody Center, which will host University of Texas games. A team official told the commission the franchise is simply trying to expand its brand.
Austin's soaring popularity and an influx of large corporations who could be major team sponsors have made San Antonio officials nervous that Texas' capital city could lure away the Spurs. San Antonio was stung a few years ago when Major League Soccer opted to expand in Austin instead of the Alamo City.

A plan to have the Spurs play a few games in Austin, 80 miles away, had raised some local anxiety that the owners may be considering moving the team.

Spurs owner insists NBA team will stay in San Antonio

Kevon Looney had never missed a game before he came to Golden State. Not one.
He figures that's a couple of thousand consecutive games, all the way back to youth basketball as a boy in Milwaukee.
Looney's time with the Warriors has been far different, so it's no surprise how badly he wanted to play all 82 games this season to prove to himself and everyone else that he is healthy again. He promised coach Steve Kerr he would be honest if his body ever needed a break.
<a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1513379503933833216">&ldquo;Iron Man Loon," as they call him, beamed when he received the game ball from</a> the Warriors' 128-107 victory at New Orleans on April 10 that wrapped up the regular season and the big man's quest to play the full 82. Only four other players in the NBA did so this season.
"It was just good for my psyche, good for my confidence,&rdquo; said Looney, who gifted the ball to mother Victoria. &ldquo;... I wanted to put that in my head that I&rsquo;m putting all the injury stuff in the past, that I made it to this point, that I can play every game, I feel good and I don&rsquo;t have to be playing in fear.&rdquo;
Looney's emergence as a model of consistency was something these Warriors desperately needed with stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all missing significant time &mdash; and veteran Andre Iguodala sitting out for stretches with various injuries.
That durability could become even more critical in the Warriors' physical series with the Grizzlies. Golden State has already lost Gary Payton II, who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-draymond-green-b49c8d89dc667ca4734df9bcb42c9621">suffered a broken left elbow early in Game 2 on Tuesday after a hard foul by Dillon Brooks</a>. Game 3 is Saturday in San Francisco, with the series even at one game apiece.
Looney's interior defense and rebounding have been keys to Golden State's latest playoff run.
For five games in the first round, he muscled in the paint with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Looney realizes his role changes this round with smaller lineups used against the Grizzlies and he is coming off the bench, vowing to &ldquo;stay ready.&rdquo;
That's how he always did it during that remarkable run of playing every game before reaching the NBA.
There were approximately 1,015 AAU games over 10 years starting in second grade. Another 20 for Samuel Morse Middle School and 100 more at Alexander Hamilton High. Then, Looney played all 36 games during his lone season at UCLA in 2014-15, when he had an NCAA freshman-best 15 double-doubles and helped the Bruins reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Early on as a pro, Looney endured his share of hard luck. He underwent surgeries on both of his hips as a rookie in 2015-16 and played just five games.
&ldquo;Missing that first season for him was tough,&rdquo; said Looney&rsquo;s longtime youth coach, Shelby Parrish, who can't even recall a single missed practice &mdash; and he served on the high school staff, too.
Looney came back for his second professional season to appear in 53 NBA games for Golden State.
A hurt hamstring kept later him out of training camp and the preseason in 2019-20, then he returned only to be sidelined again with a nerve issue. In May 2020, Looney had surgery on an injured core muscle.
Through it all, Looney longed to shed this label he felt he owned as being the injured guy. He has done that.
&ldquo;He came into the league at 18, 19, back-to-back hip surgeries to start his career,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s worked like crazy to get himself in this position and his durability this year was a key to our regular season for sure.&rdquo;
Kerr, who still takes great pride in playing all 82 games over four straight years in his career, came close to resting Looney at Toronto on Dec. 18, but the 6-foot-9 center pushed to play. Each time thereafter, Looney reassured Kerr and Rick Celebrini, vice president of player health and performance: &ldquo;I feel great."
&ldquo;I told them I wouldn't push it and be stupid about it,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;They gave me that trust and I appreciate them for that.&rdquo;
Curry, who has come close on a handful of occasions to playing all 82, witnessed Looney's determination day after day.
&ldquo;Only he can probably tell you some of those games he woke up in the morning and was probably feeling it more than others and had to really drag himself to the level of availability that he wanted," Curry said, "but the fact that he accomplished that goal is so impressive."

The durability and consistency of "Iron Man Loon" has been, and will be, critical for the Warriors in a physical series with the Grizzlies.

Kevon Looney becomes model of durability for Warriors

We have reached the point where Stephen A. Smith is conjuring up the narrative that Zion Williamson is holding back the New Orleans Pelicans from contending for a title.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
When did we get to this part of the Twilight Zone, I need to get out 😭😭😭 <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/sOnggL7FYf">pic.twitter.com/sOnggL7FYf</a>
&mdash; Devonte Graham Bricks (@Marvason) <a href="https://twitter.com/Marvason/status/1521244564966756359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Let's not discuss that clip any further besides pointing out how dramatically <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wednesday-was-a-celebration-of-how-far-the-pelicans-have-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Pelicans changed course and captured the respect of the national basketball audience</a> this season. Stephen A.'s rant is less relevant for its substance and more noteworthy because ESPN is&nbsp;still talking about the Pelicans even after they were eliminated from a hard-fought, first-round series. New Orleans started 1-12 (!!) and turned into one of the NBA's true darlings in a matter of months &mdash; all without its most marketable star.
Brandon Ingram asserted his star status, averaging 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game (27.0/6.2/6.2 during the postseason) while taking a leap as a playmaker. CJ McCollum fit right in as a "1B" creator and microwave shooter after the trade deadline. Herb Jones is the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reassessing-herb-jones-upside" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certified steal of the 2021 NBA Draft</a>, and undrafted rookie Jose Alvarado isn't too far behind.
There is no hyperbole fit to describe the sheer joy I had watching the Pelicans through the wins and losses of this season, and if you followed along, you recognize the progress that far exceeded the record and results.
Perhaps the best part is that New Orleans remains built for the future.
Only three players hit free agency this offseason: Tony Snell, Jared Harper and Gary Clark. Everyone else is under contract for 2022-23 &mdash; no team options, no restricted free agents and no partial guarantees, per Spotrac. On the signing front, Zion is the biggest domino, as he'll be eligible to sign a rookie extension before hitting restricted free agency in summer 2023. At least publicly, he is giving positive indications:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I asked Zion Williamson if offered an extension this summer by the Pelicans would he sign it? His answer. &ldquo;Of course, I couldn&rsquo;t sign it fast enough.&rdquo;
&mdash; Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) <a href="https://twitter.com/FletcherWDSU/status/1520095546752516096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

However, Williamson has now missed a whopping 141 games in his NBA career. Even if he inks a max extension, which Dan Feldman of NBC Sports says <a href="&ldquo;Obviously,%20that%20conversation%20is%20going%20to%20be%20one%20that%20will%20be%20a%20challenge,&rdquo;%20Griffin%20said.%20&ldquo;When%20it&rsquo;s%20time%20to%20have%20that,%20we&rsquo;ll%20have%20it.%20And%20right%20now%20what%20we&rsquo;re%20focused%20on%20is%20him%20being%20healthy,%20and%20(being%20in)%20kind%20of%20elite%20condition%20to%20play%20basketball%20and%20we&rsquo;ll%20start%20there.&rdquo;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could be worth well over $180 million</a>, Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin implied that talks might be complicated.
&ldquo;Obviously, that conversation is going to be one that will be a challenge,&rdquo; Griffin said. &ldquo;When it&rsquo;s time to have that, we&rsquo;ll have it. And right now what we&rsquo;re focused on is him being healthy, and (being in) kind of elite condition to play basketball and we&rsquo;ll start there.&rdquo;
Ultimately, Williamson's health and wealth are the rudder of the Pelicans' ceiling. But Griffin still has much to address on other fronts.
New Orleans has the Lakers' first round pick with zero protections &mdash; an exciting opportunity given that pick has the eighth-best lottery odds. At the very least, the Pelicans get a free chance to add another young talent to the rotation, and if things break right, they could add another franchise cornerstone.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock projects New Orleans to pick Duke freshman AJ Griffin in <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest mock draft</a> if they remain at No. 8. Griffin is a high-upside choice as one of the youngest players in the draft class. A long, 6-foot-6 wing, he's returned from injuries in high school and at Duke, and flashes traits of a dynamic three-level scorer and creator.
The Pelicans send their first-rounder to Charlotte as part of last summer's Devonte' Graham trade. But they still hold their own second-round pick (No. 41 overall) and a pick from Utah (No. 52). Babcock has Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe and Villanova guard Collin Gillespie mocked to New Orleans in the second round.
Even with a packed roster and their draft picks, the Pelicans still have assets to get frisky in free agency. They'll have $10.2 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to use on a free agent along with a $4 million bi-annual exception. More notable is their $17 million trade exception generated from trading Steven Adams to the Memphis Grizzlies. New Orleans could absorb a player into that exception with some financial flexibility.
But how much should the Pelicans shake things up? Since Jan. 1, they sported the 17th-best offense and defense, according to Cleaning the Glass, and were still only the ninth seed in a deep Western Conference at season's end. Yet we saw other young prospects &mdash; most notably Jaxson Hayes and Trey Murphy III &mdash; visibly develop as the year moved along. The five-man unit of McCollum, Ingram, Jones, Hayes and Jonas Valanciunas played 294 possessions after the trade deadline and was a solid plus-7.1 points per 100 possessions.
New Orleans receives one of the NBA's biggest boosts if Zion Williamson comes back healthy to open 2022-23. Willie Green gets a summer to prepare after a stellar first season as a head coach. The Pelicans have a bright future ahead, and this offseason should purely be icing on the cake.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

The Pelicans surprised everyone with their run to the NBA Playoffs, and have only just begun an exciting trajectory.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the New Orleans Pelicans?

Brandon Ingram scored 16 of his 30 points in the third quarter and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns &mdash; playing without injured star Devin Booker &mdash; 118-103 in Game 4 on Sunday night to tie the first-round series.
Jonas Valanciunas reasserted himself in the middle with 26 points and 15 rebounds to help the Pelicans pull even heading back to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Booker strained his right straight after scoring 31 first-half points in the top-seeded Suns' Game 2 loss. Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 23 points and eight rebounds, and fellow center JaVale McGee had 14 points.
Chris Paul, who had 19-point fourth quarters in the Suns&rsquo; two playoff wins, was held to four points in 35 minutes. He had 11 assists, but committed three turnovers.
The Pelicans led 89-85 with 8:05 left and used a 12-0 run to ice it. Valanciunas, limited to six points in a Game 3 loss, scored 10 points in a 3:34 span of the fourth quarter to help the Pelicans pull away. He punctuated his scoring spree with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
New Orleans had a 35-23 advantage in the third quarter. Ingram was the catalyst, making 7 of 10 shots and assisting on two other baskets as New Orleans took an 84-74 lead. His flurry started on the Pelicans&rsquo; first three possessions of the half, with a pair of 15-footers and a layup.
The Suns used a 20-10 run, with Mikal Bridges breaking down the New Orleans defense with three layups in the final eight minutes of the first half, to take a 51-49 halftime lead.
TIP-INS
Suns: Paul had 28 assists and zero turnovers in Games 2 and 3, but he had 11 assists and three turnovers on Sunday. In the first three games, his assist-to-turnover ratio was 38-2. ... Cam Johnson had 13 points.
Pelicans: The Pelicans committed 46 turnovers in the first three games to the Suns&rsquo; 28, leading to a point differential of 72-27. But New Orleans committed just seven turnovers in Game 4.

The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns 118-103 in Game 4 on Sunday night to tie the first-round series at 2-2.

Ingram, Pelicans overwhelm Booker-less Suns to tie series 2-2

Just two weeks ago, the San Antonio Spurs were 27-44, two-and-a-half games out of postseason positioning and three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference standings.
The Lakers' failures have been the dominant headline of this year's playoff race. However, their epic meltdown is overshadowing a Spurs team that capitalized on an easy stretch of schedule to go 6-1 in the past two weeks and surge to the No. 10 seed.
San Antonio boasts a fifth-ranked offense and defense over that time, according to Cleaning the Glass. Sure, three of the wins have come against the Portland Trail Blazers, and a fourth victory versus the Houston Rockets; however, the Spurs have also downed Golden State and New Orleans &mdash; and even fighting tooth and nail in a one-point loss against second-seeded Memphis is commendable. This roster features just two players over age-26 in Doug McDermott (30) and Josh Richardson (28).&nbsp;
For a team that has appeared well out of contention all season, the Spurs have displayed impressive resilience with this late run.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Any praise starts with Dejounte Murray, who is simply a full-blown superstar. The 25-year-old kicked his All-Star season up another notch in March, putting up 25.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game with a 57.5% True Shooting percentage. Then, on defense, he led the NBA with 4.7 deflections per game.
Murray averaged 92.6 touches per game last month &mdash; third in the entire NBA &mdash; and sported a 33.5% usage rate, in the 81st percentile among point guards. His assist rate (39.3%) is in the 88th percentile post-February, and it underscores the success Murray is having with tremendous responsibility as an engine.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/uwn0y9" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Against the Pelicans, Murray racked up 13 assists against 2 turnovers. He often simply made the right pass, and on other plays, he showed off the vision and control that has come to define his methodical tempo.
Murray may be the fulcrum, but he isn't carrying San Antonio. The Spurs missed him for the past two games due to illness, yet still soundly thrashed Portland twice. They beat New Orleans on a night where Murray had those 13 assists but shot 4 of 19 from the field.
Tre Jones subbed into the starting lineup for Murray in those two wins against the Trail Blazers, handing out 16 assists without turning the ball over once. Jones has a scintillating 62.6% True Shooting percentage and a 6.40 assist-to-turnover rate during the seven-game run.
Keldon Johnson has shined as the team's second-leading scorer at 22.0 points per game. He has reasserted himself as a powerful driver while canning 47% of his corner threes over the past seven games. The drive-and-kick game has also shined.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/93pnme" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Johnson is already a reliable driver who continues to improve. Since March 1, his overall turnover rate has dropped to a pristine 7.0%, while his assist totals have gone up. The reads that the 22-year-old has made out of his attacks have been quite impressive.
It feels like the young core is rising collectively on the score sheet. Devin Vassell has knocked down 37.0% of his three-pointers since the All-Star break, showing off the pull-up savvy that made him a 2020 lottery pick. Zach Collins has returned from lengthy injury absences to back up Jakob Poeltl and help San Antonio post the second-highest offensive rebound rate in the NBA over the past seven games.&nbsp;
Even 19-year-old Josh Primo, the youngest player in the NBA, has stepped in as a starter over the past eight games. He hasn't been an efficient offensive contributor, but Primo is still playing 27.2 minutes per game for a Spurs team that is winning when it counts. That's meaningful development.
Seven different Spurs have logged a 15-plus-point outing during the 6-1 run. Five others have scored between 10 and 15 points at least once. Regardless of the context or competition, it's fun to see so many players impacting the point total.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
On defense, San Antonio has arguably played even better, and it starts with Poeltl. The 26-year-old has already faced the most at-rim shots in the league this season and performed admirably. During the recent winning stretch, Poeltl has faced 7.7 shots at the rim per game. Opponents are shooting just 45.7% on those attempts &mdash; the lowest rate against any player facing at least 5 attempts per game in that span.
Overall, the Spurs have held their opponents to just 54.1% shooting at the rim over the past seven games, per Cleaning the Glass, by far the league's lowest rate in that span. Teams have struggled to get out and run on San Antonio, and when stuck in a half-court game, the Spurs have allowed the fifth-fewest points per half-court possession.
In short: It's been a fantastic run, and it's placed all the pressure on the Lakers to change their fate.
L.A. is 4-16 since the All-Star break with the NBA's second-worst defensive rating. The Lakers still have to face Phoenix and Denver, two top-10 offenses on the season, along with the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers must win at least two games to even have a mathematical chance at the No. 10 seed, and even if they somehow won out, San Antonio would then only need to win two games (the Spurs hold the tiebreaker).
The Spurs have a difficult road ahead against four West playoff teams in the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Warriors and Dallas Mavericks. Does San Antonio's recent hot stretch provide enough momentum to split the schedule? Do the Lakers have anything left in the tank to apply pressure?
Regardless of the outcome, Gregg Popovich and his staff should take pride in how the young Spurs have fought for their spot in the postseason.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Dejounte Murray has helped lead the young Spurs into the Play-In Tournament picture, and a number of others are contributing as well.

The Lakers might be collapsing, but let's give credit to the Spurs

Every day,&nbsp;BasketballNews.com&nbsp;gives you NBA betting analysis before tip-off. Make sure you subscribe to our daily podcast &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zNxt0NQXPmKuryAdz89m0?si=1038d121100444fd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts. This season, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; is up thousands of dollars on PrizePicks.
<iframe src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BNI4847862383" width="100%" height="200" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into our favorite NBA betting plays for Thursday&rsquo;s superstar doubleheader.
Philadelphia 76ers (-4.5) vs. Brooklyn Nets
I can&rsquo;t wait to watch this, and every NBA fan should be locked in here. Joel Embiid and James Harden versus Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving? It doesn&rsquo;t get better than that folks. For this matchup, though, we view Embiid as the trump card. If the Sixers&rsquo; star big man is able to cause early foul trouble, it could be a very long night for Brooklyn. We&rsquo;re expecting Durant and Irving to go off, but who&rsquo;s going to stop Embiid consistently inside? That&rsquo;s the big swing factor, so lock in with confidence Philadelphia to cover the 4.5-point spread.
Pick: Sixers -4.5
PrizePicks Power Play: Joel Embiid over 31.5 points, Kevin Durant over 28.5 points, Kyrie Irving over 24.5 points, James Harden over 10.5 assists
Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors (-2)
Here's another show-stopping matchup on tap for Thursday night, as the Warriors and Nuggets will square off in The Bay following the battle in Brooklyn. Golden State has been sliding as of late, but this feels like the perfect opportunity to reassert its dominance on the road in Denver. Nikola Jokic will go off for the Nuggets, but who will be able to stop the Splash Brothers combination of Curry and Klay Thompson? After waffling back-and-forth on this one, we feel confident hammering the Warriors.
Pick: Warriors -2
PrizePicks Power Play: Nikola Jokic over 26.5 points, Stephen Curry over 24.5 points, Monte Morris over 4 assists, Klay Thompson over 2.5 threes
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Make sure to <a href="https://app.prizepicks.com/sign-up?invite_code=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out PrizePicks</a> and use the promo code NEWS when you sign up, and they'll instantly match your deposit up to $100! Also, make sure to listen to "Nothing But Bets" for daily betting analysis on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3rnooUvIsHtvykhPY9Ddt8?si=36d61d2c59a44523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a> or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Who are the best bets for tonight's NBA games? Which players should you target in daily fantasy? We've got you covered!

Best Bets: BasketballNews' picks and fantasy advice for 3/10/22

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; The Utah Jazz are reasonably healthy, hitting shots and reasserting themselves as a Western Conference powerhouse.
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Rudy Gobert added 16 points and 14 rebounds and the Jazz stayed hot with a 118-114 victory over the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
&ldquo;We've got so much talent, it's hard to lose when we play that way,&rdquo; Gobert said.
Utah has won eight of nine to improve to 38-22. Phoenix, at 49-12, has lost back-to-back games for the first time in two months. Before the two losses, the Suns had won eight straight and 19 of 20.
Utah's been a little inconsistent this season, but is playing well now that its deep roster is mostly healthy. Jordan Clarkson had 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting &mdash; part of the Utah second unit that played well and outscored Phoenix's bench 43-11.
It was the second straight impressive win for the Jazz, who also beat the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. Jazz coach Quin Snyder said the team's deep, unselfish roster allows him to be more creative with substitution patterns and allowing hot hands like Clarkson to stay on the floor in important situations.
&ldquo;We've got a group that's willing to accept that,&rdquo; Snyder said. &ldquo;... It's really important and I think it's unusual.&rdquo;
The Jazz used a 16-3 run late in the third quarter to take a 94-89 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. It stayed tight throughout most of the final minutes but the Jazz were able to keep their lead, helped by Mitchell's banked-in 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining that put them up 10.
The Jazz shot 17 of 40 (42.5%) from 3-point range. Mitchell made six of them.
&ldquo;More than the wins, it's our mindset,&rdquo; Gobert said. &ldquo;The way we're competing defensively and the way we play together offensively, is really the thing we can take away. When we play that way, we're going to be in good shape every night.&rdquo;
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 30 points. Cameron Johnson and Deandre Ayton each added 23. Phoenix had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Jae Crowder threw the ball out of bounds.
Suns coach Monty Williams took the blame, saying it was his fault for not calling a timeout, but Crowder said the miscue was also on him.
&ldquo;I have to be better at that situation,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;I have to know time possession, timeout situation, etc. I am the veteran on this team. I am a veteran basketball player. I should know what to do and what not to do in that situation.&rdquo;
Phoenix has played its past three games without All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who broke his thumb on Feb. 16 and could be out the rest of the regular season. The Suns have a 1-2 record in those games.
The Suns rallied for a 60-56 halftime lead after trailing for much of the second quarter. Ayton had 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting before the break while Mitchell scored 11 for the Jazz.
TIP-INS
Jazz: G Rudy Gay played Sunday after missing the previous six games with right knee soreness and a non-COVID illness. ... Gobert had a season-high eight offensive rebounds. ... Gobert blocked three shots.
Suns: Made 10 of their first 11 shots, scoring 24 points in the first six minutes of the first quarter. ... G Aaron Holiday returned after missing one game with a sprained ankle. ... Welcomed their 18th straight sellout crowd to the Footprint Center. ... Phoenix lost despite shooting 51% from the field, 46% from 3-point and 81% on free throws. ... Ayton was 11 of 15 from the field.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
UP NEXT
Jazz: At Houston on Wednesday night.
Suns: Host Portland on Wednesday night.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Rudy Gobert added 16 and 14 rebounds and Utah stayed hot with a 118-114 victory over the Suns.

Mitchell, Gobert lead surging Jazz over Suns, 118-114

Don&rsquo;t look now, but the Philadelphia 76ers are 10 games above .500 after their 18-point blowout victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Checking in with a 29-19 record, Philadelphia continues to weather the storm as it relates to the ongoing Ben Simmons saga. Both Simmons and the organization are dug into their positions, and this stalemate could extend even past this season&rsquo;s trade deadline.
The main reason Philadelphia is staying well above water &mdash; only two games back of the top seed in the Eastern Conference &mdash; is their franchise cornerstone Joel Embiid. What Embiid has been doing over the last six weeks has been nothing short of magnificent, firmly placing him within the MVP race.
Since Dec. 16, Embiid is averaging 33.8 points, 11.9 free throw attempts, 10.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 blocks on an elite 64.2 True Shooting percentage.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
However, Embiid is getting proverbially run into the ground from a usage perspective. This six-week run of prime Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal-esque dominance has Embiid bookmarked at an outrageous 40.2% usage rate.
Comparing Embiid&rsquo;s 40.2 USG% to the other ball-dominant superstars in the Association since mid-December, he&rsquo;s creating some distance in this metric: Giannis Antetokounmpo is at 37.3 USG%, Trae Young &mdash; 34.2 USG%, Luka Doncic &mdash; 34.3 USG% and Devin Booker &mdash; 32.6 USG%.
As Embiid continues his reign of terror on opposing defenses, one constant thought continues to linger. How long will this actually last before *knock on wood* Embiid goes down with an injury?
We all know Embiid&rsquo;s checkered injury history, and the Sixers right now are playing a very dangerous game with the soon-to-be 28-year-old big man. A 7-foot, 280-pounder carrying over 40% of a team&rsquo;s usage is cyborg-like. That&rsquo;s simply not sustainable for the entire slog of an 82-game regular season slate.
With that being said, it&rsquo;s time for Sixers GM Daryl Morey to blink first as it relates to the off-court melodrama with his disgruntled point-forward. Trade Simmons for the best possible package before this run from Embiid ends with no positive benchmark resulting from it.
On Friday, ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Sacramento Kings were the latest team fed up with the Sixers&rsquo; stance on trading Simmons. Sacramento bowed out of the Simmons sweepstakes, which further thins out the potential destinations Philadelphia can send the former No. 1 overall pick from the 2016 NBA Draft.
Sacramento stood out as one of the most realistic organizations for a Simmons blockbuster, thanks in large part to the players on their roster who fit around Embiid: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes.
Now, Philadelphia is backing out and reassessing who exactly wants to get their hands dirty and potentially waste their time over the next two weeks before the trade deadline?
Philadelphia is legitimately in a great spot to make a push in the second half of the regular season because of Embiid&rsquo;s brilliance. It will be all for not if Morey and Co. continue to sit on their hands and don&rsquo;t find their superstar big man some immediate help, though.
The Eastern Conference is wide open. Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s part-time status as an unvaccinated player has thrown a wrench into the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; hopeful title run. The Chicago Bulls have found some magic with their dynamite scoring duo of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, but who on their roster could guard Embiid over a seven-game series?
Last season&rsquo;s defending champions in the Milwaukee Bucks have their own legitimate argument to make a repeat Finals run. Even though they&rsquo;ve dealt with countless injury issues, the Miami Heat sit atop the East and control their own destiny for home court advantage once the calendar hits mid-to-late April.
Philadelphia slots right into the mix because of Embiid. The big question is how will Embiid hold up over the next three-plus months before the playoffs even begin? What if the Sixers don&rsquo;t trade Simmons and decide to hope and pray for an unlikely James Harden sign-and-trade this offseason involving Simmons? It&rsquo;s not the right move, especially when realizing exactly what Embiid is accomplishing for Philadelphia right now.
It&rsquo;s time for the Sixers to push those chips all-in to take some much-needed pressure off Embiid, conserving him for when it really matters most in win-or-go-home scenarios. Simmons is the chip to push into the middle of the table, and the time is ticking fast to utilize that chip at peak value.
Imagine what Philadelphia could do if they added multiple win-now pieces in return for a player who&rsquo;s not even around the team right now? It changes not only the entire calculus for Embiid and the Sixers, but it causes a seismic shift for what could potentially happen in the Eastern Conference this postseason.
Particularly for big men, their primes are not something to just play around with. Embiid is showcasing exactly why he&rsquo;s one of the best players in the NBA, one who could singlehandedly bully his way through defenses to a miraculous Finals appearance.
It would be such an unfortunate circumstance if the Sixers&rsquo; front office decided to punt on this golden opportunity, sitting in front of them right now.
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Joel Embiid has become an MVP favorite. Now, it's time for the Sixers to bring their superstar big man some much-needed help.

The time is now for the 76ers to trade Ben Simmons to help Joel Embiid

The NBA Sour Rankings took a month-long hiatus due to the wild world of playing through the peak (on league rosters, at least) of a pandemic. With COVID-induced absences dwindling down, it's back to reassess the state of desperation as we approach the season's halfway mark.
Several presumptive playoff contenders are spiraling, and at this stage of the season, it's reasonable to begin panicking. The league's middle tier is as crowded as ever.
With that being said, we're also going to trot out the Tank-O-Meter this season and update it occasionally over the next few months. The Tank-O-Meter measures how much an NBA franchise should be considering throwing in the towel and embracing its younger players while pursuing a high draft pick. It was called the Cade-O-Meter last year, but with no surefire No. 1 pick yet, it takes on a generic nickname.
You'll get Tank-O-Meter readings for each team in the Sour Rankings, rated 1-10 (10 being a full commit to the tank), plus the usual explanations for why each team has earned its undesirably place on this list.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going:
10. Los Angeles Lakers (21-20) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 1/10
LeBron James has been an absolute monster for the Lakers over the past month, but the team itself is still 6-7 since we last updated these rankings. Things are looking up, though; L.A. is 5-2 in the past two weeks with the third-ranked offense in the league. Malik Monk has emerged as <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/malik-monks-offensive-versatility-is-helping-fuel-the-lakers-resurgence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the scoring weapon the franchise hoped for</a> when they added him this offseason. The Lakers could very easily break out of the Sour Rankings by next week.
And no, in no universe should a team with LeBron James active and dominant as ever consider tanking.
9. Houston Rockets (11-30) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 10/10
Houston is fully invested in a youth movement and has been since the season began, so a Tank-O-Meter rating isn't even necessary. But the sailing hasn't been as smooth as some of the other bottom-feeding NBA franchises.
The recent halftime incidents with Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood both led to one-game suspensions for each. Both are concerning for different reasons; Porter has a history of locker-room altercations, and Wood is a veteran in a leadership role on the team. Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. had a great discussion about this on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-70-new-year,-same-vibes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last Tuesday's Dunker Spot podcast</a>. This season is as much about building a culture in Houston as it is getting prospects playing time, and that hasn't been easy.
8. Los Angeles Clippers (20-21) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 4/10
Injuries continue to attack the Clippers. Paul George is out at least several weeks with an elbow injury and Isaiah Hartenstein has no timetable on his hurt ankle. L.A. is thus 3-6 since Christmas and 4-9 since the last Sour Rankings, dropping to ninth in the West.&nbsp;
There's a sneaky case to be made for a tank here. Young players like Terance Mann, Amir Coffey and Brandon Boston Jr. continue to flash promise. With George and Kawhi Leonard out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kawhi-leonard-knee-ahead-of-schedule-strong-chance-he-returns-this-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for now</a>, the Clippers' ceiling is capped. It's probably still too early for a veteran-heavy roster to be shuffled around, but the situation is worth revisiting around the trade deadline.
7. Indiana Pacers (15-25) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 7/10
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
CAREER-HIGH ON 18-22 SHOOTING FOR DOMANTAS SABONIS 🪣 42 PTS 6 REB 56.7 FPTS <a href="https://t.co/xjCYy7l9YC">pic.twitter.com/xjCYy7l9YC</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1480002848532410371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Domantas Sabonis dropped a career-high 42 points on the Utah Jazz in the Pacers' Saturday win, and he's been on fire as of late. Indiana, however, had lost six straight games prior to that victory, and continues to flounder with a mediocre offense and below-average defense.&nbsp;
It's been over a month since the initial reports about Indiana embracing a rebuild, but hopefully the front office is still on that track. The Pacers lack upside outside of whatever Sabonis can muster up, even when Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon have their good days. Indiana is 13th in the Eastern Conference with several better teams ahead in the Play-In battle. There's no sense in pushing for a whimper of a postseason exit.
6. Washington Wizards (20-20) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 2/10
Despite sitting at .500, Washington is one of six franchises with bottom-10 offensive and defensive ratings, per Cleaning the Glass. Those other teams are all at least 10 games below .500. The Wizards have gone 5-9 in the past month and are fading fast.&nbsp;
However, unless some roster overhaul occurs at the trade deadline, Washington isn't in a position to tank. The biggest franchise domino is still Bradley Beal's upcoming free agency, and if the organization has any hope of keeping him, it should continue to focus on the playoffs. The Wizards currently sit ninth, but are still only two games out of sixth in the East. There's time to right the ship.
5. Sacramento Kings (16-26) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 4/10
The Kings are on a four-game losing streak, are 3-7 in their last 10, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-kings-open-to-trading-deaaron-fox-tyrese-haliburton-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Philly Voice's Kyle Neubeck</a>, have been open to making De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton available in trade talks. Altogether, that signals desperation. Sacramento should shake things up because the defense is still horrendous (ranked 27th) and the offense is disappointing (24th).&nbsp;
Does the state of the Kings really call for another tank though? For a young franchise used to losing, postseason experience &mdash; even Play-In exits &mdash; might have extra value. But there still is not enough overall talent or cohesion to pull off the appearance of a playoff contender. The rating stays low, for now.
4. Boston Celtics (19-21) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 2/10
Friday's loss to the New York Knicks on an RJ Barrett buzzer-beater underlined a disastrous stretch for the Celtics that included second-half collapses, stalling offense and disappointing results against inferior opponents. Once again, the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown pairing has been called into question by fans, along with Ime Udoka's coaching and the point guard situation. And while I think much of the blame game is misguided, the fact that it exists is a concern in itself.
Boston holds the last Play-In spot, and a postseason appearance should wholeheartedly remain the sole goal. A tank in any form would symbolize a lack of confidence in the current direction, a.k.a. a team led by Tatum and Brown. There is no legitimate reason to be hesitant in rostering what is still one of the best wing duos in basketball, and fortunately, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/celtics-have-no-interest-in-trading-jayson-tatum-or-jaylen-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston seems to know this</a>.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
3. New York Knicks (19-21) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 3/10
The Knicks may have gotten that buzzer-beater win, but it was quickly erased by a resounding 99-75 loss to the same Celtics on Saturday. This team is dreadfully inconsistent, starting at the top with Julius Randle and Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley's growth hasn't dispelled the frustration. As of right now, New York loses the tiebreaker with Boston and is actually out of the postseason entirely.
Like the Celtics, though, a Knicks tank is an admittance that the current franchise direction is an error and that one glorious 2020-21 season was a fluke. New York should not miss out on the Play-In Tournament. They do have an interesting group of young talent, and a high-lottery prospect would surely help. But the lack of star power at the top compared to the previous draft class makes a risky move like that less enticing.
2. Portland Trail Blazers (15-24) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 4/10
The Trail Blazers have a terrible defense that continually costs them games, and have fallen to 12th in the West amidst a chaotic fight (is it a fight?) for postseason spots. Every loss makes fans worry more about the future of Damian Lillard, and Lillard himself remains out with an abdominal injury.&nbsp;
This franchise is in such a weird place. They aren't a destination, and they aren't near true playoff contention. Portland is two games out of top-four lottery odds... which could be the best way of acquiring someone with star upside to join Lillard. But is that the tone Lillard wants to set, and does his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/damian-lillard-wants-2year-extension-which-could-shape-blazers-gm-search" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will carry the same weight anymore</a>? It's all incredibly confusing for the Tank-O-Meter.
1. Atlanta Hawks (17-22) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter rating: 2/10
What a mess things have been in Atlanta. The Hawks are 2-5 in the last two weeks with the worst defense in the NBA. They lost a game in which Trae Young scored 56 points. Atlanta is currently 12th in the East standings. General manager <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/hawks/news/atlanta-hawks-general-manager-hints-at-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Travis Schlenk even went on record</a> wondering if he should lower expectations for the team. John Collins is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-john-collins-frustrated-by-role-with-hawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly frustrated by his role</a>. Yikes.
The Hawks should be done with their prospect stockpiling. They absolutely need to make a major move at the trade deadline, but going back to the draft for help won't solve the team's problems. Atlanta has loads of young talent from Young, to Kevin Huerter, to Collins, to Onyeka Okongwu, to De'Andre Hunter, to Cam Reddish and more. It's time to turn that back into winning either via trade or growth.

As the NBA season reaches the halfway point, some teams need to make a decision on their direction.

NBA Sour Rankings: Welcoming back the Tank-O-Meter

Nassir Little spoke to Alex Kennedy about his development, his breakout season, Neil Olshey's firing, Portland's struggles and more.