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Suns

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Keldon Johnson scored 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 113-92 on Sunday night to strengthen their bid for a play-in berth.
Coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; loss to Denver, San Antonio&rsquo;s magic number for clinching 10th place in the Western Conference is two games. The Spurs (33-45) also hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers (31-47) with a better conference record.
San Antonio won a two-game weekend series with Portland to complete a four-game sweep of the Trail Blazers. It was the sixth win in seven games for the resurgent Spurs.
San Antonio's Zach Collins had 18 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double. Tre Jones added 18 points and Keita Bates-Diop 12.
The Blazers struggled to maintain any consistency offensively without Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Josh Hart, Eric Bledsoe, Anfernee Simmons and several other injured players.
Keon Johnson and Ben McLemore had 19 points each to lead Portland.
San Antonio was without Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl.
As they did Friday, the Trail Blazers took an early lead as the Spurs struggled to adjust without its missing starters.
Johnson responded with his sixth straight 20-point game.
San Antonio outscored Portland 34-16 in the third quarter to overcome a 13-point deficit.
The Spurs tied the game at 23 on a runner by Josh Richardson off a pair of offensive rebounds and then took the lead on Lonnie Walker IV&rsquo;s 3-pointer.
The Blazers regained the lead in the second quarter, much to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich&rsquo;s dismay. The veteran called a timeout with 7 minutes remaining after San Antonio allowed a 3-pointer that put up Portland up 43-37.
The Blazers were 6 for 10 on 3-pointers in the second quarter and shot 52% overall in the period. Portland finished 16 for 44 on 3-pointers and shot 40% overall.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland has lost four straight to San Antonio. The Trail Blazers' last victory at the AT&amp;T Center was May 8, 2021. ... Portland is 27-51, its first 50-loss season since going 32-50 in 2007. ... Rookie F Greg Brown III was assessed a clear path foul with 11:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. After committing a turnover, Brown began attempting to wrap up Tre Jones near midcourt on a fast break. ... G Kris Dunn received a flagrant foul 1 after hitting Johnson in the head on a layup attempt with 8 minutes remaining in the fourth. Initially ruled a common foul, the penalty was changed after video review. Johnson had to reinsert a contact lens before shooting free throws.
Spurs: San Antonio star Manu Ginobili received a standing ovation after the Spurs honored the Argentinian for his selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Spurs showed a video of Ginobili receiving a call from Hall of Fame president John Doleva informing him of the selection. San Antonio then cut to a live shot of Ginobili, who was in attendance &mdash; which drew another huge roar and standing ovation. ... Murray and Poeltl were both late scratches from the starting lineup. Murray is still battling a non-COVID upper respiratory illness. Poeltl has a back injury. ... Collins was a rebound shy of completing his first career double-double on Friday. ... C Jock Landale did not return after spraining his right foot 30 seconds into the second quarter. After writhing in pain on the court for about a minute, Landale walked back to the locker room unassisted. ... Romeo Langford played for the first time since March 7 after missing 12 straight games due to an injured hamstring.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.
Spurs: At Denver on Tuesday night.

Keldon Johnson led the San Antonio Spurs with 28 points in their play-in strengthening win against the Trail Blazers.

Spurs top short-handed Blazers to strengthen play-in hopes

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Dejounte Murray could feel his annoyance building as San Antonio coaches repeatedly went back over video of the Spurs' blowout loss to New Orleans in the previous meeting between the two Western Conference play-in hopefuls.
Apparently, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the NBA's all-time leader in coaching victories, knows something about using bad memories to inspire better performances.
Murray had 15 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, Keldon Johnson punctuated his 21-point night with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds and the Spurs bolstered their postseason hopes with a 107-103 victory over the Pelicans on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Our two meetings today, I kind of was mad that we kept watching the film of that last game because they beat us really bad from tip all the way to the end of the game,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We all took that personal.&rdquo;
The Pelicans nearly wiped out a 10-point deficit in the final 3:43 and had the ball, down 105-103, in the final seconds. But the Spurs sent multiple perimeter defenders at CJ McCollum, who opted to pass to Jose Alvarado on the left wing. Alvarado, an undrafted rookie who scored a career-high 23 points, missed his final shot for the lead from the 3-point line.
Jock Landale rebounded and got to the ball to Murray, who found Johnson with a long cross-court pass for the put-away basket in a victory that pulled San Antonio (30-44) one game behind New Orleans (31-43) for the final Western Conference play-in spot.
Pelicans first-year coach Willie Green said that although Alvarado had &ldquo;a good look&rdquo; at his last shot, the coaching in that situation could have been better.
"In hindsight, that's a situation where I probably need to take a timeout and get us organized," Green continued. &ldquo;That's an area where I probably have to get a little better.&rdquo;
Green also sensed the Spurs were playing with the emotion and purpose of a team seeking redemption.
&ldquo;They remembered what happened the last time we played them and you could see they came out with a different force,&rdquo; Green said, calling the Spurs' 16 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points &ldquo;the biggest factor&rdquo; in the game.
&ldquo;Normally teams don't rebound the ball like that against us,&rdquo; Green added. &ldquo;It sort of negates what we do well.&rdquo;
Josh Richardson scored 18 points for the Spurs, who trailed 92-90 with less than nine minutes to play before stringing together a pivotal 12-0 run during which Landale scored eight on a pair of 3s and a layup set up by Zach Collins' shot fake and pass from underneath the basket.
&ldquo;We kind of all understood what this game meant to our record and the chase with those guys,&rdquo; Landale said. &ldquo;There was a different level of intensity in the locker room and walking out on the court. ... It was just good to see it all come together down the stretch.&rdquo;
McCollum scored 32 and Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which led most of the first half. The Pelicans were up by as many as 12 when Larry Nance Jr., in his second game back from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, tipped in Devonte' Graham's missed 3 early in the second quarter to make it 34-22.
The Spurs controlled the rest of the quarter, however, thanks in large part to Richardson, who scored 11 of his points in a four-minute span in the middle of the period.
Richardson's three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt gave the Spurs a 50-46 lead with 4:30 left in the half.
New Orleans rallied to briefly take the lead when Herb Jones' forceful, fast-break two-handed jam and Alvarado's 3 made it 57-54. But Tre Jones' driving layup and Johnson's tip-in in the final seconds gave the Spurs a 58-57 halftime lead.
TIP-INS
Spurs: Jakob Poeltl and Jakob Primo each scored 12 points, while Landale and Collins each scored 10. ... Poeltl grabbed 11 rebounds. ... Made 22 of 25 free throws. ... Outrebounded New Orleans 49-42. ... Small forward Devin Vassell, who averages 11.9 points per game, was held out with a sore right Achilles tendon.
Pelicans: Brandon Ingram, who leads the Pelicans with 22.8 points per game, missed his 10th straight game with a sore hamstring after being listed as questionable coming in. ... Missed six of 19 free throws and missed 22 of 32 3-point shots. ... Pelicans forward Naji Marshall was called for a flagrant foul when his hand caught Collins in the face early in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Visit Houston on Monday night.
Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night in the last of three straight at home.

Dejounte Murray had a triple-double as the Spurs bolstered their postseason hopes with a 107-103 win over the Pelicans

Murray's triple-double lifts Spurs over Pelicans 107-103

Devin Booker had a season-high 48 points and the Phoenix Suns dominated the fourth quarter to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 121-107 Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Chris Paul added 15 points and 12 assists as Phoenix won its sixth straight on the road and fifth consecutive in San Antonio.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the benefit of having Chris Paul,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;Chris can read the game. Chris, when he reads it, he&rsquo;ll just run certain sets that we have to get Book the ball in certain spots. When a guy is rolling like that, you just kind of let him have the ball and space the floor properly.&rdquo;
Spurs center Jakob Poeltl had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Dejounte Murray added 18 points.
Phoenix arrived in San Antonio after a 135-108 victory in Detroit on Sunday. The Suns started sluggishly against the Spurs, but Booker scored 18 points in the opening quarter to keep the game close.
&ldquo;I just respect (the Spurs) to the highest level,&rdquo; Booker said. &ldquo;I understand the level that they compete at and especially the level that they play at here in San Antonio. I just wanted to be aggressive from the start.&rdquo;
Booker was 18 for 33 from the field and 5 for 13 on 3-pointers in eclipsing his previous high of 38 points, which he collected twice.
&ldquo;Shoot, it&rsquo;s been like that for a while,&rdquo; Paul said of Booker&rsquo;s hot start. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s probably because we&rsquo;ve got a team that&rsquo;s so supportive and we enjoy seeing each other do well. So, when we he gets it going like that, we try to feed him and then we still make the right play. For us, it&rsquo;s all about ultimately winning the game.&rdquo;
Phoenix was without injured starter Deandre Ayton, but reserve center Bismack Biyombo responded with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
&ldquo;We needed some rebounding,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;They were kicking our butt. Now Jalen (Smith) can rebound, but they had some guys down there that can move you around a little bit. I thought Bis would give us a bit more girth down with Poeltl and Jock Landale.&rdquo;
Cameron Johnson was also key, scoring four of his eight points in a crucial stretch midway through the final quarter.
Johnson had a steal, which led to a contested layup that gave Phoenix a 103-98 lead with 7:44 remaining. Johnson made two free throws a minute earlier to put the Suns up 99-98.
The Spurs had three turnovers in a two-minute span beginning with Johnson&rsquo;s steal as the Suns took command late.
Phoenix outscored San Antonio 34-16 in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a very good team,&rdquo; Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said. &ldquo;They were in the championship last year. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times with some bad turnovers.&rdquo;
The Spurs had their regular starting lineup together for the first time since Dec. 23. A return to familiarity sparked a fast start, as San Antonio took a 28-20 lead with every starter scoring at least three points.
The Spurs starters all finished in double figures, accounting for 84 points.
TIP-INS
Suns: Phoenix&rsquo;s last loss in San Antonio was Jan. 29, 2019. ... Ayton sprained his right ankle Sunday in the first quarter of Phoenix&rsquo;s 135-108 victory over Detroit. Ayton had six points in eight minutes before exiting. His status is day-to-day. ... Johnson returned after a three-game absence due to a sprained left ankle. ... The Suns are 21-7 against Western Conference teams, second only to Utah (19-4). ... JaVale McGee had six points and eight rebounds while starting in place of Ayton. McGee is averaging 10.2 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Suns.
Spurs: San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon was not at the game after being placed in the league&rsquo;s health and safety protocols due to COVID-19. ... Tre Jones missed his seventh straight game while in the league&rsquo;s health and safety protocols. ... The Spurs are 9-17 against the West. ... Bryn Forbes is averaging 13.3 points in his previous 10 games, raising his season average to 9.1 points. The Spurs have seven players averaging double figures this season.
UP NEXT
Suns: At Dallas on Thursday.
Spurs: Host Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Devin Booker had a season-high 48 points and the Suns dominated the fourth quarter to defeat the Spurs 121-107.

Booker's season-high 48 helps Suns rally past Spurs 121-107

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker had 23 points, Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 14 rebounds and the Phoenix Suns won their 13th straight, rolling past the San Antonio Spurs 115-111 on Monday night.
Cameron Payne added 20 points off the bench for Phoenix, which had six players finish in double figures. Phoenix finished with 25 assists and went 45 for 87 (51.1%) from the field.
San Antonio point guard Dejounte Murray had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his seventh career triple-double. But the Spurs have now lost five straight and eight of 10 for their second-worst start in franchise history.
The Suns were patient on offensive despite the Spurs' quicker pace. San Antonio outscored Phoenix 20-10 to open the fourth quarter, pulling with 100-95 with 6 minutes remaining.
The Suns went on a 10-0 run following a timeout. San Antonio responded, outscoring Phoenix 10-2 to pull within 114-109 with 38.6 seconds remaining.
The Spurs are winless when trailing by double digits, and they matched a season-low with five 3-pointers on 20 attempts.
TIP-INS
Suns: Frank Kaminsky missed his fourth straight game after suffering a stress reaction in his right knee. Kaminsky is averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 22.8 minutes this season as the primary big man off Phoenix&rsquo;s bench. &hellip; Cameron Johnson had 18 points after scoring a career-high 22 in Sunday&rsquo;s victory against Denver.
Spurs: Doug McDermott missed the game with an inflamed right knee. He sat out three games earlier this season because of soreness in the same knee. &hellip; Keita Bates-Diop made his fourth career start and first since his rookie season in 2019. &hellip; Jock Landale remains under the league&rsquo;s COVID-19 health &amp; safety protocols. ... San Antonio&rsquo;s worst start came in 1997 when the club went 2-13.
UP NEXT
Suns: At Cleveland on Wednesday.
Spurs: Host Atlanta on Wednesday.

The Phoenix Suns won their 13th-straight game on Monday night, rolling past the San Antonio Spurs 115-111.

Suns win 13th-straight game, rollling past Spurs 115-111

The San Antonio Spurs are confronting basic questions they have not faced in decades.
Who is taking the last shot of the game in a critical situation? Which player will provide the team with leadership?
It&rsquo;s a dilemma Gregg Popovich has not had in 25 seasons while coaching players like David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge DeMar DeRozan with the Spurs.
All the uncertainty has the 72-year-old absolutely stoked.
&ldquo;I have no idea who I&rsquo;m going to give it to or what play we&rsquo;re going to run,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;re going to figure out as we move along, and to me, that&rsquo;s exciting as hell.&rdquo;
San Antonio went all in on its youth movement this season, allowing DeRozan and veterans Patty Mills and Rudy Gay to leave through free agency. The franchise is now fully entrusted to 20-somethings like Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV and Devin Vassell.
&ldquo;We all love to be around each other on and off the court,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;There is a lot of opportunity on the court as teammates. We have a lot to prove.&rdquo;
At 25 and in his sixth season, Murray is the most tenured player on the roster. He has taken a leadership role since supplanting Parker as the team&rsquo;s starting point guard in 2017.
&ldquo;Leading by example,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;I feel like me, (Dejounte) and Derrick, we stay in the gym trying to perfect our craft. Everybody else does the same. That&rsquo;s all you can ask for. I feel like for such a young group, we&rsquo;ve got a really strong bond.&rdquo;
The Spurs also return Jacob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks at center along with free-agent addition Jock Landale from Australia.
The Spurs brought back Bryn Forbes, who won a championship last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, and added Doug McDermott, Zach Collins, Thaddeus Young and Al-Farouq Aminu for 3-point shooting and a veteran presence.
Still, the Spurs are willing to let their youths run wild.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thrilled with this group,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;They are basically young, energetic, have got a lot of speed. There is no need to pace yourself. Nobody is going to play 39 minutes a game, don&rsquo;t have to worry about stats or individual honors or anything like that. These guys are just going to have a ball playing. It&rsquo;s going to be simple, simple stuff at both ends of the court. We want a lot of activity and a lot of pace. Just play fast. Hopefully smart along with fast, but the pace should be really enjoyable to watch.&rdquo;
The Spurs open the season at home Oct. 20 against Orlando.
WELCOME BACK
While the Spurs have fresh faces on the court, Popovich was ecstatic the franchise welcomed back a familiar one for the front office: Ginobili returned as a special adviser after retiring in 2017 following a 16-year career with the team. The 44-year-old will assist throughout the franchise.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to do everything,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to help Brian (Wright, Spurs general manager) with management. He&rsquo;s going to help me with coaching. He&rsquo;s going to help the players with development, probably going to scout some people. I think he&rsquo;s probably going to figure out a two-week trip to Italy to scout foreign players. I might go with him.&rdquo;
ALL THAT GLITTERS
Johnson has been proudly wearing the gold medal he won at the Tokyo Olympics as a member of the U.S. Men&rsquo;s National Team all summer. Johnson&rsquo;s teammates said they don&rsquo;t mind.
&ldquo;I think I got a little part of that,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the practice gym with him, I&rsquo;ve been working out with him. I&rsquo;ll say I get at least .01% of that gold medal.&rdquo;
PARING THE ROSTER
The Spurs waived former first-round pick Luka Samanic on Monday. Drafted 19th overall in 2019, Samanic spent two seasons moving between the team&rsquo;s G-League affiliate in Austin and the Spurs&rsquo; bench. He appeared in 36 games, averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes.

The Spurs franchise is now fully entrusted to Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV and Devin Vassell.

Spurs facing unknown with youth replacing its veteran past

MONTVALE, N.J. &ndash; The rest stop on the Garden State Parkway was almost completely empty early Sunday morning as a man and a dog pulled up in a Toyota Camry with $20 and an idea.
Why not take a chance on the possibility that a $20 bill could become $6,000 by the time June arrives, if Kyle Lowry can become the NBA's Most Valuable Player next season?
Improbable, yes. Impossible? No.
Heck, the dog liked the idea, so we did it.
And with that premise, the sinkhole that is the legalized U.S. sports gambling market claimed another $20, this one going to BetMGM, which currently has 66 players listed with MVP odds for the upcoming season, with Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks the 4-1 (+400) favorite.
Nobody outside of the Lowry household has probably used his name and the phrase MVP together in the same sentence in the three-and-a-half weeks since the Toronto Raptors executed a sign-and-trade with Miami that sent Lowry to the Heat for Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa.
Lowry, 35, is about to enter his 17th NBA season and will be playing for his fourth team. He is coming off a lost season of sorts in which the Raptors were forced to play their home games in Tampa, Fla. And Lowry played in only 46 contests because of a back injury and several games in which he was rested. His spectacular moments were few and far between, but he did have a 37-point, 11-assist output in his final game of the regular season on May 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pat Riley and Erick Spoelstra have brought him in to replace the tandem of Dragic and Kendrick Nunn that handled the point-guard duties for the Heat over the past two seasons. The thinking is that despite his advanced age, Lowry still has plenty in the tank. He was not all that bad last season, shooting 39.6% from three-point range while averaging 17.2 points (down from a career-high 22.4 points in 2016-17) and 7.3 assists.
For Lowry to even sniff the MVP discussion, a bunch of things would need to happen:
&bull;&nbsp;The Heat would need to seriously outperform expectations (their over/under win total is 48.5);
&bull; Lowry would need to become a 20-point scorer for just the third time in his career while also outscoring teammate Jimmy Butler, who has averaged 20.0 or more points in six of the past eight seasons;
&bull; He also would need to be among the top-three in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, while also being among the league leaders in steals because MVP candidates always have their success quantified statistically;
&bull; A series of unfortunate events would take out all of the other top MVP contenders, sort of like what happened last year when Nikola Jokic was the last man standing.
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Again, all of these things happening together are unlikely. But at 300-1, and with only $20 wagered, we file this one under the &ldquo;nothing ventured, nothing gained&rdquo; department. And with that, let&rsquo;s have a look at the other player-award future markets, and where $20 flier bets might bring some extra anticipation as we count down the longest month&hellip; the one that snakes along before training camps open.
Other odds at BetMGM.com:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Listed behind Doncic are Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant at +700, Giannis Antetokounmpo at +800, Steph Curry at +900, Damian Lillard at +1100, LeBron James at +1400 and Trae Young and Jokic at +1600. Intriguing prices include James Harden at +2500, Julius Randle at +6600 and Zach LaVine at +8000.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Rudy Gobert is co-favored at +350 along with Ben Simmons, who is still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and might actually win this award if he comes back to Philly and simply gives up on the idea of being anything other than a distributor and a dunker (especially when open) on the offensive end. Gobert has won the award in three of the past four years, so we are due for a perimeter player to take this one, as Giannis Antetokounmpo did two years ago and Kawhi Leonard did in 2014-15 and 2015-16 before Draymond Green won the award the following season. With that in mind, interesting prices are available on Jrue Holiday (+2000), Jimmy Butler (+4000) and Robert Covington (100-1).
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons is favored at +250, and we should all remember that a team&rsquo;s win-loss record typically impacts voting on this particular award less than all others. So this will be a stat-based race, which may or may not work in Cunningham&rsquo;s favor due to his workload, which should be heavy. The same goes for No. 2 pick Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets (+300), as nobody else had odds lower than 7-1 at this point. A player from outside the top-three in the draft has not won Rookie of the Year since Malcolm Brogdon (No. 36) in 2017, and before that it was Michael Carter-Williams in 2014. If it is to happen this year, might it be Chris Duarte of the Indiana Pacers? Despite being a rookie, he is much older (24) than his draft classmates &ndash; the same age as Brogdon during his rookie year. He is on the board at +3500, and undrafted center Jock Landale of the San Antonio Spurs (who Patty Mills was raving about last week) is 125-1.
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SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: Incumbent Jordan Clarkson is the +500 favorite ahead of his Utah Jazz teammate Joe Ingles (+1200). The newest Brooklyn Net, Patty Mills, is at +100 along with Kevin Huerter of the Atlanta Hawks. This is a guessing-game category to a large degree if you take into consideration that aside from Lou Williams in 2017 and 2018, nobody has won this award in back-to-back years since Detlef Schrempf did it in 1991 and 1992. Dragic is +1400 in his new home city of Toronto (for now), and Alex Caruso is +3000 with the Chicago Bulls. Thaddeus Young (San Antonio) and Kelly Olynyk (Detroit) are +6600 with their new teams, and Dwight Howard of the Lakers is in a group of players at 100-1.
COACH OF THE YEAR: This award will go to someone who outperforms expectations, so is it out of line to suggest that Tom Thidodeau of the New York Knicks (priced at +2500) is a serious contender to become the first coach to win this award in consecutive seasons since Hubie Brown (who shared the award with Gregg Popovich In 2003 and then won it outright in 2004)? The books have set the Knicks&rsquo; over/under at just 41.2, which basically is setting them up to be a .500 team after they finished fourth in the East last season, 10 games over .500 at 41-31. Steve Nash of Brooklyn (+850) is the favorite, just ahead of Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra (+900). Jahmal Mosley of Orlando has the longest odds (+8000).
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City is co-favored (+700 along with Zion Williamson), perhaps because he is just about the only NBA-caliber player suiting up for the Thunder in the upcoming season. Intriguing long-odds players include <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-is-poised-to-break-out-next-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com favorite</a> OG Anonudy (+6600) and Seth Curry at +8000.
STAT LEADERS: Bradley Beal (+275) is favored to lead the league in scoring. Clint Capela (+125) is the favorite in rebounding, while James Harden (+120) is tops for assists and Steph Curry (+125) is expected to make the most three-pointers (of course).

In this notebook, Chris Sheridan explains his long-shot MVP bet and takes a look at some interesting odds on the 2021-22 NBA awards.