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Spurs

Don&rsquo;t look now, but Kobe and Jordan are back in the NBA spotlight.
No, not that Kobe. Not that Jordan either. But for the Los Angeles Clippers &ndash; quietly authoring one of the league&rsquo;s most surprising turnaround seasons &ndash; those names suddenly matter again in a very real AND tangible way.
Enter Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller.
Two names that carry impossible historical weight. Two two-way players who, on paper, were never supposed to matter this much to a playoff-aspiring team. And yet here they are: logging real rotation minutes, swinging games, and forcing Ty Lue and the Clippers&rsquo; front office into uncomfortable but revealing conversations about rules, limits, and necessity.
Because when the Clippers needed answers, they didn&rsquo;t come from pedigree or reputation. They came from hunger: they came from Kobe and Jordan.
<h3>A season rewritten from the margins</h3>
The Clippers&rsquo; resurgence hasn&rsquo;t followed a traditional script when teams push for a splashy midseason trade or a sudden superstar awakening in the middle of the season. Instead, it&rsquo;s been a slow burn &ndash; a recalibration rooted in defense, versatility, and trust. Trust, especially, has defined this group.
As the season unfolded, Lue began digging deeper into his bench, searching not just for production but for players who could hold the line on both ends of the floor: defend multiple positions, make quick reads, and play within the ecosystem without hijacking it.
That search led him to Sanders and Miller, two players drafted by the Clippers front office in the second round.
Two two-way players, but also two forwards who bring exactly what modern playoff basketball demands: length, feel, and competitive edge. Their minutes weren&rsquo;t just gifted but they were earned and taken.
And once Lue went to them consistently, something shifted. &ldquo;We need them,&rdquo; he said in a postgame interview in one of the Clippers&rsquo; wins.
The reality of their impact became so undeniable that it forced an awkward truth into the open &ndash; one that Lue himself admitted candidly.
When asked about Sanders&rsquo; and Miller&rsquo;s two-way limits approaching, Lue didn&rsquo;t bother with coach-speak.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know the rules, but we need them [Kobe and Jordan],&rdquo; Lue said. &ldquo;Lawrence [Frank] can navigate it. I&rsquo;m not. When they&rsquo;re out there, they&rsquo;re gonna play. &hellip; We&rsquo;ll see what happens, but we need them.&rdquo;
That says everything about the Clippers&rsquo; fondness of both guys.
In a league where two-way contracts are designed for flexibility and development &ndash; not reliance &ndash; the Clippers crossed a threshold. Sanders and Miller became necessities instead of contingency plans.
And in doing so, they exposed a truth about this Clippers team: its identity isn&rsquo;t top-heavy, instead it is layered among a rotation of players.
<h3>Kobe Sanders: The connector who stabilizes chaos</h3>
Sanders doesn&rsquo;t dominate the ball. He doesn&rsquo;t hijack possessions, and he rarely demands attention. Yet his fingerprints are everywhere.
A hybrid forward with the instincts of a guard, Sanders has become one of the Clippers&rsquo; most reliable connective pieces. He can initiate offense when needed, keep the ball moving when things stagnate, and punish defenses that lose track of him from the perimeter.
What separates Sanders though, is feel. He understands tempo, understands spacing, and understands when to create &ndash; when not to.
Sanders&rsquo; presence has been stabilizing. He reads defenses a step ahead, makes the extra pass, and defends with discipline and length. He also has developed a nice three-point shot that is a weapon and a reliable in-between shot for whenever defense loads up on him.
He plays like someone who knows he does, like a seasoned vet, and that confidence has quietly elevated the Clippers&rsquo; second units.
<h3>Jordan Miller: Scoring without panic</h3>
If Sanders is the stabilizer, Miller is the disruptor.&nbsp;
Miller&rsquo;s scoring profile doesn&rsquo;t scream traditional. His handle isn&rsquo;t flashy, his footwork isn&rsquo;t textbook, and yet defenders struggle to keep him out of the paint.
That&rsquo;s because Miller plays at his own rhythm. Lue has taken particular notice of that trait &ndash; especially his ability to get downhill and finish through traffic.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of unorthodox, the way he gets to the paint and gets to the basket,&rdquo; Lue said. &ldquo;He does a great job of drawing fouls, plays at his own pace, never gets sped up, and he knows how to use angles in getting to the basket.&rdquo;
That poise matters in high-leverage moments, when benches often bleed leads, Miller doesn&rsquo;t rush. He probes, leans into contact, and forces defenders into decisions they don&rsquo;t want to make. And when defenses collapse, he&rsquo;s proven capable of making them pay from the outside as well.
For a Clippers team desperate for downhill pressure beyond its stars, Miller&rsquo;s scoring versatility has been invaluable.
Size, versatility, and modern playoff utility: Together, Sanders and Miller check boxes every playoff team covets.
They&rsquo;re forwards who can guard multiple positions, space the floor, put the ball on the deck, and compete physically.
More importantly, they allow Lue to toggle lineups without sacrificing identity.
With them on the floor, the Clippers can stay big without becoming slow. They can switch defensively without bleeding mismatches. They can survive non-star minutes without hemorrhaging leads.
And it&rsquo;s why their emergence feels less like a nice story and more like a structural shift.
<h3>From afterthoughts to tone-setters</h3>
There&rsquo;s something about the Clippers &ndash; long defined by stars, expectations, and heartbreak &ndash; finding renewed life through two players who arrived without guarantees.
Sanders and Miller weren&rsquo;t handed rotation spots. They earned them through effort, adaptability, and trust. They play like every possession matters because, for them, it does, with that two-way contract deadline looming. And that urgency has been contagious.
The Clippers&rsquo; turnaround isn&rsquo;t solely about scheme or health. It&rsquo;s about buy-in and about players at the margins setting standards that ripple upward.
In that sense, Kobe and Jordan are defining something. Their names will always be familiar but this isn&rsquo;t about chasing ghosts or living up to legends: It&rsquo;s about redefining what impact looks like in today&rsquo;s NBA.
For the Clippers, Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller represent something powerful: proof that winning seasons aren&rsquo;t built solely by stars, but sustained by those willing to fill gaps, absorb contact, and play roles with conviction.
They may not dominate headlines and may not dominate usage, but right now, they&rsquo;re helping dominate outcomes &ndash; by helping the Clippers win games and stage this turnaround.
And for a Clippers team surging toward relevance again, that makes Kobe and Jordan feel familiar in the most unexpected way.

Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller have emerged as unlikely difference-makers for the Clippers, helping the Clippers' turnaround.

Kobe and Jordan: The unlikely yet familiar duo fueling the Clippers’ surge

The 2025 NBA Christmas Day delivered high-level hoops and dramatic finishes across a full slate of five games, with several teams making the holiday spotlight on the national stage.
<h3>Knicks rally to edge Cavaliers in MSG thriller</h3>
The day&rsquo;s action kicked off at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks completed a stunning comeback to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-124. Trailing by 17 in the fourth quarter, New York rallied behind Jalen Brunson&rsquo;s 34 points and timely contributions from Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson &ndash; turning a huge deficit into a late lead and Christmas Day victory.
<h3>Spurs dominate Thunder again, go up 3-0 in season series</h3>
In yet another heated Western Conference rivalry, the San Antonio Spurs took down the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder 117-102 in a rematch from just two days ago. De&rsquo;Aaron Fox led San Antonio with 29 points, while Victor Wembanyama added a strong all-around showing off the bench. The win marked another impressive Christmas Day performance for the Spurs and another blemish on the Thunder&rsquo;s otherwise elite season, as they have completely outclassed the defending champs. The Spurs have now won all three games against the Thunder this season, with one more play date to happen in January.
<h3>Warriors outlast Mavericks in Cooper Flagg&rsquo;s Christmas debut</h3>
The Golden State Warriors continued their holiday bliss with a 126-116 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Stephen Curry led the way with 23 points, including a clutch fourth-quarter three that helped separate the Warriors from Dallas. Jimmy Butler added 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists for the Dubs, who are now on their first three-game win streak this season. Rookie Cooper Flagg starred for the Mavs with 27 points, but Golden State&rsquo;s depth ultimately made the difference. Nevertheless, Flagg showed out in his first-ever Christmas Day game and should be a fixture in the NBA&rsquo;s annual event for years to come if he keeps up his play.
<h3>Rockets roll past Lakers behind Amen, KD</h3>
Over in LA, the Houston Rockets pulled off a dominant 119-96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Amen Thompson (26 points) and Kevin Durant (25 points) spearheaded Houston&rsquo;s balanced attack as the Rockets raced out to a big lead and never looked back. The defeat marked another frustrating Christmas Day outing for the Lakers despite Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James playing in the starting lineup.
<h3>Nuggets top Timberwolves in overtime shootout</h3>
In the nightcap, the Denver Nuggets survived a wild overtime battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves, winning 142-138. Nikola Jokić was sensational, recording a historic triple-double with 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists &ndash; one of the greatest individual performances in Christmas Day history. Minnesota&rsquo;s Anthony Edwards dropped 44 points to pace his team in the defeat, after hitting a wild left fading corner triple to tie the game and force overtime.
<h3>THE HIGHLIGHTS:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York&rsquo;s comeback over Cleveland was one of the biggest fourth-quarter rallies of the season.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The Spurs continued their strong trend vs. the Thunder with another decisive win, seemingly being their kryptonite. The Thunder are 26-2 against the entire league, but are 0-3 against the Spurs.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Curry and the Warriors remained a tough holiday matchup, a team that&rsquo;s a fixture in the NBA&rsquo;s annual premier play date.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Houston&rsquo;s balanced scoring showcased the Rockets&rsquo; roster depth, while it showed the Lakers&rsquo; flaws as a team.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jokic&rsquo;s historic triple-double capped off a memorable Christmas slate with one of the best games of the season thus far, including one of the best for Jokic&rsquo;s entire career. It spoiled an otherwise great game for Anthony Edwards, who scored 40 points after his interview with ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania where he said he will be scoring 40 points in Christmas &ndash; and he did.</li>
</ul>

The 2025 NBA Christmas Day delivered high-level hoops and dramatic finishes across a full slate of five games.

2025 NBA Christmas Day: Knicks, Spurs, Warriors, Rockets, Nuggets all take wins

The New York Knicks have won the 3rd annual Emirates NBA Cup after overcoming the Spurs 124-113, Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
The Knicks showcased a dominant 4th quarter, unleashing in a 35-19 quarter to win the in-season tournament crown and their first-ever NBA Cup title.
The Spurs actually led by 10, 81-71, in the third quarter before the Knicks mounted that huge comeback in the final stanza.&nbsp;
Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek were huge sparks off the bench, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. Clarkson hit two booming triples that were instrumental in a 10-0 Knicks run and eventually gave them the lead back which they never gave back. Kolek played his part as the main backup ball handler and was even inserted by Mike Brown alongside Jalen Brunson to alleviate him of the ball pressure by the Spurs.
Veteran guard OG Anunoby led all scorers with 28 points, including five made triples, while Brunson for his part, added 25 points and eight assists en route to being named NBA Cup MVP for his performance throughout the tournament.
Seven players scored in double digits for the Spurs, led by Dylan Harper&rsquo;s 21 and Victor Wembanyama&rsquo;s 18, as they end a stellar NBA Cup run as finalists following a huge win in the semifinals over defending NBA Champions Thunder.

The New York Knicks have won the 3rd annual Emirates NBA Cup after overcoming the Spurs 124-113, Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

2025 Emirates NBA Cup: Knicks overcome Spurs to win title

Anthony Edwards has already climbed rungs most players spend a decade chasing. He&rsquo;s become an All-Star, a franchise centerpiece, a playoff force who can go toe-to-toe with the best players alive on the biggest stage. He has shown he can take over fourth quarters, silence arenas, and deliver the kind of moments that make you believe a superstar is being born right in front of you.
But for the Minnesota Timberwolves to go anywhere they haven&rsquo;t already been, he must become something more &ndash; something bigger, something definitive.
If the Wolves want to replicate or surpass the success of their previous two seasons of making the Western Conference Finals, Anthony Edwards has to rise into the undisputed top-five players in the world and deliver an MVP-level campaign. It&rsquo;s the simplest equation in Minnesota&rsquo;s season, and also the most demanding one. Wherever Edwards goes, the Wolves go.
This is not a criticism. It&rsquo;s a reflection of the standard he has already set.
Currently, Minnesota is running it back with the same core with Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Julius Randle, and Donte DiVincenzo. They&rsquo;re banking on continuity once more, trusting that their identity, defense, and experience will continue to position them among the league&rsquo;s elite. But continuity can only take you so far when the rest of the NBA keeps getting better at faster speeds than any era ever before.
The Wolves know it. Edwards knows it. The leap that pushes Minnesota from &ldquo;very good&rdquo; to &ldquo;undeniably great&rdquo; must come from the player most capable of delivering it.
The need for a new level
Over the past two years, we saw glimpses of the best version of Anthony Edwards &ndash; a relentless downhill attacker, a dynamic scorer in isolation, a growing two-way force capable of changing the tenor of an entire game, and most recently, a volume three-point shooter. Edwards already showed he can be the best player on a playoff team, the kind who produces big-time performances under the brightest lights.
But with superstardom comes a new challenge: consistency.
Not the normal kind &ndash; the elite kind. The level of consistency reached by players who live in the top tier of the league: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic. These are players who have almost eradicated the concept of a &ldquo;bad game.&rdquo; Even when they struggle, they dominate. Even when shots don&rsquo;t fall, they find ways to control possessions, bend defenses, and dictate outcomes.
That&rsquo;s the level the Wolves need Edwards to reach.
The Wolves have been one of the league&rsquo;s premier defenses, but offensively they can grind to a halt. That&rsquo;s where Edwards must elevate them. When his jumper isn&rsquo;t falling &ndash; &nbsp; and it hasn&rsquo;t been consistently falling at times &ndash; he has to find new ways to bend defenses. He needs to attack, get to the rim, settle into rhythm midrange shots, get to the line, generate momentum, and use his gravity to create looks for others.
Every elite scorer eventually learns that shotmaking alone can&rsquo;t dictate their impact. It has to go deeper than that. For Minnesota to keep climbing, Edwards must become the kind of superstar whose influence transcends his jump shot.
Why a &ldquo;go-to move&rdquo; matters
Every great scorer eventually discovers not just what they can do, but what they can do every single night &ndash; consistently. The move that is immune to fatigue, gameplan, matchups, or defensive schemes. A shot that becomes automatic because it&rsquo;s been mastered so thoroughly that even the defense knows it&rsquo;s coming &ndash; and still can&rsquo;t stop it.
For Edwards, the next evolution might be exactly that: developing a signature, go-to scoring move.
This could take the shape of more post-up fadeaway jumpers &ndash; something he already flashes but hasn&rsquo;t fully leaned into. With his strength, footwork, and explosiveness, a polished post midrange package could unlock a completely different version of his offensive dominance. Think Michael Jordan. Think Kobe Bryant. Shots that become &ldquo;butter,&rdquo; the kind where the crowd knows it&rsquo;s good the moment it leaves the hand.
A signature shot would not only give Edwards a consistent scoring anchor; it would change how defenses scheme. It would force double teams, open passing windows, and elevate his playmaking simply by existing.
It would give Minnesota the offensive stability they have lacked during the toughest stretches of games. It would let Edwards control tempo, dictate matchups, and slow games down when everything feels chaotic.
Most importantly, it would give him the kind of unstoppable tool that the very best players in the world rely on &ndash; the kind that makes defenses helpless. Something like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander&rsquo;s midrange mastery and his two-foot plant; Nikola Jokic&rsquo;s touch in the paint for short and long floaters and hook shots; Giannis Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s relentless driving to the rim; Kevin Durant&rsquo;s pull-up jumper; Luka Doncic&rsquo;s step back and pivot steps; and Stephen Curry&rsquo;s off-ball movement and relocation shooting.
Minnesota&rsquo;s ceiling and the &lsquo;leap&rsquo; chase for Edwards
There&rsquo;s a fair argument that Minnesota may have reached its ceiling as a complete roster. Their defensive identity is elite. Their depth is strong. Their chemistry is real. Gobert and McDaniels anchor one of the toughest defensive backbones in basketball. Naz Reid remains a luxury most teams don&rsquo;t have. Mike Conley is a steadying presence who keeps everything organized. Julius Randle brings shot creation, rebounding, and physicality.
But when the postseason arrives, stars separate themselves &ndash; and separate teams.
That&rsquo;s why Minnesota&rsquo;s future rests on Edwards&rsquo; ability to make that leap. Not because he hasn&rsquo;t already been great, but because he must now become great every single night.
If Edwards averages 30 points per game or more, if he masters a go-to move, if he reaches that superstar comfort level where the game slows down and every shot feels like it&rsquo;s going in and becomes second nature &ndash; then Minnesota&rsquo;s ceiling rises with him. Suddenly, they&rsquo;re no longer a strong playoff contender. They become a legitimate championship threat.
Every champion in recent memory had an undisputed top-five guy in the league at the point of their title run:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Shai and the Thunder</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tatum and the Celtics</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jokic and the Nuggets</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Steph and the Warriors</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Giannis and the Bucks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">LeBron and the Lakers</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Kawhi and the Raptors</li>
</ul>
The Wolves want to join that company &ndash; but that requires Edwards becoming that kind of a player.
What makes this moment for Edwards so compelling is that he has already shown he can reach these heights. The playoff runs, the highlight-reel moments, the takeover games, and the bursts of all-time-level shotmaking.
But now comes the harder part &ndash; turning flashes into a foundation.
This is where superstars become megastars &ndash; being a top-5 player in the NBA. This is where talent becomes legacy. This is where a young phenom becomes the defining force of a franchise.
And if Edwards embraces this next step &ndash; if he masters consistency, adds a signature move, deepens his offensive reads, and becomes the top-five player he can be &ndash; then the Wolves won&rsquo;t just remain one of the league&rsquo;s best stories: They&rsquo;ll become something much bigger and become a team with a real chance.
Minnesota can continue refining the pieces around him. They can continue to defend at an elite level. They can continue relying on their depth and structure.
But their future ultimately hinges on the evolution of their brightest star.
Anthony Edwards doesn&rsquo;t just hold the keys to Minnesota&rsquo;s success &ndash; he is the key. And if he rises to that top-five tier, the Wolves&rsquo; championship window will crack wide open and place them into the best of the best in the league for years to come.

As the Timberwolves chase another deep playoff run, Edwards must take the leap into the top-five players and take an MVP-level leap.

For Wolves to break through, Anthony Edwards must make an MVP-level leap

For years, the New Orleans Pelicans have wondered, what if Zion Williamson stayed healthy? What if their young core developed on schedule? What if their potential turned into reality? Each season, the answers have been clouded by injuries, inconsistencies, and flashes of brilliance that never fully crystallized into sustained success.
However, this year feels a little different. This time, the question isn&rsquo;t just what if &ndash; it&rsquo;s why not now?
At the center of it all is Zion Williamson, the player who has embodied both the promise and frustration of the Pelicans&rsquo; franchise. Since entering the league in 2019, Zion has been a spectacle: a 6-foot-10 wingspan in a 6-foot-6 frame, capable of bulldozing defenders one moment and soaring above the rim the next. At his best, he is one of the league&rsquo;s most unstoppable offensive forces, averaging 26 points per game on historic efficiency during his healthiest stretch.
But availability has been his greatest obstacle. In five NBA seasons, Williamson has played more than 60 games only twice in his career. His injuries have been a constant cloud, creating skepticism about whether New Orleans could ever truly build around him.
This summer, that narrative took a sharp turn. Zion arrived to training camp slimmer, noticeably more explosive, and carrying himself with a sense of focus that his teammates and coaches immediately noticed. The weight questions, once a persistent storyline, have been replaced by a new image: a player who has embraced the responsibility of leading a franchise.
A fit, determined Williamson changes everything for New Orleans. His ability to collapse defenses forces constant rotations, opening lanes for shooters like Trey Murphy III and creating easier looks for teammates. His sheer presence shifts scouting reports and stretches defenses in ways few players in the league can replicate. If he stays healthy, he isn&rsquo;t just an All-Star &ndash; he&rsquo;s an MVP-caliber player.
The defensive backbone
Yet, the Pelicans&rsquo; story isn&rsquo;t just Zion anymore. Over the last two seasons, New Orleans has quietly built one of the league&rsquo;s toughest defensive identities. Herb Jones has emerged as one of the NBA&rsquo;s premier perimeter defenders, capable of smothering opposing stars with his length, anticipation, and discipline. His ability to neutralize scorers gives the Pelicans a weapon they can lean on in high-stakes moments.
Alongside Jones, Trey Murphy III has developed into more than just a shooter. His 3-and-D skill set, paired with growing confidence as a secondary scorer, gives New Orleans a wing duo that can both stretch the floor and guard multiple positions. Add in Jose Alvarado &ndash; the relentless spark plug who pressures the ball full-court and embodies the team&rsquo;s grit &ndash; and the Pelicans&rsquo; backcourt and wing defense becomes the backbone of their identity.
Defense has often been overlooked when analyzing New Orleans, but it may be the key to unlocking consistency. In a Western Conference filled with offensive juggernauts, having versatile defenders who can match up across lineups is invaluable.
The new faces
Offseason moves also signal a commitment to balancing the roster. Jordan Poole, fresh off an uneven stint with Golden State and Washington, now has a chance to reinvent himself in New Orleans. Here, he doesn&rsquo;t need to be a franchise cornerstone. Instead, he slides into a pivotal third option role, providing instant offense and shot creation alongside Williamson and Murphy. Poole&rsquo;s streaky shooting can swing games, and in short bursts, he could be the X-factor that pushes the Pelicans over the top in tight contests.
Then there&rsquo;s Kevon Looney, a player who embodies everything New Orleans has lacked: championship experience, toughness, and dependability. A three-time champion with the Warriors, Looney&rsquo;s contributions won&rsquo;t light up a box score, but his rebounding, screens, and defensive positioning will make the Pelicans harder to break down. For a team that has often folded late in games, Looney&rsquo;s calm presence offers a stabilizing influence.
A familiar core, older and wiser
The beauty of this Pelicans roster lies in its continuity. This is not a team starting from scratch. Just three years ago, New Orleans was a 49-win squad that briefly held the top seed in the Western Conference. They pushed the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs, even without a healthy Zion, showing glimpses of what their ceiling could be.
The core from that run &ndash; Alvarado, Murphy, Jones, and Williamson &ndash; is still intact. Now, they&rsquo;re older, more seasoned, and carrying the scars of past disappointments. Experience is often the unspoken separator between contenders and pretenders, and the Pelicans have quietly built that experience over time.
For New Orleans, those lessons have accumulated. They&rsquo;ve seen how injuries derail momentum. They&rsquo;ve felt what it&rsquo;s like to lose a winnable series. And now, with a healthier roster and a leader in peak condition, they&rsquo;re ready to apply those lessons.
However, make no mistake: the Western Conference is brutal. Oklahoma City, Denver, Houston, and Minnesota all remain strong. Golden State and both teams in LA are still lurking. But in a year where the balance of power feels more spread out than usual, there&rsquo;s room for a team like New Orleans to make a leap.
For the Pelicans, the stakes are clear. If Zion stays healthy and this roster gels, they are capable of winning at least 45, maybe even 50 games and securing one of the 6 playoff spots in the West. They have the depth, the defense, and now, perhaps for the first time, the maturity to sustain success.
But if health issues resurface, or if Zion falters, the narrative could turn quickly. Questions about the franchise&rsquo;s direction would resurface, and the burden of wasted potential would hang heavier than ever. This season isn&rsquo;t just about competing &ndash; it&rsquo;s about proving that the Pelicans can finally move past the all the what ifs from previous seasons.
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;
Hope is a fragile thing in sports. For New Orleans, it has often felt like a tease. But this time, there&rsquo;s a different energy around the team. Zion&rsquo;s transformation has given the franchise and its fans something tangible to believe in. The roster, deeper and more balanced than ever, provides legitimate optimism. And the core, tested by setbacks, feels ready to take the next step.
The Pelicans have everything they need to succeed: a superstar ready to reclaim his place among the league&rsquo;s best, a defensive identity that can withstand the West&rsquo;s firepower, and the supporting cast to fill gaps when stars rest.
For the first time in a long time, New Orleans doesn&rsquo;t have a question of what if. It feels like a statement: why not now?

A fit Zion Williamson have the Pelicans hoping for a good year ahead. Here’s why 2025-26 could be their breakthrough season.

Pelicans, fit Zion Williamson aim a big year ahead for a breakthrough season

The New York Knicks are standing at a crossroads, but it feels like they are primed to cross it for the very first time in a long while. For two seasons, they&rsquo;ve climbed steadily up the Eastern Conference ladder &ndash; first breaking through as gritty playoff underdogs, then proving themselves as a legitimate contender. Now, with their roster fully fortified and a wide-open East beckoning, the Knicks are no longer chasing respect. They&rsquo;re chasing the only thing that matters in New York: a championship.
It might be a title or bust season for the Knickerbockers this year.
The Knicks of the past were easy to caricature &ndash; a franchise trapped in mediocrity, waiting decades for a new star to deliver salvation. But the past two years have rewritten that narrative. Under the leadership of Jalen Brunson, the Knicks have reached the second round and the conference finals, proving their rise wasn&rsquo;t just a flash in the pan.
Those playoff runs forged their identity: a rugged, defense-first team with just enough offensive firepower to punch above their weight. Along the way, their core hardened. Brunson has blossomed into one of the NBA&rsquo;s elite guards. Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, longtime Villanova teammates, brought a rare chemistry and two-way grit. OG Anunoby, acquired in a trade, added length, defense, and a winning pedigree to the wings.
And then came Karl-Anthony Towns &ndash; the big swing. The Knicks didn&rsquo;t just want to compete; they wanted to win it all. Towns&rsquo; arrival gives them a true second option, a versatile big man who can space the floor, play inside-out, and take scoring pressure off Brunson when defenses collapse.
The stars align for the Knicks
At the center of it all is Brunson. Once dismissed as just a role player early in his career, Brunson has authored one of the league&rsquo;s great ascensions. Last season, he averaged career-high scoring and efficiency while becoming the face of New York basketball. He is the Knicks&rsquo; engine, their heartbeat, their unquestioned star.
But stars need support, and New York has surrounded him with just that. Towns&rsquo; ability to play inside-out unlocks spacing that Brunson hasn&rsquo;t enjoyed in years past. Bridges and Anunoby flank him with defense and shooting, ready to guard the East&rsquo;s elite wings. Hart remains the connective tissue, doing everything from crashing the boards to igniting transition.
The starting five alone looks built for May and June. But what makes this year&rsquo;s Knicks different is the depth behind them.
Playoff basketball often hinges on moments when stars rest. Last season, that&rsquo;s where New York&rsquo;s flaws surfaced. This year, the front office addressed those gaps head-on, adding three key veterans who could shape the season.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jordan Clarkson: The ultimate microwave scorer. Clarkson gives the Knicks a proven bucket-getter who can take over second-unit stretches, easing the scoring burden on Brunson. His ability to create off the dribble gives the bench a different dimension.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Malcolm Brogdon: The stabilizer. The 2023 Sixth Man of the Year brings poise, playmaking, and the ability to run the offense when Brunson sits. Brogdon&rsquo;s versatility also allows him to close games if needed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Guerschon Yabusele: Perhaps the most under-the-radar pickup. The recent Sixers forward, now returning from overseas and having his spot in the league, offers toughness, shooting at the four, and defensive versatility. He fits perfectly into this Knicks system.</li>
</ul>
Add them to holdovers Deuce McBride &ndash; defensive spark plug who can hit threes &ndash; and Mitchell Robinson, who anchors the paint, and suddenly New York&rsquo;s bench feels like one of the best in the league, if not the best.
The East is there for the taking this season
Timing is everything in the NBA. The Knicks might be hitting their stride at the perfect moment.
The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, the last two Eastern Conference champions, are dealing with a gap year with Achilles injuries to their superstars Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton. Philadelphia continues to juggle health and chemistry concerns. Miami&rsquo;s grit will always be a factor, but their ceiling appears capped. For the first time in decades, the East feels like a genuine battlefield with no clear ruler.
This parity opens the door for the Knicks. They&rsquo;re not just contenders &ndash; they&rsquo;re one of the few teams with both the star power and the depth to survive a grueling postseason.
But with opportunity comes weight. New York doesn&rsquo;t just want a strong season; they demand a championship. Madison Square Garden has not witnessed a title since 1973. Every year since has been another layer of frustration, another reminder of unmet potential.
This year&rsquo;s roster is designed to end that drought. Anything less than a Finals appearance could feel like failure.
The pressure falls first on Brunson, who must sustain his leap and prove he can be the best player on a championship team. Towns, meanwhile, faces his own proving ground. Long criticized for struggles, he now has a chance to rewrite his legacy in New York. Bridges, Hart, and Anunoby must bring consistency every night. The veterans &mdash; Clarkson, Brogdon, Yabusele &mdash; will need to produce under the brightest lights.
And now being led by newly-hired head coach Mike Brown who has a great track record for managing players, the Knicks are going all in this year with one of the deepest rosters in the league.&nbsp;
The Knicks enter 2025-26 with rare clarity. They&rsquo;ve climbed past moral victories and developmental milestones. They&rsquo;ve reached the stage where only banners matter.
To win a championship is to etch your name in New York sports lore forever. To fall short &ndash; especially with this roster &ndash; could mean a wave of questions, from roster construction to coaching to whether the pieces truly fit. This is the razor&rsquo;s edge the Knicks now walk.
The moment of truth
For years, Knicks fans have begged for a team worthy of the Garden. They wanted stars. They wanted toughness. They wanted a roster that could finally deliver hope of a parade down the streets of Manhattan.
Now, they have it. The Knicks enter the 2025-26 season with everything in place: an MVP-caliber guard, a co-star hungry for redemption, wings who defend and shoot, a fortified bench, and the chemistry of a battle-tested core.
The time for waiting is over. The excuses are gone. The East is wide open, and the Knicks are built for this moment. In New York, where pressure and passion collide every night under the Garden lights, only one question remains. Is it a title or a bust for the New York Knicks?

The Knicks are loaded with talent and depth in 2025-26. With Jalen Brunson leading the way, it’s championship or bust for New York.

Title or Bust: Knicks enter 2025-26 season with championship expectations

The New York Knicks have been active lately, making moves in free agency aimed at bolstering their second unit, as first reported by ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania.&nbsp;
Veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon has agreed to a one-year deal, and Landry Shamet is returning on another one-year contract &ndash; moves designed to give incoming new head coach Mike Brown more reliable backcourt options off the bench to take some pressure of star Jalen Brunson.
Brogdon: A steady hand off the bench
Malcolm Brogdon arrives in New York after a turbulent couple of seasons that included injuries and limited availability. Last year with the Washington Wizards, he played in just 24 games, averaging 12.7 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.8 rebounds.&nbsp;
Despite recent dips in shooting &ndash; particularly from three-point range &ndash; Brogdon&rsquo;s proven track record (Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year) makes him an interesting high-upside gamble. His versatility, able to play both guard spots, manage the second unit, create shots, and facilitate is precisely what the Knicks have lacked in past seasons.
Shamet: Shooting + Familiarity
Landry Shamet is back for a second season in New York on a one-year deal. The sharpshooting guard appeared in 50 games last season for the Knicks, mostly off the bench, averaging around 5.7 points per game.&nbsp;
Known for his three-point shooting, Shamet offers spacing for the offense and can be counted on to hit timely shots. His familiarity with the team and role should allow him to slide in without much role confusion, especially in tight minutes.
ANALYSIS: New York&rsquo;s backcourt depth has now drastically improved with Brogdon and Shamet both under contract. The Knicks have added experienced guards who can handle scoring, spacing, and occasional creation &ndash; easing pressure off starters like Jalen Brunson. Together they will be backing up alongside Deuce McBride and fellow free agent signing Jordan Clarkson.&nbsp;
All deals are non-guaranteed, that means Brogdon and Shamet will need to earn their minutes in training camp, and younger players like Tyler Kolek may find themselves under pressure.&nbsp;
With Mike Brown coming in, there&rsquo;s been promise of more adaptive lineups and better usage of bench players. Brogdon&rsquo;s playmaking and Shamet&rsquo;s shooting could mesh well in a system emphasizing spacing and pace.
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;
The Knicks&rsquo; signings of Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet are low-risk, potentially high-reward additions to a team looking to make a deeper postseason run. If both veterans can provide steady bench production and stay healthy, they could be key difference-makers down the stretch.

The New York Knicks have made moves in free agency againm signing Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet to 1-year deals.

Knicks get deeper, sign Brogdon & Shamet to bolster bench further

The New York Knicks took an early and strategic step in free agency by signing Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, as reported by ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania.&nbsp;
The Knicks aim to strengthen a bench that was a liability during their Eastern Conference Finals run. Clarkson, a 2021 Sixth Man of the Year, is set to join on a veteran's minimum contract once his Jazz buyout clears. Known for delivering instant scoring off the bench, Clarkson gives the Knicks a trusted offensive spark when Jalen Brunson rests or the offense stalls.
On the frontcourt side, New York inked Guerschon Yabusele to a two-year, $12 million deal using their taxpayer mid-level exception. The 6'8" versatile forward averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 38% from deep for Philadelphia last year, revitalizing his NBA career after a standout summer with Team France at the Olympics. Yabusele brings physicality, floor-spacing, and grit &ndash; areas the Knicks sorely needed to reinforce.
ANALYSIS: These additions immediately address New York's most significant roster gaps: bench scoring and depth in their rotation. Clarkson and Yabusele slot into a blossoming rotation alongside established pieces like Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride, giving the Knicks a stronger nine-man core.&nbsp;
However, the signings push the Knicks up to the &ldquo;second apron&rdquo; of the salary cap, potentially necessitating subtle moves to maintain flexibility.
Moving forward, the Knicks are expected to evaluate minor trades or minimum-aiming signings to solidify their roster while avoiding harsh financial limits. Meanwhile, the head coach hunt continues, although the front office has made it clear they&rsquo;re building a deeper, more reliable team around Brunson, Towns, and company.

The New York Knicks took an early and strategic step in free agency by signing Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele.

Knicks sign Jordan Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele to bolster bench

In a postseason filled with emotion, grit, and resolve, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has stood at the center of it all &ndash; he&rsquo;s calm, composed, and unrelenting. Now, two games into his first NBA Finals appearance, the Oklahoma City Thunder&rsquo;s All-NBA superstar is putting the finishing touches on a masterpiece of a season, one that could go down as one of the greatest individual campaigns in league history.
With 34 points in Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals, following up a 38-point performance in the series opener, Gilgeous-Alexander has the Thunder in a great position to win a title, and he has cemented his place in rarified air. His 72 combined points are the most ever in a player&rsquo;s first two NBA Finals games, eclipsing a mark previously associated with some of the game&rsquo;s all-time greats.
And he&rsquo;s not done just yet.
<h3>Elite company, historic pace</h3>
In the postseason, every possession carries weight, and every moment is magnified. But for Gilgeous-Alexander, these moments don&rsquo;t appear to faze him. He&rsquo;s not just rising to the occasion &ndash; he&rsquo;s controlling it.
Game 2's 34-point outing marked his ninth consecutive home playoff game with 30 points or more, joining only Wilt Chamberlain in NBA history to accomplish that feat. In doing so, he also notched his 11th playoff game with at least 30 points and five assists, a stat line that only LeBron James and Michael Jordan have reached in multiple postseason runs.
LeBron did it in three separate years. MJ did it in two. Shai&rsquo;s doing it this year.
His consistent brilliance has propelled him to the top of the 2025 playoff scoring leaderboard. With 516 total points, he recently passed Jalen Brunson (514) for the most points scored in this year&rsquo;s postseason. He&rsquo;s doing it efficiently, artistically &ndash; and with the kind of poise that makes it clear: this is his moment.
<h3>The MVP is carrying like an MVP</h3>
The Thunder have been one of the NBA&rsquo;s most compelling stories all year &ndash; a young, unselfish team loaded with talent, built through the draft, and molded into a contender. But in the crucible of the playoffs, every great team needs that singular force &ndash; that player who can tilt the court, break a defense, and change the game&rsquo;s emotional temperature.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is that force for Oklahoma City.
After leading the league in scoring during the regular season and earning All-NBA First Team honors, he was named the 2025 NBA MVP &mdash; a recognition of his two-way dominance and night-to-night consistency. And now, as the lights burn brighter, he&rsquo;s gone from award-winner to tone-setter.
He&rsquo;s playing with a purpose that goes beyond personal accolades. He&rsquo;s the heartbeat of a team chasing history, and he&rsquo;s doing it in the most demanding stage of all.
What&rsquo;s perhaps most impressive is how SGA has handled each phase of the journey with equal parts humility and hunger. His playoff run has been defined not just by numbers, but by moments &ndash; dagger shots, crafty finishes, fourth-quarter takeovers, and calm in chaos. He hasn't just been great &ndash; he's been inevitable.
<h3>A season for the ages</h3>
Gilgeous-Alexander&rsquo;s latest performance gave him over 3,000 total points on the season &ndash; combining regular-season and playoff scoring &ndash; another milestone in a campaign already overflowing with them.
To put this into perspective: he could complete the kind of six-for-six checklist that only a handful of players in NBA history have even dreamed of &ndash; league scoring champion, regular-season MVP, All-NBA First Team, Western Conference Finals MVP, NBA champion, and Finals MVP &ndash; all in a single season.
Each of those achievements alone is significant. Together, they form a portrait of a transcendent season &ndash; the kind of year that defines legacies and reshapes the league&rsquo;s power structure.
The Thunder&rsquo;s rise from rebuilding team to Finals frontrunner has been sudden to some, but internally, it&rsquo;s been calculated and patient. Still, without Gilgeous-Alexander, their timeline likely looks different. He&rsquo;s the player who made their future arrive early &ndash; and now, he might be the one who delivers their first title since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City.
<h3>Beyond the numbers</h3>
What sets Gilgeous-Alexander apart, especially in this Finals run, is not just what he&rsquo;s doing &ndash; it&rsquo;s how he&rsquo;s doing it.
His game is quiet but surgical. He doesn&rsquo;t overpower defenders with brute strength or dazzle with deep threes. Instead, he picks his spots, manipulates angles, and imposes his rhythm. There&rsquo;s a jazz-like quality to his game &ndash; unpredictable, fluid, yet meticulously controlled.
In clutch time, he&rsquo;s been near automatic. Whether it&rsquo;s using his footwork to dance into mid-range jumpers or drawing contact for crucial free throws, SGA has been the ultimate closer for a Thunder team that continues to rise to every challenge.
It&rsquo;s that unselfishness, combined with his relentless work ethic and stoic demeanor, that has endeared him to teammates and fans alike. There&rsquo;s an old soul quality to SGA&rsquo;s approach &ndash; a maturity that belies his age and a leadership style rooted in accountability, not noise.
<h3>The final step</h3>
Now just three wins away from basketball immortality, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder find themselves on the brink of a championship. But the job&rsquo;s not finished.
The NBA Finals will shift to the opposing city for Games 3 and 4, where the pressure will mount, the crowd will roar louder, and the resistance will tighten. The margins will be razor-thin. But if this postseason has shown anything, it&rsquo;s that Gilgeous-Alexander has the heart, the game, and the will to push through.
This run has already carved his name into the record books. What comes next could define the start of SGA and the Thunder&rsquo;s era.
And for a Thunder team guided by youth and galvanized by Shai&rsquo;s leadership, the future isn&rsquo;t just bright &mdash; it&rsquo;s arriving right now.

SGA is delivering one of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history, leading the Thunder while making MVP-level history along the way.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivers MVP-level heroics in first NBA Finals trip

Views are the author&rsquo;s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the website.
The 2023-2024 NBA season has wrapped up and the race for the league&rsquo;s annual awards has officially ended. Here&rsquo;s a look at my picks of the NBA's award winners.
Most Improved Player: Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
(Runner-ups: Coby White, Jalen Johnson)
Notes: In the end, Tyrese Maxey takes the award with the amount of burden and responsibility in a Philadelphia team reeling from the loss of James Harden to become a true No. 2 option behind reigning MVP Joel Embiid. White improved a lot this year, increasing his averages both numbers and his shooting percentages. Johnson, like White, has also increased his usage and averages by a lot, featuring as the third option behind DeJounte Murray and Trae Young, or even as the second option without one of those two. A jumbo playmaking forward, Johnson showed improvements in his playmaking as well as his ability to score and had increased numbers in shooting as well. Ultimately, Maxey wins this award out because he was a guy who increased his usage and his role while playing most of the season without Embiid.
Sixth Man of the Year: Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves
(Runner-ups: Malik Monk, Bobby Portis)
Notes: Naz Reid has been the best player off the bench this season with the way he has been an offensive spark plug for the Timberwolves this season. He&rsquo;s had a phenomenal season, and he had to start and fill in for Karl-Anthony Towns when he went down while still being an efficient scorer as he is. If you factor in all the stuff for these awards, you could actually make a case for Monk, for Portis, maybe even guys like Norman Powell for the Clippers and Bogdan Bogdanovic for the Hawks. But with Minnesota going 56-26 and having the second most wins in franchise history &ndash; ultimately ending up atop the three best teams in the West, this gives a little bit of boost to Naz Reid due to his importance to the team.
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves
(Runner-ups: Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis; Honorable mention: Bam Adebayo)
Notes: One of the hardest awards to figure out. Minnesota had the best defense in the league for a reason, and based on that Rudy Gobert would be a deserving winner of the award. When he&rsquo;s off the floor, the team does not perform defensively the way it does when Gobert is on the floor. This was hard because Wembanyama had a legitimate case, being the generational defender that he was. Davis also had a strong case with how he carried single-handedly the Lakers&rsquo; defense, while Adebayo had the immense burden of playing all the defensive schemes in Miami. Ultimately, it ended up with Gobert with the way he lifted a good defensive team to the best in the league, manning that paint and being that anchor that holds all of the pieces together.
All-Defensive Team:
1st Team - Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Herb Jones
2nd Team - Derrick White, Jalen Suggs, Jaden McDaniels, Alex Caruso, Jonathan Isaac
Notes: Starting this year, the NBA&rsquo;s All-NBA teams and defensive teams were positionless so I had to cheat a little bit here, putting 4 bigs in the 1st team. Gobert, Wembanyama, Davis, and Adebayo are no-brainers considering their defensive impact for each of their teams, while Jones takes the last spot in the 1st team for his ability to disrupt offenses as well as guarding each team&rsquo;s best player night in and night out for the Pelicans.&nbsp;
The second team features White (most blocks for a guard), Suggs and Isaac (best defensive players for the 4th best defense in the league, helping to lead the Magic back to the playoffs), McDaniels (best wing defender for the best defense in the league), and the perennial all-defense player Caruso who brings it in defensively every game.
Rookie of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
(Runner-up: Chet Holmgren)
Notes: Despite Holmgren having far and away the better team success, there&rsquo;s no denying Wembanyama&rsquo;s greatness in his rookie year. The French phenom has transcended the game both figuratively and on the eye test &ndash; he is simply a generational talent who is going to take over the league soon. Holmgren got off to a hot start in the first two months of the season but since January, Wembanyama has locked up the award for himself with out-of-the-world numbers for a rookie. He was dubbed as the best prospect since LeBron James and now he is well on his way to being one of the greatest of all time if he remains healthy after a historic rookie season.
All-Rookie Team:
1st Team - Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Miller, Jaime Jaquez Jr., GG Jackson
2nd Team - Ausar Thompson, Amen Thompson, Keyonte George, Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis
Notes: There were several names to choose from here, and it felt hard to cut some of them here. Jordan Hawkins of the Pelicans has had a good start to the year when the team had all those injuries paving the way for him to play early into the season but has seen the bench since as NOLA got healthier and players came back; Cason Wallace had such a good shooting year off the bench for the No.1 seeded Thunder despite shooting being labeled by scouts as his biggest weakness coming into the NBA; Dereck Lively II being center that Luka Doncic needed and fit well with by catching all those lobs and helping the Mavs&rsquo; defense this season big time; No.2 overall pick Scoot Henderson had a good close to his rookie year.
All in all, these 10 rookies have felt like the best rookies in terms of production, opportunity, and narratives surrounding them. Of course, Wembanyama and Holmgren are automatic locks; Miller has been the best player in Charlotte without LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams; Jaquez is a vital piece off the bench for Erik Spoelstra&rsquo;s playoff-bound Heat team; and GG Jackson becoming a legit NBA scorer despite being the youngest player in the league to round out the first team.
The Thompson twins have just been defensive monsters ever since stepping foot in the league; George playing point guard at Utah has turned some heads and he has stepped up with the opportunity given to him; while Podziemski and Jackson-Davis have arguably been rotational pieces to the Warriors despite being rookies and has contributed a lot to them finding a way to fit in a complex team.
Coach of the Year: Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City Thunder
(Runner-ups: Chris Finch, Jamahl Mosley)
Notes: There have been so many good coaches this season that have elevated their teams to good records, say Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets and Tom Thibodeau from the New York Knicks. But my Coach of the Year pick goes to Mark Daigneault of the OKC Thunder because this award tends to favor the expectations set for a team before the start of the season. The Thunder weren&rsquo;t supposed to be this good this season, but Daigneault catapulted them into one of the best teams not just in the West but the entire NBA. The evidence is written on the wall: No.1 in the West despite being the second youngest team in the league; having a top 5 ranking on both offense and defense and no.2 overall net rating. Finch and Mosley take the runner-up spots with the work they had to lift both the Timberwolves and the Magic to being top 4 seeds in their conferences as well as having top-rated defenses in the league.
Clutch Player of the Year: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
(Runner-ups: DeMar DeRozan, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)
Notes: Another tough and close race, but ultimately it goes to Curry. Despite the Warriors&rsquo; so-so record, Curry had the most clutch time points, shot 50% from the field, and 46% from three in clutch time. Curry had the most threes than anyone in crunch time &ndash; being just the incredible clutch-time performer that he is &ndash; and always been.
All-NBA Team:
1st Team - Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum
2nd Team - Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James
3rd Team - Stephen Curry, Domantas Sabonis, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton
Notes: With Jalen Brunson carrying the Knicks to a second seed in the East playing without Julius Randle since January, it was incredibly hard to leave him off the 1st team. However, by the slightest of margins, I gave the nod to Tatum for being the best player on the best team in the league by a wide margin.
All the other picks were pretty explanatory, with the top 4 in the MVP race in Jokic, Doncic, SGA, and Giannis all expected to be first-teamers. The second team kind of got tougher besides Brunson, with legends Durant and James making the list because of the seasons they had leading their team as well as playing their most regular season game in years. Rounding out the second team were Edwards and Davis, two stars with the biggest impacts on their teams in the tough Western Conference.
The third team is actually a toss-up with a lot of good cases from the league all around, but ultimately I went with Curry, Sabonis, Leonard, Booker, and Haliburton.
Most Valuable Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander&nbsp;
(Runners-up: Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic; Honorable mention: Giannis Antetokounmpo)
Perhaps the closest race out of all the awards, all three players here are each deserving with their narratives and the numbers that support each of their cases. You can never go wrong picking one over the other, so it came down to personal opinion on who I thought had the strongest case this season. His case?
-Leading the second youngest team in the league to No.1 in the West
-3-1 series vs Denver
-3-1 series vs Dallas
-First player since Steph and MJ to average 30/5/5 in a season with 2+ steals
-Second in defensive net rating for guards
One could make the argument for Nikola Jokic being the best player in the world having better numbers than his two MVP seasons while Luka Doncic had one of the best seasons statistically in all facets of the game, but there&rsquo;s no denying SGA&rsquo;s strong case as well given the expectations for this young Thunder team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is my MVP.

The 2023-2024 NBA season has wrapped up and the race for the league’s annual awards has officially ended.

OPINION: Picking the 2023-2024 NBA Awards winners

LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have become synonymous with the sport of basketball, serving as the gold standard for this generation of players and drawing in fans from all over the world.
Aside from 2021 and 2023, every NBA Finals series since 2011 has featured one of James, Curry or Durant. The trio have a combined 44 All-Star appearances, and at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, we got to watch them play together on the same team for the first time ever.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant all on the same team for the first time ever tonight 🔥✊ <a href="https://t.co/uUaAKwxaVr">pic.twitter.com/uUaAKwxaVr</a>
&mdash; Guru (@DrGuru_) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrGuru_/status/1759349903652995079?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
Seeing the faces of the NBA share the court as teammates was a lot of fun and left fans wanting for more.
Enter Team USA.
The world might witness these three legends team up once again in the coming months &mdash; this time while donning the red, white and blue. in hopes of leading Team USA to a fifth consecutive gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
While we got a taste of the trio during NBA All-Star Weekend, fans would love to see them in a competitive environment. Curry&rsquo;s otherworldly shooting, James' IQ and playmaking, plus Durant&rsquo;s deadly three-level scoring with extremely high stakes? That would be something to behold.
James, Curry and Durant are all highly intelligent basketball players who complement each other really well, so it would likely be a seamless transition on Team USA.
All three have expressed their interest in playing for the national team and were <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/usa-basketball-announces-player-pool-for-team-usas-2024-mens-national-team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently included in the player pool that Team USA announced</a>.
Although the NBA season is still ongoing and a lot can still happen between now and July, but barring injuries or any unforeseen circumstances, the three global basketball icons will likely lead Team USA&rsquo;s pursuit for the gold medal in this year&rsquo;s Olympic Games. This hunt for the gold will coincide with the 50th anniversary of USA Basketball, making their run even more special.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Beautiful, isn't it? Breaking down our 50th Anniversary logo 👇<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USAB50?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USAB50</a> 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/O4F7odCkWY">pic.twitter.com/O4F7odCkWY</a>
&mdash; USA Basketball (@usabasketball) <a href="https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1749606150721388855?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
The American trio will aim to replicate the success of their predecessors from the original &ldquo;Dream Team&rdquo; in 1992 when NBA superstars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird won the gold medal in Barcelona.
James, 39, has won three Olympic medals for Team USA (one bronze and two golds) with the last one coming 12 years ago when he won gold in London. The NBA&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer has expressed interest in suiting up for Team USA once again, and he has been in contact with several other NBA stars to join him including Curry and Durant. James&rsquo; impressive track record for his national team speaks for itself. After serving Team USA for eight years from 2004 to 2012, he is second all-time in games played (24) for Team USA.&nbsp;
The 35-year-old Curry has yet to play for Team USA in the Olympics. Curry already has two FIBA World Championships in his trophy case, which also includes four NBA championships and two NBA MVPs, but winning an Olympic gold medal might be the cherry on top of what has been an illustrious career. Curry has notably shown interest in playing for Team USA in the Olympic Games, and he is very likely to do so this year. With Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also calling the shots for Team USA, it makes a lot of sense for Curry to make his Olympic debut in Paris.
Finally, Durant is arguably the most accomplished Team USA player of all-time. Winning three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016 and 2020-21) and a FIBA World Championship (2010), Team USA&rsquo;s &ldquo;Captain America&rdquo; is gunning for his record-setting fourth Olympic Gold medal. (He's currently tied with fellow USA great Carmelo Anthony, who also has three gold medals). Durant winning another gold medal would likely solidify him as the greatest Team USA player of all-time (if he isn't already). A two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP, Durant is one of the most lethal scorers the game has ever seen.
Aside from James, Curry and Durant &ndash; the NBA&rsquo;s most recognizable faces &ndash; who else will don the red, white and blue? The other finalists for the 2024 USA Men&rsquo;s national team are Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Jimmy Butler, Alex Caruso, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Paul George, Aaron Gordon, Tyrese Haliburton, James Harden, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Jrue Holiday, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Ingram, Kyrie Irving, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Trae Young.
With James, Curry and Durant leading the way, Team USA will the favorite in Paris. However, they'll face stiff competition from the rest of the world, particularly world-champion Germany and star-studded squads like Australia and Team Canada. Generational international talents like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama will look to dethrone Team USA.
This iteration of the Olympics is shaping up to be the hardest challenge the Americans will ever face, and hopefully James, Curry and Durant will be at the forefront of it all. In likely their last dance in international competition, James, Curry and Durant will surely want to ride off into the sunset wearing gold medals around their necks.

The next time LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are playing together, it will be with Team USA during the Paris Olympics.

LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant set to team up again — this time for USA

When the New Orleans Pelicans were missing the services of sharpshooter Trey Murphy III to start the season, head coach Willie Green turned to rookie Jordan Hawkins. The 21-year-old from Connecticut can shoot the lights out and he filled in the shooter role nicely, becoming a release valve for drive and kicks to stretch out the defense.
In nine games as a starter, Hawkins averaged 15.4 points while playing 35 minutes a game. As the Pelicans got healthier, his minutes decreased. For his first 20 games, Hawkins averaged 26 minutes a game, stepping up as a reliable bench piece even as a rookie.
However, once Murphy returned, Green relegated Hawkins back to the bench, and he hasn't seen daylight since. Over his last 20 games, the shooting guard has averaged just 9 minutes per game (including four DNPs). He has been buried on the bench behind guys like Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, and Naji Marshall &mdash; all of who have played specific roles for the Pelicans over the past two years.
Despite this up-and-down role, Hawkins has delivered every time he has been given an opportunity.
While shorthanded against the Dallas Mavericks, Green started Hawkins again and the rookie had 34 points with 6 triples on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. He added 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, leading the Pelicans as they stole a game on the road without Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Murphy.
Hawkins has shown signs of improvement as the season has progressed. In his first few games, the usual scouting report on him was to run him off the three-point line. But on two separate occasions in the first quarter against the Mavs, he displayed an expanded way of attacking closeouts: dropping it off to his teammates twice (one to Daniels and one to Herb Jones) for an assist.
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Improving his playmaking and consistently doing stuff like this would be the next step in his development and allow him to earn significant minutes again.
Another area where he could improve is the in-between game. While he doesn't have that elite burst that allows him to separate from defenders to get to the rim, he can just stop and shoot the pull-up jumper. Against the Mavs, Hawkins drilled three of these mid-range jumpers.
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Given his natural ability to stretch out the defense because of his threat from deep, knocking down those middies will be essential to earn a place in Green&rsquo;s rotation once again.
Hawkins' impact has become undeniable and he clearly provides value to this team. With his ability to stretch the floor as a respected shooter, teams won't sag off of him that much compared to his fellow reserves. This gives Williamson and Ingram more space when operating from inside the paint, and they know they have another guy they can kick out to when they get doubled and they trust him to knock down threes consistently.
In a league that values spacing more than anything, Hawkins should have a place in Green&rsquo;s rotation.

Jordan Hawkins has delivered every time he has been given an opportunity, and it's time for the Pelicans to give him more minutes.

The Pelicans should find more minutes for Jordan Hawkins moving forward

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around due to the team's recent success, winning 15 of their last 21 games.&nbsp;
After starting just 7-16, the Jazz have since gone 11-4 and are now in contention for one of the Western Conference's play-in spots. They&rsquo;ve had an incredible week thus far, with wins over the contending Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
The win over the defending-champion Nuggets proved that the Jazz can hang with any team on any given night. Denver was 18-0 against sub-.500 teams entering the game, but Utah stained their erstwhile unblemished slate.
How did the Jazz do it? Let's take a look at some of the things they did to upend the Nuggets.
The Jazz stretched the floor&nbsp;
With John Collins starting at center instead of Walker Kessler, Utah's game plan was to pull Nikola Jokic from the paint. Jokic, who&rsquo;s usually a drop-big on defense, almost always stays near the shaded area in pick-and-roll actions. Utah tried to take advantage of this early by hunting out threes and exploiting the point-of-attack defenses of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Four of their first five attempts were three-pointers and they connected on two to jump out to an early lead.
Denver tried to counter by running zone, leaving Collins open a couple of times in the first quarter. However, Collins made them pay by hitting two threes, as Jokic was more than content to leave him open for threes. This allowed the Jazz to get rolling even more and gave them the freedom to attack the basket and get downhill.
Another possession in the zone found Reggie Jackson and Jokic in a miscommunication, leading to Jordan Clarkson drilling an easy 10-foot jumper. When the Nuggets tried to switch up their defense back to a man-to-man, the Jazz found the answer with some off-ball movement and timely cuts to the rim. Overall, it was an offensive clinic that caught the defending champs off guard.
The Jazz mixed their coverages on Jokic and gave him different looks on defense
You can't entirely stop an all-world talent like Nikola Jokic, you could only hope to contain him, which is still really tough considering how talented he is and his ability to get his teammates involved.
Although he still put up a monstrous stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on an absurd 8-of-9 shooting from the field, what the Jazz and Will Hardy did was mix-up coverages on him. They showed multiple defensive looks each time down, which partly confused Jokic as he committed 6 turnovers in the game.
Sometimes, it was single coverage; other times, they sent doubles at him. Three different players &mdash; Lauri Markannen, Collins and Kessler &mdash; each took turns guarding him and all three provided different looks on the Joker. Markannen used his strength, Collins had his quickness and quick hands, while Kessler provided verticality with his 7-foot-1 frame.
The Jazz also sent different doubles at Jokic, sometimes crowding him in the paint with early double-teams, breaking up his low-post attacks with guards doubling him, and sending late doubles with another big or using a help weakside defender to try to affect him as he attempted a shot.
All of these defensive coverages were designed to make Jokic feel uncomfortable with different styles thrown at him, and the Jazz were successful at that with this blowout win.&nbsp;
Will Hardy figured out the rotations and had the Jazz playing with confidence
Although their defense is still suspect, the Jazz&rsquo;s offense has been nothing but spectacular. This can be attributed to head coach Will Hardy figuring out his rotation and which players synergize well together. This impressive run over their last 20 games started when Hardy made Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, Lauri Markannen and John Collins the starting five. Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk provide stability as veterans while second-year guys Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji help out on defense with their length and tenacity.
Utah&rsquo;s offense was on full display against Denver, picking them apart with set plays and off of read-and-react actions. Although the Nuggets were coming off two days of rest and just an hour flight, the Jazz capitalized on their momentum and pounced right from the start.
Markannen has picked up right where he left off in last season&rsquo;s All-Star campaign, maintaining his shooting and scoring while improving his ball-handling this season. He&rsquo;s much better off the dribble now, which makes him one of the most coveted (if not most coveted) trade targets as the Feb. 8 deadline approaches.
Clarkson has also learned to move the ball more since being back to his regular sixth man role while continuing to score the ball effectively, and it has produced good results.
Dunn and Sexton allow the Jazz to play with pace and energy on both sides of the floor and their efforts are infectious.
Despite all of the trade rumors swirling around this team and rival teams trying to pry their players away, GM Danny Ainge and coach Will Hardy deserve credit for helping the Jazz build good habits and play the right way, which has resulted in beautiful basketball all around.&nbsp;

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around, as they have won 15 of their last 21 games.

How the Utah Jazz earned their statement win over the Denver Nuggets

Former NBA GM Pete Babcock opens up to Etan Thomas about how the media's false narratives can greatly influence NBA front offices.

Former NBA GM on how media coverage, false narratives impact players

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

NBA free agency has died down and the 2023-24 NBA season is nearly three months away. This is why August is known as the dog days of the NBA calendar.
However, NBA fans will be able to watch some of their favorite players in action very soon, as the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup tips off tomorrow.
From Nov. 2021 through Feb. 2023, 80 countries battled for a spot in the World Cup but only 32 national teams qualified. There are a ton of NBA players participating, as Team USA has a talented young roster and they'll be facing stars such as Luka Doncic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen and Rudy Gobert.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
WHEN IS IT?
World Cup games will be played Aug. 25 through Sept. 10. There have been a number of warm-up games in recent weeks, but the real action tips off tomorrow.
First Round (Group Phase): Aug. 25-30 Second Round (Group Phase): Aug. 31 - Sept. 4 Quarterfinals: Sept. 5-6 Semifinals: Sept. 8 Final: Sept. 10 Third-Place Game: Sept. 10
The <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/fiba-basketball-world-cup-2023-schedule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full schedule of games can be found here</a>.
WHERE IS IT?&nbsp;
For the first time ever, the FIBA Basketball World Cup will feature three host countries: the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
WHICH COUNTRIES QUALIFIED?
These are the 32 countries that will be participating in the 2023 FIBA World Cup: Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, China, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, United States and Venezuela.
These are the groups for the first round:
Group A:&nbsp;Angola, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Italy
Group B:&nbsp;&nbsp;South Sudan, Serbia, China, Puerto Rico
(Groups A and B will play their games at Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines)
Group C:&nbsp;Team USA, Jordan, Greece, New Zealand
Group D:&nbsp;Egypt, Mexico, Montenegro, Lithuania
(Groups C and D will play their games at Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines)
Group E:&nbsp;Germany, Finland, Australia, Japan
Group F:&nbsp;Slovenia, Cape Verde, Georgia, Venezuela
(Groups E and F will play their games at Okinawa Arena in Japan)
Group G:&nbsp;Iran, Spain, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, Brazil
Group H:&nbsp;Canada, Latvia, Lebanon, France
(Groups G and H will play their games at Jakarta Arena in Indonesia)
WHICH NBA PLAYERS ARE COMPETING?
There are quite a few NBA players participating in this tournament. The <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/fiba-world-cup-roster-tracker-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full list can be found here</a>, but below are the national teams that feature notable NBA players:
Group A
Dominican Republic: Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves), Lester Quinones (Golden State Warriors)
Philippines: Jordan Clarkson&nbsp;(Utah Jazz)
Group B
China: Kyle Anderson&nbsp;(Minnesota Timberwolves)
Serbia: Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks), Aleksej Pokusevski (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nikola Jovic (Miami Heat)
Group C
Greece: Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
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United States: Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic), Mikal Bridges (Brooklyn Nets), Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Josh Hart (New York Knicks), Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Cameron Johnson (Brooklyn Nets), Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz), Bobby Portis (Milwaukee Bucks), Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers)

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Group D
Lithuania: Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans Pelicans)
Montenegro: Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)
Group E
Australia: Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder), Patty Mills (Atlanta Hawks), Matisse Thybulle (Portland Trail Blazers) Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Joe Ingles (Orlando Magic), Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans), Dante Exum (Dallas Mavericks), Jock Landale (Houston Rockets), Xavier Cooks (Washington Wizards)
Finland: Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz)
Germany: Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Dennis Schroder (Toronto Raptors), Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Daniel Theis (Indiana Pacers),&nbsp;
Japan: Yuta Watanabe (Phoenix Suns)
Group F
Georgia: Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), Sandro Mamukelashvili (San Antonio Spurs)
Slovenia: Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)
Group G
Brazil: Raul Neto (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Spain: Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies), Usman Garuba (Atlanta Hawks)
Group H
Canada: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), R.J. Barrett (New York Knicks), Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), Lu Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Minnesota Timberwolves), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks)
France: Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves), Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers), Evan Fournier (New York Knicks), Frank Ntilikina (Charlotte Hornets)
Latvia: Davis Bertans (Oklahoma City Thunder)
HOW TO WATCH
FIBA recently announced that all 92 World Cup games will be available across ESPN's platforms. Six games will air on ESPN2 (including Team USA's three first-round games), while the other 86 games will be available on ESPN+.
FIBA&rsquo;s official streaming service, <a href="https://www.courtside1891.basketball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Courtside 1891</a>, will also air the games live and on-demand. If you're interested in Courtside 1891, FIBA is offering our readers 20% off their World Cup bundle. Follow the instructions below if you'd like to use the 20% discount:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li><a href="https://www.courtside1891.basketball/choose-a-package" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click this link</a> and you&rsquo;ll get a prompt to register</li>
<li>You&rsquo;ll then be redirected to the choose-a-package page</li>
<li>Select the &lsquo;Max &ndash; World Cup Bundle&rsquo;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Use the discount code FIBAWCAK to get 20% off</li>
</ul>
Enjoy the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and hopefully the dog days of summer will fly by quickly!

The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup tips off tomorrow. Here's everything you need to know about the tournament.

Everything you need to know about the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Draymond Green loved Golden State&rsquo;s defensive energy against LeBron James and knows the Warriors must bring that same urgency back to Los Angeles with another chance to save this topsy-turvy season and defend their title.
They need the same focus again whether or not Lakers star Anthony Davis is clogging up the middle after he suffered a head injury in the fourth quarter.
Stephen Curry had 27 points and eight assists, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and the reigning champion Warriors staved off elimination by beating the Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.
The Warriors have rallied before with this core group on the big postseason stage, becoming the first defending champion to come back from 2-0 down to beat Sacramento in the first round.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re champions, so there&rsquo;s pressure every time you step on the floor,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;You go out there, you don&rsquo;t win people are ready to crush you. People forget about the things that you&rsquo;ve done in the past.&rdquo;
James had 25 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Davis added 23 points and nine rebounds but went to the locker room late after getting hit in the head by Kevon Looney as they fought for position in the paint on D&rsquo;Angelo Russell&rsquo;s layup with 7:43 remaining.
Davis grabbed at his head grimacing before going to the locker room. His status for Game 6 on Friday night back in Los Angeles is unclear but coach Darivn Ham was encouraged afterward without providing details on what evaluation &mdash; such as concussion testing &mdash; the big man went through once in the locker room. TNT reported Davis required a wheelchair to go to the locker room.
&ldquo;Obviously, everyone saw he took a shot to the head, but we just checked in on him, he seems to be doing really good already,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just where he&rsquo;s at. That&rsquo;s the status of it right now.&rdquo;
Austin Reaves made a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play that cut the Warriors&rsquo; lead to single digits at 104-95 only for Curry to answer with five straight points, then he hit another big shot after Russell connected from deep.
Green contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Golden State played tough defense that led to better chances on the offensive end &mdash; just as coach Steve Kerr has challenged his team to to.
&ldquo;Our defensive mindfulness was there,&rdquo; Curry said.
Now, it&rsquo;s back to LA where the Lakers 5-0 at home this postseason, having won eight consecutive games on their own floor since losing to the Bulls on March 26.
Golden State is trying rally from a 3-1 series deficit for only the second time in franchise history and will try to win one more to bring Game 7 back to Chase Center on Sunday. The Warriors rallied from 3-1 down in the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.
Curry beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer over Lonnie Walker IV as the Warriors took a 70-59 lead. The 70 first-half points were the most Golden State in the playoffs since scoring 72 in a Game 6 first-round win over the Clippers in 2019. The last team to score 70 or more in a first half of a playoff game versus the Lakers was Phoenix with 71 in Game 4 of the 2000 second round.
Green and Wiggins took turns on James and Golden State tried to take Davis out of rhythm after he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists in Game 4.
Curry shot 12 for 24 but just 3 of 11 from long range coming off his third career playoff triple-double in a 104-101 Game 4 loss.
&ldquo;I have a lot of confidence we can come back in this series,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;And until otherwise, we stay in that kind of mindset.&rdquo;
LINEUP LOOK
The Warriors, who had used five lineup combinations in their initial 11 postseason games, stuck with Gary Payton II for the second straight game &mdash; and it paid off.
He scored 13 points and converted a timely three-point play with 7:34 remaining to go with six rebounds.
Jordan Poole came off the bench and hit his first 3 since Game 1 late in the second quarter after going 0 for 8 the previous three games.
Klay Thompson struggled again. He went 3 for 11 in Monday&rsquo;s loss to mark just the eighth time in his 150 postseason games that he scored in single digits &mdash; and three of the previous seven came before Kerr became coach in 2014.
On Thursday, he missed his initial four shots and 6 of his first seven to finish with 10 &mdash; but has a history of spectacular Game 6 performances and goes back to LA with a chance to shine.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Los Angeles was outrebounded 18-17 in the first half and 48-38 overall. ... The Lakers scored 20 points off the Warriors&rsquo; 14 turnovers but committed 16 leading to 20 Warriors points. ... James has never squandered a 3-1 playoff series lead. ... The Lakers lost for only the six time since March 19 (17-6).
Warriors: Six Warriors accounted for seven first-quarter 3s after Golden State made only 12 total in Game 4 (12 of 41). ... Golden State is 16-4 in Game 5s and 8-2 when facing elimination dating to its 2015 title run, including 4-2 at home. In addition, the Warriors are 34-12 in postseason games following a loss.

The reigning champion Warriors staved off elimination by beating the Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Curry, Warriors stave off elimination, beat Lakers 121-106 in Game 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; First, Draymond Green suggested to Warriors coach Steve Kerr that he come off the bench for Game 4 against the Sacramento Kings after Golden State had played so brilliantly without him.
Then at halftime Sunday, a couple of assistant coaches offered up the idea to Kerr that Green should defend De&rsquo;Aaron Fox for the final two quarters.
Those collaborative, spot-on moves helped overshadow a late blunder, and now the defending champions are all tied up in their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Stephen Curry scored 32 points but gave Sacramento a late chance when he called a timeout Golden State didn&rsquo;t have, then the Warriors held on to beat the Kings 126-125 on Sunday when Harrison Barnes missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
&ldquo;These games are coming down to the wire, and you&rsquo;ve just got to really finish possessions and try to give yourself the best chance, and then sometimes, it&rsquo;s just, does the ball go in or not,&rdquo; Kerr said.
Fox had 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Sacramento. His 3 with 28.7 seconds left pulled the Kings within one, then Curry missed a 16-foot jumper on the other end and Keegan Murray corralled the rebound. With Curry and Green defending, Fox dished to former Warrior Barnes for the potential game-winning 3, which hit the back of the rim.
&ldquo;Wide open,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;Fox trusted me to take that shot. Back rim. On to the next but I feel confident in where we are.&rdquo;
Golden State led 126-121 with 42.4 seconds left when Curry called the excessive timeout, and Malik Monk made the technical free throw for Sacramento.
Klay Thompson made a baseline 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer and another with 3:24 left, finishing with 26 points for the Warriors.
Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night at Sacramento&rsquo;s Golden 1 Center, where the Kings went ahead 2-0. The Warriors struggled on the road all year.
&ldquo;As good as this feels, it&rsquo;s got to be quickly forgotten about,&rdquo; Thompson said.
Curry&rsquo;s 3 with 4:10 remaining gave Golden State a 121-117 lead and he finished 11 for 22 with five 3s while dueling all afternoon with Fox.
After Monk&rsquo;s layup made it 107-106 Kings with 9:03 to play, Curry responded with a driving layup and a 3 in a 14-second span.
Green came off the bench after serving a one-game suspension while the Warriors dominated Thursday&rsquo;s Game 3 without him. Given the momentum and success, Kerr stuck with Jordan Poole in the starting five Sunday.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer if something isn&rsquo;t broke you don&rsquo;t fix it,&rdquo; Green said.
He made a nifty behind-the-back pass for a Curry 3 midway through the fourth, then swatted a shot by Domantas Sabonis with 1:37 left.
Green, disciplined for stepping on Sabonis&rsquo; chest in the fourth quarter of Game 2, checked in to a rousing ovation with 6:38 left in the opening quarter and wound up with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He and Fox picked up double technicals at the 5:43 mark of the first.
Sabonis added 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists and now heads home determined to get the Kings closer to winning their first playoff series since eliminating Dallas in the 2004 first round.
&ldquo;We made some timely mistakes, especially in the fourth quarter,&rdquo; coach Mike Brown said. &ldquo;This is where our playoff inexperience comes into play because you can&rsquo;t rest out there, or you can&rsquo;t think that you can play something a certain way and the champions are not going to make you pay the price.&rdquo;
Poole scored 22 points, Andrew Wiggins added 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, and Kevon Looney pulled down 14 rebounds to go with eight points and six assists.
Murray&rsquo;s 3 with 10:43 left pulled the Kings within 102-99 after a 7-0 burst to begin the fourth after the 3 by Thompson to end the third put the Warriors ahead 102-92. Brown instructed his young star to &ldquo;let it fly&rdquo; and Murray shined under the matinee lights, scoring 23 points.
Thompson&rsquo;s driving and dishing is something Kerr pointed to as a success opening up the floor in Game 3 and Thompson penetrated and found Moses Moody for a baseline 3 late in the first. Golden State moved the ball with snappy passes that created open looks.
MURRAY&rsquo;S GROWTH
Murray shot 9 for 13 with five 3s after he went a combined 1 for 8 on 3s and 3 of 13 in the first three games.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just tried to be more aggressive throughout the playoffs and I knew eventually I&rsquo;d catch my stride on the offensive end, so it&rsquo;s just a matter of time and I came in confident,&rdquo; Murray said.
TIP-INS
Kings: Sacramento scored 18 points off Golden State&rsquo;s 12 turnovers while committing just 10 of its own. ... The Kings shot 14 of 35 from deep, 3 for 11 by Fox and 1 of 6 by Barnes.
Warriors: Gary Payton II returned to play seven minutes after missing Game 3 with an illness. ... Green had started the last 132 postseason games he played, last coming off the bench in Game 3 against the Clippers in 2014. ... Golden State shot 52.2% in the first.
LEADING LATE
The Warriors improved to 75-3 since Kerr became coach when leading a playoff game by 10 or more at any point in the fourth quarter.
&nbsp;

Stephen Curry scored 32 points and the Warriors held on to beat the Kings 126-125 on Sunday.

Curry, Warriors hold off Kings 126-125 to even series 2-all

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; UConn topped off one of the most impressive March Madness runs in history Monday night, clamping down early and breaking it open late to bring home its fifth national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State.
Adama Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Tristen Newton also had a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards for the Huskies (31-8), who became the fifth team&nbsp;since the bracket expanded&nbsp;in 1985 to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship.
They won the six games by an average of an even 20 points, only a fraction less than what North Carolina did in sweeping to the title in 2009.
UConn built a 16-point lead late in the first half, only to see the Aztecs (32-7) trim the lead to five with 5:19 left. But Jordan Hawkins (16 points) answered with a 3 to trigger a 9-0 run and the only drama left was whether UConn would cover the 7.5-point spread and go six-for-six with double-digit wins.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
UCONN HAS WON THE MEN&rsquo;S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆 What a dominant tournament from the Huskies 😤 <a href="https://t.co/S5J5ROU1NJ">pic.twitter.com/S5J5ROU1NJ</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1643096089275367424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Keshad Johnson had 14 points for San Diego State, which came up one win shy in its first trip to the Final Four.
UConn set the stage for this one over an 11:07 stretch in the first half during which the Aztecs didn&rsquo;t make a single basket. Unable to shoot over or go around this tall, long UConn team, they missed 14 straight shots from the floor.
They went from leading by four to trailing by 11, and when they weren&rsquo;t getting shots blocked (Alex Karaban had three and Sanogo had one) or altered on the inside, they were coming up short &mdash; a telltale sign of a team that was out of hops after that draining 72-71 buzzer-beater win over Florida Atlantic two nights earlier.
UConn fan Bill Murray was one of the few celebrities on hand to watch the Huskies make it five for five in title games in one of the most unexpected Final Fours in history. This one marked the last that Jim Nantz would call after 37 years behind the mic.
He&rsquo;s had a lot of UConn stories to tell, though this certainly wasn&rsquo;t the most dramatic.
Even with that brief bout of uncertainty midway through the second half, UConn never truly let the Aztecs, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the semifinal, start thinking about any more last-second dramatics.
This was a team built strictly for 2023 &mdash; replenished by coach Dan Hurley, who went to the transfer portal to find more outside shooting after back-to-back first-round exits in the tournament.
And yet, there was something decidedly old-school about the way the Huskies took care of business in the early going.
They didn&rsquo;t even think much about 3-point shooting at the start, instead skip passing into Sanogo on the post and wearing down SDSU while building the early lead.
The Aztecs were too good a team to cave and an over-pursuing defense is what triggered the late run to within five. A team built on defense only shot 32% from the floor.
And after its late run, they started getting burned and Hurley and Co. were hugging it out on the bench before the buzzer.
UConn&rsquo;s latest coronation makes Hurley the third coach to bring a trophy home to Storrs, Connecticut. He joins Jim Calhoun (1999, 2004, 2001) and Kevin Ollie (2014).

The Connecticut Huskies have won their fifth national championship, defeating San Diego State 76-59 on Monday night.

UConn beats San Diego State 76-59 to win 5th national championship

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Lamont Butler hit the biggest shot in San Diego State history, putting the Aztecs in the national championship game for the first time.
The next step, in Monday&rsquo;s title game, will be a difficult one.
UConn has been the dominant team all through the bracket, delivering one beatdown after another while showing no weaknesses &mdash; even on a short turnaround.
The Huskies snatched the euphoria right out of Gonzaga last week in the Elite Eight, ruining the Zags&rsquo; vibes after their last-second win over UCLA two days earlier. Baylor did the same thing to Gonzaga in the 2021 national title game, bullying the Zags two days after Jalen Suggs&rsquo; miracle shot.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t stop,&rdquo; UConn guard Jordan Hawkins said after scoring 13 points against Miami on Saturday night. &ldquo;We keep putting our foot on their neck. We have a really tough team.&rdquo;
The Huskies got to the title game by breaking their opponents&rsquo; will.
UConn won its first four NCAA Tournament games by at least 15 points and wrecked Miami&rsquo;s first Final Four appearance by dominating the Hurricanes at both ends in a 72-59 win.
The Aztecs have done it with defense.
San Diego State shut down four straight NCAA Tournament opponents and leaned on its D in the second half to overcome a 14-point deficit to ruin Florida Atlantic&rsquo;s first Final Four. Butler provided the heroics, hitting a buzzer-beater in the 72-71 win that had all of San Diego celebrating.
The first buzzer-beating game-winner by a trailing team in Final Four history now puts the Aztecs within a win of the Mountain West Conference&rsquo;s first national title.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t consider ourselves a mid-major,&rdquo; San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re a high-major program.&rdquo;
UConn (30-8) will be vying for its fifth national title since 1999, but first since Dan Hurley was hired to bring back the program after its fall from grace.
UConn won its fourth title under Kevin Ollie in 2014, but spiraled downward in the wake of recruiting violations and Ollie&rsquo;s ugly departure.
When Hurley took over in 2018, UConn was 170th on the KenPom analytics rankings and low on the national relevance scale.
The knock on Hurley&rsquo;s Huskies then turned to UConn&rsquo;s meager Marches; two first-round NCAA Tournament burnouts, including to No. 12 seed New Mexico State last year.
UConn had an uneven 2022-23 season, climbing to No. 2 in the AP Top 25, tumbling back toward irrelevance with six losses in eight games.
The Huskies turned into the best team in the maddest of Marches that culminated in the most unexpected Final Four, putting them in position to tie Duke and Indiana for fourth on the all-time championships list.
&ldquo;The group has shown their quality so many times in terms of the level that we could play at,&rdquo; Hurley said. &ldquo;And I think we experienced everything in that month of January, it&rsquo;s a battle-tested team.&rdquo;
For San Diego State (32-6), Monday&rsquo;s title game will be the culmination of the program building Steve Fisher started and Dutcher pushed forward.
Fisher had built San Diego State into a mid-major power, leading them to six straight NCAA Tournaments. When he retired in 2017, the reins were handed to Dutcher, his assistant back to Michigan&rsquo;s national championship with the Fab Five in 1989.
Dutcher kept many of the same principles Fisher had, adding an extra dash of defensive devilry.
San Diego State appeared ready to break through in 2020, on its way to a likely No. 1 seed before the pandemic wiped out the NCAA Tournament.
The Aztecs suffered first-round NCAA Tournament flameouts the next two seasons before becoming defensive dominators this year.
San Diego State was fourth in the KenPom.com defensive efficiency ratings while winning 27 games during the regular season. The Aztecs took it to new lows in the NCAA Tournament, holding their first four opponents to 57 points per game and 17% shooting from the 3-point arc.
Upstart FAU appeared to have solved San Diego State&rsquo;s defense in the first half of Saturday night&rsquo;s first semifinal, stretching its lead to 14 midway through the second half.
The Aztecs got back to being dirty (in a good way) to get back in it and Butler finished if off with one of the most memorable shots in NCAA Tournament history.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to the national championship,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not things many people do.&rdquo;

The fifth-seeded Aztecs will meet the red-hot, fifth-seeded Huskies in the national championship game Monday.