Tigers

For decades, the United States dominated on the hardwood. Now, that&rsquo;s changing.
Today, the U.S. still produces some of the best players in the world and certainly has the deepest talent pool, but other countries have closed the gap considerably. International superstars have taken the league by storm.
With the success of players like Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Luka Dončić (Slovenia) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), it's no surprise that people are high on international players. 
Antetokounmpo, Jokic and Embiid have combined for the last five Most Valuable Player awards, and four of the last six Defensive Player of the Year awards have gone to foreign players (Giannis and Rudy Gobert). Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship, and now Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are the reigning champs.&nbsp;
Whether it&rsquo;s the FIBA Basketball World Cup or in the NBA, international players are often beating their United States counterparts.&nbsp;
Americans have been outshined as of late, but the U.S. continues to produce some of the very best players in the world. Veteran superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Kyrie Irving continue to excel, while younger studs like Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, are still realizing their full potential and could challenge the influx of international competition. However, Victor Wembanyama (France) enters the 2023-24 season as the most highly anticipated rookie since LeBron James.
Now, let's take a look at the numbers. A year ago, Basketball News&rsquo; Alex Kennedy <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/an-inside-look-at-how-international-players-are-taking-over-the-nba">talked with Troy Justice,</a> the NBA&rsquo;s vice president, head of international basketball development about the international takeover on basketball&rsquo;s biggest stages.
&ldquo;Thirty years ago, there were only 23 international players. Now, we have 121. And to be real honest, I think we're only scratching the surface in terms of not only talent identification but just the development of the game globally,&rdquo; Justice said. &ldquo;So, it's amazing.&rdquo;
Of the 537 active NBA players, 128 are from outside the United States (just under 25%). International players received 88% of the votes in the 2022-23 MVP race, with Embiid, Jokic and Antetokounmpo garnering 84% combined. Of the top-eight vote-getters, only Tatum and Mitchell were American.
And that&rsquo;s not just a one-off. You have to go back to the 2020-21 NBA season to find an American player in the top-three of MVP voting, which was Curry at third (closely followed by Giannis). The last American player to win the MVP award was James Harden in 2017-18. Interestingly, there were no international players in the top-five of MVP voting that year, although Antetokounmpo barely missed out.
Also, following that season, the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy has been very much up for grabs. Previously, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were the perennial NBA Finals matchup and no other teams really came close. LeBron and Steph were the NBA&rsquo;s poster boys, competing for a ring every year. We hadn&rsquo;t seen an international superstar lead his team to a title since Dirk Nowitzki defeated LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2011.
There are many reasons for this championship diversity &ndash; with five different winners in the past five years &ndash; but a big factor is the emergence of these international juggernauts like Jokic and Antetokounmpo. However, it&rsquo;s worth noting that teams with American superstars won three-out-of-five of these championships, led by Kawhi, LeBron and Steph, respectively.
The NBA landscape is volatile and this season will be telling. Will an international player win the MVP award for a sixth-straight time? Which team will be standing after the smoke clears at the end? Can Jokic and the Nuggets repeat? Will Giannis and Dame bring another title to Milwaukee? Or will one of the other contenders win it all?
American players are no doubt still some of the best in the sport and are well ahead in terms of numbers. But, particularly at the top, international players have fully closed the gap and have begun building their own disparity.&nbsp;
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

While the U.S. still produces some of the best NBA players in the world, other countries have closed the gap considerably.

USA vs. international basketball: Is the gap closing or opening up?

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, the NBA announced today.
Curry was selected from a group of <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/2023-kareem-abdul-jabbar-finalists-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/2023-kareem-abdul-jabbar-finalists-revealed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1684950559417000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0yR7wPqL_AlyY9Kx217W6h">five finalists</a>&nbsp;for his dedication to pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.
Curry prioritizes uplifting communities by fostering equity and creating access to opportunity. As a co-chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama&rsquo;s &ldquo;When We All Vote&rdquo; initiative, Curry uses his platform to drive voter registration, education and turnout, most recently during the 2022 election season. His role encouraged millions of new voters to participate in the political process and make their voices heard through civic engagement. As part of his ongoing voting-related efforts, Curry participated in the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition&rsquo;s &ldquo;Freedom to Vote&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/representus/status/1470182428547244034?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/representus/status/1470182428547244034?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1684950559417000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2xr1diKYJYDyNGBlgPRMQb">social-media campaign</a>&nbsp;to help advocate for the passage of the&nbsp;Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate. Curry is also committed to raising awareness around issues of community safety, utilizing the Warriors&rsquo; 2023 White House visit to engage directly with President Biden and participate in a White House press briefing with head coach Steve Kerr to publicly address the matter.
Much of Curry&rsquo;s work also focuses on supporting underrepresented groups and reducing barriers to opportunity. In 2022, he graduated from Davidson College and wrote his final thesis on gender equity in sports, an issue that anchors his progressive and innovative ventures across the consumer, entertainment and non-profit spaces. Through UNDERRATED, Curry&rsquo;s lifestyle brand that empowers underrated and underrepresented individuals by opening doors for often-overlooked student-athletes, he creates equity, access and opportunity for basketball and golf athletes around the world to be seen by college recruiters, sports agents and other industry leaders. UNDERRATED has also enabled female athletes to access the same opportunities as their male counterparts, provided scholarships for athletes and offered personal development programming for young people. Among these efforts, Curry committed $6 million in funding to the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s golf team at Howard University, which hadn&rsquo;t been active for 50 years.
Unanimous Media, Curry&rsquo;s multimedia company rooted in the mission to inspire audiences through authentic storytelling, is dedicated to collaborating with underrepresented filmmakers, creators and writers across the entertainment industry.
Through Eat. Learn. Play., Curry&rsquo;s nonprofit co-founded with his wife Ayesha, Curry works to ensure every child in Oakland has access to nutritious food they need to be healthy and thrive, resources to foster a love for learning and reading, and safe places with equitable opportunities to play. With a mission to address and overcome the systemic socio-economic barriers facing underserved communities, Eat. Learn. Play. and its partners continue making a positive impact in the lives of children and families in need. Over the last year, Eat. Learn. Play. has provided over two million meals and 500,000 books to Oakland students, funded over 1,500 teacher-led classroom literacy projects, remodeled four new playspaces complete with multi-sport courts, playgrounds, gardens and murals, and more.
Curry has selected University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice, which investigates, illuminates, and advances the theory and practice of transformational nonviolence to confront and overcome injustice and systemic violence and contribute to the just resolution of communal conflict, to receive a $100,000 contribution from the NBA on his behalf.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m passionate about the work of the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice and its commitment to overcoming injustice and systemic violence through peace,&rdquo; said Curry.&nbsp; &ldquo;As an athlete, I consistently leverage my platform to amplify advocacy and address the pervasive issue of systemic racism. I firmly believe that we must be vocal both on social media and in real life, taking tangible actions to effect real change in our society and for generations to come. Together, with the organization's co-founder and director, Dr. Clarence B. Jones, we have initiated meaningful conversations around social justice with the school's student body, doubled the charity&rsquo;s donations through my foundation Eat. Learn. Play.'s gift matching initiatives, and continued building on its mission in my personal and professional life by holding people accountable and promoting the principles of justice, fairness and equality today, tomorrow and in the future.&rdquo;
The four other finalists &ndash; Memphis Grizzlies forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr., San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams &ndash; will each receive $25,000 donations from the NBA to the following social justice organizations of their choosing: VisionC (Williams), The Girls Opportunity Alliance/The Obama Foundation (Jackson), Children's Bereavement Center of South Texas (Jones) and the Social Change Fund United (Paul).
The winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award was determined by a selection committee comprised of Abdul-Jabbar and notable social justice leaders Director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport Dr. Richard Lapchick, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murgu&iacute;a, Rise Founder and CEO Amanda Nguyen and NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. This year&rsquo;s youth representative and Jr. NBA Court of Leaders member was Leah Harmon.&nbsp;

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion.

Stephen Curry named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

It's December 14, and Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford has already had enough.&nbsp;
Normally a willing interviewee and giving orator, Clifford sets the stage early.&nbsp;
"You don't have to ask questions," he says, before laying down the law for nearly two full minutes.&nbsp;
The heart of the message: The Hornets won't win games &mdash; and certainly nothing of consequence &mdash; if they don't nail the little things. And they'll have no shot if they don't nail the big thing: Defense.
"We are playing no defense, not one guy. There's no bright spot," Clifford says.&nbsp;
"We don't run back on defense. We don't guard the ball. Our pick-and-roll stuff &mdash; all stuff that was good. I think we were as high as 12th or 13th in defense about 10 games ago, and we're right back where we started: Ground Zero, where all we want to be is, "Let's try to outscore the other team." It doesn't work that way. "
Quotes don't really do it justice &mdash; you can watch the whole thing <a href="https://youtu.be/DnWSEJypz5A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; but Clifford was right on all accounts. Well, mostly all accounts.&nbsp;
Through Dec. 14, the Hornets ranked 26th in half-court defense per Cleaning The Glass. Opponents generated 1.083 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a drive against the Hornets, the worst mark in the NBA. Only five teams allowed more points on a per-possession basis than the Hornets when defending pick-and-rolls.
The lone bright spot&nbsp;was&nbsp;the transition defense, ranking fifth in PPP allowed (1.165) and second in transition frequency allowed (13.7% of possessions). Honestly, it made sense for Clifford to be paranoid overseeing any slippage in that area, considering how woeful everything else had been.&nbsp;
Fast forward a few months, and we're singing a different tune.&nbsp;
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The Hornets have a 110.6 defensive rating since the All-Star break, making them, statistically, the stingiest defense in the league right now. And it's not like their numbers are juiced by feasting on awful offenses. Nearly half of their games have come against top-10 offenses.
Here are their splits, per Cleaning The Glass:
<ul>
<li>Against top-10 offenses (7 games): 115.3 DRTG (3.6 lower than league average), 8th in the NBA</li>
<li>Against middle-10 offenses (4 games): 107.6 DRTG (-9.3), 1st</li>
<li>Against bottom-10 offenses (5 games): 106.7 DRTG (-6.5), 5th</li>
</ul>
It's important to emphasize the "statistically" part. A large portion of what's driving Charlotte's success is opponent three-point shooting. Teams have shot just 31.6% from deep against them since the All-Star break, nearly two percentage points lower than the second-ranked Denver Nuggets (33.1%).
Per Second Spectrum's Quantified Shot Quality (qSQ) metric, teams have&nbsp;underperformed&nbsp;their expected field goal percentage from deep against the Hornets by nearly six percentage points (-5.87) &mdash; the largest gap in the league.&nbsp;
That's not to say the Hornets have&nbsp;only&nbsp;gotten lucky. They've been pretty intentional about limiting fruitful three-point attempts; between their off-ball switching, an uptick in space-limiting ball-screen coverages (more on that shortly) and more aggressive closeouts, teams are struggling to win the math battle in a way they weren't earlier this season.&nbsp;
You can see that reflected in the actual shot profile. Before the All-Star break, 36% of the opposition's shots were coming from deep against the Hornets, a mark that ranked No. 21 in the league. Since the break, that's fallen to 32.9% (No. 7).
But even when fruitful threes are given up &mdash; their corner three rate allowed has remain unchanged (9.6%) &mdash; they're at least making those tougher. Their contest rate on corner threes has improved throughout the year, ranking 12th before the break and sixth after it, per Second Spectrum.
The Hornets have asked their bigs &mdash; rookie Mark Williams when available, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-nick-richards-charlotte-hornets-bench-mason-plumlee-steve-clifford-jamaica-basketball-dennis-smith-jr-kelly-oubre-lamelo-ball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quietly-solid reserve Nick Richards</a> &mdash; to play closer to the level against ball-screens. When trending smaller with PJ Washington or Kai Jones (he's been fun!) at the 5, they're more inclined to (late) switch.
If opponents attempt to target a weaker defender in ball-screens or with a clear out, or are able to force an unfavorable switch, the Hornets are willing to send doubles to get their guys out of perceived trouble.&nbsp;
Either gambit puts two on the ball, creating openings on the back end. But this is where you tip your cap to the length, athleticism and overall ground coverage this group has.&nbsp;
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Only two players in the Hornets' rotation are shorter than 6-foot-7 &mdash; Terry Rozier (6-1) and Dennis Smith Jr. (6-2). Rozier has missed the last two games, and has been replaced by Theo Maledon; Maledon keeps the quota at two, while also offering more size (6-4) than Rozier.&nbsp;
Smith has been one of the best guard defenders in the NBA on a per-minute basis. He's physical at the point of attack and combines that ruggedness with some real feistiness at the rim. He isn't afraid to challenge shots. He's currently <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=BLK*GE*25&amp;Height=LT%206-4&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;TeamID=0&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=MIN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of 10 players</a> listed at 6-4 or shorter with 25 blocks to his name; everyone on the list has appeared in more action than Smith.
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On a team that's willing to send a bunch of help, it's a breath of fresh air to have someone like Smith who doesn't need&nbsp;it all that often.&nbsp;
To that point: 47 players have defended at least 200 on-ball picks at the point of attack since the All-Star break. At 0.78 PPP, no player has "allowed" a lower clip than Smith. On the year, Smith ranks second in Dunks And Three's Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (dEPM) metric (+3.6), narrowly edging out OG Anunoby (+3.4) and trailing only Alex Caruso (+4.5).&nbsp;
Beyond him, I've been impressed with the wings. JT Thor and Gordon Hayward have taken turns picking up top-tier elite wing assignments, and have mostly held their own. Hayward's been surprisingly spry chasing dudes around off-ball screens. I enjoyed the work he put in against Luka Doncic over the weekend, even if he got dotted a couple of times.
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Thor has used his rare blend of size and mobility to stick with different types of assignments on the ball. He's also provided us with some fun rim-protection flashes; you always have to be aware of where he is.&nbsp;
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As for the bigs, many will point to rookie Williams' insertion into the starting lineup as a real turning point. There's some credence to that; the Hornets rank third in defensive rating since Feb. 10th, the date marking the rookie's first start.
His size is valuable, particularly on the glass. He's had nice flashes of rim protection during this stretch, averaging 1.1 blocks while contesting <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?CF=G*GE*10&amp;DateFrom=02/10/2023&amp;Height=&amp;PerMode=Per36" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13.1 shots per 36 minutes</a>, a number in the range of guys like Jakob Poeltl (13.4), Kristaps Porzingis (13.0) and Rudy Gobert (12.6).
I'd argue they've gotten more juice out of Richards, whose growing comfort on the perimeter has really popped. He isn't the mountain to dribble around or pass over that Williams is, but the gap in mobility and understanding of angles make him a more effective at-the-level defender. He's gotten better at contesting shots vertically, which gives him a chance to alter shots in light of his limitations as a leaper.
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Neither big is ready to be a true defensive achor right now, but that's okay. Williams is still trying to navigate space at the NBA level, period. Having to defend multiple actions within a possession can get dicey for the young man.
Richards' attempts at being a late leaper &mdash; waiting for the offensive player to leave his feet before challenging the shot, in hopes of avoiding fouls &mdash; can end with the ball going in the basket as Richards' hand is slapping the backboard.
On the positive side, Williams has shown enough to be encouraged by his potential to get there. Richards will likely never be an anchor, but he's made enough strides from last season to feel comfortable with him executing multiple coverages. In 24 or fewer minutes &mdash; and I'd guess he'd be in the 18-ish range on a better team &mdash; that's all that's needed for him to be a valuable role player.&nbsp;
Are the Hornets&nbsp;actually&nbsp;the best defensive team in the NBA? No, they are not. It is, however, worth celebrating the strides they've made as the season has gone on. With the collective size and mobility this roster has, it's also worth getting excited about the foundation that could be built.&nbsp;
(And hey, with enough lottery luck, they could be set in the paint for years to come.)

Nekias Duncan explores what's happening with the Hornets' suddenly-elite defense.

What's the buzz with the Charlotte Hornets' defense?

CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Zach LaVine scored 36 points, DeMar DeRozan had 27 and the Chicago Bulls topped Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers 129-121 on Saturday night.
Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago won for the third time in four games, erasing a 17-point deficit in the second half. Ayo Dosunmu had 13 points, including a key 3-pointer in the third quarter.
Lillard scored 40 points for Portland, and Anfernee Simons had 27. But the Trail Blazers looked a little tired in the second half of their third game in four nights.
Portland had won five of six, including a 124-116 victory at Washington on Friday night after trailing the Wizards 69-51 at halftime.
Lillard and Simons took advantage of the absence of Alex Caruso, Chicago&rsquo;s best perimeter defender. Caruso sprained his right foot during Thursday night&rsquo;s 114-98 victory over Charlotte.
Portland trailed by one with 8:07 left, but Chicago put it away with a 12-0 run. Vucevic made two foul shots to give the Bulls a 117-104 lead with 5:13 remaining.
Portland opened an 80-63 lead on Lillard&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer with 6:38 left in the third quarter. But Dosunmu responded with a 3 on the other end, sparking a 24-4 run for Chicago.
LaVine converted a three-point play, a conventional 3-pointer and two foul shots to give the Bulls an 87-84 lead with 1:47 left. Andre Drummond&rsquo;s foul shot sent Chicago into the fourth with a 92-87 advantage.
Lillard started heating up in the second quarter. The seven-time All-Star went 7 for 7 at the line while scoring 19 points in the period, helping Portland to a 70-59 lead at the break.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and coach Chauncey Billups said his playing career comes in handy this time of year. He was often the subject of trade rumors. &ldquo;You have to learn how to handle that,&rdquo; Billups said, &ldquo;and how to continue to keep playing and not even worry about it.&rdquo; ... F Justise Winslow remained sidelined by a left ankle sprain. He hasn&rsquo;t played since Dec. 21.
Bulls: Coach Billy Donovan said Caruso felt much better Friday morning, but there hadn&rsquo;t been a lot of change since then. &ldquo;Still having some discomfort, but not at the level it was after the game,&rdquo; Donovan said. ... F Patrick Williams played more than 31 minutes after he tweaked his right ankle against the Hornets.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in the opener of a five-game homestand.
Bulls: Host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Zach LaVine scored 36 points, DeMar DeRozan had 27 and the Bulls topped Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers 129-121 on Saturday night.

Zach LaVine scores 36 points as Bulls beat Blazers 129-121

Stop me if you've heard this before: We have another trade in the WNBA.
It's been reported, twice over, by Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports that the Dallas Wings were expected to trade versatile wing Allisha Gray over the offseason. In <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-trade-rumors-news-dallas-wings-forward-allisha-gray-expected-to-be-traded-connecticut-sun-chicago-sky-washington-mystics-atlanta-dream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the latest report</a> from Williams, four teams &mdash; Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Washington Mystics, and Atlanta Dream &mdash; were listed as potential suitors.
It would appear that Gray has finally gotten her wish. Per ESPN's M.A. Voepel, Gray will be traded to the Atlanta Dream. From his feed:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sources tell ESPN that an agreement is in place for guard Allisha Gray to be traded to <a href="https://twitter.com/AtlantaDream?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AtlantaDream</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/DallasWings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DallasWings</a>. Details being finalized. <a href="https://twitter.com/Graytness_15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Graytness_15</a> was 2017 <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WNBA</a> rookie of year out of <a href="https://twitter.com/GamecockWBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GamecockWBB</a> and was 3x3 Olympic gold medalist in 2021.
&mdash; M.A. Voepel (@MAVoepel) <a href="https://twitter.com/MAVoepel/status/1615865386121187328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

UPDATE: On Saturday, the Dream and Wings officially announced the deal, with the Dream sending the third overall pick of this year's draft and a 2025 first round pick to the Wings for Gray.

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As we wait for the details to roll in, I think it's still fair to call this a slam dunk for the Dream. Gray narrowly missed out on an All-Star berth last season, but make no mistake: She's that type of talent.
Gray averaged career-highs in points (13.3) and assists (2.5) while also grabbing 4.8 boards and racking up 1.1 steals per contest. Even those numbers don't do Gray justice. She's an additive on both ends; someone who can spread the floor at an elite level (40.8% from three on 4.8 attempts), attack titled defenses (66.1% FG inside of three feet), and defend multiple positions at a high level.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661321&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=All&amp;PlayerIds=1628277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per PBP Stats</a>, the Wings outscored opponents by 69 points (plus-3.1 net rating) in nearly 1200 minutes with her on the floor last season, playoffs included. They were outscored&nbsp;by 93 points (minus-12.0 NET) in 372 minutes without her. This may shock you, but that was one of the biggest swings in The W last year.&nbsp;
Adding Gray to a Dream roster headlined by Rhyne Howard &mdash; the reigning Rookie of the Year who also made the All-Star team last season &mdash; is truly fun stuff. As noted by <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1615866720585150464?s=20&amp;t=bv5DdMIkDVXTSzPIpp85gg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WNBA.com's Mark Schindler</a>, there may not be a two-way wing tandem in the league like Howard and Gray.&nbsp;
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Both Gray and Howard are dangerous off the ball, with Howard having a little more gravity due to her slippery nature around screens. Gray showed last season that she can handle more ball-screen usage than originally given credit for. Howard got increasingly comfortable getting downhill against defenses geared to stop her.&nbsp;
There shouldn't be much overlap between to the two. Don't be shocked if we see the Dream flow into more option-based reads in the half-court. Picture, for a moment, Howard coming off a pindown on one side and Gray coming off a pick on the other. The lead guard would have the option to feed one of them for a shot or drive, or receive receive a ghost screen from one of them to further strain a defense.
With as much handling that Cheyenne Parker did on the perimeter &mdash; as a high-post hub or a dribble handoff hub above the three-point line &mdash; there's room to invert the offense as well. The Dream led The W on field goal attempts from dribble handoffs (5.8) last season, per InStat tracking.
Gray's comfort pulling against defenders going under handoffs (or leaving a gap when switching), and ability to get downhill makes her a viable piece in a handoff-heavy offense.
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For a Dream team that ranked 11th (out of 12 teams) in offensive rating last season, they could move into a different tier with the Gray acquisition. The fit is&nbsp;that&nbsp;good.
Defensively, Gray is tenacious defending 2s and 3s, with the ability to slide with 1s and body up 4s in a pinch. She navigates screens well, and, more impressively, her motor never seems to die out. Even if she does get hung up on a screen, she can still challenge (and sometimes block) shots from behind.
I fully expect her and Howard to bring chaos to opposing offenses.

Nekias Duncan gives his early thoughts on the Atlanta Dream's acquisition of Allisha Gray.

WNBA trade: Atlanta Dream acquire Allisha Gray from the Dallas Wings

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers for the second time in three days, 101-98 on Wednesday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a good week against Portland &mdash; he hit a winning basket as time expired against the Trail Blazers on Monday, also in Oklahoma City, to highlight a 35-point performance.
It was the third straight win for Oklahoma City. The streak follows a five-game losing skid.
&ldquo;I thought the guys really did a nice job of carrying over the lessons from last game,&rdquo; Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. &ldquo;We knew they (Trail Blazers) were going to be better, and I thought they were. And I thought we were better, too.&rdquo;
Damian Lillard, who entered the game averaging 28.3 points, finished with 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting for the Trail Blazers. Anfernee Simons, who started the night averaging 23.2 points, scored 12 on 4-for-11 shooting.
It was the third time this season the Thunder allowed fewer than 100 points.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a five-man defense," Daigneault said. "We were a five-man defense tonight, and I was very impressed with the execution.&rdquo;
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points.
Lillard missed his first six shots and didn&rsquo;t score until halfway through the second quarter. Still, the Trail Blazers led 54-49 at halftime despite Gilgeous-Alexander's 18 points.
The Thunder led 99-98 in the closing seconds. Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey rebounded his miss, but Lillard tied him up and forced a jump ball that Portland won.
Lillard missed a difficult 18-foot fadeaway with Lu Dort guarding him, and the Thunder rebounded with 0.9 seconds remaining.
&ldquo;It was a tough shot,&rdquo; Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;He probably lost his balance on it and just had to heave something that was too late. He was committed to it at that point.&rdquo;
Dort continues to add to his reputation as a top perimeter defender.
&ldquo;The guy&rsquo;s just a monster defensively,&rdquo; Daigneault said. &ldquo;Lillard&rsquo;s a monster offensively. He&rsquo;s such a good player. It&rsquo;s just another vintage game for him (Dort) and we start to get used to them. He&rsquo;s probably had about five of these this year where he&rsquo;s played against a top-notch opponent and just does his thing.&rdquo;
Dort appreciated the help he got defending Lillard throughout the night.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy,&rdquo; Dort said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great player. I felt like it was another challenge, honestly. We won the last game down to the wire, and I kind of knew he would come out a little more aggressive. I felt like it wasn&rsquo;t just me, it was my teammates. I just felt like we did a good job of being there.&rdquo;
Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws with 0.3 seconds left, and Portland couldn't get a shot off on its final possession.
QUOTABLE
Billups on Portland attempting nine free throws the entire game: &ldquo;That really doesn&rsquo;t happen with us. Nine free throws for the whole game. We attack all night. I guess we didn&rsquo;t get fouled tonight.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: C Jusuf Nurkic returned after missing Monday&rsquo;s game with right calf soreness. ... Lillard was issued a technical in the third quarter. He also was called for one on Monday against the Thunder. ... F Justice Winslow left the game with a left ankle sprain in the third quarter and did not return.
Thunder: Giddey returned after missing two games due to illness. ... F/C Jeremiah Robinson-Earl sat out with a sprained right ankle. ... Oklahoma City improved to 9-7 at home this season. ... Jalen Williams scored 15 points and Lu Dort added 14 for the Thunder.
&nbsp;

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 101-98.

Gilgeous-Alexander scores 27 as Thunder top Portland again

Nekias Duncan takes an early look at this year's NBA award races with an in-depth look at who leads the pack through mid-December.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award front-runners: MVP, DPOY, ROY, more

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Jerami Grant scored 27 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the absence of star guard Damian Lillard to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 106-95 on Thursday night.
Anfernee Simmons hit five 3s and scored 23 points for Portland, which improved to 6-1 on the road. Former Pelican Josh Hart added 17 points for the Blazers.
The Blazers, who won at Charlotte a night earlier, rested Lillard, who'd recently missed four games with a right calf strain.
But Portland wound up not needing him to improve to 4-1 on its six-game trip and get the best of former Blazers guard CJ McCollum.
Zion Williamson scored 29 points and Trey Murphy III added 16 for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram scored 14 but fouled out with 3:32 to go. McCollum finished with 13 points but missed 11 of 17 shots and went 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
New Orleans, normally among the NBA's highest-scoring teams in the paint, shot just 41.8% (33 of 79) and was outscored inside, 46-36.
The Blazers looked a step quicker, rebounding 11 of their own misses and scoring 18 second-chance points.
Portland also converted 17 Pelicans turnovers into 21 points while committing only nine turnovers themselves.
Portland took its first double-digit lead with an 11-2, fourth-quarter run that included a 3 by Justise Winslow and a 15-foot jumper by Grant. Little added a dunk and a layup as he was fouled after a Portland offensive rebound. His free throw made it 89-79. New Orleans struggled to close the gap after that.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Jusuf Nurkic was in uniform but was kept on the bench, missing his second straight game with right adductor soreness. ... Shaedon Sharpe, who scored 17 points in a reserve role a night earlier in Charlotte, was held out with a sprained finger on his right hand.
Pelicans: Larry Nance Jr. returned from a left knee hyperextension. He played 23 minutes and had six rebounds but missed both of his shots and did not score ... Pelicans had scored at least 100 points in their previous 36 games dating back to last season. ... Williamson was limited to just 12 minutes on the court in the first half, when he scored 12 of his points but also committed three fouls. ... Herb Jones scored 10 points. ... New Orleans fell to 2-2 at home.
UNHAPPY LILLARD
Portland coach Chauncey Billups said he understood why Lillard wasn't pleased about being scratched from the lineup, but that players, coaches and team doctors all &ldquo;have to trust each other,&rdquo; adding that the club's medical team knows &ldquo;a lot more about this than I do, than Dame does.&rdquo;
Although Lillard told Billups he &ldquo;felt great,&rdquo; the Blazers' medical staff decided it wasn't wise for Lillard, who scored 26 points in the win over the Hornets, to play a third game in four nights after he'd recently missed four games with a right calf strain. Lillard wanted to play for the first time against McCollum, who was his teammate in Portland for eight years before being traded to New Orleans last February.
&ldquo;It's just a medical decision &mdash; coming back from a soft tissue injury is always tough,&rdquo; Billups said after Lillard had been ruled out. &ldquo;He's a little down about it, but it is what it is. We've got to keep our guys safe.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At Dallas on Saturday.
Pelicans: Host Houston on Saturday.

Jerami Grant scored 27 points and the Trail Blazers overcame the absence of star guard Damian Lillard.

Grant, Blazers win again on the road, 106-95 over Pelicans

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Adam Miller scored 18 points, KJ Williams had 14 rebounds to go with 13 points and LSU opened its season with a victory on Wednesday night to give Matt McMahon a 74-63 win in his Tigers coaching debut.
Justice Hill added 13 points and seven assists for the Tigers.
McMahon came over from Murray State, bringing players Hill, Williams, and Trae Hannibal with him, and lured back Miller, Mwani Wilkinson and Justice Williams &mdash; who had entered the transfer portal &mdash; as he rebuilt a roster that at one point after he was hired had no scholarship players.
New Kansas City coach Marvin Menzies is still looking for his first win with the Roos (0-2) after they lost to Division II Lincoln (Mo.) in their opener.
Senior guard Shemarri Allen scored 19 points and UIC transfer RayQuawndis Mitchell added 15 points to lead Kansas City, which has three transfers and 11 incoming freshmen on its roster. The Roos were 4 of 25 from the arc.
Wilkinson hit a 3-pointer to open the game and LSU led the rest of the way, though didn&rsquo;t have a double-digit lead until early in the second half after a Miller 3-pointer. A 7-0 spurt got the Roos back within nine midway through the half and they were within five with 5 1/2 minutes to go. But Derek Fountain made a pair of free throws and added a dunk and Hill added two more free throws and a bucket to secure the win.

Adam Miller scored 18 points, KJ Williams had 14 rebounds to go with 13 points and LSU opened its season with a victory over KC.

McMahon gets 74-63 win in his LSU coaching debut

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; The Portland Trail Blazers had 1 second left and a game-winning shot opportunity. The problem was their two biggest game-winning-shot-makers were out with injuries.
In a weird way, coach Chauncey Billups said he believes that worked in his team's favor.
Jerami Grant hit a 13-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer after a great in-bounds pass from Justise Winslow to lift the short-handed Trail Blazers over the Phoenix Suns 108-106 on Friday night.
&ldquo;When you're missing guys like (Damian Lillard) and (Anfernee Simons), you become less predictable,&rdquo; Billups said. &ldquo;You never know where the ball is going and that's tough to guard.&rdquo;
Grant's bucket capped a season-high 30 points. The 6-foot-8 forward shot 10 of 17 from the field and added five assists.
The Blazers were down to the last second when Winslow lofted a high in-bounds pass to Grant, who grabbed the ball and tossed a high-arching 13-foot jumper in the air. It rattled through the net and after a review the officials confirmed it left his hands in time. It was Winslow's ninth assist of the night.
&ldquo;We've got a connection,&rdquo; Grant said. &rdquo;Been knowing him for long time. I know how he plays and he knows how I play."
Grant's clutch shot capped a back-and-forth final minute.
Devin Booker made a 3-pointer to put the Suns ahead 106-104 with about 30 seconds left, just moments after Jusuf Nurkic sank his own 3 to put the Blazers up 104-103.
Nurkic &mdash; who had 14 points and eight rebounds &mdash; tied the game at 106-all with his putback after an offensive rebound with 23 seconds left. The Suns looked like they would have the final possession of regulation but Mikal Bridges was called for traveling. That gave the Blazers enough time to set up their winning play.
Suns coach Monty Williams thought his team defended the Blazers' final play well.
&ldquo;He hit a tough shot,&rdquo; Williams said.
Portland led for most of the night and built a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter, but settled for an 86-80 advantage heading into the fourth.
That's about the time the cold-shooting Suns finally started hitting some shots. Damion Lee made three 3-pointers in the fourth, including one from the corner with 4:15 left that tied the score at 97.
Portland is now tied with Phoenix atop the Western Conference at 6-2. The Suns' two losses both came against the Blazers.
Booker led the Suns with 25 points, while Deandre Ayton added 24 points and eight rebounds. Booker was double-teamed on the final possession and said he didn't regret throwing the ball to Bridges, even though he was called for the travel.
&ldquo;I am going to give it to him every time," Booker said. &ldquo;Whoever is open on this team, that is what it comes down to, trusting your teammates and every possession I am going to do that.&rdquo;
The Blazers won despite missing Lillard and Simons, who have combined to average 53 points per game this season.
The Suns had their own injury issues. They were missing both of their backup point guards &mdash; Cam Payne and Duane Washington Jr. &mdash; so when All-Star Chris Paul was on the bench it was a challenge to get good shots.
The Trail Blazers took advantage of the Suns' sloppy second unit on the way to a 59-49 halftime lead. Grant led the Blazers with 18 points while Ayton also had 18 points for the Suns before the break.
JOHNSON OUT
Suns forward Cam Johnson left the game in the first quarter when he injured his right knee.
Johnson scored a season-high 29 points in Tuesday's win over the Timberwolves. He appeared to suffer the injury on Friday when the Suns were in transition. Johnson planted to run down the court, but landed awkwardly and started limping. He came out of the game a few plays later.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Lillard missed his third straight game.
Suns: G Cameron Payne (left foot soreness), G Duane Washington (not with team) and F Ish Wainright (back) were not available to play. ... Had 11 turnovers in the first half. ... Hosted their 32nd consecutive sellout crowd.

Jerami Grant hit a 13-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer to lift the short-handed Trail Blazers over the Phoenix Suns 108-106.

Grant hits jumper at buzzer, Trail Blazers top Suns 108-106

Nekias Duncan thoroughly breaks down all five teams in the Northwest Division ahead of the 2022-23 season.

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Northwest Division

Sue Bird just knows how to win. That&rsquo;s what she does. It&rsquo;s what she has always done. Few in sports can rival the success the point guard has had in women&rsquo;s basketball. Bill Russell and Serena Williams come to mind.
Still, despite decades of success the G-O-A-T narrative is relatively new.
The Greatest Of All Time chatter seemed to pick up traction about the time the 5-foot-8 unselfish floor general stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight a few years ago.
&ldquo;Sue to me in some ways is an example, or is an illustration of how the league has grown. she came in when it was just a few years old and there was no social media then and Sue was a much more private person then,&rdquo; Storm owner Ginny Gilder said. &ldquo;Sue really has found her voice in the last five or six years, and the league has found its voice.&rdquo;
Bird&rsquo;s career came to an end Tuesday night with the Seattle Storm&rsquo;s 97-92 home loss to Las Vegas in Game 4 of the semifinal series. The 41-year-old Bird had eight points and eight assists.
Bird has been more outspoken off the court on various issues, including social justice, LGBTQ issues and women&rsquo;s rights over the last few years since she started dating her fiancee, soccer great Megan Rapinoe.
&ldquo;I felt like I was open. Everyone in my life knew. I just hadn&rsquo;t had this conversation with a reporter,&rdquo; Bird told The Associated Press in 2018 about her sexuality. &ldquo;I understand now by saying it publicly you can have an impact. That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re talking about right now.&rdquo;
People have a history of listening to what champions have to say &mdash; Russell won 11 NBA titles and Williams has 23 grand slam tennis titles &mdash; particularly when they win the right way.
Bird captured two college national titles at UConn, four WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm and five Olympic gold medals with the U.S. That doesn&rsquo;t include the countless titles she won while playing overseas in the Russian league during WNBA offseasons or the five FIBA World Cup championships she won.
One of the most beloved players in women&rsquo;s basketball, the guard with the nerdy sense of humor doesn&rsquo;t have the public swagger of her friend and fellow basketball superstar Diana Taurasi.
Bird also doesn&rsquo;t have an MVP trophy, though her value has never been questioned. Her greatness comes from putting teammates in position to do great things. The Storm saw it and they drafted her No. 1 in 2002, and she has spent her entire WNBA career in Seattle.
Bird is part a rare club; a group of professional basketball players to play 20-plus years with the same organization, including Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.
&ldquo;The bond she has with Seattle, that is a very special thing,&rdquo; said Dan Hughes, who coached Bird for a couple of seasons as well as on the Olympic team in 2021. &ldquo;In a major league city that has football, had basketball, has baseball has all those kind of sports. has a university close, there&rsquo;s nothing quite like what she&rsquo;s created.
&ldquo;In that community, there are people that all have their Sue Bird story. People identify with her in Seattle and that doesn&rsquo;t happen very often. When it does it&rsquo;s pretty special.&rdquo;
Like other aging champions in Serena, who indicated she is done with competitive tennis, and Allyson Felix, the track star who also retired this year, Bird didn&rsquo;t let her career end without putting up a fight.
She hit a 3-pointer in Game 3 that gave Seattle the lead with 0.8 seconds left only to see Las Vegas hit a shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime where the Aces pulled away for the win.
Bird had a rough finale to her career scoring just eight points on 3 of 8 shooting.
The loss ended a ride she has shared with Taurasi, also a UConn alum.
&ldquo;Looking back on it, it&rsquo;s been incredible to be in a job with your best friend for 20 years,&rdquo; Taurasi said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get to do that, most people don&rsquo;t get to do that in any job, let alone basketball. So, it&rsquo;s been an incredible journey.&rdquo;
One that has made Bird &mdash; the WNBA&rsquo;s career assists leader &mdash; one of the most popular and respected players to ever play in the league.
After Bird announced this would be her final season, fans flocked to watch her play one last time. Storm road games routinely drew the largest crowds of the season for the host team, including 14,162 who came to see Bird&rsquo;s final game in Phoenix against Taurasi.
It&rsquo;s an admiration that carries over to her peers.
&ldquo;When you play with her and are in her presence as a teammate, you have an appreciation of so much for what she brings,&rdquo; said Jen Rizzotti, who coached her on the 2021 Olympic team. &ldquo;She is so well respected, the players in the league talk so highly about her and look up to her.
And of course, the way Bird carries herself would make any parent proud.
&ldquo;To see what she&rsquo;s accomplished, I can&rsquo;t say enough about her,&rdquo; said Bird&rsquo;s mother, Nancy. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing, she&rsquo;s always loved the sport.&rdquo;
Bird has managed to literally share her love of the game with others.
&ldquo;She&rsquo; treated people the right way and led the right way,&rdquo; Rizzotti said. Bird &ldquo;has been so unselfish in a way that made other players look really good, it&rsquo;s hard for anyone to dislike her.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writer Tim Booth contributed to this report.

Sue Bird’s career came to an end Tuesday night with Seattle’s 97-92 home loss to Las Vegas in Game 4 of the semifinal series.

Appreciation: Sue Bird gives basketball lasting assist

Reaction from the basketball world and beyond <a href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-entertainment-sports-48db4e1f37deb6e6574263c9f42dee46">on the death of NBA great and 11-time champion Bill Russell</a>:
___
&ldquo;Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports. The countless accolades that he earned for his storied career with the Boston Celtics &mdash; including a record 11 championships and five MVP awards &mdash; only begin to tell the story of Bill&rsquo;s immense impact on our league and broader society." &mdash; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
___
&ldquo;Today, we lost a giant. As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher &mdash; both as a player and as a person.&rdquo; &mdash; President <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1553817774300053509?s=20&amp;t=-ZnXgJkB0TtY0I5k52Vn_Q">Barack Obama</a> said on Twitter.
___
&ldquo;Rest in peace Bill Russell you were everything we all aspired to be, your winning spirit will live forever my friend. Thank you for your words of wisdom.&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1553797801187938304?s=20&amp;t=-ZnXgJkB0TtY0I5k52Vn_Q">Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas</a> said on Twitter.
___
&ldquo;RIP Bill Russell, a giant in every sense of the word - athletic, civil rights, altruistic - the whole lot RIP champ!&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/RealBillRussell/status/1553790050839588865">Tennis great Martina Navratilova</a> said on Twitter.
___
&ldquo;To be the greatest champion in your sport, to revolutionize the way the game is played, and to be a societal leader all at once seems unthinkable, but that is who Bill Russell was. Bill was a champion unlike any other in the history of team sports &mdash; an 11-time NBA champion, including winning eight consecutive titles, a five-time MVP, an Olympic Gold Medalist and the NBA&rsquo;s first Black head coach.&rdquo; &mdash; the Boston Celtics said in a statement.
___
&ldquo;He was one of the first athletes on the front line fighting for social justice, equity, equality, and civil rights. That&rsquo;s why I admired and loved him so much. Over the course of our friendship, he always reminded me about making things better in the Black community.&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/1553808490660933633?s=20&amp;t=-ZnXgJkB0TtY0I5k52Vn_Q">Hall of Famer Magic Johnson</a> tweeted.
___
&ldquo;Thanku for being a trailblazer, pioneer Thanku for setting the bar, for ur kind words of wisdom, Thanku for that great laugh u had. I can go on all day about what u meant to me. Today is a sad day for the NBA family u will be forever missed #6&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/paulpierce34/status/1553799541064962049?s=20&amp;t=YD6E91QezSMH92LMKm2k3g">Celtics great Paul Pierce</a> said on Twitter.
___
&ldquo;Bill Russell was a pioneer &mdash; as a player, as a champion, as the NBA's first Black head coach and as an activist. He paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me. The world has lost a legend ... may he rest in peace.&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/hornets/status/1553824118637821955">Hall of Famer and Charlotte Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan said in a statement</a>.
___
&ldquo;Bill Russell was bigger than basketball, even though he was one of the greatest players of all times. He stood for Civil and human rights before it was trendy, in fact when he did it, it was risky! A true giant on and off the court, May he Rest In Peace and Power!&rdquo; &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRevAl/status/1553802498124775425">Reverend Al Sharpton</a> said on Twitter.
___
"R.I.P Bill Russell. You allowed me to be in the position I am in today and you changed not only the league but the world. Forever 6." &mdash; Celtics player <a href="https://twitter.com/Grant2Will/status/1553792104761102336?s=20&amp;t=-ZnXgJkB0TtY0I5k52Vn_Q">Grant Williams</a> said on Twitter.

Reaction from the basketball world and beyond on the death of NBA great and 11-time champion Bill Russell.

NBA players react, pay tribute to Hall of Famer Bill Russell

NBA Summer League is a showcase for some of the top young talent in basketball. It also gives those on the fringes of the league a chance to break out, and reveal inspirational journeys of perseverance in the process.
Boston Celtics swingman Matt Ryan canned a game-winner on Monday to cap a performance I'll highlight in this roundup. But perhaps the best part came in his postgame interview:
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🎥: <a href="https://twitter.com/ASherrodblakely?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ASherrodblakely</a> asked Matt Ryan about how it feels to see his hard work starting to pay off. He got choked up a bit while reflecting on the fact that a year ago he was driving for Door Dash and know he&rsquo;s on a Celtics roster <a href="https://t.co/GBRk9ya2rQ">pic.twitter.com/GBRk9ya2rQ</a>
&mdash; 𝕂𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕚 𝔸. 𝕃𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕤 (@KwaniALunis) <a href="https://twitter.com/KwaniALunis/status/1546689627628589057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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For Ryan and dozens of professional hopefuls, Summer League can help alter the course of their careers and lives. Performances like these are worth saluting.
Here's who stood out from what I saw on Monday:&nbsp;
STUDS
Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Trey Murphy dropped a 30-piece in the <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> win!<a href="https://twitter.com/treymurphy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@treymurphy</a> 30 PTS (10-18 FGM) | 6 REB <a href="https://t.co/QesZWbUZM0">pic.twitter.com/QesZWbUZM0</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1546649262146129922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
Box score stats: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 10/18 FG, 3/6 3PT
Murphy put on a full scoring display to open the afternoon. The second-year forward impressed me particularly with how he reached the rim off the dribble, changing speeds and using ball-screens to get downhill. He's a lot bigger and stronger than I've given him credit for; he finished hard through contact multiple times.
Of course, Murphy also knocked down a few long three-pointers, which has been his calling card since entering the league. He's been one of the most impressive scorers at Summer League to date, and hopefully it helps Murphy carve his niche in a deep Pelicans rotation.
Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Tari Eason dropped BUCKETS for the <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoustonRockets</a> in their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> win!<a href="https://twitter.com/TAR13ASON?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAR13ASON</a>: 22 PTS, 11 REB, 2 STL, 2 BLK <a href="https://t.co/V9cMKqdDd2">pic.twitter.com/V9cMKqdDd2</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1546681252379611137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box score stats: 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 9/16 FG, 2/3 3PT
If you want to call Eason the rookie MVP of the summer, I'd hear you out. The No. 17 overall pick seems to get better every game, and against the San Antonio Spurs, Eason unleashed his most prolific two-way performance.
His defense remains top-notch for a young player. Eason punctuated his effort with an awesome defensive rotation and block in the third quarter. Then on offense, he was scoring buckets as a rolling lob threat, an off-dribble driver and a corner shooter. I've reached the stage with Eason where I'm constantly reminding myself not to overreact about his talent.
Matt Ryan, Boston Celtics
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MATT RYAN! BALL GAME! <a href="https://t.co/y97v9OGUBK">pic.twitter.com/y97v9OGUBK</a>
&mdash; Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/taylorcsnow/status/1546679203650732034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
Box score stats: 23 points, 2 steals, 7/12 FG, 6/11 3PT
Ryan was the hero in Boston's 111-109 win over Milwaukee thanks to his buzzer-beating three-pointer that included a twisted ankle in the process. But he caught fire throughout the contest. Ryan is excellent at relocating, and specifically earned some open looks when he capitalized on the chaos of an offensive rebound or loose ball.
Ryan played a grand total of five minutes with Boston last season after coming from the Grant Rapids Gold. With so many open roster spots, the Celtics could easily bring him back or sign him to a two-way contract.
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Milwaukee Bucks
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WHAT IS THIS SANDRO MAMUKELASHVILI <a href="https://t.co/BqPLOUyS1C">pic.twitter.com/BqPLOUyS1C</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1546676214890364929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box score stats: 28 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 9/19 FG, 3/5 3PT
Though the Bucks lost their matchup against Boston, they had two outstanding individual performances. The first came from Mamukelashvili, the No. 54 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Mamukelashvili only had a pair of assists, but I thought they were two signifcant reads: a corner dart to an open MarJon Beauchamp three-pointer, and a dump-off from a drive to AJ Green. They complemented a versatile scoring performance, and he went toe-to-toe with Boston's Mfiondu Kabengele in a great battle that might have ended with the above posterization.
I liked some of Mamukelashvili's defensive moments too. He stuck to Juhann Begarin, an athletic driving wing, and picked up 2 blocks. It was a pretty great all-around effort for a player who could give Milwaukee some quality frontcourt depth.
Lindell Wigginton, Milwaukee Bucks
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Keeping Up With The Canadians 🇨🇦 Lindell Wigginton | vs. Boston 24 POINTS 3 THREE POINTERS 5 REBOUNDS 5 ASSISTS<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Bucks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Bucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/LZM7jXZ1zA">pic.twitter.com/LZM7jXZ1zA</a>
&mdash; NBA Canada (@NBACanada) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBACanada/status/1546849359483924482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box score stats: 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 8/13 FG, 3/7 3PT
Wigginton was throwing dimes all over the court. His 6 turnovers don't do Wigginton justice, as 2 of those were great passes that Wigginton's teammates simply mishandled. Wigginton assisted Mamukelashvili on three of his makes and also pushed the Bucks forward on fast breaks.
As a scorer, the second-year guard used ball-screens to find a lane or force a switch, which he punished twice with pull-up twos. Defenders sometimes went under screens, and Wigginton responded by drilling some high-arcing threes. He balanced creativity with poise as a lead guard.
Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
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I could watch Chet Holmgren block shots all day long. <a href="https://t.co/jnXHPjfffH">pic.twitter.com/jnXHPjfffH</a>
&mdash; Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1546672039179833344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box score stats: 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 7/10 FG, 2/4 3PT
As the above Tweet implies, we will be lucky to see the No. 2 pick swatting shots for a long, long time. Holmgren's incredible instincts and timing aren't any new revelation, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate them over and over again.
Orlando did not defend Holmgren as a roller particularly well in this one, and he found some easy finishes as a result. He also hit the defense with a sweet step-back three and positions himself well for dump-offs from passers like Josh Giddey. The only area I'd nitpick is that he sometimes tried to do too much as a ball-handler and coughed up some turnovers. But why not try to get creative in this setting?
Other notable performers: Daishen Nix (Rockets), Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets), Josh Christopher (Rockets), Malaki Branham (Spurs), MarJon Beauchamp (Bucks), Mfiondu Kabengele (Celtics), Justin James (Magic), AJ Lawson (Mavericks), Quentin Grimes (Knicks), Jabari Walker (Trail Blazers)
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DUDS
Sharife Cooper, Atlanta Hawks
Box score stats: 0 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers, 0/8 FG
It's been a really rough week for Cooper as an offensive player. He's made 1 of his 14 field goal attempts through two games, and there isn't much to be optimistic about with his scoring flashes. Cooper really struggled to create easy looks at the rim. There were times where he'd even beat his defender on a drive and have them pinned on his hip, but he lacked the vertical explosion and strength to turn the advantages into quality chances. His perimeter shot looked inconsistent and timid. Hopefully, Cooper can turn things around, because we've seen so much more from him in the past year.
Leandro Bolmaro, Utah Jazz
Box score stats: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 3/12 FG, 0/2 3PT
The Jazz eked out a win over the Dallas Mavericks despite some ghastly individual shooting nights. Bolmaro was determined to attack the Mavs off the dribble. The aggression was great, but it often came with a low-quality shot because he could not beat a defender, or he would drive into a crowd. I do want to credit Dallas because the team collectively played great defense against Bolmaro. The former Minnesota T-Wolves swingman also missed some must-have layups that I'm not concerned about in the future.
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Caleb Houstan, Orlando Magic
Box score stats: 4 points, 1 steal, 1 block, 2/10 FG, 0/6 3PT
This is another dud performance that I wouldn't be concerned about long-term. Houstan spaced the floor extremely well, was active as a cutter and even displayed some confidence attacking closeouts. He just missed shots that he should make. Now, if you're a skeptic of Houstan as a shooter based on his time at Michigan, then maybe this outing means more to you. I'm a firm believer in Houstan being one of the more talented pure movement threats in this draft class, so an off night isn't a harbinger for me.
Tre Mann, Oklahoma City Thunder
Box score stats: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3/14 FG, 1/6 3PT
In a similar vein, Mann has proven from his flashes in the regular season that he's going to be an NBA-caliber scorer. Though Mann's Monday effort won't mean much in the long run, I felt he made some odd decisions on when to attack vs. settle/pass.
Sometimes ,Mann would try and make too much happen off the bounce against a stout Magic defense. On one other play, he had what appeared to be an easy rim attack, but hesitated and shot a three that ended up letting a defender back in the picture to contest. These are probably microscopic miscues, but I definitely want to monitor how Mann works alongside primary playmakers in Giddey and Jalen Williams.

Trey Murphy III poured in 30 points to lead Monday's top performances at NBA Summer League on Day 5.

10 studs and duds from Day 5 of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas

Sure, his Portland Trail Blazers may be headed to the NBA Draft Lottery for the first time in eight years. And yes, along with Norman Powell and Robert Covington, CJ McCollum was traded away.
But the best days are ahead in Portland. That is, if you&rsquo;re to take Damian Lillard&rsquo;s word for it.
According to the 31-year-old superstar, the "best is yet to come" for both him and the Blazers franchise, and a championship remains the goal.
It may appear unlikely for the lottery-bound Blazers, but in a recent sitdown <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/damian-lillard-talks-injury-rehab-trying-to-win-title-with-blazers-the-best-days-for-me-have-yet-to-come-161033594.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports</a>, Lillard&rsquo;s message was clear: Be afraid &mdash; of him and Portland, that is.
&ldquo;It's the first time that I can say I was pain-free since maybe 2016, 2017,&rdquo; Lillard <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/damian-lillard-talks-injury-rehab-trying-to-win-title-with-blazers-the-best-days-for-me-have-yet-to-come-161033594.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed during his sitdown with Yahoo</a>.
&ldquo;I think that's when I first started having issues. That was the last time I was probably moving freely, easily and just flowing the way I am right now.&rdquo;
Despite living with and playing through the pain between the 2018 and 2021 seasons, Lillard has both been named an All-Star and to the All-NBA First and Second Teams. And although he wasn&rsquo;t able to fully participate with his Blazers this year, he is looking forward to the challenge of continuing to lead the franchise, especially with the seldom-seen financial flexibility they&rsquo;re expected to have after some midseason moves &mdash; the most notable of which saw McCollum traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.
&ldquo;We've positioned ourselves to do something that we haven't been able to do since I've been here, which is we&rsquo;ve opened up money,&rdquo; Lillard <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/damian-lillard-talks-injury-rehab-trying-to-win-title-with-blazers-the-best-days-for-me-have-yet-to-come-161033594.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&ldquo;We got picks, we got a $22 million trade exception, we got a $6 million trade exception, we got the full Mid-Level (Exception), we got the Bi-Annual (Exception). We have an opportunity, and we got flexibility.&rdquo;
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Still, though, Lillard realizes that nothing is guaranteed, and that the team has to be able to sell both him and its vision to players. Ultimately, that will be Portland's challenge this summer. But the silver lining in Dame&rsquo;s extended absence has been the opportunity it&rsquo;s afforded to some of the team&rsquo;s lesser-known (and inexperienced) players to get repetitions &mdash; and, for some, prove that they belong in the NBA.
Anfernee Simons, for example, is stepping up admirably. In 57 games (30 starts), the 22-year-old has turned in career-high numbers nearly across the board: 17.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 29.5 minutes per game. He&rsquo;s also connected on 44.3% of his field goals, including 40.5% from three-point territory.
Aside from Simons, head coach Chauncey Billups has found value in the likes of Drew Eubanks, Trendon Watford, Brandon Williams and CJ Elleby. They haven&rsquo;t necessarily led Portland to as many wins as the team would have liked, but each has shown flashes of potential and given Billups productive minutes. The hope is that they will improve to the point where they can join Josh Hart, Justise Winslow, Jusuf Nurkic and, of course, Lillard as members of the rotation.
That being said, Lillard isn't naive to the fact that whatever happens in Portland will start and end with him. And though he would be considered &ldquo;older&rdquo; on the youth spectrum, he draws optimism from many of his elders who are still playing at a high level. Think about DeMar DeRozan (32), Kevin Durant (33), Steph Curry (34), Chris Paul (36) and LeBron James (37), just to name a few.
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&ldquo;It seems like after I announced that I was having surgery, people were like, &lsquo;Oh, he's 31 and having this done.&rsquo; Man, 31 is not old,&rdquo; Lillard <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/damian-lillard-talks-injury-rehab-trying-to-win-title-with-blazers-the-best-days-for-me-have-yet-to-come-161033594.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&ldquo;We have guys around the league older than me that are still playing at a high level... My game will age well, and I don't have a history of injuries,&rdquo; Dame defiantly added, passively pointing out the fact that, during his first seven seasons, he appeared in 95.5% of his career games.
Sure, the last three seasons have been a different story &mdash; he will have missed 66 games in all &mdash; but he&rsquo;s confident that the abdominal issue that&rsquo;s hampered him will become a distant memory.
&ldquo;The [injury] that I just had is not a bad injury to have,&rdquo; Lillard said.
&ldquo;I'm going to come back and be fine... Like I said, my best is yet to come.&rdquo;
Citing winning the league MVP and a championship as his priorities <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/damian-lillard-talks-injury-rehab-trying-to-win-title-with-blazers-the-best-days-for-me-have-yet-to-come-161033594.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during the interview</a>, the rest of the NBA should certainly wonder just how much better Damian Lillard could be.
If he could even return as the same player we last saw, much less an improved version of himself, with a good move or two, there&rsquo;s plenty of reason to believe that Portland can become a contender once again &mdash; and in short order.
If you&rsquo;re to take Lillard&rsquo;s word for it, it&rsquo;ll be sooner rather than later.
For the 31-year-old superstar, eager to put the 2021-22 campaign behind him, next season simply can&rsquo;t come soon enough.
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Moke Hamilton reacts to Damian Lillard's latest interview with Yahoo and how the Blazers superstar remains faithful in the organization.

Pain-free Damian Lillard adamant best days are ahead for him, Blazers

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant scored 38 points, Seth Curry returned to the lineup with seven 3-pointers in his best game as a Net, and Brooklyn rallied to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-123 on Friday night.
Curry finished with 27 points, his most since coming from Philadelphia last month in the trade headlined by James Harden and Ben Simmons. Curry had missed the previous three games with left ankle soreness.
Andre Drummond and Bruce Brown each added 17 points for the Nets. They bounced back from their loss at the buzzer to Dallas on Wednesday and won for the fifth time in six games.
Josh Hart scored 25 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by 18 early in the second half but couldn't hold on and lost their third straight. Brandon Williams added 24 points.
Durant shot 11 for 15 from the field and added six rebounds and six assists, but the decisive stretch came when he was on the bench to begin the fourth quarter. The Nets opened with a 10-0 spurt, featuring two 3-pointers by Curry, to turn a tie game into a 111-101 lead.
Portland would get it down to three late but Curry finished it off with two free throws the final time.
Playing again without Kyrie Irving at home, the Nets allowed the Blazers to make nine of first 12 shots, but recovered for a 34-33 lead after one behind 13 points from Durant. Portland then shot 18 for 25 (72%) in a 42-point second quarter. Ben McLemore's 3-pointer made it 75-62 at the break.
Portland extended the lead to 82-64 with a good start to the third. The Nets charged back by hitting 13 of 18 shots in the third, outscoring the Blazers 39-26 to even it at 101 heading to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Justise Winslow played in his second straight game since returning from a sore right Achilles tendon. Coach Chauncey Billups said he came through Wednesday's game well and had a good workout Thursday.
Nets: Durant was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for directing obscene language toward a fan with 9.4 seconds left in the first half of the loss to Dallas on Wednesday. ... The Nets had lost six straight home meetings, though one was a designated home game played at Walt Disney World during the restart in 2020
FORGETTING FEBRUARY
Coach Steve Nash said he couldn't recall whether he noticed if Simmons, who remains out with a back injury, appeared to have any physical issues after the Nets acquired him from Philadelphia on Feb. 10.
&ldquo;What was that, a month ago?&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember if he was having issues or if it flared up.&rdquo;
Simmons' back began bothering him after he tried to rebuild his conditioning after the trade and has done nothing more than individual workouts. Nash revealed that the guard had an MRI he believed was a couple weeks ago and how no update on how Simmons felt after getting an epidural earlier this week.
STANDINGS SITUATION
Toronto went into play Friday tied with Cleveland for sixth place in the East. If the Raptors avoid seventh and the play-in, the Nets wouldn't have to worry about possibly playing there without Irving, who can't travel to Canada because he is unvaccinated.
&ldquo;Not that I&rsquo;m oblivious to all that, but I&rsquo;m not like refreshing my screen to find out what the standings are,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re focusing on ourselves, trying to improve, trying to put ourselves in a position where we&rsquo;ll be ready for that game no matter who we play.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At Indiana on Sunday.
Nets: Host Utah on Monday night.

Kevin Durant scored 38 points, Seth Curry hit seven 3-pointers and the Brooklyn Nets rallied to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-123.

Durant, Curry lead Nets back to beat Trail Blazers 128-123

We made it through the first day of March Madness! Sixteen teams saw their dreams shatter while the other 16 teams advanced to the Round of 32. Let&rsquo;s see who remains&hellip;
UPSET ALERT&nbsp;
East Region: 15-seed Saint Peter&rsquo;s defeats 2-seed Kentucky 85-79 in overtime
Starting with the true bracket buster of day 1, the Saint Peter&rsquo;s Peacocks upset the Kentucky Wildcats. Oscar Tshiebwe gave everything he had (as expected) with a 30-point, 16-rebound performance, but Kentucky&rsquo;s perimeter players (TyTy Washington, Kellen Grady and Sahvir Wheeler) had trouble generating offense. The Peacocks shined behind Daryl Banks III&rsquo;s 27 points and Doug Edert&rsquo;s 20 points off the bench. The game remained tight the whole way through, staying within six points, and the game was tied at the end of regulation. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion pulled away with clutch plays and defensive stops that showed they weren&rsquo;t afraid of the highly decorated program. Saint Peter&rsquo;s will be taking on the 7-seed Murray State on Saturday. (For more on this upset, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out Bryan Fonseca's article</a>).
Midwest Region: 12-seed Richmond defeats 5-seed Iowa 67-63
The annual bracket experts are well aware that the 12-5 matchup is always on upset watch, but since Iowa had a strong run for a Big Ten Tournament championship and one of the top NBA Draft prospects in the tournament in Keegan Murray, they felt like the pick here. But Richmond reminded the country that they too won a conference tournament championship last week and the Atlantic 10 knows them very well. Senior guard Jacob Gilyard played all 40 minutes and gave the Spiders 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Junior forward Tyler Burton and senior forward Nathan Cayo added 18 points and 15 points, respectively. Iowa&rsquo;s projected lottery pick Murray finished the game with 21 points and 9 rebounds, but there was a lull in his offense in the second half that could&rsquo;ve been the difference-maker. Richmond will face 4-seed Providence in the second round.
South Region: 11-seed Michigan defeats 6-seed Colorado State 75-63
In a matchup that many thought had upset potential, the Wolverines came away as victors over the Rams after a slow start. Colorado State jumped on Michigan in the first half and led by as many as 15 points, but Michigan proved their Power 5 experience had tested them enough to overcome the deficit. Hunter Dickinson ended as the game&rsquo;s leading scorer with 21 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Frankie Collins filled in at point guard for the injured Devante&rsquo; Jones and finished with a respectable 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Michigan finds 3-seed Tennessee waiting for them in the next round.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
West Region: 12-seed New Mexico State defeats 5-seed UConn 70-63
New Mexico State grabbed another win for the 12 seeds today as they knocked out UConn in the first round. This game was owned by Aggie guard Teddy Allen, who was locked in after starting the game 0-for-6 and finished with 37 points. New Mexico State as a team shot nearly 65% from three, which proved to be the difference-maker, with the Huskies only hitting 30% from deep. Allen looks to add another hot performance to his March Madness resum&eacute; on Saturday against Arkansas.
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GAMES OF THE DAY
West Region: 9-seed Memphis defeats 8-seed Boise State 64-53
The Memphis Tigers continued their strong play in the latter portion of the season and finished with a big win against Boise State. Memphis went into halftime with a 19-point lead, but a slow start by the Tigers led to the Broncos clawing themselves back into the game. DeAndre Williams ended the game with 14 points while projected NBA Draft lottery pick Jalen Duren had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. NBA executives and March Madness fans are getting the Duren-Chet Holmgren matchup they&rsquo;ve been clamoring for since Sunday night, as Memphis takes on Gonzaga this weekend. (This game also featured a surprise cameo from Emoni Bates, who finished with just 3 points in three minutes).
East Region: 7-seed Murray State defeats 10-seed San Francisco 92-87 in overtime
If you stayed up to watch one of the nightcap games of day 1, you probably watched Murray State and San Francisco battle it out. This game saw San Francisco guard Jamaree Bouyea score a career-high 36 points including some big shots to extend the game. However, it wasn&rsquo;t enough for the balanced attack of&nbsp; Murray State&rsquo;s KJ Williams, Trae Hannibal, Tevin Brown and Justice Hill with scoring totals of 18, 18, 17, and 15 (with Hannibal&rsquo;s 18 coming from the bench). The Racers' next test comes from the &ldquo;bracket busters&rdquo; themselves, the Saint Peter&rsquo;s Peacocks this weekend.
OTHER FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Midwest Region
1-seed Kansas defeats 16-seed Texas Southern
4-seed Providence defeats 13-seed South Dakota State 66-57
9-seed Creighton defeats 8-seed San Diego State 72-69
East Region
1-seed Baylor defeats 16-seed Norfolk State 85-49
4-seed UCLA defeats 13-seed Akron 57- 53
South Region
3-seed Tennessee defeats 14-seed Longwood 88-56
West Region
1-seed Gonzaga defeats 16-seed Georgia State 93-72
4-seed Arkansas defeats 13-seed Vermont 75-71
East Region
8-seed North Carolina defeats 9-seed Marquette 95-63
5-seed Saint Mary&rsquo;s defeats 12-seed Indiana 82-53
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Sixteen teams saw their dreams shatter while 16 teams advanced to the Round of 32. Blake Hairston recaps day one of March Madness.

March Madness: Recapping Day 1 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament

The NBA All-Star break is always a good time to reflect on the first half of the season and look ahead to the remainder of the campaign. For fantasy-basketball enthusiasts, it also means that the fantasy playoffs are just a few weeks away.
Who better to help break down this season from a fantasy perspective than one of the most respected names in the fantasy-basketball community?&nbsp;
BasketballNews.com chatted with <a href="https://twitter.com/redrock_bball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Lloyd</a> &mdash; the host of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1I9lmlRwqSehJzlRo6DKqg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Locked On Fantasy Basketball Podcast</a> as well as the lead fantasy analyst for <a href="https://basketballmonster.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball Monster</a> and <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/author/josh-lloyd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo Sports Australia</a> &mdash; to get some fantasy advice for the home stretch, pick his brain about the first half of this season and learn about his journey from pharmacist to fantasy expert.
In terms of fantasy production, which players have surprised you the most so far this season?&nbsp;
Josh Lloyd: &ldquo;Gary Trent Jr. has been a huge surprise to me as well as Dejounte Murray. I also did not expect DeMar DeRozan to have the best season of his career at his age on a new team with an established number-one guy.&rdquo;
Which players have disappointed you this season?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;Isaiah Stewart has been a huge letdown, as were Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal &mdash; even before they missed time due to injury.&rdquo;
Who are a few players that should be owned in significantly more leagues?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;Patrick Beverley is the number-one player who stands out to me. He does get hurt a lot, but when healthy, he shouldn&rsquo;t be on any waiver wires. I&rsquo;d also take a chance on guys like Cam Payne (now with Chris Paul&rsquo;s injury) and Jaxson Hayes in New Orleans; they need to be grabbed.&rdquo;
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Who are some players to keep an eye on as this season progresses that could become a decent add (just based on the trajectory they&rsquo;re on or the opportunity ahead of them)?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always going to watch Alperen Sengun. It will take Christian Wood missing time, but that is always possible. I also want to track the Pacers&rsquo; big-man situation, and especially Isaiah Jackson. There are a lot of unknowns there, but Jackson has the highest fantasy upside.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Which struggling player will get back on track and reward patient fantasy owners?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;OG Anunoby is in a big slump at the moment and I believe he will get back to his usual production soon. I&rsquo;d also look at Anthony Edwards, who has really struggled of late. But resting his ankle should allow him to attack the last part of the season with vigor.&rdquo;
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Who should fans be most concerned about rest-of-season?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;Malcolm Brogdon and Zion Williamson haven&rsquo;t been ruled out for the season, but I doubt they play. I would also be pretty concerned about Tyrese Maxey with James Harden in town.&rdquo;
Which trade-deadline acquisitions are worth a look after their change of scenery?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;To be honest, most of the value is created for players who remained on their teams, like Devin Vassell taking on a bigger role with Derrick White gone [in San Antonio]. I would also look at Justise Winslow in Portland.&rdquo;
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You were a pharmacist and then you made the transition to fantasy analyst. What went into that decision? And was it scary leaving behind a great job with plenty of security?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;It was simply about doing something I enjoyed. Pharmacy had become pretty stale and limiting and I spent so much time analyzing the NBA anyway that when a chance came up to make that a career, I took it. It was a little scary, but I didn&rsquo;t make the full-time transition for a couple of years, when I had full-time employment in the fantasy industry already secured.&rdquo;
There are a ton of people who would love to become a fantasy analyst, but they probably don&rsquo;t know where to start or they think it&rsquo;s unrealistic. What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a career as a fantasy analyst?&nbsp;
Lloyd: &ldquo;The number-one thing to do is be active. Get involved in Twitter. Post in the fantasy-basketball subreddit. Start your own YouTube channel or podcast, or even blog. Just practice writing or speaking and analyzing the game. It&rsquo;s not easy and takes a lot of commitment. The number-one thing to build yourself up, though, is to be consistent.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Our Tommy Beer recently put together his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-202122-fantasy-basketball-allstar-team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 Fantasy All-Star Team</a>, highlighting which NBA players were fantasy studs during the first half of the season. Did any of your players make the list?
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Need some fantasy advice? Josh Lloyd shares his must-add players, biggest surprises and letdowns, players who concern him and more.

Fantasy-hoops Q&A: Josh Lloyd on must-add players, biggest concerns, more

The New Orleans Pelicans have finalized a deal to acquire Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1491069131541688321" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sources told Shams Charania of The </a><a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1491069131541688321" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Athletic</a>.
ESPN's <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1491081418684112903?s=20&amp;t=5zdXFsgsdr0ivohM4Ag0AQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski reports</a> that the Pelicans will also acquire Tony Snell and Larry Nance Jr. in the deal. In return, the Blazers will receive Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky, Didi Louzada, a 2022 protected first-round pick and two second-rounders.
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;McCollum will depart the team that drafted him No. 10 overall in 2013. The 30-year-old is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game this season and has made 39.6% of his career three-pointers. Hart, meanwhile, has also had a strong year with career highs in points (13.4) and assists (4.1) along with 7.8 rebounds per game.
Story via The Associated Press:
The New Orleans Pelicans have acquired guard C.J. McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a seven-player trade, said two people familiar with the situation.
The Pelicans will also receive forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell in the deal, while the Trail Blazers get forward Josh Hart, and guards Tomas Staoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada, as well as draft compensation in the form of a 2022 protected first round draft choice and two future second-rounders. The people spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been made official.
The trade marks the end of an era in Portland, where McCollum has been paired with Damian Lillard in the backcourt since 2013. Portland has reached the playoffs every season since they drafted McCollum. However, the Blazers struggled in the postseason, reaching the Western Conference finals only once while being eliminated in the first round five times.
The 30-year-old McCollum is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds this season.
He gives the Pelicans a needed outside shooting threat at a time when New Orleans appears to be on the upswing under first-year coach Willie Green &mdash; despite playing this season without star forward Zion Williamson. After starting 1-12, the Pelicans (21-32) entered Tuesday's games on the heels of a three-game road winning streak and occupying the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Williamson, incidentally, has been in Oregon trying to rehabilitate from offseason surgery to repair his fractured right foot. It is unclear if he will be ready to return this season.
New Orleans is making less than 33% from 3-point range this season and they are 29th in the league 3-pointers made. McCollum has shot no less than 37.5% from beyond the arc every season from deep in every season of his career, while shooting 38.4% overall for his career.
In 2019, McCollum signed a three-year contract extension worth $100 million that runs through the 2023-24 season. It took effect this season.
This marks the second multiple-player trade the Blazers have made in advance of Thursday&rsquo;s deadline. On Friday Portland sent Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow and Keon Johnson. That move was widely seen as financial, as it put the Blazers below the luxury tax threshold.
Lillard, a six-time All-Star, has been sidelined since the start of the year with an abdominal injury that required surgery. Like Williamson, it is unclear when, or if, he will return this season, but Lillard was at the team&rsquo;s practice facility on Monday putting up a few shots.
Hart this offseason agreed to a three-year extension with New Orleans which is worth $37.9 million and includes a third-year player option. He has been a popular and productive role player in New Orleans since being traded to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason &mdash; along with forward Brandon Ingram, guard Lonzo Ball and two first-round draft picks &mdash; from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a deal that paired Anthony Davis with LeBron James on the Lakers.
Ball has since been traded to Chicago. Hart has averaged 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds this season.
Alexander-Walker was one of three first-round draft choices the Pelicans made in 2019. He went 17th overall, after New Orleans had taken Williamson first with their own draft choice and center Jaxson Hayes eighth with the first of the two first-rounders acquired from the Lakers.
Alexander-Walker has struggled to produce consistently in his first three season but has been prolific in spurts. He is averaging 12.8 points this season with a season-high of 33 points and a career-high last season of 37 points.
The Blazers have lost five straight and are in 11th place in the Western Conference standings.
The Pelicans were set to host Houston on Tuesday night, when the Blazers were at home against Orlando. ___
AP Sports Writers Anne Peterson and Steve Reed contributed to this report.
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McCollum will depart the team that drafted him No. 10 overall in 2013.