Crimson

Like many young teams in the past, the Houston Rockets find themselves in a pivotal phase: the leap. After years of rebuilding and roster turnover, they&rsquo;ve finally found their stride. It&rsquo;s the fifth year since their rebuilding began, and with a 15-6 record, they&rsquo;re sitting second in the Western Conference. They could be closely mirroring the rise of the 2022 Memphis Grizzlies this early into the season. That Memphis squad, led by Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., also finished second in the West with their youthful energy catching everyone&rsquo;s attention. Now, the Rockets are replicating that energy, but the question remains: how sustainable is this success and are they legit contenders or just pretenders?
One of the biggest factors behind their early-season success is the leadership of Ime Udoka, the former Celtics coach who took over Houston. Udoka has brought a clear identity to the team, one rooted in defense. The Rockets are currently ranked as one of the top defensive teams in the league, a shift from previous seasons when they were known for their lackluster defense. Known for his defensive prowess during his time with the Boston Celtics, Udoka has transformed the Rockets into one of the league&rsquo;s best defensive teams.&nbsp;
Through 18 games, the Rockets have posted the second-best defensive rating in the league, allowing just 103.7 points per 100 possessions. This defensive turnaround is due in large part to Udoka's philosophy, which emphasizes relentless defense, discipline, and accountability. The Rockets have become a nightmare for opposing offenses, ranking sixth in steals and allowing the second-fewest fast-break points.​
Key players signed a season ago Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks have been instrumental in this shift. VanVleet&rsquo;s playmaking and leadership at the PG position have helped stabilize the young team, while Brooks quickly became the team&rsquo;s primary defensive disruptor. Brooks is one of the main reasons Houston has been so effective defensively this season, and the emergence of key contributors, Tari Eason and Amen Thompson puts them above the notch.&nbsp;
Brooks, a well-established perimeter defender, has been at the forefront, with a defensive rating of 98.9, the second-best among all perimeter players. His toughness and leadership have rubbed off on the younger players. Eason is averaging 2.2 steals per game, while Thompson, has impressed with his defensive instincts, further solidifying the Rockets' defense. Together Eason and Thompson are nicknamed the &ldquo;Terror Twins&rdquo; and are widely regarded as one of the most versatile defenders in the league today.&nbsp;
Additionally, Şeng&uuml;n&rsquo;s development has provided the Rockets with an anchor in the paint. Sengun is averaging 21.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on 53.7% shooting​ and his ability to control the paint has been crucial. Together with Jalen Green (18.9 points) and Fred VanVleet (16.3 points and 6.2 assists),​ they have been the driving force behind Houston&rsquo;s offensive production to create balance with their intense defense, and their ability to sustain this performance will be critical as the season progresses.
In terms of overall team performance, the Rockets have displayed a more balanced attack compared to previous seasons. They&rsquo;re averaging 114.3 points per game and shooting a solid 45.9% from the field. Although their 3-point shooting percentage (35.2%) isn&rsquo;t elite, their ability to score efficiently and disrupt opposing offenses has placed them among the league's top teams.
This blend of youth, defense, and an increasingly potent offense has allowed the Rockets to outlast tough teams in the West early into the season. Their ability to win close games, as seen in their recent 119-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, highlights a growing maturity in executing in crunch-time situations.
While the 2024-2025 season has shown plenty of promise, questions remain about the Rockets' consistency over the long haul. Can they maintain this level of defensive intensity throughout the season? Will the young players continue to develop and reach new levels during the season, or will they hit a plateau? The Rockets' path forward is still uncertain, but their early success under Udoka suggests they may have finally found the winning formula. A 15-6 record places them among the elite teams in the West, and their balanced approach on both ends of the floor makes them a serious contender. But can they sustain this success?
Ultimately, the Rockets are an exciting team to watch, with a blend of youthful energy and the structure needed to compete at a high level. With the second-best defensive rating in the league (as of the moment) and significant contributions from their young players, they&rsquo;ve shown they can be a threat in the Western Conference. The coaching of Ime Udoka, paired with the growth of their core players, makes this team one to watch for the rest of the season. But as with any young team, time will tell if they can sustain their momentum and prove that their early-season success is more than just a flash in the pan.
The true test will come in the second half of the season, where teams often face greater challenges in adjusting to new threats. If they can continue to build on their defensive identity and develop their offense, they may just be the next upstart team to take over the West.&nbsp;

The Rockets are making a strong push early this season with their defense. With their hot start, are they a real threat in the West?

The Houston Rockets are making the leap, but how legit are they?

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

Team Jalen Rose made sure there were no upsets this time around as they beat Team Detlef Shrempf, 25-13, to win the NBA Rising Stars Game at All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.
Team Detlef, composed of players from the NBA G League, scored a huge 41-36 upset win over a star-studded Team Pau Gasol (led by 2023 No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama) earlier to advance to the championship game.&nbsp;
The G League players brought the fight to the lottery picks, with the Osceola Magic&rsquo;s Mac MaClung and Sioux Falls Skyforce&rsquo;s Alondes Williams leading the way with 12 and 11 points, respectively. G League Ignite and 2024 NBA Draft prospect Matas Buzelis finished the game with a turnaround jumper from the right wing to complete the upset and kick the overwhelming favorites out of the competition.
However, Team Detlef fell short in the end against a locked-in Team Jalen. Led by Bennedict Mathurin of the hometown Indiana Pacers, Team Jalen got off to a strong start and never looked back.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
INDY'S OWN 💙💛 Bennedict Mathurin is the 2024 NBA Rising Stars MVP 🏆<a href="https://t.co/P79of0vfTV">pic.twitter.com/P79of0vfTV</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1758706531606880366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

Mathurin was named the NBA Rising Stars Game MVP for his efforts in the first game, scoring 18 points against Paolo Banchero and Team Tamika Catchings to win the first semifinal game. He then scored 4 points in the title game.

Team Jalen Rose won the NBA Rising Stars Game at All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.

Bennedict Mathurin, Team Jalen win NBA Rising Stars Game

Today, the NBA announced the 28 players who have earned spots to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of NBA All-Star 2024. The annual showcase of premier young talent, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games, will air live at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.
The player pool consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 second-year NBA players and seven NBA G League players. The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will comprise the fourth team.
Six-time NBA All-Star and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches after leading his team to the Rising Stars championship last year. Joining Gasol as honorary head coaches are Indiana Fever legend and 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf.
Catchings, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, led the Fever to the 2012 WNBA championship. Rose helped the Pacers reach the 2000 NBA Finals and was the Kia NBA Most Improved Player that season. Schrempf, a three-time NBA All-Star, won back-to-back Kia NBA Sixth Man Awards with the Pacers in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Gasol (Team Pau), Catchings (Team Tamika) and Rose (Team Jalen) will select their teams through the Rising Stars Draft, which will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. ET and stream live on the NBA App.&nbsp; Schrempf (Team Detlef) will coach the team of NBA G League players.
All three games in Panini Rising Stars will be played to a Final Target Score, meaning each game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out. The semifinal games will be played to a Final Target Score of 40. The championship game will be played to a Final Target Score of 25.
Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal (Game 2). The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship (Game 3).&nbsp; The semifinal matchups will be announced at a later date.
In selecting the NBA players for Panini Rising Stars, each NBA team submitted one ballot per coaching staff. Each coaching staff selected four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players at either position, in order of preference, for the rookie ballot and the sophomore ballot. Coaches were not permitted to vote for any player on their team.
The NBA participants for Panini Rising Stars were determined by the total points each player received from the ballots. Points were awarded based on where a player was ranked on each ballot. The player pool includes one more rookie than sophomore based on total points received.
Assistant coaches from the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs will join the honorary head coaches in coaching the Panini Rising Stars teams. The NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs for both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference have yet to be determined.&nbsp;
Tickets for Panini Rising Stars are available at NBAEvents.com and through the NBA Events App, which can be downloaded in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nba-events/id1488976283" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nba-events/id1488976283&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706738146537000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3KdgVz_lJtn5rLaTz7eq7b">Apple Store</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greencopper.nbaallstar&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US&amp;pli=1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id%3Dcom.greencopper.nbaallstar%26hl%3Den_US%26gl%3DUS%26pli%3D1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706738146537000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0-CV5jwdxEhFcuZ8BRrarV">Google Play Store</a>.
Below is the player pool for the 2024 Panini Rising Stars.
<table style="width: 719px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="607">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 704.431px;" colspan="3">
PANINI RISING STARS: NBA PLAYERS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 358.75px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
NBA Rookies
</td>
<td style="width: 324.604px; text-align: center;">
NBA Sophomores
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 362.625px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Bilal Coulibaly (Guard | Washington Wizards)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.271px; text-align: center;">
Paolo Banchero (Frontcourt | Orlando Magic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.59px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Keyonte George (Guard | Utah Jazz)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.701px; text-align: center;">
Dyson Daniels (Guard | New Orleans Pelicans)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.826px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Jordan Hawkins (Guard | New Orleans Pelicans)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.812px; text-align: center;">
Jalen Duren (Frontcourt | Detroit Pistons)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.875px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Scoot Henderson (Guard | Portland Trail Blazers)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.847px; text-align: center;">
Jaden Ivey (Guard | Detroit Pistons)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Chet Holmgren (Frontcourt | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.854px; text-align: center;">
Walker Kessler (Frontcourt | Utah Jazz)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Frontcourt | Miami Heat)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Bennedict Mathurin (Guard | Indiana Pacers)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Dereck Lively II (Frontcourt | Dallas Mavericks)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Keegan Murray (Frontcourt | Sacramento Kings)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Brandon Miller (Frontcourt | Charlotte Hornets)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Shaedon Sharpe (Guard | Portland Trail Blazers)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Brandin Podziemski (Guard | Golden State Warriors)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Jabari Smith Jr. (Frontcourt | Houston Rockets)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Cason Wallace (Guard | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Jalen Williams (Frontcourt | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Victor Wembanyama (Frontcourt | San Antonio Spurs)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="height: 454px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="438">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
PANINI RISING STARS: NBA G LEAGUE PLAYERS
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Izan Almansa (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Matas Buzelis (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Ron Holland (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Mac McClung (Guard | Osceola Magic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Tyler Smith (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Frontcourt | Indiana Mad Ants)*
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Alondes Williams (Guard | Sioux Falls Skyforce)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Two-Way Player

The NBA announced the 28 players who have earned spots to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars.

NBA announces 2024 Rising Stars participants

Paul George dropped a season-high 38 points as the Los Angeles Clippers raced past the Oklahoma City Thunder, 128-117, and inched closer to the top of the Western Conference standings.
The 33-year-old George was clutch in the fourth quarter, catching fire to seal the game against the Thunder. He put up 18 points in the fourth quarter alone.
"I know what I'm capable of. I know what I can do in this league..." George said. "Honestly, I'm just committed to winning and that's it."
The 6-foot-8 forward&rsquo;s huge fourth quarter was capped off by a scintillating sequence that cause the Los Angeles crowd to erupt. He drained a three over Lu Dort and shimmied his way back on defense. The next possession, George stole the ball from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and ran the length of the floor for a thunderous reverse jam, sending the Crypto.com Arena into a frenzy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
OMG PAUL GEORGE!!! WHAT A SEQUENCE!!! <a href="https://t.co/TxCnAivMUB">pic.twitter.com/TxCnAivMUB</a>
&mdash; Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) <a href="https://twitter.com/ohnohedidnt24/status/1747491295130509460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Gilgeous-Alexander, who will always be linked to George since he was the centerpiece of the deal between the Clippers and Thunder in 2019, struggled with just 19 points on 6-of-16 from the field. A top-five MVP candidate this season, SGA faced tough defense all game long from All-NBA defenders George and Kawhi Leonard, who hounded him on drives to the rim and the perimeter.
Leonard added 16 points for the Clippers, while James Harden and Mason Plumlee combined for 30. Plumlee will take on a bigger role, as the Clippers will be without starting center Ivica Zubac in the coming weeks due to injury.
For the Thunder, Jalen Williams continued his stellar season with 25 points on an ultra-efficient 10-of-14 from the field, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Meanwhile, Dort had 19 points with 5 made threes.
The win allowed the Clippers (26-14) to inch closer to the Thunder (27-13) in the West, as the two teams are now separated by just a game.

Paul George dropped a season-high 38 points as the Los Angeles Clippers raced past the Oklahoma City Thunder, 128-117.

Paul George drops season-high 38 points to lead Clippers past Thunder

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Mark Sears made seven of eight free throws over the final 1:04 to help No. 2 Alabama top Arkansas 86-83 on Saturday.
Miller delivered his second straight huge game for the Crimson Tide (25-4, 15-1 Southeastern Conference) since police alleged in courtroom testimony that he brought a gun to former teammate Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in a fatal shooting.
The week&rsquo;s details cast a different light on Miller&rsquo;s regular pregame introduction, which is a Tide staffer giving him a pat down. Coach Nate Oats said after the game that intro for Miller is now over.
Fellow freshman Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas (19-10, 8-8), another potential NBA draft lottery pick who helped keep the Razorbacks in it with a late 3-pointer, scored 24 points. Davonte Davis added 21 points for Arkansas, Council scored 20, and the rest of the team combined for 18 points.
Jahvon Quinerly had 16 points and seven assists for the Tide, and Noah Clowney had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 76, EAST CAROLINA 57
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 22 points to help Houston clinch outright possession of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Tramon Mark added 20 points for the Cougars (27-2, 15-1), while J&rsquo;Wan Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Houston&rsquo;s ninth straight victory.
East Carolina (14-14, 5-10) had an energetic home crowd for the first-ever visit from a No. 1-ranked team to Minges Coliseum, as well as the program&rsquo;s first game against a top-ranked opponent in more than 31 years. But the Cougars never trailed and led for all but 56 seconds. Ezra Ausar scored 15 points to lead the Pirates.
NO. 3 KANSAS 76, WEST VIRGINIA 74
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Dajuan Harris was one point shy of a career high, scoring 17 points to help lift Kansas over West Virginia.
The Jayhawks&rsquo; stifling defense kept West Virginia from attempting a shot in the final 20 seconds. The Mountaineers&rsquo; Joe Toussaint traveled on their final possession of the game. Baskets by K.J. Adams and Kevin McCullar extended the Jayhawks&rsquo; lead to 75-68 late as they grinded out the victory.
Harris led Kansas (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) with 7-of-9 shooting from the field and had six assists and six steals.
Erik Stevenson led West Virginia (16-13, 5-11) with 23 points. Tre Mitchell scored 20, Kedrian Johnson scored 15 and Emmitt Mathews Jr. had 13.
NO. 17 INDIANA 79, NO. 5 PURDUE 71
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 35 points and Trey Galloway added 10 of his 13 in the second half to lead Indiana over Purdue.
The Hoosiers (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) snapped a seven-game losing streak in West Lafayette and pulled their first season sweep in this bitter rivalry since 2012-13.
Zach Edey led the Boilermakers with 26 points and 16 rebounds and Fletcher Loyer added 14 points. Purdue (24-5, 13-5) has lost three of four and blew a chance to clinch a share of the conference crown in front of its home fans, who stood outside in chilly temperatures and snaking lines for hours before tip-off.
NORTH CAROLINA 71, NO. 6 VIRGINIA 63
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Pete Nance scored 22 points to lead North Carolina past Virginia.
Nance shot 7 of 10 from the floor and was 4 of 4 from behind the arc, the most 3-pointers the fifth-year forward has made in ACC play. He added two assists and four blocks.
R.J. Davis notched the fourth double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina (18-11, 10-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which got a much-needed boost to its NCAA Tournament resume with a Quadrant 1 win &mdash; the first of the season for the Tar Heels.
Jayden Gardner had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia (21-6, 13-5), which lost its second in a row. Armaan Franklin added 14 points.
ARIZONA STATE 89, NO. 7 ARIZONA 88
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer and Arizona State rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Arizona.
The Wildcats (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12) built a 10-point lead midway through the second half before going more than six minutes without a field goal as Arizona State pulled ahead by one.
The Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7) went up 86-85 on Warren Washington&rsquo;s layup with just a minute left, but Pelle Larsson put Arizona back up on a layup with 29 seconds left. Arizona State&rsquo;s DJ Horne missed a jumper with 4 seconds left and the Sun Devils had a final shot after Oumar Ballo hit one of two free throws.
Catching the ball with 2.4 seconds left, Cambridge launched a shot from beyond half-court to finish with 19 points and give the Sun Devils a big boost in their bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 9 BAYLOR 81, NO. 8 TEXAS 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges had 17 points for ninth-ranked Baylor, which overcame a huge deficit with an impressive run right after freshman standout Keyonte George left injured early and beat Big 12 co-leader Texas.
Adam Flagler had 14 points for the Bears (21-8, 10-6). Dale Bonner added 13 points, including seven in an quick spurt after halftime while Flo Thamba had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Dylan Disu had a season-high 24 points for Texas (22-7, 11-5), which twice got even early in the second half but never could regain the lead.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 90, DEPAUL 84
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones and Tyler Kolek each scored 22 points while helping Marquette clinch a share of its first Big East regular-season championship in a decade.
Kolek also had 14 assists as Marquette (23-6, 15-3) rolled to a 49-28 halftime lead and hung on after DePaul (9-20, 3-15) got close down the stretch. Marquette has won nine of its last 10, while DePaul has lost 10 straight.
This is Marquette&rsquo;s first conference title in 2013, when the Golden Eagles shared the Big East crown with Georgetown and eventual national champion Louisville.
Umoja Gibson led DePaul with 20 points and eight assists. Nick Ongenda added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 45
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead Tennessee to a rout of South Carolina.
James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, shot 4 of 7 on 3-pointers for the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). Jahmai Mashack scored 14 points, Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and 11 assists, and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic scored 10 each.
Hayden Brown led the Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13) with 18 points.
NO. 12 GONZAGA 77, NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 68
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 19 points and Gonzaga earned a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a win over Saint Mary&rsquo;s.
Anton Watson had 17 points and Malachi Smith added 13 off the bench for the Bulldogs, who have won or shared the conference title in 11 straight seasons. Gonzaga (25-5, 14-2) also reached the 25-win mark for the 16th season in a row &mdash; and avenged a loss to the Gaels earlier this month in Moraga.
Logan Johnson led the Gaels (25-6, 14-2) with 27 points.
Because the teams shared the regular-season title, the WCC will use the NCAA&rsquo;s NET rankings to determine the top seed for the conference tournament.
FLORIDA STATE 85, NO. 13 MIAMI 84
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Matthew Cleveland&rsquo;s 3-pointer as time expired capped Florida State&rsquo;s comeback from a 25-point second-half deficit and a win over Miami.
Jordan Miller had given Miami the lead on a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left. But Cleveland let fly from about 25 feet and the ball swished to give the Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) their best moment of the season.
Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. each had 20 points for Florida State, which also got 13 from Caleb Mills and 11 from Jalen Warley.
Miller led Miami (23-6, 14-5) with 21 points. Norchad Omier had 15, Isaiah Wong scored 14 and Bensley Joseph added 12 for the Hurricanes, whose seven-game winning streak and perfect home season were ended.
NO. 18 UCONN 95, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 86
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds, and UConn beat St. John&rsquo;s.
Andre Jackson Jr. had 15 points, Joey Calcaterra also scored 15 to lead a strong effort by Connecticut&rsquo;s bench and the resurgent Huskies (22-7, 11-7 Big East) avenged an 11-point loss to St. John&rsquo;s at home last month.
UConn won for the sixth time in seven games, closing in on a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
AJ Storr had 20 points and Posh Alexander added 18 for the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12), who had won three of four.
NO. 14 KANSAS STATE 73, OKLAHOMA STATE 68
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 22 points, eight assists and four steals in Kansas State&rsquo;s third straight win, beating Oklahoma State.
Keyontae Johnson added 17 points for the Wildcats (22-7, 10-6 Big 12), who swept the regular-season series.
Kalib Boone scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half on Senior Day for Oklahoma State. Caleb Asberry scored 13 points and John-Michael Wright added 12 for the Cowboys (16-13, 7-9), who have lost four straight.
VILLANOVA 79, NO. 19 CREIGHTON 67
PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Eric Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, Cam Whitmore added 17 and Villanova defeated Creighton.
Dixon also set a career high with six 3-pointers for Villanova (15-14, 9-9 Big East), which has won five of six.
Arthur Kaluma scored 19 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 for Creighton (18-11, 12-6). The Bluejays have lost three of four following an eight-game winning streak.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 73, NEW MEXICO 71
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Lamont Butler&rsquo;s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave San Diego State a win at New Mexico.
After Jaelen House&rsquo;s steal and end-to-end run for a layup with 5.6 seconds left gave New Mexico a 71-70 lead, Butler unhurriedly brought the ball up court before dropping his shot, giving him 10 points for the Aztecs (23-5, 14-2 Mountain West).
Darrion Trammell scored 18 points to lead the Aztecs. Matt Bradley added 11 as San Diego State won its sixth straight.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 20 points for New Mexico (20-9, 7-9) and House had 15.
OKLAHOMA 61, NO. 23 IOWA STATE 50
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Jacob Groves led Oklahoma with 16 points as the Sooners knocked off Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-15, 4-12 Big 12) had lost nine of their previous 11 games but erased an early 11-point deficit and seized control with a 17-2 run in the second half.
Groves shot 4 of 5 from the 3-point line. Tanner Groves added 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) shot just 31%. Gabe Kalscheur led Iowa State with 12 points.
NO. 24 TCU 83, TEXAS TECH 82
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; JaKobe Coles made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, and TCU beat Texas Tech despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes.
After De&rsquo;Vion Harmon&rsquo;s steal and layup put the Red Raiders in front by one with 12 seconds remaining, Coles caught a pass from Emanuel Miller in the lane and was fouled by Fardaws Aimaq going up for the shot. The Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) weren&rsquo;t in the bonus.
Harmon&rsquo;s desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded wasn&rsquo;t close, ending a four-game winning streak Texas Tech (16-13, 5-11).
Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for the Horned Frogs, who had lost five of six and were coming off a loss to No. 3 Kansas at home. Miller had 14 points and 12 rebounds for TCU.
Aimaq scored 19 points, Harmon had 18 and Kevin Obanor finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Texas Tech.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, NO. 25 TEXAS A&amp;M 62
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 17 points and Shakeel Moore had 14 as Mississippi State knocked off Texas A&amp;M.
Cameron Matthews had 11 points for the Bulldogs (19-10, 7-9 Southeastern Conference), who held the Aggies to one field goal in the final 14 minutes and outscored them 34-18 during the same time period.
Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&amp;M (21-9, 13-3) with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia each had 11.

A recap of Saturday's slew of action in top 25 NCAA men's college hoops.

Miller has another big game as No. 2 Alabama tops Arkansas

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; Jakob Poeltl scored 30 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 123-113 on Tuesday night for their fifth win in six games.
Scottie Barnes scored 17 points, Fred VanVleet had 10 points and a season-high 15 assists, and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who shot a season-best 60.2%.
Wendell Carter Jr. scored 26 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 off the bench and Markelle Fultz scored 19 points for the Magic.
Orlando came in having won three straight road games but couldn&rsquo;t follow Monday&rsquo;s win at Chicago with another victory. The Magic are 1-10 in the second game of back-to-backs.
A former Raptor who was reacquired from San Antonio last week, Poeltl shot 15 for 17 and added nine rebounds and six blocks.
&ldquo;You see what he did tonight,&rdquo; Magic coach Jamahl Mosely said. &ldquo;He was a game changer.&rdquo;
The 30 points were the most Poeltl has scored as a Raptors player. His career high is 31, set with San Antonio last Nov. 15 at Portland.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just about reacting to the defense,&rdquo; Poeltl said. &ldquo;They decided to trap Freddie a bunch of times. I&rsquo;m comfortable catching the ball there at the top of the key and trying to make plays.&rdquo;
Suggs said Poeltl hurt Orlando with his bruising, physical style.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a force in the paint,&rdquo; Suggs said. &ldquo;Trying to box him out, you can&rsquo;t out-jump him. He&rsquo;s really strong and physical in there. He fits what they want to do. He&rsquo;s a physical big who&rsquo;s going to hit you in your mouth and have no remorse about it.&rdquo;
One game after setting a season best by allowing just five points off turnovers, the Raptors made a season-worst 20 miscues against the Magic, leading to 26 points. The Magic weren&rsquo;t much better, making 19 turnovers that led to 29 points for Toronto.
&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t turn the basketball over and give up offensive rebounds and give yourself a chance,&rdquo; Mosley said.
The Raptors outrebounded the Magic 40-29 and had a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass.
As the All Star break arrives, Orlando has gone 19-15 since a 5-20 start.
&ldquo;I feel like we did a solid job from the beginning of the year to now of kind of changing the script of who the Orlando Magic are,&rdquo; Carter said.
Orlando led 70-65 at halftime but Poeltl scored eight points in the third as Toronto took a 94-89 edge to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Magic: Paolo Banchero scored 13 points. &hellip; F Jonathan Isaac (left knee) sat as Orlando played the second game of a back-to-back. &hellip; G Cole Anthony (sore right wrist) missed his second straight game.
Raptors: Toronto is 13-0 all-time when shooting 60 percent or better. &hellip; Coach Nick Nurse returned after missing Sunday&rsquo;s win over Detroit for personal reasons. &hellip; F Thad Young injured his left knee early in the second quarter and did not return. .. G Gary Trent Jr. (sore left calf) missed his second game while F O.G. Anunoby (sprained left wrist) missed his ninth straight. &hellip; Toronto had 13 assists on 16 made baskets in the first quarter, including seven assists from VanVleet.
MILESTONE MAN
Barnes reached 2,000 career points. At 21 years and 197 days, he&rsquo;s the third-youngest player in Raptors history to reach the milestone, behind Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-62 apnews_article_midarticle_3" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">
ROAD WORK AHEAD
After hosting the Pelicans in their first game following the All-Star break, Toronto plays seven of eight on the road, a testing stretch that includes games at Cleveland, Denver, and both Los Angeles teams.
OUT ON VALENTINE&rsquo;S DAY
Toronto Mayor John Tory attended the game. Tory said last Friday that he would step down as mayor of Canada&rsquo;s largest city after acknowledging an affair with a former staffer.
</div>

Jakob Poeltl scored 30 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 123-113.

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

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston showed once more her consistency is every bit as important as her enormous talent.
Boston had her program record-setting 73rd double double with 13 points and 14 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina moved to 20-0 with a dominating 92-46 victory over Arkansas on Sunday.
Boston&rsquo;s coach, Dawn Staley, has watched the 6-foot-5 All-American stay engaged and focused despite junk defenses with three or four players aiming to limit her production. Very little has worked the past four seasons.
&ldquo;Mentally tough, mentally strong. Those are the separators for Aliyah,&rdquo; Staley said.
Boston takes in the information and knows in the end she&rsquo;ll get the better of things in nearly every game, Staley said.
&ldquo;She&rsquo;s at a place,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;Where you really can&rsquo;t stop her.&rdquo;
Zia Cooke scored 24 points to lead the Gamecocks (8-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their 26th straight and seventh in a row over the Razorbacks (17-5, 4-3). And just like much of the past four seasons, the 6-foot-5 Boston was right in the center of things.
Boston, who tied the school mark set by Sheila Foster from 1979-82 at Vanderbilt this past Thursday, came out quickly with seven points and three boards in the first quarter. She was up to 11 points and six rebounds at the break.&nbsp;
Boston clinched the record with three rebounds on one offensive possession that she finished with a basket. She was taken out with 1:18 left in the third quarter to a loud ovation from the crowd &mdash; and South Carolina cruising 73-33.
&ldquo;Hey, y&rsquo;all got room for another statue?&rdquo; asked Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors, referring to the statue of South Carolina great A&rsquo;ja Wilson outside the arena.
It&rsquo;s not that far fetched &mdash; except for the ultra humble Boston, who typically deflects attention to her teammates. She surprised herself with her steady play over the years.
&ldquo;Coming in (to college), I didn&rsquo;t really know this was a record,&rdquo; Boston said. &ldquo;To do it, is very exciting because, wow, who&rsquo;d have thought.&rdquo;
Foster, now second in South Carolina double doubles, was in attendance. She smiled and waved to the crowd after Boston surpassed her.
Boston is 13 away from catching LSU great Sylvia Fowles for the SEC mark of 86 double-doubles set from 2004-08.
The NCAA mark is way out of reach. Oklahoma&rsquo;s Courtney Paris had 128 from 2006-09 and Boston is widely expected to be the WNBA&rsquo;s No. 1 overall pick after this season.
Cooke, the team&rsquo;s top scorer this season, had 19 points by halftime as South Carolina blew things open in the second quarter by outscoring Arkansas 28-7 to lead 53-24.
Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina&rsquo;s 6-7 backup, ended with 12 points and tied her career best with 16 rebounds.
Samara Spencer had 15 points to lead Arkansas, which was outrebounded 74-17 overall and 32-2 on the offensive boards.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas: The Razorbacks took No. 3 LSU down to the wire before falling 79-76 this past Thursday. Facing the SEC&rsquo;s two undefeated teams on the road in consecutive games proved too much for Arkansas. Neighbors said he expects his team to flush this performance and continue a solid season as it competes for a top-four seed to the SEC Tournament.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are the first in Division I to 20 victories &mdash; 19-0 Ohio State and LSU play on Monday &mdash; and have started 20-0 for just the third time in coach Dawn Staley&rsquo;s 15 seasons. Both previous perfect runs in 2015 and 2016 got to 22-0 and were ended by UConn. South Carolina has two games to play before heading to UConn on Feb. 5
REBOUNDING MARK
South Carolina put on a rebounding show against Arkansas, grabbing 74 boards to its opponents 17. ESPN posted that the 57 rebound edge was the highest in women&rsquo;s basketball against a Division I opponent in 20 years. The Gamecocks did even better on the offensive glass, winning that battle 32-2.
UP NEXT
Arkansas returns home to play Alabama on Thursday night.
South Carolina plays at Alabama on Jan. 29.&nbsp;

Aliyah Boston had her program record-setting 73rd double double with 13 points and 14 rebounds as South Carolina moved to 20-0.

Boston sets record, No. 1 Gamecocks top Arkansas 92-46

PARIS (AP) &mdash; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had a meeting this week in Paris and was asked by a gracious host how he takes his coffee.
&ldquo;Un sucre?&rdquo; French President Emmanuel Macron asked.
Over that coffee, the leader of the NBA and the leader of France struck a deal to work together with hopes of continuing to grow the game of basketball internationally &mdash; a marriage of perfect timing, given how French star Victor Wembanyama is a few months from coming to the NBA and the Paris Olympics are about 18 months away.
The NBA announced some details Thursday, including a collaboration between the league and the LNB, which is France&rsquo;s top pro league; events that France and the NBA will work on together as part of the buildup toward Paris 2024; expanded youth programs; and additional work toward growing the game in Africa, with both the league and France committing to further investments there including facilities capable of playing host to Basketball Africa League games.
&ldquo;His belief, I think, is very similar certainly to the NBA&rsquo;s about the power of sport to bring people together and what a constructive force it can be and even as a global engine to create commonality and empathy among people,&rdquo; Silver said.
Macron, Silver said, happened to have his schedule align with a BAL game during a visit to Rwanda in the league&rsquo;s inaugural playoffs. Macron watched the game with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very familiar with all our global plans, in Africa particularly,&rdquo; Silver said.
Macron had other pressing matters on his schedule this week. At least 1.1 million people protested on the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday amid nationwide strikes against plans to raise the retirement age, but Macron &mdash; who met with Silver on Wednesday in Paris, and was at a French-Spanish summit in Barcelona on Thursday &mdash; has said he will press ahead with the proposed pension reforms.
Basketball was likely only a brief distraction.
&ldquo;I am delighted and proud of the NBA&rsquo;s choice to make France and Paris one of its privileged playgrounds in the world,&rdquo; Macron said. &ldquo;It reflects the special and long-standing relationship that France has with the NBA. With the excellence of our training, the performance of our national teams and the hosting of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games, we now have the opportunity to go further and engage in a useful and lasting partnership for the benefit of French basketball, as well as in support of our development policy in Africa.&rdquo;
The NBA is in the process of planning another game in Paris next year, Silver said; he spoke Thursday just before a game between the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons, with Wembanyama and his family sitting courtside.
Silver and Macron also discussed plans for Paris 2024, including how the current schedule calls for preliminary games in Lille &mdash; about 140 miles north of Paris. That decision is not final, and has been the subject of some criticism given the high-profile status basketball has on the Olympic program.
&ldquo;He assured us everything would be OK,&rdquo; Silver said.
Other topics covered by Silver on Thursday included:
LABOR DEAL
Even though Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio were in Paris this week, talks between the league and the union continued in New York.
&ldquo;Our colleagues are back in New York, negotiating as we speak,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been meeting all week, just going issue by issue and trying to work through those issues that separate us. I would say, though, that I think we start from a very strong foundation.&rdquo;
The NBA and its players have until Feb. 8 if either side wants to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement. That deadline has been pushed back once already from mid-December, and it would not be a surprise if it gets pushed back again.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a strong sense of partnership between the players and the league,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t mean we don&rsquo;t have disagreements.&rdquo;
Among the issues that the NBA and the NBPA have been discussing in recent weeks is a return to letting players enter the draft straight out high school without waiting a year &mdash; that move is expected to be included in the next CBA &mdash; along with what the league considers an &ldquo;upper spending limit&rdquo; that would significantly tighten the rules on how much teams can spend each year on their roster.
LEBRON&rsquo;S RECORD
With LeBron James now perhaps just a couple of weeks away from catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and becoming the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader, Silver revealed some of the notions the league is considering to pay tribute to the accomplishment.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt we will stop that game and make sure we record for history, the ball, the basket, the uniform,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll stop and make sure that we&rsquo;ve done our jobs as the archivists of the NBA. At the same time, there&rsquo;s that balance that they will be playing against a team that will very much want to win that night and not be distracted. Most likely we will do something in the moment, but then we will plan a larger celebration.&rdquo;
James is on pace to break the record in early February &mdash; and if he does, it&rsquo;s likely that the bigger celebration Silver spoke of would come at the NBA&rsquo;s All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City later that month.
RETURN TO NORMALCY
The last time the NBA played in Paris before Thursday was January 2020 &mdash; just under two months before the league shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
&ldquo;I actually remember when we were here then, that January in 2020, we started to see people wearing masks. People knew something was coming,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;No one was predicting at that time that the world was going to shut down and we&rsquo;d go on to play in a bubble, etc. Our hope is, of course, that we&rsquo;ve bookended that pandemic, and the worst is behind us. We hope it is.&rdquo;
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The leader of the NBA and the leader of France struck a deal to work together with hopes of continuing to grow the game of basketball.

Silver, Macron meet to discuss goals with NBA back in Paris

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid made a jumper with 5.7 seconds left to lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-117 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
&ldquo;I made a tough shot but it shouldn&rsquo;t have come to that after we were up by so much,&rdquo; said Embiid, who finished 30 points and seven rebounds.
James Harden had 31 points and 11 assists to lead Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points and Shake Milton added 17.
The fourth quarter belonged to Harden, who had 18 points and made six baskets during that stretch. He accounted for 16 straight points for the 76ers over 3&frac12; minutes to keep the Jazz from going ahead until late in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;I saw opportunities,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;Fourth quarter, they made some shots. There was an opportunity to take advantage of it and I did.&rdquo;
Jordan Clarkson had 38 points and nine rebounds for Utah. Talen Horton-Tucker chipped in a season-high 20 points off the bench. Mike Conley added 14 points and eight assists, while Walker Kessler finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Clarkson scored 17 in the fourth, helping fuel a late rally.
&ldquo;We ain&rsquo;t scared of the moment, I can tell you that,&rdquo; Clarkson said. &ldquo;We have been in close games the whole year. We fight, we scrap.&rdquo;
After trailing by double digits for much of the game, Utah took its first lead at 115-114 on Kessler&rsquo;s tip-in basket with 33 seconds left.
Harden and Clarkson subsequently traded go-ahead buckets before Embiid&rsquo;s jumper put Philadelphia ahead for good. Clarkson missed a 3-pointer on Utah&rsquo;s final possession.
&ldquo;I think our team showed a lot of fight again, as we always do, executed some things really, really well as the game went on,&rdquo; Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
Lauri Markkanen was sidelined with a left hip contusion and the Jazz struggled early to fill the void left without their leading scorer.
Philadelphia shot 65% from the field over the first 12 minutes after making 14 of its first 19 shots and scored a season-high 41 points in the first quarter.
Clarkson cut the deficit to two on a jumper before the 76ers answered with a 13-2 run to break open the game. Maxey scored three straight baskets, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to punctuate the spurt that gave Philadelphia a 22-9 lead midway through the first quarter.
&ldquo;I swear the first six minutes, everything we did (worked),&rdquo; 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. &ldquo;Guys were in the right spot. The cuts were right. The passes were right.&rdquo;
Utah shot just 37.5% from the field and trailed by as many as 20 points during the first quarter.
The Jazz rallied in the third and cut Philadelphia&rsquo;s lead to 81-80, after Clarkson and Conley made back-to-back baskets to spark a 14-3 run.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
The Delta Center is returning.
Delta Air Lines re-purchased naming rights for the Utah Jazz home arena and it will be renamed the Delta Center starting on July 1, 2023. Vivint previously held naming rights as part of a 10-year deal signed in October 2015 until opting out of the contract, opening the door for Delta to become the rare company to resume its naming rights role.
Putting the Delta name back on the arena comes as part of a new multi-year partnership that includes numerous other sponsorship and branding rights with the team.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re already getting a lot of attention from the league, and around sports, for how the growth of Utah is catching up with the brands that are coming in,&rdquo; Jazz owner Ryan Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a small market in terms of that. &hellip; We&rsquo;ve outgrown the narrative.&rdquo;
The arena previously carried the Delta Center moniker for 15 years from when it opened in October 1991 until Delta decided to not renew its naming rights deal after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.
TIP INS
76ers: Tobias Harris (left knee soreness) was inactive. &hellip; De&rsquo;Anthony Melton tied his season high with two blocks.
Jazz: Horton-Tucker beat the first quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer from halfcourt. &hellip; Utah outscored Philadelphia 19-6 in second chance points and 20-10 in fast-break points.
&nbsp;

Joel Embiid made a jumper with 5.7 seconds left to lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-117 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Embiid's jumper gives 76ers 118-117 win over Jazz

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is well on his way to catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on more than the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-sports-lebron-james-nba-basketball-milwaukee-52dc2842a3ddd4e15e7df398fa5e5fb2">NBA&rsquo;s career scoring list</a>.
James is on pace to be an All-Star for the 19th time, after the NBA said Thursday he remains the overall leading vote-getter for the Feb. 19 game in Salt Lake City.
Abdul-Jabbar is the only 19-time All-Star in NBA history. James and Kobe Bryant are 18-time selections, and James entered Thursday 423 points away from passing Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader.
James had 4,825,229 votes entering Thursday. That puts him in position to be a captain for the sixth consecutive year &mdash; and possibly opposing Kevin Durant for the third straight time.
Durant, the Brooklyn Nets star who is expected to miss about a month after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-kevin-durant-basketball-2c4cf74f85fc29dd6271c445e3b92ece">spraining a knee ligament</a> earlier this week, is the top vote-getter in the Eastern Conference, with 4,509,238 entering Thursday.
The top three frontcourt players and top two guards in each conference will be chosen as starters, with the leading overall vote-getters from each conference serving as captains and choosing their teams.
James tops the list of Western Conference frontcourt players. Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic remained in second (3,441,893) and the Lakers&rsquo; Anthony Davis remained third (2,950,563).
Durant leads East frontcourt players, just ahead of Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo (4,467,306). But Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum moved ahead of Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid this week for the third spot; Tatum had 3,281,124 votes, while Embiid had 3,248,733.
Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry leads all guards in the balloting with 3,901,808 votes. Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic remained No. 2 behind Curry among West guards with 3,649,647 votes.
The top two vote-getters among East guards was also unchanged: Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kyrie Irving leads with 3,024,833 votes, and Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell is second with 2,725,558.
Fan voting counts for 50% of the starters balloting, a media ballot counts for 25% and the ballots turned in by NBA players count for the other 25%.
James has been a captain in all five previous uses of that process, going 5-0 in All-Star Games. His team beat a Durant-picked team in 2021 and 2022, beat teams picked by Antetokounmpo in 2019 and 2020, and beat a team picked by Curry in 2018.
Durant did not play in either of those games in 2021 or 2022 because of injury.
Voting continues through Jan. 21. The captains and the starters will be announced Jan. 26. Reserves &mdash; chosen by NBA coaches &mdash; will be revealed Feb. 2. The All-Star captains will then draft their teams, probably in the second week of February.

Lakers star LeBron James and Kevin Durant of the Nets continue to lead voting for the upcoming NBA All-Star game.

NBA updates All-Star vote numbers; LeBron, Durant still lead

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

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Donovan Mitchell wasn't seeking revenge.
He still has several close friends on the Utah Jazz, tight teammates he stays in touch with regularly on a group text.
On Monday night, Mitchell showed he's doing fine since leaving them.
The All-Star guard scored 23 points in 23 minutes in his first game against the Jazz since they traded Mitchell to Cleveland this summer and Jarrett Allen added 20 and 11 rebounds, leading the Cavaliers to a 122-99 win.
The Cavs have won four straight, improving the NBA's best home record to 15-2. The league's best defensive team clamped down on the Jazz, holding them to a season-low 39.1 shooting percentage.
For Mitchell, who spent five seasons with Utah before being dealt to Cleveland on Sept. 1 in the stunning blockbuster, the quality victory meant more than any personal satisfaction.
&ldquo;We did a lot of really good things collectively,&rdquo; he said. "Obviously, we shot the ball really well, but defensively holding a team like this, that can shoot the ball really well and can score, under 100 points. We did a lot of things we can point to and say this is what we want to be.&rdquo;
Mitchell said he was flooded with emotions going against the team that drafted him.
&ldquo;It was weird,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it was fun.&rdquo;
The Jazz, who came close to trading Mitchell to the Knicks, instead sent the three-time All-Star to the Cavs in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, rookie Ochai Agbaji and three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027 and 2029).
Mitchell's arrival has legitimized the Cavs, who barely missed the playoffs last season with the one of the league's youngest rosters. He's been everything Cleveland hoped, averaging 29.5 points per game while providing leadership.
He's only been in Cleveland for a few months, but Mitchell looks at home.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable,&rdquo; he said with a smile. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still trying to figure out the highways. But with this group, I feel like I&rsquo;ve been a part of them for a while. The city, the fans, the team, everyone has welcomed me with open arms. The fit was pretty seamless.&rdquo;
Darius Garland added 17 and Cedi Osman 22 (20 in the fourth during extended garbage time) for Cleveland, which shot a season-high 61.4% and opened a 23-point lead in the third. The Cavs coasted in perhaps its most complete game this season.
&ldquo;They kicked our ass,&rdquo; Jazz coach Will Hardy said. &ldquo;They shot the ball unbelievably well from all three levels of the court. They play with great tempo, they bothered us with their physicality in the first half, which is what got us behind the eight ball.&rdquo;
Mitchell, who came in averaging 36.9 minutes, got to enjoy a fourth quarter relaxing on the bench.
&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had one of these in a while,&rdquo; said Mitchell, who spent time after the game catching up with Utah's players, coaches and traveling party. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always good to get a break. I&rsquo;m not that old, but it&rsquo;s always good to put the minutes down.&rdquo;
Markkanen scored 24 &mdash; 22 in the first half &mdash; and Jordan Clarkson, yet another former Cavs player, added 23 for Utah, which has lost six straight on the road.
The Jazz are 5-15 since their surprising 12-1 start.
RUBIO UPDATE
Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio has scrimmaged with the team's G-League affiliate as he nears his return after season-ending knee surgery.
Although Rubio hasn't played, just having him around has been beneficial to Cleveland's young players.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a very rare group of people who have the presence that he has and that guys just want to be around and listen to," coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "Ricky is that guy and they love to play with him even more.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Jazz: Sexton missed his sixth straight game with a strained hamstring. ... C Kelly Olynyk (left ankle sprain) missed his first game, leaving G Malik Beasley as the only Utah player to play in all 33. &hellip; G Nickeil Alexander-Walker had the game's wildest basket, blindly flinging the ball in over his head after he got stuck in the lane.
Cavaliers: Improved to 3-0 on a season-long, six-game homestand. ... Outscored the Jazz 29-2 in fastbreak points. ... F Lamar Stevens (right knee soreness) missed his second consecutive game. Stevens had started the previous eight, averaging 6.6 points, 5.9 rebounds while providing stellar defense.
&nbsp;

Donovon Mitchell scored 23 points and Jarrett Allen added 20 and 11 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to a 122-99 win over the Jazz.

Mitchell scores 23, Cavs blast Jazz, improve to 15-2 at home

Anthony Davis is healthy. His numbers have never been healthier.
And, not coincidentally, the Los Angeles Lakers are playing like the team they expected to be.
With 99 points in his last two games &mdash; his most ever in a span of two regular-season contests &mdash; Davis is doing something that few in the league&rsquo;s history have done before. He shot 40 for 57 from the floor in those games, his 44-point performance at Milwaukee on Friday was followed by a 55-point outburst at Washington on Sunday.
&ldquo;Body feels great, in the gym working on my game, we&rsquo;re coming together collectively as a unit, so everything is going well for us right now,&rdquo; Davis said.
The Lakers are 8-2 in their last 10 games, 7-2 when Davis plays in that span. For some perspective, before this stretch, they were only 7-20 in Davis&rsquo; last 27 appearances &mdash; much of that because either he, or LeBron James, or both were either sidelined by injuries or trying to play through them.
But, finally, Davis &mdash; who was limited to 60 games over the last two seasons &mdash; has his health and his game back. He&rsquo;s averaging 28.6 points, a league-best 12.8 rebounds, and doing it all on 59% shooting. All three of those numbers are on pace to be career-bests for the eight-time All-Star who is making an early run at getting into the MVP conversation.
&ldquo;The first and foremost thing is his health,&rdquo; Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s feeling great. His body is feeling great. He had a few back issues early on and he&rsquo;s worked his way through them. And you can see it in his face as well as you can see it in his play -- he&rsquo;s having fun playing the game of basketball pain-free.&rdquo;
The Lakers are two games into a six-game road trip that continues Tuesday in Cleveland, a homecoming for James, the former Cavaliers star and northeast Ohio native who is now within 1,000 points of catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring record.
But right now, even he&rsquo;s pointing to Davis as the league&rsquo;s top player.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been unbelievable on both sides of the floor,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;Playing like the MVP of this league. Straight dominance. Straight dominance. ... I just think he&rsquo;s hit a switch where he knows how dominant he can be, night in and night out.&rdquo;
Davis is the 25th player in NBA history to score at least 99 points in a two-game stretch; Wilt Chamberlain did it 92 times, which is almost double the amount of times the other 24 players have done it combined.
But this run by Davis is set apart by the accuracy of his shots. He&rsquo;s only the fourth player to score at least 99 points in a two-game span while shooting at least 70% from the field; Elgin Baylor had three of those streaks, Chamberlain had two and David Thompson had one.
&ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s just being locked-in, staying with a mindset of being aggressive, not taking a game off and coming out with a mindset of dominating and doing whatever I&rsquo;ve got to do to help the team win,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Whatever it is, I&rsquo;m just trying to do my part.&rdquo;

AD's 44-point performance at Milwaukee on Friday was followed by a 55-point outburst at Washington on Sunday.

With 99 points in 2 games, Lakers' Anthony Davis on big roll

Spencer Davies details Jamal Cain's climb from Pontiac, Michigan to the NBA level through the lens of longtime friend Mychal Covington.

Outwork everybody: Two-way Heat rookie Jamal Cain catches you sleeping

I'll be the first to admit I'm a numbers guy.
I mean, I write the Stats Notebook at Basketball News. The NBA Stats site is a top page in my browser, and PBP Stats, BBall Index and the like can become rabbit holes if I have too much free time. Statistics are a chronology of moments, making the past tangible and the future ever-so-slightly more predictable.
Stats also never tell the whole story. Ayo Dosunmu might be this year's case in point.
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The second-year Chicago Bulls guard has been one of my favorite individual players to watch in this early 2022-23 season. Dosunmu is averaging 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game and has seen his production rise in accordance with a slight minutes bump.
However, his 59.2% True Shooting percentage is a hair down from last year (still quite good by the way!), his assist and turnover rates have also dropped a bit, and he's recorded a -42 plus-minus on the season despite the 6-6 Bulls losing just one game by double digits.
People probably look at those surface numbers and shrug their shoulders. But watch Dosunmu and witness his versatility, creativity and electricity jump out of the screen.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Watch only Ayo Dosunmu throughout this defensive play. This is the stuff you don't catch if you're only watching the ball, GREAT off-ball defense that blew up this possession. <a href="https://t.co/9LzLrUeZJv">pic.twitter.com/9LzLrUeZJv</a>
&mdash; Steph Noh (@StephNoh) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephNoh/status/1588694321427279873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
Dosunmu completes three significant actions here, and only one (the assist to Zach LaVine) lands in the box score. He slinks through the off-ball screens to cover Jaylen Brown and nullify a primary piece of Boston's set. Then, with Brown in a minimally-advantageous spot in the corner, Dosunmu helps out on Jayson Tatum's drive, effectively contesting the shot that ultimately gets blocked by Patrick Williams. Dosunmu then grabs the loose ball, immediately looks up and hits LaVine in transition.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Defensive processing by Ayo Dosunmu. DeRozan guarding Tatum in the corner. LaVine leaves his man to help. Ayo slides down to cover both his and LaVine&rsquo;s man. Brown cuts to the basket so Ayo covers him. Tatum beats DeRozan so Ayo helps by sliding down to protect the rim. <a href="https://t.co/m1DItCVSmm">pic.twitter.com/m1DItCVSmm</a>
&mdash; Hoop Informatics 🏀📊🎥 (@HoopInformatics) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoopInformatics/status/1588696454750957568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Hoops Informatics highlights another possession from the same game. Dosunmu starts this clip by covering two players on the weak side. When he sees LaVine slide back toward his corner and catches Brown cutting into the paint, Dosunmu shuts off the option. He stays engaged with the ball, though, and then helps again on Tatum's baseline drive.
Here's one more moment &mdash; this time from Chicago's first game against Boston, a 123-119 win:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Meanwhile first play for Boston: - Smart needs to pass the ball earlier than he did - Tatum actually does this well but at this point its to a worse above-the-break shooter - Bulls are helping aggressively and Boston isn't making them pay - Look at Ayo Dosunmu just flying around <a href="https://t.co/WDt5HQkKcD">pic.twitter.com/WDt5HQkKcD</a>
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1584981009279246336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The multiple defensive efforts in myriad forms are remarkable, and they take a combination of schematic understanding, processing speed and, simply, quick legs. Dosunmu's internall throttle is always to the floor &mdash; even if it leads to the <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1588983680164589569" target="_blank" rel="noopener">occasional over-revving</a>.
"Ayo was, basically all last year, just playing off the feel," teammate Alex Caruso <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-alex-caruso-nailing-down-details-chicago-bulls-defense-lonzo-ball-ayo-dosunmu-golf-nutrition-tea-cooper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Basketball News over the offseason</a>. "Your first year in the league, you don't understand concepts really. You don't understand coverages. You're seeing guys play, and you're playing against guys for the first time. You're seeing their best moves for the first time; they're probably going to beat you most of the time. So for him to be able to compete the way he did last year on defense is a great sign for a guy in his first year."
Dosunmu's knowledge base is catching up in Year 2.&nbsp;
He molds his same spark to a different context on offense. He's been a second-side driving weapon since joining Chicago as a 2021 second-round draft pick, and has continued to flourish by <a href="&lt;blockquote%20class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;%20data-theme=&quot;dark&quot;&gt;&lt;p%20lang=&quot;en&quot;%20dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;Ayo%20Dosunmu%20threw%20a%20perfect%20pass%20here%20right%20through%20the%20teeth%20of%20a%20Celtics%20defense%20that%20was%20aggressively%20trying%20to%20pin%20him%20on%20the%20baseline.%20Also%20another%20well-timed%20cut%20from%20Goran%20Dragic%20who%20has%20been%20great%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https:/t.co/B63UMOTgFK&quot;&gt;pic.twitter.com/B63UMOTgFK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash;%20Ethan%20Fuller%20(@ethman43)%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https:/twitter.com/ethman43/status/1584974536985874433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;October%2025,%202022&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;%20&lt;script%20async%20src=&quot;https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&quot;%20charset=&quot;utf-8&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attacking off the catch</a>. Dosunmu's overall rim frequency is down a tad from last year, but don't let that fool you; he's still a force getting to the basket.
According to PBP Stats, 56 players have attempted over 40 self-created shots (when holding the ball for two or more seconds) from within 10 feet of the hoop so far. Dosunmu is hitting on 55.8% of those attempts, ranking 17th. Over 47% of his shots have been self-created compared to just 39.4% as a rookie. So while the efficiency has regressed slightly in this small sample, Dosunmu still shows plenty of promise.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/iuhdw7" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
He's adept along the baseline, and defenders that force him there are only giving him space to attack and windows to hit teammates. Dosunmu almost always receives 1-on-1 matchups; how can a defense justify leaving LaVine, DeMar DeRozan or Nikola Vucevic?
The problem for those defenders, however, is that Dosunmu can beat individuals with an isolation drive. He's got a shifty handle, sneaky change-of-pace chops, length and touch.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/mxh7tm" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The 22-year-old can also break out a solid floater. He doesn't often &mdash; only 10% of his shots are in the short-mid-range area, per Cleaning the Glass &mdash; but against the Charlotte Hornets, Dosunmu used it with success.&nbsp;
Dosunmu guarantees spectators at least a handful of "Man, this guy is flying!" plays every game, whether it be via a transition push-ahead, a half-court drive or a defensive rotation.
Plus-minuses and box scores can shove it &mdash; this guy is undoubtedly a winning contributor.

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Ayo Dosunmu has been a steadying two-way force with his effort and pace in the Bulls' 6-6 start to the season. Ethan Fuller writes.

Don't overlook Ayo Dosunmu's brilliance with the Bulls

There are many one-word answers that could be given about the state of the NBA&rsquo;s Western Conference. Loaded, deep, stacked, daunting: They all certainly apply.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch has another word: &ldquo;Brutal,&rdquo; he said.
That one works, too.
The defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors rightly expect to contend again, and there will be no shortage of teams entering this season believing they&rsquo;re good enough to compete for a title as well. The Los Angeles Clippers get Kawhi Leonard back, the Phoenix Suns have won more games than any team in the NBA over the last two regular seasons, the Denver Nuggets have the two-time reigning MVP in Nikola Jokic, the Dallas Mavericks have a presumed future MVP in Luka Doncic, and the Memphis Grizzlies can say the same about Ja Morant.
Oh, and there&rsquo;s LeBron James of Los Angeles Lakers, entering Year 20, somehow still not slowing down and maybe 50 or so games away from catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring record.
&ldquo;When you put in the work,&rdquo; James said, &ldquo;you see the results.&rdquo;
Lakers first-year coach Darvin Ham knows a great offseason, or a great lineup on paper to start a season, doesn&rsquo;t guarantee anything. He was an assistant coach for the Lakers in 2012-13, when the team entered the year with a lineup of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard.
That group had two Hall of Famers in Nash and Bryant, and two likely future ones in Gasol and Howard. They started seven games together that season &mdash; and went 0-7.
The Lakers went through three coaches that injury-plagued year, won 45 games and got swept in the first round by San Antonio.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of work that goes into it, remaining healthy being at the top of the list,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;And most important, also coming together as a team.&rdquo;
Finch&rsquo;s Timberwolves are another team that made big offseason moves, landing Rudy Gobert from Utah. But even with that acquisition, Finch knows nothing will be easy in the West. He noted the conference has so much quality that even some good teams &mdash; New Orleans was an example he cited &mdash; just aren&rsquo;t getting talked about.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s open,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;And I think it&rsquo;s deep. ... There&rsquo;s certainly stratas of teams, but I think there&rsquo;s no clear-cut, dominant team, as there has been. But yeah, it&rsquo;s going to be a brutal one.&rdquo;
A look at the West, in predicted order of regular-season finish:
PLAYOFF BOUND
1. Los Angeles Clippers. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-clippers-nba-sports-basketball-kawhi-leonard-399804492d9323118257a912c784c50e">Leonard</a> should quickly remind the league he&rsquo;s still elite. If Paul George can stay healthy, and if John Wall has anything left &mdash; the Clippers would be smart to watch his minutes &mdash; then this is a team that could win the whole thing.
2. Golden State Warriors. Doubt the champs at your own peril. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-basketball-4462bbe7e27fa3d91290a8d94641d2a2">The Draymond Green mess</a> is exactly that &mdash; &ldquo;a crisis,&rdquo; coach Steve Kerr called it &mdash; but the Warriors seem like a group that can handle such a situation. Oh, and they have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. And a super-talented young core.
3. Phoenix Suns. The Game 7 embarrassment at home last season isn&rsquo;t something that will be easily forgotten and it wasn&rsquo;t exactly a smooth offseason amid the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-suns-nba-sports-mercury-basketball-5d41fac4d946eaa106cb8bdfd567c37e">scandal surrounding owner Robert Sarver.</a> Devin Booker is entering his prime, and Chris Paul is running out of opportunities to finally get his championship. Still an enormously talented team.
4. Denver Nuggets. All they have is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-jamal-murray-nikola-jokic-d092a1736eaa4f5f986bf6464b636fca">a two-time reigning MVP in Jokic</a>, and the returns of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. There is a lot to like.
5. Memphis Grizzlies. It may be unrealistic to expect another 56-win regular season, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9133154cdb4253d6dfebf0e68279b4c7">but Morant is an MVP-caliber star,</a> and the team has tons of swagger.
6. Minnesota Timberwolves. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-utah-jazz-nba-entertainment-sports-30765f1caacff7e3e99aa0674dee7ffb">Yes, they emptied the safe to acquire Gobert</a>. Pairing him with Karl-Anthony Towns gives Minnesota a 1-2 punch like almost none other. And with D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards continuing to get better, the Wolves should be in the mix.
INTO THE PLAY-IN
7. Dallas Mavericks. Doncic looks to be in better shape, will be an MVP frontrunner and is coming off a great summer at EuroBasket for Slovenia. The Mavs need to find ways to not have Doncic carrying more than his share of the load.
8. Los Angeles Lakers. The biggest mystery in the West and maybe the league. James is on pace to become the scoring king, Anthony Davis can still be a major problem for opponents &mdash; when he&rsquo;s healthy &mdash; and Russell Westbrook is looking to silence critics. But will it work?
9. Sacramento Kings. New coach Mike Brown will install a new culture, the acquisition of Kevin Huerter was super-smart and the Kings are going to score a ton of points. It&rsquo;s going to be hard to take big leaps forward in the loaded West, but the Kings will try.
10. New Orleans Pelicans. They got hot at the right time last year, got playoff experience and now they get Zion Williamson back after he couldn&rsquo;t play last season. Not many teams embrace a coach the way New Orleans embraces Willie Green, either. But, again, the West is just so tough ...
FACING LONG ODDS
11. Portland Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard is going to be a player on a mission this season and the Blazers will be improved over a year ago. But, again, the West is just so tough ...
12. Utah Jazz. Even after trading away Donovan Mitchell and Gobert, there&rsquo;s still talent there. Not enough talent, but coach Will Hardy will have Utah playing defense. That&rsquo;s a certainty.
13. Houston Rockets. We&rsquo;ve now entered the lottery-watch portion of the list. Houston has young talent and a really good coach in Stephen Silas, but a team needs more in the West these days.
14. Oklahoma City Thunder. No Chet Holmgren this season means the Thunder return to the lottery. It&rsquo;s a development year for a team with tons of draft assets.
15. San Antonio Spurs. Gregg Popovich won&rsquo;t add many wins to the NBA all-time record this season, but he&rsquo;ll be teaching the players he has how to win in the future. He&rsquo;ll also be brushing up on French wine, with hopes of having something to talk about with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-draft-c99e5e378f68d962e5843963e7cb8602">Victor Wembanyama</a> for years to come.
FANDUEL SAYS ...
<a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba">FanDuel Sportsbook</a> lists the Warriors as the pick to come out of the West, by the slimmest of margins over the Clippers with the Suns not far behind.
Denver, Memphis, the Lakers, Dallas, Minnesota and New Orleans are the second tier of FanDuel&rsquo;s West favorites. From there, it&rsquo;s a wide gap to the rest of the West -- Portland, then Sacramento, Utah, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Houston.
STEPH WATCH
Curry, already the leading 3-point shooter, scored 1,630 points last season.
If he does that again this year, he&rsquo;ll have climbed into the top 40 scorers in NBA history.
Curry starts this season 47th on the scoring list with 20,064 points. He needs 831 to pass Pau Gasol for the No. 40 spot, and if he matches his scoring mark from last year, Curry could end the season 37th &mdash; just behind No. 36 Larry Bird (21,791) and just ahead of Hal Greer (21,591).
LEBRON&rsquo;S LIST
James has had a lot of teammates. A whole lot.
Counting players who have gotten into regular-season games during James&rsquo; stints in Cleveland, Miami and with the Lakers, he&rsquo;s up to 226 teammates over his first 19 seasons. That number will rise on opening night, probably into the 230s.
NEW COACHES
There are three new coaches in the West. Ham got his long-awaited chance to coach when he was hired by the Lakers, and Utah's Hardy is making his head coaching debut.
Sacramento&rsquo;s Brown went 347-216 coaching Cleveland and the Lakers, and spent the last six seasons as an assistant in Golden State.
DENVER TO .500?
Denver beat Cleveland on Jan. 12, 1996, and that victory raised the Nuggets&rsquo; all-time record in NBA games to 797-796.
They lost to Portland the next night. They haven&rsquo;t been over .500 as a franchise since.
But that could change this year. The Nuggets enter this season 1,844-1,861, and if they get to 18 games over .500 they&rsquo;ll have a winning all-time record for the first time in about 27 years.
It seems quite possible: The Nuggets have been an average of 20 games over .500 in each of the last four seasons.

There will be no shortage of teams in the West entering this season believing they’re good enough to compete for a title.

NBA's Western Conference is loaded with title hopefuls

It was Oct. 29, 2003. LeBron James played his first NBA game. The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Sacramento Kings, and James scored 25 points.
That night, there were 2,708 names ahead of him on the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring list.
He&rsquo;s caught 2,707 of them.
Only one person remains ahead of James on the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring ladder &mdash; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has been the scoring leader since April 5, 1984. His run is about to end, the crown getting passed from one Los Angeles Laker to another in just 1,326 more points.
&ldquo;To sit here and to know that I&rsquo;m on the verge of breaking probably the most sought-after record in the NBA, things that people say will probably never be done, I think it&rsquo;s just super, like, humbling for myself,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s super cool.&rdquo;
The score: Abdul-Jabbar 38,387, James 37,062. At James&rsquo; career pace of 27.1 points per game, he&rsquo;s 49 games away from becoming No. 1; at James&rsquo; scoring pace last season of 30.3 per game, he would be 44 games away.
If James doesn&rsquo;t miss games, the first target window is mid-to-late January. He'll become the most prolific scorer while being one of the greatest passers ever; James is seventh all-time in assists and should be up to No. 4 when this season ends.
&ldquo;One of the things that&rsquo;s really amazing about LeBron is he&rsquo;s such a willing passer and such a gifted passer,&rdquo; said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who coached James for four seasons (2010-2014) and two championships. &ldquo;In many ways, that&rsquo;s one of his most unique, special qualities. And yet, he&rsquo;s going to break the all-time record for scoring &mdash; and that can be a secondary skillset for him. That&rsquo;s crazy.&rdquo;
Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons. James is entering his 20th season. They put up their points in different ways: James, for example, has 6,420 points in his career from 3-point range. Abdul-Jabbar has three.
Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook took the NBA by storm from the outset. He averaged 30.4 points per game in his first six seasons and 24.6 over his career, though managed only 14.1 per game over his final three seasons.
James hasn&rsquo;t had a dropoff. He&rsquo;s averaged at least 25 points per game in each of his last 18 seasons. Before last season, only one player &mdash; Kobe Bryant, who put up 22.3 points in 2014-15 &mdash; averaged more than 19 points in the 19th season of his career. James averaged just over 30.
Put simply, no NBA player has ever been this good for this long.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always gratifying to know that the work that you put in can have results,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been a person that cheats the game. I&rsquo;ve always put the work in."
He acknowledged a few years back that he &ldquo;could see&rdquo; himself catching Abdul-Jabbar, though stressed it wasn&rsquo;t a priority. The Lakers, just two years removed from the 2020 NBA title, were a disaster last season and missed the playoffs. James&rsquo; goal is to get back to championship contention, as he seeks a fifth ring.
His work ethic still astounds those around him.
&ldquo;LeBron is not from this planet,&rdquo; first-year Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s for damn sure.&rdquo;
James and Abdul-Jabbar have had a challenging relationship. Abdul-Jabbar was outside of the Cleveland locker room during the 2016 Eastern Conference finals as James was jogging by. James stopped and the two shared a hug and a few kind words, then later that night James spoke of the respect he has for Abdul-Jabbar and others who paved the way.
Other chapters haven&rsquo;t gone that smoothly. Abdul-Jabbar has been critical at times, though said earlier this year that he has &ldquo;deep admiration and respect for LeBron as a community leader and athlete. That hasn&rsquo;t changed and never will.&rdquo; Recently, James said he has &ldquo;no relationship&rdquo; with Abdul-Jabbar.
&ldquo;Obviously, Kareem has had his differences with some of my views and some of the things that I do,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;But listen, at the end of the day, to be able to be right in the same breath as a guy that wore this same uniform, a guy that was a staple of this franchise ... and a guy that does a lot off the floor as well, I think it&rsquo;s just super-duper dope.&rdquo;
They&rsquo;ll be linked all season, at least until the record falls. And that could serve as a refresher course for some fans.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-hawks-washington-wizards-nba-sports-14086e90e6040b1fcd7af8b6cbcc0ed5">Russell Westbrook&rsquo;s pursuit of the all-time triple-double record</a> seemed to introduce a younger generation of NBA fans about the greatness of Oscar Robertson. James closing in on Abdul-Jabbar, whose last game was in 1989, might very well do the same thing.
Robert Horry, the seven-time NBA champion who spent seven seasons with the Lakers and is now a broadcaster for the team, said he hopes Abdul-Jabbar benefits from the attention the chase will generate.
&ldquo;I look at Cap&rsquo;s record as better than LeBron&rsquo;s record, because Cap didn&rsquo;t shoot any 3s,&rdquo; Horry said, referring to Abdul-Jabbar by one of his nicknames. &ldquo;When you look at what LeBron&rsquo;s been able to do, it&rsquo;s amazing. I&rsquo;m not taking anything away from LeBron. But you have to look at what Cap did and be like, &lsquo;Man, this dude put in years in college, then he went to the pros and didn&rsquo;t shoot any 3s and played at a time where the game wasn&rsquo;t sped up like it is.&rsquo; Cap&rsquo;s record is amazing.&rdquo;
It is. But soon, it won&rsquo;t be his anymore. James is about to become the scoring king and, barring injury, he extend the mark for years to come.
&ldquo;The way he&rsquo;s always been a student of the game, the way he&rsquo;s taken care of himself, you always knew he was going to play as long as he wanted,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t slowed down. He&rsquo;s like Tom Brady. He literally can play until he decides, &lsquo;All right, I feel like doing something else.&rsquo; And I don&rsquo;t see that coming.&rdquo;

At LeBron James’ career pace of 27.1 points per game, he’s 49 games away from becoming No. 1 all-time in scoring.

LeBron James closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA scoring record

The stage is set with 6:24 left in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.
The Las Vegas Aces hold a 60-59 lead coming out of a timeout, and have just put their knockout lineup on the floor. Their small unit &mdash; Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Riquna Williams, Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson &mdash; will be tasked with bringing things home.
On the other side, the Connecticut Sun are rolling with their big unit. Courtney Williams, DeWanna Bonner, Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones &mdash; a group that shrinks the floor for the opposition and bludgeons them in the paint &mdash; pose a significant challenge. It's the starkest example of the stylistic clash this series represents.
The Aces have to work on their first possession. Gray brings the ball up the floor while being hounded by Thomas. Plum comes to set a screen for Gray in an effort to pry Thomas away &mdash; and put Courtney Williams in the action &mdash; but Thomas stays attached. Plum eventually gets the ball and drills a tough pull-up triple over Williams, but the shot comes nearly 20 seconds into the possession.
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But that possession is instructive for the Aces. They recognize that the Sun aren't going to allow Gray to beat them. And while they'd love to get Wilson involved as a screener, doing so consistently would invite even more size and length for Gray to have to navigate.
Roughly a minute later, the Aces push after a miss. Gray is once again hounded by Thomas, so the Aces counter with a pair of early drag screens. Wilson sets the first, while Riquna Williams sets the second. Gray is able to get downhill and drag Williams' defender, Jonquel Jones, with her.
A switch is forced as Gray loops around the paint, kicks the ball to Young and receives it back on the left wing. The Sun don't want Jones defending Gray, so Thomas peels over to trap her. Mayhem occurs from there: Gray's pass to the now-open Williams is deflected, but recovered. Young ends up with the ball and pump fakes, then, cans a crucial pull-up jumper.
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It's at that moment the Aces know that Riquna Williams is the pressure point that will bring them home. Or, more coldly: They know Jonquel Jones is the player they want to attack in space.
You know the rest of the story by now. The Aces find gold with Williams setting screens and flaring out above the three-point line. She would finish the game with 17 points, 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter and 8 of those coming in the final two minutes.
For all the discussion about the Aces' bench throughout the season, it's at least a little funny that a bench player slammed the door of a closeout Finals game.&nbsp;
The buckets from Williams were loud, but the calculated nature of the Aces' attack is what spoke loudest to me. Sun head coach Curt Miller described the Aces' offensive attack as "NBA-like'' when asked about it<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-finals-2022-catching-up-coach-curt-miller-connecticut-sun-las-vegas-aces-jonquel-jones-alyssa-thomas-dewanna-bonner" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> ahead of Game 2</a>. He made a similar comparison when asked about the guard-guard screens the Aces ran to close out Game 4.
"The guard-to-guard screens, as they ghosted out of a lot of them, tried to put us in rotation," Miller told Basketball News after the game."
&ldquo;They were searching. They were trying to get some switches to the matchup advantage they were looking for. That was the chess match. Then, as we went big, they started to put different bigs in that action also. Ultimately, a lot of that pro mentality that leaps into the league from the NBA. We become a copycat league, and that was the action they chose to run late."&nbsp;
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Considering the recent background of Aces head coach Becky Hammon &mdash; she was hired as a San Antonio Spurs assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in 2014, and held the position until taking the Aces job this year &mdash; it makes sense that there were NBA elements to her game plan. When asked about coaches that influenced her style, Hammon referenced some of the top coaches in the NBA.
"I really liked watching Brad Stevens, when he was coaching, obviously. Quin Snyder, [Erik] Spoelstra, Mike Malone. There have been a lot of people that I've watched over the years," Hammon told Basketball News.
"I was in San Antonio for eight years. That's close to 700 games; and that's just our games, not me watching other teams' games for scouting purposes. It's a lot of basketball, so you just see certain things along the way. Some of them are stolen right off the page; other ones, I tweak and put different things in different places."
Look at the coaches referenced from Hammon, and you'll see some fingerprints.
Guard screening, on and off the ball, has been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/changing-of-the-guard-the-future-of-screening-is-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the rise in the NBA</a> for quite some time. The type of mismatch hunting the Aces utilized down the stretch of Game 4 is commonplace in the NBA, particularly in the playoffs.&nbsp;
During Hammon's last season as an NBA assistant (2020-21), Synder's Utah Jazz (17.3 per 100 possessions), Stevens' Boston Celtics (13.4), and Spoelstra's Miami Heat (10.6) all ranked in the top 10 in on-ball screens set by guards per Second Spectrum. That trend holds with off-ball screens, with the Heat (23.0), Malone's Nuggets (20.8) and the Celtics (19.2) populating the top 10.&nbsp;
You'll have to hone in on the ATOs to see some of the "stolen off the page" examples, like Hammon using the "Winner" set that <a href="https://youtu.be/c7i0Fs7QfgY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stevens' Celtics popularized</a> during the semifinals against the Seattle Storm.
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This doozy was also pulled out against the Storm, a nice call-back to a set ran by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr &mdash; another Popovich disciple.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A brilliant ATO drawn up by Becky Hammon gave the Las Vegas Aces a crucial basket against the Seattle Storm last night. It looked like a familiar play... because Steve Kerr also drew it up for the Golden State Warriors a couple of months ago vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. <a href="https://t.co/ibjMZL2pOk">pic.twitter.com/ibjMZL2pOk</a>
&mdash; Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeVirayNBA/status/1566818735465172992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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But the broader concepts &mdash; the way Hammon uses her stars together to put strain on defenses &mdash; really shine through with the examples she used.
The Aces loved to use "Get" action &mdash; a pitch to a guard that flows into a handoff and next flows into a ball-screen &mdash; as part of their early offensive strategy. That was a Snyder staple in Utah, one used to get Donovan Mitchell (or Mike Conley) downhill against a titled defense.
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There were the Plum screens set for Wilson to pry her free. Between traditional cross screens, pindowns inside the arc and random pin-in screens on the perimeter, you can easily draw parallels between those two and the two-man actions we'd see from Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic under Malone.
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I'd wager the Spoelstra influence is felt more on the defensive side of the ball. He's one of the brightest defensive minds in NBA history, with his hallmark being his team's versatility.
The Aces certainly embodied that, eschewing their conservative style from last season to more of a hybrid system. They were aggressive against ball-screens &mdash; until they weren't. They deployed drop coverage, until they wanted to switch.
There was zone. So much zone &mdash; another Spoelstra hallmark.
(It's also worth noting it's a Ty Lue staple. Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase brought her experience as a Clippers assistant coach &mdash; among other stops &mdash; with her this season.)
While Riquna Williams was bombing away on one end, the Aces went to a zone to close things out on the other end. That often left Gray, Williams and Young battling on the boards against the Sun's massive frontcourt. This possession still rings in my head.
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When asked about the process about implementing such a varied style, Hammon said she wanted to keep everyone &mdash; her opponents and her team &mdash; on their toes.&nbsp;
"When I went back and watched, obviously, a lot of games from the last year, and just me watching the WNBA over the last eight seasons since I've left, really, [it was] just something to mix things up," Hammon told Basketball News.
"You know, we've tried different defenses on Steph Curry, Dame Lillard. If we can junk it on them, we can junk it on anybody. It was just an idea to try to give people a different look to try to mix it up."
While the schematic shifts and tactical excellence was easy to see this year, it would all be moot without getting commitment from her players. If there's a through line between Hammon and the coaches she referenced, it's the ability to engage players and get them to buy in.
"I think the bigger thing is the players really bought into it," Hammon told Basketball News about the defense.
"It doesn't matter what scheme you're doing; the players have to believe in it. I think, at the end of the day, they saw enough good results. There were times when Chelsea was calling the defense, junk defense. I'm not even putting us in junk; she's putting us in junk. It's a fun way to play and it keeps the players locked in and alert because we do switch it up quite a bit."
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Nakase recently <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2022/09/20/swanson-becky-hammon-proved-she-can-lead-a-winning-team-next-up-someday-the-nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed those sentiments</a>, saying Hammon's "ability to get buy-in is probably the fastest I&rsquo;ve ever seen." That's strong praise for a coach who's spent time working with Lue and Doc Rivers.
It's hard to overstate how good of a job Hammon has done in Year 1. While it would be easy to highlight how foolish some NBA decision-makers should feel for not offering Hammon a head coaching job &mdash; they absolutely should feel foolish &mdash; it's worth celebrating how she flipped the slight on its head.&nbsp;
"I mean, my journey is not by mistake," Hammon said after Game 4. "Every hard thing that I've gone through has built something in me that I've needed down the road, and even though it sucks in the moment to not to be picked or to get hurt or whatever it might be, the hard stuff builds stuff in you that's necessary for life and you'll use it down the road. It may not feel like it in that moment.
"For me, it's not really about proving other people wrong, it's about proving myself right. If you guys haven't figured out yet, I don't really care."
A wonderful bar from a wonderful coach to cap a wonderful debut season.

Nekias Duncan talks to Aces head coach Becky Hammon about some of her NBA influences, then showcases examples.

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