Cougars

Dort and Toppin, once labeled &ldquo;cannot shoot&rdquo; coming into their NBA careers, both made big impacts in their first-ever Finals game, draining 5 threes each
In the NBA, the brightest lights often reveal the clearest truths.
For Lu Dort and Obi Toppin, the opening game of the 2025 NBA Finals was more than just their debut on basketball&rsquo;s biggest stage &ndash; it was a triumphant vindication. Two players once written off as flawed prospects because of their shooting, each drained five three-pointers in Game 1, helping their teams swing momentum and silence long-standing doubts about their offensive ceilings.
It was a performance steeped in symbolism. Dort, the undrafted defensive ace turned perimeter weapon, and Toppin, the high-flying former lottery pick once typecast as an energy dunker, had just reshaped the narrative &ndash; not just for the game, but for their careers.
Five threes. That&rsquo;s what both Dort and Toppin registered by the final buzzer in their Finals debuts. For any role player, that&rsquo;s an outstanding night. But for these two in particular, it was poetic justice.
Lu Dort wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be here. He wasn&rsquo;t drafted in 2019, and scouts questioned whether he had the offensive tools to stick in the league. He carved a role for himself with smothering defense, becoming one of the league&rsquo;s fiercest perimeter defenders. But that label &ndash; defensive stopper who can&rsquo;t shoot &ndash; stuck.
For years, Dort was left open. Defenses dared him to shoot. And too often, they were right to. His mechanics were rigid and his decision-making was erratic. But he didn&rsquo;t let that define him.
Dort has been one of the hardest workers on this OKC Thunder squad, shooting hundreds of reps every day during the&nbsp; offseason and the regular season even during losing streaks or back-to-backs.
That dedication culminated in Game 1, where Dort&rsquo;s five triples not only stretched the defense but gave Oklahoma City a vital offensive release valve in a high-stakes contest. Each make felt like the culmination of countless unseen hours.
Across the court, Obi Toppin was having a moment of his own.
Drafted eighth overall in 2020 by the New York Knicks, Toppin entered the league with highlight-reel athleticism and a college resume built on jaw-dropping dunks and vertical explosion. But quickly, he was pigeonholed and relegated just to that specific role alone.
The knock on Toppin was that he couldn&rsquo;t space the floor. That he was a dunker, not a basketball player. That once the athleticism declined, so would his value.
That narrative followed him out of New York and into Indiana, where a fresh start and head coach Rick Carlisle who believed in his development gave Toppin the runway to evolve. Over the past two seasons, Toppin&rsquo;s shooting steadily improved as his release quickened and his confidence grew. And in Game 1 of the Finals, it all came together.
Five made threes. All in rhythm and all fearless, with shots coming in from the crucial third and fourth quarters that helped Indiana to come back from a 15-point deficit.
Toppin didn&rsquo;t just space the floor &ndash; he bent it. He turned OKC&rsquo;s defense into a scramble, forcing rotations, opening lanes, and punishing closeouts. He played like someone who knew what this moment meant, not just for the game, but for the version of himself that people doubted for years.
Superstars dominate headlines in the NBA Finals, and rightfully so. But Dort and Toppin reminded the world that role players can swing games &ndash; and championships too. Their impact wasn&rsquo;t just about the box score; it was about the confidence they gave their teammates and the pressure they took off their stars.
Dort&rsquo;s three-point makes gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the spacing he needed to operate. Toppin&rsquo;s shooting allowed Tyrese Haliburton to orchestrate with a wider canvas. And in a game of inches, those extra feet of space mattered.
This wasn&rsquo;t some hot-shooting fluke. It was the product of years of sweat equity.
Dort entered the Finals shooting a career-high percentage from three this season. He rebuilt his jumper from the ground up and transformed his shot selection. Toppin, meanwhile, has quietly become a legitimate stretch four, hitting a good amount of his threes this season on increased volume.
What we saw in Game 1 wasn&rsquo;t a one-night miracle &ndash; it was a crescendo after years of being overlooked in that department.
It&rsquo;s easy to forget that both players were, at one point, afterthoughts in their respective teams' long-term plans.
Dort fought for a two-way contract, eventually earning his place in OKC&rsquo;s young core through defense, hustle, and improvement. Toppin was traded for spare parts. His exit from New York barely registered as a headline. But in Indiana, he found a system that let him grow.
Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals was their statement.
For Dort, it was a validation of years spent being the first one in the gym and the last one out. For Toppin, it was confirmation that the dunk contest was just a footnote in his journey, not the highlight.
They didn&rsquo;t just hit five threes. They rewrote the scouting reports. They proved the doubters wrong in basketball&rsquo;s biggest stage.
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;
There&rsquo;s something beautiful about seeing players redefine themselves. Not through viral highlights or big contracts, but through unglamorous, tireless work.
Dort and Toppin didn&rsquo;t become shooters overnight. They didn&rsquo;t stumble into Finals glory. They earned it through thousands of lonely reps, film sessions, tweaks, failures, and restarts.
That&rsquo;s why their Game 1 explosion hit differently.
It wasn&rsquo;t just a surprise &ndash; it was a celebration. A reminder that even in a league dominated by superstars, there&rsquo;s still room for the grinders. For the ones who refuse to be boxed in by labels. For the players who keep showing up, keep improving, and &ndash; when the moment finally comes &ndash; rise to meet it.
Lu Dort and Obi Toppin weren&rsquo;t supposed to be this. But they believed they could be. And now, with the whole basketball world watching, they are.

Lu Dort and Obi Toppin stunned in their 2025 NBA Finals debut, each making five three-pointers and defying critics.

Lu Dort, Obi Toppin rewrite their narratives in NBA Finals debut

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In the first few days of his second presidential term, Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders that will have an impact on the healthcare industry, some issuing new policies and some rescinding policies set forth by prior administrations. This has had a devastating impact on the American people.
While the country is on pins and needles awaiting the next bomb (both literally and figuratively) to drop from the Trump administration, Michael Jordan has figured out a way to actively combat one of the casualties (U.S. Health Care) of Trump&rsquo;s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and extended tax cuts for the upper echelon of the American population.&nbsp;
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<div>From an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/republicans-medicaid-cuts">article in The Guardian titled:&nbsp;&ldquo;Medicaid recipients fear &lsquo;buzzsaw cuts&rsquo; for Trump&rsquo;s agenda&rdquo;</a>, it reads&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;Republicans are considering a rollback of the federal social safety net, particularly Medicaid, which has nearly 80 million enrollees in all 50 states. The budget plan proposes an $880bn reduction in funding for the insurance over the next 10 years, an amount that experts warn would hollow out the program and have ripple effects across the entire American healthcare system.&rdquo;</div>
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<div>From an <a href="https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-president-trumps-latest-executive-orders-impacting-health-care">article in the MaynardNexsen titled &ldquo;President Trump&rsquo;s Latest Executive Orders Impacting Healthcare&rdquo;</a> it reads &ldquo;President Trump rescinded former President Joe Biden&rsquo;s order that extended the enrollment periods for Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) plans in most states, and granted additional funding for third parties aiding enrollment in ACA insurance. While ACA enrollment nearly doubled under the Biden administration to about 24 million people, those gains are attributed primarily to government subsidies that lowered the cost of ACA premiums. The effect this rescission will have on enrollment trends is one thing to watch in the coming years&rdquo;</div>
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<div>While all this is happening in real-time, Michael Jordan opened his fourth health clinic in North Carolina on February 19 in Wilmington. This new clinic, established in collaboration with Novant Health, focuses on providing care to uninsured and underinsured patients.</div>
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<div>MJ has spoken publicly exhibiting a tremendous amount of sincerity and passion about how important these clinics are and how many people they will help. He has addressed the growing issue of healthcare disparities and affirmed his dedication to providing healthcare to all people regardless of their income or economic status in particular in his hometown of North Carolina.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Many people are pleasantly surprised to see this side of MJ, but it goes along with what I witnessed as his teammate for the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I recall one time in particular when I was sitting in the training room getting treatment and he was getting his knee drained, which fans didn&rsquo;t know at the time he had to often do in order to continue playing. MJ asked me about a book (Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver) he saw me reading on the plane and we engaged in a deep conversation about race, politics, the community, and much more.&nbsp;</div>
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Sitting in earshot was his bodyguard, George, who chimed in and said jokingly, &ldquo;Yeah Michael doesn&rsquo;t like to tell anybody the things he does, so people don&rsquo;t think he does anything&rdquo;&nbsp;
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<div>He then proceeded to tell me a story of when MJ was all set to have this big event at an exclusive golf resort in Georgia back in the day, and he found out that they were still keeping an old tradition of not allowing Black People to join the club, but of course, they would let MJ participate. Well, long story short, right before the event, MJ informed the organizers that he was going to cancel everything if they didn&rsquo;t change their policy and of course, they capitulated to his demands.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I remember responding saying, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a great story that people need to hear. Why wouldn&rsquo;t you tell people that ?&rdquo; And MJ looked at me and said, &ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t do it for that.&rdquo; I remember looking at George and him saying, &ldquo;See, he doesn&rsquo;t want to tell anybody anything&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I tell this story for this reason. Playing with MJ for two years with the Wizards, I saw him do a lot of things quietly that nobody knew about. And from time to time I would whisper to him, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not gonna tell anyone about this either huh?&rdquo; And he would just smile and shake his head. In fact, he didn&rsquo;t even tell anyone that he donated his entire salary to the victims of 9-11. I remember being in the locker room when he was watching the coverage on TV and made the decision. Nobody found out until later that he did that.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Now, for years I have been on panels and programs talking about activism and athletes and they would always bring up MJ as the antithesis to the activist athlete and his infamous statement &ldquo;Republicans Buy Shoes Too&rdquo;. They would always paint MJ as the athlete who doesn&rsquo;t care about the community or really anything outside of himself and I would always push back on that because that&rsquo;s just not what I saw when I was his teammate. Now, did he lend his voice to causes or speak out on political issues that directly impact the Black Community? No, he didn&rsquo;t. But did he do nothing behind the scenes and have no interest or care for the community? I can&rsquo;t say that because that&rsquo;s not what I saw.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>People don&rsquo;t know about MJ&rsquo;s community impact platform, known as the Black Community Commitment (BCC), which is a 10-year, $100 million initiative focused on creating equitable futures for Black Americans through education, economic justice, narrative change, and social justice.</div>
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<div>They also don&rsquo;t know about him funding nonprofit institutional grantees and grassroots organizations across the country through his Open Call Community Grants program.&nbsp;They don&rsquo;t know about his Jordan Brand Wings Scholars Program which has sent hundreds of kids to college on full scholarships. But like George told me in the training room, he doesn&rsquo;t tell anyone so people assume he does nothing in the community.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Now, going back to MJ&rsquo;s 4th healthcare clinic.&nbsp;There is indeed currently a national healthcare crisis in the United States.&nbsp;In 2025, an estimated 27.1 million Americans of all ages are projected to be uninsured, representing an uninsured rate of 8.2%, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey. MJ&rsquo;s efforts have helped thousands of uninsured Americans actually receive care.</div>
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<div>Furthermore, as many Americans have found out the hard way, being insured does not guarantee full coverage. There is a large percentage of working-class Americans who are currently drowning in medical expenses, faced with increased costs of medications (thanks to the Trump administration), and higher co-pays all while having limited access to essential treatments.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>An article by Vishwesha Kumar of Fadeaway World, described Jordan&rsquo;s Health Clinic as,&nbsp;&ldquo;After witnessing the positive impact of these centers, Jordan donated $10 million to Novant Health to expand the project, leading to additional clinics being built in Wilmington. His efforts have helped thousands of patients receive their first-ever primary care visits, reinforcing his dedication to improving healthcare access.</div>
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The new Wilmington facility spans 7,300 square feet and includes 12 patient rooms, offering comprehensive medical services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. In addition to primary care physicians, the clinic will have a community health worker to connect patients with essential local resources. The facility will be open on weekdays, aiming to serve as a lifeline for many who struggle to access consistent coverage.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Micheal Jordan doesn&rsquo;t have to do any of this. He could ride off into the sunset and not care about what anyone thinks about him. He doesn&rsquo;t need any additional notoriety. He already has all the fame a man could possibly have. He doesn&rsquo;t need pats on the back or nods of approval from anyone. He does this because he genuinely cares.&nbsp;
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<div>&ldquo;Michael Jordan gives back but you didn't know it. Like LeBron does, but it's just seldom they show it.&rdquo;~Nas</div>
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While all this is happening in real-time, Michael Jordan opened his fourth health clinic in North Carolina.

In This Trump Era, Michael Jordan’s Free Health Clinics Are Very Much Needed

Since Matt Barnes retired from the NBA following the 2017 NBA Finals, he's engulfed himself in a very impressive media career. He's spent time as a panelist on ESPN's "The Jump," but more notably hosts his own podcast "All The Smoke" alongside former NBA player Stephen Jackson.&nbsp;
Barnes joined our own <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-podcast-matt-barnes-broadcasting-all-the-smoke-podcast-social-justice-rematch-etan-thomas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"The Rematch" with Etan Thomas</a> to talk about his life after basketball. The pair discussed a number of topics, including his off-court endeavors, his involvement on social-justice issues and, of course, what his life is like now that he's part of the media.&nbsp;
After being in the NBA for 14 seasons, it's been a nice second career for Barnes.
&ldquo;As athletes, we always thought there was some sort of motive. There was a handful of people that you kind of trusted, but for the most part, you had to watch yourself with the media,&rdquo; Barnes said. "That&rsquo;s something Jack and I are trying to change, obviously. We&rsquo;ve experienced pretty much everything that our guests have experienced and that gives us an easier intro and a different approach [to interviews], which allows most of our guests to really let their wall down and feel comfortable speaking to us.&rdquo;
Of course, just like when he was on the court, Barnes is going to have people who aren't fans of the work that he's doing. When asked how he responds to the hate, he shrugged it off.
&ldquo;I just smile, you know what I mean? Because the hatred was similar to what I got when I played, and you know that you&rsquo;re never going to be able to make everyone happy,&rdquo; Barnes told Thomas. &ldquo;But my whole goal with &lsquo;All The Smoke&rsquo; was to humanize our guest. Rest in peace Kobe, but you know Kobe&rsquo;s greatness; you know [the greatness of] KG, Steph, KD. You know what all these guys are great for, but I wanted to be able to strip that down and show how that process came about -- what turns they made or what obstacles they overcame to become as great as they are at their craft. I think because of myself and Jack&rsquo;s track record -- obviously a spotted track record, to say the least -- but [we've] always been real. We&rsquo;ve got into some trouble, we&rsquo;ve owned up to it, and if we needed to apologize, we apologized. But we just always handled ourselves in the realest type way.
"So, I think when we get our guests, they understand that we&rsquo;re not here for clickbait, we&rsquo;re not here to start trouble. We really just want to be able to have an in-depth conversation. And it was never a situation where I just wanted to put a mic in someone&rsquo;s face; I don&rsquo;t want that type of interview. I want it to be a kickback atmosphere like we&rsquo;re at the house medicating or having a drink and just having a good conversation and I think that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve been able to do because of the realness that Jack and I always approached life with and the game with. People respect that and they feel like they can be comfortable with us.
"I forgot the guy&rsquo;s name, Phil something from the New York Post that just <a class="c-link" href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/18/another-shameless-network-is-exploiting-the-nbas-worst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://nypost.com/2020/04/18/another-shameless-network-is-exploiting-the-nbas-worst/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">wrote a horrible article</a>&nbsp;about me and Jack. Like,&nbsp;horrible. I&rsquo;m just like, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re mad because you&rsquo;ve been in this space for 30-plus years and, at the time, we hadn&rsquo;t even done 'All The Smoke' for a year but our resume already far exceeded anything he's ever done.&rsquo; To me, how I used that [criticism] for fuel as a player, I use that for fuel as media now. It&rsquo;s crazy that we call ourselves media now. Because I never thought [I'd be doing this]. 'Me, media?!' You know what I mean? But I like seeing people like me, you, the Knuckleheads and all of these other former players that are in this space. We&rsquo;ve always allowed other people to tell our stories. We&rsquo;ve always just been the talent. [It&rsquo;s always been], &lsquo;You go score touchdowns or dunk or shoot threes or hit home runs or run [for] world records in track and let these white people tell our stories.&rsquo;
"But we&rsquo;re intelligent enough and can hold a conversation long enough and paint a picture well enough now to tell our own story. And again, that&rsquo;s a little bit of that power slippage that they&rsquo;re starting to see from mainstream media where they&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;What are these athletes doing, coming in here and doing our job? And in some cases, doing our job better.&rsquo;&rdquo;
You can watch the full episode of "The Rematch" below.
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This article was initially published on Basketball News on Feb. 11, 2021.

Barnes touches on his post-basketball media career, among other things.

Matt Barnes shares why he got into the media and started 'All The Smoke'

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

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

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

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

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

PORTLAND (AP) &mdash; De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 18 points and the Sacramento Kings clinched their first playoff berth since 2006 with a 120-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Kevin Huerter added 17 points in the win, which also earned the Kings home-court advantage to open the postseason. The team&rsquo;s 16-year playoff drought was the longest in NBA history and the longest active postseason dry spell among teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.
&ldquo;We want to do bigger things, but 16 years &mdash; that&rsquo;s a long time,&rdquo; Fox said. &ldquo;So that feels great just being able to get that off us.&rdquo;
Before the final buzzer, a large group of purple-clad Kings fans chanted Sacramento&rsquo;s rallying cry, &ldquo;Light The Beam!&rdquo;
Kings rookie Keegan Murray made his 188th 3-pointer of the season with 6:44 to go in the third quarter to set the NBA record, passing Donovan Mitchell&rsquo;s mark of 187 set in 2017-18. Murray, who flashed an understated grin after the shot fell, finished with 13 points.
The Kings (46-30) sit at third in the Western Conference. The first-place Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies, who sit three games back, have already clinched.
Sacramento could have sealed up the playoff spot earlier in the night, but the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 141-132.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got an opportunity to do something special, so we just continue to play this way and continue to get better, and hopefully we can get 50,&rdquo; Harrison Barnes said.
Rookie Shaedon Sharpe had 30 points for the Blazers, who have lost four straight and 10 of their last 11 games. The loss to the Kings eliminated Portland from playoff contention.
Portland was depleted with regular starters Damian Lillard (right calf), Jusuf Nurkic (right knee), Anfernee Simons (right foot) and Jerami Grant (left quad) all nursing injuries. It got a bit worse for Portland on Wednesday when Keon Johnson, who had 20 points in a loss to New Orleans on Monday, broke a finger in shootaround. Only seven Blazers played.
The Kings are 23-14 on the road this season, third-best in the NBA. And they&rsquo;ve avoided extended losing streaks: The team&rsquo;s longest came at the start of the season when the Kings opened with four straight.
&ldquo;Our guys are excited about it,&rdquo; Kings coach Mike Brown said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re excited about the way that they played tonight and the accomplishments that they&rsquo;ve had so far. They were excited for Keegan. But in the same breath, and not to downplay anything, they expect more.&rdquo;
Portland had a 20-19 edge after the first quarter, but the Kings took over, going up 44-32 on Kevin Huerter&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 3:51 to go before halftime. Portland closed the gap to 50-46 at the break.
The Kings went on to lead by as many as 40 points in the second half. Domantas Sabonis finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
&ldquo;Biggest difference was in the second half, they started making 3s, and they&rsquo;re that type of team,&rdquo; Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to play the same way. They&rsquo;re going to shoot a lot of 3s, and miss or make, they&rsquo;re going to play that way. We just couldn&rsquo;t keep up."
TIP-INS
Kings: The Kings were also in a position to clinch Monday, but they fell to Minnesota 119-115. ... &ldquo;I think every experience that we&rsquo;ve gone through this year can help translate (to the playoffs),&rdquo; Brown said before the game. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m telling you, we&rsquo;ll experience it in the playoffs at another level. And every round you advance in the playoffs, it&rsquo;s going to even take it up another notch.&rdquo;
Trail Blazers: It will likely be the second straight season the Blazers have missed the postseason. ... F Justise Winslow had surgery Wednesday on his left ankle. He is expected to be ready to play next season.
UP NEXT
The Kings and the Trail Blazers play again Friday night at the Moda Center.

De’Aaron Fox had 18 points and the Kings clinched their first playoff berth since 2006 with a 120-80 win over the Blazers on Wednesday.

Kings end record-long playoff drought with 120-80 win over Blazers

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

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

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

Spencer Davies tells the complex story of Eban Hyams, the first Indian-born international professional basketball player.

Setbacks and bouncebacks: On Eban Hyams, India's first pro ballplayer

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched outright their second regular-season SEC title in three years but continued to live on the edge over a troubling eight days that included courtroom revelations in a capital murder trial.
Miller rebounded teammate Jaden Bradley&rsquo;s missed dunk and drew a foul, making both free throws. Noah Clowney had blocked K.D. Johnson&rsquo;s layup attempt on the other end.
The Tigers (19-11, 9-8), who had three key players foul out, couldn&rsquo;t close it out after leading almost the entire way in regulation. They were up 17 with under 11 minutes left.
Alabama won its fourth straight but the past three have gone down to the wire since courtroom revelations tied freshmen Miller and Bradley to the scene of a murder. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.
Police said Miles texted Miller asking him to bring the gun.
NO. 22 TCU 75, NO. 9 TEXAS 73
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Damion Baugh scored a career-high 24 points, Emanuel Miller had 20 and TCU denied Texas a chance to play for a share of the Big 12 title in its upcoming regular-season finale.
Baugh scored on a breakaway layup off the opening tip and the Horned Frogs (20-10, 9-8 Big 12) never trailed. It was the second loss in a row and third in five games for the Longhorns (22-8, 11-6), who haven&rsquo;t won a regular-season conference crown since 2008.
Texas hosts third-ranked Kansas (25-5, 13-4) on Saturday. The Jayhawks had already clinched at least a piece of the Big 12 title Tuesday night, and now know they won&rsquo;t have to share it.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 16 points for the Longhorns, and Tyrese Hunter had 15.
NO. 10 GONZAGA 104, CHICAGO STATE 65
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 17 points in what&rsquo;s expected to be his final home game at Gonzaga, and the Bulldogs trounced Chicago State in a postseason tune-up.
Timme made his 99th start at Gonzaga. The senior forward ranks second on the school&rsquo;s career scoring list, 21 points behind Frank Burgess (1958-61).
The 6-foot-10 Timme has played four seasons at Gonzaga but could return for a fifth because of extra eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has not announced any definitive plans.
Fellow senior Rasir Bolton added 15 points for the Zags (26-5), who won their seventh straight game. Malachi Smith scored 14.
Jahsean Corbett led Chicago State (11-19) with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Gonzaga added the game to avoid going more than a week without playing before the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 85, OKLAHOMA 69
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Desi Sills flirted with a triple-double in his Bramlage Coliseum farewell and Kansas State held on to beat Oklahoma.
Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell also had big senior send-offs for the Wildcats. Sills finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Johnson had 16 points and Nowell added 11 points and 10 assists to help Kansas State (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) snap a three-game skid against the Sooners.
Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin scored 19 points for Kansas State, which led by 20 early in the second half before the Sooners (14-16, 4-13) made a late run. Milos Uzan had 20 points to lead Oklahoma.
NO. 14 UCONN 88, DEPAUL 59
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Adama Sanogo scored 26 points to lead five UConn players in double figures and the Huskies closed out their home schedule in emphatic style with an easy win over skidding DePaul.
Andre Jackson filled up the stat sheet for Connecticut (23-7, 12-7 Big East) with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Tristen Newton added 12 points for the Huskies, who have won four straight and seven of eight.
Nick Ongenda tied a career high with 17 points for DePaul (9-21, 3-16), which has lost 11 in a row.
UConn put the game away early, opening on a 29-2 run.
NO. 19 XAVIER 94, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 89
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Souley Boum scored a season-high 33 points and Colby Jones added a career-best 29 to help Xavier beat Providence and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament.
Ed Croswell had 17 points with 13 rebounds, and Bryce Hopkins also scored 17 for Providence, which cut a 22-point first-half deficit to two in the second half.
It was the Friars&rsquo; first loss at home in 16 games this season.
With one game remaining, Xavier (22-8, 14-5 Big East) has a one-game lead over Providence (21-9, 13-6) and controls the tiebreaker, having swept their two regular-season matchups.
OHIO STATE 73, NO. 21 MARYLAND 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help Ohio State finish its home schedule with a win over Maryland.
Justice Sueing had 16 points to lead six Buckeyes in double figures. Ohio State (13-17, 5-14 Big Ten) jumped ahead early with a 12-0 run and didn&rsquo;t give up the lead the rest of the way.
Julian Reese had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Terrapins (20-10, 11-8).
VANDERBILT 68, NO. 23 KENTUCKY 66
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead fall-away jumper in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining to finish with 23 points, and Vanderbilt topped Kentucky for its first win at Rupp Arena since January 2007.
The surging Commodores (17-13, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) earned their seventh win in eight games and are 7-3 since losing to Kentucky 69-53 last month in Nashville.
Wright&rsquo;s drive tied the game with 42 seconds left, and Tyrin Lawrence grabbed Antonio Reeves&rsquo; missed jumper with 20 seconds to go.
Reeves&rsquo; 3-point attempt missed the rim altogether as time expired. Kentucky had won its previous four and re-entered the rankings on Monday for the first time in seven weeks.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Wildcats (20-10, 11-6).
NOTRE DAME 88, NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 81
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh to win longtime coach Mike Brey&rsquo;s final home game.
Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points for the Fighting Irish (11-19, 3-16 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Brey, stepping down at season&rsquo;s end, received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game. He improved to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 years as Notre Dame coach.
Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 points for Pittsburgh. Blake Hinson added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5), who lost for only the second time in 10 games. They were playing their first game since moving into the AP Top 25 for the first time in seven years.

A recap of Wednesday's top-25 action in men's college hoops includes the Crimson Tide winning the regular-season SEC title.

No. 2 Alabama rallies from 17 down to top rival Auburn in OT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; In the 1990s, Dallas Mavericks point guard Derek Harper famously shot down an offer to be traded to the Jazz, quipping to ESPN: &ldquo;You go live in Utah.&rdquo;
Two decades later, members of the Golden State Warriors squad&nbsp;mocked Salt Lake&nbsp;as a nightlife-free city that could &ldquo;lull you to sleep.&rdquo;
And two months ago, former Jazz star Donovan Mitchell,&nbsp;reflecting on his time in Utah, said it was &ldquo;draining&rdquo; being a Black man in the mostly white, deeply religious state.
As the spotlight turns toward Salt Lake City and Utah during&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/107533176444f092fed0c7996a8e328f">this weekend&rsquo;s NBA All-Star Game</a>, business and political leaders are seeking to chip away at long-held notions &mdash; in basketball circles and elsewhere &mdash; of the state as a peculiar, boring and homogenous place that lags behind on LGBTQ- and race-related issues.
Their push to showcase the city and state as increasingly diverse and vibrant has been complicated by Utah&rsquo;s enduring legacy as a religious conservative stronghold, coupled with recent political developments at the intersection of race, gender and sports.
Just a year ago, a statewide ban implemented on transgender kids playing girls&rsquo; sports raised&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-adam-silver-north-carolina-64a3f0f2d3b33bf9ccc806bcd6293997">worries</a>&nbsp;that organizers of some events like the All-Star Game would think twice about coming to Utah.
Still, political leaders see efforts to make businesses and tourists feel welcome as key to Utah&rsquo;s continued growth and ability to attract profitable trade shows and the&nbsp;Winter Olympics, which it is seen as likely to bid to host again in 2034.
&ldquo;What happens with those oddities that people think is, they&rsquo;re very quickly dispelled when people actually come to Utah,&rdquo; said Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican and avid Jazz fan.
Downtown, a pop-up liquor store has been erected to serve fans this weekend between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints&rsquo; flagship temple and the Jazz&rsquo;s home arena. Team owner Ryan Smith is&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-salt-lake-city-f458ade6c498f9d9e729b25f9e5a7ebb">telling</a>&nbsp;anyone who will listen about the state&rsquo;s robust tech sector and progressive thinking. And the NBA is heavily advertising a pregame performance featuring&nbsp;Post Malone, a Utah-based, heavily face-tattooed rap star popular among residents.
Salt Lake City has long been more liberal and religiously diverse than the rest of Utah, a blue island in a sea of red. A majority of members on the current left-leaning city council&nbsp;identify as LGBTQ and are people of color.
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In the three decades since 1993, the last time the All-Star Game last was here, the population has diversified and almost doubled, transforming it into a thriving metropolis complete with the politics and problems that plague many midsize cities including pollution, housing shortages and&nbsp;homelessness.
A skyline dense with apartments, office buildings and two downtown malls has sprung up between Temple Square and the nearby mountains. The 2002 Olympics brought an influx of funding that helped build a light rail system many visitors will use during All-Star festivities.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the counterculture that rose up in response and continues to thrive both contribute to the city&rsquo;s social fabric.
&ldquo;We may still be peculiar, but we&rsquo;re&nbsp;minority Mormon&nbsp;now,&rdquo; she said.
The extensive influence of the faith known widely as the Mormon church will still be apparent, yet changes within its culture and the influx of thousands of secular residents may complicate how the expected 150,000 All-Star visitors perceive Salt Lake City, said Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University.
&ldquo;Anybody who visits &mdash; especially for the first time &mdash; is going to be immediately struck by the Salt Lake Temple and the church&rsquo;s holdings right downtown very close to the arena. This is, as a lot of people say, &rsquo;Mormonism&rsquo;s Vatican,&rdquo; he said.
High-profile church members also demonstrate how the image the faith projects has remained distinct while also becoming more assimilated into the mainstream, he said.
&ldquo;That really gets reflected in the younger generation of entrepreneurs and politicians,&rdquo; Mason added. &ldquo;People like Cox and Smith are Latter-day Saints who are committed to their faith but also are savvy people who grow up with the internet, plugged in to a global culture.&rdquo;
Hosting All-Star Weekend is a major opportunity in particular for Smith, who purchased the Jazz in 2020 after selling the survey-software provider company that he founded, Qualtrics, for $8 billion.
&ldquo;This is just a chance to really have a moment together. People definitely know that there&rsquo;s something here,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s absolutely unique in all the positive ways. I think the one thing that is beautiful about Utah, that the people keep telling me from a wellness standpoint, &lsquo;Utah is like where I&rsquo;m at my best.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Since Smith attended part of 1993&prime;s All-Star Weekend as a member of the Jazz&rsquo;s youth basketball program, the NBA has cultivated a reputation for embracing progressive politics and social justice to a greater extent than most other professional sports leagues.
The ban on transgender athletes in girls&rsquo; sports didn&rsquo;t end up costing Utah the All-Star Game. But some fear marketing efforts could face challenges as the state doubles down on socially conservative stances on matters of race, gender and sports. Last month lawmakers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-children-utah-surgery-9d8b304aef5060a1e033416558c9d6f8">banned</a>&nbsp;gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a policy being considered by lawmakers in a number of states across the country.
Utah has among the highest white populations of any state at 78% of its 3.3 million residents, and less than 2% are Black. That lack of racial diversity is long believed to have hurt efforts by the Jazz to lure free agents and retain players.
Mitchell, after being&nbsp;traded&nbsp;to the Cavaliers last offseason, said it took a lot of energy to confront a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-nhl-ut-state-wire-utah-nfl-758cb7968d564893b57ca6d0a19777ce">series</a>&nbsp;of highly public race-related experiences and the pushback he received in response. They included incidents of bullying against Black students in Utah schools that he&nbsp;called&nbsp;&ldquo;demoralizing&rdquo;; a&nbsp;dustup&nbsp;between him and the state Senate president over new restrictions on how race and history could be taught; and the time Mitchell said he was pulled over and &ldquo;got an attitude from the cop&rdquo; until the officer saw Mitchell&rsquo;s ID and realized he was the Jazz player.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret there&rsquo;s a lot of stuff that I dealt with being in Utah, off the floor. ... I took on a lot because I felt like I could do it. But at some point, it became a lot to have to deal with,&rdquo; he&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://andscape.com/features/donovan-mitchell-thinks-the-cavaliers-can-be-a-pretty-scary-group/">told</a>&nbsp;the ESPN publication Andscape in December.
Some see All-Star weekend as a means of elevating social justice initiatives and changing Salt Lake City&rsquo;s image through showcasing oft-overlooked pockets of diversity. Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, helped organize a expungement clinic with the NBA&rsquo;s social justice arm in the lead-up to the game, a year after Cox signed legislation to clear low-level convictions from people&rsquo;s criminal records. She said the NBA&rsquo;s presence in places regardless of the prevailing local politics has had&nbsp;tangible&nbsp;impacts.
&ldquo;They are doing more than lip service. They&rsquo;re putting out a host of events,&rdquo; Meade said. &ldquo;What it means for the All-Star Game to come to a state like Utah is it brings an immersion of culture and diversity and lifts up what&rsquo;s happening on some social issues.&rdquo;
</div>

With the spotlight on Salt Lake City for the NBA All-Star Game, local leaders are looking to chip away at long-held notions of the state.

In NBA All-Star spotlight, Utah looks to change perceptions

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

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

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

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Khris Middleton is making the most of his limited minutes as he works his way back from injuries that kept him from playing for much of the season.
Middleton scored 18 points and sparked a third-quarter run that put the Milwaukee Bucks ahead for good as they beat the Charlotte Hornets 124-115 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victry.
&ldquo;Right now I&rsquo;m trying to be as aggressive as I can,&rdquo; Middleton said. &ldquo;I know it sounds simple or whatever, but that&rsquo;s just the mindset I&rsquo;m trying to come up with, especially with my limited minutes. Hopefully as my minutes keep going (up), I keep the same mindset, because it&rsquo;s been working.&rdquo;
The Bucks withstood a triple-double from Charlotte&rsquo;s LaMelo Ball, who had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 18 rebounds to help the Bucks avenge one of their most embarrassing losses of the season. Jrue Holiday added 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Middleton played 20 minutes, his longest outing since coming back from a sore right knee that caused him to miss 18 games. The three-time All-Star&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-los-angeles-lakers-boston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks-nba-0b824a430ebd34c5c5f9225c45dad4c8">also missed the Bucks&rsquo; first 20 games while recovering from offseason surgery on his left wrist.</a>
He has come off the bench in each of the Bucks&rsquo; five games since his return.
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&ldquo;I started my career coming off the bench, so it doesn&rsquo;t really bother me at all,&rdquo; Middleton said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on the bench before, not playing games, sometimes coming in first quarter, second quarter or sometimes not until the second half. I just know I have to stay ready and have to be loose.&rdquo;
In a game that featured 11 ties and 17 lead changes, Middleton helped Milwaukee gain command. He scored 11 points during a 14-3 spurt late in the third quarter that helped the Bucks take a 97-90 lead into the final period.
&ldquo;He got going when they kind of took control of the game,&rdquo; Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.
Charlotte (16-36) entered the night with the fourth-worst record in the NBA, but the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-charlotte-hornets-nba-sports-bobby-portis-ddb460d79b932a3f2574bf51f048267d">Hornets won 138-109 at Milwaukee on Jan. 6</a>&nbsp;to hand the Bucks their second-most lopsided loss of the season. The Hornets had 51 points in the opening period that night &mdash; matching the NBA record for a first quarter &mdash; and limited Antetokounmpo to nine points.
Even after scoring 50 points in a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-washington-wizards-new-orleans-pelicans-nba-sports-152c586a964f31d1c3333cb74c5cb822">135-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans</a>&nbsp;on Sunday, Antetokounmpo spent part of his postgame press conference talking about how the Bucks needed to play better in the rematch with the Hornets.
The Hornets still made this one interesting.
Milwaukee took a 114-97 lead on Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 7:13 left. but didn&rsquo;t make another basket until Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s driving layup with 27.1 seconds remaining.
Charlotte cut it to 118-113 when Mason Plumlee hit a layup and drew a foul with 1:06 left. But Plumlee missed the ensuing free throw, and the Bucks put it away from there.
&ldquo;Their record doesn&rsquo;t give them justice,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a really good team. Or maybe they just play well against us. I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;
Terry Rozier scored 20 points, Gordon Hayward 16, Jalen McDaniels 15 and P.J. Washington and Plumlee 14 each for Charlotte. Plumlee also had 14 rebounds.
TIP-INS
Hornets: Ball&rsquo;s triple-double was his second of the season and eighth of his career. His other triple-double this season came Dec. 22, when he had 25 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/charlotte-hornets-los-angeles-clippers-nba-sports-ivica-zubac-c9fa5b9f8f74634f8370750c8975956b">126-105 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.</a>
Bucks: Pat Connaughton shot just 1 of 8 from 3-point range. He had gone 25 of 49 from beyond the arc over his last eight games. &hellip; After getting a steal in the opening seconds of the second half, Holiday threw an off-the-backboard pass to Antetokounmpo, who was unable to convert the dunk attempt.
</div>
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Khris Middleton sparked a third-quarter run that put the Milwaukee Bucks ahead for good as they beat the Charlotte Hornets 124-115.

Bucks beat Hornets 124-115 for 5th consecutive victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum knew he was sitting on 48 points entering the final minute of the Boston Celtics' Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday and briefly thought about backing the ball out and letting the clock run down with the outcome well in hand.
Then he remembered a text from Jamal Crawford earlier this season after Tatum refused to take a late shot against the Miami Heat and finished the game with 49 points.
&ldquo;Jamal texted me after the game and he's like, &lsquo;If you&rsquo;re ever that close to 50, nobody is going to remember the time and score, they're just going to report if you got 50 or not,'&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what was going through my mind: Jamal telling me if you get that close to 50, go get it.&rdquo;
So Tatum let loose on a 3-pointer from the left wing with 38 seconds left and swished it, giving him a season-high 51 points &mdash; causing the crowd to erupt with chants of "MVP! MVP! &mdash; as the Celtics beat the Hornets for the second time in three days, 130-118.
It was the seventh 50-point game of Tatum's career.
Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 for the Celtics, who have won seven straight games. Boston is 33-12 on the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum was 15 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the foul line.
"He makes me look like a better coach," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Mazzulla said he liked the way Tatum excelled at executing against different coverages the Hornets threw at him.
&ldquo;He didn't settle for shots,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;He got catch-and-shoots, he got off the dribbles, he got layups. The other piece of that is the humility of our team to really work with him to get those 51 points."
Added White: "He wants to be great and he takes that challenge each and every night. He&rsquo;s seen a lot of defense during his time in the league and he is making the right read off of that.&rdquo;
Jalen McDaniels led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. LaMelo Ball finished with 25 points on 8-of-23 shooting. Mason Plumlee had perhaps his best all-around game of the season, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Hornets (11-34), who&rsquo;ve lost eight of their last nine games.
The Celtics set the tone early, jumping out to a 35-22 lead in the first quarter after holding the Hornets to 28.6% shooting from the floor.
Charlotte would fight back to cut the lead to 100-98 early in the fourth quarter, but White was fouled by Dennis Smith Jr. on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws.
Moments later, the Celtics got three long offensive rebounds on one possession before White drove to the rim and scored to increase the lead with 6:34 left, causing Hornets coach Steve Clifford to punch the air in frustration.
&ldquo;When a shot goes up, all five guys should be coming back for the rebound,&rdquo; Clifford said. &ldquo;That is the way we want it. Defensive rebounding is a challenge for our team and we're not overly physical. We have a habit of leaking out and it has cost us two games."
Tatum took over down the stretch, finishing with 17 points in the fourth quarter.
He drilled a step-back 3 from the top of the key over Smith to push the lead to 10 and then buried the Hornets with a long 3 with 1:02 left. Tatum smiled when asked about the MVP chants.
"I hear them and just being in North Carolina, it all feels a little more special, having gone to school two hours away," said Tatum, who spent one season at Duke before entering the NBA draft. "Coming here feels like I'm back home a little bit."
MLK JR. DAY
During pregame warmups, the Celtics and Hornets wore gray and white T-shirts for Martin Luther King Jr. Day that read &ldquo;Now is the time to make justice a reality for all&rdquo; on the front and &ldquo;Honor King&rdquo; on the back.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Finished 24 of 25 from the free-throw line.
Hornets: P.J. Washington had 17 points. ... Clifford said he hopes to get Gordon Hayward (hamstring) and Cody Martin (knee soreness) back for the team's upcoming four-game road trip.
&nbsp;

Jayson Tatum scored 51 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets for the second time in three days, 130-118.

Tatum scores 51, Celtics beat Hornets for 7th straight win

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; Pascal Siakam scored 27 points, Scottie Barnes had 22 and the Toronto Raptors snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 117-105 on Sunday.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 19 against his former team and Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby each had 14 as the Raptors halted a five-game losing streak against Portland.
Toronto won for the second time in nine home games, and the fourth time in its past 15 overall.
Damian Lillard scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter but Portland&rsquo;s road losing streak reached seven.
Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and 18 rebounds, Anfernee Simons scored 22 points and Josh Hart had 18. Portland has lost three straight and seven of nine.
Jerami Grant scored 14 points as all five Portland starters reached double figures, but the Blazers got just three bench points.
Toronto led 92-76 with 10:40 left in the fourth but Portland cut it to 97-94 on Lillard&rsquo;s basket with 6:17 remaining. VanVleet answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving Toronto a 103-94 edge with 5:45 left to play.
Siakam scored 13 points in the first and Toronto closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 34-27.
Portland missed eight straight field goal attempts to start the second and fell behind 48-29, before Hart ended the drought with a dunk. The Trail Blazers made nine of their final 12 attempts in the second, cutting the gap to 58-53 at halftime.
Toronto restored its double-digit cushion with a 14-0 run to start the second half. Siakam scored 10 points in the third and the Raptors took an 89-74 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: G Gary Payton II, who made his season debut Jan 2, was held out for the third straight game because of a sprained right ankle. Payton had been listed as probable but felt discomfort while warming up. Payton missed the start of the season while recovering from offseason core muscle surgery. &hellip; F Justise Winslow (sprained left ankle) missed his seventh straight game. &hellip; Rookie G Shaedon Sharpe, from London, Ontario, played in Canada for the first time. &hellip; Recorded assists on eight of nine made baskets in the first quarter.
Raptors: Trent failed to extend his career-best streak of scoring 20 or more points to a seventh game. &hellip; Signed G-F Joe Wieskamp to a 10-day contract Saturday. Wieskamp played 29 games with San Antonio last season. &hellip; Barnes had nine rebounds.
&nbsp;

Pascal Siakam scored 27 points, and the Toronto Raptors snapped a three-game losing streak, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 117-105.

Blazers lose 7th straight on road, Raptors win 117-105

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Edwards scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-106 on Wednesday night.
Luka Garza added 14 points off the bench for Minnesota, which saw another halftime lead slip away in the third quarter but held on for its second straight win after a six-game skid.
&ldquo;I thought defensively we were great pretty much all night long,&rdquo; Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. &ldquo;We gave them a lot of different looks and to close out the game, a lot of winning plays really.&rdquo;
Jerami Grant scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for Portland, which trailed by as much as 13 in the opening half while Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons combined for three points.
Lillard finished with 27 points and Simons had 16 for the Trail Blazers, who had 18 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Timberwolves.
&ldquo;I was never really happy from the start of the game,&rdquo; Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;Our mindset from the very start wasn&rsquo;t right. It just wasn&rsquo;t right. That&rsquo;s our inconsistency. Sometimes, we come out with the right type of mindset, set the tone, be the aggressor on both sides of the floor. When we don&rsquo;t, you come back and you want to counterpunch, you put yourself in a tough spot.&rdquo;
Minnesota has had no trouble getting ahead, such as in Monday&rsquo;s win against Western Conference-leading Denver. Holding those leads has been the issue, like when the Timberwolves led NBA-worst Detroit by 18 in an eventual loss Saturday.
With Lillard and Simons finding their way, the Trail Blazers erased a seven-point halftime deficit early in the third quarter.
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re just really inconsistent right now,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;Not only from game to game but from quarter to quarter. We&rsquo;re just not able to sustain that level of focus, that level of urgency, the energy.&rdquo;
Jusuf Nurkic gave the Trail Blazers a 92-91 lead with 9:33 remaining in the fourth.
Veteran teammates have implored the young Edwards to take control of games at certain points and he did so again. He scored six points as the Wolves went on an 11-3 run to pull back in front for good, and the offense ran through Edwards late in the fourth.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always ready for the fourth,&rdquo; Edwards said. &ldquo;When the fourth come, I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Man, it&rsquo;s showtime now.&rsquo; So, I&rsquo;m getting kind of used to it now.&rdquo;
LEANING ON LUKA
Garza provided the early boost, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. When the seldom-used, second-year player replaced Gobert, Minnesota went on a 14-1 run for a 25-12 lead. Garza had nine points during the run, capping it with a wide-open 3-pointer.
&ldquo;His offense was carrying us there for a little bit and we were feeding him,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very gifted offensive player, but defensively he was outstanding.&rdquo;
PRINCELY RETURN
Minnesota's Taurean Prince returned after missing 20 games with a right shoulder subluxation. His impact was limited due to foul trouble, but he finished with 11 points in 21 minutes. The seven-year veteran also provided energy and defense off the bench.
&ldquo;I feel like I bring a presence that&rsquo;s infectious,&rdquo; Prince said. &ldquo;So, I guess that&rsquo;s something that plays to a benefit when I&rsquo;m able to play.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Grant missed time in the second half with a left quad contusion but finished the game. ... Gary Payton II, who made his season debut on Monday, was held out with a right ankle sprain. Payton had recovered from offseason core muscle surgery. Justise Winslow missed his fifth straight game with a left ankle sprain. ... Nurkic and fellow center Drew Eubanks each fouled out.
Timberwolves: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell returned after missing Monday&rsquo;s game due to an illness. ... Naz Reid missed his second straight game with back spasms and Bryn Forbes was out with right shoulder soreness. ... Minnesota entered the day being outscored by a league-high 122 points in the third quarter.
&nbsp;

Anthony Edwards scored 32 points, Rudy Gobert had 17 and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-106.

Edwards scores 32, helps Wolves close out Blazers 113-106

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jusuf Nurkic scored 27 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to go with 14 rebounds and six assists as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 124-113 on Monday night. 
Jerami Grant led all scorers with 32 points for Portland. Damian Lillard had 17 points and nine assists on a night when he was honored for becoming the leading scorer in Trail Blazers history.
“I don’t know how to describe it. It made me feel old a little bit,” Lillard said. “Just the appreciation from my teammates. I don’t big bro them even though a lot of them are much younger than me and probably grew up watching me in the NBA when they were in high school. But tonight to hear them say congratulations, it was almost admiration in their voice and respect. I knew it was there but tonight I felt it even more.” 
Most of the crowd stuck around for the postgame ceremony, as well. 
“Even from the crowd, them sticking around and clapping every 10 words. These are the people that have cheered me on all along,” Lillard said. “They’ve seen my first preseason game all the way up to this point. I was just sitting there thinking about it. I was just like, I’ve gone from a 21-year-old to a 32-year-old right in front of these peoples' eyes.”
LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 25 points. 
Portland trailed by 14 in the second quarter but Nurkic sparked the turnaround, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists after halftime.
“He had 20-10 in the second half,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “It was impressive. Obviously, he had the 3-ball going, but he got every rebound in his area. Defensively he was good. He had a night.”
Nurkic hit his career-best fourth 3 with 8:55 left to give the Trail Blazers a 108-99 lead that Portland pushed as high as 15 before it was over. 
"Nurk Fever,” Lillard said. 
Grant’s dunk with 1:42 remaining in the second quarter ignited the Blazers and their crowd, helping them close the first half on an 8-2 spurt. 
Charlotte led 67-61 at halftime. 
A 3-pointer by Nurkic tied it at 67, the first tie since the first quarter. A layup by Josh Hart put Portland up 72-70, prompting a Hornets timeout early in the third period. 
“They played all zone,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said of Portland’s second-half surge. “It was one of the differences. We scored 28 (third-quarter points) but we couldn’t stop them. They kept running. They ran out of their zone and they changed the game.” 
Portland led by 13 in the third, but a pair of 3s by Ball to close the quarter cut it to 101-95 heading into the fourth.
LILLARD HONORED
It was Portland’s first home game since Lillard surpassed Clyde Drexler as the leading scorer in team history. Lillard was saluted with a standing ovation in the first quarter, as well as video messages from former teammates, coaches and current NBA players, including Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The Trail Blazers held a ceremony for Lillard on the court after the game. 
TIP-INS
Hornets: A replay challenge by Clifford took two points off the board for Portland with 3:36 left. ... Charlotte took advantage of eight Blazers turnovers in the first quarter to build a 34-30 lead. ... Reserve big man Nick Richards missed his first game of the season. While the Hornets are without a key piece, they’re thankful he’s not out for longer. “Right after the game, it looked like it could be longer,” Clifford said. “I think actually they feel good about that. I don’t know day to day, but I do think he’s making good progress.” ... Clifford also said guard Dennis Smith Jr. has been practicing with contact, but added he didn’t know an exact date for his return. 
Trail Blazers: Nurkic also had two steals and two blocks. ... Justise Winslow will be sidelined for two weeks with an ankle sprain. Winslow was injured last week in a loss to Oklahoma City. “He does so much for us on both sides of the floor,” Billups said. “It (stinks) to lose him for that amount of time. I think we all feel a little relieved because it could have been worse.”
UP NEXT
Hornets: Host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Trail Blazers: Visit the Warriors on Friday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Jusuf Nurkic scored 27 points to go with 14 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 124-113.

Nurkic rallies Blazers past Hornets on Lillard's big night

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Jamal Murray returned to the lineup with 25 points and a season-high 12 assists, Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 11 assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-107 on Friday night.
Murray, who finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double, sat out Tuesday&rsquo;s win over Memphis with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee, and the four-day break seemed to reinvigorate him. He scored 19 points in the second half as Denver erased a six-point deficit early in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead.
&ldquo;The scoring, Jamal does that in his sleep. The rebounding, eight boards tonight, the playmaking, 12 assists, three turnovers &mdash; that&rsquo;s outstanding,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;When you score like that, you rebound, your playmaking, you defend, that makes you a hell of a player on a really good team.&rdquo;
Murray, who logged a season-high 39 minutes, said he's still working his way back from tearing the ACL in his left knee on April 12, 2021.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve accepted it,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s you guys that haven&rsquo;t accepted it because every time I have a bad game, &lsquo;Oh, my goodness. Oh, he&rsquo;s not shooting well.&rsquo; I know I&rsquo;m going to have those days.&rdquo;
Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 points in his first game after missing 13 with a left heel strain, an injury he said is unrelated to previous back injuries that have been an issue since college and early in his NBA career. He hit Denver&rsquo;s first basket and scored five quick points.
Porter added five rebounds in 27 minutes to help the Nuggets stay atop the Western Conference standings.
&ldquo;Michael got on the floor for a loose ball,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;He was flying around out there, and so when you&rsquo;re doing that and you are 6-foot-10 and you are long, you have an impact.&rdquo;
Damian Lillard had 34 points and eight assists, Jerami Grant scored 20 and Jusuf Nurkic added 11 before fouling out for the Blazers, who ended their six-game road swing with three straight losses. Portland was 2-4 on the trip.
&ldquo;I think going back 2-4 is a missed opportunity. I feel like we underachieved,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;We could&rsquo;ve walked away from this with a much better ending.&rdquo;
The Blazers rallied from 13 down in the second quarter to lead by seven early in the third. Murray scored 12 points in 6:20 of the third, including a pair of 3-pointers, to help Denver build a 93-80 lead heading into the fourth.
Jokic&rsquo;s three-point play made it 102-87. A 3-pointer from Lillard got the Blazers within seven, but they couldn&rsquo;t get any closer.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no excuse and I can&rsquo;t really put my finger on it,&rdquo; coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;We have these really good stretches in all these games, but it&rsquo;s hard for us to sustain.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: F Justise Winslow (left ankle sprain) was inactive. He was injured in Wednesday&rsquo;s loss at Oklahoma City. &ldquo;We still don&rsquo;t know how long, but he&rsquo;s walking around on crutches right now,&rdquo; Billups said. ... The team&rsquo;s flight home was delayed out of Denver.
Nuggets: Murray&rsquo;s career high in assists is 15, accomplished in December 2018 against Dallas. ... Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 14 points and Aaron Gordon 13 to put all five starters in double figures.
&nbsp;

Jamal Murray returned to the lineup with 25 points and the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-107.

Murray, Jokic lead Nuggets to 120-107 win over Trail Blazers

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

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

Gilgeous-Alexander scores 27 as Thunder top Portland again

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; Just when it appeared it might be &ldquo;Dame Time,&rdquo; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stole the show.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit a baseline jumper as time expired, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 123-121 on Monday to ruin Damian Lillard's record-setting night.
Gilgeous-Alexander drove to his left and drained a 14-foot pullup over Justise Winslow. The shot capped a 35-point performance for the 24-year-old emerging star who entered the night third in the NBA in scoring.
Lillard said Gilgeous-Alexander is making his mark in the league.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s impressive,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s obviously a really good player. Not just a good young player. He&rsquo;s coming into his own. I can remember when I was younger and I became the leader of a team. And I was basically introducing myself as the lead guard on the team, and I was going after it, you know, being aggressive. And I see that he&rsquo;s in that state. He&rsquo;s trying to show what he can do.&rdquo;
Lillard had his clutch moment, too. He made a reverse layup with 3.5 seconds remaining to tie it, and finished with 28 points to break Clyde Drexler's franchise career scoring record.
Lillard would have preferred to set the mark in a win, but the achievement was still important to him.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling to reach the top,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a goal of mine and the list has so many players, great history of our organization, so to finally be No. 1 is a special accomplishment that I&rsquo;m proud of.&rdquo;
Drexler, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had 18,040 points for the Trail Blazers from 1983-95. Lillard entered the night needing 21 to pass him.
Lillard tied Drexler's total on a 3-pointer from well beyond the line in the third quarter that put the Trail Blazers up 72-67, then broke the mark on a free throw with 1:33 left in the period. Moments later, the Thunder public address announcer informed the crowd of Lillard&rsquo;s achievement, and the crowd gave him an ovation. Lillard sat and rested, focused on a game the Trail Blazers were trailing by three points at the time.
&ldquo;Even during the game tonight, I wasn&rsquo;t playing focused on getting to the record," Lillard said. "I was playing the game just trying to win. I knew it would happen eventually.&rdquo;
The score was tied at 94 heading into the fourth. Anfernee Simons hit back-to-back contested 3s to give Portland a 115-110 lead with about four minutes remaining.
Oklahoma City recovered, and Gilgeous-Alexander finished it off with his final shot.
&ldquo;I caught it,&rdquo; Gilgeous-Alexander said. &ldquo;I was going to try to face up, but I saw the double team so I tried to spin away from it into the shot.&rdquo;
QUOTABLE
Lillard, on Gilgeous-Alexander: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in a situation where he&rsquo;s playing free. You know, they believe in him. He&rsquo;s got a group of guys that understand that he&rsquo;s the leader. He&rsquo;s the guy. He&rsquo;s in a great position. He&rsquo;s off to a great start.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Former Thunder F Jerami Grant scored 26 points. ... Former Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is an assistant in Portland. ... Lillard was issued a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing a foul call against him. ... F Josh Hart also was called for a technical in the second quarter.
Thunder: Gilgeous-Alexander missed the previous game with a bruised lower back. ... G Josh Giddey and F Darius Bazley sat out with non-COVID-19 illnesses. ... Gilgeous-Alexander was the only Thunder player to score more than 13 points.
&nbsp;

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a baseline jumper as time expired, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-121.

Gilgeous-Alexander hits game-winner as Thunder edge Blazers

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Anfernee Simons scored 32 points and Damian Lillard added 25 as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 107-95 on Saturday night.
Portland led by as many as 22 points before Houston closed the gap to 11 points in the fourth quarter with 2:09 remaining, prompting the Trail Blazers to put their starters back in the game.
Jusuf Nurkic scored 14 points and Josh Hart added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Portland. Lillard added 10 assists and two steals.
Portland won for the fourth time in five games. The Blazers entered December with a record of 11-11 and have gone 6-2 this month.
Jalen Green led the Rockets with 15 points, and Kevin Porter Jr., Kenyon Martin Jr., and Tari Eason each added 13 points.
Simons hit 11 of 21 shots from the field, including 5 of 14 from 3-point distance. He had a career-high 45 points two weeks ago in a 116-111 win over Utah.
&ldquo;I thought it was the best defensive game of the year for him, in my opinion,&rdquo; Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;He was locked in, he was physical, he was talking. I&rsquo;m more proud of him for that than the 32 points because he can do that most nights.&rdquo;
Lillard had a relatively quiet night after topping 35 points in four of the previous five games. He went 7 of 20 from the field, including 5 of 13 from 3-point distance. On Monday, he matched a career high with 11 3s on 17 attempts.
Lillard, however, did join the 18,000-point club and enters the next game just 21 points away from surpassing Clyde Drexler for most points in franchise history. Drexler had 18,040 with Portland.
The Rockets struggled from the field, especially from beyond the arc. Houston entered the fourth quarter 1 for 20 from long distance and finished the game 3 for 29.
&ldquo;The first half, we were just missing shots,&rdquo; Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. &ldquo;In the second half, we didn&rsquo;t take good shots, and that was a lack of ball movement. You&rsquo;re going to have nights where you don&rsquo;t make shots, but the ball movement just has to be better.&rdquo;
Houston had a season-low 14 points in the third quarter, and Portland entered the fourth quarter up 20 points, 85-65.
&ldquo;We adjusted well on defense in the third quarter, we were a lot more aggressive, and I think that bothered them a lot,&rdquo; Simons said. &ldquo;That changed the game for us.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Jerami Grant was out with back spasms, Portland coach Chauncey Billups said before the game. &hellip; Justise Winslow had four steals.
Rockets: Houston outrebounded Portland 51-37, including 18 offensive rebounds. Sengun led Houston with eight rebounds, Porter added seven, and Usman Garuba had four offensive rebounds. &hellip; Sengun added three blocks. &hellip; Sengun and Smith were issued technical fouls.
ON THE LATE SUBSTITUTIONS
Billups was not pleased with his young reserves after having to put starters back in the game late in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;That should never happen. They&rsquo;re young, they&rsquo;re sitting over there for most of the game, but it&rsquo;s a luxury to play in the NBA," he said. "I should never have to go back to our starters and risk an ankle tweak or something. But I&rsquo;ve seen that movie too many times in the fourth where teams start to get momentum, and I wasn&rsquo;t going to let that happen. It was a teachable moment for us.&rdquo;
DAME IN THE GREATEST SHOOTER CONVERSATION?
Lillard on Saturday night passed Jamal Crawford for eighth on the all-time NBA 3-pointers made list.
&ldquo;I always see stuff on social media where they talk about the greatest shooters of all-time, and they always act like it&rsquo;s crazy for people to mention me,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;I think for how many 3s I&rsquo;ve made, for how consistent I make them, the level of difficulty I shoot them for years and years and years, I just think it&rsquo;s kind of crazy that people don&rsquo;t mention me in those discussions. Obviously, I think Steph (Curry) is the greatest ever, but I think after him, I don&rsquo;t see why I&rsquo;m not clear-cut in that discussion.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Oklahoma City on Monday night.
Rockets: Host San Antonio on Monday night.

Anfernee Simons scored 32 points and Damian Lillard added 25 as the Trail Blazers beat the Rockets 107-95 on Saturday night.

Kort