Mariners

This article is part of a two-part series preview for the upcoming 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs.
With the 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs starting, all eyes will be on all teams competing for the championship as fans and players look on for a taste of postseason action. As eight playoff teams in each conference gear up for what promises to be an intense battle for the title, each team faces its own set of unique challenges. In this article, we take a closer look at the biggest question facing each Western Conference team heading into the playoffs, from injuries and roster changes to key matchups and strategic decisions.
<h3>Oklahoma City Thunder - How far can their youth and inexperience take them in the playoffs?</h3>
The Thunder got away through the regular season with historic from MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous Alexander, an impressive rookie season by Chet Holmgren, a star sophomore leap by Jalen Williams, and a coaching masterclass in a genius coach Mark Daigneault.
However, the playoffs as we know it is a different beast &ndash; will Mark Daigneault be able to sustain the good coaching he has done with his team throughout this regular season?
How much of this youth and inexperience be a factor for them to advance deeper in the playoffs; will they be able to use it to their advantage? Or will it be a hindrance against other experienced teams when they face each other in these tight situations? Most of the time, these situations require patience and discipline &ndash; teams with playoff experience have shown over time and have done it time and time again on their way to a deep playoff run.
<h3>Denver Nuggets - Can they go back to back?</h3>
There&rsquo;s really no other question for a team like the Nuggets at the peak of their powers: Can they win back-to-back titles? There has not been a back-to-back champion in the NBA for the past 5 years, with the last one coming in 2017 and 2018 when the Warriors won it all.
Like Boston, it is a title or bust status with Denver as of now. They have been fairly healthy throughout the regular season, have a mostly intact roster that won it all last year, and have the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic in his absolute prime. Denver this year has again all the necessary pieces to win &ndash; the right amount of shooters, defensive guys, scoring in the paint &ndash; which are all the makings of a championship team.
A couple of questionable factors though would be how much of an impact the loss of Bruce Brown would have in these playoffs. Brown was arguably the 5th, or 4th best player in their championship run last year &ndash; maybe even the 3rd in some games. He was essential on offense and defense, guarding the opponent&rsquo;s best perimeter threats while providing off-ball scoring and cuts that fit perfectly with Jokic.
Second, they&rsquo;ll be facing championship-caliber teams with hunger and drive to defeat them, and all have been competitive with the Nuggets this season. The Lakers, although the Nuggets swept them last year in the Western Conference Finals, still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and they won&rsquo;t take that lightly &ndash; likely coming back with a vengeance.
The Suns have won the season series with the Nuggets 2-1 and they pose a threat to the Nuggets with their formula of having three elite shotmakers that can explode anytime &ndash; which the Nuggets may not cover all at the same time.&nbsp; The Wolves, who perhaps have the best lineup suited to defeat them, are lurking in the same bracket waiting to pounce on them at sight.&nbsp;
These are all challenges a defending champion must go through to achieve a rare feat because the playoffs are supposed to be hard.
<h3>Minnesota Timberwolves -&nbsp; Will they finally break through after years of heartbreak?</h3>
This has already been a win of a season for the Timberwolves, achieving their second most wins in franchise history (56) since 2004 when they won 58 wins and reached the conference finals.
However, this has not stopped them from wanting more, and the wolfpack is not satisfied nor contented with just this achievement &ndash; they want more.
Minnesota wanting to go win that first playoff series like a hungry pack of wolves has been evident since trading for 3-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Although they fell short last season due to untimely injuries to key players, the Wolves ran it back and have proven their little experiment with two bigs in star Karl Anthony Towns and Gobert would work.&nbsp;
Led by their resurgent young superstar Anthony Edwards equipped with the best defense in the league, Minnesota certainly hopes this team would be the one &ndash; the one to end the longest playoff series win droughts in the league for quite some time now.
<h3>Los Angeles Clippers - Will they be able to meet the expectations this time around?</h3>
The Clippers trading for James Harden signaled one thing for the franchise: They are going all in with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and surrounding them with all the help they can get. They are far from a perfect team, but the Clippers want to have the best possible results this season before transferring to their new arena next year.
The Clippers have only appeared in the conference finals once in the Leonard-George era after being plagued by several injuries during their different playoff runs. Due to that, people haven&rsquo;t been able to see what the team is capable of when their two stars are fully healthy in a playoff run.
However, this year might just be their year. Their core of Harden, George, and Leonard have been mostly healthy all season long. The front office has also surrounded them with complementary pieces to help them win. LA now has usable bigs in Zubac, Plumlee, and Theis; they have Terrance Mann as their designated stopper; Norman Powell being the sixth man off the bench microwave scorer; a 3-and-D wing in Amir Coffe; and Russell Westbrook as the spark plug that gives them the boost and the energy off the bench.
After being just the &lsquo;second team in LA&rsquo; and &lsquo;that other team in LA&rsquo; for years, the Clippers aim to prove the doubters wrong and change the perception that surrounds the team as they pivot into a new era of Clippers basketball.&nbsp;
<h3>Dallas Mavericks - Will Luka finally fulfill the promise he has been showing so far in his career?</h3>
Throughout his young NBA career, Luka Doncic has had one of the best starts since LeBron James statistically. He has been in constant range of breaking or matching LeBron&rsquo;s records in points scored, triple-doubles, assists, and rebounds. However, this has not always translated into wins with Doncic just appearing in just one conference finals in the first six years of his career. But that might change this season.&nbsp;&nbsp;
This year, the Mavericks have put up arguably the best roster on paper that Luka has had in his career &ndash; arguably even better than the 2022 team that made the conference finals.
Alongside Doncic&rsquo;s MVP act is a true partner in crime in Kyrie Irving; shot-blocking and rim-rolling vertical threats in Daniel Gafford and Lively; rugged forwards that can shoot in PJ Washington, Dante Exum, Josh Green, and Derrick Jones; a microwave off-the-bench scorer in Tim Hardaway Jr; and veteran bigs that have been in Dallas for quite some time now and you can count on in always with Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell.
Can Luka finally overcome the Clippers? This season was one for the books with an MVP caliber and worthy year by averaging close to 34 points a game with 9 rebounds and 9 assists per game. Doncic has taken his game to another level in the regular season &ndash; this time, can he take his playoff game to another level as well?
All great young players have to go through someone as the stepping stone to reach newer heights &ndash; and Luka has lost to this Kawhi Leonard and Paul George-led Clippers team twice already in his career in the playoffs.
LeBron had to go through the Celtics, Jordan had to go through the Pistons. Could it be Luka&rsquo;s turn to get through this Clippers team that has tormented him for two playoff series?
<h3>Phoenix Suns - Will this new formula take them over the top?</h3>
The Suns have experienced substantial playoff success over the past three years by having a Finals appearance and reaching the conference semifinals twice. However, those groups fell short, with the feeling of something lacking or something missing that could take them over the top.
So lo and behold, Phoenix scrapped it and took a different approach this season &ndash; ditching the point guard spot and getting a rugged and physical big that could set screens and not demand the ball much on offense.
In its place came through as the Suns traded for Bradley Beal &ndash; going with a new formula by having three shot creators and shotmakers on the floor at the same time &ndash; pairing him with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. They also traded away former no.1 overall pick DeAndre Ayton for Jusuf Nurkic, a wide-bodied center whose job is to set screens, rebound, and get their three creators open in the lane or for jump shots.
They added an elite shooter in Grayson Allen to space the floor alongside those three, or sometimes Royce O&rsquo;Neale comes in for more defense against the opposing perimeter threats.
The Suns&rsquo; new approach and formula to the game make it incredibly hard to defend because you have to have three elite defenders to contain those three shot-creators, who can explode and get buckets at any point in the game. Although their defense is still suspect at times, the main point of this lineup is not to outscore &ndash; but to out-create teams and have a variety of options to dissect and defeat defenses.
If this new strategy works and could take the Suns to the promised land in these playoffs remains to be seen.
<h3>Los Angeles Lakers - Will they have enough this time around?</h3>
Despite a strong run to the Western Conference Finals as a 7th seed, the Lakers fell short last year vs the Nuggets after being swept 4-0. Throughout the season, the Nuggets&rsquo; dominance of the purple and gold continued, and now they have lost eight straight games against this Denver team.&nbsp;
However, there is optimism that the Lakers will turn it around and have a different result vs the Nuggets. Superstar LeBron James, even at 39 years old, looks to prove that he still has something left in the tank. Although they got outplayed and outcoached last in that series by the Nuggets, James can make those adjustments being the cerebral and high IQ player that he is.
James is perhaps one of the best if not the best tactically sound players of all time, so it would make sense &ndash; if they were to defeat Denver, he needs to be able to outsmart Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets this time around. Superstar tandem Anthony Davis will also be vital to the series having to defend the &lsquo;Joker&rsquo; and producing buckets himself.
The Lakers will also feature some new bench pieces this year that could be difference makers in the series Taurean Prince, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Gabe Vincent, all of whom could defend and hit those spot-up threes if needed.
Then there&rsquo;s a hungry D&rsquo;Angelo Russell who had a bad series vs Denver last year raring to bounce back along with an always-solid Austin Reaves to be the stabilizer.
<h3>Pelicans - How will they fare without Zion Williamson?</h3>
The New Orleans Pelicans start and end with their young star Zion Williamson. After going out with what is to be believed a left hamstring strain, everything now hinges on his health.&nbsp;
The Pelicans obviously need him no matter what and whether or not he&rsquo;s healthy for their first-round series vs the Thunder will likely be the answer if they win it or not.
We&rsquo;ve seen what Williamson is capable of doing, scoring 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in his first taste of postseason action in their play-in game vs the Lakers. The burly forward bullied the Lakers&rsquo; defense and he showed his once generational type of body and scoring prowess come together after finally being healthy for a full season in his five years in the NBA.
New Orleans has fallen short a lot of times in the playoffs, either failing to make it or to win a series, and it is clear that Zion is the difference that separates them from winning or losing a playoff series.

s eight playoff teams in each conference gear up for what promises to be an intense battle for the title, each team faces its own set of unique challenges.

2024 Western Conference Playoffs: Each team’s biggest question heading into the playoffs

Damian Lillard has finally been traded, and he's heading to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Portland Trail Blazers sent Lillard to Milwaukee as part of a three-team trade with the Phoenix Suns, according to <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38505763/sources-blazers-trading-damian-lillard-bucks-3-team-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski</a>.&nbsp;
The Blazers will receive Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, Milwaukee's 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick and unprotected Milwaukee swap rights in 2028 and 2030. The Suns will receive Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.
Lillard and his camp made it clear that he wanted to be traded to the Miami Heat, but the Blazers weren't interested in Miami's offer. This trade still sends Lillard to a contender, and he gets to play with a fellow superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Lillard and Antetokounmpo have previously talked about wanting to team up. Last year, GQ asked Lillard which one player he'd want to team up with in pursuit of an NBA championship.
&ldquo;I would pick Giannis," Lillard <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWNskoGPrpc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a>. "Just the dominance, somebody that&rsquo;s going to get to the rim. He&rsquo;s a good playmaker, a good defender, disruptive. And the way he plays complements the way I play. I would bring something to the table that complements what he does and vice versa. Seamless [fit]."
A few months ago, Antetokounmpo was asked the same question and he also chose Lillard. Now, the pair will form one of the best one-two punches in the NBA.
Recently, Antetokounmpo had <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-giannis-antetokounmpo-sign-extension-with-bucks-i-dont-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made some comments about his future with the Bucks being up in the air</a> and how he wasn't content with simply winning one championship in Milwaukee. Perhaps he was trying to get the Bucks' front office to budge and make this blockbuster acquisition? Now, it certainly seems as if he'll remain in Milwaukee for the considerable future, especially since Lillard has three guaranteed years (plus a player option in 2026-27) remaining on his current contract with the Bucks.
Now, with Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Malik Beasley and Co., the Bucks have to be considered a favorite to win the Eastern Conference.
For Portland, this trade gives them another young cornerstone in Deandre Ayton to put alongside Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. They will reportedly try to flip Jrue Holiday (a favorite of NBA executives) for additional assets. Now, the franchise can move on from the Lillard saga and focus on their rebuild rather than having this situation drag into the season.
Last season, Lillard had arguably the best year of his career, averaging 32.2 points, 7.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 threes, while shooting 46.3% from the field, 37.1% from three-point range and 91.4% from the free-throw line. He is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection and a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

Damian Lillard has finally been traded, and he's heading to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bucks acquire Damian Lillard in shocking trade with Blazers, Suns

Mal Mundy's Hoop Fest Tour hosts some of the premier showcase and identification events throughout the year. Most are open to all, but 42 of Louisiana's best hoopers met up on the last Sunday before school starts for a Statement Session. Chris Dodson caught up with the man on a mission in between games.
Mal Mundy's Hoop Fest Tour attracts scouting services, media outlets, coaches and the best talent in the Gulf South region. The young prospects get to compete against the best competition and get direct feedback from college coaches. The growth of Hoop Fest has been so impressive, I had to try and get a few moments with the man who has made it all run smoothly from the start.
The impressive growth of these events is largely because Mundy stands on the brand printed on the front of the jerseys, but also because he's devoted to helping these athletes get their name on the back of a college uniform. The reasoning for committing time at the end of the summer was straightforward: &ldquo;To bring exposure to Louisiana and help players get recruited,&rdquo; Mundy explained.
Mission accomplished.
The Statement Session was barely wrapping up and the offers were starting to roll in. Over 30 college coaches made the trip down to South Side High's Youngsville, LA, gym to check out over 40 of the state's best prospects. It was a tough grind getting to this point, but the hard work is paying off.
"It has gotten better each year," Mundy said. "We try to bring something different each year to make the event better. In the first year of the session, only 30 players were invited. We&rsquo;ve expanded to 42 players.&rdquo;
The expanded rosters help local colleges working on smaller budgets. Xavier&rsquo;s AJ Williams admitted that this event is huge for a small school with an NAIA budget.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s big for recruiting for us here at Xavier, because we get a chance to see the player up close and build some true relationships with these players," Coach Williams said. &ldquo;This event that Mal has been putting on for the state, which includes college coaches, is such a blessings to give the kids an opportunity to see what it&rsquo;s like to compete at a high level and being able to get coached by college coaches.
"Being able to evaluate your game against the top kids in the state is huge. [It] helps you know what you need to add to your game or how you measure up against the top guys at your position. If you&rsquo;re the best, come play against the best in the state.&rdquo;
Coach&nbsp;Micah Hagans (Bonnabel) complimented Mundy's efforts too.
&ldquo;The opportunity to play not only in front of college coaches but to actually be coached by college coaches is a one-of-a-kind experience," Coach Hagans said. "Every year, I see kids attend this event and walk away with offers from the coach they just played for. It also puts them in an environment with other top kids. Everyone in the event is a top kid. You have to bring it, just to have a chance to be noticed. From my standpoint, [it's great] being able to network with college coaches and build relationships that will last throughout my career. It also gives us as coaches a chance to see our kid in a super competitive environment.&rdquo;
Mundy is more than just a Louisiana talent magnet. Now, four years into this venture, he is starting to move into local legend status. People know that the Hoop Fest Tour is worth the trip, whether you're a fan, scout, coach or player. The event's atmosphere keeps us all young and the exposure is invaluable. Players don't have to pay to play, but it was invite-only. Quality is key to the operation, and the student-athletes notice.
Jaylen Peters, the most impressive prospect in the gym for long stretches according to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/statements-made-la-hoops-fest-scouting-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our scouting report</a>, was impressed.
&ldquo;It's great to have all this talent from Louisiana and you see where you stack up against everybody.&rdquo; Peters said, before adding his thoughts on how Louisiana prospects are perceived. &ldquo;I think a lot of people think all we do is play hard. A lot of dudes out here are actually skilled. Just as much hoops IQ as everywhere else.&rdquo;
Clayton Blackledge, who had to log heavy minutes as the only true big man, was more than appreciative of the opportunity, especially since he's still looking for a college home.
&ldquo;I didn't get as many today, but I want to work on my mid-range,&rdquo; Blackledge said, who was perhaps a bit too tough on himself considering the just-met-my-teammates showcase situation. &ldquo;Missed a few on defense&rdquo; and &ldquo;cardio got me&rdquo; were the two biggest personal knocks, but Blackledge did &ldquo;hit a couple nice ones though&rdquo; that got some attention.
And that's all Mundy wants: attention on the young local talent. Not one to dwell on too much admiration, Mundy was humble when asked what might go underappreciated with his efforts: &ldquo;When you have this amount of talent and Louisiana top players all under one roof, it is easy to attract college coaches to watch.&rdquo;
Be sure to check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/statements-made-la-hoops-fest-scouting-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Dodson's scouting report</a> from the Hoop Fest Tour.

Mal Mundy's Hoop Fest Tour hosts showcase and identification events throughout the year. Chris Dodson caught up with Mundy.

Statements Made: A Louisiana Hoopin' Sunday With Mal Mundy

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic got a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.
Jokic finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who waited 47 years to make the finals and didn&rsquo;t disappoint. Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Michael Porter Jr. scored 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as 24.
Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which shot 41% for the game &mdash; 33% from 3-point range. Gabe Vincent scored 19, Haywood Highsmith had 18 and Jimmy Butler added 13 for the Heat.
Game 2 is in Denver on Sunday night.
Miami opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run, cutting an 84-63 deficit to start the final period down to 84-74. The Heat actually got within nine on a 3-pointer by Highsmith with 2:34 left, but no closer and there wasn&rsquo;t any doubt, either.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone gave his team a pop quiz in shootaround Thursday morning, peppering them with questions about the game plan and what had to be done in the most important game to date in franchise history.
They had all the answers then. Had them all at game time, too. They were the team with minimal NBA Finals experience, only two players having been to the title round before, and yet they looked right at home before the home crowd in Game 1.
Jokic became the second player in the last 25 years &mdash; LeBron James was the other, in 2017 &mdash; to have 10 assists by halftime of a finals game. He had 10 points and 10 assists by the break, and Denver was up 59-42 after the first two quarters.
That wasn&rsquo;t good for Miami. Nor was this: The Nuggets were in full control and Jokic had taken only three shots.
And this part was worse: The Heat just couldn&rsquo;t shoot. At all. Or at least, not until Denver was too far ahead to catch. Max Strus was 0 for 10 through three quarters, 0 for 9 on 3-pointers. Caleb Martin &mdash; who narrowly missed out on winning the MVP award of the Eastern Conference finals &mdash; was 1 for 7.
TIP-INS
Heat: Miami fell to 1-6 all-time in Game 1s of the NBA Finals. The Heat lost the series opener in each of their title years &mdash; 2006, 2012 and 2013 &mdash; and the only win came in 2011, a series they eventually lost to Dallas. &hellip; Adebayo&rsquo;s 25 shots were a career high. He became the third player to score at least 24 points for Miami in a Game 1 of a finals. James did it three times for the Heat and Dwyane Wade did it in 2006.
Nuggets: Jokic became the eighth player to have a triple-double in Game 1 of a finals. None of the others were accompanied by 27 points; Dave Cowens had a 25-point triple-double to open the 1976 finals. ... Bruce Brown, who played his college ball at Miami, scored 10. &hellip; Denver got to the foul line 20 times to Miami&rsquo;s two.
CELEB WATCH
Among those in the sellout crowd: Grammy winner H.E.R., NFL legend and former Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, current Denver quarterback Russell Wilson, Broncos coach Sean Payton and actor-comedian Ken Jeong.

The Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Jokic gets triple-double, Nuggets beat Heat 104-93 in Game 1 of Finals

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine, which will take place at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago from May 15-21.
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games as well as shooting and strength-and-agility drills. Coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft Combine will begin May 17 on ESPN2 from 2-6 p.m. ET and continues May 18 from 4-8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The NBA Draft Combine will also be available on the ESPN App. Strength-and-agility drills and shooting drills will be broadcast live on the NBA App on May 15 from 3-5 p.m. ET.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-g-league-announces-45-draft-prospects-competing-in-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 13-14 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine.
Unfortunately, projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama won't be in attendance at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine as he has yet to finish his season overseas with Metropolitans 92.
Below is a list of expected attendees for the 2023 NBA Draft Combine:
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trey Alexander (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Seth Lundy (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kevin McCullar (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Reece Beekman (Virginia)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Miller (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adem Bona (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Leonard Miller (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Brown (Missouri)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Judah Mintz (Syracuse)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Toumani Camara (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Omari Moore (San Jose State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kris Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Noah Clowney (Alabama)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
James Nnaji (Barcelona [Spain] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Phillips (Tennessee)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Nikola Djurisic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Zach Edey (Purdue)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adam Flagler (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Rayan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers [Oceania] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyonte George (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Marcus Sasser (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Slawson (Furman)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jett Howard (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
GG Jackson II (South Carolina)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Colby Jones (Xavier)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan [Serbia] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jarace Walker (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mojave King (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Dereck Lively II (Duke)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Isaiah Wong (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

NBA announces 78 Draft Combine participants, but no Victor Wembanyama

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

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 47 points, including 25 in a spectacular third quarter, to lead the Phoenix Suns past the Los Angeles Clippers 136-130 on Tuesday night and win the Western Conference first-round playoff series in five games.
The Clippers didn&rsquo;t go quietly, nearly coming back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth.
Los Angeles had multiple chances to tie in the final three minutes, but could never convert. Durant made a layup to push Phoenix&rsquo;s lead to 134-130 and then made two free throws to put the Suns up six with 31.3 seconds left.
Durant finished with 31 points while Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Booker shot 19 of 27 from the field.
Durant&rsquo;s final free throws capped a wild back-and-forth second half that saw the Clippers take a 71-61 lead early in the third.
But the Suns &mdash; led by Booker&rsquo;s stellar shot making &mdash; unleashed a powerful wave of offense, pouring in 50 points in the third quarter to take a 111-94 lead into the fourth. Booker made 10 of 11 shots in the rally, including three 3-pointers and a tomahawk fastbreak dunk.
The flustered Clippers had no answer until it was too late. Norman Powell led Los Angeles with 27 points while Mason Plumlee scored 20 off the bench.
It was a tough night for Russell Westbrook, who scored 14 points on 3 of 18 shooting and had a costly turnover in the final minute.
The Suns will play the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the second round. Game 1 is Saturday in Denver.
The series took a turn last week when the Clippers announced Leonard had a sprained right knee. The two-time Finals MVP suffered the injury in Game 1 and played through it in Game 2, but his condition worsened.
He missed Games 3 and 4 and the Clippers lost both contests.
But Los Angeles stayed competitive in those games and Tuesday night continued that trend &mdash; for a while. The Clippers took a 70-61 halftime lead, led by Powell&rsquo;s 16 points. Ayton scored 18 for the Suns.
HISTORIC BOOK
Booker became just the third player in the past 25 seasons to score at least 25 points in a quarter during a playoff game. The others were Damian Lillard (25 in 2019) and Allen Iverson (26 in 2001).
TIP-INS
Suns: Backup guard Cam Payne played for the first time in the playoffs. He missed the first four games with a sore back. He played three minutes but didn&rsquo;t score. ... Hosted a 77th straight sellout, combining regular season and postseason games.
Clippers: Eight-time All-Star Paul George also missed the game with a sprained right knee. He hasn&rsquo;t played since March 21. ... Had a 26-16 rebounding advantage in the first half. ... Backup guard Bones Hyland scored nine points in the first half.

Devin Booker led the Phoenix Suns past the Los Angeles Clippers 136-130 on Tuesday night, winning the series in five games.

Devin Booker scores 47, leads Suns past Clippers to win series

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Load management is a big topic across the NBA these days.
One great way to make sure players get rest in the playoffs is to end the series early.
The Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics all have that opportunity on Tuesday night when they host Game 5s with a 3-1 lead in the series.
&ldquo;Closeout games are always the hardest,&rdquo; Suns center Deandre Ayton said. &ldquo;We expect it&rsquo;s going to be a battle. We&rsquo;re just gearing up.&rdquo;
The Western Conference top-seed Nuggets already had one opportunity to end their series, but the feisty Timberwolves managed to extend it with a Game 4 win in overtime on Sunday.
&ldquo;We really wanted to come out and have a sweep under our belt. Didn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said. &ldquo;They fought. They fought like hell, all game long. Even when we put a scare in their heart a little bit, they kept fighting, kept playing, and the crowd was into it.&rdquo;
The Suns-Los Angeles Clippers series has been shaped by Kawhi Leonard&rsquo;s knee injury. Leonard has missed the past two games with a sprained knee, which has helped tip the series in favor of Phoenix.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely hurt. It&rsquo;s not load management where he&rsquo;s taking time off,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s shown in the past that he&rsquo;s played through injuries in the playoffs and so if it&rsquo;s something he can&rsquo;t play through, then it has to be pretty serious.&rdquo;
L.A.&rsquo;s Paul George has been out since March 21 with the same injury as Leonard.
HAWKS AT CELTICS
Boston leads 3-1. Game 4, 7:30 p.m. EDT, TNT.
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Celtics have never lost a best-of-seven playoff series after building a 3-1 lead. They are 27-0 in those situations over their storied history.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s facial wear. The Boston star had been using a protective mask since February, when he sustained a broken bone in his face. But he ditched the mask in the second quarter of Game 4 after making just 1 of 7 shots. He went 11 of 15 the rest of the way to finish with 31 points in a 129-121 victory. Presumably, he won&rsquo;t be wearing the mask anymore in these playoffs. &ldquo;As soon as I took it off, things started to turn around a little bit,&rdquo; Brown said.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Boston G Marcus Smart looked just fine in Game 4 after falling hard on his tailbone in the previous contest. He said they were times when his lower back tightened up, and he&rsquo;ll have to remain diligent in his treatment to make sure the pain doesn&rsquo;t keep him off the court. &ldquo;Throughout the game, it got a little tight on me. It flared up. But once I got it stretched out again, got it loose, got some heat on it, it was pretty good,&rdquo; Smart said.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: The Hawks. It looks like another brief playoff appearance unless they can pull of a win in Boston, and the challenge got even tougher when guard Dejounte Murray was suspended for Game 5 after bumping and verbally abusing an official after the end of Game 4. Murray is averaging 25.3 points in the series. Atlanta has lost five straight at TD Garden since its last victory on Feb. 17, 2021, including a pair of 13-point defeats in the first two games of this series. If the Hawks lose, it would be the second straight year they&rsquo;ve gone down in five games in the opening round and could signal major changes heading into the offseason.
TIMBERWOLVES AT NUGGETS
Denver leads 3-1. Game 5, 9 p.m. EDT, NBA TV.
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Nuggets closed the last 2&frac12; minutes of the fourth quarter of Game 4 on a tying 12-0 run, but the Timberwolves recovered with an 18-point overtime on 6-for-8 shooting for a 114-108 victory. It denied Denver a first playoff-series sweep in franchise history and keep the first-round matchup alive despite Nikola Jokic&rsquo;s playoff-career-high-tying 43 points.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Anthony Edwards. Minnesota&rsquo;s All-Star guard has 129 points in four games, the second-most in the NBA playoffs behind Phoenix&rsquo;s Devin Booker (139). He delivered a wide array of clutch baskets down the stretch for the Wolves in Game 4, including a pull-up 3-pointer from the wing with 11.5 seconds left in overtime to push their lead to four. He&rsquo;s the first player in Wolves&rsquo; history with 100-plus points over three consecutive playoff games. Only LeBron James (eight) had more 30-plus-point playoff games before age 22 than Edwards does (five). Still, Edwards was aiming for a higher bar after his 12-for-27 shooting performance.
&ldquo;I played terrible, if you ask me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I took three bad 3s, three terrible possessions, and I damn near shot us out the game.&rdquo;
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Wolves sixth man Kyle Anderson was inadvertently struck by a stray arm from Edwards during a leap for a rebound late in the third quarter and did not return after suffering what the team announced as a left eye and facial contusion. Coach Chris Finch said Anderson went to see an eye specialist. ... Nuggets coach Mike Malone on Jokic&rsquo;s aggression with 12 free-throw attempts in Game 4 after zero in Game 3: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s banged up. He&rsquo;s playing hard.&rdquo;
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Jamal Murray. After scoring 40 points in Game 2, Denver&rsquo;s standout point guard missed 26 of 43 shots over the two games in Minnesota. He had 19 points in Game 4, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker frequently picking up his defense before half court and making him work hard for every shot, drive and pass.
CLIPPERS AT SUNS
Phoenix leads 3-1, Game 5, 10 p.m. EDT, TNT
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Suns took control of the series with two wins in Los Angeles and now return to Phoenix to try and close it out. The Suns have taken advantage of the absence of L.A. star Kawhi Leonard, who missed both Games 3 and 4 because of a sprained knee.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Three-time All-Star Devin Booker is cooking for the Suns, averaging 34.8 points on 57.1% shooting. The 26-year-old isn&rsquo;t just scoring, he&rsquo;s averaging 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: All eyes are on Leonard to see if he can return. The Suns have been without backup point guard Cam Payne, who hasn&rsquo;t played in the series because of a sore back.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Russell Westbrook. If Leonard can&rsquo;t play, the Clippers almost certainly have to have another massive game from Westbrook, who has played well in the series. He&rsquo;s improved his scoring total each game, rising from 9 points in Game 1 to 28 in Game 2, 30 in Game 3 and 37 in Game 4. L.A. might need a 40-spot from him on Tuesday to extend the series.

The Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics all have an opportunity to advance on Tuesday night when they host Game 5s.

Suns, Nuggets, Celtics can all advance with Game 5 wins

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Devin Booker added 30 and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers without Kawhi Leonard 112-100 on Saturday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
The Clippers, who lost Game 3 by five points, again made a strong run with Leonard watching from the bench. He has missed two straight games with a sprained right knee. They&rsquo;re also without Paul George, who hasn&rsquo;t played since March 21 because of the same injury as Leonard.
Russell Westbrook carried the Clippers in the fourth quarter. He had 14 points, including nine in a row when they twice pulled within two points.
Westbrook finished with a game-high 37 points. Norman Powell added 14 points and Terance Mann had 13 off the bench.
Game 5 is Tuesday in Phoenix.
But as the fourth wound down, the Clippers ran out of gas.
Chris Paul, the 37-year-old former Clipper, had 12 points in the fourth, hitting big jumpers from all over the court each time the Los Angeles threatened.
Paul finished with 19 points and nine assists. Booker had nine rebounds and seven assists. Deandre Ayton had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Looking ageless at 34, Durant scored 11 points in the third, when the Suns erased an early eight-point deficit.
The Clippers scored nine straight points to open the third and take an eight-point lead. But Durant scored 11 points in the period, capped by a 3-pointer that sent the Suns into the fourth leading 83-78.
The Suns trailed by 11 points early in the second, when they outscored the Clippers 25-17 and led 48-47 at the break.
Durant picked up his third foul in the period, while Westbrook, Powell and Marcus Morris already had two fouls apiece for the Clippers.
TIP-INS
Suns: Cam Payne (low back soreness) has yet to play in the postseason.
Clippers: Got outrebounded 49-33. ... Bench outscored the Suns&rsquo; reserves, 26-9.

The Suns defeated the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard 112-100 on Saturday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Durant scores 31, Suns beat Clippers 112-100 for 3-1 lead

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant is the shiny new toy for the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker is still the team&rsquo;s heart and soul.
Booker &mdash; the three-time All-Star who has spent all eight of his NBA seasons in Phoenix &mdash; scored 38 points, Durant added 25 and the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-109 on Tuesday night in Game 2 to tie the Western Conference first-round series.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an all-around player,&rdquo; Durant said about Booker. &ldquo;He can do everything at an elite level on a basketball court.&rdquo;
The Suns needed a gritty effort after a disappointing loss in Game 1. Their shots weren&rsquo;t falling for much of the first half and they fell into a 13-point hole midway through the second quarter.
But led by Booker, they never panicked.
The 26-year-old drilled a 3 just before the halftime buzzer to tie it and scored 18 points in the third quarter on 7-of-8 shooting, helping the Suns push to a 92-87 advantage entering the fourth. The defense also improved after the Clippers got several easy baskets in the second quarter.
&ldquo;People talk about adjustments all the time and we make them,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;But sometimes basketball is just being able to sit down and guard the ball, keep your man from getting to the basket and contesting the shot.&rdquo;
Phoenix never trailed in the final quarter, slowly pulling away. It was their first playoff win with Durant on the floor. The team was 8-0 during the regular season with the 13-time All-Star following his trade from the Brooklyn Nets in February.
The series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday night.
Kawhi Leonard led Los Angeles with 31 points after he scored 38 in Game 1. Russell Westbrook added 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
&ldquo;We know it is going to be a tough series,&rdquo; Westbrook said. &ldquo;They came back and took care of business tonight.&rdquo;
Booker had a stellar shooting night, connecting on 14 of 22 shots, including 4 of 7 on 3s. He added nine assists. Deandre Ayton added 14 points &mdash; on 7-of-10 shooting&mdash; and 13 rebounds. Torrey Craig hit 5 of 8 3s and had 17 points, and Chris Paul had 16 points and eight assists.
&ldquo;We tried to blitz. We tried to fire. We did a lot of different things,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;They played great.&rdquo;
PAUL VS. FOSTER
Paul&rsquo;s archnemesis was carrying a whistle Tuesday, not dribbling a basketball.
The point guard had his personal 13-game playoff losing streak snapped when referee Scott Foster is on the floor. The long-running feud has lasted years with Paul criticizing Foster multiple times.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t notice,&rdquo; Paul said. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re all about, in this run, minimizing distractions. That is what it is, I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;ll still be a thing.&rdquo;
SWITCHING DEFENSES
Several Suns players credited the Clippers coaches and players for their unpredictable defensive sets, which they said was part of the reason for the team&rsquo;s slow start.
&ldquo;They switched their defense up like every possession,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;They might double, they might triple, they might go zone, they might go full court press. So they&rsquo;re trying to throw us off with their coverages. I think we did a good job of (eventually) figuring it out. Just playing simple.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Clippers: Eight-time All-Star Paul George (sprained knee) hasn&rsquo;t played since March 21. ... L.A.&rsquo;s bench outscored Phoenix&rsquo;s 30-13. ... Leonard shot 11 of 20 from the field, including 3 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Suns: G Cam Payne (low back soreness) hasn&rsquo;t played yet in the series. Said coach Monty Williams &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just not ready. He&rsquo;s done a lot more on the floor, but there&rsquo;s certain movements he can&rsquo;t do yet without pain.&rdquo; ... Hosted a 76th consecutive sellout, combining regular season and playoff games.

The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-109 on Tuesday in Game 2 to tie the Western Conference first-round series.

Devin Booker scores 38 points, Suns beat Clippers to even series

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists just hours after his most recent technical foul and one-game suspension were rescinded Monday by the NBA and led the Dallas Mavericks past the Indiana Pacers 127-104.
The Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak and remained in contention in the race for one of the final two play-in spots in the Western Conference. Kyrie Irving added 16 points and six assists for Dallas.
Indiana was led by Bennedict Mathurin, who scored 22 points, and Andrew Nembhard, who had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists on a night the Pacers were missing three starters and a key backup. The Pacers have lost three straight and six of eight as they move closer to locking up a lottery pick.
Doncic had picked up his 16th technical that was rescinded on Sunday in the team&rsquo;s second loss to Charlotte. The technical came with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter of a 110-104 loss when Doncic argued a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket. Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used &ldquo;a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.&rdquo;
TIMBERWOLVES 119, KINGS 115
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jaden McDaniels scored 20 points and Minnesota spoiled Sacramento&rsquo;s bid to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2006, the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
The Timberwolves won their fourth straight and completed a sweep of a back-to-back set at Golden State and Sacramento to tie the Warriors for sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Naz Reid scored 18 points, Anthony Edwards had 17 and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 29 points and Domantas Sabonis added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, which shot 5 of 26 from 3-point distance.
The Kings will look to clinch a playoff berth when they travel to Portland for two games, starting Wednesday.
CLIPPERS 124, BULLS 112
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Nicolas Batum got all of his season-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon added 22 points as Los Angeles beat Chicago.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as the Clippers rebounded from an embarrassing loss to New Orleans with 20 3-pointers in an impressive outside shooting display led by Batum.
Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 assists and five rebounds as Los Angeles (40-36) kept hold of fifth place in the Western Conference standings and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Phoenix.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points and Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who followed up their impressive win over the Lakers on Sunday with a dud.
NUGGETS 116, 76ERS 111
DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic recorded his 29th triple double of the season and Denver beat short-handed Philadelphia in a game Joel Embiid sat out with a sore right calf.
That scuttled the highly anticipated showdown between MVP front-runners that many felt could have decided whether Embiid, the runner-up the last two years, denies Jokic a third consecutive award. With Embiid in the locker room, Jokic scored 25 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and dished out 12 assists.
Tyrese Maxey scored 23 of his 29 points in the first half as the Sixers dropped their third straight.
PELICANS 124, TRAIL BLAZERS 90
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and New Orleans routed short-handed Portland.
CJ McCollum, who played nine seasons with the Blazers before he was traded to the Pelicans last season, added 17 points. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 10 points and 21 rebounds, and New Orleans led by as many as 36.
Keon Johnson had 20 points off the bench for the Blazers, who have lost nine of 10 and will, in all likelihood, miss the playoffs for the second straight season &mdash; although they have not been mathematically eliminated. Most of their regular starters were out with injuries, including top scorer Damian Lillard (right calf), Jerami Grant (bruised left quad), Jusuf Nurkic (right knee) and Anfernee Simons (right foot).
SUNS 117, JAZZ 103
SAT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 24 points and Phoenix reserves sparked the decisive run in a win over Utah.
Deandre Ayton had 14 points after missing four games with a bruised hip. But a trio off the bench was pivotal for Phoenix: Terrence Ross had 13 points, Cameron Payne added 12 and Bismack Biyombo scored 11.
The Suns (40-35) had lost four in a row on the road. But with this victory they sit more securely in the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff race &mdash; which would give them home-court advantage in the first round.
Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for Utah, but shot 6 for 22. Walker Kessler had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz (35-40), who have lost four straight. Kessler also matched a career high with seven blocks.
KNICKS 137, ROCKETS 115
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 40 points and Julius Randle had 26 as New York snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Houston.
RJ Barrett added 19 points, Obi Toppin had 15 and Quinten Grimes scored 14 for the Knicks.
Quickley connected on 14 of 18 shots from the field and added nine assists. He started in place of Jalen Brunson, who missed his second straight game with a bruised right hand.
Kevin Porter Jr. led the Rockets with 26 points. Jalen Green had 19 and Kenyon Martin Jr. added 18 as Houston dropped its sixth straight game.
BUCKS 126, PISTONS 117
DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Khris Middleton scored 34 points against the team that drafted him and Milwaukee beat Detroit without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 54-21 despite the absences of Antetokounmpo (knee) and Jae Crowder (calf). Goran Dragic made his Bucks debut after signing with the team on March 4, but didn&rsquo;t score in nine minutes.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Bobby Portis added 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Jevon Carter scored 22.
The Pistons got 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Jaden Ivey, but lost their sixth straight game and 17th of 18. They are 1-13 against Central Division opponents.

A recap of Monday's slate of NBA games includes Doncic keeping the Mavs playoff hopes alive and a fourth straight Wolves win.

Luka Doncic powers Mavericks to 127-104 win over Pacers

Stephen Curry offers a simple answer for all the back and forth between his four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors and the upstart Memphis Grizzlies over the past two seasons.
For Curry, it&rsquo;s not a feud or a bitter rivalry. The Warriors don&rsquo;t have the same history with the Grizzlies that they do with, say, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Or with LeBron James in whatever uniform he&rsquo;s wearing.
&ldquo;Just a team that is tough to beat,&rdquo; Curry said about the Grizzlies. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re really talented. ... Also a team that you&rsquo;re going to need to play well to beat, but the history isn&rsquo;t there yet.&rdquo;
Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. disagrees.
&ldquo;Every time we touch the floor, it&rsquo;s a rivalry,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;We saw this team many times. We feel like every single time we&rsquo;re out there with them, it&rsquo;s a rivalry for sure.&rdquo;
There always seems to be some drama, a little something extra when the teams meet: hard fouls, trash-talking or some other theatrics.
Warriors guard Jordan Poole said earlier this week: &ldquo;I guess some days you can call it a rivalry.&rdquo;
Whatever it is, the Warriors and the young, brash Grizzlies are usually must-see TV.
The bad blood between the two really began to percolate during last season&rsquo;s playoffs when Gary Payton II suffered a broken left elbow in Game 2 after a flagrant foul that that got&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-san-francisco-c76fd29fd389dc57194c175d04f13816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memphis&rsquo; Dillon Brooks suspended for Game 3</a>.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Brooks crossed the line and &ldquo;broke the code&rdquo; of NBA conduct.
Ja Morant fired back after limping off in the fourth quarter of Game 3. Warriors guard Jordan Poole grabbed his knee while trying to strip the ball and Morant later posted, and then deleted, video of the play with the words &ldquo;broke the code.&rdquo;
And the ill will has carried over into their first three games this season:
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-ty-jerome-41a9de4ea17e5aa5d238b745d8c1e8f6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Klay Thompson drew a technical in that Christmas night win for standing over and taunting Dillon Brooks</a>&nbsp;as he was down on the court. Thompson called it &ldquo;some good old-fashioned trash talk.&rdquo; Poole was ejected, and even Kerr drew one of Golden State&rsquo;s six technicals in the game.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-basketball-e5da616ca60fa9856fe50e69263c3770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry was ejected from Golden State&rsquo;s 122-120 win</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 25 after tossing his mouthpiece in frustration, seemingly more with this teammates than with the Grizzlies.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1634007790485110785?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooks and Green got up close and personal</a>&nbsp;after a steal and bucket in Memphis&rsquo; 131-110 wire-to-wire win a week ago, standing face-to-face with the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Green said after the game Brooks was trying to bait him into a technical foul but that he only draws a tech when he wants.
&ldquo;One of us (is) baitable and one of us&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t, said Green, who had said on his podcast before that game that the Grizzlies&rsquo; dynasty would start only after they get rid of Brooks.
Brooks responded after the Grizzlies&rsquo; win: &ldquo;The fact that he was trying to pin my teammates against me. That was a low blow. But that&rsquo;s the type of player he is.&rdquo;
So, no the history isn&rsquo;t there and the Warriors downplay the matchup &mdash; it&rsquo;s clear the Grizzlies have Golden State&rsquo;s attention.
There should be playoff atmosphere Saturday in the teams&rsquo; final regular-season matchup, which has postseason implications.
Morant will still be sidelined as&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-suspended-nba-gun-video-8cc82061f6465f96d6c5d0806d92d7d0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part of his now eight-game suspension by the NBA</a>&nbsp;for displaying a gun while at a Colorado strip club in the early hours of March 4. Though Memphis routed Golden State last week without Morant.
Golden State needs every road win it can steal down the stretch. The Warriors are 7-27 away from home this season. Curry, who is having another MVP-caliber season, understands the urgency and had&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/kawhi-leonard-stephen-curry-warriors-clippers-ab330413ab5eb55fb06b29e9351ab37a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50 points Wednesday night in a road loss</a>&nbsp;against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Grizzlies would like to extend the Warriors&rsquo; road woes, not that they need any extra incentives when playing Golden State.
&ldquo;We have all the motivation that we need playing this team just as is, just the history that we got with them,&rdquo; Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always a battle. It&rsquo;s always an intense matchup.&rdquo;
Green made clear the standard that he uses to gauge whether or not the Warriors and Grizzlies becme a true rivalry: winning titles, not a game here or there.
&ldquo;Clearly we won four times, and I think their organization has zero championships, so I can&rsquo;t consider that a rivalry,&rdquo; Green said.
Maybe not, but their matchups have been very entertaining.

Whether Warriors vs. Grizzlies has become a full-blown rivalry or not, there's no question their match-ups are usually must-see TV.

NBA feud or rivalry? Warriors, Memphis drama is must-see TV

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Paul George and Terance Mann each scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 116-107 on Thursday night in the final NBA game before the All-Star break.
Kawhi Leonard added 16 points, all in the second half, and nine rebounds. Ivica Zubac and Eric Gordon each scored 13 points and Zubac had 12 rebounds.
The Clippers go into the break with wins in their last two games as they adjust to a new lineup rotation. Recent acquisitions Gordon, Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee all played important roles in the victory. They combined for 30 points and 10 rebounds and were a collective 11 for 11 from the foul line.
&ldquo;The new guys came in and just plugged right in as if we started the season,&rdquo; George said. &ldquo;We played great team basketball. We shared it and got stops as we needed to.
&ldquo;We got everything we need. We just have to bring that all together and find an identity that can carry us.&rdquo;
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-62 apnews_article_midarticle_1" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">
Leonard missed all eight of his shots in the first half but was 5 of 10 after that and made all six of his free-throw tries.
&ldquo;I just made shots,&rdquo; Leonard said abut the difference. &ldquo;You just gotta keep pushing.&rdquo;
The Suns missed nine of their first 10 3-point attempts, with only Josh Okogie warming up later in the game. Okogie led Phoenix with 24 points. He was 6 of 12 from behind the arc, but the rest of the Suns made five combined.
<div class="Component-hubPeekEmbed-0-2-66 HubPeek noBorderBottom-0-2-75 compressedEmbed-0-2-76 hubPeekMain" data-card-id="afs:Card:522820401280">
<div class="hubPeekContainerWide-0-2-78" data-key="feed-card-hub-peak">
<div class="title-0-2-79">
&ldquo;It feels good without having to look over your shoulder when you mess up,&rdquo; said Okogie, whose recent performances have put him in the running to join Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton in Phoenix&rsquo;s starting lineup when Durant returns from a knee injury.
&ldquo;Coach (Monty Williams) told me, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t care if you miss eight in a row. I won&rsquo;t take you out for missing but I will take you out for not shooting.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Booker had 19 points and nine assists for Phoenix. Ayton scored 18 points and newcomer Terrance Ross had 16 points. Booker was 1 of 6 from 3-point range, but tied Steve Nash&rsquo;s franchise record with 1,051 3s.
Paul had 11 assists, two nights after having a season-high 19 against Sacramento.
The Clippers have scored 100 or more points in 20 of their last 21 games.
The loss was the Suns&rsquo; first against a Pacific Division opponent in 10 games, and the Clippers moved ahead of Phoenix into second place going into the All-Star break.
TURNOVER
The Suns won the first two meetings between the teams, both in Los Angeles, but the squads have undergone major changes since then.
The Clippers&rsquo; new threesome made their presence known Thursday night, while the Suns expect Kevin Durant to play soon. He was acquired with T.J. Warren from Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder plus four first-round picks.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said the Suns&rsquo; trio of Durant, Booker and Paul reminds him of going against Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson when Lue was coaching Cleveland in the NBA Finals.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to think about it,&rdquo; Lue said about the Suns adding Durant to their rotation. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough coverage, tough matchup. I&rsquo;m interested to see how they play, how they share the basketball. But on paper it looks really good.&rdquo;
NEW GUY
Ross joined the Suns for the game and made a quick impact, scoring a team-high seven points in the first quarter. Ross, a 6-foot-6 guard/small forward, was waived by Orlando as his contract was expiring after this season.
Ross, in his 11th NBA season, was averaging eight points in 22 minutes per game for the Magic.
TRAINER&rsquo;S ROOM
Los Angeles played without Norman Powell, who was resting his ailing right knee. &ldquo;No bigger concerns,&rdquo; Lue said of Powell resting the Clippers&rsquo; last game before the All-Star break. Phoenix remains without Durant (knee), Landry Shamet (foot) and Cameron Payne (foot).
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Paul George and Terance Mann each scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 116-107.

All-Star George, Mann lead Clippers past Suns 116-107

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; The Los Angeles Clippers have 22 games remaining to integrate their trade deadline acquisitions. They didn&rsquo;t waste any time.
Kawhi Leonard&nbsp;scored 33 points, tying his career high with seven 3-pointers, and the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 134-124 on Tuesday night to snap a two-game skid.
&ldquo;The Clippers just outplayed us,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;They were great in the second half and they deserved it.&rdquo;
Norman Powell added 24 points and Paul George had 20 points and eight assists for the Clippers, who debuted newly acquired Eric Gordon, Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee. They helped outscore the Warriors&rsquo; bench, 49-42.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be different for us,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;We got to put this together as fast as we can.&rdquo;
Gordon finished with seven points, Hyland had six and Plumlee scored eight in the teams&rsquo; last game before the All-Star break.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-527 apnews_article_midarticle_1" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">
&ldquo;They did a good job of just being themselves and being aggressive,&rdquo; Leonard said.
Leonard was 12 of 17 from the floor, 7 of 9 from 3-point range and made both of his free throws in 34 minutes.
&ldquo;I kept shooting with confidence,&rdquo; he said.
Jordan Poole&nbsp;led seven Warriors in double figures with 28 points. Klay Thompson had 18 points playing the second game of a back-to-back for the first time this season. Kevon Looney had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Warriors fell to 29-29 at the break. They hope to have Stephen Curry back not long after the season resumes, while newly acquired Gary Payton II could be out a month.
&ldquo;We have reinforcements coming and we have a lot to look forward to,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;We have lost so many games that we should have won. We know we&rsquo;re right there.&rdquo;
Gordon&rsquo;s 3-pointer extended the Clippers&rsquo; lead to 18 points early in the fourth. The Warriors cut it to 116-106 on&nbsp;Jonathan Kuminga&rsquo;s&nbsp;3-pointer. He finished with 16 points off the bench.
Leonard hit his seventh 3-pointer in the closing minutes before leaving the game with the Clippers ahead 128-114.
The teams traded leads and were tied five times early in the third. The Clippers outscored the Warriors 19-7 over the final minutes to lead 105-93 going into the fourth. Leonard and George had just two points each while their supporting cast carried them. Plumlee had six points and Hyland had two during the run in which seven different players scored.
&ldquo;With this offense, I feel like I can create in the lane and find teammates,&rdquo; Hyland said. &ldquo;I forgot Mason can push the ball, too.&rdquo;
The Warriors had four players in double figures at halftime when they led 65-61.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Thompson missed 11 games, all second games of back-to-backs, due to right Achilles tendon injury management. ... Andrew Wiggins was out for personal reasons and will rejoin the team after the All-Star break. Donte DiVincenzo started in his place and scored 10 points. ... Kerr got a technical late in the third for arguing a call. ... Andre Iguodala (right hip soreness) missed his 16th straight game.
Clippers: Hyland will run the point for the second unit. &ldquo;Just watching him, the pop he has, running pick and rolls, getting downhill, attacking and making the right passes, making the right plays,&rdquo; Lue said.
GREEN&rsquo;S CRITIQUE
Draymond Green&nbsp;was critical of the Warriors&rsquo; defense, something that has concerned Kerr all season.
&ldquo;Defense is all about a will &mdash; a want to defend. Defense isn&rsquo;t fun. You just got to want to do it if you want to win and we haven&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always going to try on that side, but I can be better. I&rsquo;m not going to point the finger at anyone or point blame. If you&rsquo;re a leader at something and you&rsquo;re failing, it&rsquo;s your fault.&rdquo;
<div class="Component-hubPeekEmbed-0-2-531 HubPeek noBorderBottom-0-2-174 compressedEmbed-0-2-175 hubPeekMain" data-card-id="afs:Card:522820401280">
<div class="hubPeekContainerWide-0-2-535" data-key="feed-card-hub-peak">
<div class="title-0-2-536">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points, tying his career high with seven 3-pointers, and the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 134-124.

Leonard’s 33 points lead Clippers over Warriors, 134-124

When you hear "security blanket" within a sports context, you might think of a tight end in football.
A quarterback has his top target. A speed demon on the outside like Tyreek Hill; a route technician like Stefon Diggs; a YAC (yards after catch) machine like AJ Brown; a "Yes" build like NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson.&nbsp;
But then, there's the check. Your hot read. Your if-all-else-fails option if the primary or even secondary look isn't there. That guy can be your running back, but my mind goes to the tight end. Releasing to the flat in play action. Sitting down in the middle of the zone for the eight yards you need on third-and-six.&nbsp;
In all the ways I thought about breaking down Kevin Durant's fit with the Phoenix Suns, whenever he makes his return following an MCL sprain, I kept coming back to the tight-end angle.
Durant is Phoenix's very-large, very-skilled, frankly-overqualified security blanket.
(Is the upcoming Super Bowl, particularly the participation of the Philadelphia Eagles, a factor in why I landed on a football analogy? Who's to say, really. But we rally on, friends.)
If we're extending the analogy, it's worth reiterating that Durant is overqualified for this. He is more George Kittle or Travis Kelce than he is [insert run-of-the-mill possession tight end here]. You can build the boat around Durant much like you can with those two.
On the field, their teams enjoy deploying them all over the place. On the line, split out wide, in the slot. Their presence alone forces the defense into checks; demands a level of attention that is both necessary and uncomfortable in light of the talent around them.
Durant will be moved all over the chess board, used in a multitude of ways.
Directly, he can operate as the screener or ball-handler in pick-and-rolls. He will be a hub in the middle of the floor, as part of their Elbow sets &mdash; read a detailed breakdown <a href="https://thefourpointplay.substack.com/p/vol2-iss8-the-peoples-elbow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; or the recipient of clear-outs following an off-ball screen.
I can't emphasize how important Durant's screen work will be, and how seamless of a fit he'll be in the Suns' offense because of it.
His off-ball work is the stuff of legends. Guys his size shouldn't be able to navigate traffic the way he does. Throughout his career &mdash; in Seattle (RIP), Oklahoma City, Golden State and Brooklyn &mdash; Durant has made a living flying off screens and raising up for easy (for him) ones.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/tklo15" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Pick-and-rolls involving Durant, on either side, have been dominant. Possessions featuring a Durant-led pick-and-roll are generating 1.12 points per possession (PPP) this season, which ranks second behind Luka Doncic (1.123 PPP) among 76 players who have received at least 500 on-ball picks this year, per Second Spectrum.
With Durant as a screener in pick-and-roll, that mark drops to 1.09 PPP, which is "only" a top-10 mark in the NBA among 150 players who have set at least 200 picks. A majority of those were screens set in the half-court, with the purpose of forcing a mismatch before going one-on-one.
A fun wrinkle to keep an eye on with Durant: drag screens in early offense or transition, especially when set for Chris Paul.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Mikal Bridges would set-and-slip those suckers as a way to draw the eyes of defenders. If it was played poorly enough, Paul (or Devin Booker) could slip a pass to Bridges for a paint touch &mdash; something the Suns don't generate all that much. This is&nbsp;a team that has ranked 30th, 30th and 29th (this year) in rim rate during the Paul Era.
Durant set them in Brooklyn, but not only were those instances less frequent, he'd also fade to the perimeter or simply cut his path short to set up a mid-post touch. Much like the screens set in half-court situations, he'd operate in a way to help set up his jumper.&nbsp;
Here's an example from Bridges. He doesn't get the ball on this rep, but peep his path after the slip, how open he is, and the attention he draws from the weakside corner defender because of it. This is the threat those screens can pose.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/c4o84y" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
And now here's a rep from Durant. Again, it's less about the result and more about Durant's ideal pattern and how he reacts to openings.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/24z3ka" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
It'll be a fun dichotomy to keep track of. On one hand, you could see even more of a dip in paint pressure with Durant in the fold. If those slips turn into isolations, the pace could also drop further; <a href="http://stats.inpredictable.com/nba/ssnTeamPoss.php?season=2022&amp;po=0&amp;frdt=2022-10-18&amp;todt=2023-02-10&amp;view=off&amp;sort=aotopdr&amp;order=ASC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per Inpredictable</a>, the Suns rank 19th in seconds per possession (14.6), and that falls to 26th (11.6) on trips following a defensive rebound.
On the other hand, the degree of difficulty may be lowered. Paul or Booker hitting Bridges on those slips are impressive. Fruitful, even. You still have to wait for the window, get the right angle and hit Bridges in the pocket &mdash; early enough to where Bridges has time to gather the pass and make a decision, but not too early where the defense has time to load up in front of him.&nbsp;
With Durant, you have a 7-foot target &mdash; a security blanket, if you will &mdash; to toss the ball to before getting the heck out of the way. During his Nets tenure, possessions featuring a Durant isolation generated 1.1 PPP, putting him in a virtual tie with Doncic. On post-ups, he was even more effective (1.13 PPP).&nbsp;
Beyond that, think about how teams have tried to stifle the ball-screen brilliance of Booker and Paul over the past two seasons. I've <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-how-the-suns-create-without-chris-paul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written about</a> Booker's need for growth when seeing traps. Paul pick-and-rolls are being switched at a higher rate than they've ever been, per Second Spectrum &mdash; part of why Paul has passed the ball on a career-high 59.1% of his PnRs this year.
Can you afford to trap Booker if Durant is the screener? Do you want to switch Paul-Durant ball screens?
On the Paul front, I think about how teams have felt increasingly comfortable putting size &mdash; sometimes 4s &mdash; on Paul so they can switch the Paul-Ayton pick-and-roll. The Warriors have thrown Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins at him. Ben Simmons got the Paul assignment earlier in the week.&nbsp;
What does that gambit look like with Durant in the fold?&nbsp;
Also, Durant doesn't just provide safety on the offensive end.&nbsp;
Defensively, Durant is &mdash; or I guess, "was" before the injury &mdash; arguably in the midst of his best defensive season. He's <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*durant&amp;Season=2022-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">challenging more shots</a> at the rim than he ever has, holding opponents to roughly 56% shooting inside, and blocking 1.5 shots per game to boot.&nbsp;
Among the 50 players to defend as many isolations as Durant has this season (125), only six of them &mdash; headlined by OG Anunoby (0.81 PPP allowed) and Patrick Williams (0.69 PPP) &mdash; have been stingier than Durant (0.88 PPP), per Second Spectrum.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The amount of ground Durant covers is so important to this group. While not the perimeter defender Bridges is, he can approximate some of the off-ball danger he poses. Durant's arms are hard to avoid when sinking down to help on a drive; they're even harder to avoid when attempting a shot inside.
Oddly enough, the Suns may have gotten a little worse on the perimeter while becoming&nbsp;better&nbsp;equipped to deal with some of the mismatch hunting Paul has dealt with the past couple of seasons. At the very least, they can afford to get more aggressive.
Think back to the second-round loss the Suns suffered at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks last year. Bridges got the primary assignment on Doncic, but didn't guard him as long as he probably could've. The Suns would sometimes switch Bridges out of the assignment when Doncic called for a screen, only to have Bridges zone up and provide (the illusion of) relief afterwards.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/sv634x" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
There are subtleties to keep in mind here. The Mavs didn't just go after Paul; they made sure Bridges had to navigate a screen first. Throwing him off balance early made it easier for him to concede the switch later.&nbsp;
Bridges was navigating that screen because 1) he's really freaking good but 2) Ayton was in a deep drop. Of the 150 instances Ayton was involved in a Doncic-led pick-and-roll, he hedged or blitzed on five of them, per Second Spectrum. Five! The switch count was barely above 20.&nbsp;
And this is what interests me about the Durant move: The Suns may be willing to ramp up the pressure in a series like this, against mismatch hunting like that, with Durant capable of patrolling a back-line.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/9rph5y" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
It could be Ayton playing closer to the level or blitzing more often. It could be as simple as the help defenders themselves &mdash; namely the defender one pass away from a Doncic or Kawhi Leonard isolation &mdash; getting more aggressive, knowing they've got reliable backup behind them.&nbsp;
That's certainly the case through the lens of rim protection, but it also tracks in terms of rebounding. The Suns should be better at it with Torrey Craig and Durant on the floor more than the Bridges-Craig duo. That's important considering they've fallen to 22nd in defensive rebound rate this season.
Durant is one of the most versatile superstars the NBA has ever seen. An elite scorer. Elite shooter. Opportunistic playmaker. Post hub. Isolation specialist. A walking mismatch. A 7-foot-0 backspace button on the defensive end.
You simply can't cover him. But most importantly for the Suns, Durant provides so much cover for their roster shortcomings.

How does Kevin Durant fit with the Phoenix Suns? Nekias Duncan examines Durant's film and what to expect from the new-look Suns.

How Kevin Durant provides cover for the Phoenix Suns

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

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, Chris Paul added 15 points and 13 assists and the Phoenix Suns snapped a five-game losing streak with a 111-95 victory over the depleted Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
Devin Booker scored 14 points in his return from a two-game absence with a hamstring injury for the Suns, whose longest skid in three years ended with a blowout of a Clippers lineup missing most of its important players. Phoenix took a 27-point lead in the first half and maintained a comfortable double-digit margin while closing out just its second win in eight games in December.
&ldquo;Ain't no easy nights in this league,&rdquo; said Bridges, who went 11 for 18. &ldquo;I know they were missing some players, but they're still in the league. We came out here and we played hard. Felt good to make some shots early.&rdquo;
Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Norman Powell, Reggie Jackson and Ivica Zubac didn't play, leaving Los Angeles without its top three scorers, four of its starters Wednesday in a victory over Minnesota, and five regular rotation players averaging a combined 74.5 points and 28.4 rebounds per game.
The Suns also were depleted: Deandre Ayton couldn&rsquo;t play after injuring his ankle in the first half of Phoenix&rsquo;s loss at Houston on Tuesday, and Cameron Payne sat out with a foot injury that incurred in the same game.
&ldquo;I'm happy we finally got a win out of this road trip, and we're going to try to keep this train moving," Paul said.
Although Booker struggled with his shot from all ranges, going 6 for 22 and missing eight of his nine 3-point attempts, Bridges rebounded sharply from a 4-for-24 shooting effort against the Rockets.
&ldquo;He's a prideful player,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;He needed a forklift to get his lip off the ground the other night, he was so down about his performance. ... When he's shooting the ball like (tonight), we're a pretty good team.&rdquo;
Terance Mann scored a season-high 22 points for the Clippers, whose three-game winning streak ended. John Wall had 12 points and five assists in his second start for LA after sitting out Wednesday&rsquo;s game with knee soreness.
&ldquo;In the second half, we did a better job of attacking the paint and trying to make a play,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;We didn't do that in the first half. I'm just proud of our guys to keep competing and keep trying to play the right way.&rdquo;
Leonard sat out for the 21st time this season to rest his surgically repaired right knee. George sat for the ninth time this season, citing left knee soreness after playing in the previous six games.
Without their dynamic duo, the Clippers couldn&rsquo;t come close to the standard they set in two home games over the previous three days, beating the NBA-leading Boston Celtics and the Timberwolves.
&ldquo;It's definitely real frustrating when we had a good thing going, had a nice little rhythm, figuring stuff out again, about to start a nice little win streak, I thought, and this happens,&rdquo; Mann said. &ldquo;We've just got to figure it out from here now.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Suns: Bismack Biyombo had five points, five rebounds and five fouls while starting in place of Ayton. ... Cameron Johnson missed his 21st straight game while recovering from knee surgery. ... Jock Landale had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Clippers: Zubac left Wednesday's game with left knee pain. ... Powell hasn't played since November due to a groin injury. ... Jackson sat out for the second time in four games with a left Achilles injury.
&nbsp;

Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and the Suns snapped a five-game losing streak with a 111-95 victory over the depleted Clippers.

Suns snap 5-game skid with 111-95 win over depleted Clippers

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Denver coach Michael Malone knew when the schedule came out that his team was going to have to be successful again on the road if it was going to be contend in the Western Conference.
So far, the Nuggets are living up to Malone's goal of being road warriors.
Behind Aaron Gordon's 29 points and an additional 19 from Jamal Murray, the Nuggets beat the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 114-104 on Friday night for their league-best eighth road win.
Denver has played 13 of its first 19 on the road and gone 8-5 after having a franchise-record 25 wins away from the friendly confines of Ball Arena last season.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re winning at that level on the road, you know you&rsquo;re a good team. Our challenge now is to go home and take care of business,&rdquo; Malone said after the Nuggets won their second straight and third in their last four games.
Nikola Jokic added 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who led by 21 at one point during the fourth quarter with a run of 10 straight points midway through the period.
John Wall had a season-high 23 points for the Clippers, who were down to 10 players with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Luke Kennard out due to injuries. Leonard missed his second straight game after he sprained his right ankle Monday night against Utah. George (right hamstring) missed his third straight game and Kennard (right calf) has been out the last four.
Terance Mann added 16 points and Marcus Morris Sr. had 15.
The Clippers had 11 turnovers in the first half, but only three in the final 24 minutes.
&ldquo;We were being too casual with the basketball in the first half, but addressed that at halftime,&rdquo; coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;In the second half we had our chances, and got it to seven. The margin of error is very slim so we got to take advantage of those opportunities. But I thought we did some good things and we've got some things we&rsquo;ve got to clean up.&rdquo;
Denver was down to 10 players in Wednesday&rsquo;s win over Oklahoma City but was bolstered by the returns of Murray and Ish Smith to the lineup.
&ldquo;It feels like we&rsquo;re starting to put something together. So this is something to build on,&rdquo; said Gordon, who scored 19 points in the second half.
The game was tied at 18 midway through the first quarter before the Nuggets scored nine straight points to lead the rest of the way.
Denver extended its advantage to 64-52 at halftime and led by 17 with 2 minutes remaining in the third after a pair of free throws by Vlatko Cancar made it 85-68. The Clippers made a late run to get it to 87-77
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr. (heel), Jeff Green (knee), Bones Hyland (illness) and Payton Watson (illness) did not play. ... Cancar had 13 points coming off the bench. ... Murray also had nine assists. ... Denver had a 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Clippers: Robert Covington had 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers and reached 1,200 for his career. ... Norman Powell had 11 points off the bench. ... Los Angeles was 19 of 34 on free throws, with the 55.9% rate being its second-lowest of the year.
&nbsp;

Behind Aaron Gordon's 29 points, the Nuggets beat the short-handed  Clippers 114-104 for their league-best eighth road win.

Gordon scores 29, Nuggets beat short-handed Clippers 114-104

It was a big night for Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Adebayo dropped a season-high 30 points, with 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter. He also added 10 rebounds, with 6 of those coming on the offensive end. Being a plus-12 in a game the Heat won by one point speaks a bit to the impact he had in his 36 minutes.
There were plenty of highlights from Adebayo's evening, including plenty of transition goodness as the ball-handler. What stood out to me was this early first-quarter possession.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/s7ipdb" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
That's Mikal Bridges, quietly <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-153-hooters-with-the-fellas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">having a career year</a>, getting another valuable on-ball rep. He runs a ball-screen with Deandre Ayton, one that required a re-screen before capping things with a pull-up middy. But peep Miami's side of the equation.
Adebayo,&nbsp;the&nbsp;premier switch big in the NBA, is in a drop on this possession. Max Strus is tasked with staying attached to Bridges; he's successful on the first screen, but not so much on the second. Instead of Adebayo stepping up to switch onto Bridges, Kyle Lowry helps off of Torrey Craig to stunt at the Bridges drive.&nbsp;
The possession ends with a bucket, of course, but it's time we examine the increased frequency of Adebayo operating in a drop defensively.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Per Second Spectrum, Adebayo defended 15 picks in a drop on Monday night, marking the third straight game that he's eclipsed double figures in that scenario. Between this game and the two games against the Charlotte Hornets last week, Adebayo has defended 53 picks in drop coverage.
On its face, 53 picks in three games isn't a large number. It&nbsp;is&nbsp;rare for Adebayo; he hasn't had a three-game stretch of double-digit reps like this since Game 4 through Game 6 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals (16, 14 and 15 picks respectively). You'd have to go back to the beginning of that regular season &mdash; a stretch between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31 &mdash; to find a three-game stretch with more picks defended in a drop.
The results have been uneven so far. On one hand, they've succeeded in shifting Miami's opponent's shot profile a bit. Prior to this three game stretch, here's where the Heat ranked in terms of shot rate (percentage of field goals) allowed.
<ul>
<li>Rim: 28.6% &mdash; second-lowest rate in the NBA</li>
<li>Mid-Range: 29.7% &mdash; 15th</li>
<li>Total Threes: 41.7% &mdash; highest rate in the NBA</li>
<li>Corner Threes: 13% &mdash; second-highest rate in the NBA</li>
<li>Above the Break 3: 28.7% &mdash; fifth-highest rate in the NBA</li>
</ul>
In simpler terms &mdash; the Heat were preventing shots at the rim, but giving up a ton&nbsp;of shots from deep in the process. Because the Heat (read: Bam) switched at a high rate, teams weren't generating a ton of paint touches with dribble penetration. And to that point: the Heat defended 38 drives per 100 possessions through Nov. 9, the lowest mark in the NBA.
Instead, they'd often manipulate matchups against those switches in an effort to force the Heat to send help. When extra attention was allocated, fruitful three-pointers would present themselves.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/xbjjcn" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Over the past three games, this has shifted some. Here's the opponent shot profile:
<ul>
<li>Rim: 31.6% (+3.0)</li>
<li>Mid-Range: 31.9% (+2.2)</li>
<li>Total Threes: 36.5% (-5.2)</li>
<li>Corner Threes: 15.2% (+2.2)</li>
<li>Above the Break 3: 21.3% (-7.4)</li>
</ul>
You see a pretty sizable drop-off in three-point rate, with that drop entirely coming from above-the-break threes. In turn, the Heat have allowed a larger share of mid-range jumpers (good) and shots at the rim (different, requires context). The Heat are defending slightly more drives (40.2 per 100 possessions), though that would still be a top-three mark in the league if extrapolated across the season.&nbsp;
The rise in shots at the rim and from the corners deserve further examination. Natrually, if you're forcing ball-handlers off the three-point line, they're going to venture more into space. If the screen navigation isn't up to par, those ball-handlers will have more space to explore comfortably.&nbsp;
The gamble the Heat are making is essentially, "You can get to the rim, but you have to finish over Bam Adebayo. Good luck!" You can understand that gamble with reps like these:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/5xm3mq" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
I do wonder if teams start challenging Adebayo more moving forward in this alignment. He does a lot of work from the ground, flashing his hands and stunting at ball-handlers in an effort to bait them into making reads. That could lead to some openings for more aggressive drivers.
A quieter subplot to follow will be how much space Adebayo gives in the drop. Turning threes into mid-range shots can be viewed as good process, broadly. But it's also worth noting that not all mid-range shots are bad shots. Making teams live on long-twos is the result you want; if they're able to feast around the elbows or slightly lower, things get dicier.&nbsp;
Most guards are comfortable with&nbsp;these&nbsp;intermediate looks.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/igs8il" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
And because the Heat don't want to give up&nbsp;those&nbsp;kind of looks, they've countered with digs or stunts from the perimeter. The issue is that some of those stunts are (still) coming from the corners. We can revisit the Bridges shot from earlier in the piece. Watch Lowry here:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/s7ipdb" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
This possession against the Charlotte Hornets ends in an offensive foul, but look at Strus:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ly1oj2" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Under Spoelstra, the Heat have been good about knowing who to help off of. That type of planning, aside from your egregious non-shooters (think Matisse Thybulle), is typically saved for the postseason. The Heat will have to live in that bag if they're sticking with the aggressive corner help we've seen them complement their switching with.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Ultimately, this may just come back down to screen navigation. Can the guard stable &mdash; Lowry, Gabe Vincent, Strus, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo (when they return) &mdash; navigate cleanly enough to not need&nbsp;those stunts?
If they can, the Heat may be able to have their cake and eat it too. Keep Adebayo near the rim and in rebound positioning; lower the amount of threes they're giving up; send help towards drivers when poor shooters are stashed in the corner so they can allow a healthier shot diet while keeping up their Heat-like pressure.
If not, it'll likely go back to switching Adebayo onto the perimeter and navigating the back-end as best they can.

Nekias Duncan dives into the Heat's decision to experiment with Bam Adebayo on the defensive end using drop coverage.

Trick or trend? Heat putting Bam Adebayo in drop coverage

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 35 points, Chris Paul became the third player in NBA history to reach 11,000 assists, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-95 on Sunday night.
The Suns didn&rsquo;t waste any time getting started on the blowout. They raced to an 11-0 lead from the opening tip and led by 20 points at halftime and again in the third.
Marcus Morris scored 22 points, John Wall added 17 points and Paul George had 16 points in the Clippers&rsquo; home opener after winning their first two games on the road. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in his second game of the season.
Paul assisted on the Suns&rsquo; first basket of the game, a 3-pointer by Booker. Paul followed with an alley-oop pass to Deandre Ayton, who dunked, to give him 11,000 assists.
Paul joined John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players in NBA history with that many assists. Paul also became the first player in the league with 20,000 points and 11,000 assists.
Stockton had 15,806 assists and Kidd, now coach of the Dallas Mavericks, had 12,091.
Fittingly, Paul reached the mark against the Clippers, with whom he played for six seasons and is the franchise&rsquo;s career assists leader.
Paul finished with seven points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Last season, the Clippers overcame deficits of at least 24 points four times.
Not this time.
The Clippers got no closer than 10 points on a 3-pointer by George late in the third. Booker and Cameron Payne scored to send the Suns into the fourth leading 86-72.
The Clippers were called for offensive fouls on Luke Kennard and Ivica Zubac after getting within 12 early in the final quarter.
Cam Johnson, former Clipper Landry Shamet and Booker hit consecutive 3-pointers that stretched the Suns' lead to 99-81, sending the crowd to the exits.
TIP-INS
Suns: Shamet (left hip strain) and Johnson (right hip contusion) both returned.
Clippers: Reggie Jackson remains limited by a groin injury. He was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting. ... George and Leonard walked to center court to address the fans before the game, with George doing all the talking. He said the team's slogan is Why Not Us. &ldquo;Let's go get it this year,&rdquo; George said.
UP NEXT
Suns: Host defending NBA champion Golden State on Tuesday to open a six-game homestand.
Clippers: Play at Oklahoma City on Tuesday and Thursday in a two-game trip.

The Suns didn’t waste any time getting started on the blowout. They raced to an 11-0 lead from the opening tip.

Layton