Mountain Lions

In the single most stunning and shocking trade in NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers have traded away Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic.
As first broken out by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, the Lakers are sending away Davis, Max Christie, and their 2029 1st round pick to the Mavericks in exchange for Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris. The Utah Jazz swooped in as a third team in the blockbuster mega deal, securing the Lakers&rsquo; Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2025 Clippers 2nd round pick, and a 2025 Mavericks 2nd round pick.
ANALYSIS: The move brought shockwaves to the entire NBA world, drawing several reactions from players and media alike.
There has never been a trade of this magnitude, with a generational offensive talent being traded out in his prime. Doncic, who is just 25 years old, has made 5 All-NBA first teams and has been arguably a top 5 player in the league for the past 2 seasons.&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s even more surprising is this came out of the blue without anyone knowing except the Lakers and the Mavericks&rsquo; front offices. There have been reports of the Mavericks&rsquo; concern of Luka&rsquo;s conditioning and his impending supermax extension worth $345 million. Dallas GM Nico Harrison has also stated &ldquo;defense wins championships&rdquo; and that they believe that the 31-year-old Davis who is a defensive caliber player and an all-star will lead them and establish their identity as a defensive team. The Mavericks clearly made this move in a win-now scenario as they believe Davis, star Kyrie Irving along with their role players can help the team win a title despite giving up a superstar of Doncic&rsquo;s caliber.
For the Lakers, this is a move to shore up their future for the impending retirement of LeBron James. The now 40-year-old superstar, despite still playing at a high level, is nearing his retirement, and snagging a superstar like Doncic in his prime was too good to pass up. LA will now have another superstar next in line to carry the torch for the legendary franchise, which saw Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and James to bear the gold and purple threads.

In the single most stunning and shocking trade in NBA history, the Lakers have traded Anthony Davis to the Mavericks for Luka Doncic.

Lakers trade Anthony Davis to Mavericks for Luka Doncic in blockbuster mega deal

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

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

OPINION: Picking the 2023-2024 NBA Awards winners

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

Most NBA teams have a young core of some sort, but some are better than others.
Each year, teams try to add to their young nucleus through the draft. The 2023 NBA Draft just featured the most highly-anticipated prospect since LeBron James in Victor Wembanyama, plus a number of other talented rookies like Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins.
Entering the 2023-24 season, which team has the best young core? Today, we'll rank the five best cores from around the league. The criteria is simple: players must be age-25 or younger to be considered.
5. Orlando Magic&nbsp;
The Magic landed young star Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick last season, pairing him with 2021 lottery pick Franz Wagner to form a nice one-two punch. Cole Anthony had high expectations entering the league, but he hasn't quite become the player that fans wanted him to be. One player who has exceeded expectations is Wendell Carter Jr. After a shaky start to his career with the Chicago Bulls, Carter has found his place on the Magic and is considered one of the better young starting centers in the NBA. He isn't the only player who turned his career around after landing in Orlando, as Markelle Fultz is playing his best basketball and has a nice redemption story of his own. Other young players who have an opportunity to make an impact going forward are Orlando's recent lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard, both of whom are 19 years old. Orlando has consistently been one of the worst teams in the league for several years now and while their rebuilding roster is solid, it isn&rsquo;t quite as good or enticing as some of the other teams on our list.
Notable Players: Paolo Banchero (20), Franz Wagner (23), Wendell Carter Jr. (24), Anthony Black (19), Jett Howard (19), Markelle Fultz (25), Cole Anthony (23), Jalen Suggs (21), Jonathan Isaac (25), Caleb Houstan (20)
4. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans are the only young core on this list with postseason experience, as they made the playoffs in 2021-22 and made the play-in tournament last season. Their young core is largely carried by four players: Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. Ingram has become a terrific scorer, and he's coming off a season in which he averaged career-highs in points (24.7) and assists (5.8). While Williamson has been one of the best players in the NBA when healthy, we haven&rsquo;t seen him on the court very much since he was drafted in 2019. Murphy is a terrific shooter and Jones has had a very solid start to his career as well, making a name for himself as a lockdown perimeter defender. New Orleans has a few other young players with potential including Dyson Daniels, Jordan Hawkins and Kira Lewis Jr., but they have yet to prove themselves. Ingram, Williamson, Murphy and Jones are the main reason why the Pelicans are ranked here.
Notable Players: Brandon Ingram (25), Zion Williamson (23), Trey Murphy III (23), Herb Jones (24), Dyson Daniels (20), Jordan Hawkins (21), Kira Lewis Jr. (22)
3. Houston Rockets
The Rockets have one of the more underrated young cores in the NBA, as their lack of success has prevented them from getting much recognition. Fortunately for the Rockets, their main issue has been lack of experience, and the team addressed it this offseason. They had money to spend and they brought in some veterans to help lead the team, most notably Fred VanVleet. That said, their young core is still extremely talented and got even better through this year&rsquo;s draft. The key for this Rockets team to succeed is to make sure these young players continue to develop at a high rate, which is where new head coach Ime Udoka and his staff come in. They have multiple players on their roster with All-Star potential, and it's possible they'll compete for a play-in spot by the end of the season.
Notable Players: Jalen Green (21), Jabari Smith (20), Alperen Sengun (21), Amen Thompson (20), Tari Eason (22), Kevin Porter Jr. (23), Cam Whitmore (19)
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/vw2.jpg" alt="" width="711" height="400" />
2. San Antonio Spurs&nbsp;
The Spurs undoubtedly have one of the NBA's best young cores. No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama has made San Antonio the team to watch this season. That said, they likely won&rsquo;t be a playoff team for at least another year. While it's possible that they'll shock everyone, it will be difficult for Wembanyama to lead them to the postseason as a rookie. He will likely need at least a year to adjust to the NBA and develop before taking that next leap in his career. Wembanyama isn&rsquo;t the only young star on the Spurs, as they have already started developing fellow cornerstones Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, who have made quite an impression. Throw in Tre Jones, Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Romeo Langford and Blake Wesley, and it's clear why the Spurs are this high. Other young players who have shown promise are Charles Bassey and Julian Champagnie, both of whom came over from the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; organization. These two players have displayed a ton of potential, particularly in the G League and Summer League, and they could be solid contributors for years to come.&nbsp;
Notable Players: Victor Wembanyama (19), Keldon Johnson (23), Tre Jones (23), Devin Vassell (22), Jeremy Sochan (20), Malaki Branham (20), Romeo Langford (23), Zach Collins (25), Blake Wesley (20), Julian Champagnie (22), Charles Bassey (22), Dominick Barlow (20), Sandro Mamukelashvili (24)
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Spurs were a hard core to beat but, to nobody&rsquo;s surprise, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best young core in the NBA. Not only do they have the youngest starting lineup in the league, it is filled with young stars. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as one of the best guards in the league, while Josh Giddey and Rookie-of-the-Year runner-up Jalen Williams just had a terrific season. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, hasn't played yet but he will undoubtedly make an immediate impact and could give OKC a Rookie-of-the-Year finalist for the second year in a row. Despite how young the Thunder are, they could make a serious playoff push this season, with Shai at the steering wheel. Perhaps what's scariest about the Thunder is that they have 35 draft picks over the next seven years, including 15 first-rounders, so their already-impressive young core is still a work in progress.
Notable Players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (25), Chet Holmgren (21), Josh Giddey (20), Jalen Williams (22), Cason Wallace (19), Luguentz Dort (24), Aleksej Pokusevski (21), Isaiah Joe (24), Tre Mann (22), Jaylin Williams (21), Ousmane Dieng (20), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (22), Keyontae Johnson (23)

Entering the 2023-24 season, which NBA teams have the best young core? Hunter Simpson ranks the best cores from around the league.

Ranking the NBA's top-5 young cores entering the 2023-24 season

Today, the NBA and FIBA announced 80 of the top high-school-age prospects from across Africa who will participate in the 19th edition of Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa, which will be held July 28-31 at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) in South Africa.
BWB Africa 2023 will bring together 80 boys and girls from more than 25 African countries &ndash; including 19 NBA Academy Africa and NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022 prospects &ndash; to learn directly from current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and compete alongside their peers from across the continent.&nbsp;
The campers will be coached by two-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat; U.S.; ties to Nigeria), 2022 NBA All-Star Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers; U.S.), 2022 NBA champion Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors; Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic; U.S.).
Five current and former NBA head coaches will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches: Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff; two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Nigeria Men&rsquo;s National Team head coach and Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown; 2018 NBA Coach of the Year Dwane Casey (most recently with the Detroit Pistons); Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham; and veteran NBA coach Dave Joerger (most recently with the Philadelphia 76ers).
Several former NBA and WNBA players will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches, including 2015 FIBA AfroBasket champion Olumide Oyedeji (Nigeria), 2011 NBA champion Ian Mahinmi (France; ties Benin), former NBA player and Basketball Africa League Head of League Operations Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (Cameroon), former NBA player Tacko Fall (Senegal), 2003 WNBA champion Astou Ndiaye (Senegal), two-time WNBA champion Taj McWilliams-Franklin, four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes and Mozambique basketball legend Clarisse Machanguana.&nbsp;
Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman, Team President and Alternate NBA Governor Masai Ujiri; New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin; and Portland Trail Blazers Assistant General Manager Mike Schmitz will serve as camp directors, while David Crewe and Frank Adams (Phoenix Suns) will serve as the camp&rsquo;s athletic trainers.
The players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities, including movement efficiency drills, offensive and defensive skill stations, three-point contests, 5-on-5 games, and life skills and leadership development sessions.&nbsp;&nbsp;A ceremony on the final day of the camp will award the Kim Bohuny Camp MVP, the Patrick Baumann Sportsmanship Award, the B.J. Johnson Most Improved Player Award, the Three-Point Champion and the Defensive MVP to the boys and girls who distinguish themselves on the court and as leaders.
As part of the camp, NBA players and coaches will also participate in several community outreach initiatives around Johannesburg, including a hospital visit and a Her Time to Play seminar for the female campers on July 28, and a court unveiling in the Alexandra Township on Saturday, July 29.&nbsp; In addition, BWB Africa 2023 coaches will lead a development clinic for local coaches at AISJ on July 30.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Also on July 29, select&nbsp;NBA players&nbsp;will visit the NBA Store at Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg and engage with fans.
BWB Africa 2023 will be supported by Nike, a global partner of BWB since 2002, which will outfit participants with Nike apparel and footwear, and Gatorade, which will keep players and coaches hydrated throughout the camp.
BWB has reached more than 4,100 participants from 136 countries and territories since 2001, with 112 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA.&nbsp; The NBA and FIBA have staged 70 BWB camps in 47 cities across 32 countries on six continents.
The following is a complete list of players participating in the 19th&nbsp;BWB Africa camp (rosters subject to change):
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 447px;" width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 403px;" colspan="2">
GIRLS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ines Bellahmer
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Algeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Filomena Luis
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Guigma Sadia
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Burkina Faso
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Gisele Kipo*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Hannah Dibadjou
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Salma Khedr*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Leila El Sanadily
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aisha Hassan
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Lucie Mounganga
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Gabon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Sylla
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Guinea
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Roseline Ooko
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Harena Randriamasimanana
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fitahiana Ratsimason
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joanie Rakotonanahary
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Samake*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Oumou Soumare
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aya El Kallali*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Albertina Matsinhe*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Bata Lurdes*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Shanaya Matusse*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joy Biribebe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Benitha Ngarambe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Jane Dusabe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatou Sima
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Marie Diouf
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ndickou Matar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Tacko Sy
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Sheriffa Rahman
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Sierra Leone
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Onnetse Molokwame
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Luhle Ndaba
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Reneilwe Motebele
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Susan Peter
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Asunta Ring
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Nawasa Lazaro
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tanzania
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ibouanga Moussounda
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Togo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Arwa Ghorbel*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Eya Nasri
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Afef Bengoula
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Christine Namyalo
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Immaculate Adongpiny
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Participated in NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022
&nbsp;
<table width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 418.75px;" colspan="2" width="447">
BOYS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Aginaldo Neto*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Manuel Camboma*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Inacio Anatoli Da Silva
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Claudino Capangaa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sansao Wika
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Philippe Ntungicimpaye
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Burundi
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Arnold Eyadi Kenfack
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hermann Bel Gassina
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chris Naguidebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Central African Republic
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tahir Doungous*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Chad
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Zie Cheikh Conde
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tarek Khairy
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ahmed Nedale
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Karim El Gizawi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Courage Agbekpornu
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Ghana
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Kiggundu Austin Omondi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chouhaybou Keita
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mahamadou Konate
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hamza Bechchar
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bolaji Oderinlo
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sultan Baruwa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ibrahim Dan-Mutum
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jonah Precious
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ezekiel Obe*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Andre Bonazebi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jude Fred Nkouka Silaho
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khadim Mboup*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Assane Mandian*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Yakhya Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mouhamed Camara
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Siyanda Radebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Gilchrist Storm
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khaman Maluach*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Moses Marial Mandiria
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bol Wieu Mou Thet
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Lual Deng Lual Aguek
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Rayen Rouissi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amen Hammi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Liberty Fusire*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Zimbabwe
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*NBA Academy Africa prospect

Bam Adebayo, Darius Garland, Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Suggs will coach 80 top high-school-age prospects from across Africa.

Adebayo, Garland, Kuminga, Suggs to coach prospects at BWB Africa 2023

Today, the NBA announced that the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers will face off in the league&rsquo;s third regular-season game in Paris at the Accor Arena on Jan. 11, 2024.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will mark the Nets&rsquo; second game in Paris, having played a preseason game in the French capital in 2008. Brooklyn currently features 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive First Team and 2023 Team USA member Mikal Bridges, 2023 Team USA member Cam Johnson and three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons. The Nets have made five consecutive playoff appearances.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re extremely excited to have the opportunity to compete in The NBA Paris Game 2024 and bring Nets basketball to an international stage," Nets general manager Sean Marks said. "Our players and coaches will benefit greatly from the experience of immersing themselves in Paris&rsquo;s rich culture off the court.&rdquo;
The Cavaliers will be playing their first game in Europe. Cleveland currently features four-time NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, 2022 NBA All-Stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, and 2022-23 NBA All-Defensive First Team member Evan Mobley. The Cavaliers won their first NBA championship in 2016 and made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 2015 to 2018.
&ldquo;We are extremely honored as an organization to showcase the Cleveland Cavaliers in Paris," Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said. "This unique opportunity will provide our players, coaches, staff and families an experience into a different culture, all while creating memories both on and off the court that will last a lifetime. We also recognize the universal appeal basketball inspires and we take great pride in our stewardship of the game. As proud representatives of the city of Cleveland and all of Northeast Ohio, we look forward to establishing a personal level of engagement with our fans overseas, as well as partnering with the NBA in our collective effort to elevate basketball on the international stage.&rdquo;
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will air live on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass, reaching fans in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media and social media. The league and its partners will conduct interactive fan activities, NBA Cares community outreach initiatives and Jr. NBA youth basketball development programming to bring the NBA experience to fans in the French capital. The game and surrounding events will be supported by a roster of marketing partners, including Foot Locker, La Fran&ccedil;aise des Jeux, Nike and Tissot.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re thrilled to be bringing the live NBA experience back to Paris with two exciting teams in the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers," said Mark Tatum, the NBA's deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. "This game has become a destination for our passionate fans across Europe and will build on the incredible momentum around basketball and the NBA in France and throughout the region.&rdquo;
Tickets for The NBA Paris Game 2024 will go on sale at a later date, but fans can <a href="NBAEvents.com/ParisGame" target="_blank" rel="noopener">register here</a> to receive presale information. NBA ID members will get priority access to the pre-sale.&nbsp;
There have been more NBA players from France than from any other country outside North America, including 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs). Live NBA games and related programming air in France on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass, including 45 weekend games in primetime last season as part of the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays&rdquo; European primetime initiative.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The City of Paris is delighted to host another thrilling NBA regular-season game and extend a warm welcome to two remarkable teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers," said Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor of Paris who's in charge of sports. "Our love and passion for the sport of basketball drive us to provide an unforgettable experience for players and fans alike. Paris has always been a special place for basketball and continues to be, as its rich culture steadily thrives and spreads within the city.&rdquo;

The Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers will face off in the league’s third regular-season game in Paris on Jan. 11, 2024.

Nets, Cavaliers to play regular-season game in Paris in January 2024

One year ago, Jeremy Sochan walked across the stage at Barclays Center and shook Adam Silver&rsquo;s hand after the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Now, after an terrific season that earned him an All-Rookie Second-Team selection, Sochan is returning to New York and attending the NBA Draft once again&nbsp; &mdash; this time as a media correspondent for the NBA&rsquo;s app and social-media accounts.
Sochan will conduct red-carpet interviews with this year's top prospects, including No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, who will soon be Sochan&rsquo;s teammate. Wembanyama is the most hyped-up prospect since LeBron James, and all eyes will be on San Antonio next season after adding the potential superstar.
The Spurs will have one of the most promising young cores in the NBA, and the pieces fit together incredibly well. Sochan, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell will perfectly complement Wembanyama&rsquo;s skill-set, and all four players are age-23 or younger. It&rsquo;s an exciting time to be a Spurs fan, and it certainly seems that San Antonio has found its next franchise cornerstones.
As a rookie, Sochan turned heads with his dyed hair and one-handed free throws. However, he also proved he belongs in the NBA and flashed glimpses of brilliance throughout the campaign.&nbsp;
The 19-year-old averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 stocks while shooting 45.3% from the field, 24.6% from three and 69.8% from the free-throw line. Over the final month of the season, Sochan was even better, averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals, while shooting 48.3% from the field and 76.9% from the charity stripe.
Before Sochan transitions to interviewer mode, he spoke to Basketball News&rsquo; Alex Kennedy as the interviewee and discussed Wembanyama&rsquo;s game, his advice for the incoming rookies, the Spurs&rsquo; terrific young core, his interest in broadcasting, his one-handed free throws and more.
After a successful rookie season that culminated in an All-Rookie Second-Team selection, what advice would you give to this incoming class of rookies?
Jeremy Sochan: &ldquo;Stand your ground, but also listen, be open to [feedback] and be coachable. Just be able to go into an organization and show them that you want to work hard and that you want to be there. Also, listen to your elders &ndash; your coaches and your vets &ndash; because that&rsquo;s going to help you. The other thing is consistency. They&rsquo;re coming from a season where they&rsquo;ve played 30 or 40 games, and now they&rsquo;re going into a season where they&rsquo;re playing 82 games (plus the playoffs, if you make it). Just try to be consistent because it&rsquo;s a lot of games and it wears down on your body, so try to do everything to help that.&rdquo;
Victor Wembanyama is one of the most hyped-up prospects in NBA history. His size and length are obviously crazy, but what aspects of his skill-set impress you and what are some things that should help him in the NBA?&nbsp;
Sochan: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just the footwork for his size, the mobility for his size and the touch for his size. I think that all adds up into him being an all-around player, and his height just gives him so many advantages, for real. I think [his skill-set] is really exciting and it&rsquo;s going to be really good for him.&rdquo;
I&rsquo;ve talked to scouts and executives who believe that you and Victor will complement each other really well. Do you feel that your skill-sets are a good fit? And how can you guys help each other on the court?
Sochan: &ldquo;Of course, if it happens&hellip;&rdquo;
Oh, right. Assuming he&rsquo;s a Spur, how would you guys help each other on the court?
Sochan: &ldquo;Yeah, assuming it happens, I think we both have a lot of versatility, especially on the defensive side. He&rsquo;s a rim protector and he&rsquo;s very lengthy, and then I&rsquo;m very destructive and I can play 1 through 5, so I think there&rsquo;s a lot of potential there. And then offensively, I feel like I&rsquo;ll be able to get him into good spots and be able to play-make for him and make the game easy for him. I think we complement each other&rsquo;s games really well and I think it&rsquo;s really exciting if, potentially, that happens.&rdquo;
Again, assuming Wembanyama is the pick, he&rsquo;ll join this young core in San Antonio that already consists of you, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, Malaki Branham, Romeo Langford and Blake Wesley among others. What do you think of all this young talent, and where does this group rank among the best young cores in the NBA?
Sochan: &ldquo;I think the thing about our young core is that we all want to be around San Antonio, we all want to work together and we all want to be better. I think we&rsquo;re all very motivated to just work. We have [the opportunity] to be around the Spurs and just work, and I think that really helps. Personally, I think we&rsquo;re one of the best young cores in the league. I&rsquo;m not a guy that likes to rank [teams] and stuff, but I definitely think we&rsquo;re up there."
Gregg Popovich is arguably the best coach in NBA history and the Spurs are known for getting the most out of players. Sometimes, legends like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will stop by to work out with you guys. What can you share about your experience in the Spurs&rsquo; organization and how they help players realize their full potential?
Sochan: &ldquo;I think they&rsquo;re just really keen and want to help us with opportunities, and it&rsquo;s all very team-based. They&rsquo;re always communicating with the players and showing us the way. The Spurs have a winning culture; they&rsquo;ve won for so long so they know the blueprint. They give us that blueprint and try to find players who actually want to work for that. That&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;re really good at, finding those kinds of players [who will buy in]. They help us a lot.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/pop_sochan.jpg" alt="" width="748" height="373" />
You and Victor played against each other back when you were 15 and he was 14. Your team won, and you <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremySochan/status/1658907669879574528">joked on Twitter</a> that neither of you were good back then. Do you have a relationship with Victor and when did you realize he could be a special player?
Sochan: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a relationship like that, but I&rsquo;ve talked to him a couple times. And like you said, we played against each other so there is a relationship in that sense, but it&rsquo;s nothing crazy. But yeah, I played against him back then, and he already had a lot of potential, so it&rsquo;s exciting to see how he grew and how popular he got over the years. I think he&rsquo;s a very exciting prospect and he&rsquo;s going to do a lot of good stuff for himself.&rdquo;
Paolo Banchero, Walker Kessler, Bennedict Mathurin and Jalen Williams served as media correspondents during the NBA Finals, and now you&rsquo;re going to be the league&rsquo;s NBA Draft correspondent tonight. I know you&rsquo;ve done some interviews before, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT9CQNvQvyw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">your chat with Tony Parker</a>. Are you hoping to do more broadcasting or media stuff in the future?
Sochan: &ldquo;Potentially! If I get the opportunity to do it, then why not? I feel like I&rsquo;m pretty good at it; I&rsquo;m natural. So yeah, if there&rsquo;s an opportunity, I&rsquo;ll do it.&rdquo;
Did you do any research about the players or prepare any questions? What kind of prep goes into being an NBA Draft media correspondent?
Sochan: &ldquo;(laughs) Yeah, I&rsquo;ve been able to prep a bit and do some research on the players. I&rsquo;ve talked to the people around me who know a bit more than I do. And sometimes it&rsquo;s just on the go too and just being able to do it [on the fly]. But yeah, I&rsquo;m excited to be here for the draft. It&rsquo;s kinda cool to come back here after a year and still remember everything [from my draft night], just all of the emotions and stuff. And [it&rsquo;s fun] just to be here for all of this year&rsquo;s draft prospects too.&rdquo;
You let fans <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1671237507634147332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote on what color you&rsquo;ll dye your hair</a> for tonight&rsquo;s NBA Draft. When did you start dying your hair and using that as a way to express yourself?
Sochan: &ldquo;I probably started two years ago or two-and-a-bit years ago. It was just something that I always wanted to do, just to be able to showcase [who I am] and be myself. And it shows people that you can do whatever with your body and be proud of it. Just be confident!&rdquo;
Your one-handed free throws really worked and improved your free-throw percentage over the course of the season. I actually <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-onehanded-or-underhand-free-throws-ever-catch-on-in-the-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an article</a> about how it could influence other players to make the same change. Would you recommend shooting one-handed to players who want to improve their free-throw percentage?
Sochan: &ldquo;Yeah, why not? The thing is, if it&rsquo;s working and it helps your shot, why not do it? When I started doing it, I feel like a lot of people were like, &lsquo;Why are you doing that? or, &lsquo;It looks weird,&rsquo; or whatever. Or they&rsquo;d ask like, &lsquo;How did you do it mentally?&rsquo; But I&rsquo;m going to do anything [to improve] my game and help me. If that helps, I&rsquo;m going to do it. And who cares if people laugh at you? Who cares if there are critics who talk about it? It is what it is at the end of the day and if it&rsquo;s helping me, I&rsquo;m going to do it.&rdquo;

Jeremy Sochan opens up to Alex Kennedy about his rookie year, Victor Wembanyama's game, San Antonio's young core and more.

Q&A: Jeremy Sochan on Victor Wembanyama, Spurs' young core, more

After monitoring the NBA awards races all season, Nekias Duncan shares his final selections for DPOY, ROY, MIP, 6MOY and more.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award selections: DPOY, 6MOY, MIP, more

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 27 points and the Phoenix Suns never trailed, beating the depleted San Antonio Spurs 115-94 on Tuesday night to clinch a playoff spot.
The Suns (44-35) won their sixth in a row, the longest current winning streak in the NBA. With one more victory in the final three games, Phoenix would assure itself of at least the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the first round.
Chris Paul scored 22 points, while Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 18 points and reserve Torrey Craig added 15.
The Suns are 7-0 when Durant has been in their lineup.
Malaki Branham led the Spurs with 21 points. Tre Jones scored 20, while Keita Bates-Diop and Sandro Mamukelashvili each had 13.
The Spurs (20-59) only dressed 10 players. They were without their top two scorers, Keldon Johnson (right foot sprain) and Devin Vassell (left knee). Also out for San Antonio were Zach Collins (finger), Jeremy Sochan (right knee soreness) and Romeo Langford (left adductor).
And during Tuesday&rsquo;s game, Doug McDermott played six minutes and limped off with an apparent knee injury. Dominick Barlow was hurt in a fourth-quarter collision, and starter Devonte&rsquo; Graham was helped to the locker room late in the game after hurting his leg.
San Antonio entered the night ranked last in scoring defense, having allowed 122.8 points per game. Phoenix came out roaring, shooting 63% in the first quarter in building a 42-25 lead. That&rsquo;s the most the Suns have scored in the first quarter this season, passing the 40 points against Chicago on March 3.
Booker had 14 points in the first quarter.
The Suns led by as many as 31 points in the second quarter and were up 69-51 at the half. Paul made 7 of 8 shots in the half to lead the Suns with 18 points. Phoenix shot 56% and San Antonio 38 percent, with the Suns outrebounding the Spurs 30-20.
The Spurs got within nine in the third quarter, but by the end of the period Phoenix was back ahead 97-76. Booker scored 13 in the quarter to lead Phoenix.
MUTUAL ADMIRATION
Suns coach Monty Williams played for Gregg Popovich with the Spurs and coached under him as well.
&ldquo;I just enjoy seeing him and I&rsquo;m grateful for the history I have with him,&rdquo; Williams said before the game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m grateful that I get to tell people outside of basketball that I know Gregg Popovich as a man, as a mentor, as a friend.&rdquo;
Popovich may not have enjoyed Tuesday&rsquo;s result, but he too admires what Williams and the Suns have done.
No matter who&rsquo;s playing, Popovich said of Williams, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s gonna coach. He&rsquo;s going to do the same things, have the same standards, the same accountability. Kick &rsquo;em in the butt when necessary, put an arm around them and love &rsquo;em when necessary. He&rsquo;s a good man.&rdquo;
DURANT, TOO
Popovich coached the Olympic gold-medal team in 2021 and saw Durant from the same bench.
&ldquo;He was great. I love him,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;How do you stop him? You can&rsquo;t. There&rsquo;s no way you can stop him. Now you can double-team him, and he&rsquo;s smart enough to give it up. No matter what happens, they&rsquo;ll figure out what they need to do.&rdquo;
NEXT
Spurs: Play Portland on Thursday in Austin, Texas.
Suns: Host Denver Thursday.

The Suns (44-35) won their sixth in a row, the longest current winning streak in the NBA.

Suns clinch playoff spot, rout injury-riddled Spurs 115-94

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Christian Wood had 27 points and 13 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks overcame a series of blunders at the end regulation to beat the San Antonio Spurs 137-128 in overtime Wednesday night without injured All-Stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Dallas&rsquo; Maxi Kleber threw an inbounds pass out of bounds on a full-length heave with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Keldon Johnson, who missed a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds, tied it 121 on an alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass from Malaki Branham.
Wood had five points in overtime as Dallas fights to remain in the top 10 in the Western Conference. The Mavericks entered the game in ninth place with the same record as the 10th-place Los Angeles Lakers and a game ahead of the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans.
Dwight Powell and Jaden Hardy had 22 points each and Josh Green added 21 points for Dallas, which snapped a three-game skid.
Johnson had 27 points to lead the short-handed Spurs.
Playing the second game of a back-to-back, the Spurs were without starters Devin Vassell Jeremy Sochan and Zach Collins along with Keita Bates-Diop and Charles Bassey. But as they did in setting a franchise record with 22 3-pointers in a rousing victory over Orlando on Tuesday night, San Antonio responded with a balanced scoring effort.
Branham had 20 points, Romeo Langford had 17 points and four others scored in double figures.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas has won six straight against San Antonio. The Mavericks&rsquo; previous loss to the Spurs was April 11, 2021, in San Antonio. &hellip; Doncic and Irving were both in attendance, sitting at the end of the Mavericks bench. &hellip; Jaden Hardy has scored 20 points in all three of his career starts for the Mavericks. In a back-to-back set against Memphis, Hardy had 22 points on March 11 and 28 points on March 13.
Spurs: San Antonio confirmed that C Charles Bassey suffered a non-displace fracture in his left patella. The injury occurred at the close of the first quarter of Tuesday&rsquo;s victory over Orlando. Bassey will miss the remainder of the season. &hellip;. San Antonio is 2-1 during its six-game homestand. &hellip; Of the 13 games the Spurs have remaining, 10 are against a team in the playoffs or play-in tournament if the season ended today. &hellip; Johnson made his 200th career start in 219 career games with the Spurs. Only Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Willie Anderson and Sean Elliott have 200 starts in fewer games for the Spurs.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: At Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Spurs: Host Memphis on Friday night.

Christian Wood had 27 points and 13 rebounds as the Mavericks beat the Spurs 137-128 in overtime on Wednesday night.

Christian Wood has 27 points, 13 rebounds in Mavs’ OT win over Spurs

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Michigan State coach Tom Izzo gazed into the crowd, tears welling in his eyes, moments before his team played its first home game since a mass shooting on campus killed three students and hospitalized five students.
&ldquo;It was one of those moments where I just said, `I&rsquo;m a lucky guy,&lsquo;&rdquo; Izzo recalled as his voice cracked with emotion. &ldquo;I said to myself, `I hope we can come through for you.&rsquo;&rdquo;
The Spartans did.
Tyson Walker shook off a slow start to score 23 points and lifted Michigan State to an 80-65 win over No. 17 Indiana on Tuesday night, eight days after a mass shooting ended lives, endangered others and frightened an entire community.
&ldquo;It was definitely a emotional,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;Everybody was involved in some way because everybody&rsquo;s on campus. So, it was definitely good to go out there and play well for everybody.&rdquo;
The Spartans (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) surged into the lead late in the first half after Walker started making 3-pointers following an 0-for-4 start from the field and were ahead by double digits for much of the second half.
&ldquo;Izzo&rsquo;s teams play great. They play hard,&rdquo; Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. &ldquo;They force you to play hard. If you don&rsquo;t meet that, you&rsquo;re going to lose.&rdquo;
The Hoosiers (19-9, 10-7) relied heavily on Trayce Jackson-Davis, as usual, and he had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Michigan State had its previous home game against Minnesota postponed after the shootings and resumed playing Saturday night in a loss to rival Michigan on the road.
The victims, survivors and first responders from last week&rsquo;s shootings were recognized with pregame remarks. There was also a moment of silence that was broken by the Michigan State band playing &ldquo;MSU Shadows,&rdquo; when Izzo looked left, right, high and low at fans in the stands.
&ldquo;I wish I could have ran up to that top row and thank the people that were there,&rdquo; Izzo said.
In the front row of the student section, white shirts were placed on eight seats to save them for the eight students shot on campus. The funeral for the last of the three students killed was earlier Tuesday.
The Spartans, after the emotional pregame, got off to a sluggish start before turning the game around with 3-pointers, defense and rebounding.
Michigan State&rsquo;s A.J. Hoggard had three turnovers early in the game, then didn&rsquo;t have another turnover and finished with 22 points and five assists. Joey Hauser and Malik Hall each scored 10 points for the Spartans, who have won three of their last four games.
Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 16 and Trey Galloway had 11 points for the Hoosiers.
BIG PICTURE
Indiana: The Hoosiers, who have lost two of their last three games, may have some work to do to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
Michigan State: After collapsing late against Michigan and returning to play at home on an emotional campus, Izzo&rsquo;s team earned a much-needed win.
HE SAID IT
&ldquo;As the game wore on, they smashed us and I don&rsquo;t like that,&rdquo; Woodson said.
IN THE FACE
Midway through the second half, Michigan State&rsquo;s Mady Sissoko blocked Malik Reneau&rsquo;s shot and the ball hit Kaleb Banks in the head so hard that he staggered and fell to the court.
BRIDGES SAYS
Former Michigan State star Miles Bridges sat behind the team&rsquo;s bench and said he may be back in the NBA soon, returning to play for the Charlotte Hornets.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long process,&rdquo; Bridges told The Associated Press at halftime. &ldquo;I might be back in March.&rdquo;
Bridges has not played this season while under an NBA investigation. He pleaded no contest three months ago to a felony count of injuring a child&rsquo;s parent, agreeing to do so in exchange for three years probation and no jail time.
INJURY REPORT
Michigan State&rsquo;s Carson Cooper missed the game after Izzo said the freshman center sprained his ankle during practice on Monday. Indiana senior guard Xavier Johnson is still out with a foot injury.
UP NEXT
Indiana: Plays rival and fifth-ranked Purdue on the road Saturday night.
Michigan State: Travels to play Iowa on Saturday.

The Spartans (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) surged into the lead late in the first half after Walker started making threes following an 0-for-4 start.

Michigan State tops Indiana in first home game since shootings

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson scored 25 points, Markquis Nowell added 14 points and 10 assists, and No. 14 Kansas State followed a long first-half slump with a big second-half run to beat ninth-ranked Baylor 75-65 on Tuesday night.
Cam Carter added 10 points for the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6 Big 12), who trailed 34-31 at the break before their 18-4 charge gave them control. They coasted from there to a school record-tying seventh win over a ranked team this season.
Keyonte George hit six 3-pointers and scored 23 points for Baylor (20-8, 9-6), which had won seven of its last eight against the Wildcats and three straight in Manhattan. LJ Cryer added four 3s and finished with 16 points.
The game was a rematch for Bears coach Scott Drew and Kansas State counterpart Jerome Tang, who spent 19 years on Drew&rsquo;s bench. And it was every bit as wild as the Wildcats&rsquo; 97-95 overtime win in early January.
NO. 8 TEXAS 72, NO. 23 IOWA STATE 54
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice and Tyrese Hunter each scored 15 points and Texas raced away from Iowa State with a big first half to keep the Longhorns at the top of the Big 12.
Texas (22-6, 11-4) is tied with No. 3 Kansas for first place with three games left in the regular season. The Longhorns haven&rsquo;t won even a share of the league crown since 2008.
Osun Ossunniyi scored 12 points to lead the Cyclones (17-10, 8-7), who beat Texas in their first matchup.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 73, NO. 19 CREIGHTON 71
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek&rsquo;s short jump shot gave Marquette the lead with 29 seconds left, and the Golden Eagles took a huge step toward the Big East regular-season title with a win over Creighton.
The Golden Eagles (22-6, 14-3) saw a 10-point lead with eight minutes left evaporate before Kolek came up big during a wild finish before a sellout crowd at CHI Health Center.
Kam Jones led Marquette with 19 points and Kolek and Oso Ighodaro added 18 apiece.
Baylor Scheierman had 18 points to lead the Bluejays (18-10, 12-5). Ryan Nembhard added 16.
NO. 25 TEXAS A&amp;M 68, NO. 11 TENNESSEE 63
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) &mdash; Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points, including four free throws down the stretch, and Texas A&amp;M extended its winning streak to six games.
Julius Marble added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies (21-7, 13-2 Southeastern Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost since Jan. 21.
It&rsquo;s the fourth loss in five games for the Volunteers (20-8, 9-6), with their only win in this stretch coming in a 68-59 victory over then-No. 1 Alabama on Wednesday.
Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler had 14 points each for Tennessee.
NO. 13 MIAMI 76, VIRGINIA TECH 70
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Norchad Omier had 17 points and 14 rebounds as Miami won its seventh straight.
Nigel Pack added 16 points for the Hurricanes (23-5, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who placed five players in double figures. Isaiah Wong finished with 13 points and Jordan Miller had 11 for Miami, which shot just 42.2% (27 of 64) after leading the ACC at 48.7 percent coming into the game. The Hurricanes helped themselves with 14 offensive rebounds.
Sean Pedulla led Virginia Tech (16-12, 6-11) with 17 points. Hunter Cattoor finished with 15 points for the Hokies, who shot 46.7% (28 of 60).
VILLANOVA 64, NO. 16 XAVIER 63
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Justin Moore scored 25 points to give Villanova its biggest victory under first-year head coach Kyle Neptune.
Cam Whitmore added 11 points for the Wildcats (14-14, 8-9 Big East) who dealt a big blow to the Musketeers&rsquo; Big East title hopes.
Souley Boum led Xavier (20-8, 12-5) with 17 points. Jerome Hunter added 14 and Jack Nunge scored 12.
MICHIGAN STATE 80, NO. 17 INDIANA 65
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Tyson Walker shook off a slow start to score 23 points and lifted Michigan State in its first home game since last week&rsquo;s shootings on campus that killed three students and hospitalized five students.
The Hoosiers (19-9, 10-7) relied heavily on Trayce Jackson-Davis, as usual, and he had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Michigan State&rsquo;s A.J. Hoggard had three turnovers early in the game, then didn&rsquo;t have another turnover and finished with 22 points and five assists. Joey Hauser and Malik Hall each scored 10 points for the Spartans (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten), who have won three of their last four games.
Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 16 and Trey Galloway had 11 points for the Hoosiers.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 77, COLORADO STATE 58
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Jaedon LeDee scored 14 points and Matt Bradley scored 10 of his 13 in the first four minutes of the second half for San Diego State, which overwhelmed Colorado State for its fifth straight win.
Bradley, SDSU&rsquo;s leading scorer, appeared to hurt a finger on his left hand and was subbed out during a timeout with 7:47 left and the Aztecs leading 69-48. He returned with 4:55 to go but didn&rsquo;t play the final two minutes.
Micah Parrish added 12 and Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell had 11 each for SDSU (22-5, 13-2 Mountain West), which solidified its lead in the conference race. The Aztecs have won nine of their last 10 games dating to an 82-76 overtime win at Colorado State on Jan. 18.
John Tonje scored 18 and Isaiah Rivera 15 for the Rams (12-16, 4-11), who have lost seven of nine.&nbsp;

A recap of Tuesday night's action in men's college hoops a battle of top-15 squads in a crucial Big 12 matchup.

No. 14 Kansas State beats No. 9 Baylor with big second half

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83 on Saturday.
Rice&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime.
Oklahoma, however, had a chance to tie or win when Texas&rsquo; Tyrese Hunter missed one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. But Sam Godwin missed a shot from near the rim, and Texas extended its winning streak against Oklahoma to five games.
Marcus Carr added 17 points for Texas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), and Timmy Allen had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. Milos Uzan scored 15 for the Sooners.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 108, GEORGIA 59
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five 3-pointers in the first half to lead Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 halftime lead and a season scoring high. Alabama was coming off a 68-59 loss at No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night after rising to No. 1 for only the second time in program history and first in 20 years.&nbsp;
ustin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8) with 17 points. Terry Roberts scored 11 and Braelen Bridges 10.
NO. 4 UCLA 78, CALIFORNIA 43
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and UCLA routed last-place California to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation&rsquo;s longest home winning streak to 23 games.
Amari Bailey added 16 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Bruins (23-4, 14-2 Pac-12), who clinched a first-round bye in next month&rsquo;s Pac-12 Tournament with their 11th win in a row over last-place Cal.
Kuany Kuany scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (3-24, 2-14), who dropped their 11th in a row. They fell to 0-3 against top-5 teams this season, having also lost a pair against No. 8 Arizona.
NO. 5 KANSAS 87, NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half. Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference.
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points).
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia&rsquo;s career assist leader in the narrow win over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a one-and-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim.
Armaan Franklin added 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 for Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and Goodwin had 12.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 78, COLORADO 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado.
The Wildcats (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) opened with a rash of turnovers, falling into an early 12-point hole. Arizona righted itself quickly with a big run and slogged through a slowed-down second half by shutting down the Buffaloes.
Tristan da Silva had 18 points the Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10), who shot 38%.
KENTUCKY 66, NO. 10 TENNESSEE 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat Tennessee.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama.
The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Kentucky defeated the Volunteers 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville.
Wallace had totaled nine points in the Wildcats&rsquo; previous two games. Chris Livingston added 12 points and Jacob Toppin had 11.
NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 61, NO. 19 IOWA STATE 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help Kansas State over Iowa State.
Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12).
Aljaž Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. Without their 3-point leader Caleb Grill in the lineup, the Cyclones worked inside the paint. They had 24 points inside and relied on a balanced scoring line led by Kunc.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 97, PEPPERDINE 88
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help Gonzaga extend its winning streak over the Waves to 45 games.
The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2 West Coast Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 straight on the road against the Waves.
Timme moved past Bill Cartwright, who scored 2,116 points for San Francisco (1975-79), into eighth on the West Coast Conference&rsquo;s career scoring list with 2,117.
Houston Mallette led the Waves with 22 points. Jevon Porter and Maxwell Lewis added 20 points apiece.
NO. 14 INDIANA 71, ILLINOIS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and Indiana rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Illinois.
Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of 11 overall and 15 straight on their homecourt.
Matthew Mayer scored 24 to lead the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7), who were without injured leading scorer Terrence Shannon.
NO. 15 MIAMI 96, WAKE FOREST 87
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in Miami&rsquo;s win over Wake Forest.
Norchard Omier had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Jordan Miller added 14 points for the Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight and improved to 15-0 at home.
Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Damari Monsanto and Cameron Hildreth had 14 each for the Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7). Andrew Carr and Mathew Marsh finished with 12 points each.
NO. 16 XAVIER 82, DEPAUL 68
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul.
The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history, 32 of which have come since the 1982-83 season. It was the 17th career double-double for Nunge, eighth this season. Adam Kunkel scored 16 points and tied a career-high with eight assists for Xavier.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De&rsquo;Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul (9-18, 3-13), which lost its eighth in a row.
NO. 17 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 71, BYU 65
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead Saint Mary&rsquo;s to its 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
NO. 18 CREIGHTON 77, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 67
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch and Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John&rsquo;s.
Creighton (18-9, 12-4) remained in a three-way tie for second place in the Big East after Providence and Xavier won earlier in the day. Marquette holds a one-game lead in the conference standings.
Ryan Nembhard scored 16 points for the Bluejays. Kaluma finished with 13 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 as Creighton won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Joel Soriano led St. John&rsquo;s with 15 points and eight rebounds. David Jones added 14 points off the bench but the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) were unable to get their third straight win.
NO. 20 UCONN 64, SETON HALL 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play before a late run that fell short.
NO. 22 TCU 100, OKLAHOMA STATE 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks, five other TCU players also scored in double figures, and the Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State.
Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7 Big 12), which shot a staggering season-high 68.4% (39 of 57) from the field. Damion Baugh had 16 points with 11 assists. Shahada Wells had 15 points, Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon 12 and Micah Peavy 10.
Bryce Thompson had 18 points and John-Michael White 15 for the Cowboys (16-11, 7-7).
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 85, VILLANOVA 72
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Providence earned its 20th victory of the season.
Bryce Hopkins added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Noah Locked finished with 16 points. Croswell connected on two late free throws to notch the 1,000th point of his career.
The Friars (20-7, 12-4 Big East) have recorded 20 or more wins in seven of coach Ed Cooley&rsquo;s 12 seasons. They improved to 15-0 at home, including 8-0 in conference play.
Eric Dixon had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Moore added 17 points for the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9)&nbsp;

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college basketball includes a full slate of top-25 teams in heavy competition.

No. 6 Texas needs OT at home to hold off Oklahoma 85-83

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; LaMelo Ball had 28 points, 10 assists and a season-high 12 rebounds and the Charlotte Hornets beat San Antonio 120-110 on Wednesday night to send the Spurs into the NBA All-Star break with a franchise-record 14-game losing streak.
The 21-year-old Ball became the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in his career.
&ldquo;He is an ultra-talented player for sure,&rdquo; Hornets swingman Gordon Hayward said. &ldquo;Great vision for sure and he&rsquo;s all over the court. (With rebounding) he has an special ability to be in the right place at the right time. ... He&rsquo;s obviously a great player already and I think he will continue to grow into an even better one.&rdquo;
When told about the accomplishment Ball immediately correctly guessed that LeBron James was the only player younger than him to reach that pinnacle.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to trip to up with that stuff,&rdquo; Ball said of being on the same list as James. &ldquo;I just go out and try to get win after win.&rdquo;
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For Ball, it was his third triple-double of the season and franchise-leading ninth overall.
The Hornets got another solid contribution from P.J. Washington, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and rookie Mark Williams added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as Charlotte won its second straight game.
The Hornets had 12 blocks in all, including five by backup center Nick Richards.
For years the Panthers have sought a rim protector &mdash; and now it appears they have two young and capable shot blockers in 7-footers Williams and Richards.
&ldquo;What they both do is make exceptional plays because of their size and athleticism,&rdquo; Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. &ldquo;What they need to do now on top of that is less mistakes and not giving possessions away. If they do that we will be in good shape and they will be too.&rdquo;
Malaki Branham had 23 points and Keldon Johnson added 21 points for the Spurs, who have not won on the road since beating Houston on Dec. 19. Doug McDermott added 17 points on five 3s.
The Hornets led 60-57 at halftime behind Ball, who nearly had a triple-double before the break with 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while seeing extra minutes with backcourt mate Terry Rozier out with knee soreness.
Charlotte looked like it might pull away in the fourth quarter, but McDermott led the Spurs back with back-to-back 3-pointers and short jumper to cut the lead to one.
But newly acquired guard Svi Mykhailiuk, playing in his first game with the Hornets, sparked a Charlotte run by burying a jumper from the corner to help push the lead back to six with five minutes remaining.
Ball&rsquo;s fifth 3-pointer of the game with two minutes remaining pushed the lead back to nine and Washington&rsquo;s offensive rebound and resounding dunk with 59 seconds left sealed the win.
&ldquo;At some point, you have to take pride in what you&rsquo;re doing execution wise and competitively,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;That starts with defense and we really sucked. That&rsquo;s on me when I think we&rsquo;re starting to improve on it, and we go back two steps, so that&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m going to have to think about, figure out how I&rsquo;m going to be able to motivate them better.&rdquo;
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TIP INS
Spurs: Shot 38.3% from the field.
Hornets: Dennis Smith Jr. got the start for Rozier, who was held out with knee soreness. ... Svi Mykhailiuk saw his first action since being acquired in a trade. He scored his first basket on an alley-oop from Ball after a backdoor cut.
</div>
</div>

LaMelo Ball had 28 points, 10 assists and a season-high 12 rebounds and the Charlotte Hornets beat San Antonio 120-110.

Ball has triple-double, Hornets hand Spurs 14th loss in row

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers beat San Antonio 137-125 on Friday night, sending the scuffling Spurs to their eighth straight loss.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and James Harden added 16 for Philadelphia, which has the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
&ldquo;Tonight was one of those games where it was difficult to get up,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;ve got to still be professional. You&rsquo;ve got to be an elite team. That&rsquo;s where we are trying to get to consistently. We weren&rsquo;t consistent enough tonight.
&ldquo;We got a win, but we&rsquo;ve got to try to be better overall.&rdquo;
San Antonio rookie Malaki Branham set a season high for the second straight game with 26 points, eclipsing his 22-point outing Wednesday in a loss to Sacramento.
Keldon Johnson added 18 points and Jakob Poeltl had 16 points and 10 rebounds in San Antonio&rsquo;s final home game before embarking on a nine-game road trip that ends Feb. 28.
The Spurs are 9-37 since opening the season 5-2.
Embiid, Harden and Tobias Harris returned to the court with five minutes remaining after San Antonio trimmed Philadelphia&rsquo;s 22-point lead to just 10 at 122-112. Embiid and Harden combined for eight points and three rebounds in 3 1/2 minutes to seal the victory.
&ldquo;A couple of us older guys on the bench were happy for them when they brought it back all the way to like 10 or nine points,&rdquo; Poeltl said. &ldquo;Made them bring their starters back in. It was fun to watch them out there just playing free, playing aggressive.&rdquo;
Embiid, who was listed as questionable with a sore left foot, was 10 for 18 from the field, 2 for 3 on 3-pointers and 11 for 13 on free throws in an efficient 29 minutes. Named an All-Star reserve Thursday, Embiid added four assists and two steals.
The Spurs were without injured starters Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and Tre Jones, as well as Romeo Langford, who has started 19 games.
Their absence contributed to San Antonio committing 18 turnovers that led to 26 points for Philadelphia.
&ldquo;Giving up 26 points off turnovers makes it impossible (to win),&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;That was the most disappointing part of the game. Their grunt and their ability to just play the game is super, but taking care of the basketball is pretty important and we didn&rsquo;t do that tonight. That was the bad part of the game.&rdquo;
Philadelphia started the game with three straight turnovers in falling behind 8-1. The 76ers rallied to end the first quarter tied at 26 and then outscored the Spurs 47-35 in the second quarter.
The run included a one-handed alley-oop dunk by Embiid on a pass from Harden followed by a fastbreak dunk by Harris in building a 66-49 lead.
The second unit then began a charge that ended in Philadelphia&rsquo;s bench outscoring San Antonio&rsquo;s 67-42.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re going to need from them,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;Consistently they run their sets. With that unit, it&rsquo;s about just getting stops. We get stops, we give ourselves a chance to get out in transition.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
76ers: Harden said he was fine after exiting for the locker room with a second remaining in the first half after falling on his elbow late in the first half. Harden returned early for warmups and started the second half. ... Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers was honored before the game as part of the Spurs&rsquo; 50th anniversary celebration. Rivers played his final two seasons in the NBA with the Spurs, beginning in 1994. ... Play was stopped midway through the first quarter so the 76ers could tend to a minor cut near Embiid&rsquo;s right thumb that was bleeding. Embiid drained a 3-pointer on the next play.
Spurs: San Antonio&rsquo;s next home game is March 2 against Houston. ... San Antonio has the league&rsquo;s second-longest active losing streak, trailing New Orleans&rsquo; 10-game skid. ... Popovich received a technical foul with 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter after stomping down the sideline and screaming at official Mousa Dagher. Popovich was upset no foul was called on a reverse layup attempted by Keldon Johnson.
UP NEXT
76ers: At Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Spurs: At Chicago on Tuesday.

Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs 137-125 on Friday night.

Embiid’s double-double leads 76ers past Spurs, losers of 8 straight

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; At least most of the fans went home happy. UCLA was anything but.
The 10th-ranked Bruins blew an 18-point lead in the second half before rallying to beat crosstown rival Southern California 60-58 on Thursday night for their 11th straight victory.
&ldquo;Do I look happy?&rdquo; groused Bruins coach Mick Cronin.
Jaylen Clark added, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not supposed to let them come back, especially at home.&rdquo;
Clark scored 15 points to lead the Bruins (14-2, 5-0 Pac-12). He missed a 3-pointer, but David Singleton grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Clark again. This time, he nailed it, putting the Bruins back in front, 59-58, with 14 seconds to go.
&ldquo;At least we grabbed rebounds,&rdquo; Clark said, noting a 36-30 edge on the boards. &ldquo;We lucked out but it&rsquo;s not a performance we&rsquo;re really proud of.&rdquo;
Boogie Ellis missed missed a potential tying jumper that would have forced overtime and Adem Bona grabbed the rebound to seal the win and keep UCLA undefeated at Pauley Pavilion in front of 13,659 with a 9-0 mark.
The Bruins are on their longest winning streak since 2016-17.
Reese Dixon-Waters scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Trojans (11-5, 3-2). He made all seven of his shots and both of his free throws.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our defense was really bad the entire second half,&rdquo; Cronin said. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t guard Reese Dixon. He looked like an NBA iso machine.&rdquo;
USC&rsquo;s leading scorers, Ellis and Drew Peterson, had off-nights, with Peterson in foul trouble. Ellis finished with 10 points; Peterson had nine.
&ldquo;We planned for Ellis and Peterson to go off,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;Once they realized we weren&rsquo;t giving them nothing they started moving the ball.&rdquo;
Trailing by 18, the Trojans outscored the Bruins 19-6 to open the second half. Kobe Johnson had a steal and a score and Harrison Hornery came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer that drew the Trojans within five.
Bona and Tyger Campbell picked up their third fouls in under a minute of each other. Bona had the defensive play of the second half, blocking Malik Thomas on a dunk.
The Bruins missed 5 of 6 free throws while Dixon-Waters carried the Trojans. He scored eight of their 10 points to get USC to 56-53.
Hornery scored and got fouled on USC&rsquo;s next possession. He missed the first free throw but made the second for a 56-all tie.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. missed a layup and Ellis scrambled and came up with the rebound in the clogged paint. Dixon-Waters scored to give the Trojans a 58-56 lead, their first since the start of the game.
Ellis got called for an offensive foul that gave UCLA the ball back with seven seconds to go. The Trojans fouled Singleton, whose first free throw hit the iron, drawing agonized groans from the crowd. He made the second for a 60-58 lead.
&ldquo;Obviously that was not a performance we&rsquo;re proud of,&rdquo; said Jaquez, who finished with 12 points. &ldquo;We came out in the second half flat and there&rsquo;s really no excuse for it. I put that on myself.&rdquo;
The Bruins raced to an 18-4 lead to start the game, hitting four 3-pointers in the spurt that included 13 straight points. In one sequence, Clark got blocked by Peterson, grabbed the offensive rebound and made a layup. UCLA had a 9-0 run later in the half and went into the break leading 44-26.
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans have dropped back-to-back games for just the second time this season. Before the skid, they won seven in a row, including a 6-0 mark in December that included a pair of Pac-12 road wins. They&rsquo;ll face the Bruins again in three weeks.
UCLA: The Bruins continue on a winning streak that began after losses to ranked Illinois and Baylor at Las Vegas in November. They have seemingly bought into coach Mick Cronin&rsquo;s hard-nosed defensive style, which helped them scrap to a one-point road win at Washington State last weekend. Later in January, the Bruins travel to No. 5 Arizona for a pivotal showdown in the desert in their lone remaining game against a ranked opponent.
SEEING STARS
The rivalry game brought out former Bruins Russell Westbrook and wife Nina, who played for UCLA&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s team, Baron Davis, and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who played baseball in Westwood. Dwyane Wade sat next to Utah Jazz executive Danny Ainge. Also in the crowd was Henry Winkler and Jessica Alba, whose father-in-law Michael Warren starred for UCLA in the John Wooden era.
UP NEXT
USC: Hosts Colorado on Jan. 12 in the first of a two-game homestand.
UCLA: Hosts Utah on Jan. 12 in the second of three straight home games.

The Bruins are on their longest winning streak since 2016-17.

No. 10 UCLA blows 18-point lead, hangs on to beat USC 60-58

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and No. 5 Notre Dame rallied in the fourth quarter to hold off Miami 66-63 on Thursday night.
Sonia Citron scored 13 and Olivia Miles finished with 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Notre Dame. Lauren Ebo had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Irish (11-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won five straight.
Destiny Harden had 12 points, nine rebounds for five steals for Miami (7-6, 0-2), which has dropped three straight. Haley Cavinder also scored 12 and Lashae Dwyer added 10 for the Hurricanes, who trailed by 13 early but took a three-point lead in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 76, TEXAS A&amp;M 34
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke had 14 points and South Carolina opened Southeastern Conference play with a victory over Texas A&amp;M.
Freshman reserve Talaysia Cooper had 15 points for the Gamecocks (13-0), and sophomore backup Sania Feagin scored 11 points. All-American Aliyah Boston finished with six points and five rebounds, playing just 19 minutes in the runaway win.
Sydney Bowles and Jada Malone each scored eight points for Texas A&amp;M (5-6). The injury-riddled Aggies had only eight players available.
MICHIGAN STATE 83, NO. 4 INDIANA 78
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Kamaria McDaniel had 24 points and Michigan State defeated previously unbeaten Indiana.
Matilda Ekh and Taiyier Parks each had 18 for the Spartans (9-5, 1-2), and DeeDee Hagemann had 15 points and eight assists.
Mackenzie Holmes had 32 points and 12 rebounds for the Hoosiers (12-1, 2-1 Big Ten), while Yarden Garzon added 17.
DUKE 72, NO. 6 NC STATE 58
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Celeste Taylor scored 23 points, including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and Duke beat NC State.
Elizabeth Balogun had 16 points as the Blue Devils (12-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) picked up the most significant victory in coach Kara Lawson&rsquo;s three seasons. Shayeann Day-Wilson and Kennedy Brown each scored 10 points.
Saniya Rivers had 17 points for NC State (11-2, 1-1), which had won seven straight games this season. Jakia Brown-Turner scored 12 points and Aziaha James had 10.
CLEMSON 64, NO. 7 VIRGINIA TECH 59
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Amari Robinson had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Clemson earned its first victory against a top-10 opponent since 2000.
Ruby Whitehorn scored 13 points for the Tigers (10-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), including three free throws in the final 20 seconds. Daisha Bradford had 12, and Hannah Hank finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Cayla King had 15 points and five 3-pointers in Virginia Tech&rsquo;s second loss in three games. Georgia Amoore scored 14 points for the Hokie (11-2, 1-2), and reigning ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley had 14 points and six rebounds.
NO. 9 LSU 69, NO. 24 ARKANSAS 45
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese and Alexis Morris each scored 19 points to lead LSU past Arkansas in both teams&rsquo; SEC opener.
Reese, who finished with a double-double by grabbing 16 rebounds, was one of three Tigers (13-0) who had double-digit boards. Flau&rsquo;jae Johnson had 11, to go along with 10 points, and LaDazhia Williams had 15 rebounds.
Samara Spencer led the Razorbacks (13-3) as she scored a team-high 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting. The rest of the team went a combined 10 of 46 from the floor.
NO. 12 IOWA 83, PURDUE 68
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark scored 24 points, McKenna Warnock added 19 and Iowa defeated Purdue.
Monika Czinano added 12 points to surpass 2,000 for her career, reaching that milestone for the Hawkeyes (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten Conference) one game after Clark did. Hannah Stuelke had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.
Lasha Petree paced the Boilermakers (10-3, 1-2) with 22 points. Cassidy Hardin and Caitlyn Harper scored 10 apiece.
FLORIDA STATE 78, NO. 13 NORTH CAROLINA 71
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Makayla Timpson scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson had 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter and Florida State beat North Carolina.
Florida State (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) avenged last season&rsquo;s 64-49 loss to North Carolina that ended a six-game winning streak in the series.
Deja Kelly scored 20 points to lead North Carolina (9-3, 0-1) in its conference opener. Alyssa Ustby added 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kennedy Todd-Williams also had 16 points to go with eight rebounds. Eva Hodgson had 12 points and seven assists.
NO. 18 ARIZONA 84, ARIZONA STATE 66
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Esmery Martinez finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to power Arizona&rsquo;s win in its Pac-12 Conference opener.
Martinez sank 9 of 14 shots from the floor to help the Wildcats (11-1) shoot 55.4% overall. It was her fourth double-double of the season. Shaina Pellington added 14 points, Cate Reese finished with 13 points and Jade Loville scored 12.
Tyi Skinner made 10 of 21 shots with five 3-pointers, scoring 26 for the Sun Devils (7-5). Treasure Hunt pitched in with 13 points and six rebounds. Meg Newman had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.
NO. 19 GONZAGA 77, PEPPERDINE 63
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Kaylynne Truong hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, both career highs, to lead Gonzaga to its sixth-straight win.
Yvonne Ejim added 17 points and Eliza Hollingsworth had 16 and both grabbed nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (13-2, 3-0 West Coast Conference). Brynna Maxwell scored 10.
Ally Stedman led Pepperdine (6-7, 1-2) with 16 points. Theresa Grace Mbanefo added 15 points and nine rebounds and Jane Nwaba had 14 points.

A recap of women's top-25 hoops action highlights a comeback effort by the fifth-ranked Irish.

No. 5 Notre Dame rallies in fourth to beat Miami 66-63

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

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

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Brook Lopez hit a wide-open layup off an inbounds play with seven seconds to go and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-105 on Friday night.
The Bucks held on despite Giannis Antetokounmpo fouling out with 2:55 remaining. The Greek Freak finished with 28 points to end an eight-game run with at least 30 points.
Luka Doncic had 33 points and 11 assists and put Dallas ahead on a layup with 29 seconds to go.
But the Mavericks couldn&rsquo;t make their free throws late &mdash; they were a woeful 10 for 24 for the game &mdash; leaving the door open for the Bucks to win a fourth consecutive game while ending Dallas&rsquo; three-game winning streak.
Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s sixth foul came when he tried to close out on a 3-pointer by Tim Hardaway Jr., who missed all three free throws to keep Milwaukee in front by one.
Dorian Finney-Smith missed two more free throws after Doncic had put Dallas in front 105-104. The Bucks inbounded from near their bench, and Lopez slipped behind a screen for the easy bucket on the throw-in from George Hill.
76ERS 132, LAKERS 122, OT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid had 38 points and 12 rebounds, De&rsquo;Anthony Melton scored a career-high 33 points and Philadelphia recovered to beat Los Angeles after blowing a nine-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
Anthony Davis had 31 points and 12 rebounds, while LeBron James scored 23 points for the Lakers. James (sore left ankle) and Davis (illness) both missed a loss in Toronto on Tuesday night.
Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Magic Johnson as the only Lakers with a triple-double off the bench.
The Lakers were down 12 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation but rallied on clutch buckets and costly fouls by the Sixers.
PELICANS 128, SUNS 117
NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Zion Williamson capped a season-high 35-point performance with a 360-degree, one-handed dunk in the final seconds that upset Phoenix players, and New Orleans beat the Suns in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Players and coaches from both teams swarmed around one another angrily as officials frantically stepped in to separate them before both teams finally walked off opposite ends of the court, with Williamson gesturing triumphantly to roaring fans before disappearing down the tunnel to the locker room.
Jose Alvarado came off the bench to add 20 points for New Orleans, which had to hold on in the opener of a two-game series after the Suns hit 15 of their 22 3-pointers in the second half to erase a 16-point deficit.
Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 14 rebounds. The Suns (16-10) lost for the fourth time in five games to fall 1 1/2 games behind New Orleans (17-8) atop the Western Conference standings.
TIMBERWOLVES 118, JAZZ 108
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; D&rsquo;Angelo Russell scored 20 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 13 rebounds in his return to Utah and Minnesota beat the Jazz.
Rudy Gobert was traded Minnesota over the summer. The French center spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Jazz.
Malik Beasley scored 23 points to lead Utah. Jordan Clarkson added 21 points and Mike Conley had 17 points and six assists in his first game back after being sidelined for nine games by a left leg injury.
NETS 120, HAWKS 116
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant scored 34 points, Kyrie Irving had 33 points and 11 rebounds and Brooklyn finished a seven-game homestand by beating Atlanta.
TJ Warren added 14 points and Ben Simmons returned from a four-game absence with a left calf strain with six points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Nets won for the ninth time in 12 games overall.
They hadn&rsquo;t played seven straight home games since moving to Brooklyn a decade ago and they took advantage, losing only to the NBA-leading Boston Celtics while surging into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists for the Hawks, while Bogdan Bogdanovic rebounded from a miserable game at the Knicks two nights earlier with 31 points.
KINGS 106, CAVALIERS 95
CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Harrison Barnes scored 20 points, Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 18 rebounds and Sacramento rallied to beat Cleveland.
Kevin Huerter made two 3-pointers in 56 seconds late in the fourth quarter, fueling a 21-2 game-ending run by Sacramento. The Cavaliers had held their largest lead at 93-85 on Caris LeVert&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 5:40 remaining.
LeVert had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, which had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.
KNICKS 121, HORNETS 102
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Julius Randle scored 33 points, RJ Barrett added 26 and New York beat Charlotte for its third straight victory.
Jalen Brunson had 11 points and 11 assists for the Knicks. They evened their record at 13-13.
Terry Rozier scored 24 points for Charlotte. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 22 points on his 27th birthday.
GRIZZLIES 114, PISTONS 103
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Jaren Jackson Jr. had 20 points and four blocks and Memphis beat Detroit for its fifth straight victory.
Brandon Clarke added 17 points for Memphis, missing only one of his eight shots. Dillon Brooks had 16 points, and Ja Morant finished with 15 points and 12 assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 19 points, Marvin Bagley III scored 14 points, and Kevin Knox II and Isaiah Stewart finished with 13 points each.
PACERS 121, WIZARDS 111
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Buddy Hield scored a season-high 28 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and 11 assists and Indiana beat Washington.
Bennedict Mathurin added 18 points, Oshae Brissett 16 and Myles Turner 14.
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Kyle Kuzma added 27 points, and Jordan Goodwin had 19.
MAGIC 113, RAPTORS 109
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Franz Wagner scored 34 points and Orlando turned to rookie Pablo Banchero in the final minutes to hold off Toronto after the Raptors had wiped out a 20-point deficit in the second half.
Banchero finished with 23 points and six rebounds. Pascal Siakam had 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Raptors.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A recap of Friday night's NBA action features a thrilling battle between Milwaukee and Dallas.

Bucks beat Mavericks 106-105 after Antetokounmpo fouls out

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston missed the second half of No. 1 South Carolina&rsquo;s game against Hampton on Sunday with her right foot in a walking boot, but reserves Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins scored 14 points each in an 85-38 win.
Kamila Cardoso added 11 points and 14 rebounds for South Carolina. It was the 6-foot-7 forward&rsquo;s eighth career double-double.
Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter and needed several moments to stand up. Soon after, she headed to the locker room before the period ended.
Boston did not come out for the start of the third quarter, returning to the bench midway through the period with a walking boot on her right foot. Boston spent the rest of the game cheering on her teammates, who improved to 6-0 this season and 5-0 all-time against the Pirates.
No. 2 STANFORD 68, HAWAII 39
HONOLULU (AP) &mdash; Ashten Pretchel scored 12 of her season-high 17 points in the first half to help Stanford easily defeat Hawaii on the final day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
The Cardinal (7-1) erased an early deficit and held the Rainbow Wahine (1-6) to a season-low scoring output.
Pretchel came off the bench and shot 6 of 10 from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lily Wahinekapu led Hawaii with 12 points.
NO. 3 UCONN 86, NO. 9 IOWA 79
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Azzi Fudd scored 24 points to rally UConn past Iowa in the championship game of the first Phil Knight Legacy women&rsquo;s tournament.
Fudd had plenty of help, with Aaliyah Edwards (20 points, 13 rebounds) and three other Huskies (5-0) scoring in double-figures. Edwards was named MVP of the tournament.
Iowa (5-2) star Caitlin Clark had 25 points, and Kate Martin added 20.
Edwards got UConn off to a strong start, scoring 10 points while the Huskies built a 20-14 edge.
Clark and the Hawkeyes then surged with a 13-2 run to begin the second quarter and led 41-35 at halftime. Clark scored 17 points in the first half.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 105, NORTH ALABAMA 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 23 points and Cotie McMahon added 20 to lead Ohio State past North Alabama.
The Buckeyes (6-0) shot 58.6% from the field as all five starters reached double figures in scoring.
North Alabama (3-3) trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes to go in the second quarter, but Ohio State extended its lead on an 11-0 run keyed by five points from Madison Greene.
The Buckeyes held a 59-37 lead at halftime and stretched it to as large as 39 with less than three minutes remaining.
No. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 73, No. 5 IOWA STATE 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly scored 29 points to power North Carolina to a 17-point comeback over Iowa State and win in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.
Kennedy Todd-Williams added 17 points to help the Tar Heels (6-0) complete the comeback and remain undefeated on the season. Alyssa Ustby contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Stephanie Soares led the Cyclones (5-1) with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Ashley Joens had 18 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State suffered its first loss of the year.
NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 89, LONGWOOD 28
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley had a double-double, Kayana Traylor added a double-double off the bench, and Virginia Tech rolled over Longwood.
Kitley had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies. Traylor had 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashley Owusu scored 21 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers.
The Hokies established a program record by holding South Carolina Upstate to 24 points on Nov. 14. Longwood passed 24 points when Adriana Shipp-Davis made a layup with 4:44 remaining.
Shipp-Davis had seven rebounds for Longwood (1-5). The Lancers shot 16.7% overall, which was also their 3-point percentage (3-for-18).
NO. 14 MARYLAND 87, PITTSBURGH 63
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 12 of her 23 points in Maryland&rsquo;s 36-point third quarter and the Terrapins rolled past Pittsburgh to finish the Ft. Myers Tip-Off.
Brinae Alexander hit three 3-pointers in the Terps&rsquo; biggest quarter of the season and was 5 of 7 from distance to finish with 17 points. Lavender Briggs contributed 10 points as the three transfers had their biggest outputs of the season for Maryland. Shyanne Sellers added 13 points for the Terrapins (6-2), who went 2-1 in the tournament.
Maryland went 7 of 10 behind the arc and shot 55% in the second half.
Maliyah Johnson had 15 points for the Panthers (5-2), who only had one less 3-pointer but was outscored by 13 at the foul line where Maryland was 20 of 23.
No. 18 OREGON 86, MICHIGAN STATE 78
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Endyia Rogers scored 19 points, including critical back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Phillipina Kyei had a double-double with career highs and Oregon held off Michigan State in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.
The Ducks led 29-12 when Rogers scored the opening basket of the second quarter but the Spartans slowly came back behind Kamaria McDaniel, who had a season-high 28 points. McDaniel hit a 3-pointer and Matilda Ekh had a steal and layup and Michigan State tied the game with 7:17 to play.
That&rsquo;s when Rogers, who had a career-high five 3-pointers, scored from distance, the first coming after a timeout and the Ducks regained control.
Isaline Alexander scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Ekh 12 for the Spartans (6-2).
NO. 19 TEXAS 74, PRINCETON 50
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sonya Morris scored 15 points, Taylor Jones notched a double-double and Texas breezed to a victory over Princeton.
Morris sank 5 of 10 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for Texas (3-3). Jones finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rori Harmon had 11 points and Aaliyah Moore scored 10.
The Longhorns picked up their second straight win after a three-game losing streak. Texas fell 16 spots in the AP poll.
Kaitlyn Chen topped Princeton (3-2) with 15 points. Julia Cunningham added 10 points. Ellie Mitchell came into the game leading the nation with 16.2 rebounds per game. She didn&rsquo;t score and had seven boards.
No. 22 MICHIGAN 84, No. 21 BAYLOR 75
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser scored 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, Laila Phelia added 20 points and Michigan scored the final 11 points to beat Baylor in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Maddie Nolan scored seven of her 12 points in a 20-5 run over the final 4-plus minutes and Leigha Brown finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists forMichigan (7-0).
Ja&rsquo;Mee Asberry scored inside to give Baylor a 75-73 lead with 2 minutes to go but Brown made a layup and, after a missed 3-point shot on the other end, grabbed her own offensive rebound and kicked it out to Phelia for a 3 that gave the Wolverines the lead for good with 48 seconds to go.
Jaden Owens scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Bears.
NO. 23 TENNESSEE 105, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Rickea Jackson scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack and Tennessee coasted to a win over Eastern Kentucky.
Jordan Horston added 14 points for the Lady Vols (4-4), Jillian Hollingshead and Tamari Key 13 each and Karoline Striplin 10. Jackson and Horston both had five assists and joined Hollingshead with eight rebounds.
Antwainette Walker scored 18 points for the Colonels (4-3).
NO. 23 VILLANOVA 72, SOUTH FLORIDA 50
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points to surpass 2,000 for her career and Villanova used a hot start to beat South Florida in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Siegrist scored 13 points in the first half and 10 in the third quarter as the Wildcats (6-1) took a 58-36 lead. Lucy Olsen scored 10 of her 13 before the break.
Siegrist became the third player in Villanova history to reach the 2,000-point plateau when she hit a jumper at 3:46 of the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 50-31.
Sammie Puisis scored 17 points for the Bulls (7-2). Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 14 points with 17 rebounds &mdash; matching her career high, and Elena Tsineke scored 11.

Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter.