Cougars

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid scored 44 points, James Harden had a career-high 21 assists in a triple-double and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-114 on Friday night.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s big-time for us. That just shows that we stayed together, we trust each other, and we know what we have to do,&rdquo; Joel Embiid said about the comeback. &ldquo;We started off the game soft, especially defensively, and as soon as we turned it up it changed the whole game.&rdquo;
Harden also had 20 points and 11 rebounds to help Philadelphia sweep a seven-game homestand and improve to 19-12. Harden tied Wilt Chamberlain and Maurice Cheeks for the franchise game assist record.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s some great company. Mo Cheeks was one of my coaches (in Oklahoma City), and then Wilt, I feel like he has every record,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;So just being in the conversation with some of the best basketball players to ever touch a basketball is always a blessing.&rdquo;
Harden&rsquo;s performance, approach to the game and the evolving chemistry between Embiid and Harden drew praise from the coach Doc Rivers.
&ldquo;This is a generational scorer that has taken and decided to be a point guard, who still scores, but to be a point guard for this team,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s hard to do. A lot of people, most people, can&rsquo;t do that, or will not do it is a better way of saying it. The fact that he is willingly doing it, running the team, organizing us, is huge for us.&rdquo;
Rivers took a timeout after Nicolas Batum&rsquo;s 3-pointer gave the Clippers a 108-107 lead with four minutes left. The 76ers then had a 10-0 run.
Kawhi Leonard had 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting for Los Angeles. Paul George added 22 points and Norman Powell had 21. The 76ers limited George to five points in the second half, led by a standout performance from De&rsquo;Anthony Melton.
&ldquo;We knew how good of an offensive team they were,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;They caught us in that first half. The second half we picked up our defensive intensity, got out in transition and it made the game a lot easier for us.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Clippers: John Wall sat out because of a sprained right ankle.
76ers: Harden&rsquo;s previous career high for assists was 17, accomplished 10 times. Before the game, Rivers said Tyrese Maxey is getting close to returning from a fracture in his left foot that has kept him out since Nov. 18.
&nbsp;

Joel Embiid scored 44 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-114.

Embiid, Harden help 76ers beat Clippers for homestand sweep

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

Michael Jordan was moments away from hoisting his third of what would become five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and then-Commissioner David Stern greeted him at the midcourt ceremony with words that were both simple and profound.
&ldquo;You are simply the standard,&rdquo; Stern said that night in 1992, &ldquo;by which basketball excellence is measured.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s never been more true.
The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league announced Tuesday. Jordan is a five-time MVP so he has five trophies named for Maurice Podoloff &mdash; the league&rsquo;s first commissioner. But after six decades of the award bearing Podoloff&rsquo;s name, the NBA decided the time was right to rebrand.
The Jordan trophy will stand 23.6 inches tall and weigh 23.6 pounds -- nods to his jersey number and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls -- but is not a depiction of him. The chairman of the Charlotte Hornets approved the design, one that symbolizes someone reaching for excellence, but did not want the statue to be of himself. He also declined a request for comment through the NBA.
&ldquo;Anybody should be able to see this and see themselves in it,&rdquo; said Mark Smith, a longtime designer at Jordan Brand and the person who oversaw the trophy&rsquo;s design. &ldquo;They should feel the excellence of Michael Jordan and his pursuit. It&rsquo;s got his name on it, but it isn&rsquo;t him. It&rsquo;s everybody. It could be a shipbuilder or it could be a teacher or a lawyer or a writer who looks at it and says, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m trying to do.&rsquo;&rdquo;
The league has rebranded almost all its trophies in the last two seasons, even adding some new ones. As part of Tuesday&rsquo;s announcement, the league revealed that The Jerry West Award is being introduced and will be given to the NBA Clutch Player of the Year &mdash; which, like almost all other league awards, will be voted on by a media panel. NBA coaches will nominate players for the clutch award.
Also, the Defensive Player of the Year will now receive The Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy; the Rookie of the Year will receive The Wilt Chamberlain Trophy; the Sixth Man of the Year will now receive The John Havlicek Trophy; and the NBA&rsquo;s Most Improved Player will receive The George Mikan Trophy.
&ldquo;Our new collection of trophies celebrates some of the greatest and most impactful players in the history of the NBA,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. &ldquo;As we recognize the league&rsquo;s top performers each season, we also pay tribute to the legends who embody these prestigious awards.&rdquo;
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-nikola-jokic-38e98ac99f4a71a971a5e626ef7e5209">It became evident last week that something was changing about the MVP trophy</a> when the NBA said Podoloff&rsquo;s name was going onto a new prize -- a trophy that will go to the team with the best regular season record.
The MVP trophy has many levels of numerical significance related to Jordan, besides its height and weight. It has a five-sided base, a tribute to his five MVP awards. The name badge is six-sided, one for each of his championships. The base is shaped at a 15-degree angle; he played 15 NBA seasons.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always going to numbers and symbiology as key root DNA to make something specific and authentic for that person,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;When you start putting all these things together, there&rsquo;s only one person and it becomes very unique. Not different, but very unique.&rdquo;
Jordan was involved at every step of the design process, Smith said. The final product was a bronze trophy depicting a player &ldquo;breaking out of a rock to reach for the ultimate rock &mdash; a crystal basketball,&rdquo; the league said. The trophy becomes more refined closer to the top, meant to show how hard work leads to something more polished and finally something great.
Smith said he fully expects to be emotional when he sees the new trophy awarded for the first time this spring.
&ldquo;This is actually the highest achievement for a single player ... and it&rsquo;s mind-blowing,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a mind-blower.&rdquo;
Other trophies renamed or reimagined in the last year or so include ones named for Joe Dumars (sportsmanship), Red Auerbach (coach of the year), the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP award &mdash; along with the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy for the NBA champions and the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy.
New Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship trophies named for Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson respectively were added, along with the Larry Bird Trophy for East finals MVP and the Magic Johnson Trophy for West finals MVP. The league also began issuing divisional championship trophies, naming them for Nat &ldquo;Sweetwater&rdquo; Clifton (Atlantic Division), Wayne Embry (Central), Earl Lloyd (Southeast), Willis Reed (Southwest), Sam Jones (Northwest) and Chuck Cooper (Pacific).

The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league announced Tuesday.

The Jordan Trophy: NBA rebrands, redesigns its MVP award

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic tied Wilt Chamberlain for sixth all-time with his 78th triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 16 points in his first game at Ball Arena in more than 18 months as the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-117 Saturday night.
Murray sank a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds left to put the Nuggets ahead by four and Jokic capped the scoring by sinking one of two foul shots with 2.5 seconds remaining.
Jokic scored 19 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and dished out 13 assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 22 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in 21 points on the strength of six 3-pointers, one more than Porter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 28 points and Josh Giddey had 19 points and 12 boards.
Murray, who tore his left ACL on April 12, 2021, sat out Denver's big win at Golden State on Friday night in San Francisco because the Nuggets don't want him playing back-to-back nights early on. He had 12 points, two rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes in the Nuggets' season-opening loss at Utah on Wednesday night.
Murray had a scary moment in the second quarter when he tumbled at midcourt after a foul by Luguentz Dort. Murray shook it off and a minute later had a spin move followed by a fadeaway jumper.
The Nuggets don't have another back-to-back set until late November.
TIP-INS
Thunder: Oklahoma City plays five of its next six games at home. ... The Thunder was without rookie G Jalen Williams, the 12th overall pick in the draft, who underwent surgery after fracturing his right orbital bone in the opener at Minnesota.
Nuggets: The Broncos' low-key celebration of Jokic's second straight MVP award consisted of a short video during the first timeout. Jokic was ejected from a playoff game when the Nuggets celebrated his first MVP trophy in 2021. He was already back in Serbia when he won his second Maurice Podoloff Trophy last summer.
UP NEXT
Thunder: Returns to Oklahoma City for home opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
Nuggets: Get a brief reprieve after playing three games in four nights. Their next game is Monday night at Portland.

Nikola Jokic scored 19 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and dished out 13 assists, and Jamal Murray scored 16 points in a win.

Jokic, Murray lead tired Nuggets past Thunder 122-117

The Denver Nuggets' season came to an ignominious end with Jamal Murray looking on from the bench and newly crowned league MVP Nikola Jokic watching from the locker room.
The Phoenix Suns completed their second-round sweep with a 125-118 win Sunday night in Denver, holding off an inspired effort by the Nuggets following Jokic's stunning third-quarter ejection.
Long have the Nuggets chafed at the lack of respect and calls that Jokic gets, particularly this season as the 7-foot Serbian blossomed into the NBA's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nikola-jokic-kobe-bryant-europe-nba-403d6cca735519dfd230e6b61675222e">runaway best player</a>.
Frustration boiled over 48 hours after Jokic humbly accepted the Maurice Podoloff Trophy that he dedicated to his teammates, coaches, trainers, front office and family.
Infuriated at no whistle for the contact on his one-handed runner that bounced off the rim with the Nuggets down seven late in the third quarter, Jokic gestured at the official before racing to Cameron Payne, whom he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nikola-jokic-ejected-from-game-4-for-excessive-contact-with-cam-payne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swatted across the face as he took a hard swipe at the ball</a>.
That led Suns star Devin Booker to confront the Nuggets' 7-foot big man, leading to a double technical. After the two were separated, the crew reviewed the play at midcourt as Jokic retreated to the bench.
&ldquo;I thought honestly, they&rsquo;re not going to eject me," said Jokic, who hadn't even been assessed a Flagrant 1 foul in 345 games and who isn't known as a dirty player.
Jokic apologized to Payne before he was escorted through the tunnel.
To players across the league, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1404253358928666627?s=20">the Joker's bewildering ejection was a joke</a>.
&ldquo;A Flagrant 2? Wow.&rdquo; tweeted Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies chimed in, &ldquo;playoffs. elimination game. give him a flagrant 1 and play ball man.&rdquo;
Crew chief David Guthrie explained afterward that &ldquo;the wind-up, the impact, the follow-through, the unnecessary and excessive contact above the shoulders into the face&rdquo; met the criteria for a Flagrant 2.
The Nuggets played valiantly without Jokic but couldn't extend the series.
&ldquo;I wish we could have played them at full strength,&rdquo; said Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
A year after leading the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals in the Walt Disney World bubble in Florida, Jokic steered his team through a trying season marked by a rash of injuries, most notably to fellow star Murray, who tore his left ACL in April.
They also lost Monte Morris, P.J. Dozier and Will Barton III down the stretch.
Amid all those injuries &mdash; not to mention a jampacked season where virtually everyone got some rest along the way &mdash; Jokic was a rare everyday player, a big man who logged big minutes. He&rsquo;s the only player to start all his team&rsquo;s regular-season games in the last two seasons, being on the floor for tip-off all 145 times.
Despite that ever-changing cast around him, Jokic guided Denver to the No. 3 playoff seed in the West. Behind Jokic, the Nuggets went 13-5 after Murray tore his ACL on April 12 and he led Denver past Portland in the first round of the playoffs.
And his numbers against the Blazers? Historic. He averaged 33 points and 10.5 rebounds on 53% shooting from the field, 43% from 3-point range and 92% from the free throw line &mdash; making him the first player in NBA history to average 30 points and 10 rebounds with the lofty benchmarks of 50% from the field, 40% from 3 and 90% from the foul line in a playoff series.
Michael Porter Jr.'s breakout season took an unfortunate turn when he tweaked his surgically repaired back in the second-round opener at Phoenix, and that proved one injury too many for Denver.
With their second scoring option at less than full strength, even Jokic's best wasn't good enough.
On the night he celebrated his MVP award, Jokic joined Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players with 30 points, 20 boards and 10 assists in an NBA playoff game. Yet, he apologized to his teammates for not doing more in Denver's 116-102 loss.
&ldquo;He was beating himself up because he's striving for perfection and he knows with the injuries that we have and the quality of opponent that we're facing that he needs to be phenomenal for us to have a chance,&rdquo; Malone said before Game 4.
Jokic had 22 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes before his ejection Sunday night.
&ldquo;Tough loss, tough way to go out,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I was thinking about this today, after we&rsquo;d gotten Aaron Gordon, we went into L.A. and played the Clippers on April 1st and we beat them. At that point in time, I really felt we had a chance to win it all this year, I really did.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Denver's season came to an end with Jamal Murray looking on from the bench and MVP Nikola Jokic watching from the locker room.

Malone on Nuggets' injury-riddled year: 'I really felt we had a chance to win it all'

Memo to the next coach of the Los Angeles Clippers: Make Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play 82 games together (or as many as possible) and excise &ldquo;load management&rdquo; from the NBA vocabulary.
Head coach Doc Rivers is looking for a new job tonight in large part because he failed to meet expectations, failed to make the proper adjustments in three straight games when his team was one win away from the Western Conference Finals, and because the blame game is part of the NBA life. Nobody is immune from getting fired except Gregg Popovich, and probably Erik Spoelstra.
But what crippled the Clippers more than anything was a lack of chemistry, which was evident to anyone with two working eyeballs and an appreciation for the one intangible that separates great teams from good teams: chemistry.
George and Leonard played in only 38 of 72 regular-season games games together and were 27-11 in those games (and they averaged 118.3 PPG and held opponents to 109.8 PPG, compared to 105.5 PPG and 111 PPG allowed when neither star played). This was explained as &ldquo;load management,&rdquo; which became NBA parlance for resting players who are paid extraordinary amounts of money to play basketball. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern never would have stood for it. Adam Silver allows it, because happy players are compliant players, and Silver does business differently than his predecessor and mentor.
But &ldquo;load management&rdquo; is bad for Clippers fans, who paid good money to see Leonard and George play together after the team acquired PG from Oklahoma City in the offseason. Rivers kept using load management in bubble games, too, even though four and a half months off should have been enough rest for just about anybody after the NBA shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Get this: Rivers used 33 different starting lineups during the regular season. Thirty-three.
And when the starting five was Leonard, George, Patrick Beverley (whose absences from the lineup were because of injury, not rest), Ivica Zubac and Maurice Harkless, the Clippers were 13-4.
When the lineup was Leonard, George, Marcus Morris, Beverley and Zubac after the Clippers got Morris from the New York Knicks at the trade deadline, the record was 13-4.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/kp3_lg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="352" />
Many people believe load management helped the Toronto Raptors win a title with Leonard in 2019, which may be true. But Leonard and George, under Rivers, took it to an extreme. And when you consider that Wilt Chamberlain once averaged 48.6 minutes per game, it gives you a different historical perspective on how expectations of players have changed over the decades. Wilt never took a minute off.
The Clippers were the only team in the NBA to have four players average at least 18.0 points per game (Leonard 27.1; George 21.5; Montrezl Harrell 18.6; Lou Williams 18.2), which made them the first team since 1967-68 San Francisco Warriors to have that many guys averaging at least 18.
So the talent was there for Rivers, but the chemistry never developed. And whenever the Clippers got down in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, especially against the Nuggets, their body language was horrible. They blew leads of 16, 19 and 12 points in Games 5, 6 and 7 against Denver.
It was a series of epic meltdowns, and Rivers took the blame. This is not the first time he has been fired, and it will probably not be the last. And judging from the &ldquo;it&rsquo;s all copacetic&rdquo; language of the press release that the Clippers put out, Rivers likely got bought out of his final two years. But let&rsquo;s call this what it is: a firing. Steve Ballmer clearly axed him.
"We didn't meet them," Rivers said of the expectations. "That's the bottom line. I'm the coach, and I'll take any blame for it. But we didn't meet our expectations, clearly, because if we had, in my opinion, we'd still be playing."
The Clippers' job now becomes, along with the Houston job, the most coveted open position in the NBA. Somebody will get it, but that somebody should be ready to tell owner Steve Ballmer that the players have to play, not rest.
If not, that new guy will be a dead man walking too.

The Los Angeles Clippers fired Doc Rivers on Monday. The next head coach should get rid of load management, writes Chris Sheridan.

Maurice

Embiid, Harden help 76ers beat Clippers for homestand sweep

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

The Jordan Trophy: NBA rebrands, redesigns its MVP award

Jokic, Murray lead tired Nuggets past Thunder 122-117

Malone on Nuggets' injury-riddled year: 'I really felt we had a chance to win it all'

Clippers fire Doc Rivers; will next coach end load management?