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Clippers

Alyssa Thomas has never been ordinary. She has never conformed to the traditional archetypes that have long defined basketball positions, nor has she allowed physical limitations &ndash; most notably two torn labrums in her shoulders &ndash; to dictate her game. Instead, she has rewritten the rules of what a forward can be, becoming the WNBA&rsquo;s most unique playmaker, a relentless competitor whose power and precision leave indelible marks on every contest.
Now, Thomas stands on the precipice of the one achievement that has eluded her: a WNBA championship. With the Phoenix Mercury, she is no longer just one of the league&rsquo;s most distinctive stars &ndash; she is the heartbeat of a team that has fought its way past both of last year&rsquo;s finalists, the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, to sit just one series away from hoisting the trophy.
The one-of-a-kind blueprint
Thomas&rsquo; game is a study in contradictions. Listed at 6-foot-2, she is undersized compared to most dominant forwards, yet she plays with a ferocity that makes her feel much larger. She has no jump shot to speak of &ndash; her chronic shoulder injuries have left her unable to lift her arms fully above her head &ndash; yet she is among the WNBA&rsquo;s most creative offensive engines, manufacturing buckets through brute force, footwork, and finesse around the rim.
What sets her apart, however, is her vision. Thomas operates as a point forward in the truest sense, initiating offense with the instincts of a guard while anchoring the interior with her strength. No player in league history has more triple-doubles than Thomas, who has piled them up not through chasing numbers, but by simply playing the only way she knows: involving everyone, rebounding relentlessly, and attacking mismatches with precision.
Thomas is the ultimate connector, and when she is on the floor, everyone gets easier looks. Thomas is going to wear you down on both ends, and there&rsquo;s really no one else like her in the league.
Phoenix&rsquo;s resurgence this season
The Mercury have long been defined by legends, from Diana Taurasi&rsquo;s scoring brilliance to Brittney Griner&rsquo;s dominance in the paint, Phoenix&rsquo;s championship pedigree has always been tied to its superstars But this season, it&rsquo;s Thomas&rsquo; tenacity and versatility that have become the foundation of the Mercury&rsquo;s title pursuit.
In the quarterfinals, Phoenix knocked out the New York Liberty &ndash; a team that spent much of the season viewed as the championship favorite. Thomas imposed her will throughout the series, controlling tempo, dictating matchups, and ensuring Phoenix never wilted against a roster loaded with talent.&nbsp;
Then came the Minnesota Lynx, last season&rsquo;s runner-up, in the semifinals, a team known for physicality and defensive toughness. Once again, Thomas proved to be the difference, her relentless motor overwhelming Minnesota&rsquo;s interior presence while her passing picked apart their rotations.
Now, Phoenix sits at the doorstep of a championship. Thomas has emerged as the Mercury&rsquo;s lodestar &ndash; the player whose fingerprints are on every possession and whose competitive fire fuels the group &ndash; along with capable star teammates Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper.
Redefining greatness and the reflection of a leader
Thomas&rsquo; rise to this moment is about redefining what greatness looks like in the WNBA. For decades, the league&rsquo;s superstars have often been bucket-getters &ndash; high-scoring guards or dominant post players who could bend games with sheer offensive output. Thomas represents a different mold.
Her greatness is measured in the connective tissue of the game: the rebound that sparks a fast break, the no-look pass to a cutting teammate, the defensive rotation that prevents a layup. She is the star who doesn&rsquo;t need the spotlight, the engine whose work is most felt in the way her teammates shine brighter.
And yet, Thomas herself has built a resume that cannot be ignored. She is the WNBA&rsquo;s all-time leader in triple-doubles, a perennial All-Star, and a force who consistently pushes her teams to overachieve. Still, for all her accolades, the absence of a championship has loomed large. With Phoenix, that narrative has a chance to finally change.
It is no coincidence that Phoenix&rsquo;s postseason surge has mirrored the very qualities Thomas embodies. The Mercury have played with resilience, grit, and selflessness &ndash; the same hallmarks of Thomas&rsquo; game. Every possession feels like a battle, and every victory has been earned through effort rather than ease.
This title run is about Thomas validating a career defined by sacrifice and unconventional brilliance. Few players would have thrived without a jump shot in today&rsquo;s game, but Thomas has carved a path by emphasizing everything else: defense, rebounding, playmaking, and leadership. She has shown that dominance comes in many forms, and that sometimes it is not just about the one filling up the scoring column, but the one making sure everyone else is in position to succeed.
Legacy in the making
The Mercury&rsquo;s journey is not complete. A championship series looms, either with the Indiana Fever or 3-time MVP A&rsquo;Ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces, and with it, the most difficult test of all. Opponents will key in on Thomas, daring Phoenix to find answers elsewhere. But Thomas has spent her entire career proving doubters wrong, overcoming obstacles that might have ended others&rsquo; careers, and finding ways to impose her will regardless of circumstance.
This, perhaps, is her ultimate chance to etch her name alongside the greats. Not just as the triple-double queen, not just as the league&rsquo;s most unique forward, but as a champion.
If Phoenix completes this run, it will be impossible to tell the story of the 2025 WNBA season without Alyssa Thomas at its center. She has already changed the way the game is played and understood, expanding the definition of stardom and forcing observers to appreciate the value of versatility.
Now, with the Mercury one step away from glory, Thomas is poised to add the ultimate chapter to her legacy. For a player who has done everything except win it all, the moment has arrived. And if the past few weeks are any indication, she is more than ready &ndash; because Alyssa Thomas has never been ordinary &ndash; she has been extraordinary in every sense of the word.

Alyssa Thomas, the WNBA’s triple-double queen, is powering the Phoenix Mercury’s title run.

WNBA triple-double queen Alyssa Thomas ready to lead Phoenix Mercury to a title

As the 2025 NBA Playoffs tip off, every team in the Eastern Conference brings with it a burning question. Some are looking to validate their dominance, others are hoping to make noise for the first time, and a few are simply trying to recapture playoff magic from the past. Here&rsquo;s one key question for each East playoff squad heading into this year&rsquo;s postseason.
Cleveland Cavaliers &ndash; Are they for real?
The Cavaliers were expected to take a leap under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, but few predicted it would be this significant. Cleveland posted a 64-18 record, up from 51 wins last season, and ranked eighth in the NBA in defensive rating (111.8) while climbing to the best in the league in offensive rating (121.0). It&rsquo;s a massive leap in two-way consistency, anchored by Evan Mobley&rsquo;s breakout campaign and a more dynamic offense tailored around Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
Mobley&rsquo;s development has been a game-changer. The 22-year-old averaged career-highs in points (18.5), rebounds (9.3), and assists (3.2), while maintaining elite rim protection (1.6 blocks per game). Offensively, his confidence as a shot creator and short-roll playmaker opened up space for the rest of the team. The Cavs now run more actions through Mobley, especially from the elbows, and his improved jump shot has made him far more difficult to guard.
But make no mistake &ndash; Mitchell remains the barometer. The All-Star guard battled injuries down the stretch but still averaged 24.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 5.0 rebounds on 44.3% shooting. If he can stay healthy and lead confidently on both ends, Cleveland has the pieces to make a legitimate run to the conference finals.
The Cavs have the metrics, the momentum, and the maturity. Now it&rsquo;s about proving they belong with the league&rsquo;s elite when the lights are the brightest.
Boston Celtics &ndash; Can they go back-to-back?
The reigning champions enter the playoffs with a sense of unfinished business &mdash; not because they failed last year, but because they&rsquo;re now chasing greatness. The Celtics finished 61-21 this season for back to back 60-win seasons. They had the league&rsquo;s second best net rating at +9.4, fueled by elite balance: second in offensive rating (119.5) and fourth in defensive rating (110.1).
Jayson Tatum continues to evolve as one of the NBA&rsquo;s most complete stars. His 26.8 points per game came with improved efficiency (58.2% true shooting) and a career-high 8.7 rebounds. Tatum has learned to pick his spots better, moving the ball when doubled and attacking mismatches when given space. Jaylen Brown, fresh off his Finals MVP last season, has become a more consistent creator as well, averaging 22.2 points.
Add in Kristaps Porzingis&rsquo; floor spacing and rim protection, Jrue Holiday&rsquo;s stability on both ends, and Derrick White&rsquo;s ability to do everything in between, and the Celtics are again the most complete team in basketball. But repeating is never easy. No team has done it since the Warriors in 2018, and even small injuries or matchup issues can derail a title defense.
Boston is built for this moment, but with every other East contender gunning for them, the question looms large: can they close the deal twice in a row?
New York Knicks &ndash; Can they stay healthy?
When fully healthy, the Knicks look like a team that can hang with anyone &mdash; and that includes Boston and Cleveland. But that&rsquo;s been the caveat all season. Jalen Brunson missed 17 games, Karl-Anthony Towns sat for 10, and OG Anunoby dealt with multiple absences due to elbow and hamstring issues. New York&rsquo;s starting five of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns had time to play with pace and their own style, and they looked formidable.
Brunson has been the Knicks&rsquo; engine, averaging 26.0 points and 7.3 assists while continuing to elevate in crunch time. His pairing with Towns gave New York a new level of offensive versatility, and Mikal Bridges&rsquo; ability to guard top wings allowed them to scheme freely. But concerns about wear and tear remain &mdash; especially under Tom Thibodeau, whose rotations have leaned heavily on his starters. All five starters have averaged in the top 15 of the most minutes played in the league, and that can likely put a strain on their bodies.
Depth is another concern. The Knicks rely on Precious Achiuwa, Cam Payne, Delon Wright, and Landry Shamet to absorb the bench minutes. A deep run hinges on all starters being available and fresh throughout the postseason. If any one piece breaks down, New York could fall short of its championship aspirations.
This is their most talented team in years &mdash; but availability may be just as important as ability.
Indiana Pacers &ndash; Do they have enough to make a deep run once more?
Last year, the Pacers surprised many by reaching the second round, aided in part by injuries to their first-round opponent. This year, expectations are higher &mdash; and the margin for error is thinner. Indiana finished 50-32 and ranked 9th in offensive rating at 115.4. Their identity remains clear: run fast, shoot threes, and trust in Tyrese Haliburton to control the tempo.
Haliburton posted 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game this season, and despite shooting efficiency dipped slightly as teams began pressuring him more aggressively, he bounced back quite nicely and got back to the high level he was playing at. That&rsquo;s where Pascal Siakam comes in to help him and provide a stabilizing frontcourt presence, while defending opposing bigs.
Depth-wise, the Pacers have the tools. Myles Turner remains one of the league&rsquo;s best shot blockers, Andrew Nembhard has been solid alongside Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin has been a spark off the bench, and Aaron Nesmith&rsquo;s development as a 3-and-D wing adds much-needed versatility. Still, the question remains: can they win when the pace slows and every possession becomes a grind?
Indiana is fun, fast, and fearless. But deep playoff success often requires more grit than style &mdash; and this postseason will test how much of both they truly possess.
Milwaukee Bucks &ndash; How lethal can the Giannis-Dame combo be?
It&rsquo;s been a bumpy road for the Bucks since pairing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but they enter the playoffs with renewed hope. Injuries limited their time together but when both were on the floor, Milwaukee looked like a top 4 team in the East. The potential for a dominant inside-out attack remains, even as questions swirl around their chemistry and late-game execution.
Giannis put up another MVP-caliber campaign (30.4 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 6.5 APG) on 60.1% shooting, while Lillard added 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game, albeit with a slight dip in efficiency (44.8 FG%, 37.6 3P%). Their pick-and-roll tandem has shown flashes of brilliance, especially with spacing provided by their teammates. But Milwaukee&rsquo;s defense remains a glaring concern, particularly at the point-of-attack.
Much of that responsibility falls on new head coach Doc Rivers, who took over midseason and has spent much of his tenure reshaping the defensive schemes. The team has shown better connectivity lately, but consistency is key. If the Bucks can get solid two-way contributions from Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince, and Kyle Kuzma, their ceiling rises considerably.
This postseason is the first true test of the Giannis-Dame partnership after a failed one last year. Can it deliver in crunch time and carry Milwaukee back to the Finals?
Detroit Pistons &ndash; Can they win a playoff series?
One of the most surprising stories of the season, the Detroit Pistons went from dead last in 2024 to securing the No. 6 seed in 2025 with a 44-38 record. It&rsquo;s a dramatic turnaround fueled by internal growth, better health, and the emergence of Cade Cunningham as a legitimate star. Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds, and improved his shooting splits across the board &mdash; including a respectable 35.6% from three.
Head coach J.B Bickerstaff deserves credit for stabilizing the young roster. Jaden Ivey (despite being out for the year to injury), Ausar Thompson, and Jalen Duren have all taken steps forward in their roles, and the addition of veterans Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Tobias Harris has added much-needed floor spacing and leadership. The Pistons ranked 10th in defensive rating at 112.5 &mdash; a massive leap from their abysmal finish last season
Still, playoff basketball is a different animal. Detroit lacks experience, and their margin for error will be slim. Can Cunningham carry the offense when defenses trap him? Can their shooters hit timely shots? And can Duren hold his own against seasoned playoff bigs?
Winning a series would be monumental for the franchise &mdash; and a sign that Detroit&rsquo;s rebuild is truly behind them.
Orlando Magic &ndash; Can their offense hold up?
There&rsquo;s no questioning the Magic&rsquo;s defensive pedigree. They finished second in defensive rating (109.1) and boast a switch-heavy scheme built around length, versatility, and discipline. But the big question entering the playoffs: can they score enough? Orlando ranked just 27th in offensive rating (108.9), and the loss of Jalen Suggs and Mo Wagner due to injuries further thins their already-limited shot creation.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner carry the bulk of the offense, but both have faced inconsistent stretches. Teams often sag off sub-par shooters like Cory Joseph or Jonathan Isaac, daring Orlando to hit perimeter shots &mdash; something they&rsquo;ve struggled to do all year. Against Boston&rsquo;s elite defense, those issues could be magnified.
Orlando will try to control tempo, force turnovers, and win the possession battle. They&rsquo;ve been excellent in close games, but whether they can consistently generate efficient halfcourt looks remains uncertain.
Defense may win championships, but the Magic need buckets to even stay in the fight.
Miami Heat &ndash; Will they be able to replicate the Heat playoff magic this year?
The Heat have built a reputation as a team you never want to face in the playoffs &mdash; especially as a lower seed. In 2023, they made the Finals as an 8-seed. In 2024, they made the Celtics work despite key injuries. But can they pull off another surprise run this year? The roster remains largely intact, but injuries, aging stars, and inconsistency have clouded their outlook.
Without Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo must step up on offense while anchoring the defense. Tyler Herro&rsquo;s scoring punch is much needed, and the role players should contribute as well. But questions linger around depth and chemistry within their lineups after a shaky year.
The Heat finished just 21st in offensive rating (112.4) and 9th in defensive rating (112.0), a sign that the margins are tighter than ever. Still, if any team knows how to punch above its weight class, it&rsquo;s this one. Erik Spoelstra will maximize every mismatch, he always finds a way to manipulate the opposing team.
Don&rsquo;t count them out just yet but don&rsquo;t expect the same magic to happen each and every time as well.

Breaking down the biggest question facing each team in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs.

2025 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs: Each team’s biggest question in the playoffs

The Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals commences today as the Knockout Rounds promises high drama with eight teams battling for a coveted trip to Las Vegas. With a mix of rising stars, proven veterans, and compelling narratives, let&rsquo;s dive into tomorrow&rsquo;s matchups and the key storylines shaping each game.
<h3>Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks: Can the Magic Shock the Bucks Without Their Stars?</h3>
Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
The Orlando Magic find themselves as massive underdogs against the Milwaukee Bucks. Already without Paolo Banchero due to an oblique injury, the Magic were dealt another blow when Franz Wagner was ruled out for the game for the same type of injury. Without their two best players, Orlando must find a way to compete against one of the league&rsquo;s most potent offenses.
Milwaukee enters the matchup undefeated in the Cup, powered by the dynamic duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, both averaging 29.3 points in tournament play. Adding to their arsenal, Khris Middleton is back in action, making the Bucks even more formidable.
Orlando&rsquo;s defense, which allows the fewest three-point attempts in the league, will need to be at its sharpest to contain Milwaukee&rsquo;s long-range attack, especially on the Bucks&rsquo; home court, where they shoot nearly 40% from deep. The Magic&rsquo;s hopes may hinge on unheralded players stepping up to fill the offensive void. Can their grit and defensive discipline pull off one of the season&rsquo;s biggest upsets?
<h3>Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: A Playoff Rematch with High Stakes</h3>
Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
The Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder meet in what feels like a continuation of their Western Conference semifinals battle from last season. The Mavericks got the upper hand then, dominating OKC on the boards and exploiting key weaknesses. This time, the Thunder are better prepared but still face significant challenges.
Oklahoma City has bolstered its frontcourt with the addition of Isaiah Hartenstein, a player who has already made an impact since returning from a hand injury. Hartenstein&rsquo;s presence addresses a glaring issue from last year&rsquo;s series, where Dallas, led by Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford, overpowered OKC on the glass.
However, the Thunder will be without Josh Giddey, whose absence alters both the offensive and defensive dynamics. Giddey struggled mightily against Dallas last year, with the Mavericks daring him to shoot and taking advantage of his defensive lapses. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, OKC will have no void on both ends of the floor as they try to compete with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
For Dallas, this game is about reasserting their dominance. Luka&rsquo;s return from injury gives the Mavericks a significant boost, while P.J. Washington has proven to be a capable scorer against the Thunder&rsquo;s defense. The question remains: will OKC&rsquo;s defensive adjustments and rebounding improvements be enough to turn the tide? Or does Dallas still have their number?
<h3>Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks: Trae Young Returns to MSG</h3>
Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Trae Young&rsquo;s return to Madison Square Garden adds a layer of intrigue to the Atlanta Hawks&rsquo; quarterfinal matchup against the New York Knicks. Young, once the ultimate MSG villain, famously thrived under the Garden&rsquo;s bright lights during the 2021 playoffs. While the stakes may differ this time, the tension and energy will be electric.
The Knicks boast the league&rsquo;s top-ranked offense, anchored by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Brunson&rsquo;s playmaking and Towns&rsquo; versatility make them a nightmare to defend, especially at home, where the Knicks have outscored opponents by an average of 17.2 points per game. New York&rsquo;s balanced attack also includes contributions from OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, giving them multiple weapons to exploit Atlanta&rsquo;s defense.
The Hawks, meanwhile, lean heavily on their wing depth, with players like Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels emerging as key contributors. Young&rsquo;s scoring numbers may be down, but his league-leading 12 assists per game demonstrate his ability to set the table for Atlanta&rsquo;s offense. The Hawks defeated the Knicks earlier this season in Atlanta, but doing so on the road in a hostile MSG environment is a different challenge altogether.
<h3>Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets: Defense Takes Center Stage</h3>
Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets face off in a rematch that could showcase playoff-level intensity. Just last week, the Warriors edged out the Rockets in a 99-93 defensive slugfest, but circumstances have changed since then.
Golden State leaned on Jonathan Kuminga&rsquo;s career-high 33 points to secure that win while missing key players Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Their availability for this game could significantly alter the dynamic. Despite recent struggles, the Warriors remain one of the league&rsquo;s top defensive teams, forcing opponents into low-percentage shots and limiting their efficiency from beyond the arc.
Houston, under coach Ime Udoka, has emerged as a defensive powerhouse in its own right, ranking second in the league. The Rockets are also formidable at home, boasting a 9-3 record and averaging 11 more points per game at the Toyota Center than on the road. Young stars like Alperen Şeng&uuml;n and Jalen Green have embraced Udoka&rsquo;s system, making Houston one of the most surprising teams of the season.
This matchup could hinge on which team better executes its defensive schemes while finding enough offense to tip the scales. Kuminga&rsquo;s scoring, Curry&rsquo;s return, and Houston&rsquo;s energy at home make this a must-watch game.
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;&nbsp;
The Emirates NBA Cup has already delivered plenty of excitement in the group stages and tomorrow&rsquo;s quarterfinals are set to continue the trend. With storylines ranging from underdog narratives to playoff rematches and personal rivalries, who will rise to the occasion and earn their slot in Las Vegas?

The Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals commences today with eight teams battling for a coveted trip to Las Vegas.

NBA Cup Quarterfinals Preview: Storylines to Watch in Each Matchup

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale is the recipient of the WNBA Cares Community Assist award for July. The award recognizes Ogunbowale&rsquo;s efforts towards education reform and dedication to using her platform to uplift female athletes around the world.&nbsp;
As the daughter of two educators, Ogunbowale is passionate about education reform and supporting schools locally and nationally. In July, Ogunbowale led the 2023 Dallas Wings' Teacher Appreciation and Back to School initiatives.
Ahead of the Wings&rsquo; Back to School Night, she surprised teachers at Speer Elementary School &ndash; a public school with 95% of enrolled students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds &ndash; in Arlington, Texas with a renovated teacher&rsquo;s lounge, in partnership with Dwell with Dignity. The refurbished lounge included new furniture and appliances, as well as signed Ogunbowale jerseys. Additionally, one teacher was selected through a contest to have their school supplies list cleared by the Dallas Wings Community Foundation.
Throughout the year, Ogunbowale has supported education reform through a variety of initiatives. Last fall, she served as principal for a day at a local middle school to learn more about the challenges Title I schools experience. She also provided lunch to teachers at a local school during Teacher Appreciation Week.
In recognition of Ogunbowale&rsquo;s efforts, the WNBA will make a $5,000 donation to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
Each month during the season, the WNBA Cares Community Assist award recognizes a player who best demonstrates the passion that the league and WNBA players share for giving back to their communities.

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale is the recipient of the WNBA's Cares Community Assist award for July.

Arike Ogunbowale wins WNBA Cares Community Assist award for July

For all the things&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/OvertimeElite/status/1633301223494303745?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Thompson Twins</a>&nbsp;share &mdash; middle name, appetite for burgers, dynamic basketball skill sets &mdash; matching suits on draft night won&rsquo;t be one of them.
Amen and Ausar Thompson are dressing for success in their own unique style as they prepare to go in their own separate directions for really the first time. The 6-foot-7 guards out of Overtime Elite are projected&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mock-draft-wembanyama-c9dfd3d19592e1de44f5957ea2aa8b48">in the AP mock draft</a>&nbsp;to be selected in the top 10 Thursday night in New York.
That means, barring a daring move by a team, they will wind up in different cities.
It&rsquo;s a situation that&rsquo;s still hard to fully fathom for the 20-year-olds from California. It&rsquo;s also a situation that reveals another shared trait: Their sense of humor.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll just constantly text each other,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/OvertimeElite/status/1658629641861562369?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explained Amen, who&rsquo;s</a>&nbsp;the older twin by a minute.
&ldquo;But you don&rsquo;t check your phone,&rdquo; Ausar quickly countered.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s lying,&rdquo; Amen responded.
Kidding aside, their aim is to live up to their shared middle name of &ldquo;XLNC&rdquo; (pronounced excellence), which was bestowed on them to convey a sense of power.
&ldquo;Just so with every time you&rsquo;re saying their name, there&rsquo;s that power behind it,&rdquo; their dad, Troy, said. &ldquo;Excellence, greatness &mdash; we always use all these power words and so do they, in their own expressions, so they&rsquo;re always thinking on that high note.&rdquo;
The Thompsons moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Florida when the twins were in eighth grade to enhance their basketball careers. The playmakers shined at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, leading the team to a state title. They received offers from several traditional Power Five basketball programs.
Instead, they pivoted.
The twins took the road less traveled to the NBA draft by signing with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://overtimeelite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Overtime Elite</a>, a professional basketball league based in Atlanta that&rsquo;s opening another door to the pros for talented young players.
It was a chance to focus on basketball full-time and build up their strength. They did, too, adding 25 pounds of muscle over their two-year tenure with the league. An opportunity at a paycheck, too &mdash; Overtime Elite, which launched in 2021, compensates players with annual salaries of at least $100,000.
Their first year, the twins played on different Overtime Elite teams.
This past season, they combined &mdash; and dominated.
Amen (rhymes with &ldquo;a pen&rdquo;) averaged 17.2 points, 9.2 assists and 7.2 rebounds in the playoffs&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://overtimeelite.com/players/e763b02b-3045-4a91-a078-7140899327d0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to lead the City Reapers</a>&nbsp;to the championship.
Not to be outdone, Ausar (rhymes with &ldquo;a car&rdquo;), had a postseason&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://overtimeelite.com/players/cbb0c3ec-f9f2-43e6-bb6e-6e4ef5702d92" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in which</a>&nbsp;he averaged 21 points, 4.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds.
When it came&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://overtimeelite.com/articles/b66abb33-0079-4dc0-9858-7f6933f9a54a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">time to vote for the</a>&nbsp;league&rsquo;s regular season MVP award, it was no surprise who voted for whom.
Ausar for Amen.
Amen for Ausar.
Ausar earned MVP (along with the postseason version, too).
&ldquo;It would have been funny&rdquo; if Ausar won by one vote, Amen joked. &ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve taken mine back.&rdquo;
They enjoy teasing one another &mdash; and pushing each other. They&rsquo;re always in the gym, hoisting up shots or working on their footwork. They&rsquo;re competitive, too, whether it be in friendly games on the court or in the video game NBA 2K, where they&rsquo;re in agreement &mdash; Ausar reigns supreme on the video-game controller in hoops.
Their go-to meal comes from In-N-Out Burger. Ausar prefers a double cheeseburger with lettuce and special sauce, maybe grilled onions. Amen likes the same, just hold the cheese.
Amen&rsquo;s scouting report reads like this: Explosive athleticism, with exceptional court vision. Can break down defenders with his ball-handling skills and elite first step.
Ausar&rsquo;s report: Essentially the same as his brother.
Ausar projects as more of a combo guard and Amen as a ball handler in the NBA. Amen is predicted to go fourth overall to Houston and Ausar sixth to Orlando.
Their dad saw a path to the twins being elite when they were around 8 and going against players three, sometimes four, years older.
&ldquo;You knew that their forward trajectory was going to be fast, because they were already improving at such a high rate,&rdquo; Troy said. &ldquo;From here on, I just want to enjoy watching them continue to grow into this dream and just achieve the greatness they always talked about.&rdquo;
They describe their bond as &ldquo;twin telepathy,&rdquo; which Ausar said comes in handy not only on the basketball floor but in life.
Don&rsquo;t ask for specifics, though, because that&rsquo;s top secret.
&ldquo;It would be bad for the world if everybody knew how to do it. I just know where he&rsquo;s going to be at all times,&rdquo; Ausar said.
Leading into the draft, they&rsquo;ve been traveling to work out for interested teams. In Portland, they met Damian Lillard. A year ago, they were introduced to Golden State Warriors great Stephen Curry at his camp.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s super cool meeting them,&rdquo; Ausar said.
Amen and Ausar said they&rsquo;ve competed against many of the big names in the draft class with the exception of&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-396be2a8eeb0be8e3323bb509405695c">Victor Wembanyama, the French star who is expected to go No. 1</a>&nbsp;to the San Antonio Spurs.
The twins are bracing for the likely separation and distance between them. They&rsquo;re even planning for the big moment when both meet on the same NBA court at a soon-to-be-determined spot.
&ldquo;That,&rdquo; Amen said, &ldquo;is going to make for one cool picture.&rdquo;

The 6-foot-7 guards out of Overtime Elite are projected to be selected in the top 10 in the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night.

Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson set to be taken in top-10 of NBA Draft

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark overwhelmed the reigning champions with another sensational game, scoring 41 points to help Iowa spoil South Carolina&rsquo;s perfect season with a 77-73 victory on Friday night in the Final Four.
The spectacular junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal game and became the first women&rsquo;s player to post back-to-back 40-point games in the NCAA Tournament. She now has the Hawkeyes in a spot they&rsquo;ve never been in before &mdash; one victory away from a national championship.
They&rsquo;ll have to beat another SEC team to do that as Iowa (31-6) will face LSU in the title game on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/womens-final-four-lsu-virginia-tech-march-madness-292680727b52d2e99d887b40667dbc59">beat Virginia Tech</a>&nbsp;in the other national semifinal.
It&rsquo;s the Tigers&rsquo; first appearance in the title game as well, as Kim Mulkey became the second coach to take two different teams to the championship game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Caitlin Clark's NCAA Tournament so far: Rd. of 64: 26 PTS | 12 AST | 7 REB Rd. of 32: 22 PTS | 12 AST | 3 STL Sweet 16: 31 PTS | 8 AST | 3 REB Elite Eight: 41 PTS | 12 AST | 10 REB Final Four: 41 PTS | 8 AST | 6 REB ARE YOU SERIOUS 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/drWn36Z9nt">pic.twitter.com/drWn36Z9nt</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1642014148169981957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Thanks to the spectacular play of Clark and the historic year by South Carolina, this was one of the most talked about and highly anticipated matchups in women&rsquo;s Final Four history.
The game lived up to the hype surrounding it &mdash; the best player vs. the best team &mdash; much to the delight of the sellout crowd of over 19,000 fans.
Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina (36-1) had won 42 in a row, including last year&rsquo;s championship game.
This was Iowa&rsquo;s first appearance in the Final Four in 30 years. The last time the Hawkeyes advanced this far was 1993 and C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team that lost to Ohio State in overtime.
Clark wowed the crowd that included Harper Stribe, a young fan of the team who has been battling cancer. She was featured in a surprise video that informed the Hawkeyes&rsquo; star that she was the AP Player of the Year.
Trailing 59-55 entering the fourth quarter, South Carolina scored the first five points to take the lead. Clark answered right back with two deep 3-pointers and an assist to Monika Czinano to give the Hawkeyes a 67-62 lead.
South Carolina got within 69-68 on Raven Johnson&rsquo;s 3-pointer before Clark got a steal for a layup with 3:32 left. Neither team scored again until star Aliyah Boston was fouled with 1:37 left. She made the second of two free throws.
Clark then scored another layup on the other end out of a timeout to make it a four-point game. After a layup by Zia Cooke made it a two-point game with 58 seconds left, the Hawkeyes ran the clock down with McKenna Warnock grabbing a huge offensive rebound off a Clark miss with 18 seconds remaining.
Clark hit two free throws after South Carolina fouled her with 13.5 seconds left. They were her 38th and 39th point, moving her past Nneka Ogwumike for the most points scored in a Final Four semifinal game.
After a putback by Johnson with 9.9 seconds left got the Gamecocks within 75-73, Clark sealed the game with two more free throws.
As the final seconds went off the clock, Clark threw the ball high in the air and galloped around the court.
The loss ended a spectacular season for the defending champion Gamecocks, who were trying to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten.
Cooke led the Gamecocks with 24 points. Slowed by foul trouble, Boston had just eight points and 10 rebounds as the Hawkeyes packed the paint, daring South Carolina to shoot from the outside.
The Gamecocks finished 4-for-20 from behind the 3-point line and couldn&rsquo;t take advantage of their 49-25 advantage on the boards that included 26 offensive rebounds.

Caitlin Clark had another sensational game with 41 points to lift Iowa over South Carolina 77-73 and into the national championship game.

Caitlin Clark, Iowa end South Carolina's perfect season in Final Four

We know you&rsquo;re upset. Underdogs have blown up every bracket in the country.
An upside of the upsets: perhaps the maddest March ever.
Defending national champion Kansas and fellow No. 1 seed Purdue are gone &mdash; the Boilermakers with a slice of unwanted history. The Sweet 16 won&rsquo;t have blue bloods Kentucky, Duke or North Carolina for only the second time since 1979.
In are upstarts like Princeton, Florida Atlantic and a team picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference.
And, this being March, of course there&rsquo;s Tom Izzo.
SOUTH REGION
Alabama has looked every bit the No. 1 overall seed, blowing out Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi and Maryland despite turmoil swirling around the program.
Waiting for Alabama in Louisville, Kentucky, will be San Diego State. The fifth-seeded Aztecs are old and love to knock around opponents &mdash; just ask College of Charleston and Furman.
The second game marks Princeton&rsquo;s first Sweet 16 in 56 years. The No. 15 seed Tigers had the first major March upset by knocking off No. 2 Arizona and proved it was no fluke by taking down Missouri.
They face Creighton, one of three Big East teams to get this far. Inconsistent early, the bombing Bluejays and big man Ryan Kalkbrenner are in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons after bouncing No. 3 seed Baylor.
EAST REGION
Florida Atlantic won the battle of bracket darlings by knocking off Fairleigh Dickinson, the second No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1, taking down Purdue.
The Owls better be ready for some bruises against Tennessee at Madison Square Garden in their first Sweet 16. The third-seeded Vols bullied their way through the first two rounds, pushing around Duke after grinding out a win over Louisiana.
Sharing the Garden marquee will be Michigan State and Kansas State.
The Spartans are at their best in March under coach Izzo, who won his record 16th NCAA Tournament game as a lower seed by bouncing No. 2 seed Marquette.
Jerome Tang is taking underdog Kansas State from one Manhattan to another in his first season in the Little Apple.
Picked last in the Big 12, the Wildcats and undersized but undeterred guard Markquis Nowell shoved aside Montana State and wore down Kentucky for their first Sweet 16 since 2018.
MIDWEST REGION
Tang said the Wildcats won because they&rsquo;ve &ldquo;got dudes.&rdquo; Houston has a few of its own.
The Midwest&rsquo;s No. 1 seed, the Cougars have played the lockdown defense that made them a Final Four favorite at the start of the season, holding Northern Kentucky to 52 points and Auburn to 64.
The Cougars&rsquo; bid to play the Final Four at home now heads to Kansas City, Missouri, where they will face Miami.
The speedy, fifth-seeded Hurricanes hit Indiana with a gale force of offensive rebounds, scoring 29 second-chance points to reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight season under Jim Larra&ntilde;aga.
Another Texas team is still in the mix to reach the Final Four in its home state &mdash; the one from Austin.
No. 2 seed Texas overcame the midseason firing of coach Chris Beard to play some outstanding basketball under interim coach Rodney Terry. The Longhorns shut down sweet-shooting Colgate in the first round and earned their first Sweet 16 appearance in 15 years with a 71-66 win over Penn State.
Up next is another coach making the most of an opportunity.
Fired by Arizona two years ago, Sean Miller landed back where he started at Xavier. The Musketeers earned their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2017 with a 84-73 win over Pittsburgh.
WEST REGION
Losing guard Jaylen Clark has done little to slow down No. 2 UCLA. Now the Bruins hope their lineup isn&rsquo;t depleted further after key guard David Singleton injured his ankle late in a 69-63 victory over Northwestern.
UCLA still has Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell, which will give them at least a shot at beating Gonzaga in Las Vegas.
There were midseason whispers the Zags were in a down year. An eighth straight trip to the Sweet 16 under Mark Few put those to rest.
Two coaches with familiar last names face off in the other Sin City game.
Eric Musselman, son of longtime NBA and college coach Bill Musselman, has shown off his coaching chops by leading Arkansas to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season. The Razorbacks got there with a takedown of top-seeded Kansas that had Musselman taking off his shirt &mdash; again.
Danny Hurley&rsquo;s father is a Hall of Fame high school coach, his brother the NCAA&rsquo;s all-time assist leader. Bob&rsquo;s son and Bobby&rsquo;s brother has revitalized UConn, taking the Huskies to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years.

The Sweet 16 won’t have blue-blood programs in Kentucky, Duke or North Carolina for only the second time since 1979.

March Madness rounds the corner to the Sweet 16

The women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament field is set and now the fun begins with 68 teams vying for the national championship and cutting down the nets in Dallas.
There&rsquo;s a new format to March Madness, with two regionals in Seattle and Greenville, South Carolina, instead of the usual four. Here&rsquo;s a look at what could happen over the next few weeks. This guidance will be 100% accurate &mdash; until the first round tips off on Friday.
CHALK RULES
A No. 1 seed has won the national championship the past 10 tournaments and 14 of 15. The only time that didn&rsquo;t happen was in 2011 when coach Gary Blair led Texas A&amp;M to the title as a No. 2 seed. Since 2005, at least two of the No. 1s have made the Final Four every year except for 2016. This year&rsquo;s overwhelming betting favorite is top-ranked and defending national champion South Carolina, the only undefeated team in the tourney.
LACK OF MAJOR UPSETS
There is a feeling that parity continues to find its way into women&rsquo;s basketball with 19 losses by top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 poll to unranked schools. Still, it&rsquo;s hard to pick against the top teams in the tournament as no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game (the women&rsquo;s tournament was the first to see a 16 seed upset a top seed when Harvard beat Stanford 71-67 in 1998). Two came close last season with Jackson State falling late to LSU and UT Arlington hanging tough with Iowa State.&nbsp;
BEWARE THE 12
No. 12 seeds have had success, just like in the men&rsquo;s bracket the last few seasons, beating some of the 5s. At least one 12 has made it out of the first round in four of the last five tournaments, including two last season.
And now the picks:
GREENVILLE REGION 1
Analysis: South Carolina won&rsquo;t have to leave the state to reach the Final Four if it wins, playing its first two games at home and then traveling 90 minutes to Greenville for the regional. The Gamecocks (32-0) have been tested this season and still found a way to win every game. Dawn Staley&rsquo;s squad is looking to be the 10th team to finish a season unbeaten by winning a national championship. Second-seeded Maryland and No. 4 UCLA both played South Carolina during the season, giving them familiarity if there&rsquo;s a rematch.
Players to watch: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina; Cherita Daugherty, Southern Utah; Diamond Miller, Maryland; Charisma Osborne, UCLA.
Bracket Buster: Sixth-seed Creighton is the team most likely to spoil brackets. Last season as a 10-seed the team made the regional final before falling to South Carolina. Host Notre Dame is missing star Olivia Miles and the third-seeded Irish could fall to the Bluejays.
First-round picks: South Carolina, South Florida, Oklahoma, UCLA, Creighton, Notre Dame, Arizona, Maryland.
Second-round picks: South Carolina, UCLA, Creighton, Maryland.
Regional semifinal picks: South Carolina, Maryland.
Regional champion pick: South Carolina.
GREENVILLE REGION 2
Analysis: Indiana has been the second-best team most of the season behind South Carolina and earned the first No. 1 seed in school history. Led by Mackenzie Holmes in the middle and a dominant defense, the Hoosiers will be looking to reach their first Final Four. There&rsquo;s a lot of star power in the region including Villanova&rsquo;s Maddy Siegrist, LSU&rsquo;s Angel Reese and Utah&rsquo;s Alissa Pili.
Other players to watch: Leigha Brown, Michigan; Kaitlyn Chen, Princeton; Charlisse Leger-Walker, Washington State.
Bracket Buster: UNLV is one of three 30-win teams in the country, yet the Lady Rebels haven&rsquo;t faced many teams as good as Michigan this year. Florida Gulf Coast knocked off Virginia Tech as a 12 seed last season and could do it again this time if they beat Washington State.
First-round picks: Indiana, Oklahoma State, Florida Gulf Coast, Villanova, Michigan, LSU, Princeton, Utah.
Second-round picks: Indiana, Villanova, Michigan, Utah.
Regional semifinal picks: Indiana, Utah.
Regional champion pick: Indiana.
SEATTLE REGION 3
Analysis: No one had a worse string of injuries than UConn this season and yet Geno Auriemma has the Huskies playing their best basketball heading into the tournament. They&rsquo;ve made every Final Four since 2008 and there&rsquo;s no reason to think that streak can&rsquo;t continue if star guard Azzi Fudd keeps getting healthier. Virginia Tech is the one seed and has had a stellar year behind Elizabeth Kitley.
Other players to watch: Ashley Joens, Iowa State; Myah Selland, South Dakota State; Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State.
Bracket Buster: No. 9 seed South Dakota State ran through the Summit League and also beat Louisville and Kansas State this season. The Jackrabbits have enough talent to put a scare into the Hokies in the second round. No. 12 seed Toledo beat Michigan earlier this season and has won its last 16 games. Iowa State could be victim No. 17.
First-round picks: Virginia Tech, South Dakota State, Iowa State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, Baylor, UConn.
Second-round picks: Virginia Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, UConn.
Regional semifinal picks: Virginia Tech, UConn..
Regional champion pick: UConn.
SEATTLE REGION 4
Analysis: Stanford is in its usual spot as a No. 1 seed but has looked vulnerable this season, struggling on offense at times. The second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes have had no problem scoring and are one of the hottest teams after winning the Big Ten Tournament behind star Caitlin Clark. No. 4 Texas was picked in the preseason top five before struggling with injuries and fitting transfers in. Vic Schaefer has had a lot of success in March and this could be another one of his great coaching jobs.
Other players to watch: Cameron Brink, Stanford; Rori Harmon, Texas; Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson, Florida State; Hailey Van Lith, Louisville.
Bracket Buster: No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee has won 10 straight games and had an early season victory over Louisville so Colorado should beware. Drake has been playing well lately, sweeping its way to a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. Louisville has been playing better lately, but needs to be sharp against the 12th-seeded Bulldogs.
First-round picks: Stanford, Gonzaga, Louisville, Texas, Middle Tennessee, Duke, Florida State, Iowa.
Second-round picks: Stanford, Texas, Duke, Iowa.
Regional final picks: Stanford, Iowa.
Regional champion pick: Stanford.
THE FINAL FOUR
Analysis: There should be some familiarity in the Final Four, which will likely see three teams from last season&rsquo;s national semifinals returning. South Carolina will likely face Stanford in a rematch of a November game that the Gamecocks won in overtime while UConn will likely face Indiana.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Pick: South Carolina and UConn will meet again and the Gamecocks will win back-to-back titles.
Analysis: The teams played in February and the Huskies gave the Gamecocks one of their stiffest tests of the season. UConn didn&rsquo;t have Fudd for that game (knee injury). Fudd is back, but she won&rsquo;t be enough for the Huskies to stop the Gamecocks from becoming only the fourth different school to win consecutive titles (USC, UConn and Tennessee).

Here’s a look at what could happen over the next few weeks in the 2023 Women's NCAA Tournament.

Chalk rules in women’s March Madness bracket picks

North Carolina started the year at No. 1 only to miss the NCAA Tournament. And that was enough for the Tar Heels to call it a season.
The Tar Heels on Sunday officially became the first&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-basketball-new-orleans-north-carolina-college-4a628bd0aaab8e17f1c83b6e45182f81" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-ranked team in The Associated Press preseason poll</a>&nbsp;to miss March Madness since the field&rsquo;s expansion to 64 teams in 1985. Shortly after the NCAA field of 68 teams was revealed, the school announced it had &ldquo;chosen not to participate&rdquo; in the NIT to end its season.
In a statement, coach Hubert Davis said the focus all season had been for the team to reach its potential and have another shot at the NCAA title that had eluded the Tar Heels in last March&rsquo;s magical run to the championship game. Instead, as Davis said, the season &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t what we had hoped for.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Many factors go into postseason play and we believe now is the time to focus on moving ahead, preparing for next season and the opportunity to again compete for ACC and NCAA championships,&rdquo; Davis said.
The statement came a few hours before the NIT field of 32 teams was to be unveiled.
The Tar Heels (20-13) returned four starters from last year&rsquo;s wild postseason ride under Davis, who was in his first season replacing retired Hall-of-Famer Roy Williams. The highlight <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-north-carolina-tar-heels-mens-basketball-duke-blue-devils-mens-basketball-sports-mike-krzyzewski-76be1099a009ac7c2993c36a2eba00a8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was beating Duke in the Final Four</a> &mdash; and sending Hall-of-Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement &mdash; in the first-ever NCAA Tournament meeting between the famed rivals.
Yet little went to plan in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/unc-tar-heels-ncaa-tournament-hubert-davis-54011db3081d9c471cf23b7e56d32842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a season of unfulfilled expectations</a>, down to being listed as one of the first four teams outside the field.
The Tar Heels were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in program history, and that allowed defenders to sag down on AP All-ACC big man Armando Bacot inside and take away driving lanes while daring them to make outside shots. They also had a mystifying knack for failing to close out tight games or making simple mistakes that proved critical the longer games wore on.
The combination first knocked them out of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP Top 25</a>&nbsp;for good before the start of 2023, then turned a once-unthinkable Selection Sunday outcome into a reality.
&ldquo;The pressure, I think, can get to everybody,&rdquo; Bacot said after a second loss to the Blue Devils at the end of the regular season. &ldquo;I mean, we&rsquo;re human. I&rsquo;d definitely say it somewhat got into our locker room.&rdquo;
Of the 38 teams to be AP preseason No. 1 since 1985, 18 reached at least the Final Four, with six winning the NCAA championship. The Tar Heels were among that group in 2016, losing the title to Villanova on Kris Jenkins&rsquo; last-second 3-pointer in Houston &mdash; ironically the site of this year&rsquo;s Final Four. But they returned the next year to claim the title that had eluded them.
This year&rsquo;s team was trying to become the third in program history to pull off that redemption arc. The other came in 1982, when a team that lost to Isiah Thomas and Indiana returned to beat Patrick Ewing and Georgetown with a roster featuring program greats James Worthy, Sam Perkins and a skinny freshman named Michael Jordan.
Yet this year&rsquo;s Tar Heels couldn&rsquo;t land the bid to even get that shot.
They had no bad losses yet stood at just 1-9&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/c2bbc8025fb6abfa07ec5183dc920dbb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in Quadrant 1 games that top an NCAA resume</a>. Most notably: there was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-alabama-north-carolina-mens-college-basketball-f8bd87aa3f1593ce55dde62a25fcb483" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a four-overtime November loss to eventual No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed Alabama</a>&nbsp;in a game that highlighted both the Tar Heels&rsquo; ability to play with anyone yet also their inability to close out a quality opponent considering they led after halftime in eight of their 13 losses.
The Tar Heels arrived at the home-state Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Greensboro knowing they had to work to do to bolster their NCAA chances. They beat Boston College but struggled against No. 13 Virginia&rsquo;s grinding defense, while Bacot exited early with an ankle injury from the BC win.
By the end&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/acc-tournament-unc-virginia-ba41c053cd1ad191b12d18431833755e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of that 68-59 loss</a>, the Tar Heels seemed resigned to Sunday&rsquo;s outcome.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of emotions just to see from last year, the type of run we made,&rdquo; guard R.J. Davis said. &ldquo;Like you said, looking from the outside in this year, it&rsquo;s tough. It&rsquo;s a tough position to be in.&rdquo;

UNC became the first top-ranked team in the AP's preseason poll to miss March Madness since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

How UNC went from preseason No. 1 to missing NCAA Tournament

Sometimes, you just know it's good.
A well-timed joke in the middle of conversation. That screen pass you've been saving for the fourth quarter in Madden because your buddy's been spamming a run blitz on early downs. A perfectly placed bass run in the midst of a groove, for my musician friends reading this.&nbsp;
There's something about sensing an opening, taking advantage of said-opening and&nbsp;immediately&nbsp;knowing you made the right decision. Said the right thing, chose the right thing. It just feels&nbsp;good.
That had to be the Derrick White trade for the Boston Celtics last season.
For a team that wants to lock you down defensively &mdash; by erasing gaps with well-timed switching, or siccing its in-your-jersey defenders on unsuspecting ball-handlers while the big hangs back in a drop &mdash; White served as a perfect target.&nbsp;
There were a handful of players in the league that could navigate screens like White; close down on ball-handlers with pesky rearview contests; switch onto bigger players and swipe the ball away, or beat them to spots to draw timely charges. The Celtics were tough enough with Marcus Smart; to add another guy like that into the fold felt unfair.
And for a team trying to fully commit to moving the ball, as elementary as that sounds, White also served as the perfect target. The Celtics were just hitting their stride as an offense that could create and&nbsp;maintain advantages in the half-court without halting the show. White's ability to fit in &mdash; heck, his willingness to fit in &mdash; made him an easy fit.
He could initiate ball-screens, come off handoffs, set pin-in screens on the weak side, set pindowns for the stars to come off of, and act as an on-ball screener to force defenses into tough decisions. The shooting would serve as a bellwether of sorts, but White fit into just about everything the Celtics wanted to do on both ends.
White integrated well last season, though inconsistent three-point shooting &mdash; and waning aggressiveness &mdash; reared its ugly head during the playoff run.&nbsp;
This season, he's been even better. More comfortable, more aggressive. More efficient. For nearly a month now, he's just been more, period.
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The Celtics have been without Smart since Jan. 21, when he turned his ankle pretty badly towards the end of the first half of their matchup against the Toronto Raptors. White was already starting, but he's had to assume lead ball-handling duties since then.
To say White has been phenomenal in this recent run would be an understatement.
Over the past 11 games, White has averaged 20.1 points while converting 54.3% of his twos and 43.6% of his threes on high volume (7.1 attempts). He's dishing out 5.8 dimes (9.2 <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing?DateFrom=01/23/2023&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential assists</a>) per game while rarely turning the ball over (1.5 turnovers). He's helped on the glass (4.6 boards), and has continued to be a menace on the defensive end.
You can really have some fun with filtering White's run too.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Last eight games (6-2 record): 21.5 points, 6.3 assists (1.4 turnovers), 5.1 rebounds</li>
<li>Last five games (4-1): 25.0 points, 8.4 assists (1.8 turnovers), 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 blocks</li>
</ul>
White has racked up at least 25 points and 10 assists in each of his past three games &mdash; a streak he's never had in his career. He just won <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shai-gilgeousalexander-derrick-white-named-nba-players-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Conference Player of the Week</a>, another feat he had yet to accomplish until this year.
What stands out about White's play is, again, how easy it feels. That isn't meant to diminish what he's doing, but to highlight how well he fits the Celtics' ethos. He's not pounding the ball to get assists or boogying against defenders to get his buckets. He's taking what the defense gives him, and doing so without hesitation.&nbsp;
Take this possession for example:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/noyijc" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Celtics flow out of HORNS and look to hit either Jayson Tatum or White with a cut. Both players are defended well, with Jaren Jackson Jr.'s ball pressure on Robert Williams III also hindering things. The second option &mdash; two-man game with Williams III and Sam Hauser, testing the screen navigation of Ja Morant &mdash; doesn't hit either. The ball swings to White, and the fun begins.
White receives a screen but doesn't take it; he just waits it out, and gets Xavier Tillman switched onto him. After swinging it to the corner, the ball finds him again with Tillman out of position after attempting a steal.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2023-02-15-at-11-37-58-am.png" alt="" width="576" height="325" />
White immediately attacks the basket, driving right at Jackson. Because Tatum is on the left wing, the left corner is empty &mdash; meaning Dillon Brooks can't help without giving up an open shot on the perimeter. And with Williams III rolling to the basket, Jackson now has to choose between halting White's drive or taking away the roll &mdash; with no help behind him. He chooses the former, opening up the easy lob.
Quietly, White has been one of the most productive drivers in the NBA over this stretch. He's been able to finish through contact, avoid it altogether with a funky floater he can get to at weird times and angles, and feed open teammates if the defense overreacts to him.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/futui9" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
During this 11-game run, possessions featuring a drive by White have generated 1.17 points per possession (PPP), per Second Spectrum. That ranks seventh among 45 players with at least 100 drives in that time frame, putting him in a virtual tie with James Harden and ahead of All-Stars like Morant (1.15 PPP), De'Aaron Fox (1.15 PPP), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1.09 PPP) and DeMar DeRozan (1.05 PPP).
White's work as a screener continues to be important for the Celtics. Because he naturally draws smaller matchups than Tatum or Jaylen Brown, his inclusion as a lead blocker forces defenses into tough situations.&nbsp;
Anything less than pristine screen navigation means giving one of the stars an opening to attack. Switching a smaller guy onto either of them is asking for trouble. Trapping or hedging simply opens up short-roll opportunities for White. You can get away with daring bigs to make quick decisions in space; you can't really do that with someone as smart as White is.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/zebcv2" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
And the defense. Whew, buddy, the defense.&nbsp;
You could make the case that White has been Boston's best defender this season &mdash; a massive feat on a roster featuring last year's Defensive Player of the Year in Smart. Brown remains a strong on-ball defender; Tatum, when locked in, can provide near-elite value on and off the ball. Williams III is still rounding into form, but remains a terrifying rim protector. Horford has been sturdy in drop, and still showcases comfort venturing out in space.&nbsp;
But yet it's White pestering folks and causing the most havoc on a nightly basis.
Among the 161 players to defend at least 300 pick-and-rolls, only Desmond Bane (0.22%) has been washed out by a screen at a lower rate than White has (0.26%), per Second Spectrum.
Put another way: Of the 760 screens that have been set on White, only 20 (!) of them have taken him out of the play.&nbsp;
That, my friends, is absurd.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Because of White's ability to avoid being completely taken out of the action, he's almost always in position to affect the play. He'll fight to get back in front, mirroring ball-handlers before forcing them into tough looks &mdash; or passing the ball altogether.&nbsp;He'll get rearview contests if necessary, throwing off the rhythm of pull-ups and floaters.
Then, there are the action plays. He leads the team with 11 charges taken, tied with Kyle Lowry and Herb Jones (he's back, y'all) for 10th in the league.
No guard in the East has more blocks than White (53); only Gilgeous-Alexander (55) has more in the league (and has a two-inch height advantage). That White can get on-ball blocks and&nbsp;serve as a secondary rim protector is a rarity worth celebrating.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/sh0g5m" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The combination of productivity and availability &mdash; he's the lone Celtic to appear in all 58 games this season &mdash; should tilt the "Boston's best defender" argument in his favor this season. And for what it's worth, White leads all Celtics in Defensive Estimated Plus Minus (DEPM) this season (+1.5), edging out Smart (+1.3), Tatum (+1.2) and Horford (+1.2).
White has been everything the Celtics have needed him to be, on both ends of the floor. A quality role piece and a quality roll piece. A willing spacer. An All-Defensive level contributor &mdash; he and Jrue Holiday would be my First Team guards if I had a ballot.&nbsp;
And when more has been required, like this Smart-less stretch, White has stepped up in the equation. More buckets, more decision-making and roughly the same level of defense.
He's further proven to be one of the most valuable role players in the NBA. Not only can he slot into the Celtics' system on both ends, he can also scale up or down depending on who's available. That portion isn't true for most role players &mdash; even the good ones. He deserves his flowers for that.

Nekias Duncan puts the recent incredible performances of Celtics guard Derrick White in perspective.

Appreciating the scale of Derrick White's play for the Celtics

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to end the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s nine-win streak.
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners (12-9) had lost three straight, but against the Crimson Tide shot 58% from the field.
Rylan Griffen led Alabama (18-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller, who came in averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 75, CINCINNATI 69
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati.
Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field. J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 13 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 American Athletic Conference).
Houston has won at least 20 games in eight straight seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Landers Nolley II had 24 points, including 6 3-pointers. Vicktor Lakhin added 15 points, and David DeJulius had 14 points and nine assists for Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4).&nbsp;
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 10 TEXAS 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead Tennessee over Texas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee (18-3), which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas (17-4). Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
NO. 5 KANSAS STATE 64, FLORIDA 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the Wildcats beat Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.
Johnson struggled from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators&rsquo; sideline due to a heart condition during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.
Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 95, WASHINGTON 72
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away to win its fourth straight.
Tubelis topped 20 points for the first time in five games and his rebound putback while being fouled with 4:29 remaining gave the Wildcats a 78-63 lead and sent Washington fans headed for the exits.
Kerr Kriisa added 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Courtney Ramey scored 14 for the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12).
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 25 points and Keyon Menifield added 21. But the Huskies (13-10, 5-7) suffered from too many scoring droughts and didn&rsquo;t have an answer for Arizona&rsquo;s 19-1 run in the early stages of the second half.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 76, BOSTON COLLEGE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner scored 18 points each and Virginia used a big first-half run to take control over Boston College for its sixth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 18-15 before starting an 18-4 run over the next 11 minutes. Virginia put the game away with a 16-4 second-half spurt.
Quinten Post scored 24 to lead the Eagles (10-12, 4-7) and Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points.
Virginia&rsquo;s Isaac McKneely finished with 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 and eight assists.
NO. 9 KANSAS 77, KENTUCKY 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self.
Wilson made 9 of 18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds for Kansas (17-4), which finished even with Kentucky at 49% shooting. K.J. Adams Jr. added 17 points, Dick had 13 and McCullar 11 with 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks edged Kentucky 34-29 on the glass.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each added 14 for Kentucky (14-7), which had won its previous four.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 11 TCU 74, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory.
Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs&rsquo; bench.
Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon had 10.
Davis&rsquo; 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 advantage. Emanuel Miller scored with 32 seconds remaining and then both teams missed chances to win in regulation.
MISSOURI 78, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D&rsquo;Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri take down Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Jaren Holmes led Iowa State (15-5) with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14.
The Tigers&rsquo; 78 points were a season-high for an Iowa State opponent in regulation; the Cyclones are 0-3 this season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
CREIGHTON 84, NO. 13 XAVIER 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton&rsquo;s four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays earned their fourth straight Big East win.
Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.
Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 82, PORTLAND 67
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Julian Strawther had a career-high 40 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Gonzaga pulled away down the stretch for its 16th consecutive victory over Portland.
Anton Watson added 17 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference).
Strawther is the first player to reach 40 points for the Zags since Kyle Wiltjer had 45 against Pacific in 2016.
Portland (11-13, 3-5) was led by Moses Wood with 19 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito, a freshman, finished with a career-high 17 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 80, NO. 15 AUBURN 77
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from Auburn to win an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup.
The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month. Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Charles Barkley cheered on his alma mater from a courtside seat, but Auburn (16-5) couldn&rsquo;t overcome another slow start. The Tigers have lost two straight for the first time in two years.
Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points. Johni Broome added 15 and Allen Flanigan scored 13.
NO. 16 MARQUETTE 89, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Marquette defeated DePaul.
Marquette has won eight of its last nine games, and moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette (17-5, 9-2) pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro had 10 points, making all five of his shots, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and had 8 rebounds.
Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8) on 8-of-12 shooting.
NO. 17 BAYLOR 67, ARKANSAS 64
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and Baylor beat Arkansas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left.
LJ Cryer added 20 points and Jalen Bridges had 10 for the Bears, who won their sixth game in a row despite shooting a 34% (20 of 59) from the field. They offset the season-worst shooting from the field by making 21 of 24 free throws, including two by Cryer with 10 seconds left and two by George with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for Arkansas (14-7). Davonte Davis had 16 points, but missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 with 2.3 seconds left, though Joseph Pinion got the ball in the right corner only to miss wildly on a 3-pointer as time ran out.
HOFSTRA 85, NO. 18 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 81
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended College of Charleston&rsquo;s 20-game winning streak.
The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11.
Tyler Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hofstra.
Ante Brzovic finished with 18 points to lead Charleston.
PITTSBURGH 71, NO. 20 MIAMI 68
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past Miami.
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume.
Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Burton had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Panthers stunned Miami in front of a rare sell-out crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but Miami committed three of its 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
NO. 21 FAU 70, W. KENTUCKY 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and Florida Atlantic remained undefeated at home.
The victory extended FAU&rsquo;s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation&rsquo;s longest. The Owls&rsquo; 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11. Western Kentucky (11-11, 3-8 Conference USA) has lost five straight.
Alijah Martin scored eight while grabbing seven rebounds for the Owls (21-1, 11-0).
Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 17 for W. Kentucky. Dayvion McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each had 16.
NO. 22 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S (CAL) 57, BYU 56
PROVO, Utah (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 14 points and freshman Aidan Mahaney scored all 10 of his points, including a fade-away jumper just before the buzzer, in the second half and Saint Mary&rsquo;s (Cal) won its 10th in a row.
Mitchell Saxen had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (19-4, 8-0 West Coast Conference). Alex Ducas scored 12 points and Augustas Marciulionis added 10.
Dallin Hall was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt with 10.2 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to give BYU a 56-55 lead but Mahaney took the inbounds pass, probed the defense before he drove the lane, stopped near the right block and pivoted away from the basket before hitting the winning jumper over the out-stretched arm of defender Fousseyni Traore.
Hall scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting but made just 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for BYU (14-10, 4-5). Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 24 CLEMSON 82, FLORIDA STATE 81
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Hunter Tyson scored 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting for Clemson (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which halted an eight-game road losing streak to Florida State. Hunter finished with 25.
Matthew Cleveland scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Florida State (7-15, 5-6), which made a season-high 13 3-pointers. Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. each hit four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Freshman forward Baba Miller had his best game, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds in 20 minutes.

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college hoops includes five upsets in the AP top 15.

Oklahoma's rout of No. 2 Alabama one of many top-15 upsets on Saturday

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum scored 20 of his 41 points in the third quarter, and Jaylen Brown knocked down his shots &mdash; and knocked down Giannis Antetokounmpo &mdash; in the fourth on Sunday to help the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 139-118 in a matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.
Brown scored 13 of his 29 in the fourth, and Antetokounmpo lost his temper after a hard pick sent him to the floor and retaliated by shoving the Celtics All-Star. Antetokounmpo, who fell hard on his hand on Friday night but was cleared to start, was given a technical foul and went to the bench; the teams played the last 3:41 without further incident.
Antetokounmpo added 27 points and had nine rebounds for Milwaukee, and Jrue Holiday scored 23.
The teams have the top two records in the NBA, but both have struggled lately. Boston had lost five of their last seven, and Milwaukee has now lost three in a row for the first time this season.
Still, Boston (24-10) has the best record in the league, followed by Milwaukee (22-11).
The Celtics led by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the second, when Antetokounmpo fired up back-to-back bricks from 3-point range and in the middle&nbsp;got dunked on by Jayson Tatum.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
caught a body 😱 <a href="https://t.co/HxiqyBHAXR">pic.twitter.com/HxiqyBHAXR</a>
&mdash; Boston Celtics (@celtics) <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1607152140774166528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Their lead was down to one point, 62-61, before Bobby Portis fouled Brown on a desperation 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. Brown missed all three free throws; he missed another in the third quarter before hitting the second and finished 2 for 6 from the line.
Boston pulled away in the third, opening up a double-digit lead that Milwaukee only briefly chipped into.
The teams met in the second round of last year&rsquo;s Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Celtics won in seven games en route to the NBA Finals. It&rsquo;s their first meeting since then. Last Christmas in Milwaukee, the Bucks beat Boston 117-113.
TIP-INS
Antetokounmpo hurt his hand after a foul against the Nets on Friday night. X-rays were negative. ... Pat Connaughton, a native of nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, made his first start of the season and scored 15. &hellip; The Celtics made five of their first six 3-point attempts. &hellip; Khris Middleton sat out his fifth straight game with a knee injury. He also missed the first 20 games of the season. &hellip; Sam Hauser banked in a long 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer off an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left. &hellip; Derrick White hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter. He had missed 15 straight over six games.
UP NEXT
Bucks: Visit Bulls on Wednesday night.
Celtics: Host Rockets on Tuesday night.

The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 139-118 on Sunday in a matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.

Tatum scores 41 points, Celtics push back on Giannis, Bucks 139-118

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 68th career double-double to keep No. 1 South Carolina undefeated with a 102-39 victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.
Boston, who played just 13 minutes, moved four games away from matching the program&rsquo;s all-time mark for double-doubles held by Sheila Foster established four decades ago.
Freshman Ashlyn Watkins had a career high 16 points and Zia Cooke 14 as the defending national champs improved to 12-0 for a second straight season and fourth time in Dawn Staley&rsquo;s 15 years as coach.
This figured to be a challenge for the Chanticleers (5-6), who have just two players 6 feet or taller while South Carolina had 10.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 84, NO. 16 OREGON 67
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 27 points, Taylor Mikesell added 25 and Ohio State remained undefeated to win the San Diego Invitational.
Ohio State (13-0) is off to its best start since 2011-2012, when the Buckeyes won their first 15 games
Oregon (10-2) was led by forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Freshman teammate Te-Hina Paopao, who grew up in Oceanside, California, just outside San Diego, added 17.
NO. 4 INDIANA 67, BUTLER 50
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half, and Indiana completed an unbeaten nonconference schedule with a win over Butler.
Yarden Garzon added 13 points and Sydney Parrish 10 for the Hoosiers (12-0).
Rachel McLimore scored 13 and Sydney Jaynes 11 for Butler (5-7).
Indiana is nearing the program record for most successive wins to open a season: 15-0 in 1972, the first year for women&rsquo;s basketball at the school. The Hoosiers were 14-0 in 2013-14.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 57
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld scored 10 points in four minutes and Notre Dame started the second half on a 17-0 spree en route to a big win over Western Michigan.
The Fighting Irish (10-1) led 38-30 at the half, but scored on seven of their first eight possessions during the third quarter with a trio of 3-pointers. Westbeld scored a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos (5-6) missed their first nine shots from the field in the period and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Lauren Ross led Western Michigan with 15 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH 86, HIGH POINT 66
HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as Virginia Tech captured a road victory over High Point.
Kitley, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, shot a season-high 78.5% from the floor, making 11-of-14 field goals, and had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hokies (11-1). Taylor Soule added 24 points and Kayana Traylor chipped in 22 for Virginia Tech.
Claire Wyatt led High Point (2-8) with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. Callie Scheier added 11 points and Nakyah Terrell had 10.
NO. 9 UCONN 98, SETON HALL 73
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points, leading six players who scored in double figures for UConn in its rout of Seton Hall.
Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each had 16 points and were a combined 8 of 11 from 3-point range. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, Aubrey Griffin added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (9-2, 2-0 Big East).
Sidney Cooks had 18 points and Lauren Park-Lane finished with 17 for Seton Hall (9-4, 2-1), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma missed his second straight game due to illness. Associate coach Chris Dailey ran the team and improved to 15-0 when filling in for Auriemma.
NO. 13 IOWA 92, DARTMOUTH 54
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s 20 points tied her for the quickest men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player to reach 2,000 career points since at least 1999-2000, and Iowa beat Dartmouth for its fifth straight victory.
Clark hit the career scoring mark in her 75th game, tying Elena Delle Donne for the quickest DI player to hit the mark, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info. And Clark did it in style with her 242nd career 3-pointer.
Clark also had 10 rebounds and six assists. Teammate Monika Czinano, who entered with 1,969 career points in 98 games, also scored 20 points for Iowa (10-3).
Iowa scored 34 points in the first quarter and held Dartmouth to just five points in the second quarter.
Allie Harland led Dartmouth (2-11) with 11 points.
NO. 15 MARYLAND 88, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 51
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Shyanne Sellers scored 18 points, Diamond Miller had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks and Maryland beat Purdue Fort Wayne in the final nonconference matchup for the Terps.
Abby Meyers added 14 points and Brinae Alexander had 13 off the bench for Maryland (10-3).
Shyanne Sellers, Miller, Meyers and Alexander were all in double figures by the end of the third quarter when Maryland led 71-35. Amellia Bromenschenkel led Purdue Fort Wayne (4-8) with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
SOUTH FLORIDA 66, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 65, OT
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Elena Tsineke scored all four of South Florida&rsquo;s points in overtime and finished with 23 points lifting the Bulls over Arkansas in the San Diego Invitational.
Maria Alvarez forced overtime against Arkansas by making three free throws with 17 seconds left to tie it at 62-all. Arkansas was trapped in the corner at the other end and wasn&rsquo;t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.
Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for South Florida (11-4).
Erynn Barnum scored 21 points and Daniels added 20 for Arkansas (13-2).
NO. 18 ARIZONA 78, UT ARLINGTON 59
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) &mdash; Esmery Martinez scored 13 points and was part of dominating Arizona rebounding performance with nine boards in a win over UT Arlington.
Lauren Fields, Shaina Pellington, and Cate Reese scored 10 points apiece for Arizona (10-1), which won its third straight game. Maya Nnaji grabbed nine rebounds to go with six points before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.
Arizona outrebounded the Mavericks 47-26, including 17-7 on the offensive glass resulting in a 22-4 bulge in second-chance points.
Starr Jacobs scored 15 points, Kayla White 13 and Taleya Jones 12 for the Mavericks (6-6), who lost their first home game this season after four wins.
NEBRASKA 85, NO. 20 KANSAS 79, 3OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 24 points, hitting two of Nebraska&rsquo;s three 3-pointers in the third overtime, and the Cornhuskers handed Kansas its first loss of the season.
Alexis Markowski had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (10-3), who are now 2-2 against ranked teams with their next two games against ranked Big Ten rivals. Sam Haiby had 12 points in just her third game after an offseason injury and Isabelle Bourne scored 10.
Zakiyah Franklin finished with a career-high 27 points in 54 minutes for Kansas (10-1). Taiyanna Jackson had 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter had 12 and 11. Ioanna Chatzileonti had 10 points and Chandler Prater had 10 rebounds as Kansas had a 68-46 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.
NO. 22 GONAZAGA 82, MONTANA 67
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Brynna Maxwell scored 23 points and Kaylynne Truong added 18 and the pair combined to hit nine of Gonzaga&rsquo;s 12 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs over Montana.
Maxwell made 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range and Truong finished with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Yvonne Ejim had 15 points and nine rebounds, Eliza Hollingsworth scored 13 points and McKayla Williams finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals for Gonzaga (12-2).
Carmen Gfeller had 22 points and eight rebounds for Montana (4-7) and Sammy Fatkin added 21 points and five steals. Libby Stump scored 14.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 95, FLORIDA 79
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams had had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Robertson added 18 points on six 3-pointers, and Oklahoma defeated Florida at the Jumpman Invitational.
Robertson made 6-of-7 3-pointers and matched her own Big 12 record of 53 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. It marked the 14th time during the current streak that she has made at least five 3-pointers.
Skylar Vann had 15 points and Nevaeh Tot scored 12 for the Sooners (10-1), who have won seven in a row.
Florida&rsquo;s KK Deans made a career-high seven 3-pointers, scored 28 points and had nine assists. Ra Shaya Kyle had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double, the fifth in her career. Nina Rickards added 15 points for the Gators (11-2).
NO. 24 BAYLOR 73, LONG BEACH STATE 52
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Bickle scored 17 points, Sarah Andrews missed a triple-double by one point and Baylor pulled away for a win over Long Beach State.
Andrews had career highs of 14 assists and 12 rebounds to go with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Je&rsquo;Mee Asberry and Bella Fontleroy both had 11 points for the Bears (9-3).
Tori Harris scored 14 points for the Beach (5-5) and Ma&rsquo;Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher had 10 each.
NO. 25 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 80, WAGNER 51
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 24 points to lead St. John&rsquo;s over Wagner and its best start in program history.
St. John&rsquo;s (12-0), ranked for the first time in almost seven years, surpassed the 11-0 start of the 2004-05 team for the best in the history of the program&rsquo;s 48 years.
Kadaja Bailey added 14 points for the Red Storm, who had 11 of 12 players reach the scoring column.
Lina Loceniece scored 13 points for Wagner (5-6) and Zhaneia Thybulle had 10.

A recap of Wednesday night's women's college hoops slate includes Aliyah Boston notching another double-double for South Carolina.

Boston four double-doubles from tying Gamecocks’ all-time mark

Reinforcements may be on the way for the Milwaukee Bucks.
On Wednesday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that star wing Khris Middleton <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1598009216429588501?s=20&amp;t=YwchctcyUt65QmCQ6Tje1A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could make his season debut </a>for the Bucks as early as Friday night when Milwaukee hosts the Los Angeles Lakers.&nbsp;
Whether Middleton returns on Friday or early next week &mdash; the Bucks have a two-game road trip on Saturday (Charlotte Hornets) and Monday (Orlando Magic) before returning home on Wednesday (Sacramento Kings) &mdash; adding him back into the fold should pay immediate dividends for the 2021 champions.
The Bucks have held serve in Middleton's absence, currently holding the second-best record in the NBA (14-5), only trailing the Boston Celtics (17-4). They've done so behind a wall-like defense, boasting the league's best Defensive Rating (106.5) and second-best half-court defense (91.3 points per 100 plays). With <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-milwaukee-bucks-brook-lopez-is-inevitable-defense-rim-protection-drop-coverage-giannis-antetokounmpo-jrue-holiday-jevon-carter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brook Lopez anchoring the paint</a>, Giannis Antetokounmpo roaming around and the guard tandem of Jrue Holiday and Jevon Carter hounding ball-handlers, teams haven't been able to put points on the board.&nbsp;
Quietly, though, the inverse has been true: The Bucks haven't been putting much on the board either. They rank 18th in Offensive Rating (111.1) and 22nd in half-court offense (94.3). Even the transition attack has been off-kilter (118.7, 24th), an oddity for a team featuring Giannis.
Safe to say, Middleton will help. Off rip, he'll help a pick-and-roll attack that hasn't been nearly as effective as it's been in years past. Giannis being utilized more as a screener has been the key to unlocking their late-game offense over the past two seasons. Without Middleton, the team's best shooting threat on and off the ball, teams have been fine ducking under screens and daring the other ball-handlers to beat them with jumpers. Helpers can stay at home and bank on inconsistent shooting or decision-making, or they can dial up the pressure without being worried about who's on the perimeter as much.
To that point: Possessions featuring Giannis as the on-ball screener have wielded 0.93 points per possession (PPP) so far this year, a mark that ranks 78th among 119 players to set at least 100 picks this season per Second Spectrum.&nbsp;
The Holiday-Giannis pairing (0.89 PPP) hasn't been fruitul. That holds true for Grayson Allen (0.83 PPP) or George Hill (0.92 PPP) as the ball-handler. You can tip your hat to the Carter-Giannis pairing (1.07 PPP); Carter's shot-making has been a pleasant surprise, but it's also been something teams have been okay living with.&nbsp;
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Points are points, of course, but in terms of bending defenses, the effect just isn't there to the same degree. Middleton's presence will force the math to change for defenses. He can get his own shot &mdash; he's drilled 48.5% of his pull-up twos since 2017-18 &mdash; which should pry some of the attention away from Giannis. And any extra attention shown towards those two will make catch-and-shoot windows even wider for whoever's playing alongside them.&nbsp;
It's easy to see how Middleton will help unlock Giannis; quietly, this may have even more of an effect on Holiday. Here are some Holiday stats from last season:
<ul>
<li>15.6 shot attempts per 36 minutes</li>
<li>23.5 usage rate</li>
<li>59.3% True Shooting percentage</li>
<li>15.0% turnover rate</li>
<li>71.9 touches per game</li>
<li>4.98 seconds per touch</li>
<li>4.43 dribbles per touch</li>
</ul>
And here they are for this season:
<ul>
<li>17.4 shot attempts per 36 minutes (+1.8)</li>
<li>26.1 usage rate (+2.6)</li>
<li>53.3% True Shooting percentage (-6.0)</li>
<li>16.9% turnover rate (+1.9)</li>
<li>73.5 touches per game (+1.4)</li>
<li>5.17 seconds per touch (+0.19)</li>
<li>4.67 dribbles per touch (+0.24)</li>
</ul>
It's natural that the Bucks have leaned on Holiday to make up for Middleton's absence. But Holiday has sometimes struggled to balance table-setting and calling his own number. For someone who's firmly a top-30ish player, the variance in decision-making has been wild to see, particularly late in games.
With Middleton taking on some of the creation burden, Holiday can act more as an additive than a necessity &mdash; a balance that should make things flow a lot smoother offensively.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan analyzes how Khris Middleton's impending return will affect the already-surging Bucks, especially on offense.

Khris Middleton's impending Bucks return could add much-needed juice

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Jamie Dixon might have the most stable roster in the nation, which is quite a transformation for a TCU program that went through a couple of overhauls before landing its highest-ever preseason ranking this fall.
The 14th-ranked Horned Frogs, with preseason Big 12 player of the year Mike Miles Jr., return all five starters and five other scholarship players. They had consecutive wins over top-10 teams late last season to solidify a spot in the NCAA Tournament, then missed getting to the Sweet 16 after an overtime loss to Arizona.
This is Dixon&rsquo;s seventh season at his alma mater, which before last March hadn&rsquo;t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1987, when he was a senior guard for the Frogs.
&ldquo;I know people thought I was crazy when I talked about expectations when I first got here,&rdquo; Dixon said.
Right away, the Frogs had three consecutive 20-win seasons and made their first NCAA tournament in two decades. But there were many questions when they slipped after that.
Their 16-16 record in 2019-20 was the first time Dixon didn&rsquo;t have a winning record &mdash; he was at Pittsburgh from 2003-16 before going to TCU. There were seven newcomers the following season, when the Frogs were 12-14 before a more extensive overhaul as Dixon embraced the transfer portal.&nbsp;
Eight transfers were added before last season, though several early injuries slowed their progress. All but one of them is back, with the only newcomers being Oklahoma State transfer guard Rondel Walker and highly touted freshman signee PJ Haggerty.
&ldquo;You saw a team getting better and better. ... We&rsquo;ve made great strides,&rdquo; said Dixon, who lauded the benefits of summer workouts coaches can now have with their teams. &ldquo;Everybody got better, because most of them were out there almost the entire time.&rdquo;
LEADING THE WAY
Miles, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, averaged 15.4 points and 3.8 assists last season. He and 6-11 center Eddie Lampkin Jr., both Texas kids who joined the program before the 2020-21 season, are the only scholarship players other than Haggerty who began their college careers at TCU.
Former Memphis transfer guard Damion Baugh (10.6 ppg) and former Texas A&amp;M forward Emanuel Miller (10.3 ppg) were the other Frogs who averaged double-digit scoring last season. Miller and Lampkin led the Frogs with 6.2 rebounds per game.
&ldquo;We know with the work we put in the reward is going to come out,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;We compete at such a high level at practice that we know what we&rsquo;re capable of.&rdquo;
14th NATIONALLY, 4th IN BIG 12
Three other Big 12 teams are ranked above TCU in the preseason AP poll: Kansas and Baylor, the last two national champions who are tied for fifth, and No. 12 Texas. Those are also the three teams picked ahead of the Frogs in the preseason poll as voted on by the 10 coaches
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re good. We believe we&rsquo;re good,&rdquo; Dixon said. &ldquo;But our league&rsquo;s really good.&rdquo;
WELLS REBOOT
One of the transfers last season was Shahada Wells, a 6-foot guard from Texas-Arlington. One of their best guards in offseason workouts, he played only seven games while dealing with a knee injury before the Frogs redshirted him to get him healthy for this season.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of our best shooters. He&rsquo;s becoming a very good defender,&rdquo; Dixon said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s our smallest guard. We&rsquo;ve talked to him about him being more physical, trying to play bigger. But he&rsquo;s got great hands, very active on the ball, and just a great kid.&rdquo;
FROGS SLATE
TCU has 12 games before facing the Big 12&prime;s other three ranked teams from Texas in the first 12 days of conference play. The Frogs play their league opener on New Year&rsquo;s Eve at home against No. 25 Texas Tech, then go to No. 5 Baylor, host Iowa State and play at No. 12 Texas. Eight of their dozen games before that are on campus, with another only a few blocks away at Dickies Arena. They will be in Florida after Thanksgiving to play California, then Clemson or Iowa. They take on Utah in Salt Lake City a few days before Christmas.

The 14th-ranked Horned Frogs, with preseason Big 12 player of the year Mike Miles Jr., return all five starters and scholarship players.

No. 14 TCU has stable roster and highest preseason ranking

Nekias Duncan previews the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic and Wizards ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Southeast Division

The WNBA Finals are here, and the matchup couldn't be more of a stylistic clash.
On one side, we have the top-seeded (26-10) Las Vegas Aces. It's a bit much to say they took the league by storm &mdash; they had the second-best record in the league last season &mdash; but their modernized approach (on both ends of the floor) was a stark shift from what we're used to. Their offensive firepower, headlined by <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/las-vegas-aces-star-aja-wilson-adds-second-wnba-mvp-to-her-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-time MVP A'ja Wilson</a>, is undeniable. There's a reason this team led the league in offensive rating (109.6), and posted the second-best offensive season in WNBA history.
On the other side, we have the third-seeded Connecticut Sun. They were once again a regular-season success, finishing a game behind the Aces and Chicago Sky in record (25-11) but actually leading The W in net rating. Their plus-9.5 clip was nearly two points higher than the second-ranked Aces (plus-7.7). The Sun are known for their second-ranked defense (96.3 defensive rating), but quietly ranked second in offensive rating this season (105.8) too.
Two elite teams. Two elite offenses. Two completely different methods of attack, driven by unique personnel.&nbsp;
The Sun (63%) and Aces (62.2%) ranked fifth and sixth in the percentage of shots that came at the rim or from three this season, though they found themselves on different ends of the how-they-got-there spectrum. The Sun led the league in rim rate (36.9%) while finishing 11th (out of 12) in three-point rate (26.1%); the Aces were 11th in rim rate (24.6%) and third in three-point rate (37.6%).
A major battleground for this series will be generating good, comfortable shots in the half-court. They may not always be analytically friendly; the Sun are a heavy post team, and the Aces have made the Finals primarily behind insane mid-range shooting. I'm intrigued by how these teams will attack, and how they'll be countered defensively.&nbsp;
It's not clear who has the larger margin for error in this series. Why worry about your process if you can clean the glass to the degree the Sun can? How much do the details matter if Chelsea Gray can just splash home pull-up jumpers in the faces of helpless defenders?
I do think it's worth investigating the Aces side of things. They've faced a team that attempted to muck things up (Phoenix Mercury), and the Seattle Storm were a stout defensive unit with enough mobility and off-ball smarts to bring the Aces into the mud. The Sun are a mix of both, with more size and physicality.
My biggest question of the series: what coverage will the Sun come out in?
During the regular season, the overwhelming answer was "we're going to put two on the ball and dare you to navigate it." It's an aggressive, high-risk scheme, but you can do that when Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones are your bigs.
Jones is massive and moves her feet well. There are things to poke at in space &mdash; she opens up too much for my liking, opening avenues for ball-handlers to split the hedge and get downhill &mdash; but your reward for beating a Jones hedge is dealing with Thomas behind it.
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It's a late-clock possession, but you see the issue. Jones forces Gray to string out the drive. Wilson rolls to the empty side, but Thomas peels way off Dearica Hamby (left corner) to play in the passing lane to take Wilson's roll off the board while Jones recovers. The result is a heavily contested pull-up jumper from Gray. She's been draining those all postseason, but it's not what she&nbsp;wants&nbsp;to feast on.
If Thomas is directly involved, you're not likely to have a good time. The "best-hedge-defender-in-the-league" debate is between Thomas and Candace Parker. Who you choose is your perogative, but just recognize that you're dealing with greatness either way. Thomas is a one-woman wrecking crew when defending ball screens. If you're able to make it past her, good look finishing over the outstretched arms of Jones.
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That's tremendous effort from the Sun on that possession, particularly from Jones on the closeout. They get the miss and the rebound, but allowing Wilson to roll into that much space doesn't seem to be ideal. The Aces were <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FG%20PCT&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">easily the best mid-range shooting team</a> in the league this season; Gray (50%) and Wilson (45.1%) were the best volume mid-range shooters in the league, and they've been <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FG%20PCT&amp;dir=1&amp;CF=Mid-Range%20FGA*GE*2.5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even better</a> during the postseason.
To that point, this is going to be an important jump-shooting series for Wilson. If the Sun stick with their aggressive scheme, there will be opportunities for her to pop. This is a miss, but this shot is well within Wilson's wheelhouse.
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The Aces will have to decide which of the bigs are worth engaging directly, and how they'll counter the Sun showing aggressive help off of non-shooters. It's unclear if the Aces will keep Kiah Stokes in the starting lineup or go back to Hamby, but both players will likely get the same (non)treatment off the ball.&nbsp;
It'll be important to see where Hamby or Stokes will be spaced. Having them on the perimeter won't do much for spacing, especially if Thomas gets that assignment. She'll take that matchup as an opportunity to cause havoc as a helper. Wilson makes this shot, but look at how quickly she darts down to meet Wilson on her roll.
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As counterintuitive as it sounds, it may be worth going at Thomas directly. Getting into your offense may be tougher, but it could be easier to make plays on the back end. Again, Jones is pretty mobile for her size, but her comfort toggling assignments tends to decrease the further away she is from the rim. This possession seems instructive.
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The Aces go with a Gray-Hamby ball screen, which puts Thomas into the action. Jones is the Sun's last line of defense here, but she also has the Wilson assignment. Jones is locked into Gray's eyes, and Gray makes her pay with a nice feed to Hamby.
It's worth noting how Wilson is used here though. She isn't just off the ball; she's setting up a pindown for Kelsey Plum. It puts Natisha Hiedeman in a bind; she has to fight over and stay attached to Plum, or Gray has an easy outlet for a high-quality three. If Wilson pops to the corner after that screen, she'd have an open jumper considering where Jones is.
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Keep an eye on the Aces' off-ball screening in this series. That's going to be the hack for Stokes or Hamby if they're on the perimeter. If they're able to engage the Sun off the ball, their half-court offense will be more difficult to contain.
A fun wrinkle to keep an eye on: inverted ball screens to get the bigs downhill. We only saw it twice during the regular-season series, but the Aces experimented with a big-small pick-and-roll out of HORNS.
For those who aren't familiar, the HORNS alignment features a player in each corner, and two screeners at each elbow (or higher) to give the ball-handler an option of which screen to use.
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Don't be surprised if Becky Hammon pulls this out of her back pocket out of a timeout, or late when the Aces need a bucket.
The Sun also have fun flowing out of HORNS. When you have a frontcourt tandem as uniquely talented as Thomas and Jones &mdash; with reigning Sixth Player of the Year and All-Star Brionna Jones coming off the bench &mdash; it's hard not to stress out defenses.
A popular set for them involves one of their bigs setting a screen before diving to the basket, while the other big lifts and receives a pass to set up a high-low opportunity.
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That's a pretty tough action to defend, especially if you're putting two on the ball like the Aces did here. DeWanna Bonner and Courtney Williams are stashed in the corners, which means the help &mdash; either Jackie Young or Gray &mdash; would be small. Hamby could've sagged way off to bump Jones on the roll, but Thomas is Draymond-esque in her ability to snap into quick-hitting handoffs.&nbsp;
Jones isn't just a diver; she's one of the best shooters in basketball. The Sun are comfortable spacing her or getting her looks off movement. Here's a quick example of HORNS Flare.
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You'll notice, again, that Hamby is put in a bit of a bind. Your mind says "stick with Jones no matter what," but the Other Jones may be the best big in the league at generating deep seals. Wilson is a tremendous defender, but she's still at a size and strength disadvantage with that matchup. Hamby hangs a beat too long, and that's all the space that Jones needs to fire from deep.&nbsp;
If Courtney Williams is in the left corner when they set up HORNS, don't be surprised if an Iverson cut is coming. It's a way to get Williams (and her defender) moving, and helps them set up ball screens with an empty corner.&nbsp;
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(I can't tell if it was scripted or a great read from Bonner, but her bump before clearing to the left side of the floor essentially turns this into an Elevator screen to trap Gray.)
The Sun have to be careful about where that screen is set. Setting it on Williams' right would force her baseline, and task the big with rolling toward the middle of the floor. That will make it easier for the Aces to load up their help. Williams will make the tough pull-up below, but keep an eye on Hamby and how she roams off Thomas to provide help on Jones' roll.
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I wonder what defensive scheme we'll see from the Aces. They went more switch-heavy in the second half of the season, and that's continued throughout the postseason. I'm not sure how much they can get away with that considering how much size the Sun have.
It wouldn't be a huge surprise for the Aces to play more drop coverage. They would be daring the Sun's guards to beat them with pull-ups, but having the bigs hang back would make it easier for them to contain the rolls and, more importantly, get a head start on boxing out to limit the Sun on the offensive glass.
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It may behoove the Sun to go more conservative as well. Going with more switching instead of hedging would eliminate a lot of the gaps the Aces want to create in the half-court, as we saw for large swaths of their series against the Storm.
Hammon and Curt Miller are two of the best coaches in The W. If nothing else, I'm excited to see what types of adjustments are made on each side. This may not be the Finals series many expected, but it's slated to be a darn good one.

Nekias Duncan examines how the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun will attack each other in the WNBA Finals.

WNBA Finals: How will Aces and Sun attack each other in half-court?

The WNBA playoffs just started, and we've already had our fair share of unforgettable moments.
The New York Liberty boast a pair, with guard Marine Johannes' ridiculous Game 1 pass and her star teammate Sabrina Ionescu's five-point burst in five seconds. I'm still not over the overwhelming defensive possessions from the Chicago Sky to close out Game 3 against the Liberty. Chelsea Gray and the Aces set a three-point record in Game 2 of their series against (what's left of) the Phoenix Mercury; the tactical warfare of the Seattle Storm-Washington Mystics matchup was too good for a first round series.&nbsp;
As if there isn't enough to talk about, regular season awards are beginning to drop. On Monday, Chicago Sky head coach and general manager James Wade was named Executive of the Year for his offseason work. We'll be getting word on the rookies &mdash; Rookie of the Year and the All-Rookie team &mdash; on Thursday. You can see the rest of the schedule for announcements <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-announces-new-process-for-selecting-all-wnba-teams-and-unveils-end-of-season-awards-schedule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Before the official awards are announced, here's who I would've chosen on my fictitious ballot. Part I will be focused on first batch of awards: Rookie of the Year, the All-Rookie team, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player.
(If someone from The W's league office is reading this: Hi, hello, I'd love to vote next season if you'll have me!)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (AUGUST 25)
Honorable Mention (HM): Rebekah Gardner &mdash; Chicago Sky
Gardner's averages (8.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists) don't scream off the page, but she's one of the league's best role-players. She's a spirited driver with a blend of physicality and graceful footwork that allows her to bully weaker defenders. Her nose for the ball is uncanny for a guard; she's good for at least one "Where did she come from?" rebound in a crucial point of a game.
And then there's the defense.
She led all rookies in steals per game (1.4), but that honestly doesn't do her justice. Gardner is a&nbsp;nasty&nbsp;screen navigator, and she pairs that with an unrelenting motor. Turn on a Sky game and you'll see her hounding the opposing team's best perimeter player to the point of needing screens in the backcourt. Here's&nbsp;some&nbsp;of the work she did in the Liberty series &mdash; and note that the last clip is a&nbsp;bad&nbsp;foul call.
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Her quickness, aggression, and ability to anticipate help make her one of The W's best defenders. Spoiler alert: She got an All-Defensive First Team nod from me because of her work.&nbsp;
3. NaLyssa Smith &mdash; Indiana Fever
I don't begrudge folks for looking at the Indiana Fever's record (5-31) or their score differential (minus-11.1) and deciding to pass on watching 20-plus games of theirs. This was an incredibly young team that also went through an early season coaching change. They ended the season on an 18-game losing streak; trust me, I get it.
But man, there was some fun in there if you gave them a chance. The play of NaLyssa Smith was certainly one of the bright spots.
Though listed at 6-foot-4, Smith doesn't operate much like a true big. There's a fluidity and shiftiness present that makes her a matchup nightmare. Players her size shouldn't be able to use their handle to get to spots at a whim&nbsp;and&nbsp;shoot from distance if given the space.&nbsp;
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Smith led all rookies in rebounds (7.9) and ranked second in scoring (13.5) behind Atlanta Dream wing Rhyne Howard (16.2). Smith racked up eight double-doubles on the season; the rest of the rookie class combined for nine.
2. Shakira Austin &mdash; Washington Mystics
Rookie bigs aren't supposed to be as good as Austin is defensively. To be a key cog as a rookie is wildly impressive; to be a key cog on the best defense in basketball &mdash; the Mystics had a sterling 96 defensive rating &mdash; is absurd, frankly.&nbsp;
Austin was tasked with banging with post brutes like Sylvia Fowles while also being asked to play multiple coverages against ball screens. Her activity and footwork pops in space. She was a shortlist All-Defensive team candidate for me (ultimately didn't make it) this season, and it shouldn't surprise anyone if she becomes a mainstay moving forward. She's that&nbsp;good already.
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The offensive flashes are intriguing. The same footwork she displays defensively allows her to be a productive roll threat offensively. She's already flashed the ability to make short roll reads, and she's comfortable putting the floor on the deck for a dribble or two. I'm not sure if the finishing or the jumper expands first, but growth in either area would take her to another level offensively. The fact that there's a pathway to&nbsp;both&nbsp;happening ... the Mystics have a good one on their hands.
1. Rhyne Howard &mdash; Atlanta Dream
Though I wouldn't be opposed to Austin winning the award, I think the answer is Howard.&nbsp;
Leading all rookies in scoring is an easy thing to point to. The efficiency numbers &mdash; 37.9% from two-point range, 34.3% from three, 48.9% True Shooting &mdash; are an easy counter for people who think Austin should win it. I think either argument is missing the forest for the threes.
In year one, Howard was good enough to be the number one option on a just-missed-the-playoffs team. She got the opposing team's best defender from day one while playing in an offense lacking multiple dribble-drive threats for most of the season.&nbsp;
The context wasn't easy, and Howard found a way to score at a high clip, display in-season growth as a creator,&nbsp;and&nbsp;be a plus-wing defender at the same time.&nbsp;
Howard is a pull-up artist, a moving target off the ball, a willing passer against aggressive ball screen coverages, and someone who closed the year getting to the rim at a high clip. Over her last seven games, she averaged 8.6 three-point attempts (35% efficiency) and 7.7 free throw attempts. That is incredibly&nbsp;difficult for someone in her position to do.&nbsp;
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I can't wait to see her with more offensive talent around her. The foundation for Howard is already strong.
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM (AUGUST 25)
Rhyne Howard, Shakira Austin, NaLyssa Smith, Rebekah Gardner, Queen Egbo (Indiana Fever)
Egbo (and her frontcourt teammate Emily Engstler) got less attention than Smith, but it's hard not to be excited about the defensive prowess. Egbo has pretty wild timing as a shot-blocker. She generally leaves the floor after her opponent goes up, giving her a cleaner window to swat shots.
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I'm a fan of her mobility, and I think there's real potential for her to be a scheme-diverse weapon once she cleans up some of her technique. Foul trouble was a bit of an issue, and a large part of that was because she coudn't contain herself when asked to play more aggressively in PnR. She'd often run into the ball-handler when hedging out, or swipe down at the ball and get caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
A year of seasoning will do her some good, as would gaining some upper body strength to help with her finishing and post defense.
COACH OF THE YEAR (AUGUST 26)
3. James Wade &mdash; Chicago Sky
You have to give Wade, The W's Elevator Emperor, his coaching chops, too.
The Sky led The W in assist rate (70.7% of field goals assisted) by a healthy margin and posted a top-three offensive rating (105.8). Their high-octane defensive system led to an elite mark once again (99.7 defensive rating). The only player on the roster to appear in all 36 games was new addition Emma Meesseman, and Wade made sure her versatility was highlighted in his inverted offensive attack.
2. Becky Hammon &mdash; Las Vegas Aces
Hammon will likely win the award, and it'll be well&nbsp;deserved if/when she does. Though there was plenty of talent on the Aces roster when she took over, it is&nbsp;not&nbsp;easy to implement drastic scheme changes on both ends of the floor. It takes a high-level of trust and buy-in to make that happen; for Hammon to garner that much respect in her rookie* season as head coach is outstanding.
The Aces went from a team that infuriatingly ignored the three-point line (ranked last in three-point rate in each of the past four seasons) to one that bombed away (4th this season). A'ja Wilson was&nbsp;finally&nbsp;empowered (I'm not mad, I promise) to fire from deep, and she answered the bell with a 37.3% clip on moderate volume. The freedom given to Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray was on full display all season long. Jackie Young was trusted with more responsibility.
Quietly, the defense arguably looked more different than the offense did. Gone were the consistent deep drops against ball screens as a way to encourage pull-ups and wall off the paint. The Aces ramped up the pressure this year.
To begin the year, their bigs were tasked with playing at the level of the screen. That shifted to more drop coverage towards the middle of the season, but the drop was maybe a step below the screen -- still much higher than last season.
We saw more switching, and scram-switching to get smaller guards out of mismatches. The result wasn't always clean, but we saw a level of versatility from this group that was nearly unheard of under the previous (and to be fair, pretty successful) regime.
1. Tanisha Wright &mdash; Atlanta Dream
It's hard to overstate just how much of a mess the Dream were last season. On the court, they were rough; they finished with the second-worst record in the league (8-24) while finishing ninth in offense (97.5 ORTG) and defense (104 DRTG). Off the court, it was even worse.
They cycled through multiple head coaches last season and faced front office turnover. There was a Chennedy Carter...suspension? Erasure? Placement in purgatory? We're still not 100% sure what happened. There was video of a fight posted that featured several members of the Dream roster. Last season was an absolute mess.
For Wright to come in and help establish structure and culture &mdash; on and off the floor &mdash; impressed the heck out of me. She was tasked with building an offense around a rookie (Howard), and managed to do so while also empowering Cheyenne Parker as a post hub. It's hard to stress how few rim threats Wright and the Dream had to work with; Aari McDonald, 11 games of Tiffany Hayes (who then left during the playoff push) and 15 games of AD Durr was the best she had.
I think there would be more of a groundswell of support for Wright's case if the Dream made the playoffs. Missing out by a game isn't enough to deter me, though.&nbsp;
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER (AUGUST 29)
HM: Sophie Cunningham (PHX), Aari McDonald (ATL)
<ul>
<li class="p1">Speaking of McDonald, she deserves flowers for her work as a driver, improved shooting, and fiesty point-of-attack defense. It's pretty hard to lose her because of her speed and ability to navigate screens. She's also (annoyingly) good at drawing fouls/selling contact. I'm excited for Year 3 Aari.</li>
<li class="p1">Cunningham saw her role change midway through the season. Suddenly slotted <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/sophie-cunningham-giving-phoenix-a-lift-at-the-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a small-ball 4</a>, Cunningham thrived as a spacer, embraced on and off-ball screening, and punched above her weight defensively.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
3. Sabrina Ionescu &mdash; New York Liberty
I went back and forth with Cunningham and Ionescu for the third spot. Do you reward Ionescu's bump in production with a healthier campaign, or do you reward Cunningham's bump in production due to the heightened role?&nbsp;
I landed on Ionescu, who saw increases in virtually everything; no, seriously, the only box score stat that didn't improve (or decrease, when it comes to turnovers) from last year was her foul rate (1.8 to 2.1 this season).&nbsp;
She was a first-time All-Star with averages of 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Spoiler: she was the only player in The W to average at least 17-7-6 this season, and only the second player in W history (Candace Parker, 2015) to accomplish the feat.&nbsp;
Ionescu is one of the most dynamic ball screen operators in the sport. She's a daring passer, aggressive driver, and fearless pull-up shooter. When the latter is going, there isn't much you can do with her.&nbsp;
2. Ezi Magbegor &mdash; Seattle Storm
Don't let the Seattle Storm's midseason addition of Tina Charles &mdash; and her insertion into the starting lineup eight games after her debut &mdash; throw you off the scent. Ezi Magbegor balled out this year.&nbsp;
Magbegor was a Day 1 starter for the first time in her career and flourished with more playing time. Her defensive prowess <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ezi-magbegor-cares-not-for-your-space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was evident early on</a>, making life incredibly difficult for her foes. Because of her length and timing, teams didn't have much luck challenging her at the rim. And because of her mobility, attacking her in space &mdash; either with ball screens or in isolation &mdash; wasn't a fruitful endeavor, either. She was building out a legitimate DPOY case through the first month of the season.
That dwindled as the year went along. While she was and is more disciplined than she was last season, Magbegor still dealt with bouts of foul trouble. Bulkier centers can still move her on the block when given those matchups. Overall, Magbegor remains a high-level defedner that should be in DPOY or All-Defensive team talks for years to come.
What's gone under the radar is her growth offensively. She became a more willing jump-shooter, though the volume isn't at the point where teams have to worry altering her gameplan against her yet. I found myself floored by some of her self-created shots this season.&nbsp;
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Color me intrigued moving forward.
1. Jackie Young &mdash; Las Vegas Aces
Young's case is pretty straightforward -- her numbers <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/y/youngja01w.html#per_game0">jumped across the board</a>, she defended at an All-Defense level for a large chunk of the season, and she's turned herself into a reliable shooter. The latter point, her shooting growth, has spearheaded a lot of what she's now able to accomplish offensively. Aside from Sixth Player of the Year, this may be the slam dunk-iest award selection of the season.
For a deeper dive into her on and off-court growth, I'd highly <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/the-journey-of-jackie-young/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommend this piece</a> from my guy Mark Schindler of WNBA.com.

Nekias Duncan gives his award picks for Rookie of the Year, the All-Rookie team, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player.

2022 WNBA Awards: ROTY, All-Rookie Team, COTY, Most Improved

It's been a minute since we've seen John Wall play consistent basketball.
He's logged just 72 regular-season game appearances &mdash; nearly 2,400 minutes &mdash; across the past four seasons. Injuries have derailed an electrifying career, one that's seen Wall shine as one of the most explosive point guards in basketball history.
Roster context &mdash; the Houston Rockets were young and&nbsp;bad&nbsp;last season &mdash; played the largest role in Wall's absence last season. Complicating matters was his lucrative deal, too large for contenders to take on in realistic trade packages, but also too much for Wall to agree to a contract buyout.
Until now, at least.
Yahoo's Chris Haynes dropped the bomb on Monday night, reporting that Wall and the Rockets were nearing agreement on a buyout. He eventually got it, giving back a little over $6 million back in exchange for his free agent status. That status will likely be short-lived, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/john-wall-plans-to-sign-with-clippers-after-he-clears-waivers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wall is bound for the Los Angeles Clippers</a>.
It's important to note that Wall isn't the early-2010s-Wizards version of himself. He'll be turning 32 before the 2022-23 season begins, and has injury mileage on his legs. Even the most recent version of Wall saw him put up solid counting stats &mdash; 20.6 points, 6.9 assists in 32.2 minutes &mdash; but with awful efficiency. A 44.9% clip from two, paired with a 31.7% clip from deep &mdash; on a career-high 6.2 attempts, no less &mdash; is not what you want from your lead guard.
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The good news for the Clippers is that they don't need Wall to do as much as he was tasked with during his last season in Houston. Remember, Wall joined the team under the assumption that he'd be James Harden's running mate. Harden was on the team for all of eight games before being shipped to the Brooklyn Nets.
WHAT HE BRINGS
This a pretty fun fit on the surface.
With the understanding that he's going to be dropping in the hierarchy, it's easy to envision Wall bouncing back from an efficiency perspective. The jury's out on if Wall will start or come off the bench (more on that later), but this is arguably the best shooting talent he's been surrounded by in his career.
It's hard to overstate how bad Wall's context was the last time we saw him.&nbsp;
Houston's most used lineup with Wall featured Kevin Porter Jr. (31.1% from three), Jae'Sean Tate (30.8%), Christian Wood (37.4%), and Kelly Olynyk (39.2%). And of that frontcourt pairing, only Olynyk was actually treated like a legitimate threat when spaced off the ball.
And yet, the Rockets generated nearly 1.13 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a Wall pick-and-roll with that lineup on the floor, per Second Spectrum. That's a darn good number.
That isn't close to perfect spacing; Wall-Wood or Wall-Olynyk ball-screens seem good on their own, but think about defenses cheating off of Porter or Tate at the same time.
Still, Wall was able to make it work.
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Now, envision Wall running ball-screens with Ivica Zubac, an underwhelming leaper, but a brutal screener with solid touch around the basket. Zoom out, and think about the spacing those two will have. Instead of dealing with help defenders sagging off of non-shooters like Tate at the nail, Kawhi Leonard may be in his place. Or Paul George. Or Luke Kennard. Norm Powell, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington. Nicolas Batum if he's brought back. Hits a little differently, right?
It should.
In relation to the star wings, think of the Boston Celtics for a moment. As referenced many times on The Dunker Spot, Marcus Smart's ability to generate paint touches is wildly important. Not only does it help him scramble defenses, but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown also have the benefit of attacking scrambling defenses instead of being the ones to bend it.
Wall could serve as a better version of that, no longer tasked with being the offense; rather, being a drink-stirrer of sorts. He remains a very good passer, and should be able to jump-start some fast breaks for a Clippers team that didn't run a ton last season. As long as he's able to generate paint touches, good things should happen when he's on the floor.
QUESTION MARKS&nbsp;
Though the spacing should make life easier for Wall, he still comes with his own limitations. He's simply fast now, instead of the blinding blur he was during his prime. The spacing in Houston was suboptimal, but it's worth noting that teams became increasingly comfortable switching screens against him and daring him to shoot.&nbsp;
A large portion of that is Wall's shaky jumper, particularly off the bounce. But quietly, he didn't blow past bigs with the same verve. Second Spectrum tracks blow-bys on drives, as well as the percentage of drives that end in a blow-by. Wall's 18.8% blow-by percentage during the 2020-21 season ranked 54th out of 69 players to log at least 500 drives. For reference, that number was at 23.6% during Wall's last All-Star campaign in 2017-18.
The jumper point still looms large though. He drained just 32.4% of his pull-up twos during the 2020-21 season, per Second Spectrum. He was worse on threes (29.1%). Off the ball, Wall is a "fine" catch-and-shoot threat. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, he's knocked down roughly 37% of his catch-and-shoot triples.
Considering the volume and his actual jumper &mdash; a bit of a slow load up and low release &mdash; he's still below the threshold of teams treating him like a real threat off the ball. He'll have to prove he can knock down shots at a higher clip, as well as showcase some juice as a cutter or occasional screener.
There's also the start-or-bench question. I'm at least a little curious to see if he or Reggie Jackson has a problem with coming off the bench. We've seen that pop up with the younger version of Jackson elsewhere, and Wall was originally hesitant to accept a bench role in Houston last season.
Ultimately, it may not matter. These are both veterans. Jackson has spoken to the mutual lovefest he and the Clippers have, so that may be an easier conversation to have. Wall is coming off a season he didn't play, and is now joining a contender on mid-level money.&nbsp;
Wall may not be what he used to, but he doesn't have to be. As an additive to an already-deep Clippers team, he should help juice their attack.
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Nekias Duncan analyzes what a partnership between John Wall and the Clippers could look like.

Examining John Wall's fit with the Los Angeles Clippers

I'll never forget Game 5 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
On a personal note, it was one of the best days of my professional life. The arena itself was buzzing in anticipation of a series-shifting game. For a fan base that's (mostly wrongfully) berated for not being on time, the arena filled up pretty quickly with Miami Heat fans.
Before the game, I got to meet the legendary duo of Doris Burke and Mark Jones, Yahoo's Chris Haynes and other giants in the industry. It was a surreal stretch of meet-ups considering my wild journey to this point.
And then there was the game itself: a knock-out, drag-out fight until the Boston Celtics turned up the sliders late in the third quarter. A 59-58 Celtics lead with 2:44 left in the third turned into a 77-60 lead with 9:35 left in the fourth. A work of mid-range mastery from Jayson Tatum pushed the lead to 17, forcing Erik Spoelstra to call timeout at the 9:35 mark. Poor Max Strus couldn't do much about it.
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I found myself marveling at Tatum's game that night. It wasn't his most efficient scoring outing; he finished with 22 points on 20 shots (5-of-12 from two, 2-of-8 from three). He coughed up the rock five times &mdash; two offensive fouls, two (tough) passes that went out of bounds, and a live-ball turnover where he tried to thread a needle into paint congestion.
But I quickly found the fun of a young superstar figuring things out on the fly against an elite defense.&nbsp;
Here was Tatum, a natural bucket-getter, not just being forced to make playmaking reads. No, no, no. He had to set up the chessboard. Because of the Heat's personnel, and because of their aggressive help principles and occasional pre-switches, Tatum was often tasked with setting up a pick-and-roll before actually running what he wanted.
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Tatum starts the possession defended by Caleb Martin. A handoff between Tatum and Jaylen Brown invites Jimmy Butler into the fray. A ball screen, this time with Al Horford, calls up Bam Adebayo. Tatum calls for&nbsp;another&nbsp;ball screen to target Duncan Robinson, his ultimate goal from the beginning.&nbsp;
The Heat don't want to switch this one, so Robinson executes a show-and-recover. Derrick White slips into open space with Robinson and Adebayo focused on Tatum. But because Adebayo is involved above the break, the Heat's backline help is pretty small.
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Butler is an All-World defender, but he's stuck between two players in the paint. Robinson hasn't gotten back to White, so Butler has to hold. The issue becomes Horford. Martin can't drop down to pick up Horford like he normally would because Brown is in the weakside corner.
Tatum simply waits to see who Butler commits to. Butler drops back to Horford once he senses Robinson is nearly back to White; in that moment, Tatum fires a bounce pass to White for a layup.
All of that happens within an eight-second span.&nbsp;
To be frank, Tatum wasn't nailing&nbsp;all of that,&nbsp;to this degree, at the beginning of the season. He certainly wasn't doing it with a level of consistency last year. But strides have continued to be made. Even when the result wasn't great, you could see the process improve. He became smarter. The decisions were made quicker, and with more nuance.
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Tatum had seen a little bit of everything through that Game 5. He saw a version of that switch-with-help-behind-it defense during his first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. In the next round, the Milwaukee Bucks flowed between sending two to the ball and daring Tatum to beat them in drop coverage.
The drop coverage bet was a poor one on the surface &mdash; Tatum is a dynamite pull-up shooter &mdash; but the Bucks knew there was refinement needed from Tatum inside the arc.
The floater wasn't consistent yet. If the easy pull-up wasn't there, Tatum sometimes struggled with driving&nbsp;too&nbsp;deeply into the pocket, either turning drop coverage into a late switch or allowing his own defender to recover. That led to some ugly late-clock possessions.
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The Heat were a juiced-up version of both. They occasionally rushed Tatum with two defenders like the Bucks did. They gave up switches, but packed the paint with helpers like the Nets attempted to do. Through the mix of coverages, Tatum thrived, struggled, and ultimately thrived again.
I asked him about his comfort level against, well, everything after that Game 5 against Miami.
"Comfort level? From a scale of 1-to-10?" Tatum quipped with a smile before answering. "I'm very comfortable. Each series presents different challenges. Miami guards differently than Milwaukee did. Watching film from game to game, that's the key. Seeing what you did well, what you can improve on, what adjustments they might make and seeing what to be ready for."
Tatum couldn't quite crack the final boss in the Golden State Warriors.
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His series averages were fine &mdash; 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks &mdash; but not up to superstar standards. For every bonus, there seemed to be an annoying negative. Seven dimes from your star wing is dope, but nearly four turnovers a game isn't what you want. He shot a robust 45.5% from three on 7.3 attempts per game, but those inside-the-arc struggles &mdash; 31.6% from two on 12.7 attempts &mdash; popped up in a big way.
The Warriors deserve credit for never letting Tatum get comfortable. They made sure he saw a healthy dose of switches (74 picks), drop coverage (45 picks), and a mix of hedges and blitzes (42), per Second Spectrum. And regardless of what the initial coverage was, the Warriors had a way of varying their help defense behind it.
Sometimes, they'd pinch the help in early to restrict driving lanes. Other times, Tatum would have early access to the rim, only to be met by late helpers converging into the paint. That cat-and-mouse game ultimately decided the half-court battle in this series.
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Add in the bodies he saw &mdash; Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson, Gary Payton II and others got a taste of the Tatum assignment &mdash; and it should come as no surprise that this was Tatum's worst playoff series as a driver. On possessions where Tatum shot or passed to someone who shot after a drive, the Celtics generated 0.77 points per possession (PPP). It ended a streak of stark improvement from Tatum in that area:
<ul>
<li>Brooklyn: 0.89 PPP on 52 direct drives</li>
<li>Milwaukee: 0.96 PPP on 74 direct drives</li>
<li>Miami: 1.08 PPP on 64 direct drives</li>
<li>Golden State: 0.77 PPP on 77 direct drives</li>
</ul>
It wasn't always pretty. Not that they need&nbsp;my&nbsp;permission, but Celtic fans and NBA enthusiasts are within their right to be disappointed in Tatum's output during the Finals.
All I ask is that we don't lose the plot.&nbsp;
Tatum didn't struggle on his own; remember, before Draymond Green missed a chunk of games during the regular season, it was the Warriors who held the NBA's best defensive rating. They pinpointed what Tatum's weaknesses were and poked at him. And this is on top of what Tatum was asked to do defensively &mdash; often navigating the Green assignment so he could switch onto Stephen Curry when necessary, or dealing with drives from Wiggins on the ball.
Beyond that, look at the growth Tatum has made as a scorer and playmaker over the past year-and-a-half. Heck, look at the growth he made this postseason. Defenses keyed in on him, threw different schemes at him within the same&nbsp;quarter,&nbsp;and he was mostly able to figure it out.&nbsp;
This is a sour end to the season, but it's a season in which Tatum was an All-Star once again, earned All-NBA First Team honors, finished sixth in MVP voting and led his team to the NBA Finals for the first time.
This was a darn good year, and now Tatum has to stew in this Finals loss for a bit. His history already suggests he'll get better heading into next season; with this frustrating finish, I'd bet the house on Tatum making a substantial leap over the summer.
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Nekias Duncan reflects on the improvement that Jayson Tatum showed throughout the season and postseason.

Nate