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Heat

Anthony Edwards didn&rsquo;t mince any words when he declared his Minnesota Timberwolves would be a top-three seed in the Western Conference this season.
The Timberwolves&rsquo; young superstar guard shared in a postgame interview following their win vs the Golden State Warriors how he said to his American teammates at the FIBA World Cup in Manila last year that Minnesota would be in the top three teams in the West.&nbsp;
Edwards also mentioned a couple of other bold opinions on each of their places in the standings come the season &ndash; which some of them disagreed on &ndash; but he was &lsquo;cool&rsquo; with it.
&ldquo;I told them we&rsquo;re going to be top three in the West and they were like, &lsquo;Nah, y&rsquo;all going to be in the play-in again, it&rsquo;s cool,&rdquo; Edwards said.
Sure enough, Edwards has backed what he said back then with the Timberwolves being currently the 3rd seed in the West with a 49-22 record. They even had the West&rsquo;s best record for three months until the Nuggets and the Thunder surpassed them.
Edwards continued. &ldquo;I actually told them that Orlando was going to be in the playoffs. I told them that Tyrese [Haliburton] would be in the play-in game. I told them that New York would be super good.
Edwards got it right as Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers continue to survive the Eastern Conference playoff race (currently the 6th-seeded team with a 41-32 record).&nbsp;
The Orlando Magic, who Edwards also mentioned would be in the playoffs, have already clinched a playoff spot and are fighting with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks for 3rd-5th spots in the East. The Knicks have also been one of the best teams in the NBA despite having Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson out for the past two months behind their all-star point guard Jalen Brunson.

Anthony Edwards declared his Minnesota Timberwolves would be a top-three seed in the Western Conference this season.

Anthony Edwards told Team USA teammates Wolves would be a top-3 seed

Victor Wembanyama had 30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 blocks to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 118-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers and rookie rival Scoot Henderson.&nbsp;
The No. 1 overall pick in this year&rsquo;s draft had this impressive statline in just 25 minutes, becoming just the second rookie since David Robinson in 1990 to record the same numbers.
This was Wemby and Scoot&rsquo;s first meeting since their memorable matchup in the Metropolitans 92 vs. NBA G League Ignite series last October in Las Vegas, where Wembanyama and Henderson scored 37 points and 28 points, respectively, with the latter taking the victory.&nbsp;
The Spurs secured their fifth win of the season, while Henderson scored a career-high 25 points in a rare start without Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, as the Blazers dropped to 8-22. Both teams are currently last in the Western Conference.
Nuggets 142, Grizzlies 105
With Ja Morant out due to illness, the Denver Nuggets pounced on the Memphis Grizzlies early and got a 142-105 win.&nbsp;
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double (26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists) in a literal perfect game, going 11-of-11 from the field, 1-of-1 from three, and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.&nbsp;
This was the first night of a back-to-back for the Grizz, and they expect Morant to be back tomorrow when they play the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
Heat 114, Warriors 102
The Golden State Warriors had seven players score in double figures, but they fell to the visiting Miami Heat, 102-114.&nbsp;
Stephen Curry struggled in 31 minutes, scoring only 13 points on 20% shooting.&nbsp;
With Jimmy Butler out, Tyler Herro led the charge for the Heat with 26 points. Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued his strong showing as a rookie, registering 17 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
Bam Adebayo added 17 and 11 for Miami, who moved past the Orlando Magic for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 19-12 record.&nbsp;
Lakers 133, Hornets 112
Point LeBron James was on point today, handing out 11 assists while scoring 17 efficient points (7-of-11 from the field) in just 24 minutes as the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to an easy win over the Charlotte Hornets, who were without star point guard LaMelo Ball for the 14th-straight game.
Anthony Davis contributed 26 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks for the now 17-15 Lakers squad.&nbsp;

Victor Wembanyama had 30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 blocks in the Spurs' win over Scoot Henderson and the Blazers.

Victor Wembanyama fills stat sheet in win vs. Blazers, Scoot Henderson

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

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

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

The NBA recently announced the top performers at this year's NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, headlined by Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore of the Houston Rockets.
Whitmore was widely projected to be a top-10 pick entering the 2023 NBA Draft, but he ultimately slipped to No. 20 overall. Houston jumped at the chance to add Whitmore to their talented young core.
Whitmore averaged 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game and showed plenty of flashes throughout Summer League.
The league also announced the All-Summer-League Teams, which can be found below. (Some of the most recognizable names didn't earn a spot on either team since they were shut down early.)
All-Summer-League First Team:
&bull; Keyonte George, Utah Jazz &bull; Sam Merrill, Cleveland Cavaliers &bull; Orlando Robinson, Miami Heat &bull; Hunter Tyson, Denver Nuggets &bull; Cam Whitmore, Houston Rockets
All-Summer-League Second Team:
&bull;&nbsp;Max Christie, Los Angeles Lakers &bull;&nbsp;Javon Freeman-Liberty,&nbsp;Chicago Bulls &bull;&nbsp;Xavier Moon, Los Angeles Clippers &bull;&nbsp;Emoni Bates, Cleveland Cavaliers &bull;&nbsp;Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets &bull;&nbsp;Jalen Wilson, Brooklyn Nets
Due to a tie in voting between Christie and Moon, both players were added to the All-Summer-League Second Team.

The NBA recently announced the top performers at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

NBA announces Summer League MVP and All-Summer-League teams

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Never had two players from the same team had 30-point triple-doubles in the same game. Never in the regular season. Never in the playoffs. Certainly never in the NBA Finals.
Until now.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray made history Wednesday night &mdash; and have the Denver Nuggets two wins away from making some real history as well.
Jokic and Murray became the first teammates in NBA Finals history to both record triple-doubles, and the Nuggets reclaimed the lead in the series by beating the Miami Heat 109-94 in Game 3.
&ldquo;By far, their greatest performance as a duo in their seven years together,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, after his team moved two wins away from Denver&rsquo;s first title.
Jokic finished with 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists &mdash; the first such game in NBA Finals history, or at least the first since assists were tracked. Murray had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, getting the rebound he needed with 9 seconds remaining.
The Nuggets outrebounded the Heat 58-33, and took a 2-1 lead. Game 4 is Friday in Miami.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just glad that we won the game,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;It was a big one for us because they won in our arena. We just didn&rsquo;t want to go down 2-1.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points for Miami, and Bam Adebayo finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Caleb Martin added 10 points.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to come out with more energy and effort and that&rsquo;s correctable,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s on us as a group.&rdquo;
Jokic and Murray combined for 24 field goals; Miami had 34. Jokic and Murray combined for 31 rebounds; Miami had 33. Jokic and Murray combined for 20 assists; Miami had exactly that many.
Somehow, some way, the Heat know they need to find an answer before Friday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an easy task to do,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But if we want to win, we&rsquo;re going to have to figure it out.&rdquo;
Miami has been the comeback kings of these playoffs &mdash; seven rallies in games after trailing by at least 12 points. The Heat were down by 14 going into the fourth, and Malone reminded his club of Miami&rsquo;s penchant for comebacks.
&ldquo;First two games, they won the fourth quarter,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Tonight, we win the fourth quarter, we win the game.&rdquo;
His team listened.
The lead eventually reached 21, the outcome never seriously in doubt, and Jokic looking very much like he&rsquo;s back in cruise control. The Heat got within nine on a 3-pointer by Duncan Robinson with 1:22 left, but there was no epic finish for Miami. Murray and Jokic had the Nuggets too far ahead to get caught.
&ldquo;You have to expect there to be elite talent in the finals,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And both those guys are elite-level talent.&rdquo;
Officially, Jokic is now the seventh player to have two triple-doubles in the same finals. Magic Johnson and LeBron James each did it in three different finals. Draymond Green, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Butler all had one title series with two triple-doubles.
It was Jokic&rsquo;s 10th triple-double of these playoffs, extending his single-season record, and he was unbothered by whatever Miami threw his way. He finished 12 for 21 from the floor, 7 for 8 from the line, playing 44 minutes.
&ldquo;We were more locked in, more focused,&rdquo; Jokic said.
Christian Braun was tremendous off the bench for the Nuggets, scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes. Aaron Gordon added 11 for Denver.
And afterward, they both marveled at what their stars did in Game 3.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s greatness, man. It&rsquo;s greatness,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a dynamic duo right there.&rdquo;
Added Braun: &ldquo;I would say that it&rsquo;s what they do every game.&rdquo;
Miami never led in the second half. A dunk by Adebayo put the Heat up 44-42 with 3:18 left in the half, before a 3-pointer by Murray represented the seventh and final lead change of the night. It was 53-48 at halftime, before Denver pushed the lead to double digits for the first time early in the third and wound up leading by as many as 19 later in that period.
The Heat stole home court by winning Game 2 in Denver, a game where Murray had a chance to force overtime with a 3-point try that missed at the end. The Nuggets now have the lead again, and there was no Game 2 hangover on Wednesday.
&ldquo;Not just me,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Everybody bounced back.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Denver used Reggie Jackson in the first quarter, going nine deep in the opening 12 minutes for the first time since Game 2 of the West finals. ... Denver hadn&rsquo;t lost two consecutive games to Miami since March 14 and Nov. 30, 2016. Jokic played in both of those games, Murray in the second one early in his rookie season.
Heat: It was the first finals game in Miami since 2014. The Heat didn&rsquo;t have any &ldquo;home&rdquo; games in the 2020 finals, which were held in the NBA&rsquo;s restart bubble near Orlando. ... Wednesday was the 11th anniversary of LeBron James&rsquo; 45-point, 15-rebound, five-assist game at Boston in Game 6 of the East finals &mdash; staving off elimination. The Heat won Game 7 and went on to beat Oklahoma City for James&rsquo; first title.
HASLEM RECORD
Miami&rsquo;s Udonis Haslem &mdash; in his 20th and final season &mdash; set a record. He became the oldest player to appear in the NBA Finals, breaking the mark of 42 years, 58 days set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on June 13, 1989.
Haslem turns 43 on Friday. He played the final 29.8 seconds.
RARE COMPANY
Jokic had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the first quarter. The only other players in the last 25 years to have that in any quarter of a finals game were Stephen Curry (12-7-5) for Golden State in the third quarter against Cleveland on June 4, 2017, and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal (12-7-3) for the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter against Philadelphia on June 8, 2001.
CELEB WATCH
Former Heat player and NBA champion Mike Miller &mdash; now an agent &mdash; was at the game, along with one of his clients, Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/Pp_doesit/status/1666599282634260482?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Banchero tweeted</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;game ain&rsquo;t even started yet i&rsquo;m in here star struck.&rdquo;
DJ Khaled was in attendance, along with soccer greats Neymar and Paul Pogba (on the day Lionel Messi committed to play for Inter Miami), Shakira, Magic Johnson, J. Cole (who played a role in getting Caleb Martin to the Heat) and Dwyane Wade &mdash; who starred for Miami&rsquo;s title teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-206 apnews_article_midarticle_2" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">&nbsp;</div>

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray made history Wednesday night — and have the Nuggets two wins away from making history as well.

Jokic, Murray have triple-doubles, Nuggets beat Heat 109-94 for 2-1 lead

CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Victor Wembanyama is now set to begin his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, after they won the NBA draft lottery and the No. 1 overall pick on Tuesday night.
The Spurs were one of three teams with the best odds &mdash; 14% &mdash; to land the No. 1 pick, which they&rsquo;ll almost certainly use on Wembanyama. The 7-foot-3 French 19-year-old is one of the most highly touted prospects in NBA history and will be expected to make an immediate impact on the league.
And he had a message for San Antonio.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to win a ring ASAP,&rdquo; Wembanyama told ESPN after the lottery results. &ldquo;So be ready.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the third time the Spurs have won the lottery, and on both previous occasions they made picks that paid off for decades. They chose David Robinson in 1987, Tim Duncan in 1997, and those selections were a major part of how the Spurs became a team that won five NBA titles under coach Gregg Popovich.
&ldquo;Our future was already bright,&rdquo; Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt said. &ldquo;Now, it&rsquo;s going to be through the moon.&rdquo;
General manager Brian Wright called it &ldquo;an incredible day&rdquo; for the franchise and the fans.
Charlotte will pick second, Portland moved up to third, and Houston fell to fourth.
&ldquo;This draft is a deep, talented one,&rdquo; Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin said. &ldquo;We know picks one through six there&rsquo;s always gems to be found, but to move up into the top three is really exciting.&rdquo;
As for getting the No. 1 pick in a year like this?
&ldquo;People talk about generational talents and you only think on-court skill, but it&rsquo;s bigger than that,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;Peter talked about his ability to be a great teammate, his ability to think the game, unique challenges. You see him doing things that you wouldn&rsquo;t have even guessed someone could do &mdash; his approach, his professionalism. I think when you use the word generational talent, it extends beyond just your ability to put the ball in the basket. And he&rsquo;s unique in so many ways.&rdquo;
The Spurs were 22-60 this season, tied for the second-worst record in the NBA. Popovich and the Spurs have had incredible success with international players in the past &mdash; most notably, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, who owns the French team that Wembanyama played for last season.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an incredible young man,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN as part of its draft lottery broadcast. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s 19 years old and I didn&rsquo;t take out a yardstick or meter stick or whatever they use in France, but he seemed all of 7-4 to me. &hellip; He clearly appears to be a generational talent.&rdquo;
Wembanyama finished his regular season with Boulogne-Levallois of France&rsquo;s top pro league earlier Tuesday, his 22-point effort good enough for him to clinch the league&rsquo;s scoring title. It was shortly past 2 a.m. Wednesday in Paris when the lottery results were revealed, and Wembanyama was gathered with family and friends for a celebration.
&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t really describe it,&rdquo; Wembanyama said in his interview with ESPN, adding &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a really special moment.&rdquo;
Finally, he knows where his NBA journey will begin. His agents did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press.
&ldquo;I think the team that has the first choice isn&rsquo;t going to get it wrong,&rdquo; said Vincent Collet, Wembanyama&rsquo;s coach in France and also the coach of the French national team &mdash; which Wembanyama is expected to play for this summer at the World Cup and next summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Detroit had the worst record in the NBA and was one of the three teams with the best odds of winning. The Pistons wound up falling all the way to fifth, the worst of their possible outcomes.
The rest of the lottery order: Orlando will pick sixth, Indiana seventh, Washington eighth, Utah ninth, Dallas 10th, Orlando (from Chicago as part of an earlier trade) in 11th, Oklahoma City 12th, Toronto 13th, and New Orleans 14th.
Wembanyama is wrapping up his third professional season in France and has been the consensus top pick for months. He has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard.
He wasn&rsquo;t at the lottery because of his game schedule in France. But many of the other top prospects &mdash; Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite, Brandon Miller of Alabama, twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson of the Overtime Elite program &mdash; were in the room to watch the lottery results get unveiled and get a little better idea of where they may be heading to start their NBA careers.

Victor Wembanyama is now set to begin his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, after they won the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday.

Spurs win NBA Draft Lottery and right to draft Victor Wembanyama

When a generational talent like&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;comes along, it&rsquo;s clear that he would make any team that he&rsquo;s with better in a multitude of ways.
And the team that wins Tuesday&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">NBA draft lottery</a>&nbsp;in Chicago &mdash; and the right to draft Wembanyama next month &mdash; will be immediately improved. Here&rsquo;s a look at the 14 hopefuls in the lottery, and their odds of landing the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">7-foot-3 French teen phenom.</a>
DETROIT
Odds: 14%, or about 7-1
Outlook: A new coach is coming, and if Wembanyama goes to the Pistons he&rsquo;d be teaming up with Killian Hayes &mdash; whose mother is French, so there would be some comforts of home at least.
Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey were&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-all-rookie-team-e70909b25b2ae3fabd26d3c380e4f07c">All-Rookie picks</a>&nbsp;this season. Cade Cunningham was one last season, after he was the No. 1 pick in 2021. It&rsquo;s hard to envision how exactly Wembanyama and Cunningham would play together, since there&rsquo;s still so much mystery about Cunningham&rsquo;s game, especially after he missed much of this season. But two great young talents surely would figure it out.
HOUSTON
Odds: 14%, or about 7-1
Outlook:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/rockets-udoka-e24d2a5ccedef68bf86faee4ba2b5917">Ime Udoka is in place as the new coach</a>, there&rsquo;s a belief around the league that the Rockets will change their roster considerably in free agency &mdash; bringing James Harden back, perhaps &mdash; and Wembanyama would energize the fan base in many of the same ways Yao Ming&rsquo;s arrival did.
It would take some shots away from Houston&rsquo;s young players and adjustments would have to be made. And the pairing of Wembanyama with Alperen Sengun would be so interesting on defense.
SAN ANTONIO
Odds: 14%, or about 7-1
Outlook: Gregg Popovich would get another incredibly talented big to build around, just as was the case with David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
The Spurs have flourished with international players, such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series since 2017 and haven&rsquo;t played in one since 2019. But all the losing, all the drafting, all the player development has built them for this &mdash; and Wembanyama would be the springboard to make San Antonio a playoff town again right away.
CHARLOTTE
Odds: 12.5%, or 8-1
Outlook: Maybe this would convince Michael Jordan to not sell the majority stake of the Hornets after all. (Or maybe it&rsquo;ll just raise his price.) Imagine &mdash; the most recognizable player maybe ever, with an iconic brand, getting to draft a kid who is surely going to be a global marketing dream.
As often is the case with top draft picks, much of the attention goes to Wembanyama&rsquo;s offensive game. But Charlotte is desperately in need of more defense, and Wembanyama will make an immediate impact on that end &mdash; which would only further endear him to Hornets coach Steve Clifford. And Wembanyama and LaMelo Ball together would be instantly something to watch.
PORTLAND
Odds: 10.5%, or about 10-1
Outlook: Damian Lillard is tired of waiting and wants the Trail Blazers to become a contender. This would be a great start to that plan.
There is a ton of talent in Portland, led by the all-world guard, and the Blazers packed it in early this season with an eye on the draft. And the ping-pong balls don&rsquo;t care about fairness, but after Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, it surely could be argued that Portland deserves a draft break.
ORLANDO
Odds: 9%, or about 11-1
Outlook: Now this would be spicy. If the Magic win the lottery again, the pairing of Paolo Banchero with Wembanyama would give Orlando an immediate shot in the arm.
The Magic were 5-20 and refused to tank. They went 29-28 the rest of the way, and the young core &mdash; Banchero, Franz Wagner, Markelle Fultz, etc. &mdash; seems like it&rsquo;s poised for bigger things in the Eastern Conference already. Fultz, like Banchero, was a No. 1 pick as well.
INDIANA
Odds: 6.8%, or about 15-1
Outlook: With Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers want to play fast. And he would benefit greatly from an athletic big to play pick-and-roll with (as would plenty of other people in the NBA, of course).
There&rsquo;s a lot to like about Indiana as a landing spot. Championship coach in Rick Carlisle. One of the league&rsquo;s best atmospheres. Basketball is a religion in Indiana. Make no mistake, they&rsquo;d be good right away.
WASHINGTON
Odds: 6.7%, or about 15-1
Outlook: Two things immediately jump off the page with the Wizards. One, Bradley Beal would probably become an even better version with Wembanyama. And two, with Kristaps Porzingis, this might be the rare spot for Wembanyama to not be the tallest player on his own roster.
UTAH
Odds: 4.5%, or about 22-1
Outlook: Wembanyama is obviously familiar with the Jazz, given his relationship with former Utah center Rudy Gobert. It would be a unique parallel; the Jazz trade Gobert in 2022, fall into the lottery a year later, get Wembanyama to add to a good young cast led by Lauri Markkanen.
DALLAS
Odds: 3%, or about 33-1
Outlook: Dallas raised the NBA&rsquo;s ire by tanking at the end to protect its lottery odds. If the Mavericks win the lottery and can pair Wembanyama with Luka Doncic &mdash; and perhaps Kyrie Irving &mdash; the $750,000 tanking fine might end up as the best money Mark Cuban ever spent.
CHICAGO
Odds: 1.8%, or about 55-1
Outlook: DeMar DeRozan would be a great first vet for Wembanyama to open his NBA career with and learn from.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Odds: 1.7%, or about 60-1
Outlook: The Thunder were one of the best stories in the league this season with a budding star like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and last year&rsquo;s No. 2 pick &mdash; Chet Holmgren &mdash; set to make his NBA debut this fall. Put Wembanyama on the Thunder, and it&rsquo;ll be scary.
TORONTO
Odds: 1%, or 100-1
Outlook: The Raptors will have a new coach and nobody knows what direction they&rsquo;re going yet this summer. Wembanyama would surely change some of their plans.
NEW ORLEANS
Odds: 0.5%, or 200-1
Outlook: Everyone can see the Pelicans&rsquo; potential, even with the annual mystery of how durable Zion Williamson will (or won&rsquo;t) be. To overcome 200-1 odds would be just amazing luck, and as the city&rsquo;s motto goes, it would truly mean that the good times will roll in New Orleans.

Victor Wembanyama is one of the most hyped-up prospects in years. Tim Reynolds examines how he would impact each lottery team.

Wemby watch: How Victor Wembanyama may help each draft lottery team

MIAMI (AP) &mdash;&nbsp;The reactions from Victor Oladipo&rsquo;s Miami Heat&nbsp;teammates&nbsp;told the story as he sat on the court,&nbsp;holding onto his left knee as fans watched in stunned silence.&nbsp;Kyle Lowry&nbsp;yelled a profanity.&nbsp;Max Strus&nbsp;covered his face with a towel.&nbsp;Jimmy Butler&nbsp;held his head in his hands, staring at the floor.
They feared he was hurt badly. They were right.
The Heat announced Sunday that Oladipo tore his left patellar tendon, a diagnosis that came after an MRI earlier in the day. The injury ends Oladipo&rsquo;s season and calls his availability for the start of next season &mdash; and likely beyond &mdash; into serious doubt. He will need a third major surgery in just over four years, the previous two coming after a quadriceps injury over his right knee.
No timetable will likely be known until after the surgery.
&ldquo;Yes, there are injuries. That is a part of this game. We understand that,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday before the team learned of the diagnosis. &ldquo;But the human side of it, when you see somebody that&rsquo;s overcome so much and he&rsquo;s done it time and time and time again, and he always does it with an incredible positive spirit and a smile on his face even last night &hellip; that&rsquo;s why I admire him so much.&rdquo;
Oladipo&rsquo;s is the second significant injury for the Heat in the first three games of this postseason against Milwaukee. Eighth-seeded&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2023/east-first-round-1">Miami holds a 2-1 lead</a>&nbsp;over the top-seeded Bucks going into Game 4 on Monday night. Tyler Herro was lost for at least six weeks, which probably means the rest of the season no matter how far Miami advances, when he broke his right hand in Game 1 at Milwaukee.
Herro&rsquo;s injury seemed to open a door for Oladipo to have a bigger role in Miami&rsquo;s guard rotation; Oladipo played 26 minutes in Game 2 and 19 before getting hurt in Game 3.
Oladipo has missed 255 of a possible 374 games since initially getting hurt while playing for Indiana in 2019. He&rsquo;s been listed as inactive for 226 of those games, the second-most in the NBA over that span behind Orlando&rsquo;s Jonathan Isaac.
&ldquo;The physical toll of rehab is tough but mentally, it&rsquo;s even tougher,&rdquo; said Heat center Cody Zeller, who played with Oladipo in college at Indiana and has been close with him for years. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s always so positive. He&rsquo;ll attack this rehab like he has the others. Mentally, I don&rsquo;t know how he does it. There&rsquo;s a lot of long days, a lot of slow days and it&rsquo;s tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I&rsquo;m just sick for him.&rdquo;
The injury came shortly after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1649953651824431104?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oladipo pulled off perhaps one of his top highlight-reel plays</a>&nbsp;of the season, controlling a rebound at one end, dribbling downcourt at full speed, blowing past three Milwaukee players on his way to the rim and scoring &mdash; punching the air in celebration to end that play.
The next shot he took was his last: He drove down the lane, getting past two Bucks, then appeared to slip as he tried to plant for his jump and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BallyHEAT/status/1649955318187655168?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grabbed at his knee right away</a>&nbsp;as he landed.
&ldquo;I think of all these times behind the scenes when no one&rsquo;s watching,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve had a front-row seat to that on all these off days the last three years, on weekends when no one is here &mdash; but he&rsquo;s on the training table, and then working his way to the weight room, usually like a four- or five-hour process and then finishing up with all the post-rehab work. &hellip; Those can be very frustrating times, but you never would see that on his face.&rdquo;
Miami&rsquo;s guard rotation is now very thin. Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry are the point guards. Strus and Duncan Robinson &mdash; who has been in and out of the rotation this season, but had 20 points in Game 3 &mdash; will be the primary shooting guards. There aren&rsquo;t many other options.
Oladipo,&nbsp;who has a $9.5 million player option for next season,&nbsp;was a two-time All-Star with Indiana before&nbsp;getting hurt in January 2019.&nbsp;He returned a year later, wasn&rsquo;t anywhere near the same player and Indiana traded him to Houston in January 2021. The Rockets didn&rsquo;t keep him long before&nbsp;moving him to Miami,&nbsp;with whom Oladipo played four games in March 2021 before getting hurt again.
Oladipo appeared in just eight regular-season games in the 2021-22 season while recovering from a second surgery to repair his right quadriceps tendon. He got into 15 playoff games for Miami last season, then agreed on a two-year deal to stay with the Heat last summer.
He played in 42 games this season with Miami, his most in any regular season since 2017-18.
&ldquo;Never count him out,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;But it hurts.&rdquo;

The Heat announced Sunday that Victor Oladipo tore his left patellar tendon, a diagnosis that came after an MRI earlier in the day.

Heat's Victor Oladipo tears patellar tendon, latest injury setback

Some moments from the 2022-23 NBA regular season:
Oct. 18: Boston defeats Philadelphia and Golden State beats the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night. <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-stephen-curry-e246e86804a28295efea3e00d33dc510" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Warriors received their championship rings</a> from last season in a ceremony preceding their game.
Oct. 20: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-san-antonio-spurs-miami-heat-nba-sports-8e45a1092f25e28f0672a83d317a9a68" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA referee Tony Brown, 55, dies of pancreatic cancer.</a> He worked more than 1,100 games in a two-decade career.
Nov. 4: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-kyrie-irving-racial-injustice-972e41eed3debbd9a548433c78227f05" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nike suspends its relationship with Kyrie Irving</a> and canceled plans to release his next signature shoe, part of the massive fallout caused by the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; guard tweeting a link to a film containing antisemitic material. Nike and Irving eventually part ways; Irving eventually apologizes and returns to the Nets.
Nov. 5: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1589042762686795777?s=20&amp;t=nk9Tw0T3tQEq6Mw4vOqrsg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox</a> hits from just inside the midcourt stripe at the buzzer of overtime, giving the Kings a 126-123 win in Orlando.
Nov. 8: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-nba-sports-breonna-taylor-fc0f38a2c59da07f90833ae479e66cc0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To commemorate Election Day,</a> the NBA plays no games. The league encourages its teams and fans to spend the day participating in civic engagement.
Nov. 11: The arena where the Miami Heat play starts the process of getting a new name, after the <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ftx-miami-heat-arena-name-change-b3f47e4fb5bb0f102560fa6956997bdb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapses.</a> FTX was in the early stages of a 19-year, $135 million naming rights deal with Miami-Dade County.
Nov. 13: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-utah-jazz-nba-sports-joel-embiid-bef34587365fd8e8668f6024ab73d05a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid scores a career-best 59</a> points in a win over Utah. He adds 11 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocked shots.
Nov. 28: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-indiana-pacers-nba-sports-b6e1415dd4d8fa0fac2a10c8477da348" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Nembhard hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer</a> and Indiana stuns the Los Angeles Lakers 116-115. The Pacers trailed by 17 with 9:27 remaining; it was the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in the NBA this season.
Dec. 13: The NBA announces a rebranding of its MVP award, revealing a new trophy and a new name &mdash; <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-charlotte-hornets-nba-sports-david-stern-de67e49f0255ef10f140365636110ae4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Michael Jordan Trophy.</a>
Dec. 17: In Mexico City, <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/san-antonio-spurs-miami-heat-nba-sports-duncan-robinson-074cecb1060491994c22a42efa8670a6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami defeated San Antonio 111-101.</a> It was the NBA&rsquo;s first game in Mexico City since 2019.
Dec. 20: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/cleveland-cavaliers-phoenix-suns-college-football-nba-sports-f455a8e3b437a07aa4684c7dd3adb16b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mortgage billionaire Mat Ishbia</a> strikes a deal to purchase embattled Robert Sarver&rsquo;s share of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury in a deal that values the franchise at $4 billion.
Dec. 25: Philadelphia tops New York, Dallas beats the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston beats Milwaukee, Golden State tops Memphis and Denver edges Phoenix in the NBA&rsquo;s Christmas quintupleheader.
Dec. 27: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-knicks-dallas-mavericks-sports-basketball-luka-doncic-ed7d9ce55160d04e2c206f6a8b742cdd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic has a 60-point triple-double</a> in the Mavericks&rsquo; 126-121 win over New York. He added 21 rebounds and 10 assists in the first 60-20-10 game in NBA history.
Jan. 2: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/kobe-bryant-chicago-bulls-los-angeles-lakers-cleveland-cavaliers-utah-jazz-ef2ccddb44dd42fa14ebed5f8344c5a2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell scores 71 points</a> in the Cavaliers&rsquo; 145-134 overtime win over Chicago. Mitchell was 22 of 34 from the field, 7 of 15 on 3-pointers and 20 for 25 from the foul line. He also had 11 assists, marking the first time anyone had more than 70 points and 10 assists in an NBA game.
Jan. 10: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-sports-basketball-18113c7918466a8d6a41714b963403cb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami goes 40 for 40 from the foul line</a> in a one-point win over Oklahoma City. The 40-for-40 breaks the previous NBA record of 39-for-39 by Utah in 1982.
Jan. 13: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-atlanta-hawks-san-antonio-spurs-nba-sports-e05988d6e1537c605aad5ea8a14d4887" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At the Alamodome in San Antonio,</a> the Spurs sell an NBA-record 68,323 tickets for a game against Golden State.
Jan. 19: With presumed 2023 No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama sitting courtside, Zach LaVine scores 30 points and the <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-jaden-ivey-hamidou-diallo-3770db44edb9a08e1ad116ecad45109f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Bulls ease past the Detroit Pistons 126-108</a> in Paris. France was the seventh different country to host an NBA practice or game this season.
Feb. 6: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-new-york-knicks-dallas-mavericks-clippers-nba-ea90e45174274a917654448db9554dfc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooklyn trades Kyrie Irving to Dallas,</a> ending his up-and-down stint with the Nets that was more memorable for off-the-court challenges than actual play.
Feb. 7: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lebron-james-nba-scoring-record-cd0df2a355eaf80c6d534cbb16d44ca9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LeBron James makes a 14-foot jumper late in the third quarter to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s career NBA scoring record.</a> Abdul-Jabbar held the mark since 1984 and was in Los Angeles to watch James&rsquo; record-breaker.
Feb. 9: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-phoenix-suns-nba-sports-basketball-3932b34f477549895cce131490bec86d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooklyn trades Kevin Durant to Phoenix,</a> a blockbuster on NBA trade-deadline day.
Feb. 16: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-basketball-ime-udoka-151efe3c319c986b770437cd25794339" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston removes the interim title from 34-year-old coach Joe Mazzulla,</a> the former assistant who took over the Celtics in September after now-former coach Ime Udoka was suspended by the team for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the organization.
Feb. 18: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-sports-nba-all-star-game-walker-kessler-collin-sexton-6a2ea26147bafb0f80ea77620cacf2e9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia&rsquo;s Mac McClung puts on a scintillating show</a> to win the dunk contest at All-Star weekend. Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard wins the 3-point contest and Utah players Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton combined to win the Skills Challenge.
Feb. 19: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-lebron-james-kyrie-irving-giannis-antetokounmpo-2cf83e2e57350687e68ba89a6deb2707" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum scores a record 55 points</a> and Team Giannis tops Team LeBron 184-175 to win the All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.
Feb. 24: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-clippers-sacramento-kings-nba-sports-malik-monk-4047cea9a226d5fd135de97c65d0d054" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sacramento defeats the Los Angeles Clippers 176-175.</a> The 351 combined points are the second-most in NBA history, behind only Detroit&rsquo;s 186-184 win over Denver on Dec. 13, 1983.
Feb. 26: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/houston-rockets-portland-trail-blazers-nba-sports-damian-lillard-1e1a83642e942d51d91ee014b5b7947c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard scores 71 points</a> in the Trail Blazers&rsquo; 131-114 win over Houston. Lillard made 22 of 38 shots from the field, 13 of 22 from 3-point range and all 14 of his free throws. He also led Portland in assists, with six.
Feb. 27: <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-playoffs-264bcc009ce664a640b5c903e35f1656" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Atlanta introduces Quin Snyder</a> as its new coach, after firing Nate McMillan about a week earlier.
March 4: Memphis guard Ja Morant live-streams himself holding a gun while inside a Denver-area strip club. He quickly announces he was taking &ldquo;some time away to get help&rdquo; and ultimately was <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-suspended-nba-gun-video-8cc82061f6465f96d6c5d0806d92d7d0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended for eight games by the NBA</a> for his personal conduct.
March 17 and 19: A tale of two comebacks. San Antonio blew a 29-point lead on March 17 and lost to Memphis 126-120; two nights later, the Spurs rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit and beat Atlanta 126-118. It was the biggest second-half comeback for the Spurs under coach Gregg Popovich.
March 29: Jrue Holiday has 51 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, while Giannis Antetokounmpo adds 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists, and Milwaukee tops Indiana 149-136. <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1641271779380559872?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It&rsquo;s the first time in NBA history two teammates</a> have had at least 38 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in the same game.
April 1: In the early morning hours, <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-labor-players-0cf524b13e459eeb5853dad9a455e0e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association strike a handshake deal</a> on what, if approved by owners and players, will be a seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement that will take effect in July and ensure labor peace in the league until at least 2029.
April 7: Dallas sits several regulars, including Kyrie Irving, and plays Luka Doncic for only about a quarter in a loss to Chicago. The loss eliminated the Mavericks from postseason contention and the team&rsquo;s motivation for losing catches the eye of the NBA, <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/mavericks-playoffs-nba-investigation-tanking-7ac5f76590adafd9df1c7c590a78d346" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which opens an investigation the next day.</a>
April 9: Udonis Haslem scores 24 points in his final regular season game, as his 20-year career with the Miami Heat draws to an end. <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/magic-heat-haslem-finale-f8e560c77aa5c36a20dbb12ebb58fca5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At 42, he&rsquo;s nearly two years older</a> than anyone else to have scored at least 24 points in an NBA game.

Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press revisits the notable moments from the 2022-23 NBA season.

Season of NBA moments: LeBron, Lillard, Mitchell and more

The most famous scoring race in NBA history was probably the 1978 edition, when George Gervin edged out David Thompson by seven hundredths of a point.
Thompson scored 73 points in his team&rsquo;s final game of the regular season, only for Gervin to answer with 63 later that day. It was an example of how two talented players &mdash; with a tight margin separating them &mdash; can push each other to some impressive heights.
Will we see anything similar this coming week from Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic?
Embiid is the current leader at 32.97 points per game. Doncic is at 32.75. The regular season ends April 9 &mdash; 45 years to the day after Thompson and Gervin produced their fantastic finish to the 1977-78 season. Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers are scheduled to play at Brooklyn at 1 p.m. That game should end around the time Doncic and the Mavericks tip off against San Antonio.
So it&rsquo;s easy to imagine Embiid putting up a huge number and leaving Doncic to try and answer with his own scoring binge. And that would be fitting, given that this season has already had two 71-point games from Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard.
(Lillard is a close third in the scoring race at 32.17 ppg, but he&rsquo;s had a calf injury and hasn&rsquo;t played since March 22 for the out-of-contention Portland Trail Blazers. He has appeared in 58 games &mdash; the exact number needed to qualify for the scoring title.)
Doncic scored 60 points in a Dec. 27 game against the New York Knicks, and Embiid had 59 on Nov. 13 against Utah. There&rsquo;s no telling how high they might go if there&rsquo;s enough motivation to chase the scoring championship.
Of course, that&rsquo;s the big question: How big a priority is it? Especially for Embiid, who won last year.
The 76ers have four games remaining. They&rsquo;re currently third in the Eastern Conference, three games behind Boston and 2 1/2 ahead of Cleveland. If Philadelphia&rsquo;s postseason seeding becomes certain, would Embiid &mdash; who is also an MVP candidate &mdash; sit out to rest up for the playoffs?
Doncic may not have that choice. The Mavericks are a game out of the last play-in spot in the West, and they need him in the lineup as they try to salvage their rapidly deteriorating season. Of course, that means winning games is the priority, so Dallas may not be in a position to feed Doncic the ball in an effort to get him the scoring crown.
Gervin finished the 1977-78 season at 27.22 ppg, with Thompson at 27.15. That is, according to Sportradar, the closest race since 1969-70, when the NBA started using points per game to determine the scoring champion instead of total points.
Here are the other four closest races since then &mdash; and how they ended:
1993-94: David Robinson 29.79, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal 29.35.
Robinson and O&rsquo;Neal gave the NBA a Thompson vs. Gervin redux in &rsquo;94. Well, half of one. Robinson poured it on in San Antonio&rsquo;s finale, scoring 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. That performance broke the team record for single-game scoring &mdash; set by Gervin in his 63-point game 16 years earlier. It left O&rsquo;Neal needing 68 points for the title, but he managed only 32. Brian Hill, Shaq&rsquo;s coach in Orlando, called the Spurs-Clippers game a &ldquo;farce.&rdquo;
1997-98: Michael Jordan 28.74, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal 28.32.
Another near-miss for Shaq, although he played only 60 games that season while Jordan played all 82. Jordan scored 44 points in his final regular-season game for Chicago. O&rsquo;Neal needed 59 the following day and scored 33. It was the 10th and last scoring title for Jordan.
2009-10: Kevin Durant 30.15, LeBron James 29.71.
This was a close race, but it wasn&rsquo;t overly suspenseful because James was rested at the end of the season and didn&rsquo;t play in any of Cleveland&rsquo;s last four games. Durant scored 31 points in Oklahoma City&rsquo;s finale, but even if he&rsquo;d gone scoreless, he&rsquo;d have won.
2011-12: Kevin Durant 28.03, Kobe Bryant 27.86.
Durant won his third straight title after scoring 32 points in the regular-season finale. Bryant could have passed him with a 38-point effort the following night, but he sat out the Lakers&rsquo; game at Sacramento as the team prepared for the playoffs. James finished at 27.15, making this the last time the top three scorers were within a point of each other &mdash; a scenario that could be repeated this year.

Noah Trister of the AP looks at this year's scoring title race and revisits four of the closest battles in the past.

Will load management impact NBA scoring race?

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

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

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

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Julius Randle scored 28 points to lead New York to a 128-106 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night as the Knicks celebrated the golden anniversary of their 1972-73 NBA championship team.
Six players scored in double figures for New York, which won its fifth straight. R.J. Barrett had 25 points and a season-high seven assists. Jalen Brunson added 20 points, Josh Hart scored 15 points, Immanuel Quickley added 13, and Mitchell Robinson finished with a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team, any given night it&rsquo;s going to be different,&rdquo; Barrett said, when asked if the 2022-23 Knicks were emulating their 1972-73 predecessors by playing unselfish basketball. &ldquo;We did a great job sharing the ball. Everybody kind of had a great game.&rdquo;
Brandon Ingram scored 19 points for the Pelicans, who lost their third straight and fourth in five games overall. Josh Richardson added 16 points, C.J. McCollum finished with 13 and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Trey Murphy III scored 11 off the bench.
&ldquo;We have to be better and I (have to) hold our guys more accountable,&rdquo; Pelicans coach Willie Green said. &ldquo;That standard in which we played with tonight is not us.&rdquo;
New York was playing the second half of a back-to-back, coming off a 115-109 win over the Wizards a night earlier in Washington. Meanwhile the Pelicans last played Thursday, falling 115-110 loss to the Raptors in Toronto.
The Knicks came out looking like the fresher team, building a 42-26 advantage after the first quarter, and extending the lead to 73-52 at halftime.
Randle (19), Barrett (13), and Brunson (12) combined for 44 points as New York shot 54.3% from the field (25 for 46) and 50% from 3-point distance (13 for 26). New York&rsquo;s 13 3-pointers in the first half matched a season high.
&ldquo;Got off to a good start,&rdquo; said Randle, &ldquo;and sustained it.&rdquo;
The Pelicans trailed by as many as 27 points midway through the third. Despite going on a 19-12 run to close out the period, New Orleans trailed 102-82 entering the fourth.
New York opened the fourth with a 12-8 spurt, highlighted by Robinson&rsquo;s one-handed alley-oop dunk. And Randle&rsquo;s two-handed dunk off of Quickley&rsquo;s off-the-backboard-pass all but ended any hopes of a comeback by the Pelicans.
New Orleans lost reserve forward Larry Nance Jr. in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle. He did not return. Nance was defending Quickley and landed awkwardly while attempting to contest a layup. Nance was down on the court for a few minutes and had to be helped to the locker room.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Here is what Green knows: He and his team will have star Zion Williamson return from a right hamstring injury at some point this season. Green and his team suspect Williamson&rsquo;s return will happen before the playoffs begin. What is unknown is how Williamson will be reintroduced to the roster. &ldquo;Once (we know) he&rsquo;s ready it&rsquo;s something that (Executive Vice-President of Basketball Operations David Griffin and) our performance team and medical (staff) and coaches sit down and talk about what&rsquo;s the best plan,&rdquo; Green said. Entering the game, the Pelicans had lost 17 of 24 games played in 2023 without Williamson in the lineup.
Knicks: Throughout the game, the Knicks paid homage to their 1972-73 championship team with video testimonials and a halftime ceremony. And perhaps no person in Madison Square Garden could better appreciate that team more than Tom Thibodeau, who grew up in Connecticut rooting for the Knicks. &ldquo;That was such a great team,&rdquo; Thibodeau said during his pregame press conference. &ldquo;They were so unselfish. They played great defense. &hellip; That was such a fun team but it&rsquo;s what they embodied and how they played for each other. I think it resonated with the city.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Host Orlando on Monday.
Knicks: Host Boston on Monday.

New York defeated the Pelicans 128-106, as the Knicks celebrated the golden anniversary of their 1972-73 NBA championship team.

Knicks rout Pelicans while honoring 1973 championship squad

For basketball fans, the NBA trade deadline is one of the most exciting days of the year. It&rsquo;s fun to track the rumors, react to trades and root for your favorite team to make moves.
However, for the players involved in these trades, it can be very stressful and emotional.
Most players spend deadline day looking over their shoulder, and there&rsquo;s a lot of anxiety and nerves around this time of year. There aren&rsquo;t many professions where your employer can ship you across the country without any notice, but that comes with being a professional athlete.
To get a sense of what it&rsquo;s like to be traded, Basketball News spoke to several former NBA players who opened up about getting dealt and what the process entailed.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtyqvPS02_Y&amp;t=2886s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RAY ALLEN</a>: &ldquo;When I got to Seattle, [here&rsquo;s] the way the trade went down. I was in Milwaukee playing for the Bucks and we flew to Seattle, and we had a practice that day. It was coming up on the trade deadline, and everyone was talking about Tim Thomas being traded. So we were on the Key Arena floor in Seattle and the media came rushing in. I'm sitting on the floor stretching and I'm looking around and as I turn [toward the media], all of these lights come on. And I'm like, 'What's happening? We're about to have practice.' And then I turn around and I'm like, 'What's going on?' And they're all looking and pointing at me. I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Me?!&rsquo; [The media members] are like, 'Yeah! You!' So we're stretching on one end and the other team is stretching on the other end, and [Bucks head coach] George Karl is down there on the other end. I kind of look around and I&rsquo;m looking up [at Coach Karl], and he takes off. So, I walk over to the media and said, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s going on?&rsquo; They were like, &lsquo;There was a trade.&rsquo; I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Who got traded?&rsquo; They were like, &lsquo;You.&rsquo; I go into the locker room and check my phone and it's blowing up. I got traded for Gary Payton. It was crazy to be traded to Seattle in the middle of the season. I go back [to Milwaukee], get my stuff, take my physical and fly back in. And my first game [as a Sonic] is against the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I remember going out to lunch with Brent Barry, who was so great the whole time. He was such a jokester on the sly; he always had his little sarcasm that he'd add to any situation. He goes, 'Ray, just so you know, people aren't coming to the game to see you. They're coming to see the Barry brothers match-up.' Because Jon [Barry] was on Detroit. That was always Brett, with his dry humor. (Laughs) So, I'm watching the [Sonics'] film and Gary was &lsquo;The Glove&rsquo; &mdash; everybody knew how ferocious he was on defense. In Milwaukee, we had schemes, and I was used to that. But watching [the Sonics&rsquo;] film, Gary would come from one side of the floor and just start guarding a guy. And I was like, &lsquo;What scheme is that?&rsquo; And they were like, &lsquo;No, that&rsquo;s Gary&rsquo;s scheme.&rsquo; I noticed how the team was built around him, because a lot of the young players, they had kinda just waited on Gary to do whatever Gary did. So when I got there, Rashard [Lewis] was young and impressionable. We had Ansu Sesay, Reggie Evans, Jerome James and all of these young guys, and they all kinda just went as Gary went. So when I got there, I was like, 'Yo, get your shots up! I need you!' I was passing them the ball; I was flirting with triple-doubles like every other game. But I was like, 'You guys gotta [do something]!' They would just sit around, and I could tell the hole that Gary left &mdash; these guys were used to playing a certain way and kinda expecting him to do everything.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Rashard emerged because he started watching me come to the gym early every day and he would always say, 'Man, I want to make the money that you make and have the success that you've had. I really gotta start focusing in and taking this seriously&hellip;&rsquo; So, Rashard started getting to the gym early. He saw the work that I put in, and he saw that it was something that he could do and something he wanted for himself. I like to think that some of that money that he got from Orlando, he could have passed some of it [to me] on the side, but that didn&rsquo;t happen. (Laughs) But he was a great partner to have because he did get significantly better &mdash; so much better &mdash; from the time I got there to when we parted ways with him going to Orlando and me going to Boston. [I never talked to Coach Karl about him running away] and since then, George has always taken shots at me through the media or in writing his books. It's just the strangest thing because I always thought that we had a strong relationship as a player-coach.&rdquo;
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<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-etan-thomas-wpfw-dc-roundtable-drew-gooden-tony-massenburg-dave-zirin-john-wall-russell-westbrook-trade-washington-wizards-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ETAN THOMAS</a>: &ldquo;I have a story from when I was with the Wizards. I was in [general manager] Ernie Grunfeld&rsquo;s office. We&rsquo;re talking about me going to big-man camp because they used to send a big man down to Florida to IMG Academy to work out with Robert Parish and Clifford Ray. So I&rsquo;m in there in the summer, and I&rsquo;m talking to him about big-man camp. And I&rsquo;ve heard a little bit of trade rumors, I&rsquo;ve heard whispers and stuff like that, but nothing major. So he&rsquo;s telling me, 'Yeah, you&rsquo;re coming back from your injury, we&rsquo;re looking forward to next year. We want to send you down to big-man camp and you&rsquo;re doing all this stuff, and Robert Parish is great to work with and Clifford Ray is this, and we&rsquo;re looking forward to everything with you and we&rsquo;ll see how you and Brendan [Haywood] can work together,' and all this different stuff. It was this whole long speech, right?
"Now I&rsquo;m driving from the Verizon Center home to PG County. I&rsquo;m not even off Route 50 yet, and I get a call from my agent who says, 'You just got traded.' I was like, 'Are you serious?' I was like, 'No, that has to be a mistake! I was just in Ernie Grunfeld&rsquo;s office like 10-15 minutes ago!' So, I had to do a U-turn, go back to the Verizon Center, clear out all my stuff, and then he shook my hand and said, 'Thank you for everything,' like the whole conversation 15 minutes ago never happened."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/pos2.jpg" alt="" width="689" height="466" />
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/heres-the-story-on-the-time-the-nuggets-traded-me-and-didnt-tell-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAMES POSEY</a>: &ldquo;I was in my fourth season with the Denver Nuggets, and things hadn&rsquo;t really gotten off to the best start, to say the least. We were 6-18 and knew we were gonna have our hands full that night. Our opponent? The Dallas Mavericks. With Mike Finley, Steve Nash, Raef LaFrentz and Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas was no joke. They began the season 21-3, so in our morning shootaround, we were definitely engaged. Afterward, I showered and changed, went back home, took my pregame nap and was on my way back to the arena. I&rsquo;m driving and going over the gameplan in my head when I get a call from my agent. He said he was calling to 'check on me.' He asked me how I was doing and where I was. I thought the questions were a little strange, but didn&rsquo;t really think much of it. 'I&rsquo;m going to the arena, we got a game,' I said. 'You&rsquo;re going where?!' And that&rsquo;s how I found out I&rsquo;d been traded. We were both shocked, and for the same reason.
"Nobody communicated with me. I was literally a couple miles from the arena. Getting traded is a part of life as a professional athlete. And fortunately for me, I was young and, outside of the team, hadn&rsquo;t really had any family roots or ties to Denver. But that didn&rsquo;t completely remove the sting. I just considered myself lucky to not be in a situation where I also had to move a wife and three kids in the middle of the school year. Not every player is that fortunate. One minute, you&rsquo;re driving on the highway. The next minute, at a moment&rsquo;s notice, you have to start packing and prepare to make a new life in a new city. It&rsquo;s the hardest part of the job, and it&rsquo;s one that we all accept. But damn. When I got the news &mdash; again, I was literally five minutes from the arena and had done shootaround that morning with my teammates and coaches &mdash; I had mixed emotions. My initial reaction was just genuine shock, and even though resentment might be too strong of a word, I definitely felt some kind of way. 'They couldn't even tell me?'
"I can&rsquo;t speak for everybody, but I can definitely understand how being traded and not being told could make a player feel really disposable. Sometimes, people forget that players are people too. As far as I know, there&rsquo;s no specific rule about when you are no longer able to communicate with the coaching staff or the front office of a team that trades you, but in most instances, there would at least be a phone call or a text message from your old coach or GM or whoever. Just a, 'Thank you for your service, we wish you the best of luck,' something like that. From Denver, I got nothing. All those thoughts and feelings raced through my mind in the 30 seconds it took me to process everything and turn my car around. Then, naturally, I asked my agent the question everyone in my situation would ask. 'Where did I get traded to?' When he told me Houston, I perked up and immediately pressed the gas... I actually moved in with Nick Van Exel after the trade. He had a crib in Houston, so I stayed with him. When I found out about the trade, I just packed up as much of my clothes as I could and went to Nick&rsquo;s house. I stayed there until the end of the season, then I got my own spot. But yeah, if my agent hadn&rsquo;t called, I would've showed up at the arena and they probably wouldn't have even let me in.&rdquo;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-etan-thomas-wpfw-dc-roundtable-drew-gooden-tony-massenburg-dave-zirin-john-wall-russell-westbrook-trade-washington-wizards-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DREW GOODEN</a>: &ldquo;I got drafted as the No. 4 pick in Memphis. Jerry West, it was his first year being the president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, and I was his pick at No. 4, and I would say three or four months into that season, we were stockpiled at my position. We had Stromile Swift (who was drafted as the No. 2 pick two years prior to me), Pau Gasol (who was the No. 3 pick the year before my draft) and Shane Battier (who was the No. 6 or No. 7 pick that same year) and then the following year, they picked me at No. 4. So we had a lot of young talent, but we just could not put the pieces together to make something right. I heard the trade rumors. Rumors are rumors until they actually happen. It&rsquo;s funny, this story, because when I was hearing the rumors about me being traded, me and my agent had the discussion with Jerry West.
"Jerry West said, 'Drew, this is ridiculous, we have no intentions of trading you. Don&rsquo;t read the papers, you&rsquo;re going to be here a long time. So plan on wearing a Memphis jersey for a long time.' So I was like, 'Alright, that&rsquo;s cool; Jerry West gave me a straight-up answer, man! We&rsquo;ve got nothing to worry about! Let&rsquo;s just see what happens, man, let&rsquo;s ride this season out.' A day later,&nbsp;less than 24 hours later, I get a call from Dick Versace, who was an assistant general manager at the time saying, 'Drew, we&rsquo;ve got some news.' He said, 'You&rsquo;re on your way to the Orlando Magic; we just traded you for Mike Miller, the reigning Rookie of the Year.' And I was like, 'Wowww.' I was happy, don&rsquo;t get it wrong, I was happy that I was traded, but I was like, 'Wowww, Jerry West just told me that I was not going to get traded less than 24 hours ago, and then he has somebody else call me to tell me I was traded?!'"
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-tj-ford-james-posey-interview-qa-milwaukee-bucks-toronto-raptors-indiana-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">T.J. FORD</a>: "The way I got traded, I felt it was just cold-blooded. Getting traded for the first time is just a unique experience. I got traded in the summer, I think after Hurricane Katrina and all that; it was when the Essence Festival was in Houston for the first time. Somebody bought my house and I was supposed to move out a week later, but they told me they wanted me out on Friday. Now, I've got an appearance in Milwaukee on Saturday that I'm supposed to fly to on Friday&hellip; So I get to Milwaukee and I speak at Michael Redd's camp, but he wasn't there. It was just a strange day. Who comes to somebody's campand then they ain't there? That just didn't make sense to me. [I&rsquo;m thinking], &lsquo;Gosh, something ain't right.&rsquo;
"I ended up having dinner plans with Skip [Robinson], the public relations guy. He helped me do a lot of great things in Milwaukee. We go to dinner and I didn't really have no power at my house, so at the restaurant I&rsquo;ve got my phone and my charger, but they&rsquo;re not next to me. Skip answered his phone and he's sitting directly across from me and I just hear him go, 'No! No! You've got to be kidding me.' Then, he's like, 'Here, the GM wants to talk to you.' So, I'm like, 'What's going on?' The GM's like, 'How do you feel about going to Toronto?' I'm like, 'What are you talking about? Stop playing with me. Stop fuckin' with me. Seriously, what's going on?' He's like, 'No, for real. We just traded you for Charlie Villanueva and it hasn't hit the news yet and it probably won't tonight.' I'm like, 'Yo, Skip, he just told me he f*ckin' traded me. He must be joking with me.' So, I handed him the phone. I get my phone and I've got a bunch of missed calls from my mom.
"So I called my mom and she's like, 'Your agent has been trying to call you! He's been saying something about a trade?' I was like, 'I know! The GM just told me that he traded me, so it must be a joke or something. I don't know. I'll call you right back.' I called my agent right away. But before I was able to do that, they got a TV at the bar in the restaurant. And, remember, the GM just told me that nobody knew about it. But it had just hit the news. Not ESPN, I'm talking about the local news at 10. I'm like, 'Ah man!' It was the worst day, man. Worst day. I was hurt. That was a tough one&hellip; I was fortunate to always get traded in the summertime. I probably would've been really shocked if I had to move midseason. I felt like I was pretty blessed to get traded in the summertime, when you can really process it."

Basketball News spoke to several former NBA players who opened up about getting dealt and what the trade process entailed.

NBA veterans open up about getting traded: 'It was the worst day'

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and made the go-ahead basket with 1:13 left, Julius Randle had 22 points and 14 rebounds and the New York Knicks beat the Orlando Magic 102-98 Tuesday night.
Brunson&rsquo;s running bank shot put the Knicks up for good at 94-93 in a game they played almost entirely from behind. He then fed Jericho Sims for a dunk and a three-point lead with 40 seconds left.
&ldquo;We keep putting ourselves in this position of coming back from deficits,&rdquo; said Brunson, who had 10 points and two assists in the fourth quarter. &ldquo;On the flip side of that we kept fighting, but we&rsquo;ve got to start games better.&rdquo;
The teams combined to shoot 10 free throws in the final 7.7 seconds. The only miss was by Orlando&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero, who intentionally tried to set up a tying basket with 2.3 seconds remaining.
Markelle Fultz led the Magic with 21 points. Franz Wagner added 18 points and Banchero finished with 16 points after being held to four in the first half.
&ldquo;Every possession matters and I think we got good experience of that tonight,&rdquo; Fultz said. &ldquo;We came up short but I&rsquo;m happy with the way we fought. A couple of things cost us down he stretch.&rdquo;
According to Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, those things were &ldquo;shooting 6 for 25 (3-pointers), missing a couple of free throws, and giving up 11 offensive rebounds.&rdquo;
Immanuel Quickley came off the New York bench with 18 points.
Wagner made his first five shots, two of them on a 10-0 run that gave Orlando a 12-point lead midway through the second quarter, the largest lead for either team.
&ldquo;We started off in a hole and we fought out of the hole,&rdquo; Knicks coach Tom Thibodeaux said. &ldquo;I thought in the second half we were a lot better, and I thought in the fourth quarter we were very good.&rdquo;
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Randle erased most of that lead, but the Knicks went scoreless for the final 2:20 of the first half and fell behind 48-40.
Two baskets by Quickley helped New York close the third quarter on a 7-0 run, and when Randle and Quickly opened the fourth quarter with 3s, the Knicks had their first lead since 2-0. They scored 36 in the fourth quarter, shooting 12 for 19 (63.2%).
&ldquo;I thought Julius and Jalen set the tone in the fourth quarter. Just the way we closed - big rebounds, physicality, hustle plays,&rdquo; Thibodeaux said.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it came down to in the end,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;We made our free throws, got rebounds and didn&rsquo;t turn the ball over.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Knicks: F RJ Barrett, who did not play Sunday due to illness, started and played 35 minutes. He missed nine of his first 10 shots but finished with 15 points. . . . C Mitchell Robinson missed his 10th game after having surgery on a fractured right thumb. ... C Isaiah Hartenstein had five fouls in 13 minutes. Brunson and Barrett also finished with five fouls.
Magic: The home crowd of 19,438 was the third-largest in Magic history. ... C Mo Bamba sat out the second game of a four-game suspension for his involvement in an altercation at Minnesota on Friday night. ...F Chuma Okeke, out since late November with a knee injury, has been assigned to Lakeland of the G League.
TRADE WINDS
Playing their final game before Thursday&rsquo;s trade deadline, the Knicks didn&rsquo;t seem to be in the mood for changes.
&ldquo;Our job is to show up and play basketball and let the front office deal with those situations,&rdquo; Brunson said. &ldquo;But I love my teammates. The relationships I&rsquo;ve made in the last couple of months have been special, and that&rsquo;s all I can say.&rdquo;
Said Thibodeaux: &ldquo;I love our team. We know we have a and we have a lot of young players that are going to get better as time goes on. I&rsquo;ve been around a long time and for every 100 trades they talk about, one gets done. So it&rsquo;s just noise.&rdquo;

Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and made the go-ahead basket with 1:13 left, and the New York Knicks beat the Orlando Magic 102-98.

Brunson scores 25, late basket lifts Knicks over Magic

The 2023 NBA trade deadline is just a few days away!
Teams have between now and Thursday at 3 p.m. ET to wheel and deal. For some teams, there's a bit more urgency to make a trade. We asked our Basketball News writers:
Which NBA team desperately needs to make a trade?
Alex Kennedy: The Toronto Raptors have been one of the biggest disappointments this season, as they are currently 24-30 (which is the 12th-best record in the Eastern Conference). They have a number of talented individuals on their roster, but the pieces just aren't fitting together. Recent reports have indicated that Toronto isn't sure whether to be a buyer or seller prior to the trade deadline, but it's clear that standing pat isn't an option.
Will the Raptors part ways with O.G. Anunoby, who's been one of the top players surfacing in trade rumors? Will they move Fred VanVleet and/or Gary Trent Jr. before they can opt out and hit unrestricted free agency this summer? Will Masai Ujiri try to restart talks with the Brooklyn Nets on a potential Kevin Durant blockbuster? All eyes will be on the Raptors over the next few days.
Nekias Duncan: I think the Toronto Raptors are the obvious answer here, so I&rsquo;ll set them to the side. It&rsquo;d be nice if the Miami Heat could do something here. It may not be big-game hunting &mdash; they&rsquo;ve been mentioned on the periphery of the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes &mdash; but more reliable depth would help them.
Caleb Martin is in the midst of a career-year, but it hasn&rsquo;t hit like it could because he&rsquo;s a bit overtasked at the 4. The depth behind Bam Adebayo has been shaky; I&rsquo;ve liked the play from Orlando &ldquo;Big Lando&rdquo; Robinson, but his play being *this* important underscores how dire it&rsquo;s been for the Heat. Any deal that could land them a bigger 4 could balance things out, especially if that 4 could moonlight as a 5 in small-ball lineups.
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Brian Fritz: Despite LeBron James continuing to play at an unbelievable level at 38 years old and in his 20th NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves at No. 13 in the Western Conference standings with a 25-29 record. Everyone knows that this team desperately needs to make a trade. The Lakers need to do something &ndash; anything &ndash; or else they are just wasting another season of LeBron&rsquo;s greatness. And he&rsquo;s starting to voice his frustrations again; after a recent loss, James said, "Playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA.&rdquo; Even if it's just a deal to improve around the edges, something needs to be done.
Ethan Fuller: The Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors are probably popular answers here, so I'll throw in the Portland Trail Blazers as well. Damian Lillard is leading the league in scoring since January 1 (34.9 PPG) and is playing absolutely out of his mind right now. But Portland is only 7-9 in that span and continues to be weighed down by its atrocious defense, even with some capable individual pieces.
The West is wide open and ripe for a team to capitalize. This is less about keeping Lillard happy (just take him at his word, please) and more about maximizing a career-year from a 32-year-old, high-usage point guard. If the Trail Blazers can rally and form something near a league-average defense, their chances to make a surprise postseason run suddenly skyrocket.
Spencer Davies: The Dallas Mavericks desperately need to get Luka Doncic another ball-handler and/or a better shooter. It is clear and obvious that Jalen Brunson's departure has made things twice as difficult on the Slovenian sensation, yet he's still delivering. I previously mentioned Terry Rozier, DeMar DeRozan, Fred VanVleet, D'Angelo Russell, Kyle Kuzma, Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson as possible targets. Now, Kyrie Irving is also a potential solution to Dallas' biggest problem.
The Mavericks have contracts to float around, none more obvious than Tim Hardaway Jr.'s &nbsp;deal. They could also fetch a valuable player with Dorian Finney-Smith's four-year, $55 million extension that is in Year 1. In addition, Reggie Bullock is another veteran option who's earning $10,012,800 this season and $10,489,600 next season. And if you need a filler for a bigger contract coming back, Davis Bertans is making a boatload on money ($16 million, then $17 million and an ETO in 2024-25).&nbsp;
[UPDATE: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mavericks-acquire-kyrie-irving-from-nets-in-blockbuster-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mavericks acquired Kyrie Irving shortly after this was published</a>.]
On Thursday, the Basketball News staff will be reacting to every rumor and completed trade during our 2023 NBA Trade Deadline Show! Tune in from 1 p.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET!

Which NBA team desperately needs to make a move before the Feb. 9 trade deadline? We asked our Basketball News writers to weigh in.

NBA roundtable: Which team desperately needs to make a trade?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Bam Adebayo scored 26 points and the Miami Heat led comfortably from the first quarter on in a 124-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
&ldquo;We played great basketball for the entire game,&rdquo; said Adebayo, who made 11 of 15 shots in about 30 minutes on the court.
&ldquo;We're always trying to get each other going and you love to have teammates like that," Adebayo added. &ldquo;I'm just getting to my spots. Guys want me to be assertive, want me to be aggressive.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler added 18 points and Gabe Vincent hit four 3-pointers as part of a 16-point night for the Heat. They never trailed and led for all but the first two minutes en route to their fourth victory in five games.
The Heat outscored New Orleans 64-48 in the paint and outrebounded the Pelicans 43-37, and that dominance inside had a lot to do with Adebayo's play, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
&ldquo;We ultimately want to get Bam involved as much as possible. We can&rsquo;t get the ball to him enough," Spoelstra said. "He&rsquo;s great at getting all the way to the rim and he was doing that tonight.&rdquo;
CJ McCollum scored 21 points for Pelicans. They've lost seven of 10 while playing much of that stretch without star power forward Zion Williamson.
Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which briefly trimmed a 19-point halftime deficit to 12 in the third quarter before Miami pulled away again.
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t show up with a level of urgency that it takes to play against good teams," Pelicans coach Willie Green said. "Tonight we didn&rsquo;t have it. Normally, we do, but tonight, we didn&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;This is the time of the season where it&rsquo;s sort of the dog days," Green added. "You&rsquo;ve got to do all the little things to get yourselves prepared to play.&rdquo;
Miami guard Kyle Lowry returned from left knee soreness that had sidelined him four games. He played 22 minutes and finished with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists.
&ldquo;It was good to get back,&rdquo; Lowry said. &ldquo;I feel pretty good right now and hopefully that won't reoccur.&rdquo;
Spoelstra said Lowry could have played more but there was no need to push him with the game in hand.
&ldquo;His minutes, particularly in the first half, were really good,&rdquo; Spoelstra said, noting an early steal by Lowry and his generally physical presence on defense.
Miami led by 20 in the first quarter when Vincent's 3 made it 30-10. The Pelicans responded with a 10-2 run and briefly got as close as 33-23 on Naji Marshall's driving layup as he was fouled, but Miami didn't let it get tighter in the opening half.
Vincent's 3 as the horn sounded to end the first quarter started a 12-2 run and Miami rebuilt its lead to 23 when Max Strus' 3 made it 54-21.
&ldquo;Offensively, Kyle, Jimmy, Tyler, Bam were all incredibly assertive right from start of the game and that&rsquo;s kind of mentality we have to have,&rdquo; Spoelstra said.
Miami reached the most points scored against New Orleans in a first half this season when Tyler Herro's finger roll made it 70-46.
Alvarado's banked 3 in the final seconds of the half pulled New Orleans to 70-51.
TIP-INS
Heat: Strus finished with 16 points and 10 assists. ... Herro scored 14 points. ... Caleb Martin and Orlando Robinson each scored 10 points. ... Have won five straight meetings, three of those in New Orleans. ... Shot 59.2% in the first half (29 of 49), before finishing at 53.2% (50 of 94). ... Went 12 of 35 from 3-point range.
Pelicans: Pelicans coach Willie Green chose to use his challenge in the second quarter when Alvarado was called for a defensive foul on a drive by Caleb Martin, whose elbow struck the Pelicans guard in the face. Officials ruled that the elbow as a &ldquo;natural act&rdquo; and the blocking foul on Alvarado stood. ... Herb Jones sat out with a lower back bruise. ... Williamson missed his eighth straight game with a strained right hamstring. ... Brandon Ingram missed his 26th straight game with a left large toe contusion.
QUOTABLE
Spoelstra grinned as he stated that Strus' 10 assists were likely &ldquo;his most at any level.&rdquo;
Strus said that sounded about right.
&ldquo;Man, I've never passed the ball that much in my life,&rdquo; he said.
&nbsp;

Bam Adebayo scored 26 points and the Miami Heat led comfortably throughout in a 124-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bam Adebayo scores 26 points, Heat beat Pelicans 124-98

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler took the last free throw of the night, then bent his knees a bit and almost seemed unsure what would happen as the ball made its way to the rim.
Turns out, it was perfect &mdash; and so was Miami on Tuesday night.
The Heat set an NBA record by making all 40 of their free throws, the last of those coming on Butler's three-point play with 12.9 seconds left, and rallied in the final moments to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-111.
Miami topped the 39-for-39 effort by Utah against Portland on Dec. 7, 1982.
&ldquo;It's just a normal Tuesday night for the Miami Heat," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I think this is when we feel most alive, when everything just happens and when all of our competitive juices get out there. That's the team we all can relate to. That's the team I like."
Here's just some of what happened Tuesday &mdash; the Heat played without six injured players, including four starters; backup Heat center Dewayne Dedmon was ejected after arguing with his own team and smacking a massage gun onto the court during play from the sideline; Miami had a six-point possession in the fourth quarter; and Josh Giddey had a triple-double for the Thunder.
Oh, and the record from the line.
&ldquo;Credit them, first of all, for that," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. &ldquo;That's impressive."
Butler scored 35 points and was 23 for 23 from the line, tying the second-most makes without a miss in NBA history. James Harden made 24 without a miss for Houston on Dec. 3, 2019, and Dirk Nowitzki made 24 without a miss for Dallas in a playoff game against the Thunder on May 17, 2011. Dominique Wilkins also went 23 for 23 in a game in 1992.
&ldquo;We won," Butler said. &ldquo;Complete team effort. I'm proud of my guys."
Max Strus scored 22 points and Victor Oladipo had 19 for Miami. The Heat were without four regular starters &mdash; Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin &mdash; because of injuries.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points for the Thunder. Giddey finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, getting the triple-double on an assist setting up Aaron Wiggins&rsquo; dunk for a 111-106 lead with 1:28 left.
Miami scored the final six points.
&ldquo;Whatever it takes to win," Butler said.
Miami led 89-88 going into the fourth, and with Butler on the bench &mdash; he had played the entire third quarter &mdash; the Thunder took advantage. They scored the first six points of the final period, taking their first lead of larger than three points when Tre Mann connected on a jumper with 9:20 left for a 94-89 lead.
But a six-point possession gave Miami the lead back. Oladipo made a steal and Thunder center Eugene Omoruyi was called for a clear-path foul. Oladipo made both free throws, and on the continued Miami possession, Gabe Vincent made a 3-pointer while getting fouled by Mann. Vincent made the free throw, and just like that, a 96-91 deficit was a 97-96 lead.
&ldquo;We always talk about finding a way to win. ... This is a good start to that," Butler said.
TIP-INS
Thunder: Oklahoma City reached the midway point of this season at 18-23. Even without the injured No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren, it's progress &mdash; the Thunder were 15-21 at the midpoint of the 72-game season two years ago, and 14-27 midway through last season. ... Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 of his points in the final 6:26 of the second quarter, after having only two points previously.
Heat: Udonis Haslem was the only available Heat player who didn&rsquo;t get into the game. ... Orlando Robinson started at center for Adebayo, making him the 13th player to start for Miami this season and the 202nd to start a game in team history.
MANY LINEUPS
Oklahoma City used its 20th starting lineup of the season in 41 games. Miami used its 18th in 42 games.
&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a hidden benefit to kind of some instability in your rotations and in your lineups,&rdquo; Daigneault said. &ldquo;It forces your own team to become very adaptive and to really not make excuses ... and I think it becomes hard to adjust to.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

The Heat set an NBA record by making all 40 of their free throws and rallied to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-111.

Butler, Heat set NBA free throw record, beat OKC 112-111

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Julius Randle had 28 points and 16 rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 102-83 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday in New York.
&ldquo;My teammates are getting me the ball in the right spots. They&rsquo;re getting me going early,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just focus and effort, night in and night out.&rdquo;
Jalen Brunson, who returned after missing three games with a sore right hip, scored 24 points. Immanuel Quickley scored 15 points, Quentin Grimes had 12 and Mitchell Robinson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks.
&ldquo;I shot 6-of-11 from the foul line. There&rsquo;s the rust," Brunson said. "I started out 0-for-3 and didn&rsquo;t finish the game the way I wanted to shooting-wise. But I was still in rhythm. I feel I can be more efficient, but I was just happy to be back out there.&rdquo;
Deandre Ayton led Phoenix with 12 points. Chris Paul had 11 and Mikal Bridges added 10.
The Suns, who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games, scored the first four points of the game. The Knicks followed with the next 14 and led the rest of the way.
New York went ahead 23-11 after the first quarter, the lowest total allowed to any opponent in any quarter by the Knicks since Feb. 1, 2020 (vs. Indiana).
Phoenix pulled to within 11, but a 21-0 Knicks run produced a game-high 32-point lead, 52-20.
The Suns ended the second quarter on an 11-2 streak and trailed 54-31. Phoenix tied for the fewest halftime points scored by a Knicks opponent since Orlando also scored 31 on April 11, 2015.
&ldquo;Defensively, we had to get back to our ways,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;When we won eight in a row, the defensive end was big for us. We feel that rhythm and chemistry coming back on that end.&rdquo;
The Knicks went up 74-43 following a 10-run but had their lead cut to 79-58 after the third quarter.
&ldquo;I thought the way our guys came out, they played really hard defensively and played very unselfish offensively,&rdquo; said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. &ldquo;It is sometimes difficult to play with a lead like that, but I thought our guys did a good job of playing tough. They can make up ground quickly the way they shoot threes. That was a big concern.&rdquo;
The Suns, who scored a season low, only got as close as 18 points, 83-65, in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;It is a mind-boggling thing,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;The frustration comes in for us because we&rsquo;ve been a team that can overcome that when we are not shooting the ball well. Mentally and emotionally, I have to get our guys stronger. We haven&rsquo;t been able to handle those kinds of lapses this year.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Suns: Leading scorer Devin Booker (sore left groin) missed his fourth consecutive game. &hellip; Bridges is the lone Phoenix player to start all 38 games this season. Damion Lee is the only other Sun to play in all 38.
Knicks: RJ Barrett (lacerated right index finger) missed his third straight game. &hellip; The Knicks had lost nine straight games to the Suns. New York had not beaten Phoenix since Nov. 3, 2017 (120-107 at MSG). &hellip; Randle, who posted a double-double for the 10th time in his last 11 games, is the only Knick to start all 38 games this season. He heard loud chants of &ldquo;MVP&rdquo; throughout the game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to be on the good side of the Garden,&rdquo; Randle said.
HOME SWEET HOME?
The Knicks are the only NBA team to have a winning record so far this season but a losing record (9-10) at home. Monday&rsquo;s win snapped a three-game home losing streak.
UP NEXT:
Suns: Phoenix visits the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Knicks: New York hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

Julius Randle had 28 points and 16 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 24 in his return to lead the Knicks to a 102-83 win.

Randle, Brunson help lift Knicks over Suns 102-83

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Close games are becoming the norm for the Miami Heat.
Max Strus scored 19 points, Kyle Lowry added 18 points and nine assists, and the Heat got back to .500 by holding off the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-110 on Monday night.
It was Miami's 34th game of the season &mdash; and half have been decided by five points or less. The Heat are 11-6 in such games.
&ldquo;Since we're in these kind of games every single night, there's not a sense of panic," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Orlando Robinson scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, seven of them on the offensive end for Miami &mdash; a big plus on the way to the Heat attempting 102 shots to Minnesota's 79. Tyler Herro had 14 points for the Heat (17-17), who were without Jimmy Butler (ankle) and Bam Adebayo (illness).
Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 29 points for Minnesota (16-18). Naz Reid had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who got 16 points from Jaden McDaniels, 13 from DeAngelo Russell, and 10 apiece from Austin Rivers and Rudy Gobert.
&ldquo;We just need to keep our minds in the right place," Gobert said.
Herro beat the shot clock with a long jumper with 33.2 seconds left &mdash; originally called a 3-pointer, then ruled a 2 &mdash; for a five-point lead. Edwards made a runner on the next Minnesota possession and got fouled but missed the free throw, keeping the margin three points.
Minnesota didn't foul on the ensuing Miami trip, and forced Caleb Martin into a missed 3 with 2.5 seconds left. But the Timberwolves never got a shot off that could have tied the game, a turnover ensuring that Miami would escape.
&ldquo;We've just got to be better throughout the course of the game, to ensure that we're not in that position," Reid said.
Miami was not only without Adebayo, but backup Dewayne Dedmon (left foot) was also out. That left rookie Nikola Jovic starting at center, and Robinson &mdash; on a two-way deal &mdash; backing him up.
&ldquo;We had a lot of guys step up,&rdquo; Strus said. &ldquo;Orlando Robinson was huge tonight. Huge.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Alex Rodriguez, who grew up in Miami and has been to plenty of Heat games over the years, was courtside, as would be expected. He became part of the Timberwolves&rsquo; ownership group last year. ... Minnesota was again without Kyle Anderson (back spasms).
Heat: It was the 13th game Butler has missed this season, the fourth that Adebayo has missed and the second that they were both sidelined. Miami lost 107-106 at Washington without them on Nov. 18. ... Miami Hurricanes football coach Mario Cristobal and his family were in the crowd. ... Gabe Vincent (knee) played for the first time since Dec. 5 and scored 11 points. He missed nine games.
ROBINSON&rsquo;S 3s
Heat guard Duncan Robinson&rsquo;s first 3-pointer was the 800th of his career, and he got there faster than anyone else &mdash; 263 games, 25 fewer than Dallas star Luka Doncic needed. Robinson is now the fastest to 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 career 3-pointers. Lauri Markkanen was the fastest to 100, needing only 41 games.
Robinson now has 802 career 3s, four behind Tim Hardaway's Heat record.
TOWNS UPDATE
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said he checks on injured center Karl-Anthony Towns often, primarily just to ask about his well-being and not the progress of his calf injury. Towns hasn&rsquo;t played since Nov. 28 and Monday was his 13th consecutive missed game. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing well, but still a multitude of weeks out for us,&rdquo; Finch said.
&nbsp;

Max Strus scored 19 points, Kyle Lowry added 18 points, and the Heat got back to .500 by holding off the Timberwolves 113-110.

Heat hold off Timberwolves 113-110, get back to .500 mark

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant each scored 32 points and the Nets extended their longest winning streak since moving to Brooklyn to nine games with a 125-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
The Nets withstood a sensational 46-point performance by Darius Garland, who single-handedly kept the Cavs close in the fourth.
Brooklyn has won 13 of 14 and is beginning to look like an NBA title contender.
T.J. Warren added a season-high 23 points for the Nets, who handled one of the teams they&rsquo;re chasing in the Eastern Conference standings after beating Milwaukee by 18 last Friday.
Durant moved past Tim Duncan (26,496) into 15th place on the career scoring list.
Irving made a season-high seven 3-pointers &mdash; and two key free throws with 41.1 seconds left &mdash; while being booed nearly every time he touched the ball by fans who cheered him during six seasons with Cleveland.
CLIPPERS 142, PISTONS 131, OT
DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Paul George scored 32 points and Los Angeles overcame a 14-point deficit in the final 3:34 of regulation to beat Detroit in overtime.
Terance Mann hit a tying jumper with five seconds left in the fourth quarter to cap a closing 16-2 run for the Clippers, who trailed 126-112 with 3:34 remaining. Los Angeles then outscored the Pistons 14-3 in the extra period.
Ivica Zubac added 12 points and 15 rebounds for Los Angeles, which has beaten Detroit eight straight times. The Clippers had seven players score in double figures.
Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 23 points, including the Pistons&rsquo; only field goal of the last eight minutes. Isaiah Stewart added 21 points for NBA-worst Detroit.
HEAT 113, TIMBERWOLVES 110
MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Max Strus scored 19 points, Kyle Lowry added 18 points and nine assists, and Miami got back to .500 by holding off Minnesota.
Orlando Robinson scored 15 points and Tyler Herro had 14 for the Heat (17-17), who were without Jimmy Butler (ankle) and Bam Adebayo (illness).
Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 29 points for the Timberwolves (16-18). Naz Reid had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
ROCKETS 133, BULLS 118
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Kevin Porter Jr. scored a season-high 36 points and Houston used a 17-1 run in the third quarter to beat Chicago, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Alperan Sengun added 25 points and Jalen Green had 24 for the Rockets, who scored the first 10 points of the game but blew an 18-point lead before their third-quarter spurt.
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 for the Bulls, who won their previous three games. DeRozan passed George Gervin for 44th place on the career scoring list with 20,727 points.
PELICANS 113, PACERS 93
NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Naji Marshall scored a career-high 22 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and short-handed New Orleans extended its winning streak to three games by beating Indiana.
CJ McCollum added 19 points for the Pelicans, who were missing top scorer Zion Williamson along with Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III.
Rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 15 points in 22 minutes off the bench. Myles Turner scored 14.
SPURS 126, JAZZ 122
SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Devin Vassell had 24 points, Keldon Johnson added 21 and San Antonio fended off Utah in the final minutes.
The Spurs led 121-110 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. The Jazz scored seven points in 33 seconds, but could not complete the comeback.
Lauri Markkanen had 32 points and Jordan Clarkson added 25 for Utah.
Clarkson&rsquo;s 3-pointer cut it to 123-120 with 30.1 seconds left, but Tre Jones tossed in a floater 23 seconds later to seal the victory.
Jones had 11 points and Jakob Poeltl scored 16 for San Antonio.
TRAIL BLAZERS 124, HORNETS 113
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Jusuf Nurkic scored 27 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to go with 14 rebounds and six assists as Portland defeated Charlotte.
Jerami Grant led all scorers with 32 points for Portland. Damian Lillard had 17 points and nine assists on a night when he was honored for becoming the leading scorer in Trail Blazers history.
LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 25 points.
Portland trailed by 14 in the second quarter but Nurkic sparked the turnaround, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists after halftime.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A recap of Monday night's NBA slate includes an Eastern Conference showdown between two of the league's best.