Titans

<div>The Indiana Pacers medical team decided to clear Tyrese Haliburton to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals despite an existing calf strain and that blunder resulted in a torn Achilles tendon. While understandable given the gravity of the situation, that decision proved to be very costly for not only the organization as a whole but more importantly to Tyrese Haliburton as it was just announced that he would miss the entire 2025/2026 season due to a torn achilles.&nbsp;</div>
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-1_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
<div>In contrast, this past summer, my daughter Imani Thomas class of 2026 was faced with a very difficult decision to play through an injury at Nationals and risk further more severe injury.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Here&rsquo;s the story: &nbsp;</div>
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<div>Imani had played through shin splints for the entire travel season with her team Maryland Juniors. These shin splints actually developed during her junior year high school season with Bishop McNamara, but she is a soldier and she pushed through like all athletes do.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>However, toward the end of her travel season, the shin splints continued to get worse. She did constant treatment and even started over compensating to protect her shin splints until one practice she could barely move. The assistant coach (Coach Ashley Williams) came up to me and said,&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;Imani is a beast, and she is not going to stop playing no matter what I tell her. But you need to get this checked out because it&rsquo;s visibly getting worse&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
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<div>So me and my wife Nichole took her to get X Rays and a MRI and it was discovered that her shin splints had turned into a stress fracture.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>She was devastated. Nationals were coming up and like any athlete she contemplated just sucking it up and playing through the pain.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The doctor was honest with us. He explained to us that if Imani was playing soccer, he would definitely not clear her to play because the likelihood of her getting kicked in her stress fracture was relatively high. If she played football or rugby or any contact sport, he would also not clear her. But she plays volleyball, and the likelihood of her getting kicked in her stress fracture was very low.&nbsp;</div>
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<div><img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-6_690w.jpeg" alt="" /></div>
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<div>However, if she landed wrong, the impact could be just as severe as if she got kicked. Then he asked how her mechanics were and I told him that she had been over compensating for quite some time. She&rsquo;s been pushing through and getting a lot of treatment but she has been in pain for a long time. And the doctor said honestly, it&rsquo;s a decision you have to make for her. She is going to want to risk it all and play. That&rsquo;s how athletes are.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>So we talked to Imani, explained the risks, and together we came to the decision that it would be best to sit out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>And it was a very difficult process for her as it would be for any athlete but long term over short term was what was important.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Now, back to Tyrese Haliburton.</div>
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<div>NBA fans across the world witnessed what would have been a story of triumph. One for the archives of NBA history. The storyline would&rsquo;ve been.... Facing elimination in the NBA playoffs in a pivotal Game 7, Tyrese Haliburton battles through injury with superhuman perseverance and in heroic fashion to save the Pacers and propel them into victory solidifying this as one of the greatest finals performances in the history of the NBA. They probably would&rsquo;ve had a picture of Haliburton with a Superman emblem on his chest and a cape under his Warriors uniform. Would&rsquo;ve had his dad holding the same Pacers towel he waved in front of Giannis next to his son with the trophy. Would&rsquo;ve been a sportswriters dream as so many angles could&rsquo;ve been covered and explored.</div>
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People love stories of heroics. Isiah Thomas hobbling around on one foot in game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Lakers and scoring 25 points in the 3rd quarter. Or Willis Reed walking out of the tunnel for the New York Knicks on his bum ankle in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Everything was set up for Haliburton to be added to that list.
High school, college and professional coaches across the country were just salivating to be able to use this as an example to their players to enforce the philosophy that &ldquo;pain is weakness leaving your body&rdquo;. They would&rsquo;ve used Haliburton as an example to young athletes that the game (not your health) is what matters most. And a real &ldquo;team player&rdquo; would sacrifice a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; for their team.
I have seen this all before. During my tenure with the Washington Wizards, I witnessed team trainer Eric Waters misdiagnose player after player because what was best for the Wizards organization was for that player to play.
I saw Richard Hamilton go off on the entire training staff after he learned that&nbsp;he had been playing through a torn groin, only disclosed to him after the team was out of playoff contention. He had been complaining about his groin for weeks and the trainers were giving him treatment two and three times a day all the while knowing his groin was torn, but they wanted to push for the playoffs so they didn&rsquo;t tell him.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-3_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
I saw them tell Jarvis Hayes that he simply had a case of &ldquo;tendinitis&rdquo; in his knee and had him playing through the pain. Turned out he had a broken knee cap and ruined his entire career.&nbsp;
I saw them tell Kwame Brown that he was just experiencing a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; in his leg and that he needed to play through the pain to show everyone that he was worthy of being the number 1 pick. Turned out later, he actually had a torn hamstring.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-4_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
I saw Eric Waters tell Deshawn Stevenson there was nothing seriously wrong with his back and had him getting ice and stem and playing through the pain. After the season, upon further review by an outside doctor it was discovered that he actually had an Inflamed L5 Nerve that was stuck underneath a disc that required not one but two back surgeries to repair.&nbsp;
My point in saying all of this is not to simply blast Eric Waters, I am showing that this happens all the time in professional sports. With team doctors and trainers, there is a conflict of interest and the sworn medical oath becomes blurred and effects their diagnoses. They are hired by the teams and are in essence employees of the organization not employees of the players. So they don&rsquo;t have the players best interest in mind, typically, they only have the organization&rsquo;s.
The Indiana Pacers medical staff basically RG3&rsquo;d Haliburton. They &ldquo;Any Given Sunday&rsquo;d&rdquo; him. They Eric Waters&rsquo;d him.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-5_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing period.
The risks outweighed the rewards. Even from a team standpoint. This is your franchise player. This is a player who has the capability of single handedly turning an entire NBA championship finals series around. This is a player that you should&rsquo;ve done everything in your power to convey to him how important he is long term for them and how much they value his health and are looking out for his best interest etc etc. However, what they showed was the exact opposite.&nbsp;
It doesn&rsquo;t matter if Haliburton insisted on playing in Game 7, just like it didn&rsquo;t matter if Imani insisted on playing in Nationals.&nbsp;Sometimes, when it comes to their health, athletes need people to make the decision for them. That&rsquo;s our job as parents and we did that. That was also the job of the Pacers medical team, and they did not have the medical integrity to do that.&nbsp;
Imani had her boot off now and is starting rehab and will be back full strength in a few weeks. Haliburton&rsquo;s calf strain turned into a ruptured Achilles and he will have to sit out the entire 2025/2026 season.&nbsp;
In explaining the difference in how me and my wife Nichole handled her injury vs how the Pacers medical staff handled his, I started singing, &ldquo;They Not Like Us&rdquo; A Dad joke that fell flat with Imani but I don&rsquo;t care it was a good joke.&nbsp;
But in all seriousness, I hope all young players see this and learn that no matter what the circumstances or how big the game is, your health always comes first, and you ALWAYS get a 2nd opinion from your own doctors that have nothing to do with the organization like Kawhi Leonard did in San Antonio his last season there.&nbsp;
Let me refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory.
Everyone with a microphone dogged Kawhi that season. Skip Bayless was still going on his hateful rants and baseless criticisms of Kawhi even after the Raptors beat the 76ers in the playoffs.
Skip Bayless tweeted out
&ldquo;Well, I guess it worked for No. 2 to quit on the Spurs last season complaining of what Spurs doctors decided was no more than a thigh bruise. He wound up in the East, playing against a hobbled, sick Embiid and an overrated Giannis. "Crime" pays.&rdquo;
Kawhi delt with Coach Popovich taking shots at him, his teammates taking shots at him, the team questioning his injury because their &ldquo;team doctors&rdquo; said he was fine. But he got a 2nd opinion and was told otherwise and did what was in his best interest. Danny Green was reportedly playing through a torn groin after being misdiagnosed by the same team doctors that misdiagnosed Kawhi.
And the Spurs are one of the most respected organizations in the NBA with one of the most respected coaches in the NBA. But, the bottom line is, any organization will throw you out there in a heartbeat injured if they feel it is best for the organization. They will publicly criticize you if you don&rsquo;t play and if you play and re-injure yourself worst or just don&rsquo;t play up to their expectations (as if they don&rsquo;t know your playing injured) they will get rid of you in a New York minute just like The Washington Commanders did RG3 and just like the Washington Wizards did with Jarvis Hayes.
I remember watching Grant Hill. He was about to literally take over the league.
People were calling him out for not playing hurt. Said he was soft, overrated etc etc just like they were saying about Haliburton before he shut them all up this playoff series.
The Orlando medical staff derailed Grant&rsquo;s entire career.&nbsp;
Another example is the young Isiah Thomas. He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing in Boston in the playoffs but he played, ended up hurting himself more, ended up needing surgery, cost himself 100 million dollars came back and played after losing his sister and they traded him that summer because they knew about his injury and knew that he needed surgery.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-8_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
Kyrie Irving goes and gets a 2nd opinion and they say you need surgery, the Celtics doctors didn&rsquo;t tell him he needed surgery, so he had his surgery and came back the next year strong. There is a reoccurring theme here.
I immediately called my son Malcolm who is working hard at The University Of Dayton right now as I write this article I hope he learned the lesson in what just happened to Haliburton. Told my daughter Baby Sierra and Imani the entire way to school yesterday, like literally the whole entire way I was going on an endless rant.
Told them stories of Eric Waters and Ernie Grunfeld trying to get me to take a cortisone shot in my pubic bone and go out an play when I was suffering an abdominal strain that kept me sidelined for an extended period of time. But also how the 2nd opinion I received from my doctor was that if I did that, I would almost certainly hurt myself worse because the Cortisone show wouldn&rsquo;t exceed the healing process, it was just make it so I didn't feel the pain.&nbsp;
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But just think of it logically, your body sends pain signals to you when something is hurting to let you know to stop doing that. If you block that signal, you won&rsquo;t feel the warning you&rsquo;re supposed to feel. Made perfect sense to me so I told them no. And sure they tried to put pressure on me and have a beat writer pressure me through the power of the pin in a few articles (no I didn&rsquo;t have any actual proof of this but the timing and coincidence was way too convenient so I&rsquo;ll say &ldquo;allegedly&rdquo; had a beat writer pressure me through the media). But the end result was me standing firm and telling them no, I can&rsquo;t go.
However, the onus shouldn&rsquo;t be placed on the athlete&rsquo;s shoulders. Of course athletes are going to want to play but it shouldn&rsquo;t be up to them. A solution to this league wide issue was suggested to me by a lawyer by the name of Marlon Amprey. He explained that the Players Association should assemble a group of outside doctors/specialists (or specific doctors/specialists the player suggests) that have no connection to the team whatsoever.
That will provide 2nd &amp; 3rd opinions and give players detailed reports on their health and risk of injury. All doctors&rsquo; reports given by teams that drastically differ should go under review and there should be repercussions for team doctors and trainers who medically clear players who shouldn&rsquo;t be medically cleared to play.
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The Indiana Pacers medical team decided to clear Tyrese Haliburton to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals despite an existing calf strain.

The Indiana Pacers RG3’d Tyrese Haliburton

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf, according to ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania.
He is currently on blood-thinning medication to address the condition and will undergo regular testing. As a result, Lillard will be sidelined indefinitely, with no specific timeline provided for his return.&nbsp;
Lillard, 34, had missed the Bucks' last three games due to calf soreness. Following consultations with medical specialists, the DVT diagnosis was confirmed. The team's general manager, Jon Horst, emphasized that Lillard's health is the organization's top priority, noting the prompt identification and treatment of the condition.
Deep vein thrombosis occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, typically in the legs. If untreated, it can lead to serious complications, including pulmonary embolism. ​Notably, Spurs young superstar Victor Wembanyama has also experienced the same injury this year, leading to him being shut down for the rest of the season.
Lillard joined the Bucks in 2023 after 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. This season, he has averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game. The Bucks will need to adjust their lineup to compensate for the absence of their seven-time All-Star as they continue their push in the Eastern Conference, while the team and fans remain hopeful for Lillard's full recovery and eventual return to the court.​
ANALYSIS: This hugely impacts Milwaukee's title chances this season with Lillard out for an indefinite amount of time. Giannis Antetokounmpo will have to carry and will the Bucks and keep them afloat in the regular season enough to try and win a series in the playoffs in the top-heavy East.

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right calf.

Bucks’ Damian Lillard Diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis, Out Indefinitely

The 2024 NBA Free Agency underway. Here's everything you need to know about the makings and the moves around the NBA.

2024 NBA Free Agency Tracker: All the signings and deals in the offseason

We&rsquo;re two weeks into the 2023-24 NBA season, which is far too early for overarching declarations, but not too early for a statistical deep dive into some numbers that jumped out at us. Put on your wetsuits.
52&nbsp;
Portland Trail Blazers sophomore Shaedon Sharpe has been assisted on 52% of his made baskets this season, down considerably from the 67% he was assisted on last season. That number dropping, combined with Sharpe&rsquo;s points per game rising (20.1 PPG, up from 9.9 last season), allows us to infer a few things.&nbsp;
First, it shows that Sharpe&rsquo;s role has increased significantly, which we expected. With Damian Lillard gone and Anfernee Simons sidelined for a few months with an injury, Sharpe was the obvious next man up regarding shot attempts. And the 20-year-old isn't afraid to put up shots, as he's attempting over 15 per game.&nbsp;
Secondly, it shows that Sharpe is getting his own buckets. His self-creation ability is one of the main reasons he was the No. 7 overall pick in last year's draft &ndash; despite not playing any college ball &ndash; and he&rsquo;s starting to turn that creation potential into a real skill on a nightly basis.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Shaedon Sharpe&rsquo;s 26-point second half: <a href="https://t.co/lyhXlJzCcg">pic.twitter.com/lyhXlJzCcg</a>
&mdash; Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/UsherNBA/status/1719899721110577389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
36.9&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s how many minutes Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is playing per game thus far, which would be a career-high. While that number will surely come down as the season progresses &ndash; we don&rsquo;t think Darvin Ham wants to run AD into the ground during the regular season &ndash; it&rsquo;s a good sign nonetheless that he can play that many minutes a night.
Davis is making the most of his minutes too. He is leading the league in blocks per game (3.3) and has shot the ball extremely well from three-point range (42.9%). Maybe more importantly, he&rsquo;s shooting just one three-pointer a game! That&rsquo;s a great number!&nbsp;
100.7&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s the league-leading defensive rating of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This would be the best DRTG in the NBA since the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs, who finished the season with a simply outrageous 98.2 DRTG.&nbsp;
Is Minnesota the best defensive team in almost a decade? Probably not, but they do have the potential to be elite defensively, and they are showing that through two weeks. Rudy Gobert is blocking 2.4 shots per game &ndash; much closer to his career average (2.1) than last season, when he was down to 1.4 blocks per game.&nbsp;
Surrounding Gobert is Kyle Anderson (who is still being a pest, while averaging 1.9 steals + blocks per game), a healthy Jaden McDaniels (who solidifies any defense), a 36-year-old Mike Conley (who has lost a step but still provides intelligent play on both ends), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (who is blocking shots like a madman, with a 2.7 block percentage) and budding (budded?) superstar Anthony Edwards (who is as bought in defensively as he ever has been).&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Anthony Edwards is a two-way force - hard closeout + block on defense - tough PnR euro + finish through contact on offense <a href="https://t.co/G3zZJNVJKf">pic.twitter.com/G3zZJNVJKf</a>
&mdash; Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) <a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1720972196477120711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
50&nbsp;
That is Tyrese Haliburton&rsquo;s AST% right now. Seriously. If a player on the Indiana Pacers makes a shot, there&rsquo;s a coin flip chance that Haliburton assisted it. Sustainable? Maybe not. But I am confident in calling Haliburton a top-three facilitator in the league, and he could absolutely get to No. 1 on that list if his game continues to ascend at the pace it has in his first few seasons.
Haliburton has flash in his game, of course:&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Haliburton with the no-look pass🙈<a href="https://t.co/daZesj2sml">pic.twitter.com/daZesj2sml</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1719136140861813166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
But like all the great distributors, some of his best passes don&rsquo;t even end up as assists &ndash; like this cross-court dime against Charlotte last Saturday:&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This is a great cross court pass from Haliburton and swing to Buddy. Pay attention to Charlotte's defense Melo sprints over to Brown but no one else tries to make a run at Hield until after he's making the catch. <a href="https://t.co/A0msdX9Cih">pic.twitter.com/A0msdX9Cih</a>
&mdash; Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MoDakhil_NBA/status/1721252256899846227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
10.3 and 13.8&nbsp;
The first number is how many assists Chris Paul records for every turnover he commits. Paul&rsquo;s facilitation is still elite, and the Golden State Warriors' second unit is benefitting mightily because of it. Point God lives on.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Here come the Dubs 👀 <a href="https://t.co/oPW29CMIgg">pic.twitter.com/oPW29CMIgg</a>
&mdash; Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1721331455669014769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
The second number, however, is Paul&rsquo;s three-point percentage this season. Paul is struggling to score regularly right now.&nbsp;
Dario Saric has been a nice surprise for Golden State off the bench, Jonathan Kuminga is scoring nearly 13 points per game and Gary Payton II is shooting the ball well too. Everyone plays better when Paul is distributing at an elite level like this.
81.0
That&rsquo;s Mark Williams&rsquo; field goal percentage through six games. The Charlotte Hornets' second-year big man is looking like the big rim presence the franchise has desperately needed in recent years. 
Williams was solid in a starting role down the stretch of last season &ndash; and he appears to have refined pretty much every aspect of his game in year two.&nbsp;
As a prospect, Williams was widely perceived as a defensive force with minimal offensive ability. But seemingly every game, Williams gets more comfortable on the offensive end, showcased by a career-high 27 points on November 4.

Quinn Everts dives into some interesting numbers that jumped out from the first two weeks of the 2023-24 NBA season.

Picking Cherries: 7 NBA statistics that stand out so far this season

SlamBall co-founder Mason Gordon spoke to Alex Kennedy about the sport's return, the new season on ESPN and much more.

The return of SlamBall: Co-founder Mason Gordon discusses new season

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Denver Nuggets act like they&rsquo;ve been here before.
There is an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-b0f83f7baccd425dbf8aba440e3e210c">unmistakable poise</a>&nbsp;to the Nuggets, who are&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-miami-heat-denver-nuggets-abb4788990b6fb026d65d83c8bc4bb8b">only one win away</a>&nbsp;from their first NBA championship and could hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy as early as Monday night when the finals return to Denver for Game 5. Their stars have been starry in their first finals appearance. Their role players have delivered. There hasn&rsquo;t been a colossal blunder. And even on the cusp of a title, they refuse to change their approach.
&ldquo;We need to win one more,&rdquo; two-time MVP Nikola Jokic said.
That&rsquo;s the Nuggets. Simple. Effective. Blunt.
With Jokic and Jamal Murray leading the way, and with basically a different person stepping up to be the third hero every night so far for the Nuggets, they have the Miami Heat in serious trouble now.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-b0f83f7baccd425dbf8aba440e3e210c">They lead the finals 3-1</a>&nbsp;and with potentially two of the next three games &mdash; if needed &mdash; in Denver.
&ldquo;We get an opportunity to play a super competitive game in a great environment,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s going to be an awesome environment. Our guys are built for that. They love that. &hellip; Yeah, we understand what the narrative will be, but that&rsquo;s the way it is with our team.&rdquo;
History says this series is pretty much over; only one team in NBA history has dug its way out of such a hole in the finals, that being the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors. Heat forward Kevin Love played for that Cleveland team.
&ldquo;Forget the game,&rdquo; Love said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one possession, one quarter, half by half. Just get it done by any means necessary and we&rsquo;ll figure the rest out.&rdquo;
It will be a daunting task.
The Nuggets have held Miami under 100 points three times through the first four games; those were the three Denver wins in the series. They&rsquo;re 9-1 at home, the only loss coming in Game 2 of this series when Miami pulled off a big rally and survived when a potentially game-tying 3-pointer by Jamal Murray missed at the buzzer.
&ldquo;This is what I always tell my guys: Winning a championship will be the hardest thing you ever do,&rdquo; said Heat forward Udonis Haslem, a three-time champion whose 20-year career ends when this series ends. &ldquo;People only talk about the parade and holding up the trophy. They don&rsquo;t talk about the journey, the sleepless nights, the frustration, the tears, the pain. They don&rsquo;t talk about that (stuff). This is all part of that.&rdquo;
Denver isn&rsquo;t talking about a parade; some city officials in Dallas were during the 2006 finals when the Mavericks led Miami 2-0, and the Heat won the next four games. The Nuggets aren&rsquo;t making any such blunders. No blunders at all, really. Every detail is covered, even remembering to run the 24-second shot clock down to the very end on multiple possessions in the final minutes of Game 4, just to shorten the game and limit whatever chance Miami had at making a comeback.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done our job. But we&rsquo;re not celebrating like we&rsquo;ve done anything yet,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;We know we&rsquo;re going to have to go home and turn off the TV, the radio, don&rsquo;t read the papers, don&rsquo;t listen to everybody telling you how great you are. &hellip; We stay true to our identity.&rdquo;
Here&rsquo;s what that means: The Nuggets have two exceptional players, a two-time MVP in Jokic playing the role of Batman and a still-rising star in Murray happily playing the role of Robin in Denver&rsquo;s superhero duo.
Jokic &mdash; who will never willingly enter a conversation about his incredible stats &mdash; is on the cusp of becoming the first player to ever lead the NBA in points, rebounds and assists during a postseason. Murray is the first player to have at least 10 assists in each of his four finals games. They have been the 1-2 punch that has put Miami on the ropes throughout this series.
And then there&rsquo;s always a third or fourth hero to finish the job. In Game 1, it was Michael Porter Jr. with 14 points and 13 rebounds. In Game 3, it was rookie Christian Braun with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. In Game 4, it was Aaron Gordon with a team-high 27 points and Bruce Brown with 21 off the bench.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just how this team is built,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;We have guys that can step up night in and night out. Sometimes it&rsquo;s not going to be your night, and sometimes it is going to be your night. This team does a good job finding the people that are kind of in a rhythm and kind of going.&rdquo;
Jokic gets most of the credit and doesn&rsquo;t want it. Murray doesn&rsquo;t get enough credit and doesn&rsquo;t care about that, either. The other guys, they just take their cues from Jokic and Murray and find a way.
If they do it one more time, they&rsquo;ll be getting rings in a few months.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just ready to win a championship,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We have the tools to do it. It&rsquo;s been on our minds for a while. We&rsquo;re just locked in. I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ve got to overthink it. We&rsquo;re just dialed in, ready to win.&rdquo;

Despite the fact that is their first NBA Finals appearance, the Denver Nuggets act like they’ve been here before.

Nuggets showing plenty of poise in NBA Finals against Heat

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

If there is any singular number that has defined basketball in 2023, it might be 9.9 million &mdash; the viewership of Sunday's NCAA Tournament championship game between LSU and Iowa.
The figure isn't just the largest ever for a women's college game; it also flew past other audiences for some of American sports' marquee events.
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The NCAA Women's National Championship's 9.9 million viewers are more than: ▪️ Any Women's CBB game ever ▪️ Any MLS game ever ▪️ Any Stanley Cup game since 1973 ▪️ The 2023 Orange Bowl ▪️ The 2023 Sugar Bowl ▪️ 2023 Thursday Night Football ▪️ The 2021 NBA Finals ▪️ The 2020&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/X6MGXYkflQ">pic.twitter.com/X6MGXYkflQ</a>
&mdash; Front Office Sports (@FOS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1643051889846525953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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To say the game has "arrived" is disrespectful to the illustrious history of women in basketball. But Sunday was a stage unlike any other, and those who watched on TV or <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/lsu/womens_basketball/ticket-prices-for-lsu-iowa-national-championship-jump/article_8f541656-d0d6-11ed-83a2-7fb0a63f33b8.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid hundreds to attend</a> were awestruck by the outpouring of deserved fan support.
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I&rsquo;m completely blown away. The direction our game is going and the excitement surrounding it- I personally have never been more proud to be a part of it. ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/WjNZii3Vg1">pic.twitter.com/WjNZii3Vg1</a>
&mdash; Rachel Galligan (@RachGall) <a href="https://twitter.com/RachGall/status/1642976923193331713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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A poorly-officiated contest (Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic had <a href="https://theathletic.com/4377949/2023/04/03/womens-basketball-officials-clark-reese/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some important thoughts on this</a>) and the trash-talking discourse that followed are problematic, but they won't taper our excitement for the trajectory of women's basketball. An influx of new, casual, uninformed fans are swarming into the sport, and we're ready for them because we've learned two important lessons in the last week.
One: This generation's stars are glimmering in the spotlight.
Two: The sport's core of diligent media members and passionate fans won't take any B.S.
Angel Reese surpassed a million Instagram followers after winning the national title, a result of her superstar season and her "Bayou Barbie" persona. But her name also dominated headlines because of her John Cena and ring-me gestures towards Caitlin Clark in the closing minutes of LSU's win, earning critical labels like "classless" and others that hinted at more serious racist undertones.
Reese didn't hold back in her initial response.
"I don&rsquo;t fit in the box that y&rsquo;all want me to be in. I'm too hood, I'm too ghetto, y'all told me that all year. When other people do it, y'all don't say nothing. This was for the people that look like me," Reese <a href="https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1642671282767507456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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This is different from Reese "not caring" about the critics. She does care and is aware of her own aura, which she says has been criticized since high school. Reese cares that her image as a powerful, talented, confident Black woman resonates with younger girls who can relate to her, and that for so long, that combination of traits has been met with hate.
That Reese continues to quote tweet and subtweet, and take additional interviews on ESPN days after the game, shows she's not backing down from who she wants to be.
Clark is similarly aware of her standing as a figurehead for the sport. On Tuesday, she went on ESPN's Outside the Lines and basically ended the trash-talking discussion.&nbsp;
"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all," Clark <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643311621861949441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I'm always one that competes, and she competed. I think everyone knew there was gonna be a little trash talk the entire tournament; it's not just me and Angel."
Just as important was her full response on the importance of showing passion as an athlete:
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"Men have always had trash talk. ... You should be able to play with that emotion. ... That's how every girl should continue to play." Caitlin Clark discussed if women are held to a different standard than men on <a href="https://twitter.com/OTLonESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OTLonESPN</a>. <a href="https://t.co/JY7MWlOuVq">pic.twitter.com/JY7MWlOuVq</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643309736572616704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Clark is arguably the biggest trending name in basketball right now and a truly generational talent who helped drive this year's record-shattering ratings. For her to jump on ESPN two days after a heartbreaking loss and be explicit with her opinions shows that she recognizes the gravity of her voice.
The Iowa sharpshooter rightfully captured the country's attention for her NCAA Tournament heroics. According to one Google search analysis from World Sports Network, Clark's name saw a 476% search increase in the last week of March Madness.
New fans were quick to label her a "best-ever" of some sort. The social media response: Familiarize yourselves with the college careers of Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, Maya Moore, Kelsey Plum or Sabrina Ionescu.&nbsp;
And when some <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1642649593140637706" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty loud voices</a>&nbsp;took aim at Reese on Sunday, the community quickly let them know it was unacceptable.
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As women's basketball has continued to rise, deserved passionate media coverage has reached the foreground.&nbsp;The Next Hoops, Winsidr,&nbsp;and Just Women's Sports&nbsp;are three of my personal go-to's, but these smaller (yet growing) independent outlets have helped legitimize and drive quality coverage. ESPN's television coverage is spectacular and&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;is another outlet with high-level storytelling. Arielle Chambers delivers phenomenal energy for HighlightHER, Mark Schindler does an amazing job at WNBA.com, and while I'm biased, our own Nekias Duncan's WNBA coverage is top-tier (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/south-carolina-dared-caitlin-clark-to-beat-them-and-she-did-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as was his Clark film dive!</a>).
We collectively know more about media and narrative than ever in our history. It allows these writers to make sure the sport is covered fairly and accurately at the college and pro levels, holding new, influential fans accountable.&nbsp;
The players and coaches have stories to share, personalities to gravitate towards and electric talent to entertain with. The WNBA still has so much growth potential; it logged a 20% increase in regular-season viewership on ESPN last year, and this spring's March Madness momentum can be a springboard for another leap. And with NIL-driven branding soaring at the college level, more players and teams can place themselves in front of new audiences.
Sunday felt like the quantitative peak for women's basketball in the national conversation &mdash; what's exciting is that there's so much mountain still left to climb.

Nearly 10 million people watched the national championship game, signaling that women's basketball is ready for a popularity explosion.

Women's basketball is well-equipped to shape its own narrative

March Madness is racing toward the Sweet 16! Here is what to know about the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament as teams battle for slots in the regionals:
TOP SEEDS
The top four seeds in the tournament were given to South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford &mdash; and the Cardinal was the first to bow out.
SOUTH CAROLINA: The undefeated defending national champions are the No. 1 overall seed and they look every bit a juggernaut, advancing to the Greenville I regional without a serious challenge. The region includes two teams in No. 2 seed Maryland and No. 4 seed UCLA that lost to the Gamecocks earlier this season. South Carolina is loaded, with two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year Aliyah Boston and leading scorer Zia Cooke.
INDIANA: The Hoosiers landed the top seed in the Greenville II Region and won its opener by 30 points. Mackenzie Holmes, who leads Indiana with 22.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, didn&rsquo;t even play but she was expected to return for the second round. Top challengers include No. 2 seed Utah, No. 3 seed LSU and No. 4 seed Villanova, which is led by scoring sensation Maddy Siegrist. She had 35 points in &rsquo;Nova&rsquo;s first-round win.
VIRGINIA TECH: The ACC tourney-champion Hokies top the Seattle 3 Region and they will take a 13-game winning streak to the Sweet 16 behind star center Elizabeth Kitley. Virginia Tech could have to navigate No. 4 seed Tennessee and No. 2 seed UConn or No. 3 seed Ohio State after that.
STANFORD: The committee looked to Stanford&rsquo;s steadiness for much of the season in giving it the top seed in the Seattle 4 Region. But the Cardinal instead became the first No. 1 to fall short of the Sweet 16 since 2009, ousted 54-49 by Ole Miss and its stingy defense. That throws the region wide open for the likes of No. 2 seed Iowa, No. 3 seed Duke, No. 4 seed Texas and No. 5 seed Louisville.
GAMES TO WATCH
No. 4 seed UCLA (26-9) vs. No. 5 seed Oklahoma (26-6), Monday, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Perhaps the top freshman class in the women&rsquo;s game will face a far more experienced group. The Bruins have the youth, and the Sooners have three players with at least 1,500 career points. UCLA has the benefit of playing at home and rolled to a 67-45 victory against Sacramento State in the opening round. The Sooners, the No. 2 scoring team in the country, beat Portland 85-63.
No. 2 seed Connecticut (30-5) vs. No. 7 seed Baylor (20-12), Monday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Two longtime rivals meet again. Two years ago, the Huskies won 69-67 in a regional final after a possible foul was not called on the final possession. Four players who were on the court for the 2021 game are expected to play: UConn&rsquo;s Aaliyah Edwards and Aubrey Griffin and Baylor&rsquo;s Caitlin Bickle and Sarah Andrews. The Bears are seeking their 13th trip to the Sweet 16 in 14 years. UConn has made the regional final in 28 consecutive seasons and is seeking its 15th straight Final Four berth and 12th national championship appearance.
No. 4 seed Texas (26-9) vs. No. 5 seed Louisville (24-11), Monday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
It will be a rematch from a fall matchup in the Bahamas, but this time a Sweet 16 bid is on the line and it will be on Texas&rsquo; home court. Louisville won the early matchup 71-63. Texas has reached the Elite Eight two years in a row. The Cardinals have advanced to the Elite Eight or Final Four in each of the last four seasons.
No. 4 seed Tennessee (24-11) vs. No. 12 seed Toledo (29-4), Monday, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
The Rockets of the Mid-American Conference might be wise to not look up as they try for their first trip to the Sweet 16 on Tennessee&rsquo;s home floor. Playing under its eight national championship banners, Tennessee is trying to advance to the tourney&rsquo;s second weekend in back-to-back years for the first time since 2015-16, but for the 36th time overall.&nbsp;
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The women&rsquo;s tournament field is filled with stars, including South Carolina&rsquo;s Aliyah Boston, last season&rsquo;s AP player of the year who is back in hopes of winning a second straight national title and has more than 80 double-doubles in her incredible career. She will have plenty of competition for the honor this year, including sharp-shooting Iowa star Caitlin Clark.
There is also center Mackenzie Holmes of top-seeded Indiana and the AP All-America team is also a good place to check out some of the top players in the game. The Cavinder twins, gym rats who are wildly popular on social media, made their first tournament &mdash; and helped their team win its opener &mdash; after transferring from Fresno State to Miami.
The field is also remarkable for the high number of international players, a growing trend in women&rsquo;s basketball.
SHINING MOMENTS
Standout performances abound.
Grace Stone nailed her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift 10th-seeded Princeton to a 64-63 win over North Carolina State. Alissa Pili had a career-high 33 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists to lead No. 2 seed Utah over Gardner-Webb.
Power forward Angel Reese had 34 points and 15 rebounds as 3-seed LSU beat Hawaii while fellow All-American Caitlin Clark scored 48 points and added 24 assists over two wins to help Iowa reach the Sweet 16.
GO DEEPER
Gun violence has cost lives and disrupted college sports all season, touching some of the top programs in college basketball. Coaches have been thrust into uncertain and unwelcome roles in trying to navigate the topic &mdash; as well as the fallout from the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
On a lighter note, the Big Ten is loaded and eager to climb back into the title game. And if you think you know the women&rsquo;s tournament, try this 25-question quiz from AP.
Want to hear from the athletes themselves? UCLA freshman Kiki Rice and injured UConn star Paige Bueckers have each written diaries for AP about their &ldquo;tourney journeys.&rdquo;
HOW TO WATCH
The title game will be on a national network &mdash; ABC &mdash; for the first time since 1996 in a stroke of good news for the game. ABC plans to air at least a half-dozen other games, too.
Beside that, every game of the women&rsquo;s tournament will be available on ESPN&rsquo;s networks or streaming, with fans encouraged to navigate to the &ldquo;Watch&rdquo; tab on ESPN&rsquo;s sites. The NCAA will have a women&rsquo;s basketball specific March Madness app by AT&amp;T.
There are multiple sites listing game times and other details, including the NCAA site.
BETTING GUIDE
Who&rsquo;s going to win the national championship? The betting favorites last week to reach the Final Four are (in order): South Carolina, Indiana, UConn, Stanford, LSU and Iowa, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Gamecocks are a heavy favorite to become the first repeat champion in the women&rsquo;s tournament since UConn won the last of four straight in 2016.
MARCH MADNESS CALENDAR
Selection Sunday set the brackets for First Four games and first- and second-round games through Monday at campuses across the country.
Sweet 16 weekend brings a twist this year for the women&rsquo;s teams: There will be two regional sites instead of four, with Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle each hosting eight teams.
Where is the women&rsquo;s Final Four? In Dallas, where the semifinals are March 31 and the championship game is April 2. As it happens, the men&rsquo;s Final Four is a four-hour drive down the road in Houston that same weekend.

Here is what to know about the 2023 Women’s NCAA Tournament as teams battle for slots in the regionals.

March Madness: Top seed falls as women’s Sweet 16 gets set

DETROIT (AP) &mdash;&nbsp;Giannis Antetokounmpo&nbsp;scored 20 of his 29 points in the first quarter, returning to the lineup after a five-game absence to lead the&nbsp;Milwaukee Bucks&nbsp;in a 150-130 win over the&nbsp;Detroit Pistons&nbsp;on Monday night.
The two-time MVP had been out with a sore left knee and was joined by three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, putting the Bucks&rsquo; prolific duo in the same lineup for the first time in more than a month.
&ldquo;The band is back together,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said.
Middleton, who hadn&rsquo;t played since Dec. 15 due to a sore right knee, had eight points and four assists as a steadying presence for the Central Division-leading Bucks.
&ldquo;It was great to see everyone playing together with no real chemistry issues,&rdquo; said Bucks center Brook Lopez, who scored 21 points.
Milwaukee scored 49 points in the first quarter, two shy of the NBA record, and led Detroit by 25 after Antetokounmpo made all six of his shots in eight-plus minutes.
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&ldquo;I was trying to be aggressive and some shots fell,&rdquo; he said.
After drawing defenders, Antetokounmpo also had two assists along with two rebounds in the opening quarter.
&ldquo;It was impressive to come out and play the way he did,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;He did a little bit of everything, just like the whole group that in that quarter.&rdquo;
Antetokounmpo didn&rsquo;t keep up his scoring pace the rest of the game, but he didn&rsquo;t have to with teammates such as reserve Bobby Portis scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter.
Milwaukee led 83-55 at halftime, had 115 after three quarters and finished with a season high in points in a game that wasn&rsquo;t competitive beyond the opening minutes.
&ldquo;The first quarter is what I was afraid would happen,&rdquo; Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. &ldquo;A championship-caliber team came in and put their stamp on the game at the beginning. We didn&rsquo;t respond, and that&rsquo;s how you give up a 49-point first quarter. I liked our fight after that, but this is a 48-minute game.&rdquo;
Mercifully, the Bucks held the ball and were called for a shot-clock violation in the final seconds when they were three points from matching the most by an NBA team this season.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the basket looked big for them,&rdquo; Budenholzer said.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 33 points and rookie Jalen Duren had a season-high 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who have won an Eastern Conference-low 12 games and are ahead of only Houston in the league-wide standings.
Detroit rookie Jaden Ivey had 12 points and 11 assists, and Hamidou Diallo added 11 points off the bench.
&ldquo;The challenge at that point is looking at the scoreboard and telling yourself there&rsquo;s no 31-point shot,&rdquo; said Detroit&rsquo;s Saddiq Bey, who scored 21 points.
IN MEMORY OF
The Pistons honored the late&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-basketball-detroit-pistons-b12f7f2c7c2b8264bfa0c929e130fdfc">Bob Lanier</a>&nbsp;throughout the game. The Hall of Famer, who played his 14-season career with Detroit and Milwaukee, died in May at age 73.
There was also a moment of silence for&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-retirements-4c5c7810be36ca9f3a75b2315eeb9294">Chris Ford</a>, who started his career with Detroit before winning three NBA titles in Boston as a player and assistant coach. Ford, who made the first 3-pointer in league history, died last week at age 74.
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TIP-INS
Bucks: Portis left the court with a sore right knee early in the fourth quarter after grabbing a 10th rebound for his 29th double-double this season. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hopeful that it is not anything serious,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. ... Reserve Jevon Carter had 18, and Jrue Holiday added 16 points and seven assists.
Pistons: Killian Hayes (shoulder) was out along with Marvin Bagley (broken hand) and Cade Cunningham (shin surgery). ... The short-handed team has lost four straight and eight of 10 games in 2023.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks in a 150-130 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Antetokounmpo scores 29 in return, Bucks top Pistons 150-130

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; KC Ndefo grabbed a rebound and made a follow-up layup with 1.6 seconds remaining to give Seton Hall a 67-66 come-from-behind win over No. 15 UConn on Wednesday night.
Ndefo grabbed his eighth rebound of the game and scored the decisive points as he was fouled on the play. He missed the ensuing free throw, but helped Seton Hall rally from a 17-point first-half deficit. He finished with 14 points.
Kadary Richmond had a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for Seton Hall (12-8, 5-4 Big East)
Adama Sanogo had 16 points and five rebounds and Jordan Hawkins added 13 points and six rebounds for UConn (15-5, 4-5), which was without coach Dan Hurley and associate head coach Kimani Young due to the coronavirus.
DEPAUL 73, NO. 8 XAVIER 72
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Umoja Gibson scored 22 points, Javan Johnson added 16 and DePaul surprised Xavier.
The Musketeers (15-4, 7-1 Big East) came in rolling with 11 straight wins &mdash; their best run since the 2015-16 team got off to a 12-0 start. But they came up short against the Blue Demons (9-10, 3-5).
DePaul led by seven with about eight minutes remaining and made just enough plays to come away with its first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 5 Butler exactly three years earlier at Wintrust Arena.
Zach Freemantle had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Xavier. Jack Nunge finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. But Big East scoring leader Souley Boum scored a season-low four.
NO. 10 VIRGINIA 78, VIRGINIA TECH 68
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark had 20 points and became Virginia&rsquo;s career victories leader as a player with No. 111 as the Cavaliers handed Virginia Tech its sixth straight loss.
Armaan Franklin added 15 points and Jayden Gardner 12 for the Cavaliers (14-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Clark was tied with Mamadi Diane (2017-20) on the overall victories list and with 64 career ACC wins.
Darius Maddox led the Hokies (11-7, 1-6) with 13 points and Grant Basile had 12. Virginia Tech&rsquo;s losing streak has come winning 11 of its first 12 games.
WEST VIRGINIA 74, NO. 14 TCU 65
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Kedrian Johnson scored 20 points and West Virginia built a big early lead and outlasted TCU.
Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (11-7, 1-5 Big 12), whose players slapped hands with the student section after breaking a five-game losing streak.
Mike Miles Jr. scored 21 points while Emanuel Miller and Damion Baugh had 13 apiece for TCU (14-4, 3-3), which has lost three of its last four after starting the season 13-1.
NO. 16 AUBURN 67, LSU 49
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. and Jaylin Williams each scored 14 points to lead Auburn to its fourth straight victory.
KJ Williams and Trae Hannibal scored 16 points apiece for LSU (12-6, 1-5 Southeastern Conference), which dropped its fifth straight conference game.
Auburn (15-3, 5-1) never trailed in the game and was only seriously threatened in the early minutes of the second half.
LSU never trailed by fewer than 12 points over the last 10 minutes of the game. After reducing its deficit to two points at 37-35, LSU made four field goals the rest of the game.
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 83, NO. 22 PROVIDENCE 75
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones had 21 points and Tyler Kolek scored 19 as Marquette defeated Providence for its sixth victory in seven games.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 13 points for Marquette (15-5, 7-2 Big East). Kolek also had eight rebounds and six assists.
Bryce Hopkins had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Friars (14-5, 6-2), who lost their second straight after a nine-game winning streak. Ed Croswell led Providence with 20 points, and Devin Carter had 18.
MISSOURI 79, NO. 25 ARKANSAS 76
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 17 points and hit two free throws with 29 seconds to lift Missouri over Arkansas.
DeAndre Gholston added 16 points and Sean East II added 12 for the Tigers (14-4, 3-3 SEC), who avenged a 74-68 loss in Fayetteville on Jan. 4.
Davonte Davis scored 18 points and Ricky Council IV had 13 for Arkansas, which has lost four in a row. Anthony Black added 15 points for the Razorbacks (12-6, 1-5).

A recap of Wednesday night's men's college basketball action includes three top-15 upsets.

Seton Hall rallies from 17 down, beats No. 15 UConn 67-66

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Marcus Carr tied a Texas record with 10 3-pointers and matched his career high with 41 points as the sixth-ranked Longhorns beat Texas A&amp;M-Commerce 97-72 on Tuesday night.
Carr, a senior, previously scored 41 while playing for Minnesota against Nebraska on Feb. 27, 2021. He scored 33 points in the first half alone Tuesday, matching a Texas record for a half set by Jim Krivacs in 1978.
Carr&rsquo;s total was the most by a Texas player since Reggie Freeman had 43 points against Fresno State on Dec. 14, 1996.
&ldquo;We wanted to make Texas beat us from 3,&rdquo; A&amp;M-Commerce coach Jaret von Rosenberg said. &ldquo;Carr really had a night. The rim looked like an ocean for him.&rdquo;
Texas (11-1) played its fourth straight game without coach Chris Beard, who was suspended without pay after his Dec. 12 arrest on a felony family violence charge. It was the Longhorns&rsquo; first game since Beard&rsquo;s fianc&eacute;e, Randi Trew, issued a statement saying Beard did not strangle her and she never wanted him arrested or prosecuted.
Carr converted 13 of 19 shots in 30 minutes, including 10 of 15 3-pointers. He has totaled 103 points in his last four games. He made eight 3s in the first half, a school record for a half, as the Longhorns led 47-29 at the break.
&ldquo;Most of the shots that I put up felt really good,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;I thought they were going in. My teammates just kept giving me confidence after they&rsquo;d seen me knock down the first couple. They just said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re going to look for you. Keep shooting. Keep knocking them down.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Carr attempted only four shots in the second half. He had two assists in each half.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;d think he&rsquo;d want to try to continue gunning, but he came out the opposite,&rdquo; acting coach Rodney Terry said. &ldquo;He was a willing passer.&rdquo;
Terry removed Carr with 3:26 remaining knowing he needed one more 3-pointer to break Al Coleman&rsquo;s school record set in 1997.
&ldquo;We need him on Saturday (at Oklahoma),&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need him the last three, four minutes of the game, and he turns his ankle. We need him healthy.&rdquo;
Carr said he became aware of the 3-point record when it was posted on the arena&rsquo;s video board.
&ldquo;Timmy (Allen) looked at me and said get one more,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;Not to say I didn&rsquo;t want to break it. But it wasn&rsquo;t of as much importance to me. Honestly, at that point, I was really just focused on trying to get better on defense.&rdquo;
Freshman Dillon Mitchell scored a season-best 16 points for Texas, providing an inside complement to Carr&rsquo;s long-range shooting. Arterio Morris scored 12 points. Allen had eight points, eight assists and six rebounds. Tyrese Hunter also had eight assists.
C.J. Roberts scored 20 points to lead A&amp;M-Commerce (4-10). Tommie Lewis added 19 points for the Lions.
Carr is the first Longhorn other than Terry to be allowed to speak to the media since Beard&rsquo;s arrest.
&ldquo;Right now, R.T. is our coach. We&rsquo;re focused on being led by him. Obviously, it&rsquo;s an adjustment, but a good and smooth one,&rdquo; Carr said.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&amp;M-Commerce: The Lions moved up to Division I this season, and the transition has not been easy. They played 13 of their first 14 games on the road or at neutral sites and have lost six straight by an average of 15.8 points. They attempt a lot of 3-pointers, 29 a game before Tuesday, with 27% accuracy. Texas limited A&amp;M-Commerce to 15 attempts. The Lions made seven, and they shot 53% overall.
Texas: The Longhorns have 73 assists on 101 baskets in their last three games. They made 28 assists on 37 baskets against A&amp;M-Commerce.
DISU UPDATE
The Longhorns caught a break when the left knee injury starting forward Dylan Disu suffered last week against Louisiana-Lafayette was diagnosed as a sprain and not something more serious. Disu had season-ending surgery to the same knee while playing for Vanderbilt in 2020-21. Disu practiced this week but did not play Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Texas A&amp;M-Commerce hosts Incarnate Word Saturday in its Southland Conference opener.
Texas is at Oklahoma Saturday for its Big 12 opener.

Carr’s total was the most by a Texas player since Reggie Freeman had 43 points against Fresno State on Dec. 14, 1996.

Carr hits 10 threes, scores 41, No. 6 Texas beats A&M-Commerce

One day before Thanksgiving &mdash; immediately after the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; Zion Williamson was asked an innocent question: What is your favorite dish?
&ldquo;You're trying to set me up,&rdquo; Williamson replied. &ldquo;No matter what answer I give, social media is going to clown me. So, no comment."
Williamson was smiling and many people thought the exchange was funny. However, upon reflection, it&rsquo;s a bit sad. Over the years, Williamson has dealt with so many weight-related jokes and barbs that he doesn&rsquo;t even feel comfortable broaching the topic of food.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;You tryna set me up&hellip;.no matter what I answer I give, social media gonna clown me. So no comment.&rdquo; Zion Williamson refused to say what his favorite Thanksgiving dish is 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/wiOVx0QCOG">pic.twitter.com/wiOVx0QCOG</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1595777133523017728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Unfortunately, what Zion said is probably true. Had he answered this question, his mentions likely would&rsquo;ve been full of rude memes and jokes about his weight.&nbsp;
Not only has Williamson&rsquo;s weight been the butt of many jokes online, but media members have also discussed his body a ton. It can&rsquo;t be easy to have so much attention focused on your weight at 22 years old, especially when your earnings are directly tied to your body.
Williamson&rsquo;s contract with the Pelicans features periodic weigh-ins and &ldquo;the sum of his weight and body fat percentage must be below 295,&rdquo; according to <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans/article_85296674-00a5-11ed-97cb-ef28af9a5590.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian Clark of NOLA.com</a>. If this number is above 295, the team can reduce his guaranteed money. Williamson has hired a private chef and personal trainer to meet his contractual requirements. And it&rsquo;s worth noting that he&rsquo;s not the only NBA player with a weight-related clause in his contract.
Though the Pelicans would argue that they are just trying to keep Zion healthy and protect their superstar asset, there&rsquo;s no question that these weigh-ins (plus the barrage of jokes and negativity) could take a toll on a person and potentially affect their relationship with food.&nbsp;
While there&rsquo;s no evidence that Williamson has dealt with an eating disorder (and I&rsquo;m not suggesting that he has), there are many athletes who do struggle with disordered eating.
Approximately 10 million men in the United States will suffer from an eating disorder during their lifetime, and elite athletes are nearly three times more likely to have an eating disorder, according to a study by the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education.
For example, many boxers develop eating disorders &mdash; such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating &mdash; since they are expected to cut weight and heavily restrict what they eat prior to fights.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;There is a misconception that eating disorders are disorders for females. The reality is that men struggle with eating disorders just like women do,&rdquo; <a href="https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2019/08/28/hidden-figures-male-athlete-eating-disorders-often-overlooked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Erin Rubenking, the associate director and clinical care coordinator for the University of Colorado Athletic Department&rsquo;s Psychological Health and Performance program. &ldquo;It often takes men a much longer time to get help because of that.&rdquo;
Several years ago, former New York Knicks center Michael Sweetney <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2017/06/12/after-battling-depression-and-surviving-a-suicide-attempt-mike-sweetney-is-spreading-positivity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opened up to me</a> about the harassment he faced about his weight and how it affected his mental health.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When I go talk to kids, I use my life as an example. I tell them, &lsquo;Google my name. All you&rsquo;re going to see is a bunch of fat jokes and bad stuff about me. You won&rsquo;t find anything positive,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sweetney said. &ldquo;A lot of these kids get cyberbullied, so I try to use myself as an example to help them get through it. I tell them what I went through, show them [negative] articles that were written about me and make it clear that everything is going to be okay &mdash; even if they don&rsquo;t understand or believe that right now. And one thing I&rsquo;ve realized is that a lot of the people who cyberbully others are going through something themselves, and are unhappy with themselves, so they pick on other people.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never mention the person&rsquo;s name, but about a year ago, a writer reached out to me. He wrote a really bad article about me a while back &mdash; it was just terrible, going in on me and mocking my weight &ndash; and he found out that I&rsquo;d suffered from depression. He called me to apologize and said that he was suffering from depression too and he felt that picking on other people would make him feel better. I didn&rsquo;t hold any of it against him; in fact, we still keep in contact and we&rsquo;re good friends now. People go through things. But that&rsquo;s where, again, I can point to my own story and tell kids, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s not you. It&rsquo;s more likely that the other person has some issues they&rsquo;re working out.&rsquo; Fortunately, I think my talks have been helping people.&rdquo;
After Sweetney&rsquo;s father died in 2003, his depression got so bad that he attempted suicide during his stint with the Knicks.
&ldquo;I remember the night,&rdquo; Sweetney told me. &ldquo;We were in Cleveland one night and I just took a bunch of pain pills, hoping it would take me out. But I woke up the next morning thinking, &lsquo;Well, it didn&rsquo;t work.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s how bad it was. I didn&rsquo;t like basketball and I just didn&rsquo;t like life at the time... Even after I tried to commit suicide, nobody really knew. I was suffering really bad. I was in New York, battling this while the media was writing [negative] articles about me, and I felt like I had nowhere to go. I just kept digging myself into a deeper hole of depression&hellip;
&ldquo;[I] tell kids my story. You know, &lsquo;Hey, I was the ninth pick in the NBA draft &mdash; the same class as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade &mdash; and people looked at me as being a potential All-Star and whatnot. I didn&rsquo;t live up to that, and a big part of that was because of my depression. I kept digging my hole deeper.&rsquo; I try to tell these kids, &lsquo;At the first sign of depression, get help. Go talk to someone. Don&rsquo;t hold it in.&rsquo; For me, it got to the point where I was holding it in and I gained so much weight that I lost my NBA career.&rdquo;
Pointing to a more recent example, DJ Carton &mdash; who currently plays for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League &mdash; has been open about his struggles with disordered eating. While playing at Ohio State, he lost a significant amount of weight while battling an eating disorder and ultimately took a leave of absence, citing mental health issues. After the season, he transferred to Marquette and was able to resume his career.
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Most people don&rsquo;t realize that eating disorders can be deadly. Every 52 minutes, at least one person dies from issues related to an eating disorder, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Each year, 10,200 deaths are the direct result of eating disorders, as they can cause complications such as heart failure, kidney failure, pancreatitis, peptic ulcers, type-II diabetes, gallbladder disease and heart disease. Also, roughly 26% of people who are struggling with disordered eating will attempt suicide at some point.&nbsp;
Fans may think jokes or insults about an athlete&rsquo;s weight are harmless, but these barbs can have serious consequences and take a toll on someone&rsquo;s mental health.

Mocking an athlete's weight can have serious consequences. Alex Kennedy explores the prevalence of eating disorders in pro sports.

Reflecting on weight-related jokes in sports and the harm they cause

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; (EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTE: Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, will do a periodic diary for The Associated Press to chronicle his first season in the league. Banchero plays his first regular season game Wednesday when Orlando visits Detroit.)
Everything counts now. The season is starting and it&rsquo;s the real thing. Every win, every loss counts, so this is another level of seriousness that you&rsquo;ve got to bring. You&rsquo;ve got to focus while also embracing it and having fun.
It&rsquo;s not like college, and in a good way. You have all day to focus on your job and your craft, your body and yourself. We&rsquo;re here in the AdventHealth Training Center probably for three, four hours out of the day. Other guys have a wife and kids or other obligations, but myself, I don&rsquo;t have anything else to do but this.
I&rsquo;m spending that time getting a massage or stretching, making sure I get the right amount of sleep that I&rsquo;m supposed to get, trying to do all the little things right. When I walk into the facility or walk into game day, I want to know I&rsquo;m prepared and in the best possible state mentally and physically that I can be. That&rsquo;s the best thing about being a professional. You&rsquo;ve got all the time in the world to just be your best self. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been trying to do.
We have goals. We want to compete in our conference, whether it&rsquo;s for a play-in or playoff spot, just trying to get there and play meaningful games later on in the season. We want to grow as a team, be better than we were the game before and, hopefully, every step we take will be in the right direction this year. For myself, I want to play free, play instinctive and if I do that, everything else is going to take care of itself. I think that&rsquo;s how it&rsquo;s always been for me.
One of my goals is to be rookie of the year. That&rsquo;s not THE goal. The goal is to get to the play-in, or playoffs. But obviously, I expect myself to play well. I feel like I&rsquo;m the best rookie. Winning that award would mean a lot, but it&rsquo;s not the end-all, be-all for me. It&rsquo;s something I would like to win, for sure.
I like our team. I could go on about every player, but I feel like Franz Wagner just brings a certain level of seriousness to the team. He&rsquo;s focused, smart, student of the game, very, very smart player. Him and his brother, Moritz. I picked up on that pretty early because I&rsquo;m kind of the same way in terms of just being focused and having a serious approach and just trying to do whatever it takes to win. I think we align a lot mentality-wise and just the way we see the game or how much we want to win. Wendell Carter Jr., too. Really everyone, but I&rsquo;d say Franz and Wendell are two guys who I immediately got that vibe from. We&rsquo;re all forwards who can handle, pass and shoot. I think we have an understanding of what we all want to do and where we can get to with this team.
Orlando, the city, has been great so far. I wouldn&rsquo;t say I go out a lot or even go out to eat a lot. But just driving around the city, being around the city, it&rsquo;s a nice city to be in and I feel like people here are very welcoming. The city&rsquo;s not too busy, but it&rsquo;s also not boring. It&rsquo;s not quiet and not packed with people. It&rsquo;s got a nice vibe to it.
As far as like what I do, I&rsquo;m really in my place, just chilling. I like to leave the balcony door open because it&rsquo;s always got a nice breeze. Little stuff like that is what I like. I really don&rsquo;t have anyone out here with me right now, even to do stuff with.
We&rsquo;re all young. Everyone on this team kind of has something to prove. Whether it&rsquo;s their own agendas or the team agenda, with the recent struggles around here, we want to just put the Orlando Magic back to where they should be, which is the playoffs and in contention for championships. I mean, it&rsquo;s not going to happen overnight. It&rsquo;s not going to happen in a week. It&rsquo;s a long process. It&rsquo;s a marathon. I think we all embrace that.
And I think we&rsquo;ll surprise people this year.

Paolo Banchero writes about his first regular season game Wednesday when Orlando visits Detroit and the upcoming year.

Paolo Banchero's diary: Magic rookie getting set for his NBA debut

What stands out to you about this possession?
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If your eyes immediately go to Nikola Jovic &mdash; a skilled seven-footer that the Miami Heat are pretty excited about &mdash; initiating the offense, I wouldn't blame you.
If you're a stickler for process, it's fair to point out that the first action of the possession &mdash; a pitch to Marcus Garrett before flowing into a ball-screen &mdash; taking nearly 15 seconds to occur is less than ideal. It leads to Garrett trying and failing to beat Xavier Tillman off the bounce after forcing a switch, which then calls for Jovic to save the possession with a(nother) deep three.
But look at Haywood Highsmith.
While the Heat take their precious time getting into the possession, he's calling for Garrett to move closer to the right wing so his help defender can't park at the free-throw line. Spacing is the name of the game, and Highsmith has a strong understanding of it.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_10_08_20_24_08.png" alt="" width="578" height="325" />
Highsmith lifts to the right wing while the ball-screen happens, then retreats back to the corner once Jovic receives the ball. And while his defender, David Roddy, stares down the late-clock iso from Jovic, Highsmith loops into the paint in anticipation for the shot.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_10_08_20_28_13.png" alt="" width="578" height="325" />
Sure enough, the shot clanks off the right side of the rim. By doing his homework early, by remaining active off the ball, Highsmith goes from spacer to glass-cleaner before anyone can put a body on him. Two-possession game.
Highsmith continues to fly under the radar. You can track it back to his family; he's technically a junior, with his father &mdash; Haywood Highsmith Sr. &mdash; carving out a prolific college career <a href="https://fightingfalcons.com/honors/hall-of-fame/haywood-highsmith/74" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in his own right</a>.
"First and foremost, my parents were very supportive of me over the years," Highsmith told Basketball News during a phone interview. "My father grew up playing basketball; he was a Hall-of-Famer in college, so I basically learned the game from him."&nbsp;
The younger Haywood would have <a href="https://wucardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/haywood-highsmith/3842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">productive college career</a> of his own. He shined at Wheeling University, a Division II school, starting three of his four years there. As a senior, Highsmith averaged 22 points (60.9% from two, 40.5% from three), 12.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks.
It's been work since then. A two-way deal with the Philadelphia Sixers here; a two-year stretch in Germany there; G League reps in the interim. Highsmith has had to cycle through teams, schemes, roles and countries. But that amalgamtion of experiences has prepared him for this Heat run.
&ldquo;I don't view him as a young player," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Friday night's win over the Memphis Grizzlies. "I understand he doesn't have an extensive NBA experience &mdash; but he's played some very good basketball in the G League. He has had to grind and earn everything and every opportunity that he&rsquo;s been given. He just continues to get better each year.
"He has also contributed on some very good winning teams in the G League, and he has been one of those glue guys for those teams. [That] was one of the things that appealed to us about him &mdash; and it was the fact that he makes winning plays and contributes to winning &mdash; and it does not necessarily always show up in the conventional box score. But he defends, has a knack for the ball [and] he is very good in the system."
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The biggest question surrounding the Heat entering this season has been some variation of, "Who starts alongside Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt?" We've seen Caleb Martin, another diamond-in-the-rough find, get reps at the 4. Adebayo himself has played the 4 alongside Omer Yurtseven. It probably won't be Jimmy Butler, who jokingly-yet-seriously shut down the prospect of it in training camp.
Keep an eye on Highsmith, once again flying under the radar. He's coming off of a productive showing at NBA Summer League where he was tasked with defending all over the floor, canning triples and occasionally keeping the offense flowing as a driver.
During preseason play, he's been sliding across the positional scale defensively. He saw time against Bryn Forbes (movement shooter), Austin Rivers (wing scorer), Taurean Prince (spacer, close-out attacker) and Eric Paschall (versatile 4). Against the Brooklyn Nets, he spent time against Kevin Durant and&nbsp;Ben Simmons. On Friday night against the Grizzlies, he saw time against Dillon Brooks, Ziaire Williams and even Xavier Tillman.&nbsp;
He didn't always fare well against those matchups, but he offers the archetype &mdash; rangy, active, physical, willing &mdash; that the Heat want if they decide to go smaller again.&nbsp;
Highsmith recently spoke to Basketball News about his qualifications at the 4, his influences as a player, what he's worked on this summer and more.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)
How would you describe your game to someone who isn't familiar with you?
Haywood Highsmith: "I'm just a versatile basketball player. I don't really have a set position; I'll go out there and play whatever the team needs me to play. It starts with defense, being able to guard multiple players. Offensively, I'd say I'm a good shooter, an underrated passer. I'm just a guy that does a little bit of everything on the floor &mdash; and plays hard."
I was going through some of your college and overseas film, and it looks like you have somewhat of a post game too. Do you feel like that's something you can utilize if opponents stash smaller players on you?
Highsmith: "When I was in college, I was a Division II player so I faced some smaller players from time to time. I was pretty dominant in the post with a right hook, spins and stuff like that. I was kind of a big man in college; now that I'm in the pros, I'm more of a hybrid. When I get mismatches, I could definitely use some of the moves I used to do back in my earlier days &mdash; take advantage of my size and length and get good shots against smaller opponents."
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Since you've been in the NBA, who are some players you've drawn from or learned from?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"When I was in Philly (2018-19 season), I did talk to Jimmy [Butler] from time to time. Obviously I'm with him now, so I've been able to learn more from him. With the Heat last year, P.J. [Tucker] taught me a lot about playing hard, doing the little things while on the court; you can affect winning in different ways.
"In the G-League, I'd say Shaq Harrison. He's been around the NBA for a minute, played for the Bulls &mdash; he's a really good player. Guys like that, you can a learn a lot from. They've been playing longer than me, and they have more knowledge than me as well."
You've discussed your dad playing on the college level. How has that shaped your game?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"My dad has been supporting me since I was a kid. I knew I'd grow up to play basketball; he played, we're both very tall. He pushed me to develop skills beyond what he had. He tries to tell me things I could do better; sometimes I listen, and sometimes I don't (laughs). I feel like I'm learning more on this side, but sometimes he does bring up good points."
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Whenever you do pour over game tape, what are the kind of things you look for?
Highsmith: "I try to pinpoint areas in which I can be better, then I look at the things I did well and see what I can be consistent with. It's not always about looking at the things you did wrong; it's important to see the things you did well and stay positive. I just try to soak it all in, honestly."
What's a specific area of your game that you looked to improve this past summer?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Obviously, it starts with being in the best conditioning as possible. I feel like the Heat have really helped me with that. I've been with them all summer.
"Beyond that, I've worked on my ball-handling and being more consistent with my shot. I worked with Rob Fodor, the Heat's shooting coach. He's a really good guy, and has had me working on different things with my jumpshot. So, it's been a blend of skill work and getting in great shape."
On the jumper, have you made any tweaks to it, or has it been more about getting reps up?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"It's about having a one-motion jumper for me. I have to make sure I don't hold the ball up top. I want to have one fluid motion with my jumpshot."
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Last question for you. You've played D-II, played overseas, played in the G-League, and you have some NBA experience. What are some of the stylistic differences that you've seen across those leagues?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Overseas, it's obviously a more physical game. I think the defense is harder because there's more ball movement.
"In the NBA, the players are more talented so the stars have the ball in their hands more. Overseas, they move the ball around. There are a lot of good passers. Some of the big men can really shoot, and can also pass the ball really well.&nbsp;
"But with the NBA, G-League, overseas, D-II &mdash; it's all just basketball at the end of the day. There are different levels and different skill sets; obviously, I had to make an adjustment coming from playing D-II. I was probably the best player on the court every practice, every game. When I came to the pros, I had to change spots. I had to learn how to adjust and find my niche. I feel like I've done a good job of that, being able to play alongside different types of players. It's different everywhere, but you just have to be able to adjust and adapt to different styles."
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Actually, one quick follow-up before I let you go. You mentioned the physicality overseas and, at least when I watch, there seems to be more of an emphasis on big-man play. Do you feel like there's less switching overseas? What are the differences in defensive schemes?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Yeah. When I was overseas, a lot of teams would hedge on ball-screens. You'd have to be able to hit the short-roll with a pass, or swing a pass to the opposite wing so that guy could hit the player rolling.
"When I got over there, they asked me to hard hedge, which I'd never done before. It was hard for me to learn at first. But as I grew, they recognized that I was better at switching because I could guard multiple positions. It didn't make much sense for me to hedge and try to recover back to my man. I feel like switching is very easy to do, especially compared to something like hedging."

Nekias Duncan talks to Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith about his background, role, skill set and more.

Heat's Haywood Highsmith Q&A: Playing the 4, skill development, more

Nekias Duncan thoroughly breaks down all five teams in the Central Division ahead of the 2022-23 season.

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Central Division

Quietly, the Detroit Pistons&rsquo; rebuilding efforts are on the verge of bearing some fruit in short order.
One year after obtaining No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, who took a serious jump post-All-Star break by averaging 21.1 points, 6.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, Detroit is beginning to push some chips into the middle of the table with the hardest part of the equation solved.
Surrounding Cunningham with an infusion of youth with high upside and adequate floor-spacing was atop Pistons general manager Troy Weaver&rsquo;s to-do list. Following their latest move on the eve of the 2022-23 season, Detroit looks to become an underrated pick for a potential Play-In Tournament run in the Eastern Conference.
On Thursday, the Pistons acquired veteran wing Bojan Bogdanovic from the rebuilding Utah Jazz in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jazz-trade-bojan-bogdanovic-to-pistons-nba-trade-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Athletic's Shams Charania</a>. No picks were involved in the deal, which is a little bit of a surprise based on the known league-wide interest in the sharpshooter, including from contenders like the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, Detroit brings aboard Bogdanovic as its instant upgrade at power forward, providing the much-needed perimeter gravity for Cunningham and No. 5 overall pick Jaden Ivey to do their damage attacking the basket. Last season in Utah, Bogdanovic averaged 18.1 points on an excellent 59.9% True Shooting percentage, including 38.7% on three-point attempts.
Within the confines of Detroit&rsquo;s system, now built around its high-usage guards, Bogdanovic&rsquo;s biggest strengths will shine brightly. Cunningham and Ivey will set up Bogdanovic consistently beyond the arc, including the corners where he&rsquo;s shot a blistering 44.6% throughout his career.
While the Pistons don&rsquo;t stand out as a serious contender, the roster improvements to best build around their young star and enticing core can&rsquo;t be ignored. The team's new-look rotation with depth is ideally balanced to take a real step forward immediately.
Starters: Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jalen Duren/Isaiah Stewart
Second Unit: Killian Hayes, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/isaiah-livers-ready-to-rise-up-second-season-detroit-pistons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isaiah Livers</a>, Marvin Bagley III, Stewart/Duren, Nerlens Noel
For a young core needing veteran guidance, there aren't many better candidates currently available to upgrade the overall on and off-court situation than Bogdanovic. Burks and Noel will also be key veterans who can be relied upon off the bench as well.
From there, all eyes will be on how this collection of young talent coalesces together over time.
Cunningham is well positioned for a huge step forward in Year 2, including some juicy betting value for Most Improved Player on DraftKings at +2000 odds. Ivey will allow Cunningham to play on- and off-ball seamlessly, plus the addition of Duren as an aggressive, athletic roll man should do wonders in pick-and-roll scenarios for either guard to utilize. Bey, who is entering his third season, is also on the verge of another noticeable jump after averaging 16.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 33.0 minutes per game.
Every box in the Motor City is being checked off as the Pistons look ahead to one of their most promising outlooks in years. A potential renaissance could be in store, and building in this manner around their anchor in Cunningham will soon pay dividends in spades.
Bogdanovic is the latest addition that will fly under the radar for Detroit, a team who looks ready to vault from lottery mainstay to potential postseason threat.

The Pistons' impressive offseason has been amplified following a surprise trade for Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz.

Pistons cap impressive offseason with acquisition of Bojan Bogdanovic

Dating back to when he was 9 years old, Malcolm Brogdon has made plenty of trips to Africa, a place he <a href="https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/brogdon-helps-bring-clean-water-joy-east-african-communities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">truly loves and is passionate about</a>. This past week marked yet another visit with the NBA for Basketball Without Borders, where he along with several players and coaches from around the league played a part in grooming the next generation of basketball youngsters &mdash; on and off the floor.
&ldquo;I just have a heart for it over here, a heart for the continent and developing these guys and giving them a real opportunity,&rdquo; Brogdon told Basketball News via Zoom.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think it's always an amazing opportunity when I get to come over here and work with the young talent, because there's a wealth of it in Africa. They don't have the resources and they don't have the nutrition and the development that we have, but once they do, these kids are gonna take off. So I definitely applaud the NBA for being over here and giving them an opportunity.&rdquo;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/0c3a0557.png" alt="" width="700" height="350" />
(Photos via NBA Africa)
Held in Cairo, Egypt, for the first time since the program expanded into Africa, Basketball Without Borders returned after a brief hiatus. (The last event occurred in Dakar, Senegal, in 2019, which Brogdon also participated in at the time.) BWB Africa 2022 brought together over 60 of the top men and women&rsquo;s prospects under the age of 18 to learn and compete.
The camp featured a variety of activities, including movement efficiency drills, offensive and defensive skill stations, three-point contests and 5-on-5 games, plus sessions about life skills and leadership development. In addition, everybody involved was able to explore the country &mdash; most notably seeing the pyramids and going to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/_l5s4228-1-1.png" alt="" width="700" height="350" />
Finding himself coaching for the second consecutive time, Brogdon quips that such a responsibility &ldquo;is a whole different monster than playing.&rdquo; With that being said, the 29-year-old envisions he&rsquo;ll continue to be involved in developing the future talent that comes from Africa.
&ldquo;It's up to guys like myself in the NBA that have a platform and have a name that can come over [to] encourage these guys, shine some light in their life, work with them and learn from them, and allow them to learn from you,&rdquo; Brogdon said.
With BWB Africa coming to a close on Wednesday, Basketball News spoke with Brogdon about his foundation, the Boston Celtics&rsquo; upcoming season and more.
You&rsquo;ve long talked about how important your platform as an NBA player is and how it can be used to help people. Could you speak about your clean water initiative in East Africa and your <a href="https://www.brogdonfamilyfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brogdon Family Foundation</a> that started two years ago?
Brogdon: "For sure. I have a foundation, the Brogdon Family Foundation. It focuses on two things. One side is education domestically and the other side is clean water internationally. Especially on the clean water side, we've seen a lot of progress over the last couple of years. We're building clean water wells in East Africa &mdash; Tanzania and Kenya. We have over 20-to-25 wells in the ground in those two countries. We're doing a lot of really good work and really impacting people's lives."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/brogdon1.png" alt="" width="560" height="448" />
It&rsquo;s got to be cool to be able to spend time with Grant Williams out there, especially now that you&rsquo;re teammates with him. Have you gotten the chance to get to know him better and talk ball?
Brogdon: "Yeah, we've talked a lot of basketball. We've spent a lot of time together. We've talked business, we've talked life. I got to meet his mom, she's here. Grant's a great guy. He's a smart guy. He takes the game serious, takes life serious. He's an impressive guy, so I've really enjoyed my time with him."
I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;re stoked for camp to start in a few weeks. You seem thrilled to be playing in Boston now. What makes that organization stand out to you?
Brogdon: "Their history, right? I mean, they're the most winning organization in the league, and I think they're more hungry to win than anybody. You can see that with the move they made for me and [Danilo] Gallinari. They want to improve. They want to win a championship. It's all about Banner 18 for 'em. Now that's all it's about for me as well, and I'm excited to be a part of that."
Have you had the chance to talk to Gallo after <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/danilo-gallinari-diagnosed-with-meniscus-tear-no-ligament-damage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his injury</a>?
Brogdon: "I reached out to him. I sent him a text that just said, 'Hey man, praying for you. Get healthy, we need you this year.' He said, 'I appreciate it, brother.' It was short. When you get injured, it's frustrating. You want people to check on you, but a lot of the time, you don't want to talk a lot about it, so I just sent a text out to let him know I was thinking about him and I was praying for him."
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How do you feel you can complement Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown best?
Brogdon: "I think I can just relieve pressure. Whether that's touching the paint, getting 'em easy shots. Whether that's guarding players that they need a break on the defensive end [against] so they can focus on offense.
"But [mostly], being a steady presence on the floor that can help control the end of games, that can help control the flow of the game to make sure that they're getting the ball in their spots, [so] they're never having to overdo it to get a look or run their bodies into the ground. I want to be that guy that can create for 'em."
You're joining a guard room with Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. It feels like the lineup combinations could be very fun.
Brogdon: "Yeah. We're talented, we're deep. A year ago, people were talking about, 'The Celtics didn't have depth.' Well, that's not gonna be an issue. I think this year we'll have a wealth of talent coming off the bench, and I'm excited about it. I'm excited. I think we've got smart, more-than-capable guys coming off the bench that are versatile on both sides of the ball, and we can really be dangerous."
What do you admire most about Ime Udoka? What have your conversations with him been like?
Brogdon: "I admire his authenticity, his realness. He's a straight shooter, he's very direct. There's not a lot of gray area with him. You can have coaches that don't want to tell you the truth, that sorta beat around the bush. He's far from that, so I really appreciate that about him. It's hard to find. I've had maybe two conversations with him. I can tell he's a player's coach. He was in the league for a while, he knows how to talk to you, he knows how to relate to you, but he also knows how to coach."
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Background on Basketball Without Borders Africa
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">The first Basketball Without Borders Africa camp took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2003.</li>
<li aria-level="1">In total there have been 18 BWB Africa camps, with the most recent camp taking place in Cairo, Egypt, from Aug. 28-31, 2022.</li>
<li aria-level="1">More than 1,400 men and women from more than 30 African countries have participated in BWB Africa.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Camps have been attended and supported by more than 150 NBA and WNBA coaches, players and NBA team personnel.</li>
<li aria-level="1">BWB Africa camps have been conducted in South Africa (2003-2009; 2011-2015; 2017-2018), Senegal (2010, 2019), Egypt (2022) and Angola (2016).</li>
<li aria-level="1">Twelve former BWB Africa campers have been drafted into the NBA: Khalifa Diop (BWB Africa 2018), Christian Koloko (BWB Africa 2017), Pascal Siakam (BWB Africa 2012), Joel Embiid (BWB Africa 2011), Kostas Antetokounmpo (BWB Africa 2015), Chukwudi Maduabum (BWB Africa 2010), Gorgui Dieng (BWB Africa 2009), Christian Eyenga (BWB Africa 2005), Hamady N'diaye (BWB Africa 2004), Solomon Alabi (BWB Africa 2004), Mouhamed Saer Sene (BWB Africa 2004), Luc Mbah a Moute (BWB Africa 2003)</li>
</ul>
Background on Basketball Without Borders
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">Basketball Without Borders (BWB) is the NBA and FIBA&rsquo;s global basketball development and community outreach program that was launched in 2001.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The first-ever BWB camp took place in Europe in July 2001: Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslavia national team, reunited in Treviso, Italy, to work with 50 children from the former Yugoslavia.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The NBA and FIBA have staged 65 BWB camps in 40 cities across 30 countries on six continents.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="2">BWB has hosted more than 3,800 participants from 133 countries and territories.</li>
<li aria-level="2">More than 310 current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined more than 240 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to share their expertise and knowledge with participants.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The NBA typically hosts four regional BWB camps over the summer (Africa, Europe, Asia, Americas), and in 2015 created the BWB Global camp, which is held annually at NBA All-Star for the top prospects from the previous summer&rsquo;s camps</li>
<li aria-level="2">There have been 105 former BWB campers drafted or signed by NBA or WNBA teams, including a record 41 players on opening-night rosters last season.
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">Notable former BWB campers include Deandre Ayton, Josh Giddey, RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen, Joel Embiid, Danilo Gallinari, Marc Gasol, Rui Hachimura, Jonas Valanciunas, Jamal Murray, Nicolas Batum, Pascal Siakam and Awak Kuier.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

Spencer Davies chats with Malcolm Brogdon about his involvement with BWB Africa, his foundation, next year's Celtics and more.

Malcolm Brogdon Q&A: Fit with Celtics, BWB Africa experience

We've got chalk!
The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm swept their opponents, and though the Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun had to go on the road, they handled business with double-digit wins. That sets us up for a pair of thrilling second-round series including the top-four seeds.
Let's take a look at some of the key matchups and questions for each series.
(2) CHICAGO SKY VS (3) CONNECTICUT SUN
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Sky won season series 4-0</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 10: 83-79</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 29: 91-83</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">July 31: 95-92 (no Candace Parker)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 7: 94-91 (no Curt Miller)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Who will win the paint battle?
It would be easy to go with the "power vs. finesse" angle for this frontcourt battle.
Chicago's trio of Candace Parker, Emma Meesseman and Azura Stevens (off the bench) do plenty of perimeter-based work. Parker and Meesseman often operate from outside as high post or handoff hubs, influencing the Sky's interior attack by picking out cutters. No frontcourt duo averaged more assists than Parker and Meesseman (8.3) this season.
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Stevens was more of a spacer (36% from three on moderate volume) than hub; that spacing helped open the floor for others, and she provided her own value as the rare big with comfort attacking closeouts.
The Sun do more of the gruntwork inside. Behind the trio of Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Brionna Jones, the Sun led The W in post-up shot attempts per game (6.9, per InStat tracking) and offensive rebound rate (37.1%). No one embodies their physicality quite like Bri Jones. The list of players that can deal with her on the block or the glass is a short one.
There's versatility present, of course; Jonquel might be the best shooter on the roster, able to space, pick-and-pop, or run off screens. Thomas led all frontcourt players, and ranked 4th overall, in assists this season (6.1). She's comfortable bringing the ball up the floor and actually initiates a large chunk of the offense in the half-court.
This series may boil down to who can assert their style the most. While the Sun lack in pure shooting and improvisation, they could very well counter it by winning the possession battle. Due to their size and glass-work, a league-leading 37% of their shot attempts came at the rim this season.&nbsp;
The Sky, with their motion-based offensive attack and occasional mismatch hunting, ranked just behind the Sun in rim rate (35%) this season. Because of the skill-sets of their bigs, they could have success pulling the Sun's bigs out of the paint, thus opening the floor for their perimeter players to operate.&nbsp;
KEY MATCHUP: Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams vs. Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley
I have some serious questions about the Sun's backcourt. 
At their best, Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams can provide enough shot-making to complement their stars. Hiedeman is a sniper beyond the arc, having drained 40.5% of her threes over the past two seasons. 
Williams has been more inconsistent as a three-point shooter &mdash; she's shot 45.7%, 23.5%, 38.3%, and 33.8% over the past four seasons &mdash; but she gives the Sun much-needed juice off the dribble. She led The W in mid-ranga attempts (6.6) by a wide margin and <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FG%20PCT&amp;dir=1&amp;CF=Mid-Range%20FGA*GE*3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranked 6th in percentage</a> (40.9%) among 20 players who averaged at least three attempts.&nbsp;
But there are drawbacks in this matchup. As lethal as Hiedeman is with her feet set, she hasn't gotten super busy off of movement. Of her 168 three-point attempts this season, only 42 of them (25%) came via isolation, ball screen, off-ball screen, or handoff, per InStat tracking. That has allowed Allie Quigley to take on that matchup during the regular season meetings.&nbsp;
For Williams, her inconsistency from deep allows teams to "gap" her off the ball. The Sky bordered on disrespect when she didn't have the ball, opting to ignore her completely to dig down on drives or double post-ups. Williams is going to make a shot on the possession below (a key for this series), but look at how threatened Chicago is by her.
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There's also the matter of decision-making. Hiedeman and Williams can get buckets when they're on, but neither of them are natural playmakers. Part of the "why doesn't Jonquel get more touches" answer is their inability to find her in a timely manner. And as good as Thomas has been as a creator, she wouldn't have to do so as much if the guards could be trusted more to keep the offense flowing. Williams in particular has a penchant for taking tough, contested pull-up middies. She's good enough to make them, but the process can get murky sometimes.
The Sky's backcourt of Courtney Vandersloot and Quigley don't have those concerns. Vandersloot is one of the best decision-makers in league history, while Quigley is one of the best shooters the league has seen &mdash; though it's worth noting she got off to a rough&nbsp;start to begin the year.
I do wonder if the Sun take a page out of the New York Liberty's book from their first-round matchup with the Sky. New York found some success with ducking under picks, particularly against Vandersloot. When they were able to keep her out of the paint, Chicago's half-court offense sputtered some.
Beyond that, it'll be on the Sun's guards to stay connected off the ball. During the regular season series, I found they mostly did a good job of containing the Sky's initial half-court action. Trouble ensued once the possession went later in the clock, with impromptu jukes and backcuts leading to buckets.
If they're able to hold up, this series could swing.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">I wonder what coverage Kahleah Copper will receive. Teams have typically gone under picks against her, though the Sun went with more switching and, surprisingly, hedging to force the ball out of her hands. It's an interesting gambit to take away her drives, though I wonder if that'll open more things up for the Sky offensively.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Keeping an eye on the backup guard minutes for Chicago. We know Rebekah Gardner is locked in, and may wind up closing games depending on how well Quigley shoots. I wonder how secure Julie Allemand's spot it. The Liberty found comfort trying to attack her in round 1, and the three-ball hasn't fallen at a high clip this season. Could we see Dana Evans pop up if necessary, or would James Wade simply shorten the rotation and give the Vandersloot/Quigley/Gardner triumvirate all the minutes?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">I'd like to see more Dijonai Carrington minutes for the Sun. Her defense may be needed more than usual in this series.</li>
</ul>
(1) LAS VEGAS ACES VS (4) SEATTLE STORM
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Aces won season series 3-1</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">May 8: 85-74 (no Tina Charles, Riquna Williams)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 29: 88-78, SEA</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 7: 89-81</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 14: 109-100 (no Dearica Hamby)</li>
</ul>
<li>Dearica Hamby (right knee bone contusion) will miss at least the first game of this series. She suffered the injury on August 11, and was given a 2-4 week timeline.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Who can flip the switch?
This is a star-studded matchup. If you haven't heard (or seen the 289347293482 graphics about it), there will be seven&nbsp;former No. 1 overall picks featured in this series: A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young for the Aces; Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird, and Tina Charles for the Storm.
With the exception of maybe Bird at this stage, all of these players are comfortable going one-on-one and getting tough buckets. That may be necessary in this series considering where these teams are defensively.
The Aces were an aggressive pick-and-roll team at the beginning of the season, having their bigs play at the level (or higher) of ball screens. The Storm have dialed up the pressure on ball screens for years. As the season has gone on, and particularly during the regular season meetings, both teams have leaned a little more into switching.&nbsp;
Both teams generally do a good job of passing off their assignments when switching. The Storm, however, might be the gold standard in switching into a (perceived) mismatch, and quickly scram-switching their way out of it by toggling assignments off the ball. Look at how quickly Williams "scrams" Bird out of the Wilson matchup here:
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That is&nbsp;beautiful&nbsp;work from the Storm. Bird goes from defending Chelsea, to switching onto Wilson, to immediately switching off Wilson to take Plum on the perimeter. They nail those kind of quick-hitting rotations.
This feels like more of an Aces question than a Storm one. Offensively, they're going to need to be purposeful and decisive when trying to attack in the half-court. They can't afford to have possessions like this:
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The Storm served Bird up on a platter for Wilson early into the possession, and the Aces did nothing productive with it. What should've been a quick attack, or at least a dish and post-up opportunity, turned into&nbsp; a drive from the corner gained little traction and ended with a late clock contested triple.
On the other end, they have to be able to 1) contain drives and 2) get their smaller players out of trouble when needed. The scram-switching from this unit has been inconsistent, to be kind.&nbsp;
KEY MATCHUP: Kelsey Plum vs. Gabby WIlliams
Of course, this will depend on Williams' availability in this series. She suffered a concussion during the Storm's Game 2 victory over the Washington Mystics. <a href="https://twitter.com/hunter9h/status/1563541825901989900?s=20&amp;t=01p9RFnjUY2JJR9UPBzPRw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At last check</a>, she hasn't cleared protocols yet, leaving her unavailable for Game 1 at the very least.
Assuming she makes a return during the series, this might be the most important battle of the series. Plum has been electric all season, but has seen a dip in production &mdash; or at least a dip in&nbsp;ease &mdash;&nbsp;when faced with lengthy defenders.
Williams just happens to be one of the best defenders in the sport, listed at 5-foot-11 and equipped with endless, active arms. The Aces want to make quick work in the half-court. That means creating early advantages with ball screens or with movement, something Williams does a wonderful job of preventing.&nbsp;
If she's able to keep a handle on Plum, you can expect Aces possessions to end much later in the clock. On top of Plum's shooting, she also led the Aces (and ranked third in The W) with 58 made shots off drives, per InStat. Rim pressure has been a question mark for the Aces all season; only the Storm generated a lower percentage of their <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/wnba/team?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular+Season&amp;StartType=All&amp;Type=Team&amp;StatType=Totals&amp;Table=Shooting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shots at the rim</a> (23.9) than the Aces (24.6). If Plum can't get there, the Aces would have to rely almost entirely on tough shotmaking. They certainly have the talent to do it, but it's a diet they don't&nbsp;want&nbsp;to live on.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Do we see the Aces go small at any point? They've experimented with a fun group -- Chelsea Gray, Plum, Riquna Williams, Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson -- but they've only played 14 minutes.&nbsp;I'm intrigued.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">On the defensive scheme front, I wonder how many changeups we see. Both have shown comfort dialing up the pressure, and they both have a zone defense in their back pocket.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">If Gabby Williams isn't available for an extended stretch, where do they go? Stephanie Talbot would help spacing tremendously, though she can get picked on defensively (and throw the other perimeter matchups out of whack). Briann January would help maintain the defense, but you're getting smaller without helping the spacing that much. The jumbo option, with Breanna Stewart, Ezi Magbegor, and Tina Charles together, has only seen six minutes of burn all season. I don't know if Noelle Quinn would bust that out, but I'd get a kick out of it if she does.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan previews the second round of the WNBA playoffs.

2022 WNBA Playoffs: Previewing the second-round matchups

Shams Charania of&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;released his latest <a href="https://theathletic.com/3526628/2022/08/22/kevin-durant-donovan-mitchell-trade-talk-shams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA trade slop drop Monday morning</a>, and it restated several points on the Boston Celtics' involvement in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. Notably, according to Charania, Boston has not made Marcus Smart or Robert Williams III available.
Smart is entrenched in the Celtics franchise as its longest-tenured player, emotional leader and reigning Defensive Player of the Year. But the withholding of Williams also speaks to how highly regarded he is on the roster and how critical he was to Boston's NBA Finals run last season.
Williams broke out big time in 2021-22, averaging 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game with a stunning 73.6% clip from the floor. He landed on the All-Defensive Second Team and anchored one of the best defenses in the league. A year ago this Wednesday, Williams signed a four-year contract that could be worth up to $54 million. He's already made that look like a massive bargain.
The 2018 first-round pick thrives in his classically-defined archetype as a rim-protecting center, two-way rebounder and lob finisher. Williams has already showcased elite traits in that role &mdash; traits that, if he never improved even fractionally, would still be among the best in the world for the next several years.
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However, Williams' role also clouds viewers' visualizations of his next steps. At age 24, and, with one healthy-ish season under his belt, Williams still has plenty of room to grow with the Celtics. But if he's already so good at what he does, and Boston rarely asks him to do anything else, what is the trajectory for his impact?
Fortunately, between Williams' additional skills and his functional areas of improvement, he can continue to shoulder more responsibility as a young big man.
Celtics fans have continuously marveled over Williams' passing flashes during his first few seasons in the league. His assist-to-usage rate has been in the top 20% among centers in each of the past three years, per Cleaning the Glass. And, despite receiving few touches outside of play-finishing chances, Williams can dazzle with his vision.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I love watching Robert Williams pass the basketball. Always makes such rapid decisions for the Celtics. These are two assists from today, the one-handed midair redirect to Pritchard after the rebound is silly <a href="https://t.co/bWf4V9Rf3a">pic.twitter.com/bWf4V9Rf3a</a>
&mdash; Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1497657823945060355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2022</a>
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When Boston tapped into Williams as a passer, they often set him up at the top of the arc or slightly offset on the wings. It's amazing how imposing he is from that range despite posing zero threat as a shooter or driver. Having Williams quarterback the offense from here also opens up opportunities for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to move off the ball and use their strength and speed to get open instead of ball-handling and creating.
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It's almost like Tatum is running a wide receiver option route in the above clips. In the first two plays, Jayson is slipping screens and cutting to the basket while Williams rifles passes in for layups. In the third clip, Tatum is using a Payton Pritchard flare screen and hitting a three. The fourth clip is another flare screen, but Williams and Tatum both recognize the open space, and the former leads the superstar into a driving layup. For good measure, the last clip is Brown faking off a similar pindown and cutting to the basket.&nbsp;
With "Timelord" running the show, off-ball defenders have to key in on Boston's dynamic duo, and it opens up easy reads for him to make, like this one to Grant Williams:
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Letting Robert Williams direct from the arc is a great way for the Celtics to leverage Jayson Tatum off-ball. He drew three Bucks defenders with his cut and that created an open three for Grant Williams <a href="https://t.co/Mw3K2qqorL">pic.twitter.com/Mw3K2qqorL</a>
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1521891105486352385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a>
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The gripe here isn't with Williams III; rather, I wish the Celtics would put him in these positions more often. He has a high overall turnover rate, but rarely gives the ball away in these situations. It places less of a load on Tatum and Brown as self-creators and gets more players moving around the half-court in general.
There's also untapped intrigue with him at the high post. According to PBP Stats, Williams III had 84 elbow touches across the entire 2021-22 regular season. His 16.7% assist rate ranked second among the 99 players with at least 75 elbow touches, behind only Memphis Grizzlies big man Steven Adams. Now, some of these touches are mere handoffs. But others are Williams connecting with shooters on a short roll, or directing traffic out of a post touch.&nbsp;
Jared Weiss of&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;detailed how <a href="stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston's offense drifted away from post-ups</a> as the season went on, and how adding more back with Williams involved could make sense. Given Williams' vision and the success that comes when players orbit around him, I would agree.
Any individual scoring development like a mid-range jump shot would be icing on the cake, as <a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/8/16/23302020/robert-williams-boston-celtics-center-jump-shot-analysis-what-if-week-celticsblog" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trevor Hass of Celtics Blog wrote.</a> But head coach Ime Udoka already has untapped potential right in front of him in the form of Williams as a passing hub. Manifesting more touches for a tertiary option is much easier said than done, but integrating Williams further could seriously juice a Celtics offense that often stagnated.&nbsp;
Defensively, however, the onus is on Williams to improve his switchability.&nbsp;
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The 6-foot-9-inch center is a remarkable roamer and shot-blocker &mdash; in the highest echelon of rim-warping players across the league. He hit his defensive stride strongly down the stretch because Udoka and the coaching staff put him in defensive positions to be successful. Sporting News writer Stephen Noh intricately broke down <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/hidden-gems-robert-williams-celtics/zw4cxlj1httzlmdwnkyw6ayz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how the Celtics kept Williams out of the on-ball limelight</a> whenever possible and made his job all about rotating and swatting.&nbsp;
That's great, and it proved to be successful enough to get Boston to within two games of a championship. It also required some luck and some heavy lifting from Al Horford, who used a stretch of good health to play some of the best switching defense we saw all season at age 35.&nbsp;
Horford, now 36, can't be expected to carry the same burden throughout another title push, and the Celtics only have one other center in line for possible rotation minutes in Luke Kornet. Williams will have to defend in ball-screen coverage and switch onto guards at certain points.
Last year, it didn't go so well. Boston started out switching 1-through-5 on defense and changed that as the year went on. Who knows if it was Williams who caused the shift, but his struggles certainly played a part.
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As shown in the clip above, Williams can't move with the necessary lateral quickness to stop drives at the root. He has to rely on his length to catch up when he gets beat, and while that leads to some highlight-reel recovery blocks, it's not a fail-safe he should want to lean on. Williams is also historically a foul-prone perimeter player who bites on pump-fakes far too often, though he tempered those temptations last year.
I'd claim that Williams improved in the moments he did have to switch onto isolations later in the season. It seemed he played those possessions more conservatively and was willing to give up the three-ball, knowing he has the vertical pop to reach shots like this:
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Don't expect Williams to become some unicorn-like defender who can smother players all over the court. If Williams can at least contain drives and keep defenders thinking about the threat of a block, that's a win for Boston. He's got the all-world rim-protection in his pocket already.
Williams is already a high-end starting center whose talents can help Boston get back to the Finals. If he breezes through a heavier passing workload and makes some progress as an on-ball defender, we could be talking about a sub-All-Star type of center next season.
Robert Williams III only underscores that the Celtics, even after reaching June, still have room for progress.

Ethan Fuller breaks down the next phases of growth for Celtics center Robert Williams III.

Sergio