Minnesota Timberwolves

On May 7, 1995, Indiana Pacers&rsquo; Reggie Miller put on one of the NBA's most legendary performances, scoring 8 points in 9 seconds against the New York Knicks to steal a could-have-been win, putting them on the wrong side of history.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Knicks, who lost Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals at home in Madison Square Garden 107-105. New York already eliminated the Pacers in 1993 and 1994 and coming into their matchup, Indiana was raring to get back at them.
Miller first hit a three with 16.4 seconds to go, and then the Knicks&rsquo; Anthony Mason made a costly mistake by inbounding the ball right into Miller&rsquo;s hands. Greg Anthony, who was supposed to receive the inbounds pass, had slipped and it led to Miller hitting yet another three to tie the game at 105.&nbsp;
The Knicks got the ball back and had John Starks on the line to take back the lead, but he missed his two free throws allowing the Pacers to get the ball back. Miller sank two free throws and the Knicks could not get a shot off in time as the buzzer sounded, therefore creating Miller&rsquo;s &lsquo;8 points in 9 seconds&rsquo; legend at the Garden.
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After 29 years since that heartbreak, luckily New York was on the other side of history this time around.
On Monday night, New York faced the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference round 1 clash. With 28 seconds to go and the Sixers up 5, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson drove into the thick of the defense only to stumble and get stifled by Kyle Lowry and the Sixers&rsquo; defense. Teammate Donte DiVincenzo got the ball in the middle of all the action, choosing to back it out.&nbsp;
Brunson, who has been bothered by Philadelphia&rsquo;s defense and shooting just 8-29 all game long, got up, relocated to the corner, and the ball eventually went his way. He rose and did a step-back three move on Tyrese Maxey, and the ball barely went down through the rim while bouncing high before eventually dropping down as the Knicks cut the Sixers&rsquo; lead to just two, 101-99.
Philadelphia tried to inbound the ball cleanly to Maxey with 27 seconds left on the clock. However, amidst the chaos and the tough defense by Brunson and Josh Hart (with some arguable pushing and shoving and grabbing of jerseys), Maxey slipped on the floor and could not get to the ball. Hart got the steal and sent it right back to DiVincenzo trailing for the three, only to miss.
In an intense series of events, Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein was the first to the ball, grabbing a huge offensive rebound to give another chance for the Knicks. He kicked it out to OG Anunoby who kicked it right back to DiVincenzo for another three. Splash. Nothing but net. The Knicks now suddenly lead 102-101 with 13.1 seconds remaining, leaving the Sixers befuddled on what just happened. Their 5-point lead suddenly turned to a 1-point deficit in a blink of an eye.
In the next possession, Philadelphia tried to get Maxey going downhill with a backscreen from Embiid. He sprinted down the floor and blew by everybody for the layup until Hartenstein made another big play by trailing down and blocking Maxey&rsquo;s shot, which sent the Garden into a frenzy. Anunoby made two free throws following the play to extend the Knicks&rsquo; lead 104-101.
The Sixers had one last shot at it to tie the game but Embiid missed a three at the buzzer, giving the Knicks one of its best wins in franchise history. A seemingly hopeless situation turned into a blessing with a series of events that will go down as one of the best moments in New York&rsquo;s lore &ndash; putting the team up 2-0 in their best-of-7 series going into Philadelphia.
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I didn't take a single breath this entire amazing sequence the Knicks took the lead to win the game <a href="https://t.co/p62a9U2y1r">pic.twitter.com/p62a9U2y1r</a>
&mdash; Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1782593229281788138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a>
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29 years ago, the Knicks suffered heartbreak. But now 29 years later, they find vindication in an eerily similar play to heal the hearts of the past.

In 1995, Reggie Miller scored the legendary '8 points in 9 seconds' against the Knicks to put them on the wrong side of history.

Knicks find vindication in clutch time at the Garden after 29 years

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around due to the team's recent success, winning 15 of their last 21 games.&nbsp;
After starting just 7-16, the Jazz have since gone 11-4 and are now in contention for one of the Western Conference's play-in spots. They&rsquo;ve had an incredible week thus far, with wins over the contending Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
The win over the defending-champion Nuggets proved that the Jazz can hang with any team on any given night. Denver was 18-0 against sub-.500 teams entering the game, but Utah stained their erstwhile unblemished slate.
How did the Jazz do it? Let's take a look at some of the things they did to upend the Nuggets.
The Jazz stretched the floor&nbsp;
With John Collins starting at center instead of Walker Kessler, Utah's game plan was to pull Nikola Jokic from the paint. Jokic, who&rsquo;s usually a drop-big on defense, almost always stays near the shaded area in pick-and-roll actions. Utah tried to take advantage of this early by hunting out threes and exploiting the point-of-attack defenses of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Four of their first five attempts were three-pointers and they connected on two to jump out to an early lead.
Denver tried to counter by running zone, leaving Collins open a couple of times in the first quarter. However, Collins made them pay by hitting two threes, as Jokic was more than content to leave him open for threes. This allowed the Jazz to get rolling even more and gave them the freedom to attack the basket and get downhill.
Another possession in the zone found Reggie Jackson and Jokic in a miscommunication, leading to Jordan Clarkson drilling an easy 10-foot jumper. When the Nuggets tried to switch up their defense back to a man-to-man, the Jazz found the answer with some off-ball movement and timely cuts to the rim. Overall, it was an offensive clinic that caught the defending champs off guard.
The Jazz mixed their coverages on Jokic and gave him different looks on defense
You can't entirely stop an all-world talent like Nikola Jokic, you could only hope to contain him, which is still really tough considering how talented he is and his ability to get his teammates involved.
Although he still put up a monstrous stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on an absurd 8-of-9 shooting from the field, what the Jazz and Will Hardy did was mix-up coverages on him. They showed multiple defensive looks each time down, which partly confused Jokic as he committed 6 turnovers in the game.
Sometimes, it was single coverage; other times, they sent doubles at him. Three different players &mdash; Lauri Markannen, Collins and Kessler &mdash; each took turns guarding him and all three provided different looks on the Joker. Markannen used his strength, Collins had his quickness and quick hands, while Kessler provided verticality with his 7-foot-1 frame.
The Jazz also sent different doubles at Jokic, sometimes crowding him in the paint with early double-teams, breaking up his low-post attacks with guards doubling him, and sending late doubles with another big or using a help weakside defender to try to affect him as he attempted a shot.
All of these defensive coverages were designed to make Jokic feel uncomfortable with different styles thrown at him, and the Jazz were successful at that with this blowout win.&nbsp;
Will Hardy figured out the rotations and had the Jazz playing with confidence
Although their defense is still suspect, the Jazz&rsquo;s offense has been nothing but spectacular. This can be attributed to head coach Will Hardy figuring out his rotation and which players synergize well together. This impressive run over their last 20 games started when Hardy made Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, Lauri Markannen and John Collins the starting five. Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk provide stability as veterans while second-year guys Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji help out on defense with their length and tenacity.
Utah&rsquo;s offense was on full display against Denver, picking them apart with set plays and off of read-and-react actions. Although the Nuggets were coming off two days of rest and just an hour flight, the Jazz capitalized on their momentum and pounced right from the start.
Markannen has picked up right where he left off in last season&rsquo;s All-Star campaign, maintaining his shooting and scoring while improving his ball-handling this season. He&rsquo;s much better off the dribble now, which makes him one of the most coveted (if not most coveted) trade targets as the Feb. 8 deadline approaches.
Clarkson has also learned to move the ball more since being back to his regular sixth man role while continuing to score the ball effectively, and it has produced good results.
Dunn and Sexton allow the Jazz to play with pace and energy on both sides of the floor and their efforts are infectious.
Despite all of the trade rumors swirling around this team and rival teams trying to pry their players away, GM Danny Ainge and coach Will Hardy deserve credit for helping the Jazz build good habits and play the right way, which has resulted in beautiful basketball all around.&nbsp;

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around, as they have won 15 of their last 21 games.

How the Utah Jazz earned their statement win over the Denver Nuggets

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

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

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving scored 25 of his 31 points during a second-half rally, and the Dallas Mavericks stayed in the race for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a 123-119 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Luka Doncic had 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Mavericks (38-42) matched Oklahoma City&rsquo;s record for the 10th seed in the West with two games remaining.
The Thunder own the tiebreaker, so Dallas, which reached the West finals last year, needs at least one Oklahoma City loss to have a chance at another playoff run.
Facing the brink of postseason elimination with a loss, the Mavericks rallied from 13 points down in the third quarter, when Irving started and finished a 12-0 run with 3-pointers for an 82-78 lead.
Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr., who scored 24 points, had the other two 3s on the run as Doncic and Irving won for the fifth time in 16 games together since the blockbuster trade that brought Irving from Brooklyn.
Dallas ended a three-game losing streak with just its second victory in its past nine games.
De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Kings, who have already ended a 16-year playoff drought and are all but locked in to the third seed in the West.
Irving put Dallas ahead for good with a jumper midway through the fourth quarter, and the lead was three when he hit a high-arching 3 from the corner for a 120-114 lead with two minutes remaining.
Sacramento had a season-high 22 offensive rebounds for a 30-14 edge in second-chance points, but the Mavericks had the biggest one of the game when Christian Wood grabbed a miss from Irving and five seconds later hit a 3-pointer for a 123-114 lead with a minute to go.
Wood scored 14 points despite 5-of-15 shooting.
TIP-INS
Kings: All five starters scored in double figures. Harrison Barnes had 16 points against his former team, Kevin Huerter scored 14 and Keegan Murray added 11.
Mavericks: Starters Reggie Bullock and Dwight Powell combined for just five points on just four shots. ... Josh Green had 10 points and nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
Kings: Golden State in home finale Friday.
Mavericks: Chicago visits Friday.

The Mavericks (38-42) matched Oklahoma City’s record for the 10th seed in the West with two games remaining.

Mavs keep play-in hopes alive with 123-119 win over Kings

College basketball is full of excitement and drama. While winning a national championship is the ultimate goal for every team, there have been many loaded squads that came up short.&nbsp;
While the teams on this list didn&rsquo;t win a title, they are still often mentioned among the best teams in the history of college basketball. Here are the best college-basketball teams that failed to win it all.&nbsp;
11. 1965-66 Kentucky Wildcats
The 1965-66 Kentucky Wildcats were coached by Adolph Rupp and their talented roster included future NBA stars Pat Riley and Louie Dampier. The Wildcats finished the season with a record of 27-2 and advanced to the national championship game, where they faced the Texas Western Miners. In a game that would later be immortalized in the movie "Glory Road," the Miners upset the Wildcats, 72-65.
10. 2006-07 Ohio State Buckeyes
Led by future No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden and longtime NBA point guard Mike Conley, the Buckeyes were hoping to win their second national championship in program history. Ohio State, traditionally a football school, finished the season 35-4 and ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. The Buckeyes advanced to the national championship game, where they faced a loaded Florida Gators squad that was led by future NBA All-Stars Joakim Noah and Al Horford.&nbsp;
In the national championship game, Oden avoided the foul trouble that had plagued him earlier in the tournament and put up a dominant 25 points and 12 rebounds. However, it wasn&rsquo;t enough, as the Gators defeated the Buckeyes 84-75 behind Horford's 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Four players from the Buckeyes' roster would go on to play in the NBA: Conley, Oden, Daequan Cook and Othello Hunter.
9. 2004-05 Illinois Fighting Illini
The 2004-05 Illinois Fighting Illini were a dominant force in college basketball. Coached by Bruce Weber and led by Dee Brown and Deron Williams, the Illini won their first 29 games of the season and finished with a 37-2 record.&nbsp;
Illinois advanced to the national championship game, where they faced the North Carolina Tar Heels (who were led by Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams). Despite a valiant effort, the Illini fell just short, losing 75-70. Five of their players would go on to play in the NBA: Williams, Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell and James Augustine.
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8. 2007-08 Memphis Tigers
Yes, John Calipari has back-to-back teams on this list. Coach Cal&rsquo;s 2007-08 Memphis Tigers were absolutely loaded and they were led by Derrick Rose, who would go on to be the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011. Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey and Antonio Anderson were also key contributors who eventually had stints in the NBA.
The Tigers finished the season with a record of 38-2 and they advanced to the national championship game, where they faced the Kansas Jayhawks. Despite a strong effort, the Tigers were unable to overcome the Jayhawks. Memphis missed a number of late free throws, which opened the door for Mario Chalmers to hit <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/march-madness-ranking-the-top11-ncaa-tournament-buzzerbeaters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the most memorable buzzer-beaters in modern NCAA Tournament history</a> and force overtime. Kansas would go on to win, 75-68.
7. 1974-75 Indiana Hoosiers
Led by head coach Bob Knight, the 1974-75 Indiana Hoosiers finished the season with a record of 31-1 and advanced to the Final Four, where they faced the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite a strong effort, the Hoosiers were upset by the Wildcats, 92-90.&nbsp;
The Hoosiers would have eight players who would go on to play in the NBA: Scott May, Steve Green, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner, John Laskowski, Bob Wilkerson, Tom Abernethy and Wayne Radford.
6. 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks
The 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks featured a pair of future NBA stars (Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz) and one of the best coaches in college-basketball history (Roy Williams). The Jayhawks finished the season with a record of 34-2 and advanced to the Final Four, where they faced the&nbsp; Arizona Wildcats.&nbsp;
Pierce put together a monster performance &mdash; 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 threes, 2 blocks and 2 steals on 69.2/60/100 shooting splits &mdash; but it wasn't enough to defeat Mike Bibby&rsquo;s Wildcats. The Jayhawks lost 85-82 in overtime. In addition to Pierce and LaFrentz, Kansas had four other players go on to the NBA: Scot Pollard, Billy Thomas, Jacque Vaughn and Ryan Robertson.
5. 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats
The 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats, coached by John Calipari, featured quite the collection of young, high-upside talent. Led by future NBA superstars Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker, the Wildcats finished the season with a perfect record of 38-0.
Kentucky advanced to the Final Four, where they faced the Wisconsin Badgers and were ultimately upset 71-64. In total, a whopping nine Wildcats would go on to play in the NBA: Towns, Booker, Trey Lyles, Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Tyler Ulis, Dakari Johnson and Alex Poythress.
4. 1984-85 Georgetown Hoyas
The 1984-85 Georgetown Hoyas, coached by John Thompson, were a powerhouse team that featured future NBA star Patrick Ewing. The Hoyas finished the season with a record of 35-3 and advanced to the national championship game, where they faced the Villanova Wildcats.&nbsp;
In one of the biggest upsets in college-basketball history, the Wildcats defeated the Hoyas 66-64. In addition to Ewing, Georgetown had four other players who went on to play in the NBA: Reggie Williams, Bill Martin, David Wingate and Michael Jackson.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/web2.jpg" alt="" width="690" height="348" />
3. 1992-93 Michigan Wolverines
The prior season, the Fab Five took college basketball by storm, with bald heads and baggy shorts. They started five true freshmen and had a great season, making it all the way to the national championship game, where they were handled by a veteran Duke squad that was led by Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley, losing 71-51.
In the 1992-93 season, the Wolverines were widely regarded as the most talented team in the country and they were the favorites to win it all. Unfortunately, they fell short to North Carolina in the national championship game in one of the most memorable endings in sports history. Future No. 1 pick Chris Webber called a timeout that Michigan didn&rsquo;t have, as they lost 77-71. Michigan had five players who would later play in the NBA: Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Eric Riley (plus Rob Pelinka would go on to run the Los Angeles Lakers' front office).
2. 1982-83 Houston Cougars
Led by future Hall-of-Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, the 1982-83 Houston Cougars were known as "Phi Slama Jama" for their high-flying style of play. The Cougars were a dominant force on both ends of the court. They advanced to the Final Four, where they faced the N.C. State Wolfpack. Despite a 20-point lead in the second half, the Cougars were upset by the Wolfpack, 54-52. In addition to the superstar pairing of Olajuwon and Drexler, Houston also had two other players who would go on to play in the NBA: Michael Young and Larry Micheaux.
1. 1990-91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels
The 1990-91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels are one of the greatest college basketball teams of all-time, despite not winning the national championship. Coached by Jerry Tarkanian, the Rebels had an incredible season, finishing with a record of 34-1.&nbsp;
Led by Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, the Rebels played an up-tempo style of basketball that was both thrilling and effective. In the Final Four, they lost a close game to the Duke Blue Devils, who would go on to win the national championship. Johnson, Augmon and Anthony would go on to thrive in the NBA, and two other Rebels would also make it to the league (Elmore Spencer and Eyric Gray).
Would you rank these teams differently? Who is missing from this list? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts now</a>!

Jamal Shakespeare looks back on 11 all-time great college basketball teams that failed to win a championship.

Revisiting 11 loaded NCAA-basketball teams that failed to win it all

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

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

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

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; No. 8 Alabama could have called it a day when it was trailing by double-figures early in the second half.
The Crimson Tide didn&rsquo;t, and earned another marquee win this season.
Alabama rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to stun No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday, becoming just the second men&rsquo;s team to beat two top-ranked teams in the same season.
Noah Clowney had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jaden Bradley added 12 points and Mark Sears scored 11 points, including nine in the second half for the Crimson Tide (8-1). Alabama shot 50% from the field in the second half and 41% for the game. The Tide went 20 of 32 on free throws, including 15 of 21 in the second half.
&ldquo;This is one of those character wins that shows that our guys are going to keep fighting no matter what the score is,&rdquo; Alabama coach Nate Oats said. &ldquo;We could have easily given up down 15. The start of the second half wasn&rsquo;t great. We made some changes with the bench guys. Hung in there, kept clawing away at the lead, finally able to take the lead and then we pulled away from them.&rdquo;
The Crimson Tide beat North Carolina 103-101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27 and joins the 1990 Oklahoma team to take down two No. 1s in a season.
&ldquo;Huge program win,&rdquo; Oats said. &ldquo;Not sure how many teams get the chance to play two No. 1 teams in nonconference, let alone beat them, but I think that shows where we&rsquo;ve gotten this program to that we can play with anyone in the country at this point.&rdquo;
Jamal Shead had 19 points and six rebounds, and Tramon Mark scored 10 points before fouling out with 8:10 remaining for Houston (9-1).
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the No. 8 team in the nation,&rdquo; Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;No shame losing to a really, really good Alabama team. Disappointing obviously. We haven&rsquo;t lost a lot in this building.&rdquo;
The Cougars shot 39% from the field, including going 1-of-8 to end the game. Houston was 3 of 13 on 3-pointers and 12 of 22 from the free-throw line.
&ldquo;We just couldn&rsquo;t guard,&rdquo; Shead said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t stand in front of the ball for like four or five straight possessions and that&rsquo;s how they got back into it. And we just weren&rsquo;t tough enough to finish it out.&rdquo;
The game was tied at 63 following a Marcus Sasser free throw with two minutes left. Then Clowney put the Tide up by two with a layup with 1:12 remaining, Shead missed a jumper with 48 seconds left and Brandon Miller made two free throws five seconds later to push the lead to four.
After Reggie Chaney missed two free throws, Miller made two more free throws to give Alabama a 69-63 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
Trailing 57-49 with 8&frac12; remaining, the Tide went on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 61-60 on a layup by Clowney with five minutes to go.
Houston used an 18-2 run to end the first half and start the second half to take a 44-29 lead with 17:13 remaining on a steal and layup by Jarace Walker, but Alabama responded with a 15-5 spurt to cut the led to five on a 3-pointer by Sears with 11 minutes left.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: Alabama outrebounded Houston 44-39 and got 27 points from its bench. The Tide improved to 3-1 this season against teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
Houston: The Cougars missed a chance for a resume-building win and fell to 1-1 this season against Quad 1 teams. Houston forced Alabama into 15 turnovers but turned it into only 18 points.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Houston, which has been No. 1 for two weeks, will likely fall in the AP Top 25 poll, while Alabama should rise.
UP NEXT
Alabama: Hosts Memphis on Tuesday.
Houston: Hosts North Carolina A&amp;T on Tuesday.

Alabama rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to stun No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday.

No. 8 Alabama mounts comeback, beats No. 1 Houston 71-65

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Domantas Sabonis scored 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting and the Sacramento Kings handed the undermanned Los Angeles Clippers their worst loss of the season, 123-96 on Saturday.
Sabonis set the tone with 15 points in the opening quarter and the Kings' bench kept it going in the second, building a 28-point lead. They led by 29 in the third and by 31 in the fourth.
&ldquo;While everyone warms up, I&rsquo;m always ready,&rdquo; Sabonis said. &ldquo;I feel like that&rsquo;s where I can take advantage.&rdquo;
Sabonis made both of his two 3-point attempts in the game and hit 2 of 3 free throws. He had six assists and five rebounds despite five fouls.
Keegan Murray added 23 points and D'Aaron Fox had 14 points for the Kings, who won their second straight.
The Clippers were again without Paul George (right hamstring tendon strain) and Kawhi Leonard (right ankle sprain), as well as Luke Kennard and Norman Powell. George and Leonard are expected to join the team on their upcoming road trip.
&ldquo;We have to hold it up until they're back and then when they're back, hopefully soon, we can build some chemistry out on the court and some consistency,&rdquo; said Ivica Zubac, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and third in four games.
Brandon Boston Jr. scored 18 points off the bench for the Clippers. Terance Mann added 13 points.
One of the surprise teams of the young NBA season, the Kings have played well under new coach Mike Brown. They are 12-9 and fifth in the Western Conference standings.
&ldquo;We really didn't have any expectations because we're a new team and figuring each other out,&rdquo; said Malik Monk, who had 13 points. &ldquo;We were going to have a chance every night because we've got great guys that can put the ball in the basket and defend, too.&rdquo;
They got out and ran in transition against the Clippers in the first quarter when the Kings shot 68% from the floor. Three of the Clippers' five starters were held scoreless in the period.
&ldquo;On the road, you have to win the possession game. I thought our guys did a great job at taking care of the ball as well as sharing it with one another, 31 assists, just nine turnovers,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;It was just a good road win for us.&rdquo;
The Kings opened the second with an 18-4 run to lead 56-28. The Clippers closed with a 10-4 spurt to trail 60-38 at the break.
Sacramento outscored the Clippers 12-0 early in the third, taking a 74-45 lead. Sabonis had five points and Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer in the spurt.
<a href="https://www.nba.com/watch/video/sacramento-kings-with-a-12-0-run-vs-la-clippers-3?plsrc=nba&amp;game-highlights=0022200338" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kings' 12-0 run</a> to start the fourth pushed their lead to 102-74. Kevin Huerter&nbsp;and Murray each had 3-pointers.
HE SAID IT
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no nap, which is hard. I love taking my nap.&rdquo; &mdash; Sabonis on early tipoffs.
TIP-INS
Kings: Huerter rolled his ankle in the third and had it wrapped after the game. ... Evened the season series at a game apiece after losing 111-109 in the first meeting.
Clippers: Reggie Jackson took a hard fall, his second this week. He left the court but later returned. ... Held to 14 points in the second, their lowest-scoring quarter of the season. ... Powell sat out his second straight game with a left groin strain. ... Kennard (right calf strain) missed his 10th game of the season.
UP NEXT
Kings: Host Chicago on Sunday in the second game of a back-to-back.
Clippers: Visit Charlotte on Monday to open a four-game East Coast trip.

Domantas Sabonis scored 24 points and the Kings handed the Clippers their worst loss of the season on Saturday, 123-96.

Domantas Sabonis scores 24, leads Kings' 123-96 rout of Clippers

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Paul George scored 22 points in three quarters to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to 122-106 rout of the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
George, who also had eight rebounds and five assists, spent the fourth quarter on the bench with the game in hand as coach Tyronn Lue didn&rsquo;t play his starters in the final period on the front end of a back-to-back.
&ldquo;It was good being able to finish the game the right way and give our starters some rest with a game tomorrow night,&rdquo; Lue said.
Los Angeles led by 11 to start the fourth and the team&rsquo;s reserves played well enough to not only hold the lead but pad it as the Rockets struggled.
&ldquo;Our bench came in and really did a good job of making the right plays and finishing things,&rdquo; Lue said.
The Clippers had a 13-point lead with about eight minutes remaining when Terance Mann and Norman Powell both converted three-point plays before another basket by Mann made it 108-87 about 90 seconds later.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas called a timeout to try and slow down the Clippers as fans started streaming toward the exits.
Kevin Porter Jr. made a basket out of the timeout for Houston. But then Powell hit a layup seconds later to start a 6-2 mini-run that made it 114-91 with 4 1/2 minutes left.
&ldquo;That is a dangerous young team and anything can happen," Lue said. &ldquo;So we wanted to make sure that we came out professional and played well.&rdquo;
Jalen Green had 25 points and Porter added 20 for the Rockets, who shot 9 of 30 from 3-point range and dropped their third in a row.
Silas said he could sense some frustration from his team, and learning to overcome that is something his young players will need to learn.
&ldquo;When you hit adversity, not letting the frustration get to you is something that young guys have to work on,&rdquo; he said.
Reggie Jackson had 17 points and six assists to help the Clippers win for the third time in four games.
The Clippers led by 15 after a dunk by Ivica Zubac with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Houston then used a 12-6 spurt, with eight points from Green, to cut the lead to 87-78 three minutes later. Kenyon Martin Jr. capped the drive with a dunk but got a technical for yelling at Zubac to celebrate it.
George missed the technical foul shot, but Nicolas Batum added a jumper after that to leave the Clippers up 89-78 entering the fourth.
TIP-INS
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard, who hasn&rsquo;t played since Oct. 23 while dealing with knee soreness, made the trip but Lue said he didn&rsquo;t know if Leonard would play Tuesday night at Dallas. ... Marcus Morris had 15 points. Powell finished with 17, and Mann scored 14.
Rockets: Silas said Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate, out since Oct. 31 with an ankle injury, will be sidelined at least two to three more weeks before he is re-evaluated. &hellip; Alperen Sengun had 16 points. ... The Rockets made 19 of 31 free throws.
STARS OUT
Rapper 50 Cent and Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pe&ntilde;a, fresh off winning the World Series MVP award, sat courtside.

Paul George scored 22 points in three quarters to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 122-106 rout of the Houston Rockets.

George scores 22 to lead Clippers to 122-106 rout of Rockets

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; The Thunder have done it again.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and Oklahoma City earned its second straight win over the Clippers, beating Los Angeles 118-110 on Thursday night.
Lu Dort scored 21 points and Aleksej Pokusevski added 15 for the Thunder, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-clippers-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-sports-paul-george-610e743d4d1cffb1c4b7d3de66f33e2c">who beat the Clippers 108-94</a> on Tuesday.
It was a breakout game for Dort, who entered shooting 26% from the field for the season. He made 9 of 15 shots, while being the primary defender on Clippers All-Star Paul George.
&ldquo;For him, it&rsquo;s a good confidence blast,&rdquo; Gilgeous-Alexander said. &ldquo;I knew that would happen eventually. Lu works so hard, and when you work hard and you play as hard as he does, good things happen.&rdquo;
The Thunder shot 49.5% from the field.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to be able to guard point of attack,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just lining us up one-on-one, and guys are able to get whatever they want.&rdquo;
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard missed both games against the Thunder while managing his previously injured right knee. George played on Thursday after sitting out on Tuesday with an illness and finished with 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting.
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 21 points. Reggie Jackson scored 18 and John Wall added 17 for Los Angeles, which lost its third straight.
The Thunder scored 31 points off 20 Clippers turnovers two days after scoring 23 points off 19 Los Angeles giveaways.
&ldquo;The live turnovers are killing us,&rdquo; Lue said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to just clean that up.&rdquo;
The Thunder led 30-12 in the first quarter, but the Clippers rallied and led 60-53 at halftime behind 12 points each from Wall and Jackson.
&ldquo;You know, that&rsquo;s a really good team," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They&rsquo;re not going to lay down. And I thought we really came out with a sense of purpose and obviously threw the first punch. And it&rsquo;s a good lesson for us that a good team is not just going to accept that.&rdquo;
Gilgeous-Alexander committed his fourth foul with 4.6 seconds left in the second quarter, and he started the second half on the bench. The Thunder rallied without him and took a 71-70 lead before he returned midway through the third quarter. The Thunder led 89-87 heading into the fourth.
Wall's driving dunk at the start of the fourth quarter tied the game at 89, but the Thunder pulled away late. Pokusevski hit a 3-pointer, then less than a minute later, Tre Mann walked into a fast break 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a 116-104 with 2:55 remaining.
Oklahoma City did not attempt a free throw until 10:22 remained in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder went 7 for 8 from the line in the final period.
Daigneault didn't like the free throw situation, but he liked the way the game turned out.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t particularly pleased with that, but we weathered it," he said. "And at the end of the day, it&rsquo;s not easy one way or the other. There&rsquo;s going to be things you have to deal with, things you have to overcome. And I just thought we played right through it tonight. It didn&rsquo;t distract us. And we just &mdash; we kept on it and obviously emerged. It was good.&rdquo;
GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER'S FREEBIES
Gilgeous-Alexander made both of his free throws on Thursday, leaving him one short of the Thunder record for consecutive made free throws to start a season.
The record holder? Not Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant. Not even George, a former Thunder star. It&rsquo;s Danilo Gallinari, who opened with 23 straight to start the 2019-20 season.
Gilgeous-Alexander has already passed the likes of Patrick Patterson (17 during the 2017-18 season) and Kevin Martin (16 during the 2012-2013 season). Corey Brewer made his first 17 after being traded to the Thunder in 2018.
TIP-INS
Clippers: F Marcus Morris sat out his second straight game for personal reasons. ... The Clippers shot 53.7%. ... Los Angeles made just 9 of 28 3-pointers.
Thunder: G Josh Giddey sat out with a sprained right ankle. ... Went 6 for 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter to take a 34-24 lead. They finished 17 for 38 on 3-pointers after going 4 for 30 in Tuesday's game.
UP NEXT
Clippers: Host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
Thunder: Visit the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: <a href="twitter.com/CliffBruntAP">twitter.com/CliffBruntAP</a>

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and Oklahoma City earned its second straight win over the Clippers.

Gilgeous-Alexander scores 24 as Thunder beat Clippers again

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis scored 28 points in his return to the Lakers lineup after missing two games due to injury, and Los Angeles defeated Golden State 124-121 Sunday night in the Warriors' first game since the practice altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
Matt Ryan made a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds remaining to seal the win. Davis, who sat out two games with lower back tightness, shot 9 for 18 for the Lakers, who won without LeBron James, Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook in the lineup.
Davis, who scored 24 points before halftime, played the opening shift of the second half before taking a seat after 21 total minutes. Kendrick Nunn scored 21 points and Ryan added 20 on 6-for-9 shooting from outside the arc.
Poole led the Warriors with 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, and added six assists. Green fought with Poole during practice Wednesday. Green apologized to the team a day later and general manager Bob Myers said any potential discipline would be handled internally. Meanwhile, Green was unavailable, saying he will take some time away from the team.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Andrew Wiggins added 15 for the Warriors. Jonathan Kuminga (12 points) started in Green&rsquo;s place, while Poole replaced Klay Thompson, who is still building up for the regular season.
In the first half, Davis performed at the level the Lakers will need him if they are to improve on last season&rsquo;s 33-49 regular-season record that left them out of the postseason. Davis shot 7 of 13 before the break, making all eight of his free throws.
The game became close in the second half, and neither team led by more than six points in the fourth quarter.
BULLS 115, RAPTORS 98
DeMar DeRozan had 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Chicago used a second-half rally to beat host Toronto.
DeRozan converted 7 of 12 shots and all seven of his free throws. Javonte Green scored 17 points and Ayo Dosunmu added 14. Nikola Vucevic finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Paschal Siakam led the Raptors with 18 points and nine rebounds. The starting Toronto backcourt of Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet carried the Raptors to a lead in the first half. Trent finished with 17 points and VanVleet had 13.
Both teams played their regular starters, except for missing Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who is recovering from a meniscus tear suffered in January.
The Raptors built a 10-point halftime lead behind Trent and VanVleet. The tandem combined for 25 points before the break, including Trent connecting on all five of his shots. Defensively, they had six steals in the half, including four by VanVleet. The Bulls had 16 turnovers in the first half.
The Bulls erased the lead in the third and pulled away in the fourth. Chicago outscored Toronto 68-41 in the second half.
TIMBERWOLVES 119, CLIPPERS 117
Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, six assists and six rebounds in his preseason debut to lead visiting Minnesota.
Naz Reid had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, while Bryn Forbes added 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers. Anthony Edwards had 14 points.
John Wall led the Clippers with 20 points. Paul George scored 14 and Marcus Morris Sr. added 13 points.
The Clippers saw a vision of their regular rotation as Kawhi Leonard, George, Wall and Reggie Jackson all played. Meanwhile, Towns saw his first action of the preseason for the Timberwolves after missing games due to a hospitalization. Still, there was not a glimpse of the potential twin towers in Minnesota as Rudy Gobert, acquired from Utah over the summer, sat out.
The teams were tied at 115 with under two minutes to play when Austin Rivers scored on a layup and Luka Garza hit a 6-foot hook to create enough of a buffer for Minnesota to remain undefeated in its three preseason games.
PELICANS 111, SPURS 97
In San Antonio, Trey Murphy III had 27 points and eight rebounds, Zion Williamson finished with eight points, nine rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes to lead New Orleans over the Spurs.
Naji Marshall scored 15 points for the Pelicans, and Jonas Valanciunas added 14 as New Orleans continued to play with stars resting or recovering from injury. Among those not active were CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Jaxson Hayes, who suffered a left elbow injury earlier in the week.
Murphy was 10 of 15 from the field, including 7 for 10 from beyond the arc.
Devonte Graham and Willy Hernangomez each scored 11 points. Graham added six assists and Hernangomez grabbed 10 rebounds.
Doug McDermott led the Spurs with 14 points, and Josh Richardson finished with 12. Veteran Gorgui Dieng had 10 points and nine rebounds for San Antonio.
KINGS 126, TRAIL BLAZERS 94
In Sacramento, Keegan Murray, the fourth overall pick in the draft from Iowa, scored 16 points and eight players reached double figures in leading the Kings past Portland.
Terence Davis and De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 14 points apiece for the Kings, while Domantas Sabonis added 13 points, four assists and seven rebounds.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points. Anfernee Simons scored 16 and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Damian Lillard was held to eight points, making only two of his 10 shots, including missing all four of his 3-points attempts. He did hand out six assists.
THUNDER 144, MACCABI RA&rsquo;ANANA 97
Eugene Omoruyi scored 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting in Oklahoma City's win over visiting Maccabi Ra&rsquo;anana.
Luguentz Dort had 23 for Oklahoma City, while Ousmane Dieng, the 11th pick in last summer&rsquo;s draft, had 16 points for the Thunder. Aleksej Pokusevski and Jalen Williams, the 12th overall pick from Santa Clara, scored 15 points apiece.
Jason Suggs led Maccabi with 40 points on 15-for-26 shooting, including 5 of 9 from long distance. Terrence Jones had 15 points and Norris Cole contributed 12.
Willy Workman finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Maccabi.
Oklahoma City sat a number of key players, including Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Darius Bazley. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dealing with a left MCL sprain, remained unavailable.

Davis, who scored 24 points before halftime, played the opening shift of the second half before taking a seat after 21 total minutes.

Anthony Davis scores 28 in return, Lakers defeat Warriors 124-121

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes Chauncey Billups' dual-threat nature and impact on the next generation of point guards.

Blazing the Trail: Chauncey Billups, the basketball cheat code

NBA basketball in 2022 is centered around the ability to create advantages on offense and minimize advantages on defense. Players and teams can space the floor, collapse it and warp it at myriad levels with the freedom to drive &mdash; and dish and shake and cut &mdash; all over the place. It's part of the reason guys like <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jokic-antetokounmpo-doncic-explain-why-europe-is-harder-than-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic think EuroBasket is a harder environment.</a>&nbsp;
The modern game all but requires NBA offenses to have at least one (and probably more than one) player on the court who can collapse an opposing defense with a 1-on-1 drive. Defenders who can snuff out those advantages, meanwhile, earn high esteem; just look at how players like Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Marcus Smart and Derrick White helped get their teams to the NBA Finals.&nbsp;
Guys rarely excel in both dimensions of the fire-and-ice combination, spark offense and freezing foes on defense. Sacramento Kings point guard Davion Mitchell was one of those rarities as a rookie:
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Two important avenues to player impact are advantage creation on offense and prevention on defense. Here are where players stacked up last season in these two on-ball measures: <a href="https://t.co/Jp5yVdWMnn">pic.twitter.com/Jp5yVdWMnn</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1570455340566646785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
Mitchell didn't make an All-Rookie team last season and feels somewhat lost in the crowd of an exciting 2021 draft class. But the former No. 9 overall pick, even at 24 years old, should be considered just as poised for a second-year surge as any of his competitors. He's smack-dab in the middle of the above graphic from SIS Hoops, sitting near dynamic two-way catalysts like Smart, White, Justin Holiday and Fred VanVleet.
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The Kings got shellacked last night, but Davion Mitchell really stood out early. Thought he bothered Trae a good deal in the first quarter, tracked him well off-ball and in screen navigation Got his shot off and was aggressive early. Good stretch for him <a href="https://t.co/JIv534iqcM">pic.twitter.com/JIv534iqcM</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1486687309076512768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Mitchell has earned the "Off Night" moniker for his hounding individual defense, and new Kings coach Mike Brown is already a witness.
"I can honestly say at this point in his career he is one of the best on-ball defenders I&rsquo;ve been around," Brown told <a href="https://theathletic.com/3625126/2022/09/26/sacramento-kings-season-preview/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony Slater of The Athletic</a>. "Some of the things I&rsquo;ve seen in the summertime remind me of a Gary Payton II type of on-ball defender.&rdquo;
The offensive end took a bit more time to flash. Mitchell averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists per game with a lackluster 48.9% True Shooting percentage in 2021-22, but those cumulative numbers don't tell the whole story.
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After the All-Star break, the rookie put up 14.1 points and 5.9 assists per game across 19 contests. Eleven were starts, in which he averaged 18.8 points and 9.3 assists per game. De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis dropped out of the season due to injuries after March 20, leaving Mitchell to run the show as the Kings trudged along, out of the playoff picture.&nbsp;
Those who stuck it out with Sacramento saw Mitchell settle in as an advantage-finder on the ball. Check out how his aggression increased post-All-Star, after the Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton and amidst injury struggles amongst their stars.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 15.5964%;">Category</td>
<td style="width: 13.5075%;">Pre-All-Star</td>
<td style="width: 14.291%;">Post-All-Star</td>
<td style="width: 18.0636%;">Post-ASB NBA Rank</td>
<td style="width: 19.6302%;">Post-ASB Rookie Rank</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 15.5964%;">Drives/Game</td>
<td style="width: 13.5075%;">8.7</td>
<td style="width: 14.291%;">12.1</td>
<td style="width: 18.0636%;">17th</td>
<td style="width: 19.6302%;">2nd</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 15.5964%;">FG% on Drives</td>
<td style="width: 13.5075%;">49.2%</td>
<td style="width: 14.291%;">52.0%</td>
<td style="width: 18.0636%;">35th</td>
<td style="width: 19.6302%;">4th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 15.5964%;">AST% on Drives</td>
<td style="width: 13.5075%;">14.2%</td>
<td style="width: 14.291%;">16.1%</td>
<td style="width: 18.0636%;">5th</td>
<td style="width: 19.6302%;">1st</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 15.5964%;">TOV% on Drives</td>
<td style="width: 13.5075%;">6.0%</td>
<td style="width: 14.291%;">5.2%</td>
<td style="width: 18.0636%;">t-26th</td>
<td style="width: 19.6302%;">4th</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile. Stats courtesy of NBA Stats/Second Spectrum)
Mitchell already posted decent numbers as a driver early in the season, but with more on his plate without Haliburton and an intermittent Fox, he impressively boosted both his volume and efficiency.
As a passer, Mitchell formed an interesting tandem with Damian Jones... who is now a Laker. The two were the fourth-most frequent assist combo on the Kings last season. By spring, Jones was Mitchell's favorite target; he passed to the play-finishing center seven times per game.
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We see how Mitchell is growing past straight-line drives. He dipped into his bag of herky-jerky crossovers and hesitation moves a bit more, exploded off of those plays, and then, zipped passes into Jones for finishes. The second clip against the Los Angeles Clippers particularly impressed me. Mitchell probed and engaged Ivica Zubac long enough to create a window for Jones, saw Reggie Jackson was backing out of the paint to cover Trey Lyles, and then, hit Jones for the easy dunk.
Of course, Mitchell won't be syncing up with the 7-footer next season. He might have Neemias Queta as a big-bodied dunker, but Davion will most likely be in tandem with either Sabonis or Richaun Holmes at center. Mitchell still flashed potential for a promising connection with those two based on his rookie work.
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This trio of assists all came to Jones in the same April contest against the Suns. Mitchell hit him on a beautiful high-low feed in the first clip, and then broke two aggressive screen coverages later on. This type of success is exciting if you imagine Sabonis feasting as an interior hub, fed by Mitchell through aggressive defenses &mdash; or Holmes sealing down low and getting rewarded with a Davion dime.
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Domantas Sabonis talks about working with Davion Mitchell, the next level of his &amp; De'Aaron Fox's partnership, and Mike Brown. <a href="https://t.co/svedS5LtWL">pic.twitter.com/svedS5LtWL</a>
&mdash; Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattGeorgeSAC/status/1574517940048695296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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On the flip side, these bigs could also keep defenses from sending two at Mitchell &mdash; giving him more breathing room to create advantages. His mix of burst and patience allows him to explore more space, even in Steve Nash dribble-esque situations like these:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/9nmfkq" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Mitchell slinks around the baseline and hits Harrison Barnes twice in this reel, once on a well-timed cut and another after drawing in Barnes' defender from the corner. These are two more examples of an NBA rookie maximizing his advantage and creating an advantageous setup for his teammate.
To truly unlock all of the driving and passing lanes, Mitchell needs to take a step forward as an efficient finisher and scorer.&nbsp;
Mark Schindler <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/davion-mitchell-is-finding-balance-and-thriving-on-the-margins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">checked in on Mitchell's scoring progress</a> for Basketball News last February, and I highly recommend the read since many of his observations still apply and are worth remembering as a starting point for this season. Since the article, Mitchell stayed in the ballpark as an overall shot-maker. He finished 60% of his shots at the rim on the season (about league average), but concluded as a 30.8% shooter from deep (not very good).&nbsp;
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However, there's an intriguing silver lining in the weeds of his shooting splits.
Mitchell made only 40.0% of his pull-up shots all season and struggled mightily behind the arc (28.4%). But rookies typically struggle as individual pull-up scorers. This rookie, however, found a rhythm in the mid-range later on in the season.
According to Cleaning the Glass, a quarter of Mitchell's shots after the All-Star break came in the "long mid-range" area between 14 feet from the basket and the three-point arc. That put him in the 96th percentile for frequency at his position. Mitchell canned an impressive 47% of those shots (86th percentile), which were mostly pull-up attempts.&nbsp;
It's almost an old-school flashback to how teams used to generate mid-range looks. Mitchell often took screens at the elbow like these and, knowing the bigs would sag off because of his reputation as a shooter, he could easily settle into a more comfortable shot.
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Mitchell also can stop on a dime like a madman. That already helped him to change speed and direction when driving; it also means he needs less time to jack up a rhythm mid-range shot.&nbsp;
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No, this is not the most desirable shot from a game-planning perspective. But as dozens of players around the NBA can show, having a rhythm mid-range look is valuable and threatening. It also marks a starting point for long-range shooting potential, something Mitchell will obviously look to improve.
The former Baylor guard has past indicators of plus-shooting too. Mitchell built himself up to a 44.7% three-point clip in his final year of college. Per InStat Scouting, that included shooting 38% on pull-ups and 46% in catch-and-shoot situations. Sure, that was with a shorter arc, and Mitchell was probably due for some regression anyway. But let's not toss that year away as an outlier when he's still young and growing.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Davion Mitchell is getting in some work with Sacramento Kings assistant coach Doug Christie. <a href="https://t.co/rfZvTwilxi">pic.twitter.com/rfZvTwilxi</a>
&mdash; Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) <a href="https://twitter.com/cameronsalerno1/status/1574858190700748801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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We don't know how the Kings' rotation will shake out under Brown yet, but from reports I've read, it seems Mitchell will at least begin the year as a third guard behind Fox and trade acquisition Kevin Huerter. Kings assistant coach Doug Christie told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic&nbsp;that <a href="https://theathletic.com/3627997/2022/09/26/davion-mitchell-kings-offseason-trust/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his goal for Mitchell is to be Sixth Man of the Year.</a>&nbsp;
If Mitchell were to ride the bench all season, that award is absolutely within reach. But I think the second-year guard could certainly challenge for a starting spot. "Off Night" is too valuable to what the Kings are trying to build on defense, and his budding talent as a creator will only help Sacramento ignite its offense.
Don't forget about Mitchell in the sea of 2022-23 breakout candidates.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Go look at this thread from Synergy's Todd Whitehead, who continues to be a data visualization artist:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Tinkering with a 🚨new chart🚨 to show 1-on-1 tendencies. From 3 iso zones outside &ndash; is the player more likely to take a quick shot or drive right or left? In the post &ndash; are they more likely to turn over the left shoulder or the right? Some 2022 NCAA examples in the 🧵 <a href="https://t.co/8xf91Ng18V">pic.twitter.com/8xf91Ng18V</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1575575231946596352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Nekias Duncan is back with division previews! In his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-23-nba-season-preview-atlantic-division-boston-celtics-brooklyn-nets-new-york-knicks-philadelphia-76ers-sixers-toronto-raptors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">breakdown of the Atlantic</a>, he gave us a gem on Marcus Smart's ball-screen impact last season that I will be using in a future article:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">The Celtics generated 0.992 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a Smart-led ball-screen &mdash; a mark that ranked 22nd among 62 high-volume pick-and-roll players (min. 1,000 picks), and one that placed him ahead of names like Darius Garland (0.987), Damian Lillard (0.978) and Ja Morant (0.972). Those ball-screens were more dangerous when Smart set the pick (1.04 PPP), a top-10 mark in the NBA.</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Another neat set of visuals from Dom Samangy:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
🧵 Analytics 🤝 Player Development 🧵 Showcasing this part of the game is one passion of mine &amp; is an area where I see there is still much room to grow in both application &amp; acceptance! So here&rsquo;s a thread on ways I visualize strengths &amp; weaknesses of a player&rsquo;s game ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/DEP9Amx7da">pic.twitter.com/DEP9Amx7da</a>
&mdash; Dom Samangy (@DSamangy) <a href="https://twitter.com/DSamangy/status/1572264237052952577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Ethan Fuller breaks down how Davion Mitchell is creating advantages as a driver and passer to pair with his lockdown defense.

NBA Stats Notebook: Why Davion Mitchell could make a big step in Year 2

The last time we saw John Wall in an NBA game was April 23, 2021, when he had 27 points, 13 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Seventeen months later, a lot has changed. Wall is now suiting up for the Clippers after signing a two-year, $13.2 million deal with Los Angeles over the offseason.
Wall sat out all of last season at the request of the Houston Rockets, who wanted to prioritize the development of their young core. Now, the 32-year-old guard is ready to make his triumphant return.
&ldquo;I've got a chip on my shoulder,&rdquo; Wall said during the Clippers&rsquo; media day. &ldquo;Anybody would; I mean, having [not] played last year and come back and play this year. I&rsquo;m happy I get the opportunity to play the game that I love... Whatever role T-Lue (Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue) want me to do, I am willing to accept. I'm just trying to come over here and help them win.&rdquo;
During the 2020-21 season, Wall appeared in 40 games with the Rockets, averaging 20.6 points, 6.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 threes, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks on .404/.317/.749 shooting splits. He produced at a relatively high level and was one of the NBA&rsquo;s best comeback stories after returning from a ruptured Achilles that caused him to miss the 2019-20 season.
&ldquo;I just feel like for my whole career, a lot of people don't give me my respect. I don't know why. It is what it is,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;Like I say, I've got a chip on my shoulder... Just let the world know like you're going to see a dog. That's what you got when you signed me.&rdquo;
Wall&rsquo;s new teammates and coaches are excited about what he&rsquo;ll bring to the team.
&ldquo;Adding John, his pace is tremendous,&rdquo; Lue explained. &ldquo;That's going to allow us to get easy baskets &mdash; guys will get open threes, easy shots. Him getting downhill and getting to the basket changes our team dramatically. His pace, the way he plays, brings a different dimension to our team.&rdquo;
&ldquo;John is definitely a piece, I think, that was needed,&rdquo; Paul George said. &ldquo;I think so much was put on [Reggie Jackson]&rsquo;s plate to where I think the addition of John will help shoulder a lot of that facilitating and playmaking. I think what he brings and where the value is so huge for us is his transition game. That was one of the things teams did against us was crash the boards, because there was really no transition game from us. They wasn't worried about that. I think with John, his ability to play and sprint up and down and get going in transition, I think, kind of keeps teams honest. They can't crash everybody. He rebounds as well as any guard. He's definitely a piece that was needed, and I'm excited. That's been a brother of mine for a long time. We came in this league together. I'm happy that [he&rsquo;s here]. I'm sure Clipper Nation will embrace him and this will be a great home for him.&rdquo;
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&ldquo;I think the biggest thing is his competitive drive and will,&rdquo; Norman Powell added. &ldquo;He talks a lot of trash early, but I think it's just the energy that he brings to the game, his pace, understanding where guys are at. He's always looking to make that pass. Even when he's getting down to the teeth of the defense, he's caught me a couple times being on the opposite team thinking he's about to make the lay-up and he kicks it out to my guy last minute for a wide-open three. That attention to detail and the way he attacks the basket and knowing the game and where guys are going to be, knowing the rotations of the defense, finding the open guys for easy looks, he's continuing to find those guys in those sweet spots.&rdquo;
While Wall is in a good place now, he recently revealed that the last two or three years were the darkest of his life. Following the death of his mother, Frances, he became depressed and even considered suicide. In <a href="https://signature.theplayerstribune.com/john-wall-nba-basketball-los-angeles-clippers/p/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an incredibly moving article on The Players Tribune</a>, Wall opened up about his depression, suicidal thoughts and the moment he finally sought help.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you haven't checked the story out, you should check it out. I think it's dope,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;I think it helps us. It's Black men that just go out there and [won&rsquo;t ask for help because of] our pride. I think we are very prideful, and a lot of times we think we can accomplish everything by ourselves until we really hit some reality and it gets tough. Hopefully, my story can help a lot of people and inspire a lot of people to not wait until it's too late.
&ldquo;Everything I've been through the last two or three years, I don't think a lot of people could have gotten through that. [It&rsquo;s a] true testimony to myself, my team, my family, my kids, the mother of my kids &mdash; just having great people around me &mdash; and me maturing as a man, becoming a better father, a better person.&rdquo;
In recent years, many NBA players have spoken out about their mental-health struggles. Wall is the latest example, joining DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love among others.
&ldquo;Just because we make a lot of money and we're famous, they think we don't have the same problems regular people got. We&rsquo;re still a regular person,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;At the end of the day, we just wake up and get an opportunity to play the game we love and make the money to take care of our families, but we still go through all the same emotional things y'all go through. That's one thing I don't think a lot of people understand. But I think for me, like just hearing one of my close friends, DeMar DeRozan, and Kevin Love come out and speak on depression, just hearing that [was huge]. And then also, with the platform we have with social media, we're able to touch a lot of people. Like, everybody is accessible now because of their camera phones and social media, so I think that gave us a platform to go out there and speak on it a little bit more.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think we're kind of changing the narrative,&rdquo; Powell added. &ldquo;I think people and fans from the outside looking in view us as just athletes and not as people, and we're dealing with the same daily struggles and life challenges that they are. Our profession and our bank accounts are a little different, so they feel like we don't have any issues at all, but we still struggle with day-to-day living, day-to-day crises with our families, personal issues, health issues that we have to deal with. I think we're pushing the envelope and the narrative that we're more than just athletes. That's been a slogan around the league for a while now in the last couple years, and that's the truth. We're all struggling with things that we don't always put out to social media or we don't always say in interviews that we have to step away from the game and deal with in our daily lives. I think it's a testament to the players being brave and having the courage to talk about their struggles, and to show that we're not perfect and we're all dealing with things behind closed doors. I think it's a way you can motivate others to go out there and seek help and be open about their struggles as well.&rdquo;
During a recent pick-up run alongside George, Wall hit a number of shots, then yelled, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m back!&rdquo; It was an emotional moment for the veteran guard, who has been through so much &ndash; on and off the court &ndash; in recent years.&nbsp;
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John Wall: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m back.&rdquo; 🗣 Paul George and John Wall hooping. 🔥 (via <a href="https://twitter.com/swishcultures_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@swishcultures_</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>) <a href="https://t.co/wHnHEpEl5n">pic.twitter.com/wHnHEpEl5n</a>
&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1565052491049316352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></blockquote>

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After making it &ldquo;through some of the darkest times you can imagine,&rdquo; the five-time All-Star is hoping to finish this next chapter of his life on a positive note &mdash; by hoisting the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy.
&ldquo;We all got an ultimate goal,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;We got Kawhi [Leonard], who has two championships; we got T-Lue, who&rsquo;s won [a title] as a coach. We're all a little older now in our careers and that is the ultimate goal, to try to win. It starts [in training camp], taking every day, every practice, like we&rsquo;re a championship team, and hopefully we can get that goal.&rdquo;

After sitting out for all of last season, John Wall is excited to have a strong bounce-back season as a member of the Clippers.

John Wall ready to make his triumphant return with Clippers

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes Penny Hardaway as a dual threat and how he stood out from other point guards.

Blazing the Trail: Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway, the floor giant

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the offensive splendor of Dirk Nowitzki and the dramatic evolution of his career.

Blazing the Trail: Dirk Nowitzki, the unicorn that became world champion

In the latest installment of his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the two-way brilliance of Shawn Kemp.

Blazing the Trail: Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills.
In this fifth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the most versatile defenders of all-time: Andrei Kirilenko. He explains what made him different from other off-ball rovers who came before him, with insights from his former coaches, teammates and more.
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No player in this series has garnered more anticipation than Andrei Kirilenko. A quick survey of the internet yields countless articles and <a href="https://youtu.be/XGkSph7VDrU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube videos</a> that are all centered around the same premise:
Kirilenko would be a perfect fit in today&rsquo;s era.
Did Kirilenko serve as the prototype for the modern-day defender? During his prime, was he a revolutionary and a superstar?&nbsp;
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE KIRILENKO SPECIAL?
In baseball, a "five-tool player" is bestowed this label if they display excellence in five categories: hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, speed and throwing.
Similarly, Kirilenko excelled in five different defensive disciplines.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/kirilenko-five-tool-defender.jpg" alt="Visual Created by Mark Cheung" width="487" height="520" />
Tool No. 1: Man Defense
&ldquo;His technique was fundamentally instinctive,&rdquo; said Gordon Chiesa, Kirilenko&rsquo;s former coach in Utah.
Kirilenko touted great length, reflexes and an active &lsquo;tap-dancing&rsquo; stance (see clips below) that enabled him to keep the ball in his line of sight at all times.&nbsp;
On top of that, he mastered the &lsquo;flick-hand technique,&rsquo; which aims to force ball-handlers to dribble East to West rather than North to South (since it's harder to get in the paint when you can&rsquo;t move forward).
"[Your] defensive hand is on the ball side, and [you're] flicking [your] hand up towards the ball &ndash; without losing [your] balance &ndash; to make their dribble lateral, so that it's more protective [rather than] more downhill," Chiesa explained to Basketball News.
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Tool No. 2: Versatility&nbsp;
While Kirilenko&rsquo;s primary assignments were forwards, he was capable of guarding shiftier speedsters and gargantuan bruisers as well.
&ldquo;You could literally put him on just about anyone,&rdquo; recalled Michael Ruffin, Kirilenko&rsquo;s former teammate who is now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. "[He] had the speed, quickness, length to keep up with guards&hellip; on the perimeter. That&rsquo;s who he would end up guarding a lot [of the time].&rdquo;
Kirilenko even developed antidotes to deploy when going up against the more powerful, low-post big men of the time.
&ldquo;Even on the post with a bigger, banging guy&hellip; he could make it difficult for them to get the ball deep by fronting them,&rdquo; said Charlotte Hornets assistant Tyrone Corbin, who coached Kirilenko in Utah. "What he would do is put the work in early [in the post] to make the catch a little further out, so they wouldn&rsquo;t catch it so deep in the paint.&rdquo;
And if the big man somehow managed to receive the entry pass?
&ldquo;He would go after the ball and keep them off balance that way,&rdquo; Corbin explained.
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Tool No. 3: Off-Ball Disruptor
&ldquo;The thing I remember about him most is that he [was] a defensive playmaker,&rdquo; Chiesa said.
Each season from 2001 to 2011, Kirilenko finished in the 96th percentile or higher in Cerebro Sports&rsquo; Defensive Statistical Impact metric (which measures defensive playmaking).&nbsp;
&ldquo;What made Kirilenko brilliant, I call it early eyes,&rdquo; Chiesa explained. &ldquo;He could read plays before [they] happened&hellip; and he was able to be cat-quick and jump in the passing lanes to steal the ball, block a shot or pickpocket somebody.&rdquo;
Among other things, Kirilenko was adept at doubling down from the perimeter &ndash; the concept of rotating over from the perimeter to double a player on the low block (which was particularly important during that era considering the high volume of post-ups).
&ldquo;People never understood how long he really was,&rdquo; Corbin said. &ldquo;He could be at the <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/the-basketball-dictionary-5c3835e9fe58#:~:text=Nail%3A%20The%20spot%20in%20the,the%20middle%20at%20all%20costs." target="_blank" rel="noopener">nail</a>/elbow, and a guy could get the ball in the post and turn to dribble or make a move, and he&rsquo;s on top of them knocking the ball out.&rdquo;
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Tool No. 4: Motor
Legendary Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was known for stressing the importance of conditioning in all his practices.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the biggest sticklers with Coach Sloan: you had to be in great shape,&rdquo; Corbin emphasized. &ldquo;Most of the things that we did every day involved some kind of drill [with] conditioning as part of the drill.&rdquo;
Upon reflecting on his experiences, Ruffin agreed with Corbin&rsquo;s assessment.
&ldquo;The philosophy of the team&hellip; was that every time you stepped on the court, you go hard,&rdquo; Ruffin said.
Kirilenko did not deviate from this mission statement. During his iconic run in the 2003-04 NBA season (more on that in a bit), he finished in the 94th percentile in minutes played. And he spent every second of those nearly 2,900 minutes stalking the terrain at a frenetic pace.
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Tool No. 5: Shot-Blocking
Kirilenko was a human eraser of the highest order, and his acumen as a shot-blocker is what separated him from the likes of Shawn Marion &ndash; the other multi-faceted forward of that time.
During his career, Kirilenko posted a whopping seven seasons with a block percentage of 4% or higher. Marion, on the other hand, never surpassed 3%.&nbsp;
With his condor arms, impeccable timing and recovery speed, Kirilenko was terrific at swatting away attempts.
&ldquo;Super timing. Super, super timing," Corbin said. "And his ability to recover &ndash; to get from point A to point B &ndash; especially off the ball when he could be on the weakside. A guy could drive thinking he was open; [Kirilenko] would get from where he was to the ball quickly before the guy could alter his shot or see him coming.
&ldquo;As good as he was on the ball, he was better coming off the ball because guys couldn&rsquo;t see where he was coming from.&rdquo;
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ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Prior to the 2003-04 NBA season, ESPN writer Frank Hughes <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2003/10/5/19788279/little-expected-of-jazz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> that the Utah Jazz would lose more games than any team in NBA history.&nbsp;
Not only did Utah outperform these not-so-lofty expectations, they came within one game of the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference.&nbsp;
So, what happened?
&ldquo;When things like that usually happen, you look back, and you&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Oh, we missed on three or four of those players. They were way better than we thought,'&rdquo; said David Locke, who has been the radio voice of the Jazz for 13 years.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that exists on [the Jazz&rsquo;s] roster. I think the only one we missed on was a 22-year-old Andrei Kirilenko [who] was just a way better player and more important than people realized.&rdquo;
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Advanced data helps us understand Kirilenko's impact that season. Basketball Reference&rsquo;s Box Plus-Minus paints Kirilenko as a <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2004_advanced.html#advanced_stats::bpm">top-three player</a> in the league that year, with the next-best Jazz player ranking 75th. While top-three may be unlikely, he was pretty darn close.
In 2003-04, Utah's defense was 2.2 points stingier per 100 possessions with their Swiss-army-knife defender on the floor (which ranked in the 72nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass).&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s more, AK-47's value extended beyond his defense. He also boasted a progressive offensive game &ndash; one that improved Utah&rsquo;s attack by 9.5 points per 100 possessions (ranking in the 97th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass).&nbsp;
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Along with being a revolutionary defender, Kirilenko had an incredibly modern (and underrated) offensive game. He was a decisive passer, an eager cutter, a fearless driver, and a FT drawing machine. He would have been the perfect player in today's read-and-react react game. <a href="https://t.co/dvEZTxxWDJ">pic.twitter.com/dvEZTxxWDJ</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1562527132013604865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Put those two outputs together, and the Jazz had a +11.8 efficiency differential per 100 possessions when Kirilenko was on the court. That year, the only other All-Stars to achieve that mark were Kevin Garnett (the 2003-04 MVP), Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Jason Kidd and Brad Miller.&nbsp;
(Note: On the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/260tNesWxrhH93RDQP06pS?si=79381e7876574e8f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blazing the Trail podcast</a>, historian Cody Houdek and I broke down where Kirilenko ranked in the league that season, and we ultimately landed on him falling somewhere in the 8-12 range).
BLAZING THE TRAIL
Chiesa&rsquo;s Jazz spent the late 1990s being vanquished by a team that rostered a player in Kirilenko&rsquo;s likeness: Scottie Pippen.
&ldquo;Defensively, [Pippen] was a defensive playmaker who could guard all five positions, and that was Kirilenko,&rdquo; Chiesa compared.&nbsp;
Despite their similarities, Pippen&rsquo;s approach was more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9vFHYVXtRk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-ball orientated</a> (juxtaposed with Kirilenko&rsquo;s primarily off-ball style). A more perfect progenitor for this inspector-gadget model exists by way of 1970s stalwart Bobby Jones.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; Chiesa exclaimed when asked about the two forwards' similarities.&nbsp;&ldquo;Just like Kirilenko &ndash; 6-foot-9, [220] pounds, gangly, high hips, [could] run the floor, defensive playmaker...&rdquo;&nbsp;
Like Kirilenko, the Secretary of Defense touted the illustrious <a href="https://streamable.com/3ynktv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five defensive tools</a> and, as a result, left a significant mark on that end of the floor &ndash; quarterbacking five top-5 defenses during his 10-year tenure in the NBA.
Both defensive roamers by nature, Kirilenko was able to become arguably more impactful than his predecessor thanks to the abolition of illegal defense rules in 2001. Before this rule change, zone defense was banned, and if teams/players wanted to execute these exotic coverages, they had to do so covertly, which greatly mitigated the value of off-ball roamers such as Jones.
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IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In the era of pace and space, the logical defensive counter to this increased surface area is to obtain personnel who can cover this space efficiently.&nbsp;
As alluded to in the previous section, rule changes enabled Kirilenko to operate unrestricted in a manner his forefathers never could. And this confluence of events, combined with his unique physical tools and instincts, made him the prototype for the space-ball defender.
Today, the NBA landscape is littered with players who resemble Kirilenko's robust defensive palate. Nearly every prominent defender in the Association has shades of Kirilenko&rsquo;s design in their own game.&nbsp;
For instance, All-Defensive First Team forward Mikal Bridges shares Kirilenko&rsquo;s length and motor.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think that [Kirilenko] is actually a lot like Mikal,&rdquo; said Ruffin, who coaches Bridges on the Suns. &ldquo;They are both extremely long, they move really well [when] negotiating screens, both have good motors, and they both take pride in defending.&rdquo;
As for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, Ruffin said that he inherited Kirilenko&rsquo;s versatility. Like Kirilenko, Smart regularly faces off against defenders far larger than him in stature, and he holds them off using the same <a href="https://streamable.com/5x6n4y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fronting techniques</a> Corbin alluded to earlier.&nbsp;
Draymond Green, arguably the best defender of his generation, may share the most similarities with Kirilenko &mdash; possessing all five of his fancy utensils. And similar to how Kirilenko surpassed Jones, Green one-upped AK-47 by adding a rim-deterrence component to his game.&nbsp;
The best paint protectors deter opponents from taking shots in the restricted area entirely, and Green is no exception. This past season, opponent rim frequency decreased by 5.4% when he was on the court (which ranked in the 99th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass). Unfortunately, Kirilenko's presence didn&rsquo;t have the same effect, as the opponent's rim frequency <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/2029/onoff#tab-opp_shooting_freq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oftentimes</a> increased when he was on the floor.
Thanks to the movement initiated by Kirilenko (and capitalized on by Green), every team is looking for the next torchbearer to the space-ball-defender lineage.
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In fact, Utah may have just stumbled upon its second iteration of the archetype in recently acquired Jarred Vanderbilt. When asked about their parallels, Chiesa pulled out his notes from when the Jazz and Timberwolves faced off on December 31, 2021, and read them aloud:
&ldquo;Lengthy frame, long arms, pretzel legs&hellip; wily defensive ball-retriever, glides in from perimeter to block shots, active back-tipper into transition, early-eyes anticipator, in and out of the passing lanes, steal maker&hellip; around the ball consistently.&rdquo;
Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Raptors believe they hold the key to the next link in the five-tool chain in reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think Scottie is overall a better talent [than Kirilenko]," Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin told Basketball News. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not taking anything away from Kirilenko&hellip; but I think there is something special about Scottie.&rdquo;
Seeing the direction the league is going, it makes sense why people always ponder how Kirilenko would fare in today&rsquo;s game.&nbsp;
But don&rsquo;t let his status as a revolutionary fool you; he was a damn good player during his time too.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_5197.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="562" />
Check back next week for Part VI of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-reggie-miller-the-moving-target-indiana-pacers-rik-smits-dan-burke-michael-jordan-joe-dumars-golden-state-warriors-chris-mullin-steph-curry-klay-thompson">Click here to read Part IV: Reggie Miller, the moving target</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-shane-battier-the-databall-defender-memphis-grizzlies-houston-rockets-miami-heat-daryl-morey-david-fizdale-detroit-pistons-draymond-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part III: Shane Battier, the data-ball defender</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-rashard-lewis-all-star-stretch-four-orlando-magic-stan-van-gundy-dwight-howard-hedo-turkoglu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part II: Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint</a>

Andrei Kirilenko was a five-tool defender who was ahead of his time. Mat Issa looks back on AK-47's career and impact on today's NBA.

Blazing the Trail: Andrei Kirilenko, the five-tool defender

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills.
In this fourth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the greatest shooters of all-time: Reggie Miller. He explains what made him different from the marksmen who came before him, with insights from his former coaches in Indiana &mdash; Dan Burke and Bob Ociepka &mdash; his former teammate Rik Smits and basketball analyst Mike Prada.
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In his critically acclaimed, historical rendition of the NBA, "The Book of Basketball," The Ringer's Bill Simmons ranked NBA and Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller outside of the top 60 all-time:
&ldquo;Reggie Miller was the most overrated &lsquo;superstar&rsquo; of the past thirty years,&rdquo; Simmons opined.
To Simmons' credit, however, he later retracted this statement in the sequel podcast, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-of-basketball-2-0/id1483525141?i=1000462435000">The Book of Basketball 2.0.</a>" Revising his previous comments, Simmons suggested that in today's game, Miller would indeed constitute superstar status.
But what if Miller would have been a superstar in any era? What if he was an elite scorer and playmaker in ways that we couldn&rsquo;t comprehend during his time? And what if he served as an inspiration to the most prolific dynasty of the NBA's pace-and-space era?
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE MILLER SPECIAL
As a child, Miller would regularly participate in 1-on-1 matchups against his older sister, Cheryl, who turned out to be one of the greatest women's basketball players of all-time prior to untimely injuries. (She's enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.)
Because of Cheryl's superior size and strength, Reggie going inside was a moot point.
&ldquo;One of the reasons I practiced shooting from the outside was that Cheryl used to block my shots when I drove to the hoop,&rdquo; Miller recalled in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Being-Enemy-Reggie-Miller/dp/0684870398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his autobiography</a>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad feeling when your sister is knocking your best stuff into the rosebushes.&rdquo;
To defeat his sibling, Miller needed to hone in on his perimeter game.&nbsp;
That's exactly what he did.
Miller endured his sister&rsquo;s challenges and triumphed to become one of the premier shooters the NBA had ever seen. According to Cerebro Sports' Three-Point Efficiency metric (a shooting metric that combines three-point volume and efficiency to show the most lethal shooters), Miller finished in the 97th percentile or higher in all but one year from 1988 to 2004.
(The 2002-03 campaign was the exception, where he finished in the 94th percentile).
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/2.png" alt="" width="550" height="550" />
Visual provided by Cerebro Sports
Even more impressive is how he earned his standing in this data set. Unlike many of the great shooters of his time &mdash; who made their mark primarily off standstill catch-and-shoot opportunities &mdash; a majority of Miller&rsquo;s triples came while he was circling the half-court at top speed.
And again, much like his pickup contests growing up, this strategy was rooted in necessity.
&ldquo;The chances for spot-up [threes] weren&rsquo;t really there,&rdquo; said Dan Burke, Miller&rsquo;s former coach in Indiana and now an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;You have to have a real big, key player [you&rsquo;re playing off of] to get spot-ups.&rdquo;
To back Burke's words, think of one of the other notable three-point shooters of that time: Dan Majerle. Throughout his time in Phoenix and Miami, Majerle was gifted with potent penetrators like Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway, who could both consistently <a href="https://streamable.com/wd17v5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">break down a defense and get two feet in the paint</a>.
Meanwhile, Miller&rsquo;s most accomplished backcourt mate, Mark Jackson, was more of a post facilitator than a downhill threat.
Instead, Miller achieved sage status in the art of movement shooting. And for those following along at home, his technique can be divided into <a href="https://youtu.be/tv3EyzBuRb4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three keys</a>.
Key 1: Set up the Defender
Miller was an avid participant in basketball grappling &mdash; the practice of using physicality to manipulate and gain separation from your defender.
&ldquo;[Miller] embraced contact and sometimes got the feel of a guy so [he] could push off him and get open,&rdquo; Burke said.
The cunning sharpshooter also deployed harsh cuts and abrupt changes in speed to further decrease the likelihood that his opponent could shadow his movements.
&ldquo;When you watch him, it wasn&rsquo;t always the same speed,&rdquo; Burke continued. &ldquo;He changed speeds. He&rsquo;d stop and go.&rdquo;
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Key 2: Read the Screen
Once he gained a step, Miller could interpret his optimal route-running path based on the direction his defender was chasing him. If his defender trailed outside the screen, Miller would juke inwards. If his defender rushed from the inside, Miller would retreat outside.
Miller's astute ability in this regard was largely based upon the continuity he achieved with his screen-setting bigs &mdash; Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and Rik Smits.
&ldquo;We would run through our sets almost every practice,&rdquo; Smits recalled to Basketball News. &ldquo;[A lot] of dummy offenses. Just run, run, run. We really concentrated on getting good screens set just to take full advantage of everything [Miller brought to the table].&rdquo;
"Reggie would talk to those bigs too," Burke added. "'Just stand there, I&rsquo;ll use you.'&rdquo;
Key 3: Footwork
Miller boasted balletic footwork, akin to that of a peak-<a href="https://youtu.be/Ye7xMqYqAbA">Torture Chamber Kevin McHale</a>, able to stop and pop effortlessly regardless of his travel velocity and angle.
&ldquo;[Typically], if you are right-handed, you want to come off [a pindown screen] going to your left so that your shoulder is closer to the rim,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter with Reggie. He could come with his right hand or with his left hand.&rdquo;
Miller's ambidexterity is a testament to his impeccable footwork. The direction didn't matter because his stride was sound both ways. And his ability to maintain balance during these sequences is even more impressive when you consider the defensive physicality that was accepted during his era.
&ldquo;Every time a guy like Reggie cut through the lane, the goal was to smack him. We used to say, &lsquo;Pinball him,&rsquo;" Burke recalled.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The league allows no &lsquo;impeding&rsquo; cutters now. There was much more holding then. But Reggie would stay locked and still get a rhythm jumper.&rdquo;
Here are all three of those keys in action:
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ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Miller&rsquo;s shooting served as a double-edged sword for his reputation. On one end, he was revered as one of the game&rsquo;s top snipers. On the other, he&rsquo;d been pigeonholed into a singular role on the floor.
However, Miller was more than a marksman. He was a three-level scorer who utilized the <a href="https://streamable.com/ykdkx5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple-threat</a> position to score from the mid-range and at the rim.
&ldquo;One thing Reggie worked on, we used to call it &lsquo;Pete Newell,&rsquo;" Burke explained. &ldquo;Pete Newell was an old coach who used to have a big-man camp. His whole thing was: Jab, catch, create space. If the guy doesn&rsquo;t honor your jab, you go by him. If he backs up, you raise up and shoot it.
&ldquo;It was a series. And [Reggie] really worked on it.&rdquo;
This combination of three-level scoring and high conversion rates from the most efficient spots on the floor made Miller arguably the best backcourt scorer of the 1990s not named Michael Jordan.
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To compare the two, from 1989 to 1999, Miller tallied nine seasons where he ranked in the 90th percentile in both scoring volume and efficiency, while Jordan only touted two such seasons.&nbsp;
Additionally, Miller&rsquo;s unpredictable tendencies coming off screens and counter-laden arsenal made him one of the few stars to rarely improve his volume and efficiency during postseason play.
For instance, in 1994-95, Miller averaged 23.9 points per 75 possessions on 62.0% True Shooting. In the playoffs, those averages ballooned to 28.0 points and 63.2% True Shooting, respectively.&nbsp;
To show how rare that is, there was an inverse trend of that with John Stockton and Mitch Richmond &mdash; two guards who were (<a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1556676428426612738?s=20&amp;t=haKXS_VAVIAeIw7hLdSqkQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrongfully?</a>) regularly awarded All-NBA selections over Miller.&nbsp;
WEAVING THE THREAD
The first guard to function as an off-ball superstar was John Havlicek. When "Hondo" wasn&rsquo;t ripping and running in transition, he was usually <a href="https://streamable.com/uzgwhw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">curling off screens</a> for leaning mid-range jumpers.
A post-three-point line precursor to Miller was Joe Dumars (who coincidentally probably also took some of his All-NBA accolades). Another one of Miller&rsquo;s coaches in Indiana, Dick Versace, spent time as an assistant on the Detroit Pistons before becoming the head coach of the Pacers in 1988.
&ldquo;Joe Dumars had that knack for getting free off screens,&rdquo; said Bob Ociepka, an assistant on Versace's staff in Indiana and a 23-year NBA coach. &ldquo;Coach Versace, coming from [Detroit], ran a lot of the things Chuck Daly did &mdash; [like Dumars] coming off those staggered screens from the baseline.&rdquo;
Miller expressed a great admiration toward Dumars, even going as far as to call him the "unsung MVP of Dream Team II" in his book.
Dale Ellis was another <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1555600444763869186?s=20&amp;t=EBeojEhLms-WUc2csgmNdA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sniper</a> from that generation who cratered defenses using floppy action &mdash; a play in which a player, positioned under the basket, can choose whether to cut off a single screen to one side or a double screen to the other, per Basketball Dictionary.
However, because of the typical constraints placed on 2-guards at the time, neither Dumars nor Ellis could fully leverage their shooting prowess to their advantage.
&ldquo;[In that era], the shooting guard was supposed to be Jordan-esque,&rdquo; said Mike Prada, editor at The Athletic and "Spaced Out" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Three-Point-Revolution-Everything/dp/1629378860/ref=asc_df_1629378860/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=564700905732&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6603785140486578978&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9016969&amp;hvtargid=pla-1645726366795&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">author</a>. &ldquo;You were an all-around player, you got a lot of rebounds and assists, you went 1-on-1 a lot, you were explosive, you could dunk on people &mdash; sort of that Platonic Ideal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Miller was different from those guards; he didn&rsquo;t possess the same ball-handling or rebounding acumen. He was an outlier who weaponized his extraordinary gift to buoy an offense almost entirely through his off-ball presence.
Notably, the Pacer legend pioneered a term deeply entrenched in today&rsquo;s basketball jargon: gravity.
Dangerous from deep, Miller made <a href="https://en.mimi.hu/basketball/double_down.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling down</a> on his big-men teammates in the post a conversation killer. Teams would rather face guard him at the three-point line than send reinforcements to the interior, which opened up room for his low-post executioners to make decisions.
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Smits expressed a great deal of gratitude for the space Miller provided him to operate.
&ldquo;I was glad he was on my team. I could tell you that,&rdquo; Smits laughed.&nbsp;
Miller&rsquo;s landscape-altering effect is felt when you look through the lens of historian Ben Taylor&rsquo;s passing and playmaking statistics.
For example, in 1993-94, Gary Payton finished in the 80th percentile in Taylor&rsquo;s Box Creation stat &mdash; a metric that estimates playmaking (per <a href="https://backpicks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks.com</a>). Payton did this while simultaneously scoring in the 94th percentile in Passer Rating.
In the same season, despite only scoring in the 37th percentile in passing, Miller finished in the 77th percentile in playmaking.
Miller wasn&rsquo;t the on-ball initiator that Payton was, but this conveys that the former was still able to operate as a high-end creator thanks to the attention he garnered from his opponents.
&ldquo;The thing that Reggie Miller had that we didn&rsquo;t know how to identify back when he played &mdash; but now it&rsquo;s a no-brainer concept &mdash; is this idea of gravity,&rdquo; Prada said.
IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In many circles, Ray Allen is often cited as the disciple who bears the most resemblance to Miller. Along with Allen, Richard Hamilton, JJ Redick and Kyle Korver have all played the part of "<a href="https://grantland.com/features/kyle-korver-nba-atlanta-hawks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offense unto themselves</a>" by utilizing their off-ball gravitational pull.
In the current NBA landscape, Miller&rsquo;s most obvious descendants share the same squad.
&ldquo;Two guys on the same team,&rdquo; Burke pointed out. "Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson."
The dynastic Golden State Warriors have become famous for pushing the boundaries of time and space by exploiting the shooting gravity their dynamic duo wields.&nbsp;
And, as fate would have it, Miller also once teamed up with a fellow gravity co-founder, Chris Mullin.&nbsp;
Mullin was arguably the closest comparison to Miller at the time, and together, the tandem caused wide-scale chaos and confusion &mdash; the likes of which the league would not see again until the Splash Brothers coalesced in the Bay Area nearly two decades later.
Tell me if these sequences look familiar:
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In both plays, the two pairs create a defensive breakdown simply by running past each other in the opposite direction.
Even more poetic, take a look at the Pacers&rsquo; opponent in the first clip. Who was a reserve on that team? None other than Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
&ldquo;All of the stuff that the Warriors did in the early days with the Steph/Klay combo &mdash; the crazy, figure-eight-type stuff &mdash; was very much ripped right from the Pacers,&rdquo; Prada explained.
Golden State expanded on Miller&rsquo;s semi-contained havoc, turning half-court offensive sets into absolute anarchy.
Miller&rsquo;s movement authored a great deal of mayhem, more than anyone of his time, but he was still forced to rein it in a bit to accommodate the structure of his offense. Nowadays, engines like Curry and Thompson have the discretion to graze the terrain as they see fit.
&ldquo;[For Miller], his was set plays, so it was easier for teams to really dial in,&rdquo; Burke explained. &ldquo;Curry is more of a constant, built into a random system.&rdquo;
But it was still the audacious Miller who paved the way. He crawled so that the Golden State empire could walk.
&ldquo;He was this type of player that, in an era that did not have a blueprint for this style of play, he provided it,&rdquo; Prada concluded.&nbsp;
He's the player responsible for the outline that triggered a dynasty.
Are we sure Reggie Miller was overrated?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_5152.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="550" />
Tune in next week for Part V of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Andrei Kirilenko &mdash; the five-tool defender.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-shane-battier-the-databall-defender-memphis-grizzlies-houston-rockets-miami-heat-daryl-morey-david-fizdale-detroit-pistons-draymond-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part III: "Shane Battier, the data-ball defender."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-rashard-lewis-all-star-stretch-four-orlando-magic-stan-van-gundy-dwight-howard-hedo-turkoglu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part II: "Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: "Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint."</a>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes all-time shooting great Reggie Miller and what separated him from the rest.

Blazing the Trail: Reggie Miller, the moving target

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