Pirates

With just days left until the 2024-25 NBA season tips off, the Eastern Conference teams are settled, prepped, and ready for action. The offseason moves are done, rosters are set, and almost everyone&rsquo;s locked in for what&rsquo;s shaping up to be an intense race. From title contenders to dark horses, the East is packed with teams ready to make noise. So, let&rsquo;s dive into the top 15 teams in the East as we gear up for this brand-new season&mdash;no fluff, just what you need to know.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Knicks The Knicks made significant moves this offseason, adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges while retaining key pieces like Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. With depth, defense, and firepower, they look primed for a deep playoff run. After a 50-win season in 2023-24, they now have realistic championship aspirations and could be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Boston Celtics The defending champions kept their core intact, extending Jayson Tatum and Derrick White. With Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Jrue Holiday leading a formidable lineup, the Celtics are aiming to repeat as NBA champions. Despite concerns about Al Horford&rsquo;s age and frontcourt health, Boston remains the favorite heading into the 2024-25 season.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Milwaukee Bucks The Bucks didn&rsquo;t make major changes but added depth with Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Delon Wright. After an injury-plagued season from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Milwaukee looks to bounce back under returning head coach Doc Rivers. With questions surrounding Lillard&rsquo;s form and Middleton&rsquo;s durability, the Bucks remain playoff contenders, but how far they go will depend on health and chemistry.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Philadelphia 76ers The 76ers had a big offseason, adding Paul George, Andre Drummond, and Caleb Martin to support Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Maxey&rsquo;s rise as a star solidifies Philly&rsquo;s title hopes, and Embiid&rsquo;s MVP-level play is crucial for their success. With an improved supporting cast, the Sixers could be serious challengers in the East, but Embiid&rsquo;s health remains the key.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Cleveland Cavaliers After a solid 48-win season, the Cavs focused on continuity by keeping their core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. New coach Kenny Atkinson brings fresh leadership, and Cleveland hopes to build on last season&rsquo;s playoff run. With a healthier roster and improved coaching, the Cavs could reach 50 wins and challenge the top teams in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Pacers The Pacers had a quiet offseason but retained Pascal Siakam and made a key addition in James Wiseman. Tyrese Haliburton&rsquo;s breakout season makes Indiana a team to watch, and they&rsquo;re looking to build on their deep playoff run. With improved chemistry and young talent, Indiana could surprise as a top-five team in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Orlando Magic The Magic are banking on internal growth, led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. After winning 47 games and making the playoffs last season, they added veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for shooting and leadership. With a young core developing, Orlando could win 50 games if they continue their upward trend and improve their perimeter shooting.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Miami Heat The Heat had a quiet offseason, adding Alec Burks while re-signing key players like Bam Adebayo. With Jimmy Butler&rsquo;s future uncertain and health concerns for both Butler and Tyler Herro, Miami could face challenges in a competitive Eastern Conference. However, Adebayo&rsquo;s All-NBA-level play will keep them in the playoff hunt.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Hawks The Hawks overhauled their roster after a disappointing 36-46 season, headlined by trading Dejounte Murray and acquiring the No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher. With Trae Young remaining the focal point, the Hawks are banking on Risacher&rsquo;s development and contributions from new additions like Larry Nance Jr. and Dyson Daniels. This team looks poised to contend for a Play-In spot but lacks the co-star power needed for a deep playoff run.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Charlotte Hornets The Hornets enter the season with fresh energy, thanks to the hiring of new coach Charles Lee and the re-signing of Miles Bridges. With LaMelo Ball back healthy and Brandon Miller continuing to impress after an All-Rookie season, Charlotte&rsquo;s young core could surprise many. If Ball stays on the floor and their youth develops quickly, the Hornets might find themselves contending for a Play-In spot and shaking off years of underachievement.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Detroit Pistons The Pistons are looking to turn the page on a tough 2023-24 season and have made moves to fast-track their rebuild. With Cade Cunningham healthy, new leadership under J.B. Bickerstaff, and rookie Ron Holland adding spark, Detroit could outperform expectations. If Cunningham returns to form and the team gels quickly, don&rsquo;t be surprised if the Pistons emerge as a dark horse in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Toronto Raptors The Raptors are in transition, keeping their young core of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley intact. After a poor finish to last season, Toronto is betting on Barnes&rsquo; continued growth and the addition of Davion Mitchell to improve their fortunes. While their ceiling might be a Play-In appearance, the Raptors are hoping their trio can take a big step forward.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Bulls The Bulls traded DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso, adding Josh Giddey and Jalen Smith to the mix. Zach LaVine&rsquo;s injury history remains a concern, but the Bulls are counting on Coby White&rsquo;s emergence and the potential of lottery pick Matas Buzelis. Chicago is likely to be a competitive team some nights, but they may struggle to rise above the Play-In threshold.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Brooklyn Nets The Nets are entering a rebuild after trading Mikal Bridges and Lonnie Walker. With a young roster led by Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, Brooklyn&rsquo;s focus is on player development. Ben Simmons remains a question mark, but the team&rsquo;s recent moves set them up for future success with significant draft assets. A playoff berth seems unlikely as they look to position themselves for a high draft pick.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Wizards The Wizards continue their rebuild with the addition of Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick. With Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey joining the squad, Washington hopes to see growth from young talents like Bilal Coulibaly. However, they&rsquo;re still far from playoff contention and will likely be looking at another lottery-bound season.</li>
</ol>

Let's dive into the top 15 teams in the East as we gear up for this brand-new season.

2024-2025 NBA Eastern Conference Power Rankings: A new number one arises at the top

Today, Rolling Loud &amp; The Crew League, announce&nbsp;the premiere of The &ldquo;We Got Next&rdquo; - 3 Point Contest. &nbsp;The Crew League&nbsp;&amp; Rolling Loud partner to present is a first-of-its-kind, unscripted basketball 3 point competition series held backstage on the grounds at&nbsp;Hollywood Park&nbsp;for Rolling Loud California 2024.
Kicking off on Monday, May 6th, the &ldquo;We Got Next&rdquo; 3 pt contest&nbsp;will feature artists from Rolling Loud California&rsquo;s lineup such as, Luh Tyler, Veeze, NLE Choppa, 310babii, 2Rare, Kaliii, That Mexican OT, Jeleel!, Rob49&nbsp;and so many more,&nbsp;along with surprise special guests like AdamW, Jabari Banks, Quincy, Adam22 and so many more, as they compete for bragging rights, a $50,000 cash prize, a custom diamond bracelet designed by Eric the Jeweler &amp; a custom one of one jacket by Jeff Hamilton. &nbsp;
In typical TCL fashion, humor will be at the center of the show. With more than fifty (50+) digestible episodes in the series hosted by comedy star, Ben Da Donnn, &nbsp;music superstar SuperDuperKyle, &amp; Treasure Wilson aka Stat Baby, this competition is sure to entertain all. &nbsp;
Talent List:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/tcl-3pt_690w.png" alt="" />
Quotes:
&ldquo;We are excited to partner with Rolling Loud on such a disruptive concept! &nbsp;Most rappers think they can outshoot everyone from the 3pt line&hellip; &nbsp;Now we have a place for them to prove it&hellip; &nbsp;Excited for what's to come from our partnership&rdquo; &nbsp;- Elie Maroun (Commissioner &amp; Co-Founder of The Crew League)
<a href="https://next.frame.io/share/7842e3d2-68b6-4026-8006-6a605bceaa95/view/cc63fa52-0c07-4519-967b-58f435e66252">Check out the video here.</a>
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About Rolling Loud:
Founded by 7-time Billboard Hip-Hop Power Players Matt Zingler &amp; Tariq Cherif as a one-day Miami show, Rolling Loud has grown into a global festival phenomenon, putting on shows on both coasts and in multiple countries across four continents. Rolling Loud is the premier festival brand in hip-hop, known for its expert curation of wide-ranging lineups that reflect the state of the genre. In 2023, Rolling Loud expanded its empire even further, hosting a series of star-studded festivals in all corners of the globe, including debuts in Thailand and Germany, plus its flagship affair, Rolling Loud Miami, which offered its most diverse and wide-ranging lineup to date.
Throughout 2024, Rolling Loud commemorates "10 Years Of Rolling Loud," celebrating the festival's rise from humble origins to world dominance. Since the first Miami festival, Rolling Loud has evolved into a major force in hip-hop, providing a massive stage for rap's biggest names, giving early exposure to future superstars, including Travis Scott, Juice WRLD, and Ice Spice, and inspiring some of the most memorable moments in the genre's recent history. Now, Rolling Loud is hip-hop&rsquo;s biggest stage, with star-studded festivals on four continents and more milestones to come.
Stay tuned for announcements about Rolling&nbsp;Loud's 2024&nbsp;World Tour, including upcoming festivals in Los Angeles, Europe, and more.

The Crew League & Rolling Loud partner to present is a first-of-its-kind, unscripted basketball 3 point competition series held backstage on the grounds at Hollywood Park for Rolling Loud California 2024.

The Crew League 3PT Contest

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today at NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 the selection of 14 finalists from the following committees: North American, Women&rsquo;s, Men&rsquo;s Veterans, Women&rsquo;s Veterans, International, and Contributors.
The finalists will then be put forward to the Honors Committee to be considered for election as members of the Class of 2024. The new class will be announced in Phoenix on April 6 at the NCAA Men&rsquo;s Final Four.
North American Committee Finalists (in alphabetical order):
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Chauncey Billups</li>
<li>Vince Carter</li>
<li>Michael Cooper</li>
<li>Walter Davis</li>
<li>Bo Ryan</li>
<li>Charles Smith</li>
</ul>
Women's Committee Finalists:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Seimone Augustus</li>
<li>Marian Washington</li>
</ul>
Men&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Dick Barnett</li>
</ul>
Women's Veteran Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Harley Redin</li>
</ul>
International Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Michele Timms</li>
</ul>
Contributors Committee Finalists:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Doug Collins</li>
<li>Herb Simon</li>
<li>Jerry West</li>
</ul>
"Being named a Finalist for the Class of 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a testament to the highest echelons of achievement in the sport,&rdquo; said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. &ldquo;It's an honor that reflects not only individual greatness but also the long-lasting impact on the game itself. From the strategic brilliance of coaches to the unmatched abilities of players and the influential roles of a coach/broadcaster, an esteemed owner, and a dynasty-building executive, each Finalist embodies the pinnacle of basketball excellence. Their inclusion underscores the diverse contributions that have shaped and enriched the sport, making this recognition truly exceptional."
The Class of 2024 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., on August 16-17. VIP packages for the 2024 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend are now available. Single-event tickets will go on sale on April 6, following the 2024 Class Announcement.
North American Committee Finalists:
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash; Nicknamed "Mr. Big Shot" for his ability to deliver crucial plays in pivotal moments, Billups was a five-time NBA All-Star and the 2004 Finals MVP after leading the Detroit Pistons to their third NBA championship. During his 17-year career, Billups&rsquo; averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per game, while his&nbsp; 89.4&nbsp; free throw percentage is sixth best in NBA/ABA history. Billups was drafted third overall in 1997 by the Boston Celtics after earning Second Team All-American honors at Colorado. He is the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
VINCE CARTER&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash; Renowned for his high-flying dunks, the former North Carolina standout was an eight-time All-Star in his 22 NBA seasons (1998-2020). Carter, who won the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, was named the 1998-99 Rookie of the Year and is the only player in NBA history to play in four different decades. Carter averaged 16.7 points per game (21.3 as a starter) and also played a pivotal role in the success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, clinching a gold medal with the U.S. Men's Basketball Team. He currently holds the single-season franchise scoring record for the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
MICHAEL COOPER&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Cooper was named to eight NBA All-Defensive Teams, taking home First-Team accolades five times and winning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1987. The former third-round draft pick (60th overall) out of the University of New Mexico spent his entire 12-year NBA career (1978-90) with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships while routinely matching up with the opponent&rsquo;s top shooter. Following his playing career, Cooper entered the coaching ranks and earned WNBA Coach of the Year accolades in 2000 with the Los Angeles Sparks before winning back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001-02.
WALTER DAVIS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;The all-time leading scorer in Phoenix Suns&rsquo; history was a six-time All-Star (1978-81, &lsquo;84, &lsquo;87) during his 15-year NBA career with the Suns (1977-88), Denver Nuggets (1988-92) and Portland Trail Blazers (1991). Before Phoenix chose Davis with the fifth pick in the 1977 draft, the standout player from North Carolina won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He then averaged 24.2 points per game in his first NBA season and was named the 1978 Rookie of the Year. The late Davis had&nbsp;his No. 6 retired by the Suns, and in 2004, he was enshrined in the team's Ring of Honor.
BO RYAN&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash;&nbsp;Ryan went 747-233 (.762) in 32 seasons as a collegiate head coach with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (1984-89), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1999-2001) and University of Wisconsin (2001-15), including a 364-130 (.737) ledger in 14-plus seasons in Madison. Ryan, honored four times as the Big Ten Coach of the Year, led Wisconsin to unprecedented success, clinching four Big Ten regular-season titles, winning three Big Ten tournament championships, and making back-to-back Final Four appearances (2014-15). The four-time Division III champion (1991, &lsquo;95, &lsquo;98-99) was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
CHARLES SMITH&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash; Smith is Louisiana's all-time winningest high school head coach, surpassing the previous mark of 1,071 in 2020. With eight state championships to his name, Smith&rsquo;s coaching tenure at Peabody Magnet High School began in 1985 after starting as a math teacher in 1975. He guided the Warhorses to a pair of perfect seasons, going 41-0 in 2004 and 2010 and earning national top-five rankings. Smith, ESPN&rsquo;s National Coach of the Year in 2010, was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021. In addition, Smith served as a head coach at the McDonald&rsquo;s All-American game in 2020.
Women&rsquo;s Committee Finalists:
SEIMONE AUGUSTUS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Augustus, who was selected first overall in the 2006 WNBA Draft, was a four-time champion and eight-time All-Star during her 15-year WNBA career (2006-2020). The cornerstone player for the Minnesota Lynx, where she spent 14 of her 15 seasons, averaged 15.4 points per game and was named the 2006 Rookie of the Year and 2011 Finals MVP. At LSU, Augustus led the Tigers to three straight Final Four appearances and won the Naismith College Player of the Year and Wooden Awards in back-to-back campaigns (2005-06).
MARIAN WASHINGTON&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash; Washington led the University of Kansas women&rsquo;s basketball team for 31 seasons (1973-2004) and recorded a school-record 560 wins. The Jayhawks made 11 NCAA tournament appearances under her guidance, including two trips to the Sweet 16 (1996, &lsquo;97). Washington, who also served as Kansas&rsquo; director for women&rsquo;s athletics from 1974-79, was named her conference&rsquo;s Coach of the Year on three occasions (Big Eight: 1992, &rsquo;96; Big 12: 1997). She was a pioneer on the international stage, becoming one of the first two African American women to compete in basketball internationally at the 1971 World Championships and the first black woman to coach a United States team in international play at the 1982 R. William Jones Cup. Washington, who was the first female president of the Black Coaches Association, was inducted into the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Men&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalist:
DICK BARNETT&nbsp;[Player] &ndash;&nbsp;Barnett first gained prominence at Tennessee A&amp;I University, where he led the Tigers to three straight NAIA national championships (1957-59), the first historically black school to claim a men&rsquo;s basketball title. The &ldquo;Skull&rdquo; played 14 NBA seasons with the Syracuse Nationals (1959-61), Los Angeles Lakers (1962-65) and New York Knicks (1965-73), winning a pair of titles in the Big Apple (1970, &lsquo;73) and making his lone All-Star team in 1968. The Knicks retired his No. 12, and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honored his 1957&ndash;59 Tigers squad in 2019.
Women&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalists:
HARLEY REDIN&nbsp;[Coach]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Redin went 431-66 in 18 seasons leading Wayland Baptist&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s basketball program and captured six AAU National Championships. He coached the Flying Queens to two undefeated women&rsquo;s seasons (1956, &lsquo;57), 17 top-five finishes, and went 110-2 during his first four campaigns at Wayland Baptist. Redin also coached the Women&rsquo;s U.S. National Team in 1959, the 1971 Pan-American Games, and the 1963 World Tournament in Peru. He was the recipient of the Jostens-Berenson Service Award by the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Coaches Association for his lifetime of service to women&rsquo;s basketball in 1992, inducted into the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, and honored with the Naismith Award for Outstanding Contribution to the game of women&rsquo;s basketball in 2000.
International Committee Finalist:
MICHELE TIMMS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;A trailblazer in Australian women&rsquo;s basketball, Timms became well-known as one of the best point guards in the world, representing the Australian national team throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Timms won a pair of Olympic medals with the Opals, winning bronze in 1996 and silver in 2000, and was the first Australian, male or female, to play professional basketball internationally when she suited up for Lotus M&uuml;nchen in Germany. In addition, Timms spent five seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, guiding the team to a berth in the 1998 WNBA Finals and earning an All-Star selection in 1999. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame inducted her in 2003, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. The Mercury retired her No. 7 jersey in 2002.
Contributor Committee Finalists:
DOUG COLLINS&nbsp;[Coach/broadcaster]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Collins' versatile career in basketball is marked by significant achievements in roles ranging from player to coach to broadcaster, underscoring his wide-ranging impact on the sport. Following an NBA career where he was a four-time All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers, he transitioned into coaching and accumulated over 400 wins with the Chicago Bulls (1986-89), Detroit Pistons (1995-98), Washington Wizards (2001-03) and 76ers (2010-13). Collins, who coached Hall of Famer Michael Jordan in both Chicago and Washington,&nbsp;also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcasts for CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS, and ABC/ESPN, along with working for NBC at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
HERB SIMON&nbsp;[Owner] &ndash; Simon, the longest-tenured governor in the history of the NBA, purchased the Indiana Pacers, along with his late brother Mel, back in 1983. Under Simon&rsquo;s stewardship, the Pacers won numerous Central Division titles and made the franchise&rsquo;s first NBA Finals in 2000. Throughout his ownership period, the Pacers have been home to legendary players like Jermaine O&rsquo;Neal, Rik Smits, and Reggie Miller (Class of 2012). Beyond ownership, Simon's influence extends deeply into the heart of the Pacers&rsquo; organization, shaping its identity and impact both on and off the court through his philanthropic endeavors and civic engagement.
JERRY WEST&nbsp;[Executive] &ndash; Enshrined as a player in 1980, West then went on to establish himself off the court as one of the most successful executives in the sport&rsquo;s history. West played a pivotal role as the architect of a pair of Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; dynasties during the 1980s and 2000s, drafting key players like Magic Johnson and James Worthy, acquiring Kobe Bryant, signing free agent Shaquille O'Neal, and hiring head coach Phil Jackson. He totaled eight NBA championships in Los Angeles (1980, &lsquo;82, &lsquo;85, &lsquo;87-88, 2000-02) and was named Executive of the Year twice (1995, 2004). Following his time in the Lakers&rsquo; front office (1979-2000), West served as GM of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-07 before earning two additional NBA championships as an executive with the Golden State Warriors (2015, &lsquo;17).

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 14 finalists for the class of 2024 including Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announces 14 finalists in class of 2024

Despite missing eight players, the Orlando Magic upset the Denver Nuggets, 122-120, on Friday night behind Paolo Banchero's first career triple-double.
Fresh off scoring a career-high 43 points in a double-overtime loss against the Sacramento Kings, Banchero poured in 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for Orlando. The 21-year-old is the youngest player in Magic history to record a triple-double.
Banchero attempted a career-high 19 free-throw attempts, making 15 of them &mdash; including four free throws late in the game to seal the win for Orlando.
&ldquo;Coming into the game, we had eight guys out, so we had to have a next-man-up mentality," said the reigning Rookie of the Year and No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. "I can't be prouder of the team; that was a hell of a win."
Orlando came into the game with only nine players available, and then rookie Anthony Black left the game after just five minutes due to illness. The Magic played with just eight players the rest of the way. 
Franz Wagner (right ankle), Wendell Carter Jr. (right knee), Markelle Fultz (left knee), Gary Harris (right calf), Joe Ingles (left ankle), Jonathan Isaac (right hamstring) and Goga Bitadze (illness) were among the players who were sidelined.
Fortunately for the Magic, they made up for their lack of depth with hot shooting, making 17 three-pointers against Denver (led by Jalen Suggs&rsquo; career-high 7 threes). Orlando also shot a franchise-record 25 threes two nights ago in Sacramento.
Suggs and Cole Anthony combined for 50 points, while Mo Wagner added 19 to reinforce Banchero.
The Magic, who have now beaten the Nuggets twice this season to sweep the season series, move to 20-15 after going just 4-6 over their last 10 games and 6-9 over their last 15. Orlando is currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Nikola Jokic was splendid again from the field, scoring 29 points on 68% shooting, but it wasn't enough to lead Denver to victory a night after <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nuggets-nikola-jokic-hits-gamewinner-near-halfcourt-to-beat-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banking in a 39-foot heave</a> to bury the Golden State Warriors.&nbsp;

Paolo Banchero recorded his first career triple-double to lead his short-handed Magic to an upset win over the Nuggets, 122-120.

Shorthanded Magic beat Nuggets behind Banchero’s first triple-double

The NBA today released its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule?cal=all&amp;pd=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule?cal%3Dall%26pd%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3UKMdLdmCgRuwOVnoqJhZk">complete game schedule</a>&nbsp;and broadcast schedules for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc=TNT&amp;cal=all&amp;pd=false" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc%3DTNT%26cal%3Dall%26pd%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0dl47ggg01xhI9Slh8akFg">TNT</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc=ESPN&amp;cal=all&amp;pd=false" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc%3DESPN%26cal%3Dall%26pd%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Zq8KLI6FwgBYxw8RssYGU">ESPN</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc=ABC&amp;cal=all&amp;pd=false" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc%3DABC%26cal%3Dall%26pd%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0XDRAL9gESfsLL555jZVej">ABC</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc=NBA%20TV&amp;cal=all&amp;pd=false" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc%3DNBA%2520TV%26cal%3Dall%26pd%3Dfalse&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3u39ptiXTP6ec6QWyexVit">NBA TV</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/2023-24-ESPN-Radio-Schedule.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/2023-24-ESPN-Radio-Schedule.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3uOxPbew4nRhWTgpaioXEZ">ESPN Radio</a> for the 2023-24 regular season. The day-by-day and team-by-team schedules are available at <a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/schedule&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1kVm4DNQD4gQCT4klGOgI7">NBA.com/schedule</a>.
The 78th NBA regular season will tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, and conclude on Sunday, April 14, 2024. The 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament will take place from Tuesday, April 16 &ndash; Friday, April 19, followed by the start of the 2024 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel on Saturday, April 20.&nbsp; Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV is set for Thursday, June 6.&nbsp;
The regular-season schedule includes defined dates and opponents for 80 of each team&rsquo;s 82 games, along with two games designated as TBD dates and opponents.&nbsp; Those two games for each team, to be played the week of Dec. 4, will be determined based on the results of Group Play games in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.&nbsp; The Group Play game schedule (Nov. 3-28)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-announces-group-play-schedule-for-inaugural-inseason-tournament" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/2023-nba-in-season-tournament-schedule&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Wy3gv1TGdjjW8ITK3MXNW">was announced</a>&nbsp;on Aug. 15.&nbsp;
Kia NBA Tip-Off 2023
The first five days of the 2023-24 NBA regular season (Oct. 24-28) will feature 10 national television games as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2023, with two doubleheaders each on TNT and ESPN and one on NBA TV.&nbsp; Those games will showcase 14 different teams, three rematches from the 2023 NBA Playoffs and rosters that currently include 17 NBA All-Star selections from last season and seven recipients of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.&nbsp;
The regular season will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 24 with a doubleheader on TNT, marking Warner Bros. Discovery Sports&rsquo; 40th&nbsp;consecutive year of NBA coverage.&nbsp; In the first game, the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets will receive their championship rings before hosting the Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of last season&rsquo;s Western Conference Finals (7:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp; In the second game, the Phoenix Suns will visit the Golden State Warriors (10 p.m. ET) as three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal of Phoenix and 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul of Golden State make regular-season debuts with new teams and Paul faces the team for whom he played the previous three seasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;
ESPN will tip off its 22nd&nbsp;straight season of NBA telecasts on Wednesday, Oct. 25 with a doubleheader, which begins with the Boston Celtics visiting the New York Knicks (7 p.m. ET) in a matchup of teams that reached the Eastern Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Semifinals, respectively, last season.&nbsp; The San Antonio Spurs will host the Dallas Mavericks in the second game (9:30 p.m. ET), marking the NBA regular-season debut of 2023 first overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio.&nbsp;
On Thursday, Oct. 26, intraconference rivalries will highlight TNT&rsquo;s doubleheader as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Suns take on the Lakers in Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET).&nbsp; ESPN&rsquo;s doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 27 will have the Miami Heat meeting the Celtics in Boston (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors visiting the Sacramento Kings (10 p.m. ET) &ndash; rematches from seven-game playoff series in last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference First Round, respectively.
NBA TV will begin its live game coverage of the new season on Saturday, Oct. 28 as the Knicks visit the New Orleans Pelicans (7 p.m. ET) and the Suns host the Utah Jazz (10 p.m. ET).
Christmas Day
The NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day (Monday, Dec. 25) for the 16th year in a row, with ABC or ESPN televising each matchup.&nbsp; The 76th&nbsp;edition of the NBA on Christmas Day will tip off on ESPN as the Bucks face the Knicks in New York (noon ET).
The next two games will air on both ABC and ESPN.&nbsp; The two most recent recipients of the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy will go head-to-head when the 2022 NBA champion Warriors visit the 2023 NBA champion Nuggets (2:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp; Next, the Lakers will host the Celtics (5 p.m. ET) as the longtime rivals meet on Christmas Day for the first time in 15 years.&nbsp;
The Christmas Day schedule will conclude with two more games on ESPN, with the 76ers taking on the Heat in Miami (8 p.m. ET) and the Mavericks playing the Suns in Phoenix (10:30 p.m. ET).
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
On Monday, Jan. 15, the NBA family will celebrate one of its most important traditions by honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.&nbsp;
The celebration will include four nationally televised games.&nbsp; In a TNT doubleheader, the Atlanta Hawks will face the Spurs (3:30 p.m. ET) and the Grizzlies will meet the Warriors (6 p.m. ET) as Atlanta and Memphis continue their traditions of hosting games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.&nbsp; NBA TV will also air two games: Houston Rockets at 76ers (1 p.m. ET) and Oklahoma City Thunder at Lakers (10:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp;
NBA Rivals Week
Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will take center stage for the second annual NBA Rivals Week in January.&nbsp; Rivalries will be the focus of all 11 nationally televised games across four networks (TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV) over five days from Tuesday, Jan. 23 &ndash; Saturday, Jan. 27.&nbsp;
NBA Rivals Week will culminate with an ABC tripleheader on Jan. 27, including 2023 Conference Semifinals rematches between the Heat and Knicks in New York (3 p.m. ET) and the Lakers and Warriors in San Francisco (8:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp; In between those two games, reigning Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and the 76ers will visit two-time Kia NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets (5:30 p.m. ET) in a matchup of centers who have been the top two finishers in MVP voting in each of the last three seasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The complete game and broadcast schedule for NBA Rivals Week is available&nbsp;<a href="https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/2023-24-NBA-Rivals-Week-Schedule.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/2023-24-NBA-Rivals-Week-Schedule.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw34hW93kiZuMlb7GIJyI3uH">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Election Day
For the second consecutive season, no NBA games have been scheduled for Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 7) as the league will continue to encourage fans and the broader NBA community to make a plan to vote and participate in the civic process.&nbsp; As part of this initiative, the NBA will share important resources from voting organizations and highlight the civic engagement work of teams in their markets.
Final Day of Regular Season
All 30 teams will play on the final day of the regular season (Sunday, April 14).&nbsp; In an effort to maximize competitive fairness, the seven games between Eastern Conference teams will begin at 1 p.m. ET, and the seven games between Western Conference teams and the one cross-conference game will start at 3:30 p.m. ET.&nbsp;&nbsp;ESPN will televise a doubleheader, with the matchups to be determined at a later date.
NBA Global Games
NBA TV will televise both Global Games on the 2023-24 regular-season schedule.&nbsp; As previously announced, the Hawks will meet the Orlando Magic in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/news/hawks-magic-mexico-city-game-on-nov-9" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/hawks-magic-mexico-city-game-on-nov-9&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3b23BLw0qM8P4gkW7YsOFM">The NBA Mexico City Game 2023</a>&nbsp;on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City (9:30 p.m. ET), and the Brooklyn Nets will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nets-cavaliers-regular-season-game-paris-2024" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/nets-cavaliers-regular-season-game-paris-2024&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495539000&amp;usg=AOvVaw03nCIevQ5K0lMxDJpqcSdX">The NBA Paris Game 2024</a>&nbsp;on Thursday, Jan. 11 at the Accor Arena in Paris (2 p.m. ET).
NBA In-Season Tournament
NBA-In-Season Tournament Group Play games for all 30 teams will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays in November, with TNT, ESPN and NBA TV&nbsp;<a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/NBA-In-Season-Tournament-National-TV-Schedule-as-of-8-15-23.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2023/08/NBA-In-Season-Tournament-National-TV-Schedule-as-of-8-15-23.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495540000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3hCducKp9wMT86T8Fxi6kF">combining to televise 16 games</a>.&nbsp; Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds, which consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5), Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9).&nbsp; The national broadcast schedule for the Knockout Rounds will be announced at a later date.&nbsp;&nbsp;
More National Television Matchups
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2023 NBA Finals rematches between the Nuggets and Heat will take place on Thursday, Feb. 29 in Denver on TNT (10 p.m. ET) and on Wednesday, March 13 in Miami on ESPN (7:30 p.m. ET). </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The top two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft &ndash; No. 1 pick Wembanyama of the Spurs and No. 2 pick Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets &ndash; are scheduled to meet for the first time in the regular season when San Antonio hosts Charlotte on Friday, Jan. 12 on ESPN (10 p.m. ET). </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Also on Jan. 12, ESPN will present the first nationally televised matchup between twin brothers and NBA rookies Amen Thompson of the Rockets and Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons &ndash; the fourth and fifth picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, respectively &ndash; when Houston visits Detroit (7:30 p.m. ET). </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Three-time NBA Hustle Award recipient and 2021-22 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart of the Grizzlies, who played the previous nine seasons with the Celtics, will play his first game in Boston as a visitor on Sunday, Feb. 4 on ESPN (6 p.m. ET).&nbsp;&nbsp; </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The first national television matchup between the top two picks in the 2022 NBA Draft &ndash; No. 1 pick and 2022-23 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero of the Magic and No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren of the Thunder &ndash; is set for Tuesday, Feb. 13 in Orlando on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp; </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Leading into NBA All-Star 2024, TNT will feature a single game on Thursday, Feb. 15, with the Bucks visiting the Grizzlies (8:30 p.m. ET).&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Additional Schedule Highlights
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">All 30 teams are scheduled to make at least one appearance on TNT or ESPN in the 2023-24 regular season.&nbsp;The NBA on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV will present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The team average for back-to-backs involving travel between games has been reduced to a record-low 9.0.&nbsp; The previous low was 9.6 last season. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Primetime weeknight doubleheaders across TNT (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and ESPN (Wednesdays and Fridays) will again be played at 7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET except for one instance during the first week of the season. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">ABC will televise 16 games as part of its two weekend series,NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC(which tips off with the Jan. 27 tripleheader during NBA Rivals Week) and&nbsp;NBA Sunday Showcase&nbsp;(which begins with Celtics at Heat on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET). </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">NBA TV will featureCenter Courtthroughout the season, the network&rsquo;s marquee night of programming, which incorporates enhanced viewing options into an originally produced telecast.&nbsp; In the season debut of the franchise, the Warriors will visit the Pelicans on Monday, Oct. 30 (8 p.m. ET).&nbsp;&nbsp; </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">ESPN Radio will broadcast 25 games in the regular season, including Nuggets-Lakers on opening night, Knicks-Bucks and Nuggets-Warriors on Christmas Day, and Hawks-Spurs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">NBA League Pass will offer live, out-of-market games all season through the NBA App, NBA.com, connected televisions and TV providers.&nbsp; Fans can unlock direct access to stream matchups featuring their favorite teams and players with NBA League Pass (blackout restrictions apply).&nbsp; For more information, visit<a href="https://nba.com/leaguepass" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nba.com/leaguepass&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692389495540000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Q2AbUj62xoWwlMkvv_tP5">NBA.com/leaguepass</a>. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The regular season will feature 39 games that will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as part of &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23.&rdquo;&nbsp; </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV and the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals will be exclusively televised by ABC and ESPN/ABC, respectively.&nbsp; TNT will exclusively televise the 2024 Western Conference Finals and the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">NBA games and programming are available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages.</li>
</ul>

The NBA released the complete schedule for the 2023-24 regular season.

NBA releases schedule for 2023-24 regular season

The word got out about the most recent Mal Mundy Hoops Fest Tour Statement Session.
Over 30 college coaches came down to South Side High in Youngsville, LA, to scout over 40 prospects on the last Sunday before school starts up. South Coast scout Chris Dodson was in the gym and came away impressed with a few players still looking for offers.
Most Impressive:&nbsp;I've got&nbsp;Jaylen Peters (Liberty) as the best player in the gym for long stretches, and it wasn't particularly close at times. The two-man game with&nbsp;Chris Birden (Newman) was clicking, but Peters was the player who made folks stop taking notes and just watch. It helps that it seemed the rest of the team started deferring to his leadership pretty quickly, and that the other teams seemed to want to avoid Peters. Yet he still erased mistakes, could correct actions on the fly, and made some impressive instinctual plays on pure athleticism.
You'll hear if Peters is on the court. A defensive leader, smart with instant energy; anyone recruiting on winning attitude alone should offer Peters immediately. He called plays for others and was a step ahead on both ends. Peters disrupted almost every action on defense and found ways to score without the ball on offense. Peters said his favorite part of the game is playing in transition because of all that can happen on a fast break.
&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m alone on the court, I like to work on tougher shots," Peters said. "I'm not the quickest with the ball so shooting, finishing over or through a defender is a big part of my game.&rdquo;
Self-aware and credited teammates without prompting, Peters says he is ready to run as senior, &ldquo;especially at Liberty where I have great guards who can find me at the rim.&rdquo; Social media is full of highlights. Now, I need to see a full game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Some highlights from AAU this summer <a href="https://t.co/gLXzsCkJV1">pic.twitter.com/gLXzsCkJV1</a>
&mdash; Jaylen Peters (@JaylenJaylen0) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaylenJaylen0/status/1686481786631569409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Most Overlooked:&nbsp;Clayton Blackledge (St. Louis Catholic) bossed in the first game, just a solid performance knowing the situation. Not going to get a lot of shots early and was the only available big man; no one else on team above 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6.
I talked to him about cardio afterwards. Somewhat stiff, he needs to take some yoga classes to get more speed and flexibility in the hips. Get him a new desk in class or stretching bands with a mat in the back for plyometrics. It would also help his second jump on the boards. He missed a few rebounds trying to reload and get balance. However, when he is fresh, there is some dominate tape.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Big fella has been extremely efficient and effective today. Great opportunity for Clayton Blackledge! <a href="https://twitter.com/LHSBCANOW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LHSBCANOW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RecruitLouisiana?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RecruitLouisiana</a> <a href="https://t.co/EoOkflDDvP">pic.twitter.com/EoOkflDDvP</a>
&mdash; St. Louis Catholic Boys Basketball (@slchsboysbball) <a href="https://twitter.com/slchsboysbball/status/1673027017774710784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2023</a></blockquote>

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He moved opposing bigs completely out of the paint, then won the race back down the floor more than a few times. He held positions on offense, giving the perimeter-heavy roster room to work. Blackledge understands and enjoys the dirty work of basketball. He smiled after setting a solid screen, the same as he did after a short jumper.
Blackledge rolls to the rim well, with purpose. He sealed defenders with force and finished second chances on the first try with no trouble. He&rsquo;d be a winning culture staple in low D1 practice and could become a starter. He finished with both hands and hit a 14-footer after tossing something off the court. He wasn&rsquo;t fazed, just came back into focus for a pass and hit the shot in rhythm.
He had another pick and short-roll floater off glass that looked on purpose. If it was a fluke, the kid might have a career in poker if hoops doesn't work out. He talked more on defense when tired. No big man subs were available. but he was still doing work. He seemed to get a lot out of the run, but still wanted more when interviewed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ok #130 - we 👀 you! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RecruitLouisiana?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RecruitLouisiana</a> <a href="https://t.co/RCbqi9nPt3">pic.twitter.com/RCbqi9nPt3</a>
&mdash; St. Louis Catholic Boys Basketball (@slchsboysbball) <a href="https://twitter.com/slchsboysbball/status/1672659460337147908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Notables Needing Longer Looks:
Jordan Comanche (Wossman) works back on defense. Helps cover mistakes and runs the floor. Beats his man to spots, gets space. Shot-form consistency seems off but making me a believer with every made shot. The jumper form fluctuates, but he hits the open shots. A contested floater was wildly off the mark. Need to see more, but there are plenty of reasons to be more curious about Comanche.
Chris Shiflett Jr. (Evangel) has hands slower than head, but the talent to catch up. Sees passes but sometimes telegraphs because he sees that play so early. Needs a bit more deception to pull off the flashy stuff at 5-foot-9 or it seems more like trying to force plays even in traffic. Talent is there though. Can finish crafty layups. Nice touch on high-arcing floaters.
Javon Johnson (Bossier)&nbsp;will go chest-to-chest with anyone. Gets downhill, tough handles with someone on the hip. Attacks lazy defense, gets to the rim, stays in rhythm. Seemed a solid shooter.&nbsp;
Jeremiah Lucas (Bonnabel)&nbsp;and&nbsp;Gavin Lucas (Bonnabel) are similar to Johnson in that both play like they are comfortable on concrete courts outside in the heat. Handles, passing vision, anticipation and can shoot. Bonnabel's two-guard tandem will be a pair to watch.

On Sunday, over 30 college coaches came to Youngsville, LA, to scout over 40 prospects. Chris Dodson shares his scouting report.

Statements Made: LA Hoops Fest Scouting Report

Brendan Malone, whose coaching career spanned six decades, is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
&ldquo;Brendan Malone has been a name synonymous with NBA success for many decades,&rdquo; said Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers head coach and NBCA president. &ldquo;He's helped develop players and young coaches, and been a multiple NBA champion on Chuck Daly's Detroit coaching staff in 1989 and 1990. Congrats to Coach Malone on this prestigious recognition.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I want to thank the National Basketball Coaches Association for this award,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Tex Winter was a man I got to know and respect. I also want to thank all of the head coaches that I enjoyed working with during my 29-year career in the NBA, in particular Hubie Brown who brought me into the league; Chuck Daly and our two championships; the Van Gundys, Stan and Jeff, and Don Chaney. Lastly, I want to thank my wife Maureen and our six children for sharing my journey.&rdquo;
Wetting his whistle with a few years of coaching CYO basketball, Malone began his coaching career in 1967 at the legendary Power Memorial Academy in New York City where he won three city championships and three Coach of the Year awards.
He then moved to the college ranks in 1976 as an assistant coach at Fordham, then Yale, and then Syracuse. At Syracuse, the Orange went to the NCAA Tournament four times. Malone was a Syracuse assistant for the first five years of the Big East. He left Syracuse to become head coach at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 1984.
While at URI in 1986, Hubie Brown recruited Malone to join him as an assistant for the New York Knicks, the beginning of his 29-year NBA career. Malone had three different tours with the Knicks, the most notable of which was the four years with head coach Jeff Van Gundy. From 1996 to 2000, the Knicks went 177-119 with two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, as well as a trip to the 1999 NBA Finals.
Malone was an assistant coach for Stan Van Gundy for five years (2007 to 2012) in Orlando. The Magic won 50-plus games four straight years, went to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and to the 2009 NBA Finals.
Malone was also an assistant coach for Bob Hill and Rick Pitino in New York, Don Chaney in both Detroit and New York, Isiah Thomas in Indiana, Paul Silas in Cleveland and Stan Van Gundy in Detroit. He was also a scout for the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
But it was in Detroit with Chuck Daly that Malone made his name, orchestrating the Jordan Rules defense that helped propel the Pistons to back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
Malone was the first head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 1995-96 and also served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for 18 games in 2004-05.
In 27 seasons of NBA coaching, teams that Malone coached went to the playoffs 20 times, to the Conference Finals seven times, and to the NBA Finals four times, winning the title twice. His teams compiled a 1165-1001 record (.538).
Brendan and his son, Michael, who is the head coach of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, are the only father-son coaching duo to have both won an NBA championship.
&ldquo;I want to thank the NBCA Selection Committee for acknowledging my father&rsquo;s impact and career in the NBA,&rdquo; Michael Malone said. &ldquo;His work ethic, his love of the game, and his passion for teaching were the foundation of my coaching career. This is a well-deserved honor and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this celebration.&rdquo;
Brendan Malone was enshrined in the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1997, he was inducted into the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame (which recognizes and honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to New York City basketball). He is a 2017 enshrinee in the Power Memorial Academy Hall of Fame.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Assistant coaches generally operate behind the scenes and almost never receive enough public recognition for their team&rsquo;s success. However, any head coach will tell you that they are an indispensable part of the team equation,&rdquo; said David Fogel, NBCA Executive Director and General Counsel. &ldquo;Coach Malone&rsquo;s contributions to the accomplishments of his teams are well known inside the NBA and his contributions to the game continue through his son Michael&rsquo;s tremendous success. Congratulations to Brendan on this well-deserved honor.&rdquo;
The NBCA Tex Winter Lifetime Impact Award honors the tremendous achievements and commitment of Hall-of-Famer Tex Winter, who set a standard of innovation, integrity, competitive excellence, loyalty, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball throughout the course of his outstanding NBA coaching career.
The award is selected annually by the NBCA Selection Committee, comprised of some of the most respected coaches and executives in the game, including Rick Adelman, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, Wayne Embry, Danny Ferry, Mike Fratello, George Karl, Doc Rivers, Rod Thorn and Lenny Wilkens.
This year&rsquo;s nominees included assistant coaches Bob Beyer, Dan Burke, Jeff Bzdelik, Gordon Chiesa, Carroll Dawson, Hank Egan, Jim Eyen, Brian Hill, Jim Lynam, Bob McAdoo, Brendan Suhr and Bob Weiss.
Prior recipients of this award are Ron Adams (2022), Dick Helm (2021), Bill Bertka (2019), Tim Grgurich (2018), Ron Rothstein (2017) and Phil Johnson (2016).

Brendan Malone is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the NBCA announced today.

Brendan Malone given Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer expressed cautious optimism regarding the status of Giannis Antetokounmpo after the two-time MVP left Milwaukee&rsquo;s Eastern Conference playoff opener with a bruised lower back.
Antetokounmpo isn&rsquo;t the only prominent player already dealing with a health issue after the first weekend of the playoffs. Injuries to some of the NBA&rsquo;s top stars have dimmed the start of the postseason, with title hopes possibly fading just as quickly depending on how bad they&rsquo;re hurt.
Budenholzer said Monday that Antetokounmpo underwent an MRI after the game that revealed &ldquo;everything&rsquo;s clean.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-bucks-butler-giannis-herro-injuries-94e39b603906b4438a4fb2dc6144a684">The Bucks lost 130-117 to the Miami Heat</a>&nbsp;on Sunday and trail the best-of-7 series 1-0 heading into Game 2 on Wednesday night.
&ldquo;I would say he&rsquo;s still sore, but I think progress,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting some treatment. I think we&rsquo;ll just continue to monitor him for the next day or two. We&rsquo;re probably fortunate that (we have) two days between games. I think (we&rsquo;re) still mostly positive, mostly optimistic, but we&rsquo;ll see how he feels over the next day or two.&rdquo;
Injuries over the span of a couple hours Sunday also sidelined two-time All-Star Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Miami Heat&rsquo;s Tyler Herro, keeping them from finishing their playoff openers.
Anthony Davis scared Los Angeles Lakers fans by grabbing at his right shoulder and saying he couldn&rsquo;t move his arm. Luckily for the Lakers, Davis rebounded from a stinger and returned for the start of the third quarter of their&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-grizzlies-nba-playoffs-b97a64fd11814378da7a37883e9997fa">128-112 victory over the Grizzlies.</a>
Both Antetokounmpo and Morant were hurt on drives to the basket where each landed awkwardly.
Antetokounmpo came down hard on his backside after being fouled by Miami&rsquo;s Kevin Love. The Bucks&rsquo; forward got up slowly with 4:13 left in the first quarter. He picked up his second foul about 2 1/2 minutes later but played about 11 minutes for the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed.
The Bucks went on to lose&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-bucks-butler-giannis-herro-injuries-94e39b603906b4438a4fb2dc6144a684">130-117 to Miami</a>.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-tyler-herro-bucks-ffd01cc8e98856cbf26078ff48c7d096">Herro broke his right hand</a>&nbsp;late in the second quarter, apparently while diving for a loose ball. The Heat disclosed the severity of his injury at halftime.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Herro,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/lmhelmbrecht/status/1647759335391477760?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seen with a cast on his hand after the game,</a>&nbsp;won&rsquo;t play Game 2 on Wednesday night and the Heat will figure out what to do next.
&ldquo;I got the same diagnosis that you all heard,&rdquo; Spoelstra said.
Morant came into Sunday&rsquo;s first-round Western Conference series with his right hand already bandaged after being hurt in a win that clinched the No. 2 seed for the Grizzlies.
Then he drove to the basket against the 6-foot-10 Davis with 5:48 left, with Memphis trailing the Lakers 105-101. His right hand appeared to bend the wrong direction as he hit the court. Morant writhed in pain, then ran toward the Grizzlies&rsquo; bench letting out a yell near midcourt before sprinting to the locker room.
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said X-rays were negative and the Grizzlies will do further testing taking this injury one day at a time.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the medical expert,&rdquo; Jenkins said.
Morant said he&rsquo;s doubtful for Game 2 on Wednesday night with Memphis down 0-1 following a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-grizzlies-nba-playoffs-b97a64fd11814378da7a37883e9997fa">128-112 loss</a>.
&ldquo;Tough man, especially with everything I&rsquo;ve been through pretty much this season,&rdquo; said Morant, who was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-allstar-9819e8b8b5c42da71488db6688f85ca3">suspended by the NBA for eight games in March</a>&nbsp;after livestreaming himself holding a gun at a Denver-area strip club.
The guard who set the Grizzlies&rsquo; single season scoring record averaging 26.2 points a game wants to play. Memphis already is without center Steven Adams because of an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/grizzlies-steven-adams-injury-ec017c3b6d3a5a40fbac68e311ad79b5">injured knee</a>&nbsp;and reserve big man&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brandon-clarke-memphis-grizzlies-torn-achilles-12b9cc6fbc1675b786d4b4ba0dd9aaa5">Brandon Clarke tore an Achilles tendon</a>&nbsp;in March.
&ldquo;Another incident where that&rsquo;s pretty much in jeopardy,&rdquo; said Morant, who missed the final three games of&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-basketball-97a1c9789d3a3ad4bea8751117f69387">Memphis&rsquo; semifinals loss to eventual champ Golden State</a>&nbsp;with an injured knee.
Pain level and how effective he can be will decide if Morant can play.
&ldquo;I feel like I can go out there and be somewhat myself, I&rsquo;ll be playing,&rdquo; Morant said. &ldquo;If not, I don&rsquo;t want to do anything to hurt the team.&rdquo;
The Clippers survived their opener by&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/clippers-suns-leonard-durant-westbrook-28319b522530ea87a035106976478d04">beating No. 4 seed Phoenix 115-110</a>&nbsp;without eight-time All-Star guard Paul George, who&rsquo;s been sidelined by&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-clippers-paul-george-injury-b0d5e91971a68b5a970ae3f6c2c7933e">sprained right knee</a>&nbsp;since late March.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham may have been the happiest coach after sending Davis to the locker room with 1:15 left in the second quarter to make sure the medical team started working on the eight-time All-Star immediately.
&ldquo;Just happy he&rsquo;s OK,&rdquo; Ham said.

Injuries to some of the NBA’s top stars have dimmed the start of the postseason and changed title odds in both conferences.

Injuries to NBA stars Giannis, Ja dim start of postseason

The Milwaukee Bucks clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs Wednesday, but they had to do so without Giannis Antetokounmpo on the second night of a back-to-back.
No problem &mdash; Bobby Portis exploded for 27 points and 13 rebounds, Jrue Holiday racked up 20 points and 15 assists, and Brook Lopez tossed in 26 points to handle the Chicago Bulls. One neat postgame statistic from ESPN's Kane Pitman caught my eye:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Brook Lopez now has 26 games with 20+ points this season. He had 26 games with 20+ points across his first four regular seasons in Milwaukee. He will be a DPOY finalist but his scoring has wound back the clock during his age 35 season.
&mdash; Kane Pitman (@KanePitman) <a href="https://twitter.com/KanePitman/status/1643788843479621635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Lopez is putting up 15.9 points per game, his highest since his All-Star days with the Brooklyn Nets, at the most efficient scoring clip of his career. He's helped the Bucks retake the top of the conference while remaining square in the middle of the Defensive Player of the Year race.
The award's front-runner, Jaren Jackson Jr., has also quietly ascended on the offensive end. Jackson is averaging a career-high 18.3 points per game (20.9 since the All-Star break) with a career-best 58.5% two-point shooting clip. He dropped 40 in Wednesday's overtime loss to the Pelicans and has helped the Grizzlies go 12-4 since March 9.&nbsp;
While the two bigs are duking it out for DPOY, their steps forward as scorers have put each team in the championship conversation.
Starting with Lopez, his output this season hasn't come with increased touches. A cursory glance through PBP Stats' tracking data shows the 35-year-old is hovering at similar rates in touches and volume touch time relative to his entire Milwaukee tenure. His low 16.7% usage rate follows the same trend. But Lopez has received a significant green light; his mark of 11.5 field goal attempts per game is the most in the last six years.
Those extra shots have been distributed relatively evenly across different spots on the floor, but Lopez's paint presence is perhaps the most notable change. Here's a look at his impact of scoring inside since joining the Bucks in 2018, using data from PBP Stats (scroll right to view full table on mobile):
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 154px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 44px;">Year</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 44px;">Touches/100 poss.</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 44px;">Paint touches/100 poss.</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 44px;">Paint touches FG% </td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 44px;">At-Rim FGA/game</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 44px;">At-Rim FG%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 22px;">2018-19</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 22px;">59.6</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 22px;">2.8</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 22px;">65.3%</td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 22px;">1.8</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 22px;">75.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 22px;">2019-20</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 22px;">57.5</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 22px;">5.2</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 22px;">61.7%</td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 22px;">2.5</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 22px;">66.9%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 22px;">2020-21</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 22px;">49.4</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 22px;">7.0</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 22px;">70.3%</td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 22px;">2.7</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 22px;">74.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 22px;">2021-22*</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 22px;">51.3</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 22px;">9.7</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 22px;">62.8%</td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 22px;">3.4</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 22px;">77.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10.2766%; height: 22px;">2022-23</td>
<td style="width: 15.2376%; height: 22px;">54.2</td>
<td style="width: 18.501%; height: 22px;">9.1</td>
<td style="width: 16.4124%; height: 22px;">71.2%</td>
<td style="width: 15.1069%; height: 22px;">3.6</td>
<td style="width: 13.5403%; height: 22px;">74.7%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Note that Lopez played just 13 games in 2021-22 due to injury.
Lopez's current paint diet builds off of his abbreviated 2021-22 campaign, and this time, he's consistently converting on his greatest volume as a Buck. In addition to the strong marks at the rim, Lopez is also hitting a blistering 56% of his short-mid-range shots, per Cleaning the Glass.
The 35-year-old scored his 26 points on Wednesday despite a quiet 0-for-2 night from distance. He made 10 of 17 attempts inside the arc. Some were confident driving layups where he powered through Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond. But this play highlights how his roll (heyo!) is changing:
<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/1z89r7" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
With the amount of drop coverage in today's NBA, plus the different downhill playmakers Milwaukee employs, Lopez has windows available as a roller. Here he stays in the passing lane during Joe Ingles' drive, seals off Derrick Jones Jr. and finishes the layup.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/2nevnr" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
This earlier bucket was the second of two near-identical makes in a row. Chicago sets its drop early in the action, but Vucevic is tighter on Holiday given the guard's threat to pull up. The window is open quicker for a short-roll pass that Holiday easily makes. Lopez then knocks down the soft-touch floater that the smaller DeMar DeRozan can't really contest.
According to play-type data from Synergy, Lopez is spending 21.2% of his possessions this season as a roll man. That's the highest frequency of his Bucks career, and it's steadily increased in each subsequent year from 14.1% in 2018-19. "Roll man" in Synergy terms can also include pick-and-pop plays, where Lopez often thrives, but he's also adding more classic rolls.
Tack on a career-high 37.4% clip from beyond the arc, and Lopez has found the pockets for him to excel within Milwaukee's offense without taking on a significantly larger workload.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Lopez is making teams pay for how they defend guys like Holiday and Antetokounmpo. His buckets still mostly come via assists. Jackson, meanwhile, is stepping up as a self-creator.&nbsp;
The 23-year-old has cleared the 60% True Shooting mark for the first time in his five-year career. Yet, he's not shooting threes particularly well (34.4%) and his volume of attempts is down (4.5 per game). Jackson has instead boosted his two-point percentage to a career-best 58.5%. He can attribute that spike to a consistent assertion of getting to the basket.&nbsp;
According to PBP Stats, more than 40% of Jackson's total shots this year have been self-created twos within 10 feet of the basket. His 53.2% conversion rate on those looks is a whopping nine percentage points better than last season. Jackson's overall 67% clip at the rim is a serious bounce-back from a dreadful 2021-22, and his 47% mark in the short-mid-range area is another career high.
<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/2nevnr" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
In his monster 40-point outing, Jackson showed off how he's leveraging his length and strength with confidence. He posted up Larry Nance Jr. twice for scores, and was unfazed even when plowing into Nance on the above drive. Jackson still had the balance to turn the moment into a floater. There are also these Giannis-esque moments with Jackson where he uses his long strides and length to glide past defenders. The overall quick decision-making has elevated his attacks.
<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/a44idt" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The lanky forward has traded in some perimeter looks for more aggressive attacks. In fact, Jackson ranks third in points per drive (0.94) among 180 high-volume drivers this season. He's scoring at a decent 50.5% clip and drawing fouls on 18% of his drives, which also ranks third.
Jackson didn't shoot particularly well (13-for-28) en route to his 40-burger on Wednesday, but did draw nine fouls and made 11 of 12 free throws.
Perhaps the most surprising stat: Jackson is one of 100 NBA players who have logged 50 or more isolation possessions this season, per Synergy. He's drawn shooting fouls on a whopping 32.1% of those possessions; that is the highest in the eight-year history of Synergy's play-type tracking.
With his foul-drawing and reliable free-throw shooting, Jackson has created a floor-raiser with his length and athleticism against opposing bigs. As his scoring efficiency comes along, he's looking more and more like a matchup nightmare.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Two extremely important concepts in today's NBA: Creating and preventing advantages. From SIS Hoops:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
In the stretch run of the MVP race, Joel Embiid has stepped up his advantage creation to separate himself as the favorite for the award. <a href="https://t.co/6lThkqTKVC">pic.twitter.com/6lThkqTKVC</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1644003730205843458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Post-NCAA men's tournament reflection. FAU baby!
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</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Take good shots ✅ Force tough shots ✅ Win more games ✅ <a href="https://t.co/xHczgYjpfo">pic.twitter.com/xHczgYjpfo</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1643379899129040897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>A few league-wide notes I saw as this season is wrapping up:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Some NBA leaguewide trends as we approach the end of the season 🧵 - The NBA is shooting a base 47.5% from the field, which is its highest since 1989-90 - eFG% is 54.5%, which is the highest ever - 114.8 offensive rating is a massive all-time high, 2nd place is 112.3 (2020-21)
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1644020710753333249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Jackson and Lopez are leading the Defensive Player of the Year race, but have also made important offensive strides.

NBA Stats Notebook: Lauding Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brook Lopez's offense

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seemed like a nice pickup for Oklahoma City Thunder, a secondary piece in the trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers four years ago.
Gilgeous-Alexander has turned out to be more than an afterthought &mdash; much more.
He has blossomed into an All-Star, the unquestioned leader of the Thunder&rsquo;s rebuilding efforts and the centerpiece of a Canadian national team that could be a medal contender at the Paris Games next summer. He ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 31.5 points per game &mdash; behind Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard and just ahead of two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
He doesn&rsquo;t grab as many national headlines as the other top scorers &mdash; in part because the Thunder (38-42) haven&rsquo;t been competitive the past two years. Now Oklahoma City is battling for a spot in the Play-In Tournament with Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks heading into their game Thursday night at Utah.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been fun,&rdquo; said Gilgeous-Alexander, 24, who was selected 11th overall by the Clippers in the 2018 draft after he spent a year at Kentucky. &ldquo;My favorite part is the team success. There is no better feeling than winning games, and that&rsquo;s all I wanted to focus on coming into the season. And with focusing on that, the individual success just followed.&rdquo;
Oklahoma City has been reeling from the long-term effects of losing Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and George, among others, to trades and free agency. A franchise that reached the Western Conference finals four times and the NBA Finals once the previous decade hasn&rsquo;t made the playoffs since 2020.
The 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander is giving Thunder fans hope and management reasons to build around him.
While his rise has been mostly off the radar, it&rsquo;s nonetheless impressive. Two seasons ago, he scored 23.7 points per game and last season, his average increased to 24.5. He missed the final month of last season with a sore right ankle, but recovered and dominated for Canada&rsquo;s national team in the summer.
He carried that international momentum into this season and will join Durant and Westbrook as the only Thunder players to average at least 30 points for an entire season. Durant and Westbrook won MVP and the scoring title in their highest-scoring seasons for Oklahoma City &mdash; Durant averaged 32.0 points in 2013-14 and Westbrook produced 31.6 per game in 2016-17.
Gilgeous-Alexander might have to settle for the Most Improved Player award, which would be a fitting honor given his approach. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said when a player with his talent and work ethic locks in, it naturally leads to improvement.
&ldquo;When he falls short, he looks in the mirror first,&rdquo; Daigneault said. &ldquo;That drives his next step. And then he puts the work in and he repeats that process, and he&rsquo;s always repeated that process as long as he&rsquo;s been here and as long as we&rsquo;ve known him.&rdquo;
Canada men&rsquo;s basketball general manager Rowan Barrett isn&rsquo;t surprised that Gilgeous-Alexander has made such a dramatic leap after watching him work last summer.
&ldquo;Before practice, after practice, like, constantly in the gym, in the gym, in the gym,&rdquo; Barrett said. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s clearly made a lot of sacrifices in his personal life to live that way. And I think the world right now, many years on, is getting to kind of enjoy watching him based on all the work that he&rsquo;s put in. He wants to be great, and he&rsquo;s completely committed to it.&rdquo;
Another reason Gilgeous-Alexander&rsquo;s exploits go mostly unnoticed is the lack of highlight reels. His game doesn&rsquo;t include spectacular dunks or a lot of 3-pointers, though he makes 35% of his attempts from beyond the arc. He&rsquo;s among the league&rsquo;s leaders in free throws made and attempted and free-throw percentage.
Those stats make his coaches happy but don&rsquo;t make for viral social media moments. Still, he shoots 51% from the field. Fans have showered him with occasional chants of &ldquo;M-V-P! M-V-P! when he shoots free throws during home games at the reinvigorated Paycom Center.
NBA coaches don&rsquo;t need highlights to know how well he is playing. Golden State coach Steve Kerr was impressed after Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half in a loss to the Warriors in January.
&ldquo;He just gets any shot he wants in the mid-range,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so good with the ball. He&rsquo;s so strong, you can&rsquo;t speed him up. He just gets to his spots and calmly rises up and shoots that little 12-footer, 10-footer, 14-footer.&rdquo;
He frustrated Phoenix coach Monty Williams with one of his most impressive performances: scoring 40 points in a victory over the Suns on March 19 without attempting a 3-pointer.
Canada national team coach Nick Nurse, who also coaches the Toronto Raptors, said Gilgeous-Alexander excels at setting up his teammates. He was a strong facilitator for Canada last summer, while averaging 5.4 assists for Oklahoma City this season.
&ldquo;When you need offense, he creates it for himself,&rdquo; Nurse said. &ldquo;Tons of drive, and guys just standing there with their hands out, (Shai) hitting them right on the money for threes. I think it improved a lot of our other players because of his drawing so much defense.&rdquo;
With Gilgeous-Alexander&rsquo;s rising stock, the future looks bright for the Thunder &mdash; regardless of what happens this postseason. It looks good for Canada&rsquo;s program, too.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s supportive of the other guys and wants to see the other guys do well as well,&rdquo; said Barrett, the Canada basketball GM. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just all about him somehow. As great as he is, there&rsquo;s a humility there.&rdquo;
___
AP freelancer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this report.

Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed into an All-Star, the unquestioned leader of the Thunder’s rebuilding efforts.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder rebuild after stars exodus

DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler scored 18 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat avoided an embarrassing loss by rallying to beat the hapless Detroit Pistons 118-105 on Tuesday night.
Miami (42-37) kept its chance of escaping the Play-In tournament alive, but Detroit (16-63) made it tough before losing its 10th straight and falling to 1-21 in its last 22 games.
&ldquo;We had a lot of guys contribute to this win, but Jimmy did what closers do,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;We just need to get him the ball and we trust that he&rsquo;s going to make the right decisions.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what he does.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 22 points for the Heat while Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro had 18 apiece.
Jaden Ivey scored 30 points on 15 shots for the Pistons, while fellow rookie Jalen Duren had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just been constantly working on my 3-point shot,&rdquo; said Ivey, who was 4 for 6 from behind the arc. &ldquo;I was getting down on myself when I wasn&rsquo;t making them earlier in the year, but that&rsquo;s changed.&rdquo;
The Heat led 80-79 at the start of the fourth quarter, but weren&rsquo;t able to pull away from the NBA&rsquo;s worst team. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cory Joseph put Detroit ahead 97-94 with 6:42 left, but Butler&rsquo;s floater gave Miami a 100-99 edge with 4:35 remaining.
Spoelstra started sending his defense hard at Ivey, and Detroit struggled to adapt.
&ldquo;Did you see what he was doing to us before we started blitzing him?&rdquo; Spoelstra asked. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got so much speed and tonight he was hitting his 3s and his mid-range shots, which makes him even tougher. He&rsquo;s a special young talent.&rdquo;
Butler made it 107-99 from the free throw line with 2:47 left, and after Ivey hit a tough banker, Butler&rsquo;s three-point play gave Miami a nine-point lead.
&ldquo;He got to his right hand, and that&rsquo;s what the coaches warned us about before the game,&rdquo; Ivey said.
Miami led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but the Pistons narrowed the gap to 59-52 at the half. Gabe Vincent had 17 points for the Heat while Ivey scored 15.
&ldquo;Any time you get a win on the road, it feels good,&rdquo; Vincent said.
Duren&rsquo;s dunk put the Pistons up 60-59 at 3:10 of the third, but Miami scored the next 13 points. Detroit nearly regained the lead at the end of the period, but Eugene Omoruyi&rsquo;s layup came just after the buzzer.
TIP-INS
Heat: Miami has won seven of its last nine against Detroit, including both games in Michigan this season. ... Herro made both free throw attempts, extending his streak to 32, one short of his career-best set in 2020.
Pistons: Ivey extended his franchise rookie record by scoring 10-plus points in his 36th straight game. Dave Bing had streaks of 33 and 32 in the 1966-67 season.
SPO&rsquo;S MYSTERIES
During his postgame press conference, Spoelstra said Butler and Ivey each remind him of players he&rsquo;s seen a lot of in his coaching career, but wouldn&rsquo;t divulge who he meant.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not giving any hints - you&rsquo;ll have to figure it out,&rdquo; he said when asked if he was comparing Butler to LeBron James or Dwyane Wade. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told Jimmy, but that&rsquo;s private between us.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Heat: Visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
Pistons: Host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

Jimmy Butler scored 18 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat avoided an embarrassing loss by rallying to a victory.

Jimmy Butler leads Heat to late win against Pistons, 118-105

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Kim Mulkey returned home to Louisiana wanting to bring LSU its first basketball championship. The Hall of Fame coach did just that in only her second year at the school.
Her Tigers used a record offensive performance to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 on Sunday and win the first basketball title, men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s, in school history.
&ldquo;I turn around and look at the Final Four banners (in the home arena), nowhere did it say national champion,&rdquo; Mulkey said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I came home to do.&rdquo;
The victory made Mulkey the first women&rsquo;s coach to win national titles at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago.
&ldquo;Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I&rsquo;ve been blessed,&rdquo; Mulkey said. &ldquo;Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, has (anybody) ever played for a championship.&rdquo;
The feisty and flamboyantly dressed Mulkey, who wore a sparkly, golden, tiger-striped outfit, now has the third-most national titles behind Geno Auriemma&rsquo;s 11 and Pat Summitt&rsquo;s eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game.
&ldquo;My tears are tears of joy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
LSU dropped 102 POINTS to win its first national title EVER 🐯🔥 <a href="https://t.co/H2ZPuGMj4p">pic.twitter.com/H2ZPuGMj4p</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1642649936503209985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Clark,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-caitlin-clark-player-of-year-ed943aa5f1e86a1bb04505497bd4c9b3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press national player of the year</a>, couldn&rsquo;t lead the Hawkeyes to their first national title despite one of the greatest individual performances in NCAA Tournament history. The junior finished with 30 points. She scored 40 in the semifinals to&nbsp;knock out unbeaten South Carolina&nbsp;one game after she had the&nbsp;first 40-point triple-double&nbsp;in NCAA history in the Elite Eight.
The dazzling guard set the NCAA record for points in a tournament, passing the 177 that Sheryl Swoopes scored in 1993 en route to leading Texas Tech to the title. Clark ended her tournament with 191.
The 102 points broke the previous high for a championship game, surpassing the 97 that Texas scored against Southern California in 1986.
&ldquo;So much for preaching defense and rebounding,&rdquo; Mulkey said, laughing.
Taking in the game was first lady Jill Biden, who sat in a suite above the court with tennis great Billie Jean King. Mulkey said she hadn&rsquo;t met the first lady yet but told the AP that if the team was invited to the White House, she&rsquo;d go.
Jasmine Carson scored 22 points, Alexis Morris added 21 and Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (34-2).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no one-man show around here. When I go down, the next man is up,&rdquo; said Reese, who was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. &ldquo;Every single time, every time I go out or Alexis goes out, everybody always comes to step up.&rdquo;
Trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, Iowa started hitting from the outside to go on a 15-2 run, hitting four 3-pointers and converting a 3-point play to get within 65-57.
The Hawkeyes (31-7) trailed 73-64 with 1:03 left in the third quarter when Clark was called for a technical foul. She swatted the ball away on the floor after a foul call against a teammate. That counted as a personal foul for her, her fourth of the game.
&ldquo;I thought they called it very, very tight,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;Hit with a technical foul for throwing the ball under the basket &mdash; sometimes that&rsquo;s how things go.&rdquo;
Clark played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls but couldn&rsquo;t get the Hawkeyes much closer.
&ldquo;They really played well, they were ready to go. They did a great job. I&rsquo;m just so proud of my team,&rdquo; Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. &ldquo;This is brutal, it&rsquo;s really tough to walk out of that locker room today and not be able to coach Monika (Czinano) and McKenna (Warnock) again. I&rsquo;m very thankful for the season we had and don&rsquo;t want to take anything away from that.&rdquo;
After Katari Poole hit a 3-pointer in front of the LSU bench, Mulkey started weeping.
&ldquo;With about 1:30 to go, I couldn&rsquo;t hold it. I got very emotional,&rdquo; Mulkey said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not like me, but I knew we would hold on and win this game. I don&rsquo;t what it was, but I lost it. Very emotional and tears of joy. Don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s the mere fact that we&rsquo;re doing it in my second year back home or that I am back home.&rdquo;
A few seconds later after another LSU basket, Reese taunted Clark by putting her hand in front of her face with a &ldquo;you can&rsquo;t see me&rdquo; gesture and then pointed to her ring finger.
As the final seconds ticked off, Mulkey and Reese hugged, setting off a wild celebration by the Tigers.
The game was tight for the first 15 minutes before Carson got hot from the outside. She made all six of her shots in the second quarter, including four 3-pointers. After one of them, she threw her hands in the air, which Mulkey mimicked on the sidelines.
For good measure, the graduate student banked in a shot just before the halftime buzzer to give the Tigers a 59-42 lead at the break. It was the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-march-madness-lsu-champion-game-iowa-scoring-record-3553732a3f7c830a61337c2f22789496" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most points ever in the first half</a>&nbsp;of a championship game, breaking the record held by Tennessee since 1998.
Before Sunday, Carson had gone scoreless in five of her seven postseason games in her career. She had 11 points in this NCAA Tournament before the finale.
&ldquo;I would definitely say this is the game of my life because I won a national championship on the biggest stage possible in college,&rdquo; Carson said. &ldquo;When I woke up, I just wanted to win &mdash; do anything my team needed in this game, whether it was defense, rebounding, supporting them. I scored tonight and that&rsquo;s what pushed us and got us momentum.&rdquo;

Kim Mulkey’s LSU Tigers used a record offensive performance to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 in the title game on Sunday.

LSU beats Iowa 102-85 to win first national championship

Cinderella teams make for great stories and busted brackets. They don&rsquo;t necessarily make for great television ratings, though.
After getting a dream Final Four field last year, CBS and Turner Sports have something&nbsp;very different this weekend with Florida Atlantic, Miami, San Diego State and Connecticut making it to Houston.
The lack of recognizable names could affect the ratings.
Upsets during the first two weeks have seemingly already taken a toll. The tournament is averaging 9.11 million viewers through the regional finals, which is down 6% from last year. This after the first round on March 16-17 averaged 9.2 million, a record for the most-watched round of 64.
Last year&rsquo;s Final Four of Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova resonated even with casual fans because it was loaded with national brands. It also included Mike Krzyzewski&rsquo;s final tournament as Duke&rsquo;s coach.
This year&rsquo;s group doesn&rsquo;t have the same cachet.
&ldquo;The public is telling us that they would rather see the bluebloods. The ratings support that,&rdquo; said former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who now runs his own sports television consulting company. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s because they&rsquo;re not familiar with teams like San Diego State, Miami or FAU. There was relatively little press attention paid to those teams during the year. Connecticut has a history, but they&rsquo;re the only one of the four that really has had national exposure.&rdquo;
College basketball also isn&rsquo;t different from other sports when it comes to marquee teams translating to bigger audiences.
Two of last year&rsquo;s Final Four games rank among the three most-watched college basketball games in cable TV history. The semifinal matchup between North Carolina and Duke averaged 18.5 million on TBS and ranks second, while Kansas&rsquo; comeback victory over North Carolina averaged 18.1 million.
According to Sports Media Watch, which tracked Final Four ratings to 1975, the Baylor-Houston game from two years ago ranks as the least-watched semifinal at 8.36 million (individual semis started being tracked in 2002).
The low for a title game on CBS is 2004, when 17.09 million watched UConn defeat Georgia Tech. The overall low was in 2018 on TBS, when 15.99 million viewed Villanova&rsquo;s win over Michigan. CBS and TBS began alternating Final Fours in 2016.
Another thing that might factor into ratings this year is that Miami and Florida Atlantic are from the same television markets (Miami/West Palm Beach).
There are signs that suggest the viewer drop won&rsquo;t be as bad. Last Sunday&rsquo;s regional final between Miami and Texas on CBS averaged 11.3 million, which was the most-watched basketball game since last year&rsquo;s deciding game of the NBA Finals.
Also, the 2011 semifinal between Butler and Virginia Commonwealth &mdash; the last time two mid-majors met in a Final Four &mdash; was down only 2% from the 2010 early semi, when Butler beat Michigan State.
&ldquo;UConn is a very well-known program but with the other three, that&rsquo;s where the interesting storylines are,&rdquo; said Tag Garson, senior vice president of properties for Wasserman Media Group. &ldquo;There are pundits who said they were seeded on a line that wasn&rsquo;t reflective enough of the type season they had. There are some tremendous players that will be playing this weekend regardless of which team you are talking about.&rdquo;

How will a Final Four consisting of Florida Atlantic, Miami, San Diego State and Connecticut affect March Madness TV ratings?

Lack of big-name teams could take toll on Final Four ratings

South Carolina senior guard Brea Beal knew she could trust Dawn Staley before she even suited up for the Gamecocks.
It wasn&rsquo;t just Staley&rsquo;s coaching accolades, which include fueling South Carolina&rsquo;s meteoric rise in women&rsquo;s basketball, that sold Beal. Beal knew that Staley &mdash; a Black woman like her &mdash; would best understand how to guide her as she navigated both life and playing basketball on a big stage.
&ldquo;People that were telling me what this community was about, I know it&rsquo;s somewhere I wanted to be,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;As soon as I got here, she definitely led me down a journey so I could find out who I am.&rdquo;
Black female representation in the coaching and sports administrative ranks has existed on a minute scale &mdash; even in a sport like basketball, which along with track and field has the highest concentration of Black female college athletes. Black female players who have been coached by a Black woman told The Associated Press that it was crucial to their development.
&ldquo;There are some coaches who will just have all guys with no understanding that there are sometimes things that a young woman may need to talk to another woman about,&rdquo; said Kiki Barnes, a former basketball player and jumper at New Orleans and current Gulf Coast Athletic Conference commissioner.
While the number of women coaching women&rsquo;s sports has increased in the past decade, Black women continue to lag behind most other groups. During the 2021-22 school year, 399 Black women coached women&rsquo;s NCAA sports teams in Divisions I, II and III, compared with 3,760 white women and 5,236 white men.
In women&rsquo;s NCAA basketball, a sport made up of 30% Black athletes, Black women made up 12% of head coaches across all divisions during the 2021-22 season, according to the NCAA&rsquo;s demographics database.
Fourteen Black women led women&rsquo;s basketball teams across 65 Power Five programs this past season &mdash; up one from 2021. That&rsquo;s less than 22% of the total in a sport that was played by more Black athletes (40.7%) than any other race in Division I, according to a report with data from the 2020-21 season.
For the first time in a decade, four Black coaches advanced to the Sweet 16 of the women&rsquo;s basketball tournament, including Staley, who said she believes it&rsquo;s more popular to hire a woman at &ldquo;this stage of the game.&rdquo;
&ldquo;And it&rsquo;s not to say that I&rsquo;m going to sit here and male bash, because we have a lot of male coaches who have been in our game for decades upon decades,&rdquo; said Staley, who will lead her team into the Final Four this weekend. &ldquo;But I will say that giving women an opportunity to coach women and helping women navigate through life like they have navigated through life will allow your student-athletes a different experience than having a male coach.&rdquo;
For years Staley has been an advocate for hiring more female coaches &mdash; especially minorities &mdash; in college basketball, but WNBA player Angel McCoughtry said Black female coaches as successful as Staley are still too few and far between in the sport.
&ldquo;When I was getting recruited in high school, I don&rsquo;t remember having a Dawn Staley to look up to,&rdquo; said McCoughtry, who played at Louisville from 2005-09.
McCoughtry also named Carolyn Peck, the first African American woman to coach her team to an NCAA women&rsquo;s basketball title in 1999 with Purdue, as another example of representation in the sport.
&ldquo;So there&rsquo;s one or two every decade,&rdquo; McCoughtry said. &ldquo;Why can&rsquo;t we have 10? There&rsquo;s 10 Caucasian coaches every decade.&rdquo;
McCoughtry, a former No. 1 overall pick by the WNBA&rsquo;s Atlanta Dream, got used to being around people who didn&rsquo;t look like or understand her. She is Black. Her AAU and high school coaches were Black men. Her college coaches were white men. Marynell Meadors, a white woman, was her first coach in Atlanta.
She has fielded frustrating questions from white peers, coaches and owners &mdash; like how often she washes her hair, or whether her passionate play was because she was from Baltimore.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s just a disconnect in understanding things,&rdquo; the 36-year-old said, adding: &ldquo;We need more coaches to protect us.&rdquo;
McCoughtry has never had a Black female head coach but did have the impactful guidance of Michelle Clark-Heard, a Black woman whom Jeff Walz brought on as an assistant when he took over at Louisville in 2008.
She also leaned on Tim Eaton, a Black assistant coach who she said advocated for her in her freshman year, when then-coach Tom Collen wanted to send her back to Baltimore because she was late to one of her first practices. Similarly, McCoughtry said, she felt she had less room to make mistakes than white teammates. When she questioned a coach, she was labeled a troublemaker; when she got fired up about a play, she was told she had a bad attitude.
&ldquo;We just never had any inch to be human, like our Caucasian counterparts,&rdquo; she said, adding: &ldquo;But who understands that? Our Black coaches. Because they went through everything we went through. They have a story, too.&rdquo;
Part of the reason for the lack of Black female coaches is because of who ultimately holds the power to hire, Barnes said. That&rsquo;s often athletic directors, a level where there is an even greater lack of diversity &mdash; 224 of 350 in Division I are white men. Plus, she added, there are changing requirements for what it takes to get leadership opportunities.
&ldquo;And now the system has changed to where now you&rsquo;ve got to know search firms because now search firms are the ones that are managing and determining who gets these opportunities,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Every time we understand how to get in the room and what it takes to be prepared, it&rsquo;s like the rules change.&rdquo;
Barnes played high school basketball in her hometown of Minden, Louisiana, where she had an assistant coach who was a Black woman; Barnes still refers to her as &ldquo;Coach Smith.&rdquo;
&ldquo;For her, it wasn&rsquo;t just about basketball. It was about who I was as a young lady,&rdquo; Barnes recalled, adding, &ldquo;I would say it&rsquo;s similar with a young woman wanting to talk to a mom about womanly things. It&rsquo;s not that a man couldn&rsquo;t do it, but I wouldn&rsquo;t feel as comfortable talking to either my dad or any other man about woman things.&rdquo;
Priscilla Loomis, a 2016 Olympic high jumper who is Black, said she became a coach to provide kids that look like her the representation the sport has lacked. NCAA track and field numbers mirrored women&rsquo;s basketball numbers in 2021-22: 5% of head coaches were Black women, while 19% of women&rsquo;s NCAA track and field athletes are Black.
&ldquo;They want so badly to feel seen and to feel loved and to be given guidance,&rdquo; Loomis said. &ldquo;And so that&rsquo;s why I always say it&rsquo;s important to get women of color, men of color to the starting line, because a lot of times we&rsquo;re so many steps behind.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli and AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.

For years, Dawn Staley has been an advocate for hiring more female coaches — especially minorities — in college basketball.

Black female athletes: Having Black female coach is crucial

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Knocking No. 1 seed Houston out of the NCAA Tournament made Jim Larra&ntilde;aga feel like dancing.
Much to his players&rsquo; delight, the 73-year-old Miami coach busted moves straight out of the disco era in the locker room Friday night to celebrate an 89-75 Sweet 16 victory that left the tournament without a No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Larra&ntilde;aga is known to dance in the locker room after his biggest wins, and this one in the Big Dance surely qualified.
&ldquo;We were all hyped up,&rdquo; Jordan Miller said. &ldquo;We love when Coach L dances. That&rsquo;s probably the best celebration we could look forward to.&rdquo;
Nijel Pack and Miami (28-7) hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country as the Hurricanes became only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4).
&ldquo;We just wanted it really bad,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;We came into this game as the underdogs. We had a lead throughout the whole game. I wouldn&rsquo;t say a comfortable lead, but a lead, and we just didn&rsquo;t want to let up.&rdquo;
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes made their second straight Elite Eight and will play second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final. Larra&ntilde;aga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall &mdash; he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.
About 30 minutes before Houston&rsquo;s loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament&rsquo;s first weekend.
The Cougars simply couldn&rsquo;t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack&rsquo;s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.
Isaiah Wong&rsquo;s mid-range game helped get the &rsquo;Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
&ldquo;We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,&rdquo; Larra&ntilde;aga said. &ldquo;We only ended up with six turnovers. So that&rsquo;s the name of the game. And we tied them in rebounding. A great performance by our guys.&rdquo;
It was Pack who hit big shot after big shot, some from near the logo. He was comfortable inside T-Mobile Arena, where he played five games during his two seasons at nearby Kansas State.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a blessing to be back in this arena for sure,&rdquo; Pack said. &ldquo;My teammates found me early and kept me going. They instilled confidence in me from the jump ball. They kept feeding me and telling me to shoot the ball, and I shot it with a lot of confidence, and they were able to go in.&rdquo;
Houston was in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight time, had won 15 of its last 16 games and had the season-long goal of playing in next week&rsquo;s Final Four in its home city.
&ldquo;Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,&rdquo; Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;We just never could get a foothold. We kept climbing, and we&rsquo;d get ahead of them, and then we just couldn&rsquo;t put stops together.&rdquo;
Miami used a 16-5 run spanning the halves to go up by double digits, with Omier&rsquo;s three-point play and Miller&rsquo;s short bank-in with the left hand making it 47-36 and prompting Sampson to call timeout less than two minutes into the second half.
Houston battled back to make it a two-point game, but then Pack made three 3s and Miller and Wooga Poplar hit one each to fuel a 16-2 run that put the Canes ahead 70-53. The lead grew to as much as 17 points, and Houston never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Walker led the Cougars with 16 points. Jamal Shead added 15 and All-American Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark had 14 apiece for the Cougars, who shot just 37% overall and 29% from distance.
&ldquo;It was an amazing run,&rdquo; Sasser said. &ldquo;Came up short, but the time that we got to spend throughout these months, I couldn&rsquo;t have asked for nothing better.&rdquo;
Houston &mdash; which came into the game as a 7.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook &mdash; found itself behind at half for the second straight game after the Hurricanes played their sharpest half of the tournament.
Miami turned the ball over just once the first 20 minutes, converted Miami&rsquo;s six turnovers into 15 points and shot 6 of 14 from distance against the second-best 3-point defense in the country.
Pack made four of them, and all were timely. His first three gave Miami leads and his fourth broke a 31-all tie.
&ldquo;The Pack kid, some of the shots he made were shots you hope he takes,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;The problem was he made them. Some of those were Howitzers.&rdquo;
Oh, about that dance Larra&ntilde;aga did. He said it was to the Commodores&rsquo; 1985 song &ldquo;Nightshift.&rdquo;
Miller gave his coach&rsquo;s moves a grade of A.
&ldquo;Not an A-plus &mdash; it was a little stiff,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s still very mobile for his age.&rdquo;
BIG DAY FOR THE U
The Hurricanes reached the regional final just a few hours after Miami&rsquo;s ninth-seeded women&rsquo;s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.

Jim Larrañaga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall — he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.

Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds out

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Rodney Terry stopped on the way to the Texas locker room after his team knocked out Xavier for a spot in the Elite Eight, the interim coach fulfilling a fan&rsquo;s wish for a photograph by flashing that all-too-familiar &ldquo;Hook &rsquo;em Horns&rdquo; sign.
&ldquo;Go get that job, coach!&rdquo; the grateful fan hollered after him.
A couple more wins and the folks at Texas might not have a choice.
The longtime assistant made his boldest statement yet for the full-time gig, guiding the Longhorns without ailing big man Dylan Disu to an 83-71 win over the Musketeers on Friday night. Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points, and Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, to move second-seeded Texas within a game of the Final Four for the first time in 15 years.
&ldquo;I thought we played one of our better defensive games tonight that we played all year,&rdquo; said Terry, who stepped into the top job in December, when Chris Beard was suspended and ultimately fired following allegations of domestic violence.
&ldquo;Proud of my guys and the way they put their will on this game from the start to finish.&rdquo;
Disu, who had been dominant through the first two games of the tournament, hurt his foot in a second-round win over Penn State. He got treatment on it all week, and the Longhorns successfully kept it secret until tipoff, when the big man played just a couple of minutes and then limped off the floor and straight to the locker room.
When he returned to the bench, he was wearing a big walking boot, a black hoodie and a grim expression.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be day-to-day right now at the moment,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We got the best in the business working with us.&rdquo;
Still, the Longhorns already had a tough task ahead in No. 5 seed Miami on Sunday night, especially given the way the Hurricanes roared to an 89-75 win over Houston. The possibility of playing without Disu, who led the Longhorns to a Big 12 Tournament title and earned MVP honors on the same floor just two weeks ago, only makes it harder.
&ldquo;We knew before the game that we wouldn&rsquo;t have Dylan for the whole game,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;We just wanted to really play for him. We knew how much this would mean to him. We got emotional in there knowing he wouldn&rsquo;t be out there.&rdquo;
Relegated to a 6-foot-9 cheerleader Friday night, Disu at least had plenty to celebrate.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 for the Longhorns (29-8). The best-seeded team left in the tournament kept Souley Boum and Xavier&rsquo;s perimeter threats in check while making life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.
Adam Kunkel hit five 3-pointers and led the third-seeded Musketeers (27-10) with 21 points. Nunge scored 15 but needed 19 shots to get there, while Colby Jones also had 15 points. Boum didn&rsquo;t hit a field goal until early in the second half and finished with 12.
&ldquo;They were better than us,&rdquo; Xavier coach Sean Miller said. &ldquo;We had a very difficult time running our offense and that&rsquo;s a testament to their defense, because we&rsquo;ve been able to score virtually every game we&rsquo;ve played this year.&rdquo;
It was Texas that scored at will, though, and Carr that got them going. He spun through the lane like a Tilt-A-Whirl for tough buckets at the rim, and even knocked down a spinning, desperation 3 as the shot clock expired. And when Miller traded out a man-to-man defense for a zone, the Longhorns began to pound the ball to Bishop in the paint.
With dozens of family and friends on hand, the Creighton transfer from the Kansas City suburb of Lee&rsquo;s Summit, Missouri, went to work. Bishop threw down one dunk on Carr&rsquo;s alley-oop lob, then slammed down another a few minutes later.
By the time Allen banked in a half-court heave, the Longhorns had established a 42-25 halftime advantage &mdash; and had to be redirected from the Xavier tunnel, where they were busy celebrating, toward their own locker room.
&ldquo;Their pressure is something you can&rsquo;t really simulate until you&rsquo;re in the game against them. Their toughness, their experience,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;And then offensively they have great guard play, and you feel that as well.&rdquo;
Xavier tried to creep back a couple of times, but the Longhorns never let their lead sniff single digits. And that gave Terry, who returned to Texas after head jobs at Fresno State and UTEP, a chance to breathe deeply and enjoy the moment.
The 54-year-old from the small Texas town of Angleton was on Rick Barnes&rsquo; staff the last time the Longhorns reached the Elite Eight, back in 2008. He was on the 2003 staff that guided them all the way to the Final Four, too.
Now, he&rsquo;s one step away from taking Texas on a most improbable trip to college basketball&rsquo;s biggest stage.
&ldquo;Continue to want more. I mean, each round &mdash; don&rsquo;t be satisfied,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to enjoy this victory for one night, like we have all year long, and we&rsquo;ll be on to the next challenge and very quickly against a really good Miami team.&rdquo;

Tyrese Hunter scored 19, and Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, to move Texas within a game of the Final Four.

Texas blows out Xavier 83-71 for spot in NCAA Elite Eight

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Creighton coach Greg McDermott understood what his team needed to do if it wanted to make school history.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, the Big East&rsquo;s two-time defensive player of the year, had to use his 7-foot-1 frame to overwhelm Princeton&rsquo;s defense. And 3-point specialist Baylor Scheierman needed to show what he could do defensively. Together, they teamed up to end Princeton&rsquo;s March Madness run.
Kalkbrenner scored 22 points, Scheierman had 21 and sixth-seeded Creighton marched on with an 86-75 victory over the 15th-seeded Tigers on Friday night that sent the Bluejays to their first Elite Eight since being part of an eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been amazing, it&rsquo;s been a dream come true. This is why I came to Creighton in the first place, to make a run with this group of guys,&rdquo; Scheierman said after making five 3-pointers and harassing Princeton&rsquo;s perimeter players. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just been an incredible experience. I&rsquo;m looking forward to continuing that on Sunday.&rdquo;
Next up for Creighton is No. 5 seed San Diego State in the South Region final, with each team seeking its first Final Four. The surprising matchup could be entertaining because of the teams&rsquo; contrasting styles.
For Creighton to advance, Friday&rsquo;s big stars may need to duplicate their performances against the rugged Aztecs, particularly Kalkbrenner, who was 9 of 12 shooting despite a brief first-half benching because McDermott thought his big man&rsquo;s attitude needed work.
&ldquo;He just basically told me, get that frustrated look off my face and play with a little joy and have fun,&rdquo; Kalkbrenner said. &ldquo;I fixed it after that.&rdquo;
Soon after, the Bluejays (24-12) were celebrating.
The Tigers (23-9) were led by Ryan Langborg with 26 points and Ivy League player of the year Tosan Evbuomwan with 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
Princeton shook up brackets everywhere by beating No. 2 seed Arizona in the first round, then blew out seventh-seeded Missouri last weekend in Sacramento, California, to make its first Sweet 16 since 1967.
Princeton was seeking become the first Ivy League champ to make the Elite Eight since Penn&rsquo;s Final Four run in 1979, the first Tigers squad to reach the Final Four since Bill Bradley led them there in 1965, and the second straight No. 15 seed to play in a regional final. Saint Peter&rsquo;s last year became the first 15 seed to achieve that feat.
The Tigers came up short.
&ldquo;We had seen great size and length against Arizona, but we hadn&rsquo;t seen Kalkbrenner&rsquo;s agility and the speed, the way they were getting him the ball in different positions,&rdquo; coach Mitch Henderson said. &ldquo;I thought he was the key. They just got easy, easy baskets when they needed them.&rdquo;
Princeton&rsquo;s offense bore no resemblance to the back-cutting, deliberate style that defined the late Pete Carril&rsquo;s coaching tenure. Instead, the Tigers went toe to toe against fast-paced Creighton until stalling out at the start of the second half.
Creighton used a 9-2 run to take 56-45 lead, a four-minute stretch during which Henderson called two timeouts and Evbuomwan drew his third foul.
Nothing could stop the Bluejays, though. When Princeton cut the deficit to 61-52, Creighton answered with seven more points and the Tigers couldn&rsquo;t get closer than seven points again.
Now, after beating North Carolina State and third-seeded Baylor in Denver last weekend, drawing confidence from not needing oxygen masks like their opponents, Creighton has a chance at a program-changing victory.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, there&rsquo;s just eight teams left, and to be one of those eight teams is just crazy,&rdquo; Kalkbrenner said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s what you work for all year. It&rsquo;s what you work for since you get here on campus in the summer, and this is all the hard work paying off now.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Princeton: The Tigers didn&rsquo;t make it to Houston but they were among the many lower-seeded standouts during this delightfully unpredictable tournament.
Creighton: The Bluejays&rsquo; quick-hitting offense remains their signature. But over McDermott&rsquo;s 13 seasons, they&rsquo;ve developed a stronger interior presence &mdash; and a defense that makes opponents uncomfortable.
CASHING IN
The tourney run could prove advantageous to Evbuomwan&rsquo;s bank account.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been some stuff,&rdquo; he said when asked if he&rsquo;d been approached with any NIL deals this month. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fun part of the game now.&rdquo;

The 86-75 victory sent the Bluejays to their first Elite Eight since being part of an eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941.

Creighton ends Princeton’s March Madness run with 86-75 win

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) &mdash; The horn sounded and Miami coach Katie Meier turned to start jumping and hugging her staff as players and cheerleaders sprinted past for a meet-at-midcourt celebration. She soon made her way into the crowd to embrace players hollering with delight.
Soon she emerged through the other side to trade hugs and high-fives with a front-row section of Hurricanes fans.
An improbable and emotional ride to the program&rsquo;s first Elite Eight appearance in the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament was worth sharing with as many people as she could.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; Meier said afterward. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to act cool. This is awesome.&rdquo;
Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points &mdash; including a stick-back for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left &mdash; to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday, pulling the program to within a win of the Final Four.
Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title against third-seeded LSU.
The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) looked dominant in building a huge lead, wobbly in blowing it. But they hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latest big-scoring effort from Associated Press first-team All-American Maddy Siegrist.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even explain the feeling really,&rdquo; guard Haley Cavinder said.
The celebration said plenty. While Meier made her way to the fans, Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja&rsquo;Leah Williams. The sophomore guard picked a perfect time to come through with a huge performance by making 10 of 16 shots and all six of her free throws while pulling down nine rebounds.
&ldquo;Cool Hand Luke is her new nickname. She doesn&rsquo;t even know that movie,&rdquo; Meier said, referencing the Paul Newman movie released more than three decades before Roberts&rsquo; birth.
Siegrist, the nation&rsquo;s scoring leader, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7). It marked her third 30-point outing in as many tournament games, pushing her to the No. 2 single-season scoring total in Division I history.
Yet it wasn&rsquo;t enough down the stretch, with Siegrist coming up empty in a couple of key moments late. The first came when she posted up Destiny Harden inside, but a quality look on a turnaround hit the backboard before coming off the rim with her team down just 67-65.
Moments later, after a Miami free throw, Siegrist missed from the other side of the lane as Villanova had a chance to extend the game. Instead, Miami secured the rebound, and Roberts hit clinching free throws with 11.1 seconds left for a two-possession lead.
Miami originally appeared to be headed for a much easier finish.
The Hurricanes spent much of the first half using their athleticism and aggressiveness to take control, both in scoring off the dribble and attacking the glass. The Hurricanes led 46-33 by halftime then used a stunning 8-0 burst in the opening minute of the second half, ending when Harden scored on a drive through contact from Siegrist for a three-point play that pushed Miami to a 54-33 lead.
Villanova responded by throwing fullcourt pressure to get back into the game. The Wildcats scored 14 straight points to end the third quarter then took a 60-59 lead on Siegrist&rsquo;s free throws with 5:31 left to cap a 23-2 run, a stretch that had Roberts saying the Hurricanes &ldquo;did kind of lose our composure for a little bit.&rdquo;
That set up a tense finish with neither team leading by more than two until the final 30 seconds. Villanova took its last lead at 65-64 when Lucy Olsen banked in a drive with 49 seconds left before Roberts answered with the and-1.
&ldquo;My mistake,&rdquo; Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. &ldquo;We should have in the first half shown some more of the pressure, the press, but you think just a team that&rsquo;s quick like that can take advantage. But again, just waited a little too late to make that run.&rdquo;
Consider it the latest entry in a wild NCAA novel for the Hurricanes. They first rallied from 17 down to beat Oklahoma State. Then Harden hit the late shot to win at 1-seed Indiana and get them back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 31 years.
Now they have a chance to play for &mdash; and celebrate &mdash; a whole lot more.
SIEGRIST&rsquo;S FUTURE
An emotional Siegrist fought back tears during her postgame news conference, and offered a hint of finality when asked about plans that could include returning to school or pursuing the WNBA.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to talk to my parents and stuff like that after,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I couldn&rsquo;t be more grateful for the opportunity to have played here. So many good people, and it&rsquo;s really about the people. Take the basketball part out of it, like the memories and the people are something that I&rsquo;m going to cherish forever.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Siegrist closed with 37 straight 20-point games, which the NCAA said is the longest streak by any men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player this century. ... Christina Dalce had 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks to help Villanova do a better job of battling Miami inside after halftime. ... Harden had 15 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which took a 43-32 rebounding advantage. ... The Wildcats made just 2 of 16 3-pointers.&nbsp;

Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title vs. LSU.

Miami women hold on, beat Villanova for first trip to Elite 8

Spencer Davies tells the complex story of Eban Hyams, the first Indian-born international professional basketball player.

Setbacks and bouncebacks: On Eban Hyams, India's first pro ballplayer

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19, his last two on spectacular passes in the final minute of overtime, and Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93 on Thursday night in a Sweet 16 thriller at Madison Square Garden.
Playing in his hometown and fighting through a second-half ankle injury, Nowell found Keyontae Johnson for a reverse alley-oop with 58 seconds left in OT to give the Wildcats (26-9) the lead for good in this back-and-forth East Region semifinal. He then threw an inbound pass to Ismael Massoud, who knocked down a jumper with 15 seconds left for a 96-93 lead.
With Michigan State needing a 3 to tie, Nowell stole the ball from the Spartans&rsquo; Tyson Walker and drove for a clinching layup at the buzzer. The 5-foot-8, Harlem-raised Nowell finished with 20 points and five steals in a signature performance at basketball&rsquo;s most famous arena that drew tweets of praise from Patrick Mahomes and Kevin Durant.
&ldquo;That was a legendary display of controlling a basketball game Markquis,&rdquo; Durant tweeted.
Johnson scored 22 points for the No. 3 seed Wildcats, who will face either fourth-seeded Tennessee or ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic on Saturday as they seek the program&rsquo;s first Final Four berth since 1964.&nbsp;
A.J. Hoggard scored a career-high 25 points for seventh-seeded Michigan State (21-13). Joey Hauser added 18 points and Walker had 16, including a layup with 5 seconds left in regulation that forced the first overtime of this year&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament.
UNLV&rsquo;s Mark Wade had the previous NCAA tourney assists record with 18 during the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels 1987 Final Four win over Indiana.
Nowell turned his ankle early in the second half, was helped off the court and had it taped. Michigan State took the lead with him sidelined, and when he returned, he pushed off the ankle to bank in a 3-pointer that beat the shot clock and tied the game at 55-all.
Turns out he was just getting started.

Nowell broke the men's NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19 in a thriller between the Wildcats and Spartans.

Toure