Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis experienced left knee soreness following the Kings game versus the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Nov. 16. MRI imaging revealed a partial meniscus tear in Sabonis’s left knee. He will be reevaluated in approximately three to four weeks.
Mavs guard Dante Exum out with season-ending injury
Per the Dallas Morning News:
The 2025-26 season came to a premature end for Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum on Thursday, the team announced.
Exum has continued to deal with complications from a right knee procedure he underwent in the offseason, the team said, and it has been determined that a follow-up surgery will be necessary.
A further recovery timeline for Exum will be provided at a later date, but the guard will not be returning to action this season.
Exum, who had yet to appear in a game this season, also missed most of the 2024-25 season with a right wrist injury and a left hand fracture.
Cavs fined $100,000 by NBA
The NBA announced today that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy. The violation occurred when the Cavaliers held Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who are both star players under the Policy, out of the team’s game against the Miami Heat on Nov. 12 for rest.
The Policy, which was adopted prior to the 2023-24 season, is intended to promote participation in the NBA’s regular season.
Injury update on Spurs guard Stephon Castle
The San Antonio Spurs have announced that Stephon Castle underwent an MRI yesterday that revealed he has a left hip flexor strain. The injury occurred in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.
In addition, Jordan McLaughlin underwent an MRI yesterday that revealed he has a right hamstring strain. The injury occurred in an on-court workout yesterday at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
Rockets notes after beating Magic 117-113 in OT
With the win tonight, the Rockets have won four in a row against the Magic after losing four straight prior from 2/25/22-10/25/23. Houston has won each of its past four games while Orlando has its three-game winning streak snapped.
The Rockets won by four points in overtime. Houston lost in double-overtime in the season opener at Oklahoma City on 10/21. The Rockets only played four overtime games in 2024-25 (3-1 mark). Tonight marked Houston’s first win of the season by fewer than seven points.
Houston held Orlando to 41.8% shooting, including 32.4% from 3-point range. Since the start of last season, the Rockets are 35-7 when holding opponents below 45.0% shooting and 31-8 when the opposition shoots 33.3% or worse from behind-the-arc.
The Rockets outrebounded the Magic by 22. Houston has outrebounded its opponent by 20+ boards in two of the past four games and three times overall this season. The Rockets have 149 more rebounds than the opposition this season. Dating back to 1975-76, no other team had a differential better than 137 boards through the first 12 games of a season.
Houston shot 25-of-29 (86.2%) from the foul line.
The Rockets have recorded 25+ FTA while shooting 85.0% or better three times this season after doing so three times in 2024-25.
Four different Rockets grabbed 10+ rebounds (Alperen Sengun w/13; Steven Adams w/12; Jabari Smith Jr. w/10; Amen Thompson w/10) while no Magic player had more than 6 boards. The last time Houston had four players grab 10+ boards in a single game was vs. Indiana on 3/13/01 (Kelvin Cato, Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Maurice Taylor).
Kevin Durant had 35 points while Alperen Sengun scored 30. The Rockets had two players score 30+ points in the same game three times last season.
Alperen Sengun had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. It is his second 30-point game of the season and his eighth double-double, seven of which have come over the past eight games. Sengun has recorded at least 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in all 12 games this season. Dating back to 1975-76, no other player had a streak longer than seven games doing so to start a season.
Kevin Durant 35 points on 13-of-24 shooting. He had fewer than 20 FGA in each of the first 11 games of the season, which was the third-longest streak of his career. Durant has scored 30+ points in three of the past four games after doing so twice prior this season. No other Rocket scored 30+ points more than three times over the first 12 games of a season since James Harden did so nine times in 2019-20.
Reed Sheppard led all reserves with 16 points off the bench and he grabbed a career-high tying 7 rebounds. Over the past six games, he is averaging 15.7 ppg in 25.3 mpg while shooting 59.0% from the floor. Sheppard also had a steal without committing a turnover tonight. He has 19 steals with 15 turnovers overall this season.
Franz Wagner led Orlando with 29 points. He has scored 25+ points in each of the past three games, which is tied for the second-longest streak of his career (4 games from 11/12-11/18/24). Wagner shot 10-of-13 from the foul line tonight and has recorded 10+ FTA in three of the past five games after doing so once prior this season and six times in 2024-25.
Medical update on Pistons guard Marcus Sasser
The Detroit Pistons announced today that guard Marcus Sasser will remain out as he continues rehabilitation for a right hip impingement.
Sasser will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.
The Pistons are 7-2 this season, which is the best record in the Eastern conference.
Kings sign Precious Achiuwa
The Sacramento Kings recently signed forward Precious Achiuwa.
In a related move, Sacramento has waived forward Isaac Jones.
Achiuwa (6-8, 243) has appeared in 320 career NBA games (72 starts), accruing averages of 7.6 points (48.4 FG%) and 5.7 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game with Miami (2020-21), Toronto (2021-24) and New York (2023-25). He has played in 26 career postseason games, averaging 5.0 points (48.7 FG%) and 3.2 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game with the Heat, Raptors and Knicks. Originally selected 20th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat, Achiuwa was selected to the NBA Rising Stars during both his rookie and sophomore seasons (2021, 2022).
Blazers guard Blake Wesley undergoes foot surgery
Portland Trail Blazers guard Blake Wesley recently underwent surgery to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal base in his right foot. The procedure was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Wesley will begin his rehabilitation immediately and is expected to be sidelined for 8–12 weeks.
Pacers sign Monte Morris, waive Mac McClung
The Indiana Pacers announced Friday the team signed guard Monte Morris.
Morris will join the team in Denver and wear number 3.
In a subsequent move, the Pacers waived guard Mac McClung.
Blazers sign Shaedon Sharpe to contract extension
The Portland Trail Blazers recently signed guard Shaedon Sharpe to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced by General Manager Joe Cronin.
“Shaedon Sharpe is one of the most exciting young players in the NBA,” said Cronin. “With his ability to score the basketball, play make and be a great teammate, we are ecstatic that Shaedon will be an electric part of the Trail Blazers for years to come.”
Sharpe is coming off his third and most productive NBA season in 2024-25—appearing in 72 games (52 starts) and averaging a career-high 18.5 points (45.2% FG, 31.1% 3PT, 78.5% FT) along with 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals in 31.3 minutes per game.
The London, Ontario native, who turned 22 after the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, recorded 50 career games of 20 or more points before his 22nd birthday—30 more such games before turning 22 than any other player in Trail Blazers team history.