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The latest on a rumor involving James Harden and the Rockets

Via the Houston Chronicle:

Former Houston Rockets star and current 76ers guard James Harden wasn’t exactly in the Christmas spirit as he addressed reporters Sunday after a 119-112 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Philadelphia’s victory was in-part overshadowed by a pregame report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that detailed Harden’s interest in a potential return to Houston in 2023. Harden was dismissive of Wojnarowski’s report when speaking with the media postgame, noting he is “excited” to be in Philadelphia.

“I’m here, we’re playing very well, I don’t know where the report came from,” Harden said. “But I’m very excited to be here. We are playing well, and we’re continuing to get better.”

A look at the Timberwolves (16-17)

Via the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Currently at one game below .500, Minnesota (16-17) resides in the final play-in spot in the West. A 2-5 or 1-6 stretch would only lengthen the gap between the Timberwolves and a top-six, non play-in spot the team seemed destined to obtain at the season’s outset. There aren’t any clear indications that the Wolves are capable of ripping off a large stretch of winning basketball to dig themselves out of any significant hole in the standings.

Armed with the likes of Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota certainly has enough firepower to continue to compete. The challenge now is to find a way to do so at a high enough level for 48 minutes.

While the gift awaiting Minnesota on the other side of this stretch is a pair of road games against downtrodden Houston and Detroit, those are immediately followed by home games against three more competitive clubs — Phoenix, Cleveland and Utah. It never lets up.

Injuries have been big part of Heat season so far

Via the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

[Miami Heat] point guard Kyle Lowry said the injury reports have become the story of the Heat’s struggles.

“It’s our season,” he said. “It’s been our season this year. Let’s get our injuries out of the way now, then come March, April, May, June, we’ll all be healthy.”

According to SpoTrac’s tracker, the Heat have lost 124 player/games to injury this season, second only to the 183 lost by the Orlando Magic, with the Cleveland Cavaliers third at 121 such games lost.

With 13 players having missed time due to injury, SpoTrac ranks the Heat tied for third in the NBA in that regard, behind only the 14 players who have missed injury time of the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dallas Mavericks unveil Dirk Nowitzki statue outside arena

Via the Forth Worth Star-Telegram:

The Dallas Mavericks unveiled a statue to honor Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki prior to their game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nowitzki statue depicts his famous one-legged jumper, a shot that changed the game. He was a unicorn when he got to the U.S.; a 7-footer who could shoot, pass and dribble and wasn’t just a back-to-the-basket guy. Now, those skills aren’t rare to see in big men. They’re basically required.

The The tributes for Notwitzki officially started in 2019 with Dirk Nowitzki Way, a street that was renamed in Dallas to honor the greatest Mavericks player of all time. Then in January, the Mavs retired his No. 41 jersey. Then in September, Germany retired the No. 14 jersey he wore for his country.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry injury update: out two more weeks

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder on December 14 at Indiana and has missed the team’s last four (4) games, was recently re-evaluated. The re-evaluation, according to the team, indicated that Curry is making good progress.

He will be re-evaluated again in two (2) weeks.

Nuggets forward Jeff Green sustains finger and hand injuries

Denver Nuggets forward Jeff Green sustained a left finger sprain and hand fracture in the fourth quarter of last night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

He will be re-evaluated in four weeks and updates will be provided as necessary.

The Nuggets are 20-11 this season, which ties them with the Memphis Grizzlies for the best record in the Western conference.

Coming off the bench for most of the season, Green is averaging 7.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.

Kings center Domantas Sabonis reportedly sustains hand injury

Via the Sacramento Bee:

Kings center Domantas Sabonis faces an uncertain prognosis after sustaining a hand injury in Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards at Golden 1 Center.

X-rays confirmed Sabonis suffered an injury to his right hand in the fourth quarter of the Kings’ 125-111 loss to the Wizards, sources told The Sacramento Bee on Saturday, confirming a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

No status change expected just yet for Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla

Via the Boston Herald:

[Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad] Stevens said the Celtics have not had recent conversations about Joe Mazzulla’s title. Mazzulla remains the Celtics’ interim head coach, and that status is likely to stay at least for the foreseeable future.

“We haven’t really even like talked about it recently,” Stevens said. “Our focus has been on how to make this team and staff and give everything we need to make sure we’re as good as we can be. He’s running the show. The title is the title and we’ll have updates at a later date on all that other stuff. But he’s doing a good job and he’s running it like the head coach runs it.”

Stevens expressed great confidence when he named Mazzulla the interim head coach on the eve of training camp after the Celtics issued a season-long suspension to Ime Udoka.

The latest on the Wizards (record: 12-21)

Via the Washington Post:

The low tone in Rui Hachimura’s voice gave a hint of what the last month has been like for the 2019 No. 9 overall pick. He had just played his first game in 34 days after a bone bruise in his ankle took much longer to heal than originally anticipated, and during that span all Hachimura could do was watch helplessly as the team lost 10 straight and other teammates went in and out of the lineup with a variety of ailments.

The Wizards (12-21) won just three of 16 games with Hachimura out.

“I was just on the sideline watching my teammates losing the game,” Hachiumra said before hustling to the bus after a 120-112 loss to the Jazz. “So, you know, it was tough for me.”

Hachimura was no savior Thursday night and certainly isn’t expected to be, but his return brought some optimism the team is getting healthier. That optimism was tempered by the fact that Kristaps Porzingis (non-covid illness) missed his second straight game and Deni Avdija was held out after tweaking his back during the morning’s shoot-around. But help seems to be on the way.