Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Damian Lillard is now the leading scorer in Portland Trail Blazers history

Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard scored his 18,041 career point in the third quarter of tonight’s game at Oklahoma City to pass Clyde Drexler (18,040) and become the franchise’s all-time leader in points.

“Damian’s commitment to Portland is now incapsulated with this prestigious career milestone,” said Portland Trail Blazers General Manager, Joe Cronin. “His dedication, humility and hard work have been pillars for his path to this very moment. On behalf of the organization, we would like to congratulate Damian on this great achievement and look forward to many more.”

Named to the NBA’s Top 75 Greatest Players of all time ahead of the 2021-22 season, Lillard, entered tonight’s game averaging 28.3 points (45.1% FG, 39.8% 3pt, 89.4% FT), 3.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 34.4 minutes per game in 18 games for the 2022-23 season.

Lillard, 32, is the only player in franchise history with six All-NBA honors and one of three players to be named All-NBA First Team while with the Trail Blazers (2017-18). Lillard is a six-time NBA All-Star, a 2021 Olympic Gold Medalist and the unanimous 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Weber St. product is the all-time franchise leader in scoring average, three-pointers made (2,229) and free throws made (4,047). Additionally, he is second in field goals (5,883), second in minutes (26,484), third in assists (4,857), fourth in games played (730) and sixth in steals (698).

Donovan Mitchell and Nikola Jokic named NBA Players of Week

The NBA announced today that Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic have been named the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Week for Week 9 (games played Monday, December 12, through Sunday, December 18).

This marks Mitchell’s fourth career player of the week award (once in 2021-22 and twice in 2018-19) and the 65th time a Cavalier has ever won the weekly honor, including the first time this season.

Mitchell led the Cavaliers to a 3-1 record this past week, will all three victories coming against teams with winning records. The sixth-year guard averaged 32.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting .539 from the field, .425 from three-point range and .882 from the foul line. He topped the 25-point mark in all four games and was one of only two players in the East to average 30.0 points with at least a .500 clip from the field and .400 mark from beyond the arc (Kevin Durant). Among Eastern Conference leaders, Mitchell ranked first in field goals made (48, no other NBA player made more than 36), second in three-pointers made (17), third in points per game (32.0) and 16th in field goal percentage (.539). Additionally, he made at least six three-pointers in a game twice last week and now has seven such games this season, which is already tied for second-most in a season in Cavaliers history behind only JR Smith’s nine games of six threes or more in 2015-16.

Mitchell opened the week by nearly helping the Cavs overcome a 19-point deficit in San Antonio after tallying a game-high 28 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes on Dec. 12. He followed that up with 34 points (27 in the first half), a 6-9 (.667) clip from beyond the arc, three rebounds, four assists and one steal in 38 minutes during Cleveland’s 105-90 win at Dallas on Dec. 14. In the 118-112 victory over Indiana on Dec. 16, the Cavaliers overcame 13-point fourth quarter deficit by going on a 28-9 scoring run in the last nine minutes of the game, with Mitchell scoring 16 points during that run and finishing with a game-high 41 points and eight three-pointers made. He also scored his 9,000th career point that night (his 371st game), becoming the fourth-fastest active NBA player to reach 9,000 points, behind LeBron James (336 GP), Joel Embiid (343 GP) and Kevin Durant (346 GP), and is the quickest in NBA history to total 9,000 points and 1,000 three-pointers. The 6-3 guard closed out the week with another come-from-behind victory after his 25-point, four-rebound, three-assist and one-steal performance in a 100-99 overtime win against Dallas on Dec. 17.

Through his 27 appearances this season (all starts) with Cleveland, Mitchell is averaging a career-best 29.5 points (eighth best in NBA) on career highs in field goal percentage (.503), three-point percentage (.424) and free throw percentage (.889), to go with 3.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.37 steals in 36.9 minutes per contest. He is one of two NBA players with at least 100 three-pointers made on at least .400 shooting from deep (Stephen Curry), and his 106 three-pointers made rank fifth in the NBA. The Cavaliers’ 20-11 record is the third-best mark in the Eastern Conference and the franchise’s best 31-game start since 2017-18 (23-8).

Jokić wins the award for the first time this season and has now earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors 12 times in his career, the most in franchise history.

Jokić, 27, averaged 36.0 points, 17.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 3.66 steals while shooting .623 from the field en route to a 2-1 week. He ranked first in the NBA in total rebounds for the week and among the Western Conference he ranked first in steals, second in assists and third in points. The Nuggets have now won four of their last five games and currently sit tied for second in the Western Conference at 18-11.

Joker kicked off the week by registering 43 points (17-20 FG’s, 9-10 FT’s), 14 rebounds, eight assists and five steals in a home win against Washington on 12/14, becoming the first player in NBA history to post those numbers in game. He followed that up with 25 points (8-15 FG’s), 11 rebounds and eight assists in Denver’s lone loss of the week on the road against the L.A. Lakers on 12/16. He capped the week by posting 40 points (12-26 FG’s), a career-high 27 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in a 119-115 win over the Charlotte Hornets. His 20 rebounds in the first half set a new franchise record for most rebounds in a single half and was the most by any NBA player since Dwight Howard in 2018.

Jokić joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to post a triple double with at least 40 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists. Additionally, over this past week, he became the Nuggets NBA franchise leader in rebounds passing Dan Issel (5,707) for first all-time.

The Sombor, Serbia native, leads the NBA in PER, is third in assists per game, sixth in rebounds per game and seventh in field goal percentage while averaging 25.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.50 steals in 32.9 minutes per game.

Bradley Beal returns, but Wizards lose 10th straight game

The good news is, Bradley Beal is back in action for the Washington Wizards. The bad news is, his return couldn’t prevent the team from losing their 10th game in a row. Via the Washington Post:

Sunday’s game ended with drama appropriate of a Hollywood script, but the Lakers emerged as the heroes. They prevailed, 119-117, to hand Washington its 10th straight loss, making it 41 days since the Wizards have won on the road.

A back-and-forth thriller in the fourth quarter came down to one scrambled possession.

James had the ball just inside the half-court line when Deni Avdija and Kuzma trapped him in a double team, forcing a turnover out of James that he ended up sending off Kuzma’s leg. A scramble for the ball ended up with James recovering and getting the ball to former Wizard Thomas Bryant for a smooth, go-ahead dunk with less than eight seconds to play. Kuzma missed a desperation three-pointer on the other end to end it.

“I felt like they were not at our level,” a visibly agitated Kristaps Porzingis said, trying to find his words. “We just lost the game. Obviously LeBron did his thing and played well, but — some mental mistakes from us. I don’t know what to say. It’s tough, it’s tough, it’s tough. But, yeah, we’re going to get out of it.

“If [Kuzma’s three-pointer] went in, it would have been a completely different movie. Nobody wants to be in this position, but we’re going to have to find a way out, to dig our way out of this.”

The Wizards are 11-20 this season, which ties them with the Orlando Magic for the 12th best record in the Eastern conference.

Celtics’ Al Horford fined by NBA

Boston Celtics forward-center Al Horford has been fined $25,000 for making unnecessary and excessive contact to the lower body of Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

The contact, for which Horford was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 10:39 remaining in the third quarter of Boston’s 117-109 loss to Orlando on Dec. 16 at TD Garden.

Anthony Davis exits early in Lakers win over Nuggets

Via the OC Register:

The start of the second half featured a concerning moment for Lakers fans everywhere: Anthony Davis didn’t come back out on the court.

Teammates, coaches and team officials have tied the success of the franchise to Davis’ high performance and good health – which has been seen too infrequently over the past two years. Davis sitting out the second half Friday night against the Denver Nuggets with a right foot injury struck as an ill omen.

Except something funny happened: It didn’t slow down the Lakers.

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, the two stars who have often seemed like a clunky on-court fit, powered a surprising 126-108 victory against the Nuggets, the third-place team in the Western Conference. After two disappointing overtime losses in their previous three games against high-level opponents, the Lakers (12-16) came out hungry and hustling, in spite of a size advantage that never really became an issue.

FULL ARTICLE

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham undergoes season-ending surgery

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham underwent surgery on Friday, December 16 to stabilize and promote complete healing of a left tibial stress fracture.

The surgery was performed by Dr. David Porter and Dr. Mark Ritter of Forte Sports Medicine and Orthopedics (Carmel, IN) in consultation with team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Bill Moutzouros of Henry Ford Health, who was also present.

The 6-foot-6 guard is expected to miss the remainder of the season with doctors anticipating a recovery and return to full basketball activities this offseason.

Per the Detroit Free Press, “the 2021 No. 1 overall pick was initially shut down for five games after Nov. 9 for what the team characterized as “shin soreness,” but there was suspicion a stress fracture was the cause of the underlying soreness Cunningham had been dealing with for an extended period of time. He averaged 19.9 points on poor efficiency (41.5% on field goals, 27.9% on 3-pointers) with 6.2 rebounds and six assists a game in 12 appearances this season.”

Celtics center Robert Williams set to make season debut

Boston Celtics center Robert Williams, who has not played yet this season, per multiple reports, plans to make his 2022-23 debut this Friday against the Orlando Magic.

The Celtics boast a league-best 22-7 record through Wednesday’s games. They’re being led in scoring by Jayson Tatum at 30.2 PPG, Jaylen Brown at 26.6 PPG, and Malcolm Brogdon at 13.9 PPG.

At 9-20, the Magic have the 3rd worst record in the NBA, but they’re playing well lately and are riding a four-game winning streak.