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Upcoming Heat vs. Celtics games are huge for both teams

The NBA playoff race is coming down to the wire. As for the Heat, here’s the Sun Sentinel:

Despite not wanting to look too far ahead, the Heat (36-31) are well aware of the stakes in their upcoming matchups against the Celtics (35-32) on Sunday and Tuesday at TD Garden.

If the Heat win both games in Boston, they would win the season series against the Celtics, jump three games ahead of Boston in the standings and would give themselves the best chance at avoiding the play-in tournament for seeds seven through 10, with the tournament deciding which teams will occupy the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the playoffs in both conferences.

If the Heat split the matchups in Boston, they would lose the tiebreaker in the standings against the Celtics and put themselves in a tough spot heading into their final three games of the season: versus Philadelphia on Thursday, at Milwaukee on May 15 and at Detroit on May 16.

And via Boston.com:

The Celtics are currently 35-32, as of Saturday, and sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference – one full game behind the sixth-place Miami Heat. They finish the regular season with two pivotal matchups with the Heat and games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and New York Knicks before finding out their fate.

If they beat the Heat twice, they’re suddenly looking at the six-seed, and potentially even the five or four if they keep winning. If they lose twice, they’re almost certainly guaranteed to end up in the play-in, which will take place from May 18-21.

The Knicks are currently 4th in the East, Hawks 4th, Heat 6th, Celtics 7th.

Pelicans sign Naji Marshall to standard NBA contract

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed forward Naji Marshall to a multi-year contract.

Marshall, 6-7, 220, has appeared in 26 games for the Pelicans this season playing on a two-way contract, averaging 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.8 steals. The Atlantic City, NJ native appeared in 12 regular season games for the Erie BayHawks of the NBA G League earlier this year, posting averages of 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals.

Over his three-year career at Xavier (OH) University, Marshall appeared in 99 career games and averaged 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals. He earned All-Big East First Team honors in 2020 after averaging a career-high 16.8 points and 4.0 assists, to go along with 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

Rockets sign guard Khyri Thomas to 10-day contract

The Houston Rockets have signed guard Khyri Thomas to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception.

Thomas (6-3, 210) was originally the 38th overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2018 NBA Draft before his rights were traded to Detroit. He appeared in a total of 34 games for the Pistons over the past two seasons.

This season, Thomas appeared in seven games for the Austin Spurs during the NBA G League bubble while averaging 13.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 3-pointers made on 45.7% shooting. He had the fourth-highest 3-point percentage of any player who averaged at least 2.0 3FGM with two or more games played.

Thomas earned Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors in two of his three seasons at Creighton. He shot 40.6% from 3-point range for his career with the Bluejays.

Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert impressive shooting stats this season

A pair of Jazz players are doing big things in the “true shooting” department. Via the Deseret News:

Joe Ingles is having a historic season, according to a stat that he doesn’t understand.

“I honestly Googled it one time to try to figure out what they’re talking about, and I had (expletive) no idea still after reading it,” Ingles told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I didn’t understand it when they said it; I didn’t understand it when I Googled it.”

Ingles leads the NBA in true shooting percentage, with a true shooting percentage of .690. Teammate Rudy Gobert is second on the list, with a true shooting percentage of .684.

The Jazz are 48-18 this season, which is the best record in the NBA.

Their leading scorers so far in 2020-21 are Donovan Mitchell at 26.4 points per game, Jordan Clarkson off the bench at 17.5 ppg, Mike Conley at 16.4 ppg, Bojan Bogdanovic at 16.3 ppg, Gobert at 14.4 ppg, and Ingles at 12.3 ppg. Everyone else on the squad scores under 7 ppg.

Thunder sign Charlie Brown Jr. to second 10-day contract

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed guard Charlie Brown Jr. to a second 10-Day Contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Brown signed his first 10-Day Contract with the Thunder on April 25 and has appeared in three games (one start), registering averages of 5.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.00 steal in 15.9 minutes per contest.

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram out with ankle sprain

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram has been diagnosed with a left low ankle sprain.

An MRI taken today at Ochsner Health confirmed the diagnosis.

The injury occurred during the second quarter of last night’s game vs. Golden State.

Ingram will miss Friday night’s game at Philadelphia and his status will be day-to-day moving forward.

Kings rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton out with knee hyperextension

Results of the MRI revealed no ligament damage for Sacramento Kings rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton, multiple medical opinions confirmed.

The injury occurred at the 7:30 mark of the third quarter during Sunday’s game at Dallas. Haliburton is diagnosed with a hyperextension of the left knee. No surgery is required.

The team says they expect Tyrese will make a full recovery and participate in normal offseason training.

He is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season.

During his rookie campaign, Haliburton has garnered averages of 13.0 points (.472 FG%, .409 3pt%, .857 FT%), 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 30.1 minutes per game through 58 games (20 starts) for the Kings.

Jimmy Butler out tonight for Heat against Mavericks

The Heat will be without some key players as they face the Mavericks tonight. Via the Miami Herald:

The Miami Heat will be without Jimmy Butler for Tuesday night’s important game against the Dallas Mavericks at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Butler, a five-time All-Star, was ruled out for the contest just two hours before tip-off because of flu-like symptoms. The Heat will also be without Tyler Herro (right foot soreness) and Victor Oladipo against the Mavericks.

For the Mavericks, Kristaps Porzingis was listed as Doubtful this afternoon.

Magic sign Sindarius Thornwell, waive Devin Cannady

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent guard Sindarius Thornwell to a two-way contract, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

In addition, guard Devin Cannady has been waived.

Thornwell (6’4”, 215, 11/15/94) played in 14 games (one start) this season with New Orleans, averaging 1.2 ppg. in 5.2 minpg. He was originally signed by the Pelicans on July 6, 2020, was waived on Feb. 22, then signed two 10-day contracts, the first on Feb. 24.

Originally selected in the second round (48th overall) of the 2017 NBA Draft by Milwaukee, Thornwell has played in 153 career NBA regular season games (19 starts) with the L.A. Clippers and New Orleans, averaging 2.5 ppg. and 1.3 rpg. in 10.3 minpg.

Thornwell played and started in 132 career games during four seasons at the University of South Carolina (2013-17), averaging 14.7 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 3.0 apg. and 1.51 stlpg. in 31.8 minpg. As a senior (2016-17), he averaged 21.4 ppg., 7.1 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 2.13 stlpg. in 33.9 minpg., while shooting .392 (58-148) from three-point range and .830 (215-259) from the free throw line. Thornwell was named to the 2016-17 All-SEC First Team, the SEC All-Defensive Team and earned SEC Player of the Year honors. He was the 2016-17 East Regional Most Outstanding Player and led the Gamecocks to the 2016-17 NCAA Final Four. Thornwell was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2013-14.

Thornwell will wear #12 with the Orlando Magic.

Cannady (6’2”, 183, 5/21/96) played in eight games with Orlando, averaging 4.3 ppg. in 9.3 minpg. He originally was signed to a 10-day contract by Orlando on Apr. 6, then released from that contract on Apr. 13, before signing a two-way contract on Apr. 16. Cannady suffered an open dislocation of his right ankle on Apr. 25, forcing him to miss the rest of the regular season.

Atlanta Hawks will allow an increase in fan attendance in NBA playoffs

The Atlanta Hawks haven’t officially clinched an NBA playoff spot yet, but they’re in good shape to do so, and have plans to allow additional fan attendance in the postseason.

Today the Hawks announced plans to increase attendance for postseason play to 7,625 fans, approximately 45 percent of State Farm Arena’s full capacity. The plan received approval by both the NBA and the Georgia Department of Public Health. The Hawks opened the 2020-21 season with no fans in attendance before increasing capacity to 1300 fans on Jan. 26 and later increasing to 3000 fans for the second half of the season on March 13.

At 35-30 (.538), the Hawks are currently in 5th place in the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining (six at State Farm Arena) in the regular season. Fans can guarantee priority access to the 2021 Playoffs by visiting Hawks.com/membership or texting or calling (866) 715-1500 for more information.

“We are excited to safely welcome more fans back to State Farm Arena for our postseason run. A significant percentage of our members, staff and fans have been vaccinated and are eager to support our team together as we appear in the postseason for the first time in four years,” said Hawks Chief Executive Officer Steve Koonin. “We would like to thank for our friends at Emory Healthcare, Sharecare and the Georgia Department of Public Health who advised us on the safest ways to increase capacity.”

The Hawks will offer a 500-person vaccinated fan section, in which fans with proof of vaccination can be seated without social distancing. Additional lower bowl seating will be added to the East side of the building as plexiglass will be added behind player benches and other areas throughout the building for additional safety. Masks will continue to be required for all fans inside the arena.