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The NBA games scheduled for tonight between the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Arena and tomorrow between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls at United Center have been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
The NBA and NBPA will be meeting today about modifying the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered a right knee injury during the second quarter of last night’s game against the Hornets on the road in Charlotte and didn’t return to the contest.
Following an MRI earlier today at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex, he has been diagnosed with an avulsion fracture in his right knee with associated soft tissue inflammation and a bone bruise.
His treatment plan is being reviewed and will be updated later this week.
The Hawks are off to a decent 4-5 start so far this season. They’re being led in scoring by Trae Young at 24.7 points per game, John Collins at 17.2 PPG, De’Andre Hunter at 16.4 PPG, Kevin Huerter at 12.2 PPG off the bench, Cam Reddish at 11.6 PPG, and Bogdanovic mostly off the bench at 9.9 PPG.
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tonight between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Because of ongoing contact tracing with the Heat, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tonight’s game against the Celtics.
Wizards center Thomas Bryant has been diagnosed with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He suffered the injury as a result of incidental contact with two Miami players during the first quarter of the team’s game vs. the Heat on Saturday night.
The injury was revealed following examination and MRI testing by Wizards Orthopedist Dr. William Postma of MedStar Health in conjunction with Monumental Basketball Chief of Athlete Care & Performance Dr. Daniel Medina.
There is no timetable for when Bryant may return, but it’s quite likely he will be out for the remainder of the 2020-21 NBA season.
According to the Washington Post, “Bryant fell under the basket less than two minutes into the game Saturday, after which he writhed on the floor in pain and smacked the court with one hand before walking to the locker room with a Wizards staffer supporting him on either side. The 23-year-old’s injury comes just as he was hitting his stride in Washington.”
Bryant was averaging 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting .648 from the floor and .429 from three-point range in 10 games this season.
It was Ball brother against Ball brother on Friday, as the Hornets beat the Pelicans 118-110. with Lonzo Ball starting for the Pelicans and rookie LaMelo Ball coming off the bench for the Hornets, here’s what went down, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
LaMelo Ball checked in midway through the first quarter and immediately started guarding Lonzo Ball. In their first game against each other at the NBA level, the brothers were matched up on one another a fair amount. Surprisingly, LaMelo won Round 1 handily. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists — a near triple-double. Lonzo had a five-point, three-assist dud.
Nine games into the season, Lonzo doesn’t look like a much different player than he was last year. He is a capable defender, and he makes multiple gorgeous passes every night. He also remains wildly inconsistent, is hesitant to drive the basketball into the paint, and can’t get to the free-throw line.
Remember New Orleans’ opening-night win in Tampa, when Ball attempted six free throws? In the 272 minutes he’s played since then, he’s attempted four free throws. In that same stretch of games, Nicolo Melli has attempted four free throws in 47 minutes, and Willy Hernangomez has attempted four free throws in seven minutes. Ball’s unwillingness to try shots at the rim further restricts the Pelicans in the half court, where they already don’t have much shooting to begin with.
LaMelo is still brand new to the league but is already flashing some very big-time talent.
The Raptors aren’t off to a good start this season, so it’s no surprise that head coach Nick Nurse is making some rotation adjustments. And today, with the team on the road in Sacramento, Alex Len started at center against the Kings. Via the Toronto Sun:
Nurse didn’t make it official until he was obligated to by league rules, but taking Aron Baynes out of the starting five could not have come as a shock to many.
Baynes, outside of a few early games, has looked rather lost for the Raptors at either end of the floor. He was replaced last night by Alex Len.
When Baynes was performing earlier in the season, he was taking inside passes and converting them into points, but even that has dried up.
Defensively, he just doesn’t seem to be in step with everyone else, whether that’s protecting the rim on drives from the perimeter, or even rebounding the misses to get the Raptors back on offence.
The Raptors came away with a 144-123 victory tonight, but Len and Baynes played little part of it. Len played five minutes, Baynes none. But the team won thanks to big performances from Fred VanValeet, Norman Powell, Pascal Siakam, and Chris Boucher off the bench.
Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz suffered a left knee injury with 7:35 remaining in the first quarter in yesterday’s game againt the Cleveland Cavaliers. He underwent an MRI and results revealed that Fultz has sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Fultz’s knee gave out as he planted his foot on a drive to the basket against Cleveland’s Isaac Okoro at the 7:35 mark of the opening quarter. Fultz yelled in agony as he fell to the floor, then clutched his knee and pounded the floor with his fist. He was helped off the court and taken to the locker room in a wheelchair.”
Fultz will be out the remainder of the season.
Fultz (6’4”, 209, 5/29/98) played and started in eight games with the Magic this season, averaging 12.9 ppg., 5.4 apg., 3.1 rpg. and 1.00 stlpg. in 26.9 minpg., while shooting .895 (17-19) from the free throw line.
Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal had himself a game on Wednesday, shooting 25 of 35 and hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers for 60 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but unfortunately it was one that ended in a loss. Via the Washington Post:
Bradley Beal’s career night was sealed at the free throw line, an anticlimactic ending that belied the thrilling performance the Washington Wizards’ star guard delivered in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Beal came achingly close to breaking Gilbert Arenas’s franchise single-game scoring record set 15 years ago, just as the Wizards nearly completed a stunning comeback against the 76ers.
Beal led his team with 60 points, tying Arenas’s tally from Dec. 17, 2006. But he could not will his team to a win.
The Wizards lost, 141-136, falling just short of a 21-point comeback mounted midway through the third quarter. Beal shot 20-for-35 from the field, 7-for-10 from three and made 13 of 15 at the free throw line, notching his fourth career 50-point game.
He had 57 points through three quarters but shot 1-for-6 in the final 12 minutes.
In tonight’s Pacers win over the Rockets, guard Malcolm Brogdon shot 13 of 25 for 35 points, seven assists and three steals. Via the Indianapolis Star:
With Victor Oladipo struggling and another big in foul difficulty for the Indiana Pacers, they still had Malcom Brogdon.
Brogdon, who made the winning shot in the previous game vs. New Orleans, led the Pacers past the Houston Rockets, 114-107, on Wednesday. It was his second consecutive 30-plus-point game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Pacers (6-2) had 4 shot-clock violations in the fourth quarter, including with the score tied at 103. T.J. McConnell and Oladipo passed up open 3s as they flirted with disaster.
John Wall (28 points) led Houston, which mostly played small-ball.
Cavaliers guard Danté Exum left Monday night’s road game against the Orlando Magic in the first quarter with a right calf strain and did not return to action.
An MRI performed Tuesday afternoon confirmed the injury.
Exum will undergo a series of treatment and rehabilitation and is expected to miss approximately 6-8 weeks of basketball activity.
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland was held out of Monday night’s road game against the Magic with a right shoulder sprain. Garland experienced discomfort in the shoulder following the Cavs’ win on Jan. 2 at Atlanta. Further evaluation and an MRI on Tuesday confirmed the injury. Garland could miss up to one week, but will be re-evaluated daily through treatment and rehabilitation.