Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

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.

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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.”

The latest on Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves

Via the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

The Timberwolves being without both of their two point guards, D’Angelo Russell and Jordan McLaughlin, on Wednesday in Los Angeles was certainly detrimental for the team’s chances of victories. The Timberwolves have a tough enough time running a fluid offense that doesn’t give the ball away even with one of them on the court.

So it wasn’t surprising to see them struggle offensively in the loss to the Clippers.

But the short-term pain may come with long-term growth, particularly in regards to 21-year-old guard Anthony Edwards. A pure shooting guard, Edwards is now thrust into being the team’s primary ball-handler. That’s a lot of responsibility for any young player as is. But Edwards faced another challenge Wednesday, when the Clippers started trapping the guard out at the top of the arc.

To Edwards’ credit, he handled the look beautifully.

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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.

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham to undergo season-ending surgery

Via the Detroit Free Press:

Cade Cunningham made the right decision for himself and for the Detroit Pistons. But that doesn’t mean it was an easy decision.

Cunningham, who will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left shin later this week, took a few weeks to make the biggest decision of his young NBA career. He had been dealing with shin soreness off and on since at least last season, but the team didn’t suspect there was a more severe cause until it flared up again toward the start of this season. There was a chance his shin would’ve healed after an extended period of rest, but surgery should ultimately fix the issue for good.

Cunningham will miss the rest of the season. His final game came Nov. 9, and he only played in 12 games before the team decided to shut him down. It’s an unfortunate development for a rebuilding Pistons team that expected to be better this season, with Cunningham, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021, leading the way. While they don’t anticipate Cunningham’s surgery negatively impacting their rebuild long term, they will have to navigate the near future without him.

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Charlotte Hornets to honor Paul Silas with a commemorative patch

The Charlotte Hornets announced today the team’s plans to honor the legacy of former head coach Paul Silas, who passed away during the weekend.

Prior to Wednesday’s game vs. Detroit, the Hornets will hold a moment of silence and show a video tribute in recognition of Silas.

Starting with tomorrow’s game and throughout the remainder of the 2022-23 NBA season, the Hornets coaching staff will have a commemorative “Silas” patch on the left sleeve of the pullovers they wear on the bench. The commemorative black patch is in the shape of the traditional Hornets cell pattern with the pattern’s outline and the “Silas” wordmark in teal.

ABOUT PAUL SILAS

Paul Silas spent eight seasons with the Charlotte Hornets across two different stints with the franchise. During his first tenure, in which he spent two-and-a-half seasons as an assistant coach before becoming interim head coach to conclude the 1998-99 season, he posted a record of 161-120 (.573). In each of his three full seasons, the Hornets won at least 44 games and made the playoffs, advancing to the second round in both 2000-01 and 2001-02. He returned to Charlotte to once again become interim head coach during the 2010-11 season and remained the team’s head coach in 2011-12.

Silas ranks third in franchise history in games coached (401), games won (193) and winning percentage (.481), and is the all-time leader in each of the three categories for playoff games with an overall record of 11-12 (.478) in 23 games total. He is the only head coach in franchise history to lead the team to three playoff appearances and two Eastern Conference Semifinals appearances. The team’s three straight playoff berths from 1999-2000 through 2001-02 is the only time in franchise history that the Hornets have gone to the playoffs in three straight seasons.

Following four years at Creighton in which he became one of only five players in NCAA history to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds in his college career, Silas played 16 seasons in the NBA, where he was a three-time NBA Champion (1973-74 Celtics, 1975-76 Celtics and 1978-79 SuperSonics) and a two-time NBA All-Star (1971-72 and 1974-75). He retired after the 1979-80 season and immediately became head coach of the San Diego Clippers, spending three seasons in the role. In 12 seasons overall as an NBA head coach, Silas had a career record of 387-488 (.442).

Warriors just 2-11 on road so far this NBA season

Via the San Jose Mercury News:

The Warriors have looked like champions on their home court this season, where they’ve been nearly unbeatable, posting a 12-2 record.

But it’s been a totally different story outside the Bay.

Golden State hasn’t been able to sustain that success on the road, falling to a head-scratching 2-11 hole in the first two months.

That leaves the Warriors at 14-13 overall, a record that isn’t entirely reflective of their play. They’ve had several games stolen or given away late. That includes their most recent road debacle in Utah, which featured a pair of mental lapses in the game’s final 13 seconds that allowed the Jazz to squeak away with a wild win.

The Warriors entered Monday in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, sitting 3 1/2 games out of first place. They’re set to embark on a six-game road trip that’ll span five cities in nine days.

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A glance at Grizzlies bench performance

Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Jaren Jackson Jr.’s eight blocks may have deflected your attention away from what else was happening while the Memphis Grizzlies blew out the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

Tyus Jones had 22 points and 11 assists in three quarters while dropping off a nifty bounce pass into the hands of Xavier Tillman Sr. John Konchar threw a no-look transition pass to Dillon Brooks that would have been impressive even by Ja Morant’s standards. Kennedy Chandler got the entire Grizzlies bench on its feet when he threw down a dunk near the end of the first quarter, and Santi Aldama just quietly poured in 16 points.

A lot of talk has been about how the starting lineup will look when healthy, but what about the bench? Several expected key contributors had big games on Monday night, and that’s almost as encouraging as the wait to see the full starting five.

“We’re deep,” Tillman said. “It’s a real 15 deep. Nobody’s role is too extreme to where we need them to do more than they’re capable of.” …

Memphis has the 25th bench net rating in the NBA. The unit has been outscored by 249 points through 17 games. The Grizzlies had the sixth best bench net rating last season

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