Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Jamal Murray shines as Nuggets win Game 5 vs Jazz

While Nuggets center Nikola Jokic scored big, guard Jamal Murray went wild dropping serious buckets Tuesday. Here’s the Denver Post reporting:

With the Nuggets facing elimination from the playoffs and trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Murray ripped Game 5 away from Utah’s grips and ensured Denver could fight another day. The Nuggets’ 117-107 white-knuckle win guaranteed, at least, a Game 6 on Thursday, with Utah holding a 3-2 lead.

As his late 3-pointer rattled home, giving the Nuggets a 108-101 lead with 2:00 remaining, there was no hiding Murray’s smile. As this series has proved, Murray thrives as the tension mounts. His monumental 42-point masterpiece saved the Nuggets’ season…

Nikola Jokic added 31 points, six rebounds and four assists, his selfless nature more than willing to cede the spotlight to his counterpart. Neither Nuggets cornerstone rested during the second half.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 30 points, but the Nuggets may have finally found the answer to Utah’s offensive riddle. The Jazz managed only 44 points in the second half.

In addition to his scoring, Murray contributed eight rebounds, eight assists and no turnovers. A fantastic performance.

Mitchell has been incredible for the Jazz all series. Through five games he’s averaging 37.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, on 54% FG shooting and 53% from three-point range.

Blazers guard Damian Lillard out for Game 5 vs Lakers

The Trail Blazers are in trouble. They looked badly overmatched against the Lakers yesterday in Game 4, even before star guard Damian Lillard had to exit the game early due to a knee issue. Now they’ll be without Dame in tomorrow’s Game 5. Here’s NBC Sports Northwest reporting:

With Damian Lillard out for Wednesday’s game due to a right knee sprain, the Trail Blazers are still determined to come together and work to right the ship in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Down 1-3 in their first round series to the Lakers is difficult enough to handle, but now the Blazers are going to be down a superstar in Damian Lillard.

Portland got out worked and outshot to start Monday’s Game 4. After falling behind 15-0 and then 30-10, the Blazers were working uphill all night against the No. 1 seeded team in the West.

LeBron James was as good as ever yesterday in Game 4, and at one point even pulled up for a deep three-pointer not far from the halfcourt league logo. “Logo LeBron” anyone?

It’ll be a tall task for Portland tomorrow.

Sixers reportedly fire coach Brett Brown

The Philadelphia 76ers just finished being swept out of the playoffs, and their first move appears to be a coaching change.

According to ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers have fired head coach Brett Brown. This after the team was eliminated by the Boston Celtics in a 4-0 sweep in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs.

The news does not come as a surprise, as the team has struggled to maximize their potential and chemistry all season.

The Sixers were without star guard Ben Simmons in their series against the Celtics. But Boston was without forward Gordon Hayward. And although Simmons is more important to the Sixers than Hayward is to the Celtics, the team simply did not look good. And now, Brown is gone.

Questions certainly need to be asked about the team’s roster. And various roster moves in the past few seasons.

It won’t be a surprise if more big moves are made in Philly, either with big-name players being moved in free agency or additional changes in the front office. At this point, anything is possible.

Raptors news: guard Kyle Lowry diagnosed with ankle sprain

As the Toronto Raptors prepare to meet their second-round playoff opponent, the Boston Celtics, their star point guard will be on the mend.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, the team announced today.

Lowry underwent an MRI on the NBA Campus in Orlando after the injury, which occurred in the first quarter of Sunday evening’s game. His condition will be updated as appropriate.

Lowry averaged 19.4 points, a team-high 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 36.2 minutes in 58 games with the Raptors this season. In six games during the NBA restart at Disney, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 32.9 minutes.

In the first round of the NBA Playoffs vs. Brooklyn, Lowry posted averages of 12.5 points, 4.8 assists and 7.0 rebounds in 29.9 minutes. He scored in double figures three times, including 21 points in Game 2, and had one double-double against the Nets. The Raptors swept the series, winning 4-0.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse wins 2019-20 NBA Coach of Year

The Toronto Raptors announced Saturday that Nick Nurse has been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year for the 2019-20 season. Nurse guided the Raptors to a 53-19 record during the regular season (second best in the NBA) and set a franchise-record with a .736 winning percentage.

“When you see Nick on the sidelines, that’s who he is as a person. Relaxed, but so hard-working. Creative and dynamic. Always setting the tone for our team – attacking our next championship, rather than defending our last,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said. “That is who Nick is, that is why we believe in him. His journey to this tremendous honour has been a long one – we are so happy to see him recognized this way.”

Highlighting Toronto’s season was a franchise-record 15 straight victories (Jan. 15 – Feb. 10). During this stretch, the Raptors averaged 121.2 points and shot .504 (672-1333) from the field. The winning streak was the longest in Canadian sports history (NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS and CFL).

Nurse earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours twice during the 2019-20 campaign – January and games played in October/November – and coached Team Giannis at the NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.

The Raptors finished the regular season leading the NBA in points allowed (106.5 ppg) and opponent three-point field goal percentage (.337) and ranked second in opponent field goal percentage (.428). Toronto also held its opponent to fewer than 100 points in 22 games – most in the NBA.

On the offensive end, the Raptors averaged 112.8 points (second most in team history) and a franchise-record 13.8 three-point field goals per game. This despite their top five leading scorers all missing at least 10 games due to injury or illness. Toronto had three players average at least six more points this season than they did in 2018–19: Norman Powell (+7.4 ppg, 8.6 to 16.0), Fred VanVleet (+6.6 ppg, 11.0 to 17.6) and Pascal Siakam (+ 6.0 ppg, 16.9 to 22.9).

After finishing the season restart in Orlando with a 7-1 record, Toronto also extended its streak to 24 consecutive calendar months with a winning record (Feb. 2017 – Aug. 2020). The streak is the longest in franchise history and the longest current streak in the NBA.

A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Nurse was named the ninth head coach in Raptors history on June 14, 2018, taking the job after five years as an assistant coach with the team. On June 13, 2019, he became just the ninth rookie head coach in league history to win an NBA Championship. Nurse has led the club to a 111-43 (.721) regular season record in two seasons.

Coach of the Year voting from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters was based on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11 and did not include “seeding games,” which took place July 30 – Aug. 14 for the 22 teams participating in the season restart.

Nurse is the third coach in franchise history to win the award, joining Dwane Casey (2017-18) and Sam Mitchell (2006-07).

Bulls in no rush to find new head coach

The Bulls need a new head coach, but have no reason to rush the decision. Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting:

Arturas Karnisovas’ timeline remains very much his own… The firing of former head coach Jim Boylen last week hasn’t swayed that, and now landing the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming October NBA Draft hasn’t changed it.

Karnisovas reiterated that on Thursday.

“Timeline, I said we’re not going to have a timeline,’’ Karnisovas said, when asked about the early stages of the coaching search. “We started already the search but we haven’t interviewed anybody. So that’s where we’re at.’’ …

The Bulls are entering a crossroads of this current rebuild. That means making personnel decisions on Zach LaVine long-term, as well as finding out exactly what they have in the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.

The Bulls finished this season with a 22-43 record, just 11th best in the Eastern conference. They have plenty of young talent but it’s tough to make a firm prediction that the squad as a whole is definitely ready to make a leap up the standings next season. Which is why this coaching search is so extremely important.

Luka Doncic interview after Game 3 Mavs loss to Clippers

The Mavericks lost to the Clippers Friday, to fall down 1-2 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Details on the game are here.

Below are Luka Doncic interview quotes from postgame:

On the play where he injured his ankle and his current pain level: “I don’t know how it happened but it’s not that bad. I had luck; it’s my left ankle, it’s not my right. It’s a little sprain. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

On trying to play after the injury and the decision to come out of the game: “I just wanted to get in. I know we still had a chance to win. I wanted to help my teammates. I could run a little bit but I couldn’t push off of my left leg. It was better to go out and let somebody [else] play.”

On whether he can play on Sunday: “I don’t know the answer to that. We’ll see tomorrow. I have an MRI tomorrow and then we’ll see. I think we’ll know more tomorrow.”

On whether he wanted to come back in as the Mavs cut the deficit to eight: “I want to go back in every time. We always have a chance — we have great players. They fought to come back to eight. I want to be with my team on the floor and watch the game to the end. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a win. But we fought.”

On if he thought he could finish the game: “I don’t think so. I could run but I couldn’t push off my left leg. We have great players, so it’s better to go with someone who can go 100 percent.”

On the play of Kawhi Leonard: “He’s always in the zone. He’s a top-three player in the league. It’s really tough to stop him. He’s an amazing player, amazing defender. It’s really hard to stop him. I think Maxi [Kleber] is doing an amazing job, DoeDoe [Dorian Finney-Smith], too. It’s just hard. He’s an amazing player.”

Clippers beat Mavericks 130-122, take 2-1 playoff series lead

On Friday, the Clippers beat the Mavericks 130-122 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Below are Mavs team notes on the loss:

Luka Doncic recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, making him the first player in franchise history to record a triple-double in the playoffs.

Doncic (21 years, 175 days) becomes the third-youngest player ever to record a triple-double in the playoffs (Magic Johnson, LeBron James). The sophomore guard left the game with a left ankle sprain midway through the fourth quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis finished tonight’s game with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Porzingis becomes the first player to record 30+ points and 10+ rebounds for Dallas in a playoff game since Dirk Nowitzki (34p-11r) in Game 3 of the 2011 NBA Finals.

Seth Curry came off the bench and scored a playoff career-high 22 points to go with 3 assists. Curry shot 9-11 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Curry’s previous high was 16, a mark he hit twice in the 2019 playoffs with Portland.

Tim Hardaway Jr. also scored a playoff career-high 22 points to go with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Hardaway Jr.’s previous high was 19 points, set with Atlanta (at Washington, 4/19/17).

Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, all of which were career playoff highs.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 37 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists tonight. The veteran is 3rd in the Playoffs thus far with 33.3 points per game, trailing only Utah’s Donovan Mitchell (35.7) and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic (33.5).

The Clippers saw seven players score in double figures tonight. Joining Leonard was Landry Shamet (18), Ivica Zubac (15), Marcus Morris Sr. (14), Montrezl Harrell (13), Paul George (11) and Lou Williams (10).

Blazers forward Zach Collins out for remainder of NBA playoffs with ankle injury

Further imaging shows Portland forward Zach Collins with a hairline medial malleolus stress fracture of his left ankle, it was announced today by Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. The injury will require surgery to repair. A date for surgery is to be determined. Collins will miss the remainder of the postseason.

Collins, 22, appeared in 11 games (all starts) for the Trail Blazers this season, posting averages of 7.0 points (47.1% FG, 36.8% 3-PT, 75.0% FT), 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.45 blocks.

Celtics foward Gordon Hayward discusses his ankle injury

The Celtics will be without forward Gordon Hayward for around four weeks due to a bad ankle sprain. The key forward spoke on the injury today. Here’s the Boston Herald on it:

“It’s definitely gutting, it sucks. There’s nothing else to say about that,” said Hayward. “It’s definitely frustrating, it doesn’t feel great at the moment. Just try to get better as soon as I can.”

Hayward said he knew as soon as he sustained the injury that it was serious. His awareness towards severe injuries will forever be heightened in the aftermath of the gruesome broken left ankle he suffered in his first game as a Celtic on opening night in 2017.

“I heard it and felt it and knew it wasn’t just your casual rolled ankle,” he said. “It was swollen by the time I was leaving the court, so I knew it was definitely worse than normal. As far as timeline, it’s kind of up in the air. I think it’s kind of just how my body responds to the rehab and all that stuff.

“Maybe I could use some Disney magic to help me get better.”

The Celtics are looking good in the first round, currently up 2-0 in their series against a Sixers team that is without Ben Simmons and looking vulnerable.