NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
Via ESPN.com:
Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker is expected to return from a groin injury Sunday for the Christmas Day matchup with the Denver Nuggets, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Booker last played one week ago, when he scored 58 points in a comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Denver Nuggets forward Jeff Green sustained a left finger sprain and hand fracture in the fourth quarter of last night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
He will be re-evaluated in four weeks and updates will be provided as necessary.
The Nuggets are 20-11 this season, which ties them with the Memphis Grizzlies for the best record in the Western conference.
Coming off the bench for most of the season, Green is averaging 7.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.
Via the Sacramento Bee:
Kings center Domantas Sabonis faces an uncertain prognosis after sustaining a hand injury in Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards at Golden 1 Center.
X-rays confirmed Sabonis suffered an injury to his right hand in the fourth quarter of the Kings’ 125-111 loss to the Wizards, sources told The Sacramento Bee on Saturday, confirming a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Via the Boston Herald:
[Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad] Stevens said the Celtics have not had recent conversations about Joe Mazzulla’s title. Mazzulla remains the Celtics’ interim head coach, and that status is likely to stay at least for the foreseeable future.
“We haven’t really even like talked about it recently,” Stevens said. “Our focus has been on how to make this team and staff and give everything we need to make sure we’re as good as we can be. He’s running the show. The title is the title and we’ll have updates at a later date on all that other stuff. But he’s doing a good job and he’s running it like the head coach runs it.”
Stevens expressed great confidence when he named Mazzulla the interim head coach on the eve of training camp after the Celtics issued a season-long suspension to Ime Udoka.
Via the Washington Post:
The low tone in Rui Hachimura’s voice gave a hint of what the last month has been like for the 2019 No. 9 overall pick. He had just played his first game in 34 days after a bone bruise in his ankle took much longer to heal than originally anticipated, and during that span all Hachimura could do was watch helplessly as the team lost 10 straight and other teammates went in and out of the lineup with a variety of ailments.
The Wizards (12-21) won just three of 16 games with Hachimura out.
“I was just on the sideline watching my teammates losing the game,” Hachiumra said before hustling to the bus after a 120-112 loss to the Jazz. “So, you know, it was tough for me.”
Hachimura was no savior Thursday night and certainly isn’t expected to be, but his return brought some optimism the team is getting healthier. That optimism was tempered by the fact that Kristaps Porzingis (non-covid illness) missed his second straight game and Deni Avdija was held out after tweaking his back during the morning’s shoot-around. But help seems to be on the way.
Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
The Memphis Grizzlies could get an early Christmas present as Desmond Bane was upgraded to questionable on Thursday ahead of the team’s matchup at the Phoenix Suns Friday (9 p.m., Bally Sports Southeast/ESPN).
Bane has missed 17 games since being out with a sprained right toe suffered on Nov. 11. On Dec. 7, the Grizzlies said he’d miss at least three-to-four additional weeks as he began a gradual re-loading protocol.
The Grizzlies are 19-11 this season, which ties them with the Denver Nuggets for the best record in the Western conference.
Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are Ja Morant at 27.0 PPG, Bane at 24.7 PPG, Dillon Brooks at 18.0 PPG, and Jaren Jackson Jr. at 16.4 PPG.
Via the Los Angeles Times:
Clippers teammates were gathering in the key and coaches were talking in a circle at midcourt, but Nicolas Batum was in no hurry to leave his courtside chair and begin shootaround on a late November morning.
Only weeks from his 34th birthday, the wing turned his eyes toward the empty upper deck of Portland’s Moda Center and his memories of the younger version of himself that spent his first seven seasons with the Trail Blazers.
“It’s a special place,” Batum said. “I grew up here.”
Growing up in the NBA requires absorbing often painful lessons. Growing old in the league, however, is reserved for the few who can put what they’ve learned into action. Batum, with 1,006 games on his resume including the regular season and playoffs, counts as a survivor, a longevity he traces to the first, and perhaps the most enduring, career lesson he took in weeks before his first official game.
The Clippers are 19-14 this season, which is the 5th best record in the Western conference.
Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are Paul George at 23.4 PPG, Kawhi Leonard at 15.3 PPG, and Norman Powell, mostly off the bench, at 14.8 PPG.
Via the Arizona Republic:
Devin Booker will miss his third straight game with groin soreness Friday against the West-leading Grizzlies (19-11) at Footprint Center to end a four-game homestand.
The Suns All-Star guard hasn’t played since scoring a season-high 58 points in Saturday’s comeback win over the Pelicans. Phoenix (19-13) is coming off a 113-110 loss to Washington, which had lost 10 in a row.
The Suns are currently 4th in the Western conference.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams sustained a concussion during last night’s Oklahoma City Blue game and has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
Per the NBA’s Concussion Policy, Williams will now begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation Protocol. This process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities. There is no predetermined timetable to complete the protocol, as each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.
The NBA announced today the New York Knicks violated league rules governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions and that the league has rescinded New York’s own second-round pick in the 2025 Draft.
From the league: “This outcome reflected a finding, following an investigation, that the Knicks engaged in free agency discussions involving Jalen Brunson prior to the date when such discussions were permitted. The team fully cooperated with the investigation.”
Per the New York Post, “the Knicks signed Brunson to a four-year, $104 contract, and he has been worth every penny so far, leading the Knicks to an 18-13 record and their current eight-game winning streak.”