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).

Spurs sign Stanley Johnson

The San Antonio Spurs have signed forward Stanley Johnson.

Johnson becomes the 11th G League to NBA “Call-Up” so far in the 2022-23 season.

Johnson, 6-6/240, has currently been playing with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G League, appearing in three games. Originally drafted by Detroit with the eighth overall selection in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, the former Arizona Wildcat has spent seven seasons in the NBA playing for the Pistons, Raptors, Lakers and Pelicans. In 419 career games, he’s averaged 6.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.1 minutes.

John will wear #34 for the Silver and Black.

The Spurs roster now stands at 17 players.

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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Miami Heat off to a modest start this season

The Miami Heat are just 13-15 so far this season. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the team’s modest start:

The expectations have been muted.

Depth that had been considered a Miami Heat strength entering the season largely has proven to be something considerably less.

Part of it has been injuries. Part of it has been the shift of 2021-22 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro into the starting lineup, with energetic former reserve Caleb Martin now also a starter.

So these days, even the small steps are celebrated, such as Monday night’s 87-82 victory over the Indiana Pacers, when the Heat’s three-man bench of Max Strus, Dewayne Dedmon and Victor Oladipo combined for 20 points.

While hardly overwhelming, it was a step forward, considering it provided the Heat with nearly a quarter of the team’s scoring and that the trio outscored Indiana’s bench.

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