Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic out with knee injury

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 January 10, 2021 Heat vs. Celtics NBA game in Boston postponed for coronavirus safety reasons

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 suffers major injury to left knee

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.

Clippers need improvement, says Kawhi Leonard

The Clippers are 6-4 this season. Not bad. But if they want to look like a championship contender, there’s much more work to do. Via the Los Angeles Times:

For the fourth time in 10 games, a Clippers lead of at least 22 points was gradually whittled away in Friday’s 115-105 loss at Golden State. This was the first time it ultimately cost them, after being outscored by 30 points in the final 15 minutes.

“We just got to come in and be able to execute,” said Kawhi Leonard, who scored 24 points. “If the other team is scoring that easy, you’ve got to come down and get into something on the offensive end. That’s it, but I don’t know — we just have to change, pretty much.

“We’ve got to change it. We’ve got to get better.”

The Clippers offense has been on point this season. Team defense has been the issue.

LaMelo Ball outplays brother Lonzo in their first NBA game against each other

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.

Raptors make change, start Alex Len at center

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.

Jazz off to modest 4-4 start this NBA season

The NBA season is little over two weeks old, so it’s a bit early to jump to big conclusions. But it’s perfectly reasonable to start what’s happened so far, which is, the Jazz aren’t off to a great start this season.

The Salt Lake Tribune:

Is a 4-4 Jazz record a disappointment? Is it familiar? Is it… both?

2021′s slow start to the season has brought down the spirits of Jazz fans, and that’s understandable: the loss side of the ledger has seen some disappointing defeats. Utah’s loss to Phoenix is more acceptable given that they rank first in the conference right now, sure. But losses to Brooklyn (sans Kevin Durant), the New York Knicks, and worst of all, the Minnesota Timberwolves, have made for some disappointing nights.

And yet, this isn’t anything new for Jazz fans. In the Quin Snyder era, the Jazz have always started at least somewhat below expectations. Then, they surge on to have a solid remainder of the season, and end up with a quality record.

The Deseret News:

In [Donovan] Mitchell’s rookie season, the Jazz started out 5-5 on the year before racking up quite a few losses and then bouncing back at the end of the season and finishing off the year with a 29-6 run. They were bounced in the second round of the playoffs.

In Mitchell’s second year, the Jazz started with a 4-6 record and played pretty up and down throughout the season before they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.

Last season, the Jazz started out with a 6-4 record and racked up most of their losses toward the end of the season. Again, they only survived a single playoff round.

Leading the Jazz in scoring through eight games are Mitchell at 21.3 points per game, Mike Conley at 17.4 PPG, Jordan Clarkson off the bench at 15.5 PPG, Rudy Gobert at 13.9 PPG, Bojan Bogdanovic at 11.8 PPG, and Joe Ingles off the bench at 10.0 PPG.

The team’s offense and defense has been close to the league average this season thus far.

Their upcoming opponents are the Bucks, Pistons, Cavs and Wizards.

Magic guard Cole Anthony’s role will now increase

Markelle Fultz has been a nice comeback story, but unfortunately that story was forced to reset and start anew yesterday after he suffered a season-ending injury. On what comes next for the Orlando Magic, here’s the Sentinel:

For starters, rookie Cole Anthony becomes the team’s primary point guard.

“Cole, in my opinion, he’s the starter right now and I think that he’s ready to take it and grow with it and we all have great confidence in him,” Clifford said.

Anthony’s competitive nature is part of what the Magic like about him, and Clifford sees the characteristic as a plus as Anthony moves into a more pivotal role with the team. Anthony will experience growing pains, particularly with the Magic playing 14 games in the next 24 days to close out January, but Clifford likes the mindset of his young point guard.

The Magic are off to an impressive 6-2 start this season. Fultz was averaging 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 26.9 minutes per game. Anthony has actually been getting good court time for a rookie: 21.5 minutes per game, averaging 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists. That court time will now increase.

Magic guard Markelle Fultz suffers season-ending knee injury

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.

Bradley Beal scores 60, but Wizards lose to Sixers

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.