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.

Malcolm Brogdon steps up for Pacers in win over Rockets

In tonight’s Pacers win over the Rockets, guard Malcolm Brogdon shot 13 of 25 for 35 points, seven assists and three steals. Via the Indianapolis Star:

With Victor Oladipo struggling and another big in foul difficulty for the Indiana Pacers, they still had Malcom Brogdon.

Brogdon, who made the winning shot in the previous game vs. New Orleans, led the Pacers past the Houston Rockets, 114-107, on Wednesday. It was his second consecutive 30-plus-point game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Pacers (6-2) had 4 shot-clock violations in the fourth quarter, including with the score tied at 103. T.J. McConnell and Oladipo passed up open 3s as they flirted with disaster.

John Wall (28 points) led Houston, which mostly played small-ball.

Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul played a part in resumption of NBA play

Some basketball players work together off the court even if they aren’t teammates on it. Here’s the Toronto Star on Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Rockets guard Chris Paul:

Lowry and Paul, who renewed their on-court rivalry when the Raptors played the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, were singled out by commissioner Adam Silver, along with Toronto’s Dwight Powell of the Dallas Mavericks, for their leadership in getting the league re-started last summer and again this fall.

They were the conduits between the league and the players association on everything to matters relating to the bubble life that ended last season and to health and safety protocols for this year.

“I’ve known Chris for a long time, me and him have been frenemies for a long time,” Lowry joked. “I was on the competition committee and we kind of just got a group together and I kind of felt like I could help just with my opinions as much as I possibly could.” …

Lowry was deeply involved in the scheduling process that got the league back after a short off-season for last year’s bubble teams and one that was months longer than usual for the eight teams whose 2019-20 season ended last March.

Cavs guard Dante Exum injured, out 6-8 weeks with calf strain

Cavaliers guard Danté Exum left Monday night’s road game against the Orlando Magic in the first quarter with a right calf strain and did not return to action.

An MRI performed Tuesday afternoon confirmed the injury.

Exum will undergo a series of treatment and rehabilitation and is expected to miss approximately 6-8 weeks of basketball activity.

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland was held out of Monday night’s road game against the Magic with a right shoulder sprain. Garland experienced discomfort in the shoulder following the Cavs’ win on Jan. 2 at Atlanta. Further evaluation and an MRI on Tuesday confirmed the injury. Garland could miss up to one week, but will be re-evaluated daily through treatment and rehabilitation.

Hawks guard Rajon Rondo out with knee soreness

Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo will enter a period of rest and rehabilitation to strengthen his right knee.

After missing two games with left knee soreness, he was medically cleared for last night’s game against New York. But he will miss the next three games and will be reviewed prior to the team’s three-game West Coast trip.

The Hawks are 4-3 so far this season. In 15.5 minutes per game, Rondo is averaging 6.0 points and 7.0 assists. That’s just in two games played, though.

In search of more offense, Hornets rotation may change

For those of you keeping a very close eye on the Charlotte Hornets player rotation, more offense is needed, and therefore some changes are likely to be made. Via the Charlotte Observer:

Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego needs more offense, and that will change the rotation for Wednesday’s road game with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hornets are 24th among 30 NBA teams in offensive efficiency, and that number has fallen in three consecutive losses heading into the Hawks game.

“There are lineup tweaks that will be made for tomorrow. Not necessarily in the starting lineup. But along the way, trying to find some different combinations of guys as we move throughout a game to give us more offense,” Borrego said following practice Tuesday…

Borrego didn’t specify what changes to anticipate. But based on Monday’s loss in Philadelphia, the trend could be more of Malik Monk with Cody Martin edged out.

Jayson Tatum scores 40 in Celtics win over Raptors

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has much potential as any young star in the league. Here’s Boston.com on what he did to the Raptors yesterday:

The Boston Celtics put together an emphatic win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, rolling over their Atlantic Division rivals in a 126-114 victory that was only close thanks to a garbage-time meltdown by the Celtics’ bench…

Jaylen Brown has been the Celtics’ star in the early going, but Tatum reminded everyone watching what he can do when he gets on track. Tatum has been dealing with an unprecedented amount of defensive attention — teams saw what he did last year and began blitzing and doubling him out of the pick-and-roll. That worked particularly well with multiple bigs in the game.

On Monday, however, the Celtics quickly went away from their starting double-big lineup which helped dig a 22-10 hole and never looked particularly effective as Toronto bombed away from 3-point range. As soon as Boston did, Tatum took over. He compiled 26 points in the first half, including 21 in the second quarter, en route to a 40-point night — just one point shy of his career-high.

Rookie Immanuel Quickley helps Knicks beat Hawks

Julius Randle put up a monster game tonight as the Knicks beat the Hawks 113-108, finishing with 28 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists on 11/19 shooting. And shooting guard R.J. Barrett put up 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. But a Knicks rookie stepped up and helped secure the win. Via New York Newsday:

Tom Thibodeau has a well-deserved reputation for a fondness for veterans and even as he has taken over a Knicks squad that is among the youngest in the NBA, he still often leans on the players who have been there.

And it seemed a case in point Monday as he rode Elfrid Payton for much of the game as the Knicks were taking on the Atlanta Hawks in the last stop of a four-game road trip. But with 3:51 to play in the third Payton had already played nearly the entire game and the point guard had thrown up more shots than anyone in the game – and missed more than any, too, missing 12 of 18 to that point, playing no small part in the 11-point hole the team found itself.

So Thibodeau turned to rookie Immanuel Quickley, who had played just three minutes and 38 seconds in the game. And almost immediately the game turned, the Knicks closing to a four-point deficit by the end of the quarter and needing just minutes to push in front in the fourth quarter. And Quickley then put the Knicks ahead to stay with clutch free throws as he delivered time after time and the Knicks escaped with a 113-108 win over the Hawks, taking their third victory on the trip.

Quickley scored 16 points — 15 in the final 16 minutes — and showed that Thibodeau could have faith in rookies, too.