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L.A. Notes: Russell, LeBron, Lue, Leonard

May 17th, 2023 at 6:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

After getting badly outplayed in the first half of Tuesday’s series opener, the Lakers made enough adjustments to cut the lead to three points in the final minute, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The Nuggets were able to hold on, but L.A. turned the game around by switching to a bigger lineup. Coach Darvin Ham assigned Rui Hachimura to guard Nikola Jokic, which allowed more freedom for Anthony Davis to roam around and challenge Denver’s shooters.

“You have to switch up matchups at times and you have to switch up coverages,” Ham said. “Gave us a chance to get back into the game.”

While it makes sense to go with that same approach from the start in Game 2, it may not be an easy decision for Ham. Multiple team sources told McMenamin that there’s concern the team could “lose” D’Angelo Russell if he’s moved to the bench after starting every game so far in the playoffs. Russell got off to a terrible start Tuesday, posting a minus-23 in the first half and playing only nine minutes after the intermission. He’s headed to free agency this summer, so Ham’s decision could affect his long-term future with the team.

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The Lakers‘ offense found success by having LeBron James target Jamal Murray after he got in foul trouble in the second half, McMenamin adds. That will likely be the approach again when the series resumes Thursday night. “We’ll be better,” James promised. “We know we didn’t play up to our capabilities in the first half. … But you know we’ll be better in Game 2, that’s for sure.”
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has two years remaining on his contract, but only one of those is guaranteed, a source tells Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. That explains why Lue’s representatives reportedly met with the team this week to discuss an extension or an entirely new deal. Greif notes that the contract Lue received when he became head coach lined up with the deals given to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who will both be eligible for extensions this summer that could be worth up to $220MM over four years. As Greif points out, the Clippers’ offseason decisions will provide a window into their level of trust in the current foundation of the team.
Leonard hasn’t decided whether to have surgery for the meniscus tear he suffered in the playoffs, but Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank believes he’ll be ready for the start of next season with or without the operation, Greif adds.

Lakers Notes: James, Davis, Bamba, Schröder, Vanderbilt

May 15th, 2023 at 7:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Despite his age and two decades as an NBA player, Lakers superstar LeBron James continues to defy Father Time with his All-Star level performances. Teammate D’Angelo Russell has a simple explanation for why James continues to excel at an age when most NBA players have already retired, according to Greg Beacham of The Associated Press.

”Bron’s niche has always been preparedness,” Russell said. ”A lot of guys’ niches is shooting the ball, working hard, outworking guys. LeBron is a film junkie, a basketball junkie, a leadership junkie. To be able to watch it all from the front row, it’s almost like a cheat code.”

James has played in a league-record 278 postseason games, and his 7,912 career postseason points are nearly 2,000 more than Michael Jordan (5,987) atop the NBA’s career playoff scoring list, Beacham adds.

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The team’s Game 1 injury report didn’t have any surprises. James and Anthony Davis were both listed as probable for Tuesday’s game, as they were for much of the Warriors series, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Both have been playing through right foot ailments. Mohamed Bamba is listed as out due to left ankle soreness.
Bamba wasn’t at Monday’s practice in Denver because he’s back in Los Angeles after getting a PRP injection in his ankle earlier this postseason, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. He has a follow-up appointment there on Tuesday and will rejoin the team afterward, Buha adds. Bamba has only made three cameo appearances during this postseason.
Coach Darvin Ham tweaked his lineup in the series finale against the Warriors, inserting guard Dennis Schröder in favor of small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register notes. Will Ham stick with the lineup switch for the Nuggets’ series? That’s TBD, though Ham liked how Schröder hounded Stephen Curry, which could lead to a similar defensive assignment against Jamal Murray. “Dennis came in and set an unbelievable tone defensively,” Ham said.

Reaves Doesn't See Lakers As Underdogs

May 14th, 2023 at 8:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

On paper, the Nuggets are the favorites to reach the NBA Finals. But Lakers guard Austin Reaves doesn’t view his team – the West’s No. 7 seed – as the underdog, Jovan Buha of The Athletic relays.

“I think the seeding thing is, it’s just a number,” the Lakers guard said. “When you have guys like Bron, AD, that’s won championships … (you) always feel like you have a chance, especially with the roster that we have and the talent that we have.”

Lakers forward Anthony Davis echoed those sentiments: “Our expectations inside are way higher than showing up to the Western Conference Finals.”

The Lakers need to do whatever than can to retain Reaves, who will be a restricted free agent after the season, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. Reaves is averaging 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the playoffs. The Lakers hold his Early Bird rights and are limited to an $11.4MM offer in the first year of a new contract, but they can match an offer sheet.
Stephen Curry is still hopeful of getting another championship with the Warriors, Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports writes. “You can’t win it every year, but you wanna be in the position to be serious contenders,” Curry said after the Warriors were eliminated by the Lakers. “Final eight, you can retool and be back.”

Poll: Which Team Will Win Western Conference Finals?

May 13th, 2023 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

The 2023 Western Conference Finals will feature two teams that took remarkably different paths to get there.

The Nuggets claimed the No. 1 seed in the West on December 20 and never relinquished it, winning a conference-best 53 games despite essentially going on cruise control down the stretch, losing 10 of their last 17 contests. Since the playoffs began, no team has posted a better offensive rating (118.7) or net rating (+8.6) than the Nuggets, who have yet to lose at home in the postseason.

The Lakers, of course, got off to a disastrous start in 2022/23, losing 10 of the first 12 games on their regular season schedule. While things got better from there, especially once Los Angeles revamped its roster at the trade deadline, the team still occupied the No. 13 spot in the Western standings as late as February 26, which was also the day that LeBron James went down with a foot injury that cost him the next 13 games.

The Lakers persevered, finishing the regular season on a hot streak and claiming the No. 7 seed in the West before knocking off the No. 2 Grizzlies and the defending champion Warriors. Like Denver, L.A. hasn’t lost at home so far in the postseason, but the Lakers are winning games a little differently — they only rank ninth among playoff teams in offense, but their 106.5 postseason defensive rating is the NBA’s best.

The Nuggets will enter the Western Finals as slight betting favorites (-143, per BetOnline.ag), and it’s not hard to see why.

Denver is led by perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic, who is coming off a series in which he averaged an outrageous 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 10.3 assists per game. Jamal Murray, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, is back in peak form, putting up 25.9 PPG and 6.5 APG on .461/.395/.915 shooting so far in the playoffs. And perhaps most importantly, the Nuggets seem to have the right complementary pieces surrounding their stars, including versatile forward Aaron Gordon, three-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and jack-of-all-trades Bruce Brown.

Still, there are plenty of believers in a Lakers squad that supplemented James and Anthony Davis by swapping out Russell Westbrook in February for valuable role players like D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley. With James and Davis healthy entering the series and holding the edge on the Nuggets’ stars in terms of championship experience, L.A. is only a +123 underdog, per BetOnline.ag.

We want to know what you think. Which team do you expect to win the series and represent the West in the NBA Finals? Should we count on a six- or seven-game series or will it be over in a hurry?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Schröder Replacing Vanderbilt In Lakers’ Game 6 Starting Lineup

May 12th, 2023 at 9:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Guard Dennis Schröder is replacing forward Jarred Vanderbilt in the Lakers‘ starting lineup for Friday’s Game 6 versus Golden State, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape.

It will be the first change head coach Darvin Ham has made to L.A.’s starting lineup in the 2022/23 postseason. Vanderbilt had gotten the nod in the previous 11 playoff games.

After a solid first-round series against Memphis and a strong defensive performance in Game 1 against the Warriors, Vanderbilt has struggled mightily over the past four games against the defending champions, averaging just 2.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG and going a combined 2-of-15 from the field in 14.4 MPG.

He has been particularly ineffective over the past two contests, recording a minus-23 plus/minus in his 22 minutes of action after the Warriors went small by inserting Gary Payton II into the starting lineup. Now the Lakers will match the guard-heavy approach with one of their own.

Schröder, on the other hand, had a quiet first-round series against the Grizzlies, but has come to life against the Warriors, averaging 11.8 PPG, 2.6 APG and 1.0 SPG on .476/.333/.778 shooting over five games. The team is plus-28 in his 64 minutes over the past two contests.

The Lakers currently lead the series 3-2 and have a chance to eliminate Golden State tonight at home. In case you missed it, Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will be active despite dealing with a left costal cartilage fracture.

Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Available For Game 6

May 12th, 2023 at 8:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, who was previously listed as questionable after sustaining a left costal cartilage fracture (the area of the rib cage that connects the ribs to the sternum), has officially been upgraded to available for Friday’s Game 6 against the Lakers, tweets Kendra Andrews of ESPN.

Andrews reported earlier today that Golden State was hopeful Wiggins would be able to suit up despite dealing with the injury. He went through his pregame routine and felt good enough to play.

According to Andrews, the Warriors believe Wiggins suffered the fracture in the fourth quarter of Game 5, which the team won in no small part due to his efforts. Wiggins was clearly in pain after the game and tried to downplay the severity of the injury by saying he’d be OK, but an MRI later revealed the fracture, sources tell Andrews.

Wiggins is wearing a protective pad on his chest, telling Andrews (via Twitter) that he’s feeling better today than he was yesterday.

Head coach Steve Kerr said he hadn’t discussed a minutes restriction for Wiggins, but added he would be monitoring the former No. 1 overall pick based on “his movement, his feeling, how effective he can be,” per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Through 12 playoff games (34.5 minutes) in 2022/23, the 28-year-old is averaging 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on .468/.311/.698 shooting. The defending champions trail their second-round series with the Lakers 3-2, so it’s another must-win game for the Warriors.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Lineup, Flopping, Bamba

May 12th, 2023 at 9:16am CST by Luke Adams

The latest updates on Anthony Davis, who exited Game 5 of the Lakers‘ series against Golden State on Wednesday due to an apparent head injury, continue to bode well for the big man’s status going forward.

Head coach Darvin Ham told reporters on Thursday that Davis didn’t have to enter the NBA’s concussion protocol and should be available for Game 6 on Friday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Davis has been formally listed as probable to play — his designation on the official injury report refers only to an existing right foot issue, not any sort of head injury.

Davis, who was inadvertently hit in the head by Kevon Looney on Wednesday, was taken out of the game because he was feeling “woozy,” a source told ESPN, but Ham said on Thursday that the 30-year-old is “not showing any signs of anything.” The Lakers’ coach added that he was relieved by Davis’ prognosis.

“It’s huge,” Ham said. “He’s the centerpiece of what we’re trying to do on both sides of the ball and for us just in general for our success rate. So that was great, great news.”

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Ham admitted that there’s a temptation to make minor changes to the Lakers’ starting lineup for a crucial Game 6 on Friday, but also pointed out that the team has won three games with its current starters, per McMenamin. “We’ll sleep on some things, some suggestions and some ideas that we have and then wake up in the morning ready to make a final decision,” Ham said on Thursday. L.A. has used the same starting five in all 11 playoff games so far.
Ham and star forward LeBron James were among those who pushed back against Steve Kerr‘s claim that the Lakers are flopping to get foul calls, with Ham taking exception to the accusation, writes Josh Peter of USA Today. “We play a physical brand of basketball,” Ham said after the team’s Game 5 loss. “We don’t teach flopping, we don’t teach head snaps. You see (James), he’s got a thousand scratches on his arms, same with (Davis), same with Austin Reaves, same with Lonnie Walker. It’s unfortunate that it comes to that, but we hadn’t done it all year, and we’re damn sure not going to start now, looking for a third party to dive in and help us.”
Lakers center Mohamed Bamba, who has missed the entire second round due to a left ankle injury, told Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link) that he thinks he could return to action if the team advances to the Western Finals. Even if he’s healthy and available, Bamba wouldn’t be a regular part of the Lakers’ postseason rotation, but he’d provide some additional emergency depth up front.

Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Questionable For Game 6

May 11th, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has seen his status downgraded to questionable ahead of his team’s must-win Game 6 against the Lakers on Friday, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Slater reports that Wiggins has suffered a left costal cartilage fracture. This is the area of the rib cage that connects the ribs to the sternum.

It’s discouraging news for the Warriors, who are coming off a blowout 121-106 Game 5 win over Los Angeles on Wednesday. In that victory, Wiggins scored 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, his best output in 12 playoff games this season. He also pulled down seven rebounds, dished out an assist and notched one steal.

For the series, the 6’7″ combo forward out of Kansas is averaging 16.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 0.6 SPG across 33.2 MPG. The Lakers still lead the Warriors 3-2, meaning Golden State will have to win out to advance to its second straight Western Conference Finals appearance.

If Wiggins sits, it will be fascinating to see which player head coach Steve Kerr opts to insert into his starting lineup. Among Warriors players already seeing rotation minutes in this series, Moses Moody makes the most positional sense, but perhaps Kerr will decide to reinsert a bigger floor spacer like JaMychal Green back into his first five, or shift center Kevon Looney to a starting role and move Draymond Green back to power forward.

And-Ones: Thompson Twins, Dekker, In-Season Tournament, More

May 11th, 2023 at 2:35pm CST by Rory Maher

Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, twin brothers who bypassed college to compete in the Overtime Elite program, are projected lottery picks in the upcoming 2023 NBA draft. Israel Gutierrez of ESPN recently caught up with the brothers during Game 3 of the first-round series between Atlanta and Boston.

While much of the hype leading up to June’s draft has centered on French phenom Victor Wembanyama, the projected top overall pick, and G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson, a projected top-three pick, Amen says he’s confident he’s one of the top players in the world.

“They always bring up those names, ‘How you going to pass Victor and Scoot, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Amen said. “And it’s just like, I’m going to do my thing. I’m going to run my race. And I think if I run my race, I’m one of the best players there is.”

The biggest question marks surrounding Amen and Ausar are the level of competition they faced at OTE and their jump shots, writes Gutierrez. Both players worked extensively on their jumpers over their two years at OTE, but it’s still a focus for improvement going forward.

“I’m improving on shooting, working on pick and roll reads, just reads in general,” Ausar said, per Gutierrez. “My ability to get paint touches, collapse the defense and kick it out for others. Then for myself, just getting open and being able to rise up over defenders and hit a jump shot, or get to the cup.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former NBA forward Sam Dekker, a 2015 first-round pick, has signed a long-term extension with the London Lions of the British Basketball League, the team announced in a press release. The team captain averaged 18.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.9 APG during the 7Days EuroCup last fall and is under contract through 2026, per the Lions.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to four NBA players who are Premier League fans about the NBA’s new in-season tournament, which will begin next season and was roughly modeled on European soccer tournaments. All four like the idea and believe it could be an interesting way for younger teams to get experience in a more competitive environment. “It’s gonna be really good for our league,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. “Seasons can — not necessarily drag on — but adding an in-season tournament there just to like reinvigorate fan interest and give something that the players are playing for, another competitive type of environment, I think it’s going to be really good.”
Although the majority of the moves didn’t draw as much attention as the blockbusters over the past year, five guards acquired via trades have made a significant impact in their respective teams’ playoff runs, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. The five players Hollinger points to are the Nuggets‘ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (a trade he says he wasn’t a fan of at the time, but has been proven very wrong), the Knicks‘ Josh Hart, the Celtics‘ Malcolm Brogdon, the Sixers‘ De’Anthony Melton, and the Lakers‘ D’Angelo Russell.

Early Reports Indicate Anthony Davis Avoided Concussion

May 11th, 2023 at 10:56am CST by Arthur Hill

10:56am: League sources tell Haynes that Davis is expected to play in Game 6 (Twitter link).

8:57pm: The Lakers are hoping Anthony Davis will be ready for Friday’s Game 6 after leaving Wednesday night’s contest when he took an inadvertent elbow to the side of his head (video link), writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Davis and Warriors center Kevon Looney were battling for rebounding position midway through the fourth quarter when Looney’s elbow accidentally struck Davis in the temple. He doubled over in pain and was removed from the game on the next dead ball.

Davis was checked by the team’s trainer before being taken to the back for additional evaluation. He was transported to the locker room in a wheelchair after reporting that he was feeling “woozy,” but he was able to leave the arena along with his teammates without any help (video link).

McMenamin hears from a source close to the Lakers that there was no mention of a concussion during Davis’ examination. NBA on TNT sideline reporter Chris Haynes also stated that the early diagnosis appears to show that Davis didn’t suffer a concussion (video link).

“Obviously everyone saw he took a shot to the head, but we just checked on him,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “He seems to be doing really good already. That’s just where he’s at. That’s the status of it right now.”

According to McMenamin, a Lakers spokesman didn’t specify why Davis was taken out of the game and didn’t comment on his chances to play in Game 6. McMenamin adds that if further testing reveals that it is a concussion, Davis will have to complete the league’s protocol, which includes frequent monitoring along with exertion exercises, before being cleared to play again.