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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!

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Nuggets’ Jamal Murray Upgraded To Available For Game 6

May 11th, 2023 at 7:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray has been given the green light to suit up tonight in a possible closeout Game 6 against the Suns, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Murray had previously been considered questionable to play due to a non-COVID-19 illness that has also impacted his other teammates.

Having Murray available will allow Denver to field a relatively healthy lineup against a Phoenix team that will be down two starters in point guard Chris Paul, still out with a left groin strain, and center Deandre Ayton, who will be shelved for the first time in this series with a rib contusion he sustained in Denver’s Game 5 victory.

Murray has been a huge component of the Nuggets’ success thus far in helping lead the club to a 3-2 series. The 6’3″ guard has averaged 24.6 PPG, 7.0 APG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.0 SPG through the first five games.

Denver leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, and will now carry a significant health advantage into Phoenix. The action tips off at 9 pm CT.

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Suns’ Ayton Out For Game 6; Nuggets’ Murray Questionable

May 11th, 2023 at 2:52pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns have ruled out center Deandre Ayton for Thursday’s pivotal Game 6 against Denver due to the rib contusion he sustained in Game 5, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

On Wednesday, Phoenix ruled out point guard Chris Paul, who is battling a left groin strain, while Ayton was listed as questionable. Something troublesome must have been discovered during his medical evaluation, as the big man has been downgraded to out.

The team will now be playing without two starters in an elimination game, as the Suns trail the Nuggets 3-2 in their second-round series.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link) hears that guard Landry Shamet will enter the starting lineup tonight — I’m assuming that will be in place of Cameron Payne, who has been filling in for Paul, and not for Ayton. Backup centers Jock Landale and Bismack Biyombo figure to see extended playing time in the middle with Ayton out.

Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report argued before the news broke that the Suns would be better off giving the majority of Ayton’s minutes to Landale. Phoenix is minus-59 in Ayton’s 149 minutes in the series, but plus-27 in Landale’s 74 minutes.

The Nuggets might be shorthanded as well. Guard Jamal Murray is questionable with a non-COVID illness that has been traveling through the team, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter links).

Murray was unable to participate in Thursday’s shootaround, which was cut short due to the illness that’s going around, but Denver is hopeful he’ll be able to suit up, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Head coach Michael Malone and a “handful of players” are among those who have been affected, Youngmisuk adds.

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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.
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Chris Paul Ruled Out For Game 6; Deandre Ayton Questionable

May 10th, 2023 at 10:08pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns will be without their starting point guard again for Game 6 vs. Denver on Thursday night, having ruled out Chris Paul due to the left groin strain he suffered in Game 2, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

It will be the fourth straight missed game for Paul, who was also sidelined for Games 3, 4 and 5. The Suns have gone 2-1 without him thus far, but trail the Nuggets 3-2 in their second-round series and are facing an elimination game at home.

According to Rankin, Paul had an extended workout following Wednesday’s practice, leading some to wonder if he might be able to play. Head coach Monty Williams quickly shot down that notion, however.

“You can see him on the floor working, but I’m sure that leads people to think, ‘He’s doing this, he should be here,'” Williams said. “I just don’t want to speculate on that based on the reports coming that are coming back to me that tell me that nothing has changed as far as availability, but he is doing more, for sure.”

Deandre Ayton is listed as questionable for Game 6 after taking a hard shot to the ribs in Game 5, Rankin adds. The center expressed optimism about being available tomorrow following Game 5, and it sounds like his status is precautionary.

“He seems like he’s OK, but he’s going to get it checked out,” Williams said.

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NBA Announces 2022/23 All-NBA Teams

May 10th, 2023 at 6:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2022/23 season.

A total of 100 media members vote on the All-NBA awards. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for Second Team, and one point for Third Team, for a maximum total of 500 points. This year’s three All-NBA teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

A total of 37 players received at least one vote, per the NBA. The top vote-getters who wound up missing out on All-NBA spots were Lakers center Anthony Davis (65), Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (49) and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (44).

Morant had Rose Rule language in his rookie scale extension, meaning his five-year deal would have started at 30% of next season’s cap had he been voted in; instead, he’ll receive 25% of the cap, which is projected to be a difference of about $39MM across five seasons.

Other players receiving 20-plus points include Bucks guard Jrue Holiday (39), Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (23). The next three highest were Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (15), Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (15) and Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves (14), who is listed under forward but spent most of the season at shooting guard.

As we noted earlier today, both of the Celtics’ top two players will now be eligible for Designated Veteran Extensions, also known as the super-max: Brown will be eligible to sign a five-year extension this offseason that starts at up to 35% of the 2024/25 salary cap, while Tatum will be eligible to sign a super-max extension in 2024 after earning All-NBA nods each of the past two seasons.

Like Brown, Siakam would have been eligible for a super-max extension this summer had he made an All-NBA team. He finished a distant ninth, so his maximum extension will now be worth a projected $192.2MM over four years, tweets Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca observes (via Twitter), Siakam could still qualify for a super-max deal if he makes an All-NBA spot next season as an impending free agent.

This will be the last season under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the new CBA, All-NBA voting will be positionless and players will be required to play a minimum of 65 games to earn major regular season awards. Five of the players honored today — Antetokounmpo, Curry, Butler, Lillard and James — played fewer than 65 this season and would have been ineligible if the new requirements had been in effect, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

LeBron extended his own NBA record with his selection, earning a spot on an All-NBA team for the 19th straight season, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). No other player has more than 15 total All-NBA awards (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are tied for second at 15 apiece).

Giannis was a unanimous First Team selection for the fifth straight season, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link), and the only unanimous choice in 2022/23. Antetokounmpo now has more First Team berths than any European-born player, tweets HoopsHype, and only trails Hakeem Olajuwon among international players (six). The Bucks superstar finished third in MVP voting behind Embiid and Jokic, but Jokic received some First Team votes over the Sixers’ MVP winner, which is why Embiid wasn’t a unanimous pick.

According to HoopsHype (Twitter link), this is the first season in league history that only one American player (Tatum) was voted to the First Team. Doncic (Slovenia) and Antetokounmpo (Greece) are European, Embiid was born in Cameroon, and Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian.

Despite earning an All-NBA nod for the first time, Mitchell wasn’t happy that he didn’t make the First Team, sending out a tweet on the matter.

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Northwest Notes: Jokic, Nuggets, Gobert, Thunder

May 10th, 2023 at 2:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Superstar center Nikola Jokic had another huge game on Tuesday as the Nuggets took a 3-2 lead in their series with Phoenix, racking up 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists for his fourth triple-double of the playoffs. Jokic’s 10th career postseason triple-double moved him ahead of Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles by a center in NBA playoff history, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Discussing Jokic’s historic performance after the game, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone made light of the in-season discourse surrounding his center’s triple-doubles, joking that he “must be stat-padding.” Malone also made sure to stress how much the franchise appreciates Jokic and his “incredible” performance.

“He makes everyone around him better,” Malone said. “Never gets rattled. ‘Cool Hand Luke.’ And we’re just so thankful that he’s a Denver Nugget.”

Between Games 4 and 5, Jokic was hit with a $25K fine for a brief sideline incident involving Suns owner Mat Ishbia, but Jokic and Ishbia had a friendly exchange prior to Game 5 and clearly don’t have any bad blood, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. During a TNT interview after Tuesday’s win, Jokic was asked about that pregame interaction with Ishbia and joked that he was trying to see if the Suns owner would pay his fine (Twitter link via Youngmisuk).

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • As great as Jokic has been against Phoenix, the contributions of the Nuggets‘ role players – starting with a pair of veterans acquired last summer – shouldn’t be overlooked, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). Bruce Brown‘s 25 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s strong defense on Devin Booker helped Denver secure a Game 5 victory.
  • While fans in Minnesota were upset about Jaden McDaniels‘ absence from this year’s All-Defensive teams, the bigger concern for the Timberwolves is that Rudy Gobert‘s play this past season didn’t earn the three-time Defensive Player of the Year a single vote, says Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. It remains to be seen whether Gobert was more affected by health issues than he let on his year or whether his decline has begun, Rand writes.
  • Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman believes it’s unlikely that the Thunder dip into their stash of future draft picks to make a trade for a core player this offseason. In Mussatto’s view, head of basketball operations Sam Presti is more likely to use his draft assets to make sure he gets the player(s) he wants in this year’s draft, like he did when he traded three protected first-rounders for the No. 11 pick in the 2022 draft.
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Jackson, Watson Could Enter Playoff Rotation

May 9th, 2023 at 7:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets coach Michael Malone strongly hinted at possible rotation changes for Game 5 against the Suns on Tuesday night. Malone mentioned that he might use Reggie Jackson as an extra ball-handler and Peyton Watson as a defender, Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports tweets. Blackburn notes that the Nuggets were -37 when the starters weren’t on the floor together over the past two games.

  • Veteran forward Jeff Green has a simpler solution for how the Nuggets can win the series, which is currently tied at 2-2. “It’s about pride. It’s about effort,” Green told Harrison Wind of the TheDnvr.com. “And it’s about wanting to take on the challenge.” Denver has allowed 43 fast break points in the last two games.
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Suns Notes: Paul, Shamet, Ayton, Jokic, Durant, Williams, Ishbia

May 8th, 2023 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns have ruled out Chris Paul for Game 5 of the team’s second-round series against the Nuggets on Tuesday, ESPN’s news services relay. Paul has already missed the last two games after suffering a groin injury in Game 2.

Although these types of injuries normally take weeks to heal, there’s a possibility that Paul will return for the Suns in Game 6, Shams Charania said on Fan Duel TV (Twitter link). “I think the window for him to return from that groin strain is Game 6, potentially,” Charania said.

We have more from the Suns:

  • Guard Landry Shamet and center Deandre Ayton shrugged off criticism and made major contributions in Game 4, Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com notes. Shamet had 19 points in 30 minutes off the bench, more points than the Nuggets’ entire bench produced. Shamet had only 14 points in the first seven playoff games. Ayton’s numbers were modest but he found ways to impact the game. “I thought he came out in that fourth quarter and made some huge defensive plays for us,” Kevin Durant said of Ayton.
  • How do the Suns feel about Nikola Jokic only getting fined after his sideline incident with new owner Mat Ishbia? Durant is happy that a potential suspension didn’t overshadow a pivotal contest, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Glad none of that can get in the way,” he said. “We can just focus on basketball.” Coach Monty Williams feels the same way. “I just heard about the decision and that’s that,” he said. “I’m focused on us playing better, making the adjustments that we need to make. Being better at things we need to be better in. That’s my mindset. I don’t want to give energy and time to something that I can’t control. I’m good with it.”
  • Regarding the same incident, Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler wonders why Ishbia didn’t receive some disciplinary action from the league for holding the ball away from Jokic. Keeler suggests Ishbia should pay Jokic’s fine or that he also should get docked $25K.
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Nikola Jokic Fined $25K; No Suspension

May 8th, 2023 at 4:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic won’t be suspended for a pivotal Game 5 of their playoff series against the Suns on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Rather, Jokic will be fined $25K by the league.

A tweet from the league confirms the fine.

There were questions whether Jokic would have to sit out a game due to the Game 4 incident along the sidelines involving new Suns owner Mat Ishbia on Sunday night.

Suns forward Josh Okogie dove into the crowd for a loose ball that bounced into the hands of Ishbia. Jokic then tried to take the ball from Ishbia, who was slow to give it up. The Nuggets center made contact with him after the ball came free and Ishbia fell backward. Jokic was assessed a technical foul during the late second quarter altercation.

One fan was removed from his seat for making contact with the Nuggets big man, while Ishbia remained in his seat after the incident.

Denver can breathe a sigh of relief that its franchise player won’t miss Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2. He is averaging 30.8 points, 13.1 rebounds and 9.2 assists this postseason, including a 53-point explosion in the Game 4 loss.

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