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Atlantic Notes: Hart, Reed, Dick, Barrett, Thomas, Smith

November 29th, 2023 at 9:57am CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks wing Josh Hart doesn’t agree with coach Tom Thibodeau‘s assessment of his role, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

Hart, who signed a four-year, $81MM extension during the summer, believes he has a reduced role in the offense and doesn’t have the ball in his hands as often as he did last season. “I’m a rhythm player. So sometimes if I don’t touch the ball for four or five minutes running up and down the floor, just catch-and-shoot, I might as well be playing with a football,” Hart said.

However, his coach has an opposite view. “There really hasn’t been a change,” Thibodeau said. “To be honest, his usage is up. He’s handling the ball more. The way he’s being used is not any different than last year.”

Following the Knicks’ game against Charlotte on Tuesday, Hart made a point of telling the media he’s not unhappy, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. “Just so you know, I’m not a disgruntled player. Make sure y’all tweet that (stuff). Josh Hart said he’s not disgruntled.”

Katz detailed Hart’s usage in an in-depth piece on Tuesday.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Paul Reed was surprised that his comments about the Lakers‘ Anthony Davis during the morning shootaround on Monday went viral, as Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer details. The Sixers big man called Davis “a big flopper” and added, “he’s going to be flailing.” Reed soon found out his comments caused controversy. “I started checking Twitter and Instagram,” he said, “and I’m like, ‘Damn, people are really mad at me in the Lakers community.’” Reed and Davis wound up sharing the court for only three minutes in Philly’s blowout win.
Raptors first-round pick Gradey Dick shot 6-for-33 over his first two games with the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team. Dick, who has appeared in 15 NBA games, told Blake Murphy of Sportsnet he’s not worried about his shot. “My confidence hasn’t dwindled at all,” Dick said. “I mean, I’ll go take the next 10 shots, I don’t really care. Because I know me as a shooter, and it’s not any cockiness, but at the same time I think it’s positive cockiness. I’ve put in enough work off the court and I’m still doing it now where I have that confidence and trust.”
Knicks wing RJ Barrett says he’s still trying to get back in form after a bout with migraines, Bondy writes. Barrett has shot 33% of the field in the last five games after dealing with the severe headaches. “I didn’t pick up where I left off,” Barrett said. “That’s OK. Honestly, this was going to happen at some point during the season whether I got sick or not. So, I’m just doing what I do all the time, working my way out of it. Not worried.”
Cam Thomas and Dennis Smith Jr. are getting close to returning, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn told Dan Martin of the New York Post. A sprained left ankle has sidelined Thomas since Nov. 8, while Smith has missed the last five games with a lower back sprain. They both participated in simulated-game activity after the team’s shootaround on Tuesday. “They’re both trending in the direction of hopefully playing with us soon,’’ Vaughn said. “The fact that they both participated is a good sign.”

Quarterfinals Set For NBA’s Inaugural In-Season Tournament

November 29th, 2023 at 5:33am CST by Luke Adams

The last set of round robin games for the NBA’s first-ever in-season tournament took place on Tuesday night, and the eight quarterfinalists are now known.

In the Eastern Conference, the Bucks and Celtics joined the Pacers as group winners, while the Knicks claimed the wild card spot.

With a road victory over Miami on Tuesday, Milwaukee secured a 4-0 record in group play, and the Bucks’ +46 point differential was better than Indiana’s +39 mark, making them the No. 1 seed in the conference, with the Pacers coming in at No. 2.

A 124-97 victory over Chicago ensured that the Celtics finished group play with a 3-1 record and a +27 point differential. Orlando and Brooklyn also won three games in East Group C, but their respective point differentials (+22 and +20) weren’t quite good enough to match Boston’s.

The Magic and Nets were still in play for the wild card spot, but the Knicks’ 115-91 win over Charlotte on Tuesday increased their overall point differential to +42, giving them the edge over their fellow 3-1 Eastern clubs, including Cleveland.

Over in the Western Conference, the Lakers – who previously won their group – clinched the No. 1 seed based on Tuesday’s results. They’ll be joined in the quarterfinals by the 4-0 Kings and the 3-1 Pelicans and Suns.

The only other Western team to go undefeated in round robin games, Sacramento secured its spot with an impressive comeback win over Golden State, 124-123. The Kings’ overall point differential of +30 wasn’t anywhere close to the Lakers’ mark of +74, so Sacramento will enter the quarterfinals as the West’s No. 2 seed.

Because Houston fell to Dallas on Tuesday, the Pelicans finished as the only 3-1 team in Group B, clinching the West’s No. 3 seed.

The Suns, like New Orleans, were off on Tuesday, but benefited from the results of the action. Although the Timberwolves defeated Oklahoma City and matched Phoenix’s 3-1 record, Minnesota finished with a +0 point differential, far off the +34 mark posted by the Suns, who will be the West’s wild card team.

Here’s the quarterfinal schedule, per the NBA (Twitter link):

Monday, December 4:

Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers (7:30 pm Eastern)
New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings (10:00 pm ET)

Tuesday, December 5:

New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 pm ET)
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers (10:00 pm ET)

The winners of those games will face one another in the semifinals on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, with the finalists squaring off on Dec. 9. The quarterfinals and semifinals will count toward each club’s regular season record, but the final won’t.

The eight teams that have qualified as quarterfinalists have already earned bonuses worth $50K apiece for each of their players. Advancing to the semifinals would increase those bonuses to $100K per player, while making the final would bump the figure to $200K. The inaugural in-season tournament champion will receive bonuses of $500K per player.

Injury Notes: McCollum, James, Reddish, Murray, Markkanen, Durant, Connaughton

November 28th, 2023 at 10:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, the team’s PR department tweets. McCollum has been out since Nov. 4 after being diagnosed with a collapsed lung. McCollum has missed New Orleans’ last 12 games.

Trey Murphy III (knee) and Matt Ryan (calf) have been upgraded to doubtful. Murphy, a starter most of last season, has yet to make his season debut. Ryan hasn’t played since Nov. 18.

We have more injury-related updates:

Lakers star LeBron James is listed as questionable to play against Detroit on Wednesday due to a left calf contusion, according to the team’s PR department (hat tip to Orange County Register’s Khobi Price). Cam Reddish (left groin strain) and Anthony Davis (left adductor) are listed as probable, while Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt will not play.
Jamal Murray has been upgraded to questionable for the Nuggets’ game against Houston on Wednesday, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Murray has been out since Nov. 4 due to a hamstring strain.
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen will miss at least two more games due to a left hamstring strain, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. He’ll be reevaluated after the team returns from its two-game road trip.
The Suns have listed Kevin Durant (right foot contusion) and Grayson Allen (illness) as questionable to play Wednesday against Toronto, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.
Pat Connaughton exited the Bucks’ game on Tuesday early with a right ankle sprain, the team tweets.

Shams: Lakers Expected To Pursue LaVine

November 28th, 2023 at 9:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Expect the Lakers to express interest in the Bulls’ Zach LaVine, Shams Charania said on FanDuel TV (Twitter link). However, Charania believes the Lakers will take a “patient” approach and wouldn’t be able to swing that type of deal until some of the free agents they signed over the summer become trade-eligible. Charania believes the Bulls would demand the Lakers’ top young guard. “The Bulls, I’m sure, would covet Austin Reaves in any potential Zach LaVine trade,” he said.

Injury Notes: Ball, Bouknight, Butler, Murphy, Reddish, Oubre

November 28th, 2023 at 1:28pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s some good news and bad news on the injury front for the Hornets. The team confirmed (via Twitter) that star guard LaMelo Ball will be unavailable on Tuesday in New York for Charlotte’s final round robin game in the in-season tournament, as he’s been ruled out due to a right ankle strain.

However, guard James Bouknight, who has spent the entire season recovering from knee surgery that he underwent last month, has been cleared to return and will be active for the first time on Tuesday. According to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link), Bouknight described himself as “excited (and) anxious,” noting that it has been quite some time since he played.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

The Heat still have a chance to claim a spot in the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament with a win over Milwaukee tonight, but if they’re going to do it, they’ll need to do it without Jimmy Butler. He has been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest due to a sprained right ankle, per the team (Twitter link).
With CJ McCollum reportedly nearing a return for the Pelicans, will Trey Murphy be right behind him? Christian Clark of NOLA.com hears from multiple sources that there’s optimism Murphy could make his season debut next week. Murphy underwent surgery in September to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
Cam Reddish, who has missed the Lakers‘ past three games with a groin strain, is “extremely close” to returning, head coach Darvin Ham said on Monday, according to Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link).
Sixers forward Kelly Oubre won’t play on Wednesday, but head coach Nick Nurse isn’t ruling out the possibility that Oubre could be back in action on Friday, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. Oubre, who hasn’t played since November 10 after being struck by a vehicle, took part in contact drills in practice on Tuesday.

LeBron James: Lakers Have “A Lot” To Fix

November 28th, 2023 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

It was a historic night on Monday for Lakers star LeBron James, who became the NBA’s all-time leader in total regular season and postseason minutes, reaching 66,319 and surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (66,297). However, James also suffered the worst loss of his 21-year NBA career, as his team was on the losing end of a 44-point blowout in Philadelphia.

Asked after the game what the Lakers need to do to avoid more defeats like Monday’s, LeBron didn’t offer any specifics, but he also didn’t exactly express that the club would be fine with some minor tweaks, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.

“What needs to change in order for that not to happen again?” he said. “Um, a lot.”

Responding to a follow-up question about whether there’s anything in particular the Lakers need to focus on, James replied, “No. A lot.”

The Lakers have a 10-8 record, but their advanced stats haven’t been particularly impressive — their minus-1.9 net rating ranks 21st in the NBA, and they have the league’s 25th-best offensive rating (110.5). It has been an underwhelming few weeks for a team that made the Western Conference Finals last spring and has title aspirations this season.

Injuries are partly to blame for the Lakers’ poor start, as Jarred Vanderbilt (heel), Gabe Vincent (knee), Cam Reddish (groin), and Rui Hachimura (nasal fracture) all remain unavailable. Still, Monday’s effort was a disappointing one, with Anthony Davis suggesting after the game that a film session might be necessary before Wednesday’s contest in Detroit.

“We’ve got to look at it, embrace it, own it,” Davis said. “Guys don’t take it personal for whatever’s said in the film, and then move on from it.”

According to McMenamin, former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel conducted regular film sessions, but they sometimes became “volatile” when a player interpreted an instruction as a “pointed attack rather than a teaching moment.” Davis doesn’t think that will be an issue with this group.

“You’re sitting there and watching film … it’s also in front of the entire team, the coaching staff,” Davis said. “I don’t think we have guys who probably will take it personal. But if they do, that’s probably another conversation.”

Ham On Injuries: "We Just Have To Weather The Storm"

November 27th, 2023 at 1:36pm CST by Rory Maher

With Cam Reddish (left adductor), Rui Hachimura (nasal fracture), Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel bursitis) and Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion) all sidelined on Saturday in Cleveland, the Lakers used a shortened eight-man rotation, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. Head coach Darvin Ham says they need to “weather the storm” until they get some players back. “You have to see the glass half full always, so I’d rather this happen now with some of our guys as opposed to late March, April going into that money time,” Ham said. “We just have to weather the storm. That’s why you try to put together a deep roster. I think the plan for our team that we put together and tried to execute this summer is coming to fruition. We’re needing these pieces, being deep at every position allows you a chance to weather all of this to try to get through it at the highest level possible.” After starting the season 3-5, the Lakers have won seven of their past nine games and hold a 10-7 record.

In-Season Tournament Updates: Pacers Clinch Top-Two Seed, Six Teams Eliminated

November 25th, 2023 at 11:23am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Nuggets, Bulls, Raptors, Thunder, Clippers and Mavericks were all eliminated from the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament in the group stage following Friday’s game results, marking 12 total teams out of contention.

The Pacers and Lakers remain the only two teams to clinch spots in the quarterfinals so far, with six more spots up for grabs. The final day of group stage play is Tuesday, Nov. 28 and the quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 4 and 5.

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps took a look at all the action from Friday, which featured numerous upsets that set the stage for some interesting scenarios to play out. By beating Detroit on Friday, Indiana won East Group A and guaranteed a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks–Heat game on Tuesday dictates who earns the top overall seed in the East. If the Bucks win, Milwaukee is the conference’s top seed, but if Miami wins, it will be the Pacers. A Miami loss eliminates the Heat.

If the Heat and Knicks win, there will be a three-way tiebreaker between Miami, Milwaukee and New York that is determined by point differential. In that scenario, the Heat would have to beat the Bucks by eight more points than the Knicks beat the Hornets on Tuesday in order to have a chance.

Orlando defeated Boston on Friday, meaning the Magic‘s chances of winning East Group C are bolstered. With the Raptors and Bulls eliminated, the Celtics, Magic and Nets are competing for that group.

The Suns‘ win over Memphis in their final group stage game helped them take steps toward securing a wild-card spot, finishing their games at 3-1 with a plus-34 point differential. The Lakers play in West Group A alongside the Suns and, given the wild card team plays the top seed, it’s likely they’ll face off against each other in the quarterfinals. The only way the Lakers don’t earn the West’s top seed is if the Kings beat the Warriors on Tuesday by 46 or more points.

West Group B got shaken up with the Rockets upsetting and eliminating the Nuggets on Friday, and the Pelicans are now the runaway favorite to win the group, according to Bontemps. The Pelicans beat the Clippers, eliminating them, and improving to 3-1. The Pelicans are not in front of the Suns for the wild card spot and will need the Rockets to lose in order to clinch the group.

The Kings are looking like a top contender for the tournament title, sitting at 3-0 and plus-29. If the Kings beat the Warriors on Tuesday, they advance. If both Sacramento and Minnesota lose, the Warriors win the group. If both Golden State and Minnesota win, it sets up a three-way tie to be decided by point differential. The Warriors are plus-5 and the Timberwolves are minus-3.

Any team that makes the quarterfinals clinches per-player bonuses worth at least $50K. The value of those bonuses would increase to $100K if they advance to the semifinals, $200K if they make the final, and $500K if they win the entire tournament.

The full in-season tournament standings can be found here.

Injury Notes: Hachimura, Porzingis, Jal. Williams, Simons

November 24th, 2023 at 6:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Forward Rui Hachimura underwent surgery on Friday to repair a nasal fracture he sustained during Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, the Lakers announced (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). The 25-year-old will be reevaluated in about a week.

It’s an unfortunate setback for Hachimura, who missed four games earlier this season while in the NBA’s concussion protocol. If he returns in exactly one week, which seems optimistic, he would miss another four games — the Lakers begin a four-game road trip tomorrow in Cleveland that runs through next Thursday.

Hachimura, who re-signed with L.A. as a restricted free agent over the summer, is off to a solid start to the 2023/24 season, averaging 11.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .505/.429/.786 shooting through 12 games (23.3 MPG).

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday after tweaking his left calf during Friday’s loss to Orlando (Twitter link). Porzingis, who is averaging 19.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 1.8 BPG on .553/.329/.810 shooting through 14 games (30.8 MPG) with his new club, is optimistic that the injury isn’t serious. He also says he didn’t slip, which some players have mentioned as being an issue with the in-season tournament courts.
Thunder wing Jalen Williams was unable to practice on Friday and will miss his third straight game on Saturday due to a left hip strain, tweets Rylan Stiles of Locked on Thunder. A 2022 lottery pick (12th overall) who finished runner-up for Rookie of the Year in ’22/23, Williams is averaging 17.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.6 APG on .518/.368/.880 shooting in 13 games (33.2 MPG) for Oklahoma City, which holds the second-best record in the Western Conference at 11-4.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons said his surgically repaired thumb is improving, adding that he’s been doing ball-handling and “a little bit of shooting,” according to Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). As Highkin notes, Simons has been out for approximately four weeks, and he was expected to miss about six weeks.

Reddish Day-To-Day With Groin Injury

November 23rd, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Rory Maher

Cam Reddish‘s MRI was “clean,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham told reporters, including ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). Reddish, who was sidelined for Wednesday’s game with a groin injury, is considered day-to-day. Max Christie got the start in his place.