- The Sixers are taking steps to make sure Wells Fargo Center isn’t filled with Knicks fans for Game 6 like it was on Sunday, per David Aldridge of The Athletic. The team’s ownership joined with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin – a former minority stakeholder in the franchise – to purchase and distribute more than 2,000 tickets from the secondary market.
Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley has been named the NBA’s Teammate of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).
The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to team,” per the NBA.
The award isn’t voted on by media members. A panel of league executives select the 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, while current players vote on the winner. Players receive 10 points for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth place.
Here are this season’s full voting results, according to the NBA, with the player’s point total noted in parentheses:
- Mike Conley, Timberwolves (1,172)
- Mikal Bridges, Nets (1,041)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (783)
- T.J. McConnell, Pacers (759)
- Georges Niang, Cavaliers (748)
- Al Horford, Celtics (634)
- Larry Nance Jr., Pelicans (627)
- Jalen Williams, Thunder (565)
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Nuggets (560)
- Dwight Powell, Mavericks (549)
- Harrison Barnes, Kings (435)
- Markelle Fultz, Magic (421)
It’s the second Teammate of the Year award for Conley, won also won it in 2018/19 when he was a member of the Grizzlies.
The award, which was introduced in ’12/13, had gone to Jrue Holiday in each of the past two seasons (and three of the past four), with Damian Lillard taking it home in 2021.
After winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for 2023/24 last week, Tyrese Maxey capped a memorable April with the biggest game of his four-year NBA career on Tuesday. The star guard scored 46 points in 52 minutes, including seven in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force the game into overtime, leading the Sixers to a Game 5 victory that kept their season alive.
“What was going through my mind was trying to survive,” Maxey said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Our season is on the line. I trust my work. I trust what I’ve done all my life, and I just tried to get to a spot, raise up and knock that shot down.”
The Sixers’ other star, Joel Embiid, had a triple-double in Tuesday’s victory, racking up 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. But Embiid, who is dealing with a sore knee, a case of Bell’s palsy, and a migraine that forced him to miss Tuesday morning’s shootaround, clearly wasn’t operating at full strength and made just 7-of-19 shots from the field. Last season’s MVP said after the game that he appreciated Maxey coming through when the club needed him most.
“Tonight, obviously based on the circumstances and knowing what was needed, based on what was happening and me not being able to be myself, he just had to do it,” Embiid said, per Bontemps. “And he did it. That’s why he is such an amazing basketball player.”
Here’s more on the Sixers, who now trail the Knicks 3-2 in their first-round series:
- Embiid has become public enemy number one among Knicks fans during the first round, especially following a physical Game 3 performance in which he was accused of committing a “dirty” foul on opposing center Mitchell Robinson. However, the Sixers star had nothing but praise for the New York faithful after being on the receiving end of their vitriol in Game 5, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “It’s not hostile. I love New York. New York is my favorite city in the world. I have a place here for the past five years. I just love New York,” Embiid said. “And then the (Knicks) fans, when you play against a team they’re always gonna pick that guy. And they seem to have picked me, which is fine. I love it. If I gotta be the punching bag and keep hearing a lot of ‘F Embiid,’ that’s ok. I love it.”
- Nick Nurse become the second NBA head coach to suffer an injury during the postseason, though it doesn’t sound as if his issue is as serious as Chris Finch‘s patellar tendon tear, which required surgery. As Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets, Nurse injured a finger during Tuesday’s game when he slammed his hand in frustration over a call. It’s unclear if he broke or sprained the finger, but the 76ers’ coach couldn’t grip a marker to draw up plays during the second half, Begley adds.
- Prior to Tuesday’s game, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer suggested that it might be a good idea to bring struggling forward Tobias Harris off the bench after he scored no more than 10 points in any of the series’ first four games. However, Nurse stuck with Harris in the starting five and the veteran rewarded his faith in Game 5, Pompey notes, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Harris was a +11 in 49 minutes of action. “Coach drew up some opportunities for me early on to get me going,” Harris said. “And I think that was just big for myself and overall, and just getting into a rhythm and getting into a flow out there.”
Don’t believe the rumor that Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker wants to be moved to the Knicks, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports reports.
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith claimed on an episode of First Take that Booker “wants to be in New York.” However, a source in Booker’s camp told Bourguet that these rumors are unequivocally false.
The Knicks have been interested in acquiring Booker since Leon Rose became their team president. Rose would like to pair him up with Jalen Brunson, according to Bourguet, and would be willing to do just about anything to make it happen. But the Knicks’ interest in Booker is one-sided, Bourguet writes, as the All-Star guard is loyal to the Suns and likes the idea of sticking with one team his entire career.
We have more on the Suns:
- Several Phoenix players hold contract options for next season and none will be watched more closely than Eric Gordon. According to the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, Gordon hasn’t made a decision on his player option. “There’s no way I’m going to make a decision right now,” Gordon said. “Just enjoy the offseason, watch a lot of these games, see what everybody is doing. We still have a talented team. We just got to jell and mesh together, but I’m not going to make a decision right now.” It’s generally expected that Gordon will decline his $3.36MM option and look for a more lucrative deal.
- Bradley Beal fully expects that the team’s big three – himself, Booker and Kevin Durant – will be more dangerous next postseason, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes relays. “We didn’t look at this thing as a one-year thing and we’re going to come in and just, we only got this year to figure it out,” Beal said. “No, we’ve got time. You don’t want to use that as a cop-out, but the reality we live in, that’s the game plan. We have a window. Yeah, it’s a short window, but we have a window, so we want to maximize it as much as possible. And obviously, we still have a lot of room to grow.”
- In case you missed it, Booker and Durant spoke about the value of continuity in the aftermath of getting swept in the playoffs.
3:32pm: The Knicks have confirmed (via Twitter) that Bogdanovic will undergo left foot surgery, announcing that he’ll be reevaluated in three months.
The team’s announcement didn’t mention anything about a procedure on his wrist, though it sounds based on reports as if that will happen as well.
2:52pm: Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic has played his last game of the 2024 postseason, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran will undergo surgeries to address two separate injuries affecting his wrist and foot.
A weekend report indicated that Bogdanovic’s left wrist surgery would likely require offseason surgery, but that he was attempting to play through that injury until the Knicks’ season ended. However, he hurt his left foot during Sunday’s Game 4 win and had already been ruled out for Tuesday’s Game 5 as a result of that new ailment.
Bogdanovic’s foot issue had been described as a contusion, though the fact that it will apparently require surgical treatment suggests there’s more to the diagnosis than that. He reportedly has ligament damage in his wrist.
One of the most notable players on the move at the trade deadline, Bogdanovic headed from Detroit to New York along with Alec Burks in exchange for a package headlined by young wing Quentin Grimes. The hope was that the two veterans would provide scoring and shooting off the Knicks’ bench, but their production dipped following the trade.
Bogdanovic’s 43.0% field goal percentage in 29 regular season games as a Knick would have been a career low, and his 37.0% rate on three-pointers was also well below his career average. He made just 7-of-24 shots (29.2%) in a limited role during the first four games of the series vs. Philadelphia.
While Bogdanovic had only been averaging about 13 minutes per contest in the postseason, his injury further diminishes an already thin Knicks frontcourt. Julius Randle is also out for the season, while Mitchell Robinson is considered day-to-day due to an ankle injury.
Bogdanovic and Robinson are two of only nine players that Tom Thibodeau has used so far in the first round, so if they’re both unavailable, the club will need to either identify a new eighth man or try to close out Philadelphia in Game 5 using a seven-man rotation.
Bogdanovic is under contract for next season, but only $2MM of his $19MM salary is guaranteed.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).
In his third season as the Celtics’ head of basketball operations after eight years as the team’s head coach, Stevens put together a dominant Boston roster that posted a 64-18 record, easily the best mark in the NBA, along with a +11.7 net rating, the third-best mark in league history.
The Celtics were coming off a 57-win season in 2022/23, but Stevens shook up the roster drastically last summer, trading away longtime defensive stalwart Marcus Smart in a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, then moving key role players Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams in a a blockbuster for Jrue Holiday as training camps got underway.
Stevens also signed several Celtics players to contract extensions in the past 12 months, including Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Holiday.
Unlike the NBA’s other major awards, the Executive of the Year is voted on by 29 team executives from around the league rather than 99 media members. Stevens received 16 of 29 potential first-place votes, along with six second-place votes and three third-place votes, for a total of 101 points (Twitter link).
The runner-up, Sam Presti of the Thunder, had 47 points, including four first-place votes. Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves also earned the top spot on four ballots en route to a third-place finish (29 points).
Knicks president Leon Rose (27 points; one first-place vote) was the only other executive to earn more than 11 points, though Nico Harrison (Mavericks) and Monte McNair (Kings) also received first-place votes, while Rockets general manager Rafael Stone earned a pair of them. A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot.
Former Raptors teammates OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa were instrumental in the Knicks’ defensive effort during their Game 4 win over the Sixers on Sunday. They guarded Joel Embiid a majority of the time with Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble and Mitchell Robinson sidelined by an ankle injury.
The Knicks’ frontcourt duo also made the right reads in rotations and pick-and-rolls, SNY TV’s Ian Begley notes. “I don’t know how to (explain it),” Achiuwa said. “It’s a feel thing between me and OG. When we’re involved in a defensive action, I understand what he wants to do, we read off each other and play off each other that way. … That’s kind of what played into it.”
- While Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was setting a franchise record for playoff points in a single game, Sixers counterpart Kyle Lowry only made one field goal in Game 4, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. Lowry, an unrestricted free agent after the season, is averaging 10.5 points and 4.0 assists per game in the series.
- Offensive rebounding was a key to the Knicks’ victory on Sunday. They grabbed 15 for the game, including seven in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Sixers 21-6 on second-chance opportunities. “That’s what they do,” 76ers forward Kelly Oubre told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Like I said, Jalen (Brunson) is putting up all the shots, but at the end of the day, like that’s what he’s supposed to do. And then everybody else is supposed to crash the glass like mad men.”
The Knicks have ruled out wing Bojan Bogdanovic for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Sixers on Tuesday, Fred Katz and Shams Charania of The Athletic report (Twitter links). Bogdanovic is dealing with a left foot contusion.
Bogdanovic was injured when he collided with Sixers’ forward Nicolas Batum just after entering Game 4 on Sunday. Bogdanovic averaged eight points and four rebounds during the first three games of the series, including a couple of clutch baskets during New York’s Game 2 victory last Monday.
With Bogdanovic departing after one minute of action, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went with a seven-man rotation for the remainder of the game.
Bogdanovic, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Detroit to bolster the Knicks’ perimeter offense, was already banged up entering the postseason. He has been dealing with a left wrist injury that may require offseason surgery.
Bogdanovic’s future with the team is uncertain. He has a $19MM contract for next season, but only $2MM is guaranteed.
The Knicks will look to close out the series without Bogdanovic on their home court.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson broke Bernard King‘s franchise record on Sunday with 47 points in New York’s Game 4 win over the Sixers. Brunson didn’t shoot well in the first two games of the series but has averaged 43 points and 11.5 assists in the last two games.
“You expect him to make every shot. He’s a great player,” Knicks forward OG Anunoby said. “Even when he was cold the first couple of games, you knew he was going to turn it around. Just ’cause we see him every day. It was going to turn around eventually.”
- Josh Hart didn’t have a field goal in the Knicks’ victory but he made his presence felt in many other areas. He grabbed 17 rebounds, dished out five assists and blocked three shots, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. “I mean, I had to do something,” Hart said. “I had five turnovers, didn’t make a shot, didn’t hit any free throws, missed two free throws late that were big. So offensively it just wasn’t there today. But when you have that, you have to try to figure out ways to still make an impact in the game. And for me that was rebounding and pushing. Offensive rebound, trying to get extra possessions. Looked athletic on a couple of blocks, so that was nice.”
- Sixers star Joel Embiid called out Philadelphia’s home crowd after the loss, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter links). The arena had plenty of fans rooting for the visitors. “Obviously you got a lot of Knicks fans and they’re down the road and I’ve never seen it and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town,” he said. “They’ve always shown up and I don’t think that should happen. Yeah. It’s not okay.”
- Knicks center Mitchell Robinson sat out Game 4 due to an ankle injury suffered in the previous game. Robinson warmed up prior to the contest but couldn’t go. Afterward, he was spotted leaving the locker room in a walking boot, Katz tweets.
1:40pm: Bogdanovic has officially been ruled out for the rest of the contest, the Knicks have announced (via Twitter).
1:31pm: Knicks reserve combo forward Bojan Bogdanovic sustained a foot injury during New York’s critical ongoing Game 4 against the Sixers this afternoon, when Philadelphia forward Nicolas Batum fell into him.
According to the Knicks (Twitter link), Bogdanovic has officially suffered a left foot contusion and is considered questionable to rejoin his teammates later in this game.
New York, despite missing All-Star power forward Julius Randle, currently leads the Sixers 2-1 in the series. The absence of Bogdanovic, a critical floor-stretcher thanks to his three-point marksmanship, could prove detrimental for a team already missing its most important forward. Bogdanovic is already grappling with a left wrist injury that may require surgery whenever the Knicks’ playoff run ends.
Bogdanovic has played a fairly limited role during his first playoff series as a Knick. He’s averaging 8.0 PPG on .292/.400/.571 shooting, 4.0 RPG, and 1.3 APG across 16.7 MPG off the New York bench.