NBA Postpones Sunday’s Mavericks-Bucks Game Due To Weather
The Mavericks and Bucks won’t play on Sunday in Milwaukee, the NBA announced (Twitter link). The game will be rescheduled at a future date.
According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who first reported the news (via Twitter), the Mavericks were stuck on their team plane for multiple hours due to inclement weather in Dallas. The plane was still being de-iced as of 1:30 pm CT, Townsend adds (Twitter link).
Although it was floated as an outside possibility, the game will not be rescheduled for Monday, per Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com (Twitter link). Townsend hears the most likely date for the rescheduled game is February 19.
The Mavericks are now deplaning in Dallas after the game was postponed, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who confirms the game is likely to be rescheduled after the All-Star break.
The Mavs-Bucks contest is the second game the league has rescheduled on Sunday due to the major storm in North America. The first was the Nuggets-Grizzlies matchup in Memphis.
Sunday’s Nuggets-Grizzlies Game Postponed Due To Weather
Sunday’s game between the Nuggets and Grizzlies has been postponed due to inclement weather in the Memphis area, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
The game will be rescheduled, though the date has yet to be determined, per the league.
A major winter storm has been impacting a large portion of North America since Saturday night and is expected to continue through Monday. The Mavericks originally planned to fly to Milwaukee after Saturday’s game against the Lakers but were unable to due to the weather in Dallas.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), the Mavericks are still on the team plane awaiting clearance to travel ahead of a 6:00 pm CT tipoff time against the Bucks. Depending on what happens in the next couple hours, that game may be postponed as well.
Raptors’ Poeltl Remains Out Indefinitely With Back Injury
Veteran center Jakob Poeltl remains out indefinitely due to a lower back strain, the Raptors announced on Sunday (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca).
Poeltl, who returned to Toronto on Thursday to visit a back specialist, recently received targeted pain relief treatment, per the team. His status will be updated when he returns to practice, but there’s no timeline for his return.
Poeltl has been managing the back issue since training camp and has missed 17 straight contests. Overall, he has been sidelined for 26 of Toronto’s 47 games due to the injury.
The Raptors have gone 13-8 with the Austrian big man in the lineup this season and hold a 15-11 record when Poeltl has been unable to suit up. Toronto is currently 28-19, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
While Darko Rajakovic expressed confidence last month that Poeltl’s back injury wasn’t a long-term concern, the 30-year-old has only made one brief appearance since Toronto’s head coach made those comments.
Poeltl started to ramp up his activity a couple weeks ago and was cleared for contact work, but his recovery progress reportedly “stalled,” as he was still dealing with back discomfort.
In 21 appearances this season, Poeltl has averaged 9.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals in 25.3 minutes per game. All of those statistics are down compared to 2024/25, when he averaged 14.5 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 SPG and 1.2 BPG in 29.6 MPG (57 games).
The Raptors don’t have a traditional backup center on their roster, having instead relied on Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili to man the middle with Poeltl out. Lottery pick Murray-Boyles, who has missed the past three games due to a left thumb contusion, is questionable for Sunday’s game in Oklahoma City.
Rival Teams Believe Bucks Becoming More Willing To Part With Giannis Antetokounmpo
Before Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a calf injury Friday night, momentum had been building toward a potential trade of the Bucks star before the February 5 deadline, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (subscription required).
Antetokounmpo said two weeks ago that requesting a trade is “not in my nature,” and team officials have indicated that they plan to approach the deadline as buyers in hopes of upgrading their roster. However, Fischer states that the Bucks’ poor performance since then has led to “whispers circulating throughout the league” that an Antetokounmpo deal was becoming m0re realistic.
Milwaukee has dropped five of its last six and is currently two-and-a-half games away from the final play-in spot at 18-26. After falling Wednesday to Oklahoma City, Antetokounmpo said his team was playing “selfish” basketball, and ESPN’s Shams Charania stated during a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show that Giannis’ frustration level is at “an all-time high.”
Those comments have echoed throughout the league, according to Fischer, who hears from rival team officials and a few well-placed sources that speculation surrounding Antetokounmpo is the number one topic as the deadline approaches, far ahead of potential trades involving Ja Morant, Anthony Davis or Michael Porter Jr.
The impact of Antetokounmpo’s injury, which could sideline him for four-to-six weeks, was still being assessed at mid-day Saturday, Fischer adds. It’s not certain if his absence will lessen the offers Milwaukee gets heading into the deadline or if teams will be willing to strike now in hopes that he’ll be fully recovered after the All-Star break.
Regardless, Fischer cites a growing consensus that the Bucks and their best player are headed toward parting ways, with one source telling him, “This is shaping up to be a draft-day kind of thing.”
In the wake of the injury, Fischer expects Milwaukee to abandon its stated plan of aggressively trying to add talent on the trade market. League sources tell Fischer that the Bucks weren’t making much headway with deals centered around Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis, especially with few draft assets to offer. He notes that Porter, Zach LaVine, De’Andre Hunter, Jerami Grant and Miles Bridges are among the players who have been reported as possible trade targets.
Teams are also reluctant to help the Bucks improve when they might benefit from an eventual Antetokounmpo trade, Fischer adds. Among those teams is Portland, which owns draft picks from Milwaukee in 2028, 2029 and 2030 that could be useful in helping to facilitate a deal sending Antetokounmpo to another team. Fischer states that the Trail Blazers have long been fans of Mikal Bridges and could be incentivized to help the Knicks land Antetokounmpo if they’re able to get Bridges in return.
Saturday’s Wolves-Warriors Game Postponed Until Sunday
Saturday’s game between the Timberwolves and Warriors in Minneapolis has been postponed and rescheduled for Sunday at 4:30 pm CT, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
The decision to postpone the game was made to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community,” per the league. The two teams will now have a back-to-back, as they’re also slated to play on Monday.
The news comes in the wake of a man being fatally shot by federal agents in the city on Saturday.
Ja Morant Sidelined At Least Three Weeks With Elbow Sprain
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant will miss at least three weeks due to a left elbow injury. Morant sustained a UCL sprain in his left elbow during the team’s home game against the Hawks on Wednesday, the team announced (via Twitter).
He will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks.
Along with impacting Memphis’ chances of making the postseason — the Grizzlies are currently in 12th place in the Western Conference — Morant’s injury could have a major implications on the front office’s approach to the trade deadline.
Reports surfaced early this month that Memphis was open to trading Morant. His latest injury will likely make it more difficult to deal him to any contender seeking point guard help.
Even prior to the injury, the market for Morant was limited at best. He has two more years and $87MM remaining on his five-year max contract after 2025/26. He’s making $39.4MM this season.
Conversely, the Grizzlies might be more motivated to go into sell mode, including their other star, big man Jaren Jackson Jr. To this point, they’ve shown no interest in entertaining the idea of moving Jackson.
Morant recently returned from a calf injury that sidelined him for over two weeks. He has been highly effective in the two games since recovering from that injury. He posted 24 points and 13 assists in a win over Orlando on Sunday and had 23 points, 12 assists and three blocks in 30 minutes against the Hawks.
Morant has only suited up for 20 games this season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists per contest.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Expected To Be Sidelined Several Weeks Due To Calf Injury
Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t a doctor, but he sounded like one after suffering a right calf injury in the Bucks’ 102-100 loss to the Nuggets on Friday. The Bucks superstar expects to sit out four-to-six weeks, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm and Jamal Collier of ESPN. He’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday to confirm the diagnosis.
“Probably the next steps will be, go to (an) MRI tomorrow. After the MRI, they’ll tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf, in my soleus, something. They’ll probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I’ll be out,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is from my experience being around the NBA.”
Antetokounmpo felt some pain during the first quarter and retreated to the locker room. He returned with a wrap around the calf and continued to play, logging 32 minutes and posting 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers took him out during the final minute after he pulled up lame, limped past half court and then grabbed at his right calf.
“I’ll say, I don’t (know) if this is smart or not smart, but I’ll just say my competitive spirit,” Antetokounmpo said of continuing to play after tweaking the calf in the first quarter. “Obviously, I was feeling it a majority of the game, but I did not want to stop playing. But at the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop.”
Rivers asserted that his medical staff assured him throughout the game that Antetokounmpo was healthy enough to play.
“I asked our [medical] team five different times,” Rivers said. “I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in.”
This development is not only a severe blow to the Bucks’ chances of making the playoffs — they’re 18-26 and 11th in the Eastern Conference — but could also impact the front office’s trade deadline strategy.
The future of the Bucks’ star has been an endless source of speculation. As recently as Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the former Most Valuable Player’s frustration was at an all-time high due to the team’s poor record.
Several teams have reportedly been hanging onto their top trade assets in the hopes that Antetokounmpo will end up on the trade block, but the Bucks star has said on the record that he never intends to request a trade out of Milwaukee and there has been no indication the front office would proactively look to move him.
It’s also been reported that the Bucks were looking for ways to upgrade the roster in an attempt to appease Antetokoumnpo. That approach could change if their star won’t be able to take the court for an extended period.
Milwaukee went 3-11 in the 14 games Antetokounmpo missed with a left adductor strain and a right soleus strain earlier this season.
“This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning,” Rivers said. “I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him and there’s something that is there. It keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”
The injury will likely force Giannis to miss next month’s All-Star Game. He was named an All-Star starter on Monday.
Antetokounmpo vowed to make a strong comeback, rather than sitting out the rest of the season.
“I’m going to work my butt off to come back,” he said. “That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully the team will be in a place that we can at least make the play-in or make the playoffs and just take it day by day, try to get better.”
Suns’ Jalen Green Exits Friday’s Game With Hamstring Tightness
Suns guard Jalen Green checked out of Friday’s game in Atlanta after just four minutes of playing time, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Green left Phoenix’s bench and headed back to the locker room, with the Suns later ruling him out for the remainder of the contest with what they called “precautionary right hamstring tightness.”
It’s a discouraging setback for Green and for the Suns, as the 23-year-old has repeatedly dealt with right hamstring issues over the past four-plus months.
Green just returned to action on Tuesday after missing 33 consecutive games, scoring 12 points in 20 minutes off the bench in a win at Philadelphia. Friday marked his second game back since November 8.
Strangely, Green’s latest setback closely mirrors what happened in early November, when he played 23 minutes in his season debut on Nov. 6 and then re-injured his hamstring a couple days later just seven minutes into his second game of the 2025/26 campaign.
The former No. 2 overall pick initially strained the hamstring during training camp, then aggravated it during his ramp-up process in mid-October, delaying his ’25/26 debut. He has only played in four of Phoenix’s 45 games to this point, and obviously two of those appearances were very brief.
Head coach Jordan Ott said earlier this week that Green did not aggravate his hamstring strain during his 33-game absence, explaining that the team was just being cautious with the 6’4″ shooting guard. He had come off the bench the past two contests and was on a minutes restriction.
We’ll have to wait for further updates on Green to see if he’ll miss additional time as a result of the tightness he experienced on Friday.
Bulls’ Tre Jones Out At Least Two Weeks With Hamstring Strain
Head coach Billy Donovan will be without a key member of his rotation until after the trade deadline, according to the Bulls, who announced in a press release (via Twitter) that point guard Tre Jones has been diagnosed with a strained left hamstring and will be reevaluated in two weeks.
A former second-round pick (41st overall in the 2020 draft), Jones has been productive in his first full season with Chicago, averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game across 38 appearances, including 20 starts (26.8 minutes).
While the 26-year-old isn’t much of a threat from behind the arc, shooting just 32.8% from three-point range on 1.7 attempts, he’s been highly efficient on twos (a career-high 60.9% on 6.3 attempts) and at the charity stripe (84.8% on 3.6 attempts). Jones is known for having a steady hand in the backcourt — his assist-to-turnover ratio is an excellent 4.3-to-1.
Jones has played an important role in Chicago’s three-game winning streak, including Thursday’s victory at Minnesota. Although it wasn’t explicitly stated, he likely got injured in that win over the Wolves.
The Bulls have gone just 2-4 without Jones thus far in 2025/26, notes Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). The sixth-year guard will miss at least eight games, and seems likely to be out through the All-Star break, which would increase that total to 11, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey just returned to action on Thursday after missing 11 games with his own left hamstring strain. He’s Chicago’s primary candidate for increased play-making duties with Jones sidelined.
Giannis’ Frustration Reportedly At ‘All-Time High’
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (YouTube link), Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s camp has remained in regular conversation with the Bucks regarding the superstar forward’s future and whether the team is capable of competing at the level he desires.
“Giannis and the Bucks have been having ongoing conversations about his future,” Charania said (hat tip to RealGM). “Even going back to May. Those conversations… every single passing week, every single passing month since May when I first reported he was exploring his best fits outside of Milwaukee, for really the first time. And really getting down to which team he would want to go to. Where he would want to be.
“Those conversations have only grown with every passing week and month since May. And recently, the Bucks and Giannis’ conversations have intensified in nature.”
Charania pointed out that Antetokounmpo uncharacteristically criticized the team’s “selfish” play following Wednesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City, which was missing several rotation regulars. It was the Bucks’ fourth loss in their past five games, and the past three defeats have all been lopsided.
“The frustration that Giannis Antetokounmpo has is at an all-time high,” Charania said. “He’s frustrated with the losing, he’s frustrated with the situation. And I will say this: I’ve spoken to about a dozen sources on and off for weeks now.
“The tension that is in the air within that organization, in that locker room is at an all-time high. There’s somewhat of a splintering environment that we’re seeing going on there.
“Because when a player of Giannis’ caliber maybe has a wandering eye, or maybe doesn’t know what his future holds there, and is having these intense conversations with the organization about what that looks like, there’s going to be such high levels and degrees of uncertainty within that organization.”
According to Charania, Milwaukee’s leadership met with Antetokounmpo in July and tried to pitch him on the idea that they had a roster worthy of contending for a championship, but the 31-year-old wasn’t convinced that was the case, leading to trade conversations with New York that reportedly never went anywhere.
The Bucks are currently 18-25, Charania notes, one-and-a-half games behind Atlanta for the No. 10 seed and the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Antetokounmpo has missed 14 games this season due to injuries, with Milwaukee going just 3-11 in those contests. But even when he’s been healthy, the team is a mediocre 15-14. Obviously, none of those marks lend much credence to the notion that the Bucks are a contender.
Several teams have reportedly been hanging onto their top trade assets in the hopes that Antetokounmpo will end up on the trade block, but the Bucks star has said on the record that he never intends to request a trade out of Milwaukee and there has been no indication the front office would proactively look to move him.
Reports throughout the season have indicated that the Bucks are looking to buy, not sell, to upgrade the roster around Giannis. Still, many people around the NBA believe it’s only a matter of time until the two sides split, and with Milwaukee struggling to keep pace in the playoff race, it will be interesting whether the front office doubles down on that aggressive approach or reconsiders it during the next two weeks.