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Pacific Notes: Lakers’ Lineup, Clippers, Fox, Beal

December 23rd, 2023 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

In the wake of a four-game losing streak, Lakers coach Darvin Ham made a change to his starting lineup for tonight’s game at Oklahoma City, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Ham replaced D’Angelo Russell with Jarred Vanderbilt, giving L.A. a super-sized lineup with all the starters standing at least 6’6″.

Vanderbilt, who missed the first 20 games with inflammation in his left heel, is making his first start of the season. He admitted earlier this week that the heel is still “naturally limiting” what he’s able to do, but he told Price at Saturday’s shootaround that he feels ready to play expanded minutes.

“Physically I feel good,” Vanderbilt said. “It’s been in a few games now, so I’ve been able to try to get some rhythm and kind of catch a routine of how this year is gonna go as far as me physically and my body and maintaining throughout the season. I think I’m physically ready.”

Ham said after Wednesday’s loss at Chicago that lineup changes are “always an option,” Price adds. With the Lakers skidding after the in-season tournament and falling back to .500 for the season, Ham decided the time was right and made the move to place a greater emphasis on defense.

“When you play great defense, it makes the offense a little bit easier,” he explained. “And so just wanted to lean into that side of the ball. Obviously, we’ve been struggling in a lot of first quarters this season so we feel like being a little bit bigger on the perimeter, more athletic gives us a chance to really have this go in our favor this time.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t want to let two lopsided losses kill the momentum his team built up earlier this month, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. L.A. surrendered 145 points, its highest total of the season, while falling to Boston on Saturday in a game that was out of reach by the middle of the third quarter. Combined with Thursday’s loss at Oklahoma City, it represents a rough spot for a team that had been climbing up the Western Conference standings. “We told our team after the game, these last two games, don’t let it discourage what we’ve built and what we’ve been doing over the last three, four weeks,” Lue said.
De’Aaron Fox moved past Mike Bibby on Friday night to become the Kings‘ career leader in assists since the team moved to Sacramento, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “He’s just getting started,” coach Mike Brown said. “I think the guy is 25, 26, something like that, and he’s already broken that record. There’s going to be a lot of records that go down during his time here.”
Suns guard Bradley Beal talks to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his frustrating battle with injuries and how it has played into the team’s disappointing start.

Knicks Notes: Elite Opponents, Barrett, Skapintsev, G League Showcase

December 23rd, 2023 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks are sixth in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve displayed an alarming futility against the league’s best teams, writes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post. The trend continued Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden as a 19-point loss to the Bucks dropped New York to a combined 0-7 against Milwaukee, Boston and Minnesota. They’re 16-5 when facing anyone else.

Vaccaro points out that the schedule gives the Knicks several upcoming chances to prove they can beat an elite team. There’s a Christmas Day rematch with the Bucks, followed by a visit from the Timberwolves on January 1 and a trip to Philadelphia four days later for the first meeting of the season with the Sixers.

Coach Tom Thibodeau found today’s loss particularly frustrating because Milwaukee controlled the game from the start.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons so you’ve got to fly around, and there were times where we did it and times we didn’t do as well as we should have,” Thibodeau said. “Every aspect of the game we were a step behind, a low-energy type game. We’ve got to bounce back, we didn’t move without the ball, didn’t run the floor like we usually do. We need those hustle points.”

There’s more from New York:

The Knicks should be concerned about the prolonged slump that has affected RJ Barrett, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. After going 5-of-17 on Saturday, Barrett is shooting 36.7% from the field and 20.8% from three-point range over his last six games. “Just stay focused,” Julius Randle responded when asked what Barrett should do. “Don’t let your frustration overtake the reality of what’s really going on. Stay focused. Focus on the process each day. Don’t worry about what happened last game or the game before. Whatever it is, take that frustration, use it, work your ass off and the results will follow.”
Newly signed two-way player Dmytro Skapintsev saw about a minute of action Saturday in his Knicks debut. Thibodeau said the Ukrainian center “can pass the ball a little bit” and communicates well on defense, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
The Westchester Knicks were the champions of this week’s G League Winter Showcase, which carries a $100K bonus for each player on the winning team. Former NBA guard Brandon Goodwin earned MVP honors for the tournament (Twitter link).

Sixers Sign Kenneth Lofton Jr. To Two-Way Deal

December 23rd, 2023 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

6:00pm: Lofton’s signing is official, the Sixers announced in a press release.

12:32pm: Shortly after being waived by the Grizzlies, free agent forward Kenneth Lofton Jr. has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Sixers, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Lofton became the victim of a roster crunch in Memphis when the team needed to open up a roster spot to activate Ja Morant following the completion of his 25-game suspension. Lofton was part of the 15-man roster to open the regular season, but lost his spot to Bismack Biyombo, whom the Grizzlies signed when they placed Morant on the suspended list in early November.

Lofton, who went undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2022, spent most of his rookie season on a two-way deal with Memphis. He appeared in 24 games for the NBA club, averaging 5.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per contest, and received a promotion to the standard roster near the end of the season.

However, the burly 6’7″ forward failed to establish himself as a regular rotation piece this fall, averaging just 2.6 PPG and 1.0 RPG in 15 appearances (6.6 MPG) and making only 37.8% of his shots from the floor. Because his contract wasn’t guaranteed beyond this season, he became a logical release candidate once the Grizzlies decided they wanted to hang onto Biyombo.

In order to make room for Lofton, the Sixers are waiving guard Javonte Smart, reports Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Smart got into just one game this season for Philadelphia, having spent most of the season with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League. Across 16 Showcase Cup games for Delaware, he averaged 21.0 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 34.5 minutes per game, with an impressive shooting line of .466/.424/.970.

Lofton will add some depth to the 76ers’ frontcourt and will join guards Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council as the team’s two-way players.

Southeast Notes: Carter, Wizards, Ball, Martin

December 23rd, 2023 at 5:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic welcomed back starting center Wendell Carter Jr. this week after he missed 20 games due to surgery on a fractured bone in his left hand, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Carter got an immediate test with games on back-to-back nights against Miami and Milwaukee, and he said he’s still getting used to being on the court again.

“It’s solid,” Carter responded when asked how his hand is feeling. “I go through my stretches where I’m just more timid than anything but constantly being out there, I’ll get over it. … Walking right into a back-to-back after missing 20 games was tough, but that’s really no excuse for anything.”

Carter’s return should solidify the frontcourt for an Orlando team that has dropped four straight games after a strong start. He was greeted with two significant challenges right away, facing Bam Adebayo, who posted 18 points and seven rebounds against the Magic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who followed with 37 points and 10 rebounds the next night.

“It just shows that I’ve got to get back to where I was at before I got injured,” Carter said. “A lot of the plays out there, I felt like I was one or two steps slower than I usually am. It just gave me somewhere I can look at in terms of getting back to at some point. I definitely got a lot of respect for the coaches trusting in me [and] putting me out there when I might not be able to play my best game.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Suns guard Bradley Beal doesn’t want to see his former team move forward with relocation plans to northern Virginia. Beal, who spent 11 seasons with the Wizards before being traded this summer, appealed to owner Ted Leonsis to reconsider last week’s announcement (video link). “D.C, there is no moving to Virginia, like what is that?” Beal said. “Ted, we love you to death. We understand what you want to do and trying to do, but you can’t take the team out of D.C.”
It appears unlikely that Hornets guard LaMelo Ball can secure a spot in the All-Star Game even if he returns soon from his right ankle sprain, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer states in a mailbag column. Ball was making a strong All-Star case, averaging 24.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists before the injury, but he has only played 15 games and his candidacy figures to be affected by Charlotte’s poor record.
Hornets forward Cody Martin has been cleared to make his season debut tonight, Boone tweets. Martin underwent surgery on his left knee last season and hasn’t played since January 14.

Nets Notes: Starting Five, Bridges, DSJ, Sharpe

December 23rd, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Prior to Friday’s game vs. Denver, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn indicated that he was considering making a change to his starting lineup in order to try to address the team’s recent habit of starting games slowly, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post.

“It is really on me to take a closer look if there is a lineup change that needs to be had to get our group going,” Vaughn said. “Like I told you, I’ve been taking data of this group, how we can get out to better starts.

“… When we dig ourselves a hole, it’s a deep hole, and the mentality of starting the game has to hit first. It’s tough for us to play from behind.”

Vaughn ultimately ended up rolling out his usual five-man group of Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Cam Thomas on Friday.

As Botte notes, in Brooklyn’s previous four losses, the team was outscored 121-95 in first quarters, whereas the Nets played Denver to a 28-28 tie on Friday. However, the starting lineup didn’t contribute much to that outcome — the Nets were trailing 18-7 when Vaughn made his first substitution.

Here’s more on the Nets:

Bridges’ recent offensive slump has been a significant factor in Brooklyn’s struggles, Botte writes in another Post story. During the club’s current five-game losing streak, Bridges has averaged just 13.8 points per game and has shot 30.8% from the floor. “It’s just the way the ebbs and flow of the season go. At the end of this thing, I’m quite sure his averages will be where they’re supposed to be, and he’ll be an impactful player like he’s been the majority of this season,” Vaughn said, adding that Bridges has been strong defensively. “You just go through little patches where the ball isn’t going in for you.”
Dennis Smith Jr. had an immediate impact in his return from a lower back injury that cost him seven games, Botte writes. Smith scored seven points, handed out five assists, and was a plus-nine in 19 minutes during Friday’s loss. “I think his energy and effort are contagious,” teammate Spencer Dinwiddie said. “What he brings on the defensive end is unique to anybody on this roster. He’s an impact player.”
Examining the Nets’ goals for the rest of the season, Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) says the team needs to establish some consistency and get some clarity on which players are keepers and which ones could be trade chips.
After another strong showing against Denver on Friday (13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks), Day’Ron Sharpe is looking more and more like a player becoming a reliable NBA center, writes Collin Helwig of NetsDaily. Sharpe’s development remains a work in progress, but ideally, Helwig writes, it would follow the template laid out by past and current Nets centers Brook Lopez, Jarrett Allen, and Nic Claxton.

Injury Notes: J. Johnson, Robinson, Suggs, Tatum, Luka, Kawhi

December 23rd, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s optimism that injured Hawks forward Jalen Johnson could be back in action as soon as Tuesday vs. Chicago, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Johnson was in the midst of a breakout season before suffering a left distal radius fracture on November 25. In his 14 healthy games this year, the 22-year-old averaged 14.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 31.4 minutes per night, with a .590/.421/.774 shooting line.

As Wojnarowski details, the Hawks’ performance, especially on defense, has nosedived since Johnson injured his wrist. The team is just 4-9 and ranks 29th in defensive efficiency without him. At 12-16, Atlanta in the mix for a play-in spot and currently sits percentage points behind Chicago for the No. 10 spot in the East.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Friday that the eight-to-10 week timeline to reevaluate Mitchell Robinson‘s ankle injury remains unchanged and wouldn’t confirm that the team expects the center to miss the rest of the season. However, Thibodeau also didn’t deny that Robinson will be out for the year, simply stating that the club will know more once he’s reevaluated in February.
Still without starting point guard Markelle Fultz, the Magic are down another starting guard. Jalen Suggs, who is battling a sprained left wrist, missed Thursday’s game in Milwaukee and has been ruled out for Saturday’s contest in Indiana, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Gary Harris will get a second consecutive start tonight in place of Suggs, who said on Thursday that he doesn’t anticipate missing much time with the injury, per Beede.
A pair of All-Stars are back in action today after a one-game absence. Jayson Tatum (left ankle sprain) is available for the Celtics, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), while Luka Doncic (left quad strain) is no longer on the injury report for the Mavericks, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (left hip contusion), on the other hand, is missing a second consecutive game on Saturday vs. Boston (Twitter link via Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times).

Eric Gordon Seeking Bigger Role With Suns

December 23rd, 2023 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Eric Gordon was reinserted into the Suns‘ starting lineup for Friday’s contest in Sacramento, but had one of his worst games of the season. Gordon, who was a minus-25 in Phoenix’s 15-point loss, went scoreless for the first time this season and attempted a season-low two shots from the floor.

Speaking to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Gordon expressed some dissatisfaction with his role on offense.

“Early on in the season, it was better. And lately, there just hasn’t been an emphasis [to get me more looks],” Gordon said. “So, it’s definitely different. Lately I haven’t been getting hardly any touches really.”

Head coach Frank Vogel admitted that he’s “not doing a good enough job” making sure that Gordon gets involved in the offense, adding that the 16-year veteran is “a guy that can really help us.” Gordon, who will turn 35 on Christmas Day, tells Haynes that he plans to talk to Vogel about ways to incorporate him more.

“Everybody knows the type of player I am and what I’m about. I came here to win, but what I do is score,” Gordon said. “And I think when I score, it really opens up the door for a lot of people because I can score in big games and in big ways. That’s just what it is.”

Phoenix won seven straight games in November and had an 11-6 record at one point, but has since lost eight of 11 to slip to .500 (14-14). Gordon has averaged just 9.8 points on 8.8 shots per night during that recent stretch after posting 14.9 points on 12.1 attempts per night (with a .469/.404/.786 shooting line) through the club’s first 17 games. His usage rate has dipped to 17.5% for the season, which would be a career low.

With Bradley Beal sidelined due to an ankle injury, the Suns are looking to get some secondary offense from players besides Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. In Phoenix’s past two losses, those two stars have combined to average 59 points per night, but no other player has scored more than 11 in either game.

Pistons Owner Tom Gores: “We Will Make Changes”

December 23rd, 2023 at 11:55am CST by Tristan Tucker

After the Pistons inched closer to making the wrong kind of history by losing to the depleted Jazz on Thursday night, Pistons owner Tom Gores spoke to select media to address Detroit’s current 25-game skid.

“I think [the fans] deserve an answer,” Gores said in a Q&A with The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III and others.

While the Pistons weren’t expected to be a contender this season, they were hoping to take steps toward being a more competitive team. Clubs such as the Magic and Thunder have catapulted themselves into playoff contention this year behind young cores, and while the Pistons were definitely a tier below those two, the goal was to at least vie for a play-in spot following four straight seasons with 23 or fewer wins.

Detroit hired Monty Williams, who oversaw Phoenix’s transformation into a contender from a rebuilding team, and got former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham back from injury. The Pistons also have multiple promising young players, including Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey. Despite making what seemed like decent moves on paper, they never addressed their three-point shooting and are the worst team in the league in that regard. Now, rather than taking a leap forward, they’ve regressed and are at the lowest point of their rebuild.

However, Gores still believes in the future of the team and sees the Pistons as having the flexibility to improve moving forward.

“So, as much as this vision feels blurry, to me, it’s the same vision I had at the beginning of the season about a bright future,” Gores said. “… We have an incredible set of young players. We’ve built ourselves to be flexible and nimble, so we’re not stuck in this problem. We have a problem. We’ve lost way too many games. We’re not stuck in it, though. We’re nimble. We can bounce from this. We have a tremendous amount of cap space.”

Despite his optimistic outlook on the franchise’s overall health, Gores insisted that changes are imminent.

“We require change,” Gores said. “We’re not doing well. As far as where we were going in getting this set of players and flexibility, I think the work is still there. We have to assess what’s not working. I’m down to Monty and I talking about rotations. I don’t normally do that. Monty is so good and knows what’s he doing, he’s open to even talking about it. We do have to change something. I can’t tell you what it exactly is. … We’re on it already. We will make changes. We will make them. We don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet.”

While he was unwilling to commit to specific changes, Gores said they’ll have to be made “in the near future.” He also went on to say that a successful season would be getting wins and keeping the health of the young core in tact. However, Gores was clear he wants changes to extend to the roster as well.

“I expect [general manager] Troy [Weaver] to find ways to change the makeup of our team and find ways to be more successful,” Gores said. “I do expect him to find ways, and he knows that. If we do nothing to improve ourselves, I’m going to be disappointed. That’s nothing new to Troy. He knows that.”

Gores ended the interview by shutting down outside perceptions that there are voices moving in different directions within the organization, as well as they idea that he’d sell the team, as fans chanted on Thursday.

“They can say what they want, but that’s ridiculous,” Gores said. “Other than winning — and we should win more games — we do a lot in the community. Players, the organization, we do a lot in the community. If you put aside winning, we’ve made a very big difference in the community. That means a lot to me. I understand that’s only going to mean a lot to people if we win, but the underworking of what’s happening and with our community, over all these years, is there. We’re doing multibillion-dollar things outside of (basketball). I understand the fans being upset, but it’s a ridiculous thought.“

Wizards Notes: Poole, Kispert, Shamet, Kuzma

December 23rd, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Tristan Tucker

It’s been difficult for Wizards guard Jordan Poole to adjust to Washington on the court, as he’s averaging 17.5 points on 40.8% shooting from the floor while taking 15.1 field-goal attempts per game. However, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, he’s been an excellent fit off the court for his new team.

“He’s always got a smile on his face,” teammate Corey Kispert said. “He can talk to anybody. Off the court, he’s just a ray of light. He always brings good energy, and it’s good to see Jordan every single day when I walk into the building. I know I can count on him to pick me up if I’m not feeling great.”

While Poole has been rough on defense and inconsistent on offense, he’s approaching this season with a positive outlook, Robbins writes.

“This is the most that they’ve been on me other than the playoffs or the finals,” Poole said. “I think it’s awesome, honestly, just to feel that over the course of the game how teams are over and over and over night-in, night-out coming out with physicality because that’s what’s in their game plan. That’s what coaches think would be a good way to slow me down. So, I’m embracing it, learning from it, growing from it.”

It’s evident that despite their 5-23 record as of Saturday, Poole and his teammates have established solid chemistry.

“Porzingis was the same way — kind of a pleasant surprise in the same way,” Kispert said. “We all heard a lot of rumors of him coming from Dallas and the things that happened there. And then when he showed up in our locker room, he immediately took me by surprise, and he treated everyone great. Anybody off the team or in my circle of friends back home who were asking me about him — I could only say positive things about him. And Jordan’s been the same way: [He’s] been an absolute pleasure to be a teammate of and to get to know.”

In another story about Poole’s acclimation, The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace writes about the guard’s specific adjustments to his game and the switch from Golden State to Washington. Wallace points out that Poole is no stranger to this, as it took him two years to find his groove with the Warriors.

“You’ve got to just keep going, every day. The plan is the plan,” Poole said. “Someone just told me that the other day, and I kind of like it. Everything will pan itself out, you know? You’ve just got to keep doing what you’re doing as long as you’re doing it with the right intent, which I believe in 100 percent. It’s just a matter of time.”

We have more from the Wizards:

While Kispert’s efficiency on three-pointers is down so far this season — to 37.4% from 42.4% in 2022/23 on roughly the same attempts per game — Wallace writes that he has shown improvements in other areas of his game. Kispert has improved as a play-maker and off-ball mover, Wallace observes, and he’s taking smarter shots. “The growth doesn’t change no matter what my output says in the box score,” Kispert said. “I still feel it. I still know it. Obviously, I can’t let it discourage me. But some things are just out of my control as a player, and that’s just kind of the way things go.“
Guard Landry Shamet missed eight games in a row for the Wizards but made his return Friday against the Warriors (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network). Shamet played just 13 minutes in his return and didn’t score.
Forward Kyle Kuzma exited Washington’s Friday game against the Warriors with right knee soreness and did not return (Twitter link via the team). However, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears tweets that Kuzma told him that he expects to be ready for the Wizards’ next game (vs. the Magic on Tuesday).

Knicks Sign Dmytro Skapintsev To Two-Way Contract, Waive Jaylen Martin

December 23rd, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Tristan Tucker

9:00am: The Knicks have indeed waived Martin to make room for Skapintsev, according to team PR (Twitter link).

He hasn’t yet made his NBA debut, but averaged 9.7 points in 16 Showcase Cup games with Westchester. SNY’s Ian Begley tweets the Knicks still hold Martin’s G League rights if he continues to play there.

Shortly after waiving Martin, the Knicks officially announced the Skapintsev signing (Twitter link).

8:39am: The Knicks are signing center Dmytro Skapintsev to a two-way contract, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link).

With New York dealing with injuries to both Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims in the frontcourt, the 7’1″ center who has been playing with the Knicks’ G League team in Westchester will add some depth.

As we relayed on Thursday, the Knicks were said to be eyeing Skapintsev as they scanned the league for center help. As we wrote then, New York is at the roster limit for two-way contract players with Jacob Toppin, Jaylen Martin and Charlie Brown Jr. under contract. It’s worth noting the Knicks shuffled Martin on and off a two-way deal through October and November, and could do so again.

Skapintsev helped the Westchester Knicks win the G League Winter Showcase championship on Friday, as they defeated the Indiana Mad Ants 107-99. Skapintsev had six points, two rebounds and two blocks in the win and averaged 5.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks across 13 Showcase Cup games.