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Pacific Notes: Monk, Murray, Warriors, Suns, O’Neale

April 18th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Asked earlier this week about Malik Monk‘s recovery from an MCL sprain, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) that the Kings guard still isn’t anywhere close to returning to action.

“Malik Monk is going to be out well into April and May. He’s not going to return anywhere in this play-in tournament (or) the first round,” Charania said. “The Kings are preparing to move forward here – if they do they make it into the playoffs – for at least the first round without Malik Monk.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Monk didn’t rule out the possibility of making it back during the first round if the Kings advance, but admitted that he doesn’t yet have a clear idea of what his timeline will look like, since he hasn’t gotten back on the court or done any running yet (Twitter video link). Sacramento is expected to reevaluate him around April 27.

Following a win over Golden State on Tuesday, the Kings will be in New Orleans on Friday facing a banged-up Pelicans team that will be missing star forward Zion Williamson, so there’s a path to the No. 8 seed for Sacramento. Still, it sounds as if the Kings would probably need to knock off the No. 1 Thunder in the first round to have a chance to see Monk back in action this spring.

Monk will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, with the Kings holding his Early Bird rights.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Kings star De’Aaron Fox put in significant time last offseason training with second-year forward Keegan Murray, so Fox was thrilled to see the former No. 4 overall pick have a huge game on Tuesday, writes Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Murray scored a game-high 32 points in Sacramento’s play-in victory over Golden State. “Just seeing his development, and how different he’s been,” Fox said. “… Obviously we want to see it on a consistent basis. But just seeing that come to fruition and seeing the work he put in all summer, especially on a big stage like this, it’s definitely great to see.”
Within a look at what’s next for the Warriors, Logan Murdock of The Ringer says league sources believe Andrew Wiggins will be included in trade discussions this offseason. Stephen Curry told Murdock that continuing to push toward contention is his top priority. “I want to win,” Curry said. “Plain and simple. It’s not my job to make all of those decisions, but it’s my job to hold people accountable and say I want to win, and I’ll give my input, but I just want to win.”
An unrestricted free agent this offseason, veteran forward Royce O’Neale suggested that he has enjoyed his time in Phoenix and would be open to re-signing with the Suns. “Yeah, for sure. It’s a great place, team, organization,” O’Neale said (Twitter video link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports). “It’s been great since I’ve been here, since day one.”
Already projected to be over the second tax apron next season, the Suns may be motivated to re-sign O’Neale since they’ll have limited resources to add outside talent. But a new deal for the forward would exponentially increase the projected luxury tax bill for team owner Mat Ishbia. “(Ishbia)’s gonna cost himself a s—ton of money under the new collective bargaining agreement,” one opposing executive told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “He just is. If he wants to pay it, that’s fine. The point is that he’s mortgaged everything on this current group here, and once this runs its course … that is, when (Kevin Durant) starts to slow down — and he hasn’t yet; he’s still very good — they’re going to be in a tough situation.”

Warriors Notes: Thompson, Kuminga, Wiggins, Payton, Looney

April 17th, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Klay Thompson wasn’t ready to talk about free agency after Tuesday’s play-in loss at Sacramento, but it’s a topic that will dominate the Warriors‘ offseason, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Asked about his plans at a post-game press conference, Thompson reminded reporters that it’s only April 17 and a lot can happen by the start of July.

Although Thompson mostly avoided the subject, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr were vocal about the need to bring him back. Thompson appreciates the support after all they’ve accomplished together.

“It means a lot,” Thompson said. “I mean, we’ve been through the highest of highs and lows. Whether it’s losing a championship, winning a championship, missing the playoffs, we’ve been through everything together, so that does mean a lot. It makes me grateful to have the times I’ve had with them. Like, that was pretty historic stuff.”

A source told Andrews that having a chance to win will be Thompson’s priority as he considers his next contract. His preference is to remain with Golden State, and Andrews expects that he will if the team finds a way to show its appreciation for his years of service.

There’s more on the Warriors:

At today’s exit interviews, Jonathan Kuminga seemed surprised when he was asked about a potential rookie scale extension this summer, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga said he’ll let his agent handle extension talks, but added, “I love it here.” Kuminga also got a question about his mid-season meeting with Kerr in which he expressed dismay about a lack of playing time. “Sometimes people don’t know you if you don’t speak,” Kuminga said. “Sometimes people don’t know what’s going on in your mind if you don’t actually get to see it. I don’t know what’s going on in my coaches’ mind if I don’t get to ask them questions, and questions is communication.”
Slater notes that Golden State explored trades involving Andrew Wiggins before the deadline and is likely to try again this summer after the worst offensive season of his career. It could be tough to find a taker with three years and $85MM left on his contract, and Wiggins preferred to avoid trade speculation. “I take care of what I can take care of,” he said. “What’s out of my control, I don’t worry about it. All I can do is work hard, train hard and do what I can do.”
Gary Payton II was frustrated to miss the play-in loss with a calf strain, Slater adds. Payton has a $9.1MM player option for next season, and he hinted that he would like to use that as a springboard for a long-term contract. “I would love to come back and run it back,” Payton said. “Better yet, just redo my whole deal and stay here for a little bit longer. We’ll figure it out.”
Slater suggests the Warriors might part with Kevon Looney, who only has a $3MM guarantee on his $8MM salary for next season. Looney indicated that he prefers to stay with Golden State, but acknowledged that the decision is out of his hands. “When you don’t make the playoffs, you lose, stuff usually happens,” he said. “So I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I should be prepared for the next step.”

Central Notes: Mitchell, Lillard, Dosunmu, Drummond, Fontecchio

April 17th, 2024 at 8:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

After missing 16 of the Cavaliers‘ final 26 games due to pain in his left knee, Donovan Mitchell said Wednesday that he’s “100 percent,” writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Mitchell had a platelet-rich plasma injection in the knee and was given plenty of rest as the team’s medical staff monitored his condition to prepare him for the postseason.

Withers notes that the injury affected Mitchell’s movement, as his usual explosiveness and quick change of direction were missing for weeks. A recent 33-point game against Indiana seemed to be a sign that he’s getting back to normal, and Mitchell said he’s ready to carry the playoff scoring load.

“That is just expected of me,” he said. “That’s who I am to myself, who everybody’s expecting me to be. But at the end of the day, I set my own personal goals and this is one of them. It just happens to align with everybody else’s expectations, too. I mean, I put that on me, and I’m not worried about that. I prepped for these moments. My teammates believe in me, and I believe in myself. Now I can sit here and say about this is all I want, but I got to go out there and do it.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

Bucks guard Damian Lillard returned to practice today after sitting out Tuesday due to left adductor pain that started over the weekend, according to an Associated Press story. Lillard did some shooting and “all of the walk-through stuff,” according to coach Doc Rivers, who hopes to have him more active when practice resumes Friday. Milwaukee was 1-8 without Lillard this season.
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, who has been dealing with a bruised quad, was cleared to play and is in the starting lineup for tonight’s game with Atlanta, tweets KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Reserve center Andre Drummond, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle, is also active (Twitter link).
Simone Fontecchio expects to return to the Pistons next season and said he’s become more familiar with coach Monty Williams’ approach to the game, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit News (Twitter link). “I’m a restricted free agent, so most likely I’m going to be here,” Fontecchio said. “That’s good because being here the last two months, I understand Monty’s system and what his philosophy is and how we play. I’m definitely going to work this offseason knowing what my role is going to be.”

Raptors Notes: Poeltl, Olynyk, Quickley, Barnes, Porter

April 17th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors expected to win a lot more than 25 games this season, but there’s more optimism than disappointment as players look to the future, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. While a series of injuries led to a nosedive after the All-Star break, there’s a feeling that things will be different with a chance to start over this fall.

“I think for sure there’s a lot of things to be excited about,” said Jakob Poeltl, who missed the final 21 games with a dislocated finger. “You could see that at times when we had our guys out there on the court — we really had limited time playing together — but still it felt good, and it looked good, and the results were there. And I don’t think those were outliers; it was more that almost all of the losses were more of the outliers than when we were actually performing.

“So that gives you a lot of confidence. That gives me a lot of hope looking forward to next season, to be able to show that more and to be able to show that from an overall talent perspective I don’t think we are where we’re supposed to be in the standings. To be able to show that will be cool.”

Grange notes that the team went through a major upheaval in the middle of the season, as seven players were traded away within six weeks, including franchise cornerstones Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. In addition to Poeltl, Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher also suffered season-ending injuries, while the deaths of relatives took RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley away from the team for a while.

“The dominos just fell,” said Kelly Olynyk, who was acquired from Utah at the trade deadline. “Injury, injury, injury, obviously, personal stuff that you can’t discount, guys having to be away from the team, that was a tough stretch there.”

There’s more from Toronto:

Quickley sounds eager to re-sign with the Raptors in free agency this summer, Grange adds. The 24-year-old guard averaged a career-best 18.6 PPG after being acquired from New York in late December. “I’ve absolutely loved Toronto since the day I got here,” Quickley said. “They’ve done nothing but show me love. Love is an action word. It’s not just something you just throw around. They’ve done that from the day I got here to today. So obviously the team and my agent have to handle everything, but I love being here in Toronto absolutely.” The Raptors can make Quickley a restricted free agent by submitting an $8.5MM qualifying offer.
The most encouraging thing to come from Toronto’s season was the progress of Barnes, who reached a new level before a broken finger put him out of action on March 1, observes Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. “I played against Scottie when I was younger,” Barrett said. “But seeing it up close and personal every day, it’s amazing what he does. He does everything.”
The Raptors issued a statement after the NBA announced Jontay Porter‘s lifetime ban for his involvement in a gambling scandal, Lewenberg tweets. “The Raptors are fully supportive of the league’s decision to ban Jontay Porter from the NBA and are grateful for the swift resolution to this investigation,” it reads. “We will continue to cooperate with all ongoing inquiries.”

Heat Notes: D. Robinson, Love, Rozier, Jovic, Adebayo

April 17th, 2024 at 6:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Duncan Robinson has been dealing with a back issue for several weeks, but he’s been cleared for the Heat’s play-in game tonight at Philadelphia, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The team’s medical staff made the decision after watching Robinson in warm-ups, and coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed it in a pregame session with reporters.

“He’s ready to go,” Spoelstra said. “It definitely won’t be what he was doing earlier in the season, that’s for sure. But it’s pretty simple right now – the rotation is the rotation. It’s all hands on deck.”

Kevin Love will also be available after missing the second half of Sunday’s game with an arm contusion. Love, who had also been dealing with an ankle injury, explained that the decision on Sunday was just a precaution.

“Arm’s not an issue, ankle’s not an issue,” he said. “I’m ready to go. So turn the page on the regular season and now we’ve got some work to do. … We were up 21 at half, so it just made sense for me to focus on this. But I feel good and I think that extra day helped.”

There’s more on the Heat:

Terry Rozier didn’t travel with the team to Philadelphia after missing the last four games of the regular season with neck spasms, Winderman adds. Team officials aren’t certain when Rozier might be able to return. “He’s been making a lot of progress,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not ready to play in an NBA playoff-level game right now. But I’m encouraged, we’re encouraged. I feel for him. He’s such a competitor. I know how badly he wants to be out here for these kind of moments that I’m talking about. But we’ll continue to treat him and see how he feels.”
Nikola Jovic only logged 13 total postseason minutes during Miami’s run to the Finals last season, but he’ll have a much larger role this time around, Winderman states in a separate story. The second-year power forward has claimed a spot in the starting lineup, bringing more versatility to the Heat’s frontcourt. “This is his opportunity,” Bam Adebayo said. “He’s being aggressive. He’s figuring out how to space the floor, how to cut, really read the game. It’s one of those things, you get enough minutes, that game starts to slow down for you. And I feel like it’s slowed down for him a lot. He’s making it hard not to play him. He sets the tone every night. He makes plays. He makes the right play. He gives those extra efforts that we need.”
Adebayo’s selection to the U.S. Olympic team gives him the chance to become the first player to win multiple gold medals as a member of the Heat, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Adebayo captured gold in Tokyo in 2021.

Clippers Notes: Leonard, Harden, Playoffs, Brown

April 17th, 2024 at 5:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kawhi Leonard‘s status remains uncertain, but coach Tyronn Lue is preparing for him to be ready when the Clippers open their first-round series with Dallas on Sunday, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Leonard, who missed the last eight games of the regular season due to inflammation in his right knee, hasn’t played since March 31.

Before today’s practice, Lue told reporters that the medical staff would determine how much Leonard would be permitted to do during the session. Team doctors were also monitoring Leonard to see how his knee responded after taking part in a quarter of Tuesday’s practice.

Lue added that Leonard is making progress, but there’s still not a set timetable for his return.

“Letting medical take over, and whatever is the best thing for Kawhi, making sure you protect him first,” Lue said. “But whatever is best for him is what we’re going to do. Not sure of the minutes yet, or how long he’ll be able to play. So we just kind of wait and take it day by day.”

There’s more on the Clippers:

James Harden is confident that he’ll be ready for the playoff opener after missing three of the team’s last four games with inflammation in his right foot, Youngmisuk adds. Harden is hoping to change his playoff reputation in L.A. after a recent history of sub-par performances. “I mean I always want to play well in the playoffs,” Harden said. “I’ve had some not great games, but I have some really good games. So for me, I think the goal is to win, and that’s the only thing that I’m missing at the highest level as far as my NBA career. Of course, I want to play well individually and then I want our team to play well. So I think it’s my job as one of the leaders on this team is to make sure our guys are fulfilling their potential and maximizing what they bring to our team to the best of their ability, game by game.”
Harden expects everyone to be more focused now that the playoffs have arrived and wasn’t bothered that Lue called the team “soft” a few weeks ago (video link from Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints). “We’re still a fairly new group,” he said. “… For me, I think it’s just not getting bored with the game, find ways to keep getting better, even when you feel like it’s a tough game or opponent might not be as good, you might not feel the best. … Now we’re locked in on one opponent.”
Kobe Brown is looking forward to his first NBA postseason, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register, who talked to Brown after last Friday’s game when the Clippers returned to the locker room to find thick scouting reports on the Mavericks on their chairs. “I’m really excited to see what it’s like,” Brown said. “We already got the playoff scouting report or whatever it is. Big packet that I’ve never had before. It’s going to be fun, exciting … I want to see how far we go. Hopefully, we can win it all. It will be fun.”

Hornets Notes: Curry, Bridges, Williams, Ball, Lee

April 17th, 2024 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Charlotte native Seth Curry was only able to suit up eight times for the Hornets after being traded to his hometown team at February’s deadline. A Grade 3 right ankle sprain ended his season early, but he anticipates resuming regular workouts soon and being fully healthy for the start of next season, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

While his $4MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed, Curry said this week that he’s hoping to stick with the Hornets.

“Yeah, I definitely want to be a part of it,” Curry said. “It’s got a great, talented locker room. I think the health has been talked about enough, but the health is the main thing. If we get everybody on the court we can definitely have some success and have the foundation, the talent to compete and make the playoffs here. But like I said, it means more for me to play here.”

At age 33, Curry became the oldest player on the Hornets’ roster. And with veterans like Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier traded away during the season, he quickly emerged as a leader in the locker room.

“It’s funny,” he said. “It happened quick, but I’ve become the oldest guy in the room, most experienced. So, guys were looking at me for wisdom and I was just trying to spread that around the locker room, try to be an example on the floor and off the floor, in the training room, on the bench try to help them as much as possible. Use my eyes, my experience to help those guys play better toward the end of the season, and hopefully that carries into the offseason and next year.”

Here’s more on the Hornets:

Veteran forward Miles Bridges, who told the Hornets in February that he wouldn’t sign off on a trade, reiterated this week that his goal in unrestricted free agency is to re-sign with the team. “Yeah, it’s still the same,” Bridges said, per Boone. “I would love to be here. That’s my plan to be here. So, like I said, I love the city of Charlotte. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” As Boone writes in a separate story, one big offseason question to answer in Charlotte is how the new front office feels about Bridges, who has thrived on the court but has been accused of multiple domestic assaults off the court.
Hornets center Mark Williams doesn’t want to be labeled injury-prone and is determined to return better than ever from the nagging back issues that limited him to 19 games this season, Boone relays. “I’m definitely starting to feel better and I’m able to do more. It’s not something where it’s really going to linger,” Williams said. “I’m aiming to play every game next year, so it’s definitely not something I like doing — sitting out. It’s definitely tough. It was a tough year for us. I’m excited for the future, though.”
After only playing 58 games over the past two seasons due to ankle problems, LaMelo Ball said he’s going to experiment with protective braces this summer to see if he can find something that feels good, according to Steve Reed of The Associated Press. Ball tried out braces in practices at the start of the 2023/24 season, but didn’t find any that he was entirely comfortable with, Reed adds.
It would be surprising if the Hornets don’t have an agreement in place with their next head coach within the next couple weeks, Boone writes in another story for The Observer. Celtics assistant Charles Lee, who was initially identified as a possible frontrunner when word broke that Steve Clifford was stepping down, remains a strong candidate for the job, according to Boone.

Draft Notes: Furphy, Beekman, More Early Entrants, NTX Combine

April 17th, 2024 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Following a promising freshman season at Kansas, Jayhawks wing Johnny Furphy has announced that he’ll enter the 2024 NBA draft while retaining his NCAA eligibility (Twitter link).

Starting 19 of the 33 games he played in his first college season, Furphy averaged 9.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 24.1 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .466/.352/.765. He’s viewed as a potential first-round pick if he keeps his name in this year’s draft, coming in at No. 28 on ESPN’s big board.

Whether or not he decides to go pro, it figures to be an eventful summer for Furphy, who was included on Australia’s 22-man preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics. While he may not make the 12-man roster for Paris, Furphy’s inclusion signals that the Boomers view him as a key part of the national team going forward.

Here are several more draft-related updates:

Virginia guard Reece Beekman will forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter this year’s draft, he announced on Instagram. A two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Beekman averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in 2023/24. He’s the No. 69 prospect on ESPN’s board.
Two more players in ESPN’s top 100 have declared for the draft: Croatian power forward Andrija Jelavic (Twitter link via agent Misko Raznatovic) and Colorado State senior guard Nique Clifford (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony). Jelavic, who played for KK Mega Basket in Serbia this season, is No. 88 on ESPN’s list, while Clifford comes in at No. 95.
The following seniors are also testing the NBA draft waters as early entrants this spring while maintaining their final year of NCAA eligibility: Duke guard Jeremy Roach (Instagram link), Clemson guard Chase Hunter (Twitter link), and St. John’s wing Chris Ledlum (Twitter link).
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their mock draft at ESPN (Insider link). There are no surprises at the top, with Zaccharie Risacher, Alexandre Sarr, and Donovan Clingan still comprising the top three, in that order.
This year’s NTX Combine, which will feature 32 senior prospects and will be broadcast on Bally Sports, will take place from May 8-10, per an announcement (Twitter link). Cavaliers guard Craig Porter and Mavericks two-way player Dexter Dennis were among last year’s participants.

And-Ones: Team USA, Tiebreakers, W. Bynum, J. Parker, Barton

April 17th, 2024 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Olympics are still three months away, but Grant Hill – USA Basketball’s managing director for the men’s team – didn’t see any reason to wait until the summer to announce the team, given that the program already knew which 12 players it wanted to take to Paris, Hill said on a conference call on Wednesday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“We knew,” Hill said. “We didn’t necessarily plan it that way, but we knew this was the team that we wanted and we also know that there’ll be a lot of interest and a lot of people who will want to be along for this incredible journey we’re about to be on. So if we know, why wait?”

Of course, with two months of NBA playoff basketball on tap, it’s possible that one or more of the players Team USA selected for its roster will suffer an injury that prevents him from suiting up in France. Hill said USA Basketball is prepared for that possibility, pointing out that there will be plenty of time to name any necessary replacements.

“We have shown in years past that we’ve had to make changes, and we do have time in the event that something unforeseen were to happen, that we have a contingency plan and we have that at every position,” Hill said. “We hope that that doesn’t happen. But you think back to [the Tokyo Olympics in] 2021, that was the case. And I think, going through this process, you have to learn to expect at times the unexpected, be able to adapt and adjust.”

Hill said that naming the 12-man roster early will allow Team USA to begin the chemistry-building process sooner rather than later. As Bontemps writes, Hill suggested that if schedules allow for it, he’d like to have the U.S. players and coaches “jump on a Zoom” in the not-too-distant future.

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The NBA intends to tweak its end-of-season seeding tiebreaker rules to include the results of that year’s in-season tournament, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Charania, the league’s general managers will vote on whether to make advancement in the NBA Cup the first tiebreaker or whether to make it the second tiebreaker after head-to-head results.
Will Bynum, the former NBA guard who appeared in 360 regular season games for the Warriors, Pistons, and Wizards from 2005-15, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan, according to an Associated Press report. Bynum joins Keyon Dooling (30 months) and alleged ringleader Terrence Williams (10 years) as former NBA players who have been sentenced to prison time so far as a result of the fraud case.
Former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker, who signed with FC Barcelona, has agreed to extend his stay in Spain, signing a new contract with Barca Basquet that runs through 2026, the team announced in a press release.
Will Barton‘s stint with CB Granada in Spain is over after just three games, according to a press release. Barton signed with the Spanish team just over a month ago, but has since returned stateside. Granada said in its statement that it “appreciates the attitude and professionalism” the veteran wing showed in his brief time with the club.

Pelicans’ Zion Williamson Out At Least Two Weeks With Hamstring Strain

April 17th, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

1:30pm: After undergoing an MRI, Williamson has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, according to the Pelicans (Twitter link). He’ll be reevaluated in approximately two weeks, meaning that he’ll remain sidelined well beyond Friday’s play-in game if New Orleans advances.

12:51pm: Star forward Zion Williamson will be unavailable for the Pelicans when they host the Kings on Friday in the Western Conference’s final play-in game, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Williamson exited Tuesday’s game, a Pelicans loss to the Lakers, with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter due to an apparent left leg injury. Subsequent reporting suggested Williamson was dealing with a left hamstring ailment, which Wojnarowski confirms.

According to Woj, Williamson will be evaluated again in the “coming weeks.” That wording suggests that the former No. 1 overall pick wouldn’t be available to open round one of the playoffs if New Orleans defeats Sacramento on Friday.

It’s a brutal blow for the Pelicans, who were one win away from securing the No. 6 seed in the West and avoiding the play-in tournament altogether. However, they couldn’t beat the Lakers on Sunday, and that lost forced them to face the Lakers again on Tuesday in the No. 7 vs. 8 play-in game.

Williamson, who was coming off the healthiest season of his five-year NBA career (he started 70 games), had a huge night on Tuesday before injuring his hamstring, racking up 41 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to keep the Pelicans in the game. It was tied at 95 when he checked out, but Los Angeles pulled out the 110-106 victory.

Tuesday’s game was the first time Williamson had played in the postseason at the NBA level. He missed the team’s two play-in games and first-round series in 2022 and was also on the shelf for its lone play-in game in 2023.

Williamson’s fellow star forward Brandon Ingram returned on Sunday from a left knee bone bruise, but doesn’t appear to be at 100% — he logged just 25 minutes on Tuesday and New Orleans was outscored by 16 points when he was on the court. With Williamson unavailable and Ingram not operating at full strength, the Pelicans are in danger of missing the playoffs entirely for a second straight year.

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