- The Sixers have performed very well when both Embiid and Harden are on the court, but have struggled in recent weeks with just one of their two stars playing, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com, who says the team will need to find a way to address that issue. Both Embiid (back soreness) and Harden (left hamstring injury recovery) missed Monday’s game, but Philadelphia pulled out a 113-106 upset over the top-seeded Heat.
The belief around the NBA is that signing a new contract with the Wizards is the most likely offseason outcome for veteran guard Bradley Beal, writes Shams Charania of The Athletic. However, multiple sources tell Charania that the Heat are considered a “legitimate” suitor for Beal if he decides to seek a change of scenery in free agency.
Even if Beal were interested in going to Miami, it would be a challenge for the capped-out Heat to acquire him. As Charania writes, a sign-and-trade would almost certainly be necessary, and it’s a safe bet the Wizards would drive a hard bargain if they were sending their franchise player to a division rival. Reacting to the report, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald says he’d be surprised if the Heat were willing to move Tyler Herro in a sign-and-trade for Beal.
The entire scenario remains hypothetical for now. Although the Heat are one of several teams that have monitored Beal for years in case he asks to be dealt – Charania reports the Sixers also did plenty of work this season on a possible Beal trade before acquiring James Harden – the longtime Wizard has always remained committed to D.C. It sounds like there’s a good chance that trend will continue this summer.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Caleb Martin (hyperextended left knee) said on Monday that he’ll play vs. Philadelphia tonight, and head coach Erik Spoelstra said that Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain) will warm up with the intention of playing (Twitter links via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald). Sixers center Joel Embiid, meanwhile, will sit on the second night of a back-to-back set due to back soreness, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
- Victor Oladipo didn’t travel to Philadelphia due to back spasms, but the Heat don’t seem concerned about the veteran guard, tweets Chiang. “He’s just rehabbing and trying to get ready for Wednesday,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo.
- Heat big man Udonis Haslem remains interested in getting involved in the franchise’s ownership group after he retires, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays. “This is always the place I wanted to win. This is always the place I wanted to retire. This is always the place I felt I could make the biggest impact,” Haslem said, noting that he took discounts earlier in his career to stay with the Heat. “… You don’t give up $40, $50, $60 million dollars temporarily because it [isn’t] temporarily coming back. So everything I’ve done is to be part of this organization for the rest of my life.”
- DeAndre Jordan is discovering his niche as a late-season addition with the Sixers, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines. Jordan was waived by the Lakers earlier this month and subsequently signed with Philadelphia. He recorded eight points and seven rebounds in the team’s win over Dallas on Friday, logging 13 minutes off the bench.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers disagrees with the perception that his bench needs to score more, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Many league observers believe Philadelphia’s depth could be an Achilles heel, especially after the team gave up Seth Curry and Andre Drummond in last month’s deal for James Harden.
“All year, we were playing with five bench guys. I think that was too many for people,” Rivers explained. “Now, we are playing three bench guys. That’s not enough for people.”
Philadelphia’s bench consists of Shake Milton, Danny Green, Georges Niang and DeAndre Jordan, which likely isn’t better than other Eastern contenders such as Miami or Milwaukee. The team’s starting group certainly makes up for it, however.
“I think the biggest thing everyone is missing is since James has come, we play two starters with the bench,” Rivers continued, alluding to his new substitution pattern. “So when you do that, the bench guys aren’t going to score as much.
“The reason they aren’t going to score as much is because the two starters that are playing with the bench are probably scoring more when they are playing with the bench. So it does change it a little bit for sure.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers superstar Joel Embiid is eager to play in every game before the playoffs, but he understands the importance of being healthy, Pompey writes in a separate article for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid has been playing through a sore back. Philadelphia will need his production in the playoffs, as he’s currently averaging a career-high 30.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (right knee injury management) will miss the team’s game against Philadelphia on Sunday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. VanVleet played nearly 47 minutes against the Lakers in an overtime game on Friday. He leads the team in minutes per game (38.2) and is in the midst of his first All-Star campaign.
- Mitchell Robinson has provided a boost for the Knicks on the offensive glass, Pette Botte of the New York Post writes. The seven-footer has averaged just over four offensive rebounds per game this season, trailing only Grizzlies center Steven Adams. “Huge … those effort plays, they inspire your team,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Our rebounding has been off the charts, that’s a big part of winning. You have to keep improving … keep fighting, scratching. Whatever we gotta do, we gotta do right now.”
The Sixers have been successful since trading for James Harden last month, but he’s still trying to find the right balance between scoring and setting up teammates, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harden has averaged 13.7 shots per game since coming to Philadelphia, which would be his lowest total in a decade.
“You have another guy [Joel Embiid] right now who’s leading the league in scoring on my team,” Harden said after Friday’s win over the Mavericks. “Night-in and night-out, he’s used to, he’s confident of getting buckets.”
Coach Doc Rivers said earlier this week that he would like to see Harden shoot more frequently, and Embiid expressed the same sentiment on Friday, saying the former MVP needs to be more aggressive heading into the playoffs. The two players spread out the scoring duties against Dallas, with Embiid contributing 21 of his 32 points in the first half and Harden scoring 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
“I’m just trying to find a balance like I talked about before, when to be a play-maker,” Harden said. “I think tonight especially in that fourth quarter, me attacking, attacking, attacking, the play-making ability is going to come because we got lobs, we got threes. So that’s going to come with my aggressiveness. You just got to read the game. And tonight, I felt I read the game well.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Rivers indicated that he might consider resting some of his players, particularly with a tough back-to-back looming for the Sixers Sunday and Monday against the Raptors and Heat, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. That wraps up a stretch of six games in nine days with two back-to-backs and a pair of one-game road trips. “You’d rather have this at the beginning of the year,” Rivers said. “But every team, at some point, goes through a stretch like this.”
- A crucial mistake in Friday’s loss to the Lakers should be a learning experience for Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes, states Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Although Barnes had a great game with 31 points and 17 rebounds, his late inbounds pass was intercepted by Russell Westbrook, who hit a three-pointer to send the game to overtime. “It wasn’t just him,” Fred VanVleet said. “He really gave us a chance to be in the game, dominated both ends of the floor, had a couple unfortunate plays but … I’ve certainly had my share of them (and) it sucks in the moment but all you can do for those times is grow and get better at it, and Scottie will do that.”
- Celtics guard Aaron Nesmith has been upgraded to questionable for Sunday’s game, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Nesmith has missed the past two weeks with a sprained right ankle.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers wants James Harden to shoot more often, even though Harden has connected at a low percentage in recent games, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “You’ve got to be careful to keep him in scoring mode, and not put him in passing mode, because he’ll go there,” Rivers said. Harden has officially taken 11 and 12 field-goal attempts in his last two outings and has averaged 17.6 points over the last five games.
We have more on the Sixers:
- The 76ers are 7-2 in games that Harden has played, a promising start with his latest team, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Harden has asserted himself on the court as a leader and has made a good impression on his new teammates. “He’s a good teammate,” Rivers said. “Guys like him. And most of the time, guys like anyone who passes, to be honest. I think guys are already finding ways — ‘I can score off this cut. I can do things like this.’ It’s still a learning process. But you ingratiate yourself to your teammates really quickly when you start passing to them.”
- Joel Embiid could use more rest but the team can’t really afford it at this point in the season, Pompey notes in a separate story. “I started feeling (fatigue), but I have to keep pushing because we have 15 more games,” he said. Embiid, one of the NBA’s leading Most Valuable Player candidates, has averaged 35.8 MPG this month and has played 56 games, five more than he has in each of the past two regular seasons.
- Embiid remains baffled by the Ben Simmons saga, as he told Draymond Green on the Warriors forward’s podcast (hat tip to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire). “I just didn’t understand what was going on, honestly. I didn’t understand what happened and what led up to that whole situation. To this day, I don’t understand. Even when you look at it and I don’t have any problems with him and like I say, obviously we didn’t win the championship together, but in the regular season, we went dominant every single season.”
Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been an excellent fit in Denver over the last year, writes Matt Isa of Basketball News. The 6’8″ power forward, 26, is thriving during his first full season with the Nuggets after arriving from Orlando in a deadline trade during the 2020/21 season. Across 62 contests with the Nuggets, Gordon is averaging 14.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 2.5 APG. He is also connecting on 51% of his field goal attempts and 73.7% of his free-throw looks.
At 40-28, the ailing Nuggets presently occupy the sixth seed in the East, 1.5 games ahead of the seventh-seeded Timberwolves. Though Gordon never emerged as a bona fide star in Orlando, due in part to a lack of three-point shooting or ball-handling, he has found a home as a key role player for Denver. Gordon has been unlocked as a finisher alongside All-NBA center Nikola Jokic in the team’s frontcourt, opines Isa.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Nuggets MVP candidate Nikola Jokic is excited to play against one of the other leading candidates for that end-of-year award, Sixers center Joel Embiid, on a national TV contest Monday night, writes Mike Singer of the Denver Post. “He’s a great player, great,” Jokic said. “He can do everything on the floor, who is controlling the game, who is in conversation for MVP and the best player in the league. He’s so dominant. He’s skilled, but he’s so big and strong that he uses that. He’s really tough coverage for every single team in the NBA.” The 6’11” Jokic, who won the MVP award in 2021, is averaging 26.1 PPG, 13.8 RPG and 8.1 APG for Denver. He has a slash line of .573/.349/.806. Embiid is averaging 29.7 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 4.3 APG for the 40-25 Philadelphia, along with shooting splits of .489/.355/.819.
- Sidelined Jazz point guard Mike Conley pushed reserve guard Jordan Clarkson into a career-best night on offense, according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune. The 2021 Sixth Man of the Year scored 45 points on Saturday in a 134-125 win over the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back. Clarkson went 15-of-21 from the floor, including 7-for-13 from long range. “A big part of it was Mike,” Clarkson said. “When I walked in today, he was like: ‘You know what I ain’t seen you do all year? Get 40.’ And it just pinged in my head.” The 6’4″ vet has had a slightly underwhelming shooting season this year from the floor, connecting on 41.6% of his 14 field goal looks, including just 32% of his 7.7 three-point attempts.
- Clarkson seems to be comfortable playing through his shooting slumps, per Jazz.com. After a slow start to the season, Clarkson has seen a significant uptick in his play over the past month and a half. “I’m not changing anything, I’m not really thinking about stuff too much,” he said of his recent improvement. “Just coming into work.” Head coach Quin Snyder praised Clarkson’s commitment. “He’s not gonna be on the all-defensive first team, and I think he’d admit that, but he cares,” Snyder said. “The last month or so, he’s been very deliberate in his work.”
As expected, Ben Simmons faced plenty of invective from the Philadelphia faithful in his return to Wells Fargo Center, but it was the Nets who had the last laugh on Thursday night, blowing out the Sixers by a score of 129-100 in their first matchup since February’s blockbuster Simmons/James Harden trade.
Simmons, who has yet to make his Nets debut, was on the bench for the game and had no tangible impact on the outcome, but his teammates said they used the boos and insults aimed in his direction as motivation, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“Most definitely,” star forward Kevin Durant said. “We look at Ben as our brother, so we knew that this was a hostile environment and we knew he didn’t have an opportunity to play, so we wanted to come out there and have them focus on the court more so than just always focusing on him. So they focused on the court tonight, and it’s hard for you chant at Ben Simmons when you’re losing by that much.”
It’s a safe bet that Simmons will face more vitriol during future visits to Wells Fargo Center, especially once he’s actually on the court. But head coach Steve Nash said it was good for the three-time All-Star to get through his first experience as a visitor in Philadelphia.
“He looked good to me. He looked happy to be here,” Nash said, per Lewis. “I think he was happy to get it out of the way.”
Here are a few more Nets-related notes:
- Nash said on Thursday night that Simmons won’t be a full participant or play any 5-on-5 during Saturday’s practice (Twitter link via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic). There has been speculation that Simmons will return to action before the end of the month, but there’s still no set timeline for his Nets debut.
- Although Simmons was the focus on Thursday, another player who came along with him in last month’s trade played a key role in Brooklyn’s victory over Philadelphia. As Peter Botte of The New York Post details, Seth Curry‘s 24 points (on 10-of-14 shooting) against his former team were the most he had scored in a game since becoming a Net. “You could tell that he was really up for the game and up for the environment in returning to (face) his old team,” Nash said.
- The Nets’ home-heavy schedule in the season’s final month means that Kyrie Irving is now eligible to play in just four more regular season games due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com observes. Irving also wouldn’t be able to participate in a play-in game if it takes place in Toronto or Brooklyn. If the season ended today, the Nets would visit the Raptors to battle for the No. 7 seed — if they lost that play-in game, they’d host Charlotte or Atlanta for the No. 8 seed.
- While that outlook for Irving may sound ominous, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said on Wednesday that the team still believes the point guard’s status will change in the not-too-distant future (hat tip to NetsDaily). “I think around the Nets there’s still a confidence – maybe even more than an optimism – that they’re going to get Kyrie Irving on a full-time basis at some point,” Wojnarowski said.
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said today that swingman Danny Green will “most likely” miss Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn due to a finger laceration, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Due to the risk of his stitches reopening, Green may end up being sidelined for a week or more, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com.
- Ben Simmons‘ return to Philadelphia has been the focus of Thursday’s Sixers/Nets matchup, but it’ll also be the first time James Harden plays his old team since asking to be traded. As Nick Friedell of ESPN writes, Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving say they aren’t holding any grudges against their former teammate for the way things played out. “When you look at it from his perspective,” Durant said. “And you look up and Ky’s not playing and then I’m injured, he hasn’t won a championship before, so he’s looking at — he’s 32 years old, I guess, he’s looking at himself, wanting to make a decision to get on a team that can kind of get into that contending, being one of the last teams standing. … You can’t really control how somebody feels when they’re thinking like that. Hopefully he stays healthy and their team stays healthy, we stay healthy, we have a great year, they have a great year, and we just move on from this.”