- With Chris Paul gone, Suns star Devin Booker has taken on the dual roles of being a top scorer and primary play-maker. He’s thriving with the added responsibility, Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com notes. Booker is averaging 29.4 points, 8.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game and is scoring efficiently. “He came in scoring 70 against the Celtics pretty early in his career, so yeah, I don’t wanna say he’s just grown and grown as a scorer,” coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s always kind of had that killer instinct, but I think leadership, seeing all the different coverages that you see as an elite player over the years, it just gets you sharper with how to attack them.”
Suns guard Devin Booker and Magic forward Paolo Banchero have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced on Monday (via Twitter).
Booker, who won for the Western Conference, led Phoenix to a 4-0 week. He averaged 30.3 points, 7.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block on .481/.429/.902 shooting in his four appearances, including a game-winning three-pointer over the Knicks on Sunday. The Suns have won seven straight and currently hold an 11-6 record.
Banchero, the East’s winner, guided Orlando to a perfect 4-0 week. The 2023 Rookie of the Year averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 block on .544/.526/.625 shooting in four games, including victories over Denver and Boston. Like the Suns, the Magic have also won seven consecutive games, and are now 12-5.
According to the NBA (Twitter links), the other nominees in the West were Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Paul George, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jerami Grant and Brandon Ingram, while Jarrett Allen, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Banchero’s teammate Franz Wagner were nominated in the East.
- Suns star Kevin Durant missed his second straight game on Sunday in New York due to right foot soreness, as ESPN.com relays. Durant, who warmed up before contest before being ruled out, is considered day-to-day. Phoenix’s next game isn’t until Wednesday in Toronto, so he’ll have some extra rest the next couple days.
Kevin Durant asked the Nets for a trade in the summer of 2022 because he believed there was too much chaos to ever compete for a title, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Durant was looking for an opportunity to win more rings when he left the Warriors as a free agent in 2019, and he thought he found it when he teamed up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. However, the following three-and-a-half years were marked more by injuries, coaching changes and off-court news rather than significant wins.
“In Brooklyn? Yeah, it just wasn’t no consistency, no continuity on who we were as a team,” Durant said. “And when you want to win a championship, you’ve got to build an identity from Day 1, and it was just a lot of circumstances that were out of the players’ control that got in the way of us building our continuity. That’s just the business of basketball. That’s just the NBA in general. But we all got better as individual players, and we learned a lot from that experience — everybody from executives to players — and we can go about our NBA experience with more knowledge now.”
Durant sat out his first season with the Nets as a result of a ruptured Achilles he suffered in the 2019 playoffs, and the rest of his time there was marked by organizational instability. Players grew unhappy with head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was replaced by Steve Nash. Durant eventually called for Nash to be fired, and another coaching change came last November when the front office parted with Nash and gave the job to Jacque Vaughn.
Roster moves were frequent as well, with the highlight being the acquisition of James Harden from Houston in a 2021 blockbuster trade. However, Durant, Irving and Harden only played 16 games together before the trio was broken up when Harden was shipped to Philadelphia in February of 2022. His replacement, Ben Simmons, only saw 441 minutes in 24 games with Durant and Irving before they were both traded nine months ago.
“It’s always about next-man-up mentality in this league,” Durant said, recalling the adversity in Brooklyn. “Guys get hurt, guys not in the lineup. You get paid to be a pro for a reason. Guys have got to step up and just play the games. … You see the character of a team when you’re mixing lineups and got to fight through adversity like that.”
Durant’s first trade request wasn’t heeded right away, and he played most of last season with the Nets. Management didn’t relent until the Suns agreed to include Miles Bridges in their offer shortly before the deadline.
Although he had to wait, Durant is happy to be in Phoenix where he’s part of a new Big Three with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — although much like in Brooklyn, injuries have prevented them all from playing together. He said he never gave any thought to holding out at the start of last season to try to force Brooklyn into making a deal.
“I did try [to move earlier], they just refused to get rid of me,” Durant said. “I tried, but time ran out. I wasn’t going to miss no games because of this whole thing. So once the season rolled around, I was just like, whatever happens, it happens, and I just get ready for the season. So it worked out perfect timing, the way it’s supposed to.”
The Nuggets, Bulls, Raptors, Thunder, Clippers and Mavericks were all eliminated from the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament in the group stage following Friday’s game results, marking 12 total teams out of contention.
The Pacers and Lakers remain the only two teams to clinch spots in the quarterfinals so far, with six more spots up for grabs. The final day of group stage play is Tuesday, Nov. 28 and the quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 4 and 5.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps took a look at all the action from Friday, which featured numerous upsets that set the stage for some interesting scenarios to play out. By beating Detroit on Friday, Indiana won East Group A and guaranteed a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks–Heat game on Tuesday dictates who earns the top overall seed in the East. If the Bucks win, Milwaukee is the conference’s top seed, but if Miami wins, it will be the Pacers. A Miami loss eliminates the Heat.
If the Heat and Knicks win, there will be a three-way tiebreaker between Miami, Milwaukee and New York that is determined by point differential. In that scenario, the Heat would have to beat the Bucks by eight more points than the Knicks beat the Hornets on Tuesday in order to have a chance.
Orlando defeated Boston on Friday, meaning the Magic‘s chances of winning East Group C are bolstered. With the Raptors and Bulls eliminated, the Celtics, Magic and Nets are competing for that group.
The Suns‘ win over Memphis in their final group stage game helped them take steps toward securing a wild-card spot, finishing their games at 3-1 with a plus-34 point differential. The Lakers play in West Group A alongside the Suns and, given the wild card team plays the top seed, it’s likely they’ll face off against each other in the quarterfinals. The only way the Lakers don’t earn the West’s top seed is if the Kings beat the Warriors on Tuesday by 46 or more points.
West Group B got shaken up with the Rockets upsetting and eliminating the Nuggets on Friday, and the Pelicans are now the runaway favorite to win the group, according to Bontemps. The Pelicans beat the Clippers, eliminating them, and improving to 3-1. The Pelicans are not in front of the Suns for the wild card spot and will need the Rockets to lose in order to clinch the group.
The Kings are looking like a top contender for the tournament title, sitting at 3-0 and plus-29. If the Kings beat the Warriors on Tuesday, they advance. If both Sacramento and Minnesota lose, the Warriors win the group. If both Golden State and Minnesota win, it sets up a three-way tie to be decided by point differential. The Warriors are plus-5 and the Timberwolves are minus-3.
Any team that makes the quarterfinals clinches per-player bonuses worth at least $50K. The value of those bonuses would increase to $100K if they advance to the semifinals, $200K if they make the final, and $500K if they win the entire tournament.
The full in-season tournament standings can be found here.
Suns wing Damion Lee, who underwent right knee surgery last month, is still using crutches, but will be “off of them very soon,” head coach Frank Vogel said on Thursday (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).
At the time of Lee’s procedure, the Suns didn’t offer any sort of timetable for his recovery process, simply stating that more updates would be provided “as appropriate.” Asked on Thursday if he had a sense of whether the 31-year-old might be able to return in December or January, Vogel still wasn’t able to share any specifics.
“This year hopefully though,” Vogel said, referring to the 2023/24 season (Twitter link via Rankin).
Here’s more on the Suns:
- Star forward Kevin Durant has been listed as questionable for Friday’s game in Memphis due to right foot soreness, Rankin writes for The Arizona Republic. It sounds like a decision will be made on his availability closer to game time.
[UPDATE: Durant has been ruled out, per Rankin.] - Suns big man Drew Eubanks, who left Wednesday’s game due to a left ankle injury, has been ruled out for Friday, with the team designating the ailment as a sprain, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. In addition to Lee and Bradley Beal (back), who are sidelined with longer-term injuries, the Suns will also still be without Yuta Watanabe, who will miss a fourth consecutive contest due to a quad contusion.
- Phoenix is playing its final in-season tournament game on Friday vs. Memphis and remains in the hunt for the Western Conference’s wild card spot despite losing Group A to the Lakers, Rankin writes. A victory would result in a 3-1 record in group play, but it may need to be a blowout win to advance to the tournament quarterfinals, since they’d almost certainly need to win a point differential tiebreaker (Twitter link).
Serge Ibaka is focused more on contributing to his new EuroLeague team than returning to the NBA, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (subscription required). Ibaka signed with FC Bayern Munich this summer and is adjusting to being back in Europe again after spending the past 14 seasons in the NBA. He’s coming off a season-best 20-point game and is averaging 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per night while shooting 56.7% from the floor for the German squad.
The 34-year-old big man is grateful to be playing again after ending last season in limbo. He appeared in just 16 games with Milwaukee before being traded at the February deadline to Indiana, which waived him two days later.
“My focus is playing in Bayern. I want to keep improving here,” Ibaka said. “Playing basketball is one of the most beautiful things one can do. I didn’t play for 10 months and now I’m playing basketball, something I like to do. I’m grateful for this moment.”
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports believes the NBA needs to address its Scott Foster situation after the official’s latest incident with Warriors guard Chris Paul Wednesday night. Calling Foster “a prima donna ref” with an “outrageous and unchecked ego,” Bourguet points out that he ruined Paul’s return to Phoenix by giving him two quick technicals and ejecting him late in the first half. Suns fans turned out to welcome back one of the most significant players in franchise history, but Foster upstaged that by extending the long-running feud he has with Paul. Suns star Devin Booker told reporters that he could feel the tension between Foster and Paul before the ejection. “Yeah, ’cause I’ve seen it closely too,” Booker said. “This was long before Chris was in Phoenix, so that’s some history that they might have to settle between themselves one day, when they’re both retired.”
- Partizan Belgrade and Olimpia Milano are among the teams that have expressed interest in Goran Dragic, relays Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. The report, which originated in the Serbian media outlet SportKlub, said Dragic is still hoping for an NBA offer and is reluctant to commit to a European team. The 37-year-old point guard wasn’t picked up this summer after spending last season with Chicago and Milwaukee.
- Spain, Latvia, Greece, and Puerto Rico have emerged as the favorites to host Olympic qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Games in Paris, Urbonas adds in a separate story. A draw ceremony is set for November 27 in Switzerland, and the official announcement of the host nations is expected before then. Twenty-four nations will be vying for four Olympic spots in the six-team qualifying tournaments.
While one game isn’t enough to determine winners and losers of a trade, the Suns‘ victory over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday served as a reminder of why Phoenix traded former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton for a handful of role players led by Jusuf Nurkic, writes Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.
Nurkic, Grayson Allen, and Nassir Little all played key roles in the victory, with Nurkic in particular bouncing back from a slow start to have a big game. The veteran center finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks, and was a plus-17 in 29 minutes.
Ayton, who was a minus-33 in 31 minutes for the Blazers, is getting an opportunity to play more of a starring role in Portland, while Nurkic is happy to take a back seat to his superstar teammates in Phoenix, according to Bourguet, who suggests those roles suit the two big men based on what they hope to accomplish in the near future.
“It’s not like I’m a main player here, man, [like] I’m just gonna take the ball and do whatever I want,” Nurkic said. “I feel like people need to understand I’m here to sacrifice and do all the little stuff that they need for the game and winning basketball.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Andscape’s Marc J. Spears shares the second diary installment from Suns guard Bradley Beal, who is currently on the shelf with a back injury and said he shares fans’ frustration that the team’s big three has yet to play together. “We want it to happen more than anybody,” Beal wrote. “So, we’re all working diligently…to make sure that happens. … Before you know it, we’re all going to be clicking. And when this thing is healthy and the train is rolling, we’re going to be steaming away.”
- Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins haven’t looked quite like their usual selves so far this season, but Warriors head coach Steve Kerr referred to the two former All-Stars as “championship players” and indicated that he’s willing to be “really patient” with them, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. After Wiggins scored a season-high 31 points on Saturday and Thompson put up a season-high 20 on Monday, Kerr suggested that patience is beginning to pay off. “I think you will see a different Wiggs from here on, and I think the same thing’s going to happen with Klay,” he said.
- What has been the key for helping James Harden get comfortable with the Clippers? “Constant communication,” according to Harden and head coach Tyronn Lue, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes. Lue said his experience with Harden has been one he went through with the Clippers’ other stars too. “(They) all want to have a relationship and constant communication with the head coach and just try to figure out what they see, what the coach sees and how we can put it all together,” Lue said.
Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia is undergoing a procedure to address a corneal abrasion of his left eye, the team announced in a press release on Tuesday (Twitter link). According to the club, LaRavia will be reevaluated in about two or three weeks, so he won’t return until sometime in December, at the earliest.
It’s the latest in a growing list of injuries for the Grizzlies, who are missing big men Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke due to long-term ailments and have also had Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, and Xavier Tillman go down recently.
The Grizzlies are already carrying one extra player on their standard roster while Ja Morant is on the suspended list, but could qualify for another roster spot via the hardship provision. A team can apply for a hardship exception when it has at least four players who have missed three or more consecutive games due to injury or illness, assuming those players will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Wednesday’s game vs. Houston will be the third straight that Smart, Kennard, and Tillman have missed, so the Grizzlies could request a hardship exception after that contest if they want to try to add some extra depth.
Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- Lakers forward Cam Reddish left Tuesday’s win over Utah early due to a groin injury and didn’t return. He’ll undergo further evaluation on Wednesday to assess the severity of the injury, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Head coach Darvin Ham said that second-year guard Max Christie could play a “really prominent” role on Wednesday vs. Dallas if Reddish can’t go, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
- Suns forward Yuta Watanabe, who was unavailable for a second straight game on Tuesday, has a “deep” thigh bruise that head coach Frank Vogel described as “really painful,” per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Watanabe’s return timeline is unclear.
- Nets guard Dennis Smith Jr., affected by a lower back sprain, underwent an MRI on Tuesday, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Smith will be out for a second consecutive game on Wednesday.
- Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn added that the team should have an update on injured guard Cam Thomas (ankle sprain) later this week, according to Lewis. “He is heading in the right direction,” Vaughn said of Thomas. “Unless we wanted to be extremely proficient in giving him an MRI to compare to, to my knowledge he won’t need another MRI. He’s building towards getting back on the floor.”
- The Suns’ Yuta Watanabe missed Sunday’s game at Utah with a left quad contusion, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. He was kneed during a pick-up game on Saturday. Watanabe, who signed a two-year, veteran’s minimum contract with a player option during the offseason, had appeared in Phoenix’s first 12 games, averaging 5.3 points per night.
- Suns wing Bradley Beal, who won’t play for at least the next three weeks due to a low back strain, has dealt with nerve irritation from his back down to his legs, according to The Athletic’s Charania. Beal, who suffered the initial injury in training camp, only appeared in three games before he was sidelined again last week.