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Dillon Brooks Suspended One Game; Donovan Mitchell Fined

February 3rd, 2023 at 5:58pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks has been suspended for one game without pay after an altercation with Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who received a $20K fine, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Brooks was suspended for initiating the incident by “striking Mitchell in the groin area in an unsportsmanlike manner,” per the league. Mitchell was fined for escalating after “throwing the game ball at and pushing Brooks,” with a minor scrum occurring afterward.

Both players were ejected; Brooks received a Flagrant 2 Foul, while Mitchell received a technical. The incident occurred about halfway through the third quarter of Cleveland’s victory over Memphis on Thursday.

According to the NBA, Brooks will serve his suspension on Sunday against Toronto. The one-game ban will cost him $78,621, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That’s 1/145th of his salary. Brooks is making $11.4MM in the final year of his contract.

Mitchell already stated he was going to appeal his ejection. He was very unhappy with Brooks after the game, calling it a “cheap shot” and said it was something that had “been brewing for years.”

Donovan Mitchell Rips Dillon Brooks For “Cheap Shot”

February 3rd, 2023 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

An altercation between Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks resulted in both players being ejected from Thursday night’s game in Cleveland and prompted Mitchell to take aim at Brooks in a post-game press conference.

Following a drive to the basket, Brooks ended up on the floor as Mitchell grabbed the rebound. As he rolled over, Brooks hit Mitchell below the belt with his forearm, which the Cavs star viewed as intentional rather than inadvertent. Mitchell immediately threw the basketball at Brooks and shoved him, which resulted in players and coaches from both teams joining the fray to separate the two (Twitter video link via TSN.ca).

After the game, Mitchell suggested to reporters, including Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, that Brooks should be called out for a history of questionable on-court behavior.

“That’s just who he is,” Mitchell said. “We have seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his ass for years. Playoffs. Regular season. And the one game he does an alright job on me today, he decides to do something like that. No place for that in the game. Gotta protect yourself. This has been brewing for years. With me. With other guys in the league. You all see it. This isn’t new. Tonight was just the end of it.

“… Tough when you can’t guard somebody and can’t do something with somebody, you have to resort to that. I’m not typically someone who gets ejected for stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I think my reaction was reacting to a cheap shot. If punishment doesn’t come from that, he’s just going to keep doing it. It’s just dumb to be honest with you and I’m going to appeal it because I don’t think I should’ve gotten ejected for defending myself.”

It’s fair to assume that both players will at least be fined for the incident, and suspensions aren’t out of the question either. Asked what sort of punishment might be appropriate for Brooks, Mitchell declined to offer any specific ideas, but said “it should be something.”

“It’s complete bulls–t. They talk s–t and that’s fine. That’s all part of basketball,” Mitchell said. “We all grew up playing that way. But when you start doing little cheap s–t like that, that ain’t it.

“… The NBA has to do something about it. I’m not the only person this has happened to and there’s no place for that in this game. I took matters into my own hands. When you have a cheap shot like that, there was no need to do that.”

Mitchell’s backcourt mates Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland both referred to Brooks’ play as “dirty,” Fedor notes.

For his part, Brooks declined to address the altercation in any detail after the game, per ESPN, with teammate Ja Morant stepping in to say the Grizzlies wouldn’t be discussing it. Morant did say he feels as if the Grizzlies’ reputation as trash talkers have made the team as an easy target for criticism.

“Anything when it comes to negative about the Grizzlies, we normally, you know, get the punishment,” Morant said. “It ain’t the same. They (the NBA) hate us.”

Antetokounmpo, James Head All-Star Starters; Embiid Falls Short

January 26th, 2023 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward LeBron James tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday with his 19th NBA All-Star selection. James, who currently shares the record with Abdul-Jabbar for most All-Star Games played with 18, was chosen as a starter, according to a league press release.

All of the starters were revealed on Thursday night.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were the other starters chosen out of the Western Conference. James will serve as a team captain for the sixth straight year, since he received the most votes.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, named a team captain for the third time, heads the list of starters out of the Eastern Conference. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Nets forward Kevin Durant, Nets guard Kyrie Irving, and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell will join him, but the league’s second-leading scorer, Sixers center Joel Embiid (33.4 PPG), didn’t garner enough votes.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

Embiid finished third in the player and media voting among Eastern Conference frontcourt players but fourth in the fan voting. All voting results can be found here.

The game will be played Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. James and Antetokounmpo will choose their teams shortly before the game begins. James will set the league record for most All-Star appearances if he plays, since Abdul-Jabbar did not play in the 1973 game after being chosen.

The reserves, which are chosen by the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 2.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Rubio, Bucks, Bogdanovic

January 25th, 2023 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell returned from a three-game absence on Tuesday after dealing with a left groin strain, but unfortunately he aggravated the injury on the final play of the loss to New York, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

“I went up to try and dunk it, both my legs cramped and my groin just tightened up and locked up on me,” Mitchell explained. “Those three things happened at the same time.”

The 26-year-old – who didn’t practice on Wednesday, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link) – was unsure of his status going forward.

“I felt it a little (earlier in the game) but nothing to the extent at the end,” he continued. “We’ll figure it out and see what happens. It felt the same as before. I don’t know what comes next. I am just upset that it … I felt good enough to come back, and for that to be the last five seconds of the game really pisses me off. … I’m praying that I’m all right.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

While Ricky Rubio admits that he’s still readjusting to the speed of the NBA game following his year-long rehab from an ACL tear, the Cavaliers point guard said he feels “the best I’ve felt in my career,” according to Russo at The Athletic.
Eric Nehm of The Athletic takes stock of how Bobby Portis‘ knee injury will impact the Bucks, exploring whether the team has enough depth on its roster to get by without the big man for a few weeks. If Serge Ibaka remains away from the Bucks, they’ll likely have to lean more on small-ball lineups when Brook Lopez is off the floor, Nehm observes.
Within a look at Khris Middleton‘s return and the Bucks‘ championship aspirations, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports confirms that the team remains “very much in play” for Suns forward Jae Crowder. However, Goodwill says he gets the sense that Milwaukee’s offer is its offer and that the Bucks will be prepared to pivot if Phoenix moves Crowder elsewhere.
James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reacts to hypothetical Bojan Bogdanovic trade offers from a handful of his fellow writers at The Athletic, evaluating whether or not the Pistons would view them as viable. Edwards ultimately passes on all five offers he receives in the exercise, since none include a first-round pick that isn’t at least lottery-protected, and Detroit wants an unprotected pick.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Central Notes: Duren, Bucks, Pacers, Mobley

January 23rd, 2023 at 9:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pistons rookie center Jalen Duren is encouraged by his development through the midway point of the 2022/23 season, writes Mike Curtis of The Detroit News. Duren, who began the year coming off the bench, has emerged as a starter for Detroit.

“I feel like I got a lot better from the first game until now,” Duren reflected. “Honestly, my biggest thing is growth. I feel like I’m going to continue to grow and develop throughout the rest of the season, too.”

Through 40 games this season, the 6’10” big man is averaging 7.8 PPG on 64.1% field goal shooting and 8.6 RPG.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

The Bucks have had difficulty controlling turnovers all season, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “It’s something we gotta work on,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Jrue (Holiday)’s just got the ball in his hands a ton. We’re asking a lot of him, putting him in a lot of stuff, but I think he can be better. And some of the other ones, I think we can clean up. The guys are trying and we have our stretches, we have our moments where it really hurts us, but it’s just an area where we can improve.” Nehm writes that the Bucks lose the rock 15.1% of the time, and rank just 21st in turnover percentage league-wide this year.
The Pacers are struggling to win without injured starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Indiana has lost seven games in a row since Haliburton got hurt on January 11 with a left elbow sprain and bone bruise. “I knew he was a great player, but having him unavailable for seven games … and losing seven games is pretty strong [evidence of] how important he is to our franchise,” head coach Rick Carlisle said.
Second-year Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley has stagnated somewhat on offense this season, thanks in part to the arrival of All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, writes Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Lloyd thinks getting the ball to Mobley early, and featuring him in the post, would be a strong way to adjust for that. The big man’s 38 points on Saturday vs. Milwaukee represented by far his highest single-game total this season.

Cavaliers Notes: Mitchell, Love, Rubio, Garland

January 18th, 2023 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell won’t be available for an inter-conference showdown in Memphis on Wednesday night, having been officially ruled out due to a left groin strain, per an Associated Press report.

Mitchell suffered the injury during the third quarter of Cleveland’s win over New Orleans on Monday and was held out of practice on Tuesday. He was originally listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game vs. the Grizzlies before being downgraded to out.

It remains to be seen whether Mitchell will have to miss more time beyond tonight’s contest. The Cavs have a challenging back-to-back set on tap for this weekend, as they’ll host Golden State on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.

Here’s more on the Cavs:

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love continues to be affected by a hairline fracture in his right thumb, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com details. At the time Love sustained the injury, on November 18, he had made 40.9% of his three-point attempts on the season. Since then, he has knocked down just 29.5%. “Still doesn’t feel right,” Love said on Monday after making just 1-of-7 shots from the field, including 0-of-4 threes.
Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said prior to Monday’s game that Ricky Rubio‘s minutes restriction would be bumped up to about 15 minutes as the team continues to monitor his return from a year-long ACL-related absence, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. Rubio, who played 10 minutes in his first game back and 13 in his second appearance, ended up logging 17 minutes on Monday.
The Cavs like what they’ve seen this season from Darius Garland, who has adjusted nicely to sharing the backcourt with Mitchell and continues to grow as a team leader, Russo writes in a full story for The Athletic. “He’s still young — more years ahead of him than he has behind him,” Caris LeVert said of his teammate. “But I think he’s done a great job of feeling it out and not being afraid to put his voice out there, not being afraid to make mistakes even with communication. I think for us to just hear his voice is huge because, obviously, we all respect his game. So just for us to hear his voice is huge.”

Jazz Notes: Olynyk, Sexton, Mitchell, Trade Deadline

January 12th, 2023 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

Jazz big man Kelly Olynyk will be sidelined for at least one week due to a left ankle sprain, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. Olynyk will receive treatment on his injured ankle and will be reevaluated next Wednesday.

After missing four games as a result of a sprained left ankle last month, Olynyk had been back for seven contests before re-injuring the same ankle on Sunday. He sat out Utah’s win over Cleveland on Tuesday and the timeline announced by the team means he’ll also be unavailable for games on Friday (vs. Orlando), Saturday (vs. Philadelphia), and Monday (at Minnesota) before being reassessed.

Here’s more on the Jazz:

A hamstring issue has kept reserve guard Collin Sexton on the shelf for Utah’s last five games, but he appears to be nearing a return. According to Walden (Twitter link), Sexton is set to participate fully in Thursday’s practice before the team determines his status for Friday’s game.
Donovan Mitchell‘s 46 points weren’t enough to get the Cavaliers a win in Utah on Tuesday, but the former Jazz star still enjoyed his return to Salt Lake City, where he spent the first five years of his NBA career. Mitchell said it “was great to be back” and expressed relief to hear cheers instead of jeers from the fans in Utah, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I was prepared for both,” said Mitchell said, who made comments in a recent interview about the racial dynamic in Utah. “I had plenty of time to think about it. But when you get that, that’s what made it feel comfortable. When you hear your name introduced, you hear the fans screaming it, you see everybody courtside, wearing your jerseys, screaming your name, that’s what allows you to feel comfortable and it is a sigh of relief.”
The Jazz have slipped in the standings following a hot start, but their 21-23 record still puts them in a play-in spot. How the next few weeks play out will likely go a long way toward determining how their trade deadline plays out, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, who notes that it would be harder to justify selling off assets if the club has another hot streak before February 9.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Bayno, Jackson, Antetokounmpo

January 9th, 2023 at 8:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell hopes he’ll get a warm reception when he returns to play in Utah on Tuesday for the first time since the Jazz traded him, he told Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“I don’t know what the response will be. I hope it’s cheers,” the Cavs star said. “We did a lot of great things there. Obviously, we didn’t accomplish our end goal. But I had a lot of positives despite not winning a championship. That’s not easy. Only one team does it. We had five cracks at it, and we missed.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno is back on the bench and traveling again after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, James Edwards III of The Athletic writes. “Thank God I got this while I was with an NBA team,” he said. “When you have good employer health insurance, it makes a huge difference.” The cancer was discovered during a screening while the Pistons were participating in the Summer League.
Pacers big man Isaiah Jackson, who had fallen out of the rotation, had an eventful and busy week, as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files notes. He was sent to Fort Wayne in the G League and played back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday. He then played 15 minutes, contributing 12 points and two blocks, in Indiana’s game against Portland on Friday. “A little tired, but I feel like that’s all mental for me right now,” he said on Sunday. “I just want to see how hard I can push myself. … I was like I might as well just to keep that momentum up. I feel good for the most part.”
The Bucks have hit a rough patch but Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t panicking, as he told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Even though we’ve lost a few games, we’re still second or third in the East,” he said. “There’s no reason to panic but there’s a reason for us to be urgent, have urgency in the way we practice and the way we play the game. But we have a chance, so as long as we get better every single day, we have a chance to be great when it matters the most.” Milwaukee has dropped six of its last nine games.

LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell Named Players Of The Week

January 9th, 2023 at 2:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers forward LeBron James and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced today (Twitter link).

Interestingly, both players only appeared in three of their teams’ four games, though they were both undefeated when they played. James won for the Western Conference, while Mitchell was the East’s winner.

The Lakers had a 4-0 week, with James averaging 35.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists while shooting 54.8% from the field and 76.7% from the free throw line. The 38-year-old has been playing incredibly well lately, but he continues to be cold from deep, shooting just 12.5% from three last week.

The Cavs went 3-1 last week, with Mitchell averaging 37.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.0 steal on .530/.353/.861 shooting in his three appearances. The highlight of Mitchell’s week, of course, was his 71-point outburst against the Bulls, as he became just the seventh player in NBA history to score 70-plus points in a game. He also contributed 11 assists, eight rebounds and a block during that performance.

According to the NBA (Twitter links), the other nominees in the West were Thomas Bryant, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaren Jackson Jr., while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Zach LaVine were nominated in the East.

Central Notes: Antetokounmpo, Holiday, LaVine, Drummond, Mitchell

January 3rd, 2023 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday are both available to play for the Bucks tonight against Washington, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. Antetokounmpo sat out Sunday’s loss to Washington due to left knee soreness. Holiday has not played since Christmas Day due to a non-COVID illness.

The Bucks have listed Khris Middleton (right knee soreness) and George Hill (non-COVID illness) as out.

We have more from the Central Division:

Zach LaVine, in the first season of a five-year max contract, admits he needs to do a better job giving consistent effort on the defensive end, he told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “That might just be finishing plays as well as the possession goes on,’’ the Bulls’ wing said. “Getting a rebound, one more contest, one more rotation, one more effort … and you know, you can take that on the chin and say, ‘Yeah, there’s been possessions where if I have to make that last rotation, I have to give a better effort toward that.’ That’s something I do have to be better at.’’
Bulls center Andre Drummond thought he’d spend his entire career with the team that drafted him, the Pistons, he told Mike Curtis of the Detroit News (subscription required). “For me, (Detroit) was always a place that I thought I was going to be for my entire career. But, it didn’t go that way,” he said. “They had other plans; I think they wanted to restart their team again and it’s never any hard feelings. I know the way of the business. It’s always love. I love (Pistons owner) Tom Gores. I love his family. I love the city of Detroit and I love the staff there.” Drummond played seven-and-a-half seasons with Detroit before he was traded to Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell‘s 71-point eruption on Monday has washed away his disappointing postseason performances with Utah last season, Michael Pina of The Ringer writes. The 25-year-old Mitchell has been as efficient offensively as he’s ever been during his career. If he can sustain that, the Cavaliers got a special talent that rarely gets traded, particularly before the player reaches age 30.