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Pacific Notes: Davis, Lee, Allen, Kawhi, Kings, Warriors

April 15th, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Anthony Davis missed the final six minutes of Sunday’s victory over New Orleans due to back spasms, but he’s confident he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday when the Lakers and Pelicans meet again in the play-in tournament, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“No doubt that I’m going to play,” Davis said after Sunday’s game.

Davis’ injury occurred with 5:52 remaining in the fourth quarter when he was attempting to grab a rebound and was pushed in the back by Pelicans big man Larry Nance Jr. (video link). According to McMenamin, Davis said the contract resulted in hyperextension when he landed and that his back “just locked up.”

“I was in the air,” Davis said. “Obviously it’s a dangerous play. I know he’s not a dirty player.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Suns wing Damion Lee admits that he went through some “dark days” during the lengthy recovery process from an October meniscus surgery that sidelined him for the entire regular season, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays. However, Lee is in a better place now as he nears the end of that recovery process — he also hasn’t given up on the idea of returning this spring. “To be determined,” Lee said. “I’ll just leave it at this. I feel like the longer we go in the postseason, the more likely there is a chance. No timetable necessarily. It’s all feel based. You saw me out here shooting, jumping. Running.”
Grayson Allen gave up a little money to sign an extension with the Suns, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), who says the veteran swingman could have secured $80-85MM on the open market. Allen has reportedly agreed to a four-year, $70MM deal with Phoenix.
The Clippers continue to be evasive about Kawhi Leonard‘s outlook for the start of the playoffs, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Asked on Sunday whether Leonard has been doing workouts, head coach Tyronn Lue said he’s “been doing a little something,” but Lue declined to say whether or not he expects the star forward to be available in the postseason.
It won’t be an easy path to the playoffs for the Kings or Warriors, who will each have to win two play-in games just to claim the No. 8 seed in the West. Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee takes a look at the challenge facing the Kings, while Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic checks in on a Golden State team in “March Madness mode.”

Clippers Notes: Westbrook, Leonard, Harden, Hyland

April 13th, 2024 at 10:06am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Clippers have gone 7-2 in games in which Russell Westbrook has shouldered a full workload since returning from hand surgery on March 25, helping Los Angeles regain some of the form that earned the team the top spot in the West earlier this season, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. Westbrook became the Clippers’ sixth man after they traded for James Harden, which helped propel the team to its best regular season in the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George era.

“I know who I am and what I’m able to bring to the game,” Westbrook said. “Nobody’s able to do what I can do since I got in this league. And the reason why I’m in the position I’m in is because nobody ever knew I could do [it on a] night-in and night-out basis.”

Westbrook, who has made 116 career playoff starts, will come off the bench for the first time in the postseason in the Clips’ first-round series against the Mavericks. When it comes to establishing identity and making four high-profile stars work together, George and coach Tyronn Lue pointed to Westbrook’s contributions, according to Youngmisuk.

“We owed it to him to make it work,” George said. “All of us collectively, we know what sacrifice looks like now.”

It was Westbrook who came to Lue with the idea of coming off the bench when the Clippers lost six straight after acquiring Harden. Although he’s averaging a career-low of 11.2 points per game, he’s playing better defense and said he’s in a better place mentally, according to Youngmisuk, who says Westbrook is happy in Los Angeles and is ready for whatever the future brings, whether that’s with the Clippers or not.

“If I’m here, if I’m there, I’ll do whatever the team is asking me to do,” Westbrook said. “I think there’s a narrative that people have made up that I have been fighting against …. But I’m always a team-first guy. I know how good I still am. So it doesn’t matter — starting or coming off the bench — because I know and understand what I bring to the game.”

We have more from the Clippers:

Leonard has missed the past seven games with left knee soreness and inflammation. The Orange County Register’s Mirjam Swanson argues the team is being too vague when it comes to disclosing timelines for his injuries. “With Kawhi, he’s dealing with inflammation. It’s no secret he’s had a couple surgeries to that knee. It’s not uncommon over the course of it where you deal with inflammation. With inflammation, it limits your ability to make some natural basketball moves, so he’s working his tail off, the staff is working their tail off to try to help with the inflammation,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said Friday of Leonard (Twitter link via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints).
Harden missed the past two games with a foot issue, but he started on Friday against the Jazz, though he only played nine minutes. According to Youngmisuk (Twitter link), Lue isn’t sure whether Harden’s foot injury is something that will need to be managed in the playoffs.
Bones Hyland saw his role reduced after Harden was acquired this year and he was briefly sent home alongside P.J. Tucker in February as both appeared disgruntled with their playing time, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. Hyland has taken on a bigger role since the beginning of March and has scored 57 points over his past two games. He’s is staying ready for when the team needs him, according to Carr, and is hoping to be a part of the playoff rotation. “He’s done a great job of just sticking with it, continuing to keep working, putting the work in every single day,” Lue said. “And when his name has been called, he’s been good for us. He loves to compete, he loves to play, but right now with the circumstances the way they are, he’s done a good job of just handling the whole situation.“

Pacific Notes: O’Neale, Allen, Hyland, Leonard, Monk, Sabonis

April 11th, 2024 at 9:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns coach Frank Vogel switched up his rotation in the team’s 124-108 win over the Clippers on Wednesday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports. Royce O’Neale was inserted into the lineup in place of Grayson Allen, while Thaddeus Young replaced Drew Eubanks as the backup center.

However, the Suns could go right back to Allen as the starter against Sacramento on Friday. “It’s just something we’ve been talking about,” Vogel said. “If we get into a playoff matchup where we have a bigger opponent, then we feel like (O’Neale’s) size in the starting lineup is something that would make sense. We didn’t want to go to that with Grayson coming off the bench for the first time having never done it. We used this one game to let Grayson just feel the rhythm of coming off the bench, if it’s needed in the playoffs.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell sat out the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday. Bones Hyland carried the Clippers‘ offense in their absence, pumping in a career-high 37 points, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register notes. Leonard sat out his sixth consecutive game because of inflammation in his right knee. He might not return until the postseason but coach Tyronn Lue believes his superstar forward will be ready to go by that point.
Kings guard Malik Monk was the solid frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year award until he suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee late last month. Center Domantas Sabonis said Monk still deserves the honor. “Monk has to win it,” Sabonis told HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. “If he doesn’t win it, it’s rigged. He definitely brings energy and light. If we’re down, he’s always up and in a good mood off the court, too, so that really helps during a long season with ups and downs.” Coach Mike Brown concurs. “It should not even be a debate on Sixth Man of the Year with Malik’s body of work and us fighting for a playoff spot,” Brown said. “He should be the hands-down winner.”
Monk will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Sacramento has Early Bird rights on Monk and can sign him up to $78MM over four years. “I’d love to play here again, for sure. I’ve been here for two years and made friends with everyone, including the training staff and front office,” Monk told Scotto. Sabonis said the organization can’t afford to lose him: “We’ve got to keep him. He’s a big piece for us moving forward.”
Sabonis saw his 61-game double-double streak end on Tuesday, Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press writes. He had eight points and 13 rebounds against Oklahoma City. It’s the seventh-longest streak in league history and the longest since the NBA and ABA merged prior to the 1976/77 season.

Pacific Notes: Thomas, Thompson, Kawhi, Harden, Jones

April 9th, 2024 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Having earned a rest-of-season commitment from the Suns, Isaiah Thomas isn’t looking to just play out this season and then call it a career. He views his comeback this spring as a “stepping stone” toward continuing his playing career beyond 2023/24, he told reporters on Tuesday (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

“I want to play two to three more years,” Thomas said. “Knowing that I can still play a high level, knowing that I can still impact a locker room. That’s a positive, being able to be signed for the rest of the year and to hopefully build some momentum going into next year for myself, and into free agency.”

Thomas added that he appreciates the Suns welcoming him “with open arms” and that he likes it “a lot” in Phoenix, signaling that he’d be open to remaining with the team beyond this season if that interest is reciprocated.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Asked by teammate Draymond Green on his podcast about what factors will be most important to him during his upcoming free agency, Warriors wing Klay Thompson admitted that his contract situation weighed on him earlier this season and that it took some time for him to stop stressing about it and focus on having fun. “I want to re-sign with the Dubs, but I also have to prioritize my mental health and lay out what is important to me at this point in my career,” Thompson said (Twitter video link).
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will miss a fifth consecutive game due to right knee inflammation on Tuesday vs. Phoenix, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Los Angeles is a single win away from clinching a top-six seed and a playoff berth, but will obviously need Leonard healthy to make a deep postseason run.
James Harden‘s status for Tuesday’s game is up in the air, as he has been added to the Clippers‘ injury report with right foot inflammation, notes Youngmisuk (Twitter link).
Could Colby Jones join the likes of Keon Ellis and Davion Mitchell and become the latest Kings youngster to go from out of the rotation to playing a key role? Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee explores that question after Jones played the final six minutes of Friday’s loss to Boston and then logged a career-high 23 minutes in Sunday’s blowout win over Brooklyn. Jones was a +34 in 29 total minutes across those two appearances.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Allen, Myers, Curry, Leonard

April 6th, 2024 at 11:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

It won’t be easy for the Lakers to reach the top six in the West, but they haven’t been looking like a play-in team, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. L.A. blew out Cleveland this afternoon to move into eighth place, which is the team’s highest spot since late December. With nine wins in their last 10 games, Anthony Davis believes the Lakers are ready for whatever challenges they face in the postseason.

“We’re very confident in our ballclub,” he said after posting 22 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks and three steals. “We laugh about, like, ‘Oh, winning nine out of 10,’ and we haven’t went anywhere [in the standings]. So, it’s how good the West is. But we’re confident, very confident in our ballclub and any time we step on the floor.”

At 45-33, L.A. is a half-game behind New Orleans and a half-game ahead of Sacramento in a tight race for seedings. The Lakers trail Phoenix by a game-and-a-half for the coveted sixth spot, but they’re two games back in the loss column and will need some help to catch the Suns.

“I think the biggest difference is just that we’re just having fun,” Davis added. “We’re holding each other accountable. If somebody messes up we’re yelling, screaming at him. But nobody is taking it personal. Because we all know what we’re here for, to try to win. So we’re having fun, we’re having a great time out there playing basketball, and we’re staying together.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Suns coach Frank Vogel indicated that he might consider replacing Grayson Allen with Royce O’Neale in the starting lineup depending on the postseason matchup, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “Grayson has been our starter, I expect it to stay that way,” Vogel said, “but you get into or near the playoffs, everything is on the table.”
Appearing on JJ Redick’s podcast, former Warriors general manager Bob Myers said the team was never able to determine who provided the media with video of Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole at practice (video link from ClutchPoints). Myers said the organization conducted an investigation and even brought in a third party in an effort to find the culprit.
The Warriors will rest Stephen Curry for Sunday’s game with Utah, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga are both listed as questionable.
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will miss his fourth straight game Sunday against Cleveland for treatment and recovery on his right knee, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

L.A. Notes: Kawhi, Harden, Vanderbilt, LeBron

April 6th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard missed a third straight game on Friday due to right knee inflammation, with head coach Tyronn Lue telling reporters that the star forward is considered day to day, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Appearing on SportsCenter on Friday (Twitter video link), Youngmisuk said the injury is one the Clippers and Leonard have to manage carefully with the postseason around the corner, noting that the affected knee is the same one he underwent surgery on in both 2021 and 2023.

The expectation, according to Youngmisuk, is that Leonard shouldn’t require an extended absence, but since the Clippers are currently in a stretch of five games in seven days, the team may not be in a hurry to bring him back until the schedule lightens up a bit.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

The Clippers are hoping to get James Harden‘s offensive game back on track, as Youngmisuk said on SportsCenter and Janis Carr outlined for The Orange County Register. Friday’s 15-assist triple-double in a blowout win over Utah was a step in the right direction, but Harden was limited to just 13 points in that victory and made fewer than half of his field goal attempts for a ninth straight game. He’s averaging 12.2 PPG on 33.0% shooting during those nine games.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) will be reevaluated early next week in Los Angeles, head coach Darvin Ham said on Wednesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin provided an update of his own on Friday, tweeting that Vanderbilt has yet to be cleared for contact drills but went through an individual workout on Friday. The 25-year-old, who last played on February 1, is still working his way toward full sprinting and jumping, McMenamin adds.
Although LeBron James told reporters last weekend that he has “not very long” left in his NBA career, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) that people around James and around the NBA expect the Lakers‘ superstar forward to play for at least “one or two more years” beyond this one. Next season would be James’ 22nd, which would tie him with Vince Carter for the most in NBA history.
A year ago, the Lakers began the season with a 25-31 record before finishing on an 18-8 run. They’ve made a similar second-half push this season, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic, having gone 20-8 since starting 24-25. Due to the competitive nature of the Western Conference, Los Angeles is still in ninth place, so not even a playoff berth is assured, let alone a return to the Western Finals. “We just hope we can go through the same journey in terms of securing a playoff spot and having success — and go even deeper this time,” Ham said.

And-Ones: West, MVP Race, All-NBA, Comanche

April 3rd, 2024 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA legend Jerry West is being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for a third time, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Previously enshrined as a player (1979) and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team (2010), the 85-year-old has now been elected as a Hall of Fame contributor.

The latest induction into the Hall of Fame recognizes West’s work as a team executive, including general manager stints with the Lakers and Grizzlies, as well as time spent as a consultant for the Warriors and Clippers. West won eight championships in those roles, per ESPN, and won Executive of the Year awards in 1995 and 2004.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the runaway winner in the latest MVP straw poll conducted by Tim Bontemps of ESPN, earning 85 of 100 first-place votes from the media members who submitted mock ballots. If the real vote emulates Bontemps’ straw poll, the only drama may be whether presumed runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can hold off Luka Doncic for the No. 2 spot. Gilgeous-Alexander has been sidelined with a quad injury as of late while Doncic is coming off a second consecutive Player of the Month award.
Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all unanimous First Team picks in the tentative All-NBA teams compiled by Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko, and William Guillory of The Athletic. The trio of writers agreed on 12 All-NBA players in total, with Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Jaylen Brown, and Stephen Curry also showing up on all three 15-man lists. Domantas Sabonis, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, and Zion Williamson made multiple ballots, but not all three, with LeBron James earning a spot on only Iko’s ballot.
A March 10, 2025 trial date has been set in Clark County, Nevada for Chance Comanche, the former Stockton Kings player who has been charged with murder, writes Anthony Olivieri of ESPN.com. Comanche and his former girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, face murder and kidnapping charges related to the death of Marayna Rodgers, as we previously detailed.

Injury Notes: Leonard, Barrett, Quickley, Mitchell, Ingram

April 2nd, 2024 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will miss the team’s game on Tuesday against the Kings due to right knee soreness, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Leonard, who played 37 minutes and scored 23 points against the Hornets on Sunday, returned to Los Angeles on Monday for treatment. His status for Thursday’s game against the Nuggets is uncertain.

The fact that Leonard’s flared up is a troubling development for the Clippers, who are pointing toward to a deep playoff run. Leonard has appeared in 68 games this season, his most since the 2016/17 campaign. Norman Powell will move into the starting lineup in his place, Youngmisuk tweets.

We have more injury-related news to pass along:

RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are active for the Raptors’ game against the Lakers tonight, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Barrett hasn’t played since March 11 due to personal reasons and re-conditioning. Quickley has been out since March 17 for the same reasons.
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, who has been battling a sore left knee, will miss Tuesday’s game against Utah, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. It’s the first game of a back-to-back, with Cleveland facing Phoenix on Wednesday. Mitchell has appeared in 51 games this season and is ineligible for postseason awards.
There’s optimism that Brandon Ingram will be back in action for the Pelicans next week, The Athletic’s said Shams Charania during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run It Back program (video link). “Brandon Ingram is going to be reevaluated at the end of the week, that’ll be the two-week mark, and the hope is by that three-week mark next week, he’s going to be back in the lineup,” Charania said. Ingram is working his way back from a left knee bone contusion.

L.A. Notes: Kawhi, George, Hachimura, Lakers

March 29th, 2024 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard met the criteria for postseason award eligibility on Wednesday when he appeared in his 66th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Leonard logged just 12 minutes in one of his first 65 contests, which is why he needed a 66th game to meet that benchmark.

The achievement is notable for a couple reasons. For one, Leonard was viewed by many NBA fans as one of the faces of the new 65-game rule due to his history of load management, though he pushed back against that idea last fall.

More importantly, Leonard has built a solid All-NBA case this season, averaging 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while posting an elite .524/.415/.887 shooting line and playing strong defense. Leonard earned his sixth All-Star nod earlier this season — he has made an All-NBA team in each of his previous five All-Star seasons.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

In a pair of stories about Paul George, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines the star forward’s contract situation and considers whether a new deal with the Clippers is the likeliest outcome, while Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN explores why George has become the model NBA archetype for young NBA wings — as well as for NBA 2K players.
Making Rui Hachimura a full-time starter has been a huge success for the Lakers and has put the fifth-year forward in position to thrive, as Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group details. Since reinserting Hachimura into the starting five on February 3, the Lakers are 16-7, while the 26-year-old has averaged 15.7 PPG on .584/.453/.667 shooting in those 23 games. Head coach Darvin Ham said that playing alongside other offensive threats has given Hachimura more room to operate. “Him coming off the bench, there was times where they treated him like (LeBron James),” Ham said. “They know how he can definitely score at all three levels. He draws a lot of attention without having those guys on the floor.”
Zach Kram of The Ringer pushes back on a social media conspiracy theory that the NBA’s referees are favoring the Lakers, explaining that the free throw disparity between Los Angeles and its opponents isn’t out of the ordinary when compared to leaders in that category in previous seasons. Kram points out that the Lakers’ style of play often leads to a free throw advantage because they attempt far fewer three-pointers and more shots at the rim than average on offense, while the opposite is true on defense. The Lakers have taken 435 more free throws than their opponents, but those opponents have attempted 513 more threes than L.A, Kram adds.

Los Angeles Notes: Powell, Westbrook, Lue, Davis

March 17th, 2024 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers are a little banged up going into the game against Atlanta tonight, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register.

Norman Powell left Friday’s game against New Orleans on crutches and won’t play due tonight due to a left leg contusion. Terance Mann limped into the locker room during the first half on Friday but is in the starting lineup. Russell Westbrook is still out with a fractured left hand.

James Harden was listed as questionable but will play despite with a strained left shoulder. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are also showing signs of wear after a rugged stretch of the schedule.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

The Clippers have lost four of their last seven games and their margin for error is shrinking, Law Murray of The Athletic notes. They have fallen to fourth place in the Western Conference standings and the oldest team in the league is now forced to rely on their depth.
Coach Tyronn Lue showed signs of frustration with his team after the eight-point loss to the Pelicans, Murray tweets. He expressed that some of his players may not be as competitive as he is. “What do you mean, falls on my shoulders? I’m competitive. I’m ready to compete right now. … I don’t play, they know what we’re supposed to do. So they got to do it,” he said.
Anthony Davis suffered an eye injury during the Lakers’ loss to the Warriors. The Lakers’ struggles after he left the game proved they can’t win any meaningful games without him, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times opines. They were outscored by 13 points after he left the game, Plaschke notes, and were outscored by 18 in the paint.