Keon Ellis

Dunn, Ellis Among Impact Role Players Ineligible For All-Defense Consideration

March 17th, 2025 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Tony Allen‘s jersey retirement ceremony in Memphis, John Hollinger of The Athletic revisits Allen’s six All-Defensive seasons for the Grizzlies and notes that the veteran guard wouldn’t have made All-Defense in five of those six years if the NBA’s current 65-game rule had been in place.

The 65-game rule doesn’t simply require players to appear in at least 65 games to earn end-of-season award consideration — it requires them to reach the 20-minute threshold in at least 63 games and to play 15 or more minutes in two others.

Allen came up short of 65 total games in three of his six All-Defensive seasons and had fewer than 63 games of 20-plus minutes in two additional seasons, despite making more than 65 appearances in each of those two years. His résumé isn’t unique among All-Defensive honorees. As Hollinger points out, the entire All-Defense second team in 2021/22 would have fallen short of the 65-game requirement.

With defensive standouts like Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis on track to play fewer than 65 games this season, there could be some spots on this year’s All-Defensive teams up for grabs for less obvious candidates. But a few of the league’s most impactful defensive role players are already ineligible for award consideration.

Hollinger singles out Clippers guard Kris Dunn as a prime example. Dunn leads the NBA in defensive box plus-minus and ranks second in the league in steal percentage, behind Dyson Daniels. He also ranks third among qualified players in deflections per 36 minutes and has been a driving force behind a Clippers defense that has the third-best defensive rating in the NBA.

Dunn has also played in 60 games this season, putting him on pace to exceed the 65-game minimum, but he has played 20-plus minutes in just 44 of those contests. With only 14 games left in the Clippers’ season, Dunn will fall short of the games-played requirement for award consideration, despite a strong case for All-Defense.

Kings guard Keon Ellis is in the same boat, Hollinger observes. Another player with high marks in categories like defensive box plus-minus, steal percentage, and deflections per 36 minutes, Ellis has appeared in 64 games but reached the 20-minute mark in only 41 of them, so he won’t reach the required minimum either.

Cason Wallace, one of the Thunder‘s best defenders, will need to play 20-plus minutes in 10 of the team’s final 14 games to qualify for award consideration. Rockets wing Amen Thompson, currently sidelined due to an ankle sprain, is still seven 20-minute games shy of the required minimum.

Pistons big man Jalen Duren recently argued that his frontcourt mate Isaiah Stewart deserves a spot on an All-Defensive team, and Fred Katz of The Athletic agreed. However, Stewart has long been ineligible for consideration — he has logged at least 20 minutes in just 24 of his 62 outings this season.

The 65-game rule currently only applies to certain awards. A player doesn’t have to meet the criteria in order to qualify for Rookie of the Year, an All-Rookie team, or Sixth Man of the Year.

In Hollinger’s view, All-Defense should get the same treatment, with the 65-game rule either relaxed or eliminated, since players who receive All-Defensive consideration often play much different roles than players who get votes for awards like MVP and All-NBA.

What do you think? Should the requirements of the 65-game rule apply for All-Defensive candidates? Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents.

Pacific Notes: LaVine, Ellis, Kawhi, Kuminga

February 26th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

It was an up-and-down first couple weeks in Sacramento for Zach LaVine, who was making just 43.0% of his shots from the floor – including 26.4% of his three-point tries – and had a -6.6 net rating as a member of the Kings entering Monday’s matchup with Charlotte.

However, LaVine enjoyed his best game of the season as either a King or a Bull on Monday, pouring in 42 points on 16-of-19 shooting in a blowout win over the Hornets. Sacramento outscored Charlotte by 36 points during his 31 minutes of action.

“I was just waiting,” said teammate DeMar DeRozan, who also played with LaVine for three years in Chicago (story via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). “It took long enough. I kept telling him the whole game, ‘Just shoot it,’ and that’s the outcome. … It’s nothing new for me. I think it was just cool to have the bench going and the crowd going as well.”

Interim Kings head coach Doug Christie said after the game that he believes LaVine has been focused more on fitting in and deferring to teammates than playing his own game. While Christie acknowledge that’s a commendable approach, he hoped to see the two-time All-Star be more assertive offensively.

“I’ve known Zach and the way he plays and what he’s capable of,” Christie said. “I have had conversations, and to his credit, I thought he’s been trying to fit in, but we need him to be himself so we can figure out how to best support him. That doesn’t mean he’s going to come out and get 42 every night, but be aggressive and stay aggressive.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Kings guard Keon Ellis exited Monday’s win over Charlotte after just nine minutes of action due to a right ankle injury, but the team has gotten good news on that front. The injury was considered minor and Ellis has been upgraded to available for Wednesday’s game in Utah, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.
After missing games on Sunday and Monday – both Clippers losses – due to left foot soreness, star forward Kawhi Leonard isn’t on the injury report for Wednesday’s game in Chicago, according to the team (Twitter link). That suggests Leonard will be active as the Clippers, in the midst of a long road trip, look to snap their three-game losing streak.
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga will remain sidelined for Thursday’s game in Orlando, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga is in the final stages of his recovery from an ankle sprain that has sidelined him since January 4 and has been scrimmaging, according to Slater, but the 22-year-old is still waiting for the final green light from trainer Rick Celebrini. A return in the middle of Golden State’s five-game road trip, which begins tomorrow and runs through next Thursday, looks like a possibility, Slater adds.

Pacific Notes: Butler, Simmons, Bogdanovic, Ellis

February 14th, 2025 at 8:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Draymond Green called new teammate Jimmy Butler a “franchise changer” after the Warriors withstood a late Rockets rally in Thursday’s win at Houston, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Golden State, which led by as many as 24 points, was only ahead by four when Butler returned to the game with 4:42 remaining. He helped lead a 9-2 run that gave the Warriors a much-needed win heading into the All-Star break.

“He’s a franchise changer,” Green said. “He’s done that everywhere he’s gone and he is helping revitalize what we got here. The belief amongst this team, now that he’s arrived, as opposed to what it was before he got here, it’s night and day.”

Butler was the team’s major addition at last week’s trade deadline after a long search to find another scorer to take some of the burden off Stephen Curry. He contributed 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists on Thursday, as Golden State is now 3-1 in the four games he has played and looks ready to move up the standings after the break ends.

“Jimmy, he’s a real deal,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I mean, just a complete basketball player, methodical, under control all the time, plays at his own pace, never turns it over, sees the game and then can get to the line frequently. Great closer, not in the traditional sense where he’s going to be Kevin Durant and make four straight mid-range jumpers, but it’s more of a complete game. Get to the line, make the right pass, get somebody else an open look, get a defensive stop, get a rebound. He’s a fantastic player.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Ben Simmons had an impressive debut with the Clippers in Thursday’s win at Utah, delivering 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in 27 minutes off the bench. Coach Tyronn Lue praised the former All-Star for fitting in quickly in his first game with his new team, relays Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter video link). “I thought he did a great job, just reading the game, his IQ, making the right play, aggressive to the basket,” Lue said.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was acquired in a trade with Atlanta, made his Clippers debut on Wednesday, per Anthony DeLeon of The Orange County Register. The veteran shooter described the experience as “a new journey” and said he’s excited to play alongside Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Keon Ellis has played an important role in the Kings‘ recent surge, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The third-year guard scored 27 points off the bench in Wednesday’s win over New Orleans.

Kings’ McNair Talks Christie, Goals, Trade Deadline, More

January 10th, 2025 at 11:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Friday to NBC Sports California’s Mark Jones, Kings general manager Monte McNair briefly addressed the team’s decision to fire Mike Brown, stressing that he appreciates the veteran coach and has the “utmost respect” for him.

However, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports California writes, McNair was more focused on discussing the job that Doug Christie has done since taking the reins from Brown, praising the interim head coach for the love he has for the organization and the “passion” he has brought to the role.

“What I think he brings to the table is his optimism, his playing experience and what he feels he needs to give to those players because that’s what he needed when he played,” McNair said. “And right now, I think the guys have really responded to that.”

The Kings won their sixth straight game on Friday and are now back to .500 at 19-19, putting them firmly in the thick of the postseason race in the Western Conference. In his conversation with Jones, McNair made it clear that getting back to the playoffs after missing out last season is a priority for the team.

“I would say our goals haven’t changed,” McNair said, per Rodriguez. “We want to get to the playoffs. We want to continue to make noise there. I think what we’ve done is we’ve put ourselves in a bit of a hole. We’ve started to climb out of it but there’s more work to be done. We’re really right now on the fringes of the play-in, that’s certainly one way into the playoffs, we’ve seen teams take that path away and make some noise in the playoffs, so if that’s the pathway we have to go through, we’ll do that.

“But ideally, we’ll find a way to get into the top six and get a little rest going into the playoffs. But that’s what our goal continues to be, both this year and going forward.”

Here are a few more highlights from the Kings’ GM:

On the front office’s thought process with the February 6 trade deadline nearing:

“I think the first thing we’re looking at is we made a big change, so what does the team look like? We’ve seen a little bit of that, but we want to see a little bit more about how this team responds and exactly what we have. We’re always looking, that’s our job in the front office, we always got to find ways to improve this team especially in the Western Conference where it feels like every year there’s 10, 11, 12 teams that you got to compete with.

“Early returns have been good, we want to continue to see that. And then we’re about three or four weeks out from that decision point, and we’ll see if there’s a way to improve the team and keep climbing the standings.”

On whether the new CBA will make it difficult for the Kings to find a deal they like:

“I think teams are looking to improve, and there’s a lot of creative folks out there. We have quite a few in our front office. So it certainly puts some constraints on how you can maneuver, but I think we are well positioned with our current position and I think other teams continue to be creative to find ways that they can do it. You can’t stand still in this league for too long and you got to continue to find ways to make your team better.”

On the desire to add more talented defenders without sacrificing offense:

“I think we’ve seen Keon (Ellis) take some tougher assignments, so when he’s out there he can do it. At the same time, we’re continuing to look for two-way guys because what we don’t want to do is just solve one issue and open up another. So we want guys like Keegan (Murray), like Keon, like a lot of the other guys on our roster that can produce on the offensive end and then go and guard these tough guys on the defensive end. So we’ll continue to look for those guys. We’ll continue to challenge the guys that we have here to take on those responsibilities.

“And I think, certainly of late, we’re top five in defense over the last 10 days or so, and 15th or 16th on the season. Our goal is to be top half of the league and we’re right there.”

Kings Waive Orlando Robinson

January 7th, 2025 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

4:45 pm: The Kings have officially waived Robinson, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

1:57 pm: The Kings, who entered the day with four players on non-guaranteed contracts, will retain three of those players and waive one, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Sacramento is cutting center Orlando Robinson, but will hang onto veteran forwards Doug McDermott and Jae Crowder, guaranteeing their full-season salaries. Defensive ace Keon Ellis also technically had a non-guaranteed deal, but was never in danger of being released.

Robinson, 24, joined the Kings as a free agent over the summer to provide depth at center behind Domantas Sabonis and Alex Len. However, the former Heat big man has appeared in just nine games, averaging 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per contest. Sacramento has primarily used Len and power forward Trey Lyles to back up Sabonis.

By waiving Robinson, the Kings will take on a dead-money cap hit of $959,779, which is also the salary he’ll earn for the time he spent with the team.

Retaining McDermott, Crowder, and Ellis will mean locking in cap charges of $2,087,519, $1,655,619, and $2,120,693, respectively. McDermott ($3,303,771) and Crowder ($2,620,232) will earn salaries exceeding their cap hits because the NBA reimburses a team for a portion of a player’s salary if he has more than two years of experience and signs a one-year, minimum-salary contract.

The transaction will leave the Kings with an open spot on their 15-man roster. The team is unlikely to fill that spot immediately, since it could be useful in trade season and keeping it open for the time being will give the club a little extra breathing room below the luxury tax line. Sacramento will be about $3.2MM below the tax line once the move is official, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Kings Rumors: Fox, Brown, Ranadivé, Johnson, Ellis

January 2nd, 2025 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Mike Brown‘s dismissal, there has been plenty of speculation that De’Aaron Fox played a role in the Kings‘ decision, given that Brown was often critical of Fox when speaking to the media, including in the final days before he was let go. The Kings star was asked by one reporter over the weekend whether he felt “pressure or guilt” about Brown losing his job.

However, Fox has adamantly denied any involvement in the move, telling ESPN that he was on good terms with Brown and liked being coached hard by him. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, team and league sources have backed up Fox’s account.

Brown himself is known to believe that Fox had nothing to do with the decision, league sources tell The Athletic. While general manager Monte McNair claimed responsibility for the coaching change, Amick writes that team owner Vivek Ranadivé was actually the “driving force” behind Brown’s ouster. Ranadivé has not spoken to the media.

Here’s more on the Kings:

The decision to fire a well-respected coach and then not adequately explain the decision to reporters is a textbook example of how to turn Fox into a “sympathetic figure” and perhaps make him more justified in seeking a change of scenery sooner or later, Amick observes. Fox has not asked for a trade, per league sources who spoke to The Athletic, but potential suitors are monitoring the situation closely. Among those teams, there’s a belief that the Kings point guard is more likely to become available in the offseason than prior to the February 6 trade deadline, Amick reports. Fox will be extension-eligible again next summer after passing on a new deal this past offseason.
According to Amick, the Spurs, Heat, and Lakers are atop the list of teams most frequently discussed as possible suitors for Fox if he becomes available via trade. The Magic and Rockets are among the other clubs thought to be considering the idea of pursuing Fox, though “the Spurs noise is the loudest,” Amick says.
For the time being, the Kings are focused on upgrading their current roster and don’t intend to entertain inquiries on Fox, according to Amick, who confirms that Nets forward Cameron Johnson is high on the team’s wish list, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype previously reported. Sacramento has had “extensive” discussions with Brooklyn about Johnson, Amick writes.
The Kings moved to 2-1 under interim head coach Doug Christie with a 113-107 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday. Defensive ace Keon Ellis earned a start and played a season-high 38 minutes, with Sacramento outscoring the Sixers by 17 points during Ellis’ time on the court. “He’s amazing,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said of Ellis, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “He’s a professional. He stays ready, and he’s always there when we need him, especially on defense.”

Kings Notes: Christie, Expectations, Ellis, Fox

December 29th, 2024 at 9:03am CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings changed coaches on Friday in response to a five-game losing streak, but they didn’t look much different Saturday night in Doug Christie’s debut, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Defense continued to be a glaring issue as the team sank further in the West with a 132-122 road loss against the Lakers. Sacramento gave up 40 points in the first quarter and 42 points in the third quarter before a late rally fell short.

After the loss, Christie told reporters that the key to turning the season around is getting a commitment from his players on both ends of the court.

“We have enough,” he said. “This is a message that I said to them. There is enough in this locker room, but how we get over that is the types of things I’ve talked about. The consistency, the focus, the willingness to play for my team at such a high level that it hurts and I have to come out of the game. It’s up to me to be able to find that.”

Christie had a 15-year NBA career as an intense competitor who specialized in defense, and he wants to bring that same attitude to the team. While they were caught off guard by the sudden loss of Mike Brown, several players pledged their dedication to Christie as he tries to salvage the season after a 13-19 start.

“Everyone likes Doug, so for him to be our interim head coach for the rest of the year, I think everyone is going to try to rally around him and give him the best situation possible, try to not give him as much stress,” Keegan Murray said. “He’s definitely been to each and every one of us in some way or another just to try to motivate us. He’s been great these last 24 hours, just trying to motivate our team to turn the season around.”

There’s more on the Kings:

The team’s ownership and front office have made it clear that there’s no “grace period” and that results are expected immediately, Kevin Huerter told Anderson in the same story. With the trade deadline less than six weeks away, it’s possible that major changes could be coming if the Kings don’t start winning. “For us, that was a message that was very clear yesterday,” Huerter said. “We don’t see this as a lost season. We’ve got to right the ship. We’ve got to turn this around, so there’s definitely no grace period … We’ve had a lot of different meetings over the last 24 hours. Generally, there’s still a lot of belief in this organization and this room, and we think we’ve got to create some urgency to try to turn it around.”
Third-year guard Keon Ellis may see a larger role as the Kings try to upgrade their perimeter defense, Christie added (Twitter video link from Law Murray of The Athletic). “Keon is a perfect example of a lot of things that I want,” Christie said. “When he got into the game tonight, he didn’t shoot the shot. He put it on the deck and he got in the lane. I looked at him and I said, ‘Listen, man, you gotta shoot that. I need you to shoot the basketball; you shoot it well. Defensively, you pick up. You’re an irritant. You need to get after people. So a lot of the things that he does, we need, but we need him to shoot that basketball.
If De’Aaron Fox decides to ask for a trade before the deadline, the Spurs and Rockets are teams to watch, along with possibly the Lakers and Heat, Tim MacMahon of ESPN said on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype).

Kings Players React To Sudden Coaching Change

December 28th, 2024 at 7:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Interim Kings coach Doug Christie stressed the need for unity as he addressed the team following Friday’s surprise firing of Mike Brown, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Christie, who served as an assistant to Brown, will be in charge of trying to salvage a season that is spiraling out of control after an 0-5 homestand. Sacramento is 12th in West at 13-18 and needs a quick turnaround to climb back into the playoff race.

Christie spoke to his players before their flight departed Friday for tonight’s game against the Lakers and again at this morning’s shootaround, according to McMenamin.

“To come out and stick together, fight and just be us, be who we are and turn this thing around,” Domantas Sabonis said in sharing his new head coach’s message.

Malik Monk said “all the vibes were high” at the shootaround, as the team feels a renewed energy from the sudden coaching change. Sabonis exhibited that by arranging for his own travel to Los Angeles. He was considered questionable to play because of an illness that forced him to miss Thursday’s game, but he wanted to be there to display his commitment to Christie.

“I got here and went right onto the court,” Sabonis said. “We’re all focused on winning the game. But we obviously know we haven’t been performing at our best. And we have to do a better job. Me, as one of the leaders of the team, I got to make sure that that happens. We got to win all the games that we can.”

Brown appeared to have a long future in Sacramento after leading the team to the playoffs in 2023 and narrowly missing another playoff appearance in last season’s play-in tournament. He was rewarded with an offseason extension that runs through 2026/27 and gives him an extra $20MM in guaranteed money, but management quickly lost patience with the slow start. The offseason addition of DeMar DeRozan hasn’t work out as planned, and there was skepticism that the Kings could move up the standings with Brown in charge.

Sabonis and Monk expressed shock over the sudden move, while De’Aaron Fox told McMenamin that he was notified “a minute before everybody else.” Fox also pondered the players’ role in the coaching change when he was asked if he felt any “pressure or guilt” over Brown’s fate.

“Any pressure or guilt? I mean, obviously we all know the job that we have,” Fox responded. “You can be traded at any point. Released. Cut. Fired. Whatever it may be. I mean, I wouldn’t use the word ‘guilt.’ But that’s the nature of the job that we have. But I mean, obviously him signing his extension this summer, we felt like we would be together a whole lot longer but that’s the decision that they made. But at the end of the day, too, he’s still being paid. A great part of being an NBA player, being an NBA coach, is those things can happen, but these contracts are guaranteed.”

Although Brown’s dismissal seemed to come out of nowhere, there were already rumors about “waning confidence” from ownership even before he was given the extension, Jake Fischer states in his latest Substack story. Sources tell Fischer there were “internal disagreements” regarding the team’s starting lineup and the tradeoff in playing time between Keon Ellis and Kevin Huerter.

Fischer reported in 2022 that Mark Jackson was the preferred candidate of owner Vivek Ranadive before Brown was hired. Jackson was head coach of the Warriors when Ranadive became a minority owner of that team, and several NBA sources have told Fischer that Ranadive seems to prefer having a former player in that role. That may explain why Christie was chosen to run the team, although it’s not clear if there’s any commitment to him beyond the end of the season.

Kings Notes: Losing Streak, Lineup Changes, Brown, Fox

December 23rd, 2024 at 11:11am CST by Arthur Hill

Kings fans loudly expressed their displeasure Sunday night as the team suffered a 27-point blowout against Indiana that marked its fourth straight loss at home, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Amid pressure to shake up the roster, Sacramento matched its longest losing streak of the season and is in danger of slipping out of the playoff race at 13-17.

“You never want to get booed at home, but we probably deserve it,” Kevin Huerter said. “We just lost three in a row and then you get beat by 30 on your home court during Christmas time. (The fans) deserve better.”

The Kings were hoping to be contenders after adding DeMar DeRozan to an already impressive array of offensive talent. But DeRozan’s frustrating night — scoring just two points while shooting 1-of-7 from the field — has been emblematic of the season-long struggle to mesh everyone together. Malik Monk cited memories of his time with the Lakers when they missed the playoffs despite a talented roster.

“Not playing together, like we’ve been doing all season,” Monk said in explaining Sunday’s loss. “We’ll have a great half and then we’ll go back to one-pass shots, no-pass shots. We’ve just got to continue to move the ball.”

There’s more from Sacramento:

The crowd started chanting for Keon Ellis after the Kings fell behind by 12 points early in the second half, and that’s one of the options coach Mike Brown will consider as he tries to reconfigure his rotation, Anderson adds. Brown told reporters that Ellis, Doug McDermott, Trey Lyles and Isaac Jones might get more playing time. “I’m going to keep searching it,” Brown said. “I was searching a little tonight. We hadn’t shot the ball well the last few games from the three-point line. We did three games ago when Doug got some good minutes. He helped space the floor and we ended up scoring 120-something points against Denver, so I gave him an opportunity tonight, but if somebody new steps in and gets an opportunity like Trey at the five and Doug on the floor, that probably means somebody is going to be out. Tonight, that was Isaac and Keon. Those guys have been playing for us as of late, but they were out tonight just because the minutes aren’t there.” The Kings have a +8.9 net rating in Ellis’ 564 minutes on the court this season and a -2.5 mark in the 891 minutes he hasn’t played.
Brown stressed the need for togetherness throughout the organization following Saturday’s loss to the Lakers, Anderson states in a separate story. Citing a “bunker mentality,” he talked about the commitment that runs from ownership through the front office to the coaching staff. “It always has to be a collective effort,” Brown said. “One of the things I said when I first got the job here is we have to have an alignment vertically and horizontally. Not just during good times, not just when I first got here or when change happens, but you have to do it and it’s even more evident when you hit a little adversity. If that alignment is truly in place and people truly believe, then it’s easy to go through adversity.”
De’Aaron Fox said the Kings needs to find the right mindset to turn their season around, Anderson adds in another piece. “You have to enjoy playing the game period, and you have to enjoy playing with each other,” he said, “and I think we have to find that sense of enjoyment.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Reaves, Vincent, Powell, Ellis

December 7th, 2024 at 11:19am CST by Tristan Tucker

After opening their four-game road trip on Sunday with a win in Utah, the Lakers lost three consecutive games, including blowouts in Minnesota and Miami and an overtime heart-breaker in Atlanta on Friday. LeBron James told reporters after the latest loss that L.A.’s lack of depth is being tested, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who notes that the Lakers’ bench was outscored 65-17 last night.

“Mismatching with lineups, we’re trying to figure out ways, obviously,” James said. “So it’s very challenging. We don’t have much room for error. … It’s big, big, big, big pieces.”

Austin Reaves, Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt were all inactive on Friday. Reaves, the biggest absence on the road trip in terms of point production, returned to L.A. before Friday’s game to receive treatment for a pelvic bruise. He has averaged 16.7 points and 4.8 assists this season across 19 games (all starts).

“He’s like a connector for our offense, but he’s also a scorer and a play-maker,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.

The Lakers rank in the bottom five in the league in bench points and are going to have to stick with what they have for the time being.

“There’s no cavalry,” Anthony Davis said. “No one feels sorry for us. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Just got to continue to put our head down and grind and work. Try to get back in the win column on Sunday against Portland. … No game’s going to be easy for us, so we got to go take the win.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Redick switched things up on Friday by starting Gabe Vincent over D’Angelo Russell. Vincent delivered in his second start of the season by recording 12 points and five assists, The Orange County Register’s Khobi Price writes. Those 12 points were Vincent’s most in a Lakers uniform and he’s averaging 9.0 PPG with a 37.5% three-point rate in his last four games. “I just tried to compete on both ends like I always do,” Vincent said. “The ball was in my hands a little more. I tried to create where I could. I tried to find guys where I could. Tried to take care of the ball. I was trying to win. I’m about winning, so I’m pretty frustrated with the loss. But it happens.” Vincent dealt with injury issues for most of last season, but appears to be rounding into form.
Clippers guard Norman Powell is playing like an All-Star and a Most Improved Player candidate in his 10th season, averaging 23.9 PPG on a scorching 50.7% three-point clip. He has got the Clippers firmly in the Western Conference playoff picture. Powell recently spoke to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto about his ascent, championship experience and his personal battles on and off the court. “I thought about quitting basketball a few times,” Powell said. “I don’t think people really get to hear the dark moments that you go through. I’ve talked about being at the forefront of mental health, and guys like Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan talk about how important it is. People don’t really get to see that side of things.” I recommend checking out the interview in full here.
After some inconsistent showings in recent games, the Kings scored a season-high 140 points on Friday. Keon Ellis didn’t play on Tuesday and only saw two minutes of action on Thursday, but was inserted back into the rotation on Friday and was a +32 with four steals in 21 minutes. Coach Mike Brown explained Ellis’ playing time fluctuation, according to The Sacramento Bee’s Chris Biderman. “Starting Malik [Monk], he’s going to command more minutes,” Brown said. “We’re trying to play Kevin [Huerter] more. We’re trying to be a little bigger with Isaac [Jones] and Jae [Crowder]. So there hasn’t been a ton of minutes. Now, I can take minutes away from one of those guys to try to get him out on the floor. But it’s just, right now, it’s a minutes thing, based on who I’m playing.“

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