Three things to know: John Wall said Wizards ‘thought I was done,’ got his revenge

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The NBA season is in full swing, and we will be here each weekday with the NBC Sports daily roundup Three Things to Know — everything you might have missed in the Association, every key moment from the night before in one place.

1) John Wall said Wizards “thought I was done,” got his revenge with Rockets’ win

For John Wall, this was personal.

He had played nine seasons in Washington, been an All-Star and All-NBA player, but after injuries hit him hard the past two seasons, the franchise decided it would be better off with Russell Westbrook next to Bradley Beal and made a trade. Wall took it personally.

Wall elaborated on this to Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington:

“Just seeing everybody that’s over there, a lot of people that’s on that side that probably didn’t believe I could come back to be the person I am. And probably some people that had a little say so into me being traded,” Wall told Miller. “I feel like it was a whole process, and it wasn’t just something that happened overnight. I think this was in the works. That’s my motivation. Who wouldn’t want to beat the team that traded them and felt like I was done?”

Scott Brooks and the Wizards denied this, but Wall took his frustration out on the court Tuesday night, scoring 24 points and leading Houston to a 107-88 thumping of his former team.

Bradley Beal scored 33 points in his first game ever against his long-time teammate, and he and Wall hugged it out after the game. However, Wall and Westbrook were not about to hug it out and picked up double-technicals during the game when they jawed at each other.

Wall has bounced back and has a strong season, averaging 17.9 points and 5.4 assists a game, and at points showing flashes of his old self (but also missing some time with injuries). Meanwhile, the Westbrook and Beal pairing has not worked in Washington, the team has been hit hard by COVID-19, and the Wizards fell to 3-10 on the season with one of the 10 worst net ratings in the league.

Houston has had its challenges, but at 7-9 has a shot at moving up into one of the West’s play-in series games (there is a lot of season to go still). Wins like this are what the Rockets need more of to move up in those standings.

2) The NBA trade rumor mill is starting to heat up: Derrick Rose, Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick all mentioned

The NBA trade rumors die down at the start of the season as teams have talked themselves into — or deluded themselves into — believing what they have will work to start the season.

Approaching 20 games into the season, reality sets in, and teams are looking to make moves. A few big names popped up on the trade rumor circuit on Tuesday.

New Orleans is listening to trade calls for both Lonzo Ball and J.J. Redick, according to reports. Redick has struggled with his shot in Stan Van Gundy’s offense, he’s hitting just 30% from three, but every other team thinks this is more a matter of circumstance than age or other issues. He is making $13 million this season and is a free agent when it’s done, so he is either a rental or a team will need to re-sign him.

Ball is about to be a restricted free agent, so a team trading for him also has to be thinking about re-signing him, or just using him as a rental for the rest of this season. Shams Charania of The Athletic mentions talk of a Golden State trade involving Kelly Oubre. Also, keep an eye on the Clippers — they want a traditional point guard off the bench and Ball would fit that bill, in a trade that would send Lou Williams and more to the Big Easy.

Derrick Rose’s name also came up in trade rumors (via Charania) because both the Clippers and Knicks are reportedly interested. Detroit has not shopped Rose, nor has he asked out, but the talk has surfaced with the team struggling. Rose has ties with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau going back to his MVP-year in Chicago, while the Clippers (as mentioned above) will be in the market for every quality point guard who becomes available.

3) NBA world mourns the passing of NBA TV’s Sekou Smith

If you were following NBA Twitter at all on Tuesday, you saw an outpouring of love for Sekou Smith — and it could not have been more genuine. The NBA family, and NBA media, were hit hard by the news.

Smith, 48, died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19, leaving behind a wife and three children.

It’s hard to overstate how popular Smith was with other media members — he always had a smile, was always generous and welcoming, and was simply the kind of person you wanted to hang around whether you were in the media room or having a drink postgame after the work was done. In my own, all-to-limited time with him he was always authentic and genuine, and simply kind. All things the world needs more of.

He was also a Black journalist who had reached a meaningful level of success. Working as a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, he helped mentor and show a path in press rooms where more diversity is absolutely needed.

Steve Kerr and Stan Van Gundy — coaches who, before their current jobs had worked with Turner and NBA TV — spoke about Smith.

“I just heard the news about Sekou Smith, and I am just devastated,” Kerr said. “I know I speak for our entire organization, just crushing news today. Sekou has been a part of the NBA family for a long time.”

“It just hit hard…” Van Gundy said. “When you lose somebody that you know, and that you admire and respect and who is young. I mean, he might not be young by some of your guys’ standards, but young by my standards — it’s just really, really hard…

“There’s a lot of people in Atlanta today grieving a great man in Sekou.”

Smith lived in Atlanta and had covered the Hawks, and the team released this statement.

“The Atlanta Hawks organization is heartbroken by the passing of Sekou Smith. The Hawks’ beat writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 2005-09, Sekou provided our fans with honest and fair coverage, sharing incredible insight on the team while establishing himself as one of the NBA’s top basketball personalities. He made Atlanta his home, continuing his brilliant work at NBA Digital on TV and behind the keyboard telling the stories of the league in his unique way. Sekou’s passion for the NBA and its players was only outmatched by the pride and love he reserved for his family and friends. We send our condolences to his wife Heather and their three children. He will be sorely missed.”

Watch Dončić pick up 16th technical, will result in one-game suspension

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Luka Dončić barks at the referees more than any player in the league, and with that he does not get the benefit of the doubt when he’s flirting with the edge of a technical foul.

That caught up with Dončić on Sunday, when he didn’t get a call on a leaning baseline jumper, said something to the nearby official, and racked up his 16th technical this season. That will mean an automatic one-game suspension unless it is rescinded (which is unlikely in this case).

Dončić likely will have to sit out Monday when the Mavericks play the Pacers on the second game of a back-to-back.

This suspension comes on the heels of Dončić being fined $35,000 — but not being given a technical foul at the time — for making a money gesture towards a referee in frustration after another recent Mavericks loss.

Dončić went on to have 40 points Sunday but the Mavericks lost again — their second time in a row to the tanking Hornets, their fourth in a row overall and they have now dropped 7-of-9. That has dropped them out of even the play-in to 11th in the West. The Mavericks need to rack up wins over the season’s final two weeks to even make the postseason.

And they must get that next win Monday without Dončić in the lineup.

 

UPDATE: LeBron “active,” will make return to court Sunday vs. Bulls

Celebrities At The Los Angeles Lakers Game
Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images
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UPDATE: LeBron James has officially been upgraded to active and will make his return to the team on Sunday against the Chicago Bulls.

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A couple of days ago, reports said LeBron James hoped to return and play the final few games before the season ended and he said there was no timeline for his return.

In less than 24 hours the Lakers have moved LeBron from “out” last game to “doubtful” and now — as of Sunday morning — questionable for the Lakers game against the Bulls. While nothing is confirmed, these are the steps a team takes before a player returns from injury. LeBron is going to test his foot pregame and make a decision.

LeBron had been pushing to return from a foot tendon injury that had sidelined him for 13 games. The Lakers have gone 8-5 in those games behind the second-best defense in the league over that stretch. What has struggled during those games has been the offense (23rd in the league) and LeBron instantly fixes that. He has averaged 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game this season and the Laker offense has been six points per 100 possessions better when he has been on the court.

The Lakers currently sit tied for the No.7/8 seeds in the West, with an outside shot at climbing into the top six (they are 1.5 games back of the Lakers and Clippers who are tied for sixth, but if those teams go 4-3 the rest of the way the Lakers need to go 6-2 over their last eight just to tie them). The Lakers are also one game ahead of the 11-seed Dallas Mavericks and missing out on the playoffs entirely.

The Lakers need wins the rest of the way to secure a playoff spot, and some time to build chemistry heading into the playoffs. Having LeBron James helps with all of that.

Nets thrash Heat, move back up to No.6 seed in East

Brooklyn Nets v Miami Heat
Megan Briggs/Getty Images
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MIAMI (AP) — All the Brooklyn Nets needed, coach Jacque Vaughn insisted, was one win.

They got it, and made it look easy.

Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and the Nets opened the third quarter on a 31-6 run on the way to rolling past Miami 129-100 on Saturday night and leapfrogging the Heat back into the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.

Cam Johnson added 23 points and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 for the Nets (40-34), who snapped a five-game slide. They’re only a half-game up on Miami (40-35) in the race for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth, but swept the Heat 3-0 this season and would also own a head-to-head tiebreaker.

“We had the mindset coming in that this was a playoff game,” Johnson said.

Max Strus scored 23 for the Heat, all of them in the first half. Tyler Herro scored 23, Jimmy Butler had 18 and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 for the Heat. Miami was outscored 64-31 after halftime.

“We have not been defending at a world-class level, the way we’re capable of … and the second half just became an avalanche,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Strus came off the bench and made his first nine shots, one of them putting Miami up 51-37 midway through the second quarter. Over the next 14 minutes, the Nets outscored Miami 54-24 – completely turning the game around, eventually leading by 32 and, for now, putting Brooklyn in position to escape the play-in tournament that’ll decide the final two East playoff berths.

“You see how this March Madness is and you’re one and you’re done,” Vaughn said. “And that’s part of it. I have not discussed any of the standings with this group. Really, we have gone day to day and tried to get a win.”

The Heat could have moved 1 1/2 games up on Brooklyn for sixth with a win.

“There has been nothing easy about this season and that doesn’t necessarily mean that has to be a negative thing,” Spoelstra said. “You have to embrace the struggle. You have to figure out ways to stay together … but we just got categorically outplayed tonight.”

It was Brooklyn’s second trip to Miami this season. The first was Jan. 8 – which ended up being the last time Kevin Durant played for the Nets, and the last time Durant and Kyrie Irving played together. Durant left that game with a knee injury, then got traded to Phoenix, and Irving has since been dealt to Dallas, as well.

The Nets were 27-13 after that night, second in the East, just a game behind Boston for the best record in the NBA. They’re 13-21 since, yet still have the Heat looking up at them in the standings – which Vaughn insists he hasn’t discussed with his team.

“You need the momentum, the confidence, the reassurance that you can get it done,” Vaughn said. “So, haven’t tried to complicate it more than that.”

Jokic scores 31 points with 11 assists, leads Nuggets past Bucks 129-106

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DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 11 assists, Jamal Murray finished with 26 points and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-106 on Saturday night in a late-season showdown of the NBA’s conference leaders.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points for West-leading Denver (50-24), which outscored East-leading Milwaukee 68-40 in the second half.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points — just seven in the second half — and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bucks (53-20).

“It’s better to win games, but our goal is to do something in a playoffs,” Jokic said.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1639823102891761664

The battle of the top teams in each conference — and two strong MVP candidates — was more competitive than the teams’ first meeting, won by the Bucks 107-99. Then, the Nuggets held out four starters — Jokic, Murray, Porter and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — in the game in Milwaukee on Jan. 25. Denver had played the night before in New Orleans and opted to rest its stars.

The circumstances were reversed, with the Bucks having played in Utah on Friday night.

“We still play, still got to be better, there’s no excuses about that,” Khris Middleton said. “But I’m sure for a lot of fans, a lot of people out there, they’d love to see healthy teams, or not coming off back to backs.”

Antetokounmpo scored 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting in the first half, with all but one of those field goals coming at the rim. Murray (20 points) and Jokic (17 points) kept Denver within three at the break, and then the Nuggets outscored Milwaukee 34-19 in the third quarter to take a 97-85 lead.

Jeff Green dunked on Antetokounmpo to open the fourth as the Nuggets’ lead swelled to 15 points. Grayson Allen hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 103-91 with 9:54 left, but Milwaukee went scoreless for 4:10 while Denver built a 111-91 lead.

“It was an amazing dunk,” Jokic said of Green’s dunk. “I didn’t think he was going to do it. He almost fell down, so it was a really nice dunk.”

Antetokounmpo went to the bench with 5:54 left and didn’t return.

The Bucks lost some composure in the third quarter. Bobby Portis Jr. was called for a take foul on Jokic and, immediately after, a technical. Denver hit both free throws and Bruce Brown hit a 3-pointer for a 84-76 lead. Minutes later, Brook Lopez got a technical while sitting on the bench.

Antetokounmpo picked up Milwaukee’s third technical with 6:41 left in the game.

“It was a night where we were grumpy, and it happens,” coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Denver coach Michael Malone got a technical late in the first quarter, and it was to prevent Jokic from getting one. Jokic was frustrated by the physical play, so during a timeout Malone told him he would get the technical.

“I can get kicked out, he can’t. I understand the pecking order here,” Malone said.