Three things to know: Early season overreactions to 76ers win, Nets loss

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Three Things is NBC’s five-days-a-week wrap-up of the night before in the NBA. Check out NBCSports.com every weekday morning to catch up on what you missed the night before plus the rumors, drama, and dunks that make the NBA must-watch.

1) The 76ers pick up first win. So is everything good now?

Maybe P.J. Tucker should yell at his teammates more often.

Philadelphia picked up its first win of the season Monday against Indiana. Sure, it took the 76ers facing a Pacers team playing its third game in four nights, but when the schedule maker hands you a win, you take it and say thank you. Philadelphia did just that, getting a big night from James Harden — 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds — on their way to a comfortable 120-106 victory over Indy. You know it’s a good night in Philly when Harden breaks ankles and does everything but the shimmy.

There were a lot of positives for Sixers fans: Philadelphia was firing more from beyond the arc (43 3-point attempts), Joel Embiid pitched in 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and the bench that struggled early stepped up with George Niang adding 16 points and DeAnthony Melton scoring 11. It was an all-around improved effort.

So everything is good with the 76ers then?

Not exactly.

Philly was never as bad as some wanted to believe with the 0-3 start, but they have a lot of work to do to be the contenders many people predicted they could be. The flaws and concerns with the roster and how it is coming together early are still there.

The ball movement was improved against Indiana, but there were still too many possessions of Harden pounding the ball into the ground and starting the offense late in the clock. It still seems like Embiid and Harden are taking turns, not playing with and off each other. Tyrese Maxey is still looking for his shot to start the season (3-of-11 against the Pacers). Still, all those issues can be worked out over time. Philly is a middle-of-the-pack offense after the first week, but give it time and it will climb up the league ladder.

The bigger concern is defense. There will always be challenges defensively for a team that plans to play Maxey and Harden heavy minutes together in the backcourt. The problem is a slowed Embiid to start the season has not been able to cover for them protecting the rim, and the wing defense has been an issue. Unlike the offense, which just needs time to meld, Doc Rivers needs to find schemes and energy to pick up what has been a bottom-10 defense to start.

Philly has too much talent to struggle for long, it will find the wins. Whether the 76ers find their way up to contender status may take longer to determine.

2) Is Kevin Durant‘s brilliance masking flawed Nets team?

Watching Kevin Durant play basketball is sublime. Like listening to Thelonious Monk play the piano or Meryl Streep on the big screen, we know greatness when we see it, and Durant is unquestionably one of the greatest scorers and players the game has ever seen. On Monday night, a Durant bucket moved him past Alex English into 20th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

But are Durant’s Nets a good team? Not right now. Not the way they are defending to start the season. Through three games, Durant leading a strong offense has covered up the league’s worst defense.

Durant got help from Kyrie Irving on Monday night (both scored 37 points) but it was not enough as the Grizzlies put up 134 behind 38 points each from Ja Morant and Desmond Bane. Brooklyn fell to 1-2 on the young season with the 134-124 loss to Memphis.

No team has a defender who can stay in front of Ja Morant, both Nic Claxton and Royce O’Neal got torched in the role, but the help rotations were slow to nonexistent much of the night.

There were mistakes on switches leaving Memphis shooters open multiple times in this game. However, the biggest issue: The Grizzlies simply outworked the Nets all night long, particularly on the glass.

Ben Simmons‘ start to the season can be summed up this way: He has more personal fouls than points. Both he and coach Steve Nash talked about him still shaking off the rust and finding his footing to start the season. Okay. But his unwillingness to shoot is something other teams will exploit.

It’s just three games, far too early to draw sweeping conclusions about the Nets. But in the NBA defense starts with effort, and the Nets have played with the energy of a team that feels entitled to wins. The league doesn’t work that way. The Nets must find some grit and toughness in their identity to compete with the best in the East.

As a palate cleanser, here’s your ridiculous Ja Morant highlight of the night.

3) Are the 4-0 Portland Trail Blazers for real?

Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: Damian Lillard admitting he has never been to the Oregon coast is shocking and will cost him points with Oregonians — he’s built up enough loyalty points to get through this, but it’s going to come up. A lot. And for the record, the Oregon coast is in my top 10 “places you need to visit in the USA.” Just go, Dame.

As for the Trail Blazers…

They might be for real.

They just beat the Lakers and Nuggets on what is one of the toughest back-to-backs in the league — the Lakers present the physical challenge of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and then to travel all night, deal with the Denver airport (if you know, you know), and have to play a game at altitude against the two-time MVP is just brutal. The Trail Blazers swept both ends of the back-to-back, and outplayed the Nuggets in the second half when their legs should have been spaghetti. Throw in a Portland win over Phoenix this season, and this team might be for real.

Damian Lillard is back — his explosion, his extension at the rim when he finishes looks like the guy from five years ago — and a night after dropping 41 on the Clippers he had 31 against Denver. He’s gotten help from Anfernee Simons, who has played up to his new contract and had 29 in Denver (but Blazers social media, the “Anferno” nickname… you can do better).

Portland revamped this roster in the offseason, and they added more athleticism around Lillard — so far that has worked. This team just meshes well. Portland has been getting it done on both ends this season, and while it’s early they have a top-10 offense and defense.

Can the Trail Blazers sustain this for 78 more games? Where do they fall in the West’s hierarchy? It’s a long season and we will find out. But one week in, this team looks for real.

USA Basketball to host to Puerto Rico in World Cup tuneup in Las Vegas

Golden State Warriors v Sacramento Kings
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USA Basketball has finalized its schedule of exhibition games leading into this summer’s FIBA World Cup, announcing Tuesday that it will open the five-game slate against Puerto Rico in Las Vegas on Aug. 7.

It will be the only World Cup warmup game in the U.S. for the Americans, a team that will be coached by Golden State’s Steve Kerr. His assistants are Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga’s Mark Few.

The roster of NBA players is still being assembled.

“Puerto Rico, obviously, we’re familiar with them,” said Grant Hill, managing director of USA Basketball’s men’s national team. “We’ve competed in the World Cup qualifiers, although neither team had their full heavy roster, if you will, its strongest roster. But it’s an opportunity to throw our guys into the fire. The games, the exhibition games, the lead-up, we’re going to get a lot of basketball in us before we play for real. And that’s good.”

After the Puerto Rico game, the U.S. will leave for Malaga, Spain, and games there against Slovenia on Aug. 12 and Spain on Aug. 13. The final two pre-World Cup games for the Americans will be held in Abu Dhabi, against Greece on Aug. 18 and Germany on Aug. 20.

From there, the Americans head to Manila, Philippines, where they will remain for the entirety of the World Cup. Half of the 32-team World Cup field will have group-stage games in Indonesia or Japan; the Americans are among the 16 that will open the tournament in the Philippines, which will also play host to the medal rounds.

The game against Puerto Rico will coincide with the end of the U.S. team’s training camp in Las Vegas.

“Our preparations for the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup begin in Las Vegas and we are excited to return to a city that regularly and graciously welcomes USA Basketball,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball’s CEO.

The men’s national team played four exhibitions in Las Vegas in 2021 before the Tokyo Olympics, going 2-2 in those games. The Americans opened with losses to Nigeria and Australia before beating Argentina and Spain prior to departing for Tokyo.

“The Nigeria game was important,” Hill said. “It let everybody know that we can’t just show up.”

In Japan, the U.S. won its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The U.S. opens World Cup play against New Zealand on Aug. 26, followed by group games against Greece on Aug. 28 and Jordan on Aug. 30. The tournament – one of the major qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics – runs through Sept. 10.

Bob Myers stepping down as Warriors president, GM

2022 Golden State Warriors Victory Parade & Rally
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The architect of the four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the former agent turned two-time Executive of the Year Bob Myers is stepping away from the franchise.

This had been rumored all season and Myers confirmed it to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN prior to Myers’ formal press conference Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s just time,” Myers told ESPN.

Warriors ownership wanted to keep Myers on board and reportedly made generous contract offers to retain him, but Myers just wanted to back away from the job.

Myers took over a Warriors franchise in 2012 that had already drafted Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but was still being led on the court by Monta Ellis and David Lee. Myers drafted Draymond Green (in the second round), eventually traded for Andre Iguodala, built out the roster, fired Mark Jackson and replaced him with Steve Kerr, and generally built a championship team. When that team fell short in 2016 — and boosted by a one-time spike in the salary cap due to a new television deal — Myers brought in Kevin Durant to form one of the best, most dominant teams the NBA had seen, and they won two more titles. After Durant left and due to some brutal injuries, the Warriors stumbled for a few years, but in 2022 found their footing again and won a fourth ring. Myers helped guild all of that.

It is expected Mike Dunleavy Jr. — the No. 2 man in a Warriors front office that values a lot of input from different voices and isn’t classically hierarchical — will take over as the man in charge. Wojnarowski reports that Kirk Lacob, son of owner Joe Lacob, also is expected to have an expanded role.

This changeover comes at a critical time for the Warriors (and adds to the end-of-an-era feeling), heading into an important offseason for the franchise. Green is expected to opt out of his $27.5 million contract for next season and is looking for the security of more years — and this past season showed the Warriors cannot win at a high level without him. However, the Warriors will want him back at a lower figure than that $27.5 million per year. Klay Thompson is set to make $43.2 million next season and is extension eligible, but he is not a max player anymore and the Warriors will want those future years at a much lower price. Then there is Jordan Poole‘s extension kicking in — at $28.7 million — after a down season. The tension following Green punching Poole tainted the entire Warriors’ season, and there is a lot of speculation around the league Poole could be traded.

Myers built strong relationships with the Warriors’ players, and he would have been better positioned to talk to Green and Thompson about sacrifice to keep the team together. That is a tougher sell for Dunleavy.

Don’t expect Myers to jump straight into another NBA job — although offers will come to him fast — he is expected to take a year or more and step back from the game before deciding his next move.

Heat’s Tyler Herro reportedly targeting Game 3 return during Finals

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Tyler Herro fractured his hand just before halftime of Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks, and following his ensuing surgery the target timeline was he could be back for the NBA Finals. That led to a lot of “good luck with that” comments on social media (not to mention comments about his sideline fits).

The No. 8 seed Miami Heat are on to the NBA Finals, and Herro hopes to return to the court when Miami returns home for Game 3, reports Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT.

Maybe he returns, perhaps that is optimistic (Game 3 is Wednesday, June 7). Herro is still feeling pain in his right hand, he told reporters after the game.

Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game for the Heat this season, shooting 37.8% from 3. He was the team’s secondary shot creator after Jimmy Butler, a guy counted on to jumpstart the offense at points.

If he returns, Erik Spoelstra has to return him to the sixth-man role where he thrived a season ago. The starting lineup without him was better defensively, and with the emergence of Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent, the Heat don’t need the offensive spark with that first group (less Herro has meant more Jimmy Butler with the ball, and that’s a good thing). The second unit could use the offensive spark Herro brings.

It’s something to watch as the Heat return to the NBA Finals for the first time since the bubble, this time facing the formidable Denver Nuggets.

Three takeaways from Heat playing with intent, beating Celtics in Game 7

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Is there a more Miami Heat way to win a series than going on the road and ripping the heart out of Boston fans in their own building in a Game 7?

Is there a more fitting way for this era of Celtics to lose this series than to play poorly until their backs are against the wall, then flip the switch and look like the best team in the NBA, only to not quite get all the way there?

In those ways the Eastern Conference Finals worked out the way it should have, with the Miami Heat taking charge of Game 7 in the first quarter and never looking back. The Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 to advance to the NBA Finals (which start Thursday in Denver).

Here are three takeaways from Game 7.

1) Caleb Martin embodied the difference in this series

Jimmy Butler was officially voted MVP of the Conference Finals. He averaged 24.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game through the series, numbers that are hard to argue. He is the best player on the team.

However, he won in a tight 5-4 vote over Caleb Martin — who had 26 points and 10 rebounds in Game 7, but more than that embodied the difference in this series. Martin played with intention, focus, and with a commitment to the system every night in a way the Celtics don’t do consistently. Martin, a guy waived by the Hornets in the summer of 2021, has had to scrap and fight for everything he’s gotten in the league, and with that comes a hardened edge.

“To the untrained eye, he just looks like he’s an undrafted guy who has been in the G League, who has started with Charlotte and now he’s here,” Butler said of Martin. “Started on a two-way contract. That’s what it looks like to y’all. To us, he’s a hell of a player, hell of a defender, playmaker, shotmaker, all of the above. Everybody [on the team] has seen Caleb work on those shots day in, day out. It doesn’t surprise us. We have seen it every single day. I’m so proud and happy for him.”

Martin’s shotmaking also embodied why the Heat won — they were simply better at getting and hitting the shots they wanted all series long. It was historic shotmaking.

Bam Adebayo had another rough offensive outing — 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting with a lot of good looks missed — but his defense was stellar and that was reflected in his +22 on the night, the best of any starter on the team. He remains vital to what they do.

2) Jayson Tatum‘s rolled ankle proved too much for Celtics

The Celtics didn’t lose this series because Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle on the game’s first play.

They lost this series because when they went down 0-3 in the series they left themselves no margin for error — everything had to go perfectly. It never does, just ask the other 150 teams in NBA history to go down 0-3 in a series. Tatum went on to score 14 points, but he admitted he was a shell of himself.

The Celtics needed to collectively make up for Tatum being slowed (much the way the Heat’s role players such as Gabe Vincent stepped up with Tyler Herro out).

Jaylen Brown didn’t, he ended up shooting 8-of-23 for 19 points, but with eight turnovers. Derrick White had 18 and was the best Celtic in Game 7. Malcolm Brogdon tried but could not play through an elbow injury he may need off-season surgery on (and coach Joe Mazzulla stuck with him a little too long).

The bigger problem was Boston was 9-of-42 (21.4%) on 3-pointers. Miami leaned into their zone defense (which allowed them to keep Duncan Robinson on the floor) and while the Celtics did a better job of getting into the middle of that zone, but they still needed to knock down shots over the top of it. They failed.

When the Celtics’ shots aren’t falling it bleeds into the other aspects of their game — the defensive lapses come, the mental focus goes in and out. Consistency is not a hallmark of these Celtics.

We’ll get into Boston’s future in the next couple of days, they should and will re-sign Jaylen Brown and make another run, but this core needs to look at itself in the mirror and figure out why it can’t play closer to its peak nightly.

3) The Heat are the life lesson you want to teach

As a parent, there are a lot of life lessons you try to pass on to your children, although you eventually realize that it’s more about what you show them day-to-day than what you say in any moment that really resonates.

One thing I want to show my daughters, what I want for them is to be resilient like this Miami team — a group that took a punch to the gut in Game 6, stumbled, got up off the ground, shook off the dust, and came back with more resolve and focus.

“I think probably people can relate to this team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team advanced. “Life is hard. Professional sports is just kind of a reflection sometimes of life, that things don’t always go your way. The inevitable setbacks happen and it’s how you deal with that collectively. There’s a lot of different ways that it can go. It can sap your spirit. It can take a team down for whatever reason. With this group, it’s steeled us and made us closer and made us tougher.

“These are lessons that hopefully we can pass along to our children, that you can develop this fortitude. And sometimes you have to suffer for the things that you want. Game 6, the only thing that we can do is sometimes you have to laugh at the things that make you cry…

“We have some incredible competitors in that locker room. They love the challenge. They love putting themselves out there in front of everybody. Open to criticism. Open to everything. But to compete for it, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

They did compete harder than the team in Green across from them, and that’s why Miami tips off in the NBA Finals on Thursday night.