Three things to Know: Durant out weeks, but Curry returns Tuesday

By Kurt HelinJan 10, 2023, 8:47 AM EST

Three Things To Know 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) Durant out weeks, but Curry returns Tuesday

Just as one MVP candidate goes down, another returns.

The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant will be out for at least two weeks — and more likely closer to a month — with a sprained MCL in his right knee. Officially, he will be re-evaluated after two weeks.

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has been diagnosed with an isolated MCL sprain of the right knee. The injury occurred during the third quarter of last night’s game at Miami. Durant will be reevaluated in two weeks.

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 9, 2023

The injury occurred late in the third quarter Sunday when Miami’s Jimmy Butler had his shot blocked by Ben Simmons and, when he landed, accidentally fell into Durant’s leg. Durant left the game and did not return.

The Nets say that Kevin Durant is OUT for the remainder of Nets-Heat due to a right knee injury after Jimmy Butler fell on his knee on this play.

Prayers up to KD 🙏 pic.twitter.com/v0PPP9Hfe1

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 9, 2023

Durant has been one of the league’s best players all season and at the heart of the Nets’ mid-season turnaround. He’s averaged 30 points a game on an insanely efficient 67.5 true shooting percentage, plus adding 6.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists a night. The Nets have been +8.4 per 100 possessions better with Durant on the court — he will be missed over the coming weeks.

The Warriors missed Stephen Curry while he was out with a shoulder injury, although they still went 6-5. Curry likely is back Tuesday night against the reeling Suns, he has been listed as probable.

Steph swishing at practice 🤌 pic.twitter.com/tiOyxkRBzA

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 9, 2023

While the timing is a little faster than expected, it’s not a huge surprise, Warriors general manager Bob Myers said Curry was close to a return. Curry was playing at an MVP level before the injury, averaging 30 points per game, shooting 43.2% from 3, and adding 6.8 assists and 6.6 rebounds.

2) Jalen Brunson goes off for 44 but Knicks still blow lead to Bucks

Jalen Brunson continued to show he is worth every penny of his new contract, scoring a career-high 44 points for the Knicks Monday night, while adding seven assists.

Jalen Brunson scored a career high on Monday night:

44 points (career-high)
7 rebounds
4 assists
4 threes

For more, download the NBA app:
📲 https://t.co/WFdLNEjikq pic.twitter.com/MxU5I8dfKT

— NBA (@NBA) January 10, 2023

It wasn’t enough.

The Knicks led 70-53 with five minutes left in the third quarter when the Bucks got hot from behind the arc and hit a dozen 3-pointers the rest of the way to rally for the 111-107 win. It was a balanced attack for the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, Joe Ingles looks a little better every game and added a season-high 17 points, and Brook Lopez scored 17.

3) Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic put on show beating shorthanded Lakers

That the Nuggets, one of the league’s hottest teams, beat a Lakers team without LeBron James or Anthony Davis isn’t a shock. Although the Nuggets will gladly take the win.

It’s the show they put on getting there that was interesting.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS JOKIC pic.twitter.com/aWNRj59h51

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 10, 2023

Jokic had 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting with 16 assists and 11 rebounds. The shorthanded Lakers tried to take him out of the game with doubles, he found the open man.

Jamal Murray is getting his legs under him as the season goes on — coming off a lost season due to a torn ACL — and put up a season-high 34 in the win.

Jamal Murray dropped a season high in the Nuggets win 🔥

34 PTS (season-high)
7 REB
4 AST
5 Threes

For more, download the NBA app:
📲 https://t.co/WFdLNEjikq pic.twitter.com/0ZkQYpIhEp

— NBA (@NBA) January 10, 2023

Denver is making its case it will be the team to beat in the West.

Will Herro make his Finals debut for Heat in Game 3? Don’t be so sure.

By Kurt HelinJun 6, 2023, 9:37 AM EDT

MIAMI — Game 3 has always been the target for a Tyler Herro return to the Heat.

Herro has been wearing bucket hats on the sidelines since his devastating hand injury against the Bucks, but he’s been working out with the team and going through practices for more than a week preparing for his return. Is it time for Herro to bring even more shooting and shot creation to the Heat’s rotation?

Don’t be so sure. Both Ros Gold-Onwude — the former WNBA player turned quality analyst for ESPN — and veteran Heat beat reporter Ira Winderman caution against expecting a Herro return.

Reporting from #NBAFinals: I spoke with Tyler Herro ahead his Game 2 pregame routine and he told me he experiences both soreness and swelling in the right hand after shooting and he can feel the soreness when he’s making a “follow through” shooting motion. He also shared his…

— Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21) June 5, 2023

A party familiar with process had told me over weekend that Tyler was not playing in this series. But that was just one of many familiar with situation, not enough to make it anything definitive. Just pointing out such sentiment is out there from those familiar with the process. https://t.co/qvJzm1D08I

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) June 5, 2023

If there is pain and swelling, can the Heat put him out there? This is the Finals, but this is also a 23-year-old under a long contract, and if there is a heightened risk of further injury Miami may need to protect the player from himself.

If Herro returns, expect him to come off the bench in a very limited role. It’s a huge ask to take someone who has not played in an NBA game since basically tax day (April 16 was his last game) and throw him into the highest level of basketball anywhere in the world. Spoelstra may give him a four- or five-minute run just as a test (maybe at the start of the second quarter, when Nikola Jokić sits) and see how things go.

On the surface, you can say Herro would be what the Heat need — a 20.1 point-a-game scorer this season with the best handles on the team, able to create his own shot or shoot over the top of the defense (37.8% from 3 this season). Dig a little deeper, however, and that fit is not as smooth in this series. On offense, he can be a ball-stopper at points against a Nuggets team the Heat want to keep in motion. The bigger concern is on defense, where he is a clear target (and because of that Spoelstra can’t play him with Duncan Robinson, even in the minutes Jokić sits). This might have been a tough series for a healthy Herro.

If he can play and come off the bench for short runs, he could boost the Heat offense this series.

Just don’t be so sure he’s ready to go.

Silver says NBA won’t mind if Wembanyama’s debut comes in Sacramento, not Las Vegas

Associated PressJun 6, 2023, 8:16 AM EDT

OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE/AFP via Getty Images

DENVER (AP) — Victor Wembanyama’s next couple of weeks are now set: He’ll be playing in the French league finals starting this weekend, and then the San Antonio Spurs will almost certainly make him the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 22.

And if that means the French star’s summer league debut comes in Sacramento instead of Las Vegas in early July, the league is fine with that.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league doesn’t have a preference regarding the site of Wembanyama’s first game with the Spurs. While the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is the biggest – all 30 teams attend – and commands the most attention, there are smaller summer leagues that precede the Vegas event by a few days. Sacramento plays host to one of those events, and the Spurs are one of six teams headed there this year.

“All summer leagues are NBA Summer Leagues,” Silver told The Associated Press. “I’m very supportive of the Sacramento summer league. I remember when (Kings owner Vivek Ranadive) first came to the league and said this was something he wanted to do. I said, ‘As long as you have enough other teams who support it and players who want to play in it, it’s a good thing.’”

The Kings might be getting a lot more buzz than usual this summer. Not only are the Spurs headed there, but so is Charlotte – which holds the No. 2 pick. And it just so happens that the Spurs and Hornets will open Sacramento summer play against one another, potentially setting the stage for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup a few days before Vegas even starts.

If Wembanyama plays in Sacramento, he’d be the first No. 1 pick that didn’t debut in Las Vegas since Markelle Fultz for Philadelphia in 2017. The 76ers played in Utah’s summer league that year before going to Vegas.

Other recent No. 1 picks have opened in Las Vegas with big-crowd, big-spectacle atmospheres. Paolo Banchero’s debut in Vegas for Orlando last summer had John Wall and DeMar DeRozan sitting courtside, as was Jerry West – three guys who didn’t need to see the scalpers who were working outside the arena for hours before the game. Zion Williamson played only nine minutes in his debut in 2019, in a game that was stopped by an earthquake, and his debut got LeBron James and Anthony Davis to grab courtside seats.

The Spurs have not said whether Wembanyama will play in the Sacramento event, which starts on July 3, and almost certainly won’t address the topic until they actually draft him in a little over two weeks. Wembanyama is expected to be with the Spurs in Las Vegas as well; the league has already announced him as one of the participants for its inaugural NBA Con – which runs there from July 7-9 and will celebrate many aspects of basketball culture.

“What’s made the summer leagues so valuable are really the media rights more than the individuals who buy tickets there, because it’s a very affordable experience,” Silver said. “So, the answer is, I want Victor to get playing court experience and I think the team – assuming it’s San Antonio – should make decisions completely independent of any commercial implications from where he debuts.”

Wembanyama’s Boulogne-Levallois team beat his former team, ASVEL, 3-1 in a French league semifinal series that ended Sunday. Monaco, the top seed in the league, awaits Wembanyama’s team in the best-of-five final that starts Saturday and could go until June 20 – two days before the draft.

“So proud of my guys,” Wembanyama tweeted Sunday after the semifinal win. “Job ain’t done tho.”

Wembanyama said in October that he’s 7-foot-3; some still say he’s 7-foot-4 or 7-foot-5, and given that he’s only 19, it’s certainly possible that he had a bit of growing left in recent months. Either way, he’s a generational talent who’ll come into the NBA with enormous hype, the likes of which probably hasn’t been seen since James went No. 1 overall to Cleveland in 2003.

“What I try to advise players – and I’m not making a prediction that he will or won’t live up to the hype – is to control what you can control, and I think what you can control is doing the work,” Silver said. “If he is in San Antonio, it’s an organization that led the way in terms of international scouting and signing of international players. Certainly, everyone would acknowledge they know how to develop players and particularly big men. And so, if I were in his shoes, or if I’m advising him, I’m saying, ‘Quickly become part of that organization and be a sponge and listen to the advice.’”

Add Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Ingram to USA World Cup roster

By Kurt HelinJun 5, 2023, 11:45 PM EDT

Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

The Team USA roster heading Manilla for the World Cup this summer just gets deeper and more athletic.

Two more players have committed to playing: Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Pelicans scoring machine Brandon Ingram, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

We now have eight of the 12 players expected to represent the USA this summer:

Mikal Bridges
Jalen Brunson
Anthony Edwards
Tyrese Haliburton
Brandon Ingram
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Bobby Portis
Austin Reaves

Jackson Jr. brings rim-protecting defense plus the ability to space the floor needed by bigs in the international game. Ingram fits the style of scorer — from Kevin Durant back to Carmelo Anthony — that has always done well for Team USA in international competitions. Ingram averaged 24.7 points per game this season, but missed almost half the season due to a toe injury.

The World Cup takes place this summer in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, feating 32 teams from around the world. The USA is in Group C with Greece, New Zealand and Jordan. The World Cup is the primary qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is in charge of Team USA, with his assistant coaches being Erik Spoelstra (Heat), Tyronn Lue (Clippers) and Mark Few (Gonzaga).

The USA will have a training camp in Las Vegas, where they play Puerto Rico in an exhibition before heading to Abu Dhabi and then on to the World Cup, where the USA will play all its games in Manilla.

The World Cup starts Aug. 25 and continues through Sept. 10.

Coaching, front office updates: Sam Cassell headed to Celtics’ bench

By Kurt HelinJun 5, 2023, 2:56 PM EDT

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The musical chairs in NBA coaching and front office circles continues at full speed during the NBA Finals.

We’ve done a couple of notebook-style updates. Here’s another:

• Sam Cassell is headed to Boston to be one of the new key assistants for Joe Mazzulla with the Celtics, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic and confirmed by Chris Forsberg at NBC Sports Boston. Cassell had been on Doc Rivers’ bench in Philadelphia the past few seasons and the Los Angeles Clippers before that. This is as close to bringing in a head coach as you can get without hiring a former head coach, plus he had a 15-year NBA career players’ respect.

Cassell can also teach the players a dance that can get them fined.

• Marc Stein reports that the Mavericks are testing the waters to see if former Knicks head coach turned lead broadcaster for ABC/ESPN Jeff Van Gundy — who is currently working the NBA Finals — might want to return to the bench on Jason Kidd’s staff. That seems an incredible long shot, but it never hurts to ask.

• If they can’t get Van Gundy, the Mavericks may turn to former Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek, Stein reports.

• Stein also reports these are the four finalists for the still-open Toronto Raptors head coaching job: Kenny Atkinson (former Nets head coach who is on Steve Kerr’s staff in Golden State), Jordi Fernández (Kings lead assistant), Darko Rajaković (Grizzlies assistant coach) and Sergio Scariolo (Italy’s Virtus Bologna and the Spanish national team head coach). Scariolo will not fly to Toronto for another interview because Virtus Bologna starts the Italian league finals this week.

• Former Rockets head coach Stephen Silas will join the staff of Monty Williams in Detroit as an assistant coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

• As expected, the Los Angeles Clippers have promoted from within to replace former GM Michael Winger, who left to become the head of Wizards basketball operations.

LA Clippers promote Redden and Hughes.

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 5, 2023

The Clippers are considered one of the league’s smarter and more stable front offices, one built on collaboration, so it makes sense to promote from within.

1) Durant out weeks, but Curry returns Tuesday

2) Jalen Brunson goes off for 44 but Knicks still blow lead to Bucks

3) Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic put on show beating shorthanded Lakers

Here's more on the Nets

Check out more on the Heat

Here is more on the NBA Draft

Check out more on the World Cup

Here's more on the Celtics