Three things to Know: Could Grizzlies’ road woes keep them from contending?

By Kurt HelinJan 23, 2023, 9:06 AM EST

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

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) Could Grizzlies’ road woes hold them back from contending?

In the FedEx Forum, the Memphis Grizzlies play like unquestioned title contenders — a 20-3 record, outscoring opponents by 11.2 points per game fueled by the league’s best defense.

However, take the Grizzlies out of the friendly confines and everything changes. They are 11-12 and have been outscored away from home after dropping back-to-back games on the current road trip to teams in the play-in mix (the Lakers and Suns).

Memphis is the only team in the Western Conference with a top-10 offense and defense — the traditional sign of a contender — but to make the Finals, a team will have to win big games on the road. Could the Grizzlies’ road woes keep them from contending?

“Got to look ourselves in the mirror. We gotta want to be better if we got to want change,” Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones said when asked about road woes after a come-from-ahead loss to the Lakers Friday night that snapped their 11-game winning streak. “You know, and if we don’t, it’ll be a long road trip for us.”

It might be a long trip. The Grizzlies came out after that loss and got their heads handed to them by the Suns in the first half, trailing 62-37 at the break. Part of the Suns’ energy was the return of Chris Paul after missing the last seven games, he finished the night with 22 points and 11 assists.

The Grizzlies came back in the second half, partly because Ziaire Williams hit the longest shot in Grizzlies history.

ZIAIRE WILLIAMS FULL COURT SHOT AT THE BUZZER 😱

WATCH: https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/0ooY4Y4I07

— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2023

Memphis still fell short. Players still felt like they didn’t play Grizzlies basketball.

“If we just follow principles, follow our principles he would have won the game by 15,” Dillon Brooks said after losing to the Lakers. “Shifting, loading up to the ball in transition, making them take tough shots. And then rebounding.”

The one positive is this: The losing really bothers these young Grizzlies.

Not that any team in the NBA enjoys losing, but it seemed to eat at this team more than most. After the loss in Los Angeles, a group of 10 or so reporters were huddled in the corner of the visitor’s locker room waiting to talk to Brooks about his words with Shannon Sharpe courtside that became a thing. Usually after a team loses in Los Angeles (especially on a Friday night), players are moving fast to shower and get out the door to the club or their dinner reservations — even the best teams lose a fair amount in the NBA and let it roll off them. These Grizzlies stewed in it. A core of the group sat at their lockers, bothered by the loss, talking about officiating and what they felt they should have done differently. They were not racing to get out the door. They didn’t like the feeling.

It’s a good sign, although they followed that up with maybe their worst half of basketball of the season two days later. But at least they recognize the problem. That’s a good start. Still, if the Grizzlies are going to win the West, they must fix it. They will need big wins on the road.

2) Shorthanded Nets hand Warriors another loss at home

Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving have a long-running rivalry and history with games against each other on the NBA’s biggest stages, and they put on a show Sunday night — Irving scored 38, Curry 26.

So much for the Warriors flipping the switch. After a hard-fought loss to the Celtics last Thursday, the Warriors did win in Cleveland, but in a game Steve Kerr rested his core players except for Jordan Poole — it was a one-off win. Then they came home and lost to a Nets team without Kevin Durant, where Brooklyn won the second half 60-44 to secure the victory.

Kerr stuck with his new small-ball starting lineup — Jordan Poole starts at guard and Kevon Looney comes off the bench — and the result was Nets center Nic Claxton having a career night.

A career night for Nic Claxton in the Nets W:

24 PTS (career-high)
15 REB (career-high)

💪 pic.twitter.com/Sf5m1QHcY1

— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2023

That’s four straight losses at home for the Warriors, where they had been juggernauts. On the flip side, that’s two quality road wins for the shorthanded Nets in a row, they beat Utah a couple of nights before. Brooklyn is starting to find its offense.

The first game home after a road trip is a traditional trap game in the NBA, the Warriors can explain away this loss that way. But they continue to explain away too many losses this season for a team that fancies itself a title contender.

3) Lakers comeback win over Trail Blazers snapshot of these teams now

Portland is in a tailspin. The Trail Blazers won the second quarter against the Lakers Sunday 45-13 and led by 25 at the half — close this game out, beat the Spurs coming up, and they could have snapped out of their recent funk. Instead, the Lakers roared back to get the win behind 37 from LeBron James, and in a defining part of their season the Trail Blazers have now gone 2-8.

The Lakers, on the other hand, are suddenly looking up. They beat the Grizzlies on Friday night to snap that team’s 11-game winning streak, and now they have an epic comeback against the Trail Blazers led by LeBron’s 37 and 11.

37 PTS
11 REB
4 AST

LeBron in the @Lakers comeback win 😤 pic.twitter.com/XdasYemjOg

— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2023

That’s two quality wins in a row for the Lakers, who likely will get Anthony Davis back this week. With the win, the Lakers moved past the Trail Blazers in the standings (although only to 12th), and a path to the playoffs seems possible. Next up for the Lakers are the Clippers back at home.

Another note from this game: Thomas Bryant scored 31 for the Lakers.

THOMAS BRYANT 💪

31 PTS
13 REB
4 THREES

Lakers lead by 6 with 1:07 to play.

WATCH: https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/9YZrxC2Itd

— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2023

It is a sign of an ongoing problem for the Trail Blazers — they are too small, and opposing bigs are feasting. Bryant, a true stretch five, is a problem for Jusuf Nurkic and the Portland defensive system.

The Lakers need this Bryant when Davis returns if they are going to climb up into the postseason.

By the way, LeBron is now 244 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time passing record.

Raptors reportedly hire Grizzlies’ assistant Rajakovic as new head coach

By Kurt HelinJun 10, 2023, 5:56 PM EDT

Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Toronto is leaning into a first-time head coach, albeit one that has been ready for the chance.

The Raptors will hire Memphis Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic as its next head coach, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and confirmed by multiple reports since.

ESPN Sources: The Toronto Raptors are finalizing a deal to hire Memphis Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic as the franchise’s next coach. pic.twitter.com/AEPu64p2F2

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 10, 2023

Rajakovic, 44, is an assistant near the front of the line of guys who deserved a chance in the big chair, a guy considered a player development specialist. He started coaching at age 17 in his native Serbia — it’s a good week for Serbian sports — and came to the United States in 2012 to coach Tulsa in the G-League. He has since been on the Oklahoma City and Phoenix bench before joining Taylor Jenkins staff in Memphis.

Rajakovic replaces Nick Nurse, who led Toronto to its only championship in 2019 but was let go after missing the playoffs this season. Nurse has since been hired to coach Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Toronto has been a team other franchises in the league are watching to see what direction it goes. Do the Raptors try to re-sign Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl to win now by pairing them with Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and a versatile roster, or is it time to break it apart and look to a more Barnes-centric future? Does hiring a player development focused coach in Rajakovic hint at a direction?

There are a lot of teams around the league who would be interested in Anunoby and others if the Raptors decide to break things up.

Heat players talk bouncing back, making history with Finals comeback

By Kurt HelinJun 10, 2023, 2:16 PM EDT

Robby Illanes/NBAE via Getty Images

MIAMI — Kevin Love has been here before, down 3-1 in the NBA Finals and staring up at a seemingly invincible foe. Yet there he was, a couple of improbable games later, dancing with Stephen Curry out at the arc and contesting a shot that missed and sealed the Cavaliers’ historic comeback and title in 2016.

“We know that anything can happen. It has been done before, in a Conference Final and Final, I have been part of it before,” Love said after a Heat Game 4 loss on their home court that felt like a punch to the gut. “You really just have to take it one possession at a time. Forget the game. It’s just one possession, one quarter, half to half. Just get it done by any means necessary and figure the rest out.”

The Heat locker room was quiet after Game 4. With good reason. The Heat just had dropped two games at home, and in the second one of those they held Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray in relative check — with Jokić spending 5:15 of the heart of the fourth quarter on the bench due to foul trouble – and it didn’t matter. It felt like a game Miami had to have, but Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown grabbed it for Denver. Miami looked like a team in trouble.

“I told the guys, feel whatever you want to feel tonight. It’s fine,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You probably shouldn’t sleep tonight any amount of time. I don’t think anybody will. We have an incredibly competitive group. We’ve done everything the hard way, and that’s the way it’s going to have to be done right now, again.

“All we are going to focus on is getting this thing back to the 305. Get this thing back to Miami. And things can shift very quickly. It’s going to be a gnarly game in Denver that is built for the competitors that we have in our locker room.”

Resilience and relentlessness have been the Heat hallmarks this postseason, but those qualities are about to be tested like never before.

“We’ve seen a team come back from 3-0 firsthand,” Bam Adebayo said, referencing the Celtics near comeback on the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals (Miami won Game 7 in Boston). “So we just have to believe, and one game at a time.”

There was a 3-1 comeback in the 2016 NBA Finals, when the Cavaliers stormed back on Curry’s Warriors. However, that comeback required a cocktail of events to be shaken together: Draymond Green‘s suspension for Game 5 after kicking LeBron James in the groin, Golden State center and defensive anchor Andrew Bogut getting injured and missing the final games, LeBron playing at his absolute peak, and a legendary Kyrie Irving bucket.

Can Miami replicate that?

“It’s one game at a time. Now we are in a must-win situation every single game, which we’re capable of,” Jimmy Butler said. “Some correctible things we’ve got to do, but it’s not impossible. We’ve got to go out there and do it. We’ve got three to get.”

Celtics’ Grant Williams undergoes hand surgery as he enters pivotal offseason

Associated PressJun 10, 2023, 8:37 AM EDT

Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics forward Grant Williams had surgery Friday to repair a torn ligament in his left hand and is expected to be sidelined from basketball activities for the next two months.

The team said that Williams, 24, will need 6-8 weeks to recover following the procedure.

Williams averaged career highs in minutes (25.9), points (8.1) and rebounds (4.6) during the regular season. But each of those numbers fell during the playoffs as he slipped in and out of the rotation.

He is a restricted free agent this summer with interest from teams around the league.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said last week that he thinks Williams got caught in a numbers’ situation regarding his reduced playing time this season.

“He is a good player who was on a really deep team,” Stevens said. “With the addition of (Malcolm) Brogdon last year it was going to require that guys that had gotten a little more opportunity weren’t going to get as much. That obviously hit a few of our players. … But everybody around the league knows Grant can add value to any team.”

Three reasons Denver has a commanding 3-1 Finals lead over Miami

By Kurt HelinJun 10, 2023, 8:27 AM EDT

MIAMI — The Heat are on the NBA Finals stage because they are relentless. They never quit when things got hard in the postseason, they would just up their intensity and pressure their opponent.

When they cranked up that pressure on the teams with the two best regular season records in the NBA — the Bucks and Celtics — those teams melted. Miami was left standing.

Denver will not melt. They will not beat themselves.

If anything, the Nuggets are putting the pressure back on the Heat, which is why they are up 3-1 and in command of these NBA Finals after an impressive Game 4 win. The best example was when the Nuggets withstood more than five minutes in the fourth quarter without their two-time MVP (due to foul trouble) and didn’t miss a beat.

It feels like Game 5 in Denver could be a coronation of Jokić and the Nuggets. Here are the three reasons we got to this point, with the Nuggets one win away from the franchise’s first title.

1) Miami can’t score enough to hang with Denver

The Heat were always going to have to put up a lot of points to keep pace in this series — the Nuggets had a top-five offense in the league this season led by a two-time MVP. They were not going to be shut down by anyone and had just come off having an impressive 118 offensive rating against the best defense in the NBA after the All-Star break in the Lakers. Maybe Maimi could slow Denver some, but the Heat were going to have to put up offensive numbers like they did against the Celtics.

Through four Finals games, the Miami Heat have a 109.5 offensive rating. That is 3.8 behind their unimpressive regular season offense (25th in the league) and 9.2 below what they did against Boston. Or, look at it this way: The Heat had a 129.1 in its Game 2 victory, but 102.2 in the other three games, all losses (stat via John Schuhmann at NBA.com)

The Nuggets’ length across the board is clearly bothering Heat shooters inside the paint and out at the arc.

Outside of the fourth quarter of Game 2, nothing has worked the way the Heat wanted on offense. In Game 4, the emphasis was on playing downhill and getting to the rim, maybe getting Jokić in foul trouble.

“[Coach Spoelstra] definitely made it an emphasis to attack the rim, to really get to the rim, me and Jimmy, everybody included, really get downhill and make things happen,” Bam Adebayo said of his team’s Game 4 strategy.

Miami did as its coach asked and shot 14-of-18 in the restricted area. But look at the rest of the shot chart.

That’s a lot of red.

Jimmy Butler and Adebayo have put up numbers throughout the Finals but haven’t been efficient. Game 4 was the perfect example, the Heat All-Star duo combined to score 45 points, but they shot below 50%, 17-of-36, to get there. They have not been the force they have been in other series. Butler will never blame his sore ankle, re-aggravated in Game 7 against the Celtics, but he’s not showing the same lift or explosion he did last series.

Neither of the Heat’s stars are expected to space the floor, that shooting falls to the role players, but the Heat were 8-of-25 from 3 in Game 4. Gabe Vincent and Max Strus combined to go 0-of-7 from deep.

Spoelstra has to try something in Game 5, maybe start Duncan Robinson (5-of-7 on the night, shooting 3s and attacking closeouts) over Strus. There are other tweaks he can make. But at this point it’s really as simple as the Heat need to start finishing their chances, contested or not.

“All we are going to focus on is getting this thing back to the 305,” Spoelstra said. “Get this thing back to Miami. And things can shift very quickly,” Spoelstra said. “It’s going to be a gnarly game in Denver that is built for the competitors that we have in our locker room. By the time we are getting on that plane, all we’re thinking about is get this thing back to Miami.”

2) Miami can’t stop Denver from scoring

Through four games, Miami has a 119.6 offensive rating (and a +10.1 net rating in the series). That is an offensive rating close to Sacramento’s league-best throughout this season.

What makes the Nuggets so hard for the Heat or anyone else to stop is it’s not just one thing.

However, it starts with the Jokic and Jamal Murray two-man game.

In Game 3, that duo ran 32 pick-and-rolls and the two stars each had 30+ point triple-doubles on the night. Miami learned its lesson, and in Game 4, the Heat were determined not to let Murray get rolling and beat them. The Nuggets defense focused on Murray, blitzing him with the ball when he came off picks, pressuring even the inbounds after baskets, bringing double-teams on drives and doing whatever it took to get the ball out of his hands.

It worked on a superficial level, Murray had 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting in Game 3.

He also had 12 assists and no turnovers. His teammates stepped up and made plays.

“Jamal, regardless of what’s going on, he’s going to step up. He’s going to find a way to impact the game,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The most impressive thing for me was he had 15 points tonight, and he was 5-of-17 from the field. But 12 assists and zero turnovers, and just kind of, all right, they’re putting two on me, let me make the right play. He did not get bored with making the right play. He did not say, I’m going to save us and try to carry the team. He just read the defense, made the right play, and trusted. That’s a big part of our culture is trusting one another.”

Murray’s teammates are the other key to this series.

3) Denver’s role players outplaying Heat role players. It’s not close.

Miami had a game plan and executed it. They completely sold out to stop Murray, while Bam Adebayo continued to battle and challenge Jokić. The two Nuggets’ All-Stars combined to shoot just 13-of-36 on the night.

But Aaron Gordon stepped up with 27. Bruce Brown scored 21, including 11 in the fourth quarter, taking over the offense in the clutch.

On the other side, Heat starters Max Strus and Gabe Vincent combined to shoot 1-of-10. Caleb Martin was better in Game 4, with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, but he’s not looked anything near the player who nearly won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. The list just goes on.

“Every time we felt like we got it to six or eight, they were able to push it to 12,” Spoelstra said after Game 4. “That was certainly a frustrating part of the game…

“For the most part, I thought that that part of the game [Miami’s defense on Jokić and Murray] was okay. It’s the Gordon dunks or cuts; [Michael] Porter had a couple cuts; and then Brown, when Jokic was out, those drives and plays that were kind of just random plays, attacking plays, which he is fully capable of doing. Those were probably the most costly things.”

Malone had enough trust in Brown to give him the keys to the offense in the second half of the fourth quarter of Game 4.

“Bruce Brown in the fourth quarter was amazing,” Malone said. “He had I think 21 points, 11 of those were in the fourth quarter. They were giving Jamal so much attention that [we decided] let’s get Jamal off the ball, let Bruce make some plays. He was aggressive, got to the basket, made shots, and tonight was an impressive performance.”

Jokic was fired up for Bruce Brown's 4th quarter takeover 🔥 pic.twitter.com/56rOHygKm1

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 10, 2023

“When he did a step-back three, I wanted to punch him, but when he made it, I was so happy,” Jokić said.

Brown had a chance to step up because Gordon had been making plays and finishing all night long. He ended the night with a game-high 27. But it was the team aspect of the Nuggets, the variety of ways they can beat you — and the execution of those players under pressure — that has proven too much for the Heat.

“I thought Aaron Gordon was huge all night long,” Malone said. “He brought his hard hat tonight and was just a warrior on both ends for us. Nikola, he had another great game. And one of the best stats of the night was Jamal Murray had 12 assists, no turnovers. In a game where he was getting blitzed and bodies thrown at him all night long, did not have one turnover, and that’s just remarkable.

And the Nuggets are now, remarkably, within one win of an NBA title.

1) Could Grizzlies’ road woes hold them back from contending?

2) Shorthanded Nets hand Warriors another loss at home

3) Lakers comeback win over Trail Blazers snapshot of these teams now

Check out more on Toronto

Check out more on the Heat

Check out more on the Celtics

1) Miami can’t score enough to hang with Denver

2) Miami can’t stop Denver from scoring

3) Denver’s role players outplaying Heat role players. It’s not close.

Check out more on the Nuggets