Three things to Know: Who were biggest All-Star Game snubs?

By Feb 3, 2023, 9:20 AM EST
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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) Who were biggest All-Star Game snubs? Siakam, Harden and…

The All-Star Game rosters need to be expanded — teams carry 15 players into a regular season game, but there are just 12 roster spots for the All-Star Game. J.J. Redick does a brilliant breakdown of this worth watching.

Don’t bet on it happening. The league knows the small roster leads to big-name snubs, it generates controversy and gets everyone talking — which the league loves. This system works just fine for them.

The All-Star Game reserves were announced Thursday, as selected by the league’s head coaches (or the assistant it got passed down to in more than a few cases), and there were snubs. Here are the five biggest.

• James Harden. He’s averaging 21.4 points and 11 assists a game (which will lead the league, once he qualifies by playing enough games and minutes). While he has missed a few games, he’s still played in 34, and is the primary ball handler and second-leading scorer on the team with the fourth-best record in the league. The Beard deserved to be in Salt Lake City. He knows it and wasn’t subtle about his frustration, and Joel Embiid had his back.

• Pascal Siakam. I don’t see how the coaches could leave him off the list. It likely goes back to the struggles of the Raptors team, but that is not on Siakam has played in 43 games and averaged 24.9 points, 8 rebounds and 6.2 assists a night, plus he’s a quality defender. He has played at an All-NBA level, not just All-Star.

• Anthony Davis. You can see why coaches left the Lakers’ big off the list, he’s only played in 29 games this season. Still, that’s just six fewer than Jackson Jr. and Davis has been much better when he has played — 26.9 points and 12 rebounds a game, plus elite defense. When healthy, Davis’ name got thrown into the MVP conversation, and Thursday night he showed why with the game-winning bucket and then game-saving block for the Lakers against the Pacers.

• Devin Booker. This is the same case as Davis, a guy who is clearly an All-NBA player when healthy — 27.1 points and 5.6 assists a game — but misses the cut because he’s missed time and played in just 29 games. Isn’t the All-Star Game supposed to be filled with the best players in the league? It’s not MVP or some award where games played should matter that much, if you’re in half your team’s games that’s enough to play in this exhibition.

• Jalen Brunson and Jimmy Butler. We’re combining them because it is the exact same issue: Both are deserving, but the coaches only wanted to give their team one spot so it went to the big on their rosters (Julius Randle and Bam Adebayo), not them. They got squeezed, which goes back to the need to expand the All-Star Game rosters.

2) Antetokounmpo’s 54 sparks Bucks comeback as Clippers collapse

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been making his MVP case the past couple of weeks — and it is strong.

The Clippers seemed to be in control of this game — up by 21 in the second half and specifically up 19 with 2:30 left in the third quarter — and Ivica Zubac was giving Antetokounmpo as much trouble as any human could.

Then Antetokounmpo took over. From that 2:30 mark on, the Greek Freak scored 23 points, the Bucks outscored the Clippers 41-21 — Antetokounmpo himself outscored the Clippers — and Milwaukee stormed back to get a 106-105 win.

Antetokounmpo finished with 54 points, his third 50+ game in the last month. So about that MVP case…

The flip side of this game shows why I am off the Clippers bandwagon. You could see it in the recent loss to the Celtics and this game. There are moments (like the first 36 minutes in Milwaukee) where if you squint and look at Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, you can see the outline of a contender. But when the pressure of a real contender ramps up the holes in their defense, their roster, and their style get exposed. Part of it is this team hasn’t played enough games together with a healthy roster to develop the good habits — sharp defensive rotations, good ball movement on the offensive end under pressure — but is there really time left to do it considering Leonard and George are going to miss time on back-to-backs and other spots.

The Clippers closed this game shooting 0-of-9, with a to of isolation ball from Leonard and no passing out of it. That doesn’t work against elite defenses, the kind the Clippers will see come the playoffs. Adding a point guard isn’t going to solve all these issues, but in a West where nobody is running away with anything the Clippers’ dreams are alive.

3) Donovan Mitchell calls out Dillon Brooks as dirty after both are ejected

How many games suspension should the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks get for what looked like an intentional shot to Donovan Mitchell’s, um, “groin area?”

The incident came with just under six minutes left in the third quarter, Brooks drove the lane and right into the body of Michell, knocking him back (a physical but not unreasonable play). The Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley rotated over and blocked the shot, knocking Brooks to the ground. That’s when Brooks swung his arm and — it looked like intentionally — hit Mitchel in the, shall we say, family jewels. Mitchell fell to the ground, threw the ball at Brooks, and the two had to be separated.

Both Brooks and Mitchell were given Flagrant 2 fouls and ejected.

Mitchell said he would appeal the flagrant and any fine, saying he should be able to defend himself, and calling out Brooks.

This incident sparked the Cavaliers, who pulled away for a 128-113 win behind 32 from Darius Garland. The Grizzlies are reeling right now, having lost 7-of-8.

Joel Embiid scores 46 but 76ers still fall short against Poole, Warriors

Associated PressMar 25, 2023, 3:12 AM EDT
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Poole emerged as one of Golden State’s most dependable performers during the championship run last season.

He resembled that go-to guy once again Friday night when the Warriors needed everything he had, with the ever-reliable Draymond Green doing his thing, too.

“Opportunity,” Poole said of his stellar fourth quarter playing all 12 minutes.

Poole scored 33 points and swished a key 3-pointer with 1:18 to play off a pretty pass by Green, Stephen Curry added 29 points and eight rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors rallied past Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers 120-112 on Friday night.

“Tonight something about it felt like last year in that playoff run when Jordan was just attacking and knocking down shots but also getting to the line just giving us an entirely different dimension offensively,” coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s when he’s at his best. I thought he really competed down the stretch defensively as well. He was magnificent tonight.”

Embiid checked back into the game with 8:26 left and scored 13 straight on the way to 46 points.

But the Warriors came back from 11 down for their ninth straight home win — and one of the most important yet as they fight for playoff positioning.

Green noted: “Nobody wants to be in that play-in, the play-in is dangerous.”

Curry dribbled the baseline and around Embiid for a go-ahead jumper with 2:20 to play. Klay Thompson tied it at 104 with 5:05 left, only for Embiid to drive straight down the key for a dunk. He did miss consecutive shots in crunch time, too.

Poole’s driving dunk with 8:27 left got Golden State back to 93-91 then Kevon Looney’s putback after Embiid blocked a layup try by Poole cut it to 102-101.

Embiid shot 13 for 23, made 19 of 22 free throws and had nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals. He helped Philadelphia take an 88-79 lead going into the fourth. He had his streak of scoring 30 or more points in a franchise-record 10 straight games snapped in Wednesday’s 116-91 win at Chicago but made up for it.

Golden State nemesis James Harden sat out with left Achilles soreness for the Sixers, who had won nine of 10 and 10 of 12.

Thompson added 21 points and six rebounds and Looney contributed six points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Warriors reached 30 home wins for the sixth time since 2014-15 and second in a row.

“You want to take care of home court as best as you can,” Poole said.

Green had 10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for Golden State, which had some momentum from two straight wins on the road following an 11-game skid away from Chase Center.

“I feel good. It’s that time of year you’ve got to turn everything up a notch,” Green said. “I love this time of year.”

Philadelphia, which had won the last two matchups, made 10 of 17 shots to start the game but missed its first eight 3-point tries before Georges Niang connected at the 8:06 mark of the second quarter.

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Luka Dončić fined for money gesture toward referee after loss

By Mar 24, 2023, 7:47 PM EDT
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The Mavericks were livid about the officiating in their loss to the Warriors, particularly the miscommunication about a third-quarter out-of-bounds play that gave Golden State an uncontested bucket in what ended up being a two-point game.

Frustrated or not, everyone knew Luka Dončić crossed a line and would get fined when he made a gesture suggesting the referees were paid off.

Friday the NBA came down with a $35,000 fine for Dončić “for directing an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture toward a game official.” While that’s a steep price it could have been much worse — the referee did not give Dončić a technical foul at the time, which would have been his 16th and triggered a one-game suspension without pay.

Dončić wasn’t the only person fined by the league for snapping at the officials, Suns coach Monty Williams was fined $20,000 on Friday “for public criticism of the officiating.” Williams was frustrated after losing to the Lakers on a night where Los Angeles got to the line 46 times to Phoenix’s 20.

“Where do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team?” Williams said after the game. “That’s just not right. I don’t care how you slice it. It is happening to us too much. Other teams are reaching, other teams are hitting, and we’re not getting the same call, and I’m tired of it. It’s old… I’m over it. Been talking about the same thing for a while. Doesn’t matter what team it is.”

It doesn’t matter what team it is for a reason. First, the Suns do not draw a lot of fouls because they are not a team that puts a lot of pressure on the rim (especially without Kevin Durant), they settle for jump shots. Second, they have the highest foul rate in the league — they foul a lot. Those two things will lead to a free throw disparity nightly (they had players who could draw fouls, Mikal Bridges is doing it now in Brooklyn, but the Suns didn’t put the ball in his and ask him to attack as the Nets have, Phoenix used him as a shooter and cutter off the ball more often).

The tensions between players and referees feel ratcheted up this season, and these are just the latest examples.

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Report: Kevin Durant targeting March 29 return vs. Timberwolves

By Mar 24, 2023, 6:25 PM EDT
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When Kevin Durant sprained his ankle during warmups, the Suns said he would be re-evaluated in three weeks. It turns out it may be more than a re-evaluation.

Durant is targeting a return almost three weeks to the day from when he injured himself, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

There has been no official update from the Suns, but Durant’s camp has always been optimistic about a return.

The Suns have gone 2-5 without Durant and slid into a virtual tie with the Clippers for the No. 4 seed in the West. If Durant returns Wednesday, Phoenix would have seven games left to hold off Los Angeles and retain home court in the first round of the playoffs. More importantly, they could generate some chemistry before the postseason begins.

Durant averaged 26.7 points and 7.3 assists a game with a ridiculous 80.8 true shooting percentage in his three games with the Suns, and the team won all three games. The fit seemed almost seamless and if the Suns can get back to that they are a threat to win the wide-open West.

It’s going to be a wild final couple of weeks in the West.

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Where’s the beef? Anthony Davis says ‘Me and Bron have one of the best relationships’ in NBA

By Mar 24, 2023, 1:15 PM EDT
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Whispers and reports of a split in the Lakers’ locker room and a beef between Anthony Davis and LeBron James gained momentum after Davis’ reaction to LeBron James breaking the all-time scoring record went viral. Talking Lakers drama is always an excellent way to get clicks/eyeballs/listeners and so once a rumor like a beef between the team’s two biggest stars begins rolling down the hill it does not stop.

Even if Davis says there is nothing to it, everything is good between him and LeBron. Here’s the quote he gave to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“Me and Bron have one of the best relationships I think in the NBA as far as duos or teammates, regardless,” Davis said. “But they don’t see that. They don’t see the stuff we do off the court and time we hang out with each other. They see on-court stuff.”

The reality is it doesn’t matter if LeBron and Davis are buddies, hanging out together drinking a lovely Pinot Noir and laughing behind Frank Vogel’s back. What matters is whether they can get along and thrive on the court. There’s a banner hanging in Crypto.com Arena that says they can if they stay healthy and management puts the right kinds of role players around them.

The healthy part is in the way right now, with LeBron out for at least a couple more weeks with a tendon foot injury (whether he returns before the season ends is up in the air). The Lakers are 7-5 in the dozen games he has missed with this injury thanks to a defense — anchored by Davis — that is third-best in the NBA over that stretch. That has kept their head above water, but the Lakers are in a tight race where six teams — from the 7-12 seeds, making up all the play-in teams and a couple that will miss out — are tied in the loss column at 37. The Lakers need more wins, including Friday night in a critical game against the Thunder.

The Lakers will need LeBron back — and LeBron and Davis to rekindle their on-court chemistry — if they are going to make any kind of a playoff run. First they just have to get to the postseason, which will fall more on Davis. Of late, he has looked up to the task.

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