Three things to Know: Dončić, Irving combine for 82 points, beat 76ers

By Kurt HelinMar 3, 2023, 9:24 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) Dončić, Irving combine for 82 points, that’s enough to beat 76ers

This was a party — and exactly how the Dallas Mavericks are going to win games. They aren’t getting stops by playing defense on a string — they had a horrific 128.6 defensive rating Thursday night — they simply are going to win shootouts.

It was a scoring party in the American Airlines Arena as Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving combined for 82 points and the Mavericks put up a 133 spot, a number the 76ers couldn’t match (126).

Luka and Kyrie went OFF in the Mavs W 🔥

Luka: 42 PTS, 4 REB, 12 AST, 7 3PM
Kyrie: 40 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 6 3PM

The first pair of teammates in Mavs history to drop 40+ PTS in the same game. pic.twitter.com/XBXWeT4WzP

— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2023

“Luka was ready for the party,” Irving said, via the Associated Press. “I was ready for the party tonight. It was one of those games where we had some special performances. “

Dončić finished with 42 points and 12 assists, shooting 13-of-22 from the floor. Irving had 40 points and six assists, shooting 15-of-22.

Dallas led by 16 at a couple of different points in the fourth only to have it look like another blown lead/Philadelphia comeback as Joel Embiid dropped 35 and inspired his team. Philly showed some grit, but it just wasn’t to be. They couldn’t slow the Mavs duo down. With the win, the Mavericks jump into the West’s top six.

The silver lining for Philadelphia: Tyrese Maxey does look better as a starter. He has started the last two games for Doc Rivers, moving De’Anthony Melton to the bench. We may be seeing this rotation the rest of the way.

Melton was starting for defense (and he was knocking down shots), Maxey is the more dynamic offensive player but is not near the same defender. That showed on Thursday and once Dončić and Irving got rolling the game was over.

2) Curry near return; LeBron nowhere near return

The Warriors have gone 6-4 — including winning four straight — while Stephen Curry has been sidelined since Feb. 4 due to partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane (where the shin connects to the knee).

The wait for his return may be over this weekend, reports Chris Haynes of TNT/Bleacher Report.

Golden State star Stephen Curry (leg) intends to make his return on Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers barring a setback, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 3, 2023

Steve Kerr did not confirm the news but made it sound possible, saying Curry has been scrimmaging.

Steve Kerr says Steph looked good scrimmaging this morning, and it’s possible he returns Sunday pic.twitter.com/w75E3uwik3

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 3, 2023

Curry has played at an MVP level when on the court this season, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists a game, and the Warriors are 8.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the court. Golden State needs his return for the final 18 games of the season if this team is going to flip the switch and show a title-defending form we have only seen in brief flashes this season.

While the news was good in the Bay Area, it’s not so good for the team Curry would return against on Sunday.

The Lakers announced Thursday LeBron James will be re-evaluated in three weeks after suffering a foot tendon issue. The injury occurred against the Mavericks last weekend — LeBron said on the court he heard it “pop” — and has already sidelined him for a couple of games.

The Lakers’ odds of climbing into the play-in are long without him. Los Angeles is 6-10 in games LeBron misses this season, and adding to the team’s woes is the fact their other shot creator of note, D'Angelo Russell, also is out right now (sprained ankle). LeBron is playing at an All-NBA level this season, averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.

A lot falls on the shoulders of Anthony Davis for the next few weeks to get the Lakers into the playoff mix.

3) Warriors don’t need Curry’s return to blow out Clippers

While waiting for Curry the Warriors have found a little groove and won their fourth straight game on Thursday night by dominating the second half and coming back to handily beat the Clippers 115-91.

The Warriors were down 11 at the half when Jordan Poole took over and scored 22 points in the third, knocking down four 3-pointers in the frame.

All. Effort.

(with an assist from @e40) pic.twitter.com/SLSLpZrv9X

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 3, 2023

The Warriors won the third quarter 42-16, aided by the fact the Clippers went ice cold after halftime — Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Norman Powell combined to shoot 0-of-17 in the second half. As a team, the Clippers were 3-of-22 from beyond the arc after halftime and the Warriors won the second half by 35 points.

The Clippers are now 0-4 since the All-Star break and are a team searching for their identity. Russell Westbrook is taking the brunt of the criticism, but that’s not totally fair, he had played well before this game (he was 3-of-12 shooting Thursday). Westbrook has just been himself, but his pace and style of play at the point are a dramatic departure from the slower, more measured Clippers team that was finding a rhythm with Terance Mann at the point for the 20 games before that trade. For management — at the urging of players led by George — to change point guards and styles of play after 61 games is to invite instability.

With this loss (and the Mavericks’ win) the Clippers fall to 33-32 and are now seventh in the West, in the play-in. Their fight in the remaining 17 games is to find a way into the top six, but that will require a level of play they have not been close to these last four games.

Watch Tatum score 40, Brown 30, Celtics blow out Bucks (again) 140-99

Associated PressMar 30, 2023, 11:06 PM EDT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 40 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics steamrolled the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 on Thursday night.

The Celtics (53-24) shot 22 of 43 from 3-point range and moved within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics won the season series with the Bucks 2-1, which would give Boston the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.

Boston’s performance in those three games with Milwaukee should give the Celtics plenty of confidence they could knock out the Bucks again if they meet in the postseason. The Celtics beat the Bucks in seven games in last season’s East semifinals.

HIGHLIGHTS: The Celtics went out and DOMINATED the Bucks in Milwaukee

Presented by: @TMobile pic.twitter.com/dvdN2qdmyn

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 31, 2023

The Celtics beat the Bucks 139-118 in Boston on Christmas Day and lost 131-125 in overtime on Feb. 14. The Celtics didn’t play Brown, Tatum, Marcus Smart or Al Horford in that overtime loss.

Milwaukee took a hit on the floor as well as in the standings. Bucks forward Khris Middleton left the game midway through the third quarter after taking an elbow to the face from Brown. The play resulted in a charging foul on Brown and caused Middleton to receive stitches on his upper lip.

Boston built a 114-74 lead through three periods, causing most of the starters for both teams to sit out the entire fourth quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points.

This matched the Bucks’ most lopsided loss of the season. They fell 142-101 at Memphis on Dec. 15.

The Bucks were playing one night after a 149-136 victory at Indiana in which they shot a season-high 62.4% from the floor with Jrue Holiday scoring 51 points and Antetokounmpo having 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. This marked the first time an NBA team had one player score at least 50 points and another have a triple-double with at least 35 points in the same game.

Milwaukee found the going quite a bit tougher Thursday.

Antetokounmpo shot just 11 of 27, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. Holiday started his night by sinking a 3-pointer, but went 1 of 7 the rest of the way and finished with just six points.

After the first 8½ minutes of the game featured nine lead changes and five ties, the Celtics seized control by going on a 29-9 over the last seven-plus minutes. Boston capped that spurt by scoring 13 straight points.

Boston didn’t let up the rest of the night.

Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo was ejected with 1:25 left for head-butting Boston’s Blake Griffin. The head-butting came after Griffin committed a flagrant-1 foul against Antetokounmpo.

Knicks’ Julius Randle out at least two weeks with sprained ankle

By Kurt HelinMar 30, 2023, 5:21 PM EDT

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

In just a little more than two weeks, April 15 or 16, the New York Knicks will open the playoffs, likely on the road in Cleveland.

They hope to have Julius Randle back for that game.

The Knicks’ All-Star forward and leading scorer, Randle suffered a sprained ankle against the Heat on Wednesday night and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the team announced.

Julius Randle sustained a sprained left ankle in last night’s game against Miami. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) March 30, 2023

That timeline has him re-evaluated days before the playoffs tip-off. He will not play again this regular season.

Randle rolled his ankle leaping for a rebound and landing on Bam Adebayo‘s foot in the second quarter, and he left the game not to return. Friday night against those Cavaliers (in Cleveland) will be the first game Randle has missed all season.

Randle is playing at an All-NBA level again this season, averaging 25.1 points and 10 rebounds a game. The Knicks have five games remaining in the season and are almost locked in as the No.5 seed, four games back of the No. 4 Cavaliers and 2.5 games up on the No.6 seed (and stumbling) Nets.

Kevin Durant: ‘I don’t care about legacy… I used to… Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care’

By Kurt HelinMar 30, 2023, 1:35 PM EDT

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

In the neverending debate around sports, we become obsessed with a player’s legacy. What is LeBron James‘ legacy and does he need another ring in his GOAT battle with Michael Jordan? What will Damian Lillard‘s legacy be if he chooses to spend his entire career in Portland and doesn’t jump teams to chase a ring? What will Kevin Durant‘s legacy be with him getting ripped by some fans for going to Golden State and joining forces with Stephen Curry in the first place, then other fans ripping him for leaving that situation?

Durant doesn’t care.

That’s what he told Shams Charania of The Athletic.

“I don’t care about legacy,” Durant told The Athletic. “I used to. I used to want to carve out a lane or space in this game for myself that people can remember, but it’s become too much of a thing now. It just becomes too much of a focus on other people. What’s he done, what’s he done? Comparisons. Before, when we wasn’t doing all this debating, I cared about it … I’m about to be in the same breath as these top guys. It was big.

“Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care. I truly just want to go out there and produce, be the best that I could be, go home, hang with my family, that’s it.”

Durant’s legacy as one of the great pure scorers the game has ever seen is unquestioned. If he walks away from the game right now, he goes down as likely a top 15 player of all-time (that may be low) and a lock first-ballot Hall of Famer. His ability to create a shot for himself, or just hit a jumper over his defender even if there isn’t a good look, may be unparalleled in league history.

Beyond that, it’s the eye of the beholder. Durant is back on the court in Phoenix trying to extend that legacy, however people choose to define it.

What you say about Durant’s years in Golden State — with a couple of rings and a couple of Finals MVPs — says more about what you want and expect from a superstar than it does Durant. He told Charania he saw no logic in what people said about him as he left Golden State, so he stopped worrying about it. He went to Brooklyn, which went worse than just about everyone expected, so he moved on and said he is ignoring the critics again. (Except the occasional foray into Twitter may suggest he cares more than he lets on.)

Durant has cast himself as a guy who just wants to hoop because, at his core, that’s who he is. This is a guy who loves the grind, the competition, he’s an ultimate process-over-results guy. He’s embraced that about himself, he sees that as his legacy even if others will pile more on top of it.

Durant can’t end the legacy debate around him. But he doesn’t have to care about it, either.

Rudy Gobert latest to rip referees, claims conspiracy against Wolves ‘It’s just so obvious’

By Kurt HelinMar 30, 2023, 12:55 PM EDT

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Devin Booker‘s 15 free throw attempts in the Suns’ win Wednesday was more than the 12 the entire Timberwolves team took.

That set Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert off on a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory that the referees wanted to help the Suns win. And the Kings the game before that. And the Warriors the game before that. Here’s the full quote (via Chris Hine) that will earn Gobert a healthy fine from the league:

“It’s bulls***. Bulls***. It’s really not fair. Every night. I’ve been in this league for 10 years and I try to always give the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard for me to think [the referees] are not trying to help [Phoenix] win tonight. It’s hard for me to think they didn’t try to help the Warriors win the other night, or the Sacramento Kings the other night.

“It’s just so obvious. As a basketball player that’s been in this league for so long, it’s disrespectful, and it sucks, to be honest. We work so hard to be in a position to compete with the best, and we just get manipulated into those situations where it just impacts the game for the other team too much. They know how to do it. They do it a lot of different ways. Tonight was another way of doing it.

“But it’s all good. We understand that it’s also a business. Unfortunately. It’s sad, but it’s good also. It’s really good. But it’s true. We understand that we’re not the biggest of the markets, and we’re a team that … I think you want to see [Kevin Durant] in the playoffs, Steph [Curry] in the playoffs, you want to see LeBron [James] in the playoffs. The Timberwolves are not there yet. We got to keep putting our head down, keep playing through that, and it’s frustrating for sure, especially for me.”

For the record, the Timberwolves and Kings were very close in free throws attempted — 34 to 32 — in that Minnesota win. The Timberwolves had 25 free throws to the Warriors’ 17 in that Golden State win. Also, Sacramento fans will have a good laugh at the idea that they are lumped in with the big market, star-driven franchises that allegedly get all the breaks from the league.

It’s also amusing that Gobert is complaining about all the calls the Suns got when Phoenix coach Monty Williams was fined $20,000 after going off last week on how the referees are conspiring against the Suns. Maybe this is just Gobert taking a page out of Williams’ book? Gobert’s frustration is understandable on one level, Booker can be a frustrating player for defenders to go against. The Suns’ guard is a master of drawing contact (often initiating it) then getting the ball up looking for a shooting foul.

Two other quick thoughts. Suggesting that the number of free throws teams take in a game should be roughly even is flawed logic — aggressive teams attacking the rim get the calls. That is not always going to be even. Giannis Antetokounmpo gets calls because he is relentless in driving the lane, and nobody has another answer to stop him, and that is true of Joel Embiid, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the other guys who get to the line a lot.

Is the NBA a star-driven league? Duh. It has been since David Stern started selling Magic vs. Bird instead of the Lakers vs. Celtics. Do the game’s biggest stars get special treatment from the referees? It does feel like it, but those are also the players with the ball in their hands the most, attacking and creating shots for themselves and others, so they were naturally going to draw more fouls anyway.

Gobert is frustrated and I get that. But the Timberwolves have been one of the best teams in the NBA over the few weeks, and that driving their chance to make the top six and avoid the play-in should be the focus. This Minnesota team is finding its stride, and the referees will not take that away. Unless the Wolves let them.

1) Dončić, Irving combine for 82 points, that’s enough to beat 76ers

2) Curry near return; LeBron nowhere near return

3) Warriors don’t need Curry’s return to blow out Clippers

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