The Dallas Mavericks are set to sign four-time NBA All-Star Kemba Walker, according to reports.
The Mavericks have struggled of late, losing their last four as they sit on 9-10 for the season, and they apparently intend to do something to arrest that slide.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that Dallas plan to waive Facundo Campazzo in order to make room for experienced guard Walker, who himself was waived by the Detroit Pistons last month.
Walker has suffered from injuries in recent years, but the Mavs appear to be willing to take a chance to help out star man Luka Doncic, who in spite of his team's struggles is leading the league on points per game this season, averaging 33.1 from his 18 appearances.
Walker will hope to rediscover the form he showed in his last few seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, having been limited during his time at the Boston Celtics, while he only made 37 appearances for the New York Knicks last year.
His average of 11.6 points per game was the worst of his career so far, though he also averaged fewer than 26 minutes per game for the Knicks, before being briefly traded to the Detroit Pistons.
Draymond Green expressed his frustration at being hit with a "crazy" and "ridiculous" technical foul during the Golden State Warriors' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Green scored a season-high 19 points and provided 11 assists - his first double-double of the season - in a commanding 134-114 victory for the defending NBA champions on Sunday.
The four-time All-Star was not impressed when he was slapped with a seventh technical foul of the season late in the fourth quarter, though.
Green was punished for moving slightly onto the court at Target Center when he rose from the bench to celebrate a late layup from Jordan Poole.
He said: "It's crazy. I probably got four techs this year that are questionable. They told me I was at the lane line, but I thought I was standing in the corner. So I don't know. It sucks, though."
Stephen Curry was also given a technical foul for coming on the court and waving his towel after Donte DiVincenzo hit a three-pointer following the incident involving Green.
Green added': "It's the NBA, man. Your team-mates make a good move, I didn't affect the play. There was no one near me. So it sucks. And the fact that that's going to count against my tech count? Come on, that's ridiculous."
The Warriors scored 47 points in the first quarter to lay the foundations for a third consecutive win, moving to 11-10 for the season.
Golden State's tally of 137 points was their biggest of the campaign, Curry scoring 25 of those and Poole weighing in with 24.
The Timberwolves have slipped to 10-10 following back-to-back losses, sitting just below the Warriors in 10th place in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic called Giannis Antetokounmpo "the best player in the NBA right now" after the Greek's Milwaukee Bucks downed the Slovenian's Dallas Mavericks 124-115 on Sunday.
Antetokounmpo starred for the NBA-best Bucks, with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Doncic, who leads the NBA for points per game this season, could only manage 27 points for the Mavericks, who are 0-5 this season when he scores under 30.
"It's hard to go against a guy like that," Doncic told reporters about Antetokounmpo. "He's the best player in the NBA right now.
"He's almost impossible to stop. It's really fun to see him play, but it's not that fun to go against him."
Antetokounmpo's 30-point, 10-rebound double-double was his seventh this season.
"He improves every day. He works really hard, you can see it," Doncic added about Antetokounmpo.
"He works on everything. He works on his shot and he's gotten better at a lot of things. He just gets better every day."
Doncic is averaging 33.1 points per game this season, with Antetokounmpo fourth overall at 30.9, and the Greek returned the compliments.
"No matter wins or losses, just being respected by your peers, it's always a good feeling," Antetokounmpo said. "I always love playing against the best players in the league.
"He's an incredible player, incredible talent, arguably one of the most talented players I've ever seen in my lifetime. It's unbelievable what he can do for himself and his team."
Dallas have also fallen to a 9-10 record, losing their past four games and losing seven of their past 10.
"We've just got to keep going," Doncic said. "There’s 82 games. We've just got to keep going. Every day is a new day. Every game is a new game."
Ivica Zubac was a man possessed in the Los Angeles Clippers' 114-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, recording a stat-line only ever emulated by the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
With star Clippers duo Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and Paul George (hamstring) both absent, Zubac carried his team on both ends, scoring a season-high 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting, while grabbing a career-high 29 rebounds and blocking three shots.
Abdul-Jabbar is the only other player to offically tally those numbers, although it is widely believed both Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain should also be on that list, having played before the NBA began recording blocks and steals in the 1973-74 season.
Zubac became the first Clipper ever with 25 points and 25 rebounds, and since the 1983-84 season, there have only been 24 instances of a player grabbing at least 29 rebounds in a game, joining Andre Drummond, Nikola Vucevic and Kevin Love as the only active players to accomplish the feat.
He grabbed 12 offensive rebounds with his 17 defensive rebounds, raising his average to 10.8 for the season – the ninth-best figure in the league. He is also top-10 in blocked shots, averaging a career-high 1.8 per game.
For the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 11 assists to continue maintaining his career-high and league-leading average of 11.1 assists. He is two assists per game clear of second-placed Trae Young (9.1).
The win improves the Clippers' record to 12-9, leaving them fifth in the Western Conference standings.
Nets machine begins to click into gear
The Brooklyn Nets showed the signs of a potential contender as they pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-97.
With offensive focal points Kevin Durant (31 points) and Kyrie Irving (22 points) combining to shoot 20-of-37 from the field (54 per cent), their perimeter-oriented style was thriving.
Ben Simmons only attempted three shots and finished with two points, but he played exactly the role envisioned for him, posting team-highs in rebounds (12), assists (eight) and steals (three) to keep the ball moving and the offense functioning.
Seth Curry was spectacular off the bench, hitting 11-of-15 shots for a season-high 27 points, showing off his supreme chemistry with former Philadelphia 76ers teammate Simmons.
Golden State's big-three deliver
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green turned back the clock as they had full control over the Golden State Warriors' 137-114 road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Curry continued his MVP-calibre season with 25 points (seven-of-17 shooting), 11 rebounds and eight assists, while his Splash Brother Klay Thompson contributed an efficient 21 points on eight-of-13 shooting, hitting five-of-eight from deep.
They were both set up by Green, who hit six of his seven shots for 19 points, while leading the game with 11 assists and two blocks.
The Warriors have now won five of their past six games to claw above .500 at 11-10.
LeBron James believes it is beginning to come together for the Los Angeles Lakers after Saturday's 143-138 win over the San Antonio Spurs making it five wins in their past six games.
The Lakers started the season with five straight defeats following an offseason where Darvin Ham took over as head coach from Frank Vogel, after missing the playoffs in the 2021-22 campaign.
LA's latest run of results has seen them rally back to a 7-11 record, albeit sitting 13th in the Western Conference.
"I think we're more and more on a string," James told reporters after scoring a season-high 39 points against the Spurs on Saturday. "We're continuing to learn each other.
"As I said earlier in the season, we're a new group, with a new system, new coaching staff, trying to implement things on the fly. Our teaching moments was during games and unfortunately losing.
"It's just a sense of you're not really sure of each other, we don't know each other but I think over the last couple of weeks, we continue to learn one another, we continue to play some good ball, share ball."
Tempers flared in the third quarter of the game when Russell Westbrook was left bloodied after being struck on the forehead by a stray elbow from Zach Collins.
Westbrook fell to the ground after the blow and immediately got up in retaliation but was pulled away by James. Ham said James' actions showed the brotherhood of the team.
"You don’t want to escalate the situation, you want to try and calm him down," Ham said. "You've got a guy with blood all over his face who is understandably upset.
"Having Bron there shows a brotherhood that we need. That image, that action and that belief in one another, we need that to represent our team."
James not only pulled away Westbrook, who played on after receiving treatment, but helped apply a towel to stem the bleeding.
"I actually saw the cut right when it happened on the floor," James said. "As far as the foul, it was a tough blow obviously.
"I didn’t want it let Russ escalate it any further, especially with him bleeding like that. I just tried to step in there and diffuse it as much as possible."
LeBron James scored a season-high 39 points with seven three-pointers to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to their fifth win from their past six games, beating the San Antonio Spurs 143-138 on Saturday.
James, in his second game back from a groin injury, scored 23 of his 39 points in the second half, shooting seven-of-12 from beyond the arc along with having 11 rebounds and three assists. The four-time MVP's seven three-pointers was a joint career high.
The Lakers were without Anthony Davis due to a minor calf contusion, with guard Dennis Schroder contributing 21 points and six assists.
Russell Westbrook also came off the bench to add 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists, linking up with James to set up a one-handed dunk just before half-time.
Westbrook was left bloodied after he suffered a deep cut to his forehead in the third quarter after an elbow from Zach Collins but played on.
The win improved the Lakers' record to 7-11, while it consigned the Spurs to their eighth-straight defeat, slumping to 6-15 overall.
The Spurs' losing streak is their equal fourth worst in franchise history. Their worst is 13 straight from 1989.
Keldon Johnson top scored for San Antonio with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Tre Jones added 23 points with 13 assists.
DA and Booker lift Suns past Jazz
Deandre Ayton scored 29 points with 21 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns held off the Utah Jazz 123-122 for their fourth consecutive victory to improve to 13-6.
Devin Booker contributed 27 points on eight-of-27 field shooting, scoring 10-of-11 from the free-throw line, with 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Suns, who trailed by 10 at quarter-time. Nine of Ayton's 21 rebounds were offensive as he brought up a rare 20/20 double-double.
The Suns only managed six-of-22 from beyond the arc but the Jazz could not capitalise, giving up 12 turnovers. Jordan Clarkson top scored for Utah with 22 points.
Doncic's Mavs beaten by Raptors
The Dallas Mavericks lost their third straight game as Luka Doncic was kept to 24 points in a 105-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Raptors small forward O.G. Anunoby scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, top scoring alongside Fred VanVleet with 26, while Chris Boucher added a season-high 22 points with 13 rebounds.
NBA leading scorer Doncic shot eight-of-15 from the field and two-of-four from beyond the arc for the Mavs, with seven rebounds, nine assists and two steals.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham downplayed the calf injury that kept All-Star Anthony Davis out of Saturday's game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Davis had played 16 out of the Lakers' 17 games prior to Saturday's game where the power forward was ruled out with a left calf contusion.
He played a key role during LeBron James' recent five-game absence with a groin injury, averaging 26.3 points and 12.8 rebounds this season.
"He was kicked at some point in the second half [on Friday] night and it's a little irritated, a little bruising," Ham told reporters pre-game. "So just trying to stay ahead of it and be a little cautious and take our time with it but he's out."
During James' five-game absence, Davis averaged 33.4 points on 64.4 per cent shooting, 17.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
"Just it being a back-to-back, the load he was carrying, specifically with [James] out, it's just the smart and right thing to do," Ham said.
"We don't want to push him this early in the season. And when you're talking about different muscles and ligaments, it's something that can easily turn into a year-long issue. So just to avoid that, we don't want to put any additional strain on the area.
"The medical people decided it was the right thing to do and I totally agree."
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