Ben Simmons will have surgery to help treat the pain caused by a herniated disc, with the Brooklyn Nets expecting his recovery to take at least three months.
Simmons, the 2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, did not play a game in the 2021-22 season, encountering more back pain as he tried to ramp up to a return in the playoffs.
A statement released by the Nets highlighted that the surgery he will receive is called a microdiscectomy.
It was a disappointing season for the Nets, who began the year as the favourites to win the Eastern Conference, but struggled throughout as Kyrie Irving was absent for the first portion of the season, and James Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for a package around Simmons.
In the playoffs, the Nets were swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics, who are now the Eastern Conference favourites.
While Kyrie Irving highlighted in his last post-game press conference of the playoffs that there will be plenty of roster turnover as he and Kevin Durant "co-manage" the offseason along with the front office, he indicated Simmons was seen as a core building block.
Jaylen Brown said he and his Boston Celtics team-mates wanted to play "like our season was on the line" after a 109-86 win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semi-final against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brown only shot four-of-13 for 12 points in the Celtics' Game 1 defeat, but followed up by scoring 30 points, with six assists and five rebounds as Boston levelled the series at 1-1 at TD Garden.
The 25-year-old also sank a playoff career-high six shots from beyond the arc and stated after the victory just how much the Celtics had wanted to square things up.
"We knew we had to come out and play like our season was on the line and we did that," Brown said.
"It's the playoffs. Survival of the fittest. Every game counts."
As well as Brown's performance, Jayson Tatum also stepped it up as he shot 29 points, with eight assists and three rebounds.
Boston coach Ime Udoka pointed to what his team had learned in their Game 1 defeat, namely not to get "outmuscled", and just as they were dominated for large periods on Sunday, they followed up with a physical performance of their own on Tuesday.
"We adjusted well," Udoka said. "We learned some things from Game 1 and felt like we knew we didn't react accordingly to the way that we're playing.
"Two big teams but we haven't been outmuscled like that all year. I think our guys took pride in that, took that to heart and we knew we would come out with the right effort tonight."
His opposite number, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, acknowledged the game-plan from the Celtics had worked, particularly on star player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who still finished with 28 points, with nine rebounds and seven assists.
"The guys on him, they're solid, good, good defenders and then quite a bit of help," Budenholzer said. "That's where he's just got to see and feel it. Do we kick it and get more threes? Or he's got to finish against one-on-one defense. So, I think it's a little bit of both.
"But Giannis, he always figures things out."
A seething Steve Kerr accused Dillon Brooks of "breaking the code" after an incident that left Gary Payton II with a broken left elbow.
Kerr's Golden State Warriors went down 106-101 to the Memphis Grizzlies, leaving their Western Conference semi-finals series locked at 1-1, in a heated match full of flashpoints.
The Grizzlies' task was made all the more difficult when Brooks was ejected in the first quarter for a nasty-looking strike across the head of Payton II in mid-air.
An X-ray later showed the extent of the damage caused and Payton II is set to undergo an MRI scan on Wednesday.
Kerr acknowledged the physicality of playoff basketball but was fuming with Brooks' play.
"I don't know if it was intentional but it was dirty," Kerr told reporters after the game.
"Playoff basketball is supposed to be physical. Everyone will compete, fight for everything. But there's a code in this league, a code players follow, where you never put a guy's season or career in jeopardy by taking someone out in mid-air and clubbing them across the head and ultimately fracturing Gary's elbow.
"This is a guy who's been toiling the last six years trying to make it in this league, finally found a home, playing his butt off this year – in the playoffs it should be the time of his life and a guy comes in and whacks him across the head in mid-air.
"He broke the code. Dillon Brooks broke the code that's how I see it."
Another heated incident saw Draymond Green raise his middle finger towards the Grizzlies fanbase, who jeered the Warriors star after an elbow to the face left him with a cut to his right eye that had nearly swollen shut by half-time.
Green was unrepentant after the game, saying: "[If] you gonna boo somebody who got elbowed in the eye, face running with blood you should get flipped off.
"So, I'll take the fine, I'll do an appearance and make up the money. But it felt really good to flip 'em off, if you gonna boo someone who got elbowed in the face with blood running down their face, I could have had a concussion or anything.
"If they gonna be that nasty, I can be nasty too. I'm assuming the cheers are because they know I'll get fined. Great, I make $25million a year I should be just fine."
Ja Morant was the hero for the Grizzlies, scoring 47 points – matching his postseason high – despite himself struggling to see out of his left eye having been hit going for a rebound in the third quarter.
The All-Star guard atoned for missing a layup in Game 1 that would have won the Grizzlies the game, a defeat he conceded was at the forefront of his thinking during Tuesday's contest.
"That loss was on my mind a lot, obviously missing that layup late," Morant said.
"But coming into today, I told myself we needed a win, and we were going to get a win. I just took it upon myself to go out there and do that for us."
Jaylen Brown found his range with 30 points and Jayson Tatum added 29 as the Boston Celtics squared up their Conference Semifinals series against the Milwaukee Bucks with a 109-86 win on Tuesday.
Brown shot four-of-13 for 12 points in Game 1 but shook that off with a masterful first-half display, scoring 25 of his 30 points before the main break, going nine-of-10.
The Celtics led 65-40 at half-time and held off the reigning champions' best efforts to get back into the contest.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 28 points, with nine rebounds and seven assists and Jrue Holiday added 19 points but shot seven-of-20 from the field and one-of-six from beyond the arc.
The Bucks only managed three triples for the game, while Boston landed 20-of-43 beyond the arc, along with 24 points from turnovers.
Brown also had five rebounds and six assists to go with his 30 points, while Grant Williams chimed in with 21 points for Boston who were without Marcus Smart (quad).
Morant dominates as Grizzlies edge home
Ja Morant starred with 47 points as the Memphis Grizzlies edged the Golden State Warriors 106-101 to level up their series at 1-1 at the FedExForum.
Morant shot 15-of-31 and made five triples among his 47-point haul along with eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals, as the Grizzlies got home after scores were locked at three-quarter time.
Stephen Curry did not shoot at his best, making 11-of-25 from the field and three-of-11 from three-point range for his 27 points with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Jordan Poole added 20 points off the bench, while Klay Thompson could only manage 12 points with three steals. Draymond Green returned after his Game 1 ejection with 10 rebounds.
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award after an outstanding season.
The 22-year-old, who the Heat took at number 13 in the 2019 NBA Draft, averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists over 32.6 minutes a game this season.
Herro won the award ahead of Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cameron Johnson of the Phoenix Suns. The Heat guard received 96 out of a possible 100 first-place votes.
"We're trying to win a championship here, so whether it's starting or coming off the bench for me, I accepted that role. ... I'm just happy to be on this team and happy to accept my role," Herro said last month after being named as a finalist.
Herro helped the Heat finish top of the Eastern Conference with a 53-29 record, getting past the Atlanta Hawks 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
Miami defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 106-92 on Monday in Game 1 of their Conference Semifinals, with Herro scoring 25 points with seven assists off the bench.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is leaving the door open for Joel Embiid's return to the court, following Monday's series-opening defeat to the Miami Heat, but stopped short of giving "false hope".
The MVP candidate missed Philadelphia's 106-92 defeat in Game 1 against the Heat due to a right facial fracture, after he was hit by Pascal Siakam as they closed the series out against the Toronto Raptors last Thursday.
Embiid has been ruled out for Game 2 on Wednesday, with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reporting he could be back as soon as Game 3 when the series switches to Philadelphia.
With that in mind, Rivers tried to temper expectations but cited progress in Embiid's recovery.
"I know he did something yesterday, but not much, and I know he's feeling a better," Rivers said on Tuesday.
"I don't want to give false hope either. So I'll just stop there."
After winning the scoring title in the regular season, Embiid averaged 26.2 points on 52 per cent shooting and 11.3 rebounds in the series against the Raptors.
Jason Kidd called on Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks team-mates to "join the party" after the Slovenian star's 45-point haul was not enough to deny the Phoenix Suns a Game 1 win.
The top-seeded Suns drew first blood in the Western Conference semi-finals on Monday, winning 121-114 at Footprint Center on Monday.
Three-time NBA All-Star Doncic was outstanding yet again, also taking 12 rebounds and providing eight assists to go with his huge tally of points.
Maxi Kleber was the second-highest points scorer for the Mavs with 19 and coach Kidd says Doncic will need more support ahead of Game 2 in Phoenix on Wednesday.
Kidd said: "He [Doncic] got whatever he wanted, when you look at the shots in the paint, behind the arc, midrange and then also I thought he got his team-mates some great looks that we normally had made.
"I thought he played great. We've just got to get someone to join the party."
Doncic did not brush over his analysis over where the Mavs had fallen short as he urged them to "attack the paint."
He said: "We've just got to attack more paint. I settled for a little too much step-backs for me. Attacking the paint is our lethal weapon.
"When we do that, we can score easily, especially with five-out and they've got a big rotating. We've got to attack more paint."
Deandre Ayton led the way for the Suns with 25, while Devin Booker posted 23 and had eight assists.
Suns coach Monty Williams said: "'I liked the fact that we weren't settling for threes. A lot of guys were attacking the paint, we were getting floaters and rim shots."
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