Kevin Durant says he does not need to hold new Brooklyn Nets acquisition Ben Simmons' hand after his latest setback as he bids to return to the NBA.
Simmons, who was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nets last month, received an epidural injection this week, further delaying any Brooklyn debut which is several weeks away at a minimum.
The 25-year-old has not played all season after sitting out the first half of the campaign with the 76ers citing mental health reasons after the fallout from their 2021 playoffs exit.
The Nets reportedly have hope he will play prior to the playoffs as he overcomes a back injury.
After Wednesday's 113-111 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Durant was asked how to keep Simmons engaged as he continues on the sidelines for even longer.
"He's a grown man. He's an All-Star. He's a veteran in this league now," Durant said.
"He's gotta keep himself engaged. I ain't ever gonna hold anybody's hand in this league. He knows that.
"He doesn’t want anybody to make sure he's being a professional. I can't wait to get him back but we don’t want to rush him.
"Hopefully he gets back soon. I know he misses it."
The Nets' latest defeat leaves them with a 36-34 record, sitting in eighth in the Eastern Conference.
Durant finished with 23 points, six rebounds and 10 assists and Andre Drummond added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the short-handed Nets.
The Mavs triumphed courtesy of a Spencer Dinwiddie's game-winning three-pointer on the final buzzer.
Dinwiddie finished with 22 points, while Luka Doncic added 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
"When you watch that last play, just regret, wondering what the game would have been like if I didn't go jump Luka right there, you know what I'm saying?" Durant said. "So in hindsight I wish I would have made a different decision, but it is what it is."
Russell Westbrook responded to on-court trash talk during the Los Angeles Lakers' 124-104 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves claiming none of his opponents have "done anything in this league".
Westbrook managed 15 points on five-of-12 shooting along with four rebounds and five assists in the defeat, while LeBron James was kept to 19 points shooting at 38 percent from the field.
The Lakers point guard appeared to be on the wrong end of trash talk from Timberwolves opponent Patrick Beverley. The pair have a chequered history dating back to the 2013 Playoffs, where the then-Oklahoma City guard accused Beverley of a dirty play resulting in Westbrook tearing his meniscus and missing the rest of the postseason.
The beef was reignited in 2019 when Westbrook made light of the Beverley's defense after a Houston Rockets game where James Harden scored 47 points when guarded by him.
Beverley clearly had not forgotten, as he was seen calling Westbrook "trash" and plugging his nose to gesture a bad smell during Wednesday's game.
"I honestly don’t pay no mind to it, maybe other guys do," Westbrook told reporters after the game. "The trash talking doesn’t bother me.
"Nobody out there has done anything in this league that would make we cock my eyes up and think 'oh they're talking mess', nope.
"That's fine, they're good, they won a game. Happy for them. We move on to the next one."
The result leaves the Lakers with a 29-40 record and in peril of missing the playoffs. Westbrook was asked whether the on-court tension could have been used to inspire the Lakers to respond.
"You've got to ask each individual," he said. "Everybody is wired differently. I can't speak for everybody else and if it gives them a rise or not."
On the trash talk, James added: "It's part of the game."
The Lakers trailed 67-46 at half-time but narrowed the gap in the fourth quarter, before the Timberwolves went on a decisive 17-4 run.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel bemoaned bad luck but also "terrible calls" by the referees during that stretch.
"They made three threes, one bounced up to the ceiling and bounced right through. We can't get a bounce," Vogel said.
"We had two questionable calls in the fourth quarter of a close game, with Bron's travel and Bron's illegal screen. Terrible calls. If you're going to call that, call it throughout the whole game. Very frustrating."
Stephen Curry was forced to sit out the second half of the Golden State Warriors’ game with the Boston Celtics on Wednesday after injuring his left foot.
With just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Curry and Celtics guard Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball. The resulting tumble meant Smart fell on Curry’s leg, causing an inward tweak.
The Warriors confirmed Curry would not return in the second half, citing "left foot soreness".
At that point in the game, Curry had three points, one rebound and two assists with the Warriors down 33-25.
Curry has been the key player for the Warriors this season, with the side sitting third in the Western Conference with a 47-22 record prior to Wednesday's game.
The two-time MVP leads the NBA this season in three-pointers made with 284. Prior to Wednesday's game, Curry was averaging 25.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists this season.
Brooklyn Nets' new star acquisition Ben Simmons received an epidural injection while he was away from the team during the team's trip to Orlando.
Simmons is yet to play a game this season. He was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers after making himself unavailable due to mental health reasons following the fallout from their 2021 playoffs defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, while a back injury has delayed his Nets debut.
In Wednesday's press conference, coach Steve Nash said the hope was that the injection would assist the healing process.
Nash went on to say that the team will have to wait-and-see how Simmons reacts to the treatment, and that there is no current timetable for his return to practice.
Steve Nash joked Kyrie Irving produced more career highlights in the space of 12 minutes against the Orlando Magic than the Brooklyn Nets coach managed in his entire career.
Irving scored a career-high 60 points – the most for a Nets player in their NBA history – in Tuesday's 150-108 victory in Florida.
The seven-time NBA All-Star shot 20 for 31, which included eight of 12 on 3-pointers, and made 12 of 13 free throws in his 35 minutes on the court.
Forty-one of Irving's points came in the first half as he became the second Nets player over the past 25 years, after Deron Williams in March 2012, to have 40-plus points in a half.
It was an individual display that will long live in the memory, with Brooklyn coach Nash leading the tributes for the 29-year-old.
"He's just incredible. I felt like he had my career highlight reel in the first 12 minutes of the game," Nash said.
"It's special to watch him every night – but it's special to watch him on nights like this, where he's in total control, total command.
"He gets wherever he wants and is able to finish amongst the trees. It's just a pleasure to see it up close and to be a part of it."
Irving's 60-point display came a day after the Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns also hit that mark against the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks the first time that two players have scored 60 points on successive nights in NBA since 1962.
There have now been seven 50-point games in the NBA in March, which is tied for the most in a single month since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
And Nets star Kevin Durant, who added 19 points in the win over Orlando, believes the division is now as strong as ever.
"The night after Karl Towns had an incredible performance, to then have Kyrie do it the next night, the league is in an incredible place right now," Durant said.
"I'm sure in the first quarter you saw it developing. Sixteen in the first and then midway through the second all of us on the bench are still looking.
"It's just like that every game for Ky, when you look up and, like, 'Damn, he got 10, 12, 14 points already'."
Durant scored 53 points in Sunday's win over the New York Knicks, making him and Irving the first team-mates in NBA history with 50+ points in back-to-back games.
"Making history, man. making history," Irving said when that stat was put to him. "Doing it with that guy is very special. But credit goes to our group.
"Our guys in our locker room, they really believe in us, they really rock with us, there's not a doubt in our mind that they really believe that we can do something special.
"And not just this year, but for years to come. We have a good group. And we're all sacrificing something that's bigger than ourselves."
He added: "When you're a kid scoring a bunch of points, it means something. When you're in the best league in the world doing it against the greatest, it means a little bit more."
The Nets have now won four games in a row to improve to 36-33 for the season, placing them eighth in the Eastern Conference.
Irving will not play against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday due to New York City's mandate requiring vaccination against COVID-19, though he intends to be in attendance.
"I'll probably wear a media pass," he joked. "It's a little awkwardness.
"But I'll show up there with my family and get a warm embrace from New York, Brooklyn, everybody that's there to support the Nets and support our organisation, support me."
Jimmy Butler again sprained his ankle on Tuesday, during the Miami Heat's 105-98 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Max Strus scored 16 points off the bench in the fourth quarter as a result in the Heat's eventual win, earning extended minutes with Butler missing the entirety of the second half.
The 32-year-old All-Star has suffered a succession of injuries this season, and this new setback makes for his seventh ankle injury since 2020.
Though the Heat are due to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, there is as yet no diagnosis or schedule for Butler's return.
Another road game, and another virtuoso performance from Kyrie Irving in the Brooklyn Nets' 150-108 win over the Orlando Magic.
Unable to play in home games due to New York's vaccine mandate, Irving made the most of Brooklyn's trip to Orlando, scoring a ridiculous 41 points (14-19 from the field) in just the first half.
In an explosive team performance, the Nets scored 48 points in the first quarter, while Irving and Kevin Durant combined for 26. Irving went on to score another 25 of his side's 38 in the second period.
Irving eventually sat with more than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, with his team up by 37 and his personal tally at a career-best 60 points on 20-31 shooting, 8-12 from the perimeter and 12-13 from the free-throw line.
It also sets a new franchise record for the Nets, beating Deron Williams' 57 back in 2012.
Irving's previous high-scores were 57 points and 55 points, which he scored within two months of each other in the 2014-15 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The massive total ties the most points scored in an NBA game this season, matching Karl-Anthony Towns' mark which he set just yesterday.
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