All-Star forward Anthony Davis is not 100 percent sure he will return for the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
The 29-year-old has not played for the Lakers since sustaining a mid-foot sprain in his right foot on February 16.
Davis has endured another injury-cursed seasons for the Lakers, who are struggling to make the playoffs with a 29-38 record leaving them ninth in the west.
"I'm very optimistic about it," Davis told reporters before the Lakers' 140-111 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
"I'm trying to get back on the court as soon as possible. As far as a number or something, I would love to say 100 but with only a certain amount of games yet, not 100 percent sure."
The 28-year-old power forward has only played 37 of the Lakers' 67 games this season, averaging 23.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Davis only managed 36 appearances for the Lakers last season and has a long history of missing time in season due to injuries.
The 2012 NBA Draft top pick has had a mix of thumb, knee, wrist and foot/ankle injuries disrupt his 2021-22 season.
"The first thing I thought was, 'Not again,'" Davis said when he recalled the incident from February 16. "I just got off of [being sidelined] four-to-six [weeks]. Now I got another four-to-six.
"That's where the anger came from. ... It was a little bit of relief that it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but more so anger of, 'Here we go again.'"
LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to reach 10,000 points, rebounds and assists respectively, in the Los Angeles Lakers' 140-111 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
James notched up his 10,000th assist during the second quarter, with a cross-court pass to Carmelo Anthony for an open three.
The Suns were dominant at home to the Lakers, though, putting up 48 points in the first quarter alone on their way to a commanding win.
Having already secured a playoff berth, despite losing at home to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Phoenix faced conveniently light work heading into a road back-to-back this week.
Devin Booker continued to shoulder the burden without Chris Paul, putting up 30 points and 10 assists.
With the loss, meanwhile, the Lakers move to 29-38 and teeter dangerously close to touching distance for the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trailblazers, in the race for the final two Western Conference play-in spots.
Durant leads Nets with Irving in the building
Kevin Durant put up an individual season-high 53 points, including a game-breaking three to give the Brooklyn Nets a 110-107 win over the New York Knicks.
The shorthanded Nets were at least able to have Kyrie Irving in the building for the win, with New York mandates now enabling those unvaccinated for Covid-19 to spectate. However, the mandate still requires the vaccination for people who work there, meaning Irving is still unable to suit up.
At the end of the game, Irving walked off the Barclays Center floor arm-in-arm with Durant, who finished with nine assists and six rebounds to go with the 53 points - one point off his career-high.
Joel Embiid had his 30th 30-point game of the season as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Orlando Magic 116-114 in over-time. Embiid finished with 35 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, while Tobias Harris came up with a crucial late three-pointer to finish with 26 points.
Ja Morant had a quiet game by his standards with 17 points, five rebounds and 10 assists as the Memphis Grizzlies improved to 47-22 with a 125-118 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Doncic dagger propels Mavs to road win
The Dallas Mavericks claimed an impressive win on the road, edging the Boston Celtics 95-92 at the TD Garden. Despite leaving the floor with a hamstring scare in the first half, Luka Doncic’s fingerprints were all over the game’s dying moments - he hit the game-tying three-pointer with 1:21, before being called for fouling Marcus Smart on the potential tying three.
It was overturned on review however, and along with the win, Doncic put up 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. On a night where Kevin Garnett's No. 5 jersey was to be retired by the Celtics post-match, the Mavs moved to 42-26 for the year, half a game behind the Western Conference’s fourth-placed Utah Jazz.
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has questioned the logic behind New York’s current vaccine mandates, pushing for teammate Kyrie Irving to be eligible to play.
The unvaccinated Irving was able to attend the Barclays Center, but not play, for Brooklyn’s 110-107 win over the New York Knicks, where an imperious Durant scored a season-high 53 points.
Irving was also in attendance at the same building on Saturday, to watch his college team Duke lose the ACC Championship game.
“It [the New York mandate] is ridiculous,” Durant said after the game. “I don’t understand it at all. There’s a few people in our arena that’s unvaxxed, right? They lifted all of that in our arena, right? So I don’t get it. It just feels like at this point now, somebody’s trying to make a statement or a point to flex their authority."
New York’s mandates now allow spectators not to be unvaccinated, but still require employees working in the building to be vaccinated. This prompted Durant to speak in solidarity with Irving, with the 33-year-old specifically calling on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to pull the mandate back.
“Everybody is out here looking for attention and that’s what I feel the mayor wants right now, is some attention. But he’ll figure it out soon. He better,” Durant said.
“It just didn’t make any sense. There’s unvaxxed people in this building already. We got a guy who can come in the building. I guess, are they fearing our safety? I don’t get it.
“We’re all confused. Pretty much everybody in the world is confused at this point. Early on in the season people didn’t understand what was going on, but now it just looks stupid. So hopefully, Eric, you got to figure this out.”
LeBron James has labelled the mandate that continues to prevent Kyrie Irving from playing home games for the Brooklyn Nets as making "absolutely zero sense" after Irving was spotted in the crowd at Barclays Center on Sunday.
New York City mayor Eric Adams recently removed restrictions requiring proof of vaccination to enter establishments including bars, restaurants and sports arenas, but the mandate for private sector employees remains in place.
As a result, Irving – who is unvaccinated – is only able to attend home games as a spectator, which he did on Sunday as the Nets beat the New York Knicks 110-107, with reports suggesting he was expected to be a presence in the locker room as well.
The 29-year-old was also in attendance at Barclays on Saturday to take in Duke against Virginia Tech.
Los Angeles Lakers star James took to Twitter on Sunday to question the decision to allow someone who can be in the arena anyway to be on the court.
Quote tweeting a post asking that very question, James wrote: "FACTS FACTS FACTS!! It literally makes ABSOLUTELY ZERO SENSE!!! They say if common sense was common then we'd all have it. Ain't that the truth. #FreeKyrie".
Irving has played 18 games for the Nets this season, all on the road, averaging 25.9 points per game, and recently hit 50 in his team's win at the Charlotte Hornets.
The former Cleveland and Boston point guard said last week he believed Adams was on his side.
Adams said last week that allowing Irving to play home games "would send the wrong message" to the people of New York, despite wanting to see Irving win an NBA championship, thus ruling out an exemption.
"Shoutout Eric Adams, man," Irving told reporters after the Nets' loss to the Celtics last Sunday.
"It's not an easy job to be the mayor of New York City. And with COVID looming, the vaccination mandates, everything going on in our world, with this war in the Ukraine, and everybody feeling it across America, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now trying to delegate whether or not one basketball player can come and play at home.
"I appreciate his comments and his stance. He knows where I stand, and I know one day we'll be able to break bread together and he'll be able to come to the games and hopefully we'll move past this time like it never happened in one sense.
"But, it's just the reality that it's been difficult on a lot of us in New York City and across the world. So, I know he's feeling it and I'm just grateful that he's on my side, as well as the [NBA] commissioner."
Klay Thompson never doubted himself after inspiring the Golden State Warriors to a 122-109 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Thompson scored a season-high 38 points – his highest tally in a game since March 2019 – as the Warriors extended their winning run to three matches at Chase Center.
The five-time NBA All-Star landed eight three-pointers, claimed six rebounds and provided five assists in a brilliant performance.
Six of Thompson's field goals came in the second quarter, which is the most he has made in a quarter for over three years.
The three-time NBA champion says he always knew he was capable of conjuring up such inspiring displays, despite what others may have thought.
He said: "Everybody makes a big deal about my shooting, man. I mean, I'm not happy with how I was shooting but I know these nights are within me.
"I just know. I've done too many great things that players haven't done before to doubt myself."
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was delighted to see Thompson putting on a show once again.
He said: "I'm sure it's a relief. He's so hard on himself and wants so badly to succeed.
"I thought he just let the game come to him early. He didn't hunt shots. Over the past few games, he's been taking tough ones early, which has kept him from getting into a rhythm.
"Tonight, it felt like he was taking better shots early. ... You know Klay, once a couple go in, the tougher ones get a lot easier for him."
Golden State are third in the Western Conference at 46-22 after getting the better of the defending champions, who are second in the Eastern Conference on 42-26.
A barnstorming first half from the Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson set up a decisive 122-109 home victory against the reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Thompson started on fire, scoring 21 points (8-12 from the field, 5-8 from three), with three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block as the Warriors went into the half-time leading 67-58.
In an interesting strategic decision, Milwaukee decided to face-guard Steph Curry all the way up to the half-court line when he did not have the ball.
It forced Curry into a decision, where he could either scratch and claw to try and play his usual game, or he could drag his defender out to near half-court, allowing his team-mates to play four-on-four with plenty of extra space.
Curry finished with only seven field goal attempts – his first game this season with less than 10 – but had eight assists, and opened up the game for Thompson and Jordan Poole to dominate.
Thompson finished with a season-high 38 points (15-24 from the field, 8-14 from three), while Poole collected an efficient 30 (9-16 from the field, 5-10 from three, 7-7 from the line).
It was also yet another glimpse of what the seventh overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, Jonathan Kuminga, could look like when he is fully formed as the 19-year-old scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, spending long periods of the game holding up defensively against Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo was the sole bright spot for Milwaukee, scoring 31 points (9-17 from the field, 12-18 from the line) to go with his eight rebounds.
The outstanding coaching career of Gregg Popovich reached new heights with the San Antonio Spurs' victory over the Utah Jazz.
San Antonio's 104-102 triumph on Friday marked career win number 1,336 for Popovich, taking him past Don Nelson for the most by a coach in NBA history.
It is yet another remarkable achievement by one of the finest coaches to ever grace the NBA sideline.
In celebration of Popovich's latest accomplishment, here Stats Perform looks at five of the greatest feats of his career.
The first title
It might not have been the hardest Finals success of Popovich's career, but the first title in franchise history is always a memorable one, and he delivered that for the Spurs in 1999.
San Antonio earned the one seed in the Western Conference and the Spurs subsequently blitzed their way through the playoffs, losing only one game en route to the Finals.
And the fairytale New York Knicks, who had reached the Finals as the eighth seed in the East, proved no match for David Robinson, Tim Duncan and the Spurs.
Indeed, without the injured Patrick Ewing, the Knicks were overpowered and Avery Johnson's game-winning shot with 47 seconds left in Game 5 clinched a 4-1 series triumph for the Spurs, with Popovich able to celebrate his first title at the Mecca of basketball.
Kawhi holds off LeBron
Having tasted defeat to the Miami Heat in seven games a year earlier, Popovich and the Spurs pulled off the most impressive of their five NBA title wins in 2014 by getting revenge on Erik Spoelstra's star-studded team.
In what proved to be the final series of LeBron James' career with the Heat, the superior roster depth of the Spurs proved the difference against Miami's big three as they prevailed 4-1 over LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Co.
Having split the first two games in San Antonio, the Spurs swept their two games in South Florida and then wrapped things up as Kawhi Leonard's double-double inspired a 104-87 win in Game 5.
In large part for his defensive effort against James, Leonard was named Finals MVP. His field goal percentage of 61.2 was the highest by a Finals MVP until Giannis Antetokoumpo surpassed it in 2021 with 61.8 per cent.
Those 18 consecutive 50-win seasons
As his record-setting number of wins indicates, consistent success has defined Popovich's career with the Spurs, who comfortably hold the NBA record for most successive 50-win seasons.
From 1999-2000 to 2016-17, the Spurs won at least 50 games for 18 consecutive campaigns, the final year in that run among one of the most impressive as San Antonio racked up 61 victories while playing in a Western Conference featuring a Golden State Warriors team playing their first season with Kevin Durant.
The Spurs were swept by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, though Game 1 suggested it would have been a much different series had Leonard not suffered an injury that ended his season.
San Antonio's 18-season run will take some beating, as the Los Angeles Lakers are next on the list with a 12-season run between 1979-80 and 1990-91.
Olympic gold
Popovich took over from Mike Krzyzewski as head coach of Team USA and met expectations by delivering the gold amid the strange backdrop of a pandemic Olympics at the delayed Tokyo 2020.
The USA recovered from an opening defeat to France to once again take the gold, avenging the loss to Les Bleus with an 87-82 win over the same opposition in the final.
After a build-up to the Games in which many questions were raised about the strength in depth of the USA team and a poor start to the competition, the hard-fought triumph added further gloss to the CV of a coach many consider to be the greatest of all time.
The record win
The 2021-22 season has not been one to remember for the Spurs, but a surprise defeat of the Jazz at least gave Popovich a memorable moment in a trying campaign.
San Antonio trailed 74-64 going into the final quarter, but the Spurs racked up 40 across the final frame to improve their record to 26-41 and, more importantly, secure history for their coach, Dejounte Murray the star of the show with 27 for the game.
"Basketball is a team sport," Popovich said afterwards. "All of us share in this record. It's not mine. It's ours."
With Popovich's NBA career showing no signs of imminently coming to an end, he should have plenty of opportunities to extend his lead at the top of the all-time standings and make his record extremely difficult to beat.
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