Frank Vogel hailed the "mental toughness" of Anthony Davis and his Los Angeles Lakers side after snapping a three-game losing run with a 99-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Davis stepped up in the absence of LeBron James – missing a fourth straight game with knee soreness – with a double-double of 30 points and 15 rebounds in Wednesday's contest.
The eight-time NBA All-Star has now had at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in three games this season and has averaged 29.3 points over his last three outings.
Davis's latest haul helped the Lakers improve to 25-27 in the Western Conference, and head coach Vogel was particularly pleased with the spirit he saw from the 28-year-old.
"He had some great sequences of grabbing rebounds in traffic," Vogel said.
"Tonight was about mental toughness and making enough plays and shots. It was a hell of a game by Anthony."
Nineteen of Davis's 30 points arrived in the final 12 minutes, with seven of his 15 rebounds coming in the fourth quarter
"I just tried to come out with the mindset of ending the streak," Davis said. "We have to play with some urgency. We just fought hard tonight. It was a great game for us."
Carmelo Anthony added 24 for the Lakers, who had lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Charlotte Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks in their previous three games.
Despite the best efforts of 30-point Norman Powell, Portland have now lost three in a row and five of their last six in a run that has seen them slip to 10th in the Western Conference.
"We had a couple breakdowns today," Powell said. "We had some good stops but gave them second and third-chance opportunities."
The Lakers are back in action against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, while Portland face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Kyrie Irving is growing tired of the Brooklyn Nets using "get-better jargon" after the team suffered a sixth straight NBA defeat in a 112-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Nets have slumped to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and are now on their worst streak since a seven-game losing run between December 2019 and January 2020.
Nic Claxton had a career-high 23 points to go alongside 11 rebounds, while James Johnson put up 18 points. Irving had 14, but it was a tough night for the usually prolific James Harden, who had just four on the back of two-of-11 shooting.
Irving feels there have been "morale victories" during the Nets' barren run but he has little interest in anything other than actual wins.
"When you're going through a losing streak, not many people want to hear the same thing over and over again," he said.
"The get-better jargon that we consistently use, it can get mundane.
"Game to game we're feeling like we're coming out with some morale victories if we lose, but I'm tired of that."
Harden has been contending with an issue to his right hand and a hamstring complaint, with his return his lowest since playing the Chicago Bulls on May 15 last year.
Despite the Nets' woes, Harden is confident the team can soon turn the corner, especially if they can get some key personnel back after the All-Star break.
"There's no concern," Harden said.
"We don't have our entire team and this is happening to us. We're just trying to figure out what works best, what guys fit, what guys don't.
"Hopefully after the break we can get our whole roster and start making strides in the right direction."
The Nets have had issues with their roster. Kevin Durant (knee) remains absent, while Joe Harris and Marcus Aldridge (both ankle) are still out, and Irving's involvement is restricted to road games as he is ineligible to play fixtures in New York as he is unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Head coach Steve Nash says the main objective right now is merely to show improvement on the court.
"This trip our objective is to get better. The first two games and the first half tonight we were getting better," Nash said.
"We didn't contain the ball enough in the second half and we didn't make plays."
The Nets will aim to return to winning ways in Friday's trip to the Utah Jazz.
Anthony Davis stepped up with a double-double in LeBron James' absence as the Los Angeles Lakers ended their three-game skid with a 99-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
James was absent for the fourth straight game with a knee issue but Davis took charge with 30 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Russell Westbrook contributed with a double-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, while Carmelo Anthony added 24 points for the Lakers. Norman Powell landed five three-pointers in his 30-point haul for Portland.
The Lakers had raced to a 12-point quarter-time lead but the Blazers narrowed that to one point by half-time before seesawing second half which went down to the final moments.
The win means the Lakers improve to 25-27 but remain ninth in the Western Conference.
Embiid, LaMelo and Doncic star in defeats
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 14 rebounds but could not lift the Philadelphia 76ers as they went down 106-103 to the Washington Wizards. Spencer Dinwiddie (14 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) had a triple-double for the Wizards, while Kyle Kuzma added 24 points.
LaMelo Ball was excellent in a losing side as well, providing a career-high 38 points including four triples with six rebounds and nine assists as the Charlotte Hornets went down 113-107 to the Boston Celtics. Luka Doncic also had 40 points as the Dallas Mavericks lost 120-114 in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ja Morant had 23 points, four rebounds and nine assists as the Memphis Grizzlies won 120-108 over the New York Knicks, while the Utah Jazz snapped their five-game skid with a 108-104 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Nets skid extends to six games
The Brooklyn Nets slumped to their sixth straight defeat, their worst skid since January 2020, after a 112-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings. James Harden, nursing a sore hand, only managed four points shooting two-of-11 from the field, which was his lowest return since May 15 last year.
Anthony Davis stepped up with a double-double in LeBron James' absence as the Los Angeles Lakers ended their three-game skid with a 99-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
James was absent for the fourth straight game with a knee issue but Davis took charge with 30 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Russell Westbrook contributed with a double-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, while Carmelo Anthony added 24 points for the Lakers. Norman Powell landed five three-pointers in his 30-point haul for Portland.
The Lakers had raced to a 12-point quarter-time lead but the Blazers narrowed that to one point by half-time before seesawing second half which went down to the final moments.
The win means the Lakers improve to 25-27 but remain ninth in the Western Conference.
Embiid, LaMelo and Doncic star in defeats
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 14 rebounds but could not lift the Philadelphia 76ers as they went down 106-103 to the Washington Wizards. Spencer Dinwiddie (14 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) had a triple-double for the Wizards, while Kyle Kuzma added 24 points.
LaMelo Ball was excellent in a losing side as well, providing a career-high 38 points including four triples with six rebounds and nine assists as the Charlotte Hornets went down 113-107 to the Boston Celtics. Luka Doncic also had 40 points as the Dallas Mavericks lost 120-114 in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ja Morant had 23 points, four rebounds and nine assists as the Memphis Grizzlies won 120-108 over the New York Knicks, while the Utah Jazz snapped their five-game skid with a 108-104 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Nets skid extends to six games
The Brooklyn Nets slumped to their sixth straight defeat, their worst skid since January 2020, after a 112-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings. James Harden, nursing a sore hand, only managed four points shooting two-of-11 from the field, which was his lowest return since May 15 last year.
Opinions on this 2021-22 NBA season are being firmly formed as we enter February.
Last month saw the All-Star starters announced, while the MVP race hotted up – or cooled down, with several early contenders struggling with form and fitness.
But who really lit up the league in January? And whose bright end to 2021 did not carry over into the new year?
Stats Perform's NBA Heat Check looks at the best and worst performers of the month...
RUNNING HOT...
RJ Barrett
Now in his third year with the New York Knicks, Barrett's has been a season of peaks and troughs. In the month of November, he averaged 12.8 points per game; in January, that mark was a mightily impressive 21.8.
Such inconsistency leaves the guard just below last year's average of 17.6 at 17.3, but he is now a man in form, scoring double-figures in 17 straight games – including all 15 in January.
Barrett's 31 points against the San Antonio Spurs on January 10 were followed by 32 against the Dallas Mavericks on January 12 in consecutive wins, before the Knicks traded for Cam Reddish, his old Duke team-mate, the next day. As stretches go, this was a good one.
Reddish is yet to find his feet in New York but at least finds a familiar face full of confidence in the locker room.
Kyle Kuzma
January finished with the Washington Wizards on a five-game losing streak that was extended to six on Tuesday, but it was a month of progress for Kuzma.
Comparing output for the past month to the rest of the season, Kuzma ranked second in the league for an increase in both scoring (up from 13.4 to 22.5) and rebounding (up from 8.0 to 11.1).
While this form is clearly not doing enough to get the Wizards' year back on track, it is at least providing the Los Angeles Lakers with a reminder of what they gave up in a trade for Russell Westbrook.
Kuzma was one of three players, along with a first-round pick, sent to Washington in exchange for Westbrook, who has again flattered to deceive and appears to be back on the market with the Lakers toiling at 24-27.
Anfernee Simons
One place behind the Lakers in the West, the Portland Trail Blazers are similarly out of sorts, with Damian Lillard falling below his usual standards and the rest of the team struggling to pick up the slack.
The Blazers have still had some breakout stars, however, with Simons the most obvious of those in year four after a dazzling January.
Already averaging double-figures at 11.9 heading into 2022 – something he had failed to do in his previous three campaigns – Simons was the most improved scorer last month, scoring 23.1 points across 15 games. He made 4.5 three-pointers per game over that period, also a league-leading improvement on his prior 2.0.
Third-year forward Nassir Little (13.1 points and 2.1 threes in January) ranked seventh and fifth by those metrics, only to sustain a season-ending labrum tear – a setback that just about summed up Portland's season.
GOING COLD...
Stephen Curry
Curry's 26.0 points per game this year are up on two of his three title-winning campaigns with the Golden State Warriors but significantly down on last year's 32.0 – enough to win the scoring title – and falling rapidly from his early-season standards.
The two-time MVP made a hot start with 28.7 points in October and was still operating at 27.7 come the end of 2021. In January, however, he scored only 22.3 points – the biggest drop in the NBA.
Curry also led an unwanted chart in seeing his 5.4 made threes per game decrease massively to 3.5, a career 42.9 per cent three-point shooter and 47.3 per cent field-goal shooter slumping to 32.9 per cent and 38.5 per cent.
Such is the depth of talent on the Warriors' roster – in Kevon Looney and Jonathan Kuminga, they had two of January's three most-improved rebounders – they have been able to ride out Curry's rough patch. However, Jordan Poole had also been struggling to maintain his high standards (fifth for scoring decrease in January), though a 31-point effort in Tuesday's win over the Spurs hinted at a return to form.
The Milwaukee Bucks have to realise that they are now the team to beat in the NBA, so says Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee hit back from their 136-100 home loss to the Denver Nuggets with a 112-98 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo was their inspiration, as he so often is, with the reigning NBA Finals MVP finishing with a triple-double of 33 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, including 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Bucks closed it out on a 17-4 run.
The Bucks are fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 32-21 record, but Antetokounmpo believes the team have not yet fully adjusted to the added weight of expectation that comes with being reigning champions.
"That wasn't us as a team," Antetokounmpo told reporters after the win over the Wizards when asked what went wrong against Denver.
"I don't remember the last time I lost by 36 in Milwaukee. Obviously that was kind of embarrassing, but at the end of the night, those nights are going to happen. But we were able to come out tonight, play hard and play together, try to set the tone.
"We have to realize that in order for us to be great, we've got to play hard. We cannot expect that people are just going to hand us the game when we go out there.
"People are coming for us. People are hunting us right now. They get excited when they see, 'Milwaukee Bucks, world champs.' We've got to play every single night hard and build that habit."
Only Trae Young (1,248) and Jayson Tatum (1,250) have accumulated more points than Antetokounmpo (1,242) this season, while the Greek forward's points per game average of 28.9 ranks him fourth in the NBA.
Tuesday's haul was his fourth triple-double of the season and a 29th of his career, but no other Bucks player has yet managed one in 2021-22.
In each of his last three triple-doubles, Antetokounmpo has scored at least 30 points.
Jrue Holiday provided good support with 22 points, five rebounds and two assists and Khris Middleton impressed late, though George Hill missed out due to a neck problem.
"I think he's going to miss a few games here," Bucks coach Budenholzer said of Hill.
"We're going to have to give him a little bit of time and see how he responds to some treatment, to some time off."
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