The San Antonio Spurs will be without head coach Gregg Popovich indefinitely after he reportedly suffered a health issue prior to the team’s last game.
The 75-year-old Popovich didn’t coach the Spurs (3-3) during Saturday’s 113-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves due to what the team said was an undisclosed illness.
Mike Johnson took over as head coach against Minnesota and will remain in the role while Popovich is sidelined.
“He's not feeling well,” Johnson said prior to Saturday’s game. “This has happened before.
“I think everybody's just always got to be ready for the next man up. We've had it with injuries and sometimes people get sick or don't feel well or things come up in life.
“He's just not feeling well.”
Popovich is the NBA's all-time leader with 1,391 victories and has won five NBA titles while coaching San Antonio since the 1996-97 season.
J.B. Bickerstaff believes the Detroit Pistons are "getting better at everything" after bouncing back to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
The Pistons suffered a heavy defeat to the New York Knicks on Friday but made it two wins from three with their 106-92 victory over the Nets after they lost their opening four games of the NBA season.
Detroit finished with six players on double figures, with Cade Cunningham leading the charge with 19 points. It was the second time this season they have had that many players score 13 points or more in a single game, after doing it just once last term.
And while their attack was impressive, they also held the Nets to just 15 points in the fourth quarter, showing a vast improvement to their defense.
Bickerstaff was impressed with how his team have grown already since the start of the season.
"The guys did a great job of bouncing back," Bickerstaff said. "The conversation around the group has been to be better than we were the other night.
"Every single night we step on the floor, we aim to improve. The guys, just from a grit standpoint, how hard they played and how they shared the ball, it was unbelievable.
"We're getting better at everything. I feel our guys have embraced the system. They're really competing on that end of the floor. Individually, everybody's taking the challenge.
"There are still small things systematically, we're going to continue to improve on things. I'm learning what guys are capable of, but guys' willingness to take the challenge has given us an opportunity to put ourselves in a position that now we have a foundation of that, and we can grow from there."
Malik Beasley, who was another to finish on double figures as he scored 18 points, including two critical 3-point shots, believes their more proactive approach to defending pushed them towards the win.
"We started the game physical," Beasley said. "Last game, New York came out and just got whatever they wanted to get to.
"We made a point today to be physical and if we get fouls called early, it is what it is. We need to be known for a grit team, the Bad Boys, that whole thing. We did that [on Sunday]."
The Pistons are in action again on Monday when they face the Los Angeles Lakers.
Luka Doncic hailed a "real fun" performance from the Dallas Mavericks after they bounced back from Thursday's loss to the Houston Rockets with a comfortable win over the Orlando Magic.
Coming off the back of their second defeat of the season, the Mavs downed a short-handed Magic side by a 108-85 scoreline to improve to 4-2 for 2024-25.
Doncic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while team-mate Daniel Gafford added a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds in just 20 minutes on court.
But it was a suffocating defensive performance that kept out an Orlando team deprived of injured star Paolo Banchero and won Dallas plaudits, and Doncic enjoyed his role.
"Today was real fun," he said. "We were guarding everybody, defending, rebounding, playing with a lot of pace. So that's fun for me."
Four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, who arrived from the Golden State Warriors during the offseason, had a quiet night with just nine points for Dallas.
However, head coach Jason Kidd was pleased with his all-round contribution, saying: "I thought he played a great game.
"I know we look at him for scoring and shooting threes, but I thought his playmaking, his energy was high. He was moving on both ends at a very high level."
Dallas are next in action against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, while the 3-4 Magic visit the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Dallas Mavericks used suffocating defence to easily defeat the Orlando Magic, rolling to a 108-85 victory on Sunday.
Luka Doncic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Daniel Gafford added a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds in just 20 minutes.
The Mavericks (4-2) used a 30-9 run in the second quarter to take a 65-40 lead into half-time. Their lead grew to as many as 33 points at one point.
The Magic (3-4) were playing their second game since Paolo Banchero suffered a torn right oblique last Wednesday, and the offence struggled mightily.
Orlando finished with a season low in points, field-goal percentage (33.3) and three-point percentage (19.5).
Franz Wagner's 13 points were the most by any player for the Magic, who came in averaging 111.7 points.
Hawks beat short-handed Pelicans to snap skid
The Atlanta Hawks rode a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull out a 126-111 win over a New Orleans Pelicans team playing without Zion Williamson.
The Hawks (3-4) made more than half of their shots for the first time all season, shooting 56.8 per cent to snap a four-game losing streak.
Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 29 points, while Trae Young finished with 23 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range to go with 12 assists.
Already playing without starters Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, and Herb Jones, the Pelicans (3-4) announced shortly before tip-off that Williamson was scratched due to right hamstring tightness.
Brandon Ingram had 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting, but the only other New Orleans starter to score in double figures was Jordan Hawkins, who scored 19.
Without Williamson, the Pelicans were also overpowered under the basket, as the Hawks held a 66-32 scoring advantage in the paint.
Balanced Pistons get past Nets
Cade Cunningham was one of six players to score in double figures for the Detroit Pistons in their 106-92 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Cunningham paced the Pistons with 19 points, while Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley had 18 points apiece. Jaden Ivey scored 15, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 14 and Jalen Duren added 13.
It was the second time this season Detroit had six players score 13 points or more in a game after having one such game all of last season.
The Pistons (2-5), who held the Nets to just 15 points in the fourth quarter, won for the second time in three games after starting the season 0-4.
Cam Thomas entered the game leading Brooklyn (3-4) with an average of 28.2 points, but finished with a season-low 17 on 6-of-17 shooting.
The only other Net to score in double figures was Cameron Johnson, who had a season-high 26.
The Milwaukee Bucks are struggling to sustain their performance levels over a full game amid their five-game losing streak, says coach Doc Rivers.
The Bucks have failed to win since triumphing in their season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, going down 114-113 to the perfect Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
They raced into a 38-30 first-quarter lead at Fiserv Forum before tailing off badly, prompting Rivers to question their fitness.
“We don’t sustain the game,” Rivers said. “We haven’t been able to sustain 48 minutes.
“We’ve got to figure that out. That’s on us. We have not found the correct rotation yet.”
Damian Lillard was unfortunate to be on the losing team after scoring 41 points with nine assists and shooting 10 of 15 from 3-point range, and he pointed out that several opponents had benefitted from having strong bench options against them.
“I think every team that’s hurt us, they’ve had somebody come in off the bench and have an impact on the game,” Lillard said.
“They had a guy come in and knock down three 3s when they were bleeding and we had them down and our energy was right. He comes in and, ‘Bang, bang, bang.’"
However, Giannis Antetokounmpo – who had 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists – believes the Bucks’ results will soon turn, claiming their displays have improved.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go to a five-game winning streak or a 10-game winning streak,” Antetokounmpo said.
“But I know that we’re playing better. We trust one another better. The ball is moving. There’s a lot of good things that we can do. That’s all we can control.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including a jumper with three-tenths of a second left, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained perfect with a 114-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
The 7-0 Cavaliers are one win away from matching their best start in franchise history. They won their first eight games in 1976-77.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks, who have lost five straight since winning their opener. Milwaukee wasted a brilliant performance from Damian Lillard, who had 41 points with nine assists and shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range.
Lillard had put Milwaukee ahead by hitting a step-back jumper with 9.8 seconds remaining.
After shooting a combined 17 of 73 on 3-point attempts in losses at Boston and Memphis, the Bucks were 18 of 39 from beyond the arc in this one. Their hot start from long range helped them build a 16-point first-quarter lead.
After Lillard put Milwaukee ahead, Cleveland called timeout. Evan Mobley inbounded a pass to Mitchell, who caught it while barely avoiding a backcourt violation. Mitchell briefly lost control of the ball, but regained possession in 3-point range, dribbled inside the arc and hit a 19-footer.
Thunder defeat Clippers to remain unbeaten
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their undefeated start to the season by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 105-92.
All five Thunder starters scored in double figures, and the six straight wins to begin the season marked the team's best start since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.
Norman Powell scored 24 points and James Harden added 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Clippers dropped to 0-4 in their new arena despite holding double-digit leads in each of those defeats.
The Clippers got off to a good start from 3-point range, making eight long balls in the first quarter, but went 3 for 16 the rest of the way.
Aaron Wiggins hit a 3 to end the third quarter for an 81-78 lead, and the Thunder followed that up by scoring the first seven points in the fourth to create separation.
Booker leads Suns to 4th straight win
Devin Booker had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Phoenix Suns used a dominant third quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-97.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Phoenix, which won its fourth in a row.
The Suns led by as many as 26 points, but the Trail Blazers cut the deficit to 99-97 in the final minute. Booker and Tyus Jones each made two free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.
Grayson Allen scored 18 off the bench, making a team-high four 3-pointers. Jones and Bradley Beal each finished with 15 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 15 rebounds.
Trailing 47-43 at halftime, Phoenix scored 44 in the third quarter to take a 22-point lead by the end of the period. The Suns had zero turnovers in the third quarter after committing nine in the first half.
Booker and Allen each had 10 points in the third quarter, while Portland only managed 18 points in the period.
Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 20 points apiece. Deni Avdija scored 13 points and former Sun Deandre Ayton had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Nikola Jokic accepted blame for the Denver Nuggets' dramatic collapse to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose late surge saw them win 119-116.
Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.
But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.
The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.
"We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.
"They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.
"Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."
The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.
The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.
"They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."
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