Los Angeles Clippers franchise player Paul George has been diagnosed with a hamstring strain, ruling him out of at least Monday's clash with the Utah Jazz, and likely more.
George led the Clippers in scoring last season, and continues to lead this season as Kawhi Leonard makes his way back from a long-term injury.
Against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, George was ruled out of the game at half-time after putting up 21 points in 15 minutes, with the Clippers calling it knee soreness as his team cruised to a 119-97 blowout win.
George was listed as questionable until hours before Monday's fixture against the Clippers, when the team released a new injury report with the news of his hamstring strain.
After Saturday's win, Clippers head coach Ty Lue told reporters he did not think it was a significant injury.
"He's doing okay," he said. "I haven't seen what they [medical staff] said about what happened to him, but I just know he had a little tweak."
George was also recorded telling team owner Steve Ballmer that he has "a little soreness, but it's okay".
The typical recovery time for a hamstring strain is at least two weeks, although his status as questionable just two days after suffering the injury bodes well for his projected time on the sidelines.
'Dead-legged' Bucks hopeful on Middleton return as winning streak snapped
Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers is keen to see Khris Middleton return from injury soon after describing his players as "dead-legged" in Wednesday's defeat to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bucks had responded to a dire start to the season by stringing together a run of seven straight victories, but that streak came crashing to a halt as they lost 119-104 at Fiserv Forum.
In a fine all-round showing from Atlanta, Jalen Johnson had 23 points and 13 rebounds while De’Andre Hunter scored 20 points, Trae Young had 17 and Bogdan Bogdanovic 15.
The exertions of Milwaukee's recent run showed as Atlanta's bench outscored that of their hosts by 50 points to 31, leaving Rivers to blame the result on tiredness.
"I thought we were dead-legged most of the game. We didn't think well, which is a direct sign of fatigue," Rivers told The Athletic.
"We didn't execute very well. Our passes were really late."
The Bucks have been without veteran forward Middleton for their last 21 games, with the 33-year-old recovering from offseason surgery on both ankles.
Middleton took part in practice drills ahead of Wednesday's game but was again held back, and Rivers says he is now desperate to get out on the court.
"Anybody who wants to play, and Khris is one of those guys, they're frustrated," Rivers said. "That's mentally challenging.
"You see your team playing and although we're playing well right now, I imagine when we were really struggling and he wasn't playing that had to be really hard for him.
"You want to help your team, and he knows he can.
"If it felt right, he'd be playing, obviously. There's no answer. He's working his butt off and doing all the stuff he's supposed to do.
"He's just yet to get on the floor. We feel like that's coming soon, and you've heard that before. We're just hopeful it's really soon."
Lakers 'not together' says furious Redick as James absolves coach
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick declared his players are "not together" after a chastening loss to the Miami Heat, as LeBron James absolved the first-year boss of any blame.
The Lakers slumped to a sixth defeat in their last eight games on Wednesday as Tyler Herro scored 31 points in an emphatic 134-93 triumph for Miami.
Their average margin of defeat across those six losses is a huge 21.8 points, and after sitting pretty at 10-4 just a few weeks ago, the Lakers are now 12-10.
It is also the first time in NBA history a team with a winning record entering a game has lost by 25 points or more on four occasions in a seven-game span.
Redick, who took the reins following the departure of Darvin Ham in the offseason, lashed out at his players in the aftermath of their latest defeat, calling for them to take responsibility for the team's struggles.
"Has to be some ownership," Redick said. "You can splinter, and it's easy not to want the ownership, particularly when it's embarrassing.
"I'm embarrassed. We're all embarrassed. It's not a game that I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism.
"There has to be some ownership on the court, and I'll take all the ownership in the world. This is my team and I lead it and I'm embarrassed.
"But I can't physically get us organised. I can't physically be into the basketball. I can't physically talk and call out [switches] and physically call out coverages.
"And by the way, I'm not blaming players. I own this but we're going to need some ownership on the court as well. There's not a sense from me that we're together right now."
James took no issue with his coach's comments, agreeing that it was on the players to turn things around.
The NBA's all-time leading points scorer, who bounced back from a personal slump with 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting on Wednesday, said: "I agree with everything JJ said.
"Whatever he said, I agree 100 percent, 1,000 percent. It's not on the coaches. It's definitely on us, for sure."
Surging Hawks end Bucks' 7-game winning streak
Jalen Johnson had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the surging Atlanta Hawks snapped the Milwaukee Bucks’ seven-game winning streak, 119-104, on Wednesday night.
De’Andre Hunter scored 20 points, Trae Young had 17 and Bogdan Bogdanović added 15 as the Hawks won their fifth in a row following a three-game skid. Clint Capela added 17 rebounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead Milwaukee. Damian Lillard added 25 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 11 points off the bench. Taurean Prince, the league's leading 3-point shooter, had seven points in the first quarter for Milwaukee, but didn't score again until late in the fourth, finishing with 10 points.
The Bucks jumped out quickly, building a 10-point lead, but the Hawks closed the first quarter on a 23-10 run to grab a 38-35 lead. Atlanta’s push continued into the second quarter when it took a 13-point advantage at one point. The Hawks led the rest of the way.
Atlanta’s bench outscored Milwaukee’s 50-31 and had three players in double figures, with Hunter leading the way.
Heat roll past Lakers
Tyler Herro scored 21 of his 31 points in the third quarter and the Miami Heat set a franchise record for assists in a 134-93 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Heat had 42 assists, one more than the previous mark of 41 against Portland on March 29. They tied another franchise record with 24 3-pointers, and the 41-point margin of victory was the third-biggest in team history.
Jimmy Butler scored 17 points and Bam Adebayo had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Heat.
LeBron James scored 29 points for the Lakers, who have lost six of eight - their last two by a combined 70 points.
Herro had seven 3s in the third quarter, tying the Heat record for any quarter. Duncan Robinson had seven in a second quarter against Cleveland on Nov. 20, 2019. The previous Heat record for a third quarter was six, by now-Lakers guard Gabe Vincent on Jan. 28, 2022.
Timberwolves pound Clippers
Julius Randle scored 16 of his 20 points in the first quarter, Anthony Edwards added 16 and the Minnesota Timberwolves rolled to a 108-80 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Randle had all of his points in the first half, including four 3-pointers, to help Minnesota win its third straight after losing four in a row. The Timberwolves were up by 27 at halftime and their largest lead was 41 in the second half.
Bones Hyland led the Clippers with 18 points, including a season-high five 3-pointers, as the Clippers’ nine-game home winning streak was snapped.
The Clippers had a 10-9 lead before the Timberwolves took control with an 18-4 run during a nearly four-minute span during the first quarter.
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