nba

[Tari Eason] on what makes Deni Avdija so hard to defend: “Zebras.” — Deni Avdija took 15 FTA vs the Rockets last night. This season, Avdija is #2 in FTA Per Game (9.9), #1 in Total FTA (378), and #2 in % of Points Scored from Free Throws (30.1% of Avdija’s points scored are from free throws)

Luka Doncic reaction to the Trae Young trade: “Oh so that’s why they were out”

[Highlight] Steven Adams left BEAR CLAW marks on Yang Hansen

[Amick] Giannis Antetokounmpo: “I am not (going anywhere). I am invested in this team. I want to turn this team around. I want to play good basketball. I want to be healthy. I want to help my teammates.”

[Charania] BREAKING: The Atlanta Hawks are trading four-time NBA All-Star Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, sources tell ESPN.

[Robbins] Trae Young is expected to assess the free agency market this Summer. There is no rush to have Trae Young return from injury: “I would be surprised if he plays much, if at all, the remainder of this season.”

Trae Young finds out he’s been traded and heads back to the locker room:

[Highlight] Trae Young era in Atlanta officially comes to an end as the clock winds down

[Highlight] Stephen Curry says night night to the Bucks

[Highlight] Quickley hits the game-winner for Raptors!

[Highlight] The Rockets build an entire neighborhood in Portland and the Blazers are quick to show them how it’s done

[Highlight] Wemby gets the easy steal, and completes the 2-way highlight with a thunderous putback slam starting all the way from the logo

[Highlight] “I’m coming”: The Raptors announcers are in ecstasy as the Raptors finally hit a 3 after missing 18 straight 3s.

The Pacers’ 13-game losing streak is the 2nd longest in NBA history by a team coming off a Finals appearance — the NBA record is 17 straight losses

Kristaps Porzingis on Trae Young: “He was one of the best passers. Everyone benefited playing with him. Offensively he was a wizard.”

[Fischer] League source confirms Trae Young is being dealt to Washington in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. There are no draft picks changing teams in this trade.

[Highlight] PAOLO GAME-WINNER!

[McMenamin] Lakers’ LeBron James ruled out vs. Spurs with multiple injuries (arthritis and sciatica)

Luka Doncic drops a 38-PT triple-double despite the loss versus Spurs: 38 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST, 2 STL, 7 TOV

[Charania] After trading Trae Young to Washington, the Atlanta Hawks intend to pursue a trade for a larger salary player— with Anthony Davis as the prime target.

[SGA] to Sam Presti: “When I first arrived at OKC you gave me the book ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’. You explained the meaning behind it and the next few years were very rough… When we won the championship you gave me a statue of the tortoise. I keep that beside my championship ring and MVP trophy.”

Deni Avdija drops a 40-piece as Portland defeat Houston: 41 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 39 MIN

[Post Game Thread] The Denver Nuggets (25-12) defeat the Boston Celtics (23-13) behind Peyton Watson’s 30 PTS and Jamal Murray’s 22 PTS with 17 ASTS, 114-110.

In contrast to the Hawks turning Luka Doncic into Corey Kispert & CJ McCollum, the Washington Wizards turned Bradley Beal into Trae Young, Bilal Coulibaly, 4 unprotected swaps & a Warriors 2030 1st. Among many other smaller assets along the way.

[Highlight] Doncic sinks the clutch 3, then trash-talks a heckling Pelicans fan sitting courtside

With Trae Young being traded, the only players from the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft who are still with their original teams are Jaren Jackson Jr and Miles Bridges

[Highlight] SGA sinks the middy to send the game to overtime

[Charania] Trae Young has the Washington Wizards as his top preferred trade destination, sources tell ESPN. Atlanta is working to trade Young, who has a $49 million player option in offseason that would make him an expiring contract; or opt out, leave and give Hawks significant cap space.

Trae Young with staff and DC Youngfly after the trade news

[Post Game Thread] The San Antonio Spurs (25-11) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (23-11), 107-91 to stop a 2 game losing streak

[Highlight] Kris Dunn guards a subbed-out Steph Curry, Podziemski nails the resulting wide open 3

“The chemotherapy was successfully completed and [Nikola Topic] is now returning to the training process, although he was active during the therapy. It’s hard to specify the timeline, but I sincerely hope that he will get minutes this year.” according to Topic’s agent Miško Ražnatović

[Highlight] Tari Eason game-winning buzzer beater is waved off upon review and the Blazers win (with replays)

Isaiah “All he does is fight” Stewart had a career high 31 points in a win without Cade, Duren, Tobias.

[Highlight] RJ Barrett with 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Raptors to a grinding win over the Hornets

[Sports Business Journal] Peacock adding enhancements that may allow fans to mute announcers, control crowd noise

In 2020, Trae Young averaged ³⁰⁄₉ as a 21 year old while Luka averaged 29/8/9 as a 20 year old

[Highlight] Castle sneaks right under the nose of all 5 Lakers defenders for an uncontested layup, forcing them into an immediate timeout

[Highlight] Michael Porter Jr scores 34 points (with only 2 free throws attempted) against the Orlando Magic. MPJ tied his career high of 8 threes made

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops a 40-piece versus Jazz: 46 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 0 TOV

[Post Game Thread] The Portland Trail Blazers (18-20) defeat the Houston Rockets (22-12), 103-102.

Peyton Watson averaged 3.3 PPG in his lone season at UCLA, he’s averaging 18.1 PPG in his age 23 season for the Nuggets over his last 12 games

Victor Wembanyama is done for the night against Lakers: 16 PTS, 14 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 4 BLK, +9, 26 MIN OFF THE BENCH

[Kroichick] No criticism of Kerr has filtered out through anonymous sources. Kuminga no doubt is restless for a trade, so he can land the leading role he craves, but he appears willing to bide his time.

Matas Buzelis since December (18 games): 16.⁶⁄₄.9 with 1.4 blocks on 64% TS

[Highlight] Immanuel Quickley comes up big with the game winner against the Hornets

[The Athletic] “Every team in the East believes they’re an Anthony Davis away from making the finals”

[Highlight] Check out all of the wild endings from tonight’s NBA action.