The Timberwolves pulled off their largest comeback of the season on Sunday night, rallying from 19-points down to hand the Spurs a 104-103 defeat.
The Wolves were held scoreless the first five minutes of the game and while Victor Wembanyama was on the court, no one for Minnesota scored a bucket until 10:38 in the second quarter. It was an incredibly dominant first half for Wemby but that just set the stage for Minnesota’s dramatic comeback.
Riding a 33-18 fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards came to life scoring nine of his 23-points. Defensively, the Wolves seemed to find something that worked as they forced seven Spurs turnovers in the final frame which led to 11 huge points.
“Just keep battling. We missed a lot of shots. We know we didn’t play really well, particularly offensively. We had it going in spurts, but we missed a lot of shots. Just keep going, keep battling, keep fighting and see what happens.” – Timberwolves F Julius Randle
In extremely unfortunate news, the Mavericks announced on Friday that Anthony Davis has suffered ligament damage in his left hand and may require surgery which would put him out for several months.
Davis injured it Thursday vs. the Jazz and will now look into second opinions to determine if surgery is necessary. If he opts to go non-surgery, that still would be at least a six-week absence, which certainly throws a wrench into the Mavericks’ plans.
Davis has been a popular name in trade rumors with the Mavericks reportedly interested in moving on from Davis less than a season after the team stunned the league by acquiring AD in the Luka Dončić trade. Davis, who is owed $58.5 million next season is reportedly looking to sign a new contract extension this off-season which only further complicates options for the Mavs.
Fresh off of the Hawks sending Trae Young to Washington, Shams Charania broke the news that the Memphis Grizzlies were officially listening to offers on PG Ja Morant. Shams mentioned in his reports that the Grizzlies are still open to working with Morant to keep him with the team but it really feels like that relationship is past the point of no return.
Still, Ja is under contract through 2027-28 and just 26 years old. His injury history is obviously a risk for teams but the contract situation should help Memphis bring back a better return than the Hawks received for Young last week.
It was a rough weekend for the Mavericks. After news dropped that Anthony Davis will be out indefinitely, we had a good old fashioned coach meltdown on Saturday as Jason Kidd lost his mind at referee Scott Foster.
Kidd was ejected about halfway through the first quarter. He was frustrated that he wasn’t able to challenge a goaltending call against the Mavs’ Max Christie. Kidd took the timeout but was told it was too late to initiate a challenge.
But it’s not that Kidd went crazy, it’s what he said that is so wild.
“You always doing this Scott. You cheated the Pacers all the way throughout out the Finals last year. Don’t cheat me, dumbass.” – Mavs’ head coach Jason Kidd to Scott Foster
I would imagine Kidd will receive a hefty fine for this one because of Scott Foster’s controversial reputation and issues with multiple players over the years.
That has to hurt for Pacers fans to hear too though. Especially knowing how close they were to a title. If I found out other teams thought my team had been screwed by bad officiating, I’d be pretty bummed I can’t lie.
It was a big weekend for ref beef as Jaylen Brown absolutely lit up the refs for Boston’s Saturday loss vs. the San Antonio Spurs. He even called out crew chief Curtis Blair by name.
“I feel like, honestly, they just got away with a lot, and I’m tired of the inconsistency. I’ll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bulls— tonight. I think [the Spurs are] a good defensive team, but they ain’t that damn good.
“I hope somebody can just pull up the clips, because it’s the same s— every time we play a good team. It’s like they refuse to make a call then call touch fouls on the other end.”
“That’s just extremely frustrating, bro. Like, we play hard. We were outplaying our expectations. We compete hard on the defensive end. Then they reward the other team with touch fouls. Then we go down there and guys are allowed to get away with … I hope, just somebody please pull it up.
“Every time we play a good team, the inconsistency is crazy. I’ll take the f—ing fine. Curtis, all them dudes was terrible tonight. I don’t care. They can fine me whatever they want. But it’s crazy. Every time we play a good team, it’s the same bulls—. Somebody please pull up the clips.” – Celtics’ Jaylen Brown following Boston’s 100-95 loss vs. the Spurs
Now, this rant came after the Spurs shot 20 free throws to just four for the game for Boston, including two that came from Derrick White with 37 seconds left in the game. The inconsistent whistle has been a sticking point for Boston all season so it makes sense it would come to a head at some point. Brown has been vocal about himself and the team being slighted throughout the season, feeling like players aren’t getting recognition or benefit of the doubt.
In what was absolutely the wildest headline from the weekend, the NBA announced that Kings’ PG Dennis Schröder will be suspended for three games for “confronting and attempting to strike another player.”
The incident happened after the Lakers beat the Kings on Dec. 28 in a game that could be described as a bit contentious at times.
According to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, here’s a bit more detail on what happened.
“Forty minutes after the buzzer, Schroder went after Doncic, telling Doncic that he can’t call him a ‘b—-’ on the court and pretend everything is fine off the court. The NBA ruled that Schroder attempted to strike Doncic.
“Lakers center Deandre Ayton tried to drag away Schroder from the confrontation while a stunned Doncic attempted to exit as security intervened.
“Schroder was eventually escorted to the team bus as Kings coach Doug Christie and several teammates sought answers about the sudden drama.” – via ESPN’s Anthony Slater
Schröder will now miss Monday’s rematch vs. the Lakers but thankfully, the two teams meet one more time this season on March 1st back in LA.
– Magic’s Mo Wagner returns to action after tearing his ACL on Dec. 21, 2024. Will play in team’s two games in his native Germany this week.
– Magic’s Franz Wagner also hoping to return for hometown games in Berlin this week after missing more than a month with a high ankle sprain
– Kevin Durant passes Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) for seventh in all-time scoring
– Tyrese Haliburton had the substitute teacher fit vibes going this weekend
Only six games tonight so let me know what you’re excited to check out.
Jazz at Cavaliers
76ers at Raptors
Celtics at Pacers
Nets at Mavericks
Lakers at Kings
Hornets at Clippers
Thank you very much for hanging out. I hope everyone reading this had a good weekend and is enjoying a good start to the week. Thank you again. Take care.