The 2019-20 season is only about an eighth finished.
But it’s clear there are injuries affecting some of the game’s biggest names, and — therefore — the teams they’re a part of. And it’s the worst. You never want to see that happen to anyone, let alone superstars. Consider this a collective “get well soon” to everyone on the list and everyone else in the NBA dealing with maladies.
When you put the list all together, it’s pretty wild how many players have been affected by injuries, some of them extremely long-term. Here’s a look at the list we compiled as of Tuesday:
1. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
We all knew his Achilles tear would probably result in a full year out, and that’s looking likely even if he’s shooting. And that means we’re missing out on a year of watching one of the all-time greatest NBA scorers.
2. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
I doubt the Dubs will rush him back from his ACL tear suffered in the NBA Finals.
3. Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors
There was talk he might not return this year for the Warriors from a broken hand, but …
Steve Kerr calls the report that Steph Curry could miss the entire season a “headscratcher” and said he was “confused by the source.” Said Warriors plan to play Curry when healthy this season. Full quote here. pic.twitter.com/IyHZxhyoNu
There’s this news from Tuesday as he comes back from a knee injury:
The Pacers have assigned All-Star guard Victor Oladipo to G League affiliate Fort Wayne as Oladipo continues to make good progress from knee injury, per league sources. Allows Oladipo to get practice run today. No return timetable.
Boy, the Blazers have missed him, haven’t they? He broke his leg in March, so it might be a while until he returns.
8. Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics
Just when he was turning a corner and returning from a devastating knee injury to being the star we saw in Utah, he fractured his hand and underwent surgery. He’ll reportedly return in six weeks.
9. Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
A thigh contusion might keep him out for a month.
10. Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
The long-awaited debut is more awaited after knee surgery in October.
11. De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
Poor Kings. A sprained ankle will keep the point guard out for some time.
Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox suffered an apparent ankle sprain at practice today, sources tell @wojespn and me. Kings medical team is doing testing to determine the severity of the injury, and if Fox needs to miss any time, sources say.
Poor Kings, part II. He broke his thumb and he’s slowly working his way back.
Marvin Bagley said there is still no timetable for his return, but he's putting in work while recovering from a broken right thumb. Wednesday will be the 3 week mark of a 4-6 week injury window. Sounds like he's still 2 weeks out.
Kawhi Leonard had his first of two regular season games against the Raptors as the Clippers hosted Toronto at Staples Center on Monday.
Normally, a player in Kawhi’s position — playing his first game against the team he just won a championship with — might find such a matchup particularly emotional. He spent one season in Toronto but presumably built relationships with those players and the city.
But all you have to do is check out the postgame handshake following the Clippers’ 98-88 win to know that Kawhi is just different. Leonard gave Kyle Lowry a handshake as if the two had never met before. Like, did he just not recognize Lowry in a suit? What was going on here?
In all likelihood, though, Kawhi was just messing around with his former teammate. Before the game, they were seen joking together. Kawhi didn’t forget about Lowry.
The -139 line for the visiting TRAIN BLAZERS is encouraging given they are 4-6 and yet 3-3 on the road. Also, Sacramento has won just one of its four home games.
Can Sacramento keep up with Portland? That answer seems to be yes as expectations of a close game are quite likely. This game opened up dead even and only slightly tilted toward Portland being a favorite.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Trail Blazers to win outright returns a profit of $7.19.
The slightly better play for this game is taking the TRAIL BLAZERS with the -1.5 points at -121 odds. A Portland cover here (win by two or more points) returns a nicer profit of $8.26.
Portland is 4-2 on the road ATS (5-4-1 overall). Sacramento is 1-3 at home ATS and is 4.9 points off the projections due to a few bad performances. The Kings have improved their pace of play lately, however.
The idea is to take the UNDER 221.5 (+105). There is a risk as the two teams combine to produce just 220 points per game. Sacramento yields a bit over 111 points a contest, while Portland gives up 114.6 points per game. Since those two numbers add up just about to 225.5, it makes us hesitant, so bet lightly on the under tonight.
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Previewing Tuesday’s Brooklyn Nets at Utah Jazz sports betting odds and lines, with NBA matchup analysis and picks.
The Brooklyn Nets(4-5) visit the Utah Jazz(7-3) Tuesday at Vivint Smart Home Arena for a 9 p.m. ET start. We analyze the Nets-Jazz odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.
Nets at Jazz: Key injuries
Nets
SG Caris LeVert(thumb) out
Jazz
PG Dante Exum(hamstring) out
Nets at Jazz: Odds, lines, picks, and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The -250 line for the JAZZ at home is not outrageous. Utah is 5-0 at home in the early going where the Nets are just 1-3 on the road.
Utah allows just 98.1 points per game on the season. Brooklyn scores at nearly 120 points per night. That is quite a contrast in styles. Utah can adapt better than Brooklyn and play much better defense.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Jazz to win outright returns a profit of $4.00. It’s a touch chalky, but it’s better than risking this on a Brooklyn (+200) team that has trouble keeping teams from scoring.
The better play for this tilt is taking the JAZZ with the -6.5 points at -110 odds. A Utah cover here at those odds produces a tidy $9.09 profit – doubling the moneyline outcome.
Brooklyn is 1-3 against the spread on the road and is 7.2 points off projections which makes a Utah cover more likely. Utah is 3-2 ATS at home and exactly six points per game above the cover line.
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The -715 line for the home 76ERS is a bit of a concern but they are 3-0 at home in the early going despite some wild movement on the betting lines. They have even come in above the projections.
Can Cleveland cover as the underdog seems to be the question? It is unlikely the Cavaliers win outright with a +500 line. This is not impossible, but it would take a poor shooting performance by Philadelphia.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the 76ERS to win outright returns a profit of $1.40. It’s very chalky, but it’s better than trying to win with Cleveland.
The CAVALIERS+11.5 (+105) is the play here. A Cleveland cover (lose by no more than 11 points) returns a profit of $10.50.
Cleveland is 3-2 on the road ATS and 7.9 points per game on the cover while Philadelphia is 2-1 ATS at home and 5.8 points per game above projections. Cleveland has the ability to keep this game close enough.
This is a bit rare, but the Over/Under of 216.5 (-106, -115) is one to pass on here. There are just better choices in some of the other NBA games tonight. Philadelphia-Cleveland is a game that could go either way and one call could make a difference. AVOID!
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Previewing Tuesday’s New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls sports betting odds and lines, with NBA matchup analysis and picks.
The New York Knicks (2-8) meet the Chicago Bulls (3-7) Tuesday at the United Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET between the 15th- and 13th-place teams in the Eastern Conference. We analyze the Knicks-Bulls odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.
Knicks at Bulls: Key injuries
Knicks
C Mitchell Robinson (concussion) out
PG Elfrid Payton (hamstring) out
PG Dennis Smith Jr. (personal) questionable
PG Kadeem Allen (knee) questionable
SG Reggie Bullock (neck) out
Bulls
SF Otto Porter (foot) out
Knicks at Bulls: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 9:55 a.m. ET.
The Bulls are just 1-3 at home while the Knicks are 1-5 on the road. New York’s minus-10.1 average point differential is the worst in the NBA as it’s outscored 109.3-99.2 on average. The Bulls are minus-4.6 (110.0-105.4). Both teams come into Tuesday having lost their last game. The Knicks took a 108-87 loss at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday. The Bulls lost 117-94 at home to the Houston Rockets.
In a coin flip game between two bad teams such as this, it’s never a bad idea to chase the value. Back the KNICKS at +190 and make a profit of $19 on a $10 bet should New York come away with the outright road win.
There’s still value on the KNICKS on the spread of +6.5 with -121 odds. The same $10 wager fetches an $8.26 return if they stay within six points in a loss or win outright. The Bulls’ three wins all came by margins of at least six points, but they’re just 4-6 overall against the spread and 2-2 at home. The Knicks are 5-5 ATS and 4-2 on the road.
Take the UNDER 211.5 (+105). The Bulls and Knicks rank 28th and 29th, respectively, in true shooting percentage at rates of 52.2 and 51.0%. The Knicks also play to the league’s fifth-slowest pace at 99.85 possession per game.
New York is 2-8 against the Over/Under and falls an average of 7.1 points shy of the projection. Chicago is 4-6 against the projected totals while falling five points below the projection.
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In an era where stars requesting trades to team up is so common, the Blazers two studs – Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum – are going against the grain.
BLAZERS STARS CONTENT… SHOULD THE TEAM BE? Despite their multiple postseason failures and the team’s slow start this season,Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are quite content with where they’re at and refuse to be like other stars of this era who choose to force trades and team up rather than build something for themselves. Lillard, in particular, is pretty adamant about why he’s happy to be a Blazer: “I play for a great organization. I play for a great coach. I love where I live. I have a great situation.”
Nevertheless, Portland sits at 4-6 through 10 games, and have the looks of a team that might have hit its peak – the conference finals – last season. Getting Jusuf Nurkic back could help, but how much of an impact should he be expected to make this season after suffering such a brutal leg injury?
The Blazers might be best-served seeingif they could get anything in exchange for the struggling McCollum, who is shooting 39.1 percent from the floor this year. A star-level two-way wing, something Portland is desperately lacking, could dramatically change things in the Pacific Northwest.
Or the Blazers could choose to stand pat and risk missing the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference. We’ll see how happy Lillard is in Portland if that does happen.
Will that change anything for New York? Probably not, considering their poorly constructed roster and bad management. But it’s hard to see anyone doing worse than Fizdale and his 19-73 career record with the Knicks.
HISTORY MADE: Young Celtics star Jayson Tatum made history on Monday night. It wasn’t the good kind. Tatum finished Boston’s contest against the Mavericks with five points on… 1-of-18 shooting, giving him thesecond-worst shooting performance in Celtics history over the last 65 years (minimum: 15 field-goal attempts). Hey, at least Boston won.
ANOTHER HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT: After James Harden dropped 39 points against the Pelicans on Monday, his scoring average for the season bumped up to 37.3 points per game through 10 Rocket outings. That’sthe highest scoring average through 10 games in the last 50 seasons. Decent production coming out of Houston.
KAWHI VS TORONTO: Clippers superstar and reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard faced off with his former team, the Toronto Raptors, for the first time last night. Los Angeles pulled out the win 98-88, even despite the fact that Leonard went 2-for-11 from the floor and scored just 12 points. Leonard was able to contribute in other ways, however, with 11 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
STEPH PLANNING TO PLAY THIS YEAR? Much has been made about whether or not Stephen Curry will return this season, especially with the Warriors struggling in the win-loss column. According to the two-time league MVP himself, though,he plans to come back in the early spring.
SPURS HOLD CEREMONY FOR TEAM LEGEND:The Spurs retired Tony Parker’s jersey last night,in what was a lovely ceremony. Among those who attended: Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan (he had no choice since he coaches for the Spurs now), David Robinson, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and soccer legend Thierry Henry.
AAU AND LOAD MANAGEMENT:LeBron James granted Yahoo Sports an interview where he unloaded on the dangers of kids being overworked in AAU basketball, and how he believes it directly ties in with the need for load management among professionals.
YOUNG STAR DOWN: The brutal news keeps rolling in for the Kings this season, as word came out that stud young point guardDe’Aaron Fox will be sidelined for 3-4 weeks due to an ankle sprain that occurred in practice.
THE LOGO SPEAKS: NBA legendJerry West gave The Athletic a rare interview where he discussed topics such as Paul George’s return, basketball in southern California (including the Lakers), and much more.
Week 4 of the NBA season continues on Monday with a slate that’s highlighted by an emotional reunion of the defending champions with the man that delivered them the Larry O’Brien trophy in what should be a fantastic matchup at the Staples Center.
Kawhi Leonard. This is the man everyone wants to watch in the NBA this season, and his load management has led to some groans by those who just love to see the best player in the league do the things that led to him winning a championship last June and the Finals MVP. Leonard did it for the Toronto Raptors, who come to Staples Center to play the Clippers in what will most likely be the first meeting between player and team — if Kawhi doesn’t sit this one out.
The Raptors will be playing in the second night of a back-to-back at Staples after an exciting 113-104 win against the Lakers on Sunday night. Pascal Siakam has made the jump to superstar, OG Anunoby has done well in Leonard’s old spot in the lineup, and the champions are playing like it so far. It will be an awesome atmosphere in Los Angeles and expect Leonard to be excited to see his former teammates for the first time since signing with the Clippers.
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Each week, HoopsHype ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Find out who made this week’s rankings!
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who have entered the 2019-20 MVP discussion thanks to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out thus far? Who can sustain this production as the sample size increases? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Drummond has been dominant through the first 10 games of the season. It’s impressive when a player has a single 20-point, 20-rebound performance, but the 26-year-old is nearly averaging that. He’s scored 20 or more points in six games, and he’s grabbed 20 or more rebounds in five games. He’s also doing a good job of finding open teammates, as he’s averaging 5.4 assists in November (and he has 25 assists in his last four games). Drummond is posting video-game numbers and shows no sign of slowing down. The Pistons are getting Blake Griffin back from injury, which should only help them as they look to improve their record (4-6) and climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
Towns missed two games due to his suspension for fighting Joel Embiid, but he’s been a beast in the seven contests in which he’s played. He’s posting career-highs across the board and he’s been able to score the ball with ease this season, inside and out. In fact, Towns has more than doubled his three-point attempts (from 4.6 last year to 9.3 this year), yet his three-point percentage has stayed at 40.0 percent. His 3.7 threes per game is fourth in the NBA behind only James Harden (4.3), Damian Lillard (4.0) and Kemba Walker (3.8). Minnesota is currently 5-4, which is ninth-best in the Western Conference and just two games out of first place.
HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina recently wrote a great article breaking down Booker’s impressive start to the season and what he’s doing differently this year. The 23-year-old is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, finishing in the paint better than ever and locking down opponents on the defensive end. Newcomers Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio have made a huge difference for Booker too. The Suns are the NBA’s biggest surprise thus far, sitting at 6-3 with the league’s third-best offense (scoring 109.1 points per 100 possessions) and ninth-best defense (allowing 101.1 points per 100 possessions). There’s no question that Booker is a huge reason for their early success. The red-hot Suns will face off against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in a game that will feature three players from this list.
Harden is once again leading the league in scoring. The main issue for Harden (and the reason he isn’t higher on this list) has been his shooting percentages. He’s currently shooting an ugly 39.4 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which are career-lows. It’s taking him 24.2 field goal attempts (and 14.4 three-point attempts) per game to get to his 37.1 scoring average. Those numbers must drastically improve if he wants to compete for this year’s MVP award. There’s always an adjustment period when a team is integrating a new star and that’s what Harden and the Rockets are doing with Russell Westbrook. Still, Houston is 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference.
There’s a reason LeBron James badly wanted to team up with this guy. Davis is once again filling the stat sheet and making his presence felt all over the court, helping the Lakers win seven of their first nine games. He gives opposing head coaches nightmares, as he’s been the best rim protector in the league and he’s scoring at will. Davis is currently ranked first in Defensive Win Shares (0.9) and third in Win Shares (1.7, tied with James). He’s new to the Lakers and still getting acclimated, but you’d never know it based on his early play. It remains to be seen if voters will dock points from James and/or Davis because they’re on the same team. Opposing teams certainly hate that these two stars teamed up, as they’ve struggled to slow them down thus far.
Lillard is having the best season of his career, but he can only do so much for the Blazers. He’s getting little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are 4-6 and in 10th place in the Western Conference despite Lillard playing out of his mind. That was on display in Portland’s recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets, when Lillard had 60 points (including 7 threes), 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep, but the Nets won 119-115. Injuries have been an issue for the Blazers, but they also have a new-look roster after losing Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, Enes Kanter and Seth Curry among others. Still, Lillard is averaging the second-most points in the league while also ranking first in Win Shares (2.4) and second in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1).
Leonard’s decision to sit out the nationally televised showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks relaunched the load-management debate. It seems that Leonard will continue to sit out during back-to-backs to ensure that he’s 100 percent for the playoffs. Leonard credits load management for his monster 2019 postseason with the Toronto Raptors and while this is probably a smart move for the Clippers, it likely means Leonard won’t have a shot at winning this year’s MVP award. Voters seem to disqualify players who rest, regardless of how productive they are when they play. HoopsHype looked at the last 15 MVP winners and they missed an average of 3.93 games in their MVP season (with no player missing more than 10 games). Leonard missed 22 games last season and he’s on pace to miss 18 contests this year, which would seemingly remove him from the MVP discussion (like last year). Still, Leonard is playing well and the Clippers are 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the West. If the Clippers stop resting Leonard – or the NBA decides that he’s healthy and must play – perhaps he becomes a serious candidate.
Doncic is the only player in the league who currently ranks Top 11 in points per game (sixth), assists per game (second) and rebounds per game (11th). As if Luka’s counting stats weren’t impressive enough, his advanced stats jump off the page as well: Doncic ranks third in Value Over Replacement Player (1.0), fourth in Box Plus/Minus (10.3) and fifth in Win Shares (1.6). The 20-year-old is the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 or more triple-doubles, passing LeBron James and Magic Johnson. He also became the second player with at least three 20-point triple-doubles in the first six games of a season, joining Oscar Robertson. Doncic must continue to limit his turnovers (4.9 per game) and improve his three-point percentage (32.1 percent on 8.7 attempts per game). But that feels like nitpicking when the kid is nearly averaging a triple-double and winning games for the Mavericks, who are 6-3 (which is tied for the third-best record in the West).
Antetokounmpo had an MVP performance in the Bucks’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After struggling in the first half, Antetokounmpo ripped his jersey and kicked a hole in a Thunder sign while walking back to the locker room at halftime. In the second half, MVP Giannis showed up and he finished the game with 35 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 threes, 1 block and 1 steal while shooting an efficient 68.4 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. Antetokounmpo has now scored 30 or more points in five-straight games. The Bucks are 7-3, which puts them in third place in the Eastern Conference and just one game back from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo currently leads all players in Value Over Replacement Player (1.3), Box Plus/Minus (13.9) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.325).
As Tommy Beer of Forbes recently pointed out, no player in NBA history has ever averaged more than 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in their age-35 season. Well, James is currently posting those marks with ease (24.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists). When all is said and done, one could make the argument that James was the best teenager in NBA history (he holds the NBA record for most career points, rebounds and assists before turning 20 years old) and the best mid-30s player in NBA history (if he keeps this up). LeBron’s longevity is remarkable; in the load-management era, he’s playing 35.1 minutes per game, which is the most of any Laker and 12th-most in the league. James is currently No. 1 on this list because his individual production has been impressive and it’s translated into team success, as the Lakers currently have the NBA’s second-best record at 7-2. One area where James must improve is his three-point shooting; he’s attempting 5.2 threes per game, but he’s making just 31.9 percent thus far.
Two talented teams meet in Boston Monday when Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks visit TD Garden to take on the surging Celtics. While it’s certainly way too early to proclaim anything wild, at the rate these two teams have opened the season, we could possibly be seeing an NBA Finals preview.
The Mavs have enjoyed a bright start to the season, opening with a very nice 6-3 record. The story of their opening stretch has to be the play of second-year phenom Luka Doncic. The Slovenian guard is percentage points away from averaging a triple-double through nine games this season. With 28.1 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 9.2 APG to his name, the youngster is becoming one of the must-see names in the entire league. If he continues on this pace, there’s a strong chance he’ll be mentioned heavily when the talk of NBA MVP heats up later in the season. Doncic put up 24 points and 14 rebounds in a 138-122 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
While Dallas has impressed early on, the Celtics are only one of two teams with just one loss so far this season. A 7-1 start has to be extremely satisfying for Boston fans after losing their most high-profile player, Kyrie Irving, via free agency in the offseason. A 135-115 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday will do nothing to quell their enthusiasm. Jalen Brown’s 30 points along with Kemba Walker’s 26-point effort led the way for the C’s. However, it wasn’t all good news. Gordon Hayward’s unfortunate injury streak continued in the game, fracturing his hand in the win. It’s not yet known how long he’ll be out for, but he’ll be sorely missed. Hayward averaged 20.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists through seven games.
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