Tag: Desmond Bane

NBA playoffs player props: Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves Game 6

Which players will rise and which will fall during Grizzlies-Timberwolves Game 6?

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies have the spotlight to themselves on Friday night. And on the heels of a truly epic Game 5 conclusion, Game 6 has a lot riding on it.

Will the upstart Timberwolves finally put together a full 48 minutes of basketball that results in a win, thus keeping their season alive for at least another game? Or will Ja Morant and the Grizzlies smoke the T-Wolves on their homecourt to secure a spot in the conference semifinals?

How will you bet Game 6? We take a look at Friday’s matchup and highlight a few player props that stand out.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

[tipico]

3 pivotal NBA inbounds that altered the course of the playoffs

The good, bad and ugly of inbounds on Tuesday night.

The inbound is something that’s largely taken for granted in the sport of basketball. It happens so often over the course of a full game that the importance of well-executed inbounds can be understated until the end.

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado found a way to turn routine inbounds into must-see stuff, but otherwise nobody’s really checking for how teams throw the ball in. That is until it’s time to execute and defend plays on the inbound.

Those clutch moments allowed the inbound to take center stage on Tuesday with playoff games on the line. One team executed the inbound to a tee, another failed horribly, and a third inbound wasn’t nearly as important but didn’t lack for equal entertainment. This was the good, bad and ugly of inbounds.

Celtics injury update: Memphis Grizzlies to sit Morant, Adams, Jackson, Brooks in 2021-22 season finale

The move will allow Boston to choose their seeding destiny.

The Memphis Grizzlies have announced that they will sit several key players in theirs and the Boston Celtics’ final game of the 2021-22 NBA season, which in turn will allow the Celtics to choose their seeding destiny heading into the 2021-22 NBA Playoffs.

Memphis announced that Steven Adams (ankle soreness), Dillon Brooks (hip soreness), Jaren Jackson, Jr. (thigh soreness), Tyus Jones (hand soreness), Ja Morant (knee soreness), Tyrell Terry (foot soreness), and Killian Tillie (knee soreness) all are out for Sunday night’s season-ending contest, with Desmond Bane (foot soreness) and Brandon Clarke (thigh contusion) listed as questionable.

With the Milwaukee Bucks playing the Cleveland Cavaliers without several key players of their own out to rest before the postseason, the Celtics may be in a position to rest players themselves if dropping to a lower seed seems more desirable — or to play good players and seize the second seed for themselves.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Alperen Sengun, Dennis Schroder energize Rockets in loss to Grizzlies

Alperen Sengun and Dennis Schroder were dynamic off the Houston bench, but the Rockets didn’t shoot nearly well enough to compete with Memphis on Sunday afternoon.

HOUSTON — Even without All-Star guard and MVP candidate Ja Morant, the Grizzlies continue to show why they’re currently the NBA’s second-best team. Led by 24 points from second-year guard Desmond Bane, Memphis improved to 14-2 on the season without Morant in Sunday’s 122-98 win (box score) over the young Rockets at Toyota Center.

The Rockets (17-54) cut the margin to as little as seven points late in the third quarter before the Grizzlies (49-23) blew the game open with a barrage of 3-point shooting. For the game, Memphis shot 16-of-34 (47.1%) as a team on 3-pointers, and it helped them avenge an upset loss to the Rockets exactly two weeks ago in the same building.

Houston briefly climbed back into the game behind strong bench minutes from veteran guard Dennis Schroder and rookie big man Alperen Sengun. Schroder had 17 points (3-of-6 on 3-pointers) and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes, while Sengun added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting (71.4%) in 23 minutes. Sengun also grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 3 assists, and he collected several sensational highlights along the way.

Unfortunately, those individual highlights weren’t enough to keep the Rockets competitive over 48 minutes. One big reason was 3-point shooting, with the Rockets making just 10-of-31 for the game (32.3%). That final line slightly undersells their struggles, since it was lifted by a few late makes in the fourth quarter — when the Grizzlies were no longer playing tough defense due to having a massive lead. The Rockets even struggled on free throws, hitting just 14-of-24 (58.3%) from the stripe.

The shooting woes for the Rockets were headlined by backcourt starters Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green, who combined to score just 22 points on 8-of-31 shooting (25.8%) and 2-of-9 from 3-point range (22.2%).

Second-year forward KJ Martin scored 15 points off Houston’s bench on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers (75.0%). Like Sengun, he added to his growing collection of poster dunks, as well.

Scroll on for highlights and postgame reaction.

NBA Rising Stars: Cade Cunningham named MVP to lead Team Barry to win

Cade Cunningham was named MVP of the NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Barry to the championship and tip off All-Star Weekend.

Detroit Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham on Friday was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Barry to the championship and tip off All-Star Weekend from Cleveland, Ohio.

Cunningham recorded five points, including a huge 3-pointer late, three assists and two rebounds in the final game over Team Isiah. He scored a team-high 13 points, six assists and five rebounds to lead Team Barry in the semifinal round versus Team Payton.

Orlando Magic rookie Franz Wagner sent Team Barry to the win after hitting his first free throw to cross the 25-point threshold to win. The teams played to 50 points in the semifinal round and 25 points in the final to commemorate the 75th-anniversary season of the NBA.

Here is how each player and team fared in the competition.

Desmond Bane explained why he thought Pistons were drafting him

Bane was drafted 30th by the Grizzlies in 2020, but the former TCU standout initially thought he would be joining the Pistons.

Desmond Bane was drafted 30th by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020, but the former TCU standout initially thought he would be joining the Detroit Pistons.

Bane entered the draft projected to be a mid-to-late first-round pick after averaging 16.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals as a senior. He was known as a knock-down shooter in college, converting on 44.2% from 3-point range on 6.5 attempts.

On the night of the draft, Bane was in communication with the Pistons, who had the 16th pick. Detroit also acquired the 19th pick from the Brooklyn Nets so Bane thought they were going to take him with one of those picks, as he explained recently on the “Old Man & the Three” podcast.

Detroit calls right after Aaron Nesmith goes 14 and we knew Detroit had 16 and they were like, ‘Sit tight. We’re trying to make it happen.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going 16 to Detroit.’ We were in there celebrating. The 16th pick goes by and we don’t get a call. I think it was Isaiah Stewart that goes off the board and then we had saw Detroit had traded for 19 so we were like, ‘Oh, we’re going 19.’ Obviously, they didn’t take me 19, they took Saddiq Bey.

Of course, Bane eventually fell to the Grizzlies with the 30th pick where he turned in a strong rookie campaign. He was named to the All-Rookie second-team last season after averaging 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 43.2% shooting from 3-point range.

While Bane was the last pick of the first round, the Grizzlies guard has often said how thankful he is that he landed in Memphis. He has developed into a key player for the Grizzlies and is a big reason why they have the third-best record in the NBA.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane just had the most eerie Feb. 2 stat line in NBA history

This is so weird!

This has to be one of the weirdest occurrences in NBA history. I don’t even know quite how to accurately describe it.

The best way to put it is this: Desmond Bane just had one of the most bizarre games you’ll ever see. On a regular night, we’d just describe it as an “off night.” He didn’t shoot the ball well at all after going 4-18 from the field.

For those doing the math, that’s 22% from the floor. But that’s where things just start to get weird.

Bane also had two blocks, two assists, two steals, two fouls and two turnovers. That’s already a whooooole lot of twos on top of the 22% from the field.

But — oh, wait! — I forgot to mention that Bane’s number is actually 22. And he did all of this on February 2nd in 2022. Number 22 dropped all these 2s on 2/2/22.

Fam.

This is so weird. Even Bane himself was creeped out.

Ja Morant was just as confused as we all were.

For those of you who invested in Doomsday bunkers, now is your time to shine. Because I’m preeeeetty sure this is a sign. Like, who does this?

NBA fans thought this was wild.

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NBA Rising Stars 2022: Player pool revealed for revamped game format

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the 28 players set to participate in the Rising Stars game during All-Star Weekend.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 18 as part of All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.

The showcase game will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games. Each game will be played to a final target score, meaning that a game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of a running clock.

The semifinal games will be played to a final target score of 50 with the final game being played to 25, for a total of 75 points across the semifinal and final to celebrate the league’s 75th anniversary season.

NBA All-Star Game: Rookie players to earn All-Star selections

The pool of 28 players for the game consists of 12 first-year players, 12 second-year players and four players from the NBA G League Ignite. The rookies and sophomores were selected by assistant coaches and the Ignite players were chosen by G League head coaches.

The teams will be coached by members of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team. The coaches will select their rosters in a Rising Stars draft with each team consisting of seven players, including one from the Ignite. The details of the coaches and draft will be announced at a later date.

TNT will televise the competition beginning at 9 p.m. EST.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe reflects on potential Jaylen Brown trades for the Boston Celtics

Trades, of course, require two (or more) teams to agree on the deal, and that isn’t always a breeze.

The Boston Celtics are dominating the NBA media sphere at the moment, and for all the wrong reasons. After dropping yet more winnable games and making seemingly little progress despite some fairly substantial changes to the team’s front office, coaching staff, and rotation depth, analysts are beginning to wonder if trading as high a profile player as All-Star forward Jaylen Brown might actually be on the table.

One such thought experiment was conducted by host of the semi- eponymous ESPN “Lowe Post” podcast Zach Lowe with his guest, the esteemed Jeff Van Gundy. The former head coach and broadcaster debated if there were any potential trade packages out there that would be a solid deal for both sides, and found it was not such an easy task even if one believes such a move to be a wise one.

We, for the record, do not — but let’s look at some of what Lowe and Van Gundy had to say about several proposed trade packages.

The unsung heroes of the Memphis Grizzlies’ quietly impressive run

The Memphis Grizzlies have remained a top-4 team in the NBA despite losing Ja Morant weeks ago to a knee injury.

Things seemed to be heading all the way left for the Memphis Grizzlies just two short weeks ago.

Seven losses in the month of November? Check.

A sixth 20+ point loss on the season? Check.

Franchise player Ja Morant injuring his knee against the Atlanta Hawks, leaving the game non-weight-barring and causing everyone to fear for the worst? Check, check, and check.

Morant has yet to take the court since the late November beatdown from Trae Young and Co. but the absence isn’t holding the Grizzlies down. Surprisingly, Memphis (15-11, 7-3 over its last ten games) is playing its best basketball of the season. How? Let’s talk about it.

(All odds via Tipico Sportsbook)