Adrian Wojnarowski: Memphis Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic will be the acting head coach vs. the Golden State Warriors tonight, sources tell ESPN. He recently exited Covid protocols – where head coach Taylor Jenkins remains.
Mike McGraw: Marko Simonovic is back from protocols. #Bulls pic.twitter.com/UcXUFia7di
Jon Krawczynski: KAT: "I less sicker this time. It was the timing that was awful. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day ... I'm just happy to be out of it." Said he lost 15 pounds.
Beginning Friday, the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs will host home games without selling tickets to fans for the next three weeks following a decision by the province of Ontario to limit venue capacities. Ontario's government capped attendance at concert venues, arenas and theaters to 1,000 people or 50% (whichever is less) amid the current surge in COVID-19 cases.
Neil Dalal: Spencer Dinwiddie on Wizards outbreak “I had COVID before, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I definitely don’t want to have it again. You can’t live life in fear, we got a job to do. When we step on that floor, we’re trying to just win the game. That’s really the only thing.”
Tim Reynolds: Hawks have 13 players out tonight; 11 virus and two injured.
Marc Stein: Luka Dončić will remain in the league's health and safety protocols and is not traveling with Dallas today for its Christmas Day game in Salt Lake City against the Jazz, league sources say. More NBA from me: marcstein.substack.com
During the podcast, Steele took aim at Disney’s requirement that most employees get vaccinated against the coronavirus, calling it “sick,” and noting that she “didn’t want to” get a shot, though she did. She also indicated she was surprised that President Obama identifies as Black. Steele is also off the air because she recently tested positive for coronavirus, according to a person familiar with the matter. The anchor will not take part in ESPN’s espnW summit, which focuses on women in sports, and is expected to return to full duty sometime next week.
The three officials from that game have yet to work since that April 20 game. It isn’t clear how Clifford got infected with COVID-19. But he shared the court with a referee shortly before his positive test. Sources close to Clifford say that he has continued to be asymptomatic in isolation and hopes to return to the sidelines soon. Though the vaccine did not prevent Clifford from becoming infected, it may have reduced his chances of hospitalization or severe illness. It may have even saved his life.
When you test positive for COVID, people tend to ask if you know where you could have been exposed. This is where referees come to mind. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell TrueHoop that one of the referees in the Magic vs. Hawks game on April 20 reported feeling chills during play—and tested positive for COVID-19 after the game. …
The NBA tells TrueHoop they conduct genomic sequencing (a process of analyzing DNA with the potential to determine how the virus spread) on all positive cases. That means they have the DNA of positive tests from referees, coaches, and players. Sources tell TrueHoop there have been no known or suspected cases of COVID spreading from a referee to any player or team staff member all season.
In a regular season, referees and NBA teams ordinarily do not stay in the same hotels—to avoid the appearance of fraternizing or favoritism. Sources confirm that this season that practice has been suspended, in the name of making the league’s extensive testing easier.
Chris Forsberg: Danny Ainge on @Toucherandrich chalks Celtics’ league-leading COVID woes up to bad luck. Notes team’s strict protocols at facility. Also said team had been exploring ways to get vaccine for players that desire it but so far unsuccessful in MA.
Harrison Faigen: Marc Gasol confirms he tested positive for COVID-19. "It got me pretty good for five or six days. I was down. I couldn't move much. The worst symptoms for me were the headaches, and difficulty breathing."
Harrison Faigen: More from Gasol after his first game back. "I'm still not athletic, so the infection didn't affect me much there." He says the plan is to play tomorrow, hopefully for a few more minutes.
The NBA's postponement of three consecutive Memphis Grizzlies games marks an evolution in the league's handling of COVID-19 scenarios within teams, essentially parking a team and taking it out of circulation once a roster has been exposed to the virus, sources told ESPN on Thursday. In previous instances, the league has allowed teams to isolate positive players and sideline others in contact tracing believed to have been in close proximity to infected individuals -- yet still allowed teams to proceed with games if they had eight eligible players.
Again, it’s an exponential function. If teams exchange opponents every two days, one player can spread the disease to 16 teams within a week. Extend that period to four days, and it’s only four teams, which gives the league a far greater chance of putting out the fire. This takes us to our next point: The league can still fix this. Not immediately, but it can. With the situation likely to get worse before it gets better, and the schedule locked in through March 4, the league faces no choice but to limp through the next six weeks, much as baseball did, and try to avert worst-case scenarios.
After that, however, the ball is in the league’s court. The schedule is not sacrosanct, people, and the league can get to 72(ish) games by mid-May any way it damn well pleases. Given the situation and the stakes, the league should look really hard at a second-half schedule that puts teams in small groups of six to 10 teams, which would prevent team-to-team spread and contact-tracing situations. Save your whining about strength of schedule considerations for another day; the primary consideration here is completing the season in any way possible.
Adding to anxiety currently affecting the NBA amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, multiple players who previously tested positive for the coronavirus have recently tested positive a second time, sources told ESPN. The CDC defines "reinfection" as a person getting infection, recovering and then later becoming infected again. There are ongoing studies about how long immunity might last, but the CDC says it expects some coronavirus reinfections.
The NBA has announced more than 100 positive tests since last summer, but the actual number since March is believed to be significantly higher. Several teams have more than 10 players who have tested positive at some point over the past nine months, sources told ESPN. Because testing was less available and there were higher rates of false positives early in the pandemic, there is some level of uncertainty as to how many players had true positive cases early in 2020, especially during the league's three-month shutdown.
Shams Charania: A member of the 76ers training staff has registered a positive coronavirus test, leading to additional contact tracing within team, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. NBA is continuing its review process.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Sixers guard Seth Curry returned a positive test for the coronavirus, which the team learned of near the start of a loss in Brooklyn tonight, sources tell ESPN. He went to an isolation room immediately, and thereafter left arena separate from team.
Ramona Shelburne: Curry was wearing a mask while he was on the bench, in accordance with NBA health and safety protocols. He wasn’t playing in the game due to left ankle soreness.
Keith Pompey: Back at their hotel, the #Sixers will test tomorrow morning , according to league sources.
Ramona Shelburne: The Sixers will stay over in New York and do their daily testing tomorrow. It’s unclear how long they’ll have to stay over.
Ramona Shelburne: Sixers All Star center Joel Embiid, who has a three-month-old-son, told ESPN he plans to self quarantine from his family until he is certain he didn’t contract the virus. Embiid sat next to Curry during the game.
Not only did James Harden test positive in the summer, sources say, but Rockets staffers were alarmed to see social media chatter and photos of Harden at a pool party and other crowded events around that time. It had the makings of an explosive story. But Harden’s positive test only became public months later, which some players felt was evidence the front office’s favorite player had the team’s protection. Unlike Harden, Russell Westbrook disclosed his status when both he and Harden were late reporting to the bubble in Orlando.
Florida forward Keyontae Johnson, who collapsed on the court during a game Dec. 12 at Florida State University, has been diagnosed with a heart inflammation that may be related to an earlier infection for COVID-19. Following the collapse that left Johnson unresponsive, he was transferred last Monday from Tallahassee Memorial to UF Health in Gainesville, where an MRI on his heart led to a diagnosis of acute myocarditis, according to a person with first-hand knowledge. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensibility of the situation.
Bamba wants you to know he feels completely healthy following his June bout with COVID-19 and has made significant progress with his conditioning even though he will be held out from contact drills when the Orlando Magic begin full-team training camp practices on Friday. “I guess the one thing that I will clear up is that I’m seeing in a lot of places that I’m a COVID long-hauler,” Bamba said in an exclusive interview with The Athletic. “I just want to clarify that I’m not. I haven’t felt any symptoms since the summer — in fact, June. But we all know that it takes a toll on conditioning, and I just want everybody to know that I’m working my ass off to get back in peak shape. I think I’m getting pretty close. Literally every day is valuable towards this. But definitely, I’ve been working.”
The Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Finals coincided with a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, and it’s "highly likely" watch parties held by Lakers fans and the victory celebration outside of Staples Center contributed to the spike, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said. That has fueled concerns of another potential spike in COVID-19 transmission rates because the Los Angeles Dodgers are one victory away from winning their first World Series title in 32 years.
Donatas Urbonas: Zenit St. Petersburg center Arturas Gudaitis tests positive for COVID-19, per sources.
In the last several months, Mo Bamba has employed his platform as a professional athlete to encourage children to stay in school, urge adults to vote in the upcoming election and ask people to donate money to provide food for children, the elderly and frontline workers in need. And now, he’s imploring you to do something else. Something he has learned from painful experience. He wants you to take precautions against the coronavirus. On Thursday, Bamba revealed to The Athletic that he suffered from COVID-19 in June.
The illness temporarily robbed him of his senses of smell and taste, made him unusually fatigued and caused muscle soreness. “I think the lesson is to take it seriously, to take it as seriously as possible,” said Bamba, who added he doesn’t know how he contracted the coronavirus. “I think we all play a part in making sure that we all stay safe. It’s going to take everyone.”
He tried to piece together how he had contracted the virus, concluding that it probably happened on the road trip in New York, Boston or Detroit. He wondered how it was possible that other members of the Jazz didn’t test positive given that he shared locker rooms with his teammates and received massages from team staffers. As he recovered, he concluded that he probably wasn’t the first NBA player to contract the virus — just the first to return a positive test. He might have been careless with the microphones, but Mitchell or Wood easily could have exposed him to the virus rather than the other way around.
David Aldridge: The @NBA announces it is helping provide free COVID-19 testing in the Orlando area through the end of August: pic.twitter.com/SEXKBekO0v
Sacramento’s starting small forward tested positive for the coronavirus over the Fourth of July weekend and struggled to clear the NBA’s protocol, but he never had symptoms. That was not the case for his wife Brittany or his mother Shirley, who were both with him in Sacramento. “In my household, my wife and my mom both tested positive for COVID,” Barnes said following the Kings’ 106-102 win over the Clippers. “My wife was sick, really sick for about a week, my mom was sick for a couple of days. In our household, we were able to see the different ranges of how COVID can hurt your system, how serious it is, and how important it is to wear a mask.”
The Wizards and Nuggets have a scrimmage at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. The Nuggets have been decimated during this pandemic, with a confirmed case for their star Nikola Jokic, who has returned to practice, while rotation players Gary Harris, Torrey Craig, Monte Morris, and Michael Porter Jr. are either not with the team or have arrived (late) to Florida and can’t yet play. Coach Michael Malone has said they haven’t had enough players to work 5-on-5 situations at practice. Sources say as many as nine inside Denver’s basketball operation contracted the virus.
The Suns announced Wednesday guards Elie Okobo and rookie Jalen Lecque also are not with the team at Walt Disney World Resort for "personal reasons." Team officials also said they expect Baynes, Lecque and Okobo to join the team at "a later date." Sources have informed The Republic a third Suns player has tested positive for the virus. A previously infected person has to have at least two consecutive negative tests to join the team and then clear quarantine once in the bubble.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe tested positive for the coronavirus and has yet to make the trip to Orlando, Florida, to join the team for the NBA restart, he told ESPN on Thursday. "I am asymptomatic and feeling fine," Bledsoe told ESPN in a statement. "Once I meet the NBA protocols, I look forward to joining my teammates in Orlando."
Shams Charania: Nets forward Michael Beasley will not join the team and the franchise will replace his roster spot, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Beasley tested positive for coronavirus. Justin Anderson remains a signing candidate.
Exactly one month before announcing he’s tested positive for COVID-19, Russell Westbrook was hanging poolside at Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas. Westbrook was with a group of friends, including former NFL running back Reggie Bush, fashion jeweler Greg Yuna, bodybuilders and trainers Mike Rashid and Valeriu Guto and Wynn club host Jai Shaun White at the outdoor dayclub on June 13. The group posed for a photo at one of the party space’s VIP bungalows.
Responding to a question asking if Westbrook had contracted the virus at the hotel, Wynn Las Vegas referred to company policy that it does not disclose personal information about guests. Generally, the statement read: “Any guest diagnosed with COVID-19 while visiting the resort is reported to the Southern Nevada Health District, which conducts community contact tracing. Our internal contact tracing determines who in the resort the guest has had contact with and what areas they visited; relevant contacts are informed for testing and the areas visited are thoroughly sanitized.
Shams Charania: Sources: Two NBA players have tested positive out of the 322 tested on NBA campus on July 7.
Chris Haynes: Of the 322 players tested for Covid-19 since arriving on July 7, two players tested positive, the league announces. pic.twitter.com/MMatWQUbkd
Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook says he has tested positive for coronavirus. Westbrook tweeted Monday that he tested positive before his Rockets teammates were scheduled to travel to Walt Disney World for the resumption of the NBA season Westbrook tweeted he is "currently feeling well, quarantined, and looking forward to rejoining my teammates when I am cleared."
The Orlando Magic said Tuesday that one of their players recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Team president Jeff Weltman declined to identify the player to reporters but said the individual is following protocols and hopes to join the team soon.
In a virtual interview with Fortune Brainstorm Health, Silver said the NBA expects more positive coronavirus cases to pop up as teams arrive to the NBA campus at Walt Disney World resort this week. But once teams arrive, all personnel will be tested and must quarantine for at least two days. "We won't be surprised when they first come down to Orlando if we have some additional players test positive," Silver told Fortune Brainstorm Health. "What would be most concerning is once players enter this campus and then go through our quarantine period, then if they were to test positive or if we were to have any positive tests, we would know we would have an issue." "... We would know that there's in essence a hole in our bubble or that our quarantine or our campus is not working in some way," Silver added later. "So that would be very concerning."
Silver said the NBA's campus with daily testing and guidance from medical experts is "as protected as possible from the environment around us." "So on paper, and dealing with our experts, this should work," Silver said. "But we shall see. I'm confident based on the positive cases we are seeing from our players and the general public around the country that it will be safer on this campus than off this campus in part because we are going to be doing daily testing. But again this virus has humbled many so I am not going to express any higher level of confidence than we are following the protocols and we hope it works as we designed it."
Silver reiterated that the league likely will not be forced to shut down again due to one potential positive coronavirus test inside campus. However, a spread could bring the NBA to a halt again. "I think we do have the ability to trace, of course to try to understand where that positive case came from," Silver said of any positive cases inside the Walt Disney World campus. "We can actually analyze the virus itself and try to track whether if there is more than one case, if it's in essence the same virus and same genetic variation of the virus that is passed from one player to another or two people have gotten it on the campus independently. So those are all things that we are looking at."
But when their strained relationship following the positive tests lingered in public view for months, it increased the intensity of their issues and put a spotlight on an already-tense dynamic. It's a spotlight that was created because, according to sources, Mitchell blamed Gobert for infecting him with COVID-19.
(The Bucks) had to shut down their facility over the weekend because of positive test. How much of a concern is that for the team that is right now the favor to win at all? Malika Andrews: I checked in with a source with the Bucks and they just told me that they are mostly bummed about the timing. They are not expected to open the facility again before they traveled to Orlando this week. And for a lot of guys, these last two weeks they've actually been able to be inside the practice facility is the first time they've been able to touch a basketball in a while.
Spencer Dinwiddie: Protocol only calls for 7 days and negative tests not the 14 day standard. Yep, the plan would be to fly to Orlando after workout. For players that show up late, it might make it difficult to resume season at all due to more rigorous testing requirements.
The WNBA announced Monday that seven of 137 (5.1%) tested players were positive for COVID-19, and that 11 of the league's 12 teams will report to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. for its season start-up by the end of the day. The one exception in that travel schedule is the Indiana Fever. After sustaining two positive tests in their organization, the Fever's travel will be delayed at least five days "in an abundance of caution due to the CDC’s close contact self-quarantine requirements," according to a statement from the league.
Spencer Dinwiddie: Protocol only calls for 7 days and negative tests not the 14 day standard. Yep, the plan would be to fly to Orlando after workout. For players that show up late, it might make it difficult to resume season at all due to more rigorous testing requirements.
The WNBA announced Monday that seven of 137 (5.1%) tested players were positive for COVID-19, and that 11 of the league's 12 teams will report to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. for its season start-up by the end of the day. The one exception in that travel schedule is the Indiana Fever. After sustaining two positive tests in their organization, the Fever's travel will be delayed at least five days "in an abundance of caution due to the CDC’s close contact self-quarantine requirements," according to a statement from the league.
Kurt Helin: The WNBA announces 7 players out of 137 tested were positive for the coronavirus (5.1%). The league is heading to Florida today to start preparations for its season at the IMG Academy.
Sam Amick: Source tells @TheAthletic the Kings have shut down their practice facility after receiving a positive coronavirus test within the team’s traveling party on Sunday. The facility is not expected to reopen before the team departs for Orlando on Wednesday.
James Ham: Confirming that the Sacramento Kings have shut down their practice facility after a positive test within their traveling party. No word yet on whether it was player, staff or coach. @sam_amick first with the news
The identity of the person to test positive and their role with the organization is not yet known. NBA teams competing in Orlando consist of a 35 member traveling party.
Marc Stein: Sacramento would be the seventh team of the 22 bound for Walt Disney World publicly known to take this measure at some point over the past two weeks since players were asked to be back in their home markets on June 22: Kings, Bucks, Heat, Clippers, Nuggets, Suns and Nets
Maccabi Tel Aviv announced that Tyler Dorsey has been quarantined after a verified case of COVID-19 was discovered in his building. The Israeli League season resumed on June 21 and Maccabi has played four games so far in the Winner Stage Group, winning three of them and improving to a 22-3 overall record.
Shams Charania: Clippers guard Landry Shamet has tested positive for coronavirus and is unlikely to travel with the team to Orlando this week, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Barry Jackson: A third Heat player has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a source. The Miami Herald is not reporting the names of the two players who tested positive in the past few days; both are rotation players.
While the team hasn’t disclosed which players tested positive, sources say Williamson wasn’t one of them. The protocol alone makes that much obvious, as players who test positive have to self isolate for 14 days and can’t take part in physical activity or be at the team’s facility during that time.
While the team hasn’t disclosed which players tested positive, sources say Williamson wasn’t one of them. The protocol alone makes that much obvious, as players who test positive have to self isolate for 14 days and can’t take part in physical activity or be at the team’s facility during that time.
Marks confirmed that Spencer Dinwiddie may not be playing in Orlando because he recently tested positive for coronavirus. Dinwiddie, who remains on the Nets’ 36-person travel list, told The Athletic that he is not sure if he will join the team when the season resumes later this month. “I would hope these guys decide to do what's best for them and for their health and family first and foremost. If they decide to go to Orlando, we know we'll be taking best care possible of them,” Marks said. “But at the end of the day it goes back to what I said before: Everybody has a different set of circumstances in their life that they're dealing with whether that's family issues or the health and wellness of themselves. And we need to support those guys whatever decision that they make.”
Joe Mussatto: No Thunder player has tested positive for COVID-19 during the NBA's testing period, per a team spokesman.
A. Sherrod Blakely: The only #Celtics player who has tested positive for the coronavirus was Marcus Smart (one of the NBA's first to test positive), according to Daniel Theis.
Serena Winters: An update from the NBA & NBPA on additional positive coronavirus tests. 25 total players (of 351) have tested positive since testing started on June 23rd. (7.1%) 10 total team staffers (of 884) have tested positive. (1.1%)
Denver Nuggets All-Star center Nikola Jokic is feeling "great" and is expected to return to the United States in time to join the team flight to Orlando, Florida, according to coach Michael Malone. Jokic had his return to Denver delayed after testing positive for the coronavirus in Serbia, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported on June 23. "Nikola feels great," Malone said in a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. "We are working on getting him back here. Next Tuesday we depart for Orlando; the hope and expectation is that Nikola Jokic will be with us on that plane. From everything that I have heard and talked to him, he feels great, he feels fine and is excited to get back."
The All-Star, who has been asymptomatic according to sources, is one of "multiple" members in the Nuggets' traveling party to test positive for the coronavirus. The team opted to shut down its practice facility out of caution.
Jason Anderson: Luke Walton on 3 Kings with COVID-19: "You don’t want anyone to get sick, but if you’re trying to find a bright side, if you test positive now, most likely you’ll be ready to play by the time games come around in Orlando. All three of those guys are reporting doing much better."
Tim Reynolds: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is doing a Time 100 talk today and said again that if conditions in the bubble get bad, the NBA will stop. "If cases are isolated, that's one thing. .. But if we had a lot of cases, we're going to stop." He also says he won't be there the whole time.
Michael Singer: Updated: 2 members of #Nuggets traveling party tested positive over weekend. Since then, another member of the traveling party has also tested positive. All 3 are asymptomatic, according to source. That's at least 6 cases w/in organization since March.
Spencer Dinwiddie: Just to be clear I haven’t opted out and want to play like I told @ShamsCharania . Unfortunately I have been one of the cases that has various symptoms.
Jabari Parker just told the world he'd contracted coronavirus -- and less than 3 days later, the guy doesn't appear to be in isolation ... but rather, he's playing tennis in public. The Sacramento Kings star was spotted Saturday in Chicago's Longfellow Park, where he was rallying with a buddy on the other end of the net ... all smiles, and without a mask. Mind you, he'd just announced a few days earlier that he had test positive for COVID-19.
Another somewhat troubling sign -- sources tell us Jabari was recently seen out at a restaurant there in the Windy City. Again, unclear if he's all better now or still sick.
Jabari Parker just told the world he'd contracted coronavirus -- and less than 3 days later, the guy doesn't appear to be in isolation ... but rather, he's playing tennis in public. The Sacramento Kings star was spotted Saturday in Chicago's Longfellow Park, where he was rallying with a buddy on the other end of the net ... all smiles, and without a mask. Mind you, he'd just announced a few days earlier that he had test positive for COVID-19.
Another somewhat troubling sign -- sources tell us Jabari was recently seen out at a restaurant there in the Windy City. Again, unclear if he's all better now or still sick.
Rod Beard: NBPA executive director Michele Roberts on positive tests for 16 of 302 players tested: "I'm relieved the number was not higher." Silver: "I was relieved the number came in roughly where we expected it." He says none of the 16 was seriously ill.
David Aldridge: Michele Roberts, on how concerned she is about 16 players out of 302 tested testing positive: "…If nothing else, it tells me that the great majority of players have been doing what they should have been doing… one is too many, but 160 would have been devastating."
Jared Weiss: Adam Silver asked how NBA would handle a team COVID breakout: “If we have significant spread throughout our community, that ultimately might lead us to stopping.” They are working with health officials to determine that threshold.
Jason Anderson: If a star player tests positive: “We would continue. That team would be down a man. We would treat that positive test as we would an injury during the season, so it would not delay the continuation of the playoffs." -- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
Adrian Wojnarowski: Sixteen NBA players have tested positive for the coronvavirus of 302 players tested, sources tells ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Tests were administered on Tuesday within teams.
Adrian Wojnarowski: League has now announced those results.
Kellan Olson: Devin Booker confirmed the report of a couple Suns players testing positive for COVID-19 on his stream (twitch.tv/dbook). He said they are getting tested every two days and for today's they came to his house.
Malcolm Brogdon isn't the only member of the Indiana Pacers in quarantine after he tested positive for COVID-19. Coaches who have come in contact with him are being quarantined, too, a league source tells IndyStar, which first reported Brogdon's diagnosis.
March 28, 2024 | 12:01 pm EDT Update
Nate Duncan: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But also, if Taylor can get out of this deal with Lore it’s probably good business (if not necessarily fair business) since the team is worth a lot more than the purchase price they agreed on 2 years ago.
Alex Raskin: Big winner in the #Timberwolves situation is Glen Taylor, who can now sell the team at a valuation closer to $3 billion after previously agreeing to unload the team to A-Rod and Lore for $1.5 billion.
Enough hugs to go around, high fives, and even a smile from head coach Ime Udoka. The Rockets — players, coaches, team staffers and even the front office and ownership — all convened in the adjacent visitor’s space to revel in the victory. Udoka brought up the most important play of the evening — the drive from Jalen Green which led to a kick-out pass to a Smith corner triple with 21 seconds remaining in regulation. It was a sequence that displayed all of the ingredients Houston had been cooking with during this 10-game run: pace from Amen Thompson, decision-making from Green and trust in Smith even though he had yet to hit an outside shot all night. “It was lit,” Green said postgame. “Everybody was happy, celebrating, screaming. We fought for that one, worked hard. That’s how we should react after a game. We gonna celebrate our wins.”
“I didn’t have the pain of the last three years with all the losing,” Udoka added. “It means a lot to them, obviously, myself as well. Ten in a row is 10 in a row, regardless of if Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) is out or whatever the case may be. It’s hard to do in the NBA. Guys are proud of that effort, well deserved. The last three years — 17, 19, 22 wins — that’s the reaction you’re going to get when you put 10 together in a row.”
But even if they don’t, this season should be seen through the lens of success. They’re a franchise that has toiled at the bottom of most statistical categories for years and is now a top 10 unit on both sides of the ball this month with the best net rating in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass. This team has learned to compete for 48 minutes at a time, understanding the importance of establishing a defensive identity while realizing the difficulties of offensive consistency. They’re not afraid to mix it up, much to the delight of Udoka (and Brooks) but at its core, the Rockets are ready to dig in their heels for whatever comes their way, a mentality that will carry them in the future. “It’s amazing,” Brooks told The Athletic of Houston’s new approach. “That’s all I wanted to do. It took time, which we knew. Having that aggressiveness on the offensive and defensive end is what we need to win games.”
What do you think of the chemistry that Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam have had with their two-man game? Obi Toppin: “It’s easy to play with Tyrese. He’s so willing to give up the ball. But he’s such a threat offensively with his scoring that he draws so much attention. That allows other people to get open. They found a way to play with each other. It’s been great. It’s just like Tyrese and Myles Turner. With both of them, I think they’re the best duo in pick-and-roll in the league. I think so. Don’t quote me on that.”
What makes Tyrese and Myles the best duo in the pick-and-roll? Obi Toppin: “Just because they’re willing to get everybody involved. They don’t try to do everything themselves. They understand the attention that they bring to themselves. They allow other people to play on the ball to get them open. That helps them tremendously. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”
What do you make of Tyrese being hard on himself with his recent shooting struggles? Obi Toppin: “He’s such a great player. He holds himself to a certain standard. If he doesn’t feel like he’s playing up to par, he’s going to be down on himself. But he’s in the gym every single day putting in the work to increase his mindset and sharpen his craft. He’s working out every single day and getting better. But he’s going to be good.”