*FEATURE OF THE DAY*
Josh Hart : everybody’s favourite Knicks guardAbe Beame, SBNation
TEAM-SPECIFIC
ATL: Dyson Daniels: Appreciating the Nice Barrier ThiefAustin McCall, Nice Barrier Thief
BKN: Killian Hayes: Another step in direction of redemptionScott Mitchell, Nets Every day
BKN: What to make of a Nets season that doesn’t make any sense?Lucas Kaplan, Nets Every day
BOS: Jayson Tatum is on a tearJacob Issenberg, Celtics Weblog
Guarding Jayson Tatum is a nightmare for opposing groups: how they try to sluggish him down
CLE: Max Strus staking declare to Cavs’ fifth beginning spot – even amidst De’Andre Hunter’s ‘incredible’ first impressionChris Fedor, cleveland.com
CLE: Which staff is the Cavs’ greatest playoff menace in addition to Boston?Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
The Knicks have the firepower, No. 2 in offensive ranking this season, and are loaded with succesful wing defenders — Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. However can they sustain from outdoors and remedy a perceived math downside? New York is nineteenth in made 3s, twenty seventh makes an attempt and fifth in proportion.
Don’t low cost Milwaukee. Presently fifth within the East with a 29-24 document, the Bucks have a pair of almost-victories in opposition to Cleveland this yr, with two of their defeats totaling simply three factors. They’re borderline prime 10 at each ends. They rank sixth in made 3s and second in proportion. Can play a 5-out fashion stretches the Cavaliers’ protection. Simply added Kyle Kuzma. And have one of many league’s most potent duos — Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo
Orlando can’t shoot. Indiana can have issues on protection. The Pistons aren’t prepared but. Miami has been mediocre. The Sixers are a multitude. The Hawks, as soon as a sneaky menace, have been sliding since Jalen Johnson’s season-ending harm.
It feels just like the convention is a four-team race — Boston, Cleveland, New York and Milwaukee.
CLE: How the NBA by no means noticed this Cavs staff comingTerry Pluto, cleveland.com
On the All-Star break, the Cavs Core 4 has missed a grand complete of 11 video games because of harm/relaxation. It breaks down like this: Allen (0), Garland (2), Mitchell (3) and Mobley (6).
Final season, the Core 4 mixed to overlook 89 video games! Right here’s the breakdown: Mobley (32), Mitchell (27), Garland (25) and Allen (5).
DAL: Kyrie Irving, Mavericks haven’t let February chaos sink their seasonChristian Clark, The Athletic
DAL: New Mavericks CEO Rick Welts has a ‘superpower.’ Will it assist followers transfer previous Luka commerce?Brad Townsend, Morning Information
DAL: The Tragedy and Farce of Luka Dončić’s TradeLouisa Thomas, New Yorker
DAL: Danté Exum could possibly be an enormous winner of the Luka Dončić tradeAyush G, The Decide And Roll
DET: By means of arduous work, tragedy, Pistons’ Cade Cunningham has earned All-Star momentCoty Davis, Detroit Information
GSW: Draymond Inexperienced on the state of the NBA: It’s ‘boring,’Tim Reynolds, AP
Inexperienced talked a few current Golden State sport in opposition to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, and the way it was “refreshing” to go in opposition to a thinker like James — who’s infamous for locating weaknesses and exploiting them.
“Each possession is a few sort of chess transfer,” Inexperienced mentioned. “You don’t get that at present within the NBA, typically. … You don’t simply get that frequently. It’s simply who can run sooner, who can hit extra 3s, it’s no substance. I believe it’s very boring.”
GSW: How the Jimmy Butler commerce impacts the GSW roster, this season and beyondEric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
GSW: Stephen Curry says he’d like extra public data on how NBA refs are gradedJack Maloney, CBS Sports activities
HOU: Why the Rockets have hit a wall and the way they will reset after All-Star breakKelly Iko, The Athletic
LAC: Kawhi Leonard is again: LeBron James and Luka Dončić are cool. I will take the opposite staff in LATom Haberstroh, The Finder
LAC: All-Star James Harden helped fill management void for ClippersJanis Carr, OC Register
With the departure of Paul George and the delayed begin to Kawhi Leonard’s season, the Clippers wanted somebody to step up and future Corridor-of-Famer Harden has carried out so on and off the courtroom
LAC: James Harden returns to All-Star levelDan Woike, LA Instances
LAL: How will Luka Dončić match, and what’s the plan at middle?Jovan Buha, The Athletic
MEM: How Jaren Jackson Jr. Impressed Grizzlies’ Exceptional TurnaroundMark Medina, Athlon Sports activities
MIN: Anthony Edwards: wielding a bounce shot that has modified his gameChris Hine, Star Tribune
The accuracy of his outdoors pictures determines the effectiveness of his off-the-dribble performs, and stats since December present a dramatic achieve
MIN: Terrence Shannon Jr. leads unlikely youth cost as Timberwolves stun ThunderJon Krawczynski, The Athletic
NOP: Pelicans’ VP David Griffin candid in evaluation of staff’s season thus farRod Walker, The Advocate
The Pelicans have began 30 totally different beginning lineups this season. On common, that equates to a unique beginning lineup each different sport. Of the 5 gamers who began on opening night time, just one (CJ McCollum) will play one other sport for the Pelicans this season. Murray (Achilles) and Herb Jones (shoulder) are out with season-ending accidents. Brandon Ingram and Daniel Theis have been each traded on the commerce deadline. Zion Williamson, who missed the opener however performed within the second sport, has solely performed in 18 of the 55 video games this season.
“Now we sit right here in unprecedented instances by way of the quantity of participant wage we have misplaced because of harm,” Griffin mentioned. “And on the identical time, that does not absolve anybody of the errors we have made and of the problems that we have now to handle transferring ahead. Now, we have talked within the entrance workplace fairly a bit about the truth that no hurt actually befalls you as a franchise except you fail to get higher and fail to react to the issues that lay naked your entire shortcomings.”
NOP: CJ McCollum delivered one other masterpiece, Pelicans enter All-Star break with a winRod Walker, The Advocate
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