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  • Nuggets’ Jonas Valanciunas returns from calf injury for 3-game road trip

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas will return from a right calf strain and play in Denver’s game Thursday against the Wizards.

    Valanciunas, 33, missed 11 games. Starting center Nikola Jokic remains out with a left knee injury, but he traveled with the team for the start of its three-game road trip and went through a pregame shooting routine in Washington with a sleeve over his left leg.

    While the Nuggets wait for Jokic to return, Valanciunas will play limited minutes.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Cam Johnson injury: Nuggets say forward out 4 to 6 weeks with hyperextended knee

    As two Nuggets starters inch closer to a return, another will replace them in street clothes on the sideline.

    Cam Johnson is expected to miss at least four to six weeks after hyperextending his right knee Tuesday in Dallas, the team announced before hosting Minnesota on Christmas. Johnson underwent an MRI that revealed a bone bruise on Wednesday — a best-case outcome after a painful landing that could’ve resulted in structural ligament damage.

    Still, after another day of assessing the severity of the injury, Denver determined Johnson will be its third starter to miss a stretch of four or more weeks this season. Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle) have not played in December, with coach David Adelman eyeing an upcoming seven-game road trip as the earliest opportunity for one or both to return from injuries.

    Johnson, 29, is averaging 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in his first season as a Nugget. Denver traded Michael Porter Jr. and a future first-round pick for him in June. He started the season in a nasty slump but turned a corner around mid-November, helping the Nuggets to an 10-5 record in games without Gordon and Braun.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Nuggets start game on 19-0 run, hold off Utah Jazz in bounce-back win

    The Nuggets might’ve been guilty of coasting Monday, but they could afford to coast.

    Scoring the first 19 points of the game and leading by 25 after the first quarter, Denver bounced back from its largest loss of the season with a 135-112 blowout win over the Jazz at Ball Arena.

    The Nuggets (21-7) haven’t lost consecutive games yet this year. They’re about to play 10 of their next 13 on the road, including a back-to-back Tuesday in Dallas.

    Jamal Murray led all scorers with 27 on Monday, but this was a comprehensive team win. Peyton Watson added 20 points on nine shots in his return from a trunk injury that sidelined him for the last two games. Cam Johnson made all six of his 3-pointers. Nikola Jokic had a triple-double five minutes into the third quarter, on his way to 14 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists.

    Utah pushed the deficit inside of 20 points a couple of times, but Denver’s dominant start was more than enough to handle business against a division foe.

    Jokic started the onslaught with a pair of jump shots. Then Murray and Watson joined in. Watson reached double figures about five minutes into the game. It took Utah another three minutes after that to get to 10 as a team.

    Jamal Murray (27) of the Denver Nuggets makes a three pointer over Keyonte George (3) of the Utah Jazz during the second quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    The Nuggets scored 15 fast-break points in the first quarter alone. They shot 9 of 14 from deep and assisted on 13 of their 15 total made shots. The Jazz put up nine more field goal attempts than Denver in the frame but still trailed 40-15 when the dust settled.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Nikola Jokic passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most assists by center in NBA history as Nuggets beat Magic

    For his latest trick, Nikola Jokic dribbled into oncoming traffic and escaped unscathed.

    Sometimes after he reels in a defensive rebound, the Nuggets center prefers to launch an aerial attack with one of his long outlet passes. This time, he brought the ball with him up on his usual route up the middle of the floor. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. trailed him by a step. Up ahead, Tyus Jones veered into his lane from the left, sensing an opportunity to pick the pocket of a lumbering big man.

    But Jokic is nimble. Before Jones could cut across his front side, he anticipated the attempted swipe and transferred his dribbling hand with a behind-the-back move that shouldn’t have looked so graceful. Jones whiffed. Carter caught up, but Jokic decelerated to allow him to pass. Then the newly minted best passing center of all time went behind the back again — this time, a dime to Jamal Murray, who finished the play with a lefty floater.

    Denver’s stars were just showing off at that point in the third quarter of a 126-115 win over the Magic that wasn’t always so smooth-sailing.

    DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets passes behind his back as Tyus Jones (2) of the Orlando Magic watches during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    It was a monumental night. At 30 years old and 302 days, Jokic passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday for the most assists by a center in NBA history. Coming into the game, all he needed was six to match Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 5,660. He finished the evening with 13, highlighting a 23-point, 11-rebound triple-double.

    “For those of us that love the history of the game, that one should be wrote about and talked about, and that should be a national story,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Because that’s passing a guy that you could argue — if you just want to go by generations and not, ‘Who’s the best player of all time?’ and all the talk-talk stuff — Kareem is in the conversation. Look at his MVPs. Look at the winning. And our guy tonight from Denver just passed him in a category.”

    “This is a time that I can be able to look back and appreciate all the years I’ve had to play this game with him,” Murray said. “It’s special. Passing Kareem in anything is pretty cool. So I think it just speaks to his greatness and how unselfish he is.”

    Jokic has also passed other Hall of Famers including Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson on the all-time list this season, now ranking 50th overall in career assists. Next up for him to catch is another legendary passer, Larry Bird. Jokic is 28 away from tying him.

    “I always say the assist makes two people happy (instead of one). My coach ‘Deki,’ he always said that,” Jokic said Thursday, paying homage to the late Golden State Warriors and Mega Basket coach Dejan Milojevic.

    “Maybe it’s not a splashy pass or whatever,” the three-time MVP continued, “but I think when you make the right play, you’re going to feel good about yourself.”

    Adelman was especially adamant about the historical significance of the occasion. He gave Jokic the game ball in Denver’s locker room after the win.

    “It’s such a cool thing, because it’s Kareem, who was passed by LeBron (James) as the all-time leading scorer, which puts in perspective who Nikola passed,” Adelman said. “So it’s a celebration of both people. It’s somebody that completely changed the game. The sky hook. The longevity. … I feel like in the modern era, we talk about Tom Brady and all these people. But go look at Kareem. The guy changed his name while he played. The guy plays 20-plus years and, until the very end, was impactful on teams that went to the Finals. So for Nikola to pass him, I think, says a lot. And if we’re going to celebrate what LeBron did, (we should celebrate this also). And I know it’s a different kind of thing because it’s a center, it’s a position. I’ll just keep saying it. Just don’t get tired of this, because it’s unique.”

    Jokic is also closing in on Oscar Robertson for second all-time in triple-doubles. Thursday was his 177th, bringing him within four of the iconic guard. He became the first center in league history to average a triple-double last season, and he’s on pace to do so again this year with 29.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game.

    Orlando called a timeout after Jokic and Murray combined for that saucy transition bucket in the third quarter. As they sauntered to the huddle, Nuggets assistant coaches Ognjen Stojakovic and JJ Barea could only laugh at the duo’s skill and panache.

    DENVER , CO - DECEMBER 18: Assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic laughs as the Orlando Magic take a timeout during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 126-115 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic laughs as the Orlando Magic take a timeout during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 126-115 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    “That’s how kind of we made our staple in that second unit growing up, was just the give-and-go,” Murray said of Jokic’s passing. “… A lot of give-and-go, and you could see his court vision and his fluidity.”

    The Nuggets did most of their work Thursday during an astonishing second quarter. They flipped a 47-33 deficit with a 35-7 run that only took the last 6:26 of the first half. Murray scored 20 of his 32 points in the frame. Reserve point guard Jalen Pickett ignited the comeback and was a plus-26 in eight minutes of playing time that quarter.

    Both teams were short-handed at Ball Arena. Orlando was fending without Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Denver was down three of its best defenders with Peyton Watson (right trunk contusion) ruled out shortly before tip, joining Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon on the shelf.

    In Watson’s place, Bruce Brown started his first game as a Denver Nugget since April 9, 2023. David Adelman used 10 of his 11 available players, including Julian Strawther, who was cleared to play earlier this week after missing a month with a back injury.

    Bennett Durando

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  • As Aaron Gordon seeks second opinions on hamstring injury, Nuggets brace for impact

    That shadow over the court was Aaron Gordon’s. Suddenly, the Nuggets felt his absence as painfully as their opponents usually feel his presence.

    He would have been perfect for a crunch-time possession late Saturday night and the unenviable task of guarding DeMar DeRozan with a game on the line.

    David Adelman instead asked for one stop from Spencer Jones, the eager 24-year-old wing who has prospered as a defensive specialist on a two-way contract.

    He had started the game in place of the injured Gordon as well, but this was a step up in stakes. The Nuggets trailed 123-120 after a successful two-for-one bucket with 29 seconds to go, allowing them to play out a defensive possession instead of fouling. They had no margin for error, but they had a chance.

    Jones does have one glaring flaw in his defensive game: He’s foul-prone. And against a savvy veteran scorer like DeRozan, discipline with hand placement is especially vital. Jones didn’t pass the assignment this time. He reached into the cookie jar, and DeRozan immediately drew the contact while burying an improbable midrange jumper. Ballgame.

    Gordon and the Nuggets are seeking second opinions on the severity of his right hamstring strain before determining how much time he’ll miss, Adelman said Saturday, 24 hours after Gordon slipped on a drive to the basket in Houston and then gingerly walked off the court. The injury could result in another prolonged absence for a Nuggets starter, with Christian Braun already on the shelf for the next five weeks.

    “We’re trying to make sure we get the correct answer to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Adelman said. “… Obviously, that was concerning last night with Aaron.”

    The Nuggets are bracing for impact. Hunter Tyson played first-half rotation minutes in their 128-123 loss to Sacramento. Zeke Nnaji started last Wednesday at New Orleans when Gordon’s hamstring sent him a warning sign. DaRon Holmes II was called up from the G League on Saturday.

    And Jones was a major variable in the defensive equation of replacing Gordon during Denver’s back-to-back this weekend. He was impressive in Houston, matching up on a full range of players from Reed Sheppard to Alperen Sengun.

    On Saturday, he was a minus-18.

    “I’m concerned about anybody guarding DeRozan,” Adelman said when asked whether he was concerned about the foul potential of the Jones matchup. “He’ll learn from that. He got his hand in there. That’s what DeMar does. He’s always been an artist with that. He’s one of the best scorers in the modern era. A lot of it is because of that, and of course, it comes at a really key time. So Spence will learn from it. I have nothing but full confidence in him.”

    Baptism by fire is the only way sometimes, in Adelman’s view. After spending weeks lauding his team’s depth, the injury bug is forcing him to use it even more.

    “We’re going through this process with a couple of guys out, really three guys out,” he said, referring also to Julian Strawther’s recent back pain that has kept him inactive the last four games. “So we want to see what each guy can do. We played Jalen (Pickett) a little bit. We started him (against Indiana). Zeke started in New Orleans. We wanted to give Hunter a little bit of run.

    “As we go through this time, if guys are out — and some are, as you know — we’ll try different lineups to see what we can do. … I can’t play an eight-and-a-half man rotation every night. So I’ll get creative with it as best I can.”

    Denver’s three healthy starters showed out on the second night of the back-to-back. Nikola Jokic amassed 44 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Jamal Murray continued to be a steady source of offense, with 23 points and nine assists to just one turnover. Cam Johnson continued to do all the little things that prompted Adelman to defend him when he was slumping — and also went for his first 20-point game as a Nugget.

    But with Peyton Watson and Jones slotted in as starters, the bench got outscored 48-20. In a home loss to the Bulls last Monday, the margin was an even uglier 66-9. That happened with Gordon in the lineup.

    “I think 12-4, it’s not the real picture. I think we are not that good,” Jokic said Saturday, laying it on perhaps a little too thick. “I think we need to be much better if we want to do something big. Yes, we’ve played better. We look better. But I think we need to consistently, every night, every possession.”

    “Those guys are really important to what we do. They’re very talented players, CB and AG,” Johnson added. “Very gritty guys. Contribute a lot to the game. But it’s part of the league, you know? It’s part of the game. Eighty-two games is a long season. Sometimes, things happen. I think we have the depth that we can (trust the) next man up and rally and find ways to maximize the guys available on the floor.”

    If Gordon sits out an extended period that corresponds with Braun’s recovery, getting stops will be Denver’s biggest bugaboo. The team’s defensive rating when those two players share the floor is an elite 109.5 in 241 minutes. It’s 118.9 when they’re both off the floor. The Kings turned the ball over only six times on Saturday. Russell Westbrook scored 15 fourth-quarter points to fuel their win, which snapped an eight-game skid.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Aaron Gordon didn’t want game ball after Nuggets lost season opener despite his 50-piece

    SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Gordon gets hyphy when he’s near his hometown.

    His string of exceptional scoring performances at Golden State might seem to defy explanation, but it turns out there is one. Home is where the heart is, or in Gordon’s case, where the ear is.

    “Man, the DJ was playing slaps, you know what I mean?” the Nuggets forward said after Denver’s season-opening overtime loss on Thursday. “So I’m vibing the whole game. He’s playing the straight Bay that I grew up with. Just like hyphy music, you know what I mean?”

    He’s talking about Oakland-style hip-hop, the frenetic subgenre that emerged in the ’90s and spread across the Bay Area as he was growing up in San Jose in the early aughts. Give Gordon the soundtrack of his youth, and he’ll give you a memorable game.

    Fifteen fourth-quarter points to pilot an epic comeback and set up the shot of Nikola Jokic’s life. A 38-point throwback to carry a short-handed team without Jokic, Jamal Murray or darn near anyone else.

    A bittersweet 50-piece.

    “I was just up there getting hyphy,” he said.

    Fifty was not enough on Thursday night, and that will haunt the Nuggets, even if it was only the first game of the season. It will haunt them in annoyingly sentimental and emotional ways more than it will in the standings, at least for now.

    Warriors 137, Nuggets 131 in an overtime opener for the ages.

    “I feel awful for Aaron,” coach David Adelman said unprompted. “Aaron had a night that I’ll never forget. I know that he won’t.”

    Gordon shone brightest, but Steph Curry got the last laugh in a city that he wields so effortlessly in the palm of his hand, even at 37 years old. His effect on the Bay Area is as timeless as hyphy’s spell on Gordon. When he stepped to the foul line late in regulation for three free throws, he first paused, took notice of a momentary lull and calmly implored Chase Center to get noisier. They couldn’t jump to their feet fast enough.

    “He doesn’t need a lot,” Nikola Jokic said. “He just needs to see one ball go in.”

    That was the second-most striking crowd reaction of the night, outdone only by the authentic joy when Gordon missed his first 3-pointer. It happened late in the third quarter, on Gordon’s ninth try. He seemed invincible up to that point, and afterward, too. The final stat line: 50 points and eight rebounds on 17-of-21 shooting, including 10 of 11 outside the arc.

    “Whoever scores 10 threes in a game,” Jokic said, “it’s easy to play with that person.”

    Even after he cashed in a few, the Warriors relentlessly made head-scratching defensive decisions — going under a ball screen, not picking Gordon up in transition as he brought the ball up, selling out to take away the paint from him off-ball instead of the 3-point line, as Draymond Green did with 25 seconds left in regulation.

    Gordon’s 10th triple should have been the game-winner.

    But…

    “He hit a super-tough shot to send it to OT,” Gordon said. “That’s Steph being Steph.”

    From 34 feet deep, Curry pulled up and stole Gordon’s moment. The Nuggets were helpless to stop it. They showed him bodies and ran him off the 3-point line effectively early in the game, but steadily, he turned Christian Braun’s sneakers into ice-skates, predicted the beats and rhythms of Jokic’s double-teams, and found the angles that transferred control back to him. He scored 35 of his 42 points after halftime.

    Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors does his “night night” celebration after Jimmy Butler III #10 made a three-point basket against the Denver Nuggets in overtime at Chase Center on Oct. 23, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

    The Nuggets didn’t defend well enough. They relinquished a 14-point lead.

    “A few times, we didn’t send him in the direction of the defense,” Adelman said. “If he gets the other way, there’s no one on the other side of that pick. … The shot he made to tie, it’s a shot that only he can make. But obviously you have to be up (the floor) more.”

    Denver still had a chance to win on the last possession of regulation. The Warriors had offense-based personnel on the floor from the previous sequence. But Adelman was OK using a timeout and allowing them to substitute if it meant getting organized on the pick-and-roll setup and making sure his players didn’t rush to shoot before the buzzer. They produced a quality shot out of that timeout, but Jokic missed from floater range.

    This was a night when plenty of components weren’t good enough around Gordon. Braun struggled at both ends. Cam Johnson was cold from 3-point range and had a minus-17 in his Nuggets debut. The defense was often tangled or disorganized getting back in transition. But Jokic’s individual inefficiency stood out. In one of the lesser triple-doubles of his career, he missed 13 of his last 16 field goal attempts. He was 0 for 4 in the last two minutes of overtime. He was 2 for 13 from three. It was a sobering inversion of Gordon’s hyphy night.

    Asked if he could’ve done more to establish an interior presence in lieu of those 3s, though, Jokic played a bit of defense.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Nuggets vs. Raptors preseason takeaways: Beating pressure needs to be Denver’s priority

    Instant observations as the Nuggets defeated the Raptors 112-108 in their second preseason game Monday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

    More like it

    Denver’s starters looked a little rusty as a unit in their first preseason minutes together Saturday. Two days later, the rust was gone for the most part. Turnovers still piled up — Nikola Jokic committed six — but ball movement was generally more fluid and crisp.

    Peyton Watson and Christian Braun made smart reads as connectors (Watson started for Aaron Gordon, who took the night off for maintenance). Cam Johnson played on the ball a bit more than he did in the first exhibition. On an early possession, he recognized that no entry pass to Jokic was available, used his dribble to put pressure on the rim instead, kicked out to Watson, then relocated for an open catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.

    And Jokic was in full experimentation mode. One of his most avant-garde passes was a side-armed, no-look fastball curling around the baseline to successfully reach Johnson in the corner. (He missed the 3.) Another was a reverse over-the-head attempt to find a cutter in stride, but that one was nowhere close to a completion. That’s what the preseason is for.

    Pressure release search

    The Nuggets finished at an extraordinary clip in Vancouver. They were shooting over 60% from the floor for most of the game, including an 8-for-8 performance from Braun (19 points, three 3s), a 5-for-5 night from Jokic and a mini-collection of tough 3s off the dribble from Jamal Murray, still the preseason MVP so far.

    Starting plays, not finishing them, is the tricky part right now. Especially when Murray isn’t on the floor.

    Toronto showed full-court pressure most of the night, and Denver’s backups often struggled to get the ball up the floor and initiate offense cleanly. Five bench players turned the ball over multiple times, led by Bruce Brown’s four. He might just need some time to reacclimate to his point guard role with the Nuggets, but handling intense ball pressure has been a collective issue for the bench so far. Can Jalen Pickett be a consistent answer? Julian Strawther? Even Peyton Watson is handling the ball more than ever through two games.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Nuggets begin training camp with emphasis on defensive intensity: ‘Blow teams out a little more’

    SAN DIEGO — Aaron Gordon telegraphed the prevailing ethos of Nuggets training camp the day before it began.

    Prompted about balancing his focus between offense and defense after a breakout year shooting the 3-pointer, Gordon volleyed back a counterpoint: There will be no balance.

    “I’m gonna just turn up on defense,” the power forward said. “We have so much talent on the offensive side, I’m not even really worried about it.”

    Defensive intensity has since developed into the defining characteristic of Denver’s first two days together as a team. The first play of the first practice Tuesday resulted in a collision that forced two-way wing Spencer Jones to get stitches. Jamal Murray told reporters Wednesday that turnovers have been an obstacle while trying to get into an organized half-court offense. Bruce Brown said he and fellow bench player Peyton Watson have been picking up full-court to wreak havoc on the starters.

    In the modern NBA, defense is vegetables. Especially for a team that has grown overly dependent on its effortless scoring efficiency over the years.

    The Nuggets are eating their vegetables this week. Keeping the diet for a full season will be the tough part.

    “I think defense sometimes in our league is so hard that it’s not how you drill it,” first-year coach David Adelman said. “It’s just, do you want to do it? It really is. … I would love to see our defense get better. If our offense takes a little step back, we’ll be fine. To have the depth we have, there’s no excuse (not) to play extremely hard. Put your hands on people. Not worrying about being in foul trouble like we’ve had to do in the past. So it’s a different way of looking at the game, and we have to demand it every day.”

    Adelman was primarily responsible for Denver’s offense before his promotion this year. The Nuggets ranked no worse than seventh at that end of the floor during his eight seasons as an assistant coach.

    But his emphasis has been on defensive accountability and schematic variety since he took over for Michael Malone. The Nuggets ranked unusually low in defensive rating for a championship-winning team back in 2022-23 (15th in the NBA) and regressed to 21st last season — their first as a bottom-10 defense since 2017-18. That was the year before their first playoff appearance with Nikola Jokic.

    “Better communication between the players right now, just trying to focus on rotations and everybody covering for each other,” Murray said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect, but as long as guys are talking and trying to put themselves in the right spots, that’s what it is. Defense is reactionary.”

    “I think we’ve always had a good frame for defense,” said Christian Braun, who will match up against star guards when Denver plays within that man-to-man framework. “We’ve always had a good idea. … If we can get to a point where we’re playing at the playoff level every single night, we’re not trying to outscore teams, I think that’ll be good for us. Try to blow teams out a little more this year.”

    The “frame” involves Jokic playing up the floor against pick-and-rolls while a “low man” rotates from the weak-side corner to prevent the roller from scoring an easy layup or dunk — at its best, setting up a series of high-energy help rotations around the perimeter. Problem is, the scramble mindset can grow exhausting, and Jokic isn’t always effective enough at deterring the ball-handler at the level of the screen. When Adelman took over as interim head coach in April, he started making adjustments more frequently, such as stationing Jokic farther down the floor or zoning up.

    Now Jared Dudley has been hired to run the defense, and even if the base scheme remains the same, Adelman has labeled himself a believer in zone. He thinks if the Nuggets work at it more consistently, they can use it more often during the regular season.

    “(Dudley) kind of started talking to me in the summer about the defense,” Brown said. “We’re just being more physical, picking up (the ball-handler at) three-quarters court, depending obviously on who you are. Just being more physical and being more assertive.”

    Indeed, Nuggets role players have been venturing into the backcourt at training camp to apply extra pressure, to ratchet up intensity. Pressing consistently throughout an 82-game regular season is unsustainable — Adelman knows that — but the concept has its merits in a low-stakes preseason setting.

    “It’s good in a competitive way, and I think if guys can do it, they should be doing it, if you’re not playing a lot of minutes,” Adelman said. “But I also think because we have so many lead ball-handlers on this team — not just Jamal — they’re going to get picked up. So it’s great practice for a guy like Peyton Watson who can initiate offense. Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, Jamal, Jalen (Pickett). All these guys.”

    Bennett Durando

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  • Kevin Durant returns to Brooklyn and leaves with a victory as Suns top Nets

    Kevin Durant returns to Brooklyn and leaves with a victory as Suns top Nets

    Kevin Durant, now in his first full season with the Phoenix Suns, explicitly stated that he did not want a tribute video in his return to Brooklyn. He did not think he deserved one. And in the days leading into Wednesday’s Nets-Suns matchup, many on social media debated whether the 14-time All-Star, who played just 129 games with Brooklyn, was with the franchise long enough to justify honoring him in that way.

    Former fan favorites such as Bruce Brown and Joe Harris got tribute videos in their returns to Barclays Center. James Harden did not. And it remains to be seen whether Kyrie Irving will get one when the Dallas Mavericks visit Brooklyn on Feb. 6.

    When the lights dimmed inside Barclays Center as Suns starters were announced, a tribute video is ultimately what Durant got despite his honest plea, about 24 seconds in length. The forward was greeted with cheers from Nets fans which quickly turned to boos each time he touched the ball on Wednesday night.

    Durant, in superstar form, played like he still owned the place, too, pouring in a game-high 33 points with five rebounds and eight assists in Phoenix’s 136-120 win. Their victory snapped a two-game winning streak for the Nets (19-28), who have now lost 12 of their last 16 games.

    Size mattered on Wednesday night. Ben Simmons was ruled out hours ahead of the game because of a left knee contusion suffered late in the fourth quarter of Monday’s win over the Utah Jazz, which was his first appearance in an NBA game since Nov. 6. The Nets were already without two rotation bigs in Day’Ron Sharpe (left knee hyperextension) and Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain), which left them thin in the frontcourt entering Monday’s matchup.

    Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkić took advantage, scoring virtually all 28 of his points at the rim. The Suns outscored Brooklyn 56-50 in the paint and dominated the glass 42-27. They shot 68.6% on two-point field goals and went 14-of-28 from deep.

    Sparingly used forward Harry Giles III, 6-foot-10, did not get off the bench until the 1:26 mark in the third quarter. At that point the Nets trailed by 15 points. Unable to slow down a surprisingly lethal two-man game of Durant and Nurkić, Brooklyn was outscored 42-26 in the third quarter after trailing by just three points at halftime. The game was tied at 75 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

    And the Nets, who had 11 turnovers which led to 17 points for Phoenix, failed to make up much ground down the stretch, though they did cut their deficit to 10 points with 2:25 left in regulation.  Allowing an opposing team to shoot 62% for the game is already difficult to overcome. It becomes even tougher when you foul 24 times, which led to 24 points at the free throw line for the Suns.

    Six Nets players finished in double figures, led by Cam Thomas who had 25 points in his third consecutive start. Mikal Bridges added 21 points and six 3-pointers, the third time he has made at least six in his last five appearances.

    The Nets will return to action on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. It is unknown at this time whether Simmons or Finney-Smith will be available to play. Wednesday marked 24 days since Sharpe first suffered his knee injury against the Portland Trail Blazers.



    C.J. Holmes

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  • Trae Young and Mikal Bridges’ epic overtime battle ends with Hawks’ 147-145 win over Nets

    Trae Young and Mikal Bridges’ epic overtime battle ends with Hawks’ 147-145 win over Nets

    On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Nets’ Mikal Bridges and the Hawks’ Trae Young both feasted in an instant-classic, back-and-forth overtime battle.

    In the end, Young emerged as the holiday hero.

    The 6-1 Young’s stepback jumper over 6-10 Nets center Nic Claxton with 18 seconds remaining in the extra period proved to be the game-winner in the Hawks’ 147-145 victory in Atlanta.

    Young’s 19-foot shot put the Hawks up, 144-143, marking the biggest basket in a 43-point explosion by the two-time All-Star. It was enough to spoil a similarly dominant outing by Bridges, who tied his career-high with 45 points – including 25 after the third quarter.

    Bridges scored 11 points in overtime. Young had 14. An exhilarating four-possession stretch during the final 1:11 saw one of them score each time down the floor, with the lead changing every time. There were 27 lead changes in the game.

    “In basketball, there’s one winner and one loser,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said afterward. “That’s just part of it every night.”

    The Nets had multiple chances to tie or win the game in overtime. With eight seconds remaining and Brooklyn down one point, Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu blocked Bridges’ driving lay-up attempt. Then, with 2.2 seconds to go and the Nets down two, a busted play led to an inbound pass to Lonnie Walker IV, who was far away from the basket and ultimately failed to get a shot off in time.

    “Last possession was for Mikal,” Vaughn said. “Pretty good look. They switched the last screen that we had, which brought Lonnie to the basketball.”

    Both teams, meanwhile, could have iced the game in regulation. Cam Johnson put the Nets ahead, 131-130, with 3.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter when he tipped in a missed lay-up by Bridges.

    Young responded by drawing a foul on Spencer Dinwiddie, giving the Hawks star a chance to clinch the game with two free throws. But Young, an 89.7% free-throw shooter, missed the first before making the second, tying the score, 131-131. Atlanta began the game 20-for-20 from the free-throw line before Young’s miss.

    Bridges led a balanced Brooklyn attack in which four starters finished with more than 20 points. Dinwiddie scored 26 to go with 12 assists, while Claxton added a season-best 22 points along with 11 rebounds.

    Johnson, who missed seven games with a calf strain, scored a season-high 23 points and made a season-best five three-pointers. He did not play in overtime, however, with Vaughn saying afterward the sharpshooting forward began cramping at the end of regulation.

    “He should be OK,” Vaughn said.

    Bridges scored 14 fourth-quarter points. It was the fourth 40-point game of his career, with each coming after he was traded to the Nets in the February deal that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix.

    “We just had to keep fighting,” Bridges said. “That was everybody in the huddle. Coaches, players. We just got to keep going. There’s no quit. We just kept fighting, fighting, and almost had it.”

    A night removed from a 157-152 loss to Indiana, the Hawks didn’t look like a team playing the second game of back-to-back. Young got off to a torrid start, beginning the game 6-of-6 from three-point range during a 19-point first quarter.

    The Hawks scored 45 points in that opening period, marking the most points the Nets have surrendered in a first quarter this season. That included a 13-0 run by the Hawks, who scored 11 fastbreak points in the quarter.

    Atlanta finished with 18 fastbreak points to the Nets’ nine. Both teams entered Wednesday ranked top five in transition scoring, though the Nets’ production in that category has dipped considerably without tempo-pushing point guard Ben Simmons (lower-back nerve impingement) in the lineup the last two weeks.

    The Hawks entered Wednesday third in the NBA in scoring, averaging 122.4 points per game, but ranked 25th in allowing 120.9 points to opponents. The Nets – whose leading scorer, Cam Thomas (ankle sprain), missed his sixth straight game – took advantage of the Hawks’ porous defense, exceeding the 133 points they put up in Charlotte last month to set a new season-high.

    It wasn’t enough to overcome Young, who caught fire for the second night in a row. He scored 38 points on 13-of-17 shooting in Tuesday’s game against the Pacers, which marked the seventh time in NBA history both teams scored at least 150 points in regulation.

    Wednesday extended the Nets’ season-worst losing streak to three games. They fell to 6-8 and are now 3-1 against teams who entered with a losing record. The Hawks improved to 7-7.

    “We’ve got a good little chemistry,” Bridges said. “We’ve just got to figure out, defensively, what team we’re trying to be and figure out what we can do to not give up 147 points.”

    Next up for the Nets is a five-game homestand, which begins Saturday night when they host the Heat at Barclays Center.

    Peter Sblendorio

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  • Nets to face another litmus test in playoff rematch with 76ers, breakout star Tyrese Maxey

    Nets to face another litmus test in playoff rematch with 76ers, breakout star Tyrese Maxey

    The Nets’ current core hasn’t been together long, but there’s already history between them and the division-rival 76ers.

    Sunday afternoon’s game at Barclays Center marks the Nets’ first regular-season matchup with Philadelphia since the 76ers swept them in the first round of the NBA playoffs in April.

    The game offers another early-season litmus test to show how Brooklyn (6-6) stacks up against one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.

    “They swept us last year,” forward Cam Johnson said Saturday while distributing healthy food and resources at Brooklyn’s Marcy Houses with the nonprofit Wellfare. “They straight-up swept us. Not much needs to be said after that.”

    The Nets were still building chemistry last postseason following the February trades that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix and Kyrie Irving to Dallas. Those deals brought back four new starters in Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith — who each remain in Brooklyn’s first unit while point guard Ben Simmons and leading scorer Cam Thomas nurse injuries.

    “I don’t think I’ve beat [Philadelphia] with New York yet ‘cause they swept us last year,” Finney-Smith said Saturday at Nets practice. “So, you know, we definitely look forward to this game. It’s going to be fun.”

    Philadelphia enters Sunday in second place in the East at 9-3, despite trading disgruntled 10-time All-Star — and former Nets guard — James Harden to the Clippers last month. Joel Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, leads the league with 31.9 points per game, while 23-year-old Tyrese Maxey is turning in a breakout season, averaging 26.9 points per game.

    Harden’s exit allowed the fourth-year Maxey to become Philadelphia’s full-time starting point guard. He has already scored at least 25 points seven times this season — including his 50-point explosion last Sunday against the Pacers — and is averaging 6.8 assists per game, which ranks 11th in the NBA.

    “Man, he’s so good,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said Saturday. “You love his spirit, too. He plays with a passion and joy that you appreciate when you watch. His ability to get downhill, make big baskets. His usage has grown, just because of the makeup of their team. He’s able to run first unit, second unit, [and] maximize his time on the floor. He plays a lot of minutes, but [he’s] a joy to really see play.”

    Maxey’s rise came as no surprise to Nets forward Trendon Watson. Maxey, who grew up in Dallas, and Watford, who hails from Alabama, were both McDonald’s All-Americans as high-school seniors in 2019. They competed against each other in the SEC, with Maxey starring for Kentucky and Watford suiting up for LSU.

    “He’s one of my closest friends in the NBA,” Watford said Saturday. “We talk pretty much every day. … I think [his] opportunity, and just his work, is paying off. He’s a hard worker, so it was only a matter of time before the whole world sees it.”

    Added Watford, “He’s gotten really, really, really good at shooting the ball, even better than he was in high school and college. And he took that next step as far as, like, finishing in the lane with his floaters and stuff.”

    Philadelphia finished last season as the No. 3 seed in the East behind the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. The Bucks traded for seven-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard over the offseason, while the Celtics added do-it-all defensive ace Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis.

    The Nets are 0-3 in games against the Celtics and Bucks this season. The 76ers present another challenge.

    “The biggest part is you see a dominant big and a dominant perimeter guy, so that combination,” Vaughn said. “We’ve had some wings that we’ve had to deal with. … Embiid [at center] will be a huge influence in this game, but we also gotta worry about Maxey and his ability to get to the paint.”

    Embiid didn’t play when the 76ers visited the Nets in the preseason, but that game still stuck out to Watford, who joined Brooklyn in the offseason after two seasons with Portland.

    “I can feel the intensity even when we played them in the preseason,” Watford said. “It was a little bit different than the other games. So I’m looking forward to it, my first [regular-season] game against Philly with the Nets.”

    Peter Sblendorio

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  • How the NBA’s new player participation policy affects the Knicks and Nets

    How the NBA’s new player participation policy affects the Knicks and Nets

    Julius Randle and Ben Simmons are “star” players under the criteria set by the NBA’s new Player Participation Policy.

    Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges are not — though that could change the instance either earn their first All-Star or All-NBA nod.

    This is how the league is tackling its widespread load management issue, with new rules that penalize teams for sitting star-level players without just cause.

    Teams with two such star players — that is: a player who has been named an All-Star or made an All-NBA team in any of the previous three seasons — are not allowed to rest both players in the same game.

    Randle is a two-time NBA All-Star (2021 and 2023) and a two-time All-NBA honoree (2021 Second Team, 2023 Third Team). Simmons is a three-time All-Star, though his last All-Star appearance was in 2021. If he does not make an All-Star team this season, he will not qualify as a star for the Nets next season.

    As a practical example, the Los Angeles Lakers deciding to sit both superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the same game without prior approval from the league would trigger a league investigation this season.

    Under the NBA’s new player participation policy, star-level players must appear in all nationally-televised games – and they must appear in all of the league’s upcoming In-Season Tournament games, as well.

    The Knicks play 25 nationally-televised games in the 2023-24 season, 20 if you exclude games broadcast on NBA TV. And now that Durant and Irving have orchestrated trades out of Brooklyn, the Nets have seen their national exposure nosedive: just five games this season set to air on either ESPN or TNT and six more on NBA TV.

    This new set of rules, however, also triggers the moment a player earns star status.

    So if Brunson were to become an All-Star this season, the NBA would fine the Knicks for resting both Brunson and Randle in the same game unless both were justifiably hurt or excused by the league for a pre-approved absence.

    These exceptions to the rule include multigame absences for bona fide injury, personal reasons, rare and unusual circumstances, roster management of unavailable star players, and end-of-season flexibility

    The Nets would need to seek similar approval should Bridges earn his first All-Star nod this season, a likely outcome given his exceptional play representing Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.

    Mikal Bridges’ standout World Cup game marred by late miss

    The Player Participation Policy features five key rules teams must comply with to avoid the stiff financial penalties for sitting star players: No more than one star player can be unavailable for the same game; star players must be available for nationally-televised and In-Season Tournament games; if a player is going to miss games, the league prefers the games be missed at home; teams can no longer shut down players for long stretches of games without league approval; and healthy players who are resting a game must be on the bench and visible to fans.

    Failure to comply with any of these rules will now trigger a league investigation, with a team’s first PPP infraction set to trigger a $100,000 fine — not to the player but levied upon the team.

    The second infraction of the player participation policy prompts a $250,000 fine, and the third activates a $1.25 million penalty. Every subsequent violation triggers a fine worth $1 million more than its previous penalty.

    This fine structure would have crippled the Nets during the Durant, Irving and James Harden era, where the Big 3 only appeared in 16 games as a trio. It would have also hurt the Nets last season, when Simmons appeared in just 42 of a possible 82 regular-season games.

    Nets rule Ben Simmons out for season with goal of rehabbing back

    WHAT ABOUT BACK-TO-BACKS

    Teams must now seek pre-approval to rest stars in either night of back-to-back games, and if one of those games is a nationally-televised, the rest must occur for the other game.

    For example, the Knicks travel to Boston on April 11 for a matchup against the Celtics set to air on TNT. The following night, they host the Nets at Madison Square Garden in a game that will air locally on MSG Networks.

    Under the new rules, barring verifiable injury or excused absence from the league, Julius Randle must play against the Celtics. If the Knicks wanted to rest him for any game of that back-to-back, they would need pre-approval from the league to sit their star forward against the Nets.

    This would become complicated, however, if Brunson were to also receive his first All-Star nod this season as teams cannot rest both star players in any single game. Both would be required to play against the Celtics, then only one would be eligible to rest the ensuing night.

    The Knicks have three other instances of nationally-televised games occurring on one leg of back-to-back: Oct. 27 at Atlanta and 28 at New Orleans (NBA TV); Oct. 31 at Cleveland (TNT), then Nov. 1 at home against the Cavaliers; and Nov. 12 hosting the Charlotte Hornets before Nov. 13 at Boston (NBA TV).

    In each of these instances, the Knicks would need pre-approval to rest Randle in the non-nationally-televised leg of the back-to-back, though Brunson wouldn’t apply to this rule because he is not yet an All-Star.

    The Nets host the reigning champion Denver Nuggets in a nationally-televised (NBA TV) game on Dec. 22, then host the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 23. Under new league rules, Brooklyn would need to seek pre-approval to rest Simmons against the Pistons – though given his injury history, they should have no problem securing such approval; nor should they have any issues with the fashionable Simmons appearing on the bench in games he is resting.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The Nets, however, have a nationally-televised back-to-back: Feb. 5 against the Golden State Warriors in a game that airs on NBA TV, then Feb. 6 against the Dallas Mavericks in Kyrie Irving’s return to Brooklyn – a game that will air on TNT.

    According to the new rules, the Nets would need to seek prior approval for a player to rest one leg of a back-to-back if both games are nationally televised or In-Season Tournament games.

    The Nets have two more back-to-backs that feature a game aired on national television: March 9 at Charlotte and March 10 at Cleveland (ESPN); then March 16 at Indiana before March 17 against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, a game set to air on NBA TV and, surprisingly, be played at a neutral location.

    These games will be played after the All-Star break, meaning if Bridges earns his first career All-Star nod, both he and Simmons will be ineligible to rest one leg of each back-to-back.

    Nets’ Ben Simmons ‘as healthy as he’s ever been’ since last season in Philly’: report

    EXCLUSIONS TO THE RULES

    According to the release issued by the league, the exclusions to the player participation policy include injuries, personal reasons and pre-approved back-to-back restrictions based on a player’s age, career workload or serious injury.

    Under these rules, the Nets should have no issues seeking rest time for both Simmons and Bridges, as Simmons has a verifiable back injury history that must be monitored to prevent aggravation.

    Bridges, due for an All-Star nod, played in 83 combined regular-season games for both the Suns and Nets last season, then played more minutes than any player not named Anthony Edwards for Team USA during the FIBA World Cup. Should he qualify for star status, the Nets could easily point to his workload over the past calendar year as just cause to rest him in the second half of the season.

    Despite Bridges’ miracle, Canada eliminates Team USA in bronze-medal game

    That will be difficult to pull off, however, if they are actively load-managing Simmons’ back.

    For the Knicks, both Brunson and Josh Hart played into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs then played regular Team USA minutes in the FIBA World Cup. Hart does not qualify as a star under the new rules, but a case can be made for workload management for both.

    Cam Johnson also represented the Nets for Team USA but should have fresh regular-season legs after spending most of the World Cup watching from the sidelines.

    WHAT ABOUT THE AGE AND WORKLOAD EXCEPTION?

    The NBA has created an exception to the rule for appearances in back-to-back games for players who are 35 years old on opening night or have career workloads of 34,000 regular-season minutes or 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff games, according to ESPN.

    Neither the Knicks nor Nets rosters feature a player who qualifies for this exception. Bridges has appeared in 392 regular-season games and 39 additional playoff games. Randle has appeared in 595 regular-season games and an additional 15 playoff games. Brunson has only appeared in 345 regular-season games plus 36 more playoff games. And after missing an entire season, then half of last season, while also missing his entire rookie season due to injury, Simmons has only tallied 317 regular-season games since 2017, plus 34 more playoff games.

    Chris Paul, Mike Conley, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden are the only NBA players covered by this exception.

    Under these new rules, the Nets would have only been able to rest Durant, who met the 34,000 minutes criteria, in last season’s Dec. 10 matchup against the Indiana Pacers, where they won despite sitting Durant, Irving and Simmons.

    PLAYER PARTICIPATION POLICY

    NBA end-of-the-season honors now have updated criteria based on availability.

    In order to be eligible for Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player or Defensive Player of the Year, as well as any All-NBA or All-Defensive Teams, a player must appear in at least 65 regular-season games. They may appear in 62 games and still qualify for an end-of-the-season award if they suffer a season-ending injury and appeared in at least 85% of his team’s regular-season games prior to suffering the injury.

    Under this new rule, Memphis Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr. would not have been eligible to win Defensive Player of the Year because he only appeared in 63 games.

    Julius Randle, who earned Third Team All-NBA honors last season, appeared in 77 games for the Knicks last season and would have remained unaffected had these new rules been implemented last season.

    Kristian Winfield

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