Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will not play against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night after attending to the birth of his first child on Friday afternoon. Doncic and his fiancee, Anamaria Goltes, announced the birth of their daughter, Gabriela, in a social media post during the day.
Doncic will be one of two Mavs players missing for personal reasons on Friday, as reserve guard Dante Exum was also ruled out due to personal reasons of his own. The team will also be missing Maxi Kleber due to a toe dislocation, while Tim Hardaway Jr. is questionable due to back spasms. In a positive development, Olivier-Maxence Prosper has been upgraded to available despite dealing with an ankle sprain.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luka Doncic (@lukadoncic)
Doncic had previously announced his engagement to Goltes, his longtime girlfriend, in early July.
Friday’s absence will mark the first game Doncic has missed this season. He is currently averaging 31.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game for the Mavericks, who lead the Southwest Division at 11-6 and currently sit fourth in the Western Conference standings.
Doncic last played Tuesday in a 121-115 win over the Houston Rockets, scoring 41 points with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in her hip and will be sidelined for four-to-six months, the team announced Friday. The timeline puts the former No. 3 overall pick in doubt for the start of the 2024 WNBA season.
“Just a lil razzle dazzle to my testimony,” Austin wrote on Instagram. “God has taught me alot about myself throughout this process, but more importantly that I’ve always been built for it. Cant nobody stop me BUT ME. And if you know my story, you know what’s at the end of this journey. I promise you I won’t come back the same Kira.”
Austin’s sophomore campaign was off to a strong start last summer before she suffered a hip strain in the team’s loss to the New York Liberty on June 25. After deflecting a pass in the fourth quarter of that game, Austin was chasing down the loose ball when she suddenly stumbled and collapsed to the ground holding her leg. Initially expected to miss three weeks, she was out for nearly two months before a short-lived return.
In just her sixth game back in action, a loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 31, Austin took a hard fall under the basket after getting fouled by Kiah Stokes. She went back to the locker room and did not play again the rest of the season, including the Mystics’ first-round playoff series against the Liberty.
While the schedule for the 2024 WNBA season has not yet been released, opening night figures to be sometime in mid-May. In the best case scenario, Austin could be back on the court in April and perhaps ready to go for training camp. However, given the seriousness of the injury, there’s a good chance the team plays it safe and we won’t see her until after the season begins.
Regardless, this is tough news for both Austin and the Mystics. Major hip injuries are among the most difficult to recover from, and there’s no telling how this could affect Austin’s athleticism and two-way ability. Early last season she looked like one of the most promising young players in the league, and a building block for a Mystics team that was already facing some big-picture roster questions this offseason.
Austin’s injury is just one more variable that Eric and Mike Thibault will have to contend with as they look ahead to 2024.
It seems to be a matter of when, not if, Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine finds a new home, as the team has sputtered to a 6-14 start. The 6-foot-5 bucket-getter has long been a subject of trade rumors, but they’ve heated up in recent weeks as Bulls head decision-maker Arturas Karnisovas reportedly views dealing LaVine as the organization’s top priority moving forward.
LaVine’s reported desired destinations are the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, though it appears that finding a deal with those teams — or any other team — may be a difficult task. Suitors are not jumping at the opportunity to acquire LaVine, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi, who outlined two main reasons why Chicago has found trouble working out a deal.
“There is not a market for Zach LaVine right now in the NBA,” Wojnarowski said. “That’s not because Chicago has not tried to find it, and aren’t currently trying to find it. It’s a combination of a few reasons: LaVine’s contract — four more years at around a $45-46 million a year average. But his productivity, I think this is a player right now who, certainly he’s out right now with a foot injury. He’s been in and out of the lineup.
“I think the question for teams is, ‘How much does Zach LaVine impact winning?’ Especially at the salary and with a new salary cap, where you’re asking yourself, ‘Are we trading for him to be our best player?’ No. ‘Our second-best player?’ No. So, if he’s our third best player, do we want to pay that kind of money?”
“There is not a market for Zach LaVine right now.”@wojespn with the latest on LaVine and the Bulls 👀 pic.twitter.com/r4stqcKkor
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 1, 2023 LaVine, who will miss at least a week with a foot injury, is averaging 21 points per game this season, his lowest since 2017-18 with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s also shooting a career-worst 34% from 3-point range, while his 44% from the field is also the lowest mark since his rookie season. Those are certainly not the numbers expected for a player who signed a five-year, $215 million contract prior to the 2022-23 season.
Wojnarowski outlined the issue perfectly, as a similar problem arose when Bradley Beal sat on the trade market seemingly for years. LaVine is paid like the best player on a championship team, but he clearly isn’t viewed that way around the league. And if he’s going to be a secondary — or tertiary — player on a team that already has other high-paid stars, his salary is going to create all sorts of problems with respect to the new CBA.
The bottom line is, players of LaVine’s caliber almost always end up finding a suitor, but — as was the case with Beal — sometimes the deal takes longer to develop and the return isn’t what the selling team necessarily expected.
The Phoenix Suns (11-7) are hosting the Denver Nuggets (13-6) in a battle on Friday evening. This is the first of three matchups between these Western Conference foes. The Suns lead the all-time series 102-87, and Phoenix has won two straight games over Denver. Phoenix is seventh in the NBA in scoring (116.4), while Denver ranks seventh in points allowed (109.7). Jamal Murray (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (heel) are questionable for Denver, while Devin Booker (ankle) and Bradley Beal (back) are out for the Suns.
Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Denver is a 2.5-point favorite in the latest Nuggets vs. Suns odds, per SportsLine consensus. The over/under for total points is 224. Before making any Suns vs. Nuggets picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from SportsLine’s proven computer model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters Week 6 of the 2023-24 NBA season on an 86-50 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning more than $3,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Nuggets vs. Suns and locked in its NBA predictions. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA odds and betting lines for Suns vs. Nuggets:
Nuggets vs. Suns spread: Phoenix -2.5 Nuggets vs. Suns Over-Under: 224 points Nuggets vs. Suns money line: Denver -136, Phoenix +115 DEN: Has hit the money line in 30 of its last 40 games PHO: Has hit the 4Q Game Total Under in 49 of its last 77 games Nuggets vs. Suns picks: See picks at SportsLine Why the Nuggets can cover Center Nikola Jokic is one of the most impactful presences on the floor. Jokic scores at will and owns superb court vision as a playmaker. The 28-year-old is eighth in the NBA in points (29), first in rebounds (13.2), and third in assists (9.2). Additionally, he’s scored at least 30 points in four straight games. In his last game, Jokic tallied 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists.
Forward Michael Porter Jr. is a talented three-level scorer. Porter Jr. has an effortless jumper and crashes the boards well. The Missouri product averages 17.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and shoots 39% from downtown. Porter Jr. has finished with 25-plus points in three of the last five games. In his last outing, he notched 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. See which team to pick here.
Why the Suns can cover Center Jusuf Nurkic provides Phoenix with a bruising force in the frontcourt. Nurkic has light feet and does a great job setting screens to free up space for ball handlers. The 29-year-old averages 10.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and four assists per game. He’s grabbed double-digit rebounds in five of his last six games, and on Wednesday, Nurkic tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists.
Guard Eric Gordon is a reliable scoring threat who owns a smooth jumper and excels as a spot-up shooter. The Indiana product logs 14.6 points per game while shooting 40% from 3-point land. On Nov. 25 versus the Knicks, Gordon dropped 25 points and went 6-of-9 from downtown. Meanwhile, guard Grayson Allen is an athletic two-way threat and utilizes his sweet-shooting stroke to space the floor. Allen puts up 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. See which team to pick here.
How to make Suns vs. Nuggets picks The model has simulated Nuggets vs. Suns 10,000 times and is leaning Over the total. It also says one side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time. You can only see the picks at SportsLine.
Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant notched another milestone in his historic career on Friday night when he passed Hall of Famer Moses Malone to move into the top-10 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. With 30 points in the Suns’ 119-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Durant is up to 27,423 career points.
“It’s a long journey to be up there, mentioned with the greats,” Durant said. “It takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of people helping me get to this point.”
The milestone bucket came late in the second quarter. Durant caught the ball near the three-point line and wasted no time taking advantage of the mismatch against Reggie Jackson. He faced up, ripped the ball through to his strong right hand, took two dribbles and bullied Jackson out of the way for an easy layup.
KD to the rack and with this bucket Durant moves into 10th all-time in NBA scoring 👏
📺 Nuggets-Suns | Live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/UYlkWYeouf
— NBA (@NBA) December 2, 2023 Unfortunately for Durant, he went ice cold in the second half, missing all 10 of his field goal attempts as Phoenix’s comeback attempt fell short. Even so, it’s a night he won’t soon forget.
Durant has been flying up the scoring chart this season. He began the campaign in 13th place and has since passed Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and, now, Malone. The crazy part is that he may not be done either. He’s 866 points behind Carmelo Anthony and 1,173 points behind Shaquille O’Neal. Based on his current scoring average of 31.2 points per game, he would need 28 games to pass Anthony and 38 games to pass O’Neal.
Even if his scoring falls off a bit, and even if he misses a few games, he will almost certainly end the season in eighth place. There’s a big jump into the top-seven, though, with Wilt Chamberlain boasting 31,419 points. Depending on Durant’s health, it could take him multiple seasons to get there.
