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NBA Trade Machine: On HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours, Karl-Anthony Towns showed up in 3.6% of all trades built. Among those, he was most often sent to Houston (18.5%), Detroit (9.3%), and Denver (7.4%), and the return pieces that came up most often were Jabari Smith (16.7%), Alperen Sengun (13.0%), and Reed Sheppard (11.1%).
Grant Afseth: Final: Rockets 128, Mavs 110 Cooper Flagg: 32 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK Marcus Sasser: 17 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL Naji Marshall: 16 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL Kyrie Irving: 15 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL Kevin Durant: 30 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK Jabari Smith Jr.: 30 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL Alperen Şengün: 23 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST Dallas (0-1) faces Indiana on the road on Friday.
The Dallas Mavericks called a play for Kyrie Irving on the opening possession of his first game in 586 days, much to the delight of the Venetian Arena sellout crowd that roared when the eight-time All-Star caught the ball on the right wing. Irving delivered, driving by Jabari Smith Jr. for a reverse layup, setting off a celebration on the Dallas bench and eliciting an even louder roar from the Chinese fans who enthusiastically welcomed him back after he missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee. "A lot of emotions leading into it," Irving said. "Grateful that Dusty [May] called the first play for me. Had my mind made up just to attack. ... I saw that baseline open up a little bit, and it just felt good to get that out of the way.
Ben DuBose: Jabari Smith Jr. on the Rockets’ sense of urgency in 2026-27: “We haven’t done anything. We have nothing to look back and be proud of.” “Everybody around the organization knows we’re better than what we put out in the playoffs. We’re just going to put our heads down and work.”
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Will Guillory: Jabari Smith says he's looking forward to becoming more of a vocal leader going into his 5th season. Said he has two years of playoff experience and feels his voice can be important among his teammates.
Oh No He Didn't: Jabari Smith Jr on what to expect from the Rockets next season: "I think you're gonna see a team that is a little bit more used to playing with each other. We added Kevin Durant last year, just gotta adjust to playing with him...obviously anybody can play with him. Just tendencies, getting Fred back will be huge for us. And I think you'll just see everybody older, obviously a lot better, more mature. See a lot better team next year for sure"
Steven Adams on mentoring Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun: "I just go the old school just bullying tactic. Just bully them. That's just fun. Especially the Turkish people, mate. Got to bully those guys. But no, it's been good, honestly, mentoring them and just seeing the growth. It is still exciting and just again, competing at that level and seeing the growth throughout the year, not just as an individual, but as a team."
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Varun Shankar: - Bruce Thornton says he watched a lot of Fred VanVleet last season with OSU - He and Jabari Smith Jr. were AAU teammates back in elementary school (both are from Georgia). (x/x)
Other than KD, are there any players you take things from? Baba Oladotun: I take a lot from LeBron's game, just his IQ and how he sees the court. And I also take a lot from Bam Adebayo, just like his footwork in the four. My middle name's Adebayo, actually, so like, that's a fun fact. But I take a lot from just how he's poised inside the mid post and stuff. And I also take a lot from Jabari Smith. This is his catch-and-shoot game. Obviously,he's not like a superstar in the NBA, but I like the way his play style. And then Brandon Ingram, like, gets his spots, rising over defenders.
Varun Shankar: Rafael Stone and Ime Udoka both say this team should have won more games. Stone called the season frustrating. Didn't say firmly if team would make big moves but said even if HOU doesn't, expects growth from young players (mentioned Tari Eason, Jabari Smith, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard) to lead to addnl success.
Rockets Wire: Jabari Smith Jr. on the Rockets’ chance to make history as the first NBA team to overcome a 3-0 deficit: “We’re just thinking about Game 6, tonight. The task at hand.” “We’re not thinking about Game 7. We’ll think about it tonight, when we’ve got to pack our bags. Not now.”
