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Mike Brown has pointed to on-ball defense, indecision on offense and his players standing around when plays break down as culprits for the slow start. According to NBA.com, the Knicks trail only the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets in frequency of shots late in the shot clock (four seconds or less), and shooting 28.8% in those situations ranks them behind only the Portland Trail Blazers in efficiency -- they were best in the league last season. Usually, that's Jalen Brunson time, as he did so often in the playoffs. But the magic hasn't been there to start the season.
The two Alphas of the Blazers — Damian Lillard and Ja Morant — essentially handed the reins of the team to Deni Avdija. “Coming in, I told him: ‘I want you to be the horse,’” Lillard said. “Ja said the same thing: ‘You be the horse.’ I think him knowing for sure that we are encouraging that … you be the horse … you be on go … you get downhill … you attack. I think that is good for our team.”
Micah Nori: “I thought Scoot was fine. He’s a plus four. He shot the open ones. He had just the one turnover. I thought that he did a good job defensively. Got himself an offensive rebound. His threes, his catch and shoots were good. I thought that he was fine in 26 minutes to be a plus four. I don’t care how many points he scores, as long as he just continues to play with pace, continues to play defensively and not let the previous play bother him.”
The Spurs and Jazz play again for the final time this season Nov. 15 at the Delta Center. The friendship between the coaches began in 2016 after Johnson joined the Spurs as an asxsistant with the Austin Spurs in the G League following a one-year stint as an assistant at the University of Portland. When the Spurs promoted Johnson to Popovich's staff in 2019, Hardy, who joined the Spurs before the 2015-16 season, helped show him the ropes. "Will Hardy and Chip Engelland were the two guys that took me under their wings and definitely helped me with the unwritten rules and the lay of the land," Johnson said.
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Q. Did you have much interaction with him that summer where you guys sort of overlapped? They drafted him and then like you requested a trade but you didn’t get traded until that whole and so you guys were both like in the gym that whole summer. Did you have much interaction?” Damian Lillard: “Yeah, I was still around a little bit. I would see him in the gym. I was working out early and he would come in and we had our interactions. I always liked Scoot Henderson. I always liked Scoot and even at that time I made it clear, I never had an issue with the team as far as us not being capable. I was just like, I know we are not going for it all right now, but I still thought the team was talented, I liked the team. But we had some interactions. Obviously I knew I wasn’t going to be there, so I wouldn’t say it was anything major. But even when we played the Blazers, I would get in his ear a little bit and try to share some encouragement.”
The Portland Trail Blazers relied on scoring from a number of faces in their 112-90 victory against the Utah Jazz, as five players reached double-figures and 12 of the 13 who suited up recorded a point. Portland moves to 4-1 on the season with the win. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 24 points and five rebounds, shooting 50 percent from the field and 3-point range, nailing 10 of 13 free throws. Damian Lillard added 22 points despite a poor shooting performance, while Toumani Camara, Scoot Henderson and Jrue Holiday had 14 points apiece.
Trail Blazers PR: INJURY UPDATE: Robert Williams III and Chris Youngblood are AVAILABLE for today’s game @ UTA.
Sean Highkin: Scoot Henderson is starting in Ja Morant’s place, Micah Nori tells us.
The Indiana Fever are hiring Sheri Sam as assistant general manager, focusing on scouting and analytics, sources told IndyStar on Friday afternoon. She will begin her role Monday. There is still no specific timeline for the Fever to hire a general manager. Sam is coming to the Fever from the Portland Trail Blazers, where she was the scouting manager focusing on player evaluation and pre-draft scouting.
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Portland Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant sustained a left hamstring injury during last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Imaging revealed a grade two left hamstring strain. Morant will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Cameron Boozer is the youngest player to post a triple-double since Josh Giddey in 2021-22, doing it in a 124-103 win over the Trail Blazers.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant exited his first game against his former team in the fourth quarter Thursday night because of a left hamstring injury. Morant had 14 points and three assists in 23 minutes before exiting and being ruled out of the Trail Blazers' 124-103 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Coach Micah Nori said postgame that Morant felt a twinge in his hamstring and that Nori hoped to have more answers Friday. "I'm hoping that it's nothing major, obviously," Nori said.
Damichael Cole: More Micah Nori: “I know Ja loved his time in Memphis and there’s no ill will there, but you still want to play well against your former team.” “I do think these guys understand the moment for Ja.”
