The NBA playoffs are in full swing, which leaves no shortage of news and, of course, awards season. However, the biggest news was surrounding blossoming star Ja Morant, who was out of the Memphis Grizzlies lineup with a knee injury.
Still, the Grizzlies pushed the Golden State Warriors to the test, but Golden State prevailed on the home court 101-98 to take a 3-1 series lead. Though it shouldn’t be all that surprising, the game was close as the Grizzlies were 20-5 without Morant during the regular season.
The drama surrounding Morant’s injury is that Memphis claims his knee was grabbed by Jordan Poole in an open court scramble for the ball while all players were upright. So far, there have been no punishments or rulings.
Kings Preview?
The contest wasn’t without issue on the Warriors’ side, either. Head coach Steve Kerr missed the game due to COVID-19 protocols and allowed Mike Brown, the new Sacramento Kings head coach, to step in.
Heartfelt Tribute
Prior to the game, Stephen Curry was seen wearing special colorful shoes. They had images on them that depicted the unique and quirky suits the late Craig Sager wore.
Sager was a longtime TNT sideline reporter known for questions as colorful as his suits and would even get personalities like Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to perk up or smile during a game. The shoes will be auctioned off to benefit the SagerStrong Foundation.
Former NBAer Dies
Late Monday morning, news broke that former veteran forward Adreian Payne died. Details emerged via police reports that Payne was fatally shot in Orlando. Payne was 31.
He’s best known for his college career at Michigan State, including his friendship with Lacey Holsworth, an 8-year-old cancer patient who became an inspiration to the Spartans.
Payne was the 15th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2014 NBA Draft. He played in 107 games with 24 starts for three teams — including the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic — across four seasons.
He averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, but at 6-foot-10, he struggled to adapt to the new wave of floor spacing.
A Team Award
The Phoenix Suns ran away with the Western Conference’s best record, and Monty Williams said that is why he won the Red Auerbach Trophy, awarded to the NBA’s Coach of the Year.
Williams won the vote in a landslide with 81 first-place votes. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins was second, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra was third, and first-year Celtics coach Ime Udoka was fourth, receiving the final first-place vote.
“If there’s one award that exemplifies team, it’s the Coach of the Year award because there’s not a coach in the NBA that has bad intentions for the program or for the players,” Williams said.
“Nobody walks into the gym and hopes that their guys play poorly and tells them not to work hard and, ‘Please don’t play defense.’ We don’t do that. In order to get an award like this, it takes a lot of people.”
Dominant Season
While the Most Valuable Player award hasn’t been given, it is expected that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic wins the award for the second straight year, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The award is expected to be given out later this week.
Jokic single-handedly led the Nuggets to the postseason without star guard Jamal Murray or rising forward Michael Porter Jr. Jokic averaged career-highs of 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds. His 7.9 assists per game were the eighth-best mark in the league.
Jokic is the first player in NBA history to have a season of 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists.
If and when he is announced the MVP, likely to come in second behind Jokic is Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid. A lot can be said about his injury issues early in his career, but Embiid is fulfilling his potential.
He missed his first two seasons with a foot injury, then played just 31 games but has since played at least 51 games across five All-Star seasons.
This year, though, Embiid was the rock through a number of changes, including trading Ben Simmons for James Harden. Embiid averaged a league-best 30.6 points per game to go with 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.
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