Down by as much as 28 points, the Nets tie the game to send it into OT on an Allen Crabbe 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds remaining in regulation

Saturday’s Brooklyn Nets game against the New Orleans Pelicans was schizophrenia on display. In the first half, it was the timid, sluggish-looking, run over me Nets, as they ended the first-half with a 20-point deficit, New Orleans 72 and Brooklyn 52. A really ugly way to start a professional basketball game, and it didn’t end there. The Nets carried their slow-start style into the third quarter and dug even a deeper hole, as midway through the third quarter the Nets were down by 28 points (89-61). And, it was at that point, it was as if the team had a light bulb moment that there was a way to dig out of the hole they had gotten themselves into. The Nets went on to cut their deficit nearly in half and ended the third quarter only down by 15 points, 100-85. In the fourth quarter, powering through and chipping away, Brooklyn closed the gap and on an Allen Crabbe 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds remaining in regulation, tied the score at 116-116 and forced overtime. Oddly enough, it was an Allen Crabbe bobble-head doll night.

Brooklyn took its first lead of the game with 3:45 remaining the game’s first overtime period and led by as many as four points before being outscored 14-4 in the game’s second overtime period to seal a Pelicans’ win.

So what changed?

“…We obviously started the game small,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media post-game. “We started with DeMarre (Carroll) at the four and then we put DeMarre back at the three and we brought Quincy (Acy) in, so we were just bigger. Being bigger helped us rebound and really helped us immensely.”

“I think in the second half we got ourselves in a big hole again, and we owe it to our fans not to get blown out like that,” Crabbe said. “Obviously, we didn’t play like us, as an organization wants to play in the first half, so Coach didn’t even come in and yell at us. He said y’all figure it out and get it together. I feel like we had a good effort in the second half but you can’t keep playing catch up all the time. It was a big hole, 27, 28, I guess we were down. Like I said, in the NBA, you can’t do that. We gave ourselves a chance, but didn’t make the plays we needed to make down the stretch.”

Crabbe scored a team-high 28 points (10-of-24 FG, 8-of-18 3FG) with six rebounds, one assist and, one steal in a career-high 44 minutes on Saturday for the Nets. Spencer Dinwiddie recorded 24 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals in a career-high 43 minutes tonight vs. New Orleans. Dinwiddie posted his sixth-career double-double (and fifth this season). He also became the first Net to record a points/assists double-double in consecutive games since Deron Williams in the 2014-15 campaign (4/6 – 4/8/15). D’Angelo Russell posted 21 points (7-of-18 FG, 5-of-13 3FG, 2-of-2 FT) with a season-high nine rebounds, five assists and one steal in 32 minutes off the bench. Both DeMarre Carroll and Joe Harris tallied 12 points, while Harris 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a career-high-tying two blocks in 34 minutes in his ninth start of the season for Brooklyn. Additionally, Harris recorded his second-career double-double tonight (previously done for the first time on 1/6/18 vs. Boston). Carroll added nine rebounds and five assists to his 12-point total. Newly acquired Dante Cunningham made his Nets debut tonight and recorded two points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 20 minutes off the bench. For New Orleans, Anthony Davis led all scorers with 44 points and 17 rebounds. Rajon Rondo scored a triple-double with 25 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday added 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists; Nikola Mirotic had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and E’Twaun Moore chipped in 12 points. All was not lost for Brooklyn as its bench outscored New Orleans’ bench 44-14, during Saturday’s duel. With 21 points off the bench, D’Angelo Russell single-handedly outscored New Orleans’ reserves.

Next up for Brooklyn, it plays the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, February 12, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. at home at the Barclays Center.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Brooklyn Nets head coach, Kenny Atkinson, explains the Nets' loss to Milwaukee Bucks

What hurt the Nets the most this afternoon?

“Our start,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media without hesitation.

“Somehow, for some reason, we weren’t ready,” Atkinson continued. “I don’t understand how that happens. I’m a little upset with our group that we weren’t more ready mentally, physically. You give up 36 points in the first quarter; it’s like, that team is too good, too good to let that happen. We did show some fight with our bench. I thought they came in and gave glimmer of hope there. But too big of a hole against a very talented team.”

DeMarre Carroll leads Nets players with 21 points in the loss; Caris LeVert leaves game with concussion

In a game where the lead changed six times, the teams tied three times, and during the fourth quarter, the Houston Rockets led the Brooklyn Nets by as much as 16 points, at 1:22 left in regulation the Nets managed to close in on a six-point differential on an Isaiah Whitehead nine-foot floating shot. Unfortunately, Brooklyn couldn’t sustain the momentum to stop the Rockets and bowed to Houston 123-113 on Tuesday night.

“I think we competed better than we did against Milwaukee,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters in his postgame presser. “We never found a solution to stop them, obviously. They made a lot of tough shots. For them, we limited their 3-point attempts. Instead of shooting 50 – what’d they have, 33? – so that was good. We did a decent job keeping them off the free-throw line, but, it’s pick your poison with them so we never really found a solution to stop them.”

In addition to the game loss, Nets guard Caris LeVert suffered a concussion after running into a hard screen set by Houston center Nene Hilario at the end of the third quarter.

“I think it moved all of us,” Atkinson told the media. “I think we’re all affected, but we’re professionals and guys moved on, it’s just we obviously missed Caris the player. He was playing really well, so that was a big blow.”

LeVert, who was only on the court for 12 minutes, left the game with nine points, three assists, and three rebounds.

Although the outcome of this game against the Rockets didn’t go the Nets way, the team’s competitive spirit was on full display.

“…I think we did a great job as a team and making them work,” Nets guard D’Angelo Russell stated. “They’ve got some All-Star caliber guys over there, so making it as tough as we can is the objective.”

At the end of the night, the Nets shot .457 (16-of-35) from 3-point range and recorded their 10th game with 15-plus made threes this season. The Nets’ assist record bested Houston 24-16, and so did Brooklyn’s free-throw record, which was 88.2 percent versus the Rockets 81 percent.

“Oh, we definitely competed,” Nets center Jahlil Okafor expressed. “I think everybody across the roster played extremely hard. The Rockets are an extremely tough team to beat. Their dynamic was a challenge for us but I do think everybody did compete...”

DeMarre Carroll scored a team-high 21 points (7-of-12 FG, 5-of-8 3FG, 2-of-2 FT) with two boards and two steals in 30 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie tallied 18 points (5-of-7 3FG, 3-of-3 FT) with three rebounds, nine assists, and a career-high-tying three steals in 25 minutes. Nets rookie center Jarrett Allen, recorded 16 points (6-of-11 FG, 4-of-4 FT) with two rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes. With his 16 points on Tuesday night, Allen extended his career-best streak of games scoring in double figures to eight games. Okafor had a good night, he posted 15 points (7-of-9 FG, 1-of-3 FT) and six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. (D’Angelo) Russell also scored in double figures for Brooklyn, recording 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

When asked about Houston putting up so many points against the Nets, “Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni laughed and said, “It’s all coaching out there – you saw that, right?” But in all seriousness, D’Antoni gave credit where credit was due, “Chris Paul and James Harden, when you have those two guys, it’s either one or the other. It’s unbelievable.”

D’Antoni also tipped his hat to Brooklyn’s effort.

“You have to give it to Brooklyn, they wouldn’t let us put it away,” D’Antoni added. “They kept coming back. They kept hitting hard shots. We would go up seven and Brooklyn would hit a hard three. They played well; they played with a lot of energy. Like I told them, Brooklyn isn’t going to beat themselves, we’ll have to beat them. I think at the end we did. They’re well-coached and they do a good job.”

Harden led all scorers with 36 points and five assists with his effort for Houston. (Chris) Paul scored 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists; and Clint Capela added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Coming off the bench for the Rockets, Gerald Green added 16 points, and Eric Gordon chipped in 13 points.

Hopefully, both teams will have enough energy to go up against their next opponents. Houston plays the Miami Heat on Wednesday in Miami, and Brooklyn goes up against the Detroit Pistons with the newly-acquired Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers also on Wednesday.

The Brooklyn Nets next home game at the Barclays Center is on Saturday, February 10, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Our Photo of the Week is a photo of Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie shaking hands with his former teammate, Philadelphia 76ers power forward, Trevor Booker.

 Trevor Booker signed with the Brooklyn Nets on July 8, 2016.

On December 7, 2017, the Nets traded Booker to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a 2019 second-round pick.

This photo was taken when the Philadelphia 76ers came to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to play the Brooklyn Nets on January 31, 2018.

The Nets defeated the 76ers 116-108.

DeMarre Carroll scores 11 of 15 points in first quarter; Nets bench kept team in the game; Coach Atkinson visibly disturbed by Nets effort in first quarter

It’s NFL Super Bowl Sunday, and the Brooklyn Nets had a 12-noon date with the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo aka the “Greek Freak”.

For the Brooklyn Nets, things got ugly fast. Save, DeMarre Carroll and Jahlil Okafor off the bench, the Nets shots weren’t going down; their trajectory seemed to be off, too much force, too much spin, etc., etc. Meanwhile, the Bucks seemed to be scoring at will.

At the end of the first quarter, it was Bucks 36, Nets 22. When the Nets dig themselves into a hole early, the outcome is usually not good, and today’s 109-94 thumping by the Bucks proved the point.

What hurt the Nets the most this afternoon?

“Our start,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media without hesitation.

“Somehow, for some reason, we weren’t ready,” Atkinson continued. “I don’t understand how that happens. I’m a little upset with our group that we weren’t more ready mentally, physically. You give up 36 points in the first quarter; it’s like, that team is too good, too good to let that happen. We did show some fight with our bench. I thought they came in and gave a glimmer of hope there. But too big of a hole against a very talented team.”

The Nets’ bench outscored the Bucks’ bench 38 – 30; however, the Bucks outrebounded the Net 54-36.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: BROOKLYN NETS HEAD COACH KENNY ATKINSON (AUDIO)

“Against some of the best teams in the league, we’ve competed and we’re ready, but we were on our heels from the start,” Atkinson added. “And if you do that against a bigger team, a more athletic team, that’s just going to happen. You have to take 36 (points Bucks made in the first quarter) on the chin. So we just weren’t ready for the fight. I thought (Eric) Bledsoe set the tone. I thought he was the difference. He was an absolute ball of fire out there. We couldn’t stop him. Obviously, Giannis (Antetokounmpo) is going to do what he’s going to do, but Bledsoe really set the tone for them and dominated us.”

Spencer Dinwiddie, who did not have a good day in the points’ column, picked up his eighth game of double-digit assists this season. He totaled one such game in his first three NBA seasons combined and he credits his teammates for getting the Nets back in the game.

“I think Caris [LeVert] and D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell] did a great job picking up the pace, Staus [Nik Stauskas] hit a big shot,” Dinwiddie said. “I think Joe [Harris] had great energy, DC [DeMarre Carroll] was part of that run as well as Quincy [Acy], so I think those guys should be attributed for that run. Give all credit to those guys for getting us back into it; obviously, we didn’t get close enough.”

DeMarre Carroll recorded a team-high-tying 15 points and three rebounds in 32 minutes, with 11 of his points coming in the first quarter. Caris Levert came off the bench to also score 15 points and he leads the Nets with 27 games scoring in double figures off the bench this season. Nets rookie center Jarrett Allen tallied 14 points (7-of-11 FG) and a team-high seven rebounds in 27 minutes in his fourth-career start for Brooklyn. Allen Crabbe chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

Like Dinwiddie, D’Angelo Russell was not a points’ leader against the Bucks, but he recorded seven assists in 18 minutes off the bench.

Eric Bledsoe led all scorers with 28 points and six assists in the win for the Bucks. John Henson tallied 19 points and 18 rebounds; both Khris Middleton and Antetokounmpo scored 16 points, while Antetokounmpo added eight rebounds to his tally.

Antetokounmpo twisted his right ankle with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining and left the game, not long after the Nets had cut what had been a 28-point deficit to seven. Post-game, the Greek Freak assured the media that he’s fine and would have gone back into the game if his team needed him.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO AKA "THE GREEK FREAK" (VIDEO)

This game against the Nets was Jabari Parker's second game after returning from a year-long injury and he helped the Bucks with 11 points off the bench. Bucks head coach Joe Prunty is pleased with Parker’s progress so far and is looking forward to Parker’s contributions.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: JOE PRUNTY, MILWAUKEE BUCKS, INTERIM HEAD COACH (VIDEO)

Next up for the Milwaukee Bucks is the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.

The Nets will host the Houston Rockets also on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. at home at the Barclays Center.

Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie posts game-high 23 points and rookie center Jarrett Allen scored a career-high 20 points with five rebounds in the loss

The Barclays Center was a sea of Purple and Gold when the Los Angeles Lakers came to town for its match-up with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. The crowd was boisterous but respectful as they over-powered Nets fans in cheering the Lakers on to a 102-99 victory. Although the Nets lost, all was not lost for Nets fans as they got to see former stalwart Nets center Brook Lopez for the first time since he was traded to the Lakers. Lopez was the Nets’ rock, the solid foundation that helped keep the team together during the lowest points of the rebuilding years. On Friday night, the Nets management showed its respect for and gratitude to Brook Lopez with a video tribute.

So, on this night, Lopez belonged to both Nets and Lakers’ fans, and he was appreciative.

“It was great,” Lopez said about being embraced by the Lakers and Nets fans. “It was such an awesome moment. That’s the kind of stuff you dream about as a kid and to see that kind of support from both Laker and Nets fans it’s really awe-inspiring. It’s such a fantastic moment. I can’t thank them enough for the continued support.”

It’s easy for an organization to celebrate a solid player like Lopez, particularly when he can take it up a notch to help pull his team over the finish line.

“Brook (Lopez) was great, Lakers head coach Luke Walton told reporters about how Lopez impacted the outcome of the game. “He had a huge block down the stretch. Jarrett Allen was killing us tonight on his rolling. Brook recognized, he got there late and had a big block. He hit those big three’s obviously. When Brooklyn is out there and they have Quincy Acy playing at the center and four shooters running around, it’s challenging to not change your lineup as well. Brook was great tonight. He did a good job. We don’t win that game without him, obviously. He hits some big buckets for us, and like I said he had that big block for us.”

“The second unit did a great job of setting the tone in that fourth quarter,” Walton continued. “Our two biggest keys coming into tonight’s game were taking pride in our individual defense and rebounding. In the first half, our individual defense was awful, which is why Brooklyn had so many points. Second half we started to turn that up a little bit (individual defense). Our rebounding was pretty darn good all night. In the third quarter, we started playing some better defense and to start the fourth quarter our second unit was really engaged and communicating and being aggressive on that end of the court. It set the tone for being able to keep Brooklyn to a low scoring quarter.”

“Credit to Luke and his group, I thought they played a heck of a game,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media. “I thought we competed. I thought it was a great basketball game for the fans, for everybody to see and unfortunately we came out on the losing end.”

“I thought they made some shots,” Atkinson continued, as he explained the turning point in the game. “I think our offense got stagnant, really in that fourth. You love the pick-and-roll and I love it and Spencer’s (Dinwiddie) good at it and D’Angelo (Russell), but there are times we’ve got to get off it and move it a little more. So I thought our shot selection was iffy at best, I thought that hurt us and bad shots lead to what they do best, is transition, and they were coming at us in waves. But again, I think they played a heck of a game. ”

“I think they did a great job on the glass and we didn’t match their physicality in the rebounding game,” Dinwiddie said postgame. “They got extra shots and also limited us to one possession a lot of the time.”

To drive Dinwiddie’s point home, the Lakers out-rebounded the Nets 56 – 38.

Although, the Nets bench outscored the Lakers bench 41 – 30, it was Los Angeles’ starters that out-worked the Nets’ starters. Four of the five Lakers starters scored more than 15 points while only two Nets starters scored in double digits. For the Lakers, both Lopez and Julius Randle scored 19 points, while Randle added 12 rebounds to his tally. Brandon Ingram had a triple-double with 16 points, eight boards, and 10 assists; Josh Hart added 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Jordan Clarkson chipped in 11 points off the bench.

For the Nets, Dinwiddie posted a game-high 23 points, a team-high-tying seven rebounds, and a team-high nine assists in 32 minutes. Russell recorded 15 points, four rebounds and, three assists in 24 minutes off the bench. Joe Harris posted 11 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Harris has now scored in double figures in 25 games off the bench this season.

Nets rookie Jarrett Allen started and scored a career-high 20 points with five rebounds and a career-high-tying two steals in 24 minutes.

“It’s good to see that I’m progressing at a good level but it’s sad to see us lose,” Allen said regarding his career-high scoring accomplishment.

When asked about battling with former Nets center Brook Lopez, Allen said, “face of the franchise, now I’m here trying to become the face, too, so just going back and forth. It was a good challenge.”

Allen made some inroads, as he outscored and outrebounded Lopez, but time will tell if he will become the face of the Nets franchise.

We’re rooting for you, Jarrett Allen, we’re rooting for you.

Nets guard to represent Brooklyn at NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, February 16-18

So, the votes to get Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s participation in the 2018 NBA All-Star activities were not in vain. The NBA has recognized Dinwiddie’s talent and the tremendous improvement in his skill level, which has helped to push the Nets’ win-loss record past last year’s record in the face of injuries to principal players.

Dinwiddie was chosen to participate in the 2018 Taco Bell Skills Challenge as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, held February 16-18 in Los Angeles. The Taco Bell Skills Challenge will take place on Saturday, February 17, at Staples Center and be aired on TNT and ESPN Radio at 8 p.m. ET. All-Star Saturday Night also includes the JBL Three-Point Contest and Verizon Slam Dunk.

Dinwiddie will become the fourth Net to participate in the skills challenge, joining Jason Kidd (2003, 2008), Devin Harris (2009) and Deron Williams (2012). Kidd won the event in its inaugural season in 2003.

The three-round, obstacle-course competition, which tests dribbling, passing, agility and three-point-shooting skills, will feature a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament format. The four big men will be on one side of the bracket and the four guards will be on the other side of the bracket. First-round matchups will be announced at a later date.

A native of Los Angeles, Dinwiddie has appeared in 51 games (41 starts) for the Nets this season, averaging 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 28.4 minutes per contest (all career highs). He currently ranks 14th in the NBA in assists per game among qualifying players.

Below is the roster of the 2018 Taco Bell Skills Challenge.

Now, with this NBA All-Star accomplishment for Dinwiddie, we can get started on the Spencer Dinwiddie Most Improved NBA Player campaign.

Spencer Dinwiddie scores 27 points to help lift the Nets over the 76ers; D’Angelo Russell making great strides since his return from injury

Last night, the Brooklyn Nets (18-33) had a date with the Philadelphia 76ers (24-23) at the Barclays Center. No one I spoke with before the game put the odds in favor of the Nets to win, but win they did. The Nets snapped a four-game losing streak to defeat the striving Philadelphia 76ers featuring Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who was just selected to play in the NBA All-Star game, 116-108.

“We’ve got guys with a lot of pride and I think they always seem to bounce back after a tough loss or a poor performance quite honestly,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said regarding keys to victory against Philadelphia. “Tonight I thought all the things we talked about pregame, you know we were more competitive, more together, did a good job sharing the ball. I thought the defense in the second half was really the difference. I think we held them to 23 and 20. We put them on the free throw line 20 times in the first half so we limited that. It was really the defense, the story of the game in the second half. And obviously we shot the ball well, that helps.”

Regarding a reason Philadelphia may have struggled against the Nets and other non-playoff-bound teams, Embiid said, “…Maybe we’re too cocky, going into the game thinking that it’s going to be easy. Got to give them a lot of credit, they play hard, they make a lot of threes, they shoot a lot of threes and we didn’t guard them well today. But we gotta do a better job next time.”

The Nets shot .506 (39-of-77) from the field, .406 (13-of-32) from 3-point range and .893 (25-of-28) from the free-throw line. Brooklyn posted nine blocks in tonight’s game (led by two blocks apiece from Jarrett Allen and Quincy Acy), which marked the team’s third-most blocks in a game this season.

In the win, Spencer Dinwiddie had a team-high 27 points, his second-highest scoring game of his career (behind a career-high 31 points on January 8, 2018, vs. Toronto). D’Angelo Russell, who recently returned to the lineup after a six-week injury, scored 22 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. In his second start for the Nets, rookie Jarrett Allen put up a career-high-tying 16 points and 12 rebounds; DeMarre Carroll added 15 points and five assists; and Allen Crabbe chipped in 14 points and five rebounds.

Jahlil Okafor, who was recently traded from Philadelphia to the Nets, added eight points and three rebounds in 14 minutes. This was his first time playing against his old teammates.
“It was a lot of fun, just to see all those guys,” Okafor told the media postgame. “You get really used to being with them every day and I haven’t seen them in a month and a half to two months so it was good to see them and obviously we came out with a W so that felt great.”

Like the Nets, four of the five Philadelphia starters scored in double digits with Embiid leading all scorers with 29 points and 14 rebounds; Simmons tallied 24 points and seven assists; JJ Redick scored 20 points, and; Dario Saric added 12 points and six rebounds.

Next up, Philadelphia will face the Miami Heat on Friday, February 2, 2018, while the Brooklyn Nets will meet up with the Los Angeles Lakers at home at the Barclays Center, also on Friday, at 7:30 p.m.

NBA designed a new format to allow captains of each team to choose their players

The NBA shook things up a little bit with a reconfiguration of the NBA All-Star 2018 teams. This year, instead of an East vs. West NBA All-Star game format with teams comprised of members from their respective conference, each of the two teams will be headed by the top two players who received the most votes. In this case, they are LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Each team captain will then select players regardless of conference.

Below is a list of teams and players: 

Team LeBron

Starter: Kyrie Irving, G, Boston Celtics
Starter: Kevin Durant, F, Golden State Warriors
Starter: LeBron James, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
Starter: Anthony Davis, F, New Orleans Pelicans
Starter: DeMarcus Cousins, C, New Orleans Pelicans
Reserve: Bradley Beal, G, Washington Wizards
Reserve: LaMarcus Aldridge, F, San Antonio Spurs
Reserve: Kevin Love, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
Reserve: Russell Westbrook, G, Oklahoma City Thunder
Reserve: Victor Oladipo, G, Indiana Pacers
Reserve: Kristaps Porzingis, F, New York Knicks
Reserve: John Wall, G, Washington Wizards

Team Stephen

Starter: Stephen Curry, G, Golden State Warriors
Starter: James Harden, G, Houston Rockets
Starter: DeMar DeRozan, G, Toronto Raptors
Starter: Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks
Starter: Joel Embiid, C, Philadelphia 76ers
Reserve: Damian Lillard, G, Portland Trail Blazers
Reserve: Jimmy Butler, G, Minnesota Timberwolves
Reserve: Draymond Green, F, Golden State Warriors
Reserve: Kyle Lowry, G, Toronto Raptors
Reserve: Klay Thompson, G, Golden State Warriors
Reserve: Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves
Reserve: Al Horford, C, Boston Celtics

Quick Takes: Kemba Walker on Trade Block, Enes Kanter trolled LeBron James

• It looks like the Charlotte Hornets are ready to trade Kemba Walker.
• According to The Score, LaMelo Ball appears to be causing some headaches for his coach in the LKL, a premier men’s basketball league in Lithuania.
• LSU RB Derrius Guice signs with agent from Kendrick Lamar's record label’s new sports division.
• New York Knicks center Enes Kanter trolled LeBron James on Twitter after the Cavaliers 148-124 loss to OKC. Kanter tweeted: "148. #StriveForGreatness"
• Zion Williamson - one of the top high school basketball players in the country with 1.1 million Instagram followers- has announced his decision to play for Duke next season.

And, according to Keisha, Duke is known as the "Duke of the North"