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Andrew Wiggins will not play in either of the Golden State Warriors' two remaining regular- season Game s, coach Steve Kerr said in an interview on 95.7 The Game on Wednesday.  "We gotta make sure we build him up, get his strength and his conditioning in a good place before we put him out there, so he's not going to play in these last two Game s of the regular season ," Kerr said. "But he'll continue to work and he'll ramp it up pretty quickly." Wiggins has not played since Feb. 13, and until recently was away from the team due to a family matter. On Tuesday, Wiggins said that his conditioning level is "not terrible," but "obviously the NBA is a different type of conditioning level that you need." Kerr said that Wiggins scrimmaged with young players and coaches on Wednesday.  "It's full court, 5-on-5, and he looked good," Kerr said ."And...

Donovan Mitchell's terrific first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers got even better on Tuesday night when he made history with his fourth consecutive 40-point game in the team's 117-113 win over the Orlando Magic. Mitchell finished with 43 points, five rebounds and four assists on 15 of 23 from the field. As he's done so often throughout his career and this season, Mitchell did some of his best work late in the Game to ensure that the Cavs came away victorious. With just under three minutes to play, and the Cavs clinging to a two -point lead, Mitchell hit back-to-back jumpers to push their advantage to six. Then, in the closing seconds, he hit two clutch free throws to ice the Game . All told, he had 12 of his 43 points in the final frame.  Mitchell is now the 11th player in NBA History to have a 40 -point streak of at least four Game s, and the first to do so since...

Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons is out for the remainder of the season due to a back injury, head coach Jacque Vaughn announced Tuesday following the team's practice. "Ben will not be joining us the rest of the year," Vaughn said.  Simmons has not played since Feb. 15 against the Miami Heat in the Nets' last game before the All-Star break. Though he had been dealing with knee soreness as well, his back became the bigger issue. During a recent re-evaluation, imaging revealed that Simmons is dealing with a nerve impingement that will require a long-term rest and rehabilitation program. This is not the first time that Simmons has dealt with a back injury since arriving in Brooklyn. He did not play for the team last season following the blockbuster trade that brought him to the Nets and sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers because of a herniated disc that later required surgery.  He was fully r...

Memphis Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant could return from an eight- Game suspension as early as Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, per Shams Charania. Morant was eligible to return for Monday night's Game against the Dallas Mavericks, but the Grizzlies ruled him out with the intention of consulting with the medical staff before determining his status for Wednesday's Game . The NBA announced on March 15 that Morant was suspended for eight Game s without pay for conduct detrimental to the league. The suspension stems from a video Morant posted on his Instagram Live where he had a gun at a Denver-area nightclub after a loss to the Nuggets on March 3. The suspension handed down by the league was retroactive, so it included the five Game s Morant sat out after the Grizzlies announced that he would be taking time away from the team.  During Morant's absence from the team, he spent time ...

Fighting for their playoff lives, every Game is vitally important for the Golden State Warriors right now. They are already without Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Andre Iguodala, and now, on Friday night vs. the Hawks, the Warriors will be without Draymond Green as well. In the second quarter against the Clippers on Wednesday, Green was whistled for his 16th technical foul of the season, which results in a one- Game suspension . You be the judge. It looked like Green sort of tossed the ball in the direction of Russell Westbrook after a made basket.  Draymond picked up his 16th technical foul of the season on this play pic.twitter.com/kAZC0Cx3sD — Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 16, 2023 The league could still rescind the tech. It didn't look like Green did much.  But frankly, this is what happens when you put yourself in this kind of position. Officials can get jump...

Coming into the season , the discussion surrounding the Sacramento Kings was different than usual. It was positive. But for all the belief that they would be improved, the general expectation was still only that they could challenge for a spot in the play-in tournament, and perhaps sneak into the playoffs.  No one, as it turned out was bullish enough on the Kings. As the final month of the regular season begins, they're no longer sneaking up on anyone. After a 128-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, the Kings are 40-26, which is good for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and the sixth-best record in the league.  This is the first time they've won 40 games in a season since 2006, and Mike Brown joined Rick Adelman as only the second coach to achieve that feat since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985. Soon, they'll clinch their first playoff appearance since '06, and end the longe...

Just about everything that could possibly have gone wrong for the Los Angeles Clippers since the All-Star break has gone wrong. After signing Russell Westbrook following a buyout with the Utah Jazz, the Clippers have now lost four consecutive Game s. With Kawhi Leonard sitting out the second night of a back-to-back Friday, that streak may quickly become five, and after a very encouraging stretch of basketball before the break, the Clippers have now fallen into the Western Conference play-in picture. Yet Clippers coach Ty Lue doesn't believe the team needs wholesale changes. He implored his team to play tougher after an embarrassing loss to the Golden State Warriors Thursday. "For us, we just got to stay the course, got to be mentally tough, mentally strong, can't give in, and just got to be tougher," Lue said. "That's the bottom line. When stuff doesn't go your way, it shows you what...

Perhaps the rosiest takeaway from what has been a slog season for the Golden State Warriors is this: Over their last 20 games that Stephen Curry has missed due to his injuries, the Warriors have managed an 11-9 record.  This most recent stretch without Curry, who has been out with torn ligaments in his leg since Feb. 4, the Warriors, if you include the win over Dallas in which Curry exited after 26 minutes due to the injury, have gone 6-4. This while the rest of the Western Conference has failed to separate.  That 6-4 mark over the last 10 games is better than the Clippers, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Jazz, Pelicans and Blazers, all of whom are within two games in the loss column of the Warriors, who currently occupy the West's No. 5 seed.  That's right. After all the Warriors have endured this season, much of their own lackadaisical doing, they are just two games back of a top-four seed with 20 to play. Of c...

The Hawks had plenty of reasons to fire Nate McMillan . Back-to-back disappointing seasons. A poor track record of player development. An old-school offense that feels completely out of place in the modern NBA . The Hawks were justified in changing coach es purely based on what happened on the court, and yet, it's hard to overlook what happened off of it as a possible motivator for McMillan's ouster. In December, Trae Young missed sat out of a game against the Denver Nuggets. The Athletic later reported that his absence was due to a disagreement with McMillan. Young, dealing with a shoulder injury at the time, missed that morning's shootaround to receive treatment. McMillan reportedly gave him two choices: come off of the bench against the Nuggets, or sit out the game entirely. Young apparently chose the latter, and did not attend the loss to Denver. There is no greater coaching sin in the modern NBA t...

The NBA 's top young talent was on full display during the Jordan Rising Stars Game at All-Star Weekend in Utah on Friday night. The format for the annual exhibition has shifted over the years in order to make the Game more com Pet itive, and this time around it featured four teams coached by prominent former NBA players -- Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Deron Williams served as coaches for the three teams comprised of NBA rookies and sophomores, while Jason Terry led a squad comprised entirely of G League players.  The four total teams com Pet ed in a three- Game mini-tournament that featured the always-exciting Elam Ending -- the first two Game s were played to 40 points, and the championship Game was played to 25.  Team Pau bested Team Deron 40-25 in the first game of the tournament, thanks largely to New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, who accounted for 13 of his team's 40 points. Led by New Yo...

The Golden State Warriors fell apart in the second half on Tuesday night en route to a 134-124 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Another poor defensive performance, combined with a third defeat in four games ahead of the All-Star break, was enough for Draymond Green to call his team out during his postgame press conference.  Green spoke at length, not about Xs and Os, but about desire and commitment -- two traits he isn't seeing enough of from his teammates.  "It has to come from within," Green told reporters. "Defense is all about will, a want to defend. Defense isn't fun. You've just got to do it if you want to win, and we haven't. "It's the will to defend -- stop and guard your man, and sink, and drop the box and rotate. Defense is just one or two steps extra ... that's all will, and we don't have that as a team." Green also explained how the Warriors' la...

Kyrie Irving does a lot of things that don't make sense. This trade request is not one of them. The eight-time All-Star wants a long-term contract approaching his maximum salary. Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported that Irving's trade push comes on the heels of the Nets failing to offer him a suitable extension. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Irving has informed Brooklyn he plans to leave in free agency if he is not traded before next Thursday's deadline. It's worth asking, though, if Irving can even find the max offer he seemingly covets as an unrestricted free agent. The Lakers, his long-rumored preferred destination , can only create around $34 million in cap space. That's plenty, but it's far off of the roughly $47 million a 10-year veteran like Irving will be able to demand under next year's projected $134 million cap. Beyond Los Angeles, six teams are pro...

We're just past the halfway point of the 2022-23 NBA regular season, and just as there is great parity among the teams at the forefront the title conversation, it would appear there is very little separation among the MVP candidates at this point as well.  And yet, six of our eight staff picks go to the same guy. I'll give you a hint: He would be the first three-time winner since Larry Bird in the mid-eighties. Yes, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic would take home the award halfway through this season, our staff says, but there are also votes for Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum, who should keep the MVP race interesting in the second half. There's a lot of agreement on all our award picks at this juncture, with two of them coming out unanimous : Paolo Banchero as Rookie of the Year and Malcolm Brogdon as Sixth Man of the Year. Below you can see where our CBS Sports staff stands on the halfway-point MVP, Defens...