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      N.B.A. Power Rankings: The Utah Jazz Are Hitting All the Right Notes

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      Once a season, Marc Stein provides a more detailed assessment of the N.B.A.’s 1-to-30 landscape than the standings do.The funky basketball calendar in use this season has thrown everyone off in the N.B.A. That includes writers unaccustomed to covering a regular season broken into halves, with the All-Star Game and trade deadline in March and a postseason that doesn’t begin until mid-May.Running my once-a-season N.B.A. Power Rankings in January made little sense this season, when opening night fell on Dec. 22. So we pushed our annual team-by-team progress report closer to playoff time — with the goal, as always, to present a more detailed assessment of the league’s 1-to-30 landscape than the standings do, measuring what is happening in the present against each team’s big-picture outlook.The rash of injuries sustained by so many high-profile players, particularly on teams expected to compete for a championship, complicated evaluations for the Committee (of One), as it was named at its inception entering the 2002-3 season. Yet there was one clear choice for the committee: The Utah Jazz had to be ranked No. 1.For all the valid questions about its playoff credentials, and how Donovan Mitchell will bounce back from a significant right ankle sprain, Utah has earned that status through its unerring solidity in a season that, because of the pandemic challenges, has made consistency such a scarce commodity.Statistics were current through Saturday’s games.1. Utah JazzDonovan Mitchell has led the Jazz to the top of the pack, where Bobby Portis and the Bucks have also established position.Alex Goodlett/Getty ImagesGolden State’s Steve Kerr warned people in January that Utah was “where we were three or four years ago.” Utah has duly held the N.B.A.’s best record for more than 80 consecutive days since Feb. 2, and is the only team that ranks in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Jazz are optimistic Donovan Mitchell’s recent ankle injury was not as severe as it looked, but they also know they can’t truly hush skeptics until they perform in the playoffs more like Golden State.2. Phoenix SunsThe Suns quickly progressed from last season’s darlings in the Walt Disney World bubble to a full-fledged fascination. They are rarely mentioned as a championship contender because the team, which hasn’t made the playoffs in a decade, is virtually bereft of postseason experience beyond Chris Paul and Jae Crowder. But after Paul landed in the backcourt alongside Devin Booker, Phoenix is a tidy 34-9 since its 8-8 start and has been healthier than any other team in our top 10.3. Los Angeles ClippersThe Clippers are the healthier of the two title contenders in Tinseltown — barely. Kawhi Leonard (foot) and Paul George (toe) have been in and out of the lineup, Serge Ibaka (back) has been sidelined since mid-March, and then there’s the team’s psyche. Even during a 17-3 surge, skepticism persists about how this group will respond to postseason adversity. Last summer’s second-round collapse against Denver in the bubble was that gnarly.4. NetsAs if the Nets weren’t sufficiently fascinating with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they traded for James Harden in January to lean into chasing a championship with little regard for defense. Yet recurring injury woes for Harden and Durant mean they will also be trying to win it all without continuity, as those two have played alongside Irving in only seven games. Some comfort for Nets fans: This team is 26-8 when only two of its three stars play.5. Philadelphia 76ersBen Simmons’s offensive struggles since the All-Star break are easier to stomach when Joel Embiid is mounting a serious push to win the Most Valuable Player Award. A 2-1 record this season against the Nets, good for the tiebreaker over them in the race for the East’s No. 1 seed, doesn’t hurt, either. The Sixers’ case to be labeled East favorites, however, is weakened by their own health concerns: Embiid has missed 19 games, Simmons 12.6. Milwaukee BucksThe Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo to anchor their roster for a while.Aaron Gash/Associated PressThe Committee has said often that persuading Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign a five-year, $228 million contract extension was on par with winning a championship for the small-market Bucks. They likewise improved their chances of winning the actual championship by acquiring Jrue Holiday and P.J. Tucker to flank Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. The problem: Without the No. 1 seed that it earned the previous two seasons, Milwaukee might have to beat the Nets and Philadelphia just to reach the N.B.A. finals.7. Denver NuggetsOne of the worst aspects of Jamal Murray’s tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee is that it didn’t just severely dent the Nuggets’ title hopes this season. Because the N.B.A. intends to return to its usual October-to-June schedule, Murray could miss most of next season, too. It’s such a dispiriting blow after the Nuggets, buoyed by Nikola Jokic’s ascension to M.V.P. favorite, had just made a go-for-it trade to acquire Orlando’s Aaron Gordon before losing Murray.8. Los Angeles LakersAnthony Davis can’t help the Lakers if he’s injured.Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesThe Lakers’ ceiling is simply too high with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup to drop them out of the top 10. It has also been so long since we’ve seen the reigning champions’ twin pillars healthy that it’s hard, for the moment, to put them any higher. Not until Davis (who missed 30 games with Achilles’ tendon and calf issues) and James (out since March 20 with a high ankle sprain) show us they’ve truly healed.9. KnicksJulius Randle has sparked the Knicks’ unlikely resurgence, and at this point could probably be elected mayor.Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports, via ReutersNine consecutive wins have led to an unexpected top-10 berth for the Knicks, who finished in the bottom 10 in defensive rating for four successive seasons before Tom Thibodeau’s hiring as coach. With the relentless Thibodeau getting maximum effort from an unremarkable roster, the Knicks are ensconced as a top-five defensive team. Factor in the significant improvements made by the newly minted All-Star Julius Randle and, more recently, RJ Barrett, and you have the recipe for just the Knicks’ fourth winning season in the 21st century.10. Boston CelticsJayson Tatum and the Celtics are bouncing back.Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAn 8-3 surge helped the Celtics shed their status as the most disappointing team in the league and rejoin the hunt for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Jayson Tatum has bounced back strongly from having Covid-19, though he said he has had to use an inhaler before games for the first time in his life. Also: Jaylen Brown continues to have a breakout season, Kemba Walker looks more like himself lately after persistent knee trouble and Danny Ainge, Boston’s under-fire team president, upgraded the roster with Evan Fournier and Jabari Parker, albeit after striking out on bigger targets.11. Atlanta HawksNate McMillan has guided the surprising Hawks.Derick Hingle/Associated PressPutting Nate McMillan in charge has made such a difference that he may actually snag some votes for the Coach of the Year Award without coaching the whole season. Since McMillan replaced Lloyd Pierce on March 1, Atlanta is 19-7, with a finally healthy Bogdan Bogdanovic (21.5 points per game in April) and Clint Capela (38 double-doubles this season) emerging as key contributors who prevent the opposition from loading up on Trae Young. Capela merits much more support than he’s getting to be named defensive player of the year.12. Dallas MavericksThe good news: The Mavericks have one of the league’s easiest remaining schedules, according to Tankathon. The troubling news: They appear to need the help, judging by disturbing home losses to the Knicks and the Kings right after Luka Doncic stole a game against the Grizzlies with a stunning 3-point fling at the buzzer. Despite Doncic’s usual dominance, Kristaps Porzingis has missed 20 of 59 games and Dallas squandered repeated opportunities to capitalize on Portland’s recent funk before finally swiping the West’s No. 6 seed.13. Miami HeatFor all the understandable focus on the Lakers’ injury woes and the challenges posed by the shortest off-season in N.B.A. history, Miami has been coping with the same problems since losing to Los Angeles in last season’s finals. A steady stream of their own roster disruptions and struggles for various members of the Heat’s supporting cast might have already cost them the opportunity to seize the East’s up-for-grabs No. 4 seed now that teams around them are heating up.14. Golden State WarriorsStephen Curry has regained his M.V.P. form at age 33.Michael Dwyer/Associated PressHe tends to resist such compliments because he believes there’s always another gear to hit, but Stephen Curry is playing the most spectacular basketball of his life at age 33. He’s averaging 38.2 points per game in April and should get the short-handed Warriors to the play-in tournament, even though he is routinely enveloped by the thickest of defensive swarms with Klay Thompson still sidelined.15. Memphis GrizzliesIn a loaded West, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see the Grizzlies fail to match last season’s ninth-place finish. A defiant Ja Morant, helped by a resurgent Jonas Valanciunas and under-the-radar coaching savvy from Taylor Jenkins, has kept Memphis in the playoff hunt. Jaren Jackson Jr., widely regarded as Memphis’s second-best player before injuring his knee at the end of last season, only just returned to the lineup last week.16. Charlotte HornetsGordon Hayward is healthy and helping the Hornets.Doug Mcschooler/Associated PressThe Hornets are Knicks Southeast, meaning they’re the other feel-good story in the Eastern Conference — with much less fanfare compared with what’s happening in Gotham. After initial fears that he might miss the rest of the season, LaMelo Ball is nearing a return from a broken wrist that should cement him as the league’s rookie of the year. Gordon Hayward, when healthy, has lived up to his four-year, $120 million contract. And Coach James Borrego has held this team together through its numerous injuries.17. Portland Trail BlazersThe Blazers survived the extended injury absences of Jusuf Nurkic (10 weeks) and CJ McCollum (eight weeks), largely thanks to frequent offensive detonations from Damian Lillard. But a recent slide has put Portland at risk to land in the playoff play-in round — just like last season — after a lengthy stay in the West’s top six. Defenses are swarming Lillard with greater success as the season wears on, while Portland’s porous defense has dipped to a lowly 29th.18. San Antonio SpursGregg Popovich, who turned 72 in January, is getting the most out of a team that wasn’t expected to do much — to no one’s surprise. DeMar DeRozan has expanded his game, as a playmaker and leader, to supplement San Antonio’s top-10 defense. No team, though, faced a more unenviable second-half schedule, with the Spurs required to play 40 games in 67 days after they were hit by a coronavirus outbreak in February.19. Washington WizardsBradley Beal’s insistence on staying with Washington and delaying potential trade conversations until the off-season is making more and more sense. Russell Westbrook’s recent renaissance (13 triple-doubles in his past 15 games) and improved team defense have established surging Washington as a likely qualifier for a playoff play-in spot. None of that seemed plausible during the team’s 3-8 start and subsequent coronavirus woes.20. Toronto RaptorsA list of teams most disrupted by the coronavirus must include Washington, Miami, Boston, Memphis and Dallas — and it must be topped by Toronto. The Raptors have spent this entire season in Tampa, Fla., with several players and coaches sidelined by health and safety protocols, and appear increasingly unlikely to avoid a trip to the draft lottery just two years removed from a championship run.21. Indiana PacersMyles Turner, a fearsome shot blocker, is out with a toe injury.Aj Mast/Associated PressFew teams illustrate the wacky nature of this pandemic season and a leaguewide erosion of home-court advantage better than the Pacers. They are an unsightly 11-17 at home, yet have clung to a spot in the East’s top 10 with a 17-14 road record. The challenge now is hanging on for three more weeks to advance to the play-in round after losing the imposing Myles Turner, who leads the league in blocked shots, to a toe injury. The All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis (back) is also ailing.22. New Orleans PelicansIn Year 2, Zion Williamson made his first All-Star Game, established himself as a ridiculously efficient offensive force and more than met the lofty expectations he generated coming out of Duke. Trouble is, for all the damage Williamson does inside overpowering opponents and shooting 61.8 percent from the field, New Orleans is fading out of contention for the West’s final play-in spot. Stan Van Gundy’s hiring as coach hasn’t had the desired impact.23. Chicago BullsBulls fans eager to see a big swing from the new front-office regime led by Arturas Karnisovas finally got one at the trade deadline when Chicago acquired the All-Star center Nikola Vucevic to team with Zach LaVine. Ending the fans’ wait for a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17, when the Bulls still had Jimmy Butler, is proving to be trickier. Even with the productive Vucevic, Chicago is a shaky 6-11 since the trade and facing questions about the timing it chose to make a win-now trade.24. Sacramento KingsTwo nine-game losing streaks have overshadowed the productive play De’Aaron Fox has delivered since signing a $163 million contract extension in November, setting up the Kings to miss the playoffs for a hard-to-believe 15th consecutive season. More than half of that depressing drought will belong to Vivek Ranadive, who is in his eighth season as the Kings’ owner.25. Oklahoma City ThunderYou have to go back to the Thunder’s maiden season in Oklahoma City in 2007-8 for the last time they had a losing streak as long as their current 13-gamer. Check back in July, after the draft lottery, if you wish to see the Thunder thriving, since they are clearly (and understandably) prioritizing draft position these days. They have amassed 18 first-round picks, 17 second-rounders and the right to swap four more first-rounders in the next seven drafts — all part of a long-range plan like no other.26. Detroit PistonsJerami Grant gives hope to long-suffering Pistons fans.Carlos Osorio/Associated PressJerami Grant has played so well in his first season as a Piston that teams were trying to persuade Troy Weaver, Detroit’s new general manager, to immediately trade him. Some of Weaver’s roster choices have been questioned, but promise from the rookies Saddiq Bey (one Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award already to his credit) and Isaiah Stewart (17.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game in one recent three-game stretch), on top of Grant’s progress, have long-suffering Pistons fans feeling cautiously optimistic.27. Minnesota TimberwolvesThe Timberwolves’ new coach, Chris Finch, who worked in Denver as Nikola Jokic was rising to prominence, is trying to similarly expand Karl-Anthony Towns’s game. Towns and his good friend D’Angelo Russell are finally both healthy, Anthony Edwards is a constant presence in highlight reels and Alex Rodriguez (yes, that A-Rod) is trying to buy the team. There’s a lot going on, but sadly nothing to make you forget that this will be Minnesota’s 16th playoff miss in 17 seasons.28. Orlando MagicAt this early stage, Orlando has reason to feel hopeful about its decision in March to trade away the long-tenured threesome of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier. More telling grades will depend on how Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz recover from their serious knee injuries, but Wendell Carter Jr., acquired from Chicago in the Vucevic trade, is off to a promising start.29. Cleveland CavaliersIn early February, with the Cavaliers at 10-11, Collin Sexton wrote a piece for The Players’ Tribune titled “Back on the Map.” The team promptly lost its next 10 games and has spent the last two months mired in losing and an injury crunch. Kevin Love, one of the last remaining links to Cleveland’s glory days, has averaged 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in April, but remains difficult to trade with two years and $60.2 million left on his contract.30. Houston RocketsAfter waiting 20 years to get his first head coaching job, Stephen Silas has endured the longest of rookie seasons. James Harden’s holdout, Russell Westbrook’s trade to Washington, six roller-coaster weeks coaching Harden, Harden’s trade to the Nets — and all of that followed by copious amounts of losing, injuries and scrutiny. The indignity of it all: Houston loses its top draft pick to Oklahoma City if it falls outside the top four of the draft lottery. More

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      Anthony Edwards Will Dunk on You. And Beat You in Ping-Pong?

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      The Minnesota Timberwolves are not good this season. But Edwards, their rookie No. 1 draft pick? He is giving fans many reasons to watch (and listen).As a senior at Holy Spirit Preparatory School in Atlanta, Anthony Edwards commuted about an hour each way from his home in the southern reaches of the city. In addition to the geographical distance, the challenge was that he had no reliable mode of transportation. So he would lean on friends, family members, neighbors and coaches to ferry him back and forth. They wanted to help.“People just enjoyed being around him,” said Tysor Anderson, Edwards’s coach at Holy Spirit, who was among those who gave him occasional rides.Anderson, though, was more impressed that Edwards somehow made it work — that he was resourceful enough to find his way to school each morning. “He figured it out,” Anderson said.Edwards’s ability to figure things out is a skill that he has been working to apply this season as a first-year shooting guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a longtime fixer-upper franchise. As the top overall pick in last year’s N.B.A. draft, Edwards, 19, has been the center of attention for a struggling team, offering the Timberwolves’ fans some hope for the future.Glimpses of that future have come in the form of a 42-point performance against the Phoenix Suns and highlight-reel plays, including a dunk against the Toronto Raptors that was so explosive Edwards immediately peered toward the Jumbotron above center court so that he could watch a replay.“I was like, ‘Damn, that’s crazy,’” he said.Edwards, who appears to be 6 feet 4 inches and 225 pounds of tightly coiled springs, is averaging 18.3 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are 16-44 ahead of their game against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.Edwards has come to be seen as an interesting character off the court as well.Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesEdwards has already revealed himself to be one of the league’s more engaging personalities, a player who has managed to elevate humdrum, pandemic-era video conference calls to high art. There was an interaction with an Irish reporter that went viral after his accent drew admiration from Edwards — “I want to learn how to talk like that,” he said — and, more recently, the rookie’s introduction to Alex Rodriguez, who is nearing a deal to become one of the Timberwolves’ new owners.“I don’t know who that is,” Edwards said in a call with reporters this month.Edwards has since familiarized himself with Rodriguez’s body of work (he used to play baseball), and they even had an exchange on social media.“He was like: ‘What’s up, Anthony? I’m Alex,’” Edwards said. “And I was like, ‘What’s good?’”There are also moments when Edwards sounds like the most confident person on the planet. He is convinced, for example, that he could have played professional baseball. Or football, for that matter. (Once upon a time, he said, he was the best 10-year-old running back “in the world.”) Mere months into his career in amateur table tennis, he considers himself the best player on the Timberwolves. He would like to get involved in the rap game — as a producer and a performer, because why not?“I love music,” he said with a disarming smile.In a way, Edwards seems unaffected by the pressure that comes with being a top pick who will go a long way toward dictating the future of an N.B.A. franchise. And those who know him best say that his temperament makes him uniquely equipped for the role.“I’ve always been struck by how effortlessly himself he is,” said Anderson, now an assistant coach at Jacksonville State. “He laughs. He talks. If he has questions, he asks. If he has an opinion, he opines. And if he doesn’t know about something, he won’t pretend that he does.”Edwards during his career-high 42-point performance against the Suns.Michael Gonzales/NBAE, via Getty ImagesIt has not been an easy season for N.B.A. rookies. Summer league was canceled because of the pandemic, and training camp was abridged. Now the schedule of games is compressed. Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch, who replaced Ryan Saunders on Feb. 22, said that he had been able to organize about a half-dozen practices since he took over and that half of those had been walk-throughs without much on-court activity.In other words, Edwards is learning on the fly against a buffet of far more experienced opponents. Finch, though, has found him to be highly coachable — perhaps too coachable at times.A few weeks ago, Finch stressed to his players that he wanted them to “play through” Karl-Anthony Towns, the team’s starting center and another former No. 1 overall pick. Edwards took the message to heart.“He kind of went through this period where he wasn’t aggressive at all because he was just trying to get the ball to KAT all the time,” Finch said, referring to Towns by his nickname.Edwards, though, is still a teenager who is not all that far removed from Holy Spirit, where he established himself as a star. Shortly after Anderson was hired by the school in 2018, Edwards attended the Pangos All-American Camp in California and made an impression.“Just destroyed everybody,” Anderson said.Edwards was soon on his way to another elite summer showcase, the National Basketball Players Association’s Top 100 Camp, and Anderson knew he had to be there — if only so he could actually meet Edwards. He wanted to make sure that Edwards did not transfer to another high school before the start of his junior season. But the camp was a tough ticket. Anderson called his grandfather, the longtime college coach Lefty Driesell, who had connections.Edwards while he played for Holy Spirit Prep.Gregory Payan/Associated Press“Granddad,” Anderson recalled telling him, “I don’t ask you for much, but I’ve got to get in the building.”Driesell delivered, and Anderson took Edwards to dinner, where they bonded over a conversation about the video game Fortnite. Anderson soon learned more about Edwards and the hardships he had experienced. When Edwards was 14, his mother, Yvette, and his grandmother Shirley both died of cancer. They were enormous figures in his life.“They made me happy,” Edwards said. “So I just try to stay happy.”Edwards wound up staying at Holy Spirit, but only for a season. He was so dominant that he reclassified as a senior so that he could graduate early and enroll at Georgia.“You didn’t have to be a genius to watch one of his games and figure out that this guy didn’t need any more high school basketball,” Anderson said. “He barely needed college basketball.”With the Timberwolves, Edwards has discovered that each game presents a fresh challenge. The N.B.A. is not the N.C.A.A.’s Southeastern Conference.“Everybody on the court is good,” he said. “That’s the difference. Everybody can go.”After Finch got the job, he talked to Edwards about eliminating some of the low-percentage shots cluttering his games — the midrange pull-ups and the 3-pointers that he was launching off the dribble. Finch wanted him to get to the rim, seek contact and attempt more catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, because he was already making a solid percentage of those.“We wanted him to be more efficient,” Finch said. “So much about being a good shooter is getting rid of the bad shots.”Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch has been trying to help Edwards become a more efficient scorer.Stacy Bengs/Associated PressEdwards feels more comfortable now than he did through the first few months of the season, when rookies “don’t know anything,” he said, and his production reflects it. Since the N.B.A. All-Star break in March, Edwards has averaged 23.3 points while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from 3-point range — solid numbers that reflect improvement over the season and still show room for development.For his part, Edwards said he did not have specific goals other than to “be the best version of myself.” And what does that look like? “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m just 19.” More

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      James Harden's Injury May Keep Him Sidelined Until Playoffs

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      A healthy Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have barely played together for the Nets.After a setback for the star guard James Harden in his recovery from a hamstring injury, Nets Coach Steve Nash made the painful admission on Tuesday night that Harden might be sidelined until the start of the N.B.A. postseason next month.The Nets have had a healthy Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving all on the court for just 186 minutes this season across seven games since acquiring Harden from the Houston Rockets in a Jan. 14 trade. Even if Harden can come back before the Nets complete their 14 remaining regular-season games, they will be chasing the first championship in the franchise’s N.B.A. history with less on-court time together for their three stars than any team of recent vintage regarded a title contender.“He’ll be back when he’s back,” Nash said. “That may not be until the playoffs. It may be sooner. I don’t know.”Harden is one of the N.B.A.’s most durable players and played some of the best all-around basketball of his career in his first three months as a Net before missing the Nets’ first two games in April with a strained right hamstring. He has missed nine of the Nets’ last 10 games; missing seven games with Houston during the 2017-18 season was the previous longest absence of Harden’s career. Before their 134-129 victory on Tuesday night in New Orleans, the Nets announced that Harden had suffered a setback during an off-court rehabilitation session on Monday that will keep him out indefinitely.“He just felt it,” Nash said. “He didn’t fall or stumble or anything out of the ordinary. He just felt something maybe in the ballpark of a strain. Then the scan revealed he did suffer a setback. So not much more to it other than just disappointment and that we have to rebuild and get him going again.”Durant also missed the New Orleans game as he recovers from a thigh contusion he sustained in Miami on Sunday when he absorbed a knee from the Heat’s Trevor Aria. Durant only recently returned to the lineup after missing 23 games with a hamstring strain of his own that brought an abrupt end to his hot start this season in a comeback from the torn right Achilles’ tendon that cost him all of last season.After scoring 32 points in the victory over the Pelicans, Irving acknowledged the growing possibility that the “reps” he said he hoped to get alongside Durant and Harden before the playoffs begin may not materialize. “If we’re not able to get that, then we’ll have to figure it out,” Irving said. He added that “it’s not easy to just take games off and come back in — for anyone.”Harden last played on April 5, when he left a victory over the Knicks after logging just four minutes. He is averaging 25.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 10.9 assists as a Net. Durant is averaging 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists but has played in only 24 of the Nets’ 58 games.The Nets were also rocked last week by the sudden retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge, a recent signee and seven-time N.B.A. All-Star. In his 15th season and after just five games with the Nets, Aldridge decided to leave the sport immediately because of an irregular heartbeat.The New York Times reported on Monday that the Nets are in advanced contract talks with the former Phoenix and New Orleans guard Mike James, with a signing expected by week’s end after James satisfies the league’s Covid-19 testing requirements based on its health and safety protocols. After a tumultuous season with CSKA Moscow in Russia, James was recently released from his contract to pursue N.B.A. opportunities. More

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      Nobody Saw the Knicks Coming

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      Behind Julius Randle, the Knicks have become one of the N.B.A.’s most surprising — and best defensive — teams. Kristaps Porzingis, who?If the Knicks had known how well Julius Randle would play for Coach Tom Thibodeau, presumably they would not have selected Obi Toppin, who essentially plays the same position, with the eighth overall pick in November’s N.B.A. draft.If Knicks fans had known what Randle would become in his second season in New York, maybe they would not have despaired to such extremes when Kristaps Porzingis was traded to Dallas in January 2019.If anyone had known Randle could transform himself from a career 29.5 percent shooter from 3-point range into a 40.5 percent shooter this season, and dared to say so, chances are such bold souls would not have been believed. Randle’s improvement from deep, after all, is the most significant midcareer increase in long-distance shooting proficiency in league history.You can look it up: Randle is on pace to become the first N.B.A. player to enter a season with a 3-point success rate below 30 percent (on more than 500 attempts) and then shoot 40 percent or better on 3s (with a minimum of 150 attempts), according to research from the noted statistical expert Justin Kubatko.“The big thing is, when he added the 3-point shot,” Thibodeau said last week, “that just opened up everything else.”Thibodeau was referring to Randle’s game, but he might as well have been talking about the entire franchise. Ignited by Randle’s improvement, the Knicks are having the kind of enjoyable season that so many teams, even with better records, have not had because of pandemic challenges and injury woes.It’s a season that, based on pretty much any reputable projection in December, was supposed to end with, at best, 25 wins for the Knicks. After Tuesday’s victory over Charlotte, they are 32-27 and hold a seven-game winning streak that ranks as the N.B.A.’s longest active unbeaten run. The Nets are New York’s championship contenders, but the Knicks — the city’s true basketball love — appear headed, at worst, for a spot in the playoff play-in round after missing the postseason for seven consecutive years.The Knicks, largely at Thibodeau’s urging, chased Gordon Hayward in free agency, when the gruff new coach wasn’t sure that his team had a foundational player. Hayward chose to sign with the Hornets, who were willing to go to a financial level ($120 million over four years) that Thibodeau’s bosses deemed too rich, given Hayward’s age and injury history. Randle soon illustrated that the roster wasn’t nearly as barren as feared.“The biggest thing is Ju is setting the tempo every night with putting pressure on the rim, putting pressure on the defense, and we’re trying to play around him,” said Derrick Rose, the former All-Star acquired by the Knicks from Detroit in February to bolster the bench.In March, Randle became the Knicks’ only current All-Star when he was named to the team for the first time. As of Monday, 58 games into the 72-game schedule, he had played in 57 and was averaging 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists, while shooting that 40.5 percent from 3-point range. Those offensive numbers have been matched or exceeded by only one player this season — Denver’s Nikola Jokic, a favorite for the Most Valuable Player Award — and only one player reached them before this season: Larry Bird in 1984-85, one of three M.V.P. seasons for the Boston Celtics star.After four consecutive 30-point games, something no other Knick had managed since Carmelo Anthony in 2014, Randle on Monday was named the N.B.A.’s player of the week in the Eastern Conference. Yet it was Friday’s masterpiece in Dallas, Randle’s hometown, that gave the Knicks their most significant jolt of positivity since, well, who can even remember?Lined up against Porzingis, and a Mavericks team many thought had fleeced the Knicks in the Porzingis deal, Randle rumbled for 44 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in the Knicks’ 117-109 victory. Perhaps it’s no accident that Randle had such a big game in his lone appearance of the season back home. The franchises and their fan bases have seemingly been locked in a staredown since the trade, constantly seeking validation that their team chose the right course. Dallas is also where Randle did most of his shooting and fitness work in the off-season.While performances like that can’t undo how little the Knicks got out of the Porzingis trade, Randle’s improved shooting and playmaking have allowed fans to stop dwelling on the aspects of the deal that didn’t work out. That means focusing on the two first-round draft picks that the Knicks received in the deal from Dallas, rather than Dennis Smith Jr.’s disappointing play until he was traded to Detroit for Rose — or how DeAndre Jordan, instead of helping to recruit Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to the Knicks, wound up joining them with the Nets.One season of strong 3-point shooting certainly doesn’t put Randle in the same sentence as Golden State’s Stephen Curry, but one thing Randle and Curry share is that they made the most of extended off-seasons after their teams failed to qualify to play at last summer’s N.B.A. restart at Walt Disney World. Curry told me in February that he’d had the most productive off-season of his career. The same holds for Randle, who recently described himself as “obsessive over” broadening his shooting range before this season.“He’s prepared himself for this,” Thibodeau said. “You can’t forget that.”This pairing of player and coach also turned out to be a better-than-anticipated match. Randle was regarded for years as a major defensive liability but has responded the hard-driving Thibodeau’s prodding with more engaged defense. For all the skepticism about Thibodeau’s ability to nurture a younger team, the Knicks awoke Tuesday with the league’s third-best defense.Thibodeau, as a result, is up there with Phoenix’s Monty Williams and Utah’s Quin Snyder as a contender to be named coach of the year, while Randle is a favorite for the Most Improved Player award — and a potential All-N.B.A. selection.I must reiterate that I still find it jarring to see Randle wearing No. 30, which the Knicks should have retired long ago in tribute to Bernard King. Full disclosure: King was my favorite player throughout high school, but he also won an N.B.A. scoring title in 1984-85 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Those achievements trump any suggestion that he wasn’t in New York long enough for his number to hang in the Madison Square Garden rafters.I called King on Tuesday to get his view. “It’s always strange for me, just a little bit, when I see No. 30 running up and down the court,” he said, but added that he is a Randle admirer who watches every Knicks game he can from his home in Atlanta.“I’m a Knick,” King said.For those of us who have lost hope that the Knicks will ever remove those digits from circulation in King’s honor, there is a hint of consolation in the knowledge that Randle, the fourth player to wear No. 30 since King left the Knicks for Washington in 1987, is the first to perform at a level reminiscent of King.What it says on the front of the jersey apparently means just as much to Randle, too.“I’m damn proud to be a Knick,” Randle wrote in March in an essay for The Players’ Tribune.The Scoop @TheSteinLineCorner ThreeA reader said that he was a fan of Julius Erving (6) in the 1970s and that “nobody I’ve ever watched since has recreated that kind of excitement and electricity.”Associated PressYou ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.(Questions may be condensed or slightly edited for clarity.)Q: Knowing your fondness for both basketball and soccer, what was your perspective on the proposed European Super League? The idea that there would be reserved slots in a breakaway soccer league for 12 to 15 founding clubs and a few rotating slots set aside for qualifying teams looks very much like the current EuroLeague basketball setup. Why is this format deemed OK in basketball but not soccer? — Stew Levine (Plano, Texas)Stein: If European basketball had all the best players in the world, as do the elite teams in European soccer that wanted to break away from UEFA and form their own version of the Champions League, there would be a similarly raucous outcry about the EuroLeague template. EuroLeague basketball doesn’t have anywhere near the same mass following as soccer’s Champions League because the best basketball players in the world are overwhelmingly in the N.B.A.Yet it’s great that you brought up the EuroLeague, because the link here wasn’t being mentioned enough. Many in Europe described the Super League proposal as a desire among the owners of the 12 breakaway clubs in England, Spain and Italy to adopt an American major league sports model, at least in part because of the influence of American owners in the group who also own N.F.L., N.B.A. and Major League Baseball franchises. Another handy way of looking at it was that they wanted to adopt a EuroLeague basketball approach, in which Europe’s traditional powers were essentially assured of staying in the league no matter how they fared in their domestic leagues, with elements of the American franchise system mixed in.Owners of the richest soccer clubs abroad surely envy many things when they compare the Champions League to the N.B.A. or the N.F.L. They want a league that their teams don’t have to qualify for every season, that carries no threat of relegation, and that has the most high-profile clubs playing each other more often — all to collect more television and commercial revenue without having to share as much as they do now. Even though their ambitions swiftly unraveled this week, I think we can safely presume that they would prefer the EuroLeague structure, which still falls under FIBA’s jurisdiction, over fully embracing the N.B.A.’s template.To truly adopt the American model for major league team sports would mean signing up for a salary cap (with luxury-tax penalties) and, if not some sort of draft procedure, likely a league office headed by an independent commissioner to keep order. The teams at the heart of the Super League proposal don’t have to deal with any of that now and are presumably prepared to go only so far in reinventing themselves.Also: There is an interesting N.B.A. footnote to all of this. Leading up to the Champions League final, I wrote this piece in May 2019 about the N.B.A.’s growing interest in working a soccer-style cup competition into the middle of its regular-season schedule. The N.B.A.’s thinking: Adding an extra trophy for teams to chase might give the 82-game regular-season grind more meaning and excitement.Financial distress for even soccer’s richest clubs because of the pandemic was certainly a factor in the Super League proposal, but I can’t say I expected the Champions League’s existence to be challenged so overtly before the N.B.A. could launch its experiment.Q: He’s still playing? What is he, like, 50? — @BoltBill from TwitterStein: I’ve been getting this question a lot since I reported on Monday that the Nets were in advanced talks to sign Mike James, the former Phoenix and New Orleans guard.This is the Mike James, 30, who played briefly in the N.B.A. during the 2017-18 season, spent much of the past two seasons at CSKA Moscow in Russia and has mostly played overseas since turning professional in 2014-15.The Mike James you referred to in your question is 45, last appeared in the N.B.A. in the 2013-14 season and played on 11 different teams, including two stints each with Houston and Chicago.Q: My N.B.A. fandom started in Southern California when my parents amazingly got a television for my brother’s and my bedroom in 1968. Wilt Chamberlain had joined the Lakers, Jerry West was the resident star and I was hooked. Then in 1976, I lived for three months in Park Slope in Brooklyn in a rent-controlled apartment. One of the residents on our floor had the Nets’ games on local television and a bunch of us would crowd into the apartment to watch games.I vividly remember that, at least once a game, Julius Erving would do something unexpected and breathtaking. Nobody I’ve ever watched since has recreated that kind of excitement and electricity. As good as Dr. J was in the N.B.A. with Philadelphia, it doesn’t compare to how good he was as a Net in the A.B.A. The next tier for me would be Connie Hawkins, Vince Carter and Zion Williamson, but Erving was at a different level. — Richard NeumanStein: Sometimes a nostalgic story is as good as an insightful question. I think we’ve established by now how much I love to reminisce about the 1970s and 1980s N.B.A., so thanks for sending this in.Talk about the 1970s Nets has picked up in recent weeks given the team’s emerging status as championship contenders and the fast-approaching 45th anniversary of the Nets’ last A.B.A. game on May 13, 1976.Allow me to refer you to this wonderful recent piece from my colleague Harvey Araton, the retired New York Times columnist, on how some of the principles from the Nets’ glory days (Kevin Loughery, Rod Thorn and Dr. J himself) still wonder about what might have been if the Nets hadn’t sold the rights to Erving to fund their move into the N.B.A. in 1976.Numbers GameBernard King won the league’s scoring title in the 1984-85 season.Larry C. Morris30The four players to wear No. 30 for the Knicks since Bernard King left the franchise in 1987 are Frank Williams (2003-4), Earl Barron (2010), John Jenkins (2019) and Julius Randle, starting in the 2019-20 season.19,951LaMarcus Aldridge, who abruptly announced his retirement last week because of a heart condition, was drafted in 2006. Since that draft, Aldridge and LeBron James are the only two players to record at least 19,000 points and 8,000 rebounds. With 19,951 career points, Aldridge was 49 shy of 20,000 when he walked away.12One of the most notable achievements in Aldridge’s N.B.A. career was not statistical: He was the most coveted player in the N.B.A.’s 2015 free-agent class and lured San Antonio back to the marketplace after Coach Gregg Popovich — foiled in his attempt to persuade Jason Kidd to leave the Nets in July 2003 — had essentially sworn off competing for top free agents for more than a decade.42When he scored 42 points in a recent loss to Utah, Luguentz Dort became the first Oklahoma City player to reach the 40-point plateau before his 22nd birthday since Kevin Durant, who did it 12 times in his first three seasons with the Thunder franchise, including once as a rookie in Seattle. Dort, a noted defensive specialist, also hounded Utah’s Donovan Mitchell into a 7-for-16 shooting performance in the same game. Mitchell had averaged 40.5 points in his previous four games.39.1Golden State’s Stephen Curry entered Monday’s game at Philadelphia having averaged 39.1 points on 54.6 percent shooting over his previous 10 games. The last player to assemble a 10-game stretch that matched Curry in both categories was Chicago’s Michael Jordan, who averaged 39.4 points on 59.4 percent shooting over a 10-game stretch late in the 1989-90 season, according to Basketball Reference.Curry then scored 49 points in a victory over the 76ers on Monday and his April tear (nearly 41 points per game) has hiked his scoring average for the season up to a league-leading 31.4 points per game. Curry, who turned 33 in March, is on track to join Jordan on the short list of players to average at least 30 points per game for an entire season at age 32 or older.Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@thesteinline). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. 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      Kobe Bryant’s Nike Contract Expired. The Implications Are Complex.

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      The end of the deal has no analogue in basketball or sneaker history, opening a hole in the market as Bryant’s shoes have been used heavily by N.B.A. athletes and have seen high demand among the public since his death.The most popular shoes on the N.B.A. hardwood for the last several seasons were not the signature sneakers endorsed by the top active players, like Nike’s LeBron James or Adidas’s Damian Lillard. They were not the shoes endorsed by the man who practically invented the modern sneaker game, Michael Jordan.Instead they were Nike’s line of Kobe Bryant’s signature sneakers, which were worn by 103 players last season — about 20 percent of the league’s players — according to the sneaker website Baller Shoes DB. Many W.N.B.A. players, like the Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd, also wear Bryant’s signature sneakers.But soon those players will need to find new shoes, at least if they want to play in brand-new pairs. Nike confirmed Monday that its contract with the estate of Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash last year, expired last week.“Kobe Bryant was an important part of Nike’s deep connection to consumers,” a Nike spokesman, Josh Benedek, said in a statement. “He pushed us and made everyone around him better. Though our contractual relationship has ended, he remains a deeply loved member of the Nike family.”In the uncertainty over Bryant’s continued endorsement deal for basketball shoes and apparel, a number of issues collide: what professional basketball players wear on the court, the demand from consumers for Bryant merchandise and how a person’s name and image are used, even after their death.Nike has a short window in which it can continue selling the shoes and apparel featuring Bryant that it has already manufactured, but soon that merchandise will disappear from Nike’s website and store shelves.Switching shoe companies is not uncommon for top basketball players, whose sneaker contracts can pay tens of millions of dollars annually and rival or even exceed their N.B.A. contracts in value. Bryant signed with Adidas before he entered the N.B.A., in 1996, then signed with Nike in 2003 after his Adidas deal ended. Even as some major sponsors dropped Bryant when he was accused of sexual assault, Nike, which had signed Bryant shortly before he was arrested, stood by him.The current situation with Bryant’s estate has no analogue in basketball or sneaker history. Signature basketball shoes really only began to gain prominence in the late 1980s, and barely any N.B.A. superstars from that era or later have died, let alone at a young age like Bryant, who was 41.Different versions of Nike shoes were left at a mural honoring Bryant shortly after his death.Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York TimesThe closest comparisons are perhaps Chuck Taylor, the namesake of Converse’s famed Chuck Taylor All-Stars, whose shoes remain popular 50 years after his death, or Maya Moore, the W.N.B.A. star and Jordan Brand endorser, who has sat out the past few seasons to focus on social justice. But the strained analogies suggest the past provides little hint of what will happen next.Almost all N.B.A. players are endorsed by one sneaker company or another. But only a handful have lines of shoes named after them, fewer have popular lines that sell tens or hundreds of millions of dollars worth of merchandise annually and even fewer stay popular in retirement. In the 1990s, a handful of W.N.B.A. stars had shoe deals, including Sheryl Swoopes, who was the first female athlete to have a signature basketball sneaker.Nike clearly believed that Bryant’s appeal extended into retirement, signing him to a new five-year agreement on the day of his final N.B.A. game: April 13, 2016. Bryant played his final season in the Kobe 11s, the 11th edition of his sneaker line. After his retirement, Nike released a new line of sneakers styled as Kobe A.D., or anno Domini, the Latin phrase that means “in the year of the Lord.”Nike’s Jordan brand, and its continued release of Air Jordan sneakers, remains quite popular, but as everyday fashion shoes; N.B.A. players rarely wear Air Jordans during games these days. Bryant attempted to buck that trend in retirement, with Nike releasing Bryant “protro” shoes: retro Bryant shoes updated with modern professional performance features.While they were popular with basketball players, Bryant’s sneakers were not always the most popular off the court, worn with jeans or sweats.Before Bryant’s death, the market for his shoes was fairly niche, said Chad Jones, the co-founder of Another Lane, a marketplace for sneaker collectors. “Performance wise, a lot of performance athletes loved Kobe shoes, but fashion wise is really the predictor for how well it will sell to the masses,” Jones said.Nike did not sign Bryant to what is effectively a lifetime contract, like it has done with Jordan and James, raising questions about how much continued value it saw in his name. The Kobe shoes N.B.A. players wore were often limited editions or unique colors that average consumers could not buy, partly explaining why their popularity on the court did not necessarily translate to popularity on the street.Since Bryant’s death, Nike has released new Bryant merchandise, but mostly in limited quantities through its SNKRS app. The shoes have sold out almost immediately, and then showed up for much higher prices on resale markets, leading to accusations that Nike was allowing resellers to profit from Bryant’s death.“When people don’t get them on retail, but on a resale platform for five times or two times the price, they are upset,” Jones said.In a statement posted to Instagram on Monday night, Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, wrote that she was “hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband’s legacy,” and hinted that she will find a way to continue to sell Bryant’s products, perhaps in greater quantities.Vanessa Bryant during the memorial for her husband, Kobe Bryant, and their daughter Gianna Bryant last February.Robert Hanashiro/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“My hope will always be to allow Kobe’s fans to get and wear his products,” she wrote. “Kobe’s products sell out in seconds. That says everything.”If Vanessa Bryant cannot come to an agreement with Nike on a new contract, building a new brand around Kobe could be a challenge. Nike, including brands it owns like Jordan Brand and Converse, controls more than half the sneaker market, with companies like Adidas and Puma as distant competitors. Under Armour, which is endorsed by Golden State’s Stephen Curry, has struggled to break through.Many sneakers are promoted through elaborate back stories about how the player inspired specific design details or guided the design process, and through player-focused advertising campaigns.But what really sells sneakers is players’ connection to culture, or the feelings they evoke in potential consumers, not necessarily winning N.B.A. championships or a shoe’s performance features. Allen Iverson’s rebellious, me-against-the-world persona made his “Answer” shoes from Reebok popular sellers in the 2000s, even though he never won an N.B.A. title.Bryant was not always a popular player, and his early shoes were not top sellers. Through repeated trips to China and success in the Olympics he found fame outside of America’s borders, and as he aged a generation of players entered an N.B.A. that revered him.If the year since his death has shown anything, it is that even into retirement Bryant’s popularity was growing as he made new connections in Hollywood, opened a sports academy and became a prominent and vocal supporter of women’s basketball. More

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      Stephen Curry Breaks Kobe Bryant's Record for Consecutive 30-point Games

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      It is not that Stephen Curry has not been good all season. He has had games of 62 and 57 points, after all. But with his Golden State Warriors mired in mediocrity and players like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid emerging as leading candidates for the Most Valuable Player Award, Curry had faded a bit into the background.That has changed in the last month. After five games away nursing a bruised tailbone, Curry returned and began a streak of 30-point games that has now reached 11, breaking Kobe Bryant’s record for a player who is 33 or older.The run has revived talk of a third M.V.P. trophy for Curry, and the Warriors look like they have a good chance of making the playoffs — as the team that no high seed wants to face.Here’s a look at the 11-game run that turned around Curry’s season, and perhaps Golden State’s, too.Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press1. March 29, vs. Bulls, 32 points, winReturning from his injury, Curry helped the Warriors end a four-game losing streak. “It wasn’t fun, but I got through it,” he said.Mary Holt/USA Today Sports, via Reuters2. April 1, at Heat, 36 points, lossThe attention fell on the Heat debut of Victor Oladipo, and Miami beat Golden State by 7. It would turn out to be the heaviest Warriors loss in their last 11 games, in which the team went 7-4. Curry still managed 11 rebounds, though, his best total of the run.Curry gave his jersey to the rapper Two Chainz after scoring 37 points against the Hawks.John Bazemore/Associated Press3. April 4, at Hawks, 37 points, lossAfter missing a game at Toronto because of the lingering tailbone injury (not coincidentally, the Warriors lost that game by 53 points), Curry was back, wearing protective padding. “He pretty much did whatever he wanted in that first half,” Hawks Coach Nate McMillan said.Jeff Chiu/Associated Press4. April 6, vs. Bucks, 41 points, winFor the first time in the streak the Warriors beat an elite team, getting a 1-point win with a late comeback. Of course, the Bucks badly missed their own star, Giannis Antetokounmpo.Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press5. April 9, vs. Wizards, 32 points, lossPerhaps the poorest performance of the run, despite the 32 points. Curry shot 11 of 25 from the field and his team lost to the middling Wizards at home. Curry missed a long 3-pointer to tie the score as time expired.Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press6. April 10, vs. Rockets, 38 points, winA sixth straight 30-point game made the scoring streak the longest of Curry’s career, and he wasn’t done. “He had a highlight reel worth of plays out there tonight,” Coach Steve Kerr said.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images7. April 12, vs. Nuggets, 53 points, winCurry’s best game thus far and his first 50-point night since February. He had 10 3-pointers, the most so far in his streak, and the start of a run of four of five games with at least 10. Curry also passed Wilt Chamberlain as the Warriors’ career scoring leader.Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press8. April 14, at Thunder, 42 points, winIn the biggest team win of the streak, Golden State beat Oklahoma City by 38 points. Curry shot 14 of 20 and had eight assists. Draymond Green said he knew a big Curry night was coming. “I can kind of tell when he comes out,” Green said. “Just the look in his eyes.” Another 11 3s gave Curry 29 over three games, an N.B.A. record.David Dermer/Associated Press9. April 15, at Cavaliers, 33 points, winA fourth straight win for the Warriors, for the first time this season. Curry was only 4 of 13 from behind the 3-point line but compensated with eight 2-pointers. The Warriors improved to 16-1 in their last 17 games against Cleveland.Michael Dwyer/Associated Press10. April 17, at Celtics, 47 points, lossThe Warriors’ winning streak ended in a closely contested game, and Curry kept scoring, with 11 3s. “It took everything,” said Kemba Walker of the Celtics, adding: “We knew it was going to be tough. These guys are playing so well. Obviously they’ve got one of the best players in the world. He’s incredible.”Matt Slocum/Associated Press11. April 19, at Sixers, 49 points, winThe Warriors took on one of the best teams in the N.B.A. and won. Ten more 3-pointers for Curry, who faced off against his brother, Seth. The 11th straight 30-point game is a record for players 33 and older, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s mark. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like the run he’s on,” Sixers Coach Doc Rivers said.Next up? A visit to Washington on Wednesday night. More

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      Why the Knicks Keep, Ahem, Winning

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      The recently awful Knicks have won six straight behind the All-Star Julius Randle, vintage play from Derrick Rose and tough team defense.It was only an overtime victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the kind of win even pessimistic Knicks fans would have thought possible going into the season.But the win on Sunday was something more: It was the Knicks’ sixth straight; the team hadn’t even won five in a row since 2014.Pessimistic Knicks fans? Who remembers them? New York fans are over the moon about their team and are eagerly looking forward to its first playoff appearance in eight long years.While the streak has included two wins over the Pelicans and one over the Raptors, there were also wins over three legitimate playoff teams, the Grizzlies, the Mavericks and the (admittedly depleted) Lakers.That puts the Knicks at 31-27, sitting in sixth in the N.B.A.’s Eastern Conference and, let’s just say it out loud, only a half-game out of fourth place and home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.The eminently respectable season is all the more surprising because the Knicks were expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. They were a league-worst 17-65 in 2018-19 and 21-45 in the shortened 2019-20 season.Bookmakers this time set their over-under at 22.5 wins for the 72-game season. Over bettors cashed that ticket in March. If the Knicks go .500 the rest of the way, they will finish 38-34, a .528 winning percentage that would be the best since their last playoff appearance in 2013.While the playoffs will be an uphill climb for the Pelicans, they can take heart from the performance of Zion Williamson, whose second season has brought 27 points a game and an All-Star selection. He had 34 against the Knicks on Sunday in his first game at Madison Square Garden as a pro.With the Knicks trailing by 103-100 with 7.8 seconds to go, Derrick Rose drove to the basket, then passed to Reggie Bullock, who made a 3-pointer to tie the score. Pelicans Coach Stan Van Gundy, displeased afterward, confirmed that he had told his team to foul, but it did not manage to. The Knicks pulled away to win comfortably in overtime, 122-112.As for the reasons for the Knicks’ resurgence, No. 1 has to be Julius Randle, who had 33 points on Sunday. He has career highs in points (23.7 per game), rebounds (10.5) and assists (6.1) and made his first All-Star Game. Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets is the only other player in the top 12 in total points, rebounds and assists.The much-traveled Rose, acquired in February, has played well in his second stint with the Knicks, and RJ Barrett could be on his way to stardom, especially if he more consistently hits his 3s.While the team’s offense has its strong points — a .380 3-point percentage ranks sixth in the league — the improvement can be credited in large part to defense.The team ranks third in defensive rating, allowing just 108 points per 100 possessions, trailing only the heralded defenses of the Lakers and the 76ers. Last season, it was 23rd.Although the scale of the transformation is surprising, many did expect a focus on defense this season after the team hired Coach Tom Thibodeau, a defensive specialist, last summer.The 3-point defense has been especially notable. With the Knicks aggressively defending on the perimeter, the team is allowing opponents to shoot just .334 from 3, best in the league. Last season, with more time to shoot, Knicks opponents made 38 percent of their 3s, and the Knicks ranked an abysmal 28th in that category.Nerlens Noel ranks second to only Rudy Gobert of the Jazz in Basketball Reference’s defensive rating, which measures things like blocks (Noel is in the top five), steals, defensive rebounds and forced turnovers. Randle is in the top 10 of defensive rating as well.And the team is doing it all with a payroll under $100 million, the second lowest in the league. Even Knicks haters, who have been dormant for want of a target in recent years, are starting to emerge on social media to duel with exuberant Knicks fans.After years of anger, despair and, even worse, apathy, New Yorkers, and the rest of the league, are starting to take notice of the action at the Garden again. More

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      Regular People Keep Challenging N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. Players

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      There’s confidence, and then there’s thinking you can beat one of the 500 (N.B.A.) or 150 (W.N.B.A.) best basketball players in the world.Of the millions of people around the world who play basketball, fewer than 500 are in the N.B.A. at any given time. Fewer than 150 are in the W.N.B.A. Before retiring in 2012, Brian Scalabrine spent 11 seasons in the N.B.A., far more than the majority of players who have made it to that level. He won a championship as a reserve for the Boston Celtics in 2008. He is 6-foot-9 and roughly 250 pounds.Yet strangers cannot seem to stop challenging Scalabrine to one-on-one games. Last month, a video that went viral showed Scalabrine being challenged at a gym by an overeager high schooler in Taunton, Mass. Scalabrine, playing the teenager for a pair of sneakers, beat him 11-0.These high school kids bet Brian Scalabrine a pair of shoes they could beat him 1-on-1 😅 @brkicks(via joshlopesss/IG) pic.twitter.com/FX2NjbD4Sa— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 23, 2021
      Scalabrine, who averaged 3.1 points per game for his career, said this happens to him regularly, and conversations with other unheralded former players revealed that it’s the same for them. By his own account, Scalabrine, 43, looked “pudgy on television compared to some of the best athletes in the world” and wasn’t known as much of a rebounder or scorer.Even so, Scalabrine survived in the league by developing a reputation for rarely making mistakes, being versatile on defense and shooting the 3.“Being a white N.B.A. player from the suburbs, I have to level up,” said Scalabrine, who is from Long Beach, Calif., and was often referred to as the White Mamba, a play on Kobe Bryant’s Black Mamba nickname.“People don’t understand how a little bit nuts you have to be to sustain an N.B.A. career,” Scalabrine said. “Especially when you’re not that talented. You have to be ready. You have to be up for the fight. You have to be like that every day. And if you’re not, you lose your livelihood.”Scalabrine has, to some degree, invited the ongoing challenges. Shortly after retiring, he took part in a Boston radio station’s “Scallenges” promotion in which top local players played him one on one. Scalabrine won every game by a large margin.Of course, even the top players in the N.B.A. get challenged, often at youth camps they run. Those clips go viral as well, with the stars gleefully blocking shots of children and teenagers several feet shorter than them. Rarely, the challenger will win, as in 2003, when John Rogers, who was then the 45-year-old chief executive of an investment firm, beat the recently retired Michael Jordan in a game of one on one at Jordan’s camp after Jordan had beaten 20 other people in a row.But for players who aren’t, or weren’t, the face of a franchise, they get challenged in a different way, as Michael Sweetney can attest. The former Knick, who played in the N.B.A. for four seasons from 2003 to 2007, said in an interview that he was challenged “all the time.” In fact, Sweetney, 38, said it happened just a few weeks ago by two former high school basketball players who happened to be at a gym in Florida where he was working out with children at a basketball camp.Michael Sweetney playing for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in 2005.Frank Franklin II/Associated Press“I guess they were thinking that since I was far removed and retired that, ‘Hey, I can probably challenge him,’” said Sweetney, who averaged 6.5 points a game in 233 games. “It was funny because they tried to catch me off guard.”Sweetney added: “I was like: ‘I’m just letting you know, I’m not going to take it easy. You challenge me, it’s going to be competitive. It ended up being a situation like Scalabrine. I beat one like 11-2 and the other one was like 11-1.”The two challengers were surprised, said Sweetney, who is now an assistant coach at Yeshiva University. It was another reminder: When a player makes the N.B.A., no matter for how long, he is, in that moment, one of the 500 best basketball players in the world.“Yes, I’m removed,” Sweetney said. “I’m probably not in N.B.A. shape. But you still have talent and people just think if you’re not a superstar, they might have a chance against you.“They don’t know that even the 15th guy on the bench is better than the average person walking down the street.”Scalabrine, who is a television analyst for the Celtics, has taken pleasure in reminding the public of that. End-of-the-bench N.B.A. players may even have to work harder than stars to stay in the league because one missed assignment could be the difference between having a job or not.“I can go into any gym right now and I can find some of the best players going through the motions sometimes,” Scalabrine said. “Can you imagine 15 straight years? Maybe even more like 17, 18 straight years of never going through the motions?”He said professional athletes, even retired ones, have an extra gear that an average person cannot tap into. He referred to it as the “dark place.”“I would always say things, like in a game, ‘If I miss this next shot, my kids are going to die,’” Scalabrine said. “I would say that to myself, just to get through, just to put the pressure so I can lock in and make the shot.”Many W.N.B.A. teams bring in nonprofessional men to play against in practice, which Cheyenne Parker, a 28-year-old forward for the Atlanta Dream entering her seventh season, diplomatically described as “great competition” because “they are strong and fast.”She added, with a laugh: “But skillwise? Yeah.”Parker said she was challenged often — “especially being a tall woman.” She was playing pickup last month in Chicago, where she lives, when a cocky man started trash-talking her.Cheyenne Parker, left, said unfounded confidence leads some people to think they could outplay professional athletes.Mike Carlson/Associated Press“We start the game and I get my first chance to touch the ball. I like to work on my moves during pickup so I do this nice little Kyrie move. I juked him real bad,” Parker said, referring to Kyrie Irving, the Nets star known for his ball-handling skills. “I scored it in his face. Everybody went, ‘Ohhh!’ It was funny.”When asked why amateurs were so willing to challenge journeymen basketball players, Parker said: “The same reason why a guy that I would never, ever give a chance to, still has that confidence to come and approach me and ask for my number. You know? It’s the same type of confidence that these people have to even think that they can beat a professional.”Adonal Foyle, who played in the N.B.A. from 1997 to 2009, mostly as a reserve for Golden State, said he has faced similar challenges in retirement when he goes home to the Caribbean. Basketball players are more likely to be challenged than other athletes, Foyle said, because they are more visible. They don’t wear masks while playing, and fans can sit courtside. But there’s also a misconception among amateurs that athleticism keeps players in the league, he said.“Basketball players at the end of their career are like Chinese movies,” Foyle, 46, said. “You have this Silver Fox. He walks in and he looks like he’s the one from the grave. And then he starts doing karate. And you’re like: ‘Oh my goodness. I didn’t know he could do all that.’”What Scalabrine referred to as “the dark place,” Foyle calls “the stupid gene” — the switch that professional athletes have when their competitiveness is tested.“You go to the gym. You try to play with regular folks. You’re having a good time,” Foyle said. “Somebody tries to dunk over you. Immediately, you flip that switch of, ‘OK, you’re going down.’ To me, what I always worry about is not beating the other person. It is how much my body can take of this stupid gene.”Foyle said he hasn’t played pickup basketball in seven years. Instead, he prefers racquetball, where he “gets beat by 75-year-olds who see themselves as geniuses.”Adonal Foyle during a game against the Denver Nuggets in 2000.Jon Ferrey /Allsport, via Getty Images“Part of the reason for doing it is because I got hurt almost every time I went out and played pickup ball because of that stupid gene,” Foyle said. “You think you can do the things you did 15, 20 years ago and you can’t. You don’t get to turn that person off that has defined your life. I thought it was best not to enter the field.”For Scalabrine, the reason he gets his skills continually questioned goes beyond the confidence of the challengers.“Joakim Noah said it best,” Scalabrine said, referring to his former teammate on the Chicago Bulls. “He said, ‘Scal, you look like you suck, but you don’t suck.’” More