Why Draymond believes Butler makes Warriors ‘real ball club’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s hard to adequately quantify momentum, but it’s something that can’t be ignored when a team is rolling like the Warriors are right now.

Golden State is 14-2 since acquiring All-NBA wing Jimmy Butler via trade, with confidence levels through the roof as the Warriors continue to rack up wins.

Following Saturday’s 97-94 victory over the New York Knicks, Draymond Green offered a very blunt assessment of Butler’s impact on the Warriors.

“It’s a real ball club now,” Green told ABC’s Lisa Salters. “With [Butler] on this team, whether he has 11 points or 30, it makes us a real ball club. And when we’re a real ball club, we usually win championships.”

Golden State’s gritty triumph over New York is the 12th consecutive game the Warriors have won with Butler in the lineup, improving the Dubs’ record to 14-1 overall when the six-time NBA All-Star takes the court for them.

The Warriors long have been synonymous with NBA greatness, and Butler’s presence now allows Green to enter games with a similar confidence Golden State exuded when it spent the better part of a decade at the pinnacle of the sport.

“Feels great. After getting beat up on a little bit the last few years, it feels amazing to just walk in and know that you have a chance to win,” Green told Salters. “That’s what we play for, you put a lot of work in, you want to play on the biggest stage. To put these wins together, it feels amazing.”

The Warriors (39-28) valiantly are hanging on to the Western Conference’s No. 6 playoff seed, with Butler’s presence sparking a crucial newfound energy that has allowed Golden State to keep pace in a frenetic postseason race.

While the days of Golden State’s dynastic dominance might be gone, the belief that they are capable of reaching basketball’s most prestigious mountaintop remain strong as ever.

Whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain — the journey to get there will be must-see television.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers may begin their season-opening Tokyo Series versus the Chicago Cubs without shortstop Mookie Betts. 

Betts, 32, began feeling flu-like symptoms during the final week of spring camp before the team left for Tokyo and continued to feel ill during the flight to Japan and workouts, according to manager Dave Roberts. 

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“He’s been really sick, lost some weight, so we were trying to get him hydrated,” Roberts told reporters, via the Orange County Register.

The Dodgers star did not play in Saturday’s exhibition game versus the Yomiuri Giants, nor in Sunday’s matchup with the Hanshin Tigers.

Betts skipped Friday’s workout but participated in pregame drills on Saturday before the Dodgers played an exhibition game versus the Yomiuri Giants. However, he quickly got tired during a light workout on Sunday. 

“Really showed some fatigue, understandably so,” Roberts said. “We’ll see how he comes in tomorrow. He should be here for the workout. We’ll try to do a little more tomorrow.”

If Betts doesn’t show improvement on Monday, Roberts said he won’t play Tuesday’s season opener against the Cubs.

“I just don’t think our training staff would feel good about that,” Roberts added. “We’re really trying to be mindful of not just Opening Day,” Roberts said. “We don’t want to put him in position where he could get hurt.”

Betts is planning to be the Dodgers’ shortstop this season after beginning last year at the position before moving back to right field, where he’s played most of his career. Despite the position switch, he still batted .289 with an .863 OPS, 19 home runs, 24 doubles, 75 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He was limited to 116 games due to a fractured left hand. 

In Betts’ absence, Miguel Rojas will likely play shortstop for the Dodgers with Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor also providing options at the position. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers may begin their season-opening Tokyo Series versus the Chicago Cubs without shortstop Mookie Betts. 

Betts, 32, began feeling flu-like symptoms during the final week of spring camp before the team left for Tokyo and continued to feel ill during the flight to Japan and workouts, according to manager Dave Roberts. 

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2025 MLB season]

“He’s been really sick, lost some weight, so we were trying to get him hydrated,” Roberts told reporters, via the Orange County Register.

The Dodgers star did not play in Saturday’s exhibition game versus the Yomiuri Giants, nor in Sunday’s matchup with the Hanshin Tigers.

Betts skipped Friday’s workout but participated in pregame drills on Saturday before the Dodgers played an exhibition game versus the Yomiuri Giants. However, he quickly got tired during a light workout on Sunday. 

“Really showed some fatigue, understandably so,” Roberts said. “We’ll see how he comes in tomorrow. He should be here for the workout. We’ll try to do a little more tomorrow.”

If Betts doesn’t show improvement on Monday, Roberts said he won’t play Tuesday’s season opener against the Cubs.

“I just don’t think our training staff would feel good about that,” Roberts added. “We’re really trying to be mindful of not just Opening Day,” Roberts said. “We don’t want to put him in position where he could get hurt.”

Betts is planning to be the Dodgers’ shortstop this season after beginning last year at the position before moving back to right field, where he’s played most of his career. Despite the position switch, he still batted .289 with an .863 OPS, 19 home runs, 24 doubles, 75 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He was limited to 116 games due to a fractured left hand. 

In Betts’ absence, Miguel Rojas will likely play shortstop for the Dodgers with Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor also providing options at the position. 

3 observations after Grimes leads Sixers to win over his former team  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers kicked off a six-game road trip by securing a Sunday afternoon win in Dallas.

They earned a 130-125 victory over the Mavs at American Airlines Center.

Quentin Grimes tallied 28 points and six assists for the Sixers, who improved to 23-44.

Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 19 points.

P.J. Washington had a 29-point, 12-rebound day for the 33-36 Mavs. Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall recorded 21 points apiece.

Both teams were injury-ravaged. The Sixers were down 10 players: 

• Tyrese Maxey (lower back sprain and right finger sprain)  
• Paul George (left groin soreness) 
• Andre Drummond (left toe sprain) 
• Adem Bona (left ankle sprain) 
• Kelly Oubre Jr. (right knee sprain) 
• Lonnie Walker IV (concussion) 
• Kyle Lowry (right hip injury) 
• Joel Embiid (season-ending left knee injury) 
• Jared McCain (season-ending left lateral meniscus surgery) 
• Eric Gordon (season-ending right wrist surgery) 

The Sixers will face the Rockets on Monday night. Here are observations on their victory over the Mavs:

Dallas dominates 1st half in transition 

Facing his former team, Grimes predictably scored the Sixers’ first bucket with a driving layup. He also drained a mid-range jumper a couple of minutes later. For Dallas, Washington was the early go-to-guy. He scored the Mavs’ first six points and posted 14 in his opening stint. 

Dallas started 0 for 7 from three-point range, but the Mavs crushed the Sixers in transition. After Washington cruised in for a layup, Dallas held a 12-1 edge in fast-break points. The Mavs’ first-half advantage in that category was 23-4.

While the Mavs did sharp work running off of both turnovers and misses, the Sixers’ resistance was minimal in transition. Ball handlers often steamed forward and got all the way to the rim. That’s been the case in many games this season. 

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Sixers entered the day ranked 28th in transition defense (opponents adding 3.6 points per 100 possessions through transition play).

Sixers make do without centers 

Hood-Schifino was a bright spot in his second game as a Sixer. He swished a three-pointer on his first shot, made two more triples in the first quarter, and reached his NBA career high before halftime. 

Oshae Brissett and Chuma Okeke also played for the second time with the Sixers. 

Okeke, who signed a 10-day contract Sunday, first inked a 10-day Sixers deal last month. He ended up playing just two garbage-time minutes in the team’s Feb. 7 blowout loss to the Pistons. Okeke logged 16 minutes Sunday, threw down a put-back dunk in the first quarter, and finished with five points and four rebounds.

Brissett had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals. He played some as a small-ball center. Though Brissett has previously filled that role in the NBA, neither he nor Guerschon Yabusele are sterling rim protectors or great deterrents to opposing drivers. Alex Reese, who Sixers head coach Nick Nurse described Friday as a “stretch four,” played at center late in the second quarter. The Sixers shifted to zone defense for the final few minutes of the first half.

The team’s defensive effort was not stellar in a half where Dallas poured in 68 points, but it’s very challenging to hold up without any truly natural centers. 

Grimes stars in 2nd half

The Sixers made a surge late in the second quarter and kept rolling in the third.

Grimes was in the middle of the action. He stole the ball from Brandon Williams, pushed ahead on a fast break and dished to Ricky Council IV for a lay-in that put the Sixers up 70-68. 

Grimes did it all the third quarter — run the offense; drive hard; make tough shots through contact; defend well on the ball. His and-one layup late in the third extended the Sixers’ lead to 10 points.

As a team, the Sixers followed Grimes’ lead on both ends. They pressured the rim ruthlessly, played much better defense, and capitalized on the Mavs’ extreme lack of healthy players. The Sixers’ five-man bench scored 57 points and Dallas’ three-man second unit recorded 38.

With Grimes resting early in the fourth quarter, Hood-Schifino knocked down a key three. Okeke and Jeff Dowtin Jr. drilled timely jumpers, too.

The last minute was tense, but the Sixers never squandered their lead. Grimes, Jared Butler and Hood-Schifino all sunk clutch free throws to ensure the Sixers exited Dallas with a victory.

Ronny Mauricio is one of the most tantalizing talents in the entire Mets organization, but don’t expect to see him in Grapefruit League action for the remainder of this year’s camp.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said on Sunday that Mauricio is continuing to “progress well,” but the team is taking a conservative approach with the 23-year-old, who is recovering from multiple arthroscopic knee surgeries.

“No setbacks, nothing there. He continues to progress well, we just want to keep it that way,” Mendoza explained.

“He’s getting close. When is that going to be? I’m not sure, I’ll have to talk to the trainers and get more details on it, but all I know is he continues to follow the program, continues to go through full activities, and he’s responding well.”

The infielder initially tore his ACL playing Winter Ball after the 2023 season, and a second procedure was needed to remove scar tissue last August. Not long after that second surgery, Mauricio dealt with inflammation that stalled his recovery a bit, but it’s been smooth sailing since, per Mendoza.

“It flared up in October or November, but after that he got to a point where everything is trending in the right direction,” said the skipper. “There haven’t been more setbacks, knock on wood, so everything is good there.”

The No. 8 prospect in the Mets’ system according to Joe DeMayo, Mauricio got a taste of major league action at the end of the 2023 season, appearing in 26 games while slashing .248/.296/.347 with two home runs, nine RBI, and seven stolen bases.

Injuries have kept the switch-hitting infielder off the field for quite some time, but Mendoza knows what kind of talent the Mets have in Mauricio, as the team continues to take a big-picture approach to the power-hitting prospect.

“I know he can play. There’s a lot of talent there, a lot of tools,” said Mendoza. “He can do a lot of different things on the baseball field. The way that he impacts a baseball is right there with some of the best in the game.

“This is an exciting player. He can do a lot of different things, and when he’s healthy he’s going to help this team win baseball games.”

The Detroit Pistons are vastly improved over last season’s team, which compiled one of the 10 worst seasons in NBA history at 14-68. 

However, the Pistons aren’t quite good enough to defeat the NBA’s best teams consistently, as demonstrated by their 113-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

Following the game, Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff was fuming. In his view, the Pistons didn’t just have to contend with the second-best team in the NBA on Saturday. They also had to battle the officials.

“What you saw tonight was disgusting,” Bickerstaff said. “It was a disgusting display of disrespect towards our guys and what we’re trying to do.”

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Bickerstaff’s voice shook as he ranted about the officiating, pounding the table before leaving his postgame press conference. 

“I tried to have a conversation with an official, the official is arguing with [Thunder coach] Mark [Daigneault], I say his name one time and he screams at me and tells me that’s enough,” Bickerstaff said. 

“We understand that we play a style of ball that’s physical, it’s on the edge. I coach my ass off in a passionate way, I’m into the game, our players are into the game. We understand that. But we deserve a level of respect because we’re competing our tails off and bringing something positive to this league.”

Beginning at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter, Detroit was whistled for five technical fouls. Ausar Thompson and Bickerstaff first picked up technicals. Then with 47 seconds remaining in the frame, Cade Cunningham was called for two technicals for arguing with the officials and was ejected from the game. (Dennis Schröder also picked up a tech, sandwiched between Cunningham’s.)

After the flurry of technicals and Cunningham’s ejection, the Thunder expanded their lead to 91-75 by the end of the third. Despite their All-Star’s absence, the Pistons twice cut the margin to one point on 3-pointers by Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr.

But with under three minutes remaining, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made two consecutive baskets to restore the Thunder’s lead to 106-100. Cason Wallace then effectively put the win away, hitting a 3 with 1:33 remaining. 

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 48 points, his 12th game reaching 40 or more this season and nearly his fifth 50-point performance. He shot 4-of-6 on 3-pointers and 10-for-10 on free throws to lead the Thunder to their 55th win of the 2024-25 campaign and boost his case for NBA MVP. 

Cunningham scored 11 points with seven rebounds and nine assists before leaving the game. Tobias Harris led Detroit with 18 points and seven boards, followed by 17 from Dennis Schröder.

Asked by the pool reporter about ejecting Cunningham, crew chief Brian Forte said the technicals resulted from how he spoke to officials.

“Cunningham was given his first technical foul for disrespectfully addressing an official with profanity,” Forte said, via the AP. “After the free throw for the first technical was shot, Cade continued to use profanity toward the official and received his second technical foul and was ejected.”

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said in his postgame remarks that the “crew was the loosest whistle coming into the game that we’ve seen all season in terms of how little they call.”

Despite the loss, the Pistons hold the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference standings at 37-31 and could move up to fifth or even fourth place.