Two weeks. Twelve games. Four series. Roughly 8% of the marathon that is the 162-game, 52-series regular season is in the books. It ain’t much, but for a selection of playoff hopefuls, the start to the 2026 campaign has not been nearly as smooth as hoped. 

Here’s a look at six teams off to inconsistent — or downright disappointing — starts to the season, with what has gone wrong so far and reasons for optimism amid the malaise.

Boston Red Sox

Record entering play Friday: 4-8 (fifth in AL East)

What’s gone wrong: The Red Sox enter most seasons with sizable expectations, considering the intense nature of the Boston fan base. And after another offseason of overhauling the roster in unexpected and in some respects uninspiring ways, it was important for the Red Sox to start strong and quiet the skepticism surrounding president of baseball operations Craig Breslow’s team building. Instead, the Sox flopped out of the gate, earning baseball’s worst record through 10 games and falling quickly into the basement of MLB’s least forgiving division. 

Several holdovers, such as Trevor Story, Jarren Duran and even Roman Anthony, have underperformed, but the optics of some of the newcomers struggling (Ranger Suarez, Caleb Durbin) or immediately getting injured (Johan Oviedo) add fuel to the distrust of the current regime’s strategy, even after the team qualified for the postseason last year. And speaking of optics, team owner John Henry seemingly being caught on camera in his suite at Fenway this week flippantly dismissing the “Sell the team” chants from the crowd didn’t exactly help matters.

Reasons for optimism: After a 2-8 start, the Red Sox responded with a much-needed series victory over the Brewers, holding Milwaukee to two runs over the final 18 innings after a sloppy 8-6 defeat in the opener. Those two wins were also refreshing demonstrations of the genre of games Boston should be able to win based on its roster. The Red Sox recorded just one extra-base hit across the two victories, but when you have Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray capable of gobbling up six innings unbothered and top-tier relievers such as Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman on the back end, there’s a path to success that doesn’t involve an overwhelming offense. 

Things also haven’t been all bad at the plate, as Wilyer Abreu has been outstanding and Willson Contreras — one of the most overlooked offensive additions for any contender this past winter — has provided an ideal right-handed element to the lefty-heavy heart of Boston’s lineup. Yes, the road ahead is daunting, and Boston’s playoff odds at FanGraphs have already dropped from 61% on Opening Day to 47% two weeks later, but the Sox have enough talent to turn this thing around.

Seattle Mariners

Record: 4-9 (fifth in AL West)

What’s gone wrong: While accounting for the fact that the Mariners have played 10 of their 13 games against teams with high quality pitching staffs (Guardians, Yankees, Rangers) in some notoriously pitcher-friendly ballparks (T-Mobile Park, Globe Life Field), Seattle’s collective offensive output has been abysmal by multiple measures. The team ranks 30th in MLB in runs per game, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage — you name it, the M’s are bringing up the rear. Their paltry .238 BABIP (also 30th) suggests some bad luck is involved, but it’s not like the Mariners are crushing the ball and not being rewarded; they rank 29th in hard-hit rate and 26th in xwOBA, process-oriented marks that don’t portray a particularly threatening offense.

Dig into the individual performances, and it’s not hard to identify the issue: The stars aren’t hitting like stars. Fresh off a historic, 60-homer campaign in 2025, Cal Raleigh finally got on the board with an impressive blast against Jacob deGrom earlier this week to conclude a 12-pitch battle, but the other purported sluggers in the lineup — Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena — are all homerless through two weeks. Naylor hasn’t even scored a run yet, with far-and-away the most plate appearances of any hitter yet to cross home plate.

Reasons for optimism: Don’t get too bogged down in the ugly small samples for the bats; this lineup has too many good hitters with good track records to expect this collective slump to last much longer. And beyond counting on some positive regression at the plate, the Mariners have to feel good about their work on the mound. Balancing out the pathetic offensive production is a pitching staff that ranks among baseball’s best, sitting third in ERA, second in WHIP and second in fWAR. The usual suspects (Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo) have been quite good, and the emergence of a new-look, high-whiff Emerson Hancock in place of the injured Bryce Miller has been promising as well. 

There are also some encouraging performances within the broader offensive slog, including newcomer Brendan Donovan, who has struggled defensively at third base but has been as advertised as the new leadoff man. Also, 22-year-old second baseman Cole Young looks notably more comfortable on both sides of the ball, and he’ll likely be joined in the infield this summer by recently extended top prospect Colt Emerson. Zoom out further, and perhaps the biggest saving grace for Seattle is that its division is filled with flawed ballclubs, lessening the chance that any team surges too far ahead in the standings. Which brings us to …

Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports

Houston Astros

Record: 6-7 (T-second in AL West)

What’s gone wrong: The Astros were just swept by the Rockies, who were swept 21 times last season en route to a staggering 119 losses. Weird things happen at Coors Field, and this year’s Colorado club is clearly more competent, but this was still a poor early showing for a Houston team eager to reestablish itself as a contender after missing the postseason last year for the first time since 2016. 

The trouble for the Astros starts on the mound, where a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness has led to a ghastly 6.05 ERA, worst in MLB. Losing ace Hunter Brown to a shoulder strain is a brutal blow. His absence will force Houston to dip into its less-proven rotation depth, and those arms will need to step up soon, particularly if the bullpen continues to scuffle.

Reasons for optimism: Yordan Alvarez is healthy and raking, a welcome sight. He’s back to being one of the most fearsome and productive hitters on the planet, as he was before his injury-ravaged 2025. Keeping him in the lineup every day will remain a delicate task, but he’s doing his part. And Alvarez is not alone in doing damage. Jose Altuve is reaping the benefits of his ABS-mandated smaller strike zone and isn’t far behind Alvarez atop the league-wide OBP leaderboard. Carlos Correa sure seems to be enjoying being an Astro again. Cam Smith is tracking for a resurgent sophomore season. Even Christian Walker, cast aside by many as a sunken cost on a bad contract, is raking. 

Some of these hitters will cool off — well, Alvarez might not — but if the Astros can continue to look this formidable on offense, that should provide something of a cushion while the pitching staff looks to stabilize itself amid the injuries. A four-game set vs. Seattle this weekend could help clarify the state of affairs for both teams.

Chicago Cubs

Record: 6-6 (fifth in NL Central)

What’s gone wrong: The Cubs present an interesting contrast to the struggling AL West clubs, as their record doesn’t indicate an especially poor start, but their division looks to be notably more difficult than in prior seasons. Much of the preseason focus centered on how Chicago could topple the rival Brewers, but now Milwaukee doesn’t look like the only NL Central club the Cubs will have to overcome if they want to return to October. 

The Reds rode stellar pitching to a postseason berth last year and might well do it again. The Pirates are significantly improved across the board, with a more respectable offense in place to support what could be a tremendous pitching staff. And while the Cardinals are in a transition of sorts as a franchise, they aren’t bereft of talent; they’ll be frisky, too. All together, while the standings don’t mean much in the second week of April, the Cubs sitting in last at .500 seems reflective of a newly competitive NL Central.

There have been a few slow starters in the Chicago lineup (Alex Bregman, Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong), but the most obvious concern is how the pitching will hold up following the crushing double-whammy of Cade Horton needing season-ending elbow surgery and Matthew Boyd landing on the injured list. A bullpen filled with mostly new faces has not looked remotely reliable in the innings leading up to closer and WBC hero Daniel Palencia. Until the offense heats up to keep the Cubs more competitive in higher-scoring games, a thinned-out rotation plus a shaky bullpen is an ominous recipe.

Reasons for optimism: While his fellow infielders have yet to start hitting, second baseman Nico Hoerner has been terrific in all facets, offering early validation for his six-year, $141 million extension signed just after Opening Day. Edward Cabrera has looked spectacular to begin his Cubs tenure, allowing just two hits across 11 ⅔ scoreless innings. Bregman’s surface-level stats don’t shine yet, but his elite approach is clearly intact: No qualified hitter has a lower chase rate than the new Cubs third baseman. 

It’s also worth noting that a key ingredient to Chicago’s run-production efforts has yet to play this season: Seiya Suzuki, who is expected to be activated ahead of this weekend’s series against the Pirates after missing the first two weeks due to a sprained knee. Perhaps Suzuki’s return can help the Cubs’ lineup rediscover its more formidable form.

Toronto Blue Jays

Record: 5-7 (T-third in AL East)

What’s gone wrong: Vibes were good in Toronto after a sweep of the A’s to open the season, but the Blue Jays have since lost seven of nine games, including series losses to the Rockies and White Sox before getting largely outplayed in their World Series rematch with the Dodgers. We could spotlight some statistical laggards on the mound and at the plate, but the concerns here are more straightforward: This team is ridiculously injured. 

The Blue Jays had a ton of talent on the shelf before the season even began (Anthony Santander, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berríos) and have since added several other key players to their injured list (Alejandro Kirk, Cody Ponce, Addison Barger), including one in Ponce who is likely done for the year following ACL surgery. With this amount of talent absent from the rotation and the lineup, it could be awfully challenging for this Blue Jays team to find a rhythm, let alone find worthwhile replacements for these important players, especially with a rather thin farm system in the upper levels. While there’s still ample star power at the top of Toronto’s roster, its depth is about to be tested in a serious way. 

Reasons for optimism: Snapping a six-game losing streak and avoiding a sweep against the Dodgers on Wednesday had to be a huge relief for the Jays, even this early in the calendar. New frontline arm Dylan Cease provided another solid five innings, joining teammate Kevin Gausman atop the American League strikeout leaderboard with 26 punchouts across their first three outings. As Toronto scrambles to sort out the rest of its rotation — Yesavage should be back reasonably soon — there’s comfort in knowing those two anchors will give the team a good shot to win whenever they take the ball. 

At the plate, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is still searching for his slugging stroke, but his underlying metrics look excellent as always, and the Blue Jays have to be encouraged by what Kazuma Okamoto and Jesús Sánchez have given them in their introduction to the lineup. As with Boston, the rest of the AL East isn’t going to wait around for the Blue Jays to catch up, but dismissing this team too quickly would be foolish, even with the avalanche of injuries.

San Francisco Giants

Record: 5-8 (fifth in NL West)

What’s gone wrong: The start to the Tony Vitello Era could not have gone worse, as the Giants were swept at home by the Yankees while scoring just one run across three games. The addition of Luis Arraez and a red-hot Matt Chapman have ensured the Giants don’t rank too poorly in the batting average department, but they lag far behind in nearly every other offensive category, including sitting last in MLB with a measly five home runs though their first 13 games (compare that to the Dodgers’ 21 long balls in 12 contests). 

Only Seattle is averaging fewer runs per game than San Francisco, but the Mariners at least have a healthy dose of homers and walks, while the Giants’ power outage has been paired with a severe lack of free passes: Their 6.3% walk rate is the lowest mark in MLB. This combination of offensive characteristics is entirely untenable if the Giants are going to remain relevant in the NL postseason picture.

Reasons for optimism: Consecutive shutouts of the Phillies earlier this week — Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle outdueling Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola was a pleasant surprise for Giants fans — have seemed to put San Francisco back on track as it prepares to begin a nine-game trip to Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington. 

Perhaps getting away is what this team — or more specifically, this offense — needs after playing 10 of the first 13 games at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park, but that only amplifies the pressure on the high-profile hitters to start producing as they move to more offensive environments. On the flip side, the Giants seem to have the makings of a solid rotation coalescing behind ace Logan Webb  — Ray looks great, and don’t sleep on Landen Roupp — but they’re about to find out how well their pitching staff travels.

For the seventh straight year, the NBA asked me if I’d like to be one of the media members with an official ballot for year-end awards. I said yes, and here’s how I decided to use it.

Quick note: I’m writing this before I receive the link to my actual ballot, which won’t come until after the end of the regular season, when the powers that be make their final tabulations on who qualifies under the league’s 65-game threshold for awards consideration. As such, I might need to make a change or two before I click submit.

For the most part, though, here’s what my picks for the 2025-26 NBA regular season will look like:

• . Murray’s second in clutch scoring, shooting 52.2%, and while he’s got more than double Shai’s turnovers, he’s also got 10 steals-plus-blocks in crunch time, which is a nice way to mitigate those miscues.

  Drill down into the final two minutes of the fourth and OT, and nobody’s hit more shots to tie or take the lead than Maxey, who’s 27-for-49 (55.1%) on those gotta-have-’em shots — particularly vital buckets for a Sixers team that, in accordance with the intractable cosmic laws governing this reality, has once again been down multiple starters for more than half the season, and has needed every win it can scrounge up just to have a shot at escaping the play-in as the regular season draws to a close.

  Also in consideration: Jalen Brunson, Nikola Jokić, Anthony Edwards, Desmond Bane.

The NBA released a statement Thursday saying Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie made no intentional effort to give Golden State a shooting foul or to cause the Kings to lose Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

In Tuesday’s 110-105 loss to the Warriors, Christie motioned to Doug McDermott to intentionally foul Seth Curry, who did not have the ball, with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter. The Kings were leading by one point at the time of the foul. Curry is shooting 90% from the free-throw line this season and has shot 86.4% from the stripe for his career year. Curry went 1-of-2 from the line after the Kings’ foul.

Christie reportedly attempted to use the strategy to foul and use a timeout but did not realize the Kings were in the penalty.

After the game, the Warriors’ Draymond Green questioned why teams are not getting fined for intentionally tanking.

“I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason, in the penalty” Green said. “I get fined when I do wrong. Just fine the hell out of people. We love taking money from players. Keep fining the teams… If it was players they would have snatched that money in a heartbeat. Why isn’t it the same? We know exactly what to do when someone gets a technical foul. Suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do. All the sudden we have teams with issues and we don’t know what to do.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver emphasized the league will make future changes this offseason to prevent tanking.

After starting the year 12-46 and setting a franchise record in February with a 16-game losing streak, the Kings have gone 9-13 despite being without most of the team’s best players. The Kings are 21-59 and 14th in the Western Conference.

Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with an appendicitis, the team announced Thursday. Embiid will undergo surgery in Houston on Thursday afternoon, per the team.

The 76ers did not provide any additional details, but said that “further updates will be provided as appropriate.” Philadelphia, which has already clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, is set to play the Houston Rockets on Thursday evening.

Shortly after tip-off against the Rockets, the Sixers announced that Embiid’s appendectomy, the surgery that removes an inflamed appendix, was successful.

Earlier on Thursday, The Athletic’s Tony Jones reported Embiid had been feeling ill Thursday morning and was receiving medical treatment as a result.

Full recovery from an appendectomy can take up to six weeks, per the Cleveland Clinic. Per NBA analyst Jeff Stotts, previous NBA players who have undergone appendectomies (including Grant Hill and OG Anunoby) have missed an average of 23 days while recovering.

The 76ers have three games remaining in the regular season, including Thursday’s matchup against the Rockets, before the playoffs begin. As of now, it seems unlikely that Embiid would be able to return to the court this season, unless Philadelphia advances to the conference finals and beyond.

It’s the latest in a long history of medical issues for the 32-year-old Embiid, who has only played 38 games this season due to various injuries. Embiid started the season with a lengthy absence due to a knee injury, before missing time in February with a shin issue on top of his knee problems. He missed even more time last month with an oblique injury.

This came after Embiid only played in 19 games last season, getting ruled out in February 2025 before undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Across the past three seasons, Embiid has played 96 of 246 possible regular-season games.

Embiid had only just returned to full form, combining with Paul George for 63 points in the Sixers’ win over the Chicago Bulls on March 26. George returned to play last month after serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. Additionally, Tyrese Maxey is back after missing three weeks with a pinky injury, giving Philadelphia’s roster some much-needed stability.

Philadelphia has a chance to return to the playoffs after missing them last year — the first time it had missed the postseason in seven years.

This week we’re breaking down the top MVP candidates — reigning winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, multi-time winner Nikola Jokić, and megastar Victor Wembanyama. Luka Dončić was in the plans until he suffered a hamstring injury that may make him ineligible for any awards. 

This series is less about who I think should win — I’ll reveal that on above league average) and 70% win rate (he’s at 82.4%; the Thunder overall are 80%, best in the NBA) — and the list shrinks to SGA and the historic 2015-16 campaign of Stephen Curry.

Of course, the shot profile is what separates the two; Curry famously bombed away from deep (45.4% on 11.2 attempts), while SGA has been otherworldly inside the arc (60.2% on 15 attempts).

That’s really where it starts for me: guards are not supposed to drive as much as SGA does, operate in the mid-range to this volume and still score thisefficiently. 

Teams know what’s coming, but the handle, footwork, arrhythmic pacing, understanding of angles and, yes, a preternatural ability to use his limbs against you make him darn-near impossible to guard. 

The guy broke, and is extending, freaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record for consecutive games of 20 points or more, for crying out loud!

To lay it plain:

• Per Second Spectrum, among 31 players to log at least 750 drives, SGA’s 1.2 points per possession on those trips lead the NBA. This is with him seeing at least one help defender on 75.3% of his drives (league average: 71.9%). Oh, and if you filter for drives against top-10 defenses, SGA is second in volume (411) and first in points per possession (1.18 PPP, min. 200).

• Among 33 players to attempt at least 150 mid-range shots, SGA’s 54.9% clip leads the NBA. T.J. McConnell (54.1%) is the only other player above 50%, but SGA trumps him in volume (355 attempts vs 159 attempts). For giggles, please look at what MJ did in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

• To broaden the scope, there have been 58 instances in NBA history where a player has logged at least 50 games while converting at least 60% of their 2s on 10 or more attempts per game, including this season from SGA. The kicker: He is the only guard on the list. If you bump up the requirements to 15 attempts (to match SGA), the list shrinks to 12 seasons, seven on-one-name-basis stars: Giannis (x4), Kareem (2x), Shaq (2x), Barkley, McHale, Zion and SGA (which I guess is an acronym, whatever).

More play-type data sells the case. He’s been the league’s best high-volume (min. 300 attempts, 36 players) isolation player (1.22 PPP). At 1.11 PPP, SGA narrowly trails Dončić (1.114 PPP) as the league’s most effective pick-and-roll maestro among high-volume options (min. 1000, 47 players) .

He gets to the rim and finishes at a high clip. The mid-range scoring is sublime. As if that wasn’t enough, he has the audacity to shoot over 38% on off-the-dribble 3s, too.  

The scoring dominance enhances his improved playmaking; that improvement has been necessary in light of how teams have worked to defend him. 

Teams working to “load the box” against SGA drives isn’t new, though it ramps up against top-tier competition. I still have this end-of-half Boston possession burned in my brain. He’s drawn a second defender (or more) on roughly 21% of his touches, the fifth-highest mark in the league among players to log at least 2,000 touches.

It simply hasn’t mattered.

The Thunder have generated over 1.1 points per possession when SGA has drawn two, an elite figure. The players who match or exceed SGA’s volume (Deni Avdija, Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham, Dončić) don’t match that efficiency; the stars who match or exceed the efficiency (Giannis, Jokić, Jamal Murray) are at least 200 touches below SGA’s volume. 

His ability to diagnose help or ball-screen aggression has grown and popped all season. Load up against his isolation (or post-switch) attacks and he can manipulate that help to generate looks for others. 

Ramp up your aggression when defending him in ball screens, and he’ll sprinkle in slips, make relief passes to the wing to keep the machine more fluid, or simply reject or split the ball screen altogether and turn things into a downhill affair. Dump-off passes and corner kicks are unlocked and accessed; of course, he could also just drain more pull-ups.

Averaging 31.1 points on 60/39/88 splits, plus 6.6 assists (only 2.2 turnovers) is not supposed to happen. When you consider how much of this damage has been done through three quarters — he’s sat out 26 fourth quarters this year — his campaign becomes even more absurd. 

When he’s actually been needed for the final frame (or overtime), he’s been sensational.

You could build an ironclad Clutch Player of the Year case with just his basic numbers. To the easy stuff:

• He leads the NBA in clutch points (156) while doing so on 61/35/85 splits.

• He’s made a league-best 22 shots to tie or take the lead in clutch situations this year, including an insane 18-of-27 (66.7%) clip on shots inside the arc.

• The Thunder are 20-7 in the clutch games he’s appeared in (74.1% win rate), and they’ve outscored opponents by a league-best 93 points in the 125 minutes he’s played.

• SGA, Jokić, and Cunningham (welcome back!) are the only players with 100 clutch points, 20 clutch assists, and 10 or fewer turnovers; SGA has been more efficient and has won at a higher clip than both of them.

But then you have to look at what he’s faced during those clutch moments. Most notably, teams send two on the ball on nearly 17% of SGA’s pick-and-rolls during clutch time — the fourth-highest clip among players who’ve run at least 50, and a massive shift from what he sees through the first three quarters (6.4%).

Again, it has not mattered. 

That he’s been able to handle this offensive workload and the ramping up of defensive attention/aggression with this level of ball security — among 36 players with a usage rate above 25%, none takes care of the ball like SGA — adds another cherry on top.

Quietly baked into all of this absurdity: the “it doesn’t matter” bit extends to his own teammates. 

Eight of SGA’s in-the-rotation teammates have missed at least 10 games this season: Jalen Williams (47), Isaiah Hartenstein (33), Alex Caruso (24), Ajay Mitchell (23), Aaron Wiggins (17), Jaylin Williams (15), Lu Dort (13) and Chet Holmgren (11). 

Nine if you include fan (and personal) favorite, Kenrich Williams (26). 

(I specify the rotation piece because I don’t love including guys like Thomas Sorber or Nikola Topić into the games missed bit, but you technically could.)

That is not supposed to be the recipe for a 60-win team.

While credit is obviously due to the culture of accountability and execution (especially defensively) head coach Mark Daigneault has established during his tenure, the floor- and ceiling-raising of SGA deserves a ton of praise. 

The Thunder perform as a very good team (+6.7 net rating) with SGA off the floor; they become world-beaters (+16.5) with him on the floor. 

It’s hard to overstate just how much he unlocks for this offense; its rating jumps from 112.9 (would rank 26th league-wide) to 123.5 (would rank first). Only four players — Jokić, LaMelo Ball (underrated All-NBA case), Murray and Harden — impact their team’s offense to that degree or higher.

Let’s talk about the defense

If there’s one parallel to draw between SGA and 2015-16 Curry, it’s that teams attempt(ed) to poke at them defensively because they’re often the only sub-elite option to go at, not because they’re actually bad at defense.

Some of the play-type data is very kind to SGA. Of note:

• Among 102 players to defend at least 500 pick-and-rolls as the screen navigator, SGA’s 0.83 PPP allowed mark is bested by only Ausar Thompson (0.79).

• Among 121 players to defend at least 300 off-ball screens as the screen navigator, only Rui Hachimura (0.79) has allowed a lower mark than SGA (0.81).

• Among 69 players to defend at least 400 drives, SGA’s 0.949 mark ranks 12th — in a virtual tie with 11th-ranked Dyson Daniels, and ahead of other notables like Thompson, Jaden McDaniels and Cason Wallace.

Those numbers scream, “SGA should have a DPOY case, too” — but the film and accompanying matchup context does not agree with that claim.

Things like his isolation (0.99 PPP; 72nd of 103 players, min. 150) and closeout numbers (1.02 PPP; 44th of 109 players, min. 350) paint him closer to average, if not slightly below.

He’s been firmly above-average in my watching; not just a capable cog in OKC’s elite machinery, but one that can add legitimate value when locked in.

He’s once again racking up steals, though not to last year’s standard. Smartly deployed on weak links, he’s able to get theoretical breathers with those assignments while also affording him the freedom to use his length and instincts to muck things up.

At his best, he utilizes that blend to affect real change as a secondary rim protector. After opponents converted 64% of their shots at the rim against him last season, that mark has improved drastically to 58.8%. To put that into perspective, that puts him behind a guy like Derrick White (55.6%, -3.2), but ahead of a guy like Thompson (61.2%). I think the Thunder will take that middle ground.

Teams still try to poke at SGA with post-ups when matched up against 4s, but they haven’t had much success (0.74 PPP). There’s context to add — OKC likes sending late help/doubles, and those have turned potential attempts at the rim into swing-swing 3s that have missed — but SGA has also created his own mayhem with late swipe-downs. 

There’s also the matter of the post-up attempts that haven’t been logged because he’s been adept at deflecting or outright stealing entry passes.

If you’re of the “MVPs must provide value on both ends” class of argumentation, SGA certainly crosses that threshold.

Stephen Curry and LeBron James are two of the most transcendent players in NBA history. They’ve each won four NBA championships, and they faced off in the Finals four straight years from 2015-18, with Curry’s Golden State Warriors winning three of those bouts and James’ Cleveland Cavaliers famously mounting a 3-1 comeback in 2016.

Curry’s unlimited range and James’ all-around talent make for must-watch TV. They’re both giving Father Time a pretty good fight, too.

Lately, however, that head-to-head matchup has been missing, and with Curry being ruled out for Thursday night’s game against James’ Los Angeles Lakers, it officially won’t be part of the 2025-26 regular season.

Curry is sitting out the front-end of a back-to-back due to right knee management. The Warriors, currently 37-42 with a spot in the play-in tournament already clinched, will hit the road Friday to take on the Sacramento Kings.

On Thursday at home versus the Lakers, Golden State big man Kristaps Porziņģis will also be sidelined. He’s dealing with an illness and will be out for the second game in a row.

As for Curry, the 38-year-old point guard returned to action April 5 after missing 27 consecutive games with a lingering right knee injury. He splashed five 3-pointers and piled up 29 points off the bench in a narrow loss to the Houston Rockets. Two days later, in a win over the Kings, he hit four more 3s and clocked out with 17 points, again coming off the bench and playing less than 30 minutes.

The nature of Curry’s injury was initially presented as non-major, yet, more recently, the Warriors have described it as patella-femoral pain syndrome and bone bruising in his right knee. Ahead of his comeback earlier this month, Curry told reporters that “there is nothing structurally wrong” with his knee but that he’s had to adjust to “a new normal.”

Curry has played in only 41 games this season. The Warriors have gone 24-17 in those outings, whereas they’re 13-25 in the 38 games he’s been absent.

Injuries have thrown a wrench in Golden State’s campaign. In addition to Curry’s ailment, Steve Kerr’s group has had to weather season-ending injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody. Plus, Porziņģis has been in and out of the lineup since the team acquired him at the trade deadline in a deal that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Lakers aren’t at full strength right now, either, or anywhere close to it for that matter. Last week against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, L.A.’s top two scorers, suffered injuries that will keep them out at least through the remainder of the regular season.

Dončić is nursing a left hamstring strain, and the Slovenian superstar is reportedly in Europe seeking specialized medical treatment to speed up his recovery. Reaves, meanwhile, is working his way back from an oblique strain and is reportedly expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

James was sidelined on Tuesday as well for the Lakers’ latest matchup versus the Thunder, but he’s no longer on the injury report with the left foot injury that kept him out.

James, 41, missed the first 14 games of his NBA-record 23rd season with sciatica, a pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back, through the glute and down the leg.

As a result, James wasn’t on the floor for the Lakers’ season opener versus Curry and the Warriors. Then Curry was out for both Lakers-Warriors games in February because of his knee setback.

James leads the regular-season series between him and Curry 14-13, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who also noted that Curry is up 17-12 in the superstars’ postseason series.

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The Orlando Magic got a boost Monday, as guard Anthony Black returned from a multi-week injury to score 14 points in a win over the Detroit Pistons. A few days later, however, the Magic paid for Black’s return.

The NBA fined the Magic $25,000 for violating the league’s injury-reporting rules after Black was ruled “out” on the team’s initial report, the NBA announced Thursday.

As the day progressed, Black’s prognosis changed. He was eventually upgraded to “questionable,” and then to “probable” on subsequent updates.

He eventually played in the contest, dropping 14 points, 2 assists and 2 steals in over 15 minutes of game time. It was Black’s first game since March 7. He sustained an abdomen injury in that contest and was forced to miss the next 16 games. Black also played Wednesday in an Orlando win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Black, 22, is in the midst of a breakout season for the Magic. The former first-round draft pick is averaging a career-high 15.1 points in 62 games this season.