Browsing: Basketball

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  Tim BontempsOct 25, 2025, 08:45 PM ET

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  Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.

PHILADELPHIA — Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller was ruled out of Saturday night’s 125-121 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers after leaving early in the second quarter because of what the team described as “left shoulder soreness.”

Charlotte called timeout, and Miller left the game with 10:50 remaining in the second quarter after Joel Embiid’s jumper. Miller appeared to be in a good amount of pain and was grabbing at his left arm. It wasn’t clear when the injury occurred or the severity.

Miller had 25 points and seven assists in Charlotte’s season-opening win Wednesday night at home against the Brooklyn Nets. He played only 27 games last season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist in January.

The 6-foot-8 wing had four points and an assist in nine minutes Saturday night before exiting. He was the second pick in the 2023 NBA draft behind San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.

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  Ohm YoungmisukOct 25, 2025, 06:49 PM ET

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  Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
  
  Follow him on Twitter »

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks were down three starters as they faced the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder without Jalen Johnson, Kristaps Porzingis and Zaccharie Risacher.

Porzingis (flu-like symptoms) and Risacher (right ankle sprain) did not play during Atlanta’s 111-107 win in Orlando on Friday night. Porzingis was listed as questionable earlier on Saturday before being downgraded to out for his second straight game.

Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes during the win over the Magic but was added to the injury report as questionable Saturday with an ankle injury before being downgraded to out.

Saturday night’s game against the Thunder is the Hawks’ third in four nights. Atlanta starts a four-game road trip in Chicago on Monday.

“We’re hopeful,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said of his three starters making the road trip. “… We haven’t had a chance to find much continuity, even the way our preseason schedule worked out… So in many respects, [the opener against] Toronto was the first game that we played a full game, so to speak. So I’m anxious to get them back.”

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The obvious next opponent for Aspinall should be Gane, who seemed to be in control of the fight during the first round before the accidental eye poke.

Given the lack of a decisive result, fans will undoubtedly want to see what Aspinall and Gane can do under different circumstances.

If Aspinall retains in a potential rematch against Gane, Alexander Volkov could be next after Volkov beat Jailton Almeida in the second fight on the main card of UFC 321 by split decision to establish himself as the next contender for the heavyweight title.

Aspinall had defeated Volkov via first-round submission in their previous meeting in March 2022. While he likely won’t be very excited about a rematch, he will have to be at his best against Volkov, who has now won five of his last six fights.

If UFC chooses to go in a different direction, there aren’t many fighters remaining who Aspinall hasn’t already fought. However, veteran knockout artist Derrick Lewis is one of the most popular fighters in the heavyweight division, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he would skip the line for the next title shot.

Lewis most recently stopped the hype train of the previously undefeated Tallison Teixeira with a first-round TKO win in July, which extended his UFC record for most knockout victories (16). Matching him up against Aspinall would create a battle of two of the best power punchers in the heavyweight division.

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Washington Commanders wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin will return to the lineup for Monday night’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Samuel and McLaurin had been out of the lineup with heel and quad injuries respectively, but head coach Dan Quinn told reporters that both are ready to go.

Samuel, who is in his first season with the Commanders, has recorded 315 receiving yards and three touchdowns through six games. McLaurin has just 149 yards and no touchdowns on the season, having missed the last four contests.

Samuel spent the first six years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, where he earned All-Pro honors after recording 1,405 yards and six touchdowns in 2021. He’s been chasing those kinds of numbers in recent years, but hasn’t returned to that level yet.

The Niners traded Samuel to Washington over the offseason in return for a fifth-round pick and was expected to form an elite receiving duo with McLaurin, who signed a $96 million contract extension in the offseason.

Samuel and McLaurin’s return will be a boost for a Commanders offense that will be without quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Mariota will be under center in Daniels’ place.

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New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields reportedly will start on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals after Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury.

Brian Costello of the New York Post reported the news Saturday, noting Taylor will not travel with the team to Cincinnati.

Fields will get the call after the was some doubt about his status as the starter. He was benched during the Jets’ 13-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers last week after completing just six of his 12 passes for 46 yards.

Fields is currently playing out his first season as a member of the Jets after signing a two-year, $40 million contract with them as a free agent in March.

The former first-round pick has shown some room for improvement in the pocket.

On the season, Fields has completed 63.7 percent of his throws for 845 yards and four touchdowns without getting picked off.

The dual-threat quarterback has also picked up 257 rush yards and three touchdowns on 42 attempts.

Fields has navigated through several injuries in the past, as he was hampered by an ankle issue during his rookie season in 2021. The following year, he was forced to miss multiple games due to a separated left shoulder.

Fields was also impacted by a dislocated thumb during his 2023 campaign, making just 13 appearances.

Without Taylor, Brady Cook will likely be elevated from the practice squad to serve as Fields’ backup.

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  Dave McMenaminOct 25, 2025, 03:10 AM ET

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  • Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
  • Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.

LOS ANGELES — After Luka Doncic scored 49 points in the Lakers’ 128-110 win over the Timberwolves on Friday — shattering Jerry West’s 56-year franchise record of 81 points scored through the first two games of a season — his teammate Austin Reaves was asked a question.

Could Doncic, who has scored 92 points this season, average 40?

“Yes,” Reaves told ESPN.

Could Doncic average 40, and would it help the team win?

“Yes,” Reaves continued. “He’s so good, it’s weird.”

It was uncanny to see the effectiveness of the Doncic-led Lakers offense in its second game of the season compared with Tuesday’s 119-109 season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors.

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The Lakers shot better from the field, 59.2% compared with 54.5% on Tuesday, and were much better from 3, shooting 41.4% compared with 25%. They also committed fewer turnovers, 12 compared with 19.

And Doncic was the constant, becoming the first player in Lakers history with consecutive 40-point games to start a season and just the fourth in NBA history, joining Anthony Davis, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

“I wish we won the first game, but obviously it’s a good comeback,” Doncic said after finishing 14-for-23 from the floor, including 5-for-12 from 3, and 16-for-19 from the free throw line. “I think Minnesota is a great team. We had to do a lot to win today. But myself, I feel great. I want to win every game.”

Doncic added 11 rebounds and eight assists, joining Reaves (25 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) with a double-double. Rui Hachimura scored 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting, and Deandre Ayton had 15 points and eight rebounds.

“He, of course, dominates the whole game so easily,” Hachimura said. “And it’s not some random team we played against. They’re a Western Conference finals team. So this is crazy.”

Luka Doncic followed his 43-point effort in Tuesday’s season opener with 49 points Friday night, giving him a Lakers record 92 points through the first two games of the season. Kirby Lee/Imagn Images

After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, the Lakers cut the Timberwolves’ lead to four heading into the second quarter as Doncic tied Kobe Bryant and Kyle Kuzma for the most first-quarter points in team history with 23.

The Lakers dominated the middle two quarters 72-54 against the Timberwolves, who eliminated them from the playoffs last season.

Doncic said revenge didn’t fuel the performance.

“I just want to forget about last season,” Doncic said. “I was trying to move on. I don’t really think about that first-round series.”

The team was thinking about its poor third-quarter showing against the Warriors, though, when Golden State outscored Los Angeles 35-25 to break the game open.

On Friday, a few Lakers players left the halftime locker room early to take warmup shots while the halftime show — a hand-balancing acrobat, Christian, and his dog, Scooby — was still finishing its act.

And Los Angeles won the third 40-31.

“I think for the first time in Lakers history, the other team called the first timeout in the third quarter,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Had a nice ‘all right, all right’ with the group. ‘All right, group, we did it!'”

As much as the third quarter was a cause for celebration for Redick, he had one nitpick of Doncic in the fourth.

During a late timeout, with Los Angeles up by 23 points and 3:29 remaining, Redick chided Doncic for being stuck at 48 points.

“I’m trying to get the guy 50, and yeah, I’d already given him three chances,” Redick said. “I gave a fourth chance. He gets fouled, and then he blows that too.”

Doncic went 1-for-2 from the foul line with 3:05 remaining, bringing his total to 49 points, the most he has scored for the Lakers, and Redick subbed him out shortly thereafter.

The victory was Ayton’s first with the Lakers, thanks in large part to the guy who tormented his Phoenix Suns team in the playoffs years ago.

“Just like the same way I see it when I’m on the other side — shocked,” Ayton said when asked what it was like to witness Doncic’s night. “Like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe he’s doing this. When is he going to miss?’ You know, things like that.

“I wanted him to get 50 tonight, though.”

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A Basketball Hall of Famer. X-ray poker tables. The Mafia. They were all purportedly crucial to an alleged yearslong illegal poker rigging scheme that resulted in 31 federal indictments this week. The case focused on rigged poker games is one of two announced that allegedly involve prominent NBA figures.

Investigators state that the scheme to defraud players at a poker table began in April 2019 when defendant Robert “Black Rob” Stroud and other co-conspirators began devising a ruse to use technology to rig illegal poker games, usually Texas Hold ’em, against unwitting, wealthy players whom they called “fish” or “whales,” and who were aware that they were playing in illegal, high-stakes games, but believed these were “straight” games against other wealthy players. In reality, in many cases, every other person at the table besides them was in on the scheme.

The fish were also enticed to play by the presence of high-profile former professional athletes, known as “face cards,” with the biggest names revealed thus far to be Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.

How did it all work?

The scheme started with the technology, which was primarily inside the card-shuffling machines, which read the order in which the cards were dealt and relayed the information to an off-site operator. Sometimes the games employed X-ray tables and/or hidden cameras in the poker chip tray to assist in reading the cards. Players would also occasionally wear special contact lenses or glasses that would allow them to see marked cards.

Once the operator knew the cards were on the table, they would relay the relevant information to a “quarterback” at the table, who would subtly signal to the rest of the “cheating team” what they should do.

In an example cited in a court document from a September 2024 game in Miami, defendant John Mazzola played quarterback. If Mazzola had the best hand, he would tap his arm or wrist. If another inside player did, Mazzola touched his $1,000 poker chip, and so on and so forth. If the “fish” had the best hand, Mazzola would touch his black chips, indicating to the other inside players to fold.

To maintain the charade and keep the unknowing player at the table, the co-conspirators would text about strategy in real time. They occasionally allowed the victims to win. During that same Miami game, defendant Michael Renzulli messaged a group chat of co-conspirators, telling them to let the player — in this case, referred to as John Doe No. 4 — win a hand so that he would keep playing.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups leaves a federal courthouse after his appearance Thursday in Portland, Oregon. AP Photo/Jenny Kane

The same concept applied to the games when Billups and Jones were involved, though there was an extra layer of nuance given their celebrity. During an April 2019 game, defendant Sophia Wei texted the group that Billups and defendant Eric “Spook” Earnest had won two improbable hands (“gutshot on the river,” or a straight draw needing to hit a middle card to make his hand) against the same player. While Stroud responded that the player “acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money” because he was “starstruck,” Wei insisted they insert another member of the cheating team (“the middle eastern guy”) into the game so that Billups and Earnest could purposely lose to him and dispel suspicion.

What were the organized crime connections in this scheme?

The presence of the Mafia, otherwise known as La Cosa Nostra (LCN), involved providing support and protection, often merging its own existing illegal, high-stakes poker games, which were not necessarily rigged, into the scheme.

The court documents allege that, in Manhattan, New York, the Bonanno crime family had already been backing a game at 147 Lexington Ave., while the Gambino crime family, with support from at least one Genovese crime family member, hosted a game at 80 Washington Place. In 2023, those two games merged, jointly operating the rigging scheme using the technology supplied by Stroud.

LCN furthered the scheme in at least one instance by allegedly robbing an individual identified only as “John Doe No. 7,” who was initially involved with the rigged poker games, of an altered Deckmate 1 shuffling machine which, in its unaltered form, retailed for more than $10,000.

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The Mafia and non-mob co-conspirators also managed many of the financial issues related to the scheme, often using numerous of the tactics they have become most infamous for. In November 2022, defendant Zhen Hu allegedly threatened and assaulted “John Doe No. 5” for not paying his poker gambling debts. In fall 2023, several of the co-conspirators allegedly extorted “John Doe No. 6” by invoking their Mob connections, which eventually frightened him into paying his $10,000 debt.

Additionally, defendant Anthony Shnayderman allegedly laundered the proceeds of the poker games through shell companies and third parties, ultimately paying other co-conspirators in cash or cryptocurrency.

“With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, an NBA head coach and Hall of Famer, as well as other current and former professional athletes, the investigative work that culminated with this morning’s operation are reminiscent of a Hollywood movie,” said Homeland Security Investigations New York special agent in charge Ricky Patel. “But this was not luck, and it was not theatrics.”

“Using the allure of high-stakes winnings and the promise to play alongside well-known professional athletes, these defendants allegedly defrauded unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and established a financial pipeline to La Cosa Nostra,” said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge with the FBI.

Overall, victims of the rigged poker scheme lost at least $7.15 million, according to court documents. One of the victims alone, “John Doe No. 1,” was cheated out of $1.8 million in games staged in June and July 2023.

Following his arrest, Billups appeared in court Thursday and was released from custody on the conditions of a substantial bond with the federal court in the Eastern District of New York, as well as surrendering his passport. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 24. On Thursday evening, his attorney, Chris Heywood, released a statement saying they intend to fight the charges.

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  Ramona ShelburneOct 24, 2025, 11:35 PM ET

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  • Senior writer for ESPN.com
  • Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News

PORTLAND, Ore. — It will be a long time before the Portland Trail Blazers can process the predawn arrest Thursday of coach Chauncey Billups in a federal investigation related to rigged poker games allegedly backed by the Mafia.

But the process of moving forward began Friday as they played their first game under interim coach Tiago Splitter, and the Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors 139-119 at the Moda Center.

“Honestly, it is a tough moment,” said Splitter, a former player for the San Antonio Spurs whose only head coaching experience before Friday was in the Euro League with Paris Basketball last season. “I mean, we all had great experience with Chauncey, and we are thinking of him and his family. But we have a job to do, and we have to move forward.”

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Splitter and Blazers general manager Joe Cronin addressed the team Thursday afternoon, hours after Billups’ stunning arrest. Neither had slept more than a few hours when news of the arrest started spreading. Splitter told ESPN that he went to bed around 2 a.m. after watching tape of the Blazers’ season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and was woken up shortly after 6 a.m. when the news started to circulate.

A few hours later, Splitter was in Cronin’s office, being asked to take over as interim coach. Lead assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren had previous head coaching experience, but team sources said Bjorkgren had told Cronin that Splitter was the best choice to take over, and Bjorkgren felt he could best help the team in his current role, running the defense.

Billups had recruited Splitter away from a head coaching role with Paris Basketball over the summer to help revamp the Blazers’ offense, and he had been implementing changes over the past few months.

This kind of promotion, under these circumstances, was less than ideal.

“I have to be ready,” Splitter said. “I was ready, I am ready.”

Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter said his team was focused on moving forward after Chauncey Billups’ arrest Thursday. Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty images

Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t know Splitter well, but their paths and circles have many intersections.

“I met with him in Paris last year during the Olympics,” Kerr said. “David Kahn, the owner [of Paris Basketball], texted me and asked if I would meet with Tiago. We spent some time together. Had a great visit. Then, he was wildly successful, winning the French league, getting rave reviews. David told me what an amazing coach he thought he was. He said he thought he’d be an NBA head coach someday. Nobody wants it to be under these circumstances. But there’s a reason Tiago is here. He’s a talented guy.”

After Friday night’s game, Kerr praised the Blazers for their victory.

“I would be embarrassed to sit here and blame fatigue when a team just came out and took it to us. It was about them and their great play,” Kerr said. “This city is going to really enjoy watching the Blazers. They play hard. They have a real identity. They’re doing a really good job of rebuilding the franchise after the long run with Terry [Stotts] and Dame [Lillard] and CJ [McCollum]. It’s been a rough couple of years, but they’ve used that time wisely and built a really good roster.”

Beating the Warriors — even a tired version of the Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back set — was as good a start and palate cleanser as Splitter and the Blazers could have hoped for after Billups’ arrest and arraignment Thursday.

Deni Avdija led Portland with 26 points, shooting 11 of 18 from the floor. Jerami Grant added 22 points off the bench, and all five Blazers starters scored in double figures. Portland shot 54% from the field and hit 16 of 34 3-pointers (47%).

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  Tim BontempsOct 24, 2025, 09:32 PM ET

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  Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.

NEW YORK — In his first public comments since Thursday’s federal indictments were announced involving Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations that were presented by federal authorities.

“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said Friday in an interview with Amazon at the start of the second quarter of the game between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. “There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition.

“And so I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”

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Silver also explained the events that led to the NBA investigating “aberrational behavior” around a game March 23, 2023 — one of several in the indictment — involving Rozier while he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets in New Orleans against the Pelicans.

Rozier was investigated by the NBA, and the league said at the time it “did not find a violation of NBA rules” and he continued playing.

“So what happened was because bets were placed through legalized legal betting companies, they picked up aberrational behavior around a particular game in March of 2023,” Silver said. “And so, it was brought to our attention by the regulators and the betting companies. We then looked into that situation and were very transparent about it. And while there was that aberrational betting, we, frankly, couldn’t find anything.”

Silver also said that Rozier cooperated with league officials at the time, including being interviewed by them and surrendering his phone, before “we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior,” and reiterated that the league has continued working with the government.

“The federal government has subpoena power,” Silver said. “[It] can threaten to put people in jail, can do all kinds of things that the league office can’t do. So, we’ve been working with them since then. And, of course, what they announced yesterday was an indictment.

“And 2½ years later, he still hasn’t been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry. Obviously, it doesn’t look good, but he’s been put on administrative leave, and so it is a balance here between protecting people’s rights and investigating. And as I said, we’ve been working with the government, and they have extraordinary powers the league office doesn’t have.”

Rozier, Billups and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard and coach Damon Jones were among 34 people indicted Thursday as part of two sweeping federal investigations involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.

The NBA put Rozier and Billups on immediate leave from their teams Thursday and said in a statement that it would continue to work with federal authorities on the investigations, which officials said Thursday are ongoing.

According to the case filing, between December 2022 and March 2024, a group of co-conspirators placed bets on at least seven NBA games involving the Hornets, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Trail Blazers — using nonpublic information.

Rozier is accused of sharing inside information, removing himself early from at least one game for the benefit of gamblers and profiting from those bets, according to the indictment.

Rozier allegedly told Deniro Laster, a childhood friend who also was named in the indictment, that he would remove himself from the Hornets-Pelicans game in the first quarter because of a supposed injury, according to the indictment. Laster allegedly sold the information to two bettors for about $100,000.

Those bettors, along with their associates and a network of proxy bettors, used the info to bet on Rozier’s unders, according to the indictment. The money wagered was in the hundreds of thousands, according to the indictment. Many of the bets won after Rozier removed himself from the game after nine minutes, with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and David Purdum contributed to this report.

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  Tim MacMahonOct 25, 2025, 01:53 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
  • Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
  • Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM

DALLAS — Many Mavericks fans vented their frustration, in what has recently become familiar fashion in Dallas, chanting for the termination of general manager Nico Harrison as the final minute played out in Friday night’s 117-107 loss to the Washington Wizards.

“Fire Nico!” chants have frequently been heard in the American Airlines Center since the stunning trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2, months after the homegrown superstar had led the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals.

Dallas’ improbable win in the draft lottery, which delivered No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg to the Mavs, somewhat reinvigorated the fan base over the summer. But the Mavs have stumbled out of the gate, getting routed by 33 at home by the San Antonio Spurs in Wednesday’s opener before losing by double digits to a Washington squad coming off an 18-64 season.

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There were scattered “Fire Nico!” chants during the season-opening loss, although “Go Spurs Go!” and “MVP!” chants for San Antonio superstar Victor Wembanyama were louder. There were thousands of empty seats in the arena by the time the chants broke out multiple times late in Friday’s loss.

“I think they have a right to vent, but there’s a patience [needed],” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s a different team, it’s a new team. We’re just getting to understand each other. We’re going to keep learning each other. So I would say be patient, but I understand the frustration. We all want to win. We all want to compete at a high level, but it’s a game of expression, and fans have a right to express themselves. But that doesn’t stop us from coming to work tomorrow and getting better and getting ready for Sunday [against the Toronto Raptors].”

Kidd signed a multiyear contract extension during the preseason, a negotiation that began after the Mavs denied the New York Knicks permission to pursue him for their head coaching vacancy in the offseason. Sources told ESPN that there have not been any discussions about a contract extension for Harrison, who has two years remaining on his deal.

The Mavs, who are starting Flagg at point guard despite him playing forward at Duke, rank last in the league in offensive efficiency after two games, averaging only 95.5 points per 100 possessions. Dallas has averaged 18.5 turnovers per game, including 20 in the loss to the Wizards.

“Everything’s correctable and internal,” said power forward Anthony Davis, the headliner in the package the Mavs received in the Doncic deal who had 27 points, 13 rebounds and 5 turnovers in Friday’s loss. “We are beating ourselves, and as long as we are doing that, we can correct it,” he said. “But we also have to learn from it and be ready for Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Doncic is leading the NBA in scoring at 46.0 points per game. He had 49 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in the Lakers’ 128-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

Flagg praised the Dallas crowd for its energy Friday night, especially during the fourth quarter, when the Mavs rallied to slice a deficit that had been as high as 17 points to four at one point.

“The fans showed up. They were amazing tonight,” said Flagg, who had 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and also finished with five rebounds, six assists and five turnovers. “I thought we were competing at a high level in that fourth quarter. A lot of things were right — getting stops, playing the way that we want to play, and that kind of sums it up. It was just periods tonight, and we got to be able to sustain that for the whole game. I think we took somewhat of a step in the right direction, but it has to be a lot better.”

Cooper Flagg had a monster dunk Friday night against the Wizards but also endured something he never experienced in his one season at Duke — a second straight loss, as Dallas fell to 0-2 on the season. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Flagg said he did not hear the chants calling for Harrison’s termination, adding that he was “locked in on the game” and listening to his coaches and teammates. Veteran shooting guard Klay Thompson said the blame should be shouldered by the players.

“You got to give ’em something to cheer for,” said Thompson, who had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in only 17 minutes. “I got to give ’em something to cheer for. It’s the nature of the game, man. I’ve been there. I was a fan for 20 years before I got in the NBA. I would’ve definitely criticized players. I mean, we deserve a lot of criticism. We’re the ones out there making it happen.”

Thompson described his concern about Dallas’ slow start as “high” but expressed optimism that the Mavs would work their way out of the rut.

“There’s always this urgency,” Thompson said. “We’re all competitive. It’s embarrassing, especially for myself [after] talking championship preseason, all that. But I mean, it’s the only thing I play for at this point. So it’s not fun, but there’s only one way out. Stick together and get better and work even harder every day. I know I will, and I know the rest of the guys will. So it’s just a matter of being not patient, but just being relentless in our efforts.”

Asked about his concern level after the 0-2 start, Davis said, “Zero.” He stressed that the Mavs’ improvement needed to start on the defensive end, but Davis shot down a question about how the Mavs and Flagg would deal with adversity.

“This is adversity? What’s adversity?” Davis said. “We’ve got 80 games left. You can run off 10 straight [wins] and then what? This is how I look at it and I’m sure that’s how he looks at it, and that’s what we talked about. We know we have to be better on both ends of the floor, but the NBA season is a roller coaster, so we’re staying positive.”

The poor start is particularly foreign territory for the 18-year-old Flagg. In his only college season, Duke went 35-4 and never lost consecutive games.

“I know I’m kicking myself and I’m obviously not happy,” Flagg said. “I’m a little upset. I mean, it’s just I’m a competitor. I love to win and I want to win as many games as possible, so it’s not a great start. We got a lot of film to look at, a lot of stuff to look at and a lot to improve.”

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