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New York Post
3 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Kevin Durant quickly responds after Demarcus Cousins claims Suns had ‘fist fights' in locker room
The Suns were a mess this season, but Kevin Durant is refuting that they were fist fights-in-the-locker-room levels of messy. Former All-NBA center and four-time All Star Demarcus Cousins said on 'Run it Back' Friday that there were 'absolutely' fist fights in the Phoenix locker room this past season. Where Cousins got this information from is unclear, but for Durant, he was actually in the Suns locker room. Advertisement 'I have to contest this 94 footer,' Durant posted to X in response to Cousins' claims. 'This some bulls–t to throw on us. Yea yea yea we were trash this year ha ha ha but we NEVER got close to this. NEVER.' 4 Kevin Durant is more than likely going to be on a new team next season. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post Durant has become known for never backing down from arguments on X, as he often calls out fans and reporters on misinformation or opinions he disagrees with. So, it wasn't too shocking to hear from him after Cousins' 'bullsh–t' reports. Advertisement While Cousins' claims about the locker-room fights were quickly refuted by Durant, he certainly had some other valid criticisms of the Suns' season during his segment of the show. 4 Demarcus Cousins spoke on some reports he heard that there were fist fights in the Suns' locker room this past season — Run It Back's X has since deleted the clip. FanDuel TV's Run It Back 'Phoenix was a bad situation from the jump,' he said. 'They put a team together based off names. It was never a team that made sense. You just put a bunch of scorers together and then threw some other names on and said 'Go win a championship.' That's not how the game of basketball works.' Phoenix deployed a star trio of Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, yet finished 11th in the Western Conference and failed to even win 40 games. Advertisement 4 The Suns' big three with Devin Booker (1), Kevin Durant (35) and Bradley Beal (3) did not work out well. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Now, Durant essentially has one foot out the door with an offseason trade looming, while Beal is essentially an unmovable piece with his limited production on a $250-million contract that still has two years remaining. Cousins spent 11 years in the NBA and was a dominant force for many of them before suffering an achilles injury that derailed his career. In 2018-19, he played 30 games with the Warriors alongside Durant. 4 Demarcus Cousins spent a season with Kevin Durant on the Warriors. Getty Images Advertisement He went viral last week for his shocking altercations with unruly fans in the Puerto Rican Professional Basketball League.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to Jalen Williams' ‘fearless' approach to Game 5
The post Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to Jalen Williams' 'fearless' approach to Game 5 appeared first on ClutchPoints. OKLAHOMA CITY — After Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams turned in his best postseason performance of the 2024-25 campaign in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gushed over Williams' dominance in a 120-109 win. The Thunder are now one win away from winning the NBA championship, due in part to Jalen's playoff career-high 40-point performance that pushed Oklahoma City to a 3-2 lead. Advertisement After the win, Gilgeous-Alexander commended his fellow All-Star teammate, pointing to Williams' ability to make big plays, which kept the Pacers at bay in the second half. 'He was really gutsy tonight. He stepped into big plays. It felt like every time we needed a shot, he made it. He wasn't afraid. He was fearless tonight, whether they went in or they didn't,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'Obviously, they went in more than they didn't, but he stuck with the plays with confidence, for sure.' Williams also finished with six rebounds, four assists, and one steal to go with 40 points on 14-of-25 attempts, including 3-of-5 from deep. He also drained 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points on 9-of-21 shooting and went 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. Aaron Wiggins (14) and Cason Wallace (11) combined for 25 points to lead the Thunder's second unit. Mark Daigneault on Jalen Williams' performance in Thunder win Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Thunder coach Mark Daigneault summed up Jalen Williams' performance in Game 5 with one word — force. Williams' approach on both ends of the floor created the separation the Thunder needed to push the Pacers to the brink of elimination. Advertisement 'Great force — that's the word. And we've used that word with him in his development,' Daigneault said. 'When he's at his best, he's playing with that type of force. That was an unbelievable performance by him just throughout the whole game. He really was on the gas the entire night. Applied a lot of pressure. I thought he made a lot of the right plays, and we're going to need' Close-out games are always the toughest in the postseason, especially in the NBA Finals. For Daigneault, the Thunder will have room for improvement ahead of Game 6. If they're to clinch the NBA title on the road, Daigneault believes Williams and his team will have to work harder to avoid a Game 7. Either way, for a player in his third season, Williams' impressive performance will go down as a career milestone for the first-year All-NBA star, who's only 24. Related: Stephen A. Smith uses Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen example to praise Thunder's Jalen Williams Related: Thunder's Alex Caruso issues strong message after Game 5 victory
NBC Sports
19 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Resiliant Pacers will not go away, force Game 7 Sunday after dominant 108-91 Game 6 win vs. Thunder
INDIANAPOLIS — Hanging in the rafters of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse are three Pacers ABA championship banners — every one of them was won on the road. The Pacers are now just one more road win away from their first NBA championship. With its season on the line, the Pacers demonstrated the resilience that had brought them to this point, led by their All-NBA point guard, Tyrese Haliburton, who played through a strained calf, still scored 14 points, and was +25 on the night. 'I felt like he did amazing today, he led us to win. He's a soldier, he's never going to let a little injury keep him from playing in the Finals, from leading us to a win,' Obi Toppin said of Haliburton. In Game 6 the Pacers played their best game of the postseason — they just kept making plays. LISTEN TO THAT CROWD POP 🔊🔊 PACERS FANS WANT GAME 7!! That's who these Pacers have been all playoffs and it's why there will be a Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday after a 108-91 win in Game 6. The Pacers played with the desperation of a team trying to save its season. Their ball movement was as crisp as it has been these playoffs. More importantly, they cranked up the pressure defense and forced 21 Thunder turnovers — MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 7 made buckets and 8 turnovers on the night — which led to transition buckets going the other way. OH MY GOODNESS THIS PACERS SEQUENCE 🤯 HALIBURTON STEAL. HALIBURTON NO-LOOK DIME. SIAKAM SLAM WITH FORCE. Indy seeking a Game 7 on ABC 🏆 This game was decided in the second quarter. That's when Indiana's defensive intensity overwhelmed the Thunder reserves, and things started to spiral. OKC shot 6-of-18 for the quarter and turned the ball over seven times, which sparked a 30-9 run by Indiana to close the second. The turnovers and misses allowed the Pacers to get out in transition, and they thrived in their element with a raucous crowd soaking up every minute of it. By halftime it was 64-42 Indiana and it was in total control. T.J. McConnell got going in the second quarter. It started doing something he has done all series — attacking whenever Aaron Wiggins (or Isaiah Joe) is the defender. But once McConnell got a couple of buckets that way, the basket looked huge and he was hitting midrangers over everyone. He finished with a dozen points on the night. Any dreams of a Thunder comeback were snuffed out when they failed to score on their first eight possessions of the second half. While there was a flicker of life late in the third, the Thunder cut the lead to 19, the game was never really in doubt. Indiana did it with balance, led by Toppin scoring 20 off the bench. Andrew Nembhard scored 17, Pascal Siakam added 16, and there was Haliburton's inspirational 14. 'Everybody was tied together, and that's how it has to be,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'We did better rebounding, we did better on the turnover count, and on Sunday we're going to have to be better.' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 on 7-of-15 shooting but had eight turnovers. Jalen Williams had 16 points, and as a team the Thunder were 8-of-30 on 3-pointers.
NBC Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Thunder vs. Pacers Game 6: Four things to watch as Indiana tries to extend season
INDIANAPOLIS — Do the Indiana Pacers have another improbable comeback in them? Or will we see an NBA champion crowned on Thursday night? The way the Thunder have won the last two games and taken control of the series makes it seem like Game 6 could be the final game of the 2024-25 NBA season — but underestimate these Pacers at your own risk. Especially on their home court. Here are four things to watch in Game 6 Thursday night: Tyrese Haliburton Everything Game 6 starts — and the Pacers' season could end — here. Haliburton has a left calf strain, one that slowed him considerably in Game 5 when he scored four points on 0-of-6 shooting. He is the orchestrator of Indiana's high-paced offense, and if he's not playing at his All-NBA best, it's a massive advantage for the Thunder in a series where games have swung on the thinnest of margins. Haliburton, for his part, was clear that he planned to be on the court Thursday. 'I'm a competitor; I want to play. I'm going to do everything in my power to play,' Haliburton said. He has been undergoing around-the-clock treatment to make sure he is on the court. 'Massage, needles, hyperbaric, H waves. Everything you can do to get as comfortable as you can going into it,' Haliburton said, adding he is just following the instructions of the team's medical staff. 'The right tape and stuff while I am performing.' Haliburton went through the Pacers' light practice on Wednesday, got up some shots, and was walking without a limp. However, Pacers' coach Rick Carlisle was more cautious about Haliburton's status. 'He participated in all our walk-through stuff. But it's a walk-through, so there was no real running,' Carlisle said. 'We'll see. We'll see where we are tomorrow... We will not really know for sure until late tomorrow afternoon or early evening.' Expect more Pascal Siakam initiating the offense, more T.J. McConnell, and Carlisle is ready to lean into whatever role player gets hot at home. It's still not the same without Haliburton. The Pacers are 12-3 this postseason when Haliburton scores at least 20 points. Does he have that kind of night in him? The Pacers need him to. Did OKC learn from Denver Game 6? Oklahoma City has been here before. They were up 3-2 on the Denver Nuggets and, with the chance to put the Nuggets away in the Mile High City, the Thunder didn't come close. Jamal Murray scored 25 points, Christian Braun added 23 points and 12 rebounds, but this will mostly be remembered as the Julian Strawther game, he scored 15 second-half points off the bench to spark Denver and force a Game 7. What can Oklahoma City take away from that Game 6 and bring to Indianapolis? 'Don't get complacent. Don't look too far ahead,' Cason Wallace said. 'We gotta take it one game at a time. I feel like we were, we're a little relaxed in that game, so just knowing that we can't, we can't make that same mistake again.' 'I feel like we didn't control the controllables,' Alex Caruso said of the Game 6 loss in Denver. 'That's what we do. It's what we have to do in this game.' To a man at practices on Wednesday, the Thunder players discussed not getting ahead of themselves, staying in the moment, and coming out like the series is 0-0. 'We just got to come out with desperation again..' Isaiah Hartenstein said, referencing how the team played in Game 5. 'So we're not going to come in acting like everything's sealed, everything's done. They're going to come out with desperation. They're a great team, and we're and we're going to come out with the same and probably, maybe even more desperation.' Can Indiana take care of the ball? Haliburton's injury was part of what stalled out the Pacers' comeback dream in Game 5. The other thing was turnovers. Indiana had 23 turnovers that led to 32 Oklahoma City points. The Thunder had 13 more scoring opportunities on the night and won the possession battle, primarily because of the turnovers. 'That's the game. We've got to do a heck of a lot better there,' Carlisle said. The Thunder ball pressure will be back. Can the Pacers handle it? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on cusp of history LeBron James in 2013 in Miami. That was the last time a player won the NBA MVP, the Finals MVP, and an NBA championship in the same season. It's happened just 15 times since 1970. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one win away from that. Not that he was going to discuss the idea. 'The cusp of winning is not winning,' he said. 'The way I see it, winning is all that matters. It hasn't been fulfilled. We haven't done anything, the way I see it.' Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder do need one more win, and if Jalen Williams has another massive night in Game 6, he could be voted Finals MVP. Still, SGA is on the cusp of history, as are the Thunder as a team, and it's something to watch.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stephen A. Smith's 1-word Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo take may frustrate fans
The post Stephen A. Smith's 1-word Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo take may frustrate fans appeared first on ClutchPoints. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his future with the Milwaukee Bucks are in the spotlight, as many are wondering whether he will stay with the team or request a trade. Antetokounmpo is one of the best players in the league, and with him being in the prime of his career, he should be chasing as many championships as he can. Advertisement The latest debate on First Take was what would be the one word to describe Antetokounmpo if he doesn't win another title, and Smith may have frustrated some people with his answer. 'Underachiever,' Smith said. 'He's one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Over the last four years, minimum 200 games, Giannis is second in the league with 30.4 points per game, fifth in the league with 11.7 rebounds per game. Nine All-NBA selections in his career, nine All-Star selections, and top-10 in MVP voting nine times. He has more of that than postseason series wins. That's unacceptable. 'You don't look at somebody that dominant, that fantastic, with that kind of fire in his belly to compete on a night-in, night-out basis, and all you have is one championship to show for it. He's got one playoff series win in the last four years. Not fault; he was hurt a couple of times.' Advertisement Like Smith said, it's not Antetokounmpo's fault that he was dealt this deck of cards, but it's hard to diminish what he's done throughout his career because he only has one ring. Will Giannis Antetokounmpo stay with the Bucks? Everyone is wondering what Antetokounmpo will decide to do regarding his future with the Bucks. With the team's lack of playoff success over the past few seasons, there is considerable uncertainty about whether this team has reached its ceiling and needs to start anew. At the same time, Antetokounmpo can lead a team by himself, but he will need help to get to the next level. The Bucks may not have the pieces and cap space to make that work, and with Damian Lillard set to miss most of next season as he recovers from an Achilles injury, Antetokounmpo might not want to wait for the dominoes to fall, and he can try to request a trade to another team. Advertisement That scenario could also bring some problems because Antetokounmpo can cost a team a lot of assets, and by the time he's traded, the team might not have that much talent to work with. Related: Shams Charania responds to Bucks star Giannis' missing 'Woj' post Related: Bucks rumors: Brian Windhorst makes firm declaration on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade
