The Washington Wizards have long been considered one of the worst teams in the league. However, thanks to the new front office regime of general manager Will Dawkins and President of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger, change seems to be on the horizon. Between the team's talented young core filled with high-upside prospects, a head coach in Brian Keefe, who's seemingly built something that players can buy into and the assets accumulated over the years to make bold moves, Washington has slowly but surely rising from the mud.
"The plan for AD right now is to go back to Dallas and finish his rehab," Dawkins said. "During All-Star break, he takes another visit for a doctor. And that's a big appointment for us to kind of see where his progress is at."
Brooklyn snapped a three-game losing skid with a resounding 127-113 rout of the Wizards before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center. Or at least, the makeshift lineup the Wizards chose to field. The Nets (14-37) had lost nine of 10, a slump during which they became only the fourth team in history to suffer multiple 50-point defeats in a season.
The injured player is, as is often the case, Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis, who sustained significant enough ligament damage in his left hand on Thursday night against Utah that he is expected to miss "a number of months," a period which any ball-savvy theoretical mathematician will tell you could mean anywhere from one to the heat death of the universe.
So much for the Toronto Raptors' interest in trading for Anthony Davis, as ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Friday that the big man "sustained ligament damage in his left hand." Davis is still waiting to learn if he'll need surgery, meaning he could be out for several months. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks' loss to the Jazz on Thursday. ESPN reported that if he doesn't need surgery, Davis is "expected" to miss at least six weeks.
NEW ORLEANS -- Zion Williamson scored 24 points, including 10 straight in a decisive two-minute span of the fourth quarter, to power the New Orleans Pelicans to a 119-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, extending the Pelicans' season-long winning streak to five games. The Pelicans, who started the season 3-22, have posted their longest winning streak since 2022. New Orleans erased an 87-79 deficit after three quarters with a 38-19 run in the first 10:24 of the final quarter.
The Raptors have struggled without Barrett this season. He appeared in the team's first 17 games, a stretch in which Toronto went 12-5 and took down a number of playoff teams. Without Barrett, the results have been the polar opposite: a 3-6 record, losing twice to the Charlotte Hornets, and a blowout loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The Lakers' new big man went to the free throw line. The team's former big man was on the mind of fans. "I miss you, AD!" a Lakers fan shouted into the silence as Deandre Ayton prepared to shoot a free throw in the first quarter Friday. Former Lakers star Anthony Davis played his first game in L.A. since being traded to the Mavericks last season, finishing with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and three blocks in the Lakers' 129-119 win at Crypto.com Arena.
