7:30 AM ET Dan HajduckyESPN Close Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. IT’S JUST AFTER THANKSGIVING and former Georgetown University point guard Chris Wright, 32, is inside an Italian gym, picking
NBA
12:33 AM ET DALLAS — For the first time since the first week of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves on the outside of the play-in tournament looking in after Tuesday night’s 128-110 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Playing without LeBron James (left ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (right mid-foot sprain), the
6:01 PM ET After missing three months with an elbow injury, LA Clippers All-Star guard Paul George is expected to return to the lineup against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, sources told ESPN. George, who hasn’t played since Dec. 22, completed rehab on a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, was upgraded
7:34 PM ET ESPN News Services CLEVELAND — Cavaliers rookie forward Evan Mobley will miss Wednesday night’s game against Dallas — and maybe more — with a sprained left ankle as the injury-plagued team fights for a playoff spot. Mobley was injured in the first half of Monday’s win over Orlando. The 7-footer went up
4:50 PM ET Iowa sophomore Keegan Murray will enter the 2022 NBA draft. “I am forever grateful that Coach [Fran] McCaffery gave me the opportunity to live out my dream,” Murray told ESPN on Tuesday. “Iowa will always be my home and I’m forever grateful to be part of Hawkeye Nation.” Murray, the No. 5
8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Last season, the Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic surpassed Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid in the closing weeks of the NBA’s regular season to win the Most Valuable Player award, as injuries to Embiid and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James cleared the path for Jokic to become the first
8:19 PM ET Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant will miss the remainder of the season with a left calf strain, the team announced on Monday. Grant suffered the injury in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards. Grant left that game after playing 7:30 minutes and did not play in Detroit’s game
4:02 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN The New Orleans Pelicans converted point guard Jose Alvarado‘s two-way contract to a multiyear deal on Monday. Sources told ESPN the contract is for four years with guarantees for the rest of this season and 2022-23, a non-guaranteed season in 2023-24 and a team option for 2024-25. Alvarado becomes extension
4:42 PM ET LeBron James and Anthony Davis will both be listed as doubtful for Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel said after practice Monday. Davis went through a full, live practice for the first time since suffering a mid-foot sprain on Feb. 16 against the Utah Jazz. James
10:23 PM ET ESPN News Services PORTLAND, Ore. — Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will sit out the rest of the season following an ankle injury. Gilgeous-Alexander has missed three of Oklahoma City’s last four games with right ankle soreness. Coach Mark Daigneault said Monday night there was no reason to bring Gilgeous-Alexander back