NBA Suns land Beal in deal sending Paul to Wizards: reports

Three-time NBA All-Star guard Bradley Beal will join the Phoenix Suns in a trade that will send 38-year-old guard Chris Paul to Washington, according to multiple reports on Sunday.

ESPN and The Athletic said the deal would also include guard Landry Shamet, a handful of NBA Draft picks and multiple draft pick swaps, with final pick details yet to be settled.

Beal, who turns 30 on June 28, would join Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to revive the Suns' hopes of winning their first NBA title.

Beal has played his entire 11-year NBA career with the Wizards, averaging 22.1 points, 2.3 assists, 1.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game.

The Wizards, 35-47 in each of the past two seasons, have made the playoffs five times since Beal arrived with the third overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft but never gone beyond the second round. They haven't won a playoff series since 2017.

Paul, still chasing his first NBA title, joins a club that collected its only league crown in 1978.

The 12-time NBA All-Star guard is a five-time season assists leader, most recently in 2021-22, and six-time NBA steals leader but has found only futility in a title quest during stops at New Orleans, the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston, Oklahoma City and for the past three seasons in Phoenix.

Over 18 NBA campaigns, Paul has averaged 17.9 points, 9.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game.

The Suns had missed the NBA playoffs for 10 seasons in a row until Paul's arrival but reached the 2021 NBA Finals, losing to Milwaukee, and the second round each of the past two seasons, falling first to Dallas and this year to eventual NBA champion Denver.

Agence France-Presse

Warriors come back to beat Wizards; Green, Beal ejected

OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State lost its emotional leader when Draymond Green was ejected shortly before halftime. The defending champs were sloppy again, even forgetting several plays after one timeout and still somehow won — but it has hardly been easy so far.

Kevin Durant had 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to help rally the Warriors from 18 points down and beat the Wizards 120-117 on Friday night, a game marred by a fight between Green and Washington’s Bradley Beal that led to both being tossed.

Stephen Curry added 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds, hitting two 3s and two free throws in the final minute of the third quarter to get Golden State within 97-87 heading into the final 12 minutes. Then Klay Thompson and Durant made 3s early in the fourth for a four-point game. Thompson scored 18 points.

Durant’s jumper with 1:20 to go put Golden State up by five, but the Warriors still needed his two free throws with 9.4 seconds left. John Wall missed an off-balance 3 then Washington couldn’t capitalize on one final chance.

David West made two straight baskets for the Warriors midway through the fourth but Otto Porter Jr. hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Wizards, answering a 3 by Durant with a baseline dagger on the way to 29 points for the Wizards.

With 19.5 seconds left in the second quarter, Beal held the front of Green’s jersey with his left hand while grabbing Green around the jaw with his right. That enraged Green, who threw his right arm in frustration and wrapped arms with Beal as if hugging, then other players joined the scrum.

“It was a scuffle. I’m not going to go into details about it. I’ll do that with the league tomorrow,” Beal said. “We just got into it and things got out of hand and we both got ejected. I told my teammates I can’t put myself in a situation like that to leave them out there to battle out against a tough team without me out there.”

Green had to be pulled away from the skirmish by Andre Iguodala and Warriors security personnel. Green was tossed after getting his second technical foul. The back of his uniform was torn from near his right shoulder down to his waist.

“I thought Draymond defended himself and bit the bullet of being ejected for the game,” West said.

Green was hit with his first technical at the 8:05 mark of the second quarter for arguing an offensive foul call. He had six assists, three points, three rebounds and three blocks before his early exit.

The Warriors are still trying to figure things out, having given up 17 offensive rebounds two nights earlier in holding off the Raptors and also committing 17 turnovers — which they did again Friday.

Golden State began 1 for 10 from 3-point range while committing seven turnovers and allowing six 3s by early in the second quarter. But the Warriors did enough to win a fourth straight at home against the Wizards.

“We’re not ready, we’re still not ready,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re not locked in.”

Wall had 20 points and 14 assists for Washington. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 and Marcin Gortat had 18 for the Wizards, whose three-game winning streak to open the season was snapped in embarrassing fashion with a 102-99 overtime loss at the Lakers on Wednesday.

AL ATTLES NIGHT

The Warriors honored beloved Al Attles, who missed his tribute night because he’s in the hospital. The 80-year-old Attles is in his 58th year with the franchise as a player, coach of the 1975 title team, a GM and now ambassador.

Kerr wore an itchy, “100 percent polyester” retro suit for the occasion, while Warriors players wore shooting shirts featuring his likeness and a bobblehead was the giveaway.

His wife, Wilhelmina Attles, son, Alvin Attles III, and Hall of Famer Rick Barry represented him during an on-court tribute after the first quarter.

“Great to honor him,” Kerr said. “I know our fans who have been following us for a long time know about Al’s influence, but 57 years with the organization, obviously he won the championship with the team in ’75, was GM, drafted Chris Mullin, one of the best players early on in the Warriors history. He’s pretty much done it all. Fitting tonight we will honor him and his family. We know he’ll be watching on TV. I hope he’s not offended by my suit.”

TIP-INS

Wizards: Washington shot 15 for 33 on 3s. … C Ian Mahinmi played almost 13 minutes after he had been questionable with a sprained left ankle.

Warriors: Key reserve Shaun Livingston was out for personal reasons to attend a funeral. … Rookie Jordan Bell was inactive for the first time as C JaVale McGee became available after sitting out Wednesday against Toronto. “Some guys are guaranteed minutes every night, some aren’t,” Kerr said of his plans in the season’s early stages.

UP NEXT

Wizards: At Sacramento on Sunday.

Warriors: Host Pistons on Sunday seeking an eighth consecutive home victory in the series.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Heat beat Wizards, end rare 2-game slide

MIAMI —LeBron James scored 25 points and Chris Bosh added 24 as Miami beat winless Washington 103-93 on Sunday night to end a rare two-game slide.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for Miami, which hasn’t dropped three straight regular-season games since Jan. 10-13, 2012. The Heat (2-2) had 32 assists on 37 field goals, including on all nine of their baskets in the third quarter.

Including playoffs, the Heat are now 100 games over .500 at home since the start of the 2010-11 season — 127-27.


Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards. Marcin Gortat finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Washington (0-3).

Miami’s last three-game slide was against Boston in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, a series the Heat won in seven games.

In Michigan, Josh Smith and Andre Drummond scored 15 points each as Detroit kept Boston, 87-77, and first-year coach Brad Stevens winless.

The Pistons (2-1) trailed 65-63 early in the fourth quarter but went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good and win their second home game in as many tries. Drummond added 12 rebounds and Brandon Jennings had 14 points in his Detroit debut.

Rookie Kelly Olynyk scored 15 points and Jordan Crawford added 13 for the Celtics (0-3).

Jennings missed most of the preseason and the first two games because of a fractured jaw caused by a wisdom tooth. Jennings came to Detroit during the offseason in a sign-and-trade deal with Milwaukee.

In Orlando, Florida, Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 12 rebounds as Orlando routed Brooklyn, 107-86, in Jason Kidd’s coaching debut.

Magic rookie Victor Oladipo scored 19 points, 14 in the second half, as Orlando won back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 19, 2012. Andrew Nicholson added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic (2-2), who beat New Orleans 110-90 at home last Friday night.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points. Paul Pierce was the only other Net to score in double figures with 16 points and he grabbed seven rebounds. The Nets (1-2), who shot 38.2 percent for the game, and were outscored 66-48 in the second half.

In Oklahoma City,  Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds and Russell Westbrook had 21 points and seven assists in his return from a knee injury to bring down Phoenix, 103-96.

Serge Ibaka added nine points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City (2-1), which won its fifth straight home opener and defeated Phoenix (2-1) for the 11th straight time. The Suns last beat Oklahoma City in December 2010.

Westbrook, sidelined for six months after first tearing the lateral meniscus in his right knee during the second game of the NBA playoffs, then having a medical setback, returned three to five weeks ahead of the team’s previously announced timetable.

Eric Bledsoe scored 26 points and added a career-best 14 assists for Phoenix, which opened the season with home wins over Portland and Utah. The Suns stayed with Oklahoma City thanks to 14-of-37 3-point shooting, compared to 2 of 18 for the Thunder.

In New York, Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and five assists and Kevin Martin scored 30 points as Minnesota improved to 3-0 for the first time in 12 years by beating New York, 109-100.

Minnesota took a huge lead after a 40-point first quarter, then pulled away after the Knicks trimmed it to two in the closing minutes to move halfway to matching the 2001-02 team that set the franchise record by winning its first six.

The Timberwolves, averaging a whopping 37.3 points in the first quarter, are healthy again after an injury-wrecked 2012-13 and showing the early promise of a team that can contend for its first playoff berth since 2004.

Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped two straight after a season-opening victory and drew some loud boos in the first half while appearing to be standing still on defense.

Anthony shot just 8 of 21. Metta World Peace added 17 points, but the Knicks were too far behind by the time they found any offense.

LAKERS 105, HAWKS 103

In Los Angeles, Xavier Henry scored 18 points and Pau Gasol hit two tiebreaking free throws with 6 seconds remaining for Los Angeles to get past Atlanta, 105-103.

Henry started at forward for the first time as a Laker and the 19th time in 137 NBA games. He was 5 of 11 from the field. Gasol finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Steve Nash had 13 points and six assists and Nick Young added 13 points.

Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 22 points, converting all six 3-point attempts, but he missed a 21-footer from the right baseline as time ran out. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague had 14 points and six assists after missing his first five shots.

Two nights after shooting only 37 percent from the field and blowing a 15-point lead against San Antonio, Los Angeles shot 42.7 percent.

source: sports.inquirer.net