NBA Player News

Butler continued to pile up the steals Wednesday as he had two swipes against the Spurs. The 35-year-old small forward had 28 points on just eight shots thanks to a friendly whistle. Butler got to the foul line 17 times and made 16 free throws. That isn’t going to happen every night, but Butler impacts the game in a variety of ways and has been on his game ever since coming over to the Warriors in the trade for Andrew Wiggins.

Isaac hasn’t played in over a month, and while he is getting closer to a return, he won’t be available for the Magic’s first game of the play-in tournament.

Howard missed the final five games of the regular season but will be available for Orlando’s first game of the play-in tournament. If he sees the floor, it will likely only be in a limited capacity off the bench.

Jackson has been sidelined since March 27, but after practicing fully on Tuesday, he is now expected to make his return for the Clippers’ win-or-go-home matchup with the Warriors. He’ll likely occupy some of the backup center minutes behind Brook Lopez.

Ball went down in the second quarter and appeared to make contact with Adebayo’s ankle. Adebayo took a hard fall that sent him to the locker room and caused him to miss the rest of the game. The NBA will review the footage to determine if Ball’s contact was intentional, and Haynes reports that a ruling is expected before Friday’s Play-In game.

Harper jammed his left thumb in Sunday’s regular-season finale against Denver, but he’s expected to be ready for the opening round of the playoffs when the Spurs take on the Trail Blazers at Frost Bank Center. Harper should handle his usual workload.

Brooks had a positive impact in his 37 minutes on Tuesday before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. While on the floor, he was a pest defensively, as shown in his four steals, but also repeatedly made momentum-building shots while the Suns led. Despite taking only 10 shots on the evening, the veteran forward finished as one of three Suns players to tally at least 20 points. Phoenix will hope Brooks can be productive again on Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s Warriors-Clippers matchup.

Green was Phoenix’s best scorer on a night that he logged a team-high 39 minutes. He was cold from the three-point line but made up for his inefficiency from beyond the arc by dazzling in the paint and finding production in the midrange. Green, however, did commit five turnovers in the process. Still, his positives outweighed the negatives on this night, and he’ll have another opportunity to help Phoenix get into the playoffs on Friday when it faces the winner of Wednesday’s Clippers-Warriors game.

Booker had an off night on Tuesday, as he saw his streak of 30-point performances end at three games. He struggled overall from the field, missed the mark on both of his three-point attempts, and missed five free throws along the way. The veteran scorer played 38 minutes, despite dealing with foul trouble, but failed to make his usual impact. Still, he’ll have an opportunity to bounce back on Friday when the Suns take on the winner of Wednesday’s Clippers-Warriors matchup.

Grant took the floor for the first time since late March and provided some huge moments on both ends of the floor during the fourth quarter. The veteran forward hit two massive three-pointers with under three minutes remaining, made a big defensive stop on Jordan Goodwin’s game-tying putback attempt with seconds left, and then provided a punctuation-mark dunk on the other end to punch Portland’s ticket to the playoffs. Grant was one of two Trail Blazers to make four three-pointers on the evening. He’ll likely play an important role in the first-round series against the Spurs.

Holiday logged 38 minutes in the win and provided much-needed scoring for the Blazers. The two-time NBA champion drained four three-pointers, including a big one down the stretch of the fourth quarter, to help keep Portland within striking distance. He didn’t compile many other counting stats, yet his veteran presence in clutch time helped Portland come from behind and secure a playoff spot. The Trail Blazers will face San Antonio in the opening round.