Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard have been out lately for different reasons, but both of these NBA stars are working their way back in order to help their teams this 2022-23 campaign.
Irving was in hot water because of his off-court drama, while Leonard – who looked good during preseason – hasn’t played a single match this past month.
Meanwhile, the Celtics currently own the longest winning streak in the league as of this writing and they’re keen to sustain their good start in order to keep up with conference pacesetters, the Bucks.
In case you missed some of the latest NBA 2022 updates, SBOTOP is here to bring those to you so continue to read on below.
NBA approaching resolution on Kyrie Irving’s situation
Kyrie Irving was recently suspended for at least five games and also lost some business along the way after failing to condemn the anti-Semitic material he posted to his social media.
Few weeks ago, he posted a link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” The said film featured several misinformed claims about Jews, including one assertion that the Holocaust actually never happened.
Last Sunday, Irving argued with reporters since he didn’t believe that he did anything wrong in posting about the anti-Semitic film on his social media. However, he eventually deleted the tweet.
Irving later apologised, saying on his Instagram that he is “sorry to all the Jewish communities that were affected from his post.” And then the league had a list of requirements for him to fulfill before being allowed back on the court – including the completion of sensitivity and anti-hate training designed by the Nets.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, a Jew himself, said that Irving has a “productive meeting” with him as well as Nets owner Joe Tsai, but there’s still no definite date on his return.
With Irving out, the Nets have gone 3-1 to improve to a 5-7 record, so it’s safe to say that they’re not rushing him back.
Brooklyn are fresh from a 112-85 win over New York on Thursday. Their next assignment is against the Clippers tomorrow in LA.
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers back to the drawing board
Kawhi Leonard is not expected to play tomorrow when the Clippers face the Nets. It’ll be his 10th straight missed game due to stiffness on his surgically repaired right knee.
The two-time NBA champion has missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in Game 4 of their 2021 WCSF series against the Jazz. But this season, Leonard played in two of the first three games, averaging 21 minutes off the bench.
The Clippers are being overly cautious on Leonard since their plan is to make sure that he’s 100-per cent fit come the playoffs. However, even Leonard himself is reportedly frustrated since he couldn’t sustain his rhythm.
The good thing for them, though, is that their performances have not dropped off sans Leonard. The Clippers have won five of their last six as co-star Paul George continues to shoulder the heavy load.
Although head coach Ty Lue said that he was encouraged by Kawhi Leonard’s progression to 5-on-5 work, he didn’t put a specific timeline on his return.
Celtics pick up where they left off
The Celtics moved up to second in the Eastern Conference following their blowout win over the Nuggets today. They now have won five straight games en route to a 9-3 record.
Jayson Tatum shot 11-for-21 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line against the Nuggets, scoring 34 points in 37 minutes, while his co-star Jaylen Brown added 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
Tatum has now notched seven 30-point games this season and this one was his third straight.
Because of his superb play, Tatum emerged as one of the MVP candidates since Basketball Reference put him fifth in their tracker this week behind Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, and back-to-back winner Nikola Jokic.
Boston were known for their defence last season under Ime Udoka, but this year they put more emphasis on the offencive end under interim coach Joe Mazzulla. As a result, they currently have the best offencive rating in the league at 119.4.
Their final game this week is going to be against the bottom-feeding Pistons, in a game where they’re favoured to win again as per the NBA 2022 odds.
As long as they can stay healthy all season long, the Celtics should manage to make another deep run this postseason, and maybe they can bring home Banner No. 18 this time.
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