Nick Richards exhibited the type of presence the Suns have been missing in their game during his debut on Saturday afternoon in Detroit, as reported by Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Recently acquired from the Charlotte Hornets, Richards came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 11 rebounds in nearly 30 minutes of action.
Rankin points out that in addition to his stellar statistics, Richards brought a renewed sense of energy and “edginess” to the game, competing fiercely for rebounds on both ends of the court and penetrating aggressively to the basket, thereby creating more opportunities for his teammates to take shots from beyond the arc.
Jusuf Nurkic, who was recently removed from the starting lineup, continues to recover from the flu. However, coach Mike Budenholzer mentioned that Nurkic has “turned the corner” and will be evaluated to see if he can rejoin the team before their road trip wraps up on Wednesday in Brooklyn. Rankin predicts that Richards will soon usurp the starting position from Mason Plumlee, with rookie Oso Ighodaro providing additional depth in the lineup. This situation hints that if all four big men remain on the roster after the trade deadline, one may find it hard to secure regular playing time.
In other Pacific Division news:
- The Saturday matchup between the Wizards and Golden State raised concerns for coach Steve Kerr regarding Jordan Poole, as noted by Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. Poole was instrumental in the Warriors’ championship run in 2022 and was viewed as a future star before being traded to Washington in the summer of 2023 after a widely publicized incident involving Draymond Green. “It’s just really fun to see all of his work pay off and just his growth as a professional, to see it in pretty dramatic fashion over those few years, it was wonderful to see,” Kerr commented.
- Green will undergo an MRI on Sunday after leaving the game with a left calf injury, according to a tweet from Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry sprained his ankle but does not believe the injury to be serious.
- After dealing with injuries for a significant part of last season, Gabe Vincent is enjoying the chance to make an impact for the Lakers, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. He recorded a season-high of 14 points in a win against Miami, his former team, followed by 10 points in a game against Brooklyn on Friday. “My role… is just win games, help us win games,” Vincent explained. “Some nights it might be purely defensive, some nights I might be on the ball some more, some nights I might be spotting up. But whatever the task is, I’m out there to help this ballclub win games.”
- As the teams prepare to meet on Sunday, the Clippers will host the Lakers in their own arena for the first time after years of sharing a venue, as pointed out by Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The Clippers have moved into their new state-of-the-art facility, the Inuit Dome, this season. “I heard that place is sick,” remarked Lakers guard Austin Reaves. “I heard it’s really cool.”
Image Source: Nick Richards @ Instagram
