Twelve preseason games were played Saturday night, with Atlanta's rout of Dallas and Orlando's blowout of Miami among the headline results. Denver's Julian Strawther is out with a knee injury, and several contenders are managing rest days for veterans. Rosters are being trimmed leaguewide ahead of Saturday's cut deadline, with Pat Connaughton among the players waived.
Last night
Atlanta routed Dallas 135-111, and Orlando handled Miami just as easily, winning 136-115. Boston won at Philadelphia, 125-120, and San Antonio blew past Sacramento, 126-97. Several games went down to the wire: Milwaukee edged Indiana 128-127, New Orleans held off Washington 107-106, and Utah won at Phoenix, 119-116. Memphis beat Charlotte 117-98, Chicago handled Minnesota 133-116, Golden State beat Portland 128-118, and Detroit outlasted Toronto 129-125. Denver closed the night with a 121-106 win at the Lakers. The games were part of the preseason slate, with the regular season still to open.
The injury wire
Denver will be without Julian Strawther, who is out with a knee injury. Brooklyn's Joshua Jefferson is out with a back injury, and Golden State's Kristaps Porzingis is out with an undisclosed issue. The Clippers' Yanic Konan Niederhauser is out with a foot injury, and Utah's Jusuf Nurkic is out with a foot injury of his own. Several contenders are managing rest days: Boston has Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Paul George, Payton Pritchard and Mike Conley all day-to-day, Minnesota has Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and LaMelo Ball day-to-day, and Toronto has Scottie Barnes, Kawhi Leonard and Immanuel Quickley day-to-day, all listed as rest. Miami's Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Lakers' Luka Doncic are also day-to-day for rest.
Moves and reports
Houston added Caleb McConnell and Bryce Harris, the Clippers added Nathan Mensah, the Heat added Ezra Ausar, and the Raptors added Jalen Celestine. The Thunder added Lamar Wilkerson, Nate Johnson and Dariq Whitehead while moving on from Andrew Holifield, Zhaire Smith and Anthony Pritchard. Charlotte waived Pat Connaughton, a $3.8 million cap hit, and Portland moved on from Caleb Houstan, a $2.6 million cap hit. Brian Windhorst, at 74% confidence, published "Windhorst's Latest: Seattle, Towns, A. Black, Magic." Shams Charania (71%) reported the Connaughton waiver, and hoopsrumors (45%) reported Orlando waiving Malaki Branham, JD Davison and Kevin Knox, and Golden State planning to waive Dalen Terry.
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