Jae Crowder We've gone from being eliminated from the league at the start of the week to starting the league Kings on Wednesday. After signing When Crowder met with the team at the start of the day, he was immediately inserted into the lineup. The veteran forward played 27 minutes and contributed eight points, four rebounds and a steal as Sacramento defeated Minnesota, ending a four-game losing streak.
“He knows what it takes to win” trainer Mike Brown told Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee. “In addition, he is a grown man and can guard fours and fives. If someone gets going in this area, they won't back down. He will fight even harder. You saw it tonight. You won't stop Julius Randlebut you have to fight him.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Bradley Beal suffered another injury setback on Wednesday. The Suns The winger left the game midway through the fourth quarter with soreness in his left calf and ankle. Beal played just his second game in five games because of a calf strain. “He felt like he stepped on someone’s foot a few times.” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said, per David Brandt of Associated Press. “We hope for the best, but I don’t have an update at the moment.”
- warrior Sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski According to mental trainer Dr. Get advice from Graig Chow Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Podziemski struggled with poor shooting, which led to a shortened playing time. He has shown signs of coming out of his funk, including a 12-point, 5-assist performance against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. “I think I let the mental part of it sink in a little bit.” Podziemski said. “Initially, when I had problems in the first five, ten games, I thought it was more physically demanding. Maybe I didn't put enough into it. But everyone here knows that I am one of the hardest workers, if not the hardest, and I give a lot to it. So I just thought outside the box. “How do I get where I want to go mentally?”… And Dr. (Chow) has obviously helped a lot of people here. And there's no harm in asking him. So he helped give me a lot of different things that help me be my authentic self.”
- Lakers trainer JJ Redick adjusted his lineup on Wednesday and reinstated the rookie Dalton Knecht and moving Cam Reddish to the bank. Knecht scored a game-high 20 points as Los Angeles cruised past San Antonio and ended a two-game deficit. “I am very proud of our group” Redick said. “The response was great. And it's funny because it's literally what I talked to them about before the game. You just have to let go of the past. You have to let go of the recent past and move on to the next thing. And as they have done several times before, they responded.”