Adversity finds every team in the NBA at some point. Somebody is going to get injured or sick, guaranteed. How those stretches are handled can make or break a season.
Orlando and San Antonio are finding a way right now.
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New Orleans and Philadelphia are among the teams that aren't.
The Magic have gone 9-1 in their last 10 games, all without an injured Paolo Banchero — the team's best player and an All-Star last season. They are behind only Cleveland and Boston, another pair of teams that haven't let injury issues keep them from sizzling starts, in the Eastern Conference. The Spurs have gone 7-5 since Gregg Popovich had a stroke that left assistant coach Mitch Johnson serving as acting coach.
Those two teams might be the best examples early on of how not to let adversity impede winning.
“Mitch is really smart, great teammate in the coaches room," said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, a close friend of Popovich and someone who spent time with Johnson through USA Basketball in recent summers — including camps in Las Vegas before the 2023 World Cup and this year's Paris Olympics. "He was a big part of all of our conversations pre- and post-practice. He’s a really good coach, good guy. I know Pop loves him and feels very strongly what a good coach he is."
It's showing. The last time the Spurs — who have also been without starting forward Jeremy Sochan in recent weeks and played a couple games without star center Victor Wembanyama — had a better record through 17 games was in the 2017-18 season.
Johnson has done an impressive job of holding things together through a tough time.
“You look across the league, there’s a lot of injuries and guys out, so it’s just something where you’re trying to prepare everybody and it’s the next man up," Johnson said. "But it’s nice to see everybody embrace that, not only for themselves but for their teammates.”
The Magic, predictably, went through a struggle phase after Banchero got hurt: They started 0-4 without him, losing those games by an average of 14.3 points. And then Franz Wagner — who should be headed to San Francisco for the All-Star Game — took an enormous leap forward, averaging 27.6 points in his last 11 games.
“I think he’s found another level of confidence, and we need it,” Magic forward Jonathan Isaac said. “You know, obviously with Paolo going down, he’s stepped up and he recognizes what this team needs. We need him to be aggressive and just score the basketball. I think he’s just stepped into that role, and he’s been dominant, he’s been confident, and doing his thing.”
The Magic have made playing without a star look easy. It's not. Take the Phoenix Suns — they're 8-1 with Kevin Durant, 1-6 without him. Durant is probable to return Tuesday night from a calf strain when the Suns take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Memphis is an example of weathering the storm: The Grizzlies went 5-3 in Ja Morant's eight-game absence that ended Monday night.
The Pelicans aren't missing just one big name. They've been decimated by injuries: Dejounte Murray missed his 17th game Monday night with a broken left hand and three other Pelicans — Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and Herb Jones — have all missed at least 12 games while being hurt. It's why New Orleans is 4-14, one of the worst starts in the league.
“We're going to figure it out, and fight and claw like we normally do,” Pelicans forward Trey Murphy said.
The 76ers say they'll do the same, but they've been missing plenty of their best fighters — with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Kyle Lowry among those all missing time because of injury.
The result is a 3-13 start, the second-worst record in the NBA. The only silver lining for Philadelphia right now is that it's in the East, where only four teams have winning records right now.
“We're 16 games in. It's a long season," Maxey said. “Either we're going to lay down and let teams come in here and have field days against us, or we're going to go out there and play with some pride and go out there and win some games.
“We get it,” he added. "I got hurt. Jo got hurt. Kyle got hurt. P got hurt. Guys are in and out of the lineup. Yes, we understand that. That's not ideal. But all of us can do one thing every single night, 1 through 15, go out there, know the game plan and play extremely hard, every single night.”
Such is the adversity part. The Spurs and Magic seem to have figured it out. The Pelicans and 76ers are among those still searching for answers.
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