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Minnesota Timberwolves | Traveling calls up across the NBA, and…

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Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota timberwolves | traveling calls up across the nba, and timberwolves don’t like it, already this season officials have called a total of 1,753 traveling violations..

A theme throughout the first half of the NBA season is the clear emphasis on traveling violations. Specially, officials have cracked down on players appearing to shuffle their feet before dribbling after catching the ball out on the perimeter.

The shear volume of traveling calls has skyrocketed around the NBA this season. Per Elias Sports Bureau, 1,753 traveling violations had been whistled this season through Sunday’s games. That’s nearly 200 more than were whistled all of last season, and the 2022-23 regular season is just more than halfway complete.

Minnesota has been whistled for 70 traveling violations, compared to 67 in all of last season. Yet Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said he hasn’t done anything from a coaching perspective to address the steps with his players.

“It’s just so randomly applied. It’s not something you want to put into your players’ heads,” Finch said.

He doesn’t understand the intent of the rule change, noting he doesn’t believe it will affect the way guys play.

“They’ll call these slot travels and they may or may not have an impact on the play,” Finch said. “But in the post you’ll see a guy change pivot foot twice before he shoots. We are mindful of it in certain situations, but mostly we don’t overcoach it.”

Timberwolves guard Austin Rivers seems to have similar thoughts.

“That (stuff) is ridiculous. It’s not even the refs’ fault,” Rivers said. “They don’t know what they’re calling. Half the time they call it. … It’s not the refs. It’s hard. Guys are moving their feet. Sometimes they’re not even traveling. It just looks like one and they’re calling it. Sometimes they’re not. I don’t know who pushed that, but they need to push back.”

Center Naz Reid said it’s a hard situation. Some players may agree with the calls, and some may not. But he has been proactive about trying to use the officiating tweak as a learning experience. He watches film to see what he did wrong when he’s called for traveling and tries to adjust from there.

“Just get in the gym and work on different angles of pivot foots and things like that,” Reid said. “I mean, you can work on it. Some of our guys have been working on it with (assistant coach Chris Hines), with our pivot foots and trying to get the ball down before we move and things like that.”

Reid said that footwork repetition has created opportunities for him to look for ways to set his feet to set up his defender.

“I kind of use it as a positive, too,” he said. “I know, for me, I don’t really get that called too many times. But when I do, I try to adjust to it, even if it’s not the right call. I try to see what I did wrong or what made them feel like it was the right call, just to try and see what I did.”

McLaughlin still out

Asked for an update on reserve point guard Jordan McLaughlin before Monday’s game, Finch said he couldn’t provide much clarity on the situation.

“I don’t think a return is anytime soon,” Finch said.

Monday was McLaughlin’s 20th straight game missed with a calf strain.

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NBA Changed Its Travel Rule, But It's Still Not Perfect

In the NBA , traveling is a gray area. Officials, or when trying to decipher a walk, detectives, are put in a tough position to make these calls. Guys like Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James , who manipulate the rules to their advantage, toy refs into blowing their whistle.

So why is the traveling rule so hard to define? Well, the league clarified the rule prior to the 2019-20 season.

The NBA's Traveling Definition

RELATED: NBA Referees Make The Most Money in American Sports

The main factor when calling a traveling violation is determining when a player gathers. The league updated the definition with new language in the NBA rule book. The new rules read as follows :

Definition of the Gather The following definition of the gather will be added to the definitions section of the playing rules: A. For a player who receives a pass or gains possession of a loose ball, the gather is defined as the point where the player gains enough control of the ball to hold it, change hands, pass, shoot, or cradle it against his body. B. For a player who is in control of the ball while dribbling, the gather is defined as the point where a player does any one of the following: (1) Puts two hands on the ball, or otherwise permits the ball to come to rest, while he is in control of it; (2) Puts a hand under the ball and brings it to a pause; or (3) Otherwise gains enough control of the ball to hold it, change hands, pass, shoot, or cradle it against his body.

In layman's terms, the player is allowed two steps post gather step. Some guys are so quick when they gather — leaving it to the discretion of the refs — that it looks like a walk to the average fan, which is where the scrutiny is built from.

It's up to NBA officials to determine when a player gathers, and NBA players love putting the pressure on them.

Given these rules agreed upon by the NBA Board of Governors, Harden's famous step back and Euro step into field goal attempts are more than legal, even if it appears the 2018 NBA MVP's completion of a dribble is murky.

RELATED: LaVar Ball thinks he knows where LeBron James will go in free agency next year

NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell issued a comment on the rule changes:

"One of the most misunderstood rules in our game is how traveling is interpreted and appropriately called," Spruell said . "Revising the language of certain areas of the rule is part of our three-pronged approach to address the uncertainty around traveling. This approach also includes an enforcement plan to make traveling a point of emphasis for our officiating staff, along with an aggressive education plan to increase understanding of the rule by players, coaches, media and fans."

Spruell appeared on ESPN's The Jump in October 2019 to further elaborate on the rule change. The crew talks about traveling at the four-minute mark in the video above.

While switching a pivot foot is an easy traveling call, the gather is the basis of this contentious rule. The second step may seem like an extra step, but as long as it's after a gather, it's within the rule book's confines.

MORE: Jeff Van Gundy Made a Boatload of Cash Before Working at ESPN

You might also like, kawhi leonard's hands are some of the largest in nba history, all 5 basketball positions, explained, woman's face drilled by basketball while she's on her phone, rockets reportedly intend to make james harden highest paid player in nba history.

Stop wasting sleepless nights wondering if your team gets a favorable whistle

NBA officiating keeping you up at night?

We've done the work for you, counting all the incorrect calls and non-calls from each and every one of the NBA's Last 2 Minute Reports.

We count the incorrect calls and non-calls in every NBA Last 2-Minute Report so you don't have to.

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These incorrect calls and non-calls are pulled from the NBA's Last 2-Minute Reports , which are only created for games that are at or within 3 pts during any point in the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter. Teams with more close games will have larger sample sizes than those without as many games.

Officiating data for the 2022-23 season is updated within 2 hours of the NBA releasing their Last 2-Minute Reports from the prior day's games.

Yes - we're currently working on including officiating data from as early as the 2014-15 season.

No - only regular season games are included.

Created by Taylor Stein , a hoops fanatic in sunny San Diego, CA ☀️

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Knicks feeling the nba’s emphasis on travel calls.

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The Knicks will have to adjust — or, in this case, pivot. 

The 14 travels and carries called during their victory over the Cavaliers on Sunday were the most in an NBA game in the past 25 years, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Of the 14 whistles, eight were blown against the Knicks. 

A league source said there has not been a recent memo issued to begin a crackdown against travels, but players taking an extra step — or dragging or switching a pivot foot — has been a point of emphasis this season. 

“The goal of [points of emphasis] are not to call more of anything. It’s to focus on areas we feel haven’t been called as accurately as we would like,” the league source said. “Then throughout the year, we reinforce those points to ensure we are calling accurately.” 

Through Saturday, according to the league, travel calls were up from 1.3 per game last season to 2.9 per game this season. 

“I’ve never seen that in my life,” Julius Randle said Sunday, after the league’s focus climaxed with a game undercut by violations . 

“I want to look at the film, and I think it’s good for the most part,” said coach Tom Thibodeau, who received a technical for arguing what would have been an additional traveling violation against Cavs guard Darius Garland. “Except — I think you have to be consistent in the way in which you call it. If it’s tight for one team, it’s got to be tight for the other team.” 

RJ Barrett was whistled for three walking violations . Quentin Grimes was issued two, while Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson each walked once. 

“We’re going to have to adjust,” Jalen Brunson said of the Knicks, who will host the Hawks on Wednesday. 

Brunson said the Knicks communicated more during the win Sunday, which was a positive development. 

“We have to talk every single time,” the point guard said. “I think for us, it’s a little thing that can go a long way. No one purposely is trying to not say anything. We’re all running around, we’re all trying to cover for each other, but at the same time know where our man is. 

“I feel like if we continue to talk more, we’ll be able to help each other more. It’s just a work in progress.” 

The Westchester Knicks traded Feron Hunt to the Birmingham Squadron, an affiliate of the Pelicans, for guard Justin Wright-Foreman. Wright-Foreman, a 25-year-old Queens native, starred at Hofstra. 

Hunt, a forward who had been on a two-way deal with the Knicks, was waived last Tuesday. 

The Knicks assigned Jericho Sims, Svi Mykhailiuk and Miles McBride to Westchester, with the trio available for Monday’s game against Capital City. 

— Additional reporting by Zach Braziller 

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Shocking Stephen Curry travel stat proves NBA crackdown is real

The NBA is cracking down on traveling violations, and if you need further proof of that, then just look at Warriors star Stephen Curry.

Angelo Guinhawa

The NBA is cracking down on traveling violations this season, and if you need further proof of that, then just look at Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry .

Traveling calls across the league have skyrocketed in recent weeks as the NBA looks to address the issue that has plagued its product on the court for years now. And sure enough, Curry is no exemption despite being the league's biggest star.

Curry has actually been called for five traveling violations in the Warriors' last two games, which is the highest in his career in that span. His previous high was three in two games in 2021.

Even worse for Curry, however, the traveling calls could have cost his team a win. During the Warriors' loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, one of the biggest controversies about the game was the traveling violation on Curry with less than 10 seconds left. It proved to be a key turning point as the Mavs ended up winning, 116-113.

Warriors fans hated this travel call on Steph Curry. Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/sdhWmQbZMS — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 30, 2022

Curry himself disagreed with the call , though he couldn't do anything about it.

Ryan Bologna · 3 hours ago

Brett Siegel · 3 hours ago

Sam DiGiovanni · 6 hours ago

It is certainly a big learning moment for Stephen Curry and the Warriors. While the common argument is that officials haven't called those traveling violations consistently, it doesn't look like the crackdown will be stopping anytime soon.

With that said, Curry and co. will definitely need to be more careful whenever they attempt step-back jumpers or side-step shots moving forward. Like what happened against the Mavs, it could make a massive difference when they're whistled for the violation at a crucial moment.

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The NBA’s 9 most hilarious missed travel calls

How were these plays not called for traveling?

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LeBron James said his travel against the Utah Jazz was the worst one of his life, and folks, he was not wrong. James dribbled the ball past the halfcourt line, then just walked a bit before remembering to dribble it again. That is not how basketball is played. Yet somehow, none of the referees blew their whistle.

LeBron got away with one pic.twitter.com/Uv4uMKKcDi — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 5, 2019

During the game, James talked to a fan after realizing how awful the play was. “I didn’t even know I did it until I saw it at halftime,” he said. “That’s the worst I’ve ever done. Yeah, that was f-cked up.”

LeBron to a fan about his no-call travel/double-dribble: “Yeah I know that was bad. That was real bad. I didn’t even know I did it until I saw it at half-time. That’s the worst I’ve ever done. Yeah, that was f-cked up. I feel bad for them though.” pic.twitter.com/YNffJPN1t9 — Yoni (@OriginalYoni) December 5, 2019

“I think I was ready to pass the ball,” James said after the game, according to ESPN , “and my brain just kind of just, I had a malfunction. I really had a malfunction ... I feel bad for the refs on that one because they’ll probably get a write-up on that or something.”

James’ travel was hilariously bad, but it’s far from the first time a player’s egregiously messed up and forgot to put the ball on the ground. Here are some of the best travels to not get called by the officials.

Bradley Beal ’s gallop

Blake Griffin ’s defense psyched out Beal , who, after taking his two steps on a drive to the hoop, took three more steps.

No whistle.

Worst of all, referees after the game stood by the call!

“The offensive player gathers with his right foot on the ground,” the official ref account tweeted . “He then takes two legal steps, before losing control of the ball. After regaining possession, a player is allowed to regain his pivot foot and pass or shoot prior to that foot returning to the ground. This is legal.”

The time Dirk Nowitzki played hopscotch

Nowitzki really just kept taking mini bunny hops going backwards. He took seven steps! Seven!

Kemba Walker’s jump-and-spin

Walker’s hop-step was a total mess, and his awkward landing sent him into another spin and a half-step and then ... a layup? The Celtics’ defense had a right to be Mad As Hell.

Take a bus next time, Kemba... pic.twitter.com/vbTeDh7FUT — Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 12, 2016

Kendrick Perkins ’ nine-step walk

NINE! 9! (NINE?!)

Perkins kept changing his pivot foot and not a single soul in black-and-white stripes paid attention. They thought this looked fine:

WATCH: Kendrick Perkins' 9-step travel highlights this edition of "Shaqtin' A Fool!" https://t.co/tvDm4hycAP — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 10, 2015

Dwyane Wade ’s seven-step travel

Wade dribbled down the court, similar to James, and appeared to do some stretching with the ball over his head while changing his pivot foot over and over again. In basketball, you simply can not do that.

Josh Smith’s 20+-step travel

This is so bad that I have no words.

Corey Brewer ’s dunk travel

In comparison to some of his colleagues, Brewer taking six steps before dunking wasn’t all that bad!

James Harden ’s double step-back

The best for last. This one is so legendary that it even had a failed reboot. Harden shuffled his feet backwards twice for a walk so obvious that nobody called it.

Months later, Steph Curry did it ... but he got whistled!

They just called a travel on Steph for doing the Harden double stepback. Ha pic.twitter.com/6HGgE55rfZ — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) January 6, 2019

Harden is, to date, our uncalled travel king.

Next time you complain that a specific player “always gets away with travels,” remember: They are not the only ones.

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What's behind the NBA's new focus on traveling, and how players and teams are adjusting

NEW YORK -- Before the New York Knicks hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday afternoon, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about the NBA's emphasis on enforcing traveling this season.

"I'm all for it," Thibodeau said.

Over the ensuing 36 hours, the Knicks were hit with six violations in a blowout loss to the Mavericks before committing another eight -- the most called on any team in a single game since 2010, according to Elias Sports Bureau research -- during Sunday's 91-82 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers .

But it was a traveling call Thibodeau believed wasn't called on Cavs guard Darius Garland that landed the coach a technical foul late in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously there's an emphasis on it by the league," Thibodeau said postgame. "I think [ the enforcement ] is good, for the most part. But I think you have to be consistent in the way in which you call it.

"If it's tight for one team, it's got to be tight for the other team."

Neither side was happy with the way Sunday's game was called. Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff echoed his New York counterpart after the Cavs were called for five travels.

"To be honest with you, every game could be called like this," Bickerstaff said after holding back a smile. "But it's not. So when it is, it makes it difficult to figure out what exactly we're doing and how we're going to do it."

Knicks forward Julius Randle , meanwhile, said he had never experienced such a game throughout his nine-year NBA career.

"I'm not saying they're wrong," Randle said. "I'm not saying they're the wrong calls. It's just, I've never seen it."

While Sunday's game might have been an extreme example -- New York and Cleveland's 13 combined travels is the most for an NBA game this season and the most since March 2007, according to ESPN Stats & Information research -- the league has seen a dramatic increase in both traveling and carrying violations in recent weeks.

October saw 1.7 travels called per game, according to analysis by ESPN's Kevin Pelton. That number doubled in November. (During the 2021-22 season, there were 1.26 travels called per game, the lowest frequency dating back to 1996-97, the first year that play-by-play data is available).

What has been even more dramatic is the increase in carrying and palming calls. In October, not a single carry was called. In November, there were 44 -- 43 were called across the entire 2021-22 season. Six palming violations in October were followed by 57 being called in November -- 67 such calls were made across all of last season.

The violations have played a part in the leaguewide offensive rating going from 112 points per 100 possessions in October to 111.3 in November, as opposed to offense typically increasing over the course of the season.

And calls have been immune to situation, score and stardom. Shortly after Thibodeau received the technical Sunday, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was called for a travel a few feet away from the Knicks bench. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was called for a travel on a potential winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds against Dallas on Tuesday.

"If we're going to call that now," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after that 116-113 loss to the Mavericks, "we've got to call that all the time."

Despite frustrations aired across the league, the NBA is trying to do exactly that.

Each preseason, the league releases points of emphasis -- made available not only to the referees, but to the teams and media -- outlining a new focus in rules enforcement. In recent years, the target has been opening up the game to be played in a more free-flowing fashion. First was an emphasis on freedom of movement, cutting down on defenders clutching and grabbing on the perimeter. Then came eliminating "non-basketball moves" that players such as Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden had honed into a science to draw fouls.

For Monty McCutchen, the NBA's senior vice president of referee development and training, tackling traveling is the next step in an ongoing quest to change how NBA basketball is officiated.

"We take direction from our stakeholders," McCutchen says. "I think that [ offensive players' ] footwork had gotten to where the stakeholders had realized ... when you have a game that's played in space with highly skilled people and then you turn around on top of that and give them the advantage of extra footwork, it's virtually impossible to guard people."

McCutchen says the free-flowing nature and spacing of the modern NBA has provided an opportunity for referees to focus on players shifting their pivot foot when attacking defenses, adding that the league has studied data that shows missing such calls leads to additional defensive fouls because it creates an advantage for offensive players to exploit.

"Our concentration was on defensive players because that's where most of the problems came from. We had to grow and evolve with the game," McCutchen says.

"We've been harping on it and harping on it [ with our referees ] : You must then find the legal pivot foot and then you must either see a legal step back or a legal dribble before transitioning your focus to defensive players.

"We're doing a much better job of this and, thus, you're seeing an increase in violations."

Curry, for his part, echoed Thibodeau and Bickerstaff: As long as the game is being officiated consistently, everyone will adjust from there.

"All the ones they did call were clear travels. Not much to argue about," Curry said after the Warriors' win over the Rockets on Saturday. "Make the adjustments based on how the game is called, and we are talented enough to do that.

"Again, it's just making sure it's consistent on both sides, game after game."

While the emphasis on traveling hasn't come as a shock, both the number of carrying and palming violations -- neither of which were specifically spelled out as points of emphasis heading into the season -- have soared.

What has led to the sudden increase? McCutchen says the answer is simple: After watching the opening weeks of the season and studying how officials were reacting to the point of emphasis on traveling, not enough attention was paid to both carrying and palming the ball -- acts he says are part of the same sequence of events stressed to referees in the preseason.

"My job as the head coach -- for lack of a better description -- of our team, is to make sure that the rule book is being enforced," McCutchen says. "And when we emphasize traveling and sequencing and it picks up another part of footwork, then it needs to be adjudicated properly."

When asked if he expected there to be a decrease in calls as the season went along, McCutchen says there could be a natural decrease as players adjust. We have seen that in the past. Per Pelton's analysis, travels per game have declined after the first 20 team games in 24 of the past 26 seasons, including a dramatic drop in 2019-20 when traveling was last a point of emphasis.

Still, McCutchen says that despite some of the high-profile nature of recent calls, he's happy with the progress the league has made while acknowledging the referees' task of keeping up with a league constantly evolving around them.

"We're always going to be just a little behind. The key is to shorten that distance as much as possible through good training," McCutchen says of NBA referees.

"You've heard me say it a thousand times: A referee's role is to serve the game, and when we're told where we need to get better at serving the game, then it's my job to deliver on that."

And, after the Knicks had one of their best defensive performances of the season Sunday, Randle had one idea for how they could build on that success.

"Hopefully," Randle said with a smile, "we can force them into more travels."

ESPN's Kendra Andrews contributed to this story.

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NBA playoff picture, standings: Bracket, matchups as Celtics clinch top record, Suns, Heat move out of Play-In

Here's your one-stop shop for everything you need to know on the nba playoff races.

The NBA playoffs are almost here. Less than two weeks remain in the regular season, and the postseason is set to begin April 16 with the Play-In Tournament. The playoffs get started April 20. The playoff picture is coming into focus (13 teams have already clinched postseason sports), but there is plenty to be decided in the regular season's closing weeks. Seeding, home-court advantage and the chance to avoid the Play-In Tournament are all on the line between now and April 14.

So what's the latest in the NBA's playoff picture? The Boston Celtics picked up their 60th win of the regular season on Wednesday night, and they clinched the NBA's best overall record in the playoffs. The Celtics will have home-court advantage in every round as they try to win their first title since 2008. 

In the West, the Phoenix Suns jumped up to sixth place and out of the Play-In Tournament with a win over the Cavaliers. The Miami Heat are in a similar situation in the East as the Pacers' Wednesday loss to the Nets pushed the Heat into sixth place.

As a reminder, the NBA's Play-In Tournament will determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in both conferences. Four teams in each conference (the 7-10 seeds) will enter the Play-In Tournament, while the top six seeds will automatically qualify for playoff spots. The seventh- and eighth-placed teams will face each other for the No. 7 seed. The ninth- and 10th-placed teams will face each other in another game, and then the loser of the No. 7/No. 8 game will face the winner of the No. 9/No. 10 game for the No. 8 seed.

For the remainder of the season, this will be your one-stop shop playoff picture. We've got you covered on everything from the current standings to tiebreaker scenarios and magic numbers for both play-in spots and top-six seeds. 

Here's where we stand entering play on Thursday, April 4.

Playoff bracket if the season ended today...

West (1) Timberwolves vs. (8) Pelicans/Kings/Lakers/Warriors (2) Nuggets vs. (7) Pelicans/Kings (3) Thunder vs. (6) Suns (4) Clippers vs. (5) Mavericks

East (1) Celtics vs. (8) Pacers/76ers/Bulls/Hawks (2) Bucks vs. (7) Pacers/76ers (3) Cavaliers vs. (6) Heat (4) Magic vs. (5) Knicks

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1.  minnesota timberwolves  (53-23).

• Clinched:  Top-four seed
• Magic Number:  Top-three seed (2)
• Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets:  Wolves clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Thunder:  Wolves currently own via division record

2.  Denver Nuggets  (53-23)

• Clinched: Top-four seed
• Magic Number:  Top-three seed (2)
• Tiebreaker vs. Thunder:  Thunder clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Wolves:  Wolves clinched

3.  Oklahoma City Thunder  (52-24)

• Clinched:  Playoff spot
• Magic Number:  Top-four seed (1)
• Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets:  Thunder clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Wolves:  Wolves currently own via division record

4.  Los Angeles Clippers  (47-28)

• Clinched: Play-in spot
• Magic Number:  Playoff spot (4)
• Tiebreaker vs. Pelicans:  Pelicans clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Clippers lead 2-0 with two to play

5.  Dallas Mavericks  (45-30)

• Magic Number:  Play-In spot (1), playoff spot (6)
• Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans : Dallas currently owns via division win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Kings:  Mavs lead via conference record
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Mavs clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Warriors:  Mavs lead 2-0 with two to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Lakers:  Mavs clinched

6.  Phoenix Suns  (45-31)

• Magic Numbers:  Play-In spot (1), playoff spot (6)
• Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans:  Suns have clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Kings:  Tied 2-2 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Dallas:  Mavs clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Warriors:  Suns clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Lakers:  Lakers clinched

PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

7. new orleans pelicans (45-31).

• Magic Number:  Play-In spot (1)
• Tiebreaker vs. Clippers:  Pelicans have clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Kings:  Pelicans have clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Suns have clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Dallas : Dallas currently owns via division win percentage

8.  Sacramento Kings  (44-31)

• Magic Number:  Play-In spot (2)
• Tiebreaker vs. Mavericks:  Mavs lead via conference record
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Tied 2-2 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Warriors:  Kings lead via division record
• Tiebreaker vs.  Lakers :  Kings have clinched

9. Los Angeles Lakers (44-33)

• Tiebreaker vs. Warriors:  Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Lakers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Mavs:  Mavs clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Kings:  Kings clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Rockets:  Rockets lead via conference record

10. Golden State Warriors (41-34)

• Magic Number:  Play-In spot (4)
• Tiebreaker vs. Kings: Kings lead via division record
• Tiebreaker vs. Mavs: Mavs lead 2-0 with two to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Suns:  Suns clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Rockets : Warriors clinched

IN THE HUNT

11. houston rockets (38-37).

• Tiebreaker vs. Lakers:  Rockets lead via conference record
• Tiebreaker vs. Warriors : Warriors clinched

EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1. boston celtics (60-16).

• Clinched:  NBA's best record

2. Milwaukee Bucks (47-29)

• Clinched:  Play-In spot
• Magic Number:  Playoff spot (2)
• Tiebreaker vs. Knicks:  Bucks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cavs: Bucks lead via division leader

3.  Cleveland Cavaliers  (46-31)

• Magic Number:  Playoff spot (3)
• Tiebreaker vs. Bucks:  Bucks lead via division leader
• Tiebreaker vs. Knicks:  Knicks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Magic:  Magic currently own via division leader

4. Orlando Magic (45-31)

• Clinched:  Play-In spot
• Tiebreaker vs. Cavs:  Magic currently own via division leader
• Tiebreaker vs. Knicks:  Magic clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Pacers:  Magic clinched

5.  New York Knicks  (44-31)

• Magic Number:  Playoff spot (5)
• Tiebreaker vs. Bucks:  Bucks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cavs:  Knicks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Magic:  Magic clinched

6.  Miami Heat  (42-33)

• Magic number : Playoff spot (7)
• Tiebreaker vs. Pacers:  Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. 76ers:  Miami leads 2-1 with one to play

7. Indiana Pacers (43-34)

• Tiebreaker vs. Heat:  Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. 76ers:  Pacers clinched

8. Philadelphia 76ers (41-35)

• Tiebreaker vs. Pacers:  Pacers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Heat:  Miami leads 2-1 with one to play

9. Chicago Bulls (36-40)

• Tiebreaker vs. Hawks:  Bulls clinched

10. Atlanta Hawks (36-40)

• Magic Number:  Play-In spot
• Tiebreaker vs. Bulls:  Bulls clinched

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Transfer Talk: Man Utd, PSG, Arsenal want Guimarães

The summer transfer window won't reopen in Europe for a while yet, but there are plenty of moves in the works and gossip swirling around. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals !

You have reached ESPN's UK edition. Stay on current site or go to US version .

What's behind the NBA's new focus on traveling, and how players and teams are adjusting

NEW YORK -- Before the New York Knicks hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday afternoon, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about the NBA's emphasis on enforcing traveling this season.

"I'm all for it," Thibodeau said.

Over the ensuing 36 hours, the Knicks were hit with six violations in a blowout loss to the Mavericks before committing another eight -- the most called on any team in a single game since 2010, according to Elias Sports Bureau research -- during Sunday's 91-82 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers .

But it was a traveling call Thibodeau believed wasn't called on Cavs guard Darius Garland that landed the coach a technical foul late in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously there's an emphasis on it by the league," Thibodeau said postgame. "I think [the enforcement] is good, for the most part. But I think you have to be consistent in the way in which you call it.

"If it's tight for one team, it's got to be tight for the other team."

Neither side was happy with the way Sunday's game was called. Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff echoed his New York counterpart after the Cavs were called for five travels.

"To be honest with you, every game could be called like this," Bickerstaff said after holding back a smile. "But it's not. So when it is, it makes it difficult to figure out what exactly we're doing and how we're going to do it."

Knicks forward Julius Randle , meanwhile, said he had never experienced such a game throughout his nine-year NBA career.

"I'm not saying they're wrong," Randle said. "I'm not saying they're the wrong calls. It's just, I've never seen it."

While Sunday's game might have been an extreme example -- New York and Cleveland's 13 combined travels is the most for an NBA game this season and the most since March 2007, according to ESPN Stats & Information research -- the league has seen a dramatic increase in both traveling and carrying violations in recent weeks.

October saw 1.7 travels called per game, according to analysis by ESPN's Kevin Pelton. That number doubled in November. (During the 2021-22 season, there were 1.26 travels called per game, the lowest frequency dating back to 1996-97, the first year that play-by-play data is available).

What has been even more dramatic is the increase in carrying and palming calls. In October, not a single carry was called. In November, there were 44 -- 43 were called across the entire 2021-22 season. Six palming violations in October were followed by 57 being called in November -- 67 such calls were made across all of last season.

The violations have played a part in the leaguewide offensive rating going from 112 points per 100 possessions in October to 111.3 in November, as opposed to offense typically increasing over the course of the season.

And calls have been immune to situation, score and stardom. Shortly after Thibodeau received the technical Sunday, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was called for a travel a few feet away from the Knicks bench. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was called for a travel on a potential winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds against Dallas on Tuesday.

"If we're going to call that now," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after that 116-113 loss to the Mavericks, "we've got to call that all the time."

Despite frustrations aired across the league, the NBA is trying to do exactly that.

Each preseason, the league releases points of emphasis -- made available not only to the referees, but to the teams and media -- outlining a new focus in rules enforcement. In recent years, the target has been opening up the game to be played in a more free-flowing fashion. First was an emphasis on freedom of movement, cutting down on defenders clutching and grabbing on the perimeter. Then came eliminating "non-basketball moves" that players such as Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden had honed into a science to draw fouls.

For Monty McCutchen, the NBA's senior vice president of referee development and training, tackling traveling is the next step in an ongoing quest to change how NBA basketball is officiated.

"We take direction from our stakeholders," McCutchen says. "I think that [offensive players'] footwork had gotten to where the stakeholders had realized ... when you have a game that's played in space with highly skilled people and then you turn around on top of that and give them the advantage of extra footwork, it's virtually impossible to guard people."

McCutchen says the free-flowing nature and spacing of the modern NBA has provided an opportunity for referees to focus on players shifting their pivot foot when attacking defenses, adding that the league has studied data that shows missing such calls leads to additional defensive fouls because it creates an advantage for offensive players to exploit.

"Our concentration was on defensive players because that's where most of the problems came from. We had to grow and evolve with the game," McCutchen says.

"We've been harping on it and harping on it [with our referees]: You must then find the legal pivot foot and then you must either see a legal step back or a legal dribble before transitioning your focus to defensive players.

"We're doing a much better job of this and, thus, you're seeing an increase in violations."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kevin Pelton (@kpeltoncharts)

Curry, for his part, echoed Thibodeau and Bickerstaff: As long as the game is being officiated consistently, everyone will adjust from there.

"All the ones they did call were clear travels. Not much to argue about," Curry said after the Warriors' win over the Rockets on Saturday. "Make the adjustments based on how the game is called, and we are talented enough to do that.

"Again, it's just making sure it's consistent on both sides, game after game."

While the emphasis on traveling hasn't come as a shock, both the number of carrying and palming violations -- neither of which were specifically spelled out as points of emphasis heading into the season -- have soared.

What has led to the sudden increase? McCutchen says the answer is simple: After watching the opening weeks of the season and studying how officials were reacting to the point of emphasis on traveling, not enough attention was paid to both carrying and palming the ball -- acts he says are part of the same sequence of events stressed to referees in the preseason.

"My job as the head coach -- for lack of a better description -- of our team, is to make sure that the rule book is being enforced," McCutchen says. "And when we emphasize traveling and sequencing and it picks up another part of footwork, then it needs to be adjudicated properly."

When asked if he expected there to be a decrease in calls as the season went along, McCutchen says there could be a natural decrease as players adjust. We have seen that in the past. Per Pelton's analysis, travels per game have declined after the first 20 team games in 24 of the past 26 seasons, including a dramatic drop in 2019-20 when traveling was last a point of emphasis.

Still, McCutchen says that despite some of the high-profile nature of recent calls, he's happy with the progress the league has made while acknowledging the referees' task of keeping up with a league constantly evolving around them.

"We're always going to be just a little behind. The key is to shorten that distance as much as possible through good training," McCutchen says of NBA referees.

"You've heard me say it a thousand times: A referee's role is to serve the game, and when we're told where we need to get better at serving the game, then it's my job to deliver on that."

And, after the Knicks had one of their best defensive performances of the season Sunday, Randle had one idea for how they could build on that success.

"Hopefully," Randle said with a smile, "we can force them into more travels."

ESPN's Kendra Andrews contributed to this story.

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Victor Wembanyama's Status vs. Denver Nuggets Revealed

The San Antonio Spurs have released their injury report for this game

• Author: Joey Linn

In This Story:

The San Antonio Spurs are facing the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, and star rookie Victor Wembanyama is not listed on the injury report, meaning he is available to play. While this battle comes between two teams at opposite ends of the Western Conference standings, it should still be a very exciting matchup. 

The Nuggets are in a battle for the first seed, and while the Spurs are currently last in the Western Conference, they are trying to build some positive momentum towards next season. San Antonio has had some impressive wins recently, so the Nuggets will have to be locked into their game plan. 

As previously mentioned, Wembanyama will be in the lineup for San Antonio, which presents a matchup nightmare for any opponent. Denver enters this game a half-game back of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot in the Western Conference, and just a half-game above the Minnesota Timberwolves who sit in third. These three teams have been in a tightly contested battle for the first seed all season, and that remains the case as the season winds down. 

With Nikola Jokic listed as probable, the Nuggets should have their star player available for this game against San Antonio. The Nuggets feel good about their chances every time Jokic plays, as the MVP candidate has been special this season.

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