NBA News: Friday, March 24th, 2023

It’s been a busy few days in the NBA, and there have been several big news stories that have emerged. The playoff races in the NBA continue to be the major focus, but there are also some other big events that have taken place. 

Some of the biggest players and best teams continue to be in the news, and for very different reasons. Here is a look at three of the biggest NBA news stories that have taken place over the last few days.

Cuban Files Protest After Loss

The Dallas Mavericks suffered a two-point loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in what was a big game in the Western Conference. The game was extremely tight and exciting, but it was also one that came with a bit of controversy. 

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban filed a protest with the league office after the game because he believes that his team was cheated out of the win. The play that was in question happened in the third quarter, and that was ultimately the difference in the game. 

After a timeout, the Golden State Warriors were able to get a wide-open basket as the Dallas Mavericks were on the other end of the floor. Dallas believed that it was their ball out of the timeout, and they believe that there was an officiating error on the play. 

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr refuted the claim by the Mavericks as he contended that he knew that it was the Warriors' basketball. The NBA will have to make an official ruling, but the protest is not expected to be approved.

Morant Makes Return to Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies got a huge boost on Wednesday night as point guard Ja Morant made his return to the lineup. Morant came off of the bench in the game on Wednesday night to score 17 points, but his presence means much more than any of the statistics. 

The Grizzlies crowd at FedEx Forum gave Morant a standing ovation as he returned to the floor, and the hope is that he will remain with the team the rest of the season. This was the first game for Morant since March 4th after he was forced to step away from the team. 

Morant initially stepped away from the team for personal reasons, but he was also given a suspension from the NBA. The superstar guard is going to continue to prioritize his mental health moving forward, and he meditated before the game. 

While Morant came off of the bench in his return, he is expected to start moving forward.

James Could Return in Final Week

The Los Angeles Lakers have provided very few updates on superstar LeBron James, but NBA insiders continue to come out with reports. James was supposed to get re-evaluated on Thursday, but that did not happen as planned.

The Lakers are not expecting James to play in a ton of regular season games the rest of the way, but the team is hopeful that he will return for the final week of games. Los Angeles has been able to stay in the playoff race without their leader, but they won’t advance far in the postseason without James in the lineup.

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All Media on this page by Associated Press.