{"id":582208,"date":"2026-04-03T05:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582208\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T05:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:14:15","slug":"nba-news-live-updates-luka-doncic-sustains-hamstring-injury-anthony-edwards-becomes-ineligible-for-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582208\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA news, live updates: Luka Don\u010di\u0107 sustains hamstring injury, Anthony Edwards becomes ineligible for awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the NBA playoff picture<\/a> is beginning to take shape.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several of the league\u2019s biggest stars continue building their cases for postseason awards<\/a>. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the heavy favorite to repeat, with Victor Wembanyama also in the conversation.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander has strengthened his case with another dominant season, joining Luka Don\u010di\u0107 as the only players averaging more than 30 points per game while leading the league with 14.2 win shares and a +10.7 plus-minus.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, injuries and the 65-game rule have reshaped the awards race. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, 41-year-old LeBron James and young star Anthony Edwards are all ineligible for postseason awards<\/a> under the NBA\u2019s 65-game requirement, while three-time MVP Nikola Joki\u0107 can miss just one more game before falling below the threshold.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 will also face a similar fate if he can\u2019t return from a hamstring injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest news, scores and key storylines shaping the NBA playoff picture<\/a>. We\u2019re also tracking who\u2019s headed for the draft lottery.<\/a><\/p>\n

Live coverage is over34 updates\"JackThu, April 2, 2026 at 9:47 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 very bad night saw them lose 139-96 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. They are also holding their breath Don\u010di\u0107, who left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 will undergo an MRI on Friday. If he cannot return by the end of the regular season on April 12, he will be ineligible for any postseason awards.<\/p>\n

\"JackThu, April 2, 2026 at 3:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards has been ruled out for Thursday\u2019s game with right knee pain and an illness<\/a>. That will be his 17th absence of the season, leaving him ineligible for the NBA\u2019s postseason awards.<\/p>\n

\"JackThu, April 2, 2026 at 2:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

The Spurs have officially ruled out their MVP candidate for Thursday\u2019s game against the Clippers<\/a>, which is the second leg of a back-to-back after Wednesday\u2019s lopsided win over the Warriors. He\u2019s resting his a sore ankle.<\/p>\n

Where it gets interesting is that Wemby is at 61 games played with five games left on the Spurs schedule after Thursday. With his appearance in the NBA Cup final counting for that total, he needs to play in at least three of those five games to be awards eligible.<\/p>\n

\"KariThu, April 2, 2026 at 10:11 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Kari Anderson<\/p>\n

The Wizards announced Thursday that Kyshawn George is out for the rest of the year with a ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear after being re-evaluated yesterday. George suffered the grade 2 UCL tear in his left elbow earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Per the team, he is \u201cexpected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2026-27 season.\u201d<\/p>\n

George ends the season having played 48 games for the Wizards, averaging 29 minutes and 14.8 points per game.<\/p>\n

\"KateWed, April 1, 2026 at 2:41 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Kate Magdziuk<\/p>\n

The Orlando Magic have cleared forward Franz Wagner to return to action on Wednesday night, having missed 22 games with an ankle injury, the team announced.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s expected to play on a minutes restriction per Magic beat reporter Jason Beede.<\/p>\n

Wagner has been out since before the All-Star break. After having originally suffered the injury back in December<\/a>, he played four games dealing with the injury, but was sat indefinitely in February<\/a> to continue rehabbing.<\/p>\n

Wagner is averaging 21.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season.<\/p>\n

Wed, April 1, 2026 at 2:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

\"TarohnWed, April 1, 2026 at 1:09 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tarohn Finley<\/p>\n

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is close to making his return. Curry’s goal is to reportedly play against the Houston Rockets<\/a> on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old point guard last played on Jan. 30 against the Detroit Pistons after suffering a knee injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisWed, April 1, 2026 at 1:07 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Chris Cwik<\/p>\n

With a few hours to go before his team is set to take on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Joel Embiid\u2019s playing status is unclear<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia 76ers originally announced Embiid would miss the contest due to an illness, but the center posted on social media that his injury designation must have been an \u201cApril Fools joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his tweet, Embiid mentioned he played against the Miami Heat on Monday despite the same symptoms.<\/p>\n

As of the 4 p.m. injury report<\/a>, Embiid is still listed as \u201cout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AndyTue, March 31, 2026 at 6:57 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Andy Backstrom<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Suns fell to the Orlando Magic 115-111 on Tuesday night. As soon as that game went final, a pair of Western Conference squads punched their tickets to the postseason.<\/p>\n

With the Suns\u2019 loss, the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets both clinched playoff spots. The Lakers also claimed the Pacific Division crown.<\/p>\n

\"JackTue, March 31, 2026 at 3:23 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis is progressing as expected from a hand injury and has been cleared for light contact, the Wizards announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

However, with only seven games remaining on the Wizards\u2019 schedule and the team one of many tanking at this point of the season, you have to wonder how much they try actually getting him on the court.<\/p>\n

\"JasonMon, March 30, 2026 at 6:53 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jason Owens<\/p>\n

The New York Knicks didn\u2019t play Monday night. But they clinched their spot in the postseason.<\/p>\n

With the 76ers\u2019 119-109 loss to the Heat<\/a> Monday night, the Knicks are guaranteed to finish in no worse than sixth place in the Eastern Conference and have earned a guaranteed playoff spot.<\/p>\n

But the Knicks are setting their sights higher than sixth place. At 48-27 as of Monday night, the Knicks stood firmly in third place in the East, two games ahead of the fourth-place Cavaliers and four games ahead of the fifth-place Raptors.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re in strong position to lock up home-court advantage in the first round. But a potential second-round matchup against a Celtics team with home-court advantage awaits. The 50-24 Celtics leave a 112-102 loss to the Hawks Monday with a 2.5 game edge over the Knicks for second place with eight games remaining on their schedule.<\/p>\n

\"IanMon, March 30, 2026 at 12:09 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Ian Casselberry<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Timberwolves could be without one of their key players for the rest of the regular season as they battle for playoff positioning<\/a> in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Jaden McDaniels is listed as week-to-week with patellar tendinitis and a bone bruise in his left knee, the team announced<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

However, Minnesota could get Anthony Edwards back for Monday\u2019s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. He was upgraded to questionable on the injury report after missing the past six games with a right knee injury.<\/p>\n

Read more from Yahoo Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sun, March 29, 2026 at 9:36 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Boston Celtics officially secured their spot in the playoffs with Sunday\u2019s 114-99 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n

Jayson Tatum had his best game since returning from his Achilles tear with 32 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Jaylen Brown missed the game with left Achilles tendinitis.<\/p>\n

Boston is now guaranteed to have no worse than the Eastern Conference\u2019s No. 4 seed when the playoffs begin.<\/p>\n

For more about the NBA\u2019s postseason picture, read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"KariSat, March 28, 2026 at 6:50 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Kari Anderson<\/p>\n

Philadelphia picked up a much-needed win over Charlotte on Saturday, with the two trading three-pointers in an exciting finish.<\/p>\n

Joel Embiid ended up playing hero for the Sixers, hitting what would prove to be the game-winning three pointer with a minute left in the game.<\/p>\n

He then hit a game-saving block to hold the Sixers\u2019 lead for the final minute of the game.<\/p>\n

With the win, Philadelphia, who has already clinched a play-in berth, is clutching to the final playoff spot in the East, while the Hornets are currently on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n

\"AndySat, March 28, 2026 at 3:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Andy Backstrom<\/p>\n

Both Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are back.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve returned to the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 game versus the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Maxey missed the past 10 games with a sprained right pinkie<\/a>. Oubre hadn\u2019t played since he went off for a season-high 30 points versus the Memphis Grizzlies on March 10. He had been dealing with a left elbow sprain.<\/p>\n

\"IanSat, March 28, 2026 at 2:39 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Ian Casselberry<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks are officially eliminated from the 2025-26 NBA playoffs after their 127-98 loss<\/a> to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.<\/p>\n

At 29-44, the Bucks join the Chicago Bulls in being eliminated from postseason consideration. And now another offseason with trade rumors about Giannis Antetokounmpo can begin.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee\u2019s loss also clinches a play-in spot for the Miami Heat (39-35). With eight games remaining, the Heat still have an opportunity to challenge for the No. 6 seed and guarantee a playoff berth. The Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic are ahead of Miami in the standings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fri, March 27, 2026 at 8:38 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Fri, March 27, 2026 at 8:01 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bulls are headed for the NBA Draft lottery after their 131-113 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The loss guaranteed the Bulls will finish no better than 11th in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

The 10 teams for the East postseason field are nearly set. The Milwaukee Bucks will be officially eliminated with one more loss or if the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat win at least one more game.<\/p>\n

Fri, March 27, 2026 at 7:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n

The Golden State Warriors announced on Friday that star guard Stephen Curry will be re-evaluated next week, ruling him out for at least the next two games because of his injured right knee.<\/p>\n

Curry had been expected to scrimmage this week, but was unable. If Curry returns immediately after Sunday\u2019s game in Denver, the Warriors will have only seven games remaining ahead of the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not bringing him back [only] for the play-in game,\u201d Kerr said, according to ESPN\u2019s Anthony Slater<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019d need to play some games. We need to give him a runway if this is going to work. And we are running out of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AndyFri, March 27, 2026 at 2:33 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Andy Backstrom<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia 76ers are getting some late-season reinforcements. Joel Embiid and Paul George returned on Wednesday to the tune of a combined 63 points in the team\u2019s 157-point outburst against the Chicago Bulls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And now it looks like both Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are nearing their first games back.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re each listed as \u201cquestionable\u201d on the Sixers\u2019 injury report for Saturday\u2019s game versus the Charlotte Hornets. Maxey has missed the past 10 games with a sprained right pinkie<\/a>. Oubre hasn\u2019t played since he went off for a season-high 30 points versus the Memphis Grizzlies on March 10. He\u2019s been dealing with a left elbow sprain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the NBA playoff picture is beginning to take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[20453,64,63,25869,7228,43498,7896,11473,590,253209,12841,85,12838],"class_list":{"0":"post-582208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-anthony-edwards","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-dominant-season","12":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","13":"tag-gilgeous-alexander","14":"tag-lebron-james","15":"tag-luka-doncic","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-postseason-awards","18":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}