While many are celebrating Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game, some are disappointed, like Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr., who is upset that he beat out Kobe Bryant’s famous 81-point game.

Jackson He continued to post throughout the game, beginning with, “Kobe’s hate campaign is insane.”

He then called out the Heat and Adebayo for stat-padding. Jackson was not happy with the fact that the Heat allowed Adebayo to score in a big win over the Washington Wizards.

“Did they never have a lead? And then you give them the record for most free throws in a game. You’re intentionally committing fouls to manipulate the clock. And the refs are still giving the call!” Jackson wrote. “Shout out to whoever found that in the fantasy.”[,] But it was a collective effort by the league to get the Wilts record tonight and they missed. Adam Silver you are a wild MF.”

Fortunately, Adebayo could not break Wilt Chamberlain’s record-setting 100-point game. Jackson claimed that the NBA “tried too hard to break Wilt’s record” with Adebayo’s play. However, this did not happen.

Jackson claimed, “He showed us that he just has to choose on a given night.” “I have full hope [Victor Wembanyama] Finally doing it now. [Stephen A. Smith,] You better not disappoint me when you talk about this. Thank you very much [LeBron James] Don’t know how, but it’s you[ur] Mistake.”

Ultimately, Jackson’s perspective about the NBA “has really changed.” He’s upset, and now can’t even believe the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 3-1 comeback win against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Jackson concluded by saying that Kobe Bryant fans “would have loved and respected someone who took Kobe’s record because it would have been the closest they would have come to seeing Kobe.”

However, the NBA “created it and forced it to happen.” Jackson believes this was done in an attempt to “desecrate” the Bryant statue.

His love for Bryant is unwavering. Jackson said that Bryant “is still the best of any guard or perimeter player.” He just wishes the NBA wouldn’t make it clear that “a bunch of refs can decide whether you’re getting everything that’s called for you.”

The Boston Celtics lost their favorite player early against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at Frost Bank Center when Jaylen Brown was assessed back-to-back technical fouls in the second quarter, leading to his automatic ejection.

Brown was trying to attack the lane when Stephen Cassel appeared to push him out of bounds. However, the referee did not blow the whistle, prompting Brown to complain strongly.

The Celtics were leading 51-49 when the 29-year-old Brown was thrown.

Moments later, he took to express your frustration.

“it S*** to be mine Talking about,” Brown wrote.

Jaylen Brown’s latest ex post after ejection

(via @FCHWPO) https://t.co/yfkAq4pGd3 pic.twitter.com/xnTnwwBjdL

– ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 11 March 2026

He finished with eight points, two rebounds, seven assists and one steal in 15 minutes.

This was an unfortunate incident, especially for fans who were excited to see stars from both teams compete. Without Brown, the Celtics were further handicapped, as they were already playing without Peyton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic due to a neck injury and finger injury, respectively.

The Celtics ran out of steam in the fourth quarter and lost 125–116. Spurs recorded their ninth consecutive win at home.

Derrick White had 34 points, five rebounds and seven assists to lead Boston, while Jayson Tatum added 24 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio with a game-high 39 points and 11 rebounds on top of three assists and two blocks.

Before the game, Brown announced on his livestream that he was the NBA’s best two-way player, although he joked that Wambanyama did not count because “he’s a foreigner.”

The Charlotte Hornets’ 10-game winning streak ended after a 111–99 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Charlotte had not lost on the road since January 17 against the Golden State Warriors, but suffered losses at the hands of Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Collin Gillespie, who scored 30, 24 and 24 points, respectively.

For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, going 9-19 from the field. That performance means Ball is now only the 8th player in the NBA to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in 100 games before the age of 25, which is the most in franchise history, according to a post on X by ESPN Insights.

LaMelo Ball has 100 games scoring at least 20 PTS, 5 REB and 5 AST, the most in Hornets history.

He is only the 8th player in NBA history to play 100 such games before the age of 25.

Others include LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Oscar Robertson, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Magic… pic.twitter.com/T3KLyL8lJ2

– ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) 9 March 2026

Others to accomplish this feat include some current and future greats, including LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Oscar Robertson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Magic Johnson, meaning Ball finds himself in truly elite company. Despite this, the Hornets started the game fast, making 9 of their first 11 shots and shooting 36% from the field for the rest of the game.

Booker had a double-double, as well as adding 10 assists despite shooting only 1-6 from beyond the arc. He converted all 15 of his free throw attempts while the Hornets made 10 of their 15 free throw attempts on the night.

Rookie Rasheer Fleming added 16 points off the bench, including four three-pointers. Phoenix has now won four of its last five games, despite Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams and Grayson Allen being sidelined with injuries.

Kon Knueppel had a particularly poor game from the three-point zone, making only two of his eight attempts and finishing with 15 points and four assists. For Charlotte, the other leading scorers were Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller, who had 16 and 11 points, respectively.

The loss pushed the Hornets below the .500 mark with a 32–33 record, good for No. 10 in the Eastern Conference. Their next match will be against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Meanwhile, the Suns improved to 37-27 for the season and will next visit the Milwaukee Bucks.

GM Brad Treliving saved most of his work for the last moments of trade deadline day, making his second deal just below the buzzer at 3 p.m. ET. Pending unrestricted free agent Scott Lawton is headed to the Los Angeles Kings.

Like the earlier Bobby McMann deal, the Leafs did not secure a first-round pick for Laughton (nor were they expected to). They will settle for a conditional third-rounder from the Kings. If LA makes the playoffs this season it becomes a second-round pick. They are currently three points off the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Treliving had to give up Toronto’s 2027 first-round pick plus prospect Nikita Grebenkin when they acquired Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers at last year’s trade deadline. This is clearly a huge net loss for Treliving. They traded a first-rounder and a good prospect for a third-round pick (or second at best). A big L for the tree.

Laughton spent one calendar year with his hometown team and recorded 10 goals and 16 points in 63 games. Was it worth the decline in draft position for Toronto? Not so much.

What does Scott Lawton bring to the LA Kings?

The reliable bottom-six forward brings experienced leadership and secondary scoring (at times) to the Kings. He also has a high hockey IQ and a serious, physical edge to his game.

This isn’t exactly the kind of move many were expecting from the Kings at the deadline, as the team was in desperate need of scoring. Laughton probably won’t bring them that.

The Kings have lost two offensive players in the last few weeks. Kevin Fiala is out for the season due to a fractured foot suffered during a game with Switzerland during the Olympics. Andrei Kuzmenko was lost for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The Kings lineup has yielded 32 goals. Then again, that’s not coming from Laughton.

They made their big move last month by acquiring Artemi Panarin from the NY Rangers. But it won’t be enough to save the Kings’ offense after the latest injuries, which ranks 29th in the NHL in goals per game.

As far as the Leafs are concerned, their final tally at the trade deadline is as follows:

Out: Nick Roy, Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton

IN: 2027 (or ’28) first rounder, 2027 second rounder, 2026 fourth rounder, 2026 fifth rounder + conditional third rounder

LOS ANGELES – During one of Marcus Smart’s first media sessions as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers at the beginning of the season, he revealed a saying he has for every game. That is, ‘the toughest team sets the rules.’ This essentially means that the more physical team dictates which way the game will go. The Lakers haven’t always done a good job of following that quote, but Rui Hachimura believes they have gotten better in recent games.

The Lakers dominated from start to finish in consecutive wins against the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, respectively. A big part of those wins depended on the Lakers coming out on top early and asserting their will in terms of physicality. This includes playing tough defense, diving after loose balls, hitting hard on the glass and other little things that don’t always show up with statistics.

“I think when we did that in the game today [against the Kings]game [against the Warriors]I think we have created the atmosphere. That’s why we were able to control the whole game,” Hachimura said after the win against the Kings. “So I think things like that, we have to keep doing it. I think sometimes we do it and then we stop doing it. So we just have to keep doing it. We’ve got to make those plays and those little things. We have to keep building.”

Hachimura returned to the Lakers’ lineup against the Kings after a brief two-game absence due to illness. His game was somewhat solid, finishing with eight points while shooting 2-4 from the 3-point line in a little over 22 minutes.

He has been coming off the bench since returning from a calf injury in mid-January. Hachimura has appeared in 48 games, including 31 starts, averaging a little over 29 minutes per game. He averaged 11.7 points and 3.4 rebounds with splits of 50.1 percent shooting from the field, 44.1 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 74.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

But the Lakers’ overall toughness and physicality starts with smarts. He often sets the tone on the defensive end of the court, and is a big reason why head coach JJ Redick has opted to stick with Smart in the starting lineup following Hachimura’s return.

After the win against the Kings, Redick made sure to single out Smart for his impact on the game.

“I told the team afterward, I thought Smart’s defense … completely blew us away at different points in the game,” Redick said. “He finished with five steals, but he’s diving down the floor for loose balls. He’s starting the transition game for us. He switches to the five, sets him up perfectly. … He was another igniter for us.”

VJ Edgecombe had a buzzer-beating highlight in the Philadelphia 76ers’ matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

Edgecombe is halfway through the rookie campaign of his NBA career. He has made impressive progress throughout the season, and has made a solid case for the Rookie of the Year award while helping Philadelphia make a playoff run.

Edgecombe scored another impressive highlight for his rookie mixtape. The game took place in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when Edgecombe fired a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key. He did so as the shot clock expired and stunned the opposing crowd in the process.

VJ Edgecombe with a crazy shot handle to beat the shot clockpic.twitter.com/tZsiG2KBOm

– ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 23 February 2026

VJ Edgecombe, how the 76ers played against the Timberwolves

VJ Edgecombe enjoyed a strong performance as he helped the 76ers defeat the Timberwolves in a blowout 135-108 win.

Philadelphia got off to a solid start and led 68–58 at halftime. They continued the momentum in the second half and outscored Minnesota 67–50 in the final 24 minutes.

Four players scored in double figures for Philadelphia in the win, including Edgecombe. He finished with a stat line of 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one assist. He made 8 of 18 shots from the field, including 6 of 7 from beyond the arc and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line. Tyrese Maxey sparked the Nets with 39 points and eight assists, Quentin Grimes finished second with 19 points and seven assists, while Kelly Oubre Jr. provided 18 points and five rebounds.

Philadelphia improved to a 31–26 record on the season and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. They are above the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, while trailing the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 76ers will remain on the road awaiting their next matchup. They will face the Indiana Pacers on February 24, tip-off at 7 PM ET.