NBA experts: Six big takeaways from the playoffs’ first six days

Donovan Mitchell had 46 points in his return to Utah, but the Jazz rallied late behind Jordan Clarkson to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-114 on Tuesday night. Clarkson scored 32 points, including five 3-pointers, and poured in nine straight down the stretch to fuel a decisive 13-0 run. Lauri Markkanen had 25 points and 16 rebounds against his former team. Malik Beasley, Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 13 apiece as Utah won for just the second time in nine games. "I thought our guys just really dug in, stayed the course and stayed focused on the little things," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. -via ESPN / January 11, 2023

Tony Jones: Malik Beasley said he wants to be in the 3-point contest during all-star weekend -via Twitter @Tjonesonthenba / December 23, 2022

Ben Anderson: Malik Beasley on what he said to Rudy Gobert after the layup under the rim in the final seconds. "It was just disrespectful," Malik Beasley said. "Unwritten rule of basketball and I told him that." #TakeNote | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/uDHgXPUyfM -via Twitter @BensHoops / December 10, 2022

Would a combination of Duarte and draft capital be enough to satisfy Atlanta's desired value in return for John Collins? Indiana has internally discussed the prospect of adding the Collins, sources told Sports Betting News. -via Yahoo! Sports / January 12, 2023

Washington is another team that has expressed interest in Collins. But Wizards officials have stood firm that the franchise intends to keep Kyle Kuzma — a known Hawks target —past the trade deadline and hope to re-sign the high-scoring forward this offseason after he declines the 2023-24 player option in his contract as expected. -via Yahoo! Sports / January 12, 2023

The Hawks would want someone more like Ben Simmons back, and maybe more. The Nets are looking to go for it this year. They're not looking to get rid of any of their top guys. Not the way they've been playing. If you're the Nets, and really, if you are anybody in the league with your eyes on Collins, you are just hoping the Hawks realize they're not getting a major payback for Collins and they lower the price," the Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports. -via Heavy.com / January 10, 2023

According to rival executives, the Jazz view Vanderbilt as worthy of a first-round pick in value given his production, contract (signed for $4.7 million next season), and age (23). At the end of November, Beasley told HoopsHype he'd like to remain in Utah and have the Jazz exercise his $16.5 million team option. -via HoopsHype / December 28, 2022

Utah has so far signaled an intent to keep breakout star forward Lauri Markkanen plus franchise favorite Jordan Clarkson, and have established a high asking price for Jarred Vanderbilt, sources told Sports Betting News, leaving Malik Beasley and Kelly Olynyk, along with Conley, as the obvious veterans the Jazz could move before the Feb. 9 trade deadline. Olynyk is known to be a favorite of Ainge. -via Yahoo! Sports / November 23, 2022

Malik Beasley: The expectation with us going into the season was we were all underdogs. Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Me and Jarred came from playoff teams. I'm not saying we were the main factors, but we did play a nice part in changing Denver into a playoff team and then Minnesota. When we came in, we heard what was expected out of us to be a tanking team, but a lot of the guys in the locker room during training camp said, "Let's be great." We have a nice team. If we put it together the right way, we could be really good. To start off, none of us had egos. We all wanted to prove that we're a special team. -via HoopsHype / November 23, 2022