NBA Power Rankings: A new No. 1, and a new East threat

Khris Middleton underwent successful surgery on his right knee shortly after the playoffs to address an issue he played through last season.

Middleton is expected to fully recover from the minor arthroscopic procedure, and he should be back on the court in July.

Following a left wrist surgery last offseason, Middleton missed the first 20 games of the season as he waited for the wrist to heal.

Middleton missed 18 straight games during the middle of the season with knee soreness.

Middleton has until June 21st to make a decision on his $40.4 million player option for the 23-24 season.

The Golden State Warriors lost at home to the LA Clippers on Wednesday. That dropped the Warriors to 26-26 on the season. That’s a perfectly average record, which is exactly what Golden State star Stephen Curry says his team is.

“We’re very average,” Curry said. “Very average doesn’t get it done in this league. We need to make a run, hopefully, we bounce back tomorrow and after the All-Star break hit a stride where we win every game [at home] and steal a few on the road.

“We’ve been very average so far, so we have to regain that home-court fear that we have grown accustomed to in the past.”

The Warriors are in 10th place in the Western Conference, which is the final spot in the Play-In Tournament. They are two games behind the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers, and only 1.5 games ahead of the 11th-place Utah Jazz.