NBA Notes: Clippers, Bradley Beal, Hornets, Sion James, Grizzlies

Clippers

Clippers guard Bradley Beal went back to Phoenix, and Suns fans let him hear it.

Law Murray of The Athletic reported Beal was booed in intros, booed every touch and finished with five points on 2-for-14 shooting in 19 minutes. He checked out with 6:02 left in the third and never returned.

Beal didn’t hide his feelings about how he was used in Phoenix.

“When you allow me to be that guy, I’ll be that,” Beal said. “But when you have two coaches that want you to set screens and play in the dunker, you’re not Brad Beal. You’re somebody else.”

He gave back $13.9 million in his buyout this summer and signed with the Clippers for two years and $11 million.

He’s still on a minutes limit after knee surgery and hasn’t played a fourth quarter yet, but Tyronn Lue believes the scoring will come once he’s fully ramped.

Beal said the return wasn’t about revenge.

“To me, it wasn’t about getting back,” he said. “We whooped y’all a couple weeks ago.”

The Suns and Clippers meet again Saturday in L.A.

Hornets

Second-round pick Sion James is forcing his way into the Hornets’ rotation.

Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer noted James has already made three starts with Brandon Miller out — and he’s shooting 70 percent from three while holding his own defensively.

Teammate Tre Mann said the defensive impact jumped out immediately.

“It was first, the physical aspect, just seeing him — he’s huge,” Mann said. “And then my first thought was Lu Dort. Just seeing him work out. I was like, ‘OK, nobody can score on him right now. And I was like, Lu Dort again.’ Then I started doing research, looking at his film like, ‘Oh, he was a scorer. He used to score the ball. He’s good offensively, too.’

“And I was like, ‘OK, we’ve got to have him. He’s versatile.’”

Grizzlies

The Ja Morant–Tuomas Iisalo tension did not fracture the locker room.

Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. remain aligned and want to fix the season, not separate from each other. Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman still believes in both.

Meanwhile, Zach Edey and GG Jackson II were assigned to the G League for practice reps. Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com noted Edey is at the early stage of his return-to-play window following ankle surgery. Charles Bassey’s 10-day hardship deal is done.