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We receive a lot of questions about using NBA projections to bet on player props. While useful, we do NOT suggest blindly betting projection edges for player props. Since we create both player projections and release bet recommendations, we are often asked why we have not released a bet to our subscribers when our projection shows an edge vs. the line. There are 4 primary reasons we may not release a bet even though the projection rates favorable: 1. The bet rates well, but there is not enough liquidity to be considered "widely available". For us to release an official bet, the line we like has to be available on FanDuel, or available on DraftKings, Caesars, and PropBuilder. In these instances, if you can identify a line that rates well on DraftKings or Caesars but isn't available on FanDuel, you may have found a good bet to target. 2. The bet rates well, but there are outstanding injury question marks that may impact our projections. We recommend perusing the official NBA Injury Report while shopping for bets. You do not want to bet projection edges on teams that have Questionable tags. The market generally prices these situations well, and we do not recommend leaning into these situations unless you have both significant NBA betting knowledge and expertise assessing injury situations. If you aren't sure if this is you, it probably isn't you. 3. The bet rates well, but our team has some qualitative concern about the projection fragility. In other words, we are making educated guesses on certain factors that drive the projection, and we believe we could just as easily be wrong as we are right about those factors. There is likely still some edge, but it's not high enough to meet our threshold for releasing a bet. Oftentimes, these will be dropped in Discord as "unofficial bets" (right before game time) in the nba-props channel. 4. The bet rates well, but we have exposure to this bet in other releases we've already taken and we're choosing to manage total risk to the situation. For example, we show a projection edge on the over for the starting point guard's points prop and an under on the reserve point guard's points prop. These two players' performances are tied together and we are only choosing to risk one unit on the situation. In cases where you've missed out on the official bet, you may want to look for other projection edges on that team, as there may be other correlated situations we chose not to make official. When you come across 1. and 4. it is highly likely that we would believe these are good bets. But in instance 2. and 3., it is likely the bet is either not great or even bad, as the market is pricing in certain factors better than we can. As a general rule, you need to be very careful betting projection edges, and we do NOT recommend doing this without considering both the above. We release a free injury show on our YouTube channel during the week to go over many of that days situations. Our NBA player props official release record for the past three years ($100 units): 2021-22: 751-495: +$20,348; 14.0% ROI 2022-23: 700-455, +$18,770; 13.9% ROI 2023-24: 683-432, +$19,473; 14.73% ROI 2024-2025: 25-12, +$1,117; 25.87% ROI For more information on our player props product, please see this FAQ: establishtherun.com/nba-etr-player…

Ten Takeaways From 10/22/25 ONE) The Kids Can Play This rookie class has been hyped up as a potential all-timer. Most of them lived up to expectations. Some performances from the lottery picks: Cooper Flagg - 10 points, 10 rebounds, 0 assists, 32 minutes Dylan Harper - 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7-14 FG, 23 minutes Kon Knueppel - 11 points, 5 rebounds, 25 minutes VJ Edgecombe (starter) - 34 points, 7 rebounds, 42 minutes (!!!) Ace Bailey - 2 points, 4 rebounds, 20 minutes Tre Johnson - 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4-8 3PT, 26 minutes Jeremiah Fears - 17 points, 7-10 FG, 18 minutes Egor Demin - 14 points, 5 rebounds, 22 minutes Cedric Coward - 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 22 minutes Derik Queen - 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 15 minutes Other notables: Ryan Kalkbrenner (starter) - 10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 27 minutes Ben Saraf (starter) - 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 20 minutes Walter Clayton Jr. - 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 18 minutes Nique Clifford (starter) - 2 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 24 minutes Flagg was rough, but come on. They’re trying him at PG, and he’s dealing with Wemby. No concerns here. Bailey’s apparently been sick for “5-6 days” and looked winded from the start. He’ll be fine. Coward was a team-best +24 in a game they won by six. VJ is the real story here. Whew, 42 minutes is pretty wild for your first game. His 34 points are a new Sixers rookie debut record. The hints have been there for weeks, but it's still surprising to see. He’s going to be a household name in no time. As for Queen, I’m just happy he played. “It was really fun.” - Kon Knueppel on his first NBA game TWO) Embiid’s Minute Restriction We all saw the same notification on Joel Embiid’s minute restriction. It’s just some of us didn’t buy it. Nick Nurse has historically lied about restrictions, and Embiid wasn’t listed on the Injury Report. Well, it didn’t take long to find out that Nurse was telling the truth. The ten 1H minutes were a huge tell. It was later reported that his minutes restriction was 20 minutes. As for how he looked, what can I say? Not great. He was 1-of-9 from the field, didn’t contest shit, and wasn’t going after boards. “I’m good. You know, it’s going to take a while, you know, obviously, being on a minute restriction, playing shorter stints, it’s harder to kind of get into a rhythm. But I got to figure it out. That’s the way they got it set up. There’s still so much more I can contribute to other than scoring. So just using myself as a decoy to allow all these guys to do whatever they have to do to win.” - Joel Embiid Yikes. THREE) In Too Deep As we begin to receive more and more information, I think it’s a valuable exercise to keep track of how teams utilize their benches. Seven went more than 10-deep on Wednesday night: Nets (13) Knicks (11) Raptors (11) Grizzlies (11) Wizards (11) Bucks (11) Kings (11) The hell with the Nets, man. They used all four first-rounders that were avail. Who knows? If Danny Wolf had played, they probably would have gone 14. "When we faced adversity, we all went our separate ways... We're just doing things with no purpose [defensively]. Just running around." - Jordi Fernandez FOUR) Shams vs Bondy The Mike Brown-Knicks era has gotten off to an awkward start. Brown told us that Mitchell Robinson was being held out of their opener because of “load management." Then Shams went on the Pat McAfee show and said this: “Mitchell Robinson & Josh Hart out…I think there’s a very real chance they’re missing very real time to start the year…” Still can’t believe they played Mitch 18 1H minutes in their first preseason game with his injury history, but maybe that’s why they’re hiding things. They don’t want to be caught with egg on their face. Then, on Wednesday morning, Shams tweeted this out: “Development: New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns has been downgraded to doubtful to play in tonight's season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN.” - Shams Charania Shortly after that, the Knicks beat writer Stefan Bondy tweeted: “Despite being downgraded to doubtful, I’m hearing Karl-Anthony Towns will indeed play for the Knicks in tonight’s season opener.” - Stefan Bondy Shams followed with: “The Knicks, an hour later, are now listing Karl-Anthony Towns as questionable again. He is essentially a game-time decision.” - Shams Charania “Final ruling: Karl-Anthony Towns is playing in Knicks' season opener versus Cleveland tonight at Madison Square Garden (7 pm ET on ESPN).” - Shams Charania Only posting cause this might be the highlight of Bondy’s life. Shams Charania - 0 Stefan Bondy - 1 Ariel Hukporti started for MitchRob and played 18 minutes. FIVE) It’s Over, Isn’t It? Victor Wembanyama vs the Mavericks: 40 PTS 15 REB 77.4% TS 3 BLK +31 36.2% USG As impressive as that looks, the highlights are better, trust. It looked like an adult playing with kindergartners. Anthony Davis should never remind me of a kindergartner. “I’m much more in control of myself. The mind, I’m not worried about, because I saw what it was light to be confronted with potentially losing a lot, whether it’s your career or your health. So I’m not taking this for granted anymore. But the body, I’m having more fun. I’m not struggling to move as much, and I know I still need to get better, and I’m still going to get better.” - Wemby on how his summer of self-discovery prepared his mind and body for this season SIX) Usage Check If you think Wemby’s usage is high, wait till you see Giannis’ against the Wizards. Notable usage rates from Opening Night (min > 20): Giannis Antetokounmpo - 45.3% Cade Cunningham - 36.8% Ja Morant - 35.1% Dylan Harper - 33.9% (rookie) Shaedon Sharpe - 32.9% Brandon Miller - 32.9% Stephon Castle - 31.3% Desmond Bane - 30.5% Zion Williamson - 30.3% VJ Edgecombe - 30.1% (rookie) SEVEN) Injuries Kevin Porter Jr. sprained his ankle in the first quarter and did not return. Ryan Rollins started the second half in his place, not Cole Anthony. Doc Rivers says there's no further update on KPJ, but added it didn't look good and was a pretty bad sprain. Luka Garza was ruled out after being placed in concussion protocol in the second quarter. Neemias Queta played 17 2H minutes. Zaccharie Risacher wasn’t able to put much weight on his right leg after a collision with Jakob Poeltl. He went to the locker room and was cleared to return with an ankle sprain, but sat out the 4th quarter. Updates: Darius Garland is “pretty close” to returning, according to his on-air interview. Chris Haynes said that he thinks we’ll see Jayson Tatum on the court against at some point this season. Still have a hard time buying it, but that’s all everyone’s been talking about, so maybe I’m in the wrong. EIGHT) Rotation Notes Some macro notes on sub patterns: CLE: Tyrese Proctor (16 minutes) made his way into the rotation with De’Andre Hunter (knee) out. Jaylon Tyson (20 minutes) started. BKN: Noah Clowney (20 minutes) played a lot of center. CHA: Sion James (17 minutes) was the 7th man. Tre Mann (21 minutes) was the 10th. Ryan Kalkbrenner (27 minutes) and Moussa Diabate (21 minutes) split the center minutes. MIA: Kel’el Ware (14 minutes) was strictly Bam’s backup. Pelle Larsson (4 minutes) was the 10th man. ORL: Jalen Suggs (17 minutes) started and played in short stints. PHI: Dominick Barlow (34 minutes) started for PG13. Andre Drummond played three minutes, and that was only to help Embiid stay under his minutes limit. BOS: Anfernee Simons (32 minutes) came off the bench. Xavier Tillman (16 minutes) was the first sub for Neemias Queta (25 minutes). CHI: Tre Jones (32 minutes) started for Coby White (not Ayo). Patrick Williams (17 minutes) was the 8th man. NOP: Almost eight minutes of Zion/Queen overlap (+/- 0). Hunter Dickinson (5 minutes) was Yves Missi’s backup in the first half and then disappeared. MEM: Olivier-Maxence Prosper (15 minutes) was Jaren Jackson Jr.’s primary backup. MIL: Cole Anthony plays 12 minutes despite KPJ’s injury. Ryan Rollins (29 minutes) started the second half. Myles Turner and Bobby Portis do not overlap. LAC: It looked like Zubac (27 minutes) and Lopez (17 minutes) were splitting the center minutes before garbage time. Bogdan Bogdanovic was a DNP-CD. UTA: Things are already all out of whack. Ace’s minutes are gonna suck until he’s over his illness. Kyle Filipowski (25 minutes) started ahead of Taylor Hendricks (19 minutes). Cody Williams was going to be a DNP-CD, but played garbage time. SAS: We saw about three minutes of ‘French Vanilla’ (Wemby and Kornet). Carter Brytant saw 4 1H minutes but didn’t check back in until garbage time. DAL: D’Angelo Russell (15 minutes) was the 8th man. Elite Best Ball fade. Rookie Ryan Nembhard (16 minutes) and DLo checked in together. SAC: Rookie Dylan Caldwell (15 minutes) was the 11th man. Keon Ellis (13 minutes) was the 10th man. Malik Monk (27 minutes) scored 19 points off the bench. PHO: Oso Ighodaro (19 minutes) starts ahead of Mark Williams (24 minutes). Rookie Khaman Maluach was a DNP-CD. MIN - Donte DiVincenzo (20 minutes) starts ahead of Mike Conley (13 minutes). Terrence Shannon Jr. (25 minutes) closes over both of them. Rob Dillingam is a DNP-CD. Bones Hyland (8 minutes) is even ahead of him. POR - Donovan Clingan started and touched 30 minutes. He said at Media Day that his goal was to play 30 minutes per game this season. Rookie Hansen Yang played only five 1H minutes. NINE) Matas You didn’t think I’d leave here without talking about Matas, did you? Sorry, he’s just the best thing to happen to the Bulls since DRose. Lemme have this. Matas Buzelis vs the Pistons: 21 PTS 6 REB 3 BLK 7-12 FG 69.6% TS 34 MIN If he’s getting 34 minutes on opening night, he’d most definitely live for his goal of winning Most Improved Player. Currently lined at +1400 on FD, that’s only going up. It’s not just what he’s doing. It’s how he’s doing it. Everything looks so much easier for him. The Beef Stew (Isaiah Stewart) poster has been on repeat all night. "I'm not really worried who's there. I'm athletic enough to finish over anybody so I don't really care who's there." - Matas Buzelis on postering Isaiah Stewart. TEN) Three Other Standouts Okay, before I get outta here, allow me to give these three guys their flowers. It’s been a long day/slate, so I can’t jam everything in here that I’d like, but I don’t wanna leave out… Donovan Mitchell scored 21 of his 31 points in the 3rd quarter to help erase a 15-point lead. They still lost to New York. Ja Morant scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half on 82.0% TS (9-12 FG) to help Memphis beat New Orleans. Davion Mitchell picks up where he left off last season, with 16 points and 12 assists in 35 minutes. Maybe we just need to accept that this is who he is now. Miami lost to Orlando, but man, that game somehow totaled 246 points. Maybe that’s the read headline.

Ten Takeaways From 10/21/25 ONE) NBA on NBC Hello, friends. Welcome to the 2025-26 NBA season. It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? A whole lot has changed since we last spoke. We were reintroduced to the NBA on NBC. Can’t believe it’s been almost 25 years, but here we are again. They absolutely crushed it after having some early audio difficulties. I get how cliché it is, but I seriously got chills once “Roundball Rock” started playing. Thought Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady had contagious energy in the pre-game coverage. The graphics are clean and straightforward. Really like the team fouls tracking in the score bug—just a very pleasant experience. Looking forward to the “Prime” experience. God, can’t believe it costs $650 to watch basketball now. We need to talk about the MJ segment, though. If you’ve been living under a rock, NBC shocked the world and somehow convinced Michael Jordan to sign on as a “special contributor”. “Insights to Excellence” is sadly everything I thought it would be… nothing. He wasn’t in the studio or anything. Looked like some pre-recorded interview with Mike Tirico from who knows when at his house, talking about why he’s come out of hiding. The thing lasted about three and a half minutes. “To pay it forward. I had the obligation to basketball.” - MJ on the decision to join NBC Okay Mike. Hoping for some actual insight in future recordings. TWO) Champs Are Here OKC received their rings and raised their banner before the game. Vibes were immaculate. Dillon Jones was even in attendance. Good thing the Wizards waived him just in time for him to make his flight. Rockets weren’t having it, though. Ime Udoka said that they didn’t watch the ceremony and were instead focused on trying to ruin their night. Kevin Durant came out for warmups to loud boos, and so he booed them back. Everyone laughed. Meanwhile, Steven Adams still gets loud cheers because, well, who doesn’t love Steven Adams? It was a rough go-around for all Thunder not named Chet Holmgren (28 points, 11-17 FG) to start, especially SGA. He had just five points at the half on 40.0% shooting (2-5 FG), but you can only contain the league and Finals MVP for so long. He scored 24 of his 35 points in the 4th quarter and overtimes. What’s up with the four missed free throws (10-14 FT)? "I'm glad the guys enjoyed the ceremony. That's a great, great life event they had." - Mark Daigneault "It was surreal. I don't know how to describe it besides that. Seeing the banner raised was cool too... I'll remember it for the rest of my life." - SGA on the pregame ceremony THREE) Thunder Starters One of the more critical questions going into Opening Night was, “Who’s the 5th Thunder starter?” as we wait for JDub’s wrist to get right. SGA, Dort, Chet, and IHart felt obvious. Between Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, and Cason Wallace, I leaned Cason mainly because of the bigger picture. Didn’t make sense to start Alex after managing him all last year, but then he started in every preseason game he played. Had to give that some sort of credit (and we did). Well, they ended up doing what they did a lot last year: change it up midway. Wallace started, and then Caruso started the second half…  for Hartenstein. Here we go again. Cason’s playmaking looks improved. Daigneault went 11 deep (!!!) in the first quarter. Rookie, Brooks Barnhizer was the fourth sub off the bench, played about two minutes, and was never seen again. Part of that reason is Ajay Mitchell, who checked in after him (for Shai). There’s been some buzz, going back to his standout Summer League (19.8 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 spg). He scored 12 of his 16 points in the second quarter. “Not surprised. He was playing like this before he got hurt last year.” - Mark Daigneault on Ajay Mitchell FOUR) Jumbo Lineup It’s not much of a surprise to see Udoka start with the Steven Adams/Alperen Sengun pairing after how dominant they looked at the end of last season (+29.9 net rating, 162 minutes)—especially given the matchup, with Holmgren and Hartenstein on the other side. The real shocker is how much they leaned into it. Alpi and Adams shared the court for over 30 minutes (+8). LIKE WTF?!!! This was Adams' first time touching 37 minutes since November 9, 2022. They did just sign him to a three-year extension. You’d think they might wanna be careful with their investment. The average height of this Rockets' starting lineup is 6'10 (Thompson, Durant, Smith, Sengun, Adams), LMAO FIVE) Alpi Dominance Continues Maybe what Sengun was doing at EuroBasket 2025 (21.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 6.6 apg, 1.0 spg, and 1.1 bpg) translates over? Not gonna lie, I certainly had my doubts, but no… he’s looking just as dominant (I know, one game). Alperen Sengun vs Thunder: 39 PTS 11 REB 7 AST 2 STL 5-8 3P (career-high) 10-11 FT 27.7% USG Yeah, I see it too. Second time in his career, he’s attempted eight threes. Dude averaged 1.2 attempts per game last year. The hitch in his shot appears to be gone, so hey, this could be real (doubt it). All I know is that if it is, it’ll do wonders for his ceiling on sites that reward threes (DK). Also, going 10 of 11 from the line is something worth paying attention to. He was a 69.2% free-throw shooter last season. On the flip side, Amen Thompson (18 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast) had seven attempts from behind the arc and missed them all. Sucks, but his shot still looks flat. There’s no lift. While we’re here on Thompson, he had to leave the game late because of cramps. SIX) The Reed Conundrum I’ll give Reed Sheppard (9 pts, 4 ast, 37.9% TS, 28 min) this; he’s a confident motherfucker, and I love that about him (in a cute way). It’s hilarious how many times he looked off KD in this game. He’s gonna have stretches where he’s feeling it and looks automatic, but is it really gonna be worth it if his defense looks this dreadful? He can’t stay in front of anyone. The Thunder hunted and won that matchup with ease all night. Amen getting cramped up in OT1 really salvaged his minutes, cause I didn’t think he was gonna see the court again. Again, I know it’s only one game, but a couple more performances like this and things could get ugly. SEVEN) KD Gets Away With One Or should that say gets away with none? Kevin Durant (23 points, 9 rebounds) made his Rockets debut, and there’re gonna be two things you take away from it. Why’d you trade for him again? He was pretty much non-existent when they needed him most down the stretch, with a 12.5 USG% in both OT’s. There shouldn’t have been a second overtime. KD was clearly seen calling for a timeout after a rebound with about a second left on the clock. The problem is, they didn’t have any–He Webber’d it. He should have been T’d up, giving the Thunder a free throw to potentially end the game. Zarba and his buddies even got together to talk it over once the buzzer sounded, but did nothing. Strange, but luckily, it didn’t end up mattering much since OKC won in the second overtime. “Kevin definitely called timeout 3 times… They just missed it.” - SGA The Thunder beat the Rockets 125-124. EIGHT) Kuminga Starts Gallagher and I both felt pretty confident (sounds so stupid saying that with Kerr) that had Mosey Moody been available for this one, he would have been named the fifth starter, but his calf’s still bothering him. Steve Kerr decided to start Jonathan Kuminga (17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 33 minutes) instead, rewarding him for a strong preseason. There might be some more rewards coming because, whew, this is exactly what they’ve been wanting to see from him for the last couple of years, especially the boards. You wouldn’t know it from looking at Luka’s box score, but JK did about as well as you could defending him; he made his threes (4-6 3PT) and consistently found the open man. I’m gonna go ahead and guess that he starts again against Denver on Thursday Let the showcasing begin. “When you ask for opportunity, you must deliver. He’s been very vocal about his opportunity and he delivered.” - Draymond Green on Jonathan Kuminga “I just wanna help JK be great… We’ve been kickin' it. Hanging out. Watching film and just working on our game together. I know how great he wants to be and how great he can be.” - Jimmy Butler on mentoring Jonathan Kuminga NINE) Jimmy Being Jimmy One of the funnier moments of the night came post-game, when Jimmy Butler talked about a bet he made with Draymond Green. The wager is that he’ll have a better free-throw percentage than Steph Curry this season. Deadass, hahaha. He admitted that it’s probably a bad bet but I still love that he does this type of shit. Two years ago, he said he was playfully aiming to shoot 50.0% from three. He obviously didn’t hit that mark, but he did shoot a career-best 41.4% that season. If you’re wondering how the bet is looking to start after Game 1: Jimmy Butler: 16-16 FT (100.0%) Steph Curry: 8-8 FT (100.0%) Will keep you updated as the season goes. Jesus, 16 free throw attempts. “No chance.” - Steph Curry when asked if Jimmy Butler has any shot at winning the bet Before we’re done with GS, a shoutout to Will Richard (5 points, 14 minutes). We tease Kerr all the time about playing these randos, but this kid looks like he can actually play. TEN) All Luka and Austin The Lakers are gonna struggle hard while LeBron’s out. They just don’t have any other guys on the team that can create. Luka Doncic (43 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 34.7% USG) and Austin Reaves (26 points, 9 assists, 30.1% USG) scored or assisted on 97 of the Lakers' 109 points. So wild. Marcus Smart (9 points) was the first sub off the bench. As for DeAndre Ayton’s debut (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers), let’s just say it didn’t take long for the Lakers’ fan base to turn on him. Poor guy looked lost out there. "We just started. This is probably the second game we've played together." - Rui Hachimura on what the difference was for the Lakers "The trend I see is that we continue to be a terrible third-quarter team." - JJ Redick The Warriors beat the Lakers 119-109.

Ten Takeaways From 5/2/25 ONE) Kerr Makes a Change As we’ve seen teams do often this week, Steve Kerr changed his starting lineup, which is fine. Just not the change we expected. Gary Payton Jr. (5 points, 3 rebounds, 20 minutes) replaced Brandin Podziemski (10 points, 7 rebounds, 29 minutes), which raised some eyebrows. I’ve read numerous reasons why. To get Podz in the game when Rockets go zone, to put Sengun in action since GP2 screens for Curry often, or to slow down Fred VanVleet. Whatever the reason, it didn’t work. Not really a surprise either, since that lineup only played five minutes together all season. There was also very little spacing, with two non-shooters surrounding Buddy and Steph. Listen, I’m sure there was a brilliant reason for the decision I haven’t picked up on yet. Steve Kerr is a nine-time NBA champion. I never want to come off like I know better because I simply don’t. I’m just saying it didn’t work. That starting lineup was -5 in about nine minutes. Buddy Hield (0 points, 3 rebounds, 17 minutes) has been a no-show in two straight games, so that could very well be the change in Game 7. Or maybe it’s Jonathan Kuminga? “It's 100% on the table... We feel like we have a great chance to go down there and win Game 7.” - Steve Kerr on if Kuminga will play in Game 7 TWO) The 4th Quarter The Rockets' defense in this game was special, especially in the 4th quarter. The Warriors shot 8-of-24 (33.3%) and 1-of-12 (!!!) from three. They made only one shot through the first 8:25. Houston had the Golden State out of rhythm, mixing up schemes and keeping them guessing. Warriors in the 4th quarter: Steph Curry: 3 PTS, 1-7 FG, 1-5 3PT Jimmy Butler: 5 PTS, 0-5 FG, 0-4 3PT Draymond Green: 3 PTS, 1-2 FG Rockets scored 22 points off the Warriors' 16 turnovers in Game 6. “I like our chances. I’ve seen what this group can do over the years. We’ve been in a lot of Game 7s and had a lot of success. Jimmy Butler is Jimmy Butler — he’s been in all these games, one of the most clutch performers in the league. We’ll get ready.” - Steve Kerr on Game 7 “We were a little disappointed that they won the 3rd by three. We let them score 36, that’s way too high for us. Felt we had opportunities to push the lead up like we did in the 4th… We felt we were right there to crack it open. We came out and did that. After giving up a 36-point quarter, other than the last ten that some of their third unit got, we held them to 13 in that quarter, so really good bounce-back defensive quarter... 1-for-16 at the four-minute mark, so we did our job there.” - Ime Udoka on their 4th quarter dominance THREE) The FVV Series How clutch has Fred VanVleet been in the last three games of this series? Game 1: 10 points, 26.3% TS Game 2: 7 points, 39.4% TS Game 3: 17 points, 53.9% TS Game 4: 25 points, 93.0% TS Game 5: 26 points, 83.1% TS Game 6: 29 points, 85.5% TS Just look at the difference between those first three games and his last three. He’s the reason this is going to Game 7. He hasn’t shot the ball well this season (34.5% 3PT, 51.5% TS), but is coming through when needed most. Maybe it’s because of that valuable playoff experience everyone talks about. The best part is that nothing is forced. Seems like he’s making the right play on every possession, whether he’s looking for his shot or finding open teammates. Dude is shooting 66.7% from three on nine attempts per game over their last three. Insanity. "I am ready and willing when the time comes to step up and make big plays." - Fred VanVleet FOUR) 31 FUNAKI MINUTES! It’s no secret how special Steven Adams (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) has been in this series. He’s mattered so much in every game so far. Lemme double-check something real fast. Yeah, this checks out… Game 1: +4 Game 2: +2 Game 3: +1 Game 4: +16 Game 5: +15 Game 6: +15 EVERY GAME, and like FVV, especially in the last three. The Rockets are +53 with him on the court in this series and -39 with him off. He’s been so dominant in the paint that he’s got Draymond begging for 3-second calls in the postgame pressers now. It’s weird that after all these years, the Warriors’ small-ball stuff is killing them. Steve Kerr even tried the hack-an-Adams strategy to try to force Ime to remove him from the game. He went 9-of-16 (56.3%) from the line, which was good enough for Ime to keep him in. HE PLAYED 31 MINUTES! It’s the first time he’s touched 30 since January 22, 2023. Hey, at least we know he has that in him now. "He's like a big caveman in this era of small basketball. An old big just roughing everybody up. We're gonna play him until he dies out there." - Fred VanVleet on Steven Adams: "It's a weird zone. Like a bizarre one, but it works." - Steven Adams on the Rockets' defensive zone that has given the Warriors problems FIVE) Alpi Keeps Shining Alperen Sengun (21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) hasn’t been shooting the ball well in this series (50.5% TS), but he’s contributing in many other ways. He’s playing excellent defense (107.5 DEF RTG) and crashing the boards (11.5 RPG). His playmaking has been valuable (5.3 APG), and we’ve already talked about how good the double-big lineups have been (30.1 NET RTG). If he could just get that push-shot that he’s in love with going, he’d be unstoppable. He’s leading the Rockets in points, rebounds, assists, and steals this postseason. And to think, I thought there’d be a chance he could get played off the court. “I feel like I have to play like this. They took Jalen out of the game; they pressured him. They’re kind of letting me make the play, so I just know I have to play aggressive. So that’s the mindset I go to the game.” - Alperen Sengun SIX) Dray’s Early Flagrant Remember when we talked about how Draymond Green (8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists) avoided getting ejected in Game 4 because the refs gave him a Flagrant 1 instead of a second technical? That might have been the worst thing to happen because he now knows how to work the system a little bit more. He wasted no time getting a Flagrant 1, three minutes into the first quarter in Game 6, for slapping Jalen Green in the back of the head. At that moment, we all had the same thought: Even if he gets a technical in the next 45 minutes, he isn’t going anywhere. Brilliant stuff. Luckily, he never received that tech, but it sure feels like he’s found a loophole. Worth noting that since it’s his second Flagrant 1 of the postseason, he has two points. Accumulating more than three flagrant foul points in the playoffs results in an automatic one-game suspension. So if he happens to commit a Flagrant 2 (2 points) in Game 7, it’s an automatic one-game suspension. “It’s exciting. It’s for all the marbles. We’ll move on and learn from what we did wrong. It’s obvious what we did wrong… I think Game 7s are fun.” - Draymond Green on Game 7 SEVEN) Steph and Jimmy Aren’t role players supposed to play better at home in the playoffs? At least that’s what we were told. It sure would have been nice if any of them had played well here. Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry: 56 points on 40% shooting Rest of the team: 51 points on 42% shooting Nobody shot the ball well, and much of that has to do with that brutal 4th quarter, but a little help would have been nice. The next leading scorer on the team was Moses Moody, who scored 13 points in 22 minutes. Curry (29 points, 9-23 FG, 6-16 3PT) had a beautiful stretch in the 2nd quarter where he went on a personal 11-0 run. Didn’t do much besides that. In fact, he had four turnovers in the 1st half that were absolutely killer. Most of them were “What are you doing?!” type passes. I don’t wanna make this into another “thumb post,” but he’s been pretty mediocre this series outside of Game 3. Playoff Jimmy (27 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) was unbelievable… for three quarters. His shot-making in this game was insane. I still don’t know he got some of them off, let alone in. It’s a 48-minute game, though. With the rest of the team struggling to score, they couldn’t afford both of them going cold, which is what happened. They have until Sunday to figure shit out. “They’re playing great. You gotta give them credit. We’re not just rolling over and not competing.” - Steph Curry “We have to win together, we lose together. But I know we will win together on Sunday… we will be ready to compete on Sunday, and we will make the game go our way… we’re good. We got to focus more on us… We can’t keep focusing on them. - Jimmy Butler The Rockets beat the Warriors 115-107. Reminder: Out of 288 instances where a team has trailed 3–1, only 13 have managed to reverse their fortunes and clinch the series—a mere 4.5% success rate. EIGHT) Pop Steps Down Knew this was coming but it still sucks. Gregg Popovich has stepped down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs and is transitioning full-time to Team President. Truly, the end of an era with him serving as Spurs coach since 1996. Arguably the greatest professional coach in modern history. Definitely one of the best humans. Wish he could have left on his terms, cause god knows he would have loved to coach Wemby for a few more years. Gonna really miss those IDGAF interviews. 1,422 wins (most all time) 170 playoff wins (3rd most all time) 5x NBA Champion 3x NBA Coach of the Year 17x Coach of the month 1x Team USA Gold Medal Basketball Hall of Famer Spurs are hiring assistant coach Mitch Johnson as the franchise’s next head coach. He’s been with the team for a decade now, taking over as interim coach in November. He was 10-18, but we all know how skewed that record was with the injuries they dealt with. I like Mitch, and I know the players do too, but I still find it a bit odd that they went right to him without talking to anyone else. Some big names are out there, like Michael Malone, who has close ties to Popovich and the Spurs. Tells you how highly they think of Johnson. Erik Spoelstra is now the longest active tenured coach in the NBA with a single team. "While my love and passion for the game remain, I've decided it's time to step away as head coach. I'm forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff, and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community, and city that are so meaningful to me." - Gregg Popovich's statement on stepping down as the Spurs' head coach “I am truly grateful and honored to receive this incredible opportunity. I am thankful for Coach Pop, RC, Brian, and Peter trusting me to carry on our culture, and I promise to give this responsibility everything I have to make Spurs fans proud.” - Mitch Johnson on being named the Spurs’ head coach NINE) Grizzlies Hire Iisalo Mitch Johnson wasn’t the only interim coach to get promoted on Friday. The Memphis Grizzlies have hired Tuomas Iisalo as the franchise’s next head coach. Between Christie, Johnson, and Iiasalo, it’s kinda odd that these teams are jumping right in without interviewing any other candidates. This one really wasn’t all that surprising. Feels like it’s been in the works for a year now. If anything, it makes it clearer that Taylor Jenkins was a dead man walking all along. Iisalo was 4-5 in the regular season and was swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs. Wheels up for Zach Edey next season. "I have full confidence in Tuomas serving as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies going forward. Tuomas' teams at every level have been disciplined, tenacious, and connected on both ends of the floor, consistently exceeding expectations. We look forward to the same in Memphis." - Zach Kleiman on hiring Tuomas Iisalo as the Grizzlies' head coach TEN) LeBron’s Knee Not that it matters now, but LeBron wasn’t faking it in Game 5. Exaggerating, yeah, but not faking. If you don’t remember, LeBron banged knees with Donte DiVincenzo early in the 4th quarter. Looked like he got sniped from across the way and stayed on the ground for what felt like hours. As we always do, the internet had fun with his reaction, but there was some truth to it. We just found out that he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain, which is usually a 3-5 week recovery. So even if the Lakers extended the series, LeBron would have most likely missed Games 6 and 7, jeopardizing his wild streak of playing in 292 consecutive playoff games. Maybe that’ll help Lakers fans get over the loss? We also just found out that Austin Reaves was dealing with a left big toe sprain during the playoffs, which is usually a 2-4 week injury. He was reportedly not walking on it on his off-days to try to get through the playoffs. That’ll help explain his rough series. Clippers-Nuggets 7 tomorrow.

Ten Takeaways From 5/1/25 ONE) Clutch Player of the Year If you weren’t convinced that Jalen Brunson should have won the Clutch Player of the Year award, maybe this game did the job. Jalen Brunson in Game 6: 40 PTS 4 REB 7 AST 7-8 FT 15-33 FG He scored almost as many points in the 1st quarter (15) as he had all game in Game 5. Then scored 10 in the 4th, including the game-winning three with five seconds left. He had Ausar on skates, creating about six feet of space before making it—special, special stuff. Maybe the Pistons fans will learn that booing him only makes him stronger. There were a couple of silly flops, but he was just trying to meet his quota. The crowd was chanting, “FLOP PER." It’s his seventh 40-point playoff game, which ties him with Bernard King for most in Knicks history. "Jalen's shot, what can you say? He's at his best when his best is needed." - Tom Thibodeau on Jalen Brunson's game-winning shot TWO) Layup Lines Mikal Bridges was asked on Tuesday what the Knicks could do to come out stronger out of halftime… “I don’t know, man…maybe do some layup lines…get everybody out there moving…Had the same situation in Phoenix…I think that's it…Much as we say 'play hard'…still don't get it done…maybe warm up…" - Mikal Bridges You’ll never believe it, but they actually came out early for halftime warmups and did layup lines. It worked! They went on a 6-0 run immediately and won the 3rd quarter 37-24, led by Mikal’s 11 points. He finished with 25 (74.1% TS). Now, I’m gonna be pissed if they stop. THREE) Not Enough Ausar Jalen Brunson was undoubtedly amazing in this game, and he embarrassed Ausar on that game-winner, but that’s not gonna take away the job he did on him for the rest of the game. Had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 stocks in just 23 minutes. Wasn’t dealing with foul trouble either. He was arguably the Pistons’ best player, and yet JB Bickerstaff decided to sub him out with a little less than four minutes to go. Knicks made a quick 5-2 run led by Brunson before he came back in with 1:23 to go. The rest is history. It just never made any sense. Brunson was 9-of-14 (21 points) when Ausar WASN’T on him. He was 3-of-10 (8 points) when Ausar WAS on him. "I give Ausar a ton of credit for what he was doing, the effort he put in. He’s guarding one of the most difficult matchups in the NBA. You’ve gotta tip your cap to Brunson … he’s hard to guard and how he can generate space at his size is remarkable." - JB Bickerstaff “That dude was tough to play against. He’s big-time. I told him straight to his face after the series that he made me work. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.” - Jalen Brunson on Ausar Thompson FOUR) Gary Trent, Part 2 So, you remember that Pacers closeout game the other night? The one where Gary Trent went off for 33 points and let a clean pass go out of bounds in the final minute? Malik Beasley just went through the same wave of emotions. He had an unbelievable first half, scoring 18 points and making 6-of-11 three-pointers (15 in the 2nd quarter). He brought the Pistons back to life after they were down 14 at the end of the 1st quarter. It was cool to see because of how rough this series had been for him. But then JB Bickerstaff went away from him. He played just nine minutes in the second half, missing two shots. He got subbed out with over nine minutes left in the 4th and wasn’t brought back in until their final possession with the Pistons down three. Cade Cunningham passed it to him on the wing, and the ball went right through his hands. HE WAS AS WIDE OPEN AS YOU COULD GET. Would have had the cleanest shot had he held onto the ball. I’m not trying to defend him or anything, but I gotta imagine it’s hard to check into a game after not playing for almost an entire quarter, with the season on the line, and be ready to take the final shot. Again, NOT TRYING TO DEFEND HIM. I’m just still shocked Bickerstaff didn’t ride him in the second half after how hot he was. Expecting him to get a bag from a desperate team this summer. What makes it even more shocking is how poorly Tim Hardaway Jr. performed in this game. THJ had more turnovers (4) than baskets (3-11 FG). To his credit, he made two big shots in the 4th, but to not give Malik a couple of his minutes when he struggled that badly? The non-Beasley Pistons were 3-of-21 from three. Plus/minus isn’t everything, but … Malik Beasley +17 Tim Hardway Jr. -7 Just saying. "We came in and said look man, it sucks but we had a hell of a year. No one believed in us. Detroit vs Everybody, literally. Even in the playoffs, we continued to play for each other and have each other’s backs, and we live with the results." - Malik Beasley FIVE) Quite a Debut Didn’t wanna close the door on the Pistons' season without giving Cade Cunningham his flowers. Game 1: 21 PTS - 6 REB -12 AST Game 2: 33 PTS - 12 REB - 3 AST - 2 STL Game 3: 24 PTS - 7 REB - 11 AST - 2 BLK - 4 STL Game 4: 25 PTS - 10 REB - 10 AST - 4 BLK Game 5: 24 PTS - 8 REB - 8 AST - 1 BLK - 2 STL Game 6: 23 PTS - 7 REB- 8 AST - 1 BLK - 3 STL He’s tied for the fastest player in NBA history to reach 150p/50r/50a in their playoff career. The Pistons have built something fun. Looking forward to seeing him and the team grow. "Helping my teammates succeed. That's the thing I get the most joy from." - Cade Cunningham on what he's most proud of this season The Knicks beat the Pistons 116-113. Game 1 of the Knicks-Celtics series will be played on Monday. SIX) Clippers Stay the Same… For a Half Like so many other teams in the playoffs, the Clippers were on watch for a possible lineup change. Ty Lue said he considered making a change to his starters ahead of Game 6 but decided to keep things as they were. The only difference is that there would be a much shorter leash on Kris Dunn, and boy, that leash was short. The Nuggets dared him to beat them again, leaving him open, but he missed all three of his three-point attempts. It felt like a certainty that things would change at halftime, and it did. Nicolas Batum started the second half and changed everything. Nicolas Batum in Game 6: 6 PTS 5 REB 6 AST 2 STL 3 BLK 0 TO 34 MIN Batum was always going to be the guy. "I was just going over the last 24 hours, going over different rotations to try and exploit what they're doing. I thought KD would give us a great defensive start, then we could go small." - Ty Lue on starting Batum in the second half “I told the guys after the game — KD and Ben still up cheering — it’s about being a team. Whatever it takes to win. And those guys totally understood it… I just wanna say thank you to them.” - Ty Lue on benching Kris Dunn and not playing Ben Simmons SEVEN) Norman Powell Shirt Night The Clippers gave out Norman Powell shirts to fans who attended Game 6, so he was under pressure to play well. You can’t be ass on your shirt night. He carried the offense in the third quarter, scoring 11 of his 24 points on 91.7% TS (5-6 FG, 1-2 3PT). Also, hit the biggest three of the game late in the 4th quarter after Russell Westbrook missed a layup to put the Clippers up nine. It felt just like the regular season again. If they’re gonna win Game 7 at Ball Arena on Saturday night, this version of Norm needs to show up. "That was the emphasis...Every single time I touch the ball, attacking the paint." - Norman Powell EIGHT) Harden Returns It’s been a rough couple of games for James Harden. In games 4 and 5, he averaged 13.0 points (49.7% TS), 6.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists. It looked like the Nuggets had figured something out, and Harden was starting to live up to his playoff reputation. Well, the allegations gotta be put on hold for at least one night. He was aggressive, taking his most field goal attempts since Game 1. Scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the 2nd quarter on 103.7% TS (5-6 FG, 2-3 3PT). Also had 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 stocks in 47 (!!!) minutes. I mean, we might see the full 48 on Saturday. It’s the first time he’s won an elimination game since the bubble. “Very impressed. He wants to play every night. He’s in great shape. He trains for these moments. He wants to play… He wanted to play, he wanted to compete, and he brought us home tonight.” - Ty Lue on James Harden playing 47 minutes. “Got to. Have to. Have to. It is what it is. It’s a part of it. Whatever the team needs. If it’s 47, 48, overtime, whatever. I’m gonna do it.” - James Harden on if he can play 47-48 minutes in Game 7 NINE) The Russell Westbrook Experience The Clippers are fine with Russell Westbrook (14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists) beating them. They’ve been giving him space, and so far, he’s made them pay. In the five games he’s played, he’s made 40.7% of his threes. He helped the Nuggets withstand that 2nd quarter from Harden, scoring nine of his own. But as it’s gone all year, you live by Westbrook, you die by Westbrook. As brilliant as he was early in the game, he missed some bunnies later on, including a wide-open dunk and a wide-open lay-up. There were a couple more, and it felt like every time they’d happen, there’d be a huge momentum change. It feels like a roll of the dice every time he’s out there. They just gotta hope they don’t roll snake eyes in Game 7. TEN) Zubac’s Defense Nikola Jokic hasn’t played well by his standards in Games 5 and 6. He’d make the Clippers pay whenever they went small, but once Ivica Zubac entered, it was tough sledding. Jokic was 5-of-14 with Zubac as his primary defender, including 1-8 in the second half. He was 6-of-8 against everyone else. His decision-making was poor, which is obviously very unlike him. Even he admitted it. “He was really good. He was really good. He was making me kind of question my shots.” - Jokic on Zubac’s defense The other side to it is that he’s not getting many calls, which is understandable if you’ve been watching these playoff games. He attempted just two free throw attempts, tied for the fewest free throws he’s taken in a game since March 2. “I'm not sure what was happening tonight, but for him to shoot two free throws with the amount of contact that was going on out there, it was absolutely crazy.” - David Adelman The Clippers beat the Nuggets 111–105. Saturday gonna be fun as hell.

Ten Takeaways From 4/30/25 ONE) Same Rockets Starters The question over the last couple of days was whether the Rockets would mess with the starters. Udoka said they would look into it because of their slow starts lately, but they kept things as they were. They like that group and the matchups. The one change they made to the rotation was inserting Aaron Holiday and going nine, but that was it. Jalen Green (11 points, 7 rebounds) was the obvious candidate to be benched. Three of his four games coming in have been brutal. The five turnovers in particular in Game 4, man. Totally different Green in Game 5, though. Didn’t have to play much because of the blowout (28 minutes), but he took care of the ball (0 turnovers) and didn’t force anything. His first bucket of the game was impressive, as he lost the ball on the way up but still managed to tap it in. He did get hurt early, after appearing to bump knees with Steph Curry. He had to go to the locker room to get his knee wrapped, but it looked fine afterward. Every Rockets starter was a +20 or better. TWO) Amen Arrives It hasn’t been the most memorable playoff debut for Amen Thompson, coming in averaging 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. He was asked about what he took from watching his brother, Ausar, and the Pistons stave off elimination on Tuesday: "Every game they've won, we won after. So, that's what I take from it." - Amen Thompson That in-depth response was spot on, and he played a massive part in it. One of the most brilliant defensive performances you’ll see this postseason. Looked like he had a part in every defensive stop the Rockets made. Finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 stocks (5 steals, 3 blocks). Just not many people on this planet who can do the job he did on Steph (13 points, 4-12 FG). THREE) Free Throws About damn time. That’s all I was thinking during the fourth quarter. A big talking point coming into this game was the Rockets’ poor free-throw shooting in this series. Check out their first four games: Game 1 loss: 11-of-20 on free throws (55.0%) Game 2 win: 16-of-20 on free throws (80.0%) Game 3 loss: 14-of-24 on free throws (58.3%) Game 4 loss: 19-of-31 on free throws (61.3%) Overall series: 60-of-95 on free throws (63.1%) Came in by far with the worst free-throw percentage of all the teams in the playoffs. They were able to get into the bonus early and made 13-of-13 free throws (!!!) in the 1st quarter. They finished the game going 32-of-38 (84.2%). Yeah, the Warriors committed 27 fouls, one off their season highs. "The fouls set a brutal tone for us." - Steve Kerr FOUR) The Comeback So this game was a bloodbath, right? The Rockets were up 76-49 at the half. "I think at halftime, their effective field goal percentage was 95%. I've never seen that in my life. You're not winning that game." - Steve Kerr It was actually 81.9%, but still PRETTY GOOD! Rockets were making everything, so Kerr gave his guys five minutes coming out of the half to try making a dent. I’m not kidding. Dennis Scott reported that at halftime. The Warriors couldn’t get anything going, so the white flag was waived midway through the 3rd. Kevin Knox, Pat Spencer, Gui Santos… Rockets did the same at the end of the quarter. That’s when things got interesting. Golden State went on a 12-2 run to start the 4th, forcing Ime Udoka to bring his starters back. The Rockets' lead shrank to 13, and you could see Steph looking ready to check back in on the bench, but then Houston got their lead back up to 18 with less than two minutes and took starters back out. At least it made things interesting. An interesting subplot was watching the Warriors' reserves muddy the waters and get extra physical with Houston. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Pat Spencer got into it with Alperen Sengun. Spencer was ejected for a mini headbutt. It almost worked. Jonathan Kuminga was not a part of the comeback crew because he was ruled out late due to an illness. “They weren’t playing ‘Whoop that Trick’ but they may as well have been.” - Draymond Green “He’s talkin' too much” - Dillon Brooks on Pat Spencer’s headbutt FIVE) Steph’s Thumb Reporter: "Ime, one of the Warriors' broadcasters tonight accused Dillon Brooks of intentionally swiping at Steph Curry's [injured] right thumb. How would you respond to that?" Ime Udoka: "I wouldn't." This is another big talking point after a Warriors fan account zoomed in on a photo of Steph’s thumb, which showed A LOT OF SWELLING. It’s not just the broadcast accusing the Rockets of swiping at Steph’s thumb. Players are as well. Steve Kerr was asked about it postgame, and he went on a long rant about how all coaches hate the rule. Talked about how players are smart enough to know they’re able to get away with it. Said that he’s very confident the league will change things next season. “Yeah, I’ve noticed it. I think it’s pretty obvious. But it is what it is.” - Draymond Green on the Rockets targeting Curry’s hand The funny part is that Dillon Brooks isn’t denying it: “Shoot, if you’re going to come play the game injured or whatever you’ve got, it’s all about the game — if I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time. So whatever they’re saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it.” The Rockets beat the Warriors 131-116. Game 6 is Friday. SIX) Different Lakers Starters You could see this move coming from a mile away. It wasn’t as questionable what the Rockets would do with Jalen Green. Dorian Finney-Smith finally replaced Jaxson Hayes in the starting lineup. I found it a bit odd that Reggie Miller mentioned on the broadcast that JJ Redick told them Hayes wouldn’t play, and we were left to guess. Anyway, the decision backfired. The decision to go small allowed the Timberwolves to dominate the paint and boards. JJ got so desperate that he even dusted off Maxi Kleber (2 points, 5 minutes) for the first time since acquiring him in the Luka trade. It's the first time he’s been cleared for a game since January 25. Didn’t matter. None of it did because the Lakers showed no desperation in this game. You could see it as soon as the ball was tipped, with the Wolves going on a 21-9 run. Blame it on the minutes, the age, or the injuries, but the Lakers had no energy. Looking forward to seeing them play next season with a real center, because I never want to see this again. "They told me just to stay ready...It's the coaches' decision, so I respect that always." - Jaxson Hayes on the coaches' decision to bench him "These things take time. Luka just went through it in Dallas with Kyrie. It doesn't happen overnight. We wished that part of it, we could figure out better. I wish we were in a better place and more comfortable with it in the 4th quarter and a playoff game." - JJ Redick SEVEN) 4th Quarter Meltdowns As they’ve done all series, the Lakers struggled in the 4th quarter. They scored 16 points, going 6-of-20 from the field (3-11 3PT). Look at how each 4th has played out in this series: Game 1: Wolves 23, Lakers 17 Game 2: Wolves 20, Lakers 13 Game 3: Lakers 20, Wolves 30 Game 4: Lakers 19, Wolves 32 Game 5: Wolves 22, Lakers 16 Seriously, averaging 17.0 points in the 4th is crazy as hell. And what was up with Austin Reaves (12 points, 42.9% TS)? He averaged 2.8 points in the 4th and 16.2 per game on 53.2% TS—one of his worst five-game stretches as a Laker. "Obviously, I didn't have the series that I wanted to have. You can point the finger at me...I wish I could have done more, but I didn't. I struggled. You live and you learn. I guarantee that I'll get back to work this offseason and get better." - Austin Reaves on his struggles in this series “Have a good offseason…see you when I see you.” - LeBron James to Bronny James on his way out EIGHT) The Luka Problem Didn’t have to watch this game with Nico Harrison to know that he was smiling from ear to ear the entire time. Listen, I’m never gonna defend Nico for making the deal, but this game embodied every reason he looked to move him. Minnesota was targeting him on every possession, and a couple of times, it just looked like he gave up mid-play. It was just one blow by after another. Then, at the end of the second quarter, he had an awkward fall after being fouled by Donte DiVincenzo. Stayed down for a while, holding his lower back. He took his free throws and went straight to the locker room. Looked like his return was in real doubt because of how much pain he was in, but he returned and started the second half. He was clearly laboring the entire quarter and still scored 13 of his game-high 28 points. Again, totally embodied Nico’s concerns. I must have seen that photo of him side-eyeing him in Dallas 50 times on Wednesday. NINE) Rudy, Rudy, Rudy This one’s definitely gonna go down as the Rudy Gobert game. Rudy Gobert in Game 5: 27 PTS 24 REB (9 OREB) 12-15 FG 2 BLK +18 (team-high) Who would have thought that all he needed was for the Lakers to bench Jaxson Hayes? I honestly don’t know why Redick didn’t even attempt to go back to him just to try something else, cause nothing else was working. Guessing stubbornness was the only thing holding him back. Rudy made his layups in this game, too, which was kind of a big deal. As Gallagher noted in matchups, he was just 1-of-10 on layups and 1-of-4 on tips coming into this game. The 27 points are a new postseason career high for him. God, he totally exploited the size mismatch. Nico Harrison wasn’t the only one enjoying this. You know, Mark Williams was, too. He even tweeted out the smiley face emoji after the game. The Timberwolves shot 14.9% from three in this game on 47 attempts! You’re not supposed to win a basketball game shooting that poorly from three on that kind of volume, but that’s how dominant Rudy was. Shout out to Anthony Edwards, who was 0-for-11 from three. He missed a ton of shots, but man, his playmaking as reached a new level. He made the Lakers pay every time they sent help his way. He was complaining last season about not scoring because of the attention he was receiving, but now he’s just playing basketball the way it’s supposed to be played. “They said Lakers in five, and it was Wolves in five. That makes it ten times better.” - Anthony Edwards on everyone picking the Lakers in this series “We’re going to celebrate this because this team took a lot of shit over this season.” - Chris Finch “I don't know the answer to that right now" - LeBron James on how much longer he plans to play before retirement The Timberwolves beat the Lakers 103-96. They now await the winner of the Rockets-Warriors series. TEN) Most Improved Player Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels has won the 2024-25 NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award. He received 44 first-place votes, followed by Ivica Zubac with 23 and Cade Cunningham with 15. He is the 2nd MIP winner in Hawks history after Alan Henderson in 1997-98. Daniels is the fifth player to average at least 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in a season, joining Michael Ray Richardson, Magic Johnson, Alvin Robertson, and Michael Jordan. Three steals a game is crazy. He’s the first player to average three in a season since Robertson in 1990-91. “I really believe I could win this award twice because I’ve got so much more left in me. For me, it’s gonna be about taking that next step, next year, and setting new goals. I want to be an All-Star in this league, and I want to be a championship player.” - Dyson Daniels on winning Most Improved Player Still sour about Coby White not winning last season.

Ten Takeaways From 4/29/25 ONE) What a Comeback Might sound crazy, but I think I’m gonna miss this series. It’s not easy finding true rivalries in this league nowadays, and these two teams genuinely hate one another. So much that Giannis and Tyrese Haliburton’s dad almost threw blows after the game. Pops was feeling a little too good after the game and came onto the court to talk shit. Adam Silver might have to get involved. The headline’s going to be the Bucks' collapse in OT, but man, the Pacers had no business winning this game. Bucks killer, TJ McConnell, scored 18 points in 17 minutes. Did it exactly how you’re picturing it, too. Aaron Nesmith played like a poor man’s Jimmy Butler, with 19 points and 12 boards. Relentless is the best way to describe it. Then Hali closed things out with 8 of his 26 points in overtime, including the game-winning layup with one second left. Oh yeah, he also had the game-tying dunk in regulation with 11 seconds left, words I never thought I’d type. "First of all, there's a lot of talk about rivalry. From our perspective, nothing but respect for the Bucks. What they threw at us was the thing champions do. We didn't respond well early. We showed the kind of resilience we have all year." - Rick Carlisle “I don’t think my pops was in the right.” - Tyrese Haliburton on his father's altercation with Giannis postgame “Overrate THAT” - Tyrese Haliburton on X TWO) New Bucks Before we bury the Bucks, I’d like to applaud Doc Rivers for finally coming to his senses. It took until an elimination game, but I don’t want it to go unnoticed. He removed Brook Lopez and Kyle Kuzma from the starting lineup and replaced them with AJ Green and Bobby Portis. It was the first time Kuz had come off the bench since his first game with Milwaukee. The move paid off instantly with Milwaukee taking a 13-0 lead from the jump. I don’t think I’ve seen the Bucks play so hard on the defensive end all year. They led 30-13 after the first quarter, but the Pacers were able to get within six points at halftime. I wanted to give a shout-out to AJ Green before we get to Giannis and Gary Trent Jr. His calling card is shooting but that guy’s perimeter defense is so damn good. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit, and part of that is because he doesn’t play enough. He scored 19 points on 80.0% TS (!!!) in 46 minutes!!! I don’t know what’ll happen to the Bucks next year, but I’m hoping he has a more prominent role. Now, about Gary Trent Jr., he ran into AJ Green in the first quarter and looked hobbled for most of the half. Thought there was a chance he’d have to get subbed out or something, but nah. He ended up playing 48 minutes. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, making 4-of-6 three-pointers, and then scored 12 more in overtime, making 4-of-5 three-pointers. It was like Game 3 all over again. With the Bucks up seven with 40.0 seconds to go, it appeared that his heroics were gonna be all we’d be talking about. Thirty seconds later, he had one of the most egregious turnovers of the postseason. Bucks were up one with 11 seconds to go, waiting to be fouled. AJ Green passed him the ball with nobody within eight feet of him. The ball slipped right through his hands and went out of bounds. On the very next possession, Tyrese Haliburton drove in for the game-winning layup. Pacers went on an 8- 0 run in the final 40 seconds to close the series out—brutal way to ruin a memorable night. As for Giannis, he was quiet for the first three quarters, then went in God mode when Trent was doing his thing. Giannis vs the Pacers: 30 PTS 20 REB 13 AST 2 STL 2 BLK It’s the sixth 30-20 triple-double in playoff history. Jokic has three. Kareem and Wilt had the others. Sadly, that goes to waste as well, but if that’s his final game in a Bucks uniform, helluva way to go out. “I was proud of everybody… very, very proud of my guys, my group.” - Giannis Antetokounmpo “Giannis is one-of-one. Unfortunately for all the voters, they're tired of voting for him for stuff. He had every bit of an MVP season this year." - Doc Rivers on Giannis Antetokounmpo The Pacers beat the Bucks 119-118. The Cavs-Pacers series starts on Sunday. THREE) Knicks Deserved the Loss The Knicks also had no business winning their game, but they actually lost. They weren’t fortunate enough to pull out a miraculous win like Indiana. The only good things to talk about on the New York side are the defense of OG Anunoby (19 points, 8 rebounds) and Mitchell Robinson (13 points, 11 rebounds). OG was making Cade Cunningham (24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) work his ass off out there. He was all over the place and also their leading scorer. Mitch was a beast in his 23 minutes with his third career postseason double-double. His 13 points were a postseason career high. KAT (17 points, 11 rebounds) was grabbing at his low back early in the game and struggled with foul trouble like always. Jalen Brunson scored the fewest points (16) in his Knicks postseason career. The thing I’ll remember most about this game is Brunson and Hart waiting at the scorer's table at the end of the game for about two minutes. Thibs had only one timeout left and chose not to use it. Because there was no stoppage, they just sat there waiting. The Knicks' offense stalled, and the Pistons held them off as time ran out. If you’re wondering why they were even out of the game to begin with, both were banged up. "Just where we were with our timeouts. Coach's decision…You feel like the next possession will put it away. There's a lot that goes into it" - Thibs on not calling their final timeout to get Brunson and Hart back in FOUR) Ausar is Born JB Bickerstaff’s preference to play Dennis Schroder over Ausar Thompson in the 4th quarter has put them in a hole all series. They’re letting Jalen Brunson do whatever he wants. Big reason they had a -15.3 net rating in the 4th coming in. Bickerstaff was asked about this pregame, and he said they’re trying to balance it, but Dennis gives him experience and leadership. Shitty answer in my opinion. It didn’t matter, because that all changed in Game 5. Ausar was looking for his shot early and feasting in the dunker's spot. He scored 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 29 minutes. He played a little over seven minutes in the 4th and was a big reason Brunson had just 16 points. Credit to JB for getting him involved early and boosting his confidence. It’s hard to win when you shoot 42.4% from the field and 27.6% from three, but that's what the Pistons just did. They survived cold shooting nights from Tim Hardaway Jr. (8 points, 1-7 3PT) and Malik Beasley (10 points, 2-7 3PT). Cade (24 points, 6-17 FG) really didn’t so much either, but a win’s a win. Isaiah Stewart (knee) missed his fourth straight game. “My mindset was to keep playing our brand of basketball. Down 3-1 doesn’t matter.” - Ausar Thompson FIVE) Tatum Closes it Out Gotta start this one off by showing you where things stood at halftime: Celtics: 47 (0-6 3PT) Magic: 49 (4-18 3PT) I couldn’t believe it either. It was the first time since October 2021 that they went an entire first half without a three-pointer. Some of it was the Magic defense, and some of it was the Celtics missing shots they usually make. The second half was a completely different story., Celtics: 73 (13-18 3PT) Magic: 40 (4-20 3PT) Yeah, the threes were raining from the skies. You can only keep a monster down for so long. Jayson Tatum (35 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists) went off 19 points in the half, making 4-of-5 from three. Jaylen Brown (23 points, 6 rebounds) scored 15 in the half, making 2-of-4 from three. Payton Pritchard (10 points) started in place of Kristaps Porzingis in the second half because of foul trouble. Kornet started for him in the second half of Game 4 for the same reason—pretty sweet runout for the Celtics with the Knicks losing. Hopefully, the extra rest will give Jrue Holiday (hamstring) the time needed to recover. He’s day-to-day. "The end goal is the end goal, but you've got to enjoy these moments." - Jayson Tatum after the win SIX) Paolo’s Fouls It was at the beginning of the third quarter when this game took a turn for the worse for the Magic. Paolo Banchero had two fouls at the half, then picked up three in about two minutes to start the third quarter. His fifth one was highly questionable. Jaylen Brown was driving to the basket and elbowed Paolo on the way up for his shot. Tony Brothers said that Paolo walked into him and walked him up under the basket. Again, highly questionable. If anything, it’s a no-call given the stakes and how these playoffs have been called. Regardless, all the momentum swung the Celtics' way at that moment. “But once we saw him get in foul trouble and hang his head, we were ready to go." - Jaylen Brown on Banchero’s foul trouble Orlando’s now going into this off-season with the same questions they had last off-season. They need shooting in the worst way. Yeah, they need Suggs to get healthy, but shooting is key. They went 8-of-38 from three in Game 5 (21.2%) and shot 26.3% in the series. Franz shot 18.9%, so nothing’s really changed there either. “It’s frustrating, for sure. It’s very obvious, looking at the stat sheet, it’s definitely something everyone on the team has to work on.” - Franz Wagner on Orlando’s three-point shooting struggles “It definitely changed the series…changed the game.” - Jamahl Mosley on Paolo’s 5th foul "I've never in my career -- NBA or before -- picked up three fouls that quickly. So, I told the refs that. I told them how I felt. I told them that two of the three weren't fouls. But they saw it a different way." - Paolo Banchero on his three quick fouls The Celtics beat the Magic 120-89. SEVEN) Harden’s Struggles I can’t believe we’re here now, with the Clippers being one game away from elimination. They looked like favorites to win this series after the first three games. Then we had that memorable Game 4 with the Aaron Gordon buzzer-beater, and now this. As great as James Harden’s been this season, these last two games have been a huge problem. The playoff narratives that have followed him throughout his career are back because he’s showing no urgency out there. This is from ESPN: The Clippers averaged just 0.72 points per play on the 35 plays Harden was involved in Game 5. Both are his lowest marks of the series. Harden on Saturday: 15 PTS, 11 AST, 5-11 FG, 4 TO, -4 Harden on Tuesday: 11 PTS, 5 AST, 3-9 FG, 4 TO, -16 He has just as many turnovers as he has made baskets in the two games. I’ll give him credit for the job he did on Jokic when the Clippers decided to go hella small. He’s got enough lower-body strength not to get backed down so easily, and Ty Lue took advantage of that. There, I found something nice to say about him. Clips also need to improve their shooting. Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic: 7-12 3PT Everyone else: 4-17 3PT The Nuggets did it again, leaving Dunn open, and this time he made his shots. Bogdan’s been one of the only bright spots over their last two, making 8-of-18 from three. As crazy as it sounds, I trust his shot right now more than anyone else. “We gotta respond. We blew them out in Game 3. They came back and responded in Game 4. We gotta do the same thing. I don’t know what changes you could make. They made shots… Coming back home, Intuit will be rocking, we’ll be fine.” - Ty Lue on any potential changes for the Clippers now that they’re facing elimination EIGHT) Jamal 40-Ball It was only a matter of time, right? Jamal Murray vs the Clippers: 43 PTS 5 REB 7 AST 17-26 FG 8-14 3PT 3 STL 1 BLK 40 MIN And just like that, he now has the most 40-point games in Nuggets history (6). Forty-three points while only taking (and making) one free throw is wild. It was the best postseason game for him in a very long time. He was doing whatever he wanted against Kris Dunn. Allow me to be Captain Obvious for a second, but the Nuggets are a completely different monster when they get this version of him. Don’t think there’s much any team can do when he’s like this. It wasn’t just him either. Russell Westbrook (21 points, 8-15 FG, 3-6 3PT) returned after missing a game with a foot injury and had himself a game as well. I’m still not over him shooting 39.1% from three in this series on 5.8 attempts per game. Nikola Jokic (13 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) shot just 4-of-13 and still crushed. “He was born for this.” - David Adelman on Jamal Murray “Yeah, I feel good. That was like four weeks ago. I’m ten games in now. Feeling pretty good.” - Jamal Murray on his health The Nuggets beat the Clippers 131-115. NINE) The Christie Kings The Sacramento Kings decided to run it back with Doug Christie. They’re finalizing a multi-year contract to make him the franchise's next head coach, removing the interim tag. The Kings have been undecided since Scott Perry took over, but the players have supported him, so they brought him back. The team went 27-24 after he took over for Mike Brown. I question if this was really Perry’s decision. I’d like to think he would have wanted to undergo a thorough interview process and start anew. It’s not like Christie crushed it in those 51 games. Their net rating was literally 0.0. That’s the only issue I have here. Maybe he turns out to be a great coach. This just feels very similar to how the Bulls operate, and we all know how that turns out. TEN) Rookie of the Year Not much of a surprise here. San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (92 first-place votes) has been voted the 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. He’s been the heavy favorite for a while now, and once De’Aaron Fox went down, he had free rein to statpad his way to a comfy finish. He joins David Robertson (1990), Tim Duncan (1998), and Victor Wembanyama (2024) as the only Spurs to win the award. It’s the sixth time a franchise has had back-to-back winners. Shoutout Area 51. Zaccharie Risacher finished second with five first-place votes, and Jaylen Wells finished third with 3. I’m contractually obligated to mention that Matas Buzelis did receive a third-place vote. You just wait and see…

Ten Takeaways from 4/28/25 ONE) Darius Garland Misses Game 4 Not that it mattered in this one, but Darius Garland missed his second consecutive game with a sprained toe. He’s been dealing with the injury since the end of the regular season and re-aggravated it in the final minutes of Game 2. Went through a non-contact practice on Sunday, but wasn’t able to go full speed. “Listen, I'd love for him to play, obviously. I'm a conservative doctor. I'm going to prescribe the conservative thing. If they give me two choices, that would be my recommendation. Be more conservative.” - Kenny Atkinson TWO) An Ass Whippin That was a beatdown. There’s no other way to put it. I mean, you could just see it from the start. Once the Cavs took a 15-3 lead within the first four minutes, it already felt over. This thing was 43-17 after the 1st quarter. The 26-point 1Q deficit is tied for the largest point differential at the end of a 1st quarter in NBA playoff history. Then it was 72-33 at the half. Yeah, BEATDOWN. Think it really says a lot about Cleveland, coming off a blowout win in Game 3 and immediately going for the kill. and 72-33 at halftime. Miami has nearly as many turnovers (12) as field goals (13). At that point, it was just a matter of pride, and the Heat didn’t have any. Miami was about to break the record for the worst loss in playoff history (58), but scored 5 points in the 70 seconds. Instead, it’s the fifth-worst loss in NBA playoff history (55). A couple of records were broken, though. Cleveland now has the most lopsided playoff sweep ever (122 points). They also surpassed the 1986 Lakers for the largest margin of victory in any four-game playoff span, regardless of the series. Their 138 points are a new franchise playoff record. Miami becomes the first team in NBA playoff history to lose back-to-back playoff games by 30+. Okay, think that’s all. #BanishThePlayIn "These last two games were embarrassing." - Erik Spoelstra “Tough last two games for us. Both 40-point and 50-point losses. Really no excuses for it; it’s embarrassing. Definitely humbling.” - Tyler Herro THREE) Worn Out The signs were there for no more Ware (2 points, 7 rebounds), from rotation to Spo’s quotes. Seemed likely that his time with the starters was coming to an end, but Spo was stubborn. Kel’el lasted three minutes in the first quarter, then Nikola Jovic started the second half for him. Ware didn’t return until garbage time. Guess you could say this entire game was garbage time, really, but you get what I mean. It was when the benches were emptied. Spo keeps talking about how “invaluable” these playoffs have been for him. May I ask why? Is it that valuable to know that you don’t belong on this stage yet? Not trying to bury the kid or anything. Huge fan of his potential in this league, but we’re still a ways away. As bad as he was, he was still better than Tyler Herro (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist). The man who said they wouldn’t be swept shot 1-of-10 from the field (1-9 3PT). Tristan Thompson (4 points, 12 minutes) had as many points as he did. “This group, it's a shame that it will be remembered for these four games." - Erik Spoelstra “There's going to be a lot of changes this summer. Just from my point of view, understanding how the guy with the silver hair works. Just be prepared for that.” - Bam Adebayo on what’s next for the Heat FOUR) Cavs Advance It’s a shame we didn’t get to see a full four quarters from some of these guys, cause they were on a mission. Donovan Mitchell struggled in Game 3, scoring 13 points on 40.1% TS (4-14 FG), but was on fire from the start of Game 4. He scored 8 of 22 points (25 minutes, 5 assists, 4-8 3PT) in the first four minutes. Shit, Jarrett Allen (14 points, 12 rebounds) was 4 steals shy of a first-half triple-double. His four in the first quarter were his most in any quarter of his career (regular season & playoffs), and his six tied a franchise playoff record. Looked like Atkinson shrank his rotation to eight in what he thought was gonna be a tough closeout game, despite saying he wants to stay with ten. Oh, and speaking of Kenny… dude used and lost a challenge when they were up 45 points in the third. No mercy. The Cavs beat the Heat 138-83. Cleveland now awaits the winner of the Pacers-Bucks series. Man, they really had a 33.5 net rating in this series? Jesus. FIVE) Playoff Jimmy Returns Jimmy Butler returned after missing a game with a bruised ass. I’ve never been more inspired. Okay, there’s a tad bit of exaggeration there, but my god, this guy willed the Warriors to a win, clearly still hobbled. Steve Kerr said they wouldn’t put a minutes restriction on him and that it would all come down to what his pain tolerance is. Jimmy Butler vs the Rockets: 27 PTS 5 REB 6 AST 7-12 FG 12-12 FT 40 MIN I lost track of how many times I saw him grimacing. He gets to the line a grip, but the 12 today feels like it matters so much more with the kind of pain he was in. Many others would have done everything to avoid contact in his situation, but he embraced it. Looked like he was really going through it with a minute left in the game after Dillon Brooks fouled him on a three (SMH). The game was tied, and he made all three of them to put them up 107-104. Scored more than half of his points in the 4th quarter (14). Real Warrior shit. "I’d die for these guys… I got my joy back, as some would say.” - Jimmy Butler "We had to have him...If this were the regular season, he'd probably miss another week or two. But it's the playoffs and he's Jimmy Butler...this is what he does." - Steve Kerr on Jimmy Butler playing 40 minutes and hurting in his return Oh, almost forgot. He was having the time of his life when the Heat's score was announced during warmups. Never seen him smile so big. SIX) Draymond Being Draymond This game embodied everything about Draymond. His old coach, Tom Izzo, was there to witness all of it. Honestly, still a bit shocked we didn’t hit his over (7.5 pts). He made two three-pointers on the Warriors' first two possessions and didn’t score again. I don’t want to blame it all on the foul trouble, since he still played 31 minutes, but it certainly had a lot to do with it. He couldn’t be as aggressive as he wanted and picked up his 5th foul with about eight minutes left in the third quarter. Didn’t check back in until about eight left in the fourth. Then, as he does, he had a killer defensive stop with seconds left and the Warriors up one. I still don’t know why the Rockets thought it was a good idea to have Sengun go ISO on him with the game on the line. Almost got ejected earlier on some BS in the second quarter. He received a tech for what looked like breaking up some heat between Dillon Brooks and Steph Curry. There was some shoving, but nothing compared to what we’ve seen in these playoffs. Then, later in the quarter, it looked like the Rockets were trying to bait him into getting another, and almost succeeded. He got tangled up with Tari Eason and looked like he was about to kick and grab, but held off at the last second. Would have been given a tech any other time, but I think the refs knew that they came down hard on him the first time, so they gave him a flagrant so they wouldn’t have to eject him. Savvy move. "There was guys way more aggressive than me. That's crazy. They were trying to muddy the game up, but it's fine, we kept it pushing" - Draymond on his first technical “He’s the best defender I've ever seen my life, and he rises to the occasion on top of being a great defender. He's an incredible competitor. I've seen it for 11 years — game on the line, Draymond making a stop. It's like having Steph Curry take the shot.” - Steve Kerr on Draymond SEVEN) Podz and Buddy Kerr gave us a lineup change even with Jimmy back, giving Buddy Hield his first career playoff start, replacing Moses Moody. There were a couple of reasons for the change. Hield was coming off a big Game 3, scoring 17 points on 65.4% TS (6-13 FG, 5-11 3PT). They also wanted Sengun to work more on defense, as the Rockets had hidden him on Moody. With him being more of a spot-up shooter than Buddy, it’s easier to defend. It took a minute for the move to work, but it paid off big in the second half. Hield scored 10 of his 15 points in the 3rd and was actually playing some inspired defense. “Hey fellas, I’m gonna utter some words that have never been spoken before by anybody on earth… Buddy Hield, you set the tone defensively.” - Steve Kerr talking to the team Brandin Podziemski against the Rockets: 26 PTS 5 REB 5 AST 2 STL 1 BLK 9-18 FG 6-11 3PT Podz was special in this one. It really felt like every time he shot it, it was going in. This dude seriously acts like it’s his 100th playoff game or something. He’s now the youngest player in Warriors history to have a 25/5/5 playoff game. "He has irrational confidence. It's one of those things I actually wish I had." - Draymond Green on Podz “You’ve got to tell yourself you belong in the moment. I think good and great players want the moment and thrive in the moment and don't back down from it.” - Podz on where his confidence comes from EIGHT) Houston Changes Coming? Let's look at Jalen Green’s four games in this series: Game 1: 8 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, -11 Game 2: 9 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, -14 Game 3: 38 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, +19 Game 4: 7 PT, 8 REB, 2 AST, -5 I had thought that Amen Thompson was the weak link in this series because of how the Warriors have defended him, but it just might be Jalen Green. Each one of his five turnovers were careless and lazy. Huge reason why Buddy Hield looked so great on defense. After the game, Ime Udoka was asked if he had considered any lineup changes for Game 5… “Yeah, we’ll take a look at everything.” - Ime Udoka Think there’s a decent chance he’s outta there. His minutes are putting them in a hole that they gotta keep climbing out of. Steven Adams, on the other hand, was unbelievable in his 26 minutes, and he was a late downgrade (illness) coming in. Had four blocks, seven boards, and was a team-best +16. I don’t think he’d be the lineup change, but I guess it’s a possibility. My lean would be Jabari Smith (6 points, 3 assists), who’s played well when given the chance IMO. Last note on Houston is the free throws. They’ve gone 58-of-93 from the line in this series (62.3%). Went 19-of-31 in Game 4. Orlando (69.1%) and Miami (69.8%) are the only other teams shooting less than 70% from the line in the playoffs. "There's a lot to learn. I'm still young. I'm going to make those one day. And get better and better." - Alperen Sengun on that last ISO against Draymond Green The Warriors beat the Rockets 109-106. NINE) Holiday Out Again The Celtics have already ruled out Jrue Holiday for Game 5 on Tuesday because of his hamstring injury. Jaylen Brown is listed as questionable again because of his knee. I feel confident that Jaylen Brown will gut it out, but I’m getting worried about Jrue’s hammy. These early rule-outs are never good. I get that you don’t mess with soft tissue injuries, but if this thing lingers, they’re gonna be in trouble. Sucks cause Playoff Jrue looked back in Games 1 and 2. His defense looked better than it’s looked all year. I know it’s easy to look good going up against the Magic PGs, but the intangibles and physicality, man… It’s all there. Orlando has a chance to steal a game every time he misses, so Boston better hope they close this thing out in Game 5. Celtics Playoff Net-Rating: Holiday ON +18.9 Holiday OFF +3.4 “He’s day-to-day. Just taking it one day at a time. Kind of seeing how he comes out of it.” - Joe Mazzulla on Jrue Holiday TEN) Dame Done I’m sure you’ve heard the news already, but Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with a torn left Achilles. We already suspected it, but the MRI confirmed it on Monday. Such a brutal way to end the season after what he just went through to come back from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He suffered an Achilles strain in the first round against the Pacers last season and tore his Achilles in the first round against the Pacers this season. This obviously puts next season in jeopardy and jumpstarts the summer of Giannis rumors. “My brain right now is right in the same place as the players, and that's thinking about Dame. That's just a human part of the job. That's really no fun. It really isn't. You know, it's just tough.” - Doc Rivers “A lot of people don't see what Dame had to deal with, but I've been around him every single day, and it's hard. It's hard being in his position, but he's one of the toughest, mentally toughest guys I've ever been around, and that's why he is who he is, and I think he's going to overcome every obstacle that's going to be in front of him. Everybody's going to be there for him. No matter what the obstacle is for him, he's going to overcome, and we're going to help him overcome.” - Giannis Antetokounmpo I use news like this to remind me to enjoy watching these stars perform in the playoffs while I can, cause you just never know. Catch y’all tomorrow!

Ten Takeaways From 4/25/25 ONE) Tatum’s Wrist Keeping up with the Celtics was the story most of Friday. Jrue Holiday (hamstring) was downgraded to out. Jaylen Brown (knee) was downgraded but then upgraded to available. Jayson Tatum (wrist) was upgraded to available. I know, pretty remarkable for a playoff game. I don’t think Jrue Holiday even attempted to go through any pregame warmups. I know he’s legitimately injured, but Jayson Tatum looked healthy in his 39 minutes, scoring 36 points on 66.0% TS (10-22 FG, 4-10 3PT). He was hunting Wendell Carter Jr. early, giving him the “too small” and everything. Jaylen Brown is the one we gotta worry about. First of all, his knee looked like it was giving him problems from the jump. In the first quarter, he had a dunk in transition and came down grimacing. Then, later, Cole Anthony pulled him to the ground as he was going for a layup. Brown landed on his wrist awkwardly. We found out after the game that he dislocated his index finger on the play. Also said he had nine more fingers and that he would be fine. The strangest part of his night was when he picked up his fifth foul with a little over four minutes to go in the game. Mazzulla took him out, and he didn’t return until there was under a minute to go. Mazzulla said it was due to foul trouble, but I’m not entirely convinced. “I was out there, so I was dealing with it.” - Jayson Tatum on his wrist injury TWO) Boston’s 3rd Quarter The third quarter is when everything changed. Boston Celtics in the 3rd quarter: 11 PTS 3-17 FG 1-8 3PT 5 TO -13 It’s the Celtics' lowest scoring quarter since November 1, 2021. Seriously, just three field goals is nuts. They had only one through the first seven and a half minutes, and it was on the opening possession of the quarter! It’s not like the Magic offense was doing anything special. They scored 24 points on 40.9% shooting and were 2-of-10 from three. Shout out to that Magic defense. "It's the playoffs. Shit happens from time to time." - Jayson Tatum THREE) For Grandma(s)! You should have seen how quickly I went looking for Paolo's lines after I found out that both his grandmothers were gonna be in attendance for Game 3. One is a great narrative in itself, but BOTH of them? Also, consider yourselves lucky if you still have two Grandmothers breathing. I miss both of mine every day. Paolo made both of ‘em, proud, scoring 13 points in the first quarter on 5-of-6 shooting (2-2 3PT). He finished with 29 points on 50.8% TS (10-25 FG, 2-4 3PT). Yeah, he slowed way the hell down. Still cashed that 28.5 line though ; ) Joins Tracy McGrady as the Magic players to start a postseason with three consecutive 25-point games. Franz Wagner was seeing green all damn game. In my opinion, a little too much green. He scored 32 points on 49.6% TS. Was 11 of 27 from the field and 3 of 13 from three. He was at his worst in the 4th quarter, going 3 of 10 from the field and 1 of 5 from three. He missed his last four shots of the game in a 2-point win. In the postgame presser, Jamahl Mosley said that there were multiple times during the game, Paolo and Franz would point at each other, saying, “give him the ball, no, you give him the ball.” Think Paolo should have kept the ball a couple of those times. Man, Orlando had 26 points off turnovers and 15 offensive boards. They deserved this one. Boston better get healthy soon. “That's playoff basketball — You know, it's not many fouls called, it's very scrappy — I like that, when they're allowing us to play physical and a lot of hitting and things like that going on throughout the game…So yeah, I like it.” - Wendell Carter Jr. on the physicality of this series The Magic beat the Celtics 95-93. It’s Boston’s first postseason loss when holding an opponent under 100 points since May 27, 2018 (33 games) FOUR) Gary Trent Jr. Finally Starts I love the playoffs so much because they finally force coaches to do what’s right. We saw it with Davion Mitchell on Wednesday, and now we’re getting it with Gary Trent Jr. and the Bucks. I've been pounding the table for him to start ahead of Taurean Prince for months now. Maybe the Magic will finally remove Cory Joseph on Sunday? Gary Trent Jr. vs the Pacers: 37 PTS 11-16 FG 9-12 3PT 6-7 FT 4 STL +20 Safe to say the move worked out, right? He ties Ray Allen for the most threes ever made in a Bucks playoff game. Unreal. Was scared a little scared when I saw him pop up with an injury designation, but it was nothing. He was listed as probable mid-game with a thin issue, but played through it. Taurean Prince played 3 minutes and was a DNP in the second half. He’s donezo. "Be humble in victory. Be humble in victory. Be humble in victory. We have a lot of games ahead of us." - Giannis Antetokounmpo on Gary Trent Jr. “When he has a performance like tonight, I know how much he really believes in himself.” - Damian Lillard on Gary Trent Jr. FIVE) Other Bucks Now, if we could just do something about Kyle Kuzma (9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Brook Lopez (0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists). I’ve shit on both of them enough so I won’t waste your time. It’s just painfully obvious they shouldn’t play much in this series. Yeah, I understand giving them the benefit of the doubt and valuing what they’ve done in the past, but you can’t waste any more time when you lose the first two games of a playoff series. Both of them look lifeless and hesitant. Think their second-half minutes speak volumes. Kuzma played 13 minutes in the first half and 8 in the second. Lopez played 10 minutes in the first half and 5 (!!!) in the second. Even Jericho Sims (4 points, 8 rebounds) is outplaying BroLo now. When Doc talked about taking a hard look at starters, Lopez was the first guy I hoped they’d bench, as unlikely as it was. Now, it doesn’t seem as unlikely. Also love AJ Green getting more run. He scored 12 points in 26 minutes. They gotta keep playing him over Kuz. It’s a good thing when Green and Trent Jr. combine to take 20 threes. Giannis Antetokounmpo did his usual thing with 37 points and 12 boards. GTJ and he became the first Bucks duo to each score 35+ in a playoff game. Dame on the other hand, struggled again, scoring 7 points on 2 of 12 shooting (1-8 3PT). Of course, he played five fewer minutes than he did in his first game back. Again, can we please stop taking both of them off the court at the same time? One should always stay on the court in the playoffs. “Honestly, he is on fumes, and …you can tell just didn't have any rhythm,” coach Doc Rivers told reporters postgame. “You don't just sit for as long as [he did] and walk into an intense playoff game and have rhythm. You just don't.” - Doc Rivers on Damian Lillard "We wanted somebody aggressive to attack Haliburton back, and I thought he did that. I like his defense on the ball. The offensive part because he's really aggressive" - Doc Rivers on starting Gary Trent Jr. SIX) Indy’s 3rd Quarter Okay, so this wasn’t as bad as Boston’s 3rd quarter, but it was still pretty rough. Pacers went into the half feeling good about themselves, outscoring Milwaukee 19-8 over the final five minutes of the second quarter, leading 57-47. Then the 3rd quarter happened: Indiana Pacers in the 3rd quarter: 18 PTS 6-19 FG 1-9 3PT 3 TO -21 They couldn’t push the pace (96.00) at all, and they couldn’t get stops. Particularly Gary Trent Jr., who had 18 in the quarter. In the first four minutes, the score went from 59-47 to 64-64. Milwaukee ended up winning the second half 70-44. "A game can turn very quickly in the playoffs. And in the third quarter, some mistakes at both ends at the wrong time ignited their run. We’ve got to eliminate those." - Rick Carlisle on the Pacers' 3rd quarter "He had a hell of a game. We’ve got to do a better job of rotating. I’ve got to do a better job on shot fakes…That starts with me. That’s my matchup to start the game. I’ve got to be better. We were rotating and I thought we had a couple miscommunications and left some open ones, and he got hot.” - Tyrese Haliburton on Gary Trent Jr. The Bucks beat the Pacers 117-101. Feels like we have ourselves a series. SEVEN) Luka’s Stomach Bug It happened again. First Podz and now Luka. During the 1st quarter, Lisa Salters reported that Luka Doncic was dealing with a stomach bug all day. JJ Redick later said in the postgame presser that Luka hadn’t been feeling well for 24 hours, didn’t sleep much, and was throwing up all afternoon going into the game. It amazes me that we don’t find this out until the game is being played. He wasn’t listed on the IR, and there was no mention of this at shoot around. I get that this is the playoffs and teams would prefer not to show all their cards but shit is frustrating as hell. The rules the NBA has put in place continue to be disregarded. Luka looked like death (17 points, 6-16 FG, 2-8 3PT). For most of the game, I wondered why he was even out there. Had no energy and looked like he was gonna hurl, but the guy wanted to complete. Thought he was gonna call it quits at the half when he didn’t come out with starters. Gabe Vincent started in his place, but Luka entered about a minute later. Redick wasn’t sure what caused the halftime delay. "He's really under the weather." – JJ Redick on Luka Doncic EIGHT) LeBron, Man. Every few weeks, LeBron has a game that makes you question what you’re doing with your life. We didn’t know what Luka was dealing with all day, but he did, and he made sure to step up his game. He scored 16 of his 38 points in the 2nd quarter and helped keep the Lakers in this one until the end. Was 13 of 21 from the field, 5 of 9 from three, grabbed 10 boards, and led the team in minutes (41). Most points a 40-year-old has ever scored in a playoff game. Can’t believe this is real, but it was his 100th time that he had a 20-point half in a playoff game. Guess it helps when you never miss a playoff game in your 22-year career. God, it really sucks that this LeBron game was wasted. “He’s still going, he’s LeBron, like you said, he’s 40 years old, not many people do that. Mikes close, Mike is close (laughing), but yeah, he’s LeBron” - Naz Reid on LeBron James "He was shooting it from Yucatan... it was fun to watch him" - Anthony Edwards on LeBron James NINE) Clutch Wolves LeBron did his best to keep the Lakers in the game. The only problem was that they couldn’t close. As Blake once said, “Always be closing.” IYKYK. This game was tied at 103 with a little less than five minutes to go. That’s when the wheels fell off for Los Angeles. Minnesota outscored them 13-1 the rest of the way, holding them to 0 for 6 from the field and 0 for 5 from three. They just kept hitting big shots while taking Luka and LeBron out of the game. Anthony Edwards (29 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) scored or assisted on the Wolves' final 12 points and hit a dagger three to put them up 10 with about a minute to go. Jaden McDaniels looked like Game 1 Jaden, scoring 8 of his 30 points in the 4th. Wolves always look 10 times better when he’s as aggressive as he was. Gotta highlight Julius Randle (22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) real fast. We’ve all trashed the KAT trade at least once or twice since it happened, but he’s getting the last laugh. He is playing with so much confidence, averaging 21.7 PPG on 61.3% TS and 5.0 assists in this series. Gotta give credit when credit is due. “Our best closing effort of the year, no doubt.” - Chris Finch "Julius gotta shoot more. Took fucking 13 shots. You alright?" - Anthony Edwards to Julius Randle The Timberwolves beat the Lakers 116-104. TEN) All Hustle Another award was announced on Friday. The winner of the 2024-25 NBA Hustle Award is… Draymond Green! I know, I feel like this may be the biggest slap in the face award in all of sports. It feels like it’s given to the person who wasn’t exactly good enough to be Defensive Player of the Year. This award honors a player who makes all the effort plays that often go unnoticed in the box score but significantly contribute to team success. Hustle stats include deflections (15th), loose ball recovered (36th), charges drawn (6th), screen assists (22nd), contested shots, and box outs. He ranked in the top 15 in five categories and became the first winner in the award’s history (9 years) to rank in the top 40 in all nine hustle categories used to determine the winner. OKC’s Cason Wallace (2nd) and Lu Dort (4th) finished in the top five in voting. Knowing Draymond, he’ll be insulted by this and take it out on the Rockets on Saturday.

Ten Takeaways From 4/24/25 ONE) Losing the Hardaway This was a strange game for Detroit. You’re usually winning if you get significant contributions from guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. (24 points), Paul Reed (4 points, 8 rebounds), and Dennis Schroder (18 points, 5 rebounds). But not when Tobias Harris scores 5 points on 27.8% TS, or when Malik Beasley (12 points) goes 2-for-10 from three. Like THJ started this game making his first six (!!!) three-pointers. He missed his next five. Tobias Harris shot like shit (2-9 FG) and finally struggled with foul trouble, defending KAT. Sucks that Ausar Thompson still couldn’t get any extra run. Played just 18 minutes and didn’t even struggle with foul trouble. Thought the biggest momentum killer happened with about a minute and a half left in the game. Pistons were down three with the ball. Cade Cunningham (24 points, 11 assists, 10-25 FG) broke OG Anunoby’s ankles and looked to have a clean shot at the rim. KAT recovered nicely, forcing an ugly miss. Jalen Brunson scored the next five points. The game was pretty much over after that. TWO) Best Version of KAT Had a feeling things would be different after that KAT no-show on Monday (10 points, 6 rebounds). He was aggressive from the jump, scoring 11 first-quarter points on 36.8% USG. It was more than he scored in all of Game 2. There was a clear intention to get him going with so much being run through him. It’s like he remembered that the Pistons were using Tobias on him. Duren defended him to start the second half, but once that wasn’t working either, they just put Tobias back on him. He finished with 31 points and 8 boards. It wasn’t just the scoring. He was engaged defensively (3 stocks) and setting some mean screens. “I’m always thinking green light, I ain’t gonna lie to you. I've said it before in the season. I’m always being aggressive in my playmaking.” - KAT Jalen Brunson was booed almost every time he touched the ball. Fans were chanting “Fuck you, Brunson!”. He showed why he was the Clutch Player of the Year, scoring 10 of his 37 points in the clutch (last five minutes of the 4th). Might have gotten away with a backcourt violation with six seconds left in the game, but I’m not gonna spend the time breaking down the explanation given by Zach Zarba. Josh Hart’s playmaking was on display for the first time this series with 9 assists in 41 minutes. Man, thought Thibs would crank up the minutes after the Game 2 loss, and he did. All five starters play 39+ minutes. All of them, except Hart, scored 20+. “Those are cheers. He lives for that stuff." - Thibs on the “Fuck you, Brunson” chants The Knicks beat the Pistons 100-94. THREE) Scotty Pippen Jr. Explodes If you weren’t a believer in Scotty Pippen Jr. yet, maybe this game changes that. I couldn’t believe what I was watching, and it’s not necessarily because I don’t believe him. I actually do. It’s more about him doing it in one of the worst matchups possible. Scotty Pippen Jr. vs the Thunder: 28 PTS 5 REB 5 AST 3 STL 8-16 FG 6-10 3PT 6-6 FT He scored half of his 28 points in the 1st quarter on 4-of-5 shooting (4-4 3PT) and had 23 (!!!) at the half. Had twice as many threes in this game as he had in Games 1 and 2 combined. The steady improvement this kid has made over the last year has been incredible. The rest of the team was 28-of-67 from the field and 8-of-32 from three. He was the primary reason the Grizzlies built a 29-point lead in the first half. “He's been very consistent for us. His growth has been enormous. And I think he can be very proud of the work he’s put in.” - Tuomas Iisalo on Scotty Pippen Jr. FOUR) Ja’s Hip :( Yeah, the 29-point lead was great and all, but they couldn’t hold on after what happened in the second quarter. With about three minutes left in the half, Ja Morant was undercut by Lu Dort in transition. He fell straight down on his hip. You could feel his pain through his facial reaction. I can’t remember ever seeing him in so much agony. Felt like Jimmy Butler all over again. He was trying to walk to the locker room. The team let him know that he wouldn’t be able to return if he didn’t take his free throws. He looked like he didn’t care because of the pain, but he still attempted them. He missed both and then took off his jersey on the way down the tunnel. Once the jersey came off, you know he was done. Even with the big lead, it fely like all the energy had been sucked out of the building. "He shot those free throws. That's something you can remember. That's who you're dealing with." - Jaren Jackson Jr. on Ja’s injury Luke Kennard started the second half for him, and he was ruled out shortly after with a hip injury. He missed eight games earlier this season with a hip injury. He’d later return to the bench, but on crutches. This whole thing blows. OKC then made their comeback. Memphis scored just five points in the final seven minutes of the game and none in the final five. Woulda been nice if Desmond Bane stepped up, but he was in the Dorture Chamber again, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. "Quite drastically." - Tuomas Iisalo on how Ja Morant's injury affected the Grizzlies' energy FIVE) Caruso, Again I don’t wanna spend every Thunder slate talking about how special Alex Caurso is since I expect this to continue but goddamn, he’s special. You already know my thoughts on how the Thunder fleeced Chicago. It just keeps looking worse and worse now that the playoffs are here. He was everywhere for the second straight game, specifically the 4th quarter (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block). I truly believe he won this game. His play style is so infectious. It’s hard to see a dude playing that hard and not try to match it. Josh Giddey would have most likely been on the bench during their 4th quarter run if he were still there. “This kid was so unbelievable.” - Charles Barkley on Alex Caruso "He turned the tide for us for sure. He knows how to win. He's been a part of winning teams. He's a competitor, and obviously that's why he's here." - Jalen Williams on Alex Caruso I don’t wanna discredit everyone else. SGA came out looking a lot more like himself from the get-go, scoring 12 of his 31 points in the 1st quarter. The Grizzlies fans were chanting, “ free throw merchant” when he was at the line. Chet Holmgren went off in the second half (23 points, 5 rebounds) after scoring only 1 point in the first. Had 16 points in the 3rd quarter, making him the fifth Thunder player in franchise history with 16 points in a playoff quarter (Durant, Westbrook, Schroder, Kanter). "Just the mental toughness to stay in it and deliver the way that he did early in the second half and then, through that third quarter and into the fourth - he had that huge three late - was really impressive." - Mark Daigneault on Chet Holmgren The Thunder beat the Grizzlies 114-108. OKC’s 29-point comeback is the 2nd largest in NBA playoff history. SIX) Nuggets Look Dead My first thought on this game was, “Why the hell is THIS the NBATV game?!” It’s been the best series by far, and looked like that again in Game 3… for one quarter. Denver came out hot, scoring 20 points in less than five minutes. Aaron Gordon (15 points, 7 rebounds) especially, scoring 11 in the quarter. But the Clippers shot lights out also. Both teams shot over 55.0% from the field. Then the second quarter began, and the Clippers immediately went on a 10-2 run. They went 12-of-22 (54.5%) from three in the quarter and had an 18-point lead at the half. The rest was history. Like it’s been all season, Denver’s 3-point volume killed them. They went 7-of-26 from three, and the Clippers went 18-of-39. It’s hard to win in this league with that kind of disparity. The only chance this team has is Jokic, and I’m not even sure that’ll do it. He had another triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists) and put on a passing clinic in the first half. They still got crushed. To make matters worse, they have mega injury concerns. Michael Porter Jr. was questionable coming in with a shoulder injury. He played 35 minutes but went 2-of-9 from the field (1-6 3PT, -25). Later in the game, during garbage time, he wasn’t seen on the bench. David Adelman said that he had to leave early to get treatment. After the game, MPJ noted that his shoulder injury typically takes 4-5 weeks to recover, and he felt very limited. He said he’ll try to play on Saturday but wants to make sure he’s helping the team. Russell Westbrook also left this game with left foot inflammation. I haven’t read much about the update besides Adelman saying he thinks it was a hip injury. "This was not our standard in any way, not just our physicality but the mental part too…(on offense) calm down, take a deep breath…defensively we have to meet their physicality." - David Adelman SEVEN) NORM! This was a strong all-around performance by the entire Clippers team. Nobody stood out or took over. It came in phases. James Harden started things out with 13 first-quarter points. He had 20 at the half and didn’t score again. Kawhi (21 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) and Zubac (19 points, 9 rebounds) both did their thing. It’s a bit strange to see Zu not get a double-double. Then there was Norm Powell. He scored 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter. Yeah, it might not seem like much, but it’s his first 20-point game in over two weeks. He averaged 21.8 PPG on the season, so that’s a long time for him. He hasn’t looked the same since the hamstring injury, so I’m praying this is a sign of things to come. And how good has Nic Batum (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) been in this series? He went 4-of-6 from three, and Jamal Murray called him “crazy” and the “X-Factor”. “How old is he? 36? DAMN! My fault.” - Jamal Murray on Nic Batum "He's been in big games. He understands his role, and he's a star in his role. He's an unbelievable connector, and everybody loves playing with him." - Ty Lue on Nic Batum The Clippers beat the Nuggets 117-83. Shout out to the Intuit Dome. That place was clearly ready for its first playoff game. Loudest it's been all season. EIGHT) Jon Horst Extended The Milwaukee Bucks and GM Jon Horst have agreed to a multiyear contract extension, according to Shams Charania. Given the recent GM firings around the league, this extension came as a surprise. The trades are one thing. I mean, dude traded five second-rounders for Jae Crowder after sitting out a season. But check out these draft picks: 2017: Round 1, Pick 17: D.J. Wilson Round 2, Pick 46 (via Philadelphia): Sterling Brown (later traded) 2018: Round 1, Pick 17: Donte DiVincenzo 2019: Round 1, Pick 30: Kevin Porter Jr (later traded) 2020: Round 1, Pick 24: R.J. Hampton (later traded) Round 2, Pick 45: Jordan Nwora 2021: Round 2, Pick 54 & 60 (via Indiana): Georgios Kalaitzakis and Sandro Mamukelashvili 2022: Round 1, Pick 24: MarJon Beauchamp 2023: Round 2, Pick 36: Andre Jackson Jr. Round 2, Pick 58: Chris Livingston 2024: Round 1, Pick 23: A.J. Johnson Round 2, Pick 33: Tyler Smith Anything there excite you? Donte was the only hit. I suppose all that really matters is that Giannis is still happy enough to stick around. NINE) DPOY Evan Mobley has been named the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year. Finally, an award that wasn’t so completely obvious. He had 35 first-place votes, 30 second-place votes, and 20 third-place votes, beating out Dyson Daniels (2nd) and Draymond Green (3rd). Mobley becomes the first Cavalier ever to win the award. He had a 108.3 defensive rating and averaged 1.6 blocks per game, ranking 6th. This has significant implications for the Cavaliers' future. For winning the award, Mobley is now set to make $45 million more than he was at the start of the week. His recent rookie extension jumps from $224 million to $269 million through the 2029-30 season. So yeah, congrats to him but this certainly sucks for the Cavs. They’re gonna have to make some difficult decisions moving forward with the added salary on the books. TEN) Jimmy Update Jimmy underwent an MRI, and the results showed no structural damage. They’re calling it a deep clute contusion that can be managed. In simpler terms, he has a bruised ass. He’s expected to be listed as questionable for Game 3. Warriors obviously dodged a bullet here. "Bernie Lee, Jimmy Butler's agent, texted me saying, 'Pray for the bear.' That tells me that's some optimism for Jimmy." - Marc Spears Any other player, I’m probably considering on the doubtful side, but Jimmy’s tough as nails. We’ll find out Saturday.

Ten Takeaways From 4/23/25 ONE) Tatum Misses Game 2 The Celtics weren’t lying. I questioned the doubtful tag they placed on him yesterday since he plays through everything. Well, he just missed his first playoff game of his eight-year career. The wrist must be really killing him if he can’t gut it out. He had some black tape wrapped around his wrist on the bench. As you’d expect, the crowd booed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope like crazy. Al Horford put the mark on him on Tuesday, and the crowd responded. Horford and KCP got into it a little too during the game, which is a strange sight. Don’t think I’ve ever seen Al come close to fighting. “I have no idea.” - Joe Mazzulla on when he found out Jayson Tatum couldn’t play “It’s physical. It’s the playoffs. It comes with it. KCP just so happened to be in it, but it could’ve been any of us. It happens…we love that though….” - Wendell Carter Jr. on the crowd booing KCP TWO) More Porzingis Blood For the second time in three weeks, Kristaps Porzingis (20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 stocks) went to the locker room mid-game with blood gushing down his face. Goga Bitadze inadvertently elbowed him while going for a rebound. Apologized right after, but Porzingis was too busy loving it. Just like the last time, he was smiling on the way out, egging the crowd to get up. Has he made a WWE appearance yet? Seems like he was born for it. He eventually returned with about seven minutes left in the 4th, with the crowd chanting “KP!” Again, smiling but with a huge bandage on his forehead. He said he got five stitches. The other story with Porzingis was the free throws. He tied his season-high with 14 free throw attempts (12 at the half). The other time he did it was also against the Magic. Boston attempted their second-most free throws this season (33). Shout out to Jaylen Brown for stepping up when needed. Had 36 points and 10 boards in 42 (!!!) minutes. The minutes are what matter most here. It was the most he’s played since February 2. He has been limited due to the pain in his knee. Game 1 was under control, so it’s not that big of a deal, but he played 30 minutes and didn’t play in the 4th quarter. It was encouraging to see him hold up that long against a physical team like the Magic. Oh yeah, Jrue Holiday dunked for just the second time this season. “I like watching him bleed on the court. I think that’s important.” - Joe Mazzulla on Kristaps Porzingis Psycho. "Even through injury, even through blood everywhere, I feel like that fires up KP even more...On the road, we're looking to get him going even more." - Jaylen Brown on Kristaps Porzingis THREE) No Help For the second straight game, it was all Paolo and Franz. Paolo Banchero: 32 PTS, 9 REB. 7 AST, 2 BLK Franz Wagner: 25 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL Everyone else: 43 PTS, 21 REB, 7 AST These two just have no help and it sucks because they could be so damn good. I’ll never forgive their front office for sitting on their hands at the deadline. I talked about Franz needing to improve his 3-point shooting to help us get over last year’s postseason. He’s 2-of-13 from three through two games. The Magic made seven threes in Game 2. You’re just not gonna beat the Celtics that way. The booing definitely got to KCP cause he had one of his worst games with Orlando, scoring only 3 points on 1-of-9 shooting. These are the games they signed him for, too. Wendell Carter Jr. scored 10 of his 16 points in the 3rd quarter, but was pretty rough the rest of the game. Cole Anthony was scoreless in his five minutes. I can keep going… “They’re highly contested shots, and I think his ability to keep finding it, keep stepping into the same way we know he can.” - Jamahl Mosley on KCP going 0-for-6 from three The Celtics beat the Magic 109-100. FOUR) Davion Starts! Been waiting a while. Didn’t think Spo would do it, but he finally re-inserted Davion Mitchell into the starting lineup, removing Alec Burks. The move’s been obvious for weeks. Just assumed he preferred him off the bench. After the 1st quarter, I thought Davion would for sure be moving back to the bench. He wasn’t doing anything… LITERALLY. I checked his 1st quarter usage rate, and it was 0.0%. Dead serious. Then the 4th quarter happened… Davion Mitchell in the 4th: 14 PTS 5-6 FG 2-3 3PT 2 AST 1 STL He helped bring them back from a 19-point deficit. Davion Mitchell and Donovan Mitchell were throwing haymakers back and forth just like you expected. He also did this on Sunday in the 4th, scoring 8 of his 18 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Alec Burks was a DNP-CD. FIVE) Other Heat The Heat may have let the Cavs' lead balloon to 19, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They came out with way more urgency and physicality. Wouldn’t expect anything else from a Spo-coached team. They were hustling and playing hard. The Cavs are just crazy good. There’s only so much you can do with a talent disparity that wide. Tyler Herro scored 33 points on 66.3% TS (14-24 FG, 4-11 3PT). He helped Davion make this a game. Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson (2 points, 11 minutes) are back in the rotation. Jovic shot poorly (4-12 FG, 1-8 3PT) but Spoelstra stuck with him, leading to 25 minutes. Andrew Wiggins suffered the most, sitting out the entire 4th quarter. Bam Adebayo scored just 11 points, going 1-of-5 from three. I love how this is a part of his game now, but that’s a couple too many. He still found other ways to contribute, falling an assist shy of a triple-double. Duncan Robinson was a -17 in 12 minutes. Those minutes sucked ass. "I actually put him at the scorer’s table at six to go and the group wanted to keep on pushing through. We stayed with it. But, obviously, he’ll be very important the rest of the series.” - Erik Spoelstra on not playing Wiggins in the 4th SIX) Mitchell’s 4th Quarter So about that quarter I mentioned… Donovan Mitchell in the 4th: 17 PTS 6-9 FG 4-4 3PT 10 of the 17 points were scored in clutch time. What makes it more impressive is that this began once the Heat got to within two. It’s like he had had enough and decided to finish it on his own. He finished with 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Cleveland was unconscious in the 1st half, going 14-of-23 from three. De’Andre Hunter decided to show up after going scoreless in Game 1. He scored 12 points in 23 minutes. Another adjustment Spo made was doubling and trapping Ty Jerome (6 points, 3 rebounds) more. Evan Mobley was strong on both ends. He finished with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-6 3PT). Weird rotation for the Cavs. Looked like they were gonna go eight-deep, but brought in Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro midway through the 2nd quarter. Oh, and how about this dig from Darius Garland (21 points, 9 assists)? "Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball. Don't play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders." - Darius Garland, when asked what the key was to playing clean basketball against the Heat DAAAANG The Cavs beat the Heat 121-112. SEVEN) The Jalen Green Game Good for Jalen Green. I’m certain he heard all the negativity thrown his way after scoring just 7 points (3-15 FG, 0-4 3PT) in Game 1. He responded by having one of the greatest playoff performances in Rockers history: Jalen Green vs the Warriors: 38 PTS 13-25 FG 8-18 3PT 6 AST 3 STL From the start, he was able to get wherever he wanted and create space for himself. Played with pace, control, and put a ton of pressure on the Warriors' defense. He had 30 in three quarters. The eight threes tied a Rockets postseason record. It wasn’t just the scoring either, cause even the defense was legit. I’m telling ya, dude was locked in. "That first game, the lights were bright. The crowd was here. The court looked huge. My legs were a little shaky. I feel like I did a good job answering back." - Jalen Green EIGHT) The Podz Downgrade Things felt a little too easy for most of the day. No real news or surprises. So, of course, a Brandin Podziemski downgrade comes out of nowhere. He was battling a stomach illness all day. It wasn’t until the downgrade that we got reports about how he wasn’t getting up shots like his usual self at shootaround. I don’t understand how something like that wouldn’t be reported during shootaround, but whatever. It happened. Maybe the beat writers didn’t wanna make something out of nothing. He warmed up and felt good enough to give it a go. The problem is, he didn’t last long. He had an eight-minute stint in the first quarter and had to hit up the locker room. Once Pat Spencer checked in to start the 2nd quarter, you knew something was wrong. Soon, the report came out that he’d be questionable to return due to the illness. Thought we’d seen the last of him on Wednesday, but no. He received an IV at halftime and returned to the game midway through the 3rd quarter. He was probably better off staying away cause he finished the game with a Kuzma, with zero points, rebounds, and assists in 14 minutes. NINE) Jimmy’s Pelvis As if that Podz illness wasn’t bad enough, the Warriors lost Jimmy Butler late in the 1st quarter. Amen Thompson undercut him, going for his own rebound causing Jimmy to fall straight down on his ass. Steph Curry (20 points, 9 assists) and Steve Kerr knew it was bad right away. Both of them put their hands on their head as soon as it happened. Jimmy took the free throws and then went straight to the locker room. He was ruled out shortly after with a pelvic contusion. Initial X-rays at the arena showed no major damage, but he’s still expected to have an MRI on Thursday. He flew back to the Bay Area right after the game, while the rest of the Warriors stayed overnight in Houston. I know Jimmy’s tough, but that was a nasty fall. I’m gonna expect the worst and hope for the best. Sorry, it’s the Bulls fan in me. Jonathan Kuminga made his series debut with Jimmy out. He looked rusty, scoring 11 points in 26 minutes (42.7% TS, 4-12 FG). He was 2-of-7 in the paint with both baskets coming at the rim. Did not expect to see a Spencer-Hield-Kuminga-Green-Post lineup in the 2nd quarter of this game. “Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine. But we have to wait to see with the MRI.” - Steve Kerr on Jimmy Butler’s injury The Rockets beat the Warriors 109-94 TEN) Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson was announced the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year Award. It's the second consecutive day that a heavy favorite took home a trophy. Brunson received 70 of 100 first-place votes, followed by Nikola Jokic (26) and Anthony Edwards (2). He averaged an NBA-high 5.6 points and shot 51.5% from the field in clutch situations (final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points). In 28 clutch games, he totaled 156 points (2nd), 28 assists (3rd), and made 42 free throws (2nd).

Ten Takeaways From 4/22/25 ONE) Dame’s Back Still doesn’t feel real, but Damian Lillard returned to play on Tuesday night. It’s his first game since March 18 due to deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. It’s the first playoff game Dame and Giannis have played together. Doc said that his minutes would be determined by how he felt throughout the game. "I gotta watch him. I told him we had a long talk about it this morning. It is uncharted. I'm going to ask him to be honest and I have to be honest with him as well." - Doc Rivers on Lillard’s minutes He started and PLAYED 37 MINUTES!!! I know, absolute insanity. Thought it would take him a couple of games to get back to full. He just cleared for full basketball activities less than a week ago. Looked a bit timid for the first few minutes but settled in and had 11 points at the half. Then nothing… Maybe the fatigue kicked in because he scored zero points in the 3rd quarter and just three in the 4th. For real though, shoutout to Andrew Nembhard for some incredible defense. Side note: We’re gonna need Doc to stop subbing Dame and Giannis out together. It’s the playoffs, man. One’s gotta stay on the court at all times. “Andrew Nembhard” - Tyrese Haliburton when asked what defensive adjustments were made on Lillard in the second half TWO) Other Bucks You’re probably wondering if Kyle Kuzma did anything this time around. It took some time, but he finally recorded a stat. Assisted on a Gary Trent three midway through the 2nd quarter. Yes, it took him that long, but to his credit, he stuck with it and had himself a great third quarter, playing aggressively and scoring 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He finished with 12 points in 31 minutes. The real star for Milwaukee was Bobby Portis. He had 28 points (6-11 3PT, 72.0% TS) and 12 boards in 32 minutes. He iced Brook Lopez (8 points, 16 minutes) hard, and I’m guessing that sticks. This just isn’t the series for BroLo (-9). Doc talked about their slow starts in B2B games and how they need to make adjustments. Benching Lopez makes the most sense in my opinion. It’s a pretty big move to make, so maybe he just shortens the leash, but they can’t keep spotting the Pacers leads. Man, Portis and Giannis (34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists) combined for 62 points, and they still lost this game. That’s not gonna sit well with them on the plane back home. THREE) Most Overrated? The Athletic released their 2025 Anonymous NBA Player Poll early Tuesday. Tyrese Haliburton (14.4%) was voted most overrated player by his peers. Rudy Gobert was second with 10.0% of the votes. Was curious how Hali would respond in Game 2. He did just fine with 21 points (8-19 FG) and 12 assists. Guess he coulda had a better 4th quarter (0 points, 0-4 FG, 2 assists) when the Bucks went on a late 13-0 run to cut the lead to two, but they still won, so no gripes. How good has Pascal Siakam been so far in this series? Game 1: 25 PTS, 7 REB, 3-5 3PT, 1 STL, 1 BLK, +28 Game 1: 24 PTS, 11 REB, 2-5 3PT, 3 AST, 3 STL, +8 Nembhard (17 points, 6 assists) and Siakam hit clutch back-to-back threes late in the 4th to end the 13-0 Bucks run. Last note on this game is how much these teams hate each other. They got into it a couple of times, and honestly shocked no punches were thrown. “I saw that list. I also saw that Jimmy Butler and Giannis were on that list. I wanna see the faces of those guys. That’s a bull shit poll. The whole thing is bull shit.” - Rick Carlisle when asked about Tyrese Haliburton being rated the most overrated player in the league "I must be doing something right. I don't have a big speech or comment. ... Not too worried about that. I know I'm confident in my own skin. I'm not worried about what everybody thinks. - Tyrese Haliburton on the poll The Pacers beat the Bucks 123-115. FOUR) Postseason Caruso It’s been a while, but Alex Caruso (13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 stocks) is finally playing meaningful basketball again. We saw it in The Bubble, I begged for this when he was in Chicago, now we’re back. You watch this game and realize this is exactly why the Bulls should have asked for more. Just not many players who impact winning more than he does. He was all over the place, making hustle plays and forcing turnovers. Was a game-best +18 in just 22 minutes. My favorite was getting to see him play the 5, which is something we were fortunate to see in Chicago. It takes a special player to guard Morant one possession and then Jaren Jackson Jr. on the next. The fans lost it every time he dove on the floor. Usually, that’s when I hold my breath since it’s how he injures himself so often. “This time of year kind of correlates with how I play the game… I think that resonates with fans, especially here in Oklahoma City.” - Alex Caruso on the fans love for him FIVE) Other Thunder The Thunder set a new team playoff record with 12 made 3-point field goals in the 1st half. They went 3-of-19 in the second half. OKC scored 25 points off turnovers; the Grizzlies scored 6. OKC has outscored the Grizzlies by 70 points in Games 1 and 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27 points, 8 rebounds) has scored a total of 42 points. I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Aaron Wiggins (8 points, 4-6 FG). He played 7 minutes in the first half and never re-entered the game. Haven’t seen a thing about an injury. Defensive Player of the Year finalists were announced on Monday, and shockingly, Lu Dort (8 points, 9 rebounds) was not a finalist. Feels wrong not to have a player represent one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history. “I got a front row version of it night in and night. Maybe (voters) should come to OKC a couple of more games next year.” - Alex Caruso on Dort being snubbed “I might need to get a podcast with Lu.” Isaiah Hartenstein on Dort being snubbed SIX) Jaren in the 3rd I was in our Slack on Tuesday morning talking about all the Jaren Jackson Jr. stuff I was seeing on my timeline. Obviously, a lot of it had to do with him scoring just 4 points on 2-of-13 shooting on Sunday. Everything I had read was about how he had planned to bounce back from such a miserable performance. He said that he talked to his offseason trainer, Chris Johnson, and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo after Game 1. Izzo’s message to him was to be aggressive. That’s always the message, isn’t it? Well, he was a little too aggressive early, with three fouls in the first half. Things turned around, though. He stayed true to his plan and continued to attack. Made his first five shots of the 3rd quarter, scoring 13 of his team-high 26 points. Ja Morant scored 23 points (10-25 FG) after going 0-for-6 in the 1st quarter. There’s nothing I can say that you don’t already know about this matchup. The Grizz can’t score. I get that it’s the playoffs, but it looks way too hard for them. I’ll applaud them for finally playing Luke Kennard (4 points, 18 minutes). It’s not gonna work out, but you need some spacing on the floor. Vince Williams was a DNP-CD. “They took care of their business, so now it’s time for us to take care of business at home.” - Tuomas Lisalo “Go see my fam, get some love, chill.” - Ja Morant on his mentality going back to Memphis The Thunder beat the Grizzlies 118-99. SEVEN) Fouls Are Called Tom Haberstroh tweeted out a chart on Monday morning showing how refs have been swallowing their whistles this postseason. For the first time since the ABA/NBA merger, teams are shooting fewer than 20 free throw attempts per 100 possessions (18.5). If you had told me this before this series began, I would have totally picked the Timberwolves to win. They already play a physical style of defense, so if you’re not gonna call fouls on them, opposing teams won’t score. We just saw this last season when they played the Nuggets. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I feel like Adam Silver made the call before Game 2. There were 31 fouls called in Game 1 and 46 called in Game 2. Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo both played just eight minutes in the first half because each had three fouls. Looked like they were trying to foul out Julius Randle in the second half, but luckily, they won two challenges. He still finished the game with five fouls. Same with Jaden McDaniels. The Lakers benefited the most from how the game was called despite the Wolves attempting five more free throws. Their offense flowed better, the ball was moving, and they played with a level of physicality that wasn’t there in Game 1. Luka scored 22 of his 31 points in the first half. He was terrorizing Rudy every time he was switched on him. Finished one assist shy of 11th career postseason triple-double. LeBron (21 points, 11 rebounds) was three assists shy of his 29th career postseason triple-double. He was 2-of-8 from the field in the 4th, but it’s not like any of his teammates were doing anything. The Lakers scored 13 4th quarter points and still won because the Wolves couldn’t get much going either (20 points). Austin Reaves (16 points) was 0-of-6 from three. Rui Hachimura took a shot to the face from Naz Reid and had to get a mask from the locker room. He’s getting X-rays. One of the funnier moments of the night came when JJ Redick angrily called a timeout in the 3rd quarter. Could hear his audio through the TV… "Time out. What the f*ck is going on. Jesus f*cking Christ, what the f*ck are you guys doing. Come on!" - JJ Redick The Lakers then went on an 11-0 run. "We know JJ is gonna spazz out from time to time. That's JJ... We have to understand that it's not how he's saying it, but what he's saying, and I thought we responded well." - LeBron on JJ Redick's angry timeout “No. We did the same game plan. We didn’t really change much. It was just a question of if we were going to be more physical or not. I think we showed that, and we were there for 48 minutes, and we got big in the first quarter. We learned from the last game, and we just stuck to it." - Luka on if the Lakers changed their game plan going into Game 2 EIGHT) Ant Fined… Again The NBA has fined Anthony Edwards again. This time, it’s for $50,000 for yelling at a fan, “My dick is bigger than yours” on Saturday night during Game 1. It was all done in fun, but the league ain’t having it. If this feels like a regular occurrence, it’s because it is. This was his seventh fine of the season, totalling $370,000. Here's a breakdown of the fines: 11/17/24: $35,000 for an obscene gesture on the court 12/9/24: $25,000 for using profane language during a media interview 12/23/24: $75,000 for using profane language and criticizing officials 12/29/24: $100,000 for using profane language in a live television interview 1/13/25: $50,000 for making obscene gestures toward an official 3/1/25: $35,000 for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after being ejected and throwing the ball into the stands 4/22/25: $50,000 for directing inappropriate language and making an obscene gesture towards a fan Look at me. I’m sitting here writing about his fines instead of talking about the dunk of the playoffs. I won’t be able to do it justice. He went two hands over Jaxson Hayes. We’ll link the video. Ant scored 25 points on 52.6% TS (10-22 FG, 2-8 3PT). Julius Randle had 27 points on 64.4% TS. The rest of the team scored 33 points on 25.0% shooting. The Lakers beat the Timberwolves 94-85. NINE) Pritchard Wins 6MOTY The NBA’s first award was announced today on TNT. Payton Pritchard is the 2024-25 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Yeah, not much of a surprise there. He’s been the heavy favorite for months. He received 82 of 100 first-place votes, beating out Malik Beasley. Ty Jerome came in third, receiving just two first-place votes. That one feels off to me. Pritchard joins Tyler Herro (2021-22) and Lou Williams (2017-18) as the only players to receive at least 80% of the vote in the last decade. He’s the fourth Celtic to win the award (McHale, Walton, Brogdon). He led all bench players in points, three-pointers, and plus/minus this season. "You know what’s really cool about that situation? He built his game. He made himself a hell of a player. A lot of guys come in, they got all the hype and everything, but that kid made himself a terrific NBA player. You're happy to see guys win awards like that." - Charles Barkley on Payton Pritchard TEN) Tatum Doubtful In other Celtics news, Jayson Tatum is listed as doubtful for Game 2 on Wednesday. Tatum suffered a wrist injury after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed a flagrant foul in Game 1 on Sunday. Tatum stayed in the game. Loved how the cameras caught Mazzulla on the sideline stopping their trainer from attending to him and yelling, “GET UP!” Total psycho. After undergoing an MRI, Tatum was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his shooting wrist. It’s pretty much a pain tolerance thing that they’ll have to manage for a little bit. I’m having a hard time buying the doubtful tag since he rarely misses games, especially ones of this magnitude. We’ll find out soon enough. “There was something extra. It was about the second or third time they, especially KCP, went at him in that way.” - Al Horford on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's flagrant foul on Jayson Tatum Alright, friends. I'm going to go back to watching all the other angles of that Ant dunk now.

Ten Takeaways From 4/21/25 ONE) Almost Another Meltdown It’s hard to outdo the Pistons' 4th quarter meltdown on Saturday (-70.4 net rating), but they were up 12 midway through the 4th quarter, and the Knicks tied things up with about a minute to go. Mikal Bridges (19 points, 3 steals) missed two wide-open threes late that were hella costly. Dennis Schroeder (hit a clutch three with less than a minute left that turned out to be the last bucket of the game by either team. Both teams shot poorly the entire game: Knicks: 42.0% FG, 28.6% 3PT Pistons: 44.6% FG, 22.2% 3PT The Pistons had the rebounding advantage, though, 48-34. TWO) Different Kinds of Stars Cade vs Brunson was supposed to be must-see hoops. Instead, Brunson had me covering my eyes anytime the Knicks had the ball. We had two completely different kinds of talent on display here. Let’s start with Cade, who had 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists. It’s wild that this was his second career playoff game because he was the only one on the court who looked like he’d been on that stage a handful of times. Not only was he embracing the physicality, but he was looking for it. It didn’t matter if it was OG Anunoby on him or Mikal Bridges. Was finishing through contact repeatedly. Brunson, on the other hand, finished with 37 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists. Yeah, looks great, right? Not pictured is all the crying and foul-baiting on non-basketball moves. The entire time, you’re watching thinking, “I thought the NBA was trying to get away from this?." I guess you can’t really blame Brunson since the refs are letting him get away with it. It’s just that the product really suffers, especially in high-leverage situations. Ausar Thompson, who’s been Brunson’s primary defender, fouled out after playing just 21 minutes. At least half of his fouls were on some BS. “I really don’t give a crap how they call the game, as long as it’s consistent.” - Thibs “He was elite. He is a superstar, and he played the game tonight as a superstar.” - JB Bickerstaff on Cade Cunningham THREE) KAT MISSING As frustrating a KAT (10 points, six rebounds) game as you’ll ever see. Pistons used Tobias on him again, and it looked like New York was taking advantage of the matchup early. Towns was 3-of-3 from the floor early, and then something happened. Thibs deployed the double-big lineup with Mitch and KAT. Then, with about five minutes left in the first half, KAT went to the bench, and Thibs closed with MitchRob. “Mitch was the one guy rebounding.” - Thibs when asked why MitchRob closed the 2nd half over KAT It didn’t stop there. KAT played 19 minutes in the second half, but check this: He had a 7.0% usage rate! I don’t know if the 1H benching did something to his psyche or what. He did not look particularly interested and was content with letting Brunson (46.0% USG in 2H) do everything. This dude always finds a way to drive me nuts, whether he’s committing stupid fouls or taking just three second-half shots (0 points). "Just trying to have the game do what it does, just executing what we talked about. Thought we got some great shots, some great looks, especially when we fought back in that game." - KAT on having zero FGAs in the 4th quarter FOUR) No Stew For You Isaiah Stewart did not play in this game because of right knee inflammation. I kind of saw it coming, given how he was laboring on Saturday. He’ll have a few extra days of rest now, with Game 3 scheduled for Thursday. Thought this was gonna give us some more Ausar (5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) small ball lineups, but as mentioned above, he was dealing with his own probs. Jalen Duren recorded a double-double in 37 minutes (!!!), just wish he was a tad more aggressive. Went just 3-of-4 from the field and had the lowest usage rate on the team (11.0%). Paul Reed (6 points 1 steal, 1 block) had the highest net rating of either team (52.0). His 11 minutes were a trip. He was playing his ass off but also had two egregious turnovers in the first half that I thought might have cost him another rotation. “We did what we were supposed to do…We approached it with a business-like mentality.” - JB Bickerstaff The Pistons beat the Knicks 100-94. The Pistons snapped their 15-game playoff losing streak. It was the longest such streak in NBA history. FIVE) POSTSEASON KLAW RETURNS How rad was this, huh? Yesterday, Ty Lue said that the Clippers needed to get Kawhi Leonard back into ‘attack mode” going forward. Kawhi Leonard in Game 2: 39 PTS 5 AST 2 STL 1 BLK 15-19 FG 4-7 3PT 92.0% TS He hit the last shot of the game and stole the ball with 37 seconds left, which pretty much sealed the victory. Just as impressive is the one turnover he committed. His seven on Saturday were tied for his most ever in a playoff game. It was a great reminder of what this man is capable of when he’s right. It was tough to watch him in the two postseason games last season as he was battling a knee injury. This version of him looks a lot more like the one in the 2023 NBA playoffs before he tore his meniscus. “This is what Kawhi lives for, trying to get to this point where he gets to the playoffs. ... With Kawhi, we can win any series." - Tyronn Lue on Kawhi Leonard's play in Game 2 “Shit, I feel like he ain’t miss a shot. His shotmaking ability is elite. That’s the aggressiveness we need from him… Big time player. He played big time tonight.” - James Harden on Kawhi Leonard “I’m just happy that I’m able to move. I’m coming out the game feeling well. That’s what I’m taking my pride on. Just being healthy. I sat and watched these playoff games and series for the past two years. So to be able to be frontline out there just feels good for me, no matter which way the game goes. That’s what I’m taking pride in. I just wanna be out there and play and be frontline with my team.” - Kawhi Leonard on how he feels SIX) Redemption Song Two players who have been trending in opposite directions are Michael Porter Jr. and Norman Powell. Both were coming off brutal Game 1s, and there were questions about how the coaches would handle them going into this one. Norm was the first Clipper at shoot around Monday morning, which is the kind of stuff that always gets me going. Since returning from his hamstring strain on March 2, he’s averaged 14.3 PPG on 53.6% TS. In Game 1, he had 12 points on 48.2% TS (5-12 FG) and four turnovers. He started this one going 0-for-5 from the field and was 1-of-6 at the half (4 points). He looked confident and was playing well. He just wasn’t making the shots he usually makes. Then in the 4th quarter, he scored 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a massive three to give the Clips a three-point lead with a minute and a half to go. Hoping he can build on this and carry it over to Game 3 on Thursday. Bogdan Bogdanovic (0 points, 0-5 FG, 15 minutes) has also been on the struggle bus, but he showed no signs of snapping out of his funk. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s out of the rotation moving forward. Michael Porter Jr. was called out by Nikola Jokic after Game 1, where he scored only 3 points in 26 minutes. He was benched with about eight minutes to go and never returned. “If you’re not going to be engaged right now, then you’re not supposed to be playing this sport.” - Jokic on MPJ in Game 1 He responded in Game 2 with a 15-point, 15-rebound game in 33 minutes (6-11 FG, 2-4 3PT). He deservedly closed until the final minute. He lost the ball and committed a costly turnover after a rebound with the game tied at 100. Landed on his shoulder, too, which looked like the reason he was taken out of the game. After the game, he blamed himself for the loss and apologized to all his teammates for the turnover. He said he’s been dealing with some issues with his feet, and he’s unsure how he’ll react to the sore shoulder. Regardless, he played hard and went after every 50/50 ball. One turnover doesn’t change the fact that he played well. “They’ve been through the season. They’re NBA players. It’s the same game. It’s just a title on it now. NBA Playoffs. That’s it. Guys is playing harder. They’ve been through it. They’ve had games where they missed shots early, and they stuck with it. I think they’ll be fine.” - Kawhi Leonard on Norm Powell and Bogdan Bogdanovic’s struggles SEVEN) Rough Jokic Game Once in a while, Nikola Jokic has an off day. He’s human after all. Obviously sucks a lot more when those days come during the playoffs. Now, I get it. He recorded his 19th career postseason triple-double (26 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 8-16 FG). Who am I to say someone played poorly as they record a triple-double? Well, we hold him to a higher standard for one. It’s unfair, but it’s just how it is. The Nuggets will struggle to win any game when he’s not at his best. He committed seven turnovers, which is tied for his second-most in a postseason game. His seventh was a back-breaker. Down three with 40 seconds to go, got caught in the air, and threw it right to Kawhi on the wing. Also went 6-of-10 from the free throw line (4-of-6 on Saturday). Way too many plays that he’d never usually make. He played the entire second half. You could argue that Jamal Murray (23 points, 6 assists, 65.9% TS) played better, and he was under the weather. And yes, that’s a big reason why Jamal’s wearing that oversized long-sleeve under his jersey. He’s not trying to make a fashion statement. Speaking of fashion statements, shout out to Russell Westbrook. Clippers are daring him to beat them from three, and so far in this series, he’s gone 5-of-12. All five of them have come at huge times. “You can’t miss 8 free throws in a game like this. And the points off turnovers. In Game 1 we won that battle.” - David Adelman “I think we can be down 2-0. We could be up 2-0…if you’re a basketball fan, I think it is a pleasure to watch.” - Nikola Jokic The Clippers beat the Nuggets 105-102. EIGHT) Hawks Fire Landry Fields This was a bit of a surprise. The Atlanta Hawks fired GM Landry Fields earlier in the day. They have promoted Onsi Saleh to General Manager, while also announcing that they have begun a search for a President of Basketball Operations. I thought Fields did some good things over the last year. Adding Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels, and picks to the core of Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu. There was a lot to be bullish on. They brought in more players that fit around Trae, so yeah, I don’t really get it. This might signal that they have bigger plans than any of us are prepared for. Curious what this means for Quin Snyder now. It’s already been reported that Elton Brand is expected to be among the candidates pursued by the Hawks as they search for a new lead executive. Brand was a member of the 60-win Hawks team in 2014-15, so he has the DNA. “Every offseason, we evaluate how we operate and ways we can improve our organization. As we enter this pivotal offseason, we have several complex decisions ahead of us, and we are committed to providing the human and financial resources needed to ensure that we navigate these decisions with a high level of precision and foresight. Adding an accomplished, senior-level leader to provide strategic direction and structure as well as partnering with Onsi and our talented front office is a top priority.” - Tony Ressler NINE) Nico Speaks Again Mavs GM Nico Harrison held an end-of-season press conference on Monday, following his attempt to hold a “small media roundtable” with select reporters in which no cameras or recording devices were allowed. All this guy does is find ways to make everything look worse than it already is, which is an incredible achievement in itself. Here are some of the hits from the presser… “I did know Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t know quite to this level.” - Nico Harrison on their fans' reaction to the trade I know, I know. I promise it doesn’t get any crazier than that. "I think the biggest thing is if you don't value AD as an All-NBA player and All-Defensive player, then you're not going to like the trade." - Nico Harrison on why the Mavs couldn't get more assets from the Lakers in the Luka trade "It's too early to tell what Kyrie is going to do, but what I do feel is he's going to be a Maverick next year." - Nico Harrison on Kyrie Irving's player option "We really feel that defense is our calling card." - Nico Harrison on trading Luka Doncic for a player who was "more injury-prone" in Anthony Davis “When we had an opportunity to get one of the best two-way players in the league, we jumped at that opportunity.” - Nico Harrison on Anthony Davis “I think I’ve done a really good job here. I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year… You’ll see next year when our team comes back, we’re going to be competing for a championship.” - Nico Harrison was asked why he shouldn’t be fired “No, he won’t. He finished the season fine. He feels good about where he’s at. He’ll continue to build and get healthy.” - Nico Harrison on if Anthony Davis will need surgery "I don’t believe he will either.” - Nico Harrison on if Dereck Lively II will need surgery TEN) Dame Back? Listen, I’m as surprised as anyone. I can’t believe it’s real, but Damian Lillard has been upgraded to questionable for Game 2 vs the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. He’s been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer on blood-thinning meds. Doc Rivers said that he has already practiced and gone through live scrimmages over the last two days. I remember when reports leaked about the Bucks being optimistic, but I just assumed that was some hopeful BS. Wemby was ruled out for the season on February 20th with his deep vein thrombosis. Ausar Thompson missed eight months with his blood clot. Dame’s was announced on March 25, so yeah, this is wild. Doctors have told Bucks officials that this kind of recovery has never been seen before. They’re crediting the miracle due to early treatment and detection. I’m crediting it to Tyrese Haliburton’s shit talking. “He’s close. He looks great to me.” - Doc Rivers on Damian Lillard Alright, let’s get together again tomorrow. Hopefully, the Grizzlies can keep things interesting for at least a quarter.

Ten Takeaways From 4/18/25 ONE) Overtime Davion You‘ve probably heard that saying, “It’s not about who starts games. It’s about who finishes them.” The first person who comes to mind now, moving forward, is Davion Mitchell. Been wondering when Spoelstra is going to put him back in the starting lineup, and he just won’t do it. I should probably stop wondering, cause why fix what’s not broken? For a while, Davion was having a rough game. I know, crazy, right? Had only one point at the half on 0-of-4 shooting. Then, when the Heat needed him most, he scored nine points in OT, making three of four from them. He finished the game with 16 points and 5 assists in 40 minutes (!!!). I mean, who cares about starting if he’s getting better minutes than most starters? It won’t count because play-in games don’t count, but he set a Heat postseason record for most points in an overtime (Wade with 8 in 2021). "Cleveland has been No. 1 in the East all year. They’ve been having a historical season. So for us, it’s understanding what’s at stake for them. For us, it’s figure out how to get one in Cleveland and worry about everything else later.” - Bam Adebayo TWO) A Herro in the Clutch Thought Tyler Herro had an incredible all-around game with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. More importantly, he came through in the clutch when needed, like Davion. With the Heat down three late in the 4th, he hit back-to-back pull-up twos to get them the lead back. Then in OT, he went 2-of-2 from three. Tyler Herro in the 2025 Play-In games: 34.0 PPG 6.5 RPG 5.5 APG 47.1% 3PT 72.3% TS 87.5% FT +30 “We packed for nine days, so we’re ready to roll.” - Tyler Herro THREE) Two Sides of Trae We’ve seen all sides of the polarizing figures in this year’s play-in, from Zach Edey to Josh Giddey to Trae Young. If you’re box score watching, you’re applauding Trae for putting up 29 points and 11 assists in 44 minutes. He was as clutch as Davion and Herro. With the Hawks down two and six seconds to go, Quin Snyder drew up a beautiful SLOB play that gave Trae room to use his speed and get downhill. Made the game-tying layup over Andrew Wiggins with one second left on the clock. Now the bad: He struggled early, shooting 2-of-11 in the first half. Was a big reason they had to come back from a 17-point deficit. Then there’s the defense. A couple of those Davion threes were wide-the-hell open because Trae’s lazy ass was sagging way off him. There was one in OT that had everyone gasping. Luckily, Davion missed that one, but Trae was about seven feet off him, not even trying to close out. To make matters worse, he didn’t box out either, leading to a Heat offensive rebound. Everything about him that we love and hate was on full display. “Not making the playoffs is a failure for me…I feel like we had a good enough group to make it and compete.” - Trae Young FOUR) Onyeka Thibs’d Onyeka Okongwu just had one of the best games of his career, especially when considering the stakes. Scored 28 points and pulled down 12 (strong) rebounds in 50 minutes… Again, 50 MINUTES! He played the entire second half and overtime. I love that he can go 4-of-8 from three, and we don’t even ask questions. It’s just who he is now. This was his third 40+ minute game in April. It’s wild that the one worry we had with him coming in this season was his minute ceiling. Georges Niang scored 20 points on 63.0% TS (8-15 FG, 2-7 3PT) in 26 minutes. It’s probably not a good sign for your team if Niang has a 28.1% usage rate in a win-or-go-home game. Zaccharie Risacher had a play-in to forget with 7 points against the Magic and 3 against the Heat. "We competed our asses off the entire night... We showed grit. Toughness." - Onyeka Okongwu The Heat beat the Hawks 123-114. It’s a 3-peat in the Play-In for Miami. They become the first 10-seed to make the playoffs. FIVE) Ja’s Ankle Seems Fine I know Ja Morant said he was gonna play after their game on Tuesday night, but I just assumed that was his adrenaline talking. Then on Friday morning, Shams went on air and said that Ja was determined to play but was dealing with significant swelling. He needed an injection to play. I’m not exactly sure what kind of injection he received, but if I were any other player in the league, I would demand one before every game. He looked like he was the healthiest player on the court, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, including a ridiculous one-handed put-back slam off a Santi Aldama miss. At halftime, he had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals (0 turnovers). Total domination. The Grizz were up 17, but Dallas made their run in the 3rd. They held Morant and Desmond Bane to 0 points in the quarter. Jaren Jackson Jr. picked up the slack, scoring 12 of his 24 points. "I've learned not to doubt him too much. He comes up with some stuff that I'm not sure there's any other human on the planet who can do that." - Tuomas Lisalo on Ja Morant “I couldn’t feel it. That’s why I was out there.” - Ja Morant SIX) Edey Takes It Personal Zach Edey does it again. Another double-double for the rookie, with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. That’s now back-to-back dub-dubs in the play-in games to get them into the playoffs. I gotta say, if you had Edey Rookie of the Year tickets this season, you’re pissed that Taylor Jenkins wasn’t fired earlier. Five double-doubles in 10 games since the firing ain’t bad at all. Tuomas Lisalo talked about how Edey took the game against Golden State very hard and how he felt responsible for the loss. Dude had 14 and 17, so I’m not sure why he’d think that, but he got his revenge. "I feel like a lot of people had a lot to say about me after that last game. People are gonna talk, but I just wanted to come out here and prove to people what I could do." - Zach Edey on the loss to the Warriors “He just said one of the things that hasn’t been discussed enough is how the Grizzlies have been “an absolute juggernaut” with Edey on the floor over the last 10 games.” - Tuomas Lisalo on Zach Edey SEVEN) Anthony Davis Labors The telecast showed Nico Harrison almost as much as Anthony Davis during this game. It was annoying for most of the game until they got it just right. In the 4th quarter, AD had to be taken out of the game because he was hurting badly. As he was walking to the bench, the camera caught Nico almost trying to look away. You had to see it to understand. Honestly, I lost count of everything AD was dealing with in this one. He was favoring his knee, groin, lower back, and then his right leg. He was taken out of the game with more than five minutes to go, but he should have been taken out much sooner. I don’t want to say that they were playing him out of spite, since it was a win-or-go-home game, but it sure felt like it. A hell of a way to end the season, though. He finished with 40 points and 9 boards in 37 minutes. Shout out to Marvin Bagley (6 points, 5 rebounds, 16 minutes) for trying his best, though. Lisalo kept Luke Kennard and Vince Williams out of the rotation and opted for the 7-year pro to assist with AD. It actually paid dividends. Bagley was busting his ass out there. He couldn’t even practice yesterday because he was feeling so sick. He woke up on Friday and went through a solo practice just so he could play in the game. "To finally be in a situation where you can see it paying off and you can go out and positively affect the game, it feels good." - Marvin Bagley on playing crucial minutes in a play-in game EIGHT) Mavs Wrap Up Dallas didn’t wait until garbage time with Spencer Dinwiddie (0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists) this time. He checked in midway through the second quarter and received a 4-minute stint. He missed his only two shot attempts and was never seen again. Shouldn’t feel too bad. PJ Washington (0 points, 6 rebounds, 0-5 FG) played 23 more minutes than him and scored just as many points. Brandon Williams never disappoints. He had 16 points and 7 assists in 22 minutes. I have a feeling that he’ll be opening the season as their starting point guard next year, until Kyrie gets healthy. Klay Thompson (18 points, 7-15 FG, 4-11 3PT) has no regrets… "Don't do this to me. Don't do that to me. Don't do that. That's kind of a ridiculous question because I don't own a time machine & I don't believe in going back or looking back. If I did that my whole career, I would not be where I'm at & I wouldn't have been able to persevere through two really hard injuries. I'm here in Dallas & I enjoyed my time & I'm looking forward to the future." - Klay on if he would’ve joined the same decision to join the Mavs last summer, knowing what he knows now The Grizzlies beat the Mavs 120-106. Oklahoma City went 4-0 against them this year, outscoring them by 18.8 points per game. NINE) Lakers Extend Rob Pelinka The Los Angeles Lakers have extended Rob Pelinka's contract. Also added a new title as President of Basketball Operations. The timing of this announcement was hilarious, as it occurred on the same day the Mavs were eliminated from the postseason. Obviously, they didn’t know Dallas would get eliminated, but still. Feel like Nico Harrison should get a small percentage of whatever he’s getting paid, no? I have no strong takes here. I think Pelinka is a bit overrated, but he landed LeBron, AD, and Luka in his eight years as GM. How can you hate on that? Two of those guys fell into his lap, and he traded away the entire board for AD. I get all that, but how about Alex Caruso and Austin Reaves? No one can spot a random white guy better than Pelinka. His best white guy acquisition might end up being JJ Redick. "For eight seasons, I have relied on Rob's vision and leadership to do what's best for the Lakers organization. I value his partnership and professionalism and believe in his ability to deliver championship-caliber basketball for Los Angeles and Lakers fans everywhere." - Jeanie Buss on Rob Pelinka's extension and promotion from VP of Basketball Ops to President of Basketball Ops TEN) Peter Patton Fired I know what most of y’all are thinking. “Who the hell is Peter Patton?” He was the director of player development for the Bulls. They also fired Steve Weinman, VP of Basketball Strategy. This one hurts on a personal level as a fan. His hiring was widely celebrated, not just by fans but by ball knowers. He’s one of the best shooting coaches, and the Bulls have needed one of those guys for a very, very long time. They’ve spent very little money on their player development program because of the cheapness of Jerry Reinsdorf. Last season, the Bulls shot 35.8% from three (20th) on 32.1 attempts per game (26th). This season, they shot 36.7% from three (13th) on 42.0 attempts per game (3rd). That’s the Patton effect. Matas Buzelis going from 26.0% on threes in the G League to 36.1% in the pros, Josh Giddey going from 33.7% on threes in OKC to 37.8% in Chicago… Peter Patton. The players have constantly praised him for his investment and results, and Patton loved working for his hometown team. They still somehow fucked this up. I can go on and on about this, but I wanted you to know how vital this dude was/is. It’s gonna take me a while to get over this one. Or maybe I don’t, and I finally give up on this franchise, just as they did to me many years ago. Okay, I’m out. Enjoy the first weekend of the playoffs and join me in sending Gregg Popovich love and prayers. If you haven’t heard, he fainted at a restaurant on Tuesday night. Thankfully, he’s now stable and recovering at home, but this stuff is scary nonetheless. The world’s a much better place with Pop in it.

Ten Takeaways From 4/16/25 ONE) Play-In Herro God, that was a tough watch. I’m gonna be writing on edge, so please, forgive me. This Bulls team rips my heart out every season, the same exact way. Guess it’s on me for repeatedly letting them back in. I watched this game, and the way Tyler Herro dominated from the jump, couldn’t help but think about how badly the Bulls need star power. Herro was getting whatever he wanted, especially in the paint, blowing by one Bulls defender after another. Had 16 points in the first quarter and 23 at the half… on perfect shooting (8-8 FG, 3-3 3PT, 4-4 FT). Bulls tried Huerter on him in the second half and sent more help his way, but it didn’t matter. He finished the game with 38 points on 81.2% TS. Went 9-of-10 from the line too. "Just come out in attack mode. We had a couple days off since the last game, we really prepared leading up to tonight. Myself, my teammates, the coaching staff, we were really putting in a lot of work, and it paid off. We got one more to go, job's not done, just to get into the playoffs." - Tyler Herro TWO) The Giddey Experience This Josh Giddey performance reminded me so much of last night's Zach Edey experience. You saw the best and worst of him, and his defense was a turnstile. Herro was hunting him early and often, or he was getting beat on back cuts. Personally, I enjoyed that this was their final game of the season because of contract negotiations. You’d think the Bulls use a game like this to play hardball, but that would be assuming a competent front office. Giddey’s camp will want to hold onto his stats. They’ll say he recorded back-to-back triple-doubles vs. Miami and just put up a 25-point dub-dub. He struggled early with Bam being switched on him, but settled in as the game went on. “It’s a sad way to end it. We thought we were a better team than we showed tonight.” - Josh Giddey THREE) Slo-Mo Zero You know the saying, “stats don’t tell the whole story”? Kyle Anderson is living proof. Slo-Mo vs the Bulls: 0 PTS 2 REB 5 AST 1 STL 1 BLK Even with a line like that, he was one of the more impactful players on the court. The perimeter defense was so damn good. Even in the paint, he found ways to disrupt. He had a 31.7 net rating in his 23 minutes, which was best on the team. The ‘little things” don’t really get fans going, but they get coaches excited. Ask Spo… "I love statlines like that. How much can you help win a game without scoring a point?" - Erik Spoelstra on Kyle Anderson FOUR) Heat Advance Some final thoughts on the Heat: They were up by 24 at the half, their largest halftime lead of the season. Thought for a second they might go that thing again, where they blow a double-digit lead, since it happens so often. God knows they tried, scoring just 38 second-half points on 44.0% TS. Didn’t matter because the Bulls couldn’t score. Heat cleaned up their transition game, which has been a problem for them in this matchup. Haywood Highsmith had to leave the game briefly with an elbow contusion but returned. Miami’s beaten the Bulls three straight times in the Play-In, as hard as that is to believe. They now get to face the Hawks on Friday. Season series is 2-2. "None of your business. Unfortunately, I think there’s a camera in there. It was a great message. We’re halfway there." - Erik Spoelstra on what he told the team after the win FIVE) Bulls Rant A couple of years ago, the Bulls brought in Patrick Beverley from the buyout market and closed out the season 14-9 over their final 23 games, eventually losing to the Heat in the Play-In (as noted above). Bulls GM Arturas Karnisovas would remind fans of that 14-9 finish every chance he got. He wore that shit like a badge of honor but the thing is, most Bulls fans know not to get blinded by team results in the final six to seven weeks in the season. We know that’s usually the time when teams bring out the tanks. I’m already dreading the next few months because I’m sure he will bring up the team's 15-5 record over their last 20 games this season, for the same reason. He will try to sell us on internal improvement, but in reality, teams just want Cooper Flag. The NBA should do the right thing and reward the one team that was stupid enough not to tank! Everything about this season was brutal. Well, almost everything. They were lucky that 10 teams passed on Matas Buzelis (9 points, 6 rebounds). He’s the only thing about this season that brings me any joy. The kid looks like a steal and he did nothing in this game to make me think otherwise. Excited to watch him grow with this team but bummed if he has to do it on Karnisovas’ watch. “We didn’t play to our identity.” - Billy Donovan The Heat beat the Bulls 109-90. SIX) Best Game Klay Before the Kings/Mavs game, Jason Kidd had a lot of positive things to say about Klay Thompson. “When you look at Klay, he’s a champion. We expect a big game from him tonight. The last time in that situation, you can only learn from it if you count that as a failure, you learn from that. We expect his best game.” - Jason Kidd pregame Not gonna lie, I went looking for overs as soon as I read that quote. Klay Thompson in the 2nd quarter: 16 PTS 5-5 FG 4-4 3PT 2-2 FT 3 REB +25 It did look like his best game! He was skipping off the court all the way to the locker room at the half. It’s the second-most points he’s scored in a quarter this season. Kinda poetic to do it on that court, considering that’s where his last game as a Warrior was played. “It’s a lot of emotion. I thought I did a good job of not forcing it. Human nature, when you have a season end on a sour note like that, you want to come out here & prove people wrong.” - Klay Thompson on overcoming emotions from last year’s blunder in Sacramento. SEVEN) B Willy! One of the bigger surprises of the night was the role of Spencer Dinwiddie, or lack thereof. Naji Marshall (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) started his fourth game in a row at point guard. Spencer Dinwiddie backed him up in the previous two games and started in the 10 games prior. This time, it was Brandon Williams who was the backup point. Williams hurt his oblique in Sunday’s finale and was listed as questionable coming into this game. "He texted me today and said there's no way that he was going to miss this game." - Jason Kidd on Brandon Williams Williams changed everything for Dallas. As soon as he checked in, their run began. He controlled the offense with confidence, and the team fed off his energy. I mean, we saw this all season. Any chance he had, he’d come in a ball. It’s just surprising to see Kidd trust him like this in a must-win game. He scored 17 points in 18 minutes and dished out five assists. We might be looking at the Mavs' starting point guard next season while Kyrie recovers from his ACL. If you had wagered on Dinwiddie unders, you were happy as hell when you saw him check in late when the benches were emptied. Naji hurt his shoulder and had to go to the locker room for a bit, but was able to return. EIGHT) AD Remains Undefeated Anthony Davis had an ugly start, going 2-of-9 from the field in the first quarter. There was way too much settling, and he wasn’t getting any calls. Even goaltended a Keon Ellis three that turned into a 4-point play, as hard as that is to believe. But once Brandon Williams checked in and changed the flow of the game, he was able to get right the rest of the way. Went 7-of-14 from the second quarter on. He finished with 27 points on 52.7% TS in 35 minutes. It’s the most minutes he’s played in a game since being traded to Dallas. He also went 3-of-6 from three, his most 3-point attempts in a game since the trade. Remember when AD started his career 0-for-10 against Domantas Sabonis? He’s gone 5-0 since. He’s also undefeated in the Play-In (4-0). Speaking of Sabonis, AD had to get four stitches in the bottom of his top lip after getting hit in the face by Domantas in the 4th. "If we would've gotten the rebound, this (pointing to his lip) wouldn't have happened. I think that actually might've been me on the box out. Self-inflicted.” - AD on his stitches “Just his character, he’s a leader… He’s won at every level… He had some good looks there that didn’t go down for him, but again, his positivity of him believing in his teammates and putting his teammates in a position to be successful.” - Jason Kidd on Anthony Davis’ leadership NINE) Kings Round Up The Kings are a mess. It’s been a season to forget, but let’s touch on them one final time before heading out. Domantas Sabonis against the Mavs 11 PTS 5-13 FG 0-2 3PT 5 TO -26 (team-worst) I’d love to be easy on him, but what the hell? Pretty bad time to have the worst game of the season, you know. He’s a good player who puts up big numbers, but I just don’t see what kind of impact he has on winning. His reputation took a big hit this season. DeMar DeRozan (33 points, 7 rebounds) is now the highest-scoring player ever in the Play-In Tournament with 146 career points. They didn’t even give him a stoppage in play. Zach LaVine (20 points, 9 assists) pissed me off at the end of the 3rd. The Kings were down 17, and he refused a heave in a game where stats don’t count. “It’s tough. It’s frustrating … a little bit of every type of emotion right now. Probably the most I've been through in my 16 years in the league. It's been a lot." - DeMar DeRozan on his season with Sacramento "This is where I want to be, I think you all know that. I need to finish what I started." -Doug Christie TEN) Monte McNair OUT Just as I was ready to wrap things up, Sacramento dropped a bomb. Sam Amick just reported that the Kings and GM Monte McNair have mutually agreed to “part ways”. Yeah, he was fired. There's no reason to sugarcoat it if you’ll do it as soon as the game ends. Jesus, they wasted no time. As I just wrote, this has been the season from hell for Sacramento. Dude just won executive of the year two years ago. Life comes at you fast in this league. There’s a whole lotta blame to go around and sure, he was awful this year, but the Kings' problems don’t end with him, I can promise you that. I mean, they just got rid of their GM as postgame pressers were still going on. Who thought that was a good idea? They really are Bulls West, aren’t they? Complete disfunction. Alright, let's get out of here. We have another day off tomorrow before the Play-In games continue on Friday. Catch you then!

Ten Takeaways From 4/15/25 ONE) Cole Black World Welcome to the 2024-25 NBA Play-In Tourney! It almost makes you feel happy to be alive. Cole Anthony felt it bright and early. He said that he woke up at 8 a.m. with a big smile on his face. “I don’t usually get up that early feeling that good. So, that just tells you what it is right there… - Cole Anthony It’s almost like he knew. Anthony Black and Cole were huge off the bench in Orlando’s win over Atlanta. Jamahl Mosley keeps starting Cory Joseph (9 points, 2 assists). Cole scored 13 of his team-high 26 points (3-5 3PT) in the 4th quarter and was a +32, his highest +/- of the season. Black scored 16 points ON 101.5% TS (6-7 FG, 3-3 3PT, +34) in 28 minutes off the bench. Both of them looked confident and ready for the moment. They were also the only two who could hit anything from deep. The rest of the team shot a combined 4-of-27 (14.8%) from three. God, I can’t help but laugh at the three-point disparity we’ll see when they face the Celts. "His energy, his spark, his juice, what he provides for this team coming off that bench. He plays fearlessly, and that’s how we need him to continue to play.” - Jamahl Mosley on Cole Anthony’s performance TWO) Paolo & Franz Go 10-28 If I told you the Magic beat the Hawks by 25, you’d probably think Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner had big games, but that wasn’t the case here. They combined to score 30 points on 35.7%. The Hawks tried Mo Gueye (12 points, 4 rebounds) on Paolo this time rather than Onyeka Okongwu, and it worked. Gueye was playing incredible defense, and you could tell it was bothering Paolo, who was aggressive and got to the paint. Quin Snyder said pregame that their goal was to defend without fouling him, which didn’t work out since he went to the line 11 times. Gueye has only played 30+ minutes once this entire season (4-11-25), so I know this is gonna sound wild, but foul trouble “limited” him to just 26 minutes. I believe he would have touched 30 had he not picked up the fouls. He was that good. Paolo didn’t make his first field goal until about three minutes left in the first half. As for Franz (13 points, 13 rebounds, 6-15 FG), he had Dyson on him a bunch, and I was really hoping for a better performance because I can’t get that Game 7 taste outta my mouth from last season against the Cavs (1-15 FG). Look at me, complaining about a dude who just dropped 13 and 13. Okay, I’ll stop. Just wanna see him play with a tad more confidence against the Celts. “I've known Jayson since I was going into college — But you know, obviously now we're competing and I think, the best way for me to show my respect is to give him my best effort and go at him as much as I can.“ - Paolo Banchero on facing Jayson Tatum in the playoffs THREE) Wendell’s Heart Shout out to WCJ, man. Cole and AB are getting the love they deserve, but it feels like they don’t win this game without Wendell Carter Jr. (19 points, 7 rebounds, 8-12 FG). Pretty crazy thing to say about one guy after his team just won by 25, I know. It’s just that it was because of his energy and toughness from the start. The entire team just fed off of it. He tied his season-high with 19 points on 69.0% TS (nice). I thought he would have to leave the game a couple of times after hurting his ankle and knee, but again, that heart. You’d see him limping down the court and then battling (and winning) on the glass on the next possession. Shoot, I was ready to run through a fake brick wall watching him. “Wendell [Carter Jr.] was the biggest key to tonight’s game” - Jamahl Mosley FOUR) Trae’s 3Q There aren’t many positive things to say about the Hawks after this one. The only thing I can think of besides Gueye’s play is Trae Young’s third quarter. He scored 12 of his 28 points in the quarter on 77.3% TS (4-6 FG, 4-4 FT). Looked determined to get something going after the rest of the team struggled, with a 40% usage. Went scoreless in the first quarter. It’s funny cause before the game, Snyder said they would treat the game like it’s a Game 7 of the Playoffs, but it looked like they treated it like a game in January. Just really low energy from the whole squad. Trae was eventually ejected in the 4th after being hit with a double technical in the 4th. The game was already out of reach, but it was pretty symbolic of their wheels falling off. He was trolling the refs with the basketball. Kia Center was loving every bit of it. Crew Chief James Williams said afterward in the NBA pool report that Trae Young was making “a mockery of the game.” HAHA. No, seriously. It really said that. FIVE) ATL/ORL Randoms A few other notes: So you know how the Magic shot 28.2% from three? The Hawks shot 19.0% (4-21 3PT)! The NBA Play-In at its finest! George Niang was met with boo’s whenever he checked in because of his in-game beef with Paolo from earlier in the season. That was the game, Paolo told him, “I get buckets. You saw that shit last year. Been busting your ass.” Vit Krejci looked like he was gonna be a DNP-CD but checked in late in the third. Had a rough three-minute stretch to end the quarter, highlighted by an ugly lob attempt from Trae. Magic fans chanted, “We want Boston,” in the game's final minutes. Boston opened as a -8000 favorite. "It's a great opportunity to see and play against the best team in the league. From last year, they're the champs still until somebody beats them." - Jamahl Mosley on facing Boston in the first round of the playoffs The Magic beat the Hawks 120-95. SIX) Ja’s Ankle We couldn’t have just one night, huh? Thought now that the regular season was behind us, we were allowed to put the injuries on hold for at least a few days. Sadly, God has other plans. With a little more than four minutes to go in the 3rd, Ja hit a floater and came down on Quinten Post’s foot. He immediately grabbed his right ankle in pain. Shot the free throw and exited the game. Shockingly, he did not go to the locker room. They showed his trainers working on him on the bench and in the tunnel. Even showed him popping some pills that I’d like to assume were ibuprofen. He re-entered the game early in the 4th, so whatever he took worked. He was clearly laboring, but he made his first shot attempt from 15 out and didn’t sit again. He scored again shortly after but was mostly a decoy throughout. Gonna be something we’ll have to monitor until Friday. "I'm playing. That's basically the answer I'm giving. It ain't nothing different." - Ja Morant on if he’ll play on Friday SEVEN) The Edey Experience This game had everything anyone told you about Zach Edey (14 points). All the positives and negatives wrapped into one. The see-saw of emotions was driving me crazy. His PnR defense was getting hunted often, but it didn’t matter cause he was grabbing every rebound (17). Jimmy Butler was particularly enjoying the mismatch on defense. Even gave him a “too small” gesture after hitting him with the put-back after his missed floater. If you had told me a month ago that he’d be playing 33 minutes in a play-in game against the Warriors, I’d have called you crazy. Figured it’d be a 99% certainty he’d be played off the court, but we’ve seen the post-Jenkins plan for a while now. Barring foul trouble, his minutes are almost as secure as it gets. Now, if he can just remember that he’s 7’4 and stop bringing the ball down. Same problems Wemby had in his rookie year. EIGHT) Scotty Starts Gotta give a shoutout to Gallagher for reminding me to have Scotty Pippen Jr. slips in place when Grizzlies starters were announced. He was on this move all day and for good reason. It made much more sense to start Scotty ahead of Vince Williams Jr. because of the Steph matchup. He’s arguably the best point-of-attack defender the Grizzlies have and he gets away with a lot of dirty shit because he’s so small. I lost track of how many times I saw him grabbing Steph in traffic, but come on. The only way you’ll have any shot at stopping Steph Curry (37 points, 8 rebounds) is if you make it ugly. Scotty (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) didn’t have the greatest game offensively, but he busted his ass. Pippen later fouled out, and Steph tied his season-high with 13 free throws. NINE) Play-In Jimmy Plai-In Jimmy, Playoff Jimmy… same shit. Both are unstoppable objects. Jimmy Butler against the Grizzlies: 38 PTS 7 REB 6 AST 3 STL 12-18 FT 12-20 FG (2-4 3PT) 32.3% USG Well, this is what it was all for, right? All the hype and drama led to this moment right here. I suppose some more moments in April, May, and June too. Jimmy was everything and more. He had 21 at the half, which was his most for a half as a Warrior. His 38 points are the most for a Warriors player other than Curry or Durant in the play-in or playoff game since Klay had 37 in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals vs Cleveland. He didn’t shoot them well, but 18 free throws in a play-in game is crazy. Memphis had 23. Jimmy’s had as many free-throw attempts over his last five games as field goal attempts (62). “He controls games. That’s why he is who he is. In these big moments, these big games, he just settles you down — constantly.” - Steve Kerr on Jimmy Butler “I think any team has a chance when I’m on the team. But I know that every team has a chance when Steph’s on the team. I get to play Robin. That’s my Batman.” - Jimmy Butler TEN) MEM/GS Randoms Moses Moody (9 points) was downgraded to questionable midday. His back tightened up at shoot around, but he was able to start and play 33 minutes. Had a dunk in the middle of the 2nd quarter that showed he was perfectly fine. Jonathan Kuminga was another DNP-CD, even in a matchup well suited for him. You can tell Kerr’s getting tired of answering those questions. It should be an entertaining offseason full of Kuminga speculation. Steph Curry looked like he might have re-aggravated his thumb injury last Friday. He had it taped up and was shaking it in the 4th quarter. With the Grizz down three and five seconds to go, Santi Aldama was called for a 5-second violation. Lots of heat coming down on him, but I don’t know what he’s supposed to do. He didn’t have many options. The Warriors beat the Grizzlies 121-116. Golden State wins its first play-in game. They get the Rockets next.

Fifteen Takeaways From 4/11/25 ONE) Giannis Again Well, this is it. The final Takeaways for the 2024-25 NBA regular season. If you’re still reading these, I appreciate you. Means the world to me. I know how easy it is to tune out this time of year. To close things out before the playoffs, gonna briefly touch on all 15 games, then draw the curtains. Giannis (32 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists) came up big in one of the more important games of the night. He records his 4th triple-double in his last five games. Giannis Antetokounmpo during the Bucks' seven-game winning streak: 37.1 PTS 11.6 REB 10.9 AST Malik Beasley makes 7-of-14 from three. He’s one behind Anthony Edwards (313) for the season’s 3-point crown. The Bucks beat the Pistons 125-119. The Bucks clinch the five seed. TWO) All Rested The Magic and Pacers rested all their starters, except for Cory Joseph, if he counts. Gave Goga Bitadze (11 points, 7 rebounds) a chance to get some more revenge on his former team. If you’re unaware, the man absolutely hates Indy. “I prayed about these days. That I would get a chance to play with these guys and beat my old team. Beating Indiana always feels great. I’m telling you, I was praying about this” - Goga Bitadze on facing the Pacers That quote was from a while back, but you know he still feels the same. He started and played 23 minutes. Was three rebounds away from the dub-dub, which sucked for us double-double bettors. Jonathan Issac (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) shockingly played in his 70th game of the season. He meets the games-played incentive in his contract and earns an extra $2.6 million. The Magic beat the Pacers 129-115. THREE) Hawks Secure the Eight Seed I’ll tell ya what. I might pop open a bottle of champagne after I’m done. Gotta celebrate not having to watch any more Sixers games this year. Caris LeVert scored a season-high 31 points on 90.1% TS (12-15 FG, 4-5 3PT). All four of LeVert’s top-scoring outings this season have come since joining the Hawks. Trae Young had 36 and 11. It’s his 91st career game with 30 or more points and 10 or more assists, which is the fourth-most such game in NBA history. The Hawks beat the 76ers 124-110. FOUR) Seth On Top The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown (knee), but it’s the Hornets. You know what happened. Kristaps Porzingis left the game early and wasn’t on the bench in the second half. Joe Mazzulla said his exit isn’t injury-related. Seth Curry (17 points) is the bigger news. He needed to make four threes to qualify for the 3-point percentage title. He did one better, going 5-of-7! He's currently in the lead with 45.6%, ahead of Zach Lavine. Nick Smith Jr. left the game with a groin injury. The Celtics beat the Hornets 130-94. FIVE) Knicks Blow It. Just when you thought the Knicks might finally beat the Celtics, Cavs, or Thunder, they blow out. The Cavs were down 23 in the second quarter without Mitchell, Hunter, and Jerome. They still came back and won. Yeah, the Knicks were without KAT, but all their other starters played. The starters played the entire game too. Super weird. Darius Garland scored 13 of his 26 points in the 4th quarter on 6-of-6 shooting. Dude’s been clutch all season. “We want to do something special in Cleveland. It was the second to last game of the season, but we wanted to come out here and prove a point, that we can win in any type of fashion, anywhere.” - Darius Garland The Cavs beat the Knicks 108-102. SIX) Vuk vs Vuc We don’t see this matchup often because Tristan Vukcevic (17 points, 2 blocks) barely ever plays, but we were rewarded with the rare treat on Friday. This matchup shouldn’t excite me like it does, but I can’t help it. It's not much of a surprise here, but it was Nikola Vucevic who came on top of this one. He was actually two assists shy of his seventh career triple-double with 15 points and 12 boards in 28 minutes. Vuc wins his first game against Vuk (1-2). Bulls were without Josh Giddey because of a forearm injury. Julian Phillips (23 points, 9 rebounds) started and had his first career 20-point game. Bub Carrington continues to close out this season strong with 18 points and 11 assists (career-high). Youngest Wizard ever to put up 15+ points, 10+ assists, and 5+ rebounds. “I would expect all of our guys to play.” - Billy Donovan on what to expect on Sunday The Bulls beat the Wizards 119-89. SEVEN) Bam From Three The Pelicans went eight deep in B2B nights, this time with Jose Alvarado and without Karlo Matkovic. Hold up, let's take a sip of this champagne to celebrate no more Pels games. They started Elfrid Payton next to Alavarado for whatever reason, sending Antonio Reeves (19 points) back to the bench. Spoelstra said he wanted to treat this game like any other game, despite being locked into the 10 seed. Luckily for him, the Heat scored a franchise record 153 points and didn’t need to play his guys much. Wanted to highlight Bam’s three-point shooting for a second. He made a career-high four threes (4-6 3PT) and is shooting 43.2% since February 1. Can’t even let him get them off anymore. “We been through a lot of sh— stuff this year” - Bam Adebayo The Heat beat the Pelicans 153-104. EIGHT) AD 3x2 Gotta show you Anthony Davis’ stat line at the half: 12 PTS 7 REB 7 AST 6 BLK 6-12 FG I know, I know. We all thought he was gonna get the quadruple-double. He sadly fell short cause he had only one block in the second half. Maybe if the Raptors kept it close, he could have played a few more minutes. He did finish with his fourth career triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 7 blocks). On the other side, the Raptors went seven deep. Boucher was active, but they aren’t playing him anymore out of respect for his upcoming free agency. As soon as we saw Jared Rhoden get ruled out, I rushed to see what kinda lines I could get on AJ Lawson. The only thing I found on Underdog was a double-double option for 11.36X. I played it and it hit! He grabbed his 10th board at the very last second to get him his second career double-double. I’ll tell you what I paired it with later… “Just making plays. Brandon Williams came back, gave me a little motivation. Just making the right reads, honestly. Just get back to having fun, as a unit.” - Anthony Davis on his triple-double The Mavs beat the Raptors 124-102. NINE) Rudy, Rudy, Rudy Gotta take another sip real fast. No more Nets games!!! How good has Rudy Gobert been lately, huh? I mean, I know better than most cause he was on my championship-winning Best Ball squad. Over his last ten games, he’s averaging 18.4 points and 14.2 rebounds. Against the Nets, he tied his career-high with 35 points (13-17 FG) and grabbed 11 boards. It wasn’t all good for Minnesota. Anthony Edwards picked up his 18th technical foul, meaning he’ll be suspended for Sunday’s game against the Jazz, which is a must-win game for the Wolves. Inexcusable. "I’m praying they rescind it. I don’t feel like it should’ve been a tech, but me and Ray got a good relationship. We talked it out after the fact. But I don’t think I deserved a tech for just that little gesture." - Anthony Edwards on the technical foul The Timberwolves beat the Nets 117-91. TEN) Jamal’s Back Jamal Murray is back after missing the last six games with a hamstring injury. The broadcast said he was going to play 20-25 minutes, but he played 32. Interim coach David Adelman just couldn’t help himself. He looked okay, although you could tell that he was still a bit hampered by the hammy. His perimeter defense was rough, and he was a step slow. The good news is that the two-man game between him and Jokic was as good as ever and helped win them this game. So you wanna know what I paired that AJ Lawson bet with? I took Westbrook under 19.5 PRA. Was absolutely in love with the bet. Every report that broke after Michael Malone was fired was about the organization wanting their younger kids to play more over the veterans, like Russell Westbrook. It wasn’t a shock that Jalen Pickett started on Wednesday and played 31 minutes, while Russ came off the bench and played his fewest minutes (17) since December 5. Once Jamal Murray was upgraded, I knew he was playing and figured Pickett would get the backup PG minutes, squeezing Russ a bit. Looked like I was right, but then Pickett didn’t play a single minute in the second half, leading to 27 minutes for Russ. Oh, the tilt was strong, cause even with the heavy minutes, he still barely broke 19.5 PRA (21). Anyway, Jokic recorded his 34th triple-double (26 points, 16 rebounds, 13 assists). He also clinched a triple-double average for the season, the third player in NBA history to achieve such a feat (Westbrook, Robertson). The Grizzlies scored just 14 points in the 4th quarter. “It’s nice. I think I didn’t do that before. I don’t know. Good.” - Nikola Jokic on averaging a triple-double The Nuggets beat the Grizzlies 117-109. ELEVEN) The Real Triple-Double King The Thunder had nothing to play for and were playing the Jazz. What’d you think they would do? Yup, everyone rested. What happens when they rest their starters? Jaylin Williams comes in and gets a triple-double. It’s clockwork. Jaylin Williams’ last three starts: 15 PTS, 11 REB, 10 AST 19 PTS, 17 REB, 11 AST 10 PTS, 11 REB, 11 AST He only needed 22 minutes. Even threw himself an alley-oop off the glass. Yeah, that kind of day. Can’t forget about Isaiah Joe. He tied the Thunder franchise record with 10 three-pointers. Made 10-of-14, leading to 32 points. "When you get expanded opportunity, it doesn't change what your strengths are. They played with their strengths tonight." - Mark Daigneault The Thunder beat the Jazz 145-111. Oh yeah, the Jazz… DRINK. TWELVE) Suns Win! It’s like the weight of the world was finally off their shoulders after they were officially eliminated from the playoffs. The Suns actually looked like a competent team for the first time in a long while. Ryann Dunn scored a career-high 26 points on 59.4% TS. Mike Budenholzer also announced before the game that Kevin Durant will not be playing in their season finale against the Kings. Harrison Barnes played in his 303rd consecutive game. You know how it is by now with these Iron Man streaks. Lots of in-game shutdown risk. It happened again here. Blake Wesley and Sandro Mamukelashvili started the second half in place of Chris Paul and Barnes. "I believe in what we got in there. Things happen. We didn't have a good year. We couldn't put it together like we wanted, but nobody hates the other man. Nobody dislikes anybody else. I love Phoenix. I love being here. Hopefully I can continue to be here, but I know Mat (Ishbia) is probably going to make some changes, but I enjoyed this group." - Bradley Beal on running it back in Phoenix "I mean, we still play together, but it's just been a joy. From my favorite player to teammate, I don't take it lightly, our relationship on and off the court.....We're right here.” - Devin Booker on what he'll take from playing with Kevin Durant amidst KD's uncertain future The Suns beat the Spurs 117-98. THIRTEEN) Steph’s Thumb The Blazers were really shorthanded again, playing without Deni Avdija, Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Jerami Grant. Shaedon Sharpe (knee soreness) even missed this game. I keep waiting for one of those Dalano Banton games and getting let down. He scored just three points on 1-of-12 shooting. Jabari Walker led the team with 19 points in 20 minutes. The Warriors crushed just as you’d expect them to do. Jimmy Butler (24 points, 7 assists) went 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. He now has 10 games with at least 10 free-throw attempts since joining the Warriors. What a godsend. The real story from this game, though, is Steph Curry’s thumb. He had to go to the locker room mid-game to get his thumb taped since it was clearly bothering him. Even after taping it, he kept shaking it. X-rays were negative, per the Warriors. He said the thumb impacted his shooting, but he expects to play on Sunday. “It hurts right now, but I’ll be alright.” - Steph Curry on his thumb The Warriors beat the Blazers 103-86. FOURTEEN) Triple-Double #80 The theme of the day has been triple-doubles, so let’s stick with it. James Harden (23 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 stocks) recorded his 80th career triple-double in the win against the Kings. It’s also his sixth as a member of the Clippers. The Clips were in control for the entire second half until the Kings made a late charge in the 4th. Zach LaVine scored 13 of his 26 points in the quarter. Made two huge free throws with 3.9 seconds left in the game to cut the deficit to one, then Sacramento stole the inbound pass from James Harden at halfcourt. On the final possession, the play was designed for DeMar DeRozan. He attempted a wild three and missed badly. Looked like he was more focused on drawing a foul than making the shot. He did pass Reggie Miller for 25th on the NBA's all-time scoring list, so I guess that’s something. “That’s on me. I had too many turnovers, two missed free throws, easy put back. I gotta be better.” - James Harden after the win The Clippers beat the Kings 101-100. FIFTEEN) LeBron’s Groin Ime Udoka said on Wednesday that he didn’t wanna give his guys too much rest because he didn’t want them to get rusty. Well, he sat them all again. Everyone except Jalen Green, of course. We’ve talked about his Iron Man streak on here many times. He’s been pulled at the half in both games. Nate Williams has started the second half for him both times. I love how when they show him on the bench in the second half of these games, he’s fully dressed in the clothes he arrived in. They’re not even trying to hide it LOL. The Lakers steamrolled, scoring 140 points on 71.4% TS (19-37 3PT). There wasn’t much to see here unless you played Cam Whitmore overs like I did. Luka Doncic had 39 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. The focus is gonna be on LeBron now. He checked outta the game midway through the 3rd quarter, and it looked like he re-aggravated his groin strain. After the game, they said he’s fine, but he never re-entered it. They coulda been playing it safe because the Rockets sat their guys and they had a healthy lead, I dunno. It’s still concerning in my opinion. I will say, he was seen jumping around on the sideline in the 4th quarter, so maybe I’m just building this thing up more than it needs to be. The Lakers win their 50th game and clinch the No. 3 seed. "Very important. This is gonna be my first time having home-court advantage, so I'm looking forward to it." - Luka Doncic on clinching the No. 3 seed The Lakers beat the Rockets 140-109. Hey, look, there’s still a little champagne left in there. Cheers to an unforgettable 2024-25 NBA regular season! Now’s when the real fun begins.

Ten Takeaways From 4/10/25 ONE) Shorthanded Knicks It’s almost over, don’t worry. Just a few more days of this regular season before the real fun begins. Until then, guys are sitting. The Knicks were without OG Anunoby (thumb), Josh Hart (knee), and Mitchell Robinson (ankle). All managing injuries. Thought there was a chance Thibs would play Precious Achiuwa (18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks) the full 48, but he took it easy on him and played him just 40. Miles McBride (12 points, 6 assists, 4 steals) also started and played 39 minutes. We took an over on KAT assists (2.5), which hit with nine minutes to go in the second quarter. Really loved that one with how the Pistons pack the paint. They’ve allowed the most assists (4.96) to centers all season. KAT (25 points, 10 rebounds, 41.8% USG) struggled with fouls and turnovers (7). Jalen Brunson (15 points, 5 assists) rolled his ankle midway through the third but played through it. It wasn’t the same ankle that had kept him out. PJ Tucker scored his first points as a Knick (3). First time he’s played meaningful minutes (27) for them or anyone this season. "That's Detroit basketball. They play physical…They upped their physicality in the 2nd half, we just didn't do enough to win the game, including myself. Take responsibility & move on to the next one" - Karl-Anthony Towns TWO) Fourth Quarter Ron I talked about how much I wished Reed Sheppard was on a tank team last night, so we could see him get real minutes. Same goes for Ron Holland. Every now and then, he’ll have a stretch where his athleticism and confidence are on full display. He scored 10 of his 13 points in the 4th quarter, and his energy changed the game. Reminded me of when he went off for 14 fourth-quarter points against the Pelicans on March 23. The kid is fearless. Cade Cunningham’s minutes were expected to come up a bit, and they did. He scored 36 points on 69.9% TS (16-24) in 35 minutes. Jalen Duren (5 offensive rebounds) dominated down low, scoring 18 points on perfect shooting (9-9 FG). Got some good news on Jaden Ivey earlier in the day. He’s making good progress on his broken left fibula and has been cleared for basketball activity. Next is the reconditioning progression, and they say his status will be updated in two weeks. Looks like we’re gonna see him in the playoffs. Probably will be limited as hell, but still. "We bring that Detroit Bad Boys to every single game we play. And if New York is the team we end up playing, we gonna bring it every single night" - Ron Holland The Pistons beat the Knicks 115-106. THREE) Impressive Loss More rest. The Cavs were without Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Max Strus. Jarrett Allen only played a half, as expected. Kenny Atkinson said they’re gonna try to manage his minutes the rest of the way and let him play all 82 games. Sounds like we’re gonna get one half of play in his final two games. The TNT broadcast said Darious Garland and Evan Mobley are expected to play against the Knicks on Friday, but it said nothing about Donovan Mitchell. Guessing that means he’s done for the regular season. Even without their guys, the Cavs fought until the very end. Ty Jerome (24 points, 26 minutes) and De’Andre Hunter (23 points, 32 minutes) were also removed early. Watching them carry the scoring load like they did in college was cool. Sam Merrill made three 3-pointers in about two minutes to start the fourth quarter. The Cavs were 8-for-12 from three in the fourth, 17-of-37 for the game. Kenny Atkinson was ejected in the third quarter for arguing a foul call on Tristan Thompson in a meaningless game. Gotta love it. “I had to have Tristan’s back on that blatant foul. Fourteen years in the league. An NBA champion. He deserves more respect than that.” - Kenny Atkinson on his ejection FOUR) Indy Secures Home Court The Pacers were 18.5-point faves against the Wizards on Tuesday and almost lost. They were 9.5-point faves here against the depleted Cavs and almost lost. Listen, I know a win’s a win, but the playoffs are next week. They shouldn’t be squeaking by in games like this. Ideally, these are the games you’d love to get your guys rest late in the game. Whatever, they got the dub. With the win, they clinch a top-four seed. It's their first time having home court advantage since the 2013-14 season, when they were the 1-seed. Pretty important for this team since they have a top-5 home record (29-11). They’ve also scored 100+ points in 107 straight games at home, which is a new NBA record. “It’s a significant accomplishment, but it’s not a destination…” - Rick Carlisle on securing home court advantage. The Pacers beat the Cavs 114-112. FIVE) Risacher Goes Off The Rookie of the Year race might be over according to some (Castle -1400), but Zaccharie Risacher is trying to remind you that he’s still here. Zaccharie Risacher vs the Nets: 38 PTS 15-20 FG 6-11 3PT 2 STL 1 BLK +28 Scored 23 of his career-high 38 points in the first half and hit all nine of his two-point attempts. Most points by a rookie this season and only rookie with at least four 20-point halves. It was a big reason why the Hawks opened up the 2nd quarter, knocking down 12 straight shots. First time they’ve made 12 straight since 2023. Risacher even connected on a between-the-legs alley-oop from Trae early in the 3rd quarter. Caris Revert scored just 4 points in his revenge game, going 1-of-7 from the field. Dyson Daniels had another 3-steal game. His 226 steals are the most in a season since Gary Payton (231) in 1995-96. The Glove was named Defensive Player of the Year that season. “I looked up…and I was like ‘Hell yea’” - Zaccharie Risacher on his teammates telling him they were trying to get him 40 SIX) Wilson’s 3-Point Shooting What do you want me to say about the Nets besides how thankful I am their season’s almost over? Reece Beekeman started at point again and finished with zero points for the second straight game. Only had four assists this time, so it wasn't as cool before when he had 10. Tyrese Martin and Jalen Wilson started ahead of Beekman and Trendon Watford in the second half, with the team down 69-45. I can’t think of much else here besides Wilson’s shooting. He went 4-of-6 from three in the second quarter after not playing at all in the 1st. Thought he was gonna be a DNP-CD for a second. He finished the game going 6-of-10 from three, which is a new career-high. Jesus, Brooklyn scored just 24 points in the paint. Yeah, I’m done here… “We were not ready to play… It’s on me. I didn't get them ready to play this game.” - Jordi Fernandez The Hawks beat the Nets 133-109. SEVEN) Eight-Man What better way to follow up the Nets than with the Pelicans? Think we can breeze through this one also. They ruled out Jose Alavarado, Bruce Brown, and Yves Missi earlier in the morning, leaving the team with just eight available bodies. They started Elfrid Payton, Antonio Reeves, Keion Brooks, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Karlo Matkovic. You know how this ends. Jamal Cain (20 points), Keion Brooks (20 points), and Lester Quinones (21 points) all had career-highs. Elfrid Payton (2 points, 15 assists) had dished out 10+ assists in four consecutive games. The good news about this game is that the Pelicans are now locked in with the fourth-best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery. Hopefully, this means it won’t be a complete train wreck in their final two games. Wishful thinking, I know, but you should keep that kinda stuff in mind this weekend if teams are locked. Might find yourself a discount or two in the prop world. “They’re making some mistakes but a lot of positives. And they get to play through some of their mistakes against really good competition. Now they can go back and re-evaluate and say ‘okay, this is what I’m doing well and these are some areas I can improve in’.” - Willie Green on coaching his inexperienced players EIGHT) In-Game Shutdown Giannis Antetokounmpo was downgraded to questionable earlier in the day because of an illness. Thought for sure he was gonna miss but then the line jumped to 15.0 points, which suggested he’d play and he did. Honestly, though, it was pointless with how depleted this Pelicans roster is. Luckily, he didn’t have to play much. Once the Pistons and Pacers game ended, the Bucks knew this game against New Orleans meant nothing. They have two games coming up against Detroit that will determine who gets the five seed. So during the 3rd quarter, the camera caught Giannis and Brook Lopez walking into the locker room. You knew at that moment that they got word of the early scores and weren’t coming back out. Made much more sense to get them their rest because of the importance of the game on Friday. Other starters shortly followed. Kevin Porter Jr. (20 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists) has scored 20+ points in four straight games. Also had five steals. Giannis is shooting 50.0% (5-10 3PT) from three in April. Bobby Portis (14 points, 8 rebounds) played 22 minutes off the bench and also had his night cut short in the 4th. “It's the first part of the play-in. That's basically what it is. It's going to be a great experience. I'm looking forward to it. I think the crowd in Detroit is going to be amazing. They're going to play hard. They're going to play well. And we're going to have to match it.” - Doc Rivers on the games against Detroit The Bucks beat the Pelicans 136-111. NINE) 52! Timberwolves vs Grizzlies was easily the biggest game of the night with major playoff/play-in implications. The winner would likely get the six seed, and the loser would likely be in the play-in. Minnesota came in winners of five of their last six and looked the part from the jump. They scored 37 points in the first quarter on 73.4% TS. Anthony Edwards (44 points, 13-19 FG, 7-11 3PT) had 13 of the 37. He looked like the best player on the court all game. The problem is, their defense was nonexistent. Grizzlies were scoring with ease, scoring 72 points in the half on 82.7% TS. The Wolves were down five at the half, and then the 3rd quarter happened. Minnesota Timberwolves in the 3rd quarter: 52 PTS 18-21 FG (!!!) 7-8 3PT 9-10 FT +27 If it felt like you were watching one of the most dominant performers ever, it’s cause you were. Minnesota broke its franchise record for most points scored in a quarter. It’s also the most points scored by any team in a quarter this season. Ant had 18 of the 52. Crazy hot shooting and even tightened up their defense, allowing the Grizz to score just 25 points. Changed the entire game obviously. Memphis made a couple of mini-runs late, but the damage was already done. “C Hines, my trainer, told me to blackout tonight, so I tried to do that. We be watching, I know people gonna love this, he sent me MJ videos every day about blacking out. MJ said something like ‘why would I worry about a miss if I haven’t took the shot yet?’” - Anthony Edwards TEN) Ja’s New Celebration A lot has been made of Ja’s new celebration. He was fined on April 4 after multiple gun gestures during his 3-point celebrations against the Heat and warned by the NBA a day earlier. That led to him changing his 3-point celebration to one that mimics throwing a grenade into the crowd. He’s even got the crowd yelling “BOOM” after the toss. He’s testing Adam Silver, and I've gotta feeling he’s gonna win this time. "That's my celebration now until somebody else got a problem with it, and I'll find another one." - Ja Morant Ja did his best despite getting run over, scoring 36 points on 59.8% TS (13-27 FG, 41.7% USG). He and Ant were going back and forth just like we wanted in games of this magnitude. Desmond Bane alsp busted ass, scoring 19 of his 28 points in the 2nd quarter. He was basically the reason they were up at the half. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 23 but had only one rebound in 37 minutes. HOW?! Zach Edey’s minutes are safe as hell because he was getting hunted by Randle and Reid all game, struggled with foul trouble, AND STILL played 30 minutes. Luke Kennard was a DNP-CD. "Play some f-cking defense and go get a win." - Ja Morant on how to respond from this loss The Timberwolves beat the Grizzlies 141-125. Not looking forward to Friday's mess at all, but only two more days of this. Shout out to TNT for their final regular-season broadcast. They closed out the night with a parody of the Sopranos series finale. So good.

Ten Takeaways From 4/9/25 ONE) Expected Boston Rest We talked about it last night after looking at Celtics minutes and how it made zero sense to play in this one against the Magic. For a while, it looked like they would roll out Jaylen Brown for a bit to get him closer to 65 games, but they came to their senses. All five starters rested, giving Payton Pritchard (15 points, 10 rebounds) his first start since his hometown game in Portland. He’s good, but he’s not that good. Celitcs shot 39.0% from the field and 17.5% from three (7-40 3PT). Yeah, it was that bad. They scored just 76 points. Orlando played sloppily for a bit but eventually got rolling. Remember how Paolo’s (15 points, 6 assists) momma urged him to rebound more? He had just four here after pulling down 10+ in three straight. I don’t know if it was that Celtics lineup or what, but Cole Anthony left his assignment at one point in the game and started puking on the sideline underneath the Celtics’ basket. True story. Jamahl Mosley sprinted as fast as he could to check on him. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a sore left knee and had to leave during the game. Did not return. “I had to throw up a little bit. Sometimes you get the toxic out your system and put some positive in there. You know what I’m saying, I had to do that down there. Then, I’m hooping after that.” - Cole Anthony The Magic beat the Celtics 96-76. TWO) A Kids Game I don’t know what we’re supposed to do with games like this anymore besides wait it out. The Wizards started Bub Carrington, AJ Johnson, Kyshawn George, Justin Champagnie, and Alex Sarr. The median age of that group is 21.03 years. Talk about a youth movement. This is the second youngest starting lineup in NBA history. The 2022-23 Rockets were the youngest. Justin Champagnie (14 points, 12 rebounds) is now putting up dub-dubs every night. Tristan Vukcevic scored a career-high 24 points on 70.8% TS. Alex Sarr becomes the third rookie in NBA history to record 100+ blocks, 100+ assists, and 100+ three-pointers made. For the Sixers, it was another Dowtin Abbey kinda night. Jeff Dowtin Jr. (11-15 FG) scored a career-high 30 points on 85.0% TS. He really has made the most of all the opportunities given to him this season. Lonnie Walker IV scored 24 a game after scoring a season-high 29. Quentin Grimes (17 points, 11 rebounds) was three assists shy of his first career triple-double. “We were thinking about starting him tonight 'cause he was coming back home, but we've been in a groove with those other...Good for him. [The] guys gave him the game ball after the game. Pretty cool.” - Nick Nurse on Jeff Dowtin Jr. The 76ers beat the Wizards 122-103. THREE) Taj #1,000 Hornets vs Raptors. Yup, another one of those games. #MakeItStop. Nothing of real substance can be taken from a game like this, so let’s shine the light on one of my all-time favorite players, Taj Gibson. Hornets were without Mark Williams and Moussa Diabate, which opened up some playing time. Allowed Taj to check in and play in his 1,000th NBA game. Becomes the 152nd player to reach that mark. Pretty remarkable achievement for the big man. They even tried throwing him a couple of lobs. Nick Smith Jr. (28 points, 10 assists) recorded his first career double-double. The points and assists are a new career-high. The Raps kicked ass here, led by Jonathan Mogbo, yes Jonathan Mogbo (17 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists). I cannot believe I’m typing this, but he recorded his first career triple-double. At one point, Toronto ran out a lineup of five undrafted players (Lawson, Rhoden, Swider, Robinson, and Battle). I can’t do this anymore. At least they finally ruled Brandon Ingram out for the season. The Raptors beat the Hornets 126-96. FOUR) Luka’s Return Home Doesn’t it feel like the Luka trade just happened? Feel like I circled this game on the calendar just last week. Anyway, it was everything we thought it would be and more. Shirts were given out that said “Thank you for everything” in Slovenian. Coaches and players were catching up pregame, and Dirk and Cuban were there. Then the tribute video… oh that fucking tribute video. Maybe it’s happened before, I can’t recall seeing a player cry like he did during one of those. If you ever had concerns that he wanted to leave Dallas, those concerns have been squashed. Then the game started, and he may have looked rattled for two minutes. Went full Luka rest of game. Luka Doncic in the 1st half vs Dallas: 31 PTS 3 REB 3 AST 11-16 FG 6-8 3PT 3 STL Unbelievable stuff, harnessing all those emotions and doing this under the circumstances. He finished with 45 points on 70.4% TS. The crowd was into it all night. They’d either cheer when Luka touched the ball or chant, “Fire Nice” all night. ESPN would cut to Nico watching from the tunnel, looking dead inside. It was perfect TV. By the way, his technical from the Thunder game was rescinded, as expected. "There will be a lot of emotions for fans to be able to say 'Hi' or say 'Bye. With the trade, unfortunately, they didn't get the opportunity. You're talking about one of the best players in the world." - Jason Kidd on Luka Doncic's return AD also had a revenge game. Didn’t go as well, and not because of the loss. Dallas spent so much time trying to get him the ball, but the Lakers would double him whenever they could to get the ball outta his hands. Still weird seeing Bron guarding him. The camera caught a couple of playful moments. Naji Marshall (23 points, 8 assists) started ahead of Spencer Dinwiddie (5 points, 4 assists), but Dinwiddie still saw 29 minutes. Dante Exum (hand) was available but did not play. “I don't know how I did it because when I was watching that video I was like, 'There's no way I'm playing this game.' But all my teammates had my back. They were really supporting me, so I really appreciate that." - Luka Doncic “I’ve never been in this locker room, shit. It’s so small.” - Luka Doncic on the visitor locker room "I thought he was going to get 50...so disappointed" - JJ Redick The Lakers beat the Mavs 112-97. FIVE) This Dude, Giddey Josh Giddey just won’t stop… until he gets his money, I suppose. He showed up big again in one of the more meaningful games of the night. Josh Giddey vs the Heat: 28 PTS 16 REB 11 AST 11-19 FG 3-6 3PT 3 BLK 2 STL The Heat simply couldn’t stop him. He was doing everything out there. He’s even pulling up from three more. My good friend Ricky O’Donnell tweeted about how he’s shooting 34.0% (17-50) on pullups this year, after shooting 18.4% (7-38) on them last year. Peter Patton is worth every penny and some. It’s now Giddey’s seventh triple-double of the season. He becomes the third player this season to have 1000 pts, 500 reb, 500 ast (LeBron, Jokic). Shout out to my guy, Matas Buzelis (17 points, 3-5 3PT), for hitting the dagger three with 31 seconds left. As every game passes, I’m more convinced he will become a superstar in this league. I know, shocker. One of the other stories from this game came from Tyler Herro (30 points, 13-26 FG). With the Heat down five and about 45 seconds to go, Herro stole the ball from Coby White and had a breakaway layup. But instead of taking the two free points and making it a one-possession game, he pulled up for three instead and missed. The game was over once the Bulls grabbed the board. It led to Matas's dagger three. Wouldn’t have minded it at all if there had been less than 24 seconds left, but he got a little too excited. Andrew Wiggins (hamstring) returned from a six-game absence. He started and scored 14 points in 27 minutes. Pelle Larsson sprained his ankle during pregame lifting and was a late scratch. “Tyler has a fearlessness that you can’t take for granted. It’s my job to also coach him in situational basketball.” - Erik Spoelstra on Tyler Herro’s decision to take a three instead of driving for a layup late The Bulls beat the Heat 119-111. They now hold a one-game lead over the Heat for the #9 seed and are just .5 games back of the Hawks for the #8 seed. SIX) Filipowski! Well, hopefully this win don’t come back and bite them in the ass cause it was a fun one. Donovan Clingan and Kyle Filipowski, two promising rookies, went at it, the latter being the victor. Filipowski took this personally after falling into the second round on draft night, watching Clingan pick seventh overall. Kyle Filipowski vs the Blazers: 30 PTS (career-high) 18 REB (career-high) 5 AST 13-17 FG 2-5 3PT 3 STL 2 BLK He’s the only Jazz rookie to ever put up 30+ points and 15+ rebounds in a game. With the Jazz down two, Will Hardy drew up a play for him to get him a three, but the inbounds pass was short, so he improvised. Faked Matisse Thybulle into thinking he was going right, then spun into the paint for the game-tying dunk. Then in overtime, he went 3-of-3 from the field, including a play where he crossed over Clingan and got himself another dunk. It all felt very personal. He’s so damn good and I’m glad he’s starting to get the recognition he deserves. "When teams are switching a lot, that's when Flip's brain stands out. A lot of really good reads, some of the fake handoffs, keeps — his intelligence really shows when you're playing against switching." - Will Hardy on Kyle Filipowski The Jazz beat the Blazers 133-26. SEVEN) Harry B Revenge This game couldn’t have started out any worse for the Spurs, who fell behind 11-0 to start. They went almost five minutes without scoring, leading me to believe the B2B wagging would affect them early, but then they went on an 8-0 run, and we had ourselves a game. Then Steph had one of those quarters… Steph in the 3rd: 14 PTS 3 REB 1 AST 4 3PM 88% TS +16 All in just nine minutes. The Warriors won the third 37-21 because of him, but the Spurs wouldn’t give up. Keldon Johnson (21 points) and Harrison Barnes (20 points) combined to score 19 points in the 4th, grinding their way back to a tie before Harrison Barnes did the unthinkable. With three seconds left, Harry B made a ridiculous turnaround three at the buzzer to give the Spurs the upset win. Barnes went 6-of-9 from three on the night, but none more significant than that last one. He missed a short-runner in the paint at the buzzer just five nights earlier that could have beaten the Cavs, so pretty rad of them to go back to him. The loss now puts the Warriors in the play-in picture. I know, brutal. “Harrison’s one of my favorite guys. I’ll be happy for him after the season ends but not tonight.” - Steve Kerr The Spurs beat the Warriors 114-111. EIGHT) Sun Blockers Really need this regular season to end so we don’t have to watch another Suns game. I gotta apologize about yesterday. I believe I had buried them from postseason play a bit prematurely. They still had a very slim shot at a play-in berth, but thankfully, the Thunder ended that. Now, I can say with full confidence that they are donezo. Devin Booker (20 points, 14 assists) and Bradley Beal (25 points) played nearly 40 minutes in their last-ditch effort at a win. God, this team really costs $400 million LOL. Coach Bud is probably the first to take the blame. Alex Caruso (19 points, 5 rebounds) got his first start since March 23rd. I don’t know if this was a dress rehearsal for him or what, but dude was everywhere. And yes, I know Caruso plays balls to the wall whenever he’s on the court, but this was more like balls to the wall, floor, and ceiling. Four of his five steals were in the third in just seven minutes. I kept thinking, “If they unleash this version of him in the postseason… Good luck.” "It's been a slow bleed out. I've been feeling this way for the majority of the season." - Devin Booker The Thunder beat the Suns 125-112. It’s their 52nd win by double-digits. NINE) Coach Jokic So I’m sure you have heard by now that the Nuggets cleaned house by firing GM Calvin Booth and Head Coach Michael Malone. We’ll never know exactly why (or maybe we will), but the friction between them was documented. Just a shock they’d get rid of both of them. Even more of a shock at this time of the season. I think now I know why they felt so comfortable doing it this late, though. They’re letting Nikola Jokic be player-coach. I’m only half kidding. Yeah, David Adelmen was named interim head coach, but I promise you, you’ve never seen a player draw up more plays and instruct guys on the bench as Jokic did in this one. I wish I were at the game cause I’d have a better look, but I think I counted three different times where I saw him holding up the drawing board. Hey, guess what? It worked! If Jalen Pickett had scored just two more points, they would have become the fifth team in NBA history where all five starters scored 20+ points. Jokic (20 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) recorded his 33rd triple-double of the season. I was wondering how the coaching change would affect Russell Westbrook’s minutes. The reports are out there on Malone’s preference to play Russ when everyone else wanted him to play the younger guys who were drafted. Russ (5 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) played just 17 minutes. Think that’s gonna stick. "We were trying to give them a little more leeway to let them communicate and talk first. I talked about it before the game. You have to be ok with criticism from your teammates” - David Adelman on Nikola Jokic drawing up plays The Kings got some awful news before the game on Malik Monk. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks due to a left calf strain. Means he’s out for the rest of the regular season and play-in games. Kinda figured after they signed Terence Davis. “The beast is most dangerous when it’s vulnerable.” - Nikola Jokic The Nuggets beat the Kings 124-116. TEN) Zu Triple-Double! With the Rockets having nothing to play for anymore since they clinched the #2 seed, they gave all their guys a day off. Well, kinda. Jalen Green was listed as active because he’s started in 183 consecutive games. He was pulled at the half, which was the most predictable thing ever. Not much to learn from the Rockets here besides the fact that Reed Sheppard (20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-10 3PT) produces when given the opportunity. I wish he were on a tank team to see what the kid could do with 30.0 mpg. Udoka said the Rockets will play young guys and likely rest key players in their remaining games, but haven’t set a plan, so be careful with these guys. Ivica Zubac vs the Rockets 20 PTS 11 REB 10 AST (career-high) 9-13 FG 1 STL Always impresses, doesn’t he? He recorded his first career triple-double on the second night of a back-to-back. He was going to get pulled late, but Lue let him play until he had that final assist. Bogi took care of him. Norm Powell missed the game with shoulder soreness. He’s fine. Kawhi Leonard (22 points, 10 rebounds) played 38 minutes after missing the game against the Spurs. Nicolas Batum had an unbelievable game but had to leave because of groin soreness—15 points in nine minutes. "I usually don't like doing that; it's bad karma. He had a chance earlier this year and I took him out, so I gave him one more play... Huge for Zu, huge for our team." - Ty Lue on keeping Ivica Zubac in for his first triple-double The Clippers beat the Rockets 134-117. It’s their sixth consecutive win.

NBA Takeaways From 4/8/25 ONE) The Edey Machine Well, hello there. It’s been a few days since we last spoke. Sorry about that, but I had an eventful weekend in case you haven’t heard. Most of y’all already know by now, but I did win the DK NBA Best Ball championship… and finished runner-up. LOL. I know, I can’t really understand it either. When I advanced three teams to the finals, I remember explaining to my GF how I thought that achievement was far more impressive than having one lucky bullet take everything down. But having two of my three teams finish 1-2? What can I say that won’t make me sound like an egotistical asshole? This is my peak, my masterpiece... Certainly my greatest screenshot. I keep waiting to wake up from this dream, but it might just be real. It wasn’t just me atop the leaderboard. The final room was full of ETR subs, which is something I’m honestly more proud of cause we put in the work. Calm down, I said “more proud of”, not “more happy about." I know, I know… I need to get on with it. This thing’s already long enough as is, but real quick, I wanted to thank the ETR crew. No way I’d pull this off without them. Conversing with sharp heads non-stop, watching Dink, Mike, and Saum draft numerous live drafts… that’s what it’s all about. I hate self-promoting, but I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t recommend subbing to the package next season. Okay, I’ll stop now. Just needed to get that off my chest. So about Zach Edey… I feel like I’ve been repeating myself lately, and maybe I am, but this Zach Edey (17 points, 19 rebounds, +31) stretch is showing us why they wanted to get rid of Taylor Jenkins. He had nine double-doubles under Jenkins. Already has three under Tuomas Lisalo. Minutes obviously have a lot to do with it. He’s averaging 6.0 more minutes per game under Lisalo. Zach Edey’s last six games since Jenkins was fired: 9.8 PTS 13.7 REB 1.8 BLK 64.5% TS 26.0 MIN Sadly, the other story from this game was the injury to Jaylen Wells. The promising rookie had a very scary fall after KJ Martin undercut him on a dunk. He wasn’t moving for a while, and they had to stretcher him off the court. Players surrounded him in prayer. We later got the report that he’s awake, alert, and moving his extremities. He sustained a broken right wrist and is probably done for the season. Martin had no ill intent on the undercut, but he clearly shouldn’t have been in that position. Looked like he was taking it pretty hard when it happened. "We just gotta stay with him and keep praying for him." - Ja Morant on Jaylen Wells Oh yeah, Ja has a new celebration. He’s throwing imaginary grenades into the stands. Adam Silver is being tested every game now. The Grizzlies beat the Hornets 124-100. TWO) Mass Rest With a crucial game tomorrow against the Miami Heat, the Bulls chose to rest most of their guys against the Cavs. No White, Vucevic, Giddey or Huerter. That’s just on top of the usuals. Lonzo Ball’s not even getting a Q tag anymore. He’s just out now, which ain’t a good sign. If you’re wondering why the Bulls-Heat game tomorrow is so important, the winner will end up in ninth place in the East, with the inside track to host the 9-10 play-in game. I know, HUGE, right? Shoutout to Patrick Williams (21 points, 5-6 3PT) for looking as aggressive ever. His 25.4% USG was the highest in a game this season, playing over 25 minutes. The Cavs were without Donovan Mitchell (ankle) but still had Ty Jerome (18 points, 5 assists), so there was not much of a falloff. It felt like Cleveland was making everything, and well, it’s because they pretty much were, going 25-of-50 from three. Their 25 threes are tied for the second-most makes in team history. Darius Garland (28 points, 5 assists) led the team, making 6-of-10—his fourth game this season with 6+ threes. Evan Mobley (21 points, 12 rebounds) was three assists shy of his first career triple-double. Isaac Okoro (2 points, 5 rebounds) started in Michell’s place and played 20 minutes. Lots of talk on Jarrett Allen (12 points, 9 rebounds) playing all 82 games this season. He was pulled at halftime a couple of games ago just to keep the goal intact. Thought there was a chance we’d see that again with the Bulls resting everyone, but he played both halves. "I'm gonna open up a nice burgundy, go into my little cellar." - Kenny Atkinson’s plans to celebrate clinching the No. 1 seed The Cavs beat the Bulls 135-113. THREE) More Funny Wizness The Wizards did it again. They were up three midway through the 4th quarter and subbed out Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George. Jordan Poole had already subbed out midway through the 3rd, so we already knew he wasn’t coming back. They closed with Bub Carrington, AJ Johnson, Justin Champagnie, Colby Jones, and JT Thor. It really sucks when these teams aren’t even giving their rookies a chance to finish a closely contested game because they’re playing too well. Sarr had one of the best quarters of his career in the 1st, scoring 16 of his 20 points. George, I understand because he’s just coming back from injury, but I was really enjoying Sarr vs Turner. Mainly because Turner has often been mentioned as a player comp. Shoutout to Champagnie by the way. He had 15 points and 13 boards against the Celtics on Sunday. Followed that up with 20 and 13 against the Pacers. Anyway, the Wizards locked up a bottom-three record with this loss. I’d hope that meant no more funny business, but I feel like they’ve committed. Pascal came into this game listed as questionable with elbow bursitis, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell. He scored the Pacers' first eight points and finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. The Pacers were down by 16 at one point, but Hali got going in the fourth, scoring 10 of his 22. “Chapels a big part of my game day routine…that 15-20 minutes I get everyday to step aside and talk about what really matters, which is my Lord and Savior, I think is very important for me.” - Tyrese Haliburton on how pregame chapels have helped him throughout the season The Pacers beat the Wizards 104-98. FOUR) Rebound For Mama A little less than a week ago, Paolo Banchero mentioned how his mother, Rhonda Banchero, has been nagging him about his rebounding. “My mom, that’s something she’s always on me about. She wants me to average 10 rebounds.” - Paolo Banchero That was the night he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against the Wizards. It might be time we start taking this seriously, cause check out his last three games: 24 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST 33 PTS, 18 REB, 8 AST 33 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST He had just eight double-digit rebounding games prior. This was also the 11th straight game of 20+ points for Paolo and Franz Wagner (22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists). That extends the duo’s franchise record. Onyeka Okongwu has played 40+ minutes in regulation in two of his last four games. Had career-highs in points (30) and three-pointers (4). “Paolo is a really good player. He makes plays. He’s going to make plays and you’ve got to make it as tough as you can on him, but it’s not going to be perfect.” - Trae Young on Paulo Banchero FIVE) Reece’s Passes That was the best I got, sorry. Reece Beekman started his second consecutive game at point for the Nets. Had one of the strangest lines you’ll see all year. Reece Beekman vs the Pelicans: 0 PTS (0-3 FG) 4 REB 10 AST (career-high) 3 STL 1 TO He tied Elfrid Payton for the most assists without scoring a point this season. The funny thing is he was playing against Elf in this one. Want to know what he did? He also had 10 assists but scored three points (3 turnovers). Spider-Man meme. "I'm very excited, because it's continuity. That's what we want. We don't want to do something in one season and then start over. Like, this is, you know, a good beginning. These guys are driving [the culture]. They're doing it on their own." - Jordi Fernandez The Nets beat the Pelicans 119-114. SIX) Why, Boston? The Cavs have held the #1 seed in the East for a while now. Neither they nor the Celtics have had anything to play for. Look at the minutes of some of these guys against the Knicks: Jayson Tatum - 48 Kistaps Porzingis - 39 Jrue Holiday - 37 Derrick White - 43 Tatum played the entire 3rd quarter and then started the 4th, then played all of OT… in a meaningless game. I don’t get it at all, but I'm sure he’s not playing on Wednesday. Maybe it was a dress rehearsal, I dunno, but you’ll also notice that I didn’t mention Jaylen Brown. He subbed out near the end of the 3rd and never returned. We’ve brought up his knee injury that he’s battling over and over on here. Maybe Mazzulla is trying to get his guys used to playing without Brown in the playoffs because it might limit him? I don’t have the answers, only questions. Tatum was awesome, scoring 32 points on 62.7% TS. Hit a huge game-tying step-back three with four seconds left to send the game to OT. Kristaps Porzingis scored 34, making 8-of-13 from three. This was a killer KAT game. Put up 34 points and 14 boards in 43 minutes. Was the only Knick starter with a positive +/- (+1). Wasn’t settling at all, taking just three three-pointers (1-3 3PT). It’s gonna take him a few games, but Jalen Brunson (27 points, 10 assists) looked a lot more like himself, getting a little more lift on his shot. Tracy Morgan returned to his court side seat for the first time since the vomit incident. Kept everything inside this time. "It's tough mentally when you're out there and you maybe can't do the things that you normally do ... that's why it's a team sport, you got teammates that got your back covered," - Jayson Tatum on Jaylen Brown playing through injury. The Celtics beat the Knicks 119-117. Boston records their 33rd road win of the season, a franchise record. SEVEN) Epic Collapse/Comeback That escalated quickly. Thought the only thing worth bringing up in this game was Anthony Edwards becoming the new franchise single-season scoring leader (2,081). Also became the third youngest player to score 9,000 career points (LeBron and KD). He scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter, helping the Wolves extend their lead to 24. Then it all collapsed… The Bucks went on a 21-0 run in the 4th and erased a 24-point deficit to come back and win. Kevin Porter Jr. (5 steals) scored 12 of his 21 in the quarter. He’s scored 20+ in three straight games. Giannis (13 rebounds, 10 assists) scored 13 of his 23 in the quarter and recorded his THIRD consecutive triple-double. How about that, huh? In his last 10 games, he’s averaging 30.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. Don’t think this stretch of his is getting talked enough. And of course, Bobby Portis made his long-awaited return from a 25-game suspension. The crowd gave him a crazy loud ovation when he checked in. Bobby Portis in his 1st game back: 18 PTS 10 REB 2 STL +10 29 MIN Fiserv Forum is an entirely different animal when his energy is on the court. He was on the court that entire fourth quarter. "It’s on me. I’ve got to get us better shots." - Chris Finch on the collapse "We good. I mean, it’s a part of the game. Of course, we didn’t want to lose. But we can’t be in bad spirits because we know we need to win next game. So, we can’t really think too much about it. It happened. I don’t think we feel too down about it." - Anthony Edwards on the loss "Since I've been here, I've never seen a crowd pop like that. Bobby checks in and you can just feel the whole aura around. The energy was different." - Kevin Porter Jr. on Bobby Portis The Bucks beat the Wolves 110-103. EIGHT) The Ejection OKC didn’t have to wait long to get their revenge after Sunday’s ass-whipping against the Lakers. I was worried, too, after seeing the initial injury report for Los Angeles. All their guys were listed as questionable, so for a moment there, it looked like they were content with splitting the two games and leaving with a win. Then, earlier today, everyone except Rui was upgraded to probable, which meant a fair fight. Actually, the Thunder haven’t had much to play for lately, and even this one didn’t matter, so I’m not sure if “fair” is the word I’d use. Let’s just say as fair as possible at this stage of the season. The game had a playoff-type atmosphere from the jump, and both offenses were unstoppable. For real, these teams were playing really good defense, and most wouldn’t know it cause the Lakers were up 80-72 at the half. Lakers were shooting 57.7% (15-26) from three, and the Thunder shot 55.0% (11-20). Then, in the 3rd quarter, the Lakers tightened up even more, holding the Thunder to just 17 3rd quarter points. Thought they were gonna start running away with it and then the ejection happened in the 4th. As Luka does often, he was getting into it with a fan talking trash. With about eight minutes left in the 4th, he made a pull-up jumper and said something to that fan on the way back down the court. The problem is, the referee was standing in front of the fan and thought Luka was talking shit to him instead. He gave him a tech, which was Luka’s second of the game, which led to his ejection. Completely changed all the momentum. The Lakers were up 108-107 when this happened. Then the Thunder went on a 29-12 run to close things out. Lame way to ruin such a great game. Anyway, it happened, and that’s it. The Thunder’s 16-point victory breaks the all-time NBA record for most double-digit wins in a season…51!!! “Not yet. Apparently he said something to a fan.” JJ Redick on if he’s received an explanation for Luka’s ejection "I've never gotten a fan ejected. Never. But if he's going to talk, I'm gonna talk back like always. That had nothing to do with the ref, so I really didn't understand." - Luka Doncic on getting ejected Now that this one’s over, we can turn our attention to tomorrow. Luka returns to Dallas for the first time since the trade. “I don't really know what to expect. I don't know how I'm going to feel, honestly. I'm looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates, ex-teammates. It's going to be very emotional for me, for sure." - Luka Doncic on returning to Dallas The Thunder beat the Lakers 136-120. NINE) Suns Eliminated This was inevitable once KD turned his ankle, but the Suns have finally been eliminated from playoff contention. This game against the Warriors was just as ugly as their season. It’s their seventh consecutive double-digit loss, a new franchise record. They’ve lost them by an average of 23.7 points per game. Yikes. They fall to 2-15 without Kevin Durant this season, 33-29 with him. Good riddance, cause it’s been a tough watch. They showed no urgency or fight. It was a quick rollover. There’s no reason Kevin Durant returns now, so we’ve likely already seen his last game as a Sun. “We might as well not showed up.” - Bradley Beal I knew Steph was going to come out determined after Sunday’s stinker. He scored 13 of his 25 points in the first quarter. Some of you don’t know this, but both of my teams that finished 1-2 were at the threat of falling had Steph had just an average game. I didn’t expect him to score the fewest points ever in a game he played at least 33 minutes. Sometimes you gotta be lucky, sometimes hella lucky. I'm trying to find out how much I can get that game-worn jersey to commemorate my win. "There's no answers for it. There are no words for it… Just no winning habits" - Devin Booker after Suns 38-point loss The Warriors beat the Suns 133-95. TEN) Zu-Strong, Zu-Good The Clippers decided to rest Kawhi on the front end of the back-to-back. Ty Lue said part of the decision process revolved around Leonard getting three days off between last game and Wednesday’s. Knew right away that meant a blow-up spot for Zubac. Spurs have allowed the 5th most points to centers over the last month. He had a 20-point double-double before the 4th quarter even started. It’s his 12th straight dub-dub, longest streak by a Clippers since Chris Paul had 14 straight in 2013. He finished with his 4th 20-20 game of the season. One of my highest owned guys in Best Ball and one of the reasons I’m typing here today with a smile from ear-to-ear. Mike and I talked earlier, wondering how high he goes in drafts next season. Dude’s been an iron man all season, playing a new career-high 77 games and 33 minutes a game. That kind of availability might be the biggest advantage in Best Ball. The real question now is, besides Kawhi, who’s playing on Wednesday? Clippers minutes vs the Spurs: James Harden - 38 Norman Powell - 41 Ivica Zubac - 39 Someone’s gotta sit, no? “I think before every season, my goal is to be 82. Last month, before training camp, I added a lot of conditioning stuff to my workouts because I knew I'm gonna be out there more than the year before, and it's paid off. Really taking care of my body, lifting a lot, getting in for treatments, massages. Some nights I feel like I can play the whole game.” - Ivica Zubac on his availability this season The Clippers beat the Spurs 122-117. Los Angeles has now won 15 of their last 18 games. Okay friends. That’s all I got. My body’s still tripping from the weekend. We’ll touch on the Denver situation tomorrow.

Ten Takeaways From 4/4/25 ONE) Ankle’s Fine Looked like Domantas Sabonis was gonna get ruled out once he got the late questionable tag with right ankle soreness. Nah, he played and looked perfectly fine. He was aggressive and doing whatever he wanted out there. Domantas Sabonis vs the Hornets: 24 PTS 11 REB 7 AST 0 TO 9-16 FG Didn’t even play the 4th quarter because the Kings steamrolled. I’ve seen Zach LaVine cook the Hornets many times, so seeing him put up 25 and 10 made me nostalgic. The 10 rebounds are his most as a King. Rookie Devin Carter (shoulder) was able to play after missing the last two games. He fouled out in just 14 minutes. Hey, you can’t take them with you. Malik Monk had a nice bounce back game off the bench with 17 points on 70.8% TS. The Kings beat the Hornets 125-102. TWO) Block Party Weekend We should take anything an opposing team does to the Jazz with a grain of salt. We can still give the Pacers their flowers for having 17 blocks. Again, 17 BLOCKS! First time since 2013 they’ve had that many in a game, and it's the fourth time in franchise history. Myles Turner - 6 blocks Pascal Siakam - 4 blocks Tyrese Haliburton - 3 blocks On top of the three blocks, Tyrese had 17 points, 11 assists, and zero turnovers—the first player this season to have 10+ assists and zero turnovers in back-to-back games. Benny Mathurin (calf) returned from a three-game absence and scored 20 points off the bench. He shot 16 (!!!) free throws—First Pacer to shoot that many in a game since Paul George in 2017. Only played 23 minutes. The Pacers beat the Jazz 140-112 THREE) Under .500 I’m not having much fun ragging on the Phoenix Suns anymore. It depresses me if anything. We knew what would happen once Durant injured that ankle. I’m not saying you’re thinking it, but some Suns fans out there aren’t counting themselves out yet because Bradley Beal (hamstring) just returned after missing their last eight games. Check it… Bradley Beal vs the Celtics: 1 PT 4 REB 5 AST 0-7 FG -23 (team-worst) Didn’t think that contract could look any worse, but he always finds a way to surprise me. His -9.9 net rating is the worst on the team. Collin Gillespie and Nick Richards were finally removed from the starting lineup. Royce O’Neale (12 points, 6 rebounds, 30 minutes) and Oso Ighodaro (12 points, 7 rebounds) started in their place. On the Celts' side, I DID NOT think Jaylen Brown would play based on how he’s sounded lately. He’s just been talking about how much pain he’s dealing with and the struggle to manage it, but then I read this: "Things will get better, I'm sure, but if they don't, I have a good baseline." - Jaylen Brown on his knee He thinks there’s a chance this pain sticks with him the rest of the year, and he’s training his body to get used to it. Mazzulla’s really rubbing off on them. Well, it looks like he’s getting used to it. He scored a team-best 31 points on 77.7% TS (jackpot). Kristaps Porzingis (15 points, 4 rebounds) took a Cody Martin elbow to the face in the 4th quarter. Was bleeding and smiling the entire way to the locker room. Team’s full of psychos. "It's tough. I've said I didn't think I'd be in this situation (again), but it's part of it. It's part of the journey. It's part of the story. We've built it up before. We'll do it again. I trust everybody in here. Finish this thing up the right way, keep playing the right way, and already start thinking how we can prepare to get better this summer and just continue to get it back to where it was." - Devin Booker on the Suns’ first losing season since 2019-20 The Celtics beat the Suns 123- 103. FOUR) Detroit Playoff Bound Not that there was any doubt, but the Pistons did it. They clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2018-19. I’d love to say that last season feels like years ago, but I still remember that team like it was yesterday. We’re only a year removed from that 38-game losing streak, lol. To go from 14 wins to a playoff berth is pretty wild—it's the worst record by a team to make the playoffs the following season in NBA history. Still without Cade, Tobias, and Stewart… still WITH Hardway Jr. The heater continues. Tim Hardaway Jr. over his last four games: 32 PTS, 10-18 FG, 7-11 3PT, 79.2% TS 20 PTS, 5-14 FG, 3-8 3PT, 57.2% TS 23 PTS, 8-14 FG, 5-9 3PT, 77.3% TS 23 PTS, 8-14 FG, 5-9 3PT, 77.3% TS Scottie Barnes missed this one as suspected. We talked about the possibility of him missing this game after last night’s comments from Darko. The hand’s a real problem, and I’m not sure the (very) slim chance of him making All-NBA is worth it. He has to play in three of the final four games. They just shut down Gradey Dick for the remander of the season. Also said that Brandon Ingram’s been able to do more on the court and is trending in the right direction. They’re hoping he’ll be cleared for contract and go through a full practice next week, but a return to play this season is unlikely. “He’s coach of the year, I’m not even trying to be biased. When you just look at how he brings us together. The thing about JB is you see he has our back and we got his back, that’s what make us the team that we are.” - Jalen Duren on JB Bickerstaff The Pistons beat the Raptors 117-105. FIVE) Mega Deni Again, Shocker Like Domantas Sabonis, Deni Avdija (thumb soreness) was a late-day downgrade who played. Also like Sabonis, he crushed. Deni Avdija vs the Bulls: 37 PTS 11 REB 5 AST 12-25 FG 11-14 FT I’m done with the “Deni over the last ___ games” numbers. I write this dude up every time they’re on the slate. You already know he’s been on the run of a lifetime, and that he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer now. This is just who he is, and we need to accept it. Guess it helps that they were still without Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson. Toumani Camara missed this one too, but still. Shoutout to Nikola Vucevic for putting up 31 and 12. Didn’t think he’d have another game like that rest of season, especially against Donovan Clingan (7 points, 18 rebounds). It’s his 200th dub-dub with the Bulls. Coby White also scored 31 points, but I’m used to that ;). Took his overs as soon as Toumani Camara was ruled out. My guy Matas Buzelis recorded his first double-double of his career with 12 points and 12 boards. It’s his new career-high for rebounds. The soon-to-be $30 million man, Josh Giddey (15 points, 19 rebounds, 12 assists) gets his sixth triple-double of the season. Lonzo Ball was questionable coming in, but did not play. It was shocking that he was even listed as questionable because I just read a couple of days ago that he wasn’t cleared to return. I just figured that it’ll take him a few days to get back when he is cleared. “No one has said to me we’re going to have to shut him down.” - Billy Donovan on Lonzo Ball The Bulls beat the Blazers 118-113. SIX) A Double-Big Start Like Wednesday, this slate had a lot of expected blowouts. Rockets/Thunder was one of the only games to really look forward to as a basketball fan. Not gonna look forward to many Thunder games as we wind down since they have things pretty much locked up, but this one had a playoff vibe. Dillon Brooks was serving his one-game suspension for his 16 technicals. Like many of you, we assumed Tari Eason would get the start. NOPE. They went double-big, starting Steven Adams (8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 stocks) alongside Alperen Sengun (31 points, 11-21 FG). Made sense, too, with Holmgren and Hartenstein on the other side. Now, we’ve talked about how impactful they’ve been, but the samples have been small. The samples are getting bigger and they’re just as impactful. In 146 minutes together, they have a 31.6 net rating! The spacing hasn’t been much of an issue because their physicality gives them such an advantage. In their 16 minutes together against the Thunder on Friday, they had an 18.4 net rating. We all know it’s nearly impossible to beat OKC on the perimeter, so the idea of trying to bully them down low is brilliant. Sengun and Nikola Jokic are the only centers with 30+ points on OKC. Would love to see the adjustments made if these two teams met in the playoffs. By the way, I said “nearly impossible”. Jalen Green went off for 34 points on 59.9% TS in his one and had one of the most incredible reverse lob you’ll ever see. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points on 69.8% TS. He’s passed Michael Jordan for the most consecutive 20-point games in a season in the modern era. Chet Holmgren (20 points, 91.9% TS) made a career-high six three-pointers. “Yeah, very efficient, obviously he was in attack mode all game, him and Jalen great combination tonight 34 and 31”. - Ime Udoka The Rockets beat the Thunder 125-111. SEVEN) One Is the Magic Number It’s highly unlikely, but the Cleveland Cavaliers have a slim chance of getting the number one overall seed in the NBA after that Thunder loss to the Rockets. Oklahoma City is still two games ahead of Cleveland, but the Cavs possess the tiebreaker over the Thunder thanks to having a better record within their conference. OKC would have to lose at least two of their last five games to give the Cavs a chance. Again, unlikely but you never know! Their real focus is on the Eastern Conference, and for them, the magic number to clinch the one seed is now ONE thanks to their win against the Spurs. With the East all but locked up, you have to be careful with the Cavs. Jarrett Allen left this game at halftime because of “rest.” He’s played in every game this season, and they’re trying to keep it that way without pushing him. Evan Mobley was the story here with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He started off the game making three straight three-pointers. Played aggressively for most of his 37 minutes, knowing the Spurs had no one on the team who could contain him. De’Andre Hunter scored 28 points on 56.3% TS (4-8 3PT) in 29 minutes. He’s shooting 43.7% from three since being traded to the Cavs. Spurs were down 23 in this game and only lost by one. Devin Vassell scored 24 points, making 6-of-11 from three. Stephon Castle (22 points, 11 assists) was one rebound shy of his first career triple-double. Jeremy Sochan missed another game with back inflammation. Spurs are gonna be “very, very conservative” with his return. "I thought I had it this game." - Stephon Castle on being one rebound short again of his first career triple-double The Cavs beat the Spurs 114-113. EIGHT) B2B Podz Games After last night’s game against the Lakers, Steve Kerr said that they planned to play their veterans on Friday against the Nuggets, and he wasn’t lying. Nobody missed this one, not even Gary Payton II (2 minutes). Steph Curry put on another show with 36 points, going 7-of-15 from three (71.1% TS). He’s really come on since the landing on his ass and missing two games. Steph Curry’s last three games: 52 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST, 75.3% TS 37 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST, 68.1% TS 36 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST, 71.1% TS Like last night, Podz is the real story. Look at what he’s done in B2B games: Vs the Lakers: 28 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST Vs the Nuggets: 26 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST I know I’m sounding like Capt. Obvious here, but if they’re getting this version of Podz in the playoffs, good luck. Denver was without Jamal Murray (hamstring) for the fourth straight game. Peyton Watson (4 points, 3 rebounds) started in his place and played 33 minutes. It looked like Nikola Jokic was into the idea of getting into a shootout with Steph in the third. He went 4-of-6 from three in the quarter and finished an assist shy of a triple-double (33 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists). Denver had a season-high 25 (!!!) turnovers. “I’m exhausted. I just want to relax. Go home. Go to sleep.” - Draymond Green The Warriors beat the Nuggets 118-104. God their were a shit ton of Warriors fans in Denver. NINE) 92 Like the Warriors, the Lakers played their guys on the second leg of the B2B despite being 15.0 point favorites. Well, everyone except Rui. I don’t really get it, but I’m also biased cause I’m fading most of them in the Best Ball Finals. Still tilting, sorry. The game went exactly as you’d think, but just wanted to highlight the Big 3 of the Lakers. Luka Doncic - 35 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 35.9% USG LeBron James - 27 PTS, 0 REB, 8 AST, 30.6% USG Austin Reaves - 30 PTS, 3 REB, 7 AST, 22.8% USG They combined to score 92 points! I mean, that’s good enough to beat the Magic on most nights. Austin Reaves has scored 30+ in four of his last five games. Luka’s struggles from last night carried over to the first quarter, with him going 0-of-7 from the field. Started getting worried about that elbow again, but then he made 10 of his next 14 shots. Over his last ten games, he’s shooting 42.1% from the field. Dalton Knecht (12 points, 5-10 FG) played 20 minutes despite being a DNP-CD against the Warriors. Jose Alvarado scored 18 of his season-high 27 points in the first quarter. Keion Brooks Jr. (9 points) started ahead of Antonio Reeves and played 25 minutes. That one hurt since we took a Reeves over. "I think he's just playing with a very, very high level of confidence right now. I think the freedom that he's played with for most of the season...has just allowed him with room to grow. He's developed patience." - JJ Redick on Austin Reaves The Lakers beat the Pelicans 124-108. TEN) Kawhi B2B? I forgot when, but I think I remember Ty Lue saying that he’d like to play Kawhi Leonard (20 points, 6 rebounds) in both games of a back-to-back at least once before the end of the season. Maybe I’m wrong, but I remember thinking, “What’s the point?” It’s not like you gotta play B2Bs in the playoffs. Either way, they’ll get their chance on Saturday if that’s the goal. Because of the blowout win against the Mavs, he played just 24 minutes. He told beat writers that he wasn’t gonna do media after the game, but said, “We’ll do it tomorrow.” To me, that sure sounds like he’s gonna try to play. Lue said that he’ll be “re-evaluated” tomorrow so he could play on zero days' rest. “We’ll see.” - Kawhi Leonard on if he’s playing Saturday The Mavs were again without Anthony Davis (adductor) and Dereck Lively II (ankle soreness). Felt like old times. These two teams play again on Saturday. Jason Kidd said, “It’s a possibility, yes,” when asked if AD could play. Klay Thompson had to leave the game midway through with an illness. They’ve gotta have the record for most games missed due to illnesses, right? Jaden Hardy had to be carried off the court after suffering an apparent leg injury. The Clippers beat the Mavs 114-91. Fewest points scored by Dallas this season. Alright, final two days of the Best Ball finals. I’m really trying not to get too excited, but it’s hard. It’s not in my control, it’s not in my control, it’s not in my control, it’s not in… I’ll let y’all know what happens on Monday!