Houston Rockets (52-30, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference)
Los Angeles; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EDT
LINE: Lakers -2.5; over/under is 208.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers look to clinch the Western Conference first round over the Houston Rockets in game five. The Rockets defeated the Lakers 115-96 in the last meeting on Monday. Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 23 points, and Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19.
The Lakers are 33-19 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles averages 116.3 points while outscoring opponents by 1.7 points per game.
The Rockets are 29-23 in Western Conference play. Houston ranks second in the Western Conference scoring 53.0 points per game in the paint led by Alperen Sengun averaging 17.5.
The Lakers' 11.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.6 fewer made shots on average than the 12.4 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets are shooting 47.9% from the field, 0.4% lower than the 48.3% the Lakers' opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: LeBron James is shooting 51.5% and averaging 20.9 points for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Kevin Durant is averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 107.8 points, 39.6 rebounds, 28.4 assists, 10.0 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 51.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points per game.
Rockets: 6-4, averaging 116.8 points, 46.5 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points.
INJURIES: Lakers: Austin Reaves: day to day (oblique), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring).
Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle), Kevin Durant: day to day (ankle).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic are one win away from knocking off a No. 1 seed and winning their first playoff series in 16 years.
They’re not celebrating yet.
Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 in three quarters and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead, putting the East’s No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit.
“We put our ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”
Orlando, which had to win an elimination game at home in the play-in tournament, is on the verge of becoming just the seventh No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 in a series in league history. It’s happened only four times since the playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.
THUNDER 131, SUNS 122
PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24 and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix Suns, capping a four-game sweep in the first-round series.
The Thunder — who have a 12-0 record in the first round over the last three seasons — will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets won Game 4.
Phoenix has a 10-game losing streak in the playoffs, dating to 2023.
The Thunder closed the series with an overwhelming offensive performance — making 17 of 34 (50%) 3-pointers — and their big men played particularly well. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren shot 9 of 16 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while the 7-foot Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
NUGGETS 125, TIMBERWOLVES 113
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic snapped out of his prolonged funk with a triple-double, Spencer Jones provided a key spark and Denver staved off elimination with a chippy win over injury-riddled Minnesota in Game 5 of their playoff series.
Jokic had 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver, which trimmed its deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Jamal Murray scored 24 points and Jones added 20.
Jokic posted his 23rd playoff triple-double, third on the career list, as the Nuggets stopped a three-game skid and played the way they did most of the regular season in securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
The Minnesota Timberwolves raced out to a 3-1 lead, but it might have cost them everything.
Yes, Game 5 on Monday, April 27, when the Denver Nuggets outpaced Minnesota, 125-113, in the first round of the NBA playoffs, was just one game. But it also served as an indicator of just how much Minnesota is missing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo.
Denver outscored Minnesota by a margin of 37-24 in a third quarter avalanche, as the Nuggets are trying to become just the 14th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1.
All of this prompts one question: can the Timberwolves make a run without Edwards and DiVincenzo? Can they even get out of this round?
The Nuggets are now playing with significantly more confidence and momentum than they did earlier in the series. Denver’s bench had scored just 16 points in the crushing Game 4 loss; on Monday night, the reserves scored 27. Cameron Johnson and Spencer Jones, the pair of key Denver forwards, combined to drop 38 points in Game 5 just two nights after they scored just 9.
The Nuggets harassed Minnesota’s ball-handlers, forcing them into 25 turnovers Monday night, which was three more than Minnesota’s combined total in Games 3 and 4.
But, more than anything, the Timberwolves played tight and pressed, seemingly hyper-aware of the players they were missing.
“I thought we started the game wanting to make all of the home run plays, instead of wanting to make the plays that help us get into the ball game and make the rhythm plays,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
This is where Edwards’ absence hurts the Timberwolves. He’s a stabilizing presence and one of the dynamic scoring threats in the NBA. He averaged 28.8 points per game during the regular season, which ranked third in the league. He can handle the ball, his shooting range helps space the floor and he’s the preferred option in the clutch.
And while backup guard Ayo Dosunmu emerged as a breakout player in Game 4 with his historic 43-point masterpiece, it’s clear the Timberwolves won’t be able to count on that kind of production every night from here on out.
Dosunmu scored 18 points in a solid performance, and the Timberwolves did shrink a 27-point deficit to 10 midway through the fourth, but that run came when Denver eased its pressure and intensity.
So, what’s the path forward for Minnesota?
For one, the Timberwolves should hope that Edwards heals quickly. Because even if they get past the Nuggets, their likely opponent in the second round would be the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs, who are a legitimate threat to win the West. But, practically speaking, the Timberwolves will essentially need to play pristine defense like it did during its three-game winning streak in the series, especially in the paint.
In Games 2, 3 and 4, the Timberwolves limited Denver to an average of just 38.7 points in the paint per game. In Game 5, that figure ballooned to 62.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was masterful against Nikola Jokić. Forward Jaden McDaniels irritated Jamal Murray and Denver’s other ball-handlers. More of that will be required.
Because without Edwards, the short-handed Timberwolves are not only suddenly vulnerable, they might be marching toward a historic exit.
“I think we were all just trying to press and make plays a little bit too much,” Timberwolves forward Julius Randle said after the game. “The formula was still the same, so we don’t have to change that. We’ll be better next game.”
After Jack Leiter breezed his way through the first two innings, Rice was able to break through, crushing a first pitch fastball the other way to deep left-center.
The blast left the bat at a whopping 106.9 mph and traveled 404 feet to the deepest part of the park.
“Man, that ball was pummeled,” Boone said.
“I didn’t think it was going to go out so I was running hard, but it was cool to see one go out that way,” Rice added.
The 27-year-old lefty continued his spectacular start to the season, pushing him into a tie with Judge for second in the league and the team-lead for homer, though it was short-lived.
Judge regained the advantage over his slugging teammate just five pitches later, as he laced a 3-2 curveball 113 mph over the right-field fence for his 11th homer and the Yanks first back-to-back jacks of the season.
It was Judge’s eighth blasts over his last 15 games.
“I couldn’t let him catch me,” the captain joked. “I had to make sure I got one after that.”
“Just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” a smiling Rice added.
Friendly competition aside, the two entered some prestigious company, joining Yogi Berra and Mikey Mantle as the only pair of teammates in franchise history with 10+ homers in the first 29 games of the season.
They are also just the third duo in MLB history to reach that mark during the month of April.
We already know what Judge is capable of, but having the scorching-hot Rice hitting around him only makes this Yankees lineup even scarier moving forward.
“Hitting right behind him now, it makes my job easier,” Judge admitted.
“I enjoy hitting in the order with him,” Rice added. “Whether I’m in front of him or behind him, I think there’s different scenarios where either way works, but anytime I could be near him in the lineup is a good one.”
PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 131-122 on Monday night, capping a four-game sweep in the first-round series.
The Thunder — who have a 12-0 record in the first round over the last three seasons — will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets won Game 4.
Phoenix has a 10-game losing streak in the playoffs, dating to 2023.
The Thunder closed the series with an overwhelming offensive performance — making 17 of 34 (50%) 3-pointers — and their big men played particularly well. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren shot 9 of 16 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while the 7-foot Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
Ajay Mitchell added 22 points and made four 3-pointers. Alex Caruso finished with 14 points and hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander was reliable as usual. Two days after scoring 42 points in Game 3, he had another efficient performance, shooting 10 of 17 from the field.
The Suns showed some fight in the second half, cutting a 15-point deficit to 106-98 entering the fourth. Devin Booker scored 12 points in the third quarter on 5-of-8 shooting.
But every time the Suns got within a few possessions, the Thunder responded. Cason Wallace hit a corner 3 with 5:54 left to extend the Oklahoma City lead to 120-106. Gilgeous-Alexander followed with a spectacular layup, somehow getting the shot to fall over three defenders.
Booker led the Suns with 24 points while Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green added 23. Collin Gillespie added 20 points while making six 3-pointers.
The Thunder pushed to a 75-67 lead by halftime after shooting 61.4% from the floor and 60% from 3-point range, hitting 12 of 20 behind the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 before the break, making a wide-open 3-pointer just before halftime.
That offset a hot shooting start for the Suns, who made 11 of 20 3-pointers. Gillespie scored 17 before the break, making all six of his shots, including five 3s.
The Thunder were without starter Jalen Williams, who missed his second straight game because of a left hamstring strain. Suns center Mark Williams (foot) and guard Jordan Goodwin (calf) were also out.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 09: Head coach Jordi Fernandez of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center on April 09, 2026 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jordan Bank/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s that time of year again for us: time to update things just as we’ve done for 19 straight seasons. We aren’t going to count them up, but this is around our 4ooth report through thick (mostly) and thin. Like many previous ones, it will be numbers-heavy. Deal with it.
This year, off-course, is different. It is, as Jordi Fernandez said during the season, “this is the summer of our lives.” Ever since the Nets decided to go into a full rebuild sometime back in the early months of 2024, everything pointed to this summer — and to be more specific the 2026 Draft Lottery and the 2026 NBA Draft. They will take place May 10 in Chicago and June 23-24 in Brooklyn.
So how things going?
At the moment, you’d have to say reasonably well. The franchise seems prepared although as we know, luck plays a huge role. The moment could pass, could change, etc. but so far, so good.
The first piece of the off-season is the Lottery, the NBA’s annual house of cards. The Nets’ plan was always to secure a top three seed primarily by depriving Jordi Fernandez of talent, including fielding the youngest NBA roster in 20 years including a unique draft class. That mission was accomplished the last week of the season after some brutal, brutal losses.
Then comes the Draft itself. Largely because of the tank and what the Nets did on June 25, 2024 with the Mikal Bridges trade and the exchange of picks with the Houston Rockets, Sean Marks & co. have more draft capital than anyone else. To reiterate: that’s 13 firsts — nine of them tradeable; 19 seconds — all of them tradeable; plus two first round pick swaps. In each case, it’s the biggest number in the NBA. It’s not quite unprecedented. If memory serves us, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sam Presti once had 36. (He still has 27.)
At the moment again, Brooklyn holds three picks in the 2026 Draft, the third best odds at getting one of the top four picks including the overall No. 1 as well as the No. 33 (their own) and the No. 43 (the Los Angeles Clippers’ second) in the second round. In its Draft Power Rankings, Tankathon puts the Nets combination at No. 3 behind the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. Moving up or down on May 10 will change that. So will any trades. As we’ve noted many times, Marks has made trades both big and small within 48 hours of the draft nine times in his 10-year tenure.
There are other positive numbers of course beyond the draft: they have third biggest cache of cap space, somewhere between $30 and $50 million depending on what they do with various team options and contract renewals … and how high they finish in the Lottery. (The difference between the overall No. 1 and worst-case-scenario seventh pick is nearly $7 million in 2026-27 and $30+ million over the course of the four-year rookie deal.)
They also have an ownership with a record of paying the luxury tax when needed. Bobby Marks estimated that Joe Tsai has paid out $323 million in luxury taxes between when he bought into the Nets in 2017-18 as a minority owner and the last time the Nets paid any tax in 2022-23.
One underappreciated aspect of the rebuild is that by keeping their payroll low the past three seasons, the Nets will avoid the dreaded repeater tax over at least next four years. That tax goes into effect when a team goes over the tax threshold three out of four years and includes multipliers that restrict teams in various ways. It helps when you have seven players on rookie deals as Brooklyn likely will next year with Noah Clowney, the Flatbush 5 and their lottery pick making somewhere between $36 million and $42.8 million, again depending on how the little plastic balls fall. If you want to have “sustainable success,” one of the team’s mantras, avoiding the luxury tax and aprons will be key.
The Nets do not operate in a vacuum of course. What the other front offices do matters a lot and a little more than midway through the first round of the playoffs, there are other encouraging signs for Nets fans, particular regarding the fate of three teams the Nets have done business with.
—The Knicks fate is one the most closely tied to the Nets. With three first rounders and a first round swap still owed, it’s given. The firsts are in 2027, 2029 and 2031, the swap, also unprotected, is in 2028. If the Knicks falter, it could be a windfall for the Nets. As the moment, the Knicks and the Hawks are tied 2-2 in the best of seven series and worse for Knicks fans, the guy who they received in that monumental trade is having a terrible series.
The question is what if the New Yorkers fail to meet James Dolan’s high standards — him standing, champagne-drenched and teary-eyed with the Larry O’Brien Trophy clutched in his hands. What will be the next step at the Garden? The Knicks have the fourth oldest roster in the NBA and as a result of the Mikal Bridge and Karl-Anthony Towns trades bereft of first round picks. While the Nets have 13 firsts over the next seven years, the Knicks have four. They also have big contract extensions coming due. Bridges’ four-year, $150 million deal kicks in next season and they’re only $370,000 shy of the second apron. The Nets are $56.5 million under. Other decisions are closing in as well, like Mitchell Robinson’s unrestricted free agency this summer. Be interesting to watch.
—The Rockets too could be at an intersection. The Nets may have to swap firsts in 2027 with the Rockets as a result of the pick exchange that permitted Brooklyn to reclaim their firsts in 2025 and 2026. But they’re down 3-1 to the Lakers even with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves on the bench. Moreover, Kevin Durant is hurting and there’s word their locker room isn’t a model of probity. It’s long been assumed that the swap will greatly favor Houston who could wind up with a top Nets pick, aka Jayson Tatum in 2017. But suppose the Rockets decide to part ways with KD and try a modified rebuild, hurting their draft stock in 2027. Better to swap a No. 15 pick for a No. 10 than having to swap a No. 10 for a No. 3, even in a mediocre draft. Another interesting watch.
—Then, there’s the Nuggets who were down 3-1 to the Timberwolves Monday night and not looking like the contender everyone thought they would be. They have big decisions as well, but the urgency is less and they do have Nikola Jokic who is a three-time MVP and an O’Brien trophy winner of recent vintage. But should they team head to Cancun early, ownership and the front office will have to sit down and wonder what went wrong and what’s next.
No, they won’t trade Jokic, but they need to figure out how to get younger and that includes keeping restricted free agent Payton Watson whose breakout year had made him one of the top targets this. He’s also close to MPJ. For Denver to keep him and still find of modicum of flexibility, they may have to find a way to dump Johnson, who is an expiring now at age 30. It won’t be easy. He’s owed $23 million and hasn’t played in 60 games in any of the past four seasons. If another team wanted him, they might ask for a first in return, but at the moment, Denver doesn’t have. They traded their last first along with Porter to the Nets.
Finally, there was word today that Adam Silver likes an anti-tanking plan that would essentially flatten the odds making it possible for even playoff teams to have a chance at winning the overall No. 1 in the future. Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote about the new proposal and its implications.
[A]ccording to league and team sources, a heavy front-runner has emerged among the three proposed solutions to curb the widespread tanking problem that put such a stain on this season: Option No. 1, in which 18 teams would be part of the draft lottery (rather than the current 14) and the bottom 10 teams would all have an 8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick. The remaining odds — 20 percent in all — would be divided among the remaining eight teams. In the current system, the bottom three teams all have a 14 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and the odds decline from there.
Nothing is final, but the league will be talking to GMs on Tuesday about the plan. Silver has said reforming the lottery is a top priority. With so many traded first rounders and swaps, the Nets should get a small advantage if, as Amick reported, the odds are flattened. For example, if in 2027, the Knicks made it to the playoffs but with the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th worst record, under the old rules the Nets would not be in the lottery, but under the revised rules laid out by Amick, they would have a shot, albeit a small one, at moving up. The more picks, the more chances, the more opportunities to move up.
Amick noted that while this option has legs, it could be modified before the NBA Board of Governors votes on tanking reform next month. At least 23 of the 30 governors — aka the owners — must approve the final package. Silver has said that he expects reforms to be implemented by next season, telling GMs earlier this year, “You should assume for next season your only incentive will be to win games,”
Steve Hetzel getting offers?
The Athletic also reported Monday that Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, Jordi Fernandez’s No. 2 and long time friend, has been interviewed by the New Orleans Hornets for their open head coaching position.
Brooklyn Nets assistant Steve Hetzel has conducted an interview with the Pelicans for their vacant head coaching position, league sources tell @TheAthletic
Wait? Didn’t Hetzel just get extended by the Nets along with Fernandez and his eight fellow assistants coach?!? Indeed he did but the extension doesn’t prohibit him or other assistants to be interviewed for better jobs elsewhere. It is standard operating procedure for teams to permit their assistants to talk to other teams about head coaching openings elsewhere. Indeed, in 2024, the Nets interviewed Fernandez, then a Kings assistant, for the top job in Brooklyn with Sacramento’s permission.
How legitimate of a candidate is Hetzel? Apparently, he is a serious one. Interestingly, so is another candidate with a Nets background. Sean Sweeney was an assistant under Jason Kidd in Brooklyn, then followed him to Dallas before joining up with the San Antonio Spurs.
Expect the Pelicans as well as other teams with openings to make a decision in advance on the June 23-24 NBA Draft.
Draft Sleeper of the Week: A.J. Dybantsa
How long have we been doing this? Well, our first Draft Sleeper was DeAndre Jordan of Texas A&M back in 2008. The New Jersey Nets did not select him but as we all know and some of us ultimately lament he wound up with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 as part of the Clean Sweep. Yes, he’s still playing, last season for the Pelicans.
Now, though, the stakes are a lot higher as noted above. Rather than being pessimistic about the Lottery, let’s go for broke and project the Nets winning the Draft Lottery! Huzzah!
So if the aerodynamics of ping pong balls work to our advantage, who would the Nets take with the overall No. 1 in a draft described as both deep and generational??
Beat us! And not just us. There was one piece of intel that the Nets like Kingston Flemings, the 6’5” Houston point guard, burt that’s it. We believe the Nets have started workouts and interviews of prospects. Based on their current picks at Nos. 3, 33 and 43 and what’s known about their history, you’d expect that 60 or more candidates will be brought in and not just for the Draft but for slots on the Summer League, training camp and the Long Island Nets invites. It all goes into the scouting database.
A.J. Dybantsa, the 19-year-old, 6’9” BYU wing, has been seen as one of three franchise changers in the 2026 Draft for more than a year. His skills and NBA fit were being acknowledged in high school! Early this season, the Boston area native, was seen as the second or third of the franchise-changers but a combination of his game and questions about Kansas guard Darryn Peterson’s personality and injuries pushed Dybantsa into the consensus No. 1 spot among draftniks, bypassing Cam Boozer of Duke.
What makes him the top pick? If you go just by the numbers, you can see he had a sensational year for Brigham Young, averaging 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 35 (out of 4o) minutes. He shot 51/33/77 despite being double-teamed a lot of the time.
But he also has the personality indeed a wow factor that as George Steinbrenner once famously said can put “fannies in the seats.“
Some highlights of his season:
They don’t compare him to a Tracey McGrady for nothing.
“I guess you’d rather fail with [AJ] and his upside, than not,” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN this month. “And I know Peterson has upside, maybe Boozer’s upside is a little bit less. … I just think that [AJ], because he’s 6’9” and he could be like 6’10”, 230 [pounds] by the time he’s 25 years old, he could just be a monster. I think you’ve just got to go down swinging with him if you go down.”
Dybantsa also won kudos this week for his good-bye message to the Cougars.
“When I committed to BYU, I knew I was signing up for something bigger than basketball,” he wrote. “A lot of people questioned the decision. For me, the choice was simple. I wanted to go to the place that would best develop me as a basketball player and as a person. BYU was the program that gave me the clearest path to both.”
The sincerity exhibited in the letter belied one concern raised about Dybantsa: his maturity. Could he lead your franchise?
“Dybantsa not the guy you want to set your culture. They’d be better off with lesser talent,” said one league decision-maker (not with the Nets) who did not elaborate
Of course, he is only 19.
Final Note
Congratulations to Mr. Whammy, aka Bruce Reznick. He will join Joe Tsai, Sean Marks and other Nets front office staff at the NBA Draft Lottery. Tsai announced the invitation to Whammy on Monday night in a tweet.
And thanks to Joe Tsai not only for inviting the 90-year-old superfan and Hall of Fame member to the Lottery but for recognizing what Whammy and his late wife, Judy, have done for the Nets going back to New Jersey days. Good all around.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 17: Bo Bichette #19 and manager Carlos Mendoza #64 of the New York Mets lookon prior to the game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 17, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hey, 13-15… that’s… not so bad, right? The past decade or so of Giants Baseball has — except for that one time — basically conditioned us to expect and embrace mediocrity and here we are, paired again with a familiar friend. That’s actually preferrable to the vibes — nay, the objective reality — that followed the first week of the season, when it looked like everyone in the organization was in over his head. The Giants are basically playing a lot closer to expectations now and, well, even if you don’t agree with what those were heading into the season, perhaps you’d admit that it’s a far better place to be than where some other teams are right now.
In the offseason, the New York Mets drastically retooled their roster and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 12-game losing streak. The Phillies basically stood pat and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 10-game losing streak. The Royals tried to build off their nice 2025 with some tinkering at the margins and the results have been disastrous: 11-17 with an 8-game losing streak. The AL pennant winner Blue Jays are 12-15 and the Boston Red Sox, primed to be a top team this season, are just 11-17 and on Sunday they liquidated their entire coaching staff. Finally, the Houston Astros have far too many pitching injuries to list to go with an 11-18 record.
On the other side of surprise ledger, there are the Reds at 18-10 and the Pirates 16-12 while the Padres are not just holding strong in second place but pushing the Dodgers for the top of the NL West with their 18-9 record.
That’s 9 teams that are not where people expected them to be before the season. The Giants, though, are pretty much rolling along according to plan. For the purposes of the postseason race, would you take the Giants against this field going forward?
There are plenty of compelling reasons to answer YES:
Willy Adames, the notorious slow starter, is off to merely a slow-ish start.
Rafael Devers will almost certainly hit better than this going forward, even if that might be closer to the 10-20% better than league average range.
Logan Webb will almost certainly get rolling and solidify that top of the Giants rotation.
If I list out the bullpen, it suddenly doesn’t sound all that bad: Erik Miller, Keaton Winn, Caleb Kilian, Ryan Walker, Blade Tidwell, Matt Gage. If you want to list R**n B*r*ck* here along with that group, go right ahead, but I will not participate in such perversion.
Luis Arraez is hitting and fielding like an All-Star second baseman.
Casey Schmitt is either real, real hot, or excellent trade bait.
Jung Hoo Lee and Landen Roupp look like the sort of load-bearing players every good team needs. Think the 2026 versions of 2010’s Andres Torres and Jonathan Sanchez.
The Giants’ pitching staff is much closer to being a top 15 pitching staff than a bottom third, according to the advanced metrics. They’ve got 65 more home games to really goose those numbers and create better luck for stronger W-L results.
Speaking of W-L records, I had tormented you all with a couple of posts about the history of Giants teams that have started 3-7 or 8-12, and I’m here to deliver slightly better news in that regard: 13-15 teams have usually wound up okay. The 2024 squad was 80-82, sure, but the 2011 team went 86-76 and before that the 1988 team was 83-89. The worst results were in 1979 (71-91) and 1956 (67-87).
But if you remain skeptical of the Giants this season — or, really, just believe that a lot of these surprisingly bad teams will be able to turn things around just as the Giants did already in April — there are perfectly valid data points to support the position.
The top 10 most difficult remaining schedules belong to National League teams, so, it’s going to be a tough summer no matter how you slice it. Even the Rockies might prove a challenge going forward.
The Giants are essentially one injury away from having a bad bullpen, a bad rotation, or a bad lineup, which puts a lot of pressure on the aforementioned prospect depth to perform at or better than the level of player they’re replacing. Sure, maybe Carson Seymour could be better than Adrian Houser, but how much better? He seems better suited as a reliever. Bryce Eldridge would almost certainly be an upgrade over Rafael Devers today, but over the rest of the season? Not sure about that. Will Bednar or Wilkin Ramos or Sam Hentges or Gregory Santos might be solid Blade Tidwell fill-ins if he gets bumped to the rotation at some point, but it’s iffy.
Besides, it’s highly unlikely that the field remains in their present state. Obviously, the focus here is on the Giants and who they’re competing with for a postseason spot, but just taking the notion on its face, is it likely that all of the Royals, Blue Jays, Astros or Red Sox will remain big stinking losers over the next five months? Doubtful. At least a couple of those teams will turn things around (Boston is already 2-0 with their new coaching staff). It seems unlikely that the Mets and Phillies turn around their seasons, but you know, stranger things have happened. Although, seriously, 9-19s in the first 28 games has happened 118 times in MLB history and only 7 times has one of those teams had a winning season:
1925 Detroit Tigers: 81-73-2
2001 Chicago White Sox: 83-79
1996 Boston Red Sox: 85-77
2024 Houston Astros: 88-73 (Division Champ)
1974 Pittsburgh Pirates: 88-74 (Division Champ)
1965 Pittsburgh Pirates: 90-72
1914 Boston Braves: 94-59-5 (Won World Series)
Then there are the teams right there in the middle with the Giants: will the Marlins be spoilers all year long? How about the Rockies? Is the NL Central for real? All five teams have winning records. That includes the perennial losers the Pittsburgh Pirates along with the rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s not that the field is wide open so much that there’s a lot more uncertainty in the system than we might’ve expected even at this point in the season. Last year on this exact date, the Mets were 19-9 and the Giants were leading the NL West at 19-10. Only 2 of the 5 NL Central teams had winning records. And, by the way, the Brewers, who racked up the most wins last season, were just 14-15 (they’re 14-13 today)
So, it’s still early, but the Giants have shown a bit more gumption and perseverance than some other teams with even greater expectations. The Giants have played their way back into a decent spot for competing over the next five months. They still don’t have the most talented bunch when compared to a lot of teams out there, though, so, given that, if you had to make a final decision today, would you rather be in a position of one of the other teams (who aren’t the Dodgers, Yankees, or Cubs) or roll the dice and see if the Giants really have righted the ship?
At the trade deadline last February, the Detroit Pistons mostly stayed quiet. Trajan Langdon and the front office made a conscious decision not to make a big move; they wanted to see what this group — which finished with the No. 1 seed in the East — could do in the cauldron of the playoffs. They chose not to add any secondary shot creation, no speed, and just a little shooting from Kevin Huerter (sending out Jaden Ivey).
That lack of secondary playmaking and shooting has Detroit on the verge of being knocked out of the playoffs by the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic.
In a physical, defensive Game 4 on Monday, the Pistons shot just 6-of-30 (20%) from 3-point range and 37.8% overall. And in the face of intense defensive pressure, the Pistons turned the ball over 20 times — eight times by Cade Cunningham, who also shot 7-of-23 on the night. Detroit is just flat-out struggling to score against a quality Orlando defense, they lack shot creators and shooters.
Meanwhile, the Magic were stepping up and making just enough plays.
The result Monday night was a 94-88 Magic win in front of a raucous home crowd, which gives them a commanding 3-1 series lead as everything shifts back to Detroit on Wednesday.
This has been a defensive series and the Magic were not exactly lighting it up — 32.9% shooting as a team. Yet their stars seemed to grind out ways to score, with Desmond Bane having another strong night with 22 points and shooting 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Paolo Banchero put up 18 points, mostly because he got downhill and got to the free-throw line 13 times.
Franz Wagner added 19 but was out at the end of the game with what the Pistons described as a sore calf. He was replaced by former two-way player Jamal Cain, who was making key shots and defending Cunningham down the stretch. While the Magic stars are finding ways, the Pistons' stars are struggling. Cunningham finished with 25 points, but was 3-of-11 from beyond the arc and had the eight turnovers. Jalen Duren finished the night with 12 points and eight assists, making a real impact on the defensive end but not enough on offense. Duncan Robinson, the best shooter on the team, was 1-of-6 from 3, while Tobias Harris was 0-5 from 3 but still finished with 20 points.
Detroit was slopping from the opening tip with seven turnovers in their first 10 possessions of the night — five in a row at one point — which led to a dozen Pistons points. Combine that with some early fouls by the Pistons and the Magic were up by as many as 12 in the first six minutes. It was the Pistons' bench that settled things down and had them back in the game — behind them the Pistons rip off a 16-3 run. At the end of one quarter, it was 27-26 Detroit.
The Pistons cranked up their defense after the rough start, and in the face of that the Magic settled for a lot more jump shots. With that, Detroit went on a run and led by as many as 10, then it was Orlando's turn to adjust, show some grit and fight back. The result was a 54-52 Magic lead at the half.
This game was close most of the way, but energized at home, the Magic made just enough plays and hit just enough shots in the end to get the win.
Now Detroit heads home for a must-win game and a lot of questions.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 26: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees motions after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker/Getty Images) | Getty Images
While the Yankees’ Monday night game in Texas was never a blowout, much of it felt like it was trending towards a fairly comfortable Bombers win. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge continued to be stalwarts in the Yankees’ lineup, each going deep to help build up a lead. Meanwhile on the mound, starter Max Fried was pretty stellar. He ended up going six innings, keeping the Rangers off the board, having allowed four hits and two walks. One of the runners he allowed even ended up the victim of one of his trademark pickoffs.
However, after Fried departed, the bullpen let things get way too close for comfort, as is they tend to do. In both the eighth and ninth innings, Texas brought the tying run to the plate. In the ninth, they even had the winning run up.
Eventually though, the bullpen got the required outs, as the Yankees picked up yet another victory on their road trip, downing the Rangers 4-2.
After getting kept off the board in the first two innings, it seemed like the Yankees had missed a chance in the third when José Caballero got caught trying to steal second for the second out of the inning. However, Trent Grisham kept the inning alive with a single that deflected off pitcher Jack Leiter and to safety. Rice and Judge then went back to back, drawing first blood on the game.
Rice’s blast tied Judge for the team lead with 10, and amusingly, the dead heat lasted only a couple moments because Judge followed with his own clout.
The following inning Jazz Chisholm Jr. got in on the action and continued his recent run with another homer.
Fried exited after six innings, as the Yankees went to the bullpen to start the seventh. That was also where the shutout ended. Camilo Doval came in and allowed a one-out solo home run to Joc Pederson for Texas’ first run of the game.
Tim Hill came in for the eighth and ran into some trouble. He issued walks to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung, allowing the Rangers to bring the tying run to the plate. Said tying run came up in the form of Corey Seager, who Hill got to ground out, but it was a bit of a hot shot.
With David Bednar on the hill, the ninth then got off to another scary start. Jake Burger reached on what was ruled a single to start the inning, after Chisholm got to a grounder but didn’t have much of a play on and threw wide. Pederson then seemingly also reached in not unsimilar circumstances, but Chisholm successfully threw to first on that play and on review, it turned out that the throw beat Pederson to the bag.
Bednar than came back and struck out Kyle Higashioka, but things got even closer after that.
After Josh Smith hit yet another grounder to Chisholm, the second baseman committed an error after booting it. Alejandro Osuna came up next and dinked a single into center. That scored one run and brought the potential winning run to the plate. Bednar finally managed to finish things off there, inducing a grounder to short that José Caballero safely fielded and threw to second for the final out.
With that, the Yankees bounced back from their Sunday loss and have now won nine of their last ten. They’ll try to keep that going tomorrow, when the Yankees and Rangers will continue their series tomorrow night at 8:05 pm ET. Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom are expected to be the starters for that one.
The No. 8 Orlando Magic have taken a commanding 3-1 series lead over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, but they may have some trouble brewing.
Star forward Franz Wagner missed the entire fourth quarter of Orlando’s 94-88 victory in Game 4 on Monday, April 27 with right calf soreness. The Magic have taken control over the first-round series against Detroit, and Wagner had been a steady factor in that; he posted an efficient, all-around performance Monday night, scoring 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, adding 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in just 24:11 on the floor.
But Orlando could find it difficult to fill in for Wagner, who is one of the team’s key offensive threats. Despite the injury, however, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley didn’t seem too concerned about Wagner’s status moving forward.
“I talked to him a little bit (after the game), but that’s about it,” Mosley said. “But he’s in good spirits right now.”
The Magic eventually listed Wagner as questionable to return after he was removed from the game. Though he sat the entire fourth, Wagner was present on the bench, cheering his team on as they repelled a Detroit rally in the final minutes.
Wagner appeared in just 34 games this season. He averaged 20.6 points on 48.1% shooting, adding 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Alongside Paolo Banchero, Wagner is the other top offensive threat for the Magic, who have defended Detroit well in the first round.
In Wagner’s absence, backup Magic forward Jamal Cain stepped up massively in the fourth quarter, and he and Tristan da Silva likely figure to have larger roles if Wagner misses time.
Cain scored 8 points on 4-of-8 shooting Monday night, including a thunderous dunk on Pistons rim protector Jalen Duren.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to try to get four (games), but right now, it means nothing,” Mosley said. “We have the advantage, and now we just have to make sure we try to keep that advantage.”
Jake Weatherald’s century drought is finally over, with the Australian Test opener notching his maiden century for Leicestershire in the County Championship over the weekend.
The Yankees will officially be without Giancarlo Stanton for the next few games.
The slugger is hitting the IL with a low-grade calf strain, Aaron Boone announced following Monday's win.
Boone had said pregame that the team wasn't sure if Stanton would have to be forced to the sidelines, as they were still awaiting results from an MRI on that right calf.
Those tests appear to have confirmed the prognosis, and he'll now be down at least 10 days.
Boone wasn't ready to put an exact timeline on a potential return to the lineup just yet, but he did share that the team is optimistic Stanton shouldn't miss too much time.
"Doesn't look too serious, but enough to to not want to wait a couple more days," he said. "We'll see what we have as the week unfolds -- hopefully not too long, but we'll see."
For now, recently recalled youngster Jasson Dominguez figures to have a massive opportunity to show he deserves to stick back up with the big-league club.
Dominguez has been on-fire to start the season down in Triple-A, and he carried over that success on Monday, picking up a knock in four at-bats in his first game back in the majors.
He's set to start the next two games in Texas with righties on the mound, then Boone will take it from there.
While Dominguez served as the DH on Monday, the skipper expects to get him some outfield reps during the week.
"You call up a guy like Dominguez who can DH, play some outfield for us, it's gonna be huge," Aaron Judge said. "He's been raking in Triple-A. He's a guy who upset not making the team out of camp, and I think he's gonna show up here ready to prove some people wrong and kind of send a message, so I'm excited about it."
The Buffalo Sabres now have a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Boston Bruins in their first-round series. With this, the Sabres only need one more win to advance to the second round.
The Sabres have won each of their last two games to get into this position, and a massive reason behind it has been the play of goaltender Alex Lyon.
Since taking over the Sabres' crease from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen this series, Lyon has been nothing short of fantastic. In three appearances this playoffs, he has a 2-0 record, a 0.89 goals-against average, and a .964 save percentage.
In Game 3 against the Bruins, Lyon stopped an impressive 24 out of 25 shots. Then, in Game 4, Lyon stopped 23 out of 24 shots. With this, there is no question that Lyon has been helping carry the Sabres and should continue to have the net for the time being because of it.
Lyon's strong start to the postseason comes after he had a 20-10-4 record, a 2.77 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage, and three shutouts. With this, the Sabres' decision to sign Lyon to a two-year, $3 million contract during this past offseason has been simply outstanding.
The Dallas Mavericks capped off a rough season with a silver lining, as rookie phenom Cooper Flagg was named 2025-2026 NBA Rookie of the Year Monday night. In what was a polarizing race between he and Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel, we saw one of the most historic rookie campaigns from the former, pitted against one of the most efficient rookie shooting seasons from the latter.
A straw poll just days before the season ended had Knueppel winning the award, completely befuddling Mavs’ fans who thought their guy was the obvious winner. Whether or not a poor showing across two PlayIn Tournament games for Knueppel swayed some voters (it technically shouldn’t have factored into their decision, but unseeing something isn’t exactly realistic) is anyone’s guess. When all was said and done, Flagg grabbed 56 first place votes to Knueppel’s 44, it what was the second smallest margin of victory since the 2002-2003 season when the current voting format took effect.
Mavs’ fans got a little something to feel good about, and a very tight, intriguing race feels like it ended positively for all involved. Knueppel made a real name for himself and received a ton of recognition in the highly contested race, while Flagg’s truly remarkable (and in some cases, one of a kind) accomplishments earned him the highly coveted award.
Then, seemingly before the corks from the champagne bottles found their landing spot, we were given a take that was even more unpredictable than the Rookie of the Year race itself. Speaking on NBA Showtime Monday night, studio analyst and former NBA player Carmelo Anthony gave a surprisingly unexpected shoutout… to former Mavericks’ GM Nico Harrison.
Carmelo Anthony shouts out Nico Harrison for Cooper Flagg winning ROY 💀
"Shout out to Nico Harrison for seeing this right here. For understanding his vision. Whatever happened or how it happened, Dallas got something back. They got the #1 pick and a rookie who led the squad in… pic.twitter.com/Bg9qyrANsv
“Shout out to Nico Harrison for seeing this right here; for understanding this vision,” said Anthony, in what is likely one of the most far-fetched interpretations of a scenario you’re likely to see in a long time.
When I first heard the comments, my immediate instinct to cover the topic was quickly tamped down by the thought that bringing it any attention at all would only exacerbate the problem. Still, it is Mavericks-related news that is what we are here for. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I have no interest in squabbling about such things with a member of the media, allow me to offer a counter point: this is insane.
Anthony is basically suggesting that Nico Harrison’s trade of Luka Doncic was all part of an overarching vision to draft Cooper Flagg. That Harrison’s ability to see Flagg’s talent and choose him with the number one overall pick was a shoutout worthy effort. Break it down for a moment. Harrison traded Doncic for Anthony Davis in what was a win-now move that he expected to net Dallas at least one championship in the ensuing years. At no point, in any way, shape or form, was Harrison’s plan to tear the team down – a team coming off an NBA Finals appearance – so he could later draft Cooper Flagg and rebuild it. This is not subjective interpretation, but rather, it’s fact. Harrison so much as told us.
Further, Harrison could not have possibly predicted the incredibly bad injury luck the Mavs would encounter (although his personnel changes could have given him a hint of things to come), or that the Mavs’ 1.8% chance would actually put them in position to move up to the top spot in the draft. Once all of that did happen, it certainly was not a shoutout-worthy event to draft Flagg, the by-far consensus number one pick that year.
Anthony’s comments echo Harrison’s own absurd declaration after the Draft Lottery that got Dallas the top pick – something along the lines of “fortune favors the bold.” While that may be true, getting the number one pick was not the result of bold moves with intent. It was the result of extremely fortuitous lottery results on the heels of an epically disastrous post-trade outcome.
To be fair to Anthony, his fellow analysts chuckled (as did he), and none of them reacted with the stunned shock the commentary actually warranted. To that end, it would not surprise me if everyone was aware of what Anthony would deliver, and maybe he did it with tongue in cheek. Anthony and Vince Carter (who was sitting beside him) have a friendly relationship with Nico Harrison and have previously vocalized support for their friend during the unrelenting backlash he received in the post-trade era.
While showing support for your friend, especially in the off-chance it was deliberately facetious to a degree, is a noble gesture, re-writing actual reality into a ludicrous Bizarro World version of reality is plainly irresponsible. Not because Nico Harrison deserves to be treated like Hester Prynne for all time – he doesn’t; better to just move on – but because we should carry a responsibility to truth and this was not that, however much jest may have been baked in (if any). This all could have been time better spent commending the folks who truly did have the vision, and that is the award winner himself and his family who put in endless reps and tons of work to get to this point. That’s where the real story lies.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks
Apr 27, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (22) throws to the plate during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the New York Yankees scored four runs.
In the span of four hitters between the third and fourth innings, the Yankees hit three home runs off an otherwise cruising Jack Leiter, two of them with two outs in the third and one to lead off the fourth.
Suddenly and without warning it was a 4-0 game and it seemed quite unlikely that they’d score more than that against Max Fried (and they didn’t) so here we are with the Rangers below .500.
I don’t want to research how many runs the Rangers have allowed with two outs because I’m not donating more time to them tonight but it surely feels like it’s been like 90%.
Anyway, Leiter adjusted and eventually had an otherwise decent outing to give Texas six innings of work, but you know, turning the game into the Home Run Derby for a spell probably won’t get you many wins and certainly not when you need the Rangers to score you more than a couple of runs in Arlington.
Player of the Game: Joc Pederson hit a baseball with the barrel of his bat for the first time this season which produced a home run for Texas’ only extra base hit on the night.
Also, hat tip to Peyton Gray who came in and absorbed two more scoreless innings as his big league ERA remains all zeroes.
Up Next: The Rangers and Yankees will be back at it tomorrow night with RHP Jacob deGrom set to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Cam Schlittler for New York.
The Tuesday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.
