Author: NBA Basketball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Karl-Anthony Towns had an up-and-down 2025-26 season for the Knicks. While he earned his second All-Star appearance in two years with New York, he also averaged a career-low 31.0 minutes per game, and his 20.1 points per game were the lowest since his rookie season. 

But speaking with reporters on Wednesday ahead of the Knicks’ first round playoff matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, Towns said that he, and the entire team, will be judged on what they do in the postseason. 

“It’s great that we put ourselves in this position, to be in the playoffs in this position, but at the end of the day, the regular season doesn’t mean anything if we don’t capitalize on this opportunity,” he said.

"This is the time. We've got to go out there and we've got to execute and we've gotta capitalize on this opportunity. At the end of the day, we'll be judged on what we do on this run."

Towns’ fit and role in Mike Brown’s system has been a topic of discussion all season, but the versatile big man could be a real matchup problem for the Hawks. Towns had 36 points and 15 rebounds against Atlanta back in December, and he went for 21 points and 12 rebounds against them earlier this month. 

“I’ve got to continue to impact winning and do whatever this team needs me to do or sacrifice for to get us the win, so I’m willing to do that,” he said. 

“Trust my work, that’s where my confidence is built,” he later added. “It’s built when there are no lights, no cameras, no fans. Just me, the basketball and the hoop. Me and the great (assistant coach) Mark Bryant, we get to work and my confidence is built there.”

The Knicks took two out of three head-to-head matchups with the Hawks this season, but Towns knows Atlanta, who finished first in the Southeast Division this year, will provide a challenge.

“I mean, they’re a great team,” Towns said. “They’re young, they’re athletic, and they cause turnovers. So, we expected ourselves needing to be the best. We just have to continue to use those one percents every game in the regular season to be the team we want to be at this time.”

The Sixers have the basketball world right where they want them: limping into the Play-In Tournament while their best player is sidelined due to injury once more. Before they host the Orlando Magic tonight in beautiful South Philadelphia, here are five thoughts I currently have involving the team…

Are the Magic falling apart?

As much as we (rightfully) clown the Sixers, Orlando might be in even worse shape.

The Ringer’s Raheem Palmer reported yesterday that “The Magic are dealing with major turmoil in their locker room with my sources saying that a star player is willing to demand a trade if the head coach Jamahl Mosley isn’t fired at the end of this season.”

This isn’t to say that Nick Nurse’s job security is iron clad in Philly in comparison, but I’ll take any semblance of discontent I can get from the Sixers’ opponent. Let’s hope they collapse in spectacular fashion in front of our eyes!

I’m nervous about the referees in this one…

The crew chief for the officials in the Sixers-Magic game? None other than Tony Brothers himself.

I’m expecting a disaster on that front that could swing the game in either direction come late in the fourth quarter.

The Sixers will go with their black throwback uniforms for all home postseason games

I have mixed feelings here. The uniform move does harken back to the last time the Sixers had concrete postseason success, but it’s a little played out and overdone, no? It’s the lone move the organization can make to give the fan base a little juice, but still!

This is why I’m always a little wary when people want beloved throwback uniforms to become a team’s primary look again. It’s about scarcity and wanting what you can’t have. The Eagles’ Kelly Green throwbacks? They’re perfect a couple times per year. This version of the Sixers’ City Edition uniforms? I give the team credit. I liked the way they incorporated them throughout the season. There can, in fact, be too much of a good thing though. They otherwise lose their pizzazz!

I’m also an old man at heart and miss when home teams almost always wore white uniforms in the NBA…

Who could be the unsung hero against Orlando?

Setting aside the likes of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Paul George, who could be the player who flips this game on its head in the Sixers’ favor?

Give me some gritty energy from Dominick Barlow! I’m going with him.

Is it better for the Sixers to be the 8th seed instead of the 7th seed?

I’ve seen some chatter about this online. I actually think, based solely on the first-round matchup, that is the case. I’d rather the Sixers take their chances against Detroit rather than facing the inevitable with a series against Boston yet again. Rooting for the Sixers to lose to Orlando in the hopes of beating Charlotte on Friday instead, however, screams tempting fate to me on top of it just being anticompetitive. “I’d rather the Sixers be in a win-or-go-home scenario” is not a sound strategy given how this franchise has long operated!

What is a star in the NBA? What is a superstar? How do you define and separate the two?

There’s some subjectivity to it, but the NBA gives us a baseline with its player participation policy. A “star” is someone who has been selected to an All-NBA or All-Star team within the past three seasons. By that definition, you’re looking at roughly 50 stars in the league in any given year. “Superstar” is where it shifts. That’s where this conversation begins.

In my humble opinion, the subjective definition of a superstar is someone who translates that star status into late-game productivity and postseason success. Someone who rises when the lights are brightest and the margin is tightest. In those moments, they deliver. A dagger jumper. A key defensive stop. The right read that lifts a team. And they do it consistently. At any given time, there are maybe 10 to 13 true superstars in the league. These are the ones who close, these are ones who elevate their teams when the postseason begins.

“Postseason success” doesn’t have to mean a title or even a Finals appearance. Only two teams get that chance each year. But it does mean winning games, winning series, and showing up when it matters most.

That label isn’t permanent. It’s fluid. Being a superstar five years ago doesn’t guarantee you are one today. Charles Barkley was a superstar. If he suited up now, that label wouldn’t apply. There’s a difference between “was” and “is”, and that line matters. Being a superstar isn’t easy. It carries weight. Expectations follow you every possession. The difference is, superstars meet those expectations when the moment calls for it.

Which brings me to Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns, and Devin Booker.

The Phoenix Suns entered their first-ever Play-In matchup with home court advantage, even as they struggled over the final two months of the season. On one side, a Suns team that went 13–14 after the All-Star break. On the other, a Portland Trail Blazers group that was 15–11 over that same stretch. On the surface, it felt like two teams moving in different directions.

But the Suns had one thing that should have trumped the trends. They had Devin Booker. The best player on the floor. A bona fide star, someone who has touched superstardom, and depending on who you ask, still lives there. He’s paid like it with the ninth-highest salary in the league this season, eighth next year. So you break down the matchup, you run the numbers, you look at tendencies, and it comes back to one thing. You have the better player.

That’s not how it played out.

Because when the game tightened and it came down to execution, Portland had the better player. It was Deni Avdija who rose to the moment. He forced clutch time with a three at the 4:15 mark, pushing it to 100–97. From there, he went 2-of-2 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line, grabbed two boards, and added an assist. Of Portland’s 17 points down the stretch, he accounted for 10, either scoring or creating them.

On the other side, Booker finished 0-of-2 from the field, 3-of-4 from the line, with one assist. He accounted for five of Phoenix’s last 10 points.

And that’s where this gets uncomfortable.

Crunch time has been a challenge for Booker all season. Across 30 clutch opportunities, he shot 44.3% from the field, 30.8% from deep, averaged 0.98 points per minute, committed 11 turnovers, and sat at a-7. Those aren’t superstar numbers. Star, sure, but they don’t touch what superstars do.

And when you layer Tuesday night on top of that, it lingers. You can point to lineups. You can point to scheme. Tuesday brought it back to something simpler. There’s a ceiling when it comes to Devin Booker late in games, and it’s hard to ignore.

Booker is an elite jump shooter. One of the smoothest in the league. The lift, the release, and the rhythm all look effortless. But that strength can also define the limit. Because for everything he does well, he isn’t elite at getting to the rim, he isn’t elite from three, and he doesn’t consistently absorb physicality at a high level. He’s good in those areas. Not dominant. His 3.4 points per clutch performance in 2025-26 ranks 21st in the league. When the game tightens, the consistency in those areas fades. On Tuesday, it was right there.

Across from him, Deni Avdija looked different. Longer. More forceful. More committed to getting downhill. He kept applying pressure, over and over, and the Suns couldn’t stop it. That’s been his approach all season, and it translated when it mattered most. He attacked the rim, lived at the line, and made the right reads. He had 14 points in the fourth, was 4-of-5 from the field, and had 7 free throw attempts. High percentage decisions when every possession carried weight.

On the other end, it felt familiar. Booker working to get to his spots, trying to create space for that jumper. You’ve seen that movie before. You think back to the 2021 NBA Finals, those late-game moments where he kept searching for that same look. I still have nightmares in which Jrue Holiday is ripping the ball away from Devin Booker in the lane. It didn’t come easy then. It didn’t come easy here.

When a defense knows what’s coming and meets it with physicality and connectivity, that shot gets tougher. Booker did get to the line and he found points there. But there were no field goals made in the fourth. 0-of-3 from the field. Sigh.

That pattern has shown up too often this season, especially post-All-Star break, where Booker was 30% from the field in the clutch, 3-7 in the standings, and -30. His 2.9 points in those tight games rank 44th in the NBA. Late in games, when you need your best player to take over, he hasn’t been consistent. His 5.9 points per fourth quarter ranked 22nd in the league. And post-All-Star break, that number dropped to 5.0, which ranked 35th. His 8 turnovers are second in the NBA over that stretch, trailing only former Suns Kevin Durant.

That’s the reality they’re dealing with.

I keep coming back to the ceiling of Devin Booker, and by extension, the ceiling of the Suns. Booker has limits as a player. He isn’t overly tall, he isn’t long, he isn’t overwhelmingly explosive, and he doesn’t live at the line through physicality and whistles late in games. When things tighten, he doesn’t always find another gear. And when those traits aren’t there, what you go to becomes predictable. We saw it again against the Portland Trail Blazers.

That leads to the bigger question. How far can this team go when the focal point is paid like a superstar but runs into these challenges late in close games? What’s the ceiling? Add in the financial reality, $23.2 million in dead cap, and the margin tightens even more. Booker may take up 34.6% of the cap next season with his $57.1 million contract, but when you factor in that dead money, it plays closer to 40.3%. That matters. It limits flexibility. It shapes what you can build.

There’s emotion tied to all of this, and there should be. Booker is a player this fan base loves, and rightfully so. Loyalty doesn’t last long in this league. Having him here for over a decade is rare. It’s something to appreciate. When his name is called before every game, you feel it. You know why people are there. This is Booker’s city.

Longevity doesn’t create superstars, however. Superstars are defined by continual postseason success. So it’s irresponsible to treat Devin Booker as infallible or irreplaceable. You can appreciate what someone has done and still be honest about what you’re seeing. That’s sports. That’s life. That’s business.

Booker has been at the center of a team that exceeded expectations. He, individually, did not. He finished as a top-ten scorer and carries a top-ten salary, yet he still struggled late in critical games. Both are true. He hasn’t won a postseason game since May 7, 2023. In 11 seasons, how many times has this team truly felt like a championship threat? Two?

He isn’t alone in this. Plenty of players struggle late. The difference is consistency when the pressure rises. The ones who deliver in those moments earn the label. Booker isn’t there right now. He’s the face of the franchise, the player this city rallies behind, and he also had a rough night against the Portland Trail Blazers. It adds to a season where the returns haven’t matched the expectations. Multiple things can be true at once.

We entered that game believing the Suns had the best player on the floor. We left with a different feeling. Deni Avdija put up 41 to Booker’s 22 and did it by imposing his will. You can call it a one-game sample, but the broader trend pushes back on that idea. Avdija is on the rise. A star, not quite a superstar, but trending in that direction. He has multiple ways to generate points late, especially when possessions tighten.

Booker has done that in the past. We’ve seen it. But past production doesn’t guarantee present results. What you were doesn’t automatically carry over to what you are now. And it poses the question of who you want to be.

Maybe this is emotional. A reaction to a frustrating loss in a game the Suns let slip away, embarrassingly coughing up an 11-point lead late. Emotions can make smart people look stupid, right? You can’t put the loss entirely on the shoulders of Devin Booker, but there is no doubt that he needs to be better. This isn’t new, and at some point, it has to be acknowledged.

The hope is that Devin Booker responds when the season is on the line Friday. That’s the moment. That’s the opportunity. At the same time, there’s a part of you that hopes it doesn’t come down to clutch time again. Because right now, the numbers and the recent history aren’t in his favor.

The regular season is over, and the Celtics did that thing they’ve been doing for years: stacking wins, figuring things out on the fly, and somehow ending up right back in the mix heading into the playoffs. It wasn’t always clean, and it definitely wasn’t always predictable, but here they are — two months away from Banner 19 with a real path to get there in front of them.

So before things get weird (because they always do), we wanted to start with the big question: what does a championship run actually look like for this team? And just as important, what’s the version of this postseason where it all falls apart? We asked the CelticsBlog crew how they see both sides playing out.

If the Celtics win the title, how do they do it? If they don’t, what went wrong?

Jeff Clark: The Celtics win the title by doing what they’ve been doing all season. Completely buying in, playing team basketball, and trusting each other. In a weird way, the Tatum injury created opportunities for everyone to step up, which means Tatum doesn’t have to put everything on his shoulders.

Now, if they lose, I would have to imagine that another team just reached another level. There would be no shame in losing to the Thunder, Spurs, or Nuggets in the Finals. I could see the Pistons overwhelming the team with physicality and getting hot from 3. It could happen, but I like our chances against anyone.

Bill Sy: We saw a lot of experimenting towards the end of the regular season, whether that was the dynamic between the Jays when they were both on the court, Brown becoming more of a pure scorer and challenging the officials with his physical play, and Tatum flexing his all-around game. However, like it has the last couple of years, it may come down to the three-point shooting. The Celtics were 7-11 when they hit less than 30% from behind the arc. Last year, they were 1-3 in the postseason. During the championship run, they were 2-1 — an indication just how special that banner year was.

Rich Jensen: If the Celtics win the title, it will be due to Jayson Tatum being far enough along in his recovery to make such an outcome possible. Is this a tautology? Yes it pretty much is. But winning the Finals is all about Tatum’s health. Without Tatum, the Celtics are just a very good basketball team—to be sure, a team that most other teams would like to be, but not, in my opinion, championship caliber. 

With Tatum recovering, they are a very good team indeed, but I’m still not convinced that they are championship caliber. Tatum is clearly not all the way back, but the nice thing is that it’s all downhill from here. He should continue to improve as the playoffs wear on. The only question is how good he will be by the time he needs to be good enough to make the difference between winning it all and coming up short. If Tatum’s progress isn’t as quick as it needs to be, the C’s are going to stall out somewhere along the line.

Ian Inangelo: If the Celtics win the title, it will be on the back of the defense locking down their opponents with the offense from guys outside of Brown and Tatum stepping up in timely moments. If they don’t I would assume it would end up in a loss to a team who takes advantage of the Celtics inexperience and depth, and are just able to out shoot them from three.

Mark Aboyoun: If Boston wins Banner 19, it’s because the role players continue to produce. Boston can’t afford guys like Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser or even Baylor Scheierman to have off nights. Now that we’re in the postseason, those three in particular need to maintain their current level and make sure they knock down open shots or, in Pritchard’s case, continue to be aggressive, especially when one of Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum is on the bench. 

If they don’t win the championship, it’s because Joe Mazzulla couldn’t figure out the big-man rotation. Neemias Queta has proved to be an above-average center this season and is the team’s only true defensive center. If he gets in foul trouble, Luka Garza and Nikola Vučević are more offensive players and, at times, struggle defensively.

Nirav Barman: The Celtics certainly have the experience and the coaching to win it all this year. Even though we lost several big pieces from the 2024 run, the Championship DNA is still strong with this team. Winning or losing really just comes down to the execution this year. Boston’s depth is what’s kept them atop the East, different guys being ready on different nights. The margin for error is much slimmer in the playoffs, so it’ll come down to if Joe can find the right combos for any given night.

Mike Dynon: To win the title, it’s a given that the Celtics will first need everything Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum can give them. JB just finished a regular season that should put him on first-team All-NBA, and JT basically looked like his old self with 10 double-doubles and one triple-double in 16 games. If the Jays deliver as expected, winning will come.

Another key will be if Derrick White can get on a heater. We know DWhite provides defense, basketball IQ and leadership at elite levels. This season, though, he made a career-low 39.5% of his overall field goal attempts, and at the arc his percentage was down nearly six points from the year before. The Celts are accustomed to White nailing clutch threes with regularity, and they will certainly need that now.

Finally, can the supporting cast overcome their postseason inexperience? This is the 15th season for Nikola Vucevic, but he’s played in just 16 playoff games. Other than the rookies, add up all the expected contributors – Vooch, Queta, Scheierman, Garza, Walsh and Banton – and they’ve appeared in 51 total postseason games. For context: Al Horford has 197 playoff appearances.

If these things don’t go Boston’s way, their season will end too early. But if they do, get ready for a parade.

Ryan Paice: If the Celtics win, it will be because the Jays are the best duo in today’s league and the team’s crew of role players hit their shots. I have faith the defense will remain elite, as this group has consistently performed at a high level under Mazzulla and features an impressive toolbox of solid defensive options. But for this team to win, Brown and Tatum are going to have to keep the offense churning and executing at all times — especially down the stretch.

The Jays are the engine of the Celtics offense, and when they struggle the team can get desperate and jack up shots to its own detriment. I wouldn’t put it past Pritchard, Hauser, Queta, and the Stay Ready crew to win a couple of the games the Jays struggle in, but they have to perform at their highest levels if the C’s are going to go all the way.

If they don’t, it will be because an opponent successfully slowed down the dual-engine heart of the offense and it sputtered out when it mattered most.

Gio Rivera: If Boston finds itself back in the NBA Finals, it’ll be because of two defining factors: the team’s depth and its core principles. Throughout the regular season, regardless of circumstance, the Celtics rarely missed a beat. Outside of their season-opening 0-3 start — the beginning of a new-look team adjusting to life without Jayson Tatum — they seldom found themselves in a prolonged skid, as they didn’t lose more than twice straight for the remaining 79 games of the regular season.

Anfernee Simons was terrific across his 49 games in Boston. Josh Minott flashed his potential in spurts. Then, of course, the remaining newcomers — Luka Garza, Hugo González, and Ron Harper Jr. — all delivered in their moments under the spotlight too.

Garza emerged as an offensive-rebounding maestro while shooting a career-best 43.3 percent from three and knocking down a career-high 55 triples throughout the regular season. González made notable defensive strides and delivered a clutch game-tying three in Brooklyn. Harper provided 22 points in San Antonio after Jaylen Brown’s ejection. 

Together, they proved Boston doesn’t just have depth — the team is comprised of role players capable of shining as bright as any starter on the roster. Their collective impact became a vital fixture of the Celtics’ identity and success. If that remains intact, Boston will be very difficult to match. If it doesn’t, the team will face a repeat fate of Round 2 last season, collapsing in utter underachievement.

Grant Burfeind: If the Celtics win the title, it’ll be because they stick to what they’ve been doing all season. The ball moves, the threes fall at a normal (not even nuclear) rate, and the defense travels every single night. This team already has a crystal clear identity, and when they lean into it, they’re incredibly hard to disrupt. This version of Boston that doesn’t beat itself, doesn’t panic when a game gets weird, and just keeps stacking good possessions until the other team breaks first is oh-so fun to watch and oh-so hard to beat.

If things go sideways, it’s probably going to look familiar. A couple games where the offense stalls into isolation-heavy possessions, a lid materializes over the rim, and suddenly everything feels harder than it should. Add in a cold stretch from one of the Jays or a series where the opponent dictates pace and turns it into a grind, and now you’re playing in that uncomfortable space where variance actually matters. This team has answered a lot of those questions already, but the playoffs have a way of dragging old concerns back into the light.

NEW YORK (AP) — The numbers are in, and the NBA says Year 1 of its new television deals were a hit.

The league released numbers for the regular season on Wednesday, showing that 170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across the league's four primary broadcast platforms this year — those being ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock, and NBA TV.

Those numbers are the league's best in 24 years, the NBA said, plus represented an 86% rise over last season.

Prime Video was part of the league's television rights package for the first time this season and NBC/Peacock returned for the first time in a generation. The league signed a new 11-year, $76 billion-plus media rights deal in 2024 to show games on those two platforms along with ABC/ESPN and NBA TV.

Those deals kicked in at the start of this season.

Other highlights of the viewership numbers:

— NBA games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV had the the highest average viewership in 13 years, up 35% over last season.

— A total of 57 telecasts this season reached an average of 2 million viewers, the most since the 2011-12 season.

— People watched NBA games for more than 920 million hours, up 25% over last season and the most since 2011-12.

— The NBA's social media channels generated a record 228 billion views this season, according to Videocites. That's up 13% over last season.

— Attendance over the past three seasons in NBA arenas is higher than any three-season span in league history.

— Viewership for NBA Cup group play games was up 90% from last season.

— The audience for the All-Star Game on NBC, averaging 8.8 million viewers, was the largest for the league's midseason showcase event since 2011.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

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The NBA Play-In Tournament can't do much better than Steph Curry vs. Kawhi Leonard as the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight.

We use our NBA player prop projections to deliver you the best Warriors vs. Clippers predictions and NBA picks on the board tonight.

Warriors vs Clippers computer picks for April 15

Warriors	Clippers
Green o7.5 points  +100	Mathurin o11.5 points -120
Santos o10.5 points  -115	Leonard u29.5 points  -110
Porzingis u18.5 points  -105	Mathurin o3.5 rebounds -125

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Warriors computer picks

Draymond Green Over 7.5 points (+100)

Projection: 9.48 points

Draymond Green has been a quiet scorer to end the season, but he averaged 8.9 points per game in March and reached double figures in seven of his 13 games. Curry's gravity alone will create some easy buckets for Green.

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Gui Santos Over 10.5 points (-115)

Projection: 12.96 points

This is a short line for a guy who's averaged north of 15 points per game since the start of March and scored 20+ five times over that span. 

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Kristaps Porzingis Under 18.5 points (-105)

Projection: 16.41 points

It's been hard for Kristaps Porzingis to find a rhythm, considering he's played just 32 games this season (15 for the Warriors). In those 15 games, he's cleared this number just five times. 

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Clippers computer picks

Bennedict Mathurin Over 11.5 points (-120)

Projection: 15.37 points

Bennedict Mathurin is coming off a 20-point night against these very Warriors and scored 17 points when these teams met on March 2.

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Kawhi Leonard Under 29.5 points (-110)

Projection: 26.19 points

The insane scoring totals Kawhi Leonard posted through much of the season took a slight dip at the end, clearing this total just once in his last 10 games. His minutes could see a slight bump, but a 30-point night is still a lot to ask.

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Bennedict Mathurin Over 3.5 rebounds (-125)

Projection: 5.09 rebounds

He's cleared this number in four of his six games this month and 15 of 20 going back to the start of March. He's averaged 5+ rebounds per game every month this season, making this a low bar to clear.

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How to watch Warriors vs Clippers tonight

Location	Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
Date	Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Tip-off	10:00 p.m. ET
TV	Prime Video

Not intended for use in MA.
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Just over a week after the NCAA transfer portal opened, college basketball fans have a glimpse of what rosters will look like next season.

Another week remains for players to enter the portal until Tuesday, April 21. Even when the portal closes, teams will be able to make additions to the roster ahead of next season.

As the 2025-26 season taught us with Michigan winning the national title, building through the transfer portal is as important as ever in college basketball.

College basketball transfer portal rankings: Top 40 available players

With the NCAA approving a shortened transfer portal window for the 2026 season, the window for teams to add talent becomes even more crucial.

Here's a look at the list of winners and losers through the early portion of the transfer portal movement for the 2025-26 season:

Transfers by conferences: ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | SEC | Big East

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The Orlando Magic face the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Wednesday night.

Superstar center Joel Embiid is once again sidelined for Philadelphia, and that factors into my NBA picks in the player props markets.

See why my Magic vs. 76ers props for April 15 are backing one point guard and fading another.

And don't miss Jason Logan's full-game Magic vs. 76ers predictions!

Best Magic vs 76ers props

Player	Pick
Tyrese Maxey	Under 6.5 assists	-145
Goga Bitadze	Over 4.5 rebounds	+100
Jalen Suggs	Over 2.5 threes	+150

Prop #1: Tyrese Maxey Under 6.5 assists

-145 at bet365

Tyrese Maxey leads the Philadelphia 76ers with 28.3 points and 6.6 assists per game. That said, Maxey's assist numbers have fluctuated depending on whether or not Joel Embiid is in the lineup.

In 35 games with Embiid this season, Maxey averaged 7.5 apg, but that number dropped to 5.7 apg in 35 games without the high-scoring center.

The All-Star point guard has logged five assists or less in four of his last five games. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic have allowed the eighth-fewest assists per game (25.3) in the NBA. 

Prop #2: Goga Bitadze Over 4.5 rebounds

+100 at bet365

Goga Bitadze saw his playing time increase towards the end of the regular season, and his production ramped up with it. Orlando's backup center grabbed 7+ boards in four of his last five contests, averaging 9.0 rebounds per game over that span.

The 76ers have struggled on the glass, especially when Embiid isn't in the lineup. Philly is 22nd in the NBA in rebounds allowed per game (45.3), with that number ticking up to 47.0 over the last month. 

Prop #3: Jalen Suggs Over 2.5 threes

+150 at bet365

Even without Embiid, the Sixers clog the paint on defense, which has led to them allowing 40.2 3-point attempts per game since the All-Star break — the third-highest number in the league. 

The Magic will have to utilize their outside shooting to get their offense going, and Jalen Suggs has been their most reliable option from the arc. 

Suggs has knocked down 2.6 threes per game at a 36.4% clip over his last 20 contests. He's coming off a game where he drained seven shots from deep, and he has eclipsed 2.5 threes in five of his last six games.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

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The NBA Play-In Tournament continues this evening as the Golden State Warriors travel to Inglewood to take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

With tonight’s winner living to see another day for a shot at the postseason, we break down Kalshi’s win probability markets and deliver Warriors vs. Clippers predictions to help guide your NBA picks for Wednesday, April 15.

Who will win Warriors vs Clippers?

Warriors win probability:34% (+194)
Clippers win probability:68% (-213)

Los Angeles is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 matchups against Golden State, and that has oddsmakers trading the Clippers at 68% (-213) to prevail at the Intuit Dome. 

Our prediction:Warriors to win

For one more night, perhaps one last night, two of the three key pieces to this Warriors dynasty can rekindle those memories. No “Wall” will bother Curry or Green.

They have faced Kawhi Leonard countless times before, and with veterans like Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis now their running mates, Golden State as a whole should embrace this road atmosphere.

Read more in Douglas Farmer's full Warriors vs. Clippers predictions.

More Warriors vs Clippers prediction markets

You're certainly not limited to the main game outcome for Warriors vs. Clippers at Kalshi; you also have options to trade on the spread, total, and more, among other NBA odds markets.

You can buy either side of a market — for example, "Yes" on the Clippers -4.5 spread means the Clippers will cover, while "No" means the Warriors will cover — with each side priced based on the implied probability (which can be converted to American, Decimal, or Fraction odds using the Covers odds converter).

Warriors vs Clippers spread and total at prediction markets

Our predictions: Over 220.5 points — No

All four matchups between these two teams have gone under the total this season, by an average of 17.25 points per game.

Other Warriors vs Clippers prediction markets available

• Steph Curry 4+ threes (Yes: 61¢)
• Kristaps Porzingis 6+ rebounds (Yes: 56¢)
• Derrick Jones Jr. 1+ blocks (Yes: 57¢)

What is Kalshi and how does it work?

Kalshi is a federally regulated U.S. exchange where you trade directly on the outcome of real-world future events. Instead of traditional bets, you trade "Event Contracts," which are simple Yes/No questions like "Will the Clippers win tonight?" These events are priced between $0.01 and $0.99, and the prices reflect the market’s estimated probability of that event occurring. For instance, $0.55 equals a 55% chance. If your prediction is correct, the contract pays out exactly $1.00; if not, it settles at $0. Kalshi is essentially a stock market for reality.

How does Kalshi differ from sportsbooks?

In a sportsbook, you bet against the bookmaker, who sets fixed odds and takes a "vig," which is a kind of commission. On Kalshi, you trade against other users. This peer-to-peer model means prices are driven by supply and demand, often resulting in fairer odds. Additionally, because these are financial derivatives, you can exit your position early. If your team takes a 14-point lead, the contract price will rise, allowing you to sell your "Yes" shares for a profit before the final whistle even blows.

Why should I wager on Warriors vs Clippers at Kalshi?

Kalshi offers four unique advantages over traditional sportsbooks:

1. Flexibility: Unlike a "locked-in" bet, you can sell your contract at any time.
   
   
2. Transparency: You trade against other users, which can allow you to find better value.
   
   
3. Federal regulation: As a CFTC-regulated exchange, your funds are held in a secure, transparent environment.
   
   
4. Availability: Kalshi is available in 49 states (excluding Nevada) and D.C., including many regions where traditional sportsbooks aren't yet legal.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Thanks to CelticsBlog, I had the pleasure of covering the final two games of the Boston Celtics’ regular season as credentialed media, making the journey from Tasmania, Australia. I won’t bore you with the details of the journey, but despite a 45-hour, door-to-door journey and some horrendous jet lag, I still had the time of my life.

Quickly, for those curious as to how and why an Australian became so passionate about the Boston Celtics: my dad is from Andover, Mass., and moved to Australia when he was 25 years old, against his mother’s wishes — “you’ll meet a girl, and never come back.” Mothers are always right. I was lucky enough for my Dad to pass on the passion for Boston sports.

Due to the time difference between Boston and the East Coast of Australia, Celtics games are typically anywhere between 9.30 am – 12.30 pm. Perfect if you have a free day. But on days that either of us are working or engaged in an activity that has sadly had to be prioritised over watching the Boston Celtics, we developed a simple code to avoid spoiling the results of these games. A quick “I finished the game” text to let the other party know that we are free to start breaking down the game and gushing about how mind boggling it is that Jayson Tatum already looks this good less than 12 months removed from tearing his Achilles. 

There was no amount of jet lag that could dampen my spirit as I made my way to TD Garden from the South End, where I stayed during my five days in Boston. Boston was blessed with lovely weather during my stay, so I opted to walk whenever possible, including to TD Garden, through Boston Common, which was packed with people and squirrels, which were a nice novelty addition to my walk. The squirrels were the novelty, not the people. We have a few of those in Tasmania.

When I’m back home in Australia, whenever I spot someone wearing Celtics gear, I’ll often stop them and deliver a quick quip about the team. This season it was a lot of “how about Jaylen Brown, hey?” Often, the response is “oh I just like the gear.” But sometimes, I strike gold and find another Celtics sicko to have a chat with. I had to fight to break this habit once arriving in Boston. Otherwise, I would have spoken to the entire city’s population in my five days. This urge was especially hard to fight the closer I got to the Garden, and as the closer I got, the thicker the stream of Celtics gear became.

I was walking behind a group of one dad and five young boys, all decked out in Cs gear and were bouncing with excitement for the Pelicans game. The kids were arguing over who their favourite Celtics were. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum featured prominently in this passionate debate. Payton Pritchard received an honourable mention.

The only other time I had been to TD Garden was in the first round of the 2022 playoffs when the Celtics faced off against the Brooklyn Nets for Game 2 of that series’ a game that featured Payton Pritchard sparking a double-digit comeback. That time, I turned left as we got to the gigantic TD Garden foyer, to make our way up the main entrance escalators. This time, I made my way past that entrance, and around the building towards the staff and media entrance. I hadn’t been nervous until this moment.  While I knew that Celtics PR was expecting me, it still did not feel real that a media credential would be waiting for me.

I put my bag through security, told the PR lady who I was, she handed me my credentials, and not thirty seconds later, I was walking through the tunnel and found myself six feet from the parquet. I located my fellow beat reporters, who at least pretended to be very excited to see me and were impressed that I had made the journey across the world to join them in covering the Celtics. 

I was just in time to watch the bench guys go through a high-intensity workout; Amari Williams, Max Shulga, and John Tonje were battling it out. I knew, conceptually, how big NBA players (and coaches) are, but seeing Amari and Tonje banging bodies in the post hammered home that reality. The next thing I know, I hear a Ric Flair-style “Wooooo” from behind me. It was assistant Coach Sam Cassell making a grand entrance onto the court. I’m told this is a regular occurrence. Cassell jumped straight into trash-talking all three young players for getting scored on by each other and not corralling rebounds. 

As we inched closer to game time, the arena slowly filled up, not just with fans but with some familiar faces. The experience of being at TD Garden, wandering through the labyrinthine hallways of the bowels of TD Garden, was like being dropped into the middle of my favourite TV show — one I’ve watched religiously for most of my life, and feel like I know all the characters intimately.

I bumped into Drew Carter in the media dining room, as we both went to grab a snack. “Wow, you’re in Boston?! How’s it going, mate?” The fact that Drew remembered me from his appearance on First to the Floor was incredible. Moments like almost crashing into Derrick White as I rounded a corner as I looked for a bathroom will never be forgotten. Thankfully, it was just almost; I would never have forgiven myself if I were the one to give Derrick a knee contusion. It was a truly surreal feeling.

Next, it was time for Joe Mazzulla’s pregame press conference, an obligation I’m not sure Joe would describe as his favourite part of being head coach of the Boston Celtics. At this moment, the press conference room is buzzing with various conversations. I believe Robbie Hodin and I were discussing the merits of Paolo Banchero as part of the “who would you rather play: Philly or Orlando?” conversation that everyone had multiple times in my two days at The Garden. A hush came over the room as Mazzulla marched towards the interview table. I sat back and observed the media veterans like Gary Washburn and John Karalis do the heavy lifting for this pregame interview. I wanted to see how the mechanics of the interviews work before I launched myself into the firing line of a Joe Mazzulla response. 

It was then time to make the journey up to the rafters, which is where I would be sitting, a perfect vantage point for seeing the activity of all ten players on the court at once. I know players from the Celtics and around the league consistently mention TD Garden as one of the best atmospheres in the NBA, but I was still blown away by the crowd in both the game against the New Orleans Pelicans and the regular-season finale against the Orlando Magic. In the first game, the Pelicans were without the top end of their rotation, and for the final game of the regular season, the Celtics were missing their top seven rotation players. I would not have faulted the Garden faithful for conserving their energy for the playoffs. However, the energy was palpable from the player intros.

Despite both games on paper being somewhat underwhelming, both games overdelivered. On night one, the Celtics blasted the Pelicans and fell one three-pointer short of breaking the NBA record for most threes in a game. You could feel the crowd’s energy build as the record came within reach. It was as exciting as a 36-point blowout could be.

The second night against the Orlando Magic delivered one of the most memorable games of the year, a game that the Celtics were given no chance to win, which is the 2025–2026 Celtics’ specialty — they came out and laid the smackdown on the Orlando Magic. On that night, I was treated to the Garden crowd losing their minds amidst a third quarter avalanche fueled by Baylor Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr., and Luka Garza dismantling the Magic’s starters. 

As the games conclude, it was time to race back down for Joe Mazzulla’s postgame press conference. After the Pelicans game, I was ready to ask Mazzulla a question about Nikola Vucevic stringing another strong performance together after a solid second half against the New York Knicks. As to be expected, I was towards the back end of Joe’s press conference, giving priority to the more experienced reporters, which led to the great Bobby Manning of CelticsBlog and CLNS beating me to the punch on the Vucevic topic. I was, in theory, ready for this situation, as I had prepared a long list of questions to ask Joe during the aforementioned 45-hour journey across the world.

However, I hadn’t been rehearsing those questions in my head for the last 15 minutes. I was already nervous, but it was too late to back out. I had already signalled to Celtics PR that I had a question; there was no stopping the microphone being placed in my hands at this point. I have no idea what John Karalis asked Joe; all I could do was try to formulate my question. The mic was passed to me. I could feel my heart beating in every cell in my body. I delivered my question about Joe’s perspective on the playoffs being different from the regular season, and Mazzulla blessed me with an introspective, thoughtful answer, of which I heard some of. 

The following night after the Magic game concluded, I was at least 50% less nervous when the microphone was passed to me. I was lucky enough to get to ask Joe another question, and then what is a rare occurrence at this point in the season, a player at the podium as well. After the Orlando Magic game, it was Baylor Scheierman who had just dropped a career-high 30 point, 7 rebound, 7 assist game on the heads of the Orlando Magic. At this point, the confidence was brewing. I even started my question with a “Hey, Baylor,” to which he gave me a head nod. Did we just become best friends? 

A couple of miscellaneous moments that would feel rude not to share: Dalano Banton had just been brought back by the Celtics for the third time to play in Game 82. Banton had just finished his pregame warmup as the President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, made his way over to him. They shared what appeared to be an incredibly positive interaction. I found this interesting as their relationship is somewhat complicated. On one hand, the Celtics and Brad clearly like Banton as they keep bringing him in. On the other hand, they don’t like him enough to keep him around long term. Well, Banton gave the Celtics front office another reminder as to why they like him by showing out in a monster win against the Magic. 

I was just a few feet away when observing Ron Harper Jr.’s warmup. Something that jumped out at me was that the word “warmups” doesn’t do justice to what the players go through before a game. The assistant coaches who play one-on-one with the players are all former Division I. In this case, six-foot-six, and obviously incredible at basketball. They go at it during these warmups. Ron Harper Jr. made this specific coach look like a high school player, effortlessly cooking him while sweat was pouring out of the coach. This showing during the warmup ended up being a precursor to the best night of Ron Harper Jr.’s young career.

Finally, one of my favourite things about this experience was that, after all the post-game interviews had wrapped up and players and coaches had left the building, the reporters had started filing stories and finishing recording podcasts, a quiet settled over the arena. Once I had finished writing on both nights, I made a point to go back through the tunnel to take a final look at the parquet and soak in the experience of the night.

From feeling like a part of the beat reporting team to bumping into Derrick White, there were so many moments I was trying to burn into my memory. My expectations for this experience could not have been higher, and somehow they were blown out of the water. I am eternally grateful to CelticsBlog for giving me this opportunity. I hope to be back in the building again one day. 

The Spurs are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and we now know their first round opponent will be the Portland Trail Blazers, with Game 1 set for 8 PM CT on Sunday. That’s still several days out, so in the meantime, we’re looking back one of the best regular seasons in franchise history.

Yesterday, we looked at the first part of the season, which featured a 5-0 start, followed by the Spurs continuing to roll despite missing Victor Wembanyama for 12 straight games thanks to a calf strain. In his absence, the Spurs still thrived thanks to the leadership of De’Aaron Fox and the superior depth they had developed over the years via the draft and free agency. It all added up to a win on the road against the Lakers to earn a trip to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup Semi-Finals, which is where we’re picking things up today.

Part 2: Dec. 13 – Dec. 31 (7-2*)

* Not counting their loss in the NBA Cup Final to the Knicks.

Technically, this is just nine games (10 if you count the Cup Final that fortunately counts as Wemby’s 65th game and makes him award eligible but not in any other capacity), so it might be a stretch to consider this an entire segment of the season, but it was too memorable not to! Still, even though I counted the first part of December in Part 1 (since we’re using Wemby’s return as the launching point for this part), we’ll still point out that a win in New Orleans on December 8 kicked off their first 8-game winning streak since 2019, and they went 11-3 overall (again, not counting the Cup Final). Also, the Spurs had 8 different players lead the team in scoring in December, which is mind-blowing and another reminder of their insane depth (hat tip to TontonOngBak).

The third game of that winning streak is where we’re kicking things off here, beginning in Las Vegas with Wemby returning to from his extended absence, albeit in a bench role and on minutes restrictions, just in time for the first of what would be three surprising victories over the Thunder, beginning with a Cup Semifinal win after a back and forth 4th quarter, which officially brought the Spurs to the national audience’s attention.

While they would go on to lose the Cup Final to the Knicks (who are a surprisingly stubborn matchup for them), it didn’t officially count, although Keldon Johnson still got a big enough bonus to get his llamas! From there, they continued their win streak with a few easy games against the Wizards and Hawks before a home-away miniseries against the Thunder, in which they blew them out at home before a surprisingly comfortable win in OKC on Christmas Day. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went on to say, you don’t lose to the same team three times in 12 days without them being better than you.

After all that excitement, they returned home for a couple of letdown losses against the Jazz and Utah before ending on a high note. In what is becoming a trend in their home games against the Knicks, a random role player steps up with a historical performance to lead the Spurs to an exciting victory. Last year, it was Sandro Mamukelashvili with 34 points on 93% shooting (7-7 from three!), and this season, it was Julian Champagnie with a career-high 36 points while hitting a franchise record 11 threes on 17 attempts to lead them to a come-from-behind 134-132 win on New Year’s Eve and cap off a memorable 2025 for the team.

It sure was a December to remember after such an amazing run, and now, the Spurs were officially on everyone’s radar. Check back tomorrow as we visit part three, which was arguably their only “rough” patch of the season.

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It's a true coin-flip game when the Orlando Magic visit the Philadelphia 76ers tonight in NBA Play-In Tournament action.

Our Magic vs. 76ers predictions and free NBA picks will tell you what the best bets for this matchup are, and how you can use prediction markets like Kalshi to get the most bang for your betting buck.

Who will win Magic vs 76ers?

Magic win probability:47% (+113)
76ers win probability:54% (-117)

Prediction markets currently favor the Philadelphia 76ers, giving them a 54% chance to win. The Orlando Magic are live underdogs with a 47% chance to win.

Our prediction:76ers to win

Here's what our expert has to say about tonight's game: "Even with Joel Embiid out after an appendectomy, the Philadelphia 76ers will get past a shaken Orlando Magic squad Wednesday night. The Sixers know how to operate without their oft-injured big man and went 19-8 SU as home favorites this season."

Read more in Jason Logan's full Magic vs. 76ers predictions.

More Magic vs 76ers prediction markets

You're certainly not limited to the main game outcome for Magic vs. 76ers at Kalshi; you also have options to trade on the spread, total, and more, among other NBA odds markets.

You can buy either side of a market — for example, "Yes" on the 76ers -2.5 spread means the 76ers will cover, while "No" means the Magic will cover — with each side priced based on the implied probability (which can be converted to American, Decimal, or Fraction odds using the Covers odds converter).

Magic vs 76ers spread and total at prediction markets

Our predictions:76ers -2.5 — No and Over 223.5 points — No

The Magic are the team with momentum on its side, having won five of its last six overall. The Sixers' recent 2-3 run is notable in that they beat up on the dregs of the league (Milwaukee, Indiana) but couldn't run with the big boys (Houston San Antonio, Detroit).

Both squads can't throw a pea in the ocean at times, with Orlando ranking 25th in eFG% and Philly one spot behind, so give me the Under.

Other Magic vs 76ers prediction markets available

• Tyrese Maxey 30+ points (Yes: 53¢)
• Paolo Banchero 5+ assists (Yes: 61¢)
• VJ Edgecombe 6+ rebounds (Yes: 53¢)

What is Kalshi and how does it work?

Kalshi is a federally regulated U.S. exchange where you trade directly on the outcome of real-world future events. Instead of traditional bets, you trade "Event Contracts" which are simple Yes/No questions like "Will the 76ers win tonight?" These events are priced between $0.01 and $0.99, and the prices reflect the market’s estimated probability of that event occurring. For instance, $0.55 equals a 55% chance. If your prediction is correct, the contract pays out exactly $1.00; if not, it settles at $0. Kalshi is essentially a stock market for reality.

How does Kalshi differ from sportsbooks?

In a sportsbook, you bet against the bookmaker, who sets fixed odds and takes a "vig," which is a kind of commission. On Kalshi, you trade against other users. This peer-to-peer model means prices are driven by supply and demand, often resulting in fairer odds. Additionally, because these are financial derivatives, you can exit your position early. If your team takes a 14-point lead, the contract price will rise, allowing you to sell your "Yes" shares for a profit before the final whistle even blows.

Why should I wager on Magic vs 76ers at Kalshi?

Kalshi offers four unique advantages over traditional sportsbooks:

1. Flexibility: Unlike a "locked-in" bet, you can sell your contract at any time.
   
   
2. Transparency: You trade against other users, which can allow you to find better value.
   
   
3. Federal regulation: As a CFTC-regulated exchange, your funds are held in a secure, transparent environment.
   
   
4. Availability: Kalshi is available in 49 states (excluding Nevada) and D.C., including many regions where traditional sportsbooks aren't yet legal.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.