San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Monday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Thunder -6.5; over/under is 219.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Thunder host first series matchup
BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder host the San Antonio Spurs to begin the Western Conference finals. San Antonio went 4-1 against Oklahoma City during the regular season. The Spurs won the last regular season matchup 116-106 on Thursday, Feb. 5 led by 25 points from Keldon Johnson, while Kenrich Williams scored 25 points for the Thunder.
The Thunder are 41-11 in conference games. Oklahoma City is 5-6 in one-possession games.
The Spurs are 36-16 in Western Conference play. San Antonio is second in the Western Conference scoring 119.8 points per game and is shooting 48.3%.
The 119.0 points per game the Thunder average are 7.5 more points than the Spurs give up (111.5). The Spurs average 11.9 more points per game (119.8) than the Thunder give up to opponents (107.9).
TOP PERFORMERS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Ajay Mitchell is averaging 15 points and 3.9 assists over the last 10 games.
Victor Wembanyama is scoring 25.0 points per game and averaging 11.5 rebounds for the Spurs. Julian Champagnie is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 8-2, averaging 118.0 points, 41.1 rebounds, 26.4 assists, 10.2 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.9 points per game.
Spurs: 7-3, averaging 117.5 points, 47.8 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 8.6 steals and 8.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.9 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).
Spurs: David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Detroit Pistons (60-22, first in the Eastern Conference)
Detroit; Sunday, 8 p.m. EDT
LINE: Pistons -4.5; over/under is 206.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Series tied 3-3
BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Pistons host the Cleveland Cavaliers in game seven of the Eastern Conference second round. The Pistons defeated the Cavaliers 115-94 in the last matchup on Friday. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 21 points, and James Harden led the Cavaliers with 23.
The Pistons are 12-4 against division opponents. Detroit is the top team in the Eastern Conference with 57.9 points in the paint led by Jalen Duren averaging 14.6.
The Cavaliers are 11-5 against the rest of the division. Cleveland ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference with 28.3 assists per game led by Harden averaging 8.0.
The Pistons score 117.8 points per game, 2.4 more points than the 115.4 the Cavaliers allow. The Cavaliers average 9.9 more points per game (119.5) than the Pistons allow (109.6).
TOP PERFORMERS: Duren is averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds for the Pistons. Cunningham is averaging 28.8 points over the last 10 games.
Donovan Mitchell is scoring 27.9 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists for the Cavaliers. Harden is averaging 20.4 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 40.7% over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pistons: 6-4, averaging 107.1 points, 43.6 rebounds, 22.7 assists, 9.1 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 101.3 points per game.
Cavaliers: 5-5, averaging 107.5 points, 43.0 rebounds, 20.9 assists, 7.2 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.5 points.
INJURIES: Pistons: Caris LeVert: day to day (heel), Kevin Huerter: day to day (adductor), Duncan Robinson: day to day (back).
Cavaliers: Larry Nance Jr.: day to day (illness).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 01: Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers smile prior to Game Six against the Houston Rockets in the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Toyota Center on May 01, 2026 in Houston, Texas. 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 Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When the Lakers traded for Rui Hachimura in 2023, they were acquiring a disgruntled wing, upset that the Wizards were not willing to commit to him long-term.
With the Lakers, Rui has become one of the best long-range shooters in the league and blossomed into a vital role player for a team with title-contending aspirations each year. His incredible performance in the postseason couldn’t have come at a better time for him personally as he’s set to enter free agency this summer.
After the team’s Game 4 loss to the Thunder to end the season, Rui was asked about his impending free agency. As free-agents-to-be always say, he noted he had not thought about it, but did speak about the joy of playing for the Lakers.
“I love this team,” Hachimura said. “I love this organization since I got here. This is my fourth season here. Start from [President of Basketball Operations] Rob [Pelinka], everybody. The owners, Jeanie [Buss] and now new owner Mark [Walter]. I just like them. I just like how they operate everything.
“I really appreciate them for what they’ve done for me. They did a lot for me. I love it here, but at the end of the day, I’m not the one negotiating. My agent is negotiator. I’m not a good negotiator. I put everything on my agents.”
You can understand why he isn’t doing the negotiating because he did a lot to show his hand in this answer. He clearly enjoys a lot of things about playing for the Lakers, including being part of a franchise that committed to his future.
At around $14-15 million, any team could compete for Rui’s services with the mid-level exception. However, that’d be a pay cut compared to his current deal, and given how well he’s performed, it feels unlikely that will be the case.
In that event, realistically, only the Lakers, Nets and Bulls can afford to bring him back. And, at his age, it seems unlikely he’d go to rebuilding teams in Brooklyn or Chicago. It puts the Lakers in the driver’s seat, if they want him back.
And based on how he played in the postseason and the commitment they’ve made for him, it’d be a surprise if they didn’t.
May 15, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shakes hands with San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half during game six of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
To win an NBA championship, a team needs to win 16 playoff games. The majority of the players on the Spurs entered these playoffs without ever playing in an NBA playoff game, let alone winning one, or 16. The Spurs coach is also essentially a rookie, with just over one year of being a head coach — and no NBA playoff experience as either head or assistant coach.
However, the Spurs’ best player had faced the pressure of playing in an Olympic gold-medal game, at home, against a USA team filled with former MVPs and numerous previous gold medals. The Spurs’ second best player ran the table during his one college season, winning the six intense March Madness games necessary to win the NCAA championship. Of course, that is putting the best possible spin on the fact that Victor Wembanyama is only 22, while Stephon Castle is 21. The Spurs third guard, rookie Dylan Harper, is 20, while key bench contributor Carter Bryant, also a rookie, is 20 and looks 16. How young is Bryant? This is how he described Gregg Popovich:
“It’s funny because you hear the stories about him being tough on guys and, obviously, he’s not my head coach, so I don’t kind of get that same experience,” Bryant said. “But I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ This dude is the sweetest, nicest guy. He’s dope.”
Yes, Bryant became the first person in history to describe Pop as “dope”. Bryant is also one of the few 20-year-olds sent in the game specifically to cover a player as good as Anthony Edwards — and he loves the assignment.
And look at this picture from Game 6 in Minnesota, with the Spurs about to go up 54-27 (yes, 54-27) after Victor made this free throw:
The five Spurs in that photo were on the floor on the road in a crucial playoff game. Their ages? 20, 20, 21, 22 and 25 (Devin Vassel is the ancient one). I asked AI if those were the youngest five players to be on the floor together in an NBA playoff game. AI gave me this response:
“Oops, something went wrong.”
Thanks, AI. I guess you won’t be taking over the world quite yet. I think I can answer my question: ‘”Yes.” If anyone can prove me wrong, go for it.
My quick research indicates that the youngest starting unit to win a playoff game may have been this year’s Houston Rockets. The Rockets starters were Reed Shephard (21), Jabari Smith (23), Amen Thompson (23), Alperen Sengun (23) and Tari Eason (25). The Spurs group referenced above calls that Rockets team “the old guys”, like that group of older players on the court as you are calling “winners” so you can blow them off the court in the next game. (I am on that old guy team.)
And now the young inexperienced Spurs get just what they wanted on their latest young birthdays: a chance to go to the NBA Finals. All they need to do is win four games against the best NBA team over the last two seasons, and the best team since the Death Star Warriors. As young Carter Bryant would say: that would be dope.
Other Thoughts
Many others are coming over to my view that the Spurs don’t have too many quality guards — they have the exact right number: three. As I have pointed out several times, teams need to fill 96 minutes between the two guard spots. If spread exactly evenly, that would be 32 minutes each — a number which is fairly close to the maximum number of minutes the Spurs best players have played since the middle of the Popovich era. For instance, while the Great Duncan played more minutes early in his career, he did not average more than 34 minutes per game for the twelve seasons beginning with the 2003-04 season. For these playoffs, the Spurs three wondrous guards averaged 33 minutes (De’Aaron Fox), 32 (Castle), and 25 (Harper). And while the rest of America is discovering how good Harper is, let’s pump the brakes a bit on declaring him the best of the three, though he might be someday (Castle will be tough to overcome). For one thing, Harper has averaged only 2 assists per game in the playoffs, well below Fox (5.8) and Castle (6.1). Instead, let’s just say that each of them is occasionally the best at any given moment, quarter or game. The Spurs’ second superpower (we know who the first one is) is their ability to have two of these guards on the floor at any given time.
These have already been a strange playoffs for Victor. In the first series against the Blazers, he ejected himself by face-planting, leading to a concussion. Then, the NBA ejected him for the elbow against Naz Reid. As a result of those two incidents, and some funky shooting games (both good and bad), Victor’s scoring over the 11 playoff games looks like a scary EKG: 35, 5, 0 (DNP), 27, 17, 11, 39, 27, 4 (ejected), 27 and 19. Interesting question: If Victor had elbowed Reid late in the fourth quarter of Game 4, instead of early in the second quarter, or if the Spurs had won that game,would the NBA have suspended him for Game 5? Because he essentially suspended himself by having to leave Game 4 early, and the Spurs lost, I believe the NBA decided that he and the team had already received the proper punishment.
My college buddy Jamie emailed me this from his home in Baltimore with the series 2-2: “I am looking forward to your analysis. The Spurs always look better, and they will probably win, but the T’wolves are fun to watch and easy to cheer for.” Only someone who has been a Washington Wizards fan would describe the Wolves as “fun to watch”. As one little factoid (stolen from an excellent Jeremy Lin Instagram post), the Spurs averaged 13 more points off assists per game than the Wolves. For me, fun to watch involves unselfish players who enjoy setting up a teammate as much as scoring themselves. To pick a team at random, the 2025-26 Spurs (or the 2014 Beautiful Game Spurs). One of my favorite moments in Game 6 was when Julian Champagnie, having just buried a three-pointer, got the ball even more wide open the next time down court. Instead of shooting, he spotted Victor under the rim and fired the ball to him for a dunk. Fun to watch!
I generally don’t write much about the Eastern Conference (other than the cheap shot about Jamie’s Wizards in the prior section). But, holy cow, the New York Knicks just won seven straight playoff games, the last three by over 25 points. My Knick-fan friends are wearing the same clothes every day so as not to jinx the streak. Perhaps the winner of Spurs-Thunder will have more of a test in the Finals than anyone thought a month ago.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 15: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves lock arms after the game during Round Two Game Six of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 15, 2026 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
I was seven years old when my father first taught me how to play blackjack.
Whether that is a particularly normal thing to teach a child of that age is perhaps a conversation for another time, but it is, for me, a formative and happy childhood memory.
Having spent the better part of a week vacationing at my father’s boss’s coastal vacation home, we were beginning to run out of card games to play. Old Maid, Go Fish, Kings In the Corner, Spades, Cheat, Spoons, and Uno had all been played ad nauseam, and the beach-house (very purposely) lacked a television set, much less a VCR.
We had only ourselves, and our diversions, and the ocean at the shore. It was, in retrospect, a remarkably lo-fi moment in our lives, preceding the technological onslaught to come.
We read books out loud, and wrestled on the living room floor, and spent time on the beach until our burgeoning sunburns drove us back inside like vampires fleeing the dawn. We marinated in the scent of spices and fresh crustacean boiling in the cavernous kitchen, and sprawled about the dining room table telling all the jokes we knew, and making up worse ones. And then, after the meal, it was down to business.
“Remember, the dealer has to take a hit on 16 or lower”, my father reminded me, as I asked for a somewhat inadvisable hit on a 17 of my own.
“What’s a hard 17 again?”
“A 17 with no aces.”
“Oh, I have an ace. What does that mean?”
“That means you have a soft 17. Your ace can be an 11 or a 1.”
“It’s a 1 if I go over, right?”
“Right. But right now I’m showing a 6, which mean I’ll probably have to take a hit unless I have an ace too.”
“Because the dealer has to stand on 17, right?”
“In our game, yes. But not in all games. In our game, if I have an ace, we’ll push. We’ll tie.”
“I don’t wanna tie. I wanna win. I want a card.”
The card came off the deck and revealed itself as a 2.
“Ok, that’s 19. Do you want to stay?”
“The next card will be high, right?”
“Maybe. It’s not looking good for me.”
“Yeah, I’ll stay.”
My father flipped his second card. It was also an ace.
“Well, that’s 17. I have to stay.”
“I win?”
“Yep. But only in our game. In a casino maybe not. I’d get to take another hit.”
“Good thing we’re not at a casino.”
“Mhmm. And that it’s not your money. It’s harder when it’s your money.”
“How is it harder?”
“Well, do you have any money?”
“No. I spent it all.”
“I guess you’ll just have to find out one day.”
We spent the rest of the vacation playing blackjack when we were indoors, until I was certain I’d mastered the game. I knew when to take a hit. I knew when to stand. I’d gotten good at anticipating what might be coming based on what was on the board. It wasn’t card counting per se, but it was the best I’d ever been with numbers.
We ended up playing blackjack on a lot of subsequent vacations, and I was delighted to find in adulthood, in my first encounter with Las Vegas, that I’d retained the knoweldge.
Maybe that shouldn’t have been so surprising considering how I took to compiling and accumulating box scores in the years just after that first brush with Vingt-et-un.
I’d cut them out of newspapers the night after games (when the paper had been fully read) and keep them in my room, sometimes on my walls (like Tim Duncan’s Game 6 masterpiece against the New Jersey Nets), but more often in piles on the top of my dresser, or the tiny square of laminate ‘wood’ with legs that I called a desk.
It felt like there was more information than the information I was getting, as I tracked the ups-and-downs of important Spurs players in my spiral notebooks. Having gone through much of my mother’s storage, I suspect that they are long-lost at this point, but I still fantasize about finding the notebook that I dedicated to Stephen Jackson, Malik Rose, and Speedy Claxton, as I tried to figure out which one the Spurs should make an effort to keep.
I’m not 100% sure why these were the memories that San Antonio’s thrashing of the Minnesota Timberwolves triggered for me. I was certain that the game was over halfway through third quarter, in the midst of the 3rd straight 36+ point frame from the Silver and Black, just on the conscious side of dozing with the comforting weight of my daughter sleeping on my chest.
(Her sole contribution before passing out was to remark that 100 is a big number)
With every closing flicker of my own eyelids came a memory. With every opening, the massacre of reality.
How am I going to write about this? Do I just say that everyone played well?
I mean, they really did. Kelly Olynyk, Jordan McLaughlin, and Lindy Waters III all played two thirds of the fourth quarter. Only one member of the regular rotation played more than 27 minutes.
With eight minutes left in the game and a 30 point deficit, the valiant but ailing Anthony Edwards personally congratulated Spurs players before retiring to rest his banged-up knees for next season, the opposite of the comportment of the extra-physical ‘Jordan Rule’ Pistons that they were sometimes exasperatingly compared to at the start of the series.
In the end they were more paper tigers than the superstar thwarters so many outside the fan-base had hoped they’d be. Whether by dint of injury and/or inferior roster flexibility, they were forced to stand on 17.
The Spurs were playing with house money, deeper and more advantageously capable of adjusting, and lacking a certain weight of expectation due to the seasons preceding this one.
And while I have spent most of this year’s postseason blowouts reminding myself and others not to put the cart before the horse, I couldn’t help but look ahead to the match-up on the horizon, and the reality that expectations are about to really and truly change.
Before the opening of the season, even the most ardent of Spurs supporters and journalists considered the Western Conference Finals to be the absolute and remotest peak on the horizon. Most agreed that avoiding the Play-In and defeating a first round opponent would be an acceptable and reasonable limit.
But now the Spurs are on the doorstep of a Finals appearance in Victor Wembanyama’s 3rd season, and facing a team they went 4-1 against in the regular season.
The rules have changed. All things considered, the Thunder are more flexible and more talented and healthier than the Timberwolves were, and just as (if not more) physical, with a habitually favorable whistle to boot.
The Spurs can’t count on them to stand on a soft 17. The Thunder are going to take the hit. They’re going to have home-court advantage. They’re the house, and the house has the odds in their favor.
It’s almost guaranteed that the Spurs will have to make the exactly right play at the exactly right time, and this time, they won’t be able to afford the lapses they had against the Trailblazers and the Timberwolves.
They are no longer playing with house money. The cost will be their own, and that of the city that supports them. A loss here might haunt them, and that can go two very different ways. They’re too young to know better, and I sincerely hope that they get to stay that way.
Playing in Vegas with my own cash at stake, I found myself second-guessing moves that I would never have thought about twice in the past. It was money that I had set aside for exactly that purpose, but the brain can have expectations in direct opposition to that of the nervous system in the same way that Spurs fans can intellectually hold reasonable perspectives about how this team has exceeded all expectations and still become unmoored by the not-unreasonable desire for more.
It’s strange to be experiencing this all over again at the age I am now. I’ve seen variations of this story play out before, and I can see most of the plot points before they arrive, and yet it’s somehow a new experience all over again, except that now instead of the youth being soothed by the experience of the adults on the court, I find myself carrying hopefully anxiety for the prosperity of youth. I wonder how much more of my life will become that way.
And yet, I find that the wonderful chaos of this season and postseason has revealed itself as an ace in a soft 17.
Hit me. I’m ready for whatever card is next.
Takeways
We have to talk about the masterclass that Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell put on against Julius Randle in this series. Prior to the series, Randle was the obvious mismatch for a Spurs team that struggles with size at Power-Forward specifically. My thought was that the Spurs should let Randle shoot himself into a hole while the Spurs spent most of their time and energy on Ant Edwards. And there’s a reason that I’m not coaching in the NBA, because Sean Sweeney pulled out his previous playbook against the Wolves, and decided to alternate sending doubles at both of them. This was incredibly affective against Randle, who had lost his favorite passing target in Donte DiVincenzo against Denver, and his inability to anticipate these doubles seemed to shake him somewhat, as he was a turnover machine and forced some very ill-advised shots. But, most tellingly, he seemed to decline taking shots at all over the last two games, as Castle and Vassell smothered him in equal measure. This was, at least to me, a big, big deal, with teams in the Thunder and (potentially) the Knicks also being capable of exploiting what I was previously concerned would be a fatal flaw. Both of those teams are now going to have to figure out a way to deal with that when/if they face the Spurs.
As it turns out, when the Spurs three guards combine for 68 points very efficient points, San Antonio becomes an absolute juggernaut. This game served as yet another perfect example of why all three of these guards are critical to what the Spurs can do, and how they can absolutely unravel defenses with some of the best rim-protectors and perimeter defenders in the league. All previous elaboration and hedging aside, if the Spurs do this regularly, it just will not matter who they’re matched up with. Wemby opens up everything for these guards, and each one is different enough to pose varying challenges for the defense in such a way that it opens it right back up for Wemby and the perimeter snipers. Stephon Castle was absolutely irresistible in this one, but the filthy varieties of perimeter penetration from the other two had Minnesota’s defenders seeing ghosts by the middle of the second quarter, and only a spate of turnovers and defensive mistakes really let the Wolves back in the game at all.
Carter Bryant has this really funny thing going on, where when I see him on the court, he looks amazing even when his shot looks awkward, and then shows confusingly little in the box score, and then looks almost as amazing in the advanced stats. There are some thing about his game right now that don’t easily convey, but he’s been on Luke Kornet’s level when it comes to doing the dirty work and making the effort play, and he gave both Randle and Edwards trouble while gobbling up rebounds like Pac-Man after eating a power-pellet. If that shot comes along in the off-season, I’m willing to go out an a limb and say that he could transform into a reasonable facsimile of another forward who came to the Spurs with an awkward shot and staggering athleticism. The Spurs don’t even need to draft outside of best pick available at the rate that Bryant is improving. He’s overshadowed by the majestic poise and maneuvers of fellow rookie Dylan Harper (who I personally like to refer to as ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’), but he’s doing shocking work in the postseason for someone who got very little playing time comparatively-speaking, and I think this draft could go down as one of the best in Spurs history.
Despite reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2024, the Minnesota Timberwolves front office decided they needed to move on from Karl-Anthony Towns (and his contract) if they were going to make one more step forward. They traded KAT to the Knicks, betting that the combination of Julius Randle with the depth of Donte DiVincenzo would be the upgrade they needed.
If one thing became clear in the six games against San Antonio that ended Minnesota's season (despite the injuries they faced), it's that there is a large gap between the young, improving Spurs and the Timberwolves.
What's next for Minnesota? How does it take that next step forward?
Minnesota to pursue Antetokounmpo
Minnesota was one of the teams in conversation with Milwaukee about Giannis Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline, and the two-time MVP reportedly had interest in pairing with Anthony Edwards. However, at that time, the Bucks were gauging the market more than looking for a deal, league sources told NBC Sports.
That vibe has changed this offseason, with the Bucks sounding serious about a clean break. Expect the Timberwolves to be back in the conversation for Antetokounmpo, reports Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic.
One key question in this: Milwaukee is going to ask for Jaden McDaniels as well as a matching salary (Randle at $33 million or Rudy Gobert at $36.5 million are the most likely fits), plus draft picks. A third team likely has to be involved to add picks and make it work. Would Minnesota be willing to trade McDaniels, who, along with Naz Reid, makes up a core part of the Timberwolves' identity?
Even if they do, will that be enough? Will Antetokounmpo want to play with Edwards badly enough to push for this, or will he decide his best path back to the Finals is to stay in the East and push for a trade to a team there? Everything is still up in the air with Antetokounmpo, but Milwaukee will be in the mix.
If not Antetokounmpo, then what?
About the only thing that feels certain in Minnesota this offseason is that the team will focus on re-signing free agent Ayo Dosunmu, whom the Timberwolves acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline and who has become a key shot-creation option.
Aside from that, look for team president Tim Connelly to go big game hunting, Krawczynski reports.
Nearly every big name that has come available over the last few years, from Durant to Antetokounmpo to Ja Morant and James Harden, has at least been discussed internally. That will only shift into overdrive now.
For his part, Edwards thinks Minnesota's roster can compete with San Antonio and Oklahoma City (when healthy).
"I feel like we good," Edwards said at exit interview day when asked about adding another star.
There are parts of this core that the front office also believes can win, Krawczynski reports.
As disappointing as the finish to this season was, the Timberwolves do feel good about the core of Edwards, McDaniels, Reid and [center Joan] Beringer going forward. They will have some big decisions to make, but were encouraged by how the team did pull together to play for one another in the playoffs.
(Beringer was Minnesota's first-round pick last year and a player the team likes to take a big step forward next season.)
Expect changes, maybe big changes, around that core. Minnesota got an up-close look at where San Antonio is setting the bar in a West where it may not even be the best team. And a conference that still has Luka Doncic with the Lakers and Nikola Jokic with the Nuggets.
Minnesota is a good team, but the next step is the hardest one to take. They are going to try to take that step this summer.
Mike Brown addresses reporters during his May 16 press conference.
Whoever the Knicks face in the Eastern Conference finals, whether it is the Pistons or Cavaliers, will be a team coming off back-to-back seven-game series.
Both teams went the distance in the opening round and the two will meet Sunday night in a winner-take-all Game 7 in Detroit.
The Knicks, meanwhile, will have a nine-day layoff between games by the time the next series begins Tuesday night.
Is that an advantage?
Coach Mike Brown isn’t certain.
“I’ve been in both situations, playing while a team’s waiting and I’ve been waiting while a team’s playing,” the Knicks coach said after practice Saturday. “You can say a lot theoretically. You can say they’re going to be tired, but you can also say they have a competitive edge because they’ve been going at it for seven games and we’ve been off.
“You keep trying to do different things during the course of the downtime to keep them sharp, keep them focused and try to keep their competitive edge up as much as you can.”
Mike Brown addresses reporters during his May 16 press conference. Charles Wenzelberg
The break has given the Knicks a chance to get healthy, especially OG Anunoby, who has been dealing with a mild right hamstring strain.
“I know you’re eager to go out there and play, but I think it’s just good to rest, get the body right and just keep working on your craft and working on what we have to do,” Mikal Bridges said. “So, obviously there’s positives, negatives in this situation, but I just try to look at the positives.”
Josh Hart isn’t backing down from his claim that he no longer considers Philadelphia a sports town after Knicks fans took over Xfinity Mobile Arena during the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
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“You can’t be a sports town if another team’s fan base takes over your arena,” Hart said during the latest episode of “The Roommates Show.”
“You cannot be a sports town if that happens. Boston? Sports town.”
He also took a shot at Joel Embiid, who implored 76ers fans to show up prior to the start of the series.
“You will never see Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum sitting there saying, ‘fans, we need y’all to come out because if y’all don’t the Knicks are gonna take over.’ They’re never gonna say that because they don’t have to,” Hart said. “Because that’s one of the places that’s a sports town, and you will not take over that arena. I don’t think you’re gonna take over the arena in New York.”
DETROIT, MI - MAY 13: Paul Reed #7 of the Detroit Pistons and Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers go up for the rebound during the game during Round Two Game Five of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 13, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
This has been a rollercoaster of a series. The Cavs started poorly, giving away Games 1 and 2 with a combination of untimely turnovers and wilting down the stretch of both contests. Then, they flipped the script in Games 3 and 4. They were the far superior team in nearly every aspect. Superstar performances from both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden helped as well.
Game 5 felt like the signature win of this era of Cavs’ basketball. They battled back from a nine-point deficit in the final three minutes on a night their best player didn’t have it going. The road overtime win showed a level of resiliency we’ve never seen from this group.
Then, Game 6 threw that all away. The Cavs didn’t come with the necessary focus or intensity to get the job done. Throw in a dreadful performance from Mitchell and a great showing from all of Detroit’s role players, and you get a 21-point loss for the Cavs.
Now, everything comes down to this. We’ll see which version of the Cavs show up in Motor City on Sunday.
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Mikal Bridges drives to the basket during the Knicks' May 6 playoff game against the 76ers.
Mike Brown kept his faith in Mikal Bridges.
And Bridges has since rewarded him.
After the first three games of the first round against the Hawks, Brown faced a litany of questions about whether he would take Bridges out of the starting lineup.
Brown acknowledged that “everything is on the table,” but supported Bridges and opted against shaking up the starting unit.
“It’s always great when your coach has got trust in you,” Bridges said after practice Saturday. “Yeah, that’s great. And teammates staying with it, keeping me confident, as well. I think we all know the end goal is just trying to win games and do whatever it takes to win. Even in my mistakes, just try to do whatever it takes and know that I just gotta bounce back and learn from them.”
Mikal Bridges drives to the basket during the Knicks’ May 6 playoff game against the 76ers. Charles Wenzelberg
Bridges thrived in the second round against the 76ers, averaging 17.5 points per game on 63.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.
That was a big jump up from the 10.0 points per game he averaged in the first round and more than the 14.4 points per game he averaged in the regular season.
He helped fill the scoring void with OG Anunoby missing Games 3 and 4 due to a right hamstring strain.
“I was just telling the truth,” Brown said Saturday. “He can play, he’s been in this situation before, we’ve had success with him. So I was just basically answering the questions regarding him. He’s earned the right to be there. He’s earned the right to do a lot of different things. And I was just reiterating it. He’s definitely an important piece of what we’re trying to do.”
It’s become a bit of a recurring theme for Bridges, now in his second season with the Knicks.
Last year, he had a rocky regular season before elevating in the postseason and delivering some of the most consequential plays of the run to the Eastern Conference finals.
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This year’s regular season again left a lot to be desired and raised persistent questions about his impact.
But right now, he’s playing some of his best basketball.
“Just continue to play,” Bridges said. “I think that’s really what it is. You can’t look at the past. You learn from it, but just be present and do what you gotta do to get better. I think that’s really it. Just learn from each game and try to get better every single game. And that’s really it. I always try to play to help [the team] win and just keep trying to get better. That’s been the outcome.”
Mikal Bridges defends during the Knicks' May 10 playoff game against the 76ers.
It’s been a roller-coaster journey for the Knicks point-of-attack and perimeter defense this season.
And it’s an area that will be pivotal to reaching the finals.
Both the Cavaliers and Pistons — who square off in Game 7 Sunday night in Detroit — present dangerous threats at guard.
If it’s the Pistons, Cade Cunningham is a matchup headache and foundational to everything they do offensively.
If it’s the Cavaliers, they have a two-headed attack with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
As those guards go, their teams go.
Offensively, everything runs through them.
“It’s huge,” Miles McBride said. “Obviously, every round gets tougher. Different opponents, different challenges, so having a great point-of-attack [defense] on the perimeter is super important. And then trusting our guys at the rim to make plays or rotations. But it’s about energy and effort and just the whole team locking in.”
The Knicks struggled in that department for the first half of the year, in a unique scheme that emphasized forcing ball handlers into the middle of the court.
Their defense was getting broken down too frequently, resulting in open shots for opponents.
Midway through the year, they switched that scheme to a much more traditional one — forcing ball handlers to the sideline and baseline and placing an emphasis on keeping them out of the middle of the court and the paint.
The results were much better.
Mikal Bridges defends during the Knicks’ May 10 playoff game against the 76ers. Imagn Images
In the first round against the Hawks, they did a strong job on Jalen Johnson (who is not a guard but is a perimeter scorer), though CJ McCollum torched them the first three games of the series.
Then, after switching Josh Hart onto him, the Knicks made McCollum a nonfactor and cruised into the second round.
Mikal Bridges — along with McBride at times — did a terrific job stifling Tyrese Maxey in the second round against the 76ers.
Hart neutralized VJ Edgecombe.
The offensive transformation by the Knicks gets most of the attention.
But their defensive dominance — especially on the perimeter — has been key to this seven-game winning streak and the unprecedented blowouts.
Miles McBride defends during the Knicks’ May 8 playoff game against the 76ers. Getty Images
“We have to make sure that at the point of attack, there’s ball pressure with a little bit of physicality, but without fouling, without sending a guy to the free-throw line,” coach Mike Brown said. “And then knowing it’s not just the guy that’s at the point of attack, but it’s all five guys guarding the basketball. And whenever the ball moves, all five guys have to move with it. And then lastly, mixing up your coverages but being able to understand the different coverages and being able to go back and forth between them pretty seamlessly.”
Bridges and Hart — and McBride off the bench — would likely match up with Mitchell and Harden, though OG Anunoby could be an option as well.
Cunningham and the Pistons would be a bit trickier.
His size and strength are uncommon for most guards, a big reason he has risen to superstar status.
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Bridges does not always handle stronger opponents as well as he does the smaller, quicker ones.
Last year, the Knicks primarily had Anunoby guard Cunningham.
“It starts with defense,” Bridges said. “I think that’s the biggest key. Just do what my coaches ask and play hard, knowing the scout [report]. Just me personally, just trying to do the right things and then always knowing I got four guys behind me. Such a team defense that we’re [playing] and everybody just knowing what we’re supposed to be doing and playing on a string.”
The effort on the perimeter has a domino effect on the Knicks bigs as well.
Karl-Anthony Towns, in particular, improved defensively in the second half of the regular season.
It’s no coincidence it aligned with their schematic change and improved perimeter defense.
“Point of attack is important, it’s the most important thing,” Towns said. “To have our wings and our guards playing defense at the perimeter at a high level, it makes my job easier but also makes our team better. Shout-out to them.”
Right now, the Knicks perimeter defense certainly deserves a shout-out.
Jaylen Brown controls the ball against Tyrese Maxey. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
As heartbreaking as it is to watch a team with legitimate championship aspirations fall in the first round to a rival, there is a silver lining for grieving Celtics fans.
With the extra few weeks, the Celtics can allocate even more time to an area that separates them from the bulk of other NBA teams: player development. OK, maybe it doesn’t remove the pain of the loss entirely, but hey, it’s something.
As they turn the page – with the caveat that some of these players may head elsewhere – here’s one area of improvement for each member of the Celtics this offseason.
Jayson Tatum: full strength
I still find it truly remarkable how fluid, strong and polished Tatum looked given all that transpired. You really felt for the guy when he missed Game 7 and can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had been out there.
Tatum should use this offseason to ensure he’s 100 percent good to go, feels like himself and is fully comfortable heading into next season. Give him all the credit in the world for responding the way he did, but that chapter of his career is in the past now, and it’s time to fortify the future.
3 YEARS AGO TODAY Jayson Tatum scored the most points ever in a Game 7: 51!
Tatum's Career Highs ▪️ Regular Season (60) ▪️ Playoffs (51) ▪️ All-Star Game (55) ▪️ Play-In Tournament (50) pic.twitter.com/YSxHpu13W8
Brown improved in almost every area, both with the eye test and statistically, and proved he’s more than capable of being “the guy.”
This is nitpicking, because he was so outstanding, but he needs to improve his decision making slightly for the Celtics to take the next step. Sometimes it felt like Brown made up his mind that he was going to shoot and would miss open teammates in the corner.
He averaged 3.6 turnovers per game, which was the fifth most in the NBA. When you account for the fact that Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Cade Cunningham are right above him, it doesn’t look so bad, but it’s still an area worth monitoring. Yes, he has the ball a lot, and yes, turnovers are going to happen, but he can still cut down on them slightly.
Derrick White: consistent shooting
White is one of the most likable Celtics ever, and he still contributes in so many ways when his shot is off, but it’s fair to say his shooting hurt the Celtics last season.
He shot a career-low 39.4 percent from the field and saw his 3-point percentage plummet from 38.4 in 2024-25 to 32.7 last year. One interesting note: Those numbers increased to 47.8 and 42.4 in April. With Tatum back in the mix, White’s scoring numbers went down and his efficiency went up.
While aggressiveness is important, sometimes less is more for White. The most important part is to not overthink it and just play the game. Easier said than done. He’s unquestionably the biggest X-factor on the team with the way the roster is currently constructed.
Payton Pritchard: defensive versatility
The guy really needs to get better at end-of-quarter shooting. He missed one against the Sixers. Inexcusable. But seriously, Pritchard had an excellent season all around. While he has many admirable traits, for me, No. 1 is that he truly makes concrete improvements to his game every year.
You want every player to do that, but the reality is that some do and some don’t. Pritchard legitimately gets better every year. This offseason, the point of emphasis should be defensive versatility. Pritchard is a solid defender, and he plays extremely hard, yet it still feels like teams pick on him in the paint sometimes.
Part of that is just the fact that he’s 6’1, and it is what it is, but there are ways to counteract it: avoid switching in the first place, beat your defender to the spot, gamble at the right moments to get steals. He’s not a liability on that end, however there is still room to grow.
The top 5 guards in Luck Adjusted Offensive RAPM (advanced plus/minus)
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 1.7 2. Cade Cunningham 1.5 3. Sam Merrill 1.3 4. Payton Pritchard 1.3 5. Luka Doncic 1.2
Imagine it. Queta sets a screen at the top of the key, both defenders swarm toward ball-handler Tatum or Brown and the big rotates to clog the paint. Queta simply stops near the free-throw line, catches the over-the-shoulder pass and sticks a mid-range jumper.
He can do it. He really can. No one is asking him to attempt five 3-pointers a game – not yet, anyway – but establishing himself as a legitimate threat to shoot would give the Celtics yet another option and make defenses scramble even more. The fact that Queta has improved so much in the past couple years means he’s capable of adding another trick to his steadily growing repertoire.
Sam Hauser: minimize cold spells
Give Hauser a lot of credit. The Celtics asked him to improve his defense and he did. They asked him to add playmaking to complement his shooting and he did. They asked him to shoot without a conscience and he did.
The next step is to ensure he doesn’t have cold spells throughout the season. It’s easier said than done (trust me, I know all too well), but Hauser is capable. For instance, he shot 27.5 percent from 3 in November, 45.1 percent in January, then 33 percent in March.
Shooting in the high-30s to low-40s consistently, rather than in spurts, goes a long way.
Baylor Scheierman: continue to play with confidence
As a big-time Scheierman believer since his college days, it was very cool to see him come out of his shell and establish himself as a consistent NBA role player.
You could see something shift with him, where he started to realize he truly belonged just played, rather than thinking about how he was playing. The goal now is to do that for an entire season. He deserves to be out there, logging heavy minutes on a talented team, and he needs to continue to believe in himself and his abilities.
Everything we thought we knew about Vucevic was true. Great teammate, great spacer, great veteran … not a great defender.
That’s OK. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. That’s life, and I’m sure he’s worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to become less of a liability on that end. But, the unfortunate reality for both Vucevic and the Celtics is that he truly is a liability on that end. So, how do you compensate for that? With all-out hustle and intensity. That’s not to say he’s not hustling, because he is, but I think becoming a bit more of a maniac on that end would benefit him.
Dive for a loose ball, foul someone with conviction, pound your chest. See what happens.
Jordan Walsh: develop your bag and look to drive
I’ve written about this before, but Walsh has come a long way. He used to think “Should I shoot it? Should I shoot it?” Now, he just shoots it, and it’s been fun to watch his growth.
The next step is to become more of a playmaker. Walsh is long, athletic, versatile and rangy. He’s capable of beating guys off the dribble. It would be fun to see him throw an upfake, accelerate to the rim, spin to his left hand and finish in traffic at the rim, for instance. He can do it.
Luka Garza: defend without fouling
I’m not sure there’s a player on the roster who maximizes each ounce of athleticism in his body more than Garza. Not to say he’s not athletic (he is), but relatively speaking, he’s someone who makes the most of each window he has. That’s an admirable trait.
With that in mind, anything here is trivial, but I would say defending without fouling would help Garza moving forward. He averaged 2.3 fouls per game in 16.2 minutes, which equals out to more than fouling out per 48. Slicing that number to, say, 1.5, would help significantly.
Barring a surprising twist, González isn’t going anywhere and is a key part of the equation in the years to come. He’s already a menace defensively, and improving his offensive crispness would go a long way. He’s still a baby, so it will take some time, but that’s the next step.
Ron Harper Jr.: make yourself indispensable
Harper Jr. is better than I thought he was. That kid is legit. Use the fuel you have of constantly hearing that about how great your brother and dad are and continue to prove you belong. Make it so the Celtics can’t put you in a trade package, and if they keep you, make it so they can’t take you off the floor.
Dalano Banton: showcase your versatility
Banton is a pretty unique player. Not many guys are that tall and find themselves playing point guard when they enter the game. Beat guys off the dribble, back them down, make the extra pass, block shots, get steals and run. Prove you can do it all.
Amari Williams: fine-tune your post moves
Williams is long and athletic and he can disrupt bigs and get them out of a rhythm. I personally would have tried him against Joel Embiid for a few minutes to see what happened (no one else could guard him, so they had nothing to lose). He likely would have roasted him, but it would have been an interesting experiment. Williams is a promising player who should work on his post moves to earn a spot on the floor.
Max Shulga: 3-point shooting
In order to last in the league, Shulga has to prove he can consistently hit the 3-ball. While he’s a solid passer, and a smart player, shooting efficiently is imperative.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 15: Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs drives to the basket during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves during Round Two Game Six of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 15, 2026 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs are 2-0 in elimination games this postseason. The Silver and Black smacked the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 in Game 6 to secure a spot in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2017. In a series that felt incredibly close through all six games, the Spurs won three games by 29 points or more. Now they’ll get a chance to play the Oklahoma City Thunder with an NBA Finals appearance on the line.
The Spurs got a full-team effort in the victory. All but one player who logged a minute got a bucket, and six players scored double digits. They were led by Stephon Castle, who had his best game of the playoffs so far. They’ll need similar performances in the next round, where they will be underdogs for the first time this postseason. The Thunder are -260 favorites to win the Western Conference on FanDuel.
Since the Spurs won an elimination game, these player grades will be on a curve. As a quick reminder, player grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “B” grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.
Wembanyama didn’t need to carry the weight offensively thanks to the all-around performance of his teammates. Still, he was super efficient, mainly taking shots inside the paint, scoring over the top of the Wolves on lobs or put-backs. He had a good whistle on Friday, as he got to the line 9 times, converting 7 free throws.
Defensively, it was the same story as it has been all series. He took away a lot of looks in the paint, and almost every floater or mid-range jumper outside of it. Minnesota never found any answers for Wemby in this series, and that’s a big part of why the Spurs won it.
This was Fox’s best game of the series. He was in total control from tip-off. He got to his spots with ease and scored at will in the paint. His three-point jumper was finally working. Maybe it was because he was left wide open by the Wolves on most of his three attempts. Got to his spots and hit shots. He continued to be a strong point defensively, funneling Minnesota’s ball-handlers into Wembanyama. This is two straight elimination games where Fox has played well, which is a good sign for San Antonio’s next series.
This might have been the best game of Castle’s playoff career. He set the tone early, scoring 14 first-quarter points. The Wolves came out guarding Castle with Gobert in an effort to get him roaming for blocks on defense. It did not work. Castle still got into the paint when he wanted, and he made Gobert pay for sagging off of him, making 5-for-7 of his three-pointers.
Castle has kind of been the enforcer for the Spurs throughout the playoffs. It’s fitting that he closed it out by enforcing his will on the Wolves.
Champagnie was an eye-popping +35 in this game. His defense off the ball was fantastic, as he got into the passing lanes for steals. He hit devastating shots from three (including one right in front of Alex Rodriguez) and got to the rim for a sweet finish in traffic. Champagnie has been doing exactly what contenders need from their role players – hit shots and defend well.
Vassell hit timely shots as the Spurs were making their large runs in the second and third quarters. It’s great to see some of his threes start to fall after going so cold from deep for most of the playoffs. He should be commended for his efforts guarding Anthony Edwards in this series. That was a very difficult matchup, and he rose to the test. It bodes well for the Spurs, who will likely need him to spend some time guarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the WCF.
Harper continues to thrive as a defender. He’s so strong and athletic, and his motor is much higher than a lot of guards his age. Guarding at the point of attack and grabbing contested rebounds were some of the most impactful things he did in this series. On the other end, he is developing into one of the league’s most promising young scorers. He can just finish in the rim in a variety of ways – through contact, over the top of shot blockers, or putting English on the ball to get it around the defense. Harper was fantastic on Friday and is going to be a very special player moving forward.
It wasn’t Johnson’s best night. He was benched after some poor on- and off-ball defense in the second quarter. Teams with athleticism and length are a tough matchup for him. We’ll see if he can turn things around against OKC.
Kornet was excellent at protecting the rim on Friday. He was in the right places positionally and got his hands on enough balls to stop the Wolves from scoring at the basket. He becomes a very important player for the WCF. The Thunder have big, physical centers like Isaiah Hartenstein, who Kornet will need to contend with inside.
Barnes played some fun minutes in the fourth quarter. He knocked down a corner 3 and was active on the glass. He’s largely been out of the rotation in the playoffs. We’ll see if he has a role in the next round against OKC.
Bryant’s energy was incredible off the bench. He was a big part of the second-quarter run that built a big lead. His defensive effort on Edwards was great. He’s so physical, fast, and long that he can really pester opposing guards. He still needs to work on being better positionally, and he can overplay on the ball, but the effort and athleticism make up for those mistakes. He’s going to be a quality player when he puts it all together.
OG Anunoby appears to be ready for the Eastern Conference finals.
For the second straight day, he practiced fully, and while the standout two-way wing wouldn’t guarantee he would be available for Game 1 on Tuesday against either the Cavaliers or the Pistons, it sure sounds that will be the case.
For starters, he is able to sprint.
“Getting better each day,” Anunoby said after Saturday’s practice, which included some full-contact work. “Feel good today.”
OG Anunoby has been working his way back from an injury. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Knicks may have dodged a bullet, unlike two years ago when a hamstring injury sidelined Anunoby early in a second-round series loss to the Pacers.
He injured the hamstring in Game 2 of that series and tried to play in Game 7, but clearly wasn’t healthy. When this injury happened, he didn’t get flashbacks.
“It wasn’t like the previous ones, for sure,” he said. “So, it was better than before. … I never think about the past. Just dealing with it in the moment. It didn’t feel as bad as it had in the past when it happened, so just knowing that, just trying to improve it day-by-day.”
Getting Anunoby back is obviously a major plus for the Knicks, even if they did crush the 76ers by a combined 44 points in the two games that he missed. Both Landry Shamet and Miles McBride played well in his absence. But Anunoby is a difference-maker at both ends of the floor.
At the time of his injury, he was averaging 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks in the playoffs. He was also shooting a sensational 53.8 percent on 4.9 attempts from 3-point range, and the Knicks were outscoring the opposition by 20 points per 100 possessions with him on the court.
“To go through that is not fun during this time of the year, because a lot of things come into play. We’re trying to get to the top of the mountain during this time of the year. You need some luck, you need some skill, you need everybody to be healthy to a certain degree,” coach Mike Brown said. “All that stuff, you want, knock on wood, to be going the right way for you whenever game time comes.”
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby speaking to the media after practice at the Knicks Training facility in Tarrytown, New York on May 16, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
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While much has been made of the Knicks’ extended, nine-day layoff following their sweep of the 76ers, the one major bonus is it has given Anunoby time to get healthy.
He will have had 12 days off by the time Game 1 rolls around on Tuesday.
“He’s been back. He looks good to me,” Mikal Bridges said. “So, I think maybe the crowd, maybe the fans and media worried a little bit more, but I know how OG works and how his body is. I think he’ll be alright.”
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves ended their playoff run with Friday night’s 139-109 loss to the Spurs.Photograph: Abbie Parr/AP
The Minnesota Timberwolves are out of the NBA playoffs. It’s a miracle it took this long. In their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, they saw two starters and another key reserve suffer significant injuries. The Nuggets entered the series on a 12-game winning streak and were favored from the jump. After somehow winning that series in six games, finding Denver’s weak points and pummeling them until they broke, the Wolves met an even more daunting opponent in the San Antonio Spurs. Though they’d have been forgiven for tiredly accepting a sweep, the Wolves swiped Game 1 on the Spurs’ home floor, then a close Game 4 at home. After that, the tank finally ran empty. But even in the losses – including Friday night’s in Game 6 – the Wolves found ways to frighten. They’d go down 18-3 and then tie the game by the end of the first quarter. They’d tighten a 29-point deficit to 12 entering half-time. The tenacity and spite they played with was a finite resource, but at times this postseason it was potent enough to convince me otherwise.
The Wolves were not the deepest team in these playoffs, nor the most consistent. They may lie closer to the bottom of those categories than the top. After their elimination, coach Chris Finch and players alike admitted they’d failed to take the regular season seriously enough, failing to set themselves up well for the high-stakes games of April and May. (My old teachers probably shared a similar sense of disappointment in me before finals.) And yet this odd bunch regularly play some of the most soulful basketball in the NBA. Anthony Edwards can take over a game at any time, either by shooting deep threes or acrobatic layups. French albatross Rudy Gobert anchors the defense, which the team plays with astonishing vigor at its best. The best athletes are sometimes so clinical that they produce a rather emotionless watching experience, but certain passages of Timberwolves basketball inspire in me feelings of pure glee.
The Wolves are also mercifully resistant to caring about how others perceive them. A segment from a news conference after Game 2 against Denver played out like a scene from The Office. Edwards chose the phrase “beat that shit” to describe his aspirational rebounding performance, making teammate Julius Randle dissolve into giggles. During the Nuggets series, Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels announced the team’s plan: they would go right at the opposition, attacking the rim, because Denver’s players were “all bad defenders”. McDaniels then proceeded to list several Nuggets, including those who are generally considered good defenders. (Naturally, he wore a black hoodie while delivering this quote, hood up.) At the end of Game 4, McDaniels hit a layup with two seconds left, the Wolves’ lead already safe, which angered the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić into sprinting down the court to get in McDaniels’s face with a vigor rarely seen in his defensive efforts. McDaniels simply laughed, untroubled by the seething 6ft 11in man-mountain. Then he coolly scored 32 points in Game 6, the best performance of anyone that night, to close out the series.
Nikola Jokic sprints after Jaden McDaniels layup highlights
Even against the Spurs, the Wolves showed their cunning. After losing the opener, the Spurs took the next two games and appeared in full control. “I’m built for this,” an elated Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ irreplaceable 7ft 4in dynamo, said of the challenging physicality of the playoffs. “I love this more than anything else.” Just as everyone was talking about Wemby’s implacable calm, his God-given mindset, the Wolves made him snap. In Game 4, McDaniels and Naz Reid picked and poked away at Wemby’s inflatable-bendy-man body until the typically calm Frenchman nailed Reid in the face with a vicious elbow. Wemby was ejected, and in his absence the Wolves secured a narrow win. “Today is Mother’s Day,” Edwards said after the game, his mother having died in 2015. “I couldn’t lose this game for her.” As for Reid, don’t worry about his neck. “Pain is weakness leaving the body,” he declared, to chuckles from his teammates.
It’s a small tragedy that the Wolves almost certainly won’t win a championship without drastic changes to their roster. The Oklahoma City Thunder, who eliminated the Wolves en route to winning the Larry O’Brien last year, are primed to begin a dynasty. The Spurs are young and have almost no playoff experience; they may already be good enough to win the title this year, but they’re still nowhere near their final form. In those transcendent moments when the Wolves are operating with full intensity in sync with one another, they can match those teams. But they can’t do it over the course of a seven-game series. Talk now will turn to trading Randle, who could rarely get his offense going during these playoffs.
Still, the Wolves’ legacy as an occasionally brilliant motley crew who delight in upset victories is a good one. Very few analysts picked them to beat the Nuggets this year, or the Lakers in last year’s playoffs, or the Nuggets the year before that, but the Wolves won all those series. Though they don’t have the silverware to show for it, they’re as responsible for injecting entertainment into the playoffs as any other team. I look forward to furiously defending their honor when NBA fans of the 2040s blame them for not going deeper into the playoffs during this era.
The Wolves’ run ending here is probably for the best. Oklahoma City are waiting in the next round, and since December, it’s been clear that only the Spurs are capable of asking the Thunder potentially unanswerable questions. The entire season has been building towards that dialogue spread over a series, and now we’ll get to see it. I’ll relish those games when they come, but for now, I’m sad I won’t get to watch the playoff Wolves again until next year.
Did someone leak the “script” for the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals?
In a mistake sure to motivate the Pistons and provide fodder for conspiracy theorists who believe sports are fixed, ABC affiliates from Alabama to California, South Carolina and Nebraska aired a commercial promoting the Knicks-Cavaliers conference finals series, according to Awful Announcing.
The only problem is that the Pistons beat the Cavaliers, 115-94, in Game 6 of their conference semifinals series Friday night, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday.
ABC wants to get you hyped up for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and the… Cavaliers? pic.twitter.com/YLj9NvDXTA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 16, 2026
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after scoring during the first quarter during Game 4 against the 76ers. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Pistons are a 4.5-point favorite at FanDuel.
ABC and ESPN will air the entire Eastern Conference finals.
“The Cavs eye another upset,” the commercial began, showing video of the Cavaliers with an advantage over the Pistons, “while the Knicks carry the dreams of all of New York.”
The tease then showed a promo for Cavaliers at Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, when it would have been the standalone game.
All that would have been the case if the Cavaliers had finished off the Pistons in Game 6 at home Friday night, but Detroit rebounded from a tough home overtime loss in Game 5 to force Game 7.
The promo that aired … for a game that won’t happen. @awfulannouncing/XCleveland Cavaliers’ James Harden (1) shoots between Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren (0) and Daniss Jenkins (24) in the second half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Star Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 21 points in a balanced effort, while Donovan Mitchell had a rough night for the Cavaliers with a minus-25 rating despite scoring 18 points.
Instead, the series will start Tuesday night — either with the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden or with the Knicks visiting the Pistons in a rematch from last year’s first-round series.
So, the network has plenty of time between Sunday night’s Game 7 in Detroit and Tuesday night to promote the correct two teams squaring off without getting button-happy.
