Category: NBA

The NBA Draft Lottery is finished and we now know which teams will be picking in what order. This means there is pretty much 20/20 vision as to where Arizona standouts Brayden Burries and Koa Peat will be heading. It would be the third consecutive year that a Wildcat was taken in the NBA Draft and the second straight year that one was taken in the first round.

If Burries and Peat are taken, they would be players six and seven taken in the Tommy Lloyd era. Overall, they would be the eighth and ninth players under Lloyd to make it to the NBA.

Last year it was Carter Bryant going to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round, while the year before it was Pelle Larsson taken by the Miami Heat in the second round. Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry, and Christian Koloko were taken in the 2022 NBA Draft. Undrafted free agents Keshad Johnson and Caleb Love have also played in the NBA.

While Burries and Peat are the standouts from Arizona who have entered this year’s draft, Jaden Bradley is also projected to be taken in the second round.

Here are some projections as to where all three players could be taken on various mock drafts. Analysis from each site is included in italics when provided:

Brayden Burries

ESPN: No. 9 to Dallas Mavericks

Burries endeared himself to teams over the course of the season as a steady two-way contributor with room to grow as a scorer. Scouts see an intriguing upside as he continues to improve as an on-ball playmaker, but he is a solid enough shooter to play the 2, giving him appealing versatility. He is older than other freshman guards in the lottery and not as toolsy or flashy, but he might be closer to directly impacting winning.

New York Times: No. 9 to Mavericks

Burries was the leading scorer on one of the top three teams in the country, despite a slow start that saw him average just 7.8 points in his first five games. From that point, he averaged 17.3 points while shooting 51 percent from the field, 41 percent from 3 and 81 percent from the foul line in his final 34 games. He’s also an aggressive rebounder who grabbed 5.5 boards per game in that time, while averaging 2.4 assists as a solid ball mover who didn’t take many bad shots.

The question is about separating from his man consistently, as he’s more of a power guard who uses the threat of his shot to keep defenders off-balance. Burries turned into a really good defender by the end of the year and averaged 1.5 steals. For Dallas, Burries would be a terrific complement to Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving as they look to make a jump next year.

CBSSports: No. 9 to Mavericks

Burries is a strong and aggressive two-way guard who can get downhill with force, provide a formidable three-point shooter, and simultaneously defend his position. He’s also more physically ready to make the transition to the NBA game than most of the other one-and-done guards in the draft. Alongside Cooper Flagg, the Mavs not only have young talent, but young two-way talent.

Koa Peat

ESPN: No. 24 to New York Knicks

Peat opted to declare for the draft and has an opportunity to play his way up the boards with a strong predraft process. Some teams viewed him as an excellent candidate to return to school and improve his stock, an option that remains available to him. Scouts view his perimeter shooting as a critical swing skill that will impact his trajectory, as he is not particularly effective scoring outside 15 feet at this stage of his career. But his strength and quickness relative to his size, coupled with a solid offensive feel and ability to guard the perimeter, give him a chance to find a niche in the right situation.

New York Times: No. 16 to Memphis Grizzlies

Peat prompts a wide range of opinions from NBA scouts. On the plus side, he has won everywhere he’s been and is one of the most decorated players in his age group. He won state titles and four gold medals with Team USA in youth events, then helped carry Arizona to a Final Four. He averaged 14.1 points while shooting 53 percent from the field and is a tough, physical rebounder. He passes well and makes excellent decisions to keep his team in the flow of the offense, be it in short rolls out of ball screens or on the wing. If you need him to score, he can do that as we saw in the NCAA Tournament, where he averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and taking a bigger offensive load. Or, he can slide into a role as a tough, physical defender who takes on different matchups and then makes quick reads.

Yet, the flaws jump off the page. He’s not really a shooter, as he’s only taken 20 3-point attempts and made seven of them while hitting just 62.3 percent of his attempts at the foul line — basically in line with his averages at lower levels. Defensively, he’s not overly fast, and there are possessions when you see him get beaten laterally by quicker players, although I did think he was a good defender by the end of the season.

CBSSports: No. 14 to Charlotte Hornets

Peat is another polarizing prospect because he’s strong, physical, can finish, rebound, short-roll to get downhill, and even play-make a bit, but doesn’t shoot. He was pivotal to Arizona’s Big 12 championships and Final Four run, and loaded with winning intangibles. That DNA is very much in line with what we saw Charlotte prioritize last year, when they nailed the 2025 draft with Kon Knueppel, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Sion James.

Jaden Bradley

ESPN: No. 51 to Washington Wizards

New York Times: No. 48 to Orlando Magic

It’s also worth noting that former Arizona Wildcat Henri Veesaar is projected, in most mock drafts, to go to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 25. Tune in on June 23 to see where the next “Wildcats in the NBA” will be heading.

Now that the draft lottery is over, people can start to make some educated guesses about who goes to what team.

Here’s an interesting factor we had not considered: not only is Carlos Boozer Cameron Boozer’s father, he’s also a scout for the Utah Jazz, and the Jazz hold the #2 pick.

Utah can get an 18-year scouting report on Boozer. In all seriousness, Carlos could deliver the most in-depth analysis of not just Cameron’s basketball talents, but also the most in-depth psychological analysis any athlete has ever received.

The question is how objective he could be. Even so, it’s a valuable gift to the Jazz, whatever they decide to do.

Generally speaking, everyone seems to expect Washington to take BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the #1 pick. But this guy argues that Washington needs post play more, and Boozer fits the bill.

On the other hand, here’s an argument that Boozer’s tailor-made for Memphis, that he and Zach Edey would be monstrous inside. He would also be teammates with near-Devil Cedric Coward, who committed to Duke as a transfer last season before opting to stay in the draft.

Meanwhile, this article expects that with the fourth pick, Chicago will get either Boozer or UNC’s Caleb Wilson. If it works out that way, that’s not bad.

• Cameron Boozer Draft Stakes Loom Large After 2026 Lottery
• How Cameron Boozer became the most polished NBA prospect
• Cameron Boozer: NBA draft scouting report and intel

Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line

INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers won Game 3 against the Detroit Pistons, but in a way that their head coach called “unsustainable” 15 minutes after the final buzzer. The next day after practice, he echoed those same sentiments.

“I hate to keep bringing up that possession game stat, -14,” Kenny Atknison said about Game 3. “I think there’s a big difference between the first and second half. Minus two in the possession game in the second half. So we did better. Like I said postgame, that’s not sustainable, especially the rebounding.”

The Pistons are one of the best teams in the league at grabbing offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers. They collected 34.3% of their missed shots in the regular season (2nd) and turned over their opponent on 16.8% of defensive possessions (1st). Consistently creating more opportunities for their offense allowed a somewhat stagnant attack to finish the season just inside the top 10 for offensive rating.

We’ve seen the benefit of this through the first three games of the series.

Support us and Let ‘Em Know with HOMAGE!

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Jarrett Allen Fro shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE.

The Pistons have grabbed over 34% of their missed shots in all three games so far this series. That puts them above the 69th percentile or better each game. This has translated to 19, 16, and 18 second-chance points.

The Cavs cleaned up the turnover issues after struggling in Game 1. They’ve committed a lower percentage of turnovers for possessions in the most recent two games of the series. They’ve shown that they can overcome this problem. The same isn’t true for the rebounding, which is worrying Atkinson.

There are a couple of factors that go into winning the rebounding battle. How you play defense is one of them.

“There’s certain schemes you rebound better at,” Atkinson said. “It’s just a fact. So we take that into account. Unfortunately, they got a great player (Cade Cunningham). We have to be up higher. Our bigs aren’t as close to the rim.”

Physicality is the other.

“Their bigs are elite, elite at offensive rebounding,” Atkinson said. “A lot of times, our bigs are wrestling with their bigs. That’s why Donovan [Mitchell] having 10 rebounds was huge last night. Max [Strus] is coming in. It’s going to be a guard-rebounding series.”

These clips show why that’s so important. Jarrett Allen and/or Evan Mobley are busy boxing out Detroit’s bigs. If you’re boxing out properly, making sure your assignment doesn’t get the ball, you’re creating a way for one of your teammates to come in and secure the possession.

Rebounding is a team activity, and not always an individual stat.

“We are giving it our best effort,” Jarrett Allen said. “They are strong. They are big bruisers down there, and will say even though we don’t get the rebounds, Donovan having 10 rebounds last night, six rebounds in the other game [is huge].”

The Cavs have shown for spurts that they can keep Detroit off the glass. Particularly, down the stretch of Game 3 where they allowed just five offensive rebounds compared to the 12 they surrendered in the first half. Whether they’re able to play more like the second half or not will go a long way in determining whether they can come back in this series.

Sunday evening’s Game 4 in Minneapolis did not go as planned for the San Antonio Spurs.

With  8:39 left in the second quarter, Wemby was ejected when his right elbow hit Reid’s throat.

Forgetting for a second that, had it been any other player, the elbow would have landed on Reid’s chest, the foul represents a lapse in Victor’s judgement and tranquility. Considering his pursuit of ethical basketball, the move is most uncharacteristic.

Unfortunately, the implications of the flagrant technical 2 are not yet complete. Victor Wembanyama could face a game suspension of the incident due to the nature of this foul. The NBA will review the play as standard procedure, which means there is a chance the league could decide on its own punishment.

After the game, head coach Mitch Johnson praised Wemby for “protecting himself,” pointing out that Wemby has been physically challenged beyond a realm of appropriate.

After the game, studio analysts Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady said there is no chance Wemby misses Game 5.

Spurs are back in San Antonio Tuesday night for the tiebreaker at the Frost Bank Center.

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

The New York Knicks are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season after completing a dominating sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday afternoon.

After falling behind 2-1 against the Atlanta Hawks in the Quarterfinals, there were questions to if this current Knicks nucleus could win in the postseason and make a realistic push for the NBA Finals to contend for a title.

New York answered those questions by becoming one of the hottest teams in all of basketball, and in large part due to the offensive play of Karl-Anthony Towns, who put on an absolute clinic over the last four games.

In Sunday’s series clincher, KAT put up 17 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and two blocks in just 20 minutes.

The former Kentucky Wildcat averaged 15 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists over the four-game sweep in just 23 minutes of action. He’s completely taken control of facilitating the offense and has the Knicks as the favorite to represent their conference in the NBA championship.

One flaw for Towns, though, has been his play on the defensive end, and that could become a problem as the postseason continues. Towns committed four or more fouls in each game of the semis, leading to fewer minutes on the court and leading to inconsistencies with the Knicks’ lineups.

He has four or more fouls in seven of the 10 playoff games so far, so it’s a consistent issue that he’s going to have to fix if the Knicks hope to win another series — or two — over the next month.

Tweet of the Day

Hope every mom had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Headlines

Late Additions Have Changed Kentucky Basketball Seasons – KSR

Hard to believe this is the year.

Knicks sweep 76ers, return to Eastern Conference finals – ESPN

Red hot.

A Keith Bogans Jersey Belongs in the Rupp Arena Rafters – KSR

Absolutely.

Wizards win draft lottery; Jazz, Grizz, Bulls round out top 4 – ESPN

The order is set.

PREDICTION: Kentucky Beats Alabama in Will Stein’s SEC Opener – KSR

This would be something.

Pritchard on Pacers losing No. 5 pick: ‘Sorry’ to our fans – ESPN

Mega fumble.

Kentucky Makes the Final Cut for Coveted Offensive Line Target – KSR

Big momentum boost.

Scott Boras: Tigers ace Tarik Skubal could have short rehab – ESPN

Good news for Detroit.

The 2026 NBA Draft lottery is in the books. Every NBA team knows when it's drafting in the 2026 NBA Draft, and so now the evaluation process begins in full. Front office personnel from around the league, top prospects and their agents have all convened in Chicago this week for the annual NBA draft combine.

The entire draft class typically goes through medical examinations, as well as agility and shooting drills, at Wintrust Arena with private workouts conducted through agents during the week-long event. There are also live-action scrimmages the top of the draft class usually decline to play in, but the right performance in front of so many influential eyes can often propel a fringe prospect.

This year's combine will feel different than some of its recent predecessors due to the decline in underclassmen who have declared for the draft, which is a reflection of the NIL money available at the college level these days. But it nonetheless carries enormous weight for players trying to improve their draft stock while figuring out whether to return to school before the NBA Draft's June 13 early entry withdrawal deadline.

Here's a look at a group of players, as well as two potential college basketball national championship contenders, with the most at stake as the 2026 NBA Scouting Combine gets underway in Chicago:

NBA fans often want their general managers to make decisions that, if they were in the same shoes, they may not make themselves.

It’s human nature. If you’d been there, he wouldn’t have gotten away with it. You’d have done the brave thing. If I were in charge, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Until you’re there, and you don’t, or you are, and we are. For example, NBA fans love the idea of “selling high”. If you were the general manager of an NBA team, you may not be willing to specifically move a player because he’s playing well. When your job is on the line, high-risk profiles lose some appeal.

So I wrote that if I were Rafael Stone, I’d split Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson up this summer. That would mean either moving Sengun for pieces or Thompson for a high-volume three-point shooting star. I will not lose my The Dream Shake position if the Rockets do that and it goes poorly.

Stone probably won’t trade either of his two highest-performing young draftees to date. That’s defensible. That doesn’t mean he should sit on his hands this summer.

So, once again, as someone with minimal skin in the game, as a guy whose life is not affected by the Houston Rockets to any more than the extent to which I allow it to be, I have a plan. If Stone isn’t going to make franchise-altering moves, he still has to tinker on the margins.

He has to do the bare minimum. Here’s a two-step plan for him to do exactly that.

1. Trade Clint Capela for a combo guard

Were you expecting Dorian Finney-Smith?

Again – bare minimum. During the Rockets’ exit presser, there seemed to be a sentiment that Finney-Smith will have a chance to bounce back from an abysmal season with a summer to rehabilitate. To paraphrase 90s Australian pop sensations Savage Garden:

“Oh, I want (him), I don’t know if I need (him), but, oh, I’m (probably going to) find out”.

Yet, there is no reason to keep Capela. He was Steven Adams’ insurance. Adams got hurt, the playoffs came, and Ime Udoka didn’t trust Capela to get on the floor anyway. If nothing else, it was a realistic facsimile of how insurance typically actually does shake out.

As such, Capela will have minimal trade value. Still, the Rockets should be able to fetch someone with his modest contract and some second-round draft capital.

Leading candidates include Tre Mann (who, as an aside, always makes me think of a superhero whose superpower is cashing treys), D”Angelo Russell, Cam Spencer, and Bradley Beal.

Decidedly unsexy names. Still, each would bolster the Rockets’ ball-handling and floor spacing without stepping too firmly on the toes of Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson with a returning Fred VanVleet in the fold. Flipping Capela for a guard would balance the roster:

But we still need that Adams insurance.

2. Sign Andre Drummond

Not a player like Andre Drummond. Not a player with a comparable skillset:

Very specifically, Andre Drummond.

Drummond’s development as a floor spacer has quietly been a watershed moment in the development of the center position. This was one of those guys who was just never going to shoot the three-ball.

How about 35.6% on 1.4 attempts per game? Nobody is mistaking Drummond for the omnipresent Myles Turner, but those are solid apples. He’s a floor spacer now.

He also remains one of the single best rebounders in the history of the NBA. He didn’t play enough minutes to qualify for leader boards, but his 17.5% Offensive Rebounding Percentage would have ranked second in the league, his his 29.8 Defensive Rebounding % fourth, and his overall Rebounding Percentage first in the entire league.

On a related note: Ime Udoka.

If you hadn’t heard, he likes rebounding. Moreover, Drummond’s newfound floor spacing ability should make him a more viable dual big pairing with Sengun. The Rockets need to trade Capela, and then, they need to sign Drummond in free agency to replace him.

It’s the least they can do.

Without a game being played, the NBA draft lottery is one of the most impactful days on the NBA calendar. A surefire way to build a championship-caliber team is with picks at the top of the NBA Draft. The Celtics’ success over the past decade has been driven by two top-3 picks. If you survey this year’s playoff landscape, you see the court littered with guys like Victor Wembanyama, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, and Karl Anthony Towns, Chet Holmgren, all of whom are necessary pillars on playoff juggernauts.

BROOKLYN, NY – JUNE 23: Jaylen Brown shakes hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected number three overall by the Boston Celtics during the 2016 NBA Draft on June 23, 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 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 2016 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler /NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 22: Jayson Tatum walks on stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted third overall by the Boston Celticsduring the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The lottery is especially significant this year. The upcoming draft is viewed as having three, maybe four, franchise-altering prospects: AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Darryn Peterson, and Caleb Wilson. Because I am selfish and can only think of NBA happenings as they pertain to the Boston Celtics, let’s examine how the 2026 NBA Lottery results impact our beloved team.

Most importantly, we avoided the two crisis situations that could have been catastrophic for not just the Boston Celtics but the entire NBA: both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers being stripped of their chance to pick in the top four of this year’s draft. The Thunder are the defending champions and are currently undefeated in the playoffs. Handing them another blue-chip prospect would have been a doomsday scenario for the league. Thankfully, the basketball gods decided that the 7.1% chance of OKC jumping into the top four would not come to fruition. 

Eastern Conference teams can breathe a sigh of relief as the Indiana Pacers not only dropped out of the top four, but lost their pick entirely to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac trade. As we have seen with Jayson Tatum’s recovery from his Achilles injury, it’s reasonable to assume Haliburton can return to his pre-injury self, priming the Pacers to return to their championship-caliber form. Had the Pacers had the chance to add a six-foot-eight Jaylen Brown-type prospect to their team in AJ Dybantsa, it would have fortified them as a contender in the conference. 

While the two most impactful scenarios that could stand in the way of Banner 19 did not come to fruition, it wasn’t a perfect day for the Celtics. With the Washington Wizards, fellow Eastern Conference resident, securing the number one overall pick, they now have an intriguing and potentially dangerous core — “potentially” being the keyword here. I am dubious of a team relying on Anthony Davis to make them a legit playoff contender. Sure, the Sacramento Kings getting the number one pick would have been optimal, but the Wizards are still a long way from being a real threat.

A fun bit of trivia comes out of the Wizards getting the first overall pick; Anthony Davis has now been involved in four instances of teams securing the number one overall pick. AD himself was the number one overall pick. The year Davis left the New Orleans Pelicans, they jumped up in the lottery to select Zion Williamson. After Davis was moved in the Luka Doncic trade, the Dallas Mavericks lucked into the first pick with only a 1.8% chance of jumping into the top spot. And now the Wizards land the number one overall pick.

Next, we have the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies, two Western Conference teams who jumped into the second and third draft slots instead of Eastern Conference teams. While I think it’s possible the Jazz could be frisky and push for 50 wins next season, they are not a threat to win the title. Memphis jumping into the third spot keeps another blue-chip prospect in the West. We love to see that.

If an Eastern Conference team is going to jump up in the Draft Lottery, it may as well be the Chicago Bulls. They have given us very few reasons to believe they are a serious organization since the departure of Michael Joran.

We move to the the fallout as it relates to a potential Celtics trade involving Giannis Antetokounmpo.  Most significantly, the Milwaukee Bucks did not receive the monumental amount of luck needed to turn their bleak situation around. The Bucks required both the Pelicans and their own pick to jump into the top four in order to benefit from any shenanigans. The Miami Heat have been reported as a potential suitor for Giannis, with the Heat staying put at the 13th pick, their trade offer continues to be a pu pu platter of uninspiring young players and mediocre draft picks. For those who are intent on the Celtics trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lottery results have arguably improved the team’s chances of making that happen. 

Lastly, the countdown for the Cooper Flagg trade demand to the Boston Celtics is on. The Dallas Mavericks were not rewarded with back to back years of miraculous lottery luck. They dropped from the 8th best odds to the 9th pick in the draft. Now, the Mavericks do not control their own draft pick until 2031. Dallas will get Kyrie Irving back next season, but he is going into his age 34 season. The path for the Mavericks to get back to playoff contention is murky at best. Will Flagg get fed up with being a perennial lottery team without a lottery pick? We can dream.

And if you have any Brooklyn Nets fans in your life, I would implore you to do a wellness check on them. Their future is bleak. 

Only 34 of the 471 teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in an NBA playoff series have come back and won the series. The Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to become the 35th team to do so as they attempt to climb out of that hole against the Detroit Pistons. Winning Game 4 and evening the series would go a long way in helping them do so.

As of now, the Cavs are favored in Game 4 and have a good chance of doing so. FanDuel lists Cleveland as a 3.5-point favorite in Game 4. So far this series, the favored team has won all three games and covered the point spread in the process. The Cavs are hoping that trend continues on Monday.

The race out of the Eastern Conference is clearing up with the New York Knicks sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers. Understandably, the Knicks are the favorites to come out of the conference as they’re -150 to do so.

The Pistons are closely behind. FanDuel lists them at +200 to win the East. The Cavs are far behind at +650 to do so.

These odds mirror how things look for the Cavs in terms of winning a championship. The Cavs have the fifth-lowest odds to win the Finals among the seven remaining playoff teams at +4000. The Pistons are just in front of them at +1800.

This rationale makes sense. The Cavs are behind in the series. Even if they tied things up in Game 4, they would still need to win on the road at least once to prevail in the series. Picking up a road win has alluded them so far this postseason as they’ve dropped all five road games. Since 2023, the Cavs are a combined 4-13 away from Rocket Arena in the postseason.

We’ll see if the Cavs can come back against the Pistons in their second-round series.

You can follow all of the playoff action with FanDuel.

Victor Wembanyama was ejected for the first time in his NBA career - for elbowing an opponent - as his San Antonio Spurs side were beaten 114-109 by the Minnesota Timberwolves in game four of the Western Conference semi-finals.

France international Wembanyama, 22, had grabbed the rebound of a missed Spurs three-pointer early in the second quarter and was protecting the ball when he turned around and appeared to elbow Timberwolves' Naz Reid in the jaw.

The incident was initially called as a offensive foul, as fans in Minneapolis chanted "kick him out, kick him out".

And, after a video review of the play by the officials, it was upgraded to a flagrant 2 - which is an automatic ejection and a minimum of $2,000 (£1,464) fine - for excessive contact above the neck.

• Lakers one game from exit as Thunder and Cavs win

When the ejection was announced, Wembanyama appeared to ask Spurs team-mate Harrison Barnes: "What does that mean?"

Timberwolves' victory on Sunday levels the best-of-seven series at 2-2 before game five in San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said, while he did not condone Wembanyama's actions, he was glad he "took matters into his own hands" as he believes the 7ft 4in (2.24m) star needs more protection from referees.

Johnson added: "I'm glad Naz Reid is OK and I didn't want him to elbow him. But [Wembanyama's] going to have to protect himself if no-one else does for him. And I think it's disgusting."

Wembanyama finished with four points and four rebounds in just under 13 minutes of action, while his Spurs team-mates De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper scored 24 points each.

Reid, meanwhile, contributed 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves.

"We never expected them just to go away," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.

"They won a game in the Portland series without Wembanyama, so they're a very good team."

Also on Sunday, the New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals as they brushed aside the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 in game four.

Miles McBride scored 25 points and Jalen Brunson added 22 points to hand the Knicks a 4-0 series clean sweep.

The Knicks will take on top-seeded Detroit Pistons or fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA Finals.

Maybe it was a misteak.

The descendant of the brothers credited with creating the first Philly cheesesteak will make the renowned sandwiches at a Long Island pizzeria — while wearing head-to-toe Knicks gear — after losing a bet with the eatery’s co-owner.

Frank Olivieri, proud owner of Philadelphia’s iconic Pat’s King of Steaks, will begrudgingly wear orange and blue while slinging sandwiches at Dario’s Pizza in West Hempstead after the Knicks annihilated the 76ers 144-114 on Sunday.

Olivieri had instigated a friendly wager with the pizza parlor’s co-owner, Louis Cretella. The pair bet on which teams would win, Olivieri siding with the 76ers and Cretella with the Knicks — and the loser would have to travel to the other’s restaurant and cook for a day in the winning team’s gear.

“[Olivieri] wanted to make a wager on game three. I said, let’s bet the whole series,” Cretella told The Post.

Olivieri is accustomed to losing, but held out hope for his Philadelphia team until the bitter end.

“We always have a feeling that the 6ers, or anyone else in Philly are going to come back. We’re used to saying ‘maybe next year’,” he told The Post.

He shrugged off the impending ignominy, adding that he’s “been meaning to try [Dario’s] cheesesteak anyway.”

“I figured it would be a good way to extend some brotherly love to our brothers up in New York and on Long Island,” he added.

Olivieri and Cretella haven’t set a firm date for when the cheesesteak connoisseur will grace the Long Island pizzeria, but suggested that this may not be the end of their game.

“We’re willing to do another bet in the next round, whether it’s a place Cleveland or Detroit, so we’ll see,” Cretella said.

The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and will play the winner of the Detroit Pistons vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers series.

The friendly wager came about after Olivieri learned his ancestors’ cheesey, meaty creation had come under fire amid the NBA’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, where the Knicks were pitted against the 76ers.

Many eateries in New York City seized on the rivalry and cheekily desecrated their menus’ Philly cheesesteaks, including Dario’s Pizza.

Cretella changed the menu item from Philly cheesesteak to the Philly SUCKS cheesesteak in the restaurant’s computer system. Hard copy menus also have the “Philly” crossed out and “F*** Philly” in black marker written over it.

Olivieri took notice and reached out to place the bet he has now lost.

PHILADELPHIA - A few notes from Game 4 of the Knicks’ sweep of the Sixers: 

AWAKENED IN ATLANTA

The seeds for the Knicks’ demolition in Philadelphia were planted about three weeks ago. 

The Knicks, in Miles McBride’s words, got "punched in the mouth" by the Hawks in Game 3 of their first-round series. 

Instead of wilting, New York considered it a wake-up call. 

Yes, the Knicks changed their offense after that loss on April 23 -- that’s been well-documented. 

But the offense isn’t the only thing that changed. 

“I feel like our mindset shifted,” McBride told SNY. “We know we’re the better team (but) we can’t just come out there and expect to win, because they’re talented too. So I feel like our mindset just shifted totally to ‘take the game’ instead of (waiting for) them to give us the game.”

McBride certainly had a "take the game" approach on Sunday. 

He made four three-pointers in an 81-second span to give the Knicks an early 14-point lead.

New York never looked back, building a 24-point lead at halftime and going up by as many as 44 in the second half. 

They beat Philadelphia by 30 to extend their playoff win streak to seven games, winning each of those by an average of 26.4 points. 

Given the circumstances, has any Knick team in the last 50 years played a better seven-game stretch?

Don’t think so. 

Now New York will enter the Eastern Conference Finals as the prohibitive favorite. 

“I think the more we’ve played together as a team, the more we’ve grown. And we’ve continued to get better,” Jalen Brunson said. “It’s a chemistry thing. It’s a feel thing. It’s how things get better. Things get better over time.”

Things are getting better at the right time for Brunson and the Knicks.

A SLOW BUILD

The Knicks underwhelmed for long stretches of the regular season. Fans and media questioned their legitimacy again and again. But that sentiment never effected the team, Brunson says. 

“It was a rollercoaster for sure,” he said. “I think outside the Knicks organization, things looked worse than what they were. From the outside looking in. But inside the building, we were working every single day to be the best team we can be. That’s all we were focusing on. 

“There were times when there were positives and negatives, ups and downs. But that’s what our goals were. And that’s still our goal. Be the best we can be. Continue to learn. Continue to get better. The journey shows you who you are.”

So far, the journey has shown that the Knicks are a resilient, talented team. 

Now, they can take a short rest and get ready for the next round of the playoffs. 

The conference final will start on either Sunday or Monday. Game 4 of Cavs-Pistons is Monday night.

Not sure if you heard, but the Brooklyn Nets fell to the sixth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. If you want to hear the longest F-bomb in the history of Locked on Nets, hosted by Erik Slater, here’s Sunday’s episode, where Slater and I talked and groaned through the latest Brooklyn Nets disappointment…

Terance Mann provided a more SFW reaction on social media…

The two-year tank is over. The Houston Rockets have swap rights with the Brooklyn Nets next season, though given the ultra-flattened odds set to come into effect, there is a world where both the Nets and Rockets miss the playoffs, and Brooklyn gets a decent pick anyway. But GM Sean Marks can’t bank on that, and besides, it’s a bit too early to think about the 2027 NBA Draft Lottery; the Nets have all but sworn to improve next season after winning just 46 games over the past two seasons.

Luckily, they have Head Coach Jordi Fernández, who, despite the record, seems to be pretty good. After that, it’s bleak. Michael Porter Jr., with one more year on his contract, is up for an extension likely in the $40 million range. Nic Claxton, with two years left on his $22 million AAV deal, has likely regressed into negative-value territory, though perhaps there are some executives around the NBA who don’t watch enough of the Nets to know that yet. Day’Ron Sharpe is a pretty good backup center, especially with a $6 million team option next season. Egor Dëmin had a nice rookie season all things considered, though he has much work to do to become a valuable playoff contributor. The other rookies are much, much further away. Josh Minott seems like a real player. Ziaire Williams might be too. We’ll see about Noah Clowney.

Barring some splashy summer moves, that’s about it. So who can the Nets add with the #6 overall pick in June? Who can we get excited about? (Let’s assume that Dybantsa/Boozer/Peterson/Wilson go with the first four picks, in some order.)

Kingston Flemings

I think you’ll hear this name a lot leading up to the NBA Draft. Flemings, a 19-year-old guard who had an incredibly productive freshman season for the University of Houston, had been linked to the Nets throughout the season — perhaps there’s already some mutual interest between the two sides. Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sportsmocked him to the Nets following the lottery drawing…

The quick sell is simple: Flemings defends, he drives the ball, and his 2.9 assist:turnover ratio could indicate some real playmaking ability. And for a guy whose shot was questioned, well, 38.7% from deep on six attempts per 100 ain’t bad, nor is 84.5% from the line and 44% on long twos. At 6’4”, can he play with enough force to finish inside consistently? Does his outside jumper have room to grow?

These are the questions, but given his strengths — not to mention a lauded work ethic and disposition —it’s easy to see the Nets taking a chance on him at #6.

Darius Acuff Jr.

He’s probably going to be there at #6. Maybe the Chicago Bulls take him at #4 ahead of Caleb Wilson, and it’s also possible the Los Angeles Clippers take the SEC Player of the Year at #5 despite already rostering another small guard in Darius Garland.

But it feels like this 19-year-old and the Nets are going to hear a lot about each other in the coming months. Listed 6’3”, Acuff is a polarizing prospect, not because of his height but in part because of his frame. He is quite skinny — shifty but not overly explosive — and he is the betting favorite to be the worst defender in the NBA next season. He rarely rebounded, stole, or deflected the ball in college. It’s not easy for any young guard in the league, but Acuff’s defensive effort at Arkansas was consistently under the microscope, not to mention the frame.

Now that that’s out of the way, good God can he play offense. He was at the absolute center of John Calipari’s offense, handling a ton of pick-and-roll, and shot 60% at the rim, 40% from the midrange, 44% from deep, and had 3x as many assists as turnovers. Again, he won SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Tournament’s MVP. The arguments about what it means to be a small guard in the NBA won’t be fun, but his highlights…that’s another story.

Keaton Wagler

The Illinois guard could certainly get picked by the Clips at #5, but we have another offense-first guard (get used to it) in the mix. ESPN and The Athletic each have the 19-year-old as the #5 overall prospect, as the 6’7” 19-year-old can theoretically play at either guard spot and bring valuable shooting + passing skills to the table. He and Egor Dëmin would comprise the NBA’s least explosive backcourt next season, but some of Wagler’s highlights are just nutty…

Worried that he’s not blowing by people? Fair. But the frame might help him survive; sounds a little bit like a certain Russian ballplayer I know.

Mikel Brown Jr.

Mikel Brown Jr. is already 20 years old and played just 21 games for Louisville in his lone NCAA season, dealing with a lower back injury. You want the sell? Just check out his 45-point night against NC State…

Like Acuff Jr., Brown’s not gonna provide much defensive or rebounding value; he’s going to have to be an overwhelming offensive threat … which he might be.

He rarely got to the rim this season, and didn’t finish well when he got there, and he only shot 34.4% from deep. But Brown shot a million of ‘em, largely off the dribble, shot well on midrange jumpers, and dropped some high-level dimes out of the pick-and-roll. Plus, he was a consensus top-10 player in his high school class, and we know the Brooklyn Nets love them some pre-draft-year pedigree.

Others

My gut is that those are the four names you’ll be hearing the most, but there are certainly not the only options for the Brooklyn Nets at #6. Remember, Egor Dëmin wasn’t even in the picture when Brooklyn first drew #8 last season.

• Labaron Philon Jr.: He’ll turn 21 early next season after playing at Alabama for two seasons, but the 6’4” guard has an electric highlight tape and shot nearly 40% from three this season. He was a better playmaker his sophomore season, and though he put up very few rebounding/defensive numbers, posting a 63 TS% while carrying a huge offensive load is more than impressive.
• Aday Mara: He’s 21, he’s slow, yes, yes, yes. But the Spanish big man is also 7’3” with commendable passing and rim protection instincts. Drafting him at #6 wouldn’t be the sexiest pick, but it’s conceivable that he ends up as one of the draft’s six best players.
• Yaxel Lendeborg: Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents but raised in New Jersey, Lendeborg is 23 years old. He’ll be 24 when training camp opens. However, the big wing was one college basketball’s best all-around players this past season, winning a title with Aday Mara at Michigan while making threes, making twos, rebounding, passing, blocking shots, and rarely turning it over. Is Lendeborg going to be the ideal role-playing wing?
• Dailyn Swain
• NateAment
• Brayden Burries

If we’re making a really long list, I could’ve thrown a couple more names in there. There is little consensus after the first four picks. The Brooklyn Nets have the opportunity to select the best prospect they’ve had since moving to Brooklyn, but it will not be easy.

Let’s get this out of the way now: They are not trading up. It’s not happening.

What the heck would Brooklyn have to offer the teams at the very top of the draft?

Trading down is infinitely more feasible, though perhaps not likely. But it may be the right move for the Nets if they particularly like one of the older prospects like Swain/Lendeborg/Joshua Jefferson or a less heralded guard like Tyler Tanner or Bennett Stirtz. The guards projected to go in the 5-9 range are quite talented, but all have very real question marks. The older prospects, if nothing else, could be more ready to help Brooklyn take a step forward next year, perhaps quelling some of the fanbase’s frustrations. (And saving some jobs?)

The NBA Draft Lottery Gods did not smile upon the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon, but once again regarded them with wrath. That doesn’t mean the Nets can’t draft a great player, though. Here’s to hoping.

Now on the brink of elimination, the Los Angeles Lakers look to avoid being swept in Game 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

When: 7:30 p.m. PT, May 7

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: Prime Video

Unless the Lakers have a miracle in them to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, this series feels pretty much over. No matter what adjustment the Lakers come up with, what’s been established is that they’re simply not better than the Thunder.

And that’s why Los Angeles is on the verge of being swept — unless they have something to say about it.

In order to keep their season alive on Monday, the Lakers have to do something they haven’t done in this series: outplay the Thunder. This means LeBron James and Austin Reaves have to give more than what they already have in the last three games and hope most of their supporting cast play extraordinarily well.

This is what James and Reaves pretty much implied after Game 3. But the question is, will they follow through?

Over the years in the playoffs, there have been times when the Lakers let go of the rope — remember the Nuggets series in 2023 — simply because they couldn’t compete anymore. They can do that on Monday, too, but it’ll be up to them.

This season has obviously not been perfect for the Lakers, but if there are two things they have consistently done, it’s compete to the best of their abilities and rise to the occasion. That’s why it’ll honestly be a surprise if this team doesn’t go down swinging. They owe it to themselves at least to keep fighting until the final buzzer.

Whether fighting means controlling the paint, stepping up their defense, especially against the Thunder’s role players — looking at Ajay Mitchell — or simply coming out stronger in the third quarter, this is the game where the Lakers throw everything they have at OKC and let desperation take over.

Let’s see if that works for the purple and gold and if they can live to fight another day on Monday.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, only Luka Dončić (left hamstring strain) is out.
• As for the Thunder, Jalen Williams (left hamstring strain) and Thomas Sorber (ACL surgery recovery) will not suit up.

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.