The Wisconsin Badgers are losing some major production this offseason, as stars Nick Boyd and John Blackwell will be playing elsewhere next season.

Boyd, a senior this year, will be looking to make his dreams come true in the NBA, while Blackwell, who is testing the NBA Draft waters, committed to play for Duke.

Well, both players got a significant accomplishment on Friday: earning an invite to the 2026 NBA Combine.

Blackwell and Boyd are two of 73 players who were invited to the NBA Combine, joining a long list of players who hope to hear their name called in June.

The Combine will take place from May 10th to 17th, while players must either keep their name in or withdraw from the draft on May 27th. So, in Blackwell’s case, he and the other players testing the draft waters have the opportunity to participate in the combine, receive feedback, and make an informed decision on whether to return to college.

It was a strong year for the duo, who made the case of being the country’s top backcourt this season. Boyd led the way with 20.7 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds, while shooting a respectable 48 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three.

Blackwell, on the other hand, was key as a junior, averaging 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting nearly 39 percent from three-point range.

While he’s expected back at Duke for his senior year, it’ll be a big week for both players as they look towards their future.

After blowing the opportunity to end the series in Game 5, the Lakers, on one day’s rest, came out determined to end the young and hungry Houston’s season Friday night.

With a Game 7 looming, a Lakers defensive masterclass combined with offensive ineptitude from Houston led to just 31 first-half points for the Rockets, giving LA an 18-point halftime advantage en route to a Game 6 win to end series.

​Coming into the playoffs, who won the center matchup between Deandre Ayton and All-Star Alperen Şengün was highlighted as a defining indicator of which team would hold the advantage. Ayton came to LA preaching his renewed focus on defense over offense, and, as he’s done all series, showed it once again Friday night.

​After sending double teams at Şengünin Game 5, the purple and gold went back to single coverage with Ayton. LA’s big man moved his feet, stonewalling Şengün and contesting high without fouling to shut off Houston’s main offensive engine.

As the lead initiator with Kevin Durant out, Şengün had a series-high eight assists in Game 5. It was much different in Game 6, where the single coverage forced him into just one assist and four turnovers on 5-12 shooting.

Houston runs Şengün in more than just straight post-up actions. The Reed Sheppard-Şengün pick and roll had given the Lakers some issues in previous games.

​Watch below as Ayton “shows”— meets the ballhandler at the level of the screen and gives the guard defender Austin Reaves time to recover — and returns to match up with Şengün on the low block. His hands were high, ready to contest, pinning the big man under the basket and forcing an ill-advised behind-the-back pass for a turnover.

A few possessions later, with Houston threatening a second quarter run, they isolated Şengün at the free-throw line extended. Watch as Ayton absorbs three separate body bumps and a ball fake, then extends a contest to get a block on the fade-away attempt.

To start the third, Şengün looked to attack with a head of steam. He catches it on the trail from Amen Thompson and prepares for his patented spin move at the basket. Ayton keeps his position, doesn’t bite on the pump fake and contests the jump hook while cleaning the defensive glass.

“[Ayton] played his ass off tonight,” Marcus Smart said postgame. “He was locked in from the start to the finish. He kept his composure and he really set the tone for us on that defensive end. It allowed me to do what I do and everyone else to kind of galvanize and come together and do our thing.”

That composure held Şengün, a 52% shooter from the field in the regular season, to just 46% for the series and 28 assists to 18 turnovers.

Backup center Jaxson Hayes struggled mightily in this series, unable to stay on the floor with consistent fouls. The center production was entirely in Ayton’s hands. His minutes jumped up in this series as a result, while he was anchoring a defense that held the Rockets to a bottom-five offense in the playoffs.

The Lakers were underdogs in every game they won this series and the Thunder will be heavy favorites in the next round. No matter how that matchup goes, within all the criticism, Ayton came through when they needed it the most.

As promised to begin the year, he was content going without offensive touches, having only six shots in 28 minutes, and shut down Şengün to give the Lakers their first playoff series win in three years.

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The Boston Celtics will look to avoid a first-round collapse as they host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 tonight.

This series has been filled with standout performances, giving us plenty of player props to target, whether it’s Joel Embiid stuffing the stat sheet or a couple of Boston Celtics role players continuing to produce at a high rate.

Keep reading to see our best 76ers vs. Celtics predictions and NBA picks for Saturday, May 2.

Best 76ers vs Celtics props for Game 7

Player	Pick
Joel Embiid	Over 40.5 points + rebounds + assists	-105
Payton Pritchard	Over 4.5 assists	+125
Neemias Queta	Over 7.5 rebounds	+105

Game 7 Prop #1: Joel Embiid Over 40.5 points + rebounds + assists

-105 at bet365

Since his return from his surgery for appendicitis, Joel Embiid has been a force in this series, averaging 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game for the Philadelphia 76ers. 

While beating the Boston Celtics on their home court in a Game 7 might be a tall order, expect Embiid to put up another big performance after topping 40.5 PRA in each of the last three contests.

Game 7 Prop #2: Payton Pritchard Over 4.5 assists

+125 at bet365

Payton Pritchard remains an excellent distributor for the Celtics. He averaged 5.2 assists per game during the regular season and has dished out five or more assists in all but one game in this series.

Boston is leaning on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as its primary scoring threats, and I can’t see them going away from their two biggest stars tonight. 

That means putting Pritchard in a supporting role, and while his scoring numbers might increase if he hits a few more shots, he’ll mostly be looking to get the ball to the top options on the court. 

Game 7 Prop #3: Neemias Queta Over 7.5 rebounds

+105 at bet365

Neemias Queta is often overlooked in the Celtics offense, and along with picking up some efficient buckets in the paint, Queta is an excellent rebounder.

While the Portuguese center has only played 19.8 minutes per game in the series, he’s still averaging 8.0 rebounds in the process. 

Boston has looked to play Queta more with Embiid back in the lineup. He’s had two straight games with 20+ minutes and double-digit rebounds, and he’ll be counted on to get that kind of run again in Game 7.

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

Grab some popcorn. Find a seat.

Enjoy the bloodbath between the Sixers and the Celtics.

The Knicks will just be resting and patiently waiting.

Mike Brown

On the offensive changes after falling down 2-1 in Game 3:

“We changed what we’d done offensively, but again, it was because we were pushed to do it. We feel pretty good about what we fell into. We had to find more ways to put our guys in their strengths while getting to it quickly while still having options. I’m not a guy that likes to call every play. I want our guys to be able to read where the advantage is quickly throughout the course of the action. And Atlanta forced us to find a way to do that and we feel pretty good about where we’re at right now. But it happened holistically after Game 3.”

Josh Hart

On how the Knicks flipped the first-round series:

“I think I had good physicality. I was able to force him into some tough shots. I was just trying to make life hard for him. Obviously, that’s a guy that’s got a lot of buckets in this league. That was something I thought, after Game 1 and Game 2, he kind of went off and kind of took over the game, that’s the matchup that I wanted going into Game 3 and after. For starters, I thought KAT was amazing. To start the game blitzing, protecting the rim, he had some big blocks, his energy was huge for us. I just think the physicality, the attention to detail, focus on the game plan, I think all those are at a very high level. And now we have to continue to build, watch Game 7 Saturday and focus on who we have.”

On running the offense through Towns:

“I think we were always comfortable with [running offense through Towns]. I think we just didn’t do a good enough job doing that. So that’s something that you’ve seen the ability. He’s able to do — what, two triple doubles in the last three games? It shows the ability. He’s able to knock down shots, play off the dribble and pass very well. So that’s something we’re gonna continue to do.”

On personally asking coaches to defend CJ McCollum:

“Dude goes down and averages 30 [points] for the first two games, nah. I’ll be the point of attack on that. I cursed out one of our defensive [coaches] for taking me off him at the end of Game 3. I said, ‘I’m on him. Don’t take me off him. I’m guarding him,’ And that was the challenge I wanted.

“At a certain point, it’s just pride. It’s wanting to obviously try to stop him, to limit him. Games 1 and 2, he had (about) 30 [per game]. It was just a pride thing. Go out there and get stops.”

Jalen Brunson

On the need for refocusing after the first-round win:

“It’s good to celebrate the wins, but I mean, we can’t let it drag on. We have to focus up. Wake up tomorrow, and it’s on to the next.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On finding consistency in the playoffs:

“During this series, we didn’t play our best basketball. For us to make a statement about who we could be when we’re clicking on all cylinders [is important]. It’s great for us to have this kind of tape, so that we can look back at it and see, when we’re playing our best, what are we doing correctly? But it’s about consistency in the playoffs. How many times can we do that in a seven-game series?”

On answering the call against the Hawks:

“I just wanted to answer the call. You ask for the opportunities, and they oblige. I’ve got to repay that trust and that opportunity. I always talk to y’all about impacting winning. I got more opportunities to do that, and I wanted to make sure I took advantage of the opportunities I was given and I’m proud I’ve been able to help us win.”

On Knicks’ fans and the sky-high expectations:

“It’s understandable that the fans didn’t know what version they would see of us, especially after—during this series, we didn’t play our best basketball. And for us to make a statement about who we are when we’re clicking on all cylinders — it’s great for us to have this kind of tape to look back at and see when we’re playing our best, what are we doing throughout the game.”

Miles McBride

On getting Towns the ball more:

“I feel like we’ve been comfortable with [going to Towns]. I think KAT is doing a better job of asserting himself, posting up, wanting the ball, and then making the plays. He’s a great player. So I feel like it’s kind of both of our parts as a team. We’ve got to make a conscious effort to get great players the ball in areas we know they’re going to excel. At the same time, they have to want to be assertive in those positions.”

Jordan Clarkson

On staying ready while out of the rotation:

“[Being out of the rotation is] definitely challenging, but I’ve been in the league for 12 years. I know how it goes. Just continue to stay ready. There’s a locker room of young guys and other people, watching me and seeing how I react to those things. Set an example for them. Continue to stay locked in. … Just wait for my opportunity to go out there and play. Everybody setting that example and having everybody ready is big for the team.”

Boosie

On the exchange with Jalen Brunson:

“Jalen Brunson ran over me. Jalen Brunson ran over me We had a real collision Yeaaaahh I need the video Who got the video? Jalen Brunson ran over me I need the video.”

When your head and your heart often conflict on the outcome of a game involving one of your teams, your head is usually more realistic or pessimistic while your heart is the more optimistic part of your body. For most Sixers fans, it’s the opposite entering Saturday night’s Game 7 in Boston in a first-round series that has gone on much longer than anyone would have expected.

Philadelphia sports teams have lost seven consecutive Game 7s. That streak is eight if you include the winner-take-all Game 5 that the Phillies lost in the 2011 NLDS. That’s right, a Philadelphia sports team has not won a Game 7 since the Flyers eliminated the Sabres in the spring of 2011. The Sixers are responsible for four of the seven Game 7 losses in a streak that has spanned 15 years for the city. 

Two of the four recent losses for the Sixers in Game 7s came at the same building they’re about to play another one in. What’s even more symbolic is the timing of those two losses to the Celtics in Game 7s on the road. The first one came in 2012. Philly was a pesky eight seed that was giving a veteran Celtics group all they could handle in the second round. The Celtics won a low-scoring 85-75 game and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. It felt like the absolute apex of what those Sixers teams could achieve. Philly capitalized on Derrick Rose’s injury in the first round to eliminate the Bulls and then scratched and clawed for as long as it could against Boston but simply wasn’t talented enough to beat a Celtics team that had won the East in 2008 and 2010. Heck, even if the Sixers had pulled it out in Boston, they would have been an even bigger underdog against Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, as the Heat went on to win the NBA Championship in 2012.

That game was the final one Andre Iguodala played as a Sixer. Iggy was a part of the package in the four-team trade with the Sixers, Lakers, Magic and Nuggets that sent Andrew Bynum across the country from LA to Philly while Iguodala landed in Denver. After Bynum never played a game in Philadelphia, Sam Hinkie came in to blow things up and start The Process.

Fast forward 11 years to Mother’s Day 2023 and Philly is back in a Game 7 against the Celtics. But, this time the circumstances are much different. For one, Doc Rivers is coaching the Sixers this time instead of the Celtics. Secondly, the Sixers were much more the Celtics’ equal and had just blown out the Celtics in Boston in a Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. Ironically enough, Miami was again waiting for the winner in the Eastern Conference Finals, but this wasn’t the LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh Heat. 

But after this loss in 2023, one simply could not use the same “they fought hard,” narrative to cope the way you could have in 2012. It was one of the more embarrassing moments for Joel Embiid, the crown jewel of Hinkie’s rebuilding plan that started in the spring of 2013. Embiid shot just 5-for-18 from the field, was a -28 and the Sixers got blown out, losing by a final score of 112-88. Boston would go on to lose to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the conference finals and it was yet another blown opportunity for the Embiid-led Sixers to make a deep playoff run.

Surely you don’t need a refresher on some of the other playoff disappointments that have happened for the Sixers in between 2012 and 2023. Although, we should point out that included in those playoff exits were two more eliminations at the hands of the Celtics in 2018 and 2020. The 2020 loss in the first-round in the COVID bubble was the final season for Brett Brown as Sixers’ head coach. The aforementioned 2023 loss to the Celtics was the end of Doc Rivers’ tenure on the sideline in Philadelphia.

The playoff eliminations for the Sixers in the last 25 years have all happened in either the first or second rounds and one of two narratives has followed each one. It was either “tough break, at least they went down swinging,” if they lost competitively or simply appeared to be outmatched but gave good effort or one of utter embarrassment that resulted in the Sixers being the butt of many jokes amongst national talking heads and other fanbases.

The point is, we’ve seen just about everything when it comes to ways the Sixers can disappoint us in the spring. We all know they have plenty of embarrassments in playoffs. If they didn’t have some of the hard-fought playoff exits, most recently in 2024 against New York, a close loss in Game 7 might be a little easier to stomach considering no one expected them to get here. But we’ve done that before too.

So, all of this is why your heart tells you they won’t win Game 7. They never do. Until you see them dig deep and find a way to pull through in the face of adversity, the only emotion you know if you’re a Sixers fan is pain. But if you remove the historical emotions and simply analyze the last two weeks of this series against Boston, your head will tell you Philadelphia can absolutely win on Saturday night.

All three of the Sixers’ wins in this series have come by double digits. Two of them have been in Beantown. Jayson Tatum seems likely to play in Game 7 for Boston, but will probably be less than 100% after leaving Game 6 with a calf injury. The Sixers aren’t as reliant on Embiid as they once were. Paul George has suddenly come alive. Tyrese Maxey’s level has risen. When VJ Edgecombe plays with the right amount of confidence, he’s not exactly a rookie. Role players like Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre and Andre Drummond have all had their moments in this series. But Embiid has still been very productive having produced a 33-point masterpiece in Game 5 and finishing just shy of a triple-double in Game 6.

A win on Saturday night would be so emotionally refreshing for this Sixers fanbase. After about a decade of playoff disappointment with Embiid leading the way, no one really went into this season with hopes of a deep playoff run. Frankly, even when things were looking good at various points in the regular season, a lot of fans probably figured, “Well, what’s the point of even getting excited? They’re just going to let me down again in the playoffs if I do enjoy this.” Then, when it was the Celtics yet again as the first-round opponent, many fans probably just felt you could simulate the series and it wasn’t even worth watching as the result would surely be Boston in 4 or 5.

While a win on Saturday doesn’t guarantee Philly gets to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001, there’s certainly a path towards a deep playoff run in an East that would open up significantly without Boston. It’s understandable to think about what might be next if the Sixers can beat the Celtics one more time on Saturday night, but Sixers fans should enjoy this moment. 

You’re actually going to be nervous for a game in this series instead of just watching and waiting for the blowout loss to commence. For as frustrating as the recent playoff exits have been for the franchise, by now I think most fans know that you have to go all the way back to 1982 to find the last time Philadelphia eliminated Boston in the playoffs. Since then, it’s been a total of seven playoff series that the Sixers have lost to the Celtics.

When you consider the franchise’s history with these big games, how a win would change Embiid’s legacy and the collective shot-in-the-arm that the fanbase would get from winning one of these games, it’s impossible to undervalue what Saturday night means for the franchise. This is a lot more than just a first-round playoff series. If the Sixers were to go on to make a deep playoff run, there’s a good chance coming back from 3-1 down against the Celtics would still be the highlight of the 2026 postseason for the franchise.

So, buckle up, Sixers fans. The fact you’re even in a car that’s requiring you to buckle up again is a surprise in and of itself. These rides haven’t always been fun, but sooner or later, one of them will be. Here’s to hoping tonight’s ride is just that.

Toronto Maple Leafs star Matthew Knies was in the building Friday night for one of the wildest finishes Scotiabank Arena has seen in years,  and he had every reason to lose his mind along with everyone else.

Knies attended the Toronto Raptors’ Game 6 first-round playoff matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, joining a sellout crowd desperate for a reason to believe. Heading in down 3-2 in the series, the Raptors’ season was hanging by a thread, and the night was shaping up to be a grim farewell to Toronto’s basketball season. With the Raptors trailing by a couple of points in the final minute of overtime, the atmosphere had turned funereal.

Then came the sequence that will be remembered for a while. After Raptors point guard Jamal Shead missed one of two free throws, the Raptors managed to pull within one point with 10.9 seconds remaining. That set the stage for RJ Barrett, who fielded the ball and heaved a desperation three-pointer from well beyond the arc. The shot looked like a prayer that wasn’t going to be answered. The ball caromed off the back of the rim, rocketed straight up into the air, and then dropped back down through the net, giving the Raptors a stunning one-point lead with just 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock.

2.1M FOR THE WIN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4rRVNXxSDd

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 2, 2026

Knies, there with a group of friends, was one of many who absolutely erupted when the ball fell through. Video circulating on social media showed the 23-year-old forward celebrating with the kind of unbridled joy that only a miraculous buzzer-beater can produce. You can take the guy out of the playoffs, the Leafs missed the postseason this spring, but you can’t take the competitor out of him.

Knies isn’t the only Leaf to have made an appearance at the Raptors’ playoff run this spring. William Nylander was spotted courtside during Game 4 of the series, the Swedish winger taking in the action from prime real estate near the floor. It speaks to the genuine crossover appeal these athletes have within Toronto’s broader sports community and perhaps to the fact that, with their own playoff run cut short, the Leafs have had some free time on their hands.

Matthew Knies and his buddies went nuts after RJ Barrett scored the game-winning bucket in Game 6

🎥: Amazon Prime | #LeafsForeverpic.twitter.com/FcBZDszHyp

— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) May 2, 2026

That last part stings a little. The Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade this season, bringing an abrupt and painful end to a year that carried genuine Stanley Cup aspirations before injuries and inconsistency derailed the campaign. For Knies in particular, the early offseason has been a period of reflection following a breakout 2023-24 in which he established himself as one of the most important young power forwards in the Eastern Conference. Watching another Toronto team battle for its playoff life was surely a mix of inspiration and reminder of what the Leafs will need to summon come next October.

As for the Raptors, they completed the comeback to win 112-110, forcing a deciding Game 7 on Sunday in Cleveland. Whether they can pull off the ultimate upset on the road remains to be seen, but Friday night they gave this city exactly the kind of moment it needed, and Matthew Knies was right there for all of it.

I am admittedly stealing the idea for this article from Jeremy Reisman over on the Detroit Lions’ site. They do a great job over there with their Lions coverage, and imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

On Friday night, the Detroit Pistons made history. Facing elimination in Game 6 of the opening round of the 2025-26 NBA Playoffs, the Pistons found themselves down 24 points in the second half. But then their defense locked in, Cade Cunningham took over, and the Pistons came all the way back to force a Game 7 at home in Detroit. Their 24-point comeback set the franchise record for the biggest comeback in the postseason, and it was the largest comeback from a road team facing elimination since the 1996-97 NBA season.

What about our MSU Spartans? Over the years, our teams have been on both sides of epic end-of-game situations, both mounting unthinkable comebacks and also snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I have my #1 memory from this category, and it’s one that still is the record holder in college football. I remember watching this at home and the comeback just had this feeling of inevitability to it to the point that I was able to enjoy it fully without any amount of stress.

I imagine your answers will be exclusively from football and men’s basketball, but if you have something from another sport, feel free to share it. Let’s see what TOC Nation comes up with.

HOUSTON — Kevin Durant’s first Houston Rockets season did not go as intended.

On Friday night at Toyota Center, while his teammates attempted to force a decisive Game 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant sat on the bench in street clothes with a sprained left ankle. He could only watch as the Lakers shifted into cruise control and the Rockets staggered toward the end of their season.

When the final buzzer sounded on the Lakers’ 98-78 win, the Rockets were right back where they were at the end of last season: exiting the playoffs in the first round.

In Houston’s locker room after the game, players exchanged hugs and gifted each other jerseys, relics of a season that failed to meet the raised expectations set when the Rockets traded last summer for Durant, who was injured for all but one playoff game against the Lakers.

The Rockets have suffered first-round playoff exits in back-to-back seasons, both in series where coach Ime Udoka said it felt like his team "got behind the eight ball."

HOUSTON — The Lakers did it.  

They clawed. They scrapped. They refused to give up. 

The team that was counted out reached the second round of the NBA playoffs after clinching its first-round series against the Rockets with a 98-78 win in Game 6 on Friday. 

What they went through over the last month transformed them, making them ready for their date with the reigning champion Thunder. 

Before everything went wrong for them, they had no chance. 

Now they do.

Game 6 was a huge test.

After the Lakers roared to a 3-0 series lead, the Rockets won the next two contests. Momentum had wildly swung. The Lakers had to win in Houston or else they’d face elimination. 

What was on the line?

Oh, just the Lakers’ reputation and LeBron James avoiding a dent on his legacy. No team in NBA history had ever blown a 3-0 series lead. 

How did they respond? 

The Lakers, who aren’t known as a great defensive team, held the Rockets to fewer than 80 points for just the 10th time in a playoff game since 2000. 

Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart were bulldogs, preventing the Rockets’ scorers from getting hot. 

As for James, he wasn’t about to let the Lakers — or himself — free-fall into infamy. He met the moment with the perfect combination of poise and ferocity, single-handedly outscoring the Rockets in the second quarter, 14-13. 

As the Lakers huddled after the game, everyone bleated to honor him as the greatest player of all time (the GOAT). The 41-year-old James had just led all scorers for the fourth time this series, finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. 

“It speaks to his greatness,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player.”

It was the Lakers’ latest test amid a series of seemingly impossible quizzes that they’ve somehow aced over the last month. 

When the Lakers lost Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) with five games remaining in the regular season, no one thought they had any chance in the playoffs. They were missing their leading scorers, who left a 60-point crater in their absence.  

But the Lakers have learned they’re so much deeper than they thought. 

James is still a superstar, ready and willing to be the first option. Luke Kennard’s talents extend far beyond the 3-point line. Ayton is capable of playing with force. Smart can look like the best defender in the league on any given night. Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia are capable of stepping up in big moments. 

For the Lakers, cutting off their two biggest limbs made the rest of their body grow stronger. 

It took a lot for this Lakers team to believe in itself. The negative noise was deafening. 

What they just accomplished is stunning. 

“It felt bleak,” Redick said. “… For us to be written off a few weeks ago and to win a playoff series is a big deal. And it just speaks to the character of our team and the leaders of our team. They didn’t let go of the rope.”

Now the Lakers may just be ready for the Thunder. It’s a crazy thought. But they’ve risen above the impossible. 

That can change a team. It can seed a belief that’s infectious. 

If Doncic returns in the second round of the playoffs, his teammates will no longer feel as though they live or die on his 40-point scoring flurries. 

Everyone in the rotation tapped into being the best version of themselves at various points this series. 

That’s powerful. 

There’s no denying that the Lakers have an enormous challenge ahead of them. Their last two games against the Thunder were disastrous. There was a 43-point loss on April 2, followed by a 36-point loss on April 7. 

But the Lakers are battle-tested now in a way they weren’t before. 

They’ve gone through something. They survived. They persevered. 

Everyone played a part in it.   

James proved he’s still James. 

Reaves returned from a painful oblique injury in Game 5 after pouring himself into getting back onto the court. There were some days he left his house at 7:30 a.m. and didn’t return until 7:30 p.m. after seeking various treatments. 

“Literally, did literally everything we could possibly do to get myself back in this opportunity,” said Reaves, who had 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting.

Then there’s Smart, who was on the verge of falling out of the league before resuscitating his career this postseason, including bottling up Kevin Durant in Game 2.

As for Ayton, his maturity and professionalism had fallen into question before he recently showed he can star in his role, including holding Alperen Sengun to 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting in Game 6.

Then there’s Kennard, who made people question whether he had been playing the wrong role his entire career after shining as a playmaker in the first two games of this series. 

There are so many success stories this postseason on the Lakers’ roster. They did this as a collective. They overcame adversity together. That makes them dangerous. 

They didn’t have a chance. Now they’re going to the Western Conference semifinals. 

It would be foolish to count them out again. 

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Mark Cuban was interested in getting his team back.

The billionaire sold 73 percent of his stake in the Mavericks to the Adelson family for $3.5 billion in December 2023 after 23 years as an owner, only to see the franchise’s fortunes take a turn for the worse in the years that followed — including the ill-fated trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February 2025.

Dallas, which has NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, still missed the playoffs over the past two seasons, with a combined record of 65-99, after losing in the NBA Finals in 2023-24. 

Injuries to aging stars Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving have been the main culprit.

The 67-year-old Cuban, who was outspoken against the Doncic trade, was asked by FrontOffice Sports if he was interested in buying back the club and was clear about his willingness to do so and the hurdles that way face. 

“If there was any chance of being able to do that anymore, I would, but that’s just not the game anymore,” he said.

Cuban, who still owns 27 percent of the team, noted that “a bunch of people” contacted him, unhappy with the direction of the franchise.  He was willing to do his part to get control of the team back if the Adelsons were interested in selling, but strongly believed that wasn’t a viable scenario.

“I was like, ‘Look, if you can get them to sell, I would be more than happy to contribute my equity, et cetera, et cetera, and help.’ But I didn’t expect that to materialize,” Cuban said. “I told them I didn’t think it would happen, that I didn’t think the Adelsons had any interest in selling. And they don’t.” 

Such a proposition could grow even more expensive in the coming years as the Adelsons have the option to buy 20 percent more of the Mavericks from Cuban within four years of ownership. 

Cuban, who saw the Mavericks win the 2011 NBA championship during his stewardship, expressed mixed feelings about the sale itself during an appearance on the “Intersections” podcast in late March.  

“I don’t regret selling,” Cuban said. “I regret who I sold to. I made a lot of mistakes in the process, and I’ll leave it at that.” 

Entering their first-round playoff series with the Rockets, the Lakers knew they had to take away their opponent’s superpower. 

During the regular season, the Rockets averaged an astonishing 15 offensive rebounds per game — the most in the NBA and the most by a team in 25 years. They also forced an average of 13 turnovers per game. Layer those together and you’re not just playing an opponent, you’re playing a second invisible game that is allowing them more shots, more chaos and more chances to bury you. 

Through the first four games of the series, the Lakers were losing that game badly. 

They gave up 21 offensive rebounds in Game 1. Then 17. Then 18. Their turnovers were piling up like traffic on the 110 freeway. 18, 20, 20 and then 23 turnovers in Game 4. By the time the dust settled, Houston had accrued 69 more possessions than the Lakers across the first four games. 

And yet somehow, despite flirting with disaster, and dancing with bad habits, the Lakers built a 3-1 series lead while hemorrhaging the very thing that defines playoff basketball: extra possessions. 

Which tells you everything you need to know: They were surviving these games, not solving them. 

“In order for us to win, we had to protect the ball and rebound,” LeBron James said. “We understood that giving them extra possessions is a kryptonite for any team. If you give them extra possessions and you don’t take care of the ball, it’s not going to be an ingredient for success against Houston.”

In Game 5, something shifted. 

The Lakers didn’t just compete on the glass — they punched back. They outrebounded Houston 41-34, and more importantly, they flipped the offensive rebound battle for the first time in the series, 13-6. 

What changed from the first four games?

Deandre Ayton. 

Ayton played like a man who finally understood his assignment.

He finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. He became the first Lakers player to have 15 or more points, 15 or more rebounds and at least two blocks in a playoff game since Pau Gasol in 2010. He also was the first Laker since Gasol in 2012 to have 10 offensive rebounds.

“You have to have some type of stop sign where enough is enough,” Ayton said. “I just tried to play as I am, the biggest dude on the court, and just go out and get every damn rebound.”

And that’s exactly what he did.

Even though they won the rebounding battle, they couldn’t get out of their own way. They shot 25% from 3 and lost the turnover battle again. They also lost the game 99-93, leaving the door open for a historic collapse. 

But in Game 6, they finally slammed it shut. 

Inside hostile territory in Houston, the Lakers finally put it all together for one game. They executed the game plan to perfection. They ended the Rockets’ season with a 98-78 victory.

They secured 15 offensive rebounds, their highest total of the series. They allowed only eight. They once again outrebounded the Rockets, 54-45. And for the first time all series, they won the turnover battle, committing just 10. 

“I challenged them before the game to box out and have their lowest turnover game tonight,” coach JJ Redick said. “The attention to detail was the important thing.”

That’s coach-speak for this: They finally did what I’ve been asking them to do all series.

Houston scored just 78 points — the lowest output by any team this entire postseason. Their superpower didn’t just disappear. It was taken away from them.

Ripped out of their hands by a Lakers team that decided, finally, that enough was enough.

Once again, Ayton was the anchor. He pulled down 16 rebounds and controlled the paint like it was his own personal property. 

“He played his ass off … he was locked in from the start to the finish,” said Marcus Smart of Ayton’s performance. 

Austin Reaves, fresh off a four-week absence because of an oblique injury, saw it the same way.

“I told him he was one of the biggest factors for us winning tonight … his physicality …16 rebounds is a big number.”

Ayton’s effort finally flipped the script, but it wasn’t just about him. The entire series was a team effort. Game 6 was about discipline, restraint and a veteran team choosing to take control over the narrative. 

“That’s the story of this playoff series for us,” Redick said. “Each guy had moments that helped us win the game. I thought the collective tonight was awesome.”

It took a while, but the Lakers finally figured out how to take away the Rockets’ greatest strength and beat them with it. 

Now they’re tasked with doing it again against the reigning champion Thunder. 

Only the Thunder don’t have one superpower, they have several. 

And if the Lakers want to shock the world and upset the champs, they’ll need to take away all of them. To do that, they’ll have to play every possession like it’s their last.

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In another year and another Sixers-Celtics Game 7, the Artist Formerly Known as Lloyd Free was determined to make a name for himself.

One of ‘em, anyway.

He is known now as World B. Free. Has been since December 1981, when he legally changed his name midway through a 13-year run as a freewheeling, shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later NBA guard. 

For the last 27 years Free, now 72, has served as the Sixers’ Ambassador of Basketball, making appearances throughout the Delaware Valley and on game nights glad-handing fans in every corner of Xfinity Mobile Arena.

But in the spring of 1977 he was still Lloyd, a second-year backup seeking minutes and shots on an ill-fated Sixers team headlined by Julius Erving, George McGinnis and Doug Collins. And Free was accorded both in the deciding game of an Eastern Conference semifinal set against Boston.

The game, which was played in the Spectrum, proved to be a rock fight. The Sixers shot 33 percent from the floor, the C’s 30 percent. The second half, in which Philadelphia outscored Boston 33-32, was particularly brutal, and the boxscore reflects the individual futility.

Erving shot 6-for-19, McGinnis 4-for-13 and Collins 3-for-11. Boston’s Jo Jo White was 7-for-24, while John Havlicek went 4-for-19 and Dave Cowens 5-for-16.

Free? He scored 27 points off the bench. And the Sixers won, 83-77.

“Lit ‘em up, yeah,” Free recalled as he breezed through a court-level corridor before Game 6 of the current Sixers-Celtics series. As always he was wearing a snazzy suit and a stylish hat. As always he was greeting the paying customers who bustled past, some of them by name.

“It was,” he added, “an unbelievable night — like, you know, I couldn’t miss. I couldn’t miss a shot. I went crazy on them.”

Here his memory betrayed him. He put up 27 shots, and made just 10. But the game went a long way toward earning him a nickname — “The Boston Strangler” — that was passed on to another Sixers guard, Andrew Toney, a few years later.

Free is OK with that.

“I’m not really talked about the way a lot of people are talked about,” he said, “even though I had the same kind of game. It’s good the way it is.”

He came to the Sixers as a second-round pick in 1975, from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn via Guilford College, an NAIA school in Greensboro, NC. On the NYC playgrounds the 6-foot-3 Free had been known as the “Prince of Mid-Air” because of his leaping ability. Also “All-World,” which in time would lead to his name change.

He believes his background prepared him well for the rigors of the NBA.

“Oh yeah, because I’m a street basketball player,” he said. “I’m from the streets. We played physical like that. Always played with older people that beat me all the time back there. So this was nothing when I came into the league.”

During that 1976-77 season he averaged nearly 22 points a game against Boston in four regular-season meetings, including a 36-point game. In the first six games of their playoff series, he scored at a 13.3 point-per-game clip.

The Sixers would go on to beat Houston in the Eastern finals, but fell to a Bill Walton-led Portland club in the Finals. And after the next season — a season in which Free again averaged over 20 a game against Boston, and 15.7 overall — he was traded to the Clippers for a 1984 first-round pick.

The Sixers used that pick, which was fifth overall, on Charles Barkley. And Free in the meantime got all the shots he wanted, not only with the Clippers (who were then in San Diego) but later the Warriors and Cavaliers as well. He even drifted back to the Sixers for 20 unproductive games late in his career, but overall he averaged over 20 a game for his 13 seasons, and at the time he retired his 17,955 points were 40th all time.

These days he appreciates the talent and tenacity of the Sixers young guards, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, and can only hope they have a full understanding of the challenges that arise this time of year.

“Playoffs, it’s such a different game, because everything slows down,” Free said. “More physical. You can get away with murder, but you have to adapt yourself every game.”

Especially Game 7. The one in 1977 is one of just two the Sixers have won against Boston, in eight tries. The other came in ‘82, when Toney scored 34 and Erving 29 to save the Sixers in a series they once led 3-1. That is also the last time Philadelphia beat Boston in a series of any length, having dropped the last six, three since 2018.

Now the question is, who makes a name for themselves Saturday night? And from which side? Because World B. Free knows all about such things — how reputations can be established and memories made. And how those things remain indelible, no matter how many years pass.

Well, the magic ran out last night for the Houston Rockets. After spending two games filling our hearts with the hope, the Rockets essentially laid an egg in Game 6, falling behind in the late first quarter after a somewhat decent start to the game, and they simply never got back into it.

The Lakers used a huge and demoralizing 27-3 run in the first half to essentially put the game away, and things just never got much better from there and ended Houston’s season early.

There’s not a ton to say about this one, as the Rockets’ offense was simply outmtached early and had no answers for a suffocating Lakers defense. Houston shot just 35 percent overall and made only 5 threes on the night. They also lost the rebounding battle, illustrating how bad Houston was whipped in this one.

They were led by Amen Thompson with 18 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks, while Alperen Sengun added 17 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. Tari Eason had 14, Reed Sheppard had 10 but shot a horrendous 4-for-19 from the field. Jabari Smith rounded out the starters with 9 points and 12 boards, but he shot just 3-for-11 after being one of Houston’s best players earlier in the series.

The Lakers were led by LeBron James with 28 and Rui Hachimura with 21.

The Rockets season is now over, and the team faces a myriad of questions about their future. There are major questions about Ime Udoka, Kevin Durant, Tari Eason, Sengun, Sheppard, and just about anything could potentially be on the table trade wise.

Of course, the Rockets were more decimated by injuries than just about anyone, with Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, Durant all finishing the year in street clothes. They could also choose to just run it back, though I don’t think that’s the best move with the Rockets losing in round one for the second straight year.

We’ll be talking all things offseason in a couple days after taking a few days to regroup ourselves. Thanks for sticking with us for another Rockets season!

The date is 12 March, and the Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a run that’s garnering a lot of well-deserved attention, in a month that sees them lose just two contests and win 15. The spirit of the locker room is at an all-time high, and it’s clear in talking to LeBron James, the 41-year-old storied veteran and greatest-of-all-time candidate who recently put his ego aside to accept a role as the team’s third option, that he believes what many around the NBA are starting to as well: his Lakers have a real shot at contention.

“As you get older, you appreciate the moment more than anything. When you’re younger, you think about what you’ve done in the past, or what’s to come in the future,” he tells me when I ask how he’s been able to be so present of late, in light of the ups and downs of a topsy-turvy Lakers season. “But the only thing that we know for sure is happening is the moment.”

The sentiment was more poignant than even James knew at the time. The wind would be swiftly and mercilessly knocked out of those buoyant sails just a few short weeks later, on 2 April, when in the throes of a biblical drubbing at the hands of MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his class-of-the-conference Thunder, the door to the Lakers’ postseason was seemingly slammed in their faces in downtown Oklahoma City. The Lakers were already emotionally wallopped, outmatched by orders of magnitude, down 31 at half-time. And then, in the span of a couple of minutes in the third quarter, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the team’s backcourt starters, were both sidelined indefinitely with injury. The blow was devastating. The season was over. That is, until it wasn’t.

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As recently as a month ago, it appeared that James’s days as the No 1 option were behind him, and for good reason. He’s a quadragenarian, the oldest player in the NBA for two years running. He shares a team with Dončić, the 27-year-old perennial MVP candidate and heir apparent to the Lakers franchise. But when, just a few short weeks before the postseason was set to begin, the Lakers lost their two leading scorers, James was left with two choices: call it a season, or attempt to carry the team on his 6ft 9in frame, as he’d done so many times before.

Neither Vegas nor basketball experts gave the Lakers any chance against the Houston Rockets headed into their first-round series, in which they grabbed a commanding 3-0 lead before sealing the victory in six games in Houston on Friday night. The doubt was justifiable; the Lakers were at a clear talent disadvantage without Dončić and Reaves. (The Rockets’ Kevin Durant would end up missing five of the six games in the series.) And the upset was, to be sure, a true team effort, filled with storybook storylines galore: Luke Kennard, a trade-deadline castaway from Atlanta, essentially won Game 1. Marcus Smart, believed by many to be washed up when the Lakers acquired him last summer, proved wholly indispensable, as both a dirty work guy and an unlikely scoring resource. Deandre Ayton, the much-maligned center from the top of Dončić’s draft class whom Portland paid to go away last summer, was invaluable both defensively and on the glass. And JJ Redick, the “podcaster” second-year head coach who took immense flak after a disappointing debut postseason outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, proved his mettle in this series as both a tactician and leader.

But the story of the series was James, who, in a critical Game 3, not only got a gutsy steal on the Rockets’ Reed Sheppard and hit a miracle of a three-pointer at the end of regulation, forcing the game to overtime (and ultimately a win), but did so mere minutes after going on a 10-0 Lakers run with hisown son, including a senior-to-junior highlight alley-oop. Throughout the series, James turned back the clock on both ends, averaging 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds with nearly two steals per game. He was, by any measure, the best player on the floor. To say that no one has ever done what he’s doing at this age is an understatement. The truth is, no one has even come close.

“I’ve done it throughout my career, but they still have to accept it,” James said in the locker room after Game 6, on slotting back into a leadership role for the team on which he’d taken a step back. “For them to allow me to lead them, that means a lot to me.” Redick, clearly moved after witnessing, first-hand, yet another chapter in the LeBron James storybook, could only shake his head. “For him to do it again, to answer the bell again, it’s really … it’s baffling, in some ways,” Redick said Friday night, attempting to stifle a grin. “The leadership aspect, he just has this ability to set the tone for the entire group, and he did that again tonight, and our guys responded. And I’m really happy for him.”

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Father Time is undefeated, so the saying goes. But, as it turns out, his record isn’t quite so simple. James, well into his third decade as the face of the league and anywhere between 10 to 20 years older than most of his competitors, has proved a formidable challenger. “I’m kicking his ass,” James deadpanned, chuckling, after the series clincher. Twenty-three rounds in, he has Time on the ropes.

Reaves, who was able to return from a severe oblique strain and provide reinforcements for the final two games of the series, said he doesn’t take what James is doing for granted. “I told him after the game, I’d like to think we have a pretty good relationship, [so] I went over to him and I was like, ‘You’re insane. The stuff that you’re doing … It’s not normal,’” he said. “With age, or whatever, he’s been in the league for 23 years … The way he can [still] control a game, it’s impressive. I don’t think you can say in words how special he was, not just tonight, but this series, this year. I’m just happy that I don’t have to play against him.”

The Lakers will go on to face the aforementioned thorn in their side, the Thunder, in the Western Conference semi-finals. Certainly, this would not have been part of the plan, had Los Angeles had their druthers about a round-two opponent, especially with Dončić still sidelined. But, then again, nothing for Los Angeles went according to plan this year. It was going to be a transitional year, until things started to click, and the chemistry was too potent to deny. Then it was destined to be a tale of woe, a “what if?” footnote in the briefly intersecting careers of two megastars at different points in their trajectories in James and Dončić. In any of a myriad possible timelines, this wasn’t LeBron James’s team to carry. In all but one of them, we had seen the last of a superhero run from him in the NBA postseason.

None of this was supposed to happen. But the basketball gods work in mysterious ways, and for the moment, the story isn’t over quite yet.