Category: NBA

The Knicks' bench is thin. It’s a challenge the team has dealt with all year, as they finished last in bench scoring. The starting lineup played more than any five-man unit in the NBA during the regular season, and the playoffs have only increased the burden on the starters. The Knicks' bench averaged 11.5 points in their six-game first round series win against the Detroit Pistons.

Heading into their second-round playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics, the Knicks will need a bench player to step up and be an X-factor. That reserve has to be combo guard Miles McBride.

McBride’s playoff experience this year has been difficult -- in the first round, he averaged just 3.8 points. The guard shot an ugly 26.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from behind the three-point line.

Creating depth off the bench has been a challenge for the Knicks in the playoffs, as only McBride and Mitchell Robinson averaged double-figure minutes. Cam Payne found a rhythm with 14 points in Game 1, but scored only eight combined points over the last five games.

While McBride had a series to forget, he offers the Knicks solid two-way play on the floor that is needed in a series against an elite Celtics team. Despite standing just 6-foot-2, he has a near 6-foot-9 wingspan, and he’s also a career 36 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

The first round was a shocker. McBride has been productive and a quality rotation piece since the Knicks first transformed the roster and sent away Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett to the Toronto Raptors to acquire OG Anunoby. The Knicks’ sixth man this season, McBride was solid with 9.5 points in 24.9 minutes. In last year’s playoff run, he was a vital contributor, averaging 11.0 points on 43.5 percent from the field in 13 games.

McBride only averaged 16.0 minutes in the first round. But as the Knicks prepare for the Celtics, he should see a larger role. He has been an above average three-point shooter the last two seasons.

Making a positive impact

One issue for the Knicks will be getting up threes. They're currently dead last in three-point attempts per 100 possessions among the 16 playoff teams. Against a Celtics club that had the highest three-point attempt rate in the regular season, the Knicks are going to need to let it fly.

McBride leads the Knicks in three-point attempts per 36 minutes in the postseason. That could be crucial in helping push the team into more shots from long distance.

If the Knicks can create some opportunities in transition, that could be helpful to open up three-point looks for shooters like McBride, who opens up different lineup options for them. This season, teams have put their centers on Josh Hart, while having a smaller player guard center Karl-Anthony Towns. The Celtics went to that strategy in all four regular season matchups.

If opponents play non-shooters on the perimeter, the Celtics have no problem putting big men like Kristaps Porzingis on them. Having a willing shooter in McBride is important for spacing on the floor to give Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Towns room to operate.

Having McBride on the floor has usually worked for the Knicks. In 1,593 minutes, the Knicks were a plus-7.79 points per 100 possessions with him, according to PBP Stats. Even in his disappointing 96 minutes on the floor during the first round, the Knicks outscored the Pistons by 6.1 points per 100 possessions.

The Knicks are now underdogs in their upcoming series. But if McBride can re-discover his outside shooting, it can give New York a boost off the bench and provide the club with a better chance of competing with Boston.

Three key Warriors questions for win-or-go-home Game 7 vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

HOUSTON – It all comes down to this.

Sunday night in Houston, the Warriors will know their fate. Win and move on to Minnesota. Lose and go home with a heightened offseason full of questions from a first-round exit after going all-in and acquiring Jimmy Butler at the NBA trade deadline. 

The Warriors shouldn’t want to have another 50-point Game 7 like they needed from Steph Curry two years ago to advance to the second round. Curry has averaged 32.6 points on 46.7 percent shooting with a 42.4 3-point percentage for his career in five Game 7s. Draymond Green has played in five such games like Curry, and was extremely locked in at shootaround, intently listening during a long conversation with coach Steve Kerr. The last time Butler played in a Game 7 he dropped 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead the eighth-seeded Miami Heat past the Boston Celtics to reach the NBA Finals two seasons ago. 

There aren’t many worries regarding how those three will play with their backs against the wall. Every question is centered on those around them. 

With that being said, here are three quick questions ahead of Game 7 between the Warriors and Rockets. 

Who Starts? 

Kerr already has used four different starting lineups through the first six games, all while the Rockets trot out the same starters every time. Rewarding Buddy Hield’s Game 3 performance of 17 points and three steals made sense, and Hield then scored 15 points and had two early steals that set a tone in the Warriors’ Game 4 win. But in the last two games, Hield has scored four points, going 2 of 10 from the field, missing all six of his threes and was held scoreless in the Warriors’ Game 6 loss. 

Gary Payton II replaced Brandin Podziemski on Friday night, but Payton was a minus-12 in 20 minutes. He made a costly mistake fouling Fred VanVleet for a four-point play to open the fourth quarter, and wasn’t impactful enough on either side of the ball. Payton also was added to the injury report Sunday morning because of an illness and wasn’t seen at shootaround. 

“I think it complicates things, but it just requires everybody else to step up, just like any other injury,” Podziemski said at shootaround when asked about what happens if Payton can’t play. “It’s Game 7, it’s win or go home. Whoever we have or don’t have, we’re going to roll with them and give it our best shot.” 

The starting lineup of Curry, Podziemski, Hield, Butler and Green has played the most minutes (34) among five-man units for the Warriors this series, and has produced the best net rating (20.4). Moses Moody typically was part of the starting five in place of Hield, but that group has a minus-6.4 net rating in 26 minutes over three games during the series, with a 105.9 offensive rating and a 112.2 defensive rating. 

Still, they went 16-3 together in the regular season and it might be best to trust what helped get Golden State here in the first place. 

Have They Figured Out The Zone? 

Houston’s zone defense has been torturous for the Warriors thus far. The Warriors emphasized it during film sessions and know they will have to beat it to earn a victory on the Rockets’ home court. Between the Rockets’ length and athleticism, the Warriors have looked like a lost team trying to break down their zone defense. 

But maybe it’s all in their own heads. 

“We’re just overcomplicating it to what it really is,” Podziemski said. “It seems as if from the film, a lot of times they don’t even really know what they’re doing. They’re just trying to follow Steph around and trying to match up in space. We just need to simplify things, which we’ve done. I think we’ll be ready tonight.” 

Podziemski agreed there has been some hesitation as the Warriors are trying to figure out what the Rockets are doing, processing that and still playing their style of basketball. The Warriors believe they have figured out what the Rockets’ plan is in their zone defense, and now it’s all about making plays when recognizing it. Making open shots would help, too. 

In their last two games, both losses, the Warriors are shooting 33.9 percent on shots considered open (defender within four to six feet) and 38.8 percent on wide-open shots (closest defender more than six feet away). They shot 27.8 percent on open threes in those two losses, and 34.8 percent on wide-open threes. 

Is Everything Really On The Table? 

Those were the words of Kerr after Friday night’s Game 6 loss. And yes, that includes using Jonathan Kuminga. 

Kerr went deeper on Kuminga’s possible role for Game 7 when speaking to reporters over Zoom on Saturday night. 

“I thought he played well in Game 3 when we started him, especially defensively,” Kerr said. “He did a good job on Jalen Green. I think that’s an area where he can help us. On-ball defense. The key is what’s the combination around him? We know they’re in zone an awful lot. Can we find the right combination with JK, with the shooting and spacing, passing we need to expose the zone? These are all the questions we’re asking.”

“As I’ve made very clear, the arrival of Jimmy made the combinations much tougher for JK. So that’s what’s been standing in his way. I’ve gotta feel the game. I’d love to get him out there, because I think he can help us, and doing that early, I think that’d be helpful for him and for us.”

Kuminga has played two games, entering Game 2 when Butler went down with a pelvic contusion from a scary fall and starting Game 3 when Butler was ruled out. Green is 3 of 8 overall for seven points when guarded by Kuminga in those two games, and has made only one of his five 3-point attempts. More than anything, though, the Warriors desperately need someone who can get them a bucket, and perhaps the wild card of Kuminga can get the job done. 

For how fun Pat Spencer’s minutes have been, the most likely bench player to see an uptick in minutes is veteran center Kevon Looney. The last time Looney played a Game 7, he grabbed 21 rebounds, including 10 on offense. Rockets center Steven Adams is a plus-53 in the series, and pairing him and Alperen Şengün has been a rebounding nightmare for the Warriors. 

Throughout their decade together, Kerr has shown the ultimate trust in Looney. Don’t be surprised if he turns to him for some big-time minutes in Game 7. 

“I’m always ready,” Looney shared. “Rebounding is what I do. I’m excited about this game and trying to make an impact. It’s always fun to go out there and play a game like this and to go against somebody like Adams and Şengün and all those guys that are great rebounders, I’m going to try and leave my mark. 

“I’m looking forward to it. Whatever happens, I’ll be ready.”

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Draymond confronts moment of truth in Warriors-Rockets Game 7 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s rare that Draymond Green gets melancholy in the wake of defeat. But there he was Friday night, after the Warriors’ Game 6 loss to the Houston Rockets, issuing 14 atypically brief responses until the 15th question put a lump in his throat.

Asked about the retirement of legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Green spent a full three minutes reminiscing about Popovich’s career. Draymond played for Pop, winning a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The two shared a mutual respect. A kinship.

“I just wish,” Green said, near the end of his remarks, “I had one last time to go hug him on the sideline before a game.”

This moment, rich with warm sadness, with Green barely able to subdue his emotions, was an ode to the end of one man’s era coming from the heart of a man who knows his own era is turning down that same road.

Through the first six games of this first-round Western Conference playoff series, there has not been much of the Draymond whose dynamic activity altered the balance of games, even if statistics didn’t always reflect it. He has had moments of brilliance, most notably his game-saving stop of Alperen Şengün in the final seconds of Game 4. There also have been long stretches when Green’s offensive impact is neutralized by burly point guard Fred VanVleet and Houston’s lengthy, athletic wings.

Green’s defense on Şengün – five inches taller, 20 pounds heavier, 12 years younger – has been a fascinating game-by-game skirmish, with each winning his share of battles. Şengün is averaging 20.8 points, on 46.3 percent shooting from the field, and 5.3 assists per game, averages slightly higher than his regular season statistics.

When the Warriors step onto the court Sunday at Toyota Center in Houston for Game 7 against the Rockets, it won’t take long to discover if Draymond still can be that firebrand who can moderate his passion while pushing himself and his teammates to levels beyond imagination.

If he is that dude, the Warriors have a very good chance to beat the odds.

If he is not, the Warriors will need magnificent performances, beginning with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III, to have a chance.

“He’s our key in terms of what that emotion looks like,” coach Steve Kerr said Saturday. “He’s been in a bunch of Game 7s. He’s had monster Game 7s.”

Green’s last Game 7 was two years ago as a power forward in a first-round series against the Kings in Sacramento. He finished with eight points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Matching up against Harrison Barnes, Green was plus-25 over 38 minutes, and the Warriors followed Curry’s 50 points to a 120-100 victory.

This time around, Green is at center, wrestling with the considerably more imposing Şengün.

Just as two years ago, it’s win or go home.

“Just got to meet force with force, execute the game plan,” Green said after the Game 6 loss on Friday. “Everybody will be excited. It will be hyped in there. It will be loud.

“Then the game starts and there’s just basketball. You got to execute your game plan, stay the course. They’re going to make runs. Stay the course. Continue to fight. But got to execute.”

There is no question Draymond, one of the game’s biggest brains, knows the way. The first six games of the series, however, have left open the question of whether his body still has the ability to achieve the commands coming from his mind.

He’s averaging 6.6 points per game, shooting 36.6 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from distance, 57.1 percent from the line. While it’s true Draymond’s value defies simple statistics, it’s striking that he’s averaging 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

“I think he recognizes that this series is not pleasant for him,” Kerr said. “He rarely gets the big on him to run, pick and roll. They’re putting VanVleet on him, trying to take him out of the offense, trying to take his rhythm away, trying to goad him into technicals and flagrants, like (Jalen Green did in Game 6). Draymond knows he cannot respond to that stuff in that way.”

If the Warriors leave the arena with a loss, they must cope with knowing that if there is a next postseason opportunity for their accomplished core – Curry, Butler and Green – will come when Curry is 38, Butler and Green each 36.

Green’s career has been among the most challenging of any player still active in the NBA. His uniqueness on defense has utilized to the max, spending nearly half his minutes bumping and banging off men as much as seven inches taller and 50 pounds heavier.

How long can Draymond reasonably be expected to excel at that? Golden State needs an elite performance, something vastly superior to that which he has delivered in any of the first six games.

“He’s just got to maintain his composure and recognize he’s the best defender in the world,” Kerr said. “If we do our jobs, and he’s guarding at his best capability, and he’s maintaining his emotion, and we’re doing our jobs, taking care of the ball, we got a great chance to win.

“And he gets the last laugh.”

That laugh that would affirm to Draymond, the Warriors and the rest of the NBA that this game-changing menace still has plenty of road ahead. And it would be heard all over Texas.

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The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 120-101 on Saturday to seal their passage from the first round of the NBA play-offs.

The series went to game seven, with the decider being played in Denver, and the hosts dominated to reach the Conference semi-finals.

The Nuggets are the fourth seed in the Western Conference and will next face top seeds, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who host game one on Monday.

Denver used a big third quarter to clinch victory over the Clippers, stretching their lead from 11 points up at half-time, to 93-66.

The Nuggets had six players reach double figures, with Aaron Gordon (22 points) and Christian Braun (21) leading the way for the 2023 champions, while Russell Westbrook added 16 points off the bench.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic finished two assists shy of a triple-double, claiming 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists along with three steals.

"In the play-offs, we know that everybody needs to step up," said the 30-year-old Serbian centre.

"Everybody who plays needs to contribute something - everybody did that."

Kawhi Leonard led Los Angeles with 22 points but James Harden, who had 13 assists, was held to seven points as the Clippers lost in the first round of the play-offs for the third straight season.

The Golden State Warriors visit the Houston Rockets to decide the final Conference semi-final spot on Sunday, while the Indiana Pacers hit the road to begin their semi-final series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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The coach of the Clippers had never lost a Game 7, and so his players knew they could lean on Tyronn Lue to shepherd them in the most important game of their 2024-25 campaign.

But Lue was the first to say that he is the coach and doesn’t play, that his 4-0 mark in the seventh game of a playoff series is because “it takes really good players” to accomplish that tough feat and that he believed he had those really good players in Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and the rest of his crew to deal with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in Game 7 at Ball Arena.

The odds, however, were against the Clippers winning this deciding game on the road and the Nuggets made sure they kept it in their favor with a 120-101 beatdown.

The home team had won 74.2% of the time in Game 7s, and by winning the best-of-seven series 4-3 over the Clippers, the Nuggets left little doubt while blowing the game open in the fourth quarter in building a 35-point lead.

“You hate to see them go out like this in a Game 7,” Lue said. “So, that’s very disappointing.”

When the Nuggets opened a 65-50 lead on an Aaron Gordon dunk, forcing a timeout, the fans began to chant, “Beat L.A.”

And they did in a big way, breaking the Clippers’ spirit in the third quarter with a 35-19 outburst, the start to sending the Clippers home for the summer to contemplate what might have been and sending the Nuggets for the second round against Oklahoma City.

“I think we could have given a better effort, for sure,” said Leonard, who had 22 points. “At the time, I don’t think this team is 30-points better than us, as you seen throughout the first six games of this series. But got to give them credit. They came out and fought, ran hard in transition, got easy points and they made shots.”

Harden was a disappointment again, his seven points on two-for-eight shooting and 13 assists another low-point for him in this series.

Harden didn’t talk after the game, just like he didn’t talk after losses in Game 4 and 5.

"They played harder,” said Ivica Zubac, who had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. “They beat us in every aspect of the game. That was the difference.”

Nikola Jokic wasn’t as sharp as he has been this series, but he finished with 16 points on six-for-14 shooting, eight rebounds, eight assists and five fouls that limited his time on the court.

Gordon worked over the Clippers for 22 points, Jamal Murray had 16, and Clippers nemesis Russell Westbrook relished all of his 16 points against his former teammates.

Lue made a change to his lineup, inserting Derrick Jones Jr. as a starter in place of Kris Dunn and then starting Nicolas Batum in the third quarter over Jones, which was a sign to his team that he was willing to do what’s necessary in a Game 7.

“In a Game 7, there are no tactics,” Batum said. “It’s who wants it more. They clearly wanted it more than us.”

Defense is where it was going to start for the Clippers and it’s what allowed them to be in control at the outset of the game.

They swarmed Jokic in the first, making it so tough that he missed his first five shots in the quarter and scored just two points.

They stifled Murray in the first 12 minutes, making it so difficult for him that he missed his first four shots and had just one point.

They put a grip on the Nuggets in the first quarter, holding them to 38.1% shooting from the field and 25% from three-point range and 21 points.

But all that momentum the Clippers had in the first shifted in the second quarter.

They were unable to hold the Nuggets for those 12 minutes, giving up 37 points, allowing them to make 50% of their shots and 50% (four for eight) from three-point range.

It went downhill from there for the Clippers.

They went 50-32 during the regular season, the same record as the Nuggets. They were the fifth-seeded team in the Western Conference.

But in the end, none of that mattered. The Clippers’ season is over.

“I would say this group deserves a better finish, I would say,” said Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had 12 points off the bench. “Not a way to finish it. But we got to look ourselves in the mirror. That’s it.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

After a tough battle against the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Knicks know things will only get tougher in the second round when they face the defending-champion Boston Celtics.

Not only are the Celtics the reigning champs, in which they dominated their way through the league by going 16-3 during the 2024 playoffs, they also enter this series having swept New York in the regular season, 4-0.

"Obviously, play better than we did throughout the regular season," said point guard Jalen Brunson after Saturday's practice. "Be ready to go from the jump and knowing that it’s gonna be a game of runs, knowing that they’re capable of doing a lot of great things. We’ve got to keep our composure, stick together and just making sure that we continue to play throughout the entire game."

Despite the Knicks' first three games against Boston in the regular season being blowouts, losing by a combined 63 points, the final matchup between both clubs was much closer and necessitated overtime before the Celtics eventually came away with a 119-117 win at Madison Square Garden.

While there are no moral victories, the last meeting did, at the very least, give New York confidence that it can hang with the defending champions.

"They’re a terrific team, each game you learn something," said head coach Tom Thibodeau. "You have to play for 48 minutes. We felt the last game, there were things we obviously could have done better. It was an overtime game, so just find a way to win."

Thibodeau has emphasized playing a full 48 minutes often this season and during his coaching career. It even came up in the first round after the Knicks dropped Game 5 to the Pistons at home in a game they led at halftime and had a lead in the fourth quarter.

It's something that has resonated with the team, evidenced most recently by their comeback win against Detroit in Game 6 on the road.

"You gotta play 48 minutes against them," said center Karl-Anthony Towns. "We didn’t do that in the fourth game and it cost us the game. We gotta be ready to do whatever it takes to get a win."

Of course, if not for a game-tying three-pointer by Jayson Tatum in the final seconds of that match, New York would've won -- serving as a blueprint for how to beat the Celtics.

"I feel like we played better in that game," Brunson said. "We adjusted to them from the first three times we played them. Obviously still not getting it done. Definitely played better and competed better than the first three games. That’s something we can look at and build off of."

Part of what makes Boston so difficult is its ability to switch at an elite level, as each player is capable of defending any opposing player efficiently.

To counteract that, the Knicks will need to move the ball and have everybody on the same page constantly.

"I think the biggest thing is making sure everyone is in rhythm," Brunson said. "They’re tough and they have a lot of guys who can switch and guard one through five and make it a problem. For us it’s just making sure that we’re sticking together, going with our game plan and then making sure that we’re moving the ball, getting in the paint, making plays for ourselves and each other. Just find the best open shot every possession."

What else is the Celtics' prowess at hitting threes, which New York will have to look out for and do its best to defend.

"Obviously keep bodies on bodies, not let them loose for open threes, we have to contest everything, and be ready for the long rebounds and second shots," Brunson said. "I think that’ll be a big key because obviously they’re great at chasing down their misses and getting wide open second looks."

Offensively for the Knicks, players will have to step up and help Brunson, who averaged 26.8 points in the four meetings and who turns it on to another level in the playoffs. One player who did that in the last meeting was Town,s who had 34 points and 14 rebounds.

It'll be interesting to see how New York utilizes Towns in the next series, coming off a game in which he attempted just 10 shots and scored 10 points.

"I’m about wins so as long as we win then everything is fine," Towns said.

The big man averaged 24.4 points while shooting 52.6 percent from the field in his first season with the Knicks, which resulted in an All-Star selection.

Regardless of how their offense plays out, the Knicks must continue to focus on the little things that often help teams win games.

"We can’t let offense or shots falling dictate how hard we play or the things that we can control," Brunson said. "I feel like a lot of people on this team have that mindset and we’re gonna have to because the longer you’re in the playoffs, the more difficult the games are gonna be. So we can’t let little things like that have an effect on how we’re playing."

Steve Kerr shares biggest concern for Warriors heading into Game 7 vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors fumbled a golden opportunity Friday night to close out their first-round NBA playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

Steve Kerr‘s team never seemed to meet the moment emotionally, and they couldn’t get the sellout Chase Center crowd to serve as the boisterous sixth man.

The Rockets, on the brink of elimination, strolled into San Francisco and walked away with a convincing 115-107 win to force a decisive Game 7 on Sunday back in Houston.

After the Warriors landed in Houston on Saturday night, Kerr spoke to local reporters on Zoom, and while answering a question from NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole about rookie Quinten Post‘s Game 6 performance, Golden State’s coach touched on what he’s worried about heading into the winner-take-all Game 7.

“I thought [Quinten] did a pretty good job in the first half defensively,” Kerr said. “And then the second half, I thought we got a little scattered with our game, with our emotion. That’s the biggest thing. There’s always going to be matchups and things that you try to do to protect certain matchups, certain actions that people are running, whatever. There are scheme changes you can make.

“But [the] biggest thing is that we got out of sorts last night. We got too emotional. First play of the fourth quarter was indicative of letting our guard down a few times and that’s all it takes in a series like this. [Fred] VanVleet gets the 4-point play, it goes from [a two-point lead] to six, and the whole nature of the game changes, and that’s based on just a missed matchup.

“So, that’s my biggest concern tomorrow is, just our overall emotional response to a night where we really weren’t ourselves.”

The Warriors built a commanding three-games-to-one series lead after splitting the first two games in Houston and winning Games 3 and 4 in San Francisco. But even after playing so well in three of the first four games, Golden State couldn’t recreate that energy in Game 5 in Houston or Game 6 at Chase Center.

So now, the Warriors are flirting with disaster. A loss on Sunday would mark the second blown three-games-to-one series lead during the Kerr era (2016 NBA Finals).

If Kerr is concerned enough to talk publicly about his team’s emotional response, it’s a safe bet that he has addressed it with his players.

They know they have to be at their absolute best on Sunday.

Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler have played in countless high-stakes NBA playoff games. The moment shouldn’t be too big for them.

But if the Rockets go on a run during Game 7 and the Warriors can’t weather the storm, their 2024-25 NBA season and their championship aspirations might come crashing down in historic fashion.

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Jaylen vs. Jalen could be marquee matchup in Celtics-Knicks showdown originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jayson Tatum’s season-opening 3-pointer hadn’t even reached the twine and Jaylen Brown was already stalking in the direction of Jalen Brunson.

Thirteen seconds into the 2024-25 season, with Boston fresh off receiving their championship rings on opening night inside a delirious TD Garden, Brown perched himself at Brunson’s hip 90 feet from the basket and stayed Velcroed to him for the entire possession.

Six months later, we can’t help but wonder how much time Brown will spend glued to Brunson when the Celtics and Knicks tip off an Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday night.

During the 2024-25 season, Brown only defended one player (Zach LaVine) for more possessions than Brunson, per NBA tracking. Brown logged 12 minutes, 33 seconds of total matchup time and 72.3 possessions defended. Those numbers could spike on a playoff stage.

Brown taking turns harassing an opposing team’s top scoring threat has become a playoff ritual that seemed to get magnified with his work against James Harden in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals. During last year’s title run, Brown earned a pair of MVP honors in large part due to his defensive efforts, especially his NBA Finals harassment of Luka Doncic.

Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year who keyed New York’s first-round triumph over the Detroit Pistons with his late-game heroics, has been one of Brown’s toughest covers in recent seasons. No one scored more points against Brown this season, with Brunson totaling 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting with two turnovers, per NBA tracking.

No one on the Celtics truly had an answer for Brunson over the course of the season. Brunson generated 25 points on 10-of-24 shooting against the All-Defense tandem of Derrick White and Jrue Hoilday, though the Stock Exchange combo did a good job keeping him off the free throw line (only one shooting foul over 112 possessions defended).

The Celtics almost will certainly give Brunson a bunch of different looks and coverages. Teams have no choice but to send multiple bodies his way, and Boston occasionally will live with the Josh Harts and OG Anunobys of the world getting decent looks to get the ball out of Brunson’s hands.

But our biggest question before the series tips is simply whether Brown can use his size and strength to make Brunson work for his points. After a poor showing in New York on April 8, Brown sat out the final three games of the Celtics’ regular-season slate due to knee woes.

Brown admitted there were nights in Round 1 where that knee limited him more than others, even as he averaged 23 points while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent beyond the 3-point arc during the five-game triumph over the Magic.

Do the Celtics trust that Brown is healthy enough to chase the shifty Brunson? What’s more, is Holiday healthy enough to do the same after sitting out the final three games of the Orlando series with a hamstring injury?

We suspect Brown is eager to take on the challenge of defending Brunson. The Magic were gritty defenders, but the Knicks can score points in bunches when Brunson is fueling the New York offense. Even if the Celtics are content to let Brunson get his points and force others to beat them, there will be a desire to make him work and try to get the ball out of his hands.

The Celtics enjoyed their best defensive success against Brunson in a February meeting in Boston. Brunson finished with 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting but didn’t attempt a single free throw — one of only two times all season he didn’t get to the charity stripe (the other was when he played just 23 minutes against the Pacers in mid-February).

Brunson had gotten to the line 13 times (and made all his freebies) during an earlier February meeting with the Celtics in New York. Brunson finished with 36 points that night, and while the Celtics still won, the priority this season clearly has been to defend Brunson without fouling.

Outside that game, Brunson generated just eight total free throw attempts in the other three games against the Celtics.

In that third meeting in which Brunson didn’t get to the charity stripe, the Celtics gave Payton Pritchard a bunch of turns as primary defender. Brunson was credited with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting with Pritchard defending him, per NBA tracking. Coming off a solid defensive showing in Round 1 against bigger covers on the Magic, Pritchard should be eager to show that was an aberration.

The trio of White, Holiday, and Brown combined to hold Brunson scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting with three turnovers in that third regular-season meeting.

Again, no one defender can fully take away Brunson. Boston’s bigs have to be ready with backline help when he zigs and zags his way to the rim. Brown’s strength and size could be vital to offering resistance in Brunson getting where he wants to go.

The Celtics need to make Brunson work on the other end of the court and try to take advantage of his defensive limitations. It would also benefit Boston not to let games be close at the finish line where Brunson tends to go into turbo mode.

Brunson’s season started with Brown attached to his hip, and the Celtics probably wouldn’t mind if it ended the same way.

Why Warriors must lean on more than experience in Game 7 vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Experience was supposed to be the Warriors’ winning factor going into the first round of the NBA playoffs against the much-younger Houston Rockets, and it was the theme Friday night following their 115-107 Game 6 loss at Chase Center. 

The Warriors had two straight chances at closing out the series after taking a three-games-to-one lead, and let both opportunities slip away. Now they’ll enter Sunday’s Game 7 in Houston with all the momentum gone, but history on their side.

It’s easy to assume everything feels faster in a Game 7. Heartbeats speed up and adrenaline is begging to burst. There’s truth to that in these pressure-packed situations, but the whole vibe is different than any player or coach can describe. The Rockets have home-court advantage, which also can produce 48 minutes of tense anticipation from a crowd witnessing a rock fight between two teams whose dislike for each other isn’t a secret.

Having gone through all those emotions multiple times, the Warriors trust they’ll be able to meet the moment. 

“Just confidence, belief,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I know our guys believe and they’ll be ready to go.”

Those same sentiments were shared by Kerr’s biggest stars.

The frustration of their Game 6 loss wasn’t gone. It just had to be flushed right away, shifting the focus to what could be their last game as a team together if they don’t rip Houston’s hearts out as they have done in the past. 

“A Game 7 is a Game 7,” Draymond Green said. “I think anytime you have the opportunity to play in Game 7, it’s fun, it’s exciting. It’s for all the marbles, so move on. We’ve moved on. 

“Learn from what we did wrong. It’s kind of obvious what we did wrong. Get ready for the game. I think Game 7s are fun.”

When the Warriors were last tasked with a Game 7, Steph Curry gave an impassioned speech to his teammates and dropped 50 points on the Sacramento Kings. Curry always has the ability to explode for a historic night under the bright lights. Not too high, not too low, he just wants the Warriors able to withstand anything back in Houston. 

“We need to be able to manage the emotions of the next 48 hours,” Curry said. “Again, not panic, but have a sense of urgency on the adjustments we need to make going into the Game 7. How to deal with a hostile environment. I think we’ve had one in that building before. You understand the crowd is going to be into it.

“How we start the game is going to matter. It’s going to be a long 48 minutes. Just stick with it and come with a level of aggressiveness, attention to detail, just the idea that it’s going to be a game of runs. You got to just embrace it, have fun with it, show up with kind of a killer instinct. Everybody got to be like that.”

Curry and Green have played five Game 7s together and are 3-2. Jimmy Butler has played four Game 7s in his career and is 2-2. On the other side, the Rockets have four players who have combined to play 10 Game 7s, with the rest of the roster never having been there before.

The past also can’t be the Warriors’ saving grace. If experience is what the series was going to come down to, the Warriors would have met the moment of Game 5 and slammed the door shut the last time they were in Houston. Instead, they played like they had a game to mess around with and trailed by as much as 31 points. Just three minutes into Game 6, Green was given a Flagrant 1 foul that the Rockets scored four points from. 

The Rockets, not the Warriors, were the more composed team Friday night. Curry had three turnovers in the first quarter, four in the first half and five overall in the loss. He now has 24 through six games, making up for them by averaging 24.3 points on 46.7 percent shooting and 39.1 percent from three, with 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. His longtime teammate has been nearly as careless with the ball. 

Green racked up four turnovers Friday night and is at 19 in the series. Offense is secondary for Draymond, but he has four more turnovers than made shots, and the Warriors will need a defensive masterclass out of him to help negate Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams. 

Jimmy Butler (27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists) easily was the Warriors’ best player in Game 6. As he continues playing through his pelvic contusion, the Warriors can’t ask for much more. But what about everybody else around their stars? 

“Make shots,” Curry said. “That’s me. That’s Jimmy. That’s everybody.”

Buddy Hield remained in the starting lineup for Game 6 and was a dud for the Dubs, going scoreless in 17 minutes. Hield scored 32 points between the Warriors’ wins in Games 3 and 4, but he has scored only 11 points the other four games. Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody both have low overall field goal percentages for the series but are shooting in the high 30s from deep. They’ll be left open, and they’ll have to make the Rockets pay, as Podziemski did in Game 4 and Moody has in the clutch earlier in the series. 

Kerr needed 17 minutes from 7-footer Quinten Post in Game 6, but he only had one rebound while being picked apart defensively, was whistled for five fouls and made one of his four 3-point attempts. The Warriors are shooting 22 percent from three when the Rockets use their two-big lineup of Adams and Sengun. 

Pairing Butler alongside Curry had Green guaranteeing a championship on national TV at the All-Star break. The Warriors always are confident when those three lead them to battle. They themselves have to rise to their latest Game 7 challenge, and those behind them can’t crumble under the pressure.

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Steph hopes to repeat his epic 50-point Game 7 performance vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After the Warriors fumbled a 3-1 series lead against the Houston Rockets, they will play a do-or-die Game 7 in a hostile road environment Sunday at Toyota Center.

But Steph Curry has been here before, and if history repeats itself, Golden State should be in good shape.

The last time the Warriors played in a Game 7 was two seasons ago against the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Similarly, the Warriors played the win-or-go-home Game 7 contest on the “road” 80 miles northeast at Golden 1 Center. Curry erupted for a then-historic 50-point flurry with seven made 3s to secure the victory and advance to the second round.

“That was just a great game overall,” Curry told reporters Friday as he recalled that historic night in Sacramento. “Hopefully, I can repeat that.”

“That was just a great game overall. Hopefully I can repeat that.”

Steph Curry on his Game 7 performance in Sacramento a couple years ago pic.twitter.com/gvcHIOQMEO

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 3, 2025

Golden State had a 3-1 series lead over Houston after winning its first two games of the series at home, with a chance to close it out and send the Rockets packing in their house in Game 5. But a wonky start was too much to overcome as the Warriors fell 131-116.

The Warriors had yet another opportunity to advance to the Western Conference semifinals in front of their home Chase Center crowd Friday night, but the lack of consistent contributions from players not named Curry or Jimmy Butler affected their chances as they fell 115-107.

Curry and Butler combined for 56 points. The rest of the starters — Draymond Green, Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield — combined for 13.

But Curry and the Warriors know the focus immediately must shift to Sunday, when Curry expects the nerves to kick in under the bright lights but is looking forward to fully embracing it.

“It’s just the nerves and the adrenaline, and you understand the stakes,” Curry said. “If you don’t play your best game, you don’t figure out a way to win, you’re going home. But it’s also exhilarating because when you do, it brings the best out of you. There’s no better feeling of closing out a series with just the whole Game 7 vibe.

” … It’s what this league is about. It’s a great opportunity to show up when it matters most. And have an opportunity to move on. You don’t really do anything different. But you have to embrace the nerves and the adrenaline of it.”

The winner of Sunday’s Game 7 will advance to a second-round matchup with Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Fred VanVleet scored 29 points as the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 115-107 to level their NBA play-off first-round series at 3-3 and force a deciding game seven.

Experienced point guard VanVleet starred for the Rockets, adding eight assists and eight rebounds to his points haul, while Alperen Sengun recorded a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

The Warriors held a commanding 3-1 lead in the series but have twice failed to close it out, losing to the Rockets in game five on Wednesday and again in game six on Friday.

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said of VanVleet: "He's had some really good stretches lately.

"He knows what it is. He's been a champion. Been there, done that. So I wouldn't expect anything less than that from him."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr added: "I thought we got some good looks against the zone but then, once they pulled away by 10 or 12, it was easier for them to run us off the line."

The Rockets will host game seven on Sunday, with the winning team to face the Minnesota Timberwolves who clinched a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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