Category: NBA

Eventually, the talent discrepancy revealed itself. Eventually, the experience discrepancy revealed itself.

When they did, the game became a mismatch, and the Knicks blew it wide open.

The Hawks were mostly as advertised — young, athletic, full of confidence. And this wasn’t necessarily a vintage Knicks showing — there were a few areas of concern. Their defense, for starters, was porous until a dramatic second-half turnaround.

They were made to sweat a bit. But in the second half, they dragged the Hawks into the deep end and watched Atlanta sink en route to a 113-102 Game 1 win Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

But these Knicks don’t often make anything easy. They led by 19 with 3:14 left in the game before the Hawks ripped off an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to eight with 1:39 left and make it interesting. The Knicks stabilized and avoided catastrophe.

“We had a 7-to-11 [point] lead for the majority of the second half,” Jalen Brunson said. “And then be able to push it to 16, 18, [but] then just finished the fourth not as well as I would like, as well as we would like.

“We know they’re going to be ready for Game 2.”

Brunson came out firing and had 19 points — on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range — in the first quarter. But it was actually the start of the fourth quarter — with Brunson on the bench — that the Knicks had their best stretch. They outscored the Hawks by seven points — to take a 16-point lead — before Brunson checked back in with 5:07 left in the game. Brunson only went 1-for-11 from the field after the first quarter and finished with 28 points.

The Knicks led by as many as 11 early in the second quarter, but the Hawks used a 19-8 run to tie the game. They outscored the Knicks by four points in the second quarter and, after Onyeka Okongwu’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer, only trailed by two at halftime.

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The Knicks, though, tightened up defensively and shut down the Hawks coming out of the break. They held Atlanta to 8-for-23 shooting from the field in the third quarter as they rebuilt their lead.

And that’s golden territory for the Knicks. They are the best fourth-quarter team in the NBA and entered Saturday 46-2 when leading to start the fourth quarter. Now, they’re 47-2 — and 1-0 in the postseason.

“Our transition defense was better,” coach Mike Brown said. “Our ability to defend their small-small pick-and-rolls was better. And then our ability to keep them off the glass during that time was a lot better.

“It allowed us to get out and run and attack them in transition. That’s something we have to do while communicating for as close to 48 minutes as possible.”

It was a bit of a roller coaster for Karl-Anthony Towns, who did not score his first points until 4:50 left in the second quarter or hit his first field goal until the 2:53 mark. Towns averaged 28.5 points in the two regular-season games he played against the Hawks — his most against any opponent. For most of the first half, though, Okongwu won that matchup.

But Towns came alive for 19 points in the second half and finished with 25 points and eight rebounds.

OG Anunoby added 18 points and eight rebounds for a mostly balanced Knicks scoring attack. He briefly came out of the game in the third quarter after rolling his left ankle — the same one that forced him to exit the Knicks’ penultimate game — but avoided the locker room and quickly returned.

Josh Hart quietly had 11 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.

Brunson set the tone, Anunoby and Hart were steady presences throughout and Towns finished the job. The scoring was extremely starters heavy with little production from the Knicks bench.

“That’s the thing about having [Brunson] and amazing teammates, we got to get them going early and facilitate,” Towns said. “I thought that opened the game for us, especially in the second half and we did a great job fighting and continuing to score and also impact winning.”

For all that’s been made about the Hawks’ youth, it was actually the veteran CJ McCollum who most hurt the Knicks. With Brunson mainly guarding him, McCollum finished with 26 points. Jalen Johnson added 23 points for the Hawks.

After taking the lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter, the Knicks never trailed again.

The Hawks asked a few questions of the Knicks, but they had plenty of answers. 

DENVER – The last time the Minnesota Timberwolves took the floor at Ball Arena for an NBA Playoff game, it was possibly the greatest game in Timberwolves history.

That night, the Wolves took out the defending champion Denver Nuggets in Game 7, coming back from a 20-point second-half deficit. The win also came with extra significance as it came on Kevin Garnett’s birthday and the 20th anniversary of the franchise’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals.

On Saturday afternoon, the Wolves returned to Mile High for the next chapter in the Timberwolves-Nuggets rivalry that in many ways has defined the last four seasons in the Western Conference.

The game started out promising for Minnesota, as the Wolves jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter. Rudy Gobert locked down the paint while slowing down Nikola Jokić, they forced Denver into six first-quarter turnovers, and the ball movement was absolutely pristine, leading to consistent open looks in the halfcourt.

Ayo Dosunmu corner 3, created by Anthony Edwards + Rudy Gobert + Naz Reid pic.twitter.com/MSJOwWMxHD

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 18, 2026

From there, it almost all fell apart. The Wolves’ defense slipped, especially on the perimeter, where the guards were getting destroyed on screen, leading to a flurry of Denver 3-pointers. When Gobert went to the bench, the Timberwolves had little to no chance of stopping the Nuggets, especially if Jokić was on the floor.

And possibly most concerningly, the ball movement that got Minnesota the early lead completely dried up, which has been a consistent theme with this team all season. The Nuggets outscored the Wolves 68-46 in the second and third quarters combined to flip a double-digit Minnesota lead into a 12-point lead of their own.

The Timberwolves did find a way to claw back into the game, trailing by only two points halfway through the fourth quarter, but their execution down the stretch of the game prevented them from having a meaningful chance of pulling the game late.

There were awful turnovers, missed defensive assignments, and a lack of attention on the defensive glass, which led to numerous second-chance points for Denver. The most striking difference between the two teams was their ability to find quality offense late in the game.

The Nuggets consistently found open shots in the flow of their offense. While many of their shots did not fall as the Nuggets shot 1-17 from beyond the arc in the second half, their ability to generate open looks speaks more meaningfully toward their chances to win this series and more.

The Wolves, on the other hand, had to take tough shots after tough shots. Anthony Edwards was fantastic in the clutch during the regular season, but he was not able to find that gear in this game, as he scored just five fourth-quarter points before the final garbage-time minute of the game.

The Timberwolves lost Game 1 by a final score of 116-105. Edwards finished the game with 22 points on 7-19 shooting. He did contribute well in other areas, putting up nine rebounds and seven assists, but did not seem to have the explosive burst the Wolves will likely need to see from him to win this series.

“Nah, I felt good,” Edwards said after the game. “A little fatigued, I haven’t played in like a month. But that was expected. Other than that, I felt good.”

Chris Finch felt similar about Edwards’ game and his health, “I didn’t see a ton of physical limitations. It looked like just a rusty game back.”

Without fully knowing the extent to which Edwards’ knee is bothering him, Edwards low-scoring output did seem to be more than just rust. While Edwards had a few nice drives to the rim, the volume of those looks was much lower than what would normally be expected. Ant also shot 2-8 on 3-pointers, potentially indicative of someone struggling with knee pain.

Julius Randle similarly struggled. He scored 16 points on 7-16 shooting while dishing out only two assists, both of which came in the fourth quarter.

Gobert had an outstanding performance. He held Jokić to 25 points while forcing him into five turnovers and put up 17 points and ten rebounds while missing just one of his nine shots. The baskets weren’t just easy lob dunks either. On multiple occasions, Gobert caught a tough pass in traffic and made a nice move toward the basket to score the bucket.

“Both ends, he did a good job,” Jaden McDaniels said about Gobert’s Game 1 performance. “He keep doing that, we’re going to win.”

The Wolves in the first quarter showed the ability to “flip the switch” as they so often have these past couple playoff runs; they have shown the ability to increase their level of play to meet the moment, even in adverse situations. That team was there in the first quarter, but in no way could it sustain that level of play.

That variability in how Minnesota plays has been an issue the entire season. They have desperately needed the ability to stack good performances on good performances, but have been unable to do so since the season started all the way back in October.

That level of consistency is not found in the Playoffs; it has to be built during the regular season to embed it into a team’s DNA. The Wolves did not do that. When they were healthy early in the season, they often opined about waiting for the playoffs to begin. Once injures did hit in March and April, they were unable to close the regular season strong like they did last season.

This series is not over, and it is just one game, but the Wolves are going to have to find a level of play they did not find at all during the regular season. The Nuggets have won 13 straight games dating back to the regular season, and they are out for revenge from two years ago.

Rudy put it best when asked if he would be able to repeat his performance tonight, one that will certainly be needed if the Wolves have any chance to win this series.

“I think we shall see.”

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Up Next

The Timberwolves vs Nuggets series continues with Game 2 back at Ball Arena on Monday. It’s another late-night playoff tip with the game beginning at 9:30 PM CT. Fans can watch the game on NBC and Peacock.

Highlights

The Lakers aren't the only team beginning the playoffs with an injured star.

The Houston Rockets will be without Kevin Durant in Game 1 against the Lakers on Saturday, Houston coach Ime Udoka said, because of lingering soreness after Durant bumped knees in practice this week.

The fifth-seeded Rockets hope Durant's injury will be a "one-game thing," Udoka said, but the superstar is struggling with soreness and tenderness. Durant was questionable on the injury report because of a bruised right knee and warmed up on the court at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday but "didn't feel good enough," Udoka said.

The Lakers are without their own star power with Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) both out indefinitely. Doncic returned to the United States on Friday after receiving specialized treatment in Spain. Doncic had not yet reunited with his teammates when coach JJ Redick spoke before the game, but the Lakers looked forward to getting him back on the sideline.

"He's in good spirits and we're excited to see him today," Redick said.

Read more:'He knows the most': How LeBron James sets the tone for Lakers entering playoffs

The Rockets expect to start guard Josh Okogie in Durant's place along with Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. Udoka expects that the pace will pick up without Durant on the court, especially with Sheppard and Thompson leading the offense.

"We do play faster with those guys," Udoka said. "Amen obviously pushes the pace, but Reed's a really good kick-ahead guy, and our wings get out and run, and off ball, obviously less isolation and post-ups for Kevin."

The Lakers finished the regular season with three consecutive wins to hang on to home-court advantage in the first round. The Rockets won nine of their last 10 games.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Rockets star Kevin Durant was sidelined for Game 1 of the Lakers-Rockets first-round playoff series because of a right knee injury. 

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said pregame that Durant suffered the right knee contusion that held him out of Saturday’s matchup in Los Angeles after bumping the knee during Wednesday’s practice in Houston. 

“Hopefully, it’s a one-game thing,” Udoka said. 

Game 2 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Durant was the Rockets’ leading scorer for the 2025-26 season, averaging 26 points in 78 games. 

Udoka said Durant’s injury was “nothing major” after his knee was evaluated ahead of Saturday’s game.

“It’s very tender,” Udoka added. “Tough to bend in certain ways. Not a lot of swelling, but in a very awkward spot, I guess, more than anything. Right above the knee, patella tendon area. It’s just very tender. Like I said, pain tolerance is one thing, but actually limited movement is more of the cause.”

The Rockets started Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Josh Okogie, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun for Game 1 in light of Durant’s absence.

“We do go nine- or 10-deep depending on who starts for us,” Udoka said. “And we had a rotating fifth starter all year, so I feel very comfortable playing certain guys. With the guys in and out of lineups at times this year, we’ve gone to a lot of different bodies. So, very comfortable. We don’t want to go eight only. We like to go nine or so, but if need be, we have 10-11 quality players we feel comfortable with. We’ll see what the rotation looks like now with Kevin out.”

The Lakers were without star guards Austin Reaves (strained left oblique muscle) and Luka Doncic (strained left hamstring), the latter of whom returned to the United States on Friday after being in Europe the previous two weeks, getting special treatment in Spain with the hopes of expediting his return to the court.

Doncic arrived at the arena about 40 minutes before tipoff.

“I talked to him yesterday when he landed,” coach JJ Redick said. “He’s in good spirits, and we’re excited to see him.”

Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Lakers

April 18, 2026

Location: crypto.com arena, Los Angeles, CA

TV:ABC

Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)

Online: ABC/ESPN?

Time: 7:30 PM CST

Probable Starting Lineups

Rockets: Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun

Lakers: Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Jake Laravia, Lebron James, Deandre Ayton

The playoffs start tonight for the Rockets, playing the Lakers. As you might have heard the Lakers are without Luka “Whiny Euro Boi” Doncic, and Austin “Headwhip” Reaves. You might not have heard that the Rockets might be without Kevin Durant, who has a bruised knee.

The Rockets really should roll over a Lakers team without Doncic and Reaves, but this is why they play the games.

DENVER — Jamal Murray scored 30 points, going 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double as the Denver Nuggets shook off a sluggish start to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 on Saturday in the opener of their first-round playoff series.

Jokic had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and a bloody nose in a physical game between the Northwest Division foes. There were 42 fouls called, along with an unsportsmanlike technical on Jaden McDaniels for pushing Jokic in the back and a technical on Nuggets coach David Adelman. Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon picked up late technical fouls, too.

Denver has won 13 straight since losing on March 18.

Murray, who was 0 for 8 from 3-point range, and the Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 points early, but used a 17-2 run in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead. The Timberwolves, who were held scoreless for more than four minutes at one point in the third, trimmed the deficit to 97-95 with 6:23 left.

Jokic had a five-point stretch to help hold off Minnesota. Murray had one of the biggest shots of the game from halfcourt. With the shot clocking winding down, he heaved it at the hoop and it grazed the rim to reset the clock. It eventually led to a dunk from Gordon that gave Denver a 108-101 lead with 1:50 left. Gordon had 17 points despite early foul trouble.

“Winning a grimy game, it’s good,” Adelman said. “Both teams are experienced and used to winning these games. They know what it means to play in a physical matchup.”

Game 2 is Monday night.

Anthony Edwards scored 22 points while playing on a sore right knee. He also had seven assists to become the franchise’s career postseason assists leader. Donte DiVincenzo had four 3-pointers.

“We’ve got to make smarter, more solid plays,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. ”We’ve got to be more composed.”

These teams are so evenly matched that the Nuggets lead 15-14 in regular-season and playoff matchups since the 2022-23 season. Both have won a playoff series against each other during the stretch.

The first quarter featured two challenges, a technical foul on Adelman and a flagrant on McDaniels for not giving Murray enough room to land on a long jumper. It also saw Gordon pick up three fouls, with his third on an offensive call that led to Adelman’s technical.

UConn guard Braylon Mullins is returning to school for his sophomore season, he announced via Instagram on Saturday, April 18, which happens to also be his birthday.

Mullins, a projected lottery pick in USA TODAY's latest NBA mock draft, averaged 12 points per game for the Huskies as a true freshman in 2025-26, starting 29 games and playing a key role in UConn's run to the national championship game.

REQUIRED READING: Braylon Mullins is more than a big shot. He's been UConn's missing piece

The 6-foot-6 guard etched his name in NCAA Tournament lore after nailing a game-winning 3-pointer to beat top-seeded Duke in the Elite Eight. And with UConn's returning roster plus its transfer portal additions, he'll be looking to win the national title in 2027 after falling to Michigan.

"Unfinished business," he wrote on Instagram.

UConn returns its entire starting backcourt next season, with Mullins pairing with Silas Demary Jr. and Solo Ball to form one of the most experienced groups in the sport. It also replaced four-year starter Alex Karaban and star center Tarris Reed Jr. with a pair of highly sought-after transfer portal recruits in former Duke forward Nikolas Khamenia and former Seton Hall center Najai Hines, both top-50 prospects per USA TODAY's transfer portal rankings.

Mullins' return gives him the opportunity to improve his draft stock ahead of being one of UConn's top scoring options next season. His likely increase in name, image and likeness compensation could also potentially pay him more in college than an NBA contract, and skipping a draft class lauded as one of the best in recent years will likely result in a better draft position in 2027 anyway.

The former five-star recruit will be one of the most-recognizable players in college basketball next season with his return.

Braylon Mullins NBA mock draft projection

Mullins was projected as the No. 14 overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets in USA TODAY's latest mock draft.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Braylon Mullins announces return to UConn for sophomore season

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points, Max Strus had 24 off the bench and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 126-113 on Saturday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

James Harden had 22 points and 10 assists while Evan Mobley had 17 and seven rebounds for fourth-seeded Cleveland, which hosts Game 2 on Monday night.

It was a playoff career high in points for Strus, who missed the first 67 games this season with a broken left foot that occurred during offseason training.

“When you see the work he’s put in all season, it’s for this moment, right? This is a regular occurrence with Max, maybe not 24 (points), but just the energy level and boost he gives us,” said Mitchell, who has scored at least 30 points in an NBA-record nine straight series openers. “You give him credit for his journey, it can be a lot on the mental for him to continue to stick with it.”

RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Scottie Barnes had 21 for the Raptors, who were playing in their first playoff game since 2022. Toronto was missing point guard Immanuel Quickley because of a mild right hamstring strain.

Jamal Shead started in place of Quickley and had 17 points, including five 3-pointers.

Barrett’s 3-pointer pulled the Raptors to within 45-41 before Cleveland broke it open with a 27-9 run over the last 1:11 of the second quarter and first seven minutes of the third.

Strus scored 11 points during the spurt and made all three of his 3-pointers as the Cavaliers went 10 of 16 from the floor, including 5 of 8 beyond the arc.

“We just kept saying in the timeouts (during the first half to) stay with it. We’re going to get separation,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We needed that separation for our confidence. Going into halftime if you are down, it’s a harder conversation with the players to trust what we’re doing.”

Cleveland’s largest lead was 24 points (100-76) on Sam Merrill’s 3-pointer 13 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Toronto came into the game averaging a league-leading 18.9 points per game, but Cleveland held them to a season-low three.

“If we allow our opponent to score 126 points, it’s going to be tough to beat them,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Unfortunately, we had a very bad start to the third quarter with lack of execution. We were way too stagnant tonight.”

After two brutal injury blows to end the season, the Lakers are on the other end of the pendulum this time.

Prior to Saturday’s Game 1 against the Rockets, Houston head coach Ime Udoka said Kevin Durant would be out for the contest. KD had been listed as questionable with a right knee contusion, an injury he suffered after bumping knees with a teammate in practice on Wednesday.

Kevin Durant is OUT for the Rockets

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 18, 2026

Kevin Durant is out for the Rockets. He bumped knees in practice this week.

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 18, 2026

For now, it’s unclear how serious an injury this is for Durant. Considering KD played in 78 games this season, it has to be a pretty serious injury to keep him out for this contest. Udoka said the hope is that he’s only out for a single contest.

Ime Udoka said the hope is Kevin Durant is only out for one game.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 18, 2026

Coach Ime says KD's knee is "very tender and sore"

— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) April 18, 2026

Injury occurred Wednesday. He underwent testing, Udoka says and is just dealing with soreness: https://t.co/B4c7ABu68N

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 18, 2026

In his absence, Reed Sheppard will start for the Rockets. That changes the dynamic of the starting lineups, but also gives the Lakers a clear player to target on the other end, a LeBron James specialty.

Ime Udoka said Reed Sheppard will enter the starting lineup in the absence of Durant, alongside Josh Okogie, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun.

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 18, 2026

The Lakers will still have an uphill battle for the Lakers, but the steepness of that hill has come down significantly. Houston was 4-0 without Durant this season, but the wins were against Phoenix, Golden State, Indiana and Memphis.

Without Durant, the Rockets lose the centerpiece of their offense and a lot more pressure and attention shifts to players like Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson. On the season, KD averaged 26 points on 52% shooting from the field and 41.3% from three. His usage rate of 27.1% was highest on the team among rotation players.

LA still has a job to do and still needs to execute at a high level to come away with a win on Saturday. But, again, this allows them more avenues and pathways to success.

If they’re able to grab Game 1 of this series and turn the pressure up on the Rockets, a team seemingly looking for reasons to quit on one another, then things could suddenly change and the vibe of this series might change entirely.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

In the biggest game of the season, Jalen Green gave you the version you dream on, the one that makes all the volatility feel worth riding out.

It has been a ride this year, hasn’t it? He arrived with the Phoenix Suns in the Kevin Durant deal with a reputation that felt equal parts promise and chaos, durable, inconsistent, and explosive. He’s the kind of player who can swing a game in either direction depending on the night. On Friday against the Golden State Warriors, it all tilted in the right direction. 36 points, 14-of-20 from the field, 8-of-14 from deep, in a performance that felt like it kept climbing every time you looked up.

JALEN GREEN CARRIES THE SUNS TO THE PLAYOFFS‼️

• Back-to-back 35+ point games 🔥
• 36 PTS and 8 threes to eliminate the Warriors 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/yy5cY9lDxu

— ESPN (@espn) April 18, 2026

This is the blueprint. Teams load up on Devin Booker, they send bodies at him and crowd his space, and they dare someone else to step into the moment. The Warriors did it. The Portland Trail Blazers did it. Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, you can already see it coming. Make Jalen Green beat you.

On Friday night, he looked at that challenge and leaned into it. Four Loko went loco, launching those off-balance, leaning, fading threes that make you wince on release and laugh when they splash. And for the second straight game, they dropped. That is the Jalen Green experience. He is going to take those shots. Every time. Some nights it looks like superstardom unfolding in real time. Other nights it can get sideways quick, with possessions drifting, rhythm disappearing, and frustration creeping in.

Right now, it is the good version. The one you want and the one the Suns needed. His play-in run was absurd, averaging 35.5 points per game on 57/48/83 splits. The question now shifts to what this looks like against the Oklahoma City Thunder, because the airspace he enjoyed in the Play-In is about to disappear.

He was living comfortably against the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers, and the numbers back it up. On 49 shot attempts, 21 came with the nearest defender 4+ feet away. That’s 43% of his shots coming in what feels like a gym workout. That led to rhythm shooting. That is catch, rise, fire, and jog back on defense while the crowd is still reacting.

That geometry is about to change.

Against Oklahoma City, every dribble is crowded, every catch has a body attached to it, and every move is met with length and intent. Devin Booker and Jalen Green are walking into a defense that takes pride in suffocating the point of attack, one that forces you into decisions you do not want to make and then punishes you for making them. You look up and it is Lu Dort, then Cason Wallace, then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sliding into help, then Alex Caruso lurking like a problem you did not account for. It keeps coming. It does not let up.

Clean looks will be rare. Easy rhythm will be rare. Space will feel like a luxury. If Booker and Green find a way to produce anyway, it is going to say a lot, because not many teams crack that code, especially on the perimeter where Oklahoma City builds its identity.

And yet, the takeaway from the Play-In does not change. Green is ready and willing to take the shot. He does not shrink from the moment; he leans into it, even when it veers into chaos. There are times it can work against him, the shot selection can drift, the balance can disappear, and you are left riding the result possession by possession. But he keeps stepping into it. He keeps asking for it.

Over these last two games, it has been the version you want. Confident. Aggressive. Unbothered by the noise. And it adds something real to the Phoenix Suns’ offense. He brings a layer that nobody else on the roster replicates. It’s a kind of pressure that bends a defense in a different way, into a different rhythm, with a different kind of threat. You saw flashes of it all season through the injuries, through the inconsistency, through the uneven stretches.

This was the full version. A stellar performance, a strong Play-In run, and now a much tougher test waiting on the other side.

BOSTON — This could be Jordan Walsh’s moment, the moment that Brad Stevens envisioned when he drafted a 19-year-old propspet out of Arkansas in 2023. Back then, Walsh was long, athletic defender that the Celtics hoped could eventually mold into someone who could lock down some of the NBA’s best offensive talents.

Walsh never really had a chance to crack the rotation in his the first two years as a Celtic. But, when the Celtics face the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, he very well could be a critical part of the defensive gameplan, and be given the chance to guard star Tyrese Maxey, one of the league’s most unstoppable scorers.

For the Celtics, the first round of the playoffs marks the beginning of a postseason run they hope will result in a title.

For Walsh, it’s also the first time ever that he’ll be presented with the opportunit to play real postseason minutes, on the heels of the best season of his career.

“I knew he had no prayer on the first team,” Stevens said in Deecember, reflecting on the overflow of talent that the 2023-2024 Celtics title team had. “The team was really good, and last year’s team was basically the first team. And so it was going to be hard to crack that one, too.”

But, the 2025-2026 team was different: Jayson Tatum was sidelined to begin the year, and veteran players like Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis were no longer ont he roster.

What that created was an opportunity — one that all of the younger guys on the roster would go after.

This could be a chance for Jordan Walsh to show what he was capable of, for the very first time.

But, from the jump, it appeared that his season was headed in the wrong direction. Walsh was out of the rotation entirely to begin the year, already behind 19-year-old rookie Hugo Gonzalez and other young wings on the roster.

Still, he continued to work behind the scenes, and broke through in November, ultimately starting 20 straight games for the Celtics.

In that span, Walsh not only showcased that he was an elite defender — earning high praise from opposing team’s stars like Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves — but he also broke through offensively, averaged a career-best 9.5 points on 69.6% shooting in December.

And, that stretch very well may have revived his career. That’s what Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told him, at least.

“I got a comment from Joe one time: ‘Your career, you were dead in the water. And now you’re back alive.’”

At the time, Walsh didn’t know what to make of that: “I just went and asked a bunch of people – what does he mean by this? You don’t know how to take this, but it was kind of funny.”

Joe Mazzulla told Jordan Walsh early this season 'your career, you were dead in the water and now you're back alive.'

"That's heartbreaking, but also cool to hear." 🤣

"I was like dang Joe, the year just started."

Q: @NoaDalzellpic.twitter.com/JsaNIDma1H

— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 18, 2026

What he did know, is that he was alive. The team went 15-5 with Walsh as a starter, and he earned national acclaim for his defense. The very same player that seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order was now impacting winning on a nightly basis.

“I proved that I can play at a high level,” Walsh told me months later, reflecting on that November through December run.

But, the on-court success didn’t last forever. In January, Walsh moved back to the bench and began to fall out of the rotation. Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman both earned more minutes at the wing position.

By March, with Jayson Tatum back in the lineup, Walsh began racking up DNPs.

“It’s kind of tough. The thing a lot of people don’t really know about the NBA, or don’t really pay attention to, is navigating those highs and lows,” he said Saturday. “It’s so hard; one day, you have your name going crazy and everywhere, everybody’s talking about it and how good you’re doing, and the next day, it’d be silent and [you] have nothing, and you’re just kind of on the bench.”

But, Jordan Walsh pushed through inconsistent minutes

During his stretch of DNPs, Walsh kept his head up, though he didn’t know if he’d ever re-enter the mix this season. He sought out advice from Jaylen Brown, one of his biggest mentors and closest friends on the team. And, he made sure not to change his work behind the scenes — ensuring he was the last to leave practice, and someone who worked tirelessly to improve his game.

I caught up with Walsh on March 24th, and he emphasized that his approach hadn’t changed despite his on-court opportunities wavering.

“It’s kind of just doing my best in the role that I am in now, and that’s just supporting the guys, showing up to practice, being the last one to leave,” Walsh said. “Like, all that stuff is so cool to me.”

A week later, Walsh re-entered the rotation, and he never looked back. Over his last 10 games, he has averaged 21.4 minutes per night.

Walsh very well could play a pivotal role in the Celtics series against the 76ers, because he, more than any of the Celtics’ slew of defensive specialists, had success guarding Maxey this season. Walsh managed to effectively guard Maxey — who averaged 28.3 points and 6.6 assists — in Boston’s regular-season match-ups against Philadelphia.

Across two contests, Walsh held Maxey to 1 of 10 shooting in 7 minutes, according to NBA tracking data.

“Just taking away tendencies and then knowing the small things that get under his skin,” Walsh said of his defensive approach. “But I think the biggest thing is, like I’ve been saying all year, not letting the guy do what they want to do. Make them go to their second option, their third option, their second move, stuff like that. Like, if he wants to go right and do a step-back, just don’t let him do that — make him do something else. And then usually we’ll live with the end result.”

Walsh will continue to do everything he can to make Maxey uncomfortable in the match-up; he said he’s been discussing with Jaylen Brown ways to get under Maxey’s skin.

“There’s a couple things that I learned with talking to [Brown],” Walsh said. “He’s kind of taken point in that and showing me the film behind the film that we don’t see.”

It’ll technically be Walsh’s third playoff run, but it’s the first one in which he has a legitimate chance to impact the rotation. It hit him on Friday, when some of the younger players on the roster began discussing their plans for offseason workouts.

“We were just working out , and we were talking about people going to summer lifts and doing scrimmages before games and practices and stuff like that,” Walsh said. “[And it was like] ‘Jordan, that’s not you. You’re not doing that this year.’ I was like, ‘Dang, time’s flying. But it’s cool to see because now, Hugo [Gonzalez] and John [Tonje] and Max [Shulga] are all doing the things that we were doing my rookie year.”

On Sunday afternoon, when the Celtics host the 76ers for Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs, Jordan Walsh will get his much-awaited chance.

“It’s cool to see time fly, and see me kind of progress to where it is now,” Walsh said, “to where it’s, like, I got to be prepared to play.”