Category: NBA

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

There’s always that one tricky team all the contenders want to avoid in the playoffs. And right now, the Atlanta Hawks are that team in the East.

Atlanta has bullied its way up the Eastern Conference standings with an 18-3 record since the All-Star break, scoring recent wins over heavyweights like Boston and Detroit. 

The Hawks take a step back in competition tonight, traveling to the Big Apple as 16.5-point road favorites against the Brooklyn Nets. But while the oddsmakers expect an easy win for Atlanta, this team really has no chill.

Our Hawks vs. Nets predictions like how things shake out for Atlanta’s lineup, especially big man Onyeka Okongwu.

My NBA picks take his points prop tonight.

Hawks vs Nets prediction

Hawks vs Nets best bet: Onyeka Okongwu Over 13.5 Points (-120)

Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu is logging a lot of minutes in recent games after sharing shifts with fellow big Jock Landale most of the season.

Landale has been in and out of the Hawks' lineup and will not be on the court against the Brooklyn Nets tonight after injuring his ankle in a blowout win over Orlando on Wednesday. That has Okongwu putting in work against a terrible Nets interior.

While Okongwu can do damage in the key, he’s not just a bruiser. The Southern Cal product has range from outside and is shooting the ball well from deep, knocking down 10 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc the past four games.

Brooklyn is getting roughed up from inside and out. The Nets have pretty much given up defending 3-pointers, sitting dead last in opponent success from distance.

Brooklyn also allows the sixth most points in the paint, and its frontcourt limps into Friday with starters Nic Claxton and Noah Clowney dealing with several issues, including illness.

Okongwu has scored 16 and 20 points in the past two games, and with his minutes peaking with Landale out, player projections call for between 14 and 16 points versus Brooklyn tonight.

My number comes out to 14.8 points with respect to a much higher ceiling.

Hawks vs Nets same-game parlay

The Hawks just roasted the Magic by 29 points and need to keep the wins coming as they chase Cleveland for the No. 4 seed in the East. Brooklyn, on the other hand, only has a few more games to drop to last in the league and a better shot at the No. 1 overall pick.

Around the Covers office, there are days known as “Jonathan Kuminga games”. This could be one of them. The Hawks are trying to get their sixth man on track ahead of the playoffs, and with a sizable spread, the bench will see extra floor time.

Kuminga can explode for big nights when he wants, and the Nets don’t offer much pushback.

Hawks vs Nets SGP

• Atlanta Hawks -16.5
• Onyeka Okongwu Over 13.5 points
• Jonathan Kuminga Over 11.5 points

Our "from downtown" SGP: Oh Wow, Onyeka!

Onyeka Okongwu makes the most of his extra minutes against a bad Brooklyn frontcourt. Not only is he projected to top his scoring prop, but models call for as many as 11 rebounds and three assists. He hung a similar stat line against Boston two games ago.

Hawks vs Nets SGP

• Hawks -16.5
• Onyeka Okongwu Over 13.5 points
• Onyeka Okongwu Over 7.5 rebounds
• Onyeka Okongwu Over 2.5 assists

Hawks vs Nets odds

• Spread: Hawks -16.5 | Nets +16.5
• Moneyline: Hawks -1700 | Nets +950
• Over/Under: Over 225.5 | Under 225.5

Hawks vs Nets betting trend to know

The Nets do nothing with all those points being handed over by oddsmakers. Brooklyn is 12-22-1 ATS as a double-digit underdog, including going 4-10 ATS when catching +10 or more at home. Find more NBA betting trends for Hawks vs. Nets.

How to watch Hawks vs Nets

Hawks vs Nets latest injuries

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.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

If you thought the rides at Disney World made you queasy, try getting on the Orlando Magic’s roller coaster.

Orlando’s up-and-down play in the home stretch of the NBA schedule has the team’s postseason plans in peril.
 
The Magic were riding high to begin March, climbing to a Top-6 seed, but suddenly dropped six straight outings to fall back in the Play-In. Orlando has split its last four outings and desperately needs direction as it visits the Dallas Mavericks tonight.

Our Magic vs. Mavericks predictions call for that consistency to come from do-it-all guard Desmond Bane. My NBA picks like Bane stuff the stat sheet on Friday, April 3.

Magic vs Mavericks prediction

Magic vs Mavericks best bet: Desmond Bane Over 8.5 rebounds + assists (+102)

Desmond Bane’s biggest strength is his versatility. The stocky 6-foot-6 shooting guard can be whatever the Orlando Magic need him to be.

Sometimes that’s a scorer. Other times, that’s a playmaker. And some games, Orlando needs Bane to battle on the boards. The Magic need a little bit of everything against the Dallas Mavericks tonight.

I’m focusing on Bane’s passing and rebounding with his combo prop set at 8.5. 

He’s coming off a quiet game against a very good Atlanta defense in which he finished with just two rebounds and two assists. That 29-point blowout loss left him to log just 30 minutes, and Orlando’s rotations were a work in progress with Franz Wagner playing his first game since February 11.

Heading into that game, Bane had topped his combo prop in five of the previous seven. He’ll face a softer challenge from the Mavericks, who are playing out the home stretch at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Dallas sits 24th in defensive rating since the All-Star break and was busted open like a piñata in March, giving up almost 123 points per game. The Mavericks watch opponents rack up the fourth-most assists (28.3) and wrangle the fifth-most rebounds (55) per game.

Bane and the Magic beat Dallas 115-114 at home on March 5, and he finished with eight rebounds and three assists (along with 14 points) in 38 minutes of action. Tonight’s projections have his assists between 4.4 and 5.0, while his rebounding forecast bounces between 4.5 and 5.4.

Magic vs Mavericks same-game parlay

Dallas has only one win in its last seven games and lacks the Magic's motivation, as they try to improve their spot in the Eastern Conference pecking order. Orlando always has troubles in Texas, but game models have them walking out with the “W”.

Paolo Banchero pulled the plug on a bad night versus Atlanta, leaving with only 26 minutes in floor time and a dismal 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting. Game projections call for a bounce-back performance at 24+ points.

Magic vs Mavericks SGP

• Magic moneyline
• Desmond Bane rebounds + assists Over 8.5
• Paolo Banchero Over 23.5 points

Our "from downtown" SGP: The Bane of Dallas' existence

The Mavericks were rolled by margins of 24 and 30 points in their last two games. Dallas has put up 100, 99, and 94 points in the past three outings, staying below the total in each of those contests. Bane’s player forecasts call for as many as five assists and five rebounds.

Magic vs Mavericks SGP

• Magic -6.5
• Under 238.5
• Desmond Bane Over 4.5 assists
• Desmond Bane Over 4.5 rebounds

Magic vs Mavericks odds

• Spread: Magic -6.5 (-110) | Mavericks +6.5 (-110)
• Moneyline: Magic -270 | Mavericks +220
• Over/Under: Over 238.5 (-110) | Under 238.5 (-110)

Magic vs Mavericks betting trend to know

Dallas is just 7-12 ATS in its last 19 games, including 2-6 ATS at home in that stretch. Find more NBA betting trends for Magic vs. Mavericks.

How to watch Magic vs Mavericks

Magic vs Mavericks latest injuries

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.

The results from Tim Bontemps’ final 2025-26 NBA MVP straw poll over at ESPN are in, and though the race between Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama appears to be as close as it ever has been, Gilgeous-Alexander actually won it in what looks like a walk. SGA took nearly 90% of respondents’ (who are likely MVP voters themselves) first-place votes and appears set to nab his second straight MVP award.

You may look at the 88-8 disparity in first-place votes between those two and think, “What a blowout — the voters think he’s that much better than Wemby? Surely, it’s more of a 60-40 or 55-45 kind of race this year.”

It’s important to read the context as well as the results, though, both in the two-man race at the top of the MVP balloting and in the two-man race that has become the Rookie of the Year vote among media members this year. Because we have a similar result in Bomtemps’ Rookie of the Year straw poll, and it’s not one that many Dallas Mavericks fans are going to be happy with.

Kon Knueppel won the Rookie of the Year ESPN straw poll among the 100 media members asked who they have at the top of their Rookie of the Year ballot, getting 80 of the 100 possible first-place votes to Cooper Flagg’s 20. But that does not mean that the disparity is that wide, so cool your jets if they’re firing loud.

In a two-man race, if all 100 voters think it’s a close race, but Gilgeous-Alexander is just slightly ahead of Wembanyama at this point, and Knueppel is just slightly ahead of Flagg at this point, both of those two are going to win the poll, 100-0.

“When this is a binary choice, it doesn’t matter if you think it’s 60-40 for one guy,” Bontemps said on Friday morning’s episode of the Hoop Collective podcast, where he and fellow ESPN analysts Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon discussed the straw poll results. “If you think it’s 60-40 for one guy, and the majority thinks it’s 60-40 for one guy, the voting is not going to be 60-40. It’s going to be like 80-20, which is about where this is. It’s not like a ranked-choice scale where you can get percentage points for being close. You’re either first, or you’re second. You either win or you lose, and all fans look at it this way.”

Kon Knueppel is leading the entire NBA in 3-pointers made this season with 261 entering play on Friday. He’s shooting better than 43% from distance this year, something we haven’t seen from a rookie since Stephen Curry. His Charlotte Hornets are suddenly relevant, which is an unexpected point in his favor this year. Team relevance usually doesn’t play a role in Rookie of the Year voting, but the Hornets’ case this year is unique. The fact that Knueppel was on an absolute heater during the stretch of games that Flagg missed in February with a sprained foot, and Flagg’s slow start out of the gate after coming back from that injury also works against Flagg in the poll results.

Flagg has been great, and in 95 out of 100 years, his rookie stat line of 20.3 points (better than Knueppel), 6.6 rebounds (more than Knueppel) and 4.5 assists (more than Knueppel) would be good enough to win Rookie of the Year. Since the NBA-ABA merger, he’s just the fourth rookie to average more than 20 points, more than six rebounds and more than four assists per game as a rookie, after Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Luka Dončic all did it in their first years. The one knock on Flagg’s game is that he hasn’t been a good jump-shooter across his rookie campaign. He’s shooting just 27.8% from 3-point range this year and

“For [Flagg] not to be Rookie of the Year was going to require something pretty historic was going to have to happen,” Bomtemps said on Hoop Collective. “And, not only has Knueppel set the 3-point record for a rookie in the NBA, he’s currently leading all players in the NBA in [3-pointers made], he’s shooting 43% from 3-point range on crazy high volume. And on top of that he’s been the driving force, if not one of the driving forces, on the remarkable turnaround job in Charlotte.”

He called the Rookie of the Year straw poll result “pretty expected” under those circumstances, though I don’t expect Mavs fans to agree with them. It should be noted, though, that Windhorst was one of Flagg’s 20 first-place votes in the straw poll.

“It’s a perfectly defensible vote if you want to vote for him,” Bontemps said on the podcast. “He’s having an awesome season.”

I’m fascinated by limitations. I don’t think I’m alone in this, but in my case, the fascination borders on morbidity. Even when the ceiling on something is predictably low, I’m curious as to how precisely low that is.

NFTs seemed like such obvious snake oil (especially the whole ‘Bored Ape’ phenomenon), but I couldn’t stop tracking the ascent before the eventual downfall. Most of us knew it was coming, but I just had to know how astronomically overvalued they would become.

I had been a bit young to fully appreciate how farcical the value of beanie babies were in the mid-to-late 90s, but I couldn’t miss out on part deux, and I was riveted.

There was an almost fatal optimism around it that was spellbinding. It became a sort of litmus test for those you had previously considered reasonable and those who reeked of artifice. Immunity was unpredictable. Not because it exposed the unintelligent, but because it exposed what even the intelligent were not exempt from: the weaponization of hope.

I didn’t need the dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman’s voice to remind me that hope was a dangerous thing. I was living that reality as a Spurs fan.

Clinging to every peripheral acquisition. Holding my breath if the team strung two or more wins together in a row. Panning my way through game replays and box scores in search of the faintest glimmer.

I watched Keldon Johnson pile up rebounds and stumble his way into an unforeseeably hot streak from long distance. I fantasized that he could be a sharpshooting Charles Barkley-lite, never minding that those rebound numbers had been the result of an otherwise lone effort on the boards, or that his shooting form roughly resembled that of a medieval trebuchet.

I told myself that Dejounte Murray and DeMar DeRozan’s mid-range games could easily be extended beyond the arc, and that Chip Engelland would work his magic, ignoring that even under his tutelage, Tony Parker had never really managed to become an outside threat.

Lord help me, I even let myself think that maybe Luka Samanic was right, and that something dimly resembling Kevin Durant could be looming somewhere off in his future. I grasped at every straw, I crawled down every rabbit hole, I tuned into every fluctuation.

And you know what? I was wrong. I was categorically, unquestionably, embarrassingly wrong.

But that’s the thing. No one is immune to the necessity of hope in one part of their lives or another. I was experiencing marital troubles. I was strained by a regime change at work. I was diagnosed with a degenerative condition just two weeks before my daughter was born, in the midst of a country-wide lockdown.

I needed to believe that something unreasonable was possible, even when the rest of my brain knew better. If there’s one thing you can say for the truly mad, it’s that they’re rarely suffering from a crisis of faith.

I find it to be supremely interesting that what the rest of us designate as insanity is often merely a belief in that which the collective agrees is preposterous. It makes me wonder how flimsy that agreement really is.

Because, honestly, are there any of us who do not believe in at least one vaguely absurd thing?

Sure, there’s a difference between believing that more than half the population has been replaced by beings who have assumed their identities and believing that Lonnie Walker IV could blossom into some variation of Vince Carter if he could just find the right confidence-restoring mantra, but I’m starting to surmise that it’s not as large a gap as one might think.

I suspect it (largely) has more to do with how much a belief consumes the rest of your life rather than the belief itself. After all, I have a Jock Landale t-shirt and no one’s come to put me away, yet.

The problem is that once you reach a place where you’re capable of recognizing the delusion for what it is, it can make you a little gun-shy regarding anything that threatens to seduce you in a similar fashion.

You recognize the sensation, and then connect it to previous hallucinations in relation to the potential of one Malaki Branham, and it kind of takes you out of it to the point of wielding your crosses and your holy water whilst bidding the devil begone.

That’s been my prevailing instinct all year.

The Spurs are on a double-digit win-streak? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

They keep beating the reigning NBA champions? I mean, it is just the regular season after all.

They go undefeated for the month of February? It was only 11 games.

They scored 110+ points in every game? Defense in the NBA isn’t what it used to be.

Hell, I even went as far as to declare the Spurs just shy of championship caliber two weeks into the very same month. And while the Spurs have certainly evolved into something different in the time that has passed, it’s not hard to see why I felt that way. The inconsistency was prevalent. The youth was without question.

But that’s the thing about rationality, it’s not a zero-sum game. Sometimes in our desire to be reasonable, we tilt too far in the wrong direction. We make a deity out of philosophy, and in our desire for the world to be coherent, we place our hope in something equally absurd.

According to the myth, the Pythagoreans, cultic in their belief in a rational universe, threw their compatriot Hippasus into the depths of the sea for bringing to light the irrationality of the square root of 2.

My takeaway from that story has always been that there’s no definitive mode of thought that can insulate you from the unpredictability of the cosmos.

I saw more people attribute the arrival of Victor Wembanyama to fate and/or the power of positive thinking than to mathematical chance. The numbers were just not as optimistic.

Sometimes you just have to place your hope in something, even within the framework of other faiths and creeds. Sometimes you just have to believe.

The difference is that this team isn’t fool’s gold. I had started thinking that long before they cut down the-nephew-that-must-not-be-name and the hungry Los Angeles Clippers without the aid of their gargantuan leader.

59 wins. The Spurs are going to win 60+ games. They’ve just tallied their 2^nd 11 game win streak of the season, and looked supremely unbothered in the process of knocking down a team that’s played them close and hard all season.

De’Aaron Fox reminded fans that the jet-boosters attached to his legs are still in their prime, picking his spots with the selectivity and sleight-of-hand of a longtime carnival worker who knows all the tricks of the trade.

Stephon Castle continued to make teams pay for sagging off of him at the arc, upping his three-point percentage to 43% over the last 10 games, and navigating crowded space like the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid belt.

Luke Kornet did his best Wemby impression in protecting the paint, and Dylan Harper threaded passes with the delicacy of a jeweler crafting a Faberge egg and an audacity that opened up lanes so wide that it almost felt like the Clippers were begging him to start a layup line.

Everyone made their contribution. Nobody seemed to break a sweat. They’ve spent most of the season taking every team’s best shot, and in doing so have become a team for whom limitation exists at the boundary of what they can imagine.

The Spurs have arrived in a manner that is much more suggestive of the iPhone than a blockchain full of cartoon monkeys. And sure, there are gonna be people who sneer at them and cling to their Blackberry.

I have empathy for them, though. They have to hope their teams will remain relevant. That the tide is still high. That they’re not beating on against the current, being borne ceaselessly into the past. I’ve been on the other side of it, and I can’t begrudge them their fantasies.

Hope is the garment of every naked emperor, and we all take turns playing at the role.

They’re welcome to borrow my Jock Landale t-shirt, though. I hear it’s going up in value.

Takeaways:

• I’ve been pretty vocal about this for most of the season, but if Stephon Castle can keep hitting threes the way he has been, Dylan Harper is the most natural fit for running the point. No player on the roster getting real minutes has been more turnover efficient than Harper, even as his touches increase. He converts passes that would make Manu blush. He finishes inside with an ease that would put rookie Tony Parker to shame. He can hit shots from the outside, and he sticks to guards and wings alike, forming a natural pairing with Castle in the back-court (who is himself capable of thwarting the forwards that Harper cannot handle). It’s really a shame that he’s not going to win ROY, because he definitely would have if he’d swapped draft years with Castle. He’s just that good. Whatever the case, San Antonio’s back-court is set up to be oppressive both now and in the future. I can barely contain myself thinking about what they’ll be capable of next season.
• I did a bit of a deep dive data-wise yesterday afternoon, and discovered that Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie have the highest net ratings for low usage players in the league. They are the definition of efficiency on both ends, and they helped keep a healthy Kawhi Leonard in check last night, while adding their usual long-distance contributions. It’s no coincidence that the Spurs have led the league in offensive rating pretty much from the moment they both made their way into the starting lineup together. Wemby might be the engine that runs this train, but they’re the ones diligently throwing coal on the fire, and they’re keeping it hot!
• Also, boy is this team different when they can lean on Luke Kornet. No offense to Mason Plumlee (who’s been a damn sight better in relief than Bismack Biyombo), but Kornet’s health is paramount to this team making it through the Western gauntlet in the postseason. He’s been a little banged up as of late, so I’d love to see the Spurs rest him a bit before the close of the season. Against most teams, as long as Wemby’s playing, they can get away with playing him less. Admittedly, the Clippers’ front-court squad is far from fearsome, but keeping them from getting any easy points was probably the difference in playing out a very stressful 4th quarter, and walking away with a double-digit margin of victory. He’s been one of the best signings in the NBA this offseason, I’d daresay.

Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:

The Logical Song by Supertramp

Tonight marks the Jazz’s preparation for their closing performance in the ceremony. They went through the depths of hell for the last four years, they made their bid for Ace Bailey, they got their win-now trade piece, and now we must bid adieu to what was the strangest Jazz season in the last decade.

Funnily enough, the Rockets clinched their second consecutive Playoff birth after Phoenix’s blowout loss against Charlotte. Unsurprisingly, they built this team on the backbone of the NBA Draft Lottery by throwing out the most putrid lineups imaginable from 2021-2023; the same precedent that Adam Silver wants to stop so that a first-round exit Playoff team can achieve a top-4 pick, for some reason.

Today’s Jazz injury report will feature all your favorite regulars, including Blake Hinson, who has been bestowed the highest honor one can receive for being capable of hitting three triples in a row. Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, Elijah Harkless (hamstring triplets?!), JJJ, Markkanen, Kessler, and Nurkic continue their comfortable ride on the Jazz bench during the final stretch.

The @utahjazz injury report

OUT – Elijah Harkless (hamstring)
OUT – Isaiah Collier (hamstring)
OUT – Keyonte George (hamstring)
OUT – Blake Hinson (2-way)
OUT – Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee)
OUT – Walker Kessler (shoulder)
OUT – Lauri Markkanen (hip)
OUT – Jusuf Nurkic (nose)

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) April 2, 2026

Rockets are still all business despite their latest Playoff birth, featuring only their true injured players of Fred VanVleet (torn ACL) and Steven Adams (ankle surgery). That’s because they’re only 1.5 games back of catching up to 4th-seeded Denver and taking home-court advantage into the first round.

Catching up to the Jazz’s standings, on the other hand, Sacramento’s interesting 123-115 win over the Raptors only puts the Jazz 1 game ahead of them in the standings. Yes, DeMar DeRozan just played 35 minutes in a meaningless April game. Utah can’t afford any chances; they intend to keep the ball rolling and to continue throwing out a combination of lineups that only sort of resemble the game of basketball. That could be the difference between draft lottery immunity and an 0.6% chance of giving up their pick to OKC.

I would bet my buck that Ace Bailey is determined to finish this season strong. The media had a chance to propel Ace Bailey to All-Rookie 1st Team honors, and may have completely sabotaged that by giving Western Conference Rookie of the Month to…Maxime Raynaud?

Ace Bailey's March:

✅ More PPG than Raynaud
✅ More APG than Raynaud
✅ More BPG than Raynaud
✅ Higher Offensive Rating
✅ Higher Defensive Rating
✅ Higher Net Rating

Western Conference Rookie of the Month:
Maxime Raynaud.

Are we serious? 😐 pic.twitter.com/AmWXDdXPOQ

— SleeperJazz (@SleeperJazz) April 2, 2026

Don’t get me wrong Kings fans, I, too, remember when Kessler was the only promising young piece on my team. But it feels a little mundane not to reward Ace Bailey after having statistically one of the greatest months one could have as a teenager.

But the Jazz do, in fact, have more young promising pieces that they can barely even keep up with.

Kyle Filipowski has been juggling between the 4 and the 5 spot, playing out of position 90% of the time while still managing to average 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game since the All-Star Break. Utah’s gravest mistake may be choosing to unleash Sensabaugh. Since returning to the starting lineup on March 9, Ice Brice has scored over 20 points in 8 of 10 games. During this period, he is averaging 25.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 three-pointers made, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting an efficient 53.7% from the field and 47.4% from three-point range.

Point in case, this is not a game for the Rockets to slack off, or the Jazz to…work hard, I guess. Utah can do the whole charade — maybe a 21-3 run sprinkled in there, a Svi Mykhailiuk sudden heat-check, perhaps even a Kennedy Chandler hustle montage. All that matters is that Utah comes in to collect that 57th loss, no matter how badly some Twitter loser tries to convince you that it’s ‘ruining’ the NBA product. Sometimes, as Neil Armstrong would say, you need to land the eagle.

How to watch:

Who: Utah Jazz (21-56) at Houston Rockets (47-29)

When: April 3rd, 6:00PM Mountain Time

Where: Toyota Center, Houston

Channel: Peacock, Jazz+, KJZZ

Radio: 97.5/1280 The Zone

There are those of you who might say that the Dallas Mavericks are just plain bad, and that’s why they’re losing. And good for them, because working hard every night to try your best to win has a multitude of underrated payoffs, which will benefit both the players and the team down the line. 

The Dallas Mavericks have put up a real fight in almost every game. Sure, it gets hard when you’re losing or keep losing, but head coach Jason Kidd keeps getting the team to go out there and work hard every night. That’s how he operates, and that’s a really good thing for the team.

What it does, is basically eliminating the issue of potentially creating bad habits during a tanking season, and that’s important because it is in the struggle that we find our identity and strength for adversity in the future. 

Not in manipulation, pretense and stat-padding. No one ever reached greatness – or an NBA championship – by cutting corners. And that is what tanking is.

We cannot talk about this without acknowledging that tanking is offensive to sports as a whole. From the point of view of a European, it’s hard not to feel that the theatrics and manipulation around this whole thing is a sham. Losing in order to win is an inherent antithesis to the competitive nature of sports. 

Not only are we teaching kids and fans that manipulating is a criteria for success, we’re also teaching them – along with players – that not putting your best effort forward could prove beneficial. 

It’s all an artificial game of make believe. We pretend it’s normal and convince each other that rooting for a team to lose is a good thing. 

But trying to lose in a competitive environment is not normal, especially for the people involved. Players, who have been brought up to focus on one thing and one thing only – winning – now have to pretend to be satisfied with being part of an organization that encourages not putting your best foot forward. 

Players who have been encouraged to have tunnel vision focus can lose their perspective. It takes a special athlete mentality to make it to the NBA, and for that to become misaligned can prove detrimental, set careers back and in the worst case ruin them. 

We call it bad habits, but it’s more than that. Players are not robots who you can just tell how to think, act and play. Do you think the best players ever become the greatest of all time by tanking? Do you think football players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimovic would ever be part of an organization who “had” to lose? 

No. And that’s why they’re among the best that ever played. They would not allow themselves to be distracted by the politics of tanking. By manipulating a system to get the biggest reward. They would want to play through adversity to prove that they are the best and deserve to be called the greatest. 

But since the rules still are in place, teams have to play along – but there are ways to do it more gracefully and with less of the negative effect to the players especially. And luckily, that’s exactly what we’re seeing from the Dallas Mavericks right now. 

Good habits can be formed while losing, character is shaped during adversity and all that. But it’s not until we take ourselves seriously, as fans, players, leaders and people in the world, that we can improve. Let’s not get blindsided and pretend tanking is a natural part of sports. It should be reformed, rethought and updated, because it provides nothing positive to sports, the NBA or basketball. 

But at least we have finally found something the Mavs are winning at: being the most ethical tankers around. 

Find more Beyond Basketball pieces here.

Following their inspired effort against the Rockets, the Milwaukee Bucks face the red-hot Boston Celtics tonight as they try to replicate that effort. As fans, that’s really all we can ask for at this point in the season. Play hard, play together, and let the chips fall where they may.

Where We’re At

Look, the Bucks have lost a bunch of games recently, but as I alluded to in the intro, that Houston game should be what the team aims to be going forward. Play with purpose and confidence as a unit, and you can be proud of your game, whatever the result is. We just saw career highs from Ousmane Dieng, Pete Nance, and the newly signed Cormac Ryan. Ryan, in particular, is a guy I’d like to see play 25-30 minutes per game from here on out; they need to determine whether the shooting is real, and they’re running out of time to do that.

With Jayson Tatum now back in the fold and getting more and more comfortable, the Celtics may just be the odds-on favorite to get out of the East and into the NBA Finals, which is crazy to say when you consider that this year was considered to be a “gap year” for them. As a Bucks fan, I hate to say it, but this Celtics organization just oozes competence at every level. For instance, they grab castaways from other teams and morph them into serviceable role players, such as Luka Garza and Neemias Queta. Obviously, they are extremely well-coached too. This could be a rough one for Milwaukee.

Injury Report

For the Bucks, Giannis (knee), Kevin Porter Jr. (knee), and Bobby Portis (wrist) are out. Gary Trent Jr. (hip) and Thanasis (calf) are questionable, while Ryan Rollins (hip flexor) and Jericho Sims (knee) are both probable. For the Celtics, Nikola Vucevic (finger) is out.

Player to Watch

Let’s go with Jayson Tatum. Tatum has shot ineffectively since returning (40.2%), but his minutes are ramping up, and by all accounts, his movement has been very encouraging as of late. Tonight should be a good chance for him to test some stuff out against lesser competition (sorry, Bucks), so he’ll be a good one to monitor.

How To Watch

Tune in at 7:00 p.m. CDT on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

---

---

What good is an advantage if you don’t use it?

Being fluid in Sanskrit is only so employable. Spending nine grand on an Alienware Area-51 Ultra 9 RTX gaming computer to play solitaire would be foolish. Having a playmaking center in the NBA is redundant if you’re not going to run a motion offense.

Come again?

That’s a slightly reductive way to frame the Udoka-era Houston Rockets. Alperen Sengun has had an impressive NBA career thus far, but he hasn’t accomplished enough to justify designing the entire offense in his image.

Yet, that’s not what’s being advocated for here, either.

Rockets need to find themselves

Much of this also boils down to who Amen Thompson is going to be.

If he’s the point guard, some of this is moot. If he’s a wing (which he should be), the Rockets are getting plus positional passing at the five as well as the two or three (or four at times). If Reed Sheppard is the long-term point guard, the Rockets are cooking with motion-offense gas. No matter who eventually replaces Kevin Durant, the Rockets have the passers to do something interesting on offense.

This year’s offense has been interesting, but in an entirely different way. It’s been interesting in the sense that it’s strikingly rudimentary and buoyed far too much by offensive rebounding. Chucking up any old shot because you’ve got a relatively high probability of getting another one does not make for sustainable offense.

Luckily, the Rockets seem to be figuring that out.

The Rockets are moving the ball

For the 2025-26 NBA season, the Rockets have a 59.4 Assist Percentage (AST%). That ranks 26th in the NBA.

Over their last ten games, they have a 67.9 AST%. That ranks 8th in the league. The results have been tangible. During that stretch, the Rockets’ 119.2 Offensive Rating is a meaningful upgrade over their season-long 116.8 mark.

Beyond the numbers, you can see the difference, right? (PS: I’m watching games again. I needed a sabbatical). The ball is just moving. The Rockets have been significantly more fun to watch.

It makes one wonder what the Rockets have been doing. Why would they struggle to hunt mismatches and score in isolation when, outside of the 37-year-old, they’re not a strong isolation team? Yes, Sengun is a great isolation scorer on the standards of a five, but the Rockets need to have a strong offense on the standards of an NBA team. Why hasn’t Udoka leaned into their strengths?

Unless…

The Rockets are finding their stride

Could this be a case of Organic Learning?

(Shout out, Drew. If you know, you know).

Could this have been Udoka’s master plan? Instill toughness and defensive effort in the team. Let them figure out the offense on their own. It’s a high feel roster, and they’ll come up with something eventually.

Alternatively, it could be an unintentional benefit. Udoka’s laissez-faire approach to offensive coaching may have been a gamble on Sengun and Thompson’s development in isolation. By letting the boys figure it out, they independently decided to play the way they play best.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The Rockets will be lucky to win a playoff series this year. They’d shock the world by winning two. Beneficial long-term developments are what matter for now, and the Rockets’ sudden improvement in offensive approach has to carry over into 2026-27, barring a blockbuster trade.

Otherwise, they aren’t making the most of their advantages.

I’m not going to lie, I came into this game a bit disgruntled. First, I found out that Victor wouldn’t be playing in the team’s first contest against a competent opponent in some time. Second, the OKC-Lakers game had started, and it was already abundantly clear that the Spurs weren’t going to be gaining any ground in the standings via this game. Put simply, I found myself reflecting on the real possibility that San Antonio could lose against the Clippers, which – together with OKC’s win over the Lakers – would have just about slammed the door on any chance of the Spurs securing the #1 seed.

Thankfully, this iteration of the Silver and Black is exceptionally deep came to play last night despite their best player being out. As a result, San Antonio mostly cruised to yet another blowout victory. On top of that, they managed to produce a box score with a number of interesting gems:

• The Spurs failed to win several potentially critical battles in this game, as evidenced by their +6 turnover differential, +3 foul differential, and +0 offensive board margin. Since the start of 2012-2013, this is just the 46th time in 16,817 regular season games that a team has won by 19+ points while recording margins as bad or worse in all of these three areas.
• Largely due to the extra fouls and turnovers, San Antonio also faced deficits in FGA (-5) and FTA (-4). While these are not severe disadvantages, they certainly don’t tend to produce easy wins either.
• However, all of these deficiencies were swept away by the Spurs’ dominance in shooting efficiency, including FG%, 3P%, and FT% differentials of +10.4, +20.19, and +7.94 percentage points, respectively. 208 other regular season winners have met or surpassed all three of these differentials since the start of 2012-2013, and the average margin of victory in those games was nearly 29 points.
• The three-point battle in this game deserves some more attention. First, the total volume of threes attempted (58 across both teams) was quite low by modern standards. In fact, only 69 other regular season games have had a 3PA total at least that low in 2025-2026 (that’s about 6% of games played in the season to date). As you might expect, you don’t have to go too far back for this story to change dramatically. As recently as the 2017-2018 season, an absolute majority of regular season games had a 3PA total of no more than 58, and just a few years prior to that 58+ 3PA totals in individual games were relatively rare.
• The second interesting thing about the three-point battle is how comically bad Los Angeles was. In going 5-of-27 from distance, the Clippers allowed the Spurs to earn a +7 3PM margin on just 31 three-point attempts. Winning teams have achieved this combination in 695 other regular season games since the start of 2012-2013, but the vast majority of those cases came in the earlier part of the period. So far this season, it has only happened four other times.

What are Team Graded Box Scores?

Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).

Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.

Kon Knueppel has had a remarkable rookie season, but he was initially viewed as something of a consolation prize. His Duke teammate (and roommate) Cooper Flagg was the great prize of last year’s draft. Called a generational talent, he was taken by Dallas with the first pick, and Knueppel fell to the #4 pick, where he was taken by the Charlotte Hornets.

Now, both former Blue Devils, locked in a taut battle for Rookie of the Year, look like generational talents.

Knueppel has emerged as one of the great pure shooters in the league. After smashing the rookie three-point record recently, on Thursday night, he broke the Charlotte season record for three-pointers as well.

Kemba Walker hit 260 three-pointers in the 2018-19 season. He was 28 when he broke the record.

Knueppel is 20. He won’t even be of legal drinking age until August.

• Kon Knueppel sets Hornets’ season 3-point record in a 127-107 win over the Suns
• Kon Knueppel Strengthens ROY Case With Record-Breaking Night
• Dirk Nowitzki breaks down NBA’s ‘neck and neck’ ROY race
• Kon Knueppel Breaks Former Star’s 3-Point Record: Hornets Coach Charles Lee Says Players Chided Him For Kemba Walker Comment
• Hornets’ Kon Knueppel joins sharpshooting company matched only by MVP Stephen Curry
• Kon Knueppel breaks Hornets record, boosts NBA Rookie of the Year case
• Kon Knueppel breaks record previously set by ex-Celtics star
• Hornets’ Kon Knueppel breaks tie with Kemba Walker for new 3s record

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

With just six games left in the season for the Sixers, the middle of the Eastern Conference is as tightly packed as ever. There are still only four games between the rolling five-seed Hawks (44-33) and 10-seed Heat (40-37) and the Sixers’ position in sixth is up for plenty of change over the next 10 days.

Now, after Wednesday’s comfortable 153-131 win against the tanking Wizards, things won’t be quite so easy for the Sixers in their next matchup against Minnesota.

An immediate advantage the Sixers have heading into Friday’s game is that the Timberwolves are on the second night of a back-to-back, after they lost in Detroit on Thursday, 113-108. Having extra rest at this late stage of the year should bode well for the healthier Sixers.

The big factor to monitor for this game is the status of Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves’ star has been working his way back from a knee injury and was out on Thursday due to his knee and an illness. Jaden McDaniels is also a big missing piece for Minnesota, who remains out with left knee patella tendinopathy and a bone bruise. We’ll need to wait until nearer game time for the Timberwolves’ new report, and see whether Edwards remains out or needed the night off against Detroit so he could play this back-to-back’s second leg.

The Timberwolves are one of the tougher opponents the Sixers have remaining as they close out the season. And that’s the case even with them somewhat slowing down recently. Minnesota has only gone 6-7 over their last 13 games, including a three-game losing streak. However, despite their offensive rating ranking a measly 26th in this stretch, they at least managed to go 4-2 in the six games in this spell that Edwards was sidelined for and their defense has held strong, ranking seventh in this time and fifth for the season overall.

To potentially make matters tougher for Philly, Embiid still isn’t guaranteed to return either. He’s currently listed as doubtful due to illness, and joins Johni Broome as the only other player on the injury report.

If he returns, Edwards vs. Tyrese Maxey is the show in this one. Edwards is having a monster season, displaying his best scoring yet with career-highs in points (29.3 per game) and overall efficiency (62.1 true shooting percentage). If he doesn’t play, the Sixers will obviously need to shift their focus to the other guards who will pick up most of the ball-handling load. Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley and Ayo Dosonmu all see more usage in Edwards’ absence, and the Sixers will be able to load up the paint more against Julius Randle’s drives.

Outside of Edwards, Dosonmu will be the main guard to watch right now. He was a great addition for Minnesota before the trade deadline and he’s averaged 17.1 points on 56.7/50.0/84.6 shooting splits over his last eight games. He’ll be a key assignment for Philly’s guards to keep in check with his blend of shifty driving and finishing, and three-point stroke.

It’ll be fun to see how VJ Edgecombe (make that Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, VJ Edgecombe) fairs if he gets to match up against Ant, too. The rookie is at a size disadvantage and Edwards is a difficult physical matchup with the power and speed he has, but Edgecombe will be relentless with his own energy and quickness to shift around on the ball and fight past screens.

This isn’t an easy matchup for the Sixers’ frontcourt either. Embiid has always historically got the best of Rudy Gobert, so if Jo’s available and can win that matchup again today that’ll be important. Even if Gobert’s rim protection inevitably makes life a bit more difficult for ball-handlers getting to the rim. However, the Timberwolves have plenty more size at their disposal with Randle and Naz Reid, who’s been one of the NBA’s best backup bigs for years.

Paul George is fresh off his red-hot 39-point outing, and he (plus Dominick Barlow) will need to be ready to bring strong defense against Randle’s drive game and physical interior play. Randle is going to be one of the main players upping their usage if Edwards is out, too. Getting more solid performances from Andre Drummond and Adem Bona would be a big help to secure the boards against Minnesota’s size (they rank 10th in rebound percentage), keep Gobert in check as a lob threat, and handle Reid’s blend of strength, skill and mobility.

If the Sixers are at full force, this is a challenging yet winnable game. Even if Embiid is out, Philly could have the firepower to pull ahead of a Timberwolves’ offense that’s been struggling lately. Maxey and Edgecombe are entering the game in fine form and George is coming off his highest scoring game as a Sixer yet (albeit against a tanking Wizards squad).

There’s a lot riding on the availability of Embiid and Edwards in determining the outcome of this one, though. It’s time to keep an eye on injury reports…

Game Details

When: Friday, April 3, 7:00 PM ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

The struggle bus will be parked outside American Airlines Center on Friday as the Dallas Mavericks (24-52) host the Orlando Magic (40-36) and both teams limp toward the end of the 2025-26 NBA season. We get through this one, and there are only five more of these things to go. You can do this, Mavs fans.

Hopefully you’ve found something better to do with your Friday night than watch this team play something like basketball, but if you’re still interested, we’ll be there for you with all manner of half-assed game insights and postgame commentary, because we’re completionists if nothing else.

Here are three nuggets to chew on as we prepare for the fresh hell that surely awaits on Friday.

Last time out

Friday’s game is the second and final meeting between the Mavs and the Magic this year. Dallas dropped a baffling 115-114 loss to Orlando on March 5 on a last-second dunk by Wendell Carter Jr. Jalen Suggs hit four 3-pointers for the Magic in that game, including one on the possession before Carter’s decisive jam, in response to Cooper Flagg’s three-point play on the other end that gave the Mavs a 114-110 lead with 38 seconds left.

That game was Flagg’s first after missing nine games with a sprained foot. Flagg scored 18 points and dished six assists on a bad 7-for-22 shooting night, which has become the norm for the rookie lately. Flagg has hit a challenging stretch where he’s had good production, but with a tendency toward inefficiency, caused to some extent by a combination of his rookie-year whistle and the dearth of talent around him on the offensive end.

No one on the Magic roster did much of anything to will the team to the win over the Mavericks. Dallas just crumbled in the third and fourth quarters, as they have many times this year. Tiago da Silva was Orlando’s leading scorer in that game, with all of 19 points.

Freefallin’

The Mavericks’ situation is well documented. Ethical tankers. In the hunt for a pick near the top of the 2026 NBA Draft. Not all that worried about winning, to put it mildly.

The last time these two teams met, on March 5, the Magic were in the middle of a 13-4 stretch, which would run their win-loss record all the way up to 38-28 by March 14. Since then, Orlando has lost eight of 10 games. It’s no coincidence that the Magic started losing soon after guard Anthony Black went down with an abdominal strain. He’s missed the team’s last 14 games, and the duo of Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane has had a tough time keeping the thing together without him. Orlando sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference as of the start of Friday’s game, still clinging to their play-in positioning. Black has been ruled out of Friday’s game as of Thursday afternoon.

So, don’t count your losses before they hatch, Mavericks fans. Sprinkled in with some losses to good teams throughout the Magic’s last 10 games was a loss to the putrid Indiana Pacers on March 23.

Winnable games remaining

With six games left in the 2025-26 season, Friday’s matchup with the Magic appears to be one of just two winnable games left on the Mavericks’ slate. If your eyes are already on the hefty haul of guards in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, you’d love for the Mavericks to find a way to gracefully bow out at some point against Orlando.

The Magic have the firepower to do away with the Mavs, sure. But you never know what version of Orlando you’re going to see on any given night. The Magic, much like the Mavs, have a proven ability to lose any kind of game: high-scoring up-and-down affairs as well as the dreaded and plodding race to 100 points.

They should lose the next four, at the Los Angeles teams, at Phoenix and at San Antonio, before having a puncher’s chance again in the season finale against the Chicago Bulls.

The die is cast. The stage is set. The drama will be wanting, but the right results coming home could bear sweet fruit in the future.

Braylon Mullins hadn't hit a 3-pointer in the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of Connecticut’s Elite Eight game against Duke before Alex Karaban passed the ball to him for the eventual 40-foot game-winning shot with under a second left.

It’s a shot that represented more than a punched ticket to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

"It's like a dream come true, dream scenario, made-for-TV movie or — I guess it goes right to streaming now," UConn coach Dan Hurley said.

Indiana’s Mr. Basketball from last season sent his team back to his home state to compete for a third national championship ring in the past four years.

REQUIRED READING: Braylon Mullins watched his shot 'countless' times, but Final Four is UConn freshman's focus

"You play for those moments," Mullins said after the game. "You dream about that. … That's a one-of-a-kind experience."

It was also a moment that depicted one of the roles the Greenfield, Indiana native has grown into for Hurley’s program this year: reliable and exuberantly confident shooter in key moments.

"This is kind of what I’ve dreamed of, and this is the position that I wanted to put myself in coming out of high school," Mullins told USA TODAY Sports in Philadelphia ahead of the Men’s NCAA Tournament. 

On a team of veterans like Karaban, Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr., Mullins plays with an edge when he’s making shots, something that was missing from UConn’s roster last year. It’s what has led to gaining the trust and respect from his teammates to not back down from challenging shot attempts. 

"It’s just kind of what the game gives you," Mullins said. "I know that I’m going to be put in spots that coach Hurley wants me to be put in and I’m going to shoot what is given to me. I know all my teammates want me to shoot those shots."

Braylon Mullins drains a long ball and Coach Hurley is HYPED for him 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6pAD8jLR5j

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 23, 2026

He backs up this edge and swagger with his stats: 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. He became the first Big East freshman since Marquette’s Markus Howard to knock down 50 made 3-pointers in the regular season.

"Once he’s hitting (shots), it just opens up everything else for us," Karaban told USA TODAY Sports. "He’s been doing it since the summer, so (I’m) never really going to tell him to turn down a shot."

The Huskies freshman is an impactful piece of the puzzle for much more than his shooting.

REQUIRED READING: UConn vs Illinois prediction, analysis, Final Four expert picks for men's March Madness

He’s able to impact the game defensively with steals and blocks, and then offensively with mid-range shots and playmaking. Pair that with his 3-point shooting, and its recipe for winning basketball. A recent example is UConn’s first round win vs. Furman when he overcame a bad shooting night with six assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Mullins' ability to impact the game in multiple ways has gained Hurley’s respect. 

"You don't get far in this tournament unless your freshmen can do that," Hurley said of Mullins' growth in the tournament ahead of the Elite Eight. "He's a three-way player. He's out on the glass. He's a critical threat on offense, but he's also like an underrated defensive player with a maturity about him where, if he goes through stretches of the game where he's not getting shots, not making shots, he keeps playing winning basketball."

"The courage. The young man -- he's a rare human being. A toughness about him... He was due."@UConnMBB's Dan Hurley spoke with @TracyWolfson after Braylon Mullins' dramatic game-winner pic.twitter.com/oS6Pf9wCcV

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2026

The season hasn’t come without its ups and down for the freshman, though. But his maturity and composure help him provide the missing puzzle piece, too.

"(He’s) special. Super special," Karaban said of Mullins. "His maturity as a freshman, his composure, the way he carries himself, you don’t really typically see it as a freshman. Especially someone who was a McDonald’s All American. 

"He’s not asking people for shots. He’s not asking for the ball. He just wants to do whatever the team wants, whatever the team needs to win."

So if it is a key shot (or multiple) down the stretch or impacting the game defensively, Mullins will now look to finish putting the puzzle of a third national title celebration in the past four years together with his teammates in front of the hometown crowd over the next few days. 

The first step to that comes Saturday against No. 3 Illinois in the Final Four. 

"It's unbelievable to be in the position I am," Mullins said.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Braylon Mullins serving as UConn's missing piece in Final Four run

There are rough evenings. 

And then there are nightmares. 

For the Lakers, the latter might even fall short of describing what happened Thursday.  

They imploded against the reigning champion Thunder in a measuring stick game, 139-96. Luka Doncic suffered a left hamstring injury in the third quarter and will undergo an MRI exam on Friday. And Austin Reaves got banged up and was grabbing at his side and back throughout the contest. 

It was a disaster for a team that had spent the last month clawing their way up the Western Conference standings with a 16-2 run. They had inserted themselves into the championship contender conversation. Doncic had risen to the forefront of the MVP race. 

The Thunder took a pin to those narratives, popping them as though they were nothing but overinflated balloons filled with hot air. 

The Lakers knew what was on the line against the top-seeded Thunder and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

This was their test to show they were the real deal. But long before Doncic got injured, they arrived for their final exam hungover and without a pencil. 

It might seem hyperbolic to claim one game carries so much weight. 

But then again, did you watch Thursday’s contest? 

In the first quarter, the Lakers were outshot from the field, 63% to 33%, and they had more turnovers (eight) than field goals (five). 

In the second quarter, they trailed by as much as 35 points. 

Their deficit grew as large as 46 points, their biggest hole of the season.

“They beat the s—t out of us tonight,” said Reaves, who had a team-high 15 points along with four turnovers. 

The Thunder emphatically stomped out the Lakers’ roaring flame, reducing all of the hope and excitement of the last month to embers struggling for oxygen. 

The Lakers aren’t contenders. And Doncic is not the MVP. 

But it gets way, way worse than that. 

If Doncic’s injury is serious, LA may not even get past the first round of the playoffs. 

And if Doncic misses the team’s final five games, he’ll be disqualified from all NBA awards because of the league’s 65-game threshold. [Doncic has played in 64 games this season.]

That’s right, the guy who’s leading the league in points (33.5), is third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6) could’ve gone from trying to surpass Gilgeous-Alexander for the league’s most prestigious individual honor to being wiped off the board entirely in one dreadful evening. 

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” said LeBron James, who had 13 points, six rebounds and two assists in the second-worst loss of his career. “Especially, anybody on our team. But when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury.”

Thursday was one of those nights that will haunt the Lakers, especially coach JJ Redick. 

Doncic was grabbing at his left hamstring in the second quarter. Why the heck did Redick allow him to re-enter a game in which the Lakers were down by 31 points at halftime? Doncic wasn’t going to rescue the team on a night in which he had more turnovers (six) than field goals (three). 

“We checked him out,” Redick said. “He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”

Doncic should’ve never played in the third quarter. That was a massive mistake that could have major consequences for a team that was soaring. 

It was just one of those nights. 

LA had beaten multiple contenders over the last month, including the Rockets (twice), Timberwolves, Knicks and Nuggets. 

If they had beaten the Thunder, they would’ve been considered real threats for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. And Doncic’s MVP case would’ve become far more bulletproof. 

Instead, they walked away from Thursday’s game mortified and hobbled, like a boxer who fought way above his weight class. 

This wasn’t just a bump in the road. It was an unraveling. 

It was a nightmare. 

But the Lakers don’t get to wake up from this and pretend it never happened.