Category: NBA

The Dallas Mavericks hit the road to take on the Denver Nuggets in a late game Wednesday night. Dallas had success against Denver with two head-to-head wins in December, but then lost the previous matchup in January, as well this one, 142-135.

Let’s get to the grades!

Naji Marshall: B+

22 PTS / 4 REB / 3 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 30 MIN

Marshall was ripping in the early going, but really came back down to earth hard as the night wore on. He finished 7-for-17 and only made a single three-pointer on six attempts. He was the Mavs’ second leading scorer and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Max Christie: C+

9 PTS / 1 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN

Christie did very well for himself, but just didn’t quite do it at a high volume. He connected on 3-for-5 from the floor (all from deep) for a hot shooting night, but didn’t get an abundance of touches to really see what his night could have been. For the amount of minutes played, he didn’t offer much in spite of a hot hand.

Cooper Flagg: A-

26 PTS / 8 REB / 7 AST / 2 STL / 1 BLK – 36 MIN

Flagg didn’t have one of his best nights for nearly three quarters, but yet again insisted on contributing a little bit of everything. Flagg stayed the course and before you knew it, he had a great game with his 1-for-4 three-point shooting the only real knock to speak of. He hit 10-for-18 overall.

P.J. Washington: A-

19 PTS / 15 REB / 1 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 31 MIN

Washington did not look spectacular for much of the game and he did not shoot particularly well until later in the evening (8-for-15 overall), yet he notched a double-double just as the fourth quarter got underway and had a handful of nice plays in the final twelve minutes. His 15 rebounds were a season high. He ultimately fouled out with seconds remaining, but otherwise managed a nice game when it was all said and done.

Dwight Powell: B

7 PTS / 4 REB / 0 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK – 16 MIN

Powell gave the Mavs largely what could be expected, especially in so few minutes. The highlight of his night was the ability to draw fouls and convert well enough on his free throws (5-for-7), but some of the responsibility for Nikola Jokic’s monster night falls on him as well.

Tyler Smith: A-

8 PTS / 1 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 8 MIN

Tyler Smith, you ask? Smith is not a familiar name to Mavs’ fans, but in game 73 of the season, he doesn’t have many more chances to be featured. In very few minutes, Smith had himself a nice night. 3-for-5 from the floor including 2-for-4 from deep is certainly not bad for under eight minutes of play.

Khris Middleton: B+

11 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 18 MIN

Middleton had a quietly solid game. He hit his shots (4-for-8), shared the ball and maximized relatively few minutes. He had only a single turnover, for a nice to assist-to-turnover ratio.

Final Thoughts

This game was just plain strange. Dallas did what they have become so good at doing – falling behind only to make a big run to officially qualify the game for clutch status. After drawing to within a point with only minutes remaining, Dallas came unraveled quickly. To top things off, they allowed Jamal Murray to drop 53 points and watched Nikola Jokic come a single assist shy of the fourth 20/20/20 game in the history of the NBA.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Nebraska basketball is liking this whole winning NCAA Tournament games thing.

After the Cornhuskerswon their first March Madness game in program history in the first round over Troy, they doubled their fun with a second-round win over Vanderbilt in one of the games of the tournament so far.

Has Fred Hoiberg had a chance to take it all in?

"It's on to the next," he said Wednesday. "If you get caught up in it and if you get satisfied, you're not going to last very long in this tournament."

March Madness: Sweet 16 games ranked

March Madness upset predictions: Ranking 5 most likely Sweet 16 surprises

This is an unfamiliar feeling for Nebraska, but a familiar foe awaits them in Thursday's Sweet 16 in Houston: Big Ten compatriot Iowa.

Can Texas go from the First Four to the Final Four?

While Texas is the highest seed left in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the No. 11 Longhornsaren't a Cinderella.

“I don't think we ever really want to sign up to be the Cinderella story,” said Texas coach Sean Miller after beating Gonzaga in Round 2. “Because we are the University of Texas.”

March Madness: The Sweet 16 games ranked

March Madness upset predictions: Ranking 5 most likely Sweet 16 surprises

Purdue, the country's preseason No. 1, is hitting its stride after a late season stumble. The Boilermakers won the Big Ten tournament and are in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five seasons.

DETROIT — In a game that had all the intensity of a playoff battle, the Atlanta Hawks outlasted the Detroit Pistons 130-129 in overtime Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Atlanta appeared in control early, jumping out to a double-digit lead behind efficient offense and ball movement. The Hawks poured in 73 first-half points, with Jalen Johnson orchestrating the attack and CJ McCollum knocking down perimeter shots. But Detroit stormed back in the third quarter, erupting for 40 points to erase the deficit and set up a dramatic finish.

The fourth quarter featured 13 lead changes and multiple clutch moments from both sides. Detroit’s Jalen Duren dominated inside, while Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson provided timely scoring. Still, Atlanta responded each time, with Johnson continuing his all-around brilliance and McCollum delivering key buckets late.

In overtime, the Hawks made just enough plays to escape. A late defensive stand and a narrow scoring edge in the extra period sealed the win in a game that was tied eight times and never lacked drama.

Johnson led the Hawks with 27 points and 12 assists, showcasing his versatility and poise in big moments. McCollum matched him with 27 points of his own, including five 3-pointers. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 21 points, while Dyson Daniels contributed a strong double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Detroit was paced by Duren’s dominant 26-point, 14-rebound performance. Harris added 22 points, while Daniss Jenkins chipped in 19 points and 10 assists. Ausar Thompson’s efficient 18-point outing and Robinson’s five 3-pointers kept the Pistons within striking distance all night.

Ultimately, Atlanta’s depth and late-game execution proved decisive. The Hawks shot efficiently from the field and got contributions up and down the roster, including 11 points from Onyeka Okongwu off the bench.

The loss is a tough one for Detroit, which showed resilience in battling back from an early deficit but couldn’t quite finish in overtime.

For Atlanta, it’s a statement road win — one defined by resilience, offensive balance, and just enough composure when it mattered most.

It’s just one game. However, against a fully healthy version of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics proved that they are ready for any challenge.

Everyone played their roles in the Celtics 119-109 win on Wednesday night. Jaylen Brown was the engine of the offense, Jayson Tatum was great playing out of the high pick-and-roll and the role players did what was needed. It was a complete team win.

Baylor Scheierman was awesome, hitting 3 three pointers, playing excellent defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and having a huge put back dunk.

pic.twitter.com/xWPwfY4eKM

— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 26, 2026

Payton Pritchard hit four threes, Neemias Queta made shots around the rim and defended the rim, and Derrick White was doing Derrick White things on the defensive end. Everyone chipped in and everyone had a hand in helping the Celtics win the game.

This was a big test for the Celtics against the best team in the league. The Thunder have dealt with a lot of injuries this year, but on Wednesday night, they had their whole team available.

Boston has risen to the occasion all season and it was time for another test and they passed it with flying colors. Offensively, it was one of the best games, if not the very best, the C’s have played all season. They scored 70 points in the 2nd half and were doing it in all sorts of different ways.

Sure, the three ball was great; Boston shot 18/41 (44%) from three-point range. Yet it wasn’t the only way they scored. They got to the line a ton shooting 29 free throws, Brown specifically shot 14 free throws (he made 12 of them). They found a slew of different ways to score against the best defense in the NBA.

They themselves were great defensively. As Joe Mazzulla said after the game, they committed to rebounding, only giving up 4 offensive rebounds in the game.

Joe Mazzulla on the Celtics constant rebounding:

“You have to commit to it.”

“Our guys are committed to it and it helps us with the shot margin. pic.twitter.com/zAA5ZpYjPX

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) March 26, 2026

Those are the margins that Mazzulla has stressed all year. They had 13 turnovers in the game but not giving up 2nd chance opportunities is something that has been stressed all season. When you win in those margins, it is so much easier to win a basketball game.

Jayson Tatum was also fantastic in this game. Maybe people were overreacting to a shooting slump (tell me if you have heard that one before). He had 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 awesome block in the game and was everywhere impacting it.

pic.twitter.com/Lnr2wyr0a5

— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 26, 2026

Yes, it was one game and we should not overreact, but this team is ready for any challenge that is presented to them, they have shown that all season. All season they have adapted and found ways to win games. As Mazzulla likes to say, ‘whatever it takes, however long it takes.’

INDIANAPOLIS — The narrative surrounding Bronny James, the oldest son of Lakers star LeBron James, even before the franchise drafted him in the second round of the 2024 draft was that he needed the Lakers to make his NBA dreams come to fruition.

But on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the road-weary Lakers closing out a six-game, 11-day trip against an energetic and physical Pacers team, it was the team that needed the younger James to get over the hump in its 137-130 victory.

They needed his energy and fresh legs. His athleticism and burst during a night that was challenging for most of his teammates to sustain it — evident by the Pacers cutting the Lakers’ 29-point lead in the third to six with less than a minute in the game.

So when the coaching staff told Bronny before Wednesday’s game that he’d get rotation minutes against the Pacers in light of the team’s absences (Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Adou Thiero were sidelined), he relaxed before his opportunity came.

“To be honest, I was trying to calm myself down more than having adrenaline,” Bronny said. “Just trying to relax myself. I know what I can do as a player.”

The confidence James played with against the Pacers, a game he finished with four points on 2-of-4 shooting and a pair of steals, was much higher compared to Nov. 15, which was the last time he was in the rotation during a game the Lakers had a significant number of their normal rotation available. 

Bronny was more poised Wednesday. Calmer. More self-assured in his game and confident in his shot, even though he missed his lone 3-point attempt.

It helped him knock down a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 3:50 left in the game as the shot clock wound down to give the Lakers a 128-113 lead over the Pacers — a shot coach JJ Redick said was “big to kind of settle us” after the Pacers cut the Lakers’ lead from 29 in the third to 13 late in the fourth.

“That pull-up 2, it was a big bucket,” star guard Luka Dončić added. “It was one of the most important shots of the game. They were coming back, he hit that one. He did really great in those minutes.”

JJ Redick and Luka Doncic both mentioned this 17-foot pull-up jumper from Bronny James as a significant that that helped the Lakers in the win over the Pacers.

JJ: "I thought the Bronny's jumper was big to kind of settle us. And then we went to the Horns 3 with Luka, Austin and… pic.twitter.com/IC6JqaSYjj

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) March 26, 2026

Bronny credited the 18 games he’s played with the Lakers’ South Bay G League affiliate this season, where so far he’s averaged 13.3 points on 48.7% shooting in 28 minutes, for his development.

He acknowledged the importance of hitting that shot for his confidence. 

“Does everything to see one go through the net, especially in that point of the game,” Bronny said. “It’s pretty big for me. I’ve hit a lot of those shots in the G, so just seeing that translate.”

Luka Doncic on Bronny James, who had 4 points and pair of steals in 13 minutes: "Definitely a big improvement from last year. I saw him in training camp, he was doing some stuff that I was really impressed with. He did a great job today. Big game for him, that pull-up 2, it was a… https://t.co/ZyLhm5Xyprpic.twitter.com/7nS6z0I1se

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) March 26, 2026

What also translated was Bronny’s defensive intensity, which was showcased when he stole the game and forced Pascal Siakam to turn the ball over on a post-up during the Pacers’ first possession of the second quarter.

“He’s gotten significantly better,” Redick said. “I know our staff has a lot of confidence in him. He had two really, really good defensive possessions [of] individual defense in the first half. The biggest thing with him is he’s got a lot of confidence right now. He’s having a fantastic season with South Bay. He’s been arguably the best player for like the last three or four weeks in our stay-ready games every single time.”

Redick added: “He’s got a bounce to his step right now. That just comes from developing that confidence. We saw it last year, and we’re seeing it again this year; just his growth as a player.”

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The Dallas Mavericks (23-50) dropped their fifth game in a row, losing to the Denver Nuggets (44-28) on Wednesday, 142-135.

It was a game that threatened to be close on a handful of occasions, mostly for those moments to be quickly erased by a red-hot Jamal Murray, who had 29 points at half and finished with 53. Nikola Jokic finished one assist shy of the ultra-rare triple-20, with 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 dimes.

For Dallas, Naji Marshall continued with his dependable output, contributing 22 points on seven-of-16 shooting. Cooper Flagg put up 23 points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds on another solid night for the rookie.

0: Dallas turnovers in the first half

Dallas kept this thing close nearly all night, and they stayed that way by keeping an extraordinarily clean turnover sheet for the game.

They finished with only 4 combined turnovers, a season low, and had zero during the first half; the first team in the league to play a first half without a turnover since these Nuggets pulled it off two months ago on January 25th.

It was Nemhard starting at the point, so for him and fellow rookie Cooper Flagg to handle much of the offensive initiation in a close game with a contending-caliber team like Denver (who, admittedly, is on the second night of a back-to-back), instills confidence. Nembhard entered Wednesday’s game with an absurd 48-7 assist-to-turnover ratio in the seven games prior to Wednesday night’s.

2: Guys being dudes

A big reason to tune into games at this point in the season is to try and catch a glimpse of someone interesting. A two-way guy or 10-day player who pops for a night, or looks like he maybe, just maybe, could stick in the league. So you can say, “You know, I was watching JJ Barea during his rookie season.”

Dallas has two guys like that now — the 21-year-old native Texan, Tyler Smith, and John Poulakidas, the 23-year-old Yale man. Pouliakidas has shown promise before — he got pulled after playing too good over 11 minutes against Golden State and making three of his five 3-point attempts.

Against the Nuggets, Smith took five beautiful shots in just eight minutes, went 2-of-4 from deep, and grabbed a rebound. Poulakidas came to play, too, if only for nine minutes. Still, he took four threes and made one.

This team needs shooters, especially shooters under the age of 25. Smith and Poulakidas keep showing just enough to keep fans interested and fantasizing about what could be.

15: season-high rebounds for PJ Washington

PJ Washington turned in a strong double-double performance, scoring 19 points and grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds.

His previous high was a 14-rebound mark back in December against Utah. He did most of his work tonight on the defensive glass, hauling in 11 of his 15 rebounds on the defensive end.

He did much of that work in the second half. 11 of his boards came after halftime and were a big part of Dallas clawing their way back into the game, getting within just one point after being down by 13 at one point, and notching yet another clutch game.

It was a great performance that was only slightly overshadowed by Nikola Jokic putting up his absurd 23/19/21 stat line.

Out of all of the San Antonio Spurs’ blowout victories over the last month, Wednesday’s 123-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies felt different. It wasn’t too long ago when the Spurs were on the other end of games like this – playing multiple players on 10-day contracts and two-ways. Those were brutal, demoralizing losses that left a large chunk of the fan base clamoring for trades and free agent signings. Going through that experience just a few years ago somehow makes the victory more satisfying.

San Antonio outmatched the undermanned Grizzlies in just about every meaningful aspect of the game. Early in the game, the Spurs had the ball on a string, whipping it around to find not a good shot, but a great one. It was reminiscent of the Big Three-era San Antonio teams. Granted, it was against an incredibly relaxed defense from the Grizzlies, but that is the kind of offense that crushes a team in a meaningless March matchup. San Antonio looked like a team on a mission. One that was having fun and not just going through the motions.

The Spurs are clicking right now. They haven’t lost focus since the All-Star break. They are pushing full steam ahead for the playoffs in April. Games like this are a reminder of how far they have come in a few years. But it’s clear that the team isn’t satisfied with just blowing teams out in March. They are playing for something much bigger.

Takeaways:

• Allow me to stand on a bit of a soapbox here. Today, the NBA voted to authorize the league to formally explore potential team expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle. That’s great. Seattle deserves a team. But does the NBA really have a surplus of talent so large it can afford two more teams? Did Memphis look like it was dealing with a surplus of talent? How about the Sacramento Kings? Or the Brooklyn Nets? There are so many teams resting players to tank for a better draft pick (I know the Spurs were here just a few years ago). Can we really afford two more? These blowouts are fun to an extent, but it’s much more enjoyable to watch two teams trying to win, rather than just one.
• You get a poster! You get a poster! You get a poster! Stephon Castle annihilated Taylor Hendricks at the rim. GG Jackson put Victor Wembanyama on a poster, and then Wemby got him back the very next possession. Then Julian Champagnie caught a body on a dunk. The third quarter had better highlights than the Dunk Contest!
• Wembanyama’s defensive game was MVP tape material. If someone ever doubted how much Wemby’s defense actually changes a game, show them the Grizzlies game. They couldn’t get anywhere near the rim with him in the game. Memphis had just 34 points in the paint on Wednesday. Wemby had 7 blocks. It was one of the best rim protection games of the entire season.
• Oh, and to make it even more impressive, Wemby was 2 assists and 2 steals away from a 5×5 game.
• Devin Vassell is such a luxury. When the ball swings to him on the perimeter, it feels like it is always going to go in. Plus, he can drive off the bounce and finish at the rim. Having him as the fourth option in the starting lineup makes the Spurs’ offense so deadly.
• Dylan Harper continues to impress with his shooting touch. He hit 2 of his 5 three-pointers against the Grizzlies. It feels like we are just scratching the surface of what he can become.

I was born and raised in Manhattan, just a couple years before the New Jersey Nets leapt directly from the basement to consecutive NBA Finals appearances. I remember Mikki Moore as my power forward, not Kenyon Martin, and I never experienced or felt particularly connected to the Jersey Pride dripping off the best Nets teams of the early 2000s.

I understand now that was a perfect marriage between franchise and fanbase, if not economically, then spiritually. The nation’s most insecure state embraced a small-market team that always beat the Knicks and Celtics, whose success was repeatedly name-checked in The Sopranos, but remained firmly the underdog. The team started winning after they traded the “selfish,” NYC-born Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd, who ran — what else? — the Princeton offense dutifully. And thanks to the league’s best defense, Kidd got to throw plenty of dazzling, no-look passes in transition.

The Nets were was tough, fundamentally sound, and flashy, in that order. New Jersey’s self-conscious pride swelled, and showsyouhow weak the Eastern Conference is became the NBA equivalent of it’s just a highway surrounded by factories.

You likely know the rest of the story, but if not, Secret Base has a refresher on the rest of the Jersey years…

Now they are the Brooklyn Nets, playing their home games at Barclays Center, which sits on the edge of Prospect Heights. Bruce Ratner’s vision, in part, came true. Today, Barclays Center — unlike the Nets’ previous homes — is reliably full even when the team isn’t good, this year reporting an average attendance of 17,404 per game, or 99.18% of its listed capacity.

Most of those 17,404 are not Nets fans. If a star player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the visiting team — not to mention the LeBron James/Steph Curry class — the building bursts with their jerseys. This is also true for regional opponents like the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, boasting huge fanbases that always travel well. Earlier this season, Jaylen Brown got “M-V-P” chants at the ’Clays.

Obviously, the Nets have been very bad over the last three seasons. They no longer have star-power on the roster. It’s no secret that the franchise’s move to Brooklyn only brought them deeper into Knicks-occupied territory, but the current state of the team plays a role here too.

Former Nets Bruce Brown and Theo Pinson described the crowd dynamic very well on the latter’s podcast a couple years ago…

Speaking about the 2021 playoff environment: “Their fans just love basketball. They’re there for the game. Like sometimes, it’s not for just Brooklyn, they’re just there for the game … They want to see a good basketball game. They want to see dunks, they’ll cheer for anybody, they don’t care who team you on.”

D’Angelo Russell echoed the sentiment last season: “They’re ready to just blow the roof off this place if you give them a reason. That may be for the opposing team, they may give them that reason a lot of the time. Or we can.”

When the Nets were briefly a winning team led by recognizable superstars, the crowd was behind them. They also attracted more young fans in the Clean Sweep years, namely their most impressionable targets: the children of millennial transplants.

But whether the Brooklyn Nets are good at bad at any given moment hardly affects the wider conversation about their fanbase…

(Notice that this clip from The Zach Lowe Show comes via a New York Knicks fan account, reveling in the cheapest way to unite their followers while extracting argumentative replies.)

So much handwringing over the Nets’ fanbase, but so little about what it means to actually be a Nets fan, two decades removed the peak of the fandom’s local pride. Blogger extraordinaire Ock Sportello is the leader of the genre — this post titled Who Are Nets Fans? in particular is a classic, explaining the “gentrifier’s anxiety” that now unites both team and fanbase.

These are the pathologies that condition Nets fandom. We are fans of the team who blacked out the stands upon moving, a move that not incidentally obscured how few people attended games. We are fans who ask, with bated breath, how the crowd looked or sounded on any given night.

About a month ago, I was on CT Rail, watching a nationally televised Cavs-Knicks game on my laptop. An exuberant ticket-checker noticed, asking me what the score was. I replied and mentioned that Jalen Brunson had just made three shots in a row. I noticed the Knicks pin affixed to her shirt as she complained about Karl-Anthony Towns and having to move from the city to Connecticut. I told her I didn’t envy her. She chuckled and said “at least Brunson’s got us this year,” at which point I told her I couldn’t wait for the playoffs, which hey, that’s the truth.

The ticket-checker strolled away. My girlfriend, sitting in the window seat, called me a name I’m not going to repeat here.

Can Nets fans be proud? Does that pride have to come from rooting for a team that plays in the same borough where Jean-Michel Basquiat and Christopher Wallace were born over a half-century ago, as the organization so often reminds us?

Perhaps that pride can sound like Josh Minott did after the Nets lost to the Knicks last Thursday. Visibly distraught, he sat at the podium and gave the most well-received postgame presser a Net has had in years.

“I wanted that s*** so f****** bad,” he began.

“Ever since we’ve been here, it’s like every game is an away game, you know? Tonight was just the night to really just stick it to everybody, man. As an organization, as a team, to show people that we got s**** here, yo. Man, just a sea of blue, a sea of orange. Every game we play, it’s a sea of the other team, and I saw it here when I was on the Celtics. But being here, it’s like, I got nothing but respect for the real fans, like, the real Brooklyn fans. Shout out to them, you know, because I know it’s tough being outnumbered every single game. But I really feel like what we have here isn’t b***s***. Like, we have pieces here. I’ve seen it. That’s what this ‘rivalry’ meant to me.”

Yes, Minott put the word “rivalry” in air quotes. After posting the answer on social media, I got dozens of messages and replies just like this, with many fans half-jokingly calling Minott their new favorite player…

Minott did not deny the reality of playing home games at Barclays, particularly for a bad team. He did not try to talk up a rivalry with the team whose fans just infiltrated the building, instead admitting that it stinks. That’s much more palatable than the meek “it is what it is,” type of platitude Mikal Bridges went with when he was still in Brooklyn, and it’s much more respectable than trying to well actually Knicks fans on the Internet.

Minott was brutally honest and defiantly proud to be a Net. That’s an ultra-rare combination, and he pulled it off during a season that might end with 17 wins. In Who Are Nets Fans?, Ock Sportello observed that, “We know that we are alone, then, but only we can say it.”

Well … what if Nets fans didn’t care who said it. One of their own players just did, and it was the most popular quote of the season. The Nets will not tank forever. At some point, they will, in Minott’s words, get a chance to stick it to everybody.

There’s your pride.

#1 – Jaylen at the wheel

When you are on the road and the Thunder strikes, you need your driver at the wheel to get you through the storm. For the Boston Celtics, the man at the wheel has a name: Jaylen Brown. Despite the physical defense from the OKC Thunder, the 2024 Finals MVP was able to get to the rim repeatedly.

Lu Dort did his best to stay attached but, in the second half, Brown was really smart about the way he moved with and without the ball. On this baseline out-of-bounds play, he uses Neemias Queta’s screen to be a step ahead when he catches the ball and drives straight away while Dort is losing his balance.

And then, the exclamation point. He catches the ball at the key, back to the rim. He feels Alex Caruso is a little too much on his left. So he spins, drives, and explodes at the rim to deliver a new poster for Jaylin Williams’ bedroom.

As the Celtics saw how effective Jaylen was at getting to the rim last night, they kept calling plays for him to give him space. On this ball-screen, the OKC Thunder doesn’t want to switch and that creates a small gap. That slight difference allows JB to get going and here he is, at the rim again.

Yet, one of the hidden reasons the rim was so accessible last night might be related to the recent return of… Jayson Tatum.

#2 – Jayson Tatum’s gravity

Since coming back, the Celtics’ offense breathes a lot better. More space to execute because the defense can’t ignore him off the ball, leading to better driving lanes for Jaylen—but not only. When he is involved in an action, the defense often overreacts once he has the ball and that creates collapses. On this play (that led to yet another poster dunk), look how the defensive shell cracks as soon as he touches the ball.

There were other plays that stood out in this game and highlighted JT’s gravity, like here in the first half. Jayson Tatum has the ball on the wing, which draws a lot of attention. And do you know who is on the other wing? Another All-Star who is going to take advantage of that gravity.

Like Nik tweeted last night, questioning the power of attraction that Jayson Tatum has on a defense—and therefore his impact on the Celtics’ offense—doesn’t make any sense.

Yes, he is not as explosive as last season. Yes, the finishing at the rim is still a bit weak and the pull-up threes are sometimes a bit too much. Nevertheless, the Celtics are better with Jayson Tatum on the court as a spacer, but also as a creator. Especially when they go to a certain play-call: the Spain pick-and-roll.

#3 – Spain all over the place

Throughout the season, I have written about this play after many games, but last night was different. First, because it was against the best defense in the league, so it was a great opportunity to test it. Second, because for once I was lucky enough to ask Joe Mazzulla about it.

As often, Joe Mazzulla didn’t go into the details of why the action is so important. But he called it “stabilizing,” confirming the trend that it felt like they were going to that play a lot. Usually, the play works really well against drop coverage because it blocks the center from stepping back to protect the rim. Against the OKC Thunder, the Celtics had to deal with more hedge coverage, putting a lot of pressure on the ball.

But Jayson Tatum doesn’t care. Look at the speed and accuracy of the pass to Luka Garza, who rolls to the rim.

Repetition of a play that can beat different coverages is great for the Boston Celtics and also for Jayson Tatum. The beauty of that play is that different players can fill different roles. JB and JT can both be screeners or ball-handlers, and the same goes for Payton Pritchard and Derrick White. A deep team.

#4 – Protect the paint at all cost

Pretty quickly in the game, you could understand that the Celtics would live with shooting variance as long as the ball didn’t get into the paint. And looking at the stats, it made a lot of sense. The Thunder made 100% of their shots at the rim, but they generated only 11 of them.

In the meantime, the Celtics allowed the Thunder to take 40% of their shots from beyond the arc, but they made only 12 out of 37 attempts. The first three came early in the game, and you could have wondered if the Celtics would stick to that approach.

But they didn’t panic. They weathered the storm in the first half, slowly getting back into the game because the defense did a great job of limiting rim attempts in half-court situations. Bodies were all around SGA when he drove, because the Celtics know it takes more than one to stop an MVP.

The Celtics remained stubborn in their approach and it paid off in the long run. The second great thing they did defensively was turning misses into stops.

#5 – The rebounding dilemma

Going into the game, both Joe Mazzulla and Mark Daigneault knew their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. In the press conference, the OKC Thunder coach was transparent and called rebounding his team’s biggest weakness.

And the Celtics built their strategy on that. First of all, on defense, they knew there wouldn’t be many crashes on the glass, but they needed to make sure that hustlers like Caruso or Dort wouldn’t generate too many second chances. Overall, they limited the Thunder to four offensive rebounds, which is one of the best defensive rebounding nights for the Celtics.

But then, what do you do on offense? The Thunder is a fierce transition team, but at the same time they have that obvious rebounding weakness. To keep applying pressure, the Celtics did crash the glass—but less with Garza and Queta than usual, and more with the wings.

This was a smart approach to be aggressive without giving up too much on the glass and getting exposed in transition.

#6 – Mismatch hunting

This game felt like a good old Celtics game for that reason too. It has been a while since we have seen both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown hunt mismatches like they did yesterday with Ajay Mitchell.

They did their best to force the Belgian into switches so they could attack that mismatch and eat that waffle. Look how strong Tatum’s screen is here—there are no other options.

This other play is an even stronger example. They know Mitchell will switch unless it’s onto Brown. But the Celtics really want that matchup. On the first screen, Mitchell doesn’t switch, but he switches on the second (from Pritchard to White), then a third screen comes—and that’s Brown again. This time, he can’t escape.

Both Jays showed patience and great determination in getting these switches and making the Thunder pay for having a great offensive threat with defensive limitations.

#7 – No center, no problem

The Celtics also went back to that small-ball lineup we saw earlier, with Jayson Tatum as the tallest man on the court. This time, the defense was much more solid. They understood that for this approach to work, they had to be extremely aggressive and stay connected in their rotations.

This defensive play is a great example of how committed they were, and we saw our first block of the season from Jayson on that help at the rim.

And if the defense holds well enough with that small-ball lineup, then it becomes a great opportunity to get the offense going. With only shooters and drivers on the court, it is tough for the defense to keep up because they cannot double, but one-on-one defense becomes a trap against such elite isolation players. On top of that, look at that spacing.

This approach forced the Thunder to match it, showing that the Celtics were the ones dictating the rules last night.

#8 – Pritchard making a difference

Of course, Pritchard was attacked whenever he was on the court and sometimes weakened the defensive structure. However, the spacing he brings is so valuable against a team that is willing to stunt hard but can also recover quickly. That’s why his ability to shoot from so deep, again and again, is huge for the Celtics in these matchups.

The big bonus of his profile is his drive. If the closeout is too aggressive, he has the ability to get into the paint—and he has his spots there too. Here, against Chet Holmgren in the paint, he doesn’t panic, uses his footwork and soft touch to shoot over the seven-footer.

In a close game like yesterday, that scoring boost is vital. But he wasn’t the only one off the bench.

#9 – Baylor Scheierman two-way impact

Before getting into the details, watch this sequence from Baylor.

The positioning on offense is perfect. He does a great job of taking his time to get the best shot possible after Jaylen Brown’s smart pass to the corner. Then, back on defense against the MVP, he doesn’t panic.

He stays connected, denies him, and forces the offense to play at a slower tempo than expected. Once SGA has the ball, he does a great job of using his hands without fouling until they force a turnover from the MVP. Great work.

As usual, he crashed the boards, scored a putback, and kept providing playmaking on both ends of the floor. Impressive shooting night too, as he provided much-needed spacing. Funny enough, he beat SGA twice with the same move from the corner.

#10 – Give me seven of these

The previous matchups over the last two years have been such great games that we deserve seven of these in June. As SGA said, there is a playoff feel in these games. Now let’s make it an NBA Finals feel.

Now that I’m writing these recap articles, blowouts like this can be a little frustrating. The reason is that I find myself looking at the box score as the second half progresses and thinking things like, “Wow, the Spurs could hold Memphis to 70 points on 20 field goals if they really wanted to, but — because they’re up by almost 40 — the last 15 minutes will only be ‘played’ in the most literal sense of the word.” In other words, I see the possibility of a glorious box score littered with statistical combinations that haven’t occurred in recent history, but know deep down that those gems will turn to dust as the fourth quarter unwinds.

Fortunately, these selfish moments quickly give way to the realization that the Spurs won easily, and that Memphis wanted them to, so this whole event was one big victory for all parties involved. What’s more, last night’s game did manage to produce some stunning statistical highlights, as I will outline below:

• San Antonio put together another exceptional rebounding performance, logging TRB and ORB differentials of +26 and +10, respectively. In the 16,759 regular season contests played since the start of 2012-2013, this is just the 50th occasion that a winning team has put together TRB and ORB margins as good or better.
• In their last three games, the Spurs have outrebounded their opponents by a total of +73, which is the second highest three-game differential achieved in the regular season since 2012-2013. First place is +74, recorded by Houston in 2025 between March 14th and March 17th, with successive TRB differentials of +33, +18, and +23.
• Another interesting thing about this game is how balanced the offensive opportunities were across the two teams. For example, the Spurs held minor edges in FGA and FTA (+3 and +2, respectively), but faced a minor disadvantage in 3PA (-4).
• Because offensive opportunity was roughly balanced, this game was ultimately decided by efficiency, and San Antonio had most of the critical advantages. In particular, the Spurs achieved a 12.15 percentage-point advantage in FG%, resulting in a +12 FGM margin. Because San Antonio and Memphis both made 16 threes, this means that the Spurs outscored the Grizzlies by 24 from the field.
• In contrast to some recent games, the Spurs were not able to extend their lead meaningfully at the free throw line. Despite the fact that Memphis has two fewer attempts and shot just 70% from the charity stripe (14-of-20), the Spurs’ 68.18% FT% was even worse, so they only managed to outscore the Grizzlies by one at the line. Since the start of 2012-2013, only 92 other regular season winners have managed to outscore an opponent by 25+ points while shooting no better that 68.18% from the line on 22+ attempts.

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.

After missing an abundance of practice time and 63 games on the court, the connection between Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta looks like it hasn’t been affected.  

Following his return from injury, Tatum offered insight into the conversations he and Queta shared. 

“Me and Neemi had a little talk during the game,” he said. “We were just like, ‘man, this is our first day really playing together.’” While the two logged 385 minutes together last season, there is still, as he noted, “some things we got to work on.”  

And if Tatum’s first game back against the Dallas Mavericks was any indication of a starting point, there is ample reason for excitement about what lies ahead.  

The most common action for this tandem features Queta setting an on-ball screen, creating scoring opportunities for Tatum. As I noted before this season, Queta utilizes his body exceptionally well in these situations. 

At his best he’s leveraging his full frame with a low, wide base to effectively shield on-ball defenders.  

Even in situations where Tatum doesn’t convert, you can see just how much space he has to work with thanks to Queta.  

Tatum even praised Queta, saying he has “really turned into an excellent screener” following the Celtics’ 111–100 win over the Washington Wizards. 

That same game also marked Queta’s second-highest scoring output of the season, as he poured in 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting, with Tatum’s precise passing playing a key role in setting him up.  

Since Tatum’s return, he has nine assists to Queta which is tied for the most to a teammate with Derrick White. Tatum’s passing variety and pass placement adds another layer to an already really good offense.  These skills have already enhanced Queta’s opportunities as a scorer.  

Coach Joe Mazzulla was also asked what he has seen from the duo following the win over the Wizards. He pointed to Queta’s growth, noting that his “ability as a connector, his ability to set screens, his ability to get guys open, his ability to read the floor in transition and create those two-on-ones early in the shot clock is something that he’s gotten better at. And with JT back, it just takes it to another level.” 

The Celtics bigs have thrived setting those early offense screens this year which consist of “Flare” screens, “Veer” screens, and “Wide” action screens. I went very deep into detailing each of these screens in my Luka Garza spotlight.

When it pertains to Queta and Tatum though, the Flare screen has dominated their early offense connection.  

A Flare screen is an off-ball screen set in between the passer and the recipient.  

Queta has been able to set these really effectively giving Tatum room to score, attack, and pass to others.  

Tatum also has the ability to set those Flare screens and allow Queta to pass.  

Looking more into Queta’s passing, he has had his fair share of dimes to Tatum as well.  

Queta’s screening and improved ability as a handoff passer also allows him to be compatible in “Blind Pig” actions.  

Here’s a detailed look at what Blind Pig is and how it works for the Celtics.  

Another area where Queta has thrived since Tatum’s return is passing from the short roll. After the Celtics’ 120–99 win over the Golden State Warriors, Tatum continued to sing Queta’s praises, saying, “He’s really turned into a guy that we can trust throwing the ball in the seam, finishing at the rim and finding the open man. It’s just been really cool to see his development over the last few years.” 

“He’s exceeded expectations.”  

We really see both parties work together in these situations as they can create advantages for one another and do a great job capitalizing on it.  

Here Queta sets the screen on Stephon Castle, getting him off Tatum. That gets Tatum going downhill at Luke Kornet, who is Queta’s defender, opening the pocket for the pass. Dylan. Harper, younger brother of Celtics guard Ron Harper Jr., was also attracted to the Tatum drive. So, when the pass goes to the short roll and hits Queta, he spots Baylor Scheierman drifting to the corner away from Harper getting the Celtics an open look.  

Here Queta creates an advantage for Tatum with a pin-down screen, and the attention Tatum gets afterwards opens the short roll to Queta.  

Queta was asked about his chemistry with Tatum in the pick-and-roll in a postgame interview and said, “Yeah, it’s been getting better. I’ve been figuring out how to get him open looks, how to get him space to attack certain mismatches and it’s a work in progress and I feel like we’re trending in the right direction.”  

Tatum added that this connection has continued to grow because of the constant communication between the two. They “talk it out during the game, timeouts, after the game and as we get more reps, we’ll get more comfortable just knowing where each other is supposed to be.”  

Following the Celtics most recent 119–109 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tatum spoke highly of his developing connection with Queta again, noting that their connection is “just growing each game.” He went on to praise Queta’s instincts and approach, adding, “Neemi’s a very smart player. He has a great feel for the game, he’s coachable, he listens, and he cares more than anything.”

The evolving chemistry between Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta is more than just impressive; it’s a glimpse of the Celtics’ offensive potential when precision passing meets smart, physical play. From seamless on-ball screens to short-roll connections, Queta’s growth as a scorer and facilitator, combined with Tatum’s vision and scoring, is already adding to the team’s dynamic.  

And if this is only the beginning, the rest of the league better take notice. 

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been together for nine NBA seasons. They have played 610 regular season games, 121 playoff games, 11 NBA Finals games, and of course, won the 2024 NBA championship together in 2024.

With all of this success, some people will still tell you with a straight face that they aren’t the best duo in the NBA right now — that is blasphemy. While only playing 9 games together this season, we have seen the chemistry build back up and this win against the Oklahoma City Thunder was the catalyst for me to say they have reclaimed their title as best duo in the NBA.

Jaylen Brown finished with his 33rd 30+ point game of the season with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals on 9-17 shooting and 12-14 from free throw line. Jayson Tatum had another double-double, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block while shooting 5-12 from the field and 3-6 from three.

I asked Brown in the postgame press conference his thoughts on playing alongside Tatum when both of them are dominating on the floor together. He said: “I felt like that was a great, encouraging game for JT, like high level intensity, physical team, and it felt like that was a step in the right direction. We still encourage them to get back to that level of aggression that we know and are used to. But I think today was a great game, and making the right plays, making the right reads, being physical and being Jayson Tatum, and I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Jays Chemistry Together

If we’re talking chemistry, nothing was more apparent than this play at the 5:34 mark of the second quarter. All five players on the Thunder defense were watching Tatum in the right corner and he was still able to make an incredible pass to Brown who knocked down the three over a late Luguentz Dort contest.

When it came to the Jays contributing to the team together, we can look at the 11-0 run that Boston went on late in the second quarter. In this short burst, both Brown and Tatum were able to use their gravity to find wide open shooters for three and give the Celtics their first lead of the night with 1:15 left in the first half.

Takeover Mode

The best part about have two Top 10 players in the NBA is that at any given time they can takeover a game and we saw that the Thunder had no answer when it came to stopping the Jays.

Jayson Tatum went first, dominating the first half with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 4-7 shooting from the field and 2-4 from three. The second quarter specifically might have been the best he looked all season on both sides of the ball.

On offense, Tatum looked more aggressive in this quarter than in almost any other we have seen so far since he has come back. The threes he was able to make after going one-on-one with the defender and the drive he had against Chet Holmgren were great signs. His passing ability also looked sharp after some tough turnovers in the first quarter.

On defense, Tatum was active in the passing lanes, finishing with two steals on some poor offensive execution from the Thunder. I would say his block was the most impressive, coming out of no where to send back a shot from Dort. After the Celtics scored only 20 points in the first quarter, Tatum’s play led to Boston outscoring OKC 29-22 in the second quarter.

After Tatum set the stage in the first half, Jaylen Brown took the baton in the second half. Brown finished the second half with 24 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds on 6-7 shooting from the field and 12-14 from the free throw line.

Brown scored 14 points in the third quarter alone and did a great job of getting to the free throw line, taking 9 attempts. He affected the game with his scoring and facilitating as well. Brown just bullied any defender that was in his way to the basket with none better coming when he put three Thunder players on a poster.

His passing was huge when it came to kicking out to his open teammate after the defense decided to collapse and focus on him. Brown’s play led to the Celtics outscoring the Thunder 39-30 in the third quarter.

Brown continued his big second half in the fourth quarter to close the game, scoring 10 points on 3-3 shooting. He attacked the basket with aggression and even gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a taste of his own medicine, drawing a foul on a pump fake and finished the midrange jumper with a smile. Boston finished the game dominating OKC in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 31-26.

Final Verdict

You can go through the NBA right now and see a ton of great duos but none of them can compare to the level of Brown and Tatum when they are both at their best on the same night. This game against the Thunder showed that it doesn’t matter who the 1A or 1B is when it comes to talking about the Jays.

Instead, we saw both of them takeover the game to beat the number 1 team in the league who was riding a 12 game winning streak. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are the best duo in the NBA right now and the rest of the basketball world should be terrified that both of them are together again.

SAN JOSE, CA — Being a DJ is no easy job.

In front of thousands of people, you have to craft a setlist that flows smoothly and effortlessly while maintaining the atmosphere, keeping the crowd engaged and vibing to the environment they crave. 

The tough part is the perfection needed for it. You have to understand the moment while building the next one. One minor slip up can derail it all, killing the vibe and destroying all the work built toward that moment. You cannot afford it.

It’s quite the skill. Maybe that’s why Tommy Lloyd enjoys it.

“I can talk about that all day,” he said.

Leading Arizona in its quest of breaking its Final Four drought, Lloyd’s sidequest includes spinning it on the turntables in becoming a DJ.

He may not strike you as one you’d see mixing songs or making the beat drop, but Lloyd is quite the music lover. And this hobby he’s picked up has come with a masterful teacher, “one of the best DJs of all time” in Mix Master Mike.

“My sport is the art of turntables and hip hop. His sport is basketball. We just decided to collide into those two professions, and now we're here,” Mike told USA TODAY Sports. “It's just an amazing thing.”

It all starts with Lloyd being a big fan of the Beastie Boys, who toured with Mike, regarded as one of the greatest DJs to exist as a three-time world champion. Lloyd had seen him several times in-concert, and one day, decided he wanted to do more than listen to the music.

“He was just fascinated by the art. He's totally into music. He was, ‘yeah, I want to DJ with Mike,’” he said.

So, Mike invited him and his wife to his studio and decided to show Lloyd the ropes, which he said was “really cool to see them explain to you the process a little bit.” Since then, it’s been more than a DJ guru and student, but also a tight friendship between the two.

Mike also noticed how this fun side gig has helped Lloyd take his mind off the pressures of being a coach, a healthy balance when you can easily get consumed by work. 

All the learning and training led to the Red-Blue Showcase ahead of the season. In addition to being the introduction of the 2025-26 season, afterward was an afterparty outside of the arena.

It was headlined by Mike, Shaquille O’Neal — aka DJ Diesel — and Lloyd. 

Or, DJ Tomm-EE.

When he told the team about what he’d do, it seemed random. But also, not really.

“Honestly, kind of seems on brand,” said forward Tobe Awaka. “He's kind of a guy that likes to explore and do different things.”

So, how is DJ Tomm-EE?

“He did pretty good,” said guard Brayden Burries. “He got a little work to do, but he's pretty good. 

“I think he's still growing,” Awaka said. “For a beginner, they were solid.”

“He’s getting a lot better,” Mike said. “He has an ear for music.”

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So could you see Lloyd at EDC, the club or your next rave? 

Don’t bet on it. Lloyd insists his DJ career is “more of a joke” than his next profession, but he may be selling himself short. Mike insists he’s better than he likely thinks he is. You just don’t show your team samples of your mixes for nothing.

Plus, there are plenty of parallels between DJing and coaching. Just like on the sidelines, Mike noted Lloyd doesn’t get rattled when he’s in the zone. Lloyd himself may not be serious, but Mike said he’ll teach him “as far as he wants to go,” fulfilling an actual dream for him.

“It's been a little bit of a — I guess — I don't know if a childhood fantasy, but probably a manhood fantasy for me that's come true,” Lloyd said. “It's been awesome to have that relationship.”

The relationship has allowed Mike to join the Wildcat family, DJing for them during ESPN’s “College GameDay” and joining in on this successful season. Mike also made arrangements with his schedule to make sure he’s in San Jose for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, hoping to see Arizona make the Final Four for the first time since 2001.

It’s a stage the Wildcats have been at several times before, but have yet to break through. Maybe getting a world class DJ on your side could be the secret sauce.

Mike knows plenty about winning. He’s done it on the global stage. Now inspired and bought into Lloyd’s pursuit of excellence, he hopes he can see his good friend create the perfect setlist that trades dropping the bass for cutting down the nets.

“Me and coach are really tight with the music and just the sport of it. I mean, coming from a three-time world champion, a championship team needs a soundtrack, especially a victory soundtrack,” Mike said. “Whatever we have our sight on, we just don't stop until we win at it.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tommy Lloyd crafting perfect mix for Arizona basketball — and as a DJ

Last night in Memphis Victor Wembanyama tallied seven more blocks. That is his most blocks in game this season since tallying 9 in their October 24th overtime win against the New Orleans Pelicans, the second game of their season.

With a grand total of 610 blocks, Wemby elevates to 230th all-time moving past Jamaal Magloire, Armen Gilliam, and Nic Claxton.

Two nights prior in Miami, Wemby recorded his fourth game this season with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. That’s the most by any player in a single season since Tim Duncan had five in 2001-02.

But Victor isn’t limited only to comparisons to Tim Duncan. Miami is also where Wemby landed on his 4000th career point and 600th career block in the early moments of the second quarter. Those milestone elicited another Spurs legend.

Only David Robinson and Victor Wembanyama have scored 4000 points and accumulated 600 blocks in their first 175 games.

Throughout this stat-stacking run of games, Wemby has been making a case for his MVP campaign. He’s not shy about demanding what he feels is rightfully his, and the MVP is one of the them.

Spurs have a couple of days off before wrapping up this road stint in Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.

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