Programming Note: Tune into “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for “Warriors Postgame Live.”
Was the Warriors’ 124-119 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at Chase Center the final blow to Golden State’s hopes of making a deep playoff run?
No, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes the regular-season-finale defeat will have a ripple effect on the remainder of the Warriors’ postseason, which begins with an NBA Play-In Tournament matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday in San Francisco.
“I believe it did, I really really do,” Smith said Monday on “First Take” when asked if the loss cost the Warriors a deep playoff run. “I think when you’re talking about the play-in, obviously that denies them the opportunity and the additional rest they were looking for … had you won yesterday’s game, it buys you the whole week of rest and the ability to potentially recover from [injuries].
“Going up against Memphis, who is a relatively physical team … let’s say, for example, Golden State wins this game. If you win this game, you’re going up against Houston. How often are we going to sleep on Houston?”
If the Warriors beat the Grizzlies on Tuesday, they will successfully escape the play-in tournament for the first time since the format’s debut four years ago and claim the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed with a matchup against the young, hungry No. 2 seed Houston Rockets waiting for them.
While some believe a first-round series against an inexperienced Houston team is more favorable to the Warriors than the three seed/six seed series they would have played against the Los Angeles Lakers had they beaten the Clippers on Sunday, Smith believes the Warriors’ latest loss does not set them up well for a deep playoff run.
“I don’t like this at all,” Smith added. “I’m still holding out hope because obviously Draymond [Green] made his guarantee and I would like to see Steph Curry for as long as we possibly can, but I do look at that loss yesterday and the extra load it’s going to put on them and I do think it’s something that could derail the Golden State Warriors sooner than later.”
Can the Warriors exorcize their play-in demons and secure a spot in the playoffs? We will find out on Tuesday night.
Coverage begins with “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on NBC Sports Bay Area
Programming Note: Tune into “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for “Warriors Postgame Live.”
Luka Dončić’s trade from Dallas and arrival in Los Angeles changed the NBA landscape in more ways than one this year — catapulting the Lakers up the Western Conference standings and sending Luka’s No. 77 purple and gold jersey into the history books.
Dončić becomes the first international player to lead the NBA in jersey sales in an season by besting Steph Curry and Lakers teammate LeBron James, who finished No. 2 and No. 3 in sales, respectively.
The Lakers’ star also is the first player other than Curry or James to top the list since the 2012-13 NBA season, when Carmelo Anthony earned the top spot playing as a member of the New York Knicks.
Luka Dončić is the NBA’s new top jersey-seller … and the first player not named Stephen Curry or LeBron James to sell the NBA’s most jerseys in a season since 2012-13 … and the first international player to lead the league.
Find something you love as much as the Boston Celtics love shooting 3-pointers.
The Celtics’ affinity for the long ball under Joe Mazzulla is well-documented; they ranked second in the NBA in made 3-pointers (behind the Golden State Warriors) during the 2022-23 season, then led the league in threes made in 2023-24 en route to an NBA title.
But Boston’s beyond-the-arc barrage reached new heights this season.
Exhibit A: Isaiah Thomas had held the Celtics’ single-season 3-point record (245 made) since 2016-17, but this season, three different C’s players — Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard — surpassed that mark, with White breaking Thomas’ record with seven games to spare.
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That’s just the tip of the 3-point iceberg for Boston, which just wrapped up the best 3-point shooting season in NBA history en route to a 61-21 record and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s the very long list of NBA records the C’s set or tied during the 2024-25 regular season, courtesy of Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe:
Team Records (Season)
Most 3-Pointers Made, Season: 1,457
Most 3-Point Attempts, Season: 3,955
Most 3-Pointers Made Per Game: 17.8
Most 3-Point Attempts Per Game: 48.2
Most 3-Pointers Made at Home: 741
Most 3-Pointers Made on Road: 716
Highest 3-Point Rate, Season: 53.8 percent
Pct. of Points from 3, Season: 45.8 percent
Most Games with 20+ 3-Pointers, Season: 26
Most 3-Pointers Made, 1st Quarter: 422
Most 3-Pointers/Game, 1st Quarter: 5.1
Team Records (Single Game)
Most 3-Pointers Made, Game: 29 (Oct. 22 vs. Knicks; tied with 2020-21 Bucks)
Most 3-Point Attempts, Game (non-OT): 63 (March 12 vs. Thunder; tied with 2023-24 Thunder)
Most 3-Pointers Made by Starters, Game: 26 (Oct. 22 vs. Knicks)
Player Records
Most 3-Pointers Off Bench, Player: 246 (Payton Pritchard)
Will the Celtics’ avalanche of 3-pointers result in more postseason success? We’ll start finding out next weekend when they begin their first-round playoff series against either the Orlando Magic or Atlanta Hawks.
The Phoenix Suns are once again looking for a new head coach.
Mike Budenholzer was fired on Monday following a 36-46 season in which the Suns finished 11th in the Western Conference, missing the Play-In Tournament by three games.
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season,” the Suns’ statement read. “Our fans deserve better. Change is needed.”
This is the third straight year that the Suns have fired their head coach, with Monty Williams canned in 2023 and Frank Vogel let go in 2024. Phoenix won 45 games in 2022-23, then 49 games in 2023-24 before regressing this season to 36.
Budenholzer’s team was third-worst on defense in the NBA and went just 10-18 after the All-Star break as the squad plummeted out of contention.
The Suns have one of the most expensive rosters in the NBA, led by a trio of stars in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The experiment of adding Durant and Beal hasn’t worked out for new owner Mat Ishbia, as the team has gone downhill since losing in the 2021 NBA Finals — ironically to Budenholzer’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Booker, Durant and Beal — who make more than $50 million each annually — are all under contract for next season. Other players on the books include Cody Martin, Nick Richards, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
Programming Note: Tune into “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for “Warriors Postgame Live.”
The Warriors lost three of their final five games to fall out of the NBA playoffs at the end of the regular season. All three were home at Chase Center. Golden State fell to the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed, a place the Warriors have found themselves in three times and lost each time.
For a team who houses the greatest 3-point shooter ever, three isn’t always their friend. They have to hope four brings a new fate.
When the Warriors face the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night they already will have played them four times this season, and are 3-1. See, three isn’t all that bad. But for the Warriors to get to a fourth win against the Grizzlies this season, and their first in four play-in tournament games, these four aspects will be key.
Play-In Stars
The stats don’t count. They don’t exist. The games still happened, and history can’t be fully ignored.
Steph Curry is 0-3 in the play-in tournament, to almost no fault of his own. In his first crack at the new format in 2021, Curry scored 76 points and made 12 threes combined between the Warriors’ two losses. He dropped 37 points in a three-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and then 39 while losing to the Grizzlies in overtime by five points.
In his third try, Curry scored a team-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting last season and made three of his seven 3-point attempts as the Warriors were embarrassed by their Northern California counterparts, the Sacramento Kings.
Jimmy Butler’s history with the play-in tournament is a bit different. Like Curry, Butler lost his first play-in game. He scored 21 points in an 11-point loss as the No. 7 seed against the No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks in 2023 with nine assists, four rebounds and two steals. Butler went a lowly 6 of 19 from the field in that loss, going 9 of 11 on free throws. He then put up 31 points against the Chicago Bulls the next game to advance, and averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the next three series of the playoffs to lead the eighth-seeded Heat to the NBA Finals.
This past season, Butler played 40 minutes in the Heat’s one-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the play-in tournament, scoring 19 points, with four rebounds, five assists and five steals. But he sustained a sprained right MCL in the first quarter, playing through the pain, but then missing the rest of the postseason for Miami.
Just go back 14 days when Curry scored 52 points on the Grizzlies and made 12 threes. Curry had his co-star. Butler scored 27 points in the Warriors’ win on 7-of-11 shooting and was a perfect 12 of 12 on free throws, adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals for fun. It’s true that Curry scored a team-high 36 points against the LA Clippers on Sunday, but Butler (30 points, nine assists, 12-of-20 shooting, plus-five) was the Warriors’ best player.
Golden State’s outcome starts and ends with them.
JJJ Foul Trouble
Draymond Green couldn’t have expected a fifth game against the Grizzlies. In a moment where Green let his guard down, he played big brother for his fellow Michigan State Spartan when, after the Warriors’ win in Memphis on April 1, the 35-year-old, who doesn’t mince his words, said “he’s too good to still be getting foul trouble.” Green was talking about Jaren Jackson Jr.
The 2022-23 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Warriors have a history baiting Jackson into foul trouble and out of games. Green is a big part of that history. Butler added to the storyline in his first game against the Grizzlies in a Warriors jersey.
With the Warriors up 123-122 after two free throws from Butler, and only two minutes on the clock, he baited Jackson into a shooting foul the next time down. Jackson’s day was done with 22 points and seven rebounds, but also six fouls. Butler made both free throws and from that point on, the Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 11-3 to close out their win.
Jackson is a game-changer, including how his fouls affect his team. He fouled out in five games and the Grizzlies lost four. The win was a score of 151-148 in overtime against the Phoenix Suns, and Jackson scored 28 points on a night he shot 13 times and missed just twice. He also accumulated five fouls in 19 games.
The Grizzlies won six and lost 13. Jackson’s availability is his best ability against the Warriors.
The Glass
Ivica Zubac grabbed 17 rebounds in the Warriors’ wild overtime loss to end the regular season, giving him three games with at least 17 rebounds in his four this season against Golden State. He had 11 in the other one. Grizzlies rookie center Zach Edey, who stands four inches taller than the 7-foot Zubac, came away with 16 rebounds against the Warriors two weeks ago.
But the Warriors still won the rebound battle that day by six, 49-43. On Sunday in their loss to LA, Zubac and the rest of the Clippers finished with 17 more rebounds than them. The Warriors only had 25 rebounds in total, their lowest of the season. Prior to the regular-season finale, their season-low was 29, which actually came in an eight-point win against the Grizzlies on Jan. 4.
That also was a game where the Warriors were without Curry and still made 23 threes. The Grizzlies made nine. The Warriors have only averaged 15 threes per game since Butler’s arrival, and never have made 23 in a game with him. In their five games against the Grizzlies, the Warriors have shot 42 percent from deep, and rebounds only will give them more opportunities.
The Grizzlies are the No. 2 rebounding team in the NBA, averaging 47.3 per game. They’ve averaged 50 in their four games with the Warriors. The Warriors have averaged 42.5 in those four games, and are the No. 7 rebounding team in the league with 45.4 per game.
They’re now 14-18 when their opponent out-rebounds them, and the Warriors are 32-17 in games they out-rebound the other team. The Warriors have averaged 51.8 rebounds in 31 games after adding Butler, and in those games allowed an average of 50.1 rebounds. The glass is an area the Warriors have to win, or at least keep a close contest.
Bench Battle
Going into the last day of the regular season, the Warriors and Grizzlies were tied for the league lead in bench points per game, averaging 44 from their reserves. The San Antonio Spurs wound up leaping them as the NBA’s leaders at 44.1 points per game from the bench. The Grizzlies ended in second place (43.9), and the Warriors were third (43.6).
Below is how each Warriors-Grizzlies game ended this season in regard to bench points.
April 1: Grizzlies 33, Warriors 24; Warriors win 134-125
Now for some context to paint a clearer picture.
Jake LaRavia was traded from Memphis to the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 6. He scored 43 points off the bench against the Warriors with the Grizzlies, including 19 in their second contest and 17 in their third. Marcus Smart played just 19 games for the Grizzlies, but one of them was their first game against Golden State when he scored nine bench points.
Desmond Bane (18 points) and Edey (14 points) both came off the bench for the Grizzlies on Nov. 15. Moses Moody (14 points) and Brandin Podziemski (11 points) did for the Warriors. Podziemski was a bench player on Dec. 19, and scored 21 points. Kyle Anderson, now on the Miami Heat, scored 11 for the Warriors. Lindy Waters III, traded from the Warriors to the Detroit Pistons, had 16 points in the Warriors’ Jan. 4 win. And the Grizzlies were without Santi Aldama in that game.
Jonathan Kuminga was hurt in the Warriors’ last game against the Grizzlies, but if Sunday was any indication, he’ll be a non-factor after being a DNP-CD (Did Not Play, Coach’s Decision).
The Warriors and Grizzlies both went with a nine-man rotation in their most recent matchup. Stars like Curry, Butler and Ja Morant hold the most power in the final outcome. A better performance out of Aldama or Buddy Hield could be the nudge that puts their team over the edge.
The playoffs have arrived and thanks to the scriptwriters’ magic, we’ll get to witness a sure-to-be-entertaining series between the Knicks and the upstart Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham and his young, physical team will look to build off their 3-1 drubbing of the Knicks during the regular season, while Jalen Brunson attempts to lead New York to another first-round victory.
Let’s dive into the many angles in what’s expected to be a tough and close series.
First and foremost, the Pistons will want to continue punishing a Knicks defense that’s had no answers for them the past three games. Detroit’s recorded an offensive rating of over 120 in each of their wins over New York, despite finishing the season at 114.5, just above average in the league.
That offense starts with Cunningham, who’s averaging 30.8 points, five rebounds and 8.3 assists on 56.3 percent shooting from the field and 52 percent from three against New York this season. He displayed a mastery of the pick-and-roll against the Knicks, demolishing every coverage they threw at him.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau’s preferred coverage is for the big to drop, requiring Cunningham’s defender to stay attached over screens less the 6-foot-8 guard get into his mid-range zone with options. The problem is the Knicks largely didn’t guard him with the requisite physicality and intensity, letting him walk into whatever shot he wanted.
Cunningham was comfortable pulling up from three if the screen was strong enough to pin his defender -- which happened often between the big bodies of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. If his defender was chasing, Cunningham put him in jail navigating into the arc, where he easily found the best available option between pulling up, hitting the roll man or taking it to the cup himself.
Now most of this happened against Karl-Anthony Towns, Precious Achiuwa and Ariel Hukporti, so having Mitchell Robinson back will be crucial. Expect him to play a big role in this series, and maybe even get inserted into the starting lineup if things get desperate.
New York tried switching up coverages in small spurts, but lacked the execution behind the adjustments, and Cunningham feasted anyway. The Knicks tried hedging hard on his screens but were often late or lacking the requisite backline help and Cunningham easily picked them apart.
Switching everything and letting him isolate against his favored matchup makes sense to get him out of pick-and-roll, where 40 percent of his offense comes from, and into isolations, where he’s less efficient and makes up only 11 percent of his offense. However when the Knicks tried it, he just picked on Brunson with ease, getting to the rim and scoring.
None of the smaller Knick guards fared well against Cunningham’s size. Mikal Bridges spent the most matchup time on Cunningham by far, holding him to a surprising 8-for-21 shooting and two turnovers in 21 minutes, despite looking outmatched physically at times.
Next was Miles McBride who gave up 11-for-15 shooting in just nine minutes, while Brunson spent four minutes on him, giving up 9-for-14 shooting. OG Anunoby only got six minutes on Cunningham, allowing 7-for-11 shooting.
Jan 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) defends a drive by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Matchup data is notoriously unreliable, but expect to see much more of Anunoby on Cunningham. He might struggle a bit with his quickness, but if he can be physical and get over screens, he should be able to give Cunningham the most issues.
The Knicks as a team need to be much more physical and on point defensively with Cunningham. When they were actually in his chest and bumping him, he looked far less comfortable.
Expect drop out of the gates, but New York should throw in some more aggressive coverages to throw Cunningham out of rhythm and make other (less threatening) playmakers beat them. He’ll be constantly calling for screens from Brunson’s man, so expect him to be involved and have to hold his own defensively as well.
The Knicks will have to be careful not to overplay Cunningham, and hope that Anunoby and a more concerted team effort slows him down without giving up too many good looks to others. Despite being a middling three-point shooting team, Detroit lit New York up from deep in a couple wins, largely due to a pair of 20-point, 6+ three games from Malik Beasley.
Detroit has reliable, tested vets in Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr., along with Dennis Schroder off the bench -- not the most threatening names but definitely capable of hurting you. The good news is the Knicks should be set if they can slow down Cunningham -- the Pistons score 109.7 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench, which would rank bottom-five in the league.
Another means of slowing the Pistons down will be negating their transition attack. Detroit ranks third in percentage of points coming off fast breaks and are nearly top 10 in forcing opponent turnovers.
In the game the Knicks won, they had 10 turnovers, and proceeded to throw away the ball 15, 18, and 17 times in their ensuing losses. They don’t have the athletes to run with the Pistons, and so will need to limit their mistakes offensively and focus on getting back on defense.
On the rebounding front, both teams are pretty evenly matched on the season. This will be a battle of who wants it more, and in this tight a series, will likely decide its key games.
The good news is, if the Knicks can dominate these areas, they should be in good shape for the series. The Pistons managed to slow down their offense a couple times, but this should be easier to figure out for the Knicks than the other side of the ball.
Dec 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Alexandre Sarr (20) during the first quarter at Capital One Arena / Reggie Hildred - Imagn Images
One player with a clear advantage is Towns, who only averaged 24 points in the series but looked leagues above their opposing bigs. Although Duren and Stewart are more mobile than most fives, Towns is much stronger, more experienced in playoff ball, and should be able to punish them from deep.
The Pistons didn’t incorporate putting a wing on Towns and their center on Josh Hart like many other teams, and that could change in the postseason if Towns burns them too much. Still, he should be able to dominate their wings effectively.
New York as a whole should be cognizant of their superior beefiness in light of their worse speed and verticality. One player that should lean into this offensively is Anunoby, who came off a monster scoring month by bulldozing his way through the paint.
The Knicks will need to power their way into the paint and punish the Pistons by spraying to shooters for three. New York is a different threat when it takes and makes threes, and will need it to be a point of emphasis for this series and beyond.
As mentioned, limiting turnovers is a major swing factor as well. A big chunk of Detroit’s offensive efficiency comes from their transition game, and New York can’t afford to beat themselves with costly mistakes.
There’s other considerations like how the bench performs and how the Knicks spread the offense around, but no question is bigger than does Brunson go god mode again?
Brunson has spent a few postseasons climbing from fearsome to historic big-game scorer. As a reminder of those still doubtful, he averaged 31 points and closed the series on a 111-point three-game stretch against the eventual runner-up Miami Heat in 2023 and became the first player since Michael Jordan with four consecutive 40-point playoff games last year.
Simply put, Brunson is a star playoff riser and can single-handedly carry a Knicks offense deep into the postseason if necessary. So long as that remains true, Knicks fans shouldn’t have much to worry about until Boston or Cleveland.
Detroit will have more size than the average team to throw at Brunson, and can deploy aggressive coverages and zones with their speed and backline defense. But he’s seen many variations of that before, and this shouldn’t be too different.
Prediction: this series will be a war of attrition, ultimately going to the Knicks in 6.
James Harden can still shift into gear nobody in the NBA can defend.
With the risk of the Clippers falling into the Play-In Tournament on the line, Harden found that gear and scored 12 points in overtime, and that was enough to beat the Warriors 124-119 and send Golden State to the play-in instead.
It was a playoff intensity game in the Bay Area, and combined with Denver beating Houston and Minnesota handling Utah, it set up the Western Conference playoffs.That sets up these postseason matchups:
WEST PLAY-IN
Memphis (8) at Golden State (7) – winner is the No. 7 seed and will face Houston. Dallas (10) at Sacramento (9) – winner to face loser of the 7/8 seed game to see who is the No. 8 seed and faces Oklahoma City.
EAST PLAYOFFS
Oklahoma City (1) vs. No. 8 seed Houston (2) vs. No. 7 seed Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. Minnesota (6) Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs. Denver (5)
There are going to be no easy rounds in the West. For anyone. The Clippers are red hot, finishing the season with eight straight wins, while Denver just fired its coach. Luka Doncic and LeBron James vs. Anthony Edwards and a Timberwolves team finding their stride of late. Houston is going to end up facing Stephen Curry or Ja Morant.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac reacts after scoring against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday in San Francisco. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Step by step, the Clippers have inched toward their goal of making the NBA playoffs.
The final step came Sunday and it was against the Golden State Warriors, who were also seeking an automatic postseason spot in the final regular-season game for both.
The teams went toe-to-toe all game, so much so they battled into an extra five minutes of overtime to determine their fates, the outcome finally decided by James Harden’s clutch play and two blown opportunities by the Warriors that allowed the Clippers to escape with a 124-119 win at Chase Center.
The Clippers advanced to the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, where they will face the fourth-seeded Nuggets in Denver either Saturday or Sunday in the first round of the postseason.
“On nights like this, this is really when it means something,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Like I said, you make it to the playoffs, all the hard work you put in throughout the course of the season, it’s huge when it comes down to this point. I’m just proud of our guys, being counted out and staying the course and playing with that chip on your shoulder all year long.”
It took Harden scoring 12 of the Clippers’ 13 points in the overtime for them to reach the playoffs for the 12th time in the last 14 seasons. It took Harden scoring 39 points, handing out 10 assists and grabbing seven rebounds for the Clippers to win 50 games this season for the seventh time in franchise history.
It took Harden playing all 29 minutes in the second half, including overtime, and a total of 48:24 for the Clippers to win for the eighth straight time. It took Harden making back-to-back three-pointers to open the overtime and making two free throws to seal the game with three seconds left for the Clippers to win for the 17th time in their final 20 games and avoid the play-in.
"I’m happy that we’re in it,” said Kawhi Leonard, who had 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 47:25. “The last three weeks I felt like we’ve been in a playoff mindset or environment and we had to win really every game to get to this point. I don’t know what our record was, but I think we lost two games in the last three weeks or something like that. I’m happy and proud that we were able to fight and get in for the playoffs without the play-in.”
But it wasn’t until Buddy Hield missed a three-pointer with the Clippers ahead by three with 5.1 seconds left in overtime did the Clippers clinch a playoff spot.
Kawhi Leonard made one of two free throws with 6.1 seconds left that let the Clippers ahead by just three, but he still had 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Stephen Curry turned up the heat on the Clippers late in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 of his 36 points in that span. But he had eight of the Warriors’ 16 turnovers, two of them in the important overtime.
The Clippers leaned on their starters to get this win, and big Ivica Zubac did his part in 42:16.
He had 22 points and 17 rebounds and he kept making history as a Clipper, his 1,010 rebounds on the season making him the fifth player in franchise history to reach that milestone.
He secured his 59th double-double of the season, tied for the second-most in the NBA and tied for the fifth-most in a season in franchise history.
"We want to go a little further,” Zubac said. “So, our goal was obviously to make the playoffs, but we’re not happy or whatever. We’re happy that we got in and not to be in the play-in. But since everyone doubted us, it feels good to prove everyone wrong. There was people saying we’re going to win 30 games, 35 or whatever. To win 50 games and not to be in the play-in, it feels good. But we got some more work to do.”
SAN FRANCISCO — One hour had passed since the Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, but the sound of shoe squeaks and basketballs echoing off the hardwood still could be heard.
Jonathan Kuminga, fresh off recording a DNP-Coach’s Decision, got up shots on the Chase Center floor while most of his teammates were long gone from the arena. It was Kuminga’s first DNP-CD since the 2023 Western Conference semifinals.
A few hours prior, Warriors coach Steve Kerr approached Kuminga and informed him he wouldn’t be a part of the usual rotation in the first quarter, and that he would see how things went from there. Kerr didn’t tell Kuminga he wasn’t going to play because he wasn’t sure if that’d be the case.
Gary Payton II checked into the game when Kuminga normally would roughly halfway through the first quarter. He played 24 minutes and finished with two points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Buddy Hield and Kevon Looney each played 16 minutes off the bench. Quinten Post played 10. The rest of the minutes were distributed to the starters, who averaged 39.4 minutes in the overtime loss. Jimmy Butler played 48 minutes.
“We’ve just found a group since Jimmy got here that we’re pretty comfortable with,” Kerr explained. “Gui [Santos] didn’t play either. Gui’s been our highest plus-minus guy over the last two months. Both he and JK have been really impactful players for us.
“And it doesn’t mean they’re out of the loop going forward, it’s just this is how this game played out.”
This comes just three days after Kerr went on record to disclose some concerns about Kuminga’s fit with the team since Jimmy Butler’s early February arrival.
“Every game is different and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four,” Kerr said Thursday on 95.7 The Game. “There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into the lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning and Jonathan was out for that whole stretch.
“We went like 17 and 3 or something, so we’re going to keep doing what’s been winning. But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit real well, frankly. It just doesn’t. We need more spacing. We’ve found other lineups that have clicked, and this is just part of the deal, being in the NBA, and you’ve got to adapt to whatever’s happening with the team.
“Jonathan’s done a great job of that. He’s working hard. He’s playing well when he’s out there. But I’m just going with the line of combinations that I think are going to give us the best chance to win, and there’s going to be nights where he’s absolutely part of that like the Lakers game, and then there ‘s’s going to be nights where I go to Buddy [Hield] or Moses [Moody} or Gary Payton. It just changes every game based on what’s happening, and I have to read that as a coach.”
The new-look Warriors went 16-6 in the 22 games that Kuminga missed while nursing an ankle injury. When he returned, however, they went 11-4 prior to Sunday’s loss.
Seemingly, they’ve found ways to win both with and without Kuminga. The 22-year-old recorded a career-high 34 points off the bench in Golden State’s previous matchup with Los Angeles on Dec. 27. He also added 10 rebounds in that game, a department the Warriors could’ve used some help in Sunday.
Golden State was outrebounded by Los Angeles 42-25. And the challenge of crashing the glass will only get more difficult.
The Clippers are the 17th-best rebounding team in the league. The Memphis Grizzlies, who the Warriors host in the NBA play-in game Tuesday, are ranked second best.
Who’s first? The Houston Rockets, the team waiting to face the winner of the Warriors vs. Grizzlies game in a seven-game first-round playoff series.
Steph Curry anticipates that potentially being a factor in Kuminga potentially re-emerging into the rotation against Memphis.
“Yeah, I think whatever the game calls for,” Curry said. “Coach makes decisions, and you understand when a certain combination is out there, especially if it’s JK, he can make his presence felt in the paint. He’s had some games where he’s attacked the glass and made that a point of emphasis.
“And if he’s out there, that’s a great way for him to make his presence felt. But no matter what the combinations are, we got to be ready for whatever that one game kind of environment, everybody has to be ready, including him.”
Well, he’s definitely staying ready as he showed after the game Sunday.
Now it’s just a mental game the rest of the way.
“Just to be ready. It’s the test of a young player in this league, and especially with our team, you never know when you’re moment will be there, at the brightest and highest of moments,” Curry added. “So it wasn’t his time tonight, and you know, against Memphis, it could be a game where he makes his presence felt.
“So don’t let noise outside the locker room, the attention that might come from it, distract you from your ability to make an impact when your number is called. … You got to be able to be ready.”
Lakers guard Bronny James drives to the basket under pressure from Trail Blazers forward Kris Murray during Sunday's game in Portland, Ore. (Howard Lao / Associated Press)
The Lakers sat in their locker room long after their loss to Portland on Sunday afternoon, their eyes glued to the television mounted on the wall.
They’d done what they could, put themselves in a position through 81 games to have given themselves the No. 3 seed in the West playoffs.
And on the 82nd game, they rested.
The Lakers wrapped their regular season Sunday in Portland with not much more to do than sit and wait, and boy, did the Lakers sit and did they wait.
On Sunday, LeBron James and Luka Doncic didn’t travel with the team to Portland. Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Jared Vanderbilt didn’t play. The rest of the roster fell to Portland 109-81, while the team waited for games around the NBA to determine who they’d play in the first round of the playoffs.
Postgame, they found it was the Timberwolves.
“It's a very difficult opponent," coach JJ Redick said. "They've played as well as anyone lately and believe they're one of four teams in the top 10 in offense and defense [rating]. So they present a lot of problems.”
The teams last met in the postseason during the 2004 Western Conference Finals.
For the Lakers, it’s uncharted territory in James’ tenure with the team, the Lakers entering the playoffs with Game 1 at Crypto.com Arena for the first time since the 2012 playoffs. It gave the team the luxury to prioritize rest and recovery for most of its lineup, with Goodwin being the only regular rotation player to play against the Trail Blazers.
Dalton Knecht led the Lakers with 27 points in the final regular-season game of his rookie season.
In addition to the rest, the time locked into their postseason slot gave the Lakers a chance to map out their playoff plans.
“We spent more time on it yesterday, finalizing it. And that's a conversation with players. That's a conversation with our coaching staff. That's a conversation with our performance staff. … We factored in all of those things,” Redick said pregame. “And it is about getting guys recovery, it is about getting guys rest, but it also is about conditioning and staying sharp and having enough exposure to live action. So there's physical days, there's mental days. When do you introduce your opponent? All of that stuff. So we've talked through that for the last four days now.”
The plan is for the Lakers to return to the practice court late Tuesday afternoon, with workouts scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
“It's not necessarily gonna be everything at once this week,” Redick said. “We'll have to slow drip, and I think that's the approach that I think is gonna work best for our group.”
The Lakers will enter the postseason without converting either Trey Jemison III or Christian Koloko to standard contracts, making the centers ineligible for the playoffs.
With Sunday's 113-105 win over the Brooklyn Nets, the Knicks' 2024-25 regular season is officially in the books. For the 15th time in franchise history, the Knicks finished with at least 50 wins, as Tom Thibodeau's unit finished the year at 51-31 -- one game better than last year's end result.
And while that regular season success has set the Knicks up well for the postseason, with the club owning the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, they know their regular season record can be thrown away as they begin their pursuit of a championship with a First Round matchup against the Detroit Pistons.
"I just said that to our team. You win 51 games, you’re the third seed, so you’ve earned the right to be in the playoffs," Thibodeau said. "You’re not in the play-in, so you have a week to prepare and get ready for the next challenge, so it’s really a new season. The regular season puts you in position and gives you the opportunity. You want to finish with the highest seed possible, and then you start all over. Everyone’s record is 0-0, so you’ve got to earn everything again."
While the official schedule has not yet been released for the Knicks-Pistons series, Game 1 will tip off on either Saturday or Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have time to prepare, but they know they're facing a strong opponent.
"We’re ready to go…. Got time to get right and get ready, but we’re for sure ready," said Mikal Bridges, who played just six seconds of game time on Sunday to extend his consecutive games played streak to 556 regular season games.
"We’ve definitely grown so much from the beginning. We learned a lot about each other and are learning more about each other. I think we’re in the right spot, we’ve just got to go out there and play hard and play our way."
The Pistons have proven to pose a challenge to the Knicks. In four matchups this season, the Knicks won just once, though it was a 30-point blowout win back in November. The Pistons have emerged victorious in each of the three most recent meetings, including a 115-106 win just three days ago.
"They’ve had a fantastic season," Thibodeau said. "We just played them recently so I think we have a feel for what their strengths are. But we have to dig a lot deeper into them to know them really well. We have a respect for them, but we understand that it’s going to take 48 minutes of good basketball to win."
Detroit star Cade Cunningham scored 36 points in that April 10 game, and averaged 30.8 points against the Knicks in those four matchups.
The Knicks know full-well that they'll have their hands full with one of the NBA's emerging stars.
"He’s had a terrific season," Thibodeau added on Cunningham. "It’s not just us, he’s done it against everybody, so we understand that. Every game that you have, a team is going to have certain strengths, and you have to have the proper amount of respect. I think with great players, you don’t guard them individually, you guard them collectively. So we have to understand what goes into that."
"Great player, obviously size, shooting ability," said Miles McBride. "He’s a three-level scorer so we’ve just got to do our best to stop him as a team… whatever we can do as a team to slow him down. We’ve got to bring our best."
Programming Note: Tune into “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for “Warriors Postgame Live.”
SAN FRANCISCO – There are a dozen ways to dissect the 53 glorious minutes of basketball submitted by the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, and interested observers can engage in debate until Tuesday when Golden State tips off against the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the aftermath of a 124-119 overtime loss to Los Angeles, there was Draymond Green saying he “smoked” a layup that would have tied the game with 26.5 seconds left in OT. That’s not why the Warriors walked out of Chase Center without a guaranteed NBA playoff berth and into the play-in tournament.
Nor should much of the blame go to Buddy Hield for missing a potential game-tying 3-point shot with 5.3 seconds remaining in OT. And, no, it’s too simple to blame coach Steve Kerr for drawing up a play for Hield; there was no way Clippers coach Ty Lue was going allow Stephen Curry an inch of space to even see the rim.
These issues didn’t help the Warriors, but they are not what tilted the game toward the Clippers.
This loss came organically. It was about the Warriors, collectively, being dominated on the glass, finishing minus-17 in rebounding, and too often getting outhustled or outmuscled in the pursuit of loose balls.
“That was the part of the game – the only part of the game – that really that bothered me a little bit,” coach Steve Kerr said.
“It’s tough to win,” Green said, referring to the rebounding deficit. “We also didn’t get a lot of loose balls. Rebounding is one thing, but then some of these loose balls that are just bouncing we’re not getting, the long rebounds, they’re loose and we’re not getting them. We’ve got to be better at getting those balls.”
The Warriors have two days to digest and review their work. And they surely must know a similar effort on Tuesday might result in another loss and rob them of a second chance at a few days of rest before the actual playoffs.
What’s the fix?
“Maybe contest some shots a little bit better,” Jimmy Butler III said. “Oh, [and] get to loose balls. There you go. The loose balls. And rebound. I think my sorry ass had one rebound. So, if I rebound a lot more, the game might be different.”
Butler’s self-assessment, one rebound (in 48 minutes) was accurate. Among his fellow starters, Curry had three, Green had two and Moses Moody none. The fifth starter, Brandin Podziemski, pulled a team-high seven. Gary Payton II, playing 25 minutes off the bench, was next with four.
Los Angeles big man Ivica Zubac finished with 17 rebounds. James Harden had seven, Kawhi Leonard six. Yes, those three Clippers outrebounded the entire Warriors roster. And LA is the NBA’s 17th-ranked rebounding team.
The Grizzlies are No. 2 in rebounding, behind only the Houston Rockets, who would be Golden State’s next opponent should they beat Memphis. The Warriors finished the season ranked seventh in rebounds per game – but were only 14th after the NBA All-Star break.
Even as the Warriors were the league’s top-rated defense during that span, rebounding has been their weakest element. This likely is a side effect of such heavy reliance on small lineups featuring Green (6-foot-6), Butler (6-foot-7) and Moody (6-foot-5) in the front court.
If you’re going to lose the rebounding battle, it’s a must to offset it by forcing turnovers and grabbing loose balls. By playing with extreme urgency.
“A couple times ball was on the floor, we tried to bounce it instead of [grabbing it],” Kerr said. “And then it’s a great lesson. We’ll show those clips and remind the guys that the ball is gold. The ball is everything. And so, we’ve got to do everything possible to secure the loose balls.
Between Sunday night and Tuesday evening, Curry said, there will “a lot” of focus on the hustle plays and rebounding.
“But it’s not just technique,” Curry said. “It’s just mentality. Like it’s just go get it, and everybody has that chip on their shoulder. Because when we do get rebounds, you see us flying in transition. Anybody who grabs a rebound and [throws an] outlet pass, we have confidence that everybody can run, and we got spacing. That’s usually our best offense.
“So even with Memphis, they’re a bigger team, but you can kind of get them in transition if you can secure rebounds and those 50-50 balls. That’ll probably be a good test or a marker if we can win that game.”
The Warriors shot well on Sunday, 54.4 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent beyond the arc. They shot five more free throws and made four more. They recorded 31 assists. They were plus-3 in points off turnovers.
They were minus-8 in second-chance points, as LA grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
The Warriors are 14-18 when outrebounded this season. They were outrebounded in four of their final six regular-season games. If this is a trend, and it continues, their postseason will be shorter than they could imagine.
PORTLAND — The Trail Blazers have chosen continuity.
That is no small thing for a team about to miss out on the postseason, especially in an NBA where two teams in the top four of the league (at least at the time) fired their coach in recent weeks (and Denver threw out the GM as well).
Portland has signed coach Chauncey Billups to a multi-year contract extension, just days after GM Joe Cronin got an extension as well. This move is a vote of confidence in the team's improvement in recent months.
"For us to be sitting here and saying, 'All right, we're moving on. Let's keep going.' It just literally means to me that Jody [Allen, team Chair] and Bert [Kolde, Vice Chair] see a lot of promise in us,” Billups said. “The rest of the league, and most of the league, is moving and shaking and going where they're going, we're sitting here saying, 'All right, we're in this spot. Let's just kind of keep going on this, on this progress.'"
Billups took over a very different job when he was first hired — he was brought into a win-now situation with Damian Lillard. After Lillard was traded to Milwaukee, the job shifted into a rebuild and Billups has been open about that being a transition for him, and that he had a lot to learn about building a team and a culture.
That has started to pay off of late. The Trail Blazers are 21-22 in 2025 and have the fourth-ranked defense in the NBA since the All-Star break. Cronin and Billups said that what matters as much as the wins is how they are winning, how they are building a defense-first roster. How did that turnaround happen?
“I kind of got to a point with our squad where I just told them all, I didn't really care who it was, the name on the back of the jersey and salary and whatever, I didn't care. We were sinking. We were sinking pretty bad. I'm gonna play the guys that are gonna compete, play defense,” Billups said of a ‘come-to-Jesus” meeting with the players. “If you don't do that, I don't care. You’re not playing. And I meant that, and they felt that, and they really brought us together to be honest with you.”
“For us to be the third best defense in the league this second half of the season, that's meaningful, substantive, and that's what we've been trying to do,” Cronin said.
This team is not complete. Portland does have promising young players on its roster, including Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Donovan Clingan. However, the team lacks a natural No. 1 option, but Cronin and Billups feel good about what is being built.
“You gotta have top-flight guys. But to me, I think we're raising that,” Billups said. “I think we're growing that. I look at, like, OKC traded for Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. He wasn't a star yet. Now he's probably going to be the MVP of the league. Joker [Nikola Jokic] wasn't a star when he got to Denver, they raised him into that. Giannis [Antetokounmpo] wasn't a star when he got to Milwaukee, they raised him into that.”
Whether Portland has a guy they can raise to that level is up for debate, but Cronin and Billups will get the chance to show they can take this team to the next level.
Cronin called making the postseason next year a reasonable goal. That becomes the benchmark, and not an easy one to reach in the West (ask Phoenix).
But the Blazers like the path they are on, so they bet on continuity.
The Knicks closed out their regular season with a 113-105 win over the Nets in Brooklyn.
Here are the key takeaways…
-With the Knicks locked into the No. 3 seed in the East, head coach Tom Thibodeau rested all of the usual starters.Mikal Bridges was the exception, as he was on the floor for the opening tip before the Knicks immediately fouled to get Bridges to the bench. By starting the game (and playing all of six seconds), Bridges preserved his consecutive games played streak, which is now at 556 contests.
-Precious Achiuwa started at center, making his first three shots, including an end-to-end run of the floor that was capped off with a monster slam. Achiuwa had 12 points in the first quarter alone, and went on to score 18 points to go along with nine rebounds.
-Landry Shamettechnically came off the bench in this one, replacing Bridges just six seconds into the game, but his shooting prowess was on display from the moment he took the court.
Shamet knocked down his first four threes and finished the game with a team-high 29 points on 7-of-13 shooting from downtown.
Thibodeau will likely shrink the Knicks’ rotation in the playoffs, and it’s hard to imagine Shamet, one of the best three-point shooters on the team, not seeing the floor come the postseason.
-The Nets led by as many as 10 points in the first half and were up by four at the break, but the Knicks stormed back thanks to a third quarter that saw them outscore Brooklyn 27-17, with Miles McBride scoring seven points in the quarter. The Knicks led by six going into the fourth and led for the entire fourth quarter. When the Nets pulled within two points in the final minutes, Thibodeau went back to Shamet and Achiuwa, who helped the Knicks close things out.
-Outside of Shamet, the Knicks did not shoot very well as a team, which is to be expected given it was largely the reserve unit playing extended minutes with one another, something that doesn't happen often under Thibodeau. As a team, the Knicks shot 43.0 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc, but taking out Shamet's numbers would shrink those figures to 40.6 percent and 31.0 percent, respectively.
-Sunday's game was a nice showing for the backcourt duo of McBride and Cam Payne, who combined to score 38 points with 15 assists. Both players will likely be important for the Knicks in the playoffs.
Game MVP
Shamet, who has emerged as the Knicks' best three-point shooter.
SAN FRANCISCO — The stakes for the Warriors were as high as they could be for a regular-season finale Sunday, which meant an early appearance from Playoff Jimmy Butler.
Even with all the pressure and playoff implications looming over Golden State’s matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, Butler remained cool. Calm. Collected. Confident.
Butler’s first made basket didn’t come until six-and-a-half minutes into the game. After that, it was business as usual for the 35-year-old, who showcased a vintage Playoff Jimmy performance in a 124-119 loss. He finished with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting and went 6 of 9 from the free-throw line, adding nine assists, one steal and one block in a team-high 48 minutes.
Despite his effort, the Warriors couldn’t get the job done to secure the No. 6 playoff seed and punch a ticket to the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Instead, they dropped to the No. 7 play-in slot and will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
While it wasn’t the outcome the Warriors wanted, it’s an atmosphere Butler welcomes.
The Warriors are 0-3 in their previous play-in contests. Butler’s track record is a bit different, as he has found success in the play-in tournament during his time with the Miami Heat. In 2023, Butler and Miami lost a play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks but bounced back to beat the Chicago Bulls courtesy of his 31 points. The Heat went on to make it to the NBA Finals that year.
“We’re right where we want to be,” Butler said postgame. “We still got an opportunity, and we control our own fate. We’re going to be just fine.”
Draymond Green approached the postgame podium slightly sluggish and unusually monotone. He was upset with the loss, and it showed by his demeanor and trickled off his tongue word by word.
But when asked about Butler’s presence and how he can help the Warriors still make a deep postseason push, Green spoke passionately about his teammate’s impact.
“I mean, we just draw on having Jimmy as a whole,” Green said. “You have a guy who can kind of slow the pace of the game down for us, get us into good things, having another No. 1 next to Steph is different.
“So it definitely makes us a much better team. Tonight, we didn’t capitalize on his great game, but it makes us a much more complete, better team.”
Golden State’s 2023-24 season ended with a deflating play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings. In 2020-21, the Warriors lost to the Los Angeles Lakers by three before suffering a season-ending play-in loss to the Grizzlies.
Those losses still sting for the Warriors, but they’re hopeful Butler gets them over that hump.
“We joked about that last week,” Steph Curry said of Butler’s play-in success. “He went into the play-in packing for two months. So we would love to have that opportunity. We haven’t had a good outcome in the three [play-in] games. I remember each one vividly.
“[LeBron James] hit that shot in the right wing. Ja [Morant] hits a couple tough buckets. And we washed the Sacramento game down the drain pretty quick. So just win.”
While Butler’s impact historically has heightened come postseason time, Curry has felt his presence since the former Heat forward first was traded to Golden State in early February. Curry only hopes that continues this week and moving forward.
Sunday’s game was the perfect indication of just that.
Butler’s steady presence was needed for the Warriors while their best player struggled to find a consistent groove through the first three quarters. Curry entered the fourth quarter with 15 points. Butler at the time had 24.
The baton was passed over to Curry, who got rolling in the final frame to force overtime. He wound up with 36 points.
That double-threat dynamic has the potential to be lethal in a momentous postseason atmosphere.
“I mean, I don’t know how you could be any more confident,” Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski said of Butler’s postseason impact. “I don’t know if there’s any one person in a play-in situation that you would want on your team. Maybe Steph.
“And we have both of them. So the confidence is there. You know him and Steph are going to produce and now it just becomes what other role guys are going to step up and want the moment.”
Butler doesn’t feel any pressure from all the “Playoff Jimmy” talk. He’s grateful and honored that his teammates have that confidence and faith in him, but he let it be known that he’s not the only one who can make some magic happen when needed.
“I do [feel the responsibility],” Butler said. “But man, we got a lot of really good basketball players around this locker room key in what we’re trying to do. I like the confidence that [the team] has in myself, I also have that same amount of confidence.
“So I know that I and we have a job to do, and I know that we’re capable of doing it. So play-in, here we come.”
The winner of Tuesday’s game will clinch the No. 7 seed and face the Houston Rockets in a best-of-seven first-round playoff series. The loser will still have a chance to keep their season alive Friday against the winner of the Kings vs. Dallas Mavericks game that will be played Wednesday.
The stage is set. The curtains are open. And it’s Butler’s time to shine.
