Category: NBA

Steph Curry ruled out of Warriors-Timberwolves Game 1 with left hamstring strain originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The last thing the Warriors need right now is a Steph Curry injury, but that’s what they are dealing with early in Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Less than four minutes into the second quarter of the Western Conference semifinal opener Tuesday at Target Center, Curry tweaked his left hamstring on a defensive possession. He grabbed the back of his left leg on several occasions.

The Warriors ruled Curry out a few minutes later.

Curry stayed in the game but after Draymond Green hit a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 30-20 lead, the Timberwolves called a timeout and the two-time NBA MVP walked to Golden State’s locker room for evaluation.

Curry was playing well at the time of the injury, having made 5 of 9 field-goal attempts for 13 points.

Curry has been playing through a right thumb injury he has been dealing with for the last few months.

Many people remember the late Jim Fagan as the rugged voice that proudly informed 1990s and early-2000s basketball fans that they were watching the NBA on NBC.

The distinct sound of Fagan's voiceovers, with John Tesh's rousing "Roundball Rock" playing in the background, will be forever linked to the era when Michael Jordan dominated the sport and players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan were just starting to build their legacies.

Fagan died in 2017 at age 72 after battling Parkinson’s disease. His voice, however, will soon be more than just a fond memory for basketball fans.

Read more:Charles Barkley rips 'idiots' at ESPN, future home of 'Inside the NBA,' for saying 'Lakers saved the NBA'

NBC Sports announced Tuesday that through the use of AI voice synthesis technology — and through a partnership with Fagan's family — the announcer's voice will be heard on "select title sequences, show opens, and promos" when the NBA returns to the network this fall after more than two decades. Fagan's voice will be used to "supplement traditional voiceover work by other artists hired by NBC Sports," the network said in a news release.

That announcement came days after NBC Sports revealed that it was bringing back "Roundball Rock" as its NBA anthem. On Tuesday, the network dropped a promo video featuring both the classic song and Fagan's AI-generated voice. Any nostalgic vibes felt by old-school NBA fans definitely were not coincidental.

“For many basketball fans, Jim’s unique and recognizable voice immediately conjures a deep sense of nostalgia for a special time in NBA history,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said in the news release. “His voice perfectly captured the magnitude of the heavyweight matchups and stars that he was introducing. It’s been a joy to work with Jim’s family to recreate his voice and honor his legacy. I’m excited we’re able to introduce his voice to a whole new generation of fans.”

Four hours after the promo video was posted on YouTube, it had received 25 comments, most of which criticized the decision to use AI to generate the voice of someone who is no longer alive. But Fagan's daughters, Jana Silvia Joyce and Risa Silvia-Koonin, said in NBC's news release that their father would have been "thrilled."

Read more:LeBron James begs off attending the Met Gala, where he is the honorary co-chairman

“We’re deeply grateful that NBC Sports had the vision to honor our father’s legacy in such a meaningful way," Silvia Joyce and Silvia-Koonin stated. "He took great pride in his work with NBC Sports, especially in helping set the stage for some of the most memorable moments in NBA history. Knowing that his voice will once again be part of the game he loved — and that a new generation of fans will get to experience it — is incredibly special for our family. He would be so thrilled and proud to be a part of this.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Trailing by 20 points midway through the third quarter, the Knicks found a way to fight back and come away with a dramatic 108-105 overtime win in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics.

While the improbable road win has given New York an early lead in the series, there is a prevailing thought that the Celtics simply had an off night, as evidenced by their abysmal 15-of-60 (25 percent) three-point shooting and Kristaps Porzingis playing just 13 minutes.

Will Boston have another game in which they miss 45 shots from beyond the arc? It’s safe to say that’s highly unlikely, but as Josh Hart said on Tuesday, the Knicks deserve credit for the way that they executed on the defensive end.

Plus, it's not like the Knicks played at the top of their game either, yet they found a way to win.

“It’s twofold, right? I don’t think we played our best basketball. We got outrebounded by 10, we gave up 24 second-chance points, we gave up some easy fastbreak dunks that we shouldn’t have," Hart said.

"When a team isn’t playing well it’s ‘why are they not playing well?’ Is it because they’re just off that day, or is it because the defense or the other team is playing well and forcing them into playing that kind of style?”

To illustrate his point, Hart brought up how the Detroit Pistons were able to disrupt the Knicks and keep them from playing their best game in any of the six contests from their first round matchup.

“We’ve got to give Detroit credit, because Detroit did not allow us to play our best game. Fortunately for us, we were able to win that series without playing our best game in any game that whole series,” said Hart, who scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds over 45 minutes in Game 1 in Boston.

“Obviously, [the Celtics] had some shots that they didn’t make that were makeable shots for them, but I feel like we executed our game plan,” Hart said. “We played with physicality and energy. We flew around.”

But now the Knicks face a new challenge heading Wednesday’s Game 2: the proverbial post-big-win hangover.

Tom Thibodeau’s squad may have been on the winning end of one of the more dramatic comebacks in recent playoff history on Monday night, but the head coach knows the key is moving on and being prepared for what comes next.

“That’s the challenge for everybody. I think in the playoffs, that’s sort of the nature of the beast,” Thibodeau explained. “It’s very emotional, there are great highs, there are lows. You have to navigate both, and no matter what happens, you don’t carry it over into the next game. You have to reset and be ready to do it all over again.”

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Is Porzingis' illness tied to previous absence? Mazzulla shares update originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Kristaps Porzingis’ availability is once again in question after his abrupt exit from the Boston Celtics’ Game 1 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night.

The Boston Celtics big man is “day-to-day” with an illness, head coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed to reporters Tuesday. Porzingis exited Monday’s game at TD Garden with 7:34 remaining in the second quarter and did not return after the team listed him as questionable with a “non-Covid illness.”

“He’s a little bit better. We’ll see how he feels,” Mazzulla said Tuesday of Porzingis.

While the nature of Porzingis’ illness is unclear, it’s fair to wonder whether his current condition is related to the upper respiratory illness that caused him to miss eight straight games from Feb. 28 to March 14. Porzingis noted at the time that he hadn’t “been this sick for probably ever in my life.”

“I was really, for a week, really just laying at home trying to recover,” Porzingis said after his first game back on March 15. “And after that, I had lingering fatigue — and I still have it a little bit.”

Mazzulla said Tuesday he has “no idea” if Porzingis’ current illness is related to what he had in March but then revealed that the big man is still dealing with some lingering effects of that illness.

“Since he came back, I think he’s been kind of dealing with it on and off, fighting through it, working through it, doing the best he can,” Mazzulla said. “I think it was just too much for him in that game.

“… He had been working through it since he’s gotten back and he’s done a great job of being available. It was just tough for him to continue (Monday), so we’ll see kind of how he handles that.”

Porzingis started in Game 1 but didn’t look like himself, going scoreless in 12:58 of playing time on 0 for 4 shooting with four rebounds, one assist and a turnover. And outside a 20-point effort in Game 1 of the first round against the Orlando Magic, Porzingis has largely struggled this postseason, shooting 32.8 percent from the floor and just 11.8 percent from 3-point range (2 for 17) in six playoff games to date.

The Celtics didn’t need a fully-effective Porzingis to dispatch the Magic in five games, but they could certainly use him against New York, especially considering the former Knicks lottery pick has had plenty of success against his former team.

Game 2 of Celtics-Knicks is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET at TD Garden, and Porzingis’ status will be worth monitoring closely.

UPDATE: The Celtics listed Porzingis as probable on their injury report Tuesday afternoon, suggesting he’s on track to play in Game 2.

In perhaps the most impressive win in modern Knicks basketball history, New York came back from 20 points down to beat Boston on the road, 108-105, stealing Game 1 in the second round and securing home court advantage.

It took a massive two-way team effort to accomplish it.

Let’s break down how the Knicks pulled it off...

Defensive masterclass

Head coach Tom Thibodeau pulled out all the adjustments for this series, and his team executed them to perfection.

Unsatisfied with how his team guarded Boston in the regular season, opening with mostly drop coverage then slowly experimenting with others, Thibs had his team switch most ball screens. 

This gave the Celtics a bunch of favorable one-on-one matchups instead of putting the Knicks defense in a blender, pushing them away from their patented ball movement and advantage creation towards isolation basketball. While Boston has the talent to adjust, New York acquired specific personnel this offseason to make it tough, and they did just that.

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, or "Wingstop" as they’ve aptly been nicknamed, had standout performances. They finished with four steals and two blocks between them, holding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to a combined 46 points on 14-for-43 shooting, lobbing the head off the Celtics offense. 

They were especially impressive in the second half and overtime, helping whenever Boston would attackJalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Townsone-on-one, somehow digging into driving lanes and recovering in time to contest the Celtics' shooters. And when they needed to get timely stops, they made it happen. 

Clutch execution

The Knicks have been a strong crunch time team, as evidenced in the previous round but put on full display in Game 1 in Boston. It starts with their Clutch Player of the Year, who helped lead the ferocious comeback with his shot making.

Brunson scored 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field in the third and fourth quarters. Halfway through the final period, Brunson laced three threes and a couple of free throws in under three minutes to give the Knicks a six-point edge. 

Boston wouldn’t let him carry New York to victory that easily, and started sending soft doubles and much more attention his way. Brunson responded, getting inside to draw in the defense and spray out to Anunoby for a huge three with 90 seconds to play. 

He also held his own defensively, putting in a big effort to bother Tatum and Brown on switches and seal Al Horford and other Celtics bigs as the low man. For all the clutch shot making, there was some serious clutch defensive playmaking as well. 

Anunoby had a huge fourth quarter steal, Mitchell Robinson came in to shut down Tatum on a game-winning attempt, and Bridges came through with two steals in overtime -- including the game-deciding one off the inbounds in the final seconds. 

Flipping Boston’s strengths

The Knicks did an excellent job taking perceived strengths and preferences on the Celtics side and turning them on their head. Boston took advantage of ignoring Josh Hart offensively in the regular season, and he made them pay in Game 1.

Hart had 14 points and 11 rebounds on 5-for-9 shooting, which may not pop off the box score but doesn’t adequately capture his impact on this game. He was constantly pushing the Knicks tempo and finding good looks in transition, while helping slow down the Celtics’ offensive rebounding in the second half.

Boston’s big playing six feet off him? Hart would set off ball screens, and get involved in the action via a few variations of pick and rolls to constantly keep them on their toes.

The Celtics buried the Knicks from three all season? No problem. New York switched heavy to limit their offensive opportunities and force them into tough off-the-dribble threes in isolation -- exactly the shot you want. 

They shut down the paint and watched Boston panic from beyond the arc, shooting a ghastly 15-for-60 from three. Those long misses led to transition chances and had the Celtics questioning their offense. 

It was a great approach and tremendous effort that caught Boston by surprise in Game 1, but it will take repeat performances to steal more than a game.

Let’s see if the Knicks can pull off another shocker when they face the Celtics again on Wednesday in Game 2. 

The Knicks erased a 20-point deficit and prevailed in overtime against the Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Monday night in Boston.

Here's how the New York City back pages reacted...

Here's our @nydnsports back page. @nyknicks@celtics@apse_sportmedia#knicks#NBAhttps://t.co/QTrS3ZKOWNpic.twitter.com/f4votPhzlP

— Back Page Guy NYDN (@BackPageGuyNYDN) May 6, 2025

The back page: MEN OF STEAL!

Knicks swipe Game 1 after being down 20 as Bridges theft seals miracle comeback

Read more: https://t.co/NQ9H1S1tyqpic.twitter.com/stJ9aZWce1

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 6, 2025

I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. pic.twitter.com/x3RosLTzAp

— Robert Shields (@rshields37) May 6, 2025

OG Anunoby might be biggest X-factor in Celtics-Knicks series originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jalen Brunson will garner most of the headlines from the New York Knicks’ surprising overtime win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series Monday night at TD Garden. He played very well and hit some clutch 3-pointers late in the game.

But the biggest difference-maker for the Knicks in their 108-105 victory was OG Anunoby.

The veteran wing made a massive impact on both ends of the floor. If that continues, the Knicks will have a real chance to upset the Celtics and reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.

Anunoby tied Brunson with a team-high 29 points, bolstered by 6-for-11 shooting from 3-point range. The Celtics led by 20 with 5:37 left to play in the third quarter. That’s when the Knicks finally woke up, and it started with Anunoby 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to trim the lead to 14.

It didn’t take much longer for the Knicks to erase most of the Celtics’ lead. Another 3-pointer by Anunoby early in the fourth quarter pulled the Knicks within one.

Anunoby also out-hustled Celtics forward Jayson Tatum for a crucial and-1 dunk in overtime.

When Anunoby gives the Knicks offensive production, they are tough to beat. For example, New York is 4-0 in the 2025 playoffs when he scores 20-plus points. They were 22-10 in the regular season when Anunoby scored 20 or more points, and they’ve won five consecutive games in which he’s scored 25-plus points.

Anunoby averaged 18 points per game this season, but he only scored nine per game in the four regular season matchups versus the Celtics. If he can just score close to his regular season average in this second-round playoff series, that would take a lot of pressure off of Brunson to be great.

But it wasn’t just Anunoby’s scoring that played a pivotal role in New York’s series-opening win. His defense was even more important.

The Celtics shot 2-for-18 when Anunoby was the primary defender in Game 1. He dominated defensively and picked up only one foul.

Tatum (1-for-6) and Jaylen Brown (0-for-2) both struggled against the Knicks forward. But they weren’t alone.

Tatum easily won his matchup with Knicks forward Mikal Bridges in the regular season. In those four matchups, Tatum shot 13-for-19 for 35 points when Bridges was the primary defender. However, Tatum shot just 4-for-16 for 15 points versus Anuboby in the three regular season meetings in which the Knicks forward played.

Anunoby has been a better defender on Tatum, so it wasn’t surprising that the Knicks tried to match him up on the Celtics superstar as much as possible in Game 1. Bridges mostly guarded Derrick White as a result.

Anunoby is unlikely to score 29 points again in this series. It’s 11 points above his regular season average. Expecting him to shoot almost 60 percent on 11 3-point attempts again in this series would be a reach, too. But could he score 20-plus points again in this series? Absolutely. Brunson’s ability to drive to the basket and draw multiple defenders will give Anunoby open looks from beyond the arc.

On the defensive side is where Anunoby’s impact can be consistently elite. He’s been one of the league’s best perimeter defenders for years. He has height and length at 6-foot-7 and enough strength at 240 pounds to bother a lot of wings.

The Knicks are still underdogs in this series. The Celtics have more talent, depth and playoff experience. And it’s unlikely that Boston will have many more horrific 3-point shooting performances like it did in Game 1. The C’s literally set a single-game playoff record with 45 missed 3-pointers.

But the Knicks do have a chance to make this series more competitive than originally thought. That path runs through Anunoby and his ability to make a strong impact, particularly defensively against Tatum and Brown.

Draymond shares great response to Edwards' viral Warriors plea originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Anthony Edwards got his wish of playing the Warriors on the big stage of the Western Conference semifinals, and Draymond Green is looking forward to the highly anticipated matchup.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star stated two years ago he wanted to play the Warriors “wherever they at.” When asked for the reason why he specifically targeted the Warriors, he replied, “Because Draymond talks so much trash.”

spoke it into existence. pic.twitter.com/zArdNwTwr2

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 5, 2025

And of course, that’s music to Green’s ears.

“Of course I’ve seen it. I remember the video. I laughed when I saw it,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “That’s who Ant Man is. I’ve stated on the show already if there’s two guys that I think talk talk that’s young, it was Ant Man and Ja [Morant]. That’s who Ant Man is. He continues to be that guy. I respect it. It is what it is.

“He’s obviously going to play a huge role for the Timberwolves, I’m going to play a huge role for us. But this series ain’t about me versus Ant Man or who can out-talk who. This is about high-level basketball. … Ant had a great playoff series in that [Los Angeles] Lakers series. I’m looking forward to the matchup.”

After having a career year in the 2024-25 regular season, Edwards led his Timberwolves to a 4-1 series win over LeBron James and the Lakers, averaging 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 41 minutes.

Green and the Warriors survived a tense seven-game series against the Houston Rockets, getting just one day off before Game 1 in Minnesota. And the Warriors vet expects a completely different series against the Timberwolves.

“It’s a much different series. Even from a personnel standpoint, it’s a completely different series than the one we just played,” Green said. “Sometimes you get series back-to-back where you’re like, ‘Yo, we just played a team that plays like this.’ These two teams play totally different. They couldn’t be further apart from the way they play. So it’s a completely different series that we’re going to have to make an adjustment to.

“I think we’re a completely different team to the Lakers that they’ll have to make an adjustment to. Once you get to the playoffs, second round, conference finals, it’s all about adjustments. Obviously, players got to play great, but you get in those first two, three games and you’re figuring them out, they’re figuring you out. We just got to come out and play hard. Stick to our principles. That scouting report gets more and more in-depth as the series goes. But playing hard is what gets you wins to start the series.”

Golden State posted a 3-1 season series record against Minnesota during the 2024-25 regular season.

But the playoffs are a different ballgame, and that’s exactly what both Edwards and Green want.

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The two sides of Celtics' historically bad shooting in Game 1 vs. Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Two things that are in the eye of the beholder: beauty, and the Boston Celtics’ 3-point shooting stats.

The Celtics set NBA playoff records for 3-point attempts (60) and 3-point misses (45) in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks at TD Garden, going 15 for 60 beyond the arc while blowing a 20-point lead in a stunning 108-105 overtime loss.

Even for a team that set a host of 3-point records during the regular season, the Celtics’ reliance on the 3-ball in the second half Monday night was astounding: 34 of their 41 field goal attempts in the second half were from 3-point range, including an astounding 19 of their 20 attempts in the third quarter.

That’s right: Boston attempted just one 2-point shot in 12 minutes of third-quarter action.

The Celtics’ late-game 3-point obsession was a complete 180 from the second quarter, when they made 12 of 15 2-point attempts while scoring 35 points to take a 16-point lead into halftime. But rather than continue to attack the paint, Joe Mazzulla’s club curiously started settling for 3s in the second half, as the shot charts below illustrate starkly.

“In those moments when the other team’s got momentum, we can’t just fire up threes,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown lamented after the game. “We’ve got to get to the free throw line, get to the paint, get to the basket, and then maybe the next 3-pointer feels a little bit better.”

“We settled in the second half, a lot. It felt like they were daring us to shoot; they wanted us to shoot those shots. That’s an abnormal game in terms of us shooting the basketball.”

The Knicks deserve some credit for making a defensive adjustment to steer the Celtics away from the paint and goad them into “settling” for 3-point shots. But Brown’s final comment hints at the other side of this story.

Boston shot just 25 percent from 3-point range, tied for its fifth-worst shooting game of the season (regular-season or playoffs) and well below its season average of 36.8 percent. And according to the NBA’s tracking data, 56 of the Celtics’ 60 attempts Monday qualified as “open” looks.

As Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg illustrates below, the C’s made just 29.2 percent of their “wide open” 3-point attempts Monday after making them at a 40.7 percent clip during the regular season.

Are those stats a green light for the Celtics to keep chucking? Not necessarily. In the case of Monday’s game, they had success scoring inside early in the game — especially with Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson in foul trouble — and let the Knicks off the hook by settling for 3-pointers.

But it’s also true that Monday was an “abnormal” shooting game from Boston, to use Brown’s term. Case in point: There was just one instance this season where the Celtics shot 29 percent or worse from 3-point range in back-to-back games (Jan. 10 vs. Sacramento and Jan. 12 vs. New Orleans). In the 12 other instances, they shot 33.3 percent or better the following night.

So, history suggests Boston should make more of its 3-pointers in Game 2 on Wednesday. The question is whether this team can strike the right balance between using the deep ball as a weapon — which played a key role in raising Banner 18 last season — and finding other ways to score when the game dictates a different approach.

“I have to have better play-calling; (we) have to make shots,” Mazzulla said after the game. “We have to make some better reads. It’s a combination of all those things.

“We have to be better. You have to make the ones when you’re open. The process of our shot quality was good.”

Tip-off for Game 2 at TD Garden is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Boston’s coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live.