Category: NBA

INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona is out to Bear Down at the 2026 Final Four.

The Wildcats are back on the biggest stage in college basketball, breaking a 25-year drought to reach the national semifinals. It's been a remarkable ride, winning the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles to earn a No. 1 seed in March Madness. Arizona hasn't slowed down since then, winning every game by double-digits to make it to Lucas Oil Stadium.

With Arizona having one of its most successful seasons in decades and two wins from its first national title since 1997, fans will sure be rallying around its most famous chant: Bear Down.

People may be hearing it for the first time and may be confused about why the Wildcats are chanting about bears, but it holds a special meaning for Arizona, with a story that is 100 years old.

Bill Murray is going to be present for the Final Four in the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament on Saturday, April 4.

College basketball fans won't be too shocked by this development, as the actor and comedian has long attended Connecticut men's basketball games. That's because he's the father of Luke Murray, an assistant coach for UConn and future head coach of Boston College.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness games today: Final Four schedule and game breakdowns

However, Bill Murray also grew up a fan of Illinois men's basketball — the team UConn happens to play in the Final Four for a chance to compete in the March Madness national championship game.

So, who is the "Saturday Night Live," "Caddyshack," and "Groundhog Day" actor rooting for between UConn and Illinois?

Here's what Bill Murray said ahead of the Final Four meeting between Huskies and Fighting Illini:

For months now, the Wolves and the Houston Rockets have been stuck in a hotly contested battle for the West’s middle playoffs seeds, never really separating, never really collapsing, just kind of stalking each other across the standings. And now, with the regular season finally narrowing into its last meaningful stretch, the picture is starting to come into focus. Not complete focus, because this is still the Western Conference minefield, but enough focus to at least see the outline. Barring a last-minute collapse, Oklahoma City looks headed for the one seed. San Antonio would then have the two seed on lock. The Lakers, sans Luka Doncic, are clinging to the three slot, while Denver has the inside track on four. That leaves Minnesota and Houston locked in the same argument they have been having for months, battling over whether the reward for this season’s efforts will be the five or the six.

And that, in turn, raises the question Wolves fans are now wrestling with: which road would you actually rather take?

Make no mistake, there is no easy path here. This is not the Eastern Conference circa 2014 where you could spend two rounds bludgeoning flimsy pretenders before the real test arrived. Out West, the real test starts immediately. It is a gauntlet no matter where you finish, and the only thing that changes is the flavor of the pain.

If Minnesota lands in the six seed, it likely gets the Lakers in round one and then, if the bracket holds, the San Antonio Spurs in round two. If the Wolves leap Houston and grab fifth, then the opening act becomes Denver in round one and Oklahoma City in round two. This is basically the basketball version of deciding whether you’d rather fight a bear in the woods or a shark in open water.

So we asked the Canis Hoopus faithful which road they would prefer: Lakers then Spurs, or Nuggets then Thunder.

The overwhelming response was clear. Most of you want the six seed. Most of you want the Lakers in round one and San Antonio in round two. Which is understandable, but also not as simple of a choice as it appears on the surface. If you’ve watched the Lakers-Wolves matchups this season and walked away thinking, “Yes, that’s who I want in the playoffs,” then I admire your courage and also question your memory.

Yes, the Wolves absolutely steamrolled the Lakers in five games last postseason. That happened. It was real. It felt cathartic. Minnesota owned the paint, bullied them physically, and made Los Angeles look like a team that had one superstar too many and one center too few.

But this version of the Lakers is not that version of the Lakers.

At the time of last year’s first-round meeting, Los Angeles was still trying to fold Luka Doncic into the whole operation. The fit was a little weird, the rhythm was off, and the center spot was a full-blown construction site after they moved on from Anthony Davis. This time around, there’s more cohesion, more comfort, and more rhythm. Luka was playing like an MVP candidate in March, the Lakers have been scorching hot, and they have taken all three games from Minnesota this season. They’ve won one on an Austin Reaves buzzer-beater and taken the others two in convincing fashion.

While Deandre Ayton is not exactly prime Hakeem, he has at least been competent enough to keep Minnesota’s frontcourt from reenacting last year’s paint domination. The Wolves had their way inside in that playoff series. This year, the Lakers have done enough to make things far murkier.

Now, to be fair, there is one giant caveat here, and it’s a GIANT one. We didn’t know this at the time the poll went live, but Luka’s injury situation certainly tilts the conversation. If he is not full strength by the time the playoffs start, that changes everything. It doesn’t make the Lakers easy, but it makes them far more palatable then facing Jokic and Denver. In a conference where every path involves walking through fire, sometimes “slightly less flammable” is all the optimism you need.

Then there is the second-round possibility in that bracket: Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

This is where the conversation gets weird in a way that only Timberwolves basketball can make weird. If Minnesota gets past the Lakers and finds San Antonio waiting in the second round, the Wolves would actually hold the playoff experience advantage. Read that again slowly, especially if you’ve been following this franchise for more than five years. The Minnesota Timberwolves would be the mature, battle-tested team in the matchup. It sounds absurd because for the first 36 years of this franchise’s existence, the idea of Minnesota having postseason gravitas would have felt like a typo. But now? They’ve been to back-to-back Western Conference Finals. They’ve played in real games, under real pressure, against real teams. They know what that feels like.

San Antonio, on the other hand, is terrifying in a completely different way. Wembanyama has taken another leap in the second half of the season, and the Spurs have become the type of team nobody can quite believe is this good this fast. They are young, they are hungry, and they are nipping at the one seed with the kind of reckless confidence that makes young teams dangerous before they’ve learned they’re supposed to be scared.

Still, if you’re choosing your poison, there is a logic to preferring San Antonio over Oklahoma City in round two. The Wolves could get physical with the Wemby. They could lean on their experience. They could try to turn the series into an ugly, grown-man fight and make San Antonio prove it can handle that kind of pressure. That path makes sense.

But then you look at the other road.

The fifth seed. Denver in round one. Oklahoma City in round two.

This is where things get complicated, because the road most fans seem least interested in might also be the one the Wolves secretly believe they’re built for.

It is not hard to understand why Denver would be a more intimidating first-round opponent than the Lakers. Nikola Jokic exists, and he is still the most terrifying player on the planet to see across from your team in a playoff setting. He is the best player in the world, and unlike some other stars, his greatness doesn’t need dramatic flourishes. He doesn’t need to hit 40-foot threes or scream into the camera. He just quietly disassembles your defensive plan with surgical precision.

And yet, if you’re Minnesota, Denver is the monster you at least recognize. The Wolves have seen this movie before. They took Denver to seven games in 2024 and ended the Nuggets’ title defense in the greatest playoff moments in franchise history. They swept the Nuggets in the regular season last year. Even this year, despite going 1-3 against them, the matchups have often felt familiar rather than hopeless. Denver has won the games, yes, but some of them were close enough to remind you that Minnesota understands the challenge. Christmas Day, for instance, ended in overtime. These teams know each other. There is no mystery. No fear of the unknown. If anything, there may be a degree of confidence on both sides that makes that series feel almost inevitable, like two rivals who have already agreed they’ll be seeing each other again in the spring whether the bracket wants it or not.

That is the pro-Denver argument. Familiarity. Physicality. A belief that Minnesota is one of the few teams in the league structurally built to at least make Jokic work for everything. Gobert, Randle and Reid in waves, all the size and length and bruising frontcourt options you need to keep Denver from just skating through a series unchallenged.

The problem, of course, is what comes next.

Because lurking around the corner in that path is Oklahoma City, and that one still feels different. The Thunder ended Minnesota’s season in last year’s Western Conference Finals, and they did it with a level of maturity and control that made the Wolves look like a team still learning how serious basketball is played in late May. Minnesota has split the season series 2-2 with OKC this year, so it’s not as if the matchup is hopeless. The Wolves can absolutely play with them. They’ve proven that. But there is still a professionalism to the Thunder, a clarity of identity, that Minnesota has not consistently shown. Against San Antonio, the Wolves might have the composure edge. Against OKC, that edge belongs to the Thunder until proven otherwise.

The one possible silver lining there is timing. If Minnesota drew Oklahoma City in the second round rather than the conference finals, the Wolves might actually have fresher legs than they did in the past two postseasons, when some of the wear and tear really started to show by the time they reached the final four. There is at least a case to be made that a second-round clash with the Thunder would catch both teams in a better physical spot and potentially give the Wolves a cleaner crack at the matchup.

Still, if you’re asking fans which road feels less terrifying, it makes sense that the Lakers-Spurs path won the poll. It looks cleaner on paper. It has fewer Jokic and Shai-related nightmares built into it. It offers a younger second-round opponent. It feels, if not easy, at least slightly less like intimidating.

And yet, this is where the whole conversation circles back to the same reality: the Wolves do not actually control this. Not fully. Not yet. There are still games left to play, and all kinds of weird variables remain in play, not least of which is Luka’s health and whatever last-minute surprises the Western Conference cooks up in the final week. Maybe the standings shift. Maybe one team stumbles. Maybe somebody rests on the last weekend. Maybe the bracket that looks obvious right now is totally different in six days.

That is why this whole exercise is more about preference than prediction. At the end of the day, whether Minnesota finishes fifth or sixth, the path is going to be brutal. It is going to require them to beat teams they have struggled against, stay healthy, get Anthony Edwards fully back into rhythm, and play with a level of consistency that has eluded them for maddening stretches all season. There is no gimmick route here. No lucky loophole. No “just get this matchup and everything opens up.” That door does not exist in this conference.

So maybe the better question is not which path do you prefer. Maybe the better question is which version of the Timberwolves do you think is actually showing up?

If it’s the locked-in, physically dominant, defensively connected version, the one that beat Boston and survived Houston and remembers how to play like a team with real postseason confidence, then either road is survivable. Difficult, yes. But survivable.

If it’s the sleepy, self-sabotaging, switch-flipping version that spends entire quarters treating urgency like an optional feature, then it honestly does not matter if the opponent is the Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs, or Thunder. That version is not getting to June.

The thing Wolves fans know now, maybe more than at any other time in franchise history. The playoffs are not just about the bracket. They are about identity. And for this team, that identity still fluctuates a little too much for comfort.

Still, if you made me choose? I get why the fan base picked the sixth seed. I do. There is still something about avoiding Jokic in round one and OKC in round two that feels marginally more humane. Luka may be in street clothes. The Spurs are terrifying, but they are also young. The Wolves would have been there before. They would know what the pressure feels like. There’s something to that.

But whichever road the Wolves get, the mission is the same. Use these final games to get Edwards right. Get the rotations locked in. Get the supporting cast settled. Get the defense back to a place where it can travel into any arena and make life miserable. Because the bracket may determine the shape of the challenge, but not the size of it.

Out West, every path is uphill. The only real question is whether the Wolves are ready to keep climbing.

As the Wolves get locked and loaded for the post-season, FanDuel Sportsbook is here for all of your NBA playoff betting needs!

Last night, the New York Knicks eviscerated the Chicago Bulls from the opening tip, en route to the team’s third 40-point victory of the season. They entered as 14.5-point favorites against a Bulls team that, while tanking all the same as teams like Indiana, Utah, and Washington, were playing enough players that made you truly think, “Yeah, these guys are just bad.“

I savored that fourth quarter, watching the bench mob play out the string. As the final buzzer sounded, so did the calmness of regular-season basketball. That’ll be the last time the Knicks will square off against a hopelessly overmatched opponent for several months.

By the time the next game comes, whether it’s against the Nets or these Bulls or the Kings, this team could look totally different. They could be buzzing from the success of the team’s first championship in 53 years. They could be dismantled and reconfigured after a disappointing early exit. They could somehow look the same after a run ends just short of the ultimate prize.

By the time we see a game like this again, where everyone gets to eat, and the starters are laughing on the bench in the fourth, everything may change. There are a bunch of these games throughout an 82-game season, especially this year, where the Knicks have a staggering 17 20+ point victories (and nine 30+ point victories, a franchise record!), but they are uncommon come playoff time.

Could there be a blowout in either direction in the final week or in whatever playoff series the Knicks are in? Absolutely. In the last two years alone, those highly contentious series against the Pacers still delivered multiple staggering blowouts in both directions. Basketball’s a volatile sport, after all.

But from here on out, there are stakes to every single game the Knicks play. There are no gimme’s, there are no meaningless games. Even if the seeding is locked up and Game 82 does turn out to be mostly meaningless, you’ll still be playing a team fighting for seeding, even if the personal outcome doesn’t matter.

The bench mob has gotten much more run this year, and we salute their services. Ariel Hukporti, Tyler Kolek, Pačome Dadiet, Trey Jemison III, Kevin McCullar Jr., and probably Jeremy Sochan: We thank you for your services of competing hard in practice every day to get our guys ready and stepping up when you’ve been needed due to the day-to-day injuries of the main rotation. If someone goes down from here, some of you may be thrust into bigger roles (ahem, Delon Wright), but most likely, this is the end of the road for you guys, who play critically important roles to get through an 82-game season.

From here on out, it’s down to 11 guys. Foul trouble or injuries could dip into the deep reserves, but barring disaster, it’s these 11.

• Jalen Brunson
• Mikal Bridges
• Josh Hart
• OG Anunoby
• Karl-Anthony Towns
• Deuce McBride
• Jose Alvarado
• Landry Shamet
• Jordan Clarkson
• Mo Diawara
• Mitchell Robinson

These 11 will get meaningful minutes at some point in the postseason, whether plentiful or situational. We don’t know who Mike Brown will use in his planned rotation, but we know that eight of these 11 are probably in it for sure. We’ll see games where he turns to Clarkson for spot scoring, Diawara for his length and versatility, and Alvarado when he needs ballhandling off the bench, but those will be on a game-by-game basis.

The team is healthy now. For the last four regular-season games and however long this playoff run is, these are the 11 that matter. These 11 will decide the Knicks’ fate, for this season and for the future of this core.

The next four games are all against teams that the Knicks could face in the postseason, and while we know from last April that the outcome means essentially nothing, they’re important when it comes to seeding. The Knicks enter the final week with a 1.5-game lead on the Cavaliers for fourth and sit 2.5 games behind the Celtics for second. With a head-to-head matchup remaining against their Atlantic Division foes, it’s not totally over yet, but the margin for error is nonexistent.

The head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cavaliers means it’d be pretty hard to fall to four, but a poor final week opens the door. Who the Knicks play will also be heavily influenced by their own actions, as they have a chance to knock the Hawks down a peg, push the Raptors deeper into the play-in, and limit the Hornets’ rise. A loss could also further embolden them ahead of a playoff series.

Every game from here on out is against a formidable opponent. There are no easy paths left.

Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.

The Spurs have only five games left in the regular season, and two of them are against the Denver Nuggets, today and on the final game of the season, which will likely be a rest day for both team’s stars. It’s also the final road game for the Silver and Black, as they finish up the season with a four game stand in the Frost Bank Arena. The Spurs’ chances for taking first place in the west depend on the Thunder losing at least two of their remaining five games, which seems unlikely after they took LeBron’s lunch money on Thursday, so the team will be concentrating on improving and working on their team play. That’s a project that’s going well, with the team easily dispatching the Clippers in their last game with Victor sitting out with ankle soreness, with overall team play and balanced scoring and smothering defense.

Victor Wembanyama is available today—he needs to play three of the final five games to be eligible for post-season awards and I expect him to make a huge impact today in his matchup with Nikola Jokic. Both Jokic and Wemby are in the running for MVP this year, but in my mind, Victor has the edge, because while both players are excellent on offense, Vic is the better defender, and he’ll make sure to demonstrate that in today’s contest. Stephon Castle must dominate Jamal Murray, and the Spurs will probably use a variety of defenders against Aaron Gordon. I’d like to see they try Carter Bryant on Gordon as a player who can match his athleticism, although he will likely have a rough time with his offensive craftiness. It would be a good learning experience for the Rookie. It could be a big game for De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper, as the Spurs have more guard depth than the Nuggets and that will provide lots of opportunities for the Spurs backcourt. OK, GO SPURS GO!!!

Game Prediction:

Nikola Jokic will miss a defensive rotation because he got lost in watching Victor Wembanyama do amazing things. It happens to all of us.

San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets
April 4, 2026 | 2:00 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass
TV: FanDuel Sports Southwest, Prime
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

Not long after the Brooklyn Nets lost once again Friday night, this time by 40 ignominious points to the red-hot Atlanta Hawks at Barclays, word arrived from the west coast that the Sacramento Kings had won their game with the New Orleans Pelicans in a tight one that came down to the final seconds!! Huzzah!!

It was big news in Brooklyn and here’s why from Tankathon…

The Nets who reportedly had set a goal of getting a top three pick — with a 52.1% chance at at top four pick and a 14.0% chance at the overall No. 1 — are close to achieving it. Although nothing is mathematically certain, for the Nets to drop into fourth and lesser odds would require them to win three of their last five and have both the Wizards and Pacers lose out. While the latter may be likely, it’s hard to imagine the Nets, winners of five games in the last two-plus months, will add another three to the win column before closing time, no matter the competition.

The focus on the top three was based on the assessment that the three top picks in the NBA Draft — Cam Boozer, Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybanta — were all “franchise changers,” the equivalent of having three Cooper Flaggs in one draft! That’s changed a bit with Peterson’s maturity being a question and other prospects like Caleb Wilson and Darius Acuff rising in draftnik analyses.

Getting the first overall pick will be tough with the Nets playing four games vs. three other tanking teams — the Wizards on Sunday, the Bucks two days later, Pacers next Thursday and a return trip to Milwaukee the next night — before finishing off with the Raptors on April 12. Still, Brooklyn has a shot. They are arguably the worst team in the NBA right now and have gotten worse of late.

There are other variables of course even if the Nets finish last in the standings. They’ll have to deal with a history that is not favorable. Playing the probabilities is one thing, good fortune with the aerodynamics of small plastic balls is quite another.

The last three teams to go into the lottery with the worst record in regular season and the best odds came out of it with the fifth pick. Indeed, there’s a 47.9% of that. Moreover, no team with the worst record has won the overall No. 1 since the NBA instituted its new draft rules in 2019. And the last two lotteries were won by the Mavericks and Hawks who had 1.8% chances at the top spot. Of course, falling a bit in a generational as well as deep draft is better than winning the overall No. 1 in a bad draft.

All that said, Brian Lewis argued before the Atlanta game, that the Nets are the neediest of the tanking legion and deserve some of that good fortune. But in that argument, he pointed to some troublesome facts.

[N]one of the 10 or so teams playing the percentages need a young star more than talent-starved Brooklyn, including the Pacers and Wizards, who they’re chasing.

They infamously haven’t produced a single homegrown All-Star since Brook Lopez in 2013, over a decade ago…

Between the beating the Nets just took from Charlotte and the matchups they still have looming, it just drives home that every single one of these tanking rivals has either veteran All-Stars or young franchise players, or both.

For all their future draft capital, right now Brooklyn has neither.

No Tyrese Haliburton or Ivica Zubac like Indiana. No Trae Young or Anthony Davis like Washington. No Donatas Sabonis or DeMar DeRozan like Sacramento. Etc. etc.

So, something else to think about as the last week of the season approaches and the lottery is now a little more than a month away. Also, things no doubt will change on Draft Night. As we’ve noted ad infinitum, Marks does his best work within 48 hours of the NBA Draft.

In the meantime, it’s Zanax and Zantac in equal portions as we watch the Nets and the scoreboard.

The Bucks are in hot water for their handling of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s playing status. 

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Friday that the team is under investigation for potentially violating the league’s “player participation policy and potential inconsistent statements.”

The team won’t medically clear Antetokounmpo, who hyperextended his knee on Mar. 15, per Charania, although the two-time NBA MVP has vowed he’s healthy and ready to take the court.

“You know who you are dealing with,” Antetokounmpo told reporters Friday.

“For somebody to come and tell me to not play or not to compete it’s like a slap in my face. So, I don’t know where the relationship goes from there.”

“I’ve never seen a case of a player saying, my caliber of player, that’s like, I’m saying it publicly, I want to f–king play. You know what I’m saying?” Antetokounmpo added. “I don’t think I’ve seen this. So, if there needs to be an investigation, great. There should be. I don’t know. There should be. Until we figure something out.”

Charania added to the report on Saturday, saying that the Bucks told NBA investigators that Antetokounmpo declined the opportunity to play 3-on-3 scrimmages as part of the return protocol from his knee injury. The team’s franchise player told the league he is healthy enough to take the court.

Late last month, the National Basketball Players Association suggested that the Bucks, who are 30-47 and eliminated from playoff contention, were tanking and holding a healthy superstar out of the lineup.

“The Player Participation Policy was designed by the league to hold teams accountable and ensure that when an All-Star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and ready to play, he is on the court,” the union wrote in a statement.

In the days after the injury, the team reportedly approached Antetokounmpo about sitting out the rest of the season, but he insisted on trying to get back on the court.

The face-off marks yet another rift between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, who drafted him No. 15 overall in 2013 and won a championship with the Greece native in 2021. 

Trade rumors swirled last offseason and during this season with various reports about Antetokounmpo’s desire to leave the only franchise he’s known.

Before the trade deadline, Milwaukee opted to hold on to Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 27.6 points with 9.8 rebounds in 36 games this season, despite rumors that he could be dealt.

In March, Bucks co-owner Wes Edens said he doesn’t want Antetokounmpo, who has one year plus a player option for the 2027-28 season left on the three-year, $186 million extension he signed in 2023, playing out the 2026-27 NBA season with the team without a new deal.

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There are just three games in the Association today (apparently, some other basketball games are getting all the attention today), but I've still found some value in the NBA player props market.

My NBA picks for Saturday, April 4 cover all three of today's matchups — see why I'm targeting rebounds in what should be an absolute slopfest, Wemby to focus more on defense than offense, and Daniss Jenkins continuing to cash the Over on his threes.

Best NBA player props today

Player	Pick
Jaime Jaquez Jr.	o5.5 rebounds	+110
Victor Wembanyama	u28.5 points	-112
Daniss Jenkins	o1.5 threes	-120

Prop #1: Jaime Jaquez Jr. Over 5.5 rebounds (+110)

+110 at bet365

What can we expect with mediocre (or outright) bad teams playing? That's right: Bad offense! The Miami Heat sit 20th in the league in field goal percentage, with Washington 23rd, with plenty of missed shots up for grabs on both sides.

The big difference here is that the Wiz are also dead last in rebounding percentage, meaning we should look to Miami to clean the glass — and Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been doing just that, topping this number in three straight games.

His numbers took a dip during a four-game stretch a few weeks ago (where his minutes were limited due to a hip ailment), but looking at when he's had regular run (27+ minutes), he's cashed this prop in five of his last seven games — and our NBA player prop projections put him right at six boards today.

• Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MNMT, FDSN SU

Prop #2: Victor Wembanyama Under 28.5 points (-112)

-112 at bet365

Victor Wembanyama is coming off back-to-back 41-point outings, but those were against the depleted Warriors and hapless Bulls.

Neither team has a truly threatening interior presence, and today he's squaring off with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. Wemby will have to spend more time and effort defending (and dealing with the physicality of the much thicker Jokic), and I'm anticipating it will come at the expense of his scoring production.

The Spurs star went Under this number in six of his previous seven games before his 40+ outbursts, and our NBA player prop projections have Wemby pegged for just 24.4 points today.

A number of other books have moved to 27.5 already (or have higher juice on u28.5), giving us a little bit of value on the number as well.

• Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Prime Video

Prop #3: Daniss Jenkins Over 1.5 threes (-120)

-120 at bet365

Daniss Jenkins has stepped up in a big way for the Pistons since Cade Cunningham has been sidelined with a collapsed lung, getting moved into the starting lineup and seeing his usage expand from around 20 per game to 36 minutes per night.

His scoring has also skyrocketed, averaging more than 19 points per game in that span, while hitting just over two threes per game (on almost five attempted) and cashing this prop in six of 10 games since becoming the starting PG.

Jenkins and Detroit will face Philadelphia tonight, which is giving up the most 3-point attempts since March 1 — and could have some tired legs on defense after grinding through a tough matchup with Minnesota last night.

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FDSN DT, NBCSP

These props are available now at bet365, one of our best betting sites.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cavaliers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

If you’ve scrolled Twitter lately, you might think the Cleveland Cavaliers are stuck in a doom spiral. Fans are upset about some of their recent performances. I share some of that sentiment. But the truth is, Cleveland has won eight of their last 11 games and continues to be one of the Eastern Conference’s strongest contenders.

Even the fans agree with that, despite some grumbles.

More than a third of fans said they believe the Cavs will make it to the Eastern Conference Finals this May. Another 26% predict the Cavs will make it to the NBA Finals, win or lose.

FanDuel tends to agree. The Boston Celtics are the only Eastern team with higher odds to win the title. Overall, Cleveland has the fifth-highest odds behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Celtics, and Denver Nuggets.

On the flip side, fewer than 10% of the fan base is worried about a first round loss. It seems no one is overly concerned about the Atlanta Hawks.

Hope is a good thing. It’s the reason why we root for these teams in the first place. The Cavs have done enough this season, largely behind a seismic change for James Harden, to make you feel like they have a fighting chance at doing something special. All that’s left now is to finish the regular season and get healthy.

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has been voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. Rivers, who boasts one NBA championship and 1,162 wins (sixth-most all-time), will join legendary figures like Mark Few, Amar’e Stoudamire, and Candace Parker. The enshrinement ceremony will occur from August 14–15 in Springfield, MA.

Although Rivers can boast a successful career as an All-Star point guard, he earned his induction for his achievements as a coach. Named as one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history in 2021, Rivers is the winningest active NBA coach and sixth-winningest all-time. He’s best known for his nine-season stint with Boston, where he won the 2008 NBA championship, and his leadership of the Lob City Clippers with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. He’s adapted to the increasingly fluid NBA landscape by managing superstar egos and acting as a “player’s coach,” while developing young prospects into All-NBA guards through his offensive sets.

“It would mean the world to me,” Rivers told the media on Tuesday. “I’ve done a lot, the numbers are the numbers. But it’s not, I swear, it’s not why I got into this. It’s the relationships, it’s the people. From the day that I was nominated, the calls, I can’t tell you. It’s in the hundreds, the player calls. And some of the calls have been amazing because I thought they didn’t like me anymore… It’s been amazing that they have reached out, and it’s made me feel really good about just doing what I do. It’s been great.”

It remains to be seen if Rivers will accept the award in August as the Bucks’ head coach. Reports from ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel suggest he could be let go after the season ends, regardless of any offseason drama between Giannis and the Bucks front office. 

Once again, Bucks legend Marques Johnson was snubbed as a Hall of Famer. Johnson was the only nominee to be chosen as a finalist by the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee, but failed to make the nine-member class. The Veterans Committee recognizes candidates who have retired from basketball for at least 35 years. Johnson beat out former stars like World B. Free and Paul Silas to reach the final stage.

Johnson, a five-time All-Star, averaged 20.1 points and seven rebounds across 691 NBA games, 524 of which were with Milwaukee. He led the Bruins to an NCAA title in 1975 under the legendary John Wooden, while collecting several All-American and Player of the Year Awards in Los Angeles. The Bucks legend saw his no. 8 jersey retired in 2019 by Milwaukee and pioneered the point forward role under coach Don Nelson. 

With the committee’s failure to induct Johnson for another year, he remains one of two eligible players who have scored at least 13,000 points, 4,500 rebounds, and 2,500 assists in the first eleven years in the NBA, along with Griffin. His contributions to basketball are certainly Hall-of-Fame-level, and it remains to be seen whether the Veterans Committee inducts Johnson again in 2027.

The Washington Wizards play the Miami Heat at 3 p.m. today. Watch the game on Monumental Sports Network.

DALLAS — Cooper Flagg didn’t get a call, and his coach and a teammate got kicked out of the game trying to stick up for the rookie No. 1 pick of the Dallas Mavericks.

Less than a quarter later, Flagg was the first teenager to score 51 points in an NBA game in Dallas’ 138-127 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

Flagg scored 24 points in the fourth quarter after coach Jason Kidd and forward Naji Marshall were ejected complaining about what they thought was a no-call when Desmond Bane fouled Flagg.

Kidd was tossed even though he was assessed just one technical foul, while Marshall had gotten another tech at the end of the first half. His second came just moments after Kidd was thrown out.

“It’s great to see,” Flagg said after going 19 of 30 from the field and making all seven of his free throws and topping his previous career high of 49 in a 123-121 loss to Charlotte on Jan. 29.

“I already know that coach has my back and Naji … I know he has my back for sure out there,” Flagg said. “Just seeing their emotion, seeing them fight for me and fight for the calls. Definitely some emotion, and motivated me even further.”

Flagg exited the game with 45 points, but assistant coach Frank Vogel, filling in for Kidd, told the 19-year-old he was just resting him during a defensive possession.

Vogel called a timeout to get Flagg back in with 3:22 remaining, and Flagg made history a little more than a minute later. He missed a 3-pointer the first time down, then missed a follow attempt on Brandon Williams’ miss, got the rebound again and made a corner 3.

On the next Dallas possession, he hit an off-balance shot in the lane while getting fouled to clinch 50, made the free throw and left to a standing ovation.

The Mavericks were down 30 when Flagg started his fourth-quarter scoring barrage in what ended up being their 14th consecutive home loss. It’s the longest home losing streak since Dallas lost the first 19 games at since-demolished Reunion Arena in 1993-94.

“It’s always fun getting into that type of mode,” Flagg said. “The basket feels big. My teammates are looking out for you, helping you out. But I like to win. That was my main focus. It’s hard for me to fully enjoy myself out there when we’re down 20, down 10, down 15, for the majority of the game.”

Flagg said he thought it was obvious Bane had fouled him in the opening two minutes of the fourth.

“I think it was warranted,” Flagg said about Kidd’s reaction. “I’m not going to lie. I talked to Bane after the play, and he told me he was intentionally trying to foul me. I honestly don’t know how they didn’t see that. Obviously, they must not have had the right view, or they weren’t paying attention. But they missed it.”

Kidd said there was “a lot of excitement in the back” as he watched Flagg with a TV delay, hearing the crowd reaction before the buckets as the former Duke standout was 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from deep in the fourth.

Flagg’s previous career high came against former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, the fourth overall pick and fellow contender for rookie of the year.

Kidd continues to stump for Flagg to win the same award Kidd won with the Mavs 31 years ago, and dropped a Michael Jordan reference after Flagg’s latest milestone. Yes, Jordan was the 1985 Rookie of the Year.

“He should be rookie of the year,” Kidd said. “It’s unbelievable. The country’s not watching the same thing we get to watch on a daily basis. He’s in rare air. He’s with the GOAT when you talk about MJ and what he did in his rookie year. And as a teenager, to see what Cooper’s doing, just the excitement, the joy, playing the game, win or lose, his spirit, is about winning. Right now we’re not.”

For at least one night, the rookie overshadowed the long home losing streak, even though he couldn’t end it.

The Phoenix Suns will have even more representation in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as head coach Mike D’Antoni has officially been selected for enshrinement. It’s a fitting honor for a coach who helped redefine how the game is played, especially during his time in Phoenix. Pace, space, and offensive freedom became more than philosophy during his time in Phoenix from 2004 to 2008, it became identity.

In a statement from the organization:

PHOENIX – The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today that former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni is among the Class of 2026 to be enshrined this August.

“Mike’s forward thinking forever changed the game of basketball while leading some of the greatest teams in Suns history,” said Mat Ishbia, Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury owner. “This honor reflects the lasting mark he has made on the sport.”

D’Antoni compiled a 253-136 (.650) record across five seasons as head coach of the Suns from 2003-08, the second-best winning percentage in franchise history. He won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2004-05 after going 62-20, tying what was then the franchise best record in a season and the third-largest single-season turnaround in league history. D’Antoni created the ‘7 Seconds or Less’ offense during his time with the Suns, an innovative approach that revolutionized the game with its pace, spacing and three-point volume. The Suns won three Pacific Division titles and made two trips to the Conference Finals in four playoff appearances during D’Antoni’s tenure as the team’s head coach.

Across 16 total seasons as an NBA head coach with the Denver Nuggets, Suns, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, D’Antoni amassed a record of 672-527 (.560) with 10 playoff berths. He won a second NBA Coach of the Year award with Houston in 2016-17 and totaled 10 Conference Coach of the Month honors throughout his career. D’Antoni, who is of Italian descent and played for the Italian national team, began his coaching career in the Lega Basket Serie A, Italy’s top-tier league. He also served as an assistant coach with USA Basketball at the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012, helping the U.S. to two gold medals.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame will host Enshrinement Weekend for its Class of 2026 from August 14-15 in Springfield, Mass.

He now joins a group of Suns legends already in the Hall, including Cotton Fitzsimmons, Paul Westphal, and Jerry Colangelo, further cementing the franchise’s imprint on the history of the game.

Candace Parker, Amar’e Stoudemire and Doc Rivers headline a nine-member class that has been selected for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame next August.

The threesome will be joined by Elena Delle Donne, Mark Few, Joey Crawford, Chamique Holdsclaw, Mike D’Antoni and the 1996 United States Women’s National Team in the Class of 2026, the Hall of Fame announced Saturday. Some were dominant forces on the court and pioneers of their sport, while the coaches maintained remarkable levels of success for over two decades each.

Read more about the full class of inductees below:

Candace Parker (player)

WNBA player (2008-2023), three-time WNBA champion, seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA MVP, two-time NCAA champion

The list of accolades only begins to scratch the surface of Parker’s basketball resume. She was the best player at every level at which she competed.

She was the top high school player in the country in Illinois, twice winning USA Today High School Player of the Year (2003 and 2004). Her high school years were also when she first drew acclaim for her athleticism. She is believed to be the first woman in Illinois to dunk in a basketball game, doing so at just 15 years old.

It was an omen of just how head and shoulders above the competition she would be for the rest of her career.

Parkler’s dominance continued in her three seasons under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee (2005-08), where the 6-foot-4 forward averaged 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She won two national championships with the Vols (2007 and 2008) and was an All-American all three years in college. In both national title runs, Parker was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament.

“Candace Parker is the best player in the women’s game,” Summitt said in 2008. “There has been a lot of questions or suggestions about who is the best player. My comment on that is, the big question should be, who is the best player in the world? Is it Candace Parker or is it Lauren Jackson?”

At the time, Jackson was a WNBA center who had already won two of her three MVP awards.

Parker’s brilliance continued in the WNBA. Drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008, Parker became the first WNBA player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. In 2016, she won the first of her three championships. She was still averaging close to a double-double (14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds) in her 12th WNBA season in 2020 for the Sparks. She won Defensive Player of the Year that season before leaving the team to join her hometown Chicago Sky in 2021, where she helped the franchise win titles in 2021 and 2023.

In 2016, when Parker was 30, the WNBA named her to its list of 20 greatest players. She remained on the list when it expanded to 25 players in 2021. Her jersey has been retired by Tennessee, the Sparks and the Sky.

“Candace Parker has left an indelible mark on the Los Angeles Sparks,” Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter after Parker’s jersey retirement. “Not only as one of the greatest players to ever grace the court, but as a true ambassador of our franchise and women’s basketball as a whole.” — Devon Henderson, staff writer

Mark Few (coach)

Gonzaga head coach (1999-present), 773 wins, 2017 AP Coach of the Year, two Final Fours, two championship game appearances

In his 27 seasons and counting at Gonzaga, Few has transformed the Bulldogs from an obscure mid-major men’s basketball program into a national power. His impact was immediate, leading the Bulldogs to the Sweet Sixteen in each of his first two seasons (2000 and 2001) as one of two head coaches to accomplish that feat since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Since then, Few’s Gonzaga teams have won the WCC Tournament championship 21 times and have made the NCAA Tournament in all 27 seasons, clinching an automatic bid in 2020 before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs made the NCAA title game in 2017 and 2021, but lost both times.

His winning percentage (.832) is the highest in NCAA history for coaches with more than 600 games, and he currently ranks 19th in career wins. Few will be the fifth active Division I coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. — Henderson

Amar’e Stoudemire (player)

NBA (2002-2016), six-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA Selection, 2002-03 NBA Rookie of the Year

One of the game’s highest flyers will soon land in the Hall. It didn’t always appear that destiny was assured for the power forward. Stoudemire didn’t start playing organized basketball until he was 14, and through various moves and eligibility complications, he only ended up playing two seasons in high school. His senior year was enough, however, to be drafted directly into the NBA after he averaged 29.1 points, 15 rebounds, 6.1 blocked shots and 2.1 steals per game for Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Fla.

The Phoenix Suns drafted Stoudemire with the No. 9 pick in the 2002 draft, and he spent the first eight years of his career with the franchise. The 6-foot-10 forward made an immediate impact, averaging 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds en route to becoming the first prep-to-pro player to win Rookie of the Year in 2003. He later became one half of a superstar duo with two-time MVP point guard and 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Steve Nash on the famed “Seven Seconds or Less” Suns. Two of Stoudemire’s three seasons averaging more than 25 points per game came in Phoenix. In the Suns’ 2005 run to the Western Conference Finals, he averaged just under 30 points and 11 rebounds through 15 playoff games.

Stoudemire became known as one of the hardest dunkers in the game, but was also a skilled midrange shooter with deft footwork.

“This guy made my life so fun,” Nash told PHNX Sports in 2024. “Every night, getting the chance to find him on the break, find him on the pick-and-roll, play in the half-court with him, just an incredible, incredible player. I think we’ve all seen him dunk on people, and we’ve all seen him tear the rim off, but I think what people don’t always understand is the dynamism of an athlete at 6-foot-10 that he possesses. Out of this world.”

In 2010, Stoudemire signed with the New York Knicks in free agency and was later joined by Carmelo Anthony in a midseason trade. In 2010-11, he poured in 25.3 points per game for New York. Stoudemire’s NBA career — he also played a few seasons overseas — ended in 2016 after 14 seasons. He finished with career averages of 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds. — Henderson

Doc Rivers (coach)

NBA coach (1999-present), 2008 NBA champion, 2000 NBA Coach of the Year, sixth in career wins by an NBA coach

In Rivers’ 13-season playing career with the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs from 1983-96, he was a one-time NBA All-Star in 1988 with Atlanta.

It was as a head coach that he built his legacy. He has won 1,192 games and counting in 27 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Orlando Magic (1999-2003), Boston Celtics (2004-13), Los Angeles Clippers (2013-20), Philadelphia 76ers (2020-23) and Milwaukee Bucks (2023-present). He is currently sixth on the career wins list for NBA head coaches. He was the only coach in the top 10 not yet in the Hall of Fame.

Rivers won Coach of the Year in his first season with Orlando, and led the Magic to the playoffs in three of his four years with the team. By 2004, Rivers had made his way to Boston. In the 2007-08 season, he led the Celtics to a 36-win turnaround, tied for the largest ever season-to-season turnaround in NBA history, and led the Celtics to a title, winning the finals in six games over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rivers had a star-studded roster on the 2008 champion Celtics, including future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

“Doc is probably one of the more intelligent people I’ve ever met,” Garnett said on the Bucks’ YouTube channel in 2025. “Always coming up with quotes, always having things in the chamber that he hits you with. One of the — if not the best — inspirational coaches I’ve ever been around. He is a special type of coach.”

Rivers brought the Celtics back to the finals in 2010, again against the Lakers, but this time fell in seven games.

In 2013, he became the coach of the LA Clippers and helped turn the long-struggling franchise into a Western Conference power with stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The Clippers averaged 54 wins from 2013 to 2017 after recording just one 50-win season in the previous 43 years of the franchise’s existence, dating back to its days as the Buffalo Braves.

All told, Rivers has made the playoffs in 21 of his 27 seasons.

“It would mean the world to me,” Rivers told reporters Tuesday in Milwaukee when asked about potentially joining the Hall of Fame. “I’ve done a lot, the numbers are the numbers. But it’s not, I swear, it’s not why I got into this. It’s the relationships. It’s the people. From the day that I was nominated, the calls, I can’t tell you. It’s in the hundreds, the player calls. And some of the calls have been amazing because I thought they didn’t like me anymore. You have falling outs with players, and you don’t ever worry about it; it’s just part of it as a coach. It’s been amazing that they have reached out, and it’s made me feel really good about just doing what I do. It’s been great.” — Henderson

Elena Delle Donne (player)

NCAA leading scorer (2012), WNBA Rookie of the Year (2013), WNBA MVP (2015, 2019), WNBA champion (2019)

Before becoming a prominent WNBA fixture, Delle Donne walked on to the volleyball team at the University of Delaware and led the team to the conference title before joining the basketball team, where she led the nation in scoring as a junior and took her team to the Sweet 16 as a senior. The Chicago Sky selected Delle Donne with the second pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, and in 2014 she led the team to its first finals appearance. Her 2013 draft class, including Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins along with Delle Donne, is regarded as one of the most influential in league history.

After being traded to the Washington Mystics in 2017, the 6-5 forward won a WNBA championship and her second league MVP in 2019, making her the first player to earn the honor with two different franchises. An elite shooter, Delle Donne has the league’s all-time leading free-throw percentage (93.7) and was the first WNBA player to achieve the 50-40-90 mark (50 percent from the field, 40 percent for 3, 90 percent from the free-throw line) over the course of a season. Her versatility attracted attention from opponents, as Delle Donne’s nimble ballhandling, paired with her height and lethal shooting, made her a threat in every aspect of the game. In addition to her 2016 Rio Olympic gold, she also won gold medals at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and 2011 World University Games.

Off the court, Delle Donne has been an outspoken advocate for those with Lyme disease and has talked openly about her struggles with the illness. She is also a champion of disability awareness, inspired by her older sister Lizzie. — Emily Ohman, staff writer

Joey Crawford (referee)

NBA referee (1977–2016), 2,561 regular-season games, 374 playoff games, 50 NBA Finals games

By the end of the 2014-15 season, Crawford had refereed more playoff and NBA Finals games than any active referee. He is among the two longest-tenured NBA referees in history, having been active for 39 seasons. In November 2005, he became the sixth referee to officiate 2,000 games and was a staple officiating the game’s biggest moments for decades.

Crawford is the 19th referee to be inducted into the Hall and the ninth NBA referee.

Crawford became infamous for his quick technical fouls, most notably in a tiff with Tim Duncan in 2007 when Crawford ejected the San Antonio Spurs star for laughing while on the bench. Crawford said Duncan had been laughing at him and used an expletive, while Duncan later said that Crawford had asked him if he wanted to fight. Crawford was later suspended by the league and said the incident changed his life and the way he approached the job.

He retired in 2016 due to nagging knee injuries, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most experienced referees in NBA history who called a record number of playoff games. — Henderson

1996 United States Women’s National Team (team)

1996 Olympic gold medal, 10 future Hall of Fame members

The WNBA owes a debt of gratitude to this group.

The team, coached by legendary Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and headlined by stars such as Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Rebecca Lobo and Dawn Staley, ran roughshod over its competition in Atlanta. They went 8-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points.

Their dominant performance raised the global profile of the women’s game and contributed to the launch of the WNBA in late 1996. The Olympic team went on a months-long global tour in preparation for the 1996 Games, showcasing the interest in women’s basketball while playing against college and professional teams from all over the world.

The players on the team went on to become some of the earliest superstars of the WNBA, which held its inaugural season in 1997. “Now, when I look in hindsight,” Lobo told ESPN in 2022, “… holy cow, what the Olympic team did, the launch of the WNBA that’s here 26 years later, would there even be a WNBA without that team? Certainly not in that immediate time frame.”

The Americans averaged 102 points per game at the Atlanta Games. Leslie and Katrina McClain led the team in scoring, averaging 19.5 and 14.1 points, respectively. Leslie also added 7.3 rebounds per game and took home tournament MVP.

She later became a three-time WNBA MVP and two-time champion. All told, 10 players on the 1996 Olympic team have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, including Staley in 2013.

“We didn’t really have those profound conversations,” Staley told ESPN. “It was OK then to not feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. We were task-oriented.

“But when you grow and remove yourself from that time, you do have those conversations now. It is cool to have been part of the evolution of a sport, to have seen it, felt it, lived it, and take the time to really, really try to appreciate it and think how to keep it going.” — Henderson

Chamique Holdsclaw (player)

WNBA player (1999-2013), six-time WNBA All-Star, three-time NCAA champion

The star of powerhouse Tennessee teams in the mid-1990s, Holdsclaw led the Volunteers to three straight national championships and won back-to-back NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards before being drafted with the No. 1 pick in the 1999 WNBA draft by the Washington Mystics. She left college as the SEC’s all-time leading scorer, totaling 3,025 points.

She was named WNBA Rookie of the Year in 1999 after averaging 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game that season, in which she also started in the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game. Despite struggling with injuries in subsequent years with the Mystics, she averaged a double-double in back-to-back seasons in 2002 and 2003, leading the WNBA in rebounds per game each year.

She finished her WNBA career after stints with the Los Angeles Sparks, Atlanta Dream and San Antonio Silver Stars. Holdsclaw was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. — Mark Puleo, senior editor

Mike D’Antoni (coach)

NBA coach (1998-2020), two-time NBA Coach of the Year

Considered one of the most innovative offensive minds in NBA history, D’Antoni jumped into the NBA coaching ranks after spending seven years coaching in Italy, where he previously played with Olimpia Milano from 1977 to 1990, retiring as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.

In the NBA, D’Antoni revolutionized the pace of offensive play as head coach of the Phoenix Suns from 2003 to 2008. He led the Suns to 50-plus wins in four consecutive seasons. After coaching stints with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, D’Antoni again took the league by storm in the late 2010s with the Houston Rockets, leading the franchise to three straight seasons with more than 50 wins. He famously coached Steve Nash and James Harden to MVP campaigns, and he was instrumental in the career of fellow 2026 Naismith inductee Stoudemire. — Puleo

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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