Category: Basketball

In this crazy season, Game 5 is a must-win for the Lakers. 

Why, you might be asking. 

They have a 3-1 series lead over the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. They’re going to have multiple chances to clinch. They’re firmly in control. 

Think again. 

Nothing has gone as expected for the Lakers this season. Nothing has made sense. Nothing is predictable. 

For a long time, the Lakers looked like they were a play-in team. Then they somehow figured things out and went on a stunning 16-2 run this spring. Suddenly they were title contenders.

Shocker. 

Just when we digested that wild turn of events, they lost Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) to injuries with five games remaining in the regular season.

Another shocker. 

That left our heads reeling. They had no chance in the postseason without their top-two scorers. Scribes were writing the Lakers’ obituaries before they even played Game 1. 

But wait, ready for another plot twist? 

About an hour before the series opener, we found out that Kevin Durant — who only missed four regular-season games — would miss Game 1 because of a knee injury he sustained in practice. He’d go on to also miss Games 3 and 4 due to a left ankle sprain. 

Yet another shocker. 

All of a sudden, the hapless Lakers featuring a 41-year-old LeBron James and a bunch of role players had a 3-0 series lead over the Rockets before losing Game 4 on Sunday, 115-96. 

Shocker.

So, here’s the deal right now. No team has ever recovered from a 3-0 series deficit in NBA history. Teams with that advantage are 159-0. 

But in this topsy-turvy, unpredictable season, wouldn’t it be the icing on the cake if the Lakers once again made our jaws drop and lost the series?

It would be the twist no one saw coming at the end of the movie. It would be the team’s worst nightmare. 

It would be the ultimate shocker. 

So, the Lakers need to slam the door on this series before the impossible can happen again. 

The Lakers fell apart in Game 4. They had 24 turnovers which led to 30 points for the Rockets. They shot 22.7% from beyond the arc. 

James, who has played superstar-caliber basketball this series, had one of his worst playoff performances in his 23-season career, finishing with just 10 points on 2-for-9 shooting and eight turnovers. 

Marcus Smart went from being a Rottweiler in Games 2 and 3 to devolving into a Maltese in Game 4, finishing with the worst plus-minus (-20) of anyone on the court. 

Luke Kennard went from having a coming-out party this postseason as a playmaking, sharpshooting star to having a complete disappearing act on Sunday, finishing with just seven points and two assists. 

The Rockets smell blood. 

The Lakers are tired. They’re weakened. There’s a dent in their armor.

And if the series is extended beyond Wednesday’s contest, games would be played every other day.

That’s a dangerous prospect for the Lakers’ exhausted legs, especially considering James has already carried this depleted roster on his arthritic-prone body more successfully than anyone anticipated. There are rumblings that Reaves could return for Game 5, but the Lakers can’t count on that.

Now is the time for them to be laser-focused.

They can’t let this young Rockets team believe they have a chance in this series. They can’t let the team’s shooters find their stroke. They can’t let Durant return and take over. 

They can’t crack the door open for what could potentially be the biggest upset in NBA playoff history.

In this wild season where the rug seems to constantly be ripped from under them, the Lakers need to treat Game 5 as though it were an elimination game. 

Or else they could set themselves up for their greatest shock yet.

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There’s a great event coming up that you’ll want to put on your calendar.

An Evening with the Spurs: Coyote Tales & Court Stories with Sean Elliott, Bill Schoening & Rob Wicall.

Spurs fans know Sean Elliott as the “Memorial Day Miracle” and as the longtime color commentator for Spurs broadcasts. Elliot was drafted third overall in 1989. Paired with the David Robinson, the Silver & Black began an upswing that continued through the drafting of Tim Duncan and culminating in the 1999 NBA championship.

Soon after the championship, Elliott announced that he had a kidney disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. He received a kidney from his brother, underwent a transplant, and became the first player in history to return after the surgery just eight months later.

Bill Schoening served as the voice of the Spurs for twenty-four seasons, retiring last summer. In August 2022, he was announced as an inductee into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Schoening is a four-time winner of the Associated Press “Top Texas Play-by-Play Award,” and also won the 2014 Texas Sportscaster of the Year Award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Rob Wicall spent 20 years as the Spurs Coyote. He served as the Spurs’ backup Coyote before assuming the role full time in 2004. In 2005, Gameops.com named him Best Mascot of the Year. In 2014, the Coyote was named NBA Mascot of the Year. In 2016, he retired due to an arthritic condition, ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

The combined legacy of this trio will be on full display at the Brauntex Theater in New Braunfels on Thursday, May 28th as they share their personal Spurs stories.

“Come to the Brauntex Theatre for an unforgettable night of behind-the-scenes stories, laughter, and legacy. Coyote Tales & Court Stories brings together former Spurs player Sean Elliott, Bill Schoening, the voice who called the action, and the man inside the iconic Coyote mascot, Rob Wicall. These three will be sharing the stage in an intimate setting, answering your burning questions LIVE!”

Tickets and VIP Meet and Greet packages are available HERE.

I spoke with Bill at a recent Spurs home game and I’ve got to say, he has so many wonderful stories in his near quarter-century with the Spurs. He’s called over 2000 games and has been there for every twist and turn. If the few minutes we spent are a precursor to what the evening has in store, it will be a night you won’t want to miss.

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

Attention to detail is one of Boston’s most overlooked strengths.

There are plenty to choose from — volume three-point shooting, defensive connectivity, late-game composure. But it’s the precision and thoroughness of the minutiae that often sets them apart.

Their preparation allows them to identify pressure points quickly, and then push on them until something breaks.

Their latest win over the Sixers was a clear example.

The Boston Celtics are no stranger to Joel Embiid. He’s been a recurring playoff antagonist for roughly a decade. Despite his individual dominance, Embiid has been open about how lopsided this non-rivalry has been.

Historically, Boston has found ways to exploit the cracks in his Sixers teams. In Game 4 with Embiid returning to the floor, they made him the focal point of their offensive attack.

On the very first possession, Boston brings Embiid directly into the action.

With Queta setting a high screen for Tatum, they force Embiid out beyond the three-point line, immediately testing his agility. Tatum causes confusion with his handle, and with both defenders drawn to him, he feeds Queta for a tone-setting slam.

Boston wants to make Embiid defend in space as much as possible. It pulls a dominant rim protector out of the paint and eliminates any chance for him to rest while trying to find an offensive rhythm.

A few possessions later, they put the pressure on him again.

Two minutes into his return from appendicitis, Embiid is responsible for defending both the ball and the roll man as Derrick White gets downhill off a pair of screens. To his credit, Embiid contains the ball fairly well, but Maxey gets lost in the play and White has too much room to find Queta again for the dunk.

Embiid had early success offensively, but it came with a growing workload on the defensive end.

Here, Vucevic screens and then re-screens for Tatum. Embiid is dragged all the way out to the logo before having to recover back to the corner. This isn’t sustainable, and it may have been the moment Philly started to rethink its coverages.

From that point forward, the Sixers became more deliberate about keeping Embiid out of switches, or removing him from the action entirely.

Later in the game, a string of possessions defined this cat-and-mouse dynamic.

On this first play, the floor is cleared for a Pritchard-Queta pick-and-roll. To avoid getting stuck on Pritchard, Embiid hedges the screen, extending it long enough for Grimes to recover before returning to Queta.

In most cases, this is a win for Philly. The advantage is gone, matchups are intact, and the clock is winding down. The process (pun intended) is good.

Unfortunately, so is Scheierman.

On the following possession, Queta comes up to screen for Tatum.

The Celtics once again look to involve Embiid, but this time he works to avoid it. Instead of following Queta, he removes himself from the play by calling for a switch with Grimes.

This keeps Embiid protected, but now he’s guarding Pritchard. To fix that, he calls for Maxey to switch, allowing him to stay closer to the rim. Tatum may have missed a brief window to hit Queta, but Embiid’s presence likely plays a role in that hesitation. The possession ends with Oubre drawing an offensive foul.

Boston doesn’t miss what’s happening here. They see the Sixers finding opportunities to give Embiid a breather and keep him out of the hunt.

The killer whale offense isn’t going to let that slide.

Boston begins the action the same way, with Pritchard screening for Queta, who then flows into a screen for Tatum. Embiid handles it similarly, having Grimes take Queta before swapping again with Edgecombe.

The biggest key to understand here is the movement path of Pritchard.

On the previous possession, he spaces to the wing, staying close enough for Philly to manipulate the matchups. This time, he cuts across the floor. That leaves Embiid on White, with no switch available. Tatum calls White into the action, and they’re surgical with a behind-the-back pass into a step-back three.

This wasn’t an accident. Boston is essentially a living, breathing flow chart. They see the game in stages of “if this, then that.” Embiid is avoiding the pick-and-roll? Take away his ability to do that.

To Philly’s credit, they weren’t passive. They identified the problem early on, and made adjustments to protect Embiid the best they could. For stretches, it worked or at least stalled the attack briefly. But Boston noticed the change, and found the next weakness to exploit.

Winning in the playoffs requires knowing your opponent, understanding their tendencies, and having a counter for their counters. Knowing yourself is part of the challenge, too. Boston’s self-awareness allows them to put players in positions to succeed, and those players know where they’re supposed to be at all times. They can coordinate their attacks with ease, and have the shared intuition to cycle through options until they find the right answer.

It’s going to be very difficult to win four games against this team.

Like Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving is a one-and-done Blue Devil and, like Flagg, a Dallas Maverick.

Irving sat out this season while recovering from an ACL injury, but he has sort of taken Flagg under his wing because he recognizes his massive talent and wants to help him reach his potential.

Irving told SI.com this: “Cooper is just an amazing player, and that’s not even just gassing it. At 19 years old, doing the things that he’s doing within our league is very special… He’s doing things that some of the greats, even before him, didn’t do. He’s chasing history.”

He also said this: “Listen, I understand. I’ve kind of been through this before. I don’t think there’s a lot of people around you right now that can tell you they’ve been through somewhat of a similar thing.”

Next year, for the first time, we’ll get to see them both on the court at the same time. After Flagg won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award on Monday, the Mavericks put out this video.

Narrated by Irving, the video features him talking about Flagg’s spectacular season and how he silenced doubters, which Flagg has done comprehensively.

And in a nice touch (or dig), Jamal Mashburn and Gilbert Arenas both went on the record early to express doubts about Flagg.

Those comments are included, and, in retrospect, they look like idiots.

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When the Celtics drilled an absurd 24 of their 53 3-point attempts during a blowout Game 4 win in Xfinity Mobile Arena Sunday night, I half expected the Twitter discourse to regain its steam. 

The Celtics are 3-point merchants! The Celtics don’t play fun basketball! 

Wrong, and wrong. 

On a night where Boston set a franchise playoff record for made threes in a game, breaking a previous record of 22 set three times (last done in Game 5 against the Knicks last year), the Celtics balanced beautiful ball movement (28 assists on 42 baskets) with pure isolation scoring, often having the Sixers defense 1-2 steps behind the action. 

After revisiting every possession that ended in a 3-point shot on Sunday night, I came away with the following observations: The Celtics exploited the 76ers’ help-heavy defense, and Payton Pritchard is a mad man. 

After two games of admirable perimeter and help defense, which did its part in making the Celtics work to touch the paint in both their Game 2 loss and clutch Game 3 win, Philadelphia’s help all of sudden hit a snag. The Celtics not only had success getting into the paint, but their patience once they reached the middle of the floor paid off.

With a less mobile big on the floor in Joel Embiid, the Sixers had to help collapse the paint, or pressure Boston’s stars as soon as the ball hit their hands, and the Celtics knew that help was coming, making a generous amount of kickout passes that either forced rotations, or led directly to an open shot. 

It started in the first quarter, even when the Celtics didn’t run out of the gate with a hot shooting faucet. 

This possession late in the first quarter is a good example of how they attacked defenders and moved the ball in space, even if the result wasn’t a made basket. Part of a possession featuring four missed 3-point attempts and three offensive rebounds, this part of the action sees Jayson Tatum establish the drive-and-kick game by getting into a spot deep in the paint, accompanied by two Sixers and another (Tyrese Maxey) going for a quick dig. He kicks to space in the corner, the extra pass is made to Nikola Vučević, and it’s a good look from distance. 

They punished this kind of help all game. The following clip is five different plays throughout the night, not all the same action, not all the same shooters, but notice how much attention the 76ers place on the ballhandler, how many Philadelphia defenders are in the restricted area to close around a paint touch, and how much space there is for kickouts to open shooters.  

Whether it’s a straight-line drive to the basket, a pick-and-pop, or a Jaylen Brown grind to the nail, the Celtics always looked ready for the help and were aware of where the ball should go once they committed to that help. 

This applies to mismatch hunting as well, like when Tatum got his much sought-after switch onto Embiid late in the third quarter. Paul George had no choice but to double the ball, giving up space for Vooch at the top of the arc, a shot that Sixers have lived with during this series. But as VJ Edgecombe cheats up a little from his spot across the floor to account for the expected swing to Vooch, Tatum surprises everyone, skipping the ball across the floor to a wide-open Pritchard. 

Great playmaking rewarded by a great shot.  

Back to Payton Pritchard. He simply put on a show Sunday night. Like, one of those performances, the ones not easily forgotten by a Celtics bench player on the big stage. 

Pritchard’s isolation creation could be found all over this win, and throughout his 32-point effort, it genuinely seemed like even the best defense didn’t really stand a chance when the shot left his hands. 

It started with his first three of the night with 4:30 left in the first quarter. The Celtics had been 0/4 from distance at that point in the game, and their first make came from their early offense. This is a basic double drag action, two screens set next to each other, and Philly takes the switch here, leaving Andre Drummond alone on Pritchard, who has enough space for a quick release three to beat Drummond’s contest. 

He then proceeded to finish 6/12 from three, hitting shots through a range of isolation handles, catch-and-shoot looks, and timeless buzzer-beaters against a helpless Sixers defense that sluggishly looked steps behind Boston throughout the night. 

On a historic shooting night, the Celtics gave themselves a chance to close the book on their first round series at home in five games, a luxury considering the state of the Eastern Conference, which will see two series guaranteed to extend to 6 games and another that is likely to do so between Detroit and Orlando. 

What to know about NBA playoffs second-round bracket as teams clinch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NBA teams are starting to flip the page to the next round.

The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder were the first team to punch their ticket to the conference semifinals, completing a four-game sweep over the No. 8 Phoenix Suns on Monday.

Several other series could be on the verge of advancing, with the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs all leading 3-1.

Here’s what to know about the second round so far as teams clinch:

When does the second round of the NBA playoffs start?

The start date for the second round will depend on when certain first-round series conclude. The sooner teams on the same side of the bracket move on, the faster their next matchup will begin.

NBA playoffs second-round matchups

Here’s a look at who has qualified and which matchups are in store next:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Detroit Pistons/No. 8 Orlando Magic vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers/No. 5 Toronto Raptors

No. 2 Boston Celtics/No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 3 New York Knicks/No. 6 Atlanta Hawks

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers/No. 5 Houston Rockets

No. 2 San Antonio Spurs/No. 7 Portland Trail Blazers vs. No. 3 Denver Nuggets/No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves

NBA playoffs second-round schedule

Series information will be added once available.

When do the NBA Finals start?

The championship series will begin on Wednesday, June 3, with Game 1. If necessary, Game 7 would be on Friday, June 19.

The vibes weren’t great when the Spurs last left San Antonio. With the series tied 1-1 and Victor Wembanyama in concussion protocol, things looked bleak for the Silver and Black. Now, heading back home, the Spurs find themselves up 3-1 in their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, with Wembanyama fully healthy.

San Antonio is coming off two straight, gutsy comeback victories in Portland. Now they’ll have a chance to close out the series in front of their home crowd. It would be the Spurs’ first playoff series win since 2017.

The Spurs will need to protect the paint and take care of the ball against a desperate Trail Blazers squad. With their backs against the wall, expect Portland to come out playing physical, going right at the rim, and looking to force turnovers defensively. San Antonio has stepped up to the physical challenge so far in the playoffs. They’ll need to fend off one more effort from the Blazers to move on to the Western Conference Semifinals.

San Antonio Spurs (3-1) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (1-3)

April 28th, 2026 | 8:30 PM CT

Watch: ESPN | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: None

Trail Blazers Injuries: Damian Lillard – Out (achilles)

What to watch for:

Pace of play

San Antonio has been at its best when it plays fast. Both of their big second-half runs in Portland were defined by pushing the ball down the floor and attacking the Blazers, who struggled with transition defense. Whether it was finding Wembanyama for lobs, hitting Devin Vassell early for threes, or one of Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, or De’Aaron Fox getting downhill, San Antonio’s prettiest offense has come with speed.

With Wembanyama locking down the paint, the Spurs’ guards have been able to take more chances on the perimeter. Portland had the worst ball security in the NBA this season, averaging 17.3 per game. They turned the ball over 18 times in Game Four. San Antonio will look to force giveaways and score easy buckets on the other end.

Stephon Castle’s offense

From Game One, the Blazers have been content with putting a big man on Castle and letting him shoot. Castle has responded by hitting 42.9% of his threes in the series. He is averaging 21 points and 6.3 assists in the series. In Game Four, the Spurs seemed to figure out the defensive scheme by setting more screens for Castle lower on the court, around the free-throw line, freeing him up or forcing a switch, leading to a Wembanyama lob. When he’s off the ball, he’s been hurting the Blazers by hitting open threes.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Portland will continue to guard him with a big man or go away from the strategy in Game Five. Either way, if Castle is scoring the ball as he has in the last two games, the Spurs will be tough to beat.

Wembanyama’s shot selection

The difference between Wembanyama’s offensive impact in the first and second halves of Game Four was night and day. In the first half, he was settling for jumpers. That essentially bailed out Portland for having a smaller defender on him. In the second half, he started to get to the basket, feasting on lobs and shots around the basket. The Spurs have to get creative with how they get Wemby the ball around the basket. Elbow post-ups against smaller wings are not going to get it done. Look for more flex screens and pin-downs to get Wembanyama the ball around the basket with space to operate. Then once he establishes a rhythm inside, he can expand things out beyond the three-point arc.

One of the biggest reasons people didn’t believe in the Celtics coming into the season was because of their centers and how little they had proven entering the season. As the season went on, it became clear that Neemias Queta is a quality starting center and that Luka Garza and trade deadline addition Nikola Vucevic were good enough depth.

However, as the playoffs started, we knew the center position was where the Celtics were going to be tested the most.

Yet through Boston’s first four playoff games, we don’t really know how Joe Mazzulla and the rest of the Celtics coaches want to deploy their centers.

So far in the postseason, Neemias Queta has started all 4 games and played 73 minutes, Nikola Vucevic has played the most minutes with 85 and Luka Garza has played the least with 31 minutes played.

It is clear that Garza is the third big and although he’s the third option, he has already played a lot more than I thought he would early in the series.

A lot of Garza’s minutes have to do with the fact that Neemias Queta just cannot stay out of foul trouble. In 3 of 4 games, Queta has picked up two quick fouls and needed to hit the bench quickly.

The Celtics need Neemias Queta to stay out of foul trouble, which has been a problem for much of the first round. Queta picked up 5 fouls in Game 1 and 4 fouls in both games in Philadelphia.

It is the fouls 94 feet away from the basket that Queta cannot pick up.

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— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) April 27, 2026

That has lead to an increase in the use of Nikola Vucevic, who gives the Celtics a different look than Queta does.

I have been pleased with the way Big Vooch has played in this series. The Celtics really needed him to pull out the Game 3 win with his 11 points and 6 rebounds off of the bench.

His defense leaves a lot to be desired. Late in Game 3, the Sixers ran the Paul George-Andre Drummond pick and roll a lot to get Vucevic in the action and it led to good results for the Sixers.

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— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) April 27, 2026

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— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) April 27, 2026

That is a concern, which will led to the Luka Garza playing time. While I like Garza and think he has been solid in this series, his pick and roll defense also leaves a lot to be desired.

Vucevic being the backup center makes sense — he is a more skilled offensive player than Garza is and neither guy is going to guard a ton.

I do think that Queta is Boston’s best option at center and as the rounds go on, he will be the guy that the Celtics close games with. His rim protection, ability to move his feet enough on the perimeter, offensive rebounding and the threat of the lob are all so valuable to what the Celtics want to do.

With apologies to 4th string center Amari Williams, Queta as the starter (and closer), Vucevic as the backup and Garza filling in when needed is how I would divvy up the minutes.

It is notable that Mazzulla went with Vucevic at the end of a close Game 3. In the 4th quarter of that game, Vucevic played 11:35 while Queta (and Garza) didn’t play at all. I don’t think that will be the case as the playoffs go on but the precedent is there so we will see if that happens again as the playoffs wear on.

Eighty-one seconds into the fourth quarter of Game 4, Jayson Tatum dribbled passed midcourt and with the help of a Neemias Queta screen, walked into a three-pointer. Kelly Oubre walked into his landing space for an and-1.

With that, the lead ballooned to 30 points and statistically, it was proof positive of Boston’s priorities this season: limiting turnovers, attacking the offensive glass for additional possessions, and generating good shoots, preferably threes.

“It comes down to controlling the game, having an understanding of what’s going on. We did a good job managing the game even though our shots weren’t going down,” Joe Mazzulla said after the Celtics took a 3-1 lead with their second win in Philadelphia.

“Our offensive rebounds and our turnovers. Obviously, they’re going to make a run, but we were able to manage that with getting to the free throw line, being disciplined defensively, and some good offensive execution. We just gotta manage the game, being disciplined.”

With the game out of hand and Gino dancing somewhere near North Station, the scoreboard was obvious bottom line, but dig deeper into the box score and it was a game won in the margins.

Despite the return of big man Joel Embiid, Boston held Philly without an offensive rebound until midway through the third quarter. Andre Drummond, who once admitted that he intentionally missed shots to pad his rebounding numbers, didn’t grab any in Game 4.

After allowing a Game 2 blip — the 76ers hit 19-of-39 from behind the arc — the Celtics have absolutely used the three to bury Philadelphia. In a tightly contested Game 3, they were a +24 from 3 and with 10:39 left in the 4th of Game 4, they were already a +27 after hitting 17 of 38.

The turnover differential has not exactly been the edge they held in the regular season. With the Sixers packing the paint, Brown and Tatum have been drawing pesky double teams as soon as they get anywhere near the paint and that’s generated several loose balls and points on the other end. However, Boston leads the East in assists-to-turnovers ratio at 1.96. Comparatively speaking, the conference has been an absolutely slugfest; the Magic took a 3-1 lead over the one-seed Pistons shooting 32.6% from the field; the Raptors made just 32% of their shots to knot up their series with the Cavaliers. The Celtics, on the other hand, having been moving the ball well and so far, been making shots.

The postseason is all about making adjustments, but for the most part, Boston has stuck to their core principles and are on the brink of winning their first round series tonight for the same reasons they finished with 56 wins in a gap year.

Nikola Jokic scored a triple-double to keep the Denver Nuggets' play-off hopes alive with a 125-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Serbia's Jokic, 31, was the joint top scorer with 27 points but also chipped in with 12 rebounds and 16 assists.

The Nuggets trailed 3-1 as they welcomed Minnesota to Ball Arena, Colorado, and defeat would have seen them eliminated.

Jamal Murray scored a game-high 24 points to help Denver get back on track after three successive defeats.

"We had to play like we was down 3-1," Murray said.

"I think we did a good job of bringing energy into the game and playing for 48 minutes, not letting up off the gas. That was a great team win."

Game six of the best-of-seven series takes place on Thursday in Minneapolis.

Elsewhere, Cade Cunningham scored a game-high 25 points as his Detroit Pistons lost 94-88 against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center, Florida.

Top seeds Detroit trail 3-1 in the series and are on the brink of elimination from the play-offs.

The Magic, who finished eighth in the Eastern Conference, have not reached the second round of the play-offs since 2010 - losing six times in the first round and failing to qualify for the post-season on nine occasions.

Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City Thunder booked their place in the second round courtesy of a 131-122 win against the Phoenix Suns.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points to seal Thunder's 4-0 series shutout at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.

"We just came in ready," said Gilgeous-Alexander.

"We do it for each other. None of us are selfish. We all want the next man to succeed and when you have those three things and put them together you get success."

Oklahoma will face either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Houston Rockets in the second round, with the Lakers leading that series 3-1.

Flagg claims Rookie of the Year award

Teenager Cooper Flagg was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, narrowly beating former Duke University room-mate Kon Knueppel to the award.

The 19-year-old is the second youngest player to win the award behind LeBron James.

"I think you talk about pressure and things like that, this season was a lot different going into it and what I was expecting and how the season ended up turning out," Flagg said.

"I think dealing with that and adjusting and kind of getting thrown in on the fly right away like that helped me long-term and throughout the season, just getting really comfortable. I think I grew in a lot of different areas."

Flagg was selected as the number one pick in last year's draft by the Dallas Mavericks and has repaid their faith.

The American averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists - joining Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic as the only rookies to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in the 50 seasons since the NBA-ABA merger.

Flagg beat Knueppel by just 26 points in the voting - the second smallest gap between the top-two finishers for the rookie awards since the current format began in 2002-03.

The question of this game was bound to come down to one thing and one thing only: could the Minnesota Timberwolves survive the loss of not just their starting point guard but also the superstar leader of their team? The answer: a resounding no.

Unfortunately for Wolves fans, it got even worse. There are now even more questions that have been hammered into bright red Xs, screaming unfortunate nos.

Can Julius Randle lead the Wolves to one singular playoff win as the team’s leading offensive option? Doesn’t look like it. Can Jaden McDaniels upscale his scoring load with far fewer mouths to feed, especially after the amount of trash he has talked? Early returns are not conclusive, but also not encouraging.

What makes it even worse is a potential injury to Naz Reid, who collapsed at center court halfway through the third quarter after what seemed to be an inadvertent collision with Tim Hardaway Jr. We still don’t have any information on the injury, but I’m sure that update will hurt.

UPDATE: He came back out in the fourth quarter and continued to play with some clearly belabored movements, but nothing as bad as initial prognoses.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, there’s so much more to obsess about.

Let’s rapid-fire this:

• The Wolves were defeated by a Spencer Jones run straight out of the half, in which they bled threes and lacked any real playable options to challenge an opposing team’s run. Bones Hyland had moments, but there is clearly no option for explosive runs.
• Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić played up to their regular standards. As noted by assistant coach Micah Nori, the Nuggets pushed Jokić to roll more often, leading to foul trouble for McDaniels as a helpside blocker, which in turn opened up Murray.
• Minnesota failed to find any easy shots for quick offense. They got outrun in transition, largely due to their nearly doubled number of turnovers.
• The forwards continued to struggle with foul trouble, just as they did in Game Two. This time it came in the form of Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle. Additionally, Ayo Dosumnu had a technical after trying to support Jaden after another scrum with Jonas Valančiūnas.
• An avalanche occurred in the third quarter, and everyone on the Wolves just kind of broke. Emotionally, competitively, basketball-y. They just fell apart. This does not look like a team that could even conceive of winning a fourth and final game this series.

It was certainly bleak. Truly, nothing seemed to fall into place. As I write this, there are still technically ten whole minutes remaining in this game, but that clearly does not matter. Even when the game was stuck teetering on close, the Wolves could not find a way to shrink the lead beyond a non-threatening five points.

There’s no real way to detail it. It was a simple answer. The Wolves did not have the juice tonight. The question is whether that continues to last for the rest of the series.

There was no hero tonight. Ayo Dosumnu was decent, but clearly not his 40-point self. TJ Shannon and Jaylen Clark were injected into the rotation with hopes of adding any energy, a call to action they failed to respond to. Bones Hyland made some shots but failed to mitigate the problems he was causing as a defender.

Unfortunately, no one played well. No one inspired enough confidence to bring some positivity to this conversation.

The most disappointing Wolf, however, has to be Julius Randle. While the question of him as the quote-unquote “best player” is disingenuous, the supposed number two was outplayed by Spencer Jones, had some less-than-ideal defensive effort, and had five turnovers.

When the Wolves managed to pull the deficit back down to single digits with just around four minutes left in the fourth quarter, it was a Randle live-ball turnover that led Denver back to a 15-point cushion.

The most infuriating losses are often like this. The second you start feeling hopeless, hope finds a way. Whenever that whispering voice of hope returns, the game finds a way to crush it to dust once again.

Excited that the game is close at intermission? Have fun with the aforementioned Spencer Jones. Getting fired up at a series of Julius Randle bully ball? Here’s a Christian Braun 3-pointer and a series of bad turnovers to put the game back out of reach.

Tonight was, in that way, a combination of bad luck, bad situation, and bad performance.

For Minnesota to avoid an embarrassing but understandable collapse, they need to do a lot of simple things better. Before garbage time, the Wolves had a baffling 24 turnovers. That is, apparently, the highest rate of giveaways the Wolves have had all season.

To follow that up, there needs to be a better emphasis on attacking the rim the way they did all series. Nikola Jokić is not a decent enough defender to prevent that level of targeting. As part of that, the more uncomfortable Jokič is on defense, the less flow the entire team has on offense.

Lastly, someone needs to step up. This is the least substantive of the thoughts. It’s just gotta be someone. Something has to happen.

Asking anything of this team feels like a lot, though. So much of the last two deep playoff runs have been defined by the magic of Anthony Edwards. Even before Minnesota had won a playoff series for the first time since Kevin Garnett, it was Ant that put that fear into these same Nuggets in the playoffs.

This time, it can’t be him. The last time there was a huge playoff hero that wasn’t Ant was Karl-Anthony Towns taking down — guess who — the Denver Nuggets in Game 7. It clearly won’t be him either.

If you’re wondering who can step up for the Wolves, the options really come down to Ayo Dosumnu and Julius Randle. It will likely have to be both of them to give the Wolves a puncher’s chance on a night like tonight.

Goodnight Wolves fans. I wish I had better news.

Up Next

The series heads back to Target Center for a pivotal Game 6 on Thursday. With a win, the Timberwolves will secure a first-round playoff series victory in their third consecutive season. If they lose, a dreaded Game 7 back in Denver.

The time and TV network for the game will depend on the outcome of Tuesday’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs. If the Spurs win and finish out the series, the Wolves-Nuggets game will begin at 8:30 PM CT. If the Trail Blazers force a Game 6, then the game will be at 8:00 PM CT.

Highlights

Houston Rockets (52-30, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference)

Los Angeles; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EDT

LINE: Lakers -2.5; over/under is 208.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers lead series 3-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers look to clinch the Western Conference first round over the Houston Rockets in game five. The Rockets defeated the Lakers 115-96 in the last meeting on Monday. Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 23 points, and Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19.

The Lakers are 33-19 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles averages 116.3 points while outscoring opponents by 1.7 points per game.

The Rockets are 29-23 in Western Conference play. Houston ranks second in the Western Conference scoring 53.0 points per game in the paint led by Alperen Sengun averaging 17.5.

The Lakers' 11.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.6 fewer made shots on average than the 12.4 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets are shooting 47.9% from the field, 0.4% lower than the 48.3% the Lakers' opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: LeBron James is shooting 51.5% and averaging 20.9 points for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Kevin Durant is averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 107.8 points, 39.6 rebounds, 28.4 assists, 10.0 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 51.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points per game.

Rockets: 6-4, averaging 116.8 points, 46.5 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points.

INJURIES: Lakers: Austin Reaves: day to day (oblique), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring).

Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle), Kevin Durant: day to day (ankle).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic are one win away from knocking off a No. 1 seed and winning their first playoff series in 16 years.

They’re not celebrating yet.

Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 in three quarters and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead, putting the East’s No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit.

“We put our ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”

Orlando, which had to win an elimination game at home in the play-in tournament, is on the verge of becoming just the seventh No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 in a series in league history. It’s happened only four times since the playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.

THUNDER 131, SUNS 122

PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24 and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix Suns, capping a four-game sweep in the first-round series.

The Thunder — who have a 12-0 record in the first round over the last three seasons — will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets won Game 4.

Phoenix has a 10-game losing streak in the playoffs, dating to 2023.

The Thunder closed the series with an overwhelming offensive performance — making 17 of 34 (50%) 3-pointers — and their big men played particularly well. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren shot 9 of 16 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while the 7-foot Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

NUGGETS 125, TIMBERWOLVES 113

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic snapped out of his prolonged funk with a triple-double, Spencer Jones provided a key spark and Denver staved off elimination with a chippy win over injury-riddled Minnesota in Game 5 of their playoff series.

Jokic had 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver, which trimmed its deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Jamal Murray scored 24 points and Jones added 20.

Jokic posted his 23rd playoff triple-double, third on the career list, as the Nuggets stopped a three-game skid and played the way they did most of the regular season in securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Timberwolves raced out to a 3-1 lead, but it might have cost them everything.

Yes, Game 5 on Monday, April 27, when the Denver Nuggets outpaced Minnesota, 125-113, in the first round of the NBA playoffs, was just one game. But it also served as an indicator of just how much Minnesota is missing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo.

Denver outscored Minnesota by a margin of 37-24 in a third quarter avalanche, as the Nuggets are trying to become just the 14^th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1.

All of this prompts one question: can the Timberwolves make a run without Edwards and DiVincenzo? Can they even get out of this round?

The Nuggets are now playing with significantly more confidence and momentum than they did earlier in the series. Denver’s bench had scored just 16 points in the crushing Game 4 loss; on Monday night, the reserves scored 27. Cameron Johnson and Spencer Jones, the pair of key Denver forwards, combined to drop 38 points in Game 5 just two nights after they scored just 9.

The Nuggets harassed Minnesota’s ball-handlers, forcing them into 25 turnovers Monday night, which was three more than Minnesota’s combined total in Games 3 and 4.

But, more than anything, the Timberwolves played tight and pressed, seemingly hyper-aware of the players they were missing.