Category: Basketball

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors.

All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Donovan Mitchell

30 points, 5 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal

This was another dynamic scoring game from Mitchell. He opened the night with a handful of ridiculous jumpers, including a one-legged fadeaway at the end of the shot clock.

Mitchell continued to apply pressure to Toronto’s defense as the game went on. The Raptors did their best to show additional help and get the ball out of his hands. But Mitchell was still able to deal significant damage despite seeing multiple defenders on every other possession.

Grade: A+

James Harden

28 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals

Harden drilled a tough step-back three-pointer over a Raptors double-team in the second quarter, and that wasn’t even his most impressive shot of the period. One possession later, he dropped Scottie Barnes and nailed another three-pointer.

His mastery of the pick-and-roll put the Cavs in front during Game 1. In Game 2, Harden’s elite shot-making neutralized even the best of Toronto’s defense.

Grade: A+

Evan Mobley

25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Mobley might be ascending before our eyes. He’s playing with the most confidence we’ve seen from him in a playoff setting. He feasted in the paint any time the Raptors fed him a smaller wing. And when they tried to stick a larger player like Mamu on him, Mobley would burst around him for a bucket.

“Aggressive, put his head down and got to the rim, trying to dunk on people,” said James Harden of Mobley after the game. “He recognized that ‘hey, they’re switching pick-and-rolls so I gotta get it, or crash the offensive rebounds’.”

This is the version of Mobley that can help the Cavs reach their ultimate ceiling. Head-hunting for mismatches and filling in as a play-finisher to complement his two star guards.

Grade: A+

Jarrett Allen

10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks

The box score isn’t always going to reflect Allen’s impact as the games are dominated by Harden, Mitchell and Mobley. Still, while I think Allen’s value was much larger than the stats suggest, this wasn’t his best performance. Specifically, on the glass, where Allen had just 1 rebound going into halftime and finished with 3 boards overall.

This is a team sport, obviously, and the Cavs were not getting bruised on the boards by any means. But this is still an area you want Allen to be more present — considering how poorly this category has gone for him in the past.

But don’t get it wrong. Allen’s size advantage in the paint has proven to be a massive issue for the Raptors as they struggle to establish themselves on either end of the floor.

Grade: C

Dean Wade

3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Wade’s showing his worth as a wing defender in this series. He played a huge role in shutting down Brandon Ingram in the second half of Game 1 and contributed to holding Ingram to 3-15 shooting to go with 5 turnovers.

That’s elite, and it’s a huge relief for anyone who has been waiting to see this version of Wade in the postseason.

Dean Wade is finally playing good minutes in the NBA Playoffs 🙏 pic.twitter.com/6witv7iCOL

— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) April 21, 2026

“It’s a luxury to have a 6’9″ wing that we can use as a stopper,“ said Kenny Atkinson after the game. ”He’s been phenomenal so far.”

I still think the Cavs can use more from Wade on offense. The Raptors seemed to bet against him doing anything with the ball throughout this game and successfully jammed up a few possessions as a result.

Grade: A

Max Strus

6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

The Strus never quite got loose in this one. He was far cry from the 24 points he poured on Toronto in Game 1. Nevertheless, he drilled a momentum-swinging shot in the fourth quarter and kept the defensive intensity turned up throughout the game.

Grade: C-

Keon Ellis

0 points, 2 steals

Ellis was disruptive with his hands tonight. He broke up a few plays and amped up the Cleveland crowd with his hustle.

Still, it’d be nice to make a single shot. Just one?

Grade: D

Jaylon Tyson

3 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds,

Tyson looked less frenzied than in his debut. I actually think getting into a brief scuffle in the second half calmed his nerves a little bit. Attention to detail and focus are the main things I’m watching for as Tyson gets his Playoff legs under him. Tonight was a small step forward, but progress nonetheless.

Grade: D+

Sam Merrill

5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

Merrill hit a timely three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Other than that, the Cavs simply need more from him. He fights hard on defense, but that isn’t what’s going to keep him on the floor in playoff time. We need an injection of Merrill Mania sooner rather than later.

Grade: D+

Dennis Schroder

5 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound

The Cavs are flat-out going to need more from Schroder if he’s going to stay in the rotation. He hasn’t found many gaps in the defense and is conceding a major size advantage to the Raptors, even if he’s a scrappy guy who plays bigger than his height.

Grade: D

The Knicks had their foot on the Hawks’ neck. All they had to do was press down.

Instead, they choked away what would’ve been a commanding 2-0 series lead. The best fourth-quarter team in the NBA completely fell apart.

The Knicks blew a 12-point lead to start the fourth quarter and fell to the Hawks 107-106 in Game 2 Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Now the series is tied 1-1 heading to Atlanta with a completely different tenor. Now the Hawks have life.

Now, the worst memories around the Knicks have come flooding back.

“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”

And it was the newest postseason villain who put them away. CJ McCollum kicked Jalen Brunson in the midsection in Game 1, causing a bit of controversy. Monday, it was a gut punch that he delivered, this time to all Knicks fans.

He scored six straight Hawks points as the Knicks lead melted away. A Brunson 3-pointer briefly tied the game before McCollum’s jumper re-established a two-point Hawks lead with 33.5 seconds left. The Knicks trailed the rest of the way.

Brunson drilled another 3-pointer to cut the Knicks deficit to one point with 7.1 seconds left. And McCollum missed both free throws, giving the Knicks life. But the Knicks were out of timeouts and could not set up their offense. Instead, Hart corralled the rebound off the missed free throw and threw a pass ahead to Mikal Bridges. He got a decent look — stepback jumper in the left corner — but it clanked off the rim and the collapse was complete.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” Hart said. “Everyone is frustrated with this loss. We’re gonna go into Game 3 with a great attention to detail and a great focus for a full 48 [minutes]. We’ve got high-character guys that’ll respond well.”

The Knicks had been 47-2 when leading after three quarters this season, including Game 1. Now, it’s 47-3. It’s hard not to think back to their Game 1 collapse to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals last year.

The Knicks went ice cold, shooting 5-for-22 from the field and 3-for-11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. They missed two free throws. They allowed the Hawks to shoot 10-for-15 from the field.

They had led from 2:58 left in the second quarter to 2:08 left in the fourth quarter. Their lead was as large as 14 points during that stretch.

“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”

The bench might have been at fault for losing an earlier lead in the second quarter. It was the starters, though, who were at fault for blowing it in the fourth quarter. All five starters were in the game with 6:05 left, with the Knicks up by six. OG Anunoby was carelessly stripped and later missed two free throws. Hart missed his only shot in the quarter. Bridges was 0-for-3. Karl-Anthony Towns was uninvolved and went 0-for-2.

Towns’ usage was particularly perplexing. He took just three shots in the first half. Then he went 6-for-7 and scored 14 points in the third quarter. Then he disappeared down the stretch.

“The opportunity just didn’t come around shooting,” Towns said. “But at the end of the day, I trust everybody in this locker room to shoot the ball. The opportunities weren’t available for me in the fourth, and it was fine.”

In truth, the Knicks had delivered a recipe for failure from the start. But it didn’t bite them until the last few minutes. They shot just 32.4 percent from 3-point range and 63.0 percent from the free-throw line. They committed 14 turnovers.

And, notably, it’s the second time the Knicks unraveled late.

In Game 1, they had a 19-point lead before an 11-0 Hawks run made it interesting. That lead proved insurmountable. Monday’s wasn’t.

“We have to play better with the lead,” Brunson said. “That’s twice in the fourth quarter now we’ve done that.”

McCollum — who heard “F–k you CJ” chants from the MSG crowd — finished with a game-high 32 points. He has hurt the Knicks more than any other Hawks player through two games — and it’s largely come with Brunson defending him.

“He was in a great rhythm,” Brunson said. “I gotta disrupt it. Make him play on his heels, make him react to me defensively. He was just in a rhythm. I give him a lot of credit.”

McCollum and the Hawks might deserve some credit. But this choke job was largely self-inflicted.

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The Philadelphia 76ers were right to win their Play-In game last week, lest they risk a single-elimination worry, but the reward of facing the Boston Celtics instead of the stumbling Pistons is a difficult one to swallow.

My 76ers vs. Celtics same-game parlay and NBA picks understand Boston will not let up the gas anytime soon, certainly not in Game 2 on Tuesday, April 21.

Our best 76ers vs Celtics SGP for Game 2

The Boston Celtics led by 18 at halftime in Game 1 despite shooting just 33.3% from beyond the arc in the first half and giving up more field-goal attempts to the Philadelphia 76ers than they took themselves. Reread that sentence and realize, that is just how much better Boston is than Philadelphia. Even playing poorly yielded an 18-point lead.

The 76ers should shoot better, but so should the Celtics.

There really may not be a path to competitiveness for Philadelphia in this series, and that shows early and often.

Leaning on someone like Andre Drummond — in part because Joel Embiid is sidelined after an appendectomy — underscores how much of a mismatch this series should be. Drummond is a quality player, but he cannot defend anyone in a Boston uniform.

And for that matter, he is not enough of an offensive threat to do anything but drag down Philadelphia’s offense.

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.

Steve Kerr says he hasn’t yet made a decision on his coaching future. Mike Dunleavy, Jr. doesn’t want to address the media until Kerr’s status is resolved. But if you ask Draymond Green, or just listen to his podcast, he thinks that after 12 seasons, Kerr’s Warriors tenure is over.

It’s rare for any coach or player to stay with the same team for 12 years, and far rarer for two players and a coach to spend that much time together. More than any of the other 11 seasons, this year showed serious flaws with the fit Warriors roster, the reliance on older players and some limitations in Kerr’s preferred style of play. Kerr has never taken more heat, whether it’s for his development of young players to his rotations to the team’s struggles in close games.

Draymond Green made it clear that he wants Kerr to return for a 13th season, but he simply doesn’t think it will happen.

Draymond on Steve Kerr’s future as Warriors Coach:

“I hope he’s our coach next year, you want my opinion, I think not… it felt like that was it.” pic.twitter.com/6wqhI6izc6

— The Draymond Green Show (@DraymondShow) April 20, 2026

After the emotional moment Kerr shared with Green and Steph Curry at the end of Friday’s play-in loss, Green got the impression that it was the conclusion of an era. Green said that he hoped Kerr would coach the team next season, but added, “If you want my opinion? I think not.”

At the same time, Green acknowledged that his own future was up in the air, adding that he hoped he was on the team next season as well. There is a definite possibility that Kerr isn’t the only person who will decide if he’ll coach next season, especially with Mike Dunleavy, Jr. signing a contract extension, one we can assume was kept under wraps so Warriors fans wouldn’t relentlessly boo him like the last time he got a contract extension with the team.

Pro tip for MDJ: They’ll love you if you rip your shirt off again.

There’s simply a lot of uncertainty. Jimmy Butler may play sparingly or not at all next season. Moses Moody is coming back from a serious patella injury. The Warriors paid almost $70M in luxury tax with one of the NBA’s highest payrolls, and won 37 games. Any cost-cutting measures might start with the team’s well-compensated coach.

That’s the logical case for Kerr’s departure. The more compelling case is the vibes. From Kerr’s on-court huddle with Green and Steph Curry Friday night, to team officials clearly leaking to ESPN that they were unhappy with Kerr and only want him on a long-term deal to Kerr himself saying, “This job has an expiration date,” the prevailing mood is that Kerr isn’t coming back. In other words, it felt like that was it.

The stars were out in full force at Madison Square Garden.

Celebrity row was a who’s who for Game 2 of the Knicks’ first-round NBA playoff series with the Hawks on Tuesday night. 

Knicks superfans Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller and wife Christine Taylor were courtside. They sat close to actress Julianne Moore and tennis legend John McEnroe. 

Spike Lee was in his usual seat, donning a No. 14 Pope Leo blue Knicks jersey – potentially hoping for a little help from above. 

We caught up with Knicks fan, NYC native and Nebraska head football coach @CoachMattRhule ahead of Game 2 at MSG! pic.twitter.com/diFQftpVUI

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) April 20, 2026

“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon was in the building along with comedian Ray Romano and rappers Fat Joe and Jadakiss. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee, who has become an MSG regular, was back for some more hoops.   

Knicks alumni Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Marcus Camby, Larry Johnson and Latrell Sprewell were back under the roof where they made plenty of playoff memories.

Two-time NBA champion and Knicks broadcaster Walt “Clyde” Frazier was in attendance with local networks no longer carrying the first round of the playoffs for the first time. Ex-Knick Stephon Marbury was also in taking in the action.

Mets owner Steve Cohen was seen courtside, along with former Amazin’s closer John Franco. 

NYC native and Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule also made the trip to the World’s Most Famous Arena. 

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, who led 63-54 at the half, were hoping to deliver a commanding 2-0 lead in the series against the sixth-seed Hawks before things shift to Atlanta on Thursday night. 

Change. That’s what Game 2 was meant to bring after Saturday’s rough showing against Cleveland. That might have looked like a bigger role for Brandon Ingram, more responsibility for CMB, or any number of defensive changes to better contain James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Yet, as the Raptors began the game that would end in a bitter 115-105 loss, I could not help but be overwhelmed with a sense of deja-vu.

Game 2 emerged the same way as Game 1 from the start. Cleveland’s passing was on point, Scottie began the game on the perimeter, and James Harden looked incredible as Brandon Ingram was shut out of the game, double-teamed. Poeltl looked active in this quarter, as the Raptors pulled starters to use an interesting lineup focused on individual scoring and defence, running Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili, along with Ingram, RJ Barrett, and Ja’Kobe Walter. A Max Struss three pushed the lead to ten points as the quarter came to a close.

Mounting a comeback beginning of second quarer, off Ja’Kobe threes and Scottie jumpers, every call to push ahead was answered by Donovan Mitchell splashing threes. He would finish the half with 15 points shooting 50% from three. A beautiful Mamu jam brought the game to within six points – the story of the half. The Raptors weren’t getting blown out, but couldn’t cross the two-possession threshold to develop a lead. The Raptors were settling for jumpshots a lot of the time, and were making only 42% of their field goals in this half.

Adding insult to injury was a James Harden possession where he ran into Scottie at the top of the key, knocked him to the floor, and shot over a lunging Brandon Ingram. As the ball bounced high, I got flashbacks to Kawhi in 2019, and Harden in Houston, mashed together in some otherworldly combination of Raptors-based cosmic horror, as the ball rattled off the rim into the hoop for three.

JAMES HARDEN WITH THE ANKLE BREAKER OF THE YEAR 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/D6nvCpxt33

— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) April 21, 2026

The half ended, 54-48 Cleveland. Brandon Ingram’s stats in the half: 0 points, 1 assist, 3 turnovers.

As the third began, the Raptors let the game get away from them. Harden makes a three, Scottie on the fast break passes out to Shead, who misses a wide open three. Donovan Mitchell makes a three. Two minutes in, Ingram makes his first basket of the night, a midrange field goal, immediately followed by a three pointer from the left wing. But of course, it was answered by an Evan Mobley three. Trends repeated themselves. Scottie had a great block on Jarrett Allen. CMB, block on Mobley. Offensive rebound Cavs, James Harden floater for 2. From there, the game proceeded along the same lines: Raptors pick up a few points, Cavaliers kill from three or in the paint.

With 2 minutes left in the game, a Ja’Kobe Walter three fell as if from heaven, getting the lead below 10, and while a beautiful Scottie dime to RJ brought the game to within two possessions, Cleveland pushed back to widen the gulf again. The quarter ended 84-77 Cavs.

The first bucket of the fourth was a Sam Merrill three pointer, which was followed immediately by a brief confrontation between Scottie, RJ, and Jaylon Tyson, who made his own three to counteract Barnes’ and-one layup. The two teams traded blows all quarter, with Toronto unable to pull ahead, and as as the last minute of the game saw a Donovan Mitchell bank shot, the writing – already on the wall – was highlighted. This game was over. Toronto played aggressive defence until the bitter end of the game, not pulling their starters down 12 with seconds to go.

With grit and discontent, the Raptors went down 0-2 in the series, shooting 27% from three with 22 turnovers. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors in scoring with 26, while CMB had a bench-high 17 points. The Cavaliers had Harden, Mitchell, and Mobley combine for 83 points, scoring 25 or more buckets-a-piece. Jakob Poeltl played only 9 minutes, as Murray-Boyles emerged as a diamond in the rough at the centre position. Toronto will return home to play the Cavaliers in Toronto for Game Three on April 23rd.

CLEVELAND — It wasn’t pretty, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to grab a 2-0 series lead in what became a somewhat physical game. They defeated the Toronto Raptors 115-105 and are firmly in the driver’s seat as the series shifts north of the border.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson was concerned about his team’s intensity level to start Game 2 after a one-sided win two nights earlier. Those fears proved to be misplaced. The Cavs opened up with an eight-point advantage before the first timeout.

Defense, not offense, was the cause of the Cavs’ early lead. Dean Wade, James Harden, Sam Merrill, and whoever else ended up guarding Brandon Ingram did a good job of physically meeting him at the point of attack, making it difficult for him to get going.

The Raptors tried to get Ingram involved early after he was used more as a screener in Game 1 (much to his dissatisfaction). But Ingram wasn’t able to get to his spots easily, and he certainly wasn’t able to get into a rhythm. This led to him going 0-4 from the field for no points in the opening quarter. This, in turn, short-circuited Toronto’s offense, resulting in them scoring just 19 in the first.

The Cavs’ seven-point advantage after one shrank to six by the end of the second quarter. Both offenses got going, with Harden providing 10 points in that frame to fuel Cleveland’s.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković made his first substantial adjustments of the series to start the third quarter. He decided to start 6’7” forward Collin Murray-Boyles at center to open the second half in an attempt to go small and get back into the game. This neutralized some of the advantage the Cavs were able to create with the pick-and-roll because they could switch everything defensively. That strategy made sense, but it also created new problems.

Toronto’s going smaller made it easier for Mitchell and Harden to attack in isolation. The lack of a center meant there was no rim protection coming to help at the rim. And, the size mismatch meant that Toronto’s wings couldn’t afford to leave either Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen alone. Instead of clogging things up for the Cavs’ offense, it actually created more space.

The Cavs took advantage of this. They extended their six-point advantage to 16 by the time backup big Sandro Mamukelashvili entered the game midway through the third quarter. The Raptors turned it around to close the third with just a seven-point deficit.

Cleveland did what it’s done best since the trade deadline: they out-executed their opponent down the stretch in the half-court to grind out the victory.

The superstar backcourt once again led the Cavs. The Raptors don’t have an answer for either through two games. Whether or not they can find one over the next two games will determine how long this series lasts.

Mitchell made timely baskets every time the Cavs needed one. This included hitting several tough shots throughout the second and fourth quarters to keep the momentum in Cleveland’s favor. He had 30 points, five assists, and seven rebounds on 13-23 shooting in the win.

Meanwhile, Harden once again kept the offense on schedule — making sure they got a phenomenal shot every time down the court. He had 28 points, four assists, and five steals on 9-14 shooting.

The Raptors are at a size advantage inside — especially when they go small. Mobley made them pay both when they went small and used their more traditional lineups.

Atkinson likes to talk about Mobley playing forcefully going to the basket. This game showed why. Toronto really didn’t have an answer for him when he got a head of steam. Mobley was able to get whatever he wanted in the paint, pouring in 25 points on 11-13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and two assists.

The Raptors were led by 26 points from Scottie Barnes on 11-19 shooting. RJ Barrett supplied 22 points on 10-13 shooting with nine rebounds and five assists.

Ingram was held to just seven points on 3-15 shooting. A lot of that success can be attributed to Dean Wade, who was once again phenomenal defensively.

The series moves to Canada for Game 3 on Thursday. Tip-off is at 8 PM.

NEW YORK (AP) — Backup Mouhamed Gueye bruised his right hip early in Game 2 of the playoffs Monday night, but was able to return to the game late in the first half for an Atlanta Hawks team in need of healthy big bodies against the New York Knicks.

Gueye had just come into the game in the first quarter and tried to throw down a dunk to finish a fast break. He came up short and then landed hard behind the baseline, where he remained as play continued until the Hawks called timeout. Gueye was eventually helped up and went directly toward the locker room.

The Hawks announced in the second quarter that the native of Senegal was questionable to return. He came back into the game with 1:03 remaining in the half after starter Onyeka Okongwu picked up his third foul.

The Hawks were already playing without center Jock Landale because of a sprained right ankle, and Okongwu was questionable coming into the day with right knee inflammation before being cleared to play after Atlanta's morning workout.

Atlanta eventually gave Tony Bradley, who was added to the roster late in the season, his first playing time of the series late in the first quarter.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

History was made in the NBA on Monday, when it was announced that San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama had been named the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year winner in league history. Golden State Warriors fans, of course, know a thing or two about unanimous award winners, as Steph Curry became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history in 2015-16.

They also know a thing or two about the Defensive Player of the Year award, as Draymond Green hoisted the trophy following the 2016-17 season, and has four other top-three finishes.

Green’s days of winning that award are behind him, but he’s still collecting some recognition from voters. The announcement of Wemby as the winner was accompanied by the full voting results, and Green collected one point, the result of a third-place vote on one person’s ballot. That put him in a tie for 11th place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, alongside Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat.

The top 10 is, in order: Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Ausar Thompson, Rudy Gobert, Scottie Barnes, Derrick White, Cason Wallace, Amen Thompson, Dyson Daniels, and OG Anunoby. Voting for Defensive Player of the Year is handled by 100 media members who each get to add three names to a ballot.

For Green, this is his 10th time earning vote shares for the award, but he’s hoping that something bigger is around the bend. The future Hall of Famer has been open about his desire to make the All-Defense team this year. If that wish comes true, Green will become just the sixth player in NBA history to make 10 All-Defense teams, joining Tim Duncan (15), Kevin Garnett (12), Kobe Bryant (12), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11), and Scottie Pippen (10). He’s one of eight players stuck on nine All-Defense selections, but the other seven are all retired: Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Chris Paul, Bobby Jones, Dennis Johnson, Jason Kidd, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

With or without that, a share of Defensive Player of the Year voting — even if it’s just one third-place vote — is an impressive achievement, especially for someone in their 14th NBA season. And it’s just another accolade in a career full of them.

While the 2025–26 NBA regular season standings were finalized after last weekend, as I mentioned a week ago, that didn’t mean the lottery odds were completely set. Since multiple teams in the lottery finished with identical records, the NBA needed to conduct random tiebreakers between those teams to determine who got an extra ball in May 10th’s drawing, potentially getting a better shot at a top-four pick. Or in the case of the Pelicans and Mavericks, who both finished tied for the seventh-worst record in the league, who would have a chance to pick seventh and who wouldn’t. Those tiebreakers happened today.

Why does this matter to the Bucks, who were locked into the 10th position after losing their final game to the Sixers? As you likely know, it’s because New Orleans owned swap rights on Milwaukee’s 2026 first-round pick, traded as part of 2020’s Jrue Holiday deal. Now, the Pels shipped those rights to the Hawks last summer, so they won’t have the chance to switch places with the Bucks in this year’s draft, and the Hawks do. Milwaukee and Atlanta had to be watching this closely because whichever of New Orleans’ or Milwaukee’s picks ends up earlier on lottery night, Atlanta will own. The lesser of the two goes to the Bucks.

Just after 4 p.m. Central, the league communicated the results of this and other tiebreakers: to Milwaukee’s (and Atlanta’s) benefit, New Orleans won their coin flip with Dallas and garnered the lottery’s seventh-best odds. That pick now has a 29.3% chance of being in the top four as opposed to 28.9%; not a huge jump, but one the Hawks likely loved to see, since if that pick and/or the Bucks’—which has a 13.9% of landing in the top four—jumps up, they’ll receive the best one. But this was good news for the Bucks too, as I’ll explain.

First the bad news: Milwaukee’s chances at moving into the top four aren’t good, and are even worse as a result of the pick swap. By virtue of the swap, they have 0% chance of actually drafting first overall (if they win the lottery, that pick goes to Atlanta by default, and they’d pick wherever New Orleans ends up, which could be as low as 11th) and their chances at 2–4 decreased too. Instead of the listed odds for 10th, seen on the left, here are the Bucks’ actual chances at any of those picks, factoring in the swap:

Pick	Listed	Actual
1	3.0%	0.0%
2	3.3%	0.5%
3	3.6%	1.1%
4	4.0%	2.1%

That’s a huge drop: had they not traded these swap rights back in 2020, they’d have a 13.9% chance of jumping into the top four, with a shot at number one overall. It turns out the likelihood of that happening is 3.7%. For what it’s worth, had the Bucks lost a few more games and finished with the league’s ninth-best record, they’d have only slightly better odds of moving into the top four: 5.3%, still with no chance of getting number one.

Now we come to today’s tiebreaker results, and the modicum of extra lottery luck they garnered for Milwaukee. Since the Pelicans finished seventh, the Bucks did see their chances of moving up improve slightly. While the overwhelming likelihood is that they end up picking 10th, the tiebreaker gave them a small shot at picking eighth, which wouldn’t have been possible if the Pelicans lost the tiebreaker. That’s because the NBA’s lottery odds don’t allow the team that receives the eighth position (which went to Dallas) to receive picks 5–7: they can only rise into the top four or draft between eight and 12.

The seventh position (New Orleans’) has a much better chance of picking eighth (34.1% if tiebreakers aren’t involved) than seventh (19.7%). But because the Bucks’ pick could land in the top four pre-swap, the Pelicans’ pick would thus have a higher likelihood of coming seventh through ninth, since they couldn’t move up to whichever spot the Bucks win. In this scenario, Milwaukee’s pick would go to Atlanta, and New Orleans’ to Milwaukee. While yes, it would stink to not receive that top-four selection, they would technically still be moving up.

In the table below, you’ll see the Bucks’ chances to end up with any given spot in June’s draft on the right, with the swap again factored in. Compare those with their chances had New Orleans lost today’s tiebreaker and received the eighth-best lottery odds, rather than seventh:

Bucks’ pick	Pelicans in 7th	Pelicans in 8th
1	0.0%	0.0%
2	0.5%	0.5%
3	1.1%	1.1%
4	2.1%	2.1%
5	0.0%	0.0%
6	0.0%	0.0%
7	0.0%	0.0%
8	5.4%	0.0%
9	5.6%	7.8%
10	61.7%	64.7%
11	21.5%	21.8%
12	1.7%	1.7%
13	< o.1%	< o.1%
14	< o.1%	< o.1%
Average pick	9.8	9.9

The figures are rounded, but as you can see, their shot at getting a top-four pick didn’t appreciably improve. It’s only half a percent better with the Pelicans in seventh as opposed to eighth. However, we can look at this another way: now the Bucks have a 14.7% chance of moving up from 10th to any spot, as opposed to 11.4% had the Pelicans lost. They also go from a 7.8% chance at ending up with the ninth choice to an 11% chance of receiving eighth or ninth after the swap. Again, if either of those two outcomes occurred, it would mean they ended up in the top four pre-swap and ended up taking New Orleans’ pick while theirs went to Atlanta. Nevertheless, they moved up, so all’s well that ends well?

I’ll be at the lottery on Sunday, May 10th, to see how the ping pong balls actually fall. Like I’ve written before, don’t get your hopes up about drafting second: you have a better chance of dying from accidental poisoning. But until then, Bucks fans can take some solace in a positive lottery outcome, even if it’s a small one.

Victor Wembanyama made a bit of NBA history on Monday, becoming the first ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. 

The Spurs big man earned all 100 first-place votes from the group of media members tasked with voting for this year’s league awards, beating out Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson. 

Wembanyama became the youngest player to win the award since it was first handed out following the 1982-83 season. 

It didn’t come as a surprise that Wembanyama was given the Defensive Player of the Year award, considering his impact on that side of the ball for San Antonio during the regular season. 

Wembanyama averaged a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game in 64 games and opposing teams shot 40.7 percent from the field against the 7-foot-4 Spurs star. 

He also had 66 steals and had the NBA’s second-best defensive rating at 110.4. 

“Everything that [he’s] achieved so far has been earned and never given,” teammate Keldon Johnson said, per ESPN. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around. He takes his craft very seriously and I feel like this is just a small token of what’s to come for Victor. He’s a special player on the court and an even more special person off the court.”

Wembanyama is the first Spurs player to win Defensive Player of the Year since Kawhi Leonard won the honors in back-to-back seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16. 

Wembanyama is also a finalist for the MVP award, along with fellow finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.

The Spurs are in the middle of a first-round playoff series with the Trail Blazers and are holding a 1-0 series lead after defeating Portland 111-98 in Game 1. 

Game 2 is slated to take place on Tuesday in San Antonio.