Category: Basketball

Hours after losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Orlando Magic have fired head coach Jamahl Mosley.

And you can fire up those Dusty May rumors … now.

Despite entering the NBA Playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, Mosley and the Magic built a 3-1 series lead over the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons. But Orlando blew that series lead in historic fashion, collapsing in Game 6 after building a 24-point advantage early in the game. Over the final 23 minutes, the Magic were outscored 55-17, and outscored 31-8 in the fourth quarter alone.

The collapse was completed on Sunday, as the Pistons rolled to a 116-94 victory to complete their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.

Now Mosley is out, and early reports indicate Orlando is focusing on Michigan head coach Dusty May. According to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, “[l]eague sources say that the Magic are admirers of Michigan’s Dusty May and would have a level of interest if he were indeed available.”

There are, however, some significant potential hurdles. First, as Stein notes, is the notion that the “expectation at this point in the college game is that May will stay” at Michigan, who knocked off Connecticut for the national championship. In addition, the Magic could have some potential rivals for May’s services, as there are other jobs available in the NBA. New Orleans, Portland, and Chicago all have open spots, and the NBA world is waiting on a decision from Steve Kerr, who could step away from Golden State.

Then, of course, there is this question: Does May even have NBA aspirations, after winning a title at Michigan?

May led Michigan on a romp through March Madness to win the program’s first national championship since 1989. The Wolverines are expected to lose Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson to the 2026 NBA Draft, where all three are projected as top-20 picks. Only Johnson could return. Michigan already has an impressive transfer portal haul lined up, but it’s going to be a completely new team, which is par for the course in this era of college hoops.

May reportedly won’t sign a contract extension at Michigan until July. Is Michigan a better job than the Magic at this point? It feels that way coming off the national championship run, but the NBA will always have allure.

If the Magic can’t land May, expect former Bulls coach Billy Donovan to also draw interest.

As this season played out, most Sixers fans were probably unmoved or even disappointed with head coach Nick Nurse.  The ones that were unmoved were probably set in their ways that the team was stuck in a holding pattern, waiting out the big contracts of Joel Embiid and Paul George and there wasn’t much the head coach could do. While the calls for Nurse’s firing were never overly loud, the growing amount of skepticism amongst the fanbase that Nurse could pull the Sixers out of the rut of mediocrity they had fallen into were enough of an indictment.

Had the Sixers fallen in the first round to Boston, it would have been three straight years without winning a playoff round for the franchise. A team that was known for second-round exits was on the cusp of not even getting to the second round with regularity and fading back into NBA purgatory. That’s the same spot they were in back when they lost to Boston 14 years ago in the second round. Say what you want about the last 8-10 years of Sixers basketball, they’ve at least been nationally relevant and worth talking about come May. They just haven’t done a lot of winning in May. Armed with a fully healthy rotation by the time Embiid returned last weekend against Boston, it was up to Nurse to maximize his roster and at least see if his team could strike some fear into the Celtics, if not win the series.

By the time the series was over, there wasn’t much doubt as to who the better team was. Sure, Jayson Tatum didn’t play in Game 7, but the Sixers thoroughly outplayed the Celtics in their three wins in the series prior to Saturday night. They led most of the way on Saturday and withstood every push the Celtics made to steal the game. You don’t win three games on the road in a best-of-seven playoff series as the lower seed by accident. The narrative had flipped completely from Game 1 to Game 7 as the Sixers went from heavy underdogs to just flat-out better than the Celtics. It was a shocking twist that can mostly be attributed to Nurse coaching circles around Joe Mazzulla.

A lot of people will tell you that basketball is the sport in which coaching matters the least. You can only have five players on the court at one time and often times the team with more talent is the one that prevails. While there is merit to that, it shouldn’t diminish the amount of credit owed to Nurse for Philly’s surprising rally from 3-1 down against the Celtics.

Development of young players and maximizing the usage of role players are often times two things a coach in any sport can score some points with his fans over. VJ Edgecombe looked timid in Philadelphia’s blowout loss at home in Game 4. The rookie was anything but those two adjectives for the rest of the series. He scored in double figures in all three of the final three games in the series. His field goal attempts increased in each game as did his three-point attempts. He rebounded well for a guard for the entire series. The rookie was playing with a lot of confidence as the series reached its conclusion and contributing immensely on both ends of the floor. Edgecombe had a +19 rating in Game 7, making him the team leader in the +/- department in the series-clinching win.

It’s fair to still have questions about Philadelphia’s bench after the series win. But the Sixers might have bowed out in five games had it not been for an outstanding Game 5 from Quentin Grimes as a reserve. Andre Drummond didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but for the first time in a playoff series it didn’t feel like the minutes without Embiid on the floor were a nightly sweat. If you do want to look at the statistical performances of Drummond, be sure to circle his 26 minutes with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting, eight rebounds and +12 rating off the bench in the Game 2 victory before Embiid returned. Philly might not be the deepest team left in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, but if Nurse can hit the right buttons out of the ones he does have to push, the Sixers can be successful with a shorter rotation.

Another key for Philadelphia in the first round was Paul George deciding to turn back the clock. It is possible that the 25-game suspension George served allowed the veteran wing player to recharge a bit and he came back with a renewed focus that resulted in him locking in on basketball in ways we’ve never seen him do in a Sixers uniform. However, a veteran like George, who’s played on teams in both Los Angeles and Indiana that went to the conference finals, might not have recommitted himself to this Sixers team if he didn’t think they were capable of a deep playoff run. Nurse has cultivated an environment of cohesion that has resulted in a more connected Sixers team. That has made it easier for everyone to buy into what their roles are. At least some of that culture has to be responsible for George’s recent uptick in production.

With all of this said, we must still acknowledge the obvious that Embiid was the best player in the series. The big man became the first player in NBA history to score at least 100 points in a playoff series he did not play the first three games of. Of course, you need talent to win in any sport. But Nurse has raised the ceiling of his roster in the blink of an eye. A world once existed in which Nurse was the fall guy for problems that could primarily be attributed to Daryl Morey and Elton Brand. That world no longer exists. Nurse has exceeded all of our expectations this season.

The Cleveland Cavaliersemerged from the rock fight against the Toronto Raptors. It was far from the prettiest series on the first-round slate. The number of times I thought this team was dead in the water was more than two hands can count.

After RJ Barrett’s moonshot homage to Kawhi Leonard, it seemed like this Cavaliers team was bound to also pay homage to previous iterations of the franchise’s past and fold in Game 7. However, just when it looked like the Cavaliers were going to succumb to the pressure, they came out in the second half led by Jarrett Allen and others to show that this Cavs team will not be lumped together with those shortcomings of years prior.

Allen and the Cavaliers’ recent playoff outings share a common thread. One that can be summarized by shortcomings. Allen has been the poster child for the Cavaliers being called a soft team. Ever since the Cavaliers were bounced by the New York Knicks in 2023, the label of weak-minded has followed this team through the years. The following year, it was the Celtics, last year it was the Pacers, and for all intents and purposes, it looked like it was going to be the Raptors this time.

Then, coming out of the half tied at 49 apiece, Allen emerged like a man possessed. He single-handedly authored a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds in the third quarter alone, that sparked a 38-19 run.

This, alongside others like Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, and Dennis Schroder, the Cavaliers came out with an edge. Those guys just understood the mentality shift the team needed after the first half of the Cavaliers succumbing to the moment. The team was too talented to be meandering at the level of the Raptors. Those guys understood this and really energized the group.

As the Cavaliers look ahead to a series against the Detroit Pistons starting Tuesday night, they should use their second half as a sign of turning the page. Riding the high would be the wrong take to walk out of Game 7 with. That edge we saw from Cleveland is something they really haven’t shown in the postseason — that counter punch was never in their arsenal.

The beauty of a series is that each one provides things to learn, but also things you can leave behind in the context of that series. Look no further than the 2025 playoffs; the Cavaliers, fresh off one of the more dominant round one series in recent memory, looked like a shell of that team, losing in the second round in short order. There is a chance to be reborn, so while the Cavaliers should carry over the mentality they showed in the second half of Game 7, they should leave behind the version of themselves that saw them fall to the Raptors in several games due to mental lapses.

If Allen’s narrative-changing outing can provide a template and inspiration for the Cavaliers, then this team has the chance to live up to its potential and talent level. The Eastern Conference is far from touting clear title contenders as it currently stands. In this parity era, anything is possible if a team gets hot. The Cavaliers certainly have a runway to the NBA Finals if they can meet the level of play we saw in the second half of Game 7.

There is always time in life to reinvent yourself, changes can always be made, and series in the playoffs are more of a snapshot than being emblematic of who a team will be. To match the physicality of Detroit, the Cavaliers will need to turn the page from the Toronto series, while keeping that edge that showed them what they are capable of.

Just wanted to highlight this post, which was well thought out and presented in an organized fashion.

In particular I liked the section on living and dying by the 3. I think most would agree that the 3 pointers have served us very well over the years and this isn’t a “they are shooting too many 3’s” critique. Rather, it is pointing out that we need to address the need of having another option to go to when they aren’t falling. Porzingis was the example given, but it doesn’t just have to be a big man. It might be a great downhill attacker or perhaps just a guard that is more skilled at feeding the rolling bigs.

That’s just one topic covered in this post, so check out the rest and jump into the discussion.

Awaiting the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, following New York's dominant defeat of the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, are the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid-led Sixers are coming off a 3-1 comeback to top the Boston Celtics, and are ready to keep that momentum going against New York.

Here's what to expect from what could be a drawn-out, physical series, and who will come out on top...

The biggest question for both teams is how they’re going to make life easier for their elite scoring guards without exposing them too much defensively. New York’s offense has largely figured this out forJalen Brunson, who started slow against Atlanta but should have more opportunities against Philadelphia.

The Sixers offer him a couple of targets in Maxey and Embiid, the latter obviously being a strong defensive player but less comfortable switching out on the perimeter. They do have an assortment of defensive wings who are likely to occupy his time, though, in Paul George, V.J. Edgecombe, and Kelly Oubre Jr.

That may leave them more inclined to play Brunson straight-up, switch fewer screens, and help off non-shooters less aggressively. The Knicks have a real wrinkle to throw at them now with Brunson involved in more off-ball and screening options, so expect a chess match from the jump.

Philly likely moves to all-but-ignore Josh Hart on offense early on, maybe starting Maxey on him, forcing him to hit some threes to punish them. Hart and the Knicks will have to be ready to make them pay.

There’s few other hiding spots for the Sixers star. If he’s on Mikal Bridges, the Knicks should feed him every trip down and get solid offense out of it. These matchups very often just come down to Brunson and Maxey calling for screens to face each other, and this series may serve as a larger version of that.

The Knicks have another edge over their previous meeting, which is Karl-Anthony Towns. The Sixers likely don’t want Embiid stretched out of the paint or having to watch his foul trouble guarding Towns one-on-one, so expect George to start out on him. 

Towns will have to display much of the patience and passing ability he did against Atlanta, since these Sixers wings are built a bit better to deal with Towns and will be hunting those passing lanes. The Knicks will need another big series out of him if the Sixers overload on Brunson.

There’s two big advantages for the Knicks on paper: their rebounding and depth. New York is rebounding a third of its own misses in the playoffs after finishing top-five in rebound rate during the regular season.

Philadelphia has been solid on the defensive glass in the postseason, but doesn’t boast the same offensive rebound playoff stats or regular season numbers. The Knicks' bigs should do their job against a weak Sixers frontcourt, but it’s the battle of the guards and wings that will decide this contest. Bridges, Hart, and OG Anunobywill need more big performances. 

As for depth, the 76ers played only seven guys in their Game 7 win, with Andre Drummond and Quentin Grimes coming off the bench. Their next options are Justin Edwards and Trendon Watford.

Meanwhile New York just got great bench lifts in the first round from Jose Alvarado, Jordan Clarkson, Miles McBride, and Mitchell Robinson, and may tap back into Landry Shamet for shooting. If they can maintain this edge it would be massive on the series, owning the first few minutes of every second and fourth quarter. 

With the Sixers offense, Maxey is the biggest puzzle piece, and the Knicks don’t have a simple answer. None of their one-on-one matchups are very clean outside of McBride, and Maxey pressures every screen coverage to its limits.

Drop and Maxey gets a full head of steam or clean pull-up, switch and live with bad matchups that likely involve Embiid putting someone in the cup, and he can blow right past or split a hedge if it’s not perfect. The Knicks will need a mix of their lead defenders and some aggressive coverages to slow him down.

Bridges or Hart likely gets the start so Brunson can hide on Oubre. There are also small things they can do try and slow Maxey down: get the refs hung up on Embiid screens, throw occasional unders in to force long pull-ups, and target him without mercy on the opposite end. 

But Maxey is only one threat. Embiid is no slouch, either, and Towns will have a huge challenge in trying to maintain him. The Knicks can live with tough mid-rangers, constant falls and flops, and the odd big performance. What they can’t live with is Towns getting in foul trouble or getting too preoccupied with the officials.

Towns will need to defend without fouling and most importantly, brush off the flop calls Embiid is bound to draw. A bad call or two may turn a game, but Towns getting in his head over bad officiating can turn the series.

If he does it right, the Knicks won’t need to be over-aggressive on help. Also expect to see some Anunoby on Embiid after past successes, especially with Towns showing he can be useful guarding and helping off a wing. 

The 76ers are going to try to attack Brunson as part of their game plan, and he’ll need to be more prepared than when he gave up multiple big nights to CJ McCollum. Expect the fearless rookie Edgecombe to go at him with gusto early on.

Philadelphia has proven itself talented and viable, but they’re going up against a very tough New York team that isn’t trying to recover from a seven-game dogfight. Combine that with the bench and rebounding advantages, and it’s tough to see the Knicks not coming out of this one victorious.

Prediction: Knicks in 6

It has been a tough stretch for major Boston sports teams.

Not that they are due any sympathy, we’re not here for that, but over the past few months we have seen the Boston Red Sox limp out of the gate and fire their entire coaching staff, the Boston Bruins get bounced out of the first round of the NHL Playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres, the New England Patriots get embarrassed in Super Bowl LX — and we will come back to them in a moment — and now the Boston Celtics blow a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers.

How historic was that Celtics’ collapse? Until their loss in Game 7 on Saturday night, Boston was 32-0 all-time when holding a 3-1 series lead. As for the 76ers, they were 0-18 in their franchise history when trailing 3-1 in a playoff series.

The win for the 76ers was also their first over Boston in a playoff series since 1982.

As you might expect, the fine folks at Inside the NBA had some fun at Boston’s expense following that collapse, putting together a graphic of both Celtics players and noted Boston figures together on their “gone fishing” graphic.

That graphic included Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and former NFL reporter Dianna Russini at the front of the boat, in true Titanic fashion:

'Inside the NBA' on ESPN includes Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel on the "Gone Fishing" graphic for the Boston Celtics. pic.twitter.com/NxhFY302aq

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 4, 2026

The hosts of Inside the NBA tried their best to avoid the topic.

“Who are the two people at the front?” Kenny Smith asked as he perhaps tried to bait someone into addressing the topic. “I don’t know them.”

“Stop it, stop it,” pleaded Charles Barkley.

“Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on there, Tatum and Brown,” added Ernie Johnson. “That’s all I see on that boat. I don’t see anything else.”

Yes, that brings us back to the Patriots, who have been in the news these past few weeks thanks to the swirling rumors around their head coach, and his relationship with Russini. Rumors continue to follow the pair, and Vrabel even stepped away from the team for the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft for counseling, as he works towards becoming the “best version of me going forward.”

Until we see that version, we might see more and more moments like this.

BOSTON — Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had the last laugh on Saturday night.

F**k Embiid! F**k Embiid! F**k Embiid!

In the second quarter of Game 7, as Embiid took a trip to the free-throw line with over five minutes left, that was the only thing the 2023 NBA MVP could hear. Boston Celtics fans, accustomed to watching Embiid falter against them in the playoffs for years, tried everything to throw him off.

But nothing worked.

“Obviously, coming back down 3-1 is tough,” Embiid said after Philadelphia’s 109-100 win. “I understand it because we just did it. Then, missing three of those games, and really four, because the first game was kind of just me getting back to myself. It’s tough, but it feels good to win. Obviously, we got a bigger goal in mind, but finally beating these guys feels pretty good.”

Before Saturday night, the Celtics had Embiid’s number. He hadn’t survived a playoff matchup against Boston in three previous instances (2018, 2020, 2023), plus the Celtics — in their 79-year history — had never blown a 3-1 series lead, nor had they been eliminated by the Sixers in 44 years. Historically, Boston had gone 32-0 when holding a 3-1 lead, while Philadelphia had been 0-18 when trailing in that situation.

Three weeks after undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery in Houston, Embiid went toe-to-toe with the biggest moment of his career — and conquered. He dominated the Celtics and made an example out of their defense while coach Joe Mazzulla desperately threw the kitchen sink at him. Boston trainer Drew Moore even got in on the psychological antics by refusing to hand the game ball to Embiid after a Celtics turnover, leading to a tense encounter on the sidelines.

Still, nothing could faze Embiid — not a chant, not the antics, not even the 18 Celtics banners hanging above him or the playoff demons that have haunted him throughout his career.

Joel Embiid got creative on this shot! 👀@sixers lead after the 1st quarter of Game 7!

Winner will face NYK in Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs presented by @Google. pic.twitter.com/MKHcxpP04r

— NBA (@NBA) May 3, 2026

Embiid finished with a game-high 34 points with 12 rebounds and six assists to lead the Sixers to their biggest playoff comeback in franchise history. Twice, he dropped 30 points on the Celtics and single-handedly turned the series around just as Boston had Philadelphia on the ropes, battling for dear life.

When assessing the series immediately after Saturday night’s loss, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla began by highlighting Embiid.

“What changed in this series was Joel Embiid came back,” Mazzulla said, “and that’s what changed in the series.”

Boston failed to fully take advantage of Embiid’s absence to begin the series by losing the second game at home. Embiid returned when the series arrived in Philadelphia for Game 4 and proceeded to average 28 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists on 44.3 percent from the field for the series.

In Game 5, Embiid made a critical adjustment after shooting 0-of-5 from 3-point range in the first half. He abandoned the deep ball in the second half and flipped the script, shooting 7-of-10 from the field by finding offense exclusively inside the paint. Mazzulla threw Neemias Queta, Nikola Vučević, and Luka Garza at Embiid, and it didn’t make a difference.

Embiid backed them down, left them in the dust, and knocked down turnaround jumpers from the mid-range. In the second half, Embiid scored five times against Queta, five times against Vučević, and twice against Garza.

“It was tough,” Jaylen Brown said. “Embiid put a lot of pressure on us — on all our bigs, all our guards. We didn’t really have an answer for him. We tried a bunch of different things, and he’s just a big body. He also was flopping around, and he got some extra calls, and they rewarded him for that. But that’s the league that we’re in.”

In the fourth quarter of Game 5, Embiid dodged an injury scare when he took a fall and immediately grabbed his left knee — prompting a brief trip to Philadelphia’s locker room alongside a team trainer. It wasn’t the first fall Embiid took throughout the series, although the 10-year veteran, who’s battled scrutiny for his extensive injury history, claimed he feels just fine.

“I feel great. I feel amazing. I was faking it,” Embiid said of his health.

Relishing the moment Embiid had long awaited, he made sure to get everything off his chest when he spoke at the podium at TD Garden. Embiid credited his teammates for the jobs they did against Boston’s biggest offensive threats — the Celtics were held to under 100 points four times in the series.

“Those guys really took on the challenge of guarding those guys,” Embiid highlighted. “Whether it’s (Jayson) Tatum, (Payton) Pritchard — No. 11 — Jaylen Brown. So it helps when you have that. That means you can’t overhelp. You can just do your job, and obviously, knowing Boston, kind of live and die by the three. So you take that away.”

Embiid continued: “I told the guys if we wanna go two for twos against them, we’re going to win that battle because we have a lot of mismatches, starting with me.”

He refused to refer to Pritchard by name as a response to his comments from earlier in the series when Pritchard was asked about Boston’s game plan for Embiid’s then-possible return.

Embiid used Pritchard’s comments as fuel and revisited them following Game 7.

“It does also help when I saw No. 11 on their team before I came back, he said they didn’t care if I was playing or not, and they hadn’t even adjusted or had some sort of game plan for me,” Embiid said. “So, I think it also helps that when the other team doesn’t worry about you and have some solid game plan being prepared for you. So it helps you have better games. I thank No. 11 for that.”

We are defined by our choices. The ones we make, the ones we don’t, and those we make too late. For their last game of the season, the Celtics will be remembered for the latter.

The first decision that defined the game, and how it will be remembered, was the starting five.

It’s not about how you start, but it is

Late in Game 6, the Celtics coaching staff, led by Joe Mazzulla, decided to put the starters on the bench in the last 10 minutes of the game and see how the bench mob could answer.

However, when Game 7 was about to start, it was expected that the Celtics would go with their best lineup available—or at least a lineup that had played together before. But that wasn’t the case. The Celtics started with Luka Garza at center, Ron Harper Jr. and Baylor Scheierman on the wings. They also gave the Tyrese Maxey assignment to Jaylen Brown to try new things.

After five minutes, the Celtics were down by 11, and they finally put Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta on the court. In the end, the Celtics lost the game by nine points. Maybe it was the late-game decision that cost them the season, or maybe it was the first decision of the game that knocked them out of the playoffs.

Hugo Gonzalez at the rescue

It took seven games—and a 13-point deficit after the first quarter—to finally see Hugo Gonzalez on the court. Hugo Gonzalez had already proven that he could defend quick ball-handlers like Maxey, strong wings like Paul George, or big men like Joel Embiid.

Hugo Gonzalez also led the Celtics in various impact metrics, such as net rating and possession impact. The Celtics knew that one of their best versions came with him on the floor because of the chaos and versatility he brings. Yet, it took them falling off a cliff to finally use him.

Spamming the pick-and-roll

The Celtics got back into the game in the second quarter thanks to the defensive hustle brought by Hugo Gonzalez, but also with a smart offensive game plan. They finally moved away from Brown isolations and spammed pick-and-roll actions to attack the Sixers’ big men, who were struggling whenever they were involved.

This is when the Celtics offense was at its best because they were attacking the Sixers’ weaknesses. Their wings and guards are strong, but their big men are old and slow. Once you get them moving, the defensive structure collapses. It was far more efficient than mismatch-hunting isolations, especially against this team.

Finally going away from the drop

Using the big man as a safety has been at the core of the Celtics’ defensive success since 2022. It worked with Robert Williams, it worked with Kristaps Porzingis, it worked with Luke Kornet, it worked in the regular season, and it worked in previous playoffs. However, we had to wait until the Celtics were down by double digits in the second half to see it deployed against the Sixers.

The Sixers found some answers to it—and the Celtics’ defensive execution of that tactic wasn’t at its best—but it bothered Embiid enough to give the Celtics a chance at another comeback, putting them in position to win in the final minutes.

Another great choice that came too late. The Celtics beat themselves by taking too long to make the right adjustments—the ones that had worked all season. They forgot what made them elite for so long and got turned upside down by a team that was tired of losing to them.

It’s been seven days since the Spurs vanquished the Portland Trail Blazers in Round 1 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, and now, it’s finally gameday again. For Round 2, the Spurs face a Minnesota Timberwolves squad whose size gave them plenty of trouble in the regular season (as well as Nikola Jokic in Round 1) but is facing its own questions regarding health and offensive production, with Donte DiVincenzo out and Anthony Edwards and first round hero Ayo Dosunmo questionable. To get some perspective from the Wolves’ point of view, I enlisted the help of Thilo Widder from our sister site, Canis Hoopus.

J.R. Wilco

I think you’d agree that to say that you were down on Minnesota’s chances entering Game 6 would be a pretty serious understatement. Your piece on Denver’s win over the Wolves in Game 5 was about as serious an indictment of your team’s performance as the government’s charges against Harish Chidambaran. 

And yet you guys made Nikola Jokic look ordinary and Jamal Murray look putrid. Minny took the “next man up” mantra to another level. See, that cliche is supposed to mean that when a guy goes down, his replacement is ready to play in his place. It’s not supposed to mean that the replacement suddenly auditions to be a starter on the all star team! I went from being ecstatic that the Spurs wouldn’t play Denver to being afraid that they’d be hard pressed to take down a team that’s currently under attack from the injury bug. 

So tell me, a) how did you guys take down Denver while so shorthanded, b) what should I be most concerned about in Game 1, and what are you most afraid of, besides Wemby?

Thilo

Beating Denver in Game 6 came down to a few factors: paint touches, paint deterrence, and sheer, unadulterated hatred.

Before Ayo Dosumnu went down with a calf injury, his shot diet in his 43 point masterclass in Game 4 was functionally all layups outside of his 5/5 three point shooting. The rest of the Wolves team existed in a similarly slash-friendly environment. 

There was, and this is no exaggeration, no rim protection whatsoever on the Nuggets roster to the point that Spencer Jones was the primary paint presence for Games 3-6. This enabled a TJ Shannon sighting (his only above-average skill at the NBA level is finding his way to the rim) and allowed the Timberwolves, one of the league’s most inconsistent offensive teams, to score over 110 in all but one game. 

On the other side of things, Denver could not find a way to score at their normal level when run off the three point line. As much as we can point at Jamal Murray (and laugh), Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. turning back into pumpkins hurt just as much. 

Funnily enough, Jaden McDaniels’ best defensive role is not as a perimeter stopper. While he’s more than capable there, he is arguably better suited as a help side defender (we’ll get to that later). To that point, I doubt we see a remotely similar strategy for San Antonio as we saw against Denver.

I’d say that role change for McDaniels is the biggest thing to be worried about. Outside of the obvious “we get to match your top-five player with our returning top-seven guy”, that’s the thing I hope would change.

A defensive matchup of Ayo on Fox, TJ on Vassell, and Gobert on Wemby, with Jaden roaming off of whoever of Castle or Champagnie is less intimidating could be incredibly fun, incredibly destructive, and disastrously low scoring.

As far as what’s the scariest in facing the Spurs, you guys just simply have more things you can count on than we do. While we have flexibility and house money, you have a winning formula that has been shaped by your whole season and has little to no restructuring needed.

For more concrete answers, the Wolves are already down a ton of initiators, and the defensive pressure the Spurs can put on guys who are already more used to and more prepared for facing third and fourth defensive options could instantly collapse the whole cobbled together formula the Wolves built so quickly.

That formula included a Game 6 lineup that was supersized, with Jaden McDaniels at the two, Naz Reid at the three, and both Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert filling out the space alongside TJ Shannon’s “go straight through them” play at point. The Spurs size comes primarily in the form of Wemby, how do the rest of the Spurs deal with that lineup and the size it brings?

J.R.

You say unadulterated hatred. I hear properly channeled distaste, because in my experience playing angry might work in spurts, but it will wear you out over a full 48 minutes. Shoot, even half a basketball game would probably be too much. That said, the way your crew was able to stick around with a dwindling roster until the clock struck midnight on Denver was one of the more impressive things I’ve seen in the NBA this year. Watching those Nuggets turning into pumpkins and mice was as enjoyable as it was unexpected. 

You say that McDaniels’ defense isn’t best suited for being a perimeter stopper, but I’m going to expect Fox and Castle and Harper to put enough pressure on the Wolves that he’s going to need to spend time out there on the regular, regardless of how much he would prefer to play weak side help.

As for the lineup you asked about, my primary concern with this series is Randle and Reid wrecking San Antonio from deep when they have the ball, and causing Wemby all kinds of problems as they defend. Honestly, besides Aaron Gordon, Julius probably played the best defense I saw on Victor all season. As for how San Antonio will deal with all that size, that’s the $64,000 question, and I’m so glad it’s being asked. 

For so much of the season, Mitch Johnson has allowed the Spurs to play pretty ordinary sets without much imagination or complexity. Or to be more blunt, San Antonio’s offense has often been very straightforward and bordering on elementary. In defense of this strategy, it’s been effective. Why push the team to do more when a basic offense is enough to win? Well, the answer is: the playoffs. They’re here now and Minnesota’s defense and size might be exactly what forces the Spurs to pull out all the stops. 

Now I’m not expecting them to start whizzing the ball around the court like the 2014 Spurs, but I wouldn’t complain if they did. Lacking that, I think San Antonio’s offense is at its best when Wemby is off the ball and the team takes advantage of the gravity his vertical threat creates. When teams are terrified of him getting downhill without the ball, or receiving passes anywhere close to the paint without a man bodying him, it opens up space for guys to shoot open threes and gash defenses with aggressive drives and timely cuts. That’s when defenses react to the pressure from the rest of the team such that Wemby gets single-teamed or even forgotten – which is obviously a death sentence.

Which brings me back to Wemby, and this time I won’t ask you to not use him as an answer to your question. With so much of your success against Denver being to attack the rim, and with Wemby being elite at protecting the paint and guarding multiple guys simultaneously, what do you see as the best chance that Minny has to produce points and make San Antonio’s defense uncomfortable? 

Thilo

I could take this answer in so many different directions. The answer I want to give, or rather the thing that I think people can’t read about elsewhere, is Rudy Gobert’s impact as a passer on the short roll. 

We often think of scoring in the paint as the only way to maximize drives. Either you lay it up or you don’t. Either you dunk it or you’re blocked, and so on. 

Gobert has never been one to lay it up confidently, or even dunk it safely. Describing his offensive game as invisible was doing him a kindness for many, many years. When a player’s primary offensive impact is screen assists, you need to be a real basketball degenerate to give him some credit for that side of the ball. 

However, a compliment that was once hard to give has now found itself to a more obvious, highlight-worthy place. 

Taking a page from his mortal enemy, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert has evolved not as a play finisher, but as a play extender. There was a single play in Game 6 that led to a TJ Shannon three pointer in the right corner that comes to mind.

Pointing out just one play implies that this was a special occurrence, but this happened throughout the series. The worry with Wemby is always as much about rim deterrence as it is actual block numbers. A past version of Gobert would’ve been more willing to flail wildly at the rim in an attempt to draw a foul or do anything once the original plan of “finish the pick and roll” was flushed.

Today’s version of Gobert can rethink and create a new plan.

What does this mean on a larger scale? Improvisation is alive and well in Minnesota. Each player that should be getting rotation minutes for the Wolves has some way to deal with the court ending eight or so feet further from the rim than they are used to.

Jaden McDaniels’ mid range was fantastic in Game 6. TJ Shannon is a blur in transition. Julius Randle has his elbow touches. The list goes on. The playoffs are often about good players losing their favorite options and having to make due with their third or fourth choice.

This is no different.

The “motion offense” has been a bit of a running joke in Wolves circles ever since Chris Finch arrived in Minnesota. As much as higher management has approached roster building, Finch individually has valued one skill above all else: consistency.

Whoever is guarded by Wemby will be responsible for pulling him from the rim. Even moreso, I assume that whoever the Wolves will want to attack on switches will be the target for four of five players on the court. For the Suns in 2024, that player was Devin Booker. Last series, it was Jamal Murray. Against the Spurs? My guess would be DeAaron Fox.

There are so many more questions I’d have, but I’m sure Mitch Johnson reads this, and I don’t want to give away too many answers! We will see how this game turns out!

I’ve now written a sappy Boston Celtics playoff retrospective four times in the last five years. They range from completely overblown metaphor (I think I called the Miami Heat a history-repeating killer-basketball robot-wizard Sea Cucumber once) to full-on soliloquies about the meaning of life. We’re not doing any of that this time.

The Celtics blew a 3-1 lead to the Philadelphia 76ers, lost a heartbreaking Game 7 at home and I’m not particularly happy about it. But I shall resist the impulse to wax poetic about this team’s spiritual place in the space-time continuum because we have books to balance. The Celtics, particularly, have to attend to some serious business. But we will, out of the goodness of our hearts, quickly press F to pay respects. 

Basketball is a cruel sport because it is always reduced to its simplest variable. You play somewhere between 82 and 100 games, thousands of minutes, months of physical toil and deal with pressure most of us could not imagine, all for a chance to attempt a shot to maybe win it all. The Celtics had three good looks to take the lead down by one in the fourth quarter of Game 7, and they missed all three. 

The Celtics fought tooth and nail all season for that chance. They entered the season with too many varied expectations for me to generalize, but I can say with total accuracy that I did not believe in them whatsoever. I called for the team to maybe actually trade Jaylen Brown before the season, a foot I will gladly put in my mouth — nothing I had seen from him so far suggested he had this MVP-level campaign in him. I likewise had no reason to expect Neemias Queta could be a legit, NBA-caliber starting center, nor belief that Payton Pritchard could be more than a glorified three-point specialist. I was wrong on every count.

In that way, the Celtics were playing with house money in the casino of my brain. Jayson Tatum returned from injury and things looked like sunshine and lollipops. Expectations change, and they were dubbed “the favorites in the East” after playing above their heads for five straight months and adding back their captain. But Tatum got hurt again, missed Game 7, and “the favorites in the East” blew a 3-1 lead to the team they used to own. I could chop that long ways, short ways, diagonally or even cut off the crust; no matter how I slice it, that’s embarrassing. 

First item of bookkeeping: this is a big series for the “when healthy” brigade of NBA media, because “when healthy,” the 76ers were a better team than the Celtics. I said this three weeks ago when ranking how scary each Play-In team was. I even said it before the season, when I declared the 76ers the low-key favorites in the East. I didn’t say it … all that seriously, I admit, but I did say it! 

I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself part of the “when healthy” brigade, but I tilt towards that group; “oh (insert player or team) will never be healthy” isn’t a particularly interesting line of logical reasoning. It’s an unfalsifiable claim that assumes medical information you do not have that can be used to invalidate any hopes and dreams at any time. You could say, “oh Victor Wembanyama will never stay healthy” as a reason for thinking Cooper Flagg is the league’s most valuable young player (Max Kellerman did), but it’s a super bad-faith argument. The same goes for saying the 76ers have no chance to make the NBA Finals — if Paul George and Joel Embiid are just… chillin’? They totally could. 

But the Celtics were favored fairly heavily in the series and went up 3-1. Yes, Embiid’s status was heavily unknown, and books probably would have had it closer if they knew he would look almost like MVP Embiid for half the series. But it’s also not like Embiid just parachuted in and said “okay, it’s MVP Embiid time.” Boston’s deficiencies had more to do with how well he played than some random black swan event, and his quality was the reason the 3-1 lead didn’t hold.

That leads us to business item number two: the Celtics are not a small team, but they lack defensive size and rim protection. Queta and Luka Garza are extremely limited interior defenders who could not stay out of foul trouble, and the Celtics wound up doubling Embiid on most possessions in Game 7 with Jaylen Brown as his primary defender. Credit to Nick Nurse (who took a gamble bringing him back from injury when it felt like Adem Bona and Andre Drummond had found something in the series) for realizing Embiid could run the Celtics over like a Mack truck if he could just get out there.

Shoring up that interior defense is priority one, two and three for the Celtics this offseason. Another big, Nikola Vucevic, will be coming off the books to the delight of all Celtics fans, and his arrival via trading Anfernee Simons accomplished the Celtics’ single goal coming into the season: get under the luxury tax. Now, they will actually have some flexibility, regular roster-building resources and a few sizable trade exceptions to use. 

I could explain all the extension candidates, team options, mid-level exceptions, the works, but I can’t explain it better than ESPN’s Bobby Marks — a legit wizard with this stuff — so you should check out his offseason guide for the Celtics for all the particulars. What I can do is ask some hard questions, one’s Boston will have to answer through all the financials you can read about at your leisure. 

Question 1: How much longer will Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown form the nucleus of this roster? I feel reasonably certain that, unless he demands a trade, Tatum will be on the Celtics for his entire career. Those other two I simply don’t know. White is 32, and Brown just showed he’s at his best when Tatum isn’t on the court — that statement will be resisted by certain dogmatic elements in Celtics nation, but it is demonstrably true. I love Jaylen Brown. But he and Tatum have already won a championship together, and I wouldn’t necessarily blame Jaylen if he wanted to be the bus driver for more than half a season on his own team. 

Question 2: How much are Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta worth? Both are extension eligible, and Pritchard in particular is making an absolute pittance relative to his value as a scorer. Still, the Celtics will get real expensive, real quick if they shell out major dollar bills for two potentially replaceable pieces that were critical this year — it is worth wondering if they should be critical, or if Pritchard is better as a change-of-pace microwave off the bench rather than someone to close with.

Question 3: Which bench spark plugs are keepers? Calling Hugo Gonzalez a “fan favorite” is the understatement of the decade, but he has a long way to go as an offensive player. Same goes for Baylor Scheierman, who is a bit more sophisticated as a scorer but looked lost in the postseason. If you keep both of them, what’s up with Ron Harper Jr. and Sam Hauser? How about Garza, who is already behind Queta even when everyone knows the big rotation needs an upgrade? 

Beyond “get a center,” which is truer than true, those are the main things to think about this offseason. Thankfully for my sanity, I have achieved galactic levels of trust in Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ former head coach and now President of Basketball Operations, and essentially give him carte blanche to do what must be done. We done here? Oh, I guess I see one more thing on the meeting agenda before we go get lunch at Cava. 

When your team gets bounced from the playoffs in the internet age, one is exposed to a range of reactions; some silver-lings, some apocalyptic doomsday preppers, some coach-firers, even some “Neemias Queta was so open” screenshot-takers, but I find it best to think of all reactions in binary: they are either your reaction, or someone else’s reaction. The vast majority of them are just forms of coping, and provided they don’t delve into any unsavory territory, all reactions are valid and should be allowed to marinate before we decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Even the haters, fans of other teams, have earned their moment to hate. 

My reaction, which expresses merely my view and no one else’s, is this: the 2025-26 Boston Celtics overachieved so much that it set them up to underachieve. Among the many discussions of their failure in the series, that is a wholly unique accomplishment. 

There are very few players in the NBA capable of physically matching up with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Listed at seven feet and 280 pounds, the former MVP often overpowers opponents with his sheer strength. The Knicks just might have a solution. 

Center Mitchell Robinsonis one of a handful of players capable of standing toe-to-toe with Embiid.

Robinson left a relatively small imprint on New York’s 4-2 first-round series win against the Atlanta Hawks, as he averaged just 13.8 minutes in the six games. Since Embiid is such a critical piece of Philadelphia’s success, Robinson’s role will be even more important, making him the Knicks' X-Factor in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

Standing on business

Robinson’s defensive impact should be significant. He will be tasked with protecting the rim and defending Embiid.

We’ve seen Robinson guard Philadelphia's star center well in the past. In New York’s 2024 first-round series with the 76ers, Embiid shot 12-for-34 (35.3 percent) from the field when guarded by Robinson, according to NBA Stats. When he’s healthy, Robinson has the adequate mix of strength and foot speed to stay with Embiid.

Defending Embiid is a difficult task. After returning in the middle of the first round from an emergency appendectomy, he averaged 28.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. He’s a skilled center capable of attacking on face-ups from the midrange. Embiid's also a good post-up player who can pick on any mismatches if opponents switch smaller players on to him.

Embiid also has a knack for getting to the foul line. The big man attempted 37 freebies in 146 minutes during the first round, and is fifth in free-throw attempts per game during the playoffs. There will probably be times in this series where Embiid causes Knicks starting center Karl-Anthony Towns to have foul trouble.

That means the Knicks will likely need more minutes from Robinson, and it’s safe to say he will see a substantial playing time increase. Staying out of foul trouble will be something to watch for the Knicks' reserve center.

One question to ask is how much we'll see of New York with Towns and Robinson on the floor. The two-big lineup was only on the floor for 14 minutes in the first round, according to PBP Stats. Though it’s a small sample size, the Knicks had a plus-26.9 net rating with both bigs in the game.

Philadelphia has mainly played a wing like Kelly Oubre or Paul George at the four, and the Knicks might look to avoid having Towns guard a perimeter player.

Vertical threat

On the offensive end, Robinson is not expected to score much. But he should contribute, with Robinson’s primary responsibility being to attack the offensive glass. During the regular season, he led all NBA players who played in at least 60 games in offensive rebound rate (20.1 percent).

Philadelphia’s main weakness over the past few years has been defensive rebounding. Per NBA Stats, the 76ers ranked just 26th in defensive rebound rate (67.8 percent) this season.

Robinson will be valuable as a screener to get Jalen Brunsonor any of New York’s other ball-handlers free. Quietly, Robinson has also become much more of a vertical threat in the pick-and-roll this season. He made 52 alley-oop field goals according to NBA Stats, the most he's had since the 2019-20 season. During the first round, Robinson converted seven of eight lob attempts against the Hawks.

Philadelphia will have to keep a body on him to prevent those easy finishes, which could open up easier perimeter looks for the Knicks' three-point shooters.

Robinson probably won’t surpass more than 25 minutes a game during this series, but his play might be the largest swing factor.

The Sixers this past Saturday exorcised 40-odd years’ worth of postseason demons when they defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 at TD Garden, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in franchise history.

Now, get over it.

There’s no rest for the weary as the Sixers will kick off their second-round series with the New York Knicks Monday night at Madison Square Garden. These teams met just two years ago, with the Knicks winning in six games. Prior to that, they hadn’t played each other since 1989, with New York sweeping the best-of-five series.

With such a quick turnaround, consider this a preview for Game 1 and the series overall.

It was a weird season series with the teams splitting four games and neither winning at home. There’s some quirky context to add as well. The two games the Sixers won at MSG were with the Knicks playing on the second night of a back-to-back. One of New York’s wins in Philly was without Joel Embiid and Paul George, with the Sixers coming back from a West Coast trip. Only putting it out there to say we didn’t see the optimal versions of these teams face off this season.

The Knicks went 53-29 in the regular season, good for the East’s third seed. They dispatched of the Atlanta Hawks in six games with a 140-89 drubbing in the elimination game. They had a top-10 offense (3rd) and defense (7th) during the regular season. They’re a formidable opponent.

They’re still led by Villanova legend Jalen Brunson. After another All-Star campaign, he had a strong series against the Hawks, averaging 26.3 points on 56.9% true shooting. The Sixers will have their hands full containing the lefty guard with his craftiness, footwork and ability to draw fouls.

But the Sixers have the requisite bodies to throw at Brunson. Kelly Oubre Jr. defended Brunson very well in that 2024 series, forcing New York to change the gameplan by Game 3. Rookie VJ Edgecome was also tough on Brunson during this regular season.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Paul George matched up on Brunson from time to time after the veteran wing was an absolute defensive maven against Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the first round. Quentin Grimes, who started his NBA career as Brunson’s teammate, will surely see time on the star guard, too.

Karl-Anthony Towns joined Brunson at this year’s All-Star game and also had a strong series against Atlanta. The veteran big averaged 18.7 points, 11.3 rebounds (2.8 offensive) and 6.0 assists while knocking down 44.4% of his threes. Towns was the Knicks’ primary starter at center this season, which presents an interesting matchup with Joel Embiid.

Towns has never fared well against Embiid defensively, but his ability to shoot and hit the offensive glass could present challenges on the other end. Embiid was moving pretty damn well by the end of the Boston series, but we’ll see how the big fella holds up as the minutes pile up. Of course, Embiid will also see Mitchell Robinson, who’s had some success against the former MVP. Robinson only averaged 13.8 minutes against the Hawks. Expect that number to jump. You could even see OG Anunoby get the assignment — with designated help, of course.

The chess match between Nick Nurse and Mike Brown should be interesting. Will Embiid force the Knicks to go to their two-big look more? Could that give the Sixers an advantage with Paul George playing the four and Towns needing to guard him or Oubre in space? How do the Sixers handle screens and switches with Brunson, who is outstanding at finding mismatches?

All of this and we haven’t really touched on New York’s supporting cast. Anunoby had an outstanding first round, averaging 21.5 points while benefiting from all the space Brunson and Towns were creating. Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges didn’t have their best series, but we know what that Wildcat duo is capable of in the postseason.

Deuce McBride is a player who’s never missed a shot against the Sixers (not technically true, but it sure feels like it). You’ll likely see all of McBride, trade deadline addition Jose Alvarado and former Sixers first-round pick Landry Shamet get reps on Tyrese Maxey. The player Maxey will probably see the most of is Hart, who did a solid job at times on him two years ago in the playoffs. It’s safe to say Maxey has grown quite a bit as a player since then. They also have veteran guard Jordan Clarkson as a potential flamethrower off the bench.

This Sixers starting group is much better than the one the Knicks saw two years ago. In fact, there’s a legitimate argument to be made this is the Sixers’ best starting group of the Joel Embiid era. Embiid and Maxey are humming right now. George’s two-way excellence in the first round was crucial. Edgecombe is playing nothing like a rookie, while Oubre has filled in the gaps, despite not shooting as well as he did in the regular season.

Of course, New York is quite different, having moved on from Isaiah Hartenstein and Donte DiVincenzo — who both killed the Sixers in that series — and with the six-time All-Star Towns in the fold. They also have Brown instead of Tom Thibodeau, which means their starters will be much fresher than in previous postseasons.

The Sixers’ bench is where things are going to get interesting. Nurse was essentially in a seven-man rotation by the end of the first round. Grimes is really the only reserve who will play big minutes. The guess here is Nurse continues to roll with Andre Drummond as his backup five given New York’s size. The veteran big played a little over eight minutes in Game 7. That’ll probably be the norm for this series.

The other x-factors on the fringes of the rotation are Justin Edwards and Dominick Barlow. Both guys are in a tough spot, having barely played in the first round. Edwards had some decent moments while Barlow struggled a bit. Again, the Knicks’ size is not just with their bigs, as they feature multiple long wings. That could lead to minutes for either player. While Drummond will get the first crack at backup minutes, Adem Bona could still be heard from in this series if the team needs a bit more energy and athleticism off the bench.

The good news for both teams heading in: the injury report is basically clean. Embiid is listed as probable with a right hip contusion. He took a pretty good beating at the end of Game 7, so it’s good to see he should be ready to go for Game 1.

Eastern Conference Semifinals schedule: New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/q1UMwKeGDu

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 3, 2026

This should be a fun one. The Knicks are a good basketball team, but they’re far from unbeatable. The Sixers have a legitimate chance to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001 — just as we all envisioned when the season began!

Game Details

When: May 4, 8 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Watch: NBC, Peacock
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs
Date: May 4th, 2026
Time: 8:30 PM CDT
Location: Frost Bank Center
Television Coverage: Peacock, NBS Sports Network

After vanquishing the Denver Nuggets for the second time in three postseasons, the Minnesota Timberwolves now find themselves staring at an entirely different kind of monster.

That’s not hyperbole. That’s just what happens when the next player standing between you and a third consecutive Western Conference Finals berth is Victor Wembanyama.

The Wolves just survived Nikola Jokic, the mountain disguised as a man, and the best player on the planet. They spent six games trying to wear him down, body him, frustrate him, make him run, make him defend, and make Denver’s offense feel like it was being dragged through wet cement.

It worked.

Now they get Wemby.

Different animal. Different problem. Different nightmare.

Jokic beats you with angles, patience, touch, and strength. Wembanyama beats you by being 7-foot-5. Guys drive into the paint and suddenly look like they’re trying to finish over a tarantula wearing a Spurs jersey.

Beyound their centerpiece stars, the two teams could not be more different. The Nuggets were battle-tested veterans, former champions who knew how to survive ugly possessions, hostile buildings, and playoff pressure. The Spurs are the opposite. Young, hungry, and probably too inexperienced to know what they’re supposed to be afraid of. They don’t carry the burden of the past. They don’t have the same old legs that Minnesota was able to drag into deep water against Denver. You’re not going to run San Antonio into exhaustion. The Spurs are young and they’re going to keep coming.

The Wolves have to throw out the Denver notebook. Attacking the rim over and over again won’t work in Round 2. You cannot build an offense around repeatedly challenging Wembanyama at the rim. The Wolves just spent a series feasting on a defensive weakness. Now they’re walking into the league’s most terrifying defensive cheat code.

And if that wasn’t a big enough challenge, they have to do it without Anthony Edwards, at least for now.

That’s the shadow hanging over everything. Donte DiVincenzo is done for the season. Edwards remains the great unknown. Will we see him in this series? When? And if he does come back, will he be anywhere close to the version of Ant that can bend an entire playoff series?

Until that answer arrives, the Wolves have to survive without their superstar, which sounds insane, except we just watched them do it. We watched them close out Denver with Jaden McDaniels turning into an alpha, Rudy Gobert anchoring the defense, Julius Randle supplying grown-man buckets, Mike Conley finding one more vintage performance in the couch cushions, Terrence Shannon Jr. attacking like he didn’t realize he was supposed to be nervous, and the whole roster becoming something more than a list of names.

That has to carry over, because San Antonio is not waiting around for Minnesota to get healthy. The Spurs are coming off their own first-round win over Portland, Wembanyama’s first playoff series victory, and you can already feel the league’s machinery starting to hum. The NBA has been waiting for Wemby to matter in May. Now he does.

The Wolves’ job is to make sure this series doesn’t become his coronation.

With that, here are the keys to Game 1.

1. Defense Has to Be the Anchor Again

Minnesota beat Denver because its defense became the defining force of the series. Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels suffocated Jokic and Jamal Murray. Against San Antonio, the assignment changes. The Spurs are not as dependent on two players in the exact same way Denver was, but Gobert and McDaniels remain the foundation of everything Minnesota needs to do defensively.

Gobert now gets the ultimate French basketball legacy duel: the master against the prodigy. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year against the player who has inherited his throne as the most terrifying defensive presence alive. Rudy is not going to out-shine Wemby. That’s not the job. The job is to be physical, disciplined, and stubborn. Make Wembanyama feel contact. Push him off his spots. Make him work through strength instead of letting him glide into rhythm.

McDaniels, meanwhile, has to be everywhere. He won’t have one clean Murray-style assignment all series. He’ll need to hound ball handlers, switch onto wings, fight through screens, recover, contest, and generally keep the Spurs from getting comfortable in their offense.

But the gameplan can’t rely on two players alone. This has to be a full-team defensive effort. Ayo Dosunmu needs to bring perimeter pressure. Jaylen Clark may need to enter with his rabid-wolverine act and turn the energy up another notch. Randle, Naz Reid, Shannon, Conley… everyone has to be connected.

2. Make Wembanyama Feel It

Wemby is not Jokic. You cannot guard him the same way. You cannot attack him the same way. But you can make this series physically taxing, and that starts with Julius Randle.

This is a huge Randle series. Maybe the defining series of his Wolves tenure so far. Because if there is one player on Minnesota who can put a shoulder into Wembanyama’s chest, force him to absorb contact, and make him deal with brute strength over and over again, it’s Julius.

We’ve seen those two clash before. Wemby’s length is absurd, but his frame can still be tested by a motivated, aggressive Randle. The Wolves need bully-ball Julius to body Wemby and send him skittering around the floor like a baby giraffe.

Make him work. Make him defend. Make him absorb contact. Make him fight for position. Make every possesion take its toll.

Young legs or not, playoff physicality adds up.

3. Attack Smarter

This is where the Wolves have to make the biggest adjustment. Against Denver, the answer was obvious: get downhill, attack the basket, and force Jokic into defensive decisions he did not want to make. That plan won the series.

Against San Antonio, that same plan could get your shot sent into the third row.

The Wolves still need paint touches. They still need to collapse the defense, but it can’t be reckless. You cannot drive into Wembanyama without a plan. You cannot challenge him just to challenge him. This has to be smarter offense.

That means floaters, pull-ups, quick decisions, drive-and-kick. Make Wemby move and keep him guessing. Pull him away from the rim when possible. Use spacing to stretch him out before attacking behind him.

If the Wolves simply try to recreate the Denver rim-pressure formula, San Antonio will eat them alive. The attack has to evolve.

4. Knock Down Your Shots

This is the series where the three-point line becomes life support. Minnesota survived a poor shooting night against Denver because the rim was available. That luxury is gone. Against the Spurs, the Wolves need to punish space when they get it.

That is where the loss of Edwards and DiVincenzo stings. Those are two high-volume, high-confidence three-point shooters. Without them, the burden shifts. Ayo, McDaniels, and Naz have to hit.

The Wolves don’t need to shoot 45 percent from three, but they cannot live in the 20s.

Against Wembanyama, empty possessions are brutal because clean looks are harder to generate. When the ball moves and the open shot appears, it has to go down. Mid-30s or better from deep probably gives Minnesota a real chance. Anything below that, and the math starts to suffocate them.

5. Someone Has to Become the Hero

Until Edwards returns, this is the reality. Someone has to step through the door every night.

In Game 4 against Denver, it was Ayo with 43. In Game 6, it was Jaden with 32 and the performance of his life, and Terrence Shannon Jr. went from emergency option to playoff contributor.

The Wolves cannot survive this series by asking for one guy to replace Ant. That guy does not exist. They need a rotating cast of heroes. One night it might be Randle bullying Wemby. One night it might be McDaniels turning defense into offense. One night it might be Naz catching fire. One night Shannon might hit San Antonio with a downhill burst they weren’t ready for.

This is where depth, belief, and momentum all collide. Minnesota has to keep finding unlikely answers until its superstar returns.

The Next Mountain

The Wolves just took down Denver, and that should mean something.

Not just because the Nuggets were their biggest rival. Not just because Jokic is the best player alive. Not just because they did it without their starting backcourt. It matters because it proved something about this group. The switch that we spent all season begging them to flip?

It’s on now.

This team is playing connected, hard, unselfish, desperate basketball, and that gives them a chance.

But San Antonio is not Denver. Wembanyama is not Jokic. The Spurs are not old legs waiting to be worn down. This is a new puzzle, and the Wolves cannot win this series by replaying the last one. They have to adapt. They have to grow. They have to find a new way.

And they have to do it shorthanded.

That is the challenge.

But after what we just saw against Denver, who’s ready to say they can’t?

This team has already authored one improbable chapter. Now comes the next one. A new giant. A new series. A new test of whether this undermanned pack can keep hunting.

Game 1 is where we start find out if the Denver series was the peak…

…or just the beginning.

The Mavericks ended the year 26-56, a 12th-place finish in the West. They split their final two games with a loss to San Antonio (139-120) and a win at home against Chicago (149-128). Cooper Flagg led the team in scoring this year with 21 points per game. In fact, he led the team in total points (1473), rebounds (466), assists (316), and steals (84). 

Grade: C+

Dallas had one of the strangest seasons of any team in recent memory. From the moment the NBA calendar flipped over in June until the final game, there was no shortage of drama for the Mavericks. It began with Dallas selecting Cooper Flagg number one in the draft, adding a remarkable young talent to a team with a lot of veteran experience. Playoff dreams were still on the table when the season began, but they fizzled out quickly. From the moment Nico Harrison was fired on November 11, 2025, the expectations and focus of the organization shifted towards the future.

Dallas did its best to give us entertaining basketball in a season that should have had none. They played the most clutch games in the league (45), but went just 17-28. They were fourth in pace (~102.6 possessions per game) and had a lot of fun performances. Cooper Flagg scored 51 points, Naji Marshall had a near 30-point triple-double, and even Khris Middleton exploded for 35 points in just 25 minutes against the Grizzlies.

Of course, with the updated expectations came the balance between blatant tanking and losing the “ethical” way. Dallas opted for the latter most of the time, but because they still had Flagg and other talented players, they ultimately fell short of securing a top chance at the number one pick. Dallas will enter next week’s draft lottery with the eighth-best odds at a consecutive number one selection and just a 29 percent chance to move into the top four.

The first month of the season was an unenjoyable mess, and the really fun moments were few and far between after that. The Mavericks were always going to be behind the eight ball this year, but even still, their performance did not warrant anything better than a C+. By March, or maybe even before, consistent watchers were anticipating the sweet release of game 82. It is all over now, and the excitement will only build.

Straight A’s: Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg capped off his sensational rookie campaign by becoming the 19th number one pick to win Rookie of the Year. The list is littered with Hall of Famers and All-Stars, and Flagg projects to be just that. His season averages of 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.1 stocks (steals plus blocks) were all top five in rookie rankings, including number one in points per game. He provided some of the most incredible rookie moments we have seen in recent memory, like the aforementioned 51-point game and a 49-point, 10-rebound explosion against his Duke roommate and Rookie of the Year runner-up, Kon Knueppel. There was so much to love about Flagg in his first NBA season, but instead of telling you, I will leave you with 20 minutes of his best plays: 

Failed the class: Nico Harrison’s vision

Harrison’s tenure in Dallas will, of course, go down in infamy. Not just as a touchy subject for Mavericks fans, but as the poster boy for modern dysfunction in American sports. Harrison traded Luka Doncic in the name of defense, and it was on Anthony Davis’ frail shoulders to show the world that Harrison was right. Unfortunately, for both of them, this vision crashed and burned in spectacular fashion.

Davis played just five games, with Dallas winning two of them, before getting hurt. By the time he came back, the Mavericks had dug themselves into a 5-14 hole, and one that they could not dig themselves out of. During that absence, general manager Nico Harrison was fired, and Davis only played 20 games for Dallas before getting traded to Washington in February.

All in all, Harrison’s gamble had two glaring oversights. He did not realize the emotional importance that Luka Doncic had. This was made clear in his press conference after a disastrous end to the 2025 season. He also failed to realize that you need a point guard in the modern NBA. Dallas started rookie forward Cooper Flagg at point guard for nearly a month to begin the year, and the options they had when they moved on from that plan were not much better. Defense cannot win championships if your offense cannot score. And so, down went Harrison alongside his ambitious idea.

Extra Credit: Jason Kidd

With so much going on around the team this year, playing hard on a nightly basis is a tough ask. Yet, they did, and they did so without any excuses. There are a lot of negatives you could discuss with this team, but effort is not one of them. And that starts with the coach. Jason Kidd has his flaws. He is too experimental in the regular season, he is weird in postgame press conferences, and he has all but explicitly stated he was in on the Luka Doncic trade. But one thing has remained consistent in his time as head coach: he gets his team to play hard. And if Kidd is going to be with the Mavericks long-term, that is a good quality to have in your head coach.