Category: Basketball

Tommy Lloyd signed a new deal.

So did Nate Oats.

Dusty May is a "no" as well.

So where does North Carolina turn now for its open men's basketball coach position? Here are 10 names to consider:

Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls

Donovan is the big fish still swimming in the pond. Can UNC hook him? Donovan has been linked since the Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis on March 24. The Bulls' season ends April 12, and they won't be in the playoffs. Is UNC willing to wait and miss out on the first week of the transfer portal? For the right fit, why not? Plus, the Bulls are reportedly set for a front office shakeup, so it may be time to jump ship.

After 11 years away from college basketball, is Donovan ready for a return to campus? College ball is basically pro ball, anyway now. He'd be the candidate most UNC fans are pinning their hopes on after other high-profile rejections.

Mark Byington, Vanderbilt

Byington, 49, played at UNC Wilmington and was an assistant at Virginia and Virginia Tech, so he's got some familiarity with the state and ACC. He may not have the name recognition as some of the other coaches linked to the job, but he's averaged 25 wins across his past four seasons as a head coach, including 27 victories this season in his second year at Vanderbilt

He’s never made a Sweet 16, but he’s never been at a program like North Carolina, either.

Todd Golden and Nate Oats had never been to a Sweet 16 before coaching at Florida and Alabama, respectively. Now, they’re two of the best coaches in the sport.

Sean Miller, Texas

Miller is a winner. He's coached in 14 NCAA tournaments, reached the Sweet 16 nine times and the Elite Eight four times.

Miller spent five seasons on Herb Sendek's NC State staff, so knows the state. His firing at Arizona will raise some red flags with his involvement in 2017 Adidas FBI probe, but if Rick Pitino, Will Wade and Bill Self (among others involved) can still coach at the top level, why shouldn't Miller?

He just finished his first season at Texas, going 21-15, taking the Longhorns from the First Four to the Sweet 16, and a last-second tip-in away from the Elite Eight.

Ben McCollum, Iowa

McCollum is a proven winner at multiple levels and a program builder. The 44-year-old coach won four Division II national championships before jumping to the Division I level. He's won more than 80% of his games, leading Drake to 31 wins before making the move to Iowa and taking the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Tournament this season. Imagine what he could do with a blue-blood program?

Scott Drew, Baylor

Two years ago, Drew claimed a spot near the top of Kentucky’s wish list. He turned down the Wildcats, a humbling blow to UK. Two years later, you must wonder whether Drew would benefit from a restart. His Baylor team went 16-16 and got trampled within the Big 12. Drew last reached a Sweet 16 in 2021, when he produced a national title.

Take the macro view, and Drew’s Baylor accomplishments are phenomenal. He rescued from the trash bin a program that had been rocked by a deadly scandal. He took the Bears up, up, up, until they reached the top of the sport.

Zoom in, and you realize Drew’s best days at Baylor are behind him. He’s still widely respected, and if Drew, 55, is ever going to leave Baylor, right now is likely his last best chance.

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis

Schertz was in the mix for the NC State job before saying he was staying with SLU. Would UNC make him reconsider?

Like McCollum, Schertz cut his teeth coaching in Division II, reaching four Final Fours at Lincoln Memorial. His 2024 Indiana State team was electric — and an NCAA Tournament snub before reaching the NIT final. He's rebuilt Saint Louis in just two seasons and plays a brand of basketball that's easy on the eye.

Grant McCasland, Texas Tech

All but one of his 12 seasons as a head coach have been in Texas. It'll likely be hard to pry him East, especially with the deep pockets in Lubbock.

But he'd be an interesting option. Another former Division II and JUCO head coach, McCasland's teams win. He won the NIT at North Texas in 2023 and led Texas Tech to the Elite Eight in 2025. Had JT Toppin not gotten hurt this year, who knows how far the Red Raiders could have advanced.

Jerry Stackhouse, Golden State assistant

Stackhouse is a candidate if the Tar Heels stay in the family, His Vanderbilt tenure was up and down, and before the Commodores really dipped into the NIL space. He had two winning seasons in his five years in Nashville, but that 28-60 SEC record will be hard for UNC fans to swallow.

Mike Malone, former NBA coach

An underrated possibility, the 54-year-old Malone is a championship-caliber coach and has a daughter who plays volleyball at UNC. He’s been around the Tar Heels’ basketball program at times and has history as a college and NBA coach. Malone led the Denver Nuggets to an NBA title in 2023.

T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State

If UNC wants to build its identity around defense, Otzelberger is the guy to do it. The 48-year-old coach has produced top-10 defensive units in four of his five seasons at Iowa State. The Cyclones are elite at creating turnovers. The Heels would have a clear identity and structured program under Otzelberger. Considering what he's built in Ames, this could be UNC's safest, most reliable option.

USA TODAY Sports reporters Blake Toppmeyer and John Brice contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UNC basketball coach candidates: Names to consider as search continues

NEW YORK (AP) — Nolan Traore hit five three-pointers and finished with 23 points and seven assists, Jalen Wilson added 19 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 121-115 on Sunday.

The Wizards (17-61) have a two-game lead on the Nets (19-59) for the best lottery odds. Indiana is 18-58 entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland.

Washington has lost six in a row and 22 of its past 23. The Wizards had given up 305 combined points in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia (153-131) and Miami (152-136).

Brooklyn won for just the second time in its past 14 games.

Will Riley, who had a career-high 31 points Saturday against the Heat, scored 30, Jamir Watkins added 20 points, and Julian Reese had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards. Anthony Gill also scored 17 points and Bub Carrington had 13 points.

E.J. Liddell and Josh Minott each scored 15 for Brooklyn. Drake Powell added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 12.

Watkins hit a three-pointer that gave the Wizards a four-point lead with 3:50 left in the game. The Nets answered with an 8-0 run that culminated when Traore made a layup that made it 109-105 with two minutes remaining and Brooklyn led the rest of the way.

Leaky Black responded with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to a point, but Wilson and Traore hit back-to-back threes before Trevon Scott’s layup made it 117-108 with 42 seconds to go.

Up next

Wizards: Host Chicago on Tuesday and Thursday.

Nets: Host Milwaukee on Tuesday.

The Washington Wizards lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 121-115 on Easter Sunday. This game was important for the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery! The Brooklyn Nets coming in a full game behind the Wizards in the standings, and if the Wizards managed not to lose, they would enlarge that gap to 2 full games!

Yes, the Wizards were standing at 17-60, and the Nets at 18-59.

Things started well for the Nets (and the Wizards’ Draft Lottery hopes) as the Nets stormed to a 35-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. Traore and Agbaji were hitting their threes, and on the other side the Wizards were kept in the game by their 6th man of the month, Will Riley, who would go on to score 15 points in 20 minutes of action in the first half alone.

Indeed, the second quarter shifted towards the Wizards, much thanks to Riley, and at halftime the scoreboard showed a close contest 59-54 in favor of the hosts in Brooklyn.

The Nets came strong out of the gates in the locker-room, pushing the lead quickly (within less than a minute) to double digits after two quick turnovers by the Wizards. Four quick buckets by the Wizards showed they are in this game, and the remainder of the third quarter remained close with several lead changes. Ultimately, the Nets took a one-point lead 85-84 heading into the final stanza.

The final quarter started with a couple quick buckets by Gil and Watkins, with Washington taking a small but quick lead 89-85. And, the contest remained close! The scoreboard showed 105-105, knotted up, with less than three minutes to go.

At that point the Nets made two quick buckets, by Powell and Traore (who is shaping up to be quite a player), but Leaky Black answered with a clutch three, 109-108 with 100 seconds to go. Traore then drew a couple defenders and sprayed out to Jalen Wilson who nailed a clutch three of his own from straight ahead, 112-108 in favor of the nets, with 92 seconds on the clock.

Timeout for the Wizards.

Whatever the ATO was, Will Riley turned the ball over in-bounding…. Jalen Wilson heat-check for a dagger three, missed, but after a rebound, Traore (who else) came up big with a three, 115-108 for the Nets, and the game was pretty much sealed.

Some stats to close: Anthony Gil played 40+ minutes. Black, Reese, and Watkins topped 42 minutes. Overall the Wizards were decent with 55 percent from the field and 36 from deep. But they missed a ton from the charity stripe (18-for-28). Will Riley led the Wizards in scoring with 28 in 35 minutes off the bench.

Traore led the Nets with 23 points including 5-for-11 from deep in 28 minutes. Nobody on the Nets actually played more than 29 minutes. Which makes sense.

The Wizards now return home where they will face the Chicago Bulls twice in the last stretch of the regular season.

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 115-101 on Sunday.

Neemias Queta had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Payton Pritchard scored 17 points for the Celtics, who won their third straight to move closer to clinching second place in the Eastern Conference.

Ja’Kobe Walter led Toronto with 16 points, and Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each had 15.

Celtics center Nikola Vucevic returned after missing a month following surgery for a broken right ring finger. He looked a bit rusty, scoring just four points in 13 minutes with four rebounds.

Coming off consecutive games of putting up at least 43 points in the opening quarter, the Celtics looked a bit sluggish and were cold from long range early, missing 13 of their initial 16 shots from 3-point range. The teams were tied at 26 after one.

Fighting for a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference to avoid the play-in tournament, the Raptors were outscored 35-24 in the final quarter that was filled with their turnovers and breakdowns defensively. Walter even missed all three free throw attempts on one trip to the line.

BUCKS 131, GRIZZLIES 115

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ryan Rollins scored 24 points and Milwaukee withstood a triple-double from Memphis’ Rayan Rupert to outlast the Grizzlies in an afternoon matchup of short-handed, lottery-bound teams.

Rupert established new career highs with 33 points and 10 assists, and he matched a career best with 10 rebounds. The 21-year-old Rupert entered Sunday averaging 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists.

Milwaukee snapped an eight-game skid in this series and beat the Grizzlies for the first time since a 126-114 decision on Jan. 19, 2022. The Bucks committed 20 turnovers but shot 60.2% overall and went 16 of 32 on 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies have lost four straight and 17 of their last 19.

Memphis had so many injury-related absences that it dressed four players on 10-day contracts (Dariq Whitehead, Toby Okani, Lucas Williamson, Adama Bal).

NETS 121, WIZARDS 115

NEW YORK (AP) — Nolan Traore hit five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and seven assists, Jalen Wilson added 19 points and Brooklyn beat Washington.

The Wizards (17-61) have a two-game on the Nets (19-59) for the best lottery odds. Indiana is 18-58 entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland.

Washington has lost six in a row and 22 of its past 23. The Wizards had given up 305 combined points in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia ( 153-131 ) and Miami ( 152-136 ).

Brooklyn won for just the second time in its past 14 games.

Will Riley, who had a career-high 31 points Saturday against the Heat, scored 30, Jamir Watkins added 20 points, and Julian Reese had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards. Anthony Gill also scored 17 points and Bub Carrington had 13 points.

E.J. Liddell and Josh Minott each scored 15 for Brooklyn. Drake Powell added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 12.

SUNS 120, BULLS 110

CHICAGO (AP) — Devin Booker scored 30 points, Jalen Green added 25 and Phoenix ended the game on an 11-2 run to top Chicago.

Dillon Brooks scored 15, and the Suns shook off back-to-back losses at Orlando and Charlotte.

The Suns led by 13 late in the third quarter before the Bulls went on an 11-0 run. They were clinging to a 109-108 advantage with about three minutes remaining when Brooks hit a turnaround jumper to start the decisive run and added a 3-pointer.

The Bulls missed four shots on their next possession, including three straight at point-blank range by Leonard Miller, before Booker made a 3 to make 117-108 with 1:33 remaining.

Chicago’s Josh Giddey (strained left hamstring) and Matas Buzelis (illness) missed the game. And with their two best players out, the Bulls lost their seventh in a row.

Tre Jones scored 29 for Chicago. Collin Sexton had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Miller scored 17.

In a very messy, stop‑and‑go kind of game that wasn’t exactly pleasant to watch, the Suns pulled out a 120–110 win against a courageous Chicago team. The matchup was defined by constant rhythm swings, sloppiness, and physical intensity. In short: a classic Sunday game at a European-friendly tipoff.

The night was highlighted by Booker and Green on the Suns’ side (54 points combined), and by Tre Jones (29 points) along with the Miller/Sexton duo (35 points and 20 rebounds between them) for the Chicago piece. Phoenix shot the ball relatively well (50% from the field, 40% from three), didn’t get crushed too badly on the boards (41 vs 46), and dominated in forcing turnovers: 18 turnovers created, 10 steals.

The win moves the Suns to 43-35 on the season.

---

Game Flow

First Half

Rough start, clearly. Tons of sloppiness on both sides: Chicago coughing up the ball, Phoenix stacking up short misses. It takes 2–3 minutes before Devin Booker finally gets the Suns on the board with a fadeaway. In the middle of this messy opening, Leonard Miller is already locked in: 8 points in 4 minutes, mixing it up perfectly (drive, corner three, transition).

First real turning point: as expected, the Bulls impose their presence on the glass and push the pace. Push it hard. As a result, Phoenix’s paint is under pressure, and offensive possessions become rushed and poorly constructed. After six minutes, Chicago is in control (12–19). Jordan Ott goes to his bench: Grayson Allen first, then Oso Ighodaro, Collin Gillespie, and Royce O’Neale.

End of the quarter is more encouraging for Phoenix. The defense ramps up, gets more aggressive, disrupts Chicago’s flow, and slows down transition, but at the cost of fouls. Offensively, though, it’s still very poor: little movement, lots of static situations, and points coming almost exclusively from individual creation. Despite that, the Suns manage to stay afloat and tie it up: 30–30 after one.

The main issue remains obvious: Chicago scores way too easily in transition. The Suns’ transition defense and overall floor balance are not good enough and need to be fixed quickly.

Start of the second quarter follows the same pattern: the Bulls keep hurting Phoenix in transition, and the Suns still struggle to match the pace. Offensively, it’s a bit cleaner, more fluid in stretches, but still heavily reliant on individual talent — mainly Jalen Green and Collin Gillespie. The point guard does a genuinely good job as a creator, repeatedly finding Oso Ighodaro on pick‑and‑rolls, helping Phoenix take the lead (39–38).

First real adjustment from the Suns: they play faster, but more importantly, they play smarter. Physical intensity rises, transition defense improves, and Chicago is gradually forced into half-court offense. Immediate result: bad decisions pile up for the Bulls, shots get tougher, and turnovers increase (already 10 with four minutes left in the half, shooting percentage dropping below 50%). Phoenix capitalizes and builds its first real gap (52–47).

But as has been the theme of this first half, the end of the quarter collapses into chaos again. Sloppy, choppy, poorly managed. Phoenix’s defense holds up, but the offense wastes possessions instantly: 5 turnovers in just a few minutes. Jordan Ott calls a timeout with 3 minutes left (54–49). Despite the messy stretch, the Suns limit the damage and head to the locker room up 63–56.

Worth noting: Grayson Allen already has 4 fouls, and Phoenix gave up way too many free throws (13 team fouls). On the bright side, they dominated the rebounding battle in the second quarter (15–6). Individually, Jalen Green is on fire: 18 first‑half points with a real impact on the offensive rhythm.

Second Half

Phoenix comes out of the locker room locked in. This time, they dictate the pace from the jump — and even outrun the Bulls. The offense is sharper, cleaner, and more decisive, and it shows immediately: +10. Billy Donovan has to burn a timeout quickly (69–59).

Phoenix stays in control afterward. The plan is clear and well executed: limit Chicago’s transition and force them to play in the halfcourt. And collectively, the Suns do a solid job. The Bulls remain dangerous whenever they can run, but overall, they’re contained. On the other end, Phoenix keeps producing and maintains a solid lead (82–69 with four minutes left in the quarter).

And then… another collapse. Again. The end of the quarter completely kills the momentum. Just when Phoenix seemed in control, the lead doesn’t grow — it evaporates. A 13–2 run allowed, with the offense going totally silent. No field goals in the last four minutes, only free throws. Instead of putting the game away, the Suns let Chicago right back in it.

86–84 heading into the fourth. Everything resets.

Start of the fourth is fairly balanced. Both teams score, but no real run emerges. The rhythm is constantly broken: fouls, turnovers, interference calls… the game never finds flow. Phoenix still holds a small edge (102–97) with seven minutes left.

Tension rises, but the Suns handle it reasonably well at first, especially physically. The tempo slows down — maybe too much. In trying to control the game, Phoenix lets Chicago hang around, giving up easy buckets both inside and from three. Jordan Ott calls a timeout with four minutes left (109–106), aware that the game could swing.

And then, individual talent takes over. Dillon Brooks, quiet until then, completely shifts the momentum: valuable connective play on offense, strong defensive impact, influence on both ends. At the same time, Devin Booker takes command in the clutch and punishes Chicago, pushing the lead to +9 with 1:30 left.

The Bulls fade on the final possessions, and Phoenix closes it out without trembling: 120–110.

---

Up Next

After this hard‑earned win, Phoenix will host the Rockets to kick off the final week of the regular season.

NEW YORK (AP) — Nolan Traore hit five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and seven assists, Jalen Wilson added 19 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 121-115 on Sunday.

The Wizards (17-61) have a two-game on the Nets (19-59) for the best lottery odds. Indiana is 18-58 entering Sunday's game at Cleveland.

Washington has lost six in a row and 22 of its past 23. The Wizards had given up 305 combined points in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia ( 153-131 ) and Miami ( 152-136 ).

Brooklyn won for just the second time in its past 14 games.

Will Riley, who had a career-high 31 points Saturday against the Heat, scored 30, Jamir Watkins added 20 points, and Julian Reese had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards. Anthony Gill also scored 17 points and Bub Carrington had 13 points.

E.J. Liddell and Josh Minott each scored 15 for Brooklyn. Drake Powell added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 12.

Watkins hit a 3-pointer that gave the Wizards a four-point lead with 3:50 left in the game. The Nets answered with an 8-0 run that culminated when Traore made layup that made it 109-105 with two minutes remaining and Brooklyn led the rest of the way.

Leaky Black responded with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to a point, but Wilson and Traore hit back-to-back 3s before Trevon Scott's layup made it 117-108 with 42 seconds to go.

Up next

Wizards: Host Chicago on Tuesday and Thursday.

Nets: Host Milwaukee on Tuesday.

___

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

The Spurs played one of the most entertaining games of the season in Denver on Saturday. Unfortunately, it ended with a painful loss in overtime for the Silver and Black, which helped confirm the concerns of the skeptics about San Antonio’s chances to execute down the stretch against top-level opponents in games with playoff intensity.

In reality, the loss, while annoying, is actually encouraging for the Spurs. It doesn’t make it sting any less, because the team seemed to have it in the bag a couple of times, but it showed just how high the ceiling of this group is, even when they are not at their best. Let’s break it down.

The Spurs made a lot of mistakes and still almost won the game

Close losses to other contenders are discouraging when a team plays almost flawless basketball, and it’s still not enough. When your best falls short, it’s time to reconsider whether you can actually measure up with the top dogs. But the Spurs did not play near their best down the stretch, and they still had a chance to beat an opponent the consensus believes can win a championship.

While rewatching the fourth quarter, here are the mistakes in judgment I could see:

• With Jokic off the court and Valanciunas reeling defensively, Wembanyama takes a pull-up three with 18 seconds on the clock instead of running anything. Not one pass on the play.
• With Jokic back on the floor, the Spurs get Dylan Harper a switch to attack Jokic and he settles for a three instead of driving to collapse the defense or try to get to the rim, where his finishing is elite.
• Wembanyama is guarding Jokic. It gets physical, and Wemby flops to get the official’s attention. They don’t call the foul, and Jokic has a clear path to score at the rim.
• After a Keldon Johnson missed three, the Spurs get back in transition, but no one rushes to pick up Jamal Murray as the trailer, and Murray hits a lightly contested three.
• Keldon Johnson passes up a good three with eight seconds in the shot clock. Spurs try to reset with Harper attacking with the shot winding down, but turn it over, and allow a transition bucket.

Again, these are just errors in judgment, not execution. The possessions in which the ball got sticky and the Spurs didn’t find an open shooter quickly enough, or, for example, when De’Aaron Fox closed out too recklessly on a three for a four-point play, are not counted. The focus is also on process over result, so Harrison Barnes airballing an open three or Castle travelling on an isolation against Hardway Jr., for example, aren’t on this list.

No team is perfect, and the Nuggets also had their errors, but those are a lot of mistakes for San Antonio, especially against an opponent that can capitalize on them. Looking at that list, you’d imagine the Spurs got crushed in the fourth quarter, but they only lost by four and held a two-possession lead in the final minute.

The coaching and execution have plenty of room to improve

Now, since the biggest knock on the Spurs as legitimate contenders is their youth and lack of experience, some would say that the fact they lost because of poor decision-making shows that there are plenty of reasons for concern. But the game was also lost strategically, and that shouldn’t happen in a playoff series where obvious adjustments are expected.

Again, just focusing on the fourth quarter and overtime, there were plenty of tweaks Mitch Johnson could have made to counter the Nuggets’ play. One of the main ones involved Nikola Jokic. Denver hid The Joker on Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, and Stephon Castle, alternatively. Instead of getting the big man involved in the main action and forcing him to defend either Wembanyama or a guard after a switch, they largely allowed Jokic to rest on defense, as he stood near the corner, barely contesting shots if the ball moved to his man.

So if they were not hunting Jokic, what were the Spurs doing on offense? They were running a lot of their plays through Wembanyama at the elbow. When Wemby got Jamal Murray on a switch, that was a good outcome, as he either scored or someone got an open three after a double team. The problem was that whenever Aaron Gordon managed to recover and guard Wemby, he struggled against one of the best defenders in the league, either taking off-balance shots or holding the ball for too long and passing out with the shot clock about to expire.

Is it worrisome that the adjustments never came? Only if you believe that Johnson wouldn’t make them if these two teams met in the playoffs.

The Spurs probably needed this loss to keep them sharp

It has to be at least somewhat reassuring to see that this Spurs team is so talented that there were a couple of plays away from winning the game. If Wemby doesn’t botch the switch in the tying Nuggets’ bucket in regulation or hits the would-be game-winner, the discourse would be completely different. Had Fox made a slightly better pass or had Vassell been able to control the ball in the alley-oop attempt to tie it with 23 seconds to go, maybe San Antonio would have ended up winning.

At the same time, a lot of games, especially close postseason games, come down to a handful of plays. The Spurs need to be the ones who are sharper, and they were not getting tested much in the past couple of months. There are no moral victories for contenders, but there are learning experiences, and this was one. Even the players agreed.

“A game like this is something that we needed, especially with the games we’ve been playing the past week and a half, with some teams that are not fighting for what we are fighting for,” said Julian Champagnie. “Obviously, we lost, and that’s not the outcome you want to leave with, but I think that when we go back and watch the film, there will be a lot of valuable things that we can take from that.”

Meanwhile, Wembanyama called the matchup “fun” and touched on the same topics as Champagnie:

“My conclusion for this game is that it’s good for us. Everything that happened tonight is good for us. It’s a real test against a team that actually is playing for something right now. It had a little bit of playoff vibes.”

A win would have been ideal, and was within grasp, but the loss reminded the Spurs they need to clean things up as the postseason approaches, which is undoubtedly a good thing.

“I’ve always told the players from the first week that I was here that winning starts now,” Jordi Fernández said pregame today. “And for a lot of people, winning means different things. You can see a win on the standings — that’s a win for some. Development can be a win. Real minutes in the NBA can be a win.”

Today, it would have been a loss.

Let’s not kid ourselves. For the Brooklyn Nets and visiting Washington Wizards’ organizations, today’s “game” was all about picking up a key loss to better position themselves for the upcoming NBA draft lottery. Washington came in today with a half game lead over Brooklyn for the top lottery slot. Both teams have just four remaining games, and if the Nets lost, they’d jump into a tie for first.

If you were looking for a contested, high-stakes basketball experience, featuring the heart-pumping, competitive thrill all forms of competition rely and thrive on, the Barclays Center simply was not the place for you or it today.

Calling the injury report a “laundry list” doesn’t do it enough justice. Between the two teams, the following players did not suit up this afternoon:

• Ben Saraf (back tightness)
• Noah Clowney (left ankle soreness)
• Terance Mann (right patella tendon soreness/left achilles soreness)
• Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness)
• Nic Claxton (right hand soreness)
• Danny Wolf (left ankle sprain)
• Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring strain)
• Day’Ron Sharpe (left thumb surgery)
• Egor Dëmin (left plantar fascia injury management)
• Justin Champagnie (right knee contusion)
• Bilal Coulibaly (right retrocalcaneal bursitis)
• Anthony Davis (left finger sprain)
• Kyshawn George (left elbow sprain)
• Tre Johnson (right foot sprain)
• Alex Sarr (left big toe capsulitis)
• Trisitan Vukcevic (right knee contusion)
• Cam Whitmore (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis)
• D’Angelo Russell (not with the team)
• Trae Young (low back pain/right quad contusion)

There are civil war histories with less populated casualty lists!

Still with us? Gravy! That left each team with only a handful of players available, many having spent the majority of this season in the G-League. Brooklyn started with Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Jalen Wilson, E.J. Liddell, and Chaney Johnson. For the latter two, this was their first career start at the pro level.

For a while, it didn’t look too shabby. Even with a motley crew out there, the Nets had an easy time setting up early offense. With how they welcomed any and all Brooklyn ball-handlers inside, you would’ve thought the Wizards were training to be hosts at Applebee’s. Even Jalen Wilson, who’s not exactly known for putting pressure on the rim, got through for some paint points in the first.

That put an abundance of drive and kick threes on the Easter menu early. The Nets opened the game 6-8 from deep, and in a flash, were up double digits.

“Little bit of game flow, little bit of just taking what I get,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to just be so stuck on threes and limit myself. Like being able to get downhill, not only looking to get to the cup, but looking for my teammates. You know, when the paint collapses, we got guys ready to spray.”

But while Washington couldn’t match Brooklyn’s shooting, the Net defense wasn’t so strong either, particularly on the glass. The Wizards wingardium leviosa’d nine offensive rebounds in the first half for 15 second chance points. The Nets have understandably struggled on the boards since losing Day’Ron Sharpe for the season. Johnson stood as their tallest player today, being just six-foot-nine.

That clean up work from Washington helped them cut the lead to four with 6:06 remaining in the second, yet Brooklyn remained ahead at halftime. Even as the Nets cooled off from three, missing their next nine attempts after the 6-8 start, the Washington defense remained laughably weak. The Nets quit getting fancy, now just taking what their opponent kept giving them, and scored 22 paint points in the second after notching just 12 there in the first. That kept them afloat by five at the break.

Highlights were hard to come by in this game, but Josh Minott provided what he could. He had seven points and two blocks at the break. Wilson led with 13 points at halftime, followed by Traoré with 10, and Ochai Agbaji with eight.

“The dunk he had was crazy,” Wilson said of Minott’s jam. “I think Josh has played with such a high motor, and he’s confident himself. We’re all confident him shooting the ball, guarding good players. I think his hands are very active, and I feel like when he’s playing with that good pace, it boosts us a lot too, because he makes plays that get the crowd involved.”

WHY NOT MINOTT!!! 🆙 pic.twitter.com/VqrHnnITLM

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 5, 2026

When play resumed, the Nets had a hard time getting their engines up and running once more. For starters, there were a series of clock malfunctions in the period that made it tough for anyone to get into rhythm. Bub Carrington also started to heat up at the other end, at one point hitting a three that tied us at 73-73 with 4:13 to go in the third.

Bub with the fadeaway 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kafBM7yVKs

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 5, 2026

Still, Brooklyn trotted into the fourth with an 85-84 lead. After being -8 in second chance points, they rebounded literally and figuratively in the third, allowing just one offensive board and two second chance points. They did, however, nearly double their turnover output from the first half, giving it away five times in the third.

Down the stretch, fixing that ended up being their saving grace, or damnation, depending on how you feel about tanking.

The Wizards started the fourth with a 5-0 jolt that gave them their first lead of the ballgame. All of a sudden, the Nets were missing layups, giving up open lanes to the basket, and all sorts of things that if clipped and posted online would create viral hysteria as tanking accusations stack.

But the Nets, as the admirable, yet frustratingly gritty team they’ve been for two years now, battled back with eight straight. It was no heavyweight fight, but two fighters going punch for punch with each other never fails to entertain, and that’s what we saw down the stretch. Will Riley was the guy for Washington, adding 12 points in the fourth. The Nets continued to rely on a balanced attack. With a little over two and a half to go, we were tied 105-105.

Then, after a few missed bunnies by both teams, the Nets had their second 8-0 run in the period, ignited by a handful of Washington turnovers. The Nets played an entirely clean final period, while turning the Wizards over five times for 13 points.

Drake with the steal + tough bucket 😤 pic.twitter.com/gLHqmfI3Fu

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 5, 2026

“Very clean with the spacing and handling,” Fernández said. “That’s a big reason why we won, to your point, having zero in the fourth. That’s how you win games in the NBA.”

Indeed, after Traoré and Wilson hit back-to-back threes, each a handful of feet beyond the arc, you knew we were headed for another victory most Nets fans will roll their eyes at. Brooklyn went on a 12-3 run to break the tie, take the game, and pass up on the best chance to take the best player this summer.

However, everyone was naturally concentrated on the win postgame, especially Traoré’s role in it. Much has been said of the rookie point guard lately with how he’s seemingly run into the “rookie wall,” but today, he looked spry.

“Yeah, I think he did a great job on this game, especially towards the end,” Fernández said. “Even though at times it gets a little rocky with the amount of games and so forth, it’s part of the NBA, and he’s a rookie, so he’s always trying to do the right thing.”

“He’s a point guard, he’s a rookie in NBA, and he’s leading us, putting us in positions to succeed offensively, defensively, vocalizing everything it needs to,” Wilson added. “I think that the development that he’s, you know, from day one to now, it’s amazing. I’m pleased with his attitude, his work, and trying to do the right things. And today, he was able to close the game. Obviously, you cannot control always making shots, but he made the right play over and over, and at the end of the day, that’s a big reason why we won.”

Traoré finished as the leading scorer for the Nets with career-high 23 points and seven dimes while shooting 7-18 from the field and 5-9 from three. Wilson followed with a 19/4/5 line, shooting 6-9 from the field and 2-4 from deep. Liddell also had a career-high with 15 points after shooting 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from deep. He also blocked two shots, grabbed five rebounds, and dished two assists.

In past instances, I’ve advised against getting too worked up over occasional wins for this team. After all, top odds don’t guarantee a top pick, and even with as little as four games left, there’s a number of variables in play that could alter how Brooklyn’s draft goes. At the moment though, the Nets are two games behind the Wizards in lottery odds and a game behind the Pacers. An rd as we’ve harped on, no team with the worst regular season record has won the overall No. 1 pick (and the last team to win the lottery from the third spot was the San Antonio Spurs in 2023 and that worked out just fine for them.

However, today can’t be one of those days. The Nets blew a chance on something right in front of them. Tanking isn’t fun, but neither is this.

Final: Brooklyn Nets 121, Washington Wizards 115

Milestone Watch

• Nolan Traore scored a career-high 23 points today against Washington with a career-best five 3-pointers (5-of-11) to go with two rebounds and seven assists. It was his ninth game of the season with 7+ assists, which tied Marcus Williams for the fifth most by a Nets rookie.
• E.J. Liddell hit career highs with his 15 points and two blocks. It is his second career game with 10+ points (10 on 3/14/26 at PHI).

Next Up

The drama-riddled Milwaukee Bucks are next on the docket for the Nets. Brooklyn hasn’t played the Bucks since December. Believe it or not, they beat the breaks off them, winning by 40+ points. With the season coming to a close an draft lottery positioning being top of mind, we’ll hope for a different result this time. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

• Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets 121, Washington Wizards 115 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 121, Washington Wizards 115 (Video) – NBA
• Nolan Traore scores 23 points, Jalen Wilson adds 19 and Nets beat Wizards 121-115 – AP
• Nets give away key lottery opportunity with comeback win over Wizards – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• Nets win tank war vs. Wizards, but keep focus on development with four games left ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets end 2-game losing streak with 121-115 win over Wizards – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY

The Dallas Mavericks (24-53) are home for an early Sunday evening game against the Los Angeles Lakers (50-27). The Mavericks are coming off a loss against the Orlando Magic, but one where Cooper Flagg was on fire from the field and he scored 51. The Lakers had a devestating loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in more ways than one on Thursday.

Here are the main things you need to know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers
• WHAT: Dallas tries to end a long, long home losing streak
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• WHEN: 6:30 pm CST
• HOW: NBC/Peacock

The Mavericks are fielding as close to a full team as we’ve seen in several games. Caleb Martin is out with his plantar issue. Moussa Cisse is questionable and I don’t think he’ll play given who Dallas has available. Tyler Smith is questionable due to illness. John Poulakidas is probable to play. Marvin Bagley is as well after dealing with a shoulder injury.

The Lakers are in a brutal injury position. Luka Doncic went down with a very bad hamstring injury against the Thunder. Austin Reaves also suffered a very bad oblique injury. Both players will be out for weeks and weeks and I don’t see how the Lakers win a playoff round. Dallas native Marcus Smart will miss this game with an ankle injury. Jarred Vanderbilt is questionable as of this writing with a calf issue.

Give how close to the end of the regular season we are, the Mavericks winning this game is going to drive some people mad. But the Lakers don’t have the horses and I don’t care how bad Dallas has been as of late, when the top heavy Lakers are missing two of their three best players, the Mavericks should have more than enough juice to win.

Be sure to chime in with your predictions in the comments!

Consider joining Josh and me on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start LATE. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!

The Golden State Warriors haven't been at full strength for seemingly the entire season. But with five games left to go before the play-in begins, they're reportedly set to bring back their most important piece.

While Stephen Curry's official status is still listed as questionable, the NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter could make his return to the Warriors in Sunday night's game against the Houston Rockets.

An official announcement will likely come closer to the 7 p.m. PT tip-off but in the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Curry's impending return:

Is Steph Curry playing tonight vs. the Houston Rockets?

It hasn't been officially announced yet as of 3:15 p.m. PT, but all indications are that Curry will be cleared to play Sunday night for the first time in over two months. ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater first reported on Curry's impending return on Friday, April 3.

Official word from the Warriors on Curry's status will likely come closer to Sunday night's 7 p.m. local time tip-off.

Steph Curry stats

Prior to injuring his knee in February, Curry was averaging 27.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 39 games played this season, while shooting 46.8% from the field, 39.1% on 3-pointers and 93.1% on free throws.

Curry participated in a scrimmage at Warriors practice on Friday, and head coach Steve Kerr came away from it hopeful about his star.

"Everything went well. Yeah, he looked good," Kerr told reporters. "He’s pretty good. He looks like Steph Curry."

Warriors playoff outlook

Golden State has been in turmoil ever since Curry went down. They were already dealing with several injuries, but being without their best player sent them spiraling. The Warriors went 9-18 in the 27 games Curry missed, but his return is just in time for the most important time of the year.

Though they won't be able to catch the sixth seed, the Warriors' spot in the play-in tournament is set. With five games left to go in the regular season, Golden State currently holds the 10th and final seed as they trail the seventh-seeded Phoenix Suns by six games and the No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers by three.

"Yeah, I mean he brings hope to a tough situation," Kerr told reporters on Friday. "I thought [Spurs] game, we were never really in the game, but the guys fought, they competed, they stayed with it until the end. The vibe was good. When Steph’s around, the vibe tends to be better. It’s definitely better right now so hopefully we’ll have another good effort tonight and he’ll be on the sidelines cheering. We’ll see how it goes the next couple of days but we’re obviously dying to get him back.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry could play vs Rockets tonight

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had many opportunities to see how this team looks when it’s at — or even near — full strength. That’s one of the downsides to having a team undergo renovations at the trade deadline.

As of now, head coach Kenny Atkinson still doesn’t know who the starting small forward will be in the playoffs. Right now, the plan is to decide who’s in that spot based on the matchup and how they’re playing.

Atkinson was asked if Max Strus was going to be the starting small forward going forward, and said no.

“That position is going to be flexible in terms of starting and finishing,” Atkinson said before the Indiana Pacers game on Sunday. “You have to earn it.”

Atkinson listed five options for who could be in the starting small forward spot: Max Strus, Dean Wade, Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, and Keon Ellis.

Below is a chart of how those groupings have done with the four permanent starters: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. For a point of reference, the Cavs have scored 121.2 points per 100 possessions (88th percentile for offensive rating), allowed 100.6 points per 100 defensive possessions (100th percentile for defensive rating), and outscored their opponent by 20.6 points per 100 possessions (100th percentile for net rating) in the 165 possessions this quartet has played together.

Fifth Starter	Possessions with other four starters	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating	Net Rating
Max Strus	68	108.8	110.8	-1.9
Dean Wade	56	114.3	91.1	+23.2
Sam Merrill	38	155.3	100	+55.3
Jaylon Tyson	3	100	66.7	+33.3
Keon Ellis	Have not played together yet	N/A	N/A	N/A

As you can see, the sample size is incredibly small. So much so, the data from any of these numbers isn’t really that useful. The Cavs shouldn’t be making any decisions based on this. At the same time, it is encouraging that they have performed well in the limited time their four best players have shared the floor.

Atkinson admitted before Sunday’s game that he’s still trying to figure out how to best use Harden, who will be playing in just his 24th game with the Cavs on Sunday.

“I’m still looking back at James’s career, stealing ATOs (after timeout plays) from Houston,” Atkinson said. “How did the spacing look with the Clippers? I look at some of the Nets’ stuff. … Past teams, have used him as a defender on the four-man?”

The Cavaliers are in a tough position. The playoffs are two weeks away, and they’re still assessing what they have and how to use their best players. There was really no way around this problem when the Cavs decided to overhaul the roster in February. The hope was that talent would win out this season. And at times it has. Other times, they’ve looked like a team still piecing things together.

We’ll see how this looks in the playoffs. As of now, Atkinson doesn’t know who will be at the starting small forward spot. He is, however, confident in the options that he does have.

“It’s a good problem to have, but these are tough decisions to make, so it’ll be flexible,” Atkinson said.

The Bucks closed out their two-game home stretch on Easter with a 131-115 win over the Memphis Grizzlies to improve to 31-47. Ryan Rollins, returning from a hip strain, contributed 24 points to the Bucks’ victory, while Rayan Rupert led the Grizzlies with 33.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

The Grizzlies, missing an alarming number of players to “injury,” jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, fueled by two-way guard Rayan Rupert’s early five points. However, the Bucks quickly embarked on a 13-0 run through three-pointers from Myles Turner and AJ Green, and they built on their lead as the first quarter wore on. Ryan Rollins shook off ten-day forward Toby Okani on a smooth pair of dribble moves before cleanly converting a mid-range fadeaway, showing that the Bucks were beginning to find their rhythm. The Grizzlies were still in it, largely thanks to Milwaukee’s persistent defensive lapses, like Taurean Prince’s hard flagrant foul on Rupert. Cormac Ryan closed out the first frame with a buzzer-beating three to take Milwaukee up by nine, 34-25.

Rollins led Milwaukee to a dominant start to the second quarter. He used a dizzying array of body checks and step-backs to get to his spots. His eight early points in the second fueled Milwaukee’s early 12-3 run, and before long, the home side found itself up by as much as 19 points. It was obvious that the Grizzlies’ hodge-podge lineup didn’t really click; spacing worked against them on both sides of the ball, and they looked helpless against the pick-and-roll. Rupert was their only bright spot; the Frenchman poured in 25 first-half points, torching the Bucks’ defense. The Grizzlies clawed back some ground in the game by getting to the line in droves and strung together a 12-0 run, but the Bucks still held a 62-56 lead at half.

The Grizzlies and Bucks went back and forth in the third quarter. The Bucks’ offense began to take off through Rollins’ tough buckets and interior plays from Myles Turner. However, the Grizzlies took off at the same time. Rookie Walter Clayton Jr. finally woke up from his quiet first half, and Rupert continued to slice Milwaukee’s defense with his dribble. Despite Milwaukee gradually losing ground as fatigue kicked in, the Bucks ended the penultimate quarter up five, 92-87.

Olivier Maxence-Prosper’s breakaway jam trimmed Milwaukee’s once-mighty lead to just two early in the fourth quarter, and, suddenly, it felt like this game could go either way. However, Jericho Sims’ heroics halted Memphis’ momentum. His defense, denying Dariq Whitehead and Taylor Hendricks key looks at the rim, kept Memphis quiet on offense. It was his intelligent assist that found Ryan open under the rim, it was his screen that freed up Prince for an emphatic three, and it was his putback dunk to widen Milwaukee’s lead to double digits with just six minutes left of game time. Milwaukee continued to flow offensively, limiting Memphis to tough under-the-rim attempts and finding quick transition points. The Bucks accentuated their Easter Day victory with a smooth Alex Antetokounmpo midrange jumper and a technical-foul-inducing lob to Thanasis that set Fiserv on fire.

Stat That Stood Out

The Bucks’ bench scored 61 points in Sunday’s win, 32 more than the Grizzlies’. Sims’ and Ryan’s contributions in crunch time helped Milwaukee go the distance and fight off a dangerous Memphis comeback.

The Golden State Warriors will reach the midway point of their five-game homestand with Sunday night’s primetime matchup against the Houston Rockets. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM PT in San Francisco and will be nationally televised on NBC, with streaming available on Peacock.

Sunday hoops

🏀 GSW vs. HOU
🕖 7pm PT
📺 @NBAonNBC & @peacock
📻 @957thegame
📱 https://t.co/6BLvDT0oIP
🎟️ https://t.co/eAyVFXMMvs@Coinbase || #DubNationpic.twitter.com/zOJmO8KWJc

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 5, 2026

Previously with the Warriors:

The Warriors had a chance to snap their two-game losing streak against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, but their late push came up short in a 118–111 loss. After playing severely shorthanded the night prior, Golden State welcomed back several key contributors, including Gui Santos and Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 25 and 16 points, respectively. In addition to that, Brandin Podziemski tied Santos for the team-high with 25 points of his own.

Their combined scoring helped keep the game competitive, but Cleveland’s star power ultimately proved too much. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden combined for 44 points, while Max Strus caught fire from beyond the arc, knocking down six of his 10 three-point attempts to seal the Warriors’ 41st loss of the season.

MAX DID HIS BIG ONE. #LetEmKnowpic.twitter.com/fd9Gy14mFn

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 3, 2026

Steve Kerr explained what happened in those final two minutes that allowed Cavs’ Max Strus to get open:

“t looked like we over rotated to start the play, and they got the ball behind us, and then we were scrambling.”

Said they weren’t necessarily doubling Harden at all costs. https://t.co/5NNZk0Clczpic.twitter.com/LYx7Rpymdd

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) April 3, 2026

What to watch for tonight:

The biggest storyline entering Sunday night’s matchup against the Rockets is the expected return of Steph Curry. The Warriors’ superstar has missed 27 games with a knee injury suffered in January, but after fully participating in practice earlier this week, he appears on track to return.

On Saturday, Curry spoke about the injury during his press conference.

Steph Curry details the knee injury that held him out 27 games

“I thought I was going to be out a week. Ten days max.”

“There is nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though.” pic.twitter.com/5ZIL6xyyJN

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 4, 2026

If Curry does suit up, one key element to watch will be his on-court fit with Porzingis. The Warriors’ starting big man has already shown he can thrive in team’s system, but his ability to complement Curry could elevate the offense to another level. With Porzingis providing both floor spacing and a vertical lob threat, and Curry’s gravity consistently drawing multiple defenders, the pairing has the potential to be highly effective.

“I don’t know how people are going to guard our pick and roll.”

Steph Curry is excited to play with Kristaps Porzingis. Warriors face the Rockets tmrw. pic.twitter.com/OWjChjKWbG

— Joseph Dycus (@joseph_dycus) April 4, 2026

Of course, with just five games remaining, the Warriors are virtually locked into the 10th seed in the Western Conference, making the results of these final games largely insignificant from a standings perspective. Still, Curry understands the importance of building momentum heading into the Play-In Tournament and will look to make the most of his time on the floor as Golden State prepares for the challenge ahead.

Steph Curry on what can still be ahead for the Warriors this season

“Win two play-in games and then have another conversation.” pic.twitter.com/bznIJ5soEp

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 4, 2026

Enjoy the game Dub Nation. GO WARRIORS!!! 

Projected Starters

Warriors: Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Gui Santos, Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis

Rockets: Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun

How to watch Regular Season Game 78

Who: Golden State Warriors (36 – 41) vs. Houston Rockets (48 – 29)

When: Sunday, April 5th, at 7:00 p.m. PT

Where: Chase Center — San Francisco, California

TV and Streaming: NBC and Peacock (available on fuboTV)

Jaylen Brown’s 26 points led the Boston Celtics to a 115-101 win over the Toronto Raptors on Easter Sunday at TD Garden, completing the team’s 4-0 season sweep over its division rival.

That “rivalry” has been pretty lopsided in recent years. Boston has gone 15-1 against Toronto over the past four regular seasons and has not lost a season series against the Raptors since 2016-17.

While the teams have not faced off in the playoffs since the 2020 NBA Bubble, that could change this year.

With today’s win, the Celtics are 53-25 and hold a commanding three-game lead over the New York Knicks for second seed in the Eastern Conference, with only four games left to go. Unless Boston bottoms out over that final run, it will face the seventh seed as determined by the Play-In Tournament.

With today’s loss, the Raptors are 43-35 and tied record-wise with the Philadelphia 76ers. However, Toronto loses that tiebreaker since its 4-11 division record is worse than Philly’s 9-7. That leaves the Raptors as the East’s current seventh seed and lined up for a potential appearance in the play-ins.

Today’s game was the first time all season that the Celtics’ injury report was clear, as Nikola Vučević returned almost a month after undergoing surgery to stabilize a fractured right ring finger.

Boston started Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta.

The Raptors were without Immanuel Quickley, who missed his eighth straight game to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and Chucky Hepburn, who tore the meniscus in his right knee in January and has yet to return.

Toronto started Ja’Kobe Walter, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl.

Boston got off to a hot start, taking a 10-2 lead less than three minutes into the game. A lot of that can be credited to Neemias Queta, who got three easy buckets off of assists from Brown and White as Toronto’s defense crowded the perimeter and left the paint open for Queta to dominate.

With the help of some sloppy play and three Celtics turnovers, the Raptors went on a mini-run and tied the game at 12-12, but a Tatum three-pointer, Queta putback and four straight points from Brown put Boston back up 19-15.

With five minutes to go in the first quarter, Coach Joe Mazzulla subbed in Baylor Scheierman — who immediately hit a three-pointer — Vučević, Jordan Walsh and Payton Pritchard for everyone but Brown.

Vooch looked rusty in his first minutes back on the court, turning the ball over on a bad pass and missing his first three-point attempt. During that time, Toronto took its first lead of the game 24-22, with about two minutes to go in the quarter.

During the last play of the quarter, Tatum drove to the rim and made an impressive pass to Vučević on the perimeter, but Vooch missed his second three-point attempt. The quarter ended with the teams tied 26-26.

Early in the second quarter, Tatum strong-armed a block on RJ Barrett, leading to an open Hauser three-point make and a technical foul on Barrett, who was upset with the no-call.

Tatum hit the technical free throw to put the Celtics up 31-30, but the Raptors hit the next two shots and took a 34-30 lead with 10 minutes to go in the half. Ja’Kobe Walter led Toronto’s early efforts with a 13-point start on 5-6 shooting from the field and 3-4 shooting from three-point range.

A 10-0 run increased the Raptors’ lead to 38-30, but the Celtics got a few offensive rebounds on the next play to snap their scoreless run with a strong Queta layup. His early dominance continued into the second quarter, as he got another putback bucket, as well as an easy cutting dunk off of a Tatum assist.

While the Celtics continued to struggle on offense, the Raptors shared in the lull, allowing Boston to tie the game at 42 with about three minutes to go in the half.

Derrick White hit a three-pointer to take the lead back, 45-42, and after some back-and-forth scoring, Tatum hit a three from the top of the key to go up 52-46.

Brown hit the team’s final shot of the quarter to extend the lead to 54-46 at the half. He finished the half with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on 6-10 shooting from the field.

Tatum had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 50% shooting from the field and 2-3 shooting from three-point range, but also had 5 turnovers — more than half of the team’s 9 total turnovers — and 3 personal fouls at the half.

Queta was the Celtics’ undisputed MVP of the first half, leading the team with 16 points on 8-9 shooting from the field, 5 rebounds and an assist. He was at the heart of the Celtics’ 24-8 run to end the second quarter, which began when he subbed back into the game with less than nine minutes to go in the half.

To begin the third quarter, Tatum slithered past a solid Queta screen and through the Raptors’ defense for a dunk. He also secured his sixth double-double in seven games with his 10th rebound with 22 minutes left to go in the game.

Queta’s strong play continued with a pair of soaring blocks over the first few minutes of the second half, but he was subbed out in favor of Vučević with about 7:30 to go in the third quarter as the team was up 62-57.

Vooch got his first bucket of the night off of an offensive rebound, but did little else during his second stint on the court.

Boston’s struggles with turnovers did not let up in the third quarter, as the Celtics racked up 5 more turnovers over the first six minutes of the second half. The Raptors kept up the pressure and tied the game at 69-69 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter.

Queta was subbed back in for Vučević with about four minutes left to go in the third quarter and he got his third block of the night shortly after.

Toronto again tied the game at 75-75, but a wild corner three from Brown once again put the Celtics on top, 78-75.

The teams went back-and-forth over the last two minutes of the third, which finished with Boston leading 80-77.

The fourth quarter began with an absurd behind-the-back pass from Tatum to an open Payton Pritchard for a three-pointer, then a Vučević bucket to put the C’s up 85-77.

With the help of another Pritchard bucket and a Toronto turnover, then a foul on a Tatum three-pointer, the Celtics secured their first double-digit lead of the night at 89-79 with 10 minutes to go in the final frame.

When it looked like the Raptors may bring the lead back to single digits, Sam Hauser got an and-1 to extend the lead to 96-83.

Toronto cut the lead to 98-91 with a couple Brandon Ingram jumpers over Pritchard, but Queta got a massive putback dunk and White hit his second three-pointer of the night to extend the lead back up to 103-91 with about four minutes remaining.

The Celtics all but ended the night with a sudden scoring explosion sparked by Brown in the final minutes. Brown used some slick moves to make Barrett buckle over and touch the court before he blew by for an easy driving layup. He then got his own rebound off of a free throw miss and put it back in for another bucket to put Boston up by 14.

After a Tatum layup and White fadeaway, Brown got a steal and dunked it to bring the Celtics’ lead to 18 points with less than three minutes to go.

Brown finished the game with 26 points on 55% shooting from the field, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Tatum had 23 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 5 turnovers.

Queta racked up 18 points, 7 rebounds — five of them on the offensive end — 4 assists and three blocks.

In Vooch’s first chance to play alongside Jayson Tatum, he finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes of play.

Overall, Boston shot an abysmal 8-28 (28.6%) from three-point range, but finished the game with 76 points in the paint and 9 more rebounds than Toronto (44-31). While turnovers were an issue for the Celtics, both teams ended with 15 turnovers, and there was only a 2-point difference in points off of turnovers for the game.

The Celtics’ next game will be another potential first-round preview, as Boston will take on the rolling Charlotte Hornets at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 7, at the TD Garden.

The game will be broadcasted on NBC and Peacock.

A skeleton-crew version of the Cleveland Cavaliers is taking on a more skeleton crew version of the Indiana Pacers. This should be fun (depending on how you define fun).

Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard!

Go Cavs!