NEW YORK (AP) — Obi Toppin had 26 points and nine rebounds and seven Indiana players scored in double figures as the Pacers snapped a three-game skid with a 123-94 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night.
The Pacers (19-61) won for the fifth time in 27 games. Indiana was without head coach Rick Carlisle, who missed the first of two games to attend his daughter’s spring formal. Lloyd Pierce handled the coaching duties.
Micah Potter had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Ethan Thompson added 15 points and Jarace Walker and Jay Huff each added 14. Jalen Slawson and Quenton Jackson finished with 12 points apiece.
E.J. Liddell led the Nets (20-59) with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Saraf scored 19 point and Tyson Etienne added 14 for Brooklyn, which shot 37 for 96 (37%) from the field and had its two-game winning streak halted.
The Pacers raced to a 31-14 lead in the first quarter, led 63-37 at half and carried a 26-point (98-72) advantage into the fourth quarter.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 09: Head coach Brian Keefe of the Washington Wizards reacts to a play against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at Capital One Arena on April 9, 2026 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Washington Wizards did not take any chances with their lottery odds heading into their back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls. The D.C. crew lost again on Thursday in a 119-108 contest at Capital One Arena.
The game started out like Tuesday’s blowout affair against the same Bulls. The visitors went ahead by 19-6 in the opening four minutes and looked like they were ready to run away with the contest. But the Wizards battled back, with Bub Carrington hitting a pair of threes to keep Washington within 32-24 after the opening period.
The Wizards used a balanced scoring attack in the second quarter to get back into the contest. Sharife Cooper went on a personal 7-0 run to give Washington its first taste of the lead, 44-43, with 4:04 left in the half.
Washington trailed 52-51 at the break. Carrington and Leaky Black led the way, each scoring 9 points.
The Wizards stayed in striking distance for most of the third quarter. However, the game’s complexion changed when Juju Reese got called for a flagrant foul after inadvertently elbowing 5-foot-7 Yuki Kawamura. The flagrant penalty plus a pair of live-ball turnovers resulted in an 8-0 Bulls run to close the third.
Washington trailed 87-74 entering the fourth quarter. The Wiz never chopped the lead smaller than 9 points, dropping their 8th straight contest.
Will Riley was the team’s leading scorer with 23 points to go along with seven assists, three steals, and three blocks. But the Illinois alum struggled with his shot for most of the game, tidying up his field goal shooting a bit with garbage time buckets. He went 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Juju Reese had another monster double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds, feasting on the glass against a Bulls team that lost its only viable big man, Guerschon Yabusele, to a shoulder injury during the game.
With a Washington loss and an Indiana Pacers win over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, the Wizards have a two-game cushion for the No. 1 spot in the tank rankings.
The Wizards next take on the Miami Heat on Friday in the team’s penultimate game of the season.
Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Team ELY guard Dink Pate (1) of the G League Ignite shoots the ball against Team BallIsLife during the G-League Next Up game at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Kentucky Basketball will not land Dink Pate, who made his commitment to Providence on Thursday after spending the last three seasons in the NBA G League.
Pate, who recently turned 20 years old, will leave the professional ranks to play college basketball. The 6-foot-7 point guard first made headlines in 2023 when he joined the NBA G League Ignite, becoming the youngest professional basketball player in United States history.
During the 2023–24 season with Ignite, Pate played under former Kentucky assistant coach Jason Hart, who is now at SMU. Once that move happened, many thought that could be it for the Wildcats’ chances with Pate. While Mark Pope did recently hold a Zoom call with Pate, Providence was able to win out in the end.
This season, Pate has played for the Westchester Knicks in the G League, where he has averaged over 15 points per game while shooting 41.3% from the field and 37.7% from 3-point range. The versatile guard also averaged over five rebounds and nearly four assists per contest, showcasing his ability to impact the game in multiple ways.
Before joining Westchester, Pate spent time with both the G League Ignite and the Mexico City Capitanes, giving him professional experience against older and more seasoned competition.
Despite playing professionally, Pate is expected to be eligible to play in college because he has never signed an NBA contract or appeared in an NBA game. With NCAA athletes now allowed to earn money through NIL opportunities, the league is treating G League similarly to overseas professional experience, which should make his path to eligibility much smoother.
With his size, experience, and playmaking ability, Pate could have given Kentucky a dynamic and experienced guard heading into the upcoming season.
Alas, Pope and Co. are left to look elsewhere for Kentucky’s rebuilding backcourt.
BREAKING: Westchester Knicks guard Dink Pate has committed to Providence, his agent Sam Permut of @RocNationSports told ESPN. G-League star turned down two-way and 10-day opportunities to maintain eligibility. Former top-30 recruit is averaging 16.0 PPG this season. pic.twitter.com/SNLnJV8zRH
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - APRIL 5: John Konchar #55 of the Utah Jazz looks to drive the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on April 5, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Utah Jazz season is nearing an incredibly important lottery, and Jazz fans will be watching the lottery balls closely. But whether the Jazz jump in the lottery or not, the Jazz have had some rookies and prospects make an impact during the current rebuild. Utah can’t likely keep all of them, and so that’s what inspires the latest Utah Jazz Reacts Survey. If you had to choose one of these prospects below, who would you pick? These four have been among the most prominent prospects to play during the rebuild, and I wanted to see who you think is the most important to keep on the Jazz?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Jazz fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 27: Keaton Wagler #23 of the Illinois Fighting Illini looks on during a game against the Michigan Wolverines at State Farm Center on February 27, 2026 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Of course, Utah is throwing every good luck charm they have into acquiring a top 3 selection in this year’s draft. AJ Dybantsa would be a match made in heaven. Darryn Peterson has the best fit. Cameron Boozer follows in Papa Carlos’ footsteps. Utah is also perfectly fine standing pat at 4, if it means not converting their pick to the Galactic Presti-pire. Caleb Wilson could have risen into the top 3 if he had been able to participate in the March Madness Tournament.
But what if Utah drops into the unorthodox spot where they — inevitably — drop down one or two tiers and out of the superstar conversation?
Be wary, Darius Acuff Jr. and Kingston Flemings lurk in these parts. It’s a tricky part to be in, considering Utah is not in dire need for another point guard after Keyonte George’s breakout, and Isaiah Collier headlining as the lead backup guard. Of course, the Jazz could look to prioritize fit here and select one of Nate Ament or Brayden Burries.
I introduce Keaton Wagler to the corporate office. All things considered, Wagler would be the ’best fit’ guard in the pool with a 6’6” frame who plays the brain of a veteran and the range of a flamethrower. This feels like the missing piece of Danny Ainge’s art gallery.
NBA Draft Profile: Keaton Wagler
Bio: 6 ft, 6 in | 185 lbs | 19 yrs old | Illinois University
2025-26 regular season stats: 17.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.2 APG STL, 44.5% FG, 39.7% 3PT
Accolades: Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year, Second-Team All-American, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, NCAA Tournament South Region Most Outstanding Player
NBA Comparison: D’Angelo Russell, more polished Jeremy Lamb
Mastery
Wagler is arguably the most polished pick-and-roll operator in this class. His 12.4% turnover rate is elite for a high-usage freshman. He manipulates defenders with bendy, herky-jerky movements, often putting his opponent in a blender just by changing his face.
He isn’t a stopper on the defensive end yet, but his 1.7 BLK% and 1.3 STL% show active hands and high-level positioning. At 6’6”, he’s not a target that teams can easily hunt. A solid creator, Wagler doesn’t turn the ball over often and can create shots for his teammates as a decent level.
His primary calling card is a flamethrower of a jump shot; he’s a dynamic threat who can knock cow. triples off screens or deep pull-ups from well beyond the NBA line. He’s the kind of high-IQ player who always seems to make the right pass, acting like the glue that keeps an offense from getting stagnant. His shot diet is extremely healthy — no trips to the doctor’s office for you, sir.
Another positive sign for his offensive resume is his solid 81% rate at the charity stripe. Players who both generate and convert free throws tend to translate well as NBA scorers, applying the right amount of pressure on defenses.
Illinois uses him to crash boards, and responds with solid rebounding numbers for a guard. He’s a grab-and-go rebounder who immediately initiates transition, which would fit perfectly in the third-fastest pace team in the league. That speaks to his competitiveness and willingness to impact the game beyond scoring.
Margin
His biggest flaw is his lack of athleticism, which really shows on defense. Wagler struggles to slip screens and once beaten, fails to recover and consistently has to play behind his opponents. He’s underwhelming defensively, considering his 7’0” wingspan.
Currently, his finishes rely on angles and timing rather than elevation. It works for him fine at the collegiate level, but it won’t slide against NBA-level rim protectors. Some of those attempts will likely get stuffed if he doesn’t adjust his approach. Defenders at higher levels will quickly recognize his tendency to attack with his left hand, and start shading him in that direction. Wagler needs to depend on countering his flaws or equal comfort attacking right, because opponents will have a much easier assignment to contain him.
His ball-handling is servicable, but he needs to work on tightening his handle, especially when pressured by defenders or navigating crowded areas of the floor. Working on that would help him become a more consistent creator and allow him to operate more comfortably in pick-and-roll situations.
Wagler is ‘Crafty’ with a capital C, but he isn’t ‘Fast’ with a capital F. He lacks a lightning-quick first step, meaning he has to work twice as hard to create separation. If he can’t get defenders off-balance with his hesitations and pump fakes, he may struggle to create his own shot consistently at the pro level.
Mandate
When I project Wagler at the NBA level, I see a player who has a clear scoring foundation but still needs to round out the rest of his game — similar to how Keyonte had to rebuild his offensive character after his first couple of years in the league. The shooting alone gives him value, but he won’t be a primary offensive initiator as of now.
The Jazz could be comfortable fitting him into a secondary creator or complementary scoring role, where he can space the floor, attack closeouts, and make simple reads within the offense. If he imrpvoes his handle and becomes more balanced attacking the basket, there’s a realistic pathway for him to develop into a reliable NBA rotation guard.
Lineups with Keyonte George, providing downhill aggression, and Wagler, providing surgical distribution and spacing, would give Utah some of the tallest and most versatile young backcourts in the league. If the Jazz want to double down on their positionless length identity, Wagler is the connective tissue.
But in the meantime, we’re all hoping the Jazz front office goes palooza in reaction to Utah receiving their first franchise #1 pick.
The Dallas Mavericks (25-55) head back to the Lone Star state Friday night to face off against their division rivals, the San Antonio Spurs (61-19). It’s the last road game of the last road trip of the season, and it’s one that might have some real sway as far as the offseason goes. At the time of writing, Dallas finds themselves in a dead heat with the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth best lottery odds, and only one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans. The outcome of these last couple matchups may make the difference between a Mikel Brown Jr. and an AJ Dybantsa.
The Spurs enter Friday evening without much of a concern. They’ve won four of their last five, 13 of their last 15, and they’ve mathematically locked themselves into the two-seed – most likely setting them up for a easy first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers or the Phoenix Suns. Victor Wembanyama did recently suffer a left rib contusion against the Philadelphia 76ers, causing him to miss the last couple outings; however, it’s expected that he’ll suit up either against Dallas Friday night or the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, clearing the way for his first career postseason appearance.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are about as far afield as you can get from meaningful postseason basketball. They put up a pretty decent showing against the Luka Dončić-less, Austin Reaves-less Los Angeles Lakers last Sunday, but then collapsed back to the norm against the Clippers Tuesday night and the Suns on Wednesday. There’s a subtle poetry to the fact that Dallas’ last two losses are San Antonio’s two most likely first-round matchups – almost like the basketball gods are reminding us just how far this team is from contending.
Here are three storylines to follow as the Mavericks play their last road game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs.
Mavericks role players making their case
Now that we’re arriving at the end of the regular season, it’s time to start making some decisions regarding the future of this roster. Dallas’ role players certainly know this – and they’re making their last-ditch attempts to leave an impression on the front office. C-teamer John Poulakidas has been an interesting watch in this depleted Mavericks squad, most notably putting up 23 against the Suns on Wednesday. Moussa Cissé and Marvin Bagley III also continue to make their case, with the latter of the two scoring a combined 41 over the last two outings.
On the flip side, things have looked rougher for Khris Middleton recently, and AJ Johnson’s first real outing wasn’t especially inspiring. As pointed out by Mavs Moneyball’s Joe Friedman, Johnson went a brutal 1-11 from the field against the Suns, with many of those possessions stalling out what little offensive flow the Mavericks could generate. Whether Johnson is a part of Dallas’ future remains to be seen; as far as the 2025-2026 season goes, he and the others only have a couple more in-game opportunities to show what they’ve got.
Young superstars leading the way
If there’s one thing that Dallas and San Antonio has in common right now, it’s that they’ve pushed all their chips in on their young superstars. For the Mavericks, this hasn’t quite paid dividends yet. Cooper Flagg has been absolutely transcendent, yes, filling just about every role imaginable while also posting some mind-boggling scoring figures (51 against the Orlando Magic and 45 against the Lakers, most recently). But his efforts haven’t quite translated to wins this season – most likely, this will require some very intentional work over the next couple years to fill roster gaps and develop a team that effectively complements his skillset.
San Antonio, on the other hand, is actively bearing the fruit of this exact kind of hard work. At the beginning of the season, I wrote that Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs hadn’t yet developed into the offensive powerhouse everyone was expecting. Well, I stand corrected. At the time of writing, San Antonio holds an 119.4 offensive rating for the 2025-2026 regular season, as well as a 111.1 defensive rating to boot. They’re one of the best teams in the league at both ends of the floor, due in large part to the contributions of early-career players like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Julian Champagnie. And, of course, Victor Wembanyama is leading the way, averaging around 25/11/3 and gluing the entire Spurs system together.
Dallas’ struggles down I-35
Just like the good ol’ days! It’s not much of a shock that Dallas has a bad record against the Spurs this season, given that the Mavericks have been more or less rebuilding from the ground up after the Anthony Davis trade. But it is worth noting how pronounced the disparity is. As of right now, Dallas has played San Antonio three times in the 2025-26 NBA regular season. San Antonio has taken the victory all three times, with final scores of 125-92, 135-123, and 138-125. In other words, Dallas hasn’t even gotten close – and there’s probably not much hope of changing that going into Friday night.
Maybe some day, we’ll see a return to the Mavericks-Spurs rivalry of old, with Cooper Flagg leading Dallas to a postseason victory on the way to a Finals run. For now, though, those dreams are a long way off, and we still have a lottery to think about in the meantime.
The road ahead
After Friday night’s game, Dallas returns home for the final game of the season, facing off against a very shorthanded Chicago Bulls.
How to watch
The San Antonio Spurs host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 PM CT. The game will be streamed live on MavsTV, and will also be broadcast on KFAA. As usual, fans can also tune in at 97.1FM KEGL (English) or at 99.1FM KFZO (Español).
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - APRIL 08: Dillon Brooks #3 of the Phoenix Suns is introduced before the NBA game against the Dallas Mavericks at Mortgage Matchup Center on April 08, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With their win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, the Phoenix Suns grabbed hold of something that feels official when you say it out loud. The seventh seed. Because yeah, they “secured” it. In theory. In the clean, sanitized version the league office pushes out. In reality, all they did was earn the right to host a high-stakes coin flip inside the NBA Play-In Tournament, which lives somewhere between competition and content inventory.
You can feel the fingerprints of Adam Silver all over it. Rolled out in 2021, polished up, packaged nice, and sold as opportunity, drama, and meaningful basketball. And maybe it is, if you squint hard enough and ignore the part where an 82-game grind now funnels into a night where one bad shooting stretch, one tweaked ankle, one whistle that feels a little off, and everything you built starts to wobble.
This year it comes with a new corporate tag hanging off it, courtesy of SoFi, because of course it does. Every inch of this thing is monetized, every moment stretched and dressed up so it can be sold, replayed, clipped, sponsored, and pushed. It is less about rewarding a season and more about creating another product to slide into the league’s portfolio, something shiny that executives can point to while counting the revenue streams stacking up behind it.
And look, I understand the machine. This is how it works. Take something pure, run it through the grinder, and present it back to us like it is an upgrade. Tell us it is good for the game. Tell us it adds excitement. Tell us it gives more teams a chance. Meanwhile, the teams that actually handled their business for six months are now staring at a scenario where one weird night can rewrite everything. That is where the frustration lives. You fight through the season, the travel, the injuries, the weird Tuesday nights in February that nobody remembers, all to land in a spot that used to mean something concrete. Now it means you get to host a game that decides whether your work holds weight or gets tossed into the same pile as everyone else who hovered around mediocrity.
So yeah, the Suns won. They put themselves in position. There is value in that, there always is. But this thing they are walking into — this shiny, sponsor-stamped, chaos-driven mini-tournament — is not a reward. It is a gamble dressed up like progress. And everyone is supposed to clap for it.
Rant over, I guess. Classify me as no fun, but I’m simply not a fan of possibly losing out on a postseason opportunity to a team that finished under .500. Handle your business is the answer, I know. Like most Adam Silver-based pointless tournaments, I can’t find myself excited for their sheer existence. Everything is a damn tournament now in the NBA. I wonder if each morning at the NBA’s corporate offices there is a tournament for who gets to take a shit in the bathroom first. Why? “Because it’s fun.” I just hope the guy who made the poor decision to slam some Taco Bell last night after one too many margs wins that tournament, for all of their sakes.
All of that being said, it is time for a quick history lesson on the seven seed. Because if you are going to live in this space, you might as well understand the room you are standing in.
Start here. In the first five seasons of the NBA Play-In Tournament, the seventh seed has always made the playoffs. Every single time. That is a 100% advancement rate into the first round. Their overall mark hosting the first Play-In game sits at 8-of-10 for teams slotted in that spot. The only stumbles came in 2023, when the Hawks beat the Heat, and in 2024, when the Pelicans dropped their opener to the Lakers. The Heat then advanced after downing the Bulls, and the Pelicans recovered to beat the Sacramento Kings.
That is the landscape sitting in front of the Phoenix Suns. The path is there. The numbers say it is there, and the door has opened every time for teams in this position. And still, you can feel that little voice creeping in, the one that says “do not be the one that breaks the pattern”. Because the scenario is simple. Lose twice, both games at home, and the season ends. You sit there as the seven seed in name, and nowhere to be found in the postseason. That possibility exists. It is real and it lingers whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
History also reminds you that this spot is not a dead end. It can be a runway. In 2023, those same Los Angeles Lakers came through the Play-In, handled the Memphis Grizzlies in six games, then took out the Golden State Warriors in six more before running into the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. That Nuggets group lost four games total on their way to a title; two of those came against a Suns team powered by Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
Zoom out and bring it back to franchise history. The Suns have lived the seven-seed life twice. In 1996, they went 41-41, earned seven the old-fashioned way, and ran into the San Antonio Spurs in the First Round. A 3-to-1 series loss that ended things quickly. The following season they landed at seven again at 40-42, this time facing the Seattle SuperSonics, and pushed it to five games before falling 3-to-2.
So this is the space. A spot that has produced opportunity, a spot that has carried risk, a spot that asks you to handle your business for 48 minutes and then do it again if needed. The numbers lean your way. The history gives you a blueprint. Now you have to go live it.
The opponent is still floating out there. The Clippers and the Trail Blazers are battling for the right to walk into this thing as the eight seed, and as it stands now, the numbers lean heavily one way. According to Basketball Reference’s playoff probabilities, the Clippers sit at a 77.6% chance to land that spot, while Portland lingers at 22.4%. One more meeting between them is still on the schedule.
We should have clarity soon. Tuesday, April 14, the Phoenix Suns will host at the Mortgage Matchup Center, and the stakes are clean and simple: win and move on to face the San Antonio Spurs.
Protect home court. Handle Tuesday. Close the door before anything weird has a chance to creep in, before the tension builds, before the fan base starts pacing and fills the arena with anxiety. Because no one around here needs that kind of energy.
Then again, this is Arizona sports. You already know how this story likes to behave.
Jan 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) drives against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) during the fourth quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Houston Rockets vs Philadelphia 76ers
April 9, 2026
Location: Toyota Center – Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network,
Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)
Online: Rockets App, SCHN+
Time: 7:00pm CST
Probable Starting Lineups
Rockets: Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun
76ers: VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Andre Drummond
While the chairs don’t yet have an official, public price tag, a team source told The California Post on Thursday they will cost 78 percent of what the normal courtside row goes for.
LeBron James and the Lakers will start their 2026 playoff in less than two weeks. Getty Images
Typically, those tickets for playoff matchups run anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 apiece, meaning the new spots will be somewhere in the area $15,000-$30,000 each.
The Lakers announced their latest revenue stream plans on Thursday morning, revealing the section for Los Angeles’ upcoming postseason matchups at Crypto.com Arena will be a second courtside row called “Courtside Reserve.”
The Lakers announced their latest revenue stream plans on Thursday morning, revealing the section for Los Angeles’ upcoming postseason matchups at Crypto.com Arena will be a second courtside row called “Courtside Reserve.” Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The team promised the chairs will come with “premium hospitality, including in-seat food and beverage service, VIP club access and a seamless, elevated experience from the moment guests enter the arena.”
Courtside fans celebrate after Luka Donic makes a 3 pointer during the second half against the Sacramento Kings. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesJay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter watch courtside. Getty Images
While no doubt pricey, the area has been coveted by Lakers fans for decades. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart and, of course, Jack Nicholson have become mainstays in the spots.
The Lakers’ first playoff opponent is not yet known, and it’s unclear if Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves will be available for any of the games.
Nonetheless, fans with desires of seeing the Purple and Gold from just feet away better have some deep pockets.
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BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 23: OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball during the game against the Boston Celtics on February 23, 2025 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Tonight the Knicks (51*-28) host the Celtics (54-25) at Madison Square Garden. It’s an Eastern Conference showdown that could be a playoff-preview. Our heroes lead the season series 2-1.
As of this writing, Boston’s injury report lists four starters, and there’s a chance that Joe Mazzulla will rest them, given that a win is not necessary to secure the second-seed. However, the last time Jayson Tatum saw the Knicks, he left the court with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Perhaps the visitors will rally ‘round the tater and treat this as revenge game?
Game time is 7:30 p.m. EST on MSG and Amazon Prime. This is your game thread. This is CelticsBlog. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Enjoy yourselves. And go Knickerbockers!
* Should be one more, but NBA Cup victories prefer to live in the shadows.
SAN FRANCISCO – Two legends of the game were supposed to close out Chase Center on Thursday night in the Warriors’ final home game of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. A playoff game here is far from a guarantee.
Whenever the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers play each other, it’s less about the teams and more so about enjoying Steph Curry and LeBron James sharing the same court. Unfortunately for both players, for both teams and for both fan bases, that didn’t happen this season — not even once in the four games these two teams played against each other.
That in itself is a loss for the entire league and the game of basketball as a whole, not knowing how many more of these games we’re going to get, if any at all.
Health comes first for the Warriors, knowing they’re locked into the No. 10 seed and a date in the NBA play-in tournament. Managing Curry’s runner’s knee that held him out for more than two months is priority No. 1. So on the first night of a back-to-back, Curry was one of eight Warriors ruled out against James and the Lakers in an eventual 119-103 loss.
James said after the game that he and Curry talked about it, and didn’t realize they hadn’t played against each other until the day of the game. Maybe Thursday was James’ last game at Chase Center. Maybe he won’t be wearing Lakers colors after this season. Maybe he’ll be hanging it up for good, or maybe the worst kept secret in the NBA of the Warriors’ wandering eyes can take him from LA to San Francisco.
“We never know. We don’t what the future holds, and we don’t know if we’ll get the opportunity to play against each other,” James said. “It’s always a pleasure and it’s always an honor just to be in his presence, to be on the floor with him like we have in the past.”
There still was plenty of love between Curry and James before tipoff. Curry came into the arena wearing a pair of Nike LeBron 10 IDs from 2013 as part of his sneaker free agency. James was all smiles when he caught a glimpse of Curry’s kicks before the game.
“He got those things from the vault,” James said. “For real, for real. I remember him wearing those. … I’m not sure if he had an extra pair or if those were the actual ones, but he went to the vault for those.”
Shoes were the closest thing between them, and their only connection for the duration of the season.
The Warriors and Lakers played each other in the regular-season opener. Curry scored 23 points, and James missed the game because of sciatica. The two teams then played each other twice during Curry’s absence from runner’s knee, with James recording a 20-point, 10-assist double-double the first game and 22 points and nine assists the second.
In what was the last chance for these two to play each other this season, barring a playoff surprise, Curry watched from the sidelines as James defied Father Time against the Warriors’ JV squad, again flirting with a triple-double and finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.
Now that the season series for the Warriors and Lakers is over, the NBA went an entire season without fans watching Curry and James battle for basketball supremacy for the first time in six years.
“They’ve been the faces of the league for a long, long time and it’s been fun to watch as a fan,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said during his pregame press conference. “It’s been fun to be a part of it the last couple of years.”
Adam Silver’s NBA has been run by two players whose first names are even more recognizable than their last: Steph and LeBron. This is their league, their era. But for how much longer is the real question.
The first full season Silver took over for David Stern as the league’s commissioner was the first year Curry and James played each other in the NBA Finals, starting a stretch of four straight campaigns of them meeting on the grand stage to crown a champion.
Respect has been earned and admired by Curry and James. An all-time rivalry comes with the territory of greatness.
“I think rivalries in general are defined by playoff matchups,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s kind of the history of the way we look at Wilt [Chamberlain] vs. Bill Russell, Bird-Magic. I think they had three Finals confrontations. What would some of the other ones be? I don’t know. Steph and LeBron has to be up there.”
If playoff matchups define rivalries, Curry and James fit the criteria. And Curry has the upper hand, beating James in three of the four Finals they’ve faced one another, as well as winning 17 of the 28 playoff games between them. James has him beat in the regular season, with 14 wins on his side and 13 for Curry.
For the past 12 seasons, Kerr has coached Curry’s Warriors and competed against James on the Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He has had the opportunity to be part of one of basketball’s great modern rivalries, and was the man on the sidelines as they came together on Team USA two summers ago at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
As well as anybody from a leadership standpoint, Kerr has seen the full scope of their greatness. He gets it, he respects it and he’ll always appreciate it.
“It’s just the love for the game,” Kerr said. “The love for the competition, the process, the work. I think all great players share an obsession with the game itself. It’s a love for the game. It’s an obsession with getting better, with competing. All the guys who I have either played with or coached, you can just see – I mean, it means everything to them.
“When you combine that with incredible talent, which both guys have – Steph has the greatest hand eye coordination of anybody on earth, and LeBron is probably the greatest athlete, physical specimen, that I’ve ever seen. You get those qualities combined and this is the result. There’s a reason they’re both still going. They love it, and they’re obsessed with it.”
LeBron is 41 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Steph is 38 and has one more year on his current contract. The ball, as it always has been, is in their court.
While the Warriors’ home finale was a loss on the scoreboard and even bigger L for basketball, the two faces that have defined a generation of greatness have given the NBA too many wins to count, and one can’t fathom the memories ever being replicated.
SAN ANTONIO, TX -APRIL 8: Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs and Deni Avdija #8 of the Portland Trailblazers dive for a loose ball in the second half at Frost Bank Center on April 8, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, and still controlled the game in the 112-101 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. They got contributions up and down the roster to fill in for two of their stars. The Spurs’ bench outscored Portland’s 48-10.
Keldon Johnson and Carter Bryant were brilliant off the bench in the win and earned some of the top player grades for the Spurs. As a quick reminder, these grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “B” grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.
Fox kicked things off and closed them out for the Spurs. He scored 10 of his 25 points in the first four minutes of the game. He was a pest on the perimeter and scored easy buckets in transition to keep the Spurs in the game against Portland early. When it looked like the Blazers might make a comeback in the fourth quarter, Fox hit a clutch three to extend the lead to 9. The team never looked back from there.
This is the type of performance Fox has given all season when Wembanyama sits. He takes over the offense in stretches and is the team’s steadying hand late in the game. Some rough turnovers hold this back from being an A-performance, but it was just the pick-me-up Fox needed before heading into the playoffs.
This may have been Harper’s most impactful defensive game this season. He was all over the court, walling off drives, grabbing steals, and blocking a couple of shots. He contested with the Blazers’ guards all night and made it tough for them to get into a real rhythm. It was the kind of game you’d expect more from Stephon Castle, who missed the game with a knee injury.
Harper continued to play well offensively by getting two feet into the paint, although he didn’t finish as often against Portland. He did, however, make one of the more impressive step-back threes I’ve seen from him this year.
What Champagnie didn’t do offensively, he made up for defensively. It was a cold shooting night for Champagnie, whose only basket came on a fast-break dunk. He was impactful defensively, though. Champagnie was just solid on that end against the Blazers’ tough wings. His box score won’t make anyone look twice, but it felt like the Spurs played better when he was on the floor.
It’s fair to say that Kornet owns the Trail Blazers. After scoring 20+ in his last game against them, he was a huge difference maker on Wednesday. His paint defense was among the best of the season, as he broke up lobs and contested drivers at the rim. He may have only gotten 5 rebounds, but he impacted the boards by tipping the ball back to the perimeter for his teammates to save the possession.
It wasn’t a Wembanyama-level defensive performance, but there is no way the Spurs win this game without Cool Hand Luke holding it down inside.
It wasn’t quite the offensive explosion that we have gotten accustomed to in games without Wembanyama, but Vassell was solid against Portland. He hit some difficult shots, including a tough mid-range jumper over the top of Donovan Clingan. Defensively, he chipped in with a few steals.
Barnes has been quiet recently. He was a part of the Spurs’ small-ball lineup that crushed the Blazers, which is why his +/- numbers look so good (more on that later). San Antonio needs him to hit shots in the playoffs if he is going to play major minutes.
Johnson was EVERYWHERE on Wednesday. In what could have been his best performance of the year, KJ got to the basket at will, dove after loose balls, and kept possessions alive with offensive rebounding. It was a great reminder of why he is currently the betting favorite (-900) to win Sixth Man of the Year on FanDuel.
I thought it was funny that Johnson seemed to go especially at his former teammates, Sidy Cissoko and Blake Wesley. When they were guarding him, KJ got straight to the rim and scored.
Bryant scored a career-high 17 points in his best game of the season. He was confident on both ends, hitting threes and holding his position against bigger offensive players on defense. You could see something click with him around the second quarter of this game. He started to be more physical on screens and in the paint, and he took wide-open shots without hesitation. If this is a glimpse into who Bryant can be for years to come, the Spurs may have gotten a steal with the 14th overall pick.
McLaughlin is just solid. He came in and did his job for 9 minutes, playing pesky perimeter defense, taking care of the ball, and playing within the flow of the offense. He’s about all the Spurs could ask for in a fourth guard.
Grade: B
Monday’s Inactives: Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Harrison Ingram, David Jones-Garcia, Emanuel Miller
Embiid underwent a successful appendectomy in Houston, the Sixers announced during the game.
The Sixers made a serious comeback surge in the fourth quarter (more on that below), but ultimately dropped to 43-37. The Rockets improved to 51-29.
In another relevant contest, the Raptors topped the Heat. The Sixers stayed eighth in the Eastern Conference standings and certainly look on track for the play-in tournament with two games left, although that outcome is not quite locked in yet.
The Sixers’ leading scorers were Tyrese Maxey (23 points) and VJ Edgecombe (21 points). Quentin Grimes added 20 points off the bench.
Rockets superstar Kevin Durant posted 29 points.
The Sixers will visit the Pacers on Friday night in their penultimate game of the season. They’ll host the Bucks on Sunday in their 82nd game.
Here are observations on their loss to the Rockets:
Tough assignment for Bona
Adem Bona started in Embiid’s spot. He guarded Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun, his teammate with Turkey for international basketball.
On the first play of the night, the Sixers turned a Paul George steal into a Kelly Oubre Jr. fast-break slam. Oubre also canned two three-pointers in the first quarter and scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the period.
Houston soon built a lead. Sengun jammed in a dunk off of a pick-and-roll with Durant. Tari Eason buried a three to put the Rockets up 17-10.
Bona had some good defensive possessions in isolation against Sengun, who posted just eight points on 4-for-14 shooting, 12 rebounds and four assists. Beyond the shot blocking, Bona’s a talented defender in terms of his ability to nimbly mirror opponents.
Still, it’s obvious the Sixers would’ve preferred Embiid for the matchup with Sengun and missed a giant amount offensively. Bona posted two points and two rebounds in 15 minutes. Andre Drummond logged 30 minutes as his backup and had five points and 15 rebounds.
He had similar struggles early in Houston. Maxey started 0 for 3 from the floor and had zero points in the first quarter. The Sixers’ star guard did get into a much better groove in the second quarter, tallying 15 points.
George never got rolling. For the game, he scored a mere seven points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Along with Maxey and George’s lack of scoring, turnovers were a major problem for the Sixers’ offense in the first half.
The Sixers committed 11 giveaways in the first half and the Rockets scored 20 points off those turnovers. Especially given that being a low-turnover team has been a key part of the Sixers’ identity under head coach Nick Nurse, they can’t afford possession-costing mistakes without Embiid.
Jabari Walker got his first action in the first half of a game since the Sixers’ win over the Jazz back on March 21. Adding Walker to the rotation made plenty of sense with Embiid out and the Sixers searching for anything positive. He played four second-quarter minutes and had a put-back layup.
Sixers show serious fight
After three straight Josh Okogie offensive rebounds, Amen Thompson threw down a wide-open dunk to give Houston an 81-57 advantage. Nurse called timeout.
Clearly, Nurse wants to see better energy and effort than that in important games. With that said, it’s exceedingly logical that the Sixers looked like a demoralized team. In addition to Embiid’s appendicitis making the Sixers a worse team on paper, it’s jarring news to handle at the tail end of a season.
“Just the timing seems difficult,” Nurse told reporters in Houston pregame. “We had an unbelievable day as a team yesterday. We had a great practice, a great film session, we were getting up and down the court. And he was a part of all that. So that’s what hits you a little bit in the stomach when you get that news, but it’s where we are.
“We have our thoughts and prayers with him, that he gets through this surgery as healthy as possible and it goes (smoothly), no complications. And then you shift over to our job side of it. We’ve got to dig in and get to work.”
The Sixers trailed by as many as 28 points in the third quarter. To their credit, they played a tremendous fourth quarter and even made the Rockets sweat down the stretch.
The second unit’s scrappiness played a central part in the Sixers’ extended run. Dominick Barlow chipped in a put-back dunk. Barlow and Justin Edwards trapped Thompson at half court and forced a turnover. Edwards finished the ensuing fast break off with a second-chance lay-in that cut the Rockets’ lead to 101-94.
Edgecombe was great in the fourth quarter, too. He made a strong baseline drive and converted a layup through considerable contact. Edgecombe hit a mid-range jumper over Durant, slicing the Sixers’ deficit down to five points.
Durant replied with a timely three-ball and Houston had no further problems.
For the Sixers, the competitive spirit on display in the fourth quarter is something they’ll need to maintain moving forward without Embiid.
Dec 25, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Knicks may have clearer weaknesses than any other team that considers themselves a contender. Their best player is an undersized negative defender, the offense can be stagnant despite posting strong numbers, the outside shooting can abandon them at times, and the starting lineup often digs themselves into deep holes to start out games. But the Knicks also do a lot of things really well. Despite how the season started, their defense has statistically been amongst the best in 2026, they have two extremely talented offensive players with Jalen Brunson being one of the best postseason players in the league, and know how to win dirty.
We’ve seen this play out multiple times in varying ways. The strong fourth quarter against the Cavaliers on Christmas day, the big comeback against the Rockets, the back-to-back comebacks against the Celtics last year, and the close wins against the Pistons in the first-round last season, they’ve been there and done that when it comes to eking out wins with the exception of game one in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
While not everything during the regular season translates the post season, fans can, and likely should feel confident about the fact that this battle-tested group performed exceptionally well when it mattered most. It would be nice to see the Knicks start off games better, and not have to rely on a fourth quarter run or a late-game surge. But this should be one of the core strengths of this team come playoff time.
SAN FRANCISCO — Throughout the last two seasons, JJ Redick has referenced a popular Jay-Z bar to illustrate the ups and downs of an NBA season.
“It was all good just a week ago,” Redick has said a couple of times during his two seasons as Lakers coach, referencing Jay-Z’s “A Week Ago” from his six-time platinum-selling album, “Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life.”
Even though Redick hasn’t made the reference since April started, the sentiment applies now.
Luka Doncic was having an MVP-caliber season, but it was derailed by a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. APHead coach JJ Redick during a time out in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks on April 5. AP
A week ago, the Lakers were one of the league’s hottest teams entering a marquee road game against the Thunder.
And then two more losses to the Mavericks and the Thunder, all while the teams closest to them in the standings soared, with the Nuggets on a 10-game winning streak and the Rockets winning seven straight entering Thursday.
All of a sudden, the Lakers went from third place in the Western Conference standings, with a multiple-game cushion on the teams below them, to uncertainty about whether they’d host their first-round playoff series.
When the Lakers found out about Doncic’s status for the remainder of the season April 3, Redick reassured that the team’s mission was to clinch the No. 3 seed and win a first-round playoff series.
“We’ve got to prepare our team, our group that we’re going to have available to play in the playoffs series,” Redick said. “Finding who’s gonna be able to play in the playoffs for us. The seeding part probably went out the window after the OKC game.”
If the Nuggets, who entered Thursday at No. 3 in the West, win their final two regular-season games against the Thunder and Spurs, they’ll clinch third regardless of how the Lakers finish.
Lakers coach JJ Redick’s team likely is headed for a first-round matchup against the Rockets. AP
The Lakers would need the Nuggets, who won the regular-season series to secure the tiebreaker for postseason seeding, to drop at least one of their last two games to have a shot at reclaiming third place. And more realistically, the Nuggets would need to lose both of their final games for the Lakers to enter the playoffs as the third seed.
It’s why the Lakers are likely headed toward a No. 4 vs. No. 5 first-round playoff series against the Rockets.
It’s all just a matter of who’ll finish fourth and have homecourt advantage for the series.
Neither the Lakers nor Rockets can fall below fifth, with the Timberwolves, whom the Rockets will host Friday, already locked in at No. 6.
The Lakers have the tiebreaker over the Rockets, so if they finish with the same record, the Lakers would be the higher seed and host their first-round series.
The Nuggets also hold the tiebreaker over the Rockets.
The Lakers playing the Rockets or Timberwolves in the first round has been the likeliest outcome for weeks.
And with the Rockets being the likelier matchup, we’re on a collision course for the fourth playoff series between teams led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who last played each other in the playoffs during the 2018 NBA Finals when Durant’s Warriors swept James’ Cavaliers.
But last week, with the Lakers falling and the Rockets soaring, changed the complexion of the expected series.
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