Category: Sports News

After Lucas’ look at Carlos Medlock Jr. on Friday, we’re continuing our preview series of new basketball players with a look at the Spartans’ only transfer (at least so far) for 2026-27: Anton Bonke.

Bonke’s background is pretty interesting. He was born in the Netherlands but moved with his mother to Port Vila, Vanuatu, when he was three. Bonke grew up in Port Vila and I had to figure out where that is:

So, it’s an island north of New Zealand and between Australia and Fiji:

And, apparently, it’s not easy to get to East Lansing from Vanuatu:

Making it even harder, Bonke comes to MSU by way of Eastern Arizona Junior College, Providence College, and the University of Charlotte.

One of our readers posted this Q&A with Bonke from his time at Eastern Arizona JC and there is this all-access video from the 2025-2026 season at Charlotte:

In both sources, Bonke discusses growing up in Vanuatu and how his mom got him involved in several sports as a kid. One of which was rowing – a sport most people don’t care about. I get it. But hear me out for just a moment, please.

Training for rowing often takes place early in the morning, requiring a lot of discipline from a younger person. Its repetitive motion requires those who want to be good at it to hone in on, and strive to improve, the finer details of the sport. Specifically this includes:

• How the blades of the oars enter and exit the water,
• The sequencing of body movements that propel the boat with oars in the water, and
• One’s ability to control the body to avoid disturbing the boat, allowing it glide when the oars are out of the water.

In addition to good endurance, rowers generally possess full-body strength, but specifically in the lower body, and leverage – things that could probably help greatly when trying to carve out space in the paint or cutting out for a rebound.

Despite being a good rower, Bonke’s passion shifted to basketball while in Port Vila. There just weren’t a lot of options to play hoops competitively. Bonke settled for watching NBA games until he could start playing on a team after graduating high school at age 16. He had a family connection in Davis, CA, so Bonke moved there and eventually caught on at Eastern Arizona.

After a year at the JUCO level, Bonke moved to Providence College where he had a pretty limited role. During the 2024-25 season with the Friars, he averaged 6.5 minutes, 1.3 points, and 1.2 rebounds per game over 16 appearances with one start.

Bonke’s production increased immensely last year at Charlotte, however, where he averaged 10.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game. Bonke played in all 34 games for the 49ers, with 32 starts. He shot 57.6% from the floor and 34.2% (13-38) on threes.

Charlotte finished the year an even .500 at 17-17 overall and 9-9 in the American Conference. The 49ers finished tied for fifth place in the 13 team league. South Florida, Tulsa, Wichita State, and UAB took the top four spots. So how did Bonke do against those teams and Virginia Tech – the only high-major out-of-conference team Charlotte played last season?

Bonke’s stat line in these nine games is pretty similar to the season overall.

His high minutes were the 41 in the double overtime win against Wichita State on January 3. Bonke scored 25 in a win at Temple on January 28, 20 in a loss to Temple on December 30, and 20 again in a loss at Florida Atlantic on March 1.

Overall, Bonke scored in double figures in 20 of 34 games for the 49ers last season. Charlotte was 10-10 in games in which Bonke reached double figures in points and 7-7 in games where he did not. It seems like the 49ers were just going to be a .500 team regardless last year.

So how will this translate to MSU and the Big Ten?

Size-wise, at least, pretty favorably. Bonke is 7 feet, 2 inches tall and either 260 or 270 pounds, depending on which source you look at. Comparing him to several centers he could square up against in the Big Ten:

• Daniel Jacobsen, Purdue: 7-4, 250
• Aday Mara, Michigan: 7-3, 255
• Samet Yigitoglu, Indiana: 7-2, 270
• Moustapha Thiam, Michigan: 7-2, 250
• Zvonimir Ivisic, Illinois: 7-2, 245
• Eric Reibe, USC: 7-1, 260
• Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois: 7-1, 255
• Aiden Sherrell, Indiana: 6-11, 255

Note that this list includes players who have transferred in to, or could return to, the teams listed above.

This interesting stat also puts Bonke in pretty good company:

Tom Izzo is obviously a believer and recently had this to say on the Drive with Jack podcast:

“We just think this kid has a little bit of everything. He’s tough, he’s got size, he can shoot the 3. We’ll see what happens but we feel like we got ourselves a very good player that is going to really help us.”

Also, according to Izzo, the Spartans had to beat out some competitors to land Bonke. In an article posted on Mlive, Izzo said he thought the Spartans might lose him to Kansas. So, Izzo apparently isn’t the only one who is high on Bonke’s potential. Interestingly, the same Mlive article from Matt Wenzel notes that Bonke has entered his name in the NBA draft (while retaining his college eligibility) – something that doesn’t seem to be mentioned much – but Izzo expects him to be in the Green & White next season.

Let’s close this out with a few video clips of Bonke in action for Charlotte last season and you can judge for yourself if you think his game will translate to the Big Ten.

Here is Bonke staying with his man and forcing him away from the basket as he attempts to drive and then ending the scoring threat for good with a nice rejection:

Here we see Bonke’s three point stroke:

And also a nice mid-range game:

Finally, we see that good lower body strength and some nice footwork pay off with some points in the paint:

I didn’t know anything about Anton Bonke before starting this article but I’m going to end it with some hopefulness. This guy seems to have come a long way in a short time playing organized basketball. Perhaps, in some ways, this is where the transfer portal can be good. A guy worked hard to get in a position to come to the United States and, in a few years, has worked his way from Eastern Arizona Junior College to a team with Final Four aspirations.

Izzo has called him “tough” and his demeanor in the all-access video from Charlotte seems to indicate that he’ll be able to take it if and when he experiences some “hard coaching” at MSU.

He appears to have an offensive skill set that can provide buckets in the paint and stretch the floor.

Perhaps Bonke will struggle initially with the defensive demands at MSU and in adjusting to the top-level of college basketball but he’s been making adjustments that have worked for him since he was 16 years old.

Welcome to East Lansing, Anton. Let’s make a run.

Last Tuesday, Victor Wembanyama went out of Game 2 early in the second quarter with a concussion. He has since been in the NBA concussion protocols. The Spurs have been working with the NBA to monitor Victor’s progress toward recovery. They are also in the process of evaluations to detemin when and if Wemby should return during this timeline of this series.

On Thursday, he flew with the team. On Friday, he worked out, participated in shoot arounds, and yet did not play once the time came.

Per league protocol, 24 hours after a player sustains a concussion, he can begin the process of returning to play. If symptom-free, he can be cleared to return by team doctors in consultation with a league policy director after 48 hours without full participation.

 Thirty minutes before tipoff for Game 3, the forward warmed up at Moda Center.

“He’s progressing every day,” Harper said. “All we can really do is pray for him and hope the trajectory he’s (on) keeps happening.”

Expect a game time decision to Wembanyama’s availability.

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Between the roughly 520 miles of driving, and the two hours sitting on the upper deck press row of Xfinity Mobile Arena, around 95% of my Friday night was spent sitting down while the Celtics battled in a down-to-the-wire thriller against the 76ers. 

The decision to drive from my apartment in Richmond, Virginia to South Philadelphia, and immediately head right back within a 24-hour period was ill-advised, and I kind of knew it. 

But this is the postseason — it’s the perfect time to make rash decisions. If I’m losing sleep over playoff basketball, I might as well do it because I’m there. From a 11:30 a.m. departure and an arrival back home at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the entire day was spent in a sort of dream-like haze. You walk through the tunnel, and there Derrick White stands, signing autographs. 

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum breeze by the media for their postgame pressers, an hour after combining for 11 of the team’s 16 clutch points in front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd. There you are, witnessing a new chapter to one of the NBA’s greatest rivalries. That is why I made the drive.

The nighttime drive from Philadelphia to Richmond was a little over four hours on the road. Not terrible, especially with the Trail Blazers/Spurs radio broadcast to keep you company, but the drive from Richmond to Philadelphia was a slightly worse six and a half hours, featuring hours of stop-and-go traffic and a brief excursion into the heart of Baltimore that Google Maps deemed a “time-saving” maneuver. 

During that drive, half of the time was spent on series-adjacent thoughts: how do the Celtics defend the Maxey pick-and-roll? How do the rotations change from Game 2? Can Jayson Tatum find his touch from beyond the arc? 

The other half of the drive, spent on things like music and podcasts, ultimately evolved/devolved into basketball, in some way or another. I had spent a good chunk listening to Icelandic artist Björk for the first time (Her album Debut is incredible), which later turned into a bit where I tried my best to do an impression of Björk on the call with Mike Breen and Doris Burke (whether or not it was a good impression, I’ll leave to the imagination). 

I also got to thinking about playoff hype videos. We all love them, we all need them. It’s the perfect way to usher in a playoff run, and luckily we’ve got tons of talented content creators out there that have perfected the craft. But what is the best one from this year for the Celtics? 

For my money, it comes from @derekwkim (who I see on this blog pretty frequently!). This video, if you haven’t seen it, is absolutely Dy-no-mite. If this doesn’t get you absolutely locked in, check your pulse. It’s too good. 

When I finally parked at Xfinity Mobile, I was in a hectic state. On one hand, the traffic was so bad, I only had about an hour to get acclimated with my surroundings. That meant no opportunity to watch shootarounds, take additional notes, or listen to Nick Nurse and Joe Mazzulla’s pre-game pressers. 

On the other hand, for every 10 steps you walk, you’re hearing Celtics and Sixers fans just jaw at each other. A glorious rivalry, a tied up series, everyone is confident. This is what it’s all about. The atmosphere of a playoff game is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. 

This was my first live Celtics playoff game in any capacity, though it’s actually the second playoff game I’ve ever been to. 

In 2024, a friend and I drove over 1,200 miles to Dallas, Texas for a spur of the moment road trip to see Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves. It was a great game, and an even greater atmosphere, just for the fact that Dallas was a game away from their first Finals appearance since 2011. 

It was during that trip that I watched the Celtics clinch their second Finals appearance of the Jays era in possibly the seediest motel I’ve ever been in, so that gives me an interesting “where were you when the Celtics swept the Pacers?” experience for that championship season. 

If anyone else answers “fearing for bedbugs in Dallas, Texas” that’s a pretty crazy coincidence.  

In Philly, I was taking notes on a range of topics: pick-and-roll coverages, Maxey defenders, Jaylen Brown paint touches, to name a few. 

I really didn’t interact too much with anyone near me during the game, although I was given a rare, naturally-occurring jumpscare from the older Philadelphia writer that sat beside me, who had a second screen on with the Phillies game and slammed his fist hard on the table after what I assume to be a costly error or game-losing play. Here I am locked in on a Tatum pick-and-roll only to be absolutely shaken by the absolute rage of this man. He, too, was locked in, just on something completely different from the other 19,016 people in attendance.

After watching an electric clutch performance from the Jays and hearing them speak in front of the media, I was off on the road back to Richmond. Now with a shorter, smoother ride, I spent the time thinking over what I just watched.

If you’re reading this, that probably means you’ve also read the many wonderfully-written articles from the blog’s staff about the finer details of this win. I don’t want to harp on too many more details with another game on Sunday, but consider this a 10 Takeaways microdose. We’ll call it 3 Takeaways. 

1) Baylor Scheierman has made the most of his opportunities 

There’s a clear need for Jordan Walsh to also have an established role in this series, and I understand playoff minutes are hard to come by with Jaylen and Jayson both averaging over 36 minutes, but Scheierman has been so good in his time on the floor this series. If there’s room to expand his minutes, I’d like to see it. 

His 12 minutes on the floor felt like a sample of all the things he’s provided in the rotation this season. He hit a pair of threes, grabbed three boards, and hounded the ball on defense, coming away with two steals. 

The versatility Scheierman presents, it just feels like it’s going to save the day at some point. He is simply built for the moment. 

2) This was the clutch execution we needed to see 

There was just something not quite right with how the Celtics offense ran in Game 2, even as they drew as close as two points from the Sixers in the fourth quarter. Too many stalled possessions down to the final seconds, too much overdribbling to make something happen, and of course, not enough shooting execution when they did get a good look.

Game 3 was not the case. 

Not to say it was all perfect, after all Pritchard’s late three barely beat the shot clock on a well-defended possession, and the Sixers stuck around by attacking the basket, but through the pressure and the chaos, the Celtics were composed when it mattered. 

While it’s not the most important shot of the fourth quarter, Tatum’s 3-pointer with two minutes left shows that composure completely. The Sixers sell out on taking away his drive, so much so that they dare Vooch to pull it from deep. He doesn’t force it, he doesn’t push the ball to the first option he sees, he takes a dribble inside the arc, forces a reaction to collapse onto him, then makes the best read possible by getting it back to Tatum. 

And when Tatum took that extra dribble, you just knew that shot was going down. A smart play rewarded. 

Clutch execution is an understandable concern with this group, but we saw that the team can shine when it gets down to those final, intense moments of a game. We absolutely needed to see a closeout like this. 

3) We saw this core’s playoff experience at work 

Joe Mazzulla had a quote that resonated with me when he was asked if the way the team closed out the win was a testament to Tatum and Brown’s playoff experience and leadership. To him, it shows up in other areas even before you reach the clutch stages of this game. 

“I think it shows up in how you handle playoff losses, how you handle a bad game, how you handle winning,” he said. “I think the experience just kind of shows up in their poise on a day-to-day basis. Not getting too high, not getting too low, having a clear understanding of what’s at stake and what’s needed on a consistent basis. I thought you saw that tonight.” 

It’s a realization that, to those who have followed this team since the very beginning of this era, before we even considered it an era of this duo, we have seen so many battles, so many postseason journeys, so many lessons learned. They’ve reached the top of the mountain, they suffered devastating defeat, and everything in between. 

They’ve literally seen it all. 

Game 3 was a nailbiter, but it’s not new to this duo. That experience matters. 

It’s 3:30 a.m., and I’m finally back home. Face meets pillow, end of journey. Maybe next time I’ll book a flight.

ATLANTA — It was a family affair.

During the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 114-98 Game 4 win over the Hawks on Saturday night at State Farm Arena, Jalen Brunson and his father, Knicks assistant Rick Brunson, were animated with each other on the sideline despite the game largely having been settled.

They yelled at each other and waved their arms a bit before the younger Brunson walked away.

When asked what the debate was about, Jalen Brunson said “there’s no debate there.”

So what was it about?

“That was two competitors,” he said.

Brunson struggled with his shot, as he has for most of this series.

He finished with 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 shooting from 3-point range and also committed six turnovers.

He also exited and went back to the locker room during the third quarter after Dyson Daniels fell on his ankle while fighting for a loose ball.

He returned later in the quarter.

And soon after, he was barking at his father.

Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud reveals his ‘welcome to the NBA' moment originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Every rookie has their “welcome to the NBA” moment.

For some, it comes against Steph Curry. Maybe LeBron James. Or even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Maxime Raynaud, however, experienced his “welcome to the NBA” moment against a center from the Denver Nuggets — not Nikola Jokić, but rather his backup, Jonas Valančiūnas. The Kings’ 23-year-old shared his story in the latest edition of “The Old Man and The Three” with Sacramento teammates Precious Achiuwa and Nique Clifford.

“Jonas Valančiūnas; it was so bad,” Raynaud said. “It was so bad. Before the game … one of our video guys showed me a clip and was like, ‘Look, as soon as JV comes into the game, they’re going to run this ATO play — it’s like a cross-screen, he’s going to catch the ball, he’s going to post up — like, you know it’s coming. ‘Yes.’ He comes into the game, I see the cross-screen coming, I’m like, ‘All right, I got it,’ push him out, push him out.

“He catches the ball at the 3-point break — one dribble, chest, two dribbles, chest. He took me — just pushed me — out of the way. Did not even care to dunk the ball. Just laid it up over me; I felt like a baby. I was just like, I cannot do anything against this. He genuinely just walked me to the rim, took me, pushed me and just laid it up.”

It happens.

And for the Stanford product, it was just another lesson.

“Then, after the game, our assistant GM [B.J. Armstrong] comes up to me, he’s like, ‘Max, you got to stand your ground.’ I’m like, ‘There’s no ground to stand on … I can’t do nothing,’” Raynaud hilariously added. “I couldn’t do anything.

“And then, the craziest thing is that he didn’t even have a crazy game … those eight points (were) loud.”

Raynaud and the Kings, at least, won the game, 128-123, on Nov. 22 at Ball Arena.

But the rookie will have to live with the lighthearted nightmare forever.

“He picked you up … this man picked him up,” Clifford said. “Max was two feet in the air.”

Despite the lowlight, Raynaud did keep Valančiūnas to eight points, as he remembered. Jokić, meanwhile, finished with 44.

There is a difference, though.

“It didn’t physically hurt you as much,” Raynaud said of Jokić’s buckets. “It sucks because you look up, and he’s probably the best player in the world at that moment. But …

“[Jokić] goes about his day, goes about his business. Like, he doesn’t talk too much to you or anything. After JV did ‘that,’ he started chuckling and running back kind of sideways; that’s what upset me the most.”

Valančiūnas, a former King, gave the rookie the business. Raynaud and Sacramento, though, ultimately left the Mile High City with the aforementioned dub — and that’s all that matters.

“You should feel good,” Achiuwa said. “We won that game.”

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Annually, the International Association of Structure Movers holds a convention with an awards banquet. Some awards are based purely on the numbers (e.g. “Heaviest Structure Moved on Rubber Tires”), but others are based on the opinions of judges (e.g. “Most Innovative Move”).

I love to use these awards as an example of a typical trade association’s annual recognition banquet because these are incredibly niche undertakings. These ain’t the Oscars—or the NBA’s awards for that matter.

Yet, they kind of are.

The NBA’s regular season awards recognize an array of achievements, but in the end, this is just the league and its media associates patting itself on the back. Call the MVP award the Oscar for Best Actor, or the “Most Innovative Move” and you’ve got the general idea figured out. Of course, an added complication in the NBA is that actual money in terms of max contract values is involved in some NBA awards, but the principle is the same.

When the NBA announced finalists for various individual performance awards last week, no Celtics players were listed. Jaylen Brown was not a finalist for the MVP and Neemias Queta was not a finalist for Most Improved Player. Jayson Tatum is a finalist for Teammate of the Year, which is surprising given the amount of on-the-court time he missed, and Joe Mazzulla is a finalist for an award that he has said he doesn’t really want.

Overall, though, how have the Celtics fared when it comes to these annual awards?

Looking back at the league’s most inclusive award, the All-NBA teams, Boston has nabbed 86 of 930 possible slots since the award was first given in the good old BAA days. This is second to the Lakers, who have filled 101 slots (Kobe, Kareem, and Magic account for 36 of those slots), but well ahead of the Sixers/Nationals, who have 67 All-NBA awards to their credit.

In terms of All-Defense, the Celtics lead the league in selections, with 49 of 570 slots. The Spurs are second with 44.

MVP selections are an interesting story. The Celtics have had 10 MVP awards. This is the most in league history. However, Larry Bird was the last Celtic to win an MVP award, and that was in the ’85-86 season. It’s been 40 years since a Boston player won an MVP award. At one point in time, one out of every four MVP awards had gone to a Celtic. Nowadays, it’s down to one out of eight. The Lakers and Sixers are tied for second place with seven MVP awards apiece.

For the Defensive Player of the Year award, Boston has two winners—Kevin Garnett and Marcus Smart. They are far from the most decorated franchise in league history here. The top awarded teams are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Detroit Pistons (Ben Wallace was a four-time winner) and the San Antonio Spurs.

Rookie recognition is, as one would suspect, pretty thin on the ground for the Celtics. A team as consistently good as they have been doesn’t tend to give rookies a lot of opportunity to shine. Thus, the C’s have only landed 19 players on the 485 slots available on the All-Rookie team (the Bulls are, somewhat surprisingly, the league leaders, with 25 All-Rookie nominees). The Celtics have had three Rookies of the Year: Tom Heinsohn, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird. The Warriors lead all teams with six winners.

Boston players have won the Sixth Man of the Year award five times, which is tied with the Clippers, surprisingly, for most in league history, and no Celtic has ever been named Most Improved Player.

Overall, the C’s position as the winningest franchise in league history both in terms of games won and in terms of championships is pretty well reflected in player honors. To be sure, there seems to have been some neglect on the All-NBA teams, but from a big picture standpoint, there’s not a whole lot to gripe about here.

This is especially the case when you consider that the league has named seven awards after Celtic figures, the most of any team (Sam Jones, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Chuck Cooper, Red Auerbach, John Havlicek, and Bill Russell).

Where things make no sense at all is when it comes to the Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year awards.

The Atlanta Hawks have had the league’s Coach of the Year on six different occasions.

The league began giving this award out in 1963 and Harry Gallatin won the first award as coach of the then St. Louis Hawks. Since then the Hawks have accumulated a record of 2585-2581. I mean, that’s technically a better than .500 record, but c’mon. How thin can you slice that piece of pie?

The last time a Celtic coach won the award? Bill Fitch—in Larry Bird’s rookie year. The following year, the year the C’s won the title, the award went to Jack McKinney, whose Pacer team went 44-38. The Celtics have won five championships since Fitch’s award in 1980. Mind you, as I’ve said elsewhere, I think it’s good that coaches of other teams receive a little bronze statue of Red Auerbach to remind them of the league’s pecking order. But still, there’s very little about this award that makes sense.

Even more mind boggling is the Executive of the Year award. Here, Jerry Colangelo managed to land the award four times during a period in which his Suns finished first in their division exactly twice. During the period that Colangelo was collecting all that hardware, Red Auerbach won the award in 1980, presumably in recognition of his foresight in drafting Larry Bird the year before, and that’s it. No more awards for Red.

Red got zero recognition for moves like acquiring Parish and McHale in one trade, or Dennis Johnson, or Bill Walton. These were all brilliant deals that paid dividends the year that they were made, all were moves one would expect the league’s best executive to make, but none of them were good enough to secure another Executive of the Year award. On the opposite coast, neither Bill Sharman nor Jerry West got the award for building the Showtime Lakers, but hey, Atlanta’s Stan Kasten won it in ’85-86 and ’86-87, years in which two of the greatest teams in NBA history were fielded, neither of which were the Atlanta Hawks.

But what, ultimately, do these awards say about the quality of play on the court or talent on the bench or in the front office?

Not much.

To be sure, bad players don’t make it onto the All-NBA teams, and winning the MVP is basically a guarantee that you’ll end up in Springfield, but these awards are just a side show. They’re not the main event, and they’re not the final measure of the value of players, coaches and executives.

At best, awards are the detritus of a successful season. They’re side effects, secondary symptoms that indicate you’ve done a good job.

Sure, it’s always nice to get an award, to get recognition for doing your job well, whether it’s at an annual rubber chicken dinner hosted by the International Association of Structure Movers or in an NBA press release, but those awards aren’t where it’s at.

My brother-in-law Trent has been in the structure moving business for over thirty years. Despite participating in what was, at the time, the Heaviest Rubber Tire Structure Move in history, as well as a number of other award-winning projects and transport inventions, he says, “I don’t care whether we get an award. I don’t need that kind of recognition to motivate me.”

Joe Mazzulla couldn’t have said it better himself.

ATLANTA — Mike Brown began the game the same way, keeping his starting unit intact.

But notably, he also ended the game the same way to continue the growing concern around Mikal Bridges.

After acknowledging ahead of Game 4 that the Knicks were considering shaking up the starting unit, Brown stuck with his guns and kept Bridges in the starting lineup.

Bridges recorded eight points in 19 minutes in the Knicks’ 114-98 win over the Hawks on Saturday night at State Farm Arena to even the series at 2-2.

“We’ve won a lot of games with the starting group,” Brown said. “I didn’t want to panic and just change anything. Obviously, we changed some stuff strategy-wise, but I didn’t want to change anything with the starting group because I didn’t feel a need to.”

If those 19 minutes seem odd for a starter, there is a reason for that. After Bridges checked out with 7:34 left in the third quarter, he was benched the rest of the way. Miles McBride was on the floor in his place.

It mirrored the end of the Knicks’ Game 3 loss, when Bridges was benched — similarly for McBride — for the vast majority of the second half.

“At the end of the day, I just felt that [McBride] had it rolling,” Brown said. “They were gonna double Jalen [Brunson]. When they did, [McBride] hit some big 3s. So if a guy has it rolling, he may have a chance to stay out on the floor, that’s all it was.”

To begin the playoffs, it seemed like Jose Alvarado was out of the playoff rotation. But he’s crept back in — and is making an impact.

He recorded six points in 14 minutes Saturday.

He also brought a bit of his trademark snarl — soon after checking in for the first time at the end of the first quarter, he got into a bit of a dustup with Mouhamed Gueye and forced Gueye into a technical foul.

His rise has come at the expense of Landry Shamet, whose struggles at the end of the regular season bled into the beginning of the playoffs.

Shamet, who only played in garbage time Saturday, seems to now be out of the rotation.

“He was huge,” Brown said of Alvarado. “He hit two big 3s. He was a guy that they were gonna leave open. He works very hard on his 3-point shooting. He took the right shots tonight. And then defensively, he tried to be a pest. What he did out on the floor for us gave us a huge lift, especially when Jalen was out.”

Brunson surpassed John Starks for the fourth-most total points in the playoffs in franchise history.