Category: Sports News

After a resounding 114-98 win against the Hawks on Saturday in Atlanta, the Knicks regained homecourt advantage in their first-round playoff series. That wasn’t the only thing. 

The Knicks rediscovered their mojo after two close losses. After notable performances from Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart, New York has a chance to take a 3-2 series lead on Tuesday night.

Here are three keys ahead of Game 5 at Madison Square Garden...

Point KAT

It’s been a season of push-and-pull between head coach Mike Brown and Towns. 

The All-Star has slowly become more acclimated to a role where he is more of an offensive hub with the power to score and facilitate. Towns had the first playoff triple-double of his career in Game 4, notching 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Towns has also been more under control over the last few months -- he had just two turnovers on Saturday.

It was clear from the jump that the Knicks wanted to emphasize Towns as an initiator of the offense, and he excelled. New York found comfort in repeatedly having the big man with the ball at the top of the key, and Anunoby making a lex cut off a screen from Jalen Brunson. Since Atlanta was looking to prevent Jalen Johnson from switching onto Brunson, it opened up several easy passes for Towns to make for Anunoby at the rim.

The trouble with performances like these is consistency. Can the Knicks continue to operate the offense through Towns on Tuesday night? Or will they revert to a bogged down offense? 

Going into Game 5, the Knicks should continue running the offense through Towns. As we saw on Saturday, he doesn’t need to score on every play, but the attention he draws should continue to open up opportunities for his teammates. 

Halfcourt series

When this series has been played in the halfcourt, the Knicks have the advantage.

After giving up 20 fast break points in Game 3, New York held the Hawks to just seven in Game 4. Many of those quick strike opportunities came after the game was in hand. One of the keys to controlling the pace comes from mitigating turnovers.

New York had 10 turnovers through the third quarter in Game 4. Four of the turnovers were live-ball miscues, limiting opportunities for the Hawks to run out. Also, in some of the live-ball turnovers, New York did a good job of getting back to limit easy scoring opportunities.

One concern has been Brunson’s struggles with full court pressure. Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels gave the Knicks captain fits as he brought the ball up in Game 4. Brunson finished the night with six turnovers, as the Knicks made more of a concerted effort to have Hart bring the ball up.

If New York can keep Atlanta in the halfcourt, the team should have control of this series the rest of the way.

Scoring leap

Anunoby has been New York’s most consistent player in the postseason. Through four games, the Knicks forward is averaging 20.8 points on 56 percent from the field and 8.8 rebounds. It’s arguably the best stretch of the nine-year veteran’s career.

Anunoby has made an impact on both ends, making him a must-have on the court. He played a game-high 40 minutes on Saturday, scoring 22 points and collecting 10 rebounds.

Defensively, he’s been the defensive force that the Knicks have come to expect every night. With Hart moving over to guard CJ McCollum more often, we’ve seen an increased amount of Anunoby defending Johnson.

That two-way play has been successful. In 152 minutes with Anunoby on the court during the first round, New York has a net rating of plus-6.7, per NBA Stats. When he has been off the floor, the Knicks have been outscored by 1.2 points per 100 possessions.

Amid Mikal Bridges' struggles and subsequent decrease in playing time in the series, Anunoby’s continued production on both ends has been paramount to picking up wins.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
Date: April 27th, 2026
Time: 9:30 PM CDT
Location: Ball Arena
Television Coverage: NBC, Peacock

Before we get to Game 5, the elimination stakes, the wounded Nuggets, and the suddenly very real possibility that Minnesota could end this thing in Denver again, we need to start with Donte DiVincenzo.

Those 79 seconds of Game 4 were certainly the lasat of his season, and given the time it takes to recover from an achilles tear, his contract situation, and the unforgiving NBA aprons, it’s very possible they were his last in a Timberwolves uniform. It’s worth pausing for a second and appreciating what he has meant to this team since arriving before the 2024-25 season.

Since arriving in Minnesota before the 2024-25 season, DiVincenzo has been exactly the kind of player every serious team needs. He’s been one of the hardest-working, scrappiest, most competitive players on the roster. On a team that has spent large chunks of this season having its effort questioned, Donte was never one of the guys you worried about.

Loose ball? He was diving. Extra rotation? He was making it. Broken nose? He was playing through it. Unfortunately, an Achilles tear is not the kind of thing you just slap a mask on and play through. DiVincenzo underwent surgery Sunday afternoon and now begins the long recovery process. It’s a brutal break for a player who has given this franchise so much toughness, and for a Wolves team that could use every ounce of his fire as it tries to finish off Denver.

The same goes for Anthony Edwards, who is now dealing with a second knee injury after clearly gutting his way through the first three-and-a-half games of this series. There’s no questioning Ant’s toughness. You could see him fighting through pain, trying to summon the explosiveness that usually defines him, trying to be the guy this team has leaned on for two straight postseason runs. But he wasn’t himself, and unfortunately, pushing through one issue may have helped lead to another.

The timeline for Edwards’ return remains uncertain, but you know it is killing him that he won’t be on the floor Monday night with a chance to end Denver’s season. That is the kind of stage he lives for. The kind of moment where his competitive wiring usually takes over and turns a playoff game into his personal superhero audition tape. Instead, he has to watch and hope his teammates can keep doing what they’ve somehow managed to do lately: pick up the slack, carry the burden collectively, and give him a chance to rest for whatever comes next.

So yes, there’s a somber cloud hanging over this team even after one of its most satisfying wins of the season. Two starting backcourt pieces down. One of them done for the year. One of them uncertain.

But here’s the thing about Game 4: the Wolves did not look like a team asking for pity.

They looked like a team that had found something.

It was obvious from the jump that Game 4 wasn’t going to be the start-to-finish demolition that Game 3 became. Denver is too good, too proud, and too experienced to simply roll over because Minnesota punched it in the mouth once. The Nuggets were always going to respond. Nikola Jokic was always going to push back (we’ll get to that in a minute…). A former champion does not usually go quietly into the night just because Target Center got loud and Jaden McDaniels started taking up space in everyone’s head.

But to Minnesota’s credit, it did not get high on its own supply. The Wolves came out in Game 4 with the same defensive intensity, the same physical edge, and the same willingness to make Denver uncomfortable. For the second straight game, the Nuggets failed to crack 100 points. In an NBA where everybody scores 120 by accident, Minnesota has turned one of the league’s smartest, most dangerous offenses into a team searching for loose change between couch cushions.

And then came Ayo Dosunmu. What else can you even say about that performance? Forty-three points. Five-for-five from three. Constant rim pressure. Transition bursts. Confidence dripping off every touch. A masterclass from a player who was asked to step into a void left by Edwards and DiVincenzo and responded by authoring one of the most stunning bench performances in NBA playoff history.

Now, let’s be realistic for one second: 43 points from Ayo is not something you can just pencil in again. If your Game 5 strategy is “Ayo turns into playoff Steph Curry with downhill burst,” that’s probably not the soundest plan. But what made the performance so encouraging is that it did not feel fake. He did not play outside himself. He did not hijack the offense. He did not stumble into a bunch of absurd, unsustainable nonsense. He played his game of fast, aggressive, decisive, efficient basketball and simply got enough touches, minutes, and opportunity for the whole world to see what Wolves fans have been watching in flashes since he arrived.

Even if the 43-point explosion was the outlier, the player underneath it is real. The pace, the rim pressure, the three-point accuracy is real, and the confidence is real. With Edwards and DiVincenzo unavailable, the Wolves need every bit of that to survive this series and maybe, somehow, extend this playoff run into something bigger.

But as electric as Ayo was, the foundation remained the same: Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels turning Denver’s two best players into frustrated problem-solvers.

Gobert has been magnificent. Not just good. Magnificent. He has neutralized Jokic in ways we almost never see. Rudy has made him work. He has made him feel size, length, resistance, fatigue, and the constant presence of someone who has fully embraced the biggest defensive assignment of the playoffs.

McDaniels has been every bit as important on Murray. He has hounded him, smothered him, picked him up full court, and made every dribble feel contested. That is what McDaniels can do when he’s fully engaged, and right now he is not just engaged, he is thriving in the villain role Denver seems desperate to cast him in.

The recipe has become clear. Attack the rim. Push the pace. Turn defensive stops into transition chances. Make Jokic and Murray run until the legs start to go. Then clamp down defensively, with Gobert owning the paint and McDaniels crawling inside Murray’s jersey.

That is what Minnesota did in Game 4. That is why the Wolves now lead 3-1. And that is why, even without Edwards and DiVincenzo, there should not be one person in that locker room who believes this cannot be finished Monday night.

Which brings us to the end-of-game chaos…

If you watched the final seconds, and if you’re reading this, let’s be honest, of course you watched the final seconds, you knew what was coming the second Mike Conley tipped that ball ahead to a wide-open Jaden McDaniels.

Jaden was going to score.

There was no universe where he was dribbling that out. Not after the way this series has unfolded. Not after his comments following Game 2 about Denver’s defenders. Not after spending four games buying up real estate inside the Nuggets’ collective brain like he was flipping mental duplexes. With the Wolves about to go up 3-1, with Denver already simmering, McDaniels putting two more points on the board was not just a layup. It was a cherry on top of Denver’s turd sundae.

Jokic did not appreciate the garnish.

He sprinted the length of the floor to confront McDaniels and shoved him toward the Wolves bench. Chaos followed. Julius Randle rushed in aggressively to defend his teammate. There were forceful arm movements, a lot of bodies, a lot of barking, and just enough uncertainty to leave everyone waiting on the league office. Jonas Valanciunas and Aaron Gordon appeared to leave Denver’s bench area to enter the scuffle, which by the strict letter of the law could carry consequences. Jokic, of course, was the one who initiated the whole thing by charging across the floor to start the confrontation in the first place.

And now we wait.

Hopefully, common sense wins. No one appeared to be hurt. This was mostly smoke. The last thing this series needs is more rotation players removed from the equation, especially with DiVincenzo already out, Edwards injured, and Gordon clearly hobbled. This might be the best rivalry in the league right now. Let it breathe. Let it play out. Let the players settle it in Game 5.

Of course, Wolves fans know how these things tend to go. If there is an opportunity for the league to turn the screws on Minnesota, history suggests the screwdriver will at least be removed from the toolbox. Suspending Randle would be weak given that Jokic clearly instigated the incident. But this is the NBA, and logic does not always get the final possession.

Either way, the situation now is brutally simple. Minnesota is one win away from ending Denver’s season. One win away from eliminating the best player on the planet. One win away from finishing off its biggest rival, in Denver, for the second time in three postseasons.

And with that, here are the keys to Game 5.

1. Defense Has to Remain the Anchor

This entire series has changed because Minnesota found the formula defensively.

It starts with Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, the two players who have become Denver’s personal haunted house. Rudy has embraced the Jokic challenge in a way that should end any lingering doubt about his importance to this roster. What Rudy can do is make Jokic work. Make him finish through length. Make him think twice near the rim. Make him spend 48 minutes dealing with a defender who has decided this matchup is personal.

That version of Rudy changes everything.

And Jaden? Jaden has turned Jamal Murray into a man searching for clean oxygen. The full-court pressure, the length, the constant harassment, and the refusal to give him comfortable touches has worn Murray down possession by possession, quarter by quarter. Murray can still hit tough shots, but the Wolves have made him work for every inch, and by the end of these games he has looked like someone who just finished running a marathon while being chased by a very angry spider.

That has to continue. The Wolves cannot let Jokic and Murray breathe life back into this series. They cannot let Denver’s supporting cast get comfortable because the primary actions are generating clean looks. The defensive standard has been set. It has to travel back to Denver.

If Gobert and McDaniels continue to win their battles, the Nuggets simply may do have enough scoring punch to survive, especially with Aaron Gordon hobbled and the rest of the roster looking increasingly unreliable under pressure.

The Wolves don’t need a pretty game.

They need a suffocating one.

2. Keep Running Until Denver’s Legs Give Out

The Wolves have found another pressure point, and it’s not complicated: run Denver into the ground.

The Nuggets are not as deep. They are not as young. They do not have the same supply of fresh legs. And because their offense leans so heavily on Jokic and Murray, the minutes add up.

Minnesota has to make this game feel long. Every defensive rebound should be an invitation to push. Every Denver miss should become a footrace. Every turnover should turn into a sprint the other way. Make Denver’s thin rotation feel every second of the altitude that is supposed to be their advantage.

This is where missing DiVincenzo hurts, because he is one of the guys who naturally plays with that kind of force and chaos. But Minnesota still has enough. Ayo Dosunmu can push. Bones Hyland can fly. Terrence Shannon Jr. can attack. Jaden can run lanes. Even Mike Conley, in a smaller role, can make the right pass to trigger the break.

The Wolves cannot let this become a slow, comfortable, half-court Jokic clinic. That is where Denver regains control.

Make it fast. Make it exhausting. Make it uncomfortable.

And when the fourth quarter arrives, make Denver feel like it has already played five.

3. Attack the Rim Before Falling in Love With the Three

For most of the season, the Wolves lived and died by the three-point line. This series has shifted the equation.

Minnesota’s best offense has not come from launching threes first. It has come from putting pressure on the rim, forcing Denver to collapse, and then letting the perimeter game open naturally from there. That has to remain the offensive identity in Game 5. The Wolves need to collectively generate paint pressure and make Denver’s weak rim protection prove it can hold up for 48 minutes.

That does not mean ignoring the three. Far from it. The threes are going to matter, especially without Donte and Ant spacing the floor. But the threes need to come after the defense bends. Drive first, kick second. Collapse first, punish second.

Denver wants Minnesota to settle. Minnesota has to refuse.

If the Wolves win the points in the paint battle and keep generating high-efficiency looks around the rim, they can survive even without a volcanic three-point night. If they also hit a respectable percentage from deep? That is when this series ends.

4. Maintain Composure

The Nuggets are on the verge of snapping. We already saw the first cracks.

Jaden is in their heads. Rudy is frustrating them. The Wolves’ pace is wearing them down. Their defense is choking off Denver’s preferred actions. And now the defending champs are one loss away from going home.

That is when desperate teams start looking for emotional edges.

Expect the chippiness. Expect the foul baiting. Expect the flopping. Expect the extra shoulder after the whistle, the “accidental” contact, the verbal jabs, the crowd feeding into every complaint, and the officials being put in positions where the Wolves have to decide whether they want to play basketball or argue about injustice.

They have to choose basketball.

That does not mean backing down. Actually, it means the opposite. Minnesota has to be physical, mean, aggressive, and relentless, but under control. No stupid technicals. No retaliation that gives Denver free points. No letting Jokic, Murray, or anyone else turn this into a whistle-and-emotions game.

The Wolves have been the better team for three straight games because they have imposed their style. They cannot give that away by chasing the drama.

Let Denver be the team that unravels.

5. Put Down the Kill Shot

This is the moment.

There is no gentle way to say it. The Wolves have the Nuggets wounded. They have Denver down 3-1. They have the formula. They have the defensive answers. They have proven they can win without peak Edwards and, in Game 4, without their starting backcourt carrying the offense. They have taken Denver’s best punch, adjusted, punched back, and now they are standing over the Nuggets with a chance to end it.

You do not mess around with opportunities like this.

Because if Denver wins Game 5, this series changes. Suddenly it is 3-2 and Game 6 becomes a pressure cooker. Suddenly the Nuggets start believing in the old “one game at a time” mantra that every dangerous team convinces itself of when it is trying to crawl out of a grave.

Minnesota cannot allow that. This has to be a full-team effort. Ayo does not need to score 43 again, because expecting that would be insane. But he has to be confident and aggressive. Randle has to be forceful without being reckless. Jaden has to keep defending like a man who enjoys ruining evenings. Rudy has to keep anchoring everything. Naz has to bring the bench punch. Bones has to supply a few scoring bursts. Shannon has to be ready. Conley has to steady the ship if needed. Kyle Anderson has to glue possessions together. Every available player has to give Minnesota something.

This is not about one guy saving them.

This is about the pack finishing the hunt.

Finish It

The Wolves have Denver exactly where they want them.

They are one win away from ending the season of their biggest rival. One win away from eliminating the best player on the planet. One win away from proving, once again, that this roster was built for this matchup and that Minnesota is not just some annoying playoff obstacle for Denver, it is the problem Denver cannot solve.

But the hardest win in a series is often the closing one. Especially against a team with pride. Especially against a team with Jokic. Especially in Denver. Especially after a game that ended with tempers flaring and everyone in that building ready to treat Game 5 like a street fight with a scoreboard.

Let it be hard.

This is the playoffs. This is the rivalry. This is what they asked for.

The Wolves do not need to be perfect. They need to be connected, physical, fast, and composed. They need to be hungry enough to understand that giving Denver one more breath is the most dangerous thing they can do.

End it now.

End it in their building.

End it the same way they did two years ago, with the Nuggets staring around in disbelief and the Wolves walking off the floor knowing they took something.

The hunt has been long.

The prey is wounded.

Now comes the finish.

Former Kentucky Wildcat and two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo is reportedly in the running to be a NBA head coach.

According to Marc Stein, the New Orleans Pelicans are largely considering Rondo for their HC position.

He spent the 2017-2018 season as the starting point guard, averaging eight points and as many assists in 65 games.

Clearly the Pelicans brass liked what they saw from Rondo during his time in New Orleans and throughout the rest of his career, as they’ve already interviewed him for the HC position.

Rondo most recently served as a special assistant on the staff of Doc Rivers in Milwaukee, having last played in the NBA during the 2021-2022 season for both the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

He was always a true floor general and locker room leader during his playing career, even dating back to his first few seasons when he was the starting PG for the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics where he was heavily mentored by Kevin Garnett.

Rondo’s basketball IQ has always been seen as one of the best, which should also help him in the coaching scene where the Pelicans have highly talented players such as Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson. He could also be a great mentor for someone like Dejounte Murray.

What do you think about Rondo’s chances of becoming the next young coach in the NBA?

Tweet of the Day

Yes!

Headlines

Kentucky avoids sweep against South Carolina – KSR

Good win yesterday.

QB Diego Pavia accepts invite to Ravens minicamp – ESPN

Chances he earns a roster spot?

UDFA signings are rolling in for former Kentucky standouts – KSR

Love it.

Rockets say Alperen Sengun’s speech helped spark Game 4 win – ESPN

False hope?

Waiting for Stokes, Pope out recruiting, 5-in-5 meetings and more – KSR

Any chance we land him?

Spurs overwhelm Blazers late in Wembanyama’s return – ESPN

Huge relief for San Antonio.

Breaking down Kentucky’s latest football offers – Cats Illustrated

An uddate.

Mike Tomlin talks Steelers exit, new analyst role with NBC – ESPN

Will he soon return to coaching?

How low can the vibes get before you reach a point of no return?

We got pretty close to that after the demoralizing beatdown the Knicks got at the hands of the shorthanded Mavericks back on MLK Day in January to fall to 2-9 in their last 11 games. Even throughout all the frustration in the prior year and a half, it felt like the Knicks were dangerously close to something irreparable that night. Fortunately for them, they solved their woes two nights later.

The Game 3 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday somehow found a lower point. While January is still a ways away from the playoffs and most fans knew they had enough time to shape up, the Knicks were suddenly fighting for their lives in Game 4. A loss would mean a 3-1 deficit and an all-but-assured first-round exit in the season with the highest expectations in nearly three decades.

The discontent was already beginning. Mike Brown was being flamed for every single decision. Jalen Brunson’s struggles were having fans question his long-term viability as the face of this franchise (don’t believe me? We got that discourse in our very own comment sections!). Mikal Bridges became the most slandered man in basketball. For the sake of the franchise and everyone involved, Game 4 was a must-win, even if they could technically afford to lose.

But they didn’t. They almost led buzzer-to-buzzer, and aside from a brief charge to start the second half, the Hawks were down double digits for essentially the final three quarters. Every small run was answered. Every time Atlanta countered an offensive strategy or found a way to exploit a defensive hole, it was patched immediately. It was 48 minutes of pure execution.

You could not script a better feel-good victory that has you take a step off the ledge and believe better days are ahead. But what exactly changed about how the team played in Game 4 compared to the first three?

Defensive Intensity and Pressure

The No. 1 thing that the Knicks did right in Game 4 was to not make anything easy for the Hawks on offense. There was significantly more full-court pressure, a higher pick-up point, and more physical on-ball defense. CJ McCollum, whose performance in the first three games mirrored the Black Mamba, got a variety of looks to keep him off balance and it wore him down, to the point where he played significantly more off-ball than usual.

The Knicks forced 18 turnovers and made play after play, gambling for steals and deflections to slow down a potent offense that thrives on early shot clock action.

A different referee crew might disrupt the game flow with a litany of fouls on these plays, but the Knicks recognized early that Scott Foster’s crew was going to let them play, and they looked the part of a veteran team playing with the type of desperation they needed against a young, athletic team on the road.

But it wasn’t just the way they were dragging down Atlanta in the halfcourt; it was the way they prevented them from playing to their pace.

Game 4’s pace sat at just 94 possessions, compared to 101 in Game 3.

The Hawks went from scoring 40 combined fast-break points in their two wins to just seven in Game 4.

The Hawks scored 37 points off 29 combined turnovers in Games 2 and 3, but only scored 14 points against 14 turnovers on Saturday. The Knicks turned the Hawks over 18 times on Saturday, a series-high.

All of this is absolutely necessary to continue to take firm control of this series.

Working Through Karl-Anthony Towns

Pretty much everyone here at P&T believed that Karl-Anthony Towns was the X-factor, so there’s no coincidence that Towns’ two best games have been the two wins this series.

What’s fascinating, however, is that you’re not getting the 35-point masterpieces. Instead, you’re getting low shot totals and 20-point triple doubles.

Gravity is extremely impactful in evaluating the impact of an offensive player. Even when Jalen Brunson is struggling with his shot some nights, he can have a big impact by drawing defenders and spraying to open shooters. While that’s not precisely what happened with Towns’ last game, his gravity led to openings for his teammates, specifically using the exact same back screen concept with Brunson and OG Anunoby that worked to perfection over and over again.

When he wasn’t the facilitator, Towns was going right at both Onyeka Okongwu and Jonathan Kuminga. Unlike before, when he was content to sink into the corner when the Hawks switched up the coverages with Kuminga, he was a man on a mission all night long.

The only player that the Hawks have no answer for is Towns. We’ve seen them hound Brunson with a variety of wings that have made him struggle through four games, but no coverage in the world can stop the Big Bodega when he’s decisive and playing with purpose.

Better Rotations

The only time in this series that the minutes with both Brunson and Towns on the bench have been catastrophically bad was the start of the second quarter of Game 2. Outside of that, they’ve played about even.

That said, we saw very few of those minutes in Game 4 as part of a very different rotation.

For one, the struggling Bridges was limited to just 19 minutes, as his impact on offense was incredibly muted and, due to the team-wide priority on more defensive intensity, his defensive impact was more replaceable. That meant more minutes for Deuce McBride, whose minutes alongside Brunson and/or Towns this series have been exceptional this series:

There was still no double big lineups, but Mike Brown’s real stroke of genius was how he deployed Brunson and Towns. He did an effective line change with four minutes left in the first quarter to get all starters but Josh Hart out of the game, but re-inserted Brunson after a one-minute recharge to finish the quarter before starting him on the bench and Towns on the floor in the second.

His trust in Jose Alvarado was also similarly important, and he’s been willing to play the hot hand by putting in the fiery Brooklyn native over Landry Shamet, who’s currently out of the rotation. There’s still potentially more moves to be made, but the moves made thus far have stabilized this series.

Effort. Pure Effort.

At the end of the day, this is what it’s all about.

The Hawks have flat-out played harder through three games in this series. Talent can overcome intensity every so often, but the Knicks put themselves in the muck for long enough that energy won out in Games 2 and 3. The Knicks needed to match the intensity, and they played the type of ankle-biting basketball that we haven’t seen enough from this group.

They’re diving for loose balls. They’re communicating on defense. They’re getting in each other’s faces to lock in. Just look at what Rick Brunson was saying to his own son.

Every time this team faces any sort of adversity, there are detractors in the media who want to tear down everything that this team has built. Regardless of how Boston, Detroit, and Cleveland have fared in the playoffs so far, it’s the Knicks that have the most negative coverage. It’s not just the fanbase that was ready to write the Knicks’ obituary after Game 3; it was the national media. What other team gets mentioned on a WWE show as “cursed”

For the Knicks, the No. 1 key is intensity and effort. They played Game 4 like they only had 96 minutes left in their season, and that mentality needs to remain. Dropping Game 5 in MSG is a similar death sentence to dropping Game 4. The season is in similar peril on Tuesday, even if you feel a helluva lot more confident now than you probably did going into Saturday.

Keep Atlanta on their heels, and the series is yours. They’ve shown you the blueprint.

Talk about a tale of two halves! I’ll be honest, as halftime approached, I was comforting myself with the argument that this game represented an unfortunate but understandable stumble for a young, inexperienced team that was still coming off a critical Game 3 win without its superstar. It certainly wasn’t an ideal scenario, but I kept telling myself that this would be another one of those playoff scars that ultimately leads to winning.

Fortunately, my insincere, grasping rationalizations quickly gave way to delight, as the Spurs narrowed a 15-point deficit to just four via a 2-and-a-half minute burst early in the third. To their credit, Portland did not immediately crumble after this onslaught, as the remainder of the quarter was a back-and-forth affair that ended with the score knotted up at 74. The Blazers continued to keep things close for several minutes in the fourth; however, by the middle of the quarter San Antonio had a double-digit lead that continued to grow as the game drew to a close.

In pulling off this comeback, the Spurs became the only team in NBA playoff history to win a game by 15+ after being down by 15+ at half. As you might imagine, a performance like this produces some wild stats, as we will discuss below:

Note: Now that we’ve moved into the postseason, the reference period used for grading changes from the set of regular season games since 2012-2013 to the set of postseason games since 2012-2013. Unless otherwise noted below, this set DOES include play-in games. As of the end of April 26, 2026, this group include 1,151 games.

Factors that decided the game

• This is one of those games in which the overall box score obscures wild variation in play for both teams over the course of the game. Of course, the factors discussed here are still completely valid, but it is important to note that essentially all of the Spurs’ key advantages were built in the second half.
• San Antonio invested heavily in stocks (steals + blocks) in this game, logging 22 as a team to Portland’s 11. That Blazers total is unspectacular but perfectly respectable; unfortunately for them, Wemby matched it by himself.
• The Spurs’ stifling defense produced a turnover margin of -5, which helped them build a FGA edge of +7. However, another reason that San Antonio attempted more field goals is that they fouled more often and at worse times, giving Portland a +6 advantage in FTA.
• The Blazers’ notable edge at the free throw line (+5 FTM) was completely swamped by the Spurs’ massive advantage from the field, which was partly driver by volume but mostly the result of big margins in FG% (+9.43 percentage points) and 3P% (+10.17 percentage points). As a result, San Antonio made 11 more shots, four more threes, and outscored Portland by 26 from the field.

Rare Box Score Stats

• I mentioned above that Victor had 11 stocks in this game (seven blocks and four steals). Only seven other players have met of surpassed this total in a true playoff game (i.e., no play-in contests) since the start of the 1996-1997 postseason.
• The Spurs’ team total of 22 stocks is not nearly as rare a feat, but still far from common. In the 1,151 postseason games since 2012-2013, a stock total of 22+ has happened 30 times, including 22 times for winners and eight times for losers. That’s about once in every 39 contests, or a bit more than twice per postseason.
• This was just the 19th postseason contest since 2012-2013 in which a winning team had an assist margin of +12 or more while having no more than 26 assists.
• In the 2,380 true playoff games played since the start of the 1996-1997 postseason, this game marked just the 29th time that any team (winner or loser) recorded 10+ blocks as a team while no more than three members of that team had a block. Furthermore, it is was just the 21st time in the same period that 9+ players on one team had at least one steal.

What are Team Graded Box Scores?

Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).

Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.