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It is admittedly easy to get a little bored watching Cameron Boozer. Scouting young basketball players usually offers a sense of discovery, but Boozer has been displaying the same steady dominance since he was 14 years old. There are no frills to his game, just sound decision-making with a well-rounded skill set and a physical style of play. As a high school player, Boozer won four state championships in Florida, three EYBL championships on the Nike grassroots circuit, two gold medals with USA Basketball, and one mythical national championship playing against prep schools from all over the country. His Duke team lost three games by a combined five points all year, and it took a miracle to keep them out of the Final Four. At every stop, Boozer has consistently been the star player driving his team’s success.

Critics will always find a way to excuse Boozer’s mastery. He was overpowering high schoolers. He won’t be able to score over real rim protectors in the pros. NBA forwards are going to burn him with their speed. At least so far, Boozer has been unfazed by any jump in competition despite also being the youngest player on the floor with a July 2007 birthday that will make him the only projected lottery pick who is still 18 years old on draft day.

There are no perfect players, and Boozer is far from perfect. He’s slow, he isn’t a great leaper, and often looks pretty stiff in tight spaces. Of course, you can poke holes in Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic too, and it hasn’t stopped them from being three of the best players of their generation.

Boozer was the best player in college basketball this season as a true freshman, but he isn’t considered the consensus No. 1 overall pick at the top of the 2026 NBA Draft. Classmates A.J Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Caleb Wilson are excellent prospects in their own rights, and in some ways it’s understandable why people think they will translate to the pros better than Boozer. I’m here to tell you those people are overthinking it. Boozer is the best prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft, and each team that passes on him in the lottery is making a huge mistake.

Boozer has crushed every level of competition. There’s no reason to think it won’t continue in the NBA.

Boozer’s production is unmatched

Boozer became the fifth freshman ever to win the Wooden Award as college basketball’s most outstanding player this season, and it was nearly unanimous with 59 of 61 first-place votes.

Boozer just had college basketball’s second most productive season since basketball-reference started tracking box-score plus/minus. BPM is an all-in-one metric that “estimates a basketball player’s contribution to the team when that player is on the court.” It is not a flawless stat, but it’s one of the better public metrics for capturing individual performance.

Being super productive at a young age against older competition is perhaps the biggest signal of future stardom. The only other freshmen on this list — Williamson, Davis, Flagg, and Holmgren — have all acquitted themselves well in the NBA so far.

Want some diversity in your all-in-one metrics? Boozer also posted the highest single-season RAPM score since Hoop-Exploder started tracking college basketball in 2017-18. RAPM measures a player’s impact on scoring margin to reflect their contribution to team success regardless of numbers in the box score. In short, when Boozer is on the floor, his team consistently wins his minutes. I don’t think that trend is stopping now.

Boozer’s offensive versatility is unmatched

Most players are best when they’re used in certain ways. Not Boozer. The 6’9, 250-pound forward can play a variety of different roles on offense, and excel in all of them. This season at Duke, Boozer spent at least nine percent of his time doing eight different play types, and scored efficiently on all of them.

Yes, Boozer was able to bully college competition on post-ups. He was also awesome at pick-and-roll ball handling, spot-up shooting, offensive rebounding, isolation scoring, cuts, and roll man duties. Here’s the points per possession data on these variety play types, via Synergy Sports. This shows that Boozer won’t be pigeonholed into a role at the next level.

Boozer has a supercomputer brain

Boozer is great in a lot of areas, but his best skill may be his processing. You might be more likely to hear that term when reading about quarterbacks in the NFL Draft, but it’s equally critical in basketball. Star players need to be able internalize a constantly changing set of variables in a split second and use it to maximize their win probability on any given possession. Boozer does this better than any 18-year-old forward you will ever see.

Boozer is such a good scorer that he commands a lot of defensive attention. It only makes him more deadly as a passer. He’s the sort of player who never forces his own offense, and instead just wants to make the right play. Watch this possession, where Boozer turns a post-up into an alley-oop dunk by manipulating the weakside defender with his eyes to make him think the pass is going to the corner.

Look at this pass against national champion Michigan where Boozer sucks in the help as a driver before bailing out at the very last second to create an open wing three for his teammate:

Boozer’s 25.6 percent assist is a tremendous mark for a freshman with his size, and I’m even more impressed by his 3.6 rim assists per 100 possessions. Rim assists are the most valuable pass you can make on the court because there’s a greater chance of completing the play than with a longer jump shot.

Here’s how Boozer compares as a passer to his other peers projected to be drafted in the top-10.

Only Flemings is a better playmaker among the elite prospects in this class, and he’s a smaller guard at 6’3. Boozer doesn’t have to play on the ball (more on that later), but when he does, you can trust him to make excellent decisions.

Boozer’s physicality is top notch

Boozer exited Duke’s shocking Elite Eight loss to UConn with “a couple fractures” in his face and scratches all over his arms. His opponents got it just as badly as he did he all year. Boozer consistently uses his 250-pound frame to his advantage, and it shows up mostly in his rebounding, screen setting, hard rolls to the rim, and ability to get to the foul line.

Boozer is going to generate a lot of extra possessions on the offensive glass. His 12.5 percent offensive rebound rate ranked in the 97th percentile for prospects in this draft class, per DraftBallr. On this possession, Boozer creates the open corner three for a teammate, works to get into rebound position, and finishes it with a putback after he grabs the offensive board.

Boozer uses his physicality to consistently muscle his way into free throws, too. Getting to the foul line is a star skill in the NBA, and Boozer has it. On this play, he’s acting as the roll man and finishes over Rueben Chinyelu for the and-one. Chinyelu is listed at 6’10, 265 pounds with a 7’8 wingspan, which would make him one of the longest and heaviest players in the NBA. Boozer still invited the contact and got the bucket.

Boozer’s 53.6 percent free throw rate ranks in the 89th percentile of the class, per DraftBallr. You can count on him to make his freebies too with a 79 percent stroke from the foul line on 280 attempts.

Boozer will shoot at a high level in the NBA

Boozer’s free throw percentage is a sign of strong touch, and his range extends to the NBA three-point line. This season, he made 39.1 percent of his 138 three-pointers. He’s going to be a weapon on pick-and-pops from day one while also being able to space the floor as a spot-up shooter.

Boozer had 147 possessions as a jump shooter this year and scored 1.12 points per possession, which ranked in the 86th percentile of the country. He’s at his best as a shooter when a teammate sets him up. Boozer scored 1.22 PPP on his catch-and-shoot attempts this year, posting impressive 61.2 percent true shooting on those opportunities. He has easy NBA range on his jumper when he gets squared up.

Boozer can hit shots over contests despite a slower release. On 41 possessions this season, he went 16-of-25 and scored 1.17 PPP on “contested jumpers,” according to Synergy.

He does have some limiting factors as a shooter right now. He’s not a super high volume three-point chucker after taking 6.5 threes per 100 possessions this season. He’ll want to bump up that two or three more in the pros. He’s also not a natural shooter off the dribble yet. He scored 0.90 PPP on dribble jumpers this year, which ranked in the 65th percentile and merely rated as “good” — a rarity on Boozer’s profile.

The pull-up jumper is a superstar skill, and Boozer will need to develop it to reach his highest-end outcomes. It’s also going to be an important counter when he’s not fast enough to beat his man off the dribble. Here’s one example where Boozer ripped a step-back three after his drive was denied against Louisville. If he can do this with more consistency, his offensive ceiling is going to be through the roof.

Boozer can drive really well for a 250-pound forward

Boozer’s simple-yet-effective driving is one of the best parts of his game. He can be trusted to run pick-and-roll or attack a smaller defender on isolations, and the threat of his downhill scoring opens up opportunities to make plays as a live dribble passer. While he doesn’t have a ton of counters in the middle of the floor, he can usually rely on his bully ball game to get to the line if all else fails.

When a guard screens for Boozer, he knows how to punish switches by running over smaller defenders. Even without crazy pop off the floor as a leaper, he’s still able to square himself to the basket, and he has the touch to make below-the-rim finishes.

Boozer made 64.5 percent of his rim attempts this season with 57 percent of them coming unassisted. He doesn’t need to play as a full-time point forward because he’s so good in so many other areas, but he can take on those duties in a pinch if his team needs it.

Boozer is already pretty good at driving and finishing with either hand. He’s not the most agile driver, but he has step-throughs and Eurosteps when he needs them.

Boozer almost never settles from mid-range. He only took 52 two-point attempts all season away from the rim. When he has the ball, he’s going to the hole or kicking out to a teammate to space the floor. You could argue not having a mid-range game hurts Boozer’s NBA translation if he’s expected to be in a star role — the mid-range is said to be the domain of superstars — but non-rim twos are also the least efficient shot any player can take. The fact that he prioritizes a ‘Moreyball’ shot-profile is a wonderful thing for a player this young.

Boozer’s outlet passing will boost transition offense

Boozer has been throwing dimes in transition going back to his high school days. He’s such a dependable defensive rebounder, and when he gets to the ball he’s always looking to hunt for quick-hit opportunities in transition.

Boozer impacts winning in so many areas

Boozer’s combination of usage, scoring volume, and efficiency at such a young age is a strong star indicator. This year, he scored 40.3 points per 100 possessions on 65.3 percent true shooting with a 30.6 percent usage rate. A team can run their offense through him and reap the rewards, but he can also thrive in an off-ball role as a floor spacer, rebounder, and connective passer.

Boozer is going to be a plus in the possession game. He’s an outstanding rebounder for a power forward on both ends of the floor. His 14.7 percent turnover rate and +1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio aren’t the strongest numbers …. but it’s still better than Dybantsa (15 percent turnover rate with +1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio) while clearing Peterson in A/TO. He got to the foul line more than Dybantsa or Peterson, too.

Boozer is not super long or super athletic. He will allow blow-bys defensively that compromise his team’s structure. He’s going to have some games where he’s not finishing well at the rim in the halfcourt. He’ll probably need to tighten his handle so he doesn’t get picked trying to run over smaller NBA defenders.

Even if you allow for all of that, Boozer is still the best player in the class because when the ball hits his hands, his team gets a good shot. He thinks the game at a high level, he has impressive touch as a shooter from all over the floor, and he plays a physical style that will translate well when the game slows down in the playoffs. He’s able to vacillate between all these roles on the same possession and still maximize his team’s chances of scoring.

This play shows Boozer’s versatility on different play types, his motor to keep hunting an advantage, and his quick processing ability.

Boozer is a better shooter than Dybantsa, a better playmaker than Peterson, and a much better rebounder than both. There also might not be a stronger player in this draft class. Even if he’s just hoping to get to average defensively, he still has quick hands and sharp instincts to make some plays on that end. If nothing else, he’s great at ending defensive possessions with a rebound.

The 2026 NBA Draft class is stacked with talent inside the top-4, but Boozer stands alone. Taking anyone else with the top pick will be a regrettable decision.

There was no John Poulakidas player preview here at MavsMoneyball. That is understandable given the undrafted rookie’s whereabouts at the time. Back in October, he was preparing to play 27 minutes per night for the Clippers’ G-League affiliate, having been waived by Los Angeles in camp two weeks earlier. He didn’t become a Maverick until early March, shortly after Ryan Nembhard’s two-way contract was upgraded to a standard deal. He made his NBA debut that same night, played in 13 games over the next six weeks, and ended the season with eight made threes and a career-high 28 points in the same finale where Nembhard broke Jason Kidd’s franchise rookie assist record.

Two undrafted guys on the same squad, both having memorable nights on the last day of a 26-win season.

Who is this guy?

John Poulakidas is a 6-foot-6 lefty shooter from Naperville, Illinois, who finished his college career as the second-leading three-point shooter in Yale history. He shot 40.2 percent from deep across 110 games for the Bulldogs, made 243 career threes, and finished 10th on Yale’s all-time scoring list at 1,362 points. The most efficient way to describe him is also the most accurate one: he’s a shooter, and he has been a shooter for a long time.

The college résumé has texture beyond the percentages. As a junior in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Poulakidas hit the game-winning jumper in Yale’s 78-76 first-round upset of fourth-seeded Auburn, finishing with 28 points on six made threes. He returned for a senior year, led the Ivy League in scoring at 19.4 points per game, earned First Team All-Ivy honors, and was named MVP of the Ivy League Tournament after a 25-point championship game against Cornell. He went undrafted in 2025 and signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers before getting waived in camp.

Season retrospective

Most of his year was spent with the San Diego Clippers, the L.A. Clippers’ G-League affiliate. Across 24 regular-season games there, Poulakidas averaged 14.7 points and shot 47.3 percent from three on more than seven attempts per game (96-of-203), the seventh-highest three-point mark in the G League among qualified players. After joining Dallas in March, he played 14 minutes in his NBA debut that night, a 117-90 loss to Charlotte.

His March was a typical two-way distribution. Most of his time went to the Texas Legends. At the NBA level, the appearances were short and scattered: 18 minutes for three points against the Pelicans, 28 minutes for 11 points against the Bucks, single-digit cameos in between. Somewhere in there, Mark Followill landed on “Pull-a-three-dis.” The long-time announcer’s nicknames don’t always work. This one did — the kind of corny that earns its smile during garbage time.

April rebooted the workload. Cooper Flagg’s ankle was managing him out of the rotation. Dallas had nothing to play for. The bench got long. On April 8 against the Suns, Poulakidas put up 23 points on five made threes in 29 minutes off the bench, his career high at the time. Four days later, in the season finale against Chicago, he played 36 minutes and finished with 28 points on 8-of-16 from three.

Outlook

Most rebuilds come with built-in upside. Bad year, high pick, talent infusion later. Dallas doesn’t get that. The team’s first-round picks are mostly gone for the next four years, which means there’s no benefit to being terrible. This year the losses helped the Tankathon premise. For the next four years, losing will do this franchise no good at all. The Mavericks have to rebuild without the usual rebuilding rewards, and that puts a different kind of pressure on every roster spot. The cheap value has to be developed in-house, in the places other teams aren’t looking.

A player like Poulakidas is exactly the kind of low-cost flier that math rewards. He shot 40.3 percent from three across his 13 NBA games. He shot 47.3 percent from three across his G-League work in San Diego. He shot 40.2 percent from three across four years at Yale. The shooting profile has been consistent at every level he’s played. He’s 23, which fits the Flagg-era timeline cleanly, and cheap perimeter shooting that takes pressure off a focal point is one of the more useful things a rebuilding roster can have—especially one that can’t draft its way out of holes.

The roster math complicates the path. We can pencil a draft pick that will likely get plenty of minutes if not a solid starter role. Perhaps that will be alongside Kyrie Irving, who will slated to return from his knee injury next season. Klay Thompson is potentially still here at least to start of the campaign. Max Christie is locked in. Flagg eats wing wherever he wants them. Poulakidas is not breaking up that group. The question is whether the back-of-bench shooter who made 31 of 77 threes in a lost season is the kind of guy you keep on a real contract instead of the kind of guy you let walk because the slot is needed for someone else.

Two-way contracts exist for cases like this. They’re cheap experiments at the back of the roster, low-risk fliers on undrafted prospects, and most of them produce nothing memorable. Poulakidas’s two-way produced 13 NBA games, two career nights, and a back-of-the-bench question that has more substance than back-of-the-bench questions usually do.

He didn’t earn what Nembhard earned. The sample is too small and the context too soft. But he earned a look, and he earned a question. On a roster that can’t draft its way out of holes, the question itself is an asset.

The new Ujiri front office now decides on the answer.

The Lakers defensive strategy in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals was brilliant. 

Attack Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in four different ways in an attempt to choke off the oxygen of the Oklahoma City offense. By doing so, the Lakers were daring anyone else on the team to beat them. 

Chet Holmgren did. 

While the Lakers were busy blitzing, trapping, shading, swarming, and hedging the reigning MVP, Holmgren slipped through the cracks like a cool breeze under a locked door.

He finished with a team-high 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks. He drained two threes, and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. 

This is why it’s so difficult to beat the Thunder.

Just when you cut off the head of the snake, another head reappears and bites you. 

The Lakers made SGA look human in Game 1. They held him to 18 points—the first time he’s scored under 20 in almost a year—and forced him into a shocking seven turnovers and only three free throw attempts. Both well off his season averages. 

“We got back in transition, we matched up, and then all of a sudden we walked away from him and he got a wide open dunk,” said Lakers’ head coach J.J. Redick, when asked how Holmgren was able to slip through the cracks while the defense was locked in on SGA. “That is not something we want to do in Game 2.”

The Lakers’ Holmgren problem is something to look for in Game 2 on Thursday. 

When he and SGA are on the floor together, he gets wide-open looks when the Lakers’ big runs out to hedge the post. Oftentimes, both Deandre Ayton and Jaxon Hayes were able to force SGA into throwing the ball away, but sometimes he was quicker than they were and found a wide-open Holmgren.

When SGA sits and Holmgren remains on the floor, there’s no letdown. 

OKC’s offense doesn’t stall without their MVP, it continues on. In the non-SGA minutes in Game 1, the Thunder were plus-9 and had an offensive efficiency rating of 133.3. 

“We have to be better when Shai is not on the floor,” said Redick on Wednesday. “They play a very specific way when he is not on the floor… we need to be even if not win those minutes.”

The Lakers’ strategy on SGA is working. 

In fact, it might be their only path to upsetting OKC in the series. But to Redick’s point, when he’s not on the floor, you have to keep your foot on the gas. The Lakers need to win those minutes, not lose them by nine points. 

One way to do that is to contain Holmgren. 

That’s easier said than done, but it starts with discipline, execution, and not drifting. 

The man guarding Holmgren must stay with him at all times and not get caught drifting or ball-watching. Because that split-second of hesitation can be the difference between a stop or a wide-open dunk. 

According to Redick, containing Holmgren requires remaining physical and holding OKC to midrange jump shots. They have to continue to blitz SGA and limit his operating window, but the bigs also need to get back to Holmgren in time to stop him.

Because right now, they’re solving one problem, but creating another. 

And Holmgren is that new problem.

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Welcome to our Phoenix Suns Season in Review series, where we revisit every player who suited up during the 2025–26 campaign through the lens of expectation, reality, and what it ultimately meant.

Player Snapshot

• Position: SG/SF
• Age: 28
• Contract Status: One-year deal, UFA in 2026-2027
• SunsRank (Preseason): N/A
• SunsRank (Postseason): 15

*SunsRank is based on Bright Side writers’ ranking.

Season in One Sentence

Arriving halfway through the year, Amir Coffey showed that his hustle and hard work on the court embodied what the Phoenix Suns culture was all about.

By the Numbers

He may have spent limited time here, but let’s look at those stats.

The Expectation

The bar was not set too high for Coffey, but he had a bar to reach. The team clearly needed more wing depth, with Rasheer Fleming not getting much burn and Grayson Allen sustaining injuries throughout the year. With free agent signing Nigel Hayes-Davis also not living up to the hype, taking a flyer on Coffey was the right call, especially for a team that needed a boost at that moment.

The Reality

Coffey came to Phoenix and fit the team’s culture and needs. With Dillon Brooks breaking his hand and also being sidelined, this provided the opportunity for Coffey to get some playing time. Since the Suns also signed Haywood Highsmith, the small wing room has become really deep. Coffey only suited up in 16 games for the Suns, but brought some positive energy on both ends in his short time.

Compared to his time spent in Milwaukee earlier in the year, Coffey was in a better spot. For starters, he got more minutes here in Phoenix, 14, compared to 9 in his previous venture. The wing also proved he could do exactly what the team needed him to do. Coffey made big-time threes if he was open, he hustled for OREB’s to create second-chance plays, and he used his active hands to create turnovers.

These were all things that allowed him to generate some playing time until he was injured towards the end of the season. That then shut down Coffey as the Suns geared up for the playoffs and were shrinking the rotation.

What It Means

With Coffey being an unrestricted free agent, the Suns could bring him back, and with his smaller role, it would not be too expensive. The question is whether too much wing depth arises. They already have Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen, Haywood Highsmith, and want to develop Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming.

Fans widely expect the Suns to move one of those wings for a true power forward, and if that is the case, he could be brought back as the third-string small forward, but the Suns could look to get younger, too. Coffey was a late-season signing with the Bucks last offseason, so the market may be low for the wing, allowing the Suns to leave the option out there but not strike right away on a new deal.

I like Coffey and would like to have him back, but the roster construction may prove otherwise.

Defining Moment

The best moment of the season for Coffey came on March 5th, when he had his best game for the Suns. Even in the loss, he posted up 12 points and 4 rebounds, showcasing his true 3&D ability as a wing.

Grade: B

Even if he was not a key impact player every night, given what he was expected to be, Coffey deserves this rating.

He came in the middle of the season and looked a lot better on this Suns team than he did on the Bucks. Now, you could argue the Bucks’ dysfunction and their coaching staff compared to the Suns was that issue, but I think that is a disservice to Coffey, who showed he could still be a solid role player.

One that I was very interested in the Suns signing this previous offseason, and was happy they could acquire at least some point down the line. Coffey came in and filled a need for wing depth, while being better than Nigel Hayes-Davis, whom they traded him for.

To me, that is not only a win for the Suns but also for Coffey, allowing him to find himself on a roster next year if it is not Phoenix.

Sixers know they had chance to ‘steal a game,' see signs they can fight back in Knicks series originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers traveled home empty-handed, knowing all their hard work was for naught Wednesday night.

In contrast to the opener of their second-round playoff series with the Knicks, the Sixers’ competitive spirit and defensive diligence were stellar in Game 2. However, they missed all sorts of shots in the fourth quarter of a 108-102 loss without Joel Embiid (right ankle sprain and right hip soreness).

“We played good enough defense to win that game,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said, “especially in the fourth (quarter). What was it, 19 points (for the Knicks) in the fourth? You’ve got to hope you can score more than 20 in a quarter.”

The Sixers scored a mere 12 points in the fourth, shooting 4 for 19 from the floor and 1 for 10 from three-point range. 

They felt capable of far better jump shooting down the stretch. Paul George had a fantastic start to the game but went scoreless and missed all five of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. VJ Edgecombe shot 0 for 4 in the fourth, Tyrese Maxey 2 for 7. 

“Good looks,” George said in the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden after his 19-point night. “I thought we just ran out of gas. We got a little flat. We got some pretty good looks, for the most part. We just didn’t knock ‘em down.”

As George noted, the Sixers’ lack of juice in the final minutes was evident. Maxey played 45 minutes in the Sixers’ Game 7 win over the Celtics and nearly 47 on Wednesday. At 36 years old, George logged 43 minutes in Game 2. Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre Jr. were both at 40. 

Nurse’s norm is to play his best players unless the circumstances force him to do otherwise. Another bench player or two like Justin Edwards might have lightened the load a bit on the Sixers’ stars, but the philosophy tends to be fair enough in the playoffs. And depth has not been one of the Sixers’ strengths since president of basketball operations Daryl Morey dealt away Jared McCain and acquired no players at the trade deadline.

“I don’t know,” Nurse said when asked about whether the extreme minutes load impacted his top players late in the fourth quarter. “It may have. But I look at it and those guys are wanting to stay in there. They really are committed to fighting through the game. You look at Tyrese, he played almost the entire game and he’s a plus-minus of zero in a six-point loss. So even the minute and 15 seconds he was out obviously weren’t very good. 

“Those guys, not only did they play lots of minutes, but they played hard at both ends. And there was a lot going on, a lot of pressure on them and stuff, and I commend their effort. All we needed were one or two (wide-open makes). … Just one or two to at least get it down to the end where we’d have a chance.”

Maxey’s rest day plans were simple ahead of Friday night’s Game 3 in Philadelphia.

“Probably a whole bunch of nothing,” he said. “Treatment, sitting down, relaxing.”

Besides the off-target jumpers, Maxey’s turnovers stung at the end of the night. He posted 26 points on 9-for-23 shooting, six assists and six giveaways. The Sixers’ All-Star guard had some sharp, decisive moments against the Knicks’ blitzes but wasn’t pleased overall with how he handled New York’s defense. 

“They did a good job of taking away certain passes that I like to make when I get trapped,” Maxey said. “And then there were a couple of times we didn’t execute our trap offense. The trap came, I tried to advance pass it, and the advance (outlet) didn’t come up, and now I’m stuck in the air.

“I’ve got to do a better job of just dragging it out and being more poised. They trapped me aggressively. It wasn’t like a soft trap. … It was my fault a lot of those times. I’ll be better with that.”

For what it’s worth, the film shows only one Maxey turnover that stemmed directly from a trap.

There was a haywire sideline out-of-bounds play, two ill-advised passes in the Sixers’ half-court offense, and two times he lost the ball on drives. Maxey’s maintained a low turnover rate throughout his career and will expect to play a cleaner Game 3. 

Dominick Barlow was a second-half bright spot in Game 2, entering at center with both Andre Drummond and Adem Bona in foul trouble. 

An intelligent, versatile, can-do sort of player, Barlow had six points on 3-for-3 shooting, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 16 minutes. Whatever Embiid’s status is for Game 3, Barlow made a strong case to remain a key rotation piece, including at center. 

“I’ve been in situations where I haven’t played before,” Barlow said. “I know sometimes that things are random. They told me I was probably going to play tonight. It came at a spot that I didn’t know, obviously. But I thought I played (well). Made some mistakes … but I thought defensively, we were good at the end of the game and gave ourselves a chance.”

That opportunity slipped away with a flurry of fourth-quarter misfires.

“We had a chance to steal a game here,” George said. “They did a good job. Our job is to go home and win on our floor, keep the series alive. We do understand that at some point, we’re going to have to steal one here.”

Donovan Mitchell wasn’t happy with his lack of trips to the line after having just two free-throw attempts in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

“I’m just not getting the calls,” Mitchell said afterward. “I don’t know why. I don’t flop, maybe that’s why. … It’s frustrating a little bit because I’m such a dynamic driver.”

Mitchell is a dynamic driver, or at least, he has been. For various reasons, he hasn’t been able to showcase that this postseason.

Through eight playoff games, Mitchell is taking just 22% of his shots in the restricted area (40th percentile). For comparison, he attempted 24% of his shots there in the regular season (54th percentile) and 30% there last postseason (74th percentile).

That’s a dramatic drop, and one we saw come into play in Game 1 against Detroit.

Nine of Mitchell’s 19 shots came in the paint, but only one was in the restricted area.

Here’s a look at eight of his nine shot attempts in the paint (his field goal three minutes into the game isn’t available on nba.com). In six of the eight attempts below, you’ll notice that he either shies away from contact or quickly gets the shot up before contact can be made with defender. That’s why most of these come in the five to 10-foot range, and not at the rim itself.

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You can get to the line without getting to the rim. James Harden did an excellent job of this in Game 1 as he had nine free-throw attempts. But you still have to be intentional about how you attack for that to happen. Harden, even though he’s lost a step, isn’t afraid to initiate contact and be the aggressor. That, more than anything, is why he’s consistently gotten to the line throughout his career.

Not getting to the rim or basket is also reflective of the Cavs’ lack of spacing overall. Cleveland’s defense needs the trio of Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen (or at least Wade and Allen) to be passable. Having two or three players that teams are okay with ignoring on the perimeter clogs driving lanes and leads to turnover issues.

At the same time, there’s no getting around that in matchups against wing-heavy teams. They need their oversized frontcourt out there to be competitive. The Cavs are just gambling that their star backcourt can figure things out enough offensively. So far, they haven’t been able to, at least not consistently.

This has all resulted in what has been a disappointing postseason run for Mitchell.

The scoring hasn’t been there in either volume or efficiency. He currently has his second-lowest points per game in his playoff career (23.1) on his second-lowest efficiency since coming to Cleveland (49.5 effective field-goal percentage).

That has laid bare some of the other flaws in his game. If Mitchell isn’t scoring, his lack of ability as a rebounder, defender, or playmaker means he’s simply not positively impacting winning. As a result, the Cavs have been -3.2 points per 100 possessions better in the playoffs when he’s off the court compared to when he’s on. That’s the complete opposite of what we’ve seen from Mitchell since his time in Cleveland.

There are many reasons why the Cavs went seven games against a less talented Toronto Raptors team and dropped Game 1 against Detroit. However, none more than the fact that Mitchell can’t get to the basket and, by extension, the line like we’ve come to expect. If he’s not doing that, the scoring isn’t going to be at the volume or efficiency this team needs, even if these issues aren’t entirely his fault.

If Mitchell or the team can’t figure out how to get him easy looks inside, the offseason will be here far too early for the Cavs. This team can’t survive Mitchell not playing as an All-NBA level scorer.