CLEVELAND — Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković was perplexed about Brandon Ingram’s lack of free throws after his team dropped Game 2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers115-105. In the process of that complaint, he admitted something that maybe no other coach has about this era of Cavs basketball.

“Cleveland is playing with a lot of physicality,” Rajaković said. “They’re very prideful of their physicality, and their whole team was very, very physical with Brandon.”

These comments were mostly directed at how the Cavs defended Ingram, but it also speaks to how this Cavaliers team has evolved on both ends of the floor.

Donovan Mitchell had one more thing to say to the media after his postgame press conference ended in the wake of his 30-point performance.

“As much as y’all talk about us three: me, him (James Harden), and Ev (Evan Mobley)… Dean Wade deserves a ton of credit for tonight,” Mitchell said. “I know he only had three points, but his impact is extremely high outside of just scoring. Y’all need to give him his credit. He’s playing at a high level right now for us.”

Playoff basketball often comes down to whether you can take away one of the things your opponent does best. The Cavs have made a concerted effort to make Ingram work — Toronto’s leading scorer — to impact the series with his jump shot. They’ve been physical with him at the point of attack, forcing him to work to get to his patented midrange jumper.

And the one making it difficult for Ingram was Wade, due to his strength advantage.

It’s hard to contest a tough shotmaker like Ingram. At 6’8”, he can usually rise above his defender in the midrange for a clean look. And even if the defender does get a contest, he’s skilled enough to make them anyway.

The best defense for someone like that doesn’t necessarily come from contesting the shot, but by making it challenging for him to get to his spots. This is what Wade did.

Wade was physical and aggressive in denying Ingram the ball wherever he was on the court. The play below is an example of that.

The Raptors had to run a screen for Ingram just to get him the ball. Even though Ingram gets a good look after the screen, the physicality from the denial, combined with the impending threat of Wade trailing the play without fouling, contributes to the missed shot.

Wade’s ability to stay connected with his combination of strength and footspeed means he doesn’t have to sell out to put a good contest on a shot, including one as difficult to do so on as a high-post fadeaway.

Even though Wade deserves a majority of the credit, he wasn’t the only one who was physical with Ingram. Both Harden and Sam Merrill also had instances of forcefully pushing Ingram off his spots when they were switched onto him. It was truly a team effort.

Ingram vowed after Game 1 that he needed to take more than just nine shots. He did so here, but wasn’t efficient, going 3-15 for just seven points.

Cleveland’s physicality on offense showed up in two main ways. First, the Cavs’ star guards weren’t able to be taken out of the game.

Both Harden and Mitchell did a good job of dealing with Toronto’s ball pressure and the extra contact the referees were allowing. They were still able to get to their spots and keep the offense on track. This has been an issue in the past, as Cleveland’s previously undersized guards were susceptible to double teams and pressure in the backcourt.

Second, Mobley punished mismatches. The Raptors played much smaller this game, opting to switch screens as much as possible. Mobley made them pay for doing so as he forcefully attacked his smaller defender whenever getting an opportunity to do so, even off of offensive rebounds. This led to a 25-point outing on 11-13 shooting.

That aggression was much needed on a night the Raptors decided to shift their strategy and play small. Toronto started 6’7” forward Collin Murray-Boyles at center in place of their usual big Jakob Poeltl, to open the second half. Afterward, Rajaković said he wanted to do this so that they could easily switch the pick-and-roll and shut that down.

To Toronto’s credit, the switch shut down the pick-and-roll. The issue is that it made them susceptible to drives to the basket.

The lack of rim protection more or less left every individual defender on an island. The defenders guarding Cleveland’s bigs weren’t in a position to really help off, given the size disadvantage they already had. This resulted in more lanes for Mitchell and Harden to get to the basket. They took full advantage of that as they combined for 58 points.

Jarrett Allen wasn’t able to make the most of Toronto playing small. They were able to hide RJ Barrett on him for long stretches without Allen becoming much of a factor as a scorer or as an offensive rebounder. This led to head coach Kenny Atkinson choosing to leave him out of the closing lineup.

The bench was an issue for the Cavs.

They only provided 19 points, with none of the five reserves tallying more than six. This gave way to the Raptors’ reserves outscoring Cleveland’s by 26.

Max Strus and Merrill seem locked into the rotation. The same might not be said for the other three bench players who received minutes.

Dennis Schroder once again couldn’t find his shot, as he went 1-5 from the field with five points.

There are concerns about Keon Ellis’s defensive impact on this team. He’s likely best used guarding ones and twos, but he won’t often have the luxury to do so given Cleveland’s backcourt. This leaves him defending some of Toronto’s bigger and stronger wings. He’s struggled in that setting, which makes it difficult for him to get minutes when he isn’t providing much offensively.

Jaylon Tyson had some good moments as he seemed to calm down after a difficult playoff debut on Saturday. He handled Toronto’s bigger wings well defensively, but hasn’t found a rhythm yet on the other end.

The Cavs’ offense will go as their core four takes it. That said, the others need to provide much more on that end than they are. The current scoring balance isn’t sustainable over what could be a long postseason run.

The chemistry between Mitchell and Harden looks like it’s been forged over multiple playoff runs. It hasn’t. This was the duo’s 24th game together. That speaks to how well their games fit and how much they’ve invested in making this work.

Harden admitted that because they haven’t had much time together, they needed to find other ways to get on the same page. “I think what speeds that process up is communication and talking,” Harden said.

That includes pointing out when you see something the other could’ve done better, as was the case on at least one occasion on Monday.

“We always communicate what we see,” Mitchell said. “He was telling me what he saw, even though I scored on that possession…there was an easier read that I didn’t see.”

The Cavs made a daring and aggressive move when they traded for Harden as late as they did in the year. Adding someone that important into the mix when they did doesn’t have much of a precedent for resulting in a title or overall playoff success. That just isn’t how basketball is typically played.

But if it ever were to work, it’d be in a setting like this. One that is open to listening to and implementing feedback. Right now, it seems like the Cavs’ top two stars are trying to approach this the right way.

“We’re behind,” Harden said. “I don’t even know how many games we’ve had together, so I think our communication during games, practice days is very, very important. That can get us over the hump. So anytime I gotta say something, or Don say something, we communicate it. We let it be known to the team just so we can all be on the same page.”

The tale of the tape in the Houston Rockets’ opening round postseason matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers was one that hinged on health. Especially heading into the series.

The Los Angeles Lakers were seemingly at their weakest, as the team was forced to play without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves seemingly for the entirety of the matchup. Granted, the Rockets have also not been at full strength at any point of the regular season, having been without Fred VanVleet all season and Steven Adams for the last three months of the season.

Neither of those two are at the level of Doncic or Reaves on the star scale. Not even close.

The assumption was that the Rockets would easily take care of a ragtag bunch centered around 41-year-old LeBron James and role players. And right so.

They should’ve been able to. They should be able to. However, when Kevin Durant went down, the narrative shifted.

People began to give the Rockets sympathy since they were without Durant. Sure, Durant is a surefire All-NBA player this season who turned in one of the greatest individual scoring seasons in Rockets history, especially when factoring in efficiency (26 points on 52 percent from the field, 41.3 percent from deep, 87.4 percent from the foul line, 64.2 percent true shooting and 58.8 percent effective shooting).

But again, the Lakers were playing without their top two leading scorers, and the league’s leading scorer. The Rockets should be able to beat this iteration of the Lakers without Durant.

They tanked for three seasons and amassed four years of top-five draft picks. Alperen Sengun is a two-time All-Star.

And Amen Thompson is one of the best two-way players in the league. Jabari Smith Jr. was viewed as the best player in his draft class.

Two of the aforementioned three have landed pay days. And Houston boasts much more youth and athleticism than the Lakers.

The Rockets also have more of their key players than the Lakers. The Lakers are much more compromised than the Rockets, even without Durant.

So they shouldn’t get any sympathy for losing to this iteration of the Lakers. They got gashed by Luke Kennard, after all, who was the game’s leading scorer.

And nothing against Kennard, who is a very good shooter, but he shouldn’t be outplaying Sengun, Smith, Thompson or Reed Sheppard.

Which is why the Rockets can’t use the injury excuse, as it pertains to Durant. Well, they can, but they shouldn’t get sympathy.

Because the Lakers managed to win in spite of much more significant injury-related absences.

GAH! Where am I? Whose laptop is this? CelticsBlog? “Grant Burfeind, Staff Writer?” That can’t be right. The last thing I remember I was Googling whether my appendix would be compatible with Joel Embiid’s body and what his address is so I could mail it his way. Now…well, now I’m somewhere else entirely.

I catch a glimpse in the reflection of this laptop screen. Dear god, I’m gorgeous. But it’s not me. My stress lines are completely gone. That soreness in my lower back, no more. Whose body is this, and why does it feel completely devoid of the stress that I’ve been so used to carrying my entire life?

I think back to last night. After I gave up on removing my own appendix, I opened up Twitter for some therapeutic trolling of Celtics fans. The storm was angry last night…is it possible a bolt of lightning careened into my room, striking me at the same moment this “Grant Burfeind” person was reading my awesome burn? And somehow, we’ve Freaky Friday’d with one another?

I can’t believe it, but I also can’t deny it. I’m a Sixers fan, and I’ve ended up in a Celtics fan’s body.

I push back from the desk I’m sitting at and take stock of the room I’m in. Celtics paraphernalia adorn the walls. A 2024 NBA Champions replica banner. A poster of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown holding the Larry O’ Brien trophy and the Finals MVP trophy, respectively. I think I’m going to be sick. I need to get out of here.

I race out of the room, practically jump down the entire flight of stairs I find in front of me, and burst out the front door. It’s a beautiful day, and the charm of the apartment buildings to my left and right is undeniable. Across the street, a man in a #11 Celtics jersey and a devastating sunburn catches my gaze, looks up from his phone, and says, “Hell of a game last night! The Celtics are the balllllls! You think the Sixers even show up for Game 2?”

I ignore him, still not fully processing this new reality I’m in. A “ring, ring” snaps me out of my stupor. I step back as a young child on a green bicycle whizzes by, two shamrocks painted on either cheek. “Can’t wait for your next article, Grant! I’ve got an idea for you – should any future playoff matchup between the 76ers and Celtics count as an automatic win for Boston to spare the Sixers fans the grief? Could be good!” 

She doesn’t wait for me to respond, and lets out another “ring, ring” as she pedals away.

I watch her disappear down the street, that stupid little bike rattling over the pavement. I’m still stuck where she left me, trying to square what I’m experiencing with anything I’ve felt before.

I take a deep breath. Close my eyes. Open them again, accepting that this is really happening. Then, I take stock of what I’m seeing. Everyone here looks…happy. Like they’re not waiting for something to go wrong.

And not fake happy or “we’ll see what happens” happy. Actual, out-in-the-open, no-guard-up happy. There’s a couple walking a dog across the street, both in Celtics gear, debating whether they should buy playoff tickets for this opening round or wait until the next. A guy on his porch is smoking a cigar, coughing after every puff, but smiling all the same. Nobody looks tense or like they’re bracing for the other shoe to drop.

Even the sun feels different. Warmer, almost alive. I swear I can hear it whispering, “Who hurt you?” How does it know?

Back home, after that awful game 1 versus Boston on Sunday, I know the energy is the complete opposite. I bet this Grant fella is experiencing it for himself. My neighbor, Vinny, is probably yelling about VJ Edgecombe’s ceiling and comparing him to AI. Joey, our landlord, is likely lamenting that the Process died in 2019. I know Bobby has our favorite call-in show blasting through his open window. Right this second, they’re probably debating whether Tyrese Maxey is allowed to smile after a loss.

If Grant is standing outside my apartment right now, there’s a very real chance he’s watching my two roommates arguing in a pile of trash bags, one of them holding a half-eaten Wawa hoagie like it’s evidence in a court case.

That’s just April in Philadelphia.

I take a few steps down the street, not really thinking about where I’m going. I just need to move.

This is ridiculous. I’m PROUD of where I’m from. Philly made me tough, not like these Boston softies. You don’t grow up a Sixers fan and come out soft. You take your hits, build up a tolerance for things going sideways. It’s part of our identity, and we wouldn’t have it any other way…right?

I’m not one of these people. I’m not. I keep walking. The street opens up a little and then I see it.

TD Garden.

I’ve seen it before, obviously. On TV, in clips, in all the places I don’t like to look for too long. But standing here, actually looking at it, is different. It’s bigger than I expected. Goosebumps tingle across my forearms. It has this weird calmness to it, like it wants to wrap you up in a big hug after a long day. Almost like an old friend that you know will always be there when you need them.

I stop for a second. This is where they walk in expecting to win.

Expecting.

That’s the part that sticks.

Back where I’m from, nothing is ever that simple. Even when things feel good, there’s always something attached to it. A condition. A “yeah, but.” You learn to live in that space. You almost get comfortable with it.

Here, it’s just…confidence.

And I hate how much sense that’s starting to make.

I tell myself this isn’t real. That I just need to figure out how to get back, how to get myself struck by lightning and ensure this Grant guy gets struck at the same time. I should be panicking, maybe someone at Massachusetts General Hospital can help me reverse this?

Instead, I turn around and start heading back toward the apartment I woke up in.

By the time I get back inside, the panic I felt earlier is gone, or at least quieter.

I sit back down at the laptop, and read through the game recap on the CelticsBlog page that’s still up on my screen. “Celtics, Jays look sharp in Game 1, blowout 76ers 123-91.” I read about how the Celtics kept the ball moving, generated clean looks, and stayed connected from start to finish. The words are so unfamiliar that a sense of vertigo starts to wash over me.

For the first time, I’m not rage-reading about the Celtics from the outside. I’m part of it. I’m really here, in this body, in this life, starting to get a sense of what this must feel like every night, every season, every decade.

I think to myself, Celtics fans have no clue how good they have it.

These people wake up expecting things to work. Even when something goes wrong, there’s this baseline belief that it’ll sort itself out eventually. Even when they switch ownership groups, coaches, whatever. This aura and legacy of “Celtics basketball” seems to persist. What even is “76ers basketball”? The word “process” enters my brain for a second and I physically flinch.

This isn’t how it works where I’m from.

Back in Philly, you don’t assume anything. You hope, negotiate, and convince yourself it might be different this time, even when the writing is on the wall.

And now that I’m here…I don’t know why I’d want to go back.

I sit there for a while, staring at the screen.

I know I should probably try to undo this whole thing. No way Grant will know jack shit about making a Philly cheesesteak. He’s going to ask if we have gluten-free bread and I’ll be finished. Well…not me. Him. That sorry, down-trodden, pessimistic man who’s never seen the inside of a Conference Finals in his lifetime.

I guess there’s no reason to rush. After all, this might be the only time I get to experience this euphoria of supporting a quality basketball franchise.

This is a better situation. I’d never admit it in my old body, but here? Now? I can scream it from the hilltops without the fear of Joey or Vinny or god forbid Mr. McLaughlin pummeling me into oblivion.

Grant, wherever you are — whether you’re in my apartment trying to explain to my roommates that you’ve been Freaky Friday’d, or trying to figure out how to relieve your lower back (you never will, believe me) — I wish you nothing but happiness and good fortune.

I really do. You’ll need it as a 76ers fan.

Take care of my fish. Water the plants, or don’t, screw ‘em.

Because I think I’m going to stay in this new life for as long as I can.

The Celtics’ Game 1 blowout was surgical. Limiting their turnovers to eight and Philly to 4-of-23 from behind the arc certainly helped, but offensively, Boston stuck to their core offensive principles en route to a 123-91 win over the 76ers.

There are 2,350 square feet from midline to baseline and head coach Joe Mazzulla maximizes every inch of it. On most offensive sets, the Celtics want to turn their halfcourt sets into 3-on-3 battles with shooters spaced out in the corners.

Conceptionally, Boston wants to force defenses to pick their poison between 1) a scoring ball-handler, 2) a scorer coming off a screen, or 3) a big man who can either pick-and-pop or roll to the rim. It sounds simple, but done with focus and precision, it has resulted in this year’s Celtics ranking amongst the most efficient offenses in league history.

Sometimes, it’s this easy. Derrick White, Jayson Tatum, and Nikola Vucevic are walking up the ball and preparing to run an action to either free up White or Tatum. Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown are flattened out to the corners. And without a single screen, the spacing does most of the work.

Sure, Vooch does get shoulder into Kelly Oubre and is ready to receive the ball from White for a possible dribble hand off or another screen. Paul George sees none of that — all his attention is on Brown.

But because of all the space leveraged by everybody’s ability to shoot the three, Brown has so much space to play in. A simple back cut and a perfectly placed bounce pass from White has JB rocking the rim to extend the lead to 25.

However, it’s not always that easy and that’s where Mazzulla & Co. have employed a series of DHOs, back screens, etc. to put teams in a predicament. One of the Celtics’ most used actions is the Spain pick-and-roll. Here’s CelticsBlog’s resident Xs and Os expert, Nik Land, on the action: “Spain or ‘Stack’ Pick and roll is an on-ball screen followed by a back screen on the on-ball screeners man.”

Again, we’ve got Tatum — Boston’s best player on the floor — and Baylor Scheierman, in the corners. Pritchard, Neemias Queta, and Sam Hauser creating an almost football-esque I formation, and in a way, it’s set up to run the ball.

Queta sets and flips a screen for Pritchard and as soon as he sees Dominick Barlow’s attention switch to Payton, he knows that he’s got him beat. Hauser sets a back screen with solid contact, Tyrese Maxey makes zero contact with Neemy, and Queta is free for the alley-oop.

Two plays later, a similar action. It’s a dribble hand off this time between Queta and Pritchard with Tatum setting the screen.

Queta is met by Quentin Grimes on the rim run, but the damage is already done. Mazzulla stresses the importance of creating 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s, but this is a 3-on-1 with Tatum drawing so much attention above the break.

Pritchard has three options here: hit the cutting Queta again, kick out to the now wide open Hauser, or eventually, take the easy layup himself. This is laser eye surgery for the Celtics.

Later in fourth and with the game in hand, it’s another Spain PnR with different personnel, but same result.

Jabari Walker does a good job positioning himself to defend Pritchard’s drive and Luka Garza running to the restricted area. Unfortunately, that leaves Jordan Walsh, a 38% corner three-ball shooter, alone for an open jumper.

The 76ers can certainly make adjustments in Game 2. The playoffs are all about moves and counter moves and counter moves to the counter moves. They could switch on the screens more or blitz and hedge the ball handler to blow up the movement. The chess match continues tonight at 7 pm.

The injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves mean the asks of the Lakers’ role players have increased, both in terms of responsibilities and expected production.

For a player like Deandre Ayton, who has been under a microscope for most of the season, it puts even more pressure on him, which can lead to a wide variance of outcomes. But through one game, it could hardly have been better.

Ayton went toe-to-toe with the Rockets frontcourt, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. That also doesn’t capture his impact defensively, where he helped the purple and gold force Houston into just 37.6% shooting. All of that helped add up to a win for LA in Game 1 on Saturday.

In a year full of ups and downs, Ayton is riding high into the postseason, a result of positive reinforcement and belief from the coaching staff.

“I could feel the trust JJ had me all practice this week,” Ayton said. “It does a lot giving an NBA player confidence, especially in this league. I really tried my best to show him that I’m here, I’m ready throughout those practices, just being super and extremely consistent. I couldn’t wait to beat up on somebody else.”

The Lakers have spent much of the season trying to get the most out of Ayton by any means possible. At times, it’s been in the way of wearing silly shirts. Other times, it’s been giving him crunk juice. But if the end result is play like this in the postseason, the absurd things they’ve done will be worth it.

Any chance of the Lakers advancing in the playoffs requires Ayton being at his best. Because when he is at his best, the Lakers are at their best.

“He was great,” Redick said of Ayton’s Game 1 performance. “I think he was great on both ends. Again, we’re at our best when he’s playing at a high level.”

Relying on him comes with lots of risks. But the Lakers aren’t in a position where they have other options. So long as Luka and Austin are out, they need Ayton to step up.

Through one game, he held up his end of the bargain. If he keeps doing so, then the purple and gold could really be in business.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama has been named the NBA's defensive player of the year.

The 7ft 4in France international is the first unanimous winner in the award's 43-year history having secured all 100 of the first-place votes.

At 22, he is the youngest player to win the award and the second to win it within their first three seasons, after Spurs legend David Robinson (1991-92).

Wembanyama was the first overall draft pick in 2023 and has led the league in blocks (3.1 per game) for the third straight season.

The two-time All-Star also averaged career highs in points (25.0) and rebounds (11.5), and claimed a steal per game.

"I'm super, super happy to win this award and actually super proud to be the first ever unanimous [winner]," he told NBC.

Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren finished second with 239 points (76 second-place votes), while Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons was third with 60 points (nine second-place votes).

Wembanyama, who is also a Most Valuable Player contender, helped San Antonio post the second-best record in the regular season (62-20) and their defence was ranked third overall.

German NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki told AFP: "I've never seen anything like it.

"His defence is so good that he changes the game just by being on the court and taking away some of the lay-ups and twos that other teams would usually take."

• Doncic & Cunningham eligible for NBA awards after appeal

Cavs take charge against Raptors

Wembanyama starred during his play-off debut on Sunday and the first round of the post-season continued on Monday, with the Cleveland Cavaliers taking charge against the Toronto Raptors.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points for Cleveland while James Harden added 28 as the Cavs claimed a 115-105 home win to go 2-0 up in the seven-game series.

"They're one of the greatest (back-courts)," said team-mate Evan Mobley. "It's hard to stop them because of their offensive prowess. They can make any shot."

Toronto's shooting guard RJ Barrett added: "They're a problem and we've got to figure out how to fix that."

Anthony Edwards claimed 30 points and 10 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves fought back from 19 points down to win 119-114 at the Denver Nuggets and level their series at 1-1.

The Atlanta Hawks also claimed a comeback win on the road, beating the New York Knicks 107-106 to make it 1-1, with CJ McCollum scoring a game-high 32 points.

• Lakers make winning start as NBA play-offs begin

A playoff series can turn at any time. The San Antonio Spurs handled the Portland Trail Blazers at home in Game One on the back of a historic playoff debut from Victor Wembanyama. There were moments, however, where it looked like the Blazers could make it an interesting game, including big runs in the third and fourth quarters, that cut into the Spurs’ lead. Despite the convincing Game One victory, San Antonio has to come out with the same sense of urgency to take care of business on their home floor.

In order to take care of business, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Deni Advija. The Blazers’ star was one of the only Portland players who could get into a real rhythm in Game One, scoring 30 points on 12 of 21 shooting. San Antonio did a solid job defending the rim on Sunday, allowing just 42 points in the paint, but Advija was the one Blazer they couldn’t keep away from the rim. The Spurs will have to make some adjustments to decrease Advija’s impact.

The Spurs will look to leave some first-playoff-game jitters in the rearview, cut down on some turnovers, and make more easy shots in game two. If they can do that while continuing to play good defense, they will likely be heading to Portland with a 2-0 lead.

San Antonio Spurs (1-0) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (0-1)

April 21st, 2026 | 7 PM CT

Watch: NBC/Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: Jordan McLaughlin – Out (ankle)

Trail Blazers Injuries: Damian Lillard – Out (achilles)

What to watch for:

Taking advantage of bigs guarding Castle

Portland used an interesting defensive approach to guarding Wembanyama and Stephon Castle on Sunday. They put Donovan Clingan on Castle, and Toumani Camara on Wemby. It makes sense from the Blazers’ perspective. Camara is their best defender, and teams have found some success using wings to guard Wembanyama. Given Castle’s inconsistent jump shot, they can have the big man guarding him sag way off to provide more interior defense. Unfortunately for the Blazers, that strategy didn’t work on Wembanyama, who had a monster 35-point game. It did, however, throw Castle out of rhythm. Castle had 17 points on 4-13 shooting.

These matchups are crucial in this series. If Castle can make the Blazers pay for not guarding him from outside, the strategy fails for Portland. But if he continues to score easy buckets, it slows down a key cog in the Spurs’ offense. It will be interesting to see how Mitch Johnson and the Spurs staff counter this defense in Game Two.

Three-point variance

The Blazers are not a good three-point shooting team. They’ve shot just 34.3% from deep this season, and hit only 26% of their 38 attempts in Game One. The Spurs seemed fine with players like Clingan, Robert Williams III, and Matisse Thybulle firing up shots from deep. The Blazers’ missing open shots were one of the reasons the Spurs’ defense looked so effective. However, as we saw in the play-in game against the Phoenix Suns, Portland can hit a three-point shooting hot streak. If Portland’s shaky shooters start to hit shots, Game Two could get interesting in a hurry.

Guard play

It didn’t feel like the Blazers sent a lot of double-teams at Wembanyama in Game One. For most of the game, he was able to operate independently in the pick-and-roll, on the block, or behind the three-point line. After his dominant game on Sunday, it’s likely he starts to see multiple defenders when he catches the ball. That means it will be on De’Aaron Fox, Castle, Dylan Harper, and Devin Vassell to take the pressure off. Fox and Vassell were excellent in Game One, coming up with big plays, especially in the second half. San Antonio will need its guards to come up big to maintain homecourt advantage in this series.

Game Story

21-2.

Twenty-One to Two.

That is the run that was set to this entire game. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it did not come in their favor. While so much can change after the first 12 minutes of game-time, there is no worse way to start a game off.

Worst of all, it came without MVP finalist Nikola Jokić dominating, instead coming largely at the hands of Tim Hardaway. Jokić took only two shots in that quarter, but the Denver Nuggets led it with 14 point advantage.

Still, that lead probably understates how truly porous the Wolves’ defense was in that first quarter. 39 points allowed in a quarter left their opposition on track for over 150 points is never a good sign. Worst of all, it looked just as bad.

Most devastating was the foul trouble, especially amongst the guards who should probably be safest from getting involved with the refs, immediately made the rotation weird. Within those first 12 minutes, Donte DiVincenzo had two fouls, Ayo Dosumnu had two of his own, and Bones Hyland led the pack with three, including a momentum defining charge against Hardaway. Denver enjoyed four four-point plays in the first half.

To that end, the Wolves committed 13 fouls within a quarter and a half. You will not win a game with that type of foul trouble.

There is no complaint that is hyperbole here. It was truly that bad. Many will be quick to blame the officials, and I won’t disagree with that. There were far too many light fouls that are atypical from playoff environments, most of which were going against Minnesota.

And yet, by the time Rudy Gobert got his third foul of the second quarter (Yes, it was that bad), the Wolves had pulled themselves back within 10. They had created an 11-0 run of their own, which became a 21-4 run of its own.

21-4.

Twenty-One to Four.

Everyone says that basketball is sport that is always on a pendulum swing, and that playoff basketball takes that concept to an extreme, but that does not put enough extreme to this. Within the first eight minutes, this game felt out of reach, only for a sudden momentum shift to see the Wolves completely take over, to leave us with a competitive battle filled with the rivalry between these two teams.

That’s what April is for.

It’s so weird to watch a team simultaneously find and lose their identity the way this Wolves team does. We saw hints of that in that first half. When Minnesota is attacking the rim, forcing Jokić to come out to the arc and then chase into the restricted area, they were scoring at will and opening up shots from distance off the drive and kick game.

When they were settling for shots, even when they were making them, the lack of rim pressure meant losing the pace game and fouling to catch up. It’s a pretty obvious difference.

That difference became even more obvious when a dominant second quarter ended with yet another run for Denver, capped off by a deep heave from Jamal Murray to tie the game at 64. Murray had 23 in the first half. Hardaway had 14. Edwards had 20 of his on to top the Wolves.

“It’s a game of runs,” said Hardaway, just before running into the locker room.

He was understating just how insane it had been.

If the first half was of opposite extremes, the third quarter was an even affair. The fourth quarter began with only three points separating the two teams. Clearly, this was a duel between Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray, but in these moments, there is usually an unsuspected hero that rises to the occasion.

For the Nuggets, it seemed that it would be Bruce Brown, who hit two triples to start the fourth quarter. Maybe it was Cam Johnson, with his timely threes or rebounds. For the Wolves, well, that remained to be seen.

Naz Reid looked like the first to vie for that title. He had a few drives that resulted in short finishes or free throws. Instead, he seemed to fade until he was subbed out in favor of the Wolves go-to starting and closing lineup. Like so many iterations of Chris Finch’s Timberwolves era, this team would either win or go down by doing the same thing they had done all year.

Maybe it would be Jaden McDaniels. The crushing defense was complimented with a few dunks, some especially, notably more filled with hate. But, a bad foul call — blamed on marginal contact to the hip, and changed to “foot to knee contact” — left him at five, and that clearly affected the calculus of his play.

The Wolves were 0-8 all-time after going down in a series 0-2. The Nuggets were 8-0 all-time when up 2-0 in a series. This one felt like it would be an early decider of whether Minnesota had any chance in this series, or if they had simply made the playoffs to continue a streak that felt impossible only five years ago.

With just two minutes left, it was 112-111 Minnesota. That became 115-113 with 30.8 seconds left after an Anthony Edwards travel gave the Nuggets back the ball. When Christian Braun missed one of two free throws, it seems like the question was answered.

The Wolves hero tonight, at least for the fourth quarter, was not any of their own players. Instead, it was the mistakes of the Denver players that kept Minnesota ahead in a grimey cage fight of a game. Still, that does not matter much. What does matter is the Wolves have stolen home court advantage from the Nuggets.

The series sits at 1-1 going back to Denver. Who cares how it happened?

Sleep well, Wolves fans. What a fun game it was. What a confusing one as well.

Up Next

This playoff series has officially “begun” as the road team won. Minnesota heads back home and gets 48 hours of rest before playing host to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, April 23rd at 8:30pm CT on Prime Video. Get to Target Center if you can. It’s gonna be rockin’.

Highlights