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2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer season standings:

Tyrese Maxey – 22.5
VJ Edgecombe – 15
Joel Embiid – 11.5
Paul George – 8
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 5
Justin Edwards – 4
Andre Drummond – 3
Quentin Grimes – 3
Jared McCain :’( – 3
Dominick Barlow – 2
MarJon Beauchamp – 2
Adem Bona – 1
Cam Payne – 1
Jabari Walker – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1

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The Philadelphia 76ers were demolished 123-91 by the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday afternoon. It was bad. Very bad.

The Sixers are embarking on this series without Joel Embiid, who is still recovering from an emergency appendectomy less than two weeks ago. And boy, could they use him right now. (No, I’m not saying he should be playing. I’m just saying his absence is a very palpable loss on days like today, obviously.)

This one was pretty ugly start to finish for Philly. It is amazing to watch one team be outplayed by another in truly every single facet, on every single level in a game. These two teams are just playing different sports. The Celtics have an incredibly deep, talented roster with real strategy on the court. The Sixers look like they’re playing a pick-up game, with no rhyme or reason other than just desperately clawing at any chance to get a few points.

However it was expected to go, it actually went worse.

Game 2 is on Tuesday night.

Let’s get to the Bell Ringer. Term used lightly here.

Tyrese Maxey: 21 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists

Tyrese Maxey commanded the offense for Philadelphia on Sunday in more ways than one, scoring a team-high 21 points and adding a team-high eight assists.

The problem was that the Sixers just were completely outplayed as a team. There was nothing Maxey could do individually about it to change that, especially with the Celtics prepared to pay extra defensive attention to him. There seemed to be no urgency from Nick Nurse either to start calling for more screens to help Maxey get any space with the ball. It just felt like there was little he could do given the circumstances and he produced what he could.

Of course, Maxey didn’t shoot very well like the entire team. Again, partially likely due to having anywhere from one to three Celtics in his face when trying to score. The pathetic thing is that, at 40% from the floor (8-for-20) and 25% from three-point range (25%), Maxey was actually one of the Sixers more accurate shooters on Sunday.

He was far from perfect, don’t get me wrong — he needed to get more shots to fall and had three turnovers himself. I’m just adding context that I think is relevant.

Maxey finished the game with 21 points, 1 rebound and eight assists.

VJ Edgecombe: 13 points, 3 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals

The biggest (only?) bright side to the Sixers making it to this first-round series against the Celtics is at least we are getting to give VJ Edgecombe his first NBA playoff reps in his rookie season. That’s a plus.

One of the first things I noticed about Edgecombe in this one was that he did not seem phased by the context of the game at all. First NBA playoff experience in his life, starting for a team that is coming into this series as a massive underdog to the Celtics, in Boston. It looked like just another game for Edgecombe, with the rookie playing aggressively and fearlessly as he has all year for Philadelphia.

He struggled along with his team, don’t get me wrong. It was an inefficient game for him as it was everyone else in a Sixers uniform, with the rookie shooting 6-for-16 field goals and 0-for-5 from long range. You obviously want him hitting more shots than that from the floor, but the Sixers were grasping at straws for really any opportunity to shoot, so there wasn’t exactly the most excellent spacing and shot selection available.

Seeing Edgecombe hit a big euro-step into a floater over Jayson Tatum is the kind of thing I hope Edgecombe is able to take from this series. These are just two teams on completely different levels of basketball overall, so there might not be as much success as he’d like, but there’s still a lot the rookie can develop and learn from with this experience nonetheless.

Edgecombe finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

VJ Edgecombe with a beautiful euro and floating finish around Jayson Tatum here. pic.twitter.com/EWKe6yiYeF

— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) April 19, 2026

Porter Martone: 1 game-winning goal inGame 1

Nineteen-year-old Porter Martone has been in Philadelphia for less than a month, but he’s already responsible for one of the biggest, realest moments of sports-induced joy the city has experienced as of late.

The Philadelphia Flyers took Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road Saturday night when Martone scored the eventual game-winning goal. It was Martone’s first ever NHL playoff game.

Martone is already no stranger to stepping up in the clutch. His first NHL goal came back on April 5 in the regular season, when he netted an overtime winner to lift the Flyers 2-1 over the Boston Bruins.

Between having to watch this Sixers-Celtics mauling and a brilliantly-bad Phillies team, a team like the Flyers having exciting young talent stepping up in a big moment is just enough to keep us all from going completely insane right now. Flyers lead the Penguins 1-0 in the best-of-seven series. Next game, also in Pittsburgh, is Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

Before the season, Kingston Flemings asked Houston assistant Hollis Price what it would take to be on the walls of the Cougars' practice gym. Price said he needed to be an All-American.

Fast forward a few months later and Flemings secured that goal of one day seeing his face up on the walls at Houston, after finishing off the best season by a true freshman in Houston history. The second-team All-American is now taking the next step in his career, declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft on Sunday, April 19.

Flemings, a projected top-five pick in USA TODAY's latest NBA mock draft, said it was a tough decision to go one-and-done in college, especially after Houston's loss to Illinois in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. After taking some time off following the Cougars' 65-55 loss, he made the unsurprising decision to take the next step.

REQUIRED READING: NBA mock draft 10.0: First-round projections before 2026 playoffs begin

"Obviously it was a hard decision whether to come back and play with my boys, take it one more year and try to go get the (national championship)," he said. "But this opportunity doesn’t come all the time. … Had to make the right decision, for sure.”

The former five-star recruit per 247Sports' Composite rankings could be the highest-selected player under coach Kelvin Sampson during his Houston tenure, with the feat currently held by Indiana Pacers forward Jarace Walker, who was selected No. 8 overall in 2023 after his true freshman season.

Despite the Cougars' recent success with seven Sweet 16 appearances and two Final Fours since 2019, Houston has only produced four NBA draft picks under Sampson, with Flemings easily possessing the highest ceiling of any Cougar under one of college basketball's best coaches.

There was no better choice for Flemings, though, and he credits his development with choosing Houston.

“I think it was the perfect place for me," he said. "Coach Sampson’s the perfect coach for me. Just coming into the year, I just tried to prove everyone right that recruited me, and just did whatever I could to win. I’m grateful for my decision.

"... If you want to win, if you want to become a better man, better player, everything like that, choose Houston. It’s not going to be easy, but every single day you come in here, you try to get better and you’ll get better in every single way.”

Flemings averaged 16.1 points with 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this season, starting all 37 of Houston's games. He also shot 38.7% from 3-point range and was a pesky defender, averaging 1.5 steals per contest.

He made national headlines after exploding for 42 points and six assists in a 90-86 loss to Texas Tech in January, cementing himself as one of the best true freshmen in a loaded NBA draft class that includes numerous one-and-done prospects. USA TODAY projects nine of the first 10 picks to be true freshmen.

"Coming into this year, I wanted to be one of the best freshmen and I think I proved that," Flemings said.

In the coming weeks, Flemings plans on training his 3-point shot, his floater and improving his handle, aiming to dribble lower and tighter to prepare for NBA defenders.

He's also bringing the hard-nosed Houston mindset to the next level.

“I think (I'm) just a winner and someone that teammates like to play with," Flemings said. "Not going to be a bad guy for the team or a cancer. Someone the team’s going to love and a winner.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kingston Flemings details NBA draft decision in exclusive interview

After Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks' first-round series with the Atlanta Hawks does not lack playoff intensity.

Saturday's 113-102 New York win saw Knicks captain Jalen Brunson outduel CJ McCollum, who took issue with his technical foul after a kick to Brunson's midsection during a shot at the third quarter's 1:40 mark and the Hawks facing a 57-55 deficit.

"I shot a jumper and Jalen thought we were at a Broadway show," McCollum said after Saturday's game. "He acted it out until they reviewed it. It's a normal jump shot, nothing there -- unnecessary, and I look forward to getting my $2,500 (fine) back."

Brunson told reporters after the Knicks' Sunday practice that he has "no reaction" to McCollum's postgame comments.

"I didn't see it," New York coach Mike Brown said Sunday of McCollum's postgame comments. "A lot of guys are going to say a lot of things throughout the course of the playoffs. So, whatever people want to say, that's up to them."

Brunson's game-high 28 points edged McCollum's 26, combining with Knicks co-star Karl-Anthony Towns to lead a full team effort for third-seeded New York against sixth-seeded Atlanta.

"We've just got to be ready for them," Brunson said Sunday, referencing Monday's 8 p.m. tipoff for Game 2. "You just know that teams usually bounce back after a loss, and so we've got to be ready to up our intensity, up our physicality and just be ready to match theirs. They're a good team, they're well-coached and they're going to be ready to go."

The Knicks seek a 2-0 lead at the Garden before the best-of-seven set goes to Atlanta for Thursday's 7 p.m. Game 3.

"It's one of those things you have to be there and experience it to really understand it," New York wing Josh Hart said of MSG's postseason energy Sunday. "Obviously, regular season's always fun, it's always cool. And I was talking to (Yankees right-hander) Cam Schlittler (Saturday) about it -- playoffs in New York is different. The vibe is different. Everything is heightened in the Garden and, obviously, for them at Yankee Stadium. You've got to experience it, man -- the energy, the passion, the love, it's crazy."

So far in these NBA Playoffs, every top seed has won game 1 of their series by at least 10 points. The Detroit Pistons hope not to break that trend as they face the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena. The top-seeded Pistons are hosting Game 1 of a playoff series for the first time in nearly two decades. They are looking for their first series win in just as long.

The Pistons were just 2-2 against the Orlando Magic this year. They struggled from deep, hitting just 31% of their 3-pointers. Detroit has been a hot-shooting team in this last phase of the season, and hopefully it continues. They will also look to force Orlando, particularly Paolo Banchero, into turnovers that they can flip into easy offensive opportunities.

Enough yapping, let’s watch some playoff basketball

Game Vitals

When: 6:30 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: NBC/Peacock
Odds: Pistons -8.5

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (0-0)

Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Orlando Magic (0-0)

Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter

Sixers play ‘unacceptable' Game 1 against Celtics, turn focus to what must change  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

BOSTON — The Celtics had a swell Sunday afternoon to open their 2026 postseason.

The Sixers … had a day. 

Any explanation provided for the Sixers’ 123-91 Game 1 loss in Boston is likely to be true and also woefully incomplete. The team missed many jumpers and layups, played leaky defense and plunged into a deep deficit. 

“A lot went wrong, that’s for sure,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “It kind of started right in the beginning with not getting off to a great start offensively, getting into some foul trouble with both bigs. The first quarter was obviously moving past us pretty (quickly) and we just didn’t do enough at either end to settle into the game. 

“I thought from the second quarter until the middle of the third, we finally … played pretty good basketball. But the minutes around that were absolutely unacceptable.”

The Sixers were subpar in ways that popped up often during the regular season. Their three-point shooting troubles were extreme — 4 for 23 (17.4 percent)— and can be chalked up partly to bad luck on the day. However, it’s notable that the Sixers were a bottom-10 team this year in both three-point frequency and three-point accuracy, per Cleaning the Glass. 

Other familiar flaws included transition defense and difficulty compensating for Tyrese Maxey being anything other than world-class. Maxey was the Sixers’ top offensive producer in Game 1 with 21 points on 8-for-20 shooting and eight assists. Joel Embiid (appendectomy recovery) was desperately missed. 

With shot after shot clanging off the rim, the Sixers’ defensive energy and focus wilted. 

“To be honest, we missed wide-open shots,” VJ Edgecombe said after posting 13 points and three assists in his first playoff game. “It’s deflating, especially against a good team that’s also shooting really well and with a postseason crowd. 

“So my takeaway is they’ve got to win three more. It’s on to the next game. We’ve just got to get ready for that one and make it feel like more of a playoff game.”

Edgecombe later noted that the Sixers must “match (the Celtics’) intensity and bring the physicality” moving forward in the series.

Why didn’t that happen in Game 1? 

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said. “I feel like they were flowing into their sets and all their actions easily, untouched. I think we have to just get up and guard. Just play hard. Be ready to guard your yard; it’s really 1-on-1. If you keep your man in front of you, then we won’t be in rotation.”

Turnovers were also a sizable problem for the Sixers, which is a less common occurence. Points off of turnovers isn’t a perfect stat, but the disparity there Sunday was telling. The Celtics scored 22 points off of the Sixers’ turnovers and punished early-game sloppiness. The Sixers … scored three points off of Boston’s giveaways. 

They can play much cleaner basketball. 

“We certainly can’t give up that much in transition,” Nurse said when asked about specific, controllable areas of emphasis. “That’s a big one. We’ve got to take care of the ball better. Too many turnovers that were live-ball and led to some of that transition. And I think we’ve got to generate more threes against this team. We’ve got to generate ‘em, we’ve got to take ‘em, and obviously we’ve got to make some, which I’m sure we will.”

Defensively, the Sixers’ day was devoid of shining moments. Jaylen Brown (26 points) and Jayson Tatum (25 points) each enjoyed themselves. Sam Hauser shot 4 for 6 from beyond the arc. No Sixer made multiple threes. 

The Sixers were second in the NBA this season in fourth-quarter defensive rating. They ranked in the league’s bottom half for the other three quarters. At the start of Sunday’s fourth quarter, the Celtics held a 24-point lead. 

“If you see someone driving to the rim, no matter what the scenario, step in front of them — especially if it’s Jaylen or Jayson,” Maxey said. “Step in front of them, make them kick the ball out and then rotate after that. But they got a lot of wide-open, walk-down-the-lane layups, walk-down-the-lane dunks. … Those are the ones we can’t give up. 

“It’s going to be tough regardless. We’re capable of doing it, but we can’t give those types of plays up.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night and the Sixers need dramatic upgrades to even the series. 

“We’ve got to lock in for our film session tomorrow,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to lock in on our practice tomorrow. Lock in on our film session Tuesday, and then we’re going to have to come out and play a lot better.”

The college basketball offseason is well underway with the transfer portal in full swing. Here are a few important dates that the Kentucky Wildcats will follow throughout the spring and summer:

Tuesday, April 21: Transfer portal entry window closes

The transfer portal window has been shortened to 2 weeks, limiting the time players have to decide whether to enter the portal. This deadline only applies to players entering the portal. Players who are already in can still take visits and commit after this date.

Friday, April 24 (11:59 PM ET): NBA Draft Early Entry Deadline

This is when we’ll know who will keep testing the NBA Draft waters for several more weeks. Outside of Malachi Moreno and Jayden Quaintance, no other Wildcat appears likely to test the draft waters

Thursday, April 30: Recruiting period ends

This is the final day of the April recruiting period, both for high school prospects and transfer portal players. From April 10 through April 30, programs are allowed to host both on-and off-campus visits. A quiet period begins Friday, May 1, and runs through Saturday, May 9, during which no off-campus in-person recruiting contact is permitted.

May 8-10, Chicago, Illinois: NBA G-League Combine

This is when we could see Otega Oweh get a chance to boost his stock and hopefully earn an invite to the NBA Combine.

May 10, Chicago, Illinois: NBA Draft Lottery

May 10-17, Chicago, Illinois: NBA Draft Combine

May 27 (11:59 PM ET): NCAA Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline

This will be the deadline for Malachi Moreno and others to withdraw from the draft if they want to remain in college basketball.

June 13 (5:00 PM ET): NBA Early Withdrawal Deadline

This is the NBA’s deadline to withdraw or stay in the draft.

June 23, Brooklyn, New York (8:00 PM ET): 2026 NBA Draft First Round

Assuming Jayden Quaintance remains in the draft, expect this to be the night his name is called.

June 24, Brooklyn, New York (8:00 PM ET): 2026 NBA Draft- Second Round

If Oweh can have a good pre-draft process, there’s a chance he will hear his name called toward the end of this night. That is, so long as he doesn’t try to make a push for a fifth season of college basketball.

July 9-19, Las Vegas, Nevada: NBA Summer League

This is when we’ll likely get a chance to see Otega Oweh and other former Cats look to show what they’re made of and hopefully earn a spot on an NBA roster.