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Today’s Lineup

Full-Court Coverage

Knicks send 76ers home with 118-115 Game 6 win

Jalen Brunson dropped 41 points last night to become the first player since Michael Jordan in 1993 to score 39 points or more in four straight playoff games.

Oh yeah, and he also sent the Philadelphia 76ers packing to lead the Knicks into the East semis for the second year in a row.

With only seven Knicks touching the floor all night, Game 6 between the Knicks and 76ers was a Tom Thibodeau CLASSIC. They made it work, though—Josh Hart (16 PTS, 14 REB, 7 AST) had a certified Josh Hart game and Donte DiVincenzo (23 PTS, 7 AST) hit five threes to lift New York over Philadelphia. As for Philly, they have an offseason full of tough decisions ahead of them, but for now let’s just soak in the beauty of this scene:

Well-rounded Pacers knock Bucks out for good in 120-98 win

On one end of the coaching spectrum, you have Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks, and chilling all the way on the other end, are Rick Carlisle's Pacers. What are we talking about? Indiana went twelve men deep last night and still pulled out the series-clinching win against Milwaukee.

Sure, Giannis was still out, but Damian Lillard won plenty of games in Portland by himself before! Unluckily for him, the Pacers controlled, measured offensive attack picked apart Milwaukee’s defense until it was far too late for Dame Time. Obi Toppin (21 PTS) led the Pacers in scoring, but it was an efficient 20 off the bench from TJ McConnell (7-9 FG, 2-2 3PT) that sealed this win for Indy.

Somebody get Reggie Miller out of retirement because the Knicks and Pacers are now set to face off in the newest edition of what used to be a classic Eastern Conference playoff rivalry. New York vs. Indy. Jalen Brunson vs. Tyrese Haliburton. Grab your popcorn!

Brown, White lead Celtics to series-winning 118-84 blowout win

This game was a complete and total masterclass on behalf of Boston. After going up 13-11 with six and a half minutes left in the first quarter, the Celtics would never give up the lead again—tearing apart Miami’s offense while pouring in buckets of their own. How hard did they clamp up? The Heat went 3-29 from three.

Props to Jaylen Brown (25 PTS) and Derrick White (25 PTS), who led the charge offensively on this one for the Celtics. And as for Miami, time will tell whether this first-round exit will warrant a major roster shakeup. All we know is that Jimmy Butler doesn’t seem too upset.

Luka shines, Mavs take 3-2 series lead over LA with 123-93 W

You know what must be nice about being Luka? Even when he has a poor shooting night like Wednesday’s 2-8 performance from the perimeter, his playmaking skills still make him one of the most impactful players on the court.

Doncic finished with a 35-point, 10-assist double-double to help the Mavericks take a 3-2 lead over the Clippers. And shoutout to Maxi Kleber, who took 7 shots—all threes!—and converted on five of them to add 15 of his own for Dallas.

For LA, their not-so-great offensive night was due in part to a rough seven-point, 2-12 FG performance from James Harden.. With no Clippers scoring over 15 points against Dallas on Wednesday—LA will need just a liiiiiitle bit more offensive production than that in Game 6 if they want to stay alive in this series.

Oh, and also Kyrie Irving did this. We don’t know how either.

Matchup Preview: DEN-MIN

The Nuggets and Timberwolves had very similar first-round series—they both faced off against star-studded rosters but ended up making quick work of their opponents. But how will Denver and Minnesota match up against each other in the Western Conference Semifinals?

How the Wolves will win: Do we even need to say it? Anthony Edwards is the MAN in Minnesota. He averaged 31 points, eight rebounds, and six assists per game against Phoenix, a performance that brought Edwards further than ever into the national conversation as one of the faces of the league.

But Ant-Man can’t do this alone. To take down the defending champions, he’ll need his team of superhero sidekicks: Karl-Anthony Towns to knock down threes (52.9% in first round) and play surprisingly good defense, Rudy Gobert to absolutely dominate the post, Jaden McDaniels to be the Swiss army knife two-way weapon that he is, and Naz Reid to be… well… Naz Reid.

How the Nuggets will win: Denver has one distinct, yet all-encompassing advantage in this series that Minnesota doesn’t—they’ve been here before. Let’s put it this way, the last time the Timberwolves were in the 2nd round Ant-Man was 2 years old. Abd let’s not forget they have Jamal Murray, the 2024 playoffs clutch KING! No game clock is safe from him…

Nikola Jokic has been outstanding so far this postseason, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to bulldoze through the West again and lead Denver to their second straight NBA Finals berth. It’ll be up to him, Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. to see if that feat can be accomplished:

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for spending a little bit of your Friday with us! Remember that you have something valuable and unique to contribute to the world—the real journey is in finding out what it is.

Talk soon. ✌️

-Austin Zeglis