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It’s not every day that you can say you just watched one of the greatest playoff performances ever, but today is one of those days. Let’s catch you up on Jokic’s absolute masterpiece last night—and more!👇

Today’s Lineup

Full-Court Coverage

Nuggets bludgeon Timberwolves 112-97 behind Jokic masterpiece to snag 3-2 series lead

In an all-but must-win game five in Denver, what else would you expect but a Nikola Jokic (40 PTS, 13 AST, 7 REB) classic? The Joker brought his usual world-class playmaking to the table, but what will truly live on in our memories was his work down low.

Hooks, up-and-unders, floaters—you name it. Big Honey brought everything out of his bag of tricks last night. Seriously, it's hard to describe in words how dominant of an interior scoring performance this was without comparing Jokic to prime Hakeem. And to do it all against the DPOY? This was one of those performances that will be remembered for a longggggg time.

Alongside some great shooting from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and strong play from Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets ran away with this one late and snatched every last bit of momentum from Minnesota heading into game six.

Now, the question is how Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves will respond. They have the defensive talent on the roster, but they'll need to switch things up somehow if they want any chance of slowing Jokic down.

Shorthanded Knicks clamp Pacers 121-91, take decisive 3-2 lead

To get an idea of how this game went down, imagine Jalen Brunson hitting a crisp floater in the lane. Now imagine him doing that, like, 20 more times.

Villanova’s finest dropped 44 points, mainly in the paint, and willed a battered and bruised Knicks squad to what felt like a must-win victory. What’s even more impressive is that, despite only running a seven-man rotation, New York won this game through their relentless hustle. Isaiah Hartenstein led the way in that regard, crashing the glass again and again on his way to 12 offensive boards (tying Charles Oakley’s Knicks playoff record).

On the Pacers’ side, a barrage of Myles Turner threes early in the third quarter got Indy within striking distance, but the Knicks responded in classic Thibs fashion by getting in a scuffle and holding the Pacers scoreless for the next six minutes as New York built what turned out to be an insurmountable lead.

SGA dominates in the clutch, Thunder even series with 100-96 W

Midrange maestros—get in here. This was the game for you.

On a night where neither team could get much of anything going on offense, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who saved the day (and possibly the season) for OKC with a throwback performance reminiscent of the bucket-getters of old. SGA silenced the Dallas crowd in the fourth with a dazzling display of tough jumpers down the stretch to drag the Thunder to a win, finishing the night with ten midrange buckets.

But maybe more impressive was how OKC shut down Luka and Kyrie, who combined to score just 27 points on 31 shots. Now in a tied series, they’ll need to be at their best to snag a crucial win in Oklahoma City tomorrow.

Celtics take 3-1 lead in Mitchell’s absence, beat Cavs 109-102

With one more chance to even the series, this could have been a real momentum-shifter for Cleveland…. if they had Donovan Mitchell. Instead, while they put up a valiant shorthanded effort, they’ll be heading back to Boston down 3-1 with both of Boston’s stars in a MAJOR groove.

All credit to the Cavs—particularly Darius Garland, who stepped up big time in Spida’s absence with 30 and 7—but it was always going to be tough to get a W with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum playing like this. The Jays combined for an efficient 60 points and 19 boards to keep Cleveland at arm’s length all night long.

🏀 🏀 🏀

Caitlin Clark has up-and-down WNBA debut in 71-92 loss

You already know we had to talk about one of the most hyped debuts in the history of women’s hoops! We wish we could tell you that Caitlin Clark dropped 60 and drained a 35-foot buzzer-beating step-back three to win the game, but hey, every hero’s journey needs a little adversity.

The former Iowa star struggled with turnovers and playmaking in her debut, but she still buried four threes on her way to 20 points. The future is bright in Indy! ☀️

Combine Check-In

We like to think of the NBA Draft Combine as the great equalizer among draft prospects. It’s the chance for every player to get in the same room and rewrite negative narratives about their game, so let’s look at a few hoopers who did just that on day one of the combine.

Bronny James: Is he a shooter after all?

Just how good is Bronny James? That’s the question many of us (including most NBA front offices) are scrambling to figure out before draft night.

LeBron’s son gave a great initial account of himself during Monday’s drills. He nearly jumped out of the gym with a 40.5” max vertical, making him one of the bounciest players in the class, but where he truly turned heads was in the shooting department. After hitting below 27% of his long-range treys in college, Bronny dominated the shooting drill, ending with 12 straight makes. 🔥

Zach Edey: Faster than meets the eye…

It must be quite annoying being Zach Edey sometimes. Imagine winning back-to-back National Player of the Year awards, leading your school on a dominating run to the National Championship game, and still being told by the world that you’re “too slow” to ever make it in the modern NBA.

Well, Edey took one massive step (literally) towards proving the doubters wrong on Monday. While he’s never going to be mistaken for the Flash, the former Purdue star beat fellow big man prospect Donovan Clingan in the ¾ court sprint and did even better in the lane agility drills, finishing ahead of presumptive top pick Alex Sarr. Keep an eye out for Edey in the mid to late first round… 👀

Dalton Knecht: All-around amazing athlete

Nobody can deny that Dalton Knecht was one of the best scorers in college basketball last season—the 6’6” wing out of Tennessee is one of the few players in this draft who can get buckets at all three levels. However, at 23 years old and with question marks on the defensive end, he hasn’t really been in top five pick conversations despite his offensive prowess.

That might be about to change, though. Knecht showed off his underrated leaping ability with a 39” vertical on Monday, and then followed that up by finishing with the fastest shuttle run time and second-fastest pro lane time. Those last two marks should help to alleviate some concerns about whether he has the defensive chops to stay in front of pro-level wings…

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for reading, y’all! As much as we love to push positivity in basketball, today we want you to bring that same mindset to your everyday life. You never know how important building up those around you can be!

Talk soon,

-Spencer Poole