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The Conference Finals have been insane so far, and we’re about to dive into every last second of each game.

But before that, some Hometown Pride gear is still available! Get it before it’s all gone…

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Jaxson Hayes and Sandro Mamukelashvili! 🎉

Playoff Recaps

Thunder protect home court, jump out to 2-0 series lead with 118-103 win over Minnesota

The Thunder have a 2-0 lead in the WCF, and all of the momentum lies with Oklahoma City.

Just 24 hours after being named MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (38 PTS, 8 AST) showed the entire basketball world why he deserved the NBA’s highest honor. SGA and company—namely, Jalen Williams (26 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST) and Chet Holmgren (22 PTS)—led Minnesota the entire way after taking a 47-45 lead in the middle of the second quarter of Game 2.

Jaden McDaniels (22 PTS, 4-8 3PT) ended up being the Wolves’ most efficient contributor on offense, but that wasn’t enough to bring the otherwise stagnant Minnesota offense to life. That became especially apparent as the Thunder opened their lead up to 20+ in the second half, with 2024-25 All-Defensive First Team member Lu Dort (9 PTS, 2 STL) as one of the main catalysts for OKC’s success in limiting the Wolves’ offense.

To his credit, Anthony Edwards (32 PTS, 9 REB) followed up on his promise and had a more aggressive, ball-dominant outing than Game 1. But when that aggression means shooting 1-for-9 from three, we’re not sure whether the series will make it back to OKC…

Pacers make history with 17-point 4Q comeback, steal Game 1 with 138-135 W over Knicks

We may have just watched one of the craziest endings in NBA playoff history.

The Knicks were sailing smoothly after grabbing a five-point lead over Indiana in the early goings of this game, and all signs pointed to a 1-0 New York advantage in the ECF. The Pacers kept the game in reach after the break, but Jalen Brunson (43 PTS, 5 AST, 7 TO) powered his way to the rim and the line as New York opened up a 17-point lead with six and a half minutes left in the game, with many (now disappointed) fans turning off their TVs thinking the game was over.

Not so fast!

Single-handedly, Aaron Nesmith (30 PTS, 8-9 3PT) exploded for a 20-point fourth quarter that brought Indiana right back into this game in the final minutes. Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns (35 PTS, 12 REB), and the rest of the Knicks’ offense didn’t go totally quiet, but they lacked all sense of urgency on defense and enabled one of the craziest role-player hot streaks we’ve ever seen.

With Nesmith’s run over, the Pacers down two, and the ball in the hands of Tyrese Haliburton (31 PTS, 11 AST), the “most overrated player in the NBA” drained a buzzer-beating circus shot to send the game to OT. And after a few back-and-forth scores in the extra period, two Obi Toppin (8 PTS, 10 REB) buckets at the rim with under a minute to go sealed the Pacers’ win.

We’ve never seen anything like it.

Around The League

Meet Your 2024-25 All-Defensive Teams!

The NBA announced the full set of 2024-25 All-Defensive honors yesterday, with new and old names alike making up two absolutely lethal lineups. First-timers are marked with asterisks—check out the teams here! ⬇️

🥇 All-Defensive First Team

• Evan Mobley (CLE)

• Dyson Daniels* (ATL)

• Luguentz Dort* (OKC)

• Draymond Green (GSW)

• Amen Thompson* (HOU)

🥈 All-Defensive Second Team

• Ivica Zubac* (LAC)

• Jaren Jackson Jr. (MEM)

• Jalen Williams* (OKC)

• Toumani Camara* (POR)

• Rudy Gobert (MIN)

Top Five Friday: MVP Moments

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just won his first MVP award. And in case you’ve been living under a really large rock, he was pretty damn good this season. Here are our five favorite games from SGA’s 2024-25 MVP campaign!

1. 03/03/25 - 51 PTS, 7 AST, 5-9 3PT against Rockets in 137-128 win: Talk about an MVP performance! Shai did a little bit of everything in this one, hitting five threes while staying perfect from the line (10-10) and shooting 60% from the field. He had 28 at the half and ended the game one point away from matching Houston’s two top scorers combined—Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard led the Rockets and dropped a cumulative 52 PTS. 😳

2. 01/22/25 - 54 PTS in 123-114 win over Utah: Without Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein against the Jazz earlier this season, SGA went god-mode. His 54-point night in January at home in Oklahoma City is tied for the fourth-highest scoring game in Thunder franchise history, sitting behind two 57+ point Russell Westbrook games and Fred Brown’s 58-point performance for the Sonics in 1974. 👴🏾

3. 02/05/25 - 50 PTS, +42 plus/minus in 140-109 blowout win over Suns: You shouldn’t be surprised when you see the Thunder blowing out teams like they have been in the playoffs—they’ve been doing it all year. This time, it was Shai’s 50-piece that helped OKC absolutely dominate Phoenix—with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a pair of steals, he turned out a pretty well-rounded game in the end. ⚡️

4. 12/26/24 - 45 PTS, 15-22 FG, 4-5 3PT, 11-11 FT in 120-114 win against the Pacers: Shai doesn’t just score a lot—he can do it really efficiently too. Working with a True Shooting Percentage of nearly 84%, SGA handled Indiana with ease in this early-season matchup. Come to think of it… Thunder-Pacers… might we see that matchup again? Only time will tell! 🔮

5. 12/29/24 - “Ethical” 35 PTS, 7 AST, 4 BLK in 130-106 win over Memphis: Did SGA have higher-scoring games than this? Yes. Did the Thunder win more impressive games than this? Sure. But we included this one to say that, even with all the free throw discourse, you just can’t deny Shai’s talent. In a game where he only shot 6 free throws (but made all of them!), SGA went 14-19 from the field and picked pockets all night long, showing his true range of potential as a do-it-all scorer. ⭐️

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Three in the Key

Signing Off

Happy Friday, Enjoyers! It’s a big weekend for the NBA playoffs, but let’s make it an even bigger weekend for you. Eat healthily and regularly, dedicate some time to spend outside, and make it a point to talk to your family and friends about your shared interests.

And, if for some reason you need help getting out of those conversations, we’ll put you in touch with Tyrese Haliburton. He’s great at ending things.

Austin Zeglis