Top Stories

• Celtics win Game 1 against Cavs

• Thunder outlast Mavericks

• Gobert wins DPOY

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Games of the day

Last Night’s Top Games! (link to the box scores of every game from yesterday)

Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Derrick White made seven 3-pointers and added 25, and the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-95 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series. Tatum finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds to help the Celtics pull away in the second half. Donovan Mitchell had 33 points and six assists for the Cavaliers. He is the fourth player in league history to score 30 or more points in six straight playoff series openers, joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain. Darius Garland added 14 points. Both teams played without their starting centers. Jarrett Allen missed his fourth straight game with a bruised rib injury he sustained in the first round against Orlando. Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined for the second consecutive game with a strained right calf.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-95 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Holmgren added 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Jalen Williams scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth to help Oklahoma City remain unbeaten in the playoffs. Luka Doncic scored 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting and had five turnovers. Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Daniel Gafford added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the fifth-seeded Mavericks. Game 2 will be Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Around the League

• Rudy Gobert is your 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. Gobert becomes the third player in NBA history to win the award four times, joining Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. The Wolves center previously took home the honors in 2020-21, 2018-19 and 2017-18. Led by Gobert, the Timberwolves had the best defensive rating, allowed the fewest points per game and held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the NBA. The top-ranked defense helped Minnesota (56-26) post the second-best record in franchise history and earn the No. 3 playoff seed in the Western Conference. This season, Gobert ranked second in the NBA in rebounding (12.9 rpg), second in field goal percentage (66%), second in offensive rebounds (3.8 orpg), fourth in defensive rebounds (9.2 rpg), sixth in blocks (2.1 bpg) and fifth in double-doubles (54).

• Injury Updates: Maxi Kleber (shoulder) is out indefinitely. Julius Randle (shoulder) is out for the season. Benedict Mathurin (shoulder) underwent surgery and is out for the season. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

NBA Playoff Matchups

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs (4) Cleveland: Series is 1-0

With a healthy Jarrett Allen, Cleveland has the size and defense to contend with Boston. Expect them to actually give Boston a run for their money.

(Game 1) Boston did what was expected of them, holding down homecourt. Both teams were missing their starting centers, but the Cavs got beat so bad it didn’t matter who was missing.

Prediction: Celtics in 7

(2) Knicks vs (6) Pacers: Series is 1-0

Indiana doesn’t play both sides of the ball like New York does, and Tyrese Haliburton is going to have to actually play defense.

(Game 1) New York continues to execute in the clutch, coming back to beat Indiana in the final minutes of the 4th (albeit with the help of some questionable calls). Tyrese Haliburton had 6 points…

Prediction: Knicks in 5

Western Conference

(1) OKC vs (5) Dallas: Series is 1-0

OKC has enough shooting to keep up with the Mavs, but the duo of Luka/Kyrie plus their size will ultimately be the deciding factor.

(Game 1) OKC was able to keep Luka in check, holding him to 19 points. He needs to find a way to deal with Lu Dort if they want a chance to win.

Prediction : Dallas in 6

(2) Nuggets vs (3) Timberwolves: Series 0-2

(Game 1) Minnesota came out guns blazing, with Ant Man dropping 43 points. If Joker can’t find a way to be effective and efficient against the bigs of Minnesota, Denver could be in serious trouble.

(Game 2) Even without the likely DPOY Rudy Gobert missing the game due to the birth of his first child, Minnesota won by 26, holding Denver to 80 points (their lowest of the entire season). The Nuggets are in unfamiliar territory, being down 0-2 in a series for the first time in years.

Prediction: Wolves in 6

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Overtime Thoughts

Hoopgrids

Hoopgrids is a daily basketball trivia game. You cross match each category to find a player that fits both. The rarer the player, the lower the score. The goal is to get the lowest rarity score possible.