Top Stories

• Magic keep themselves alive

• Joel Embiid drops 50 on Knicks

• Nuggets go up 3-0 on Lakers 151-0

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Games of the day

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

Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Magic rolled to a 121-83 rout on Thursday night, cutting the Cavaliers' lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2020 and the first on their home floor since April 2011. Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 39% from the field and 23% from 3-point range. Caris LeVert added 15 points and Donovan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists. The Magic made one lineup change after losing the first two games by 14 and 10 points and shooting just 34%. Wendell Carter Jr. returned to the starting lineup at center after being replaced by Isaac in Games 1 and 2. They can even the series with a victory at home Saturday afternoon.

Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in what was a series-saving third quarter to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 125-114 win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. After getting bullied in New York, the Sixers fought back. Embiid was 13 of 19 from the floor, made 19 of 21 free throws and hit five 3-pointers. Jalen Brunson did lead the Knicks with 39 points and 13 assists. Josh Hart scored 20 points but DiVincenzo had five. Maxey finished with 25 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 15 points and Cam Payne hit three 3s and scored 11 points. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Around the League

• The Denver Nuggets are up 3-0 on the Lakers, and this seems very reminiscent of last years WCF. D’Angelo Russell had 0 points on 0-7 shooting in a must win game for the Lakers, while Anthony Davis only took 3 shots in the 4th quarter as the Lakers fell apart late again. Teams that go up 3-0 in a series are 151-0 all time in league history, so the Lakers are very very likely done. Denver is just too good offensively for LA to matchup, starting with Jokic cooking AD every time they match up, just a week after Davis proclaimed himself “the best defender in the league”. Jamal Murray continues to get whatever shot he wants, whenever he wants, because none of the perimeter defenders for the Lakers are physical enough to deal with him. Denver will play the winner of Minnesota/Phoenix in the next round, and its looking like it’ll be the Wolves as their likely opponent. Denver is looking unstoppable just like last year, but we’ll see if they make it out of this years stacked West.

• Injury Updates: Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf) could miss 2-4 weeks. Jimmy Butler (knee) will miss multiple weeks. Zion Williamson (hamstring) will be re-evaluated in 1 week. Julius Randle (shoulder) is out for the season. Christian Wood (knee) plans to return Game 4 vs Denver. Benedict Mathurin (shoulder) underwent surgery and is out for the season. Josh Richardson (shoulder) had surgery and will be out for the season. Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) will possibly be back for Game 4 vs Denver. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

NBA Playoff Matchups

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs (8) Miami: Series is 1-1

Jimmy Butler will likely miss most, if not all of this series.

Boston punched Miami in the mouth in Game 1, winning by 20 points. without Butler, the Heat don’t have the #1 option needed to carry their offense. Tyler Herro is too inconsistent and Bam Adebayo isn’t aggressive enough. This series might end up a sweep.

Miami set a franchise record for 3’s made to beat Boston (in the Garden no less). This was an unexpected win for the Heat and loss for the Celtics, and the homecourt advantage that Boston would’ve had all the way through the NBA Finals is gone. If Miami takes at least one game in FL, this series could end bad for the Celtics.

Prediction: Boston in 5

(2) Knicks vs (7) 76ers: Series is 2-1

Joel Embiid’s knee is a concern, as are the non-Embiid minutes for Philly. If they don’t find a way to at least stay even with New York without Joel on the floor, they won’t last long.

Philly blew a 5 point lead with less than 30 seconds to go and gave that game to New York. Expect all the games to be close, and for the Sixers to take care of business at home.

Embiid dropped 50 to keep this series competitive, but even with that boost Philly only won by 9. Every game is going to be a gritty down to the wire contest unless one team just gets hot. Philly will need Maxey and Embiid to step up again to tie this series.

Prediction: Knicks in 6

(3) Milwaukee vs (6) Indiana: Series is 1-1

Giannis will miss at least Game 1, Dame can keep that team afloat in his absence.

Milwaukee showed the importance of experience when it comes to the playoffs. For Indiana, Pascal Siakam (the only one with playoff experience) had 36 and 13. Dame scored 35 in the first half and didn’t have to play much in the 2nd half.

Pacers steal one on the road, making games 3 and 4 the most important games of the series. Giannis needs to return soon to turn the tide in Milwaukee’s favor.

Prediction: Bucks in 7

(4) Cleveland vs (5) Orlando: Series is 2-1

Orlando has the defense to keep the Cavs in check, but their lack of playoff experience in Game 1 was obvious. They will need to improve their 3 point shooting while cutting down the turnovers drastically. Cleveland has expectations Orlando doesn’t, so the 2 teams are playing for completely different reasons. (Cavs want Donovan Mitchell to stay)

Orlando’s inexperience continues to show in this slow paced slugfest. Even with their elite defense, the size of Cleveland inside is overwhelming.

Paolo finally broke through the playoff wall, dropping 31 and 14, setting new playoff career highs for both. Jalen Suggs had 24 points on 9-11 shooting, and the Cavs had a stinker of a game. Garland and Mitchell combined for 18 points on 8-26 shooting.

Prediction: Cavs in 6

Western Conference

(1) OKC vs (8) New Orleans: Series is 2-0

Zion Williamson will miss at least some of this series, which changes things dramatically.

Game 1 came down to the final buzzer. The size and versatility of the Pels made things tough for OKC all game. Count on every game this series to be close.

OKC made adjustments to their offense, and ran the Pelicans off the floor in Game 2. They also were more aggressive on defense, shutting down a dangerous New Orleans team and beating them by nearly 30.

Prediction : New Orleans in 6

(2) Denver vs (7) Lakers: Series is 3-0

Denver beat LA for the 9th straight game, continuing to be a problem the Lakers can’t solve. No matter who LA throws at Joker he continues to dominate, so LA’s strategy should be to make him a scorer and shut everyone else down. Denver needs to push the pace in transition and keep LA in rotation in the halfcourt.

LA was up 20+ points in the second half, and ended up losing on a Jamal Murray buzzer beater. They can make this a series with a pair of wins at home.

Not much to say here, Joker is unguardable and the Lakers are bad. Lakers might not even take a game for the 2nd year in a row. But at least Dinwiddie and Vincent finally scored in this series, right?

Prediction: Nuggets in 5

(3) Timberwolves vs (6) Suns: Series is 2-0

Minnesota had the #1 ranked defense all year long for a reason. They shut every Sun but KD down completely, with Beal and Booker COMBINING for 32 points. A shutdown like that is unlikely to happen again to that extent, but with Anthony Edwards elevating like he always does in the Playoffs, and KAT playing as a legit second option, this series could be quick. Phoenix needs to get Booker and Beal going, as well as use Nurkic as a post playmaker. Both teams lost key pieces, as Kyle Anderson and Grayson Allen both sustained injuries that kept them from returning.

The Wolves defense clamp Phoenix again, and instead of one player beating the Suns, it was a complete team effort led by Jaden McDaniels 25 points. The Suns need to figure out a way to get open shots against the #1 ranked defense in the league, and they also need to crash the glass more.

Prediction: Wolves in 4

(4) Clippers vs (5) Mavericks: Series is 1-1

No matter what the Clippers have thrown at Luka, he’s always cooked them worse than most teams. This year, LA added Harden and brought Westbrook back, and while they won’t really help guard Doncic, Dallas can’t stop all the weapons LA has now. In the end, it will all come down to Luka and Kyrie vs Kawhi and PG. Whichever duo elevates their team more will win their team the series. With Kawhi likely missing Game 1, Dallas might get a headstart.

LA came out hot, Russ and Harden having the same amount of points as the entire Maverick squad in the 1st half. Luka and Kyrie struggled, and Dallas was not good on either end of the floor. Don’t count on Luka continuing to struggle though.

Dallas overcame Kawhi’s return to even out the series. Luka bounced back, as expected, despite the looks LA threw at him. Game 3 in Dallas will be pivotal to gain control in this series.

Prediction: Clippers in 7

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

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.