Top Stories

• Knicks keep rolling against Pacers

• Joker wins MVP

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Games of the day

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

Jalen Brunson scored 24 of his 29 points in the final two quarters, leading the New York Knicks to a 130-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. OG Anunoby added a career playoff-high 28 points before leaving with a left hamstring injury in the third quarter for the injury-riddled Knicks, who have already lost three key players to season-ending injuries. Tyrese Haliburton rebounded from a poor Game 1 with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Pacers. Obi Toppin added 20 points in another strong effort by Indiana’s reserves, but the Pacers hurt themselves by shooting just 10 for 17 (59%) from the free throw line. The series moves to Indiana for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Around the League

• Nikola Jokic is your 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player. The nine-year NBA veteran from Serbia is the ninth player to win three or more MVPs, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five), Wilt Chamberlain (four), LeBron James (four), Larry Bird (three), Magic Johnson (three) and Moses Malone (three). In the 2023-24 regular season, Jokić ranked 10th in the NBA in points, fourth in rebounds and third in assists per game.  He became the second player in NBA history to have at least 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 700 assists in a season, joining Oscar Robertson.

• Injury Updates: Kristaps Porzingis (calf) is likely out for the entire second round. Bojan Bogdanovic (foot and wrist) had surgery and is out for the season. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) has a fracture and will b out 6-8 weeks. 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…

(Game 2) Haliburton bounced back and had a good game, but despite Jalen Brunson missing part of this game with an injury Indiana couldn’t overcome Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein at the end of the game.

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.