Top Stories

• Heat steal a game in Boston

• Thunder destroy Pelicans

• Naz Reid wins 6MOTY

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Games of the day

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

The Miami Heat beat Boston with an unexpected amount of 3-pointers to erase the home-court advantage the Celtics worked all season to have. Tyler Herro had 24 points and 14 assists, hitting six of Miami's 23 3-pointers, which were the most in a playoff game in franchise history, to lead the Heat to a 111-101 win over Boston and tie the first-round playoff series at one game apiece. Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Caleb Martin also had 21 points for the Heat, who shot 53.5% (23 of 43) from three to recover after a Game 1 blowout. That broke Miami's playoff record of 20 3-pointers, set against the Bucks in first round in 2021. Jaylen Brown scored 33 points for Boston. Jayson Tatum scored 28, but they were the only 2 to show up for Boston. Kristaps Porzingis had one of his worst games as a Celtic, shooting 1-9 from the field and 0-4 from three. The series moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Chet Holmgren had 26 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Williams added 21 points for the one seeded Thunder, who shot 59% from the field and made 14 of 29 3-pointers. Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18 each for the Pelicans. The Thunder scored 22 points off New Orleans’ 18 turnovers. Game 3 will be Saturday in New Orleans.

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Around the League

• Naz Reid is your 2024 Sixth Man of the Year. Naz Reid was having a productive season as a bench player when the Minnesota Timberwolves needed him in the starting lineup while playing without Karl-Anthony Towns. Reid was excellent in that role, too, helping the Timberwolves to the second-best season in franchise history. Towns was hurt in March and missed the next 18 games. Yet the Wolves hardly slowed down, going 10-3 from March 16 to April 10 while Reid started 12 of the 13 games. He averaged 17.1 points on 45.4% shooting during that span. Reid joined John Starks (1996-97) and Darrell Armstrong (1999) as undrafted players to win the Sixth Man award. Reid signed a 3 year, $42M contract with Minnesota last year, and the Fan Favorite is likely to remain there for the foreseeable future.

• 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.

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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 2-0

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.

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 2-0

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.

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 2-0

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.

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

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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.