Top Stories

• Wolves win Game 1 on the road

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Games of the day

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

Anthony Edwards scored a playoff career-high, and franchise postseason-record, 43 points, Naz Reid had 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets 106-99 in Game 1 of the second-round series. Edwards was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 25 points, and Reid took over in the fourth quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points despite dealing with foul trouble for most of the night. Nikola Jokic had 32 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for Denver, but also had seven turnovers. Jamal Murray scored 17 points after being held scoreless in the first half. Last year, the Wolves were a tough first-round opponent for Denver despite being without Reid (broken wrist) and Jaden McDaniels (broken hand) and with Towns coming off a severe calf strain that had cost him 52 games. This is the series that most people think will determine the eventual Western Conference Champion, and possibly the NBA Champion.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Around the League

• Anthony Edwards finished with 43 points, marking his third straight playoff game with 35 or more points. He added seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. He did his scoring from inside and out while shooting 17-of-29 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point distance. Denver had no answer for him on defense. Jokic led the Nuggets with 32 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals, while shooting 11-of-25 from the field (44%), well below his season-long shooting rate of 58%. Michael Porter Jr tallied 20 points, six rebounds and three steals. Murray recovered from a scoreless first half to post 17 points and four assists. But it wasn't enough as no other Nuggets player scored in double figures. Minnesota outshot Denver from the field (52% to 46%) and secured a 42-34 rebounding advantage. The Nuggets failed to score 100 points for the first time this postseason. For the first time since 2022, Denver is down in a postseason series.

• Injury Updates: 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 TBD

We will find out who’s playing against Boston today.

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

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

Prediction: Knicks in 5

(4) Cleveland vs (5) Orlando: Series is 3-3

(Game 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)

(Game 2) Orlando’s inexperience continues to show in this slow paced slugfest. Even with their elite defense, the size of Cleveland inside is overwhelming.

(Game 3) 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.

(Game 4) This series might end up going the full 7, as both teams have won both of their home games. Orlando, while havong offensive struggles, are playing great perimeter defense in bothering Mitchell and Garland. If Orlando can get consistent offense, they might be able to shock Cleveland.

(Game 5) Cleveland put Orlando away late, continuing the trend of the home team winning all their games. If they can at least do that, they’ll avoid being upset in the first round by a young Magic team.

(Game 6) Donovan Mitchell had over half his team’s points and was the only player to score in the 4th for Cleveland. If any other player contributed they could’ve closed this series out. Game 7 is on Sunday.

Prediction: Cavs in 6

Western Conference

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

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.

Prediction : Dallas in 6

(2) Nuggets vs (3) Timberwolves: Series 0-1

(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.

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.