The first round of the 2026 NBA postseason wasn’t very kind to two recent champions and a future Hall of Famer.

The Denver Nuggets entered the Western Conference playoffs as the No. 3 seed and armed with arguably the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic. Denver lasted just six games and were eliminated by undermanned Minnesota for the second time in three years.

Since winning the NBA title in 2023, Jokic and the Nuggets are just 15-15 over the last three postseasons.

The Boston Celtics, boosted by the return of All-Star Jayson Tatum, entered the Eastern Conference playoffs with the fourth-best odds to win a championship. Boston took a 3-1 series lead against division rival Philadelphia, only to watch it evaporate and ended up being on the wrong side of history. The 76ers completed the dramatic playoff comeback, winning Game 7 in Boston.

When asked during his post-game press conference what was the turning point in the series, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla pointed to the return of Joel Embiid.

“What changed in the series was Joel Embiid came back, and they’re a completely different team,” Mazzulla said of the Sixers center, who came back in Game 4 after missing almost a month after undergoing emergency appendectomy.

Philly was the 14th team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the playoffs. Less than 24 hours after the Sixers’ win, the Detroit Pistons became the 15th team to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Thanks to the heroics of Cade Cunningham, top-seeded Detroit avoided losing to eighth-seeded Orlando with a convincing win at home in Game 7.

Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets weren’t considered championship contenders heading into the postseason, but they had a favorable matchup in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, who was missing Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (rib).

But the Rockets found a way to turn an advantage into a disadvantage as the 2014 NBA MVP missed Game 1 with a knee injury he suffered in practice. Durant returned in Game 2 but suffered a sprained right ankle in the second half that ultimately forced him to miss the remainder of the series.

The Lakers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead. After a couple of hiccups in Game 4 and Game 5, L.A. closed out the series with a blowout win in Game 6.

Detroit rides MotorCade to reach conference semifinals

After Orlando took a 3-1 series lead, Cade Cunningham put his hard on and went to work.

The Pistons’ All-Star guard dropped 45 points (5-for-8 on 3-pointers) in Game 5 and followed it up with 32 points and 10 rebounds in the next game, forcing a Game 7.

In Game 7 in front of a fired up Detroit crowd that included Pistons legends like Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace, Cunningham calmly led the Pistons to a 116-94 win. His 32 points and 12 assists helped secure Detroit’s first playoff series victory in 18 years.

Cunningham became the second Piston to score 20-plus points and dish out 10-plus assists in a Game 7. The other Piston to pull it off was Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, who was in the building to witness Cade’s brilliant performance under pressure.

“It’s an honor to be in the same sentence as a legend like IT,” Cunningham said. “I’m glad he was here. I’m glad he was able to watch … just being able to talk to him, pick his brain, and have his support. It’s amazing. I feel extremely lucky to have that.”

No joke: Jokic gets ‘punked’ in playoff loss to Timberwolves

When you’re a three-time NBA MVP, expectations are high and losing in the first round is not an acceptable result.

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, were eliminated in six games by the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team missing their best player (Anthony Edwards), starting guard (Donte DiVincenzo), and one of its top reserves (Ayo Dosunmu).

The Timberwolves had just eight players available for Game 6, but still managed to pull out a victory.

Denver’s early exit prompted some pundits like ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, to call out Jokic for his poor postseason performance following another triple-double regular season in which he became the first player to lead the league in rebounds (12.9) and assists (10.7).

Perkins on ESPN’s “First Take” said the Joker got “punked” in the Minnesota series as Rudy Gobert made him look human. Jokic shot 44.6% from the field and 19.4% from 3-point range, both well below his season averages. Perkins added that Jokic’s recent play suggests he may be stuck with just one championship for his career.

“We were so ready to put this man above all-time greats because of certain numbers he was putting up in the regular season. He has one NBA championship. Matter of fact, I don’t think Jokic is going to win another NBA championship. He got exposed,” Perkins added. “So when we talk about top-five this and top-five that. We need to sit back and keep cool.”

Denver heads into the offseason with a lot of question marks, including the future of their all-world center. But according to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Nuggets plan to secure a long-term contract extension for Jokic, who is eligible for a $290 million max deal.

“The expectation on both sides is Nikola Jokic will be signing that when he’s eligible in July, and they’re gonna move forward,” Charania said on “Inside the NBA.”

He added: “But beyond that, there’s going to be real roster changes coming to Denver to identify how they can surround Nikola Jokic with the right pieces to get this team over the top.”

Houston, we have a KD problem

A fluke knee injury kept Kevin Durant out of Game 1 against the Lakers. He reportedly bumped knees with one of the team’s two-way players in practice as they both went for a loose ball. Durant returned in Game 2 but suffered a sprained right ankle in the second half that ultimately forced him to miss the remainder of the series.

The Rockets’ implosion started back in February. The infamous “KD files” — Durant’s alleged social media burner account slamming Rockets teammates — created a major, unresolved distraction.

During a stretch in which the Rockets lost seven of nine games entering the All-Star break, allegations surfaced that Durant criticized teammates — including sharp jabs at Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. — while using a burner account on X.

Durant is one of the best to ever pick up a basketball. Once he’s done with his career, he’ll be enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. But his off-the-court drama isn’t helping clean up his image.

Durant never discussed the matter in any detail publicly, calling it “Twitter nonsense.” But it’s hard to imagine his most recent social media tiff didn’t impact the Rockets. Houston appeared disjointed, and the team actually played better when KD was in street clothes sitting on the bench.

Since his split with the Golden State Warriors, Durant has had some conspicuous stops in Brooklyn and Phoenix. Houston gave up a ton of assets to bring him in, but now they may be regretting the move.

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. He hosts a sports podcast on YouTube @onemanfastbreak1.

If the bar of success means winning 50 games, winning the division, and finishing as the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs, then JJ Redick had a successful rookie campaign as an NBA head coach.

But the bar is much higher when you’re the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. If the season doesn’t include championship confetti reigning down the arena and the Larry O’Brien trophy isn’t sitting in the locker room, the season is largely considered a failure.

“I know I can be better, and I know I will get better,” Redick said when asked to evaluate his first season as Lakers coach.

“I don’t necessarily take satisfaction from how the year went,” he continued. “That’s not to say I’m not proud of what the group was able to do; how we were able to figure things out on the fly and put ourselves in position to have homecourt [advantage] in the first round. But there’s always ways to get better and I can get a lot better.”

Redick made three big coaching mistakes in the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against Minnesota that contributed to the Timberwolves winning the series in five games and ending L.A.’s season.

The first mistake came in a 116-113 loss in Game 4 when Redick played his starting five 24 straight minutes in the second half, using timeouts as the only breaks. The huge gamble backfired as the weary lineup of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith struggled physically down the stretch and were outscored 19-9 in the final five minutes. Doncic and James missed point-blank layups that could have been attributed to fatigue. There were times when the Lakers looked like they were playing in mud. The ball was not moving and the bodies were stationary.

The second mistake came hours before Game 5 when Redick abruptly walked out of a pregame session with the media after becoming angry over a question about his decision not to sub out his main guys in the second half of Game 4. Redick’s emotions got the best of him and he took it as a jab about his inexperience as a head coach. As a coach or leader of a team, you cannot allow softball questions to bother you. JJ has to develop a thicker skin. Bolting out of a presser is a bad look, it shows immaturity and sets a bad tone leading up to an elimination game.

The third mistake Redick made was inexplicably inserting Maxi Kleber in Game 5. Kleber has been out for three months and barely had practice time with his new teammates. Redick not only played Kleber but he put him in the game during a crucial moment, with the team down six with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The move was an act of a desperate coach who seemed to be wingin’ it instead of staying the course and trusting the guys who were there from the beginning. ESPN insider Brian Windhorst, Redick’s former TV colleague, called the move an irrational decision.

Playing Kleber in Game 5 and burning out his starters in Game 4 were tied to the fact that the Lakers have a flawed roster. Redick felt Kleber was a much better option than Jaxson Hayes or Jarred Vanderbilt. The lack of a true center forced Redick to lean into his small-ball lineup, which could have worked if fatigue hadn’t sunk in. Redick overplayed his hand, and it ended up costing him his chips.
Outside of Hachimura, who fought through fatigue, the legs of the Lakers starters looked heavy, especially LeBron and Reaves.

LeBron, at age 40, played 46 minutes out of a possible 48 minutes in Game 4, and it hampered him in Game 5 as he shot just 9-for-21 from the field in 40 minutes and wasn’t as active defensively. Reaves was a shell of himself in Game 5, scoring just 12 points (eight below his average) and committing an uncharacteristically high six turnovers.

In team sports, especially in basketball, when the game is close the difference between winning and losing comes down to which player steps up in the clutch and which coach makes the right calls. Redick didn’t pass his first big test as Lakers coach.

During the Lakers end-of-season news conference, Redick reflected on his challenging season and the main lessons he learned.

“I look at everything as an opportunity for growth. I look at things more like a river. It’s all part of one long, winding journey. Along [the journey] you might run into a dam … You just never know what things will come along in that journey,” Redick said. “You have to be willing to embrace failure, you have to be willing to embrace success, but you have to be able to grow in both. Everything that’s happened this year with the players, the staff, the wins, the losses have been incredibly beneficial.”

Image caption: JJ Redick’s first season as Lakers coach ended in disappointment (Getty Images)

In order to achieve the ultimate prize of winning a championship, star players must go through some growing pains. Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards both starred in the 2024 playoffs, but both ultimately fell short of accomplishing the main objective of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ dynamic wing player, said last season that he wouldn’t view himself as a bonafide NBA superstar until he gets the job done in the playoffs. Edwards was 21 years old when he made those remarks. A year later, the 22-year-old Edwards is not only becoming a bonafide NBA star but he’s entering a realm occupied by legendary wing players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

“Whenever you compare him [Edwards] to Jordan, you have to frame it with the age. Jordan didn’t win a playoff series until he was age 25,” ESPN insider Brian Windhorst said during an episode of “Get Up.”

“We’re not talking about 1991 Michael Jordan,” he continued. “Ant Edwards is like 1988 Michael Jordan, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and the Pistons were still dominating the league. That’s why we’re excited about him. We’re not just excited about him now, we’re excited about where he can be in two or three years. He is on that process and on that timeline. And he’s doing it very quickly at age 22. It is all of those things.”

Edwards has a variation of Jordan’s powerful finishing skills at the rim with sprinkles of Kobe’s Mamba Mentality. Put them together and we may be watching the game’s next great two-way wing player.

“He’s the face of the league,” Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns said about his teammate Edwards, who was the No. overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. “He hates when I say it, but it’s true,” Towns continued. “Like I said, ‘Future so bright, got to put the sunglasses on.'”

Edwards led the third-seeded Timberwolves to a 4-0 sweep over Kevin Durant’s sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. It’s the first series win for the T-Wolves since the Kevin Garnett era. In the second round, the Timberwolves knocked out the defending champion Denver Nuggets in a grueling series, winning on the road in Game 7.

After his Suns were vanquished from the playoffs, Durant had nothing but praise for the young and hungry Wolves and their young leader.

“So impressed with Ant [Edwards]. My favorite player to watch,” Durant told reporters. “Just grown so much since he came into the league. His love for the game shines so bright. That’s one of the reasons I like him the most. He just loves basketball. He’s grateful to be in this position. He’s taken advantage of every opportunity that he’s gotten. Love everything about Ant … everything. I’ll be watching going forward. I was really impressed with him. It’s going to be somebody I’m following the rest of his career.”

The seven-game battle against the Nuggets took a heavy toll on the T-wolves as they’re struggling to summon the same energy against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals. After averaging close to 30 points per game in the first two rounds, Edwards’ scoring output dipped to 24.6 points per game in the conference finals. Edwards and the T-wolves ran out of gas against the Mavs, losing in convincing fashion as Dallas won the series 4-1.

The other young stud with a bright future in the NBA is Brunson.

When the New York Knicks signed the 27-year-old Brunson to a four-year, $104 million contract in 2022, they probably had no idea they were bringing in the much-needed leader that franchise has been missing since Patrick Ewing left town.

Brunson has more than lived up to his free agent contract as he has comfortably filled in the starring role in the Big Apple. For the past two decades, fans packed Madison Square Garden to watch the opposing team’s headliners. Now, the Garden is Jalen’s house. Knicks fans are paying big-time money to watch him perform.

A host of Knicks fans are even willing to travel to a different state — like they did in the first round of the 2024 playoffs when they invaded Philadelphia’s home arena for Game 4. They were treated to a spectacular one-man Broadway show as he authored a 47-point performance, breaking the Knick single-game playoff scoring mark held by Bernard King.

Brunson’s spectacular playoff run came to a crashing halt in the Eastern Conference semifinals. He fractured his shooting hand in Game 7 and the Knicks, which suffered a multitude of injuries during the season, were blown out by the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

It was a disappointing finish on what looked like a promising postseason run for the Knicks. But Knick fans should feel good about the future because they now have a steady leader who is determined to get to the top of the mountain and capture the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973.

“I think the most important thing that I need to do is to continue just to strive for perfection, strive for perfection,” Brunson told reporters. “And, knowing that I’m never going to get there, it’s just my mind says I just need to be better every single day. I don’t care what I’ve done as a player. It means nothing. I need to be better and I’m going to go into the summer training to be better and I’ll come back ready next year.”

Brunson and Edwards were teammates on the U.S. senior men’s national team that competed at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines. “Big shout out to USA [Basketball]. They got me prepared for this season,” said Edwards, who was invited to play for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Brunson, however, was inexplicably left off the team.

Of the 12 players that USA Basketball director Grant Hill invited to play for Team USA in Paris, only Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, and Tyrese Haliburton made it through the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. The other eight — LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, Kawhi Leonard — were eliminated in the first round.

The Paris Olympics will likely be the last time LeBron (39), Curry (36), and Durant (35) will wear the Team USA colors. They are on the last legs of their basketball journey and it’s time to pass the baton to the next generation of big-time hoopers.

Brunson and Edwards are more than ready to take the baton.

Eventually, some team is going to break the streak.

In the history of the NBA, when teams take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series, the likelihood of having a shot at winning the series is about as improbable as correctly choosing all six numbers in the lottery. It’s a 1 in 13,983,816 chance of winning.

The 2023 Boston Celtics looked at those odds and said, “So, you’re saying there’s a chance.”

Boston won the equivalent of nailing five of the six numbers in the Mega Millions jackpot and came within 48 minutes of pulling off a playoff comeback for the ages. The Celtics became the first NBA team since 2003 to dig out of an 0-3 hole and force a Game 7. It wasn’t just any series. It was the Eastern Conference finals.

However, like the previous 150 teams that tried to break the cycle, Boston came up short as it got destroyed by the Miami Heat 103-84 in Game 7 at TD Garden Arena.

It was a roller-coaster ride for the Celtics. In a matter of seven days, they went from being massive underachievers to a team on the brink of returning to the NBA Finals only to have it snatched away in one swoop after a shockingly poor performance in front of their loyal fans.

“We failed. I failed. We let the whole city down,” Celtics All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown said during his postgame media availability.

When the Heat took a 3-0 series lead in the conference finals, basketball fans and media pundits were tossing all sorts of narratives around the Celtics and none of them were good.
Talking heads were destroying first-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla for being too green and not meeting the moment. Brown’s name was being tossed around in trade scenarios, and the old ghosts that haunted superstar forward Jayson Tatum during last year’s NBA Finals seem to have popped up again.

Seven days later, Mazzulla’s job was no longer in danger. Brown could be in line for a lucrative contract extension and Tatum rediscovered his MVP form.

Once the Celtics decided to step on the gas, it became a series. It shouldn’t come as a surprise the Celtics beat the Heat in seven games. The Celtics finished with the second-best record in the regular season and were one of the betting favorites to reach the NBA Finals. The big surprise was how Boston found itself down 3-0 to an eighth-seeded Miami squad that barely made it out of the play-in tournament.

It’s unfortunate that the Miami Heat, a proud franchise with championship pedigree, found itself on the edge of a historic collapse. A loss to the Celtics are being up 3-0 in the series would have been a permanent stain on the franchise. It would have been a stain on Erik Spoelstra’s impressive coaching résumé, and it would have been a huge stain on the résumés of Miami two superstars — Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

The Heat wouldn’t even be in the conference finals without Butler and Adebayo. They are the heart and soul of a Miami squad that entered the postseason as massive underdogs. The Heat earned the eighth and final spot in the East playoffs by beating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament. The Heat then pulled off an improbable upset in the first round after knocking off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. That upset now feels like an eternity.

Butler and Adebayo faded on the back end of the Boston series, as both looked fatigued.

Butler was in prime Playoff Jimmy form in the first two games of the series, scoring 35 and 27 points and playing lockdown defense on Tatum and Brown. But since then, Butler has struggled to find his shooting stroke. He scored 16 points in Miami’s Game 3 win at home, and things got progressively worse as the series extended. He was 9-for-21 from the field in a Game 4 loss. He took only 10 shots and finished with 14 points in a Game 5 loss. He was 5-for-21 in a Game 6 loss.

Adebayo also got off to great start in the first two games in Boston, taking full advantage of single coverage and doing plenty of damage in the paint (42 points and 25 rebounds). But since then, he has gone ice cold from field (13, 10, 16, 11 points) and hasn’t been as dominant on the glass. In Game 6, Bam was 4-for-16 from the field and couldn’t secure the pivotal rebound that led to Derrick White’s game-winning tip-in as time expired for a stunning 104-103 win.

The shooting struggles for Bam and Butler spilled over into Game 7, but both summoned enough strength and energy to impact the game on both ends and lead the Heat to a win. Miami became just the sixth team in 28 tries to win at the Garden in a Game 7. It was pure heart and determination, which embodies the Heat culture.

There were three key reasons why Miami knocked off Boston and advanced to the franchise’s seventh NBA Finals: Spoeltra’s coaching maneuvers, Heat role players stepping up, and Tatum injuring his left ankle in Game 7.

Spoelstra made all the proper adjustments throughout the series and thoroughly outcoached the rookie Mazzulla. Each time Mazzulla made a move, Spo had a counter. Mazzulla — who at 34 is the NBA’s youngest coach — and his staff couldn’t solve the Heat’s puzzling zone defense. Instead of attack the seams of the zone, Boston settled for contested 3-point shots. Over their final two games of the series, the Celtics shot a combined 16-for-77 from 3, including an abysmal 9-for-42 in Game 7.

Mazzulla’s big adjustment in the series was inserting White into the starting lineup to give the Celtics another shooter and ball handler. Spo countered that move by dropping 34-year-old Kevin Love out of the rotation and sliding super-sub Caleb Martin into the starting lineup. Spo wasn’t only beating Mazzulla with X’s and O’s, but he also was winning the motivational game. Moments after the Heat’s crushing defeat in Game 6, Spoelstra went on the podium and declared: “We wish we could tip this thing off right now. Right now! We want to tip this thing off and let’s play another 48 minutes. But we’ll wait another 48 hours and do this thing in Boston.”

Miami certainly did its thing in Boston in Game 7, and it was the Heat role players who got it started. Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson played outstanding basketball in Game 7, but Martin absolutely played out of his mind. Martin, who came within one vote of winning the conference finals MVP trophy, was sensational in Game 7, scoring 26 points in 45 minutes and making 11 of his 16 shots from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

“If you’re a real competitor, it’s in your soul, and that’s what Caleb is. He’s a competitor,” Spoelstra said about Martin, who averaged 19.3 points while shooting 60% from the field and 49% from 3-point range in the conference finals. Martin has never topped 9.6 points per game prior to this postseason and is a career 36% 3-point shooter.

The final big nail on the Boston coffin was Tatum’s ankle injury. He twisted his left ankle 26 seconds into Game 7 and was never the same. He injured it on the first play of the game when he collided with Vincent near the basket and landed awkwardly on Vincent’s foot. Tatum tried to play through the sprain, but his mobility was compromised and the limp got progressively worse as the game wore on. Tatum finished with 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field, easily his worst game of the series and possibly the worst game of his young playoff career.

“It swelled up and it was just frustrating that I was kind of like a shell of myself,” said Tatum, who had a noticeable limp as he addressed the media. “It was tough to move. Just frustrating. Especially it happening on the first play.”

Tatum had averaged a series-high 27.2 points through the first six games.

Overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the postseason is extremely rare in major professional team sports. It has been done four times in the NHL (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, and 2014 Los Angeles Kings), and it’s only been done once in MLB (2004 Boston Red Sox).

The NBA remains the only major sports league not to experience it, but it’s getting close.

For the past eight seasons, no one has been able to solve the Golden State Warriors’ perplexing puzzle. Until now.

The four-time NBA champions were finally dethroned as the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Warriors in six games in the 2023 Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers became the first Western Conference team to beat the Warriors in a playoff series since Steve Kerr was hired in 2014. The size and length of the Lakers were simply too much for the small-ball Warriors, and the catalyst for the NBA’s top-rated defense was Anthony Davis.

The Lakers’ versatile center was nothing short of sensational against the defending NBA champs. Davis was able to roam freely because the Warriors don’t have a big man who requires AD’s constant attention. The Lakers’ suffocating defense forced the Warriors to play inside the 3-point line and limited their shot attempts by securing defensive rebounds.

First-year coach Darvin Ham brought to L.A. many of the defensive principles he learned from his time with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. But the scheme only works if it has a defensive stud patrolling every inch of the hardwood.

Davis is the chess piece Ham frequently uses to check every opponent’s best move.

“The Lakers have a great defense,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, whose team was held to 10 points below their season average. “Davis at the rim was a huge obstacle. Not only a shot blocker but a guy who takes up a lot of space and cuts down a lot of passing lanes.”

The Warriors struggled from the field in the close-out game, shooting just 37.9% from the field and making just 13 of 48 3-pointers. Davis attempted only nine shots in Game 6 and finished with 17 points, but his imprint was all over the court. He pulled down 20 rebounds, had two blocks and two steals. His presence was felt throughout the series.

“To me the series came down to games 1 and 4,” Kerr said. “The Lakers outplayed us in key stretches in both games. That’s really the difference. The better team won.”

If one sequence summarized Golden State’s struggles against Davis and the Lakers, look no further than the final frantic minute of Game 4 in L.A. With the Warriors down by a point at 102-101 with 36 seconds left in Game 4, Steph was isolated against AD at the top of the circle with 36 seconds on the game clock. It was only fitting the game would come down to the game’s best shooter against the best defensive center in basketball. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.

Curry was ready to seize the moment, like has for the better part of the decade as the ring leader of the Warriors, but Davis was more than up to the task.

Curry starts the play with a few crossover dribbles. Davis pokes the ball to disrupt Steph’s rhythm and the Warriors guard was forced to retrieve the loose ball and restart the play. Curry then drove left, but AD cuts him off. Curry resets and tries to drive to his right. AD cuts him off again, and forces Curry to take a difficult one-legged, step-back jumper contested by the 7-foot-6 wingspan of Davis. The shot rattled off the rim.

“I pride myself on defense,” David told Spectrum SportsNet reporter Mike Trudell.

“They wanted, obviously, the switch with me and I took that personally,” he continued. “I know what he gets to like his stepback 3 and I just wanted to move my puppies. As my man, coach would say, I just wanted to move them puppies and keep him in front and make him take a tough shot and that’s what I did.

“He’s a helluva player, there’s no shot that he can’t make. He takes all the tough shots and he makes them. I just wanted to make it tough on him and make him shoot over a contested hand and pray that he missed, cuz he’ll make those. And he missed, got it back, and I just wanted to defend again and make him miss again and we ended up getting the rebound. Big time defense from me, but big time rebounding from our guys.”

The Warriors would get another opportunity with 26 seconds left after Draymond Green secures the offensive rebound. He fires the ball back to Steph, who gets another shot at shaking Davis. This time, Curry settles for a 30-foot 3-pointer that he had to put extra arc because of Davis’ length. The shot fell short, bouncing off the front of the rim. Lonnie Walker IV, who had a huge fourth quarter for the Lakers coming off the bench, grabs the rebound and gets fouled. Walker made both free throws, setting up for the final Davis defensive stand.

Down 104-101 and needing a 3-pointer, Golden State coach Steve Kerr called for the “hammer play” to free up a 3-pointer shooter in the corner. The play was a staple of the San Antonio Spurs offense during the Tim Duncan era, and it’s a play the Warriors have run many times. Unfortunately for Kerr and the Warriors, AD and LeBron James were familiar with the play as well. As soon as AD realized what the play was, he peeled off his man and jumped Klay Thompson’s corner route and intercepted Draymond Green’s pass.

Even though the Warriors would get another short possession after Curry grabbed a loose ball off a jump ball, but inexplicably threw the ball away with a time-out left in his pocket, the Lakers grabbed full control of the series thanks to their superstar center wearing No. 3.

“That’s a big part of the series for sure. Davis is dominant,” Kerr said about the Lakers’ big man.

Davis has been an absolute monster on defense during the 2023 playoffs. He leads all players in the postseason in every major statistical category on defense. He’s No. 1 in blocks (3.3) and rebounds (14.1), and has contested the most 2-point shots through the first two rounds of the postseason. He is also the only center who ranks in the top five on deflections.

AD’s disruptive hands are a big reason why the Lakers own the best defensive rating since the All-Star break. The addition of forwards Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura have afforded L.A. more athleticism and size up front to go with Davis’ unique ability to guard one through five.

Despite his defensive credentials, Davis remains an easy target for critics. He still doesn’t get the respect he richly deserves from the media and pundits.

When the NBA announced its All-Defensive Teams, there was one glaring omission. Where’s Anthony Davis?

The first team was comprised of Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez, Chicago’s Alex Caruso, and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday. All of them were bounced from the playoffs either in the first round or in the play-in tournament. Jackson Jr., the 2023 NBA defensive player of the year, was matched up with AD in the first round and it was a landslide. Davis was the more superior defender and far more impactful than Triple J.

LeBron let the world know who he thinks in the NBA’s best defender. “He’s the best defensive player in the league,” LeBron told TNT’s Chris Haynes.

“I think the league knows it,” LeBron said. “There aren’t many guys who can protect the rim at all costs and switch out on point guards like Steph [Curry]. We trust AD guarding anybody in the league.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were shocked. The betting favorites to win the 2023 NBA title went home in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs, suffering through a painful 4-1 series loss to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.

Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP and 2021 NBA champion, was forced to answer difficult questions after the Bucks became the sixth No. 1 seed to get bounced in the first round. One reporter asked Giannis if he considered the Bucks’ season a failure. The Greek Freak paused for a few seconds before delivering an impassioned response.

“It’s not a failure,” he said. “It’s steps towards success. There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years. He won six championships. The other nine years, he was a failure? (No.) So why do you ask me that question? It’s the wrong question.

“There’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days. Some days you’re able to be successful. Some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn. Some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Some other people are going to win. And this year, somebody else is going to win. Simple as that.

“We’re going to come back next year, try to be better, try to build good habits, try to play better. Not have a 10-day stretch of playing bad basketball. And hopefully we can win a championship. So, for 50 years, from 1971 until we won in 2021, that we didn’t win a championship, it was 50 years of failure? No, it was not. It was steps to it. And we were able to win one. Hopefully we can win another one.”

By the end of the postgame press conference, Giannis gave a brutal but honest assessment of the Bucks’ stunning early exit. “They were playing to beat us and we were playing to win a championship”, Antetokounmpo said. “We were a little bit ahead of ourselves, to be honest.”

The rare admission from Giannis was refreshing and alarming. How can the Bucks — a team loaded with veterans with championship pedigree and armed with an MVP still in his prime — could look past the Heat in the first round? Did they think they could just jog past the Heat and expect them to advance? Did they think they had a free pass to the conference finals?

All those questions seem like valid explanations on why Milwaukee is out of the playoffs. But the largest share of the blame goes to head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Budenholzer put on a clinic on what not to do as a coach. Budenholzer treated the Heat series like the regular season. He made incremental adjustments and left his players on an island. Budenholzer was severely outcoached by Miami’s Erik Spoelstra. He also made shockingly terrible coaching decisions in the most crucial moments.

Antetokounmpo wished he could have spent more time guarding Heat superstar Jimmy Butler, but “out of respect” to Budenholzer, he played good soldier and accepted whatever the game plan was which was have Jrue Holiday stick with Butler and play drop coverage behind Holiday. “You gotta let the coach make that adjustment,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “We have our best defender on [Butler]. There are conversations with Jrue [Holiday]. Whenever he gets tired, I can take him, but he’s so competitive. He plays so hard. He wants to take the challenge.”

Butler had a superb series, averaging 37.6 points in the five-game series and finishing with a game-high 42 points in Game 5. He had 56 points in a pivotal Game 4. Antetokounmpo did his best to keep the Bucks in the fight. He finished with 38 points and 20 rebounds in Game 5, but was an abysmal 10-for-23 from the free throw line.

The Bucks’ problems started in Game 1 when Antetokounmpo hurt his back after a hard fall. The Heat went on to steal Game 1 and Giannis missed the next two games due to the injury. The Bucks’ overly cautious approach to Giannis’ injury cost them both games in Miami, and the series was 3-1 in favor of Heat heading back to Milwaukee.

Facing elimination at home in Game 5, the Bucks blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and fell apart in overtime in a 128-126 loss. Milwaukee was held to only 16 points in the fourth and looked out of sorts. Budenholzer could have helped his team but settling them down, but he was just as shaky as his squad.

Budenholzer made three egregious mistakes down the stretch. With the Bucks clinging to a two-point lead with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation, Budenholzer took out 7-foot center Brook Lopez — a candidate for NBA defensive player of the year — and decided to “match” the Heat’s small lineup. Guard Pat Connaughton ended up under the basket to contest the alley-oop play to Heat superstar Jimmy Butler, who made an incredible circus shot to tie the game at 118.

The second major Budenholzer flub was not calling timeout after Butler’s layup. The clock stopped at 0.5 when Jrue Holiday inbounded the ball. The Bucks had a timeout left, but Coach Bud decided to pocket it. Maybe he was saving it for the next game.

Then, the final nail on the Bucks’ coffin, thanks to Coach Bud, came on the final possession in overtime. Down by two with under 10 seconds left, Giannis grabbed a missed free throw and dribbled up the court. He ran into Butler and was forced to give the ball up to Khris Middleton, who tried to make a move to the paint but was cutoff. Middleton flipped a pass to Grayson Allen, who just checked into the game and looked ice cold. Allen panicked as he passed up a 3-point shot and drove to the basket as time expired. The Bucks were able to get a shot up on the most important possession of the season.

Milwaukee had a timeout remaining but Budenholzer chose to pocket it yet again. He just watched his team implode. These are mistakes you make at the grade school level, high school level, AAU level. But not in the NBA. Budenholzer has been in the NBA since 1996. He worked as assistant for Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, he was head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, and now the Bucks. He has been named NBA coach of the year twice. There are no excuses for his coaching blunders in the 2023 playoffs.

At the end of the day, if a game is a blowout it’s on the players. If a game is close, it’s on the head coach. Budenholzer failed his team and the Bucks must take a hard look if Coach Bud is the right guy for the job.

“Mike Budenholzer’s status as Bucks head coach is very much shaky, there are questions across the organization,” NBA insider Shams Charania reported. Budenholzer has two years and $16 million left on his contract.

Few coaches can match Budenholzer’s 69.3% regular-season winning percentage (271-120) over the last five seasons. The Bucks had the best record in the NBA in three of them. But in each of those seasons they didn’t reach the NBA Finals, and three times they exited before the conference finals.

“There’s some losses for which there’s just no going back,” said ESPN insider Zach Lowe on his podcast. “You cannot [bring] back the same team.”

Lowe said league insiders are extremely skeptical that Budenholzer can return as head coach of the Bucks after this collapse.

Giannis Antetokounmpo reaches for the ball during a playoff game in the bubble. (AP)

Giannis Antetokounmpo is built like Superman. He stands 6 feet 11 inches tall. He weighs 242 pounds and nearly zero percent body fat. He is chiseled like a Greek god and has a wingspan that can cover the entire Mediterranean Sea.

And as far as skills are concerned, Giannis has those in his bag as well. He can handle the ball like a point guard. He can overpower defenders in the paint for highlight-reel dunks. And he can finish with either hand.

If you could paint a picture of the perfect basketball player, Giannis would come close. Very close.

But the NBA’s newest Superman has a glaring weakness. Antetokounmpo’s kryptonite is shooting. He’s not good at it.

It sounds ridiculous to criticize Antetokounmpo because his stats — 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 55 percent shooting from the field — are astronomical. But if you break down the scouting video, Giannis is flawed offensively. Besides his lack of a consistent 3-point shot, he doesn’t have a face-up or pull-up jumper shot and he forces his way to the basket way too much.

Giannis’ shooting woes reared its ugly head during the 2019 playoffs when the Toronto Raptors formed a defensive fence and dared Giannis to shoot long-range jumpers. When Giannis became hesitant, the Bucks folded and eventually lost to the Raptors in six games.

One year later, it’s deja vu. The problems that frustrated Giannis in 2019 resurfaced in the second-round of the 2020 NBA playoffs in the Disney World bubble against the Miami Heat.

Miami deployed its version of the Giannis D-Fence, throwing different bodies at the Bucks superstar and daring him to shoot over the top. It was a simple strategy but extremely effective. Plus, the Greek Freak isn’t very hard to figure out. He is very predictable. He loves to drive to the hoop. When a defender cuts him off, he’ll use a spin move as a secondary move.

Giannis, defiant and determined to bully his way to the basket, struggled mightily during the series. What may have worked for him during the regular season didn’t work in the playoffs. Playoff teams can lock in on tendencies. Erik Spoelstra and the Heat coaching staff identified Giannis’ weaknesses and exploited them to the max. Giannis forced the issue, got out of rhythm and committed too many offensive fouls (he has over 70 charging calls this season). Jae Crowder, Bam Adebayo, Andre Iguodala, Jimmy Butler and Derrick Jones Jr. took turns in guarding Giannis and all of them made life difficult for the reigning league MVP.

The Bucks — who entered the bubble as the top-seeded team in the East — ended up losing in five games, and were lucky they didn’t get swept.

Antetokounmpo still doesn’t trust his jumper and hasn’t develop enough counter moves. He predictably likes to Euro step his way to the basket after the initial crossover dribble. And he drives to his right, he’ll spin back to his left when you beat him to the spot. The Heat have taken away most of Giannis’ favorite spots and he’s running out of moves. He needs to add more counters, but it’s not going to happen in the bubble. It’ll likely take a whole offseason to rework and retool the Greek Freak’s game.

Luka Legend

Luka Doncic gave us the first memorable moment on the court inside the bubble.

The Dallas Mavericks’ young superstar, playing on a badly sprained ankle, put up 43 points on the vaunted Los Angeles Clippers defense, including the dagger step-back 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the Mavericks a 135-133 win in Game 4 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series.

After burying the game-winning jumper, Luka starred into the camera and spewed a primal scream so loud the bubble nearly burst. It was a major statement from the 21-year-old Doncic. He announced to the whole basketball world that he has arrived and he’s not going any time soon.

“My goal is to win a championship,” said Doncic, whose Mavs were eliminated by the Clips in six games but not before putting together one of the most spectacular playoff debuts. The Slovenian sensation averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists and posted two triple-doubles against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Oh, by the way, he was also the youngest player (21) to ever hit a game-winning shot in the postseason.

“He is one of the toughest players that I have ever seen in this league, and that goes back 35, 36 years,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Doncic, who is up for Most Improved Player this year after winning Rookie of the Year in 2019.

“[Luka] is a great young player that is getting better each year,” Carlisle said. “He has an irrepressible enthusiasm for the game, for his teammates, for winning. We’re so fortunate to have him. Now we have to get our roster healthy and get the right players around him.”

Murray’s Message

“These shoes mean a lot. With all the … these shoes mean a lot.”

Those were the words of Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. It encapsulated what the players were feeling in the bubble and what it meant for them to continue playing and find their purpose.

“I just want to win. In life you find things that hold value. Things to fight for. We found something to fight for,” Murray told TNT’s Jared Greenberg while holding back tears moments after dropping 50 points in leading the Denver Nuggets to a Game 6 win over the Utah Jazz in the first round.

“They give me a lot of power to keep fighting. We want to win. I show my emotions. It comes out.”

When asked why the images of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, two victims of gun violence, painted on his shoes mean so much to Murray, he said, “This happens everywhere. It’s not just in America.”

“These shoes give me life. Even though these people are gone they give me life. They help me find strength to keep fighting in this world. That’s what I’ll keep doing.”

Murray’s 50-point game was huge, but his postgame remarks was even bigger.

LeBron James led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics. (GETTY IMAGES)

LeBron James has been to so many trips to the NBA Finals we almost take it for granted. In fact, the last time LeBron-less Finals was 2010 when the Lakers played the Celtics in an epic seven-game series.

But as much as it has given us great joy to watch one of the all-time greats play in the NBA’s biggest stage seemingly year after year, some of those Finals trips came at a cost for LeBron. Besides the obvious fatigue and physical toll on his body, LeBron has also taken a beating on the public stage. No player in the basketball world takes more abuse on social media and cable TV than James. Skip Bayless built much of his TV career as a professional pundit hammering LeBron and all the holes in his game. There’s not many holes in LeBron’s game, but if there’s a hole Skip will find it.

Through the first two rounds of the 2018 NBA playoffs, LeBron has been spectacular. He’s been so spectacular than even Skip is turning a new leaf and tempering his criticism of The King. How could you criticism a man who is averaging 34 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, leads the Cleveland Cavaliers in almost every major statistical category, and has dropped two walk-off game-winners in the Toronto Raptors series? The simple answer is, no you can’t.

LeBron could quit now and his 2018 playoffs will go down as one of the greatest we’ve ever seen. LeBron should heed this advice: quit while you’re ahead.

No one is suggestion that LeBron should flat out quit. You should never tell an athlete to quit. It’s not in a champion’s DNA, and it’s not something you’d want to tell your child when they face challenges in life. All we’re suggesting to LeBron is take your chips and cash in — at least for this season. There is no sense in continuing because, let’s get real here, there is only one team that’s going to raise that Larry O’Brien trophy in June and it’s not the Cavaliers, it’s not the Celtics and it’s not the Rockets. The Golden State Warriors are going to win the 2018 NBA title. Period. End of story. You can book it in Las Vegas. Don’t hold your breath for a big surprise in the NBA Finals because it’ll be the same old song.

It’ll be the Warriors’ third championship in four seasons. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all going to pour champagne on their heads once again and they will hold another parade in the Bay Area, and there is nothing that’s going to stop that from happening.

Do you honestly think the Cavs with their rebuilt-on-the-fly-roster can beat the Warriors? Not a chance.

So, even if the Cavs can knock off the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals and LeBron makes it to his eighth straight trip to The Finals, his legacy and his brand will take another hit following a third loss to the rival Warriors in four seasons. That’ll drop LeBron’s Finals record to 3-6. And when that happens, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and all the LeBron haters will have a field day.

Again, we’re not suggesting LeBron should tank it against the Celtics. All we’re saying is when the Celtics push hard, LeBron shouldn’t push back. There is no shame in losing in the conference finals. The popular narrative will be “LeBron needs more help.” Losing to the Celtics not only won’t tarnish LeBron’s legacy, but it’ll allow ‘Bron to reboot and weigh his options during the summer. Let the Celtics be the sacrificial lambs this time for the Warriors.

LeBron James and Blake Griffin could meet in the 2014 NBA Finals. (GETTY IMAGES)

It’s not hard to figure out who the NBA is pulling for in the 2014 playoffs. All you need is take one look at the TV schedule and you’ll find the answer.

ABC showcased the Clippers-Warriors opening game on Saturday, and Game 1 of the Heat-Bobcats matchup on Sunday. It’s a clear indication the league considers the Clippers and Heat as the two sexiest teams in the postseason, and potential showdown in the NBA Finals could generate major buzz.

Who wouldn’t want to see the Heat and the Clippers? The Heat are the two-time NBA champs and they have the best player in the world in LeBron James. And If Dwyane Wade’s knees are right, Miami has two of the most dynamic players in the league.

The Clippers don’t have history on their side but, between Chris Paul’s State Farm commercials and Blake Griffin’s Kia Optima and GameFly ads, they lead the league in most air times off the court.

And that whole Lob City thing isn’t too bad to watch either.

The league won’t admit it but it would be a major blow to Commissioner Adam Silver’s gut if the Heat don’t make The Finals.

No disrespect to the Indiana Pacers, who are a good team but not box office, the Eastern Conference playoffs are far more interesting with the Heat in it. Let’s not even waste time talking about the early rounds of the East playoffs because Miami is booked for the conference finals.

It would be a shame if Miami and Indiana didn’t play each other in the conference finals, but LeBron and Co. could care less who they play. The goal is to reach The Finals for the fourth consecutive year. Ratings would take a nosedive if the Heat are not playing in June.

Silver would prefer not to explain the NHL-type ratings should The Finals include the Pacers and the Spurs, or Pacers and Clippers, or Pacers and Thunder.

Unfortunately for the new commish, the Spurs will have a major say in the whole playoff picture. San Antonio should get by Dallas in the first round and should beat the upstart Blazers in the semifinals. Tim Duncan and Co. will most likely avoid their playoff nemesis in Oklahoma City because the Clippers — assuming they take care of business against the Warriors, which won’t be easy — will knock off the Thunder, setting up a Spurs-Clippers Western Conference finals.

The playoffs are all about matchups and the Clippers do not match up well with the Spurs, who have owned the Clips going all the way back to their San Diego roots.

The Clippers under Doc Rivers are a far better team than they were last year, but they’re still not in the Spurs’ class in terms of defense and discipline.

The Spurs have proven during the course of the regular season that they’ve rebounded from last year’s stunning loss in The Finals and are ready to retake the throne from King James.

Things could get real physical between Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Eastern Conference playoffs, also known as the Miami Heat Invitation, will tipoff this weekend with games on TNT and ESPN. Even though teams in the East may not have the same offensive firepower as teams in the West there are still some very intriguing playoff matchups worth watching. Here’s how the first round could unfold:

FIRST ROUND
(1) MIAMI HEAT vs. (8) MILWAUKEE BUCKS
The Heat are just too loaded with talent to have much trouble with the Bucks. Milwaukee has an excellent guard rotation with Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis and J.J. Redick and that’s their best chance at trying to pull off an epic upset. However, the Heat have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who are looking for another NBA title. Prediction: Heat in 4

(2) NEW YORK KNICKS VS. (7) BOSTON CELTICS
Carmelo Anthony averaged 36.9 points in the last eight regular-season games, and is heating up at the right time of year. J.R. Smith averaged 22 points over the same stretch and this dynamic duo give the Knicks the scoring punch they need to take out an aging Celtics team that is without point guard Rajon Rondo and has a gimpy Kevin Garnett in the starting lineup. Prediction: Knicks in 5

(3) INDIANA PACERS VS. (6) ATLANTA HAWKS
The Pacers finished the regular season losing five of their last six games, not exactly finishing strong. It’s quite possible they miss Danny Granger’s presence and I think they will struggle against the Hawks. Atlanta has a solid frontcourt in Josh Smith and Al Horford. I think the Pacers will win the series because of Paul George’s ability to step up and continue his amazing season. Prediction: Pacers in 7

(4) BROOKLYN NETS VS. (5) CHICAGO BULLS
This is the most intriguing matchup of the first round. The Nets closed out the regular season by winning seven of their last 10 games and are playing well. But their bench is a cause for concern. Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson will score the bulk of the points, but they can’t play 48 minutes. Gerald Wallace signed a big contract in the offseason, but is limited offensively and does his best work on defense. The Bulls had a pretty good year, despite playing without Derrick Rose. The Bulls’ defense allowed just 92.9 points per game, third-best in the NBA and they can slow down the Nets. Coach Tom Thibodeau’s team defense is a great equalizer and the Bulls will play it to perfection. Prediction: Nets in 6

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email at djroxalot@hotmail.com.