2025 NBA Playoffs

[One]

Thunder/Nuggets

The game picked up about halfway through the third quarter, when the Nuggets took the lead. The Thunder came back and regained control in the fourth.

Late in the fourth Gordon gets the ball and drives on Holmgren. He gets all the way to the rim, in traffic, and passes it off to Jokic who makes the short floater. If you're OKC, you just have to score once. Shai drives, and the ball goes out of bounds off his foot. Jamal Murray passes to MPJ. MPJ goes up for a turn around jumper, no good. SGA takes the next shot for OKC, a sideline three with 33 seconds left. No good. Jamal Murray gets it for Denver and takes a three from the slot. Airball. The Nuggets foul Jalen Williams on the other end. Aaron Gordon has the ball, Alex Caruso guarding. Caruso fouls. Gordon misses the first free throw, makes the second, and for the third there's a lane violation. Jump ball, Denver gets it. Aaron Gordon has the ball on the right, Chet guarding. He throws up a three and it banks in. The Thunder lead is down to three. OKC call timeout. OKC gets the ball in to Jalen Williams, the Nuggets foul immediately. Jalen makes both of his free throws, and that's how it ends. The Thunder escape with a 92-87 victory, and tie up the series, heading back to OKC on Tuesday.


Cavs/Pacers

Pacers put an ass kicking on the Cavs. Two different levels of energy, different levels of intensity from the start. First possession is a turnover by the Cavs into an open court layup by Haliburton. Full court defensive pressure from the Pacers. Myles Turner finding guys inside for easy buckets, and scoring inside and outside himself, at one point hitting on a side step three on the wing. You had a little dust up in the first quarter between Bennedict Mathurin and DeAndre Hunter that's been building up across several games. Mathurin was ejected with a flagrant two, Hunter got a tech. Still, Pacers didn't miss a beat. They dropped 42 points in the second quarter. Myles Turner had 13 by himself. Him, Siakam, and Haliburton went 6 for 6 collectively from behind the arc for the quarter. With an Aaron Nesmith fallaway at the end, the Pacers finished the first half with 80 points, up 41 on Cleveland. Guys hitting shots from everywhere. Donovan Mitchell couldn't return for the second half. He left with an ankle injury. Cavs cut into the lead somewhat in the third. They had a 9-0 run early in the quarter, and ended it on a 6-0 run, bringing the lead down to 32. Both teams sat their starters for the fourth. The Pacers win it by 20, 129-109, going up 3-1 on the series, heading back to Cleveland on Tuesday for game 5.

 

[One]

Knicks/Celtics

Knicks take game 4, 121-113. First quarter Celtics came out, Jayson Tatum and Derrick White couldn't miss. Derrick White hit three 3s within the first two and a half minutes of the game. Tatum got hot late, hitting three 3s of his own to end the quarter, capping a 12-0 run by the Celtics and giving them an 11 point lead going into the second.

Second quarter, neither team was really able to take advantage of the others' scoring lapses. For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson spent the first few minutes getting some rest on the bench. The Knicks seemed content to hang in there without giving up another 20 point lead as they have in the previous games. Both teams finished with just 23 points in the quarter, keeping the lead at 11 to end the first half.

Third quarter is where things started to change for the Knicks. In the first two games, the Knicks would essentially give the Celtics the first 30 minutes and then start to heat up late in the third, and build momentum into the fourth. This time around they sped things up a little bit, getting themselves going in the third. Jalen Brunson in particular took over, scoring 17 points in the quarter on any and all defenders the Celtics threw at him. Karl Anthony Towns found some good matchups of his own and added another 10. Altogether, the Knicks outscored the Celtics 37-23 in the quarter, giving them a three point lead going into the fourth, their first lead to end a quarter in the series.

The first 8+ minutes of the fourth quarter saw a shot for shot back and forth between Jalen Brunson and Jayson Tatum. With others struggling, Tatum emerged as the one intent on putting the team on his back for the night and coming through in the clutch for Boston. On the Knicks' end, Brunson continued to ride the hot hand that he'd caught in the third quarter, poised to carry the Knicks to another clutch time performance, and will the team to victory. But Brunson wasn't alone. It was a two man game between him and Mikal Bridges early. Bridges driving on the Celtics defense and scoring repeatedly with the midrange fadeaway. The game turned into a back and forth. The Celtics would score, led by Tatum, then the Knicks would respond. As the quarter progressed, it was the Knicks who started to pull away, taking a seven point lead 111-104 off of a Brunson pull up jumper, and then a Bridges fadeaway off of a Brunson assist.

Then, late in the fourth, on what looked like a routine play, Derrick White sets a screen for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum tries to pass the ball over to him. Brown loses the ball, and Tatum and OG both go for it. Tatum leans forward but OG has better position and manages to get to it. Before Tatum could make a play on the ball he falls to the floor, no contact, holding his foot. As OG scores on the breakaway dunk, Tatum calls a timeout from the ground. The Celtics' medical staff comes out to help. Tatum is unable to put any weight on his foot and has to be carried off of the floor and placed in a wheelchair to head to the back. Not much information has been released yet on the injury, but by the way he fell, I hope it isn't what I think it is, and I hope he's able to make a full recovery.

The game continued with just under 3 minutes to go. Brunson was able to hit another three from the slot. The Celtics seemed unsure about whether to play the foul game or not. They started on it late, after a three by Payton Pritchard, but by then the Knicks were already up 10, now 7. The Celtics, who hadn't played the Hack-a-Mitch game in this one weren't in the penalty when they started fouling, and by the time they were, there was just 10 seconds left in the game. Brunson made one of two free throws, Pritchard missed a three, Knicks got the rebound and ran out the shot clock. New York takes the 3-1 lead in the series, heading back to Boston on Wednesday for game 5.


Timberwolves/Warriors

Timberwolves go up 3-1 on the Warriors

 

[One]

Jayson Tatum suffered a right torn achilles. Damn. Wish him the best and a healthy recovery.

 

[One]

Cavs/Pacers

The Pacers take it 114-105 in Cleveland. Indiana walked the Cavs down again but this time starting in the third quarter. The Cavs would get the lead back in the fourth, but Indiana came storming back to a commanding lead. Late in the quarter it seemed like Donovan Mitchell, struggling with fatigue or injury, was the only player for the Cavs with a hot hand from distance. But even he would stumble. Down six, Mitchell gets to the perimeter, and quickly turns around into a three point attempt as Aaron Nesmith, chasing, gets caught between him and a screen. It's called as a foul on a three point attempt. Donovan goes to the line and uncharacteristically misses all three free throws. The next time down though, he gets the ball again, still the only real hot hand for the Cavs, and hits a three from the corner. Andrew Nembhard would respond on the other end, shooting over a hobbled Darius Garland who appeared to have hurt his foot again just a few moments earlier. The Cavs would only score two more points in the final minute of the quarter. Myles Turner would hit a sideline three to ice the game for good. The Pacers finish off the Cavs and advance to their second straight Eastern Conference finals where they await the winner of the Celtics/Knicks series.


Thunder/Nuggets

Good game. The Nuggets tried going with a smaller line up for longer stretches in this one. Julian Strawther and Russell Westbrook added some extra energy early. Half way into the third, it was the Nuggets with a 12 point lead over the Thunder. With just under eight minutes to go in the fourth, the Nuggets still had it in their hands, up eight. At that point, Michael Porter Jr. re-entered the game for Aaron Gordon, and the Thunder went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 92. The Nuggets went back up by two, and the Thunder caught up again. Back up by two again, and the Thunder caught up again. Then the Thunder took the lead on a layup by SGA. But then Jokic responded with a layup on the other end. SGA finds Hartenstein for a dunk, and then Jokic hits a floater to tie things up again. Next play, SGA gets a shot to go over Jamal Murray who gets called for a foul. SGA makes the free throw. Thunder up three.

Next play it's Denver ball, and Jamal Murray passes it to Jokic on the perimeter. It goes past. Jokic goes and gets it, Chet Holmgren draped over him. Jokic spins in place, and then throws up an awkward three. It goes in. Tied again. On the other end, SGA finds Jalen Williams in the corner for yet another three. For the Nuggets, Jokic has it in the paint, backing down Hartenstein, Chet ready to help. Jokic kicks it out to MPJ for three. No good. Thunder get the rebound. SGA takes it himself from three. Good. Thunder up six. Michael Porter Jr. attempts a three on the other end. No good, but the Nuggets are able to get it back. On the inbound play, Gordon attempts a corner three. No good. Thunder get the rebound. SGA is fouled. He hits both free throws to put the Thunder up eight with 22 seconds left. Jamal Murray misses a final heave from three, and the Thunder secure the rebound, and the game, to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Back in Denver on Thursday.

 

[One]

Celtics/Knicks

With Tatum out, the Celtics weren't given the choice of backing themselves into the kind of iso ball that we've seen from them late in the previous games when guys weren't hitting shots. Instead they came into the game playing a full roster's worth of basketball, spreading the floor and looking to get guys open shots.

Derrick White opened the game hot from behind the arc, continuing his shooting performance from the first quarter of the previous game. Sam Hauser also made his return from the ankle injury, connecting late on a three pointer that stretched a temporary Celtics lead to four. The Knicks held up, hitting their shots, staying in it. At one point Boston went for the Hack-A-Mitch strategy, just for him to make all four free throws. There was a moment of concern at one point when Josh Hart, playing with a ton of energy, crashing the boards, found himself bloodied on a drive toward the rim, by a misplaced elbow from Luke Kornet. Fortunately, he'd get patched up and be good to return to the game.

In the second quarter it was Jaylen Brown who turned up his performance for the Celtics, once again scoring inside and out. After an 8-0 run by Boston, bringing them to within one, with just under seven minutes left, the two teams found themselves going back and forth to end the half, ending the period tied 59-59.

For Boston, with just the one star caliber iso option, they'd lean on Brown when he had it, which he did in this quarter, but turn to team play when the opportunity presented itself, rather than looking for their other iso star.

More possessions for team ball, and the Celtics would go full steam ahead on that in the third quarter.

The third quarter was all Celtics. Getting to the line, scoring inside, scoring on the perimeter. With Porzingis sitting out, Luke Kornet was back to making things difficult whenever matched with Josh Hart or anyone other than Mitchell Robinson inside the paint. He'd have five blocks and six rebounds in the quarter, capping it off with a dunk that put the Celtics up 15 with 2 minutes left to go in the quarter. The Knicks at this point couldn't find much of anything scoring-wise. Jaylen Brown took the assignment of guarding Brunson, limiting him to two points for the quarter. And KAT got into early foul trouble, committing his fourth personal at just over three minutes in. To make matters worse, Brunson was called for three fouls in this quarter, putting him at five going into the fourth, with the Knicks down 15.

The fourth quarter came, and it was more Celtics. Rotating, getting open, forcing turnovers, hitting shots. Within five minutes, Brunson was called for his sixth and final foul, and the Celtics lead would balloon up to 25. With two and a half minutes to go, and no sign of a comeback, both teams decided to take their starters out of the game. The Celtics won it 127-102, forcing a game 6 going back to New York on Friday.


Wolves/Warriors

This one was all Wolves. They took care of business at home, and eliminate the Warriors, choosing not to tempt fate with a Steph return. Julius Randle led all scorers with 29. Anthony Edwards had 12 assists to go with his 22 points. Donte DiVincenzo found a way to contribute on both ends of the floor. The Wolves' other role players scored efficiently. They finished with 6 of their 8 players in double figures, with the team shooting 63% from the field, 42% from three compared to the Warriors' 28%. Wolves win 121-110. They take the series 4-1, and return to the Western Conference Finals, where they await the winner of the Thunder/Nuggets series.

 

[One]

Thunder/Nuggets

The Nuggets defeat the Thunder 119-107, extending the series to 7 games

 

[One]

Knicks/Celtics

First quarter

KAT strikes first for the Knicks over the outstretched hands of both Al Horford and Luke Kornet. The next scoring play comes from Mikal Bridges with a baseline drive into reverse layup, making it 4-0 Knicks.

Derrick White misses his first three, unusual considering how he's shot the ball early in previous games.

Brown gets the ball inside to Luke Kornet. KAT pins him baseline. Kornet tries to pass the ball out and turns it over.

Derrick White passes the ball inside to Kornet. KAT shows, and Kornet loses the ball. He re-gathers and passes to Derrick White who gets fouled on a drive. Jaylen Brown connects on a three on the next play. Next Celtics play, Derrick White tries to drive on Mikal Bridges, but misses the layup.

Brunson turns the ball over on a pass, Jaylen Brown breaks out, Holiday gets him the ball, and Brown makes an easy layup for an early Celtics lead.

KAT gets the ball in the post, guarded by Jrue Holiday. White and Kornet come over to help, and KAT misses the short shot at the rim.

Holiday tries to drive on Hart, Brunson shows, forcing Jrue to spin off. He goes for a floater and misses, but gets the ball to go out of bounds on KAT.

Celtics are using Kornet on the perimeter as the setup man. He gets the ball to Jaylen Brown. Kornet sets a screen on OG Anunoby. KAT gets the switch. Brown goes one hard dribble into a long two and airballs it

Brown is guarding Brunson on the other end like he did in Game 5. Brunson goes hesitation, drive, stop, between the legs, back em down, spin, step back. All net.

Holiday passes to Jaylen Brown running sideline. OG gets in position, slowing Brown. KAT helps. Brown passes to a cutting Kornet. Kornet goes for a layup and gets blocked by OG

Brunson brings the ball up court and shoots a three from the left slot. It doesn't go in, but Mikal is there for the putback

Kornet hands the ball off to Brown and sets a screen. Brown takes the screen, OG goes over. KAT is in drop coverage with Kornet rolling. Brown goes up for a jumper inside the free throw line, and the shot is contested by OG. Miss. KAT taps the ball into Brunson's hands.

Brunson and Mikal are out ahead, Hart trailing. Brunson makes a backward bounce pass to Josh. Josh passes to Bridges cutting sideline into the corner. Derrick White is late to recover, and Bridges makes the open three. Timeout Celtics

Derrick White brings the ball up. Mikal defending full court. Jrue Holiday gets it above the perimeter. Kornet sets an offball screen to get Jaylen Brown open. Holiday gets the ball inside to Brown on a curl. Brown steps inside and passes it back out to Holiday. Holiday drives, misses, but Kornet is there for the putback

Hart misses on a three

Holiday throws a pass too high for Kornet on an alley oop attempt.

Peyton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Kristaps Porzingis sub in for White, Horford, and Kornet

Brunson has the ball, back to the basket, defended by Jalen Brown. Hart gets open. Brunson passes. Hart misses on an attempt over Porzingis. OG gets the rebound, and Hauser is called for the foul

KAT backs down Jaylen Brown in the post but can't hit on the reverse layup. Hart gets the rebound and passes it off to OG whose jumper doesn't go

Hauser gets the rebound for the Celtics and gives it over to Jaylen Brown who brings it up the court. Brown passes it back to the trailing Hauser for a quick three. No good. KAT gets the rebound

Hart brings it up, KAT trailing. Hart passes to KAT far out from three. Holiday goes over to defend. KAT puts up the long three, and it goes in, but a foul is called against KAT, after Holiday tripped over his feet. Holiday grabs his arm, but gets back up

Porzingis misses on a long two. Hart gets the rebound and passes it off to OG for a corner three. OG misses, but Hart and Bridges tip the ball back out into open space. KAT and Hauser both go for it. KAT gets to it first and gets fouled by Hauser.

Mikal passes the ball inside to KAT, guarded by Jaylen Brown. Two hard dribbles and a layup.

Other end. Brown drives on Bridges, and gets the layup, and the foul.

Deuce and Mitchell Robinson sub in for Bridges and KAT

Porzingis intentionally fouls Mitchell Robinson. Mitch misses his first and makes his second.

Payton Pritchard has the ball, guarded by Mitchell Robinson. Robinson making it difficult, but then commits the foul going over for a reach-in.

KAT subs back in for Mitch

Jaylen Brown hits a step back three on KAT

KAT misses a three on the other end

Jaylen Brown gets the ball, guarded by Brunson. Hart comes over to help. Brown passes back out to Pritchard. Porzingis gets the rebound and kicks it out to Hauser at the top of the arc. Hauser tries for a three, no good. Hart gets the rebound

Hart passes the ball inside to KAT, guarded by Hauser, with Holiday helping. Hart cuts, and KAT gets it to him. Hart immediately kicks it over to OG in the corner. OG shoots the three, and misses, but KAT gets the rebound over Hauser and makes the short floater

Porzingis misses on a quick three on the other end

Hart pushes it up court, all the way to the rim, but misses the layup. Holiday misses on a corner three. Hart passes to OG up court. OG waits and passes to KAT trailing. KAT shoots a long three and misses. Porzingis comes back and nails a three to tie the game 16-16.

KAT is being guarded by Jaylen Brown inside the paint again. Hart gets it to him. KAT turns inward for an easy layup. Porzingis comes over and blocks the shot. KAT is frustrated with the no-call. Timeout.

Derrick White back in for Jrue Holiday

Knicks have 3.5 seconds left on the shot clock. OG inbounding. Brunson gets free, and OG gets it to him. Hauser helps on Brunson. OG runs toward the rim. Brunson finds him for a dunk.

Jaylen Brown tries to respond on the other end, driving on OG, but changes his shot into a pass mid-motion when Deuce comes over, and loses the ball.

OG misses on a step back three over Porzingis, but Deuce gets the rebound, and passes to KAT for an easy three.

Porzingis tries to pass the ball to Brown, but it gets intercepted by Derrick White. Porzingis sets a screen, giving White a swtich onto KAT. White drives, and Bridges turns around to help. White tries to wrap the ball around for an inside pass to Porzingis under the rim, but it goes out of bounds

Brunson books it toward the basket and kicks it out to Bridges in the corner for three. It's good. Knicks up 8.

Pritchard passes inside to Porzingis. KAT comes over to defend. Porzingis pivots inside and pump fakes. KAT recovers. Porzingis turns and pivots, and puts up the shot. No good, but Horford gets the rebound for the putback.

Other end. KAT drives and Porzingis gets called for a foul.

Jaylen Brown takes the ball up court. OG gets in position to defend. Brown spins and drives right, hop-step left. He loses OG, and makes the floater with 1.8 seconds left.


Second quarter

Deuce, Hart, Bridges, KAT, and Mitch for the Knicks. Pritchard, Holiday, White, Hauser, Horford for the Celtics.

Knicks try to get the ball to KAT, but can't find an opening. Hart passes it off to Deuce and sets a screen. Deuce goes over and pulls up for three. It's good.

Holiday has the ball, defended by KAT, looking for someone to get the ball to. Deuce is on Derrick White. Mikal on Hauser. Deuce tells Mikal to switch. Holiday decides to drive on KAT. He gets inside, KAT contests. Holiday throws up an overhead layup that hits the top of the backboard. Knicks ball

Mikal gets a screen from Mitch, and dribbles inside for a short shot over Horford. It's a miss, but Bridges grabs the rebound, one dribble out for a fadeaway off the glass.

Derrick White has the ball. Horford points him to Holiday. Horford sets a screen on KAT for Jrue. Holiday rejects the screen and goes toward the corner, but kicks it back to Horford. Horford passes back to White and sets a screen on Bridges, switching Robinson onto White. Pritchard comes over for a ghost screen and curls over, while White puts up a three. Miss.

Pritchard fouls Bridges on the other end.

Jaylen Brown subs back in for Hauser.

Bridges gets the ball inside to KAT, back to the basket, with Jrue on him. KAT backs him down, then pulls back for a fadeaway and airballs it.

Horford gets the rebound and gives it to Holiday. Holiday passes it to White. White pushes the ball, and passes to Pritchard up ahead. Deuce is on Pritchard. Mitchell Robinson covering space. Pritchard passes back to White. White passes to Horford, who swings it over to Holiday. Mitch gets over to cover. Holiday drives, Robinson follows, KAT leaves Brown to help. Holiday kicks it out to Brown in the corner. Brown gathers the ball and dribbles. Robinson hurries over to the corner to cover. Brown has no space. The ball pops up, and Robinson recovers it. Robinson passes the ball to Deuce. Deuce gets it up court to Hart. Hart passes back to the trailing KAT guarded by Horford. KAT fakes a three and drives right. Holiday shows. KAT gathers, and brings the ball in for a right hand, left side layup. Knicks up 13. Timeout Celtics.

Pritchard misses on a three.

Bridges gets a switch onto Horford. He drives, and goes up for a one legged jumper. No good. Hart almost gets the rebound, Mitch goes down. 5 on 4, Celtics. Pritchard passes to Derrick White. White back to Pritchard. Pritchard to Jaylen Brown. Brown drives. Hart and Bridges both get a hand toward the ball. KAT closes in at the rim. Brown loses the ball of his foot. Turnover.

Luke Kornet subs in for Holiday.

Derrick White finds an opening and drives in for a layup.

OG hits a three on Horford from the wing on an assist from Josh Hart.

Horford gets away from Josh Hart and cuts in for a short jumper near the baseline.

Deuce drives on Derrick White and connects on a short jumper of his own near the low post.

Derrick White takes a screen from Horford, away from Bridges, with Hart on the switch. Then takes a flip screen from Kornet and pulls up for a three. No good.

OG sends the ball up court to Hart. Hart pushes. Mitchell Robinson and Mikal Bridges running. Hart passes the ball out to Mikal on the perimeter, but it goes out of bounds.

Derrick White with the ball, Deuce defending. Kornet comes over with the screen. White takes it, Deuce goes under, Robinson helps. White passes the ball out to Jaylen Brown on the wing, OG defending. Brown puts up a three. No good.

Knicks timeout.

Brunson subs in for Bridges.

Deuce gets it inbound to Brunson. Hart and Robinson both come over and set screens. Brunson takes the Robinson screen. Holiday goes under and stays on him. Brunson drives and gets an open reverse layup at the rim. Knicks up 16.

Jaylen Brown gets inside to the free throw line area and kicks it out to Kornet. Kornet gives it to Pritchard and sets a screen on Brunson. Brunson stumbles and the foul is called on Kornet for an illegal screen.

Brunson passes to Deuce. Hart sets a shaky screen offball for OG, and gets called for a foul.

Pritchard puts up a three, no good. Holiday taps it back out to Derrick White. White puts up a three. No good. OG gets the rebound.

OG backs down Payton Pritchard in the post, and Pritchard commits a foul.

Brown gets away from OG, onto Hart, and drives. Robinson comes inside to contest. Brown finds Luke Kornet cutting. Robinson contests the dunk but the ball goes in, and a foul gets called.

Brunson brings the ball up, Brown defending. Brunson calls off the screen by Robinson, and takes a screen by Josh Hart on the other side. Hart rolls, and Brunson finds a window to get him the ball. Hart gets inside for an open layup and gets fouled by Luke Kornet. The free throw is no good, but Hart gets his own rebound and passes it to Deuce. Deuce kicks it out to OG on the wing. OG gathers and shoots a three. No good, but the ball finds its way back to him. He tries to kick it out to Brunson at the top of the arc, but Derrick White reads it and intercepts the pass. White takes it all the way to the rim, Brunson backing up, Deuce chasing, Hart trailing. White goes up for the layup on Brunson, and gets blocked by Deuce. Hart brings it back up court for the Knicks, gathers, and hits a floater over Jrue Holiday, and a foul. Hart makes the free throw. Knicks up 20.

Brown brings the ball up for the Celtics, and tries to cross over on the wing. OG gets a hand on it. Out of bounds. Knicks challenge the play. Brown hit OG with an elbow. Challenge successful. Officials call the offensive foul on Brown. Knicks ball.

Brunson brings it up, Jaylen Brown defending. Brunson drives from beyond half court and gets all the way to the rim for a floater off the backboard

Payton Pritchard takes a screen from Porzingis, and curls inside. KAT comes over, Hart switches onto Porzingis, and Pritchard backs it out and passes to Derrick White. White passes back to Pritchard. Pritchard passes inside to Porzingis. Porzingis turns toward the hoop, and gets the elbows over Josh's shoulder. Hart gets a face full of armpit, and gets called for the foul.

Bridges subs in for Hart.

Porzingis makes the first and hits the second.

Brunson has the ball. OG comes over and sets a screen on Derrick White for Brunson, then tries to seal White down into the post, but gets called for an offensive foul.

Horford sets a screen for Brown. Brown dribbles and kicks it back to Horford for a three. No good. Porzingis tries to go over Bridges for a rebound but Brunson gets it. Brunson drives with Derrick White on him, and gets inside for a high floater.

Celtics call timeout

On the inbound, Horford gets called for an out of bounds screen on Brunson. Knicks ball.

Bridges then gets called for a moving screen. Celtics ball.

Jaylen Brown has the ball, and dribbles inside. Pump fake, OG reaches in, foul called, and Brown connects on the elbow jumper.

Robinson checks in for Bridges.

Brown misses on the free throw attempt.

Brunson kicks it out to Deuce for three. No good. Robinson gets the rebound, but Porzingis is able to knock it out of his hands.

Jaylen Brown pulls up for three. No good.

Brunson brings it up. A quick step, and he gets inside position on Holiday and drives it. He kicks it out to OG. OG fakes. Brown goes out of bounds. OG shoots the three over Porzingis. No good. Robinson gets the rebound and passes it off to Deuce. Deuce backs up behind the arc, then kicks it out to KAT. KAT shoots the three, no good.

Porzingis passes inside to Holiday, Brunson defending. Brunson gets Holiday out of position. Holiday goes up for a fadeaway, no good.

On the other end, Brunson has it. KAT comes over for a screen. Derrick goes over it. Brunson dribbles left onto Horford. White backs away onto KAT. Brunson on Horford. Brunson steps over and gathers for a three. All net. Knicks up 24.

Brown has the ball for the Celtics. Holiday rolls toward the basket. OG follows. Brown gets the ball over to Holiday, past OG, and Holiday gets the layup to go.

Brunson passes to OG. OG drives on Derrick White, gets to the rim, falls awkwardly, and gets fouled. OG makes both free throws.

Brown dribbles it up the floor. Porzingis sets a screen on OG. Brown goes to cross over, and bounces the ball off OG's foot. OG chases after the ball, Brown goes to defend, and OG misses the layup, but Deuce recovers it for an easy dunk.

Two quick fouls called against the Knicks. First Mitchell Robinson on Porzingis, and then Brunson on Jrue Holiday.

Holiday sinks both free throws.

Brunson passes to KAT at the top of the arc. KAT drives through traffic, gets the layup to go, plus a foul. Kat makes the free throw.

Achiuwa checks in for Mitch.

Jaylen Brown gets a three over OG for the Celtics.

Brunson gets past Holiday, gets inside, and passes to Precious Achiuwa between Porzingis and Horford. Achiuwa passes it out to Deuce. Derrick White on him. Deuce passes back to Achiuwa at the top of the arc. Precious shoots a three, no good.

Jaylen Brown tries to get a layup over OG and misses. Brunson on the break, with runners. Brunson stops and runs down the clock. OG comes over for a screen. Brunson drives to the basket, around Horford. He drops a pass off to KAT, but it bounces off of him. Brunson recovers and passes it over to Deuce for a three. It's good. Knicks up 27 with 0.4 seconds left in the half. Porzingis gets the ball inbound to Holiday, who throws up a full court heave. No good. Half time.



Third quarter

Brunson, Bridges, Hart, OG, KAT for the Knicks. Holiday, Brown, White, Horford, Kornet for the Celtics.

OG has it at the top of the arc. Brunson cuts from the left, baseline, and circles around a Hart screen, which Brown jukes. OG passes to Hart, with Kornet guarding. OG cuts, and muscles Derrick White off balance. Hart finds him inside. OG puts it in the basket.

Kornet sets a screen for Brown for the switch onto KAT. Brown shoots from three, and misses. White tips the rebound, and eventually Brunson gets to it. Brunson passes to Bridges. Bridges passes to Hart. Hart passes to KAT. KAT finds OG open on the wing. Kornet closes in. OG drives. Horford contests. OG scores, plus a foul. He makes the free throw. Knicks up 32.

Horford backs down Josh Hart, and steps in for a floater. No good.

Hart drives, fakes, and tries a layup on Kornet. Blocked. Jaylen Brown takes it, drives, gets inside, then kicks it out to Derrick White who connects on a three.

Brunson misses on a three on the other end.

Horford passes up court to Brown. Brown turns and tries to get inside on KAT, but KAT takes the path away. Brown backs out and passes to Holiday. Holiday sends it over to Horford. Horford to Derrick White. Jrue screens and pops. White gives it back to him and screens off Brunson. Holiday drives on Bridges. Bridges gets called for a foul.

Derrick White sets a screen on OG for Jaylen Brown. Brown gets the switch onto Brunson. Brown gets to the foul line area. OG reaches. Brown kicks it out to White. White connects on a three.

Thibs calls "forehead"

Brunson motions to Bridges. Brunson goes to the elbow, guarded by Brown. Then pops back out toward Josh behind the perimeter. Brown gets his hand in front of Brunson, preventing the pass. Hart motions to Bridges, and passes the ball over to him on the perimeter. Hart then sets a screen on Brown for Brunson, and Bridges passes to Brunson. Brunson now has two screens. One to the left by Bridges, another to the right by Hart. He takes the Hart screen with Brown behind him. Hart rolls, and Brunson passes to Bridges, open, with Horford in drop coverage. Horford tries to contest. Bridges puts up the three. No good.

Holiday gets the rebound, dribbles it up, pump fakes, and passes off to Derrick White. White puts up a three. No good. Josh Hart gets the rebound. Hart passes to OG. OG finds Mikal under the basket. The bounce pass ricochets off of Al Horford's foot, right into Bridges' hands. Kornet closes on Bridges. Bridges dribbles into the lane and connects on a fadeaway over him.

Jaylen Brown has the ball for the Celtics. OG defending. Brown wants to go right. Jrue Holiday comes over to set a screen, but goes left. Derrick White sets a screen. Browntakes it and goes right, and gets the Brunson switch. Brown drives and pushes off, and gets called for an offensive foul.

Brunson passes to Mikal, and gets it right back. He goes right, between the legs, hesi, step back three over Brown. It's good. Knicks up 31.

Brown passes to Kornet, and creates an opening for Jrue Holiday. Kornet passes to Holiday and sets a screen on Brunson. Holiday drives, KAT defends the paint. Holiday kicks it out to Horford in the corner. Horford puts up a three. Airball. Kornet tries to get a hand on it, but Brunson gets there.

Brunson brings the ball up. Brown defending. Brunson dribbles, fake's a spin, dribbles inside, kicks it out to Hart in the slot. Hart puts up the three. It's good.

White brings it up for the Celtics. Bridges defending. White goes around a Kornet screen, Bridges follows. White passes it out to Kornet. Kornet passes to Jaylen, and sets a screen on OG. Jaylen goes downhill, KAT is there. Jaylen stops and passes to Horford. Hart is defending. Horford goes baseline. KAT comes over. Horford tries to pass it inside to Kornet, Brunson gets a hand in, and the ball goes out of bounds. 3.2 seconds on the shot clock. Jrue gets it in to Jaylen Brown behind the arc. Jaylen puts up a three. Hits the backboard, no rim. 24 second violation.

Pritchard subs in for Kornet.

Brunson has the ball. Dribble hand off to OG. OG takes it to the top of the arc, and then passes inside to KAT, who has position on Horford. KAT gets inside, hits the floater over Horford, plus a foul. He makes the free throw. Knicks up 37.

Derrick White brings the ball up, and passes it over to Jaylen Brown. Pritchard curls over a Horford screen with Josh Hart chasing. Pritchard sets a screen on OG. Brown takes it and dribbles right, toward another screen by Horford. Hart gets a hand on the ball, but Brown recovers it. Brown and Hart both go around Horford. Hart gets called for a foul.

Next play, White gets the ball back in to Jaylen. Hart defending. Holiday comes over and sets a ghost screen and pops out to the perimeter. Bridges comes over to help on Brown. Hart backs away toward Holiday on the wing. Brown dribbles, crosses over, pump fakes, and puts up a jumper. Bridges gets a hand on the shot. Holiday goes to recover the ball, but KAT gets a hand on it and takes the possession. He passes it to Brunson. Brunson goes up court, White defending. He passes it back to KAT at the top of the arc, Holiday defending. KAT drives and puts up a floater. No good. Horford gets the rebound and passes it off to Brown. Brown drives, Hart in front of him, Bridges trailing. Brown makes his move, but Bridges knocks the ball off his leg. Officials call it Celtics ball. Knicks challenge. Successful challenge. Knicks get the ball. Brunson brings it up court, and passes off to Mikal. Hart sets the off ball screen for Brunson. Brunson gets the switch onto Horford. Mikal passes to Hart. Hart passes to Brunson and gives space. Brown tries to play both. Brunson veers toward the elbow extended, Brown goes and doubles Brunson. Brunson finds Hart in the paint, Hart kicks it out to KAT, wide open on the perimeter. KAT puts up the three, but misses.

Holiday passes to Horford on the other end who makes a quick three.

Hart sets the screen for Brunson. Brunson gets the Horford switch again. Pritchard rushes over to help. Brunson passes all the way to OG. OG tries to get it inside to KAT. Kickball by Holiday.

Brunson the inbounder, passes to Mikal. Bridges takes a quick step inside, but Pritchard recovers and Horford comes over to help. Mikal backs down Pritchard. Horford closes in. Hart cuts, Mikal finds him, and Hart kicks it out to OG in the corner. OG misses the three, but Hart grabs the rebound, and Jaylen gets called for a foul, going over the top.

Brunson as the inbounder again, passes it to Mikal. Bridges passes it to Hart, Hart back to Brunson. Hart motions for Brunson to take the screen, Brown follows. Brunson rejects the screen and drives left, catching Brown off balance. Pritchard shows a hand, Brunson puts up the layup, and Brown is called for the foul, contact on the shoulder, and contesting over the back. Five fouls on Jaylen Brown.

Deuce checks in for Bridges.

Brunson makes both free throws.

Horford sets a screen for Brown. Brown goes up for three, but switches mid air into a pass to Horford. Horford puts up the three, and connects.

Holiday closes on Brunson, and Pritchard interferes with his path. Brunson picks up his dribble and tries to pass it over to KAT, but Brown comes over and intercepts it. He gives it to Holiday and drives, KAT keeping with him. Jrue pulls up to the three point line and tries to get a pass over to Brown, but KAT intercepts it and reclaims the possession.

Brunson gives the ball to Josh Hart. Brunson then comes over and goes around Horford, causing Holiday to switch onto Hart. Hart gives it back to Brunson, with Horford now on him. Holiday comes over to double. Brunson goes baseline, and puts up a quick floater. Derrick White contests. Brunson misses, KAT gets there, but the ball goes out of bounds. Brown says he didn't hit it, but it's called Knicks ball.

Brunson gets the ball in to Hart on the perimeter. Hart passes to KAT, Horford defending. KAT puts up a long two, but it's an airball. Brown gets it and runs up court, Deuce guarding. Brown puts on the brakes, and loses Deuce. OG steps over to show. Brown gathers, Deuce recovers. Brown puts up a three, no good. KAT gets the rebound and gives it to Brunson. Brunson passes to Deuce. Deuce passes to KAT with Derrick White on him. Officials call a foul on KAT, wrapping his arm around White's.

White has the ball on the perimeter, KAT guarding. White passes to Brown. KAT stays on White, with OG expecting a switch. With OG late onto Brown, Brown is able to get inside for an easy layup.

Hart brings the ball up. Knicks work to get Brunson the switch onto Horford. Brunson goes around OG to create the switch, but Holiday stays with him. Hart passes to OG, and Brunson sets a screen on Pritchard for Hart, which causes Holiday to switch onto Hart, and Pritchard onto Brunson. OG then gives the ball to Brunson, who uses an OG screen to get the switch onto Horford, Pritchard staying with OG, who backs up into the paint area. Holiday tries to help, so Brunson passes the ball over to Hart, who sees KAT being guarded inside by Derrick White. Holiday goes to help there but KAT cradles the ball, and pivots inside on White for an easy floater.

Holiday passes the ball cross court to white. White gets past Brunson. Brunson gets called for a foul.

White gets the ball in play to Brown. OG defending. White sets the screen to give Brown the switch onto Brunson. Brown drives, turns, and puts up the jumper inside the foul line. No good. KAT gets another rebound, and passes it off to Deuce. Deuce gives it to Brunson. Brunson brings it up court. Brown gets ready to defend on the wing. Brunson dribbles, Brown tries to go over the back to get a hand on the ball. Brunson crosses over and curls baseline, stops, steps back, pump fakes. Brown bites on the fake. Brunson goes up for the shot, and Brown gets called for the foul. His sixth, and he's out of the game. Some symmetry after what happened in game 5, with Brunson fouling out with plenty of time left, in a blowout, on a matchup with Jaylen Brown. Now Jaylen Brown fouls out, with plenty of time left, in a blowout, on a matchup with Jalen Brunson. Brunson makes both free throws.

Pritchard drives on Hart, and misses the rim on the layup attempt. KAT gets his eleventh rebound and passes it off to Brunson. Brunson gives it to Hart. Hart brings it up and passes to OG. OG connects on a three over Al Horford. Knicks up 38.

Derrick White puts up a three. No good. OG gets the rebound, and passes to Brunson. OG sets a screen on Derrick White, and Brunson gets a switch onto Kornet. OG rolls, Brunson puts on a few moves, pump fakes, and passes to OG cutting back into the corner. OG puts up a three. No good, but the ball finds its way to Brunson. Brunson puts up a three, no good. But OG taps the ball away on the rebound. Hart outhustles Payton Pritchard and Derrick White to get to the ball, and passes it back to OG in the corner. OG puts up the shot. It's good. Knicks up 41 with a minute and 49 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Celtics sub out Derrick White, Al Horford, and Jrue Holiday for Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, and Torrey Craig

The Knicks keep their guys in the game.

Pritchard scores on three straight possessions and brings the lead down to 35 going into the fourth.

Robinson and Bridges sub in for KAT and OG.

Celtics score five straight to start the quarter, making it an 11-0 run, before Brunson connects on a layup, and then Hart draws a shooting foul.

Sam Hauser airballs a three. Bridges connects for three on the other end. Scheierman hits on a three of his own. Bridges connects on a fadeaway above the foul line. Pritchard hits for three. Brunson hits on a corner three. Knicks back up 36.

Precious, KAT, and OG check in for Brunson, Hart, and Robinson

OG sinks a three. Hauser makes a three and draws a foul on Deuce at the top of the perimeter.

Landry Shamet subs in for KAT with five minutes to go.

Achiuwa gets two to go under the rim off of his own miss. Bridges commits an intentional foul on Torrey Craig, and the Knicks empty their bench. PJ Tucker subs in for OG. Cam Payne subs in for Mikal Bridges with just under four and a half minutes left.

Tyler Kolek subs in for Deuce McBride with just over two minutes to go. He connects on a three of his own, late.

The game continues for a few possessions. The Knicks get it back and run out the clock. And that's it. That's game. That's the series. The Knicks defeat the defending champion Boston Celtics 119-81, and eliminate them from the playoffs. It's the eighth time they've done so, most by any team in NBA history, and the second time they've done it in their last two playoff matchups.

The Knicks entered the game with the right amount of urgency, and forced the Celtics to play a style centered on Jaylen Brown. The Celtics' role players weren't able to hit their shots, nor were they able to get the stops they needed. I thought Brown might try to put the same kind of pressure on Brunson that he did with Luka in last year's finals, but Brunson is different. His craftiness along with his shooting touch made that too much to ask. Derrick White was never really able to get going in this series like he's capable. The Knicks offset the Kornet problem with Mitchell Robinson.

Just enjoying this win.

Next up, Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Game 1 on Wednesday. At the Garden.

 

[One]

Thunder/Nuggets

The Thunder dominate game 7, and eliminate the Denver Nuggets 125-93.

The Nuggets got out to an 11 point lead in the first quarter. Aaron Gordon, playing through a hamstring strain, had five quick boards. The Thunder didn't seem to know how to take advantage of his labored movement. But Alex Caruso changed the entire energy of the game for OKC. From there they turned up the defensive pressure, and started finding success forcing turnovers and getting out on fast breaks. Second quarter was more of the same, and the Thunder took the lead early. The last thing you want is an energetic OKC with a lead, as all of their role players who were struggling previously start making their shots all of a sudden, pouring it on even further. Jalen Williams spinning into the lane, guys throwing up lobs, Hartenstein connecting on the short floater. The Thunder started rolling, and just never stopped for the rest of the game. The Nuggets tried to build some momentum entering the fourth, but turnovers put an end to that early. With just over nine and a half minutes left in the fourth, down 32, the Nuggets let go of any hope of a comeback and cleared their bench. The Thunder followed suit a few minutes later.

The Thunder advance to the Western Conference finals where they'll face the Minnesota Timberwolves. Game 1 Tuesday in OKC.

 

[One]

Conference Finals Matchups

This is the round where reputations are made.


Thunder/Timberwolves

These two teams don't have much of a history with one another as far as I know. If they are to develop any kind of rivalry, it's going to start right here.

Matchup wise it's tricky. You're tempted to say that the Timberwolves' size and versatility across the board could pose a problem to the Thunder, but we've had multiple games in these playoffs, and of course in the regular season, in which we've seen the Thunder just roll over teams with size advantages, through their mechanical, sometimes maniacal floor movement. At their best, even when playing small ball, they're able to be any and everywhere on the court, and as I've said before, they have a roster of guys that they can substitute in and out to match up with any kind of five-man configuration you want. Double bigs? Holmgren and Hartenstein. Small ball, with a three point threat at the five? Jay Will or Chet can help you there. Extra scoring? Aaron Wiggins. Turn up the defense (beyond the already elite)? Alex Caruso. Need an energy guy off the bench? Throw Cason Wallace out there for spot minutes. You already know SGA is going to do his numbers. Jalen Williams will feed off the others and add his own offensive versatility. And Lu Dort is going to provide some added toughness and make the necessary hustle plays. When they're on, the Thunder are a headache and a half to deal with. But I repeat, when they're on. If there's a weakness with this team, from what I've seen so far in these playoffs, it's that they can get tight. You can make them nervous. Whether that's a product of youth and inexperience, I don't know, but when it happens, all of that versatility and precision goes out the window, and their role players go radio silent.

When I look at the Timberwolves on the other side of this match up, I like the composition of the team, but I don't know what to make of their strength of schedule, particularly in the second round. For what it's worth, the two teams traded wins in the regular season, ending on a 2-2 split, but I'd be a lot more confident in what the Timberwolves could do here if they had gutted out some kind of hard fought battle against the Warriors. Without Steph, there's a certain level of competition that I feel they haven't had, to really get them revved up to face a team like the Thunder. How will they react when the Thunder go on one of their runs, and then another? How will they react to the pressure of the everyone is everywhere OKC defense? Going back to the potential weakness I brought up for this team prior to the second round, will they be able to stay disciplined under those conditions? If the Wolves are to win this series, I think two things would have to happen. One, their role players have to find their form. DiVincenzo, NAW, Conley. They can't afford to have off games from those guys on one side of the floor or the other. Gobert is going to have his hands full dealing with Hartenstein and Holmgren. Two, they have to apply unrelenting pressure. Again, both sides of the floor, no letting up. The Timberwolves have the personnel to make things uncomfortable for the Thunder on defense. Get into their heads. Not trying to get them angry necessarily, but to create some doubt. If you give the Thunder the momentum, and the confidence, they're relentless with a lead. The last thing you want is to give OKC an opportunity to get out and front run.

The Wolves have the talent to make this a series, but again I don't know what the lack of competition in that second round might have taken away from them. Maybe the rest turns out to to be a net positive, with the Thunder just coming off of a game 7 two days prior to the start of this series? Who knows. For now the Thunder are the favorites. We'll get a clearer picture of what this series will be come Tuesday.



Knicks/Pacers

The history goes back decades between these two teams. The height of which went down in the 90s giving us some epic series' and epic moments. Reggie Miller's choking gesture to Spike in '94 (the Knicks won that series but that's neither here nor there) that Tyrese Haliburton wore on a shirt last year. Reggie's eight points in nine seconds in '95 (Pacers won that in seven games). Larry Johnson's four point play at the Garden in the '99 Eastern Conference Finals (Knicks took that in six). The various sports shows will be covering all of these moments and then some throughout the series. Also, since I did this for the previous two Knicks series', I feel I have to do it here too. The last time these two teams faced off was last year, and it was the Pacers who eliminated the Knicks from playoff contention. Going a little further back, the time before this past season, it was the Pacers led by Paul George who eliminated the Knicks in 2013, a promising year with Carmelo Anthony at the helm, after the Knicks had gotten done eliminating the Celtics, leading to a playoff drought that lasted all the way until 2021. And going further back than that, in 2000, it was Reggie Miller's Pacers who eliminated the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, after which the aging Patrick Ewing would be traded to the Seattle Supersonics. Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach on that Knicks team. Rick Brunson played. And Reggie Miller will be doing color commentary for this current series on the TNT broadcast.

There's even some background in the modern day between these two teams, namely their star point guards. There was some controversy a few seasons ago after Knicks' analyst Wally Szczerbiak made a comment about Tyrese Haliburton being Mr. "Supposed wannabe fake all-star" to say that Brunson and Julius Randle were more deserving. The Pacers had a game against the Knicks the following season ('23-'24) where Haliburton went for 22 points and 23 assists, talked some trash and turned his head to look directly at Szczerbiak. Wally eventually apologized, but it became a running inside joke whenever Tyrese went on a bad streak to say Wally was right.

In the Knicks/Pacers series last season, things got heated between the two teams on several occasions, with Donte DiVincenzo and Myles Turner getting into it at one point, Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaiah Jackson at another, TJ McConnell trying to get under guys' skin. After the series was over, there was some trash talk and gloating on the Pacers' side that wasn't appreciated too much by Knicks' fans, taking it as a cheap move when much of the Knicks' roster had gone out with injuries.

Later, Brunson and Haliburton would also make an appearance together, facing off on WWE Smackdown.

You also have a kind of parallel between Brunson and Haliburton in terms of there career trajectories up to this point. Both as important, but still undervalued players on their previous teams, going on to become stars of their own franchises, leading their new teams to formidability and recurring playoff contention.

And there's even the Carlisle/Brunson connection, from the days when Carlisle coached Brunson with the Dallas Mavericks. There was some friction once up on a time there as well, though not so much now. Just another fold in the fabric of all the connections between these two teams.

So yeah, there's a lot.

Onto the matchups.

Of course, once again, I'm pulling for the Knicks. I'll preface by saying that.

On the face of it, I have the Knicks with the advantage here.

Looking back at the series with the Celtics, I'd said that you couldn't let Derrick White be the table setter because it allows them to play a completely free and open style of basketball where they're extremely challenging to beat, with elite talent at virtually every position. It's an awkward thing to strategize against because White isn't the Celtics' main scoring threat, or top two, or in some cases even top 3 if you account for Porzingis. In other words, while I do think it gives you a better chance against Boston to keep him from getting going, you're still left with their three all-star caliber scoring threats to deal with after, in which case you either have the personnel to deal with at least two of them or you take gambles.

With the Pacers, it's not as awkward. Their table setter is also their star player, Tyrese Haliburton. Shutting him down, not just in terms of scoring but in terms of distributing and creating openings for other guys, makes it very difficult for the Pacers to play their game. In the last series for the Knicks, it was Mikal Bridges who took the task of guarding White, not allowing him to play that role where he's most effective, and I imagine that for this series it'll also be Bridges on Haliburton. It's an archetype the Knicks didn't have last year when these two teams played against each other, where Haliburton averaged 21 points and 7 assists on 54% from the field, 44% from three. Even then, with DiVincenzo as the primary defender, the Knicks still managed to take the first two games off the Pacers before the injuries started piling up.

The Pacers' secondary star, Pascal Siakam, also plays a style of ball that the Knicks are comfortable defending, where they have OG Anunoby, Siakam's former teammate, matching up there.

Myles Turner, who I thought would pose a problem for the Cavs' bigs, and did, with his strength inside, and his ability to pop out and shoot the three, could find himself matched up against Karl Anthony Towns who, at his best, is a more skilled version of Turner. Or he could find himself matched up against Mitchell Robinson who won't be the versatile scoring threat that Turner is, but is a better rebounder, and has the ability to step out and defend on the perimeter.

That pretty much leaves Andrew Nembard and either Bennedict Mathurin or Aaron Nesmith, who'll be matched up with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. Nembhard can get you points, he can make big shots, but ultimately he's a role player. Mathurin could be an x-factor. He can get to the rim, but he's not in any kind of role where he's expected to carry the Pacers. And If Aaron Nesmith is out there, it'll be primarily for his defense on Jalen Brunson.

Off the bench they've got TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, Nesmith or Mathurin depending on which one starts. Maybe you see some minutes from Ben Sheppard, Thomas Bryant in spots. McConnell is kind of like the Payton Pritchard for this Pacers team. Coming off the bench as a microwave scorer and creator. I'd expect him to be a factor in this series, as he was last year. Deuce McBride will likely be taking that assignment. Obi Toppin, ex-Knick, could also be an x-factor for the Pacers in this series. He's been productive for them this year as an outside shooter, and a finisher in the open court. Check his game against the Timberwolves this year in March. It'll be tough for him to find looks though if the Pacers' playmakers are limited.

If the Pacers do have an advantage in this series, it's going to be their depth. They can go one or two deeper than the Knicks can with guys who've played solid minutes, and I wouldn't be surprised if coach Carlisle goes even deeper than that.

But what I keep coming back to is how the Knicks defend Haliburton, and how they shut down that Pacers engine, and how they make things difficult for Pascal Siakam who the Pacers will look to go to as the next primary scoring option if Haliburton can't get it going. So it'll be down to the role players on the starting squad and their bench to figure it out, and if that's the case, I've got the Knicks over a seven game series, both teams being healthy.

From the Knicks side, although Nesmith is a good defender for the Pacers, a physical defender, I don't think he's better than what Brunson has already faced against the Pistons and the Celtics. I do expect him to bring more physicality than the Celtics defenders did, so his effectiveness might depend on how the games are called, but I don't see who on the Pacers is really going to stop Brunson. Maybe they try a zone, maybe they double, or bring extra help on the strong side with Brunson as the ballhandler. We'll see.

Josh Hart is also freed up from playing against the massive Luke Kornet, so I'd expect his rebounds to come a little easier in this series. Maybe the Pacers experiment with putting in Thomas Bryant in spots, but that might imply playing into a slower brand of basketball which would be more to the Knicks benefit. We'll see.

Mitchell Robinson has gotten his feet back up under him. He'll be another one that the Pacers will have to figure out how to deal with, especially on the boards.

We'll also see who they actually try to defend Karl Anthony Towns with. Although Turner plays in and out offensively, he doesn't exactly have the quickest feet. He has the size, but I think KAT would be relatively comfortable with that matchup.

Deuce McBride also uncovered another level of intensity late in the Boston series, that I expect to carry over into this one, especially on defense. We'll likely see him alternating between Haliburton, McConnell, and Nembhard throughout.

I expect OG Anunoby's game to open up a little bit more offensively, with better shooting. There are a few mismatches for him in this series that didn't exist against the Celtics, or the Pistons for that matter.

And Mikal, as I said above, I expect to have the primary role of guarding Haliburton. I'm looking to him in this series, similar to how I looked at OG on Tatum in the Celtics series, where he'll get some grace if he's doing such a good job of making things difficult for Haliburton and thus constricting the Pacers' offensive flow, that it comes at the expense of some of his offensive efficiency. But if he's able to contribute significantly on the offensive end as well, all the better.

Overall, for the Knicks, I think this series will be like a hybrid between the Celtics series and the Pistons series. More physical than the Celtics, more finesse than the Pistons.

The Pacers haven't faced a team like the Knicks yet in these playoffs, so we'll see how they deal with that. I don't think they're completely out of their depth. I think they'll scrap. They'll try to use their depth. They'll move the ball, seeking out defensive lapses, mismatches, and open looks. The Knicks can't relax if they want to win this series. It's going to take smart and focused basketball to beat this team.

Even the coaching battle is a loaded one. Both of these guys, Thibodeau and Carlisle are borderline psychotic about basketball. Both have have been around for a very long time, and have seen it at the absolute highest level. Thibs as an assistant with the '99 finals Knicks and the '08 champion Celtics, Carlisle as an assistant with the '00 finals Pacers and as the head coach of the '11 champion Mavericks. It's gonna be a battle of two hard nosed, tough minded, seasoned head coaches.

Ultimately, when I look at the matchups, and I look at the history (the distant history and especially the recent history of last year's playoff result), I think that the Knicks have the talent, the ability, and the motivation to put it all together and take the win over the Pacers.

 

[One]

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[One]

Conference Finals Schedule

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
1	Oklahoma City Thunder	Minnesota Timberwolves	114-88

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
1	New York Knicks	Indiana Pacers	135-138

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
2	Oklahoma City Thunder	Minnesota Timberwolves	118-103

Friday, May 23, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
2	New York Knicks	Indiana Pacers	109-114

Saturday, May 24, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
3	Minnesota Timberwolves	Oklahoma City Thunder	143-101

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
3	Indiana Pacers	New York Knicks	100-106

Monday, May 26, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
4	Minnesota Timberwolves	Oklahoma City Thunder	126-128

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
4	Indiana Pacers	New York Knicks	130-121

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
5	Oklahoma City Thunder	Minnesota Timberwolves	124-94

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
5	New York Knicks	Indiana Pacers	111-94

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Game	Home Team	Away Team	Final Score
6	Indiana Pacers	New York Knicks	125-108

 

[One]

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[One]

Spoiler

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[One]

Thunder/Timberwolves

The Thunder take game 1 in OKC, 114-88.

It was the The Timberwolves who got out to an early lead, going up 8-0 to start the game. Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards opened things up early in the first, with McDaniels also holding SGA to 2 for 8 from the field on the other end. Julius Randle had a successful first half where ended up with 20 points on 6 for 8 from the field, but probably more surprisingly, 5 for 6 from three. I expected Randle to struggle with this OKC defense, given some of his past difficulties with turnovers, but although he had three in the first half, he managed to help carry the Wolves into the half with a lead, even with Anthony Edwards a few minutes in the second with an apparent ankle injury. But in the second half, the Thunder got it going. Once they got to around 8 or 9 points up in the fourth, they started rolling and blew the game open all the way to the end. The Wolves' role players couldn't hit their shots. DiVincenzo went 3 for 14. NAW 3 for 11, Mike Conley, 2 for 8, Naz Reid 1 for 11.

Despite the big box score win by the Thunder, I don't think we got too many answers as to how this series will go just yet. McDaniels' defense on SGA was superb in that first half. Anthony Edwards showed an ability to get to the rim on this OKC defense. Randle was effective in this game, at times on both ends, against what I thought would be a bad matchup for him. And role players missing shots isn't out of the ordinary in a game 1 on the road. So while I still think OKC is the favorite, there's still much left to be seen before anyone can reasonably jump out on a ledge with a winner.

 

[One]

Knicks/Pacers

The Pacers take game 1 138-135.

Dramatic win for the road team Indiana Pacers. In the first quarter, there was a stretch where the Pacers were shooting 100% from the field, yet it was the Knicks who finished the quarter up two. Carlisle subbed in a number of different guys in this game. TJ McConnell came in and gave the Pacers some good minutes as expected. Thomas Bryant saw some minutes, Bennedict Mathurin came in off the bench, Ben Shepherd, Obi Toppin. Thibs responded by giving minutes, not just to the usuals Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson, but we also saw Cam Payne, and even a Delon Wright sighting. Even with Brunson out during the Cam Payne minutes, the Pacers weren't getting the runs that they wanted. It was the Knicks who stayed in control in the second quarter.

In the third, Brunson picked up two more fouls bringing him to his fourth, and the Pacers managed to get themselves back into it, ending the quarter down by just three points. Early in the fourth, Brunson would commit a fifth foul, at which point Thibs pulled him and Bridges both out of the game. It left you wondering where the scoring was going to come from, but Deuce McBride took on the role at the point with Josh Hart and KAT subbing in. OG, who'd been struggling up to this point found his scoring groove, hitting a three that put the Knicks up five, sparking an 11-0 run that put the Knicks up 16. It felt like for some strange reason in this game specifically, the Knicks were able to outplay the Pacers by a wider margin in the minutes without Brunson, despite his heroics, than their minutes with him.

So at this point, with just five minutes left in the game, you figure, you'll just manage this lead all the way to a simple victory. You could bring Brunson and Bridges back in and all would be straightforward. Well, Brunson and Bridges did sub back in, but simple and straightforward was not the story at the end of this game. Instead, Aaron Nesmith went on a crazy heater, hitting five straight threes, to go with one from Haliburton, to get the lead down to two with just 23 seconds left on the clock. Knicks get the ball back and KAT gets fouled. He makes one free throw, misses the other. Knicks up three. The Pacers go to Aaron Nesmith again on the other end, but OG commits a quick foul on the floor, to force two free throws instead of another potential three from Nesmith that would tie it up. Nesmith's foot was on the line out of bounds but the official wouldn't have been able to call it, since he didn't have vision on it. Nesmith hits on both free throws. Knicks up one. The Knicks almost lose the ball on the inbound, but Brunson manages to send it up to OG, who gets fouled immediately by Pascal Siakam. OG misses the first free throw, makes the second. Knicks up two. Haliburton has the ball with about seven seconds left in the game. There's a breakdown in the Knicks defense, Haliburton goes inside the arc and then comes back out, puts up the shot, it hits the rim, bounces straight up in the air at least five feet, and then sinks back in. Haliburton is celebrating doing the Reggie Miller choke sign. Fans are holding up two fingers, saying it was just a two. The officials review it, and Haliburton's foot was on the line. It's a two. The game goes to overtime.

In overtime, the Knicks score first. Two buckets. KAT and OG, putting the Knicks up four. Then Haliburton takes advantage of a defensive breakdown and finds Nembhard for three. A turnover by Brunson, another defensive breakdown, and Nembhard gets an easy layup. The Pacers are trying to exploit the fact that Brunson has five fouls, and Brunson is basically trying to avoid fouling out, which is leading to defensive mishaps. In addition, Brunson looks tired. At several points it looks like he's either on the verge of losing the ball, or just outright losing it, unable to keep his dribble. Still, he's able to draw fouls and get to the line. Brunson makes two free throws to put the Knicks back up one. The Pacers on the other end connect on a field goal. Brunson draws another foul, and makes both to put the Knicks back up one, and then Obi Toppin gets a putback dunk on a Haliburton miss. Brunson gets inside and scores on a floater. Nembhard scores for the Pacers again. Then a turnover for the Knicks on a pass by OG to Brunson, covered by Nembhard. Nembhard gets a hand on it, but the ball then flicks off Brunson's finger before going out of bounds. Pacers ball. Another defensive breakdown leads to an Obi Toppin dunk that could've also been a foul, but it wasn't called. Brunson has the ball, with Nembhard defending. He steps back and misses on a three. Josh gets the ball out to KAT off the rebound. KAT shoots a long three, and misses on that. Bridges goes to the floor to fight for the loose ball, but Ben Sheppard touches it, and it goes off of Bridges, out of bounds with 0.2 seconds left, Pacers up 3. Haliburton gets the ball inbound to KAT intentionally, the clock quickly runs out, and the buzzer sounds. The Pacers win game 1 and take home court advantage.

Even if the Knicks had won this game, I didn't come away feeling like this was a good game for them. The box score says different, but I was every bit prepared to write about how the Knicks had come away with a win even without playing their best basketball. Instead the Pacers, on the back of Nesmith's three point streak in regulation, stole the victory from the jaws of defeat. It wasn't the methodical walking down that we saw the Pacers do to the Cavs, as it took a flurry of "F it" threes, that led to the two teams going back and forth trading leads right up until the end, but it was still a moment in time, fitting of the rivalry between these two teams. Despite the result, and the way it came about, I didn't come away from this loss feeling down on the Knicks. I came away from it feeling like there's plenty of room left for them to play better than they did here, appearing dominant over large stretches of the game even without Brunson, even without Bridges. Instead, I found this to be a classic ending, even if not in the Knicks' favor, to a back and forth game, and I imagine that they'll come back on Friday poised to get back on track in this series.

 

[One]

Thunder/Timberwolves

The Thunder defeat the Timberwolves 118-103 and go up 2-0 on the series.

The way things have shaped up so far, it's looked like the Timberwolves are just a step slower than OKC. Watching the Thunder, they're able to send double, triple, even quadruple teams onto Anthony Edwards, and yet whenever the Wolves try to find the open man, the Thunder have already recovered to defend their assignments. On the other side, the Timberwolves send a double onto Shai, and almost immediately the Thunder find the opening and score another bucket.

The Thunder for their part so far, have been locked in for this series. They've allowed runs here and there, but nothing to the extent that we've seen in the Denver series or even in the Grizzlies series earlier in these playoffs. They're able to score from anywhere. When the three isn't falling, they're getting shots up in the mid range, they're finding guys under the rim, they're converting turnovers on the break, they're getting to the line. SGA's efficiency on offense makes it so that they're never too far off between successful scoring opportunities. The way he's able to draw fouls, on top of that offensive efficiency, you can just see guys on the other team start to get frustrated over the course of the game. Multiple times in this series already, he's been able to bait the Timberwolves into frustration fouls. And when the Thunder are able to build up that momentum, it's hitting you from everywhere, on both sides of the court, turnovers into alley oops, rebounds into open threes, blocked shots into drawn fouls, all that compounded by one of the best playoff crowds in the league. It's rough.

An and-1 by Shai, getting fouled by NAW, and banking the shot in; and then a reverse layup by Alex Caruso off of an assist by Lu Dort on a three-on-two break, broke the game open in the third quarter, giving the Thunder an 11 point lead that ballooned up to 22 going into the fourth. Up to that point, it was a kind of give and take game. Anthony Edwards played his part. With Randle struggling early, Edwards was more aggressive. The bench unit came in during the second and did a good job keeping the game within reach. But then that third came, and the Thunder outscored the Wolves 32-18, most of which came with less than 5 minutes left in the quarter, after the two aforementioned plays by SGA and Caruso. It was just back to back to back plays, overwhelming the Wolves who had no real response other that Anthony Edwards doing his best to carry while the others struggled.

If there's one thing that the Wolves ought to have taken note of in the fourth, it was Nickeil Alexander Walker's ability to match the pace of the Thunder. At times it looked like he was the only one who could keep up on both ends. But then in spots, the other guys on the Wolves started to turn up a little bit, playing with more urgency, more of that requisite energy that you need to really match up against this OKC team when they're locked in. Julius Randle wasn't able to repeat his performance from game one, and had to sit out the fourth as the Wolves tried to stage a comeback. If the Wolves are going to take games off of the Thunder, hopefully they realize the level of focus and energy it's going to take, but more importantly, that it's going to take the entire team to step up and lock in at that level. If one or two guys could do it, then Jokic and Murray would've taken them out in the second round. It's a full team effort. Focused, quick decision making, and attacking on both sides of the ball. If they can't meet that requirement, OKC is more than happy to clean this up and take their talents to the finals. For now, they've defended home court, and now it's on the Minnesota Timberwolves to show us if they've got at least enough to match, because they're going to need even more than that to win this series. Game 3 is this Saturday, in Minnesota.

 

[One]

Knicks/Pacers

The Pacers defeat the Knicks 114-109 to go up 2-0 in the series

If the first game didn't light these guys up to bring it on every possession against this Pacers team, and cut down on the defensive errors, then they're not going to win this series. Plain and simple. And if there is a talent gap between these two teams favoring the Knicks, you wouldn't be able to tell. Just possession after possession of Pacers guards, be it Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, or even Ben Sheppard finding guys wide open on Knicks switches, with defenders failing to recover.

The Knicks look happy to just compete well enough for the first three quarters of the game and then hope to pull something together in the fourth. That's not going to cut it against a team that's playing like they have something to prove. Who's out there trying to snatch your spirit on your home court. It should be obvious. Mitchell Robinson continues to play his heart out, can't say anything bad about him. Mikal Bridges tries his best to carry the load when the strategy breaks down, can't put too much blame on him. Brunson went for it on the scoreboard and on the assists, can't complain. But the other guys, it's not enough. OG has surprisingly been a complete non-factor in this series so far. For all his talent, KAT hasn't been able to provide the kind of reliable dominant play that's needed for this team to get to the next level. Josh Hart had 6 points in this game. It's not enough.

Give credit to the Pacers, who are starting to look like OKC East. Timely threes, routinely finding mismatches and defensive breakdowns to take advantage of, converting on open looks, and guys stepping up when they need to. The full court pressure on the defensive end. They look like a team that wants it more than their opponent does. Pascal Siakam played like a man possessed. He finished with 39 points on 15 for 23 from the field, 3 for 5 from three. All under 33 minutes of playing time. And Carlisle is plain outcoaching Thibodeau. Reaching into the depth of his lineup that's been prepared and developed throughout the season. When the Pacers secured a big lead late in the fourth, that's when he went to the Hack-A-Mitch strategy, the right time to execute it correctly. He's constantly testing, constantly experimenting, showing different looks, probing for better matchups, inserting guys that he's built up so that he can rely on them now when it matters. And it's working.

The Pacers now control the series, matching OKC's lead over the Timberwolves, and take it home to Indiana where they hope to defend home court and close the door on this Knicks team.

The Knicks aren't quitters. They're a resolute team captained by a resolute player in Jalen Brunson, and they hold a winning record on the road, so I expect them to at least make it tough. But like I said at the start of this, if there was a moment where you would've expected them to respond by bringing their best shot, it would've been after the outcome of that last game, and what they brought here tonight was nowhere near that. It was game three, first round of the playoffs energy. Not Eastern Conference Finals coming off a game 1 loss at home to a conference rival energy. We'll see this Sunday what type of energy they bring to Indiana after this one.

 

[One]

Thunder/Timberwolves

The Wolves take game 3, 143-101.

A team-wide ass-kicking by the Timberwolves.

First quarter opened up with the Thunder getting out to a quick 4-0 start, but then Julius Randle hit two fadeaway jumpers, one over Jalen Williams, the other over Lu Dort, and the Timberwolves would never trail in this game again. Anthony Edwards completely took over in the first, going 6 for 8 from the field, 3 for 5 from three, ending it with 16 points and 5 rebounds, having played all 12 minutes. The energy overall from the Timberwolves was a completely different level than we'd seen from them in the previous two games. Defensively, they forced the Thunder into 5 turnovers early, and kept SGA, who also played the entire quarter, to an uncharacteristic 1 for 4 from the field with 2 turnovers. The energy we saw from NAW late in game 2 was the energy and intensity we saw from the entire Timberwolves team here in game 3. Gobert for his part forced two turnovers in the quarter, including one on SGA that led to a fast break and a foul. Defensively, the Wolves weren't getting caught out on switches like they were in the previous two. Instead, when guys did help, it was when the ballhandler was adjacent. So they'd show the double, and the ballhandler would either dribble away, or dribble into a trap. And the Wolves personnel was good enough at every position to make things difficult across the board. On offense, Naz Reid, DiVincenzo, NAW, all added on from the perimeter to compound the scoring that was coming from Anthony Edwards, resulting in a 20 point lead over the Thunder to end the first.

In the second quarter, Terrence Shannon Jr. came out the gate with five straight points for the Wolves, including an and-1 to start things off, while Anthony Edwards got some rest on the bench. The rest of the quarter saw a balanced attack from Minnesota with the Thunder continuing to struggle. 9 points for TSJr., 7 for Naz Reid, 6 for Mike Conley, 6 for Julius Randle. Defensively, the Wolves forced another 4 turnovers in this quarter, bringing the total to 9 in the half, against a team that led the NBA in fewest turnovers per game. The Wolves outscored the Thunder by another 11 points in the second, giving them a 31 point lead at halftime.

OKC started the third quarter off well, trying to stage a comeback. They started it off with an 11-2 run to bring the lead down to 22. The Timberwolves called a timeout, and when they returned, they got right back into form, starting with a corner three from Jaden McDaniels, that led to a 9-0 run, putting the lead back up to 31. The next bucket in that run was a nasty move by Ant where the Thunder sent Lu Dort over for the double. Ant then dribbled sideline, curled into an opening, getting by Jalen Williams, and then went up into a layup, switching it into a reverse at the rim to get by a contest from SGA. Threes from Ant, Jaden, and Randle put the Wolves up by 36, and then a pull up by Randle over SGA made it 38, at which point the Thunder called a timeout, and Randle looked to the crowd and said "We home now". NAW and Naz Reid subbed in for Mike Conley and Randle, and almost immediately Anthony Edwards found NAW for three, on a pass out of a double team. Wolves up 41. Lu Dort hits a high arcing three for the Thunder. Ant responds with a three of his own for the Wolves. On this play, Gobert had set a screen on Dort to create the switch for Anthony Edwards onto Hartenstein. Dort kept swiping air next to Gobert's arm. After the play, Anthony Edwards puts a hand into Dort's chest football style, and they start going back and forth with an arm battle. Nothing heated, just mind games. A few plays later, with just over two minutes left in the third, the Thunder pull their starters from the game. The Wolves hold firm on their lead through the end, and that's how they strike back to take their first win in the series.

SGA talked with his guys on the bench about what went wrong for the Thunder in this game and what they can address going into game 4: "Turnovers early, they were more physical early, and they made shots and we missed shots. But the other two are first. And then on top of this, they had a great night, we had a bad night, so it's like 40. But, if we like, take care of these, we could still lose, because of this night, but, it doesn't look like this, you know?"

Game 4, Monday.

 

[One]

Knicks/Pacers

The Knicks take game 3 in Indiana, 106-100

The majority of the first half of this game was more of the same. The Pacers were simply outclassing the Knicks all over the floor, on both sides of the court. It wasn't until a 13-0 run in the second, putting the Pacers up 20, that the Knicks started to play with any sort of urgency. Karl Anthony Towns had three fouls half way into the second quarter. Brunson committed his fourth before the quarter ended.

But Thibs started going to other guys. Landry Shamet, Delon Wright. Of course Deuce saw increased minutes with Brunson in foul trouble. With that, all of those easy looks that the Pacers were able to create off of poor rotations, bad switches, and mismatches, got a lot harder to find, as all three of those guards were able to stick to their assignment as needed, and cover the passing lanes. In the first half, the Pacers would come down the court and pass the ball, not to the adjacent man, but to the guy one over. The Knicks at that point rotating to prepare for switches, would be caught out either leaving a shooter wide open, or rotating hard, leading to another pass into an open guy either near the basket or in the corner. With the group of Shamet, Wright, Deuce, those opportunities dried up as, again, they stuck to their guy, and hounded the ballhandler. In the first quarter, there was a stretch where the Pacers were still hitting shots, despite the tougher looks, but Shamet, Wright, and Deuce didn't waiver. When they were in the game, they kept the pressure up, and they narrowed down those windows of opportunity for the Pacers.

Half way into the third quarter, Aaron Nesmith went out with a rolled ankle, leaving the others to try to make up the difference defensively. Brunson's foul trouble took him out of the game with just a few minutes left in the quarter. Deuce McBride would pick up the slack, scoring five straight for the Knicks to bring the lead down to 10. Once again, the energy from Deuce, Wright, and Shamet was making the difference on the other end, holding the Pacers to just two points in the final 2 minutes.

In the fourth, the story was Karl Anthony Towns. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges stayed on the bench early, as KAT led the Knicks from 10 down all the way to within three, scoring 7 out of their 9 points on a 9-2 run. Brunson and Bridges returned, subbing in for Delon Wright and Deuce McBride, as KAT continued to carry the scoring, giving the Knicks a lead on a tough contested dunk, plus a foul. Brunson was called for another foul, his fifth, on a drive by Andrew Nembhard. Deuce McBride would sub back in for him. Once again, the Pacers had to dig to find the looks they wanted, the mismatches they wanted, the defensive errors they wanted. A short corner jumper by Siakam over Josh Hart put the Pacers back up 1. KAT continued to dominate on the other end, drawing a foul, and then hitting another three, his third, to put the Knicks up 4 with just over 5 minutes left. Siakam worked on Bridges on an iso near the post for a tough fadeaway. Bridges would then draw a foul on Nesmith on the other end, who managed to return to the game from the rolled ankle. Haliburton then scored on a pull up from the elbow. Then on the other end, Deuce gets to the rim and tries to jam it on Pascal Siakam. He misses the dunk, but draws the foul.

Later, OG gets called for a push out of bounds, giving Siakam two free throws. Siakam hits on both and ties the game at 98. Brunson gets reinserted into the game for Deuce, and gets inside for a tough floater to give the Knicks the lead back. Myles Turner puts up a 3 and misses, and Josh Hart skies for the rebound, coming down hard on his knee in the process. A foul is called on Nesmith.

Thibs is playing the offensive unit/defensive unit game at this point. Hart hits both free throws, putting the Knicks up four with just under 20 seconds left. Deuce and Mitchell Robinson back in the game for Brunson and KAT. Defense. Ed Malloy calls Bridges for a touch foul on Haliburton, giving the Pacers two free throws. Haliburton makes both to get the Pacers to within 2. Brunson and Towns re-enter the game for the Knicks. Offense. Brunson gets the ball on the inbound, and the Pacers foul. Brunson makes both. Knicks up 4 again. Defensive unit back in. Pacers get the ball in with 8 seconds left, to Pascal Siakam, covered by OG, with Mitchell Robinson and Myles Turner close by. Siakam puts up a wild three that misses off the backboard. Josh Hart grabs the rebound and gets fouled with two and a half seconds left. Hart makes both free throws, and that's game.

With that, the Knicks have a blueprint, and Thibs has found a number of guys who can match the movement and the energy of the Pacers guards on defense. Now we see what he does with that information in game 4 as the Knicks try to tie up the series, and Indiana looks to respond and get one at home.

 

[One]

Thunder/Timberwolves

Thunder win this one 128-126. Tough game. Tough win for the Thunder. Tough loss for the Timberwolves.

From the start, Lou Dort was sticking to Anthony Edwards like glue. You could tell that the Thunder directive coming into this game was that they were going to do everything they could to shut off the two primary scorers for the Wolves, and force the role players to beat them. And the Wolves role players did well in this game. NAW had 23 on 9 for 15 from the field, 5 for 8 from three. DiVincenzo had 21, going 7 for 11 from the field, also 5 for 8 from three, and couldn't miss from that right corner late. Jaden McDaniels went 9 for 15, 3 for 6 from three, for another 22 points. TSJr. brought the energy, contributing 9 points within 8 minutes. But the strategy that the Thunder had coming in worked. Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle together had just 9 points on 6 attempted field goals at the half. The Thunder forced 12 turnovers, four on Randle alone, in the first half. Ant and Randle finished the game with 5 turnovers apiece, and Randle finished with just 5 points. 1 for 7 from the field, 0 for 3 from 3. Ant finished 1 for 7 from three, but managed to convert 4 of his 6 attempts inside the arc.

Still, it was a back and forth game overall, with the Thunder able to find just enough time to build a lead early, and then hold steady by relying on their defense, which hounded Edwards and Randle throughout the game. Doubles on Randle on the perimeter, in the high post, on the block. And for Ant, it looked at times like the Thunder were playing some kind of triangle defense. Any time he'd set sights on the lane, you'd have three guys at least, popping up out of nowhere, showing or committing, and then when he was out on the perimeter it was pick your poison. Alex Caruso one minute, and if you get screen for a switch, then it's Lu Dort on the the other side.

For the Wolves, it wasn't for lack of effort, or lack of strategy. There were some things in the game that could've been cleaned up, sure. A miscue between McDaniels and Gobert left SGA wide open for an easy layup. Another miscommunication in the fourth off of a missed three by Chet, gave him an open lane for a dunk. There was a baseline cut from Caruso that came after Chet nearly turned the ball over. Those could be cleaned up, but what this really came down to was OKC executing on their strategy of limiting Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, and it worked.

Jalen Williams had a really good game. First and fourth quarter in particular. SGA had 40 points, 10 assists, like a stiff arm, just keeping the Wolves at bay, keeping them from building enough momentum to really storm back and take this game.

Big win for the Thunder. They take a commanding 3-1 lead heading back home on Wednesday, where it'll be on the Timberwolves to keep this series alive as the Thunder try to close things out.

I hope the Wolves continue to fight in game 5. Sometimes you see teams get discouraged in positions like this, staring down a 3-1 hole, going back on the road. But you never know what can happen in a series. If anything, these playoffs have shown that you never know what can happen in a game, let alone a series. So yeah, it's tough heading back to OKC for a closeout game, but I'm hoping they go for it, and take things one game at a time.