Sports
The NBA’s Top Three Teams Are Inevitable — Just Like March Madness Letdowns
The jockeying for playoff position in the NBA remains highly entertaining.
It’s so captivating, it reminds me of conference tournaments in college basketball.
Those games are the best — teams putting everything they have into every game for fear it might be their last. Or worse yet, relegation to the CBI.
Then reality sets in …
Duke 85, Alabama 65.
Auburn 78, Michigan 65.
Florida 87, Maryland 71.
Houston 69, Tennessee 50.
And here I thought those losers were good.
Turns out, those weren’t great basketball showcases leading into the NCAA Tournament. Just competitive.
What’s that have to do with the NBA? Everything, actually.
The Pacers and Rockets are rolling. The Magic and Warriors suddenly look strong. The Knicks, Bucks, Lakers, Nuggets …
Nope. I’m not falling for this again.
The NBA has itself a Duke, an Auburn and a Florida this season. The only thing lacking is a Houston — and that’s OK, because they’re kinda boring.
There’s no way — repeat, NO WAY — the Cavaliers and Celtics don’t meet in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Cavaliers are Auburn. The dominant team in the regular season, yet people never really believed in them. But believe it, people. Auburn made the semifinals. The Cavaliers will, too.
The Celtics are Duke. The team people like to root against because they’re stuffy and easily the most talented. They already have enough banners. And don’t look now, but they should be the overwhelming favorite to hang another.
The Thunder are Florida. The out-of-nowhere team that can’t possibly have enough postseason experience to go all the way. But sometimes, what you don’t know can’t hurt you.
And the rest of the NBA? They’re Mount St. Mary’s. Man, they were fun to watch in the conference tournament. But then the bright lights came on and the makeup melted.
Can one of the other 13 teams that will make the NBA playoffs pull off the colossal upset? It surely won’t happen in the East, where the six other quarterfinalists could merge rosters and still lose 4-2 to the Cavaliers and 4-1 to the Celtics in the Eastern semis.
There’s only one scenario that could derail the Big Three …
If the Thunder are to be denied their spot in the NBA Finals, here’s how it’s going to have to happen:
Round 1: They get bullied.
Thunder boss Sam Presti has brilliantly molded his roster. Adding a bodyguard (Isaiah Hartenstein) for fragile co-star Chet Holmgren was a stroke of genius.
If Holmgren can stay healthy, the Thunder will make the Finals. A first-round matchup against a soft team like the Warriors, Grizzlies or Kings would be ideal.
But a wrestling match with the Timberwolves would be a disaster.
You remember the T’wolves. They slayed the giant — the Nuggets — last season and have the depth of big guys to pound the Thunder up front. That’s bad news for Holmgren, who might survive to see Round 2, but not without a limp and multiple ice bags.
Round 2: They get LeBronned.
The Thunder don’t have a good matchup for Luka Doncic. Over seven games, they’ll try different things, and might stumble into something.
But they could play 70 games and never find someone to deal with LeBron at playoff time.
The Lakers are unlikely to go far in the playoffs because they don’t have a big man. But against the Thunder, that could work in their favor.
Holmgren is going to have to guard somebody, and there’s no way that’s going to be LeBron.
Hartenstein is going to have to guard somebody. Take that back. No way the big oaf sees the light of day in this series.
Softened up by Minnesota’s big men, Holmgren will get pummeled by LeBron. Maybe snapped in two. The Thunder might survive the series, but not unscathed.
Round 3: They draw a joker.
When all the pieces are in place, the Nuggets are a better team than the Thunder.
Nikola Jokic will outperform Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the big stage.
Jamal Murray is a far better supporting weapon than anything Oklahoma City has.
And the Nuggets have multiple defensive whizzes to throw at SGA.
The Thunder will be exhausted by the time they reach the thin air of Denver for Game 6. The good news: The flight home will have air masks. And with this roster, there’s always next year. Heck, next decade.
How can this happen?
The Timberwolves must fall into the play-ins and finish eighth.
The Lakers must drop to fourth or fifth.
And the Nuggets must finish second or third.
All still possible.
And if the 8-4-3 trifecta hits …
C’mon. Do you really think Florida is going to lose?
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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