Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Sixers, Holiday, Celtics, Raptors
While some star players may play reduced roles in the final days of the regular season to ensure they’re fresh for the postseason, Sixers center Joel Embiid is looking to go in the opposite direction. After logging nearly 36 minutes on Tuesday in his fourth game back following a knee procedure, Embiid suggested he’d welcome a big workload again on Friday and Sunday, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required).
“Playing as many minutes as possible,” Embiid said when asked what he needs to do to get ready for the playoffs. “.. The next one, I hope the game’s not close, but if it is, to go over that 35-minute mark. Try and get to 40 and then the last game of the season, same thing.”
While the 76ers won’t want to push their franchise player too hard so soon after his return, they’re still battling for positioning in the Eastern Conference playoff race and have a chance to claim a top-six spot with victories in their final two games. Embiid is also still working on getting his conditioning back to its pre-injury level and may get a chance this weekend to build chemistry with a relatively healthy Sixers roster.
“We haven’t played with the full crew yet,” Nicolas Batum said on Tuesday, according to Pompey. “I think the next game will be finally the one. We will have Tyrese (Maxey) and KL (Kyle Lowry) back. We got Joel. We just miss RoCo (Robert Covington). … I think we are more focused on (players returning than seeding). We are focused on how we can be the best team past (Sunday).”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- In a mailbag for The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required), Pompey addresses several Sixers-related topics, indicating that he doesn’t expect Tobias Harris to be moved to the bench and confirming that Paul George is expected to be the team’s top free agent target this offseason.
- Jrue Holiday will turn 34 this June, so he knows that the four-year, $135MM extension he signed with the Celtics this week could be his last NBA contract, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Holiday said it was a “pretty easy” decision to sign that deal and to remain in Boston. “I think mutually we just came to an agreement and felt like this was what was best for not only me, but for the team and, just hope it works,” Holiday said. “I want to be here. I want to win multiple rings. I’ve heard people say that here plenty of times, so I’m ready for that.”
- Holiday’s extension ensures that the Celtics‘ top six players will be under contract for next season and reduces the team’s projected 2025 tax bill, but it raises some questions about the club’s long-term cap situation, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.com, who explores the possibility of an eventual extension for Derrick White and considers how long Boston can keep its core intact.
- Who’s to blame for a miserable Raptors season? Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca explores that question, ultimately suggesting that Toronto’s front office probably deserves more criticism than it has received for the current state of the team.
Injury Notes: Ingram, Giannis, Green, Robinson, Melton
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, who has been sidelined since March 21 due to a left knee bone contusion, is expected to return to action on Sunday vs. the Lakers, TNT’s Chris Haynes said on Thursday night’s broadcast (Twitter video link via Pelicans Film Room).
Ingram’s impending return will give him an opportunity to get acclimated back into the Pelicans’ lineup ahead of the postseason. He’ll also get the chance to try to help New Orleans clinch a playoff berth — the team currently has a one-game lead on Phoenix for the No. 6 seed in the West. Since the Suns hold the tiebreaker, the Pelicans will need to win its remaining two games or have Phoenix lose at least once to hang onto the sixth spot.
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said this week that he isn’t sure whether or not star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be ready for the start of the playoffs (Twitter link via Jamal Collier of ESPN). Antetokounmpo was in a walking boot on the sidelines during Wednesday’s game (Twitter link via Harris Stavrou of SPORT24). Milwaukee had another player bitten by the injury bug during that contest, as swingman A.J. Green went down with a left ankle sprain (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic). Green has been ruled out for Friday’s matchup with Oklahoma City.
- After missing five games due to a back issue in late March, Heat forward Duncan Robinson returned to action on March 31 and appeared in four more contests after that, but still wasn’t quite right, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Robinson will miss a third consecutive contest on Friday vs. Toronto as a result of that nagging back problem, and his availability for the start of the postseason is up in the air.
- Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton returned on Tuesday from a lumbar spine injury, playing for just the fourth time since January 12. He admitted that the recovery process was a long, challenging one, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays. “Throughout the whole process, it was a lot of ups and downs,” Melton said. “Some days [were] better than others. Definitely there was a little doubt that crept into my mind. But I just kind of tried to stay with it and, every day, just take it moment by moment. And now we’re here.” Head coach Nick Nurse said Melton felt good after playing nearly 16 minutes on Tuesday, adding that the team will look to increase his minutes a little on Friday (Twitter link via Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports).
And-Ones: Australia, McLemore, York, Jerebko, Calipari, Klutch
The Australian national team has revealed its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, announcing a list of 22 players that are in the mix to play in Paris. That group will have to be cut down to 12 players ahead of this summer’s tournament.
Australia’s preliminary roster includes several NBAers, including Thunder guard Josh Giddey, Mavericks guard Dante Exum, Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle and big man Duop Reath, Mavericks wing Josh Green, Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, Magic forward Joe Ingles, Heat guard Patty Mills, Rockets center Jock Landale, and Grizzlies forward Jack White.
As Olgun Uluc of ESPN notes, the newest addition to the Boomers’ roster is 19-year-old Johnny Furphy, who played for the Kansas Jayhawks in 2023/24 and is projected by ESPN to be a potential first-round pick in this year’s draft.
The most notable absence is Ben Simmons, as the Nets guard underwent back surgery last month that will sideline him for the Olympics. Simmons doesn’t have much history with the Australian national team, so it’s unclear if he would’ve been part of the Boomers’ roster in Paris even if he’d been healthy.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Ben McLemore was arrested and jailed this week in Oregon and faces multiple felony sexual assault charges, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN. The charges, which include first-degree rape, stem from an alleged incident in 2021, when McLemore was a member of the Trail Blazers.
- Former NBA guard Gabe York, who appeared in five games for the Pacers across two seasons from 2021-23, has signed with Basquet Girona, the Spanish team announced this week in a press release. York played for the G League Ignite earlier this season.
- Following a two-year hiatus from basketball, Swedish forward Jonas Jerebko is making a comeback, having signed with Puerto Rican team Santeros de Aguada, according to Eurohoops. Jerebko, who turned 37 last month, appeared in 635 NBA regular season games for four teams from 2009-19. He last played professionally for CSKA Moscow in 2022.
- Shams Charania and Kyle Tucker of The Athletic take an in-depth look at John Calipari‘s decision to leave Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 years with the Wildcats, detailing how Calipari’s deal with the Razorbacks came about.
- One Legacy Sports Management, led by veteran agent Mike George, is becoming part of Klutch Sports, CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, and Shaedon Sharpe are among George’s clients, per RealGM.
Knicks Notes: Playoff Berth, Anunoby, Hartenstein, Randle
The Knicks weren’t in action on Wednesday, but it was still a big night for the franchise, which clinched a playoff spot for the second consecutive year as a result of Miami’s loss to Dallas, as Peter Botte of The New York Post writes.
Although the Knicks are assured of avoiding the play-in tournament now that they’ve locked up their playoff berth, much is still to be determined in the final four days of the regular season — New York could finish anywhere from second to sixth in the Eastern Conference, depending on how the team’s final three games play out. Jalen Brunson indicated on Tuesday that the Knicks don’t plan to take their foot off the gas.
“I just think as we get close to the end of the season, we’ve been talking about not jogging to the finish line, just sprinting to it,” Brunson said. “So making sure we’re playing as hard as we can, getting better every single day. And we got to make sure our minds are ready to go.”
The Knicks are in Boston on Thursday before wrapping up the regular season with home games against Brooklyn on Friday and Chicago on Sunday. Even if they don’t lose any of those three contests, they’d need some help from Milwaukee to move up to No. 2 in the East, but they’d finish no lower than No. 3 by winning out.
“We want to win every game, so we play every game to win,” OG Anunoby said after Tuesday’s victory. “We don’t really worry about anything else. Just try to win every game.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- After missing an extended stretch of games due to an elbow injury, Anunoby looked like his old self on Tuesday vs. Chicago. He scored 24 points and made four three-pointers while registering a +12 plus/minus mark in an 11-point victory. As Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post writes, the three-and-D standout is rounding back into form at the perfect time for the Knicks, who are 17-3 when Anunoby has played.
- After receiving all three of his contract bonuses a year ago, Isaiah Hartenstein has achieved the feat again in 2023/24, earning a total of $1.05MM in incentives, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Hartenstein’s bonuses are for playing at least 1,350 minutes, his team winning at least 40 games, and his team making the playoffs. Since all three were considered likely to be earned entering the season, his cap hit of $9,245,121 remains unchanged.
- Knicks forward Julius Randle underwent successful surgery on his injured right shoulder on Tuesday, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll be reevaluated in September, as the team announced last week.
Southwest Notes: Sengun, Wemby, J. Green, Pelicans
Rockets center Alperen Sengun, who has been sidelined since March 10 due to knee and ankle injuries, had hoped to get back on the court in the season’s final week, but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
“I would say (it’s) unlikely,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “Alperen still has swelling. A lot was going to be based on our results and how we finished the season. No need to really rush him back.”
Sengun enjoyed a breakout year for the Rockets this season, averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 32.5 minutes per game across 63 starts. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension as of this July.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- The Spurs will hold Victor Wembanyama out of action on Wednesday at Oklahoma City in the second end of a back-to-back set due to right ankle management, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN. San Antonio appears to just be playing it safe with its franchise player as the season winds down, but it means Wembanyama won’t get one more matchup with fellow rookie standout Chet Holmgren. The two big men are virtual locks to be the top two vote-getters for this season’s Rookie of the Year award.
- Mavericks wing Josh Green has missed the club’s past 12 games due to a sprained right ankle, but he appears to be on the verge of a return. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, Green’s status for Wednesday’s game in Miami has been upgraded to questionable.
- The Pelicans are getting more comfortable playing small-ball, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who notes that Jonas Valanciunas‘ playing time has declined in recent weeks — the veteran center played a season-low four minutes in Sunday’s win over Phoenix. “It’s something I have been watching and studying and feeling for a long time,” head coach Willie Green said. “We are getting more and more comfortable playing a small unit. We got to continue to rebound. We outrebounded them (on Sunday). When we go small, play fast and open up the floor, it’s harder for teams to load up the paint on us.”
Draft Notes: Ighodaro, Armstrong, Kelly, Bronny, More
Marquette power forward Oso Ighodaro has opted to enter the 2024 NBA draft, he announced on Instagram. Ighodaro’s announcement doesn’t say anything about maintaining his college eligibility, so it sounds like he intends to go pro, forgoing the “super-senior” season granted due to COVID.
The No. 66 prospect on ESPN’s big board, Ighodaro spent four years at Marquette, increasing his role and his production in each season. As a senior in 2023/24, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 32.5 minutes per game across 36 starts, with a .576 FG%.
Here are a few more draft-related notes and updates, with a focus on early entrants:
- Villanova sophomore guard Mark Armstrong will test the NBA draft waters this spring, according to an Instagram announcement. Armstrong became a full-time starter for the Wildcats in 2023/24, but put up modest numbers, including 8.4 PPG and 2.4 APG on .417/.282/.776 shooting.
- Miles Kelly, a junior guard at Georgia Tech, is entering the 2024 draft, according to Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express (Twitter link). Kelly’s shooting numbers dipped across the board in ’23/24, though he still managed to put up 13.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 32 games (31.8 MPG).
- Northwestern junior wing Brooks Barnhizer is testing the draft waters as well, tweets Chepkevich. Barnhizer boosted his scoring average to 14.6 PPG in 2023/24 and earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive team.
- It appears that Tulane senior guard Sion James will forgo his final year of college eligibility and go pro. He announced on Instagram that he’s entering his name in this year’s draft pool and didn’t mention anything about retaining his eligibility. James, who tested the waters a year ago, averaged 14.0 PPG and 5.4 RPG with a .381 3PT% this past season.
- South Florida senior forward Kasean Pryor is testing the draft waters while also entering the transfer portal, a source tells Joe Tipton of On3 Sports (Twitter link). Pryor previously played at Boise State and Northwest Florida State College before spending a season with South Florida in ’23/24.
- Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer spoke to an NBA general manager, another front office executive, and a scout – all from different teams – to get their opinions on Bronny James‘ future. The GM suggested the USC guard would be a first-rounder if he had shot the ball well as a freshman but believes he’s “nowhere near ready” based on what he showed in his first college seasons.
Northwest Notes: Murray, Edwards, Holiday, Hayward, Banton
A Northwest division showdown in Denver on Wednesday night will go a long way toward determining which team controls the No. 1 seed in this year’s Western Conference playoffs. The Nuggets and Timberwolves will enter the evening with matching 55-24 records and only three games left to play.
Both teams will be on the second end of a back-to-back set. On Tuesday, the Nuggets picked up a 16-point win in Utah, with Jamal Murray scoring 28 points in just 27 minutes of action in his second game back following a seven-game injury absence. Murray is still on a minutes restriction, but looked fresh in the fourth quarter when Denver needed him most, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.
“Seven games off will do that for you,” Murray told reporters in his post-game media session. “So I feel good. It’s just good to get a flow out there. It’s more conditioning. Your breathing and muscle fatigue throughout the game. … Felt good, comfortable and just ready to play.”
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the Timberwolves kept pace in the race for No. 1 by registering a 130-121 victory over Washington. It was a memorable night for Anthony Edwards, who scored a career-high 51 points while also dishing seven assists. After the win, Edwards credited head coach Chris Finch for making sure he didn’t let up against one of the NBA’s worst teams.
“He put me in the office two, three days ago and said, ‘Look man, we’ve got this Washington game, and we need to win it, need to come ready to play and you can’t treat it like any other game,'” Edwards said (story via ESPN).
The Timberwolves hold the tiebreaker edge over the Nuggets, so if they can pick up a win tonight, their magic number for the top seed in the West will be down to just one.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Although Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was noncommittal on Tuesday when asked if Justin Holiday will be part of his playoff rotation, he indicated he would be comfortable leaning on the veteran swingman, Durando writes for The Denver Post. “I trust him 100%,” Malone said. “He’s a veteran. He’s been around the league for a long time, and he’s proven in the one year with us, he’s proven himself to be trustworthy. Disciplined. Stays ready. Makes open shots. Guards. He’s done everything that’s been asked of him. For a while, he was a guy that would play if there was an injury, and then for the last month or so he’s been a rotation player for us.”
- The Thunder likely envisioned Gordon Hayward being part of their playoff rotation when they acquired him from Charlotte in February, but it has been a rough adjustment period for the veteran forward, who has averaged just 4.5 points in 16.5 minutes per game in his 23 appearances since the trade. As Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman writes, Hayward is still trying to get comfortable in his new reduced role. “Obviously would be probably better if I was here at the beginning of the year with everybody,” Hayward said. “Every team across the league will tell you that midseason trades are difficult to get everybody adjusted to everybody. Gotta work with what you’re given.”
- After the Raptors declined to issue him a qualifying offer last June and the Celtics didn’t find room in the rotation for him in the first half of the season, Dalano Banton‘s NBA future appeared tenuous. However, as Jared Weiss of The Athletic details, Banton has enjoyed a career renaissance with the Trail Blazers, averaging 16.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 3.5 APG in 28 games (28.5 MPG) since being sent to Portland in a salary-dump deal at the trade deadline. The Blazers hold a minimum-salary team option for 2024/25 on Banton, who says he “learned a lot” as a reserve in Boston earlier this season.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: NBA Draft Lottery
The NBA’s draft lottery, which takes place annually between the end of the regular season and the draft, is the league’s way of determining the draft order and disincentivizing second-half tanking. The lottery gives each of the 14 non-playoff teams – or whichever clubs hold those teams’ first-round picks – a chance to land one of the top four selections in the draft.
Although the top four picks of each draft are up for grabs via the lottery, the remaining order is determined by record, worst to best. The league’s worst team isn’t guaranteed a top-four spot in the draft, but is tied for the best chance to land the first overall pick and will receive the fifth overall selection at worst.
The first four picks are determined by a draw of ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14. Four balls are drawn, resulting in a total of 1,001 possible outcomes. 1,000 of those outcomes are assigned to the 14-non playoff teams — for instance, if balls numbered 4, 7, 8, and 13 were chosen, that combination would belong to one of the 14 lottery teams. The 1,001st combination remains unassigned, and a re-draw would occur if it were ever selected.
The team whose combination is drawn first receives the number one overall pick, and the process is repeated to determine picks two, three, and four. The 14 teams involved in the draft lottery are all assigned a specific number of combinations, as follows (worst to best):
- 140 combinations, 14.0% chance of receiving the first overall pick
- 140 combinations, 14.0%
- 140 combinations, 14.0%
- 125 combinations, 12.5%
- 105 combinations, 10.5%
- 90 combinations, 9.0%
- 75 combinations, 7.5%
- 60 combinations, 6.0%
- 45 combinations, 4.5%
- 30 combinations, 3.0%
- 20 combinations, 2.0%
- 15 combinations, 1.5%
- 10 combinations, 1.0%
- 5 combinations, 0.5%
If two lottery teams finish the season with identical records, each team receives an equal chance at a top-four pick by averaging the total amount of outcomes for their two positions. For instance, if two teams tie for the league’s fourth-worst record, each club would receive 115 combinations and an 11.5% chance at the first overall pick — an average of the 125 and 105 combinations that the fourth- and fifth-worst teams receive.
If the average amount of combinations for two positions isn’t a whole number, a coin flip determines which team receives the extra combination. For example, if two clubs tied for the league’s third-worst record, the team that wins the coin flip would receive 133 of 1,000 chances at the first overall pick, while the loser would receive 132. The coin flip also determines which team will draft higher in the event that neither club earns a top-four pick.
The table below displays the odds for all 14 lottery teams. Each figure in the table represents a percentage rounded to one decimal place. Seeds are listed in the left column (the NBA’s worst team is the first seed), while the picks are noted along the top row.
| Seed | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 47.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 27.8 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 14.8 | 26 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 7.2 | 25.7 | 16.7 | 2.2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 19.6 | 26.7 | 8.7 | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | 9 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | – | 8.6 | 29.8 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | – | – | 19.7 | 34.1 | 12.9 | 1.3 | >0 | – | – | – |
| 8 | 6 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.2 | – | – | – | 34.5 | 32.1 | 6.7 | 0.4 | >0 | – | – |
| 9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 50.7 | 25.9 | 3 | 0.1 | >0 | – |
| 10 | 3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 65.9 | 19 | 1.2 | >0 | >0 |
| 11 | 2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0 |
| 12 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 86.1 | 6.7 | 0.1 |
| 13 | 1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 92.9 | 2.3 |
| 14 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97.6 |
The NBA’s lottery format was changed in 2019 and that year’s draft was the first one to use the new system. Previously, only the top three spots were determined via the lottery and the odds were weighted more heavily in favor of the league’s worst teams.
Beginning in 2021, the NBA’s lottery underwent another small change when the league introduced the play-in tournament. The lottery now includes the 10 teams that miss out on the playoffs and the play-in tournament, plus the four clubs that are eliminated in the play-in portion of the postseason.
That means a team can finish the regular season ranked seventh or eighth in its conference, but if that club is eliminated in the play-in tournament, it will be in the lottery. Conversely, a team that finishes ninth or 10th in its conference during the regular season and then wins a pair of play-in games to earn a playoff spot will be a non-lottery team.
Once the 14 lottery teams are determined, their lottery odds are still dictated by their regular season records, so the play-in losers won’t necessarily be the 11-14 “seeds” in the lottery. For example, in 2022, the 34-48 Spurs ended up with better lottery odds than the 37-45 Knicks or 35-47 Wizards, even though San Antonio participated in the Western Conference play-in tournament while New York and Washington didn’t qualify for the East’s play-in.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Information from Tankathon.com and Wikipedia was used in the creation of this post. Earlier versions of this post were published in past years.
USC’s Isaiah Collier Entering 2024 NBA Draft
USC freshman Isaiah Collier is entering the 2024 NBA draft, he tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
According to Wojnarowski, Collier will be represented by agent B.J. Armstrong of Wasserman. Since Armstrong isn’t on the list of NCAA-certified agents, that means Collier will be forgoing his remaining college eligibility and going pro this spring.
Once listed as the top prospect on ESPN’s big board of 2024 prospects, Collier now ranks 11th following an up-and-down season that was interrupted for several weeks in January by a fractured hand.
Collier finished strong after returning from that injury, posting full-season averages of 16.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 30.0 minutes per game across 27 contests. The 6’5″ guard made 49.0% of his shot attempts from the floor, but just 33.8% of his threes and 67.3% of his free throw tries.
According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Collier is highly regarded by NBA evaluators due to his “combination of size, changing speeds, live-dribble passing and bully-ball finishing.” A former No. 1 high school recruit, Collier is one of the few players in the 2024 draft class with legitimate star-level upside, Givony adds.
Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Bridges, Oubre, Porzingis
Jalen Brunson isn’t going to be named this season’s Most Valuable Player, but the Knicks point guard deserves real consideration for the award, or at least a spot on voters’ five-man ballots, writes Steve Popper of Newsday (subscription required).
Brunson eclipsed the 40-point mark for a second consecutive game on Tuesday in Chicago, racking up 45 points and eight assists in a victory that gave the Knicks sole control of the No. 3 seed in the East with three games left to play. Asked about the star guard placing sixth in ESPN’s final MVP straw poll, head coach Tom Thibodeau joked that he wanted a recount.
“He’s earned that. It’s not like some hype,” Thibodeau said, per Popper. “If you look across the board, I think it’s a byproduct of the winning and what he’s done. More importantly they’re not empty stats. It’s impacting winning in a great way. And so to be a leading scorer in the league, to do it with the amount of pressure that he’s had on him in terms of double teaming. We’ve had a lot of guys out, got a number of guys with minute restrictions and everything else and this guy has delivered night after night.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Nets forward Mikal Bridges admits that it’s “not fun at all” to be missing the postseason for the first time since 2020, but he’s still looking forward to a future in Brooklyn, as Peter Botte of The New York Post relays. “Yeah, 100 percent. I don’t think I look at anywhere else,” Bridges said. “I don’t think about my contract at all. Just try and come back, and my biggest thing this summer is to be better than I was this year. Take a lot from what I learned. Obviously it was not what I wanted and what we wanted as a team, but you can’t really sulk about it.”
- Kelly Oubre has significantly outplayed the one-year, minimum-salary deal he signed with the Sixers last summer and put himself in line for a raise in free agency, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). After averaging over 20 points per game in Charlotte last season, Oubre has been more of a two-way force this season, Pompey writes, making more of an impact defensively while still being a threat on offense. “Kelly has been phenomenal the last two months since I’ve been here,” teammate Kyle Lowry said. “He’s been phenomenal shooting the ball, driving the ball, making aggressive takes to the rim. He’s just been phenomenal.”
- Jay King of The Athletic takes an interesting look at how big man Kristaps Porzingis has transformed himself into a far more efficient post-up player than he was during his days in Dallas and how Porzingis’ post-up ability could be a difference-maker for the Celtics‘ offense this postseason.