Thunder Notes: SGA, Holmgren, Defense, Caruso
After blowing a late lead in Game 1 of their second-round series vs. Denver, the Thunder became the first team to win at home in any of the conference semifinals on Wednesday. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes, Oklahoma City dominated Game 2 from start to finish, setting a franchise record for points in a playoff game en route to a 149-106 win. Their 48-point lead after three quarters was the fourth-largest margin entering the fourth quarter in NBA playoff history, MacMahon adds.
As detailed by both MacMahon and Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set the tone for the Thunder and has found his groove after getting off to a slow start in the postseason. The MVP frontrunner made just 35.3% of his field goal attempts in his first three games against Memphis, but has knocked down 57.1% since then, averaging 35.0 points per game over his last three outings.
On Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points in just 30 minutes, converting 11-of-13 field goals and registering a staggering +51 plus/minus mark. He told reporters after the victory that his team knew what was at stake and “came out desperate” to open Game 2, but he added that he otherwise hasn’t changed his approach in recent games.
“I feel the exact same,” the Thunder star said. “I feel like I’m getting to where I want to go. I don’t worry about makes and misses. It’s all about the process for me. I try to put myself and my teammates in the best position I can every possession down offensively and defensively. And wherever that takes me, wherever that takes our team, I’m happy with as long as I make the right decisions night in and night out, play in and play out. That’s what I’m focused on more than the makes and misses. So I feel just as confident as I did those two games where I couldn’t make anything.”
Gilgeous-Alexander also downplayed the notion that winning by 43 points on Wednesday gives the Thunder the momentum or the upper hand as the series shifts to Denver.
“Winning by a hundred or winning by two, it’s still 1-1, and I think that’s very important,” he said. “Like I said, especially in the series, every game’s going to look different. People are going to make adjustments. It’s going to be a different crowd, a different feel. You’re going to start hot; you’re going to start cold, everything’s going to look different. It’s important to turn the page.”
Here’s more on the Thunder:
- Big man Chet Holmgren missed two late free throws in Game 1 that opened the door for Aaron Gordon‘s game-winning shot. After bouncing back in Game 2 with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and a +34 mark in 26 minutes, Holmgren explained that recovering from a pair of major injuries since he entered the NBA has helped give him the right mindset and perspective to deal with that sort of on-court adversity, per Rylan Stiles of SI.com. “I had five screws and a plate put in my foot, shattered my hip in basically six places,” he said. “I was thinking about it. I was like, if I could pick one of those three, missing a couple free throws is the least of your worries. Obviously, it hurts knowing what was on the line. Playoff game, you never want to lose. But, you also can’t be afraid to fail, I guess.”
- Responding to Gordon’s gripes about how Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is being officiated so far in the series, Holmgren said on Friday that he believes both teams are getting a fair whistle (Twitter video link via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman). “I feel like when we’ve fouled, we’ve been called for fouls. When they foul, they’ve been called for fouls,” he said. “… I feel like it’s a physical game of basketball. That’s what the playoffs is. We just have to come out and be ready for that.”
- While the Thunder racked up 149 points in their Game 2 win over Denver, it’s their smothering defense that has become their calling card, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who spoke to several of Oklahoma City players about how the defense became the NBA’s top-ranked unit. Alex Caruso referred to OKC’s defense as its “superpower,” while Isaiah Hartenstein noted that the team “doesn’t really have a weak link” on that end of the court. Caruso also pointed out that the Thunder’s defensive success is fueled to some extent by the competitiveness of their individual defenders. “We haven’t said it out loud, but iron sharpens iron,” he told ESPN. “You see somebody competing at a certain level, playing at a certain level, you have no choice but to match that. And if you don’t, you get left behind.”
Draft Notes: Lottery Teams, Mock Draft, S. Johnson
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN break down each lottery team’s outlook ahead of the 2025 NBA draft lottery, which will take place on Monday. They also list which player each team is most likely to select assuming the pre-lottery draft order remains unchanged.
While Duke forward Cooper Flagg and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper are widely expected to come off the board first and second overall, respectively, there could be some surprises starting at No. 3. Rutgers wing Ace Bailey and Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe are ranked third and fourth, respectively, on ESPN’s big board and Givony and Woo believe they should be selected (in some order) with the following two picks.
However, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears and Texas guard Tre Johnson could also be in consideration starting at No. 3, according to Givony, who reports that NBA teams are bullish on both players’ long-term potential, though they’re also somewhat polarizing. Fears is ranked fifth on ESPN’s board, while Johnson is sixth.
Here are a couple more notes related to the 2025 NBA draft:
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report recently published his last pre-lottery mock draft. There’s a good deal of overlap between ESPN’s most likely picks and Wasserman’s, including the Raptors selecting Duke center Khaman Maluach at No. 7. There are also some noteworthy differences. For instance, Wasserman seems a little lower on Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 14 to San Antonio vs. No. 8 in ESPN’s story) and quite a bit higher on Georgia forward/center Asa Newell (No. 10 to Houston vs. outside the lottery on ESPN).
- UConn forward Samson Johnson impressed at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last month and has upcoming pre-draft workouts with the Jazz, Lakers, Bucks and Wizards, sources tell Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). A 6’10” big man, Johnson averaged 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a senior this past season for the Huskies (19.4 minutes per game). Johnson is not ranked on ESPN’s big board.
Ben Tenzer Could Be Promoted To Nuggets’ Full-Time GM
Vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer has been involved with the Nuggets in some capacity since 2005. He has steadily worked his way up the basketball operations hierarchy since he was formally hired by the organization in 2013, having been named interim general manager in mid-April after the firing of Calvin Booth.
The Nuggets will reportedly conduct a full-fledged search for Booth’s replacement once their season ends. Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd has been linked to the Nuggets, as has Tim Connelly, who ran Denver’s front office before being hired away by Minnesota.
In addition to external candidates, the Nuggets are also expected to consider lifting Tenzer’s interim tag and promoting him to be the new full-time GM, league sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
Tenzer isn’t the only key member of the Nuggets operating on an interim basis — the same is true of head coach David Adelman, a longtime assistant. The 43-year-old guided Denver to a 3-0 record to wrap up the regular season and clinch a top-four seed in the West, followed by first-round victory over the Clippers, which went the full seven games.
The Nuggets are currently 1-1 in their semifinal series against the top-seeded Thunder ahead of Friday’s Game 3 in Denver.
Latest On Hawks’ Search For Top Basketball Executive
Hawks owner Tony Ressler has shown a “significant interest” in pursuing player agents to run Atlanta’s front office, league sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Stein and Fischer, Ressler has pursued former Warriors executive Bob Myers — also a former agent — to lead the Hawks’ basketball operations department, but those overtures have been unsuccessful. Stein and Fischer hear that Myers, who is now a consultant for the NFL’s Washington Commanders and an ESPN analyst, will be highly selective if he ever takes another front office job.
Stein and Fischer previously reported that Elton Brand, Calvin Booth and Monte McNair have interviewed for the Hawks’ vacancy, though Sixers GM Brand recently withdrew from consideration. In their latest report, The Stein Line duo add a new name to the list of interviewees: Danny Ferry.
Ferry, who has been a Spurs consultant since 2020, was previously the general manager of the Cavaliers from 2005-10. He also ran the Hawks’ front office from 2012-14.
Ferry was at the center of a controversy in Atlanta after making racially insensitive remarks while reading a scouting report on Luol Deng during an organizational conference call. That incident ultimately led to Ferry stepping down as the Hawks’ general manager in 2015. The 58-year-old former NBA player was hired by the Pelicans as a special advisor in 2016 and briefly served as New Orleans’ interim GM in 2019.
The Hawks are seeking a president of basketball operations to oversee the front office, with Onsi Saleh — who was promoted to interim GM after Landry Fields was fired — working under the new hire.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Magic senior advisor John Hammond, NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim and former Hawks wing Travis Hansen are among the other names that have been linked to Atlanta’s vacancy. Multiple reports have indicated that Connelly is expected to sign a new deal with Minnesota.
Joshua Kushner Purchases Minority Stake In Heat
Billionaire tech investor Joshua Kushner, the founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital, has purchased a minority stake in the Heat, the team confirmed today (Twitter links via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald).
Puck News, which first reported the transaction, said Kushner will control less 5% of the Heat. Those shares will not come from majority owner Micky Arison, per the team.
According to Thomas Barrabi of The New York Post, Kushner actually purchased his stake in the Heat last year. He was previously a minority shareholder in the Grizzlies, but he sold that stake to become part-owner of Miami.
As both Jackson and Barrabi observe, Kushner owns a home in Miami with his wife Karlie Kloss. He’s the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as an adviser to Trump during his first term.
Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Celebration, Turner, Depth
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton expected to be fined for his celebration after making a game-winning three-pointer on Tuesday in Cleveland (YouTube link), but instead he received a warning from the NBA, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
“I’ve been waiting for that. I’ve been waiting for that, man,” Haliburton said after Game 2, when asked about the celebration and if he expected to hear from the league. “It was just right in the moment. It was right in the moment. Yeah, man, I’ve been waiting for that. I’ll take that fine, gladly.”
As Reynold notes, Haliburton anticipated a fine because the celebration he used has resulted in several financial penalties in the past for what the league has referred to as an “obscene gesture.”
Here’s more on the Pacers, who hold a 2-0 lead on the top-seeded Cavaliers heading into Friday’s Game 3:
- Haliburton has been bothered by a sore left wrist recently, which is why he wore wore a wrap during Game 2 and at Thursday’s practice. However, he said he’ll be ready for tonight’s home game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I’m fine,” Haliburton said. “I’ll be fine for the game. I’m all good.”
- In an interview with Mark Medina of RG.org, Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, pushed back on the idea that his client is overrated — the 25-year-old point guard was voted the NBA’s most overrated player by an anonymous poll of 90 players last month. “We clearly know that Tyrese is not overrated,” Hanlen said. “He’s the best passer and play-maker in the NBA. He’s one of the best guards in the NBA. And he impacts winning at a high level. There is proof of that. He led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. This year, they already have won a series and they’re up 2-0. One of the big things that we talk about with all my athletes is, ‘It doesn’t really matter what is said. It matters what is done.’ The proof is in the results. We always talk about results being the only thing that matters. He’s got a ton of great results. We don’t really care about an anonymous poll where no one has laid their opinions out on the line.”
- Center Myles Turner is in his 10th season with Indiana and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. In an interesting article for the Players’ Tribune, Turner wrote about his NBA journey, including being involved in trade rumors for several years, and his relationships with head coach Rick Carlisle and Haliburton, among other topics.
- While most NBA teams shorten their rotations in the playoffs, the opposite has been true of the Pacers, who have extended their rotation to 11 players instead of their typical 10, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star. Indiana’s depth and up-tempo playing style has worn down its opponents late in games, leading to a couple of dramatic comebacks. “It’s playing to exhaustion,” backup guard T.J. McConnell said. “That tires other guys out. Our depth, if all of us are able to do that, it’s hard to play against us for 48 minutes. We press all year to get ready for a series like this in the playoffs. We just gotta continue to play extremely hard on both ends of the floor.”
Draymond Green Nears Suspension After Fifth Playoff Tech
Warriors forward/center Draymond Green received his fifth playoff technical foul of the playoffs during Thursday’s loss in Minnnesota, which evened the second-round series at one game apiece. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, Green is now two technicals away from an automatic one-game suspension.
“Looked like the angry Black man,” Green told reporters after the game. “I’m not an angry Black man. I am a very successful, educated Black man with a great family, and I am great at basketball and great at what I do.
“The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”
According to Youngmisuk, a fan was ejected in the fourth quarter for directing a racial slur at Green, who was on a stationary bike in the tunnel near the team’s bench at the time. The two engaged in a brief back and forth before the fan was escorted out of the arena by authorities.
Early in the second quarter, Wolves big man Naz Reid was whistled for a reach-in foul on Green, who flailed his left arm and made contact with Reid’s head (YouTube link via ESPN). Upon review, Green was given a dead-ball technical foul.
The play was similar to Green’s fourth playoff technical, which occurred in Game 7 of Golden State’s first-round series vs. Houston. Fred VanVleet was called for a reach-in foul and Green flailed his arm and hit VanVleet’s head in an apparent attempt to sell the call (YouTube link via Bleacher Report).
“It’s just a habit he has when somebody fouls him, and he’s smart,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “So I think it was Reid reached and on the reach, Draymond kind of swiped through and drew the foul. But he does have a habit of sort of flailing his arm to try to make sure the ref sees it, and he made contact, and that’s what led to the tech.”
Immediately after the fifth technical was announced, Green directed a profanity-laced tirade at the referees. Injured guard Stephen Curry tried to calm him down near mid-court, but that didn’t work, and Kerr wound up subbing in Jimmy Butler for Green to get him off the court.
“I could see he had gotten pretty upset,” Kerr said, “and I just didn’t want him to get another technical, so I took him out at that point and I know he’s going to have to be careful now that he’s two techs away. He’s going to have to stay composed. Obviously, we need him, and I’m confident that he will because he knows the circumstances.”
Green has a long history of accruing technical fouls, flagrant fouls, ejections and suspensions, including an indefinite suspension last season which ultimately cost him 12 games. Thursday’s broadcast noted that he’s also two flagrant points away from an automatic one-game suspension, so any additional on-court incidents could be very costly for the Warriors.
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Sixers Arena, Lottery, Knicks
The Celtics squandered 20-point leads in each of their first two playoff games, both of which came at home against the Knicks. Boston star Jayson Tatum took full accountability for the two losses, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series and can’t sugarcoat anything,” Tatum said. “I need to be better, and I expect to be a lot better.”
Tatum has missed 30 shots across the first two games of the series, shooting 28.6% from the floor in those outings. The Celtics as a whole have missed 75 three-pointers in their two games.
“Guys work really hard on their game and their craft and prepare to be in those moments to hit open shots, and it just hasn’t happened the last two games,” Tatum said. “But you can’t lose your confidence.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers‘ arena will be known going forward as the Xfinity Mobile Arena, effective in September and running through the 2030/31 season, according to The Associated Press. Wells Fargo announced last year it would not renew its naming rights agreement for the building.
- No NBA team has had better lottery luck over the years than the Sixers, who have moved up in eight of 18 lottery appearances, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. As Pompey details, no other franchise during that time has matched Philadelphia’s success in terms of spots improved. Ahead of Monday’s lottery, the Sixers are hoping their lottery luck holds, at least enough for them to keep their top-six protected first-rounder.
- The Knicks‘ experience has helped them build on a 2-0 lead over the Celtics in the playoffs, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. The team has now won a playoff series in three consecutive seasons and is getting more comfortable playing on this stage in the spring. “I don’t think we even know what we’re capable of,” Josh Hart said after Game 2. “We have to continue to build. We have to continue to put together a full game. I think that’s something that we haven’t done during the course of these playoffs. We get leads. We surrender leads. We come back from big leads. We’ve got to figure out a complete game and that can answer some of those questions.“
Southeast Notes: Jaquez, Hawks, Murray, Hunter, Joseph
Heat second-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a strong debut season in 2023/24, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, but he followed up that successful campaign with a quieter year. He finished the ’24/25 campaign averaging 8.6 points per game (down from 11.9 last season) and was out of the rotation at times.
“It was an extremely humbling experience,” Jaquez said during his exit interview, per Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, and sometimes only after do you realize why that had happened to you.”
Jaquez’s efficiency took a slight hit in his second season and he wound up playing a reduced role, even falling out of the rotation during the second half.
“Clearly has to work on some things, which he will,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’ll work on defending in open space, defending situationally in our system, outside shooting will be key again, but he was working on that last summer. I think a full summer again, I think you’ll see big progress. He was coming out of training camp shooting the ball great. So I think we can fast track that.
“And, then, ultimately the hardest one is decision making. Schemes have changed against him. He has to be aggressive, but now there’s going to be different schemes and you graduate to different levels to this. And when there’s a second defender, making the right read and finding open guys, when he’s in a crowd.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks are already seeing the rewards of the deal that sent Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans, Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Dyson Daniels came away with the NBA’s Most Improved Player award after establishing himself as one of the league’s premier defenders. In addition to acquiring a new long-term building block, they added a veteran leader in Larry Nance Jr. in that same trade, along with two first-round picks.
- Atlanta sending De’Andre Hunter to Cleveland at the deadline looks like a win-win for the Hawks and Cavaliers, Williams writes in another story. Although he’s dealing with an injury now, Hunter quickly established himself as a crucial bench piece for the Cavs, while the Hawks obtained cap flexibility by acquiring an expiring contract in Caris LeVert and moving off the $48.2MM in guaranteed money that Hunter is due over the next two years.
- Cory Joseph said during his exit interview that this past season with Orlando was his favorite of his career, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes. The 33-year-old was brought in to primarily serve as a veteran mentor, but ended up becoming the Magic‘s starting point guard by the end of the year after the team dealt with injuries. “Being able to come here and feel like it was a perfect fit for me, in terms of where the team was and where I was … I really enjoyed my time this season being here,” Joseph said. The Magic hold a team option worth $3.4MM on Joseph for 2025/26. He expressed interest in returning to Orlando for his 15th season, per Beede.
Knicks Notes: Bridges, Robinson, Brunson, Towns, More
Mikal Bridges came away with the game-sealing steal against the Celtics on Wednesday. And in Game 1 on Monday, his late three-pointer helped the Knicks secure victory in overtime. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes that while Bridges’ tenure in New York started off on the wrong foot, no one is thinking about the draft picks the Knicks gave up to acquire the defensive-minded wing with the Celtics on the ropes.
“Get your damn apology forms out,” teammate Josh Hart said. “I’ll be collecting them next game.”
As Edwards writes, Bridges’ performance reflects his ability to overcome adversity.
“Going back to our days in college, the way we practiced and prepared for games, it was more mental than anything,” Bridges’ Villanova and Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson said. “Then, when you get to the game situations, you’ve practiced it and been prepared for it. When you do that at a young age and have that in your repertoire going into a professional career, you have that in your back pocket. He has the ability to block out the noise.”
We have more from the Knicks:
- Mitchell Robinson proved to be a major force for the Knicks in their Game 2 win, Zach Braziller of the New York Post observes. The Knicks outscored the Celtics by 19 points with Robinson on the court and he recorded six points, eight rebounds and three steals in the win.
- Brunson opened Game 2 on a rough note, shooting just 23.1% from the field through three quarters. However, in crunch time, the 2024/25 Clutch Player of the Year showed up, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes. He wound up scoring nine points in the fourth quarter to help lift New York over Boston. “That’s Jalen,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the game, he’s going to be at his best when his best is needed.”
- Add Karl-Anthony Towns and Hart to the list of players who stood out when their numbers were called, Schwartz and the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy write in separate stories. “KAT, the way he started off the game was great for us,” Brunson said. “The way he’s been throughout the entire season, he’s been one of the best teammates we have. The way he gives us energy and the way he goes and gets rebounds and what he does, it doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s just the way he’s been.“