A rough blow for Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic, who fall 109-97 to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Play-In Tournament. Orlando never truly controlled the game: the Magic failed to win a single quarter, with their best stretch being a 31-31 tie in the second period. The biggest issue…
With the end of the NBA Regular Season, it is time to draw some conclusions ahead of the start of the postseason, with the Play-In Tournament beginning tonight. In the Western Conference, there was rarely any doubt about who would finish first: the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated from the very beginning. In the East, the…
The Blazers come out of the play-in with momentum and confidence, while the Spurs arrive carrying far different expectations built over the course of the regular season. The growth of the group led by Victor Wembanyama has changed the outlook in San Antonio: from young, inexperienced team to legitimate dark-horse contender with meaningful ambitions. Their…
The curtain closed on the regular season with a loss for the Golden State Warriors (115-110 to the Clippers), but the real show is just beginning. The Dubs’ season once again runs through Los Angeles: a win-or-go-home Play-In matchup with everything on the line. And with the stakes rising, Steve Kerr has already turned his…
In an NBA where the three-point shot has become the primary offensive weapon for virtually every franchise, how many people at the start of the season could have realistically imagined that the league’s leading shooter from beyond the arc would be a rookie? The No. 4 overall pick in the most recent NBA Draft, elite…
If there were an award for bad luck in 2026, Tyrese Haliburton would win it unanimously. After leading the Indiana Pacers to the Finals a year ago, fate has handed him a brutal bill: first a torn Achilles that sidelined him for the entire 2025–26 season, and then an invisible, far more insidious opponent –…
As the Lakers celebrate their third straight win over the Jazz – locking up the fourth seed in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in their playoff series against the Rockets – the conversation has shifted once again to a topic that never seems to age: LeBron James’ longevity. With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves…
There’s probably a universe where this series happens with everyone healthy (including Adams), and in that reality it might be the most intriguing matchup of the first round. In another version of that universe, Doncic also carries over the elite form from his final month of the regular season, and his matchup with Amen Thompson…
The fate of the Western Conference will be decided in one night as the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers face off. Ninth versus tenth. A win-or-go-home showdown that brings years of rivalry onto the floor. Stephen Curry, still averaging 26.6 points per game at age 38 while shooting 39% from beyond the arc,…
The New York Knicks are preparing for their NBA playoff opener against the Atlanta Hawks in a series that may be more dangerous than it appears on paper. Jalen Brunson and company arrive under major pressure: in New York, the minimum expectation is reaching the NBA Finals, especially after winning the NBA Cup. An early…
