Every year, 29 teams fall short of the ultimate goal, and every year, those 29 teams ask themselv...

Every year, 29 teams fall short of the ultimate goal, and every year, those 29 teams ask themselves how they can take the next step.We've already looked at how the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3279346" href="https://thescore.com/news/3279346">Eastern Conference's four eliminated teams</a> may go about answering that question. Here's what's on tap for the first-round outs from the West.<h3>Houston Rockets </h3>The Rockets should feel as good as possible for a 2-seed that was bounced in the first round. They were a 22-win tire fire just two years ago. This season, they won 52 games in a loaded Western Conference, had the league's fourth-ranked defense, and pushed a pedigreed Warriors team led by three future Hall of Famers to a Game 7. While veterans Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Steven Adams had huge hands in Houston's success, the team was also powered by a talented youth brigade for whom the future looks very bright.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Big man Alperen Sengun was an All-Star at 22 and had a strong playoff showing despite struggling with his touch all year. Sophomore Amen Thompson, the most explosive athlete in the league outside of his twin brother Ausar, broke out as a two-way stud with legitimate superstar potential. Jabari Smith Jr., a versatile third-year forward who's even younger than Thompson, continued to establish himself as an ideal gap-filling role player. Tari Eason kept growing into one of the best defensive playmakers in the league. <figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/cropped_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/w220xh124_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/w320xh180_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/w640xh360_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/w768xh432_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/784175/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2212190173.jpg?ts=1746471280 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Logan Riely / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>That said, the Rockets' loss to Golden State - and their season as a whole - provided some obvious lessons they'll carry into a fascinating offseason. Above all, the offense needs to improve dramatically. They finished bottom 10 in shooting percentage from every quadrant on the floor: 21st from 3-point range, 23rd from long mid-range, 26th from floater range, and 22nd at the rim. And though their 22nd-ranked half-court offense was buoyed by the league's best offensive rebound rate and a top-10 transition attack, that wasn't enough to overcome a 92.4 offensive rating on first-shot possessions against a set Warriors defense.The front office's big decision comes down to whether it believes the necessary improvements can come from within or whether the team has to look externally. Houston's biggest need is upgrading its off-the-dribble shot creation, and as good as Sengun and Thompson are - and can eventually become - the internal options seem unlikely to address that deficiency.Jalen Green's place in the team's future feels particularly hazy as he enters the first year of a three-year extension. While he's innately talented and has made strides in the last couple years, his shot selection and overall decision-making remain far too erratic for him to be relied upon by a contending team. The Rockets wouldn't be wrong to exercise patience with the 23-year-old, but they'd also be justified in cutting bait if there's a market for his services.This team looks ripe for a consolidation trade: Houston's got more intriguing young players than its rotation can currently accommodate (looking at you, Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore) and a bundle of surplus draft picks including three unprotected first-rounders from the beleaguered Suns and one from the even more beleaguered Mavericks. The possibility of trading those picks back to Phoenix makes the Rockets a sensible landing spot for Kevin Durant or (in a more ideal scenario) Devin Booker. Giannis Antetokounmpo could also be available this summer, and while he wouldn't fix their shooting woes, he'd still launch them into a different stratum of contention because he's Giannis Antetokounmpo.The front office also has to decide whether to pick up VanVleet's $45-million team option after a regular season in which he shot under 38% from the field followed by a playoff series in which he was Houston's most important offensive player. The Rockets are already dangerously light on ball-handling and pull-up shooting, and they wouldn't be able to replace VanVleet's value via this barren free-agent class. But opening up cap space by renouncing him could allow them to absorb a star in a trade without having to send back matching salary. They could also just try to re-sign VanVleet to a longer-term deal with a lower average annual value.Adams, who was instrumental in pushing the Warriors to seven and had the best individual net rating (plus-14.1) in the series, is a free agent as well. Smith and Eason are eligible for extensions. That's a lot of consequential decisions to make in a short amount of time, and while there aren't many bad choices for a team in Houston's position, this feels like a potential fork-in-the-road summer that could lead the team in any number of directions. - Joe Wolfond <h3>Los Angeles Lakers </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/cropped_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/w220xh124_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/w320xh180_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/w640xh360_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/w768xh432_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780153/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2208313373.jpg?ts=1746471314 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Joe Murphy / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Although it can be hard to see the forest for the trees in the immediate, emotional aftermath of a disappointing postseason elimination, the Lakers are in great shape. Turning Anthony Davis into Luka Doncic brought immediate promise, but this team was always going to be incomplete in the short term, especially when Los Angeles' deadline-day deal for fragile Hornets center Mark Williams fell through.The real work to build a genuine contender around Doncic and LeBron James begins now. Assuming James is back (the 40-year-old has a $52.6-million player option for next season), there are a couple ways the Lakers can go about this. First, they could run it back with a trio of Doncic, James, and Austin Reaves while filling their glaring hole at center and adding some quality depth. That's the more conservative path. Some might argue the Lakers should be more aggressive to maximize what could be James' last year or two, but they've also got a Doncic-led future to plan for. Plus, a team featuring Doncic, James, and Reaves with a more balanced supporting cast would enter next season as a fringe contender at worst.The more aggressive option would be to dangle Reaves, salary filler, and draft picks on the trade market. In addition to swap rights in 2026, 2028, and 2030, the Lakers still have their 2031 first-rounder and will get access to their 2032 first-rounder once this year's draft is complete. That might not be enough to land another superstar, but the Lakers don't need one. It surely is enough to land an impact player - perhaps one who's a better fit between Doncic and James than Reaves. - Joseph Casciaro <h3>LA Clippers</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/cropped_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/w220xh124_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/w320xh180_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/w640xh360_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/w768xh432_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783634/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2212092486.jpg?ts=1746471526 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Juan Ocampo / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>For the first time since Kawhi Leonard tore his ACL partway through the second round in 2021, things seemed to be lined up for the Clippers to make noise in the postseason. Leonard was healthy and operating near the peak of his powers, James Harden still had gas in the tank, and the surrounding roster was deep and versatile. They finished the regular season as the hottest team in the league, and their first-round opponent was a comparatively thin outfit that had fired its head coach two weeks earlier. There's a reason the Clippers were one of the teams <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3256715" href="https://thescore.com/news/3256715">under the most pressure</a> entering the playoffs. Because if not now, when? That's the question the Clippers and their fans have to ask themselves after a seven-game loss to the Denver Nuggets marked another early exit for a team that's won just three series since signing Leonard six years ago. For this, they stripped themselves of every shred of prospect capital and relinquished control of all their own first-round picks between now and 2030. That's going to make executing any kind of pivot very challenging. And it takes a measure of blind faith to believe this same team can come back and produce a better result next year.Leonard will turn 34 this summer, and it's hard to imagine he has many kicks at the can left given his injury history. Harden will turn 36 with the ability to become a free agent by declining a $36-million player option. Another rough Game 7 notwithstanding, he produced an awesome season in which he played all but three games and kept the team's offense afloat with Leonard on the shelf for three months. Considering L.A. can ill afford to let another star walk for nothing, odds are he'll be able to negotiate another one-plus-one or two-plus-one type of deal. But at his age, can we expect even one more season like the one he just had?It's a good thing Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell are locked up on team-friendly deals (it'll be interesting to see whether Powell's willing to extend his), because any upward mobility is contingent on those guys continuing to build on their late-career breakthroughs. Even then, L.A. will probably need youngish guys like Amir Coffey (if he re-signs), Jordan Miller, and Kobe Brown to make strides. And startlingly important 36-year-old Nic Batum to return for one last hurrah. But none of that even matters unless Leonard can stay healthy and Harden can sustain an All-Star level.I've been <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/2934216" href="https://thescore.com/news/2934216">wrong about the Clippers</a> before, and this is a creative front office, but it really does feel like they've run out of cards to play. Let's see if they have one more up their sleeve. - Wolfond<h3>Memphis Grizzlies </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/cropped_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/w220xh124_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/w320xh180_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/w640xh360_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/w768xh432_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/760330/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2188847815.jpg?ts=1746471407 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Joe Murphy / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>The Grizzlies are one of the toughest teams to get a read on.On one hand, Memphis is still one of the league's youngest teams, already has some valuable postseason experience, and boasts an enviable trio of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr., the latter of whom is extension eligible this summer (Morant and Bane are under contract through 2028 and 2029, respectively). The Grizzlies also have an intriguing mix of youngsters that includes Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells, Scotty Pippen Jr., restricted free agent Santi Aldama, Vince Williams Jr., and GG Jackson. It's easy to argue that teams in this position should either ride the wave or make a consolidation trade to boost their immediate title hopes.On the other hand, the Grizzlies feel more like a fading contender than a young team on the rise. Morant has gone from future face of the league to one of the league's most unreliable stars. A reported disconnect over offensive philosophies led general manager Zach Kleiman to fire head coach Taylor Jenkins mere weeks before the playoffs despite Memphis sitting fifth in the tough Western Conference. Is it possible new coach Tuomas Iisalo and some better injury luck create a resurgence that propels the Grizzlies back up the West hierarchy? Sure, but it feels like something has to give.Don't be surprised if the Grizzlies shop Morant - or any member of the team's Big Three - more heavily than they shop the youngsters and picks. - Casciaro

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What's next: Where the West's 1st-round outs go from here

One image always immediately jumps to mind when I think of Gregg Popovich coaching on the San Ant...

One image always immediately jumps to mind when I think of Gregg Popovich coaching on the San Antonio Spurs' sideline. It's of him grinning ear to ear and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYSGp4Jp_9E&amp;t=0">giving Shaquille O'Neal a double thumbs-up</a> after instructing Michael Finley to intentionally foul the then-Suns center 5 seconds into the 2008-09 season.O'Neal griped about the Spurs' Hack-a-Shaq tactic during the teams' first-round playoff meeting the year prior, calling it a "coward move." Popovich responding by taking the piss out of him stands out to me not just because it was one of the funniest things I've seen on an NBA court, but because it was one of those rare instances we saw the playful and jovial side of Pop peek out from behind his shroud of curmudgeounry. He always had an acerbic deadpan wit, but rarely expressed outright goofiness like that.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/cropped_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/w220xh124_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/w320xh180_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/w640xh360_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/w768xh432_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783730/w1080xh607_Screenshot_2025-05-02_at_3.12.48_PM.jpg?ts=1746216822 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> ESPN</figcaption></figure>That was the duality of Pop, though. He could be dead serious about his job without taking the enterprise as a whole too seriously. He could be hard on players but he also cared deeply about them as people, and knew when to apply a softer touch. He obviously loved to coach, clearly lived and breathed this stuff, but also had enough perspective to recognize the absurdity of living and breathing this stuff.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Those who played for or worked under him tended to talk less about his tactical acumen and feel for in-game adjustments (which he obviously had in spades) than his love of wine and lively team dinners, his famed offseason coaching retreats, his eclectic interests outside basketball, and his sense of what was truly important in life.The 76-year-old announced Friday he's stepping away from the sidelines and transitioning to a role as Spurs president of basketball operations. He'd already been absent for nearly the entire 2024-25 season after suffering a stroke in November. The announcement ends the most successful and most prolific coaching tenure in league history: 29 years with one team, with 1,592 combined regular-season and playoff wins, both NBA records by considerable margins.In this era where the average coaching stint lasts just 2.5 seasons, it's hard to imagine we'll ever see anything even approaching that level of longevity or success again. The accolades dried up in recent years as San Antonio underwent a rebuild, but over a span of 22 years under Popovich's stewardship, the Spurs made the playoffs every season, amassed the best winning percentage of any team in North American pro sports, won 50-plus games 19 times (with one of the others being a lottery-shortened season in which they went 37-13), and won five championships.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/cropped_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/w220xh124_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/w320xh180_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/w640xh360_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/w768xh432_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783731/w1080xh607_GettyImages-84574828.jpg?ts=1746216951 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> D. Clarke Evans / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>At the center of it all was, well, Tim Duncan, but also a coach who had the courage and conviction to zag while the rest of the league zigged. What defined the Spurs stylistically during Popovich's historic tenure wasn't their ability to perfect one particular brand of basketball, but their facility for shapeshifting to best suit their personnel. Between his first championship and his fifth, Popovich's offense evolved from being a walk-it-up affair built around rote Duncan post-ups to a free-flowing, uptempo, improvisational motion system that the rest of the NBA quickly tried to emulate. When I talked to coaches around the league about <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2883055/how-modern-offenses-blend-old-school-tactics-with-new-age-skills">how offenses have evolved</a> in recent years, almost all of them cited Pop's Spurs as their inspiration. Popovich was ahead of the curve on concepts like advantage basketball and the value of corner threes, but sometimes he swam against the currents he himself helped set in motion. Like when San Antonio signed LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015 and reverted to an old-school, post-centric, mid-range-heavy style en route to back-to-back 60-plus-win seasons.At their best, his Spurs teams reimagined what was possible through collective selflessness and hivemind-like intuition. Their defense was defined by discipline, communication, and attention to detail: Year after year, they managed to avoid fouling, reduce second-chance opportunities, bust it back in transition, and lock down the paint. During that 22-year playoff streak, they never finished lower than 11th in defensive efficiency and finished top three 17 times.Popovic also saw the big picture when it came to preserving players and getting the most out of an entire group, whether that meant limiting his stars' minutes or bringing one of them off the bench. We'll probably never see a more balanced ensemble win a championship than the 2014 Spurs. That team didn't have a single player crack 30 minutes per game during the regular season, and its leading scorer averaged 16.7 points per game. It's a shame we won't get to see Pop get another chance to coach a contender helmed by yet another transformative big man in Victor Wembanyama. But it's nice to know he'll still be involved with the organization. His legacy will continue to live on for decades not only through the Spurs, but through a <a href="https://x.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1918347492128956731">coaching tree</a> that looks more like a coaching forest at this point.While he'll presumably continue to be active behind the scenes, his presence in the scenes will be sorely missed. He was one of one. Salute to an absolute legend.

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We'll never see another coach like Gregg Popovich 

Every year, 29 teams fall short of the ultimate goal, and every year those 29 teams ask themselve...

Every year, 29 teams fall short of the ultimate goal, and every year those 29 teams ask themselves how they can take the next step.With the Eastern Conference's first round in the books, here's a look at how the four eliminated teams may go about answering that question.<h3>Orlando Magic </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/cropped_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/w220xh124_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/w320xh180_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/w640xh360_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/w768xh432_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782902/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2211377099.jpg?ts=1746203135 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Fernando Medina / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>The Magic are in a great spot for a .500 team bounced from the playoffs in five games. They have two tentpole stars in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, archetypal jumbo playmaking wings who are only 22 and 23 years old. They have maybe the NBA's best defensive guard in Jalen Suggs, also only 23. They have an identity built on size and toughness, and they've finished top three in defensive efficiency in each of the last two seasons.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>They dealt with a brutal spate of injuries this year - Wagner missed 22 games, Banchero 36, Suggs missed 47 plus the playoffs, and dynamic backup center Mo Wagner suffered a torn ACL 30 games in - and still had a strong finish to the regular season, a dominant play-in victory, and a respectable first-round showing against the defending champs. The entire rotation is under contract for 2025-26, with extensions set to kick in for Suggs and Franz Wagner and a max extension surely coming Banchero's way this summer.It's also abundantly clear what the Magic need to add in order to take the next step, which makes their path ahead relatively straightforward. They finished 27th in points per possession this season, with the third-worst relative offensive rating in franchise history. And we're talking about a franchise that's finished with a bottom-10 offense for 13 consecutive years. Injuries played a big part, but it's not like the Magic were built to scorch the nets even when fully healthy. Their 31.8% mark from 3-point range was the worst for any team since the 2015-16 Lakers (who won 17 games), and that sunk to 26.3% in the playoffs.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was brought in to help fix that issue but instead had his worst shooting season in nine years. Wagner developed a hitch in his jumper and shot below 30% from deep for a second straight year. The Magic can hope for those guys to figure things out, but they can't bank on it. They must be aggressive in trying to bolster their offense.More than anything, they need a true lead guard. Banchero and Wagner are great playmakers for their positions, but not good enough to be tasked with the level of initiation they're currently carrying. Suggs has made meaningful strides on the other end, but he hasn't demonstrated the ball-handling or pull-up shooting chops to pilot an above-average offense. The Magic own all their own first-round picks, which they can package with some of their frontcourt depth to get the backcourt help they need. Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr., Mo Wagner, Goga Bitadze, Tristan Da Silva, Jett Howard, and even Anthony Black should all be on the table.They'd obviously love to find a creator/shooter who won't undercut their identity, but if they can't acquire that type of player, they'll still have the defensive infrastructure to absorb a small guard like, say, Trae Young. Or Anfernee Simons. Or Coby White. They should also have some maneuverability under the tax to add another piece using the MLE. Bottom line: The foundation of a contending team is in place. It's time to commit to finishing the house. - Joe Wolfond <h3>Detroit Pistons</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/cropped_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w220xh124_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w320xh180_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w640xh360_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w768xh432_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Chris Schwegler / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>The Pistons took a monumental step forward this season, going from last-place laughingstock to legitimate playoff team on the rise. The biggest development was the emergence of 2021 No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham as a genuine franchise star, giving Detroit the most important building block in constructing a contender.It's possible the Pistons fast-track their ascent with a win-now type of move, but my money's on the team leaning on internal improvement for now. That's not a bad strategy when Cunningham is surrounded by youngsters like Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, defensive big man Isaiah Stewart, and Marcus Sasser. Thompson in particular looks poised for a breakout with a little more seasoning, and I won't be shocked if he makes the kind of leap twin brother Amen did in Houston this year.However, it's worth noting that Cunningham, Duren, and Thompson were the only members of the Pistons' young core who earned valuable postseason rotation minutes during the team's first-round loss to New York (Stewart would have, but sat out Games 2-6 with a knee injury). Detroit relied on the contributions of veterans who won't be around long term, so it's possible the Pistons take a step back at some point rather than enjoying a linear ascent up the East standings.Of the team's three veteran free agents - Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Dennis Schroder - Beasley's the most indispensable. The 28-year-old set a franchise record with 319 made 3-pointers this season, shooting better than 41% from deep for the second straight season while earning only $6 million. Beasley's in line for quite the raise, and priority one for the Pistons this summer is retaining him. Then they can start to think about a consolidation trade. - Joseph Casciaro<h3>Milwaukee Bucks </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/cropped_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/w220xh124_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/w320xh180_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/w640xh360_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/w768xh432_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782900/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2206954859.jpg?ts=1746203225 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Jeremy Chen / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>There isn't a muckier team-building quagmire in the NBA than the one Milwaukee is mired in, nor is there a more fraught offseason ahead. The Bucks lost to the Pacers in the first round for the second straight year, but more consequentially, they lost Damian Lillard - not only for all of next season but likely for good as a star-caliber player. That basically leaves Giannis Antetokounmpo gazing at his barren surroundings like a "Fresh Prince" meme come to life.Who's the second-best player on this team now? Kyle Kuzma? AJ Green? Anyone else conceivably in the mix for that backhanded distinction is set to become a free agent. That includes 37-year-old center Brook Lopez, who's been a core piece of the team's identity throughout the Giannis era but just effectively got played out of the Pacers series. The mercurial Bobby Portis has a $13-million player option. Gary Trent Jr. is headed to free agency after nearly shooting the Bucks to a season-saving Game 5 win in Indiana before literally fumbling them out of it.There's no move that can salvage this for Milwaukee; the front office fired every last bullet in an effort to maximize Antetokounmpo's prime. And kudos to them, they won the franchise's first championship in 50 years, but it's over now. The Bucks have almost no young talent, don't control any of their own picks (first or second-rounders) from now until 2031, and owe 35% of their salary cap to a player who won't touch the floor next season. Even if they let Lopez walk, renounce all their other cap holds, have Portis decline his player option, and Jedi mind-trick Pat Connaughton into declining his, they won't have the cap space to bring in meaningful help. All of which is to say: No team's trading anything of substance for anything on this roster ... other than Antetokoumpo. And as depressing as it may be for the Bucks organization and fan base to consider the nuclear option - especially considering they don't have a path to getting their own picks back for tanking purposes - there's no other way out of this corner. Having Giannis fritter away another precious prime season or two in a hopeless situation, while getting closer to free agency and thus diminishing his trade value, won't do anyone any good.It's time for both parties to move on. All that's left to determine is how big a haul Milwaukee can bring back in what should be an insane bidding war, and whether that return will be enough to bridge the franchise to a new era with a shred of hope. - Wolfond<h3>Miami Heat</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/cropped_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/w220xh124_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/w320xh180_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/w640xh360_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/w768xh432_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/625482/w1080xh607_GettyImages-1758800173.jpg?ts=1746203279 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Issac Baldizon / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Between the advantage and lure of South Beach, plus team president Pat Riley's superstars-or-bust mantra, the Heat operate in a different stratosphere than most other NBA teams, for better or worse.The average club may look at the pile of mediocrity left amid the rubble of the Jimmy Butler era and decide it's time to hit the reset button, but the Heat aren't your average team. Miami's surely eyeing starry free-agent classes in 2026 and 2027, with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo serving as solid supporting cast members for the next leading man who wants to call Dade County home. But that still leaves the 2025-26 season to figure out.The Heat could get in the mix for the next disgruntled star eyeing a sunnier destination, but they simply don't have the goods to outbid more asset-rich competitors (unless a rival GM gets a case of the Nico Harrisons and decides to negotiate exclusively with them). The likeliest outcome is the Heat mostly run it back next season in what amounts to a bridge year before it's time to hit the gas again.As presently constructed, the Heat once again project as a play-in caliber team (as they've been for the last three years), no matter how much head coach Erik Spoelstra squeezes out of another overmatched squad. - Casciaro

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/31171109/related

What's next? Where the East's 1st-round outs go from here

They say styles make fights, and that's rarely more evident than it is during playoff basketball....

They say styles make fights, and that's rarely more evident than it is during playoff basketball. For proof, look no further than the thrilling first-round series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers, which the T-Wolves lead 3-1 after a nail-biting Game 4 win.Countless plot points have emerged in the series - Anthony Edwards' latest superstar turn, Julius Randle's redemption arc, the heroic shotmaking of Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels, LeBron James still playing elite back-line defense at age 40, JJ Redick shrinking his rotation to an extent that would make Tom Thibodeau envious - but almost all of those developments tie back to the stylistic clash at the heart of this matchup: the very different ways the two teams are constructed, and the ways their respective constructions are forcing or allowing them to play at either end of the floor.The differences mainly come down to size, depth, defensive acumen, and, by extension, lineup and schematic flexibility - distinctions that basically all favor Minnesota. The hope for L.A. coming into the series was that the combined scoring and shot-creating prowess of James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves would be enough to overcome any inherent matchup disadvantages. That hope wasn't unfounded; the Lakers entered the fourth quarter of Game 4 with a 10-point lead, 12 minutes away from reclaiming home-court advantage in what would've become a best-of-three.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Instead, they'll have to win three straight elimination games against a hungry and dialed-in opponent. But the T-Wolves certainly aren't out of the woods yet, and you can never count out a team with James and Doncic at the reins. So, let's look at how the series ended up here and what the Lakers are up against as they look to claw their way back.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/cropped_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/w220xh124_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/w320xh180_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/w640xh360_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/w768xh432_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783290/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2211796477.jpg?ts=1746022595 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / Getty</figcaption></figure>Before the playoffs, I <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3267708" href="https://thescore.com/news/3267708">wondered</a> which style would win out when a T-Wolves team that likes to play multiple bigs went up against a Lakers team that frequently plays none. I also wondered how short a leash Minnesota would have on its biggest player, Rudy Gobert, if this matchup proved challenging for him. We've gotten some interesting answers to those questions.The Lakers, for their part, decided very early on that they couldn't trust their lone big man in Jaxson Hayes. They've played him 31 total minutes across the first four games of the series and have been outscored by 17 points in those minutes. They've been center-less the rest of the time, with James and/or Dorian Finney-Smith serving as their nominal five.In spite of that, the T-Wolves are shooting just 53.6% inside the restricted area, which ranks <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/shots?season=2024&amp;seasontype=playoffs&amp;start=10/1/2024&amp;end=10/15/2025#tab-offense_shooting_accuracy">dead last</a> among all playoff teams. That's a credit to the work James has done as a sweeper on the back line. He's held Minnesota to 36.4% at the rim when he's in the vicinity, second to only Draymond Green among players contesting at least five rim shots per game in the playoffs, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4745#tab-shooting_frequency">NBA Advanced Stats</a>.It's really been a full team effort, though. Ever since trading Anthony Davis for Doncic, the Lakers have had to rely on rim protection by committee, making up for their lack of one true anchor with the sheer volume of bodies they jam onto the strong side of the floor. They switch almost every screen, aiming to flatten out opposing offenses and willing to live with a bad matchup as long as they have layers of help waiting behind it. While that's worked well to limit the damage at the rim in this series, it's also led to them conceding a lot of clean catch-and-shoot threes, with Minnesota canning 45.8% of them.The Timberwolves also have a 35% offensive rebound rate, and they're winning the overall possession battle by about five shooting possessions per game. And it's not like they're just doing that with their jumbo frontcourts; Gobert's averaging only 26 minutes because of his complete inability to utilize his height advantage at the offensive end. The bigger story is that Minnesota's been much better than L.A. at playing small. The Randle-Reid frontcourt has outscored the Lakers by 14.6 points per 100 possessions across 70 minutes, per <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612750&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;PlayerIds=203497,1629675,203944">PBP Stats</a>.The T-Wolves' defense has allowed about three fewer points per 100 possessions with Gobert <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612750/onoffcourt-advanced?dir=D&amp;sort=NET_RATING">on the floor</a>, but their offense has scored about nine fewer points per 100 with him out there. They've still won his minutes because of how stout he's been on the glass and in ball-screen coverage, which really speaks to the options coach Chris Finch has at his disposal. Where Finch can mix and match personnel and scheme as the situation dictates, the Lakers don't have much choice but to play the way they're playing. (Though Redick surely could've found a couple minutes to squeeze in a sixth or seventh man in the second half of Game 4.)<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/cropped_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/w220xh124_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/w320xh180_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/w640xh360_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/w768xh432_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783291/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2212030306.jpg?ts=1746022691 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> David Berding / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>All of which brings us to Edwards and Doncic. There's been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6320037/2025/04/29/anthony-edwards-luka-doncic-brandin-podziemski-tyrese-haliburton-discussionnba-playoffs/?campaign=13379903&amp;source=athletic_targeted_email&amp;userId=11755">a lot of talk</a> about how the two No. 1 options have performed relative to one another, a particularly juicy storyline given that Doncic's Mavericks eliminated Edwards and the T-Wolves in last year's West finals. One thing that really stands out is that Edwards is averaging more assists than Doncic despite the latter being a vastly superior passer. And that can't only be chalked up to Edwards' teammates making more shots.For one thing, he's delivered more assists to the rim than Doncic has. For another, the two are virtually even in potential assists, with Doncic holding a tiny 10.5 to 10.3 edge, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST">NBA Advanced Stats</a>. (Doncic averaged 13.4 during the regular season, compared to Edwards' 8.4.) Tack on the fact that Edwards has just six turnovers in the series while Doncic has 18, and it's hard to dispute the fact that Edwards has been the more effective playmaker.Of course, nothing on an NBA court happens in a vacuum, and you can't separate those numbers from the type of defense each player is facing. Edwards, for example, is starting games with Reaves as his primary defender, while Doncic has to deal with the octopus-armed McDaniels. Knowing the Lakers are switching everything, Edwards can basically pick out any matchup he wants, with better options to choose from than Doncic has. He's been particularly cruel to Doncic himself, torching him for 39 points on 15-for-25 shooting with six assists and zero turnovers, according to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630162/head-to-head?Matchup=Offense&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=PLAYER_PTS">NBA.com's matchup data</a>. So, while Edwards' poise as a decision-maker in this series is a monumental development, the real separator in a star-versus-star comparison would be that he's been a major component of his team's ironclad defensive unit, while Doncic has been a weak link who's been targeted and exploited.Because the Lakers are less concerned with who's guarding the ball than with who's helping in the gaps away from it, they've been too content to concede switches with Doncic and Rui Hachimura. It's either leading to high-value shots for Edwards or prompting overloads that lead to skip passes, kickouts, or lay-downs to guys like McDaniels, Reid, and Randle. Those guys are shooting a combined 12-for-25 from deep off of Edwards' passes. (Randle is also taking major advantage of L.A.'s switch-happy tendencies.)<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/cropped_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/w220xh124_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/w320xh180_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/w640xh360_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/w768xh432_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/783288/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2212036157.jpg?ts=1746022324 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> David Berding / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Edwards is playing smart, patient, and ruthlessly opportunistic basketball - sometimes attacking right away, sometimes probing with a live dribble or stringing out a double-team until a seam opens up. He isn't settling, but he isn't forcing anything either. His rim frequency is up from 26% in the regular season to <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4745#tab-shooting_frequency">33% in this series</a>, which is particularly impressive considering league-wide rim volume plummets in the postseason.He's shooting only 50% when he gets there because of all the traffic the Lakers are putting in front of the basket, but repeatedly collapsing the defense is still hugely benefiting Minnesota's offense, especially given the way he's passing the ball. His <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives?PerMode=PerGame&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=DRIVES">drives are up</a> from 13.2 to 16.8 per game, and he's more than doubled his average number of assists out of those drives, from 1.1 to a league-leading 2.3. After running a negative assist-to-turnover ratio on drives during the regular season, he has a 3-to-1 ratio against the Lakers.The T-Wolves have the luxury of being more conservative in their coverages against Doncic, both because they have better individual rim protection and because they can trust most of their defenders to handle that matchup with minimal help. Also, contrary to the Lakers' soft-switching approach, McDaniels has fought pretty hard to get around screens and maintain his Doncic assignment.While they've mixed things up a lot, the Timberwolves have largely tried to play Doncic's pick-and-rolls two-on-two and his isolations straight up, even when that means leaving Gobert or Reid on an island. (Reid's been passable in those situations, while Gobert's been genuinely good.) They've essentially invited him to be a scorer, and, the generational scorer that he is, Doncic has taken them up on the invitation; he's averaging 30.8 points on 62% true shooting in the series. But the T-Wolves will happily live with that if they can keep limiting his impact as a passer.L.A.'s 5-out alignment has given Minnesota problems at times, most notably in Game 4 when Hachimura banged five threes with Gobert trying to get out to him. But Doncic is clearly missing the presence of a roll man. That alone accounts for a good portion of his assist drop-off. It also helps explain why the Lakers rank 14th out of 16 playoff teams in rim finishing after Doncic's Mavericks ranked third last postseason.Take it all together, and you have two teams and two superstars whose performances are being shaped by a stylistic tug-of-war. The T-Wolves have pulled the Lakers to the brink. Now let's see if the Lakers can pull themselves back.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/31150352/related

How a stylistic tug-of-war is dictating Wolves-Lakers

All sports injuries are tough, but some of them feel crueler than others.   Watching Damian Lilla...

All sports injuries are tough, but some of them feel crueler than others. Watching Damian Lillard crumple to the floor and grab at his heel in Game 4 of his Milwaukee Bucks' first-round series against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night, knowing what that type of noncontact injury entails, was particularly difficult to stomach. As he was helped off the court, it was hard not to think about everything that led up to that moment.There were all those years Lillard spent trying to lift so-so Trail Blazers teams to a higher purpose, putting up some of the best offensive seasons we've ever seen from a guard and hitting some of the <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/1762884">most iconic shots</a> in playoff history. He did this despite never sharing the court with another All-Star teammate after LaMarcus Aldridge left in 2015.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>There was the 2023 offseason when he finally decided, with his runway as an elite player shrinking, that it was time to maneuver his way to a more competitive situation.Then there was the trade that sent him to Milwaukee, which wasn't his preferred destination but paired him with by far the best teammate he's ever had. It seemed to offer the promise of championship contention in the twilight of his prime. His first season with the Bucks was choppy, as he <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2757879">struggled initially</a> to sync up with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court, dealt with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5857347/2024/10/22/damian-lillard-bucks-year-2/">personal challenges</a> off the court, and navigated all manner of coaching turmoil.He still managed to put up a huge first round against Indiana, which went for naught because Antetokounmpo sat out the series. Lillard himself missed multiple games with a strain in the same Achilles tendon he'd eventually tear.Lillard was better this season than last, and he and Antetokounmpo fine-tuned their two-man synergy. It still wasn't enough to make the Bucks championship contenders because the infrastructure around them continued to crumble. Brook Lopez, now 37, finally started to show his age. Khris Middleton couldn't stay healthy and was traded for an ineffectual Kyle Kuzma. The team's depth was nonexistent. Then Lillard developed a blood clot in late March that <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3251497" href="https://thescore.com/news/3251497">seemed certain</a> to end both his season and his team's.That he managed to return four weeks later from a condition that typically takes at least three months to fully treat was miraculous. That he did so only to suffer a career-altering injury five days later is devastating. We haven't seen the last of Lillard, but we've very likely seen the last of him as an All-Star-caliber player. He'll turn 35 this summer, and there's just no history of players his age coming back from Achilles tears and still playing like stars.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/cropped_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/w220xh124_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/w320xh180_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/w640xh360_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/w768xh432_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782861/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2212314331.jpg?ts=1745871174 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Stacy Revere / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Shooting is a resilient skill, and Lillard is one of the greatest shooters of all time. But his secret superpower has always been his driving ability, and the way he's been able to play the threat of his drive against the threat of his pull-up jumper. It's hard to imagine him being able to do that as effectively in the wake of this injury. The 2025-26 season is already a write-off. He'll be 36 when he next takes the court. Who knows what the Bucks will even look like by then.The franchise would've been in dire straits even if Lillard had made it through the playoffs unscathed, having relinquished control of all its own first- and second-round picks through 2030 for a win-now roster that looked unlikely to escape the first round anyway. Now, Milwaukee will be allocating 82% of the salary cap to one player actually on the court.There are no prospects in the pipeline ready to break out and pry the window back open. Lopez, who's been as foundational as anyone to the team's identity during the Giannis era, is about to become a free agent and is currently being played out of the Pacers series. It's well and truly over for this iteration of the Bucks.Loyalty has become nearly as central to Antetokounmpo's NBA persona as it was to Lillard's in Portland, but there comes a point at which even the most steadfast superstar sees the writing on the wall. Milwaukee has zero hope of contending next season without Lillard, and not much more hope of doing so with a compromised version of him after that.Antetokounmpo's commitment to the Bucks is admirable, and I'm usually not one to advocate for players demanding trades. But the cold reality is that any season he remains with the team from here on out will be a waste of one of the precious prime years remaining to him now that he's turned 30. And if he's looking for a cautionary tale about waiting too long to end a partnership that no longer has a future, he needn't look further than Lillard.It sucks to say this about Lillard, a guy who was often a refreshing voice during an era of superstar nomadism; a guy who once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fygMo2TjQoA">said</a>, "Something that's missing in our league is the character and the fight and the passion and pride about not just the name on the back, but the name on the front." At this point, though, it's hard not to feel that Lillard was cheated a bit, and that his career deserved a more dignified second act than this.He wasn't a perfect player by any means and was sometimes the author of his own misfortune. His defensive deficiencies were part of the reason his teams were often capped with second-round ceilings. He also had some real playoff stinkers, including four straight rough showings from 2015 to 2018. But you could never lay too much blame at his feet given how thin his margin for error was.His Blazers teams peaked with a 2019 Western Conference finals berth, but Lillard kept pouring in monster production even as they failed to win a series thereafter. He had the best playoff performance of his career in 2021, featuring the <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/game_score.html">single best game score</a> of any postseason game ever, and the Blazers still lost to the Jamal Murray-less Nuggets in the first round. Two years later, he averaged over 32 points on nearly 65% true shooting - <a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/player-season-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;order_by=year_id&amp;year_min=1947&amp;qual=mp_per_g_req&amp;ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&amp;cval%5B1%5D=30&amp;cstat%5B1%5D=pts_per_g&amp;ccomp%5B2%5D=gt&amp;cval%5B2%5D=0.645&amp;cstat%5B2%5D=ts_pct">one of five players</a> in NBA history to score that much on that level of efficiency - and Portland didn't even sniff the play-in.If those Blazers teams failed to live up to expectations, it was only because Lillard's unparalleled gifts as a pick-and-roll operator set the expectations higher than they should've been in the first place. He spent his prime years adding layers to his game and meticulously honing his craft, all while hoping for a championship-caliber cast of teammates that never materialized. Then, when he finally got a chance to team up with a Grade-A superstar, everything went to hell.Here's hoping that, against the odds, there's a more heartening final chapter to his career still waiting to be written. Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/31132511/related

Damian Lillard's career deserved a better 2nd act

When Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac checked out with a little over four minutes remaining in the f...

When Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac checked out with a little over four minutes remaining in the first quarter of Thursday's Game 3, their Los Angeles Clippers trailed the Denver Nuggets 24-19. By the time they checked back in to start the second, the Clippers turned that deficit into a seven-point lead.L.A. finished the opening frame on a 16-4 run despite Nikola Jokic playing the whole quarter for Denver. The Clippers never looked back, running away with a 117-83 win to take a 2-1 lead in the blockbuster first-round series.Leonard was merely very good in the game, as opposed to being a transcendental specter floating above the court and tossing in line-drive middies from the astral plane, like he was in Game 2. He scored 21 points on 20 shooting possessions and dished six assists as the Nuggets shaded aggressive help in his direction. The Clippers still made their opponents look totally overmatched, because everyone around Leonard picked up the slack and because their defense held the league's fourth-ranked offense to 92.2 points per 100 possessions - its second-lowest mark of the season.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>The initial run that gave the Clippers control was led primarily by James Harden. During that Leonard-less stretch at the end of the first quarter, he went 4-for-4 on scoring attempts against Jokic in the pick-and-roll, splashing three pull-up threes and finishing a snaking drive with a layup. But that run was also enabled by Nic Batum and Ben Simmons, the bench guys who subbed in for Leonard and Zubac.Simmons gamely took on the Jokic assignment, drawing a charge in one instance and in others simply standing up Jokic long enough for late help to arrive. As usual, Simmons didn't even try to score himself, but he set great screens for Harden, came up with a steal and a block, and generally looked the part of a competent backup center. The Clippers won his nine minutes by nine points.The 36-year-old Batum somehow looked fresh as a daisy, and he was everywhere on defense, cooling off Aaron Gordon after a hot start while also making massive help plays around the rim. Batum sprung timely double-teams on Jokic, was in the lane to force kickouts on drives, blocked a pair of layups while zoning up the weak side, and even blew up a Jokic lob attempt while sprinting back in transition. At the other end, Batum shot 4-of-6 from deep, eluding closeouts with his patented no-dip threes. He wound up playing 27 minutes and finished plus-23, second only to Harden for the game.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/cropped_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/w220xh124_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/w320xh180_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/w640xh360_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/w768xh432_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782504/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2211367977.jpg?ts=1745643682 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Matthew Stockman / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>What was particularly notable about that pair's contributions was the fact they ranked ninth and 10th in minutes per game among Clippers players who finished the season with the team. L.A.'s ability to get productive minutes out of guys that deep in the rotation stood in stark contrast to Denver, which got a total of six points on 2-for-14 shooting from its bench in Game 3.Jokic is the best player in the series, Jamal Murray has played about as well as you could've hoped coming off a late-season hamstring injury, and Gordon has played his role to near perfection at both ends. But the Nuggets are going to be hard-pressed to win this series - especially with Michael Porter Jr. nursing a sprained shoulder - against a team that can almost match them for top-end talent while sending different varieties of role players at them in waves.This was the Clippers' vision when they opted to let Paul George walk in the offseason and build out their rotation around Leonard and Harden, adding defensive-minded role players like Batum, Kris Dunn, and Derrick Jones Jr. Dunn's been a monster on defense all season, and especially in this series. He's not only hounding Murray up and down the court while dodging screens left and right, he's also giving Jokic trouble with instinctual digs and proactive weak-side rotations. He's done just enough on offense (by shooting 5-of-13 from deep) to stay on the court for extended minutes. When he comes out, Jones Jr. fills the same role. And when the Clippers need an offensive spark off the bench, they can turn to Bogdan Bogdanovic.Bogdanovic hasn't gotten anything going in this series, yet he still commands enough respect as a shooter to draw two to the ball and create buckets for others. No one on Denver's bench can bend the defense that way. At all.All told, the Clippers won the 3-point battle by a score of 54-21, which has been a common problem for the Nuggets this season. L.A. almost never has more than one shaky-shooting perimeter player on the floor at a time, whereas Denver often has three. Even with Gordon stepping up early in Game 3<a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&amp;CFPARAMS=&amp;ContextMeasure=FG3M&amp;EndPeriod=0&amp;EndRange=28800&amp;GameID=0042400173&amp;PlayerID=203932&amp;RangeType=0&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;StartPeriod=0&amp;StartRange=0&amp;TeamID=1610612743&amp;flag=3&amp;sct=plot&amp;section=game"> as the movement 3-point shooter</a> <a href="https://medium.com/thebasketballactiondictionary/rip-dho-6b36f142cf21">in one of their pet plays</a>, it didn't really change how the Clippers guarded him.They're still comfortable leaving him open to shrink the middle of the floor for Jokic and Murray, just as they're comfortable doing with Christian Braun and - to a much greater extent - Peyton Watson and Russell Westbrook. The Nuggets rely on Watson for his defense and athleticism, but they have a 75.8 offensive rating with him on the court in the series.Denver's been able to <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3203018" href="https://thescore.com/news/3203018">overcome these limitations</a> throughout the season thanks to Jokic's singular genius, but against a team as deep, talented, and well-prepared as L.A., those limitations are starting to feel too significant to conquer.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

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The Clippers' depth is overwhelming the paper-thin Nuggets

The 2025 playoffs are in full swing, and it's already given us plenty to digest. With each series...

The 2025 playoffs are in full swing, and it's already given us plenty to digest. With each series having completed two games, here are four observations from the first round.<h3>Clippers-Nuggets a battle of wills, defensive tactics</h3>The best series of the opening round has featured two contests decided by a grand total of five points, with each side taking one of them on the strength of a brilliant performance from its unique superstar. Nikola Jokic put up 29 points, nine rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals to lead Denver to a 112-110 overtime win in Game 1. Kawhi Leonard responded with a preposterous shooting display, scoring 39 points on 15-of-19 from the field (with just one of those attempts coming at the rim and five inside the paint) to carry L.A. to a series-tying 105-102 triumph in Game 2.While those two are the series' main characters, the fun of this matchup is seeing how the other pieces on the board interact with and respond to them. For Game 2, the Clippers devised and executed a solid game plan for slowing down Jokic as a roll man in his two-man actions with Jamal Murray, which burned L.A. (as they have so many other teams over the years) in Game 1. This time out, Jokic was consistently met with early, aggressive, high tags before his short roll could take him anywhere dangerous.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Here's Kris Dunn intercepting him from the high slot: <figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/cropped_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/w220xh124_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/w320xh180_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/w640xh360_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/w768xh432_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782071/w1080xh607_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.56.31_PM.jpg?ts=1745456264 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> TNT</figcaption></figure>And here's Leonard doing so after sprinting up from the corner: <figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/cropped_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/w220xh124_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/w320xh180_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/w640xh360_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/w768xh432_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782072/w1080xh607_Screenshot_2025-04-23_at_8.55.38_PM.jpg?ts=1745456275 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> TNT</figcaption></figure>You can see how crowded the paint is as the Clippers collectively shrink in off Denver's myriad non-shooters. As a result, Jokic attempted just eight 2-pointers after taking 20 in Game 1, and his elbow touches plummeted from 15 to four. He responded by popping to the 3-point line a lot more and starting more possessions with the ball in his hands. That was reflected in his average touch time, which went from 2.6 seconds in <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*joki&amp;DateTo=04/20/2025">Game 1</a> to 3.5 seconds in <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*joki&amp;LastNGames=1">Game 2</a> as the Clippers took away a lot of the quick-hitting stuff he and the Nuggets thrive on.The fact that he was able to counter by shooting 4-of-8 from deep and turning into more of a pick-and-roll ball-handler and drive-and-kick attacker is the reason he's Nikola freaking Jokic. But the Clippers also did a great job defending him in those scenarios, with Ivica Zubac deserving the lion's share of the credit. Jokic passed up a lot of the pick-and-pop 3-point looks L.A. conceded and committed seven turnovers while driving into traffic. He'll be prepared with more counters in Game 3, and I'd expect Denver as a team to be more dialed in with its weak-side cuts to punish the three-on-two pick-and-roll coverage.Meanwhile, after committing seven turnovers of his own in Game 1, Leonard decided he didn't want to bring a second defender his way unless it was an overly switch-happy Murray, who Leonard could subsequently attack in isolation. He seldom drew Jokic into the action by having Zubac screen, leaving that responsibility to James Harden, who's also been tremendous in the series. On that note, one important defensive counter from Denver in Game 2 was to try to keep Jokic out of Harden's pick-and-rolls by pre-switching and having him play a one-man zone on the back line.After getting burned in single coverage throughout the game, the Nuggets finally started throwing switch-doubles at Leonard late in the fourth, or just indiscriminately running a second defender at him 25 feet from the hoop. They'll probably go to that earlier in Game 3 if Leonard stays hot. And even though Leonard gave Aaron Gordon buckets just like everyone else, Denver needs to work harder to maintain that matchup.Ultimately, there's no coverage these stars haven't seen and can't dissect. The razor-thin margins of this series hinge not only on their dueling shot-making genius but also on how well they and their respective teams can problem-solve for each other on the fly.<h3>A familiar problem for KAT </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/cropped_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/w220xh124_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/w320xh180_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/w640xh360_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/w768xh432_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782103/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2211353026.jpg?ts=1745464083 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Al Bello / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Stop me if you've heard this before: A playoff opponent is using a wing to defend Karl-Anthony Towns while sticking a big on one of his non-shooting teammates, and Towns is struggling to assert himself offensively as a result. It's a phenomenon that dates back at least <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2344343">four postseasons</a>. And, as ever, it's an issue that falls partly on Towns and partly on his teammates and coaches.Much credit is also owed to the Detroit Pistons' <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3241332" href="https://thescore.com/news/3241332">vastly improved defense</a>, which bottled up Towns and his New York Knicks en route to a 100-94 Game 2 win that sent them home with a hard-earned split. In that contest, Towns went scoreless with no assists in the second half. He attempted just three shots after halftime, the last one coming midway through the third quarter.The Pistons had Tobias Harris on Towns, working hard to deny him deep position on his catches and never straying too far from him when he set ball screens for Jalen Brunson. Detroit also had 6-foot-7 menace Ausar Thompson guarding Brunson much of the time, so switching didn't gift Towns much of an advantage, either. That's always been the best way to neutralize Towns as a pick-and-pop threat. And because the Pistons' centers were guarding Josh Hart, that's who Brunson often used as his screening partner down the stretch, while Towns spotted up at the 3-point line or hung out in the dunker spot.That's a sensible approach to any individual possession, but when it amounts to your second-best (at worst) offensive player being completely sidelined for an entire half, something needs to change. Even in a much more assertive Game 1 performance, Towns' 15.7% usage rate was his lowest in any contest this season. In the second half of Game 2, it was 7%. Brunson's, by comparison, was 46%. Though Brunson was the only Knick finding any rhythm against Detroit's defense - and Towns struggled to make his infrequent touches count - that imbalance plays into the Pistons' hands. It's strange the Knicks weren't better prepared for this coverage, considering opponents have been guarding them this way <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3195631" href="https://thescore.com/news/3195631">all season</a>.I don't think the answer is necessarily to force-feed Towns more post touches; having a center roaming off Hart and ready to help on the back side makes that difficult. But there are other ways to keep Towns involved in the offense, even when Detroit is scheming to take him out of it. The Knicks could run more action through him at the elbow or sprinkle in more inverted pick-and-rolls with Brunson screening (they had success on the rare occasions they ran those in Game 2). They could also get Towns in motion as a cutter or have smalls set flare screens and corner pindowns to catapult him into space or force even smaller defenders to switch onto him.Again, a lot of that is contingent on Towns staying engaged and finding other entry points when his bread-and-butter play types are taken away. As heretical as this might sound to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, it also might be worth scaling back Hart's minutes to see if playing Deuce McBride in his place can open up the offense a bit more.<h3>Healthy Bucks still can't keep up with Pacers</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/cropped_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/w220xh124_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/w320xh180_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/w640xh360_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/w768xh432_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782105/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2150434441.jpg?ts=1745464239 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Dylan Buell / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>It was encouraging to see Damian Lillard make a surprisingly quick return from deep vein thrombosis to suit up for Milwaukee in Game 2 against Indiana on Tuesday night. In addition to the implications for his health, Lillard's presence makes the series more interesting.The Bucks were drawing dead without him, starved for any kind of secondary offensive creation that could aid Giannis Antetokounmpo in his Sisyphean endeavor. And though he shot poorly and didn't score a ton, Lillard did help their offense with his pull-up gravity and ability to dribble the ball into the teeth of the Pacers' defense.The thing is, Lillard's return also aided Indiana's offense quite a bit. The Pacers were ruthless in how they targeted him, both on and off the ball. When they weren't attacking him directly on switches, they were attacking the space he conceded while trying to peel out to the corner to avoid getting stuck switched onto a big man:<figure class="article-segment--embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Bucks are trying to switch actions then scram switch Lillard out of mismatches and the Pacers are just all over them and timing things perfectly. First one they get Toppin backdoor for a dunk, second easy corner kickout to Nesmith for 3. Pacers are just hammering them. <a href="https://t.co/L99brg9Bwa">pic.twitter.com/L99brg9Bwa</a>— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1914840648806752768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a>
</blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></figure>Milwaukee had a 130.3 defensive rating with Lillard on the floor in the 123-115 loss, and Indiana shot 9-of-12 from the field with him as the primary defender, according to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/203081/head-to-head?dir=D&amp;sort=MATCHUP_FGA">NBA.com's matchup data</a>. That data can be wonky, but it matches the eye test perfectly in this case.The Bucks managed to make Game 2 somewhat competitive with a late push powered by Antetokounmpo's relentlessness, a healthy dash of zone, and an absolute flurry from Bobby Portis. Milwaukee winning both games at home to level the series wouldn't necessarily be a surprise. But the Bucks actually pulling off the series win feels like a stretch, given how old, slow, and unathletic they look in the face of the Pacers' rip-roaring tempo, ball movement, and shooting.Lillard wasn't the only one getting picked on. Despite blocking four shots, Brook Lopez played only 16 minutes because of how sluggish and exploitable he was in ball-screen coverage. Kyle Kuzma got put on skates anytime he switched onto Tyrese Haliburton. Even Antetokounmpo hasn't had much fun trying to track Pascal Siakam in space.Last year, Indiana benefited by playing a badly banged-up Milwaukee squad that was without Antetokounmpo for the whole series, eking by in six games. This time around, the Pacers look like the much better team. It's been a steady march for the Bucks to this place. Even at full strength, it feels like they just don't have the juice.<h3>Playoff mudball</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/cropped_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/w220xh124_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/w320xh180_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/w640xh360_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/w768xh432_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/782106/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2211013687.jpg?ts=1745464623 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Juan Ocampo / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>If you've been watching the postseason and thinking that the brand of basketball looks a lot different than it did during the regular season, your eyes aren't deceiving you. These games are slower, more physical, more defense-oriented, and altogether grimier than before the festivities kicked off last weekend.Offensive rating is down from 114.5 during the regular season to 112.7 through this first batch of playoff games, per <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2025.html">Basketball-Reference</a>. Pace has seen a particularly steep decline, from an average of 98.8 possessions per 48 minutes to 92.7, which is fewer possessions than you'd see in an average regular-season contest in 1999-2000. Transition frequency has dipped from 15.2% to 13.2% of all possessions.Offensive rebound rate is up. Free-throw attempt rate is down. With referees swallowing their whistles more, scoring has become particularly difficult around the rim. During the regular season, teams took 31.2% of their shots inside the restricted area and hit 66.3% of them, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/shots?season=2024&amp;seasontype=playoffs&amp;start=04/19/2025&amp;end=10/15/2025#tab-offense_shooting_accuracy">Cleaning the Glass</a>. In the playoffs, that frequency has dropped to 26% (with all of those shots being moved back to floater or mid range), while the accuracy has slipped to 63.7%. In short, these games are in the mud.There's validity to gripes about the regular-season product from those who prefer the aesthetics of playoff ball, but I'd argue this is how things are supposed to be. Nothing about this would be sustainable over 82 games. The playoffs are supposed to look and feel different. They're supposed to demand a different level of focus, physicality, skill, and resilience. That's what sets this time of year apart. That's what makes it special. We'll see how all this plays out over the next two months. For now, the slog is on. Let's get muddy.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

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4 major observations from the NBA's 1st round

NBA players and teams all come into each season with their own set of internal and external expec...

NBA players and teams all come into each season with their own set of internal and external expectations. Everyone is chasing the same goal, but different circumstances produce drastically different stakes. Playoff runs and championship chases aren't created equal.Here are the players and teams who are under the greatest pressure to deliver - the ones who stand to gain or lose the most - this postseason. <h3>Oklahoma City Thunder </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/cropped_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/w220xh124_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/w320xh180_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/w640xh360_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/w768xh432_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/754274/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2176977444.jpg?ts=1744909335 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Zach Beeker / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Some Thunder players are under more pressure than others this spring. For example, while MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already proven his worth on some of the game's biggest stages, secondary stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren must show they're ready to serve as championship-level No. 2s. But I went with the team as a whole because franchises don't get better chances to win a title than the opportunity staring Oklahoma City in the face.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Sure, the Thunder are seemingly built to last, with a perfectly fitting young star trio and one of the league's most enviable collections of draft capital. But OKC doesn't need to be <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/OKC/2012.html">reminded</a> that sometimes a team's first real chance at a title ends up being its best chance - or its only chance.The Thunder finished 16 games ahead of the second-place Rockets in the Western Conference standings, becoming just the seventh team in the NBA's 79-year history to win at least 68 games. The last three to do so all made the Finals. No team has ever posted a better point differential, and the historic teams that own the second- through fifth-best point differentials all won championships. They have a top-tier superstar in his absolute prime and own the best league-adjusted defense of the last five years. They have home-court advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs. The time is now.<figure class="article-segment--embed"><iframe title="High achievers" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-mdgje" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/mdgje/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="386" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
</script></figure>That point is magnified by the fact that the small-market Thunder will soon get mighty expensive in an <a href="https://www.thescore.com/news/2940429">apron</a> world, with Williams and Holmgren eligible for extensions this summer. - Joseph Casciaro <h3>Cavaliers' core 4</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/cropped_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/w220xh124_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/w320xh180_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/w640xh360_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/w768xh432_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781077/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2206765602.jpg?ts=1744909497 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Brian Sevald / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Individually, every member of the Cavs' main quartet has had nice playoff moments. Darius Garland was a bright spot in an otherwise ugly first-round loss to the Knicks in 2023. Donovan Mitchell has produced some monster series over the years, and he almost single-handedly dragged Cleveland through a first-round war against Orlando last year. The lights didn't prove too bright for Jarrett Allen in that Magic series, though he was sidelined with a rib injury after four games. Evan Mobley showed out in the ensuing second-round series against Boston, especially after Mitchell joined Allen on the shelf.Collectively, though, this group has been a major postseason disappointment. Cleveland's core four has been tentative, skittish, and physically overwhelmed on this stage. That Celtics series turned out to be a write-off, but the Cavs should've been more competitive against the Knicks and should've had a much easier time dispatching the Magic. You can blame inexperience for what happened two years ago and injuries for what happened last year, but there are no excuses this time around.The Cavs just won 64 games and cruised to the East's No. 1 seed with a top-20 net rating in NBA history. Offense was their big playoff bugaboo the last two years, but they led the league on that side of the ball this season and ranked 16th all time when adjusting for era. Mobley made a big offensive leap and might win Defensive Player of the Year. Garland has clearly put last year's jaw injury behind him and is back to playing like an All-Star. Mitchell has a shot to make All-NBA first team. Allen has been rock-solid in the middle and played in all 82 games after being questioned by teammates for sitting out last spring. And they finally have an ideal big wing to slot between them, De'Andre Hunter.They have an easy first-round matchup against Atlanta/Miami that they should take care of in five games or fewer. Then they'll face a tougher but still winnable series against Indiana or Milwaukee. Anything less than a competitive conference finals loss to the Celtics will feel like a letdown for a team that <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3267849" href="https://thescore.com/news/3267849">ticks every box</a> as a championship contender. If the Cavs fall short of that, after the regular season they just had, the noise surrounding this core's playoff viability will get extremely loud. - Joe Wolfond <h3>Karl-Anthony Towns </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/cropped_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/w220xh124_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/w320xh180_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/w640xh360_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/w768xh432_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/777425/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2206500013.jpg?ts=1744910800 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> David L. Nemec / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Few roles come with more pressure than that of Knicks savior. You could argue Jalen Brunson actually shoulders that responsibility, or point out that New York surrendered more to acquire Mikal Bridges. But Towns - a tri-state area native - was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle, the finishing touch on a contender years in the making.Towns delivered in his first season with the Knicks, averaging 24.4 points and a career-high 12.8 rebounds on 63% true shooting, putting him in contention for a third career All-NBA selection. But the regular season (and offensive production) has never been an issue for Towns. The postseason is where his demons reveal themselves, and this time, they'll be waiting for him next to the many ghosts that have haunted the Knicks over the decades since their last championship in 1973.For New York to end its 52-year title drought and for Towns to silence his critics - which it appeared he'd done in leading Minnesota over Denver last year before unraveling in the West final - he'll have to avoid the rushed offense, sketchy decision-making, and jittery, foul-happy defense that's plagued his postseason career.The Knicks' defense has been better since center Mitchell Robinson returned to the lineup, but he's unlikely to start, meaning there'll still be plenty of minutes for New York to survive with Towns at the five. That could be a problem, as The Big Bodega has neither the footwork to defend in space nor the track record of a rim-protector. - Casciaro<h3>Julius Randle </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/cropped_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/w220xh124_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/w320xh180_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/w640xh360_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/w768xh432_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/781082/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2179617980.jpg?ts=1744910960 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Icon Sportswire / Getty</figcaption></figure>There are a lot of reasons why the Timberwolves haven't performed as well this season as they did last, and why they might not go as deep in the playoffs. But considering how little else about their roster has changed, here's the one people are most likely to glom onto if things go poorly: Last year, the Wolves started Towns at power forward and reached the conference finals; this year, they start Randle at the four and might get bounced in the first round.That's obviously unfair to Randle, who's been adaptable and mostly very good in Minnesota. But it's the reality of the position he was put in when he got traded for Towns, a pillar of Minnesota's best team in 20 years. I'd argue Randle has even more to prove; Towns at least has two gold stars on his postseason resume after how he played in series wins over Phoenix and Denver last year. There's no way to sugarcoat Randle's two playoff appearances with the Knicks. He shot 39% from 2-point range and 28% from deep across 15 games, with more turnovers than assists. It was an abject disaster for a guy named All-NBA in both seasons.The Wolves badly need regular-season Randle to show up to have a hope of knocking off the Lakers in the first round. They need the guy who committed to moving the ball, making quick decisions, and defending with focus <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3242001" href="https://thescore.com/news/3242001">in the second half of the season</a>, not the one who holds the ball and jab-steps and loses track of his defensive assignment. If they get the former, they can beat L.A. and put themselves in position to return to the West finals.The Lakers' interior defense is vulnerable, and Randle is the type of driver and finisher who can exploit that vulnerability - if he's intentional about it. JJ Redick's defensive scheme will bend heavily toward Anthony Edwards, and more than anyone else, Randle will be relied upon to capitalize. Oh yeah, he'll also start out as the primary defender on LeBron James. No pressure. - Wolfond<h3>Jimmy Butler </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/cropped_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/w220xh124_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/w320xh180_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/w640xh360_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/w768xh432_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780755/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2201633035.jpg?ts=1744911033 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Butler has nothing left to prove as a playoff performer. He's the ultimate big-game player, with multiple Finals runs in Miami where he dragged inferior teams to the brink of championships to prove it. But he hasn't won the whole darn thing yet, and he's burned bridges at every stop along the way of his Hall of Fame career, using chaos as leverage in plotting each departure. Butler once again got his way in landing with the Warriors, and he got paid, with Golden State tethering his contract to those of franchise pillars Steph Curry and Draymond Green.Butler appears on this list because of what he represents for the Warriors. He was brought to The Bay to extend Golden State's championship window and maximize what's left of Curry's career. Butler's in-between game, off-ball activity, playmaking, and general basketball IQ are precisely what the Warriors needed in their quest for a secondary star. And the way he elevated the Warriors during the regular season - plus his impressive performance in Tuesday's play-in victory - indicates he's up to the task. But he's 35 years old, can sometimes be too passive offensively, and not quite what he once was defensively.The Warriors need Butler fully engaged and at his best just to get out of the first round, let alone to win a fifth title in 11 years. It's time for Butler to write a new ending - to prove once and for all that he's been worth every headache over the last decade, and every dollar of his new $113-million extension. - Casciaro <h3>LA Clippers </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/cropped_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/w220xh124_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/w320xh180_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/w640xh360_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/w768xh432_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/610436/w1080xh607_GettyImages-1851382594.jpg?ts=1744911253 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Harry How / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>The Clippers have already exceeded expectations by winning 50 games and nabbing a top-five seed, so they're arguably under less pressure now than they were in previous postseasons during the Kawhi Leonard era. In many people's minds, their window had already closed. That said, these guys aren't exactly playing with house money. This is still a win-now team with aging stars, major injury risks, and limited long-term upside.As gracefully as the Clippers pivoted from letting Paul George walk (and boy, was I <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/2934216" href="https://thescore.com/news/2934216">wrong about that decision</a>), there are no moral victories for a franchise that's relinquished control of all its own first-round picks between now and 2030. And while the mid-career leaps from 28-year-old Ivica Zubac and 31-year-old Norm Powell have been heartening, it's not like the pipeline is bursting with exciting young talent. This may be the last best chance for the current iteration of the team to make a real run.Leonard is healthy and peaking at the right time, James Harden has put forth one more (perhaps final) great season at age 35, and the Clippers are entering the playoffs as one of the league's hottest teams, having won eight straight and 18 of their last 21. There'd be no shame in losing a second-round series to the Thunder, but L.A. should be favored in its first-round matchup against a Denver Nuggets team in disarray. The Nuggets have home-court advantage and the best player in the world, but the Clippers are deeper and have much better two-way balance.Adding to the sense of stakes is the fact that Denver's been something of a boogeyman for L.A. in recent years. The last time the Clippers got a healthy playoff run from Leonard, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led a comeback from 3-1 down to bounce them from the bubble. Kawhi and Co. now have a chance to exorcise those demons and shed some serious psychic baggage. They can't afford to squander it. - Wolfond

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Playoff pressure index: 3 teams and 3 players with the most to prove

March and early April can be a dreary portion of the NBA calendar, but it can also be a time that...

March and early April can be <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3263557" href="https://thescore.com/news/3263557">a dreary portion of the NBA calendar</a>, but it can also be a time that's ripe for experimentation. Every so often, a team stumbles onto something that can have bigger implications for the spring. This year, that something may be the Houston Rockets' gargantuan frontcourt tandem of Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun.That pairing only saw the court for 162 minutes after coach Ime Udoka decided to give it a look, but the results were extraordinary: The Rockets outscored opponents by 32.5 points per 100 possessions in those minutes. They thrived on defense by suppressing rim attempts and denying second-chance opportunities, and they thrived on offense by scoring in the paint and rebounding over 50% of their own misses.That double-center alignment was particularly useful in an April 4 win over the league-best Oklahoma City Thunder when Adams started in place of an absent Dillon Brooks. He and Sengun physically overwhelmed the Thunder, outdueling OKC's own towering frontcourt of Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Injuries prevented us from seeing a big sample of Hartenstein-Holmgren minutes this season, but that pairing was generally dominant. The Thunder outscored opponents by 13.5 points per 100 with both 7-footers on the floor across 316 minutes, which notably included them grabbing 56% of all available rebounds. You might recall that last year's Hartenstein-less version of this team was one of the worst-rebounding contenders we've ever seen, ranking 28th on the offensive glass and 29th on the defensive glass. I've written a lot about the resurgence of double-big lineups over the last five years, including <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3084009" href="https://thescore.com/news/3084009">before this season</a>. While each iteration is unique, the tactic typically improves a team's defense through scheme versatility, rim protection, and rebounding, at the cost of spacing, speed, and shot creation at the other end of the floor. However, these lineups can also provide an offensive boost through high-low passing, quality interior finishing, and second-chance generation.And notably, the balance of benefits associated with two-big lineups tipped further toward offense during the 2024-25 regular season. According to research compiled by <a href="https://thef5.substack.com/p/double-big">Owen Phillips at The F5</a>, lineups with multiple bigs scored 1.9 more points per 100 possessions than single-big lineups and 3.1 more points per 100 than center-less lineups this season.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/cropped_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/w220xh124_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/w320xh180_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/w640xh360_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/w768xh432_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780663/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2118409527.jpg?ts=1744725164 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>The Cleveland Cavaliers, long one of the NBA's most prominent double-big adherents, finished with the 16th-best relative offense in league history (7.2 points per 100 better than average) with relative non-shooter Evan Mobley and complete non-shooter Jarrett Allen sharing a starting frontcourt. The Cavs scored slightly more efficiently with both bigs on the floor than with just one of them out there, weaponizing the pair's collective screening, cutting, short-roll passing, and finishing ability as complements to the shot-creating wizardry of their star backcourt.The advantages of double bigs also manifested at the offensive end for the Thunder, who scored even more efficiently with Hartenstein and Holmgren on the floor than Cleveland did with Mobley and Allen. Holmgren's ability to operate as an oversized wing means he can be used frequently in direct actions with Hartenstein, flying off pindowns or rising and firing out of 4-5 dribble-handoff actions. That allows OKC to engage the two biggest defenders on the floor, in turn opening up opportunities on the back side by forcing smaller defenders to provide cover.Between Holmgren's shooting gravity and driving prowess, and Hartenstein's wipeout screens, killer push shot, and connective passing from the middle of the floor, the Thunder can reap the benefits of the pair's size without sacrificing much space for their attacking guards. Their 32.3% offensive rebound rate when playing both bigs was equivalent to the fourth-best mark in the league, and those additional shots were being generated for an offense that ranked second to Cleveland's in <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/context#tab-offense_halfcourt_putbacks">first-shot half-court scoring.</a>When the Boston Celtics romped to the title last year while primarily playing wings at power forward, it seemed like their team-building blueprint might become orthodoxy. That hasn't really happened, though - not even for the Celtics themselves. When people think about that team, they tend to envision the platonic ideal of a five-out offense, one that bombs threes and plays drive-and-kick with the swaths of space afforded by its abundant shooting. But while Boston still starts and closes games with Jayson Tatum at the four when fully healthy, two-big lineups have become an important wrinkle for the defending champs.The Celtics' most used two-big setup features Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, both of whom can space the floor. But the team played over 1,000 minutes this season with double-big combos that excluded one or both of those guys and included non-shooting backup centers Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta, and Xavier Tillman. That still didn't stop Boston from posting the highest 3-point attempt rate of all time, and the enhanced ability to score inside and control the possession game served as a hedge against the whims of jump-shooting variance.All told, Boston used two-big lineups for 35.4% of its total minutes this season, which is more frequently than Cleveland deployed them (27%) and almost quintuple the rate at which Boston used them in last year's playoffs (7.3%). More importantly, those lineups were all wildly successful. The Celtics were actually at their worst when Porzingis played without another big beside him, getting outscored by 1.5 points per 100 in those minutes, per <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612738&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=204001,201143,1628436,1630214,1629674">PBP Stats</a>. Their net rating was plus-10.6 with Porzingis and Horford together, plus-15 with Horford and Kornet, and plus-27.5 with Kornet and Porzingis.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/cropped_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/w220xh124_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/w320xh180_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/w640xh360_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/w768xh432_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780664/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2194586860.jpg?ts=1744725291 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Bart Young / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Defense is still the strongest selling point of two-big lineups, and all the offensively potent configurations mentioned here also excelled at preventing opponents from scoring. On top of cleaning the defensive glass and effectively turning the restricted area into a no-fly zone, these pairings permit the big men involved a higher level of freedom with coverages and matchups. The Miami Heat will be hard-pressed to even get out of the play-in, let alone make noise in the playoffs, but their new frontcourt of Bam Adebayo and rookie center Kel'el Ware is still instructive in this regard. The Heat were markedly better this season with <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612748&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628389,1642276">both of them on the court</a> than when either one of them played without the other, especially defensively. Shortly after coach Erik Spoelstra started playing them together in January, Adebayo - who'd spent the previous three-and-a-half seasons exclusively playing center - explained what he liked about the change. "I can get back to switching a little bit," he told <a href="https://x.com/BradyHawk305/status/1881114757413113891">Brady Hawk of 5 Reasons Sports</a>. "Guarding my yard, not being in a drop zone all year." Due to Miami's lack of size behind him, the Heat had to start using Adebayo primarily in drop coverage last season. In other words, arguably the NBA's best switch big was asked to do way less of the thing he was best at, because his team didn't have the secondary rim-protection or rebounding to survive having him out on the perimeter.It's a good reminder that not all switching defenses are built on the premise of having a bunch of interchangeable wing-sized players. The Cavs with Mobley and Allen on the floor switch as frequently as almost any team in the league. Whether the defense wants to switch, hedge, blitz, zone, or <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3195631" href="https://thescore.com/news/3195631">cross-match</a>, having multiple rim-protectors on the floor tends to make everything a bit safer. <figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/cropped_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/w220xh124_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/w320xh180_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/w640xh360_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/w768xh432_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/780665/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2196107494.jpg?ts=1744725449 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Stacy Revere / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>For all their positives, two-big lineups are far from infallible; there's a reason they still only make up a small fraction of all minutes league-wide. But having the option to deploy them situationally, and banking enough successful reps to feel confident using them when the stakes are high, gives teams a critical element of versatility. How much these contenders will continue to incorporate this lineup tactic that worked so well in the regular season is an interesting playoff question.Will the Celtics go back to leaning on five-out spacing, or will Jaylen Brown's <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3264976" href="https://thescore.com/news/3264976">ailing knee</a> force them to keep drawing from the double-big well? In a theoretical East finals matchup, would the Cavs close with one of their bigs on the bench, as they did in a couple of their regular-season matchups against Boston?Do the Rockets trust Adams enough to make him a rotation fixture, or will they abandon their two-center experiment in favor of more conventional frontcourts with Amen Thompson or Jabari Smith Jr. at the four? Will the Thunder feel comfortable rolling out their twin towers in crunch time, or will they retreat to the comforts of their stretchier single-big lineups? Will Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau keep using Karl-Anthony Towns exclusively at the five to preserve New York's offensive spacing, or will he finally play to type by uncorking the defensively stout Towns-Mitchell Robinson frontcourt (plus-11.3 net rating in 47 minutes) for an extended stretch?Matchups will dictate a lot of this. We'll see which style wins out when the Minnesota Timberwolves and their two-big frontcourts take on the frequently center-less Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. How quick will the hook be on Rudy Gobert if he can't punish those smaller lineups?We might also get a matchup between the jumbo Rockets and a Golden State team that doesn't play anyone taller than 6-foot-7 in crunch time. To even get there, however, the Warriors will have to win a play-in game against the Grizzlies, who start the 6-foot-11 Jaren Jackson Jr. next to 7-foot-4 Zach Edey. That combo was Memphis' most productive frontcourt permutation this season (plus-13.1 net rating), just as the Jackson-Adams combo was a couple years ago. Will Steph Curry make it untenable?We'll have answers to all of these questions pretty soon as this trend helps shape the 2025 postseason. Buckle up.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30976744/related

2 bigs or not 2 bigs? That is the question for these playoff teams

When basketball insider Jon Rothstein officially christens the flipping of the basketball calenda...

When basketball insider Jon Rothstein officially christens the flipping of the basketball calendar on the first day of March every year, it means different things to two subsets of the sport. The most wonderful time of the year in college hoops coincides with the doggiest dog days of the NBA calendar.In the NBA in March and April, the worst teams are tanking, the best teams are coasting or resting, and every kind of team is simply depleted by injuries. In their attempts to either deliberately lose games, preserve their best players for the postseason, or patch holes in their banged-up rotations, teams will give minutes and touches to guys who wouldn't otherwise be entrusted with that level of responsibility. The result is a whole bunch of ugly games that don't "matter," at least not in the standings or for their predictive value for the playoffs.But the games get played all the same, and the people involved still have to cull some meaning from them. For the players thrust into larger roles, this time of year is as important as it gets. It's a chance for some of them to prove they have more to offer and for others to prove they belong in the NBA. It's up to coaches and front-office people to discern what is or isn't translatable from possible outlier performances against diluted competition.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>"There's so many things to learn watching guys at this time of the year," said Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, whose team has been in information-gathering mode at this stage for all four of his seasons at the helm. "As a coach, you try to give them the freedom to play, but you obviously understand there are challenges. … Your challenge (as a player in that situation) is to make the coach and coaching staff trust that if they put you out there, you'll do the right thing. You know all the coverages defensively, you know all the plays offensively, you're in tune, you're ready, you know the defensive scout, you don't make mistakes."When you're in that type of position, the margin for error is very small. You're just trying to prove that you belong, and sometimes it's a little different than the game you like to play. Sometimes it's scoring, but sometimes you can't score and you've gotta be a playmaker, you've gotta pick up the pressure defensively, you've gotta get offensive rebounds."This is the time of year when a third-string point guard such as Malachi Flynn can come off the bench and drop 50 points in a game (as he did April 3, 2024, for Detroit) but still fail to secure an NBA contract in the offseason. It's when the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3254949" href="https://thescore.com/news/3254949">rookies from a maligned draft class can play like stars</a>, and a 14th man such as Sandro Mamukelashvili can go off for 34 points on 13-of-14 shooting in only 19 minutes. It's not always clear what, if anything, those performances portend.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/cropped_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/w220xh124_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/w320xh180_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/w640xh360_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/w768xh432_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/779939/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2207949846.jpg?ts=1744319910 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Michael Gonzales / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>"I don't think we look at it any differently than any other game," Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson said of Mamukelashvili's <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3246378" href="https://thescore.com/news/3246378">history-making performance</a>. "I think he had a heck of a game in the NBA, and we don't try to figure out who was on the court when it happened or what the records of the teams were. I think it's something to be able to do that when you don't get the opportunity a lot. There's a lot of fringe guys who get opportunities to play late in the season and they don't do things. "So, I think when you're around people and you see patterns, and you see how they work, and you see their approach, you should trust what they're showing you. And people that have seen Mamu in the gym with us for a couple years have seen that and have trusted that." The Blazers felt that same way about Dalano Banton, who latched on with them late last season and produced 17 of the 18 highest-scoring games of his career in the span of about five weeks. He cleared 25 points nine times after doing so just once in his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons, impressing the team enough to get his fourth-year option picked up. This year he's been a relatively consistent - if <a href="https://www.tomthefinder.com/p/did-chauncey-billups-just-invent">highly specialized</a> - rotation presence for the much-improved Trail Blazers. "At the end of the day, a guy like Dalano, or whoever we're talking about, what they're trying to do is prove that they belong here," Billups said. "And then, after they prove that, it's trying to figure out what actual role a guy like that can fit in. And to me, if I'm on the other side of that coin, if I'm one of these players, that's all I'm worried about. You know, I'm a fringe type of guy, I want to do all the small things."Another team in the show-me-something stage is the Toronto Raptors, who've spent most of this season focused on the future. They were 18-42 at the end of February, but, thanks largely to a stretch full of opponents who are tanking even more aggressively than they are, the Raptors are 12-8 since the beginning of March, with by far the best defensive rating in the NBA during that span.They've done that while giving expanded minutes and roles to their trio of rookies: Ja'Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, and Jonathan Mogbo, as well as to two-way guys such as A.J. Lawson and Jared Rhoden. All of them have had impressive stretches and showcased developing skill sets. Has that taught the Raptors anything about how to deploy those guys next season when they fold in Brandon Ingram and begin to make a good-faith attempt to win games?<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/cropped_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/w220xh124_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/w320xh180_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/w640xh360_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/w768xh432_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774595/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2203886349.jpg?ts=1744319974 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Vaughn Ridley / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>"You gotta look at it through two different lenses," Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic said. "First of all, the fit of the player with the team in a case where the whole team is healthy and everybody's playing. But number two, you always gotta look at, for the player, how he can expand his box. Like, what are the things that are realistic for that player that he can potentially start doing in the future, and really invest in that?"Last couple of games we used Ja'Kobe at point guard. Doesn't mean he's going to be a point guard, but for him to feel more comfortable bringing the ball up the floor, to have one or two plays in his mind that he can call up and get us organized, I think it's worthwhile." Of course, it isn't just fringe rotation players who can benefit from these circumstances; this is also a time of year when established players can boost their stock. Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green produced one of the most dramatic in-season turnarounds in memory in March 2024, and he parlayed that stretch into a three-year, $105-million extension in the summer. The Rockets likely don't regret the deal - they've been awesome this season and Green's been an important component - but his 2024-25 production is a lot closer to his previous career norms than to what he did that month.This year, we've seen late-season outbursts from the Blazers' Deni Avdija, the Mavericks' Naji Marshall, the Bulls' Josh Giddey, and, of course, the 76ers' Quentin Grimes. While Avdija and Marshall are locked into team-friendly long-term contracts, Giddey and Grimes are pending RFAs, so Chicago and Philadelphia will have to decide how far they're willing to go to retain those guys and how to weigh their March performances in that calculus.Grimes' situation is particularly interesting because the Sixers are going to be in a much different situation to start next season than they're in now. He had previously served as a no-frills, 3-and-D role player for three-plus seasons with three teams, defending hard at the point of attack and attacking closeouts with vigor but almost never creating his own offense. Then Dallas traded him to Philly, and he immediately turned into a high-usage heat pump for a team whose three best players are on the shelf.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/cropped_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/w220xh124_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/w320xh180_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/w640xh360_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/w768xh432_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775744/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2205120776.jpg?ts=1744320065 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Logan Riely / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>He's averaged 22.4 points and 4.6 assists in 27 games as a Sixer, double his previous career highs in both categories. His usage rate has jumped to nearly 28% from a career average of 16%. His touch time per game has jumped from 1.6 minutes to 3.7 minutes, his drives per game from 3.9 to 10, and his pull-up jumpers per game from 2.2 to 6.4. And his efficiency has improved. Naturally, a lot of players in tanking situations wind up with inflated numbers because someone has to score for these teams. But Grimes is doing it while shooting 56% from 2-point range (including 70% at the rim) and 39% from deep."We didn't know a whole lot about him, you know, where he would fit in, what his role exactly would be," Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. "But obviously he's become, like, our primary scorer with everybody out, and I think it's cool to see. What I've learned about him is he can really get to places to get his shot up. That's really important. He's not that big, he's about 6-3, right? But he can get clearance. He can get to a spot, get clearance, bolt up. He'll surprise you with the athleticism in his jump shot. He'll go down the lane and dunk on somebody."So, there's some explosiveness there that enables him to get his shots off, and then he shoots it well. He shoots it well even when he's not that open, which I think is also a skill that's pretty highly regarded in this league." Grimes obviously wouldn't be responsible for this star-level volume of self-creation if Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George were healthy. But that doesn't mean the skills he's flashed can't serve him well in a more complementary role, or that the Sixers shouldn't pay to bring him back and keep mining his on-ball utility in the future. It's clear he can be more than the pure spot-up role player he was before arriving in Philly. And we likely wouldn't have learned that if not for the opportunity presented by Mickey Mouse March.All of which is to say, despite the fact this isn't the most illuminating or exciting time of the season to be an NBA fan, a lot is still going on, a lot is at stake, and plenty can be gleaned from the players and teams involved.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30927908/related

What can we learn from March-April breakouts?

It's been a foregone conclusion for weeks, if not months, that the NBA MVP award will go to one o...

It's been a foregone conclusion for weeks, if not months, that the NBA MVP award will go to one of two players. With 10 days left in the 2024-25 season, there's only one thing left to determine in one of the most compelling award races we've seen in ages: Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic lift the Michael Jordan Trophy?The purpose of this piece isn't to make a case for one over the other, it's to unpack the historic seasons both are having and let readers draw their own conclusions.For starters, one simple way to capture how otherworldly Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic have been this season is to note that Giannis Antetokounmpo - who's averaging roughly 30 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists while shooting over 60% from the field and playing excellent defense - doesn't even register as a contender. He was third in ESPN Bet's <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/42952719/2024-25-nba-mvp-betting-odds-favorites-jokic-doncic-sga-giannis">MVP odds</a> posted earlier this week ... at 100-1. Some books don't even have him on the board.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Quibble with that if you want, but them's the breaks when you're up against maybe the best offensive season from a center in the 3-point era and one of the best all-around seasons ever from a guard - one who happens to be leading a team with the best scoring margin of all time.Let's lay out some of the basic facts: Jokic is averaging 29.7 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 10.2 assists, vying to become the third player ever to average a triple-double. He's doing that while shooting 63% from 2-point range and 42% from deep, good for a 66% true-shooting mark that's nine percentage points better than league average. The Nuggets rank third in offensive rating despite sitting <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3203018" href="https://thescore.com/news/3203018">dead last in 3-point attempt rate</a>, and it's thanks to Jokic's unparalleled ability to score in the paint and dime up cutters while processing opponents' defensive rotations with the speed of a supercomputer.It's important to harp on this stuff because Jokic has made the previously impossible seem so routine that we can take it for granted: The most prolific post-up scorer in the NBA also ranks second in assists, seventh in points off cuts, top 20 in 3-point percentage, and in the 89th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. When he isn't popping for threes, short-rolling for buttery floaters, shoulder-checking defenders to clear space for his automatic baby hook, or bamboozling the weak-side zone with pinpoint <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1884789867629994439">no-look skip passes</a>, he's casually tossing in three-quarter-court heaves with the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thescore/video/7487052931611626807">flick of his wrist</a>.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/cropped_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/w220xh124_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/w320xh180_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/w640xh360_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/w768xh432_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778691/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2182657961.jpg?ts=1743695098 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> AAron Ontiveroz / Denver Post / Getty</figcaption></figure>Gilgeous-Alexander gained some separation in the race during Jokic's recent five-game injury absence, but what Jokic has done since returning - including authoring a 61-point triple-double in a double-overtime loss to the Timberwolves on Tuesday without Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. - ought to have put some of the wind back in his sails. It says a lot when a guy posts the first 30-20-20 game in history, and you can't even be sure it was his most impressive game of the season.In his own estimation, the guy who's won three of the last four MVPs is playing better than ever. But it still might not be enough to earn him a fourth trophy this season because Gilgeous-Alexander - the Gumby-like Oklahoma City Thunder guard whose body seems to move in three different directions and at three different speeds at once - has been that undeniable. As Jokic himself <a href="https://x.com/katywinge/status/1899304841085616574?s=46&amp;t=T1GXHcqWFDPRBjLqcRwSOg">said</a>, "I think I'm playing the best basketball of my life, so if that's enough, it's enough. If not, the (other) guy deserves it. He's really amazing."All Gilgeous-Alexander has done this season is average a league-leading 32.8 points per game on a combination of usage (34.8%), efficiency (64% true shooting), and ball protection (8.7% turnover rate) that has no equal in NBA history. Even if you adjust efficiency for era, Michael Jordan's 1987-88 and Tracy McGrady's 2002-03 are the only seasons that come close. And Gilgeous-Alexander's doing this for the 64-12 Thunder whose plus-13.4 net rating is currently tied with Jordan's 1995-96 Bulls for the top mark of all time.On a per-possession basis, Gilgeous-Alexander's season ranks as the <a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/player-season-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;order_by=pts_per_poss_75&amp;qual=mp_per_g_req">fifth most prolific</a> scoring campaign since the merger. And among the top 10 such seasons, only Joel Embiid's MVP-winning effort in 2022-23 was more efficient relative to the rest of the league. Here's a look at those campaigns, with scoring measured by points per 75 possessions and efficiency by True Shooting Plus, where 100 is league average. (Gilgeous-Alexander's 111 TS+ this season means he's scored 11% more efficiently than average.)<figure class="article-segment--embed"><iframe title="SGA MVP efficiency" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-kyR5g" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/kyR5g/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="484" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
</script></figure>Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP case goes beyond the fact that he's having one of the great scoring seasons in modern NBA history. The Thunder have been so dominant because they pair an elite offense with one of the best defenses of all time. They allow 7.6 fewer points per 100 possessions than the average team, which is the sixth-best relative defensive rating of the past 60 years - just a notch above the 2003-04 Pistons, per <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/OKC/2025.html">Basketball-Reference</a>. And while Gilgeous-Alexander isn't the best or even one of the five best defenders on the team, he's a meaningful contributor to what OKC does on that side of the ball.He's an elite defensive playmaker, with phenomenal hands and a consistent willingness to rotate and challenge guys at the rim. He ranks sixth in the league with 1.7 steals per game and second among guards with 1.0 blocks (behind only Derrick White). Between his proclivity for takeaways at the defensive end and his singular ability to avoid giveaways at the offensive end, Gilgeous-Alexander is the biggest factor in the Thunder having the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3141908" href="https://thescore.com/news/3141908">largest turnover margin</a> the league has ever seen.If he ultimately gets the nod over Jokic, his defense will be the reason. The Nuggets are 18 games behind the Thunder in the standings, despite having a comparable offense, because they can't stop anyone. Jokic is one of the culprits. He isn't as bad a defender as his critics make him out to be, and there have been seasons where he's been a genuine positive on that end. This year hasn't been one of them.That's also easy to understand given the load Jokic carries on offense. His 105.4 touches per game are 12 more than any other player in the league this year and more than any player in any season in <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?Season=2024-25&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=TOUCHES">NBA.com's</a> 12-year database. The Nuggets score 21.6 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/players?stat_category=onoff_efficiency">Cleaning the Glass</a>. Among players who've played at least 1,000 minutes, the next-biggest positive differential belongs to Steph Curry at 12.7.Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't have as dramatic an on/off split (the ninth largest at plus-10.4), but he shouldn't be penalized for having a better supporting cast than Jokic does. Instead, we should focus on the fact that the Thunder outscore opponents by 17.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, the best individual mark in the league and miles above every non-Thunder player who isn't having his plus-minus juiced by Gilgeous-Alexander's presence. (Luke Kornet and Evan Mobley are next in line after the wave of OKC guys, with net ratings of 13.5 and 12.4, respectively.)On/off data is noisy and should always be taken with a grain of salt, but the easy way to interpret those numbers is that Jokic makes a bad team very good, while Gilgeous-Alexander makes a good team historically great. <figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/cropped_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/w220xh124_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/w320xh180_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/w640xh360_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/w768xh432_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/778687/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2203876094.jpg?ts=1743694825 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Zach Beeker / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Rarely do we get to see two players of this caliber sustaining this level at the same time. Most catch-all metrics paint this as the most impactful top two in the league since at least 2015-16. By <a href="https://dunksandthrees.com/epm/actual?season=2025">Dunks and Threes</a>' Estimated Plus-Minus, no other player is within six wins added of either one of them.By <a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/player-season-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;order_by=ws_per_48&amp;qual=mp_per_g_req">Basketball-Reference</a>'s win shares per 48 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander's season ranks 10th all time and Jokic's ranks 11th. This is the only time two of the top 20 individual seasons by that metric have occurred in the same year. By <a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/player-season-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;order_by=bpm&amp;year_min=1952&amp;qual=mp_per_g_req">box plus-minus</a>, Jokic's campaign is tied for second all time, while Gilgeous-Alexander's ranks 14th. The only other time two guys put up top-20 BPM seasons in the same year was LeBron James and Chris Paul in 2008-09.It's unlikely that anything will happen between now and the end of the season to meaningfully alter the shape of the race. And the hair-splitting required to pick a winner will be discerned by the eye of each beholder.How will voters value Gilgeous-Alexander's individual scoring brilliance and two-way play versus the rising tide of Jokic's total offensive mastery that lifts all boats in Denver? How much weight will they put on the historic team success Gilgeous-Alexander has engendered compared to Jokic's ability to carry a roster with no other All-Stars and very little shooting to a 128.2 offensive rating when he's on the floor?There's no right or wrong answer here. It's simultaneously impossible to make a mistake and impossible not to do one of these guys incredibly dirty. Whoever misses out will instantly go down as having one of the best non-MVP seasons ever.That's why, regardless of which one of them we feel is more deserving of the hardware, we ought to just celebrate what Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are doing. This race may be a zero-sum game when it comes to the eventual result, but when it comes to praise, there's no limit to how much we can heap on both of them. Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30846721/related

SGA and Jokic have put on an MVP race for the ages

You'd be forgiven for not being locked in on the Eastern Conference play-in race right now. Four ...

You'd be forgiven for not being locked in on the Eastern Conference play-in race right now. Four sub-.500 teams are jockeying for two spots that offer the privilege of being first-round fodder for the Cavaliers and Celtics. You also wouldn't be judged for checking out of the Spurs' season after Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox were shut down.But if you haven't tuned in to watch those middling teams, you might've missed some meaningful improvements by some of the more promising rookies in one of the most denigrated draft classes in recent NBA history.In Atlanta, first overall pick Zaccharie Risacher has done his best to live up to that billing while trying to paper over the huge void left by Jalen Johnson's injury. He's flashed high-level defensive feel while averaging 14.9 points on 61.3% true shooting (50/41/74 splits) since the All-Star break, up from 11.4 on 52.6% true shooting beforehand.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>In Chicago, Matas Buzelis has started to figure things out on both ends for a Bulls team that's won nine of its last 12 games. He's doubled his scoring average since the break - to 12.8 per game from 6.4 - and is upping the volume without sacrificing efficiency.Amid a gloomy post-Jimmy Butler stretch in Miami, rookie 7-footer Kel'el Ware has continued to shine, refining his offensive touch (82% at the rim and 59% from floater range since the break) while showing great fluidity for his size at the defensive end. Spurs guard Stephon Castle has impressed with his driving and passing verve all season - it's why he's the betting favorite to win Rookie of the Year - and deserves even more recognition for massively scaling up his production recently. He averaged 19.5 points and 4.8 assists per game (24.4 and 6.1 per 36 minutes) on league-average efficiency and nearly 30% usage across 17 games in March.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/cropped_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/w220xh124_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/w320xh180_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/w640xh360_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/w768xh432_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773163/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2202394816.jpg?ts=1743444348 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Michael Gonzales / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Those are just a few of the first-year players who have popped during the last leg of the 2024-25 campaign. And while a handful of nice stretches during a notoriously fallow part of the NBA calendar may not be cause for totally rewriting initial projections of this rookie class, it feels like the group has at least earned some reconsideration after a very rough start to the season.The biggest knock on this class had to do with the lack of top-end talent, and that assessment probably hasn't changed a ton. For all the encouraging progress he's made, Risacher still projects as a lower-end No. 1 pick. There are no surefire stars here as of now, and it's very possible that no Hall of Famers emerge from this group. But history would tell us that there are a couple All-Stars lurking somewhere.Every draft in the last 70 years has churned out at least three of them (apart from 2022 and '23, which simply haven't had enough time to do so). Even the infamous class of 2000, roundly considered the worst of all time, produced three - though Kenyon Martin, Michael Redd, and Jamal Magloire were all one-time selections.Castle looks like he has a chance to get to that level, but his 3-point shooting will obviously need to improve for that to happen. The injury-depleted Spurs had a 119.1 offensive rating with him on the floor last month, equivalent to the second-ranked Celtics' season-long mark.Before a torn meniscus ended his season, 76ers guard Jared McCain looked like he might cruise to ROY honors and keep ascending. He flashed not only a terrific shooting stroke, deft touch from floater range, and slick handles, but an advanced feel for how to relocate and rotate on both ends of the floor.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/cropped_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/w220xh124_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/w320xh180_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/w640xh360_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/w768xh432_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/759799/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2188631385.jpg?ts=1743444449 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Emilee Chinn / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Wizards second overall pick Alex Sarr has the instincts and physical tools to be a defensive star, especially once he fills out physically. His offense has been choppy for most of this season, but it contains a pretty intriguing skill package for a 7-footer. He can face up and drive, he's getting more comfortable in the short-roll pocket, and he's hit 35% of his threes since the break. It's easy to see him scoring way more efficiently when he's surrounded by better creators in the future.Risacher and Buzelis haven't yet demonstrated the kind of creation chops that would hint at star-level upside, but Risacher's already a dangerous off-ball weapon - a wicked cutter with a quick, high, minimal-dip catch-and-shoot 3-point release that's very difficult to contest. His jumper has steadily improved as the season's gone along, and he's paired that stroke with a monstrous 38% rim rate, though he still isn't dribbling himself to the basket all that often.Buzelis has shown a bit more off-the-bounce juice, especially recently; 34.5% of his 2-pointers since the break have been unassisted, up from 25.3% beforehand. On defense, he's shown a knack for disruption, with his 6-foot-10 frame offsetting a neutral wingspan. He's challenging more shots at the rim than any non-center in the class and holding opponents to 62% shooting there, a very respectable number for a rookie forward. Bulls opponents shoot 5.8 percentage points worse inside the restricted area with him on the floor, a 92nd-percentile differential, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/5346/onoff#tab-opp_shooting_fg">Cleaning the Glass</a>. Ware has a ways to go as a rim-protector, and he has to keep polishing his offensive skills if he wants to be part of a long-term two-big frontcourt, but he's already formed a very strong defensive tandem with Bam Adebayo; the Heat have a 107.8 defensive rating in 444 minutes with <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced?CF=GROUP_NAME*E*adebayo:GROUP_NAME*E*ware&amp;GroupQuantity=2&amp;slug=advanced">both bigs on the floor</a>, better than any team's season-long mark aside from the historically great Thunder.Even if those guys settle in as high-end complementary pieces, and even if this class proves to be as bereft of consistent All-Stars as 2000 was, the depth of rotation-player talent has a chance to dwarf some of the other most maligned classes in recent history.Hulking Blazers center Donovan Clingan already profiles as one of the better rim protectors in the league. He's holding opponents to 49.6% shooting at the rim, good for third among players who have contested at least 200 such shots this season, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=DEF_RIM_FGA*GE*200&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RIM_FG_PCT">NBA Advanced Stats</a>. He also ranks in the 96th percentile among all centers in rim deterrence, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/5342/onoff#tab-opp_shooting_freq">Cleaning the Glass</a>. The even more enormous Zach Edey has contributed right away to a strong Grizzlies team, bringing phenomenal touch (including a near-unstoppable jump hook) while inhaling rebounds and moving his feet just well enough to hang on defense - at least when Jaren Jackson Jr. is beside him.Jaylen Wells, Edey's rookie teammate, may not have the highest ceiling, but he's already an archetypal 3-and-D wing who's been starting for a playoff team all season, guarding every position from one through four while drilling spot-up threes and attacking closeouts with intent. The Suns may not be a playoff team, but wing stopper Ryan Dunn has been one of the rare feel-good stories in Phoenix. Ditto for big man Oso Ighodaro, a smart short-roll playmaker and switchable defender who owns the best net rating on the team.Wizards wing Kyshawn George is a savvy defensive playmaker whose jump shot should eventually be good enough to make him a quality role player. The Pistons' Ron Holland is another wing whose career arc will hinge on the development of his jumper, but he's already a wrecking ball in transition with some sneaky good passing feel and legit defensive chops. The Lakers' Dalton Knecht is the opposite - a ready-made movement shooter who has to fill out some other aspects of his game. The Raptors' Ja'Kobe Walter looks like a potential jack-of-all-trades who can contribute with pestering on-ball defense, an opportunistic eye for cuts, and secondary ball-handling.Elsewhere on the big-man front, the Pelicans' Yves Missi could be a quality rim-running rim-protector (though the second part of that equation needs a lot more work), while the Jazz's Kyle Filipowski and Warriors' Quinten Post look capable of sticking around long-term as skilled stretch fives (Post has hit 44% of his catch-and-shoot threes this season).This group is light on high-upside guards outside of Castle, but I'm intrigued by the Wolves' Rob Dillingham and the Thunder's Ajay Mitchell, who might be the best pure drivers in the class. The Jazz's Isaiah Collier is also a shifty drive-and-kick playmaker who lives in the paint. Rockets third overall pick Reed Sheppard has looked way over his head at the highest level so far, but he came into the season with as much helium as anyone in the class after shooting the lights out in college and tearing up Las Vegas Summer League. (He also tore up his brief G League assignment this season).<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/cropped_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/w220xh124_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/w320xh180_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/w640xh360_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/w768xh432_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775466/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2204783103.jpg?ts=1743444548 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Garrett Ellwood / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Other rookies who have shown promise with select but evident rotation-caliber NBA skills include Jamal Shead, Bub Carrington, Jonathan Mogbo, Devin Carter, and Jaylon Tyson. Perhaps that list will ultimately add Nikola Topic and DaRon Holmes, who had to redshirt their rookie years due to injuries.Obviously not all of these guys are going to carve out productive NBA careers, but it's encouraging that there are this many who have shown the potential to do so. The bar is low, but this looks like a much more promising class than 2000 and a deeper one than 2013, which featured not only one of the worst lotteries ever but also a completely barren second round. (At least 2000 had Redd going outside the first round; the best second-rounder to come out of 2013 was Mike Muscala). That draft was salvaged entirely by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.Much is still to be written about the 2024 class, but it feels like the way it's ultimately viewed historically will depend on how people weigh the quality of a draft's top performers versus the quantity of solid careers it produces. My take: They won't sing songs about this cohort, but it will wind up looking more respectable than the disaster class it's been made out to be.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30813187/related

Reconsidering the rookies from the denigrated 2024 draft class

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Tuesday that Damian Lillard will be out indefinitely to treat deep ...

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Tuesday that Damian Lillard will be out indefinitely to treat deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He's the second All-Star this season to be sidelined due to a blood clot after San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama was shut down in February when the same issue was discovered in his right shoulder.Because this can be a career- and even life-threatening condition, concern should first and foremost center on Lillard himself. He's taking blood-thinning medication, and the answer to when he can safely return to the court depends on several factors, including the severity of the clot and its likelihood of recurrence. The biggest risk with clots is that they can dislodge and travel to the lungs, causing a blood-flow blockage known as a pulmonary embolism. That's what effectively ended the careers of Chris Bosh and Mirza Teletovic.I spoke to a hematologist at the University of Toronto for a story about this issue a few years ago, and he laid out an important distinction between clots that are deemed to be "provoked" and those that are "unprovoked," with no clear trigger. The latter type is much more concerning, he explained, as that's when the issue would be considered likely to recur. In that case, the at-risk patient might even need to be prescribed a blood thinner permanently.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>In this case, a source told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6229321/2025/03/25/bucks-damian-lillard-blood-clot/">The Athletic's Eric Nehm and Sam Amick</a> there's a lot of optimism that Lillard can make it back this season, which suggests he's dealing with an isolated or "provoked" clot. That's great news, but expecting him to return within a month (which would be sometime during the first round of the playoffs) is still a significant departure from the recovery timetables we've seen in recent cases involving players such as Wembanyama, Ausar Thompson, and Brandon Ingram.The hematologist I spoke to said it typically takes at least three months to fully treat deep vein thrombosis, and the biggest risk to an athlete playing a contact sport while taking blood thinners isn't the clot itself but the possibility of significant bleeding if they were to, say, take a hit to the head. Lillard and the Bucks may be hoping that he can quickly scale down to a lower blood-thinning dose or less aggressive regimen that reduces his level of risk. In any case, an NBA fitness-to-play panel will need to clear him before he can begin participating in game action, so it won't be up to him or even the team's medical staff to determine when he can return.In terms of the on-court implications, if Lillard can't return in time for the postseason, Milwaukee is almost certainly doomed to a third straight first-round exit, despite the continuing otherworldly play of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks have already slipped to sixth in the East, making them likely to open the playoffs on the road against either the Knicks or Pacers.And it's not as though they were playing like world-beaters when Lillard was healthy. They're just 32-26 with him in the lineup, and they've outscored opponents by less than a point per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Still, he's their best offensive guard by several country miles, and the way he complements Antetokounmpo on that end still gives Milwaukee a very high ceiling when he's available. The team teased its potential at various points this season, with that duo plus ageless defensive anchor Brook Lopez providing glimpses to dream on.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/cropped_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/w220xh124_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/w320xh180_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/w640xh360_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/w768xh432_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/755365/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2068299030.jpg?ts=1743084107 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Andrew D. Bernstein / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Milwaukee traded Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma at this year's deadline, ditching an aging franchise icon in favor of a younger, cheaper, bigger, more durable wing with a higher defensive ceiling. But Middleton is a vastly superior ball-handler, shooter, and playmaker to Kuzma, and while the Bucks might've been sunk without Lillard regardless, I'd feel better about their chances of surviving a first-round series if they hadn't made that move. They're now relying on the likes of Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. as primary off-the-dribble creators in Lillard's absence.The Bucks have been surprisingly stout defensively this year, ranking 10th in points allowed per possession. But it's hard to see how they'll score enough to win high-leverage games without their starting point guard, even though Rollins and Porter have acquitted themselves reasonably well so far.Lillard had a down year by his standards in his first Bucks campaign but bounced back this season. He put up similar counting stats (24.9 points, 7.1 assists) while bumping his true shooting from 59% to 62%. He shot dramatically better on threes, floaters, and long pull-up middies, and he averaged 1.07 points per possession as a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/ball-handler?SeasonYear=2024-25">pick-and-roll ball-handler</a> (92nd percentile leaguewide) compared to 0.99 points per possession in his first season in Milwaukee. He and Antetokounmpo looked way more comfortable and dangerous running a two-man game together after <a href="https://www.thescore.com/news/2757879">a choppy start</a> to their partnership last season.His untimely ailment is another blow to a Bucks team that's been snakebit every spring since winning the title in 2021. The following season, they lost Middleton to a knee injury in the first round and then fell to a formidable Celtics team without him in the second. In 2023, Antetokounmpo injured his back in the first quarter of their first playoff game and didn't return until Game 4. By that point, the eighth-seeded Heat were well on their way to an upset so seismic that Milwaukee's still feeling the reverberations.Last year, after the Bucks made sweeping changes and emptied their war chest in response to that upset, Antetokounmpo suffered a calf strain in the last week of the regular season and didn't suit up for the first round against the Pacers. Lillard was cooking in that series ... before he aggravated an Achilles injury in Game 3, missed Games 4 and 5, and returned in time to get eliminated in Game 6. After this, another win-now season is at risk of being swept into the dustbin.The front office has expended all its resources in an effort to maximize the remainder of Antetokounmpo's prime; the Bucks don't control any of their own first- or second-round picks between now and 2031. Lillard is 34, and even if he can make it back in time for the postseason, there's no telling how he'll look when he's thrown directly into that crucible after an extended absence. Lopez turns 37 in less than a week, and he'll be a free agent this summer. Milwaukee has no way to replace him, but re-signing him will lock the team into a geriatric core with no upward mobility.Antetokounmpo is as good as ever offensively, and he's still a great (if slightly diminished) defender. But how far can he realistically carry this version of the Bucks in the future? When his three-year, $186-million extension kicks in next season, he and Lillard alone will take up approximately 82% of the salary cap. The Middleton trade got Milwaukee under the second luxury-tax apron, but the front office still has minimal wiggle room to augment the roster around its core duo (or trio, if Lopez returns).For all those reasons, the Bucks had as much riding on the 2024-25 campaign as any team in the NBA. To have arrived at a point where they feel like a long shot to win a single playoff series isn't quite a <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3233078" href="https://thescore.com/news/3233078">Mavericks</a>- or <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3246566" href="https://thescore.com/news/3246566">Suns</a>-level disaster, but it isn't far off.In short: Get well soon, Dame. Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30753363/related

Another star has a blood clot, and another Bucks season hangs in the balance

The courteous thing for the Phoenix Suns brass to do would be to send the biggest fruit basket it...

The courteous thing for the Phoenix Suns brass to do would be to send the biggest fruit basket it can find to Nico Harrison and Co. in Dallas. Because if not for the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3233078" href="https://thescore.com/news/3233078">spectacular self-combustion</a> of this Mavericks' season, we'd all be talking a lot more about the catastrophe unfolding in The Valley. To summarize: The Suns are as all-in as a team can possibly be, having put together by far the most expensive roster in the league and relinquished control of all their own first-round draft picks from now until 2032. Yet they sit 33-37, tied with Dallas for 10th in the Western Conference, with one of the league's hardest remaining schedules. Their play-in hopes are kept alive only by the grace of an equally calamitous outfit.Unlike those Mavs, though, the Suns can't even point to crushing injury luck as an excuse for their sorry state. Sure, they've had occasional bumps and bruises, but they've been one of the 10 healthiest teams this season by <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/injured/_/year/2024/view/team">total man games lost,</a> with the top nine guys in their rotation missing just 76 games combined. They also were swept out of the first round last spring with all three of their max players in uniform. They aren't snakebitten, they're just not very good.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Plus, their best player is 36. And did I mention they don't control their own first-round pick in any of the next seven drafts?How did a team fronted by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker get this depressing? That's a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer still performing at a top-15 level, and a two-time All-NBAer who should be smack dab in the middle of his prime at 28. The team's formula for success was supposed to be this: pair an overwhelming offense with a defense barely good enough to let that offense carry the day 50-odd times a season. Instead, Phoenix has been appalling defensively, and just good enough offensively to keep it in play-in territory.It's been a steady march in a straight line to this hopeless place for the Suns, who came up two wins shy of a championship less than four years ago and won a franchise-record 64 games the following season.The year after that, Mat Ishbia bought the team from disgraced former owner Robert Sarver. He took control right before the trade deadline, amid a midseason malaise brought on by injuries to Booker and a creaky-looking Chris Paul. Three days later, at Ishbia's insistence, the front office fired nearly every arrow in its quiver to acquire Durant. It then doubled down by trading Paul and its scant remaining draft assets for Bradley Beal the ensuing offseason.Phoenix also dealt former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton that summer in a trade that brought back Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen (though sending out 52nd overall pick Toumani Camara in the same deal wound up stinging way more). On the sidelines, Monty Williams was relieved of his coaching duties, and Frank Vogel lasted all of one season as his replacement. Mike Budenholzer was brought in this year, and the ice already <a href="https://x.com/DarthVoita/status/1895585662818218365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1895585662818218365%7Ctwgr%5Eb76cf54b3a76921ce70748a999fabc86c69a4e6b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnba%2Fsuns%2Fnews%2Finsider-phoenix-suns-head-coach-mike-budenholzer-hard-deal-with">appears to have grown thin</a> beneath his feet.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/cropped_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/w220xh124_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/w320xh180_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/w640xh360_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/w768xh432_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773502/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2200694157.jpg?ts=1742481633 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>This is what it looks like when a team gets stuck in a death spiral, throwing good money after bad, compounding desperate moves with even more desperate moves. The Suns' attempts to squirm out of the quicksand has only served to pull them down faster. It's admittedly a bit disingenuous to lambaste them now, with the benefit of hindsight, for moves I was at least able to rationalize at the time they were made.The Durant trade is what set Phoenix down this path to ruin, but that felt like a worthwhile gamble because it lifted the short-term ceiling as high as it could conceivably go for a team that was otherwise petering out. I <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2666566">saw the justification</a> for the Beal trade in the context of trying to maximize Durant's twilight years. And I believed, despite the defensive question marks and the financial constraints his untradeable contract imposed, that his ability to get to the rim and be a high-level tertiary creator could correct multiple deficiencies and make Phoenix's offense unstoppable. Oops.While acknowledging that the Suns deserved blame for letting the Ayton relationship fray to the point he had to be dumped at the nadir of his value, I thought they got a solid return for him given the circumstances - theoretically shoring up their rebounding, shooting, and connective playmaking with Nurkic and Allen. I thought Royce O'Neale could be a game-changing role player for them, and I thought they did pretty well to fill out the back end of their roster with only minimum deals to offer, bringing in the likes of Eric Gordon, Bol Bol, Jordan Goodwin, and Keita Bates-Diop. Yikes.Heck, even after writing Phoenix off following last year's playoff whimper against Minnesota, I managed to <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3096324" href="https://thescore.com/news/3096324">talk myself into</a> Tyus Jones addressing the team's turnover woes and lack of offensive structure, Mason Plumlee bolstering the paper-thin big-man rotation, and Budenholzer bringing schematic tweaks that would make the whole equal to the sum of its parts. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.Lucky for me, all I've had to suffer for those freezing cold takes is a bruised ego and maybe a hit to my analytical credibility. Not so lucky for Phoenix's front office, which has taken nothing but Ls ever since Luka Doncic ripped that 64-win team's heart out in a second-round series that feels like it happened 800 years ago.Durant, Booker, and Beal just never clicked. All three of them have great off-ball skill sets that allow plenty of room for co-stars, but their ability to accommodate others failed to translate into synergy or symbiosis between them, perhaps because none proved to be good enough lead playmakers. They've also all individually played below their previous standards this season. Age could explain that for Durant, yet he's still easily been the best of the bunch.Booker's come around recently, but he shot the ball poorly until about mid-January and he's taken a clear step back defensively. Beal's scored efficiently but his offensive decision-making has been highly erratic, his defense even more so. All three have negative on-court net ratings, and they've been <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612756&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=201142,203078,1626164">disastrous as a trio</a>.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/cropped_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/w220xh124_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/w320xh180_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/w640xh360_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/w768xh432_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774320/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2203676571.jpg?ts=1742481690 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Glenn James / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>The Suns are small and punchless around them, despite rookie Ryan Dunn establishing himself as their best wing defender. (Dunn's hot early-season shooting regressed to the point that he temporarily found himself out of the rotation.) They've somehow gotten even worse at taking care of the ball despite the Jones addition, falling from 25th to 28th in turnover rate. Couple that with terrible rebounding, and the Suns are getting about five fewer shooting possessions per game than their opponents. That's how a team that ranks third in true shooting percentage winds up underwater.The coup de grace from the front office came before this year's deadline, when they traded their unprotected 2031 first-rounder for heavily protected firsts in 2025, 2027, and 2029, in the hopes of using those picks to get Jimmy Butler. But that plan was immediately and predictably foiled by Beal exercising his no-trade clause, so they pivoted to shopping Durant instead. It seems inevitable now that a Durant trade will happen in the offseason, as the Suns try to duck the second apron and restock their barren asset cupboard. It's equally inevitable they'll get back a fraction of what they gave up to acquire him.Meanwhile, after the Ayton trade paid dividends last season - when Allen led the league in 3-point percentage and Nurkic posted the team's best individual net rating - Nurkic was so bad this year that Phoenix ultimately had to expend another first-rounder just to turn him into Cody Martin. Even setting the Ayton situation aside, it's crazy to think how much better the Suns' short- and long-term outlook would be if they had Camara in the fold.After the playoff debacle last spring, Ishbia <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5465560/2024/05/01/suns-mat-ishbia-frank-vogel/">proudly proclaimed</a> that 26 other teams would trade places with his Suns if given the chance. Inject him with a dose of truth serum today and he'd probably make the inverse claim: the Suns would jump at the chance to trade places with 26 other teams.The only way out of this mess is through. They're going to have to trade Durant for whatever they can get, ride out what's left of Beal's contract (which will mercifully end with a $57-million player option in 2026-27), and hope they can retool around Booker quickly enough to re-emerge while he's still in his prime. More likely, though, they'll eventually have to trade him, too. Preferably to the Rockets to reacquire their own 2027 and 2029 first-rounders, so they can bottom out and rebuild properly.I'd love to be able to offer a dash of optimism or anything resembling a viable alternative, but it's hard to see how anything besides pain awaits this franchise for the foreseeable future. To quote George Costanza, one of the great philosophers of our time: If you're bleak, you're bleak.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30671814/related

The Suns are a disaster of epic proportions

It feels like we've been waiting all season for the Minnesota Timberwolves to arrive. The team th...

It feels like we've been waiting all season for the Minnesota Timberwolves to arrive. The team that bludgeoned the league with one of the best defenses of the pace-and-space era last season - that obliterated the Suns and slayed the defending champion Nuggets in the playoffs - was nowhere to be seen for the first three months of 2024-25.They got off to <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3137179" href="https://thescore.com/news/3137179">a rocky start</a>, which wasn't totally unexpected considering they'd just traded Karl-Anthony Towns, their longest-tenured player and arguably the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/2920240" href="https://thescore.com/news/2920240">most important pillar of their identity</a>, for a skilled but stylistically different power forward in Julius Randle. It felt like they'd figure things out in time - their implied talent and point differential have long painted them as a better team than their record suggests. But the malaise persisted for a troublingly long time, and Randle's complicated free agency loomed on the horizon.One game, Randle would look like he'd figured out how to fit between Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert; the next, he'd look like a square peg wedged awkwardly in a round hole. Most games, Mike Conley appeared fully cooked. The defense wasn't playing with nearly the same connectivity or force as it did the year prior. Edwards <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5954565/2024/11/28/anthony-edwards-timberwolves-slow-start/">spoke</a> of individual agendas and called the team "soft as hell" and said it lacked any identity. Head coach Chris Finch bemoaned the absence of consistency night-to-night.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>Then Donte DiVincenzo, the 3-and-D guard Minnesota acquired from New York alongside Randle, suffered a toe injury just as he was getting his season on track. Randle himself went down with a groin strain a couple of weeks later. And that was when the team came upon two diverging roads.It might be too pat to call those injuries blessings in disguise, and it's not like the Wolves set the world on fire while the Knicks imports were out; they were 11-8 without DiVincenzo, and 5-8 without Randle. But progress was made in several key areas, and that stretch is when it felt like the pieces started to snap into place.With Naz Reid filling in frictionlessly at the starting four spot (as Naz Reid does), Jaden McDaniels took the extra touches that came his way and spun them into a web of newfound confidence. After an uneven and tentative start to the season, he emerged as a more fluid and sure-footed attacker and in-between scorer. He's averaged 17.9 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on 60.4% true shooting and 19% usage across 21 games since the start of February, up from 10.5, 5.2, and 1.6 on 55.2% true shooting and 14.5% usage before then.At the same time, Conley started to look ... if not quite like his younger self, then at least like a less creaky version of his old self. Edwards continued to carry the offense while putting together one of the greatest 3-point shooting seasons of all time - a story that hasn't gotten nearly enough attention.Opportunity was also seized by the team's trio of rookies. Point guard Rob Dillingham showed some smooth on-ball flourishes, wiry guard Jaylen Clark wowed with his defensive playmaking ability, and beefy wing Terrence Shannon Jr. made loud plays at both ends of the floor. Their contributions seemed to galvanize the rest of the team, especially when all three played big roles in the Wolves' signature win of the season: a massive fourth-quarter comeback and overtime win in Oklahoma City three weeks ago.DiVincenzo returned a game later and immediately put together his best two-way stretch of basketball with Minnesota. He's flying around on defense, shooting 48% from deep on eight attempts per game, and owns the best raw plus-minus in the league (+123) in 10 games since coming back.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/cropped_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/w220xh124_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/w320xh180_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/w640xh360_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/w768xh432_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775211/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2187685234.jpg?ts=1741969130 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Juan Ocampo / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>Randle looked like a different player when he got healthy, too. It was as if he used his five weeks off to figure out how he could better operate within the flow of Minnesota's offense. He still has some catch-and-hold moments, but his shoot/pass/drive decisions generally are coming way faster, and the ball is sticking way less.<figure class="article-segment--embed"><iframe title="Randle's recovery" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-kKXzb" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/kKXzb/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="305" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
</script></figure>He's also been more dialed in defensively - head on a swivel, busting it back in transition, making max-effort closeouts - for a unit that's finally starting to resemble last year's bear trap. These factors are a big part of the reason the Wolves have won all eight games with Randle back in the lineup.His first four games back came with Gobert on the shelf, and the smaller Randle-Reid frontcourt - which struggled early in the season - steamrolled opponents. Things have looked even better since Randle and Gobert reunited, with that tandem playing to a plus-45 across 60 minutes in the last four games, including a dominant showing in a 20-point beatdown of the Nuggets last Wednesday.The Wolves feel like they're hitting their stride at the right time. They're fully healthy at last, looking nastier and more connected than they've been all year. They're one of four teams (the others being OKC, Cleveland, and Boston) to rank in the top 10 on both sides of the ball. At 40-29 and owners of the longest active win streak in the league, they're in a virtual tie for the Western Conference's last guaranteed playoff spot and just 3.5 games back of a top-four seed, with a very soft closing schedule.None of that means they're going to get back to where they were last spring, or that history will ultimately look favorably on the Towns trade. The West playoffs are shaping up to be a bloodbath. The Lakers and Warriors <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3238844" href="https://thescore.com/news/3238844">revived themselves</a> with blockbuster trades. The Grizzlies and Rockets are young, hungry, and extremely deep. The Nuggets haven't had an answer for Minnesota recently, but they still have championship experience and the world's best player.All those teams will likely be brawling to decide which one gets to take its best swing at the Thunder, who are merely having one of the best regular seasons in NBA history. But there's no reason to think the team that poses the stiffest test can't be the one that recently flummoxed OKC with a pressure zone while erasing a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit.However that royal rumble shakes out, it's nice to see Minnesota officially throwing its hat in the ring. After keeping us waiting all season, the Wolves are finally showing their teeth. Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30641020/related

How the Timberwolves got their teeth back

Every season, conversations about breakout players and Most Improved Player candidates focus on o...

Every season, conversations about breakout players and Most Improved Player candidates focus on offensive growth, with the less glamorous end of the floor almost always getting short shrift. This column aims to rectify that by looking at the players who've made the biggest defensive leaps. The candidates can range from All-Stars to role players. They can be guys who improved their defense from bad to average, average to good, or good to great. <a href="https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2833452">Last year's list</a> featured the likes of Scottie Barnes, Alperen Sengun, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Goga Bitadze.Here are the most improved defenders of the 2024-25 season. (Stats updated through March 12.) <div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div><h3>Dyson Daniels, Hawks </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/cropped_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/w220xh124_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/w320xh180_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/w640xh360_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/w768xh432_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/752125/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2180785471.jpg?ts=1732736691 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Zach Beeker / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>I waffled on whether to put Daniels on this list because I didn't want to undersell the defense he displayed before this year. In his first two NBA seasons with the Pelicans, Daniels established himself as an on-ball hellhound who could dodge screens more artfully than any 6-foot-8 human should be able to, while regularly containing drives and blowing up dribble-handoffs with his active hands and 6-foot-11 wingspan. The issue was his offense, which was so uneven that he could only showcase his defensive aptitude for about 20 minutes a game. In that sense, his offensive growth this year has been an equally important development.Ultimately, though, I couldn't ignore the extent to which the 21-year-old has leveled up as a defensive playmaker in his first season with the Hawks. His on-ball work has been more impressive than ever, particularly his ability to pressure the ball the length of the court and routinely pick his own man's pocket without gambling himself out of position. He's also been more disruptive as a team defender, using his length to swipe at unsuspecting ball-handlers around the nail or blow up entry passes with blind-side assaults on the post.That's manifested in him averaging a ridiculous 6.0 deflections per game, which is 1.9 more than any other player <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?CF=G*GE*40&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=DEFLECTIONS">this season</a>, and 1.8 more than any other player in NBA.com's entire 10-year hustle-stat tracking database. He's also averaging 3.0 steals a night; if he can carry it through the final 17 games of the season, he'll be only the 15th qualified player in NBA history to crack that threshold, and the first since Nate McMillan in 1993-94.Daniels is <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3229783" href="https://thescore.com/news/3229783">the rare guard</a> to seriously challenge for Defensive Player of the Year (he's currently second in odds behind Evan Mobley), and he's the single biggest reason the Hawks have jumped from 27th to 19th in defensive efficiency. <h3>Jalen Williams, Thunder </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/cropped_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/w220xh124_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/w320xh180_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/w640xh360_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/w768xh432_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/637448/w1080xh607_GettyImages-1960414833.jpg?ts=1741887186 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Joshua Gateley / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Like Daniels, Williams was an already strong defender who's elevated himself into elite-of-the-elite territory as a third-year player this season. There's plenty of credit to go around in OKC's high-pressure, help-heavy, turnover-forcing defensive machine. Between Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, there are perimeter stoppers, rim-protectors, and event creators up and down the roster. But no Thunder player has made a bigger or more consequential jump in checking all three of the aforementioned boxes than Williams.Though he stands at just 6-foot-5, Williams can credibly guard five positions because he's built like a tank and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan. Opponents trying to isolate against him have shot 8-for-36 with eight turnovers this season, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*jalen%20williams&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;TypeGrouping=defensive">NBA Advanced Stats</a>. Among 79 players who've defended at least 50 such possessions this season, no one's allowed fewer <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation?CF=POSS*GE*50&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;TypeGrouping=defensive&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PPP">points per isolation</a>. He has the foot speed and great hands to corral point guards, and his strength development has allowed him to stand up any wing in the league and just about any big man as well.That bore out early this season when both Hartenstein and Holmgren were injured and Williams was thrust into duty as OKC's starting center. He succeeded in that role not only because he could hold his ground against 7-footers, but because he's become arguably the league's best rim-protecting guard. Opponents are shooting 55.8% at the basket when Williams is in the vicinity, the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=DEF_RIM_FGA*GE*100&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;PlayerPosition=G&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RIM_FG_PCT">lowest mark for any guard</a> who's contested at least 100 such shots this season. Whether he's playing the five and anchoring the back line by himself, or simply providing cover for one of the Thunder's traditional centers, he's fully leveraging his physical tools thanks to refined instincts and timing.When Williams recently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu81OiNRkJA&amp;t=3828s">advocated</a> for the creation of a perimeter-specific DPOY award, he tried to lay out the distinction in defensive responsibilities for guards and bigs. "I've never had to block shots, and a big's never had ..." he started, then caught himself. "Well, actually I have, so maybe not a good example."That moment of self-recognition captured the reality of what the 23-year-old has turned himself into: a defender who can do it all. <h3>P.J. Washington, Mavericks </h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/cropped_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/w220xh124_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/w320xh180_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/w640xh360_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/w768xh432_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/631893/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2155355429.jpg?ts=1741887269 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Stephen Maturen / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>I'm stretching the parameters for this one a bit, because Washington's turnaround dates back to last year's trade deadline. But Mavs fans haven't had much to feel good about recently, and this is a much-needed nod of recognition to a guy whose defensive leap played an instrumental role in the team's Finals run a season ago. Washington's improvement has continued into 2024-25, even as the foundation around him has crumbled. Given how quickly his defense perked up after moving from Charlotte to Dallas, this also might be the first such selection based purely on effort. Washington showed flashes of defensive acumen across his five years as a Hornet, but his engagement level on that end ranged from unenthusiastic to apathetic, especially in more recent seasons. Since becoming a Maverick, he's been tasked with guarding top opposing wing threats virtually every night - even more so this season with Klay Thompson replacing Derrick Jones Jr. in the starting lineup - and he's truly risen to that challenge. Dallas has allowed 6.3 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor this season, a 91st-percentile differential, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4583/onoff#tab-team_efficiency">Cleaning the Glass</a>.He's been excellent on the ball - handsy and physical but also balanced and disciplined - which has allowed him to actualize the potential the Hornets long saw in him as a switch defender. Perhaps more importantly, he's been making pinpoint back-side rotations and serving as a genuine deterrent at the rim. Before the trade last year, opponents shot 67.2% against him inside the restricted area. That number was higher than 62% in each of his seasons in Charlotte. In 76 games with Dallas, it's 56.4%. It's a shame those strides are currently being wasted on a cursed team, but if and when the Mavs get healthy, Washington will form a monstrous defensive frontcourt with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II. <h3>Detroit Pistons</h3><figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/cropped_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w220xh124_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w320xh180_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w640xh360_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w768xh432_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/775046/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2196399181.jpg?ts=1741887430 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Chris Schwegler / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>When a team goes from allowing the fifth-most points per possession to the ninth fewest in the span of a year, it's impossible to assign credit to any one specific place.The Pistons' defense rapidly improved in every conceivable area, and nearly all of that growth happened internally. Sure, they added important vets in the offseason, but it's not like Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, or Tim Hardaway Jr. have a history of transforming defenses for the better (though Harris has been very good this year). Detroit's instead been propelled by a collective leap forward from all its young players, starting in the middle with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Duren has a preposterous 7-foot-5 wingspan and explosive vertical athleticism, but didn't have the defensive impact to match until this season. He can still be overly jumpy and his footwork still needs some refinement, but his positioning and spatial awareness have improved immensely, especially in drop coverage. Court sense has never been an issue for Stewart, who's always defended well in space whether dropping or switching. Where he's improved most is as a pure rim-protector. He stands just 6-foot-8 and doesn't have Duren's leaping ability, but he has comparable length and better timing. He's nearly tripled his block rate this season, and is holding opponents to 45.5% shooting at the rim, lower than any qualified player <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=DEF_RIM_FGA*GE*4&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RIM_FG_PCT">contesting at least four such shots per game</a>. The Pistons are also much stronger on the perimeter. Ausar Thompson is a quick-twitch athletic marvel who, much like his twin brother (see below), went from being a very good rookie defender to the most important cog in a top-10 unit as a sophomore. He manages to be in multiple places at once, seemingly teleporting from strong side to weak side, from paint to 3-point line and back again. His per-minute steal rate is almost on par with Daniels', which is the biggest reason Detroit's jumped from 27th to eighth in opponent turnover rate.Cade Cunningham's offensive leap has deservedly received most of the attention, but his defensive growth has been a big story, too: he's gotten a way better feel for how to use his size on that end of the floor, both on the ball and in the gaps. Jaden Ivey also showed improvement before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Marcus Sasser earned more opportunity after Ivey went down and impressed with his friskiness at the point of attack.On top of all that individual development, the Pistons are also nailing the team- and scheme-oriented stuff that requires attentiveness and connectivity from everyone, like communicating off-ball switches, helping the helper, and gang rebounding. New coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his assistants deserve a ton of credit for their attention to detail and getting the necessary defensive buy-in. It's the jet fuel powering the NBA's most unexpected rise this season.<h3>Honorable mentions: Amen Thompson, Rockets; Toumani Camara, Blazers</h3>Barely missing the cut are the two best non-Wemby sophomore defenders in the league. Both are ridiculously versatile forward-sized guys who, while plenty capable of guarding on the wing and protecting the paint, are mostly deployed as condor-like predators at the point of attack.They're only down here because of how spectacular they were as rookies. But I still gave strong consideration to the continued strides both made in establishing themselves as All-Defense-caliber guys - and the Western Conference's Defensive Players of the Month in January and February, respectively.Others receiving consideration: Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Maxey, Santi Aldama, Jake LaRavia, Jaxson Hayes, Malik Monk

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The most improved defenders in the NBA

For basketball fans of a certain age, there was a particular thrill to watching the Paris Olympic...

For basketball fans of a certain age, there was a particular thrill to watching the Paris Olympics and seeing LeBron James and Steph Curry - the two great lions of this NBA generation at 39 and 36 years old, respectively - lead Team USA to gold. But those feelings of awe and inspiration soon turned to vexation as the NBA season began, and their storied NBA teams continued to stagnate and creep toward irrelevance.At the start of February, Curry's Golden State Warriors were 24-24, outside the play-in picture in a deep Western Conference. LeBron's Los Angeles Lakers were a more respectable 27-19 but with a bottom-10 defense and a negative scoring margin that suggested they were much worse than their record. The two teams clearly needed dramatic shakeups if they were going to make something meaningful out of their all-time greats' precious twilight years. Fortunately for them, a set of unique circumstances presented opportunities for both to do exactly that.Within the week, Luka Doncic was a Laker, and Jimmy Butler was a Warrior. Even with neither guy playing up to his standard, the Lakers have gone 13-4 to surge to third in the West, while the Warriors have gone 12-2 to jump into a top-six playoff spot. Notably, here are James' and Curry's stats before and after the trades:<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div><figure class="article-segment--embed"><iframe title="LeBron-Curry post-trade" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-fmwrU" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fmwrU/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="472" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
</script></figure>"Acquire Hall-of-Fame talent and prosper" may seem like a self-evident concept. But as the Phoenix Suns can attest, things don't always work out that way. Here's a look at how Doncic and Butler have changed the course of their new teams' seasons, in large part by reinvigorating those clubs' aging legends.<h3>Luka in L.A. </h3>The Lakers are 9-4 with Doncic in the lineup and 4-0 without him since the trade, suggesting the mere act of acquiring a top-five player just entering his prime brought a psychological lift. Doncic hasn't even fully hit his stride yet, shooting 47% from 2-point range and 32% from deep as a Laker (compared to 56% and 35% for his career). He's still playing his way back into game shape after a seven-week injury layoff.Before James suffered a groin injury that will sideline him for a week or two, we got to glimpse what even a rusty version of Doncic could do for L.A. and James specifically. Tellingly, in the pregame huddle before Doncic's Lakers debut, LeBron gave him the exact opposite advice he gave Kevin Love in Cleveland. He told his new teammate to be himself on the court and, rather than try to fit in, to "fit the f--k out."It's easy to understand why. Doncic significantly reduced the burden of creation on James' shoulders and allowed him to lean into his resilient play-finishing abilities. James can now capitalize on the gravity and passing ability of the best creator he's ever played with. In the 11 contests together, Doncic has tossed James 28 assists. On a per-game basis, that would rank them as the top assist combo in the league for the season.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/cropped_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/w220xh124_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/w320xh180_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/w640xh360_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/w768xh432_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773721/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2202470056.jpg?ts=1741712657 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Adam Pantozzi / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Doncic's hit-ahead passing, coupled with James still being a freight train in the open floor at age 40, is a huge part of that successful connection. With both on the court, the Lakers are by far the best transition team in the league when accounting for volume and efficiency. In those minutes, they're scoring 1.43 points per transition possession and adding an estimated 5.3 points per 100 via transition play (the Grizzlies lead the league overall at 4.2), according to <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4432/lineups?on=1785#tab-context_trans_offense">Cleaning the Glass</a>.Those profitable open-court chances are coming mostly off live rebounds. Doncic creates a feedback loop with his unique ability to grab defensive boards (like few other guards in the league can) and kickstart the break the other way. It's helped mask the fact that L.A. ranks 21st in first-shot half-court efficiency since he debuted.That pedestrian half-court scoring doesn't feel like a long-term concern. Again, Doncic is still getting his legs under him. Before the trade, head coach JJ Redick's offense got a lot of mileage out of three-man elbow actions involving James, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reaves. Those plays are even more dynamic with Doncic's improvisational genius replacing the more mechanical Davis. Utilizing a trio of shooting, driving, and playmaking threats as potent as Doncic, James, and Reaves can create all kinds of problems for opposing defenses.For now, though, the Lakers are primarily being powered by what they're doing on the defensive end of the floor. When I wrote about <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3207817" href="https://thescore.com/news/3207817">their end of the lopsided trade</a>, I suggested that adding Doncic could elevate and elongate the tail end of LeBron's career. I also considered it unlikely that the Lakers would seriously compete for a title this season because of their troubling lack of big men and a defense I expected to struggle. They ranked 21st in defensive efficiency before trading their five-time All-Defensive anchor for a guy who's historically been a defensive liability.Instead, L.A. has produced the league's top-ranked defense since the trade. Jarred Vanderbilt's return a couple of weeks prior to the Davis-for-Doncic exchange, along with the Lakers' acquisition of Dorian Finney-Smith at the end of December, played a significant role in the team's defense trending up before the blockbuster deal. However, since Doncic first suited up for them, the Lakers have also surrendered 3.5 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor compared to when he's on the bench, despite opponents shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range with him out there.It's not that Doncic has magically morphed into an all-world defender. He still gets targeted in ball-screen action and is liable to get cooked by quick guards when he switches. But his size and smarts are legitimate assets in a team defense context, at least when he commits to making timely help rotations and keeping his hands high. There's a lot to be said for being 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds and simply being in the way.And this is another area where we can point to the way Doncic's presence has elevated James, even if it's harder to quantify. Whether due to the decreased offensive responsibility, the energizing nature of the trade, or some combination of the two, James was playing his best defense in at least a couple of years before his injury; pressuring the ball, prowling on the weak side, and blowing stuff up at the rim. With Jaxson Hayes and Trey Jemison being the team's only true centers, James' rejuvenated activity level allowed those small-ball lineups to flourish.That injury is a blow that Doncic's presence will soften greatly. The Lakers have outscored opponents by 16 points per 100 with him on the floor and James on the bench, per <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/14/lineups?on=4432&amp;off=1785#tab-four_factors">Cleaning the Glass</a>. When they're both healthy, the ability to have at least one of them on the court at all times is basically a cheat code.Add it all up, and the trade has turned the Lakers from an aimless team with a second-round ceiling and a hazy future to one with a real chance to deliver LeBron his fifth ring before all's said and done.<h3>Butler in The Bay </h3>At 35, Butler isn't a transformative force on the level of a 26-year-old Doncic. But he's transformed the Warriors all the same while unlocking a near-peak version of Curry that we weren't sure still existed. Even against a softish schedule, the eye test and statistical indicators surrounding this new partnership have been extremely encouraging.Since the Warriors acquired Butler four days after the Doncic trade, they have the league's third-ranked defense and fifth-ranked offense, good for a plus-11.7 net rating that puts them behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers in that span. They've won 12 of 13 games with Butler in the lineup despite the fact that he's put up relatively pedestrian counting stats (roughly 18-6-6), shot 5-for-25 from 3-point range, and had bouts of extreme passivity in those 13 contests.Being a star who can thrive offensively without dominating the ball always <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3211401" href="https://thescore.com/news/3211401">made Butler an intuitive fit</a> with head coach Steve Kerr's offense. It's the combination of things Butler can do when he has the ball - namely, run pick-and-rolls, drive toward the basket, draw fouls, and pass - that set him apart from everyone else orbiting Curry in that system. Butler has injected a much-needed dose of rim frequency and free-throw generation into a team that ranked 26th and 28th in those departments before the trade. (They're up to 13th and seventh since Butler debuted.)<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/cropped_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/w220xh124_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/w320xh180_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/w640xh360_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/w768xh432_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/774678/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2203505269.jpg?ts=1741712799 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Noah Graham / NBA / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Having to take Butler seriously as a scoring threat means more defensive attention has to be paid to him when he's playing off Curry. His gravity inside the arc makes it more dangerous for defenses to send multiple bodies at Curry beyond it. That should help explain why Curry has an effective field-goal percentage of 60.4% <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/on-off/nba/player?Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;TeamId=1610612744&amp;PlayerId=202710">when playing next to Butler</a> compared to 56.8% when playing without him and why he's had his three highest-scoring games of the season since the trade.Butler is an amplifier; he isn't the type of star who takes possessions away from co-stars. In Golden State, he's doing the exact opposite. His pristine ball protection has benefited a team that's had turnover issues throughout the entire Kerr era. The Warriors have the league's 10th-lowest turnover rate since Butler debuted, and he's coughing it up just 1.4 times a game. He's also adding possessions with his rugged work on the offensive glass, where he's pulling down more offensive boards (2.5 per contest) than any Warrior besides Kevon Looney. More possessions means more opportunities for Curry to do stuff like <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&amp;CFPARAMS=&amp;GameEventID=327&amp;GameID=0022400901&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;flag=1&amp;title=Curry%2038%27%203PT%20Turnaround%20Jump%20Shot%20(16%20PTS)%20(Butler%20III%203%20AST)">this</a>.And Butler's ability to prevent the Warriors from drowning when Curry hits the bench takes some pressure off the soon-to-be 37-year-old's on-court minutes. The Warriors scored just 103.6 points per 100 with Curry on the bench before the trade. That didn't dissuade Kerr from keeping his aging star on a tight 32-minute-a-game program, but he's probably sleeping better now that his team's scoring at an elite clip during the other 16 minutes, posting a 122.5 offensive rating with <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/10/lineups?on=526&amp;off=787#tab-four_factors">Butler on and Curry off.</a>Meanwhile, a defense that was already excellent has gotten even better. Thanks to Butler's physicality and smarts, he remains one of the best team defenders in the game. He and Draymond Green form a two-man weak-side wrecking crew, and the Warriors are forcing an ungodly rate of turnovers with both of them on the floor prowling passing lanes and bull-rushing opponents with aggressive back-side help. It's helped cover Curry's vulnerabilities at the point of attack and the lack of a rim-protecting center on the roster.Butler has done all that for the Warriors while still easing into his niche in their ecosystem and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6128121/2025/02/11/warriors-2-0-in-jimmy-butler-era/">playing his way back into game shape</a>. The prospect of him dialing things up for the stretch run and playoffs should have fans feeling optimistic about this team's chances of winning at least one round this spring.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30573624/related

How Doncic and Butler are reviving two sleeping giants

A few weeks ago, Jalen Williams - the Oklahoma City Thunder's do-it-all guard/wing/occasional sma...

A few weeks ago, Jalen Williams - the Oklahoma City Thunder's do-it-all guard/wing/occasional small-ball center - made a bold proposal. "I think there should be two Defensive Players of the Year," Williams said on the "Young Man and the Three" podcast. "It's just a big every year. I feel like it does a disservice to guards that are constantly in it. Everybody that's gotten it is deserving, but defense is very different for certain players. (It should be) a big and a guard. They do two different things."Although positional responsibilities are starting to bleed together in today's NBA, where just about everyone at every position can do a little bit of everything, Williams is right that guards and bigs serve very distinct defensive functions. Comparing them is an apples-to-oranges exercise.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>It's also true that neither can succeed independently of the other. Bigs protect the most valuable real estate on the court, but they rely on guards to chase around increasingly dangerous ball-handlers and shooters, and funnel the action toward them."Maybe I'm biased," Celtics stalwart Jrue Holiday told me. "But I do think that, while guards don't necessarily protect the rim in terms of blocking shots, bigs also don't know how to fight over a screen or chase around a pindown." If there's an argument over whether one of those things is more important than the other, it's seemingly been long settled in the minds of award voters; Marcus Smart is the only guard to have won DPOY in the last 29 years. And last season, when the All-Defensive teams became position-less for the first time, four of the five first-team selections were centers. (Though, in fairness, four of the five second-team spots went to guards.)Victor Wembanyama was the runaway DPOY favorite this year before his season was cut short due to a blood clot. Now that he's out of contention, the heavy front-runners are big men Jaren Jackson Jr. and Evan Mobley. However deserving those guys might be, point-of-attack defenders around the league clearly feel their contributions aren't being fully appreciated.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/cropped_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/w220xh124_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/w320xh180_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/w640xh360_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/w768xh432_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773261/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2194583642.jpg?ts=1741031815 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Zach Beeker / NBA / Getty</figcaption></figure>"It makes no sense, when the guard is the one picking up 94 feet, the guard is the one getting over a screen before doing his work, closing out and contesting before the ball even gets to a big," said Smart, who started the season in Memphis and is now playing in Washington. "We do a lot more than we get credit for. So, nothing against the bigs, they do a good job, we need them. But us guards, we're down there working in the trenches."Though more and more action is <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/2883055" href="https://thescore.com/news/2883055">being run through centers</a> and jumbo wings, guards remain the primary offensive engines in the NBA. Even the most skilled bigs can't handle the ball or shoot off the dribble or on the move the way the best guards can. This season, guards listed at 6-foot-6 or under account for 12 of the top 15 qualified players in 3-point attempts per 100 possessions, 13 of the league's 15 highest-volume drivers, and 31 of the 40 most frequent ball-handlers, according to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?PerMode=PerGame&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=TIME_OF_POSS">NBA Advanced Stats</a>. Someone has to contain all that action."That's the guy who's running the team," Magic point guard Jalen Suggs said of the guys he was regularly bottling up before back and knee injuries derailed his season. "Some teams have their wings handle that, but when you're able to lock down a guard with another guard, it makes it really tough for the offense to get in a flow."Bigs are, of course, no less crucial to containing those guys with ball-screen coverage, back-line help, and rim deterrence. But without adequate resistance in front of them, they wind up stretched too thin trying to guard two players at once. "Having that dominant big protecting the rim helps your defense a ton because you can kind of funnel things into him," Suggs said. "But if you can't guard the perimeter, it don't even matter where he's at."Here's an explanation from Davion Mitchell, who was almost singlehandedly holding the point-of-attack dam for the Raptors before being traded to Miami at the deadline:"Nine times out of 10, if I'm guarding a guard, I'm on his hip where he can't jump as high to even go up for the layup," Mitchell said. "Like, if I'm guarding someone like Ja Morant, he can jump over literally anyone, but if I'm close to his body to where he can't jump as high, and he misses the layup, I feel like that's just me, no matter what (the big does), because he can't get to his athleticism. It's just little things like that that people don't always see."<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/cropped_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/w220xh124_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/w320xh180_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/w640xh360_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/w768xh432_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773259/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2197295743.jpg?ts=1741031441 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Cole Burston / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>While it may not have risen to the importance of big-man defense, guard defense today comes with a wider array of responsibilities and more weight than ever. So many of the defensive trends currently shaping the league put the impetus on guards. Pick-up points are higher on the floor than they've been in years, up to and including full-court pressure. There's an increased focus on getting into the ball and forcing turnovers.The ability to dodge screens has also never been more valuable given the sheer number and variety of screens being set on and off the ball. Guards who can stay connected and provide serious rear-view pressure allow their teams to play those screening actions with minimal supplemental help, keeping others home on shooters and cutters. But navigating that minefield requires a ton of awareness and preparation. "There's so many different ways you can do it," Suggs explained. "You can do it literally by sheer force, like hitting the big so many times as they come up to screen that they're not sprinting into (the screens) as much, and not setting them as steady. That kind of gives you some grace and a bit more room to move around. You can apply so much pressure on the ball that you kind of push the guard away from any any attacking or scoring position. You can slide under. It really just depends on the night, which technique you decide to use. "That makes it fun, because there's so many different styles of guards in the league, whether it's big, small, fast- or slow-paced, very physical or very twitchy. It's just so many styles that you have to guard while you're a perimeter defender. So with screen navigation, it's just about mixing it up and really just finding any way to get through." Conversely, the inability to fight through screens has a cascading effect that complicates everything a defense wants to accomplish. It might mean the big has to play higher up than he's comfortable with. It might force emergency switches. It will often pull a third defender into the action on the back side. It's also likely to lead to more fouls.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/cropped_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/w220xh124_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/w320xh180_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/w640xh360_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/w768xh432_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773260/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2184197067.jpg?ts=1741031568 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Stacy Revere / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Consider Milwaukee with and without Holiday. During his three seasons there, the Bucks finished first, second, and second in opponent free-throw attempt rate. In the two seasons since they traded him for Damian Lillard, they've ranked 13th and 12th. That personnel shift greatly impacted their deep-drop scheme and their defense as a whole. Brook Lopez finished runner-up in DPOY voting in Holiday's last year there but didn't come close to making an All-Defensive team last season (and likely won't this season, either). Sometimes, the best interior defense is good perimeter defense."A lot of the time, when you have a good guard defending, the offense isn't getting into the paint until about 8-10 seconds on the shot clock, and they gotta force a shot," Smart said. "Now the big's coming over to block it. They got 24 seconds, and we took 15 off for you.""Us limiting guys from getting to the rim is rim-protecting in itself," Suggs said.There are loads of other ways guard defenders can contribute to their teams' holistic rim-protecting efforts. They can stymie drivers' progress by digging from the wing and forcing them to pick up their dribble early. They can make the nail a no-fly zone on middle pick-and-rolls to protect their dropping bigs. Wiry guards like Holiday, who can survive major height mismatches, allow the defense to switch liberally and erase the north-south dimension of opponent pick-and-rolls. Others like Suggs excel at veer switching and blowing up pocket passes to roll men. More than anything, guards can make their interior presence felt with how they rotate as low men behind the play. Done right, they can set themselves up to take charges, strip the ball, force kickouts, or - in the case of guys like Suggs, Williams, and the Celtics' Derrick White - contest and block shots."I think that there's multiple ways to guard the rim," Holiday said. "You can take charges, you can go vertical ... it's not all about blocks. But I think defense, especially for me and Derrick, is something that we hang our hats on, just knowing that it's what's going to help us win. So obviously I do my best to hold down the back line, whether it's getting steals or baiting people into turnovers. And I know Derrick's been, for the last few years now, blocking shots like crazy."<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/cropped_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/w220xh124_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/w320xh180_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/w640xh360_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/w768xh432_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773468/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2147125359.jpg?ts=1741146412 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Rich Storry / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Plenty of elite defenses are largely being powered by guards, including Williams' historically great Thunder, Suggs' second-ranked Magic, and Holiday and White's fifth-ranked Celtics. You could include the third-ranked Clippers, depending on how you measure Kris Dunn's impact versus Ivica Zubac's. Other teams like the Hawks, Pacers, and Kings, who aren't good defensively, have been rescued from being truly bad by guards like Dyson Daniels, Andrew Nembhard, and Keon Ellis. All of those guys have to cover for shaky defensive backcourt mates, whereas Suggs, Holiday, and Williams have the benefit of being flanked by other elite defensive guards. "It's really nice playing with (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) because, for as much as I love to defend, it's tiring," Suggs said. "So to get to take a step back sometimes and watch a defender like that hound guys and really shut them down, watching him kill possessions by himself just because guys aren't able to get the ball inside the 3-point line, I think shit like that is dope."Everybody plays a part, but being able to defend on the perimeter, I think, is one of the very important things we can do to win games on any given night."None of that necessarily means there actually have to be two DPOYs. But when giving defensive bigs their deserved flowers, we should remember to save a few bouquets for the guys who allow those bigs to flourish."Shout out to the bigs," Mitchell said. "Rudy Gobert ... Wemby ... those bigs are really good defenders. But I think we should show more love to guards."Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

https://rich-content.thescore.com/content_cards/30492184/related

We don't need 2 DPOY awards, but don't take guard defense for granted

Nine months ago, the Dallas Mavericks were on top of the world.   They'd punched their ticket to ...

Nine months ago, the Dallas Mavericks were on top of the world. They'd punched their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years, having vanquished three 50-plus-win teams in the process. Luka Doncic had just ripped the Minnesota Timberwolves' hearts out in the conference finals - a series in which he averaged an efficient 32-10-8, hit a cold-blooded bomb in Game 2, and sucked the life out of Target Center with a closeout performance for the ages in Game 5. He'd firmly established himself, at the tender age of 25, as one of the great playoff performers of his generation.At the same time, Kyrie Irving reminded the world he was a perfect second option. All the front office's recent roster moves - from the Irving acquisition to the mini-tank that allowed Dallas to draft center Dereck Lively II to the deadline deals that brought in P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford - had paid off beautifully. The team had mortgaged a huge chunk of its long-term future to build that team around Doncic, surrendering control of all its first-round picks between 2027 and 2030. But that couldn't take the shine off a roster that was set up to contend for the foreseeable future.<div class="the-score-article-ad-unit"></div>The Mavericks' fall from that lofty peak to the pit of despair in which they now reside is one of the most stunning descents in recent NBA history - a nosedive precipitated by both their own decisions and disastrous events outside their control. The latest is Irving's torn ACL, which will sideline him not only for the remainder of this season but for much of next season as well. With that, Dallas' already flickering hopes of competing for anything meaningful in the next two years were effectively extinguished.This season started out well enough for the Mavs. After a humbling loss to the Boston Celtics in the Finals, they'd had a solid summer in which they added Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, and Naji Marshall, positioning themselves to make another deep run. Heading into their Christmas Day showdown against the Timberwolves, they were 19-10, just a game out of second place in the West, with top-10 rankings on both sides of the ball. And then everything started to go sideways.Doncic strained his calf in that Christmas game, which turned out to be his last appearance as a Maverick. In the six weeks between then and the <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3207654" href="https://thescore.com/news/3207654">galaxy-brained trade</a> that <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/3207817" href="https://thescore.com/news/3207817">gifted Doncic to the Lakers</a>, the Mavs also lost Lively to a severe ankle injury. The sophomore was balling out before hitting the shelf: In his last game before the injury, he racked up a career-high eight assists. The game before that, he'd put up a season-high 21 points and tied a career high with 16 rebounds. Dallas performed 9.5 points per 100 possessions better with Lively on the floor than on the bench. He's still yet to return.In leaks to the media following the wildly unpopular Doncic move, Mavs general manager Nico Harrison indicated that he and other members of the organization had concerns about Doncic's durability. Why those same decision-makers saw fit to trade him for Anthony Davis - an undeniably brilliant but objectively worse player who's six years older and has a much spottier injury history - was left to the imagination. In any case, Davis was tremendous for three quarters in his Mavericks debut ... before leaving the game with a groin injury. Four weeks later, he too remains on the shelf without a timetable for his return.One game after Davis' injury, it was Gafford's turn. He suffered an MCL sprain that very likely ended his season and left Dallas with zero ambulant big men. Irving did an admirable job keeping the Mavs afloat, helping them scrape out a few wins with the likes of Moses Brown and Kessler Edwards starting at center.Those wins kept Dallas in the play-in mix and within spitting distance of a top-six seed. On top of Irving's excellence, Washington was playing some of the best ball of his career. Dante Exum returned from a season-long injury absence and looked no worse for wear. Max Christie, the young wing who arrived with Davis in the Doncic deal, was surging at both ends of the floor, making up for the fact that the Mavs also traded Grimes for Caleb Martin for no good reason. (Martin has been sidelined with a hip injury for two months and has yet to suit up for Dallas.) In other words, there were enough encouraging signs to convince you that if Davis and Lively could make it back, this team might still be heard from in the spring.So much for that.<figure class="article-segment--image"><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/cropped_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819" srcset="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/w220xh124_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819 220w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/w320xh180_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819 320w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/w640xh360_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819 640w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/w768xh432_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819 768w, https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/773408/w1080xh607_GettyImages-2203155528.jpg?ts=1741120819 1080w"><figcaption class="article-segment--image-caption"> Sam Hodde / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Whatever qualms you may have had with Harrison's cockamamie "defense wins championships" rationale, there was no doubt that Davis and Lively would make for a suffocating frontcourt pairing and the team's size would pose all kinds of problems for opponents with Washington sliding down to the three. Irving, while better suited as a second option, is a gifted enough creator to keep a team's offense at least respectable as its lead guard. A healthy Mavs team would've been fun to watch during the stretch run.That's the most galling part about this whole saga (well, other than the part where a franchise traded a 25-year-old megastar who made five All-NBA first teams in his first six seasons and just led the club to the freaking Finals): The roster left standing was still very good, but we never got to see it.Dallas is now bereft of bigs and guards. (Jaden Hardy sprained his ankle in the same game as Irving.) At 32-30, in 10th place in the West, this team will either be one-and-done in the play-in or scrabbling for double-digit lottery seeding. Next season's outlook doesn't figure to be much rosier. By the time Irving is fully healthy and back up to speed, he'll be a 34-year-old pending free agent. Davis will be an injury-prone 33-year-old big man with two years and $120 million left on his contract. And the Mavs will be staring at a draft-pick desert spanning about half a decade. But hey, at least they won't have to pay Doncic's supermax!How did things come to this? Surely even the most dispirited, pessimistic Dallas fan following the Doncic trade couldn't have imagined it blowing up in the team's face so quickly and spectacularly. It's amazing how every aspect of the organization's plan backfired. Doncic not durable? Well, he'll probably play more games for the Lakers this season than Dallas gets post-trade from Irving, Davis, Lively, and Gafford combined. Defense wins championships? Would you look at that - the Lakers have the best defensive rating in the league since the trade. Heck, Grimes just dropped 44 points for the Sixers! It's enough to make you believe in the wrath of the basketball gods.Even if you don't buy into that kind of karmic retribution, how can you not feel the weight of the psychic baggage on this franchise's back right now? How are the Mavs and their fans supposed to recover and move forward? It's barely been a month since the trade, so they're still about nine torturous decades shy of rivaling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino">the sports world's greatest hex</a>. But considering the way things have spiraled in the immediate aftermath, it's hard not to wonder if we're witnessing the dawn of basketball's version of the Curse of the Bambino.Let's revisit this in the year 2109.Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers hug before the game on February 25, 2025 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE

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