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2026 NBA Playoffs

Spurs Block Thunder’s Road to Finals

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – Luke Kornet returned to the bench a hero.

The San Antonio Spurs backup big man had just turned in perhaps the biggest defensive play of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, coming in for a stretch in relief of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama exited the game with five fouls and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder had what seemed like a prime chance to seize control.

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But instead, Kornet blocked Isaiah Hartenstein just seconds after entering, the Spurs came through on the other end, and the Spurs were on their way to an NBA Finals berth with a 111-103 road win over the Thunder on Saturday.

“The definition of a winning play,” Wembanyama said.

San Antonio will open the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks at home Wednesday.

The teams have met in the Finals once before, with San Antonio winning the 1999 NBA Championship in five games.

It was the first of five titles for the Spurs. Their last visit was in 2014, when they beat the Miami Heat in five games.

In the playoffs for the first time since Wembanyama became the face of the franchise, San Antonio is four wins away from adding to that total.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said his team’s relative inexperience isn’t a limiting factor by this point.

“This team has now been pretty damn consistent for a long time, for over 100 games, for the most part,” Johnson said. “… I don’t know who has as much experience as we do this year in the season of 2025-26.”

The Spurs led for much of the game but struggled to put away the pesky Thunder, who continually battled back from double-digit deficits to get back within striking distance.

And when Wembanyama, who was San Antonio’s tone-setter throughout the series, left the game with five fouls with 6:48 remaining, the Spurs could have been in trouble.

Hartenstein’s steal got the Thunder in transition with a chance to cut the deficit to four.

But Kornet blocked Hartenstein’s shot, getting between Hartenstein and the basket, then Stephon Castle drained a pullup jumper for a 99-91 advantage.

Kornet headed to the bench just 59 seconds after he entered, and was greeted enthusiastically by the rest of the Spurs — including Wembanyama.

Coming out of that stoppage, Julian Champagnie drained his sixth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead back to 11.

The Thunder pulled back to six with just more than two minutes remaining, but Oklahoma City went 0-for-4 the rest of the way on chances to trim the deficit even further.

Wembanyama had 22 points and seven rebounds.

“I want to win so bad, it’s like my life depends on it,” Wembanyama said.

Wembanyama was named the Most Valuable Player of the Western Conference finals.

“He has such a vision, in my opinion, of who he wants to be as a person and as a player,” Johnson said. “And the commitment and investment that he puts into that vision, it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before.”

Champagnie scored 20 and Castle, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper also came up big for San Antonio.

“They were just the better team tonight, start to finish,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And then every time we tried to like cut into and take control of the game, it felt like they had an answer.”

Gilgeous-Alexander had struggled in the series, shooting just 37.9% from the floor through six games, but looked much more like the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player in Game 7.

“I was a little bit closer to it, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

He finished with 35 points on 12-of-21 shooting with nine assists and three steals.

“He was brilliant,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

But the other two of Oklahoma City’s big three — Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams — made little impact.

Williams missed his fourth game of the series with a hamstring injury, while Holmgren finished with just four points on 1-of-2 shooting. Holmgren didn’t attempt a shot after the first quarter.

His two field-goal tries were tied for the fewest of Holmgren’s career. His only other two-shot game came March 27, 2024.

Cason Wallace added 17 points, returning to the starting lineup with Williams and Ajay Mitchell out again.

Alex Caruso scored 12 off the bench but was just 3 of 14 from the field.

Kornet, who won a title with Boston in 2024, was all smiles after the game.

“Someone from the bench yelled, ‘Who is it, LeBron James?’” Kornet said of his block and referring to James’ block of an Andre Iguodala shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. “We’ll see which one has more staying power in the record books of history.”

Gilgeous-Alexander sees plenty more matchups with the young Spurs in the future.

“They’re young, talented, well-coached, play the right way, seems like they like each other,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They have the makeup. You don’t beat us without the makeup.”

–Field Level Media

SGA, Thunder Hold Serve vs Spurs

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not have liked the way he started on Tuesday night. But the Oklahoma City Thunder star came up big in the second and third quarters — getting plenty of help from the cast around him — as the Thunder beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 127-114 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“I thought we were first to the fight tonight on both ends and I thought we weren’t the other night,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I just loved the way we approached tonight on both ends of the floor.”

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Oklahoma City will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 Thursday in San Antonio.

It was a rough start for Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed his first four shots and had three first-quarter turnovers.

“If it was four or five me’s out there, we would’ve been down 20 after the first quarter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Probably should never start like that again.”

But even with the back-to-back Most Valuable Player’s struggles, the Thunder led after a quarter thanks in part to Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven points in the final two minutes.

In Sunday’s 103-82 loss, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain combined for just 14 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

In Game 5, the trio all came up big.

McCain was inserted into the starting lineup for his first playoff start, as Daigneault went with McCain over Cason Wallace with the Thunder playing without both Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell for the second consecutive game.

“We just thought he could give us some good stuff with that unit just based on where we are right now with a couple guys out,” Daigneault said. “And he did. He was really good. … He’s got great moxie and confidence and he showed that.”

McCain didn’t make much of an impact on the stat sheet early, with just two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, but Diagneault said McCain still made a big impact on both ends of the floor from the start.

In Tuesday’s game, the trio combined for 58 points, going 18 of 38 from the floor.

McCain scored 18 of his 20 points after the break and didn’t have a turnover in the second half.

Holmgren finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Caruso, who averaged 21 points off the bench over the first three games of the series before being held scoreless on just one shot Sunday, got going early and finished with 22 points, six assists and three steals.

“He’s one of, if not the best, competitor in the NBA night in and night out,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Caruso. “He’s huge for us.”

Gilgeous-Alexander eventually got going, scoring 12 points in Oklahoma City’s 40-point second quarter and 11 more in the third, finishing with 32 points on 7-of-19 shooting and handing out nine assists.

“That’s one of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” Daigneault said. “He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that. He obviously didn’t have his fastball early.”

Oklahoma City was 48.2% from the floor after shooting just 33% in Game 4.

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds.

After averaging 20.5 rebounds per game in the first two games of the series, Wembanyama has just 18 total over the last three games.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was going to have to be a bigger force offensively if his team is going to be able to turn the series around and advance to the Finals.

“He’s going to have to take more than 15 shots even with the free throws,” Johnson said. “He’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”

Stephon Castle, who led San Antonio with 24 points, expressed frustration afterward with the way the games have been called.

Tuesday, the Thunder attempted 38 free throws, six more than the Spurs.

“I just think with the way they guard, how physical they are, we don’t get that same luxury to be able to play as physical on the other end at times,” Castle said. “Offensively, I think we do a good job of screening and playing through it. I think we create a lot of advantages but I think we just missed a lot of open shots tonight.”

The Thunder carried an 11-point lead into halftime and extended the margin coming out of the break, scoring the first nine points of the third quarter.

San Antonio didn’t go away quietly, cutting the deficit to eight twice late in the third quarter.

The Spurs never could pull closer, though, as Oklahoma City closed out the game to bounce back from the Game 4 loss.

–Field Level Media

 

Thunder Planning to be Aggressor

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Preview) – The San Antonio Spurs have gotten off to big starts in each of the last two games of the Western Conference finals. Heading into Game 5 tonight with the seven-game series deadlocked at 2, the host Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to reverse that trend.

“They just punched us in our face early,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after Sunday’s 103-82 loss in San Antonio. “It’s two games in a row they’ve all come out the aggressors. Last game, we were able to course-correct. Tonight, we just didn’t do so. We’ve just gotta do a better job of starting the games.”Sports news articles

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In Sunday’s game, the Spurs jumped out to a 23-8 lead. In Friday’s Game 3, San Antonio scored the game’s first 15 points before Oklahoma City came back to win 123-108.

The series has been physical throughout, with the Thunder throwing several different looks at San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs doing the same against Gilgeous-Alexander.

“They have multiple guys that are tenacious, they get into the ball, and then they have Wemby behind them, and they know that, and they do that to their strength,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So obviously a really good defense. … To score on them, it’s gonna take quick decisions, the right decisions, you gotta be really good offensively and really sound.”

The Spurs changed the way they guarded the Thunder in Game 4, using more one-on-one looks against Gilgeous-Alexander and preventing Oklahoma City from getting as many open looks from beyond the arc.Games

The Thunder were just 6 of 33 on 3-point attempts in Game 4 after shooting nearly 40% from distance in the first three games.

“I don’t want to say what it was,” San Antonio’s Devin Vassell said. “I think we made a great defensive adjustment. … I feel like they had so many wide-open 3s over the past couple games, and you’ve got to respect them, especially if they’re making them. So we were trying to cut them out with that.”

While the adjustment sometimes gave Gilgeous-Alexander more room to work, it also helped San Antonio keep Oklahoma City’s bench largely in check.

The Thunder bench still outscored the Spurs’ 34-30, though more than half of Oklahoma City’s bench points came in the fourth quarter, when the team sat Gilgeous-Alexander and used three of its other starters for 3:17 or less with San Antonio in control of the game.

Oklahoma City is also navigating without two of its primary ballhandlers in Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell.

Williams has missed the last two games after aggravating a hamstring injury. Mitchell is dealing with a right calf strain that knocked him out of Game 3. ESPN reported Monday that both are considered day-to-day.

Mitchell averaged nearly 19 points per game in the first two rounds, starting six of the eight games in place of Williams.

Before being knocked out of Game 3, Mitchell was averaging just 5.3 points per game in the series. While Oklahoma City has struggled with guard play outside of Gilgeous-Alexander and sans Williams and Mitchell, San Antonio is hoping to continue its trajectory among its backcourt.

Guards Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox had just one turnover between them Sunday and combined for 25 points and 11 assists.

–Field Level Media

NY Knicks Sweep Cleveland

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CLEVELAND – (Wire Service Report) – As the clock wound down, few Cleveland Cavaliers fans could be found. The New York Knicks left them with no reason to stick around.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, routing the Cavaliers 130-93 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals Monday night.

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The Knicks extended their franchise playoff-record winning streak to 11 games — matching the third-longest run in a single postseason in league history — and their long-suffering supporters took over Cleveland’s arena.

“Growing up in the (New York) area, I feel like the word hope has been gone for a long while, so to restore that is special,” Towns said. “There is nowhere better in the world than when (Madison Square) Garden has hope.”

OG Anunoby contributed 17 points and Landry Shamet scored 16 off the bench on 4-for-4 3-point shooting for New York, which built a 29-point lead in the second quarter and went up 123-78 in the fourth.

Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges finished with 15 points apiece, and Josh Hart added six points, 11 rebounds and six assists. The former Villanova championship teammates relished the opportunity to win the East together.

“It’s something that is surreal,” Hart said. “We already share a bond and a brotherhood for life, and we’re going to keep adding memories for that.”

Brunson was named the series MVP for averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists. The Knicks have outscored their opponents by 262 points during their win streak, the most dominant span in league history, playoffs or regular season.

Donovan Mitchell logged 31 points and Evan Mobley posted 15 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which reached the East finals for the first time since 2018. James Harden had 12 points and five turnovers while missing all six of his 3-point tries.

“Sometimes you’ve got to ultimately give the other team credit,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They played great basketball and they’re on a heater.”

The Knicks’ Mike Brown is off to the NBA Finals for the second time as a head coach, having led the Cavaliers to their first East crown in 2007.

The 37-point defeat was the Cavaliers’ largest ever in a playoff home game.

“We have unfinished business,” Mitchell said. “I have no doubt this group can get there.”

New York dominated the rebounding battle 60-33 with backup center Mitchell Robinson grabbing 10 boards in 18 minutes.

New York delivered the knockout blow early with a 20-0 run over a span of 4:39 from late in the first quarter into the second. A dunk by Towns punctuated the surge, making the score 50-26.

The Knicks eventually built a 61-32 lead on Shamet’s third 3-pointer of the half.

Mitchell scored 10 points and Mobley had seven in the first six minutes, putting the Cavaliers up 17-14. A 9-0 run then put New York on top for good. Robinson entered for New York and made an impact with six points and four rebounds, sparking a 24-9 run to end the quarter.

Cleveland backup point guard Dennis Schroder was a late scratch with an illness.

Among the Knicks’ celebrity fans seated courtside were comedian Tracy Morgan, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Timothee Chalamet.

-Field Level Media

Darkness on the Edge of Causeway

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The house is dark. The ghostlight is on, and Bruce Springsteen is on.

The Celtics were up three-games-to-one against a Philadelphia 76ers team that hadn’t beaten Boston in a NBA Playoff series since Billy Cunningham coached a 1982 team, and they blew it. It was so long ago, longtime Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy had just started his first “big” beat covering the NBA. The hometown team – once invincible in Game 7s – has left the TD Garden dark. The Sixers moved on to meet the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and were mowed down by a superior team. The Knicks will face Cleveland for the right to play in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics “Owe Us One.”

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But, it gets worse.

The TD Garden was witness to a suspect Boston Bruins team losing to the once-lowly Buffalo Sabres a night before the Celtics were sent to see St. Peter. The Sabres hadn’t won a Stanley Cup playoff series in 19 years, while the Sixers hadn’t beaten the Celtics in the playoffs since 1982, a mere 44 years. The Sabres lost to Montreal who are now playing Carolina for right to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s understandable how the Bs lost, but how could the Celtics collapse in such epic fashion?

Let us count the ways:

o Live by chucking 3s, die by chucking 3s. In their four losses to Philadelphia, the Boston Celtics shot 49-for-191, or 25.7%.

  • Game 5 (April 28): Shot 28.2% (11-of-39) from three in a 113-97 home loss.
  • Game 6 (April 30): Shot 29.3% (12-of-41) from three in a 106-93 loss in Philadelphia.
  • Game 7 (May 2): Shot 26.5% (13-of-49) from three in a 109-100 series-clinching loss at home.

o Nick Nurse, the head coach of the Sixers and a champ when he coached at every level, including an NBA Finals title with the Toronto Raptors, can flat-out coach. Yes, he was graced with a resurgence from one-time NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, but Nurse guided the Sixers masterfully. NBA Coach of the Year, Joe Mazulla of the Celtics, was out-coached.

o Face facts: A starting five of: Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Ron Harper Jr., Luka Garza, and Baylor Scheierman could not cut it in a decisive NBA Playoff game.  That group will never be compared to Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The team of Celtics so many NBA pundits expected for 2025-26 finally showed up. The absence of true “bigs” caught up with the team of green. Remember Al Horford? He was pretty good.

Two Boston pro teams were whooped on their home turf. They’re gone by May 2 and only Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band can bring life to the backstreets of the West End (May 24th), because on Saturday night, it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying. Springsteen might say, “Blame it on the lies that killed us, blame it on the truth that ran us down.”

The truth was the fact the Celtics could not endure a full season without their best player, Jayson Tatum.

While Tatum orchestrated a miraculous (and quick) return from the devastating right Achilles’ injury he suffered in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and performed quite well from his March 6 return to active duty right on through to an incredible Game 3 shooting performance against the Sixers in Philadelphia, a sore left knee and discomfort that forced him to leave Game 6, also ruled him out just hours before Game 7.

Nine years into his NBA career, the 28-year-old Tatum is feeling the effects of 729 NBA regular season and playoff games.

Boston’s wonderkid GM, Brad Stevens, cannot be blamed for inactivity.

Stevens was faced with a choice of trading one of his “Big Two” of Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and possibly dismantling the 2024 NBA championship team somewhere short of a total rebuild. Instead, being faced with an aging Celtics team and a double secret probation by far exceeding the NBA’s agreed upon maximum team salary zones – the Cs – via Stevens’ surgical strike on salaries – dipped under both the First and Second Aprons of the NBA’s salary cap structure by reducing the team payroll for the 2025-26 season to a mere $187,885,254.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors are all over $200 million and face limitations in their wheeling and dealing. Stevens and the Celtics do not.

The cost (saving) came when the Celtics jettisoned veteran bigs Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Both players contributed mightily in the 2024 NBA Finals with Porzingis’ astonishing Game 1 performance which won the most important game of the series at Boston.  If you remember, with Porzingis coming off the bench for just the second time in his career and playing in his first game (June 6) since he had sustained a calf injury in late April, Porzingis scored 20 points, including 18 in the first half, and added six rebounds and three blocks as the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 to send a statement to the Texans.

Horford provided even more. The veteran center was an influential presence in the locker room, an intangible for NBA teams destined for good things to come, for chemistry, for facing and conquering adversity, and for winning championships. Horford was the whole package, plus, he hit three-pointer after three-pointer, drawing opposing centers away from the basket and allowing Tatum and Brown to operate inside.

Horford was traded to the Golden State Warriors in September 2025, signing a multi-year deal, and continuing into his 19th NBA season.

Boston’s other cost-saving move was to send multi-talented guard Jrue Holiday and his $32.4 million contract to the NBA outskirts of Portland, Oregon (not Maine). Holiday was another veteran, positive influence and key contributor to the 2024 championship, especially on the defensive end of the basketball court.

All of those moves put together allowed the Celtics to avoid the NBA’s punitive luxury taxes. The more stable payroll paved the way for new ownership as the franchise was sold by the longtime ownership group headed by Wyc Grousbeck for a then-record $6.1 billion. The new group, led by Bill Chisholm, paid an amazing amount of cash considering Grousbeck bought the team for $360 million in 2002.

A look over to the Fens, just past the Longwood Medical Center, and the prognosis isn’t much better. The Red Sox are floundering in the AL East basement. The offense is anemic and the middle relievers count runs against, ERA and Whip as though they were all MIT graduates. The brown paper bags are making a fashion statement and Jason Veritek’s wife is pouring on the sarcastic quips aimed at Sox GM, head of baseball Craig Breslow. Veritek “is being re-assigned” within the organization after Breslow leveled the coaching staff, including manager Alex Cora. There’s no AC and no DC in the Sox bats. No static at all.

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But, there’s one thing worse than a dark June at the TD Boston Garden, and that was a dark May. Only Bruce Springsteen’s rock show on May 24th will bring some “glory days” back to Boston.

The memories of 2018 and a club record of 108 wins is long gone. as those were, indeed, the glory days.

And, one thing’s sure of the glory days.

They’ll pass you by.

 

 

SGA, OKC Thunder Even It Up

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was blunt when breaking down his struggles in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

“I have sucked when I get too long of a break,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t think it’s anything other than that. I guess I gotta do a better job with my breaks.”

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Two days later, the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player was much better in Game 2, scoring 30 points and helping lift the Thunder to a 122-113 home win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The result evened the best-of-seven series at one victory apiece ahead of Game 3 on Friday at San Antonio.

After his team got off to a sluggish start in Game 1 on Monday before going on to lose in double overtime, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault expected better in Game 2.

He certainly got it.

The Thunder never trailed after the first quarter, though the game wasn’t decided until the closing minutes.

Oklahoma City did it with more efficiency from Gilgeous-Alexander, a bounce-back performance from Chet Holmgren, more minutes from Isaiah Hartenstein, and another strong defensive performance despite losing Jalen Williams to yet another hamstring injury.

They also slowed Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds in an historic performance in the series opener. On Wednesday, he put up 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting while adding 17 rebounds and four blocks.

Though the Thunder led for all but about a minute of the second half and stretched their lead as high as 13, the Spurs cut the deficit to just five with a little more than a minute remaining. San Antonio then got the ball back after Gilgeous-Alexander was called for an offensive foul.

However, Devin Vassell missed a 3-pointer on the other end and the possession ended with Stephon Castle’s ninth turnover of the game.

Gilgeous-Alexander then drilled a step-back jumper, and after a Castle missed a 3-point attempt, Alex Caruso’s driving layup put the game away with less than 19.7 seconds remaining.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot 12 of 24 after going 7 for 23 from the floor in Game 1. He added nine assists on Wednesday.

Holmgren struggled to get touches in the series opener, finishing with just eight points on 2-of-7 shooting.

He scored 13 in Game 2, with seven coming in the third quarter.

Daigneault said playing Hartenstein for just 12 minutes in Game 1 “didn’t feel good.” Hartenstein was a key to Oklahoma City’s efforts against Wembanyama on Game 2.

Hartenstein picked up his second foul just three minutes into the game but was able to avoid getting too deep into foul trouble and was a big key on both ends of the floor. He finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes.

“That’s the matchup, and so we decided to start with it,” Daigneault said of Hartenstein opposing Wembanyama.

Hartenstein was especially important in the fourth quarter, when he had four points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Though Wembanyama still put up strong numbers, it was a far cry from his Game 1 dominance.

“He’s changed the dynamic since the first game he’s played,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Hartenstein. “He’s our physicality and our backbone. He’s our bruiser, sets screens, rebounds for us, physical.”

Gilgeous-Alexander believes the Thunder can’t be complacent as the series heads to San Antonio.

“Tonight wasn’t good enough to win the series,” he said, “and we know that.”

San Antonio limited turnovers during its regular-season meetings with Oklahoma City, helping the Spurs win four out of five.

But without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox, who has missed the first two games of the series with an ankle sprain, San Antonio has struggled in the category.

In Game 2, the Spurs committed 21 turnovers, leading to 27 Thunder points. Castle gave the ball away nine times.

“They do such a good job of showing crowds in the paint, having multiple bodies,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s not just Steph. He had too many turnovers, but our whole team did.”

The Spurs also lost rookie guard Dylan Harper, who was also critical in  Game 1, to a right leg injury. Harper exited the game just past the midpoint of the third quarter.

Wembanyama said the Spurs needed to be better all around without Fox and Harper.

“We’ve got to help our ball-handlers more (to) take care of the ball,” Wembanyama said.

Williams, who was limited to 33 games in the regular season due to a string of injuries, left the game late in the first quarter after experiencing left hamstring tightness.

Williams had missed six consecutive games due to a left hamstring injury before returning on Monday for the series opener.

Daigneault didn’t have much of an update on Williams afterward.

“He’ll get checked out in the morning. We’ll see where he’s at,” the coach said.

–Field Level Media

Spurs Defeat OKC in 2-OT

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – Before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was presented with the NBA Most Valuable Player award.

Then San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama went out and put on an MVP-level performance.

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Wembanyama had 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks to help lift the Spurs to a 122-115 double-overtime road win to open the series.

Asked whether watching Gilgeous-Alexander win the award served as motivation, Wembanyama said, “Yeah, for sure.”

The Frenchman, at 22 years, 134 days old became the youngest player in NBA history with 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a postseason  game, beating the record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The then-Milwaukee Bucks star was 22 years, 352 days old when he had a 46-25 game against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 1970 playoffs.

Wembanyama became the second Spurs player with a 40-point, 20-rebound playoff game, joining David Robinson, who did it in the first round in 1996. He joined Wilt Chamberlain (in 1960) as the only players in league history with 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a conference finals debut.

Wembanyama came through repeatedly in clutch situations.

“He has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And I think he has showed in his three years in a lot of different situations with a lot of different circumstances that he’s going to attack those moments. … He has some rare God-given ability.”

With just more than a minute remaining in double overtime, Wembanyama delivered a dunk over Chet Holmgren for a three-point play moments after the Thunder closed the deficit to one with a Jalen Williams 3-pointer.

Then with 22 seconds remaining, he finished a back-to-the-basket alley-oop dunk from Stephon Castle to put San Antonio up by six and start to put the game away.

With 27 seconds left in the first overtime, Wembanyama pulled up for a 28-foot 3-pointer in transition to tie the game after a 7-0 Oklahoma City run put the Thunder ahead by three.

“Confidence through the roof,” San Antonio rookie Dylan Harper said of the importance of Wembanyama’s long trey. “I was kind of stunned a little bit. But once the ball went up, I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s going in.’ It’s kind of just who he is.”

In the closing seconds of regulation, Wembanyama nailed a turnaround shot near the basket over Williams to put San Antonio up 101-99 before Gilgeous-Alexander tied it with a driving layup to force overtime.

Wembanyama finished 14 of 25 from the field and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line.

While Wembanyama was the headliner for the Spurs, Harper had a monster game as well, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and six assists.

Magic Johnson is the only other rookie to log 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus steals in a conference finals game.

Harper’s 24 points were the most by a rookie in his first conference finals game since Andrew Toney had 26 in 1981.

Harper was starting in place of De’Aaron Fox, who was out due to right ankle soreness.

“I thought he was phenomenal,” Mitch Johnson said. “I thought he was even better defensively. … It’s just been very rewarding for someone who’s tried to support him through this year and help him in terms of coaching him at times and giving him guidance.”

Gilgeous-Alexander struggled for long stretches of the game, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and five steals but going just 7 of 23 from the field.

“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve just got to be better, me in particular.”

The Thunder stayed in the game thanks in large part to their defense, which helped generate 28 points off 23 San Antonio turnovers, and big plays from Alex Caruso.

Caruso scored Oklahoma City’s first seven points, despite coming off the bench. He finished with a career-playoff-high 31 points, hitting eight 3-pointers. He also had two steals and two blocks.

“It’s playoffs,” Caruso said. “Game 1 at home, you’re trying to get juiced up.”

Williams, playing for the first time since April 22, had 26 points. He returned from a hamstring injury.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 3

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – This week’s notebook begins with an item very close to home. For about a year-plus, your favorite columnist has been moonlighting from his main business and that is as a consultant to companies in professional (some college) and amateur sports. One of the main projects was “officially” announced this week by the NBA, although we began dabbling in the area with verbal agreements as far back as October 2025 when the NBA staged preseason games in Abu Dhabi.

In short: “It’s been great.”

Here is the official news release:

ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE, April 30, 2026 – The National Basketball Association and Globalist Sports Corporation Organisation JSC – a multi-sport organization based in Istanbul – announced a multiyear collaboration for Globalist Sports to launch and operate the NBA Basketball School in Türkiye.

The NBA Basketball School Türkiye will deliver weekly activity in Istanbul and Eskişehir and provide tuition-based basketball development programming for youth ages 6-18, including skill development, 5-on-5 scrimmages and games, and life-skills sessions. The program will tip off with a launch camp from Saturday, May 16 – Tuesday, May 19, in Mersin, followed by a series of camps across Türkiye throughout the summer, including Ankara (June 13–15 and June 26–29) and in İstanbul (July 5–9 and July 18–21). Registration is open now at www.nbabasketballschool.tr.

Former NBA Vice President of International Communications Terry Lyons and his Pivottv Media consulting company assisted Globalist in securing the rights to operate the basketball camps and will work with USA and European basketball coaches and legends to attend the camps and conduct clinics on a regular basis. Lyons worked with the NBA from 1980-2008.

“For us at Globalist Sports, working with the NBA Basketball School represents an opportunity to bring world‑class standards, structure, and ambition to youth basketball in Türkiye,” said Devrim Kıvanç Co-Founder & CEO, Globalist Sports Corporation Organisation JSC. “We are incredibly proud to support the introduction of this programme locally and excited about the long‑term pathway it creates for young players to develop their skills, confidence, and potential as part of a globally recognised environment.”

“The launch of the first NBA Basketball School in Türkiye reflects the country’s growing passion for basketball and our ongoing commitment to supporting youth development across the region,” said NBA Europe and Middle East Associate Vice President Basketball Operations, Henry Utku. “Through this collaboration with Globalist Sports, we are excited for this program to provide young players with access to world‑class coaching, resources, and a structured environment that emphasizes skill development, teamwork, and values that extend beyond the court.”

The NBA Basketball School curriculum, which is designed to develop players and provide parents, coaches and organizations with a better understanding of the process of improvement, was created by the NBA’s International Basketball Operations department in consultation with current and former NBA coaches, players and player development specialists. Since 2017, NBA Basketball Schools have been announced or launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE and Uruguay.

For the latest about NBA Basketball School Türkiye, follow @nbabasketballschool_tr and NBA Basketball School Türkiye. Fans in Türkiye can also follow the NBA on X, Facebook and Instagram and download the NBA App for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more. They can also purchase the latest NBA merchandise at NBAStore.eu.

Here’s a little insight from the inside: The NBA Basketball Schools are amazing. They’re located all over the world (see list above) and the league supports them all with an incredible amount of foundational and institutional knowledge. Everything from software to register and keep track of the campers and coaches to placing some NBA Legends at select events. The NBA runs tournaments between the various camps (Our U-17 boys team from Türkiye won last year’s tournament in Abu Dhabi and hope to defend that title this coming Fall).

I’ve found it quite fulfilling and have been happy to give back to the game that’s given me so much since my very first day in December of 1980.

While Basketball without Borders is the top of the heap in basketball development, NBA Basketball Schools are intended to introduce and teach the game to children as young as six or eight years old and continue until age 17-18.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Multiple media reports indicate that former Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban was trying to buy back a controlling interest in the team he loves but sold. Cuban owns 27% of the team after selling off 73% for $3.5 billion to the Adelson family in December 2023. The Adelsons have the right to buy another 20% from Cuban within four years of their deal, which would drop his stake to 7%. … In a recent podcast, Cuban said, “I don’t regret selling. I regret who I sold to,” indicating his displeasure in the direction the team took, mostly concetrating on the basketball operations side. (Initially, the deal indicated Cuban would still remain in charge of the team’s basketball operation). Of course, the Mavericks packaged franchise star Luka Dončić in a controversial trade with the LA Lakers for center Anthony Davis. The deal ultimately cost Nico Harrison, the head of basketball operations for the team, his job. Yet, Lady Luck shined on the Adelsons and Mavericks when the NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong balls gave them the rights to draft this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year in Cooper Flagg, a generational star.

While the trade certainly looked to favor the Lakers, both Dončić and Davis remain quite injury prone and the Mavericks are well on their way to a total rebuild with an extra pair of first round draft choices this June, a 2030 first rounder the Lakers obtained from Golden State and a slew of second round picks to come.

Meanwhile, Cuban dreams of what might have been as he counts a few extra billions from his Mavericks experience which came about after Cuban initially banked billions in a sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo.

It seems that the Dončić – Davis deal mirrors the Broadcast.com – Yahoo deal. In the end, as times changed, all of them, might be worthless.

ON THE BALLERS: In 2024, when the Oakland Athletics were heading out of the Bay Area, the Oakland Ballers became the newest member of the MLB-partnered Pioneer League, a minor league with a nod of approval from Major League Baseball. In their first season, the Ballers finished with the second-best record in the Pioneer Baseball League at 58-38 and sold over $1 million in branded merchandise, a Top 10 finish amongst all minor league franchises across the USA. In their second season, the Ballers delivered Oakland’s first baseball title since 1989, going 73-23 on the way to the league championship.

With a 10-year license in place at Oakland’s historic Raimondi Park and a solid ownership group in place, the Ballers are allowing accredited investors to share in the next phase of growth. Investors willing to put down a minimum of $10,000 can purchase shares (crowd share).

Recent Funding:

  • The team successfully closed a community round in late April 2025 that raised over $3.77 million from approximately 3,800 fan-investors.
  • In addition to community rounds, the team has opened rounds for accredited investors (individuals with high net worth or specific income levels) which have higher minimums of the $10-grand.
  • Most of the investors have voting power with the right to vote on core team decisions like potential relocation or hiring the Head of Baseball Operations.
  • There’s also Board representation as investors will have the ability to be represented by an elected Fan Director on the team’s board.

WNBA TEAM VALUATIONS: Before we get into the WNBA, let’s first remind everyone that the very Dallas Mavericks franchise that Cuban and the Adelsons are tossing billions at, one way or the other was once worth $12.5 million dollars when the NBA sold an expasnion franchise to Donald Carter in 1980.

Golden State team ownership invested $50 million to obtain the WNBA Valkyries in 2023. By 2025, the club had risen in value 10-times-over and was valued at $500 million when sports business publication Sportico crunched some numbers. Now? Sportico’s 2026 WNBA team valuations have the Valkyries valued at $850 million, leading the pack of WNBA franchises which are valued at an average of $427 million, up 59% year-over-year.

The New York Liberty (playing in Brooklyn) rank a distant second at $600 million, followed by the Indiana Fever ($560M), Seattle Storm ($425M) and Phoenix Mercury ($420M). Not too shabby, we say, noting the Atlanta Dream ($280M) rank last among the 13 WNBA clubs.

That’s a far cry from the opening tip-off of the WNBA back in 1997. Just ask the defunct Houston Comets (in the midst of obtaining the Connecticut Sun for some $300 million, the ultra defunct Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz. They all turned in their WNBA chips to the league with no return at all.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The hometown Boston Red Sox have under-performed in 2026 and it cost manager Alex Cora and a slew of bench coaches their jobs. Sox head of baseball (fancy title of Chief Baseball Officer) pulled the trap-door open for Cora, along with hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Former Red Sox player and game-planning coach Jason Varitek was “reassigned” to a new (and yet to be named) role within the organization.

When the Sox were 0-0 earlier this spring, the club issued a one-pager on 25 years of stewardship of the franchise, a cozy way of noting we all have limited time on this earth and the Sox franchise owners believe this is their time in space to steer the ship for the good of Boston and New England (see NESN).

There were very proud and noteworthy accomplishments, which included:

  • Ending an 86-year old “Curse of the Bambino by winning the 2004 World Series
  • Since 2002, the Red Sox won an MLB-leading four World Championships (2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018) while claiming five American League East titles
  • The Sox made 12 MLB postseason appearances
  • Off the field, the team ownership invested $500,000 in the preservation and improvement of Fenway Park
  • Major changes included money-making construction of the Green Monster seats, the 521 Overlook, the field-level Jim Beam Dugout seating and even the state-of-the-art MGMMusic Hall concert venue
  • They’ve hosted NHL Winter Classics, Harvard vs Yale college football and the Fenway Bowl, countless numbers of summer concerts and a few college graduation ceremonies

That’s all very good work, to the tune of $14 billion in visitor spending while also raising some serious cash for the JIMMY Fund cancer research and other great community events.

But, the fans of the Boston Red Sox are a demanding bunch. They expect execution, run production, flawless defense and victories. The 2026 club fell short in April and Cora and his coaches paid the price. Boston entered the month of May at (12-19) and, like the race on Patriots’ Day, the season is a Marathon, not a sprint.

Ace pitcher Garrett Crochet is now on the 15-day Injured List with left shoulder inflammation. Newly acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray was placed on that same IL with a hamstring issue on April 21. Youngsters Connelly Early and Payton Tolle were called up to the Majors a bit early, but both have promising futures.

Interim manager Chad Tracy (up from the WooSox) is holding the reins. There’s 10-of-13 games at Fenway, started on May 1. and 32-of-the-next-56 (57%) of the next portion of the schedule at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.

One thing is for sure, Sox fans not only get “Sweet Caroline” in the 8th inning, but the one major addition this year in an effort to celebrate America’s 250th is “more Neil Diamond” with a pregame video to the tune of his hit, “America” to begin each home game.

Thank goodness he won’t be singing “Cracklin’ Rosie.” And the Sox will be in big trouble if they hear, “Song Sung Blue.” … Neil, baby, “More Cowbell.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS II – Here’s some of the stuff I think about:

  • As the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby was staged on Saturday, I couldn’t help but think about the 99th edition, in 1973, when a horse of 16 1/2 hands won the first leg of the Triple Crown. Five weeks later, Secretariat ran the perfect race at the Belmont Stakes to become the greatest thoroughbred race horse in history. That’s 53 years ago, for you mathematically challenged C+ students out there. Secretariat
  • I also think of the 1971 Kentucky Derby when Cañonero II was shipped in from Venezuela with odds as long as his trip only to win the 20-horse race at Churchill. Cañonero II had a crooked foreleg and a $1,200 price tag as a yearling. He won the Derby and The Preakness at Pimlico but fell short (4th Place) at The Belmont when his foreleg acted up. In the Fall of that year, Cañonero II set the Belmont course record and defeated Riva Ridge. He was later purchased for $1,000,000 and later lived the life of a sire in Kentucky. The great, great, great grandson of the legendary Man O’War has this special memory because my father had him in blind draw of horses in a Pan American office pool. Payday.

Every single time I watch this horse race, it brings tears to my eyes:

Also ran thoughts for today:

  • I’ve been getting more SPAM than Monty Python.
  • Blue Horseshoe does NOT love Spirit Airlines.
  • And, speaking of Sprit Air, what would 83-year old Norman Greenbaum think?
  • Instead of the ultra-boring Chicago Sky, why didn’t the Ch-town faithful name their WNBA franchise “The Koalas?”
  • Why didn’t Doral re-name their championship 7,739-yard, par 72 PGA Tour level course, “The Orange Monster?”

76ers, Embiid End Celtics’ Season

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Philadelphia’s oft-injured center Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Sixers’ all-star Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the 76ers to a 109-100 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night. The 76ers won the  final three games in the series. It was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has overcome a 3-1 series deficit and only the 14th time in league history for any team.

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“We handled playing (in a hostile environment) just enough, but I think it was really good for us to experience it,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.

Philadelphia, seeded seventh, visits the third-seeded New York Knicks on Monday in Game 1 of their second-round series.

“What changed in the series is Joel Embiid came back, and they’re a completely different team,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Embiid took the court for the last three games after not playing since April 6, as he required an emergency appendectomy during a team trip through Texas.

Second-seeded Boston trailed 99-98 following two Neemias Queta free throws, but Maxey scored the next eight points to put Philadelphia up 107-98 with 15 seconds left.

Philadelphia received 23 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe. Paul George added 13. The 76ers’ bench totaled three points (all by Quentin Grimes).

Boston’s Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the  game because of stiffness in his left knee. He left Game 6 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter with a left leg injury.

Tatum averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in six playoff games this season. The six-time All-Star forward averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 boards in 16 regular-season games after returning March 6 from a devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon last May in the playoffs.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and added nine rebounds. Derrick White finished with 26 points and Queta had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench. Celtics starters Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. failed to score. Reserves Payton Pritchard added 13 points and Sam Hauser 11.

The Celtics shot 26.5% (13 of 49) from 3-point range and 39.8% (37 of 93) from the field.

“We’re always going to play to the strength of our team,” Mazzulla said.

The Sixers made 11 of 28 (39.3%) from long range and 47.6% (39 of 82) from the field.

“In the last two games and portions of this one, we guarded the ball very well,” Nurse said. “We weren’t giving them great looks. That probably for the whole series was the big key.”

Philadelphia scored the game’s first nine points and led 30-15 following an Embiid jumper with 1:55 left in the opening quarter. The 76ers were up 32-19 after 12 minutes.

Boston scored 18 of the first 22 points in the second quarter and had its first (and what turned out to be only) lead, 37-36, after a Pritchard 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half. Philadelphia rallied to take a 55-50 halftime advantage.

An 8-0 run gave Philadelphia a 63-52 lead, and the 76ers were up 84-66 after an Edgecombe 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the third. It was 88-75 after three quarters.

Boston began the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to cut its deficit to one point, 92-91, with 7:59 to play. The 76ers led 95-94 with 5:52 left.

“(The Celtics) just played in transition for about 12 straight minutes, and then we finally got them stopped to get in their sets,” Nurse said. “Defensively, that was the difference for us in the last three minutes. We had them in halfcourt until maybe the final 90 seconds when they were just coming up and firing.”

Mazzulla said: “Loved the looks that we got, loved the process that we had, but hate the result.”

–Field Level Media

 

Two Words: “Game Seven”

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will try to avoid a series collapse Saturday night when they face the visiting Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Second-seeded Boston held a 3-1 lead in the series, but lost Game 5 at home and then dropped Game 6, 106-93, in Philadelphia on Thursday night. If the seventh-seeded 76ers can find a way to win Game 7 on the road, Boston would become the 14th team in NBA history to lose a series after holding a 3-1 advantage.

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“I’ve been playing these guys for so long,” said Philadelphia center Joel Embiid. “I’m tired of losing to them. So we have a chance to accomplish something special. They’re a great team. You look at everything they have. That’s a super team. We just gotta go in with the mindset that we’ve had for the last two games. One play at a time. Tough environment, but we’ve been there. We won two games over there.”

Boston was 12 of 41 from 3-point territory in Thursday’s loss, after being held to 11-of-39 shooting from behind the 3-point arc in its 113-97 setback in Game 5.

“Very good game by us,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said following Thursday’s victory. “I think we played really well. Probably most impressed with our defensive effort, and shot creation was good. I don’t think the shot-making was great, but the shot creation was very good.”

Boston received a scare Thursday when Jayson Tatum exited the court with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter and did not return. Tatum said he felt tightness in his left leg, but is slated to play Saturday.

“Y’all probably saw when I went to the back,” Tatum said. “So I was on the bike. My leg was just a little stiff when I came out in the third quarter. But just kind of assessing the moment, like the game was a little out of reach. We took the starters out.

“Our intentions aren’t good,” Tatum continued. “We want to go out there and play the right way and win. It’s just we just got to be a little bit more together, a little bit tougher, play with more pace, play faster. How they have played majority of the season. Then since I’ve been back (from an Achilles injury), just kind of getting back to who we are.”

Two of Boston’s three wins in the series came by more than 30 points. The Celtics won Game 1 123-91, then prevailed 128-96 in Game 4.

“We definitely made some adjustments,” Mazzulla said after Game 6. “Some of them worked, some of them didn’t. Like I said, I thought tonight the Sixers played well, and we didn’t.”

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 30 points in Game 6. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 18 points.

“Sometimes it’s not about the Xs and Os, it’s about the Jims and the Joes,” Maxey said. “Who you have on your team, our Jims and Joes got to be better than theirs. It’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be extremely difficult. Every single second will be a roller coaster ride. Us as a group, we have to stay connected. Stay with one goal in mind – that’s you’re trying to win the game.”

–Field Level Media