Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’ll be spending the rest of the day planning my weekend for maximum basketball viewing.
In today’s SI:AM:
👏 Lee Corso’s incredible career
⚾ World Series winner on Travis Hunter
This is going to be fun
Every NBA fan’s favorite weekend is here. The playoffs begin on Saturday with four games, followed by four on Sunday. It’s a lot to take in, so here’s a quick preview of the biggest story lines in each series.
East: No. 4 Indiana Pacers vs. No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks
Can the Pacers take advantage of Damian Lillard’s absence? The Bucks star is nearing a return from a blood clotting issue that caused him to miss the last 14 games of the regular season, but he won’t play in Game 1 of the series on Saturday afternoon. Lillard has been cleared to stop taking blood-thinning medication and is expected to resume contact workouts shortly. There still isn’t a timeline for his return, but the latest update on his condition makes a first-round appearance more likely.
The Bucks struggled to adjust to Lillard’s absence at first, losing four of the first six games he missed, but they’re currently on an eight-game winning streak. So the Pacers can’t expect to have an easy time in Game 1, even with Lillard sidelined, and the threat of his looming return adds urgency to Indiana’s need to take an early series lead before the Bucks can return to full strength.
No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 6 Detroit Pistons
Will Cade Cunningham have his breakthrough moment? The Pistons are in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and Cunningham, a first-time All-Star this season, is the biggest reason why.
The Pistons’ turnaround was one of the best stories in the NBA this season. After winning just 14 games last season, Detroit went 44–38 this year, becoming the first team in NBA history to win three times as many games as it had in the previous season. Detroit added several complementary pieces around Cunningham in the offseason, including veterans Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tobias Harris, but the 23-year-old Cunningham is the future of this franchise and a guy who, because the Pistons were so awful in his first three seasons, casual viewers might not be familiar with. A strong performance against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden could have the same effect on his career as it did for Trae Young.
East: No. 2 Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 Orlando Magic
Can the Celtics keep up their hot three-point shooting? Boston’s propensity to let it fly has been the team’s defining characteristic in its title defense season. The Celtics set an NBA record with 3,955 three-point attempts this season, shattering the previous mark of 3,721 set by the 2017–18 Houston Rockets.
That tendency to pull up from long range, paired with a .368 three-point shooting percentage that ranked 10th in the NBA, is the main reason why the Celtics ranked second this season in offensive efficiency.
But the Magic present an interesting matchup for Boston. Orlando has a great perimeter defense, headlined by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and has limited its opponents to the fewest three-point attempts per 100 possessions of any team in the league. Boston should have little trouble with the Magic, but it’s at least worth paying attention to how the Celtics adjust to a defense that clamps down on outside shots.
East: No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Miami Heat or Atlanta Hawks
What will the Cavs’ playoff rotation look like? Every team alters its strategy in the postseason and plays with a shorter bench, but the adjustment will be particularly significant for Cleveland.
The Cavs compiled the best record in the East while relying on their depth to keep players fresh. Donovan Mitchell is the only Cleveland player to average more than 31 minutes per game, making the Cavs one of just two teams in the NBA not to have a player average at least 32 minutes per game. (The Utah Jazz are the other.) It’s an approach that has obviously worked very well for the Cavs, which is why it’ll be interesting to see how coach Kenny Atkinson tweaks things for the playoffs and which players see their minutes curtailed.
West: No. 4 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers
Can the Nuggets advance even after all the recent turmoil they’ve endured? Denver’s decision to fire coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth on April 9, less than two weeks before the start of the playoffs, came as a shock. It was viewed by many as the franchise essentially punting on this season and looking toward the future. But this is still a team that won 50 games this season and employs Nikola Jokić. A deep playoff run would be surprising but not unbelievable.
The man leading Denver into the playoffs is interim coach David Adelman, the son of former NBA player and coach Rick Adelman. Adelman, 43, had been an assistant on Malone’s staff since 2017, but his only playoff experience as a head coach came at a high school in Oregon more than a decade ago. It’s a lot of pressure for a guy who unexpectedly became a head coach a week and a half ago, but Adelman is trying to stay grounded.
“I don’t see this as an audition,” he said earlier this week. “I see this as: This franchise, this organization already has given me a chance right here. I owe them that.”
West: No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves
Which team will the size mismatch favor? Los Angeles is the favorite in this series, but the Timberwolves present a fascinating matchup. Minnesota prefers lineups with plenty of size, with Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels in the frontcourt. The 6'9" Naz Reid is the first man off the bench. The Lakers are more about positional versatility, on the other hand. Since trading away Anthony Davis to acquire Luka Dončić, Los Angeles has mostly played without a true center. The 7-foot Jaxson Hayes is the only true center in the rotation, and his minutes have been limited of late. Instead, the Lakers will rely on LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt. That gives the Lakers the advantage in athleticism, but the Timberwolves the size advantage. It’s anybody’s guess which will win out.
West: No. 2 Houston Rockets vs. No. 7 Golden State Warriors
Can the Warriors put together one more playoff run? Golden State rolled the dice in trading for Jimmy Butler in February, leveraging the franchise’s future to try to capitalize on the end of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green’s prime. It’s worked out pretty well so far. The Warriors were 25–26 when they traded for Butler, then went 23–8 after his arrival.
But as good as the Warriors have been since Butler’s arrival, they face a stiff challenge in the first round against an impressive Rockets team that has a tantalizing combination of young talent and veteran experience. At some point, Curry, Butler and Green will be forced to pass the torch to the next generation of stars. That moment could come in this series, or the old guys could show that they’re not done yet.
West: No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies or Dallas Mavericks
Will this be a true sweep or the old “gentleman’s sweep”? The Thunder should be in no danger of losing this series. Oklahoma City just wrapped up one of the greatest regular seasons in NBA history. Its 68 wins are tied for the fifth most all-time and are the most in a season since the Warriors won 73 games in the 2015–16 season. Regardless of who wins Friday’s play-in game, neither the Grizzlies (who fired their coach three weeks ago) or the Mavericks (who are playing out the string on the most depressing season in recent memory) will pose much of a threat to the Thunder. They might be able to take a game off the Thunder, but that’s about it.
The best of Sports Illustrated
• With the news that Lee Corso is retiring from ESPN’s College Gameday, Jimmy Traina writes that this is the rare case where “end of an era” is an appropriate assessment.
• Pat Forde compared Corso’s career to Dick Vitale’s, not just because they helped turn ESPN into what it is today, but because ESPN has treated them with grace as they age.
• Conor Orr spoke to former MLB manager Joe Maddon about why NFL teams should be willing to let Travis Hunter play both ways. Why Maddon? Because he’s long been an advocate for two-way baseball players.
• Gilberto Manzano looked back at the last 25 NFL drafts and gamed out the biggest “what if?” scenarios for each team.
• Nick Selbe graded the early-season results for some of MLB’s biggest offseason acquisitions.
• Rece Davis said Lee Corso’s iconic headgear picks on Gameday should be retired when Corso steps down.
• Dave Roberts gave an update on when we might expect to see Shohei Ohtani pitch again.
• The NCAA approved new rules intended to discourage football players from faking injuries to slow down the game.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. Hurricanes rookie Skyler Brind’Amour’s first NHL goal, playing for the team coached by his dad, Rod.
4. A great sliding catch by Tigers center fielder Ryan Kreidler.
3. The Rangers’ tribute to Sam Rosen at the end of his final game as the team’s announcer after 40 years behind the microphone.
2. Sidney Crosby’s slick spinning, no-look assist.
1. Athletics pitcher Noah Murdock’s reflexes to catch a scorching comebacker.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | One Thing to Watch in Each NBA First-Round Series .
