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5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Game 7 Tonight: It’s win-or-go-home for Warriors & Rockets to close out First Round
Denver Advances: Nuggets race past Clippers at home in Game 7, face OKC next
MVP Finalists Meet: SGA & Joker set to clash in postseason for the first time
2nd Round Begins: Cavaliers host Pacers in Game 1 of the East Semifinals
Spida’s Evolution: Donovan Mitchell drives the Cavs’ success through his leadership
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Last night’s scores & what to watch today…
Tonight’s TNT doubleheader begins with the first game of the second round as the Cavs host the Pacers (6 ET) before the final game of the first round – a win-or-go-home Game 7 between the Rockets and Warriors in Houston (8:30 ET).
This Fall: The NBA’s on NBC & Peacock … and does it feel like EVERYONE has that one song stuck in their head?
1.TONIGHT ON TNT: WINNER-TAKES-ALL GAME 7 IN HOUSTON
Some of the game’s brightest stars will play to stay alive on Sunday night, as the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors prepare for a climactic matchup (8:30 ET, TNT).
The Rockets are looking to become the 14th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 deficit.
- Being A Warrior: The Warriors were on both sides of a 3-1 comeback in 2016, as they fought back against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, then lost to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals
- Twice Lucky: Only three teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit on two occasions – the Rockets, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets. The Rockets can become the first franchise to do it three times
Golden State will look to Stephen Curry to lead them through this contest.
- Classic Curry: In his last Game 7, Curry dropped 50 points on the road – as the Warriors will be again against the Rockets – to defeat the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs
- Shooting The Moon: Curry has a career average of 32.6 pts in five Game 7s, third highest in NBA history (min. 5 games)
- Last Time: Curry scored 27 points against the Rockets in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals
- Experience Matters: The Warriors have a combined 19 Game 7 appearances, led by Curry (5), Draymond Green (5) and Jimmy Butler (4). The Rockets have 10, led by Jeff Green (4) and Fred VanVleet (3)
Houston will turn to VanVleet, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, who have caught fire as the Rockets lifted off in the series.
- The Lead Guard: VanVleet has 25+ points in three straight playoff games – the first Rocket to do that since James Harden in 2020
- Stepping It Up: After scoring 30 points in the first three games of the series, Thompson’s put up 56 in the last three, adding nine steals
The Rockets have gone big successfully in the series, winning with Steven Adams and Sengun on the floor simultaneously.
- A Houston Tower: Sengun is leading the Rockets in points, assists, rebounds and steals in the series.
- Legendary Company: Sengun joins Luka Dončić, Jayson Tatum and Magic Johnson as the only players to average 20 / 10 / 5 in a six-game span in the playoffs before turning 23
- Carrying The Weight: The Adams-Sengun duo is +39 in the series
- “I just follow the game plan, bro,” Adams said when asked about his defensive impact in the Rockets’ Game 6 win. “Just read, communicate.”
- “We do a good job of rebounding, holding them to one shot,” Adams added.
Watch the defensive battle in Game 7.
- The Butler’s Impact: After adding Jimmy Butler III, the Warriors had the best defensive rating in the league over their final 31 games of the season
- Rocket Power: The Rockets came in with the fifth-best defensive rating this season
- Keep Possession: The Rockets are 3-1 when the Warriors have 14+ turnovers during the series. Houston’s averaging 18.2 PPG off turnovers – fourth-best in the playoffs
2. DENVER’S ALL-AROUND EFFORT DISPATCHES CLIPPERS
The Nuggets made sure there was no déjà vu in Denver.
In last year’s Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals on their home floor, the Nuggets took a 20-point lead on Minnesota with 10:50 left in the 3rd quarter, only to allow the Timberwolves to pull off the largest Game 7 comeback of the play-by-play era.
Nuggets 120, Clippers 101: In Saturday’s Game 7 of the first round, again at home, the Nuggets took a 20-point lead on LA with 9:14 left in the 3rd quarter. This time they did not let up. Denver pushed the lead to 35 to cruise to the West Semis. | Recap
The Clippers won the first quarter, 26-21, but Denver roared back. The Nuggets opened the third with a 17-3 run, taking control of the game for good
- The Denver Six: Led by Aaron Gordon’s 22 points, six players scored 15+ points for the Nuggets – the first time in NBA history a team achieved that in a Game 7
- What Can Braun Do For You? Christian Braun set a )layoff career-high with 21 points, adding five rebounds and four assists
- Brodie At Work: Russell Westbrook (16 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl) became the fourth player to post 15/5/5/5 in a Game 7, joining Khris Middleton, Chris Paul and Larry Bird
- Diming And Climbing: Westbrook also passed Kevin Johnson (935) and Bob Cousy (937) to reach 19th on the all-time playoff assist leaderboard
- All-Around Dominance: Nikola Jokić (16 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast) averaged a triple-double for the series – the third time he’s done that in his career. Only Magic Johnson (four times) has done it more often
“I think they were ready,” Jokić said of his teammates after the game. “Everyone who played stepped up.”
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 22 points. Ivica Zubac had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
The Nuggets move on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals, with Game 1 taking place on Monday, May 5 at 9:30 PM ET on TNT.
3. FIRST LOOK: MVP FINALISTS CLASH IN WEST SEMIS
Denver’s Game 7 win over LA on Saturday sets up a marquee matchup when the Nuggets face the Thunder in the West Semis.
- Nikola Jokić vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- A.k.a. Last year’s Kia NBA MVP vs. last year’s runner-up
- A.k.a. Two of the three finalists for this year’s Kia MVP
- A.k.a. The top two (in varying order) of the Kia MVP Ladder for all of 2025
- A.k.a. Mr. Triple-Double vs. the scoring champion
While the MVP ballots have already been cast, these two phenoms go head-to-head in the Playoffs for the first time ever as the Nuggets and Thunder clash for the first time since the 2011 First Round.
- Regular Season Split: Denver was one of only five to hand OKC multiple losses during the Thunder’s franchise-best 68-win season
- The Numbers: In those four matchups, Jokić averaged a monster triple-double (24.5 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 11.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.8 bpg), while SGA dropped his nightly 30-piece (30.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.0 spg, 2.3 bpg)
- Sneak Peek: The Thunder and Nuggets met on back-to-back days in early March in OKC. SGA dropped 40 to lead OKC to the win in the first game, before Jokić had 35 points, 18 boards and 8 dimes to win the second
The real series tips off on Monday in Oklahoma City (9:30 ET, TNT) with the Thunder holding a significant rest advantage.
- OKC swept Memphis in the First Round and will have had eight days off before Monday’s Game 1, while Denver needed all seven games to get past LA and will have only one day off to prepare for the West’s top seed
- We’ll dive into this series in more depth tomorrow – breaking down all the matchups, the x-factors and how the top-shooting team in the league (Denver, 50.6%) will fare against the league’s top-shooting defense (OKC, 43.6% allowed)
4. CAVS, PACERS SET TO VIE FOR EAST FINALS BERTH
The Cavaliers are trying to get back to the Conference Finals for the first time since LeBron James led them to four straight between 2015-18.
The Pacers were there last year.
They’ll begin their quest at 6 ET on TNT.
Both teams boast All-Star guards – Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in Cleveland, Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana – and All-Star power forwards, in Evan Mobley and Pascal Siakam.
- Clutch Squads: The Cavs rank second in clutch win percentage (26-12) this season, while the Pacers were fourth (24-14). They’re both undefeated in clutch scenarios this postseason
- Waves Of Talent: Both teams have 7+ players averaging more than 10 PPG
- Historic Offenses: The Cavaliers averaged 126 PPG in the first round, winning the series by the largest combined margin of victory in NBA history (+122). The Pacers are right behind them, dropping 117.8 PPG, and leading the playoffs in assists by four per game
Cleveland has been great all season – the Cavs won 64 games, setting records for offensive firepower, and held the No. 1 seed in the East every day since Oct. 30. Indiana, under .500 at the end of December, came together later, posting the fourth-best record in the NBA since Jan. 1 (34-14).
- Know Your Personnel: Indy was the only team to beat Cleveland three times this season, but the Cavs only played their usual starters in two games, which they split
- “They’ve been dominant in the East all year,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Friday. “They’re as precise as any team in the league. The preparation has got to be very detailed and very precise.”
There are differences in their high-powered offenses as well.
- The Pacers rely more on the fast break – they scored the sixth-highest percentage of their points on the run in the regular season, while the Cavs were 25th
- The Cavs excel from deep – they scored the fifth-greatest percentage of their points from three in the regular season, while the Pacers were 20th
Can the Pacers make the Cavaliers play their game? The series may come down to Haliiburton’s playmaking, which thrives in open space, versus Mitchell’s explosive streak shooting.
- A Dimer Extraordinaire: Haliburton averages 9.1 APG for his playoff career – the fourth-highest in NBA history (min. 20 games).
- Buckets For Days: Mitchell’s 27.8 PPG playoff scoring average is the eighth-best in league history (min. 20 games).
- Watch The Guards: The Cavs got the most points per game from their pick-and-roll ballhandlers of any team in the league
- “Our goal is to win a championship,” Haliburton said. “In order to do that, you’ve got to beat the best. We’re excited to compete against these guys.”
5. PASS THE ROCK: DONOVAN MITCHELL’S EVOLUTION
“I’ve got to answer the bell.”
As he hopes to lead the Cavs to a stage he has yet to reach – the Conference Finals – Donovan Mitchell broke down his approach to NBA stardom in our latest episode of Pass The Rock.
Here’s what you might not know about the Cavs’ leader and top scorer:
- Mitchell, a native of Westchester, NY, grew up a baseball player. But he broke his wrist in his sophomore year of high school – and realized he missed basketball. He soon racked up 26 college scholarship opportunities.
- Drafted by the Jazz in 2017, Mitchell earned three All-Star selections and led Utah to the Playoffs in each of his five seasons there. He was then traded to the Cavaliers for a haul, including current Jazz star Lauri Markkanen, joining Cleveland before the 2022-23 NBA season.
- “It threw my life for a curveball in a positive way,” Mitchell said of the trade. “There’s a certain grit and determination that comes with this city… You don’t take for granted the love you get around this city.”
- Mitchell takes his role as the Cavs’ star seriously. “I feel like I’ve always been a natural leader,” said Mitchell. “For me, being able to provide that for this group, I’ve got to answer the bell.”
- “Camaraderie, collectiveness, chemistry, that’s really where it starts,” Mitchell said of his approach to leadership.
Asked about his potential legacy, Mitchell had a simple answer. He’d like to be remembered as “a champion,” and considers his team “extremely” hungry.
- “There’s still so much unknown,” said Mitchell. “What can he be? What can this team be? Is he good enough? Can the team be good enough?”
- “You’ve got to go out there and take it,” he said. “It’s right there for the taking, and I don’t think we have any fear. I think that’s what makes it fun – nothing’s given, and everything’s earned.”
The next step toward achieving that championship goal begins in just hours as the Cavs host the Pacers.
