- Tobias Harris is often taken for granted but he played in a crucial role in the Sixers’ 121-101 win over Brooklyn on Saturday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Harris fired in 21 points and added four rebounds and four assists. “For me, it’s just staying in the moment and being aggressive with all opportunities that come my way,” Harris said. He’ll enter free agency after next season.
- After posting 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game during the regular season, Sixers star center Joel Embiid has set the bar high for the remainder of his career. Embiid still believes he can get better, as he told Pompey. “Obviously, next year, if I gotta get better again, that’s probably averaging 35, 36 a game,” he said. “The last guy that did it was James [Harden] and that’s hard to do, and that’s impossible. But I still gotta find ways to get better. There’s so many ways I can get better. But yeah, so far, it is my best season, offensively, defensively, and as far as everything, growing as a person and as a basketball player.”
- Suns coach Monty Williams is glad to see Mikal Bridges blossoming into a star with the Nets, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Bridges has averaged 26.1 PPG since being sent to Brooklyn in February as part of the Kevin Durant trade. He scored 30 points in Saturday’s loss to the Sixers, one short of his career playoff high. “Mikal is shooting the ball a lot and making a lot,” Williams said. “I’m happy for him. I see him balling. That’s what I see. You know how it works. If we’re not playing him, I want him to succeed. I love him and (Cameron Johnson) like family. Those boys have been balling since they got to Brooklyn.”
- The Sixers got a lift from their “energy guys” in the win over Brooklyn, observes Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. P.J. Tucker and Paul Reed both delivered big games as Philadelphia pulled away. “Five for six, a couple dunks, a couple rebounds, a couple steals,” Reed said. “That’s what Paul Reed does.”
With the play-in tournament complete and the playoff field set, the NBA’s postseason will begin in earnest on Saturday. Since three of Saturday’s four games are Eastern Conference matchups, we’re zeroing in on those first round series this morning before shifting our focus to the West later today.
Here are the four first round series in the East:
Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Miami Heat (8)
This series holds a little more intrigue than the typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup. The Heat won the most games in the Eastern Conference in 2021/22 and nearly made it to the NBA Finals last spring. This year’s team isn’t much different from that one, even if its in-season results were a lot less impressive. A group led by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo certainly won’t roll over in the playoffs.
Still, the Bucks were one of the NBA’s most dominant teams in the regular season, winning a league-high 58 games. And despite some injury question marks, they’re the deeper, more talented team in this matchup. This series may not be a repeat of Milwaukee’s four-game sweep of Miami in round one of the 2021 playoffs en route to a Bucks championship, but there’s a reason why Giannis Antetokounmpo are massive betting favorites (-1200, per BetOnline.ag).
Boston Celtics (2) vs. Atlanta Hawks (7)
The Celtics will enter their first round series as even bigger betting favorites (-1300) than the Bucks. Boston’s +6.7 net rating on the season was the NBA’s best mark by a comfortable margin, whereas Atlanta has spent much of the season looking like a league-average team, finishing the year at 41-41 (with a +0.1 net rating) before winning a play-in game over Miami.
The Celtics’ No. 2 overall defense should be capable of slowing down the Hawks‘ star backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray; it remains to be seen whether Atlanta will have any answer at the other end of the court for Boston’s star wings, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A Hawks upset isn’t impossible, but it looks like a real long shot, barring injuries.
Philadelphia 76ers (3) vs. Brooklyn Nets (6)
While the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are often significant favorites in NBA playoff series, it’s unusual for a No. 3 team to be as heavily favored as the Sixers are over the Nets (-1200). The odds make sense though — Philadelphia had the NBA’s third-best record, trailing only two Eastern powerhouses. And Brooklyn likely wouldn’t have finished as high as sixth in the East if not for the first-half contributions of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who are no longer on the roster.
The new-look Nets, led by Mikal Bridges, were competitive down the stretch, but they went just 13-15 after the trade deadline. The 76ers, meanwhile, followed up a 12-12 start to the season by winning 42 of their last 58 games, and they’ll be at full strength in the playoffs — stars Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey are all healthy after missing between 16 and 24 games apiece during the regular season.
Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs. New York Knicks (5)
Now we’re talking. The rest of the Eastern Conference series are viewed as pretty one-sided, but the Cavaliers and Knicks is something a little closer to a toss-up. Cleveland is a -190 betting favorite, per BetOnline.ag, while New York is at +165 to win the series.
On paper, there are plenty of reasons to back the Cavaliers. Their +5.6 net rating ranked No. 2 in the NBA, buoyed by a league-best 109.9 defensive rating. And Donovan Mitchell is the sort of battle-tested scorer a team wants on its roster in the postseason.
On the other hand, besides Mitchell, Cleveland’s top players lack postseason experience. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will be appearing in their first playoff game on Saturday, and Jarrett Allen didn’t advance beyond the first round in two brief postseason appearances in Brooklyn. These Knicks are well coached and have the East’s best offense (120.4 rating) since the calendar flipped to 2023.
The status of Julius Randle‘s left ankle could be significant — it sounds like he’s aiming to return for Game 1 on Saturday, but he hasn’t played since spraining the ankle on March 29 and likely isn’t back to 100% yet.
Sixers center Joel Embiid, named on Friday as one of three finalists for the NBA’s 2022/23 Most Valuable Player award, says he’ll take it in stride if he falls just short of earning the honor for a third consecutive year. However, Embiid admits it would mean a lot to him to be named MVP, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“This year I’ve made a commitment to not put myself out there, talking about I’m the MVP, or saying I want to win,” Embiid said. “For the guys that keep saying, ‘It’s whatever, I don’t care about winning it, doesn’t matter.’ But it’s all bulls–t. You want to be the MVP. That means a lot being the MVP of the league. There are only certain guys that get the opportunity to have their name on it. It would be a great honor. But I’m the point now where I’m used to (the MVP talk). If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, great.”
The runner-up to Nikola Jokic in 2021 and 2022, Embiid appears to be in a good position to claim his first MVP award in 2023 after leading the NBA with 33.1 points per game and guiding the Sixers to a 54-28 record. Embiid is considered a better defender than Jokic and played about 260 minutes more than Giannis Antetokounmpo, which may help give him a leg up on his fellow finalists.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- As he prepares to face his former team in the first round of the playoffs, James Harden reflected on the criticism he faced a year ago for forcing his way out of Brooklyn to Philadelphia. “There’s a lot of internal things that was going on, which was one of the reasons why I made my decision,” Harden said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “And everybody talked down on me and gave me negative feedback or whatever you want to call it. But now fast forward today, nobody’s like, ‘OK, James was smart, James knew what he was doing.’ Which I don’t want credit, but it’s like, I’m happy where they are now. I mean, best of luck to those guys and (Nets owner) Joe Tsai and that organization. They turned what they had into something really good, so they’re in the playoffs and nothing but great, great talk about those guys and organization.” Harden, of course, was the first of three Nets stars to request a trade; Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving eventually followed suit.
- P.J. Tucker‘s 3.5 points and 3.0 field goal attempts per game in 2022/23 represented the lowest marks he has ever posted as an NBA regular. But Tucker’s teammates and opponents recognize the value of the Sixers’ major 2022 free agent addition, especially in the postseason, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes in a subscriber-only story. “P.J. was just the aggressor, the starter that got us going,” Bam Adebayo said of his former Heat teammate. “I feel like that’s what defines P.J. … his energy toward, ‘I’m going to do everything right.’ I think you need a P.J. on your team.”
- Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com examines some of the most important rotation decisions the Sixers will have to make in the postseason, including how to handle the backup center minutes behind Embiid and whether to lock in Tucker and Tobias Harris as every-game closers alongside Embiid, Harden, and Tyrese Maxey.
The NBA announced its finalists for all the major 2022/23 regular season awards on Friday evening (all Twitter links can be found here).
Here is the full list of finalists for each of the awards, listed in alphabetical order:
Most Valuable Player
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
Defensive Player of the Year
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- Brook Lopez (Bucks)
- Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)
Rookie of the Year
- Paolo Banchero (Magic)
- Walker Kessler (Jazz)
- Jalen Williams (Thunder)
Most Improved Player
- Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)
Sixth Man of the Year
- Malcolm Brogdon (Celtics)
- Bobby Portis (Bucks)
- Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)
Coach of the Year
- Mike Brown (Kings)
- Mark Daigneault (Thunder)
- Joe Mazzulla (Celtics)
Clutch Player of the Year
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- DeMar DeRozan (Bulls)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
TNT will begin announcing the winners next week during its coverage of the 2023 playoffs, according to the NBA. The three finalists for each award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Antetokounmpo, the league’s back-to-back MVP winner in 2018/19 and ’19/20, has finished fourth and third in MVP voting over the past two seasons, respectively. He averaged a career-high 31.1 PPG along with 11.8 RPG and 5.7 APG on .553/.275/.645 shooting in 63 games (32.1 MPG) this season in leading the Bucks to the NBA’s best record at 58-24.
Embiid, the MVP runner-up in each of the past two years, led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season, posting a career-high 33.1 PPG along with 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG and 1.7 BPG on .548/.330/.857 shooting in 66 games (34.6 MPG). The Sixers finished third in the East with a 54-28 record, though it’s worth noting that record is also the third-best mark in the league.
Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP, averaged 24.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 9.8 APG and 1.3 SPG on .632/.383/.822 shooting in 69 games (33.7. MPG). In addition to breaking Wilt Chamberlain‘s record for most assists per game by a center (8.6), Jokic led the Nuggets to the top seed in the West with a 53-29 record.
It’s long been assumed that Banchero, Brown and Fox were the runaway favorites for their respective awards. Given Embiid’s excellent play to end the season and Denver’s stumble to the finish line, it seems likely that Embiid will edge out Jokic and Antetokounmpo to win his first MVP — all three finalists are more than deserving, just as they were last year.
However, the other three awards are more up in the air. Jackson and Lopez have been considered the betting favorites for DPOY for much of the second half of the season. Mobley’s inclusion is somewhat surprising, but maybe it shouldn’t be — the Cavs finished with the league’s top defense and he is arguably the best defender on the team.
The Rockets have been granted permission to interview Sixers assistant coach Sam Cassell for their head coaching vacancy, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).
The Rockets and Cassell are still working on scheduling the interview, according to Feigen. Houston began its search for a new lead coach this week after declining to pick up its option on the fourth year of Stephen Silas‘ contract.
A former NBA player, Cassell was a one-time All-Star point guard and won three championships — including two with Houston — during his 16-year career (he was technically still active in 2008/09, though he didn’t appear in a game). He spent his first three seasons with the Rockets from 1993-96.
This is Cassell’s 14th season as an assistant coach and third with Philadelphia, having made previous stops with the Wizards and Clippers. He has worked under Doc Rivers for the past nine years.
The Rockets reportedly intend to look at about eight or nine candidates for the job, and many of them have already been identified. Cassell was not previously mentioned.
Feigen reports that the Rockets don’t plan to hire anyone before they interview all of the targets on their initial list. He writes that list could expand should other candidates become available — Raptors coach Nick Nurse has been mentioned multiple times as a possible target.
Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel has already interviewed for the job, and so has former Celtics coach Ime Udoka, per Feigen. The Rockets have also been granted permission to interview Suns assistant Kevin Young, Feigen adds — it was previously reported that they were still trying to secure permission.
- Philadelphia officials have announced “an independent and comprehensive evaluation” of the Sixers’ proposal to build a $1.3 billion sports arena next to the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, according to an Associated Press report. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from some Chinatown residents and leaders. Supporters say the proposed arena, to be based around public transit, would bring needed investment and development.
- Philadelphia officials have announced “an independent and comprehensive evaluation” of the Sixers’ proposal to build a $1.3 billion sports arena next to the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, according to an Associated Press report. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from some Chinatown residents and leaders. Supporters say the proposed arena, to be based around public transit, would bring needed investment and development.
- Sixers coach Doc Rivers feels that Nets coach Jacque Vaughn is more comfortable with Brooklyn’s current roster rather than dealing with the drama brought by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, according to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post. “He has a new team, and I think he’s enjoying coaching this group more, because it’s none of that stuff anymore,” Rivers said. The Nets-Sixers series begins on Saturday.
Sixers owner Josh Harris has reached an agreement to purchase the NFL’s Washington Commanders, Sportico’s Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams report.
Harris, who is also the managing partner for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, is acquiring the NFL team from Dan Snyder for approximately $6 billion, a record for a sports franchise. Harris’ group also includes NBA Hall of Famer and former Lakers executive Magic Johnson.
The previous record purchase price for a sports team was $4.6 billion, which Rob Walton paid for the NFL’s Denver Broncos last year.
Harris became the majority owner of the Sixers franchise in 2011.
Julius Randle practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday, giving the Knicks hope that he might play this weekend against Cleveland, Zach Braziller of the New York Post reports. Randle sprained his left ankle on March 29.
“He did some [work in practice]. Making steady progress. Taking it day-to-day,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s doing some running, shooting, scripting, that sort of thing.”
We have more injury updates:
- Khris Middleton was not a full participant during the Bucks’ practice session on Tuesday but they’re hopeful he’ll be ready to go by the end of the week, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Middleton tweaked his troublesome right knee last week. “He’ll do some individual work, get some weight room work and he’ll do more individual work (Wednesday) and then we’re anticipating and planning for him to practice on Thursday,” coach Mike Budenholzer said.
- Sixers swingman Danuel House Jr. didn’t practice on Tuesday due to a sore foot, but head coach Doc Rivers expects him to be available for Game 1 against Brooklyn, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He hurt his foot in one of the (last) two games,” Rivers said. “But I think he will be OK.”
- Magic big man Jonathan Isaac underwent season-ending adductor surgery in early March. He expects to be at full strength by training camp, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel reports. “This is really going to be the first summer I have to fully work,” Isaac said. “Every other summer I’ve been rehabbing trying to get back on to the court. So I’ll be hopefully in the next few weeks be a full go. And doing everything I need to do to have a healthy next season.”
Taylor Jenkins of the Grizzlies and Doc Rivers of the Sixers were named the NBA’s March/April Coaches of the Month for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Jenkins’ 14-8 record in March and April was the West’s second-best mark behind the Lakers (14-6). The Grizzlies’ head coach perhaps earned extra marks for dealing with some Ja Morant-related drama and Brandon Clarke‘s season-ending injury during that time.
Meanwhile, no NBA team won more games in March and April than Rivers’ Sixers, who went 15-7 to lock up the No. 3 seed in the East.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Reggie Perry, a 2020 second-round pick who appeared in 36 games for the Nets, Trail Blazers, and Pacers from 2020-22, has signed with South Korea’s LG Sakers, the team announced on Instagram (hat tip to Sportando). Perry is headed overseas after spending most of the 2022/23 season with the Raptors 905 in the G League.
- The NBA announced in a press release that the league set a new single-season record for total attendance in 2022/23, establishing new high water marks for both league-wide attendance (22,234,502) and average attendance per game (18,077). Both of those records were previously set in 2017/18.
- In a pair of tweets, Bobby Marks of ESPN identifies several of the players who earned bonus money by achieving regular season incentives, led by Knicks forward Julius Randle ($2.4MM) and Celtics wing Jaylen Brown ($2.1MM)
- Is the concept of “voter fatigue” a myth? For the most part, yes, as Howard Beck explains in an interesting piece for GQ Sports.
- Agent Raymond Brothers – who represents Markelle Fultz, Immanuel Quickley, and Precious Achiuwa, among others – has left Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports and returned to his former agency, IAM Sports, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Brothers said in a statement that he holds Roc Nation in the “highest regard” and wishes them well.