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Is Jimmy Butler going to fight Kelly Oubre Jr.? Scroll to see why.
Welcome to the Playoffs!
Everything for this weekend and beyond!
The NBA playoffs begin tomorrow, so we’re getting four games on Saturday and four more on Sunday. We have so many storylines, new faces, old faces, missing faces and things to eye as the 2024 NBA Playoffs tip off. Grab my hand. I’ll grab yours. We’ll go on this journey together.
(Just a reminder: Steph Curry didn’t make it. Neither did Victor Wembanyama despite a fun rookie year. I miss Wemby. Je suis trieste. Four years of French honors finally paid off, Mom!)
The Powerhouses We Know
Boston Celtics: They made the Finals in 2022, have a better, 64-18 team this time around, and their biggest potential threat just hurt his MCL and may not play until the fall (due to his team being eliminated maybe as early as tonight). Boston has no reason not to reach the Finals.
Denver Nuggets🏆: They’re the defending champs, seem healthy, have the best player in the world, arguably the best starting five in the world and slept-walk half the season to the No. 2 seed in the West. They get to warm up with a Lakers team they swept last year in the conference finals.
New Faces Looking to Shock the World
Oklahoma City Thunder: From a 40-win team to the West’s No. 1 seed without adding veterans. Remarkable. The Thunder are young but here to prove they’re title-worthy behind the brilliance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards has made the playoffs twice, but this is a different version of him and the Wolves. They’re the higher seed. Phoenix is tough, but Ant’s legend can grow here.
Orlando Magic: Despite being the East’s youngest playoff team, this defensive juggernaut is in great position to really ruin this iteration of the Cavaliers. Paolo Banchero is a star.
Indiana Pacers: The Pacers have overperformed this season and are playing with house money now – not in the Jontay Porter way, though.
Those Feeling the Most Pressure
Milwaukee Bucks: We don’t know when Giannis will return, this team has been awful without him, and Doc Rivers was offering up excuses before he took the sidelines. Milwaukee is in trouble.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Donovan Mitchell’s contract drama is loud. And the Cavs wet the bed last year. Will they take Orlando seriously?
LA Clippers: Kawhi Leonard is banged up (more below), James Harden and Paul George have rough postseason reps, and the Clippers face a dangerous Mavs team. They could really use a deep playoff run.
Phoenix Suns: They have disappointed all season long, and, even though the Wolves are a good matchup for them, the Suns can’t be the big three team that gets dumped in the first round.
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James is 40 soon, and their best hope is taking a game off the Nuggets. Put the playoff appearance aside. The bigger question is really this: Where do the Lakers go next?
Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid is great, but he’s already 30, his teams have never been to the conference finals, and he’s not in top form as he returns from injury. The Sixers have pressure to attract free agents this summer, and that’s a tough sell with a first-round exit to the Knicks.
The Sleeping Giants
New York Knicks: I know they don’t have Julius Randle, but I believe in the Knicks. Jalen Brunson is a killer, and they are dominant with OG Anunoby. Does this Tom Thibodeau team have an extra gear? They may!
Dallas Mavericks: I wouldn’t pick the Mavs to beat the Nuggets in a series, but they’re my pick to reach the Finals if Denver doesn’t make it out of the West. Luka Dončić has been unreal this season, Kyrie Irving has been fantastic, and the Mavs were the league’s best defense over the final quarter of the season. Is Dallas ready to break through?
The Latest From Shams
Kawhi Leonard aiming to play Game 1
Leonard had an injection in his knee earlier in the month, has been ramping up after a period of rest and is aiming to play this weekend in Game 1 against the Mavericks, league sources tell me.
He hasn’t played since a Clippers win against the Hornets on March 31 and missed the last eight games of the regular season. The Clippers went 4-4 in those games, setting up a first-round series with Dallas.
The two-time Finals MVP averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season, making his first All-Star team since 2021.
No. 8 Seed Battles
Who will grab the last playoff spots?
We’ve got our final two Play-In Tournament games tonight to set the 1-8 matchups in both conferences. They also feature two massive injuries to Butler and Zion Williamson that could greatly affect the outcome.
Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat, 7 p.m. on ESPN
These teams played for the No. 8 seed last year, and the Bulls nearly pulled it off. Now, they can avenge that loss against wounded Miami.
Big storyline: No Butler. The Heat had a monster fourth quarter behind Butler and Max Strus to take the No. 8 seed last year. Neither guy will play in this game, though, so Miami will desperately search for answers against a Bulls team that just dropped 131 points on Atlanta.
How’d the season series go? Is it relevant? They split the season series 2-2. Butler played in all four games, but the series doesn’t feel very relevant because it was done by mid-December.
Key matchup: Alex Caruso on Tyler Herro. Herro struggled to initiate against Kelly Oubre Jr. and Buddy Hield the other night. They’re mediocre-to-fine defenders. Caruso could shut him down.
X-Factor: Coby White. He lit up the Hawks. He also lit up the Heat in four matchups and seems over his post-All-Star Game shooting slump.
Prediction: Bulls by nine.
Do they have a chance against the Celtics? Not at all. Maybe Miami could put up a fight, but it won’t be enough without Butler. The Bulls will happily collect that playoff revenue, though.
Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
The Pelicans have bullied the Kings most of the season, and now they face off for a chance to play the Thunder in the first round. This should be an easy path for the Pelicans, right? Not so fast, my friends!
Big storyline: No Zion. The Pelicans star hurt his hamstring in the last game and won’t play tonight. Zion played in all but one matchup against the Kings, so how do the Pelicans make up for his absence?
How’d the season series go? The Pelicans won 5-0, thanks to an In-Season Tournament game. New Orleans won by 96 points. YEESH.
Key matchup: Herb Jones on De’Aaron Fox. The Kings are missing Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter. If Jones can do his defensive thing against Fox, the Kings will really struggle to score. If Fox can get going, New Orleans will need its stars to respond.
X-Factor: Brandon Ingram. He was so bad against the Lakers he got benched down the stretch. It was only his second game in almost a month, but the Pelicans need him to cook the Kings in this game.
Prediction: Pelicans by seven.
Do they have a chance against the Thunder? If both teams were healthy, I’d feel like they can push an inexperienced Thunder team. But they aren’t and likely won’t be.
IG Snapshot!
Klay’s gone? Jimmy is gonna fight?
I was perusing Instagram and various social media platforms – as I am wont to do when procrastinating – and found a couple of noteworthy NBA items. The first was a post on our very own IG page for The Athletic. While pondering the future of free agent-to-be Klay Thompson, we polled whether he’ll be a Warrior next season. The voting public overwhelmingly said Thompson will be elsewhere.
People voted this despite the quote from Warriors coach Steve Kerr!
The other thing I noticed on IG was Miami announcing Butler will miss tonight’s game against the Bulls. The reporting is that Butler will likely miss weeks, so we know that must be eating him alive. He was injured in Wednesday’s game when Kelly Oubre Jr. landed awkwardly on his knee. Butler tagged Oubre in the comments and said, “we throwing hands.”
Hasn’t Oubre been through enough this season, Jimmy?
Bounce Passes
Here’s your West playoff preview from The Athletic NBA Show.
(Top photo: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images )
