Editor’s note: “The Last Days of Knight,” the latest installment in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series, will be available on Thursday exclusively on ESPN+.
It looked like a janitor’s closet.
The inconspicuous gray door on the court level of Indiana University’s Assembly Hall easily concealed the office where the titan of college basketball watched game film and did some of his deepest thinking.
On Sept. 7, 2000, it was Bob Knight’s sanctuary. That was the day the legendary Hoosiers men’s basketball coach was accused of grabbing freshman student Kent Harvey by the arm and breaking the zero-tolerance policy enacted by university president Myles Brand. Hordes of media were quickly gathering to hear from the embattled coach, but Knight had devised another game plan.
With his career on the brink, the Hall of Fame coach, who had three national championships, 11 Big Ten titles and more than 600 wins in his 29 seasons in Bloomington, opened the heavy door and introduced himself to a reporter for the Indiana Daily Student with a firm handshake.
“Don’t be afraid, kid,” he told me with a smile and a pat on the back, adding, “yet.”
At that moment, Knight’s longstanding grudge against the student newspaper ended, and my story with him began. Having run out of other options, and harboring a distrust for the national media, Knight struck a deal with a handful of eager student journalists. In exchange for providing a forum on campus to address the students and fans on his terms, Knight would agree to grant the IDS two days of exclusive interviews. They were conversations he thought he could control and manipulate, much in the way he exerted his authority on his basketball program for almost three decades.
Knight told me to get any other reporters from the school paper who should be there and we’d “have a little more [to the story] than anybody else will.” He said he picked us to tell his side of the story because “some guy will ask an off-the-wall question” in the news conference upstairs “and that’s all that will be written or talked about.”
I was joined by two other student reporters in Knight’s office — otherwise known as “the cave” — to question him about the incident involving Harvey. Knight leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out, clasped his hands behind his head and downplayed the accusation.
Knight had been walking into Assembly Hall when the 19-year-old Harvey said, “Hey Knight, what’s up?” The students who were walking with Harvey said Knight angrily grabbed Harvey by the arm, dragged him aside and said, “Show me some f—ing respect. I’m older than you.”
Three days later, Brand fired Knight. His behavior at the end of his career, including physical and verbal abuse, culminated in a disgraceful exit for an iconic coach. I watched as Knight took an increasingly defiant stance in the final days of his tenure. Almost 20 years later, it’s a reminder of how much influence and power college coaches can accumulate, if allowed, and the consequences they can face if it’s abused. It’s also a lesson in knowing when it’s time to step aside or move on.
As unique as Knight’s polarizing personality was, his stubbornness and arrogance remain among the most common characteristics of successful college coaches past and present — traits that are simultaneously their biggest strength and, ultimately, their greatest weakness.
Both college football and college basketball have produced coaches who overstay their welcome and punctuate otherwise Hall of Fame careers with disappointing exits. Their power and egos grow alongside their winning percentages and salaries. Failure and conflict bring out the inherent competitive drive to fix problems their way, not walk away from them. There’s also the human concern of quitting on everyone involved with the program, and the fear of stepping into a different life or a life without it.
“I think we all leave on different circumstances, but we all fight that battle. When? Now? No? Yes?” said 75-year-old former UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who missed the sport enough after retiring to return as head coach at Division III St. Joseph’s. “It’s not just a job. We don’t do it, we live it.”
And they become it.
Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams — they all own their programs and their towns, their identities indistinguishable from the campuses where they work. They, along with past coaches such as Woody Hayes, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, are more recognizable than their own university presidents, more popular than their state officials. That fame and pride in what they built elicits a sense of entitlement that This Is Mine.
“I think we all leave on different circumstances, but we all fight that battle. When? Now? No? Yes? It’s not just a job. We don’t do it, we live it.”
Jim Calhoun
And when it’s yours, you fight to keep it as long as you can.
“I have never been, from day one; I’m not the coach for this administration,” Knight told the Indiana Daily Student in 2000. “But I’m the coach for our program and what we tried to do. The academic record we’ve established, the record for success after graduation we established, and I think my pride in that carried away my better instincts relative to whether I should stay here or look for employment somewhere else.”
Knight refused to resign — and has since refused to return to campus, telling Dan Patrick in 2017, “I have no interest in ever going back to that university.” Knight, who declined comment for this story through his agency, didn’t even show up for the 40-year anniversary celebration of his own 1976 undefeated national championship team. Current IU athletic director Fred Glass, who was hired in 2009, has sent Knight handwritten letters asking him to return, but to no avail.
While there are still former players and fans who remain steadfast in their loyalty to Knight, his legacy was determined by the tumultuous final years of his Indiana career. IU’s administration was at its wit’s end with his bullying behavior. Hurling a chair across the court paled in comparison to the disgusting ways in which he denigrated some of his players. Allegations had turned into evidence — caught on camera and heard on tape — including an incident in 1997, in which Knight choked player Neil Reed in practice.
The man who demanded discipline at every turn was unable to reel in his own emotions. That perception might have changed had he trusted his instincts and walked away from Indiana on his own.
But that’s easier said than done.
“They always say you’ll know when it’s time to get out, and I don’t think you do,” said former Texas football coach Mack Brown, who won a national championship and played for another, but didn’t step down until he struggled through four seasons with at least four losses. “You don’t ever want to get out if you love it.”
Nobody is immune to circumstance or losing, and stature can only protect even the most powerful coaches for so long. Eventually, coaches like Krzyzewski, Boeheim and Saban will face this reality, if they haven’t already.
“The way I look at it is, as long as I’m healthy and as long as I feel that I can do a good job, I want to keep doing it because I enjoy doing it,” Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low. “What I don’t want to do is just stay forever, forever and forever and ride the program down where I’m not creating value. I would never want to do that, and I think I’m a long ways from doing that. I don’t want to talk about anybody else, but there have been a couple of coaches where their legacy was tarnished by them maybe doing it longer than they should have. That won’t be me.”
Nobody thought it would be Woody Hayes, either.
Hayes won five national titles during his 28 seasons at Ohio State, but when he punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman in the 1978 Gator Bowl, he ended any chance he had of leaving on his own terms.
Larry Romanoff was Ohio State’s head academic advisor at the time and was about 10 yards from the altercation. He began his Ohio State career as Hayes’ student manager and still works for the Buckeyes’ athletic department. He said the worst moment he has had in his 49 years around the Buckeyes program was when Hayes walked onto the team plane after the game.
“He takes the mic from the stewardess and goes, ‘I’m no longer going to be your coach,'” said Romanoff. “Nobody said boo. Seriously, you could’ve heard a pin drop on the plane. And then it was like, ‘Oh, my god, Coach, don’t go.'”
When they got back to Columbus, Romanoff and two other employees went to Hayes’ office and helped him pack.
Video of Hayes’ punch was part of a television profile of Knight that aired on ABC during the 1984 Olympics, and Dick Schaap asked Knight if he had any fear of losing control like Hayes did.
“I don’t think that you can ever say yes or no, and I honestly think when that happened with him, he should have just quit,” Knight said, “right then, ’cause he really, he did lose it. … I have always said to myself that if I got to that point, I would just quit.
“But I may get really upset because I think I am legitimately upset with either a poor play or a poor call or whatever it might be. But if I go beyond being legitimately upset because of the preparation that we have put into it, then I have got to get out of it, because it isn’t worth it to anybody then.”
It wasn’t the last punch that doomed Hayes, though, just like it wasn’t Knight’s final run-in with a student that ended his career. Both men ran their programs with Jekyll and Hyde personalities, constantly flipping the switch from entertaining, even endearing, to threatening and demanding. Too often they crossed the line from teacher to tyrant, leaving their respective administrations little to no choice.
“There were a lot of things that happened before that that led me to believe that was it,” Romanoff said of the Gator Bowl incident. ” … I’m sure he knew all this was crumbling down, all the great things. Not many people know that after the game, he had a diabetic reaction, and the doctors were working on him after the game. It was tough. I was hoping they’d let him go back and just retire. For all he’d done and all he’d created, all the traditions he created here and all the great people he sent out on his coaching tree is amazing. Even Bobby Knight learned a lot of his methods from the way Coach Hayes ran his organization.”
The prism through which those coaching methods are viewed, though, depends a lot on one’s perspective, or perhaps one’s generation. Were they disciplinarians or bullies? Were their methods worth the madness? Some still chalk it up as tough love, old-school coaching that produced strong, young men and respectable graduation rates.
What many people remember about Hayes and Knight, though, is not how they won. It’s how they lost everything in the end.
Former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops figured this out, retiring last spring with a team in position to contend for the national title. So did legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, who was 60 at the time of his retirement, dealing with health problems, and had led the Cornhuskers to an undefeated record in his final season.
”I think it’s important in this business,” Osborne told the New York Times in December 1997, ”to walk away while you can still walk.”
Nearly three years later, in September 2000, after his firing, Knight sat at a wrought-iron table on his back porch with me and two other student reporters, and we were mad as hell because we knew we were trapped by his terms of the deal.
“I made two huge mistakes here. One was not leaving in May, and one was not leaving five years ago.”
Bob Knight
Knight had won.
We asked him all of the pressing questions about the incidents that led up to his firing, but it was futile. He refused to answer any of them until the second day of interviews, per the agreement he had made with the editors of the school paper. Instead, we spent a few hours listening to him talk about his glory days, wondering what we were going to write about.
Over the course of two days, I saw firsthand how he could switch from manipulative to entertaining in a matter of minutes. In the end, he did answer all of our questions.
Knight’s wife, Karen, brought us sloppy joes and bags of potato chips in brown-paper lunch bags. There were times his booming voice shattered the peace of the nearby woods. (“You’ve got to be smart enough to figure that out!” he scolded me once.) Possibly the most personal thing he told us over those two days was that he knew he should have left Indiana sooner.
“I made two huge mistakes here,” Knight said in the aftermath of his firing. “One was not leaving in May, and one was not leaving five years ago.”
Surrounded on his back porch by some of his most staunch defenders — local sportswriter Bob Hammel, former Hoosier and Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas and former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps — Knight seemed to wrestle out loud with all of it.
“I woke up the other morning for the first time in 35 years, and I didn’t have a team to coach,” he said.
Knight sat there, though, in a position he put himself in.
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After six months of streaks, showdowns and social-media mayhem, it’s time for even more drama. With intriguing storylines from top to bottom, the 2018 playoffs are shaping up to be must-see TV.
Here’s why each of the postseason’s 16 teams will leave you on the edge of your seat during one of the most binge-worthy NBA playoffs ever.
2017-18 record: 65-17 BPI odds vs. MIN: 88 percent
Remember all the doubts about whether James Harden and Chris Paul could work together? Those questions seem hilarious now. The Rockets rewrote the franchise record books en route to the best record in the league as Harden staked claim to what should be his first MVP award.
Who has the most to prove? Harden and Paul. There isn’t a duo in the NBA that has more to prove in the playoffs. That’s why they joined forces last summer. A failure to advance past the second round is the one blemish on Paul’s surefire Hall of Fame résumé, never mind that his playoff numbers (21.4 points, 9.4 assists, 48.4 percent shooting) compare favorably with his career stats. For Harden, his most recent postseason memory is a horrible no-show (10 points, 2-of-11 shooting, 6 turnovers) last year in Game 6 of the West semis against the Kawhi-less Spurs that ended the Rockets’ season.
Season in a single game: Dec. 9 Harden’s historic 60-point triple-double aside, the story of these Rockets has been the collaborative brilliance of their co-superstars. That was epitomized in their Dec. 9 win in Portland, the first time the pair played together in a clutch situation, which didn’t happen for a while due to Paul’s knee injury and the Rockets’ dominance upon his return. Harden and Paul took turns carving up the Blazers’ defense, accounting for all but one bucket as the Rockets scored 21 points in the final five minutes.
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1:51
James Harden drops his third game of the season with 48-plus points, and the Rockets rally from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 124-117 win in Portland.
Second Spectrum says: James Harden broke Wesley Johnson‘s ankles with a stepback 3-pointer earlier this season, and there’s always a chance we’ll see more defenders go do. Harden has made more than three times as many 3-pointers on stepback shots as any other player this season.
Season is a success if … Let’s put this in Texan terms: It ain’t a success without a championship parade. The Rockets never got too high during any of their three double-digit win streaks — or after breaking the franchise record for wins in a season — because they’ve had a championship-or-bust mentality from the moment Paul arrived in Houston. The Rockets confirmed their belief that general manager Daryl Morey had put together a team great enough to challenge the mighty Warriors by cruising through the regular season. They are 16 wins away from satisfaction.
The defending champs have petered into the playoffs, having lost 10 of their past 17 games. The team has struggled without its leader, Stephen Curry, who will be sidelined for the opening round with an MCL injury. Can the team play at a high level without Steph? Can the Warriors turn it on during the playoffs? Is Steve Kerr’s voice still effective? Those are some of the questions facing the Warriors as they enter the postseason looking vulnerable.
Who has the most to prove? Kevin Durant. Golden State was 40-10 with Curry in the lineup and an underwhelming 17-14 when he was in street clothes. Durant, along with the rest of the team, has not been able to adjust to Curry’s departure in part because the Warriors are mostly running the same system in which the two-time MVP flourished. Will Kerr alter the offense and cater it toward Durant?
Season in a single game: April 10 Utah’s pounding Golden State by 40 was an extreme display of how this squad has been going through the motions and living off supreme talent. The Warriors could simply flip the switch in Game 1 of the playoffs, but they’re not going in with the best of habits.
Second Spectrum says: The best play in the NBA this season has been the Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant pick-and-roll. With Curry as the ball handler and Durant as the screener, the Warriors have averaged 1.29 points per direct play. No other play type — pick-and-roll or otherwise — has averaged more points per direct play.
Season is a success if … It’s title-or-bust for the defending champs. Golden State used to have a small-ball advantage, but now the majority of NBA teams are made up of small, shooting lineups. Injuries and the emergence of the Rockets could derail the Warriors’ quest. They might be favorites, but this won’t be a cake walk.
On track for another season in the vicinity of .500 through mid-February, Portland caught fire during a 13-game win streak that propelled the Blazers into the top half of the Western Conference standings. Terry Stotts’ defensive scheme, built around preventing high-value shots and forcing 2-pointers outside the paint, has turned Portland’s liability into a top-10 unit.
The playoffs will be the Blazers’ opportunity to prove that the combination of improved defense and scoring provided by the guard tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum makes them a threat to the West’s elite.
Who has the most to prove? Jusuf Nurkic. The addition of Nurkic midseason was a key factor in last year’s (now trademark) Portland second-half run, but the Bosnian Beast was limited to 17 total minutes in the Blazers’ first-round sweep at the hands of the Warriors. Although Nurkic’s offense hasn’t carried over on a consistent basis this season, his ability to protect the rim has anchored Portland’s defense. With restricted free agency looming, Nurkic can solidify his value by avoiding foul trouble and making good decisions with the ball on offense.
Season in a single game: Feb. 14 Coming off a home loss to the Jazz that dropped them within a game of falling out of the playoffs, the Blazers started their 13-game win streak in style. They blitzed the Warriors from the start, running up 40 points in the first quarter and withstanding a 50-point effort from Kevin Durant to win 123-117. The game showcased Portland’s winning formula offensively: a huge game from Lillard (44 points, eight assists) with plenty of scoring from McCollum (29 points) and a strong effort by Nurkic (17 points, 13 rebounds).
Second Spectrum says: McCollum ran 2.70 miles per game this season, the most by any player in the NBA, while Lillard ranks tied for eighth on that list at 2.54. Portland is the only team in the NBA that has two players in the top 10. That’s even more notable considering the Blazers rank 19th in the NBA in pace (possessions per 48 minutes).
Season is a success if … The Blazers are competitive in the second round of the playoffs. Winning a series wouldn’t be new for the Blazers in the Lillard-McCollum era, though they benefited from injuries to Blake Griffin and Chris Paul during their first-round win over the Clippers two years ago. To justify the luxury-tax bill that re-signing Nurkic and backup center Ed Davis would likely require, Portland could use a couple wins in a matchup with one of the West’s powers.
2017-18 record: 48-34 BPI odds vs. UTAH: 53 percent
The Thunder spent the season confusing the league and themselves. The glimpses of potential in emphatic wins mixed with head-scratching losses kept them at risk of not making the playoffs until the final week of the season. But with top-tier talent, they could have the Western Conference on notice. The thinking all season was the Thunder were built for the postseason.
Russell Westbrook strikes fear in opponents on his own, but with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony alongside him, the Thunder have upside that creates the feeling that a light bulb could go on at any moment.
Who has the most to prove? Westbrook. As with everything Thunder-related, this postseason will be yet another evaluation and pending referendum on last year’s MVP. All eyes will be on how he manages crucial possessions with George and Anthony, if he can stay balanced and if the Thunder can execute in big moments. Westbrook is the Thunder’s leader and has established that, like last season, the team still goes as he does.
Season in a single game: April 7 Beating the Rockets on the road with three games to go in a near must-win scenario summed up the Thunder’s roller-coaster season. They spent the season leaning on their ability to raise their level of play against the league’s best (7-4 against the Rockets, Warriors, Raptors and Cavaliers) but played down to teams around or below .500. But when their backs were against the wall and things were on the verge of unraveling, even against the elite teams, the Thunder found a way to stay above water. Winning in Houston wasn’t pretty — the Thunder’s three stars struggled — but some timely playmaking and good enough defense got it done.
Second Spectrum says: One reason OKC is so tough? They out-hustle opponents. The Thunder rank first in the NBA in both deflections and loose balls recovered. Leading the way are their two best players: George’s 3.9 deflections per game lead the NBA, as do Westbrook’s 2.2 loose balls recovered per game.
Season is a success if … The Thunder were billed before the season as contenders. But with the way it has played out, winning their opening-round series and playing a competitive second round against the Rockets would be a reasonably successful outcome. The fit with Westbrook, George and Anthony took more time than expected, and the bumps along the way left the Thunder in a precarious position. If OKC can do enough to convince George to return and this becomes year one of a four- or five-year window, playing into the second round would be viewed as a job pretty well done.
2017-18 record: 48-34 BPI odds vs. OKC: 47 percent
With Rudy Gobert protecting the rim, the Jazz are the NBA’s best defensive team, which makes them dangerous. Rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell has the ability to score in bunches, making the Jazz entertaining and easing the blow of losing All-Star Gordon Hayward in free agency.
The Jazz roll into the playoffs with momentum, playing at an elite level over a span of nearly three months since Gobert got healthy. Only the Rockets had more wins since Jan. 24 than the Jazz, who climbed from nine games under .500 to the No. 4 seed with a 25-5 run in which Utah had the NBA’s best point differential (plus-10.7 per game).
Who has the most to prove? Ricky Rubio, who will finally taste the NBA playoffs. He has played in high-stakes games internationally for Spain, so Rubio shouldn’t wilt under the pressure. But is he a long-term fit with Utah’s core or simply a placeholder at point guard next to Mitchell? With a year remaining on his contract, Rubio has played a significant role in the Jazz’s run by making foes pay for giving him good looks. Rubio’s 3-point stroke has been a glaring weakness throughout his career, but he has shot 43.6 percent from long range since Jan. 24.
Season in a single game: Dec. 1 It was apparent that the Jazz got great value by trading up to draft Mitchell with the 13th overall pick before he poured in a franchise-rookie-record 41 points in a comeback win over the Pelicans on Dec. 1. That performance validated hope that Mitchell could be the bonafide go-to guy the Jazz so desperately need in the wake of Hayward’s departure. Mitchell, the first rookie since Carmelo Anthony to lead a playoff team in scoring, scored 12 points in the final five minutes that night. That was a healthy helping of the kind of killer instinct Mitchell has shown consistently, even though it is rare in a young player.
Second Spectrum says: Think Utah is lost on offense without the departed Hayward? Think again. The Jazz find ways to get good looks. They created 19.8 uncontested shots per game this season, best in the NBA.
Season is a success if … This season is already a success, not that they’d be satisfied with a first-round exit. Few expected the Jazz to return to the postseason right after Hayward’s exit, which could have been crippling for a small-market team that relies heavily on developing homegrown talent. Even fewer anticipated that the Jazz could overcome Gobert’s missing 26 games due to injury. Quin Snyder, who has quietly established himself among the league’s best coaches, deserves a lot of credit. With Gobert and Mitchell as foundation pieces, the forecast for Utah is bright.
2017-18 record: 48-34 BPI odds vs. POR: 37 percent
Anthony Davis is worth watching every game just to see what spectacular line he will put up next. New Orleans has surprised many with an inspiring playoff run after losing DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending injury. After Cousins went down with an Achilles injury on Jan. 26, the Pelicans lost five of six games but recovered from that Boogie hangover by going 20-8 since Feb. 10, riding Davis’ MVP-caliber play.
Who has the most to prove? Playoff Brow. The NBA world will be watching to see what he’ll do in his second trip to the postseason. Davis hopes to make this one last a little bit longer than his first playoff experience, in which he averaged 31.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.3 steals but was swept by Golden State. Can Davis overcome a defense that will spend an entire series geared toward containing him?
Season in a single game: Feb. 26 Davis did more than just carry the Pelicans after the Cousins injury. He went on a historic tear, leading the Pelicans on a crucial 10-game win streak. His defining moment in that stretch came against Phoenix, when he detonated for 53 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocks, joining Bob McAdoo as the only NBA players with 50 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a game since blocks were first tracked in 1973-74, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Second Spectrum says: If you’re into helter skelter, the Pelicans are the team for you. More than simply Davis’ dominance since Cousins went down, New Orleans has ramped up the speed at which it plays, ranking first in pace and averaging more miles per hour on offense than any other playoff team.
Season is a success if … The Pelicans advance out of the first round. Cousins’ injury figured to rip New Orleans’ playoff chances to shreds, but Alvin Gentry’s team persevered. Even when the team hit a four-game slide in late March that threatened its playoff chances, the Pelicans bounced back by winning the next four games. Every team in the West not playing Houston or Golden State in the first round will feel like it can advance after basically playing do-or-die games down the stretch to get in. New Orleans has a chance to advance with Davis on its side.
Despite missing its best player in star forward Kawhi Leonard for all but nine games, San Antonio found lineups and rotations that consistently competed with the best teams in the West. Meanwhile, LaMarcus Aldridge became the player the Spurs expected in the summer of 2015 when they signed him as that year’s most significant free-agent acquisition. He has been deserving of being included in the MVP conversation this season.
Who has the most to prove? Aldridge. The absence of Leonard coupled with a putrid performance in the postseason last year makes him a marked man. In Game 1 of the 2017 conference semifinals, Aldridge scored a career-low four points and finished with a plus-minus of minus-36, which registered as the worst by a Spur in the postseason under Gregg Popovich. In the 43 minutes after Leonard limped off the floor last year with an ankle injury in the conference finals against Golden State, Aldridge posted more turnovers (eight) than made baskets (seven). Second-year point guard Dejounte Murray falls into this category, too, after wrestling the starting job away from future Hall of Famer Tony Parker.
Season in a single game: March 8 Leading Golden State by eight points with 4:44 left to play, the Spurs watched Kevin Durant go off for 15 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors rallied to a 110-107 victory. The fact that Stephen Curry left the game in the first half with an ankle injury only amplified frustrations for San Antonio, which has become accustomed to blowing prime opportunities this season due to shoddy clutch-time performances. The Spurs have missed Leonard’s ability to close games.
Second Spectrum says: The Spurs still have a superstar stopper, and it is not Kawhi Leonard. Among 212 players to face at least 30 drives against 2018 All-Stars, Kyle Anderson allows the third fewest points per chance on drives, at 0.72.
Season is a success if … Given all the drama stirred up from the bizarre Kawhi saga and all the tinkering with rotations to get San Antonio into the postseason for the 21st consecutive year, this season is already a success, with Popovich deserving of Coach of the Year consideration. But the real indicator of whether this season has been a success is when, if at all, Leonard returns to the lineup. The Spurs want Leonard back on the floor, but it’s not about what he can do to help them win, according to a league source. It’s about showing the rest of the team he is committed to San Antonio for the long haul. The team needs to see Leonard in the locker room, in film sessions, on the team plane and at team dinners. Leonard is up for a supermax extension this summer, and a return in the playoffs could go a long way toward alleviating doubts about his long-term prospects in San Antonio.
2017-18 record: 47-35 BPI odds vs. HOU: 12 percent
The suspense held until the regular season’s finale, but the Timberwolves are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Jimmy Butler loves the stage the playoffs provide and desperately wants to show that he can lead his team into the second round and beyond, but his health will be worth monitoring after he missed more than a month because of a meniscus injury in his knee.
Who has the most to prove? Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, who are supposed to be the future of the Timberwolves organization. But neither young player has developed the way Tom Thibodeau would have liked. Towns has superior offensive talent and shown flashes of putting it all together, but there are far too many times when he doesn’t have a solid presence defensively. As for Wiggins, he hasn’t shown consistency on either end.
Season in a single game: April 11 The drought is over! Game No. 82 sent Minnesota to the postseason for the first time in 14 years in a de facto playoff game of its own, as Butler poured in 31 points and Towns added 26 in an overtime thriller against the Nuggets.
Second Spectrum says: As much as Minnesota missed Butler’s All-Star production, it could have also used his grit and determination. Case in point: Butler’s average miles per hour getting back on defense in transition ranks first on the team and first among every 2018 All-Star.
Season is a success if … It’s hard to believe a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 years could make the postseason and still have its season considered unsuccessful, but that is the tightrope the Timberwolves are walking. After so much optimism early in the season, Towns, Wiggins & Co. were not able to pick up the slack when Butler went down. The only way the Timberwolves’ season can be considered a success is if they claw their way into the second round.
2017-18 record: 59-23 BPI odds vs. WAS: 88 percent
After several seasons of residing in the league’s upper-middle class, the Raptors asserted themselves in 2017-18 as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. They climbed the ladder by injecting spacing and creativity into their offense and by instilling greater discipline in their defense. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are the NBA’s old married couple — stylistically and temperamentally different, yet bringing out the best in each other as they mature into their golden years as a backcourt. Then there’s the dominant reserve units, which make the Raps’ early second and fourth quarters the best show in town. Star power at the guards, a versatile platoon of big men, electricity off the bench — the Raptors are a complete and appealing team, one that should be a pleasure to watch this spring.
Who has the most to prove? Both DeRozan and Lowry will have to replicate their regular season outputs if the Raptors are to beat the rap as one of the most disappointing playoff teams in recent memory. Among active NBA players, only Rajon Rondo and Jamal Crawford have attempted more field goals in the postseason and converted them at a lower true shooting percentage than DeRozan. Lowry has performed marginally better, but his contributions in the playoffs, in which he has often appeared tired, have fallen well short of the standard he has established as one of the league’s best shot-making guards.
Season in a single game: March 7 In Detroit, the Raptors and Pistons were tied in overtime at 119 with less than 10 seconds left. Situations such as these in the NBA typically prompt teams to put the ball in the hands of their best playmaker, so it was no surprise to see DeRozan — who did this near the end of regulation — racing down the floor with possession. But rather than play hero ball and settle for a haphazard, low-percentage attempt when he was met in the lane by a swarm of Pistons defenders on his drive to the rim, DeRozan kicked the ball out to a wide-open Fred VanVleet on the left side. VanVleet drained the shot from 21 feet, giving the Raptors a win. Trust is an essential ingredient for a championship team, and it is decisions such as that by a team’s superstar that help build it.
Second Spectrum says: Unlike years past, the Raptors are a lot more than just Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. When the duo is off the court this season, the Raptors are still tied for the eighth-most points per chance on offense. Last season, when the star duo was off the court, the Raptors averaged the fewest points per chance league-wide.
Season is a success if … The Raptors have tasted the conference finals, so anything short of an NBA Finals appearance would qualify as a disappointment, especially as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. Should they acquit themselves well with a competitive series against either of the West’s elite teams, the Raptors would have assembled the most successful season of their 23-year-old existence as the NBA’s only active Canadian franchise — and one that has saddled one of the league’s most devoted fan bases with plenty of heartbreak.
2017-18 record: 55-27 BPI odds vs. MIL: 78 percent
The Celtics enter the playoffs missing two All-Stars (Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving) and one of their top rotation players (Marcus Smart), but they proved all season that they can be competitive no matter how short-handed they are. Watching how Brad Stevens manages his personnel and game plans for his opponent will be worth admission. While much of the attention will be on who is not on the court for Boston, the Celtics’ youngest players have embraced their opportunities all season, and somebody — maybe Terry Rozier? — is going to make himself a household name during the postseason.
Who has the most to prove? Welcome to the NBA playoffs, Jayson Tatum. Boston’s 20-year-old rookie, the No. 3 pick in last year’s draft, had a stellar first season that saw him finish strong for the injury-ravaged Celtics, but the question is whether Tatum can continue to be an impact performer on the playoff stage. Without Irving, the Celtics need Tatum to provide a consistent scoring punch. After being eased into the playoffs last season, second-year swingman Jaylen Brown will likewise be expected to elevate his play. Boston’s young tandem could dictate just how long this team sticks around.
Season in a single game: March 28 Playing the final game of a four-game road trip without three All-Stars (Irving, Hayward, Al Horford), Boston had no business beating a surging Jazz team jockeying for position in a crowded west. But despite utilizing four rookies as part of a nine-man rotation, the Celtics overcame a double-digit deficit, and Brown hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds to play to cap an improbable 4-0 road trip. Rookie Semi Ojeleye, who assisted on Brown’s winner, and Shane Larkin, who was in Europe last season, topped the Celtics in minutes on this night, hammering home the diverse contributions this team has gotten while overcoming injuries.
Second Spectrum says: Want to watch some smothering defense? Check out Boston’s Jaylen Brown. Whenever he’s the closest defender in the half court, opposing players have shot just 38.1 percent. That’s the second best mark among any of the more than 150 players who have defended at least 500 shots this season.
Season is a success if … After a trip to the East finals a season ago, the Celtics won’t be content to simply get through Round 1, but maybe they should be. Any playoff experience the youngest Celtics gain will help Boston down the road. The East is so wide open that Celtics fans will dream of an improbable playoff run by these Zombie Celtics, a group of scrappy, young players who simply refuse to relent despite all the injuries the team has endured.
2017-18 record: 52-30 BPI odds vs. MIA: 78 percent
Even without Joel Embiid, the Sixers are one of the most compelling teams in the 2018 NBA playoffs. We all want to see how Rookie of the Year favoriteBen Simmons handles the spotlight of his first postseason. After he missed most of the regular season, we want to find out if 2017 No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz can make an impact against Miami. Most importantly, we want to know if Embiid can return during the series against Hassan Whiteside and the Heat following surgery to repair the orbital bone fracture around his left eye. (Injury status aside, we can’t wait to see what Embiid has planned for social media during the postseason.)
Who has the most to prove? Does Philadelphia’s young core of Embiid, Simmons, Markelle Fultz and Dario Saric have a ton to prove in the postseason? Probably not. That group — minus Fultz — helped lead Philadelphia to its first playoff appearance in six seasons after a four-year stretch in which the franchise lost an average of 63 games. You can make an argument that coach Brett Brown has more to prove in the postseason than any of his players. Brown admirably endured all of the losing over the previous four seasons to get to this point. Now that he’s here, his strategy, substitution patterns, lineup usage and in-game adjustments will be heavily scrutinized.
Season in a single game: April 6 There are plenty of worthy candidates for Philly’s coming-out party, but the season-defining win came Friday, when the Sixers beat LeBron James and the Cavs to notch a 13th straight win and move past Cleveland into the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They led by 30 in the first half and held on late to win behind Ben Simmons’ triple-double (27 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists). Simmons’ play that night caught the eye of James, whom the Sixers might face again soon. “He’s a student of the game. He wants to be great,” James said of Simmons.
Second Spectrum says: Believe it or not, a rookie leads the NBA in total touches this season with 7,589. According to Second Spectrum, Ben Simmons has more touches than MVP front-runners James Harden (5,986) and LeBron James (7,131).
Season is a success if … The organization — and its fan base — wants to beat Miami in the first round and see what it can do against Boston or Milwaukee in the East semis. But the fact that Philadelphia has made it to this point — after four seasons in which lottery odds were more important than wins and losses — is a measure of success in and of itself. Former general manager and president of basketball operations Sam Hinkie stripped the organization down in 2013 with the goal of building the foundation of a team that can contend for championships. Based on what we’ve seen this season, the Sixers seem to be on their way to fulfilling Hinkie’s vision, no matter what happens the next few weeks.
2017-18 record: 50-32 BPI odds vs. IND: 62 percent
Just four teams in the 71-year history of the NBA have made it to four straight Finals: the Boston Celtics from 1957-66 (going 9-1), Los Angeles Lakers from 1982-85 (2-2), Celtics from 1984-87 (2-2) and Miami Heat from 2011-14 (2-2). The Cavs (and Warriors) can add to that list this spring, and that battle alone is something worth monitoring. Add the fact that this could be LeBron’s final stretch with the Cavaliers, should he opt out of his contract and leave as a free agent this summer, and the intrigue is undeniable.
Who has the most to prove? The Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson trio has a grand total of 11 playoff games between them (all of them by Hood in 2017, when he averaged an underwhelming 8.9 points on 35.2 percent shooting), and now they find themselves as key cogs when it comes to Cleveland’s championship chances. All three have shown flashes of brilliance after being acquired during the Cavs’ trade deadline makeover, but they’ve also all had moments in which they came off looking unreliable on the big stage. The consequences of them coming up small in the postseason doesn’t just include the embarrassment of an early exit; it could also spell James’ departure.
Season in a single game … or two: March 21 and April 6 Glass half full: The Cavs’ 132-129 win over the Raptors on March 21, in which they allowed 79 first-half points only to storm back and win against the East’s No. 1 team. Glass half empty: The Cavs’ 132-130 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on April 6, in which they allowed 78 points, falling by as many as 30 points, only to make a game of it but fall short in the end. Both show the Jekyll & Hyde nature of this Cavs team — undeniably talented but furiously inconsistent.
Second Spectrum says: A king of many things, no one is better at hitting contested shots than LeBron, who leads all players this season with a 62.1 effective field goal percentage when the nearest defender is within 2 feet (among 43 players with at least 150 attempts).
Season is a success if … Cleveland should be thrilled if whatever happens in the postseason leads James to re-up this summer. Obviously, a championship would be the scenario that would most likely lead to that decision, especially with James telling Cleveland.com that “winning” and “family” will be the two most important factors when he ponders his future. As long as James has something left of his prime, which he clearly does, whatever team he plays for will continue to have a shot to win it all. Even if the Cavs don’t get it done in 2018, doing enough to get James to come back will give them a chance at another chip in 2019 and beyond.
2017-18 record: 48-34 BPI odds vs. CLE: 38 percent
Victor Oladipo immediately embraced being the face of the Pacers after he arrived in Indy following the trade with Oklahoma City. His scoring ability (23.1 points per game) is well documented, as he had five games of at least 30 points against teams that made the playoffs. But he’s more than a scorer: Oladipo averaged a career high in rebounds, assists and steals (64 straight games with at least one steal). And no Pacers playoff series is complete without Lance Stephenson and his theatrics — good or bad.
Who has the most to prove? Myles Turner. The 6-foot-11 center shot better than 50 percent for a month just once and closed the regular season by averaging 8.4 points on 33.7 percent shooting and only 4.4 rebounds in the final 10 games. The more Turner struggles, the more Pacers coach McMillan will face the question of whether he should replace Turner with Domantas Sabonis in the starting lineup.
Season in a single game: Dec. 8 The Pacers’ ending the Cavs’ 13-game win streak sent a message to the reigning East champs that winning the division wouldn’t be easy. Oladipo further cemented his role as the Pacers’ closer and helped them prove that they would be fine without the departed Paul George. Indiana went 3-1 against Cleveland this season.
Second Spectrum says: Oladipo is the engine that makes the Pacers go. In transition, Indy averages 1.35 points per chance when he’s on the court, which is a better mark than the Warriors. When he’s off the court, the Pacers are tied for second-worst in the NBA (1.18 points per chance).
Season is a success if … It already is. Preseason predictions put the Pacers in rebuilding mode after the George trade, and GM Kevin Pritchard was supposedly swindled by Oklahoma City in the trade. Pritchard reloaded by acquiring five new rotation players, including three starters. It was less than a month ago that LeBron and the Cavaliers were the team chasing the Pacers for first place in the Central Division. Nobody would have thought that would have been the case at the start of the season.
2017-18 record: 44-38 BPI odds vs. PHI: 22 percent
The Heat, by their nature, play incredible games. They’ve had 19 one-possession games. They’ve played nine overtime games. They scrap and claw, and Erik Spoelstra conjures stuff up. They’re always worth watching.
Who has the most to prove? Even with his max contract, Hassan Whiteside is constantly trying to prove himself — that’s his lot in the NBA. Two years ago, he got injured in his first playoff run with the Heat, and therefore the results were incomplete. Now he gets another chance.
Season in a single game: Feb. 27 There are a couple choices, but the best is probably Dwyane Wade hitting the game winner to beat the 76ers, the Heat’s first-round opponent. He scored 15 of the last 17 points. It was another one-possession game, and he was a finisher for a team that is constantly looking for finishers.
Second Spectrum says: Miami gets the most out of its pieces. Exhibit A: Kelly Olynyk. Although he’s averaging only 11.5 points per game this season, he has been one of the most versatile and efficient scorers in the NBA. Olynyk ranks second in points per direct drive (minimum 100 drives) and first in points per direct post-up (minimum 100 post-ups) this season.
Season is a success if … The Heat are underdogs. They have some confidence against the 76ers after winning their past two matchups. It would be helpful if some of their young players have positive experiences, win or lose, to set them up for down the line.
2017-18 record: 44-38 BPI odds vs. BOS: 22 percent
One word: Giannis. The Greek Freak is one of the most exciting players in basketball and has the ability to do something no one has ever seen on a nightly basis. Watching Antetokounmpo perform on a playoff stage will be fun, but on top of that, Jabari Parker is out to prove that he can still be a dominant player in the biggest games of the year. He will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the Bucks have to decide whether they want to lock him up as part of their future. How he performs in the postseason will likely have some impact on negotiations later this summer.
Who has the most to prove? Aside from Antetokounmpo and Parker, Eric Bledsoe has a chance to show that he can play with more consistency in the most pressurized games. The Bucks invested this summer’s first-round pick to acquire Bledsoe from Phoenix. Now he needs to prove that he was worth the investment.
Season in a single game: April 1 The Bucks flat-out gave this game away by making several terrible decisions in the waning seconds and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in a 128-125 overtime loss to the Nuggets.
Second Spectrum says: The Young Bucks like to run, none more so than Antetokounmpo, who has recorded 57 dunks in transition this season, most in the NBA. Among those, 31 have been made while contested, also most in the NBA this season.
Season is a success if … Unless they can shock the depleted Celtics in the first round, the Bucks’ season will not be considered a success. They fired Jason Kidd earlier in the season and didn’t take the next step in their evolution. With cap issues this summer and an important decision to make on Parker’s future, the Bucks have a lot more questions than answers.
2017-18 record: 43-39 BPI odds vs. TOR: 12 percent
Despite a frustrating up-and-down regular season, the late March return of John Wall makes the Wizards a dangerous team in a rather wide-open East. Washington is exactly the sort of low-seed opponent that no top squad wants to draw. The Wizards have a lot of talent but also a core with plenty of playoff experience. The question is whether Washington can pull itself from the general malaise it operated under for much of the regular season.
Who has the most to prove? Most of the attention will be on Wall, but only one player on Washington’s roster had a better net rating during the regular season: Otto Porter Jr. In fact, the Wizards go from owning a team-best net rating of plus-5.3 with Porter on the court to a team-worst minus-6.3 when he’s on the bench. Washington’s offense is 6.5 points better per 100 possessions with Porter on the floor. These are the situations in which the Wizards need Porter to live up to his lofty contract.
Season in a single game: March 31 Despite sitting out two months with a knee injury, Wall looked sharp in his first game back, putting up 15 points and 14 assists. After the game, Wizards coach Scott Brooks said of Wall, “That Ferrari is pretty good.” That same night, Porter Jr. finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Beal had 22 points with six 3-pointers. It was a reminder of Washington’s potential when all of its weapons are available.
Second Spectrum says: Don’t let the Wizards put a spell on you. Only Golden State has generated more shots off cuts to the basket than Washington this season.
Season is a success if … This will be Washington’s fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, and even though the Wizards have advanced out of the first round in each trip, that’ll be a daunting task this time. A first-round exit would leave a very bitter taste and force the team to ponder its direction, an uncomfortable position given that its core is locked up long-term. Success is a first-round upset and being competitive in Round 2, though that would ultimately be a replay of recent postseason runs.
This NBA season has been marked by several notable, critical injuries. Here’s a look at the most important ones to watch for each team in the postseason.
Timetable: None; he missed a win at Orlando on March 20 with a left thigh contusion but has played in nine of the team’s past 10 games.
Seriousness:Very low
Situation: DeRozan is listed here only because he’s the latest player to miss a game because of injury. Toronto is the healthiest team in the league that will appear in the postseason.
Timetable: Irving will the playoffs in the aftermath of left knee surgery. Hayward is unlikely to return this season from a left ankle injury. Smart needs six to eight weeks (from March 16) for right thumb surgery. Theis is out for the season following left knee surgery.
Seriousness: Very high
Kevin Pelton on Irving: The Celtics should still be favored to win their first-round matchup. Now all but locked into the second seed, Boston should be hoping for the Milwaukee Bucks to finish seventh among the three teams that have a chance to do so. Milwaukee has actually been outscored this season, despite a winning record, so the short-handed Celtics have been comfortably better without Irving before accounting for home-court advantage in the series.
Timetable: Hill sprained his left ankle on March 30 and returned April 9 after missing four games. Korver had right foot soreness and last appeared in a game March 19 before returning on April 3.
Seriousness:Medium
Situation: The Cavaliers are inching toward being fully healthy (including coach Tyronn Lue, who returned April 5) for the first time since the trade deadline. Hill has started every game he has played as a Cavalier this season, while Korver started in his past three appearances before taking a bereavement leave. Korver returned in April to his more familiar bench role.
Timetable: Embiid had surgery to repair an orbital bone fracture on March 31 and could return in two weeks. Saric had cellulitis in his shooting elbow and missed three games due to the soreness of the infection. Saric returned to action on April 6.
Seriousness:High
Kevin Pelton on Embiid: The timing of Embiid’s injury is obviously difficult for him and the Sixers with their multiyear rebuilding process on the cusp of bearing playoff fruit.
Timetable: Booker sprained his right ankle Tuesday and missed a win at Sacramento on March 29. He’s fine, as that wound up being the only game he missed.
Seriousness:Very low
Situation: Booker is Indiana’s second big man off the bench, behind starters Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner and top backup Domantas Sabonis. Any time that Booker misses is filled sparingly by first-round rookie T.J. Leaf.
Timetable: Wall returned to action March 31 after missing more than two months because of a left knee injury.
Seriousness: Medium
Situation: Wall’s return decreases the seriousness of the situation. Wall was able to play 33 minutes in his first game back, while fill-in starter Tomas Satoransky‘s role in the rotation over Jodie Meeks is secure.
Timetable: Waiters underwent season-ending ankle surgery on Jan. 23.
Seriousness:Low
Situation: The Heat are used to playing without Waiters and otherwise enter April at full strength. Tyler Johnson has established himself as the starting shooting guard, while Wayne Ellington and midseason trade acquisition Dwyane Wade are the backup guards.
Timetable: Brogdon returned on April 9 from his partially torn left quadriceps tendon after suffering the injury Feb. 1. Maker had a right groin strain and last played on March 25; he’s healthy now. Dellavedova has a right ankle sprain and last played on Feb. 4; he is out indefinitely.
Seriousness: Medium
Situation: Brogdon was injured the night before Jabari Parker made his season debut, and Dellavedova was injured in Parker’s second game. Brogdon is back, and he will be coming back to an uncertain role; he had been starting next to Eric Bledsoe at the time of his injury. Milwaukee has been starting Tony Snell at shooting guard while Jason Terry has been in the rotation. Brogdon was the first player off the bench when he returned to action. The injuries to Brogdon and Dellavedova were instrumental in Milwaukee’s signing 2009 first-round pick Brandon Jennings for the rest of the season. It appears that Maker has work to do to be the backup center over Tyler Zeller behind John Henson. Maker has been a DNP-CD since April 3.
Timetable: Likely to miss the first round, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mbah a Moute left the Rockets second-to-last game of the season with a dislocated shoulder. He missed 15 games with a similar injury earlier this season. There’s no timetable for his return.
Seriousness: High
Situation: Mbah a Moute averaged nearly 26 minutes per night for Mike D’Antoni’s squad this season, even starting 15 games. He’s a key part of a Houston second unit that has smothered opponents, and his absence could leave the Rockets’ bench a little thin, even as rotations tighten in the postseason.
Timetable: Three weeks (from March 24) for Curry’s left knee Grade 2 MCL sprain.
Seriousness: High
Kevin Pelton on Curry: Players have not shot as well from 3-point range after returning from a Grade 2 MCL sprain as expected. Curry was, in fact, less accurate on 3s in the 2016 playoffs, shooting 40.2 percent after returning compared to 45.4 percent during the regular season. But the larger issue for Curry was inside the arc; he shot 56.6 percent on 2s during the regular season and just 48.5 percent in the playoffs. Of course, every player and every injury is unique, so the average performance of all players with the same injury is only a guide to what we can expect. But the broader history suggests that a repeat of 2016 is unlikely. Golden State should expect to get Curry back at something close to full strength.
Timetable: Two weeks (from March 28) for Harkless’ left knee surgery; one to two weeks (from March 31) for Davis’ right ankle sprain. Davis returned from his injury on April 9.
Seriousness: Medium
Situation: Harkless had scored in double figures in five of his past six games before getting shut down. His injury moves Evan Turner into the starting lineup and opens up more minutes for Pat Connaughton as a rotation wing.
Timetable: Leonard last played on Jan. 13 and has no timetable to return from a right quadriceps injury.
Seriousness:High
Zach Lowe on Leonard: Without Leonard, the math of the Spurs’ midrange-heavy shot selection works against them. Their shot profile hasn’t budged from last season. With Leonard playing like an MVP in 2016-17, they outperformed their expected field goal percentage — based on shot location, shooters and defender proximity — by the fifth-largest margin in the league, per Second Spectrum. This season, they are shooting almost exactly as expected, and it isn’t good enough — especially since they don’t gobble up free throws or offensive rebounds at a high rate. (Also: Why doesn’t Danny Green play a little more?) The Spurs built this team to play a certain style, and without their foundational talent, they can’t play it well enough to win at a high level.
Timetable: Butler underwent meniscus surgery on his right knee Feb. 25. He returned to action April 6 in Los Angeles.
Seriousness: High
Situation: The Timberwolves put Nemanja Bjelica in the starting lineup at small forward and moved Andrew Wiggins to shooting guard after Butler’s injury, and Minnesota went 8-9 in Butler’s stead. Butler’s absence led to a strict eight-man rotation for the Timberwolves, with Jamal Crawford taking on a larger role. Butler’s return allowed head coach Tom Thibodeau to use a nine-man rotation.
Timetable: Roberson had season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee on Jan. 28.
Seriousness:Medium
Situation: The Thunder have the NBA’s 18th-ranked defensive efficiency rating since Roberson’s injury, compared to the No. 5 defense at the time of the injury. Oklahoma City is now starting midseason buy-out market acquisition Corey Brewer at shooting guard. Other than Roberson, the Thunder are fully healthy.
Timetable: Rubio missed a win on Friday vs. Memphis because of left hamstring soreness and isn’t expected to miss much more time.
Seriousness:Low
Situation: Rubio’s injury is minor, and the return of Dante Exum on March 15 from left shoulder surgery gives Utah another playmaking option behind rookie Donovan Mitchell. Royce O’Neale starts while Alec Burks enters the rotation when Rubio is out.
Timetable: Cousins had season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon on Jan. 31.
Seriousness:High
Zach Lowe on Cousins: Anthony Davis has seamlessly absorbed more ballhandling responsibility since Cousins’ season-ending injury. He has averaged about seven drives per 100 possessions in that stretch, up from about four before then, per Second Spectrum tracking data. Davis isn’t going to win the MVP, and he shouldn’t. This is James Harden‘s season. But Davis deserves serious consideration for both MVP runner-up and Defensive Player of the Year.
The New York Knicks dismissed coach Jeff Hornacek early Thursday morning, league sources told ESPN.
Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry informed Hornacek of his firing upon the team’s return to suburban New York following a flight back from Cleveland, where the Knicks beat the Cavaliers 108-95.
Hornacek had one year left on his contract. Kurt Rambis, associate head coach under Hornacek, was also dismissed. In two seasons with the Knicks, Hornacek went 31-51 and 29-53.
The Knicks made the first of what are expected to be several coaching changes this offseason, joining Milwaukee, Phoenix and Memphis on the market. Those three teams made coaching changes during the regular season, inserting interim head coaches. The futures of Charlotte coach Steve Clifford and Detroit president/coach Stan Van Gundy are expected to be determined in the coming days.
Perry, who was hired as GM in July, will finally have the chance to hire his own coach. The Knicks are determined to stay the course on drafting and player development as they await the return of All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis, who isn’t expected to return until midway through next season as he recovers from a torn ACL.
New York is targeting the summer of 2019 to explore the free-agent market in a serious way, when the team could have significant salary-cap space and Porzingis is back to full strength.
In a competitive marketplace this spring, the mystique of Madison Square Garden as well as the resources and willingness to pay a lot in terms of coaching salary give New York a distinct advantage in recruiting available candidates.
Former Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, former Cavaliers coach David Blatt — now coaching in Turkey — and former Warriors coach Mark Jackson are among the candidates the Knicks are planning to contact, league sources told ESPN.
Hornacek was hired by then-team president Phil Jackson and then-GM Mills prior to the 2016-17 season.
New York hasn’t reached the playoffs in five seasons and has one playoff series win in the past 18 years. In Hornacek’s first season in New York, Jackson requested that Hornacek blend elements of the triangle offense with what the coach preferred to run. The combination hindered the Knicks all season, as New York finished 2016-17 ranked 18th in offensive rating.
This season, Mills and Perry said they’d evaluate Hornacek based on the development of younger players and the team’s improvement on defense over the course of the season.
Andrew Wiggins finds Jeff Teague who swishes the floater to give the Timberwolves a 107-106 lead in overtime.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years after knocking off the Denver Nuggets 112-106 in a winner-take-all overtime thriller on Wednesday night.
Jimmy Butler, playing in just his third game since coming back from knee surgery, helped carry the Timberwolves across the finish line, scoring 29 points, dishing out five assists and grabbing five rebounds. Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game that he would extend Butler’s minutes “guideline” if needed, and that’s exactly what he did by using Butler for 42 minutes. Jeff Teague finished with 17 points, including a huge runner with the shot-clock expiring in overtime.
Many within the Timberwolves organization weren’t sure how Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins would respond to the challenge of playing on the biggest stage the regular season can offer, the last game, but both were able to make enough plays to help push the Timberwolves over the top. Towns set a nice tone for the Timberwolves early and played with intensity throughout the biggest game of the year, finishing with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Wiggins chipped in with 18 points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers and providing a lift for a young Timberwolves group that needed every bit of it. It was Towns who grabbed a crucial rebound in the final seconds and Wiggins who knocked down a pair of gigantic free throws to ice the game.
Nikola Jokic had a huge game for the Nuggets, going off for 35 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but his inexperienced group couldn’t make enough defensive stops when they needed them down the stretch. Nuggets guard Will Barton had a very solid performance racking up 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The Nuggets won’t be happy with the final result, but they have a lot of young talent that they should be able to build around in the years to come.
For the Timberwolves, the victory has to be a huge relief on the shoulders of Thibodeau and his players. After acquiring Butler in the summer from the Chicago Bulls, this was supposed to be the season they would be able to take a major step in their development. Missing the playoffs would have been a disaster for the group.
While the Timberwolves were not able to keep the momentum they built early in the season after Butler went down with his knee injury, Thibodeau can point to the playoff appearance as a positive sign for the future for a team that badly needed to see signs of growth this season.
The Timberwolves will face the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals this weekend.
OKLAHOMA CITY — With a rebound with nine minutes left in the third quarter, Russell Westbrook added another historic bullet point to his résumé, becoming the first player to average a triple-double in multiple seasons Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Westbrook entered the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s final two games with the tall task of needing 34 rebounds to round his average up to 10. He hauled in 18 against the Heat on Monday and 16 in just 22 minutes against the Grizzlies.
Westbrook grabbed eight rebounds in the opening 11 minutes and hit double figures before halftime, heading to the break with an interesting stat line of 1 point, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. With the game in hand, Westbrook grabbed five rebounds in the opening three minutes of the third quarter. Early in the quarter, a loose ball rebound bounced a few times and Carmelo Anthony ran it down, turning around to yell “Russ!” with a big smile.
After Westbrook grabbed the 16th board, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation, and Westbrook’s teammates applauded. Westbrook looked up at the board and gave a quick nod to the crowd.
He finished with 6 points, 20 rebounds and 19 assists in a 137-123 win that ultimately gave Westbrook season averages of 25.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists.
Last year, Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double.
Robertson averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62, setting a standard many considered unreachable in the modern era.
Westbrook pushed back against the stat-padding narrative that has built around him over the past year after shootaround Wednesday morning.
“A lot people make jokes about whatever, stat-padding or going to get rebounds,” Westbrook said in an answer largely unrelated to the question that was asked. “If people could get 20 rebounds every night, they would. If people could get 15 rebounds, they would. People that’s talking or saying whatever they need to say, they should try doing it and see how hard it is.
“Since everybody wants to be talking, I’m tired of hearing the same old rebound this, stealing rebounds, all this s—. I take pride in what I do. I come out and play, and I get the ball faster than someone else gets to it. That’s what it is. If you don’t want it, I’m gonna get it. Simple as that.”
Westbrook said Wednesday that a lot of his focus with rebounding is to snare the ball and use his speed to instantly start transition opportunities for the Thunder. On multiple rebounds Wednesday, he either kicked ahead for a dunk or found a teammate for an open 3.
“The game will tell you what you need to do,” Westbrook said. “Getting loose rebounds, loose balls, getting on the break is something that’s very, very beneficial to our team and something that in my opinion you can’t stop, getting a rebound, pushing out, getting it up quick, because you can’t scout for that. And it’s something that’s great for our team.”
CLEVELAND — Detroit pitcher Jordan Zimmermann bruised the right side of his jaw when hit on the face by a line drive off the bat of Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis and left Wednesday’s game after two batters.
Kipnis lined a 2-2 pitch to the mound. Zimmermann was face down on the pitcher’s mound for several moments and attended to by head athletic trainer Doug Teter. Zimmermann sat up and spoke to Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, then walked off the field while holding a towel to his face.
The ball rolled to first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who stepped on first for the out. An obviously distraught Kipnis crossed the bag and knelt on the first base line as Zimmermann was examined.
Zimmermann, who threw seven pitches, was replaced by Daniel Norris.
Teams around the NFL no longer believe the New York Giants are going to be trading wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. before or during the upcoming draft, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
This represents a change in the thinking of teams that thought there was a real chance the Giants would trade the wide receiver.
The Giants created a firestorm at the NFL meetings when the team’s brass said it would listen to offers for Beckham. Several teams inquired about his services and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Giants were asking for at least two first-round picks in return for Beckham, but the team insisted it was not shopping the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Beckham was there for the start of the Giants’ offseason workout program on Monday despite talk of a holdout and a potential trade. Coach Pat Shurmur said it was important for all his players to be at the workouts this week to learn their new systems and help rebuild their culture.
The situation has been trending toward him staying with the Giants, and a big step in the process was Beckham showing up for the start of Monday’s voluntary workouts. The Giants wanted to see that he was committed to the new regime and get an up-close and personal look at the ankle he fractured in Week 5 of last season.
Beckham, who is eyeing a new contract, stayed away most of last spring. He played last year for $1.8 million and is expected to make $8.5 million on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract this season. A new deal is likely to net him in the range of $60 million guaranteed.
He missed most of last season with his fractured ankle, but he still finished second on the team with three touchdown receptions despite playing in just four games. The Giants struggled badly without him, averaging 13.6 points in the 13 games where he either didn’t play or was limited.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Needing 16 rebounds Wednesday night to become the first player to average a triple-double more than once, Russell Westbrook sounded off on skeptics and the stats-padding narrative about his historic numbers.
“A lot people make jokes about whatever, stat-padding or going to get rebounds,” Westbrook said in an answer largely unrelated to the question that was asked. “If people could get 20 rebounds every night, they would. If people could get 15 rebounds, they would. People that’s talking or saying whatever they need to say, they should try doing it and see how hard it is.
“Since everybody wants to be talking, I’m tired of hearing the same old rebound this, stealing rebounds, all this s—. I take pride in what I do. I come out and play, and I get the ball faster than someone else gets to it. That’s what it is. If you don’t want it, I’m gonna get it. Simple as that.”
Westbrook entered the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s final two games needing 34 rebounds and 12 assists to secure a triple-double average for the second consecutive season. Against the Miami Heat on Monday, he dished out 13 assists and hauled in 18 rebounds, setting the stage for the regular-season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies. A victory could help the Thunder’s seeding in the Western Conference playoffs.
“I think he’ll be the first to tell you that’s not how he approaches games,” teammate Paul George said when asked if he wanted to see Westbrook go for it. “Russ is a guy that whatever the team needs, whatever he feels he needs to do, he’s gonna do. That just naturally happens that he gets those triple-doubles.
“But I don’t think he’s looking at tonight as a milestone that he has to get to for that triple-double average. In fact, he’s probably going to go out [and] just do it naturally because he knows that’s what we need from him.”
On Tuesday, Carmelo Anthony joked about Westbrook “stealing” rebounds from teammates, but pointed out Westbrook’s rebounding is a considerable positive for the team.
“Sometimes you want to fight him a little bit, push him out of the way,” Anthony said. “For me, it’s good … to have a guard like that to be able to crack back and get rebounds. He steals sometimes. He steals rebounds sometimes. But any time you can have a guard like that to come back and rebound the way he does, because we want to push the break, when he gets it off the rebound he’s able to jump-start the break and a lot of good things happen from that.”
Westbrook’s gaudy rebounding numbers have caught the attention of some; Thunder center Steven Adams routinely boxes out his man and leaves the rebound to Westbrook. But it’s by design, Thunder coach Billy Donovan says, to get the ball into Westbrook’s hands faster to break into transition.
“The game will tell you what you need to do,” Westbrook said. “Getting loose rebounds, loose balls, getting on the break is something that’s very, very beneficial to our team and something that in my opinion you can’t stop. Getting a rebound, pushing out, getting it up quick, because you can’t scout for that. And it’s something that’s great for our team.
“You do what you need to do to win. Tonight, if scoring is what it is, then that’s what is. Rebounding, that’s what it is. If it’s passing, that’s what is. Defending — my job is to do everything. And that’s what I do. I go out, do everything, and I do it on a night-in-and-night-out basis. Nobody else do the same s— I do every night. Simple as that.”
Last season, Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to average a triple-double, while also breaking Robertson’s mark for triple-doubles in a season. This season, Westbrook has recorded 25 triple-doubles and is averaging 25.6 points, 10.1 assists and 9.9 rebounds per game. The Thunder are 20-5 when Westbrook has a triple-double this season.
“He’s there every night, he’s healthy, he’s ready to play and he produces,” forward Nick Collison said. “So I think the triple-doubles are a result of that. It’s just him consistently playing well every night he’s out there over long stretches of time. I don’t care too much about people and whatever they’re saying about his stats and how he gets them.”
