NBA

The Indiana Pacers started the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs with an upset victory, taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers by the final score of 121-112 in Game 1 on Sunday.

With the Pacers trailing 102-101 and just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Tyrese Haliburton helped spark a 15-4 run that put the game out of reach.

Haliburton was stellar on both ends of the floor, finishing with 22 points and 13 assists compared to just one turnover. He shot 9-of-15 from the field while racking up three blocks and one steal.

Fans and former players alike were impressed with the performance from Haliburton.

Fans also praised Indiana's impressive start to the series.

The majority of the game was a back-and-forth affair, featuring 13 lead changes prior to Indiana's late run.

Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 23 points, shooting 70 percent from the field and hitting five of his six three-point attempts.

Donovan Mitchell was exceptional inside the arc for the Cavs, scoring a game-high 33 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Mitchell shot just 1-of-11 from three-point territory, though.

Long-range shooting was the difference in the contest, as the Pacers connected on 52.8 percent of their shots from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Cleveland shot 23.7 percent on triples.

The Cavaliers will now look to bounce back in Game 2 on Tuesday night, while the Pacers will be attempting to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

The left toe sprain that has kept Cleveland’s Darius Garland out of the past two games is a “significant concern” for the team heading into their second-round Game 1 matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

"What the team has said to me is that this is a significant concern, this injury," NBA Tv's Jared Greenberg said prior to the game.

"If this was the regular season... Darius Garland would have been shut down for at least a week to two weeks. This is a major burden for a small and shifty point guard," Greenberg continued. "The amount of pain that Garland is dealing with in that toe makes it difficult for him to push off, for him to gain any leverage like he typically does on the court."

Greenberg later reported that Garland was confident that he'd be able to play in Game 2:

Initially listed as a game-time decision, Darius Garland has officially been ruled out for the Cavaliers' Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 1 matchup against the surging Indiana Pacers.

Garland last suited up in Cleveland’s Game 2 win over the Miami Heat, where he posted 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting and dished out nine assists. The Cavaliers went on to close out the series in five games.

The point guard has elevated his play in the postseason, averaging 24.0 points after posting 20.6 per game during the regular season. Head coach Kenny Atkinson addressed recent comments from Miami’s Kyle Anderson, who suggested the Cavs looked better without Garland, defending his guard’s value to the team.

“You want my honest answer? I don’t mean to throw shots at anybody or even entertain what was going on between them but, I think, they looked like a better team without Garland on the floor," Anderson said after the Heat were swept. "Now I don't know the numbers or anything, but I think it played more into their favor once Garland wasn't on the floor, for them." 

In response, Atkinson said: "I don't know. I don't listen to that," Atkinson said. "I think we're better with our All-Star point guard personally."

The Cavaliers will be hopeful to have their All-Star guard back in the lineup for Game 2 of the series as they continue their playoff push.

After his departure from the Denver Nuggets following the expiration of his contract, former general manager Calvin Booth reportedly is eyeing a move to the East Coast.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Booth was among the candidates to interview with the Atlanta Hawks, who are searching for a president of basketball operations.

The Hawks fired general manager Landry Fields last month and promoted Onsi Saleh to replace him. Still, the team initiated a search for a president of basketball operations to create a new power structure in its front office. In addition to Booth interviewing with Atlanta, Stein reported that former Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair also met with the organization.

"Booth and McNair are among the five GMs leaguewide — along with Atlanta's Fields, Phoenix's Jones and New Orleans' David Griffin — to lose their jobs in the past month," Stein explained. "For the Hawks' purposes, Booth's scouting acumen and strong reputation as a talent evaluator could pair well with Saleh's strategic expertise. McNair, meanwhile, just worked in a two-executive structure alongside Wes Wilcox with the Kings."

Booth was dismissed alongside former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone with just days left in the regular season. ESPN's Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne reported that team president Josh Kroenke "held Malone and Booth responsible for allowing their personal issues to negatively affect the organization." Denver advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals on Saturday with a dominant win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7.

If Booth lands with the Hawks, he will certainly be hoping to have similar success after he helped construct a roster that won the Nuggets' first championship in franchise history in 2023.

The Phoenix Suns are still in the early stages of their head coaching search following the firing of Mike Budenholzer, but they reportedly already have a few candidates in mind.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, two names that "have already emerged as possibilities" for the Suns' opening are New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Dave Joerger.

Phoenix's head coaching search will be led by Brian Gregory, who was promoted from vice president to general manager on Thursday. Former GM James Jones will transition to a new role as senior advisor for the organization.

Stein noted that Gregory is "expected to conduct a wide-ranging interview process that, sources say, will feature more than a dozen candidates." However, most of the options would be first-time head coaches.

"The list of known candidates includes some still working in the playoffs (Cleveland's Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Houston's Royal Ivey and Oklahoma City's Dave Bliss) and some who are already available (such as Miami's Chris Quinn and the Dallas duo of Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley)," Stein stated.

However, Stein added that Phoenix has "weighed pulling some candidates into its search who do have NBA head coaching experience," allowing Borrego and Joerger to become early frontrunners. Borrego coached the Charlotte Hornets from 2018 to 2022 before joining the Pelicans as an assistant under head coach Willie Green. Joerger coached the Memphis Grizzlies (2013-16) and Sacramento Kings (2016-19) before joining Doc Rivers' staff with the Philadelphia 76ers and following him to the Bucks.

The Suns are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 36-46 finish to the 2024-25 season, so it will be interesting to see which direction they go for their next head coach. It appears that Borrego and Joerger have the early advantage, but Phoenix will be thorough in its search before making a final decision.

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has no regrets trading a 2025 first round pick and Al Horford to Oklahoma City in 2020 in return for Danny Green.

"First off, I feel very good about that trade because it put us in a great spot," Morey said, per the Inquirer's Kieth Pompey. "It was before coach [Nick Nurse] was here, but we were the one-seed going into the playoffs. Usually, that gives you a 40-50% chance to make the finals. So I feel good that we got good value out of that trade.

"Danny Green was great for us. Seth Curry was [acquired in] a different trade. But anyway, I feel good about that," Morey continued.

The projected first-round selection came with just a top-six protection in next month’s draft—meaning the Thunder get the pick if it lands outside the top six during the NBA draft lottery on May 12.

Philadelphia’s season was plagued by injuries to two of its top players, Joel Embiid and Paul George, while rising star Tyrese Maxey could use another young contributor to help ease the load.

The 76ers finished the season 24-58 with the league’s fifth-worst record and are in desperate need of their draft pick. With no major trades and Embiid and George carrying difficult-to-move contracts, the Sixers have limited options to improve the roster this offseason.

According to Pompey, the Sixers have a solid shot at keeping their pick, even holding a 10.5 percent chance to win the draft lottery.

"If they do keep the pick, the Sixers will owe their 2026 first-rounder to OKC if it doesn’t fall in the top four picks," Pompey wrote. "If that doesn’t convey, the pick will be top-four protected in 2027. Should the Sixers manage to retain it, the Thunder will get a 2027 second-rounder."

Although offloading Horford’s four-year, $97 million contract initially appeared to be a win for the 76ers, the veteran big man has continued to be a productive contributor for the Boston Celtics since his departure from Philadelphia.

Horford’s contract was originally structured for a starting role or as a backup power forward to Joel Embiid, but he was relegated to a reserve role in his first season after averaging 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds. That production, coupled with the awkward fit, made the decision to include a first-round pick in order to move his deal seem justifiable at the time.

“I think it’s not just us. It’s like league-wide,” Morey said, per Pompey. “There is a sort of a shift in how firsts are sort of being held. Less traded, less protected. They’re only traded in bigger trades when it’s someone like a Paul George who’s moving teams or something like that. So I think that’s shifting.

“That’s one reason why we made a trade of a first and the four seconds because we wanted the ability to upgrade the team next season by having sort of a bigger set of assets and things like that.”

With Horford now a vital contributor to the championship-winning Boston Celtics and the 76ers finishing with just 24 wins, Daryl Morey remains firm in defending his past decisions—despite how they've played out.

Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka shared Gregg Popovich's reaction when he earned his first head coaching job for the Boston Celtics in 2021.

“I had interviewed for three or four years and missed a few opportunities that were close,” Udoka said, per The Athletic's Sam Amick. “So I call him on FaceTime and say, ‘Boston offered me the job,’ and he’s on the treadmill walking when he gets choked up. You see him looking, and he starts crying, and he had to hang up. He was like, ‘I’ll call you back.’ He broke down. His voice is cracking. And he hung up.”

Udoka, who was an assistant on the Brooklyn Nets before joining Boston, spent seven seasons on the San Antonio Spurs' coaching staff under Popovich.

On Friday, Popovich stepped down as the Spurs' head coach and transitioned to a president of basketball operations role.

The NBA's all-time coaching wins leader won five championships with San Antonio and finished his career patrolling the sidelines with a 1,422-869 record. Popovich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.

The 76-year-old was the oldest coach in NBA history prior to stepping down, with ESPN's Shams Charania reporting that "he decided that he no longer could move forward with the taxing grind" of coaching.

Popovich wasn't able to finish the 2024-25 season after suffering a mild stroke in Nov. 2024, although Charania noted that he's been making "steady progress" in his recovery and has been involved at the team's facility "in recent days."

Udoka is far from the only head coach to be shaped by Popovich, with Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors expressing his gratitude to the veteran coach that he played under for four seasons starting in 1999.

“I just want to say thank you to Pop and to the Spurs organization for everything that they meant to me and my career,” Kerr said, per Amick. “I know this is a pretty emotional day for the Spurs. It is for the entire NBA. The number of people Pop has influenced, the number of coaches in his coaching tree — it’s just incredible."

As for Udoka, he joined San Antonio as a coach immediately after his playing career came to an end in 2012. The former forward spent three of his final four years in the NBA on the Spurs.

In 2019, he left to become an assistant on the Philadelphia 76ers before joining Brooklyn's coaching staff in Oct. 2020. The next year, Udoka was hired by Boston.

The Celtics finished with a 51-31 record and made an NBA Finals appearance in his lone season as head coach before he joined the Rockets in 2023.

After winning just 22 games in the year before his arrival, Houston's win total increased to 41 at the end of his first season. During the team's 2024-25 campaign, they finished with a 52-30 record and compiled the fifth-best defensive rating in the league (via NBA.com).

The Rockets are currently set to face the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.

While Udoka navigates through Houston's current postseason run, he expressed his gratitude to the man that gave him his coaching start.

Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard had high praise for Gregg Popovich after the San Antonio Spurs head coach stepped down this week.

Following Saturday's season-ending 120-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Leonard said his former coach "had a phenomenal career."

"It shows how much dedication he had to the game, how much he loved the game, and how much he gave to the game," the six-time All-Star told reporters. "I appreciate everything he's done for me. Coming into the league, he helped build my foundation and showed me how to win. I want to congratulate him on his career. But also, stay healthy."

Leonard spent seven seasons with the Spurs, who selected him 15th overall in the 2011 NBA draft. Over that time, he transformed from a solid role player to the best two-way talent in the NBA.

In his third year, he was the NBA Finals MVP after the Spurs decisively beat the Miami Heat, and he was the Defensive Player of the Year in successive seasons after that.

Leonard ultimately didn't pick up the torch from Tim Duncan like Duncan did with David Robinson, and his separation from San Antonio in 2018 became contentious.

But that doesn't change how great the veteran forward's first six years with the Spurs were, and landing on a team coached by Popovich clearly set the stage for what should be a Hall of Fame career.

Dwyane Wade had a hilarious cameo on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

The Miami Heat legend joined popstar Sabrina Carpenter, actor Quinta Brunson and SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez during the opening monologue, which featured a musical performance about the benefits of being short. While Wade, who stands 6'4", is by no means short, he said being around other basketball players made him feel short.

"Well, I was just in the audience watching SNL, and I heard your song about being short, and I felt seen," Wade said (4:30 mark). "Yeah, I'm 6'4", but in basketball world, that's like 4'10".

Though Wade wasn't the tallest player during his NBA days, he was also far from the shortest. A more accurate description of his height compared to other NBA players would be average. Still, his game was far from average.

Wade is a 13-time All-Star, a 3-time champion and was named Finals MVP in 2006 when the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, Wade is enjoying the retired life and has all the time in the world to appear on SNL.

The Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world when they fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with just three games remaining in the regular season, but it may be paying off.

"If we don't make the changes, there's no way we're even in a Game 7," a Nuggets executive said after the team's 120-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Saturday's decisive contest of their first-round playoff series, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Big man Nikola Jokić echoed some of those sentiments.

"I think the owner ... wanted to change something, to change the energy, and probably he did," he said of Nuggets governor Stan Kroenke. "He got the result he was looking for."

That Denver outlasted the Clippers in seven games may have come as a surprise to some, as Los Angeles went 18-3 in its final 21 regular-season games ahead of the playoffs. By comparison, Denver lost four in a row before firing Malone and Booth and seemed to be playing out the string to a disappointing campaign.

Yet the shocking moves may have lit a fire under the team, as it is the Nuggets and not the Clippers advancing to the second round to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jokić impacted the game in a number of ways like he always does with a near triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but it was far from a one-man show as Denver cruised past Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Co.

Six Nuggets scored at least 15 points with Russell Westbrook (16 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals) providing a lift off the bench and Aaron Gordon scoring a team-high 22 points. Throw in 21 points from Christian Braun, and the supporting cast played a major role in the Game 7 triumph.

That group will need to be equally dialed in against the Thunder if Denver is going to continue the momentum it has built since the shocking firings.