Basketball Intelligence For 4/16/26
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
FEATURES OF THE DAY
The invisible hand influencing NBA plays
Ben Taylor, Thinking Basketball
He’s the Most Terrifying Force in the NBA—and His Reign is Just Beginning
Robert O’Connell, Wall Street Journal
PLAY-IN, DAY TWO
Steph Curry answers the moment as Warriors get past Clippers in NBA Play-In Tournament
Mike Wilson/Law Murray/Nick Friedell, The Athletic
Warriors rally over Clippers in 4th
Anthony Slater, ESPN
Warriors win wild play-in game vs. Clippers
Evan Webeck, Yahoo Sports
Steph Curry and Draymond Green turn back the clock
Brady Klopfer, SBNation
Draymond Green, Steph Curry show the stuff of legends in Warriors’ Play-In win
Marcus Thompson II, The Athletic
Instant observations: Sixers win play-in slugfest vs. Magic
Kyle Neubeck, All PHLY
Tyrese Maxey’s finishing flurry and 3 more lessons from 76ers’ NBA Play-In Tournament win
Darnell Mayberry/Tony Jones/Mike Vorkunov/Josh Robbins, The Athletic
Maxey scores 31 to lead Sixers past Magic
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
VJ Edgecombe adds strong postseason debut to long list of rookie feats, even if it was ‘a little wild’
Gina Mizell, The Inquirer
LEAGUEWIDE
Hawks vs. Knicks Playoff Preview
Juri Bilcich, Sportscape Chronicles
Hawks vs. Knicks Playoff Preview
Jonathan Macri, Knicks Film School
Knicks vs. Hawks Series Preview
Tommy Beer, Knicks Centric
Celtics vs. Sixers NBA playoff preview
Jay King/Tony Jones, The Athletic
Lakers-Rockets Series Preview
Iztok Franko, digginbasketball
Lakers-Rockets Series Preview
Melissa Rohlin, California Post
Blazers vs Spurs Playoff Preview
Henry Abbott, True Hoop
Spurs vs Blazers Playoff Preview
Paul Garcia, The Spot Up Shot
Is postseason experience now a playoff tax?
Tom Haberstroh, Yahoo Sports
The invisible hand influencing NBA plays
Ben Taylor, Thinking Basketball
NBA Visualized: Recapping 2025-26 in Seven Charts
Chris Gunther, Charting Hoops
Aussies in the NBA: Regular season review
Matt Hickey, The Pick And Roll
Rookie-Scale Extensions - Part 2: 2026 Contract Projections
Yossi Gozlan, Third Apron
NBA offseason 2026: Draft, free agency, trade targets for every team
Bobby Marks, ESPN
Each NBA Team’s Biggest Regret This Season
Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report
One Positive Takeaway for Each NBA Team From the 2025–26 Season
Liam McKeone, Sports Illustrated
TEAM-SPECIFIC
BOS: Are the Celtics peaking at the right time? Inside their final prep before the NBA Playoffs
Jay King, The Athletic
CHA: LaMelo Ball fined $35,000, but not suspended for play that injured Bam Adebayo
Eric Nehm, The Athletic
CLE: Why Donovan Mitchell believes these playoffs are his ‘best shot’ to win a title
Sam Amick, The Athletic
IND: What Ivica Zubac learned about playing for the Pacers in five games
Dustin Dopirak, Indy Star
LAC: Kawhi mum on Clippers future, ‘not stressing’ NBA’s Aspiration probe
Ramona Shelburne, ESPN
LAC: Clippers put one of the weirdest years in NBA history behind them — but not really
Law Murray, The Athletic
MIA: What Heat fans should now expect from Riley, Spoelstra, Nick Arison
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald
MIN: How the Timberwolves’ ‘kids table’ took over: From empty arenas to $500 million stars
Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic
OKC: Clippers’ collapse in Play-In Tournament delivers Thunder a lottery gift
Dan Woike, The Athletic
PHI: Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe’s bond will shape the Sixers’ future
Gina Mizell, The Inquirer
POR: After Getting Trail Blazers Back to the Playoffs, Tiago Splitter Has Made Himself the Obvious Choice to Stay the Head Coach
Sean Highkin, Rose Garden Report
POR: A team’s season started with an arrested coach. It ends in the NBA playoffs
Andrew Greif, NBC
SAS: He’s the Most Terrifying Force in the NBA—and His Reign is Just Beginning
Robert O’Connell, Wall Street Journal
TOR: Brandon Ingram found he needed to get off the court to stay on it
Eric Koreen, The Athletic
THE DRAFT
Five End-of-Season Takeaways: Final Thoughts on the 2026 NBA Draft Class
Stephen Gillaspie, No Ceilings
Best Game Series: Labaron Philon Video Breakdown
Bryce Simon, Game Theory