Basketball Intelligence For 4/17/25, PART ONE
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
TEAM-SPECIFIC
CHA: Hornets coach Charles Lee kept steady amid injuries, questions about LaMelo Ball
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
CHI: Bulls collapse in 109-90 blowout, ending season with play-in loss to Miami Heat for 3rd straight year
Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune
CHI: Play-In Tournament woes continue to haunt Bulls
Darnell Mayberry, The Athletic
CLE: Sporting News NBA Coach of the Year: Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson got a second chance and literally ran with it
Stephen Noh, Sporting News
CLE: Donovan Mitchell’s self-sacrifice charted the Cavaliers’ course to NBA dominance
Joe Vardon, The Athletic
DAL: Klay Thompson turns tables on Kings to help Mavericks survive first play-in game
Mike Curtis, Morning News
DAL: Klay Thompson, Mavericks oust Kings, keep playoff hope alive
Tim MacMahon, ESPN
DAL: Mavericks Knock Out Kings Behind Klay Thompson’s Redemption Play-In Game
Grant Afseth, The Hoops Journal
“It did feel good to exorcise those demons in here. Man!” Thompson said during his on-court interview with ESPN. “Last time I was here was not very fun.”
Thompson had gone scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting in Golden State’s play-in loss to Sacramento on April 16, 2024 — his final game as a Warrior. Back on the same floor one year later, he overcame a quiet opening quarter with a vintage stretch, drilling four 3-pointers to spark a 44-point second-quarter explosion from Dallas.
DAL: Mavericks take care of the Kings in a dominant fashion, Memphis Grizzlies next
Iztok Franko, digginbasketball
DAL: Naji Marshall and the floater from heaven
Mette Robertson, Mavs Moneyball
DEN: The Nikola Jokić effect: How the quiet MVP front-runner gets the most out of his teammates
Fred Katz, The Athletic
DET: Playoff Preview: What Can the Pistons Expect Against the Knicks?
Sam Feinberg, Motor City Hoops
DET: Pistons’ physicality helped get them to playoffs but don’t call them Bad Boys yet
Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
DET: Emerging NBA superstar Cade Cunningham made for this moment
Howie Kussoy, NY Post
DET: Can the Pistons beat the Knicks to win their first NBA playoff series in 17 years?
James Edwards III/Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
GSW: Playoff Jimmy Butler is back
Danny Chau, The Ringer
This time he doesn’t have to do everything by himself. Tuesday’s play-in win showed just how terrifying the new-look Warriors could be.
GSW: Playoff Jimmy Butler and Playoff Steph Curry close out the Grizzlies, clinch playoffs
Eric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
LAC: Clippers over Nuggets: Score one for coaches
David Thorpe, True Hoop
Ty Lue might be the NBA’s most clever coach. Is that enough for the Clippers to overcome the best basketball player in the world?
Ordinarily, probably not. But this time around, I have a funny feeling it might just work and the Clippers will get the best of the Nuggets.
(Lue is) the least anchored coach. No dogma. No matter what they've been doing, he seems free to try things at a moment's notice, almost like it's an AAU or Summer League game. He coaches like he has no concern whatsoever about the results, or more importantly, what “critics” might say. That makes him super dangerous.
Especially because his stars are decades into every defense known to the sport. When Ty Lue calls for something new and interesting, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are highly likely to make it run smoothly. To us coaches, that’s thrilling.
LAL: NBA insiders break down the Lakers-Timberwolves playoff series
Dan Woike, LA Times
MIA: Heat keeps playoff hopes alive
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald
MIA: Playoff Herro was leader Heat needed to dismantle Bulls, advance in Play-In Tournament
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
MIA: Herro added another highlight to All-Star season
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald
MIA: After winning in Chicago, Heat just one road victory from making more play-in history
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald
MIA: Heat again knock Bulls out of play-in, advance to face Hawks
Jamal Collier, ESPN
MIN: Meet Jeff Newton, the steady hand behind the Timberwolves’ replay review system
Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic
NYK: Top 5 Questions for Round One
Jonathan Macri, Knicks Fim School
NYK: Knicks must follow Karl-Anthony Towns’ mantra against pesky Pistons — or else
Mike Vaccaro, NY Post
OKC: Thunder’s big bet: leaning on twin towers in Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
PHX: What's next for Phoenix Suns' summer of upheaval
Duane Rankin, Arizona Republic
SAC: Kings self-destruct in season-ending play-in loss to Mavericks
Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee
SAC: Kings, GM Monte McNair agree to part ways after Play-In loss to Mavericks
Sam Amick/Anthony Slater, The Athletic
They stumbled in the opening months and fired Brown abruptly after a five-game losing streak in December, which decayed the organization’s relationship with Fox enough that they rushed into a trade prior to the February deadline, bringing Zach LaVine back as the prioritized win-now piece.
McNair didn’t want to fire Brown, league sources said, and there are internal questions about whether he really wanted to sign DeRozan or trade for LaVine. Tension also existed in recent days between McNair and the ownership group about Christie’s future with Ranadive viewed as the Christie backer.
Appearing to lose decision-making power within the franchise, McNair agreed to the departure. League sources say McNair, who spent 13 years in Houston before joining the Kings, could return to the Rockets in a front office role with general manager, and close friend and former co-worker, Rafael Stone. He also has close ties and possible prospects in Philadelphia, where former Rockets president of basketball operations Daryl Morey runs the Sixers front office.
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