Basketball Intelligence For 4/17/26, Part One
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
THE PLAY-IN
NBA Play-In Preview
Stephen Loung, Sportsnet
Curry leads season-saving comeback vs Clippers in Play-In
Eric Apricot
How The Warriors Came Back Against The Clippers
Rohit Raimpally, From The Logo
In the NBA’s Play-In Tournament, the Heat and Clippers were punished for past transgressions
Ben Golliver
THE PLAYOFFS
First Round Mega-Preview
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
NBA Playoffs teams ranked by their 2026 championship chances
Ricky O’Donnell, SBNation
NBA playoffs 2026 preview
John Hollinger, The Athletic
NBA playoff predictions 2026
The Guardian
Ranking 2025-26 NBA Playoff Teams Based on Their Title Chances
Justin Brewer, HOOPS
Notable storylines for 2026 playoffs
Bryan Toporek, Fansided
12 Takes on the High Stakes of the NBA Playoffs
Royce Webb, 5x5
How the Hawks stack up against the Knicks
Lauren Williams, AJC
Knicks vs. Hawks Series Preview (Part 2)
Tommy Beer, Knicks Centric
DEN-MIN Preview
Juri Bilcich, Sportscape Chronicles
DEN-MIN Preview
Matt Moore, Denver Dig
HOU-LAL preview
Brennan Sims, Fansided
TEAM-SPECIFIC
CLE: Cavaliers are built and paid to win now. Can they meet expectations?
Fred Katz, The Athletic
DET: Cade Cunningham’s evolution and how a FOMO text changed the Pistons’ future
Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
GSW: With Steph Curry and Draymond Green cooking, Warriors’ Play-In win had vintage vibes
Marcus Thompson II, The Athletic
GSW: Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis provide big boost in comeback win over Clippers
Nick Friedell, The Athletic
IND: Pacers worst season ends with high hopes for the future
Tom Lewis, Indy Cornrows
IND: Pacers’ ‘humbling’ season ends with franchise’s worst winning percentage
Scott Agness, Fieldhouse Files
LAL: the contraction
bang!
lebron james spent his 23rd season learning to need less. then oklahoma city canceled the rehearsal in 48 hours.
MIN: Timberwolves looking to flip the switch as playoff showdown with Denver awaits
Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic
ORL: Magic’s first step to recovery is Paolo Banchero
Philip Rossman-Reich, World R Squared
ORL: Paolo Banchero Isn’t Wrong. That Might Be the Problem.
Con Brennan, Wait For The Screen
ORL: All Orlando Magic believe they are missing is the results
Philip Rossman-Reich, World R Squared
SAC: PODCAST: Kings Season Review
Ray LeBov/Nick Agar-Johnson, Kings Weekly Podcast
Nick and Ray recap the 2025-2026 season for the Kings. They discuss the team as a whole, along with some individual seasons, before covering their outlooks on the coaching staff and the front office. They give a quick overview of some of the key teamwide stats, before discussing the key contributing non-rookies (having just covered the first-year players in their Rookie Report series). Then, they talk about Doug Christie, Scott Perry, and their recent press conferences. Finally, they wrap up by giving song title picks and song lyric choices to describe the season that was for the Kings.
SAS: Victor Wembanyama’s top 10 plays from the 2025-26 NBA season
Michael C. Wright, ESPN
TOR: How the Toronto Raptors could pull off an upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers
Eric Koreen, The Athletic
WAS: Wizards to retain coach Brian Keefe after 17-65 season
Josh Robbins, The Athletic
LEAGUEWIDE
Adam Silver Faces a Critical Stretch for the NBA’s Future
Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated
Final Grades for Each NBA Team’s 2025-26 Rookie Class
Greg Swartz, Bleacher Report
THE DRAFT
Rueben Chinyelu: The Min-Maxing Margins Monster
Rowan Kent, No Ceilings
Luigi Suigo Scouting Report
Ersin Demir, NBA Draft Newsletter