Basketball Intelligence For 4/27/26
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
THE PLAYOFFS
2026 NBA playoffs: Key questions, ranking first-round series
ESPN
Sunday’s winners and losers
CBS Sports
NBA Panic Meter Power Rankings: Which teams should be most concerned about the first round — and the future?
Ben Rohrbach, Yahoo Sports
ATL-NYK
How Dyson Daniels, Hawks’ guard from Down Under, turned his game upside down
John Hollinger, The Athletic
How Karl-Anthony Towns is putting his fingerprints all over this series
Jonathan Macri, Knicks Film School
Mikal Bridges, Jalen Johnson and more Knicks-Hawks questions to ponder
Fred Katz/James Edwards III, The Athletic
Knicks used Josh Hart as defensive Swiss Army knife to spark pivotal turnaround in Game 4
Jared Schwartz, NY Post
BOS-PHI
Celtics’ Payton Pritchard focuses on his habits, like sleep. Then the results come
Jay King, The Athletic
10 takeaways from Boston solving Embiid and the Sixers
Azad Rosay, SB Nation
What we learned from the Sixers’ Game 4 loss
DeAntae Prince, The Inquirer
LAL-HOU
Rockets say Alperen Sengun’s speech helped spark Game 4 win
Ramona Shelburne, ESPN
The Rockets construct their best start-to-finish performance, beating L.A. with better shooting, sharper focus & fewer mistakes
Jeff Zillgitt, NBA.com
Tari Eason ‘goes rogue,’ disrupts L.A. Lakers’ LeBron James to key Game 4 win
Varun Shankar, Houston Chronicle
Lakers’ failure to close out the Rockets opens up real (and scary) possibilities
Dan Woike, The Athletic
Lakers Playoffs Observations: Game 4 vs Rockets
Iztok Franko, digginbasketball
Rockets punch back, deny Lakers sweep in Game 4
The Athletic
Houston staves off playoff elimination
Houston Chronicle
Rockets’ young core extends series with Lakers after finally showing some fight
William Guillory, The Athletic
Turnover-plagued Lakers fail to pull off sweep in Game 4 loss to Rockets
Broderick Turner, LA Times
MIN-DEN
Rudy Gobert an undeniable factor in Wolves’ 3-1 series lead
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
‘Someone stole my underwear’: Jokić’s bizarre night mirrors Denver’s collapse
Jason Quick, The Athletic
OKC-PHX
3 things to watch in Thunder-Suns Game 4
John Schuhmann, NBA.com
Suns finding answers, but running out of time vs OKC
Duane Rankin, Arizona Republic
ORL-DET
Top 5 Orlando Magic Storylines From Game 3 Against Detroit Pistons
Josh Cohen, Magic.com
Desmond Bane’s Game 3 explosion is exactly what the Orlando Magic needed
Philip Rossman-Reich, Orlando Magic Daily
3 things to watch in Pistons-Magic Game 4
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
SAS-POR
Victor Wembanyama wanted to play in Game 3. He took out his frustration on Blazers in Game 4
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
The Spurs win Game 4: Takeaways
Jeff Zillgitt, NBA.com
Spurs suffocate Blazers in second half to take 3-1 series lead: Takeaways
The Athletic
Spurs’ Historic Comeback in Game 4 Reflects Maturity Beyond Their Years
Liam McKeone, Sports Illustrated
3 Takeaways as Spurs take Game 4
Jeff McDonald, Express-News
After Second Straight Collapse, Trail Blazers Should Start Robert Williams III
Sean Highkin, Rose Garden Report
Spurs keep reaping the benefits from believing in Carter Bryant
Cal Durrett, Air Alamo
TOR-CLE
Game 4 Observations: A Collapse and Imminent Pressure
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
Cavs’ playoff issues run deeper than missed shots. Their worst traits continue to haunt them
Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
Cavs say they ‘couldn’t hit s—‘ in Game 4 loss. Are they missing the bigger picture?
Joe Vardon, The Athletic
Don’t Call It a Fluke: Toronto Raptors’ War in the Margins
Con Brennan, Wait For The Screen
The Raptors could barely hit a shot. They still won a gloriously ugly Game 4
Eric Koreen, The Athletic
Collin Murray-Boyles has guaranteed two wins against Cleveland in the first round of the NBA Playoffs
Logan Adams, Prospects & Concepts
Raptors film room: 8 plays that helped them steal Game 4
Esfandiar Baraheni, Raptors Republic
Cavaliers Collapse in Game 4, Series Tied at 2.
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
4 takeaways: Cavaliers stars struggle while Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles thrive
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
20 Stats to explain Cavs 93-89 Game 4 loss to Raptors
Jackson Flickinger, Fear The Sword
LEAGUEWIDE
Is ‘foul up 3’ a game-winning strategy or clutch-time saboteur?
Zach Kram, ESPN
TEAM-SPECIFIC
GSW: Q & A: Steve Kerr
Charles Bethea, The New Yorker
IND: A player-by-player look at the Pacers in 2025-26: The Starters
Dustin Dopirak, Indy Star
UTA: The Utah Jazz’s defense has to be addressed for the 2026-27 season
Sarah Todd, Deseret News
THE DRAFT
How NIL Is Reshaping the 2026 NBA Draft
James Barlowe, NBA Big Board
NBA Draft Report: Undervalued Players to Watch
Evan Sidery, Hoops HQ
The “Flat Ten” Lottery Reform
Nick Thoreson, Waive And Stretch
Jaden Henley’s Well-Earned Reassessment
Maxwell Baumbach, No Ceilings
Nick Martinelli Scouting Report
Ersin Demir, NBA Draft Newsletter
Today’s BI is dedicated to the memory of Tommy Nunez