Basketball Intelligence For 4/6/25
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
TEAM-SPECIFIC
ATL: Hawks struggle to cool off Knicks’ blazing hot shooting in 121-105 loss
Lauren Williams, AJC
ATL: Saying goodbye to the best team in the East
Jake Fischer, The People’s Insider/The Stein Line
Georges Niang and Caris LeVert describe what it's like to be on the other side of a blockbuster after being dealt from 62-win Cleveland to Atlanta at the trade deadline
BOS: Celtics have some goals for the final five games of the season with the No. 2 seed in the East locked up
Gary Washburn, Boston Globe
BOS: Dave Cowens, underrated Celtics star, reflects on team history and the ‘Celtics City’ documentary he did not take part in
Gary Washburn, Boston Globe
BOS: The Secret Sauce to the Celtics' recipe for success
Sherrod Blakely, Full Court Press
BOS: Jaylen Brown shines as Celtics bounce back with dominant win over Suns
Tom Westerholm, Boston.com
CHI: Matas Buzelis Gives The Bulls Hope
Mikai Bruce, Forbes
DAL: So Far, the Mavericks' Two-Big Experiment Is Raising More Questions Than Answers
Iztok Franko, digginbasketball
After a couple of early wins against the Nets and Hawks, the recent game against the Clippers — one of the best defensive teams in the league — felt like a real test. Instead, the Mavericks were blown out 135–104. Without Kyrie Irving, and to a lesser extent Jaden Hardy and Brandon Williams, the lack of point guard play and on-ball creation is the obvious problem staring right out the window.
But this game, and some of the trends we've seen recently, pointed to something deeper — potential strategic and stylistic issues the Mavericks will either need to work around or fix this summer.
DAL: Luka Dončić. In Dallas. As a Laker
Marc Stein, The Stein Line
DET: Cade Cunningham returns from injury, but Pistons fall to Grizzlies
Hunter Patterson, The Athletic
DET: Cade Cunningham's return wasted in Pistons' loss to Grizzlies
Omari Sankofa II, Free Press
DET: Pistons stayed afloat without Cade Cunningham. Now they're focused on NBA playoffs
Omari Sankofa II, Free Press
DET: PODCAST: Previewing Monday’s Kings-Pistons game with Omari Sankofa
Ray LeBov/Nick Agar-Johnson, Kings Weekly Podcast
GSW: Jimmy Butler earthbends the Warriors offense to grind down Nuggets
Eric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
It's fascinating to watch the Warriors try to figure out how to combine two opposite basketball elements. The team is used to Steph Curry's airbending style: Off-ball movement, group improvisation, inspiration, unpredictability, flow. But Butler is an earthbender bringing stability, predictablity, force.
GSW: Are Warriors’ title hopes real?
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
GSW: Steph Curry’s incredible scoring tear continues
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News
The rest of the team-specific stories as well as the leaguewide & draft-related stories follow for paid subscribers