WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
GSW 127, LAL 100
Warriors puncture lethargic Lakers defense in Game 2
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
Anatomy of a Game 2 win
Jared Dubin, Last Night In Basketball
Anthony Davis’ offensive inconsistency continues
Jovan Buha, The Athletic
JaMychal Green punishes LeBron Lakers defense overplaying Steph Curry
Eric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
Curry's impact as facilitator just as important as scorer
Vincent Goodwill, Yahoo Sports
The Game NBA Defenders Hate to Play: See Steph Run
Robert O’Connell, Wall Street Journal
Anthony Davis not a factor in Lakers’ blowout Game 2 loss
Dan Woike, LA Times
Starting JaMychal Green was a small but important change for the Warriors
Ian Levy, The Step Back
A small Warriors Game 2 change exposed the Lakers’ biggest flaw
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News
3 Changes for the Lakers to make?
Jason Reed, Lake Show Life
5 takeaways from Game Two
Mark Medina, The Sporting Tribune
5 takeaways from Warriors' series-tying rout of Lakers in Game 2
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
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DEN-PHO
The Nuggets Are No Longer a Joke When Nikola Jokic Sits
Michael Pina, The Ringer
The Nuggets are now really good when Nikola Jokic is off the floor
Harrison Wind, The DNVR
How the Nuggets are shutting down the Suns’ star-studded offense
Jackson Frank, SBNation
Aaron Gordon is thriving as the ultimate fill-in-the-blank X-factor
Nick Kosmider, The Athletic
Game 3 Preview
Matt Brooks, Nuggets.com
Christian Braun: Rook takes pawns
Mike Olson, The DNVR
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE LETHAL COMBO OF JAMAL MURRAY AND NIKOLA JOKIĆ
Matt Brooks, Nuggets.com
Murray’s “hit-first” mentality persisted even on off-night offensively
Parker Gabriel, Denver Post
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
BOS-PHI
Don’t Let Tyrese Maxey’s Smile Fool You
Seerat Sohi, The Ringer
Inside Joe Mazzulla’s adjustments to shut down James Harden, Joel Embiid
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
Celtics, 76ers each know importance of crucial Game 3
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
Sixers more focused on matching Celtics’ intensity than reintegrating Embiid
Gina Mizell, The Inquirer
10 Takeaways from Game 2
Keith Smith, Celtics Blog
Celtics’ Grant Williams proves ready for bigger role with Joel Embiid back
Steve Hewitt, Boston Herald
8 Takeaways from game 2
Tom Westerholm, Boston.com
MIA-NYK
Gabe Vincent answering the call for short-handed Heat
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald
Knicks need regular-season version of Immanuel Quickley to reemerge
Zach Braziller, NY Post
Knicks vs. Heat Notes
Ian Begley, SNY
TEAM-SPECIFIC STORIES
BOS: Inside the secret practice fueling Joe Mazzulla’s intensity
Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe
CHI: Q & A: Alex Caruso
Bill DiFillipo, DIME
DET: Pistons offseason questions
James Edwards III, The Athletic
MEM: The Next Step for Desmond Bane
Bryson Wright, Bluff City Media
MIL: What’s Coach Budenholzer’s legacy and what kind of candidate will replace him?
Eric Nehm, The Athletic
MIN: Wolves need a better Rudy Gobert next season
Jace Frederick, Pioneer Press
OKC: Lu Dort: The NBA's Most Underappreciated Defensive Talent
Nick Crain, Forbes
ORL: Jonathan Isaac’s return to Magic cut short but he remains optimistic for future
Khobi Price, Orlando Sentinel
SAC: Kings offseason preview
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
SAS: Spurs Offseason Preview
Rory Maher, Hoops Rumors
UTA: Jazz execs detail their coming NBA draft process
Eric Walden, Salt Lake Tribune
LEAGUE-WIDE STORIES
The NBA playoffs ‘all-minimum’ contract team
John Hollinger, The Athletic
(there are) tough decisions the salary cap rules force, especially since every team is operating with the same roster size. And as these teams get into the luxury tax, their options become further constrained by limited exceptions and increasing tax penalties for incremental payroll increases.
As a result, there’s a game within the game for the contending teams who employ the league’s biggest stars: To surround their stars with the absolute cheapest players — minimum contract guys — and yet find players in that pay echelon who are good enough to contribute important minutes for a contending team.
Finding them takes some digging. Nobody goes into the first hours of the offseason thinking of the glories their minimum contract guys will bring them, but imagine where the Lakers would be without the production of Austin Reaves or Dennis Schröder, or Miami without Gabe Vincent or Max Strus, or the Suns without their assortment of minimum contract contributors
THE DRAFT
Mock Draft 7.0
Christopher Kline, The Step Back
The Problem With Projecting Prospects as Primary Creators
Tyler Metcalf, No Ceilings
Noah Clowney: Scouting Report
Adam Spinella, The Box And One
Jazz execs detail their coming NBA draft process
Eric Walden, Salt Lake Tribune
FROM THE ARCHIVES: four years ago today
Today’s BI is dedicated to the memory of Lance Blanks
Mike Finger, Express-News