nba

[Stein] The Mavericks just announced they have mutually parted ways with coach Jason Kidd.

[Highlights] Same exact miss by JDub and Westbrook.

Same exact shot by Wemby and Curry.

The resemblance is uncanny

[Mullen] The Portland Trail Blazers are laying off 20% of their staff, according to a source with knowledge of the decision. Staff were told that “the decision came at ownership’s direction.”

[Highlight] Compilation of Carter Bryant hounding SGA last night

[Highkin] Talked to one person who survived the (Blazers) cuts today who said it feels like they just looked at a spreadsheet of salaries and cut the highest ones without any regard for what anyone does and how important they are.

[Highlight] Alex Caruso pushes the broadcast camera away at the end of regulation

[Highlight] Chet Holmgren embellishes contact on the rebound attempt, creating a 5-on-4 that resulted in Wemby’s game-tying three

[Highlight] Victor Wembanyama striking a pose in front of the Spurs bench

[NBA on ESPN] The moment Charles Barkley and the crew found out that Dallas dismissed Jason Kidd as head coach.

Steph Castle: “That was the hardest game I ever played in my life… but it’s easy when you’ve got the best player in the world” (via @NBA)

[Hollinger] Against Wembanyama, two minutes into the first game of this series, the 64-win, defending champion Thunder realized that one of their elite performers was unplayable… Hartenstein didn’t play one second on offense against Wembanyama the rest of the game.

[Philly Inquirer] Ben Simmons is a champion — of a professional sport fishing tournament. The former Sixers guard’s team, the South Florida Sails, won the 2026 Sports Fishing Championships Walker’s Cay Open. Simmons turned down a vet min contract to join the Knicks, who play in the ECF tonight

Nico Harrison’s famous last words: “The future 10 years from now, they’ll probably bury me and Jason Kidd by then. Or we bury ourselves”. They have now both been buried

Donovan Mitchell on Cleveland Cavaliers ownership: “It’s a big reason why I re-signed. Look at the 25 buses that was sent to Detroit, that’s a small thing that we done to show they’re about winning. This is something I’ve never seen before. It’s not like this everywhere.”

[Sean Highkin] Was told around 70 people were let go today in the Blazers’ layoffs on the business side. Know some of the names but out of respect to them I’ll let them announce it when and how they will.

Boogie Cousins blames Chet Holmgren for OKC’s Game 1 loss: “I put this on Chet. You have to step up and accept that challenge… he tucked his tail.”

[Highlight] Wemby’s reaction to a reporter saying “A lot of guys took turns on SGA”

[Highlight] Wemby ties the game from WAY deep

[Post Game Thread] The San Antonio Spurs (1-0) steal Game 1 on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1) in double overtime, 122-115.

[Highlight] The Thunder fans start chanting “ref you suck”, with 6:30 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter of Game 1

Kirk Goldsberry shares that the league’s official player-tracking system tagged Wembanyama’s clutch 3 point shot distance at 32.3 feet, which was the longest make of his career (play-by-play data has it at 28 feet; video via @RingerNBA)

[Miranda] Revisiting the Alex Caruso trade: “The Bulls handed them that All-Defensive player without getting a single pick in return”

[Weiss] Victor Wembanyama has become the 7th player in NBA history with a 40-20 game in the conference finals or later, joining Kareem, Barkley, Moses Malone, Elgin Baylor, Wilt and Shaq, per @Stathead.

Shoutout to this ref crew for a near-perfect officiating job tonight

[All-Access] A view from the crowd as Victor Wembanyama ties the game with a 28-foot 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left in OT.

[Highlight] Wemby’s Aura causes SGA to miss a point-blank floater as he then proceeds to grab the board over SGA and laugh in his face

[Highlight] Stephon Castle on Victor Wembanyama:

“Best player in the f**kin world.”

Wemby with his best Curry impression

The Spurs had the youngest starting five in Conference Finals history

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the night he receives his 2nd MVP award in a row: 24 points on ⁷⁄₂₃ shooting | 24/3/12 overall | Team-worst +/- of -14 in a 7-point loss

Rookie Dylan Harper in his first WCF appearance: 24 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST, 7 STL

[Clark] Masai Ujiri: “As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team. We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention.”

[Highlight] Victor Wembanyama on how he felt watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP ceremony:

“Feels like I still got a lot to learn… I want to get that trophy many times in my career.”

[Highlight] The entire Spurs’ bench looks in awe at Victor Wembanyama after his 3rd block, in send overtime.

A decade later: Wemby and Curry hit the same exact three off the same exact miss

[Uthayakumar] Victor Wembanyama has the fourth 40-point, 20-rebound game in Conference Finals history & the first since Charles Barkley in 1993. (bsky.app)

Chet Holmgren disappears once against when facing Wemby tonight: 8 PTS (²⁄₅ FG), 8 REB, 2 BLK in 41 minutes

[Noah Weber] Mavericks president Masai Ujiri will hold a press conference tomorrow at 10:30 AM CT at the American Airlines Center following the news that Dallas has parted ways with Jason Kidd.

[Injury] Chet Holmgren goes down in immense pain after contact from Luke Kornet

[NBA Communications] The NBA Playoffs are delivering their highest viewership through the Conference Semifinals in 29 years, with an average of 4.5 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video.

[Highlight] Wemby laughing at Shai after he misses the wide open shot

Donovan Mitchell on his fiancee, Coco Jones: “She’s special. She’s a big, big, big, big reason why I am where I am today in this situation where I’m playing with the way I’m playing”

[Highlight] The San Antonio Spurs take Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with a 122-115 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Victor Wembanyama (41 PTS, 24 REB) joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to record 40+ PTS and 20+ REB in the Conference Finals debut.

Malika Andrews introduces Charania at ESPN: “Let’s say hello to our senior insider, Charania, who joins us fresh off brunch”

[Highlight] Stephon Castle with a vicious poster dunk on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in overtime (with replays)

[Highlight] Wemby abducts JDub to seal it

[Highlight] Chet Holmgren gets the block on Wemby to send the game to OT!

[Devine] Dylan Harper turned 20 two months ago, found out he was starting about an hour before tipoff tonight, and has 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, seven steals and one turnover in 47 minutes in Game 1.