Rumors

Keerthika Uthayakumar: Road teams are now 10-7 in Game 7s since the 2021 season.

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The only two hesitations these soothsayers seem to have are 1) the lack of perimeter shooting and 2) the lack of post-season experience. The focus on shooting is fair, if a little overblown for these two teams. The game slows down in the Playoffs and executing a half-court offense (which generally requires making a few jump shots here and there) becomes even more important than it is in the Regular Season. Kirk Goldsberry, who knows a thing or two about shooting in the NBA, recently found that “almost every champion of the 21st century was a good shooting squad. 21 of the past 26 champs have ranked in the top five in effective field goal percentage during the regular season, and all but three have been in the top seven.”

Charting Hoops

Instead, this year’s Game 1 Playoff starters featured 13 players making their first post-season appearance. They are mostly second year players, but there is one Rookie starting for a playoff team, VJ Edgecombe for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Charting Hoops

NBA: THE BRACKET IS SET

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Bennett Durando: The Nuggets beat the Spurs 128-118. They finish the season 54-28 on a 12-game win streak. They are the No. 3 seed in the West. They will face the Timberwolves for the third time in four years in a playoff series.

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NBA Communications: First Round: Game 1 Schedule The NBA Playoffs presented by @Google begin Saturday, April 18.

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NBA Communications: With tonight's victory, the Pistons have clinched the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2006-07 season. They are the sixth different No. 1 seed in the East in the last six seasons.

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Tommy Beer: Most points in the playoffs since the start of last season: 1. Jalen Brunson: 869 2. Anthony Edwards: 786 2. Luka Doncic: 786 4. Nikola Jokic: 711 5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 704 6. Jayson Tatum: 700

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StatMuse: 20-point comeback playoff wins: 6 — 2025 playoffs 5 — Last four playoffs combined

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Adam Zagoria: The Clippers knock off the Warriors, 124-119, and earn the No. 5 seed in the West and will play the No. 4 Nuggets The No. 7 Warriors will host No. 8 Memphis on Tuesday in the Play-In Tournament

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Mike Trudell: The 3-seeded Lakers will take on the 6-seeded Timberwolves in Round 1.

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Tim Bontemps: With Milwaukee winning in Detroit, coupled with Chicago on its way to beating Washington, the East playoff seedings are all finalized: 1. Cavaliers 2. Celtics 3. Knicks 4. Pacers 5. Bucks 6. Pistons 7. Magic 8. Hawks 9. Bulls 10. Heat

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NBA Communications: Cleveland clinches the No. 1 seed in the East with a win OR a Boston loss tonight. Also for tonight, Oklahoma City clinches home-court advantage throughout the #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google with a win AND a Cleveland loss.

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NBA playoff ratings have suffered only a modest decline thus far, though short series and the Lakers’ early exit may pose a challenge going forward. NBA playoff games averaged a 1.7 rating and 3.17 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT, truTV and NBA TV through Sunday, down a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (1.8, 3.36M) but flat and up 5% respectively from 2022 (1.7, 3.15M). ABC aired six games through Sunday, one more than in previous seasons.

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