Injuries are leaving a big mark on the NBA playoffs.
Minnesota's Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles tendon on Saturday night, which not only ends his season but calls his 2026-27 season into question. He joins Boston's Jayson Tatum, Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton and then-Milwaukee's, now-Portland's Damian Lillard on the list of prominent players to tear Achilles tendons during playoff games in the last year or so.
(And somehow, all four of those players
wear jersey No. 0, a bizarre coincidence.)
It gets worse for Minnesota, with Anthony Edwards also leaving Saturday's game with a knee injury that will require more testing.
On top of all that, the DiVincenzo injury came on a night when there was a dustup in the game's final seconds involving Denver's Nikola Jokic among others — and that will be reviewed by the NBA on Sunday, with discipline possible. Game 5 of that series, which Denver trails 3-1, is Monday night.
Among the key players who could play Sunday if injury situations allow: Houston's Kevin Durant, the Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama — all of whom were listed as questionable entering the day. Luka Doncic is out for the Lakers and Joel Embiid is doubtful for Philadelphia.
Sunday's schedule features four games: the Lakers are in Houston looking to finish out a sweep while San Antonio is in Portland, Cleveland is in Toronto and Boston is in Philadelphia.
— Magic 113, Pistons 105 for 2-1 series lead.
— Thunder 120, Suns 108 for 3-0 series lead.
— Knicks 114, Hawks 98 to tie series at 2-2.
— Timberwolves 112, Nuggets 96 for 3-1 series lead.
Entering Saturday, there had been four instances since at least 1963 of a player scoring at least 40 points and missing no more than four shots in a playoff game.
And then it happened twice on Saturday.
Ayo Dosunmu (43 points, four missed field goals) did it for Minnesota, as did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (42 points, three misses) for Oklahoma City.
They join Anthony Davis (2020), Dirk Nowitzki (2011), Elton Brand (2006) and Terry Porter (1992) as the only players known to pull off that feat in the playoffs.
It's believed that nobody else in NBA history has achieved the feat, but shot-attempt records aren't fully complete from the league's earliest years.
— An interesting year for Tiago Splitter
— There's a standard in Oklahoma City
— Taylor Jenkins set to return to Milwaukee
— AJ Dybantsa formally enters NBA draft
— Donovan steps down as Chicago's coach
— Warriors brace for possible Kerr departure
— Some news, notes going into the postseason
— Heat equipment manager needs transplants
Awards season is in full swing in the NBA and will resume Monday with the Rookie of the Year announcement (7 p.m. EDT, Peacock/NBCSN).
The rookie finalists: VJ Edgecombe of Philadelphia, Cooper Flagg of Dallas and Kon Knueppel of Charlotte.
Other awards being announced this week are Basketball Executive of the Year on Tuesday, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year on Wednesday and the Hustle Award on Thursday. They'll all be announced at 1 p.m. EDT on one of the NBA's social media channels.
A breakdown on awards handed out to this point:
— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.
— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
— San Antonio's Keldon Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.
— Boston's Derrick White was revealed as the Sportsmanship Award winner, as selected by the league's players. Indiana's TJ McConnell — who got more first-place votes than anyone else — was second.
— Atlanta now has back-to-back Most Improved Player winners, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker taking that trophy this year. Dyson Daniels won for the Hawks last year.
Among the announcements still to come:
— Most Valuable Player, which will be either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.
— Coach of the Year, which will be either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.
1 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Cleveland at Toronto (ESPN)
3:30 p.m. EDT — Game 4, San Antonio at Portland (ESPN)
7 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Boston at Philadelphia (NBC/Peacock)
9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 4, LA Lakers at Houston (NBC/Peacock)
8 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Detroit at Orlando (NBC/Peacock)
9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Oklahoma City at Phoenix (Peacock/NBCSN)
10:30 p.m. EDT — Game 4, Minnesota at Denver (NBC/Peacock)
7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Philadelphia at Boston (ESPN)
8 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Atlanta at New York (NBC/Peacock)
9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Portland at San Antonio (ESPN)
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-120) are favorites to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Cleveland (+1300), and the Los Angeles Lakers (back now at +2500, after being as much as +30000 earlier in the playoffs).
Denver is +2800, followed by New York (+3000) and Detroit (+3500). Minnesota, even with a 3-1 series lead, is at +12500 after the injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
“I didn’t know he was that damn good. I ain’t going to lie to you. ... But damn, I’m glad we got him.” — Minnesota's Julius Randle, after Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 43 points, the most by a reserve in the playoffs in 50 years, against Denver on Saturday.
— Minnesota's Rudy Gobert missed a 3-pointer on Saturday. He's now 0 for 24 from deep in his career, counting regular season and playoffs. Only Zaza Pachulia (33) and Michael Cage (28) tried more 3s in their NBA careers without ever making one.
— Starting with the final 3:15 of Oklahoma City's game at Orlando on March 17, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 18 for 19 from the field (.947) and 33 for 37 from the line (.892) in the fourth quarters and overtime of Thunder games. He has 71 points in that span on 19 shot attempts.
— Karl-Anthony Towns' triple-double (20-10-10) for New York on Saturday was just the seventh in Knicks playoff history and only the second with at least 20 points.
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