Pioneers

As the 2025 NBA Playoffs tip off, every team in the Eastern Conference brings with it a burning question. Some are looking to validate their dominance, others are hoping to make noise for the first time, and a few are simply trying to recapture playoff magic from the past. Here&rsquo;s one key question for each East playoff squad heading into this year&rsquo;s postseason.
Cleveland Cavaliers &ndash; Are they for real?
The Cavaliers were expected to take a leap under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, but few predicted it would be this significant. Cleveland posted a 64-18 record, up from 51 wins last season, and ranked eighth in the NBA in defensive rating (111.8) while climbing to the best in the league in offensive rating (121.0). It&rsquo;s a massive leap in two-way consistency, anchored by Evan Mobley&rsquo;s breakout campaign and a more dynamic offense tailored around Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
Mobley&rsquo;s development has been a game-changer. The 22-year-old averaged career-highs in points (18.5), rebounds (9.3), and assists (3.2), while maintaining elite rim protection (1.6 blocks per game). Offensively, his confidence as a shot creator and short-roll playmaker opened up space for the rest of the team. The Cavs now run more actions through Mobley, especially from the elbows, and his improved jump shot has made him far more difficult to guard.
But make no mistake &ndash; Mitchell remains the barometer. The All-Star guard battled injuries down the stretch but still averaged 24.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 5.0 rebounds on 44.3% shooting. If he can stay healthy and lead confidently on both ends, Cleveland has the pieces to make a legitimate run to the conference finals.
The Cavs have the metrics, the momentum, and the maturity. Now it&rsquo;s about proving they belong with the league&rsquo;s elite when the lights are the brightest.
Boston Celtics &ndash; Can they go back-to-back?
The reigning champions enter the playoffs with a sense of unfinished business &mdash; not because they failed last year, but because they&rsquo;re now chasing greatness. The Celtics finished 61-21 this season for back to back 60-win seasons. They had the league&rsquo;s second best net rating at +9.4, fueled by elite balance: second in offensive rating (119.5) and fourth in defensive rating (110.1).
Jayson Tatum continues to evolve as one of the NBA&rsquo;s most complete stars. His 26.8 points per game came with improved efficiency (58.2% true shooting) and a career-high 8.7 rebounds. Tatum has learned to pick his spots better, moving the ball when doubled and attacking mismatches when given space. Jaylen Brown, fresh off his Finals MVP last season, has become a more consistent creator as well, averaging 22.2 points.
Add in Kristaps Porzingis&rsquo; floor spacing and rim protection, Jrue Holiday&rsquo;s stability on both ends, and Derrick White&rsquo;s ability to do everything in between, and the Celtics are again the most complete team in basketball. But repeating is never easy. No team has done it since the Warriors in 2018, and even small injuries or matchup issues can derail a title defense.
Boston is built for this moment, but with every other East contender gunning for them, the question looms large: can they close the deal twice in a row?
New York Knicks &ndash; Can they stay healthy?
When fully healthy, the Knicks look like a team that can hang with anyone &mdash; and that includes Boston and Cleveland. But that&rsquo;s been the caveat all season. Jalen Brunson missed 17 games, Karl-Anthony Towns sat for 10, and OG Anunoby dealt with multiple absences due to elbow and hamstring issues. New York&rsquo;s starting five of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns had time to play with pace and their own style, and they looked formidable.
Brunson has been the Knicks&rsquo; engine, averaging 26.0 points and 7.3 assists while continuing to elevate in crunch time. His pairing with Towns gave New York a new level of offensive versatility, and Mikal Bridges&rsquo; ability to guard top wings allowed them to scheme freely. But concerns about wear and tear remain &mdash; especially under Tom Thibodeau, whose rotations have leaned heavily on his starters. All five starters have averaged in the top 15 of the most minutes played in the league, and that can likely put a strain on their bodies.
Depth is another concern. The Knicks rely on Precious Achiuwa, Cam Payne, Delon Wright, and Landry Shamet to absorb the bench minutes. A deep run hinges on all starters being available and fresh throughout the postseason. If any one piece breaks down, New York could fall short of its championship aspirations.
This is their most talented team in years &mdash; but availability may be just as important as ability.
Indiana Pacers &ndash; Do they have enough to make a deep run once more?
Last year, the Pacers surprised many by reaching the second round, aided in part by injuries to their first-round opponent. This year, expectations are higher &mdash; and the margin for error is thinner. Indiana finished 50-32 and ranked 9th in offensive rating at 115.4. Their identity remains clear: run fast, shoot threes, and trust in Tyrese Haliburton to control the tempo.
Haliburton posted 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game this season, and despite shooting efficiency dipped slightly as teams began pressuring him more aggressively, he bounced back quite nicely and got back to the high level he was playing at. That&rsquo;s where Pascal Siakam comes in to help him and provide a stabilizing frontcourt presence, while defending opposing bigs.
Depth-wise, the Pacers have the tools. Myles Turner remains one of the league&rsquo;s best shot blockers, Andrew Nembhard has been solid alongside Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin has been a spark off the bench, and Aaron Nesmith&rsquo;s development as a 3-and-D wing adds much-needed versatility. Still, the question remains: can they win when the pace slows and every possession becomes a grind?
Indiana is fun, fast, and fearless. But deep playoff success often requires more grit than style &mdash; and this postseason will test how much of both they truly possess.
Milwaukee Bucks &ndash; How lethal can the Giannis-Dame combo be?
It&rsquo;s been a bumpy road for the Bucks since pairing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but they enter the playoffs with renewed hope. Injuries limited their time together but when both were on the floor, Milwaukee looked like a top 4 team in the East. The potential for a dominant inside-out attack remains, even as questions swirl around their chemistry and late-game execution.
Giannis put up another MVP-caliber campaign (30.4 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 6.5 APG) on 60.1% shooting, while Lillard added 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game, albeit with a slight dip in efficiency (44.8 FG%, 37.6 3P%). Their pick-and-roll tandem has shown flashes of brilliance, especially with spacing provided by their teammates. But Milwaukee&rsquo;s defense remains a glaring concern, particularly at the point-of-attack.
Much of that responsibility falls on new head coach Doc Rivers, who took over midseason and has spent much of his tenure reshaping the defensive schemes. The team has shown better connectivity lately, but consistency is key. If the Bucks can get solid two-way contributions from Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince, and Kyle Kuzma, their ceiling rises considerably.
This postseason is the first true test of the Giannis-Dame partnership after a failed one last year. Can it deliver in crunch time and carry Milwaukee back to the Finals?
Detroit Pistons &ndash; Can they win a playoff series?
One of the most surprising stories of the season, the Detroit Pistons went from dead last in 2024 to securing the No. 6 seed in 2025 with a 44-38 record. It&rsquo;s a dramatic turnaround fueled by internal growth, better health, and the emergence of Cade Cunningham as a legitimate star. Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds, and improved his shooting splits across the board &mdash; including a respectable 35.6% from three.
Head coach J.B Bickerstaff deserves credit for stabilizing the young roster. Jaden Ivey (despite being out for the year to injury), Ausar Thompson, and Jalen Duren have all taken steps forward in their roles, and the addition of veterans Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Tobias Harris has added much-needed floor spacing and leadership. The Pistons ranked 10th in defensive rating at 112.5 &mdash; a massive leap from their abysmal finish last season
Still, playoff basketball is a different animal. Detroit lacks experience, and their margin for error will be slim. Can Cunningham carry the offense when defenses trap him? Can their shooters hit timely shots? And can Duren hold his own against seasoned playoff bigs?
Winning a series would be monumental for the franchise &mdash; and a sign that Detroit&rsquo;s rebuild is truly behind them.
Orlando Magic &ndash; Can their offense hold up?
There&rsquo;s no questioning the Magic&rsquo;s defensive pedigree. They finished second in defensive rating (109.1) and boast a switch-heavy scheme built around length, versatility, and discipline. But the big question entering the playoffs: can they score enough? Orlando ranked just 27th in offensive rating (108.9), and the loss of Jalen Suggs and Mo Wagner due to injuries further thins their already-limited shot creation.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner carry the bulk of the offense, but both have faced inconsistent stretches. Teams often sag off sub-par shooters like Cory Joseph or Jonathan Isaac, daring Orlando to hit perimeter shots &mdash; something they&rsquo;ve struggled to do all year. Against Boston&rsquo;s elite defense, those issues could be magnified.
Orlando will try to control tempo, force turnovers, and win the possession battle. They&rsquo;ve been excellent in close games, but whether they can consistently generate efficient halfcourt looks remains uncertain.
Defense may win championships, but the Magic need buckets to even stay in the fight.
Miami Heat &ndash; Will they be able to replicate the Heat playoff magic this year?
The Heat have built a reputation as a team you never want to face in the playoffs &mdash; especially as a lower seed. In 2023, they made the Finals as an 8-seed. In 2024, they made the Celtics work despite key injuries. But can they pull off another surprise run this year? The roster remains largely intact, but injuries, aging stars, and inconsistency have clouded their outlook.
Without Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo must step up on offense while anchoring the defense. Tyler Herro&rsquo;s scoring punch is much needed, and the role players should contribute as well. But questions linger around depth and chemistry within their lineups after a shaky year.
The Heat finished just 21st in offensive rating (112.4) and 9th in defensive rating (112.0), a sign that the margins are tighter than ever. Still, if any team knows how to punch above its weight class, it&rsquo;s this one. Erik Spoelstra will maximize every mismatch, he always finds a way to manipulate the opposing team.
Don&rsquo;t count them out just yet but don&rsquo;t expect the same magic to happen each and every time as well.

Breaking down the biggest question facing each team in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs.

2025 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs: Each team’s biggest question in the playoffs

Two weeks after winning the women&rsquo;s NCAA national title, Paige Bueckers has taken her act to the WNBA.
The Dallas Wings picked the historic UConn guard to be their 1st overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Monday night at The Shed in New York City.
Bueckers, who led the Huskies to their 12th national title, becomes the sixth player from the school to get drafted no.1 overall. She joins Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart in the exclusive list.
Now, Bueckers will be teaming up with WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale to form a dynamic backcourt for the Dallas Wings as they try to rebuild and get back to championship contention as soon as possible.
The draft also highlighted the league's growing international presence, with French center Dominique Malonga selected second by the Seattle Storm and Lithuanian guard Justė Jocytė picked fifth by the expansion team Golden State Valkyries.​
USC star Kiki Iriafen and Notre Dame mainstay Sonia Citron rounded up the top 5 picks of the first round after they were selected by the Washington Mystics.
Check out the complete recap of the draft below:
<h4>First Round</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings &ndash; Paige Bueckers (G, UConn)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm &ndash; Dominique Malonga (C, France)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics &ndash; Sonia Citron (G, Notre Dame)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics &ndash; Kiki Iriafen (F, USC)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Golden State Valkyries &ndash; Justė Jocytė (G, Lithuania)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics &ndash; Georgia Amoore (G, Virginia Tech)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun &ndash; Aneesah Morrow (F, LSU)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun &ndash; Saniya Rivers (G, NC State)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks &ndash; Sarah Ashlee Barker (G, Alabama)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky &ndash; Aj&scaron;a Sivka (F, Slovenia)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky &ndash; Hailey Van Lith (G, TCU)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings &ndash; Aziaha James (G, NC State)​</li>
</ol>
Note: The Las Vegas Aces forfeited their first-round pick due to a league rules violation.
<h4>Second Round</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces &ndash; Aaliyah Nye (G, Alabama)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings &ndash; Madison Scott (F, Ole Miss)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx &ndash; Anastasiia Olairi Kosu (F, UMMC Ekaterinburg)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky &ndash; Maddy Westbeld (F, Notre Dame)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Golden State Valkyries &ndash; Shyanne Sellers (G, Maryland)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream &ndash; Te-Hina Paopao (G, South Carolina)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever &ndash; Makayla Timpson (F, Florida State)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever &ndash; Bree Hall (G, South Carolina)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks &ndash; Sania Feagin (F, South Carolina)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky &ndash; Aicha Coulibaly (G, Texas A&amp;M)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics &ndash; Lucy Olsen (G, Iowa)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx &ndash; Dalayah Daniels (F, Washington)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun &ndash; Rayah Marshall (F, USC)</li>
</ol>
<h4>Third Round</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks &ndash; Serena Sundell (G, Kansas State)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings &ndash; JJ Quinerly (G, West Virginia)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks &ndash; Liatu King (F, Notre Dame)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm &ndash; Madison Conner (G, TCU)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Golden State Valkyries &ndash; Kaitlyn Chen (G, UConn)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings &ndash; Aaronette Vonleh (F, Baylor)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics &ndash; Zaay Green (G, Alabama)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever &ndash; Yvonne Ejim (F, Gonzaga)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm &ndash; Jordan Hobbs (G, Michigan)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces &ndash; Harmoni Turner (G, Harvard)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream &ndash; Taylor Thierry (G, Ohio State)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx &ndash; Aubrey Griffin (F, UConn)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty &ndash; Adja Kane (F, Landerneau Bretagne Basket)​</li>
</ol>

The Dallas Wings picked Paige Bueckers to be their 1st overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Monday night at The Shed in New York City.

2025 WNBA Draft: Paige Bueckers goes no.1 to the Dallas Wings

In a remarkable display of versatility and leadership, Giannis Antetokounmpo propelled the Milwaukee Bucks to a 126-113 win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Antetokounmpo recorded an unprecedented triple-double, amassing 35 points, a career-high 20 assists, and 17 rebounds. This stat line marks the first occurrence of such figures in NBA history. ​
With key teammate Damian Lillard sidelined due to deep vein thrombosis, Antetokounmpo embraced an expanded role as the primary ball handler. Assistant coach Darvin Ham, who stepped in after head coach Doc Rivers left the game due to illness, noted, "Giannis has to think more like a point forward... It's just now, you know, him understanding the organization, making sure we're in the right spots." ​
Antetokounmpo's facilitation was instrumental in the team's success, leading to six other Bucks players scoring in double figures, including Brook Lopez with 17 points. Reflecting on his performance, Antetokounmpo stated, "When you're the primary ball handler, you just gotta keep on making good decisions for the team."
This victory improves the Bucks' record to 42-34, positioning them fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. They are set to face the Miami Heat in their next matchup.​

Antetokounmpo recorded an unprecedented triple-double, amassing 35 points, a career-high 20 assists, and 17 rebounds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's Historic Triple-Double Leads Bucks to Victory Over 76ers

With just days left until the 2024-25 NBA season tips off, the Eastern Conference teams are settled, prepped, and ready for action. The offseason moves are done, rosters are set, and almost everyone&rsquo;s locked in for what&rsquo;s shaping up to be an intense race. From title contenders to dark horses, the East is packed with teams ready to make noise. So, let&rsquo;s dive into the top 15 teams in the East as we gear up for this brand-new season&mdash;no fluff, just what you need to know.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Knicks The Knicks made significant moves this offseason, adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges while retaining key pieces like Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. With depth, defense, and firepower, they look primed for a deep playoff run. After a 50-win season in 2023-24, they now have realistic championship aspirations and could be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Boston Celtics The defending champions kept their core intact, extending Jayson Tatum and Derrick White. With Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Jrue Holiday leading a formidable lineup, the Celtics are aiming to repeat as NBA champions. Despite concerns about Al Horford&rsquo;s age and frontcourt health, Boston remains the favorite heading into the 2024-25 season.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Milwaukee Bucks The Bucks didn&rsquo;t make major changes but added depth with Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Delon Wright. After an injury-plagued season from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Milwaukee looks to bounce back under returning head coach Doc Rivers. With questions surrounding Lillard&rsquo;s form and Middleton&rsquo;s durability, the Bucks remain playoff contenders, but how far they go will depend on health and chemistry.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Philadelphia 76ers The 76ers had a big offseason, adding Paul George, Andre Drummond, and Caleb Martin to support Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Maxey&rsquo;s rise as a star solidifies Philly&rsquo;s title hopes, and Embiid&rsquo;s MVP-level play is crucial for their success. With an improved supporting cast, the Sixers could be serious challengers in the East, but Embiid&rsquo;s health remains the key.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Cleveland Cavaliers After a solid 48-win season, the Cavs focused on continuity by keeping their core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. New coach Kenny Atkinson brings fresh leadership, and Cleveland hopes to build on last season&rsquo;s playoff run. With a healthier roster and improved coaching, the Cavs could reach 50 wins and challenge the top teams in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Pacers The Pacers had a quiet offseason but retained Pascal Siakam and made a key addition in James Wiseman. Tyrese Haliburton&rsquo;s breakout season makes Indiana a team to watch, and they&rsquo;re looking to build on their deep playoff run. With improved chemistry and young talent, Indiana could surprise as a top-five team in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Orlando Magic The Magic are banking on internal growth, led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. After winning 47 games and making the playoffs last season, they added veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for shooting and leadership. With a young core developing, Orlando could win 50 games if they continue their upward trend and improve their perimeter shooting.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Miami Heat The Heat had a quiet offseason, adding Alec Burks while re-signing key players like Bam Adebayo. With Jimmy Butler&rsquo;s future uncertain and health concerns for both Butler and Tyler Herro, Miami could face challenges in a competitive Eastern Conference. However, Adebayo&rsquo;s All-NBA-level play will keep them in the playoff hunt.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Hawks The Hawks overhauled their roster after a disappointing 36-46 season, headlined by trading Dejounte Murray and acquiring the No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher. With Trae Young remaining the focal point, the Hawks are banking on Risacher&rsquo;s development and contributions from new additions like Larry Nance Jr. and Dyson Daniels. This team looks poised to contend for a Play-In spot but lacks the co-star power needed for a deep playoff run.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Charlotte Hornets The Hornets enter the season with fresh energy, thanks to the hiring of new coach Charles Lee and the re-signing of Miles Bridges. With LaMelo Ball back healthy and Brandon Miller continuing to impress after an All-Rookie season, Charlotte&rsquo;s young core could surprise many. If Ball stays on the floor and their youth develops quickly, the Hornets might find themselves contending for a Play-In spot and shaking off years of underachievement.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Detroit Pistons The Pistons are looking to turn the page on a tough 2023-24 season and have made moves to fast-track their rebuild. With Cade Cunningham healthy, new leadership under J.B. Bickerstaff, and rookie Ron Holland adding spark, Detroit could outperform expectations. If Cunningham returns to form and the team gels quickly, don&rsquo;t be surprised if the Pistons emerge as a dark horse in the East.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Toronto Raptors The Raptors are in transition, keeping their young core of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley intact. After a poor finish to last season, Toronto is betting on Barnes&rsquo; continued growth and the addition of Davion Mitchell to improve their fortunes. While their ceiling might be a Play-In appearance, the Raptors are hoping their trio can take a big step forward.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Bulls The Bulls traded DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso, adding Josh Giddey and Jalen Smith to the mix. Zach LaVine&rsquo;s injury history remains a concern, but the Bulls are counting on Coby White&rsquo;s emergence and the potential of lottery pick Matas Buzelis. Chicago is likely to be a competitive team some nights, but they may struggle to rise above the Play-In threshold.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Brooklyn Nets The Nets are entering a rebuild after trading Mikal Bridges and Lonnie Walker. With a young roster led by Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, Brooklyn&rsquo;s focus is on player development. Ben Simmons remains a question mark, but the team&rsquo;s recent moves set them up for future success with significant draft assets. A playoff berth seems unlikely as they look to position themselves for a high draft pick.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Wizards The Wizards continue their rebuild with the addition of Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick. With Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey joining the squad, Washington hopes to see growth from young talents like Bilal Coulibaly. However, they&rsquo;re still far from playoff contention and will likely be looking at another lottery-bound season.</li>
</ol>

Let's dive into the top 15 teams in the East as we gear up for this brand-new season.

2024-2025 NBA Eastern Conference Power Rankings: A new number one arises at the top

This article is part of a two-part series preview for the upcoming 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs.
With the 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs starting, all eyes will be on all teams competing for the championship as fans and players look on for a taste of postseason action. As eight playoff teams in each conference gear up for what promises to be an intense battle for the title, each team faces its own set of unique challenges. In this article, we take a closer look at the biggest question facing each Eastern Conference team heading into the playoffs, from injuries and roster changes to key matchups and strategic decisions.
<h3>Boston Celtics - Who&rsquo;s stopping them?</h3>
The Boston Celtics have been the best team in the regular season as evidenced by their 64-18 record. They have also been one of the most dominant regular season teams of all time, having the third-highest net rating in NBA history (11.8) which would rank just behind the 1996 and 1997 Chicago Bulls. If it were of any significance, those Bulls teams had 72-10 and 69-13 records and won it all in both years.
It&rsquo;s all written on the wall &ndash; the Celtics are in title or bust mode, which even just a conference finals appearance would probably be marked as a disappointment. Considering how dominant they have been throughout the season, a Finals appearance would be the minimum achievement.
This team is built almost as completely as they could ever be &mdash; offense, defense, bench, two stars that lift each other&rsquo;s game up, roster construction of players that complement them, and even the fans that are some of the most passionate in the league. These are things that are all you could ask for in a championship team, and with that being said &ndash; the pressure is on for Boston.
A big possible answer to that question is whether the Celtics would be the only ones who&rsquo;ll stop themselves from achieving and realizing their full potential &ndash; and there&rsquo;s only one way to find out.&nbsp;
The playoffs are a different story and looking at what we&rsquo;ve seen over the years, the Celtics have tendencies to underperform in the playoffs. With a new supporting cast featuring 2021 champ Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, a question lingers on the team: will it be different this time around?
They have had a history of flaming out in the past, and whether or not that continues this season remains to be seen. Time is the ultimate truth teller, and these Celtics hope to exercise their playoff demons when the time comes and their opportunities present themselves.
Will they be able to capitalize on a dominant regular season and take on the task at hand once and for all? They certainly hope with all the pieces they have now, they have enough to close it out and take it all the way and finish the job this time around to end the allegations against them once and for all.
<h3>New York Knicks - How far will they go without Julius Randle?</h3>
As we all know by now, health is the biggest factor in the playoffs. You always want to be complete and your best players to be healthy and ready to go when it matters most.
Unfortunately, this will not be the case for the New York Knicks this season, after losing all-star Julius Randle to a season-ending surgery to his injury.
Randle has been the Knicks&rsquo; best player for the past 3 seasons (before Brunson&rsquo;s ascension to King Knick this year). He brings that size and physicality along with that sneaky speed at the 4. On offense, Randle is a secondary creator and playmaker who can make plays for himself and his teammates. His improving three-point shot is now a weapon for teams not to sag off of him as much which could only help the Knicks in the playoffs.
Simply put, Randle is a matchup problem against traditional power forwards. Without him, the Knicks would not be able to tap on another gear that would only be possible with Randle out there on the floor.
Now, all eyes will be on Jalen Brunson as he tries to carry New York all by himself. It will be expected to see all possible defensive schemes thrown against him to try and contain the all-NBA caliber player in this season that he is.
<h3>Milwaukee Bucks - Can they hold the fort without Giannis?&nbsp;</h3>
The hits just keep on coming for the Bucks. After starting the season 30-13, they fired their head coach Adrian Griffin, and replaced him with Doc Rivers. They&rsquo;ve had their fair share of struggles with Rivers, losing to lottery teams like the Wizards, Grizzlies, and Raptors in one stretch, and they&rsquo;ve finished only a disappointing 19-20 the rest of the way to end the season.&nbsp;
Just recently, they received brutal news that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the beginning of their series against the Indiana Pacers after injuring his left calf with three games left in the regular season. The upstart and young Pacers have been 4-1 against them during the year and it will be a tough battle without one of the five best players in the world playing. Will Damian Lillard and Co. step up to the plate?
<h3>Cleveland Cavaliers - Is this the &lsquo;last hurrah&rsquo; for Donovan Mitchell as a Cavalier?</h3>
All eyes are on the Cavaliers&rsquo; playoff run this season to gain ground after a disappointing finish last year. Can they keep soon-to-be free agent Donovan Mitchell happy enough? Or will another disappointing playoff exit lead him to bolt out of town to find another opportunity to win elsewhere?&nbsp;
Much of this will be attributed to the growth of their current core to gauge their improvements from last season. Will Darius Garland have enough juice to handle the scoring load outside of Mitchell as well as holding his own defensively? Will Evan Mobley display or unlock another offensive level in his game to be able to contribute on the offensive end to complement his defensive capabilities? Will Jarett Allen beat the allegations of lights were too bright in the playoffs in his second time around and bounce back from what has been a bad series against the Knicks last year? And is Max Strus the answer for the Cavs to advance into the second round with his spacing and shooting at the wing to give space for Mitchell to attack?
With his impending free agency, Donovan Mitchell has a big decision to make during the offseason. Will he stay and extend with this Cavaliers team who gave up assets for him? The Cavaliers have made some strides from being a young team with potential to a top 4-5 team in the East when they acquired Donovan Mitchell two years ago from the Utah Jazz. Since then, Mitchell has elevated their play and in turn, they got back to their first playoffs without LeBron James on the team.
However, rumors have been swirling that Mitchell wants to achieve postseason success, whether in this team or not. Some of these reportedly said that if the Cavs do not make the Finals this season, he might find another home elsewhere to chase that goal. Throughout his career, Mitchell has been to the first round multiple times but has been in the second round just twice. He has yet to make a conference finals appearance, and this postseason with the Cavs will determine if he falls short of that goal again.
Helping Mitchell this time around are shooters that the Cavs lacked a year ago, with Max Strus, Sam Merill, and Georges Niang now in the fold for the team. Cleveland got exposed by New York in just five games last year and it was basically because of their inability to space the floor around Mitchell and point guard Darius Garland. Now with an improved Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen all having a year to work on their games for this stretch, the Cavs aim to make the conference finals &mdash; before Mitchell&rsquo;s impending big decision in free agency.
<h3>Orlando Magic - How far can their youth and inexperience take them in the playoffs?</h3>
Being the youngest playoff team in the East's playoff field, the Magic come in with no expectations at hand. This young group has overachieved for the season having the fourth-best defense despite them being the 4th youngest team in the league. Making the playoffs has already been a huge accomplishment, but winning a series would not be so bad and would be a welcome sight for the team.&nbsp;
Nobody expected them to be in the hunt for the top seeds in the East, but here they are in their first playoff experience as a group as the fifth seed. This is only year 2 and 3 for young stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and they could only get better as years progress. This is only the beginning for Orlando and they could be a difficult fixture in the East for years to come.
<h3>Indiana Pacers - How big of an impact will Pascal Siakam be in the postseason?</h3>
Right after the trade to bring Siakam to Indiana, fans and basketball analysts alike mentioned how the trade was a win for Indiana and that Siakam&rsquo;s value would be seen through in the playoffs. When the game slows down and teams are more equipped and prepared for their defenses, teams would need solid execution on their half-court offense.
This was where Siakam was supposed to come in, and now that it&rsquo;s here, will he be able to step up and lead the Pacers to a series win? The 2019 champion with the Raptors has played 41 games with Indiana this season after the trade, and he has averaged 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 55/39/70 shooting splits and he has given the Pacers a new dimension on offense. The Pacers who will go up against the Bucks for their first-round playoff series, have gone 4-1 against them &ndash; but it was all without Siakam. The question for them now is, how will they maintain the level of success they had vs the Bucks now that Siakam is in the rotation? Will Siakam end up being the ceiling-raiser for the postseason for them? Or could he end up disrupting the rhythm that the team had in the regular season vs the Bucks?
<h3>Philadelphia - Is this finally the year they advance with Nick Nurse at the helm?</h3>
The Sixers have had a lot of heartbreak over the years, from not being able to make the Conference Finals in Joel Embiid&rsquo;s career to choking multiple times in the playoffs, it's just disaster after disaster when it matters the most in the City of Brotherly Love.
However, they hope the outcome is going to come out differently this year due to one factor: Nick Nurse.
The 2019 champion coach has given the Sixers a lot to hope for with a breath of fresh air surrounding the team on offensive and defensive execution. This year, with Embiid being better than ever (being even better than last year&rsquo;s MVP campaign) and with the help of Nurse&rsquo;s diverse offensive sets, the Sixers&rsquo; title chances have increased significantly. Coach Nurse having the ability to make adjustments on the fly and push the right buttons will be a major weapon for the Sixers for their upcoming playoff run.
When healthy this year, Embiid has had one of the most dominant regular seasons in NBA history, averaging 34.7 points, 11 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. The Sixers have a 31-8 record when he plays, which would equal the best win-pace mark in the league. He now has a dynamic sidekick in Tyrese Maxey who has been named an all-star this year, and general manager Daryl Morey has surrounded them with capable role players to complement their skill sets. Will Nurse be the final piece that puts all of the Sixers together?
<h3>Miami Heat - Can they rediscover their old magic against the Celtics, but this time without Jimmy Butler?</h3>
At this point, people got to understand and realize that playoff Jimmy is a real thing. The dude just turns it up when it matters the most and the lights are at their brightest, and has carried Miami every time in the postseason.
However, this year figures out to be an entirely different scenario with Butler being out with an injury. According to reports, Butler could be sidelined for multiple weeks due to an MCL sprain &mdash; devastating news for Miami ahead of their upcoming playoff matchup vs Boston.&nbsp;
The Heat have faced the Celtics three times over the past four seasons, and they have beaten them twice. All those games and series featured a lot of Butler carrying them to wins.
Without Butler though, things have changed dramatically fast. Now, the question stands: will they have enough to defeat their old nemesis (who&rsquo;s become the most dominant team in the league) sans their best player?

As eight playoff teams in each conference gear up for what promises to be an intense battle for the title, each team faces its own set of unique challenges.

2024 Eastern Conference Playoffs: Each team’s biggest question heading into the playoffs

Free agent Danilo Gallinari will sign with the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of the season, <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1758274596346712260?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Athletic&rsquo;s Shams Charania.</a>
Gallinari, 35, reportedly considered offers from the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls but ultimately settled on the Bucks. He'll join Milwaukee's frontcourt and have an opportunity to reunite with his former coach Doc Rivers, who coached Gallinari for in Los Angeles.
The 14-year veteran forward played some of his best basketball under Rivers, averaging 19.8 points per game with the Clippers in the 2018-19 season.
After jumping between the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons this season, Gallinari joins the Bucks' bench that features Bobby Portis and Jae Crowder.
This season, Gallinari is averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists, while shooting 45.1% from the field, 35.5% from three-point range and 85% from the free-throw line. His career averages are 15.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 threes and 1.9 assists on 42.8/38.2/87.6 shooting splits.

Free agent Danilo Gallinari will sign with the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of the season.

Free agent Danilo Gallinari to sign with Milwaukee Bucks

After firing Adrian Griffin, the Milwaukee Bucks have hired Doc Rivers as their next head coach.
"This was a difficult decision to make during the season," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. "We thank Coach Griffin for his hard work and contributions to the team."
Although the Bucks have the NBA's top-ranked offense (scoring 118.8 points per 100 possessions), they struggled defensively under Griffin, allowing 114.3 points per 100 possessions (which ranks 19th in the NBA).
While the Bucks compiled a 30-13 record under Griffin, trailing only the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference (by 3.5 games), they have been largely inconsistent throughout the season. 
Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has been lobbying for a better effort on defense, which seemed to be directed toward Griffin and his staff. 
Furthermore, Griffin wasn't able to utilize prized acquisition Damian Lillard to his full potential on offense, as the All-Star guard has had a hard time adjusting to Milwaukee&rsquo;s offensive scheme.
Rivers has an all-time coaching record of 1,097-763 in the regular season and 111-104 in the playoffs.
 Rivers' most-recent coaching gig was with the Philadelphia 76ers, but his three-year stint came to an end when he was fired following the 2022-23 season.

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired head coach Adrian Griffin, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon. Doc Rivers will replace him.

After firing Adrian Griffin, Bucks hire Doc Rivers as head coach

All of the great one-name classical artists that share names with the Ninja Turtles had apprentices they held in high regard. Willie Green, now going into his third season as one of the NBA&rsquo;s youngest head coaches, has been shaping a vision with the New Orleans Pelicans but there was an obvious need for a reshaping of the assistant coaching staff this summer. The franchise&rsquo;s scaffolding was in place, but the young coach was working with old hands from previous artists; he needed to bring in a trusted apprentice.
New assistant James Borrego is no apprentice outside of this analogy. He is a well-traveled former head coach with a proven track record of building top-10 offenses, which Green admitted during media day will alleviate some burdens on the offensive end. The new assistant will also have plenty of freedom to have some experiments fail.&nbsp;
&nbsp;One of Bob Ross' most famous sayings is, "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." He encouraged artists to embrace unexpected turns and use them to their advantage. Like Ross cashing in on &ldquo;happy accidents,&rdquo; the Pelicans are betting on Borrego's schemes to raise their long-term offensive ceiling this season, and the missteps along the way are just learned experiences to be blended into the mosaic.
Green&rsquo;s focus on defense and deep personal connections took priority over offensive nuances the last few seasons, but there was an obvious need for some changes to the playbook and how the lessons learned are implemented. So, Green brought in Borrego.
Ross, with his trademark permed hair, paint brushes and soothing voice, often emphasized the importance of mastering the basics. Build creations from simple brushstrokes, with sound structures. Likewise, Borrego's offense is built on a foundation of fundamentals. He emphasizes ball movement, spacing and player movement to create scoring opportunities. Just as Ross began his paintings with a few basic elements, Borrego starts his offense with simple, well-executed plays.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZS_Hy01SYbs?si=jHTbRQiJkMiQCFFh" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Last season&rsquo;s formula was too simple. And basics? The Pelicans had problems just inbounding the ball in critical situations and often would not begin an action until there were under 10 seconds left on the shot clock. Then, it was predictable: Brandon Ingram methodical in the midrange. Zion Williamson rumbles to the rim off of actions with very little space or off-ball movement. CJ McCollum was mostly stationary and waiting on the perimeter when not having to bail out a short-handed team late in the shot clock. Jonas Valanciunas was frustrated with his role, while Herb Jones was still growing into his on offense.
Trey Murphy III continued developing but everything was a reset of the same few actions, and it all fell apart once the injury report started filling up. Still, the sketches of a championship contender are already on the canvas in New Orleans. Borrego just has to bring out the best features. It should be a welcomed change for a not-so-young-anymore roster looking to show they are serious about winning a championship. With structure, the team will have a better ability to adapt on the fly. This hallmark of Borrego's coaching style is also reminiscent of Ross turning mistakes into opportunities on his canvas.
While Ross often started his paintings with a simple sky and landscape, he gradually added layers of detail and complexity to create stunning compositions. Similarly, Borrego's offense is designed to be layered. It begins with basic actions but can evolve into intricate plays with multiple options. Just as Ross patiently added trees, mountains, and rivers to his paintings, Borrego's teams gradually added complexity to their offense as the players became more comfortable with the system.
Alvin Gentry was an abstract artist with not a lot of museum showcase pieces, constructing a portfolio that was an interesting smorgasbord of ill-fitting talents and philosophies. Sure, it sometimes produced good-looking, free-flowing hoops but not often was the end product something worthy of the NBA Playoff platform. Stan Van Gundy tried to implement structure but just wound up erasing almost all of the goodwill between the locker room and front office.
Willie Green has mended those fences, taped together the tapestry if you will, and has a team on the verge of a breakout season. They just need an offense that is a bit more unpredictably efficient and some injury luck. Just get repetitions and a spot in the playoffs, then see what happens. An accidental, out-of-nowhere championship is still a banner raised. Some teams have to take smaller steps to a title, but why not dream of a historical breakout season? Even eighth seeds have made runs to the NBA Finals.
It all starts with Ingram. He needs to step into a bigger No. 2 role more than CJ McCollum, who would be perhaps the best fourth option in the NBA should Murphy III make a jump. Borrego should be able to get Ingram into easier-to-read actions and the former All-Star's assists numbers should take a jump. The team said Ingram is expected to be more of a ball-in-hand offensive initiator this season. This draws attention away from Williamson, instead of the Point Zion experiment that sometimes induces ball-watching.
That&rsquo;s not to say Point Zion does not have artistic merits. Williamson is a great passer, draws the attention of all 20,000 in attendance, and can be a one-man wrecking ball when the rest of the offense is just not working. It&rsquo;s just that Williamson cannot be the only attraction, dominating the canvas at the detriment of the rest of the bigger picture. It puts too much pressure on internal relationships and makes the team too predictable.
No worries. The Charlotte Hornets finished in the top-10 in three-point attempts in three of four seasons under Borrego. Charlotte was a top-10 team in points (fourth), three-pointers made (fifth), three-pointers attempted (sixth) and three-point percentage (sixth) that season. They were 11th in field goal percentage and snatched the ninth-most offensive rebounds. Charlotte led the NBA with 28.1 team assists per game and had the 10th-fewest turnovers.
Work hard, keep moving to provide options, don&rsquo;t get caught looking and fight for extra opportunities. Build greatness on the back of the basics, just like Bob Ross taught. Borrego&rsquo;s clear directions during training camp should have everyone on the same page to start the regular season in a few weeks. They also understand a few messy mistakes early will not have much of an effect on how this season is eventually framed. It&rsquo;s how they adapt to those moments that matter most.
New Orleans was near the bottom in offensive rating, assist-to-turnover ratio and true shooting percentage last season. Borrego had a rebuilding franchise&rsquo;s mismatched roster eighth in offensive rating, third in assist percentage, second in assist-to-turnover ratio, second in assist ratio and ninth-best in turnover percentage. Those Hornets played with the sixth-quickest pace, were third in shots at the rim, and second in corner three-pointers.
&ldquo;For the first three-quarters of the game, I&rsquo;m drawing stuff up based on concepts that we already know. I&rsquo;m just adding a little tweak here to maybe a few sets to disguise it," <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/5/21166585/conversation-with-hornets-head-coach-james-borrego" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/5/21166585/conversation-with-hornets-head-coach-james-borrego&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1696693000595000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2zQ3C-l7Klu8y6hMOUbdD6">Borrego has explained</a>. "I think that&rsquo;s one of the things that we do as coaches. You&rsquo;re just trying to disguise a concept. You&rsquo;re running your sets, your flow, throughout a game. Your ATOs, you&rsquo;ve got to try to come up with something a little bit trickier. But the concepts are the same, you&rsquo;re just trying to disguise it. The tough ones, and they&rsquo;re getting tougher now, are the fourth quarter/end-of-game situations because these timeouts are so quick. I don&rsquo;t even have time to think. I&rsquo;ve already got to know what play I have in mind.&rdquo;
When things start shaping up where everyone can see the bigger picture, the tougher moments start to become easier. That philosophy and Borrego&rsquo;s style will help hide the flaws and accentuate the strengths of role players like Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr., Jones, Valanciunas, Dyson Daniels and Kira Lewis Jr.
Borrego was Green&rsquo;s NBA coach just over a decade ago. Now, the roles are reversed but cultural expectations and goals are the same. The Pelicans hope everything comes together in a way that looks like the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy.
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Can James Borrego's new offense bring out the best of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram for the Pelicans?

How James Borrego's offense could take Pelicans to next level

With the 2023-24 NBA season fast approaching, discussions are beginning to ramp up surrounding team expectations. Which teams are the early favorites and contenders? Which teams are just wishful thinkers? These topics are debated often, usually leading to a select number of teams facing win-or-bust expectations.&nbsp;
But, of course, there can only be one team in June that hoists the Larry O&rsquo;Brien.&nbsp;
Entering a season with championship expectations isn&rsquo;t easy, as <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-james-posey-championship-expectations-boston-celtics-doc-rivers-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce-ray-allen-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-tyronn-lue-miami-heat-pat-riley-shaquille-o-neal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball News&rsquo; James Posey highlighted in this recent article</a>. Which teams fall into the win-or-bust category for the 2023-24 season? Let&rsquo;s look at two teams &ndash; one from each conference &ndash; who qualify.&nbsp;
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Los Angeles Lakers have dealt with championship aspirations and expectations maybe more than any other team in NBA history. With 17 championships, which is tied with the Boston Celtics for the most all-time, it's clear why. This franchise is used to collecting hardware by season&rsquo;s end, and did so as recently as 2020, defeating the Miami Heat to win the championship in the midst of a global pandemic and in the wake of the passing of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.&nbsp;
So, how can a team that won a title in recent years already be facing pressure to win again?
The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are heading into this season fresh off a clean sweep in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual-champion Denver Nuggets. While seemingly negative on paper, the season was largely viewed as a success, as nobody expected this squad to make a Conference-Finals run after starting an abysmal 2-10.&nbsp;
How did they turn their season around? By ending the Russell Westbrook experiment, the Lakers landed D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt in a trade, in addition to trading for Rui Hachimura. These three, along with a blossoming Austin Reaves and a rejuvenated James and Davis, brought the Lakers to familiar heights &ndash; defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and taking down the then-defending-champion Golden State Warriors in round two.&nbsp;
It was clear that the Lakers fixed their mistakes and were back on course. Even the naysayers had to tip their cap after the team&rsquo;s surprising Western Conference Finals run.
Now comes the familiar pressure.&nbsp;
This offseason, Lakers were able to keep last year&rsquo;s core together, re-signing Russell, Reaves and Hachimura, while adding quality role players in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish. This is really the first time in the LeBron-Lakers era that the team has been given the green light to try again for a second season. Seeing as the team didn&rsquo;t come together until late last season, it would have been very much in the Lakers&rsquo; nature to come into this year with a completely different-looking team. Instead, the front office chose to run it back, aside from some changes on the margins. This decision is what puts them in the win-or-bust category.&nbsp;
With LeBron entering his 21st NBA season, that sentiment is stronger than ever. The Lakers have to take advantage of the fact that James is still playing at such a high level so late in his career. Being a sports team in Hollywood (especially one with 17 championships) you need to not only have the stars, you need to win. If the Lakers have stars but aren&rsquo;t winning, then they are essentially just becoming their neighbors, the Angels. The Lakers have the script ready for them, but we&rsquo;ll have to wait and see if they can top the box office.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
 
With the Philadelphia 76ers coming off their second-round exit in the 2023 NBA Playoffs courtesy of the Boston Celtics in seven games, there&rsquo;s pressure to take the next step and win a championship. This pressure isn&rsquo;t new; they&rsquo;ve been feeling it for several years.&nbsp;
Superstar center Joel Embiid won his first Most Valuable Player award last season, giving the 76ers two MVPs on the team, with James Harden being the other. While the duo has looked good in the short time they&rsquo;ve been together, they haven&rsquo;t looked like two MVPs playing side-by-side. This is especially true in the postseason, with Embiid and Harden both known for sometimes regressing in playoff series compared to the regular season. 
The fact that Doc Rivers was the team&rsquo;s head coach, a man who has coached three teams that all lost a playoff series after being up 3-1 and someone who has a 6-10 record in Game 7s, certainly didn&rsquo;t help. There's no question that he also deserves his fair share of blame for the team&rsquo;s issues. All of this, along with the lingering effects of the Ben Simmons debacle, came to a head last season.&nbsp;
This offseason, the team parted ways with Rivers, and Harden requested a trade. While Harden has yet to be traded and it is possible he remains with the team, the Sixers obviously aren&rsquo;t in an ideal state. It remains to be seen what kind of pieces they can get back for Harden.
In the meantime, the Sixers hired former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse to replace Rivers. Nurse is a great coach who won a championship in 2019 and the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 2020. But if the team begins to underperform, a new coach &ndash; especially one who&rsquo;s known for previously incorporating a rougher defensive style when it came to guarding Embiid &ndash; could become an easy target for blame for the Philly faithful.&nbsp;
The 76ers might have more pressure on them than any other team this upcoming season. The reigning MVP, a former MVP (or the trade package they can get for him), a former Coach of the Year and a solid supporting cast mean this team is built to win now. This team is no stranger to win-or-bust expectations, but this may be the most pressure they&rsquo;ve faced yet.&nbsp;

Jack Maguire examines two teams facing win-or-bust expectations entering the 2023-24 NBA season.

Which NBA teams are under the most pressure entering 2023-24 season?

Brendan Malone, whose coaching career spanned six decades, is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
&ldquo;Brendan Malone has been a name synonymous with NBA success for many decades,&rdquo; said Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers head coach and NBCA president. &ldquo;He's helped develop players and young coaches, and been a multiple NBA champion on Chuck Daly's Detroit coaching staff in 1989 and 1990. Congrats to Coach Malone on this prestigious recognition.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I want to thank the National Basketball Coaches Association for this award,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Tex Winter was a man I got to know and respect. I also want to thank all of the head coaches that I enjoyed working with during my 29-year career in the NBA, in particular Hubie Brown who brought me into the league; Chuck Daly and our two championships; the Van Gundys, Stan and Jeff, and Don Chaney. Lastly, I want to thank my wife Maureen and our six children for sharing my journey.&rdquo;
Wetting his whistle with a few years of coaching CYO basketball, Malone began his coaching career in 1967 at the legendary Power Memorial Academy in New York City where he won three city championships and three Coach of the Year awards.
He then moved to the college ranks in 1976 as an assistant coach at Fordham, then Yale, and then Syracuse. At Syracuse, the Orange went to the NCAA Tournament four times. Malone was a Syracuse assistant for the first five years of the Big East. He left Syracuse to become head coach at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 1984.
While at URI in 1986, Hubie Brown recruited Malone to join him as an assistant for the New York Knicks, the beginning of his 29-year NBA career. Malone had three different tours with the Knicks, the most notable of which was the four years with head coach Jeff Van Gundy. From 1996 to 2000, the Knicks went 177-119 with two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, as well as a trip to the 1999 NBA Finals.
Malone was an assistant coach for Stan Van Gundy for five years (2007 to 2012) in Orlando. The Magic won 50-plus games four straight years, went to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and to the 2009 NBA Finals.
Malone was also an assistant coach for Bob Hill and Rick Pitino in New York, Don Chaney in both Detroit and New York, Isiah Thomas in Indiana, Paul Silas in Cleveland and Stan Van Gundy in Detroit. He was also a scout for the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
But it was in Detroit with Chuck Daly that Malone made his name, orchestrating the Jordan Rules defense that helped propel the Pistons to back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
Malone was the first head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 1995-96 and also served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for 18 games in 2004-05.
In 27 seasons of NBA coaching, teams that Malone coached went to the playoffs 20 times, to the Conference Finals seven times, and to the NBA Finals four times, winning the title twice. His teams compiled a 1165-1001 record (.538).
Brendan and his son, Michael, who is the head coach of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, are the only father-son coaching duo to have both won an NBA championship.
&ldquo;I want to thank the NBCA Selection Committee for acknowledging my father&rsquo;s impact and career in the NBA,&rdquo; Michael Malone said. &ldquo;His work ethic, his love of the game, and his passion for teaching were the foundation of my coaching career. This is a well-deserved honor and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this celebration.&rdquo;
Brendan Malone was enshrined in the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1997, he was inducted into the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame (which recognizes and honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to New York City basketball). He is a 2017 enshrinee in the Power Memorial Academy Hall of Fame.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Assistant coaches generally operate behind the scenes and almost never receive enough public recognition for their team&rsquo;s success. However, any head coach will tell you that they are an indispensable part of the team equation,&rdquo; said David Fogel, NBCA Executive Director and General Counsel. &ldquo;Coach Malone&rsquo;s contributions to the accomplishments of his teams are well known inside the NBA and his contributions to the game continue through his son Michael&rsquo;s tremendous success. Congratulations to Brendan on this well-deserved honor.&rdquo;
The NBCA Tex Winter Lifetime Impact Award honors the tremendous achievements and commitment of Hall-of-Famer Tex Winter, who set a standard of innovation, integrity, competitive excellence, loyalty, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball throughout the course of his outstanding NBA coaching career.
The award is selected annually by the NBCA Selection Committee, comprised of some of the most respected coaches and executives in the game, including Rick Adelman, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, Wayne Embry, Danny Ferry, Mike Fratello, George Karl, Doc Rivers, Rod Thorn and Lenny Wilkens.
This year&rsquo;s nominees included assistant coaches Bob Beyer, Dan Burke, Jeff Bzdelik, Gordon Chiesa, Carroll Dawson, Hank Egan, Jim Eyen, Brian Hill, Jim Lynam, Bob McAdoo, Brendan Suhr and Bob Weiss.
Prior recipients of this award are Ron Adams (2022), Dick Helm (2021), Bill Bertka (2019), Tim Grgurich (2018), Ron Rothstein (2017) and Phil Johnson (2016).

Brendan Malone is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the NBCA announced today.

Brendan Malone given Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; James Harden might have&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://www.nba.com/watch/video/games/clippers/2015/11/09/20151107-james-harden-postgame-side-eye-exit.nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">side-eyed questions</a>&nbsp;this week -- much like he did in a playful reaction in his Houston days -- about his future with the Philadelphia 76ers.
But the issue is real in Philly: Will Harden return to the 76ers for a third season?
All signs point to Harden declining his $35.6 million option on Thursday and entering this summer as an unrestricted free agent. That leaves the 2018 NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star free to sign with any team.
A return to the Rockets? Perhaps, if he prioritizes cash over a championship chase. The 76ers? Depends. Does Harden really enjoy playing as the second option to NBA MVP Joel Embiid?
Plan C?
Harden might not have planned much beyond a potential Houston reunion or Sixers return. Philadelphia has the home-contract edge: The 76ers have the right to offer Harden a&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-eliminated-2nd-round-exit-nba-playoffs-2023-embiid-20c6d51b346527af08d3886e64ad7875" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$210 million, four-year deal</a>, $8 million more overall than any other team.
Houston, though, where Harden blossomed into a surefire Hall of Famer is a city that still tugs at his heart.
Nick Nurse, hired earlier this month to&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replace Doc Rivers</a>&nbsp;as coach of the 76ers, wants a shot at&nbsp;<a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nick-nurse-2023-nba-282f466ed20036346af54a2658cf214a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coaching Harden</a>.
&ldquo;James has a decision to make, and I&rsquo;d be very happy if he came back,&rdquo; Nurse said when he was hired.
Tobias Harris, himself in a bit of a contract quandary this summer, also stumped for a Harden return as he grabbed rebounds and posed for selfies with children Tuesday at a Fanatics promotion.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not many guys that can go out and drop 40 in a playoff game. I think that goes under the radar a little bit too much,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;I think James is a phenomenal player, somebody who works his tail off, and somebody&rsquo;s who&rsquo;s an overall great leader. Of course I want him back.&rdquo;
Harden, who turns 34 in August, played the last few months with nagging left Achilles soreness and flashed only glimpses of his Houston prime. He scored 45 points in Game 1 and 42 in Game 4 victories of the Eastern Conference semifinal loss against Boston, and was 0 for 6 on 3s in Game 2 and Game 6 losses. He scored only nine points in Game 7, and that included going scoreless in the second half.
Stuck in the muck of salary cap restrictions, the 76ers have few real options to replace Harden should he sign elsewhere. Not only that, the Sixers are fielding trade offers for Harris, who enters the final season of a $180-million, five-year contract. Harris averaged 14.7 points last season, well behind NBA scoring champ Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
Torrel Harris, Tobias Harris&rsquo; father and agent, blasted the way the 76ers have used Harris since 2018 and said on the &ldquo;Business of Sports&rdquo; podcast his son was an &ldquo;assassin scorer.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I mean, they can&rsquo;t stop him,&rdquo; Torrel Harris said on the podcast. &ldquo;Nobody in the league can stop him. So he&rsquo;s proven that over his career, even when he was with the Clippers.&rdquo;
Tobias Harris, himself in a bit of a contract quandary this summer, also stumped for a Harden return as he grabbed rebounds and posed for selfies with children Tuesday at a Fanatics promotion.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not many guys that can go out and drop 40 in a playoff game. I think that goes under the radar a little bit too much,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;I think James is a phenomenal player, somebody who works his tail off, and somebody&rsquo;s who&rsquo;s an overall great leader. Of course I want him back.&rdquo;
Harden, who turns 34 in August, played the last few months with nagging left Achilles soreness and flashed only glimpses of his Houston prime. He scored 45 points in Game 1 and 42 in Game 4 victories of the Eastern Conference semifinal loss against Boston, and was 0 for 6 on 3s in Game 2 and Game 6 losses. He scored only nine points in Game 7, and that included going scoreless in the second half.
Stuck in the muck of salary cap restrictions, the 76ers have few real options to replace Harden should he sign elsewhere. Not only that, the Sixers are fielding trade offers for Harris, who enters the final season of a $180-million, five-year contract. Harris averaged 14.7 points last season, well behind NBA scoring champ Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
Torrel Harris, Tobias Harris&rsquo; father and agent, blasted the way the 76ers have used Harris since 2018 and said on the &ldquo;Business of Sports&rdquo; podcast his son was an &ldquo;assassin scorer.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I mean, they can&rsquo;t stop him,&rdquo; Torrel Harris said on the podcast. &ldquo;Nobody in the league can stop him. So he&rsquo;s proven that over his career, even when he was with the Clippers.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s up to Nurse, who won a championship with Toronto in 2019, to find a formula that can win the 76ers a championship.
With or without Harden and Harris.
&ldquo;I believe we have the right talent to be a championship team,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;We have the right pieces and the right culture. With a new coach, I&rsquo;m excited with what we can bring to the table.&rdquo;
Harris and Embiid -- who declined to talk about the Fanatics&rsquo; goodwill merchandise promotion for underserved kids -- helped with the giveaway of 300,000 pieces of merch donated to around 100,000 kids and their families in nearly 100 different locations across the country.
Michael Rubin, CEO of Fanatics, also co-founded the Reform Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to probation, parole and sentencing reform in the United State. He once had an ownership stake in the 76ers, is a friend with Harden and tried not to pick a side on the contract issue.
So, should a 76ers fan buy in good faith a Harden 76ers jersey?
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d always tell them to buy a 76ers Harden jersey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Look, I haven&rsquo;t been close to the situation. Both the Sixers and James are family to me. But listen, I believe in these guys.&rdquo;

The Philadelphia 76ers have some important decisions to make this offseason.

76ers face uncertain future with Harden, Harris deals up in the air

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; The first dinner that Victor Wembanyama had in his new home city was filled with San Antonio royalty. Gregg Popovich was there, of course. So were Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili and Sean Elliott.
NBA champions, all of them.
Wembanyama now starts his quest to join their club.
Even as the welcomes for Wemby continued Saturday &mdash; one at San Antonio&rsquo;s iconic downtown River Walk, another at the arena &mdash; the French teen who has been labeled a generational basketball talent already was thinking about what comes next. He&rsquo;s got a visit to Nike headquarters in Oregon in the next few days, appointments to see some houses in San Antonio that he might be calling home for the next few years and then practices for the NBA Summer League.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a lot to do,&rdquo; Wembanyama said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s all right. It&rsquo;s OK. It&rsquo;s all going to fit in.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s excited, and rightly so. He put on a Spurs uniform on Saturday for the first time and will play in one for the first time sometime in early July in either Sacramento or Las Vegas; San Antonio plays in both of those summer leagues. He offered high-fives to hundreds of Spurs employees who showed up at the arena on Saturday to welcome him, smiling the whole way.
&ldquo;These are exciting times,&rdquo; Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said.
They come with the biggest expectations. The morning party on the River Walk took place at the spot where the Spurs&rsquo; championship celebrations usually are centered. And the news conference that followed at the arena came with Wembanyama seated on a stage that just happened to be at the same end of the court as San Antonio&rsquo;s five NBA championship banners.
&ldquo;To Victor, I wanted to say to you directly, we&rsquo;re excited to grow with you, support you, challenge you, especially Coach Pop &mdash; there&rsquo;ll be a lot of challenging days &mdash; on your journey through life and basketball,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said as he sat to Wembanyama&rsquo;s left. &ldquo;Your talent is obvious, but as we got to know you, the maturity, the approach, the character really showed us how special of a young man you are.&rdquo;
It was part of a whirlwind first 20 hours or so in San Antonio for Wembanyama,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/spurs-wembanyama-draft-nba-11b2b43bc27076ab5036769bf5d4160b">who flew in from the NBA draft on Friday</a>&nbsp;and had dinner with Popovich and some former players that night. Wembanyama said he learned more about the NBA in those two hours than he had learned in the last few years.
&ldquo;Honestly, that was one of the best dinners of my life,&rdquo; Wembanyama said. &ldquo;And not because of the food. The food was good. But the people was crazy.&rdquo;
Saturday started with Wembanyama enjoying a bag of the city&rsquo;s famed breakfast tacos &mdash; bacon and egg, and bean and cheese, he said &mdash; before heading to the Arneson River Theater for the day&rsquo;s first introductory event. Robinson was there, sitting in the front row. So was San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, wearing a Wembanyama jersey.
There&rsquo;s someone driving around San Antonio with a Wemby license plate. There&rsquo;s a burger with foie gras on the menu at a local sports bar, as a tribute to Wembanyama. There&rsquo;s a mural of him on the outside of a business directly across the street of another mural featuring Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker. There&rsquo;s even a mariachi band that already has a song about Wembanyama.
&ldquo;The fans have been the best at their job,&rdquo; Wembanyama said. &ldquo;I can only hope to be at their level.&rdquo;
The Spurs also introduced&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-report-card-2b66d099d445bf3f1f8e3c697dcc9efb">second-round pick Sidy Cissoko</a>&nbsp;on Saturday &mdash; another player from France who has known Wembanyama for about a decade. Cissoko played in Spain before ending up with the G League Ignite, and he already has endeared himself to San Antonio, a city with a strong Latin influence, by taking questions in English, French and Spanish.
&ldquo;The hoop gods have been incredibly generous to San Antonio for a long time, and they blessed us again with Victor and Sidy,&rdquo; Buford said.
Wembanyama said he hasn&rsquo;t had much time for sleep, and he&rsquo;s looking forward to things calming down a bit so he can get back into his basketball routine &mdash; one that has been understandably disrupted in recent days. But first, there was luggage to unpack, more people to meet, more jerseys to sign.
It was hectic. It&rsquo;s going to be hectic for a while. And Wembanyama says he&rsquo;s enjoying it all.
&ldquo;This is the life I wanted,&rdquo; Wembanyama said. &ldquo;This is what I worked for and it&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been wanting for a long time. So, it feels normal to me.&rdquo;

The 48 hours after Victor Wembanyama was drafted No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs have been a whirlwind.

Spurs, fans welcome No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; The Phoenix Suns hired former NBA champion coach Frank Vogel on Friday to replace Monty Williams, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
The 49-year-old Vogel has been the coach of the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers during his career and now moves to the Suns, where he&rsquo;ll try to help the franchise win its first title in its 55-year history with a roster that includes stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
Vogel led the Lakers to an NBA title in 2020 when the league finished its season in the Florida bubble. He has a 431-389 career record over 11 seasons and a 49-39 mark in the playoffs.
Phoenix fired Williams on May 13 despite four successful seasons, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2021 and a coach of the year award in 2022. But the Suns also experienced two straight embarrassing playoff exits &mdash; trailing by 30 points at halftime of elimination games at home.
The Suns were tied to several candidates during their nearly three-week search, including assistant Kevin Young and bigger names like Nick Nurse and Doc Rivers. On Friday, they settled on Vogel, who is known for his defensive acumen.
He&rsquo;s also well-versed in coaching superstar players, helping LeBron James to his most recent title.
New Suns owner Mat Ishbia hasn&rsquo;t been shy about shaking up the franchise since he took over in February, adding the 13-time All-Star Durant in a blockbuster trade deadline deal. Despite the bold move, the Suns lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets.
Now Ishbia has overseen a coaching change and it remains to be seen how aggressive the front office will be in reshaping the roster. The assumption is that Booker &mdash; a three-time All-Star who averaged nearly 36 points per game in a brilliant postseason performance &mdash; and Durant will be back.
The rest of the roster is in flux.
The biggest questions surround Paul and former No. 1 draft pick Deandre Ayton, who were both out with injuries by the end of the playoffs.
The 38-year-old Paul was solid when he was on the court for the Suns this season, but his body gave out again in the playoffs and he missed the final four games with a strained left groin. He&rsquo;s under contract for next season with a partially guaranteed deal.
The 24-year-old Ayton was ineffective in the team&rsquo;s second-round series against the Nuggets, averaging 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds, which were both well below his season and career averages. He suffered a rib contusion in Game 5 and watched the final game of the season from the bench.

The Phoenix Suns hired former NBA champion coach Frank Vogel on Friday to replace Monty Williams.

Suns hire veteran coach Frank Vogel to lead franchise

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid and the 76ers battled in yet another playoff game with the Raptors, this time in 2022, when the All-Star center barked at Toronto coach Nick Nurse &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcmeFUhbDSY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in a quite PG-13 fashion</a>&nbsp;&mdash; to stop whining about foul calls.
Embiid&rsquo;s beef with Nurse didn&rsquo;t end in the playoffs. After the two-time NBA scoring champion was held &mdash; held, in quotes &mdash; to 28 points in a 2022 regular-season game, Embiid charged the Raptors &ldquo;don&rsquo;t care about winning&rdquo; as long as a player of his stature was held below his scoring average.
Hey, what could go wrong this season? The 76ers didn&rsquo;t even play the Raptors in the playoffs.
Yet, when Brooklyn frustrated Embiid in a first-round series, the league MVP complained the Nets &ldquo;kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees.&rdquo;
OK, the introductions might be awkward. Or at least good for a laugh. But the 76ers are now counting on Embiid and Nurse to work together in a productive relationship as the new pair chases the franchise&rsquo;s first championship since 1983.
With the fate of 10-time All-Star James Harden in the balance, the 76ers remained all-in with their championship pursuit on Monday, selecting Nurse as their new coach to try and end more than two decades of playoff failure.
The 76ers hired the 55-year-old Nurse following his&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">exit last month from Toronto Raptors,</a>&nbsp;a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
Nurse led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship after they beat Embiid and the 76ers in Game 7 of the the Eastern Conference semifinals. The 76ers not only haven&rsquo;t a title in 40 years, they haven&rsquo;t advanced past the second round since 2001.
Nurse will replace&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Doc Rivers, who was fired</a>&nbsp;after he led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-joel-embiid-76ers-jokic-giannis-a216b687de694125309fb9eed1ad5031">NBA MVP Embiid</a>&nbsp;but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference finals.
The 76ers held a 3-2 semifinals series lead against Boston before dropping Game 6 at home and were crushed in Game 7 on the road.
The 76ers still have to decide if they will try to bring back Harden &mdash; who is expected to decline the $35.6 million option on his contract and become a free agent &mdash; but making a move for a championship-winning coach like Nurse shows the franchise is still all in as it goes in for a championship with Embiid still in his prime.
Nurse went 227-163 in his five seasons as coach in Toronto, where his .582 winning percentage ranks as the best of any coach in Raptors history. He also spent five years as an assistant to former Raptors coach Dwane Casey before taking over the top job.
Nurse seemingly made his first play for the 76ers&rsquo; job in March when the Raptors were in town for a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nurse-3e49f4c04182360739105a582e988b91">regular-season visit</a>. Nurse said his relationship with president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster was at a crossroads and time would be needed to decide on his future.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good run,&rdquo; Nurse said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, over those 10 years, we&rsquo;ve got to be up there with number of wins for anybody in the league. I don&rsquo;t know what it is, but we&rsquo;ve had a lot of good seasons.&rdquo;
Nurse was right: Only Golden State (.661) had a better winning percentage than Toronto (.613) in that span.
Nurse played at Northern Iowa, then started his coaching career there as an assistant. He wound up becoming a head coach at Grand View University when he was just 23. He coached in Belgium and Britain &mdash; winning a pair of British Basketball League titles as a coach in Birmingham in 1996 and London in 2000 &mdash; then got a couple of titles in what is now called the G League.
The second G League crown with Houston&rsquo;s team got Nurse noticed, with the Raptors calling because they wanted to talk to him about offense. They ended up hiring him as an assistant, and he&rsquo;d been with Toronto ever since.
The Raptors finished 41-41 this season before losing at home to the Chicago Bulls in the play-in round of the postseason.
Sixers president Daryl Morey continues to build the team around his old Houston Rockets connections. Besides Harden &mdash; and PJ Tucker and Danuel House, among others &mdash; Nurse coached Houston&rsquo;s G League-affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers for two seasons while Morey was in charge. Nurse won the G-League title in 2013 before moving on to a successful NBA career.
Nurse led the Raptors to the title in his debut season. And despite Kawhi Leonard&rsquo;s departure, the Raptors were playing well before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season in March 2020. Toronto wasn&rsquo;t the same in the bubble and lost to Boston in seven games in the second round of the playoffs, though Nurse did win the NBA Coach of the Year.

The Philadelphia 76ers are hiring Nick Nurse as their next head coach.

76ers hire former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&ldquo;This is the nature of this league and I think sometimes it&rsquo;s the chemistry,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN in a televised interview before the draft lottery on Tuesday night. &rdquo;They don&rsquo;t go from being great coaches to bad coaches from one year to the next. It has to do with the chemistry of the team, the style, maybe somebody believes the players need to hear a new voice. But I&rsquo;m incredibly sympathetic. It&rsquo;s a rough side of this business and I think they understand it. They choose this profession. They&rsquo;re my friends and I hate to see it.&rdquo;
Budenholzer&rsquo;s dismissal left Kerr upset, as he revealed earlier this month &mdash; but noted that all coaches understand how vulnerable they are.
&ldquo;My first response is not necessarily shock, it&rsquo;s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He just won a championship and has been wildly successful in his coaching career. But this is the business we&rsquo;re in. &hellip; Expectations every year for every team are so high, and only one team can win. It&rsquo;s sad news for the coaching profession.&rdquo;
At least six teams will have new coaches next season &mdash; Phoenix, Milwaukee, Toronto, Detroit and now Philadelphia are looking, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/rockets-udoka-celtics-b65d91fdfa3174b0c9fa36634cd20e42">Houston has hired Udoka</a>&nbsp;as the replacement for Stephen Silas. There were two in-season moves as well: Brooklyn&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-new-york-e72b511a6d8cdb4e4875dbc1b157557e">Jacque Vaughn was hired by the Nets</a>&nbsp;in November, and Atlanta&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-playoffs-bce807f9f9f26951421f9ea2c2e5d52f">Quin Snyder was hired by the Hawks</a>&nbsp;in February. And two coaches in the conference finals are in Year 1 of their careers: the Lakers&rsquo; Darvin Ham, and the Celtics&rsquo; Joe Mazzulla, who had to take over unexpectedly in Boston last fall following&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-basketball-ime-udoka-0f04a614b82c497346a423d9da036521">Udoka&rsquo;s suspension</a>&nbsp;for an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics employee.
Mazzulla will meet Spoelstra and Miami in the Eastern Conference finals starting Wednesday. Spoelstra has faced Boston three times for the East title in four years, going up against three different coaches &mdash; Brad Stevens in the NBA bubble restart in 2020, Udoka last year and now Mazzulla &mdash; and says while the coaches change, organizational stability exists and is crucial.
&ldquo;Joe was in the bubble. ... He&rsquo;s been part of some really good teams,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That does have an impact. Probably more than anything in this league right now, you&rsquo;re looking for some kind of organizational stability between the front office and coaching staff.&rdquo;
There aren&rsquo;t many examples of that in the league right now. At minimum, 13 of the NBA&rsquo;s 30 teams will open next season with a coach who has been in place for no more than one season.
Rivers said Sunday that he expected to stay with the 76ers. &ldquo;No one&rsquo;s safe in our business. I get that,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Further proof of that came two days later, when he was dismissed.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the business of basketball,&rdquo; Miami guard Kyle Lowry said. &ldquo;And one thing about our business is sometimes it gets a little cut-throat.&rdquo;
Spoelstra has long said part of Miami&rsquo;s strength is consistency. Managing general partner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison, team president Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg and others have been with the Heat for decades &mdash; and from the very beginning, in Elisburg&rsquo;s case, since he&rsquo;s been with the franchise for all 35 of its seasons.
Spoelstra has been with the organization for more than half his life as well; he was 24 when he started in the video room, and now he&rsquo;s 52.
&ldquo;It takes so much time and energy to restart something,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And I think that&rsquo;s part of the reason why we&rsquo;ve been able to reboot so many times, over and over and over. We&rsquo;re not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden, two years later, it&rsquo;s going to be somebody else doing the exact same thing. But particularly to have proven veteran guys (fired), it&rsquo;s just been stunning. It really has been disturbing.&rdquo;

Erik Spoelstra, Mike Malone and Adam Silver discussed the firings of Monty Williams, Doc Rivers, Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse.

As NBA coaching changes mount, some lament the lack of job security

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Doc Rivers&rsquo; penchant for playoff collapses and second-round exits cost him his coaching job with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers fired Rivers on Tuesday following a third straight exit in the second round of the playoffs, and the second time over that span he lost a series lead and a Game 7.
Rivers led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-joel-embiid-76ers-jokic-giannis-a216b687de694125309fb9eed1ad5031">NBA MVP Joel Embiid</a>&nbsp;but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. The Sixers have not won an NBA championship since 1983.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise,&rdquo; team president Daryl Morey said in a statement. &ldquo;After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship.&rdquo;
Morey was scheduled to address the decision at a news conference Wednesday.
The 76ers held a 3-2 semifinals series lead against Boston before dropping&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-tatum-celtics-76ers-6d07f92230be04e2dc47fedc517e3254">Game 6 at home</a>&nbsp;and were crushed in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/celtics-76ers-tatum-nba-playoffs-record-game-7-767dffb9877cfc54d55c9f58c8fa8866">Game 7 on the road</a>.
Rivers fell to 6-10 in Game 7s. The 10 defeats are five more than any other NBA coach.
Rivers and the 76ers also&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/pa-state-wire-ga-state-wire-philadelphia-76ers-atlanta-hawks-los-angeles-clippers-ee1e636c2c3bfa3257fb1975c5b452ac">lost a decisive Game 7 at home in the second round to Atlanta in 2021</a>&nbsp;as a No. 1 seed. Embiid endorsed Rivers&rsquo; return following Sunday&rsquo;s loss but James Harden was noncommittal about wanting their coach back.
Rivers had two years left on his contract and was 154-82 in three years with the Sixers. He won the 2008 NBA title as coach of the Boston Celtics.
Asked after the 112-88 thumping in Boston if he expected to be back next year, Rivers said: &ldquo;Yeah. I think I got two years left. No one is safe in our business and I get that.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s just the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-coaches-fired-531bf2961904eb9ce1b9f02eff466506">latest big name coach fired already</a>&nbsp;during the postseason and the 76ers are sure to have their pick among the best in the game.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nick Nurse</a>&nbsp;(Toronto) and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Mike Budenholzer</a>&nbsp;(Milwaukee) have been fired after both won championships since 2019 and former Sixers assistant&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Monty Williams</a>&nbsp;(who coached Phoenix in the 2021 NBA Finals) also is available.
Rivers took over ahead of the 2020-21 season for Brett Brown, who was fired after the 76ers were swept in the first round of the playoffs.
Rivers himself had just been fired about two weeks after the Los Angeles Clippers wasted a 3-1 series lead and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.
He expected to coach a team seemingly on the brink of winning a title. Instead, he was on the bench for one of the worst losses in team history, a franchise-shifting loss to Atlanta in Game 7 that came on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BHRLuyXJu8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ben Simmons failing to dunk an uncontested shot</a>, which spiraled into a loss and the end of the All-Star guard&rsquo;s tenure in Philly. Simmons never played for the 76ers again after Rivers and Embiid failed to publicly back the star guard following the loss, and the relationship soured from there.
Simmons was traded a year later for Harden, who was expected to serve as the missing piece that could get Embiid a championship. Or least into the conference final.
Asked after the Game 7 loss in Boston to describe his relationship with Rivers and if he&rsquo;d like his coach to return for a fourth season, Harden said &ldquo;our relationship is OK&rdquo; and didn&rsquo;t answer the second part of the question.
Now, it doesn&rsquo;t matter.
&ldquo;I thought we had the right group. I really did,&rdquo; Rivers said.
But one other intriguing potential candidate to keep an eye on is former Rockets coach Mike D&rsquo;Antoni. D&rsquo;Antoni coached Harden for four seasons in Houston and they both thrived there working under Morey. Morey has been a staunch Harden defender and worked hard to bring him to the 76ers. With Rivers gone, another reunion could be on the horizon.
Harden, who played the last few months with nagging left Achilles soreness, has a player option of $35.6 million. He was vague on what he might do this summer. But perhaps a reunion with D&rsquo;Antoni &mdash; or, at the very least a coach who knows how to pair Harden-Embiid to their strengths &mdash; can entice The Beard to stay. The 76ers are eligible to sign Harden to a $210 million, four-year deal while other teams can&rsquo;t offer more than $202 million over the same contract length.
Rivers also coached the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers and is 1,097-763 over a career that dates to the 1999-2000 season.

The Philadelphia 76ers fired Doc Rivers following a third straight exit in the second round of the playoffs.

76ers fire coach Doc Rivers after 3 second-round exits in playoffs

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum scored 51 points &ndash; the most in a Game 7 in NBA history &mdash; and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.
One game after missing 14 of his first 15 shots only to awaken in the fourth quarter, Tatum got off to the fast start the Celtics needed. He scored 25 in the back-and-forth first half and 17 more in Boston&rsquo;s 33-10 third quarter that turned a three-point lead into a runaway.
The Celtics, who lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals last year, will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, which begin on Wednesday in Boston.
Tatum added 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points for the Celtics, who rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series to keep alive their hopes for an unprecedented 18th NBA championship. Tatum was subbed out of the game with three minutes left to a standing ovation from the crowd, which soon broke out in a &ldquo;Beat the Heat!&rdquo; chant.
Newly crowned NBA MVP Joel Embiid scored 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting, and Tobias Harris scored 19 for Philadelphia. The Sixers lost in the conference semifinals for the third straight year, and the fifth time in six seasons; they have not gotten any farther since reaching the NBA Finals in 2001.
Tatum started 0 for 6 in a Game 5 loss and missed 14 of his first 15 shots overall from the floor in Game 6 before erupting for four 3-pointers in the final 4:14 to force the decisive seventh game.
He picked up where he left off, scoring Boston&rsquo;s first basket and 11 points in the first quarter, 14 more in the second and outscoring the Sixers on his own, 17-10, in the third. The 33-10 edge in the third was the most lopsided quarter in a Game 7 since at least 1997.
BANGED-UP BROWN
Brown began the game with the black mask he has worn since breaking a bone in his face before the All-Star break. He took it off and soon absorbed an elbow to the face from James Harden, who was assessed a flagrant foul.
Brown continued without the mask but finished the half with cotton in his left nostril. He also played with an edge, making both foul shots and following it with a steal and layup as Boston went on a 9-0 run to erase a 35-26 deficit.
Brown also dove into the Sixers bench to save a ball, then had words with the bench after Georges Niang grabbed his leg and kept him from getting back on the court. Both players were given technical fouls.
Williams followed the commotion with a layup that tied the score 35-all.
WHAT&rsquo;S UP, DOC?
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is 6-10 in seventh games. The 10 defeats are five more than any other NBA coach and three more than the NHL&rsquo;s Mike Babcock and Bruce Boudreau. His teams are 6-16 in their last 22 chances to close out an opponent in a playoff series.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to keep getting teams to these places,&rdquo; he said before the game. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s people, your friends who look at you like, &lsquo;Why do you like this?&rsquo; And this is what it&rsquo;s about. You put yourself out there because you want to win. And you know if you do that you have to put yourself in these situations over and over and over again. And it&rsquo;s worth it. It&rsquo;s worth it. And that&rsquo;s what I tell my guys.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Tatum is the sixth player since 1997 to score 25 points or more in the first half of a seventh game. The last was Luka Doncic, who had 29 against the Clippers in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Paul Pierce scored 26 for the Celtics against Cleveland in the second round in 2008. &hellip; The 10 points Philadelphia scored were tied for the fewest in any Game 7 quarter in the shot clock era.

The Celtics beat the 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row.

Tatum sets Game 7 record with 51 points, Celtics beat 76ers 112-88

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Joe Mazzulla&rsquo;s Game 7 experience has been as an assistant coach, including last year when the Celtics won two of them on their way to the NBA Finals.
One of them was a 28-point blowout.
The other was a one-possession game in the final seconds.
&ldquo;We know how to win easy and we know how to battle to the death,&rdquo; the rookie head coach said Saturday as he prepared for his first winner-take-all game as the No. 1 guy. &ldquo;Definitely looking forward to Game 7.&rdquo;
The Celtics will meet the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday for the last remaining spot in the NBA&rsquo;s final four. It&rsquo;s just the second series to reach a seventh game so far this postseason.
&ldquo;We know what we have to do,&rdquo; said Sixers center Joel Embiid, who was crowned as the NBA MVP during the series. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be fun. Game 7. That&rsquo;s what we play, for these types of games.&rdquo;
The Celtics earned the home-court advantage by finishing three games ahead of Philadelphia in the standings; Boston also won three of the four matchups in the regular season. (The winner of Sunday&rsquo;s game will also have home-court edge in the NBA Finals, if they can eliminate Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.)
But playing at the TD Garden hasn&rsquo;t been such an advantage for Boston: The Celtics have gone just 7-9 in their last 16 home playoff games &mdash; a far cry from the days when playing on the parquet was almost a sure thing.
Boston swingman Jaylen Brown has heard the complaints from fans who&rsquo;ve watched the team cough up big leads and give away games in both playoff series so far this postseason.
And the feeling is mutual.
&ldquo;Celtics fans, they love to call us out, right? So I&rsquo;m gonna call you guys out this time,&rdquo; Brown said after the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-tatum-celtics-76ers-6d07f92230be04e2dc47fedc517e3254">Celtics won in Philadelphia on Thursday night</a>&nbsp;to force a seventh game. &ldquo;Energy in the Garden has been OK at best all playoffs. Game 7, if you&rsquo;re there or if you&rsquo;re not there, if you&rsquo;re watching at a bar, if you&rsquo;re watching down the street at a friend&rsquo;s house, I don&rsquo;t care. I need you to be up, I need you to come with the energy, because we&rsquo;re gonna need every bit of it. So I&rsquo;m calling you guys out. Let&rsquo;s make sure the Garden is ready to go.&rdquo;
76ERS AT CELTICS
Series tied 3-3. Game 7, 3:30 p.m. EDT, Sunday, ABC
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Celtics are 26-9 in Game 7s all-time, including two wins last year on their way to the NBA Finals. The Sixers are 6-11, losing their all three winner-take-all games since their last trip to the NBA Finals in 2001.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Celtics&rsquo; starting lineup. Coach Joe Mazzulla inserted Robert Williams III into the lineup for Game 6, putting him alongside Al Horford to combat newly crowned NBA MVP Joel Embiid. The Celtics jumped to a 15-3 lead.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Since returning from a right knee injury that kept him out of Game 1, Embiid has not shown any lingering effects. The Celtics have a clean injury report except for Danilo Gallinari, who has missed the entire season with a torn ACL.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Sixers coach Doc Rivers has blown 3-1 leads in seven-game series three times in his career. Philadelphia was up 3-2 over Boston this year, but another collapse would add to his reputation for collapses. He has lost nine Game 7s &mdash; four more than any other coach, according to ESPN.

The Boston Celtics will meet the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday for the last remaining spot in the NBA’s final four.

Celtics, 76ers ready for Game 7 at TD Garden for spot in East finals vs. Heat

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum missed his first six 3-pointers before he drilled two straight clutch ones late in the game that pushed the Celtics past the Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 on Thursday night to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7.
The defending conference champs are in familiar territory. Boston trailed 3-2 last season in the second round against Milwaukee before it won Game 6 on the road and the clincher at home.
Game 7 is Sunday.
Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points in the regular season, never stopped shooting even as the misses kept coming. He missed 14 of his first 15 shots overall from the floor and his ineffectiveness was a key reason the Celtics couldn&rsquo;t hold a 16-point lead.
With a shot at their first conference final since 2001 at stake, the Sixers slogged through the first half before Joel Embiid flashed his MVP form and rallied the Sixers to a fourth-quarter lead.
Tyrese Maxey hit two free throws with 5:25 left for an 83-81 edge.
And that was it for Philly.
Tatum buried one 3 for the 84-83 lead and a second that made it 87-83 and put the Celtics in firm control of Game 6.
Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 26 points for the 76ers.
76ers coach Doc Rivers has blown three 3-1 series leads over his playoff career. While the 76ers never got that far ahead, this is their second loss at home in the series and they seemingly had seized momentum in the fourth quarter.
Tatum instead stuck it to the 76ers with one final 3-point dagger for a 95-84 lead.
After Embiid&rsquo;s pull-up jumper tied the game 81-all, 76ers didn&rsquo;t make a bucket over the final 6:13 of the game
Tatum missed all 10 shots, including five 3-point attempts, in the first half half as the Celtics led by seven. Tatum has said he may need surgery on his left wrist in the offseason in the wake of a hard fall. Whatever the cause of his shooting ails, he found the cure in the final 12 minutes and the East champs still have life.
Tatum finished with 19 points on just 5-for-21 shooting but the final stat line mattered little after he keyed the 14-3 run that kept the Celtics&rsquo; conference repeat hopes alive under rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Just like Game 3 when the Sixers squandered the momentum off Embiid&rsquo;s MVP ceremony, the 76ers again failed to keep a packed house as rocking as they were at tipoff. The Celtics took a fast 15-3 lead and that silenced the crowd and discombobulated the Sixers.
The Celtics led 40-26 because -- in part because of three 3s from Malcolm Brogdon -- but an ineffective half from Embiid, James Harden and Tobias Harris. Embiid and Harris started 1 of 7 and Harden 2 of 8 and yet, the deficit could have been much worse.
The Sixers steadied themselves somewhat -- creaky Harden surprised everyone with a rare, thunderous dunk -- and the Sixers had life down only 50-43 at the break.
HE SAID IT
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready for war.&rdquo; -- Mazzulla, with a stern look, on his mood ahead of Game 6.
BIG FANS
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, Roots drummer Questlove, Eagles center Jason Kelce and his brother and Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, and baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. attended the game.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Boston started 6-foot-10 Robert Williams instead of Derrick White. Williams started his first postseason game of the season. Mazzulla said he made the change because &ldquo;Rob gives us a lift.&rdquo;
76ers: Harden finished 4 for 16, 0 for 6 behind the arc.

The Celtics defeated the 76ers 95-86 on Thursday night to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7.

Tatum’s 4th quarter pushes Celtics past 76ers 95-86, forces Game 7

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Having silenced the TD Garden crowd and put the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics on the brink of a second-round exit, 76ers players barely cracked a smile as they walked off the court.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not over. We have to get one more,&rdquo; Joel Embiid said. &ldquo;All of us. We have to show up.&rdquo;
They&rsquo;ll soon get that chance.
Embiid scored 33 points and Philadelphia easily took a 3-2 lead in the East semifinals, beating Boston 115-103 on Tuesday night.
The 76ers led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter as home fans booed the Celtics, and can close out the series and advance to the conference finals when they host Game 6 on Thursday night. Philadelphia hasn&rsquo;t reached that stage of the playoffs since 2001.
&ldquo;What we did tonight, it&rsquo;s easier said than done. But we have to do it again,&rdquo; Embiid said.
It was the third straight 30-point game in the series for the reigning MVP, who used his full array offensive weapons to pick apart the Celtics defense. He also had seven rebounds, four blocks and three 3-pointers.
Tyrese Maxey&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1656124397478895617?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">added 30 points and six 3-pointers</a>. James Harden finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Coach Doc Rivers likened Harden&rsquo;s play to that of a catcher in baseball calling the perfect game, putting his teammates in optimal position while also scoring big buckets in key moments.
Rivers said it helped his team endure each of Boston&rsquo;s attempts to get back into the game.
&ldquo;You just have breathe through it and our guys did that,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 36 points but was just 11 of 27 from the field. Jaylen Brown finished with 24 points. The Celtics went 12 of 38 from the 3-point line.
&ldquo;I think we just didn&rsquo;t have it today,&rdquo; Tatum said.
If there&rsquo;s any solace for Boston, it&rsquo;s that the Celtics survived this exact scenario last year in this round, overcoming a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not willing to get dirty, if you&rsquo;re not willing to pretty much bleed, if you&rsquo;re not willing to break something...then you shouldn&rsquo;t be on that court,&rdquo; Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. &ldquo;Because that&rsquo;s what it is. That&rsquo;s what the playoffs are about.&rdquo;
The previous two occasions the 76ers were in a second-round series that was tied 2-2, they were blown out in Game 5 &mdash; a 36-point loss to Toronto in 2019 and 35-point loss to Miami last season.
Not this time.
The 76ers led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and took an 88-72 lead into the fourth.
A quick flurry by the Celtics cut the deficit to 11, but Philadelphia responded with a 10-2 run to push it back up to 102-83.
It was 105-89 when Brown got free on a fast break and attempted to drop in a layup. But Embiid, who stayed in pursuit, was there to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1656113533015273474?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">swat it away</a>.
Philadelphia made a concerted effort to get the ball to Embiid in the post from the outset. He was able to knock down midrange jumpers, helping to open the floor for his teammates as Boston&rsquo;s big men were pulled out of the paint.
Meanwhile, the Celtics struggled to find their shot throughout.
The 76ers enjoyed an early rebounding advantage and had success with Embiid running pick-and-roll sets at Al Horford. It led to scoring opportunities for Embiid and contributed to Philadelphia building a 15-point lead in the first half.
Tatum missed his first six attempts before hitting a runner with 5:48 left in the second quarter. He finished the first half with 15 points but was just 3 of 11 from the field (1 of 6 from 3-point range).
Boston eventually cobbled together a 10-0 run to cut into the deficit, but Philadelphia settled down and went into halftime with a 58-49 lead.
Harden said the Sixers&rsquo; mindset heading back home with a chance to closeout the series is clear.
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t think too much of it, just go out there and play our brand of basketball,&rdquo; he said.
TIP-INS
76ers: Embiid had 21 first-half points, going 9 for 9 from the free throw line.
Celtics: Their 103 points were their fewest of this postseason. &hellip; Boston shot 5 of 19 from beyond the arc in the opening 24 minutes.
STREAKING
Embiid&rsquo;s three consecutive 30-point games is tied for his longest streak within a postseason in his career. The only other players in franchise history with longer streaks are Allen Iverson (five in 2001) and Wilt Chamberlain (four in 1965).

Embiid scored 33 points and Philadelphia easily took a 3-2 lead in the East semifinals, beating Boston 115-103 on Tuesday night.

Loi