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Thunder

Zach LaVine has an Olympic gold medal. What he doesn&rsquo;t have is NBA playoff experience.
At last, that part is about to change.
No active NBA player has been in more regular-season games without making his playoff debut than LaVine, who has appeared in 478 games with the Chicago Bulls. He&rsquo;s expected to play in his first playoff game Sunday night when the Bulls visit Milwaukee.
Once LaVine makes his playoff debut, the title nobody wants &mdash; active player with most games and no playoff appearances &mdash; will fall to Buddy Hield. He&rsquo;s been in 468 games with Sacramento, New Orleans and Indiana.
If Hield appears in at least 32 games next season, he will become the eighth player with at least 500 regular-season appearances but zero playoff contests. He&rsquo;ll join Tom Van Arsdale (929), Otto Moore (682), Nate Williams (642), Omri Casspi (588), Sebastian Telfair (564), Popeye Jones (535) and Eddy Curry (527) in that club.
Curry has a ring from his time with the Miami Heat in the 2011-12 season, but didn&rsquo;t play in a game during that postseason run.
EIGHT IS (USUALLY) ENOUGH
Phoenix won eight games more than any other team this season. That usually means a championship.
Not always, though.
The last four teams to have at least eight more wins than any other team in the regular season have gone on to win a title. Those clubs are the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, the Chicago Bulls in 1992 and 1996, and the Boston Celtics in 1984.
The 1971 Milwaukee Bucks, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, and both the 1960 and 1965 Celtics also ended seasons with such huge regular-season margins with championships. But the Celtics in both 1958 and 1973 did not, nor did the Washington Capitols in 1947 &mdash; the inaugural season of the BAA, which was the precursor to the NBA. The Capitols (49-11) won 10 more regular-season games than anyone else in 1946-47, but the Philadelphia Warriors (35-25) won that first season&rsquo;s championship.
PLAYOFF MONEY
The NBA has set this season&rsquo;s playoff pool at $17,317,334. All 16 playoff teams are guaranteed $258,449 just for making the field; most teams will make more, and the deeper teams go in the playoffs, they&rsquo;ll make much more.
Phoenix is already assured at least $1,194,952. The Suns would claim $5,077,456 if they win the NBA title.
Miami has secured $695,527 already. The Heat would get $4,578,031 if they win the championship.
Any team that makes the NBA Finals is guaranteed $3,106,286; any team other than the Suns or Heat that wins the championship would receive at least $4,140,953.
BEST EVERYWHERE
Phoenix had the NBA&rsquo;s best home record and the NBA&rsquo;s best road record this season &mdash; 32-9 in both instances.
Only four of the last nine teams to pull off that feat, including ties in the standings, went on to win the NBA title. Those clubs were Golden State in 2015 and 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 and the Chicago Bulls in 1996.
The most recent teams to be best at home, best on the road and still not win a title: Houston in 2018, Dallas in 2007, Seattle in 1994, Portland in 1991 and the Lakers in 1990.
MILESTONE WATCH
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Doc Rivers is on the cusp of becoming the fifth coach in NBA history to win 100 postseason games. The 76ers need just two wins in their first-round series against Toronto to get Rivers to the milestone.
The other coaches with 100 wins: Phil Jackson (229), Pat Riley (171), Gregg Popovich (170) and Larry Brown (100).
Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra can also get to 100 playoff wins this year &mdash; but the Heat would have to get to the NBA Finals, then win three games in the title round to get him there. Spoelstra enters these playoffs with 85 postseason victories.
Among players, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant is three points shy of matching Jerry West (4,457) for eighth on the all-time playoff list. Durant needs 307 points to tie No. 7 Karl Malone (4,761) on that list, meaning the Nets would likely have to get to at least the second round for that to occur this year.
FAVORED TEAMS
Utah was favored in more games than any other team this season, picked by oddsmakers 73 times in the 82-game regular season. The Jazz were followed by Phoenix (70), Milwaukee (66), Golden State (62), Boston (61) and Miami (59) on the most-favored list.
The team that covered a spread with the most regularity this season: Memphis, which rewarded its backers 64.6% of the time. Utah was tied for next-to-last in that department, covering at a 40.2% rate.
Oklahoma City was favored the fewest times in the league, just on three occasions. Portland was the worst at covering, doing so 37.8% of the time.
BACK TO BACK
If Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo wins his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award &mdash; now named for Bill Russell &mdash; he would join select company.
Only six players have won that award in consecutive years. Chicago&rsquo;s Michael Jordan won it back-to-back-to-back on two separate occasions, 1991 through 1993 and then 1996 through 1998. Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal won three in a row for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 through 2002. Hakeem Olajuwon won for Houston in 1994 and 1995, Kobe Bryant did for the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, LeBron James did for Miami in 2012 and 2013, and Kevin Durant did it for Golden State in 2017 and 2018.
Jerry West was the award&rsquo;s first winner in 1969. It has been named for Russell since 2009.
THREE&rsquo;S WIN
As one might guess, it&rsquo;s difficult to make up a significant disparity in 3-pointers made.
Teams that were outscored by 15 or more points from 3-point range this season won only 20.8% of the time &mdash; going 94-348 in those contests.
IGUODALA&rsquo;S FAREWELL
Golden State&rsquo;s Andre Iguodala has said he is retiring when this season ends. He wanted to go back to the Warriors for a farewell, and the Warriors welcomed him back for many reasons &mdash; what he brings at this time of year among them.
No player in this year&rsquo;s playoffs has played, counting actual appearances only, in more postseason wins than Iguodala. He has appeared in 103 playoff wins, five more than Philadelphia&rsquo;s Danny Green, eight more than Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant, 16 more than Miami&rsquo;s Udonis Haslem and 17 more than Warriors teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
THE REFEREES
Tom Washington is working the NBA playoffs for the 24th time and Scott Foster was selected as part of the postseason referee corps for the 22nd time. They&rsquo;re the senior members of a 36-person group that will work games in Round 1.
There are three playoff newcomers: Eric Dalen, Mitchell Ervin and Justin Van Duyne.
Foster has worked 201 playoff games, while Washington has worked 172. Other veterans in this year&rsquo;s playoffs include Tony Brothers and James Capers (163 games apiece), Marc Davis (161), Ed Malloy (121), Bill Kennedy (120), Zach Zarba (117) and John Goble (100).
The rest of the first-round officials are: Brent Barnaky, Curtis Blair, Nick Buchert, Kevin Cutler, JB DeRosa, Kane Fitzgerald, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, Pat Fraher, Jacyn Goble, David Guthrie, Courtney Kirkland, Karl Lane, Eric Lewis, Mark Lindsay, Tre Maddox, Rodney Mott, Gediminas Petraitis, Michael Smith, Ben Taylor, Josh Tiven, Scott Twardoski, James Williams and Sean Wright.
The NBA also selected eight alternates &mdash; including Lauren Holtkamp, the only woman to make this season&rsquo;s list. If picked for a game, Holtkamp would join Violet Palmer as the only female referees to work a postseason contest.

The AP's Tim Reynolds ties a bow on the 2021-22 NBA regular season and prepares us for the playoffs.

Playoff time: 10 things to know about the NBA's postseason

With respect to Juwan Howard and the University of Michigan men&rsquo;s basketball team, the second- and third-best upsets of the Men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament in the Round of 32 &mdash; after Saint Peter&rsquo;s stunning Murray State &mdash; came at the hands of the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes and No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones.
In the Midwest Regional, we already saw a classic 12/5 upset in the opening round, featuring Atlantic-10 champion Richmond outlasting Big Ten champion Iowa 67-63 on Thursday. Miami got by USC 68-66 in a 10/7 win on Friday, as did 11-seeded Iowa State in beating No. 6 LSU in a 59-54 victory.
But on Sunday after, Iowa State shut down the third-seeded University of Wisconsin Badgers in Milwaukee 54-49. The stunner was followed by Miami blowing out No. 2 Auburn and expected top-three NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith 79-61 later that evening.
This sets the stage for a seemingly improbable Sweet 16 matchup between two double-digit seeds, which has only happened four other times in the tournament&rsquo;s history.
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The Miami (FL) Hurricanes have a forecast 78% chance to win against The Iowa State Cyclones with a spread of -5.0/5.0 and an over/under of 139.0. The Miami (FL) Hurricanes are 0 - 0 against The Iowa State Cyclones in the 2021-22 Season.
&mdash; Friday, March 25th Iowa State Cyclones @ Miami (FL) Hurricanes</blockquote>

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In 1997, No. 10 seed Providence &mdash; led by God Shammgod &mdash; beat No. 14 Chattanooga 71-65, or as the Washington Post put it, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1997/03/22/providence-gets-help-from-god/3f1b5666-3f30-4f88-b6f0-8d046204a8d8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GOT HELP FROM GOD</a>.&rdquo; Other notable players on Providence then? Longtime Indiana Pacer forward Austin Croshere and subsequent Big East scoring champion Jamel Thomas. You may also remember the latter from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltkGPCGu-WY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Through The Fire</a>, the Sebastian Telfair documentary from 2005.
In 2011, No. 11 VCU outlasted No. 10 Florida State 72-71 in overtime, and subsequently defeated No. 1 Kansas 71-61 in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four that year.
In 2014, No. 11 Dayton defeated No. 10 Stanford 82-72, led by 18 points from current NBA G League guard Jordan Sibert.
Lastly, and most recently in 2016, No. 10 Syracuse slipped by No. 11 Gonzaga with a 63-60 victory. Guided by first-round picks Malachi Richardson (2016) and Tyler Lydon (2017) &mdash; along with 2016 second-rounder Michael Gbinije &mdash; the Orange claimed victory over No.1 Virginia in the Elite Eight.
Both VCU and Syracuse lost in the national semifinals in 2011 and 2016, respectively.
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(Back when putting mainstream music in highlights was acceptable.)
Additionally, there have been 15 double-digit-seeded teams to crack the Elite Eight, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Eight">according to the NCAA Tournament's Wiki</a>. (Oh, come on. I don&rsquo;t use them for much, but don&rsquo;t act like they didn&rsquo;t get you through college, too!)
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This Miami-Iowa State matchup obviously guarantees that at least one double-digit seed will advance to the Elite Eight.
This Miami team has experienced some distinct highs of any squad left in the tournament this season, considering its standing as a No. 10 seed. After an inconsistent 4-3 start to their season, the Hurricanes won nine straight games from Dec. 1 through Jan. 8, highlighted by a win over then-second-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor, 76-74, capping a 5-0 start to ACC play.
Additionally, they Kimbo Sliced the North Carolina Tar Heels in the face 10 days later with an 85-57 victory, which was sandwiched in between two one-point losses to Florida State, who isn&rsquo;t in any postseason this year. Again, inconsistency from The U.
Most notably, the Canes have one of the oldest teams in all of Division I. Due to COVID's effect on college sports seasons, Miami players were subsequently offered an extra year of eligibility without consequence, and have taken advantage of it. The Canes have an average age of 21.38, <a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/college/2022/01/15/miami-hurricanes-5-1-start-acc-due-jim-larranaga-healthy-roster/9198049002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making them the oldest bunch in the ACC and ninth in all of Division I</a>. Kameron McGusty, Charlie Moore and Sam Waardenberg are 3 of Miami&rsquo;s 5 leading scorers, and all of them are sixth-year seniors.
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Though McGusty leads the Canes in scoring with 17.5 points per game &mdash; and was the team&rsquo;s lone <a href="https://theacc.com/news/2022/3/6/athlete-awards-acc-unveils-2021-22-mens-basketball-awards.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All-ACC First-Team selection</a> &mdash; junior guard Isaiah Wong has been the team&rsquo;s breakout star in the tournament. Wong, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31769253/isaiah-wong-withdraw-nba-draft-rejoin-miami-hurricanes-junior-season">who entered the 2021 NBA Draft before returning to school</a>, dropped 22 points on 7 of 12 shooting against USC; he followed it up with 21 points on 8 of 18 shooting in the win over Auburn while also pulling down 6 rebounds. Between the two games, the 2022 All-ACC Third-Teamer has made 13 of his 14 attempts from the free-throw line.
Iowa State is 304th in points per game, but 20th in fewest points allowed. So, if the Cyclones have their way, they&rsquo;ll be looking to ground the Canes, who are 77th in points and 35th in Offensive Rating out of 358 D-I programs. The Cyclones were ranked as high as No. 8 earlier this season, and were in the top-25 for nine straight weeks from December through February &mdash; largely thanks to a 12-0 start. Iowa State's big wins this season included upsets over No. 25 Xavier and No. 9 Memphis in November, both while unranked. &nbsp;
Former Penn State and St. Bonaventure guard Izaiah Brockington arrived to Iowa State following last season, and won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team for his efforts. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Brockington is the Cyclones' leading scorer and rebounder at 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot freshman Tyrese Hunter became a constant presence in the Iowa State backcourt, averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 assists en route to Big 12 Rookie of the Year honors.
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Hunter and Brockington combined for 42 of the Cyclones' 59 points in Round 1.
Additionally, the Cyclones have senior guard Gabe Kalscheur, who is averaging 9.5 points per game this season. Kalscheur exploded for 22 points on 10 of 19 shooting in ISU's win over Wisconsin.
The winner between Miami and Iowa State on Friday night will face the winner of Kansas and Providence this coming Sunday night, which could potentially give us yet another double-digit seed in the Final Four.
We'll see if one of these teams can continue an improbable run through the weekend.&nbsp;
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Bryan Fonseca revisits the history of double-digit matchups in the Sweet 16 and previews the Canes-Cyclones clash.

Double-digit seeds Miami, Iowa State to improbably meet in Sweet 16

For all the handwringing this summer over Damian Lillard's happiness in Portland, the Trail Blazers guard is staying put, hopeful the team's moves will pay off.
The biggest, of course, was parting ways with coach Terry Stotts after nine seasons. Portland hired Chauncey Billups, who has no prior experience as an NBA head coach.
The nucleus of Lillard, guard CJ McCollum and center Jusuf Nurkic remains intact, but Portland shored up the roster with the addition of Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller and Ben McLemore. Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter have moved on.
While the team didn't strike any splashy offseason deals, Lillard believes the Blazers are in a better place,
&ldquo;Obviously at the end of last season, I wanted to see our roster improve, I wanted us to have a better chance to win,&rdquo; Lillard said. "And we had our conversations throughout the summer about what that looked like and how we could take steps in that direction, and I come into this season with faith that that&rsquo;s going to happen and that we&rsquo;re going to do that.&rdquo;
Portland finished 42-30 last season and earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The team won 10 of its final 12 regular-season games but the playoffs ended quickly with the Blazers eliminated by Denver in the opening round.
Lillard is entering his 10th NBA season. The closest he&rsquo;s come to a title was a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2019.
He ranked third in the NBA with an average of 28.8 points last season, and was in the top 10 with 7.5 assists. But it may be Portland's last season with their All-Star and Olympian, unless the team gets results.
&ldquo;I think we all know we've got to get over the hump,&rdquo; Nurkic said.
ANFERNEE'S OPPORTUNITY
Portland didn't make any moves for a proven backup point guard in the offseason, an issue that's plagued the Blazers in recent years. McCollum has taken on those duties at times.
Anfernee Simons, going into his fourth year in the NBA, is looking to fill the role.
When Lillard was given the night off in a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, Simons scored 24 points.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s continued to make strides and stay aggressive. I want him to always just be confident," Billups said. "Even some nights those shots aren&rsquo;t going to be falling, just him being aggressive and getting spots he wants to get to and playmaking.&rdquo;
MORE INVOLVED
Nurkic is excited about taking on a greater offensive role this season.
Nurkic was frustrated with how he was used last season under Stotts, who leaned on him defensively. Nurkic averaged 11.5 points and nine rebounds last season but missed time because of a broken wrist.
Billups told Nurkic in the offseason that he'd expand his presence on both ends. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for a big year personally for me and the team," Nurkic said.
VACCINATION STATUS
The Blazers are 100% vaccinated among the players and coaching staff. Lillard said when the vaccinations became available, he wanted to line up his whole family for the shot.
&ldquo;I have a lot of people in my family who I&rsquo;m tight with and spend a lot of time around, and I&rsquo;m just not going to put their health or their lives in danger because I have to go do research,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;As a kid I had to get shots my whole life, before I went to college I had to get shots. And I couldn&rsquo;t tell you one thing about any of them.&rdquo;
FRAUD CASE
Trail Blazers assistant coach Milt Palacio was among 18 former NBA players who were charged in federal court this month with defrauding the league&rsquo;s health and welfare benefit plan. Authorities said the scam involved claiming fictitious medical and dental expenses.
As a result, Palacio was placed on administrative leave by the Blazers.
&ldquo;The federal investigation is independent of the Trail Blazers organization and we will have no further comment pending the outcome of the legal process,&rdquo; the team said.
Former Trail Blazers Sebastian Telfair, Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson were also charged.
BUSY OFFSEASON
The Blazers backcourt didn't rest in the offseason.
Lillard got married to his college sweetheart, won an Olympic gold medal, and released new music. Not to be outdone, CJ McCollum announced he and his wife are expecting their first child, bought a winery and that he was named president of the NBA Players Association.
Lillard brought his gold medal to the team's annual media day, asking whether he should pass it around to the reporters present. Then he quickly changed his mind: &ldquo;Y&rsquo;all can&rsquo;t touch my medal.&rdquo;

For all the handwringing this summer over Damian Lillard's happiness in Portland, the Trail Blazers guard is staying put.

Damian Lillard embarking on pivotal season with Blazers

More than a dozen former NBA players have been charged in New York federal court in an alleged multi-million-dollar health insurance fraud scheme to rip off the league's benefit plan, according to an indictment unsealed in the Southern District on Thursday.
Source: <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nba-veterans-arrested-in-alleged-health-insurance-fraud-scheme-sources/3311071/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wnbc_twt_shr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Dienst/NBC New York</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;According to <a href="https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/status/1446122432700424195" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Winter</a>, the players include: Glen Davis, Sebastian Telfair, Darius Miles, Will Bynum, Tony Allen and Shannon Brown, among others. Dienst reports that the players participated in the scheme from 2017-2020, "by submitting fake reimbursement claims for medical and dental services that were never actually rendered." The fraud claims total up to about $3.9 million.

Glen Davis, Sebastian Telfair and Darius Miles were among the players listed in the scheme.

At least 18 former NBA players indicted in alleged insurance fraud scheme

Here is the latest news on the Top 25 Free Agents in the NBA for the 2014-15 season, as ranked by Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.

Sebastian

Playoff time: 10 things to know about the NBA's postseason

Double-digit seeds Miami, Iowa State to improbably meet in Sweet 16

Damian Lillard embarking on pivotal season with Blazers

At least 18 former NBA players indicted in alleged insurance fraud scheme

Sheridan’s Top 25 Free Agents: July 9 Edition – LeBron going to Cleveland