Thunder/Grizzlies, Cavs/Heat

NO. 1 OKLAHOMA CITY VS. NO. 8 MEMPHIS

C: Isaiah Hartenstein – 11 and 11 and four assists and floater form from the dunker's spot which will be emulated throughout NCAA hoops next season, you watch. So I don't have to.
PF: Chet Holmgren – 15 and eight in 27 minutes and his block rate (up from last year) woulda ranked second in the NBA (Wembanyama) had Chet qualified. Solid work for playing a new position.
F: Jalen Williams – up to 21 a game on average, starting to get to the line, defense never left, doesn't chafe when left off ball.
G/F: Luguentz Dort – 42 percent on corner threes, 41 percent overall, you know about the defense, fifth consecutive year scoring double-figure points, 12.2 career average for a man once thought to be a perimeter liability.
G: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – A perimeter liability for opposing teams. Scored nearly 33 a game this season but probably contributed the best all-around campaign of any player.

Cason Wallace is a stealmeister who can shoot threes but he's attempted 74 free throws in 150 career NBA games ... Aaron Wiggins is a perimeter defender with size, exactly what the Thunder needed, 69 turnovers in 76 games ... Alex Caruso went for way more steals, cut his turnover rate in half (compared to 2022-23) and hits 40 percent on corner threes.

Jaylin Williams suffered through injury bouts all season but there isn't anything this guy doesn't do well, blocks shots and clears boards and talks defensively, hits 40 percent of his threes and makes the extra pass ... Isaiah Joe made over 80 percent of his shots near the rim in 2024-25, an outstanding percentage for Shaq (who never cleared 80 percent).

Kenrich Williams comes in, plays defense, calls out the other team's plays, and promises his teammates he'll get a whole load of Waco buddies to drive up 35 and settle things if the Thunder don't win a ring this season.

SUN, TUE, THU, SAT, MON, THU, SAT

The Grizzlies added Marvin Bagley III to the rotation and why not. He will help with lobs, teams have to pop OKC in the nose.

The Grizzlies lost all three games to Oklahoma City this season. There will be a point at which Ja Morant ability to live in the paint paired with Zach Edey's ability to stand in the paint will combine for terrible things for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not this season. Not unless the Grizzlies start playing much differently, and soon.

Oklahoma City in four

NO. 1 CLEVELAND VS. NO. 8 MIAMI

C: Jarrett Allen – this is a copycat league and NBA players are super superstitious. Yet NBA players watch this guy wave to the crowd before every game (before he goes 7-10 from the field every night) and yet NBA players don't begin their performances waving to the crowd?

F/C: Evan Mobley – ultra interested in watching Mobley adapt to long series. Will he grow bored and frustrated, or relish in discovering new quirks in old opponents?
F: Max Strus – from Chicago, knows all about relish, you gotta watch where you leave those packets because that stuff'll get all over the car, the gearshift, that little flap for crumbs on the right side of the driver's seat. Cucumber everywhere. Anyway, Strus is back in the starting lineup, he is more accurate in that role.
G: Donovan Mitchell – about to play his 55th postseason game, never worked more than 10 in a playoff run. Still, Mitchell has the patience and legs to outlast this two-month burst.

His problem is too many other teams: Boston, OKC, two Los Angeles clubs, maybe Denver, most of the Warriors, the heart of Milwaukee, bits of the Rockets, have the same visualization in place. The league is parity-rich, teams better take advantage when it looks like their turn. A championship requires acting like it is your turn, but patiently.

PG: Darius Garland – if a championship speedwalk is afoot, Garland might be Cleveland's steadiest scorer.

DeAndre Hunter missed out on the final two-thirds of Atlanta's 2021 Eastern finals run with a torn meniscus, had to watch all the fun from the bench. Worked up exceptional basketball in Cleveland, always impressive for someone moving midseason, let alone fleeing the only NBA city he's ever known.

Dean Wade hit the league average from three-point land in 2024-25 but he's not supposed to be average, like Clark Kent in Three-Point Land, or Superman on Superman's Planet, he's supposed to be Superman on Earth, 40-something percent. Superman on Earth can't shoot but 36 percent from the field. I haven't seen any of the 'Superman' movies since Reagan was president ... Sam Merrill hit only 37 percent of his threes but they guard him like he hits 57 percent of his threes and he kind of looks like the bad guy in that fourth 'Superman' none of us saw, not even to avoid that afternoon's Iran Contra hearings.

Isaac Okoro was the same this season, he started for a while but found his way to the bench after some underwhelming, if good, performances. Fine for Cleveland, the Cavaliers appear to have built around him. Not that way. The other way. Like when you plan around someone being late and not bringing the ice they said they would.

Ty Jerome was hilariously potent this season, a Sixth Man candidate, sometimes the best guard on the court for a Cavalier team featuring two of the best guards in the world ... Fans should deluge their team's front offices and demand the put Javonte Green on the end of their favorite team's bench in 2025-26 ... Craig Porter Jr. is ready, his aim is down. Just waiting for someone get in foul trouble.

We knew things would change under Kenny Atkinson. There would be a bump.

We didn't know it would be a bounce. That Kenny and his staff and his willing and eager players would jump from No. 18 to tops overall offensively. We thought they'd outwork opponents in the regular season, but had no idea the output would appear so sustainable.

That changes on Sunday, against a familiar and unremarkable opponent. Cleveland beat Miami twice in three attempts in 2024-25, Jimmy Butler around and trying during Miami's lone win.

The Cavaliers kept at it in the regular season, one game at a time, whatever. So they say: Cleveland played the Celtics or Knicks in their heads every night, even during the afternoon games. Can Cleveland keep its precision, not wear itself out when it realizes it can't win two rounds in two games on a Sunday and Tuesday? Can it keep its wits if Boston makes it to the Eastern finals in eight games?

The Heat will play 48 minutes of quality basketball regardless of opponent, and the Heat will produce at least one 18-point quarter per game regardless of opponent. Miami should be good for Cleveland's ongoing diligence but also its confidence.

SUN, WED, SAT, MON, WED, FRI, SUN

Cavaliers in four

JUMPIN' JACK FLASH

Previously: Indiana & Milwaukee, New York & Detroit
Previously: Minnesota & Los Angeles, Denver & Los Angeles
Previously: Boston & Orlando, Houston & Golden State

Thank you for reading!