The NCAA Tournament is designed to trigger chaos.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are often determined by hot goalies and strange bounces.
Every team is one loss from elimination in the NFL playoffs.
Just six teams since 1998 have won the World Series with the best record in baseball.
The NBA — along with college football — has long been an exception.
For decades, the contenders have been clear before the season. You can count them on one hand. Usually, you had a finger or three to spare.
This rarely interrupted pattern was shattered when Kevin Durant left Golden State in 2019, and it remains fragmented four years later.
Turns out, Durant coming to Brooklyn was the best thing that could have happened for the league.
There is more mystery, more intrigue, more fan bases with legitimate hope of an NBA title. It also means there is more pressure for more teams than ever before.
With the regular season ending Sunday, here’s a breakdown of the teams with the most at stake:
House money
21. Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder topped their preseason over/under win total (23.5) in January, even without second overall pick Chet Holmgren. Currently on the West play-in bubble, this exciting young core, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, will be making deep playoff runs soon enough.
20. Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan have hit their ceiling together. The Bulls will participate in a play-in game despite a step back from last season, but the first round is as good as it will get for this core.
19. Brooklyn Nets: A collapse would’ve been understandable in the aftermath of Kevin Durant’s and Kyrie Irving’s departures, but Mikal Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie wouldn’t allow it. The Nets have won five of their past seven games and have the inside track to the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, which is remarkable given how chaotic the season has been in Brooklyn. It should also be depressing, recalling the Nets looked like a title contender this season while winning 18 of 20 games.
18. Toronto Raptors: Hope is already lost for this underachieving team that has struggled offensively, accelerating the likely departure of head coach Nick Nurse after the season. The afterglow of the Raptors’ 2019 title is still recent enough to provide some warmth.
17. New Orleans Pelicans: Hopes were high at the start of the season. Then Zion Williamson suffered a hamstring injury, which has sidelined him for three months. Williamson’s presence could make the Pelicans a contender, but will the team ever be able to count on the 22-year-old, who has appeared in an average of 38 games per season since entering the league?
Puncher’s chance
16. Miami Heat: This team was one shot away from reaching the NBA Finals last season. This season, they’re running on fumes, but the toughness of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo make the Heat a scary Round 1 opponent, should the Heat even get that far.
15. Sacramento Kings: The season is already a success, with Sacramento having clinched its first playoff berth in 17 years and an unlikely division title. But a 3-seed shouldn’t just be happy to be here. Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox lead a talented group capable of much more in a wide-open West.
14. New York Knicks: The status of Julius Randle’s sprained ankle will determine the team’s ceiling, but a first-round upset of the Cavaliers is still possible without him, given recent contributions from Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Obi Toppin. A lackluster effort resembling the 2021 first-round loss to the Hawks won’t suffice.
13. Cleveland Cavaliers: The Donovan Mitchell trade has elevated this young and talented core into a legitimate sleeper in the East. But it will require at least another year together — and the expected leaps of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland — before the Cavaliers can expect to raise a banner.
12. Memphis Grizzlies: Expectations were reset by Ja Morant’s suspension, but the Grizzlies remain a threat to come out of the West, if Steven Adams returns from a knee injury at full strength. If not, Morant is 23. So is Jaren Jackson Jr. There is time.
Buyer’s remorse
11. Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks gave up three first-round draft picks, a pick swap and Danilo Gallinari for Dejounte Murray, only to finish with a worse record than they did last season. Hawks president Travis Schlenk was pushed out this season. So was head coach Nate McMillan. It’s hard to believe Trae Young led this team to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago.
10. Minnesota Timberwolves: The Timberwolves gave up four first-round draft picks, a pick swap and five players — including Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley — for Rudy Gobert, only to finish with a worse record than they did last season. A surprising playoff run is the only way an all-time disastrous trade receives any validation.
9. Dallas Mavericks: One year after reaching the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks may not even qualify for the play-in round. Dallas’ defense will be its demise, worsened by the trade for Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks are 8-12 in games Irving has played. Plus, Irving is a free agent, setting up Mark Cuban’s gamble to look even worse in a few months.
Title or bust
8. Golden State Warriors: There is no real pressure, coming off an unexpected championship run — their fourth since 2015 — during which Steph Curry silenced the last traces of criticism. However, the Warriors gave up No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman — suddenly revived in Detroit — to reacquire role player Gary Payton II in hopes of making another title run. For this core, it could be the last dance with Draymond Green heading for free agency and the Warriors already paying the largest luxury-tax bill in league history.
7. Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers would be near the top of this list if not for Paul George’s recent knee injury, leaving his postseason return uncertain. The Clippers began the season as the favorite in the West. They have been pegged for a ring multiple times since acquiring Kahwi Leonard and George — the exorbitant cost included five first-round picks and Gilgeous-Alexander — in 2019, yet still haven’t reached the NBA Finals in four seasons with the two stars, largely because they’ve played fewer than 40 games per season together. Now both players are on the wrong side of 30.
6. Los Angeles Lakers: Who knows how many more runs the Lakers have before hitting rock-bottom again? LeBron James is 38 and no longer the ironman who rarely missed a game. For now, he is healthy, and Anthony Davis is, too, having carried the team through James’ most recent absence. With midseason trades improving the supporting cast, the Lakers can beat any team in the league. However, they haven’t won a playoff round since winning the 2020 championship.
5. Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton’s injury cost the Bucks a chance to win back-to-back titles last year. This year, he has played just 33 games (including an early departure from Wednesday night’s game due to knee soreness), but Giannis Antetokounmpo still led Milwaukee to the best record in the NBA. This core will be immortalized in Milwaukee for securing the franchise’s first championship in five decades, but it would be devastating to fumble another opportunity with the best player in the league in his prime. They are the favorites to win it again.
4. Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid looks set to win his first MVP. By doing so, he will face more scrutiny than ever. Embiid is in his seventh season, but the 76ers are still searching for their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2001. A deep run will be possible, but tough, with potential matchups against the Celtics and/or Bucks coming without home-court advantage.
3. Phoenix Suns: Two years ago, the Suns coughed up a chance for their first NBA title. Last year, they spent months looking like a juggernaut and collapsed in a Game 7 on their own floor. Now, they’ve gone all-in on Kevin Durant — giving up Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected first-round picks — despite the 34-year-old’s shaky health. They lack depth and experience together, but are 8-0 with Durant in the lineup, making the Suns the betting favorite to win the West as a 4-seed.
2. Boston Celtics: The Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference Finals four times in the past six years. They fell two wins shy of a title last year. Anything less than the Celtics’ first championship since 2008 would be unacceptable for a team that looked unstoppable in the first half of the season. They may not be able to do it without a healthy Robert Williams. They definitely won’t be able to do it without Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown reaching superstar levels.
1. Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic, the back-to-back MVP, soon could face Steve Nash-like backlash if the Nuggets don’t break through this postseason. Since Jamal Murray was the catalyst for the oft-forgotten 2020 Western Conference Finals run in the bubble, the Nuggets have won a combined three playoff games. Their recent struggles suggest the pressure is already present. The top seed will never have a more wide-open path to the Finals.
Today’s back page
Read more:
⚾ VACCARO: Early-season Mets aren’t the finished product yet
⚾ Gerrit Cole trying to help this Yankees starter reach next level
⛳ Brooks Koepka rediscovering his game at Masters … and gets off the hook in rules controversy
🏀 Mitchell Robinson’s rebounding key to big night from young Knicks trio
Citi feel
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — again.
The past few days will disappear from memory: The back-to-back shutouts. The pitchers abused like piñatas. The sweep in Milwaukee.
The Mets’ home opener — against the Marlins — on Friday afternoon temporarily cleans the slate.
Citi Field will never feel more inviting. A team with World Series aspirations will feel the first-inning energy attached to a contender, rather than the wrath that may come during an equivalent midseason slump.
The anticipated call-up of top prospect Francisco Alvarez — replacing catcher Omar Narvaez, who is headed to the injured list because of a strained left calf — prior to first pitch only will add to the optimism, enhancing the belief, built by Steve Cohen’s record-setting payroll, that better times are ahead this season.
The performance of starter Tylor Megill will determine how long the love will last.
In his first start of the season — replacing the injured Justin Verlander — Megill picked up a win against Miami, allowing two runs and five hits over five innings, while striking out seven.
History on the card at Augusta
The first 18 holes at Augusta are in the books. Here’s what you need to know as Round 2 kicks off this morning:
• Tiger Woods needs to turn back the clock when he tees off at 12:54 p.m. The 47-year-old, five-time champion finished Thursday with his worst opening round at the Masters since 2005. At 2-over 74, Woods is currently tied for 54th and in danger of missing the cut for the first time since 1996.
• LIV Golf doesn’t need blood money to shake up the sport this week. Brooks Koepka, who has battled injury and missed the past two cuts at the Masters, is in position to bring the fledgling league some rare, positive press after shooting 7-under 65 to own a share of the lead with Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm.
• Scottie Scheffler can make history. The PGA’s top-ranked player is just three shots back of the lead and in position to become the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.
• Rory McIlroy likely won’t make history. The PGA’s second-ranked player looks no closer to seizing the one major to elude him following a first-round 72 that put him seven shots back of the lead.
• The reigning U.S. Amateur champion looks like a pro. Sam Bennett tied a Masters amateur record by shooting a 32 on the front nine, and didn’t record one bogey during his first career round at Augusta, finishing 4-under 68. It was the lowest round by an amateur at the Masters since 2001.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
