Starting 5, May 8: Top seeds take Game 1s, Rudy Gobert joins elite club

When you open up the Conference Semifinals with a 22-point win…

THE LINEUP

What’s inside today’s edition? 

OKC Stays Sharp: OKC remains unbeaten in the 2024 Playoffs with a Game 1 win over Dallas

Celtics Take Game 1: Jaylen Brown and Derrick White lead Boston past Cleveland

Raising Their Game: How the Knicks have stepped up in place of an injured All-Star

Rudy Wins DPOY: Gobert joins Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo as only four-time winners

MVP Unveiled Tonight: It’s down to Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Last night’s scores & what to watch today.

After a Game 1 thriller, the Knicks and Pacers square off for Game 2 in the only game of the night (8 ET, TNT).

He’s Back: Reggie Miller – the Pacers legend who played a starring role in this rivalry in the 90s – returns to MSG for the Game 2 broadcast.

Before tonight’s game, the Kia Most Valuable Player will be announced (7:30 ET, TNT) with Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic as the three finalists.

1. THUNDER PULL AWAY IN 4TH TO TAKE GAME 1

New Round, Same Thunder: After opening their first Playoffs in a decade with a First Round sweep, the Thunder had to wait more than a week to play again.

They picked up where they left off as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) led OKC to a 117-95 win over Dallas. | Recap

• Sharing The Load: Chet Holmgren (19 pts, 7 reb, 3 blk) and Jalen Williams (10 of his 18 pts in the 4th) combined for 37 points for OKC
• Mic’d Up J-Dub on the OKC Atmosphere: “This is shaking the floor, no cap”
• 3s For Everybody: OKC made 16 3s, with seven different players making multiple treys. Aaron Wiggins had three, while SGA, Chet, J-Dub, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace had two

Weathering The Storm: Dallas opened the 3rd quarter on a 12-4 run to cut OKC’s nine-point halftime lead down to a single point and force an OKC timeout.

• OKC came out of the timeout with back-to-back 3s by Joe and Dort to ignite a 14-4 run to push the lead back to double digits
• The Thunder led 89-79 at the end of the 3rd and took complete control in the 4th, outscoring the Mavs 28-16, sparked by J-Dub scoring 10 straight Thunder points in the span of 96 seconds

Dallas Backcourt: Kyrie Irving (20 pts, 3 ast) and Luka Doncic (19 pts, 9 ast) combined for 39 points – their lowest combined total of the Playoffs – in the loss.

• OKC held the duo to 39.4% (13-of-33) shooting and 4-of-12 from 3-point range and allowing only a combined 13 free throws
• Daniel Gafford (16 pts, 11 reb, 5 blk) posted his first career Playoff double-double

2. BROWN, WHITE LEAD CELTICS TO GAME 1 WIN

Brown, White lead Celtics: Game 1 saw the duo of Jaylen Brown and Derrick White combine for 57 points and 11 3s and push the Celtics to a 120-95 win over the Cavs. | Recap

• Brown (32 pts, 12-18 FG, 4 3s) scored 15 of his points in the 1st quarter as the Celtics exploded for 40 points, showing no rust from a six-day gap between rounds
• ️ Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla on Brown: “He takes a ton of pride in just growing as a player… every year, every game, every day.”
• ️ Jayson Tatum on Brown: “Year after year the game’s continued to slow down for him. I see everyday the work that he puts in, on the court and watching film.”

• White (25 pts, 7-12 3P, 5 ast) became the only player this Playoffs to post multiple games with 7+ 3s
• ️ White: “I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if I score zero or score however many I scored today. When we win, I’m doing enough.”
• Tatum (18 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast, 3 blk) had an off shooting night (7-19 FG, 0-5 3s), but found other ways to impact the game

Mitchell’s 33 Not Enough: Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 33 points to go with six boards, five assists and four 3s just two days removed from leading the Cavs to a Game 7 win in the opening round.

• Strong Start: Mitchell became the 4th player in NBA history to score 30+ points in six straight Playoff series openers, joining Michael Jordan (3x), Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain

3. RAISING THEIR GAME

A team missing its second-leading scorer can often mean a recipe for dashed expectations in the Playoffs.

• Nobody told that to the New York Knicks
• With three-time All-Star Julius Randle (24 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 5 apg) out since late January, the Knicks have collectively raised their games to try to fill that void

It begins with Jalen Brunson, who has elevated from first-time All-Star to unstoppable force over the past three-plus months.

• First 46 games (through Jan. 31): 26.8 ppg (12th in NBA)
• Final 31 games (since Feb. 1): 31.6 ppg (2nd in NBA)
• First 7 Playoff games: 36.6 ppg (leads NBA)

40+ Pts Streak: Brunson has scored 40+ points in four straight games (only Jerry West has a longer streak in Playoff history)

• ️ Brunson: “I’m not going in thinking I need to score 40. That’s not my mindset at all. My mindset is to be aggressive and to make plays for myself and for others. …
• “I’m just happy to have the group of guys that I do and I just know that we’re going to fight every single day.”

Brunson is far from alone when it comes to stepping up during this current Knicks run.

• Josh Hart: The Playoffs’ iron man (league-high 46.6 mpg in the postseason) has grabbed a Playoff-high 26 offensive reb, while standing just 6-foot-4
• Clutch Shooting: Donte DiVincenzo has a team-high 19 Playoff 3s, including a pair in the final minute. Josh Hart also has a pair of clutch 3s, while OG Anunoby is shooting 75% in the clutch
• With the Knicks getting news Tuesday that Mitchell Robinson will be out at least 6-8 weeks with an ankle injury, who will be next to step up?

For the Pacers, they got a huge effort from their bench in Game 1 (46 pts on 61.8% shooting). But can they get a bounce back game from their starters in Game 2?

• In four Playoff wins, Indy’s starters average 89.8 ppg
• In three Playoff losses, that average drops to 68.7 ppg

4. GOBERT JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB OF DEFENDERS

Rudy Gobert just joined one of the NBA’s most elite clubs.

The Timberwolves center was named the 2023-24 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, earning the honor for the fourth time in his career.

Gobert joins Hall of Famers Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only three players to win four DPOYs.

• Mutombo: 1995 (DEN), 1997 and 1998 (ATL), 2001 (PHI)
• Wallace: 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006 (DET)
• Gobert: 2018, 2019 and 2021 (UTA), 2024 (MIN)

Led by Gobert, the Wolves had the best defensive rating (108.4), allowed the fewest points per game (106.5) and held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (45.0) in the NBA.

• Watch: The award announcement and interview on Inside the NBA
• ️ Gobert: “It’s great, but you can’t win alone”

Minnesota’s defensive mindset was locked in during training camp.

• ️ Gobert: “We wanted to be a defensive-minded team and we want to be the best in the league. … But it comes with a price. It comes with doing the dirty work, doing the things that you don’t see on the stats and doing it consistently.”

With that mindset and defensive habits developed over the season, the Wolves had an exemplary defensive effort in Monday’s Game 2 against Denver even with Gobert out of the lineup.

• ️ Gobert: “They did the job… they did it in incredible fashion defensively and offensively… it was something that I’ll never forget.”

Gobert changed Minnesota’s defensive culture, and he put up the numbers to go along with it.

• Defensive Win Shares: 12.5 (1st in NBA)
• Defensive Rebounds: 9.2 (4th)
• Blocks: 2.13 (6th)
• Rim Protection: 52% (4th)*
• FG% Difference Overall: -6.1 (2nd, opponents shot 6.1% lower than average when defended by Gobert)*
• FG% Difference Within 6ft: -13.7% (2nd)*

*Minimum 250 shots defended

Spin through a few select clips that showcase Rudy’s defensive dominance and versatility:

• Covering Ground: Rudy drops into the key in help position. Once the ball is passed to his man outside the arc, he closes out to prevent the 3. When the defender drives past him, he recovers and tracks him down for the block

• Steal & Slam: In addition to protecting the basket, Gobert is quick enough to play the passing lanes to get the deflection and steal, leading to a one-man fast break

• Defending The 3: In today’s NBA with 3-point shooters everywhere, the ability to close out on corner 3s – and either contest or get a block like Rudy does here – is key

5. TONIGHT: KIA MVP ANNOUNCEMENT

For the sixth straight season, the NBA’s top individual honor – the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player – will be awarded to a player born outside the U.S.

The current run of international MVPs began with back-to-back wins (2019 & 2020) by Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, followed by back-to-back wins (2021 & 2022) by Nikola Jokic of Serbia, and continued with the 2023 winner Joel Embiid of Cameroon.

This Season’s Finalists: Dallas’ Luka Doncic of Slovenia, OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada and Denver’s Jokic, of Serbia.

• A win by Luka or SGA would raise the total to seven international MVPs as they would join Hakeem Olajuwon, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis, Jokic and Embiid
• A win by Jokic would put him in ELITE company as only the ninth player to ever win at least three MVPs, joining Kareem (6), MJ and Russell (5), Wilt and LeBron (4), Moses, Larry and Magic (3)

Everyone’s Game: The international impact has not just been limited to the MVP award. This week, we’ve seen France represented twice with Victor Wembanayama and Rudy Gobert taking home hardware.

Here’s a full rundown of the awards that have gone out so far:

• Kia Rookie of the Year: Wembanyama (Spurs)
• Kia Defensive Player of the Year: Gobert (Wolves)
• Kia Clutch Player of the Year: Steph Curry (Warriors)
• Kia Sixth Man of the Year: Naz Reid (Wolves)
• Kia Most Improved Player: Tyrese Maxey (Sixers)
• NBA Coach of the Year: Mark Daigneault (Thunder)
• NBA Teammate of the Year: Mike Conley (Wolves)
• NBA Hustle Award: Alex Caruso (Bulls)