Hawks pulled off one of the rarest comebacks in playoff history, edging the Knicks 107–106 after trailing by 12 entering the 4th.
A wild comeback in the Garden.
An even bigger one a Mile High.
Two road wins. Two series tied. The other with a 2-0 lead.
Plus three more Game 2s tonight on NBC & Peacock:
76ers at Celtics (7 ET, Peacock)
Blazers at Spurs (8 ET, NBC & Peacock)
Rockets at Lakers (10:30 ET, NBC & Peacock)
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Wolves Rally: Minnesota takes back-and-forth game in Denver, evens series at 1-1
East Wins: Hawks stun Knicks in thriller, Cavs’ trio shines to take 2-0 lead
Blazers at Spurs: Fresh off unanimous Kia DPOY honors, Wemby seeks another win
Rockets at Lakers: How LeBron’s vision keyed Game 1, while Houston eyes a Game 2 answer
76ers at Celtics: Boston’s championship duo heats up as Philly looks to bounce back
BUT FIRST … ⏰
The NBA Playoffs continue tonight on NBC & Peacock, with the Celtics, Spurs and Lakers eyeing 2-0 series leads, while all three road teams aim to even the series.
Wemby Wins Kia DPOY: Victor Wembanyama has been named the unanimous 2025-26 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first unanimous winner and the youngest recipient (22) since the award began in 1982-83.
The Kia Clutch Player of the Year will be revealed tonight on Peacock at 6 ET, ahead of Sixers-Celtics (7 ET).
1. WOLVES HOWL BACK IN DENVER, EVEN SERIES AT 1-1
Nineteen down. On the road. Staring at a potential 2-0 series deficit against the hottest team in hoops.
The Wolves never blinked.
Instead, they stole home court in a rivalry that just keeps intensifying.
Wolves 119, Nuggets 114: Anthony Edwards (30 pts, 10 reb) and Julius Randle (24 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast) led Minnesota back from a 19-point deficit before halftime.
Then, Donte DiVincenzo (16 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast) delivered late to spoil big nights from Jamal Murray (30 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast) and Nikola Jokić (24 pts, 15 reb, 8 ast), evening the series 1-1 in a duel that saw seven ties and 15 lead changes. | Recap
Heavyweight Heat: Denver’s 39-25 1st quarter was answered by Minnesota’s 39-25 2nd, setting up a 2nd half where no lead grew larger than six.
Then, with Minnesota down one and 5:32 left, DiVincenzo changed the game.
First Strike: DiVincenzo’s go-ahead dish to Jaden McDaniels, followed by a running layup of his own, gave Minnesota its first lead of the 4th
Back & Forth: Aaron Gordon answered with a triple to cut the lead to one with 1:18 left, but DiVincenzo returned the favor 13 seconds later, pushing the lead back to four
Last Push: Jokić responded with a monster poster to reignite Ball Arena, then both teams traded free throws to leave Denver one last chance – down 3 with 15 ticks to play
DiVo Dagger: Jamal Murray couldn’t shake Minnesota’s pressure and missed a jumper. DiVincenzo came down with the board. Two passes later, he was dunking on the other end
His seven clutch points had completed the comeback and swung the series
Rally Cry: The 19-point comeback is the Wolves’ 2nd-largest in Playoff history. The first? A 20-point rally against Denver in Game 7 of the 2024 West Semifinals.
To pull it off, Minnesota had to do what few teams have managed all season: cool off Jokić and Murray.
Star Stoppers: Minnesota held Jokić and Murray to 4 combined points in the 4th on 2-of-12 shooting, with Rudy Gobert keyed on Jokić and McDaniels shadowing Murray
The Payoff: Denver managed just 21 4th-quarter points, its lowest-scoring quarter since March 22, resulting in its first loss in 13 games
Fuel To The Fire: The Wolves have now beaten the Nuggets 10 times in the regular season and Playoffs since 2024, the most by any team in that span
Up Next: The series heads to Minnesota for Game 3 on Thursday (9:30 ET, Prime)
2. IN THE EAST: HAWKS STUN KNICKS, CAVS KEEP COOKING
As one rivalry escalated in Denver, another delivered pure chaos in New York – capped by a last-second stunner.
Hawks 107, Knicks 106: Down 12 entering the 4th, Atlanta outscored New York 28-15 in the final frame behind a string of late stops and clutch buckets from CJ McCollum (32 pts, 6 ast), edging the Knicks in a wild final sequence that came down to the final shot. | Recap
The Rally: After leading 61-54 at the break, Karl-Anthony Towns (18 pts, 8 reb) dropped 14 in the 3rd to seize control, as New York entered the 4th up 91-79.
But the Hawks never went away. And then, they made their move.
The Run: After whittling the deficit to eight midway through the 4th, Atlanta used an 11-0 burst to take the lead, capped by back-to-back buckets from McCollum to silence the Garden with 2:08 left
Trading Blows: Jalen Brunson (29 pts, 7 ast) answered with a game-tying 3, but McCollum struck right back with a fadeaway. Then a Jalen Johnson jam put Atlanta up four with 10 ticks to play – its largest lead of the game
It Wasn’t Done Yet: Brunson responded with another triple, before McCollum was sent to the line with 4 seconds left. He missed both
Frantic Finish: Josh Hart grabbed the board and hit a streaking Mikal Bridges up the floor, but Johnson arrived for one final contest as Bridges’ jumper hit the front iron and bounced out at the buzzer
Series tied 1-1
Road Shock: Entering Monday, road teams were 31-1,296 in the Playoffs when trailing by 10+ entering the 4th quarter in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).
That’s a 2.3% win rate.
But Atlanta beat the odds by doing what got it here.
4th Quarter Fire: Boasting the league’s 4th-best scoring offense since the All-Star break – and the 3rd-best record – Atlanta turned up when it mattered most, shooting 72.2% in the 4th
Closing Clamps: Its defense also dug in, holding the Knicks to 15 points – their lowest-scoring 4th-quarter of the season
Co-Stars Deliver: The deciding bucket? Johnson’s jam from a Nickeil Alexander-Walker block, before one final stop to seal it
Up Next: The series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Thursday (7 ET, Prime)
Spida: scorching.
Beard: balling.
Cleveland: rocking.
Cavaliers 115, Raptors 105: If it wasn’t Donovan Mitchell (30 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast), it was James Harden (28 pts, 4 ast, 5 stl). If it wasn’t Harden, it was Evan Mobley (25 pts, 8 reb), as the Cavs led wire-to-wire to take a 2-0 series lead. | Recap
Spida Spark: It’s Mitchell’s 33rd career 30-point Playoff game, tying Steph Curry for the 4th-most since 2017-18 – Mitchell’s rookie season
Big Games, Big Production: Mitchell’s now posting 28.4 ppg in 65 career Playoff games, the 6th-highest scoring average in NBA history (min. 10 GP)
Core Clicking: Mitchell (13-23 FG), Harden (9-14 FG) and Mobley (11-13) shot a combined 33-of-50 (66%) from the floor, marking just the fourth time in franchise history that three Cavs scored 25+ points in the same Playoff game.
Up North: Scottie Barnes (26 pts, 5 ast) and RJ Barrett (22 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast) led the Raptors, who now head home looking to respond in Game 3 on Thursday (8 ET, Prime)
3. ON NBC: FRESH OFF KIA DPOY HONORS, WEMBY LEADS SPURS VS. BLAZERS
He recorded 197 blocks this season – 44 more than the next closest player.
He’s swatted 49.9% of his career opponents.
And now, Victor Wembanyama is the NBA’s first unanimous Kia Defensive Player of the Year – and the youngest player ever to win the award.
One night after making history offensively – becoming the first player to record 35+ points and 5+ 3s in his Playoff debut – Wemby etched his name in the record books defensively.
One hundred ballots. One hundred 1st-place votes. One 22-year-old phenom.
How’d he do it? With plays like this ⬆️
How special is this? See for yourself ⬇️
Rare Consensus: Steph Curry earned the first unanimous Kia MVP in 2016. In the 10 seasons since, there have been only two instances of a player collecting 100% of the 1st-place votes for a regular-season award
Those Two Instances? Wemby for the 2024 Kia Rookie of the Year, and now this
Legendary Club: Only two other players won the Kia ROY and DPOY in their career: Michael Jordan and David Robinson
Spurs Lineage: Wemby also joins Robinson (1992), Alvin Robertson (1986) and Kawhi Leonard (2015 & ‘16) as the fourth Spur to win the Kia DPOY – the most of any team
The Kia DPOY is Wemby’s. And he is a finalist for Kia MVP. But San Antonio’s sights are set on a bigger prize: the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Tonight (8 ET, NBC), that pursuit continues in Game 2 vs. Portland, as San Antonio looks to grab a 2-0 series lead.
Along with breaking the Spurs’ postseason debut scoring record in Game 1, Wemby’s fingerprints were all over the defensive side of the ball.
Game 1 Presence: Wemby recorded two blocks on Sunday, while contesting 16 shots and allowing just seven makes
What He Does: Wemby ranked 6th in defended field goal attempts (DFGA) this year with 1,155, allowing just 470 makes (40.7%)
Ctrl+Alt+Delete: That’s 8.7% lower than the expected make rate of those shots (49.4%) – the largest difference among the 218 players with 500+ DFGA this season
The Impact: With Wemby roaming the paint Sunday, the Blazers were held to 98 points, their lowest-scoring game since March 27
“He’s elite,” said Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter postgame. “One of the best defenses in the NBA when Wemby is on the floor … [we] got to be ready physically and mentally for the next game.”
4. ALSO ON NBC: LEBRON LEADS LAKERS AGAINST ROCKETS
They were without Luka Dončić’s 33.5 ppg. They were without Austin Reaves’ 23.3 ppg. But in Saturday’s Game 1 vs. Houston, the Lakers still had the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Except LeBron James didn’t go hunting for baskets.
Instead, he controlled everything else – turning Game 1 into a reminder that scoring has never been his only superpower.
Early Orchestration: LeBron took just three shots in the 1st quarter, while dishing out eight assists – the most by any Laker in a Playoff quarter in the play-by-play era
Timeless Table-Setter: He finished with 19 points, 8 boards and 13 dimes, joining John Stockton (2x) as the only players 40 or older to post 10+ assists in a Playoff game, while giving the Lakers a 1-0 series lead
“He displayed great leadership throughout,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick postgame. “We talked all week about being connected offensively and trusting the pass, and he led us there … just a fantastic overall game from him.”
For all the points attached to his name, James has also dissected defenses throughout his career as a playmaker.
In the Playoffs, when the game slows down and each possession is magnified, that skill becomes even more valuable – and Saturday was the latest example.
Winning Recipe: It was James’ 54th career Playoff game with 10+ assists, tying Steve Nash for the 4th most all-time. In those games, James’ teams are 35-19
King Conductor: That impact shined bright in Game 1, as the Lakers posted a 112.7 OffRtg with James on the floor, compared to a 94.7 when he sat – an 18-point swing
Everybody Eats: It helped power Luke Kennard to a Playoff-high 27 points, while all five Lakers starters scored 14+ for the fourth time this season
“He trusts everyone on the court,” Kennard said of James. “He gives confidence to everyone.”
On the other side, despite being without Kevin Durant (questionable tonight with a knee contusion) and shooting 37.6% in Game 1, the Rockets have plenty to build on – starting with the possession battle.
Extra Looks: Houston outrebounded Los Angeles 21-3 on the offensive glass, leading to a 23-6 edge in 2nd-chance points, along with a 24-5 edge in points off turnovers
“We won a lot of areas and just shot it poorly,” said Rockets coach Ime Udoka postgame. “Not our best offensively, [but] we can take advantage of some things.”
5. ON PEACOCK: JAYS LOOK TO STAY HOT AS CELTICS HOST SIXERS
Seasons come and go.
Yet for the ninth straight postseason, the Celtics can still lean on one of the NBA’s most proven duos: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Eleven months ago, when Tatum’s season ended in the East Semis with an Achilles injury, it was fair to wonder when that formula would look whole again.
In Game 1 of Boston’s First Round matchup with Philly, the duo operated on a whole other level.
JT Sets Tone: In his first Playoff game since the injury, Tatum wasted no time making his mark, posting 21 pts, 8 reb and 4 ast in the 1st half
JB Slams Door: Brown did the rest, scoring 16 (7-9 FG) in the 3rd to put Boston up 100-71 as it rolled to a 1-0 series lead
It marked the 50th Playoff game in which both Tatum and Brown scored 20+, making them just the eighth duo in NBA history to do so.
But beyond the milestone, it was a sign of something bigger: Boston’s championship tandem peaking at the perfect time.
Jays & Dubs: Tatum & Brown have each scored 20+ in the same game eight times this season. The Celtics are 8-0 in those games, with five coming in April
JT’s Jump: While Brown’s excelled all season (28.7 ppg), Tatum has hit another gear, with eight straight 23+ point games
New Lens: Tatum’s surge comes with added gratitude – and a clear mindset – after last year’s injury put things in perspective
“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to play this season, let alone in the Playoffs,” said Tatum after Sunday’s win
“Today was probably the most excited, and relaxed, and grateful I’ve been in my nine years of being in the Playoffs.”
The Sixers sit in a 1-0 hole, but they’ve beaten Boston before, splitting the season series 2-2 in a set that saw three games decided by two points or fewer.
One Key? The 3. Philly outscored Boston from deep in each of its two wins over the C’s this season, hitting 14+ triples in both games
On Sunday, the Sixers were held to 4-of-23 from downtown, while the Celtics went 16-of-44 – a 36-point difference
“I gotta be able to generate more open 3s,” said Tyrese Maxey postgame. “They got up 44 … we got up 23. That’s the game right there.”
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