Jalen Brunson’s’ first Playoff game-winner clinches series in Detroit. Harden, Leonard and Powell power LA in a must-win game to force a winner-take-all Game 7. Warriors-Rockets Game 6 tonight in the Bay.
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5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Brunson Wins It: Jalen Brunson boosted his clutch credentials with a series-clinching 3
Knicks Advance: New York uses a game-ending 11-1 to take the series in six games
Clippers Force Game 7: LA holds off Denver to set up first Game 7 of the 2025 Playoffs
Rockets-Warriors: Will the series end tonight in the Bay in 6 or Sunday in Houston in 7?
Young Rockets Duo: Sengun & Thompson making an impact in first Playoffs
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Last night’s scores & what to watch today…
Tonight on ESPN (9 ET) the Warriors host the Rockets with a chance to close out the first-round series on their home court, while the Rockets try to force a Game 7 back in Houston.
Pass The Rock: The latest episode drops today on the NBA app, featuring Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell. Dive into the six-time All-Star’s impact on the court and as a leader for the East’s No. 1 seed this season.
1. JALEN BRUNSON COMES UP CLUTCH… AGAIN
Everyone inside Little Caesars Arena knew who was getting the ball.
The game was tied. The shot clock was off. And the rock was in Jalen Brunson’s hands.
It was the Kia Clutch Player of the Year against Detroit’s best young defender, Ausar Thompson, who had just forced Brunson into a shot clock violation less than a minute earlier.
- Brunson drove left, then stopped on a dime, pulling the ball back with a between-the-legs crossover dribble as Thompson’s momentum carried him right, giving Brunson some separation
- Two quick dribbles to the 3-point line and Brunson pulled up for the longball as Thompson scrambled to challenge the shot
- Brunson got the shot away clean and it swished through the net with 4.3 ticks left on the clock. | See It From All-Angles | Super Slow Mo | Listen To Mike Breen’s Double BANG!
- The Knicks bench erupted while the home crowd was left in silence. After accepting the Jerry West Trophy as the season’s top clutch performer on Tuesday, Brunson added his first Playoff game-winner to his resume on Thursday
The Knicks have come to expect nothing less from Brunson.
Brunson’s 3 was the second series-clinching bucket in the final six seconds of a game (4th quarter or overtime) this week alone, but only the seventh in the past 15 postseasons.
2014 Round 1: Damian Lillard, Blazers defeat Rockets
2015 Round 1: Chris Paul, Clippers defeat Spurs
2019 Round 1: Damian Lillard, Blazers defeat Thunder
2019 East Semis: Kawhi Leonard, Raptors defeat Sixers
2024 Round 1: Jamal Murray, Nuggets defeat Lakers
2025 Round 1: Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers defeat Bucks
2. KNICKS RALLY LATE IN DETROIT, ADVANCE TO EAST SEMIS
New York has advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the third straight year, thanks to a game-ending 11-1 run capped off by a signature shot from Jalen Brunson.
Knicks 116, Pistons 113: Brunson scored 10 of his game-high 40 points in the 4th quarter – including eight during the game-deciding finish, capped off by the game-winner – to lead the Knicks past the Pistons in six games. | Recap | NY’s Best Plays Of The Series
- The Knicks trailed 112-105 with 2:35 to play inside a raucous Little Caesars Arena with the Detroit faithful pushing the Pistons toward a Game 7
- Brunson’s driving and-1 floater made it as four-point game with 2:23 left
- Brunson’s reverse layup, after nearly falling over, made it two-point game with 1:38 left
- Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Duren each split a pair of free throws to keep it a two-point game with 50 seconds left
- Mikal Bridges tip-in off the glass tied the game with 36 seconds left
- Cade Cunningham’s missed layup and Josh Hart’s rebound gave the Knicks the ball with 21 seconds left
- Then, the Kia Clutch Player of the Year delivered his clutchest bucket yet to win it for New York
Brunson (40 pts, 7 ast, 3 3pm) was the star of the night but had plenty of help from the rest of the Knicks’ starting five. Bridges (25 pts, 11-16 FG), OG Anunoby (22 pts, 3 stl), Hart (13 pts, 10 reb) and KAT (10 pts, 15 reb) combined for 70 as only six points came from NY’s bench.
- Top Of The Class: New York’s starting five averaged a league-high 96.5 ppg over the six-game series
- Another 40: With his 7th 40+ point game as a Knick, Brunson tied Bernard King for the most such games in franchise history
4th Quarter King: Brunson leads all players in 4th quarter scoring this Playoffs, reaching double digits in the 4th in all but one of the series’ six games
Trading Runs: The Pistons entered the 4th quarter down by 11 and used an 11-0 run midway through the 4th to take the lead, which they would push to seven before the Knicks responded with their game-ending 11-1 push.
- Detroit Duo: Cade Cunningham (23 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast) and Jalen Duren (Playoff career-high 21 pts, 6 reb) combined for 44 in the loss as Detroit’s remarkable turnaround season came to an end
- Cade joined Luka Dončić and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average 25+ ppg. 8+ rpg and 8+ apg through their first six Playoff games, while Duren became the youngest Piston to ever post a 20+ point Playoff game
What’s Next: The East Semis are set, with the Knicks and Celtics meeting in the Playoffs for the first time since 2013. The series opens in Boston on Monday
3. CLIPPERS HOLD OFF NUGGETS, FORCE GAME 7
After being tied 1-1, 2-2 and now 3-3, the Clippers-Nuggets series is headed for the two greatest words in sports – Game 7.
With their backs against the wall – while playing in front of The Wall at Intuit Dome – the Clippers fought for their season to continue, breaking open a back-and-forth game in the 3rd quarter and holding off a late Nuggets rally.
Clippers 111, Nuggets 105: The trio of James Harden (28 pts, 8 ast), Kawhi Leonard (27 pts, 10 reb) and Norman Powell (24 pts, 16 in 2nd half) combined for 79 points to lead the Clippers to a must-win over the Nuggets and force Game 7 back in Denver on Saturday. | Recap
- Clash Of MVPs: Two former Kia NBA MVPs battled to open the game as LA’s James Harden (20) and Denver’s Nikola Jokić (21) each dropped 20+ points in the opening half as the lead changed hands 12 times
- “Its win or go home” – said Harden of his mentality to come out aggressive on Thursday
- The Turning Point: LA won the 3rd quarter 32-22 behind a combined 20 points from Powell (11 on 5-of-6 shooting) and Kawhi (9 pts, 3 ast), building its largest lead of the game at 15 points
- The Final Stand: Denver rallied in the 4th, cutting the lead down to six with 2:43 to play. But LA had an answer. A Powell 3 pushed the lead back to nine and LA gave up just four points down the stretch
Climbing The Charts: With his first steal of the game, Harden passed Clyde Drexler (278) for 12th on the all-time Playoff steals list. With his 30th 20+ point Playoff game, Kawhi tied Blake Griffin for the 2nd most in Clipper history.
- The one player Kawhi trails – Chris Paul with 31 such games – was sitting courtside for Game 6. Kawhi can match CP3 with another 20-piece on Saturday
Here We Go Again: The Clippers and Nuggets will meet in Game 7 for the second time in the past five years. The Nuggets prevailed in the 2020 West Semis behind a 40-point game from Jamal Murray and a monster triple-double (16 pts, 22 reb, 13 ast) from Jokić.
- Mile High Drama: The series now shifts back to Denver, tipping off Saturday at 7:30 ET on TNTV
- How Did This Happen? The Clippers and Nuggets both went 50-32 on the season and split their season series 2-2. But Denver’s superior record against the West broke the tie to give the Nuggets the 4-seed and home-court advantage in the first round
- How Close Are These Teams? Over 10 games in the regular season and Playoffs, they are 5-5 and separated by a total of just 13 points
Don’t forget those series-clinching buckets from Section 1. Two of those seven shots in the past 15 years belong to Murray and Leonard. Can they come through again? Will someone new join the list?
4. TONIGHT ON ESPN: WARRIORS LOOK TO CLOSE, ROCKETS TRY TO FORCE GAME 7
The Houston Rockets passed the first test.
- Trailing 3-1 with Game 5 at home, they got off to a fast start and handled their business with a 131-116 win
- They successfully kept their season alive and set up their second test
- Tonight (9 ET, ESPN), they face another must-win game – this time on the road – to set up a winner-take-all Game 7 back in Houston on Sunday
What lessons can the Rockets take from their Game 5 win into tonight’s matchup?
- Keep Feeding Fred: VanVleet is coming of back-to-back games with 25+ points on 60%+ shooting, with 12 combined 3s in Games 4 and 5
- Don’t Forget Dillon: Brooks has shot 50%+ in four of the five games in the series. In Houston’s two wins he took 12+ shots; in Houston’s two losses, he was in single-digit attempts
- Play From Ahead: The Rockets jumped on the Warriors early, winning the 1st quarter 40-24. Between the regular season and Playoffs, the Rockets are 40-13 when winning the opening frame
More Amen vs. Steph: We’ll dive into Thompson’s defense on Curry in Section 5
Houston has yet to win in the Bay in this series, but they showed they can find success in the Chase Center with a 106-96 win on April 6, snapping Golden State’s five-game win streak and holding Steph Curry to three points.
Now they must prove they can do it when the stakes are at their highest as the Warriors have another shot to close out the series.
- The Challenge: Golden State has lost consecutive games only once since Jimmy Butler III’s debut on Feb. 8. Those losses came over a month ago (March 22 & 25)
- Closeout Steph: Steph’s feasted on second chances. He’s 8-2 when given a second chance to close out a series
- In those 10 games, Steph has averaged 27.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.8 apg, 4.1 3pg and 2.0 spg
Houston vs. History: Only 13 teams have ever rallied back from down 3-1 to win a series in any round. The Rockets have done it twice, most recently in the 2015 West Semis.
The first step toward trying to be No. 14 is to force Game 7, something only 35 teams have ever done after trailing 3-1 – out of 290 such series.
5. HOUSTON’S YOUNG DUO MAKING AN IMPACT IN FIRST PLAYOFF RUN
Amen Thompson’s fingerprints were all over Houston’s Game 5 win.
- In 34:41 on court, Thompson racked up 25 points, 8 field goals, 1 3-pointer, 8 free throws, 4 offensive rebounds, 2 defensive rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 6 deflections and 2 loose balls recovered
- His plus-32 plus/minus wasn’t just the highest mark of any player in Game 5, it was the highest mark for any player in any game in the entire series
A two-way phenom, Thompson’s biggest impact in Game 5 came on the defensive end with his effort in defending Steph Curry – which is the top priority for any team facing the Warriors over the past 10+ years.
In 20:27 of matchup time against Thompson across the series, Curry has 25 total points on 8-of-20 (40%) shooting, including 5-of-12 (41.7%) from deep, with 5 assists, 5 turnovers and 1 shot blocked. Here’s a look at his defensive work.
Thompson pressured Curry at halfcourt, picking his pocket for transition opportunities twice
When the Warriors brought a screen to try to free up Steph, Thompson played the passing lane to intercept Curry’s pass off the double team
Even when Thompson didn’t draw the Curry on-ball assignment, he was still ready to help slow down Golden State’s most powerful offensive force
Thompson isn’t the only 22-year-old Rocket making a name for himself in the series.
Alperen Sengun (15 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) flirted with his first Playoff triple-double in Game 5 and leads the Rockets in points (20.8 ppg), rebounds (11.0 rpg), assists (5.2 apg) and steals (1.8 spg) entering Game 6.
- Elite Company: Sengun joins Magic Johnson, Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić and Alvan Adams as the only players to average 20/10/5 in a 5-game Playoff span before turning 23
- In Houston’s two wins, Sengun had nine assists (Game 5) and seven assists (Game 2) compared to 10 total helpers in Houston’s three losses
Setting up VanVleet for one of his four 3s on Wednesday with the smooth dropoff dime
Sengun gets downhill for the lefty layup for two of his 10 points in the paint in Game 5
Probing the defense looking for a scoring opportunity of his own, or for a teammate, as he hooks up with Thompson on the cut
Sengun’s ability to do it all has also allowed the Rockets to use their double-big lineup, pairing Sengun and Steven Adams together. That combo is +31 in 54 minutes on court together in the series.
