What are the biggest things to watch in Sunday's two Game 7s of the NBA playoffs?

With the Portland Trail Blazers facing the Denver Nuggets (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and the Philadelphia 76ers matching up with the Toronto Raptors (7 p.m., TNT) one more time, our experts answer the big questions that will decide each series.

Who are the players to watch? Who has the most at stake with a trip to the conference finals on the line?

We break it down and predict the results.

1. What has been the biggest surprise in either series?

Jorge Sedano: Ben Simmons needing six games to put his imprint on the series. I think Simmons is still only scratching the surface of how talented he is. Game 6 was arguably the best and most important game of his career. Can he duplicate that in Game 7?

Kevin Pelton: How ineffective Monte Morris (Denver) and Fred VanVleet (Toronto), two of the league's better backup point guards, have been in these series. Morris has shot 6-of-27 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, while VanVleet is 1-of-12 on 3s and 3-of-19 overall. Both undersized players seem to have been bothered by the size and length opponents who don't use traditional backup point guards have been able to throw at them.

Tim Bontemps: Toronto's inability to make open shots. During the season, Toronto made 41.4 percent of its uncontested 3-pointers, good for seventh in the league, per Second Spectrum tracking. In this series, the Raptors are shooting 32.5 percent on those looks. If the Raptors had made their open 3s, this series already would be over. If they make them in Game 7, they'll advance to the Eastern Conference finals. But the fact that they haven't has left this team in a far more precarious position than it should be.

André Snellings: The dominance of the young Nuggets duo. I wrote last week that Nikola Jokic (age 24) and Jamal Murray (age 22) are better building blocks than Damian Lillard (age 28) and CJ McCollum (age 27), in large part due to the upside and rarity of Jokic's game. But Jokic has been the best player out West, and Murray has exploded to average 25 points, six rebounds and five assists through six games. The future is now.

Bobby Marks: Jimmy Butler and Zach Collins, for different reasons. The 76ers guard has gone from being a third option in the regular season to a player who proved he can carry a team (25.7 points and plus-16.7 in the three wins). Meanwhile, Portland is getting a real glimpse of Collins' potential. He has been a team-high plus-4.5 in the six games, and he's the most consistent player coming off the bench (9.0 PPG on 53.8 percent shooting from the field).

2. What are you watching most closely in Blazers-Nuggets?

Snellings: Will Lillard have another "Dame Time" closeout game? He is the most electric player in the series, and though he has had some strong games, he has the ability to go further into his bag and come out with a 50-point, double-digit-3-pointers performance for the ages. The Nuggets had the best home record in the NBA this season and are hosting Game 7, so it feels like a Dame classic is the Trail Blazers' best shot to advance.

Pelton: How many minutes Jokic plays. All series, Portland has gotten the better of the stretches Jokic and Lillard have spent on the bench. The easiest fix for Denver coach Michael Malone is to extend Jokic's minutes, as he did in Game 7 vs. San Antonio and again in Game 3 of this series, when Jokic played the entire second half and nearly all four overtimes.

Marks: The officiating. We likely will see three new officials who have not worked this series together already. How the refs allow each team to play in the first five minutes will set a tone for the rest of the game.

Sedano: Which superstar has the bigger impact on the game and drags his team across the finish line. Jokic had a triple-double in the closeout against the Spurs. We all know Dame waved bye-bye to Russ. Who stands out on Sunday is the most important thing for me.

Bontemps: Lillard's energy level. Lillard has been carrying an insane load in these playoffs as Portland continues to survive without Jusuf Nurkic. As this series wore on, Lillard (understandably) began to look tired. But in Game 6, he looked back to his usual self. If the Blazers are going to go into Denver and win a Game 7 on the road, they need "Logo Lillard" to be operating at peak efficiency.

3. What are you watching most closely in 76ers-Raptors?

Marks: The two head coaches. This is uncharted water for Nick Nurse and Brett Brown. After skating through the first round in five games, both are now in a position they've never faced: a Game 7 to reach the conference finals. How each coach manages minutes will be scrutinized. Be prepared for an all-out mentality, with players such as Kawhi Leonard and Butler potentially playing the full 48 minutes.

Snellings: I want to see if Joel Embiid is healthy enough to turn in another MVP-caliber performance. Embiid dropped 33 points on 18 field goal attempts to lead the 76ers to a win in Game 3, but in the three games since, he has averaged only 13.7 points on 38.7 percent shooting while visibly ailing from his various health issues. The Raptors are hosting Game 7, which should bode well for their role players and make things more challenging for the non-star 76ers. Embiid has to be at peak level to give his team a chance to win.

Bontemps: Will the Raptors besides Leonard make shots? We know Leonard will show up; he arguably has been the best player in the playoffs thus far. Pascal Siakam likely will, too. How this game plays out likely will come down to how the rest of their teammates -- specifically Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Danny Green and Serge Ibaka -- play. If they hit shots like they did in Games 1 and 5, Toronto likely will win comfortably. If not? Things could get awfully interesting.

Sedano: Can Gasol continue his impressive effort against Embiid? Gasol is a veteran of playoff battles. He has been a huge X factor on both ends for the Raptors, initiating offense from the high post and doing excellent work defensively on Embiid. No one has limited Embiid offensively in the past three seasons quite like Gasol has in their matchups.

Pelton: Toronto's 3-point shooting. The Raptors, sixth in the NBA in 3-point percentage during the regular season at 36.6, are hitting just 30.8 percent of their 3s in this series. Per Second Spectrum data, Toronto has had the better shot quality, as measured by qSP (quantified shot probability, which factors in the location and type of shot as well as distance of nearby defenders and the shooter's ability), in all six games of the series. The Raptors' 3-point misses are a big reason they've had the better effective field goal percentage in just three of the six games, all Toronto wins.

4. Which player or team has the most at stake on Sunday?

Pelton: The 76ers. Win or lose, the Raptors' future is in the hands of Leonard this summer. Philadelphia, by contrast, has more choices ahead. The Sixers must decide whether to stick with Brett Brown as head coach and how much to offer unrestricted free agents Butler (who, like Leonard, has a player option he's sure to decline) and Tobias Harris. Should those decisions be made on the basis of a single game? Of course not, but given the high expectations from Philadelphia ownership after loading up with Butler and Harris, that might prove the case.

Marks: Portland. Despite Lillard and McCollum being under contract for the next two seasons -- possibly more if they agree to extensions -- Game 7 represents an opportunity they might not have in the future. Because of upcoming financial restrictions, this could be a drastically different team next year, one that might be without Al-Farouq Aminu, Enes Kanter, Seth Curry and Rodney Hood. There's no guarantee that the Blazers get back here.

Bontemps: We'll cheat and say both teams in the East. With huge roster decisions ahead this summer, the clock starts immediately for the loser -- and that team will lose the chance to make a run to the Finals that could influence those decisions as well.

Snellings: The pressure is all in the East, especially in Philadelphia. Both Butler and Harris could leave as free agents, and this postseason has made questions about Embiid's health and Simmons' lack of jump shot more concerning. The 76ers made moves this season consistent with a team going all-in to win, so another second-round loss has the potential to trigger organization-wide changes, with no coach or player guaranteed to return next season.

Sedano: I'll go slightly off the board and say Brett Brown. I find rumors of his alleged uncertain job status to be silly. However, the rumors exist. I think he has done a fine job and deserves to continue as the head coach. A win in Game 7 can go a long way to solidify that.

5. Who wins each Game 7?

Bontemps: Portland will win in Denver because I've grown to expect Lillard to come up big on occasions such as these. He has proved it time and again. Meanwhile, the Raptors will win because they have the best player (Leonard) and home-court advantage. More than anything, though, here's hoping we get two great Game 7s, which are always the best things in sports.

Snellings: I'm taking the Raptors in the East matchup. They have been the better team all season, they have home-court advantage, and they have experience in these moments. The West is essentially a toss-up, but the Nuggets are hard to beat at home, especially with how well Jokic has been playing. Add the Nuggets' big size advantage, and they should be the favorites to advance.

Sedano: The Raptors and Blazers. The Raptors have home court, Leonard has been insanely good, and as I mentioned before, Gasol has done an excellent job in this series. In the West, Dame and CJ can carry the scoring load for Portland. The Blazers' bench has been ignited by Hood, who is averaging 16 points on 60 percent shooting. Plus, Collins has been a gem off the bench. The Blazers have outscored the Nuggets by 22 points in 113 minutes with Hood and Collins paired on the floor.

Pelton: Since 1984, the average home-court advantage in Game 7 is 6.3 points, so the home team should almost always be favored to win unless there's a key injury (as was the case last year, when the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets without Chris Paul in a road Game 7). I don't see a compelling reason to pick against the home teams here.

Marks: The home teams. On paper, the better roster is Philadelphia, not Toronto. However, do we know what 76ers team will actually show up for a Game 7? Will we get MVP-level Embiid? In Denver, we have seen that the moment has never been too big for this young Nuggets team. The Game 7 win over the San Antonio Spurs proved that.

Rodney Hood has been the star of the Portland Trail Blazers' bench in this beautiful, exhausting, exhilarating battle against the Denver Nuggets, and he deserves all the public fawning.

He's averaging 16 points on 60 percent (!) shooting, and brutalizing whichever undersized guard the Nuggets throw at him -- to the point that Denver for one stretch of Game 6 slid Paul Millsap onto Hood, and a smaller wing onto Evan Turner. The Nuggets might want to try that again in Game 7.

Hood is beasting in the post. He is averaging 1.37 points per isolation in the postseason, second behind Marcus Morris among players who have recorded at least 15 such plays, per Second Spectrum. He has proven up to the challenge of defending Jamal Murray.

Swapping Hood for one of Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu -- 7-of-30 combined from deep in this series -- has upped Portland's shooting quotient without compromising its defense. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, dealing with traps at every turn, have more space to breathe with Hood on the floor. He has punished Denver for creeping away to help on Portland's central pick-and-roll action:

It has been a wonderful story. Hood quaked under the pressure of replacing Gordon Hayward in Utah, and disintegrated playing with LeBron James in Cleveland on the game's biggest stages. He has rediscovered his game, and his confidence, amid Portland's healthy culture. With one of Lillard and McCollum always on the floor, Hood can focus on what comes naturally to him (scoring) instead of what has always seemed a little outside his wheelhouse (running an offense).

Neil Olshey, Portland's general manager, grabbing Hood for Wade Baldwin, Nik Stauskas, and two future second-round picks on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday -- four days before the trade deadline -- barely registered, but the Blazers would not be playing in Game 7 without that deal.

Hood has had some bench help in the form of a reserve with much more long-term importance to Portland: Zach Collins, the edgy and roaring big man who has spent time at both power forward and center against Denver, and thrived in both roles. Olshey traded the 15th and 20th picks (Justin Jackson and Harry Giles III) in the 2017 draft to Sacramento to move up and select Collins with the 10th pick.

Some insiders dubbed the move a reach -- some dub any splashy draft-day move for a big man a reach as the league evolves toward guards and wings -- and Donovan Mitchell indeed went three spots later. But the Blazers had no pressing need for Mitchell with Lillard and McCollum on board. Portland bet Collins would mesh with their star guards before they exited their primes, and that bet is starting to pay off.

The Blazers have outscored Denver by 22 points in 113 minutes with Hood and Collins on the floor, per NBA.com. They have played together mostly in bench-and-McCollum lineups that have generally won the starts of second and fourth quarters. Denver has countered with lineups featuring Millsap as the lone starter, but those groups have been a disaster despite Millsap's best "adult in the room" efforts.

Turner, working as a small-ball power forward, has battled Millsap in the post since Game 4 after Millsap bullied him in the earlier part of the series. Collins took the Millsap assignment for a couple of possessions in Game 6, leaving Turner to guard Mason Plumlee; the Blazers might want to revisit that setup if Millsap gets into a Game 7 groove. Denver dumping the ball to Plumlee in the post against Turner is a win for the Blazers. Small children should avert their eyes during Plumlee's laborious post-ups.

One of these teams has only 48 minutes left in its season. Those bench-on-bench clashes become even more fraught Sunday. Expect both coaches to treat them with more urgency. Murray started the fourth quarter of Game 6 alongside Millsap -- a second starter to bolster the bench mob -- and Michael Malone might want to have one of Murray and Gary Harris (stout all series) on the floor at all times in a do-or-die game.

Malone will surely stretch Nikola Jokic as far as he can go, and he has already gone a preposterous 65 minutes in one epic game in this series. Portland has been wary of matching Collins and Jokic in center-versus-center minutes. Jokic can bulldoze Collins in the post, though Collins thwarted him on one key faceup attack late in Game 6 and drew a charge about a minute later on one of those delicious inverted Jokic pick-and-rolls. Doubling Jokic only unlocks his lethal passing game. Collins is vulnerable on the defensive glass. He's still filling out. Keep an eye on the minutes chess match.

Good thing Collins can play next to Enes Kanter, too -- and defend Denver's power forwards. Portland is plus-15 in 31 Collins-Kanter minutes against the Nuggets, per NBA.com. Millsap has shot just 1-of-11 when matched up with Collins, according to Second Spectrum.

So many of Portland's games against the best competition come down to whether Aminu and Harkless make open 3s. If they miss early, Collins has made a strong case to usurp more minutes at power forward. He and Hood played four minutes of Game 6 in place of the Harkless/Aminu duo alongside Portland's three other starters -- Lillard, McCollum and the tough-as-all-hell Kanter. That five-man group is plus-6 in nine total minutes for the series. Might we see it again Sunday?

Collins has the blurry outlines of a modern big who can protect the rim, shoot 3s, post up guards on switches, and do just enough off the dribble to hurt you. (Witness his Eurostep floater in Game 5 when Denver trapped Lillard on the pick-and-roll, and let Collins slither into open space.) Those outlines have sharpened a bit in these playoffs.

Collins is 4-of-12 from deep in the postseason, and has looked comfortable jacking from above the break. His pick-and-pop triple isn't polished enough to punish Jokic when they are matched up, but he's getting there. (Kanter -- at least the healthy version -- might be able to overpower Plumlee in the post when the double-center lineups face off.) Collins is explosive rolling to the basket, with good start-and-stop footwork; he makes sure a pocket pass is always available for Lillard and McCollum.

On defense, Collins has been a menace protecting the basket; opponents have shot just 46 percent in the restricted area in the playoffs with Collins nearby, eighth stingiest among 48 players who have contested at least four such shots per game. He has flashed the ability to think almost in sync with the opposing offense, and arrive in help position early -- before they expect him there.

Collins is listed at 7 feet. Guys that tall with his skill set project as stretch-centers, but part of their value lies in being malleable enough to play next to almost any frontcourt partner. If Collins hones his 3-point shot, he will provide enough spacing for Portland to fit a traditional center -- Kanter now, Jusuf Nurkic once he recovers from that leg injury -- next to him.

He's quick enough to guard most traditional power forwards. He has not looked out of his element switching onto Murray when needed. Against the dread Murray-Jokic pick-and-roll, Collins has mostly been able to slide onto Murray and rotate back to Jokic without ceding anything good.

Executives across the league have made a parlor game of handicapping the 2019-20 Western Conference in the event Kevin Durant leaves Golden State. The Warriors made a loud statement about that parlor game in running Houston out of the playoffs -- again -- Friday night without Durant. As ever, Portland is overlooked in that discussion. There is a sense these Blazers have reached their apex, and that the Lillard/McCollum duo will still struggle against the wrong playoff matchup.

Maybe. But Lillard and McCollum -- 28 and 27, respectively -- are squarely in their primes. They are good, they are mean, and they are going to cook you. As long as they are in Portland, there will be very few easy nights against the Blazers.

Nurkic is still just 24, and enjoyed a career year across the board before his injury. For much of the season, he was Portland's second-best overall player -- improved on offense, and a bulwark on defense and the glass. (McCollum's crafty shot creation probably jumps him over Nurkic in the playoffs, but Nurkic was awesome this season. He would have received All-Star consideration in the East.)

The forward spots are big questions; Aminu is a sneakily important free agent this summer, a bedrock of Portland's culture and defense, and the capped-out Blazers have limited means to replace him if he leaves.

Collins making a leap would change so much about Portland's short- and long-term trajectory. In the immediate future, he can continue toggling between both big-man spots -- filling some of the power forward gap while manning his more natural position when Nurkic rests. Zoom out, and Collins popping would unlock a lot of interesting trade possibilities should a game-changing deal present itself.

But that's a discussion for another day. These teams have a Game 7 to play. Regardless of the outcome, it has been a successful season for both. Collins' strong play should make Portland fans even more optimistic about the franchise's long-term outlook.

WHEN JAMAL MURRAY is asked about playing the two-man game with Nikola Jokic, he replies, "The best part is we don't really don't know what is going to happen."

"And the beauty of that," Paul Millsap adds, "is if we don't know, then [the defense] can't possibly know."

The pick-and-roll partners are heavy on improvisation, but their attraction to the motion began a world apart.

When Jokic was a young boy in Sombor, Serbia, a reluctant basketball talent who cried when his father dragged him to practice, he knew what he liked.

Tim Duncan was his man. The first time he saw the San Antonio power forward mastering the nuances of the pick-and-roll with teammate Manu Ginobili, the adolescent Jokic was drawn to Duncan's understated excellence and unselfishness.

"He wasn't flashy," Jokic says. "I liked that."

In Kitchener, Ontario, some 4,550 miles away, Murray was eagerly gobbling up a steady diet of Michael Jordan highlights under the watchful eye of his father Roger. Murray marveled at the symmetry of Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who seemed to innately sense what the other would do next. Many of the clips were from the Bulls' tussles with the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals, so, Murray recalls, "you couldn't help but notice Stockton and Malone."

Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady is careful to pay the proper homage to the Jazz greats. But, he asserts, the game has changed, and the Denver Nuggets' compelling duo of Jokic and Murray, whose symbiotic innovation has vaulted their team to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, has surpassed them.

"I've never seen a combination like those two," McGrady says. "You have a guy like Jamal, who comes off the pick and shoots the way he does, or passes it to a guy with the skill set of Jokic.

"Karl Malone was a great midrange shooter but he didn't have the skill set that Jokic has. Nikola can knock down the shot, he drives to the basket, he makes these incredible passes. He does so many things out of [the pick-and-roll] that no other big man can do."

Jokic detects tendencies, both on film and in real time -- often in the middle of a tight game -- to determine what is the best course of action for him and Murray. It often requires a split-second decision, something Denver's big man has been preparing for since those early days of tracking Duncan.

"I just wonder what they're doing," Jokic says, "and then I do the opposite of that."

In this new-age NBA world, where double-teams are scarce and switching is the norm, where 3-point shots are rampant and midrange jumpers are decried, the Nuggets have inverted the pick-and-roll by featuring sets in which Murray, the point guard, screens for Jokic, the big man.

"That's unheard of," Nuggets coach Mike Malone says. "It speaks to a couple of things: Nikola's ability to handle and make plays, but also the underrated fact that Jamal Murray is our best screener.

"They're not going to switch on a 1-5 pick-and-roll, so now you have Nikola coming off and making plays at the top of the floor," Malone says. "Teams can double-team him in the post, but when he's got the ball up top, he's unguardable. Because if you want to put two players on the ball, you've got Jamal, who is a pick-and-pop threat who can also drive to the basket. I've not seen anything like this in many, many years -- if ever."

HALL OF FAME point guard Isiah Thomas, who excelled in the two-man game with Detroit Pistons teammate Bill Laimbeer, contends there are three requirements to execute an effective pick-and-roll: the point guard must be able to make his own shot, be a great passer, and draw the attention of two players. Thomas checked all those boxes, and, he says, "Jamal does too."

"So many of these new guys [in the NBA] think the pick is for them," Thomas says. "The roller is actually the most important player.

"Laimbeer was special because he could catch going to the basket, but also could lead the defense, and change things by popping as opposed to rolling. That stretched the defense and the weakside defender couldn't get there in time."

What makes Jokic different from Laimbeer, Thomas says, is that not only can he pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop, but Jokic also does a third thing that Thomas terms "just impossible."

"He can put it on the floor and make as good a pass as a guard can," Thomas says. "Most bigs are good passers when stationary. Very few bigs are great passers off the bounce, but Jokic is."

Like Thomas and Laimbeer, or former Phoenix Suns teammates Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, Murray and Jokic have compiled a litany of reads over time through trial and error. They have experimented with the side pick-and-roll and high pick-and-roll, and have tweaked many of their approaches by altering the angles to keep defenses guessing.

"I couldn't have set a screen for Laimbeer," Thomas says. "Stockton couldn't have set a screen for Karl Malone. But Murray can do that because of the skill set Jokic brings to the table. It's freaky to say this, but he's got Magic Johnson and Larry Bird passing ability."

During the regular season, the Nuggets ran 171 plays with Murray as the screener and Jokic as the ball handler. That combination averaged 1.30 points per direct pick, per ESPN Stats & Information, tied for the best in the NBA.

"Think about what Jokic is doing," Thomas adds. "He's dropping passes on a dime with touch to guys who are 6-2, 6-3, and he's doing it consistently.

"So yes, in this era you would have to say the two of them are the best. But that's because of Jokic."

Denver assistant coach David Adelman takes exception to that analysis. He insists Murray's innate ability to determine the angles of a screen, and to know when to slip or when to pop depending on the opponent, is equally critical.

"Jamal has some unteachable instincts that allow these two guys to improvise," Adelman says.

The angles are everything, whether it's running a flat screen, which is when the player starts lower and steps up to the opponent, or when implementing a touch screen. Murray has proven to be particularly effective with the touch screen, leading a player to react the way he wants so he can pop out, slip to the rim or find Jokic for a basket. Jokic, in turn, is astute at creating pockets of space so he can slip out for a 3-pointer, or simply "light up" his opponent with a step-up pick-and-roll.

"Setting a proper screen is so important," Adelman says. "What Jamal's screens often do is provide Jokic with a downhill drive. And, once a man of that size gets that close to the rim, with his touch, he's gained a big advantage without having to work so hard."

"We can post Jokic all day, but banging with [LaMarcus] Aldridge, banging with [Enes] Kanter, can take its toll," Adelman says. "When Jamal sets that screen, it allows Nikola to get downhill freely."

AFTER A PULSATING Game 5 victory over San Antonio in Denver's grueling opening-round playoff series, coach Mike Malone described the chemistry between Jokic and Murray as "romantic." Their uncanny chemistry, respect for each other's skill set and willingness to share the ball was so entrenched that their coach didn't feel the need to call a single offensive play in the third quarter.

"I've never seen anything like it," Nuggets backup point guard Monte Morris says. "The connection they have is crazy.

"It looks so smooth and effortless because they've been doing it for years. You can't just start out playing like that. It takes work."

Indeed, although the two players do not fraternize much off the court, they have spent countless hours watching film together and collaborating on how they can exploit defenses.

Give and go get yourself a bucket!#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/0J3ZzAZ3Cz

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 4, 2019

Malone has afforded both of them great freedom to create offensively, but that came with a price.

Last season, Denver averaged 15.0 turnovers a game (23rd in the league), but even more damning, finished dead last in the NBA in opponents' points off turnovers (18.7). The Nuggets were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the regular season, and Malone's point of emphasis all summer was to drill home the need to take care of the ball. That meant playing fast but not frenetic, and making the simple play as opposed to the pass with a higher degree of difficulty.

His message resonated; the Nuggets averaged 13.7 turnovers a game this season and gave up 15 points a game on those miscues, ranking sixth overall.

"We make mistakes," Murray shrugs, "but we learn from them."

THE DENVER NUGGETS understand they are a work in progress with miles to go defensively, yet a future cemented on a foundation of Jokic and Murray has the league buzzing. Is it too premature to anoint their pick-and-roll prowess on par with that of Stockton and Malone or Nash and Stoudemire?

"I won't say it's too soon at all," Pippen says. "The game is played in a bigger space now. Back in the '80s and '90s, everything was played inside the 3-point line. These days, it's played outside the 3-point line, and Jokic and Murray are maximizing that.

"Jokic is a hybrid center, a guard-center. I haven't seen big guys bring the ball up floor like that. I haven't seen big guys come off the pick-and-roll and shoot a 3. I haven't seen big guys find the open player like he does. He's special, something new to our game.

"Jamal has that stronger hunger and a good knack for scoring the ball. The fact that he's playing with a Peyton Manning guy that sees him all the time, and is willing to throw him the ball under all sorts of stress, helps Murray be the player he is. And, Jamal enhances that by moving so well without the basketball."

Jokic, who eschews platitudes at most every turn, says there's much work to be done as the evolution of his partnership with Murray continues.

"We are trying to put our game on a higher level to set us apart," Jokic says.

"But what we're doing is nothing like we've seen before," Murray says. "Of course, there will always be Stockton and Malone, and Nash and Stoudemire, but what we're doing is different. Unique.

"Maybe they'll be talking about Murray and the Joker someday."

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this story.

New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks is set to make his long-awaited return from the injured list on Monday, manager Aaron Boone said Sunday.

Hicks has been sidelined by a strained left lower back he suffered in early March, shortly after he signed a seven-year, $70 million extension with the Yankees.

"Assuming everything goes well [Sunday] ... the idea is we're planning on him being back [Monday]," Boone told reporters, according to MLB.com.

Hicks, 29, has played in five rehab games this month. He had been 0-14 in the first four games but went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run for Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.

Last season he set career bests with 119 hits, 27 home runs and 79 RBIs.

Meanwhile, catcher Gary Sanchez and shortstop Gleyber Torres were both out of Sunday's lineup against Tampa Bay as the Yankees took a conservative approach with the nicked-up players.

Sanchez was hit hard on his catching helmet by Guillermo Heredia's backswing Saturday night in the eighth inning, but stayed in the game.

"Was considering a DH day for him today, but then felt like it was best to have him out of there," Boone said. "Went through some testing last night. He came in this morning feeling good, so I think we're good to go there. Probably a good day to give him a day."

Torres played Saturday, one day after getting hit by a pitch on the right elbow.

"Getting hit by that pitch the other night didn't affect him all swinging the bat," Boone said. "Felt like he was a little sore throwing the ball from short yesterday. Getting with him last night, felt like it was a good day to give him a day."

The Yankees, who entered Sunday 1 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Rays, have 12 players on the injured list including Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Luis Severino.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Seattle Mariners have placed right-hander Felix Hernandez on the injured list with a strained right shoulder, a day after he became the 36th pitcher in major league history to reach 2,500 strikeouts.

Hernandez (1-4, 6.52 ERA), 33, didn't make it out of the third inning in a 9-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, getting tagged for seven runs and six hits in 2⅓ innings. He has allowed 14 runs in his past two starts over 7⅓ innings and is 0-4 since winning his first start of the season.

He collected his milestone strikeout when he got rookie Michael Chavis looking with a 92 mph sinker. Hernandez is the fourth active pitcher to reach the mark, behind the Yankees' CC Sabathia, Houston's Justin Verlander and Washington's Max Scherzer.

The stumbling Mariners have lost 14 of 18 and have been outscored 23-6 in the first two games of a scheduled three-game series against the Red Sox.

They also optioned outfielder Braden Bishop to Triple-A Tacoma.

To fill the spots on the roster, they recalled right-hander Dan Altavilla from Double-A Arkansas and selected righty Parker Markel from Tacoma.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- It took Hyun-Jin Ryu 93 pitches to complete a shutout against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

On 58 of those pitches, his catcher, Russell Martin, barely moved his glove.

Martin is a veteran of 14 major league seasons. His career has taken him through two stints in Los Angeles, one with the New York Yankees, one in Pittsburgh and another in Toronto, a winding path that has consisted of more than 13,000 innings behind the plate. He was asked if he had ever encountered the type of precision being executed by Ryu, the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander who consistently gets overlooked.

Martin nodded.

"Greg Maddux," he said, name-dropping the Hall of Fame right-hander he teamed with briefly on Dodgers teams in 2006 and 2008.

So, that good?

"Yeah," Martin said. "I mean, Maddux might have him by like a smidgen."

It makes sense.

Maddux excelled through an era dominated by offense largely because he exhibited pinpoint control of all his pitches. Ryu is doing the same, while on pace to set a record for strikeout-to-walk ratio. He doesn't possess a pitch as devastating as Maddux's two-seam fastball, but he commands five of them like few others can. And these days, he isn't missing spots, as evidenced by the two walks he has issued through seven starts this season.

"I definitely try to stay on top of it," Ryu said through an interpreter, "because ever since I started playing baseball, that was the one point of emphasis growing up -- to not give up walks."

Ryu carries a preposterous 22.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio heading into his Sunday start against the Washington Nationals, a mark that would set a record -- beating the 20.50 rate attained by a man named Candy Cummings back in 1875 -- if it were to somehow hold. It's early enough for the mere mention of such a possibility to sound ridiculous.

This, however, is not: When healthy, few, if any, have been better than Ryu over these past two years.

His ERA since the start of 2018, 1.99, is the lowest among those who have thrown at least 120 innings in that time. His strikeout-to-walk ratio in that time, 7.88, is the highest by a wide margin. His WHIP, 0.94, ranks third, trailing only Chris Sale and Justin Verlander.

"Very underrated," said Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who has often made the point that Ryu might have won the National League Cy Young Award last season had he not spent 15 weeks recovering from a severe groin injury. "I think he likes it that way."

The 32-year-old Ryu speaks a different language and carries himself nonchalantly. He resides in a rotation with one of baseball's most accomplished pitchers (Clayton Kershaw) and one of its most exhilarating (Walker Buehler). And he doesn't possess the wipeout, showstopping stuff to place him in the pantheon of baseball's greatest starters.

Ryu's success is a product of expertly sequencing five pitches -- fastball, cutter, sinker, curveball, changeup -- and throwing them to all four quadrants of the strike zone, a quality Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes considers "pretty unique." Ryu creates deception with his delivery, pinpoint control and near unpredictability in his pitch selection.

Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc spent the 2018 season as a strategist with the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks and found it almost impossible to craft game plans for Ryu.

"He doesn't have any consistent tendencies," Van Scoyoc said. "He knows how to pitch, he knows how to change speeds, and I think he reads the hitters very well. Even if he has a plan, he'll deviate from it. There's just not anything consistent about how he attacks each guy."

Ryu's fastball tops out at 93 mph, but, as Braves utility player Charlie Culberson pointed out, it appears much faster to an opposing hitter. Culberson teamed with Ryu in L.A. from 2016 to 2017 and made a pinch-hit appearance against him in the sixth inning Tuesday. Right-handed hitters like Culberson always have an advantage against lefties like Ryu because they have more time -- even if only a millisecond -- to read pitches.

Ryu began the at-bat by flipping a curveball Culberson took for a strike. The next offering was an inside fastball at 90 mph, a very hittable pitch in a time when so many pitchers approach 100 mph. Culberson didn't come close to getting his hands around in time. He was jammed badly and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

"A lot of times people might not know how good he is," Culberson said. "Yeah, he doesn't throw 95 miles an hour. But you don't have to. If you can spot up, can mix all your pitches and throw them all for strikes, you're going to be tough to hit."

Injuries have kept Ryu in the shadows. He pitched well in his first two seasons after coming over from South Korea, winning 28 games, compiling 344 innings and posting a 3.17 ERA from 2013 to 2014. But he spent the entire 2015 season recovering from shoulder surgery, returned in July 2016, made one start, got hurt again and underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove damaged tissue from his elbow.

Ryu stayed healthy for most of the 2017 season. He was good -- 3.77 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 2.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio -- but not great. What followed was his first healthy offseason in years, which led to a spectacular showing in 2018. This, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, is simply the continuation.

The only goal now, Ryu said, is "staying healthy."

"I want to be a pitcher that my teammates can depend on every fifth day."

Ryu's Tuesday start was fittingly deemed a "Maddux," a term for nine scoreless innings with less than 100 pitches. (It was also, fittingly, forgotten after Mike Fiers completed a no-hitter minutes later.) Ryu retired the first 15 batters in order, required no more than 11 pitches to get through all but one inning and fired first-pitch strikes to 24 of the 30 batters he faced.

Roberts called it "complete domination."

But there was one pitch Ryu wanted back. It came at the start of the second inning, on a 1-2 count to Ronald Acuna Jr., when Martin asked for a fastball up and away. Ryu left it out over the plate and was fortunate Acuna flied out to the center-field warning track.

"Bad pitch," Ryu told Turner as he received the ball again, inducing a smile.

When Acuna came up again, to lead off the fifth, Martin called for a full-count cutter low and inside, a difficult pitch for a left-handed pitcher to execute against a right-handed hitter. Ryu spotted it perfectly to strike out the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. For the game's final pitch, against the left-handed-hitting Freddie Freeman, Martin asked for an 0-2 fastball above the strike zone, and Freeman awkwardly swung through it as if it were thrown 200 mph.

It dropped Ryu's 2019 ERA to 2.03, made him one of only seven pitchers to throw a shutout this season, and gave him 24 consecutive innings without a walk.

"He has a great feel for just throwing to the glove and putting the ball where he wants it," Barnes said. "And he does it with five different pitches."

USA tops the team standings after an action-packed weekend at the IAAF World Relays

There was more drama and excitement on the second day of  IAAF World Relays action in Yokohama, which saw the USA squad top the team standings overall.

After winning the first two finals on day one of the event in Japan, American teams won the women’s 4x100m, men’s 4x200m and mixed 4x400m on the second day, but there were plenty of surprises, too.

The men’s 4x100m was the final event of the weekend and in front of a crowd of more than 20,000, Brazil claimed victory in the same Yokohama International Stadium where the nation’s football team won the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

Holding off 9.88 100m metre man Noah Lyles of the USA and Britain’s world relay champion team-member Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Paulo André Camilo de Oliveira stormed down the home straight to anchor Brazil to victory in a world-leading time of 38.05 to USA’s 38.07 and Britain’s 38.15.

While teams were racing for World Relays titles and prizes, places for the IAAF World Championships in Doha later this year were also up for grabs, with the top 10 teams in the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m all securing world championships places, along with the top 12 teams in the mixed 4x400m.

Mitchell-Blake was joined in the GB team by his fellow world gold medallists CJ Ujah and Adam Gemili, who was seen icing his hamstring after the race, plus Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. Speaking afterwards, Aikines-Aryeetey said: “We’re happy with our third place but obviously we came here for more.

“We’re defending world champions, Commonwealth champions, European champions but we still need to improve because the rest of the world is improving as well.”

.@HarryAA100m: “We’re defending world champions, Commonwealth champions, European champions but we still need to improve because the rest of the world is improving as well. We’re happy with our third place but obviously we came here for more…” @IAAFYokohama19 @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/HqOUynApm8

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

China finished fourth in 38.16, while France were fifth in 38.31 and Jamaica sixth in 38.88.

Mikiah Brisco, Ashley Henderson, Dezerea Bryant and Aleia Hobbs formed USA’s winning women’s quartet as they clocked 43.27 to claim the 4x100m title ahead of Jamaica with 43.29, Germany with 43.68 and Brazil with 43.75.

The GB team had been unable to get the baton round in the heats.

The USA’s win in the 4x200m was claimed by Christopher Belcher, Bryce Robinson, Vernon Norwood and Remontay McClain as they ran 1:20.12 ahead of South Africa’s 1:20.42 and Germany’s 1:21.26.

Further proof of just how unpredictable relays can be came in the women’s 4x200m final as a strong squad of Elaine Thompson, Stephenie Ann McPherson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson all lined up for Jamaica but struggled with the changeovers.

They initially battled to finish fourth but moved up to third after the third-placed USA team was disqualified. France won in 1:32.16 ahead of China with 1:32.76, while Jamaica’s time was 1:33.21 ahead of Japan’s 1:34.57 in fourth.

“It’s an experience and we look forward to having another opportunity to do it again,” said two-time Olympic 100m champion Fraser-Pryce. “Poor baton exchange was definitely the reason for us finishing third.”

Comment from @realshellyannfp on Jamaica’s struggles in the women’s 4x200m final. “It’s an experience and we look forward to having another opportunity to do it again.” #Yokohama2019 #WorldRelays @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/k34ayDCjic

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

The women’s 4x400m came down to an exciting finish as Poland powered to victory, with Justyna Święty-Ersetic crossing the finish line with 3:27.49 on the clock to deny the USA team, who clocked 3:27.65. Italy were third in 3:27.74 and the GB team of Emily Diamond, Laviai Nielsen, Zoey Clark and Amy Allcock secured sixth in 3:28.96.

“It’s a decent start,” said Diamond. “Hopefully we can get one of the medals in Doha.”

“It’s a decent start and hopefully we can get one of the medals in Doha…” @EmilyDiamond11 speaks with @stuartweir after GB’s sixth place in the women’s 4x400m final at @IAAFYokohama19 @BritAthletics pic.twitter.com/taLWRyijQC

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

There was also thrilling finish to the men’s 4x400m as world champions Trinidad and Tobago came through to take the title in 3:00.81, just 0.03 ahead of USA’s Paul Dedewo who dived over the line.

The USA team was later disqualified for a lane infringement, leaving Jamaica to move up to second in 3:01.57, while Belgium was third, Japan fourth and the GB team of Rabah Yousif, Dwayne Cowan, Martyn Rooney and Cameron Chalmers fifth in 3:04.96.

USA won the mixed 4x400m in 3:16.43 from Canada with 3:18.15 and Kenya with 3:19.43.

Team standings

1 United States 54 points
2 Jamaica 27 points
3 Japan 27 points
4 Germany 18 points
5 Poland 17 points
6 Brazil 16 points
7 PR of China 15 points
8 Italy 15 points
9 France 13 points
10 Great Britain & N.I. 13 points

‘I just wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five’
By ELLIE MAWSON in Manchester

England’s former World No.1 Laura Massaro exited her penultimate event, the Manchester Open, at the quarter finals stage following her announcement this week that she will retire at the end of the season.

The former world champion, in her last appearance in Manchester, provided a tough battle for Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb at the National Squash Centre, but it was not enough to stop the top seed from claiming an 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 victory.

El Tayeb’s win means that there will be four different continents represented in the semi-final stage of the PSA World Tour Silver tournament, which is the first event to be held in Manchester since the award-winning 2017 PSA World Championships, as New Zealand’s Joelle King, Wales’ Tesni Evans and United States’ Amanda Sobhy all secured wins.

“I was happy to play Laura,” said 26-year-old El Tayeb following her victory. “I wanted to give her something to remember me by. It’s the last two tournaments for her and I have always looked up to her. I’d love to work with her one day, she is the most professional on tour, and I wish I could have half of her career.”

Massaro added afterwards: “I played well yesterday and today. Being able to fight back against the World No.3 was my only goal really.

“When I announced my retirement, I didn’t want to have an events procession. I wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five girls in the world and I’ll be looking to do the same thing at the British Open.”

World No.3 El Tayeb will now face Tesni Evans for a place in the final after Wales’ World No.9 conquered England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry in an epic five-game battle.

Evans, 26, was forced to come from one-game down as the two players took part in a high-quality battle much to the delight of the packed-out crowd inside the National Squash Centre. However, it proved to be Evans’ day as she closed out a tight 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 win.

“You can see SJ is back now and playing at her best,” said 26-year-old Evans. “I’m just really happy that I got over the line. I was struggling at the end of the fourth and mentally just down, but I wasn’t going down without a fight, the problem is she doesn’t do that either, so it was just a battle to the end.”

The other semi-final will see New Zealand’s World No.5 Joelle King and United States’ No.1 Amanda Sobhy go head-to-head after they claimed respective 3-0 wins over England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters and Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar.

Number two seed King was in dominant form to power past Englishwoman Waters by an 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 scoreline

“I was 2-0 up so I didn’t want to give Alison a sniff or allow her back into the match,” said 30-year-old King following her impressive win.

“I’m happy to be off in three. She was down and out in the fifth yesterday and she managed to come back and win. I’m really pleased to stay strong at the end of each game. It was really close and that can be the decider in the match, so I’m pleased to be off in three.

“It’s nice to see so many people out here supporting us.”

Meanwhile, World No.8 Sobhy defeated Egypt’s Gohar in a comfortable performance from the American to claim an 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 victory in just 26 minutes.

“We haven’t played in a while and she just had a good result [in El Gouna],” said 25-year-old Sobhy afterwards. “I kind of knew what to expect from her, she is a relentless player, so you just have to absorb it and chip at it.

“It was a good day, I had to catch her off guard a little bit, but she just keeps coming back and I just had to hang in there in that third game and capitalise on any mistakes. I’m really glad to be off in three.

“It’s nice not to play the top three, which I have done for most of the season. The level is so deep at the moment that anyone can beat anyone on any given day and fortunately I showed up today.”

The semi-finals take place today (Sunday May 12) at 16:30 local time (UTC+1) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and to multiple broadcasters around the world. 

PSA $76,000 Women’s Manchester Open 2019, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [5] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 (52m)
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 (68m)
[8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (26m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [7] Alison Waters (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [6] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) v [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA)

Report by ELLIE MAWSON (PSA Media Team). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
 

Pictures courtesy of PSA