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Temba Bavuma: Bowling battle crucial between South Africa and New Zealand
It begins with a football match. The players stand in a circle keeping the ball up, excitement building as the rally lengthens. Then, a slightly wayward tee-up from one of the players puts Tabraiz Shamsi in a tricky spot. The eye test suggests he's one of the less technically gifted football players; the rally is destined to end there. Soon after, the group disbands, and the South Africans begin to get into position for a conventional cricket training session.
"New Zealand's bowling is formidable," he said. "Quite a disciplined bowling attack. Up front the guys with the new ball don't give you much to score from. You've got to be decisive as an opening batter, and then in the middle, you've got guys again who are able to squeeze the game and force you to make mistakes. We know as batters we're going to have to work hard. We're going to have to bat ourselves into a position where we can make the play against them."
Bavuma, though, rates his own bowlers, highly, too. "We're also quite confident in our bowling. It'll be a good show on offer between the two bowling attacks. I don't think there's a lot between them."
Unlike New Zealand's bowlers though, South Africa's went through a full workload, training later than usual, between 7 and 10pm on the eve of the game.
Bavuma said it couldn't be an excuse for his side, though. "Logistically, things could have been more efficient," he said. "Having said, that the boys did enjoy the time to gallivant in Dubai. Some of the boys played some golf, some went sightseeing. So it was a bit enjoyable, some of them used the time to recover. Guys made use of it as best as they could."
Three weeks ago, these two sides played a game in Lahore that could not be further removed in terms of importance. It was the second game of the tri-series, a day game starting on a cold February morning. It was a flat surface, with a second-string South African side posting 304 before an unbeaten century from Kane Williamson, who has "always been a thorn" guided New Zealand to a comfortable win.
Bavuma said the differing stakes and circumstances of that game did not mean there was nothing to pick up from it. "It gave us a look at that New Zealand team," he said. "That team we played against - I don't think it'll be too far to what they'll put out tomorrow. We have different members obviously. I guess there's a difference there. When we played, it was a good wicket, but the last game here, between Australia and Afghanistan, the ball swung quite a bit."
Rabada and Mulder stand for catching practice under the lights, sharing a joke and a laugh. Ryan Rickelton whips Jansen into the onside; he looks the best batter at the practice session, the sound of the middle of his bat hypnotically echoing into the void of the empty stadium.
Dale Steyn, in Lahore as a broadcast commentator, briefly goes to the practice pitches and has a chat with a couple of players. It is, as Jansen says, "just another game", and South Africa are trying their best to treat it as just another training session.
These two sides, full of golden talents but achingly missing silverware, know better than most that yearning for glory does not guarantee it. So Rabada takes a sharp catch, Rickelton creams one back down the ground, and Jansen bowls at full pelt. And then they do it all over again. As South Africa and New Zealand always do.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
"Yeah, I do [enjoy batting at the top], I mean I won't lie," Rahul told Star Sports after sealing India's spot in the final. "It's after opening the batting in Australia in Test matches and having to face that attack in Australia and you know how red-ball [cricket] is much harder. I opened the batting there and then to come here and bat low seems a bit different, but this is how I've played white-ball cricket in the last four-five years.
"So, I'm quite used to going up and down the order so I'm just happy getting a chance to play in the middle and whatever role is given, I think it's really helped me understand my game a lot more and I've had to work on boundary hitting a lot more in the last year or so because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka I batted at No. 6, so I knew that's where I'll be batting and [we] needed a left-hander in the top order."
Before the Champions Trophy, there was a toss-up between Rahul and Rishabh Pant for the keeper-batter's spot, but Rahul, the incumbent, eventually got the nod. On Tuesday, Rahul came out to bat at the fall of Axar's wicket, with India needing 86 in 15 overs with six wickets in hand on a tricky Dubai surface. When Virat Kohli holed out for 84, it appeared like Australia had an opening, but Rahul slammed the doors on them with an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls, including two fours and two sixes. After putting India in the final, Rahul was asked about how he deals with the uncertainty around his role.
"Honestly, I mean it's since I think 2020 I've batted at No.5 and a lot of times people forget that that's where I've been batting," Rahul said. "And every time I perform in a series and then there's a break from ODI series, ODI cricket and then we come back after four or five months there's a question mark again about 'oh well will he play in the XI, where does he fit' and sometimes I'm sitting there thinking what more can I do. Everywhere that I've been asked to play I've played and I feel like I have performed my role. Whatever's been told to me by Rohit [Sharma], Rohit's been the captain for the last four-five years.
"And whatever he's told me I feel like I've done that to the best of my ability. And I know that Rohit feels the same and he's always supported me and backed me with that. So, there's that confidence going into game that the captain has my back."
Though Dubai had rolled out a fresh pitch for the semi-final, it was still slow and conducive to spin. It was one of those pitches where it was difficult to rotate strike, so Rahul felt that it was worth taking a risk every over, especially when Kohli was in supreme control at the other end. Rahul took Tanveer Sangha, Ben Dwarshuis and Adam Zampa for a brace of fours and six in quick succession before Kohli was caught at long-on. Hardik Pandya also holed out shortly after, but Rahul got the job done with Ravindra Jadeja.
"When I walked in and when I played 10-12 balls I told him that you're the batter that needs to go on and be there till the end," Rahul said of his chat with Kohli. "And let me try and hit or let me try and take one chance an over. Because like you said we only needed 6 runs and over. But 6 runs and over on that wicket seemed like 8-8.5. So, you had to take one chance and over, one boundary or one six.
"So, I told him that I will do that and why don't you just rotate the strike and be there because you're the set batter and it might be harder. If you get out another set batter comes it becomes a lot more harder. But yeah, he felt like it was in his range to hit and yeah he didn't time it well."
Kohli's 84 sends India into Champions Trophy final
India 267 for 6 (Kohli 84, Iyer 45, Rahul 42*, Ellis 2-49, Zampa 2-60) beat Australia 264 (Smith 73, Carey 61, Shami 3-48, Jadeja 2-40, Varun 2-49) by five wickets
Dubai will host the final of the Champions Trophy, and India will be in it, after proving their edge over a weakened Australia side in an absorbing first semi-final. Their win wasn't achieved without a fight, however, and Australia may yet look back on several moments that could have moved the contest in other, tantalising directions.
Rahul and Hardik hit five sixes and three fours between them, but even that late spurt didn't take India's boundary count (16 fours and seven sixes) past Australia's (20 and eight). Their win, instead, was built on busy-ness: they only faced 124 dots to Australia's 153, and ran 158 of their runs between wickets to Australia's 129.
As much as this was down to the way Kohli and his colleagues - five other India batters got past 25 - moved the ball into gaps and ran between wickets, it was also down to the difference in quality between the two bowling attacks, particularly the spinners. India's spinners ended the game with a collective dot-ball percentage of exactly 50, and Australia's just over 39.
India stuck with their four-spinner strategy on a bone-dry pitch that promised plenty of turn, but as it happened, the surface was merely slow and low. India's spinners didn't necessarily have the means to run through the opposition, but they exerted far better control than their Australian counterparts, keeping the stumps in play and restricting the batters' scoring areas.
For all that, Australia threatened at various points to run away to a 300-ish total after choosing to bat, and three of their batters played innings that could have been match-winning on another day. All three, however, fell just when they seemed at their most dangerous, and all three had a hand in their own dismissals.
Travis Head, put down by Mohammed Shami off his own bowling in the first over of the match, took a while getting to grips with the slowness of the surface, but peppered the boundary once he did, rushing from 1 off 11 balls to 39 off 32 to give India flashbacks of Ahmedabad 2023. Then, facing his first ball from Varun Chakravarthy in any format, including the IPL, he aimed big down the ground and miscued a wrong'un to long-off.
But with Australia 198 for 4 in the 37th over, he stepped out to try and drill Shami between cover and mid-off, only to lose his shape and miss a full-toss that crashed into the base of off stump.
Five balls later, Australia had lost another key wicket, with Glenn Maxwell following up a slog-swept six off Axar with a missed pull off a stump-bound skidder. The game had swung India's way in the matter of minutes.
Carey was still there, though, and he was, perhaps, playing the innings of the match to that point. Coming in at a tricky juncture - Australia were 144 for 4, and Ravindra Jadeja had just sent back Labuschagne and Josh Inglis in quick succession - he counterattacked decisively, picking vacant spots in the outfield and attacking them with no half-measures. His first boundary, off the sixth ball he faced, set the tone, as he backed away to expose all three stumps and create room to loft Jadeja over mid-off - the length didn't quite allow him to middle the shot, but he went through with it in the knowledge that there was no fielder patrolling that boundary.
In that vein, through sweeps, lofts over the covers and reverse-sweeps, Carey had motored to 60 off 56, but just when it seemed imperative for him to bat through the innings, with Australia seven down in the 47th over, he turned around for a risky second run and was caught well short by a brilliant direct hit from Shreyas Iyer two-thirds of the way back at backward square leg.
All these moments added up to Australia being bowled out for 264, with three balls remaining.
It was the kind of total that allowed India to pace their pursuit and not go searching for boundaries, though the early exchanges suggested otherwise.
Shubman Gill danced down the track to put Ben Dwarshuis away with an eye-catching short-arm jab, before inside-edging into his stumps later in the over while trying to steer him fine, perhaps an injudicious shot in these conditions.
Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, went after the bowling as he usually does in the first powerplay, and played an innings that somewhat echoed Head's: there were a couple of breathtaking hits, including a pulled six off Nathan Ellis; there were two dropped chances, neither entirely straightforward, but both catchable, by Cooper Connolly and Labuschagne; and then a dismissal off a risky shot, a sweep off too-straight, too-full ball from Connolly.
That left India 43 for 2 in the eighth over, and Connolly was finally able to breathe after a torrid match to that point. Earlier in the day, opening in place of the injured Matthew Short, whom he had replaced in Australia's squad, he had fallen for a nine-ball duck that also included six successive plays-and-misses off Shami.
Connolly could have had even more joy in his sixth over, when Kohli, looking to work his left-arm spin into the on side, sent a leading edge looping towards Maxwell at a catching short cover. Maxwell dived right, but couldn't hold on to the one-hander. With Kohli on 51 and India 134 for 2, Australia could have had a foot in the door had this moment gone their way.
That apart, though, Kohli was making things look deceptively easy, playing nothing but old-fashioned percentage shots but somehow scoring quicker than Iyer - who was moving around his crease constantly, often to scoop the ball over his shoulder - in a third-wicket stand of 91. Kohli only hit five fours in all - two pulls off the spinners and one off Ellis were particularly eye-catching for the speed of his footwork - but had no trouble in keeping the scorecard moving.
This was partly down to Australia being forced to concede singles to deep fielders thanks to the limitations of their spin attack, which included one proven frontliner in Adam Zampa, a legspinner playing just his fourth ODI in Tanveer Sangha, and three batting allrounders or part-timers in Connolly, Maxwell and Head. Given the total he was defending, too, Smith had to protect the boundaries, and allow the singles to drip away while waiting for an opening.
This came when Iyer, making room to cut, was bowled by Zampa's quicker ball, leaving India needing 131 from 142 balls. They were still heavy favourites, though, given their batting depth. They settled into the seeming pattern of Kohli looking to bat through the chase with Axar - batting in his now customary No. 5 slot - and then Rahul taking on the bowlers at the other end in partnerships of 44 and 47.
Just when things were going exactly to plan, and just when a century seemed to be Kohli's for the taking, he fell in the most un-Kohli-like manner. Rahul had hit Zampa for a straight six earlier in the over, and India were well in control of their required rate. It isn't usually the kind of moment Kohli picks to try and hit a six, but it was on this day. He picked the wrong'un, but the ball likely turned less than he expected, and forced him to hit straighter than intended, straight to the fielder at long-on. Kohli may be the world's most exacting calibrator of chases, but even he's given to the odd human impulse.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
FRISCO, Texas -- With free agency closing in and the deadline to use the franchise tag coming Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys were able to keep one of their own off the market, agreeing to a four-year, $80 million deal with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
The deal includes $58 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus, Odighizuwa's agent, Sam Leaf Ireifej, told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Odighizuwa's salary-cap number in 2025 will be $6.25 million.
The Cowboys had discussions with Odighizuwa's agent over the past few weeks and were able to reach a deal before Odighizuwa could hit the open market as well as avoid using the franchise tag.
This is the latest big-money extension handed out by the Cowboys to a homegrown player in the past two years, following the extensions for quarterback Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million) last year. The Cowboys are now expected to turn their attention for a long-term deal with star pass rusher Micah Parsons.
The Cowboys have restructured Lamb's contract, a source told ESPN, creating an additional $20 million in salary cap space.
Odighizuwa, 26, figured to be one of the most sought-after defensive tackles when free agency began, but the Cowboys managed to keep a key defensive player with a scheme change coming under new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
"He's a homegrown guy who we think is a really good football player," executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week at the NFL scouting combine.
Had the Cowboys tagged Odighizuwa, which would have cost $25.1 million, it would have been the seventh time in the past eight years they used the franchise tag. The last two players tagged, running back Tony Pollard (2023) and tight end Dalton Schultz (2022), did not sign long-term extensions and left the next year via free agency. The Cowboys were able to sign Prescott (2020-21) and DeMarcus Lawrence (2018-19), to long-term deals after they used the tag a second time.
A third-round pick by the Cowboys in 2021 out of UCLA, Odighizuwa has not missed a game in his career (67 straight with 63 starts).
He had his best season in 2024 with a career-high 4.5 sacks, 47 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass deflection. He was credited with 54 pressures, second on the Cowboys to Parsons.
At 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds, Odighizuwa relies more on leverage and quickness than brute strength, but he can hold up well enough in the run game. He played a career-high 860 snaps (77.9%) in 2024.
He has 172 tackles and 13.5 sacks in his four NFL seasons.
The Cowboys have a number of defensive players set to hit free agency in Lawrence, cornerback Jourdan Lewis, defensive end Chauncey Golston and linebacker Eric Kendricks. The club met with their agents during the combine to see if more deals can be made. So far, Odighizuwa is the only one to come to fruition.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Three weeks after parting with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets are releasing his favorite wide receiver, Davante Adams, a source told ESPN on Tuesday.
The Jets also have given permission to wide receiver Allen Lazard -- another Rodgers favorite -- to seek a trade before the start of the league year on March 12, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. In all likelihood, he, too, will end up being released.
The Jets are undoing what they did two years ago, when they went all-in for Rodgers by acquiring some of his former Green Bay Packers teammates.
The Adams move comes as no surprise, as he was due to count $38.3 million on the salary cap -- a 2025 league high for wide receivers. That includes $35.6 million in non-guaranteed base salary, the contract they inherited last October when they acquired Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2025 third-round pick.
By cutting Adams, 32, the Jets received major cap relief, clearing $29.9 million from this year's cap -- more than doubling their previous cap room. This will allow them to be aggressive in free agency, though it's not a clean break from Adams. There is an $8.4 million dead charge, the prorated renegotiation bonus he received upon being traded to the Jets.
The only logical way to have kept the still-productive Adams was to renegotiate his contract, and that never seemed like a real possibility. He strongly suggested at the end of the season that his future with the team was tied to Rodgers. They tried to trade him, but the contract was immovable.
The Jets' new regime -- coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey -- is shedding all remnants from the Rodgers era, which ended last season with a 5-12 record and triggered an organizational reboot.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Rodgers' close friend, also is gone. And now Lazard's days are numbered; it's unlikely that a team will trade for his $11 million salary (non-guaranteed). His release or trade would create another $6.6 million in cap relief.
The Jets were 2-4 at the time of the Adams trade, a desperation move in an attempt to rekindle the Rodgers-Adams magic from their years with the Packers. As it turned out, they went 3-8 with Adams.
After a slow start, Adams came on strong toward the end of the season and finished with 67 catches, 854 yards and 7 touchdowns in 11 games for the Jets. Combined with his Las Vegas production, he went over 1,000 yards for the fifth straight year. His signature performance was a nine-catch, 198-yard performance in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Adams' departure leaves Garrett Wilson, a three-time, 1,000-yard receiver, as the clear-cut No. 1. He had that distinction at the start of last season, but the roles became blurred when Adams arrived.
It became obvious to some players that Rodgers was favoring Adams over Wilson in the passing game. In 11 games together, Adams was targeted 112 times (third most in the NFL), Wilson 87. The disparity was even greater in the red zone -- Adams 21, Wilson 11.
It fueled speculation that Wilson, whose relationship with Rodgers was tense at times, might ask for a trade. But the chances of that happening were greatly reduced by Rodgers' ouster.
Presuming Lazard leaves, the Jets are very thin at receiver. Aside from Wilson, their top holdovers are Xavier Gipson (27 career receptions) and Malachi Corley (three).
Adams has 957 career receptions, fourth among active players. He spent his first eight years with Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers before being traded to the Raiders in 2022.
Before finalizing the trade for Rodgers in April 2023, the Jets signed Lazard to a four-year, $44 million contract. They also added Randall Cobb, another Packers receiver who has since retired. The hope was to make themselves more attractive to Rodgers -- and it worked.
In two seasons, Lazard, 29, had only 60 receptions for 841 yards and two touchdowns. He struggled in 2023 and wound up getting benched. He rebounded with a strong start last season, but eventually lost playing time to Adams, who moved into an immediate starting role after his trade.
Sources: Eagles make Barkley NFL's top-paid RB
The Philadelphia Eagles are rewarding Saquon Barkley with a two-year, $41.2 million contract extension that makes him the highest-paid running back in NFL history, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday.
The deal makes Barkley the NFL's first $20 million-plus per-year running back.
Barkley, 28, also has the ability to earn an additional $15 million in incentives and escalators. The deal includes $36 million fully guaranteed at signing.
The extension comes after Barkley completed the first year of a three-year contract he signed with the Eagles in free agency last offseason.
In his first season with the Eagles, Barkley eclipsed Terrell Davis for most rushing yards in a single season in NFL history. After rushing for 2,005 yards in the regular season, he rushed for another 499 yards in the postseason to finish with 2,504 total rushing yards.
Magic's Suggs has knee surgery, done for season
Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs will miss the remainder of the season after having arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee, the team said Tuesday.
The Magic said that the procedure involved a mosaicplasty to repair the trochlear joint surface and that Suggs is expected to make a full recovery. In mosaicplasty, a person's own healthy cartilage and/or bone is moved to repair a damaged area.
Suggs left a Jan. 3 game with back spasms and since then has made only one appearance, in a Jan. 25 win over the Detroit Pistons. During his recent ramp-up to return to play, he experienced discomfort in his knee and had further testing.
Known for his defense, Suggs was averaging career highs of 16.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his fourth season.
Dallas Mavericks All-Star Kyrie Irving has suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee, sources told ESPN.
Irving, 32, sustained the injury late in the first quarter of the Mavericks' loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
The injury is a devastating blow to the Mavericks' season, as Irving was the team's best overall player and appeared in 50 of the team's 62 games. Irving, who made his ninth NBA All-Star team in February, is the only NBA player this season averaging at least 20 points, 40% 3-point shooting and 90% from the free throw line. It's the fifth season in his 14-year career in which he has reached or surpassed those averages -- the second-most all time, trailing Golden State's Stephen Curry, according to ESPN Research.
Prior to Monday's game, Irving was averaging 39.3 minutes played over his past 10 games, a stretch that began right after the team dealt co-star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the most minutes per game by any player in the NBA from Feb. 4 to March 2.
Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists this season. He has a $43 million player option for the 2025-26 season, the final year of a three-year, $126 million deal he signed in 2023.
Following the news of Irving's season-ending injury, the Mavericks' NBA title odds dropped from 66-1 to 200-1 at ESPN BET.
Irving's diagnosis is the latest loss for a Mavs team already missing superstar Anthony Davis -- who left his only game with the team on Feb. 8 because of an adductor strain after being acquired from the Lakers in the Doncic trade -- as well as Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and Caleb Martin.
Dallas also lost reserve guard Jaden Hardy to a right ankle sprain midway through the third quarter.
The Mavericks fell to 32-30 after Monday's loss and are 3 games ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the 10th seed in the Western Conference standings.
From playoff pushes to Durant's future, the 19 biggest questions for the rest of the NBA season
Turning the calendar to March means the NBA stretch run is underway. With a little more than a month until the end of the regular season, there are still important questions to answer about the top title contenders as well as teams aspiring to deep playoff runs and those hoping to simply crash the party through the play-in tournament.
At the top end, the Boston Celtics will focus on bringing a record-extending 19th championship banner to TD Garden, but the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to convert the top spots in their respective conferences into a run like the Celtics made during the 2024 playoffs.
A tier below, four teams -- the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, star-studded Los Angeles Lakers, deep Memphis Grizzlies and loaded-up New York Knicks -- are trying to prove they belong in the inner circle of title contenders. Those three Western Conference teams are jockeying for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and home-court advantage for at least two rounds.
As usual, the rest of the playoff race out West is as crowded as rush-hour traffic. Five teams are separated by a single game in the standings from sixth place (currently the Golden State Warriors) to tenth (Dallas Mavericks). One of those five will advance directly to the playoffs as the sixth seed, while the other four likely will battle it out for the final two spots in the play-in tournament.
There's a greater divide between the top six in the East and the potential play-in teams, especially for the fourth spot. The Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks are all competing for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.
Using on-the-ground reporting and analysis, ESPN's team of experts break down the biggest questions for all of the postseason contenders as they begin to look ahead to the playoffs and beyond. -- Kevin Pelton
Eastern Conference
No. 1 and No. 2 seeds
Did the Cleveland Cavaliers do enough at the trade deadline to give themselves a real shot at getting past Boston in the playoffs?
They would not be favored in a series against Boston, but the Cavaliers proved they have made up significant ground following last week's road victory versus the Celtics. De'Andre Hunter is a whopping plus-67 in his eight games as a Cav, and he demonstrated on Friday he can play effective situational defense against Boston's Jayson Tatum. There is no way to shut down Tatum, but Hunter has played hundreds of possessions against Tatum in his career and held him to under 40% shooting. The Cavs are firmly in control to earn home-court advantage, which might not worry the Celtics, who are the best road team in the NBA. It could, however, prove comforting to the Cavs in getting to start a series at home. -- Brian Windhorst
At 7.5 games behind the Cavs, will the Boston Celtics (who have one of the easiest remaining schedules) make a push for the No. 1 spot?
The focus in Boston is going to be on one thing alone: getting to the playoffs healthy and at full strength. The Celtics are not worried about going on the road to face the Cavaliers in a potential Eastern Conference finals. Remember, this is a Boston team that has won a Game 7 on the road to make it to the NBA Finals (in 2022, against a Jimmy Butler III-led Miami Heat squad), and one that has as much postseason experience as any current NBA team.
Would the Celtics love to catch Cleveland? Sure, any team would prefer to be the top seed. But Boston is unlikely to sacrifice its playoff preparation to try to pursue that. -- Tim Bontemps
Donovan Mitchell drops 41 points to rally the Cavaliers back from a 20-point deficit against the Celtics.
Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 seeds
How do the New York Knicks put themselves in the conversation alongside the Celtics and Cavs?
It's not rocket science: New York needs to defend at a far higher level -- one befitting of a Tom Thibodeau-coached club -- to stand any chance against Cleveland or Boston in the playoffs. But for several reasons, that likely isn't a switch that can just be flipped at this point -- mainly because the starters have played longer minutes than any other team's, raising the question of whether they have a higher level left for the postseason.
New York ranks 19th overall on defense but a dismal 29th (behind the Toronto Raptors) when defending top-10 offenses, per ESPN Research. No team has surrendered a higher 3-point mark than the Knicks; that presents a huge problem against the Celtics and Cavs, who boast the highest and fourth-highest attempt rates, respectively. Less drop coverage is one potential fix, and having center Mitchell Robinson back from his seasonlong absence obviously helps. But other changes figure to be necessary to close the huge gap we've seen all season between the Knicks and the two teams ahead of them. -- Chris Herring
How do the Milwaukee Bucks avoid last season's early exit?
Milwaukee's simplest solution to try to improve its fortune after back-to-back first-round-playoff exits: Make sure Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy. He did not play a minute during the 2024 playoff series against Indiana and was limited by an injury during the 2023 first-round loss to Miami. Antetokounmpo has tried to put less stress on his body this season by slightly altering his style of play, and the Bucks believe it will help keep him healthier in the long run and give the team its first chance to see the Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard together for a playoff series. The duo has been productive on the court together this season, with a net rating of plus-5.2, but the Bucks are betting they can reach another level in the playoffs. -- Jamal Collier
What will it take for the Indiana Pacers to make another deep postseason run?
Better defense, honestly. We know Indiana can score, particularly when Tyrese Haliburton is aggressive and scoring at a high level the way he has been doing lately (averaging 23.2 points since the All-Star break). The question for Indiana is generally on the other end, where it ranks in the league's bottom third. Can coach Rick Carlisle push the right buttons in terms of when and how the Pacers utilize their zone defense? Can Andrew Nembhard throw off opposing ball handlers by pressing full-court, like the Pacers did when they sprung the strategy on the first-place Cavs in January for a come-from-behind win? Given their less-than-stellar rebounding and fouling metrics, the Pacers likely need to find something they can occasionally hang their hat on defensively if they want to make another deep postseason run. -- Herring
Making the playoffs seems like a given, but can the Detroit Pistons win a series for the first time since 2008?
The Pistons already have had a successful season, so why not get greedy? Thanks to the futility of the Eastern Conference, Detroit's spot in the top six is all but secured. But if the Pistons can start stacking up some wins down the stretch (it's been a while since anyone has typed that), they could position themselves for either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed and face a team such as Indiana for a chance at an upset. First-time All-Star Cade Cunningham is having a season worthy of making All-NBA, and Detroit has found a formula with him playing well surrounded by capable veterans. With the right matchup, the Pistons could be a dangerous playoff team with nothing to lose. -- Collier
Play-in: Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls
Which of the four current play-in teams has the best shot at a postseason run?
None of these four teams is going to score very much, as they all rank in the bottom half of the league in offensive efficiency. But at least the Magic can prevent their opponents from scoring. Orlando has the second-best defensive rating in the league and therefore has the best chance of slowing the high-powered offenses of the Cavaliers or the Celtics in the first round. The Magic also have the brightest star power in the East's play-in picture, as both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have the potential to take over a playoff game.
Granted, Banchero has struggled since returning from an oblique tear, and the Magic rank 28th in offense, ahead of only the lowly Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. But after the trade deadline, the Hawks (who traded De'Andre Hunter and lost Jalen Johnson to a season-ending injury), Heat (who traded Jimmy Butler III) and Bulls (who traded Zach LaVine) all have very low ceilings, while the Magic can at least ascend in theory. We've still scarcely seen what the full-strength version of this roster can do, as Banchero, Wagner and Jalen Suggs -- now out indefinitely due to left knee surgery -- have shared the court for only six games this season. -- Zach Kram
Missing the playoffs
Are the Philadelphia 76ers headed for a shake-up after a disappointing season?
That's one of the big questions remaining across the league. Joel Embiid has been shut down for the season because of ongoing issues with his left knee, and Paul George could be following close behind. The 76ers, having entered the campaign with championship aspirations, are now trying to hang onto their top-six protected first-round pick in this year's draft. It is a staggering turn of events. All questions around the 76ers, however, come back to one topic: Embiid and his health moving forward. The one constant around the 76ers for the better part of the past decade has been that whenever the superstar center has been on the court, the team plays at a different level. This season was the first time that didn't happen. No matter what other decisions are made in Philadelphia moving forward, figuring out the path to making that a reality again -- if one exists -- is the only thing that truly matters. -- Bontemps
Western Conference
Will the Oklahoma City Thunder take their two-big lineup into the playoffs?
Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein figure prominently into the Thunder's playoff plans, but it remains to be determined whether Oklahoma City will utilize the two big men as starters alongside each other. That could be a series-to-series decision based on matchups or even a midseries adjustment. The Thunder have outscored opponents by 20 points in 97 minutes with Holmgren and Hartenstein on the court together. It's a very small sample size, but the duo has a surprisingly poor defensive rating (116.5).
For the first time when both bigs were available, coach Mark Daigneault opted to bring Hartenstein off the bench during Friday's win over the Hawks. "That was like a three-second conversation," Daigneault told reporters of his talk with Hartenstein, who recorded a double-double in 27 minutes. -- Tim MacMahon
Nos. 2 to 5 seeds
How has the Los Angeles Lakers' defense thrived after the Anthony Davis trade and is it sustainable?
After a win last week at the Portland Trail Blazers, Lakers coach JJ Reddick detailed that he had been struck by a "revelation" earlier in the season. "There's actually only one cheat code in the NBA, and that's playing hard," Redick said in the midst of his team winning 16 out of 19 games since late January to surge up the standings. The effort has been the fuel to the Lakers' revamped defense, but the personnel change cannot be overlooked. Davis was the team's best defender, but the addition of Dorian Finney-Smith and the contributions from Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt -- both finally healthy -- have given the Lakers' defense a constant wave of ball pressure to disrupt opposing offenses.
Add in the competitive spirit shared by LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, and it's a cohesive defensive group night to night. "LeBron's playing at an All-NBA defense level," Redick said. "There's no conservation of energy [from James] on that end of the floor." The biggest question is if this team could be peaking too soon: Does it have enough depth to get through the regular season without burning out the 40-year-old James for an extended postseason run? -- Dave McMenamin
Brian Windhorst joins "Get Up" to reveal why the Lakers have been winning games in a sustainable way this season.
What's behind the Denver Nuggets' quiet ascension in the West and will it carry into the playoffs?
Jamal Murray has been the biggest difference between the Nuggets' relatively sluggish start and their success since the first quarter of the season. Murray averaged 17.8 points while shooting 42.0% from the floor and 33.3% from 3-point range during Denver's 11-10 start. His numbers since then: 23.8 points per game, 49.8% from the floor, 43.2% from deep. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic's dominance gives Denver a chance to contend for a championship, but the Nuggets need Murray to serve as a co-star. Murray has a history of meeting the moment in the playoffs, averaging 24.2 points and 6.2 assists in 65 career postseason games, stats that are significant upgrades from his regular-season production (17 PPG and 4.6 APG). -- MacMahon
Are the Memphis Grizzlies finally ready to take a serious postseason step forward?
General manager Zach Kleiman never had a problem with the team's boisterous swagger so long as the players could back it up on the floor. That didn't happen last season for a variety of reasons, including Ja Morant's suspension and subsequent season-ending injury. Memphis reflected on that rough campaign, in which Jaren Jackson Jr. emerged as a bright spot, and entered this season with a newfound maturity and sense of urgency -- highlighted by Jackson's second All-Star appearance. The club also installed a new offense. Will that be enough? It should be.
One concern, though, is that Memphis plans to lean on rookies Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells to play significant minutes in the postseason. It's a situation already being monitored by the brass as the regular season winds down. Coach Taylor Jenkins said his team will be prepared to adjust accordingly. -- Michael C. Wright
Do the Houston Rockets have enough scoring options for a deep playoff run?
Amen Thompson emerged as an offensive playmaker during Fred VanVleet's 11-game absence, so much so that the second-year guard remained in the starting lineup when VanVleet returned. That gives Houston two ball handlers capable of scoring and facilitating the offense for leading scorers Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun. VanVleet's sprained ankle and overlapping long-term injuries to Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason wreaked havoc on Houston's scoring punch this season, but each of them is fully healthy again for the first time since December.
The Rockets aren't superb offensively -- ranking 15th in offensive rating (113.5) -- but they are a top-five defensive team and will improve offensively down the stretch now that the club is finally whole again. Still, it's unlikely the Rockets will be able to keep up in the West against high-scoring squads such as Denver, Oklahoma City and Memphis. -- Wright
Nos. 6 to 10: play-in teams
What is the Golden State Warriors' ceiling after adding Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline?
Draymond Green has said the ceiling for the Warriors is a fifth championship for him, Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr. That is how much the Warriors have been revitalized by Butler, going 8-1 since the trade. Butler has injected the team with belief and swagger, with Kerr calling him the "connector" the team has needed all season. His style of play has fit perfectly alongside Curry and Green. Though Butler is still below his career average in points per game, he provides Curry with a proven playoff performer and scorer when the game's greatest shooter is double-teamed. Butler can get to the free throw line, and his ability to make the extra pass has unlocked perimeter offense for the likes of Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Moses Moody and Quinten Post. Curry told ESPN before the trade that the Warriors believe they can beat anyone in a seven-game series due to their championship pedigree and experience. Add Playoff Jimmy and the Warriors feel they can surprise people perhaps with another title run like the one in 2022. -- Ohm Youngmisuk
Ohm Youngmisuk breaks down the Warriors' newfound energy since acquiring Jimmy Butler.
Do the LA Clippers have enough to get out of the first round for the first time since 2021?
If the Clippers can keep their starters healthy, they have a chance to get out of the first round. The problem is not only Kawhi Leonard's unpredictable health; James Harden is beginning to show signs of fatigue after carrying much of the early-season load while Leonard returned from his offseason knee issues. Norman Powell, who has been having a career season, has been dealing with injuries since the All-Star break.
The Clips continue playing elite defense (third overall) under coach Ty Lue and first-year assistant Jeff Van Gundy. When he's healthy, Leonard is one of the all-time great playoff performers. Harden's early-season performances earned him an 11th All-Star appearance, and Powell had a case for what would have been his first appearance. Ivica Zubac also has become an interior force, averaging his first career double-double. And the midseason additions of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons bolster the second unit with perimeter shooting and defense. -- Youngmisuk
Why haven't the Minnesota Timberwolves been able to break through this season?
It's been a season of adjustment and frustration after the Timberwolves, fresh off a Western Conference finals appearance, traded All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns days before training camp. Minnesota has struggled at times to figure out fit issues with Julius Randle, the headliner of the return for Towns, as Randle and star guard Anthony Edwards both have a tendency to pound the dribble. But Minnesota's biggest problem has been protecting late leads. Edwards, who is still in the early stages of his development at age 23, often falls into bad habits of playing hero ball down the stretch of games. He is shooting 39.8% from the floor in clutch situations, when the Wolves have been outscored by 48 points in his 117 minutes. -- MacMahon
What's at stake if the Dallas Mavericks don't reach the playoff this season?
The Mavericks took a massive risk by trading Luka Doncic, a generational talent who has yet to hit what should be his prime years, only months removed from a trip to the NBA Finals. The deal deeply wounded the soul of a fan base that hoped and believed that Doncic's entire career would play out in Dallas, just like his predecessor Dirk Nowitzki. A series of PR mistakes in the wake of the most shocking trade in NBA history only made matters worse. Failure to make the playoffs, especially if the Lakers go on a run, could create the sort of apathy that Mavs fans haven't felt since the 1990s, when the franchise was a league laughingstock. New team governor Patrick Dumont has voiced strong support of GM Nico Harrison, tuning out the frequent "Fire Nico" cries from fans. -- MacMahon
Are DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine once again doomed to the play-in with the Sacramento Kings?
DeRozan is third in career play-in scoring, having appeared in five games, four of them as LaVine's teammate with the Chicago Bulls. (LaVine missed last year's play-in due to injury.) Now that both of them are in Sacramento, the road to the playoffs still seems headed through the play-in tournament. The Kings are in the middle of a five-team race for the No. 6 seed and a guaranteed playoff spot. But with the weakest point differential in this group (+1.5) and the hardest remaining schedule, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, the BPI projections have them in the play-in 87% of the time.
Oh, and the all-time leading play-in scorer? It's new Sacramento center Jonas Valanciunas, who has appeared in the play-in with the Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans all five years it has existed and is on track to make it six straight. -- Pelton
In danger of missing the playoffs
How does the remainder of the season impact Kevin Durant's future with the Phoenix Suns?
It likely doesn't. You'd never rule anything out in the NBA, but it also is clear that both the Suns and Durant are contemplating a future apart. The Suns have a failing and hugely expensive big three, and that's untenable in the apron era. Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker will make a combined $150 million next season, the most expensive trio in the league, and they're not working together. Beal has a no-trade clause, and he made it very clear he doesn't intend to waive it. Booker is deemed untouchable and doesn't want to leave. That leaves the options as status quo or trading Durant as part of a roster restructuring. The status quo is unacceptable, so you start to see how this trade Durant reality comes into focus. The Suns apparently already came to this conclusion because they had talks with several teams about moving Durant at the deadline. The conditions in Phoenix have only deteriorated since. -- Windhorst
Veteran left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana is joining the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year, $4.25 million deal with $1 million in potential bonuses, according to multiple reports.
Quintana, 36, is coming off a 2024 season in which he went 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA in 31 starts for the New York Mets. He struck out 135 and walked 63 in 170 innings. Over his past six regular-season starts, Quintana gave up four runs -- three earned -- in 36 1/3 innings.
He started the deciding game of New York's NL Wild Card Series matchup with the Brewers and pitched six shutout innings in the Mets' 4-2 victory, though he received no decision. Quintana had a total of three postseason starts, allowing six runs -- five earned -- over 14 1/3 innings.
Quintana now will compete for a spot in a Brewers rotation that returns right-handers Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale. The two-time defending NL Central champions also added left-hander Nestor Cortes in a trade that sent two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams to the New York Yankees.
The Brewers could use some rotation depth as two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff and Robert Gasser come back from injuries. Woodruff missed all of 2024 while recovering from shoulder surgery, and he won't be ready for the start of the season. Gasser, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, isn't expected to be available until late in the season.
Milwaukee got more bad news Monday night when left-hander Aaron Ashby, a candidate for a rotation spot, left his start against the Cincinnati Reds with an injury. Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Ashby appeared to have an oblique issue and would undergo an MRI.
When he makes his Brewers debut, Quintana will have pitched for every team in the NL Central. He was with the Chicago Cubs from 2017-20 and split the 2022 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
Quintana owns a 102-103 record and 3.74 ERA in 359 career appearances, including 333 starts. He's also had stints with the Chicago White Sox (2012-17), Los Angeles Angels (2021), San Francisco Giants (2021) and Mets (2023-24). He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2016.
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