Basketball Tips

Philadelphia fell into a 0-3 hole on Saturday after a 94-108 loss to New York to all but end their season. Joel Embiid made his return from a one-game injury layoff but he was well below his best on both ends of the floor, recording 18 points on just 45.8% TS%, along with six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. A hot start from Paul George had Philly humming in the first quarter, as the veteran forward scored all of his 15 points in a nine-minute barrage, but he cooled off dramatically after that, as did Philadelphia’s offence as a…

Game 2 of the series was almost a carbon copy of the opener, as Cleveland came back to take a two-point lead in the fourth quarter only to go cold offensively down the stretch to see Detroit run away for a 97-107 win. That puts Cleveland down 0-2. As the series now heads to Rocket Arena, they’re going to need a lot more from James Harden if they are to prevail in this matchup. The veteran guard shot just 3/13 from the floor and had four turnovers to finish the night with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists to…

Philadelphia were thrown a real curve ball in the build-up to Game 2 as Joel Embiid was ruled out with ankle and hip injuries. After such an impressive return from appendectomy surgery to lead Philadelphia past Boston in the first round, Embiid’s latest injuries are a real dent to Philly’s chances in this matchup. That said, they showed plenty of promise in their 102-108 defeat in Game 2 on Thursday, going tit-for-tat with New York before the hosts ran away with the win late in the piece. Embiid’s presence was sorely missed in the clutch, as Philly scored just 12…

Detroit took care of business in Game 1 to record a 111-101 victory over Cleveland. It looked like things were falling apart for the hosts as Cleveland went on a 0-11 fourth quarter run to tie the game at 93-93. However, Detroit responded in style, scoring six consecutive points to rebuild a buffer, and their defence did the job from there, limiting Cleveland down the stretch to make it a winning start to the series. The Cade Cunningham-Jalen Duren combination was crucial down the stretch, with the point guard setting up Duren for a trio of dunks to re-establish Detroit’s…

New York couldn’t have been more impressive in Game 1 of their series against Philadelphia, thumping the visitors 137-98. It was always going to be advantage NY going into this game, not only because they were the home team, but also because they enjoyed three days’ rest after their last game, compared to Philadelphia’s one day, but this was quite the statement from Mike Brown’s crew. Jalen Brunson was unstoppable on the offensive end, recording 35 points in 31 minutes, including 13 points in just six minutes in the second quarter to get NY well clear and lay the foundations…

Detroit emerged from their gruelling series against Orlando to win Game 7 116-94. It wasn’t the most convincing of series from JB Bickerstaff’s side, as they fell into a 1-3 hole after four games. As Franz Wagner went down with an injury and Cade Cunningham upped his game, the first seeds were able to clean up their act and win the last three games to progress to the second round. Cunningham finished the series with averages of 32.4 points on 60.2% TS% and 7.1 assists per game to dominate on the offensive end, and Tobias Harris came up with some…

New York were emphatic in closing out their first-round series against Atlanta, winning Game 6, 140-89, to slam the door shut on the visitors and progress to the second round. Mike Brown’s team improved over the course of the series after losing Games 2 and 3 to then go on to record a 16-point victory in Game 4, a 29-point victory in Game 5 and a huge 51-point thumping in Game 6. It was a shocking spectacle at Madison Square Garden, with New York’s lead reaching 50 points in the second quarter, and it got out beyond the 60-point mark…

Detroit pulled off one of the all-time great playoff comebacks in Game 6 to keep their season alive and force a Game 7 on Monday. A horror second quarter saw Detroit score just 12 points and head into halftime trailing 38-60, but it was then Orlando’s turn to experience offensive hell, as the visitors locked in for one of the best 24-minute defensive spells in recent memory. They crowded the paint on drives and rotated expertly on the perimeter, while maintaining high intensity for the entire half to hold Orlando to just 11 points in the third quarter and only…

Boston weren’t able to close out the series in Game 6, losing 93-106 to lead us to the first Game 7 of the 2026 Playoffs on Sunday. It was a hard watch for Boston fans on Friday as the team recorded their third-worst offensive game of the season and things got particularly bad in the third quarter, where they scored just 14 points to fall behind by 20-plus. Their slide began in the second quarter, and this time it was on the defensive end, giving up 38 points to trail 49-58 at halftime and they were never able to recover,…

Orlando weren’t able to complete the comeback on Thursday in a 109-116 loss in Game 5. With the series score now at 3-2, Orlando will be treating Saturday’s contest as a near must-win, being their last home game of the series, but after Paolo Banchero’s nuclear showing in Game 5, they will feel like they have the tools to get it done. The young star finished with 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and gave Orlando some life after trailing 86-99 early in the fourth to bring the score back to 109-112 with one minute to play. Orlando’s defence…