When one game-winner in a series isn’t enough…

THE LINEUP 🏀

What’s inside today’s edition? 

Déjà vu in Denver: Jamal Murray hit his 2nd game-winner of the series to help Denver advance

Thunder make history: OKC swept NOLA to become the youngest team to win a Playoff series

White-hot Celtics: Derrick White’s career night fueled Boston to a 3-1 lead over Miami

Brunson’s rise: How will Jalen Brunson follow up his Playoff franchise-record 47-point gem?

Holding serve: The home team has won each game between the Cavs and Magic. Will the trend hold?

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Last night’s scores & what to watch today.

Tonight’s TNT doubleheader features a pair of elimination games as the Knicks try to close out the Sixers at home (7 ET) and the Pacers try to advance past the Bucks on the road (9:30 ET). The Magic and Cavs meet on NBA TV (8 ET) in a pivotal Game 5 with the series tied 2-2.

1. MURRAY HITS 2ND GAME-WINNER OF SERIES

From questionable to undeniable: Jamal Murray was a game-time decision with a calf strain but was determined to play. By the end of the night, the decision to let him play proved wise.

Murray hit his second game-winning bucket of the series – a 14-foot pull-up jumper off a pick-and-roll with Nikola Jokic with 3.6 seconds left – to beat the Lakers 108-106 and clinch the series in five games. | Recap | All-Access From Denver | Watch The Final 5:23

• An NBA first: Murray is the only player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to sink two game-winning FGs in the final 5 seconds of a game in a single Playoff series
• All-angles: Appreciate Murray’s brilliance from every angle possible inside Ball Arena. And if you need a refresher, here are all the angles of his Game 2 buzzer-beater

• 🗣️ Murray on the decision to play: “I didn’t want to sit. The training staff, they’re really cautious with it, they don’t want it to get worse. I was like ‘I’m not gonna leave my brothers out there.’ I got a little emotional in the back. I was like ‘I’m not sitting.’”
• Murray’s night: Jamal finished with 32 points, seven assists and five 3s in 41 minutes
• 🗣️ Nuggets coach Michael Malone: “He just told me, ‘I’m glad I played because I don’t know if we win if I don’t play tonight.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s the understatement of the year.”
• 🗣️ Jokic on Murray in the clutch: “He loves those moments. I’m really confident he’s going to make the shot.”

Murray had plenty of help on Monday with Michael Porter Jr. (26 pts, 5 3s, listen to the crowd erupt on this triple) and Jokic (25 pts, 20 reb, 9 ast) combining for 51 points. LeBron (30 pts, 9 reb, 11 ast) and Anthony Davis (17 pts, 15 reb) posted double-doubles for L.A.

• Déjà vu: Jokic posted his second 25/20/5 game of the series. Both came at home in two-point wins with Murray hitting the game-winning shot (Game 2 and Game 5)
• Nuggets come back (again): The Lakers led at the half in each game of the series. While L.A. was able to hold off Denver in Game 4, the Nuggets closed the 3rd on a 21-10 run to lead entering the 4th

Up next: The Nuggets will face the Timberwolves in the Conference Semifinals. Game 1 will be played on Saturday in Denver (time TBD).

2. OKC COMPLETES SWEEP, MAKES HISTORY

Thunder sweep Pelicans:  OKC outscored NOLA 22-9 over the final 8.5 minutes to close out Game 4 with a 97-89 win — the Thunder’s first series victory since 2016. | Recap | All-Access From NOLA

• J-Dub & SGA: Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points apiece to lead the Thunder. Williams scored 11 points in the 4th quarter, including two clutch 3s to seal the win. SGA led the Thunder with 10 boards

Youngest to win a series: With an average age of 23 years, 343 days (weighted by playing time), the Thunder passed the 2010-11 OKC squad as the youngest team to win a Playoff series in NBA history.

• 2023-24 Thunder: 23y/343d (First Round vs. Pelicans)
• 2010-11 Thunder: 24y/149d (First Round vs. Nuggets)
• 2021-22 Grizzlies: 24y/225d (First Round vs. T-Wolves)
• 2010-11 Thunder: 24y/250d (West Semis vs. Grizzlies)
• 1976-77 Blazers: 24y/285d (NBA Finals vs. Sixers)

Balancing youth & poise: OKC plays with a combination of youthful energy – see them barking their way to the 2nd round postgame – and a level of precision and execution reminiscent of a veteran team (22 pts, 4 3s, 4 off reb, 4 ast, 0 turnovers in their game-ending run).

Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey added 14 apiece for OKC, while CJ McCollum (20 pts) and Jonas Valanciunas (19 pts, 13 reb) led the Pelicans. OKC held Brandon Ingram to eight points on 2-of-14 shooting.

What’s next? The Thunder await the winner of Mavs-Clippers, which is tied at 2-2 and won’t end until Friday at the earliest.

3. WHITE’S CAREER NIGHT LEADS CELTICS TO 3-1 LEAD

White-hot Celtics: Derrick White picked a good time to have the best offensive game of his seven-year NBA career. White’s 38 points marked the most he’s scored in any game – regular season or Playoffs – and his eight 3s tied his regular season career-high. | Recap

• White’s fast start: White scored 22 points and knocked down six of his 3s in the 1st half as the Celtics led 53-36 and never had the lead cut below 10 points
• 🗣️ White: “I made a couple shots early. That always helps. Once you make a couple, the basket looks huge.”
• Boston got a combined 37 points from Jayson Tatum (20 pts, 11 reb, 1 exclamation point dunk) and Jaylen Brown (17 pts), finishing with a 102-88 win and a 3-1 series lead
• Porzingis exits: Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the 2nd quarter (calf strain) and did not return. Tatum also rolled his ankle late in the second half but remained in the game

Miami’s offense stalls: Outside of scoring 111 points in their Game 2 win, the Heat have struggled to score points in this series against the NBA’s second-ranked defense. Both games in Miami saw the Heat held under 90 points.

• Bam leads Miami: Adebayo (25 pts, 17 reb, 5 ast), Tyler Herro (19 pts, 4 ast) and Caleb Martin (18 pts, 4 3s) were the only Heat players to reach double-digit points as Miami shot just 27.3% from 3
• 🗣️ Adebayo on Game 5: “We’re going into the lion’s den. Everybody knows what’s at stake. It’s 3-1.”
• Messi visits: Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were in attendance to cheer on the hometown squad

4. BRUNSON, KNICKS WITH A CHANCE TO CLOSE

How do you follow up the greatest Playoff scoring performance in the 78-year history of one of the league’s original teams?

We’ll find out tonight when Jalen Brunson and the Knicks host the Sixers with a chance to close out their series in Game 5 (7 ET, TNT).

Brunson’s 47-point Game 4 masterpiece saw him score more points in that one game than he did in the first two games of the series combined.

Brunson scored or assisted on 70 of New York’s 97 points in Game 4; that’s 72.2% of the Knicks offense – the sixth-highest percentage in NBA Playoff history.

• LeBron: 76.9% (6/14/2015)
• Ja Morant: 75.2% (4/22/2023)
• Allen Iverson: 73.5% (4/20/2003)
• LeBron: 73.4% (5/15/2018)
• John Stockton: 72.4% (5/21/1988)
• Brunson: 72.2% (4/28/2024)

So how did Brunson prepare for the best game of his Playoff career?

• 🗣️ Brunson: “Dinner with family; found a way to just relax and breathe, not really worry about what’s going on, on the outside, and just kept my mind right.”

Brunson’s mind and game have been right all season as the first-time All-Star had a breakout year.

• Finished fourth in the NBA in scoring (28.7 ppg) – the third highest scoring average by a Knick behind Bernard King (32.9 in 1984-85) and Richie Guerin (29.5 in 1961-62)
• First Knick to score 30+ points 30 times in a season since Carmelo Anthony (2012-13)
• Posted 11 40+ point games, joining King (13, 1984-85) and Patrick Ewing (11, 1989-90) as the only Knicks with 10+ in a season
• Finished with 2,000+ points and 500+ assists, joining Guerin as the only Knick to do so and joining Nate Archibald, Jokic and Guerin as the only 2nd round picks to do it

After a slow start to his second postseason in NY, Brunson has the Knicks one win away from a second straight trip to the East Semis with aspirations to go even further.

Brunson has been there before, as part of the 2022 Mavs that reached the West Finals. It was in that run where we got a glimpse of Brunson’s potential when he dropped a then career-high 41 points on Utah.

But before they can look forward, there is still the task at hand as the Knicks try to close out the Sixers and avoid having to go back to Philly for Game 6 on Thursday.

5. MAGIC-CAVS ALL TIED UP

The home team has won each of the first four games between the Magic and Cavs entering tonight’s pivotal Game 5 in Cleveland (8 ET, NBA TV).

How did we get here?

• Cleveland struck first: The first two games saw the Cavs hold the Magic to two of their three lowest-scoring games of the season, averaging 84.5 ppg on 34.3% shooting, while Donovan Mitchell paced the Cavs’ offense at 26.5 ppg
• Orlando bounced back: The Magic found their offense at home, averaging 116.5 points (up 32 ppg!) on 53.3% shooting and 39.7% from 3, while limiting Mitchell to 15.5 ppg (down 11 ppg)
• A key adjustment: Orlando made a lineup change with Wendell Carter Jr. starting in place of Jonathan Isaac. The Magic lineup of Jalen Suggs, Gary Harris, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Carter Jr. has outscored the Cavs by 20 points in 52 minutes

What’s On The Line?

• The stakes: Teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 81.7% of the time (188-42)
• The history: Home teams are 172-58 (.748) in Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven
• A Cavs win: When the home team wins Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven, they have gone on to win the series 87.2% of the time (150-22). Of those 150 series wins, 89 went six games and 61 went seven games (closing out back at home)
• A Magic win: When the road team wins Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven, they have gone on to win the series 65.5% of the time (38-20). Of those 38 series wins, 28 went six games (closing out at home) and 10 went seven games