I sat in the upper deck for Strasburg's electric debut (7 innings, 14 Ks) and it was one of the coolest sports experiences I've ever had. Here's hoping for something similar from Skenes.

The Thunder have the West's top seed and a 5-0 record in the playoffs, but people still doubt them. I played Mythbuster to analyze the factors that might (but probably won't!) stop their unprecedented playoff run:

theringer.com/nba/2024/5/8/2…

Take single-game plus-minus with several grains of salt, but here is OKC's rotation tonight. Giddey stands out as a big outlier:

SGA +21
Chet +18
Dort +18
Wiggins +18
J-Dub +15
Wallace +13
Joe +12
J-Will +3
Giddey -7

Something to monitor: Josh Giddey bricked a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, subbed out at the next timeout, and didn't return.

Minutes in the first half:

Giddey: 9
Aaron Wiggins: 11
Cason Wallace: 13

The Nuggets scored 35 points in the first half—tied for their fewest in any game since Nikola Jokic joined the starting lineup so many years ago

Since 2021, home teams that lose Game 1 are 17-2 in Game 2, with an average point differential of plus-15!

The Nuggets should be very concerned if they can't beat the Gobert-less Timberwolves comfortably tonight.

Jalen Brunson now joins Jerry West as the only players in NBA playoff history with 5 straight games of 39+ points

6-foot-4 Josh Hart has his third 20-point, 13-rebound game of these playoffs. That's as many as 7-foot-6 Hall of Fame center Yao Ming had in his playoff career.

Second round playoff thoughts!

On Anthony Edwards, heavy minutes for the Knicks, Luka vs. Shai, and more:

theringer.com/nba/2024/5/6/2…

Gobert breaking up the Jokic-to-Gordon lob that nobody else can stop is quite the metaphor

Through one half, Nuggets-Wolves is shaping up as an extreme defensive slugfest. (Blue numbers are percentile ratings.)

Jalen Brunson is the 4th player in NBA playoff history with 4 straight games of 39+ points:

- Brunson
- Michael Jordan (1990 and 1993)
- Bernard King (1984)
- Jerry West (six straight in 1965)

The Clippers look too old to contend. After getting run off the floor by the Mavs in Game 5, L.A. is yet another veteran team on the verge of elimination.

Zach Kram:

theringer.com/2024/5/2/24147…

3-point shooting in the first half:

Maxi Kleber: 4 for 6
The rest of the Mavericks and Clippers combined: 4 for 30

Playoff basketball!

Jamal Murray is the fourth player in the play-by-play era (since 1997) with multiple go-ahead shots in the final 5 seconds of a game in the same postseason, per Stathead.

- LeBron in 2018
- Turkoglu in 2009
- Horry in 2002

Murray is the first to do it twice in the same series.

The Lakers have led at halftime in all five games of this series against the Nuggets. Just dropping this here from earlier today:

theringer.com/nba/2024/4/29/…