The NFL draft is upon us this week, and several players from the West will hear their names called over the three-day event.

This year’s Draft will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, and runs from April 23–25. It will be broadcast on NFL Network, ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes.

Coverage starts at 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, and continues at 4 p.m. on Friday, and at noon on Saturday. Streaming is available on NFL+, ESPN App, Hulu, and Disney+

Here we take a closer look at some of the players who will get selected, as well as some who may latch onto an NFL team as a preferred undrafted free agent (UDFA).

writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).

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With 13 medals between them, Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall and Paul Foster headline the Scottish bowls team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.

The vastly experienced duo will team up in the men’s pairs event, which they won at Glasgow 2014.

On his eighth Games selection, Marshall, who has seven medals in his collection, said: “It is always such an honour and privilege to be selected to represent Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

“To have another opportunity to be a part of a home Games is also not lost on me, and I know that Paul and I will give it our very best to try and win a medal for the team.”

Marshall’s niece Beth Riva, who won 2025 World Championship mixed pairs with Jason Banks last year, will join Caroline Brown in the women’s pairs.

Banks will also make his Team Scotland debut in the singles event.

For the first time in Games history, all of the bowls and para bowls will be played indoors at the SEC Centre.

In the para team, Pauline Wilson, Garry Brown, Robert Barr and his director Sarah Jane Ewing are all aiming for repeat golds after topping the podium at Birmingham 2022.

You won’t have a problem finding an NFL mock draft this week, but hardly any directly connect the Minnesota Vikings to Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. The draft’s top playmaker is expected to fly off the board in the Top 8 on Thursday night, but according to CBS Sports, there’s a slight chance he slides to No. 9, where the Vikings could trade up to get him.

This is the dream mock draft and trade for Vikings fans.

Of course, the theory is a long shot, but Love in purple would change everything.

Love, in Theory, Would Be a Home Run for the Vikings

How much would you trade to get Love?

Tom Fornelli: Vikings Trade, Grab Love at Pick No. 9

Fornelli didn’t disclose the trade details — more on that in a minute — but he did theorize a swap between the Kansas City Chiefs and Kevin O’Connell’s team.

He explained Love to Minnesota, “Love may not go fourth overall, but his slide ends here. The Vikings have a need at running back and nine picks in this draft. Rather than sitting back and hoping he falls, they get aggressive and snap him up.”

Fornelli later picked Tyson for Kansas City at No. 18: “After moving down from No. 9, the Chiefs are still able to land a WR who can be a difference-maker in Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson.”

And there you have it: Love to Minnesota, and Tyson to Kansas City, per Fornelli.

The Trade Price

The problem, so to speak, is that trading up to Pick No. 9 is still pretty damn expensive. Here’s a look at what the trade might look like, though Fornelli didn’t offer specifics:

Losing the 2nd-Rounder will hurt, as Minnesota has one of the NFL’s oldest rosters entering the draft and needs all the young picks it can get to fix that. For Love, though, he might ease the pain.

Love’s Skill Set

An exceptional prospect, Love stands at 6’0″ and 214 pounds with verified 4.36 speed — a profile that immediately jumps out as a playmaker with staying power in the big leagues. Over his last two seasons at Notre Dame, he amassed 2,497 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns, adding five more scores through the air. ESPN ranks him as the top player in the class.

CBS Sports‘ Dave Richard on Love: “Does he resemble Travis Etienne Jr.? Yes, but he’s a bit bulkier and clearly stronger. Does he run wild like Jahmyr Gibbs? Sure, but he’s not as polished a pass catcher as Gibbs was coming out of college. He could eventually reach that level, but the better comp for Love is Clinton Portis — a smaller running back with blazing speed, underrated physicality and good hands.”

“Love is a fantastic runner with a skill set that gives him the potential to be a three-down back as soon as his rookie year. Whether a coaching staff actually gives him that workload remains to be seen, but if he’s an early Round 1 pick, it’s easy to justify. Love deserves that kind of role because of his unique explosiveness and speed, especially when paired with the physicality he’s capable of playing with — and still improving.”

The Vikings haven’t drafted a running back in Round 1 since Adrian Peterson, nearly 20 years ago.

Richard added, “Working in an offense built on zone-scheme runs would only enhance his upside. It wouldn’t be surprising if Love becomes one of the league’s top running backs, much like former early Round 1 picks Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs.”

Actual Suitors for Love

All things considered, the Love angle for the Vikings is a pipe dream. He won’t make it past the first seven picks. He’s that dynamic.

In all likelihood, he’ll end up with one of these teams:

• Tennessee Titans (Pick No. 4)
• New York Giants (Pick No. 5 or 10)
• Washington Commanders (Pick No. 7)

The Arizona Cardinals, too, at Pick No. 3 could swerve and nab him. CBS Sports‘ Brad Crawford noted Monday, “The Arizona Cardinals are considering selecting Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love at No. 3 overall in this week’s NFL Draft if the franchise is unable to trade down and acquire more picks, per ESPN — an unexpected early shockwave that could have ripple effects within the top 10.”

“Saquon Barkley was the last running back to go inside the top five in 2018 and, like Love, was considered a transcendent prospect at the position. Love’s versatility separates him from others in this cycle — a legitimate weapon in the passing game who can turn check-downs into chunk plays as a multi-dimensional threat.”

Here’s to hoping that Love tumbles down the board and somehow lands in Minnesota. It would reshape Vikings football for the next half-decade.

For years, Stephen A. Smith’s many football blunders have been easy enough to explain away.

He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three key players for a game were three guys who weren’t playing in the game?)

Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in both 2023 and 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)

He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and then read the wrong stat line after a College Football Playoff game?).

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ESPN forces him into those conversations because First Take has to talk football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in the country and he needs to be seen as an authority (even though he isn’t).

But Monday’s latest mistake is a lot tougher to excuse, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the defining NBA dynasties of the last decade.

In other words, he was talking about the sport and the league that’s supposed to be his bread and butter.

JALEN BRUNSON’S SISTER BLASTS ESPN AFTER STEPHEN A SMITH KNICKS RANT: ‘UTTERLY RIDICULOUS’

While discussing whether Steve Kerr has coached his last game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022.”

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr looks on during a game against the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)

That’s not even close to true. Not only did Golden State make the playoffs last season, but they also reached the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors made the playoffs, beat the Rockets in seven games and advanced to the second round before losing to the Timberwolves. In 2023, they beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round and before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.

So, Smith wouldn’t even have been right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said they didn’t make the playoffs in any of the past four years, except they did it twice.

Yikes.

This is not an obscure piece of NBA trivia that Smith could be easily forgiven for not knowing. Perhaps he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and just missed two of the past three NBA postseasons. That’s a tough look for the guy who fancies himself as the No. 1 NBA analyst in the country.

And it’s a terrible look for ESPN, as they keep selling Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.

Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking Warriors playoff history

If Smith made this kind of mistake while talking about the NFL, nobody would be shocked. At this point, sports fans practically expect him to butcher football analysis. It’s almost endearing that a guy with the ego of Smith can be so consistently wrong while also delivering every “fact” with the utmost confidence. It’s part of the Stephen A. experience.

But this one hits differently because the NBA is where he’s supposed to at least know the basics. This is where Smith prides himself as being an authority figure.

Stephen A. Smith incorrectly stated the Golden State Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since their 2022 championship, despite the team reaching the postseason twice since then. (Candice Ward/Imagn Images)

And yet he couldn’t keep the recent playoff history of the Warriors straight. The team whose head coach is in the news every other week. The team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the most important franchises in the NBA over the past 15 years.

Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament (although they won 46 games that season). And yes, it fell short again this season. But that’s a lot different from acting like Steve Kerr has spent four years wandering the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.

He hasn’t. In fact, the team is 175-153 in the past four regular seasons.

STEVE KERR DOWNPLAYS WARRIORS OWNER’S EMAIL EXCHANGE THAT HINTED AT COACHING MISTAKES: ‘NOT A BIG DEAL’

The Warriors made the second round in 2023. They made the second round again in 2025.

Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm whether the Warriors were actually, you know, in the playoffs.

Moses Itauma is fast becoming one of the most exciting fighters in the sport and the Kent-based phenomenon looks set to be mandated for a shot at the heavyweight throne.

Itauma has fought on 14 occasions since his 2023 debut and has rose into title contention with wins over Demsey McKean, Mike Balogun, Dillian Whyte and, most recently, Jermaine Franklin Jr – who he halted after five rounds of action last month.

In the post-fight interview following that win, promoter Frank Warren unveiled plans for Itauma to return to action in July and then challenge for the heavyweight crown at the end of the calendar year.

Currently, the WBA route seems to be the most likely option, especially if Oleksandr Usyk chooses to vacate or is stripped of the title and reigning WBA Regular champion Murat Gassiev is elevated to full world champion.

Alternatively, the IBF title is another that Usyk may either relinquish or lose; consequently meaning that the winner of Frank Sanchez versus Richard Torrez Jr. could either be upgraded or positioned for a vacant title shot.

Yet, despite fans’ demand for a clash between Itauma and Usyk, it seems as though he could attempt to dethrone a different reigning champion, due to his ranking as the number one contender with the WBO.

Speaking to ThaBoxingVoice, WBO President Gustavo Olivieri revealed that Itauma is likely to be named as their mandatory challenger and ordered for a shot at the victor of Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois.

“In light of Moses’ recent victory, against a well-rated contender in Franklin, I will formally recommend that he be designated as the mandatory challenger of the heavyweight division in the WBO.

“If they [the committee] vote, which I presume and expect that that is going to be the vote, Moses will be designated as the mandatory. Now, the question is, when will the mandatory be enforced, in other words, called?

“That remains to be seen; it could be called immediately after the Wardley-Dubois fight or thereafter, that is a discussion that the committee has.”

Current champion Wardley and Itauma train out of the same gym, and Wardley has said that the only situation in which a fight between them would become a serious conversation is if they held all the belts and could fight for undisputed. Should he beat Dubois, fans can expect Itauma to pursue one of the other titles.

However, if Dubois becomes a two-time champion on May 9 by beating Wardley, there is nothing standing in the way of Itauma looking to enforce his mandatory position.

Carlos Alcaraz is awaiting the ​results of tests on his injured wrist before making a decision about defending his French Open title next month.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion picked up the injury in the first round of the Barcelona Open earlier this ⁠month before withdrawing from ​the ⁠tournament.

Scans showed the issue was more serious than initially thought and he ⁠then skipped the Madrid Open.

The 22-year-old also missed the Madrid Open last season due to a right leg injury, meaning he has been forced to miss his home tournament in the Spanish capital for a second year in a row.

“The next test ​will ⁠be crucial,” Alcaraz ‌told Spanish television channel TVE.

“We’ve been trying to do everything we can do to ‌make sure that this test ‌goes well. I’m trying to be very patient. But we are good, we are just waiting a ⁠little bit.

The 22-year-old added: “We have a few tests in the next few days and then we will see how the injury is, and what the next steps will be.”

Alcaraz, who was crowned Sportsman of the ‌Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards on ​Monday, surrendered the world number one ‌ranking to Jannik ⁠Sinner after losing to the Italian ⁠in the Monte Carlo Masters final days before his ‌Barcelona opener, a win over Otto Virtanen.

The seven-time grand slam champion, who will begin the defence of his French Open title next month, had told reporters that the injury “is more serious than any of us expected” and said he would “need to listen to my body” to avoid further damage.

The ​French Open will start ‌from 24 May in ​Paris, with the next possible assignment for Alcaraz coming at the Italian Open in Rome next month.

Additional reporting from Reuters

One horse is already secured by Ciaron Maher for the Listed VRC St Leger this Saturday, but the top trainer specialising in stayers desires a much larger contingent for the prominent Flemington race.

The 28 entries for the 2800-metre $200,000 prize money event include Awesome Artist, Noble Falcon, Intervened, and the Tasmanian Derby winner Dad And Dave.

Awesome Artist is on track for inclusion in the 18-runner field with four emergencies, whereas Noble Falcon and Intervened fall short of the limit, and assistant Jack Turnbull is hopeful they can gain access to this prime target.

“We feel for those three it’s a good option and all horses are going to relish the trip,” Turnbull said.

“They’re all going to furnish and they’re going to learn with racing.

“They’re just raw young horses that are bred to stay and they’ll continue to learn and mature as they get older.”

Maher looks to claim a repeat win in the historic Victorian Anzac Day race, having succeeded in 2021 via Through Irish Eyes in conjunction with David Eustace.

Dad And Dave has struggled to finish prominently in his two most recent races, the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2000m) and Listed Galilee Series Final (2400m), but earlier Listed victories in the Launceston Guineas (2000m) and Tasmanian Derby (2400m) lock in his St Leger berth.

Awesome Artist ended 2-3/4 lengths adrift of Dad And Dave in the Galilee Final after a Canberra 2000m win, and according to Turnbull, a race run at a solid clip would suit him ideally for a potential triumph.

“They might have just went a fraction sedate throughout,” Turnbull said of the Galilee Final.

“He’s one-paced and needs a true gallop.”

Proisir gelding Noble Falcon was fourth to stablemate Ardashir last out in a 2550m Pakenham maiden, having notched his only placing previously over 2540m at Cranbourne in four career runs.

Intervened, by Kermadec, is winless and placeless in three starts, filling sixth at Pakenham this time in over 1600m and 2000m.

Further VRC St Leger hopefuls encompass fillies After Summer and Classic Gem from Dom Sutton, who placed third and fourth in the Group 1 ATC Oaks at their latest, as well as Arabian Prince, Deal Done Fast, and Savisanta from the ATC Derby.

Visit racing betting markets to find value in the VRC St Leger this Saturday.

The first weekend of the 2026 NBA playoffs was decidedly drama free with all eight Game 1s being decided by at least nine points for the first time in league history. The Knicks and Hawks game us our first barnburner on Monday as Atlanta flipped a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 107-106 series-evening win in Game 2. 

Elsewhere, the Cavs took a 2-0 lead on the Raptors. The Timberwolves closed out the night by handing the Nuggets a home loss and evening their series at 1-1. We’ll have more on that game later, but for now, here are the winners and losers from Knicks-Hawks and Cavs-Raptors.

Winner: CJ McCollum

Five years after Trae Young took over New York in the 2021 playoffs, the Hawks have another MSG villain in CJ McCollum, who has been superb through the first two games and absolutely took over late in the fourth quarter on Monday as Atlanta evened the series 1-1. 

After Game 1, McCollum made a comment that Jalen Brunson, an accomplished on-court thespian, “thought we were at a Broadway show” as a reference to what he deemed a Brunson acting job on a McCollum jumper that resulted in a technical foul and $2,500 fine for the Atlanta guard. 

The combination of the foot to their superstar’s nether region and the subsequent dig in the press conference had the MSG crowd chanting “f— you, CJ” prior the start of and throughout Game 2.

McCollum responded with 32 points, including nine in the fourth quarter that New York entered with a 12-point lead. Down the stretch, McCollum cooked Brunson over and over. First, with just over two minutes remaining, he turned Brunson inside out before floating a high kiss off the glass to give Atlanta its first lead since the eight-minute mark of the third quarter. 

Thirty seconds later, he blew past Brunson again to extend Atlanta’s lead to three. 

After Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score, McCollum flowed right back into a nasty fading jumper from the left corner to put the Hawks in front again. 

Just for the drama, McCollum walked to the free-throw line with 5.6 seconds remaining with a chance to put Atlanta up three and bricked both of his attempts. Without a timeout, New York raced it the other way and got a pretty good look, but Mikal Bridges‘ jumper missed and Atlanta escaped with a shocking win. 

There were a number of Atlanta heroes down the stretch. Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit a huge 3, and then after McCollum had put the Hawks up two with that baseline fader, NAW stripped Brunson and raced it the other way for a find-and-finish with Jalen Johnson, who was also big in closing time after a tough game. 

But this was McCollum’s night, and it has been his series for the Hawks. Through two games, McCollum has drained 23 shots for 58 points. He has pushed the pace consistently, and in money time, he has been the go-to player for the Hawks. He’s no stranger to this. He’s been one of the league’s better one-on-one creators for years, and in his prime, there were few player you would trust more to get a bucket late in games. So far in this series, he’s proving he’s still got it on the big stage. 

Loser: Knicks’ fourth-quarter dominance

During the regular season, the Knicks owned the league’s best fourth-quarter plus-minus by a wide margin. In Game 2, that dominance flew right out the window. The 12-point blown lead matched the biggest playoff fourth-quarter collapse in franchise history (tied with the Reggie Miller choke game in 1994). 

After scoring 14 points in the third quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns went scoreless on just two shots in the fourth. He just wasn’t a part of the central actions down the stretch, which was a strange decision by Mike Brown as Towns enjoys a size advantage in this series and was coming off such a hot third. 

Brunson was getting trapped all over, and Towns would’ve been a natural outlet, but suddenly he wasn’t being used in ball screens. Again, strange. As was Brown’s decision to play the first four minutes of the fourth with both Brunson and Towns on the bench. The Hawks trimmed the deficit from 12 to nine in that stretch, which isn’t terrible, but perhaps a different rotational deployment could’ve given the Knicks a chance to extend the lead and put the game away before it got tight. 

Brown was asked about the non-Brunson/Towns minutes (coaches typically keep at least one of their stars on the court at all times whenever possible in playoff games, let alone in the fourth quarter), and he cited that the lineup in question performed well for the Knicks at the end of the regular season. But the end of the regular season is not the playoffs, and over the long haul, the numbers do not support Brown’s claim. 

Brown did the same thing in Game 1, and the Knicks also got away with in then as they only lost one point off their lead. But be wary of small-sample lineup data. Shot luck can make a bad decision look good, or at least defensible, from game to game, but for the Knicks to strip themselves of their two core offensive engines for crucial fourth quarter minutes is playing with fire. 

At any rate, this wasn’t the only problem. New York’s defense went in the gutter down the stretch, and a big part of that was Brunson being on the floor if we’re being honest. OG Anunoby coughed up a costly turnover. Their whole energy just turned casual, and the Hawks jumped on the opportunity to steal a huge road win that nobody saw coming 30 minutes earlier. 

Winner: Rudy Gobert

No player in the league is more disrespected than Gobert, who is talked about like he grifted his way into DPOY trophies like some kind of flopping free-throw merchant. The man has four DPOYs for a reason, and he should’ve finished in the top three this season again (the Wolves were 12 points better per 100 possessions defensively when he was on the floor, per CTG, performing at what would rank as the second-best defense with him and the third-worst without him).  

Gobert isn’t without his flaws, but he’s an all-time defender. Coming into the Timberwolves’ series with the Nuggets, it was fair to question how much Gobert having to guard Nikola Jokić straight up (the last time these two teams met in the playoffs Karl-Anthony Towns drew the main assignment, and Gobert was used as a roaming rim protector off ball), and through two games Gobert has more than acquitted himself against the world’s best player. 

Hell, in Game 1, Gobert scored 17 points. He rolled to the rim. Flashed in the pocket. Put back dunks. Sure, Jokić finished that game with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists because he’s Nikola freaking Jokić, but it was not easy pickings. 

In Game 2, Gobert’s defense on Jokic was as good as anyone could possibly hope to play. Here, Jokić ends up with a bucket off a random loose ball, but the initial stop is all Gobert. 

Here he teams up with Jaden McDaniels to put on a two-man defensive clinic before stifling Jokić at the rim. 

On the ensuing possession, Gobert straight up stones Jokić and forces the miss that starts a leak-out dunk for Donte DiVincenzo. 

These are not second-quarter stops. This is money time. Under five minutes to play in a one-possession playoff game and he’s winning the battle against the world’s best player. 

Only two points of the game were huge, moving Jokić out of the way for an offensive board and poster put-back to give Minnesota a late four-point lead. And while his offense wasn’t nearly as impactful as it was in the opener, his lone bucket of the night was a huge one, and it again came as Jokic’s expense as Gobert muscled the three-time MVP out of the way for an offensive board before jamming the put-back dunk in his face to put Minnesota up four with two minutes to play. 

After Game 1, Jaden McDaniels said it was the best game that Gobert had played all season, and that if he kept it up, “we’re going to win this series.” Well, he did it again in Game 2, and the Wolves are headed home in a 1-1 tie with a chance to seize control of the series on Thursday. 

Winner: Cleveland’s Big Three

The Cavs took a 2-0 lead on the Raptors on Monday thanks to an extraordinary collective effort from a trio of stars. Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley combined for 83 points on 66% shooting. It marks the fourth time in franchise history that three Cavaliers have scored at least 25 points in the same playoff game. Jarrett Allen was the only other player to score in double figures (10). This one was all about Cleveland’s Big Three. 

Mitchell, one of the most electric postseason scorers in history, has been dominant with 64 points through the first two games. Harden is averaging 25 points, seven assists and 3.5 steals for the series. Mobley wasn’t as effective defensively in Game 2 as he was in Game 1, but he has been a force offensively from the jump. 

Mobley isn’t going to have the huge numbers because of place in Cleveland’s hierarchy behind Mitchell and Harden, but the key is his energy and decisiveness in attacking every time he has the leverage to do so and he has done that to the tune of 20.5 PPG so far on a blistering 17-of-21 shooting. 

Loser: Brandon Ingram

Ingram had a brutal go of it in Toronto’s Game 2 loss, finishing with just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting. His 23.5 true-shooting percentage is the worst mark in franchise history for a single playoff game in which at least 15 shots were attempted (tying DeMar DeRozan‘s 4-for-17 stinker in Game 4 of the conference semis against Miami in 2016). 

Ingram came out hot in Game 1 but managed just one attempt in the second half as the Cavs kept a defender attached to him and Toronto fazed him out of focus. 

If Toronto has any chance of winning Game 3 at home and getting back into this series, Ingram has to play big. The Raptors are already playing uphill trying to keep up with the Cavs offensively. Without Ingram chipping in big time, they have no chance. 

Mike Brown arrived in New York with a laundry list of fan complaints to address from the tenure of his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau. In his first regular season on the job, he plucked basically all of that low-hanging fruit.

Shot-selection? The Knicks jumped from 28th to 12th in 3-point attempt rate. Lack of ball- and player-movement on offense? NBA.com tracking data shows the Knicks moved from 18th to 14th in passes per game and 21st to 10th in average distance traveled per game offensively. 

Lineups featuring both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t defend well enough? Those lineups rated in the 41st percentile in terms of defensive efficiency last season, but the 52nd this season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Over-reliance on the starters? Last year, New York’s starting five played 940 regular-season minutes, 226 more than any other five-man unit. This year, it played 541, making it not even the most-used lineup in basketball. The Knicks are so deep that deadline acquisition Jose Alvarado didn’t even play in Game 1 against the Hawks. There are even rumors about standout rookie Mo Diawara being hidden ahead of his offseason restricted free agency. The Knicks suddenly have more depth than they know what to do with.

On paper, Brown’s first regular season should be viewed as an enormous success. It hasn’t felt that way mostly because, frankly, the regular season is no longer a meaningful barometer for this team’s performance. The Knicks have averaged around 50 wins over the past four seasons. They’ve won at least one playoff series three years in a row. When your owner goes on the radio and shares Finals expectations, the message is clear: all of those regular-season improvements are nice, but it means nothing if it doesn’t translate to the playoffs. Beating Washington and Brooklyn in March is nice. This year’s Eastern Conference runs through Detroit, Boston and Cleveland, three teams Tom Thibodeau beat in recent postseasons. They’re the measuring stick.

It turns out, Brown’s first major test as New York’s coach didn’t come against one of those teams. It came in the first round against a team the Knicks should have handled relatively comfortably. The Knicks held double-digit leads in both halves of Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks, including a 12-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter. New York hadn’t blown a lead that big with so little time left in a home playoff game since 1994 against the Pacers. They did so on Monday, and it was an almost entirely self-inflicted wound. If this was Brown’s first real test as New York’s head coach, he failed. 

Missing KAT

The most visible manner in which he did so came during that late-game collapse. With 4:24 remaining on the clock, Karl-Anthony Towns attempted and missed a 3-pointer. It was the last time he would touch the ball in the game. His involvement in the offense, to this point, was reduced to two screens: a “screen the screener” action to set Josh Hart up to screen for Jalen Brunson with a bit less than four minutes left and then a single ball-screen for Brunson with around 50 seconds remaining. Otherwise, he was essentially a spacer.

And hey, Towns is certainly capable of serving as a floor-spacer. In certain matchups, you’re probably fine with him doing that while Brunson cooks. In this, particular matchup, Towns had just scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the third quarter and was being defended by Jonathan Kuminga. Opponents have vexed New York’s offense for two years by putting a wing on Towns and a center on the weaker shooting Hart, and that was indeed the case down the stretch with Onyeka Okongwu taking the Hart matchup. Brown’s failure to solve that problem — one well-known a year ago — hardly bodes well for the later rounds.

It’s not as though Okongwu was lurking near the basket down the stretch, either. Hart was Brunson’s primary screener, so Okongwu was getting switched onto the ball far behind the arc. New York couldn’t take advantage largely because too much of their late-game offense revolved around players, usually Brunson, occasionally others, dribbling the air out of the ball and running out the clock. They’ve earned the right to do so. Brunson’s playoff heroics are well-chronicled, and New York had the NBA‘s No. 3 clutch offense this season. 

It just begs the question, if you’re not going to try to involve Towns in the offense, should he really be on the floor? You’re still getting some value out of having Towns on the floor as a spacer, but size is New York’s big advantage in this series. If you’re not actively taking advantage of the mismatches he gets, you might as well close with Mitchell Robinson and emphasize defense to hold your lead.

It was the culmination of issues that have plagued Towns and the Knicks all year. He attempted a career-low 13.8 field goals per game this season. “I mean, our offense is our offense,” Towns said after a February game New York lost to Detroit despite the Pistons missing their top two centers. “It’s been that way all year.” Through two playoff games, Towns has attempted 25 total shots. Not exactly ideal usage for a max-contract, offense-centric center playing against an undersized opponent.

A staggering problem?

The Knicks could get away with this if it were simply a crunch-time issue. Remember, the Hawks outscored them by eight in the last three-and-a-half minutes or so of Game 1, including an 11-0 run that surely gave Knicks fans flashbacks to their Game 1 collapse against Indiana a year ago. It didn’t matter because they’d built an insurmountable 19-point lead. New York’s lead was smaller in Game 2 — only eight points with five minutes to go — largely because of mismanaged bench lineups.

The Knicks sat Brunson and Towns at the same time for around 12 total minutes in Game 2. They lost those minutes by eight points. There is an apparent strategic purpose for that decision. The Knicks have thus far mostly avoided overlapping minutes between Towns and Robinson in this matchup. It makes sense to play Robinson early in quarters or in the last two minutes as a deterrent to intentional fouling—the former because it gets the Knicks into the bonus early, the latter because off-ball fouls in the last two minutes go for one shot and the ball rather than two shots. Brunson sits early in the second and fourth quarters, so now, apparently, so does Towns.

The problem with not staggering them, though, is that lineups featuring Towns and no Brunson now have a pretty lengthy track record of success. Over the past two regular seasons, the Knicks have a +11.5 net rating in those minutes, and last postseason, it was +14.9. These lineups tend to perform admirably defensively, but they’re also a way to keep Towns engaged in the offense for those later moments that too often become Brunson-centric. Asking bench lineups without their top two — or sometimes three — creators to score effectively is just too tall an order. Atlanta turned a nine-point first-quarter deficit into a brief second-quarter lead during a run in which New York played with just a single starter, first OG Anunoby, and then Hart, on the floor.

Brown argued in favor of the lineups featuring no Brunson or Towns. “I don’t (think) the game got away there,” he told reporters. “We’ve played that lineup at end of regular season and it was pretty good.” As Clippers reporter Justin Russo noted, Brown was technically correct. The Knicks were +32 with both of them off of the floor after March 1… but they were -63 in such situations before that. Considering the way Game 2 played out, it’s hard not to question the move not to stagger the two stars. It’s harder to get away with star-less minutes against playoff-level opponents and scouting.

A poorly timed timeout

Every point, every decision potentially matters in games like this. Case in point: this game was decided by one. The game ended on a frantic sequence in which CJ McCollum missed two free throws, and Mikal Bridges wound up taking and missing a contested, game-winning jumper. Though there was confusion on the broadcast, New York didn’t have a timeout it could have used to draw something else up. However, Brown’s decision-making earlier in the quarter was partially responsible for that.

Teams are only allowed to use two timeouts in the last three minutes of a half. Brown could have taken a “use it or lose it” timeout before the three-minute mark. He didn’t, and instead decided to take one with 2:43 remaining. “A couple of possessions weren’t fluid so I wanted to make sure we had something we wanted to get to,” Brown explained after that game. However, that meant that the timeout Brown used with 10 seconds remaining to set up the Brunson 3-pointer that pulled New York within a point was the last one the Knicks could use in regulation.

Brown wasn’t sure if he actually would have used the timeout if he’d had it. “Five to seven seconds is close,” he explained. “It would’ve been my gut feel. There’s a chance I could’ve taken a timeout, if I had one, and then there’s a chance I wouldn’t have. I thought it was a good shot, Mikal got up the floor, I thought he got to his spot. He was a little off balance, but I don’t think the shot was under a ton of duress. That’s shots that he’s hit for us in the past.”

Even if it’s a shot Bridges is capable of making, it probably isn’t the one you’d draw up for such a situation. You’ve leaned on Brunson in such situations all year and all games. You just drew up a bucket for him seconds of game time earlier. Even against a set defense, you’re better off trying to set him up again. 

Brown isn’t the only reason New York lost Game 2. It’s hard to miss 10 free throws and win a close playoff game. McCollum made a number of well-contested shots down the stretch. But playoff games go haywire sometimes. Think back to that Game 1 loss against the Pacers for the Knicks a year ago. Sometimes your opponent makes a bunch of shots they shouldn’t. Sometimes your players miss shots they should make. There’s nothing you can do about that. But it’s a coach’s job to insulate their team against those outlier moments. Build a big enough lead, pluck enough of the low-hanging fruit, and those moments won’t hurt you as often. 

Thibodeau got fired because he didn’t do that. He left the Knicks vulnerable, and the Pacers punished them for it. Brown addressed a lot of what went wrong for him a season ago, but Game 2 represented his first high-stakes game that fell within that margin for outlier error. The Hawks took advantage. No matter where you stand on the Towns usage dilemma, especially late in games, those unorthodox lineup choices ultimately doomed the Knicks against Atlanta, and their chance at drawing something up for a better final response was lost on questionable timeout usage. Now the series is tied, and home-court advantage is sacrificed. There’s a long way to go, but the onus is on Brown to right the ship moving forward.