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A surge by Jalen Brunson is creating a weekend of varied playoff scenarios for the New York Knicks.
Brunson is heating up heading into the final weekend of the regular season, and the Knicks still have a shot at landing the second seed in the Eastern Conference as they prepare for a Friday night home game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Brunson scored 39 points in 30 minutes on Thursday as the Knicks led by as many as 31 points and recorded a 118-109 road victory over the Boston Celtics. New York (48-32) heads into its final two regular-season games with three straight wins and four victories in the past five games.
During that five-game span, Brunson is averaging 39.4 points and shooting 54.3 percent (69-for-127) from the field after sinking 15 of 23 shots against the Celtics.
"It's special," New York forward OG Anunoby said of Brunson, who has scored at least 30 points in 34 games this season, including 10 games with 40-plus points. "The way he plays, the things he can do, it's definitely special. He's one of the best in the league."
Brunson had plenty of help on Thursday, when the Knicks led 69-48 by halftime. Donte DiVincenzo finished with 17 points and Josh Hart collected 16 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Knicks control the glass 52-36.
Because of Brunson's well-timed surge, the third-place Knicks are one game behind second-place Milwaukee (49-31) in the conference. Since the Bucks won the season series to claim the tiebreaker, the Knicks need two wins and two Milwaukee losses to move into second.
The Bucks will close the regular season with road games against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and the Orlando Magic on Sunday. New York will finish at home against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
Milwaukee is not the only team the Knicks are jostling with. New York is one game ahead of the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers (47-33) and two ahead of the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers, both 46-34. The Knicks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Cleveland but lost the season series to Indiana and Orlando.
Brunson was held to 17 points in the last meeting with Brooklyn, but the Knicks got 31 from DiVincenzo along with 26 from Miles McBride in a 105-93 home win on March 23.
Brooklyn (32-48) has lost its past five meetings with the Knicks, and the previous matchup was the final contest of a six-game overall losing streak.
Since then, the Nets are a respectable 6-3, and they can spoil some seeding by ending their skid against the Knicks and winning their regular-season finale Sunday at Philadelphia.
Brooklyn finished a 3-1 homestand Wednesday night by earning a 106-102 win over the Toronto Raptors.
The Nets continue to give their younger players extended minutes. Though Cam Thomas led the team with 23 points Wednesday and Dennis Schroder added 21, rookie Noah Clowney played a game-high 39 minutes. Clowney started and contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven blocks.
"We've just got to keep building. I think just keep playing the right way, keep playing hard," Brooklyn's Mikal Bridges said earlier this week. "Around this time, especially when you're away from the playoffs, it can get selfish and you just kind of got to get off that hump and continue to play together because obviously there's no playoffs or anything, but it's just building to next year."
More must-reads:
- Sixers, Thunder being investigated by the NBA
- Lakers' injury woes come during tough stretch of games
- The 'Active NBA players with the most 20-point games in a season' quiz
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'He had problems with David's intensity and work ethic': Dennis Rodman didn't respect David Robinson while they played together on Spurs
For two seasons, NBA icons Dennis Rodman and David Robinson were teammates on the San Antonio Spurs. And according to Jack Haley, who played with Rodman and Robinson, Rodman didn’t respect Robinson one bit. “Dennis had a real problem in his respect for David Robinson as a player,” Haley said in Roland Lazenby’s book Blood On the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. “He had problems with David’s intensity and work ethic in practice. One thing about Dave: Dave could be the most talented player and athlete in the NBA. … Therefore, he’s not a big practice guy. Not a big work ethic guy. By [January], Dave would have sat out 30 practices. It’s tendinitis. It’s, ‘I’m sore today.’ Whatever it was, Dennis is a practice guy, and it didn’t sit well with Dennis. That caused a lot of problems… “Dave tried everything … imaginable to bond with Dennis Rodman, to get through with Dennis Rodman to form a friendship. I’m good friends with Dennis and I’m good friends with Dave. Dave would ask me, ‘Why don’t the three of us go to lunch? Why don’t we sit down and try to talk?’ He would try to talk to Dennis about basketball to form a bond. Dennis wouldn’t respond. Dave is very religious. He felt that part of his quest was to get through to Dennis Rodman on a religious level, to try to turn his life around. That didn’t work out at all.” The Spurs traded Rodman to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 and Robinson was delighted about the move. Rodman finished his San Antonio career with averages of 5.6 points, 17.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks in 128 games. The Bulls benefited significantly by adding Rodman, one of the best rebounders in NBA history. Chicago won three consecutive championships and went 72-10 in 1995-96. Rodman averaged 5.2 points and 15.3 rebounds with the Bulls, who beat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals and the Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. Rodman won three straight rebounding titles in Chicago. The Bulls won three NBA titles before acquiring Rodman. However, Rodman said in The Last Dance docuseries that Chicago wouldn’t have won three more rings without him. “You got the great Michael Jordan, the great Scottie Pippen, the great Phil Jackson, but if you take me away from this team, do they still win a championship? I don’t think so,” Rodman said in The Last Dance. “I love Michael Jordan to death. I love Scottie Pippen, all these guys, but they really don’t do the things that I do. I’m the only guy who does all the dirty work, taking abuse from other players. I wanna go out there and get my nose broke. I wanna get cut. Something that’s gonna really just bring out the hurt, the pain. I wanna feel that.” Rodman won five championships during his career, while Robinson won two. Both players are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Browns insider predicts trade with Giants, stunning QB move
The Cleveland Browns possess the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They are likely hoping that Miami's Cam Ward, the "consensus" No. 1 quarterback in this year's class, remains available after the Tennessee Titans make their selection with the first overall pick. However, Browns insider Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand and NFL reporter Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com believe the Titans will take Ward with the draft's top pick. Thus, Grossi predicted in his latest mock draft that the Browns will trade their No. 2 selection to the New York Giants for pick No. 3 and choice No. 65 this year, along with a 2026 third-round pick. Grossi thinks this could result in the Giants taking Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 2 and the Browns landing Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart with the third pick. Following the NFL Scouting Combine, some speculated that the Browns could select Sanders with the second pick and that the Giants would "reach" for Dart at No. 3. Sanders has been linked with the Giants since at least December. Still, numerous reports revealed that some teams don't view him as a first-round prospect after he allegedly "hit the wrong notes in combine interviews." Perhaps there's reason to believe the Browns are one of those clubs. As of Thursday afternoon, the Giants and Browns continued to be mentioned as potential landing spots for veteran quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins, even though the Atlanta Falcons seem serious about not releasing Cousins anytime soon. Grossi wrote that "signing either Cousins or Wilson might be the clearest signal yet of the Browns taking a position player other than quarterback with their first pick," and ESPN's Field Yates thinks Cleveland could draft Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter over both Sanders and Dart. Interestingly, Dart's supposed rise in draft stock has coincided with Sanders sliding down the board in mock drafts. It's difficult to know what to believe during the draft process's "smokescreen season," but it's worth noting that NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY shared on March 5 that at least "one team source" had Dart ranked ahead of Sanders following the combine. It remains to be seen if the Browns or Giants would be bold enough to select Dart over Sanders with the second pick in the draft.
New York Yankees Get Excellent News Out of Gerrit Cole's Elbow Surgery
The New York Yankees got devastating news this week when it was revealed that ace Gerrit Cole would miss the entire season because of an elbow injury. However, if you're looking silver linings, the Yankees got great news out of the surgery, Per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com: Gerrit Cole’s UCL surgery included internal bracing, according to the Yankees, which can reduce inflammation and speed recovery time. Generally speaking, this could mean he is closer to a 12-month recovery than if he had the procedure with the traditional method. Given when the injury occurred, there is even a slight chance that Cole could be ready for Opening Day in 2026. For example, Spencer Strider had Tommy John surgery early in the 2024 season and is set to come back by late April of this year. Lucas Giolito of the Red Sox had internal bracing done last spring training and was on track for an Opening Day return this year until he injured his hamstring. The 34-year-old Cole is one of the best pitchers of his era, having gone 153-80 over a 12-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros and Yankees. A six-time All-Star, Cole won the American League Cy Young Award in 2023 and has won two ERA titles. He dealt with elbow issues last season but returned to go 8-5 in 17 starts as the Yankees won the American League pennant. He pitched just 95 innings for the season, striking out 99. The Yankees will open up the season on March 27 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers.
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Stars’ Mikko Rantanen makes ‘weird’ admission on impending Colorado return
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