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As we were about to send The Bounce this morning, news broke that the Orlando Magic have fired coach Jamahl Mosley. This … is not surprising. People have suspected it all season long, as the Magic failed to live up to expectations. We’ll break down their options and direction later in the week.

Threat Level Midnight

Ranking the remaining playoff contenders 

Incredible 3-1 comebacks. Epic collapses. Guys putting their teams on their backs to keep their season going. The first round of the playoffs had it all, and we’ve been whittled down to the final eight teams still vying for the championship. What better time to assess who might be the biggest threats to win it all?

We’re going to do exactly that. The teams below are listed in order of worst to best odds to win the title, per BetMGM. However! The threat level measured in 1-5 emojis (five means the biggest threat) will tell you where I think they should stand on your radar.

8. Minnesota Timberwolves | +10000

Some of this is because Anthony Edwards (knee), Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf) are all hurt. DiVincenzo is done, but Dosunmu and Edwards are both questionable for Game 1 against San Antonio. Some of this is also the Spurs being a monster. This Wolves team was overlooked two years in a row and made the West finals.

Threat level: 🐺🐺🐺

7. Philadelphia 76ers | +3500

Despite coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the Celtics and Joel Embiid ballin’ right now, the Sixers have the second-worst odds. A big part of this is likely facing the Knicks, who are the favorites in the East. That’s going to limit the expectations out of Philly. The Sixers already overcame that with Boston, though.

Threat level: 🔔🔔

6. Los Angeles Lakers | +3000

This number being higher than Minnesota must simply be the money going behind them because they’re the Lakers. They face Oklahoma City in the second round, and JJ Redick is already touting the Thunder as one of the best teams of all time. Also, we don’t even know when Luka Dončić will be back.

Threat level: 🎥

5. Cleveland Cavaliers | +3000

The betting money has been behind the Cavs at an unexpected level ever since they acquired James Harden. Maybe some of this placement is also because they’re facing a Detroit team that looked pretty vulnerable. This side of the bracket is untrustworthy so far.

Threat level: ⚔️

4. Detroit Pistons | +1500

The odds are ignoring the Pistons needing the Magic to have a historic second-half collapse in Game 6. The odds are focusing on the Cavs being the only thing between them and the conference finals. At that point, you hope they’ve learned their lesson.

Threat level: 🚙🚙🚙

3. New York Knicks | +900

The Knicks found the gear they were missing against the Hawks. If they maintain it, they should win the East. From there, you’re betting on them disrupting their opponent enough for the final four wins. It’s definitely doable.

Threat level: 🗽🗽🗽🗽

2. San Antonio Spurs | +300

Going from not making the playoffs to winning the championship is pretty unprecedented in the NBA. Even just making the finals doesn’t happen that often. However, the Spurs are sporting Victor Wembanyama as their star, and everything seems possible.

Threat level: 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠

1. Oklahoma City Thunder | -145

Yes, there is some concern with Jalen Williams’ hamstring issues. But the Thunder are still the defending champs with the reigning MVP (and likely back-to-back MVP). They still have role players and depth for days. And they know how to dissect and defend everybody.

Threat level: ⛈️⛈️⛈️⛈️⛈️

The last 24

🏀 Home cooking. Where does Donovan Mitchell get his inspiration? From his grandma’s kitchen.

🏀 French connection. The Timberwolves/Spurs series sets up a matchup between Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. The two have a mentor/mentee relationship. 

💫 Disappearing act. After blowing a 3-1 lead against the Pistons, what’s next for the Magic? Big changes could be in store.

💻 NEWsletter. No Offseason is our brand new women’s basketball newsletter. Let’s all click this link and sign up here. And check out our preseason WNBA power rankings.

🔊 “NBA Daily.” Watch and listen to a recap of the first round and a preview of Round 2.

Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.

Round 2!

Wolves-Spurs and 76ers-Knicks begin tonight

The second round starts tonight with a pair of Game 1s. Let’s preview them:

6) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. 2) San Antonio Spurs

Game 1: 9:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/Peacock

Big question for the Wolves: Can this team hang on until Edwards is back, and how good will he be when he is? If he surprises everybody with a Game 1 return, how worried should the Wolves be about him injuring himself again?

Big question for the Spurs: How do you keep your focus against an injured, weakened opponent and not overlook what’s in front of you? Can they put the Wolves on their heels before Edwards is back and fully healthy?

Big matchup: Gobert against Wembanyama. Gobert just neutralized Nikola Jokić in a series. Now he has to do it against Wemby.

Playoff Pressure Meter: 🐺🐺🐺 for Minnesota | 🤠🤠🤠🤠 for San Antonio

Who is the favorite? San Antonio -900 on BetMGM

Series prediction: Spurs in six (seven if Ant comes back early).

7) Philadelphia 76ers vs. 3) New York Knicks

Game 1 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

Big question for the 76ers: Will Embiid be as effective against New York’s big men as he was against Boston’s lack of big men? Will he be healthy in every game of the series?

Big question for the Knicks: Will they be willing and able to run their offense through Karl-Anthony Towns like they did against Atlanta? Can he do the same thing against Embiid?

Big matchup: Towns and Mitchell Robinson against Embiid. They provide enough size and resistance to force Embiid farther away from the hoop.

Playoff Pressure Meter: 🔔 for Philadelphia | 🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽 for New York

Who is the favorite? New York -250 on BetMGM

Series prediction: Knicks in six

Spin to win

Let’s simulate the lottery, Part 1

We are less than a week away from the NBA Draft Lottery, when the fate of the top prospects and the teams who want them is decided. We’ll get our answers on Sunday, but that’s so long to wait in Lottery Years.

Tankathon is the best website for tracking the lottery odds. It’s also the best site for simulating the lottery and seeing what comes up. We’re going to do that every day this week and try to figure out what would happen with each random drawing. One spin and we play the result, no matter what. The first one was a doozy!

The Heat winning the No. 1 pick in the draft with a 1 percent chance is truly wild. But it continues the trend of teams at the back end of the lottery getting lucky. (Atlanta did it with a 3.1 percent chance of doing so in 2024, Dallas did it with a 1.8 percent chance in 2025 and now the Heat win this random spin.) They’d obviously take BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and get him immersed in Heat Culture.

The Kings ending up with the second pick is huge for them, so they can grab either Kansas’ Darryn Peterson or Duke’s Cameron Boozer (I’d guess Peterson). Washington gets whoever is left over from those two at No. 3. The Hawks still end up with a great pick at No. 4, but the biggest consequence of the Heat, Kings and Pelicans/Hawks jumping is that it would knock down the Pacers to fifth. Their pick goes to the Clippers if it’s between five and nine.

Tune in tomorrow for another spin!

End of the road

So long, Rockets and Celtics

After an epic weekend of first-round elimination, it’s time to say goodbye to some of the teams we saw leave us. Since the Rockets and Celtics were eliminated Friday and Saturday, we’ll start with them. We’ll say goodbye to Toronto and Orlando tomorrow.

Goodbye to the Rockets

Was this the expected outcome? Not at all. Granted, the Kevin Durant injury definitely affected things (we already knew Austin Reaves and Dončić were hurt) right away. But the Rockets were expected to take out the Lakers quickly, not the other way around.

Who are the Rockets’ big free agents? Fred VanVleet ($25m player option), Tari Eason (restricted), Aaron Holiday, Josh Okogie, Jeff Green, Jae’Sean Tate.

What’s the draft situation? Houston’s first (22nd) goes to Philadelphia. It has the 39th pick from Chicago and its own 52nd pick in the second round.

What’s the pressing need for Houston? Chemistry, a coach with an offensive system and a point guard. It’s hoping chemistry will be fixed by Steven Adams and VanVleet being healthy. Point guard would be helped by FVV’s return too. But this team has horrible energy. Also, it’s definitely time for the Rockets to re-evaluate if Ime Udoka is the right guy for this team.

Overall grade for the Rockets’ season: D+

Goodbye to the Celtics

Was this the expected outcome? Not at all. The Celtics were supposed to dispatch of the Sixers like they always do. They went up 3-1 but collapsed with Jayson Tatum getting hurt (not seriously) in the process.

Who are the Celtics’ big free agents? Nikola Vučević.

What’s the draft situation? They have the 27th pick in the first round and 40th pick (via Milwaukee) in the second round.

What’s the pressing need for Boston? It needs reliable size for the interior and to reload its 3-and-D wings. Vučević was a non-factor in the playoffs, and the Celtics can’t hope all these role players currently on the roster will take a leap next season.

Overall grade for the Celtics’ season: A-minus