The NBA playoffs that start this weekend already have an extremely tough act to follow.
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Tuesday, April. 10, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett)
The regular season ended with a flourish.
Wednesday's final night of the regular season was well beyond dramatic — an overtime game between Minnesota and Denver to decide the last berth, another overtime game between Miami and Toronto to determine some East fates, a 46-point first quarter by Philadelphia , an absurd 20-rebound, 19-assist night from Russell Westbrook.
And now, the best time of the NBA year is finally here.
The playoffs are back, with Golden State and Cleveland — who've met in the last three NBA Finals — not exactly looking like the overwhelming favorites the league has come to expect. A fourth straight Warriors-Cavs matchup is no guarantee. A fourth straight trip by either of those teams alone is far from certain, either.
It all starts Saturday, the 16-team tournament that will be a two-month grind following the six-month grind of the regular season.
"I feel pretty ready," Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said. "We're ready to go."
So are 15 other teams.
Start with the East pairings: Lowry and the top-seeded Raptors play No. 8 Washington, No. 2 Boston faces No. 7 Milwaukee, No. 3 Philadelphia gets No. 6 Miami and No. 4 Cleveland — with LeBron James bidding for an eighth consecutive appearance in The Finals — opening against No. 5 Indiana, a surprise team at the start of the season and one that isn't a surprise anymore.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich disputes a call with referee Mike Callahan (24) in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans, Wednesday, April 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Scott Threlkeld)
"We're one of 16 teams that have a chance to win a championship," James said. "That's all you can ask for."
Philadelphia, after years of the rebuilding saga known as "The Process," has a chance as well. The 76ers are going into the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak.
"Take a deep breath, then reload," 76ers coach Brett Brown said, talking about what he wants his team to do before getting ready for Game 1.
Out West, it's No. 1 Houston meeting No. 8 Minnesota — which earned its berth by topping Denver in the NBA's first win-and-get-in, lose-and-go-home regular-season finale in 21 years. No. 2 Golden State opens its quest for a third championship in four seasons against No. 7 San Antonio, No. 3 Portland drew No. 6 New Orleans and No. 4 Oklahoma City opens against No. 5 Utah.
"The playoffs are about moments, and you just want a chance to have those moments," Miami guard Dwyane Wade said.
For the Timberwolves, Wednesday was a moment in itself. They needed overtime to beat the Nuggets and get into the postseason. It's Minnesota's first berth since 2004, and ended what was the NBA's longest playoff drought (which now is bequeathed to the Sacramento Kings, who last played a playoff game in 2006).
"They just made the plays at the end," Denver's Will Barton said of the Timberwolves. "Give them credit."
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, left, drives past New York Knicks' Trey Burke in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
There are some rematches from the 2017 playoffs already waiting. Cleveland swept Indiana in the first round last year, and Boston needed seven games to oust Washington in a thrilling East semifinal series.
But the most intriguing should be the Golden State-San Antonio matchup — because once again, just like a year ago, the Spurs will almost certainly be without Leonard.
Those two teams played in the West finals last season, and the Spurs were up by 23 points when Leonard left in the third quarter after getting injured on a play where he tried a jumper and Warriors center Zaza Pachulia closed out aggressively. Leonard got hurt when he stepped on Pachulia on the landing; he and the Spurs haven't been the same since.
Leonard never returned to that series, and played in only nine games for the Spurs this season.
"There is no pressure on us," Spurs star LaMarcus Aldridge said.
There is on Golden State.
The Warriors are trying for a third title in four seasons, and will play this first round more than likely without Curry while he continues recovering from a knee injury. Golden State went 7-10 in its final 17 games, and clearly sputtered across the finish line.
But the records all reset now, and the Warriors have been waiting to get the postseason started.
"It'll be our first meaningful game in about a month," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "Looking forward to that."
With good reason. There's a trophy to go chase now.
DALLAS (AP) — Jack Eichel and defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas got exactly what they anticipated, and withstood that early hard push in Game 2 by the desperate Dallas Stars.
The Golden Knights didn’t settle for a split while starting the first-round series on the road.
“We expected them to come out and push hard that first five, 10 minutes and they did,” Eichel said. “We responded. We were able to come in here after the first period and it’s all tied. ... They gave us all we could handle.”
Eichel assisted on the tying goal by Jonathan Marchessault late in the first period before adding an empty-netter late, Noah Hanifin scored the tiebreaker with unassisted goal late in the second period and the Knights won 3-1 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 is Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“We’re in a good spot, but there’s still a lot of hockey left to be played,” Hanifin said. “We’re happy to get back into our building and have that momentum on our side. ... Just got to keep doing what we’re doing, chipping away at it and play our game.”
Hanifin was one of the three trade-deadline acquisitions for the Knights, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Marchessault’s second goal of the series was his franchise-record 36th in the postseason while appearing in all 90 of Vegas’ playoff games. Logan Thompson had 20 saves in his second career playoff start, though Dallas didn’t get a shot to him in the final 5:37 of the game.
In the Western Conference Final last May, the Knights were the top seed when winning the first three games against Dallas and eventually taking the series in six games.
After falling 4-3 in the opener of this first-round series, the Stars came out intent on setting a hard-hitting tone before the series shifted West.
Mason Marchment took defenseman Zach Whitecloud off his skates with a jarring hit behind the Vegas net only 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Knights captain Mark Stone ended up on the ice midway through the first period when it appeared that he was going to take a shot at Jason Robertson, who instead bowed up and delivered a body blow instead.
In the end, Dallas still couldn’t take down the Knights.
“Loved our first period. We make one mistake at the end of the first, probably deserved to be up. That was probably a critical point in the game,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Eichel, the wrong guy gets behind us at the wrong time. And that’s what they do, they make you pay. So you come out of the first after playing a great period and you have nothing to show for it.”
Hanifin’s go-ahead goal with 1:07 left in the second period came after defenseman Esa Lindell blocked two shots in a row.
Robertson put Dallas up 1-0 with his second goal of the series, on a power play with 3:13 left in the first period. His 10th career playoff goal was his eighth against Vegas.
After Eichel’s shot went in the empty net late, Robertson broke his stick when he slammed it against the post.
The goal by Robertson came soon after Marchment whiffed at a loose puck that had popped off Thompson’s glove, and another scramble in front of the goalie when Roope Hintz was denied twice.
The Knights got even with 1:51 left in the first period on a charge when Eichel made a move that Jake Oettinger bit on. The goalie slipped down and Marchessault had an open side of the net after getting a nifty pass.
“We settled in eventually. You don’t want want 1-0 to turn into 2-0, so we did a good job with that,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Go into the intermission 1-1, we haven’t been our best, but we got through it.”
Oettinger had 23 saves, including a sequence in the second period when he knocked away three successive shots by Shea Theodore.
After his first shot was blocked, Theodore gathered the loose puck and tried a backhander on which Oettinger made a sprawling save, lunging to knock away the puck with his extended glove. The Knights defenseman got the puck again, skated around a couple of Stars and his third shot went off the goalie who was still laying on the ice at the edge of the crease.
That was during a 4-on-4 period after a scuffle in front of Oettinger when his teammate Ryan Suter threw Anthony Mantha down and both got roughing penalties.
Thomas had a couple of close-range saves right after that.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
NHL linesman Trent Knorr (74) and players try to intervene as Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist (5) and Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) get tangled up during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Anthony Mantha (39) scuffle during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Anthony Mantha (39) exchange words after a scuffle during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault (81) celebrates his first period goal in front of the Dallas Stars bench during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston skates with the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) chases the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault, right, celebrates his first period goal with goaltender Logan Thompson (36) during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars players celebrate a first period power play goal by Jason Robertson, not visible, during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson (21) is tripped up by Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin slaps a scoring shot against the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights players surround Noah Hanifin after he scored against the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
