Wednesday's NBA matchups: Magic-Pistons, Thunder-Suns are set for Game 2s

DETROIT (AP) — The NBA playoffs become chess matches for coaches.

After wins and losses, they work on adjustments during practices to address problems from the previous game and attempt to predict counter moves opponents will make in the next matchup.

In the Orlando-Detroit series, coaches Jamahl Mosley and J.B. Bickerstaff are close friends who have intentionally spent time together off the court and communicated frequently for a couple decades.

Just not right now.

“We won’t talk for the rest of this series,” Mosley said.

The Mosley-led, eighth-seeded Magic upset the Bickerstaff-led, first-seeded Pistons 112-101 on Sunday night.

“Friends as close as us don’t typically get to these spots, having two of 30 jobs, so it’s special from that standpoint,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s not always the easiest because you know somebody’s got to lose, somebody’s got to win, but it’s competition and you get it.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Detroit, where the Magic will shoot for a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Orlando.

Later on Wednesday night, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will host eighth-seeded Phoenix. The defending champions will have a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after opening with a 119-84 win against the Suns.

Bickerstaff, in his last year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, eliminated Mosley and the Magic in their last NBA playoff matchup in a Game 7 of a first-round series in 2024.

It's business, not personal.

“We’ll always be friends, through thick and thin,” Mosley said. ”But at the end of the day when we cross the lines, it’s like you’re going into an octagon or a boxing match."

The 47-year-old coaches developed their friendship as up-and-coming assistants in the NBA about 20 years ago. They also shared a connection through Bickerstaff's father, Bernie, when he and Mosley were assistants together in Cleveland during the 2013-14 season.

Bernie Bickerstaff, who won 419 NBA games as a head coach, has joined his son in Detroit this week.

“I couldn't be more fortunate to have someone who has been through all the stuff that he's been through, and will talk with you honestly and purely with no agenda,” J.B. Bickerstaff said Tuesday after his father watched the team's practice. “It's a ton of help, just having him here.”

J.B. Bickerstaff, who previously coached in Houston, Memphis and Cleveland, is in his 10th season as a head coach in the league. Mosley is in his fifth year as an NBA head coach with the Magic.

Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault and Phoenix’s Jordan Ott are both 41, born less than a week apart in 1985.

The similarities seem to end there.

Daigneault, the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2024, has led the Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference three straight years and guided them to their first NBA title last year.

"He’s just as committed to winning as we are,” Oklahoma City wing Jalen Williams said. “And he’s a basketball mind, so I think that makes everybody on the team respect him. And he’s cool to be around, too.”

Ott is in his first year as an NBA head coach and lost his playoff debut on Sunday. He said the Thunder are tough to prepare for because of their quality depth and ability to change lineups.

“They have guys ready, and they’re able to stay ready," Ott said. "It allows them to go a bunch of different ways.”

When/Where to Watch: Game 2, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Magic lead, 1-0.

Betting line: Pistons by 9 1/2.

What to Know: Orlando hasn't started a series with two wins since 2010 when it swept Charlotte and Atlanta in the first two rounds and reached the conference finals. Detroit lost an NBA-record 11th straight home playoff game in Game 1 despite Cade Cunningham scoring a playoff career-high 39 points. The Magic did not trail in the opener as their starters scored at least 16 points apiece and allowed just two Pistons to score in double figures. Detroit All-Star center Jalen Duren, a finalist for Most Improved Player, was 3 of 4 and scored only eight points against Wendell Carter. “He kept Duren, basically, out of the game,” Magic guard Anthony Black said Tuesday.

When/Where to Watch: Game 2, 9 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Thunder lead, 1-0.

Betting line: Thunder by 17 1/2.

What to Know: Oklahoma City scored 119 points in Game 1 despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making only 5 of 18 field goals. The reigning MVP and finalist to win the award again made 55.3% of his shots this season. Phoenix will attempt to keep him off the line after he made 15 of 17 free throws. Dillon Brooks was 6 of 22 and scored 18 points for the Suns, who may want to get more shots for All-Star Devin Booker after he had 23 points on 17 shots. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year behind Victor Wembanyama. The Suns shot 34.9% in the series opener.

AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, right, argues with referee Kevin Scott (24) during the first half in Game 1 against the Orlando Magic in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gives instructions to his team during the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Phoenix Suns, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott gives instructions during the second half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley shouts at his team during the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Detroit Pistons Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) discusses a play with Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, left, during the first half in Game 1 against the Orlando Magic in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two U.S. officials killed in a vehicle crash as they returned from destroying a clandestine drug lab in northern Mexico over the weekend were working for the CIA, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the matter.

Two Mexican investigators also were killed in the crash, which Mexican authorities said occurred while the convoy was returning from an operation to destroy drug labs of criminal groups. There have been discrepancies in the public accounts of what happened from U.S. and Mexican officials, which experts say underscores heightened American involvement in security operations in Mexico and across the region.

The CIA's involvement was confirmed Tuesday by the three with knowledge of the crash, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters. That the U.S. officials worked for the CIA was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

It comes after days of contradictions from Mexican and U.S. authorities about the role that American officials played in an operation to bust a narco-laboratory in northern Chihuahua state.

The lack of clarity from authorities reignited a debate over the extent of U.S. involvement in Mexico's security operations as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum faces extreme pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to crack down on cartels. Trump has taken a more aggressive stance toward Latin America than any leader in recent U.S. history, capturing Venezuela's president, blockading oil shipments to Cuba and launching joint military operations in Ecuador, a country also marked by criminal violence.

Trump has repeatedly offered to take action on Mexican cartels, an intervention that Sheinbaum has said was “unnecessary.”

The CIA officers were initially identified as U.S. embassy personnel by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson, who is himself a former CIA employee.

The U.S. Embassy declined Monday to identify the individuals or which entity of the U.S. government they worked for, but said the officials were “supporting Chihuahua state authorities’ efforts to combat cartel operations.” The embassy, State Department and CIA declined to comment on the identities of reports of CIA involvement in the operation.

Local Mexican officials originally claimed they were working with the U.S. on an operation, but later walked those comments back after the effort came under scrutiny from Sheinbaum.

Sheinbaum said she knew nothing of a joint operation between Chihuahua’s government and the U.S. despite reports that the Mexican army was also involved in the raid on the lab.

She maintained in a Tuesday press briefing that she didn’t know if the officials were part of the CIA but acknowledged that state officials and the U.S. “were working together.”

It’s a sensitive issue for the Mexican leader as she walks a careful line with the Trump administration, working to maintain a strong relationship to offset threats of U.S. intervention on cartels and tariffs while also underscoring Mexico’s sovereignty.

The CIA has recently expanded its collaboration with Mexican authorities, part of the Trump administration’s effort to stop the flow of illicit drugs.

The presence of U.S. intelligence officials in Mexican territory has been the subject of ongoing debate, which has only intensified after Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and Iran.

Last year, Sheinbaum said the U.S. had conducted surveillance drone flights at Mexico’s request after a series of conflicting public statements.

The most recent controversy surfaced in January over the detention in Mexico of former Canadian athlete Ryan Wedding, one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives. While Mexican officials claim he surrendered at the U.S. Embassy, U.S. authorities have described his capture as the result of a binational operation.

“There is a rise of hidden operations by the United States in Mexico under Trump,” said David Saucedo, a Mexican security analyst. “They're hidden because … the Mexican government has a discourse that they can't permit the presence of armed U.S. agents — it's a kind of violation of sovereignty. The Mexican government has always tried to hide this collaboration.”

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses the media at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit, in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)