The Bounce: Is it time for the Knicks and Nuggets to panic?

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Every year, there is some point at which we hear about the top draft prospect maybe wanting to stay in school. And now with NIL money, people think it’s even more possible. Well, once again, that top prospect decided to declare for the NBA Draft. This time, it’s AJ Dybantsa saying goodbye to BYU and hello to the NBA.

Walking the Walk

McDaniels is not all talk

The lead-up to Game 3 of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Denver Nuggets series was more dramatic than the game itself. After the Wolves came back in Game 2 to take home-court advantage, defensive virtuoso Jaden McDaniels called out the Nuggets players as bad defenders. This may have flown more under the radar if he hadn’t included Aaron Gordon. And perhaps the Nuggets would’ve had more firepower to push back if Gordon actually played in Game 3, but a calf injury kept him out.

The result was the Wolves dominating the Nuggets from start to finish Thursday. Minnesota won 113-96, and it didn’t even feel that close for most of the night. From the start, the Wolves were locked in defensively in a way we usually see McDaniels exhibit. He and Rudy Gobert are their defensive leaders, and they had the task of slowing down two bona fide playoff performers in Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray.

Gobert did a stellar job down the stretch of Game 2, drawing a lot of praise on an internet that is usually waiting to skewer him and highlight every embarrassing moment. That carried over into Game 3, as Gobert helped hold Jokić to 1-of-8 shooting in the first quarter and 2-of-9 shooting in the third. Jokić finished with 27 points but was 7-of-26 from the field. He also had 15 rebounds and four assists.

McDaniels had a much bigger target on his back, and any slip-up defensively was going to draw the Nelson Muntz point-and-laugh. And Murray is the type of player to make you pay for such disrespect. Unless McDaniels is on you. He disparaged Murray and his teammates’ ability to guard, and then he showed them what defense looks like.

The best example was with around nine minutes left in the game and the Wolves up 20. Watch here as McDaniels hounds Murray dribbling the ball for the full 24 seconds of the shot clock, sticking with him, pushing him back and forcing him into a contested 3. Not only that, but he punctuated the game by proving his theory about the Nuggets’ defenders. With around four minutes left and a 15-point lead, he drove down the lane and dunked near Jokić, who had no resistance for him.

He did his patented dunk with the right hand off the right foot, which he stated after the game was because his bounce comes from his right leg. It was the perfect capper to a 20-point night in which McDaniels dared the Nuggets to make him eat his words. And then Joe Ingles channeled his inner Nelson Muntz as a reaction.

 

The quick cameo by Bones Hyland was great, too. We don’t know the severity of Gordon’s calf injury, but the Nuggets appear to be in big trouble. They were title contenders to begin the year, but then had to deal with a lot of injuries. After looking like they were trending toward health and great basketball, they once again find themselves a little flummoxed by the Wolves.

Minnesota ended Denver’s hopes of a championship (as defending champs) in the second round of the 2024 playoffs. The Wolves won Game 6 to stay alive and Game 7 in Denver to steal the series. Since then, they’ve upped the ante on disliking the Nuggets and now vocalize it. Denver has yet to prove Minnesota should doubt its feeling superior. Even after McDaniels voiced it and Denver needed to steal home court back, the Nuggets came up short. They’d better find that proof on Saturday in Game 4, or the talk from the Wolves will get louder.

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Playoff Panic Meter (PPM): 🚨🚨🚨🚨for Denver

The Last 24

👽 Back already? Wemby (concussion) is flying to Portland for Games 3 and 4. He’s listed as questionable.

🪣  Playoff basketball? Scoring is way down through the early playoff games. John Hollinger has three reasons why.

🩺 Ruh roh. Jalen Williams has a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. He’ll be re-evaluated weekly.

💰 Well spent? Devin Booker was fined $35,000 for criticizing officials. We’ll see if it works for Game 3 calls. 

🔊 NBA Daily. Watch and listen to a recap of last night’s games. Including how the Knicks blew it. 

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

Last Night & Tonight

Once again, Knicks can’t execute

First, what to know about last night:

Hawks 109, Knicks 108: Hawks lead series 2-1. Three key points for this game: Read the takeaways from The Athletic. Here are mine.

1. Welcome back, Jalen Johnson. The Hawks’ All-Star was dormant for most of the first two games. He delivered in Game 3 with 24 points, 10 boards and eight dimes.
2. More fourth-quarter issues. The Knicks shot just 40 percent from the field and had six turnovers in the fourth. Two late-clock 3s by OG Anunoby nearly saved them.
3. Final play disparity. On the Hawks’ final play, they were able to easily get the ball to CJ McCollum for a sweet-spot midrange jumper. The Knicks struggled to get the ball to Jalen Brunson, and Atlanta took away any chance at a shot attempt by swarming. Mo Dakhil broke down the final play and the Knicks’ issues perfectly.

Who played huge in this game? Jonathan Kuminga. Once again, he brought it off the bench. He had 10 quick points in the first quarter and six big ones in the fourth on his way to 21 points.

Who came up short for the Knicks? Mikal Bridges. Four turnovers, one rebound, three shot attempts and zero points in 21 minutes. And he got torched on defense. What happened?

How concerned should the Knicks be? Extremely. The Knicks have really struggled the last five quarters and given the Hawks a ton of confidence. Game 4 is a must-win. PPM: 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 for New York

Raptors 126, Cavs 104: Cavs lead series 2-1. Three key points for this game: Read the takeaways from The Athletic. Here are mine.

1. The Raptors broke this wide open. This was a one-point game with 8:52 left in the fourth. The Raptors finished the game on a 35-14 run.
2. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett dominated. They each had 33 points on a combined 23-of-36 shooting. Barnes also had 11 assists and helped set the tone on defense.
3. The Raptors’ bench was stellar. Jamal Shead had five steals. Collin Murray-Boyles had 22 points. Jamison Battle had all 14 of his points in the fourth.

Who played huge in this game? Barrett. He was a monster to close things out. He put up 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, along with three assists. He created 24 points in the fourth. Cleveland scored 23.

Who came up short for the Cavs? The starting backcourt. Donovan Mitchell had just 15 points on 16 shots with three turnovers. James Harden had 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting and eight turnovers. They ruined an opportunity to effectively end this series.

How concerned should the Cavs be? Not very … yet. Toronto needs to prove it can score consistently. The Raptors struggled all year with it. But the Cavs can’t let them build momentum. PPM: 🚨🚨 for Cleveland | 🚨🚨🚨 for Toronto.

Since we’re here, let’s do a quick preview of Friday’s Game 3s. All times Eastern.

Celtics at 76ers, Game 3, 7 p.m. (Prime Video) | Series tied 1-1

• Something to look for: Two wild swings in how Philly shot the ball from 3. Role players play better at home, but they have to knock down 3-pointers against Boston no matter what.

Lakers at Rockets, Game 3, 8 p.m. (Prime Video) | Lakers lead 2-0

• Something to look for: To be fair, the Rockets are home now and should play a lot better than in the first two games. Also to be fair, these players look like they hate one another.

Spurs at Blazers, Game 3, 10:30 p.m. (Prime Video) | Series tied 1-1

• Something to look for: It’s all about whether Wembanyama plays just days after a concussion in Game 2. If he doesn’t, can Stephon Castle set the defensive tone?

New coach? Who dis?

What would Jenkins join in Milwaukee?

It doesn’t look like the Bucks will go a long time without a coach. Less than two weeks after Doc Rivers stepped down, former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins is finalizing a deal to coach the Bucks. According to Eric Nehm and Sam Amick, the Bucks were very aggressive in pursuing Jenkins.

League sources told The Athletic the agreement comes at the end of a “full-court press” by the organization to secure one of the top names on the coaching market before other teams have a chance to enter the fray after postseason eliminations. As The Athletic first reported, general manager Jon Horst and both of the Bucks’ primary owners, Wes Edens and Jimmy Haslam, traveled to Memphis early last week to express interest in bringing Jenkins to Milwaukee.

It’s an interesting hire at a very precarious time. The Bucks have admitted that trading away franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the table this summer after a disastrous season. Jenkins might not even get a chance to coach Giannis in this new venture, so why take the job? Money and opportunity. Jenkins, who went 250-214 in the regular season in Memphis, was fired with nine games left in the 2024-25 season in a very dramatic turn. Getting the full support of your next organization in such a dramatic manner goes a long way. As for the money, we don’t have official numbers, but it wouldn’t be shocking if he doubled the reported $5 million salary he had in Memphis.

Jenkins is really good at three things. 1) He’s great at mining out skill sets and creating impact players from the role guys on the team. He had great success with “next man up” for years with Memphis. 2) Coaching defense. In three of his six seasons in Memphis, he coached a top-six defense. In his final year, the Grizzlies were 10th. 3) He helped popularize the new-ish trend of crashing the offensive glass at all times to keep possessions alive.

Milwaukee doesn’t have control of its drafts from 2027 through 2030, so finding diamonds in the rough and coaching them up is huge for a team that can’t benefit from tanking. Jenkins will be there to establish a culture Rivers couldn’t do. And in the process, you can bet that the Bucks will play hard each night. We just have to see if whether or not Jenkins is coaching that two-time MVP.