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NEW YORK — Let’s face it, wild and crazy as it was, Tuesday night really started on Monday night for thousands of customers inside Madison Square Garden. NBA stars from other places have long described New Yorkers as educated basketball fans, sometimes to excess, but this much was clear: The Garden crowd for Game 1…

2026 NBA Player Tiers: Tier 5 | Tier 4 Welcome to Tier 3, quite possibly the most polarizing tier. For some teams, this is as high as it gets, which obviously doesn’t make it easy to be in contender conversations. This year, 22 teams are represented in Tier 3 (21 were represented last year). Only…

The players got it right on who was the NBA MVP among them — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Same with the top defensive player — Victor Wembanyama. How else did NBA players hit the nail on the head in The Athletic’s annual anonymous survey during this tumultuous regular season, one dominated by headlines of federal gambling charges,…

NEW YORK —  For the second time in as many years, the New York Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals and found themselves in overtime in Game 1. The vibe, and the result, was much different this time. The Knicks overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-104,…

The Dallas Mavericks and Jason Kidd are parting ways, the team said Tuesday, an abrupt ending to the franchise icon’s five-year run as the Mavericks coach. Kidd was hired in 2021 to lead a team with Luka Dončić as its centerpiece. The Mavericks went 52-30 games in Kidd’s first season in charge and made a…

OKLAHOMA CITY — When it was over, after he plucked Jalen Williams’ floater out of the air like fruit hanging from a high branch, sealing the most majestic performance of his infant career, Victor Wembanyama didn’t run, he didn’t roar, and he didn’t search out anyone. After prying Game 1 of the Western Conference finals…

The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. This is often overused whenever we talk about certain playoff matchups or teams going against each other. We’ll say some version of, “I’ll take seven games of this, please.” You cannot state it…

OKLAHOMA CITY — Hours after Victor Wembanyama stunned the building, the sounds of the once-deafening Paycom Center were finally comprehensible. Janitors murmured across the lower bowl as they rigorously swept the crumbs left from the pandemonium. The streaks of the sneakers that played an iconic Western Conference finals Game 1 were prominent on the hardwood.…

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Pull up from 30 today. Coming up:  👽 Wemby, man 7️⃣ Montreal does it again 🎰 Sorsby’s suit Electricity: A perfect sports night These are the nights that create fandom.…

OKLAHOMA CITY — The first thing that went through Carter Bryant’s mind when he saw Victor Wembanyama’s shot heard around the world was the same as his teammates’ and likely any sensible person bearing witness, too. “What the f—?” Wembanyama put the entire Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on the line when he…