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For the first time in a decade, the New York Knicks have advanced to the second round of the playoffs thanks to a drubbing of the favored Cleveland Cavaliers. The result itself should not come as a substantial surprise, as the Knicks were 20-10 since the start of February and maintained the best point differential in the league since the trade deadline.

And yet, the way they took it to the Cavs was staggering, especially because Julius Randle was hobbled much of the series with an ankle injury. Rather than veering into a new direction to try and compensate for Randle being off his game, the Knicks did what they usually do, only better.

New York owned the offensive boards in the regular season, finishing second in the Association in offensive rebound rate by corralling 28.3 percent of their own. That number ratcheted up to 34.9 percent against the Cavaliers, a mark so ridiculously high that we’ve only seen one team (the 2002-03 Golden State Warriors) surpass it over the course of a season since the turn of the century, per Basketball Reference.

Mitchell Robinson dominated the offensive glass all year. His offensive rebounding percentage of 18.4 percent was a career-best mark, led the league, and will go down as the 11th highest single-season mark in NBA/ABA history. In keeping up with the team-wide trend, Robinson grabbed 23.1 percent of all possible offensive rebounds while he was on the court against the Cavs.

(To put into perspective how authoritative he was on the glass, Dennis Rodman, considered the greatest rebounder the modern NBA has seen, set the single-season record with a 20.83 percent mark during the 1994-95 season.)

Robinson’s presence extended past his own dominance, opening the doors for others to crash the glass due to the amount of attention Cleveland needed to pay to him under the rim. Per Cleaning the Glass, New York rebounded 40.9 percent of its own misses with Robinson on the floor. That’s right: two out of every five misses over the course of the entire series by a Knicks ended up in the hands of another Knicks player when Robinson was out there, which is absurd.

The Knicks were phenomenal defensively in the series, but it’s worth noting that Cleveland defended New York fairly well, too. New York’s 111.1 offensive rating in the series would have ranked in the 28th in the NBA this season, sandwiched between the Rockets and Pistons. The second-chance points were by and large the primary differentiator in the Knicks’ runs throughout the series — they outscored the Cavs, 91-55, in second-chance points across all five games.

This series is arguably Robinson’s shining moment as a pro, one in which he was the most impactful player on the court for large stretches. He drastically outperformed one of the best frontcourts in basketball, as he reeled in 29 offensive rebounds compared to the combined 30 from Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Making this even more impressive is that, like Mobley, this was Robinson’s first time in the postseason, as he missed the 2020-21 first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks with a foot fracture.

This season has unequivocally been Robinson’s best in the NBA, and this series embodied what makes him such an impactful player. To be a great rebounder, you obviously have to grab the ball, but it’s the work before he touches the ball that makes Robinson a supreme paint presence.

The Cavs put two defenders on the ball routinely in the series, and this possession reflects much of how Robinson took advantage with his positioning and movement. As a post player who primarily plays within eight feet of the rim, it sounds odd to call someone a good mover without the ball — how much movement is there, really, when you’re confined to such a small area?

Movement is not about distance traveled. It’s about efficiency and moving in the right ways and areas, which are things that Robinson does as well as anyone in the league. Robinson doesn’t roll “fast” here. I think often that a roll man in ball screens gets idealized as someone who goes 110 miles per hour after flipping their hips, but the more I watch, the more convinced I am that timing is so much more important in these situations than speed.

First flip of the hips, Robinson opens himself up on the slip if R.J. Barrett wants to hit the overhead. Robinson then pivots as Barrett swings the ball, opening himself up for Randle. Here’s the slick part: As soon as Randle shows he’s shooting, Robinson takes a few steps back, gets low for a 7-footer, and hits the body he knows is coming back into the picture off the initial ball pressure (Allen rotating back).

That initial set of actions is phenomenal, but the next part is even more key. Robinson doesn’t just watch the ball once he has position — he works to keep position, continually tracks the ball, and adjusts for its trajectory. He kind of shuffles in a crescent around the rim, always keeping attached to his defender so he can best create separation the moment the ball comes into play.

The strength Robinson shows in his core and lower body, warding off opposing bigs and securing positioning, is the biggest area of growth in his career.

There were countless possessions during his rookie contract where he would get initial position and get bumped off, or try to jump first rather than jump right. So much of that comes back to how much more capable he is of handling and playing through contact now. It’s been present all season, and has been a bright spot in his post defense, as well.

It can be easy to forget while watching Robinson put a forearm into Allen’s side and push him across the lane that he’s only 240 pounds. Robinson is just that strong now. It also speaks to the subtlety of the work he puts in. To be a player who dominates with strength and positioning in the league, you have to be stealthy. Loud motions and overpowering moves lead to a tight whistle.

An extra step or two backwards on this seal screen and Robinson likely gets hit with an offensive foul. With the quick hop step and attention to the ball, he a tip-in that looks awfully easy. But here’s the thing: “Easy” offense is the result of hard work, and Robinson’s growth into one of the finest low-usage offensive players in the league showcases that. His career-low usage percentage of 10.1 percent comes off as not ideal, but that loses sight of the constant work and effort put in during possessions to find his own offense, own the paint, and dominate at the rim.

As the Knicks seek to beat the Miami Heat and make the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000, Robinson’s play will likely prove pivotal in a series that hearkens back to an era where post play and physicality reigned supreme. In an age defined by spacing, ball skills, and a premium on technique, Mitchell Robinson is making his mark by doing the dirty work.

Thundercat is hitting the road. Beginning this fall, the singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist will embark on the In Yo Girl’s City Tour.

The In Yo Girl’s City Tour will kick off in Portland on September 28, and will boast dates in North and South America. Thundercat is also set to perform a slew of festival dates beginning next month.

General on-sale for the In You Girl’s City tour begins Friday, May 5. Tickets will be available for purchase here.

You can see the list of tour dates and upcoming festival appearances below.

05/12 – San Diego, CA @ Snapdragon Stadium
05/13 – Pala, CA @ Starlight Theater
05/14 – Glendale, AZ @ State Farm Stadium
05/17 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
05/19-21 – Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Festival
05/20-21 – Guadalajara, Mexico @ Corona Capital Guadalajara
05/25 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park
06/07 – Brisbane, Australia @ The Tivoli
06/16-18 – Wicklow, Ireland @ Beyond The Pale Festival
06/19 – Paris, France @ ALHAMBRA
06/20 – Paris, France @ ALHAMBRA
06/21-25 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
06/28-07/01 – Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er Festival
06/30 – Lewes, UK @ Glynde Place
07/07 – Ottawa, Ontario @ RBC Bluesfest
08/05 – Newport, RI @ Newport Jazz Festival
08/27- Port Townsend, WA @ THING
09/10 – St. Louis, MO @ Music At The Intersection
09/28 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield
09/29 – Humboldt, CA @ Cal Poly Humboldt
10/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/07 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater
10/08 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
10/10 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/12 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
10/13 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple
10/14 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
10/15 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10/17 – New York, NY @ The Brooklyn Mirage
10/19 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
10/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
10/24 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
10/27 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
10/28 – San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre
10/29 – El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace
10/31 – Albuquerque, NM @ Revel ABQ
11/08 – São Paulo, Brazil @ Audio
11/10 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Circo Voador
11/11 – Porto Alegre, Brazil @ Opinião
11/12 – Curitiba, Brazil @ Ópera de Arame
11/14 – Santiago, Chile @ Teatro Coliseo

Chris Pratt wasn’t a big movie star before Guardians of the Galaxy. He’d done movies. He was even one of the SEALs in Zero Dark Thirty. But he was mostly known for his small screen work, which is to say playing lovable goof Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. Marvel changed all that, but it took some doing. In fact, Pratt had tried out for roles with the comics giant so often that he almost threw up his hands and gave up.

During a chat with Jimmy Kimmel Friday night, the actor reflected on his pre-fame days, when his bar for success was low — basically “don’t want to go back to serving food to people.” Trying out for Star-Lord/Peter Quill wasn’t his first Marvel rodeo.

“Oh man, I auditioned for them all. I had a rough run with Marvel,” Pratt recalled. “I auditioned for Thor, but not even to be Thor, but to be one of the sidekick guys. And I didn’t get a callback.”

They did, however, tend to offer cryptic comments. “Usually they give you a little bit of feedback, and I remember the casting director goes, ‘Wow. You really made a big choice there.’ Which is code for like, ‘Hey, dial back the acting there, guy,’” he said.

Clearly it all worked out in the end. But it was a rocky road. “It got to the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again,” Pratt said. “I was like, ‘This is stupid, I’m never gonna be in a Marvel movie.’”

And now look at him. You can see what is likely his farewell to Marvel when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, during which you’ll be able to hear him drop the MCU’s first-ever f-bomb. You can watch his Kimmel appearance below.

(Via Deadline)

Devin Booker went to bed in Phoenix on Tuesday night with his fifth NBA playoff series win and a credible claim to being the best player in the world right now. He did it on both ends, scoring nearly 40 a night on 60-plus percent shooting while also creating turnovers at a league-leading rate. Coming off the worst playoff series of his life against Dallas in 2022, the initial instinct could be to credit Kevin Durant or blame the Clippers’ defense. But Booker made a tremendous impact by being more proactive and relentless than we’ve ever seen him.

Glimpses of these strides forward were there as early as November, when Booker put the Suns on his back while Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson were injured for multiple weeks. That month, Booker averaged 29 points and six assists per game. As late as Dec. 6, the Suns were first in the Western Conference despite getting slammed with injuries and relying on Booker more than ever.

Building off lessons learned in playoff losses, Booker took it upon himself to diversify the Suns’ offense from a perimeter ball movement scheme more predicated on getting into space and canning jumpers to one that created higher-efficiency shots. After driving to the basket fewer than 10 times per game last season, Booker upped that to nearly 13 this year. He took nearly a quarter of his shots at the basket, compared with just 15 percent last season. He got fouled on almost five percent more of his shot attempts and went from taking one free throw for every four field goals to more than one for every three. By shooting inside more frequently, Booker helped make the Suns’ offense more efficient overall. The team scored nearly 12 points more per 100 possessions when Booker was on the court versus on the bench. It was no coincidence.

In the first round against Los Angeles, Booker transferred those adjustments to a bigger stage. He drove to the basket more than 17 times a night, eighth among all NBA playoff players. He maintained his high foul-drawing rate and shot 75 percent at the rim, which is better than his 7-foot teammate, Deandre Ayton.

But most importantly, Booker has begun to clean up perhaps his biggest weakness. Against the Bucks and Mavericks the past two years, Booker could be goaded into mistakes through what he would call “junk defenses”: sending multiple bodies at him to force the ball out of his hands or into the other team’s hands. When tall, long defenders prevented him from getting downhill or forced him back toward the time stripe, he frequently coughed the ball up or threw it straight to the defense.

While the floor is undoubtedly more open with Durant and even Chris Paul spacing as opposed to Mikal Bridges or Jae Crowder, that didn’t stop the Clippers from blitzing Booker, especially after he got hot. The difference in those situations is that Booker is now infinitely more comfortable making a quick, simple drop pass to the rolling big man or the skip pass to the weak-side corner if the defense takes away the roller.

This is the difference between a proactive Booker and a reactive Booker. In seven games against Dallas last spring, Booker had 27 turnovers and just 32 assists. In a five-game smoking of the Clippers, he had the same amount of assists to only 15 turnovers.

Still, to fully appreciate how and why Booker was able to carve up the Clips, the first step is realizing why he was in position to wield that high-octane electric carving knife in the first place. Instead of Paul walking the ball up the floor to run Monty Williams’ trusted pick-and-roll ball movement system, Booker had the ball in his hands from the jump.

Booker set up screen-and-rolls with Ayton at the top of the key. He pulled the defense apart like a loose thread in a ball of yarn. He found the openings and darted into them. And with his proactivity as a passer, the Clippers ran out of answers.

This is a stark contrast from how Booker was used in previous seasons. Because everything ran through Paul, the ball frequently hot-potatoed to Booker coming off a screen or dribble hand-off, often along the sideline or toward help in the middle of the floor. Now that he has leveled up as a passer and ball-handler, defenses no longer have the luxury of loading up on Booker before he ever touches the rock. As Booker found Durant for spot-up threes repeatedly toward the end of the series, both of Booker’s developments were on display.

He now has the control to keep his dribble as the defense collapses on him, as well as the awareness and skill to spray passes everywhere. Defenses have to respect everything he can do from the minute he steps across halfcourt. And increasingly, he can do everything.

The problem with cutting too big a piece of credit pie for Durant is that it ignores the very decisions the Clippers made — and the ones, potentially, that Denver will make. Even with Durant out there as a spacer in the corner, Los Angeles made the determination (either the coaching staff or the players on the floor) that sending two guys toward Booker and an extra guy away from Durant and toward the rolling big man was the best option to cool off Booker amid the series of his life. Booker was the focus of the defense, and he made them pay. In the process, it was Booker breaking down the defense and setting Durant up.

Durant struggled a bit to get downhill as a scorer or isolate against the aggressive attention the Clippers sent his way. The Clippers had success poking the ball away from Durant on the perimeter, and when he posted up, he felt the entirety of the Clippers’ defense loaded toward his side of the floor, making shots and passes close to impossible.

Heading toward a Game 1 in Denver, the Suns are unlikely to take several games to get their bearings like they did against the Clippers. They can deploy both their star scorers even more effectively by building off what Booker has shown.

When Booker is the pick-and-roll ball-handler and Nikola Jokic is guarding the screener, the Nuggets have two options: bring Jokic up to the level of the screen to prevent Booker from getting downhill and ideally force the ball out of his hands, or drop Jokic into the paint to contest Booker’s drives and Ayton’s rolls. Luckily for Booker, that’s exactly what he saw — and repeatedly beat — from Clippers center Ivica Zubac.

Denver doesn’t have the length or physicality top to bottom in its wing rotation to send waves of bodies at him like Los Angeles did. That means Booker can go into each game (and each possession) with even more of a proactive game plan to torch the Nuggets.

Another thing the Nuggets do not have is a secondary rim protector like Giannis Antetokounmpo or even Nicolas Batum. That means Booker can try some new things — Paul rightly praised his “creativity” after Game Five — against Denver from his bag of tricks. Booker can reject the screen by the big man completely and blow past whatever Denver’s plans were to stop him. At that point it’s up to help defenders like Michael Porter Jr. or Aaron Gordon to contest.

If the Nuggets do drop Jokic into the paint defensively and if Ayton’s screens can take Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out of the play for even a half-second, Booker can once again bomb away on pull-up threes in a way he hasn’t since Game 2 against the Pelicans last season. The other stuff is so good he rarely has to put on his Lillard impression, but Booker can make those deep threes off the bounce, and the “u” in unguardable becomes capitalized.

Booker getting to this point is not surprising. Despite dropping 40 on Milwaukee twice in the Finals at age 24, Booker is still on the upswing. This is only his third go-round facing the minefield of playoff defenses. He knows what it’s like now to be the focal point of an entire team’s gameplan, and he’s learning how to beat it.

One of the main storylines during the opening round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies was Dillon Brooks’ efforts to go after LeBron James. In the aftermath of Game 2, which Memphis won, Brooks said he doesn’t respect opposing players “until they give me 40” and that he loves to “poke bears,” all of which was directed towards the Lakers’ future Hall of Fame inductee.

Game 3 saw James confront Brooks before tip and a Lakers win in which Brooks was ejected for smacking James below the belt. Game 4 saw James go right through Brooks for the dagger in another Lakers win. And while James never directly responded to anything Brooks did while he spoke to the media, he sure seems to be enjoying a victory lap on social media in the aftermath of Game 6, which the Lakers won to send the Grizzlies home.

First, James hopped onto IG and posted a collection of pictures and videos with a simple caption: “If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a Grizzly bear, HELP THE BEAR.”

Then, James went over to Twitter, where he posted the lyrics to the Jay-Z song “Trouble.”

James made clear that he wasn’t trying to make any sort of statement to Brooks after Game 3. Having said that, we’re going to go ahead and assume that he really was looking forward to getting to talk a little after the Lakers punched their ticket to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they will play either the Golden State Warriors or the Sacramento Kings.

What began as a spec script for The X-Files has morphed into a solid little franchise that has been entertaining horror fans for more than two decades — and its legacy is now reportedly set to continue. In 2000, what writer Jeffrey Reddick had originally envisioned as a mystery for Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to tackle was turned into Final Destination, a supernatural horror movie about a teenager (Devon Sawa) who manages to cheat death, until death comes looking to collect.

The film may hold an abysmal 35 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was championed by enough people who matter — including Roger Ebert, who gave it three stars and declared it “smarter and more original than most DTMs” (which is Ebertspeak for Dead Teenager Movies because, yes, there have been a lot of them).

Final Destination proved popular enough to spawn four sequels: Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 3 (2006), the definitive-sounding The Final Destination (2009), and Final Destination 5 (2011).

In 2011, franchise star Tony Todd shared that if the fifth movie was a success, producers were planning to film the sixth and seventh entries in the series right away and back-to-back. But that was a dozen years ago. Still, it turns out that there’s still some life to be squeezed out of death as far as Final Destination is concerned, as it was reportedly revealed at CinemaCon that Final Destination 6 is officially a go at Warner Bros. with Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein sharing directing duties with a story from Jon Watts, who has directed all of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies for the MCU.

The directing duo reportedly scored the gig by faking a decapitation in the midst of their Zoom pitch meeting — which is a great way to get hired to direct a horror movie, but probably not appropriate for every job interview.

Like death itself, more details are assuredly coming.

Taylor Swift isn’t slowing down with the surprises on her critically-acclaimed Eras tour. Last night (April 27), she called back one of her game-changing eras during a tour stop in Atlanta.

Swift’s ninth studio album, Evermore, was the second of two albums she released with less than 24 hours’ notice in 2020. On the album is a collaboration with The National called “Coney Island.” Until last night, Swift hadn’t yet performed the song live.

At each tour stop, Swift has played a “surprise song,” during which, she performs one of her songs on the designated tour stop that she won’t perform at any of the other stops.

Before the “surprise song” portion of her Atlanta set, Swift told the audience, “Any time I’m gonna talk about or even reference another artist, I feel inclined to tell you that if they’re not here, they’re not here. No one else is here. You are stuck with me. It’s only me.”

While The National wasn’t in the building to perform “Coney Island” with Swift, she still shouted them out ahead of the song’s live debut.

“I was lucky enough to be able to write a song with [The National] for their new album, which is called the First Two Pages Of Frankenstein,” said Swift. “Check it out, stream it, buy it on vinyl. I love them so much. They’ve been so kind to me,” Swift added. “So, I’m not gonna sing the song that we have on this new album — it’s called ‘The Alcott’ — check that out, though. But I am gonna sing ‘Coney Island.’”

You can see clips of the performance of “Coney Island” above.

The worst playoff series of Michael Porter Jr.’s career happened almost exactly two years ago. Facing the third-seeded Phoenix Suns in the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals, Porter was relentlessly targeted defensively and averaged 15.3 points on a paltry 51.4 percent true shooting as the Denver Nuggets got swept. The struggles were glaring and unnerving as the Nuggets watched a once-promising season abruptly end. It must be said that this was partly due to injuries, and Porter was among those impacted — he seemingly tweaked his back in Game 1, which hampered his mobility and exacerbated or ignited some of these foibles.

Regardless, as a healthy Porter and fully stocked Nuggets squad prepare for their encore Western Conference Semifinal date with the Suns, the 6’10 sniper is readying for a monumental role. He and Denver are seeking a second Western Conference Finals appearance in four seasons. Porter is a big reason they’re in this spot. He’s playing some of the best two-way basketball of his career to complement superstar center Nikola Jokic and has diversified his skill-set since the last time he met Phoenix in the playoffs.

Against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, Porter averaged 16.4 points on 61.2 percent true shooting. Much of that production came how you’d expect, with Porter splashing home triples in a bevy of ways (42.4 percent beyond the arc) and darting to the rim for buckets when the defense’s focus wandered elsewhere.

Yet he also flashed some off-the-bounce verve that’s grown throughout the season and illuminates a few areas of development for him. Porter’s handle and flexibility have significantly improved. There’s more wiggle in his dribble to beat or avoid defenders and he’s better equipped to contort around help at the rim. In 2020-21, Porter’s last full season, he scored on 68.1 percent of his drives, per NBA.com. This year, that rate perked up to 78.2 percent.

The Suns’ defense looked rather tenuous against an injury depleted Los Angeles Clippers squad in round one, evidenced by their 116.3 defensive rating. I’m fascinated to see how they approach the defensive matchups for the conference semis. I presume Deandre Ayton will wrangle with Jokic, Chris Paul will tail Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Kevin Durant faces Aaron Gordon to potentially act as a roamer off the ball.

But the biggest question is how do they dole out the Porter and Jamal Murray assignments? Whomever starts between Torrey Craig and Josh Okogie likely takes Murray, although Booker’s play on that end of the floor might make him the preferred candidate. Plus, Craig or Okogie’s physicality could be appealing on Porter in an effort to negate his off-ball screen usage.

The good news for Denver, should it venture that direction, is the Suns collectively were flummoxed last series tracking Norman Powell around pindowns, which the Nuggets enjoys dialing up for Porter. Although he’s nowhere close to the explosive or punishing driver of Powell, navigating the concept itself presents challenges for Phoenix and is an action with which he’s adept. Porter can torch anyone unprepared to chase him around waves of off-ball screens and mirror his intrinsic motion, and the Nuggets are entirely willing to scale up his usage when those games arise.

His burgeoning versatility complicates the job for defenders, who generally consider running him off the line a suitable result. Nowadays, slowing him is more complex and the mismatches the Nuggets can or cannot scheme for him off the ball is an angle I’m monitoring. The Suns will likely aim to stash and hide Paul on Caldwell-Pope. Can Denver force him onto Porter and exploit that matchup in a reversal of the roles in 2021, when Paul hunted Porter? Denver is pretty creative with its off-ball X’s and O’s, so this reality is certainly plausible.

Phoenix will have enough problems addressing Jokic’s brilliance, Murray’s shot-making, and their splendid two-man game. If Porter is scoring the ball effectively in varying manners to either reorient defensive gameplans or at least embed another layer of worries, that’s a gigantic win for the Nuggets. If that happens or the Suns have to adjust their coverage on Porter, what are the ripple effects schematically and rotationally? Does a shift in matchups ease matters for Murray on the ball and in pick-and-rolls? Will the Suns elect for more size on Porter and sacrifice their already scarce spacing off the bench?

For all the strain the Nuggets’ offense will inflict upon the Suns, the inverse exists as well, as these are two of the most prolific offenses in basketball. Denver tends to play Jokic at the level in pick-and-rolls. I expect that to continue against Booker and Durant, with the goal to funnel touches to their shaky supporting cast. In these instances, Porter is usually the low man asked to rotate on the backside and tag rollers. The Nuggets’ backside execution when Jokic is at the level is paramount to their defensive performance — I don’t think there’s anything more paramount, in fact. When the defense has looked good this season, it’s directly tied to the backside rotations being crisp. As the low man, Porter kicks off those backside rotations.

When he first joined the starting unit in 2020-21 and assumed this responsibility, he had a habit of rotating far too early and simplifying reads for ball-handlers out of pick-and-rolls. It was as though he knew to tag and did so robotically without surveying how a play unfolded. Phoenix and Paul took advantage of this repeatedly the last time they saw him in the postseason.

That habit is much less prevalent today. He’s refined his timing and technique considerably. His 6’10 frame and 7-foot wingspan can be legit deterrents inside. He’s still nailing down some of his positioning and angles, but he’s gone from someone who merely knows to tag the roller to someone who knows how to impactfully tag the roller. That’s a vital distinction and the bedrock of his progression as an interior defender.

Porter was excellent fulfilling these duties against Minnesota. The job is much harder against Phoenix. If Booker or Durant is captaining a pick-and-roll, the Suns love slotting the other in the weakside corner because they often produce open threes. Can Porter frustrate Ayton, who’s prone to combusting against crowds and pressure on the roll? The goal should be to limit the volume of Ayton at the rim and those star-laden corner triples. Floaters and short jumpers are acceptable outcomes from Ayton, and confronting him early and properly on the roll is the path to achieving that; his short-roll reps against the Clippers were erratic. Porter’s efforts will be central to extending the trend.

The main talking points in most series are shaped by the stars. I frequently find myself drawn to the ancillary members first, and Porter fits that bill. He’s emerging into such a dynamic and striking third option offensively, while increasingly meeting the demands of his defensive tasks.

The Denver offense is going to score. While the Nuggets doesn’t have to be a defensive juggernaut in this series, they cannot no-show on that end of the floor, either. If they do enough to occasionally stymie the Suns and win the series, Porter will be a major component. If he is, a narrative of redemption following 2021 should surface for him, but the more fitting story is one of development and how he’s built himself into much, much more than an ethereal shooter.

The Guardians of the Galaxy wing of the MCU has always been its own weird thing. Not only do they spend most of their time tooling through space, but they also have their own eccentric filmmaker: James Gunn, who brings a Troma vibe to a mega-franchise where directors aren’t even allowed to do their own action scenes. But when his motley crew wound up in the Avengers films, they had other people making choices for them. And some of those choices Gunn wouldn’t have done.

The Hollywood Reporter has a new, sprawling profile of the Guardians gag. Buried within is Gunn — who has since moved on to the DCEU, which he is dramatically overhauling — offering a critique of what Anthony and Joe Russo did with his beloved characters in the game-changing diptych that is Infinity War and Endgame.

:”They did some things that I wouldn’t have wanted,” Gunn admitted. Are there specific things he didn’t like? Yes. He doesn’t think Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord would have punched Thanos, thus dooming half of Earth’s humans to temporary death.

It’s a controversial move, to be sure, with Star-Lord, furious and anguished upon learning Josh Brolin’s big baddie had killed Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora. (Luckily they found a way to bring her back.) Gunn does admit he approves of one decision: that Peter Quill would have killed Gamora had she asked him to.

Gunn can say these things in part because, again, he’s no longer at Marvel. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is his swan song not only to the characters he helped shape but also to the MCU. There, instead of playing around with a group of weirdos, he’s tackling no less than the goodly Man of Steel.

(Via THR)

The Los Angeles Lakers picked up a 125-85 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night in Game 6 of their opening round series. As a result, the Lakers are moving on to the Western Conference Semifinals to play either the Golden State Warriors or the Sacramento Kings, while the Grizzlies will fly back to Memphis and begin what is sure to be a long offseason full of questions about how they can take the next step forward.

It’s a bitter end to what ended up being a long season for Ja Morant, one where he was among the best players in the league on the court but struggled with controversy off of it. He also famously declared that Memphis was “fine in the west,” which came back to haunt him after they were bounced in the first round.

After the game, Morant managed to have a little bit of fun with Lakers fans. As he made his way out of the arena, Morant got hit with some chants from the L.A. faithful, which included a bunch of people singing “na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye” to him. He responded by taking the whole thing in stride.

Even the security guard escorting Morant out seemed to think this was all pretty funny. It’s good to see Morant having some fun with all of this, as it’s not always easy to take this stuff in stride.