The Knicks visit Detroit, the Timberwolves host the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics visit Orlando and the Pacers visit Milwaukee.
Those four games will be hard-pressed to match Saturday's drama.
Denver — without Russell Westbrook — blew a 22-point lead down the stretch, then saw Nikola Jokic miss a wild desperation shot in the final moments — only to have it caught and dunked by Aaron Gordon for the win over the Los Angeles Clippers as time expired, one of the great all-time finishes. Denver tied that series at two games apiece.
Stephen Curry and the Warriors — without Jimmy Butler — rallied from 13 points down to beat Houston and take a 2-1 series lead. The Thunder needed to fend off a spirited effort from Memphis — without Ja Morant — to sweep the Grizzlies. And Cleveland — without Darius Garland — used a 33-5 run in the first half to rout Miami and take a 3-0 lead in that series.
Sunday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — New York at Detroit (ABC)
3:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ABC)
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (TNT)
Monday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7:30 p.m. — Cleveland at Miami (TNT)
10 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (TNT)
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
6 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana (NBA TV)
7:30 p.m. — Detroit at New York (TNT)
8:30 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (NBA TV)
10 p.m. — LA Clippers at Denver (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+160) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+550), Golden State (+1600), the Los Angeles Lakers (+2200), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2800), Minnesota (+3000), New York (+4000) and Denver (+6000).
The Nuggets and Warriors saw sharp improvement in their odds Saturday. Houston's took a big hit.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Houston (+10000), Milwaukee (+12500), Detroit (+30000), Orlando (+150000) and Miami (+200000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is still favored (-425) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Clippers also are a lower seed favored to advance; they're at -135 in the 4-5 matchup with Denver.
Award season
The NBA announced Friday that Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
Other awards so far:
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
This week, there will be four awards announced: Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year (Monday, 1 p.m. EDT, social media), rookie of the year (Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT, TNT), most improved player (Wednesday, 7 p.m., TNT) and the sportsmanship award (Thursday, noon EDT, social media).
The league has not announced a schedule for other awards — including MVP and coach of the year — along with All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Key upcoming events
Saturday — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Sunday's games: Knicks-Pistons, Lakers-Timberwolves, Celtics-Magic, Pacers-Bucks
— The Thunder are getting time off.
— The Pistons are seeking consistency.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
Stats of the day
—Memphis was 29 for 29 from the foul line in Game 4 against Oklahoma City — that is, until Desmond Bane had to intentionally miss the 30th free throw in an effort to tie the game in the final second. That meant Phoenix's 28-for-28 effort from the line in 1989 remains the NBA playoff record.
—Golden State rallied from a deficit of 13 points or more to win for the 22nd time in the Stephen Curry era with the Warriors. In each of the previous 21 instances of such comebacks, the Warriors went on to win the series.
— Denver's Nikola Jokic had 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists in the win over the Clippers. The last player to finish a playoff game with all those numbers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (37-25-8) in 1972. Jokic was the fourth player ever to record such a stat line in a playoff game (Abdul-Jabbar did it twice, Wilt Chamberlain did it once and Elgin Baylor did it once).
—Cleveland's 37-point win at Miami was the biggest in an NBA playoff game by a road team since 2017, when a LeBron James-led Cleveland team won by 44 in Boston.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP