Starting 5, May 28: As NBA family remembers Walton, Celtics clinch berth

On a day when the NBA family lost one of its brightest all-time talents – and personalities – the team where Bill Walton won his 2nd NBA title advanced to its 23rd NBA Finals.

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THE LINEUP

What’s inside today’s edition? 

Celtics Reach Finals: Boston completes the sweep to reach its second Finals in three years

Love For A Legend: The NBA family reacts to the passing of a true one-of-one – Bill Walton

JB is East Finals MVP: Why Jaylen Brown took home the Larry Bird Trophy as East Finals MVP

Historic Luka: Dive into Luka’s Playoff numbers to see where he stacks up historically

4 For Game 4: Four things to watch ahead of tonight’s Wolves-Mavs matchup in Minnesota

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BUT FIRST … ⏰

Yesterday’s score & what to watch today.

Tonight (8:30 ET, TNT), the Mavs try to punch their ticket to the Finals for a matchup with the Celtics, while the Wolves play to keep their season going in Game 4 of the West Finals.

Trivia: Can you list the top five 4th quarter points leaders from the 2024 Playoffs?

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1. CELTICS COMPLETE SWEEP, REACH NBA FINALS

Just hours after the world lost a basketball and broadcasting legend, the Celtics completed their first Eastern Conference Finals sweep since 1986, closing out the Pacers 105-102 to move four wins from the 18th title in franchise history.

The Sixth Man Of The Year on that 1986 Celtics team? Bill Walton.

Jaylen Brown was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP, earning the Larry Bird Trophy on a historic, emotional day for one of the NBA’s original teams. | Watch the Trophy Ceremony

• Celtics Governor Wyc Grousbeck after receiving the Bob Cousy Trophy as Eastern Conference champions: “All I can think about right now is we lost a great Celtic today, Bill Walton. One of the greatest Celtics of all-time, this is dedicated to Bill.”
• Brown On Returning To The Finals: “It’s been nothing but a grind. We haven’t skipped no steps all season… We want to take it to the next step.”

Coming Through In The Clutch: Boston trailed 98-90 with 5:56 to play following a pair of buckets by former Celtic Aaron Nesmith.

From that moment until the final buzzer, the Celtics executed with poise and with determination to finish the sweep.

• Boston closed the game on a 15-4 run, led by Jayson Tatum’s five points and Brown’s two-way brilliance
• The Sequence: With the score tied at 102, Brown blocked Andrew Nembhard’s layup attempt at the basket. Then on the other end, drove into the lane to collapse the defense and found Derrick White for an open corner 3 to put Boston up for good

Brown (29 pts, 6 reb, 4 3s) and Tatum (26 pts, 13 reb, 8 ast) combined for 55 points to lead the Celtics back to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. Recap | Watch the Final 5:36

• Winning Combo: Brown and Tatum each scored 25+ in the same game for the 17th time in the Playoffs – tied with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale for the most by any duo in franchise history. The Celtics improved to 14-3 in those games
• Tatum’s Reaction: Get the on-the-floor view of Tatum as the final buzzer sounded, then listen to his thoughts on getting the closeout win while he put on his Eastern Conference championship shirt: “By any means necessary.”

The Celtics swept the East Finals and reached the NBA Finals with two losses or less (12-2) for the first time since that 1986 squad (11-1).

• More History: Coach Joe Mazzulla became the youngest coach to reach the NBA Finals since Bill Russell in 1969

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2. LOVE FOR A LEGEND: NBA FAMILY REACTS TO WALTON’S PASSING

Just after 1 ET on Monday, the NBA announced that 2-time champion and Hall of Famer Bill Walton had passed away at the age of 71, after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Immediately after, testaments of love, support and gratitude started pouring out from all around the basketball world – and beyond – for a career and a life without compare.

Walton was known as much for his one-of-one personality – on the court, off the court and behind a mic – as he was for “redefin[ing] the center position,” in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s words.

• “I treasured our close friendship, envied his boundless energy and admired the time he took with every person he encountered,” wrote Silver in a statement
• “Bill Walton was one of the greatest basketball players of all time – a champion at every level and the embodiment of unselfish team play. He was also a wonderful spirit full of curiosity, humor and kindness,” wrote former US president Barack Obama
• “Bill Walton enjoyed life in every way,” wrote Julius Erving
• “The world feels so much heavier now,” wrote Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• The Celtics, Trail Blazers, Clippers and UCLA, where he’d spent his professional and college years, honored him
• Find more reactions from across the NBA Family here

A larger than life figure on and off the court, Hall of Famer Bill Walton was one of the giants of the game.

• In this celebration of his life, see how Walton went from a “shy and very reserved youngster” to one of the most colorful and beloved sports icons ever

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who played with Walton in Boston from 1986-88, spoke about his teammate and friend in his pregame media availability.

• Carlisle told a story about Walton helping him on his first date with his now-wife, to a Grateful Dead show in DC: “I have him to thank, probably, also for me being married to my wife Donna.”
• Said Carlisle: “To me, he was a living breathing event in history.”
• Indiana also held a moment of silence for Walton before opening tip

Read more about Walton’s singular, indelible career, life and legacy here.

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3. BROWN NAMED EAST FINALS MVP

When Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell called Jaylen Brown’s name as the winner of the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Brown was legitimately stunned.

• Brown: “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
• Jrue Holiday: “It’s even better because he didn’t expect it… When you see great people get rewarded for the things that they do, it brings joy.”
• Joe Mazzulla: “Finding guys that are so passionate about just getting better as players and people, Jaylen is one of those.”

Brown finished the series averaging 29.8 pts on 51.7% shooting with five boards, three dimes and two steals. Check out his best moments from the East Finals.

While the duo of Brown and Tatum led the way, the contributions of Holiday, White and Al Horford cannot be overlooked.

• In addition to the go-ahead 3, White stuffed the stat sheet (16 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl, 3 blk) in the series-clinching win
• He’s the fourth player since 1973-74 to hit those minimums in a Conference Finals game and the first since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1986
• Holiday finished the series averaging 18.5 pts on 58.7% shooting with 7.0 boards and 5.8 assists, joining LeBron (2016) as the only players to hit those minimums in a Conference Finals
• The 37-year-old Horford became the third-oldest player to post at least 46.2/39.3/80 shooting splits in a Playoff series since 1980 (min. 5 FTA), trailing only Vince Carter (40) and Terry Porter (38), who both hit those marks in the First Round
• Mazzulla On Horford’s Impact: “You can’t put it into words…”
• Horford On Boston’s Hunger For The Title: “Starving… we’re ready for it, we can’t wait.”

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4. LUKA’S MAGICAL RUN

There are 767 players in NBA history that have played in at least 40 Playoff games.

• Only two have averaged 30+ points in those games.
• Luka Doncic (31.1 ppg) and Michael Jordan (33.4 ppg)

But it’s not just scoring. Luka also ranks 11th in assists (8.3 per game) and 59th in rebounds (9.3 per game) in NBA Playoff history.

• He is the only player to accumulate 1300+ points, 400+ rebounds, and 350+ assists through 43 Playoff games

The last three of those 43 games have come against the NBA’s top-ranked defense in the Minnesota Timberwolves as Dallas has taken a 3-0 lead and looks to complete the sweep tonight at home (8:30 ET, TNT).

• As historically great as Luka’s Playoff career scoring average is, he’s actually topped it in this series, putting up 32.7 pts, 7.7 reb, 8.7 ast, 2.7 stl and 4.3 3s per game
• Tonight, he has a chance to become the sixth player to score 30+ points in all four games of a Playoff sweep. The other five: Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Olajuwon

In the 2nd half of Game 2, Luka had 16 points, 8 assists and the game-winning 3 as Dallas shot 60.5% to pull off the comeback win.

• Anthony Edwards After Game 2: “Luka was definitely involved in a lot of that. He makes a lot of great reads out of the pick-and-roll.
• We tried to show him different looks. He kept making the right reads. It’s all him. We’ve just got to figure him out. But we’ll figure it out.”

The Wolves have yet to figure out Luka. To be fair, who has?

• In eight career Conference Finals games (five in 2022, three in 2024), Luka has been held below 30 points only twice, while averaging 32.3 pts, 8.6 reb and 7.0 ast
• Luka’s 47.9 combined pts/reb/ast averages are the second-highest in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain (53.8). The rest of the top five: Bill Russell (47.6), Elgin Baylor (47.0) and LeBron James (45.1)

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5. 4 THINGS TO WATCH IN GAME 4 

1. Minnesota Déjà Vu: The Wolves went the entire regular season without a three-game losing streak. Now they face their second in the past two weeks.

• Minnesota responded to dropping three straight against Denver to win the next two games – including Game 7 on the road – to eliminate the defending champs
• This time around, they’ll need four straight wins rather than two if they hope to make their first NBA Finals – and make some NBA history along the way

2. Closeout Kyrie: The Wolves face two daunting historic streaks entering tonight:

1. No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series in 154 tries
2. No team has ever beat Kyrie Irving in a closeout game in 15 tries

Irving’s 15-0 record in series-clinching games is the best in NBA history. He’s never needed more than one chance to close out a series. Now he has four.

• And his partner Luka Doncic has won four straight closeout games since 2022 with averages of 29 pts, 9.5 reb and 8.8 ast
• No other player in Playoff history has averaged those numbers in series-clinching wins (min. four games)

3. Dereck Lively’s Status: Dallas’ rookie center is listed as doubtful with a neck strain. In this series, Lively has averaged 9.7 pts, 7.7 reb (tied-1st on team), 2.3 ast and a block

If he’s unable to play, that means more Daniel Gafford (who had 5 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk in Game 3) and Dwight Powell (who made his West Finals debut with eight minutes in Game 3).

• ️ Mavs Coach Jason Kidd: “Next man up. I thought DP (Dwight Powell) did a great job. I thought DP came in, hadn’t played in a while, knocked down some free throws, was aggressive on the defensive end.”
• ️ P.J. Washington: “Obviously he’s (Lively) been big for us. His energy and spirit helped us get this win.”

4. New Lob City: The Mavs sealed their Game 3 win with an alley-oop from a falling Luka to Gafford to put Dallas up nine with 35 seconds left.

• That was Dallas’ 51st alley-oop of the postseason – 40(!) more than any other team. The only other teams in double-digits: Denver (11) and OKC (10)
• Manu Ginobili on X: Luka is unreal! Perfect alley oop pass while falling and with the left…