Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for the 2023/24 season, the league’s communications department tweets. Maxey edged out Bulls guard Coby White for the award. Maxey received 51 of 99 first-place votes while recording 319 voting points. White had just 32 first-place votes, but showed up on more ballots (91) than Maxey (79) and compiled 305 points. The third finalist, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, was a distant third with six first-place votes and 92 points. Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson finished fourth and fifth, respectively ..read more

Damian Lillard erupted for 35 points in Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series against the Pacers. He longtime All-Star guard was itching to get back into the postseason after a two-year absence with Portland, Jamal Collier of ESPN writes. “The last two years not being in the playoffs, it (stunk),” Lillard said. “Early vacations. Last year, I went to Coachella. I ain’t never been able to go to Coachella. Just having that long summer, I was over that. Being able to be in a playoff series on a championship team, championship organization, knowing that we got an opportunity for it, that was the ..read more

After the NBA playoffs tipped off on Saturday with a handful of one-sided contests, things got a little more interesting on Sunday and Monday, with the Thunder, Knicks, and Nuggets among the teams to pull out victories in games that went down to the wire. All three days of the playoffs so far, however, have had one thing in common: The home team has won. The road teams have an 0-11 record entering Tuesday’s action. It’s not necessarily surprising that the home teams are controlling the eight series so far. Those clubs are the higher seeds, and home-court advantage is often a difference-maker i ..read more

Tiebreakers among teams with identical regular-season records were broken on Monday through random drawings to determine the order for this year’s draft prior to the lottery. The results are as follows, according to a press release from the league: Charlotte Hornets (No. 3) over Portland Trail Blazers (No. 4). Note: The Hornets will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Trail Blazers. Sacramento Kings (No. 13) over Golden State Warriors (No. 14) Note: The Kings will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Warriors. Note: The Warriors will send ..read more

With All-NBA Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo on the shelf for tonight’s Game 1 matchup against the Pacers, the team’s second- and third-most important offensive contributors, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton, are being expected to step up. As Eric Nehm of The Athletic writes, Milwaukee will count on Lillard and Middleton to keep the team cooking with their distribution, not just their own shooting. Both are excellent when it comes to scoring in isolation, but the team as a collective will need to be strong, too. “It’s the best team I’ve been on,” Lillard said. “So we’re capable. We can w ..read more

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has decided on his fifth starter if Kawhi Leonard isn’t available for Sunday’s series opener against Dallas, according to Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Lue didn’t reveal the name, but Carr speculates it will be Amir Coffey, who started 13 games this season, often as Leonard’s replacement. Leonard is still officially listed as questionable with inflammation in his right knee that has sidelined him since March 31. He was expected to take part in shooting drills at today’s practice with more movement than he did on Friday, but he still hasn’t participated in ..read more

The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season will be worth approximately $33.7MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico, who say the figure represents a 25% increase over last year’s total playoff bonuses. The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams will also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money will be divvied up among the players on each club’s roster. Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament won’t be ..read more

The NBA announced all of the major All-NBA G League teams on Thursday (All Twitter links found here), including the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie team. Several current and former NBA players are among the honorees. Here is the full list of winners for the 2023/24 season. All-NBA G League First Team: Mac McClung, G, Osceola Magic (McClung was NBAGL MVP) Alondes Williams, G, Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat‘s affiliate) * Jason Preston, G, Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz‘s affiliate) * Kenneth Lofton, F/C, Salt Lake City Stars ^ Oscar Tshiebwe, C, Indiana Mad Ants ..read more

The Bucks are preparing to be without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo when they tip off their first-round series vs. the Pacers on Sunday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Antetokounmpo missed the final three games of the regular season due to an injury that the Bucks diagnosed as a left soleus (calf) strain. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that there was some “real doubt” about Giannis’ ability to return for Game 1 this weekend, so Wojnarowski’s update today doesn’t come as a major surprise. According to Woj, the Bucks are hopeful that treatment on Antetokounmpo’s calf ..read more

The Team USA men’s basketball program has determined 11 of its 12 roster spots for this year’s Paris Olympics, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Woj suggests that the final roster opening could remain open for a while. Sources inform Wojnarowski that Hall of Famer Grant Hill, Team USA’s managing director, is waiting for a July training camp and some Las Vegas exhibition games before finalizing that 12th spot. 10 of the 11 players were honored as All-Stars this season, while the 11th was a key two-way force on the 2021 gold medal-winning team, which is officially considered the 2020 Olympic team ..read more