For the first time, a team with LeBron James on the roster has lost in the first round in back-to-back years.
And with that, the NBA playoffs have 11 teams left in the race for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers are out. Minnesota is into Round 2, awaiting either Houston or Golden State. The Timberwolves needed only five games to advance, topping the Lakers 103-96 in Los Angeles to clinch the series on Wednesday night.
Under the current playoff format, which started in 1984, the Lakers were 19-0 in first-round series when they entered the playoff seeded No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3. They're 19-1 now, the No. 3 seed this year getting ousted by the sixth-seeded Timberwolves.
James — if he comes back — will set another record by playing in his 23rd NBA season next year. He indicated that he isn't sure about his future after the Game 5 loss.
Houston fended off elimination by topping Golden State 131-116 in Game 5 of that series, which now shifts back to San Francisco for Game 6 on Friday night with the Warriors — Stephen Curry's aching thumb and all — leading 3-2.
There are two Game 6s on Thursday: New York is in Detroit and Denver visits the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons and Clippers trail 3-2, and need wins to force Game 7s that would be played on Saturday.
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7:30 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (TNT)
Friday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
9 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (ESPN)
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 (+500), Golden State (+1800), Minnesota (+2000), Denver (+4000), the Los Angeles Clippers (+4000), New York (+4000) and Indiana (+5000).
From there, it's Houston (+12500) and Detroit (+50000).
Award season
Dyson Daniels didn't win defensive player of the year. He got the most improved player award instead.
The Hawks' guard took home that award Wednesday, outpointing Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers and Cade Cunningham of Detroit in the voting.
And Thursday, Boston's Jrue Holiday was named the league's sportsmanship award winner for the second time.
Other awards so far:
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— 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.
— Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
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.
LeBron down 3-1
This was the sixth time that a LeBron James-led team has faced a 3-1 deficit in the NBA playoffs. A look at how they turned out:
— 2009 (with Cleveland), Eastern Conference quarterfinals vs. Orlando, lost in 6
— 2014 (with Miami), NBA Finals vs. San Antonio, lost in 5
— 2016 (with Cleveland), NBA Finals vs. Golden State, won in 7
— 2017 (with Cleveland), NBA Finals vs. Golden State, lost in 5
— 2024 (with LA Lakers), Western Conference quarterfinals vs. Denver, lost in 5
— 2025 (with LA Lakers), Western Conference quarterfinals vs. Minnesota, lost in 5
Key upcoming events
Sunday — Round 2 of the playoffs starts.
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 Thursday's games: Knicks-Pistons, Nuggets-Clippers.
— Preview of Friday's game: Rockets-Warriors.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo has a decision to make. Stay or go?
— Tyrese Haliburton wasn't happy with his dad's postgame celebration.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
Stats of the day
— This may surprise many in Los Angeles and elsewhere: This is the 10th time in the last 13 seasons that the Lakers' season ended before the Clippers' season did. And in one of those three where it didn't happen, their seasons ended on the same day — against each other.
— Minnesota has now missed at least 40 3-pointers in a game twice in franchise history. The Wolves, somehow, are 2-0 in those games. (The Wolves' Anthony Edwards tied an NBA playoff record by going 0 for 11 on 3s in Game 5 against the Lakers, matching the dubious feat previously accomplished by James Harden in 2018 and John Starks in 1994.)
— The Lakers are 2-12 in LeBron James' last 14 playoff games. They were 26-12 in the previous 38 playoff games with James in the lineup.
— Minnesota's Rudy Gobert became the 10th player with a game of at least 27 points and 24 rebounds on 80% or better shooting. The others: Bob Pettit, Satch Sanders, Bill Russell, Charles Barkley, Robert Parish, Dikembe Mutombo, Shaquille O’Neal and Ivica Zubac — all of whom have done it once — and Wilt Chamberlain, who did it 15 times. Gobert is the second do it in a playoff game, with Chamberlain also doing it once in postseason, 60 years ago.
— Teams shot a combined 29.1% on 3-pointers Thursday, the second-worst shooting day from beyond the arc this season. The shooting percentage was 27.5% on Dec. 11 — and on both of those days, the Golden State Warriors played at Houston.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
The Associated Press
