For the third time in these NBA playoffs, there will be a Game 7. And the Boston Celtics hope to add another one of those to the total.
Denver fended off elimination Thursday night, beating Oklahoma City in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series. The top-seeded Thunder will play host to the fourth-seeded Nuggets on Sunday to decide which team faces Minnesota in the West finals.
New York will try on Friday night to clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against Indiana. The Knicks, 3-2 series leaders against Boston, can close out that matchup with a win at Madison Square Garden.
Friday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
8 p.m. β Boston at New York (ESPN)
Saturday's national TV schedule
No games scheduled.
Sunday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
3:30 p.m. β Denver at Oklahoma City (ABC)
Monday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
8 p.m. β New York at Boston, if necessary (TNT/truTV/Max)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+110) remains the favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Minnesota (+450) jumped into the second-choice spot after clinching its trip to the West finals.
From there, it's New York (+500), Indiana (+650), Denver (+900) and Boston (+1300).
Conference finals schedules
Now we know β almost, anyway β the schedules for Round 3 of the NBA playoffs, the conference finals.
The Boston-New York winner will have home-court advantage over Indiana in the East finals. Game 1 is Wednesday, followed by Game 2 on May 23, Game 3 on May 25, Game 4 on May 27, Game 5 on May 29, Game 6 on May 31 and a Game 7 would be June 2. All those games are 8 p.m. Eastern starts on TNT.
The West finals schedule is nearly set, with the Oklahoma City-Denver winner to have the home-court edge on Minnesota: Game 1 will be Tuesday, and Game 2 will follow on Thursday.
From there: Game 3 is May 24, Game 4 is May 26, Game 5 is May 28, Game 6 is May 30 and Game 7 would be June 1.
An Indy doubleheader
Mark your calendars, then start your engines.
For the first time since 2013, Indianapolis will play host to the Indianapolis 500 and a Pacers home game on the same day.
It'll happen May 25. The race starts the day, then Game 3 of the East finals is that night in Indy.
Award season
There's no word yet on when the NBA will announce this season's MVP. It'll be Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Also coming in the next few weeks: the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Other awards so far:
β Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
β Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year. He also won the same award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
β Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
β Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
β San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
β Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
β Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
β Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
β New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
β Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 β Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 β Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 β Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 β Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 β Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
42 β Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 β Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 β Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 β Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 β Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
Key upcoming events
Tuesday β Game 1, Western Conference finals.
Wednesday β Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 1 β Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 2 β Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 β 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 β NBA draft, first round.
June 26 β NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery β but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery on Monday night in Chicago.
β Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots
β From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
β A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
β Mavs win lottery
β Rick Welts has seen this before
Stories of note
β Preview of Friday's game: Celtics-Knicks
β Stephen Curry ponders his 'basketball mortality'
β Phil Knight not interested in buying Trail Blazers
β Pat Riley speaks: On Heat future, on Jimmy Butler, on being 80
β These are the playoffs of the big comeback, where no 20-point lead is safe.
β Gregg Popovich's new job: 'El Jefe'
β Spurs coach Gregg Popovich steps down.
β Mitch Johnson takes over for Pop in San Antonio.
β Appreciation: Gregg Popovich changed the NBA.
β A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 β Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 β Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 β New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 β Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 β New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Stats of the day
β Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun and Jamal Murray all had at least 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in Denver's win over Oklahoma City on Thursday. It was the seventh time in NBA playoff history that three players on one team all did so in the same game.
β Take away the points, and Aaron Gordon joined Jokic, Braun and Murray as a fourth Nuggets player with at least five rebounds and five assists. Those four also finished with those stats on April 26 against the Clippers. No team has ever had the same four players do that twice in a single postseason.
β The Knicks have another chance on Friday to clinch a series at home, something they haven't done since 1999. They're 0-5 in such games in the last quarter-century, including a Game 5 loss in Round 1 against Detroit.
Quote of the day
βSitting on the sidelines, it's weird. ... It just wasn't in the cards this year.β β Golden State's Stephen Curry, speaking about getting hurt and watching the Warriors lose their West semifinal matchup to Minnesota.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP