The Miami Heat are prepared for a war against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks after defeating the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in Friday's play-in tournament.
Max Strus got Miami off to a great start with 23 points in the first half, draining six triples, before Jimmy Butler led a 15-1 run to close out the game and earn the Heat's fourth consecutive postseason appearance.
Strus and Butler finished with 31 points each, and while starting center Bam Adebayo scored just eight points on one-of-nine shooting, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra credited his big man with the result.
Adebayo grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds – eight more than any other player – while also chipping in four assists, a block and a steal.
"None of this is happening if Bam wasn't so electric defensively," Spoelstra said. "He really was traffic-copping everything that they were doing, he seemed to be in three places at once at all times.
"He had 17 rebounds, and I thought it was fitting that he got the block at the end. Chicago are a tough team, they really defend. It's not like you're going to generate a bunch of easy opportunities at the rim to be able to get into good rhythm as a basketball team.
"They're well-schooled, well-drilled, well-coached, and they're committed on that side of the floor, so we had to win this one in the mud."
Adebayo felt he was doing everything he could outside of scoring the ball to help his side win.
"The game isn't only depending on shots falling," he said. "I feel like I had a big impact on that game even though my shots weren't falling."
Looking forward to a matchup against two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Bucks, Butler acknowledged they have a tall task waiting in the wings.
"You're talking about an MVP in [Antetokounmpo], all the shooting, how together they are, they've been together for a while," Butler said. "It's going to be tough; it is.
"Milwaukee have some great fans that are always showing up and showing out. So, we've got to play damn near perfect basketball, which we're capable of.
"Play hard, stick together through the good, through the bad. We are one and I think we're going to be okay. Let this season go, let the play-in go. 0-0 and get to work."
Spoelstra added: "We have great respect for them, but we feel like we're Navy SEALs. Just drop us off, we'll parachute in, and let's go compete."
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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