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🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially …
THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

If the 76ers want to do something this postseason, they’ll need Joel Embiid at his best. If they want to do something
special this postseason, they’ll need members of the supporting cast at their best, too. In Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament game, they got both, and not a moment too late.

Embiid scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Nicolas Batum added 20 points on six 3-pointers — both season highs — as Philadelphia eked out a 105-104 win over the Heat to earn the 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Embiid was awful early on, and so were the 76ers. They had 39 points (and 12 turnovers) at halftime. But Batum and Tyrese Maxey got going in Philadelphia’s 30-point third quarter, and then Embiid looked like himself in the fourth, delivering a pair of 3-pointers, a crucial and-one off an offensive rebound and an assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. that put the hosts up for good. Brad Botkin says while the finish was encouraging, the 76ers need more from the reigning MVP to be a true threat.

The Heat, meanwhile, will hope the concerns surrounding Jimmy Butler’s knee injury prove false. Miami will face the Bulls for the No. 8 seed after Chicago cruised by the Hawks, 131-116. Sam Quinn wonders if Trae Young has played his last game for Atlanta.

👍 Honorable mentions
Here’s what Caitlin Clark said in her Fever introductory press conference.
Clark’s former team, Iowa, got a huge transfer portal boost in Lucy Olsen.
Grant Hill personally delivered USA jerseys to Embiid, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Justin Verlander will make his season debut tomorrow.
The Red Sox and Guardians played the shortest game since 2010 thanks to Tanner Houck’s gem.
Dylan Cease waved off his manager … and then struck out the next batter.
Albert Suárez made his first MLB appearance since 2017.
🤕 And not such a good morning for …
zion-williamson-pelicans-g.jpg
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ZION WILLIAMSON AND THE NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

The Pelicans have one last chance to save their season. And Zion Williamson won’t be on the floor for it. New Orleans’ oft-injured star sustained a left hamstring strain late in the Pelicans’ Play-In loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. Not only will he miss tomorrow’s game against the Kings — in which the winner gets the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and the loser’s season ends — but he won’t even be reevaluated for two weeks.

In case you missed the game Tuesday or yesterday’s newsletter, Williamson was magnificent — 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — before he exited with 3:19 left and the game tied at 95.

Williamson’s injury woes are well-documented, but this year he played a career-high 70 games. Now, unless New Orleans can win tomorrow and then keep its season alive for at least two more weeks against the top-seeded Thunder, the lasting image of its season will be Williamson trudging back to the locker room … again.

Simply put, it’s a cruel, cruel twist of fate for a team and a player heading in the right direction, James Herbert writes.

Herbert: “If this is an even bigger buzzkill than any of Williamson’s previous injuries, it is because of what it interrupted. Williamson was not only making the absolute most of the stage he had that night, he had been showing for months that he — and, by extension, New Orleans — had gotten serious. He was in the best shape of his career, playing the best defense of his career and leading a deep and exciting team that was doing everything it could to make its pieces fit.”
👎 Not so honorable mentions
Jason Kelce lost his Super Bowl ring in a pool of Skyline chili.
Yu Darvish (neck tightness) is on the IL. Same for Garrett Whitlock (oblique).
Robert Stephenson (elbow) is done for the year.
🏀 Jontay Porter receives lifetime ban from NBA for gambling violations
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The NBA banned Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life after he was found to have violated the league’s gambling policies. The investigation is still ongoing, but the league said Porter “violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”

This scandal began in late March, after a March 20 game against the Kings. Prior to the game, Porter “disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor.” Another bettor then placed an $80,000 parlay bet that would have won $1.1 million if Porter hit the under on his player props. Porter then removed himself from the game after scarcely playing due to illness.
The bet was frozen and not paid out given the unusual activity, and sports betting operators brought it to the league’s attention.
From January to March, when with the Raptors’ G League team, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s account. Damningly, this included a parlay in which Porter bet against the Raptors.
No one affiliated with the NBA can wager on any NBA property, including the WNBA, G League, Basketball Africa League, NBA2K League or Summer League, and last week, commissioner Adam Silver called player gambling the “cardinal sin.”

⚽ Real Madrid, Bayern Munich into UEFA Champions League semifinals
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Somehow, some way, it’s Real Madrid’s day in the UEFA Champions League again, and they got revenge in the process. Los Blancos are into the semifinal for the 12th time in the last 14 seasons after a 4-4 (4-3 in penalties) triumph over Manchester City, which defeated Real Madrid in last year’s semifinal en route to the championship.

Tied 3-3 after the first leg, Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but Kevin de Bruyne equalized for the hosts in the 76th minute. After extra time couldn’t decide things, Manchester City took the early lead in penalty kicks when Ederson stopped Luka Modric in the first round. That was Madrid’s last miss from the spot, though, and Andriy Lunin stopped Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic. Anthony Rudiger scored in the fifth round to seal it.

Outshot 33-8 and out-possessed 67%-33%, Los Blancos found a way. It’s what they do in this tournament, over and over and over, and they’re a clear No. 1 in Chuck Booth’s ranking of the remaining teams.

Booth: “Madrid are doing the thing again where they were somehow underdogs, but will become the favorite when facing Bayern Munich in the next round. … As long as Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior are all healthy, Real Madrid are the most dangerous club in the competition.”
City, meanwhile, may need a new look to get back to the top, Jonathan Johnson writes.

In the day’s other match, Bayern Munich beat Arsenal, 1-0 (3-2 aggregate), on Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header. Seemingly on the brink of complete disaster weeks ago, manager Thomas Tuchel turned things around brilliantly, Chuck says. Arsenal, meanwhile, has grown used to disappointment on the biggest stages, but the Gunners’ progress and hope for the future is clear, James Benge writes.

🏈🎣 NFL stars hit the water for ‘The Catch’ fishing tournament
The crossover event of the spring is here: The Sport Fishing Championship’s “The Catch” presented by Verizon pairs world-class anglers with a bevy of NFL stars. The defending champions, Gerry McGraw and Jordan Sanford, will be joined by a pair of running backs who share a bond beyond their position, Dalvin Cook, one of the champions from last year’s event, and his younger brother James Cook.

Also competing this year are Alvin Kamara, Raheem Mostert, James Bradberry, Jalen Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Jeffery Simmons, Rachaad White, Quinnen Williams, Quincy Williams, David Njoku and Trey Hendrickson.

Sport Fishing Championship
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
🏒 Kraken at Wild, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Oilers at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Diamondbacks at Giants, 9:45 p.m. on FS1

If you thought Joel Embiid came into Wednesday’s Play-In game with a built-in excuse for the two months he missed to MCL surgery and rehab, think again. Through most of the first three quarters against the Heat, Embiid and the 76ers were an offensive disaster, and the Philly fans, as they will, were letting them know it.

You wondered if Tobias Harris was going to need security going home.

It was ugly, man. Ugly.

Give credit to Miami’s trademark zone defense that had the Sixers completely out of sorts, but Embiid, in particular, was pretty exposed for an inability to create any kind of offense, or even clear enough space to receive a pass in the first place, from anywhere off his preferred spots, which the Heat were taking away.

He was tired, clearly. He’d looked pretty damn good since returning from injury, averaging over 30 points in five games, but postseason basketball is a different level of intensity, and postseason basketball against the Miami Heat is its own kind of beast. Embiid’s conditioning, understandably, wasn’t ready for what the Heat were throwing at him.

But that excuse wasn’t going to fly as Embiid faded more and more into the background of increasingly stagnated possessions. His history of playoff shortcomings has created short patience for any more big-stage duds, and he was well on his way to one of his worst yet.

Through three quarters, Embiid had made a grand total of three shots. No high-post orchestration. No face-up jumpers. No two-man actions. No bully post-ups. On the rare occasion that he did have control of the ball, he was indecisive and slow to make any sort of move. It removed all tempo from the Philly half-court offense that Nick Nurse spent all season speeding up.

And then it all flipped.

Starting when Caleb Martin front-rimmed a second free throw, which rewarded the suddenly raucous crowd with free chicken, at the midway point of the third quarter, the Sixers turned into a different team. Nic Batum went nuclear with five of his six 3-pointers in the second half. The half-court assertion and tempo returned.

It all culminated with Embiid, who buried a couple of 3s and scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, either scoring or assisting on 10 straight points for the Sixers with under three minutes to play to send them into the playoffs to face the Knicks.

The sequence that won the Sixers the game:

1) Jaquez swipes down on Embiid, gives the Sixers free throws
2) Lowry poke-around steal, Batum saves the ball, Embiid 3 in transition
3) Embiid circus shot and-one off the O board
4) Embiid doubled, finds Oubre for another and-one pic.twitter.com/uk8o2d4INT

— Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger) April 18, 2024
And just like that, Embiid was a hero again. And believe me, it was not headed that way. Again, given the fact that Embiid’s production has declined precipitously in the playoffs (let’s be fair, he has never stayed healthy) so far in his career, had that game had kept going the way it was, the big man was not going to wake up to much sports-talk sympathy in the morning. Not in Philadelphia.

But he bailed himself and the Sixers out and now he gets a fresh run at a new playoff chapter in what will surely be a fistfight of a first-round series with the Knicks. The good news for Embiid is he has a few days for recovery, and with this first postseason game in the can, hopefully his conditioning will be better come Game 1 on Saturday.

Also, the Knicks aren’t going to pose the same problems that Miami did for Embiid. The Knicks are a tough defensive team that plays hard, don’t get me wrong, but they are not a zone team and Embiid should have more opportunities to operate from his preferred spots as Philly hopefully rediscovers some offensive flow.

For Embiid’s sake, let’s at least hope that’s the case. Because even though the Sixers pulled this one out on Wednesday, his performance, or lack thereof, through three quarters laid some pretty skeptical seeds. The benefit of the doubt is not something Embiid is going to enjoy considering how dominant of a regular-season player he’s been. It’s time for that domination to translate to the playoffs. He bailed himself out of trouble at the last minute against Miami, but an even hotter brand of heat will be on him starting Saturday.

CHICAGO — Coby White drained a 31-foot 3-pointer with just under seven minutes left in the game to put the Chicago Bulls up by 21 points against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night. It gave him 37 points, tying his career high, and forced Hawks coach Quin Snyder to call a timeout. White’s 3-pointer sent the fans inside the United Center into a frenzy, and booming “Coby White” chants filled the 23,500-capacity arena as he put the finishing touches on the best performance of his professional career.

The seventh overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft ended the game with 42 points, and while it won’t count in the official record books as no statistics from play-in games do, it will serve as the pinnacle of what’s been a standout fifth season for the 23-year-old guard. Coming into the season, White was in a battle with Ayo Dosunmu and Jevon Carter for who would be the Bulls starting point guard as Chicago would endure another season without Lonzo Ball running the show. Coming out of training camp and preseason, White won the job, but it wasn’t until December that the trajectory of his season started to skyrocket.

But that ascension was no accident. In fact, it was the direct result of Bulls’ All-Star guard Zach LaVine going down with a foot injury in late November. LaVine tried to return in January but was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing foot surgery, and his absence meant someone needed to step up for the Bulls to aid DeMar DeRozan on offense.

Not only did White step into that role, he proceeded to turn in supremely efficient performances on a nightly basis. Over the course of the season, he’s averaging career highs across the board, none more impressive than his shooting efficiency, where he’s shooting 44.7% from the field and 37.6% from deep. His 19.1 points, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds are all career highs, and when he’s on the floor, the Bulls score 5.6 more points per 100 possessions, which ranks in the 89th percentile in the league. White’s shotmaking, passing, decision making and defense have all seen major improvements. And if the regular season served as the groundwork for his Most Improved Player candidacy, then Wednesday night’s play-in game against the Hawks should serve as the stamp of approval to etch his name on the trophy.

“I thought he played a really complete game, I know the number, 42 [points] is a huge number, and it’s phenomenal, but I thought he played a really complete game,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought he defended, I thought he assisted, I thought he got downhill, made the game easy for the guys, I thought it was a great performance by him.”

The game just looked incredibly easy for White against the Hawks. He took complete advantage of Atlanta’s porous interior defense, which allows the sixth-most points in the paint (53.7 points per game). He got to the rim at will, and even when he was met with resistance, he had no problem adjusting. There was a string of possessions at the end of the third quarter where he made Atlanta look particularly foolish.

The first came in transition off a missed Hawks jumper. White pushed the tempo and recognized he had two weak defenders, in Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic, in front of him. He just so effortlessly shirked off Young, used his momentum to spin off Bogdanovic and finished easily at the rim.

On the next Bulls possession, off a missed 3-pointer from Jevonte Green, White corralled the offensive board, and as Donovan said, he made the game easy for his teammates by feeding a cutting Green for this thunderous dunk:

Right after that, White was right back at it pushing the pace in transition, and once again made quick work of Young and Bogdanovic trying to challenge him.

The Bulls could honestly use this game against the Hawks as the tape to prove why White should win Most Improved Player. He did a little bit of everything to show not only that he is capable of stepping up in big moments but also that he has grown in several areas of his game.

“I’m just grateful to be where I’m at, that first playoff series I ever had in my career didn’t go how I wanted it to go, and then last year I played better in the play-in, and then this year — I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me, and just try to lead. Coming into the game, I want to impact winning on both ends of the ball, and that’s what I focus on. And tonight, I was just aggressive and things were going my way.”

Sure, White is getting far more opportunity this season due to the injuries to the Bulls roster, so naturally, his stats would go up, but no one could’ve predicted that White would be such an efficient scorer, as he was a career 41.9% shooter from the floor going into this season. He’s upped his production while also improving his efficiency, a difficult task for young players to do, and his decision making as a facilitator has him just a hair behind DeRozan for leading the team in assists. His commitment and willingness to defend has also helped him improve on that end of the floor, and while he’s not exactly locking anyone up, he’s active just enough to cause problems for the opposing team.

White’s been having an unbelievable season, and while Wednesday night’s performance felt like a peak moment in his breakout year, the Bulls will need him to build upon that for their next game against the Miami Heat. It will be another win-or-go-home situation for Chicago, and unlike the Hawks, the Heat will put up a far better fight defensively. There’s a chance Jimmy Butler may not be healthy for that game, but either way, the Bulls will need White to deliver once again if they want to grab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. And if Wednesday night was any indication, White is not afraid of a high-pressure moment.