Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Are you ready for wall-to-wall playoff
basketball this weekend?In today’s SI:AM: 🚓 A Boston Marathon cop’s second act🙌
Washington fans rejoice⏲️ Why the pitch clock shouldn’t be tinkered withIf you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.Two months of playoff basketball start nowThe final two spots in the NBA playoffs will be decided tonight in the final play-in games. Either the Bulls or Heat will be the eighth seed in the East, while the last spot in the West comes down to the Thunder and Timberwolves. If we’re being honest, though, none of these teams stand much of a chance against the No. 1 seeds in the first round. Here are the series that are most worth paying attention to as the first round gets underway tomorrow. No. 2 Grizzlies vs. No. 7 LakersThis one is full of all sorts of interesting narratives. You have the young, up-and-coming Grizzlies against the most accomplished player of his generation. It’s a hodgepodge Lakers team that was totally reimagined at the trade deadline versus a Grizzlies team with a consistent core. There’s the controversy surrounding Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks’s emerging reputation as an elite NBA pest. It has the potential to be a very entertaining series. On top of all that, the Grizzlies have significant on-court concerns that could leave them vulnerable to being upset. Memphis initially hoped to have starting center Steven Adams back from his knee injury but he is now reportedly expected to be out for the entirety of the playoffs. Adams averaged a career-high 11.5 rebounds this season, and the Grizzlies went 20–16 down the stretch without him. Memphis also lost forward Brandon Clarke in March. In their absence, Jaren Jackson Jr. has been one of the best defenders in the league, with Xavier Tillman Sr. and Santi Aldama seeing increased minutes. Jackson vs. Anthony Davis will be a fun matchup of athletic bigs. Oh, and
LeBron James, fresh off one of his greatest seasons, will have another opportunity to wow us in the playoffs. No. 3 Kings vs. No. 6 WarriorsSacramento finally ended its record playoff drought and now gets to face its local rivals in the first round. Draymond Green previously said he hoped the Warriors would draw the Kings in the first round because it would be an easier travel schedule. And the Warriors need all the help they can get playing away from home. Golden State went 11–30 on the road this season. Only the three worst teams in the NBA (Pistons, Rockets and Spurs) won fewer games on the road. The Kings had to listen to a lot of disrespect in the regular season’s final weeks as people argued other teams should hope to finish sixth in standings to draw Sacramento instead of finishing fifth and facing the Suns. But the Kings, despite their nearly two-decade playoff drought, are no pushovers. Led by Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox, they rank first in the NBA in offensive efficiency. Sure, they’re 24th in defensive efficiency, but the offense has been more than good enough to make up for it. Watch the NBA with fuboTV. Start your free trial today.No. 4 Suns vs. No. 5 ClippersThe Suns were a popular championship pick after they acquired Kevin Durant before the trade deadline, but he’s played only eight games in a Phoenix uniform. The Suns’ core four of Durant, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton have played only 142 minutes together. They’ve been really good minutes (outscoring opponents by nearly 15 points per 100 possessions), but this is a group that’s still learning to play with one another and now will have to continue figuring it out under the spotlight of the postseason. The series would be tougher for the Suns if Paul George were healthy, but he’s reportedly expected to miss at least the start of the series with a knee injury that has kept him out since March 21. No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 KnicksThe Knicks are back in the playoffs for the second time in 10 years thanks in large part to the excellent play of free-agent acquisition Jalen Brunson. And the reason Brunson got such a big contract from the Knicks (four years, $104 million) is he erupted during last year’s playoffs. Brunson’s coming out party was a 41-point outburst in Game 2 of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the Jazz last year, followed by a 31-point night in Game 3. He stepped up with Luka Dončić sidelined and willed his team to victory. Brunson might have to play the hero again in this series, with Julius Randle’s status up in the air due to an ill-timed ankle injury. Randle returned to practice Tuesday, but the Knicks have been mum on his status for Game 1 on Saturday. The Cavs have been one of the better stories in the NBA this season. They took a big swing in trading for Donovan Mitchell during the offseason, and the move has paid off in a major way. By pairing Darius Garland with Mitchell, the Cavaliers went from 20th in offensive efficiency last season to eighth this year. And with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley locking down the middle of the floor, Cleveland has the league’s best defense. The Cavs will be a tough out this postseason.The best of Sports Illustrated Billie Weiss/Sports Illustrated Michael Rosenberg has the story of Dic Donohue, a former cop who was shot while pursuing the Boston Marathon bombing suspects and now, 10 years later, studies policing.Tom Verducci argues MLB’s pitch clock shouldn’t be adjusted based on game situation. Matt Verderame used a points system to determine which
NFL teams are the best at drafting.Dan Snyder is reportedly close to selling the Commanders for $6 billion. Conor Orr writes that news of the sale is reason for Washington fans to celebrate, regardless of what the future may hold. Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm has a good take about MLB teams extending beer sales. Rory McIlroy will lose $3 million for skipping this week’s PGA Tour event. Aaron Rodgers’s public comments about his future are reportedly part of the reason why his seemingly inevitable trade to the Jets is taking so long.Ja Morant has filed a countersuit against the Memphis teenager who accused him of assault.The top five...… things I saw yesterday: 5. Two excellent defensive plays by Pirates center fielder Ji Hwan Bae. 4. Jonathan Toews’s goal in his final game for the Blackhawks. 3. The Rays’ win to sweep the Red Sox and tie the modern MLB record with a 13–0 start to the season. 2. Adley Rutschman’s walk-off homer for the Orioles. He said later it was the first walk-off homer of his life, at any level. 1. Predators rookie Juuso Parssinen’s between-the-legs overtime game-winner.SIQNikoloz Tskitishvili, the fifth pick in the 2002 NBA draft, who turns 40 today, is one of six NBA players from which European country? Bosnia and HerzegovinaLatviaMontenegroGeorgiaYesterday’s SIQ: Seventy-seven years ago this month, lefthanded pitcher Eddie Klep made his debut for the Negro
American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes. What made Klep unique among Negro League players? He had one armHe had one legHe was 14 years oldHe was whiteAnswer: He was white. Klep had been the only white player for the Erie Pontiacs, a team in Pennsylvania’s semipro Glenwood League in 1945 when news broke that Branch Rickey had signed Jackie Robinson. Klep (whose name is misspelled as “Klepp” in some sources) contacted Ernest Wright, the owner of the Negro American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes, and asked for a tryout. “Seeing an opportunity for some good PR, as well as the chance to score a victory for civil rights, Wright readily agreed,” Jay Feldman wrote in a 1987 Sports Illustrated article about Klep’s unusual integration. “I think Ernie more or less hired him just to show that he would hire a white boy if he could get the caliber player that we could use,” Buckeyes catcher and manager Quincy Trouppe told Feldman. “He said that he wanted to show that it didn’t make any difference to him whether a player was white or Black on his ball club. I told him that as far as I was concerned it was the same way, but I asked him, ‘Can this boy play? That’s all I care about.’ It was hard to get a first-class white player because if a guy could really play, he would go into the major leagues.”When Klep and his teammates arrived at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, for an early-season game against the Black Barons,
police objected to the integrated Buckeyes taking the field. Klep was not allowed to play. He wasn’t even allowed to sit in the dugout. The cops made him go back to the team hotel, take his uniform off and watch the game from the part of the stands reserved for white fans.Klep was released after appearing in three games for the Buckeyes and returned to playing semipro ball in
Pennsylvania. He died in 1981 after what was, according to a ’97
Washington Post article by Scott Moore, a tumultuous 63-year life. He was buried in an unmarked grave in his native Erie.