The Bounce Newsletter 
| This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.
Chris Paul turns 41 today! I know not everybody is a fan, and I kind of get it. He’s a tough personality at times, and his career wasn’t as successful as people wanted it to be. But he’s still one of the greatest point guards we’ve ever seen! Just watch his top 35 plays ever and tell me that isn’t fun. Happy birthday, CP3!
Block controversy
Were Wemby’s blocks actually goaltends?
So many of us marveled at the rim protection by Victor Wembanyama during Game 1 against Minnesota, until San Antonio fell short of protecting home court on the final possession. If Julian Champagnie knocks down that 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Spurs win and the Wemby playoff block record gets celebrated even more. Or would it have caused the ultimate controversy instead?
Wolves coach Chris Finch wasn’t just satisfied with the outcome on Monday. He wanted everybody to know that Wembanyama got away with goaltending shots instead of blocking them. In fact, he called out at least four shots that he said were goaltends.
“You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s massive, right? That’s also 33 percent of his blocks, were goaltending, uncalled. If I were to give you a 33 percent raise, you’d like that, right? That’s a huge number.”
Wait, can Finch give me a 33 percent raise? He’s right. I would like that. Thanks, Chris!
There was a highlight reel of Wemby’s blocks going around social media, calling almost all of Wemby’s blocks goaltends or fouls. That’s a little dramatic, though there were three definite goaltends in this compilation. The one showing Anthony Edwards getting blocked doesn’t have a good angle on the replay to prove it’s a goaltend, so I won’t drop that one in here. But look at the two really obvious ones.
Those two clearly hit the glass before Wemby swatted them away, and should have been counted as baskets. There are others in question, but this is something the refs will have to monitor better. It sounds like the Wolves aren’t going to stop attacking any time soon.
The last 24
🏀 Survey says. Our anonymous player poll is back, this timelooking at the most underrated/overrated players and coaches. A certain star in Houston might not want to read it.
⚽ Euro steps? Could the NBA’s proposed new European league have transfer windows like in soccer? That’s what some of the prospective NBA Europe owners pitched.
🐂 You ready? The Bulls hired Bryson Graham to lead their front office. Is he ready for a big market and small organization?
💪 Getting tough. The Wolves had a strategy for Wemby in Game 1. Julius Randle needed to bully him.
🔊 “NBA Daily.” Watch and listen to a recap of last night’s games. And find out what happened to Jarred Vanderbilt’s finger.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass
About last night
Thunder and Pistons handle their business
Let’s review last night’s Game 1s:
Thunder 108, Lakers 90 | Thunder lead 1-0
Considering the Thunder beat the Lakers in all four regular-season matchups by a combined 117 points this season, L.A. losing the first game by 18 without Luka Dončić doesn’t seem so bad. The Lakers tried to get creative with their defense early by blitzing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as much as possible, and it mostly worked. He was held to 18 points (something that hadn’t been done since last year’s playoffs), and they forced him into seven turnovers.
However, they couldn’t stop Chet Holmgren (24 and 12), and they couldn’t keep Ajay Mitchell from carving them up. LeBron James had 27 points, but Austin Reaves managed just eight points on 16 shots. The Lakers played a pretty measured game and could only muster 90 points. Such is life against the defending champs.
What’s the adjustment for Los Angeles? It can’t allow so many second-chance points. The Thunder scored 21 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds. The Lakers have to end possessions with rebounds and get the ball up the court.
How does Oklahoma City take another one? It needs to cut down on turnovers. We know the Thunder force a lot of turnovers and create points off them. But we rarely see them turn it over 16 times in a game. It’s just the 17th time in the regular season or playoffs they’ve had that many this year.
Telling stat: 18.8 percent. That was Reaves’ shooting percentage in Game 1 after going 3-of-16. It’s the lowest field-goal percentage in a playoff game by a Laker since Mychal Thompson went 3-of-16 in 1988. Only Sam Perkins (1-of-15 in 1991) was worse.
Playoff Panic Meter (out of five): 🎬🎬🎬
Meanwhile, back East …
Pistons 111, Cavaliers 101 | Pistons lead 1-0
The Pistons definitely aren’t playing the Magic anymore. The Cavaliers’ defense proved to be much less aggressive and far more forgiving than what Detroit faced in the first round. Cade Cunningham had much more freedom to operate, and he took advantage with 23 points and seven assists. He struggled with his shot (6-of-19), but he got where he wanted to go. He also made it to the free-throw line 11 times.
Cleveland made a couple of runs thanks to Donovan Mitchell (23 points), James Harden (22) and Max Strus (19). But the 37-21 first quarter provided the cushion necessary for Detroit to get out in front of this series.
What’s the adjustment for Cleveland? Taking care of the ball is huge, but the Cavs’ big men have to play much better. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley looked overmatched most of the night. Allen was a complete non-factor. Jalen Duren didn’t have a big scoring game, but he had seven offensive boards.
How does Detroit take another one? Continue to be aggressive and physical. The Pistons got to the free-throw line 35 times. They forced the issue, and Cleveland wasn’t ready for it. They have to make Allen and Mobley prove they want the contact.
Telling stat: The Cavs gave up 31 points off 20 turnovers. They just couldn’t take care of the ball, especially Harden. He had seven turnovers and was brutal trying to make plays or even just dribble against pressure.
Playoff Panic Meter (out of five): ⚔️⚔️
What about tonight’s games?
76ers at Knicks, Game 2, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN) | Knicks lead 1-0
Adjustment for Philadelphia: Keep the ball out of Brunson’s hands. Yes, plenty of Knicks players can still beat you, but you can’t allow Brunson to score roughly 40 points every game.
Adjustment for New York: Don’t shy away when the Sixers hack Mitchell Robinson. In the first quarter, Nick Nurse started intentionally fouling Robinson to get him to the free-throw line. Mike Brown gave in and took him out. Let them rack up team fouls early.
Wolves at Spurs, Game 2, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) | Wolves lead 1-0
Adjustment for Minnesota: Involve Wemby in more pick-and-rolls. Wemby was so good at protecting the rim, and the Wolves eventually ran some action in the fourth that caused him to leave the paint. Some of the side pick-and-roll action with him defending the screener late in the game pulled him away from defending rotations.
Adjustment for San Antonio: Put even more pressure on the interior. The Wolves have a great defense, but Wemby, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle have to put way more pressure on the interior. If they do, they’ll get more points in the paint and keep generating open looks for 3-pointers
Next for Orlando
Wanted: A coach who can work some magic
The Magic are looking for a new coach after firing Jamahl Mosley, and the next sideline guru will likely determine the fate of this roster. We’ve seen rumors already of Billy Donovan or Tom Thibodeau as potential hires, but the Magic will go through the search process to make sure they find the guy who can maximize a roster we thought had so much potential. And maybe they still do?
The Magic were supposed to be a top-three team in the East after acquiring Desmond Bane for four first-round picks and a pick swap. They barely made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. And even though they went up 3-1 on Detroit in the first round, they lost in seven games. The question the front office needs to answer is whether this team is actually good enough to compete in what should be a tougher East next season.
Orlando was 18th in offensive rating and true shooting percentage this season. However, it was 25th in effective field-goal percentage. If it wasn’t getting to the free-throw line (second-best in the league at it), then we saw a very anemic offense. The Magic need a point guard, but where do you put him? They already have Paolo Banchero ($41.2m), Franz Wagner ($41.7m), Desmond Bane ($39.4m) and Jalen Suggs ($32.4m) in the starting lineup, plus a center. Anthony Black is also extension-eligible this fall. Someone has to go, but who?
This has been an injury-riddled team for a couple of seasons now. The Magic can’t shoot. But they can really defend. Is there a coach out there who can unlock some system for better shooting? Could an offensive guru keep the defensive schemes that worked so much? Orlando needs to move on with some tough decisions or risk perpetually being a regular-season disappointment.
The front office needs to recognize this was a roster construction thing as much as it was a Mosley problem. Otherwise, we’ll be back here in two years.
Spin cycle
Let’s simulate the lottery, Part 3
As we lead up to Sunday’s NBA Draft Lottery, we’re taking a spin on the Tankathon lottery simulator every day this week.
Tankathon is the best website for tracking the lottery odds. It’s also the best site for simulating the lottery and seeing what comes up. We are trying to figure out what would happen with each random drawing. One spin and we play the result, no matter what. On Monday, Miami won the top pick. Yesterday, it was Dallas going back-to-back.
Today?
Putting BYU’s AJ Dybantsa under Rick Carlisle’s tutelage with Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton as his star teammates would be massive. The Pacers would luck out the most from their injury-riddled gap season. And now they’d be back with a vengeance in the East with Dybantsa. The Warriors have just a 9.4 percent chance of getting into the top four; grabbing Kansas guard Darryn Peterson to put next to Steph Curry or Duke’s Cameron Boozer to put next to Draymond Green would be huge.
The Wizards take the biggest hit/drop in the draft order, and Sacramento and Utah have to be wondering why this doesn’t seem to ever go their way.