By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The NBA Playoffs tip off on Saturday after a dramatic 2024-25 season of twists and turns, with shock firings, a record team sale and the Luka Doncic trade heard around the world.
Doncic will be eager to show his worth in the post-season with the Los Angeles Lakers after he was unceremoniously shipped away by the Dallas Mavericks, where the perennial MVP was the face of the franchise and led them to the Finals a year prior.
“I had to check (if) it was April 1st. I didn’t really believe it at first,” said Doncic.
The Slovenian guard and 21-time All-Star LeBron James form a dynamic duo on the No. 3 seed Lakers, who face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the best-of-seven first round.
The Doncic saga fits right in with a chaotic Western Conference, where at least one team will enter the playoffs without the coach who started their season.
The Denver Nuggets delivered a shock by firing head coach Michael Malone days before the end of the regular season, after they had booked their seventh straight trip to the playoffs.
The fourth seeds will be led by interim coach David Adelman against the Los Angeles Clippers, with Game 1 on Saturday, after another blockbuster season from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who became the first center to average a triple-double.
Speaking to reporters who were trying to make sense of the seemingly incomprehensible news, Vice-Chairman Josh Kroenke alluded to “worrisome” trends behind closed doors and said he had considered cutting ties for months.
“I was really feeling like things weren’t headed in the right direction,” he said.
JENKINS OUSTED
It was not the only head-scratcher this season, after the Memphis Grizzlies late last month cut loose Taylor Jenkins, the winningest head coach in the franchise’s history, in the middle of the playoff run.
The team had been fifth in the Western Conference despite a handful of late losses but in the end were relegated to the play-in tournament, where they lost in their opener against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
“The Grizzlies sure could have used the coach they just fired,” declared a Washington Post headline.
They will have a chance at redemption when they face the Mavericks on Friday. The winners of that game will play the 68-14 Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics will hope for a rare title repeat after news broke late last month that a group led by private equity manager Bill Chisholm had agreed to purchase the team for a reported record $6.1 billion.
The deal, pending league approval, sees the most decorated team in the NBA change hands for the first time in more than 20 years.
The Celtics, who finished second in the Eastern Conference, play the Orlando Magic in the best-of-seven first round beginning on Sunday.
No. 1 seeds Cleveland Cavaliers tip off on Sunday as well, against the winners of a play-in game between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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