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Come Fan with UsMonday, August 17, 2026

Good morning, Lob City is forever

All the links you need from three Game 7s and more.

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Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

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Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Here’s our morning roundup of the five most important things from Saturday’s action.

THUNDER UP: Kevin Durant had his best game of the series, Russell Westbrook went off and Memphis’ defense crumbled as the Thunder moved on.

EVEN THE PACERS: The Hawks’ Cinderella meets Clerks tale came to an end in Game 7 as Roy Hibbert woke from his slumber and Indiana handled business. Next up: the Wizards, starting Monday.

A FITTING END TO A WACKADOO SERIES: No series was weirder than Warriors-Clippers, so it’s fitting that it ended in tongue-chewing fashion.

L.A. trailed all night until a run late in the third; the fourth quarter battle was a see-saw affair. The Clippers prevailed thanks to Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who combined to shoot 7-7 from the floor in the final period and did work defensively.

And then, of course, after the game there was a hallway confrontation between members of each team.

TODAY: Two more Game 7s for your viewing pleasure on Sunday.

Nets at Raptors, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
Mavericks at Spurs, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

The winner of the early game takes on the Heat in Round 2. The winner of the second game faces the Blazers.

Saturday’s action cinched up two series: Wizards-Pacers and Thunder-Clippers. Both series begin Monday.

AWARDS ALERT: Kevin Durant will be named NBA MVP this week. Michael Carter-Williams has won Rookie of the Year. Stunners, both.

THE CIRCUS COMES TO L.A.: Blake Griffin must have aced his childhood tumbling lessons. Stephen Curry must have killed everyone at HORSE.

LARRY BIRD IS HAVING A ROUGH TIME: This was one weird videobomb of Larry Legend.

BATTLE OF THE BLOCKS: Which is better: Russell Westbrook detonating Tony Allen or Ian Mahinmi rejecting Jeff Teague?

THE LILLARD REVIEW: Some Damian Lillard links for you.

Dane Carbaugh on how Dame’s shot ended 14 years of pain in Portland.

Coach Nick breaks down how Lillard got open.

I power ranked the play.

GOD AND BALL: Sam Amick with a really interesting look at religion and coaching in the NBA.

WHIMSY: Ira Glass on ecstasy. Basically impossible for a certain subset of readers to not click that.

Happy Game 7 Day The Sequel. See you next time.

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