NBA play-offs begin after chaotic season of shock player, personnel moves

NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs tip off on April 19 (April 20, Singapore time) 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 the 26-year-old was unceremoniously shipped away by the Dallas Mavericks, where the perennial Most Valuable Player (MVP) was the face of the franchise and led them to the 2024 Finals.

The Slovenian guard and 21-time All-Star LeBron James have since formed a dynamic duo at the No. 3 seed Lakers, who face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the best-of-seven first round.

They will be supported by Japan national team star Rui Hachimura, who will head into the play-offs for the fourth time in his career as an integral member of the Lakers with championship ambitions.

Los Angeles advanced to the past two play-offs via the play-in tournament but will go into the 2025 first round with home-court advantage after finishing a roller-coaster regular season third in the Western Conference.

“This is the best championship opportunity of my career,” Hachimura said. “We have a chance this year.”

It is all looking up for the Lakers as Doncic meshed with his new teammates, but Hachimura revealed that he was stunned to learn about the February trade, hearing of it first from a fan while out eating after a road game, followed by a flood of messages on his phone. Unsure about the reports, he quickly sought to verify the information.

“I didn’t know what was going on. I contacted my agent to see if I was still on the team,” he said.

The Lakers and first-year coach J.J. Redick kept the Japanese in their plans as a regular starter in his sixth NBA season, and the 27-year-old went on to log career highs of 31.7 minutes per game and 102 successful three-pointers.

The Doncic saga fits right in with a chaotic Western Conference, where at least one team will enter the play-offs without the coach who started their season.

The Denver Nuggets delivered a shock by firing coach Michael Malone days before the end of the regular season, after they had booked their seventh straight trip to the post-season.

The fourth seed will be led by interim coach David Adelman against the Los Angeles Clippers, with Game 1 on April 19, after another blockbuster season from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who became the first centre 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.

It was not the only head-scratcher this season, after the Memphis Grizzlies late in March cut loose Taylor Jenkins, the coach with the most wins in the franchise’s history.

The team had been fifth in the West 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 April 15.

“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 April 18. The winners of that game will play the 68-14 Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

In the East, the Boston Celtics will hope for a rare title repeat after news broke in March that a group led by private equity manager Bill Chisholm had agreed to purchase the team for a reported record US$6.1 billion (S$8 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 East, play the Orlando Magic in the first round on April 20.

No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers tip off on the same day against the winners of a play-in game between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks. REUTERS, KYODO NEWS