NBA

Murray is a late addition to the injury report with an illness ahead of Thursday’s Game 6. With the Nuggets facing elimination, it seems likely that Murray will play through the illness. If not the Nuggets would be forced to rely more heavily on Russell Westbrook and Payton Watson.

This wasn’t a great series for Podziemski, but he ended it on a high note. He set a new playoff career high for points and still contributed value in other categories across the board. Podz has solidified his spot in the starting lineup with the way the roster is currently constructed. He should be an enticing pick in fantasy drafts next season, especially if the Warriors lean on him for more production to keep Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green fresh for the postseason.

For a player that was out of the rotation at times during this postseason, Kuminga may have earned himself a nice payday in the final four games of this series. Head coach Steve Kerr needed offense with Stephen Curry (hamstring) sidelined, and Kuminga was able to fill the void. He averaged 24.3 points on 55.4 percent shooting in Games 2-5. Kuminga is set to be a restricted free agent, and even if it isn’t the Warriors handing him a big contract, the 22-year-old should be able to find a team to pay him.

Butler’s first season with the Warriors came to a disappointing conclusion. They were one of the best teams after acquiring Butler and won Game 1 of the second round. Unfortunately, a Stephen Curry hamstring injury ended their championship hopes, though Curry may have been able to return for Game 6 if the series was still going. Butler will be 36 at the start of next season, and he will likely continue to put an emphasis on rest during the regular season to make sure he’s healthy to help Golden State make another playoff push next year.

Conley has been a consistent starter for most of the season, but he hasn’t been productive in the box score, especially during the postseason. However, he changed that on Wednesday. He set new highs for points, rebounds, assists and three-pointers during these playoffs as Minnesota closed out their series with Golden State to return to the Western Conference Finals. Conley will continue to start, but it’s unlikely that he replicates this production in the next round.

The turnovers weren’t pretty, but everything else went right for Edwards in Game 5 as Minnesota completed their second straight gentlemen’s sweep. He didn’t score 30 points, which he had done in the two games in Golden State, but Edwards did dish out a new playoff career high for assists in a new game, which also matches his career high for dimes in the regular season. This was a fantastic performance for Edwards, even if he didn’t dominate as a scorer. He’ll need to continue to play at a high level in the Western Conference Finals, whether it is against Oklahoma City or Denver.

Randle played at a high level in the first round, but he was dominant in the gentlemen’s sweep of the Warriors. He struggled in Game 1, which Minnesota dropped, but during the final four games of the series, Randle averaged 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.8 assists, one steal and two triples while making 55.7 percent of his shots. Turnovers were still an issue, but they didn’t prevent the Timberwolves for winning four straight games. They’ll now await the winner of the Thunder-Nuggets series, and if Randle continues to play like this, Minnesota will have a chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Things didn’t start off well for Hart. He got hit right above his eye on an elbow from Luke Kornet, which resulted in a lot of blood on his face and uniform. He got cleaned up and was given a new jersey, and it didn’t impact his shot. It wasn’t enough for New York to wrap up the series, and they’ll head home for Game 6 on Friday. This was Hart’s highest-scoring performance of the postseason, and his most points in a game since before the All-Star break. He’ll look to carry some of this shooting success with him to Madison Square Garden.

It has been a hit-or-miss series for Anunoby. He had 29 points in Game 1 and 20 points in Game 4. He scored a total of 13 points in Games 2, 3 and 5. Which Anunoby shows up in Game 6 could be critical for New York’s chances of closing this series out at home. Of course, they’d much prefer to end things in New York than to have to travel back to Boston for Game 7. Simply put, Anunoby is going to have to be much better on Friday.

Karl-Anthony Towns found himself in foul trouble in the first half, which opened the door for Robinson to take on more minutes early in this game. Robinson has been effective, which is why the Celtics have turned to the Hack-a-Mitch method to try and get him out of the game. Well, it doesn’t work when he turns into Steve Nash. Robinson will continue to be an important piece for New York in this series, though it is unlikely that he continues to have this type of success at the free throw line.