Washington Wizards forward Anthony Davis told reporters that he plans to play for the team next season.

“Yeah, I’m under contract,” Davis said with a laugh. “I love my money.”

While playing for the Wizards may be obvious to Davis, he has yet to make his debut since joining the team before the NBA trade deadline in February. Davis played only 20 games this season and last appeared on Jan. 8 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Wizards finished with a league-worst 17-65 record, good for last in the Eastern Conference. They also ended the season on a 10-game losing streak and finished their third consecutive season with 64 or more losses.

Davis said the team is not what people make it seem and that he expects to compete.

“They know that I want to win,” he said. “I’m sure that they want to win as well. Nobody wants to lose. I know we have a lot of young guys, but like I said, I mentioned it about the young guys — how talented they are.”

One of the players Davis expects to help bring a winning culture to the Wizards is Trae Young. Young was also added before this year’s trade deadline in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks. He has also struggled with injuries this season, playing five games for the Wizards and 15 games total before being shut down.

While Davis is optimistic about the Wizards’ future, he understands the difficulty of turning a losing team into a championship contender.

Tatsuya Imai’s career with the Houston Astros has so far consisted of a bad start, a good start and a start that landed him on the 15-day IL with arm fatigue. That might not be what the Astros had in mind when they guaranteed him $54 million out of Japan.

Now sidelined until at least late April, the right-hander spoke to reporters via interpreter on Tuesday and has some rather interesting things to say when discussing his arm fatigue. Per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, Imai admitted having trouble adjusting to the American lifestyle in baseball and outside of baseball.

When asked for an example, Imai reportedly pointed to when and where the players eat compared to how teams in Japan operate.

It’s unclear how eating in the Astros clubhouse can cause excess arm fatigue. It’s also quite possible something is being lost in translation here as well.

This isn’t the first time Imai has pointed to something surprising after a disappointing development. After his last start against the Seattle Mariners — in which he walked four out of seven batters and got only one out — he complained that the mound at T-Mobile Park was unusually hard and he wasn’t used to pitching in cooler temperatures compared to Japan.

He also spoke of adjusting to the MLB baseball and mound slope after getting roughed up in spring training.

That’s a long list of issues for a player to have 2 1/2 weeks into his MLB career. There are, of course, adjustments that every player needs to make while moving from Japan to the U.S., but this is also stuff they should be aware of while considering teams and preparing accordingly.

The biggest adjustment for Japanese pitchers is usually the schedule, where Nippon Professional Baseball starters usually pitch once a week while MLB arms are asked to go one out every five days. The Astros have so prevented Imai from having to pitch on less than five days rest.

Imai is on a contract that guarantees him $54 million through the 2028 season, though he can also opt out after 2026 or 2027.

As much as he’s struggled, his injury was still bad news for a Houston organization that has already seen fellow starting pitchers Hunter Brown (shoulder strain) and Cristian Javier (shoulder strain) hit the IL this season. It’s unclear when any of these pitchers will return, which isn’t ideal considering the Astros have lost eight straight games and are in last place in the AL West with a 6-11 record.

A day after being struck in the face with a line drive, leaving a bright red welt on his cheek, Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz showed up to work on Tuesday.

But he’s working injured.

Albernaz, who returned to the dugout from the scary scene Monday night, revealed that he did not come away from the incident unscathed. Per Albernaz, he has “at least” seven facial fractures and a broken jaw.

But he doesn’t need surgery or his jaw wired shut. And the first-year manager appears ready to move forward with business as usual — outside of a a soft diet.

He also looks remarkably OK for a guy who just had the right side of his face fractured into pieces.

“I feel good actually, I mean, considering everything,” he said at a pregame news conference Tuesday afternoon. “… Ball hit me pretty flush in the cheek. Feel good, luckily no surgery. I think all-in-all, it’s at least seven fractures in my cheek area — orbital. And then a broken jaw.

“But luckily it doesn’t have to be wired, no surgery. I just have to eat baby food for six weeks.”

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In case you missed it, here’s the line drive that hit Albernaz on the cheek during Monday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Orioles second baseman Jeremiah Jackson hit a line-drive foul ball in the fifth inning that made a beeline for the dugout.

Albernaz was standing on the top step of the dugout away from the protective netting, and the ball caught him squarely on the cheek at 70.6 mph.

Albernaz immediately left the dugout to receive medical attention.

He said Tuesday that his first thought after being hit was to cover up his face “because if it was really bad, I didn’t want my family to see it on TV.”

He said he then went through and cleared concussion protocol and tried to return to the dugout, but the medical team insisted that he undergo a CT scan.

While he was waiting to have the scan, he FaceTimed his family to let them know that he was OK. And in the sixth inning, he heard commotion from the crowd around a home run — that was hit by Jackson.

Jackson hit a sixth-inning grand slam that cut Baltimore’s then 7-2 deficit to 7-6. The home run ultimately sparked the Orioles to rally for a 9-7 win to move into a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East at 9-7.

At that point, Albernaz said that he said “f*** this” and went back to the dugout to join the celebration and give Jackson a hug after Jackson had rounded the bases.

Albernaz was then ordered by the medical team to return to the clubhouse for his CT scan. But he ended up with a souvenir from the ordeal.

Jackson autographed his grand-slam ball and gave it Albernaz, along with an inscribed apology for hitting him him in the face with his line drive: “Sorry homie.”

With about 10 percent of the MLB season behind us, the standings are a comical mess, with the fitting exception of the Los Angeles Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball and apparently impervious to small-sample chaos.

Nevertheless, our semi-regular exercise of regular-season power rankings must proceed, with our first attempt of the season to sort through the 30 big-league ballclubs and assess their relative quality, no matter how bunched up they are in the standings. These rankings shine the spotlight on the best individual performers for each club in the early going, ranging from expected superstars to rookie standouts to out-of-nowhere surprises and everything in between.

Let’s get to it.

Jump to a team by clicking on the links below:

• AL East:Yankees | Orioles | Rays | Blue Jays | Red Sox

• AL Central:Twins | Guardians | Royals | Tigers | White Sox

• AL West:Rangers | Athletics | Angels | Mariners | Astros

• NL East: Braves | Marlins |Phillies | Nationals | Mets

• NL Central:Pirates | Reds | Brewers | Cardinals | Cubs

• NL West:Dodgers | Padres | Diamondbacks | Rockies | Giants

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (12-4)

In a lineup overflowing with veteran superstars in their 30s, 25-year-old Andy Pages has emerged as an unlikely driving force for the Dodgers’ offense, despite batting near the bottom of the order in the bulk of his starts. Pages was a steady source of slugging during his first two seasons before he sunk into an all-time slump last October, but now he’s back to mashing, with an all-time heater to open 2026: Pages not only leads Los Angeles in nearly every offensive category but also is tops in MLB in hits, RBI, batting average and fWAR through 16 games. Finally, something is going right for the Dodgers!

2. Atlanta Braves (10-7)

His NL Rookie of the Year award is already old news; it’s time to start considering where Drake Baldwin ranks among the best catchers in baseball. All he has done since arriving in the majors is hit, and now he’s catching the lion’s share of innings for a Braves team that, despite an avalanche of arm injuries, currently boasts the lowest ERA in MLB. Atlanta has a rich history of developing homegrown stars, and Baldwin looks like the next in line. 

3. New York Yankees (9-7)

In a relative blink, Ben Rice has evolved from “what a great story” to “he’s a pretty good hitter” to “wait a second, his OPS is what?!” The Yankees’ first baseman — if you’re wondering, Rice has caught zero innings this season, and that’s perfectly fine — has been unbelievable with the bat, blending his serious left-handed raw power with a disciplined approach that has unlocked a truly outlandish statline: .362/.508/.745, good for a 246 wRC+ that is tops in MLB. He’s still doing nearly all of his damage against right-handed pitching, but we won’t stress too much about his platoon splits as long as his triple slash resembles that of peak Barry Bonds.

4. Milwaukee Brewers (8-7)

A five-game skid suggests the Brewers do have some things to sort out, but Brice Turang is doing his part. There was real buzz during Turang’s time with Team USA that another leap could be in store for the 26-year-old second baseman after his breakout 2025, and so far this season, he has done nothing to dampen that hype, providing ample power (.617 SLG%) and speed (5 SB) as the temporary leadoff man while Jackson Chourio works his way back from injury. Turang is a star. 

5. San Diego Padres (10-6)

What Mason Miller is doing right now is downright absurd. He has struck out 19 of the 24 batters he has faced this season, and he has allowed just two baserunners (a Luis Arraez single and a Spencer Torkelson walk). Most people in the industry would tell you that in the grand scheme of things, it probably wasn’t a good idea for the Padres to trade an elite infield prospect in Leo De Vries (and several other pieces) for a reliever, but that reliever was Miller, someone evidently capable of unthinkable levels of dominance.

6. Cleveland Guardians (10-7)

Make no mistake: Chase DeLauter’s blistering start to his career is the story of the Guardians’ season so far, and he has single-handedly altered the complexion of Cleveland’s offense. But Cleveland’s other Cactus League standout hasn’t cooled off much, either, and that’s Angel Martinez. The switch-hitting outfielder has been Cleveland’s second-best bat behind DeLauter, with a stellar .895 OPS (158 wRC+), a huge uptick from last year’s healthy sample of poor production (74 wRC+ in 484 plate appearances).

7. Seattle Mariners (8-9)

The highest strikeout rate in the vaunted Seattle rotation? That belongs to Emerson Hancock, of course. The former sixth overall pick had one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball the previous two seasons due to his sinker-forward approach and lack of a swing-and-miss weapon, but this season Hancock has reemphasized his four-seamer and added a nasty sweeper that has unlocked a new level of effectiveness. He’s making the most of his opportunity with incumbent No. 5 starter Bryce Miller on the injured list.

8. Texas Rangers (9-7)

Both of Texas’ biggest offseason additions have made fantastic first impressions. Brandon Nimmo has been an ideal table-setter atop the lineup, leading MLB with nine multi-hit games. And MacKenzie Gore gives Texas a left-handed element atop a rotation that has two impact right-handers in Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi; his 39.7% strikeout rate ranks third among qualified starting pitchers.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (8-8)

Bryce Harper has gotten off to a nice start in his unofficial quest to prove to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that he’s still elite. Harper is one of just 15 qualified hitters who have walked more than they’ve struck out so far this season, and of that cohort, only Yordan Alvarez (.714) and Sal Stewart (.600) have higher slugging percentages than Harper’s .517. 

10. Detroit Tigers (7-9)

After a poor second half and a rough October at the plate, Detroit did little in the offseason to change its position-player group, trusting that its core — with the addition of top prospect Kevin McGonigle — is good enough to form a postseason-worthy offense. It has been a mixed bag for the holdovers so far, but at age 21, McGonigle already looks like the Tigers’ best bat. After batting sixth in the first four games of his career, McGonigle vaulted to the top of the Detroit lineup, where he has continued to rake as the leadoff man or No. 2 hitter while playing stellar defense at third base and shortstop.

Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports

11. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-6)

A proven master of the pulled fly ball, Brandon Lowe just keeps doing his thing as a key contributor in Pittsburgh’s new-look lineup, smashing six homers (all pulled, of course) in 14 games while running a career-best 15.4% walk rate. Lowe is firmly on pace to become just the seventh second baseman ever with three 30-plus-homer seasons, a fascinating group that includes Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby and Jeff Kent, soon-to-be-Cooperstown-bound Chase Utley, Alfonso Soriano, Rougned Odor (!) and, of course, Dan Uggla (who did it five times).

12. Baltimore Orioles (9-7)

Here’s an early-season statistical quirk: Taylor Ward is leading MLB in doubles with 10 but has zero homers, and his 75 plate appearances are third-most among all MLB hitters without a home run this season. That first long ball is surely coming soon, but even without leaving the yard, Ward has been a nice addition to the top of Baltimore’s lineup after eight years with the Angels. His .427 OBP is Baltimore’s best on-base mark and is rooted in his top-notch plate discipline; Ward’s 13.8% chase rate is second-lowest in MLB among qualified hitters.

13. Cincinnati Reds (9-7)

Sal Stewart was not shy during spring training about his goal of winning NL Rookie of the Year, and he has backed up those bold ambitions with a spectacular showing at the plate to begin his season. The 22-year-old slugger is hitting .309/.435/.600, leads all NL rookies in fWAR and recently put on a show for a horde of family and friends when the Reds were in his hometown. The Reds’ offense has been atrocious thus far outside of Elly De La Cruz and Stewart, who have hit third and fourth in all 16 of Cincinnati’s games, but that duo promises to be a headache for opposing pitchers for the foreseeable future.

14. Chicago Cubs (7-9)

It’s a subtle difference, but based on the discrepancy in his performance between his rookie and sophomore seasons — and how sharp he has looked so far in Year 3 — Shota Imanaga’s fastball sitting at 92 mph instead of 91 might be a pretty big deal. The lefty’s four-seamer has looked much crisper in 2026, as he’s already hit 93 mph more times through three starts this season (19) than he did all of last year (18). Fly balls will always be an issue for him, but even a tick more heat like he has shown thus far could be the key to returning Imanaga to something resembling his stellar rookie form. 

15. Arizona Diamondbacks (9-8)

Remember when D-backs spring training began with the disappointing news that Corbin Carroll needed surgery to address a broken hamate bone in his right hand, rendering him unavailable for the World Baseball Classic? Well, we can’t undo his absence from Team USA, but Carroll has emphatically quashed any concerns that the preseason injury would cause him to start slow. The Snakes’ right fielder has been dynamite, slashing .321/.403/.623 with a team-leading 10 runs scored and 11 RBI. And even in an abbreviated sample, Carroll — the National League leader in triples the previous three seasons — is the only player with three triples so far in 2026.

16. Minnesota Twins (10-7)

The Twins’ return for Griffin Jax at last year’s trade deadline, 25-year-old right-hander Taj Bradley has been one of the most encouraging developments of Minnesota’s surprisingly strong start to the season. He has surrendered just three earned runs in 21 ⅔ innings of work, and only Max Fried (105) has faced more batters than Bradley (93) without allowing a home run. Bradley flashed terrific stuff early in his career with Tampa Bay but struggled with walks and hard contact. If he can dial in the command and identify the ideal mix of secondaries beyond his high-90s fastball — the splitter has looked excellent thus far — the Twins might have found a rotation fixture for years to come.

17. New York Mets (7-10)

After swatting 25 homers as a 21-year-old in 2023, Francisco Alvarez looked on track to become the next great slugging catcher. But injuries completely derailed his past two seasons, dampening the hype he earned as a rookie and leaving his status as a core piece for the Mets somewhat in question. Now healthy and reestablished as New York’s starting backstop, Alvarez is raking to start 2026, with sterling underlying metrics to support his gaudy surface-level stats — a much-needed silver lining within a badly scuffling Mets lineup. 

18. Toronto Blue Jays (6-9)

The injured list is getting more crowded by the day, putting the Blue Jays in a precarious position in the standings while they navigate this slew of absences. To help steady the ship, they’ll lean on Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease, the team’s top two starters who are, appropriately, two of the most durable pitchers of this era. Cease has made a strong first impression, with 26 strikeouts across his first 14 ⅔ innings as a Blue Jay, while Gausman (2.08 ERA, 17 ⅓ IP, 28 K, 2 BB) has shined to begin what could be his final season in Toronto, potentially priming himself for another sizable payday in free agency.

19. Boston Red Sox (6-10)

It’s a toss-up between Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu for most impactful hitter amid an otherwise woeful collective start for the Red Sox’s offense. Fresh off their WBC triumph with Team Venezuela, they have been consistent forces in the middle of Boston’s lineup. Contreras is providing exactly the kind of right-handed power and patience the Red Sox sought when they acquired him, and Abreu is validating Boston’s conviction that he could shed his longstanding platoon label and become a reliable every-day player.

20. Tampa Bay Rays (8-7)

Chandler Simpson’s first attempt to prove that his otherworldly speed could be more than just a gimmick in the big leagues was underwhelming, as he struggled to reach base consistently and struggled mightily on defense in the outfield. Sophomore Simpson has been far more promising. Even as a total nonthreat to slug, he has weaponized his tremendous bat-to-ball skills and freaky wheels to rack up a whopping 23 hits (21 singles, two triples) in 15 games while swiping seven bags. Early metrics also indicate improved competence in left field, making Simpson an ultra-fun, down-order role player in support of Tampa Bay’s more traditional sluggers such as Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero.

21. Kansas City Royals (7-9)

While Bobby Witt Jr. is searching for his power stroke in the early going (.322 SLG%), Maikel Garcia has surged out of the gate with some impressive pop, racking up seven extra-base hits to go with his outstanding defense at the hot corner. Few players are as well-rounded as Garcia, who excels in nearly every aspect of the sport and could reach an even higher level of impact if he can turn more of his doubles into homers. Maybe the moved-in fences at Kauffman Stadium will help.

22. Athletics (8-8)

The other Max Muncy looked overwhelmed as a rookie last season, posting a .259 OBP across 220 plate appearances. But the A’s remained confident that their 2021 first-round pick could be Plan A at third base, and so far in 2026, he has rewarded them with a team-leading 19 hits and 12 runs scored, with a 68.4% hard-hit rate that ranks third among qualified hitters behind only Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ben Rice. Shaky defense and poor plate discipline (22 strikeouts to just two walks) remain red flags, but this is a promising start for Muncy nonetheless. 

23. Los Angeles Angels (8-9)

In prior seasons, José Soriano had demonstrated an elite ability to coax ground balls, but his poor control and inability to find enough whiffs with his sinker-heavy repertoire limited his overall effectiveness. This year, an uptick in four-seam fastball usage looks to have unlocked a more unpredictable and overwhelming arsenal, and Soriano has been one of MLB’s best starters in the early going. He set the tone by throwing the first six innings of the Angels’ 3-0 win over the Astros on Opening Day — Houston’s high-powered offense has not been held scoreless in any game since — and flourished across his next three outings against the Cubs, Braves and Reds. For years, the Angels have been starved for impact starting pitching: The last rotation member not named Shohei Ohtani to clear 4.0 bWAR was Garrett Richards in 2014. Soriano — with 1.8 bWAR through four starts — could be the ace this team has been looking for.

24. Miami Marlins (9-8)

Miami might have the most underrated middle infield in baseball. Neither shortstop Otto Lopez nor second baseman Xavier Edwards is going to be invited to any home run derbies anytime soon, but both are well-rounded in so many other facets of the game. They make a boatload of contact, play reliable defense at key positions and impact the game on the basepaths. The Marlins can find slug elsewhere on the diamond; having these two up the middle is a boon. 

25. St. Louis Cardinals (8-8)

If the season ended today, if not Pages, the NL MVP would be … Jordan Walker?! After flashing star potential as a 21-year-old rookie in 2023, Walker’s career seemed to be going sideways, as he ranked as quite literally the least valuable position player in MLB last season (min. 350 PAs) at a ghastly minus-1.2 fWAR. But the outlier physical tools, headlined by elite bat speed, have remained intact, and the patience is starting to pay off for both Walker and St. Louis, as the right fielder is pummeling the ball to an outrageous degree to start 2026. He leads MLB with eight home runs, already surpassing his 2025 total of six. He’s one of the best stories of the season so far.

26. Houston Astros (6-11)

The Astros are a complete mess on the mound, and that’s the driving factor behind their poor record and troubling spot in these rankings. But Houston’s offense has been outstanding, and the headliner has been no surprise: Yordan Alvarez is simply ridiculous. Durability questions and defensive limitations will always remove him from Best Player In Baseball conversations, but focus solely on the bat, and it’s difficult to name many superior hitters on the planet. And right now, there’s no one better: Alvarez leads MLB in fWAR, and his underlying metrics are unrivaled. Most promising of all is that he has been in the starting lineup for every game, with Houston’s plan to put him in the outfield only on occasion (four out of 16 starts) working so far.

27. Washington Nationals (7-9)

The Nationals are a lower-stakes version of the Astros, an offensive juggernaut unfortunately outweighed by an undermanned pitching staff. With James Wood and CJ Abrams, the Nats are one of just three teams with multiple hitters who have already hit five home runs, along with the Dodgers (Pages, Ohtani) and Pirates (Oneil Cruz, Lowe). The two position-player gems acquired in the Juan Soto trade, Wood and Abrams are ideal pillars to build around, though Abrams — under team control through 2028, compared to Wood through 2030 — could reemerge as an ultra-valuable trade candidate, depending on how Washington’s new front office regime views its rebuild timeline.

28. San Francisco Giants (6-10)

There isn’t a ton to feel warm and fuzzy about when it comes to San Francisco’s offense, but Willy Adames is quietly off to a rock-solid start at the plate, a refreshing change of pace from the ice-cold opening to his Giants tenure a year ago, when his OPS sat at .592 at the end of April. This time around, Adames leads the National League with nine doubles and is running a career-low 21.9% chase rate and a career-high 83.2% contact rate.

29. Colorado Rockies (6-10)

The longest-tenured Rockie, Antonio Senzatela, who debuted one day before Kyle Freeland in April 2017,has reinvented himself as a high-octane reliever after years as a middling starter. Riding a fastball that now averages 97 mph (as opposed to the 94 mph heat he delivered in the rotation) and a newly introduced cutter, the new-look Senzatela has allowed just two hits across nine scoreless innings of relief, with 12 strikeouts. He’s one of several intriguing members of a suddenly stout Colorado bullpen.

30. Chicago White Sox (6-10)

Grant Taylor boasts the enviable combination of elite extension (how far down the mound a pitcher gets before releasing the ball) and elite velocity, meaning his heater is particularly daunting for hitters, and his breaking balls play up in turn. He isn’t the closer — in fact, he has served as the “opener” in four of his seven appearances — but Tayloralready has a strong case as Chicago’s best bullpen arm, no matter how much the White Sox are paying Seranthony Dominguez to pitch the ninth.

The Eastern Conference’s third-seeded New York Knicks will take on the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. The two franchises last faced off in the postseason in 2021, with the Hawks slicing up New York’s defense en route to a 4-1 opening-round win, punctuated with a perfectly villainous Trae Young bow at center court in Madison Square Garden.

Only one person who played in that series will play in this one, though: Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu, who logged a grand total of 31 minutes. So it’s probably not THAT predictive. (Knicks fans hope it isn’t, at least.)

What we know about the Knicks

The Knicks return the core of last year’s Eastern Conference finals squad, led by All-Star bookends Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, 3-and-D+ wings OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, and dirty-work difference-makers Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride. They have been something like the fifth-best team in the NBA this season; whether you believe that’s cause for celebration or an existential crisis likely depends on how many phone numbers with 718, 212 and 917 area codes are saved in your contacts.

Mike Brown was brought in to squeeze more toothpaste out of the tube than Tom Thibodeau did — and, broadly speaking, so far, so good. The Knicks’ 53 wins are the franchise’s most since 2013, and heading into a season finale where they rested everybody besides Bridges (who played 23 seconds), they had a better offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating than the previous season, while generating 3-pointers and free throws at a higher rate, getting out in transition more and grabbing a higher share of available rebounds. Brown managed that while reducing the minutes workload for every starter save Brunson; providing increased opportunities for the likes of McBride, Landry Shamet and youngsters Tyler Kolek and Mohamed Diawara; and navigating a (voice hushes to a whisper) load-management plan (back to full volume) for Robinson that has kept the offensive-rebounding goliath healthier than he’s been in years.

(He also won the NBA Cup. So, y’know, he’s got that going for him. Which is nice.)

New York is balanced and experienced, with stars and shooting, physicality and poise, and arguably the best fourth-quarter and crunch-time résumé in the league. This is a team that doesn’t back down from a fight … which is good, because it’s about to get one.

What we know about the Hawks

Atlanta fundamentally changed its identity in January, trading longtime franchise cornerstone Young to the Wizards in favor of reorienting its offensive philosophy and reducing its defensive vulnerability. The result: one of the NBA’s best teams over the past three months.

After dealing Young, the Hawks went 28-15, a 53-win pace, with the NBA’s No. 12 offense and No. 6 defense. Their shuffled-up starting lineup — Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and new arrival CJ McCollum, the primary piece returning in the Young trade — went 14-4 and blitzed opponents by more than 20 points per 100 possessions, the second-highest mark among big-minute lineups, behind only the Charlotte Hornets’ starting five. (On the other hand, New York’s high-priced, much-ballyhooed starting five has — for the second straight season — posted an underwhelming net rating for the full season and has actually been outscored since the trade deadline.)

Today’s Hawks place more scoring and playmaking responsibility in the hands of Johnson, who may well earn his first All-NBA selection after averaging a career-best 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, and Alexander-Walker, a Most Improved Player candidate who averaged 22 points per game on scorching 50/44/95 shooting splits after the trade deadline. It’s a more multifaceted attack, predicated on moving the ball and their bodies — the Hawks led the league in assists and points created via assist, and finished fourth in total distance traveled on offense per game and third in average speed traveled on offense per game — that leverages the fact that virtually every member of their rotation can serve as either the ball-handler or screener in the pick-and-roll to tax opposing defenses and drag vulnerable defenders into the action, no matter where they might be hiding.

The caveat in Atlanta’s second-half surge is mostly competition-based. Fourteen of their 28 post-Trae-trade victories came against what my colleague Tom Haberstroh calls the “B League” — tanking teams that haven’t been trying to win for months — and 10 more came against opponents missing at least one star-level starter; in that span, they went just 5-9 against opponents with a top-10 point differential.

You don’t have to apologize for winning the games you’re supposed to win. Beating a healthy high-end opponent four times in seven games, though, represents a steeper challenge.

Head-to-head

New York won the season series, 2-1. The Knicks, yet to plunge into their post-NBA Cup swoon, came away with a 128-125 win on Dec. 27, spurred by Brunson and Towns combining for 70 points:

The Hawks returned serve the following week, notching a 111-99 win on Jan. 2 behind a balanced effort, with six players scoring in double-figures and Johnson turning in 18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists — one of his 13 triple-doubles on the season, more than anybody besides Nikola Jokić:

As ever, though, your mileage may vary on how much to take from those first-half contests. For starters, both came before the Young trade. Hart and Shamet missed both games for the Knicks, and both Towns and Robinson missed the loss. For Atlanta, Young and Kristaps Porziņģis — both since dealt — each appeared in one of those games, and Zaccharie Risacher and Asa Newell both played rotation minutes in both; neither’s likely to play significant minutes in Round 1.

The one time the teams have played since Atlanta’s midstream reformation, and with both teams at roughly full strength, came last week, with the Knicks eking out a 108-105 win, thanks largely to a monster close from Brunson, who scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter …

… and in part to McCollum’s would-be-overtime-forcing three-quarter-court heave coming off his fingertips just a tick too late:

Matchup to watch

How the Hawks defend KAT

The book on how best to deal with Towns — and to defang the Brunson-Towns two-man game, which has shown promise at times since Leon Rose paired them, but hasn’t been nearly as ubiquitous as Knicks fans hoped — has been to juggle the defensive matchups, stationing a smaller wing defender on Towns and your center “on” (but, really, a considerable distance off) Hart.

Do that, and you put yourself in position to prevent Towns from getting a steady diet of pick-and-pop looks against a big man playing drop coverage, and to switch the Brunson-KAT pick-and-roll without granting Brunson a mismatch against a lumbering center. You also might induce the Knicks to funnel more shots to Hart, a 35% career 3-point shooter whom you’d much rather see firing than New York’s two All-NBA offensive aces. (Expect the Knicks to pull a similar “ghost coverage” gambit with Daniels, who shot just 18.8% from 3-point range on 1.5 attempts per game this season — though he did make at least one 3 in seven of his final 10 appearances.)

Atlanta, though, has largely eschewed such cross-matching, preferring instead to keep starting center Okongwu on Towns while putting its weakest starting-lineup defender elsewhere — Young on Bridges back in December, McCollum on Hart last week — and otherwise playing things straight. Towns has mostly torched that coverage, scoring 57 points in 62 minutes on 63% shooting against Atlanta and routinely either getting clean looks beyond the arc or free releases on rolls to the basket with little-to-no secondary rim protection behind Okongwu:

If New York is able to punish straight-up coverage on Towns in a way that proves untenable for Atlanta — whether by KAT finishing himself or by Brunson getting going off the ball in a two-man game that’s looked better and better of late …

… how will Hawks coach Quin Snyder respond? Does he want to chance entrusting Johnson with that defensive responsibility while also needing him to serve as Atlanta’s top creator and finisher? He surely wants to keep Daniels on Brunson at every opportunity; if Towns is on fire, though, does he gamble on sliding his best defender into the matchup, cycling Alexander-Walker over to Brunson, and daring the Knicks to make the likes of Anunoby, Bridges and Hart beat them?

Or does he just stay the course, trusting that even if Towns goes off, the Hawks will be able to make it up on the other end — where they’ve scored a scorching 123.3 points-per-100 against New York in KAT’s minutes this season?

Key question

Can the Hawks turn this into a track meet?

The Hawks finished the regular season fifth in possessions per 48 minutes; the Knicks were 25th. The Hawks were second in the NBA in average time to shot, according to Inpredictable; the Knicks were 24th. The Hawks had the second-quickest average offensive possession, according to PBP Stats; the Knicks had the fourth slowest. The Hawks were fourth in the league in transition frequency, with nearly 17% of their offensive plays coming on the fast break, according to Cleaning the Glass; the Knicks were 16th, at just over 15%.

It all tracks, from a “styles make fights” perspective. With Brunson at the controls of the offense, and Anunoby, Bridges and Hart to turn perimeter assignments into a wrestling match, New York prefers a half-court game. With all the length and athleticism that Atlanta has on the wing — Johnson, NAW, Daniels, newcomer Jonathan Kuminga off the bench — playing uptempo before an opponent can get its defense set favors the Hawks. Whichever team sets the speed limit has the best chance of setting the terms of engagement for what ought to be a tough, hard-fought series.

(One X-factor to watch there: The possession-controlling play of Robinson, who rebounded an absurd 23.9% of New York’s missed shots during his floor time this season, and whose length and quick hands make him a shot-blocking and steal-grabbing menace. Across two matchups with the Hawks this season, Robinson grabbed eight offensive rebounds, four blocks and four steals in 38 total minutes, which New York won by 14 points; his physicality could overwhelm an Atlanta front line that really lacks size, especially if reserve Jock Landale isn’t ready to go after suffering a right high ankle sprain against the Magic two weeks ago.)

BetMGM series odds

(Via BetMGM)

New York Knicks (-300)

Atlanta Hawks (+240)

Prediction: Knicks in six

The Hawks are tough, talented, versatile and athletic, with enough experience (McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Gabe Vincent, et al.) that it’s unlikely they’ll wilt in the postseason hothouse, despite it being this core’s first trip as a unit. But these Knicks have won at least one road game in the opening round in each of the last three postseasons — and, in fact, eliminated the Cavaliers, 76ers and Pistons all away from MSG. I expect the trend to continue, with Brunson and Towns having big series en route to New York’s fifth series win in the last four postseasons.

Series schedule (all times Eastern)

Game 1: Atlanta at New York on Saturday, April 18 (6 p.m., Prime Video)

Game 2: Atlanta at New York (TBD)

Game 3: New York at Atlanta (TBD)

Game 4: New York at Atlanta (TBD)

*Game 5: Atlanta at New York (TBD)

*Game 6: New York at Atlanta (TBD)

*Game 7: Atlanta at New York (TBD)

*if necessary

The Milwaukee Brewers placed three-time All-Star and former MVP Christian Yelich on the injured list Tuesday with a second-degree adductor strain that’s expected to sideline him for at least a month.

The Brewers confirmed the injury Tuesday afternoon and announced that he’s expected to be out until at least mid-May. Yelich sustained the injury in Sunday’s 8-6 loss to the Washington Nationals.

The Brewers replaced Yelich in the lineup for his scheduled third at-bat on Sunday. The severity of his injury wasn’t initially clear, but manager Pat Murphy wasn’t optimistic in his postgame news conference.

“We’re most likely to get some bad news on Yelich,” Murphy told reporters.

It turns out that he was right to be concerned.

Brewers will look to break slump without Yelich

The injury is a blow to a reeling Brewers team that lost its fifth straight game on Sunday to drop to 8-7. The loss completed a three-game sweep at the hands of the Nationals.

Milwaukee had Monday off and starts a three-game series against the reigning AL champion Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday in third place in the NL Central, 1.5 games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates (10-6). The Blue Jays are off to their own poor start at 6-9.

Yelich, 34, is playing his 14th MLB season and his ninth with the Brewers. The 2018 NL MVP, Yelich is a three-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger winner and one-time Gold Glove winner.

Yelich made his most recent All-Star team in 2024. He didn’t make the All-Star team in 2025, but finished the season with 29 home runs, his highest tally since he hit 44 in 2019.

Yelich was off to a strong start prior to his injury. Through 15 games, Yelich is slashing .314/.375/.451 with 1 home run, 10 RBI and 3 stolen bases. The Brewers will have to look to break out of their slump without him.

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The end of the regular season brings to a close the initial campaign of this rookie class. It’s a time for reflection, an understanding of how far these players have grown over the course of the year. It’s also your final opportunity to yell, scream and fight over the Rookie of the Year.

No matter who wins, this was a unique battle. Cooper Flagg was handed a ton of responsibility in Dallas, took his bumps from the league and responded with a force that won’t be forgotten. Kon Knueppel displayed an unexpected level of consistency for a better-than-expected Hornets team. Both had their historic moments, and the fact they competed against each other spoke volumes. The bigger picture, though, is both teams have to feel good about adding an important piece to their foundations. 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

As we turn the corner into Year 2, there is a responsibility to salute Year 1. Growth can be messy, but should never be ignored. This class left a mark on this season. The best players figured out how to problem-solve on the blow. Some players may have more questions to answer, but there is now an understanding of what they can do, how that may help their team going forward, and how they can get better in the offseason. Here’s a final look at what the top rookies did over the course of this year. 

1. Kon Knueppel, Hornets

Knueppel is the first rookie in NBA history to lead the entire league in 3-pointers made (273). But the strength of his season has been his consistency: He led all rookies in 20-point games this season (36). That consistency opened up the playbook for Charlotte.

One of my favorite things to track with the Hornets is how they force defenses to chase Knueppel off screens. Start him in the corner, set a flex screen with a pindown in the middle of the floor. Start him on the block, set a screen near the elbow and allow him to curl into space on the wing. Those actions give him the space to get to his shot, drive or flow into a pick-and-roll.

No matter what, forcing a defense to chase Knueppel around the court has been a win for the Hornets offense. 

And while the consistent shot has brought Knueppel to the dance, the secret sauce is in the footwork and drives.

Defenses seeing him moving toward the 3-point line will sell out to take away the shot. His footwork to plant and use a simple shot fake or a look at the rim opens up the drive to add a layer to his offensive attack. 

Knueppel’s ability to make shots has gotten the attention, but what comes after that is so important.

2. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks

No matter how loud the noise may have been coming in, Flagg managed to deliver a louder exclamation point on his first season. Flagg led the Mavericks in total points, rebounds, assists and steals, becoming the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in all of those categories. That’s something that should not be ignored, and neither should Flagg’s maturation. 

His confidence and comfort stood out as the season progressed. An example of that was his left-hand drive. Looking for an opportunity to attack after Dallas calls a play, Flagg starts with a drive left, gets back right and, with a hesitation, gets back to his left hand again to turn the corner. 

That aggression (14.5 drives per game post All-Star break, according to NBA.com’s tracking data) opened up the playbook for Dallas: get Flagg off-ball and get to the same result; run a pindown for Flagg at the elbow with the left side open; work to clear the left side of the floor. If a defender wants to go under on an early wide pindown, Flagg knows he can work to get back left with space and attack. If a play breaks down, you can see the trust he has attacking. 

The other growth from Flagg came in the playmaking department.

In pick-and-roll against the Clippers (below), Brook Lopez showed, and Flagg immediately loaded up to hit Marvin Bagley on the roll. Dallas also used Flagg to attack matchups, but when he saw a small and didn’t want to switch, he still looked to attack and make a play. If bigs were in a drop, Flagg worked to set up an angle, attack the space and make a decision once the big engaged. 

At the start of the season defenses threw different coverages at him to disrupt his rhythm. Those reps paid off over the course of the season because Flagg had an understanding of what defenses wanted to do.

3. VJ Edgecombe, 76ers

It seems easy to forget just how much Edgecombe was able to contribute in his rookie campaign. On one hand, it may speak to the talent involved at the top of the Rookie of the Year conversation. On the other, it may mute his overall impact.

As much as we could talk about his attacks in transition and his ability to get buckets, my mind goes to his development off-ball. His consistent understanding of how to open up things when he is spaced on the perimeter speaks volumes: If someone else is in pick-and-roll, he lifts from the corner to the wing to open up spacing, but also is ready to make defenses pay when they close out. This is the benefit of playing next to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George: finding a way to attack the gaps they create. 

On ball, Edgecombe found a greater comfort setting up defenses — fighting ball pressure, waiting for a screen to get set and navigating space — to get to his spot and take the shots he wanted.

Edgecombe finished the season with a 12-game stretch where he averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists. This year’s version of the Sixers demanded a different version of Edgecome than expected, and he delivered consistently all year long. 

4. Dylan Harper, Spurs

If you look at the tracking data from NBA.com, it tells a story about what Harper was able to add to the Spurs during their unbelievable hot stretch to end the season. He shot 60.4% on 2s overall, 52.6% on pull-up 2s and 46.3% on above-the-break 3-pointers.

On film, his poise and composure consistently stand out. And his ability to generate a paint touch or finish without a screen has been important to the Spurs’ offense. 

Over the course of the season, Harper’s confidence grew in pick-and-roll. Accepting how a defense wanted to cover him, dealing with the pressure and refusing to get sped up. The mix of hesitations and ball control left defenses pressuring but also wondering why they were out of position as Harper rose up to shoot or finish. He wasn’t afraid to hit first, understanding it was not always necessary, but working to not let the defense recover. 

There is a command that he consistently brings to the table that has allowed the Spurs to put 48 minutes of great guard play on the court.

5. Cedric Coward, Grizzlies

Depending on how you feel about the Grizzlies’ season or the back half of Coward’s campaign, it can be easy to forget the flashes he displayed. Either way, Coward started the season shooting lights out from 3 and finished the season making 3s and getting buckets.

Coward’s ability to contribute on both ends of the floor may have flown under the radar for some. His off-ball work consistently stood out. If defenses worked to deny, he had no issue cutting backdoor. If he was spaced on the perimeter and defenses helped, he had no issue relocating into space to get a pass for a shot. 

On top of his ability to space off-ball, Coward developed a way to layer in drives to add to his ability to find gaps. The ability to quickly try and attack is something that should help him going forward.

Another area where he found comfort was getting to his spot in pick-and-roll. He has the shooting ability and the size, but being able to get to a pull-up 2 or 3 that he wants to take could speak volumes going forward. 

6. Maxime Raynaud, Kings

There were two rookies who recorded consecutive 30-plus point games this season. One was Flagg, the other was —checks notes — Raynaud. It’s hard to run the tape back to the start and imagine the contributions Raynaud would give the Kings.

Raynaud is one of 10 players in NBA history to record 800-plus points, 450-plus rebounds and shoot 55% in his first year. We’ve talked about his ability to screen and roll, but he finished the season shooting 74.6% in the restricted area. It was fun to watch Raynaud work in space in the second half of the season. More comfort attacking in space, willing to mix in more drives and shooting 39.4% from 3 (on low volume) could lead to him being a more complete player. 

7. Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans

Fears has one of the more interesting rookie campaigns to digest. Early on he displayed a consistency that was unexpected, but the rookie wall knocked on the door and he regressed to a degree before finishing the season on fire. He scored 28.8 ppg in the month of April on 50.5% shooting from the field with 5.2 assists to deliver a reminder of his potential.

There may be pushback against scoring guards, but Fears showcased a blend of skill, playmaking and bucket-getting that can’t always be taught. The shiftiness that Fears displayed both on-ball and off-ball should serve him well going forward. The biggest deal would be for him to bottle that into a form of consistency. 

8. Collin Murray-Boyles, Raptors

The beauty of Murray-Boyles’ rookie campaign was in the tasks he was asked to complete for the Raptors. If they needed him to play the 5 and screen and roll, that was never an issue. If they needed him to guard [insert star player name here], that was never an issue. If they needed him to drive, that was never an issue.

The effort that CMB gave defensively always stood out — high activity, high ball pressure, and working to navigate screens and make sure the opponent did not have a good time. The little things matter and being relied on to bring them every night is not always something you expect from a rookie. 

9. Derik Queen, Pelicans

Time will tell what Queen’s true impact ends up becoming, but there is little to doubt with the talent and potential. Queen finished the season with three straight double-doubles, including a 30-point, 22-rebound performance against Minnesota.

There is a skill and craft to Queen’s game. Footwork, patience and timing allow him to operate on drives and in the post. The passing continues to be the portion that should be bookmarked. If he can find the consistency defensively with his skill set, you can see the vision if you’re a Pelicans fan. 

10. Ace Bailey, Jazz

Only time will tell the value of repetition and what it could mean for Bailey going forward. The most important thing is he got the opportunity to learn on the fly on both ends of the floor, and it will be on him to learn the lessons from this season. While the consistency may not have stuck, there is no doubt that gave the effort to improve offensively and defensively.

The bucket-getting may have brought him to the dance, but he got a season of learning on the job under his belt. Shooting 40.3% from 3 over the month of March on 8.5 attempts let’s you know what could ultimately come together when all is said and done. 

Honorable mentions: Tre Johnson, Wizards; Egor Dёmin, Nets; Hugo González, Celtics; Ryan Kalkbrenner, Hornets; Ryan Nembhard, Mavericks; Sion James, Hornets; Nique Clifford, Kings