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The NBA Mailbag is open with NBA legend and NBC analyst Jamal Crawford here to answer your questions during the 2026 NBA Playoffs as he calls games on NBC/Peacock. This weekend, he will be in Phoenix for Game 3 of the Thunder-Suns series on Sunday (3:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

Have a question for Jamal? Submit it here. 

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Which first-round series is the best matchup in your opinion? – from Landon in Burlington, Ontario, Canada

There are some really good ones. I’m going to pick one in the East and the West.

For the West, I love the Lakers-Rockets series because I believe small adjustments can shift the entire series. The Lakers are playing great, LeBron’s at an unreal level and JJ Redick is making all the right moves. But I think it’s Houston’s time to shine when they go home, regroup and make adjustments. So I’m excited about that series.

In the East, it’s Philadelphia-Boston. It’s intriguing because everybody had Boston just blowing everybody out. But losing at home like that changes things. If Embiid can come back, things will get really interesting.

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Which player do you think is built for a breakout moment in these playoffs, and why? – from Kishu in Chicago, IL

Jalen Johnson. After watching him up close, it’s clear he has all the tools and unselfishness you need to lead a team. I feel like he’s making that mental adjustment with his physicality and learning when to dominate on offense and put on his scoring hat. So I think he’ll be the guy that kind of breaks out.

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Which playoff team this year has the best closer when the game gets tight? – from Sam in Great Neck, NY

Nikola Jokić, because he can close you out from anywhere – in the paint, from mid-range, 3-point or the free-throw line.

And he’s different from closers who only beat you with a shot. He can beat you in so many different ways.

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What stood out to you most when calling Game 2 of Hawks-Knicks? – from Devin in Brooklyn, NY

What stood out most was how the Knicks were playing unbelievably early in the game, but they couldn’t really separate and get away from the Hawks. Atlanta stayed right there. And that proved to be enough.

I’ll tell you guys this (and I told my NBC family) … CJ McCollum talked to me before the game, and said, “We’re winning tonight. I promise we’re winning tonight.” So it was cool to see him be instrumental in their win.

CJ WHOA 😳 pic.twitter.com/5AJGSMlazt

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 21, 2026

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Seeing how Jayson Tatum has returned from one of the worst injuries in sports in such a short time, what do you like most about how he has changed his style of play? – from Hareth in California

I like that he’s grown mentally. Sometimes when people get injured, they don’t come back the same player athletically, but they come back the same player mentally.

He’s made that adjustment and taken his game a step further mentally. Just how willing he is to bring everybody else along with him, while still being so good. It’s inspiring to see.

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Is Scoot Henderson’s Game 2 performance repeatable? How did he adjust his game? – from Sam in Boulder, CO

His physical gifts and physical mentality have helped him in the playoffs. He’s not playing for fouls. He’s just attacking, picking his spots and making his jump shots.

So when he’s doing those three things and playing with confidence, he’s tough to stop. He’s been great for the Trail Blazers. Even Tiago Splitter said that was maybe the best game of his career. That always makes you feel good when your coach says stuff like that about you. It gives you a certain freedom.

Scoot found himself in rare Blazers company after his game 2 performance 🤝 pic.twitter.com/cnNaCaM9WF

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 22, 2026

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How else does Wembanyama affect offenses other than blocks, steals and deflects? – from Jace in Santa Maria, CA

He’s hurt right now; hopefully, he’ll be back to full health and ready to go soon.

He changes your entire offense because you have to be so aware of where he is at all times. It’s almost like how Deion Sanders used to be in football. Teams would completely avoid throwing the ball to his side of the field. Wemby’s the same way in the paint.

Wherever he’s at, you don’t even get close to going in there because he’s going to make you think you have a shot, and then attack to block it.

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How do you expect Jokić and the Nuggets to adjust for Game 3? – from Caleb in Denver, CO

They were right there. Jokić was missing touch shots that we’ve seen him make consistently for 3 years. They just weren’t going in during Game 2. I think he’ll be more dominant right from the start. He’s played against Rudy before in the playoffs. He knows who he is. Rudy does an excellent job on defense overall, but Jokić is just a different level from everybody who plays the game. So he’ll exude his dominance, and that gives his teammates confidence to do what they do best.

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Do you think the Cavs can make it to the East Finals or even the Finals due to how experienced Mitchell and Harden are in the playoffs? – from Farhan in Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Anything’s possible. But I lean more towards the Celtics. I think Boston has everything it needs to get there. They have that championship pedigree that could be difficult for the Cavs to overcome.

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You played in the NBA for 20 seasons. What is the one piece of advice you give to young players today about how to keep their bodies and minds sharp for two decades? – from Jack in Sydney, Australia

Stay in love with the game. When you stay in love with it and the process, everything else follows. The ice tubs, the massages, the foam rolls, the acupunctures, eating right, drinking lots of water, not hanging out too much … all of those things are related to your love for the game. When you’re in love with it, you want to be good at it. You want to be able to do it at a high level. You want to be consistent with that approach. Like anything, it just becomes routine, which turns into a way of life.

So stay in love with the game. All the other things become necessary and easy for you when you love it. Like, “Yeah, I know I need to get my extra weights in, because I want to feel better when I’m competing at the highest level.”

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What is one skill young guards should master early if they want to last in the league? – from Abudukerimu on X

They should be able to play off the ball. When you get to the league, you’re playing with the best players in the world. So it’s more likely you’re going to play with a team that already has a star or 2 or maybe even three. The more you can fit in with those guys, the better. Play off the ball, catch and shoot, make quick decisions, do the stuff they don’t necessarily need to do – picking up full court, being a leader, coming with positive energy, being somebody who’s low maintenance off the court. All those things go into having a long career as a guard.

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Who all-time is the most “silent-but-deadly” player that you can think of? – from Jason in Mukilteo, WA

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Nick Van Exel, Rod Strickland and Mark Price.

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How do you separate basketball life and being a family man? – from Yadram on Facebook

Family always comes first. There’s nothing more important. They’re the backbone of everything, and they give you the peace of mind that allows you to go out there and compete at the highest level because you know your family supports you – good, bad, or indifferent.

So that comes first. But basketball for me is a way of life. I’ve loved it ever since I was two years old. The game’s always had a hold on me, and it’s been really cool to see it from different angles. It’s continued to evolve and I continue to want to learn more about the game and see it from new perspectives. So it’s changed over the years, but family’s always first.

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When you do the double-behind-the-back dibble move, what in particular do you have to do to sell the defender? – from Derek in Cheshire, CT

It helps when there’s a screen there, because most really good defenders are going to try to fight over the screen. When they do that, you make it look like you’re going the way they’re trying to fight over … then that instant behind-the-back comes.

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What was your workout routine in your freshman year of high school? – from Luke in Vermont

Oh wow. You’re going all the way back. Obviously, I was one of the before-practice, after-practice guys. I was always trying to get better, always working on my game.

But the summer was really where the separation came. I would wake up, eat, go to the gym at 10 a.m., and be there until 1. I’d work on my game and play with the group that was there. That group would leave every lunch, and I’d get a quick bite, then come back to that gym at 2, and here comes a whole other set of guys who weren’t there earlier. I’d play with them from 2 to 4. And they would leave.

Then I could jump on my bike and go to another gym to get some more run and shots in. So it was two or three times a day, just different gyms all the time.

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Coming off a stunning, fourth-quarter comeback in Game 2 of their first-round series against the New York Knicks, the Atlanta Hawks are looking to maintain home-court advantage with the series moving to Atlanta.

The Hawks won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games at State Farm Arena, but the one loss (Apr. 6) was to the Knicks, who won their first five road games (by a total of 10 points) in last year’s playoffs.

Here are three things to watch with both teams looking to take a 2-1 series lead in Game 3 on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

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1. Bench play

Starters’ minutes are extended in the playoffs, but one big difference between the Knicks’ win in Game 1 and the Hawks’ win in Game 2 was how the teams performed with reserves on the floor …

• In Game 1, the Knicks outscored the Hawks by six points in Jalen Brunson’s 11:36 on the bench.

• In Game 2, they were outscored by four points in Brunson’s 11:53 on the bench.

Karl-Anthony Towns was also on the bench for almost all (11:22) of that 11:53 that Brunson rested in Game 2, and the Knicks scored just 16 points on 23 offensive possessions in that time. His bench ranked third this season, which is a small sample size, but small sample sizes are all you get in the playoffs. Coach Mike Brown may choose to stagger (or extend) his All-Stars’ minutes a little more on Thursday.

For the Hawks, Jonathan Kuminga is an X-factor. After a quiet night in Game 1, the 23-year-old played almost 35 minutes in Game 2, scoring 19 points and adding two steals and a block on defense. And he was on the floor instead of All-Defense candidate Dyson Daniels as the Hawks held the Knicks to just six points on nine clutch possessions.

With backup center Jock Landale out, the Hawks may be undersized and outmanned at the five, but can play bigger at the other positions, especially with the Knicks using three small (and/or slight) guards – Jordan Clarkson, Miles McBride and Jose Alvarado – off the bench.

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2. Late-clock execution

The Knicks had one of the best (and most-used) late-clock offenses in the league. They ranked second in effective field goal percentage (51.2%) in the last seven seconds of the shot clock and fourth in the percentage of their shots (22%) that came in the last seven seconds.

It’s good to be good late in the clock, but it’s better not to have so many long possessions. Every team’s effective field goal percentage was much lower in the last seven seconds of the shot clock than it was otherwise.

In this series, the Knicks have struggled late in the clock. They’re just 12-for-46 (including 4-for-16 from 3-point range) in the final seven seconds of the shot clock through Game 2. That’s an effective goal percentage of just 30.4%, compared to 63.8% through the first 17 seconds.

Here was a critical possession late in Game 2 where the Knicks walked the ball up the floor and couldn’t get the ball to Towns in the post. So the ball remains 30 feet from the basket and ends up in the hands of Josh Hart with six seconds left on the clock …

Hart has been a much-improved 3-point shooter this season, but his shooting a pull-up 3 with three seconds left on the clock is a pretty good result for the Hawks …

The Hawks haven’t been as efficient early in the clock, but they’ve had to work late about half as often…

Shooting in the last 7 seconds of the shot clock

eFG% = (FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
%FGA = Percentage of total FGA

Credit the Hawks’ defense for some of the Knicks’ struggles late in the clock. Nickeil-Alexander Walker has had some timely stops against Brunson, and they’ve all been pretty disciplined when he gets into the paint, staying down on pump fakes and contesting his shots without fouling.

The Knicks should still have better success late in the clock as the series continues. But they should also play with a bit more pace to avoid so many late-clock situations.

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3. Towns in the post

The Knicks were trying to get the ball to Towns in the post against Kuminga in that possession illustrated above. But Kuminga denied the entry pass and the Knicks were left scrambling late in the clock.

Onyeka Okongwu has been the Hawks player who has defended Towns the most, but he’s also been matched up with a lot of smaller Hawks. Sometimes it’s been Dyson Daniels, so Atlanta can switch the Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll.

Towns has, at times, taken advantage of those mismatches on the glass. But according to tracking data, he’s had just four post-ups over the two games, the same number as Brunson.

Okongwu forced him into a tough shot in the fourth quarter on Monday, but Towns’ other three post-ups were against Kuminga (who fouled him) and Mouhamed Gueye. Against Gueye, he made a short jump hook and missed a short turnaround.

We could see the Knicks be a little quicker to get Towns the ball in the post when he’s matched up with a smaller defender in Game 3. And if he can take advantage of his size inside, that could open things up elsewhere on the floor.

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John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.