NBA Playoffs Result Today: Who Won and What It Means for the Championship Race

As I sat down to watch Friday night's NBA playoff action, I couldn't help but feel that familiar playoff intensity in the air. You know that feeling - where every possession matters, every defensive stop could swing a series, and individual performances can either make or break a team's championship dreams. Let me tell you, last night's games delivered exactly that kind of drama, especially when it comes to understanding who's really positioned to make a serious run at the Larry O'Brien trophy.

I've been watching Thompson's career since his Golden State days, and last night's performance against Denver was particularly fascinating to analyze. In Friday night's 103-92 defeat, Thompson showed flashes of his old self, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds - definitely more active compared to his previous outing where he seemed almost invisible on both ends. But here's what really caught my eye as someone who's studied his game for years: he shot just 5-of-14 from the field, and most curiously, wound up without a single assist in 32 minutes of play. That zero in the assist column isn't just a random stat - it tells a story about how he's being used in their offensive scheme and why his team came up short despite his improved rebounding numbers.

When we're talking about the NBA playoffs result today and what it means for the championship race, we have to look beyond the final score. Thompson's performance exemplifies why his team now faces elimination despite having what should be enough talent to compete. The shooting struggles I can understand - playoff defenses are designed to take away your comfort zones, and he was clearly forcing some contested looks. But what concerns me more is that complete absence of playmaking. In today's NBA, even your shooting specialists need to create for others when their shot isn't falling. I remember watching similar situations with Ray Allen in his later years - when his three-point shot wasn't available, he'd find other ways to impact the game through ball movement and hockey assists that don't always show up in traditional stats.

What we're seeing here is a fundamental challenge that several contending teams are facing in these playoffs. The game has evolved to require every player to be a threat in multiple ways, and when one piece isn't functioning within that system, it creates cascading effects throughout the lineup. Thompson's zero-assist night isn't just about his individual performance - it's about how Denver's defense successfully isolated him as primarily a scoring threat and forced him into difficult shots while cutting off his passing lanes. Smart defensive schemes in the playoffs will always test your weakest link, and right now, opponents are clearly game-planning around Thompson's limitations as a playmaker.

From my perspective, the solution isn't just about Thompson improving his court vision - though that would certainly help. It's about his coaching staff making strategic adjustments to put him in positions where he can leverage his scoring threat to create opportunities for others. We saw glimpses of this earlier in the season when they'd run him through dribble-handoff actions that forced defenses to collapse, opening up passing angles that simply weren't available in last night's game. They need to go back to those sets, maybe incorporate some weak-side screening actions to give him clearer passing lanes when he drives.

The broader implication for the championship race is becoming clearer with each passing game. Teams that rely heavily on one-dimensional players, even exceptionally talented ones, are finding themselves exposed against elite playoff defenses. As we analyze today's NBA playoffs results and project forward, the teams still standing share one common characteristic - they have multiple players who can both score and create for others. Thompson's team now faces the reality that unless they can unlock this dimension of his game, or significantly adjust their rotation, their championship window might be closing faster than anyone anticipated. Personally, I still believe they have one more adjustment left in them - but it needs to happen immediately, because in the playoffs, tomorrow is never guaranteed.