NBA stretch-run musings: Death lineups missing in action; Tom ...

That group was on the court at the end of the Bucks' wins against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and Tuesday, but it has only appeared in four games for a total of eight minutes, as pointed out by Nekias Duncan on the latest episode of Basketball News' "The Dunker Spot" podcast. You're probably aware that the Nets' Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have played just 186 minutes together, but you might not know that only one combination featuring the Big Three appeared in each of the seven games in which the trio was healthy. Hill has played 167 minutes in nine games as a Sixer, and the potential closing lineup that we nerds on the internet were so excited about (Ben Simmons, Hill, Danny Green, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid) has yet to make its debut. The case for Tom Thibodeau winning Coach of the Year is usually presented in a fairly straightforward way: The New York Knicks have been shockingly competent all season, overcoming their offensive limitations by getting far more stops than anybody anticipated. In the 17 games since the beginning of April, New York has scored 117.5 points per 100 possessions, the second-best offense in the NBA. Jackson has made 46.8 percent (!) of his catch-and-shoot 3s this season, per NBA.com, and, for the first time in his career, more than half of his made field goals have been assisted, per CTG. In the 23 games he's played since March 3, the second game of the Nate McMillan era, Gallinari has per-36-minute averages of 21.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 0.461/0.449/0.934 shooting splits, with a 21.4 percent usage rate and a 64.7 percent true shooting percentage. Rose has had the more consistent season, but he's been on another level for the last 15 games, with per-36-minute averages of 22.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 0.528/0.421/0.892 shooting splits, with a 24.3 percent usage rate and a 60.4 percent true shooting percentage. It's not an accident that New York's bench quietly has the second-best aggregate net rating in the NBA (and has been annihilating teams since the beginning of April) -- the Knicks have outscored opponents by 13.5 points per 100 possessions with Rose on the court this season.