The upcoming ITV drama Believe Me features established and rising British stars coming together to tell a harrowing British story. Aimée-Ffion Edwards (Slow Horses, Peaky Blinders, Mr Burton), Aasiya Shah (Raised by Wolves, Bloods, The Beast Must Die) and Miriam Petche (Industry) feature in the four-episode series opposite Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Des, A Thousand Blows, Moonflower Murders) as John Worboys, who is known in the U.K. by a more sinister moniker: the “Black Cab Rapist.”
He has drawn many a headline, so now it is time for women who suffered because of him to see their stories and their experiences told. From the indignity of multiple police interviews and intimate evidence gathering to skeptical lines of questioning from police officers, Believe Me takes audiences through many a painful, frustrating and anger-inducing experience.
Indeed, Believe Me, written and executive produced by Jeff Pope (Philomena, Stan & Ollie, Cilla), produced by his Etta Pictures, part of ITV Studios, and directed by Julia Ford, tells the story of the victims of “one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history” and how they “were failed by the system,” a show description reads. “Worboys was convicted in 2009 for crimes, including sexual assault and drugging with intent, against 12 women between 2006 and 2008, with their cases selected from a large number of suspected further victims. His modus operandi was to pick up women in his cab after they’d been on a night out, claim that he’d had a win at a casino or in the lottery, then persistently offer them a drug-laced glass of champagne to help him ‘celebrate’ – which then rendered his victims unconscious.”
Believe Me focuses on the ordeals of two women, portrayed by Edwards and Shah, who reported sexual assaults by Worboys, only to see London’s Metropolitan Police, aka Scotland Yard, failing to thoroughly investigate their cases, effectively leaving Worboys free to commit assaults undetected for years. Following his trial came the realization that he was linked to allegations of further sexual offenses against more than a hundred women. Believe Me is expected to premiere on ITV and ITVX in the coming weeks, with a launch date yet to be made official.
As a writer and/or producer, Pope has explored true-crime stories in such series as The Widower, about convicted murderer Malcolm Webster, and The Reckoning, about the sexual crimes of British media personality Jimmy Savile. But he prefers to explore the human fallout of crimes rather than glorify their perpetrators. “That’s really been my process for a long time now,” Pope shared during an online discussion about Believe Me with members of the press. “I’m not really interested in trying to get inside the mind of psychopaths.”
In fact, he shared that the creative team, including director Ford, knew quite quickly where the story’s focus would lie. “We really settled very early in the creative process on making this very much about the experience of the victims,” Pope explained. “These women were drugged and they could tell something had happened, but they didn’t know exactly what had happened.”
Daniel Mays in ITV drama ‘Believe Me’
Courtesy of ITV
The creative team is showing us not the crimes themselves, but what led up to them and the emotional fallout. “We take the audience along the journey with [these women] on the day they report being assaulted, hours and hours and hours of interviews, intimate examinations, more interviews, samples are being taken, intimate swabs,” highlighted Pope. “These women just went through the most horrendous process of all, ultimately to be told we don’t believe a crime has happened. Essentially: ‘We don’t believe you’.” That is also where the title of the series comes from.
Mays had in the past already collaborated with Pope on Mrs Biggs and Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, so he was confident that Believe Me would be a strong show. “If Jeff’s going to come at you with a script, you know it’s going to be heartfelt, it’s going to be engaging, it’s going to be thoroughly researched,” the actor shared with the press. “He’s absolutely meticulous with his storytelling. He comes from a journalistic background, and so, in as much as it was a huge character to take on, with all the challenges that it threw at me, Jeff, as a writer, seems to get the best out of me as an actor.”
Mays kept highlighting the challenges of portraying a convicted criminal like Worboys, also describing the role as “a huge thing to take on” and an “acting challenge.”
The star shared: “You’re being asked to sort of humanize someone who is evil, essentially. It’s about delving beneath those headlines and trying to play him in as three-dimensional a way as possible.”
Pope said that he knew Mays would be able to pull off this challenge. But how about the emotional toll of slipping into the role of Worboys? “I underestimated how difficult that was going to be,” Mays told journalists. “I’ve got 26 years of experience as a professional actor, but I’m not going to lie to you. It did, at times, take its toll. It was a difficult thing and an unsettling thing to portray, and very isolating by its very nature.”
Director Ford was asked about her description of the show as a fair and balanced portrayal of what happened to Worboys’ victims. “It’s just that this felt like the best way to tell the story,” she explained.
“Undeniably, these women were treated very, very poorly by the police, … and we tell the story from their point of view,” she continued. “But I suppose what I meant by that was that we don’t point the finger at one individual, one police man or police woman. It’s not about one particular individual, it’s about the whole system.”
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama’s first playoff game. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson’s first playoff game along with the playoff debuts of San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
It was the first Spurs’ playoff game without Gregg Popovich as coach since 1999 – a span that covered 170 playoff victories and five NBA championships – and the Spurs’ first playoff appearance and victory since 2019.
“We’ve had a lot of firsts this year,” Mitch Johnson said. “Obviously, this is at the top of the list when you start talking about a playoff win, but I do think our group’s done a really good job of taking everything in stride and just being present in the moment and where our feet are at.”
Several Trail Blazers made their playoff debut, as well: Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara and interim coach Tiago Splitter.
Here are four takeaways from the series opener:
1. Wembanyama’s record-setting playoff debut
Wembanyama’s line: 35 points on 13-for-21 shooting, including 5-for-6 on 3-pointers, five rebounds, two blocks and one assist. He set a franchise record for most points in a playoff debut, passing Tim Duncan’s 32. Duncan attended the game along with fellow Spurs great David Robinson.
Wembanyama is the center of attention in this series, and rightfully so. The third-year forward-center was an All-Star this season for the second time and is a finalist for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
How would he perform in his playoff debut? He excelled, especially as a scorer. The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama’s first career playoff point came on a free throw and his first made field goal was a six-foot runner along with baseline. He had his 3-ball going, including an off-the-dribble slight fadeaway corner 3 late in the second quarter.
He scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting in the first half, was scoreless in the third quarter and had 14 in the fourth.
“There’s an approach that we all have in terms of an expectation of a heightened level of preparation, detail, nuance, competitiveness, physicality, everything,” Mitch Johnson said. “And I think there’s a real desire from that young man to want to participate in that. This is his first playoff game, and he has lofty expectations and goals for himself.”
2. Trail Blazers need more than Deni Avdija’s scoring
Avdija showed why he was an All-Star for the first time this season: 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal. But only one other Trail Blazers starter scored in doubles figures (Scoot Henderson, 18 points).
The Trail Blazers shot just 42.9% from the field and 26.3% on 3-pointers, and remove Avdija’s shooting stats from the equation, Portland was below 40% from the field and under 25% on 3s. Yes, the Spurs had the third-best defense and have Wembanyama’s imposing defensive presence, but Portland trailed by two early in the third quarter. It just lacked the offensive answers to stick with San Antonio.
3. The other Spurs’ youngsters deliver
Castle, the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year, had 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and though he was not efficient shooting from the field, he made all eight of his free-throw attempts.
Vassell added 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and rookie Dylan Harper had six points, four rebounds and two assists, and while single-game plus-minus can be misleading, Harper was plus-18 in 23 minutes.
“I thought they responded great,” Mitch Johnson said. “We talked about how this was going to be an atmosphere and a level of energy and enthusiasm in this building that none of us have felt – not sitting on the bench in the roles that we’re in right now. And that was OK.
“And so we knew the start of the game was going to be filled with energy. And we made sure to try to get back to the regular schedule programming, but they deserved that. They deserved that moment to feel this city, their fans, that crowd, giving them that energy. And I thought they ended up getting settled, but I was expecting nothing but that.”
4. De’Aaron Fox’s necessary veteran presence
San Antonio’s De’Aaron Fox has just one previous playoff series on his resume – a 2023 first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors when Fox played for the Sacramento Kings. But he is a veteran with more than 600 career games, and the Spurs will need his experience and leadership as the Spurs move deeper into the playoffs.
In Game 1, Fox had 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and it’s likely the Spurs will have a game or two where they rely even more on Fox’s ability.
Binance CEO Richard Teng announced a remarkable increase in weekend trading volumes in traditional asset-based futures. According to data shared by Teng via X, weekend trading volume in the exchange’s perpetual contracts tied to traditional financial assets rose by approximately 300 percent between January and March.
According to the statement, one of the most notable increases occurred during the weekend of February 28 – March 1. During this period, the total trading volume for these products reached $8.1 billion. Teng stated that this growth indicates increased investor demand for access to traditional markets even on weekends.
Binance’s products allow users to access price movements of traditional assets like stocks seamlessly, 24/7. This gives investors the opportunity to trade even when traditional financial markets are closed.
According to experts, this development increases the competition between derivative products offered by crypto exchanges and traditional finance, while also expanding liquidity in the markets. At the same time, this trend, which signals a shift in investor behavior, reveals that financial markets are evolving into an increasingly seamless and global structure.
Richard Teng’s assessments show that crypto platforms are not limited to digital assets but also offer a new transaction infrastructure for traditional financial products.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is gearing up to host the second round of talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their war, but rising tensions in recent hours have cast uncertainty over Tehran’s participation, as the deadline nears for the end of the two-week ceasefire.
Unlike the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11, the upcoming negotiations could last for multiple days until a temporary deal – mediators are calling it a memorandum of understanding – is signed, effectively extending the ceasefire, sources close to these efforts have told Al Jazeera. If the MoU is agreed, it would give negotiators a longer window – even up to 60 days – to secure a longer peace deal.
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But all of that hinges on the participation of Iran, which – as of Monday morning – has not confirmed that it will be sending its negotiators to Islamabad. That follows a rapid escalation in tensions over the past 24 hours.
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his representatives were heading to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations with Iran, as a fragile ceasefire, due to expire on Wednesday, edges towards its deadline. But Trump accompanied his announcement with a revival of earlier pre-ceasefire threats to bomb Iran’s energy and power facilities.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan. They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He accused Iran of a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement” after Iranian gunboats fired on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hitting ships including a French vessel and a British freighter.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
The tensions did not ease overnight. In the early hours of Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance had intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, nearly 900 feet (274 metres) long, in the Gulf of Oman after its crew refused to heed warnings to stop.
“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote. US Marines have now taken charge of the vessel, which Trump alleged was under US Treasury sanctions for prior illegal activity.
Iran has described the seizure of the ship as “piracy”.
The Serena Hotel is scheduled to host the anticipated next round of talks between the US and Iran. [Sohail Shahzad/EPA]
Pakistan’s preparations
Amid those military and social media exchanges between Iran and the United States, Pakistan has been busy getting ready to host talks that it – as the principal mediator between Washington and Tehran – hopes will yield a deal to end the war, now into its eighth week.
Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel asked guests to vacate by Sunday afternoon. The Serena Hotel, just a few kilometres away and the venue for the first round of talks a week earlier, soon issued the same order and stopped taking reservations.
Roads into the Red Zone, the capital’s most heavily fortified area, were sealed. The district houses key government buildings, including the National Assembly, foreign embassies and both five-star hotels. Thousands of additional police and paramilitary personnel arrived from across the country.
Barbed wire and barricades lined the streets, and most access routes were shut.
But even before Trump’s latest threat to blow up Iranian energy and power facilities, and the subsequent hijacking of the Iranian ship, Tehran was unclear about whether it would join the talks.
Minutes before Trump’s Truth Social message, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote on his social media that violations of international law, the continuation of the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, threats of further strikes, and what he described as unreasonable demands could not be reconciled with a genuine pursuit of peace.
“As long as the naval blockade remains, faultlines remain,” he added.
The negotiators: The US and Iranian teams
Trump first said on Sunday that Vice President JD Vance, who had led the US team in the first round of Islamabad talks, would not visit the Pakistani capital this time around, because of security concerns.
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that Vance would join the US delegation, alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the same team that led the first round.
Flight tracking data showed at least four US government aircraft carrying communications equipment and motorcade support landed on Sunday at PAF Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, the primary VIP entry point for Islamabad.
However, by late night, sources close to mediators told Al Jazeera that it was once again unclear whether Vance would travel to Islamabad on Monday. They said that the US might now send Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad first, and if the talks actually happen, Vance might join them.
Amid Iranian hesitation over whether to join the Islamabad talks, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The call lasted about 45 minutes, the Pakistan PM’s office said.
Sharif briefed Pezeshkian on his recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, where he met with their leaders, describing those engagements as helpful in “building consensus in support of a sustained process of dialogue and diplomacy”.
But by early Monday morning, Trump’s revived threats and the capture of the Iranian cargo ship have left the prospects of talks in Islamabad even more on edge than before.
Iran pushes back
Tehran pushed back sharply against Trump’s flurry of social media posts on Sunday.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said reports of a second round of talks in Islamabad were “not correct”, and blamed the lack of progress on what it described as American “greed”, unreasonable demands, shifting positions and “continuous contradictions”.
According to IRNA, the naval blockade – imposed by Trump last Monday, two days after the first round of Islamabad talks – violated the ceasefire understanding and had “so far prevented progress in negotiations”.
It added that “no clear prospect for productive negotiations is foreseen” under current conditions and dismissed US statements on talks as “a media game”, aimed at pressuring Iran through a “blame game”.
A satellite image shows shipping movement in the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. [Handout/ European Union/Copernicus Sentinel via Reuters]
In a post on X, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei went further, describing the US naval blockade as “unlawful and criminal” and saying it amounted to “war crime and crime against humanity”.
Despite the public denials, Iranian sources earlier on Sunday indicated a delegation was expected in Pakistan on Tuesday. It could include Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s team in the first round, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who had joined him then.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar spoke by phone on Sunday and discussed “the need for continued dialogue and engagement as essential to resolving the current issues as soon as possible”.
Analysts say the gap between Iran’s public stance and private signalling reflects a deliberate strategy.
“This gap reflects a dual-track negotiation strategy,” Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, told Al Jazeera. “At the public level, Iran maintains a hardline position to preserve domestic legitimacy and increase its leverage; at the non-public level, by dispatching a team to Islamabad, it signals that it has not abandoned diplomacy but is instead testing its conditions.”
Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, agreed.
“When warring parties come to the table to negotiate, they come with the understanding that there is occasionally a gap between public posturing and private positions,” he told Al Jazeera. “My sense is that they will pick up from where they left off, rather than getting too caught up in the rhetoric that has emerged since”.
That divergence extends to the pace of negotiations.
Washington has pushed for a rapid resolution, with Trump repeatedly declaring the war “close to over” even as fighting continues. Tehran, by contrast, has shown little inclination to be rushed.
A diplomat in Islamabad, who has followed the talks closely, described the contrast.
“The previous round of talks is a great example. It appeared as if the Americans brought a stop-watch, whereas the Iranians came armed with a calendar,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
What is achievable?
Officials do not expect a final deal this week.
The immediate goal is likely to be a ceasefire extension, with both sides in Islamabad working towards a limited understanding.
Pakistani officials expressed cautious optimism, saying the process was moving in a positive direction while stressing that a final agreement would require sustained engagement and compromise.
Unlike the first round, talks could run for several days, with the aim of agreeing on a framework for broader negotiations in the coming weeks and months.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf before anticipated peace talks in Islamabad, April 11, 2026. [Handout/Office of the Iranian Parliament Speaker via Reuters]
Humayun cautioned against viewing the first round as a failure.
“I wouldn’t characterise the first round as having failed, that assumes expectations of resolving the most difficult issues early on, which is unlikely in talks of this nature where the issues are so complex,” he said.
For this round, a ceasefire extension would be “a meaningful outcome in itself”, while both sides would likely be “probing for any shifts or flexibility in positions since they last spoke”.
It is that movement, he added, that would allow both sides to “politically sanction an extension of the ceasefire”.
“A ceasefire extension could represent the most minimal form of agreement achievable in this round,” Jalalzadeh said, adding that the deal Washington seeks is “far broader in scope and is rooted in a history stretching back 47 years”.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye over the weekend, said “significant progress” had been made in the previous round but stressed that a framework must be agreed upon before talks could advance.
He described US demands on Iran’s nuclear programme as “maximalist”.
Ghalibaf was more direct. “There are many gaps and some fundamental points remain,” he said in televised remarks on Saturday night. “We are still far from the final discussion”.
The core sticking points, Iran’s nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz, remain unresolved since the first round, held on April 11, which lasted 21 hours and ended without agreement.
A separate Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is now in place, removing one of Tehran’s stated conditions for talks.
But Jalalzadeh said the ceasefire fell well short of satisfying Iran’s demands. “The current Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is temporary, fragile, and incomplete,” he told Al Jazeera, noting that Hezbollah – Tehran’s most powerful regional ally – was absent from the agreement, which the Lebanese government negotiated with Israel.
“This ceasefire is a tactical palliative, not a substitute for Iran’s strategic demand,” he said, adding that Tehran’s insistence on Lebanon being part of any broader deal, rather than handled through a separate arrangement, remained unchanged.
Humayun said Iran would want the Israel-Lebanon truce to hold and ideally include “some form of assurance against violations”.
US Vice President JD Vance with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for talks about Iran in Islamabad, April 11, 2026. [Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters]
The broader question, he said, is “whether Iran can secure at least some degree of US pressure on Israel to adhere to the ceasefire and to refrain from further escalation”.
The Sharif-Pezeshkian call capped an intensive week of Pakistani diplomacy.
Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran last Wednesday, carrying what officials described as a new message from Washington.
Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam said last week in Islamabad that Tehran would “do talks in Pakistan and nowhere else, because we trust Pakistan”.
Analysts say Pakistan’s value as a mediator lies in the rare credibility it holds with both sides.
Humayun said that even if this round produces no breakthrough, it would not necessarily erode trust in Islamabad.
“All parties understand how difficult these issues are and that, without Pakistan’s facilitation, they may not have reached this point at all,” he said.
Jalalzadeh offered a more cautious assessment, saying Pakistan’s role ultimately depends on results.
“If this round also fails, its standing as an effective mediator will be weakened, even if it continues to function as a minimal communication channel,” he said.
Still, he noted, Islamabad has already distinguished itself among countries that have attempted mediation, filling a gap left by others and establishing itself as a credible host.
Trump, however, insisted a deal would come regardless.
“It will happen. One way or another. The nice way or the hard way,” he told ABC News. “You can quote me.”
South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has announced it will list another digital asset. According to the official announcement, $PIEVERSE ($PIEVERSE) will be available for trading on the platform with KRW, BTC, and USDT trading pairs. The token will be supported on the Ethereum network.
According to the announcement, deposit and withdrawal operations for $PIEVERSE will open approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes after the announcement is published.
Trading support is scheduled to begin on April 20th at 4:00 PM. However, the exchange stated that the start time of trading may be postponed if sufficient liquidity cannot be provided.
Upbit will implement some restrictions at the start of trading to ensure user security. Accordingly, buy orders will be restricted for the first 5 minutes after trading opens.
During the same period, sell orders below 10 percent of the previous day’s closing price will also not be allowed. Furthermore, only limit orders will be available for the first two hours.
According to $PIEVERSE’s latest price data, as of April 20th at 13:30, the token’s price is 1,874 KRW.
The project aims to reshape the payment infrastructure within the Web3 ecosystem. $PIEVERSE seeks to offer an “agent-native” payment system encompassing transactions between humans, artificial intelligence, and machines.
The platform, which aims to eliminate gas fees, plans to establish a compliance-focused structure with timestamped and auditable transactions. The token will be used in staking, governance, and reward mechanisms.
A BigBang world tour in the year 2026? Wow, fantastic baby.
The legendary K-pop group, comprising current members Taeyang, G-Dragon and Daesung, announced a new world tour during their weekend two set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Sunday night. The tour will be in honor of BigBang’s 20th anniversary as group, which they’re celebrating in 2026.
As the group said their goodbyes to the massive crowd gathered at the festival’s Outdoor stage, they teased that Coachella was the beginning point for a new chapter. Daesung promised that the festival wasn’t just a comeback for BigBang but a “reset” for the group. G-Dragon then announced that they’d be embarking on a 20th anniversary tour later this year.
Though few details are known about the upcoming tour, G-Dragon promised the crowd it would be begin this August. The rapper didn’t clarify where the tour would kick off, but nearly all K-pop tours begin in Seoul, or a surrounding city in South Korea, so it’s a safe bet BigBang’s will also.
“Do not miss out, and stay tuned,” G-Dragon told the crowd. After the announcement, the three men performed their song “Still Life” to close out their time at the festival.
BigBang was one of the final acts of the desert-set musical festival, taking the stage after Karol G’s headlining set began at the nearby Coachella main stage. The group kicked off their set with a pair of iconic songs, “Bang Bang Bang” and “Fantastic Baby.”
The set featured a slew of hits and fan favorites, even adding their single “Bae Bae” for weekend two. Coachella marks the first performance of the song in nearly a decade. Each member of BigBang performed a solo song during the set; Taeyang and G-Dragon also performed their legendary duet “Good Boy,” meanwhile Daesung brought the Korean pop genre trot to the Coachella stage.
Both awards will be presented by Prince Albert II of Monaco during the event’s 65th edition, taking place June 12–16 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
“We are thrilled to honor Kurt Russell and Dame Kristin Scott Thomas. Their exceptional careers, spanning both film and television, perfectly reflect the artistic excellence and international perspective. These awards celebrate two remarkable talents who have made a lasting impact on the global audiovisual landscape,” Cécile Menoni, executive director of the festival, stated.
Scott Thomas will be honored during the opening ceremony on June 12. Most recently seen in the acclaimed series “Slow Horses,” the actress made her directorial debut with “My Mother’s Wedding,” which she wrote, directed and starred in.
“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition in Monaco, a place that has long celebrated artistic excellence with such grace,” Scott Thomas said.
Russell, who will receive his award during the closing ceremony on June 16, has recently returned to television with “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” and will next appear in the highly anticipated series “The Madison.”
“It is a great honor to be selected for this distinguished award, and I very much look forward to spending time with His Serene Highness Prince Albert. It has been a long time,” Russell said.
The Crystal Nymph Award has previously been presented to international talent including Michael Douglas, Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman and Robin Wright.
LeBron & Luke: James, Kennard lead Lakers over Rockets with Durant out
Denver’s D: Joker & Murray boost scoring while Nuggets shut down Wolves to win Game 1
East Winners: Spida’s 32 lead Saturday’s scorers, Brunson opens & KAT closes as Knicks, Cavs take Game 1’s
ABC Doubleheader: Sixers, Celtics meet for record 116th Playoff game, Thunder’s road to repeat begins
NBC Sunday Night Basketball: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic, Wemby makes Playoff debut
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Reloaded with four more Game 1’s…
Sunday brings four more Game 1’s to get all first-round series underway.
ABC Doubleheader: No. 2 Celtics meet No. 7 Sixers (1 ET) and No. 1 Thunder start title defense vs. No. 8 Suns (3:30 ET)
SNB On NBC & Peacock: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic (6:30 ET) before Wemby makes his Playoff debut vs. No. 2 Blazers (9 ET)
1. HOLLYWOOD NIGHT: LEBRON & LUKE SHOW TAKES GAME 1 FOR L.A.
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Houston and L.A. began their First Round series Saturday without the matchup’s top-3 scorers.
In response, the game’s all-time leading scorer came out with seemingly one thing on his mind:
Make something happen.
Lakers 107, Rockets 98: James (19 pts, 8 reb) dished out eight 1st-quarter dimes, on his way to 13 total, and Luke Kennard netted Playoff career-highs of 27 points and 5 3s (100 3P%) to help the Lakers take a 1-0 lead.
L.A. was without top scorers Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, while Houston missed Kevin Durant (knee contusion) after a practice collision. | Recap
“For me, I gotta do a little bit of everything,” LeBron said postgame. “That’s what the job requires. So that’s being a triple-threat: being able to rebound, being able to pass, being able to shoot. Also defend.”
James’ 5th assist – to Kennard – put him at the 2,100 mark for his Playoff career, joining only Magic Johnson as the only players to log that many
Getting to 8 in that 1st frame, LeBron set a career Playoff high for any quarter, and a Lakers record for most in any Playoff quarter in the play-by-play era
Finishing with 13, James became the first player age 41 or older with both double-digit assists and a points/assists double-double in a Playoff game
Sean M. Haffey/NBAE via Getty Images
The passing game wasn’t the only area where LeBron made history, as he and Bronny became the NBA’s first father-son duo to win a Playoff game together.
“That’s probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me in my career,” LeBron said of playing in the Playoffs with Bronny. “That’s just insane.”
Kennard’s Turn: The sharpshooter’s 27 points equal the 2nd-highest total ever for a player in his Lakers postseason debut, trailing Nick Van Exel by a bucket
Houston filled in for Durant with five 15+ point scorers, including Alperen Sengun (19), Amen Thompson (17), Reed Sheppard (17), Tari Eason (16) and Jabari Smith Jr. (16)
Durant gets an extra day to heal his bruised knee, as the series picks up on Tuesday with Game 2 from L.A. (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).
2. NUGGETS WIN GAME 1: 2ND-HALF SHUTDOWN COOLS RIVAL WOLVES
Matthew Stockman/NBAE via Getty Images
Nikola Jokić had 6 points at halftime. He finished with a 25-point triple-double.
Jamal Murray went 0-for-8 from 3. He logged a game-high 30 points.
Denver started 6-for-22 (27.3 FG%) from the field. They won by double-digits.
Showing no panic, the 3-seed Nuggets let their game find its own way in time, and that paid off for a 1-0 First Round lead.
Nuggets 116, Wolves 105: Denver shook off a quiet start to catch the Wolves by halftime and lead the rest of the way, with Joker (25 pts, 13 reb, 11 ast) and Murray guiding the group past Anthony Edwards (22 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast) and their rival Wolves.
Not to be lost in Saturday’s Playoffs excitement, Denver has now won 13 straight games, dating back a full month to its last loss on March 18. | Recap
Cold Open: The Nuggets’ 6-for-22 start had them facing their largest deficit of the game (12 pts), and still trailing by double-digits going into the 2nd quarter
Tale Of Two Lines: With 3s not falling, Murray started driving, getting to the foul line eight times in his 14-point, 2nd-quarter rally. He finished 16-for-16 from the stripe
“We just had to keep shooting,” Murray said. “Myself included. I didn’t make a 3 today. But I didn’t stop shooting. And I was able to find guys and keep the defense on their toes.”
A Breakthrough: Then early in the 3rd, a 17-2 Denver run built a double-digit lead, with Jokić going on the attack for 12 of his 25 points in that quarter
Joker credited homecourt advantage: “Whenever we needed a little spark, [the fans] were behind our back, and I love to play in front of our crowds. I think they’re great.”
From there, the Nuggets held the Wolves to just four made 3s and 43 points in the 2nd half. Minnesota had only seven halves all season of 43 points or fewer.
AE & KG: Edwards passed Kevin Garnett twice with his 237th career Playoff assist, in his 32nd career 20+ point playoff game, taking the franchise lead in both categories
Murray Joins Jokić: Murray reached his 20th career 30+ point Playoff game, joining Joker (35) as the only Nuggets ever with 20 or more such games
Jokić Tops MPJ: Joker passed former Nugget Michael Porter Jr. (166) for 2nd-most Playoff triples made in franchise history
Game 2 from Mile High comes our way Monday night (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).
3. EAST WINS: BRUNSON OPENS, KAT CLOSES, SPIDA LEADS ALL SCORERS
Elsa/NBAE via Getty Images
Floater in the lane: ✅
Contested wing 3-ball: ✅
Fadeaway bank shot: ✅
Transition triple: ✅
Face-up fadeaway J: ✅
Pull-up from long-range: ✅
Jalen Brunson started Saturday 6-for-6 for 15 points in under 6 minutes.
All that, and the Knicks were up just six, as both New York and Atlanta shot over 85% in the opening 4 minutes of their First Round series opener.
Knicks 113, Hawks 102: Brunson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in that 1st quarter, and Karl-Anthony Towns (25 pts, 8 reb) took control down the stretch, as New York outlasted CJ McCollum (26 pts, 4 3s) and Atlanta for a 1-0 series lead. | Recap
2nd-Half KAT: After a 1-for-6 1st half, Towns took the baton from Brunson, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the 2nd half
“I was just rusty,” Towns said of his 1st half. “12 days, 13 days without playing… It takes a toll. So just trying to knock the rust off early in the game.”
It was Towns who sealed the win in the 4th, sinking a triple followed by an and-1 take for back-to-back 3-point plays, capping a 10-0 Knicks run and stretching their lead to 19
“I knew I was gonna get a chance to show what I could do in a pivotal moment,” said Towns. “I felt good about the 4th quarter and I’m glad I was able to make those shots for my teammates.”
JB Ties Clyde: Brunson recorded his 29th Playoff game of 25+ points as a Knick, tying Walt Frazier for the 2nd-most in franchise history. Only Patrick Ewing (43) has more
New York and Atlanta tip off Game 2 at The Garden Monday night (8 ET, NBC/Peacock)
Jason Miller/NBAE via Getty Images
With 2:01 remaining, the Cleveland crowd rose to its feet.
The Cavs’ first unit subbed out to a standing ovation, up 16.
Playoff basketball was back in The Land, celebrating a First-Round, Game 1 win for the third consecutive year.
Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113: Donovan Mitchell poured in a game-high 32 points, setting an NBA record with his ninth straight 30+ point performance in a series opener, as the Cavs rolled to a 1-0 lead over RJ Barrett (24 pts), Scottie Barnes (21 pts, 7 ast) and the Raptors. | Recap
Applause-Worthy: Backing up Mitchell, Max Strus went for a Playoff career-high 24 pts, James Harden (22 pts) dished out 10 assists, and Evan Mobley (17 pts, 7 reb) controlled the paint
Go Time: In a 4-point game with 1:11 to play before halftime, Cleveland exploded into the 2nd half with a 27-9 carryover run, leading the rest of the way. Strus had 11 points (3 3s) in that decisive stretch
“Coming out in the 3rd quarter, we upped our intensity defensively,” Mitchell said of the getaway run. “And then obviously, offensively, we did what we do.”
Mitchell’s record-setting nine-game, 30+ point streak in Game 1s has helped him to a 33.1 ppg average across 12 career Game 1s.
This was his 32nd-career 30+ point Playoff game, and 13th for Cleveland, passing Kyrie Irving for 2nd-most in Cavs history.
“32 is 32, but I’m happy I got a steal…” Mitchell said. “I’m finding ways to get rebounds… Those are the little details that carry over to wins.”
Harden’s History: The Beard passed Larry Bird (3,897 pts) for 13th place on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list
“It’s tough for defenses to try to figure out which ways to guard both of us,” Mitchell said of his first Playoff pairing with Harden. “We gotta keep it up for the series.”
4. TODAY ON ABC: 76ERS-CELTICS RIVALRY, CHAMPS START TITLE DEFENSE
Isaiah Vazquez/NBAE via Getty Images
The reunited 2024 champs and the Divisional rival who played them closer than anyone this season.
The well-rested defending champions and the red-hot shooting squad who won the West Play-In Finale.
ABC’s Playoff matineé doubleheader delivers on drama and deep storylines. Here’s what to watch for:
(7) Sixers at (2) Celtics (1 ET): NBA Playoff Sunday tips off with the 116th postseason meeting of Philly and Boston, the most in NBA history. The Celtics lead this series all-time, 66-50.
The last time these two franchises met in the Playoffs, the 2023 East Semis went a full seven games, with Jayson Tatum delivering an iconic 50-ball to end it.
Jay & Jay: Scoring 20+ points in each of his last seven games, Tatum (21.8 ppg in 16 gm) is reunited with Jaylen Brown, who set career-highs (28.7 ppg) while leading the C’s all year
Before Tatum’s return, these two teams lived up to their thrilling history with three early season matchups, each decided by the final possession (2-1 PHI)
Philly’s Answer: The Sixers will look to attack with the duo of top-5 scorer Tyrese Maxey (28.3) and two-way talent VJ Edgecombe, the first rookie in 7+ years with 1100 points and 100 steals — not to mention Paul George, who’s averaged 21.2 ppg in his Playoff career
Christian Petersen/NBAE via Getty Images
Following Philly and Boston, OKC takes off on its road to two in a row.
(8) Suns at (1) Thunder (3:30 ET): The reigning champs begin their quest to repeat, taking on Devin Booker, Jalen Green and the hot-shooting Suns.
No NBA team has repeated since the Warriors in 2017-18, with seven straight unique champions since.
The Thunder are the NBA’s youngest champion in 50 years, and boast the league’s best defensive rating (106.5) since the 2019-20 Bucks, holding opponents 3.5 FG percentage points below the league average
Phoenix joins OKC with a top-10 defensive rating (112.9, 9th), while both teams rank top-5 in steals per game (9.5+)
The Reigning MVP: SGA is the first guard in NBA history to average 30+ ppg on 55% shooting. He also ranks 2nd in ppg (31.1), 2nd in iso ppg (8.3), 2nd in 30-pt games (43), and 1st in total clutch points (175)
Suns all-time leading scorer Devin Booker has the help of a hot hand in Jalen Green, who enters off the 2nd-ever back-to-back 35+ point performances in Play-In history
NBC & Peacock’s Sunday doubleheader features two of this Playoff field’s strongest contenders, in East 1-seed Detroit and West 2-seed San Antonio.
But their respective First Round opponents are uniquely qualified to make this matchup tougher than seedings might suggest.
(8) Magic at (1) Pistons (6:30 ET): Detroit begins its Playoff after its first 60-win season since 2006-07.
The league leader in both steals (10.4) and blocks (6.4) per game, the Pistons operate with the identity of defensive physicality – something Orlando just utilized to overpower the Hornets in its Play-In win to get here.
The Pistons are led by the rising All-Star duo of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.
Cade is back from his collapsed lung, and Detroit’s offensive engine was missed: The Pistons have a 120.4 OffRtg with Cade on-floor, and a 111.1 with him off; a 9.3-point swing
First-time All-Star Duren dominates the paint with the league’s 3rd-most PITP, while Ausar Thompson logged the most steals in a season (146) by a Piston since Ben Wallace in 06-07
The Magic enter the series coming off a Play-In game statement, making their third straight Playoffs. The team split its four-game series with Detroit this season.
Paolo Banchero has 336 points through his first 12 career Playoff games (28.0 ppg), and led the way for Orlando in its Play-In win, with 12 first quarter points and a game-high 25 overall
Acquired last offseason, Desmond Bane has delivered offensively, leading the team in total points (1647) and total 3s (167), and ranking 2nd in assists (338)
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After a year of bending physics on the court — and transforming the Spurs into one of the league’s toughest teams — third-year superstar Victor Wembanyama’s about to make his debut on the league’s biggest stage: The Playoffs.
(7) Blazers at (2) Spurs (9 ET): Wemby is set to make his first Playoff appearance against a Portland team that beat San Antonio once in three tries this season.
The Spurs return to the Playoffs for the first time since 2018–19, with their first 60-win season since 2016–17. They flipped from 60 losses to 60 wins in just two years
February March: Half those wins came in the final 2.5 months of this season, losing just four games after the start of February (30–4 record)
With Wemby on the floor, opposing teams shot 5.7% worse – the largest on/off difference of the decade – and the Spurs posted a 103.6 defensive rating, which would rank as the best in the league over a full season
But it’s not just Wemby. He’s backed by a dynamic trio of guards.
Stephon Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year, took a leap this season, increasing his points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
De’Aaron Fox, a two-time All-Star, finished second on the team in scoring and led the team in total clutch points.
Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, provides a spark off the bench for this Spurs squad.
Portland features the league’s third-best defense since the All-Star break, and an international All-Star on the rise, who’s coming off a huge performance.
Deni Avdija became the first player to record 40 points and 10 assists in a Play-In game, capping off a breakout year in which he joined Joker and Luka as the only players to average 24/6/6
The Magic get their first road playoff victory since 2020 and take a 1-0 series lead.
On what might otherwise be shrugged off as “Blowout Sunday,” the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons did their best to keep their series opener intriguing.
But it was the closest of the day’s four Game 1 clashes. And when the No. 8 seed grabs a 1-0 series lead on the conference champion’s court – Orlando’s first road playoff victory since 2020 – yawning is not an option.
The Pistons and the Magic really aren’t so different in timelines and talent. It’s just that Detroit kept going vertical this season while Orlando veered horizontal. Seven spots in the final East standing meant little in the Magic’s 112-101 upset victory at Little Caesars Arena.
Here are four takeaways:
1. Magic? Orlando’s revival looks like sorcery
Reports of the Magic’s demise, sparked by their embarrassing loss in Game 82 to a lineup of Celtics leftovers and fanned against Philadelphia Wednesday in the East’s 7-8 SoFi Play-In Tournament game, suddenly seem exaggerated. Orlando played like its best self Friday to oust Charlotte for the No. 8 playoff berth, then took Game 1 over Detroit as if nary a discouraging word had been uttered about them.
In a span of 72 hours, all sorts of negative possibilities that looked to be on the table – a coaching change, addition-by-subtraction personnel moves –vanished, to the point you couldn’t even find the table. The smackdown of the Hornets was one thing, but going into Detroit to beat the 60-victory Pistons was a whole ’nother level.
The Magic hadn’t held an opponent to so few points since early March. They gave up only six offensive boards to the Pistons, who averaged twice that. Coach Jamahl Mosley’s players had a 20-point edge scoring in the paint and were so pleased to meet the intensity and aggression of the moment they weren’t even all that bothered by getting doubled-up from the foul line, shooting 19 free throws to Detroit’s 38.
A group presumed to be wearing toe tags inside their sneakers just a few days ago now looks very much alive. Alive!
“This is a new season,” Mosley said. “Whatever story you told yourself during the regular season, that story is done. How we come together, how we play with poise, how we defend at a high level, how we communicate with each other, that’s a part of this story now.”
Said team leader Paolo Banchero: “There’s nothing you can do to go back and change what happened. We’re here in the playoffs and we have a chance to do what we set out to do since October.”
2. Pistons feel top-seed disadvantages
Clinching the East’s No. 1 seed early, it had been a while since Detroit felt any gotta-win urgency. It hadn’t played at all in a week and, due to the Play-In, it didn’t learn its opponent until Friday.
This was a situation ripe for the ol’ rest vs. rust dilemma, and the Magic’s quick 15-5 lead confirmed it.
“We came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is,” said guard Cade Cunningham. “Maybe both for some of us. … We gave them life early on and then we had to deal with that for the rest of the game.”
The Pistons never stopped chasing, but they also never caught the visitors. Cunningham scored 39 points and Tobias Harris got 17 on 5-for-15 shooting, but they were the only two on their team to score 10 points or more. The halfcourt offense was especially clunky – take away Detroit’s fast-break and second-chance points and it managed just 60 vs. Orlando’s chosen defense.
Rusty. Stagnant. Lapsing into hero ball. All figure to be improved by Game 2 on Wednesday (7 ET, ESPN).
3. Banchero and Wagner, not ‘or’
Franz Wagner gets to the rim for a big dunk.
One of the recurring rumbles about Orlando during this season that never really launched was speculation that Banchero and Wagner couldn’t thrive long-term playing alongside each other. Too much overlap in their ball-dependent styles, some suggested. Overlaps in their skill sets.
Close enough in age to suggest a little sibling rivalry.
Whatever doubts Boston’s pair of stellar forwards – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – put to rest by sheer force of winning, Banchero and Wagner appeared to inherit. So much so that the former reacted angrily when asked yet again about the dynamic in December.
“I think that’s bull—-,” Banchero told The Athletic then. “People are going to say whatever they want to say about me, Franz and whoever. But we know that we’re at our strongest when both of us are out there on the floor.”
Often it’s been hard to tell. Banchero played 74 games this season, Wagner just 34 due to injuries. Their 429 minutes together ranked 27th among the Magic’s two-man combos. The tandem’s net rating of 4.5 was so-so for two projected young stars toting maximum contract extensions.
In this one, though, they didn’t just co-exist, they co-romped. Banchero and guard Jalen Suggs did the early scoring damage. Wagner got 11 of his 19 in the fourth to fend off the Pistons. And they both were on the court together a lot, finishing comfortably in the plus column.
4. Step back for Duren
While he was busy Sunday night, the NBA released the finalists for its annual awards, and Pistons big man Jalen Duren as expected is one of three vying for the Most Improved Player Award. The chiseled 6-foot-10 center is worthy, earning his first All-Star appearance while upping his production to 19.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 3.8 offensive rebounds per game.
But Duren was more invisible than improved in Game 1, chipping in just eight points and seven boards in 33 minutes. He had no more impact than a year ago in his postseason debut against New York (six rebounds, seven points).
Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff credited the Magic for crowding Duren in the paint to limit his touches – he got only four shots, compared to the 12.4 he averaged after the All-Star break. Cunningham said he and his other teammates have to deliver cleaner passes inside to Duren.
Either way, considering how Duren helped carry the Pistons through Cunningham’s collapsed-lung absence late in the season, the MIP finalist needs to improve again.
Blue Origin has successfully reused its first-stage New Glenn booster for the first time after it landed in a cloud of smoke and fire on a recovery ship. It marks the second flight and reuse of Never Tell me the Odds, after the booster was recovered from New Glenn’s previous launch in November last year. However, the rocket company’s first commercial mission was marred by a failure to place the communications satellite payload into orbit.
The launch went smoothly to start with, with the first-stage GS1 booster separating from New Glenn after three minutes and landing smoothly 10 minutes after launch following two braking burns, as shown in a post on X from Blue Origin’s owner, Jeff Bezos.
However, several hours later the Blue Origin team and satellite manufacturer, AST SpaceMobile, announced that the payload had failed to reach orbit. “We have confirmed payload separation,” Blue Origin announced on X. “AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information.”
Later on in a press release, AST SpaceMobile revealed that “the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, [but] the altitude [was] too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy.”
The upper stage was supposed to position the satellite into a 285 mile orbit after completing two burns. It would have then unfolded a 2,400 square-foot antenna and linked with six other satellites in a test for AST’s high-speed direct-to-cell network. However, early telemetry data showed that the satellite only reached 95 miles, well below a sustainable orbit. It’s not yet clear how the failure occurred.
Despite that, Blue Origin can take some solace in its successful first-stage reuse, particularly since it happened on just the third New Glenn mission (NG-3). It took SpaceX, by comparison, 32 flights before its first successful reflight of a previously flown orbital-class booster.
Blue Origin will definitely want to solve the upper stage issue soon. Its next flight is the first New Glenn launch of Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) broadband satellites. It plans to put 48 of those into orbit to significantly expand the Starlink rival’s constellation, which currently sits at 241 satellites.
