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Bitcoin Price Gives Back Gains, But Structure Remains Bullish
Bitcoin price started a fresh decline from the $78,400 zone. $BTC is consolidating and might struggle to stay above the $73,500 support.
- Bitcoin failed to stay above $76,500 and corrected gains.
- The price is trading below $75,500 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
- There is a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $75,600 on the hourly chart of the $BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
- The pair might extend losses if it stays below the $75,500 and $76,000 levels.
Bitcoin Price Dips Again

Bitcoin price failed to stay above the $77,500 resistance zone. $BTC formed a top near $78,350 and started a fresh decline. There was a move below the $76,500 level.

The price dipped below the $75,500 and $75,000 levels. A low was formed at $73,637 and the price is now consolidating losses below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $78,343 swing high to the $73,637 low.

Bitcoin is now trading below $76,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. If the price remains stable above $73,500, it could attempt a fresh increase. Immediate resistance is near the $74,750 level.

The first key resistance is near the $75,500 level. There is also a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $75,600 on the hourly chart of the $BTC/USD pair. A close above the $75,500 resistance might send the price further higher.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $76,000 resistance and the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $78,343 swing high to the $73,637 low. Any more gains might send the price toward the $77,200 level. The next barrier for the bulls could be $78,000.

Downside Continuation In $BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $75,500 resistance zone, it could start another decline. Immediate support is near the $74,000 level.

The first major support is near the $73,500 level. The next support is now near the $72,500 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $71,200 support in the near term. The main support now sits at $70,000, below which $BTC might struggle to recover in the near term.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for $BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $74,000, followed by $73,500.

Major Resistance Levels – $75,500 and $76,000.
April 20, 2026
Upcoming ‘Bitcoin’ Movie With Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot Probes Satoshi’s Identity
A film exploring Bitcoin’s origins is moving toward global release while spotlighting the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto. Starring Gal Gadot and Casey Affleck, it revisits Craig Wright’s contested claims and their impact on Bitcoin’s identity.

Key Takeaways:
- New Bitcoin film stars Casey Affleck and Gal Gadot, probing Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.
- Craig Wright’s disputed role deepens divisions across Bitcoin developers and market participants.
- Industry reaction may polarize further as the film revives debate over Bitcoin’s origins.
Bitcoin Creator Dispute Moves Into Mainstream Film

The mystery surrounding Bitcoin’s creator is moving into the mainstream as “ Bitcoin,” previously referred to in online reports as “ Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi,” adapts one of crypto’s most contested debates to the screen. Ahead of the Cannes market, Patrick Wachsberger’s 193, a film sales and production company, launched international sales on the project, signaling a push to global buyers. Around the same time, Acme AI & FX, the production company behind the film, confirmed it had wrapped production on the Doug Liman-directed feature. The movie, described as the “first fully-generated, studio-quality AI feature film,” centers on the unresolved question of who created Bitcoin and why that issue continues to influence industry discussions and market perception.

The story follows Charlotte “Lotte” Miller, a war correspondent played by Gal Gadot, who is recruited by blockchain investor Calvin Ayre, portrayed by Pete Davidson, to write an investigative report on Australian computer scientist Craig Wright. Casey Affleck plays Wright, with Isla Fisher also appearing in the cast. The film was written by Nick Schenk and produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and Lawrence Grey, with production beginning at the end of February. The synopsis described the film:

“A high-stakes conspiracy thriller that asks the question no one in power wants answered.”

A longer description presents the movie as the story of one man’s effort to prove he created Bitcoin, a claim that allegedly puts his life in danger and sparks a global controversy involving tech billionaires, world leaders, and the future of the financial system.

Craig Wright Claims Renew Industry Polarization

From a Bitcoin industry standpoint, the film enters a highly disputed issue. Wright’s claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto has been challenged for years by developers, researchers, and other participants in the sector, many of whom point to the lack of accepted cryptographic proof. A 2024 U.K. court ruling also rejected his claim, adding legal weight to that skepticism. Within parts of the BTC community, Wright is widely referred to as “Faketoshi,” and critics have accused him of fraud tied to those assertions.

The production approach has also drawn attention, as the “fully-generated” label refers largely to AI-built environments and visuals, while actors perform traditionally with digital settings added in post-production. At the same time, the subject matter is likely to drive industry reaction, as many bitcoiners view the claims as legally and technically discredited rather than unresolved.

That divide helps explain why the film is likely to provoke a polarized response across crypto. Many will see it as reopening a debate already settled by legal findings and technical evidence, while others may view it as an attempt to revisit unanswered questions around motive and power. The synopsis stated:

“All this leads Lotte, and the audience, to the central question — If Craig Wright didn’t invent Bitcoin, why is a coalition controlling trillions in global wealth spending hundreds of millions and risking everything to destroy him?”

“This is an exciting and gripping story, set in the mysterious and high-stakes real world of crypto,” Wachsberger told Deadline. The positioning underscores how the film is being framed, not just as a thriller, but as a mainstream take on one of bitcoin’s most contested narratives, where claims have long been weighed against verifiable proof.
April 20, 2026
What’s behind the US army’s decision to raise enlistment age to 42?

The United States army announced last month that it would raise the maximum age at which Americans can enlist from 35 to 42 years to expand its pool of eligible candidates amid recruiting challenges in recent years.

An updated version of US Army Regulation 601–210, dated March 20, outlined the changes, including the elimination of rules requiring anyone with a single conviction for marijuana possession or drug paraphernalia to obtain a waiver to enlist.

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Government data shows that while the US army has met its recruitment goals over the last two years, it fell short in 2022 and 2023 and has consistently failed to meet targets for the Army Reserve, shortcomings that analysts have attributed to several possible factors.

The new age limit was announced during the US-Israel war on Iran, towards which young people have expressed widespread opposition.

Here’s what you need to know about the changes.

New recruits participate in the Army’s future soldier prep course that gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards, at Fort Jackson, a US Army Training Center, in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 25, 2024 [File: Chris Carlson/AP Photo]

When does the regulation go into effect?

The updated version of Army Regulation 601–210 officially takes effect on Monday, April 20.

What has the military said about the changes?

The US army announced updated enlistment regulations on March 20, with the changes scheduled to take effect one month later on April 20 and applying to the Regular Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard.

The maximum enlistment age is raised from 35 to 42, and previous restrictions requiring anyone with a single conviction for possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia to obtain a waiver to enlist are done away with.

Do these changes apply to the whole US military?

The changes announced in March are specific to the US army.

The military news outlet Stars and Stripes reported that those changes bring the army into greater alignment with the maximum enlistment age of other branches of the military, such as the Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and Space Force, which accept enlistees in their early 40s.

The maximum enlistment age for the US Marines is 28.

What factors explain the change?

While the US army did not comment on the reasons for the increase, data from the US Army Recruiting Command show that the army has struggled with recruitment challenges.

While the army met 100 percent of its recruitment goals in 2025 and 2024, it missed its target by about 23 percent in 2023 and 25 percent in 2022.

That data also shows that the army has fallen short of recruitment targets for the Army Reserve for the last six years in a row.

The average age of army recruits has risen in recent years to 22.7, up from 21.7 in the 2000s and 21.1 in the 2010s, according to the military news outlet Army Times, citing data from a US army spokesperson.

The US Army Recruiting Command has attributed such challenges to issues such as changes in the labour market, limited awareness about military service, and a lack of qualified young people due to issues such as obesity, drug use, and mental health issues.

A 2018 poll listed concerns over possible injury and death, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), separation from family and friends, and other career interests as top reasons offered by young people for not joining the military.

Does the change have to do with the war in Iran?

Analysts have been discussing the possibility of raising the enlistment age for years as a means of addressing recruiting challenges, with a 2023 research report from the RAND Corporation, a US think tank, calling “older youth” a “crucial, largely untapped, yet high-quality pool of potential recruits”.

While the military has not suggested that the change is linked to the US-Israel war on Iran, where US President Donald Trump has previously said he could deploy ground troops, some social media users were quick to note the timing of the announcement.

Some in the online community joked that older supporters of the war would now be available to enlist.

“They raised the enlistment age to 42,” one X user said in response to a video of the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro praising Trump’s decision to attack Iran. “Why are you still here?”

Surveys have found that younger people are more likely to oppose the US war on Iran than those aged 65 and up, and polls in recent years have found that young people are more generally sceptical of US intervention abroad than older generations.

A 2024 Pew Research Center poll found that people between the ages of 18 and 29 were the only age bracket in the US who viewed the military more negatively than positively, with 53 percent saying the military had a negative effect versus 43 percent who said it had a positive effect.

How many people are currently in the US military?

According to the Pew Research Center, the US military has about 1.32 million active members. The US army accounts for the largest share, with nearly 450,000, while the US Navy is second with more than 334,000.

The Air Force has more than 317,000, the Marines more than 168,000, the Coast Guard nearly 42,000, and the Space Force nearly 9,700.

Data from the US Army Recruiting Command shows that about 80 percent of recruits in the Regular Army were men in 2025.

Black and Latino recruits also make up a larger share of army recruits than their percentage of the population, each making up about 27 percent of recruits while comprising 14 percent and 20 percent of the general population, according to data from the 2024 census.

White people made up about 40 percent of US army recruits, while about 57 percent of the general population.

April 20, 2026
Sydney Sweeney’s Work in ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 Is Complicated and Compelling

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from “America My Dream,” Season 3, Episode 2 of “Euphoria,” now streaming on HBO Max.

A funny thing has happened to Sydney Sweeney since the second season of “Euphoria” aired. She became one of the biggest stars in the world.

She’s not alone in that, among her HBO castmates. Since 2022, when the teen drama signed off for what would become a four-year hiatus, Zendaya has proven herself a reliable anchor for both sophisticated dark comedies like “Challengers” and “The Drama” and blockbusters such as “Dune” and the upcoming “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Jacob Elordi, meanwhile, has just this year been nominated for an Oscar for “Frankenstein” and led “Wuthering Heights.” But Sweeney’s fame has had a bit of an edge. And “Euphoria,” now back on the air, isn’t merely allowing the actress to do her best work in years; it’s playing off of the by-now familiar Sweeney image in sharp and intriguing ways.

In the time-jumped third season, Sweeney’s Cassie has gotten what she always wanted. Elordi’s Nate has chosen her, and the two are engaged. Her happily-ever-after, though, comes with complications: In order to finance the dream wedding she believes she deserves — and, possibly, for reasons lying closer to kink than to pragmatism — Cassie has taken up a sideline as an OnlyFans model. Performing for her unseen audience in states of undress and role-playing characters including a subservient dog, Cassie seems, for once, as if she has never, ever been happier.

All of which exists in counterpoint to the past few years of Sweeney’s life in public. Sweeney is unabashed about leveraging her appearance and form both in art and in advertisements; her much-discussed “good jeans” campaign for American Eagle played off of the idea that the viewer is ogling Sweeney, while her deal with soapmaker Dr. Squatch to sell soap purportedly containing her bathwater took the same premise to a certain endpoint. Seizing the means of production for herself and making, rather than merely pitching, a product, Sweeney came up with a line of lingerie — a brand that she wears in her puppy play scene on “Euphoria.”

Observing Sweeney’s career and interviewing her, I’ve been consistently struck by her frank understanding of what Hollywood wants of her, and her ability to deliver it. (In her 2023 Variety cover story, Sweeney said that she asks “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson to amp up Cassie’s mania: “Give me more. I’m going to show you what I have. There’s so much to this girl.”) Up to this point, though, Sweeney’s recent career has been operating on two tracks. In ads, she contorts herself into an object of fantasy; in movies, she’s often disarmingly low-key, particularly in her 2025 offerings. In “The Housemaid,” which turned into a zeitgeist smash over the holidays last year, Sweeney plays a woman who is tamped-down by the script’s design. Her Millie is a meek service employee in the home of two vastly more emotionally labile creatures (played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar); when Sweeney finally gets to blow up, late in the film, it’s cathartic, and a reminder of just how much she’s been holding in reserve.

Sweeney similarly cedes the fireworks to basically every other member of the ensemble of last year’s undersung survival drama “Eden”; Ana de Armas and Jude Law get to play grand and operatic emotions while Sweeney’s Margret, a mild-mannered woman of faith, grits her teeth. And Sweeney’s bid for awards attention with the boxing drama “Christy” forewent “Rocky”-style inspiration in favor of a sort of haunted naturalism. Festival-goers responded, but the film proved perhaps too dour for audiences, and for the Academy. Its great triumph may have been as a calling card for the future: Working as an executive producer and freed from the demand to make a crowd-pleaser, this was the kind of work Sweeney wanted to do. The ads, for months prior to “Christy” the headline about Sweeney, were in service of a more interesting project.

That project continues with a role that, now, brings together Sweeney’s two disparate personas, as actress and as object. And the show that brought Sweeney to fame continues to know just how to use her. Sweeney’s ability to inhabit flatness and quiet, so present in all of her work last year, is a part of the “Euphoria” palette, too: People forget that, after fantasizing about screaming at her friends in the Euphoria High bathroom, Cassie goes eerily silent. It’s this studied blandness that makes Cassie’s emotional eruptions all the more pronounced.

But “Euphoria,” too, is archly aware of Sweeney’s past few years. On the most literal of levels, a woman known for pitching herself as the product playing a camgirl is a joke that lands. But it’s the joy and brio that Sweeney brings to Cassie that bring it to the next level. Cassie struggled through high school with trying to identify her real self; to return once more to the bathroom scene, perhaps the show’s most famous sequence, it’s why she dressed up like an extra from “Oklahoma!” Maybe that could have been the real her — or it was, for a day. Cassie, like so many of us, ultimately defines herself by the way that she is seen.

Sometimes, that definition happens by identifying what Cassie doesn’t want. In the season’s second episode, when her beloved fiancé insists she shut down her OnlyFans, Cassie’s eyes flare with a barely controlled anger, before she catches herself. And earlier in the episode, Cassie’s conversation with Maddy (Alexa Demie) has an explosive charge. Cassie and Maddy had, earlier in the series, been opposing sides of a love triangle, competing for the attentions of Nate; Cassie has notionally won, and is choosing, in conversation with her former friend and rival, to be as magnanimous as she can. She ought to have asked for Maddy’s blessing, Cassie declares, and she regrets it, although her romance was unstoppable. “What Nate and I were feeling for each other was obviously real,” she says over a poolside Aperol spritz. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be getting married.”

Sweeney delivers the line with the kind of naiveté only a shrewd performer can deploy: One can see that Cassie is willing herself to believe this, and casting herself in a grand drama of love and friendship. “I feel like I found the love of my life, at the expense of the other love of my life,” she declares, trailing off theatrically. Yes, Cassie wants to be seen as hot by men who are willing to pay for the privilege; she also wants to be seen as lovable by Maddy. Does Cassie truly believe that she ought to have asked for Maddy’s permission to get married? Well, she wants to be the kind of person who would believe that — and that’s good enough.

This is high-wire acting of a sort that’s less noisy than some of Sweeney’s past “Euphoria” work, although Sweeney and Demie get to some kooky places as their time together on screen goes on. (Cassie, pleading for Maddy’s help to improve her OnlyFans, bugs her eyes as she declares she might be able to become “a big fish in a big pond.”) But it’s crafty and resourceful work by a performer who — unlike the character she’s playing — seems truly to know herself. And it unites, at last, all the ways we see Sweeney into one complicated, compelling package.

April 20, 2026
Microdrama Takes Center Stage at Cairns Crocodiles as FlareFlow Data Shows Australia Outperforming Global Markets (EXCLUSIVE)

Vertical drama is entering Australia’s mainstream screen industry conversation, with Cairns Crocodiles set to host a dedicated microdrama panel that brings together platform executives, broadcasters and content creators at the annual APAC creativity festival.

Tim Oh, general manager of leader microdrama company COL Group International, is scheduled to appear at the Queensland event alongside Nikyah Hutchings, executive producer of commercial and partnerships at NITV, in a session titled The Maestros of Microdramas. The panel will examine how the format is reshaping storytelling habits, brand integration and creative opportunity across the region.

“Australia has been quietly outperforming every other market on [microdrama platform] FlareFlow for some time now, in revenue per user, in audience depth, and in how quickly new users convert,” Oh said. “To give you a sense of the scale, Australia’s new user payment rate is close to 20%, more than double what we see in most other developed markets.”

“Vertical is not coming to Australia,” Oh added. “It is already here, and it is working better here than almost anywhere else in the world. The question now is how we build on that together.”

Hutchings recently claimed the Grand Prix at the B&T 30 Under 30 awards after winning the media sales and account management category. She oversees NITV’s commercial content slate and contributes to SBS’s “Australia Explained” series. “Microdramas are changing how culture shows up on our phones and is this exciting meeting point of culture, tech and money,” she said. “I’m looking forward to sitting down with Tim Oh in Cairns about how vertical storytelling can open up new opportunities and make space for more voices, and what they really mean for creators, broadcasters and brands.”

The format has tended to be discussed in Australian industry circles as a mobile or platform phenomenon rather than a storytelling one. “Disruption is happening and the future is not yet written,” said Catherine de Clare, co-curator of the film and screen track at Cairns Crocodiles. “We want creatives and business leaders to start thinking about what opportunities are out there and what kind of world we want to build.”

The panel will also address the question of brands moving into microdrama, as the format is projected by some analysts to reach box office parity with Hollywood releases this year. Cairns Crocodiles, which positions itself at the intersection of Australian and Asian media markets, has expanded in recent years as a site for cross-regional deal-making and format development.

April 20, 2026
Ethereum staking crosses 32% – Yet ETH still lacks ONE KEY driver
Ethereum’s market structure is tightening as staking activity continues to rise, steadily reducing the liquid supply available for trading.

With over 32% of $ETH now staked, a significant portion remains locked, which compresses the tradable float across exchanges. This shift matters because it directly impacts market depth, making order books thinner over time.

Source: TokenTerminal

As liquidity tightens, price becomes more sensitive to incoming demand, which allows even moderate inflows to drive sharper upside moves. However, this same condition introduces fragility, as thinner liquidity reduces the market’s ability to absorb selling pressure.

If support weakens, downside moves can accelerate quickly, reflecting a structure where supply constraint amplifies both upward and downward volatility.

Demand structure weakens as perpetuals drive momentum

As staking continues to lock supply, the demand side begins to show a different character, where derivatives take the lead instead of spot conviction.

Activity shifts quickly into leveraged markets, with Perpetual Volume rising to $34.74 billion, far above the $14.29 billion Spot Volume, which shows traders prefer speed over stability.

However, Open Interest (OI) fell to around $31.18 billion, down 5.75%, which suggests traders are not building sustained positions but rotating exposure.

Consequently, Funding Rates turned slightly negative, reflecting growing short pressure even as price held. This creates a mixed structure, where some traders position for downside while others chase short-term moves.

As a result, price becomes more reactive rather than stable, implying that users face faster swings, where gains can reverse quickly without strong spot demand to support them.

Order Flow shift signals buyers regaining control

As derivatives continue to drive demand, order flow begins to explain why Ethereum struggled to sustain upside across the cycle.

Selling pressure stayed persistent, with Net Taker Volume deeply negative during key rallies, including around -$511 million above $4,000.

As the price pushed closer to the peak near $5,000, that pressure intensified further, reaching nearly -$568 million, which shows sellers actively met every breakout attempt.

Source: CryptoQuant

This pattern explains the repeated failure to hold highs, as leveraged sellers absorbed demand faster than it could build.

However, the structure now begins to shift.

Since March, Net Taker Volume has flipped positive to about +$102 million, which suggests buyers are finally absorbing supply.

If this continues, price may stabilize and build higher, yet failure would return the market to reactive, leverage-driven swings.

Final Summary
- Ethereum [$ETH] supply compression tightens liquidity, which increases upside sensitivity, yet thinner depth raises volatility risk during demand shocks or selling pressure.
- Ethereum shows early demand shift as buyers absorb selling, yet weak spot conviction keeps price reactive and dependent on sustained inflows.
April 20, 2026
Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Slide As Iran Claims ‘Ceasefire Violations’ Amid Middle-East Tensions: Analyst Sees BTC’s Positive Momentum ‘Fading’

Leading cryptocurrencies fell alongside stock futures Sunday evening as tensions between the U.S. and Iran increased dramatically over the weekend.

Crypto Market In Red

Bitcoin sharply retreated from $76,000 as trading volume spiked 20% over the last 24 hours. Ethereum dipped below $2,300, while XRP and Dogecoin also traded in the red.

Over $415 million was liquidated in the past 24 hours, with $335 million in long positions alone wiped out, according to Coinglass data.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures fell 3.76% over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, sentiment among whale and retail traders on Binance flipped “neutral.”

“Fear” sentiment persisted in the market, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24 Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.51 trillion, following a decline of 1.62% increase in the last 24 hours.

Stock Futures Slide As Hostilities Resume

Stock futures sold off sharply on Sunday evening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures fell 444 points, or 0.89%, as of 8:44 p.m. EDT. Futures tied to the S&P 500 slid 0.70%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.66%.

Geopolitical tensions worsened over the weekend after President Donald Trump said that that was trying to get past a naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran president Masoud Pezeshkian said U.S. actions are a “clear violation” of the ceasefire understanding and that Iranian forces are ready for a comprehensive defense, according to state-controlled media IRIB.

Oil prices lifted, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures surging 7.50% to $90.12 per barrel.

Bitcoin’s Struggles To Continue?

Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader Killa noted BTC’s positive momentum “fading” after a prolonged green run.

“Green bars are gradually weakening, suggesting momentum is stalling,” the analyst said. “With the market still range bound, it’s plausible delta shifts red from here, leading to late longs being flushed out.”

Rekt Capital, another well-known cryptocurrency commentator on X, outlined a potential retest of Bitcoin’s support at $73,000, with a successful hold confirming the upside breakout pattern.

Photo: Memory Stockphoto / Shutterstock

April 20, 2026
‘Euphoria’ Defecating Pig Starts a Drug War, With Rue Stuck in the Middle

[This story contains spoilers from the second episode of Euphoria season three.]

Martha Kelly is as surprised watching Euphoria as the rest of us. The comedian and character actor, who received her first Emmy nomination for her menacingly deadpan turn as drug-dealer Laurie last season, came back this year for season three to wreak more havoc for Rue (Zendaya), even with the five-year time jump. This much Kelly knows: Laurie drew her former teenage hostage back into her web, “offering” to employ her to work off her debt, only for Rue to again escape — this time into the home of another drug lord, Laurie’s seeming rival Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). As for everything else happening in the show, though? “I don’t know a lot of what happens this season because I only saw my own scenes,” Kelly says.

Much about Euphoria has been a discovery for Kelly, who made her acting debut to wide acclaim in Zach Galifianakis’s Baskets. She came into the show intimidated by the caliber of talent and intensity of focus given to every frame, and was worn out by the deeply disturbing material she was given in season two. But as the second episode of this third season clarifies, that load has lightened a little bit: The installment initiates the brewing feud between Laurie and Alamo, with her calling him a “fucking pig” over a tense phone call before he sends a literal, defecating pig over to her home in retaliation. Kelly at least knows what happens next in that world, but she’s not telling — only that, yeah, she wants Rue back, and she may not know the best way to go about that.

***

How is Euphoria mania going for you?

Anytime in my life when I’m leading up to something exciting, I just get paralyzed with dread — and then once it aired, it was really fun.

It’s got to feel like you’re in a Marvel movie or something, with all of the secrets you must be keeping. How are you managing?

I try not to say anything about specific things that happen, and I’m still not really talking a lot about even the first episode in my TikToks because I’ve seen the first three episodes and I don’t want to mix up what happens accidentally. The other thing that makes it easy is: In every episode I’ve seen so far, there’s stuff that happens that I was like, “That’s wild.”

What was the biggest surprise of the first two episodes for you?

Rue driving over the wall in Mexico. Rue and Faye having to swallow all those balloons.

I’m surprised you didn’t know about that part!

I really didn’t know that! I mean, I knew that they smuggled drugs, but I didn’t know how that was done, so I thought they had one large bag of drugs that they somehow got down, or maybe they got implanted or something. And I didn’t know any of the stuff about Maddie or Lexi. I didn’t know anything about Cassie and Nate. I didn’t know about Rue going to Alamo’s house and all that stuff that happened. I didn’t know about any of that.

When you got into it for season three, did you feel more comfortable in the role? Was there anything you wanted to play around with?

In season two, all my scenes were on a sound stage. That was Laurie’s dark, ominous home, and all of the material was really heavy and honestly upsetting. Whereas season three, she’s still a dangerous, terrible villain, but it’s in a different location — we shot on location — and there are other actors in it. Rue, thank God, is not a child anymore and there’s not a lot of the kind of skin crawling, “Laurie is a predator and we don’t know how far she’ll go with a kid” — which is what season two was like. So this was more fun for sure. And also you get to see Laurie as not the smartest business person.

This season overall is a bit more comic, so that fits into what you’re talking about, I think.

A lot of the characters, in the five-year time jump, have fallen from the high hopes that we had for them as an audience when they were in high school — which sadly often happens for people out of high school, who have a great time and then get out in the world and things aren’t as amazing in your early twenties as you hope. Laurie gave a suitcase full of drugs to a teenager and then kidnapped her and then passed out high allowing this girl to escape. So it’s already like, yeah, of course this character is going to have fallen a little. (Laughs)

Within the first three episodes, my biggest laugh remains when you just rattled off the amount that Rue owes you, from the season premiere.

When I said that number, I was like, this must be a joke. It can’t really be the amount she would owe. I made a video on TikTok yesterday saying, “I don’t even know if the math is right or if it’s just supposed to be an exaggeration.” Some people in the comments were like, “No, the math is correct. That is what it would be with that wild interest.” And I’m like, “Wow.”

Kelly in Euphoria.

The second episode fully establishes the tension between Laurie and Alamo — with Rue caught in the middle. She sort of loses control by calling him a “fucking pig.” Then he sends a literal pig her way. What’s going on there?

One of my shortcomings as an actor is that I don’t ask that many questions about the motivations of characters except for when we’re about to shoot a scene. “Is this line supposed to be angry?” But I didn’t actually ask Sam about that. My impression is that Laurie, like a lot of narcissists or sociopaths — whichever she is, maybe both — has convinced herself that she cares about Rue, although nothing about the way that she forces Rue into being a drug mule is caring. She has convinced herself that she has some kind of attachment to her and also is feeling like maybe she’s getting a little bit more on top again by having Rue.

So she found her and she’s making her run drugs for them — and then Rue goes with Alamo. They have a contentious past that started out not as enemies, and then by the time this season starts, she’s selling drugs to him — because partly she’s not a great business person and also because like, “Well, I’ll sell drugs to anybody.” But she thinks he’s a bad person. There’s something weird about people like Laurie where if they meet someone who’s as bad as them or worse, especially if that person hurts them personally, their sense of injustice and outrage is completely clueless. Normal people would go, “You’re kind of awful too.” But people like her are like, “How could anyone do this to me?”

You’re a comic actor and took on this very intense, dramatic role back in season two. What was it like joining the world?

I had a great time shooting it. I really love Sam Levinson and Zendaya and everybody I got to work with — it’s a great crew. But I was very nervous about it coming out because I thought Euphoria fans tended to be pretty young and very passionate and very sensitive, so I was prepared for them to hate the character — and possibly hate me by association. I was also very insecure about my acting because the cast on that show is way up here, and I’m a comedic character actor. I was like, “There’s a chance people are going to be like, This bitch ruined our favorite show.” I was really, really relieved and happy when that wasn’t the reaction.

I would imagine it’s a very different group of fans stopping you on the street than Baskets fans.

I love Baskets fans too. It was a really important part of my life and I love the people on that show. The Euphoria fans are more prone in public — because a lot of them are Gen Z — to shy-laugh a little bit and say, “Do you play Laurie on Euphoria?” I say yes, they say something nice and then they’ll often say, “Can I get a picture with you?” And I always say “Yes, as long as you don’t mind that I’m not good at taking pictures.” And then they take a selfie with me and then they go, “thank you, love you” or whatever. Not always “love you” but very sweet. Then they go about their business.

Given your anxieties about doing something in such a different register, did you watch the second season? If so, what was that like?

I always watch myself. I’m like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown — where I am Lucy and Charlie Brown. While I watch it I go, “Maybe this is the thing where I’ll be like, Hey, maybe I am a good actor.” And then I watch it and I go, ugh — about the way I look on screen and my acting ability. But the longer that I’ve been lucky enough to do this, the more I’ve tried to go into it being like everybody’s job has stuff that’s hard. And if the hardest thing for this great job is seeing myself on screen, who cares?

Did you think about how to make her scary, within your particular skillset?

I think that honestly, I just think that Sam’s writing and Zendaya’s acting are really what make her scary. He decided to create a mild-mannered sociopath; in real life, those are the scariest people, the disarming, vulnerable, seemingly nice ones who have no conscience. I kind of talk and have the same mannerisms in every role, so he just wrote it to where that’s how it would be me just acting the way I do and everything I’m in, honestly.

What has it been like to shape the character opposite Zendaya? What does she bring to those scenes for you?

I was really intimidated in season two partly because she’s really gifted. She’d be just making small talk with someone touching up her makeup, or with Sam or someone else in the crew, and then it’s like, “Okay, camera rolling, action” — and she could go right into really deep emotions. It is a high level of natural talent and a high level of skill and discipline. It’s a thrill to work with. It made me excited to get to work with her also just because she doesn’t act like one of the most famous people in the world on set. She acts like everybody else, so she doesn’t make it intimidating — her talent is intimidating.

As you mentioned earlier, there’s a lot going on in Laurie’s house this season — we see her associates, we see her bird. What was working in the space like?

There was also a rat that lives in that house that we all got to see. He had a penchant for coming out once the camera was rolling, getting in the shot and sometimes scaring people. This house was a location in the movie Nope, and it also was in an episode of Baskets. The second or third day shooting there, Jeff Barnett, our stunt coordinator was also stunt coordinator on Baskets, was there; I was like, “This looks so much like that house,” and that was almost 10 years ago. I asked Jeff and he said “This is the house.” So that was fun. It’s way more fun to be part of a group all in it together than to just be a creepy, despicable character being terrible to a kid in a dark sound stage.

***

Euphoria releases new episodes Sundays at 6 p.m. PT on HBO Max.

April 20, 2026
Taylor Frankie Paul Posts About “Ugly Parts” of “Healing” After Learning She Won’t Face Additional Domestic Violence Charges

Taylor Frankie Paul has reacted to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office announcing they are not filing charges against her following two separate investigations into domestic violence allegations.

“Here come the ugly parts of what healing actually looks like,” she began a lengthy post Sunday on Instagram. “If you know me you know I’ll admit my parts, flaws, and faults. I’m well aware thats apart of it. We’ll get there. This public atrocity that I not only lived through once but twice now, on even a bigger scale was ultimately the cost to my freedom. I wouldn’t wish this upon my worst enemy or even the ones who publicized it. I cried on my knees in pain while also saying THANK YOU 🙏🏼”

Paul then acknowledged that she’s still feeling the emotional effects of all that’s transpired and shared some symbolism she saw in the timing of learning the charges were dropped.

“We have a road ahead but regardless I’m forever freed from a certain living hell I couldn’t find my way out of,” she continued. “Metaphorically someone witnessed me bleeding out and poured salt all over me… somehow I’m still here.. as we can see barely because I believe God held me through and sent help plus an army which makes me cry because, thank you to all of you that supported even without full context 🙏🏼 God undoubtedly had a hand in this because after waiting 7 weeks on the 7th day EXACTLY I received the call all charges dropped. Those are his numbers symbolic for his plans which I’m nervous to see what’s in store … steps moving forward are the very basics. We’re working on eating, movement, rest, and retraining the nervous system. I’ll be sharing the process, because if my worst is shared better bet I’ll share the rebuilding too.”

The post included three selfies of Paul, in which she’s hiding her face with her phone.

In another post on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, Paul wrote, “I diagnosed with PTSD about two years ago which I assume is now cptsd [complex post-traumatic stress disorder]…by more than one therapist for all those that assumed diagnoses.”

In March, it was reported that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives paused filming following an alleged February domestic incident between Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen that was being investigated by the Draper City Police Department. On March 25, it was later revealed that Paul was under investigation for an alleged third domestic violence incident involving her and Mortensen in 2024, which was being led by the West Jordan Police Department. (Prior, Paul was arrested in 2023 for another incident with Mortensen, with the fallout being documented on season one of Mormon Wives.)

Salt Lake City’s ABC 4 confirmed April 14 that the DA will not be filing charges against Paul for either of those alleged incidents. The outlet noted that because incidents occurred over three years ago, the statute of limitations has expired for those events, per the DA.

The events that occurred within the statute of limitations reportedly “lack sufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges where the state must be able to prove such allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“Such incidents lack specificity as to when and what actually occurred or corroboration,” the Salt Lake City DA’s report notes, per ABC 4. “Based on the evidence submitted for screening by the Draper Police Department and West Jordan Police Department, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declines to file any charges.”

After the investigation tied to the alleged February incident was made public, a video of the events leading to Paul’s 2023 arrest was leaked to TMZ on March 19. The video showed Paul throwing barstools at Mortensen while her daughter present; a few hours later, ABC pulled Paul’s Bachelorette season, which was set to air on March 22.

After the network revealed the decision, a rep for Paul released a statement thanking ABC for their support.

“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” a spokesperson for Paul said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm.”

On April 7, Paul and Mortensen appeared in court over an existing order of protection he had filed against the Mormon Wives star. An hour before their appearance, Paul filed a temporary restraining order against Mortensen, which she was granted.

In Paul’s filing, which was obtained by THR, she alleges that Mortensen has a “pattern of abusive conduct and coercive control.” She recounted several alleged incidents in the filing, and alleged that as the premiere for her season of The Bachelorette grew closer, “Dakota became increasingly possessive.”

During an incident on Feb. 23, which was under investigation, Paul alleged that Mortensen came to her home where her three children were asleep to talk about their relationship, a day after they got into a verbal altercation about the same topic, and they entered his vehicle to talk, and he drove away without her consent.

In the filing, Paul claims she “pleaded with him to make me home, but he continued driving away,” and they began to argue, and then Mortensen “became physically violent.”

“The parties argued and Dakota assaulted Taylor by slamming her head against the dashboard of his truck and striking her knee and elbow,” the filing alleges, which also included photos of Paul’s bruises and screenshots of text messages between the two.

On March 20, NBC News reported on a Zoom call the Mormon Wives cast had with Disney execs, where they voiced concerns about continuing to film with Paul. A source close to the situation told THR that the cast call with Disney execs was held so the executives could inform the women that the show was going on pause amid their own investigation. The women were informed that filming for season five was to be paused until production’s investigation, which is separate from the law enforcement investigation, concludes.

April 20, 2026
Starting 5: LeBron’s dimes lead Lakers, Joker & Murray take control, Knicks & Cavs take Playoff Game 1 wins
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took Game 1 over the Rockets, as The King handed out 13 assists.

Not in our house.

Saturday was for the home teams, as higher seeds opened the 2026 Playoffs 4-0.

With four more Game 1s on the way — two on ABC, two on NBC & Peacock — what does today have in store?

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

April 19, 2026

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
5. SNB: NO. 1 PISTONS, NO. 8 MAGIC COLLIDE BEFORE WEMBY’S PLAYOFF DEBUT

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)
Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images

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
April 20, 2026