Nuggets bring perfect mark under interim coach David Adelman into NBA playoffs against Clippers

DENVER (AP) — Many in the NBA world wrote off Denver as a championship contender after Nuggets boss Josh Kroenke fired his head coach and general manager with just three games remaining in the regular season.

No team ever had such little time to adjust to a new voice heading into the playoffs, Yet, the Nuggets, facing the possibility of falling into a play-in position, responded by going 3-0 under interim coach David Adelman.

That run secured the fourth seed in the top-heavy Western Conference playoffs and the home-court advantage for their first-round series against the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers, with Game 1 Saturday at Ball Arena.

Following their first game under Adelman, a 124-116 win at Sacramento that came the night after Michael Malone and Calvin Booth were dismissed amid a festering feud, superstar Nikola Jokic delivered a curt message to friend and foe alike.

“People say that we were vulnerable, but the beast is always the most dangerous when they’re vulnerable," Jokic said, suggesting that perhaps Kroenke “woke up the beast.”

Kroenke said he made the moves in an effort to salvage the season and praised his coaching staff and roster for rising to the moment.

The Nuggets earned a week's rest but they certainly didn't draw a cupcake in the opening round.

The Clippers enter the postseason as the NBA's hottest team, having won their final eight games and going 18-3 down the stretch. Their only losses over the last month were to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (103-101 on March 23) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (127-122 on March 30).

“They're a great team,” Jokic said. “They are playing really well lately. They have dangerous players and they have players who are really probably the best at their roles coming off the bench. They're really dangerous. We know it's going to be a really big task for us, but I think we are ready for it.”

Jokic is a three-time MVP but none of those awards followed a season like the one he just had. He's just the third player to average a triple-double over a season and he set career highs in points (29.6) and assists (10.2) to go with his 12.7 rebounds per game.

Jokic is the first player in NBA history to finish in the top-3 in all three categories in the same season.

“Preparing for him is not an easy task," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. "It’s not going to be something where we got to expect Zu (Ivica Zubac) every night to be able to guard him 1-on-1. We got to give him different looks to try to keep him off-balance. If you double-team him, he’s going to have 15 assists, if you stay at home he might have 50 (points).”

While the Nuggets went 14-13 after the All-Star break, the Clippers have been ascending ever since Kawhi Leonard returned after missing the season's first 34 games while taking it easy on his surgically repaired knees.

Leonard won two NBA championships — one with San Antonio and another with Toronto — but his health has been a major issue during his five years in Los Angeles.

Leonard, who appeared in just two playoff games the last two years because of injuries, is looking like his old — or shall we say, young — self.

“It feels good for us and him playing at a high level helps our team out tremendously,” Lue said. “I’m happy for him for, all the hard work he’s put in to get to this point and to be healthy at the end of the season.”

A lot of teams have better betting odds of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy two years after Denver won its first NBA championship, but Aaron Gordon said the Nuggets are accustomed to disrespect.

“I mean, that’s how it was our championship run, too,” Gordon said.

With contributions from AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Los Angeles. Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton at  https://apnews.com/author/arnie-melendrez-stapleton

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Denver Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke steps up to respond to questions at a news conference Monday, April 14, 2025, in Denver to questions about the firing of the team's general manager and head coach last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney (5) shoots next to Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 13, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) shoots as Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April, 13, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord found guilty of a vicious hate crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in court Friday for sentencing.

A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the attack happened.

Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.

Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.

“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”

The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict. Czuba is eligible for a minimum prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or life, according to the Will County state's attorney's office.

Prosecutors declined to comment ahead of Friday's hearing and have not said what sentence they will seek. Illinois does not have the death penalty.

The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.

Czuba did not speak during the trial. His defense attorneys argued that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George Lenard, has not addressed reporters and declined comment ahead of the sentencing.

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.

She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.

Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.

Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.

Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.

FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)