Author Archives: Tyler

Bucks vs Celtics

The Boston Celtics closed out the series with a dominating 109-81 win over the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon. Grant Williams had a career game with 27 points including 7 3pm and 6 assists as well, Jayson Tatum played well finishing with 23 points 6 rebounds and 8 assists and that was all Boston needed to top Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled from the field with 10-26 shooting but still finished with 25 points and 20 boards but it wasn’t enough as the defending champs couldn’t find a rhythm from beyond the arc shooting 4-33 {12%}.

With Boston being the more well rounded team it was a given they had a good chance to win this series, despite the Bucks having arguably the best player in the league Boston’s tema was just overall better, especially not having to rely on Giannis or Jrue Holiday to carry the whole series. The Celtics advance to the eastern conference finals to play the Miami Heat for a shot at the finals.  

    Suns vs Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks stun the Phoenix Suns in a blowout win to take the game 7 and advance to the western conference finals to play the Golden State Warriors. Phoenix didnt come prepared whatsoever getting blown out 90-123, with Cameron Johnson being the leading scorer for the Suns with just 12 points you could imagine this game wasn’t close, Suddenly the Suns are looking like a disaster with Monty Williams and Deandre Ayton going at it and Devin Booker, Chris Paul combining for just 21 points Phoenix looks like a disaster today. 

On the other hand the Mavericks played with house money last night with Luka Doncic leading the way with 35 points, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals, some of the Mavericks role players came to play also including Spencer Dinwiddie with 30 points and Jalen Brunson with 24 points, Phoenix just couldn’t stop Dallas on defense and that costed them potentially another shot at the finals.

Bucks vs Celtics

    Jayson Tatum explodes for 46 points to lift the Boston Celtics to a game 7 versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Tatum hasn’t been all that great this series and he’s shown last night why he should be a superstar in this league, with the series heading back to Boston on Sunday night for a game 7 I would imagine the Celtics are the betting favorite to win that game. Giannis also had a monster game finishing with 44 points, 20 rebounds, 6 assists with a steal and 2 blocks but didn’t secure the win to close the series, Giannis is showing why he’s the best player in the league right now and his team isn’t doing enough to help him. 

The Celtics had multiple players score in double digits like Jayson Tatum with 46, Jaylen Brown with 22 and Marcus Smart with 21 and that was enough to edge out the Bucks last night at home.    

Warriors vs Grizzlies

    The Golden State Warriors close out the Memphis Grizzlies with a 100-96 win to advance to the western conference finals. The splash brothers came up clutch combining for 59 points and 14 threes, with Klay Thompson having a vintage game last night this game got out of hand quickly in the second half, Klay finally showed up last night after struggling the last couple games and just like usual he did it from behind the arc. Stephen Curry also had a good game finishing with 29 points with 7 boards and 5 assists, Memphis guard Dillion Brooks shoved Steph to the ground last night and received a flagrant 1 foul and it was clearly out of frustration.

Now for Memphis, they played a great game and considering what they’ve done without Ja Morant these last two games you have to give the players a lot of credit, Memphis is a very young team and they are going to be a problem for the next couple years. Few thought Memhpis would play this well and get this far for such a young team but they’ve overachieved this postseason and I’m sure Grizzlies fans are very excited for what’s to come for this team.

Suns vs Mavericks

    The Dallas Mavericks cook the Phoenix Suns 113-86 to force a game 7 in Phoenix. Thanks to the Mavericks defense this game wasn’t close for the whole second half, between Phoenix shooting struggles and committing 22 turnovers to the Mavericks 6 Phoenix seems to be letting off the gas. Luka had a good game finishing with 33, 11, 8 and 4 steals, some of other Mavericks players showed up like Reggie Bullock finishing with 19 points with 5 three’s, Jalen Brunson with 18 and Spencer Dinwiddie with 15 points off the bench. 

The Suns need to get it together for game 7, heading into this series much of the media and fans didn’t expect this series to go more than 5-6 games, but with Chris Paul playing bad for most of the series and Devin Booker having a couple bad games Phoenix has really opened the door for Dallas to advance to the next round.    

Heat vs 76ers

    Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat close out the Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games to advance to the eatern conference finals for the second time in three years. Butler had another terrific game finishing with a game high of 32 points with also 8 boards, 4 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. Joel Embiid has played decent through this series but couldn’t get it done last night to force a game 7, you have to feel for Embiid, with all the injuries he’s playing through, being the runner up to Jokic in the MVP voting the last two years and James Harden’s lack of assertiveness Embiid just can’t catch a break these last two years. Harden last night finished with 11 points and 9 assists but only took 9 shots the whole game.

This Sixers team could be shaken up again with Doc Rivers being on the hot seat, James Harden drastically underperforming and an early exit in the playoffs again, but not to take anything away from the Heat, they played great for most of the series and they were a number one seed for a reason.

Celtics vs Bucks

        Jrue Holiday came up huge for the Bucks last night making the two game winning plays to take a 3-2 series lead on the Boston Celtics. Holiday made two huge defensive stops on DPOY Marcus Smart. Holiday not only had huge plays at the end of the game but also had one of his better playoff games as a Buck with 24, 8 and 8. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way to victory though with an astounding 41 points, 11 rebounds with a steal and a block, this is the second time in this series Giannis has had over 40 which lead to wins in both games.   

The Celtics are in a tough spot as they are heading into game 6 in Milwaukee and it’s a must win game to stay alive, This time it was Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who had great games combining for 60 points {Tatum with 34 and Brown with 26}. Tatum finished with a team-high 34, 6 and 4 on 2-11 three point shooting in which he struggled with most of this series. 

Grizzlies vs Warriors

The Ja less Memphis Grizzlies destroy the Golden State Warriors by 39 points to make this series more interesting. The Grizzlies are still down 2-3 in this series but they played their hearts out last night, without All-Star point Guard Ja Morant. Many thought Memphis was done last night but that wasn’t the case at all. The Warriors just played sloppy basketball, committing 22 turnovers, Both teams’ starters didn’t play much as this game got out of hand rather quickly so it’s safe to say each team will be well rested for game 6 on Friday night in San Francisco. Seven different Grizzlies players had double digits but it was Jaren Jackson Jr. who had the best game with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.   

Golden State on the other hand played awful but Klay Thompson at least had a better game to his standards nowadays with a team high 19 points on high percentage shooting {58.3% FG and 50% 3PT|} but the team just couldn’t get it together last night.

Suns vs Mavericks

        Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns routed the Dallas Mavericks 110-80 to take a crucial 3-2 series lead in Phoenix last night. With just a 3 point lead heading into halftime the Suns came out in the second half with some fire, outscoring the Mavericks by 27 in the second half thanks to a team effort by four different players scoring double digits including Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker and Cameron Johnson. Booker had 28 and 7 rebounds while Chris Paul still can’t seem to find his groove, since turning 37 Paul hasn’t scored over 14 points in a game and only had 7 points last night.

    Doncic of course had another good game finishing with 28 and 11 boards but the team couldn’t get it done once again. Jalen Brunson did step up though, scoring 21 points with 7 boards and 52.9% shooting from the field, but other than that no one else really contributed in the points category. 

    Heat vs 76ers

The Miami Heat torched the Philadelphia 76ers 120-85 last night to take a critical 3-2 series lead. Miami is continuing to prove in these playoffs that you don’t need a top heavy team as 7 different Heat players scored in double digits but Jimmy Butler once again led the way with 23, 9 and 6 on high percentage shooting {60% FG, 50% 3PT}. Duncan Robinson finally got some playing time last night with 13 minutes but struggled with just 3 points coming off the bench. 

Phili once again struggled but this time it was with Embiid playing, Embiid was having issues with his face injury last night and it really showed, the superstar big man was the leading scorer for Phili with 17 and just 5 rebounds, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey struggled last night as well finishing with 14 for Harden and 9 for Maxey on terrible shooting percentages. Phili is in a bad spot and are one game from getting bounced again early in the playoffs so I expect the 76ers to come out swinging in game six on thursday night.

Warriors vs Grizzlies

The Golden State Warriors edge out the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98 to take a 3-1 series lead Monday night. With Ja Morant being out of the lineup with a knee injury he suffered late in game 3, Memphis was big underdogs without their All-Star point guard, and to no surprise the Grizzlies lost last night but it was a very close game up until the end. With Stephen Curry leading the way with 32, 5 and 8 assists, the rest of the Warriors key pieces didn’t exactly have good games like Klay Thompson he finished with  14 points but shot 0-7 from three, Draymond Green didn’t have a good statline game but made a crucial block at the end, and Jordan Poole struggled once again with 14 points on 4-12 shooting. 

Even though the Grizzlies lost I would feel good about this game, they only lost by 3 without Ja Morant and them being on Golden State’s home court. I still think this series is over but Memphis surprised a lot of people and can build off of this year.        

Bucks vs Celtics

    Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics win game 4 with a 116-108 win over the Bucks in Milwaukee to knot the series up at 2-2. This was a huge game for Boston because if they don’t win they go down 3-1 and the series is effectively over but that’s not the case as Boston all of a sudden is looking good, tying the series up 2-2 and heading back home for game 5.Al Horford and Tatum had killer games combing for 60 points and 28 combined in the fourth quarter. Even though the Bucks lost Giannis Antetokounmpo had a good game, finishing with 34, 18 and 5 assists, other than Giannis the Bucks struggled last night with the second highest scorer being Jrue Holiday finishing with 16 points on 5-22 shooting {22.7%} which is awful. 

    Al Horford has been a monster in the playoffs thus far and Boston is looking real dangerous if Horford continues to play this way. The Bucks have really been missing Kris Middleton this series and it’s starting to show how much Middleton means to this team. 

Heat vs Sixers

    The Sixers came to play last night winning 116-108 tying up the series 2-2, James Harden looked real good last night putting up his 45th playoff career game scoring over 30 points. The 76ers shot 48.5% from 3 last night and that’s inexcusable for the Heat on the defensive end to allow that. Besides Jimmy Butler the rest of the Heat have been playing under par since going up 2-0 in this series, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo came to play last night with Jimmy finishing with 40, 3 and 6 on 13-20 shooting and Bam finishing with 21, 7 and 4 it still wasn’t enough to get past the Sixers. Joel Embiid in his second game back had 24 and 11 and with Harden playing like that last night Embiid’s 24 and 11 will be enough to get past most of the teams remaining in the playoffs.

    The Heat’s role players need to step up if they want this series to go the full 7 games because at this rate the Sixers are looking like they’ll be winning this in 6-7 games. Players and Media around the league are wondering why Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra hasn’t been playing Duncan Robinson in the playoffs especially when he’s completely healthy.  

Suns vs Mavericks

    Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks tie the series up 2-2 with a 111-101 win at home Sunday night with the Mavericks making 20 threes at a 45.5% clip. Dorian Finney-Smith was great last night finishing with 24 points on 8-12 3 point shooting. Ever since members of the media started calling out the Mavericks role players for not giving Luka enough help they’ve been on fire, with Jalen Brunson coming up big in game 3 and Dorian Finney-Smith coming up big in game 4 the Mavericks are rolling now. Some of the Officiating in game 4 was questionable to say the least, from Chris Paul picking up 2 fouls that he didn’t commit to Devin Booker getting a flagrant 1 foul when he didn’t do anything wrong, Suns fans were furious on twitter last night calling it one of the worst officiated games in NBA history. 

Luka and Devin Booker did both have good games though with Luka finishing with 26, 7 and 11 with 3 steals and Devin Booker finishing with 35, 4 and 7 it just wasn’t enough to win this game. Chris Paul had a night to forget fouling out early in the second half with just 5 points and getting into it with a Mavericks fan who reportedly laid hands on Paul’s wife and Mother in front of his kids, I’m sure Chris Paul will have a bounce back game heading back home for game 5 on Tuesday but the Mavericks have made this series interesting.

Warriors vs Grizzlies

    Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors torch the Memphis Grizzlies 142-112 to take a 2-1 series lead Saturday night. Ja Morant finished with 34 points before leaving in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, Morant will be evaluated today. Dillion Brooks also served his one game suspension due to his nasty foul on Gary Payton ll. The Warriors came to play last night with 3 players scoring over 20 points {Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson} and 3 other players scoring in the teens {Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Otto Porter Jr.}. Between the Warriors balanced scoring night and Memphis missing key players throughout the game this was destined to be a blowout        

    Steph Curry was sensational last night finishing with 30 points, 6 assists on 14-14 free throw shooting, Klay Thompson also had a bounce back game finishing with a cool 21, 9 and 4 on efficient shooting {61.5% FG, 66.7% 3PT} with also a one legged three point shot that got the crowd pumped. We’ll see what happens with Ja Morants knee but if he misses any games in this series it could go sideways fast. 

    Bucks vs Celtics

    Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Buck hold on to win game 3 103-101 to take a 2-1 series lead, Giannis dominated last night finishing with 42, 12,  8 with 2 blocks and 2 steals, the Bucks dominated in the third quarter scoring 34 to Boston’s 17 points. Jayson Tatum had a game to forget finishing with 10 points on 4-19 shooting and 3 turnovers. Despite Tatum’s horrible game Boston still had 5 players score double digits {Jayson Tatum, Jalyen Brown, Al Horford, Robert Williams lll, and Derrick White.

If Boston wants to win this series they need Jayson Tatum to play like he did in the Brooklyn series which was like a superstar, Al Horford has been a surprise this series scoring 20 in multiple games and making a big impact on the interior and glass so far but at the end of the day Tatum is the leader and needs to step up.