nba sports playoffs – Page 4

Warriors vs Mavericks Game 3 Recap

The Golden State Warriors edge out Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 to take a 3-0 series lead. Luka had another spectacular game finishing with 40, 11 and 3 which still wasn’t enough to hold off Golden State, you can’t complain about Luka not winning these games, the man is dropping 40 points a night, besides game 1 Luka has been fantastic in these western conference finals. Stephen Curry has also been fantastic in these conference finals finishing with 31, 5 and 11 in game 3, Golden State just has the better team and isn’t a good matchup for Dallas as the Warriors can throw multiple bodies at Luka and still have the necessary scorers like Curry, Thompson and Poole to give you the offense you need.

This Warriors team is now the favorite to win it all now and you can see why, with just being one game away from sweeping the Mavericks and having the depth this team can play multiple ways and let alone beat you multiple ways. Andrew Wiggins has been very underrated in these playoffs thus far and last night he finally made headlines, finishing with 27 points, guardian Luka full court and delivering a monster dunk over Doncic last night Wiggins has found the perfect spot in Golden State as a guy who’ll do all the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet and he doesn’t have to be the number one or two guy on a championship team.

Celtics vs Heat Game 3 Recap

Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat take down the Boston Celtics 109-103 to take the series lead 2-1 games on Saturday night. This series has been one of the more physical series in the playoffs thus far with a slew of injuries in game 3 with Marcus Smart injuring his ankle on a nasty fall but despite that returning later in the game, Jimmy Butler injuring his knee in the first half and not returning and Jayson Tatum suffering a shoulder injury in the third quarter but returning also, Jimmy Butler is most likely available for game 4 despite the injury. Bam Adebayo stepped up last night finishing with a double double {31, 10 and 6 on 68.2% shooting}, Kyle Lowry also returned to the starting lineup after missing the last few games with a hamstring injury and finishing with a subtle 11 points.

Tatum has to step up if Boston wants to advance to the finals, Tatum had just 10 points but 6 turnovers is what’s costing Boston these games, Tatum has been good for the most part but he’ll have these games with 10-15 points and a high amount of turnovers. I think if Boston can stay healthy and Tatum can be consistent with 20 points and 2-3 turnovers the Celtics can easily win this series in 6 games but that’s not the case as of now. Since Miami won last night in Boston each team has won a game on the road and this game 4 is huge for the Celtics cause if they lose game 4 and go down 3-1 in the series it’s over.

Warriors vs Mavericks Game 2 Recap

The Golden State Warriors edge out the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 to take a 2-0 series lead Friday night. Dallas should be getting worried, considering Luka Doncic had 42, 5 and 8 on efficient shooting, Jalen Brunson had 31 points, Reggie Bullock also had 21 and Dallas still lost. It’s not looking good for the Mavericks right now. The Warriors are looking like the favorites to get out of the west and possibly win the finals, with Golden State’s depth of elite scorers this series could get out of hand rather quickly if the Warriors win just one of the two games in Dallas.

Stephen Curry had another good game finishing with 32, 8 and 5 on efficient shooting {52.4% FG, 60% 3PT} and Kevon Looney having a career night with 21 and 12 boards on 71.4% FG the Mavericks have had issues with stopping the Warriors on defense. I think Dallas will make some adjustments to make this more of a closer series but at that point it will be too late for them to make a comeback, Spencer Dinwiddie just isn’t consistent enough to give you the 20 you need on a nightly basis and that’s Dallas’s problem in these playoffs.

Celtics vs Heat Game 2 Recap

The Boston Celtics routed the Miami Heat 127-102 in Miami to tie the series up one game a piece, the Celtics were much balanced with six players scoring in double digits including Jayson Tatum with 27, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown with 24 each, Grant Williams with 19, Al Horford and Payton Pritchard with 10 each as well. Marcus Smart and Al Horford returned to the lineup and made huge impacts, especially Smart with 24, 9 and 12 to go along with a steal and a block. Boston shot well last night making 51.2% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Celtics did what they were supposed to do in stealing a game on the road and heading back to Boston for game 3 on saturday.

The Heat had more of the opposite game with Jimmy Butler being the only contributor last night, Butler scored a game high 29 points on 61.1% shooting, but besides Jimmy the rest of Miami didnt come to play with the second highest scorer being Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo with 14 points. Miami really struggled shooting beyond the arc with 29.4% which is not going to beat this Celtics team who’s running on all cylinders right now.

Warriors vs Mavericks Game 1 Recap

The Golden State Warriors defeat Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks 112-87 on wednesday night to take a 1-0 series lead. Steph Curry led the way for the Warriors with his 6th career playoff double double with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but this wasn’t just about Steph, several Warriors players scored in double digits including Steph Curry {21}, Andrew wiggins {19}, Jordan Poole {19}, Klay Thomspon {15}, Draymond Green {10}, Kevon Looney {10} and Otto Porter Jr. {10}. This Warriors Team is one of the Most well rounded teams in terms of scoring that the league has.

Luka Doncic had one of his worst playoff games in his short career, scoring 20 points, 7 boards and 4 assists on terrible shooting percentages {33.3% FG, 30% 3PT}. The Mavericks in general shot horrible as a team with 36% from mid range and 22.9% from beyond the arc, you’re not gonna be this Warriors team shooting below average when you’re already not as good on paper as the team you’re playing. The Warriors have multiple bodies to throw at Doncic which is going to slow him down and wear him out. This series won’t go the distance if Dallas can’t figure out how to stop Golden State from scoring, especially efficiently.

Heat vs Celtics Game 1 Recap

Jimmy Butler gets it done once again with another epic performance, beating the short-handed Celtics 118-107 to take game 1 of the eastern conference finals. Butler finished with a game high of 41 points with also 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks, Butler has shown this playoffs again that he’s a superstar and should be getting the recognition. Many of the other Heat players contributed also with Tyler Herro with 18, Gabe Vincint with 17, Max Strus with 11 and Bam Adebayo struggling with 10 points. Miami trailed pretty much the whole first half but came out swinging in the second half making a crazy run in the third to take the lead.

Jayson Tatum had a good game finishing with 29 points including 21 in the first half but had a quiet second half with only 8 points, Tatum had a good all-around game with 29 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block. The real story was how Al Horford and Marcus Smart were going to be out for game 1 with health and safety protocols for Horford and an ankle injury for Marcus Smart which has hampered him throughout these playoffs thus far. Despite missing key players Boston still came to play with Tatum playing well, Jaylen Brown finishing with 24 points, Robert Willaim lll returning to the lineup with 18, and Payton Pritchard with 18 also, Most media and fans are predicting this series goes the distance to either 6-7 games and its looking like it so far.

NBA Game 7 Recaps

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.

NBA Game Recap

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.

NBA Game Recap

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.

NBA Game Recap

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.