Tag Archives: nba sports playoffs

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.

Suns vs Mavericks

        Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks get it done vs the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix was really sloppy in this game and did not come prepared. Between Chris Paul and Devin Booker they had twelve turnovers, which is unacceptable if they want to close out this series. Luka had a great game with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, Jalen Brunson also came to play with a game high 28 points and shooting 7-7 from the free throw line. Five different Dallas players had double digits including Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kebler. 

Sunday we’ll see if Phoenix has a bounce back game which I think will happen, Chris Paul isn’t at the age of having a good game every night but Paul has a good game for every bad game so if that’s the case game four on Sunday he’ll have a good game, Devin Booker also struggled only having 18 points which is not great for him. 

Heat vs 76ers

    Despite Jimmy Butler’s 33 point game the Miami heat still got blown out 79-99 but are still leading the series 2-1, Joel Embiid made his series debut last night having a cool double double in his return {18 points and 11 rebounds} in 36 minutes. Danny Green had a phenomenal game finishing with 21 points shooting 7-9 from three, even though Joel Embiid didn’t have a crazy game, Sixers players like James Harden and Tyrese Maxey had good games as well finishing with 21 for Maxey and 17, 8 and 6 from James Harden. 

Besides Jimmy Butler the rest of the Heat team didn’t come to play, besides Butler the second highest scoring player on Miami was Tyler Herro with 14 points which is unacceptable, no other players on the Heat scored in double digits, Kyle Lowry returned to the starting lineup but didn’t score any points in his 25 minutes of playing time. I think the Heat will have a bounce back game.

In this list I compiled 5 players who will likely be traded or signing with a new team in free agency, I’ll be factoring in all small details like injury history, happiness with role on the team, contract, and age.

1. Zach Lavine

Zach Lavine is a unrestricted free agent this summer and could sign with any team, Lavine has spoken out about free agency and said he’s weighing all his options but in his quote to the media it sounded like he was saying goodbye to Bulls fans. Lavine and the Bulls have a good roster with many pieces on it but still got outed in the first round of the playoffs 4-1 by the Milwaukee Bucks, Lavine switched to small forward and his numbers all decreased slightly but there’s still a glimpse of hope for Lavine to return to the Bulls.

2. Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook despite having a down year in his standards is still a valuable player to the right team, Russell has proven he’s not a winning player but if you are a bottom team and are looking to fill the seats and be a fun fringe playoff team Westbrook is exactly what you want. With the Lakers and Westbrook pairing being a disaster this season it’s very likely that Westbook gets moved this offseason and the team trading for him wouldn’t have to give up much or anything at all due to his enormous contract of $47 million, and another plus on top of that is you could get that $47 million off the books after one year and have plenty of cap room. 

3. Rudy Gobert

    There’s no secret that the Utah Jazz will be shipping out either Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell this offseason but my guess is it’s going to be Gobert who’s on the move, Gobert is a player you would want if your looking for help on the defensive side, Rudy is a 3x defensive player of the year, 4 time All-NBA player and many other awards. It’s been reported Gobert and Mitchell don’t have a good relationship at all and has given the organization the ultimatum of me {Gobert} or Mitchell, I could see a team like Dallas or Golden State making a move for the big man.  

4. Tobias Harris

    With Tobias Harris being on a max contract the Sixers could make a move to clear some cap room or replace Harris with a better player who fits the team scheme, Harris is averaging 16.4 points per game and is having a good year averaging over 17 a game but isn’t a max player. Despite Harris having a good year and having history with head coach Doc Rivers the Sixers have choices to make for contracts like giving James Harden, Tyrese Maxey contract extensions and with Joel Embiid already making over $40 million a year someones gonna be the odd man out and it’s gonna be Harris. I could see a team like the Hawks or the Indiana Pacers.   

5. Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins is a solid player but Golden State needs to move off Wiggins and his big contract, Despite Wiggins being named a All-Star starter this season many members of the media and NBA front offices don’t see Wiggins as a multi time All-Star or someone whos a number 1 or 2 option on a championship team, Wiggins could be packaged with center James Wiseman in a trade to help Golden State in a win now move like a Rudy Gobert. Wiggins has been solid this year averaging 17 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2 assists but most people knew that Wiggins wasn’t going to be in the long term plans for Golden State especially since the Warriors need to clear cap space for emerging player Jordan Poole who’s going to need a contract in a year or so.

Heat vs 76ers

    The well rounded Miami Heat once again cruise past the Philadelphia 76ers with a 119-103 win at home to take a 2-0 series lead. The Sixers without Joel Embiid have really struggled, James Harden has been proving that he isn’t the same player from Brooklyn when he arrived there let alone Houston, Tryese Maxey had a great game finishing with a game high 34 points on 12-22 shooting {54.5%} and Tobias Harris has also stepped up giving the Sixers 21 and 4 steals last night. The real story of this series has been the Heat’s depth from the starters to the bench players, Miami goes 9 players deep and that doesnt even include sharpshooter Duncan Robinson. Coming off the bench Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo have been sensational, Oladipo and Herro combined for 37 points and 13 rebounds.

    The real question is how far can this Miami Heat team actually go? With the east being wide open and every team dealing with some sort of issue this could be the Heat’s year to get back to the finals and make a run for a championship. 

Suns vs Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns handled business taking a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks with a 129-109 win last night. Devin Booker led the Suns in scoring with 30 and Chris Paul had another phenomenal fourth quarter scoring 14 of his 28 points. Deandre Ayton was very pedestrian only scoring 9 points in his 18 minutes of play, the Suns have been letting Luka get his numbers but it hasn’t led to winning any games yet, Luka un this series has averaged 40 points but it won’t matter cause Luka is the only player Dallas has that can get his own shot, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson have been mediocre to say the least in this series. 

Luka and the Mavericks will have a chance to make this a closer series heading back home for the next two games but like i said in my predictions Dallas needs another all star if they want to be true title contenders and Phoenix is exposing that.

Warriors vs Grizzlies

    Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies handled the Warriors with a 106-101 win to tie the series up 1-1. Thanks to Ja’s historic night finishing with 47 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals the Grizzlies are proving the doubters wrong, very few fans and members of the media picked Memphis to have any sort of chance to make it this far, especially because they’re one of the youngest teams in the playoffs. Besides Ja, none of the other players from Memphis had a big night, in fact the second highest scorer on the Grizzlies was Ziare Williams with 14 points. 

    Now for the Warriors they need to look themselves in the mirror, especially Klay Thompson who has for the most part looked like a shell of himself this season and in particular the playoffs, Klay finished with 12 points on terrible shooting {5-19} and even on the defensive side the Grizzlies have been targeting Thompson which used to make him that all star plus kinda player. For the rest of the Warriors they have been good for the most part, Stephen Curry had another good game finishing with 27 points on below par shooting but nonetheless is still giving you the production you need from him.

Celtics vs Bucks

The Boston Celtics torched the Milwaukee Bucks last night 109-86 to even the series up 1-1 on Boston’s home court. With an explosive game from Jaylen Brown {25 points in the first half} the Bucks had no answer for Brown in game 2, Brown filled up the stat sheet with 30 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block on high efficient shooting {61.1% FG, 60% 3PT}. Also Jayston Tatum had a good game finishing just under Brown with 29 points. Boston brought the physicality last night and the Bucks had no answer for it.

The bigger concern was why did Giannis have such a poor game? Yes it looks like he had an alright game if you’re looking at the box scores but through the first half Giannis only had 5 points on 2-12 shooting which for his standards is awful. The Celtics have to feel pretty good for themselves right now considering there’s no Khris Middleton this series, they handled the Bucks without Marcus Smart last night and the Celtics defense shut down Giannis.

Suns vs Mavericks

        Devin Booker led the Phoenix Suns to a 121-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks Monday night taking a 1-0 series lead. The Suns had a great night all around getting a balanced team effort in the scoring category with six different players in double digits including Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson. Booker and Ayton led with Booker’s near triple double {23, 9 and 8} and Ayton dominating on the inside.        

    Despite the Suns leading for mostly the whole game I wouldn’t be so comfortable if i was a Suns fan, Phoenix can’t find a way to stop Luka which is a problem, Luka dropped a near triple double with 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, if the Mavericks can get someone else to step up like Jalen Brunson or Spencer Dinwiddie the Suns could be in trouble. My prediction for this series still remains about the same with the Suns winning in 6 games.  

Heat vs 76ers 

Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat take game 1 at home with a 106-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s been confirmed that 76ers Superstar Joel Embiid will miss the first two games of this series with an orbital fracture and a mild concussion from game 6 of the 76ers first round matchup against the Raptors. With the 76ers being short handed this is Miami’s time to take a lead without the MVP finalist, With no Embiid and James Harden looking like a shell of himself this year the 76ers could be in some deep water even if it’s only one game. Last night Phili had no answer for Heat’s Tyler Herro, scorching hot from three, making big shot after big shot, scoring 25 points and 7 assists on 52.9% shooting and 66.7% 3 point shooting. 

P.J Tucker also made a huge impact last night, having a Draymond Green effect on the last night’s game, maybe not putting up huge numbers but his physical presence was a huge factor in last nights game. James Harden needs to step up in this series if the Sixers want any shot at advancing to the next round because 16 points on 38.5% shooting isn’t going to cut it especially if Embiid is out.

Bucks vs Celtics

    Despite the box score this game wasn’t close. The two time MVP Giannis  Antetokounmpo was destroying the Celtics no matter what they tried to do to slow the Greek Freak down. The Bucks had four different players score in double digits including Giannis  Antetokounmpo {24}, Bobby Portis {15}, Jrue Holiday {25} and Grayson Allen {11}. Despite the Bucks missing key players like Kris Middleton and George Hill they still managed to handle the Celtics in Boston to steal game 1.        

    The Celtics on the other hand found their match in Milwaukee, this is a bad matchup for Boston and everyone knows it, unless you have a dominant big like Embiid to match Giannis’s production your always going to be at a deficit against the Bucks. Boston was more rounded in scoring with five players in double digits including Jayson Tatum {21}, Al Hroford {12}, Jaylen Brown {12}, Marcus Smart {10} and Derrick White {10}. My prediction was the Bucks in 7 but not to overreact to one game but this series could go maybe 6 games if the Celtics manage to have a good shooting night. 

Warriors vs Grizzlies 

    This game was way closer than it should have been, with Klay Thompson missing two free throws down the stretch, Draymond Green getting ejected in the second quarter and the Warriors going cold from three, missing six shots down the stretch, this really was the Grizzlies shot to steal a game and make this a series, many in the media is saying this series already feels over which I can conclude it is, now i do see the Grizzlies stealing maybe one game but this series is going max 6 games if something unlucky happens like bad officiating or a lucky shooting night from Memphis. 

Scoring wise Jordan Poole had himself a career game last night finishing with 31 points 8 boards and 9 assists on high percentage shooting {60% FG, 50% 3PT}, Stephen Curry didn’t have a bad game either finishing with a cool 24 points. As for the Grizzlies Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. had themselves a game finishing with a near 34 point triple double for Ja and 33 and 10 for Jaren Jackson Jr.