Jayson Tatum scored 29 factors, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Boston Celtics accomplished a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, changing into the primary workforce to achieve the second spherical of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday evening.
Marcus Sensible added 20 factors and 11 assists for the No. 2-seeded Celtics, who made simple work of what was thought may very well be a troublesome collection. Boston will look forward to the winner of the collection between Milwaukee and Chicago. The defending champion Bucks maintain a 3-1 lead in that collection.
Kevin Durant had 39 factors, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, breaking free after the Celtics had defended him nicely within the first three video games. However he couldn’t get the Nets the win they wanted to increase what as a substitute goes down as a large failure of a season.
Anticipated to be an NBA Finals contender, the Nets wanted a powerful end simply to seize the No. 7 seed.
Seth Curry scored 23 factors for the Nets. Kyrie Irving, whose unavailability for house video games a lot of the season as a result of he isn’t vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus contributed to the Nets performing to this point beneath expectations, had 20 factors.
The Celtics had been below .500 on the midpoint of their season however went 31-10 from there, with Tatum rising because the scoring star on one of many NBA’s greatest defensive groups.
That protection restricted Durant to simply 19-for-52 capturing with 17 turnovers by the primary three video games and made it robust for him, at the same time as he lastly acquired extra photographs to drop Monday. He was solely 13 of 31 from the sector, 3 for 11 behind the arc.
Raptors 103, 76ers 88
PHILADELPHIA — Pascal Siakam scored 23 factors, Treasured Achiuwa had 17 and the Toronto Raptors pressured a return house for Sport 6 of their Jap Convention first-round collection in opposition to Philadelphia, beating the 76ers 103-88 on Monday evening.
Yo, Canada! As soon as holding a 3-0 collection lead, the 76ers are headed again north.
The Raptors have gained two straight within the collection and jumped throughout injured Sixers middle Joel Embiid and ineffective James Harden to make Thursday evening’s recreation a necessity.
Embiid had 20 factors and 11 rebounds enjoying with a thumb damage. Harden scored 15 factors on 4-of-11 capturing.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is dragging the load of ignominious NBA historical past with him by customs. Rivers, who led Boston to the 2008 championship, is the one coach in NBA historical past to blow three 3-1 collection leads. The Magic misplaced to Detroit within the 2003 Jap Convention first spherical; the 2015 Clippers blew the collection to Houston within the Western Convention semifinals; and in 2020, the Clippers misplaced to Denver within the West semifinals.
The subsequent season, Rivers was in Philly -- and the Sixers misplaced three video games at house because the No. 1 seed and had been eradicated within the second spherical.
The nerves in Philly are immediately as tight as the edges.
The Sixers had a depressing first half. They completed with 10 turnovers and shot 35% from the ground. Philly’s final bucket within the first quarter was one for the blooper reel: Matisse Thybulle’s missed shot bounced off the rim and was by chance tipped in by Achiuwa.
Whoops.
Possibly it sparked one thing for the Raptors. They opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to take management all whereas the Sixers missed their first 9 photographs. The Sixers didn’t rating till 6:51 was left within the half. Scottie Barnes scored eight factors within the quarter and the Raptors took a 54-41 lead on the break.
The 76ers had been booed off the court docket, their play a bleak reminder of some latest postseason flameouts.
“We’ve generated actually good photographs a lot of the collection,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse stated earlier than the sport. “We haven’t shot very nicely but. I advised the blokes right now, right now can be a great day to go forward and begin making a few of these open photographs.”
The Raptors listened, hovering round 50% for a lot of the recreation. Additionally they managed the boards and scored 20 factors off turnovers.
Harden may have used the capturing tip.
Harden performed the identical evening the All-Star he was traded for, Ben Simmons, was inactive for Brooklyn. Harden was barely extra seen and missed 6 of 8 photographs by three quarters, scoring 9 factors.
Embiid continued to play with a ligament tear in his proper thumb. He seemed gassed at occasions within the third quarter because the Raptors saved attacking the MVP finalist for robust buckets, notably Achiuwa’s driving layup that made it 73-60.
Mavericks 102, Jazz 77
DALLAS — Luka Doncic had 33 factors and 13 rebounds in his first house playoff recreation coming off a calf damage and the Dallas Mavericks routed the Utah Jazz 102-77 on Monday evening for a 3-2 lead of their first-round playoff collection.
Doncic made his collection debut in Sport 4 at Utah, when the Jazz scored the final 5 factors within the last 31 seconds for a one-point win that evened the collection.
After the primary 4 video games had been determined by eight factors or much less, Sport 5 was by no means actually shut, due to Utah’s almost six-minute scoreless drought within the second quarter that fueled a 22-4 Dallas run on the way in which to a 52-36 halftime lead.
Sport 6 is Thursday evening in Salt Lake Metropolis, with the Jazz regaining their formidable home-court edge, however dealing with the lengthy odds of simply 18% of groups successful a collection after dropping the fifth recreation when the groups cut up the primary 4.
The Mavericks haven’t superior within the postseason since successful the 2011 championship. Utah is within the playoffs for the sixth consecutive 12 months, however hasn’t gone previous the second spherical.
Jordan Clarkson scored 20 factors and Rudy Gobert added 17 factors and 11 rebounds within the lowest-scoring recreation for the Jazz since they misplaced by 50 at Dallas (118-68) on Nov. 14, 2018. They had been 3 of 30 from 3-point vary (10%) and shot 38% general.
Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 30 factors within the first 4 video games, scored simply 9 and missed all seven of his 3-pointers earlier than limping to the locker room holding the realm round his left knee within the fourth quarter.
The frustration boiled over for Utah when Hassan Whiteside was ejected following a tough foul on Doncic within the fourth quarter.
Whiteside was assessed two technical fouls after shoving Dorian Finney-Smith and going nose-to-nose with Reggie Bullock as coaches from each side frantically tried to maintain gamers separated. Finney-Smith and Bullock additionally acquired technicals, and Bullock was ejected as a result of it was his second of the sport.
Jalen Brunson, who carried a lot of the offensive load for Dallas when Doncic was sidelined, scored 24 factors. Finney-Smith added 13, and Dwight Powell acquired the group going early with all eight of his factors on 4-of-4 capturing within the first.
Doncic, his left calf coated in a black wrap below white leggings, saved a raucous crowd rolling with a number of nifty strikes and high-arcing 3-pointers.
The primary spotlight got here late within the first half when Doncic drove all the way in which to the rim with Gobert guarding him, stopped and faked the 7-foot-1 middle a number of occasions earlier than turning his again to the basket and spinning a reverse layup off the glass and in as Gobert fouled him.
The exclamation level was within the third quarter, when Doncic hit consecutive 3s for a 74-46 lead, doing a shimmy in entrance of the followers to his left after the second went in. The 23-year-old sensation swished one other 3 for a 79-46 lead proper after blocking Jordan Clarkson’s shot from deep.
Doncic left to a standing ovation after committing a foul on objective to cease the sport with a 29-point Dallas lead within the fourth quarter.
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