Category: NBA Playoffs Blog

NBA playoffs blog

Rockets guard Russell Westbrook status upgraded for Game 5 vs Thunder

UPDATE: Mere hours before scheduled tipoff this evening, Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was upgraded to Questionable.

Rockets guard Russell Westbrook put up 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in the regular season, but has yet to play in the 2020 NBA playoffs. His return will not take place today. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:

Rockets guard Russell Westbrook’s return from his strained quadriceps muscle moved closer Tuesday, but with the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder tied, 2-2, Westbrook was still ruled out for Wednesday’s Game 5.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni on Tuesday offered his most optimistic assessment of the potential of Westbrook playing since he was ruled out for the final seeding game and missed each of the four playoff games so far.

“I think it’s day to day, he’s listed,” D’Antoni said…

“Russ only has one level,” Rockets center P.J. Tucker said. “Russ got one speed. Russ got one mind, one energy (level.) If you get Russ, you get Russ. I think that’s a part of him taking his time to get back because he knows and we know the level he’s going to be at when he comes back.

Through four playoff games this year against the Thunder, fellow Rockets star guard James Harden has averaged 32.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. There is tremendous pressure on Harden to continue to carry the load. Getting Russ back would help a lot.

Jamal Murray shines as Nuggets win Game 5 vs Jazz

While Nuggets center Nikola Jokic scored big, guard Jamal Murray went wild dropping serious buckets Tuesday. Here’s the Denver Post reporting:

With the Nuggets facing elimination from the playoffs and trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Murray ripped Game 5 away from Utah’s grips and ensured Denver could fight another day. The Nuggets’ 117-107 white-knuckle win guaranteed, at least, a Game 6 on Thursday, with Utah holding a 3-2 lead.

As his late 3-pointer rattled home, giving the Nuggets a 108-101 lead with 2:00 remaining, there was no hiding Murray’s smile. As this series has proved, Murray thrives as the tension mounts. His monumental 42-point masterpiece saved the Nuggets’ season…

Nikola Jokic added 31 points, six rebounds and four assists, his selfless nature more than willing to cede the spotlight to his counterpart. Neither Nuggets cornerstone rested during the second half.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 30 points, but the Nuggets may have finally found the answer to Utah’s offensive riddle. The Jazz managed only 44 points in the second half.

In addition to his scoring, Murray contributed eight rebounds, eight assists and no turnovers. A fantastic performance.

Mitchell has been incredible for the Jazz all series. Through five games he’s averaging 37.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, on 54% FG shooting and 53% from three-point range.

Blazers guard Damian Lillard out for Game 5 vs Lakers

The Trail Blazers are in trouble. They looked badly overmatched against the Lakers yesterday in Game 4, even before star guard Damian Lillard had to exit the game early due to a knee issue. Now they’ll be without Dame in tomorrow’s Game 5. Here’s NBC Sports Northwest reporting:

With Damian Lillard out for Wednesday’s game due to a right knee sprain, the Trail Blazers are still determined to come together and work to right the ship in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Down 1-3 in their first round series to the Lakers is difficult enough to handle, but now the Blazers are going to be down a superstar in Damian Lillard.

Portland got out worked and outshot to start Monday’s Game 4. After falling behind 15-0 and then 30-10, the Blazers were working uphill all night against the No. 1 seeded team in the West.

LeBron James was as good as ever yesterday in Game 4, and at one point even pulled up for a deep three-pointer not far from the halfcourt league logo. “Logo LeBron” anyone?

It’ll be a tall task for Portland tomorrow.

Raptors news: guard Kyle Lowry diagnosed with ankle sprain

As the Toronto Raptors prepare to meet their second-round playoff opponent, the Boston Celtics, their star point guard will be on the mend.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, the team announced today.

Lowry underwent an MRI on the NBA Campus in Orlando after the injury, which occurred in the first quarter of Sunday evening’s game. His condition will be updated as appropriate.

Lowry averaged 19.4 points, a team-high 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 36.2 minutes in 58 games with the Raptors this season. In six games during the NBA restart at Disney, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 32.9 minutes.

In the first round of the NBA Playoffs vs. Brooklyn, Lowry posted averages of 12.5 points, 4.8 assists and 7.0 rebounds in 29.9 minutes. He scored in double figures three times, including 21 points in Game 2, and had one double-double against the Nets. The Raptors swept the series, winning 4-0.

Luka Doncic interview after Game 3 Mavs loss to Clippers

The Mavericks lost to the Clippers Friday, to fall down 1-2 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Details on the game are here.

Below are Luka Doncic interview quotes from postgame:

On the play where he injured his ankle and his current pain level: “I don’t know how it happened but it’s not that bad. I had luck; it’s my left ankle, it’s not my right. It’s a little sprain. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

On trying to play after the injury and the decision to come out of the game: “I just wanted to get in. I know we still had a chance to win. I wanted to help my teammates. I could run a little bit but I couldn’t push off of my left leg. It was better to go out and let somebody [else] play.”

On whether he can play on Sunday: “I don’t know the answer to that. We’ll see tomorrow. I have an MRI tomorrow and then we’ll see. I think we’ll know more tomorrow.”

On whether he wanted to come back in as the Mavs cut the deficit to eight: “I want to go back in every time. We always have a chance — we have great players. They fought to come back to eight. I want to be with my team on the floor and watch the game to the end. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a win. But we fought.”

On if he thought he could finish the game: “I don’t think so. I could run but I couldn’t push off my left leg. We have great players, so it’s better to go with someone who can go 100 percent.”

On the play of Kawhi Leonard: “He’s always in the zone. He’s a top-three player in the league. It’s really tough to stop him. He’s an amazing player, amazing defender. It’s really hard to stop him. I think Maxi [Kleber] is doing an amazing job, DoeDoe [Dorian Finney-Smith], too. It’s just hard. He’s an amazing player.”

Clippers beat Mavericks 130-122, take 2-1 playoff series lead

On Friday, the Clippers beat the Mavericks 130-122 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Below are Mavs team notes on the loss:

Luka Doncic recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, making him the first player in franchise history to record a triple-double in the playoffs.

Doncic (21 years, 175 days) becomes the third-youngest player ever to record a triple-double in the playoffs (Magic Johnson, LeBron James). The sophomore guard left the game with a left ankle sprain midway through the fourth quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis finished tonight’s game with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Porzingis becomes the first player to record 30+ points and 10+ rebounds for Dallas in a playoff game since Dirk Nowitzki (34p-11r) in Game 3 of the 2011 NBA Finals.

Seth Curry came off the bench and scored a playoff career-high 22 points to go with 3 assists. Curry shot 9-11 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Curry’s previous high was 16, a mark he hit twice in the 2019 playoffs with Portland.

Tim Hardaway Jr. also scored a playoff career-high 22 points to go with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Hardaway Jr.’s previous high was 19 points, set with Atlanta (at Washington, 4/19/17).

Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, all of which were career playoff highs.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 37 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists tonight. The veteran is 3rd in the Playoffs thus far with 33.3 points per game, trailing only Utah’s Donovan Mitchell (35.7) and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic (33.5).

The Clippers saw seven players score in double figures tonight. Joining Leonard was Landry Shamet (18), Ivica Zubac (15), Marcus Morris Sr. (14), Montrezl Harrell (13), Paul George (11) and Lou Williams (10).

Blazers forward Zach Collins out for remainder of NBA playoffs with ankle injury

Further imaging shows Portland forward Zach Collins with a hairline medial malleolus stress fracture of his left ankle, it was announced today by Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey. The injury will require surgery to repair. A date for surgery is to be determined. Collins will miss the remainder of the postseason.

Collins, 22, appeared in 11 games (all starts) for the Trail Blazers this season, posting averages of 7.0 points (47.1% FG, 36.8% 3-PT, 75.0% FT), 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.45 blocks.

Celtics foward Gordon Hayward discusses his ankle injury

The Celtics will be without forward Gordon Hayward for around four weeks due to a bad ankle sprain. The key forward spoke on the injury today. Here’s the Boston Herald on it:

“It’s definitely gutting, it sucks. There’s nothing else to say about that,” said Hayward. “It’s definitely frustrating, it doesn’t feel great at the moment. Just try to get better as soon as I can.”

Hayward said he knew as soon as he sustained the injury that it was serious. His awareness towards severe injuries will forever be heightened in the aftermath of the gruesome broken left ankle he suffered in his first game as a Celtic on opening night in 2017.

“I heard it and felt it and knew it wasn’t just your casual rolled ankle,” he said. “It was swollen by the time I was leaving the court, so I knew it was definitely worse than normal. As far as timeline, it’s kind of up in the air. I think it’s kind of just how my body responds to the rehab and all that stuff.

“Maybe I could use some Disney magic to help me get better.”

The Celtics are looking good in the first round, currently up 2-0 in their series against a Sixers team that is without Ben Simmons and looking vulnerable.

Russell Westbrook a passionate observer for Rockets in Thunder series

The Disney NBA bubble is a close-knit experience. The closest thing to fans in the stands are players on the sidelines. It’s an obvious time for guys on the bench, especially inactive players, to show even more enthusiasm and support for teammates than usual. Here’s the Houston Chronicle with an observation on Rockets guard Russell Westbrook:

Russell Westbrook is out with a strained quadriceps muscle, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking it easy on the sidelines.

In the first two games of the Rockets-Thunder series, Westbrook has been active in the Rockets’ bench area not only cheering on his teammates, but berating the referees, talking to coaches about strategy and giving his teammates pointers during timeouts…

There’s no timetable for Westbrook’s return and he hasn’t been cleared to work on the court during practice.

The Rockets won again today, this despite a below-average scoring output from James Harden. The Rockets did it as a team, with seven players scoring double-digit points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 31 points in the loss for OKC.

Sixers look bad in Game 2 loss to Celtics

On Wednesday, the Celtics put up a convincing 128-101 Game 2 win against the Sixers to take a 2-0 first round playoff series lead.

NBC Sports Philly:

The Sixers were up against the odds heading into their first round matchup against the Celtics. No Ben Simmons, a team that failed to gel all year long, and tough recent postseason history against the Celtics? Not ideal.

But no one could’ve predicted the absolutely listless effort they put forth on Wednesday night in the second game of the series.

After taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter, the Sixers were outscored by 29 points in the second and third quarters combined, and looked more like a lottery team than a playoff participant. The Celtics got whatever they wanted, and the Sixers looked helpless.

In the win for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum hit 8-of-12 from three-point range in finishing with 33 points, five rebounds and five assists. Kemba Walker scored 22 points. Jaylen Brown added 20, plus five rebounds.

For the Sixers, Joel Embiid put up 34 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Richardson scored 18. Tobias Harris grabbed 11 rebounds, but shot just 4-of-15 for 13 points.

Al Horford, coming off the bench, was not a factor.

A huge difference was three-point shooting. The Celtics hit 19-of-32, while the Sixers only hit 5-of-21.

Philly is without Ben Simmons, while Boston is missing Gordon Hayward.