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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley has been fined $30,000 for, per the NBA, “inappropriate statements during a media interview and on social media, including the egregious use of profanity,” it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, League Operations.
Beverley made his comments to the media during a postgame press conference and on a social media post following the Timberwolves’ 109-104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 12 at Target Center.
Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution on the Atlanta Hawks, who stepped up nicely against the Hornets in their first 2022 play-in tournament game:
They hardly looked like a No. 9 seed just trying to get into the playoffs. I’m sure I’m not the only one tired of hearing about last year, but there’s no way around it after that performance.
The Hawks opened their 2022 postseason looking like the intense and determined team that made it to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. They’ll have to win again at Cleveland on Friday to earn the East’s No. 8 seed and a first-round series against top-seeded Miami. It’s a road game against a gritty opponent instead of a home game against a squad that prefers to run and shoot.
“It’s going to be tight; it’s going to be loud,” Hawks center Clint Capela said.
I still have some questions about how the Hawks would respond in a hotly contested elimination game on the road. I have fewer of them after the 132-103 victory over the Hornets…
The Hornets tried to make Hawks star Trae Young a nonfactor by forcing him to give up the ball. Young thwarted their plans with a masterful floor game, and his teammates converted most of their scoring chances. The Hornets wanted to run at every opportunity. The Hawks didn’t give them many chances because they took care of the ball and ran back to recover before the Hornets could attack.
Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and the Miami Heat:
The Heat’s No. 1 seed paid worthwhile dividends, too. On Sunday, they’ll open play against a proper eighth seed in Cleveland or Atlanta, depending on their remaining play-in game. Advance and they’d get Philadelphia or Toronto rather than the expected Milwaukee.
The Heat added pit bulls like Lowry and Tucker for this time of year and was open to the development of little-knowns like Max Strus and Caleb Martin. They still don’t have a top-10 player on their team. But they have a few in the tier below that. Enough?
So much still centers on Butler.
“We’ve been a great team all year long,’’ he said. “But now’s the time we talk about. When we had this team meeting, a lot of championship talk happened, but I really, really, really think we have a good shot at this.”
All those players with rings in the team meeting, Butler isn’t one of them. It’s that time of year. He says what several players around the league are this week: “We’re going to find a way to get 16 wins.”
The game schedule for the 2021 NBA Finals, between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, is as follows:
Suns vs. Bucks NBA Finals Game Schedule:
Game 1: Tue July 6, Bucks at Suns, 9PM ET, ABC
Game 2: Thu July 8, Bucks at Suns, 9PM ET, ABC
Game 3: Sun July 11, Suns at Bucks, 9PM ET, ABC
Game 4: Wed July 14, Suns at Bucks, 9PM ET, ABC
Game 5: Sat July 17, Bucks at Suns, 9PM ET, ABC (if necessary)
Game 6: Tue July 20, Suns at Bucks, 9PM ET, ABC (if necessary)
Game 7: Thu July 22, Bucks at Suns, 9PM ET, ABC (if necessary)
There is relatively news from the Milwaukee Bucks on superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Yesterday, he sustained a hyperextended left knee and will be listed as doubtful for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals tomorrow night at Fiserv Forum. The injury occurred in the third period of the Bucks’ Game 4 loss at Atlanta last night.
The injury could have been a lot worse. It was scary to watch.
Antetokounmpo, 26, underwent an MRI and subsequent examination today by team physician Dr. Carole Vetter of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. The MRI confirmed the earlier diagnosis. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.
In 15 playoff games (all starts), Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.2 points (10th in NBA playoffs), 12.7 rebounds (1st in NBA playoffs) and 5.2 assists (16th in NBA playoffs) in 37.4 minutes per game.
The Phoenix Suns are now one win away from reaching the 2021 NBA Final. Here’s Arizona Sports on it:
The Suns survived a game from the Dark Ages, from a bygone era when defenses ruled the earth. Rarely have style points mattered less.
They fought their emotions. They haggled with referees. They scored 84 points in a playoff game and somehow awaken on the doorstep of the NBA Finals.
Their victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals was a masterpiece of winning ugly. No apologies necessary.
“That was a slugfest,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “That’s what playoff basketball is all about.”
What a bizarre triumph. What a strange game. Devin Booker ditched his mask after missing a layup. Chris Paul lost a shoe. Abdel Nader took Torrey Craig’s minutes, playing for the first time since mid-March. The two teams combined to miss 111 shots. They played four full minutes in the fourth quarter where neither team made a field goal.
It remains unclear when Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard may return to action. At this point, there is no reason to think it’ll be for tomorrow’s Game 5.
Here’s the Denver Post on a scene after the Nuggets were escorted out of the playoffs:
On the sad night the Nuggets were swept from the NBA Playoffs, center Nikola Jokic and coach Michael Malone sat down together and poured out a beer to kill the pain.
“We wind up hanging out for like two hours after that game. Talking about the season, talking about the summer, talking about his horses, talking about everything,” Malone recalled Friday. With the gratitude of a coach blessed with a good gig, he described a conversation with the league MVP and his boss in the wake of a 125-118 home loss to Phoenix that ended a ballyhooed Denver season in frustration.
Franchise owner Josh Kroenke joined Malone and his star player.
“(He) was there with me (and) Nikola … for two hours,” Malone added. “When I went home that night, I said, ‘Man, we got a really unique setup here.’ We’re all disappointed, we lost, no one was happy. … But to have an owner and an MVP who are just so down to earth and committed to doing whatever it takes to be better and find ways to win a championship, those two hours were so important.”
Losing guard Jamal Murray to injury was a huge blow for the Nuggets. It wasn’t a surprise to see their postseason hopes cut short.
Murray, Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. are all under contract at least through next season, while Will Barton has a player option this offseason. Paul Millsap and JaVale McGee are free agents.
The Suns lead the Clippers 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals, and L.A. remains without the services of forward Kawhi Leonard, which puts a massive amount of pressure on Paul George, Reggie Jackson and the rest of the squad. It’s a tough situation for the Clippers. Via the Los Angeles Times:
Coach Tyronn Lue said he isn’t fazed by the latest either, a 3-1 hole sealed in the Western Conference finals after an 84-80 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday at Staples Center.
Lue is the only coach whose team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven NBA Finals, a title path in which two of the final three victories came on the road, which would be the same scenario required for the Clippers to advance.
“Just focus on Monday’s game, that’s it,” Lue said. “Not focus on winning three games. Got to take it one game at a time, and that’s got to be our mind-set. We beat Utah and won four games in a row. So it’s very doable.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re locked in and understand what we’re doing offensively. I think we’ve got to be more locked in offensively to beat this team.”
Los Angeles Times: Imperfect but impossible to count out in Game 4 of their Western Conference finals against Phoenix, the Clippers followed what had become their traditional playoff plot line Saturday inside Staples Center: tie themselves in knots by mistakes often of their own doing, then produce a daring, improbable escape to stay alive. Their 16-point deficit in the third quarter was down to just one with 10 minutes to play, the arena coming alive at the same time as the home team. But given shot after shot to even this series, one of the NBA’s top offenses missed over and over, sapped by a devastating combination of tired legs and woeful execution on their way to an 84-80 loss. The Clippers were 0 for 12 in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead and did not make a field goal for more than five consecutive minutes in the quarter. And still, another 2-2 tie, after falling behind 2-0, was there for them.
OC Register: Phoenix will be playing for an opportunity to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993. With a Staples Center sellout crowd of 18,222 agonizing on its collective feet for much of the suffocating fourth quarter Saturday, when the Clippers shot 3 for 19 and the Suns went 4 for 19, and 0 for 6 and 0 for 3 from 3-point range, respectively. The Clippers were 0 for 12 on fourth-quarter shots that could’ve tied the score or given them the lead, the most such attempts without a make in the fourth quarter of a game over the past 25 postseasons. They drew within one point four times in the fourth, but they couldn’t ever pull in front. “We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
OC Register: In his second game back following COVID-19 health and safety protocols, Paul finished with 18 points and seven assists. Deandre Ayton finished with 19 points and a career playoff-high 22 rebounds. And Devin Booker scored a game-high 25 points on 8-for-22 shooting before fouling out in the final minute.
OC Register: The Clippers shot 32% (27 for 83) for the game; Phoenix was a smidge better at 36% (31 for 86). The Clippers made just five 3-pointers in the game – fewer than in all but one game this season. The Suns hit just four from deep.
The Sixers won Game 6 on the road against the Hawks Friday, 104-99. The squad received a nice boost off the bench from Tyrese Maxey, who in 29 minutes put up 16 points and seven rebounds. Via the Philly Voice:
Picture this: you’re a 20-year-old rookie, you played just 1:20 in your team’s heartbreaking Game 5 loss, and your head coach comes to you and says you need to be ready to play real minutes in a do-or-die elimination game. How exactly do you handle the news and get ready for the biggest game of your life?
“Got done with shootaround, got me some pasta, called my mom, and then I went to sleep,” Maxey said after Philly’s Game 6 win. “Woke up, and then came to the gym. Was ready to go.”
If the pressure impacted him in any way, Maxey never showed it on Friday night, pouring in 16 points off of the bench and leading the entire team in plus/minus with a +12 for the evening. That was representative of how the game changed with Maxey on the floor, who provided the spark his teammates needed with a belly full of pasta and a mother’s wisdom as the fuel.
Hawks at Sixers Game 7 is Sunday at 8PM ET.